Chapter 588 - My Single-Eyed Snake

Korea Street came to be within the City of New York due to the sudden craze of the said nation's traditions. In other words, the fashion trend. Beautiful boys singing in boy bands, rom-com flooding the western schedules and countless idols erupting from a single stage and spreading throughout the world. As Nik and Anna entered the premise of Korea street, their eyes were attracted to the slightly creepy masks of the most popular boyband— BS— hanging loosely through the glass of the shop. Not minding the spectacle, they both continued walking. Mary had begrudgingly agreed to meet up with the sudden plan and decided to drive by the location directly, making Nik and Ann take an uber for themselves.

"Hey, that guy's hot!" One of the pudgy girls within a group looked towards Nik walking alongside Ann and whispered to her mates softly. "Hey, let's ask him to join us... he must love Uyaa and others from the band," her face displaying a moderate blush as Nik gave the group a cursory glance before shaking his head. Charming they sure were but the large faces printed on their t-shirt and the eyes marking the area of their tits was slightly off-putting. Just slightly.

"Oof... I didn't think I'd ever judge someone's looks, but that is gross. Ahegao merchandise is far tasteful than this..." Ann muttered as Nik couldn't help but silently agree with her. Some of the eyes were really popping out and Nik couldn't appreciate it even if he wanted to. "Hey, um, do you want to hang out with us? We just came to the City to visit this street!" The woman exclaimed in excitement, making Nik and Ann question her decisions. "Where are you guys from?" Nik inquired with a curious expression. Instantly, the girl's expression brightened and she winked, "Dubai!"

"Ah..." Nik nodded in understanding. "Did you guys visit other landmarks?"

"This street is the only landmark we need to visit!" she replied triumphantly. At this point, both Nik and Ann looked at each other before Nik's voice chimed within Ann's head, "There is no way I am singing a Korean song now..."

"Understandable..." Ann replied with a slightly distressed expression as the duo escaped from the horny gazes of the women. The moment one of the girls commented that Nik could actually be a figure similar to k-pop artist and made Nik imagine his face in one of those t-shirts with his eyes marking the perimeters of someone else's a.r.e.o.l.as, he decided he had heard enough and didn't stay a second longer. Once they reached the karaoke place, they found Mary's car parked nearby, making Anna flip her phone out and call her mom.

---

Nik barely had the moment to chat with Cindy or Ava for that matter when he was pulled to another room by Natasha. "Hey, I thought we were singing together!" Nik muttered as he opened the door to the other room, knowing fully well about the presence within the second room, "I wanted to sing One-eyed python!" He spoke rather loudly, making Natasha roll her eyes as Nik entered and twitched his lips into a smile before grinning, "Maybe one-eyed mamba?" He spoke while gazing at Nick Fury, still wearing a dark trench coat while sitting on the pink-red couch. "Just get in," Natasha poked Nik's back, unwilling to shove him in forcefully and provide any kind of misunderstanding. It was Natasha's understanding that sometimes, the superhumans are pettier and fickle-minded than regular humans. Even though Nik hadn't shown such tendencies but there was no telling if Nik would interpret the meeting as an ambush or not.

"You wouldn't mind if I sing My Bad Baldie, would you?" Nik entered while inquiring Fury with a grin. He had more jokes. This is what he had prepared himself for. "Or the Grumbling Eye?" As he sat across Fury with the man staying calm the entire time, Nik thought for a moment and inquired, "Black Eyed Poke?"

"Alright," Nick coughed, "Just get on with your humor, Mr. Minion," the man waited until Natasha closed the door and took out a small chip and placed it on the table. "This is what we call anti-espionage tech. With this, others won't be able to hear us and I assure you that we aren't going to take a lot of your time." Nik nodded and looked forward to the explanation as Natasha sat beside him, her body tense, especially her calves. 'Is she... preparing for a surprise attack?' Nik thought of the possibility while Nick Fury took out a tablet from the suitcase beside him, "In reality, when it comes to superhumans like you, Mr. Minion, I like to provide information myself."

'Am I the only one or this Nick Fury... smells like metal and wires?' Nik inquired to his spirits and A.I. rhetorically while Nick continued, "There has been a situation in San Francisco." Fury opened the tablet as the screen projected the holographic feedback of a dark blob of slime-like substance, much like Asmodeus, latching onto a man who instantly shrieked in fear but the blob itself passed into the man's body before the person began moving erratically. His body twisting in pain before the video was cut off. "That man you witnessed was Agent Grim." Nick muttered, "In reality, Life Foundation, a company originated in San Francisco, discovered what you will call... alien lifeforms. Now, as you can see, these lifeforms have all killed any person they attached to without question and we would have sent our own team of superhumans but... all of them have a physical approach to the situation."

"And...?" Nik narrowed his eyes Nick tapped on the tab before the feedback of the 'invisible' actions of the new vigilante. "These videos point out that you might not just have physical qualities," Nick spoke in a cautious tone. None enjoyed their secrets getting exposed as Nik sighed. Instantly, Natasha prepared herself to dispatch Nik in the most non-lethal manner since both, Nick and Nat, misinterpreted Nik's action as his frustration. 'It's a good thing that they noticed it. I mean... just how much time does it take for them to get suspicious of me? Now, I wonder what they'll actually attribute me to be? Relatively physically weak and some sort of telekinetic or something else,' Nik thought internally when his gaze fell on the tiniest golden glimmer in the direction Nik used his spatial cut and furrowed his brows. He let the video play for a little longer and Nik noticed that whenever he used his spatial cut, a golden glimmer would blink away without exception. While Nick might think it was his own ability, the two-eyed Nik knew that it wasn't.

