Chapter 44

The Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 44

Pandora

Edited By: Joe Lawyer

Asteroid M

Eric Lehnsherr AKA Magneto

Leader to the Brotherhood of Mutants.

In geosynchronous orbit a cloaked asteroid lazily orbited around the earth as it looked down from on high. Eric leaned back in his throne taking in the view that laid before him. Times like these made Eric appreciate the quiet moments, and yearn for more of them, but that was asking far too much of the universe.

There was a voice from behind him, but before Eric could reply, someone appeared within his sight, standing beside the view down to Earth.

“Aaaarrrrggghhh, Pietro! You knew I wanted that last bagel!”

The smirk Eric spotted on his son’s face told him all that he needed to know. The fact that he needed the boy and his unique powers was what ultimately stayed his hand. And it would be a waste to spill mutant blood at the moment. He had found the twins a few years ago when he had gone back to visit one of his old safe houses. It was more than a little surprising to find that the woman that he had laid with had birthed him two strong mutant children in secret. He had played the role of father while he was there, no matter how unsuited he was for it. Once he had made the right impression he removed the obstacle keeping his children there, rather than with him, once he was ready to move on. It was far too easy to arrange for their mother to suffer an unfortunate accident while out.

Before his headache of a daughter could get too worked up due to her latest argument with her brother, Eric intervened.

“Enough!” Eric all but growled out at the two. “Wanda, report.”

There was now merciful silence, but Eric noticed the flash of red at the corner of his vision shift. Sitting on his throne, Eric ignored her, as she walked slowly before him. Instead of going into a kneeling position, his daughter sneered at him, wearing her signature large red coat with the inner black lining. The blur of movement from his son reminded him of that damnable boy. Forcing down the urge to rub the stump that was once his arm, Eric steeled himself.

“We made contact with Essex, like you asked.” Wanda replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, he wasn’t too happy to come work for you, but we overheard his phone call. It appears he had nowhere else to go.” Pietro quipped excitedly.

“That doesn’t matter; he agreed.” Wanda answered as she waved her hand lazily in the air, as if the man’s reason for accepting didn’t matter. Eric didn’t give a reply as he looked down at both of his troublesome children, allowing the silence to stretch on.

“Good. You may go.” Eric replied, dismissing his two children from his sight. Without looking up, he pressed a command button on the armrest of his throne. Wanda snorted before turning around and leaving, but before she could get anywhere, her brother picked her up and sped out of the room.

“You called for me, my lord?”

“Exodus, I have need of your talents.” Eric said as he looked at his top lieutenant. Exodus was a mutant that he rescued from some hellhole. He soon made his worth known time and again and now stood side-by-side with Fabian Cortez as one of his acolytes. Exodus was a supremely powerful telepathic and telekinetic mutant firmly within the class of Omega-level powerhouses. “An important guest will be arriving soon, and I would like you to extend our hospitality.”

“Your will shall be done, my lord.” Exodus replied from his kneeling position before Magneto’s throne.

o.O.o

The Shadows

Sitting within the shadow of a large mountain was a veritable castle of the damned. This castle was the home of the shadows that fed upon the earth. Inside the castle sat a long table catering to the needs of the worst magic users to have roamed Midgard. Above that same table hung a star of silver with mystical writing on silk. Sitting in the slot were lamps that cast moving shadows around the room. Even though there was light, the shadows appeared to have won the day since none shone down upon the room’s occupants. All around the table stood high-backed chairs in the shape of individual thones. Upon the thrones sat seven figures that were unable to walk within the light.

“Status report.” The leader demanded from his throne.

“We have located the child of Gaea.” A figure shrouded in shadows spoke.

“Then, we shall retrieve her.” Another figure in the shadows also responded.

“Her guardian refuses to leave her side.” A figure cloaked in jade green silk.

“Then, we shall kill her guardian.” A person with glowing eyes growled.

“We shall deliberate more.” The shadowed figure that sat at the head of the table spoke.

