Chapter 54

The Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 54

Devastation

Eric Magnus

Magneto

Eric didn’t know how to feel; he had planned everything down to the last details. He had gathered allies from all over the world and made deals to see his new Kingdom prosper. Yet here he was again on the losing side. The start of the battle happened like no other, but for some reason, his powers were less effective here then they were anywhere else in the world.

It was infuriating, and Eric wanted to lash out at those before him, but he couldn’t as he realized he was now stuck here. By the time Blake arrived, he had taken out his teleporter, and the building had been brought forth shielding to stop his forces from retreating back into its halls. Eric had to grudgingly give it to Blake as he displayed his astonishing might. T’Challa’s death left a mark with his Wakandan allies, but it was what he did next for Exodus that had Eric on the back foot.

The reports he was hearing sent a shiver down Eric’s spine and from what he was hearing, Blake was tearing through his forces. Namor was dead, and Exodus was nowhere to be found. Before he could do anything, a flaming bird appeared in the air before the forces gathered. He couldn’t help but take in the long red hair and the outfit she wore. Eric almost swore when they locked eyes because he knew that this was the moment that he knew; he fucked up. This island was not going to be his throne, no, this island was going to be his end.

Not today, Eric told himself as he brought his spheres to hover around him. He had steely determination in his eyes as he floated up into the standoff against her floating frame. Eric watched as she kissed Ororo before turning around and facing him. She had that same cocky smirk playing in the corner of her lips like the rest of them, Eric noticed.

He knew that there was no time for words, so Eric attacked. The eight metallic spheres that floated around him boomed forward, creating sonic booms in their wake, throwing around those unfortunate souls beneath them. He didn’t care about anything around him because his instincts screamed across every fiber of his being.

Boom!

Everything was silent erriely so as Eric waited for the dust to clear. There was a flash of red, and his instincts screamed once more forcing him to jump to the left. The ground cracked and broke as whatever it was destroyed where he previously floated. Pulling deeply on his knowledge of the magnetosphere, Eric moved one hand in an attempt to crush his enemy.

His false arm was loaded, but he needed to be a lot closer to do what he wanted. Pulling back two of his metallic spheres, he had them flatten and spread out as a distraction and covering as he flew a lot closer. He found it odd that she did not move from her location, but Eric refused to allow her a chance to counter-attack.

Eric got within a meter of her before swinging his false arm forward in preparation to fire. The metallic sphere he had blocking the view shifted, and the dust cleared. On the other side all he could see were glowing golden eyes framed by beautiful flowing red hair.

Scowling at that infuriating smirk on her lips, Eric gritted his teeth before firing.

Boom!

Eric’s eyes widened as he looked at the round he fired stopped less than a meter from his target. Before he could do anything else, a wave of her hands scattered his spheres, and another wave slammed unimaginable forces into his chest. He didn’t know what was happening as the world spun around him, what he did know was that unbearable pain came shooting out of his right side.

“You threw a car at me and Ben took your left arm. Well, I think I’ll take your right for trying to shoot me in the face.”

Eric had no words as he passed out.

O.O.O.O

Natasha Blake

Black Widow

Natasha couldn’t help but shake her head as she listened to the command line as Jean worked Magneto like a beaten five-dollar drum. Putting that aside, Natasha turned to face what was left of Magneto’s little brigade. Not many of them were left standing after Ben, and Jeans little displaces of power. Hell, they were lucky that Ororo hadn’t decided to bust out her own abilities on a grand scale as she laid down the law.

Twisting as she jumped into the air, Natasha went invisible as her web slung her way around a corner for cover. There was a solid thump at the location that Natasha had just left, but she paid it no mind. Twisting dexterously within the air, Natasha fired out another web line at the rooftop before pulling herself forward. Perched on the corner of the building, Nat looked down at her little Prey calling herself the Stunner. Stunner or Angelina Brancale, as she was known out of costume, was a powerhouse that Natasha was looking to recruit for one of her Oni teams. From what Natasha could see, Eric had solved the issues of her other form, and Stunner was here to pay back what he had done for her.

