Terror outside the door, the yanderes' self-reflection

The main light in the bedroom was off.

Only a floor lamp in the corner cast a dim, yellowish light. Lynn casually tossed his jacket, stained with the smell of gunpowder and blood, onto the sofa. The cool touch of the leather sofa seeped through his thin shirt onto his back, causing his tense muscles to relax slightly.

He walked to the bar, tossed two ice cubes into a glass, and poured half a glass of Bourbon Whiskey.

Ice cubes collided against the glass.

Crisp.

There was no sound outside the door. An ordinary person standing here would simply assume the corridor was empty. But Lynn was different. After fusing the Super-Soldier Serum and the Spider Physiology, his senses were amplified to a terrifying degree. Coupled with the Chaos Magic flowing within him, he could clearly perceive the energy fluctuations just a wall away.

The four energies, which were originally capable of destroying the world, were now all tightly compressed within their respective owners' bodies, not daring to leak out even a fraction.

Four breaths mingled together.

Rapid, suppressed, and with a noticeable tremor.

Lynn, holding a wine glass, walked to the Holographic Projection Device by the bedside. She lightly tapped the Virtual Keyboard, bringing up the hallway surveillance footage.

The faint blue light illuminated his pupils.

In the scene, four top-tier combatants who had just been destroying the neighborhood and treating human life like dirt are now huddled outside his door like four stray dogs that have been soaked in the rain.

Wanda huddled right in the middle of the doorway. She hugged her knees, burying her face in them. Her dark red leather coat was covered in dust, and her usual haughty queenly aura was completely gone. Lynn could hear her trying hard to suppress her sobs.

The death in the Sokovia Ruins was a thorn that could never be removed from her soul. She crossed reality to find him, thinking that as long as she imprisoned him with absolute power, she could possess him forever. But Lynn's cold gaze just now pierced through her bottom line.

"I made him angry..." Wanda's voice was soft, with a thick nasal tone, "I shouldn't have lost my temper... I almost blew this place up..."

She gripped the carpet fur tightly with one hand, so hard that blood seeped from the edges of her nails. The raging, Chaos Magic was now firmly suppressed within her, not daring to let even a sliver of its red light leak out.

She was afraid. Afraid that if she lost control even slightly, the man inside the door would disappear from her sight again, just like in the simulation. And this time, she was the one who forced him away.

Susan leaned against the wall on the left side of the corridor. Her blonde hair was disheveled and clung to her cheeks, and her eyes were red-rimmed. She didn't cry out, but her eyes were terrifyingly empty.

After being abandoned by Reed, Lynn became her only source of emotional support in the world. She thought that by offering up the Baxter Building and Negative Zone energy, demonstrating absolute technological superiority, she could win Lynn's favor.

"Efficiency... cooperation..." Susan repeated Lynn's reprimands nervously.

Her pride in her rationality and high intelligence shattered before Lynn's cold gaze.

"I was so selfish... I only thought about showing off. He hates self-righteous women." Susan buried her head in her arms. Her once-proud Force Field vanished completely. It was a sign of extreme insecurity, but she dared not set up defenses outside Lynn's door. This was Lynn's territory. She dared not offer even the slightest resistance, for fear of being seen as a challenge to the throne.

On the ceiling, Gwen Stacy clung to the Load-Bearing Beam like a startled gecko. Her white hood had slipped down, revealing her innocent face. She was biting her thumb nail so hard that the skin broke and blood seeped out, but she didn't even notice.

The sense of rejection from traversing the Multiverse still lingered, and if Lynn hadn't forcibly anchored her to this world, she would have long since turned into Quantum Fragments. The older man was her whole world.

"The old man scolded me." Gwen Stacy's tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto the carpet. "I've become his trouble. I'm a knife, and a knife can't have its own thoughts... I shouldn't have stolen Wanda's prey. If the old man doesn't want me anymore, where should I go?"

At the end of the corridor, Natasha sat on the floor.

