Chapter 38: Apocalypse
Note: I forgot to post yesterday so....here''s another chapter!
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<strong>Chapter 38: Apocalypse</strong>
<span style="font-weight:400">All over the world, people began to panic once the message in their heads ended.
<span style="font-weight:400">They didn’t understand what was happening but the fact that someone…or something…managed to deliver such a message to the whole world in their minds…it scared them.
<span style="font-weight:400">The Avengers assembled quickly and held a meeting.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sadly, two of their most powerful members, Captain Marvel and Thor, weren’t present. But they still have to do what needs to be done.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin also got a call from Major Johnson to hold a meeting as well with the EPD quickly.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin turned to Rogue and handed Mystique to her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Stay here and help them out. I’ll go back first.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Okay. I got this. Go.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Nodding, Benjamin didn’t dy anymore and opened a portal back.
<span style="font-weight:400">There, most of the EPD members were already waiting for him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Give us the order Capt.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Daredevil said and everyone also looked to Benjamin for orders.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You all heard the message. It’s inevitable that some people might get tempted and cause chaos in this situation. Remain on patrol and apprehend any that causes trouble. Wanda, Pietro, you’re with me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Actually, Benjamin was confident about taking Apocalypse on his own. Especially after his recent power-ups.
<span style="font-weight:400">But Benjamin figured that this may be a good training experience for the two who are new to the whole hero thing.
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda especially. Her powers have not even begun to scratch the surface.
<span style="font-weight:400">As for Pietro, he runs headfirst into trouble without thinking things through. This is amon habit of a speedster in any universe…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Jake. You’ll be runningms. You’ll be managing everyone’s position depending on the situation.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Got it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Jake nodded and didn’t joke around as he knew that the situation was serious.
<span style="font-weight:400">After handing out a few more orders, Benjamin turned to Wanda and Pietro who was already suited up.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin had made them special suits as well which bore some simrities to theiric counterparts in his previous life.
<span style="font-weight:400">Of course, it looked more natural and not like something straight out of aic book.
<span style="font-weight:400">Unlike Felicia’s, it didn’t have a lot of functions but it is still durable and resistant to damage.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Let’s go. We’ll meet up with the Avengers first to see the situation.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The two nodded and followed Benjamin through the portal.
<span style="font-weight:400">The next moment, they appeared within the Avengers Tower where the rest of the Avengers are standing around a disy table, showing holographic images of a pyramid with floating metal structures around it in Cairo.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ben, you’re here.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Natasha saw Benjamin arrive and greeted him. The others also nodded to him.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin took a look at the current members.
<span style="font-weight:400">Captain America, Iron Man, War Machine, Hawkeye, ck Widow, Falcon, Bruce Banner, Vision, and Bucky Barnes.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin looked at them awkwardly.
<span style="font-weight:400">This…most of them had metals…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Apart from Hulk, ck Widow, and I guess Captain America…the rest can’t go.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? Why?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Iron Man asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Because Mao is on the enemy’s side. Andst I checked, most of you here are wearing something with metal. For Capt., you’ll need to remove the metal buckles on your shield. He won’t be able to control pure Vibranium.”
<span style="font-weight:400">After hearing that Mao was involved, everyone looked at each other awkwardly.
<span style="font-weight:400">Most of them are indeed wearing metal…
<span style="font-weight:400">Iron Man mutters.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I really need a pure Vibranium suit…or anything that’s just not metal…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“You can use stic. You’ll be called stic Man in the future.”
<span style="font-weight:400">War Machineughed which made Iron Man roll his eyes inside the suit.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hawkeye sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“My arrowheads are mostly metal. I could rece them but it will take some time.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“How about Vision? He’s mostly made of pure Vibranium. Can’t he go too?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Bruce asked and Vision nodded.
<span style="font-weight:400">“While it is true that I am not all pure Vibranium, I can still offer some assistance from afar.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Vision said as he touched the Mind Stone on his forehead.
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda looked at the stone curiously.
<span style="font-weight:400">Before today, Benjamin had some time with Wanda and Pietro as he trained the two of them in his free time.
<span style="font-weight:400">In fact, Benjamin had also started teaching Wanda some magic which she excelled more than Felicia did.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin also exined to them that although the Mind Stone had caused their powers to appear, their powers did not originate from it and that they had long had these powers hidden deep within them.
<span style="font-weight:400">This Mind Stone that HYDRA had used to experiment on them in the past is now embedded on a sentient robot…
<span style="font-weight:400">All this made them look at Vision weirdly.