Then again, from the way she had looked at his broken form, Natasha was confident that she would be able to sway Stunner. Since they had invaded the island, Natasha had her eyes out for any exciting person that might have tagged along with Eric, but besides his little power club, only a few others stuck out to Natasha. Stunner was one such person that had stuck out to her, and from the distance and body language she was reading, Natasha was sure that she would be able to pouch her today.

The lady was easily seven feet tall with blonde hair with some natural blue eyes, hell, she might look a little bit like a larger than life female powerlifter, but her demeanor didn’t scream attack dog to Natasha senses. Natasha was so sure of this that her next attack was not aimed at maiming or killing Stunner. Pulling out one of her Widow signets, she carefully aimed before throwing it with such precision, that Natasha wanted to pat herself on the back. The Widow signet bounced off a light fixture, windowpane, then off the back of Blob before sticking into the neck of Stunner.

For a brief moment, Natasha watched as she looked around for where it came from, but before she could take a step in anger, the tranquilizer kicked in. Chuckling to herself, Natasha jumped down from her perch performing a flawless Kamen Rider kick into the side of Blob’s head, sending him ass over end onto another of the Evil Brotherhood of Mutants. Natasha pulled out an RFI teleportation tag from her utility belt, placed one on Stunner before getting back into the mix to see who else she might be able to collect before the battle ended.

O.O.O.O

Faora UL

Right Hand of the King

Military Leader

Faora turned around and looked down at the bloody parts of what used to be Namor. Namor’s armies were starting to surrender on the beach, and her troops were rounding them up. Shaking her head as she heard the boom as her King took off to complete his battles, Faora moved her attention to her own. There was a beep coming from her omnitool, and looking down at it reminded her of why she followed her King, and no, it was not because he gave her life.

Her King Benjamin Blake took being prepared and his paranoia to such a level that even she was stunned once she understood what the world they lived in was capable of. Pushing those thoughts aside, Faora sent commands to her underwater troops so that they may prepare themselves. This was the time to strike while the iron was hot. This was because Namor, in all of his wisdom, decided to bring a large majority of his troops for the invasion.

They numbered in the thousands, but her troops were killing them twenty to one when the battle had started. The only reason why her troops had not culled the other army was that her King had arrived. The king’s arrival had put a stop to the slaughter. Namor and his troops were unaware that the Neptune protocols were in effect, and his Kingdom was now entirely under Pandorian control.

Her King had made the Neptune protocols after meeting Namor for the first time a few months back. It was then improved and refined when Namor had made his first visit to the island. During that visit, Namor was given water laced with both nanoscopic trackers with a trace of magical tracking to be certain. Once the King was certain that the location of Atlantis was found, he had the magical division come up with a set of ward stones that would conjure and power a dome type shield that even went underneath the ground. The dome was based on the same that protected the island but was built with something else in mind.

The dome was built to lock down and contain a city to starve them out if they must, but here it was going to perform another job entirely. With the Neptune protocol in effect, each of the cities to Atlantis under the ocean was now completely isolated. Faora knew that the only ones with the key were her and the King. The Atlanteans might be able to get into the cites, but they would not be able to get back out.

Faora had noticed that one of the side things that the wards stone provided was that it played a projection over the city about them laying down arms to surrender. The other thing that she noticed was that the current projection was playing the death of Namor.

Faora had an idea of who placed that video on a loop and knew that it would either play a demoralizing effect for the anime forces in the coming battle or bolster their resolve. Leaving herself a mental note to speak with her King’s mother for another time, Faora brought up her omni-tool.

Sending a message and a command to one of her Spartans, Faora took towards the sky as her transport flew overhead. Once she was inside, Faora took in the blue skin of the leader to her underwater troops. Looking over the rest of the team at her command, Faora made her way to the med bay inside the Pelican dropship as her second in command walked behind her. Like the other hundred thousand of his brothers and sisters, Chris was created by her King not too long ago. These Spartans were made when they had apprehended a criminal Atlantean from the undercity. They had made sure to have their magical agents laid in wait until they could capture a criminal from the underworld of Atlantis.

Her King then paired that DNA with the X-gene of Pearl Pangan, her King had allowed for an amazing variety after saying something about not wanting robotic soldiers or clones. Besides his proclivities on not wanting identical soldiers, these Spartan Atlantean hybrids were powerful either in or out of the water. They also came with none of the drawbacks of being above the water like the normal Atlanteans.

