The Fastest Man Alive
Chapter 55
Pandamonium
Nick Fury
Director of S.H.I.E.L.D
Nick Fury sat in his office, rubbing the bridge of his brow. It had been a few days since the metahuman world was launched into pandemonium. When something had happened to the moon, the first thing Fury thought was that the Earth was finally under attack. Hell, he wished they were under attack, because when his sister had called and informed him of what had happened, he didn't know how in the fuck he was going to explain this situation to the World Security Council.
Fury wanted nothing else other than to shoot that overpowered nephew of his in the face. No one had told him, but Fury was certain that Ben could survive a nuke. And if he can survive something like that, then he could let his favorite uncle release some tension with a few rounds to the face.
Maybe he could get a hologram made of his nephew for his private shooting range. Today, Fury had been called to a joint meeting of the President and the World Security Council in order to discuss the "my nephew broke the moon" situation. Generally, he had better things to do, but it seemed this particular meeting was over the report he had filed the other day about the "the incident". The world knew it as a stealth meteor impact, but SHIELD had satellites and eyes everywhere, so they knew better. Needless to say, he had plans to spin this to his benefit.
Brushing by the two guards at the door with barely a glance, Fury glided across a gorgeous blue carpet with a certain eagle embossed in its middle, moving with the silk-smooth grace of a professional spy.
Fury looked up at the wall of monitors showing various world leaders. Observing the British Prime Minister, Fury noticed the office in the background. That could only mean she was in the MI5 building, with Captain Britain somewhere in the room. The Russian Prime Minister was inside one of their safe houses, and Pierce was calling in from a certain bank under Washington D.C. Not saying anything, Fury placed the folder he was carrying on top of the table.
"Forget what the report says," councilman Rockwell said from his monitor, "We must bring him in and have him answer for it.". Several minutes passed as Fury violently clamped his jaw shut, an angry sort of mumbled growl-hiss leaving his mouth whenever a particularly stupid comment was made.
"I say we vote on declaring Jason Todd a threat to humanity." The Korean Prime Minister spoke.
Sighing out loud, Fury once again regretted he was having world leaders involved in his job.
"We can't do that." Fury spoke up from his seat.
"Nice to see you Nick, but I don't see why we should vote on this matter," Pierce asked from his monitor.
Fury looked at those that were around the table before getting up from his seat. Pulling out a holo-table from the hidden "bag of holding" fitted into his "badass trenchcoat" (his nephew insisted on the names), Fury moved to the front of the room. "Because he isn't a threat unless we make him one."
"Well, with what has happened to the moon, it's hard to see him another way." Spoke the President of the United States.
"Yes, well, from what I have gathered from my sources someone decided to step on our asset's toes," Fury spoke, before an image sprang forth from his holo-tablet. "Magneto decided to do what I believe we are about to do and that is, make an enemy of Mr. Todd."
"What does Magneto have to do with the moon's situation, our satellites only picked up one anomaly in motion." one of the World Security Council members said. The lower right corner of his screen changed to show a shirtless Benjamin flying through the air. Sighing inwards, Fury was at least partially happy that his now adult form resembled his Jason Todd persona.
"Well, it seems Magneto decided he wanted the throne of our asset." Fury said as the image changed to a recent photograph of Magneto. Fury wanted to show a picture of Magneto's current state, but he decided that he could use that later. It would have a far better impact.
"And that leads to thirty-eight percent of the moon being destroyed how?" The President of the United States asked.
"He was fighting against what we call an Omega class meta-human." Fury said so seriously you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.
"So they had a little scuffle, that doesn't explain the moon." One of the Council Members spoke.
"No, this was not a scuffle as you would like to call it, this was a one-sided slaughter." Fury spoke as the images he showed changed to the decimated form of Magneto and the rest of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. "Todd is a king that doesn't move unless he has to, but when Magneto invaded he sent the best of the best, and they did not survive the encounter.
"According to my source, the only reason why Todd fought on that moon was to not cause collateral damage to the earth. Hell, we had him classified as at least a class 10 with a "Do Not Disturb" tag attached to his name. We have no idea about the upper levels of Jason's powers and I would rather keep him on our side instead of turning him into an enemy."
Fury could see the contemplative looks on each of their faces, but of course, there had to be that one with far fewer brain cells than the rest.
"How large could his little nation be if none of us has ever heard of it." the council member from Mumbai said.
"Well here is a little context of the matter." Fury said, keeping his face neutral. "Our friend Mr. Todd here is a king of his own sovereign nation, Pandora, a nation that as of yesterday is in fact the largest on this planet."
The image changed to a holographic globe which outlined the borders of each country, To the council's shock, the oceans were covered by a great red swath. Mutterings went around the room, several declaring the map to be a fraud.
"I can assure you that this is the latest report I was able to receive this morning." Fury spoke with such a deadly calm he had everyone on the edges of their seats. "It seems that Namor had aligned with Magneto and decided to participate in the attack as well. And let's just say… he didn't make it."
The holo-image shifted to show the ripped in half form of Namor laying on the beach.
"Mr. Todd ripped through everything before battling another Omega-level mutant known as Exodus on the surface of the moon, in order to not do this"—the images shifted to a cracked lunar surface—"to the surface of the planet."
"We must also remember, Mr. Todd has proven himself to be an ally to SHIELD and the WSC, providing us with massive upgrades in our weaponry. Hell, I had finally closed out a deal for the DELTA SIX accelerator suits. Additionally, in exchange for leaving his nation out of global politics, he has offered us Magneto and his 'Brotherhood of Evil Mutants', in addition to far more advanced weaponry."
The image shifted once more to one of a sleek futurist gunmetal grey and black super suit. On one of the hands was a miniaturized mini-gun and on the other was hanging over the shoulder. Missile pods and other weapons festooned the surface of the armor and Fury swore one of the military leaders creamed his pants.
The Russian Prime Minister slammed his fist on the table.
"Enough of this! Regardless of his gifts, we can not let the damage to the moon stand!" The Russian Prime Minister spoke while slamming a fist down on his table.
The President of the United States countered: "I vote we have the United Nations extend an invite to Jason Todd, and to appoint his nation a representative in the UN in exchange for limited oversight on matters of planetary importance. "
"That will not work," Fury said, trying to keep his voice as neutral as he could.
"Why not?" The Prime Minister of Britain asked.
"Okay, let me clear this up so that everyone can understand." Fury spoke looking at the room. "The issue arises when you decide to try and sanction a nation that's not apart of the world economy. He has no reason to listen to us: we have nothing he wants. Not to mention the fact that he is the leader of one of the world's largest and most powerful militaries, if what we saw during Magneto's invasion was an example... There is nothing we can do besides hearing out his offer"
"Thank you, Director, that will be all for now." Alexander Pierce spoke, and Fury heard the dismissal in those words clear as day. Picking up his files, Fury turned around and left without a second glance backward. No one noticed the small RFID tag he had placed under the table. Strolling down the hall, Fury cut a path as his trench coat billowed behind him in a display of pure badassery.
Fury smirked at the last guard as he waited for the elevator to take him upwards and back to his vehicle. The set of doors opened with a "ping", not paying anyone any mind, Fury got into the elevators and rode it back up. Fury raised a single eyebrow at the cart that waited on him as he arrived at the proper floor, where his sister sat, tapping their childhood code on the steering wheel.
Moving as if his driver was completely normal, Fury got onto the cart and rode it back into the underground garage. He waited for his sister to sign the cart back into the lock-up before she left, and was mildly unnerved when she came back around driving his SUV.
"Do I even want to know how you gained a copy of my keys, because I know I haven't let them out of my sight, ever." Fury spoke while settling into his seat.
"Nicky we both know I'm the better spy," Judith answered with a snort. "So, what's the verdict?"
"I was not told, I was dismissed by Pierce."
Judith began to slowly nod her head, mumbling to herself.
"No, Judith," he said, " you can't kill him. Remember that deal you have in play with the United Nations. You don't kill highly placed officials and they won't open your files again."
"I wasn't going to kill him! I have a daughter-in-law for that."
"Yes, the Widow. How did that knucklehead even tame a woman like her?"
"I have no clue, to be honest," Judith replied with a shake of her head. "Then again, I don't think I want to know how my baby boy is keeping all his women happy. I'm his mother and I don't plan to get involved in any of his bedroom activities."
"Yeah, I know how you feel about that. Did I tell you how I almost shot that chicken winged fool Michelle brought home?" Fury asked his sister.
"Haha, I can only imagine," Judith laughed as she turned onto the highway. They fell back into companionable silence as they drove.
"You know he isn't going to agree with any deal they try and force him into?" Judith said, turning.
"I know."
Judith released a sigh as she changed lanes.
"Then you should have said something."
Fury shrugged.
"I was dismissed after trying to impress upon them how unlikely he is to accept someone else's judgment."
"What more do they want? I've already tempered his urge to bring the world to heel!"
Fury snorted."Yeah, I could tell after he left Wakanda without doing to them as he did with Namor and Atlantis."
This time, it was Judith's turn to offer a detached shrug.
"That was a nasty bit of work."
"Agreed." Fury stated neutrally.
"You say that, but I heard you already marked Namor off your hit list. And there's the little fact you were looking into recruiting one or two of Benjy's people for the Avengers program." Judith replied as she took a turn down the off-ramp.
Fury turned to look at his sister before releasing a huff of air. "Yeah, I want one of those kids working for me. I believe we can do a lot of good, but I don't think they're cut out for the lifestyle."
Judith nodded. "No, the kids aren't, but Natasha and I have evaluated a few of the older ones Benjy rescued, and they would make decent agents," Judith replied as she came to a stop at the red light.
"Is he going to let me recruit them?" Fury asked eyes still on the road.
"Yeah, but he is going to have the island lawyers look it over. I did tell him not to rake you over the coals though, since you're family and all." Judith stated with clear mirth in her voice.
"He isn't going to leave me much room to work with is he?" Fury asked.
"He'll let them decide, since I asked him not to get involved. You'll have to curb your propensity on giving it to people without lube, or he will withdraw his people." Judith replied smoothly.
"Fine," Fury replied with a snort of his own.
Judith let out a sigh"I will see what I can do to make sure you don't get fleeced," Judith replied as she pulled into the underground parking leading to the Triskelion.
"And I'll see what I can do on my end." Fury said, as he opened the door to the SUV and stepped out.
O.O.O.O
Benjamin Blake.
Island: Pandora
Father, King
August 21, 2010
For the first time in a while, I was feeling relaxed. I was sitting in my lab with the kids: Sophie sat on my leg, going over her flight harness, and Alfred was sitting in the chair beside me working on the chest piece to his Megaman-style armor. Magneto was sent off not too long ago, and Fury and the United Nations wanted to make a big show of catching him. I didn't really care about it, to be honest, I was doing my own thing with my budding Empire.
Yeah, we were at Empire status now, especially when I conquered Atlantis. Sue wasn't too happy when she heard about that, but it was better for Atlantis that I was in charge instead of the previous royal family. Granted, I wasn't the best option, but at least I was going to take care of my people regardless of their station in life.
In total, Attilan added about five thousand to my population, but that wouldn't be enough for an Empire. No, the real benefit came from Atlantis. Atlantis increased my population by about two million people, and damn was that an interesting surprise.
I now had millions of people relying on me to do the right thing, and I was far too stunned to do anything once that realization hit, I stood there in my throne room at the top of the heart tree until my father had found me.
We had stayed up there for the whole night, speaking about a man's duty, and what he should do for his people. We talked about how I had first wanted to be a hero, and how things had gone so off the rails. Fuck, looking back at it all, there was no way I could have made it to where I was if I hadn't adapted. Humming to myself about it all, I pushed that thought aside as I stopped my baby girl from connecting the power supply to her flight harness.
"Slow it down, Sophie," I said as I held her little hand in my own. "Let's plug it into the table's power supply first, and then run a cold boot before we connect the one that will be seated inside."
Sophie looked up at me with a hopeful twinkle in her eyes, before she saw my expression and her little shoulders slumped. Chuckling to myself, I placed a kiss on her forehead before activating the wireless power supply to the work table. Sophie looked at the universal plug I handed her with wide eyes, her face spreading into a wide smile.
She didn't even bat an eye at me before she leapt up, taking the power leads and going directly for the harness. Before she could connect them I activated the table's security field as a precautionary measure. I watched silently as Sophie stuck a tongue out at the side of her mouth as she focused intently on the controls to her flight harness. I almost chuckled as I watched the system to her harness gave her the all-clear.
Picking up the mini crown at the side, I placed it on top of her head and waited for her to activate the systems on her harness. Hard light projectors flared to life before sputtering out for after a blink, but slowly wings began to form`. I noted a bit of spark when it was booting up, but I had those wires replaced and fixed with some insulation before Sophie could tell I was doing it. I had them on the side to use as a learning tool, but I wanted her to succeed on her first attempt to repair her own tech,
After a few minutes, the system had finally run its diagnostics, and everything came back with an all clear. Picking Sophie up from my lap, I placed her on the table before me and helped her try on her new-and-improved flight harness.
Pulling up my omni-tool, I changed some settings and watched as Sophie started to sprout hard light constructs in the form of butterfly wings. Sophie gasped as the wings fluttered behind her, she then took to the sky.
"No, you don't little lady," I said, pulling her back down out of the air. "No flying around over the lab equipment."
"But daaaaaaadddddyyyyy." Sophie whined as I held her up by her harness. She then turned and attacked my heart with a completely unfair critical hit. The pouting face, trembling lips and red moist eyes almost had me caving as any father should. Unfortunately for her, I was made of sterner stuff, a quick flick to the forehead fixed that issue right up.
Laughing at her, I waited till she stopped rubbing her forehead before picking her back up and placing her to sit on my lap. I double-checked the harness and made sure everything reached my own standards before removing the lab power and replacing it with its own power supply. Once I was satisfied with the harness, I picked Sophie up before trans-locating us to the garden where her sisters were with the rest of her mothers. Before anyone could say anything, I was back in my labs building the improved flight harness for my other two girls.