"I think Mary told you about herself and..."

"Yeah, I know you're a spy from the first time we met," Nik muttered and gave her a serious look, "But I would appreciate if you just swing by whenever Mary, Ann, and I spend time together, since you love doing so for the past month now, right?" His words instantly silenced the redhead in a loose top and black pants as she crossed her arms and shifted uncomfortably while Nik gazed back at Nick, who seemed visibly confused but the man tried to hide his thoughts, if he had any, from Nik, in failure. "Yeah, that was me," Nik nodded as he smiled, predicting Fury's next question as the feedback turned static and revealed once again with the rapist in the video vanished.

"Then where are the bodies?"

"I fed them to the hungry," Nik stated honestly, widening the gazes of the two in the room. Most of Nik's action had been under 'public' attention until he needed to feed Ignit, then, he would disable the cameras around him and create a spatial lock, a variant of the grinder, where Nik didn't cut flesh and other solid objects but invisible waves of energy to stop the connection of the local devices with any form of spying connections. "Is there anything else?" Nik inquired as Nat spoke up with a scoff, "You just admitted to murder, kid. That's some serious stuff."

"And I should believe that both of you are saints?" Nik grinned, his eyes narrowing as both of them felt stifled while Nik interacted with Nick Fury's body and began to understand the situation. 'One android and... Woah, Nat is a superhuman, too? Let's see, damage to the reproductive system, too,' Nik could glean the major information just by the slightest interaction of his energy and since the neutral energy did not have any attribute, smell, or visuals, the contact and usage were without the knowledge of the duo. "You want my help, correct?" Nik inquired as he leaned back, unwilling to admit that he had led Nick and S.H.I.E.L.D to him out of not having anything else to do during the vacation and who knew, he might find something of value in this organization after all.

"Yes, we do," Nick nodded.

"Then where's your gratefulness. I haven't even asked for payment and you're pinning blames on me? I am an immature kid... I might just get angry," If Nik's words didn't imply the threat he posed at the moment, then his physically shimmering violet pupils did as Nat almost lost her breath while Fury didn't need to breathe.

---

"Well, then." Nik turned and smiled at Nick Fury, "I'll wait for the pickup tomorrow afternoon. Our deal will remain intact, right?" Nik confirmed as Fury nodded with his eye closing in rest. The moment Nik closed the door, Natasha jumped onto defend herself as she hissed, "I wasn't spying on them!" She said hurriedly, "Just you." She quickly walked up to the next door before Nik could open it and eyed him seriously. "Just promise me you won't tell Mary or Anna anything!" She pleaded while biting her lips, as Nik tilted his head sideways, "Have I exposed you until now, Aunt Nat?" Hearing his inquiry alongside the hottest whisper to her cheek ever, Natasha gulped and mechanically shook her head. "Just like I said, it would be more fun if you want to watch us directly. I mean, of course, you'll be the one asking for permission from Mary... but from the only things she told me about you, which were more s.e.x.u.a.l than a horny dog finding a mate, I am sure, Mary would understand. Now, just keep your promise. Pick Anna up every evening and drop her off until I return."

Suddenly, Nik leaned forward, cornering Natasha and dodging an instinctual knee towards his crotch before opening the door behind her. "Huh?" Natasha's lips twitched as she fell while Nik stepped forward and—

"Aaaaghhhaaaahaaaaa!" As Ann and Cindy sang the cursed chorus, Asmodeus and Pure instantly shrieked within Nik's mind, "Oh! They are singing it! Stahp them!"

"Hey," Nik waved at them with a smile as he closed the door with Cindy and Anna waving towards him instantly. Looking at Nat standing up with a scowl, he muttered softly, "Hey, next time you try to kick my crotch... I'll do the same thing, well, probably..." He then walked towards Anna and sat beside her while looking at the two girls singing. Most probably, Ann's craze for korean songs had subsided quite a bit after seeing the group of girls. With the girls now actually knowing about each other's possible identities without speaking of it explicitly, they had a great time for the afternoon before Mary had to leave for the reports once again and Ava leaving with Cindy and Natasha. In fact, both Ava and Cindy seemed to be on edge to state something but whenever they gazed towards Ann's direction, they stopped themselves.

For the rest of the day, Nik didn't utilize his time as he would normally do. Instead, he tried to pry open the space quite a lot but every time he did, Nik felt a slight change. A form of resistance that he had never felt before accompanist by a fierce, golden glow that continued to repair the fractures which Nik continued to introduce. Stopping now when he has a chance instead of stepping over the line of a strange entity that caused this phenomenon, Nik finally decided to rest. He would be gone for almost a week, three days, if he worked quickly, and then, he'll get what he needs from S.H.I.E.L.D. The next morning, as Nik packed his clothes within the Dream Core and kissed both, Mary and Ann, goodbye, he found a black sedan pulling in front of the entrance of the building.

Finally, as he left the apartment, he instantly heard Ann's voice m.o.a.ning inside his head. "Aah~ I am already missing you!" She emphasized with the visual message of one of the times when she would mischievously present herself with legs spread apart." Pursing his lips, Nik sent a few images of his own and left with a tearful farewell. "Ah, my sweetheart. May we meet again!"

"It's just a week!" Mary's voice echoes blandly.

As Nik smirked and opened the door, he was finally surprised. After all, he hadn't paid attention to the vehicle himself, a mistake that he would keep in mind from now on. But still, he enjoyed the pleasant surprise nonetheless.