X-Force: Beyond Omega
Ch: 166 [Death v2]

[Later – Death's Realm]

The skies in Death's realm never changed. Always that eternal twilight, soft, violet-black skies swirling like quiet silk across the infinite. Silent. Cold. Eternal.

Until the moment Aron arrived.

Space bent open with a lazy ripple of gold and obsidian. He stepped through the breach with both hands in his coat pockets, boots crunching softly on polished bone tiles. 

He barely took one step when...

WHAM.

A blur of black and silver crashed into him, wrapping around his torso like a bolt of gravity-laced satin.

Lady Death.

She jumped into his arms, legs wrapped around his waist, arms locked around his neck. Her lips found his without hesitation... cool, soft, but hungry. She kissed like eternity had just ended, and he was the only thing left worth tasting.

He didn't pull away.

Didn't even pretend to be surprised.

"Missed me?" he said against her lips, his voice muffled by her greedy, slow movements. His hands were already grabbing her butt cheeks.

"You have no idea. The concept of time is different here," she whispered, running her fingers through his silver hair. "You take too long. Again."

He walked them forward, not bothering to use magic, just carrying her like she weighed nothing. "I had to deal with some snowboarding maniacs, a psychic snowball war, and a golden retriever who invented telepathic dodgeball... And my girls. Earth's been... hectic."

Lady Death smirked, eyes glowing like moonlit glass. She finally pulled back, her gaze playful, but with that ever-present undercurrent of menace. "Well, you're here now. So…" She trailed a finger down his chest. "What did you come for this time, my immortal flame?"

Aron set her down gently and stepped back, his face shifting into something more serious. "Information. I sensed it days ago. The universe shifted. That hungry bastard is coming."

Lady Death's expression sobered as well. She waved her hand, and the throne room shifted... walls fading away, revealing a vast cosmic map laid out across the void like a living web of stars. One pulse glowed red. A massive dot of energy.

She pointed to it.

"Galactus," she said. "And his new Herald. She's strong. Starborn. Reforged in his image. They'll reach Earth in less than three months."

Aron folded his arms. "I figured. That's why I'm here."

Death's smile widened again. "Let me guess. You want my insight. A vision. A hint about whether you should kill him or not."

"Yes and no," Aron said. "I already know I can kill him. That's not the issue." 

She raised a brow. "Then what?"

"If I do," Aron said, turning toward the map, "the balance collapses. You know what happens when Galactus dies. He's the balance keeper. A terrifying, cosmic firewall. There are things out there that only stay in hiding because they're afraid of him."

Lady Death's eyes gleamed. "Yes. And if he falls… they rise."

"Exactly," Aron nodded. "The moment I put him down, they'll crawl out of the void like worms toward a dying flame. Earth will become the buffet table of every multiversal parasite out there. The price of killing Galactus is chaos. Unending. I've seen the future and it ain't looking that good, and I don't want to reset everything. Too much work."

She circled him slowly now, like a panther. "So… don't kill him."

Aron looked over his shoulder. "Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?"

She stopped behind him. "Yes. Break him."

A pause.

Lady Death's lips curled into something dangerously beautiful. "Don't destroy. Dominate. Don't burn the tower... climb it, and claim the throne at the top."

She stepped close again, fingers brushing the collar of his jacket.

"Bitch-slap him, my love."

He blinked. "What?"

She looked dead serious. "You heard me. Slap him. Trample him. Show him what real power looks like. Show him your true power. Then make him your cosmic lapdog."

Aron stared.

Lady Death continued without missing a beat. "Let him destroy the threats crawling toward Earth. Let him devour the monsters in the dark. Give him your targets. Your conditions. And while the rest of the cosmos is watching him purge your enemies…"

She leaned in again, lips grazing his ear.

"…you'll finally have peace."

Her hand slid down his chest.

"And more importantly, you'll finally have time…"

She grabbed him.

"…to fuck me properly."

Aron choked on a laugh. "Oh my god..."

"You promised me ten uninterrupted nights," she purred. "You've only delivered three. Three. And one was cut short because Jubilee started a glitter-powered reality loop with your dog."

"I did say sorry about that."

"Not sorry enough," Death growled.

Aron exhaled. "So what, you want me to tame Galactus just to get a week off?"

