Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!

Parker's voice cut through the conceptual realm with that crystalline clarity that had replaced his once-warm tone.

"For Balance to restore the Balance itself," he said, his words carrying the weight of cosmic understanding, "there must be a connection between the two."

Zhang Ruoyun's eternal composure shattered like glass hitting concrete.

She knew what he meant. Oh, how she fucking knew it.

How she had waited for such words to finally pass his lips—words that acknowledged what had always existed between them, what had been growing stronger with each passing eon, what she had cherished in the depths of her ancient heart but never dared to voice because, damn it, timing in the cosmic sense was apparently just as shitty as regular timing.

The Phoenix of Balance felt her millennia of careful emotional control waver for the first time since... well, since forever.

Her breathing hitched almost imperceptibly, and for a moment that stretched across dimensions, she simply stared at him with eyes that held the accumulated longing of countless ages and probably enough suppressed feelings to power a small galaxy.

He wasn't just talking about power dynamics or cosmic mechanics—though knowing Parker's current state, he might think he was.

He was speaking of the fundamental truth that had bound them together since the beginning, that to restore balance to his fractured emotional state, they would need to acknowledge the connection that transcended mere friendship, mere cosmic alliance, mere "hey, want to help me fix the multiverse" kind of partnerships.

"Parker," she whispered, his name carrying harmonics that made nearby concepts like Love and Longing practically lean in like they were eavesdropping on the cosmic equivalent of a soap opera confession.

Her voice held centuries of unspoken feelings, eons of careful distance maintained out of respect for his commitments to others, ages of watching him love Maya, protect his family, build relationships while she remained the constant, stable presence in his chaotic existence—basically the ultimate cosmic friend-zone situation.

The irony was perfect and painful as hell: she who governed Balance had spent eternities maintaining the careful equilibrium that kept her feelings hidden, playing the supportive friend role while secretly wanting so much more.

And now that very balance, that very careful emotional distance she'd maintained, might be the key to restoring his humanity.

The space between them seemed to pulse with possibility as Parker stepped closer, his omnipotent gaze finally seeing her—really seeing her—for what felt like the first time in forever. Not as the Phoenix of Balance, not as his cosmic ally or the being who could help solve his emotional detachment problem, but as Zhang Ruoyun, the woman who had been quietly loving him across lifetimes while he built walls of responsibility and duty around his heart.

"You've been waiting," he said, and his voice carried a note of something that might have been wonder if his emotions weren't locked behind cosmic barriers. "All this time, through every life, every incarnation, every crisis... you've been waiting."

Zhang Ruoyun felt tears she hadn't shed in millennia threaten to spill over. "Like a fucking idiot," she whispered, half-laughing, half-crying at the cosmic joke of it all. "Watching you love others, protect your family, save, all while I kept my distance because I thought... I thought it was the balanced thing to do. The right thing to do."

Parker reached out, his hand hovering inches from her face. When their skin finally made contact, reality itself seemed to exhale in relief.

The touch was electric, not in the cheesy romance novel way, but literally—energy sparked between them, the fundamental forces of Balance recognizing each other, calling to each other across the space that had kept them apart for so damn long.

"The connection isn't just emotional," Parker said, his analytical mind still working even as something deeper stirred beneath his cosmic detachment. "When I took your power, when I claimed Balance through Plunder, I didn't just steal an ability. I took part of you. Part of what makes you... you."

Zhang Ruoyun nodded, her hand covering his. "And part of me stayed with you. That's why restoring your emotional balance requires both halves of the equation. You can't balance something that's fundamentally incomplete."

The air around them shimmered as their energies began to synchronize, like two frequencies finding harmony after eons of discord. It was beautiful and terrifying and absolutely insane that it had taken this long for them to figure out what should have been obvious to beings of their intelligence.

"So what happens now?" Parker asked, and for the first time since his ascension, there was something teasing in his voice, something almost human peeking through the cosmic authority.

Zhang Ruoyun smiled, the expression radiant enough to make nearby stars weep with envy.

"Now, we stop being idiots about this and actually connect. Really connect. Not just power to power, but heart to heart, soul to soul, whatever cheesy cosmic romance bullshit this turns out to be."

She leaned closer, her breath warm against his lips. "Are you ready to feel again, Parker? Because once we do this, once we actually let ourselves have this connection... there's no going back to emotional distance. No more hiding behind cosmic duty or universal responsibility."

Parker's response was to close the remaining distance between them, and when their lips met, the very concept of Balance exploded outward in waves that rippled across dimensions, announcing to anyone paying attention that the Prince of Existence had just remembered what it felt like to be beautifully, chaotically, perfectly human.

The kiss deepened, not in haste, but in revelation—like the unfolding of a truth long buried beneath the weight of immortal duty. There was no clumsiness, no uncertainty. Just pure, soul-deep resonance that made reality itself pause to witness.

Parker wasn't just kissing Zhang Ruoyun.

He was reclaiming the part of himself he hadn't known was missing until this very moment—the piece that had been walking around incomplete, trying to fill cosmic voids when what he needed was right here.

And her?