At the speeds I was going, they were completed within mere nanoseconds before I appeared back outside with both of them in my hands. I handed the blue and white to Celeste, while the green and white went to her sister, Phoebe. Once I was certain the girls had their harnesses on safely, I watched them take off and fly around. A few minutes later, I decided it was best to head back into my lab and not leave Alfred alone, and gave Emma and Raven a kiss before heading back inside.
On the way, I noticed Tony trying to talk Peter into wearing one of his suits. Peter was being stubborn about it, but that was to be expected. He was known as Spider-Man, not Iron-Lad, after all.
This was going to be Tony's learning moment: why should I stick my nose into it?
Walking back into my lab, I found Alfred trying on his chest plate, after adding a new lining of kinetic absorption fabric.
Walking over, I tapped my son on the shoulder, startling him.
"You do know all you have to do is ask for some help right?" I said before pulling up my chair.
"You were busy," Alfred replied with a shrug as he put back down the chest piece.
"Fair enough I suppose," I said with a sigh, before reaching over to tap on his omni-tool, changing his clothes into a bodysuit. Smiling at his red and black suit, I turned to pick up the chest piece he was having so many issues with.
With Alfred in the bodysuit, it wasn't that hard to locate the issue with his new chest piece. When he wasn't looking I pulled down the chest piece before taking a picture for his mothers. Alfred was suffering from a big man in little clothes syndrome and it was far too funny not to share. Flipping the photo around on my omni-tool, I showed it to Alfred after I sent it out. The crestfallen look on his face was almost too much, I wanted to give him a hug. Shaking my head at him, I was in motion again, before he knew what was happening. The chest piece he had on was removed and I was back out of sight moving at speeds no eye could keep track of.
Within moments, I had another set of armor made for Alfred, complete with a mega-buster and ability to self adjust to the wearer. This way he could wear it until he had his first growth spurt, if he didn't decide to upgrade. Alfred had no chance to react before I had the new armor over his head.
Sitting in my chair, I returned to standard speeds before hitting the activation key in my omni-tool. Alfred jumped a little once he noticed that he was in a new set of armor with an improved chest piece. Shaking my head at his reaction, I watched as the armor moved like liquid metal, wrapping its way around his upper torso and arms.
"Thanks," Alfred muttered.
"It's alright to ask for help you know," I said as I watched him examine his new armor.
"I know, it's just," Alfred spoke a little too low for me to hear.
"Hmm?"
I waited for him to put his thoughts together as he played with his armor, but I kept close so we could speak.
"This isn't my original form, but I am trying. It's just...
He sighed,"I didn't think being human would be so hard."
"Nothing is ever easy, but asking for help is just part of life," I said. "Don't ever be afraid to ask Alfred, Your mothers and I do it all the time, there's absolutely no shame in it.."
"Yeah, okay dad," Alfred answered me. I could only shake my head as I watched him play with his armor. Sighing, I picked him up and brought him to the training room Natasha was currently using. There was no way I was going to let him try out the mega buster in my lab.
Once I was certain that Natasha had the trouble maker under control, I made my way to the science department and took up in my more advanced lab there.
I entered my access codes into one of my more powerful vaults before taking out the runic keystone to the magical shield covering Atlantis and her sister cities. The keystone was shaped like an octagon, set inside a three by six-foot slab. On the top was a small entry port to insert more runic clusters programmed on smaller keystones. All along the main keystone were runic clusters numbered in the billions, if I wasn't mistaken.
I'm shocked no one has ever thought about combining science and magic together
Runes couldn't activate without magic being provided, so it was safe to use a laser etching tool to get them onto any surface you might want. That alone would revolutionize magic, but it wasn't enough. I took that to the next level when I had my magicians write out thousands of sets of runes before sending them to a team of programmers. They then made a neural network to analyze and coordinate the runic clusters into something usable and then much much more.
This was Pandora's trump card: one of the reasons why Magneto's powers didn't work on any of our weaponry, and why Otto's reactor was so effective in its collection of solar energy.
Putting the main keystone down at my lab table, I opened up a new working project for what I wanted to accomplish. I pulled up the absorption and then isolation runes before the matter-to-energy and a few others I had in mind that could accomplish what I was looking for. The program went to work on sorting out the best way to organize them as I kept searching for the proper runes to handle the pollution under the ocean. The idea behind this keystone was to draw in and disintegrate pollution within one hundred meters of each pillar under the ocean. They would also work for underwater oil spills and so much more. The other keystone was going to have a mild effect I cribbed from none other than Professor Xavier: I knew no one ever noticed the man's "trust me" aura.
I was going to take advantage of my understanding of the mind and create my own to bring the Atlanteans into the fold a lot quicker than a few years under my rule. I knew it was a moral grey area, but, hey, they still had free will, and I was only doing this to weed out the real diehard nationalists and opportunists. Once the first runic keystone was finished, I placed a fingertip to the top of the little two-by-three inch key and added a bit of charge, and then placed it inside the larger keystone that ran the magical force field construct. Lines of gold lit up along the side of the larger keystone as it absorbed its new programming. Once that was finished I went and did the same to the keystone that carried the Xavier field.
Since I didn't want to be an outright bastard about it, I made it so the field only worked on those living inside the bounds of the cities. When I was certain that everything was set and programmed right, I added that to the main keystone too.
With that placed correctly, I transitioned to the wardroom, located in one of the underground floors of the heart tree Very few knew I had a wardroom, and even fewer had the correct access to even be in here: the moment I stepped into the room railgun styled cannons turned on a swivel to pin me in place.
I waited for the security bot to scan my face, DNA, and quantum and astral signatures. There was no such thing as overkill: not with how important this room was to the safety of my Empire. I waited for the scanners to finish their work before I walked towards the center of the room. As I walked, the floor beneath me started to descend downwards as the walls changed as if they were inside of a kaleidoscope. I didn't give it any attention as the world around me shifted as if the room traveled through the fifth dimension. Anyone on the outside looking in would have noticed the roots leading from the wardroom looked like the depiction of Yggdrasil the mythical tree. Around the roots of the tree floated lights to make the surroundings appear to be suspended in space; there were stars as far as the eyes could see.
I walked past the world-tree to the center, where the socket for the main keystone sat waiting. Setting the keystone to float within the air beside me, I bent over to enter the last code. It wasn't that hard, but the socket was something I pulled from my memories of Skyrim. For me it was an easy turn-style codex system, but for others, it was beyond complex. The rolodex coded system had over fifty rings sitting around the socket, and you had to get each one perfectly before the socket would accept any new inputs from the keystone. A flick of my finger had the rolodex spinning at unimaginable speeds.
Tock…
Tock…
Tock…
With rapid movements, the rolodex stopped perfectly with the code entered into the rings. The keystone floated from my side to hover over the socket and I waited for the power to build before slotting it in.
There was a sound of rushing water as the power I placed into the main keystone sent the updates into the ward scheme of Atlantis and her sister cities. I smiled as I watched the golden lightning travel along the roots and out into the wider world. Standing there, I took a moment to just take it all in.
The ping at my wrist drew me out of my moment of reverie, and so I turned around, and made my way back topside. Touching down at the entrance of the heart tree, I saw Natasha, Medusa, Namora and Andromeda waiting for me. Looking at them, I guess it was about that time we had that little talk about the plans I had for their people.
Nat pulled me in for a kiss (which I returned of course). She wrapped a leg around my waist, and I pulled her in by grabbing myself a hand full of ass. Picking her up, I turned and walked into the building as Natasha finished wrapping her other leg around me. I could feel the ladies behind me blush, trying to figure out if they should follow or not. Instead of breaking out of Natasha's little hold, I gave a signal to one of my spartans before teleporting upwards to my conference room.
Since the conquest, my ladies had started to become a lot more affectionate: apparently, me standing tall over the corpses of my enemies spoke to some primal urge deep inside them. I sat Natasha on the table before me, then hooked my hands underneath her thighs and pulled her forward. My fingers dug into her beautiful curves as she attempted to taste my breakfast. Chuckling into the kiss, I moved my hands to her then took control. Nat smiled down at me as I moved her hands from around my neck, we were then embrawled in a battle of wills as I slowly moved her hands to her back.
For a split second, I growled at her as she bit into my bottom lip. Quirking an eyebrow at her, I sent a quick jolt of electricity into her system then pinch the nipple that rose to the occasion. Natasha yelped before sending her own bio-electric blast back at me. The blast of electricity washed over me, but I didn't blink as I felt Natasha scooting her way off the conference table and into my lap. Shaking my head at her antics, I leaned back in my chair and we enjoyed this little moment of peace.
Roughly twenty minutes into our cuddling, we both received a message that their limited tour of the heart tree was over. Nat gave me one last peck on the lips before she got up off my lap.
Turning around once I heard the "ping" of the elevator doors, I input commands into the station before my chair, which had the delightful effect of raising some tasteful holograms before the other seats around the table. I was never one for opulence, but Emma insisted. The room was richly decorated with marble flooring, oak with ebony accents for the table and even the lights up above carried gravity-spun crystals in the fixtures. A quick command to both of our omni-tools had our UMF suits shift to something of a more light business instead of the yoga pants and dad slacks we were wearing before.
Natasha was in her Widows suit but without any of her weapons on display. She gave me a smirk and a once over, but the door opened before she had the chance to say anything. Medusa had a light blush once she caught sight of me while I could feel Andromeda sizing me up. Namora had her political face on but I could tell she had placed her interest in me to the side and was more concerned for what I could do for her people. Granted, I was already doing a lot more for the Atlanteans than Namor had done in his last hundred years on the throne.
"Ladies," I said with a nod, pulling their attention from Natasha and back to myself.
Medusa took a pause for a moment and I could tell that she was gathering her thoughts.
"I would like to thank you for what you have already done for my people. I know that despite our King's… less than stellar first impression, you chose to aid our people instead of subjugating them. You have my eternal gratitude. " Medusa spoke with her head held high. "As the de facto leader of my people, I would like to extend a formal surrender and ask for an alliance with integration between our two people in mind."
The smile on Natasha's face vanished as she looked from me to Medusa. I was silent as I looked at Medusa, that was an interesting way to start this little meeting if any. I extended my hand out for her to take, we clasped hands and then I spoke.
"As the King of Pandora, I accept the formal surrender of the people of Attilan. Your people shall henceforth from this day onwards be my own. As their king it is my duty to protect them, to uplift them, to ensure their flourishing and prosperity. " I spoke with solemn tones.
"Thank you, my king." Medusa said, bowing. Andromeda and Namora shared a slight glance that I caught, but I ignored it as I took my seat at the head of the table. Natasha was on my right of course, with Medusa right beside her. On the other side of the table sat Andromeda on my left, with Namora completing the line right beside her.
Silence descended as I allowed them the time to digest what was on the screen before them. Andromeda and Medusa were the first to recover, I allowed Namora some more time as I sent off a message to Jean on the space station. While she was far too excited to visit the colony, in addition to dealing with a homesick eternal, I was positive that any civilization Titan had crumbled long ago. . Then again, with my luck some just might be alive. I grimaced, and quickly sent her a list of things to watch out for.
My attention shifted back upwards as I heard Namora clear her throat.
"Can you please explain your statements in regards to our pollution levels?" She asked diplomatically.
"Of course" I said with a winning smile, "1994, Namor scuttled a fresh and upcoming offshore drilling site, but not before they broke ground." I told the table and as I spoke a holo-image popped up in the middle of the table for all to see. "He destroyed the drilling platform and then covered up the site. But things are never so simple, there was displacement of some tectonic plates due to an underground earthquake about three months after."
The image shifted to show the reports and readings gathered at the time.
"It's not enough for you to see the difference, but the main city of Atlantis has been in oil-filled waters for some time now." I finished up before changing the image to the dome covering the city currently. "I have mechanical squids in the water now trying to plug these holes, but until then the dome will be filtering everything."
"My king, should we not evacuate the populace until this is handled?" Andromeda asked, trying to keep up a façade of neutrality…
"No need, the magically constructed dome is taking care of the situation as we speak. Not only that, but I even worked in a minor healing into the dome. It's only going to last over the next five days, but it will cure everything short of missing limbs." I replied as the holo-image shifted once more. The image changed to show a white glow emitting from the dome over atlantis. The image shifted and the ladies at the table saw the same thing with the other cities. "Magic is a helluva thing isn't it."
"Like he told you under the ocean, he will do all within his power to care for those under his rule, and Atlantis and her cities are under his rule." Natasha spoke from my side cutting off Andromeda. "Your King has held up his end of the deal, now ladies it's your turn."
Namora and Andromeda shared a look as both of their lips thinned. I noticed Namora casting a sly glance to the guards standing at my back before she gave me a level look. I didn't say anything as Natasha put her professional face and her eyes went cold. I didn't interrupt Natasha because I knew that this was a defining moment for the two most powerful ladies of Atlantis. This situation was not Japan at the end of World War Two, so no, I was not going to just leave it with military oversight to make sure the government played by my rules. No, I was far more ruthless and pragmatic and both of the ladies before me knew that.
Getting up, I stood before them and gave the ladies no way to negotiate out. Underwater it was an unspoken agreement that if I won I would take care of the people and cure their ailments. Well, now it's clear that I have won and I have already started to solve the issues of Atlantis.
Radiating power, I stood there calmly as I looked over the two women. Natasha had her cold gaze leveled at the both of them while Medusa was looking on with mild interest. Standing with my hands behind my back,I looked over the two impassively. I watched as Andromeda steeled herself before looking to see Namora's reaction.
Andromeda went to speak but before she could, Namora placed a hand on her shoulder. She then walked before Andromeda before speaking for the both of them. Namora knelt before me and Andromeda followed her lead. I of course knew that Andromeda was already going to bend the knee. Everything Natasha had gathered on her over a day pointed towards her being a truly benevolent monarch; one that could put her people's welfare above her personal pride. Namora, on the other hand, was a consummate politician. There was a reason Namor kept her out of the Royal Court.
