The tea tasted terrible.
Eve discovered this approximately four seconds after taking the first sip and immediately regretted every life decision that had led her here.
“…Did you weaponize this on purpose?” she asked weakly.
Across the tiny kitchen counter, the mutant girl looked genuinely offended.
“I followed the instructions.”
“You followed violence.”
“That’s dramatic.”
Nyx contributed helpfully from inside Eve’s head:
“The liquid possesses hostile intent.”
“Thank you, Nyx.
Very constructive.”
“I am protecting our organs.”
Eve leaned against the counter, staring into the suspiciously dark cup in her hands like it had personally betrayed her.
The apartment was quieter than usual tonight.
Not silent.
Never silent.
The rain outside still tapped against the windows, distant traffic still vibrated faintly through the building, and Nyx’s presence remained coiled beneath her skin like living static.
But there was another rhythm now.
Another person breathing nearby.
The mutant girl sat cross-legged on Eve’s couch—the least destroyed piece of furniture available—with one sleeve rolled slightly up her arm.
Relaxed posture.
Sharp eyes.
Observing everything without looking obvious about it.
Eve was becoming painfully aware that she liked looking at her.
Which was inconvenient.
Nyx noticed immediately.
“You are staring again.”
“I am literally looking in her direction.”
“Your pulse increased by twelve percent.”
“Can you stop monitoring my organs like a government agency?”
“No.”
The girl glanced up from her tea.
“You’re doing the internal argument thing again.”
Eve nearly choked.
“…You can tell?”
“You make tiny facial expressions.”
Nyx sounded deeply unimpressed.
“Your stealth capabilities are catastrophic.”
“I survive just fine.”
“Statistically debatable.”
Eve ignored him aggressively.
The girl smiled faintly into her cup.
It was subtle.
But real.
And for some reason, that affected Eve more than any rooftop fight ever had.
Which was honestly unfair.
A moment later, the girl spoke again.
“You still haven’t asked my name.”
Eve blinked.
Then immediately wanted to throw herself out the window.
“Oh my god.”
Nyx observed:
“Social failure confirmed.”
“I KNOW.”
The girl actually laughed softly this time.
Not mocking.
Warm.
Eve felt her heartbeat betray her instantly.
“That bad, huh?” the girl asked.
“I’ve almost died like fourteen times this month,” Eve said.
“Apparently basic human interaction was the real final boss.”
Another laugh.
Nyx went quiet for a second.
Then:
“…That sound is pleasant.”
Eve froze internally.
“…Excuse me?”
“I am making an observation.”
“You’re complimenting her laugh.”
“I did not say that.”
“You literally—”
“I retract emotional interpretation.”
Eve pressed two fingers against her forehead.
“I’m trapped in my own body with the world’s most emotionally constipated eldritch creature.”
“Incorrect,” Nyx replied calmly.
“I understand emotions.”
“That is objectively false.”
“I understand that yours are inefficient.”
The girl watched Eve with open curiosity now.
“You know,” she said carefully, “most people would probably be more disturbed by the voice in their head.”
Eve snorted weakly.
“Oh, I was.
At first.”
“And now?”
Eve hesitated.
That answer felt dangerous.
Because the truth had changed recently.
At first, Nyx had been a parasite.
A weapon.
A survival mechanism wearing personality traits like stolen clothing.
Now?
Now she could feel him even when he wasn’t speaking.
Like another nervous system intertwined with hers.
Not separate anymore.
Connected.
That realization should have terrified her.
Instead—
“…Now it’s weird when he’s quiet,” she admitted softly.
Nyx didn’t respond.
But she felt the shift in him anyway.
Attention sharpening.
The girl noticed the silence too.
Then she asked quietly:
“What should I call him?”
Eve blinked.
Nyx answered before she could.
“Nyx.”
The room stilled instantly.
The girl’s eyes widened slightly.
“You can hear me?” she asked carefully.
“Yes.”
Her pulse spiked.
Eve noticed immediately.
Not fear.
Shock.
Fascination.
Nyx continued:
“You possess unusual neurological sensitivity.”
The girl stared directly at Eve now, though the conversation wasn’t entirely with her anymore.
“…That’s new,” she whispered.
Eve groaned.
“Congratulations.
You unlocked direct communication mode.
I’m so sorry.”
The girl looked strangely delighted by this development.
Which raised concerns.
“You’re handling this way too well,” Eve said.
“I grew up in New York,” the girl replied.
“This barely makes the top ten weirdest things I’ve experienced.”
“…Fair.”
Then—
Everything stopped.
Not physically.
The city still moved outside.
The rain still fell.
But inside Eve’s head, something violently twisted.
Nyx convulsed.
Not bodily.
Mentally.
A spike of pain detonated through Eve’s skull hard enough that she dropped the cup instantly.
Ceramic shattered across the floor.
The girl stood immediately.
“Eve?”
Nyx’s voice fractured.
“SIGNAL—”
The pain intensified.
Eve grabbed the counter before collapsing completely.
Her vision flickered black for half a second.
Then static.
Not metaphorical static.
Actual static.
White noise burned across her hearing.
Fragments of voices.
Unknown languages.
Sirens.
Screaming.
A city she didn’t recognize.
Then—
A symbol.
Red.
