Chapter 427: Moving Hell's Kitchen into a Dimension
Ethan had called out the template souls partly to put them in their place.
To make sure they knew whose turf this was.
The template cards still had one drawback. Not every template's soul body was easy to get along with.
Nor were they all willing to play supporting role to someone else. Kingpin's Frieza, for one, had no interest in helping Kingpin.
Every day he was egging Kingpin on to hand over his body, to go destroy the world.
And there were a few other villains like Frieza among them.
Tobey-Peter was still wondering who Master was calling out, looking all around.
The superheroes who had template cards just smiled.
Quicksilver's template, Enel, appeared in his signature provocative pose. Bare-chested, his muscles as perfect as a sculpture's, he sat cross-legged in midair, lazily munching an apple. His sharp eyes seemed able to see through any disguise, straight into a person's heart.
His fascination with Ethan wasn't just a resonance of power. It was also a hunger and excitement for unknown challenges.
Over on the other side, the comedy-duo face-off between Deadpool and his template, Hidan, drove the room wild.
They traded barbs back and forth, sparks flying. Hidan even swore he'd stake Deadpool's life and offer him up to his dark god, drawing roars of laughter from everyone watching. Who'd have guessed the motormouth Deadpool would one day get out-mouthed?
By contrast, Daredevil's template, Tōsen, and Master Ip's template, Fujitora Issho, stood quietly to one side like two sages.
Though they couldn't see Ethan's physical form, they could feel a resonance and respect from the depths of the soul. So they offered him their deepest esteem in the simplest way: a nod.
What surprised Ethan a little was that the soul of Wanda's template, Syndra, the Dark Sovereign, didn't appear.
Inside, Wanda was asking, "Big Sis, what do we do?"
"What can we do? Nothing. I'm sure your little lover won't blame you. After all, I'm way more useful than that Syndra or whoever!" the Chaos Goddess snorted.
She, the mighty Chaos Goddess, lowering herself to live inside a human's soul was humiliating enough. How could she possibly allow another soul body to share the space with her?
So the moment Syndra's soul emerged, the Chaos Goddess Wanda had casually crushed that little soul to death.
Wanda didn't argue. Compared to any other soul, she trusted her own variant more.
So she just looked at Ethan and shook her head.
Ethan didn't mind much. He wasn't going to interfere with what each person wanted.
He went on observing the other template souls.
Gambit's template, Twisted Fate, the Card Master, saluted Ethan with an elegant tip of his hat. With all that ease and confidence, the Card Master had the air of a slick fortune-teller.
On either side of the chessboard, Professor X's and Magneto's templates, Dumbledore and Grindelwald, stood like two ancient guardians, one in black, one in white, in stark contrast.
They didn't look at Ethan at all. They gazed deeply at each other, as if through that silent exchange they were conveying an understanding and a rivalry beyond words.
The air was thick with a tense, subtle atmosphere, every emotion quietly brewing in that locked gaze.
What surprised Ethan was that Dumbledore hadn't appeared as an old man, but in his middle-aged form.
Then the gathering reached its peak. The appearance of Doc Ock's Machine Herald and Strange's Rune Mage, Ryze, was like two brilliant stars streaking across the night sky, instantly seizing everyone's attention.
The Machine Herald brought with him a forest of steel built from precision gears and cold metal, every detail radiating technology's cold power.
Ryze, the Rune Mage, led everyone into a fantastical world of magic, brilliant runes dancing in the air, weaving one dazzling dream after another.
Two utterly different worlds met in that moment and collided in a blaze of light, showing everyone the boundless creativity and possibility behind the template cards.
"Wow, wow, wow!" Harry couldn't stop exclaiming, his eyes shining with longing and envy. "That's way too cool! I want a template card like that too!" The new mutant members and scientists around him chimed in, faces full of fervent desire for that kind of power.
Tony Stark, titan of the tech world, couldn't contain his curiosity either. He tried to get closer to the soul bodies for a better look.
"The Soul Stone can be used like this? Unbelievable. I'd love to take it back and study it properly." His words were full of a scientist's persistence and hunger to explore.
In the middle of all the noise, Bullseye, standing behind Kingpin, stood out.
He was like a forgotten corner, staring at Ethan with a resentful, wounded look. His eyes held both frustration and hope, as if silently asking, When is it going to be my turn to get power like that?
"All right, all right." Ethan clapped his hands, signaling everyone to stop gawking at the soul bodies like monkeys in a zoo.
"Then, I'm counting on all of you to look after my companions! I'm Ethan. If I ever get the chance, I'll give you all a second life."
With that, Ethan bowed deeply to the template souls, full of respect and gratitude.
Everyone there, mutants, scientists and superheroes alike, was moved by his sincerity. They followed his lead and paid their highest respects to these soul bodies, each carrying countless stories and dreams.
And the template souls seemed to feel that warmth and respect too. Each responded in its own way and gave its own promise.
"Lady Luck is smiling!"
"If only I could open my eyes."
"Well, this god would still like to see this world's Endless Varse."
"This time, someone will keep loving you, Dumbledore."
"Drive all the evil in the world away like dark clouds."
...
As the souls suddenly vanished, the superheroes seemed a little wistful.
"Why do they seem more like superheroes than we do..."
"Come on. One day you'll all surpass them. Now, on to the next item," Ethan said reassuringly.
"What is it?"
Everyone in the restaurant was dying to know what important matter had brought Ethan back.
"Next, I'm going to move all of Hell's Kitchen into my dimension." Ethan dropped a bombshell.
The one who reacted most strongly was Strange, since he was the only one in the room who truly understood dimensions.
"What? Are you sure?"
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