Namora's smooth, practiced bow and charming, sultry expression simply oozed deceit: anyone with half a brain could clock her as a veteran political operator. The shift from "prideful aristocrat" to "seductive princess" was so smooth and natural that if not for my enhanced cognitive abilities, I would have seriously doubted the accuracy of my memories of her earlier behavior. I was more than the second head within my pants, but damn if those pouty lips and lidded eyes didn't tempt me something fierce. This woman was good.
Natasha seemed to agree: out of the corner of my eye I could see her lips briefly twitch up into a near-imperceptible smirk, which for her was the equivalent of a booming laugh.
"As the last remaining royal bloodline of Atlantis, I Aquaria Neptunia I, formally surrender Atlantis and her people to the conquest and rule of the nation of Pandora."
I looked as she held a closed fist over her chest, power radiating from my being, allowing the moment to stretch on.
When I opened my mouth to speak, the room shook with my words.
"I, Benjamin Blake I, King of Pandora, formally acknowledge and accept Atlantis's surrender. Our nation is your nation, and your people are our people. As long as Atlantis abides by our law, then as King, we shall do everything within our power to make sure that she shall prosper and rise to a peak she has never before seen."
The walls were still ringing from my pronouncement, I took Aquaria's hand, helping her off the floor. After doing the same with Andromeda we returned to our seats around the table.
"Now, where were we?" I said to the table, looking down at that hologram that was projected before me.
From my side, Natasha immediately answered: "I believe we were discussing the available resources for our various new protectorates? "
"Ahh yes… the five billion in credits that I have allotted to the Inhumans and their relocation," I said, as the hologram shifted to the programs and projects I had created to assist them.
"What is this 'credit' that you speak of?" Medusa asked with furrowed brows. "I have noticed this word being mentioned over the few days that I have stayed and visited your cities."
"Credits'' is the islands form of currency: a term used to describe the unit of measure for the value that various goods and services have to the interconnected system which arises from the trading of 'currency' for goods and services is known as an 'economy', and a healthy economy is good for the well-being of the Empire and all Imperial Citizens. You will also see the 'dollar' used occasionally to value things; it is the currency of the largest economy of Earth, and is central to the world economy. "
"Thank you," Medusa said, a pensive look on her face as she digested this new information.
"The funds will be allocated into several programs I already have underway. The main one deals with your people's main problem: your low birth rate and your system of reproduction."
"You are speaking of the genetic matches made by the genetics counsel?" Medusa asked.
"Yes, exactly that. I understand that this council was put into place to help keep the inbreeding and genetic disorder to a minimum, but it was far, far too restrictive on the number of children allowed. This is the driving force behind the slow extinction your people were facing on Luna." I replied extremely seriously on the matter.
This was one of those situations where I just couldn't understand Marvel. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were amazing, but man they had to have been smoking some really heavy shit to let something like this get and years of publication and no one had caught on to how inbred the Inhumans would have to be, I was not going to let that shit slide here. No more cousin-fucking, this shit isn't The Hills Have Eyes.
"Pandora has more than enough space, so there will be few, if any limits to the number of children. My issue, however, is your people's cultural belief that incest had no consequences if the couple just genetically manipulates the fetus." I spoke as the hologram then changed to show a few couples that were either brother and sister or cousins for the room to see. Beside their images were the images of their kids and the list of problems they are currently dealing with.
The list ran from congenital birth defects to malformation of appendages to missing limbs and so much more.
"While most of these problems are fixable through medicine, the effort of fixing them makes the child significantly weaker overall in terms of post-Terrigenesis capabilities. It also produces a far fewer new and diverse abilities, as an Inhuman's abilities post-Terrigenesis are proven to be at least partially genetic. There is a reason that Black Bolt is one of the only currently living Omega-Level Inhumans, and the first King in generations to be gifted with that level of ability. You yourself are one of the most powerful Inhumans alive, and yet during the dawn of your species abilities like yours would be commonplace."
Medusa said nothing, deep in thought, as she looked over the minute details on the holographic family trees before her, eventually giving a nod of thanks.
"You are welcome, but don't feel too down on yourselves." Natasha spoke up, an honest-to-god smirk on her face, "the people of Atlantis have their own genetic issues that we are currently working on solving."
"C-Could you please elaborate?" Aquaria said, doing her best to keep up her flirtatious mask in the face of the shocking information.
"The inability to stay above water is a genetic defect," Natasha answered smoothly as the holo-image changed to a three-dimensional diagram of the Atlantean genetic code. Besides that was the standard land-dwelling human genetic code, and then beside that was one of my Spartans.
The image shifted to show where the deficient genetic marker didn't allow their bodies to retain water and moisture like the standard human. The Spartan genetic code showed the genetic "switch" that allowed them to breathe underwater at will.
Instantly, I understood why Natasha was using this as an example. We had used an Atlantean criminal awhile back to create the standard underwater MGH serum, and one of the things we discovered was that the Atlantean's lung carried the same bronchiole lung type as standard humans. The only difference was its ability to filter the oxygen from the water breathed in. There were plenty of other things to the body but we discovered that was the most important. As we searched deeper, that was when we discovered the reason. And it was just one simple genetic shift that created such a major rift between the two peoples.
There was a lot more to the Atlantean genetic code, like the fact that they could actually be classified as homo-magi due to the fact that they are all carrying the magical gene, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was that a simple genetic fix could solve their above water issues. Once we solved that issue we then followed it to simple retention of moisture within the standard atmosphere.
"As you can see, we solved that genetic trait within our Spartans with the MGH," Natasha spoke before the holo-image shifted to a serum that glowed a soft white light. "It's also why the both of you have been able to stay out of the ocean for the last few days."
Andromeda and Aquaria looked stunned at this fact, but I could already tell that Andromeda was putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
"The medical check up." Andromeda spoke softly with a thoughtful expression.
"Got it in one," I returned. "Now, tell me, why."
Andromeda took on a thoughtful expression, "So that the people can see that it works, but also to remove our influences."
"You experimented on us." Aquaria asked with a deceptively smooth tone.
"Incorrect, experimentation would mean that you would not survive the procedure." Medusa answered with a rare smile. "What our king did was provide you with a cure allowing you to go anywhere on land without being subjected to searching for large bodies of water suitable for refreshing your person."
Before Aquaria could speak, I cut her off. "Everyone within Atlantis and her cities will be getting a dose of the specialty made Pandorian MGH. And if you haven't noticed all of my troops will be getting the Atlantean MGH with their next check-ups."
"Natalia," I spoke softly as I raised a hand to stop her from saying more. Natasha went silent at my side. "It is already done Aquaria, now you no longer have to worry about taking it when it is offered later."
Aquaria stared at me for some time before giving me a slow nod in acceptance. With that out of the way, we then went over the military obligations. Unfortunately from what I have seen, I didn't want any of them within my military or a part of my police forces, but I had to compromise. Then again, with my standards, only the best of the best was going to make it into my armed forces. Out of the half a million troops at my disposal a quarter of my forces was currently under the ocean as an occupying force.
I was sure to impress upon Andromeda on why I wanted to keep the quality of my soldiers up and that she would also have to go through training to meet my standards also. Her agreement was something I was more than happy to have, since I knew that if her soldiers see their General going through training also, then there would be a lot less complaints. As the meeting came to a close, Aquaria decided to ask about the few thousand homeless that roam the waterways of Atlantis. My answer did not please her at all, but I was out of fucks to give.
"They will be given quarters here on the island, they will then be brought up to the standards of the Empire," I answered her, but I could see the frown already forming. "This is not up for debate Aquaria. They are my people and I refuse for them to roam around when it's simple to give them a home and the resources to keep them from repeating how they got into their homeless situation."
"Of course my king," Aquaria answered her voice smooth as silk. Damn, I was really going to have to keep an eye on this woman. There was a ding at my wrist that drew everyone's attention. Grunting, I checked my omni-tool, what I found had me sporting such a savage grin, I could tell I unnerved two of the ladies.
[ Culver University destroyed, Mr. Green on the move. Destination, Mr. Blue New York, New York. ]
Replying to the message, I got up from my seat.
"Ladies," I said with a nod towards them before turning to leave, Nat was right on my heels.
O.O.O.O
Benjamin Blake
King, Red Hood, Lightspeed
The night was starting to descend and the air had picked up a chill, but I ignored it all. The reason for this was also the reason for my focus. Three blocks away and clear for anyone paying even a modicum of attention was a large three archway window that led into the labs of Mr. Blue. Also known as Dr. Samuel Sterns, aka the future Leader, super genius and consummate egomaniac.
Nat and her ONI team had done their jobs amazingly well. I had an incredibly detailed profile of the man scrolling across the HUD in my helm right now: Nat and her ONI team had performed above and beyond expectations. Luckily for Sterns, he showed the standard dissociation from his peers that came part and parcel with his advanced intellect. The profile did state, however, that unlike many men of his genius Sterns missed his chance at greatness and success due to his intense social anxiety.
{Mr. Green and Wildflower approaching.}
My comms chirped in my air and I got ready for action. Looking to the side, I watched as my speed force clone came dashing up the side of the building. It had been some time since I left a speed clone incharge of keeping the city safe, but since the clone was just a copy of myself, I didn't feel like I had much to worry about. Reaching my hand out, I absorbed him back into me before creating another.
The memories I received told me that Ross was already setting up his perimeter, and that somehow, SHIELD was already in the area. Damn, this was going to be one tight operation. I snapped off a message to Nat before shifting my position at the edge of the building. I sent a signal to my clone and had him respond to the sound of a siren from the other side of the city.
At the lower right of my HUD, a video to the operations center of General Thunderbolt Ross went live.
"Button up that perimeter, Blonksy, I want you to hang back and wait for the tranq to do its job. Eagle Eye, let me know when you have a clear shot."
I watched as Ross fired off orders, his team moving like a well oiled machine. My opinion on the man wasn't very high, but damn if he didn't run a tight ship. The video feed of Ross's ops room went silent as the live feed to Dr. Sterns' lab activated in the lower right of my HUD. A quick mental command gave the video dominance.
The images we were able to snap of him didn't do the man justice. Bruce was fit, and not the fit of a man on a lean diet No, Bruce was built like a man going through his bulking phase. He was also moving with an easy grace to his steps, but this was overshadowed with how skittish the man looked. It was odd in a way to be completely honest. This was the man that could take me in a knock down drag out match, and he was scared of his own shadow.
Then it happened: the moment that Dr. Sterns got too excited, and too close to Betty. I noticed it but I was certain Sterns was oblivious to how close he came to death. Bruce's eyes flashed green when Sterns made a too quick motion towards his lover.
I felt my HUD to record as Sterns started to talk about a primer and amygdala. My attention was on the video feed of the SHIELD agent two blocks to my right. Grant fucking Ward was here, shit, I guess I should flip a coin. Heads, he lives, but gets a nice new perspective on life. Tails he goes in the hole like all the other HYDRA fucks. I held a hand out to the air and my clone dropped a quarter in my palms before running off once more.
Looking down at the coin, I noticed the scorch on one of it's faces. Smirking at the implications of that, I placed my thumb under the coin before flicking my thumb lightly. Instead of tracking the coin with my hyper awareness, I allowed it to do a few flips before snatching it out of the air. Seconds stretched, but to my senses, it felt like forever.
Opening my palm, I looked down and found tails, well fuck. I guess Coulson is going to need someone else for his special team. Punching a few commands into my omni-tool, I then placed Wards fate out of my mind.
{Take the shot, do it, do it, Now!}
With that command, I watched as Ross ordered his snipers to take down Banner. I wanted to help, I really did, but I had a far more important mission right now. Natasha was going to handle the evacuation of Sterns and his research, while I was going to handle the red one. I didn't know what Ross was thinking, but it was obvious he was completely off his rocker.
Shifting my weight, I watched as Blonsky rushed the room. Shaking my head at the spectacle, I sat back and observed. Sterns tried to pull out an antique revolver of all things, but it was clear the man was suffering from a concussion. Whelp, I guess that's why Blonsky ended up as butt fucking ugly with his transformation: it was clear that he was a failed experiment.
The lieutenant gave the orders to clear out Banner and Betty before going back into the room. She went to one of the PCs but it shut down with a command from Nat's omni-tool. I watched as Bruce was taken to the roof before being loaded onto a helicopter.
Twisting on the spot, I leapt from my building to the next. My stealth was activated and I was moving with only my leg strength. Natasha should have the situation under control, but what was about to happen next could go either very right or very very wrong, and I was not into the habit of losing. Not when I like to stack the deck in my favor. Like the saying goes, all's fair in love and war, and war was a business I knew very well.
Parkouring my way across the rooftops of New York, I followed the helicopter holding Ross and Banner. I couldn't help the excitement that ran up my spine. I knew what was about to happen and I was near both of the top combatants.
Things went just like in the movies, with one very important difference: Sterns was not left to rot inside his labs. The moment Blonksy killed the lieutenant and jumped out the window, Natasha and her team went to work. Sterns, his lab, and Banner's samples were picked up and placed within the expanded chest that they placed in the middle of the room.
I came to a stop on top of the Harlem Knights roof as I listened to the roar in the distance. That feeling of excitement was back as I watched the helicopter make a U-turn. I jumped over and hung off the building's ledge as the helicopter flew over my head.
My latest AI, Kelix pulled up the video feed Ross was connected to. I chuckled as Blonsky asked for a real fight before trying to smash the people recording for him. My speed clone ran through and saved the people, of course: I'm not going to put innocents at risk for the sake of my ambition. I waited for the helicopter to fly over my position, and then kicked off the side of the building into free-fall. Teleporting mid-air, I popped out a few meters from Blonsky, and hunkered back down to watch the show.
Ross's Helicopter was just catching up, and with my enhanced vision, I could see the man standing calm and confident in the bay doors, glaring at Blonsky. That man had balls, I'll give him that.
