Chapter 62

Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 62

By: BigTofu

Fury

Wishing he could get some Halle Berry time.

It was days like these that made Fury feel that he was too old for this shit. Stepping out of the SUV, he slammed the door behind him as Coulson got out from the passenger side. Glaring at anyone with half a thought to look his way, Fury had to take small pleasure in seeing them scatter like roaches.

From the tags on the cop approaching it was clear that the man was a Captain, but Fury was not in the mood for a pissing contest. With a brisk walk with his badass trench coat flowing behind him. Fury breezed by the cop with only one word, classified.

Thirty feet from the crimson scene tape, he looked down at what used to be a Hammer drone. Another thing that was far too good to be true and turned out to be another failure. Fury didn’t know what he should be feeling right now. On one hand, it was a failure which meant that SHIELD couldn’t get the technology for themselves. While on the other, it wasn’t a technology in the hands of Hammer Industries.

That company had more holes than swiss cheese which meant that the plans would have slipped through upgrading the criminal elements. Glaring down at it, Fury put his boot on top of the brittle metal of the Hammer drones head before crushing it beneath his size eleven baby seal custom leather boots.

The flash of red and heat drew his attention to what was threatening to give him an ulcer. The so-called Teen Titans, it was bad enough that he couldn’t get his Avengers program properly running. Now, here were some teenagers from Pandora calling themselves a hero team. They were taking photos: the look he sent Coulson said more than enough.

Pulling out a special pager, he input his code before selecting emp. Pointing it towards the so called Teen Titans, Fury enjoyed pressing the button, there was no shame in admitting it. Instantly their phones and cameras short circuited before failing entirely.

“Who’s in charge here?” He asked, staring down a member that had asian features. In response, her body glowed before some type of psionic armor formed around her. She didn’t shy away from his glare, Fury mentally noted.

“And who are you?”

“Fury, director of SHIELD, the man who is still undecided if he should lock you all up for vigilantism or look the other way.” He said, voice far to smug as he watched the others flinch. Interestingly enough the girl before him didn’t flinch and he was certain that he wanted her as one of his agents.

“Whoa, whoa, the kiddies did good,” Came a voice from the side. Fury turned and had to suppress the shudder that ran through his system. Tony was standing there in his armor, but the thing that gave him pause was the teen in armor just like Tony’s.

Ohh god, Tony was multiplying.

There was a sudden urge to grab his hand canon and just fire indiscriminately, but Fury had to clamp down on such a reflex. Ignoring the teens around him, Fury pulled a device shaped like a hockey puck, then hit the activation on its surface. A privacy screen appeared to keep those with cameras unable to take pictures and video. It even doubled to obscure faces and to keep lip readers and laser sonic readers from getting anything.

Fury waited for the shimmer to surround him before he held a hand up. With his index finger in a come here motion, he stared down Tony and waited. Fury waited as Tony walked over with that cocky smirk on his face.

“What in the hell were you thinking?” Fury asked. “No back up, turning the place into a warzone with civilians around.”

“No, I had back up, Rodey and my son.” Tony replied with mock offense.

Fury turned his head to look at the smaller version of Iron-man. Yet, Tony waved him off.

“Aye, get your one eye off my daughter.” Tony snarked. “My sons over there with his team, Spiderman.”

For a hot moment, Fury felt his heart stop, ohh god Tony was really multiplying.

“You have a son and a daughter and am just learning about this now? What happened to wrapping it up. When did you suddenly become a fan of the pullout method.” Fury asked, as he eyed both of the youths Tony pointed out. “You know what, I don’t even want to know.”

Standing there glaring at the man, he waited for Tony to shift uncomfortably before him.

“SHIELD, will look the other way as you dispose of the drones, make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.” Fury said with a grunt.

“Ohh, are you finished with the scolding Tony party?”

Rolling his eyes, Fury shifted his posture, “The Avengers initiative is going to be starting soon. Blake has already sent me a report compiled by the precogs on the island.”

“Ohh, I didn’t know you believed in fortune telling.” Tony snarked. Peering at him, Fury waited before speaking.

“Now that you have gotten that out of your system, introduce me to the kids.” Fury said turning towards them. He waited for Tony’s excited face and he turned around to leave the silence field. “Your dad would be proud.”

He watched as Tony half missed a step before shutting down the field. Yeah, payback wherever he could get it.

[=][=]

Gwendolyn Stacey

Genius Troublemaker 

Humming to herself, Gwen smiled at the holograms as she worked alongside Sue. Less than an hour ago, Jean had contacted them about her visitor waking up. A request had gotten her a fresh blood sample, but Gwen had to stamp down her urge to be there to see the Eternal.