“I second the motion.” Spoke up a person hidden in the corner.

o.O.o

Manhattan, New York, New York

Harry Osborn

Unknown

Harry rolled up the window of the limo that he sat in before growling at the irony of it all. He had finally gotten out from under his father’s long shadow, only to have his first big break get taken down. Ignoring the flashing lights of the police cruiser, he commanded his driver to take him back to Oscorp Tower. There was no stopping another growl that escaped his lips as he picked up his cell phone.

“Doctor, I’m on my way.” With a click, Harry hung up the line. There was no stopping his leg from bouncing as he waited for the limo to deliver him to his destination. Mere moments felt like forever as Harry watched the time slowly tick by.

Before he could yell at the driver, the limo finally came to a stop under the bright LED lights of the underground garage. One of the doormen got to his side of the limo to open the door for him, allowing Harry to bounce right out of the vehicle. Getting into the elevator, Harry didn’t even look back once, never slowing to even offer a small look of thanks to any of the people there. Making sure that he was the only one within the elevator, Harry punched in his passcodes that looped the security camera. Once the camera was no longer seeing him in real time, a second panel opened for another set of codes. Entering the appropriate codes, the elevator began to move down.

The elevator moved swiftly as it took Harry down to the hidden lab left over from his father’s time. Tap, tap, tap, went the sound of Harry Osborn’s thousand dollar shoes as he couldn’t help himself but tap his feet in irritation and impatience.

Beep.

With a quiet swish, the elevator doors opened, allowing Harry to leave at a quickly increasing pace. The elevator opened up onto an ultra-advanced lab space. The room was separated by an inner glass with scanners on the side. Standing by the door stood armed guards and within the lab stood various scientists.

All those within the room turned around, coming face to face with a very angry Harry Osborn. There was no time to speak as Harry’s voice thundered through the room.

“Can someone tell me, why the fuck, was I met with police lights as I drove by the safe house?” Harry screamed around the lab.

The guards looked at the lab techs, and the lab techs looked at the guards.

“Sir, your contact wanted to confirm that the Mutant Growth Hormone could work out in the wild, and not just within the labs under carefully controlled conditions.”

“That doesn’t fucking tell me anything!” Harry screamed once more.

“Well, sir, one of the strays that the caretakers of that facility picked up was able to get out with her newfound abilities.” One of the lab techs replied shakily. “That was what the security camera showed. We followed the time table of that private investigator that found her. This also shows there might be a link with this Detective Knight and the person in yellow.”

“We are unable to find a true link between the three, but we have found a place that the private investigator often frequents.” Said a man in a three-piece suit as he walked in from one of the far doors.

“Simon, I want this mess cleaned up. We can not allow this project to get out further than it already is.” Harry replied with a hard edge to his voice.

“I have already contacted our informant on the inside to destroy the recovered samples. WE have already removed those that have derailed this project.” Simon replied with a slight bow.

“I want them dead and move the damn project out of New York altogether!” Harry yelled once more before turning to leave the secret underground lab.

Everyone turned to look at each other before Simon took command.

o.O.o

Undisclosed Location

Nathanial Essex AKA Mr. Sinister.

Gliding through the upper atmosphere was a silver cruiser shaped like a metal sphere. This sphere had no easily discernible method of propulsion, nor did it have any apparent means to see out from within. Sitting within this cruiser sat a man wearing all black leather. The man had ash-grey skin with a red diamond on his forehead and a goatee on his chin that gave him the aristocratic look of a distinguished gentleman.

Nathanial had to hide his frown as he waited for the sphere to arrive. He had been approached by two interesting youths, ones who espoused the virtues of being homo-superior. Nathaniel himself didn’t agree with such trivialities, but this was a way to get what he wanted.

The envelope that they had given him outlined a deal that would give him options in the future, after he fulfilled his end of this deal and made a younger body for this mutant by the name of Eric Magnus Lehnsherr. Refusing to allow his irritation to show, Nathanial waited for the docking procedure to finish as he stood up from his seat to greet his guests.

CLUNK!

CLICK!

The door opened and settled into place as the oxygen changed from the in-air system to a larger cycling system.