I watched as Ross said something to the door gunner, and a few seconds later, the helicopter opened fire on Blonsky. I couldn't help but to shake my head at the audacity of the man. From the readings I had received from my scanners, I knew Ross could take Blonsky.
Twisting at my location, I watched as Blonsky took off running towards Ross. Chuckling at the situation, I sent a quick message to ONI to take care of the Grant Ward issue. The helicopter tried to evacuate Ross from the situation, flying up higher and higher. They didn't escape as Blonksy jumped to drag it down, but he didn't get enough height on his leap.
I watched with bated breath as Ross stopped to a hovering high above the city. From my location, I could see someone with his back to the off ramp. Instinctively, I knew that it could only be Banner. Before I could get a clear view of the man he slipped out of the helicopter. He fucking slipped out: not jumped, not dive, the man actually fucking slipped.
Turning my attention back to Blonksy, Kelix quickly found him several blocks to the East.
Taking that as my cue, I leisurely jogged (well, leisurely for me) to Blonky's location, getting there just in time for the boom of Banner's Landing. Down below, ONI was rescuing people with their stealth gear active. This was going to go under Fury's name as a SHIELD service, but honestly, I was alright with that.
Another civilian was rescued by ONI as Banner finally punched his way out of the hole he had made with his landing, setting Blonksy off.
"HUUUUULLLLKKKKK!"
Well, damn, I could feel the power and rage radiating off of the man. Hulk was easily ten feet tall and he was a mountain of muscles. It was only now that I actually was able to see the Hulk with my eyes that I understood. Hulk was the strongest there ever was and Blonsky was definitely cracked for wanting to face him.
I turned in time to see Blonsky give Banner a savage grin before they charged towards each other. There was a massive boom as the both of them clashed. Watching the shock wave travel through the air was astounding as I registered that it was made from just pure physical force.
Looking upwards, I noticed the helicopter shake from the shockwave before turning my attention back to the fight. Watching the fight, I had to take in how massive the Abomination was compared to the Hulk. Transformed, Banner was an incredible ten feet tall, but even then the Abomination towered over him by at least two feet.
The street was taking a pounding, but I was happy to see that my hidden kinetic and plasma shields were holding steady, protecting Harlem from the clashing behemoths. I might be here on a mission, but that doesn't mean I could write off everyone else. At least this way the people who own their stores don't lose their livelihood.
"ＨＵＬＫ ＳＭＡＳＨ！！！!"
Chuckling to myself, I watched as Hulk ripped a police car into two before using the halves as boxing gloves. It was interesting to see that some of Banner's intellect was still there, giving his alter ego the ability to use his environment in a relatively creative fashion. I didn't have any evidence for it, but I personally was of the mind that the "Hulk" was just Banner overridden from the sensory input from his transformation. I had a few ideas on how to help him with magic, but he would have to see a therapist because fuck did he have a shitty childhood.
I watched in silence progress as Blonksy gave Hulk what I could only describe as a "fuck you" kick, sending him up and over one of the buildings before he crash landed inside of a construction site. Teleporting to the construction site, I heard another helicopter join the retinue above the fighting monsters. Unfortunately for Banner and Blonksy, this new helicopter was apparently Ross's backup, and immediately fired indiscriminately down into the battlefield.
I could only shake my head at Ross's foolishness as I saw Abomination shrug off the bullets, yank an metal pipe out of the ground and throw it at the helicopters. He struck true, and the helicopter came crashing down into the same construction site. That pilot was damn skilled, but I may or may not have guided them with a little applied gravitational forces.
Things were playing out too much like the movies so I gave Ross some extra incentives to bring out his ace in the hole, one that not even Blonksy knew about. This time, he was pinned in the cargo bay away from his daughter Betty. I pulled back my awareness as Ross started to shake, the heat around his body began to rise. Chuckling at Ross's attempt to hide what he is, I hunkered down to enjoy the show. I would love to be a fly on the wall in Fury's office after he sees the footage of this fight.
Hulk and Abomination paid no attention to the helicopter and what laid inside as they went back to fighting in the middle of the construction site. Hulk delivered a devastating upwards swing into Abominations chin, sending him flying across the construction area.
Hulk roared in victory, but his enjoyment didn't last very long. There was a massive boom that drew everyone's attention as a massive arm came bursting through the side of the helicopter. The arm was red with veins crawling all over it and damn massive to boot. Following that arm came an equally massive man wearing the tattered remains of General's shirt and pants. Well, the pants and shoes weren't shredded, which I found to be an interesting and slightly suspicious point.
Although, anyone with half a brain could tell that Ross's adjusted outfit meant he was already aware of his own ability to transform. I was certain that Fury was already putting the parts of the puzzle together, but he couldn't do shit because Ross was a key player in America's military-industrial complex.
"You are both pathetic," Ross's voice boomed out,. over the screech of metal from the downed helicopter"All the money your country invested into you, and you both turn out to be deserters and failures. Banner: the single chance to create the perfect soldier, wasted on a pacifistic traitor, and Blonsky: a failed imitation creating nothing more than a petty thug."
"Ｈｕｌｋ ｎｏ ｃａｒｅ，Ｈｕｌｋ ｓｔｒｏｎｇｅｓｔ！！!"
"That's what the Japanese said when they attacked Pearl Harbor, and look how that turned out." Ross chuckled before stepping out of the helicopter. "You have something of mine, and I will take it from your corpse if I have to."
Hulk never had a chance, as Ross dashed forward and hit him clean across the construction site. What I thought should have been a shoulder check was changed into a bitch slap that sent Hulk flying. Stifling a laugh as such a move, I watched as Abomination came dropping in on Ross's left. They didn't share any dialogue as the brute looked Ross over, he then looked down at himself, and fuck could I feel his anger from here. Then again, it really was his fault. Blonsky couldn't chill his ass and wait, so here he was, a huge dickless monster that can't change back to human if he tried.
The snort of derision Ross performed stirred the Abomination into action, and with a loud roar, he charged Ross and the fight was on again. They didn't make it past sharing a few exchanges before the Hulk was back clocking Ross across the back of his head, Abomination ducked the returning blow and followed up with his own straight into Hulks face.
Turning to the side, I gave Nat a nod as she tried to sneak up on me from my blind spot. Almost imperceptible over the sound of the fight, I heard my helmet let out a soft bing. From what Nat had sent me, Sterns and his lab were dealt with without any issues.
On the other hand, there were a few issues when it came to Grant Ward. Natasha had made the call on-site to reprogram the man instead of killing him, much like we had done to Eric Killmonger. I wanted him dead because I didn't want HYDRA moles around my friends and family, but I get why she gave Ward a second chance. She had one, and she was extending the opportunity forward, but the telepath had to have found something good in him for them to go against my orders like that. I wasn't going to complain because he was now our mole inside of HYDRA, and that was a nice consolation prize for having my orders disobeyed.
I peered at her through my one way helm, a new version of my red hood helmet with no eyes on the front. Instead, I had the helmet coated with microscopic cameras linked to an internal HUD system. This gave me three hundred and sixty degrees of view, but it also had the added intimidation effect. People were easily unnerved when they didn't have eyes to connect with and that was how I wanted it. No human connection for those on the other end of my hard silent stare.
"Is the portal ready?" I asked before turning back towards the fight.
"Of course. We've already evacuated Betty Ross." Natasha replied as she took up position against the pillar to my left.
"So what? You're here to tell me to stop dragging my ass?" I asked with a chuckle before standing up straight. There were pops from my back and neck as I stretched myself out.
"Yep," Nat replied, popping the "p" in her statement. Luckily, I turned away from her just in time to see Abomination come flying towards us.
"Tssk,"
I didn't have to worry about Nat, since she was Nat, so I went ahead and launched myself forward, the ground beneath me breaking from the force of my launch. Blonksky was not prepared for me as I speared into his back and carried him back down to the site of combat.
Needless to say, Ross was not prepared for my own personal Abomination Batista Bomb to strike him directly in his face. Releasing Abomination, I flew and hovered in the air out of arm's reach of the Hulk as I watched the two morons try and right themselves.
"I know that Banner and Ross are the two Christmas-themed warnings against steroid use," I said, smirk audible in my voice, "but who's Shrek's dumber, uglier cousin?"
My HUD informed me that the news cameras were finally moving into position, and our words were being broadcast on live TV.
"So Banner's got a friend, now does he? You know the prison sentence for treason, boy?" Ross was almost growling at this point, I could see the steam coming from his skin., He reached down into the crater, giving Blonksy a hand up, apparently listening to that old saying of about "the enemy of my enemy"
"I'm not sure, but I'm not gonna lie, I don't think I should be taking advice about treason from a literal Red Menace."
Roaring at what would soon become his alter-ego's nickname in the media, Ross let out a bellow, flying towards me with a mighty leap.
With barely a glance in my direction to confirm my lack of hostility, Banner roared before smacking Ross into the ground, with a mighty "ＳＭＡＳＨ!", sending out a shockwave that threw Blonsky back into a piece of rebar. I grabbed Abomination by his odd leg spike, while simultaneously slapping Ross away and into the construction site.
Before I could do anything else, Blonsky kicked out and hit me in the chest in a frankly amazing display of reflex and coordination. I felt like I was being hit by a fucking truck and I was sent flying away, and I suddenly remembered why Blonsky could always fight Banner on an even ground despite their power disparity: even though he wasn't as strong as the Hulk, Blonsky still had all the training of an elite commando, backed up by a brutal, ruthless cunning.
I ended up shooting through two buildings before catching myself midway through someone's living room. Floating in the air, I looked down at the granny and her grandkids watching the same news that was featuring the superpowered beat down.
"So… You guys want an autograph"
As the grandchildren screamed in fright, I had Kelix take a picture and set aside some cash to help them repair the hole. I had more than enough money. Jumping out of the apartment, I met Blonsky mid-air. Fist met fist and super strength clashed against super strength in a series of blows strong enough to smash buildings to pieces.
The difference between Blonsky and I was apparent: each hammer blow from Abomination covered a large swath of my flesh, while each of my hits were like precision strikes. I broke bone after bone, but Blonsky just laughed them off.
I was starting to get tired of his shit. Twisting mid air, I dodged a swipe from Abomination before sending him back where he came from.
Taking advantage of Abomination's relative lack of strength and durability, I came down hard with a knife hand, smashing apart the Abominations raised and hardened rib bone plate. Green blood splashed everywhere as he streamed out in pain. I followed up with a super powered kick to the cranium, and smashed his head to the side with enough force to grind a skyscraper into rubble, which was just enough to knock him out.
I was done with the kid gloves.
Dust twisted up in my wake as I flew to the other side of the lot, intercepting Banner and Ross's fists mid-punch.
Turns out, I might have gotten a bit too used to being vastly stronger and tougher then my opponents.
I could hear my arms snap like twigs as my shoulders were crushed into their sockets, and I almost screamed from both blows. Christ, these two had only just got their powers, and they were already strong enough to damage my Omega-level durability? Just how strong were they?! I suddenly gained a massive level of respect for Tony Stark taking on the Hulk in nothing but a suit of armor.
Gritting my teeth, I pulsed outward with some gravity sending the both of them flying, only able to do so because I caught them off guard. Luckily, Banner landed right where I wanted him, in the middle of a zero-point energy trap that ONI had set up earlier..
Before I could celebrate, I dodged to the side as Ross came crashing down on my location like a freight train. Floating in the air, I faced off against the man, titling my head to the side, I turned on my external speakers.
"Getting ahead of yourself there General." I said floating back some. Ross rocketed forward with another attack, which I dodged, ripping up a fire hydrant with a gravity pulse in order to soak Ross with cool water, exploiting something even he didn't know about his own enhanced physiology. As Ross started to calm down from his berserker rage and realize the situation he was in, his eyes widened in horror.
"You got a lot of explaining to do, General. " There was no hiding the smug tone in my voice this time,
"You know nothing." Ross snarled at me.
"I know you tricked a man and tried to kill him to cover your ass." I said, as I floated there like I was sitting on a chair. The lower right of my HUD showed me the live news feed, and I made sure that I was angled so that the cameras could catch everything the rage-drunk and oblivious Ross was saying.
Ross scoffed. "So what? Banner was just another useless lab coat until he stumbled across the key."
"True, and you've turned him into a fugitive to hide your own ineptitude."
"He should get what any traitor deserves: an adamantium bullet to his big green skull." Ross growled out, voice booming across the lot.
"You really hate him that much for dating Betty, that you are willing to ruin the man's life?" I made sure that I came across sounding shocked, stunned, and horrified all at once.
"Enough talk, die!" Ross snarled as he lunged at me once more. Instead of facing him head on, I gravity spiked him from the side before tossing him to the entrance of the construction site. Smashing a crater into the ground, Ross finally noticed all the cameras and microphones behind the police line.
"I wonder how you are going to get out of this one? I know you and your Pentagon buddies like to smooth things over with a backroom meeting with the hosts of every daytime TV show, but I think that unlike your black op in Brazil, this is just a bit too public to hand-wave away. Hell, I can see riots if no news station airs all this footage! " I spoke with clear mirth in my voice. A small cheer went up from the people recording on their phones, as they shot poisonous glares at the reporters.
My little monologue did it's job, driving Ross back into a blind rage, driving him to launch himself at me without regard for any of the consequences. I didn't have time to dodge, but unfortunately for him, that didn't matter, as he went right through my hologram.
"Ohh, you thought I was still here?"
Standing on the ledge above the camera crews, I laughed and had it play through the holo-projectors as I got up from my crouched position. I had left the General with enough issues for now, and had gotten away with more than enough prizes for the night.
A/N
Give some love to the badass Beta who took a swing at the chapter: Sage Nameless.
She did amazing work with the chapter.
I just gotta L O L, because I know a lot of you thought I was going to do some massive brawl in NYC. Instead, it was me, DIO!, okay okay, nahh it was just a hologram.
You can reach me here at my discord or join my patron because there will always be early chapters.
Removes the - for the internet links
www - DISCORD - GG - p2QJNck
If you wanna support and get the early chapters.
