FanHarem
patreon
EHG— CHAPTER 717
🕑 Added 2021-01-30 10:34:49 +0000 UTCTitle: Destination— Pangea
"Hey," Reed and Henry walked out of the cockpit and looked at the group seated calmly. Well, they were already quite bored and kept to themselves. However, seeing Nik and Sue in close proximity left a bad taste in Reed's mouth, something he could do nothing about but try and move on while Henry glanced towards the scientist with equal mental faculties.
"Oh," Johnny slid his headphones back around his neck and inquired with a deep sigh, "Can't I fly off there? I think I can burn whatever barrier the Paradise is covered with."
"No," Reed shook his head, taking a seat, "We've set the course and the duration of the flight is around seventy minutes. Either way, Henry and I got time to discuss a few plans and we're here to hammer down the details with you guys."
"I thought we already had a plan?" Ben inquired, his seat special than others, made of reinforced, plated steel specifically placed in the location as to not disrupt the flight itself.
"Well, aside from Emp core, we have to account for every possible situation. Nik, we accepted you in the expedition so that you can create a portal here," saying so, Reed placed a file in front of Nik.
Opening it, Nik found multiple pictures alongside a brief description of the location.
"This is a trap house," Reed continued, "There is a chance that whatever may cause our retreat can follow us in time within the portal and reach the exit with us. So, we can trap 'it' in here. I developed this little house to endure extreme conditions."
"Um... you remember that I don't need to create one big portal, right?" Nik closed the file and handed it back to Reed, "I can just create portals beneath your foot and you'll be out within a moment. That way, nobody can follow you or anyone else..."
Henry coughed, "It's really a useful ability. But your age makes it harder for me to place more responsibilities on your shoulders."
Nik shrugged, not really caring much. Eternal seventeen was his calling and he knew that his age might also bring a few troubles but everything was worth it.
"I really hope that Tony is safe," Nik mumbled, making others frown.
"How did you know?"
"Oh, I was chatting with White Tiger. Quite a few people already know of Iron Man's disappearance. Not that they might know where Tony is currently. So, what happened to him? Did he get trapped somehow?"
"We don't know. You read the file I gave you on the Savage Land, right?" Janet spoke up, "We were informed of this place recently, too. If it wasn't for some form of a barrier cutting off every form of communication and contact, we would have been kept in the dark for who knows how long."
"But it's not like we are someone who should be informed of every and anything," Henry replied once he noticed the indignation in Janet's tone.
"Anyway, despite his faults, Tony's suit has quite a lot of countermeasures and defense mechanisms so if he was trapped and is unable to contact us, it is a healthy assumption that he's within the island and we may use it."
"But aside from all this," Reed continued, "We're also going to act as diplomats for Pangea."
"Pangea?" Nik furrowed. He knew of the artificial stretch of land attached to the Paradise. Although, he hadn't ventured inside it, he knew from Vertigo that Pangea was a place of stay for many mutates. Different from ordinary humans, the tribes settled in Pangea had better technology in many cases but were also tribal in nature most of the time. In fact, it was only after Ka-Zar's rise that the population of Pangea retreated back into their artificial stretch of land and the agents of various governments could finally infiltrate and create a base of operations.
"Yes," Henry replied, "We don't know much from the files, but... I think that this diplomatic mission is also something extremely important for the government. Although, they don't want to risk more agents and want to try and make use of us more. After all, we have eaten quite a bit from all the research funds we received from the government."
'Hmm, didn't know about this, so, the mission isn't going to be completed in a single day. Well, not that it truly matters and I might learn everything there is to Pangea in the mission itself.'
Now that Morgan had used the Time stone to bring an independent stream of time inside the Dream Core, Nik needed an active society to siphon off and add it within the dream core to form a civilization. His first target was Pangea itself. This civilization was remote, scientifically advanced, probably weaker than quite a few of his girls, and from the files, he found that most tribes were religious, something Nik could use.
"Oh, that's nice. At least, we will have a place to stay," Nik smiled and leaned back on the seat.
"Are you alright?" Sue inquired.
"Yeah, just feeling sleepy. The view outside is calming, after all," Nik tilted his head slightly to make it more comfortable before drifting into sleep. What the group wanted to discuss was not really his concern since they had already appointed him the task of being the back-up. And with the group itself only speculating about the tribes of Pangea, Nik found his time more useful by sleeping.
Although, his act of sleeping so casually did irk the others in the group since they only felt tensed the closer they grew to the island. After all, there were already two precedences of failed missions. The first being a barrier locking off quite a bit of agent and the second one being Tony going MIA.
---
"-ey—" A soft shake disturbed Nik's sleep. Not that he needed someone nudging him into awakening since the jet still hadn't landed. But Sue's pat against his cheek was a welcoming experience.
"Wake up. We're almost here, Nik," Sue stated softly as she shook Nik, making him groan as he opened his eyes. "I'm awake," he replied while sitting up straighter and wiping of the slightly dry mark on the corner of his lips.
Looking through the window, Nik found an icy white scape below and he turned back to look at Sue, his gaze going lower for a few moments, an action well within her observation but she still kept quiet.
"Will you be alright? I mean... it's probably going to be cold out there," Nik asked out.
"It's fine, the suit should be able to keep me warm... I will have to wear headgear, though. Although, it's only if we land on the outskirts of Antarctica. We have already made a few plans and contacts with the Pangeans while you were sleeping."
"Nice," Nik smiled as looked back, finding everyone else sleeping.