“Welcome to Asteroid M, my name is Exodus, and I will be assisting you on this fine day.”

o.O.o

The Island

Benjamin Blake

Leader, Doting Father, Lover, Son, Brother.

December 25th, 2010

Moving, one leg in front of the other. The cool sweat on my fingertips as I pumped my arms in motion. The wind on my face as I sliced through the air. Breathing deep gave me cool air flowing into my lungs, even if oxygen no longer powered my cells. My muscles burned as I pushed myself beyond my limits, again and again. There was no sweeter feeling that I could think of as I ran. It was a runner’s high, times a thousand.

There was no longer a ‘me’, at least not what I had started as, in either life. What I truly was, now, even I didn’t know. I wasn’t the Juggernaut. I wasn’t the flash either. I was something new. I was strength and speed; power and fury. Hell, I was an unrelenting force of fucking nature all on my own.

The beep finally drew my attention to my lap number, 4,386. I had been ignoring the counter on my HUD so far. Who cared how many laps I had done, I just kept going. I ran up and down ocean waves, through both rainforests and deserts. Nothing was going to stop me as I ran. Not time, not distance, and not mother nature herself. I placed one leg in front of the other and just kept on moving.

Everything had been going smoothly lately, a little too smoothly to be honest. This was Marvel, and I couldn’t help but be paranoid, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something was going to happen soon, and I really didn’t know what it was. So, for now, I ran. That was all mine. That belonged to me. I ran my troubles and issues away. I ran, hoping to get the excess power out of my system, hoping desperately to get some sleep.

Gritting my teeth, I chose to run through a wave that loomed over me, a wave as tall as some skyscrapers in New York City. This was going to be a quick little wash and rinse before I made my way back home. My HUD was telling me that it was almost time for the sun to rise on my island. Bursting out on the other side of the wave, the suit I wore cleaned up just fine. I was wearing one of the new Unstable Molecule Fabric (UMF) suits that had built-in self-cleaning capabilities, its current configuration that of the Saiyan suits from Dragon Ball Z, without those ridiculous shoulder guards.

This version of the Saiyan suit was actually modeled after Vegeta’s. There was no doubt that the man had style in battle armor. My upper armor was shaped like that while I wore custom made sneakers designed by my Chief Science Officer. On both arms I wore vambraces that housed a smart system with inbuilt fingerless gloves.

Another beep drew me out of my thoughts with a sigh of disappointment. My moving meditation, as I sometimes referred to my runs around the planet, was over, so I set myself on a course towards home. My fingers trailed droplets of water, seemingly suspended in mid-air, as I made my way home, running on the surface of the ocean. The water’s natural surface tension worked in my favor as each of my steps felt as if I was running on solid ground. The water beneath me barely rippled as I took a hard step towards home. That same water practically exploded when time essentially caught up to each of my powerful steps.

Sand and snow, jungles and forests, they all flashed before my eyes before I slowed down on my approach to the Pacific Ocean. For the briefest of moments there was a brush of contact at the edges of my mind before I quickly moved out of range. I smiled as the air lightly shimmered before me.

Smiling some more as I looked up, the heart tree was the first thing I noticed. At the top of the heart tree sat a beautiful dome of glass, sparkling like a star as sunlight hit its many surfaces. The next thing to draw my sight was the city on the horizon. Tall skyscrapers reached up to the sky, while smaller black dots floated through the city. Leaning to the side, I took a turn as I decided to take the scenic route and began to circle around my island. I took in the sight of my cities as I looked over my island. The air shimmered, like I was looking at a heat wave, as I got closer and closer to the island.

My eyes could actually pick up the harmonics of the shield as it flowed like dragon scales over the island. Moving swiftly, I soon came to my home. The house that I live in on the island would not be considered a mansion, or a palace, but then again, I was cheating. The inside was actually a lot larger than the outside. Once the Ancient One gave me the runes way back when, I had cheated my ass off, using that magic to expand spaces many times beyond what would be considered normal. On the outside the house looked to be a rather normal two-story, three-bedroom home, but on the inside, it was an entirely different story.