ToFu
The Fastest Man Alive
Chapter 55
Pandamonium
Nick Fury
Director of S.H.I.E.L.D
Nick Fury sat in his office, rubbing the bridge of his brow. It had been a few days since the metahuman world was launched into pandemonium. When something had happened to the moon, the first thing Fury thought was that the Earth was finally under attack. Hell, he wished they were under attack, because when his sister had called and informed him of what had happened, he didn't know how in the fuck he was going to explain this situation to the World Security Council.
Fury wanted nothing else other than to shoot that overpowered nephew of his in the face. No one had told him, but Fury was certain that Ben could survive a nuke. And if he can survive something like that, then he could let his favorite uncle release some tension with a few rounds to the face.
Maybe he could get a hologram made of his nephew for his private shooting range. Today, Fury had been called to a joint meeting of the President and the World Security Council in order to discuss the "my nephew broke the moon" situation. Generally, he had better things to do, but it seemed this particular meeting was over the report he had filed the other day about the "the incident". The world knew it as a stealth meteor impact, but SHIELD had satellites and eyes everywhere, so they knew better. Needless to say, he had plans to spin this to his benefit.
Brushing by the two guards at the door with barely a glance, Fury glided across a gorgeous blue carpet with a certain eagle embossed in its middle, moving with the silk-smooth grace of a professional spy.
Fury looked up at the wall of monitors showing various world leaders. Observing the British Prime Minister, Fury noticed the office in the background. That could only mean she was in the MI5 building, with Captain Britain somewhere in the room. The Russian Prime Minister was inside one of their safe houses, and Pierce was calling in from a certain bank under Washington D.C. Not saying anything, Fury placed the folder he was carrying on top of the table.
"Forget what the report says," councilman Rockwell said from his monitor, "We must bring him in and have him answer for it.". Several minutes passed as Fury violently clamped his jaw shut, an angry sort of mumbled growl-hiss leaving his mouth whenever a particularly stupid comment was made.
"I say we vote on declaring Jason Todd a threat to humanity." The Korean Prime Minister spoke.
Sighing out loud, Fury once again regretted he was having world leaders involved in his job.
"We can't do that." Fury spoke up from his seat.
"Nice to see you Nick, but I don't see why we should vote on this matter," Pierce asked from his monitor.
Fury looked at those that were around the table before getting up from his seat. Pulling out a holo-table from the hidden "bag of holding" fitted into his "badass trenchcoat" (his nephew insisted on the names), Fury moved to the front of the room. "Because he isn't a threat unless we make him one."
"Well, with what has happened to the moon, it's hard to see him another way." Spoke the President of the United States.
"Yes, well, from what I have gathered from my sources someone decided to step on our asset's toes," Fury spoke, before an image sprang forth from his holo-tablet. "Magneto decided to do what I believe we are about to do and that is, make an enemy of Mr. Todd."
"What does Magneto have to do with the moon's situation, our satellites only picked up one anomaly in motion." one of the World Security Council members said. The lower right corner of his screen changed to show a shirtless Benjamin flying through the air. Sighing inwards, Fury was at least partially happy that his now adult form resembled his Jason Todd persona.
"Well, it seems Magneto decided he wanted the throne of our asset." Fury said as the image changed to a recent photograph of Magneto. Fury wanted to show a picture of Magneto's current state, but he decided that he could use that later. It would have a far better impact.
"And that leads to thirty-eight percent of the moon being destroyed how?" The President of the United States asked.
"He was fighting against what we call an Omega class meta-human." Fury said so seriously you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.
"So they had a little scuffle, that doesn't explain the moon." One of the Council Members spoke.
"No, this was not a scuffle as you would like to call it, this was a one-sided slaughter." Fury spoke as the images he showed changed to the decimated form of Magneto and the rest of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. "Todd is a king that doesn't move unless he has to, but when Magneto invaded he sent the best of the best, and they did not survive the encounter.
"According to my source, the only reason why Todd fought on that moon was to not cause collateral damage to the earth. Hell, we had him classified as at least a class 10 with a "Do Not Disturb" tag attached to his name. We have no idea about the upper levels of Jason's powers and I would rather keep him on our side instead of turning him into an enemy."
Fury could see the contemplative looks on each of their faces, but of course, there had to be that one with far fewer brain cells than the rest.
"How large could his little nation be if none of us has ever heard of it." the council member from Mumbai said.
"Well here is a little context of the matter." Fury said, keeping his face neutral. "Our friend Mr. Todd here is a king of his own sovereign nation, Pandora, a nation that as of yesterday is in fact the largest on this planet."
The image changed to a holographic globe which outlined the borders of each country, To the council's shock, the oceans were covered by a great red swath. Mutterings went around the room, several declaring the map to be a fraud.
"I can assure you that this is the latest report I was able to receive this morning." Fury spoke with such a deadly calm he had everyone on the edges of their seats. "It seems that Namor had aligned with Magneto and decided to participate in the attack as well. And let's just say… he didn't make it."
The holo-image shifted to show the ripped in half form of Namor laying on the beach.
"Mr. Todd ripped through everything before battling another Omega-level mutant known as Exodus on the surface of the moon, in order to not do this"—the images shifted to a cracked lunar surface—"to the surface of the planet."
"We must also remember, Mr. Todd has proven himself to be an ally to SHIELD and the WSC, providing us with massive upgrades in our weaponry. Hell, I had finally closed out a deal for the DELTA SIX accelerator suits. Additionally, in exchange for leaving his nation out of global politics, he has offered us Magneto and his 'Brotherhood of Evil Mutants', in addition to far more advanced weaponry."
The image shifted once more to one of a sleek futurist gunmetal grey and black super suit. On one of the hands was a miniaturized mini-gun and on the other was hanging over the shoulder. Missile pods and other weapons festooned the surface of the armor and Fury swore one of the military leaders creamed his pants.
The Russian Prime Minister slammed his fist on the table.
"Enough of this! Regardless of his gifts, we can not let the damage to the moon stand!" The Russian Prime Minister spoke while slamming a fist down on his table.
The President of the United States countered: "I vote we have the United Nations extend an invite to Jason Todd, and to appoint his nation a representative in the UN in exchange for limited oversight on matters of planetary importance. "
"That will not work," Fury said, trying to keep his voice as neutral as he could.
"Why not?" The Prime Minister of Britain asked.
"Okay, let me clear this up so that everyone can understand." Fury spoke looking at the room. "The issue arises when you decide to try and sanction a nation that's not apart of the world economy. He has no reason to listen to us: we have nothing he wants. Not to mention the fact that he is the leader of one of the world's largest and most powerful militaries, if what we saw during Magneto's invasion was an example... There is nothing we can do besides hearing out his offer"
"Thank you, Director, that will be all for now." Alexander Pierce spoke, and Fury heard the dismissal in those words clear as day. Picking up his files, Fury turned around and left without a second glance backward. No one noticed the small RFID tag he had placed under the table. Strolling down the hall, Fury cut a path as his trench coat billowed behind him in a display of pure badassery.
Fury smirked at the last guard as he waited for the elevator to take him upwards and back to his vehicle. The set of doors opened with a "ping", not paying anyone any mind, Fury got into the elevators and rode it back up. Fury raised a single eyebrow at the cart that waited on him as he arrived at the proper floor, where his sister sat, tapping their childhood code on the steering wheel.
Moving as if his driver was completely normal, Fury got onto the cart and rode it back into the underground garage. He waited for his sister to sign the cart back into the lock-up before she left, and was mildly unnerved when she came back around driving his SUV.
"Do I even want to know how you gained a copy of my keys, because I know I haven't let them out of my sight, ever." Fury spoke while settling into his seat.
"Nicky we both know I'm the better spy," Judith answered with a snort. "So, what's the verdict?"
"I was not told, I was dismissed by Pierce."
Judith began to slowly nod her head, mumbling to herself.
"No, Judith," he said, " you can't kill him. Remember that deal you have in play with the United Nations. You don't kill highly placed officials and they won't open your files again."
"I wasn't going to kill him! I have a daughter-in-law for that."
"Yes, the Widow. How did that knucklehead even tame a woman like her?"
"I have no clue, to be honest," Judith replied with a shake of her head. "Then again, I don't think I want to know how my baby boy is keeping all his women happy. I'm his mother and I don't plan to get involved in any of his bedroom activities."
"Yeah, I know how you feel about that. Did I tell you how I almost shot that chicken winged fool Michelle brought home?" Fury asked his sister.
"Haha, I can only imagine," Judith laughed as she turned onto the highway. They fell back into companionable silence as they drove.
"You know he isn't going to agree with any deal they try and force him into?" Judith said, turning.
"I know."
Judith released a sigh as she changed lanes.
"Then you should have said something."
Fury shrugged.
"I was dismissed after trying to impress upon them how unlikely he is to accept someone else's judgment."
"What more do they want? I've already tempered his urge to bring the world to heel!"
Fury snorted."Yeah, I could tell after he left Wakanda without doing to them as he did with Namor and Atlantis."
This time, it was Judith's turn to offer a detached shrug.
"That was a nasty bit of work."
"Agreed." Fury stated neutrally.
"You say that, but I heard you already marked Namor off your hit list. And there's the little fact you were looking into recruiting one or two of Benjy's people for the Avengers program." Judith replied as she took a turn down the off-ramp.
Fury turned to look at his sister before releasing a huff of air. "Yeah, I want one of those kids working for me. I believe we can do a lot of good, but I don't think they're cut out for the lifestyle."
Judith nodded. "No, the kids aren't, but Natasha and I have evaluated a few of the older ones Benjy rescued, and they would make decent agents," Judith replied as she came to a stop at the red light.
"Is he going to let me recruit them?" Fury asked eyes still on the road.
"Yeah, but he is going to have the island lawyers look it over. I did tell him not to rake you over the coals though, since you're family and all." Judith stated with clear mirth in her voice.
"He isn't going to leave me much room to work with is he?" Fury asked.
"He'll let them decide, since I asked him not to get involved. You'll have to curb your propensity on giving it to people without lube, or he will withdraw his people." Judith replied smoothly.
"Fine," Fury replied with a snort of his own.
Judith let out a sigh"I will see what I can do to make sure you don't get fleeced," Judith replied as she pulled into the underground parking leading to the Triskelion.
"And I'll see what I can do on my end." Fury said, as he opened the door to the SUV and stepped out.
O.O.O.O
Benjamin Blake.
Island: Pandora
Father, King
August 21, 2010
For the first time in a while, I was feeling relaxed. I was sitting in my lab with the kids: Sophie sat on my leg, going over her flight harness, and Alfred was sitting in the chair beside me working on the chest piece to his Megaman-style armor. Magneto was sent off not too long ago, and Fury and the United Nations wanted to make a big show of catching him. I didn't really care about it, to be honest, I was doing my own thing with my budding Empire.
Yeah, we were at Empire status now, especially when I conquered Atlantis. Sue wasn't too happy when she heard about that, but it was better for Atlantis that I was in charge instead of the previous royal family. Granted, I wasn't the best option, but at least I was going to take care of my people regardless of their station in life.
In total, Attilan added about five thousand to my population, but that wouldn't be enough for an Empire. No, the real benefit came from Atlantis. Atlantis increased my population by about two million people, and damn was that an interesting surprise.
I now had millions of people relying on me to do the right thing, and I was far too stunned to do anything once that realization hit, I stood there in my throne room at the top of the heart tree until my father had found me.
We had stayed up there for the whole night, speaking about a man's duty, and what he should do for his people. We talked about how I had first wanted to be a hero, and how things had gone so off the rails. Fuck, looking back at it all, there was no way I could have made it to where I was if I hadn't adapted. Humming to myself about it all, I pushed that thought aside as I stopped my baby girl from connecting the power supply to her flight harness.
"Slow it down, Sophie," I said as I held her little hand in my own. "Let's plug it into the table's power supply first, and then run a cold boot before we connect the one that will be seated inside."
Sophie looked up at me with a hopeful twinkle in her eyes, before she saw my expression and her little shoulders slumped. Chuckling to myself, I placed a kiss on her forehead before activating the wireless power supply to the work table. Sophie looked at the universal plug I handed her with wide eyes, her face spreading into a wide smile.
She didn't even bat an eye at me before she leapt up, taking the power leads and going directly for the harness. Before she could connect them I activated the table's security field as a precautionary measure. I watched silently as Sophie stuck a tongue out at the side of her mouth as she focused intently on the controls to her flight harness. I almost chuckled as I watched the system to her harness gave her the all-clear.
Picking up the mini crown at the side, I placed it on top of her head and waited for her to activate the systems on her harness. Hard light projectors flared to life before sputtering out for after a blink, but slowly wings began to form`. I noted a bit of spark when it was booting up, but I had those wires replaced and fixed with some insulation before Sophie could tell I was doing it. I had them on the side to use as a learning tool, but I wanted her to succeed on her first attempt to repair her own tech,
After a few minutes, the system had finally run its diagnostics, and everything came back with an all clear. Picking Sophie up from my lap, I placed her on the table before me and helped her try on her new-and-improved flight harness.
Pulling up my omni-tool, I changed some settings and watched as Sophie started to sprout hard light constructs in the form of butterfly wings. Sophie gasped as the wings fluttered behind her, she then took to the sky.
"No, you don't little lady," I said, pulling her back down out of the air. "No flying around over the lab equipment."
"But daaaaaaadddddyyyyy." Sophie whined as I held her up by her harness. She then turned and attacked my heart with a completely unfair critical hit. The pouting face, trembling lips and red moist eyes almost had me caving as any father should. Unfortunately for her, I was made of sterner stuff, a quick flick to the forehead fixed that issue right up.
Laughing at her, I waited till she stopped rubbing her forehead before picking her back up and placing her to sit on my lap. I double-checked the harness and made sure everything reached my own standards before removing the lab power and replacing it with its own power supply. Once I was satisfied with the harness, I picked Sophie up before trans-locating us to the garden where her sisters were with the rest of her mothers. Before anyone could say anything, I was back in my labs building the improved flight harness for my other two girls.
