Chapter 64: Dominion League
Millions of dollars of investment in Stark Industries, plenty of time spent refining the technology, an offer of membership to the hellfire club… The last outcome Shaw expected was that his triumph card would be totally useless. It didn't do anything to Ray at all.
"Impossible, so long as you are a biologic lifeform!–"
*WHOOSH!*
With a swift kick, with kinetic force enough for the floor to crumble, he ducked and evaded the ball of emptiness that had just materialised around his head. One inch away from sending him into the realm of nothing.
Shaw wasn't unprepared. With enough footage, he knew what to expect in this fight.
He knew to expect death.
Upon landing, Sebastian punched the ground again, each of his strikes contained force enough for the whole building to shake, he was loaded up and ready. The blast sent him flying towards the beams previously aimed at Ray.
Immediately Ray caught what his intention was.
"Don't be running now!".
Ray also knew what to expect. Any source of energy was of advantage to Shaw. Ironically, a weapon capable of erasing biological matter would further strengthen Shaw. So he extended his hands or more accurately, claws... and the heads of the goons nearest to him, holding those guns, disappeared in a bloody shower fashion.
It was a bloody skirmish where the common folk's lives were disregarded to the extreme. Emma and Raven were close on the ground floor and their visage changed completely when they saw Ray fight in this form, in this way.
"I know the weakness of your ability, bastard!" Shaw uttered, many mechanisms manifested from the ground. He prepared many traps, the previous months of inaction hadn't been of him sitting around lazily on his couch. It had been preparation.
Most of them consisted of Ray's inability to overlap his powers, the only weakness that Shaw knew of. But it was all for nothing.
*BOOOOOMMMMM!!!*
The abyss monster's head exploded, sending showers of pitch-black blood everywhere. The last three remaining goons out of a dozen (Six dead and three who fled) shot Ray during this junction with those gamma rays, hoping his weakened and injured form wouldn't be able to prevent the beams from doing their work.
But… nothing.
Even if injured, blasted, or disintegrated. He'd just come back.
'What is this monster?!' Shaw was starting to doubt the chances of success, the chances of survival; how to defeat an enemy who can't be killed?
In the midst of it all, Emma and Raven were surrounded by more men wearing helmets. He not only prepared against Ray, he also prepared against Emma... even if the cost of one of those helmets was in the millions, for Shaw, it was worth it.
"Tch, damn it!"
Even if her diamond form, Emma's strength was no different from that of a common person. Even using her telekinesis, both she and Raven were quickly overwhelmed.
*WHOOSH!*
Ray swept through like a phantom, he arrived next to Emma and with a single swing of his elongated darkened arms, those men were bisected in half, like they had been 'cut' by the sharpest sword in existence. His strikes produced a gnashing sound, the sound of air filling up the vacuum of space.
Emma and Raven gasped at the outright gore-ish visage while their stomachs turned revolted. With one clean motion, he took both Emma and Raven by the collar and sent them off towards the upper level of the building where they should be able to stay safe.
This stunt warranted two RPGs to impact on his back, killing him yet again.
"Ray!"
Emma picked up Raven and they both landed safely upstairs, a floor covered in glass. She knew that Ray could return indefinitely, but she also knew he could feel all that pain.
The monster reformed and turned around to find more men coming in great numbers together with someone else. An individual, also wearing a helmet, put his hand together and shot towards Ray a silent circular beam, white in colour which initially resembled a Gamma blast.
But this beam hit Ray and surprisingly enough, managed to scorch his nothingness body.
"Ugh!"
For Ray, that strike hurt way more than the others.
"Keep firing, Havok!" Shaw uttered when he saw that the attack had managed to at least make the monster falter a bit. The blonde man who had appeared saw the nothingness humanoid and decided to continue, for him... it wasn't that big of a deal.
A mutant capable of canalising cosmic energy.
Shaw had managed to find the mortal enemy of nothingness, everything.
**
**
Manhattan, Stark Tower.