The girls had said one hundred rooms would be far too much, so we kept it simple with the spatial manipulation. The house had about thirty bedrooms, each with a decent sized connected bathroom. The kitchen and other living spaces could all hold large family gatherings with ease. Having advanced construction techniques, paired with space expansion, was such a cheat.

As I got closer to my home, I had to stop at certain locations for the security systems to check my biometrics, which allowed me to get through the security shields that I had up protecting the island and house. There were three shields protecting the house, all with an independent power source. They would need at least a planet cracker to break the shield that protected the island itself, and then they would need another to crack what I had protecting just my home. Overkill, sure, but it was necessary with the number of incredibly powerful big bads in the Marvel-verse.

Walking into the house, I noticed Natasha and Emma sitting in the kitchen, chatting quietly, each sipping from a coffee mug as they watched the holo-projector on the wall. They both turned from the news to give me a radiant smile before going back to their little chat. Tapping my belt buckle, the suit I was using for my run retracted into the belt leaving me entirely naked. Emma wolf whistled as I turned around, heading for a shower. Shooting them both a grin over my shoulder with pure roguish delight, I made my way up the stairs.

Looking at my bed, I had the distinct urge to hop in for some fun. Jean and the rest were lying on a bed that was a comically large twenty feet across. Everywhere my eye could see was nubile flesh. It was in moments like these that I wished I wasn’t such a responsible guy. Placing down the belt that contained my UMF suit, it was time to get clean, clean in a way that running through an ocean wave just couldn’t replicate. The bathroom to our master suite could only be described with two words, PALATIAL OPULENCE.

Marble, gold, and platinum as far as the eye could see. It was a bit over the top, in my opinion All that glitter and gold, that I was going to blame on Emma, but since I lived in a house full of women, I wasn’t so sure I could blame her alone. Ignoring everything, I stood under the multiple shower heads enjoying the hot water as it rained down upon my skin, washing away the sweat of a fulfilling run many times around the planet. The click of the bathroom door opening alerted me that my women were coming in to go about their own morning ablutions. Looking over my shoulder, I found Jean and Felicia wrapped in a large, fluffy bath towel as they eyed me hungrily. They shared a look before dropping their towels to join me.

Felicia walked into the shower first, as Jean followed up right behind her. They shared no words, but I was set upon with pure predatory grace. Yeah, it was starting to look a lot like Christmas.

It had taken some hours to get clean as I seemingly kept missing locations to lather with soap, while also leaving my marks on my ladies. At some point during this epic-length shower, Ororo, Raven, Emma, and the rest found their way into my arms as I licked their curves from top to bottom. It had taken a while, but that shower was time well spent in my opinion. We had gotten dry and walked down the stairs back to the kitchen when I realized we now had a full house. Everyone was dressed in their holiday best, while I had on the custom ugly sweater that matched my Dad’s, Uncle Ben, and Otto’s. I guess it was the customary ugly dad sweater and I was now expected to wear one now that I was a dad. Logan, like always, had his flannel on with his sleeves rolled up and chest hair out on display. I noticed the look Dr. Kenny was giving him and could only mentally shake my head at that.

If I had increased olfactory senses, I suspected I would have been able to smell her on him. Ororo, Emma, and Felicia had gotten together and did some crazy fold-up and braids-down type thing that was looking awesome. Jean and the rest didn’t do anything fancy like that, but they had all let their hair down, which certainly enhanced their beauty in my opinion.

The entire extended family had shown up for the Christmas breakfast. My parents had both Alfred and Maya while Uncle Ben and Aunt May were also fussing over Peter and Laura. Logan was here with Dr. Kenny, and so was the Octavius couple. It was one thing knowing intellectually that my family had expanded, but it was quite another to see them all in front of me. The girls had split off to mingle with the family while I made my way over to my mother, I had to know if ol’ Uncle Nicky was going to show up with his shadow in tow. The answer I had gotten surprised me, to say the least.