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin smiled and shook his head.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mao’s powers had most likely been enhanced. Even from afar, he will still be able to control you. Don’t worry, it’s not like you all will be benched. We’ll first take out Mao. Once he’s gone, I’ll open a portal for you all to join the fight.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sounds like a n.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Captain America nodded.
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone also sighed as the least they wanted was to be benched and there was nothing they could do.
<span style="font-weight:400">At this moment, Rogue called and said that the X-Men are ready so Benjamin opened a portal for them and had the X-Men arrive in the Avengers Tower as well.
<span style="font-weight:400">From the portal arrived Charles, Jean, Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Mystique, and Rogue walked out.
<span style="font-weight:400">Beast and Colossus stayed behind to watch over the rest of the students.
<span style="font-weight:400">The Avengers all turned to look at Mystique and frowned.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Isn’t she with Mao and his so-called Brotherhood? Mystique, was it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">ck Widow asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mystique nodded and didn’t hide it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Indeed…I was with him before…’he’ appeared…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“He?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“He calls himself the first mutant. Ages way back ancient Egypt…En Sabah Nur…otherwise called the Apocalypse.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t care what he calls himself. What does he want now?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Iron Man asked irritatedly.
<span style="font-weight:400">He was still annoyed that he’ll be benched for a short moment thanks to Mao.
<span style="font-weight:400">“He wants a world where mutants reign over humans. And Erik joined him…you don’t understand. Erik is just confused. The situation with mutants is already getting better thanks to the existence of the EPD but Erik, he…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mystique sighed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“He just needs to be reminded of what we were fighting for…please help me save him. Before he causes more destruction that he won’t be able to return from…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mystique spoke in a tone that was almost begging.
<span style="font-weight:400">“So you heard. Frankly, I still don’t like the guy. But we can always use some more heavy hitters.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Wolverine added.
<span style="font-weight:400">The X-Men had basically already agreed to this before they came. Now they just needed the Avengers’ thoughts.
<span style="font-weight:400">“If I may.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Vision suddenly interjected.
<span style="font-weight:400">“A single Mao had caused most of the Avengers to be…unusable. Having him as our enemy is not wise.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...”
<span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, another voice sounded out.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I agree with the robot. Alien forces are closing in on us as we speak. We can use some more heroes.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Jesus! Nick! Since when have you been hiding in that corner!?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Iron Manined when Nick Fury suddenly appeared.
<span style="font-weight:400">And another voice answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Quite a while actually.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Coulson, you too!?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I was considering if I should’ve brought popcorn.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...”
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone was a bit speechless at the two.
<span style="font-weight:400">Finally, Captain America nodded.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ally or not. We can settle thatter. Right now, we still need to take him down along with that Apocalypse.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Straight to the point. I like it.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin gave him a thumbs up and opened up a portal.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wolverine, you should stay as well. We’ll call you all to join once Mao’s taken care of.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Grr…better not keep me waiting, Bob.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Wolverine growled in annoyance but didn’t refuse.
<span style="font-weight:400">The rest then went through the portal with him and they soon appeared in front of the pyramid where Apocalypse sat at the very top.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sensing their arrival, Apocalypse sneered and turned to his horsemen.
<span style="font-weight:400">“They’re here.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hehe. Time to crush some skulls!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Grrr…I don’t smell Wolverine in the area…did he chicken out?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“He’s probably aware of Mao’s involvement. I sense Mystique among them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mystique…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mao muttered but didn’t say anything else.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mesmero smiled and closed his eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“There seems to be a lot of them. Let me even out the odds first.”
<span style="font-weight:400">With his hypnotic powers enhanced, it won’t be an issue to hypnotize some of the Avengers or X-Men to turn on their allies.
<span style="font-weight:400">However…
<span style="font-weight:400">Excluding Benjamin, there were three other telepaths in their team.
<span style="font-weight:400">Charles was the first to notice it and frowned.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mesmero. He’s trying to hypnotize us. Jean, help me block him off.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll also help.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Wanda volunteered and the three of them sat on the ground in a circle as they locked onto Mesmero’s mental attack to try and force him into a mental battle with them.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mesmero frowned.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What’s wrong?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mao asked as he noticed his expression.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I underestimated them. Charles and Jean I expected to try and block me but…there’s another telepath with them…more powerful than the two of them…”
<span style="font-weight:400">With Jean still not fully awakening the Phoenix force within her, Wanda is indeed more powerful than either Charles or Jean.
