3rd POV:
3rd of December:
Bell handed Gwen a gift for her birthday.
''Hm, I wonder what it is,'' Gwen murmured contemplatively.
Bell looked down at the gift he gave her. It was flat and had the shape of an A2 paper size.
''Stop trying to play a weak rendition of 'Who's that Pokemon' and just open the gift, sweet cheeks,'' Bell drawled.
''I thought we agreed that you will come up with another pet name for me?,'' Gwen asked still not opening her gift. The others already left, it was just her and Bell now. She was appreciative that they were there for her birthday, but she was even more appreciative that Bell remained for longer.
''I'm about to send you to Jesus,'' Bell warned. Hey, he invested a lot of time in that gift. OK? Ignore the fact it took him 20 minutes thanks to his increased speed.
Gwen grinned at him, but rolled her eyes and opened the gift, deciding to stop teasing him.
''Bell...,'' Gwen whispered seeing her gift. It was three incredible high detailed paintings, separated by thin paper so that the color wouldn't smear. One only of her from closeup, one of the two of them together and one with all the girls as well as him.
''I remembered,'' Bell told her warmly, taking in her reaction. She dropped her head smiling.
''It is not really a grand accomplishment since you have photographic memory,'' she teased. Granted she didn't outright tell him her wish and more like hinted, but still.
''Tsk. Guess there really is no pleasing some people,'' Bell scowled. He looked at her and noticed she was starting to tear up.
''Don't cry,'' Bell told tell seriously. She sniffed and nodded, rubbing her eyes a little.
''Ok,'' she put her gift carefully on her table in the bedroom and then jumped into Bells lap showering him with kisses which he reciprocated.
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''Hey, loser. I remember telling you to do my homework instead you built this shit,'' a boy said as, he and his gang ganged in on a small boy. The ringleader slapped the project out of the boys hand.
''I told you I did it. I gave it to Marcus to give it to you, since I had no time to wait for you,'' the victim sought to explain himself.
''What was that? You didn't have time for me? I told you to wait until I come grab my homework. You know what this means. Beat him up boys,'' the ringleader said beating his fist in his palm. but before any fighting could commence a flock of pigeons flew over the group who just so happened to defecate multiple times over the ringleader. The ringleader friends began laughing at him as he gagged from the smell.
''Could you bullies get any more stereotypical? At least Karma still exists. Now shoo, leave the boy alone,'' a new voice ordered.
''Mind your own busin...,'' one of the boys bit out, turning around only to stop at seeing Spider-Man. The victims eyes lit up.
''Shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo,'' Spider-Man made several shooing motions to the gang making them run away.
''They start younger and younger, huh? What is this? Did you make this?,'' Spider-Man said picking up the project from the ground.
''What is your name?,'' Spider-Man asked, putting the project back in the kids hand and repairing it a little.
''Tom, sir. And yes I made this. It was supposed to showcase the principle of a wind turbine,'' Tom answered. Spider-Man chuckled.
''At ease soldier. Or should I call you scientist. Come, let us walk you home. Do they bully you often?,'' Spider-Man asked putting his hand on Toms back to encourage him walking.
''Yes,'' Tom answered.
''Hm. I can only advise you to do two things against bullies. Either you fight back or you become completely apathetic and stoic to their bullying. Most often then not they want a reaction. If you don't give them what they want, they are likely to leave you alone. I recommend the latter. That is how I dealt with my own bullies,'' Spider-Man told him. More like Bell made him retaliate with a prank war against Flash. Who knew humiliation could be such a powerful motivator or that someone could come up with so many traps. Although, now that he is older, he realized that it was an escalation of conflict and could have easily turned out very bad. You never know how easily and strong someone could snap.
''You were bullied? You?,'' Tom asked surprised.
''Well, yes. Under that mask I'm just like anyone,'' Spider-Man said. They talked a bit more until they arrived at the kids home. After a short wave he swung off into an alley.
Chat was waiting for him with his backpack. They were on a date, when he heard the bullying and went to change. She picked up his stuff and helped him out with the pigeons, then followed them. He quickly went behind a dumpster and changed.
''Sorry about that,'' Peter told her when they returned to their date.
''Don't apologize, I understand. You are good with children,'' Chat told him.
''And you are a terror. I mean carpet bombing the ringleader with pigeon poop?,'' Peter told her, though he couldn't withhold a smile. She shrugged.
''No one likes bullies. Now enough about that. Why don't you return to spending time with your beautiful girlfriend?,'' Chat teased her boyfriend striking a pose by putting her hands on her hips and tilting her hips a little.
''Well someone is full of themselves,'' Peter pointed out. Chat gaped dramatically, seemingly affronted.
''You are saying I'm not beautiful?,'' Chat whined.
''I didn't say that,'' Peter said, taking her hand in his.
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One day become a few more days. Jean didn't immediately make a decision as Zero expected her to. Instead they spent the last four days at her parents house. Which was weird. It was one thing to hold her for the first night, but several nights back to back? Her parents treated this completely normally.
Now they were eating breakfast.
''Right. Jean, as happy as I am for you to reconcile with your parents, I have to ask you that you make a decision. Technically I'm still responsible for you both as a teacher and your therapist. I would like to know what you'll do,'' Zero asked.
''Isn't it obvious? I will, of course, confront Xavier,'' Jean answered.
This could either turn incredible amusing or go southways faster than the Big Bang that exploded in his face.
''So, you will act depending on how the conversation develops. Fine by me, so long as you remember who wronged you and who didn't,'' Zero told her.
Zero was probably getting impatient with how long they have been tarrying. She should move things along.
''Mom, Dad. I love you. I will make sure to visit you every once in a while, but I need to take care of some things. Zero, I will wait for you outside,'' Jean said departing, after giving her parents a strong hug. Her parents probably wanted to thank him for watching over her or something. She would give them some time.
The three watched her go out. William put his hand on Zeros shoulder and firmly but appreciatively gave him a small shake.
''I... We can not thank you enough. You actually kept your word,'' he said. He was tearing up a little.
''If there is anything you need. Ever. Do not be afraid to come to us. We will help you however we can, howsoever small it may be,'' Marge said.
