章節 79: Aftermath and Changed Eyes?

Half an hour before the fight, two ordinary teens were wandering around an abandoned building just outside their town.

"This place is sick; this will be great for our channel," Boy 1 said.

"Yeah, for sure. Should we fake some mysterious accident happening here for more views?" the Boy 2 asked.

"Sure. You brought the blowup doll and speaker, right?" Boy 1 said.

"It's in my backpack," Boy 2 replied.

"Good. Let's get it out and hide it in a dark corner. Put the speaker behind it, too. I edited some of the best creepy noises I could find. With this, we can finally get famous." Boy 1 said.

After putting everything in place, they both went back to the entrance of the abandoned building. One of the boys grabbed a camera from his bag while the other was on his phone, preparing the noises.

"Okay, you ready?" Boy 2 asked, holding the camera.

"Yeah. Later, when we get to the part, just take the camera off me for a second, and I'll activate the noises," Boy 1 said.

"Sure. We're going live in 10 seconds, so be quiet," Boy 2 replied.

As they went live, they walked deeper into the factory. Their average viewer count was just above two thousand—impressive, considering YouTube had only been around for about five years.

As they went further into the factory, they heard a somewhat loud roar in the distance. The first boy, who wasn't holding the camera, instantly ran out of the building at top speed. The boy holding the camera stood frozen for a second, confused because he thought it was part of the act. When he realized it wasn't, he ran out after his friend and found him standing frozen at the building's entrance.

"What are you doing?" the boy with the camera asked.

His friend didn't answer, just stared blankly in one direction. The boy with the camera followed his gaze and felt his heart stop.

There, in the distance, was a creature as massive as a wind turbine. It slammed its fists into the ground, releasing fire beams in all directions. The chat on their livestream went wild as viewers poured in.

"Fakers."

"CGI."

"This is so fake."

The chat was flooded with accusations, but the truth was undeniable—if these boys had access to effects this good, they would already be in Hollywood.

The first boy saw this as a golden opportunity. Despite shivering in fear, he grabbed the camera from his friend and began climbing up the abandoned building to get a better view. His friend somewhat unfroze but chose to run instead.

By now, the stream had spread to nearby news stations and was quickly gaining traction across the country. Mutants were a known phenomenon, but a creature of this size? Unheard of.

Local news crews rushed into cars, sensing a massive story. Police stations nearby were already sending units to the rough location provided.

Meanwhile, the boy still livestreaming realized his viewer count had gone past a hundred thousand.

"Holy shit, we're blowing up," he muttered to himself.

Encouraged by the chat, which dared him to get closer, the boy summoned all his courage and climbed down.

"Fine! I'll do it!" he shouted, as messages like "Don't be a pussy!" and "Closer! Closer!" flooded his screen.

He ran through the fields, his camera still locked on the gaint creature. As he got closer, the creature got larger than he ever imagined.

"Hey, guys, it's getting taller. I swear, I'm standing still, and it's still growing," he panted into the camera. "I don't know if I should go any closer."

The chat, predictably, called him a coward.

With shaky hands, he made up his mind and pushed forward.

Zooming in with his camera, he could finally make out something else—another figure was fighting the creature.

"Look at that! A mutant's fighting it!" he shouted, out of breath.

Stopping once more to catch his breath, he muttered, "Fuck, that thing is tall."

In the distance, police sirens sounded, getting closer. Suddenly, the sky darkened, and golden light came through the clouds.

The creature roared again, louder than before, and the sound sent shockwaves through the air. The boy dropped the camera, clutching his ringing ears.

Somewhere far from the livestream location, at a school for gifted youngsters, several individuals in suits were rushing into a jet. A specific someone had sensed an extreme signal of danger.

Back at the livestream, the boy uncovered his ears, exhaling in relief when his camera still worked. He lifted it again, only to see walls rising up from the ground a few hundred meters away from him.

"What the fuck is going on?" he asked out loud, his voice shaky.

Running towards the walls, he found a cluster of police cars parked in front of them. Officers were shouting, trying to contain the chaos. Nearby, a police helicopter was going up in flames.

"What happened here?" the boy mumbled.

An officer approached him. "Hey, kid! You can't be here!"

Before the officer could say anything more, another roar echoed from behind the walls. Soon after a massive bang was heard, which dented the wall outwards. Followed by multiple other softer bangs.

"Everyone, move back!" an officer screamed, panic clearly noticable in his voice.

The pounding eventually stopped, and silence fell. Everyone stood tense, weapons raised, waiting for the next explosion. Slowly, the top of the walls began to vanish, retracting back into the ground.

Unbeknownst to them, a stealth jet flew over them and landed behind the remaining wall. Its hatch opened, and several figures in battle suits stepped out.

"My god," a young voice muttered in awe as they looked at the massive corpse.

"What the hell is that thing, Professor?" asked an older, rougher voice.

"It appears to be completely made out of energy," said another, belonging to a beast-like figure with blue fur as he stepped forward to examine the area.

"I don't know what that is either, Logan," Professor Xavier said, rolling out of the jet in his wheelchair. "The other massive energy signatures are gone, but we must not forget the four mutant children a few miles from here."

"Jean, take Bobby and Rogue and go pick them up," Xavier instructed.

Jean Grey stepped out of the jet, nodded, and gestured for the students to follow her.

---Back to Liam.---

Hours after falling asleep, Liam was rudely awakened by a scream.

Groggily, he opened his eyes and turned toward the noise. Standing next to him was a stunning girl with long blonde hair, clear blue eyes, an hourglass figure—and tiny red horns poking out the front of her head.

"Red horns?" Liam muttered, confused, as he sat up. Looking closer, he noticed small red wings on her back, too.

"What the hell happened to you?" Liam asked, bewildered.