Faora looked at the hologram hovering over her omni-tool as she walked into the med bay; for some reason, there was a red flashing tab labeled breaking news. Faora’s jaw almost dropped as she sat at the nurse’s table reading the report informing her about thirty-eight percent of the moon being broken. The image she was looking at was that of a one-sided battle as the King vented what was clearly his frustration upon Exodus and the Inhumans.

Smiling to herself, Faora watched as her King proved his power and dominance over those that stood in his way, now it was her turn. Closing down the hologram above her omnitool, Faora then stretched out her hand for the nurse to do her thing. Faora knew what was next, she had read many reports on the MGH that she was about to be injected with.

The MGH was a power augmentation and permanent enhancement drug that they had perfected after pulling a stash off the streets of York City. Gwen had busted a nasty little safe house that hid the stuff while she was out on patrol a few months back. No one said anything about it until she and Susan had begun to experiment with the substance. Faora was of the mind that it was only used for military purposes, but she was overruled by Gwen when she had gone to their King.

The MGH was going to be allowed for purchase in the market, but only after the military had at least one year head start with the substance. It was interesting to note that Gwen and Sue had perfected the MGH, allowing them to pick and choose the type of power they wanted and how soon they would like it to kick in. The variant Faora was getting today was made for underwater warfare while also giving her a kick of hydrokinesis.

Luckily for Faora, the magical department had done their own thing to the MGH, so now it came with a magical form of information dump on how to handle and use these new powers. Ignoring the needle as it slid right into her skin, Faora double-checked her battle plans and the location of the five cities she would be conquering in the name of her King. Once she had finished going over her plans, Faora and Chris, her second in command, made their way to the armory. There was an announcement overhead as her fleet prepared to dive into the ocean. Grabbing hold of the emergency straps, Faora looked into her omnitool and watched as her fleet got into formation before diving into the water. With the turbulence of the ship settling done, Faora went to the weapons rack with her name on it.

Like those used to defend their home, these weapons would work underwater the same way they would work out in space. They were made with the same magical protection that prevented tampering from other sources. Even her suit was made and rated for advanced battlefield usages. Unlucky for the Atlantean’s they were packing some interesting firepower for this excursion. Due to this battlefield being underwater, they were not going to use their weapons in the conventional slug throwers configuration, instead. They were going to shoot a hyper condensed charged particle. Their firing rate of eight hundred rounds per minute was cut in half because of the battlefield’s nature, but Faora was alright with that since their weapons packed such a punch.

The battle rifle in her hands was of the standard stock and sixteen-inch barrel, but what set it apart from the standard ammunition rifles were the four floating rails. The top rail carried the smart sight while the bottom was attached to the weapon stock, firing mechanism, and power source. The two side rails worked as stabilizing and cooling fins Faora noted as she looked the weapon over.

Attaching one of the standard battle rifles to her back with a nod of appreciation, Faora turned and pulled off one of the swords in the racks. The balance was perfect, but with a twist of her wrist and intent, the blade changed to that of a short one, before another twist had the blade turning into a trident. Giving the nod in confirmation, Faora twisted her wrist once more to shrink the blade back down. Once that was completed she replaced the hunting knife on her back with the magical blade.

“How much longer before we reach?” Faora asked Chris as she took a sidearm from the rack next to the rifles.

“ETA ten minutes, General.” Chris replied back as he stood off to the said with a holo-tablet in his hand.

“Good, once I start my attack from the outskirts of Atlantis, I want you to take ten thousand and start a sweep for any who we might have missed before our arrival.” Faora commanded, sitting on the table before her was the helmet to her armor. Looking up, Faora waited for Chris to give his confirmation before picking her helmet up. Once she had her helm in hand, Faora gave it one last once over before leaving the armory.

As Faora walked down towards the cargo bay where the rest of her troops waited, Chris went towards the teleportation station. Standing at the door leading into the cargo bay, Faora took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. Before her was a forcefield that held the water back, on the other side of the force field was the cargo bay where the rest of her troops waited on her. This was the same cargo bay that was currently flooded with the water of the ocean.