''There is no need for such gratitude,'' Zero told them since he was mostly following his own interests.
''No. Let us thank you. Unless you are a parent yourself, you wouldn't understand how much this means to us. Remember what we said. Anything. If we can help we will,'' Marge replied firmly. William shook his shoulder again.
''I was a little apprehensive about you sleeping with my little girl. But... take care of her. Alright?,'' William gave his blessing in a way he felt comfortable with.
''Don't worry. Now that you two will be no longer peeking on us at night I will treat your daughter lustfully. Ciao,'' Zero joked startling the two.
''You knew?,'' Marge asked, but received no answer as Zero closed the door to outside after him.
---
''Professor, we insist. We need to arrange a rescue mission for Jean and Zero,'' Scott insisted. By now he was given his position as Leader back, as he was deemed mature and skilled enough. Laura is now the vice leader, which Scott was more than happy for. She proved herself more than competent, though he did think that she was lacking charisma. She was too blunt.
''Scott I understand you are frustrated, but she is with Zero,'' Storm replied.
''I DO understand that, but several of us called and no one replied back. We can't abandon them. They are one of us,'' Scott retorted. The others nodded.
Before anyone could say anything else they heard a voice from the back. They were outside the X-Men having been intercepted by the professors. They wanted to sneak behind their back for a rescue attempt.
''Well, you all seem agitated. Have no fear for we are here,'' Zero said, Jean following him at his side.
''Jean, Zero. What happened? Were you in trouble?,'' Kitty asked them.
''Hi, guys. Hi Scott. No we weren't. We just needed to take care of some loose ends,'' Jean told them. Scott suppressed a frown and got suddenly much more attentive.
''Miss Grey, while I'm glad, that whatever troubled you is now taken care of and resolved. It would have been nicer if your friends were informed. They wanted to run out and rescue you two, because they were worried out of uncertainty,'' Xavier explained rolling in closer to them.
''Really. Oh, you shouldn't have,'' Jean said casting a shy look at Scott and brushing her hair behind her ear.
Scott made a small gesture behind his back exactly as they practiced for Wanda to see. He loved Jean. He was certain of that. But he liked to believe... he matured. Mostly for the sake of possessing qualities a leader should have. Taking a loss with grace, every now and then, was one of them. She has chosen Zero. She made it quite clear to him a month ago and while he wasn't completely over her, he was trying to move on from her and find his happiness elsewhere.
'Something is wrong,' Scott said mentally into the chat group as Wanda connected all their minds telepathically.
'Thank God. I thought I was tripping. What is going on?,' Kurt asked mentally.
'I don't know. Let us talk a little more. See who we are dealing with. Don't tense, but be prepared for a fight,' Scott ordered.
''That thing you said you needed help with. What was it? Is it done? You need help to finish it?,'' asked Logan crossing his arms.
''Oh it was just some pest. Don't worry. Jean and I took care of it. Still I should probably head back and clean it up,'' Zero murmured.
''Really? You want to return back? What if it isn't taken care of after all and it will attack you?,'' Pietro asked, rolling his shoulders.
''Don't worry. They are way below my abilities. Let alone Jeans. But we don't need that mess following us back. Toddles,'' Zero said starting to turn around and wave behind his back.
A portal opened and Zero and Jean stepped through. Jean had a frowning look on her face. They stopped seeing the scene in front of them.
'Zero' looked at Zero and Jean then he looked at 'Jean' and scoffed silently. Something happened. Jean had always immense energy reserves, but now she had so much to the point it outpaced 'Jeans' energy reserves.
''Professor, which one of them is real,'' Scott quickly asked. Xavier closed his eyes and felt out.
One had mental barriers, the other possessed the familiar void.
''The one that just arrived is the real one,'' Xavier replied. Rogue immediately punched the fake Jean who blocked it with a telekinetic shield.
''Wait, why are you attacking me? I'm your friend,'' 'Jean' asked, shocked at being attacked by those she trusted.
Zero quickly read the impostors mind. Ah, Nathaniel Essex.
How... disappointing.
Wasn't he supposed to possess genius level intellect? When Scott visited him for his regular therapy session to talk about his issues, he found out about Zero and Jean when reading his mind. He sought to rectify that by replacing Jean with Madelyne Pryor, her clone. Meanwhile he wanted to take the real Jean and 'correct' her from the impurities done by Zero, so that she would go back to Scott. Once that is done he would quietly switch the two back out and Jean would believe she was in a relationship with Scott thanks to her false memories.
Meanwhile he would kill Zero, examine how he was immune to telepathy and add his abilities to his own if necessary.
Zero quietly rolled his eyes. What an incredible contrived plot. And utterly arrogant to assume he would succeed in his plan going so smoothly.
Why put the carriage before the horse?
Granted he is powerful and Zero would have lost thanks to his telepathy, but Jean was there. Then again the Jean before Wandas training was weak. And now with the Phoenix she was even stronger, after establishing first contact.
Uff.
You done fucked up now, Essex.
Meanwhile Madalyne had only fake memories and thought she was the real Jean.
Scott shot an optic beam at the impostor only for his head to tilt upwards cutting the clouds in two.
Well that was sure not to attract the attention of anyone. It is not like NYC was 20 something minutes away from them.
Oh, who was Zero kidding. The news helicopter were already on their way.
What was it with news agencies being almost always the first at the site of an incredible incident?
Storm flew up and cast lightning at the impostor, who simply redirected it. Rogue tried to punch him as she flew at him, only for her hand to go trough a jelly like substance as she punched through him. The jelly like substance flowing back into him as he chuckled darkly at her surprised look. He shot he with an energy blast, only for her to absorb it.
Kurt teleported Logan silently behind the impostor as he tried to skewer him with his adamantium claws. The impostor sank into the shadows.
''What the...?,'' asked Evans, bringing out his bone daggers.
''Watch your shadows,'' Zero told them. Essex added quiet a lot of powers to his original ones over the years.
Kitty narrowed her eyes. Shadows huh? She turned invisible her shadow disappearing. If the enemy uses sneak attacks then she will too.