At the speeds I was going, they were completed within mere nanoseconds before I appeared back outside with both of them in my hands. I handed the blue and white to Celeste, while the green and white went to her sister, Phoebe. Once I was certain the girls had their harnesses on safely, I watched them take off and fly around. A few minutes later, I decided it was best to head back into my lab and not leave Alfred alone, and gave Emma and Raven a kiss before heading back inside.
On the way, I noticed Tony trying to talk Peter into wearing one of his suits. Peter was being stubborn about it, but that was to be expected. He was known as Spider-Man, not Iron-Lad, after all.
This was going to be Tony's learning moment: why should I stick my nose into it?
Walking back into my lab, I found Alfred trying on his chest plate, after adding a new lining of kinetic absorption fabric.
Walking over, I tapped my son on the shoulder, startling him.
"You do know all you have to do is ask for some help right?" I said before pulling up my chair.
"You were busy," Alfred replied with a shrug as he put back down the chest piece.
"Fair enough I suppose," I said with a sigh, before reaching over to tap on his omni-tool, changing his clothes into a bodysuit. Smiling at his red and black suit, I turned to pick up the chest piece he was having so many issues with.
With Alfred in the bodysuit, it wasn't that hard to locate the issue with his new chest piece. When he wasn't looking I pulled down the chest piece before taking a picture for his mothers. Alfred was suffering from a big man in little clothes syndrome and it was far too funny not to share. Flipping the photo around on my omni-tool, I showed it to Alfred after I sent it out. The crestfallen look on his face was almost too much, I wanted to give him a hug. Shaking my head at him, I was in motion again, before he knew what was happening. The chest piece he had on was removed and I was back out of sight moving at speeds no eye could keep track of.
Within moments, I had another set of armor made for Alfred, complete with a mega-buster and ability to self adjust to the wearer. This way he could wear it until he had his first growth spurt, if he didn't decide to upgrade. Alfred had no chance to react before I had the new armor over his head.
Sitting in my chair, I returned to standard speeds before hitting the activation key in my omni-tool. Alfred jumped a little once he noticed that he was in a new set of armor with an improved chest piece. Shaking my head at his reaction, I watched as the armor moved like liquid metal, wrapping its way around his upper torso and arms.
"Thanks," Alfred muttered.
"It's alright to ask for help you know," I said as I watched him examine his new armor.
"I know, it's just," Alfred spoke a little too low for me to hear.
"Hmm?"
I waited for him to put his thoughts together as he played with his armor, but I kept close so we could speak.
"This isn't my original form, but I am trying. It's just...
He sighed,"I didn't think being human would be so hard."
"Nothing is ever easy, but asking for help is just part of life," I said. "Don't ever be afraid to ask Alfred, Your mothers and I do it all the time, there's absolutely no shame in it.."
"Yeah, okay dad," Alfred answered me. I could only shake my head as I watched him play with his armor. Sighing, I picked him up and brought him to the training room Natasha was currently using. There was no way I was going to let him try out the mega buster in my lab.
Once I was certain that Natasha had the trouble maker under control, I made my way to the science department and took up in my more advanced lab there.
I entered my access codes into one of my more powerful vaults before taking out the runic keystone to the magical shield covering Atlantis and her sister cities. The keystone was shaped like an octagon, set inside a three by six-foot slab. On the top was a small entry port to insert more runic clusters programmed on smaller keystones. All along the main keystone were runic clusters numbered in the billions, if I wasn't mistaken.
I'm shocked no one has ever thought about combining science and magic together
Runes couldn't activate without magic being provided, so it was safe to use a laser etching tool to get them onto any surface you might want. That alone would revolutionize magic, but it wasn't enough. I took that to the next level when I had my magicians write out thousands of sets of runes before sending them to a team of programmers. They then made a neural network to analyze and coordinate the runic clusters into something usable and then much much more.
This was Pandora's trump card: one of the reasons why Magneto's powers didn't work on any of our weaponry, and why Otto's reactor was so effective in its collection of solar energy.
Putting the main keystone down at my lab table, I opened up a new working project for what I wanted to accomplish. I pulled up the absorption and then isolation runes before the matter-to-energy and a few others I had in mind that could accomplish what I was looking for. The program went to work on sorting out the best way to organize them as I kept searching for the proper runes to handle the pollution under the ocean. The idea behind this keystone was to draw in and disintegrate pollution within one hundred meters of each pillar under the ocean. They would also work for underwater oil spills and so much more. The other keystone was going to have a mild effect I cribbed from none other than Professor Xavier: I knew no one ever noticed the man's "trust me" aura.
I was going to take advantage of my understanding of the mind and create my own to bring the Atlanteans into the fold a lot quicker than a few years under my rule. I knew it was a moral grey area, but, hey, they still had free will, and I was only doing this to weed out the real diehard nationalists and opportunists. Once the first runic keystone was finished, I placed a fingertip to the top of the little two-by-three inch key and added a bit of charge, and then placed it inside the larger keystone that ran the magical force field construct. Lines of gold lit up along the side of the larger keystone as it absorbed its new programming. Once that was finished I went and did the same to the keystone that carried the Xavier field.
Since I didn't want to be an outright bastard about it, I made it so the field only worked on those living inside the bounds of the cities. When I was certain that everything was set and programmed right, I added that to the main keystone too.
With that placed correctly, I transitioned to the wardroom, located in one of the underground floors of the heart tree Very few knew I had a wardroom, and even fewer had the correct access to even be in here: the moment I stepped into the room railgun styled cannons turned on a swivel to pin me in place.
I waited for the security bot to scan my face, DNA, and quantum and astral signatures. There was no such thing as overkill: not with how important this room was to the safety of my Empire. I waited for the scanners to finish their work before I walked towards the center of the room. As I walked, the floor beneath me started to descend downwards as the walls changed as if they were inside of a kaleidoscope. I didn't give it any attention as the world around me shifted as if the room traveled through the fifth dimension. Anyone on the outside looking in would have noticed the roots leading from the wardroom looked like the depiction of Yggdrasil the mythical tree. Around the roots of the tree floated lights to make the surroundings appear to be suspended in space; there were stars as far as the eyes could see.
I walked past the world-tree to the center, where the socket for the main keystone sat waiting. Setting the keystone to float within the air beside me, I bent over to enter the last code. It wasn't that hard, but the socket was something I pulled from my memories of Skyrim. For me it was an easy turn-style codex system, but for others, it was beyond complex. The rolodex coded system had over fifty rings sitting around the socket, and you had to get each one perfectly before the socket would accept any new inputs from the keystone. A flick of my finger had the rolodex spinning at unimaginable speeds.
Tock…
Tock…
Tock…
With rapid movements, the rolodex stopped perfectly with the code entered into the rings. The keystone floated from my side to hover over the socket and I waited for the power to build before slotting it in.
There was a sound of rushing water as the power I placed into the main keystone sent the updates into the ward scheme of Atlantis and her sister cities. I smiled as I watched the golden lightning travel along the roots and out into the wider world. Standing there, I took a moment to just take it all in.
The ping at my wrist drew me out of my moment of reverie, and so I turned around, and made my way back topside. Touching down at the entrance of the heart tree, I saw Natasha, Medusa, Namora and Andromeda waiting for me. Looking at them, I guess it was about that time we had that little talk about the plans I had for their people.
Nat pulled me in for a kiss (which I returned of course). She wrapped a leg around my waist, and I pulled her in by grabbing myself a hand full of ass. Picking her up, I turned and walked into the building as Natasha finished wrapping her other leg around me. I could feel the ladies behind me blush, trying to figure out if they should follow or not. Instead of breaking out of Natasha's little hold, I gave a signal to one of my spartans before teleporting upwards to my conference room.
Since the conquest, my ladies had started to become a lot more affectionate: apparently, me standing tall over the corpses of my enemies spoke to some primal urge deep inside them. I sat Natasha on the table before me, then hooked my hands underneath her thighs and pulled her forward. My fingers dug into her beautiful curves as she attempted to taste my breakfast. Chuckling into the kiss, I moved my hands to her then took control. Nat smiled down at me as I moved her hands from around my neck, we were then embrawled in a battle of wills as I slowly moved her hands to her back.
For a split second, I growled at her as she bit into my bottom lip. Quirking an eyebrow at her, I sent a quick jolt of electricity into her system then pinch the nipple that rose to the occasion. Natasha yelped before sending her own bio-electric blast back at me. The blast of electricity washed over me, but I didn't blink as I felt Natasha scooting her way off the conference table and into my lap. Shaking my head at her antics, I leaned back in my chair and we enjoyed this little moment of peace.
Roughly twenty minutes into our cuddling, we both received a message that their limited tour of the heart tree was over. Nat gave me one last peck on the lips before she got up off my lap.
Turning around once I heard the "ping" of the elevator doors, I input commands into the station before my chair, which had the delightful effect of raising some tasteful holograms before the other seats around the table. I was never one for opulence, but Emma insisted. The room was richly decorated with marble flooring, oak with ebony accents for the table and even the lights up above carried gravity-spun crystals in the fixtures. A quick command to both of our omni-tools had our UMF suits shift to something of a more light business instead of the yoga pants and dad slacks we were wearing before.
Natasha was in her Widows suit but without any of her weapons on display. She gave me a smirk and a once over, but the door opened before she had the chance to say anything. Medusa had a light blush once she caught sight of me while I could feel Andromeda sizing me up. Namora had her political face on but I could tell she had placed her interest in me to the side and was more concerned for what I could do for her people. Granted, I was already doing a lot more for the Atlanteans than Namor had done in his last hundred years on the throne.
"Ladies," I said with a nod, pulling their attention from Natasha and back to myself.
Medusa took a pause for a moment and I could tell that she was gathering her thoughts.
"I would like to thank you for what you have already done for my people. I know that despite our King's… less than stellar first impression, you chose to aid our people instead of subjugating them. You have my eternal gratitude. " Medusa spoke with her head held high. "As the de facto leader of my people, I would like to extend a formal surrender and ask for an alliance with integration between our two people in mind."
The smile on Natasha's face vanished as she looked from me to Medusa. I was silent as I looked at Medusa, that was an interesting way to start this little meeting if any. I extended my hand out for her to take, we clasped hands and then I spoke.
"As the King of Pandora, I accept the formal surrender of the people of Attilan. Your people shall henceforth from this day onwards be my own. As their king it is my duty to protect them, to uplift them, to ensure their flourishing and prosperity. " I spoke with solemn tones.
"Thank you, my king." Medusa said, bowing. Andromeda and Namora shared a slight glance that I caught, but I ignored it as I took my seat at the head of the table. Natasha was on my right of course, with Medusa right beside her. On the other side of the table sat Andromeda on my left, with Namora completing the line right beside her.
Silence descended as I allowed them the time to digest what was on the screen before them. Andromeda and Medusa were the first to recover, I allowed Namora some more time as I sent off a message to Jean on the space station. While she was far too excited to visit the colony, in addition to dealing with a homesick eternal, I was positive that any civilization Titan had crumbled long ago. . Then again, with my luck some just might be alive. I grimaced, and quickly sent her a list of things to watch out for.
My attention shifted back upwards as I heard Namora clear her throat.
"Can you please explain your statements in regards to our pollution levels?" She asked diplomatically.
"Of course" I said with a winning smile, "1994, Namor scuttled a fresh and upcoming offshore drilling site, but not before they broke ground." I told the table and as I spoke a holo-image popped up in the middle of the table for all to see. "He destroyed the drilling platform and then covered up the site. But things are never so simple, there was displacement of some tectonic plates due to an underground earthquake about three months after."
The image shifted to show the reports and readings gathered at the time.
"It's not enough for you to see the difference, but the main city of Atlantis has been in oil-filled waters for some time now." I finished up before changing the image to the dome covering the city currently. "I have mechanical squids in the water now trying to plug these holes, but until then the dome will be filtering everything."
"My king, should we not evacuate the populace until this is handled?" Andromeda asked, trying to keep up a façade of neutrality…
"No need, the magically constructed dome is taking care of the situation as we speak. Not only that, but I even worked in a minor healing into the dome. It's only going to last over the next five days, but it will cure everything short of missing limbs." I replied as the holo-image shifted once more. The image changed to show a white glow emitting from the dome over atlantis. The image shifted and the ladies at the table saw the same thing with the other cities. "Magic is a helluva thing isn't it."
"Like he told you under the ocean, he will do all within his power to care for those under his rule, and Atlantis and her cities are under his rule." Natasha spoke from my side cutting off Andromeda. "Your King has held up his end of the deal, now ladies it's your turn."
Namora and Andromeda shared a look as both of their lips thinned. I noticed Namora casting a sly glance to the guards standing at my back before she gave me a level look. I didn't say anything as Natasha put her professional face and her eyes went cold. I didn't interrupt Natasha because I knew that this was a defining moment for the two most powerful ladies of Atlantis. This situation was not Japan at the end of World War Two, so no, I was not going to just leave it with military oversight to make sure the government played by my rules. No, I was far more ruthless and pragmatic and both of the ladies before me knew that.
Getting up, I stood before them and gave the ladies no way to negotiate out. Underwater it was an unspoken agreement that if I won I would take care of the people and cure their ailments. Well, now it's clear that I have won and I have already started to solve the issues of Atlantis.
Radiating power, I stood there calmly as I looked over the two women. Natasha had her cold gaze leveled at the both of them while Medusa was looking on with mild interest. Standing with my hands behind my back,I looked over the two impassively. I watched as Andromeda steeled herself before looking to see Namora's reaction.
Andromeda went to speak but before she could, Namora placed a hand on her shoulder. She then walked before Andromeda before speaking for the both of them. Namora knelt before me and Andromeda followed her lead. I of course knew that Andromeda was already going to bend the knee. Everything Natasha had gathered on her over a day pointed towards her being a truly benevolent monarch; one that could put her people's welfare above her personal pride. Namora, on the other hand, was a consummate politician. There was a reason Namor kept her out of the Royal Court.