She held the High-Frequency Vibration Gun in her hand, mechanically disassembling and reassembling it. The metal parts clanged together with a soft, clattering sound. But her hands, which were usually as steady as a mountain, were now trembling uncontrollably.

Click.

The magazine fell to the ground.

Natasha didn't pick it up. She took a deep breath and buried her face in her hands. As a top agent, she was best at understanding people's hearts. But tonight, her cleverness backfired. Memories of the rainy night in Budapest surged wildly in her mind, and that unforgettable instinct of loyalty made her feel an extreme fear of Lynn's loathing.

"I crossed the line," Natasha murmured. "I shouldn't have provoked them. The boss doesn't need a self-righteous troublemaker. He needs absolute obedience."

Lynn leaned against the bar and took a sip of whiskey. The spicy liquid burned down his throat and into his stomach, dispelling the weariness deep within him.

He looked at the four women on the screen, a cold smile playing on his lips.

That's right.

He doesn't need a harmonious harem. Any one of these four women could destroy a city. If he indulges them, their possessiveness will swell infinitely, eventually tearing him to pieces.

The only way to deal with Yandere is to be more ruthless and domineering than them.

Shatter their self-esteem.

Trample their pride underfoot.

Their competition shifted from "who can have Lynn all to themselves" to "who can avoid being abandoned by Lynn."

Only by making them fear gain and loss can they completely lower their noble heads.

In the surveillance footage, the oppressive atmosphere outside the door was broken by a sigh.

Susan turned her head and looked at Wanda, who was cowering by the door. Normally, she would definitely take the opportunity to make a sarcastic remark, but now, she didn't even have the energy to argue.

"We messed up." Susan's voice was terribly hoarse, as if it had been sanded on. "He doesn't even want to look at us now. If he tells us to get out first thing tomorrow morning, we won't even have the right to resist."

Wanda looked up, her eyes swollen like peaches. She didn't argue, but just stared intently at the tightly closed Solid Wood Door.

"If I hadn't detonated that machine... if I had listened to him..." Wanda's voice trembled uncontrollably, "I can't lose him. No one can take him away from me. But just now... I almost pushed him away with my own hands."

"It's no use." Natasha walked down the corridor, leaned against the wall, her face pale. "The boss sees through us all. We're all vying for his favor, not putting him first at all. He doesn't need a bunch of crazy women who could blow up his Headquarters at any moment."

Gwen Stacy flipped down from the ceiling and crouched in the corner like a kitten that had done something wrong.

"What do we do now? Will the old man kick us out tomorrow?" Gwen Stacy gripped the dagger tightly, her eyes filled with extreme panic. "I don't want to leave. I'd rather die by his side."

The four women looked at each other.

The tension and the clash of energies that had filled the air were gone. In their place was a strange compromise born of shared fear.

"We can't afford any more infighting." Natasha looked at the other three, her tone unusually serious. "At least not in front of him. Anyone who angers him again can get out of this building. We have to prove we're useful, not a nuisance."

Wanda bit her lip, and for the first time ever, she didn't use magic to blast the mortal agent to smithereens.

Susan nodded silently.

Gwen Stacy put the dagger away and forcefully wiped away her tears.

A long night.

Lynn turned off the monitor and slept on the sofa for several hours.

When he opened his eyes, the sky outside was already turning a pale white. The morning sunlight streamed through the French windows, casting a pale golden glow onto the carpet.

He walked to the screen and brought up the view again.

The four women were still outside the door.

None of them moved an inch. They remained in the same positions as last night, like four statues guarding a grave. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their faces were filled with exhaustion and fear.

The time is right.

The whip has been used up; now it's time for a sweet treat.

Lynn stood up and straightened his slightly wrinkled shirt collar. He walked to the door and placed his hand on the cold brass doorknob.

The four women outside the door instantly stiffened.

All breaths stopped at that moment.

Lynn looked at the door panel and gently pressed it down.

Click.

The soft click of the latch opening sounded like thunder in the quiet morning corridor.