Ol’ Uncle Nicky had wanted to show up, but since he was the head honcho of SHIELD, he couldn’t go anywhere without someone looking over his shoulder. Mom and him were talking about getting him a robot copy to replace him at times, but ol’ Uncle Nicky wanted too much control, so she was shutting him down.

It was funny to hear her talking about making a deal that would leave him beholden to her, like when they were kids. I knew there was a lot more to it, but there was no way I wanted details of the interpersonal dynamics of the super spy siblings. I was stunned as I walked into the kitchen to find Michelle kissing Warren near the back door. With a sigh, I sent a small bolt of electricity to zap the two as I made my way to the stove. Everyone had gathered around the large kitchen table as I whipped up breakfast with my super speed.

It was always fun using my powers in new and interesting ways. Cooking breakfast in this manner actually required the use of multiple simultaneous skills and extremely fine motor control, so in addition to cooking for my family, it doubled as a training exercise. My primary cookware was actually a comically large 5ft x 3ft skillet. Using my control over gravity, I had it levitated in the air, and I heated it with the access I had to fire and earth through the strength force.

I had to admit that I felt a touch of pride at being able to make a world class french toast breakfast for such a large group within thirty minutes. Maya had then shown up, with Alfred following right behind her, as I was in the middle of creating chocolate pancakes. The two of them looked so cute in their footie pajamas, I felt like I was going to get diabetes just from looking at them. While I was manipulating the food around the kitchen, I also picked up the kids. Alfred wanted to build gingerbread houses, and Maya didn’t want to be left out. Lucky for me, I had already prepped everything overnight as a precaution.

Placing another container to brew some coffee, I turned to get the caramel bacon off the fryer and onto the clean plates sitting on the table. While the kids played with the gingerbread foodstuff, Raven, Natasha, and Ororo watched over them. I noticed the look in Laura’s eye, so I sent some in her and Peter’s direction. Before I knew it, Uncle Ben and Aunt May took that little activity over. Jean took over with her telekinetic powers as she shooed me back towards finishing breakfast.

As I set down all of the plates, I took a step back to look at my handy work. Scrambled eggs, toast, french toast, but also pancakes for those that like the flapjacks. Steak and bacon, with hashbrowns on the side. Fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and hot chocolate to quench the thirst of those around. There was no helping the smile as I looked at the veritable feast that I had made with love and laid out.

Everyone stood around me, looking at the table laden with food in anticipation as they waited for me to give the go ahead. Pulling back a chair for my mom, I let her be seated first before I said anything.

“You can dig in.” I said with a smile and a wave of the arm. Following the movement of my arm, the chairs around the table all came out, and everyone took a seat. Before I could sit down at the head of the table, though, there was a ding at the door, which I got up to get. The first thing I noticed through the door was the double shadow before I checked the door’s holoprojector. What I saw had me wanting to shift into battle mode, but damn if he wasn’t lucky that it was a holiday. Natasha, Raven, and the rest quickly noticed my change in temper and demeanor as I opened the door.

Raven shot up from her seat as in walked Anna Marie, aka Rogue. Right behind her was the reason I was about to go into battle mode. Remy fucking LeBeau stood there with a five o’clock shadow and a cocky fucking smirk on his face. That smirk dropped off his face right quick once he made eye contact with me though. He knew who I was and what I was capable of. My inner fanboy wanted to get an autograph, but the logic driven part of my mind, the part that carried all of the past, present and future lore of the Marvel Universe, told me that this man could not be trusted. I looked at his black slacks and cardigan with distrust, like he was dressed as if he was coming for Christmas dinner.

This was a man that did whatever it took to survive. That attitude alone, if it came with a few limits, with some things that he wouldn’t do no matter what, I could respect. But this man worked for Sinister. Growling, I took a threatening step forward as he took a step back.

“Anna, aide moi, s’il te plait.” Remy said as he backed up some more while I followed him out of my house.

Before I could do anything, Anna came running out of the house with Raven on her tail.

“I invited him as my plus one. Please don’t hurt him; he didn’t do anything.” Anna said defensively as she stood protectively in front of Remy.

