Dessert

Things had been settled up between me and Sukuna, less so with everyone else.

After tossing Sukuna some clothing since his got wrecked, and I finished healing myself with positive energy, I took notice of the two sore losers.

I had been a little too quick to dismiss them. And cursed energy, in hindsight.

It still wasn't quite what I wanted it to be, but it had far more application than I initially acknowledged.

Being able to heal such grievous injuries alone made it worth exploring.

"I'd reconsider the course of action you two are thinking about," I said, looking off in the direction of Satoru and Suguru, carrying my words to them. Well, to Suguru. Satoru still wasn't in my Room now that he put that barrier of folded space around himself again.

Sukuna seemed dissatisfied with the yukata I gave him, but was content to let me handle this -- I had won our fight, after all.

I sensed Suguru's unease before I started to walk their way, speaking and carrying my words to their general vicinity.

"I just won a fight to save your asses. It'd be pretty ungrateful of you to make me kill you after that." Suguru wouldn't be an issue if it came to a fight. Satoru was a maybe because of that Infinity stuff.

I was playing around with a few ideas on how to bypass it, but I wasn't feeling particularly confident about any of them.

That being said, I don't think he had anything in his arsenal to deal with me either. Gravity is something I had well in hand.

"Plus," I continued, stepping past the thin trees and rubble to see them more clearly. Suguru had been patched up, though he was still bloodied. Same with Satoru.

"It'd be a shame to kill you before the main event."

Satoru, despite the ass beating he'd received earlier, still carried himself with a quiet confidence.

"What main event would that be?" He asked, cocking his head and I watched him carefully.

He seemed stronger. I couldn't put my finger on why exactly he felt stronger, only that he did. Had teaching him RCT helped? Or was he like a Saiyan and got stronger through getting his ass kicked?

In response, I glanced at Sukuna since he had the whole picture. I only had a text on a phone that was now a bunch of atoms scattered about the yard. Sukuna sighed, thoroughly unimpressed with Satoru but he obliged all the same.

"A Culling Game. Something that's been in the works for a millennia -- the strongest of every age gathered up for a… battle royale, as you call it. You would be included in their number… I suppose." He added, like he had some severe doubts.

Satoru narrowed his brilliant blue eyes, "When?" He half growled, and I could sense a tension in him.

"Dunno," Sukuna shrugged indifferently. "Kenjaku's barely started his preparations to set it all into motion, so you still have a few years." He reasoned so I gave the two a winning smile.

"Call this time your training arc! Get stronger so we can have a proper fight," I encouraged and Suguru's lips thinned, watching me carefully.

It was Satoru that spoke.

"The whole thing sounds like a pain in the ass," Satoru dismissed, looking at me directly. Unlike before, I was the one that they deemed to be a threat now that I beat Sukuna. And I looked ready to go another round.

"I'm thinking I nip this whole thing in the bud here and now."

"You could… try," I acknowledged, "Only it wouldn't work. The Culling Game is still going to happen even if you do, somehow, manage to kill us here. You wouldn't even be able to stop Sukuna from competing since the other half of his soul and power is still out there."

Admitting that much was a calculated decision and I got the result that I wanted when Satoru blanched ever so slightly.

Sukuna saw it, "How unsightly. You truly thought you faced me at my best? You weren't even a challenge for a fourth of my true power." He happily rubbed salt in the wound, making Satoru's hands tighten into fists.

"So, we could fight but, frankly, I think we both know who would win," I picked up where I left off.

"Or, you can get some training in. Pump some iron, drink a couple protein shakes, refine that technique of yours and in a couple of years… we fight once more. When you might actually have a chance." I said with a smile and I could tell Satoru's hackles were raised.

He was pissed. Humiliated. But, above all else, he knew I was right.

Suguru, however, needed some more convincing. "And in the meantime? We should just step by and allow you to do what you wish? To slaughter and cannibalize whoever you wish?"

"Cannibalize?" I echoed, glancing at Sukuna.

He seemed indignant at the accusation, "Cannibalism implies we are remotely the same species. You humans are no different to me than a pig or a chicken." He sneered. Which… wasn't a denial that he ate people.

I shrugged, dismissing the tangent to the side.

Whatever floated his boat.

"Anyway, that's not something you have to worry about. Our reign of terror is… out of the neighborhood, so to speak. So, while every dastardly thing you're imagining will probably happen, it won't happen in your wheelhouse. Like I said, I'm a tourist to this world of yours." I said and I could tell that confused them, but neither of them said anything. There was a tense silence that blossomed between us as they considered their odds.