Essex sprang out of Zeros shadow and tried to pierce him in the chest as his arm transformed into a sharp object. Zero opened a portal in the trajectory of the arm but Jean stopped Essex before he could ever come closer to them and threw him telekineticaly away with a strong toss.
Essex flew straight into Pietros fist throw. He ran away at the start of the fight to build up momentum and punch the enemy with super speed. Essex was turned into red paste as his head exploded, horrifying the children at the sudden death.
A dark chuckle was heard.
''Fool. Now I'm on you,'' Essex told them as his body pieces started flowing back together. Pietro looked at his bloody fist casually. Essex should have just immediately detonated the blood instead of sending the 'sneak' attack by post mail. He casually phased through it.
''Tch. You all weren't supposes to be this strong,'' Essex said after that short exchange.
''Who are you?,'' Hank asked standing beside Xavier to protect him physically should he need to. He looked at 'Jean' suspiciously who just looked around confused, seeming unsure of what to do. Since she didn't attack anyone back she was left alone for now, but not out of mind.
''Oh, me? I'm no one of importance,'' Essex said. Thought inside he was seething. How could his plan deteriorate so quickly. Jean didn't seem to want to leave her parents, even after a few days passed and that fool seemed like a love sick puppy going with her whims. Once done here, he would have picked them up from there.
Hmmmm.
This is a ripe opportunity to mess with someone, Zero thought.
''That man is Mr. Sinister. Or Nathaniel Essex. I saw him many times when I was held captive in that HYDRA facility. I recognize his glob body anywhere,'' Zero told them.
''Dr. Essex?! Are you absolutely sure?,'' Scott asked sucker punched by that revelation. Surely there was no way, that was true, he wanted to deny. But he did just watch him shapeshift.
Wanda, Rogue and Laura suppressed a small smile. Well that was one way to inform his team of the enemy.
''I never seen you before. And I would know after all,'' Essex said, discarding his impersonation and revealing his true form as Mr.Sinister.
''Many times he and Trask met in that facility and we all had to endure their 'activities'. It was just another form of torture of the acoustic kind. Always going on about evolution this evolution that. Yet he doesn't even know how babies are made,'' Zero told them.
''ENOUGH. I don't know how you know these things about me, but I tolerated your interference long enough. Know your place, lower life form,'' Mr.Sinister scowled getting more enraged by the second. Not only did was his disguise blown, but also he was revealing information about him. He was going to enjoy experimenting on Zero.
Uff, Zero thought. Very poor choice of words. You didn't deny any of the accusations. If anything you confirmed them.
Hey, he wasn't judging. Live and let live as Zero always said.
Kittys hand went through Sinisters chest, his heart in her hand, getting everyone shocked.
Zero raised an eyebrow. He really needed to find a way to find out what the fuck was going on with Kitty. That was ruthless. The others were still kind of balking at the idea of killing someone.
''Like, leave us alone,'' Kitty ripped her heart out. Sinister didn't seem fazed. Though Zero could tell that he was annoyed as he didn't expect such an attack. Nor could he pick her mind up with her telepathy. He shot an energy blast at her only for it to go through and for her to turn invisible.
''Zero anything more you can tell us?,'' Scott asked as Wanda took the earth around Sinister and formed it into a ball around him. Then the earth started rotating at high speeds and Storm summoned lightning from the heavens again. She was unfortunately a little limited with the school and children so close by.
''Yeah. He is a powerful telekinteic, telepathic and has molecular manipulation and can shoot energy blast. Not to confuse with atomic manipulation. He also has various other abilities grafted onto and into him to evolve himself,'' Zero told them.
Rogue flew at Sinister and slapped her hands in his face creating a shockwave that destroyed some of the earthly surroundings around them. Sinister instead of getting turned into paste, transformed his body into some sort of shape that had multiple tentacles. He grabbed some of the boulders around him and threw it at Logan, Hank and Professor X. Wanda stopped the rocks only to find herself in a telekinetic battle with Sinister.
Wanda scoffed and turned the rocks into insane speeding drills, casually shooting them back at Sinister. One went through his body, only to immediately regenerate, but the rest was blocked by telekinetic shields. Pietro run at him only to slip as Sinister created ice around him in an AOE. Pietro phased through the attacks he received while down.
Storm got an idea and took the ice under Sinister before having it grow upwards into sharp twigs. Sinisiter was enveloped by them, only to flow out through the cracks and gaps.
Jean destroyed the ice and reinforced the sharp rocks telekinetically. Wanda immediately understood what she wanted to do and as Jean made the ice gems spin around Sinister Wanda created a telekinetic ball around Sinister, imprisoning him with the sharp spinning ice. Wanda compressed the ball making the space smaller.
Xavier tried to attack telepathically only to be rebuked and make him groan.
The telekinetic ball exploded as a massive energy wave was released by Sinister. Wanda and Jean protected the school with walls as Scott took the opportunity to shoot a strong kinetic beam.
Sinister split himself into copies. He was enveloped by several explosive barrels, dropped by Zero, as they exploded in his face, creating a wall of smoke. Logan and Laura run in only to get confused as they lost track of Sinister with their senses. Sinister using his molecular manipulation to make neither sound nor smell.
Evans gave Wanda some of his bone spikes. She took them, reinforced their integrity and shot them at Sinister. Sinister shaped his bodies so that the spikes would go through them, but alas that was the plan hashed out in the mental chat group. With the bones creating noise Logan and Laura attacked cutting into flesh, before immediately being blasted by an energy explosion back.
Sinister reevaluated his options and quickly came to the conclusion that the team together was to strong. They covered each others weaknesses to well, to the point he was left on the defensive most of the time. His clones will make no difference. But if there was one thing that he will do today, it was eliminating a pest that has been a thorn in his plans for long enough. He reached out telekinetically and immediately pulled harshly before anyone could react.
The team started horrified at Zeros beating heart that was now hovering outside his chest. Blood getting sprayed on Jeans face.
Zero got a little annoyed. He and Wanda will be having words. She should have intercepted the attack and reinforced his heart and blood telekinetically.
