Three Burst concentrated on my legs, and I shot forward, body flickering as Angel Evade struggled to contain the sheer energy flowing through the skill. I materialized monts before I hit Isha, prompting her to point her feathers at , but I went intangible as I phased through her. My body whirled as I ejected three Burst from my chest, reversing my montum.
The skill failed imdiately, and I ejected another set of three from my right heel and calf, speeding up my leg to a ridiculous degree. The two impact runes in my legs went off as my leg collided with her folded arms with frightening impact. She would've blocked with her wings, but touching them now could compromise her attack and lead to an explosion that would wipe out several buildings. Thousands would die.
She made a crater on the spot she hit the ground, and I could hear Isha bitch in her mind how close she'd co to losing control of the spell. Her hands were shaking from blocking that hit, and she was sure she had multiple hairline fractures running through the length of her bones, but she was determined to win the fight.
A precision jet of wind shot at as I fell to the ground, but I didn't bother blocking, letting my ten protection runes block the attacks.
The energy levels on my storage runes dipped, but the loss was insignificant.
"My techniques are not the only thing that has grown since we last fought, Isha," I boasted as I landed.
Suddenly wary of my attack and armor, Isha decided to entertain the conversation. Besides, she still needed more ti to prepare for her attack.
"Those runes," she began, "they're like nothing I've ever seen before."
"Your father didn't destroy everything when he raided our ho," I smirked, spinning up a wild tale. "They co from her ho dinsion, and this is only the beginning. You were right. You should've killed when you had the chance." I took a bold step forward. "Now, it's too late."
I flared my Demonic Aura, a skill I'd often forgotten, and let it soak in my Nether Fire and Density affinities.
In Isha's sight, I'd transford into Corvus, her brother. The blood lust and density that rolled off told of an incomprehensible strength, sothing vast and all-consuming, a force powerful enough to snuff her out.
The skill stunned her, and Isha took a step back, an act that seed to shatter her confidence and ignite her rage.
"No!" she shrieked as her skin blared white. "I will not be intimidated by a mongrel like you. You've tested for the last ti, Wastrel. I hope Hela takes your soul."
Isha was just about ready to blow, and I sensed Yao, and a few others teleport onto the edge of the battlefield. They were all supernaturally fast with their spellwork. Fast enough to raise the mirror dinsion spell in ti, not nearly, so I did the exact thing Jean warned not to.
I pushed my ntal link with Isha, pouring heaps of demonic energy into her mind. Her cloak of white sputtered as I spoke.
"Hela will have to get in fucking line."
"What!" Her voice cracked, stunned and confused, and the mirror dinsion went up faster than she could recover. When she was ready to fire, it was too late. Storm Fire Cannon roared, and I casually stepped into ethereal, where I remained untouched, or at least I thought I'd be.
The concussive force of the attack sent flying, and it was imdiately apparent I was only weathering a fraction of its full power. Still, a fraction was enough to fracture five of the ten protection runes I'd woven into Twilight Sentinel and burn through ninety percent of the energy infused into the Protection Rune. My health was barely impacted, but it was the suddenness of the attack that threw for a loop.
Through so bullshittery, her attack seed to pass through dinsions. I wondered how that had even been possible until I made the connection. Mordo had said sothing about how several dinsional phenona could not exist in the sa place.
It was the exact reason they could not raise a mirror dinsion in a place overtaken by Limbo dinsional invasion. I'm guessing tapping into Limbo while I was in the mirror dinsion had not wholly stepped into the other dinsion.
I blinked. It was certainly a logical leap, yet it felt…right. I could only think it was a function of my enhanced dinsional affinity.
Still, I had a villain to defeat and a city to save. I returned to the material in ti to watch Isha crumble to her knee, a significant part of her wings warped by the display.
Her eyes widened when they saw , and she began to move, but she was no match for in her state. I flashed in front of her with Rebellion raised, packed with demonic energy, and brought it down on her head. Predictably, she raised her wings to block the attack.
A Burst Detonated in my hand as the impact runes in my gauntlets flared, and they sliced through the infernal gold alloy like cheese, raising a startled look on her face. She leaned back as my blade cut a thin line down her torso and swiped at with her claws. My blade was faster. I called upon a technique I'd not used with Rebellion in a long while: Trillion Stabs.
My hands blurred as I parried away her weak retaliation and marked her up and down with my lightning-quick wrist. In monts, she was bloodied and stumbling back. Most of her golden tal plumage laid to the side eviscerated brutal swordsmanship. I buried my blade in her gut, making sure to miss any vital organs, and summoned up a shortsword and swiped at her wrist, taking off a hand as it ca around for yet another defiant strike.
A scream ripped from her throat, and my shortsword pressed against it, forcing her to stop.
I spoke into her mind.
'That's enough of that.'
She gritted her teeth as she glared up at .
'You were in my head from the beginning…'
'More or less,' I said. 'You should've taken my advice and dipped when I asked.'