“Use your words, Ben.” Raven said, cutting me off as I eyed Remy, also known as Gambit.

“No killing on Christmas day.” Natasha yelled from the doorway to the house.

“What?” Anna squawked with indignation as she looked at me. “You can’t just kill him because you don’t like him.”

“This is my island. You’ll find that I can do just about anything I want here. In this case, I even have a very good reason. He works for Sinister, one of our most hated and dangerous enemies.” I spat with venom, my eyes never leaving Gambit. The look Raven shot Gambit at this revelation could have frozen the oceans solid, but it was the sudden calm and loss of good humor that Natasha projected from the doorway that said it all. An agent of our enemy was at our doorstep.

Something flew past my ear at great velocity, my eyes momentarily shifting to identify what it was. Gambit was already in motion, trying to jump out of the way with his advanced agility, but I too was already in motion. Before he could evade the dart that Nat had launched with extreme precision, I was already there. Grabbing Gambit by the scruff of the neck, I held him in place, allowing the dart to penetrate his neck. The little dart was about five centimeters in diameter with glowing red lines that denoted its owner. The little dart was one of the main weapons in Natasha’s Widow gear, so I knew she was ready to end him.

Beep.

Beep.

Gambit froze as he heard that noise, I felt grim satisfaction as I watched his eyes widen in surprise.

“Anna brought you here, so you will get the benefit of the doubt for the moment. But one wrong move and it will be your last, do you understand?” Natasha warned as she walked up to where we stood. “That little trinket will explode if you attempt to remove it or fry it with your powers. Just so you know.”

The smile on her face was pure predator.

“Why can’t we just be civil?” Anna groaned as she pushed us away from her plus one.

“We can, but I also reserve the right to get rid of your boyfriend.” Raven said as she wrapped an arm around my waist.

“It’s your lucky day. The ladies say you get a stay of execution.” I said, giving him a grim look. “Fuck this up, and you won’t survive the day. Don’t force me to prove exactly why Essex had to go into hiding.”

There was no way anyone in this group could have missed the sudden shift in his body language, going from fight or flight, right into steady, but relaxed. Ignoring him, I turned around to find the Ancient One herself standing in the doorway. She gave me a slight bow before a smile graced her lips. I gave her a bow of the head in return as we all made our way back into the house. As I waited for everyone to get inside, I heard the Ancient One talking about the strings of fate.

Choosing to ignore that completely, I decided it was finally time to get some food into my system. With the introductions all around out of the way, it was finally time to eat.

o.O.o

Breakfast had started off awkward as hell before my mother and the Ancient One broke the ice. Once I stopped giving Gambit the stink eye, everything went along smoothly. We all ate, chat, and ate some more, and just had a great time overall. As the meal was coming to a close I had a kid on each leg as they ate off of my plate. Alfred was obviously still getting used to his body. I could tell from some of his reactions to the foods he ate or when he tried different materials within new clothing. Maya, on the other hand, was daddy’s little girl.

Jean levitated the plates from the table as the meal came to a close before we moved into the living room to hand out gifts. I was the last one in as I had kept a close eye on Remy. He was actually trying to sweet-talk my mother. It was pretty hilarious how badly he’d misread her considering she would be the first one to happily ghost him if he made even the slightest move she didn’t like, dump his body in the Pacific Ocean so that he would never be found again, and then go right back to opening Christmas presents like nothing had happened.

Ignoring that, I placed Alfred and Maya down since I had them both floating around me with my gravity manipulation. Looking over in the corner, I smiled at the sight of the Christmas tree. Gifts floated around the tree from the bottom to the top. I was strange seeing the presents float on their little platforms.

“To start off, I would like the first gifts to go to my parents, then Uncle Ben, and then Aunt May.” I said with a smile as I levitated out four packages. Each of the packages came in different colors with large, colorful bows on top. Turning around, I gave Otto and Rosie their own boxes.

“Aww, you didn’t have to get us anything, Ben.” Aunt May gushes as she opens her gift with Uncle Ben.