Oh well. Better keep up the performance. The news cameras are running after all.
This was NOT how he wanted to kill Zero off, especially since he still had to help Jean with the Phoenix. But in retrospect, the hardest hurdle was over. He fixed the leak in the ship so to speak and first peaceful contact was established between both parties. Jean had by now a sense of identity that kept her centered and safe from getting compromised, even if fueled by the Phoenix anger. And most importantly his automatic defenses no longer picked her up as a potential threat.
If things escalate then Wanda can guide her. Or he'll make another character.
The X-Men also entered a knew world now. They really could no longer afford to be naive. Best they lose someone that is immortal, even if the character he is currently playing is not.
Blood dripped down from Zeros mask as he watched his heart get casually dropped down and flattened savagely. He staggered forward a little and then dropped down. Squirming and wheezing pathetically. Grasping for breath. His limbs moved weakly as if trying to grasp for something, until finally coming to a halt with one final twitch, his sounds ceasing.
Everyone looked horrified at the scene as Sinister smirked satisfied. Bells girlfriends turned their heads a little not looking at the scene. They knew he was fine, but still, the performance was uncannily realistic.
Jean dropped to her knees her heart feeling like it stopped, weighting heavy in her chest. She turned Zero around and touched his chest desperately unsure of what to do. How did things escalate so quickly? When it finally sank in that he died, she slowly removed her hands and starred at her bloody fingers. She screamed in anguish.
Sinister scoffed. Foolish subject fell in 'love' with the wrong guy. Urgh. After he flees from here, he will need to change so many of his plans and wipe so many peoples memories. And now with the news involved the situation got completely out of his control. He was not unfamiliar with unknown variables, but this one by far exceeded cause and effect and threw his plans in complete disarray. Though he may not get to experiment on Zero, his corpse will do just as well. He will pick it up later, when these fools get their sentimentality out of their way and Zero was buried.
He tried to flee, only to be locked in place.
Jean heard the scoff and went apoplectic.
This cretin dares? He would fucking dare to mock Zeros death.
Such a transgression could not stand.
Such abomination could not be permitted.
'Seize my power. Burn him asunder'
Jean did not care from where that came from. All she cared was for Sinister to die.
The air hummed as Jean exploded with cosmic pyrokinesis as she started flowing into the air. The flames taking the shape of a phoenix. In spite of the flames no one was harmed. Her eyes went from blue to shimmering amber.
Sinister starred perplexed as he did not know Jean to have this ability. He scoffed again. So what? That made her not better than him. If anything that would only make her a better broodmare for Scott. He almost salivated. The offspring they would have would be powerful indeed. Whatever its ability it would be perfect for it to be added to his collection.
He tried to move and attack telekinetically only to remain frozen. He quickly tried to attack her telepathically only for him to be harshly rebuked. Ok, then he will just manipulate his molecules and either change his form, resist whatever attack she will do or dispatch a small amount of mass to slither away, hidden from sight. He could do nothing.
Jean moved her hands as she seized every atom in Sinisters bodies. She pressed them into a ball. Their bones cracking, blood spurting out but remaining in the ball. She moved her hand again and the flesh moved, getting skewered by the bone shrapnel, but Jean quickly lost interest. All that would satisfy her, was his death.
Flames from her wings, shot out to Sinister and started burning him, destroying every atom in his body. He was completely helpless to stop her, though he did not panic. This defeat would not be his end.
Back with Bell, who popped a popcorn in his mouth couldn't help but smirk.
Yup. That is the power of a cosmic entity alright.
Though it was a little anti-climatic, Bell supposed. Fitting for an ant.
Still, he was a little annoyed. Zero couldn't have died at a more optimal time? But also he was a little disappointed in Jeans performance. Then again, maybe he could give her some leeway, since she just formed a bigger link to the Phoenix and still needed to get acclimated to its powers.
Oh, well. Fine. He will do it himself. He created a clone and sent it out.
Meanwhile Jean lowered herself to the ground. Her flames disappearing. She went back to Zero and held him, silently crying.
Scott swallowed at seeing his teams faces. He turned his head around to see Logan grab his shoulder and give a squeeze.
''This is what I and Zero have been trying to teach you. If you pick up the sword, you better be prepared to die by it. As a leader, you must realize that. You HAVE to be the one to make the tough calls,'' Logan told him in a rare moment of friendliness with him.
''Logan, I don't think...,'' Xavier was interrupted by Logan as Storm came down. The X-Men gathered around Zeros body watching Jean cry.
''Not this time, Charles. They have to learn this now. People die. It is the way of things. You best make sure it isn't one of ours. Zero was an asshole, but he was a damn fine leader and he saw enough of something in you to give you the position back as leader of the X-Men. So be a leader and make the tough choices, be prepared to even kill, so that your friends will come back home. Or step aside and let someone else lead,'' Logan grumbled. Scott starred at him for a bit, surprised that this was coming from Logan of all people. He normally had problems with authority and was the reason why he and him butted heads, since Logan preferred to do his own thing most of the time.
Scott turned his head looking at the choppers. That will have no repercussion whatsoever. His jaw muscle moved a bit as he tried to form a course of action for now. He looked a little more and saw many of the other X-Students curiously peek out to know what happened, now that the danger seemed to have passed. He swallowed, making his decision.
''Today, we lost a friend. He may not have possessed a X-Gene, but all the same he seemed to understand us better than anyone, having helped many of us reach greater heights. Nor did he ever judge any of us for the drawbacks that any of our powers gave us.
Today we mourn and bury him as is tradition. Tomorrow we will face the world, for it seems it has most likely found out about us,'' Scott told them, his voice steady.
''And what about me?,'' 'Jean' spoke, reminding everyone that she was still here.
''You are offered a safe haven under our roof. It seems to me that you are just as much a victim of Mr.Sinister as Zero is. Do not worry, we are sure to unearth what he has done to you,'' Xavier assured her
Kitty hugged Jean as she watched Zero get picked by Logan and carried into the mansion. Hank went to prepare the burial materials. Kurt and Evans cried and the girls wandered off.
What a mess.