A hand reached forward from the side and rotated the genetic chain. It was clearly human, but it was also clearly thousands of years old missing a few evolutionary chains. Yet, it also was still compatible with today’s human genetics. Then there were the markers that glowed under spectral analysis.

Even the metaphysical scanner came back with readings their supercomputer was still processing. Maybe she should get a pair of those new carbon nanochip computers for her labs. They were processing data at exabytes per cycle and up. They were still a few steps down from the island’s main systems, but were still cutting edge.

Pulling her head out of the clouds, as much as being able to process Yottabytes of data would be, she had to focus on the now. There was a knock at the door and she and Sue turned at the same time.

There was a flick of the switch and Gwen hissed at the sudden change as she covered her eyes.

“Come on Raven, warn a girl first.” She grumbled looking at the blue bombshell that was standing at the door. Gwen noticed that Ororo, Emma and even Medusa were right behind Raven as they all came into the room.

Sue had finally looked up from what she was working on and also went silent. Taking a deep breath, Gwen steeled herself for what was to come.

“Alright, who died?” She asked looking at the ladies before her. The only one missing was Jean, but it was clear that she was off-world doing something important.

“No one has died sister, but there is something that we must check.” Ororo spoke with calming tones as her eyes glowed. She gave Sue a brilliant smile before pulling her into a hug. “It would seem that we are being blessed with two sparks of life today.”

For a moment, Gwen didn’t know what to think, but she knew that it couldn’t be that. She blinked, and blinked as her mind short circuited. “Wait what?”

She looked up and saw the ultra wide eyes of Sue as the implications started to settle over her. “Athena, power up the medical beds. I want scanners now.”

“Of course ma’am.”

Gwen shifted out of the way while using a hand to bekon Raven over to her. Putting two fingers on her wrist, Gwen let her power flow through Raven’s body. Nerves, tendons, and so much else were ignored when the spark of life took her breath away. The life inside of Raven was barely there, but Gwen could already feel the power gathering in Ravens womb.

Eyes wide, she took a step back and sat down heavily in one of the available seats. Pregnancy was not something she saw coming. Gwen knew that it was possible, but not so soon. Then again, she should not have been surprised with how liberal Benjamin had been dicking each of them down.

Sometimes once, twice or three times in a night with multiple partners, hell there were nights he had been so insatiable, Gwen had been far too happy to have sisters to take her place. Rubbing her brow, Gwen got up and went to give a hand in programming the medical bed for a full body scan. It was clear that Sue wasn’t able to do it with her hands trembling so much.

Hitting a few preselected keys, Gwen laid Sue on one bed before laying Raven on the other. There was a humm as the bed ran a blue scanner over both inhabitants scanning them down to the molecular level. The scan was completed within less than thirty seconds as it displayed for all to see the confermined pregnancy.

What she found odd was that there was a genetic match for all three parents included. One matched Sue, the middle was the baby and the last matched with Benjamin’s last DNA. Looking over the other hologram, Raven had the same thing. One matched her own, the middle was the baby, and the last matched Benjamin’s DNA.

The room was silent as they all looked over the data. These were going to be the first born kids of the family. It was such an odd dichotomy since the family was already a large one, that Gwen just didn’t know what to think.

As she sat silently contemplating child birth and if she wanted kids. The excitement finally hit the room as the ladies in waiting burst with exuberance.

Was she jealous, was she sad? Gwen just didn’t know, but what she did know was that she didn’t want to be here right now. Making a silent exit from the room, maybe it was time to join Jean off planet for a little while. A break without having to worry about having kids would be nice.

=[-]=

Benjamin Blake

Doting Father, Husband, Emperor

Standing at the edge of the walled-off area to the Savage Lands. I took a moment to let the feel of primal energy wash right over me. Wind gently blew across my clothes and suddenly, I wanted to feel it on my skin.

The wolf in me wanted out, wanted to run and hunt.

A mental command to my omni had my clothes changed to shorts. No shirt, no shoes, no problem, I was here to embrace the Savage Lands and I couldn’t do that as a city boy.

Even the dirt between my toes felt amazing, enhale, exhale. Taking one more deep breath, I released it as I opened my eyes. The world looked so beautiful and charged with life. My canines lengthened and I felt the wolf inside growl in anticipation. Taleb took off first leading the way with Warpath right on his heels.

Colossus followed behind with an assured pace that matched that of a tank. I on the other hand watched and waited. I had far more senses to track them by and enough speed to outpace photons.