A man stood at the very pinnacle of society and technology. The tower represented evolution, with his gaze shooting down, staring in one particular direction where explosions and fire were seeping through, gaining the attention of the city with sirens ringing all over the area.
Far to the north, in Harlem. there was a spot where the flames were widely visible. But there was another spot even closer at the centre and with greater prominence.
"The Hellfire Club" Tony frowned, recalling his latest conversation with the man who had invested billions in his company to recover the loss of Obadiah Stane whose shares were liquidated by the unannounced heir, putting Stark Industries in a bad position.
He knew the weapon that Sebastian Shaw wanted, in exchange... a position in the Hellfire Club, a stepping stone to leave the shackles of America and spread worldwide like fire on gas.
But it would all be for nought if the Hellfire Club was no more. Whatever threat they were facing, he had to get involved. Tony Stark walked to to the middle of a massive hall where an iron armour awaited.
"You just can't put the rich and alcohol together, geeze~"
He shot off donning his armour, unaware that what he would find, would shock him for life.
**
**
As the fight progressed, Shaw became visually desperate. Those who survived had already evacuated, the destruction of the hellfire club seemed unavoidable as even Emma and Raven were already looking for ways to evacuate through the top of the building.
"I told you before… I'd rather destroy the Hellfire Club than give it over" Shaw spat blood and stared at a missing chunk of flesh on his left arm which was visually healing up but not for long. A lot of energy was being used and he was running out of ways to replenish it.
"Then perish with it!" Ray groaned, he had to put most of his focus on the other individual, Havok... because those two worked perfectly together.
Havok could canalise cosmic energy and weaponise it, he could fire those beams at Shaw who would then canalise the kinetic energy and use it for himself. They were a deadly duo.
As long as Shaw had energy, he could keep healing himself up. The only way to kill him was to erase his head, but the man already knew the effective distance of Ray's ability. In the meantime, Havok attacked long-range and his attacks caused a great deal of damage.
Not to Ray's body, but to his consciousness which was starting to get numb due to the humongous pain that energy caused when in contact with him. He knew he could think of a strategy so long as Emma and Raven were out of the picture, he didn't even mind collapsing the whole building.
And Shaw knew that...
"The Hellfire Club is not only that I'm taking with me, punk... she's mine too, never forget~"
!!!
*BAANG!*
A thunderous shot resonated, so high-pitched that it travelled across the battlefield, so far as ten blocks down the road. Ray's eyes shivered, it was a gunshot, a very high-calibre gunshot coming from outside and into the building.
He could feel it in his senses that screamed in a painful dejavu.
"Emma!" He heard Raven shout frantically from the top floor, contrasting eerily with Shaw's laughter.
"Did you think I'd let that slut go? Be happy? Live her life as if nothing's happened? Once a slut, always a slut. Learn something before you die, Ray Stark".
*THUMB!*
A single palpitation sent a tremor through the building. Shaw's hairs stood on an end and so did Havok's.
Ray jumped one time and with a step reached the top of the building where Raven was holding Emma's shattered body. She had been in her diamond form, but even her diamond form couldn't resist the ridiculous calibre of the weapon used, an anti-material shot.
A bullet shot from a building outside, straight into Emma's chest.
*THUMB!*
Ray's eyes shook and images overlapped.
*THUMB!*
"L-Lana..."
...
Far away up north, Jean and Veronica had already left the danger zone. According to the plan, everything should have been okay, they only had to wait until Ray finished everything in the Hellfire Club.
But things didn't go according to plan.
*THUMB!*
!!!
Phoenix felt it in her very soul. A resembling aura that had left a long seeping scar in her body and spirit, from a time long gone yet to come. Without even thinking she took control over Jean's body and leapt off the car without giving Veronica any explanation.
Her countenance didn't look confident, instead... she looked afraid.
"Phoenix?–"
"I am sorry, Jean... but this shouldn't have happened. Your voice will be on my way!"
Jean asked Phoenix within their psyche, only for her consciousness to recede and lose contact with reality as per Phoenix's will.
"Abyss is here".
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