223 [Single? No More!] - Val's Back I

February 1983,

"Ughh..." Val groaned and slowly fluttered his eyes open. He squinted and slowly glanced around. Everything was hazy, but a faint bright light illuminated the place.

"Huh?" He glanced around after his eyes adjusted and realized that he was in his room in the mansion.

"What? What am I doing here? How did I get here? I crashed in the forest, didn't I?" He murmured to himself and stood up from his bed. He looked down and saw that he was wearing his everyday clothes.

However, there was something unusual: his clothes weren't torn, tattered, filthy, filled with grime and dirt and dried blood. His clothes were fresh and new, the same style, design, color, and scent he usually wore.

But what shocked him the most was that his body didn't feel sore, and there were no cuts or bruises, not even a scar.

'Wait!' He thought, 'How is my body all fine and healthy? I'm sure the Tesseract energy was attacking my body, slowly disintegrating. Hmm..'

He rubbed his chin as he thought, 'I was brought to the Realm Of Death by Yggdrasil and Mistress Death. So, it's possible that they helped me. No, I think Yggdrasil did not Mistress Death. I don't think she would've helped me. In fact, she would've preferred that I die since that way, she could have my soul in her realm and, moreover, since she's a sadistic pervert.'

Suddenly, he heard her voice in his head, 'Oh? So, you think I'm a sadistic pervert?'

His entire body shivered, and he instantly replied, 'Oh no! No! Absolutely not! I was merely joking! You are NOT a sadistic pervert. You are a beautiful and kind lady!'

He heard her giggle and say, 'Cute! I like to hear you praising me.'

He sighed and shook his head as he removed the blanket and stood up from the bed. He walked toward the door of his room, opened it, and walked outside. The bright sunlight was coming through the windows, lighting the entire hall.

It was so quiet that he could only hear the birds chirp, trees rustle, and the slight howls of the wind.

"Hmm? Where's everybody?" He murmured and walked down the hallways. He made his way toward the staircase and walked down.

When he reached the ground floor, he heard sounds from the living room and realized that somebody was watching T.V. He opened the door and saw Peggy watching a news report while sitting on a couch.

Instantly, a broad smile spread across his face, and he said, "Yo! Peggy!"

Val saw her body jerk slightly. Her shoulders trembled, but she didn't look back at him but watched the news report.

He sighed and walked forward to stand in front of her, blocking the view of the T.V. He saw her expressionless face and said, "Yo! It's me, sis! I'm back!"

This time, Peggy looked up at him and stared at him with a stoic face but didn't reply.

A few seconds passed in silence as Peggy stared at him with the same face. Of course, he knew what this meant.

So, he sighed and sincerely said, "Okay, Peggy. I know you're upset over what happened. I'll admit, I didn't anticipate such a reaction when I was building that armor. The previous test runs and simulation showed a completely different outcome."

He looked into her eyes and continued, "That's my fault and... I'm sorry."

Peggy kept staring at him for a few more seconds until she switched off the T.V. and placed the remote beside her.

She got up from the couch and walked toward him. She stood before him and raised her hand.

Val closed his eyes, expecting a slap from her, but...

"Sniff!"

He felt her hand softly caressing his cheeks, making him open his eyes only to see tears streaming down her cheeks.

"P-Peggy! I—" He tried to say something, only to be cut off by her as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"V-Va... V-Val!" She cried while wailing loudly.

Val said nothing since it was not the right time and merely hugged her back. He could feel her tears and body shaking in his arms. Her sobs echoed through the living room, and she continued crying for several minutes.

Gradually, she calmed down and said, "I've... endured so much... pain. The pain.. of hearing my true love... sink into the... ocean. The pain of seeing... my family... die. The pain of realizing... that my brother... isn't who I thought... he'd be. The pain of watching... my brother... turn into a criminal. The pain of watching.... my brother... kill himself. I've... endured it all. But... the pain of seeing you, the only family... left, slowly crumble away... to pieces. That... that is pure torture, Val. I can't... I just can't... handle it. It's... too much for me... to bear. It hurts... oh, how it does!"