---
Sinister came to himself somewhere. He looked around and judging by the landscape he seemed to be on Mars. He frowned. How did he get here?
''Yuhuuuuu. It seems you have come to yourself,'' a voice behind him said. Sinister turned around ready to attack whoever dared to interfere with his plans. He stopped, a little uncertain as he saw Zero sitting there in a chair, casually drinking tea.
''What is the meaning of this?,'' Sinister asked cautiously. Something felt very wrong.
Zero sipped his tea one final time, before standing up. His cup and chair just simply disappearing. He put his hand on his helmet and removed it slowly as he spoke.
''I see your face deceiver. You speak of evolution, but all I see is a leech. Grafting abilities from others. I know the philosophy you follow. Your mind an open book to me. Survival of the fittest. You justify your acts as being the strongest, but what happens when you nip at someones heel that is far beyond you.
I wonder will you stand by your philosophy and accept your fate, as befits someone who is less fit?,'' Bell said removing his mask and changing his clothes in an instant to his familiar hoodie.
Sinister scoffed.
''Was this supposed to intimidate me? Or appeal to my humane nature?,'' Sinister mockingly inquired. Bell shrugged non-committedly.
''Nah. It was just supposed to buy me some time while I remove your fail safes. Come now. Don't you feel ... whole? Maybe the fragments of your mind that you implanted telepathically into other peoples memories of you were returned to you? Or maybe all the DNA samples you left in your clones is now part of you body again. Or hell, even that Moira Engine that you created to reset the universe back to a certain point, should you actually die and no longer exist,'' Bell counted of grinning and slowly stalking around him. Though with how time travel worked it was more accurate to say he was sent to a parallel dimension. Unless you had infinite energy, same as the universe, you were not traveling anywhere back in time. Though dimension travel was far more feasible for science.
Sinister scowled and immediately attacked him telepathically, only to once again encounter the familiar void.
''It is a neat little trick. That mind of yours,'' Sinister said conversationally, not turning his head as Bell stalked behind his back. A plebeian tactic. One of the most blatant intimidation tactics out there.
''I know right. I'm a telepaths natural enemy,'' Bell also conversationally added. One does not just tear into his food. It must be savored.
Frankly his ability to not have his mind read was a cheat code. Since it came outside the multiverse cluster, it had a higher authority then anything inside it, so to speak.
Cue vinyl records sound screeching.
Hold up.
That does give him an idea.
He generates his own infinite energy. What if he moves the energy generation into his mind and just makes himself conceptually immortal? Even should he die, which was highly unlikely, nothing inside the multiverse cluster can penetrate his mind, so he will just immediately spawn back into existence.
He doubted he needed that, seeing as he was virtually immortal, but there was no such thing as overkill.
Bell quickly did that.
''And what exactly have you called me here for? A collaboration on something?,'' Sinister asked. Bell burst out chuckling. Oh please, as if he wasn't completely aware of Sinisters modus operandi. Bide his time and then backstab him and take the fruits of someone elses labor. How intuitive and not predictable.
''I didn't want to get bored to quickly of my toy. So (*Bell gives him a beatific smile*) make sure to entertain me, Ok?,'' Bell said immediately jumping back high into the atmosphere. Sinister sought to fly after him, only to fly downwards easily smashing through Mars' crust and into the core. Bell made the magma begin spinning at insane speeds heating up the entire planet and quickly destroying the crust. Shortly afterwards the planet exploded, Sinister winded but not dead. It was fine they were in a different dimension. Another dead one.
Good.
He wanted to kick his butt some more.
Hmmmm. Why not do it in style? He took the magma and pulled it to him. He split the mass of the magma in half and kept it from cooling off while turning them into super massive wings extending from the area around his kidneys. Bells hair blew a little as Sinister starred at him, even though there was no wind.
It added to his coolness factor.
''Behold, ant. This is true power. Provide me with a challenge, least I get bored of you even quicker,'' Bell demanded. Sinister frowned.
''How are we speaking in space?,'' he asked.
''Science, bitch,'' Bell drawled. Sinister extended his arm trying to telekinetically do something.
Bell scratched his shoulder a little, waiting patiently for Sinisters attack to fail.
''You done? My turn again,'' Bell smirked, with one flap of his wings, he was suddenly a few kilometers in front of Sinister. He slapped him multiple times with his wings always trailing after him, watching as he deflected his attack telekinteically. Eventually Sinister slammed into Venus' surface. Bell took a breath. Ah, good old carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid.
Sinister tried to change the shape of his body into something grotesques, only to instead harden his skin as Bell attacked again with his wings.
''Fool, you can control molecules. I can control the very atoms. I have no interest in seeing you change into some pathetic imitation of an eldritch horror,'' Bell said, suddenly appearing in front of him and slapping his hands. A massive shockwave slammed Sinister into the surface of Venus. The sharp jagged landscape of Venus only doing more damage to Sinister, though he did regenerate it since Bell didn't completely take his ability away.
Sinister disappeared into the shadows.
''Umbrakinesis again? Are you actively trying to get me bored? Give me something new,'' Bell demanded.
Sinister ignored the idiots ranting and tried to come up with a solution.
''Hey you are quiet deep there in the shadows. Are you sure you want to do that? I heard that there are supposedly unholy leviathans hiding in the deepest corners wherever darkness resides,'' singsang Bell. Sinister stilled. There was something in the darkness with him.
Before he could leave the shadows something snatched him up. He NEVER experienced such pain and damage before. It felt... it felt... There were no words to describe it. He was spat out in front of Bell. as he was regenerating, he was forced to watch when Bell snapped in front of his face to get his attention.
''Can you show me more, beside Umbrakinesis and Elemental manipulations?,'' Bell requested.
Time.
Sinister needed time to figure out that bastards power and kill him.
''Oh, blood bending? You know that this might as well be elemental manipulations, what with all the water, but might as well,'' Bell created a spiked hammer with a long handle made out of his own blood and twirled it expertly around him, before hitting Sinister like a golf ball into above a volcano, he appeared over him and slammed the hammer on him catapulting him into the volcano. The sheer forces involved made it so that Sinister could not protect himself from flying around telekinetically. At least it still offered protections as armor.
