POV Rio
I inspect the reports on the progress of Project Harmony. It was nearing completion, thanks in large part to the massive robot army and, most importantly, the Constructors, which made building things vastly quicker. It also helped that I had created a massive amount of magic clones, this time a technically improved model from a certain point of view. I basically just recreated the element jutsu clones from Naruto. They are as fragile as paper, don't transfer any memories upon destruction, and don't last as long as I'd prefer, but they don't take up any mental energy to maintain, still keep some of my powers depending on how much mana I give them, and have a decent portion of my intelligence.
But even with these preparations, I felt some sense of unease. I knew something was coming. Thanos was up to something. Even without the prophecy from Queen Hippolyta, I would still be able to sense something. The Force made that clear to me even now. Hell, I've gotten a Force Vision of something yet to come. Though the vision, as always, was unclear.
I saw an endless show of fireworks or explosions lighting up the sky. Of a star destroying itself. Then there were the screams. As if millions of creatures all screamed out in fear and were suddenly silenced. And yet for the life of me, I cannot see what it is that causes all this death. Nor who the real target is. It's as if I'm being pulled in multiple directions; many need help, but I can't see their faces.
I am knocked out of my contemplation by the feeling of someone poking my cheek. I open my eyes and see Mal0 standing next to me.
"You doing alright? You looked tormented," Mal0 says with genuine care.
"Sigh. Beware of prophecies; they are rarely what you expect," I say with a tired tone.
"I can come back later if you are busy," Mal0 says nervously.
I found it a bit odd that she was nervous. She was also wearing the clothes I made for her, which was nice.
"No, I'm not that busy. Please tell me what brings you here," I say with a slowly relaxing smile.
"W-Well, um, you see... I," Mal0 says with a nervous fidgeting while stumbling around her words.
I give her time to find her words.
"I wanted to thank you!" Mal0 finally blurts out.
I tilt my head in confusion.
"Thank me for what?" I ask without concealing my confusion.
"For helping me escape that facility. And for not holding it against me for tricking you a bit. And for letting me stay after the curse was lifted," Mal0 replies.
'Oh yeah.'
I don't let it show that I totally forgot about the cursed connection or how it was severed when I assimilated the Infinity Stones. When it happened back then, it was a shock to me and even more so to Mal0, as apparently it didn't just sever the connection but erased the curse altogether. Mal0 no longer needed a host and could also travel wherever she pleased. She could also interact with most forms of technology, not physically, but she could sort of make herself visible to others by using her technopathy.
"You could have kicked me out, and you sure as the hell didn't need to help me out by making those enchanted clothes," Mal0 says while gesturing to the clothes she was wearing.
The clothes were magically enchanted to be able to be worn by Mal0, and beyond that it made her tangible and able to interact with the world.
"It was a birthday present and needs no extra thanks," I say with a shrug.
Her birthday was October 31st, which passed a couple of weeks ago. I got a neat template back then, but that was for another time; right now I had a wolf/skeleton/digimon to deal with.
'Wait, is she a Digimon?'
I wanted to say no, but it sort of fit. She was partially digital, and if you squinted, she lived in a digital world.
"It might have been a birthday gift, but you have given me something I always wanted. To be able to touch things," Mal0 says, returning me to the current conversation.
I wisely kept out the fact that the gift was sort of for me. She now had to wear clothes if she wanted to touch things other than me. It also made her more controllable. I still haven't managed to find a way to make her visible, though, but at least her clothes are visible.
"Well, I appreciate your appreciation," I say with a warm smile.
"Yeah, well, um... Now I have to ask something that may sound crazy, but I want you to wait until I am done," Mal0 says nervously.
"Sure," I say, but ready to flee if she tries anything.
"I-I-I I love you! Will you be my boyfriend!?" Mal0 squeals out.
My brain comes to a crashing halt and has to reboot as that statement confounds me.
"Huh?" I say dumbly.