The shift of the wind and foliage was my que to hunt. First I caught the scent on the wind, then I was off to the races. My heart pounded a smooth rhythm as I glided through the Jurassic forest from a time long forgotten.

I jumped logs, I slid across moss and I jumped from branch to branch. I soaked in all that there was to being a part of the Savage Lands. A hand moved, instead of a branch snapping, it swung gracefully to the side. Here, I was both predator and prey, but all that did was increase my bloodlust.

Launching myself from a branch, I grabbed a hanging vine to swing myself forward. Letting go at the peek, I then landed on another branch and slid down its moss covered surface, I was Tarzan reborn.

Legs moved back and forth shifting from branch to branch as I skated my way above a pack of raptors. From just eyeballing them, I could tell that they were ten feet long from snout to tip of the tail. Six feet in height and the shifting of weight and toe claw screamed velociraptor. These were definitely not like the models in museums and neither were they like the ones found in the movie Jurassic Park.

No, these were pure nature’s bred killing machines. They hunted and I stalked them for five hundred meters. The raptors came to a sudden stop. There was a river fifty meters to the east. That was when the wolf inside nudged me to wait as my pack got into position.

Leaning back on the branch, I sniffed the air and found that the pack was also here hunting. While thinking that over, I pulled my chain sword from the back of my belt and held it in a reverse grip. Down below, I felt and knew without seeing, Silva was coming up along the flanks of the velociraptors.

A few more wolves were circling as a couple played bait for the dino’s. Now that was an interesting tactic to use against velociraptors if I have ever seen any. Tension filled the air as the pressure mounted and I held on with baited breath.

Everyone’s position was held briefly, that was until the wind rustled the leaves. This kicked everything into high gear as if someone let off the blast to a race. I slid from my perch with my saw blade buzzing as my aim was perfect. Wolves sprang from the foliage of the forest to attack the raptors from their side.

As I fell down upon the neck of a raptor like a guillotine, I noted how large the wolves were. It was clear that in full beast mode the lycans were as large as direwolves. Silva cut left as my blade tore into the beast beneath me.

Revving the engine, I let the blades tear into flesh before I twisted and swung to the side slashing the bottom jaw from an attacker. Rolling with the body beneath me, I lashed out with a kick sending the now jawless velociraptor away. There was a wet crunch sound as it slammed into the massive tree.

Completing the roll, I was back on my feet within seconds.

The wolves gathered around only leaving a spot for Silva to walk forward. Muscles shifted and bones rearranged themselves as she transformed. I watched as Silva went from four legs to standing on two. Her muzzle pulled in from the snarling wolf visage to that of a female one with bright Hazel eyes.

The eyes though did not match the wild Amazon that stood before me with blood dripping down her front. “That was a hunt.”

Smiling at her, I then flicked my wrist and vanished the blood that covered her front. “What are your plans with the carcasses?”

Silva hemmed and hawed as she slowly strolled around me trailing a finger across glowing lines that rippled across my muscles. Oddly, they reminded me of something, but I couldn’t place it for some reason. Even if I didn’t know what that was, my blood sang with power and life. I was pulled from my thoughts of discovering why when Silva started to speak.

“We have hunted each species that the good Doctor had wanted to study.” Silva spoke running a delicate nail across the lines on my skin. “We not only collect blood samples, but bring back the rest of the body for study.”

Leaning back against air, I studied the rest of my Lycans as they shifted back to either human or between. “How many more are on your list to hunt?”

“Three species left.” Silva purred as she ran an errant finger down my abdominal muscles. “The Tyrannosaurus and his cousins are last of course.”

The feral grin I gave her sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine, but I ignored that. My senses shifted and I located Taleb, Warpath and Colossus, they were closing in rapidly on a tribe of Lycans that had a lot more in common with the Siberian tiger than my own Wolves.

“Call the hunt here,” I said then held up a hand to forestall any argument. “I’ll be visiting a new tribe of Lycans in a little while and I would like you to come with me Silva.”

She gave me a nod before sending a signal to the others. They took that as an affirmative to send up a signal beacon. Idly, I noticed that it was shaped like a hover puck that could be reused. Turning, I launched myself into the air before kicking off from a tree branch. I heard the rhythmic pounding beneath me so I kept on going. Branch to branch, tree to tree we went through the forest.

Half a mile away from Taleb and the others, I grabbed a vine and swung myself back down to the forest floor. Silva was right there glossy fur shifting over the muscles along her back. Her muzzle shifted to look at me, but I already knew that she had caught the scent.