Sinister shot an energy blast destroying the volcano and flying out. He took some of the magma and threw it at Bell boosted by a concussive blast.
Bell sighed disappointedly. Looking into Sinisters mind, the guy didn't really seem to know how to react to such an overwhelming opponent. He inverted the momentum of the magma and it landed on Sinister after all. And while he did have many abilities, they were useless in his face.
Oh well. Time for a beat down.
...
Sinister slammed into Mercury. Venus having been long destroyed, the magma was added as a second pair of wings to Bells back. Sinister picked himself up as he was regenerating.
Nothing he tried was working.
NOTHING.
He heard Bell land behind his back. Mr. Sinister whipped around and held a hand at his face ready to defend itself. Bell stopped and began chuckling, before descending into full belly laughter.
This.
This was perfect. Everything up till was done for the sole purpose of this. Who didn't like seeing arrogant assholes begging. Oh sure, there were no words involved, but there are many types of answering something.
The look was perfect.
I see your face deceiver indeed.
''I remember what I asked in the beginning. Seems I have my answer, hypocrite. You only followed that philosophy so long as it suited you. You don't get to beg,'' Bell mocked.
Sinister seized up, becoming stiff as a board. He looked frantically around.
''You yearned for power, to fashion yourself as a god. Don't make me laugh.
Witness and let the true meaning of almighty be seared into your very soul,'' Bell said flying up with a beat of his wings and creating a super massive sun. It quickly exploded and then collapsed into a black hole.
Maybe a bit overkill, but he was really impatient in wanting to kill someone with a Big Bang. Sinister was strong enough, Bell supposed.
With a flash, Sinister was gone, reduced to atoms, scattered throughout the universe. Without any chance of returning.
Bell looked around, now no longer affected by his own attack. It was beautiful. Kind of like a kaleidoscope of colors, if one squinted. Either way it was beautiful.
Bell scratched his chest a little. Well he had a lot of fun, was this clone puppets last thought before puffing out of existence.
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Sharon Carter, or more commonly known as Agent 13 sighed. What a fucking shit fest the entirety of (almost) the last year has been.
Tasked with capturing a group of people that seemed almost as elusive as the HYDRA agents they were hunting down, she was only given 7 people. Of course she understood why that was. S.H.I.E.L.D was short on staff, because of the Project Insight events. That did not mean it made her job any less frustrating.
And while the director understood her plight, his superiors didn't. Sharon did not know how she managed it, but she never gave in to the impulse of finding the idiots and shooting them all, every time she had to give a report and explain why she wasn't making any progress. She admired Furys patience.
Thought he did seem to always call them motherfuckers after a meeting.
They have been chasing the Phantom Thieves like headless chickens for the past year and not once did they came close to capturing them.
The reason why they were not branded as international terrorists was, because they operated only domestically inside America.
Until, of course, things changed.
Because they always change.
Enter the case of Junko Furuta and the first international incident of the Phantom Thieves in Japan.
The perpetrators were minors. Which meant under japanese law that they could only be tried as juveniles.
It seemed however that the Phantom Thieves thought like Sharon. There were some crimes so great that not even the protection of minority should be offered to you. Oh, what is that? You need to be 20 to understand the sheer ramifications of what you are doing? Sharon scoffed.
The Phantom Thieves caught wind of that and sent their calling cards. They did their thing and the perpetrators begged to be tried as adults and receive the full sentencing. With Japan however being so strict about their laws, especially the ones regarding minors and with judges minds being so difficult to sway...
Well, the japanese tried to out stubborn them.
Things completely escalated.
And now the death toll was in the thousands.
The perpetrators are all dead. As are the perpetrators parents. As are several police men who accepted bribes by the Yakuza. As are the judges who presided over the case. As are several hundreds of Yakuza members. As are a few CEOS, thought that might have been pure happenstance and unrelated to Furutas case. As are a few other people involved in this.
Sharon couldn't lie. A part of her was very vindictive and took great joy at what was happening. Everyone knew of the Phantom Thieves. Even other countries aside from the USA and its allies. They should have just accepted the defeat in shame and rotted in prison till their deaths. Not that she was gonna tell any of her superiors that. That would be an immediate punishment for her.
That was one and a half months ago. Such a gross and blatant overreach, in another country no less, saw them immediately declared as international terrorist.
While that was bad for the Phantom Thieves, it was great for her, because now she had a far bigger group to work with. 97 people to be exact. It goes without saying that the made great progress.
''Agent 13, I think I may have found the point that was the missing link across all these cases,'' one agent came to her and informed her.
''And? Out with it,'' Sharon sharply asked.
''I believe that the missing link is human contact,'' Sharon starred at the agent. There was no way it was that simple.
''I hope you have evidence to support that theory?,'' Sharon asked, making the agent nod and hand her a laptop.
''We have comprised some of the most difficult cases of the Phantom Thieves to show you that even then, they needed to establish human contact,'' the agent revealed.
A janitor was wiping the floor and putting up the wet sign. Ah she recognized that victim. A more arrogant ass if there ever was. He slipped and was helped up by the janitor. The victim tore into the janitor for doing his job and then fired him, but first he should finish wiping the floors. He did as instructed, his face set in consternation and then left. Nothing suspicious here. The janitor did not how any sign of victory, which did not coincide with their ostentatiousness of sending calling cards.
She cast the agent a look. ''No, I know how this looks, but just bear with me please,'' the agent pleaded. Sharon turned her attention to the laptop.
A baker was handing another victim a bag of freshly baked bread. It was put on the counter, only for the victim to grasp the bag poorly. Both react trying to catch the bread and touch. The victim moves without saying anything and the baker goes about her day.
A dentist does his job, obviously they touch, even if the camera at the reception has captured nothing inside the medical room. The day goes on as normal.
''I still don't see what you are trying to share with me. So maybe they need to touch the victim. Finding out how their powers work is secondary, catching them is more important,'' Sharon explained.