Lady Death smiled darkly. "I want you to tame the cosmos so you can ravage me."

"...I am so printing that on a T-shirt."

Lady Death stepped back and summoned a silver goblet filled with flickering cosmic fire. She sipped it like wine. "You hold the power now. All of it. Phoenix, Death, Infinity Stones, and much more... Your real power of absorption. You've ascended past godhood."

"I'm aware."

"Then act like it. Conquer Galactus. Enslave his Herald. Rewrite the rules."

Aron cracked his neck. "Alright. One bitch-slap, coming up."

She smirked.

"You're finally learning."

The swirling cosmic map faded as Lady Death sipped from her silver goblet, lounging lazily atop her bone-laced throne. Her legs were draped across the armrest, her crown tilted slightly like royalty on vacation, if royalty commanded the very essence of mortality itself.

Aron stood nearby, arms crossed, still mulling over her words.

Bitch-slap Galactus?

Yeah, that was happening. But there was something else on his mind.

Something that had been needling at him for a while now.

He turned toward her. "Hey."

Lady Death looked up lazily from her drink, lips already forming a smirk. "Mmm?"

"You ever… wanna get out of here?" he asked casually. "I mean, take a break. See a sun that isn't stuck in permanent eclipse?"

She arched a perfect brow. "Aron. I am Death."

"Yeah, but you're also you," he said, walking toward her, eyes locked onto hers. "You ever get tired of this place? Same sky. Same eternal silence. Same screaming souls falling into the Well of Endings."

She gave a soft chuckle. "Those screams are very soothing to me."

"I know." He smirked. "But even the queen of the quiet deserves some noise. Some fun. You wanna come with me? Not for war. Not for power. Just… for you."

Lady Death blinked.

And for the first time in a long, long time, hesitation flickered across her face.

"You know I can't leave," she said, softer now. "I am this realm. Without me, the balance collapses. Every universe would spiral into unchecked life, no decay, no death, no rebirth. The multiverse would become bloated. Broken."

Aron nodded slowly. "I figured you'd say that."

Then he cracked his knuckles.

"Good thing I have omnipresence now."

Lady Death tilted her head. "What are you plotting?"

"Simple," Aron said, raising his palm. Power sparked, soft at first, then swelling. "I'll create a version of you. A fragment of your will, perfectly synced to this realm, encoded into the roots of your throne."

He turned and gestured toward the seat of her dominion. "It'll hold your presence. Speak with your voice. Reap the souls. Maintain balance."

"You want to create... a Death substitute?" she said with a smirk. "Like a magical assistant?"

He nodded. "Yup. Think of her as your cosmic intern."

She stared at him.

Then grinned.

"A death intern."

Aron's smirk matched hers. "She won't look like you. Or feel like you. But she'll be you. Just enough to keep the cosmos from melting down while you… take a well-earned break."

Lady Death stepped down from her throne slowly, circling him like a predator trying to decide whether to pounce or purr.

"You'd do that? Bend reality just to take me out on a walk in the sun?"

"No," he said. "I'd do it so you can walk beside me. Anywhere. Any realm. Any time. Not as a prisoner of your duty, but as someone who deserves a life too."

A pause.

Then she asked softly, "You really want me with you?"

He reached out, brushing a strand of her black-silver hair behind her ear. "Every version of me, in every timeline, does. Unless they are stupid or retarded."

She didn't reply immediately. But the glow in her eyes flickered.

Then...

She nodded once.

"Make your intern."

Aron stepped forward, raising both hands.

A surge of energy spiraled from his palms, twisting threads of time, death, and metaphysical law weaving together in the air. They spun around her throne like a cocoon of stardust, latching onto its roots, its foundation, its soul.

With a burst of obsidian flame, a figure began to form.

She wasn't Lady Death, but she shimmered with the same aura, moved with the same grace. Her face was blank, her eyes endless. 

"I'll call her... Death V2," Aron said with a grin. 

Lady Death stepped closer to the figure. "It's… perfect."

Then she looked at Aron.

And for once, there was no playfulness in her voice. Just something raw. Real.

"Thank you."

Well, things were going perfectly when that guy with three heads, from the upper realm, appeared before them.

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