Namora's smooth, practiced bow and charming, sultry expression simply oozed deceit: anyone with half a brain could clock her as a veteran political operator. The shift from "prideful aristocrat" to "seductive princess" was so smooth and natural that if not for my enhanced cognitive abilities, I would have seriously doubted the accuracy of my memories of her earlier behavior. I was more than the second head within my pants, but damn if those pouty lips and lidded eyes didn't tempt me something fierce. This woman was good.
Natasha seemed to agree: out of the corner of my eye I could see her lips briefly twitch up into a near-imperceptible smirk, which for her was the equivalent of a booming laugh.
"As the last remaining royal bloodline of Atlantis, I Aquaria Neptunia I, formally surrender Atlantis and her people to the conquest and rule of the nation of Pandora."
I looked as she held a closed fist over her chest, power radiating from my being, allowing the moment to stretch on.
When I opened my mouth to speak, the room shook with my words.
"I, Benjamin Blake I, King of Pandora, formally acknowledge and accept Atlantis's surrender. Our nation is your nation, and your people are our people. As long as Atlantis abides by our law, then as King, we shall do everything within our power to make sure that she shall prosper and rise to a peak she has never before seen."
The walls were still ringing from my pronouncement, I took Aquaria's hand, helping her off the floor. After doing the same with Andromeda we returned to our seats around the table.
"Now, where were we?" I said to the table, looking down at that hologram that was projected before me.
From my side, Natasha immediately answered: "I believe we were discussing the available resources for our various new protectorates? "
"Ahh yes… the five billion in credits that I have allotted to the Inhumans and their relocation," I said, as the hologram shifted to the programs and projects I had created to assist them.
"What is this 'credit' that you speak of?" Medusa asked with furrowed brows. "I have noticed this word being mentioned over the few days that I have stayed and visited your cities."
"Credits'' is the islands form of currency: a term used to describe the unit of measure for the value that various goods and services have to the interconnected system which arises from the trading of 'currency' for goods and services is known as an 'economy', and a healthy economy is good for the well-being of the Empire and all Imperial Citizens. You will also see the 'dollar' used occasionally to value things; it is the currency of the largest economy of Earth, and is central to the world economy. "
"Thank you," Medusa said, a pensive look on her face as she digested this new information.
"The funds will be allocated into several programs I already have underway. The main one deals with your people's main problem: your low birth rate and your system of reproduction."
"You are speaking of the genetic matches made by the genetics counsel?" Medusa asked.
"Yes, exactly that. I understand that this council was put into place to help keep the inbreeding and genetic disorder to a minimum, but it was far, far too restrictive on the number of children allowed. This is the driving force behind the slow extinction your people were facing on Luna." I replied extremely seriously on the matter.
This was one of those situations where I just couldn't understand Marvel. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were amazing, but man they had to have been smoking some really heavy shit to let something like this get and years of publication and no one had caught on to how inbred the Inhumans would have to be, I was not going to let that shit slide here. No more cousin-fucking, this shit isn't The Hills Have Eyes.
"Pandora has more than enough space, so there will be few, if any limits to the number of children. My issue, however, is your people's cultural belief that incest had no consequences if the couple just genetically manipulates the fetus." I spoke as the hologram then changed to show a few couples that were either brother and sister or cousins for the room to see. Beside their images were the images of their kids and the list of problems they are currently dealing with.
The list ran from congenital birth defects to malformation of appendages to missing limbs and so much more.
"While most of these problems are fixable through medicine, the effort of fixing them makes the child significantly weaker overall in terms of post-Terrigenesis capabilities. It also produces a far fewer new and diverse abilities, as an Inhuman's abilities post-Terrigenesis are proven to be at least partially genetic. There is a reason that Black Bolt is one of the only currently living Omega-Level Inhumans, and the first King in generations to be gifted with that level of ability. You yourself are one of the most powerful Inhumans alive, and yet during the dawn of your species abilities like yours would be commonplace."
Medusa said nothing, deep in thought, as she looked over the minute details on the holographic family trees before her, eventually giving a nod of thanks.
"You are welcome, but don't feel too down on yourselves." Natasha spoke up, an honest-to-god smirk on her face, "the people of Atlantis have their own genetic issues that we are currently working on solving."
"C-Could you please elaborate?" Aquaria said, doing her best to keep up her flirtatious mask in the face of the shocking information.
"The inability to stay above water is a genetic defect," Natasha answered smoothly as the holo-image changed to a three-dimensional diagram of the Atlantean genetic code. Besides that was the standard land-dwelling human genetic code, and then beside that was one of my Spartans.
The image shifted to show where the deficient genetic marker didn't allow their bodies to retain water and moisture like the standard human. The Spartan genetic code showed the genetic "switch" that allowed them to breathe underwater at will.
Instantly, I understood why Natasha was using this as an example. We had used an Atlantean criminal awhile back to create the standard underwater MGH serum, and one of the things we discovered was that the Atlantean's lung carried the same bronchiole lung type as standard humans. The only difference was its ability to filter the oxygen from the water breathed in. There were plenty of other things to the body but we discovered that was the most important. As we searched deeper, that was when we discovered the reason. And it was just one simple genetic shift that created such a major rift between the two peoples.
There was a lot more to the Atlantean genetic code, like the fact that they could actually be classified as homo-magi due to the fact that they are all carrying the magical gene, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was that a simple genetic fix could solve their above water issues. Once we solved that issue we then followed it to simple retention of moisture within the standard atmosphere.
"As you can see, we solved that genetic trait within our Spartans with the MGH," Natasha spoke before the holo-image shifted to a serum that glowed a soft white light. "It's also why the both of you have been able to stay out of the ocean for the last few days."
Andromeda and Aquaria looked stunned at this fact, but I could already tell that Andromeda was putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
"The medical check up." Andromeda spoke softly with a thoughtful expression.
"Got it in one," I returned. "Now, tell me, why."
Andromeda took on a thoughtful expression, "So that the people can see that it works, but also to remove our influences."
"You experimented on us." Aquaria asked with a deceptively smooth tone.
"Incorrect, experimentation would mean that you would not survive the procedure." Medusa answered with a rare smile. "What our king did was provide you with a cure allowing you to go anywhere on land without being subjected to searching for large bodies of water suitable for refreshing your person."
Before Aquaria could speak, I cut her off. "Everyone within Atlantis and her cities will be getting a dose of the specialty made Pandorian MGH. And if you haven't noticed all of my troops will be getting the Atlantean MGH with their next check-ups."
"Natalia," I spoke softly as I raised a hand to stop her from saying more. Natasha went silent at my side. "It is already done Aquaria, now you no longer have to worry about taking it when it is offered later."
Aquaria stared at me for some time before giving me a slow nod in acceptance. With that out of the way, we then went over the military obligations. Unfortunately from what I have seen, I didn't want any of them within my military or a part of my police forces, but I had to compromise. Then again, with my standards, only the best of the best was going to make it into my armed forces. Out of the half a million troops at my disposal a quarter of my forces was currently under the ocean as an occupying force.
I was sure to impress upon Andromeda on why I wanted to keep the quality of my soldiers up and that she would also have to go through training to meet my standards also. Her agreement was something I was more than happy to have, since I knew that if her soldiers see their General going through training also, then there would be a lot less complaints. As the meeting came to a close, Aquaria decided to ask about the few thousand homeless that roam the waterways of Atlantis. My answer did not please her at all, but I was out of fucks to give.
"They will be given quarters here on the island, they will then be brought up to the standards of the Empire," I answered her, but I could see the frown already forming. "This is not up for debate Aquaria. They are my people and I refuse for them to roam around when it's simple to give them a home and the resources to keep them from repeating how they got into their homeless situation."
"Of course my king," Aquaria answered her voice smooth as silk. Damn, I was really going to have to keep an eye on this woman. There was a ding at my wrist that drew everyone's attention. Grunting, I checked my omni-tool, what I found had me sporting such a savage grin, I could tell I unnerved two of the ladies.
[ Culver University destroyed, Mr. Green on the move. Destination, Mr. Blue New York, New York. ]
Replying to the message, I got up from my seat.
"Ladies," I said with a nod towards them before turning to leave, Nat was right on my heels.
O.O.O.O
Benjamin Blake
King, Red Hood, Lightspeed
The night was starting to descend and the air had picked up a chill, but I ignored it all. The reason for this was also the reason for my focus. Three blocks away and clear for anyone paying even a modicum of attention was a large three archway window that led into the labs of Mr. Blue. Also known as Dr. Samuel Sterns, aka the future Leader, super genius and consummate egomaniac.
Nat and her ONI team had done their jobs amazingly well. I had an incredibly detailed profile of the man scrolling across the HUD in my helm right now: Nat and her ONI team had performed above and beyond expectations. Luckily for Sterns, he showed the standard dissociation from his peers that came part and parcel with his advanced intellect. The profile did state, however, that unlike many men of his genius Sterns missed his chance at greatness and success due to his intense social anxiety.
{Mr. Green and Wildflower approaching.}
My comms chirped in my air and I got ready for action. Looking to the side, I watched as my speed force clone came dashing up the side of the building. It had been some time since I left a speed clone incharge of keeping the city safe, but since the clone was just a copy of myself, I didn't feel like I had much to worry about. Reaching my hand out, I absorbed him back into me before creating another.
The memories I received told me that Ross was already setting up his perimeter, and that somehow, SHIELD was already in the area. Damn, this was going to be one tight operation. I snapped off a message to Nat before shifting my position at the edge of the building. I sent a signal to my clone and had him respond to the sound of a siren from the other side of the city.
At the lower right of my HUD, a video to the operations center of General Thunderbolt Ross went live.
"Button up that perimeter, Blonksy, I want you to hang back and wait for the tranq to do its job. Eagle Eye, let me know when you have a clear shot."
I watched as Ross fired off orders, his team moving like a well oiled machine. My opinion on the man wasn't very high, but damn if he didn't run a tight ship. The video feed of Ross's ops room went silent as the live feed to Dr. Sterns' lab activated in the lower right of my HUD. A quick mental command gave the video dominance.
The images we were able to snap of him didn't do the man justice. Bruce was fit, and not the fit of a man on a lean diet No, Bruce was built like a man going through his bulking phase. He was also moving with an easy grace to his steps, but this was overshadowed with how skittish the man looked. It was odd in a way to be completely honest. This was the man that could take me in a knock down drag out match, and he was scared of his own shadow.
Then it happened: the moment that Dr. Sterns got too excited, and too close to Betty. I noticed it but I was certain Sterns was oblivious to how close he came to death. Bruce's eyes flashed green when Sterns made a too quick motion towards his lover.
I felt my HUD to record as Sterns started to talk about a primer and amygdala. My attention was on the video feed of the SHIELD agent two blocks to my right. Grant fucking Ward was here, shit, I guess I should flip a coin. Heads, he lives, but gets a nice new perspective on life. Tails he goes in the hole like all the other HYDRA fucks. I held a hand out to the air and my clone dropped a quarter in my palms before running off once more.
Looking down at the coin, I noticed the scorch on one of it's faces. Smirking at the implications of that, I placed my thumb under the coin before flicking my thumb lightly. Instead of tracking the coin with my hyper awareness, I allowed it to do a few flips before snatching it out of the air. Seconds stretched, but to my senses, it felt like forever.
Opening my palm, I looked down and found tails, well fuck. I guess Coulson is going to need someone else for his special team. Punching a few commands into my omni-tool, I then placed Wards fate out of my mind.
{Take the shot, do it, do it, Now!}
With that command, I watched as Ross ordered his snipers to take down Banner. I wanted to help, I really did, but I had a far more important mission right now. Natasha was going to handle the evacuation of Sterns and his research, while I was going to handle the red one. I didn't know what Ross was thinking, but it was obvious he was completely off his rocker.
Shifting my weight, I watched as Blonsky rushed the room. Shaking my head at the spectacle, I sat back and observed. Sterns tried to pull out an antique revolver of all things, but it was clear the man was suffering from a concussion. Whelp, I guess that's why Blonsky ended up as butt fucking ugly with his transformation: it was clear that he was a failed experiment.
The lieutenant gave the orders to clear out Banner and Betty before going back into the room. She went to one of the PCs but it shut down with a command from Nat's omni-tool. I watched as Bruce was taken to the roof before being loaded onto a helicopter.
Twisting on the spot, I leapt from my building to the next. My stealth was activated and I was moving with only my leg strength. Natasha should have the situation under control, but what was about to happen next could go either very right or very very wrong, and I was not into the habit of losing. Not when I like to stack the deck in my favor. Like the saying goes, all's fair in love and war, and war was a business I knew very well.
Parkouring my way across the rooftops of New York, I followed the helicopter holding Ross and Banner. I couldn't help the excitement that ran up my spine. I knew what was about to happen and I was near both of the top combatants.
Things went just like in the movies, with one very important difference: Sterns was not left to rot inside his labs. The moment Blonksy killed the lieutenant and jumped out the window, Natasha and her team went to work. Sterns, his lab, and Banner's samples were picked up and placed within the expanded chest that they placed in the middle of the room.
I came to a stop on top of the Harlem Knights roof as I listened to the roar in the distance. That feeling of excitement was back as I watched the helicopter make a U-turn. I jumped over and hung off the building's ledge as the helicopter flew over my head.
My latest AI, Kelix pulled up the video feed Ross was connected to. I chuckled as Blonsky asked for a real fight before trying to smash the people recording for him. My speed clone ran through and saved the people, of course: I'm not going to put innocents at risk for the sake of my ambition. I waited for the helicopter to fly over my position, and then kicked off the side of the building into free-fall. Teleporting mid-air, I popped out a few meters from Blonsky, and hunkered back down to watch the show.
Ross's Helicopter was just catching up, and with my enhanced vision, I could see the man standing calm and confident in the bay doors, glaring at Blonsky. That man had balls, I'll give him that.