''Well yes, but to catch them we need to know who they are, their mentality. We looked into the people they impersonated. All of them exist. They are real and not just a single day impersonation. We asked them and they swear they know nothing nor have they noticed anything important. And one more thing, their reaction after a successful heist so to speak. Up till now, we believed them to be thrill seekers or revolutionaries who wanted to be seen fight for justice or something. But what if that was a misdirection? All these jobs are completely unassuming. And they don't react to a heist. While we were looking for people giving a smirk or the like they assumed the most unassuming positions they could find, that would give them access to their victims and voila,'' the agent argued. Sharon looked contemplative for a while processing the information.
They did have more personal now. Hm. Maybe she could try somethings out that she didn't try up till now.
''I want you all to stand ready and move out the moment the next calling card drops. Each one of you will follow any service worker that touched the victim. I don't care where you have to follow them, just make sure not to leave them out of sight. See if they don't remove their disguise,'' Sharon ordered them all. Honestly Sharon was a little disappointed. That was rather simplistic for a group that eluded her so ling. Just hide behind an image they created of the Phantom Thieves while the actual operations are boring as fuck.
Sharon narrowed her eyes. No. It wasn't that simple her intuition told her.
...
A few days later the next calling card was sent out and they all moved out.
---
Sharon was watching Akira Fuji. A inspector that accepted bribery to evaluate products as up to terms. Supposedly hundreds of people died, because the products broke down. He was issued a calling card and her entire team has come here to catch at least one of the Phantom Thieves.
While she was watching she couldn't help but still feel something was off. It had to be more complicated than that. She thought back to the videos. Analyzing everything inside it as she watched the victim make his way down the road. The truth was that nothing stood out everyone was doing what you expect someone to be doing in public.
It looked like someone was almost about to collide with the victim, but he turned his shoulder and they never made contact or brushed. The person almost colliding put his phone back in his pants. Sharon frowned. The person just picked his phone up and seemed to spend 2 seconds on it while pressing only one button. Not enough time to read a message and he had a watch, so he didn't check the time. She looked at the man, observing if he would in inexplicably smirk or smile.
What was it that the agent said? The people who touched the victims all seemingly had lives. They were not just one time imposters. But...
She ordered someone to watch the man while she looked at the previous videos again. What if it wasn't human contact, but something else.
YES.
In every video there was someone who picked up their phone only to inexplicably put it back down as the victim passed by them. Sure the faces were not always the same. But make up or devices could fix that.
They had their target.
''New orders, I want everyone to chase that man down. Do NOT kill him. I repeat do NOT kill him.
...
Joker put his 'face-altering device' down. He sighed in relief.
Took them long enough.
He was starting to get bored, but also he needed to run damage control in regards to the world finding out about the X-Men.
''Hands in the air where I can see them,'' someone shouted. Joker held his hands up in the air subtly dropping a pellet down his pants. His back was turned to them as they slowly approached him with their guns pointed at him.
Boom.
The smoke cloud provided cover and he bolted, suddenly in his Joker garb donned with red gloves and a domino mask, finished by a black stylish coat.
''What the...? When did he change?,'' asked one of them, giving immediately chase.
''That is unimportant. Focus,'' yelled the other.
Joker ran and jumped from the 3rd floor of the garage complex. He grabbed onto a light pole and slid down, doing a roll as he continued to run into an alley.
He picked a banana from a kid that was almost finished and threw it at someones feet. They slipped and landed into the trash bags in the alley.
Joker performed some parkour to get over a fence and did a flip landing with a roll, before continuing to run.
Hey, Phantom Thieves were meant to be stylish. All these flips and stuff were unnecessary, but style points mattered.
He continued to run, evading them for some more time, but frankly nothing notable more happened, aside from that banana trick.
Fine.
He came to a stop at a massive intersection as a police car pulled to a stop in front of him. He turned around only for another police car to block his way. He calmly turned around as several cars, came to a stop in a circle around him. The agents pulled their gun on him.
He smirked as he held his hands up and went to his knees.
Someone cuffed his hands behind his back.
Joker made sure to show his good side to the photographers functioning as a news reporter. It was not like he had Bells face equipped now anyways.
---
''What is your name,'' Sharon asked the member of the Phantom Thieves as they were in the interrogation room.
''Ren Amamyia,'' he immediately replied. Sharon frowned. That was surprisingly forthcoming. One of her colleagues scoffed.
''Are we supposed to believe this? Agent 13, we are good at what we do. Let us at him and we will have him sing the truth like a canary,'' her colleague boasted.
Sharon closed her eyes. Weren't they supposed to be the best spy agency in the world, even with their current state. Torture did not work, the way most people expected.
''Very well, Ren Amamyia. Just for confirmation. You are a member of the Phantom Thieves?,'' Sharon asked, ignoring the idiot that suggested torture. They were only here for security reasons, because they did not know how enhanced the suspect was.
''Mhmhm. Their leader actually,'' Ren casually told her, making her stare at him. What game was he playing? That was not information one revealed easily.
''I'm sure you are. As their leader you must feel responsible for your subordinates. But have you ever felt ... uncertainty in what you do?,'' Sharon asked trying to set the foundation for one of her tactics.
''If you are implying that I might possible be leading my subordinates astray, then no. They all know what they signed up for,'' Ren drawled boredly. Sharon starred at him. It was official, they were playing a game of cat and mouse. Keep him talking.
''But one could argue that you are leading them astray. You were all declared international terrorists for taking justice into your own hands,'' Sharon told him.
''Exactly,'' Ren said as if that was the entire goal. Sharon frowned.
''You say that as if it some action that one should take pride in. People died, because of your actions,'' Sharon argued.
''And I'm sure you are not conveniently ignoring all our victims safe and living in prison, whenever the system DID work as intended.
But sure let us ignore that and speak about the dead. Most certainly, you must have never killed someone to take that moral high ground with me. But I'm sure you never saw it that way, nor have you lost sleep at night. After all good soldiers follow orders and what is government sanctioned could never be evil. (*Ren chuckles knowingly*)
No. That is not what this is about. It terrifies you that we can think for ourselves and cast our own judgement. If only more people were like that. Then we wouldn't exist,'' Ren mocked her. Sharon frowned again.