Suguru spoke one final time, "And if you win this Culling Game?"

That was a good question I hadn't even considered. So, I pinched my chin in thought, pondering it for a moment.

"Well… hm… I do have this title going for me -- Destroyer of Worlds," I said, making Satoru and Suguru tense, while Sukuna merely raised an eyebrow.

"But, as it is, it feels a little unearned. I mean, I'm only like fifteen percent responsible for my world ending. Or thereabouts. And I don't want to disappoint my buddy Tz, so it'll probably be something like destroying this world. Not really sure on the specifics. I do have a bunch of nukes though, so…"

Honestly, I wasn't even sure if I would follow through with such a thing. It felt like something an evil villain might do, but I'm not sure if it really spoke to me on a personal level. Not to mention, the whole nuke thing was a little stale at this point.

That didn't really matter. A pure heavy hearted dread flooded Suguru, and Satoru as far as I could tell without my Room, with every word that I spoke.

They believed me. Completely and utterly. Sukuna just laughed at my antics, likely not any more sure or not that I would follow through on my threat as they were.

"Let that be some motivation for you. Eat your greens, get big and strong… then face us in the Culling Game. If you win, this world of yours gets to keep on spinning. If you lose?"

I said, starting to walk by them, leaving the threat unfinished as I made a dismissive wave towards them.

"Good luck," I said, reaching the stairs and walking down.

"You'll be needing it."

…

Uraume had a smile on her face right up until she saw me walking with Sukuna. It was honestly impressive how fast her face shifted from a silent but open joy to the purest of loathing.

Robin, on the other hand, glanced between us carefully.

"I take it that things have been settled between you two?"

"Yup! We're friends now!" I said, throwing an arm over Sukuna's shoulder, earning a mildly annoyed glance.

Totally worth it because Uraume looked like she was about to start coughing up blood.

"Our exit secured?"

"It has been. Provided that we suffer no delays, we will arrive within the window of time to leave." Robin answered, her gaze searching me for any injury. I was covered in a shattering of blood that was rapidly drying, so fair enough.

Now that I thought about it, I think this was the first time Robin had ever seen me hurt. Even back in the Old, with my Room, no one had ever managed to touch me. Between it and now my Haki, I had felt pretty untouchable.

"Did you have fun?"

"Loads," I said, clapping Sukuna on the back as we headed for the bullet train that would take us back to Kyoto. The itch that had been building up for over a year had finally gotten scratched.

The hunger for a challenge that I had felt had finally been satiated. I had finally been pushed to my limits in a way that I hadn't since my days playing as Heartless.

It was a strange thought, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Sukuna would have dominated my world and slaughtered any Supe that tried to stop him.

The only potential exception I could think of was Homelander, but…

Homelander hadn't been that great at using his powers. It was something that was steadily being revealed to me the more I explored mine, and now having witnessed Sukuna use his – we understood the ins and outs of our abilities. Homelander… hadn't. The reason why was fairly obvious.

From the moment he was born, he was the strongest. And the only way he would stop being the strongest was through a natural death of old age. Or so he thought.

"I'm glad," Robin said as I grabbed hold of the blood that was on me and Sukuna before flicking it away. We still weren't quite clean, but we were certainly cleaner. Sukuna earned more than a couple of looks, and I heard mutterings of 'Yakuza.' Sukuna was content to ignore them as we settled in our VIP seats while Uraume seemed like she was coming to terms with her new reality.

She still felt an intense jealousy. And if she hated me before, then I'd have to invent a new word to describe what she felt towards me now.

"I'll acknowledge you, but you're mad if you think I'm going to bow my head and obey some dumb ass orders," Sukuna groused, crossing his arms over his chest. The two extra ones that he had melded back into his body, but he still had his mouth stomach.

"Yeah, yeah – I didn't expect you to," I said, taking out the first volume of Naruto and sliding it over to him.

"You're in luck. You're joining on after the boring part. What's up next is a whole new world," I said with a chuckle, taking out the dog-eared volume I had left on. At the same time, I dropped Robin a book about the local histories that was written in English.

Sukuna cocked an eyebrow at that before he flipped open the volume with an expression of mild interest.

"What he means is there shall be a… change, of sorts. Until recently, we were quite limited due to some obligations. Those obligations, as of now, have been met," Robin elaborated for me.

And I picked up where she left off,

"Now we have freedom to explore whatever worlds we want. In theory at least," I added and I could tell Sukuna was curious, but he didn't bother asking anything. He simply hummed, content to let it all be revealed in due time, and turned his attention to the manga.