“It was important to me, and I know it’s also equally as important to Peter.” I replied with a smile as they pulled out vials of baby blue serum. “Peter and I both worked on it.”

Before I could say anything else, Peter broke in.

“The super-soldier serum had been recreated a while ago, but it was still dependent on the vita ray chamber.” Peter fired off before anyone could ask anything. “Since it was dependent on the vita rays, we decided to improve upon it. It took some time, but we redid the formula and made something that would work with the NX5 chi supplement. We were able to cut out the need for the chamber with the addition of the nx5 variant of the Super Soldier serum. Now you can be as fit as Captain America with all of the ups and none of the drawbacks.”

“It comes with an extended life span, but best of all, flawless skin, with no more wrinkles for the ladies.” I added with a smile, as I placed my hand over Peter’s mouth to stop the mini-science/history lesson. The gleam in Aunt May’s eyes said it all. My mom also had a smile on, but it wasn’t the full-blown smile I was expecting. “I would suggest taking it later, since it will flush all of the toxins out of your body.”

That would also give me some time to talk with mom about why she wasn’t as excited as I thought she would be.

From there, more and more gifts were passed around. I had gotten socks with warming features built-in, then some ugly Christmas sweaters, which made me laugh. A few had the ‘If lost, please return to’ written on it with Ororo, Natasha, and Jean’s names on them. The one gift that had me up and yelling like a little school girl came in the form of a black helmet. It was a combined gift from Ororo and Natasha, and I had no idea they even had access to those files.

Sitting on my lap was the helmet of Nova.

There was only one way they could have gotten their hands on this thing and I didn’t even care if they dropped a billion dollars for it. The black gloss of the helm, the red cross star in the middle with the hollow eyes, it all matched up. This was one of the helms that carried all of the powers and information of the Nova force from that Empire. I couldn’t wait to dig into its brains and milk it for all of the information it possessed and create my own Lantern Force.

“Ho… How?” I asked in a hushed whisper.

“Well, since we are amazing, let’s just say we worked it out.” Natasha said with a smirk.

“Muahaha!” I couldn’t help the maniacal laugh that escaped out of me.

Whack!

“Oww, what was that for?” I asked turning around to look at Raven.

“No letting the evil out in front of the kids.” Raven replied as she looked at me with a smirk, chuckling.

“I agree.” Ororo quipped from her location on the couch.

Since they wanted to play it like that, I did a mad cackle then rushed around to the garage for some pretty toys that I have been working on. Before anyone realized that I was gone, I was already back with a large rectangular box in my hands. Everyone had gotten a bag or purse that had the extended storage rune clusters on them, and the kids had the most gifts. Now, though, it was time to give out the goodies.

Pulling out a sphere with a button on it, which always reminded me of the Pokeball, each person got one. Felicia was the first to open hers. Inside were diamonds and some clothes that I knew she had her eyes on. Yes, I went to Paris to pick them up, but why not? When you could run around the entire planet at super speed, the entire world was your playground. Jean got some rare books for her bookshelf with some exotic clothes to go along with them, ones that I knew her sense of style would appreciate. Gwen got the ‘keys’ to a top of the line laboratory right here on the island, along with some dedicated research assistants that will keep her from doing any more crazy experiments that could see her hurt, though I wasn’t going to tell her that.

Maya gave me the dreaded puppy dog eyes and I just couldn’t help myself. I placed the Pokeball within her hand and she positively ran off with a smile on her face to Ororo. Alfred stepped up right after her with a look in his eyes, but not really knowing how to ask. With a smile, I gave him the Pokeball with his name on it. He gave me a whispered thanks before going to Natasha.

Maya opened hers to find a hover-kart. It was a double seater with safety helmets and a full suite of advanced safety features. As it had been designed for a child to operate, the hovercar had both a speed and altitude regulator which prevented it from getting more than five feet off the ground. The front of the hover-kart had a kiwi flame with smiles on it. There was also a backpack that had her UMF jumpsuits that carried several tracking devices, of course.