''Is THAT what you tell yourself at night. It is the peoples fault and that it is your duty? You can't be possible be believing this yourself. That is just your excuse,'' Sharon retorted. This time did not reply. All he did was give her another knowing smile, but this time mixed with pitying looks.
''If every one would think for themselves and pass their own judgement, then we would have nothing but anarchy. People need law and order,because complete freedom is nothing more than complete cause,'' Sharon argued.
''Who said we are fighting for anarchy? I'm fighting against corruption. I'm fighting against indolence. Humanities own personal force of entropy. Or if you want another word for it. Complacency. You have NO idea, what this forces actually means for us. I'm not saying we should go cookoo with freedom, but people need to react in any other way besides saying they need to do something about this or that and do nothing,'' Ren warned her.
Sharon wanted to continue arguing with Ren. At first it seemed as if he knew all about interrogation techniques and knew how to avoid them, but she quickly discarded that idea. Engage them in subjects that they are invested in to establish a connection of camaraderie and they will keep supplying information about themselves. Even better if he thinks he is the one in charge of the conversation. She already had a lot of information.
But before she could do that, she was interrupted by a knock. An agent told her that Director Fury wanted to speak with her. She ordered her two colleagues to stand watch and not do anything to the suspect.
''I heard you caught a Phantom Thief,'' Fury said shortly after she answered the call.
''Their leader actually. Ren Amamyia,'' Sharon supplied.
''We will have our team run a checkup in our database. See who he is, that type of stuff. If he is their leader make sure not to harm him in any way. We don't need the Phantom Thieves retaliating in any way. Anything else?,'' Fury asked her.
''He is a radical revolutionary going against the establishment and trying to combat corruption in the system. But I don't know, he implied there was something more going on behind the scenes,'' Sharon told him.
''Do we know how his powers work?,'' Fury asked, only for Carter to shake her head,'' Then return to it. Also see about finding out what he implied was going on behind the scenes. Dismissed.''
Sharon sighed and made her way back to work only to halt when she saw the scenes she arrived in.
Her colleagues were dead, shot in a clear struggle and Ren was clearly poisoned by something as he was bleeding from his eyes.
''Fuck,'' Sharon cursed.
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''I still think you are an asshole for faking your death. They mourned you and you traumatized them,'' Rogue bit out disappointed in her boyfriend even if she did chose to go along with the farce. They were once again having lunch in Bells house. Wanda and Laura agreed. And Gwen said nothing, being most familiar with Bells insanity.
He scoffed. Oh please. Bell had to bury himself under his friends mountain of corpses at the very beginning of the war to hide and then had to crawl out from under them.
And he turned out just fine.
The X-Men were going to weather Zeros death. Especially since seeing your friends heart get ripped out and turned into a pancake is tame by comparison. And like him they will be hardened against the world.
''I know. I saw every one weeping from inside the casket. Kurts speech made me almost cry,'' Bell said, putting a spoon of tiramisu in his mouth.
Rogue hang her head. Right that is what she signed up for. That was her life now.
''The world now knows that the X-Gene gives one powers,'' Laura pointed out, a little worried what this would mean for her friends.
''Correction. The public now knows that the X-Gene gives people powers. Have you forgotten all the X related projects? I'm sure it wasn't just HYDRA who had their fingers on the pie. The government most likely had it too. They both just withheld this from the public for one reason or another,'' Wanda told her pointing her spoon at her.
''I'm guessing Jean won't be joining us then?,'' Gwen asked Bell. He shrugged.
''She made her love for me known, but I couldn't accept because I felt she was in too much of a vulnerable state and well, things escalated and now Zero is dead. Which brings me to my next point,'' Bell said only to get interrupted by Wanda who winced.
''I know, sorry. I know I could have done better in stopping Sinister from killing you,'' Wanda said with a small blush. She had faster processing power and still failed to stop that from happening.
''Wait! Why am I the one apologizing? Pietro is mourning you! You were practically his best friend,'' Wanda sharply retorted.
''Calm down. But no, I will not tell him about this. I'm not even telling Peter. Unless I absolutely must I would prefer to keep my powers secret,'' Bell explained. Wanda sighed in disappointment. Asshole.
''What will we do about the public, Sugar?,'' Rogue asked worriedly.
''Don't worry. I already have a plan in motion for that. I may be an asshole, but I don't abandon my friends. At best I watch them from the shadows,'' Bell assured her. The girls understood. He was probably talking about his Joker persona.
''Stalker,'' Laura called him.
''And proud of it,'' Bell retorted.
''We should talk a little about our dynamic. Will the girls stay at the X-Mansion or move closer?,'' Gwen asked.
''Hm. I mean Wanda is an adult. She can rent a small apartment, the cheapest, since it doesn't matter. I will supply the money and we can expand the space inside it as much as we want and decorate it however we want. The three of them can stay at the mansion if they want and Wanda can teleport them all to the HQ if necessary. Same with me and Gwen, then we will just meet there whenever,'' Bell reasoned.
''Why not make a small door with expanded space inside your man cave? This way you will not have to pay money. Wanda can still teleport them all in and you can make the door invisible or indistinguishable from the wall. This way your mother will not get wind of the door,'' Gwen proposed a more reasonable offer. If he wanted to not give his mother grief than this was an even better proposition, she felt like.
Bell thought this over for a bit and then nodded.
''You are right indeed. Very well, are all of us in agreement?,'' Bell asked and the girls nodded.
They talked a bit more about random trivia, until the doorbell rang.
Bell went and answered the door only to gape slightly at seeing Jean at the door.
''Hello, Zero. You will let me in right?,'' She asked smiling angelically. The girls all tensed, preparing for a fight.
''Jean,'' Bell tensed as well. He already had an idea on how she found him.
''Zero. You and I were meant to be together,'' she slammed into him and looked up at him with adoration. Then before he could say anything she kissed him and stroke his cheek.
''I will never let you go, Zero,'' Jean whispered after parting from the kiss.
Her shimmering amber eyes starring right into his winered ones.
Well, at least he wasn't detecting her as a threat.
Still, he knew this was going to be a headache.