The beep at her wrist told Faora that the MGH should have already done its work and that it was fine for her to enter the water without her helmet. Steeling herself and releasing the breath she was holding, Faora stepped forward with grace and total confidence. Instantly the force field enveloped her before moving along her person as she entered the cargo bay. With no way back and pushing forward, Faora took her first breath under the ocean.

Water filled her lungs, for a moment, Faora almost panicked, but then all of her worries were washed aside as her body didn’t react negatively like she was expecting. Instead, oxygen entered her lungs and she had to breathe out after some time. Glad that she wasn’t going to drown today, Faora proceeded to test her suit’s functions. Once she was certain that she wasn’t going to have any suit failures under the ocean, Faora stretched out a hand.

Above her palm, a small vortex of water started to form as she flexed her hydrokinesis. The vortex transformed into a sphere, then cube, triangle, numbers, then letters. Complex forms took shape over her hand before Faora was confident with the application of her newfound powers. A light hop had her up floating in the water by the railing before she willed herself forward, her powers moved and obey. Faora moved through the water as if she was flying untouched by gravity itself. Moving above the troops down below, Faora joined the command team that was waiting on her by the exit to the cargo compartment.

As she came to a float beside them, her command team snapped to attention with a salute.

“At ease,” Faora commanded before turning to the holo-image that floated in the middle of the group. “How are they positioned?”

The Spartans in command looked at each other before the one with blue skin and orange hair spoke.

“Our ships are holding in position here about one thousand meters from the entrance to the city.” David answered as he waved a hand over the holo-image. “With the plan’s you have sent us, we are prepared for a three-pronged attack on the city. We placed ten thousand at the back while we have another ten waiting at the west for our signal. From what we have seen of their tactics, we extract a token force of resistance.”

Faora looked over the map, the plan before she chose to respond, “I want you to send in two fast movers to blow a hole so that we can enter through the front. Have the other two attacking points enter through stealth means if they can.”

She watched as they gave her a nod before going to relay her orders, turning around. Faora made her way to the exit of the Pelican Dropship. Tapping the command key on her arm bracer, Faora activated her mic.

“Once this battle starts, I want everyone with their teams. Check your corners and don’t get pinned down, stun shots unless you run into a powerhouse. If you do, team up and take them down or eliminate the threat. Now, let’s go conquer this city in the name of our King.”

Faora smiled to herself under her helm as she bay doors activated and lowered themselves. The sight before her was breathtaking, but she had a job to do and a nation to conquer.

“IN THE NAME OF THE KING!”

O.O.O.O

Benjamin Blake

Father, Lover, King

Conqueror

Sitting on the throne up high, I watched as everyone knelt before me. Silence descended, but the sounds of gunfire could be heard from the outside as my Spartans went about doing their grim work. I looked down at the kneeling form of Medusa, and she looked me back in the eye holding my gaze steadfast with not a waiver in her posture.

“What is your name?” I asked as I motion for her to rise. Oliver motioned around for the spartans within the throne room to spread out and take up positions. As Medusa rose, I took in her form. Just like in my memories from the comics, Medusa had ridiculously long flowing scarlet red hair that she folded over and braided onto itself. She wore a dark purple skin-tight suit that showed off some of her shoulders, along the front and back were lines of neon purple. The gloves on her arms were also of a dark purple bodysuit type that also came with an arm bracer.

Upon her head was what looked like a crown of silver metal, but from the way it framed her face and wrapped around the back of her head, it gave off the feel of a helmet. My eyes wandered over her finely arched brows and her red painted lips.

“My name is Medusalith Amaquelin, great king,” Medusa spoke, voice loud and carried for all to hear. “As part of the Nobel court, it is my job to look after the lower caste and distribute resources.”

“Then, answer me this,” I said as I brought up a holo-image above my omni-tool. “Why is the city of Attilan in such disrepair, and why do the citizens appear to be so malnourished?”

Before she spoke, I could feel the spark of anger that radiated off her person, but I ignored that and allowed my senses to pick up on those around the room. Some held disdain towards some of the images I held up, while others held themselves up in self-importance, interesting.