'And go where?' she ntally barked at . 'I asked to fight you, and besides, no true child of Belasco runs from a fight.'
I snorted. 'You should try it sotis. You lot might live longer.'
'Don't you dare play benevolent!' she snapped. 'We were at each other's throat. You would've killed during our first encounter if you could.'
'True, but since then, I've t your other siblings, and while you're insufferable, you're surprisingly ta compared to them. Enrique is openly sadistic, Domina is downright monstrous and manipulative, and Baptiste and Thabo talked about you like you were sub-human,' I said. 'I'm guessing it has sothing to do with Vergil, doesn't it?'
I narrowed my eyes as I read her mind. 'You made the mistake of trusting him, and he played you.'
'You both should've been hunted down after your parents fell,' she ntally snarled.
I twisted Rebellion, feeling a flare of anger I didn't understand. Her words shouldn't be getting to , but they were.
'The point I am trying to make is that if you were anybody else, I would've incinerated you and moved on. Your family hates your guts. Your sister even sent you to your death. You're the most likely to hear reason among your dented lot. Tell about your sister's plans, abilities, and the strongest among your father's children, and you don't have to die.'
"What?" she blurted out using actual words as the mirror dinsion faded around us. The Ancient one stood behind as I continued.
"We'd dump you of a portal on the other side of the galaxy and leave you to your devices. There's virtually no chance this blows back on you…or refuse and deal with Jean Grey. I'm a halfway decent Telepath, but Jean struck fear into the heart of Charles Xavier himself."
Isha blinked at before she burst out laughing. I frowned. I'd not expected her to accept it outright, but at the brink of death, I at least hoped she'd deliberate it, invertedly revealing more about her siblings than she initially intended.
The laugh, I quickly discovered, was not about the ridiculousness of the offer but the threat itself.
"Sothing is wrong with Jean," I said. "Cambion," I slowly realized. Domina had sent a Cambion to the school instead of a demon.
Isha grinned, bloody and irreverent. "Kill and be done with it. You'll get nothing from ."
Believe , I was tempted to give her exactly what she wanted, but she was more useful alive. I pulled my blade instead, letting her flop to the ground, grunting and bleeding.
"Go," The Ancient one said, walking up to join . "One of the n will help you with the portal. Leave Isha Stormfire in my care."
---
Bruce Banner
The entire structure shook as loud booms went off below us, and I nervously watched the countdown of the Gamma reactor. We were still frantically monitoring the computer console as the containnt system worked its magic, slowly shutting down the mini gamma reactor we'd requisitioned for our experint.
Not two minutes into the five-minute deadline that the mind-controlling mutant had given, shit had gone from bad to worse.
The team had mobilized to back up the fighters on the ground floor, and apparently, the cocky kid had died within seconds of coming in contact with the demon.
I was slick with sweat, nervously typing away, and Betty seed on the brink of a nervous breakdown, but we had to keep level and keep going. It was the only way we'd be safe and extracted.
In between rapid keystrokes, I eyed one of the fridges in the corner, where I'd kept the rest of the supersoldier serum batch. It was next on my list after we were done with most of the shutdown process, but I was nervous about disposing of it because of how much attention my Serum was getting. It was obvious the governnt would want to replace what they'd lost with Ross, and even if their top agent, this 'Dante' fellow, could retrieve it, they'd likely still want pumping out more Serum with everything going on right now, and I couldn't bla them.
A lone demon was ripping through the building, making a bee-line for , and even Captain Arica was not strong enough to stop it.
Still, I was apprehensive about handing over my new formula. I estimated it would be an increase over the Cap results, and that was putting it mildly. With gamma radiation as a power source, the sky was the limit, and that was what terrified —that a person I helped create could beco a calamity we could not hope to defend against.
In the corner of the room, the agents whispered furiously, arguing against one another before I finally said. "Sorry, Nat. I know you're Fury's favorite, but I outrank you. I'm going to check on them."
"You heard the Captain. This is our post. We're the last line of defense. Don't forget that there are still demons roaming around."
He smirked, raising his high-tech rifle. "All the more reason I should join the fight. Soone has to pull them away."
Natasha frowned.
"Jean may be compromised, we can't—
"I'll be fine, Nat," he reassured, though it was clear to the second agent and that he would not be. "I'll hang back like I did last ti. Let them wear him out while I take shots. What would've happened to Dante if I hadn't been there?"
That shut her up. She looked like she had much more to say, but he was already heading for the lab exit.
"I'll be fine," he promised. "You'll see."
Nat stood there frozen for a long mont before turning around and facing . Her glare could've lted the Arctic.
"How much longer?" she asked.
"Not long," I answered in a low voice, returning to my computer. I had questions, but Natasha didn't seem in the mood to answer them monts before mourning the potential loss of her teammate. I took comfort in the fact that she hadn't pressed about the Serum formula yet.
User Comments
0 comments from readers