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Chapter 118
🕑 Added 2024-10-28 11:25:07 +0000 UTCIn front of the Baxter Building, the scene is even more chaotic as the battle against the Moloids rages on.
The Fantastic Four are in the thick of the fight, battling the endless horde. Ben Grimm, the Thing, is clobbering the creatures left and right, his rocky fists smashing through their ranks with ease.
BAM! CRASH!
"Come on, ya little creeps! Is that all ya got?" Ben roars, sending a dozen Moloids flying with a single punch. He then smashes one of the Moloids into the road, creating another crater.
Nearby, Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, is stretching his body in impossible ways, wrapping around groups of Moloids to immobilise and decommission them by suffocation.
"Ben, stop making more holes!" Reed shouts, extending his arm to grab a Moloid trying to reach civilians fleeing the chaos.
Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, flies overhead, raining down fireballs on the Moloids. His flames burn the street and the holes from which they keep emerging.
WHOOSH! FWOOSH!
"Flame on!" Johnny yells, unleashing a torrent of fire that incinerates a cluster of Moloids. "This is getting ridiculous; there’s no end to these guys!"
On the ground, Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman, uses her forcefields to protect the police and civilians. She also launches offensive attacks, creating invisible battering rams to knock back the Moloids.
THUD! BAM!
"Stay behind the barriers!" she instructs the police. "We need to hold this position!"
BOOM! BOOM!
"Did you guys forget to send me an invite?" Toni Stark's voice resonates in the street as a bunch of small missiles blast and thin out the Moloid crowds.
"Toni, good timing!" Susan yells as she balls up a bunch of them and throws them toward Ben, who keeps on clobbering.
"Did you all not hear her? this party is invite-only!" Toni zooms back into the crowd, her repulsors blazing as she blasts through the Moloid ranks.
"Hello, Dr. Reed Richards!" All attention shifts to a new batch of Moloids emerging from the ground, wearing backpacks from which an old, haughty male voice emanates.
Reed himself focuses his attention. "Who are you?" he asks while fighting the creatures.
"I was called Harvey Elder, remember me? I am back from the dead!" the voice blasts from the speakers.
Reed's eyebrow creases as he tries to remember who that is but can't recall such a name. "I don't remember you," Reed says frankly.
"Hahaha, I knew the arrogant Reed would not remember me, but you will remember me from now on. These are all the subjects of my kingdom, and I am the Mole Man!" he announces haughtily.
"Why are you doing all of this?" Reed asks seriously.
"Why? WHY?? You thought you could ignore me, Reed Richards! The world shunned me for my appearance and height, but you! You disregarded my theory of the hollow earth, called it ridiculous! Now, you’ll pay for your arrogance!" the voice sounds more angry and mad.
Reed frowns. "This still won't make your theory of hollow earth true!"
Mole Man’s voice crackles with anger. "Yes it will! And now I’ll show the world my terror, by shrouding New York City in darkness! It will be the first of many major cities! Soon, Subterranea will rise, and I will be king of the world!"
"Not on our watch, you won’t," Johnny retorts, throwing a fireball at those Moloids, frying the machines.
WHOOSH! BOOM!
The Mole Man suddenly curses through the speakers mounted on more Moloids who are climbing up. "Aghh! Another pest is interfering with my plans at the power plants. Looks like I will have to proceed with Plan B."
---
A woman with a scarred face, ragged clothes, and an eyepatch looks out at the chaotic situation from an alley, her one eye scanning the scene with an amused smile.
People are clamouring and running away, stuck in the streets crowded with vehicles. Despite the police's best efforts, the situation is worsening.
Her gaze is drawn to the so-called 'Heroes' fighting the grotesque monsters, and she feels a pang of sympathy for the helpless creatures, whose fates are either to be controlled or killed.
Suddenly, she sees a hole open in front of a mother and child. From that hole emerges another green monster.
The woman involuntarily takes a step forward toward them but stops as the Invisible Woman blasts the monster away. She sighs, her smile turning bitter as she looks down at her ragged, dirty clothes.
Her enhanced senses flare up as the ground starts shaking. She hurriedly grabs the side of the building, but even it has started to shake.
"Feel the power of the Earth!" she hears the madman's cry as the shaking intensifies.
Crack! Boom!
The building starts to crack, and suddenly a big chunk of it falls into the alley where the woman is standing. It's too late for her to move as the large piece of concrete plummets towards her. But miraculously, the stone stops just before her face, sparing her life.
"Are you all right?" a charismatic voice calls from above. The large piece of concrete is then hurled toward the green-skinned monsters, revealing a man standing in the sky in his full glory.
"So big!" she murmurs in amazement.
---
"Please stay away from the buildings until this earthquake stops," you say to the not-so-ordinary woman and fly toward the Baxter Building, the epicenter of the quake.
"Thank you, I owe you one," the woman yells as you fly away.
You glance back, recognizing her as Callisto, but right now, you have more urgent matters to attend to.
The streets are in chaos, with buildings cracking around them as Susan and Reed strive to rescue people from falling debris.
RUMBLE! SHAKE!
You ignore everything else and reach the Baxter Building, which looks like it's on the verge of collapse. Using your Chi Manipulation, you thrust your hand inside a concrete pillar with full force.
BAM
Your hand reaches the internal reinforced steel beams. You close your eyes and concentrate, activating your Metal Constructs power.
Starting from this beam, you transform them into a web-like structure, distributing the weight evenly across multiple points, providing the necessary support while maintaining the building's integrity.
CLANG! CREAK!