Kicking off the roots of the massive tree, I hopped on her back for a ride as she darted along the forest floor. Perched on her back, I held a fist full of fur as I directed her towards the proper direction. Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters, eighty, fifty, twenty, eight, right as we got to the final two meters, I leapt from Silva’s back and bounced between three trees before coming to a stop.

Clothes wrapped around her as she sprang to her feet and I idly noted that she was naked before just because she wanted me to look. Rolling my eyes at the sly smirk on her lips, I turned my attention upwards. Well, I looked up and up and up, until I was finally able to locate the homes amongst the canopy.

Sigh, of course the cat people would have their homes up high in the trees. Instead of asking me, Silva looked up once before deciding that my back was the best way she was going to make it up there.

Lucky for her, Natasha or my kids weren’t here to witness her being on my back and I was going to make sure that there wasn’t any recording of it. Natasha could get very jealous when she felt someone was riding her mount without her permission. It was why Sage’s ass was red after all, even if she was sharing dick and cream Natasha never gave Sage the permission to ride my face.

One hand behind me cupping some ass, I lightly hopped into the air. That light bounce took me fifty feet within reach of my target location. Another step this time on air pushed me upwards allowing me to land in a crouch on the largest platform. Silva was let down off my back and I took a moment to look up and around.

For a moment, I was lost for words. That was because this was nothing like I was imagining. When I read the reports, Doctor MCcoy said that they were advanced for hunter-gatherer type people as they built their homes in the canopy of the jungle. He noted levers and pulleys with advanced irrigation, but that’s nothing compared to what I was looking at.

If I had to describe it then I would say that this was clearly something out of Lord of the Rings. If I didn’t have eyes to witness them then I would have said that elves built these homes not Taleb and his people. Large arches to match equally stunning homes carved into the massive coniferous trees. Now, I really wanted to sprint across the Savage Lands and see the other tribes and how they lived. It was clear that these Lycans had adjusted and slowly advanced over the years they lived here. Interesting enough, I noticed the odd metal connection and attachments here and there.

It was nothing that stood out and it matched the artistic taste of cat elf people, but I could tell that it was a clear advancement from connecting to my own exploration group. Now, the million dollar question was how in the hell did Taleb get himself captured and turned into a Gladiator if his people lived so well. Okay, maybe that was a redundant question, it was the Savage Lands after all, “shit happens” is basically the motto of this place.

Putting a hand to brace Silva’s neck, I picked her up and we blitzed through the city in the canopy. For anyone watching, we vanished from one spot and appeared at another before anyone could think to blink an eye.

Warpath went for his blades and Colossus shifted his form to metal, while Taleb went into a low stance. Sitting Silva down, I gave the guys a nod before starting simple introductions. I knew that they had already met her, but it was good for the city if I kept to norms and customs. Plus, there was always the perked ear of those that liked to listen in the shadows.

Taleb gave me a half bow before turning and leading the way. From what I could tell, we were in the middle of this city in the tree approaching what could be the leader’s domicile. Besides the Siberian tiger people, because I figured calling them cats would be demeaning, I found some of my own mixed among them going about their daily lives and shopping. It would seem that the good doctor was already working on trying to integrate our people.

As we walked, a few things caught my interest, but all in all, I was ready to mark this place for increased security so that my kids could visit. Stopping outside of a store with a stall set up, I waited for the lady to leave before entering the shop myself. The first thing I realized was that I didn’t have any Savage Lands currency, the second was the chunk of gold on a rope with smudges of a grey looking metal giving off power .

A motion of my hand pulled Taleb to my side and I showed him what I was looking at. Taleb looked from me to the stone and it wasn’t until I told him about not having Savage Land currency that he understood.

Taleb finally understood, but I still wanted to smack him for scratching his head. “Let me talk with the owner, but why do you need the miracle stone? Your technology can already heal.”

That brought me to a pause, “Wait, you say that this chunk of metal can heal?”

That definitely caught my attention and now I really wanted that chunk of metal.

“Do you have anything to purchase it with?”

“No, but we may barter for it.” Taleb returned looking from me to the large orange and black striped tigerman behind the counter.

“I will not be trading weapons with your people until I have a solid agreement with your leader. And even then, they would have to join my soldiers and go through basic training like the rest.” I said for him to hear, of course the guy behind the counter was also listening in. “Do you think there is anything that he might need? Anything outside of weapons?”

Taleb looked up in thought for some time before his eyes lit up. “You could offer him a chance to be the first to see the ocean of stars.”