"I'm not asking this randomly; I have been thinking about this for a while. And no, this isn't just cause you were the first person to be able to touch me. It was sort of love at first sight, but not fully. Your eyes. They are what truly made me feel... Real. When you saw me with your real body, not that rabbit, I saw how calmly you looked at me. There was no fear, no judgement, no disgust, just kindness; heck, you avoided looking at me to preserve my dignity! Who the hell does that in that situation!?" Mal0 yells.
"You were naked," I comment automatically.
"Yes! But why was that the first and only thing that worried you!? I can think of a dozen other reasons to worry about me, none of which have to do with my lack of clothing. When you did look at me, you tried to look into my eyes. That was the first time someone had done that and not flinched away. And that made me feel like I wasn't a monster. When I came here, you didn't treat me poorly, even when I was being a pervert. You could have definitely made my life miserable, but you didn't; you would complain about my lack of clothes, but never bother trying to do anything about it. You would bring me to the North Pole so I could eat whenever I wanted. And not once did you ask for anything in return; you just did it to make me more comfortable," Mal0 says with a smile.
'At least she admits she was being a pervert.'
"I'll admit, I still don't fully get you. You make me feel so special, but you don't even try to do it on purpose. It's just how you are. At first I didn't want to come between you and Lucy. You two love each other so much, and I felt wrong just thinking about confessing. So I buried my feelings the best I could. But then, well, Lucy found me... Uh... Let's just say she found me and we started talking. And eventually I admitted my feelings to her, and she took a while to accept them," Mal0 comments with a massive blush.
"But when I did, I told her to confess to you," Lucy says while walking into my office.
"What?" I say with shock.
"Look, I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do. I know you aren't the type to want to sleep around, as they call it, but I had to at least tell you how I feel," Mal0 speaks up.
"And you want me to do what exactly?" I ask Lucy.
"Date her," Lucy says seriously.
"Huh? Is this a really odd way of you saying we are breaking up?" I ask with some worry and a hurt look on my face.
Lucy hugs me.
"NO! Not at all! Mal0 and I are friends, and I can tell she loves you in the right way. And while I admit I have been looking for people that might be able to give you a child for a while, and Mal0 really doesn't fit that, her feelings are true, and I want her to be happy. But I'm not leaving you. And I never will," Lucy says strongly.
"Lucy..." I say with a warm tone.
"I-I know I probably can't bear you a child. Our species are just too different. Not to mention the cure likely made me infertile. But I don't want you to lose out on having a child. And honestly, given we don't even know what Mal0 is, I can't say if she is compatible genetically or not. But she loves you almost as much as I do," Lucy comments while avoiding eye contact.
I hug more tightly.
"Of course, cause nobody loves me more than you. Well... Actually, my mom might love me more, but that is in a different way," I joke.
"So..." Mal0 says awkwardly from the side.
I look at her and sigh.
"Fine. We can try it out. But like I said to Lucy when we first started dating, we are taking things slowly. As long as Lucy is fine with it, we can start dating," I say after some thought.
"YESSSSS!!! You won't regret this!" Mal0 says while picking us both up and twirling around.
"Just to make myself clear, you cannot start dating just anyone; they must go through me first. Understood," Lucy says menacingly.
I nod rapidly.
"Good. And you are forbidden from dating Lara Croft," Lucy says jealously.
I smile and nod firmly.
"Got it. I don't see myself dating anyone else anyway, but we shall see what the future holds," I say while kissing Lucy.
That turns out to be a mistake as she stares at me hungrily.
"Mal0," Lucy says calmly.
"Yeah?" Mal0 responds.
"Leave," Lucy orders.
Mal0 doesn't even get to respond before she is picked up by Lucy's vectors and taken to some parts unknown.
"Uh, you know I just realized I think I have some more paperwork to do," I say nervously.
Lucy approaches my ears and whispers.
"Take off your clothes," Lucy says huskily.
I have a shiver down my spine and goosebumps across my skin before getting dragged to my bedroom with a very excited Lucy.