Turning my attention back to her, I watched as Medusa held her head up high but spoke through gritted teeth.

“Our previous Monarch felt that since their genetic material was of lower quality, their quality of living was not of our concern.” Medusa spoke slowly yet surely.

“From your reaction, I take it you do not feel this way?” I asked, leaning forward in my seat.

“Genetic stock or not, they are our people, and we should make sure they are cared for regardless.” Medusa spoke back with steely determination in her voice. She held my gaze, and I felt her emotions empathically. She was telling the truth, but those around her did not share the same mentality, that was alright, I could work with this.

“Oliver, contact medical, I want them here to check out the population and write up a report. Then contact someone to bring up some supplies for the civilians.” I spoke as I got up from my conquered throne. Spinning my ax in one hand, I waved my other in a cutting motion opening a portal back to Pandora. Soldiers poured through with some medical personnel to bolster the ones I had brought with my troops.

“Let’s go, Medusa; we have places to be,” I said as I looked at her from the side of the portal’s entrance. Turning, I looked at Oliver and sealed the fate of those in the noble court. “Clean up here, make sure to double-check each of these so-called nobles, purge those who don’t fall in line. Once the civilians are cleared by the medical team and have a decent meal in them, I want you to start moving them to Pandora.”

Medusa querk an eyebrow at me, Oliver, on the other hand, moved to carry out my orders. I motioned a hand forward, but Medusa stayed where she was. What I did notice was that she was whispering under her breath testing the name I had called her. Medusa then shook her head, held it high, and then walked through the portal that I was keeping open.

Oliver received a side glance from me before I walked through the portal. The last thing I heard before I closed it was a scream from one of the nobles before they were killed. There was no need for a noble class like the medieval ages, my woman and I were in charge and that’s how it was going to be. Walking through the portal placed me in the plaza before the portal station next to the emigration center.

Looking around, I noticed that the battle had already concluded here on my island and the Pandoran Police was rounding people up with some of the soldiers. Mixed in with them were the trainee Avengers, alongside them were Steven Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Clint Barton, strange I don’t remember giving the okay for him to be on the island. Not with the whole Loki mind control thing happening down the road, might have to fix that.

Sighing to myself, I turned right in time to catch Natasha as she came swinging around a building aimed at my back. Swinging her around in my arms, I pulled up the mask on her face and was greeted with a smirk. Rolling my eyes, I pulled Nat in for a kiss, before I knew it, there was a cough at the side pulling Natasha and my attention.

At the side, Medusa was looking at us both with a slight blush to her cheeks. Swinging Natash around to my back, I allowed her to put her arms around my neck and latch on there as I spoke to Medusa.

“Medusa, this is Natasha, one of my queens. Natasha, Medusa, an Inhuman from Attilan from the Darkside of the Moon.” I said as an introduction to both of them. Natasha hopped off of my back and went to shake the hand of Medusa, but I noticed the look she was giving her. Ignoring them, I went over the information gathering in my personal omni-tool as the AI collective started to shunt my status updates from all over the island.

As I was reading through the latest reports, there was a crack of lightning overhead and a flash of red mixed with a bird’s caw. Looking up, I spotted Ororo in her armor as she flew down to meet me with Jean in her Phoenix garb in tow. I was stunned by their beauty for a moment, but as I took them both in my extrasensory senses washed over them. I knew that I was powerful, for that there was no doubt in my mind, but what I felt from the two before me, the powers I wield paled in comparison. I could feel the link to Gaea through Ororo, and the primordial force of power almost overloaded me until I felt the one beside her. The radiance of Phoenix force that Jean gave off was staggering in of itself.

I was barely able to turn away from the sheer force of life energy and primordial rebirth. With a sigh, I pushed those thoughts aside as I made some more introductions. As I gave each of my women a kiss that curled their toes, another person decided to show up. For some reason, Raven had come driving up in a hover car and gave me a chagrined smile. Just the look on her face already had a few million ideas zing through my mind. Urgh, hell, I bet she was the one that sprung the trap and let them in before strangling him with the rope.

“You gave him the rope that he was strangled with today?” I asked Raven with clear neutrality.