I half expected the Jujutsu Sorcerers to try something on the three hour trip back to Kyoto. An ambush of some kind. But, there was nothing beyond the general inconveniences of traveling in Japan.

Which were slight, as the trains were always on time. I think both me and Sukuna were disappointed when a last minute ambush never arrived.

It worked out in our favor, I suppose, because we were able to head back to the portal with time to spare. Standing on the other side of it was a familiar face, her arms crossed as she guarded the entrance to Fallout. Her guard didn't lower with our arrival, her gaze firmly fixated on Sukuna and Uraume.

"Yo, Taylor," I greeted her casually, idly taking notice of her insects of choice. They were butterflies if they were the unholy offspring of bullet ants, murder hornets, and monarch butterflies. "How are things?"

Taylor favored me a look, "They'd be better if Boston wasn't suddenly destroyed without any notice. You incited a panic, Law," she scolded with some exasperation.

Sukuna narrowed his eyes and Taylor, to her credit, met his gaze head on. Before one of them could make a mess, I interjected.

"Sorry about that – if I had known it would have caused an issue, I would have given you a heads up." I said, approaching and cupping her cheek. She leaned into my touch but her gaze was suspicious – not angry, but she knew my game.

But, in the end, knowing my game didn't lessen it's effect on her.

"Well… if you didn't know… we weren't using that part of the city anyway, so it's fine," she half muttered and I chuckled warmly. But, before she could lose herself, she brought herself back from the brink.

"There's a meeting with Asami. Cate said that you wanted to keep this opening of the portal a secret, so I've been running interference. But, she knows about the attack on the Dias and what happened in Boston."

Nothing that I didn't already anticipate.

"Good job," I praised her, feeling a rush of satisfaction coming from her. And anticipation.

"Let's head back to Nuka-World, then. We've kept her waiting long enough."

I glanced over at Tz, and the last remaining conquistador. "Hide that one in case we need him later, and clean up the place."

"Of course, oh Destroyer," Tz replied, bowing deeply with a pleased smile on his face. We burned through most of the conquistadors, but it was worth it. And we had a pretty solid estimation of how much time a life gave the portal. That was a little something I intended to keep to myself, however.

Before we moved on, Sukuna looked at Uraume.

"I have a task for you," he started and Uraume was eager to please, bowing her head with a hand to her chest, waiting for her given task.

"Look after my other incarnation and deliver a message – when the Culling Game comes around, we'll fight. The winner consumes the loser. Be sure to tell 'em all about what you've seen here."

Uraume kept her expression even despite wanting to cry tears of blood.

"Of course, Sukuna-sama. I shall eagerly await your return," she said, bowing her head lower before heading back through the portal. As soon as she was clear of it, I cut off the portal.

Sukuna chuckled, "You would have killed her with how angry you were making her." So he did notice.

"True enough," I agreed. "Come on. Let's show you around," I said, gesturing for everyone to follow me as we headed out of the Vault. The platform rose up, revealing a large vehicle that Taylor had traveled in along with a handful of men in power armor. Sukuna watched it all with a keen eye, learning what he could, but I doubt that he was making much sense of it considering how old he was.

Taylor's insects flew into specially made cages at the back of the truck, and I saw that all of them were nasty looking.

"Things been going well since we've been gone?" I asked as the driver started making the trek back to Nuka-World. It was a decent sized trip, but that was mitigated by the lack of a speed limit.

Taylor gave a small twitch at that, "The Deep gave us a list of demands." There was a dry amusement in her voice that got a grin out of me. "The official recognition of him as Sovereign of the Seven Seas, with all territories bordering within five miles of a body of water belonging to his kingdom."

I let out a bark of laughter at that, "How's that been working out for him?"

"Not well," Taylor said with a cutting grin before it twisted into a frown. "His attacks are an irritant but not much more than that. It has meant that I've had to pay more attention to our supposed border. Counter attacking has been difficult. There are fringe mirelurk dens that we can reach, but the majority of his forces are at the bottom of the ocean."

Yeah, that sounded about right. When I learned that the Deep had survived, I didn't expect much from him. He had tucked tail and ran the moment he saw my Chimera, after all. But it seemed that he had learned a few lessons in the time between then and now.

"We've also identified the Supe that ventured to the Capital Wasteland. Soldier Boy," Taylor uttered the name and I couldn't keep my surprise off my face.

Soldier Boy.