I watched as Ross said something to the door gunner, and a few seconds later, the helicopter opened fire on Blonsky. I couldn't help but to shake my head at the audacity of the man. From the readings I had received from my scanners, I knew Ross could take Blonsky.
Twisting at my location, I watched as Blonsky took off running towards Ross. Chuckling at the situation, I sent a quick message to ONI to take care of the Grant Ward issue. The helicopter tried to evacuate Ross from the situation, flying up higher and higher. They didn't escape as Blonksy jumped to drag it down, but he didn't get enough height on his leap.
I watched with bated breath as Ross stopped to a hovering high above the city. From my location, I could see someone with his back to the off ramp. Instinctively, I knew that it could only be Banner. Before I could get a clear view of the man he slipped out of the helicopter. He fucking slipped out: not jumped, not dive, the man actually fucking slipped.
Turning my attention back to Blonksy, Kelix quickly found him several blocks to the East.
Taking that as my cue, I leisurely jogged (well, leisurely for me) to Blonky's location, getting there just in time for the boom of Banner's Landing. Down below, ONI was rescuing people with their stealth gear active. This was going to go under Fury's name as a SHIELD service, but honestly, I was alright with that.
Another civilian was rescued by ONI as Banner finally punched his way out of the hole he had made with his landing, setting Blonksy off.
"HUUUUULLLLKKKKK!"
Well, damn, I could feel the power and rage radiating off of the man. Hulk was easily ten feet tall and he was a mountain of muscles. It was only now that I actually was able to see the Hulk with my eyes that I understood. Hulk was the strongest there ever was and Blonsky was definitely cracked for wanting to face him.
I turned in time to see Blonsky give Banner a savage grin before they charged towards each other. There was a massive boom as the both of them clashed. Watching the shock wave travel through the air was astounding as I registered that it was made from just pure physical force.
Looking upwards, I noticed the helicopter shake from the shockwave before turning my attention back to the fight. Watching the fight, I had to take in how massive the Abomination was compared to the Hulk. Transformed, Banner was an incredible ten feet tall, but even then the Abomination towered over him by at least two feet.
The street was taking a pounding, but I was happy to see that my hidden kinetic and plasma shields were holding steady, protecting Harlem from the clashing behemoths. I might be here on a mission, but that doesn't mean I could write off everyone else. At least this way the people who own their stores don't lose their livelihood.
"ＨＵＬＫ ＳＭＡＳＨ！！！!"
Chuckling to myself, I watched as Hulk ripped a police car into two before using the halves as boxing gloves. It was interesting to see that some of Banner's intellect was still there, giving his alter ego the ability to use his environment in a relatively creative fashion. I didn't have any evidence for it, but I personally was of the mind that the "Hulk" was just Banner overridden from the sensory input from his transformation. I had a few ideas on how to help him with magic, but he would have to see a therapist because fuck did he have a shitty childhood.
I watched in silence progress as Blonksy gave Hulk what I could only describe as a "fuck you" kick, sending him up and over one of the buildings before he crash landed inside of a construction site. Teleporting to the construction site, I heard another helicopter join the retinue above the fighting monsters. Unfortunately for Banner and Blonksy, this new helicopter was apparently Ross's backup, and immediately fired indiscriminately down into the battlefield.
I could only shake my head at Ross's foolishness as I saw Abomination shrug off the bullets, yank an metal pipe out of the ground and throw it at the helicopters. He struck true, and the helicopter came crashing down into the same construction site. That pilot was damn skilled, but I may or may not have guided them with a little applied gravitational forces.
Things were playing out too much like the movies so I gave Ross some extra incentives to bring out his ace in the hole, one that not even Blonksy knew about. This time, he was pinned in the cargo bay away from his daughter Betty. I pulled back my awareness as Ross started to shake, the heat around his body began to rise. Chuckling at Ross's attempt to hide what he is, I hunkered down to enjoy the show. I would love to be a fly on the wall in Fury's office after he sees the footage of this fight.
Hulk and Abomination paid no attention to the helicopter and what laid inside as they went back to fighting in the middle of the construction site. Hulk delivered a devastating upwards swing into Abominations chin, sending him flying across the construction area.
Hulk roared in victory, but his enjoyment didn't last very long. There was a massive boom that drew everyone's attention as a massive arm came bursting through the side of the helicopter. The arm was red with veins crawling all over it and damn massive to boot. Following that arm came an equally massive man wearing the tattered remains of General's shirt and pants. Well, the pants and shoes weren't shredded, which I found to be an interesting and slightly suspicious point.
Although, anyone with half a brain could tell that Ross's adjusted outfit meant he was already aware of his own ability to transform. I was certain that Fury was already putting the parts of the puzzle together, but he couldn't do shit because Ross was a key player in America's military-industrial complex.
"You are both pathetic," Ross's voice boomed out,. over the screech of metal from the downed helicopter"All the money your country invested into you, and you both turn out to be deserters and failures. Banner: the single chance to create the perfect soldier, wasted on a pacifistic traitor, and Blonsky: a failed imitation creating nothing more than a petty thug."
"Ｈｕｌｋ ｎｏ ｃａｒｅ，Ｈｕｌｋ ｓｔｒｏｎｇｅｓｔ！！!"
"That's what the Japanese said when they attacked Pearl Harbor, and look how that turned out." Ross chuckled before stepping out of the helicopter. "You have something of mine, and I will take it from your corpse if I have to."
Hulk never had a chance, as Ross dashed forward and hit him clean across the construction site. What I thought should have been a shoulder check was changed into a bitch slap that sent Hulk flying. Stifling a laugh as such a move, I watched as Abomination came dropping in on Ross's left. They didn't share any dialogue as the brute looked Ross over, he then looked down at himself, and fuck could I feel his anger from here. Then again, it really was his fault. Blonsky couldn't chill his ass and wait, so here he was, a huge dickless monster that can't change back to human if he tried.
The snort of derision Ross performed stirred the Abomination into action, and with a loud roar, he charged Ross and the fight was on again. They didn't make it past sharing a few exchanges before the Hulk was back clocking Ross across the back of his head, Abomination ducked the returning blow and followed up with his own straight into Hulks face.
Turning to the side, I gave Nat a nod as she tried to sneak up on me from my blind spot. Almost imperceptible over the sound of the fight, I heard my helmet let out a soft bing. From what Nat had sent me, Sterns and his lab were dealt with without any issues.
On the other hand, there were a few issues when it came to Grant Ward. Natasha had made the call on-site to reprogram the man instead of killing him, much like we had done to Eric Killmonger. I wanted him dead because I didn't want HYDRA moles around my friends and family, but I get why she gave Ward a second chance. She had one, and she was extending the opportunity forward, but the telepath had to have found something good in him for them to go against my orders like that. I wasn't going to complain because he was now our mole inside of HYDRA, and that was a nice consolation prize for having my orders disobeyed.
I peered at her through my one way helm, a new version of my red hood helmet with no eyes on the front. Instead, I had the helmet coated with microscopic cameras linked to an internal HUD system. This gave me three hundred and sixty degrees of view, but it also had the added intimidation effect. People were easily unnerved when they didn't have eyes to connect with and that was how I wanted it. No human connection for those on the other end of my hard silent stare.
"Is the portal ready?" I asked before turning back towards the fight.
"Of course. We've already evacuated Betty Ross." Natasha replied as she took up position against the pillar to my left.
"So what? You're here to tell me to stop dragging my ass?" I asked with a chuckle before standing up straight. There were pops from my back and neck as I stretched myself out.
"Yep," Nat replied, popping the "p" in her statement. Luckily, I turned away from her just in time to see Abomination come flying towards us.
"Tssk,"
I didn't have to worry about Nat, since she was Nat, so I went ahead and launched myself forward, the ground beneath me breaking from the force of my launch. Blonksky was not prepared for me as I speared into his back and carried him back down to the site of combat.
Needless to say, Ross was not prepared for my own personal Abomination Batista Bomb to strike him directly in his face. Releasing Abomination, I flew and hovered in the air out of arm's reach of the Hulk as I watched the two morons try and right themselves.
"I know that Banner and Ross are the two Christmas-themed warnings against steroid use," I said, smirk audible in my voice, "but who's Shrek's dumber, uglier cousin?"
My HUD informed me that the news cameras were finally moving into position, and our words were being broadcast on live TV.
"So Banner's got a friend, now does he? You know the prison sentence for treason, boy?" Ross was almost growling at this point, I could see the steam coming from his skin., He reached down into the crater, giving Blonksy a hand up, apparently listening to that old saying of about "the enemy of my enemy"
"I'm not sure, but I'm not gonna lie, I don't think I should be taking advice about treason from a literal Red Menace."
Roaring at what would soon become his alter-ego's nickname in the media, Ross let out a bellow, flying towards me with a mighty leap.
With barely a glance in my direction to confirm my lack of hostility, Banner roared before smacking Ross into the ground, with a mighty "ＳＭＡＳＨ!", sending out a shockwave that threw Blonsky back into a piece of rebar. I grabbed Abomination by his odd leg spike, while simultaneously slapping Ross away and into the construction site.
Before I could do anything else, Blonsky kicked out and hit me in the chest in a frankly amazing display of reflex and coordination. I felt like I was being hit by a fucking truck and I was sent flying away, and I suddenly remembered why Blonsky could always fight Banner on an even ground despite their power disparity: even though he wasn't as strong as the Hulk, Blonsky still had all the training of an elite commando, backed up by a brutal, ruthless cunning.
I ended up shooting through two buildings before catching myself midway through someone's living room. Floating in the air, I looked down at the granny and her grandkids watching the same news that was featuring the superpowered beat down.
"So… You guys want an autograph"
As the grandchildren screamed in fright, I had Kelix take a picture and set aside some cash to help them repair the hole. I had more than enough money. Jumping out of the apartment, I met Blonsky mid-air. Fist met fist and super strength clashed against super strength in a series of blows strong enough to smash buildings to pieces.
The difference between Blonsky and I was apparent: each hammer blow from Abomination covered a large swath of my flesh, while each of my hits were like precision strikes. I broke bone after bone, but Blonsky just laughed them off.
I was starting to get tired of his shit. Twisting mid air, I dodged a swipe from Abomination before sending him back where he came from.
Taking advantage of Abomination's relative lack of strength and durability, I came down hard with a knife hand, smashing apart the Abominations raised and hardened rib bone plate. Green blood splashed everywhere as he streamed out in pain. I followed up with a super powered kick to the cranium, and smashed his head to the side with enough force to grind a skyscraper into rubble, which was just enough to knock him out.
I was done with the kid gloves.
Dust twisted up in my wake as I flew to the other side of the lot, intercepting Banner and Ross's fists mid-punch.
Turns out, I might have gotten a bit too used to being vastly stronger and tougher then my opponents.
I could hear my arms snap like twigs as my shoulders were crushed into their sockets, and I almost screamed from both blows. Christ, these two had only just got their powers, and they were already strong enough to damage my Omega-level durability? Just how strong were they?! I suddenly gained a massive level of respect for Tony Stark taking on the Hulk in nothing but a suit of armor.
Gritting my teeth, I pulsed outward with some gravity sending the both of them flying, only able to do so because I caught them off guard. Luckily, Banner landed right where I wanted him, in the middle of a zero-point energy trap that ONI had set up earlier..
Before I could celebrate, I dodged to the side as Ross came crashing down on my location like a freight train. Floating in the air, I faced off against the man, titling my head to the side, I turned on my external speakers.
"Getting ahead of yourself there General." I said floating back some. Ross rocketed forward with another attack, which I dodged, ripping up a fire hydrant with a gravity pulse in order to soak Ross with cool water, exploiting something even he didn't know about his own enhanced physiology. As Ross started to calm down from his berserker rage and realize the situation he was in, his eyes widened in horror.
"You got a lot of explaining to do, General. " There was no hiding the smug tone in my voice this time,
"You know nothing." Ross snarled at me.
"I know you tricked a man and tried to kill him to cover your ass." I said, as I floated there like I was sitting on a chair. The lower right of my HUD showed me the live news feed, and I made sure that I was angled so that the cameras could catch everything the rage-drunk and oblivious Ross was saying.
Ross scoffed. "So what? Banner was just another useless lab coat until he stumbled across the key."
"True, and you've turned him into a fugitive to hide your own ineptitude."
"He should get what any traitor deserves: an adamantium bullet to his big green skull." Ross growled out, voice booming across the lot.
"You really hate him that much for dating Betty, that you are willing to ruin the man's life?" I made sure that I came across sounding shocked, stunned, and horrified all at once.
"Enough talk, die!" Ross snarled as he lunged at me once more. Instead of facing him head on, I gravity spiked him from the side before tossing him to the entrance of the construction site. Smashing a crater into the ground, Ross finally noticed all the cameras and microphones behind the police line.
"I wonder how you are going to get out of this one? I know you and your Pentagon buddies like to smooth things over with a backroom meeting with the hosts of every daytime TV show, but I think that unlike your black op in Brazil, this is just a bit too public to hand-wave away. Hell, I can see riots if no news station airs all this footage! " I spoke with clear mirth in my voice. A small cheer went up from the people recording on their phones, as they shot poisonous glares at the reporters.
My little monologue did it's job, driving Ross back into a blind rage, driving him to launch himself at me without regard for any of the consequences. I didn't have time to dodge, but unfortunately for him, that didn't matter, as he went right through my hologram.
"Ohh, you thought I was still here?"
Standing on the ledge above the camera crews, I laughed and had it play through the holo-projectors as I got up from my crouched position. I had left the General with enough issues for now, and had gotten away with more than enough prizes for the night.
A/N
Give some love to the badass Beta who took a swing at the chapter: Sage Nameless.
She did amazing work with the chapter.
I just gotta L O L, because I know a lot of you thought I was going to do some massive brawl in NYC. Instead, it was me, DIO!, okay okay, nahh it was just a hologram.
You can reach me here at my discord or join my patron because there will always be early chapters.
Removes the - for the internet links
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ToFu