Cracked.
Gone instantly.
Nyx recoiled violently inside her.
“INTERFERENCE DETECTED.”
Eve gritted her teeth.
“What—what is happening?”
The apartment lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then every electronic device in the room died simultaneously.
The television snapped off.
The microwave display vanished.
Even the hallway light outside failed.
Darkness swallowed the apartment whole.
Outside the window—
The sky tore open.
Just for a second.
A line of blue-white distortion split the clouds above Manhattan like reality itself had been cut by something sharp.
The mutant girl stared upward instantly.
“…That’s not normal.”
Eve laughed weakly through the pain.
“In THIS city?!”
Nyx’s tone sharpened dangerously.
“Something is searching.”
The pressure inside Eve’s skull worsened.
Then suddenly—
Gone.
Silence crashed back into place.
The lights returned immediately afterward.
Traffic resumed.
Rain continued.
Like nothing had happened.
Except now Eve’s hands were shaking.
The girl crossed the room instantly.
“Hey.”
Her voice grounded something.
Eve looked up slowly.
The girl crouched beside her now, close enough that Eve could feel warmth radiating from her skin.
“What was that?” she asked softly.
Eve swallowed hard.
“I don’t know.”
Nyx answered at the same time.
“I do.”
Eve’s stomach tightened.
The girl noticed immediately.
“What?”
Nyx’s voice lowered.
“Someone found the signal.”
Outside—
Three blocks away—
Something landed on a rooftop without sound.
It wasn’t human.
At least not entirely.
Its body was smooth black metal segmented with glowing blue lines.
Thin limbs folded unnaturally as it scanned the city below with a rotating crimson sensor where a face should have been.
Then another landed nearby.
And another.
Silent.
Precise.
Watching.
One of them tilted its head suddenly.
Directly toward Eve’s apartment.
Inside its chassis, a mechanical pulse activated.
TARGET PROBABILITY UPDATED
ANOMALY RESONANCE CONFIRMED
MULTIVERSAL TRACE DETECTED
Elsewhere in Queens—
Spider-Man stopped mid-swing.
His spider-sense exploded across his nervous system so violently he almost missed the webline.
“What the hell—?”
He landed hard against the side of a building, mask turning toward Manhattan instantly.
The feeling wasn’t like Venom.
Not even close.
This was worse.
Because it felt unfamiliar.
And in Peter Parker’s experience, unfamiliar things in New York usually escalated into disasters with tax implications.
His suit AI beeped softly.
“Anomalous energy spike detected across multiple frequencies.”
Peter stared toward the skyline.
“…Yeah,” he muttered.
“I noticed.”
Then he moved.
Fast.
Back in the apartment, Eve finally stood again.
Barely.
The mutant girl still held her arm steady.
Eve became extremely aware of that.
Dangerously aware.
Nyx noticed too.
“You are focusing on irrelevant details during crisis conditions.”
“She’s literally holding me up.”
“Yes.”
“…You sound annoyed.”
“I am evaluating.”
“That is NOT better.”
The girl looked between them carefully.
“You said someone found you.”
Nyx corrected immediately.
“Not us.”
A pause.
Then:
“Me.”
Cold silence followed.
Eve’s heartbeat slowed slightly.
Not from calm.
From realization.
The girl’s expression sharpened.
“Who?”
Nyx hesitated.
Which almost never happened.
Then—
“I do not know.”
That frightened Eve more than if he had given an answer.
Because Nyx always knew something.
Even when pretending otherwise.
Another flicker passed across the window outside.
This time smaller.
But closer.
The mutant girl noticed it first.
Her eyes narrowed.
“We’re not alone.”
Nyx reacted instantly.
“Movement detected.”
Eve stepped toward the window carefully.
Then froze.
Something stood on the rooftop across the street.
Tall.
Mechanical.
Watching directly into her apartment.
Its red optic pulsed once.
Eve’s breath caught.
“…That’s new.”
The machine moved instantly.
Not attacking.
Scanning.
A beam of crimson light swept across the apartment window.
Nyx snarled inside her mind so suddenly the walls vibrated slightly.
“DO NOT LET IT MARK US.”
The machine’s head tilted sharply.
Then every light in the neighborhood exploded at once.
Darkness swallowed the block.
The creature vanished.
Eve transformed instinctively.
Black armor surged across her arms.
The girl stepped back slightly—not from fear, but readiness.
Nyx expanded beneath Eve’s skin like a living storm.
“HUNT RESPONSE DETECTED.”
Eve stared into the dark street below.
“What the hell WAS that?”
Then—
A voice echoed faintly from the rooftop across the street.
Distorted.
Artificial.
Not human.
“Signal acquired.”
A pause.
Then:
“Beginning convergence.”
The rooftop exploded outward.
Spider-Man crashed through the creature from above in a blur of red and blue.
Metal screamed.
Webbing snapped across the rooftop instantly.
“Okay!” Peter shouted.
“Officially tired of weird robot things showing up in my city!”
The machine retaliated immediately.
Its arm unfolded into a blade of vibrating blue energy.
Spider-Man barely dodged.
The rooftop split open behind him.
Eve stared through the rain-soaked darkness.
Nyx whispered:
“The hunter is not alone.”
And across New York—
More red lights opened in the dark.