Standing there, I looked at Taleb before my face slowly split into a smile. “Can’t, you’re going to be the first of your people amongst the stars.”

The way his eyes widened was almost comical, shrugging, I turned to leave. I could always find out later what the chunk of metal was made out of. Can’t lie and say I am not interested in the life force I was sensing from it. Pulling out my phone, I took a quick picture and a preliminary scan.

“I’d like one’a those,” The merchant standing behind the counter said looking at my phone.

Frowning slightly, I looked down at the super advanced smartphone in my hand. It was four vibranium edges in a L shape that created a small rectangular box. You could then expand it to any size you wanted. The smartphone used a carbon nanochip for the processor and it was a super computer right in my hands. It also came with a smart link to my omni for added storage and processing power. Gotta love having shrinker tech on demand.

“Well, I guess the only question to that statement is to ask what color?” I asked while also sending a few commands.

The merchant looked at me like he didn’t expect me to hear his statement.

“My son likes blue.”

“Then, blue he shall have.” I replied by updating and changing orders swiftly. The chunk of metal floated into one of my outstretched hands while I pushed the other forward for a shake. There was no need not to have manners after all. I didn’t show it on my face but the moment the metal contacted my skin was like the first time I was hit with the speed force.

Eyes wide, I glared down at the chunk of metal as I ignored those in my surroundings. A Multitude of powers ran down my arm to bombard the metal as I struck out with my senses. It was like examining Vibranium all over again, this chunk of metal was just as powerful if not more.

From its unique molecular makeup, Vibranium was able to store kinetic energy within itself. That kinetic energy was then released slowly back out into the environment as something anyone could use. That was why Wakanda was so powerful before my nation came around. They capitalized on that unique universal energy released from the Vibranium.

What I had in my hand was far more valuable. The chunk of metal wasn’t just storing the energy from its surroundings, but it was also producing its own. Not only was the rock producing its own energy, it felt as if it was attuned to life. If I didn’t know any better I would say that the chunk of rock was producing chi.

No, it couldn’t be, if it was then this was going to be a massive game changer.

My head snapped to the right and Taleb and the rest took a half step back from my reaction.

“Tell me, if you have enough of this metal are you able to breathe underwater?” I asked, stepping towards him. Taleb and the rest took another step back from my intensity, but I didn’t care. If this was what I thought it was then I had to know now. This could be one of the greatest discoveries of mankind.

Taleb put a hand to his chin in thought while nodding his head a few times. “It also works against the anti-metal.”

Now, that was some interesting information, I was starting to think that we had come across Nth metal and that was going to be a massive game changer for my future plans.

Millions of plans sped through my mind before I settled on one. This was going to be the bedrock for my Space Force. If this was Nth metal, then I was going to create my own Green Lantern and Nova force. “Can you tell me where your people get this metal from?”

Taleb looked at me then looked at the chunk of metal in my hand. “That would be up to the chief and the elders.”

Yeah, rolling my eyes, I turned to the door as one of my spartans came through with a box in his hand. Walking over, I took the box from his hand while having the spartan follow. Standing at the counter, I shaped the Nth metal into a small dagger, then used it to open the box.

“Wait, let me go get my boy.” The merchant said with a grunt before vanishing towards the back of his store. Shrugging, I placed the phone back on the counter and pulled out my own.

Forming the metal into a disc for better scanning, held my phone up as I opened the app for a full spectrum analisis. Each time the scan ran over the metal, the information got uploaded to my personal lab.

Once the initial scans completed, I formed a magical spell circle in the air to produce gentle levitation. Forming the metal back into a small dagger, I gave it to the spartan for him to stab the spell. The fact they use it to breathe underwater and heal cuts were not enough. There were at least fifty metals out in the world that could do the same thing. Yet, there was only one that could disrupt magic and affect super powered individuals as if they were normal meat bags.

The spell formed and I enhanced it with some power to make sure. David looked at me, then gave a nod before slashing through my spell circle as if he was using a super heated blade. The spell instantly destabilized in my hand as I fought to get it back under control. Another slash from David and the spell collapsed completely and that was all I needed to know to get a solid conclusion on what I was dealing with.

Yeah, Nth metal was a thing and I was going to abuse the shit out of it if there was a steady supply around. For now, I just marked it as extremely important and for the drones to keep an eye out for the mineral signature.

The merchant came back with a kid walking behind him and I had to squish my instinct to pinch the kids cheeks. The kid really just looks like a kitten trying to be a tiger in how he walked and talked. Yeah, the kid had the cutest cheeks, but not cuter than my own kids. What I was going to allow though was for them to come and visit.