"Huh. I was sure Homelander killed him," I muttered under my breath, taking stock of that. Soldier Boy. The first Supe. The one that had nearly killed Homelander by stealing his powers with that red beam of his. He would have killed Homelander if I hadn't Shambled him with Stormfront at the last minute.

"Any word on what's going on with them?"

"Nothing concrete, but they did come into conflict with a faction in the Capital Wasteland called the Brotherhood of Steel. They're technophiles that hoard it for themselves because they think the locals are too stupid to be trusted with anything more advanced than a toaster." Hm.

Outside of something particularly unique and esoteric, Soldier Boy had that fight in the bag. He'd survived full powered punches from Homelander, and based on what I saw in our own brief fight, he was strong enough to tear through anything that this brotherhood threw at him.

I was tempted to travel to the Capital just to finish our fight. And figure out what exactly he was planning.

If it was just some random Supe with six hundred people, I'd be inclined to brush it off and call it a day. But Soldier Boy managing to slip through the portal with six hundred people?

That felt like enemy action.

And that brought a smile to my face.

"I'd leave them be for now, but eventually, they're going to poke their heads back into the Commonwealth." I instructed before Robin spoke up.

"They'll be forced to reveal their intentions to attack well before they can make the attempt. I'll make sure you'll get whatever information you need to combat him. He's very durable," Robin noted and Taylor nodded.

"Thanks," She offered quietly.

With that out the way, the car ride was filled with more idle chatter. I had left behind a few landmines to keep Taylor on her toes, and so far they seemed to be serving their purpose marvously. For the past month, Taylor had settled into her own power and control over Nuka-World. Embracing her identity, even going so far as to embrace a villain name. Just as I had Heartless.

Skitter. It suited her rather well.

It was an hour later, but Nuka-World entered our view and I saw that it had undergone some changes in the past month. The people living there had started spilling outside of the main entrance – construction was being done to house them, but it was a rough shanty town at the moment.

Everyone wanted to live near the heart of things because everyone knew Nuka-World saw supplies and deliveries first.

In the past month, a road had been built to connect us to the main park. Barrier walls were going up, but I noticed that the dried up lake wasn't so dried up anymore. I also noticed with my Room that Taylor had been busy.

There was a massive network of tunnels beneath Nuka-World. A breeding ground for her ants and insects. She had certainly pumped up her numbers, because there had to be at least a million giant ants beneath Nuka-World, and that was just counting the ants. There were countless more other insects that seemed to be every bit the genetic abomination that her butterflies were.

Yeah, Taylor had absolutely been busy.

The theme park itself looked like a small city, almost. People milling about, people trying to sell their wares, and people working to make ends meet. Then, without prompting, a guy that had been looking at us as we approached the central point of Nuka-World dropped to his knees, hands to his groin, and started screaming at the top of his lungs.

My first instinct was to look at Sukuna, figuring that he did something. Only for Taylor to speak up.

"It's my punishment for rapists," Taylor stated in a cold voice, looking down at the man who writhed in agony without a semblance of pity. "The Institute helped me develop the venom. Whenever a convicted rapist becomes aroused, they feel pain."

Oh. Damn. Maybe I shouldn't have given Taylor free access to a Nuka-Gen-Replicator. She got scary with it.

"Glad you've found your own way of doing things," I remarked, curious as to what else she had changed about Nuka-World. "Where is this meeting happening?"

To that, Taylor gestured to the portal and I swallowed a sigh.

Another trip to the Old World, it would seem. But, first, a change of clothes was in order - it didn't feel appropriate to run around in yukatas outside of Japan. So it was only after a quick change that the four of us stepped through the portal leading to the Old World.

After a year, the lab wasn't stuffed to the brim with refugees anymore. Plenty of other things had changed in that year as well, most notably all the thick cables that had attached themselves to the Dias. Asami had tinkered up some upgrades to the V1 Dias it seemed. Continuing on, we stepped into an elevator and it brought us up to the top floor.

"This world… what happened to it?" Sukuna asked, looking out at the wrecked skyline of New York.

It was still half buried in snow, as the nuclear winter hadn't lost its grip on the world. The city, already degrading from all the damage done, suffered more as the harsh weather took its toll. From our vantage, however, I saw that Asami hadn't been idle – the streetlamps doubled as heaters, letting people warm themselves. The constant calls for violence had subsided, though that was mostly because Robin had replaced their leaders with synths.

"Remember how I said the world was ending around us during my fight with Homelander? That wasn't an exaggeration," I said, spying the door that Asami and co were behind.