“I don’t know about hanging, but I did help him with his handy situation.” Jean piped up as she hung off my shoulder.

“I’m for one am glad you showed such restraint, Jean.” Ororo said from her position in my arms. Applying a little bit of my gravity manipulation, I picked up Ororo and started to walk towards the captured assailants’ direction. I gave Natasha a look and she looked the other way and whistles as I noticed some of them were not in stasis cuffs and kneeling.

“Nat, am going to want a list of those you decide to have my spare the rod on.” I spoke as I came to stand before the would-be crowd of invaders. At the front of them all was Eric Magnus without either of his arms courtesy of Jean. Hell, I could tell which one she took from the burnt and cauterized flesh of a stump. Putting Ororo down, I have Jean leave her perch on my back before I walked up to his form.

The Magneto, one of my favorite childhood villains, had no words, but that was then and this was now. I had died and joined a death universe and I refused to be on the end of the grindstone. So here he was before me because I was not only prepared I was also ruthless enough to see a threat through.

“I did tell you that the next time I saw you, I was going to kill you did I not?” I asked the man before me as I knelt down to meet his eyes. The hard hate and anger that greeted me spoke far more than any of his words could convey.

“Then kill me and get it over with.” Eric spat at me as he held himself up with his sheer force of will. I looked him in the eye and felt the truth of his words before releasing a snort of derision. Standing up, I held my arm out to summon my ax. My arm swung upwards as I felt it materialize in my palm, I readied myself to swing my ax down in one fluid motion. Everything was silent around me, honing my focus, I swung downwards.

“WAIT!”

Ignoring the scream from the side, I swung down hard. Constructs that should have been invisible to the naked eye sprung forth in the path of my ax in an attempt to obstruct me. Ignoring them, I powered through slicing construct after construct. This lasted a split-second before the constructs tilted away from Eric’s necks and down into the ground.

“WHO DARES?!” I bark turning to the side in search. Sue wasn’t here since I had a report of her going to Attilan to run medical checks on the people we found there. There was a lady standing at the side with blood running down her nose with the Professor at her side. “WHY?”

“There has been enough killing for one day.” Xavier spoke as he walked forward. I looked at him, I really looked at the man before me. I almost couldn’t believe the shit that I was hearing. This man sat and allowed Eric to do all of his shit for numerous years. So many people were killed and removed because they stood in Eric’s path. I knew my hands were covered in blood, but I cared about the common people even though some were not meta-humans. Eric didn’t care about anyone if they were not a part of his so-called homo-superiors.

As I looked Xavier over and felt his good vibes telepathic waves try and influence me, my anger started to boil over the edge once more.

“Where were you when this man killed innocents to carry out his plots and plans? Hmm, tell me that?” I commanded the man before me. Patrick Stewards face or not; I was not going to accept any bullshit today. My eyes bore into Xaviers own and he said nothing. “You can’t, can you?”

“What I can tell you is that I will not stand by as you slaughter this man. His peers should try him in a court of law, not whatever this is.” Xavier answered, holding my gaze. That pushed my anger with him to another level.

“You think that just because you want to say a few little flowery words in his defense, I will just let his terrorist actions slide. Not happening, he had too many years to learn and grow, to change but he did not, and today he crossed the line. He deliberately crossed that line when he attacked us unprovoked. So yeah, I am going to show him what happens when you cross my line.” I spoke authority dripping from my voice.

“Benjamin, there has to be another way.” Xavier pleaded with me.

I looked at him; then I noticed my mother walking out of the crowd with a revolver. She gave me a slight nod and that was when I made my decision.

“There is, but this will prove a point.” I replied to Xavier as I shifted my attention back to him.

“And what points us that because all I see is senseless violence,” Xavier spoke as if he was a disappointed father to his son, but jokes on him. I had a dad and wasn’t one of his brainwashed kids that he picked up off the street.

Shaking my head I replied back, facing Xavier as I bared down on Erik. “The point is, you can’t afford to pay the price of crossing my line. No one will get away with attacking my nation. Not even the master of Magnetism.”

“Are you not concerned that so many are watching this?” Xavier asked as he wavered back towards the crowd of people that had started to gather outside the police tape.

Related chapter tags