<span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the three of them immobile, Mystique turned to the others.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s said that Apocalypse would often arrive with four horsemen. One is Mao, another is Mesmero. There’s two more we need to be wary of.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then we better get going. Hawkeye, get on top of that building and stop anyone that’s trying to approach them. Widow, you also stay here to protect them.”
Captain America said.
<span style="font-weight:400">On the X-Men side, Storm was the one to issuemands since Charles was preupied.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Cyclops, stay here as well and protect them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Cyclops didn’tin as he was more worried about Jean.
<span style="font-weight:400">The rest of the team then continued to move on.
<span style="font-weight:400">It didn’t take long for them to meet the rest of the horsemen.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sabretooth and Juggernaut…these two are indeed a bit troublesome to deal with.
<span style="font-weight:400">The fights began.
<span style="font-weight:400">Quicksilver and Hulk faced off against Juggernaut.
<span style="font-weight:400">Storm and Nightcrawler faced Sabretooth.
<span style="font-weight:400">Captain America, Rogue, and Mystique dealt with Mao.
<span style="font-weight:400">As for Benjamin…he didn’t go all out yet and only showed his Earth Maniption abilities to help trap Mao.
<span style="font-weight:400">The reason was that he was still wary of Apocalypse.
<span style="font-weight:400">Although he knew that he can overpower him, he didn’t dare to underestimate him.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was still important to keep a few cards hidden for the final battle.
<span style="font-weight:400">Besides, who’s to say that guy won’t sneak attack them while they are fighting his horsemen?
<span style="font-weight:400">As they fought, Mystique didn’t stop shouting at Mao.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was the usual talk-no-Jutsu that you’d often see in the movies or anime…basically, the ultimate move to defeat an enemy without actually defeating them!
<span style="font-weight:400">Since it seemed like this won’t be over anytime soon, Benjamin had already run out of patience and attacked a bit more seriously.
<span style="font-weight:400">Touching the Ne of One, he dropped a few drops of blood on it and spoke.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Constraint!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Instantly, seemingly out of nowhere, chains appeared and wrapped around Mao’s body, constraining him and stopping him from being able to move at all.
<span style="font-weight:400">What’s more…he found out that he can’t actually control the chains at all even though they looked like it’s made of metal!
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sleep.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What…is…happening…zzz”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...”
<span style="font-weight:400">Captain America, Rogue, and Mystique were speechless.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was…over? Just like that?
<span style="font-weight:400">“Couldn’t you do that sooner?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Rogue rolled her eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I thought I’d let you guys have a try first. I can only use the same spell once with this thing after all. I wanted to save some words just in case it’s needed in the future.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin shrugged as he exined briefly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll wake him upter. For now, let’s call the others.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Benjamin didn’t waste any more time and opened up a portal to call the rest of the Avengers plus Wolverine.
<span style="font-weight:400">The moment Wolverine appeared, his eyes immediately locked onto Sabretooth.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Grrr…Sabretooth…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wolverine! You’re finally here!”
<span style="font-weight:400">The two immediately crossed blows with Storm and Nightcrawler providing Wolverine some support.
<span style="font-weight:400">After all, with Sabretooth enhanced by Apocalypse, he needed some help to deal with him.
<span style="font-weight:400">War Machine and Falcon also helped them while the rest helped Quicksilver and Hulk deal with Juggernaut.
<span style="font-weight:400">Vision came to Wanda’s side and ced his hand on her shoulder.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Allow me to be of assistance.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The Mind Stone on his forehead glowed and amplified the three telepath’s powers.
<span style="font-weight:400">It didn’t take long for them topletely defeat Mesmero, leaving him on the brink of being braindead.
<span style="font-weight:400">Apocalypse looked at Mesmero’s dazed expression and frowned.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Useless.”
<span style="font-weight:400">His hand glowed and an energy st shot out, instantly killing Mesmero.
<span style="font-weight:400">Once he was dead, Apocalypse finally stood up from his throne and teleported outside.
<span style="font-weight:400">Seeing the unconscious Mao and the others nearly defeated, he frowned even more.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Useless…all of you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Apocalypse spoke coldly as he lifted his head to look at everyone.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Since my horsemen can’t deal with you all…I’ll just do this by myself.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Get ready!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Captain America quickly reacted and lifted his shield.
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone also got into a battle stance.
<span style="font-weight:400">They knew the decisive battle is about to begin.