"Most of the population is dead, and two hundred years from now, it's going to look like the world we just left."

To that, Sukuna chuckled while Taylor pinned a sharp look in his direction. I could guess what she was thinking. But, now wasn't the time to deal with her.

"Sup?" I said, greeting everyone inside the room. Asami sat directly across from the door, and I saw that she had been sleeping better. The dark bags under her eyes had lessened, even if they were still present.

She seemed more put together, more like herself as she was before the world ended. It was nice to see – before, she looked like she was one more bad day away from a mental break.

Next to her was Rumi, her arms crossed over her chest but her gaze immediately went to Sukuna.

Standing on Asami's left was Kimiko – it seemed that she had picked her side in this little game. Fair enough. My faction might have saved her, but she had spent the past year with Asami.

"I was alerted to an attack on the Dias," Asami started without any preamble. I slid into a seat across from Asami at the large round table.

I jabbed a thumb at Sukuna, "That was him, but don't worry, we sorted it out." I lied easily and Sukuna didn't bother correcting me.

"His name is Sukuna Ryomen, by the way. He's part of the team now."

"By demolishing what's left of downtown Boston?" Asami questioned, her tone decidedly even. She was fishing for information. Or a confirmation. Couldn't tell which.

"If you could call those ruins a city," Sukuna dismissed, leaning against a wall rather than accepting a seat like Robin and Taylor did.

Asami narrowed her eyes, getting the confirmation that she wanted. Her gaze flickered to me and narrowed ever so slightly.

"If the situation is in hand, and the Dias is undamaged… then we have more important matters."

That was an interesting reaction. A telling one.

"I'm sure Rumi told you all about the Muisca Tribe. Their world is a garden world, a version of Earth in the early fifteen hundreds, seeing as the guy attacking them was a conquistador named Cortez. Pretty much ideal for what we need," I added, more for Sukuna's benefit.

"Big issue is lack of power – we got a couple of watermills up and running, but that's just a trickle."

Asami nodded slowly, interlacing her hands before her on the table. She was going into business mode.

"The situation on this side of the portal has changed," she admitted, catching my attention. "Now that the food riots have been quelled, I've spent the past few months implementing technology given by the Institute."

Reaching out, she pressed a button and on the wall a TV screen came to life. A radio tower was shown, though it seemed heavily augmented. Sukuna immediately perked up, interested in the explanation.

"By co-opting radio towers, we have managed to boost the range of their teleportation technology significantly. It wasn't easy, by any means – the EMP pulses fried most unprotected hardware. Since then, we have been securing locations of interest."

She really had been busy, I thought, watching as the TV shifted to a number of locations. Nuclear power plants by the look of them.

"With wireless energy transference, we have been able to utilize several satellites and redirect power from these plants to the Dias. As such, our energy production has increased by six hundred percent."

I hummed, mulling over the information. She had been keeping secrets. This was the first I've heard about this. Which meant one of two things.

Cate hadn't been forthcoming, or Asami hadn't informed her secretary. Both could be a problem in their own ways.

Then I pointed at one of the video feeds that wasn't like the others,

"And the bunker looking thing?"

"That is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault located in Norway," Asami answered easily. "It contained seeds from all crops in the world to ensure that ecological diversity wouldn't be wiped out in… unforeseen disasters," she added, gesturing to the window at my left – beyond which was a world frozen over.

"Nice," I acknowledged. That was actually pretty convenient.

El Dorado as a world was fertile, but it had taken hundreds of years of selective breeding to create the fruits and vegetables that people ate in the modern world.

"So, that's energy production and food taken care of. All that's left is to move everyone over, right?"

It was Taylor that responded first, "Nuka-World can provide the labor to start constructing a settlement. Assuming that Fallout sees any more refugees."

Asami looked at Taylor, her expression tightening ever so slightly,

"That would be… prudent," she acknowledged, visibly swallowing her distaste. "We now have the energy production to sustain a portal between this world and… Fallout. We'll start collecting volunteers on this side to help with resource production. If El Dorado really is Earth in the early fifteen hundreds, then there are other industries that we can begin to look at – iron, copper, and so on. All the iron of this world has been thoroughly contaminated with radiation, which makes it unusable for precision projects. Such as the Dias."

"Works for me," I agreed easily, holding Asami's stare. "Outside of cooking up some vaccines for the natives of El Dorado, I think we're golden." I could only imagine what the germs from Fallout could do to the natives of that Earth, the Muisca Tribe as well as the Europeans.