"Um... we should wake them up," Nik mumbled and looked towards Susan. "but before that, I should confess something."
"Yes?" Susan inquired.
"You remember when I brought you lunch to the building? That day... um, I'm pretty sure I felt something rubbing me. You know, there," Nik whispered as Susan furrowed, unable to comprehend what she might have to do with it.
"There's something I haven't told about my powers to others yet," Nik continued, "I can feel the flow of energies. It's helpful a few times and the thing rubbing me was a solidification of energy, although invisible to the naked eye, I could still feel it... coming from you."
"Please, I don't like jokes of this nature," Susan stated clearly but Nik only shrugged, "I'm just putting this out here since others cannot hear for the moment. But it's true. However, I don't think there's anything to be angry about. I feel flattered, for the most part."
His words only serving to confuse Susan further as she internally questioned herself. She was still getting a hang of her abilities. After all, her telekinetic abilities grow in both quality and quantity every day as if without any limits. However, Reed hypothesized that there would definitely be a limit. Johnny was similar to her. Although, he had a better control of his firepower than she had on her abilities at the moment.
"If it's true," Susan spoke after a moment, "then I apologize. It isn't the right thing to do to a child of your age."
"Well, if it's about right or wrong, then Maria has a better grasp on such stuff. After all, she really doesn't mind me," Nik smiled as Susan groaned. Despite the uncomfortable feeling creeping up inside her, she couldn't help but grow curious. If Nik wasn't uncomfortable talking about such stuff, Sue figured that she shouldn't beat herself up for nothing.
"You and Maria... really did... that?" She inquired as Nik looked a bit delighted and nodded. "Well, if you don't tell Maria, I'll let you on a little secret."
"Um, sure," Susan agreed hesitatingly.
"With Maria... I'm the one who has to do more work. But, I guess, she might be too exhausted after all the work, you know?"
"I see," Susan looked away, her heart pumping at a greater pace as she coughed softly in an attempt to regain her wits.
"But it is a surprise that she actually accepted such arrangements," Susan began, pondering why Maria would accept such a situation while Nik already knew the answer. Maria wanted intel on Nik, and was even rewarded with satisfying sessions.
"Who knows... maybe she fell for my looks. But she definitely returned for the satisfaction," Nik replied as Susan stopped herself from showing a strange expression.
"Anyway," Susan quickly changed the topic, unwilling to hear more about Nik's exploits, "I'm going to wake others. You should keep yourself in your symbiote form once we leave the jet. Unlike us who don't have much to fear with our identities exposed, you need to think about others if somehow your identity leaks. And the last thing I want is for that to happen in a mission where you're not the main focus."
"Alright," Nik nodded with a smile as Sue walked over to her brother.
As Nik continued to look out from the window, the jet was piloted away from the barrier restricted savage land and took a turn towards the south of Antarctica where Nik found an equally tropical area within the icy mountains.
"Beautiful, isn't it," a calm voice broke Nik's thoughts as he looked behind from the gaps of the seat, finding an equally amazed Janet watching through the window.
"Yes," Nik replied.
"Hey, how does it feel to be tiny?" Nik inquired. The shift, decrease, or increase in mass that the so-called Pym particles achieved was something amazing even for Nik.
"Amazing. You know, when I get smaller, I have more space to explore... makes you feel that the world became a bigger place," Janet smiled as she suddenly vanished. However, Nik could still feel something behind his seat, and accompanied with a slight buzzing sound, he caught a yellow dot from the corner of his eye.
*Fwip*
Once again, Janet *grew* up beside Nik.
Seeing her disappearing and reappearing next to his seat, Janet smiled as she saw the look on his face.
'Hmm... there are vibrations when she decreases her size. Is it because of the compression of her size? Anyway... this stuff is amazing,' Nik thought to himself. It would only need a few moments to see through the secrets behind such transformations and this made Nik feel a bit relaxed. Not to mention, he can always enter other's dreams for a better way of gathering information or simply control their mind.
"Surprised?" Janet grinned.
"A bit," Nik nodded as she stood up.
"I'm going to change into my costume. Not everyone has the convenience brought by a symbiote."
Unlike the fantastic four who remained in their blue outfits with a number 4 stuck to their torso, Henry and Jan didn't start the journey with their supposed outfits and as expected, within the next few minutes, Henry walked out of the cockpit and occupied the other room to change into his costume, too.
"She's interested in you," Johnny suddenly slumped next to Nik with Susan replacing Henry in the cockpit.
"Who? Susan?" Nik inquired with a smile.
"Uh," rolling his eyes, Johnny shook his head, "Not her, Janet. Although... I don't get why? Janet can have her pick from any group and even I'm here but she even ignored me."
"Maybe she lied about not having a boyfriend," Nik shrugged, "Henry and Janet seem close."
"Him?" Johnny scoffed, "That guy is the age of Janet's father. I don't know too much about these two, but I caught Reed and Fury discussing Pym. I think, Janet sought out Henry to fight someone, or something."
"Say... what about Kathy's sister you were talking about earlier?" Nik smiled, "You still haven't shown me the pictures."
"Oh, well, Susan didn't want me to show them, so I won't, I guess..." he touched his chin with a ponderous expression as Nik stared at the man with a surprised expression.
"Anyway, I was lying. If I really found Kathy's sister hot, I would have tried to hook my nephew up. Not you," he grinned.
"That's low," Nik sighed in remorse.
*Thck*
The jet trembled for a moment as Johnny perked up, "We've reached! Time to heat things up!"