"I don't kno—" Illyana began, but then paused, staring at him.

"What?" Liam asked.

"Your eyes," she whispered, pointing at his face.

Liam frowned. "What about them?"

"They're red, and they have those strange crosses in them. Just like that monster," she said.

"What is she talking about?" Liam thought as he reached into his dimensional pocket, pulled out his phone, and flipped it to selfie mode.

What he saw shocked him.

"What the fuck?" Liam said.

評論 8條評論

投票

next chapter

章節 80: Lockheed

As Liam stared into the camera, his reflection seemed foreign to him—completely red irises with black crosses etched within them. He lowered the device, losing himself in his thoughts.

'What exactly happened to me?' he thought, closing his eyes and directing his focus inside himself. He searched deeper, scanning his cells and his energy.

'My cells… they've transformed. My entire body has grown exponentially stronger. Is this what the large amount of energy Incursio gave me did?' he thought, piecing together the events from the battle.

Illyana's voice pulled him out of his contemplation. "Liam… what's happening to us?" Her tone was uncertain. "Where are we? And why do I… feel like this?"

Liam turned to her, noticing her red wings and horns again.

"I'm not entirely sure what's happening to our bodies yet," Liam said. "But as for where we are… this is a dimension I'm connected to. Like how you and Limbo are. It's a safe space for now."

'That being said, what the hell happened here?' Liam thought. The sky above the center of the city had a massive golden loom around it, kind of like on Vormir when people got the Infinity Stone, but in a golden color.

"The sky is beautiful here. I wonder how this place must've looked before everything here died," Illyana said, softly kicking at a dead tree root. 'Once again, something so different from Limbo. I wonder what else he can surprise me with,' she thought.

Illyana's hand moved to her head. "And what about… this?" She gestured to the horns and wings. "These aren't supposed to stay around."

Liam answered, "It could be because of the greatsword you picked up. Just like… whatever's happening to me."

Illyana took a step closer. "I like the look, but is this permanent?"

"Why do you keep asking me? I know just as much as you do," Liam said.

"Really? It seemed like you knew that monster, at least," she countered with a smirk.

Liam went quiet, not knowing how to answer that. 'What should I even tell her?'

"I don't need to know," Illyana said in her perfect Russian accent. "At least not now."

A silence fell over them, both still digesting the fight from earlier.

"What about Sam and the others?" Illyana asked. "Do you know if they're okay?"

"They should be in good hands. Just before I left, I saw the X-Men coming down," Liam responded.

"The X-Men?" Illyana asked. "Why didn't they come sooner? We almost died, you know."

Liam shrugged, still lost in thought.

"So what are we going to do now?" Illyana asked.

"I'll probably be going back to my dimension—been away from there for too long," Liam answered. "Send my regards to Sam and the others. I'll drop you off close to them."

"That's it? We just struggled through life and death, and that's all you have to say?" Illyana asked, frowning. "Are you seeing this, Lockheed? He hasn't even thanked me yet, and he already wants to get rid of me."

Sweat started appearing on Liam's face as he realized he'd been too caught up in his thoughts and hadn't paid attention to Illyana.

'Think, Liam, think,' he urged himself, searching for a solution.

'A gift—I can cheer her up with a gift.' Improvising on the spot, Liam had an idea. 'Girls like shiny objects. I have just the thing for that.'

"You're right. I forgot to thank you," Liam said as he reached into the air. Out of thin air, a pristine crystal ball appeared.

Illyana showed small signs of disappointment as Liam pulled out the crystal ball—she had hoped for something else.

Liam handed the crystal ball to her, and as it touched the Lockheed doll, something began to change. Bright blue light shone from the crystal ball, surprising them both.

They closed their eyes against the intensity of the light. Internally, Illyana began to panic, going through multiple different of emotions as she felt Lockheed disappear from her hands.

As a stream of thoughts raced through Illyana's mind, she slowly opened her eyes again. In her hand lay a few eggshells and a small, blue baby dragon nibbling on them.

"Lockheed?" she asked, still panicked.

The small baby dragon growled, spitting a bit of blue fire toward her. The fire didn't hurt her, though—it gave her a warm feeling, as if it was telling her who he was.

The baby dragon flapped its tiny wings, flying in circles around Illyana's head while tears welled in the corners of her eyes. Lockheed had been everything to her when she stuck was in Limbo for many long years. Inside Limbo, Lockheed was real, and she had always felt upset that he wasn't real outside of it.

Liam was baffled, having absolutely no clue what was going on anymore. "Everything alright, Illyana?" he asked carefully.

She continued to play with Lockheed for a bit as her emotions settled. When Lockheed landed on her hand again, Illyana's face changed into one of the most beautiful, pure smiles Liam had ever seen.

She walked up to Liam slowly, hugging him. "Thank you," she whispered.

As she let go, Illyana stepped back, shifting back into her usual demeanor. Lockheed landed on her shoulder. "So, let's go to your dimension now," she said cheerfully. "I can check on the others later. I'll trust the X-Men for now."

'What a strange girl,' Liam thought, observing her mood swings. 'Russian girls are really one of a kind.'

Still unsure of how Lockheed had come to life, Liam decided to roll with it as if it had been his intention all along. He nodded. "Alright, I'll open a portal now."

"One thing I need to warn you about beforehand: there are no mutants in my dimension, so our appearances will stand out," Liam said as he used his sling ring, opening a portal to the Sanctum.

"No mutants? Then what are you?" Illyana asked, confused. She couldn't imagine a world without mutants.

"An accident," Liam answered as he stepped through the portal.

On the other side, he was back in his plain, old, normal room. Everything was exactly the same as when he'd left it. Following him, Illyana stepped through the portal and glanced around his room.

The phone in his hand began ringing as hundreds of messages came through, some from Coulson but most from his grandfather.