My bet was they would make the Black Death look like the common cold in comparison.

Then I ventured to the elephant in the room.

"So, I suppose it's a question of what happens now, isn't it?"

Asami clenched her jaw, "Yes, it is." She admitted, her tone decidedly even.

"With the refugee crisis over, it is my intention to use the Dias for its intended purpose. To find a way home."

Exactly as I thought. I had a few ideas kicking around in the back of my noggin about that.

"That might be a lot easier said than done I think, because as far as I can tell, despite being the Old World's closest neighbor, this world and Fallout don't have a lot in common. With the exception of both of them ending in nuclear hellfire."

Asami furrowed her brow, "Your point?"

I pointed at Rumi, "From the little that you've told me, your world is a lot like this one was – superheroes, villains, yada yada."

"Only our heroes didn't develop super powers because of something from a syringe," Rumi replied blandly, but I could tell she saw my point.

"Fair enough. Point being, when we jumped World Lines we landed in a version of Earth in the past, where magic is real. And, honestly, for all I know, magic was always real in this world as well," I continued. I still thought that all the witches and wizards stuff was probably still fake, but Sukuna's world gave me a potential answer for why there was no magic in my world – namely, that magic was simply hidden from normal people.

That we literally couldn't perceive it. Or that time had destroyed the magic rituals since every single step seemed important. Or maybe magic had just faded away and it was only real in the past.

"Point being is that we hopped a World Line and landed in a neutral point."

I had four points of data that I was basing my theory off of – the Old World, Fallout, Rumi's world and Sukuna's world. Which still needed a name. Something Jujutsu related. And maybe something to do with a fight since that's what I got and planned to have there in the future.

So, Jujutsu… Kaisen, to borrow a little from my newfound understanding and appreciation of Japanese.

Jujutsu Kaisen was basically just normal Earth without heroes but with jujutsu sorcerers and cursed spirits. Rumi's world was the same, until it had a branching point with these 'quirks' as she called them happening well into the modern age. And, quite possibly, jujutsu sorcery was real in her world too, but she simply hadn't been able to perceive it.

My own world and Fallout were similar. It was around the second World War that our histories diverged.

In my world, it was the creation of Compound V. For Fallout, it was the nuclear energy becoming the main source of power.

The one thing every world had in common, as far as I could tell, was that if you went back far enough, within a hundred years or so, they all roughly shared the same history.

I was certain of it. Because, down below a few floors beneath our feet, I was aware of one of Asami's people looking up the name Sukuna Ryomen, and finding that he was a figure in my world's history.

"That… has several implications about the nature of the World Lines, but…" Asami muttered, and I saw she already figured out my point.

"The history of my world is nothing like the history of this one. Or Fallout. Or El Dorado. My world's history has nothing in common with any of them."

"Neither does mine," Robin seconded.

"As far as I can tell, that probably means your worlds are a lot further away from the World Lines we've visited. And, I'm guessing the further away we get, the more unrecognizable history will become." To that, Robin inclined her head to me.

Asami, however, narrowed her eyes, "Your point?" She already knew my point, but she wanted me to say it.

"My point is that making blind jumps that big is stupidly ineffective and a massive drain on resources. What you need to do is daisy chain the jumps together. Establish a presence in each world, secure enough power generation to support future jumps and maintain a sustained portal going back. From there, we keep going until you eventually find your world." In response to my words, Asami's lips thinned and I allowed myself a smile.

Up until this point, our relationship was… necessary.

I was a necessary evil in her eyes.

First to secure the resources to build the Dias, then to handle the refugee crisis. Now, however, I wasn't so necessary.

Which left us with two paths forward. And there was one path in particular that I was hoping that she would go down.

"Is that an offer?" Asami questioned and I had to swallow my smile.

"I suppose it is," I replied. "Collectively, we have more resources to pool together. Sharing is caring, and all of that."

Asami had chosen to not walk away. That told me exactly what she intended.

"I'll accept for the sake of practicality," Asami decided, her gaze meeting mine with a heavy stare full of intent.

"I've had similar thoughts in the past in regards to how I would find my world and, if nothing else, you've proven that you're… adept at securing footholds in new worlds."

"Sounds like a deal to me," I replied, meeting her stare unflinchingly.

She was trying to be someone that she wasn't. But, I had her measure by now.

Asami was someone that could only bend so far before she broke… and she didn't strike me as the kind to break so easily.

The next world was going to be interesting. I could tell that much already.