You connect the lattice to the outer walls and foundation, ensuring maximum stability. Your power travels from one beam to the next as the metal morphs and reconfigures into a new support structure.
You can't change the whole building's layout, but you look up and see that it's enough. The building has stopped shaking even with the earthquake going on.
"Haaa…" You're dead tired, but the NZT and the screams from behind keep you from taking a break as you use your forcefields to save more people.
After another minute, the earthquake stops. Though the situation looks chaotic, all the buildings are still standing.
You hear the Mole Man's annoyed voice, "Enough of this struggle! Especially you, Richards. You’ll know how foolish it is to defy me as you succumb to the endless army of Moloids!"
"Fucking Mole Man," you mutter, recalling how he was once just a normal old man named Harvey Elder, who stumbled upon the underground subterranean kingdom with some high-tech devices.
He's like an uncool, old, and obese Gru, with uncute, stupid, and ugly Minions.
"D.A.I.S.Y., can you track his signal?" you ask. "He must be somewhere underground, but we need to find his location to catch him."
"It'll take some time; his tech is more advanced than expected," D.A.I.S.Y. replies, which you had anticipated considering he's using alien tech.
You fly over to where the massive horde of Moloids is. D.A.I.S.Y. connects you to Susan, Toni, and the rest of the Fantastic Four so you can communicate easily.
"You guys get behind me. I don't want any friendly fire," you say, activating your Power: Storm's Embrace.
Your body crackles with energy as the clear sky starts to darken with storm clouds.
RUMBLE
Thunder rumbles in the storm cloud. "Time to show what real power looks like," you say, bringing your glowing hands down.
BOOM! KRAKOW!
Lightning strikes down on the ground in front of you, obliterating swathes of Moloids. You didn't use this in the nuclear power plant to avoid unwanted harm to the reactor, but here, bigger moves are doable.
"That's incredible!" Susan exclaims aloud as Toni whistles mid-air.
"Nice entrance, Aeon!" Johnny calls out, blasting more Moloids with fiery bursts.
You continue raining Thunderbolts as the Fantastic Four and Iron Woman join you in thinning out the hundreds of Moloids.
Even the firefighters and National Guard arrive to rescue and join the battle.
As the situation stabilizes and no more Moloids emerge, you seal the multiple holes with sheets of metal using your Metal Constructs power.
"YAAYY!! AEON!"
"Fantastic Four!!"
"Iron Woman!!"
You hear the crowd celebrate, chanting your names. Mostly, it's the girls and women cheering for you. You notice that News, military, and police helicopters are surrounding the airspace.
As only a handful of Moloids remain, you use your Power: Temporal Looping to trap them in a short 10-second loop and ask Reed to try and goad Mole Man out.
"Mole Man! Weren't you going to correct me of my mistake? Come here above ground and face me yourself!" Reed yells aloud.
"Kchhh… This is not the end… I will be back!!" Mole Man's low voice crackles from one of the Moloids' backpacks as the machine explodes with the Moloid.
"Well, that went wonderfully," Johnny says, looking at Reed.
"Ughh, let's go underground and clobber him!" Ben exclaims in frustration.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not chasing after some Mole guy underground. Besides, my ammo is depleted, and my energy levels are dangerously low," Toni says, landing beside you.
"Right now, we need to help the people. There are many who need our immediate assistance," Susan takes charge. "You’re staying this time, right? 'Aeon'?" she asks, looking at your golden mask.
Everyone around looks exhausted but determined to help. You, too, are drenched in sweat and on the verge of collapse, having never used your powers so extensively before.
Before you can answer, D.A.I.S.Y. reports, "I have found Marie's location."
You sigh, "No, I have more urgent business to take care of. See you all soon!" you say, turning invisible and flying off.
"Did we get cleaning duty again?" Johnny murmurs incredulously.
"Come on, we should hurry. Toni, could you talk to the National Guard?" Susan asks as they traverse the chaotic, ruined road that now resembles a battlefield.
You fly over to Ghostwing, which is hovering invisibly nearby. Earlier, you had asked Bobbi to join you in case backup was necessary.
You stumble your way back into the jet, collapsing on the floor in exhaustion.
"Haaa... Haaa...Haaaa…" You take deep breaths as you use your Metal Constructs power with difficulty, transforming the suit back into your mobile phone.
"Here, drink this," Bobbi says, concern evident in her eyes as she hands you an orange bottle.
She steadies your head as you drink the electrolyte juice specially prepared by Jemma, designed to replenish your energy. You gulp down the entire bottle, feeling your strength returning to you.
"You really pushed yourself this time," she says, wiping sweat from your forehead.
"I didn't think there would be so many of them," you reply with a wry smile, feeling a bit better.
She guides you to the cockpit and hands you a device. "Here are the batteries you asked for."
"Thanks, this is exactly what I needed!" you say with a wide smile, placing your palms on one end of the battery.
Cackle!
Blue lightning crackles as it's released from the battery and absorbed into your body. You’re utilising your Lightning Absorption power to regenerate your lost energy. And this is the Tesseract Battery, which you have converted into an electric battery, it is still a prototype but it is incredibly effective for you in this moment.
"Peggy wanted to come with me too, after seeing this incident on the news," Bobbi says, watching your hand in wonder.
"She can rest a bit more; there are still people here who can 'save' the world," you sigh wearily. "I will have a talk with her", you say knowing her stubbornness.
"So, where to? Back to Watson Tower?" Bobbi asks curiously, her hands on the controls.
"No, there's a Rogue I have to catch," you say with a smirk.
