24...

~ Omni Pov ~

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"We're almost there..." Ororo muttered to herself. She felt disappointed that she left someone so young to take care of the mission, not only that, he was by himself.

Even if he did have the power to hang with them, doesn't mean he had the experience, she just prayed that Alex was alive and well. Not soon after, they arrived at the location. Everyone could see through the ship that the place looked far worse than what they left it to be...

"Just, what happened here?..." Cyclops asked, questioning both himself and the others...

"I don't know, but It's looks like a small warzone here, just what happened?" Kurt added as well. Jean looked but didn't say much. She looked at the large crater's formed, craters being larger than 20 meters and more in size, not to mention that the trees in the immediate area were practically wiped out.

However, she saw a figure that looked familiar lying down...

"Guys... Take a look, is that..." Jean said, alerting the rest of the team. The yellow figure in the distance, and as they looked further out, they saw the towering green figure...

"SHIT! WE NEED TO MOVE!!!" Cyclops shouted and warned his team, the Hulk had them in his periphery. As if smelling their fear. The Hulk grunted, looking onwards at the flying object.

He looked at the nearby tree, he looked back at them and back towards the tree again. With a final shout, he easily uprooted the tree...

"OH, NO..." Cyclops muttered to himself.

"Shit, move the ship, he's going to throw it!" Storm shouted. Wasting no time, Cyclops quickly took control of the ship, diverting it far from where it initially was. Not even a second after, they saw the tree zip past where their location was...

"What the hell kind of accuracy is that!?" Kurt blurted. Realizing just how close they were to being target practice...

"Crap, just what the hell IS this thing!?" Scott said in anger. Steering the ship away as fast as he could. Soon after, they all landed in a new location. They got out of the ship quickly...

"We need to think and fast, this is out of our control now... Storm, I need you to scout the area from the skies, and signal us if you get either Logan or Alex. Me, Jean and Kurt and will head back there and look for Logan and Alex..." Scott ordered.

"On it..." Ororo accepted, heading to the skies.

With swiftness, her eyes lit up with lightening encircling around her, "Nature's embrace, please reveal to me the paths tread by Alex and Logan! And let your whispers whispers guide my way!!" She chanted, soon after, the earth rumbled lightly...1

Then came the whispers of the earth itself in her ears... And as soon as she beckoned, was as soon as it went away. She had seen everything, where Logan was, and where Alex was as well, however, her concern was much higher for the latter...

But that wasn't their only issue, with a silent hiss Storm shouted, "EVERYONE! RUN, IT'S COMING!!!" 

The team was now on high alert, not knowing how they would stop it...

Scott was angry, the report said it would leave if they left it alone for some time, but it didn't, it's actually coming towards them... "Get ready!" Scott shouted angrily. The group got into a small formation. They didn't want this, but them came at the worst time... 

As if on cue, the birds and loud thumping noises could be heard and now felt. 

*Thump~*

*Thump!~*

*Thump!!!~*

Thy saw the green beast charging straight towards them with unholy amounts of speed... 

Scott readied himself, holding his visor.

"Take this!" He shouted. His laser fired, focusing on the beast, only holding it back for a little, but that effect was dwindling...

'How the hell is it resisting the heat!?' Scott thought grimly. Not caring about his objective at the moment. The thing needed to be put down, or they would all meet their ends here...

However, the Hulk seemed to have only gotten annoyed at the heat at best. With his eyes and body glowing green luminescence, he roared violently. pushing through the attack, while Scott was trying his best to hold it back...

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*Rumble...*

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*Rumble...*

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*Rumble...*

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"What the!?" Kurt blurted surprised. The very earth was, shaking?

Scott was losing focus due to the sudden earthquake, causing the hulk to gain some distance on the team...

"DAMNIT!!!" Scott shouted. 

Jean stepped forward, equally surprised at was happening, but she began using her powers to try and hold the hulk back too, but that didn't help, at all. However, the quake only got worst as time went by...

And that's when it happened...

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Everything else felt as if it had been frozen in time, even the Hulk ceased his movement, lending an eerie stillness to the moment...

Ororo was the first to spot him—Alex, now drenched in blood, his body marred with countless scratches and his shirt completely torn. Yet, something had changed about him...

"A-Alex?" Ororo's voice quivered.

'Why am I feeling like this?' She asked herself, a sense of inexplicable fear creeping within her...

Drawing closer, she noticed the transformation in Alex's eyes, mirroring what she'd seen in the recording she saw before. His expression was blank, devoid of any emotions, and his sheer presence evoked a terror she'd never experienced in all her battles...

His very existence seemed to distort reality itself, prompting her to question if his powers had awakened, transcending the boundaries of humanity.

As she flew nearer she stopped, his gravity-defying, partially black hair now held hues of blood-red. Unresponsive to her calls, his gaze disregarded her entirely. Deeming her unimportant or unworthy, intensifying her disbelief...

'Wa-was this the same boy I saved?' The haunting thought lingered as the overwhelming bloodlust emanating from him suffocated her, a sensation unparalleled in her memory. As hardened as she was, this was something different...

Yet, none of this malevolence was aimed at her. Blinking, she witnessed his sudden disappearance, leaving her bewildered...

Confused, and acting on her instincts, she redirected her focus to her team, specifically the Hulk. And, there stood Alex, facing the Hulk.

Scott saw the kid, 'A-Alex?' Doubts flickered in his mind as he took in what he thought to be Alex's visage, but his eyes trailed towards his back. He thought twice about whether this was Alex or not. It was as if he was looking at something otherworldly, as if it was evil personified...

'W-W-What on...' Scott's thoughts raced, registering the demonic like image that sent him crashing flat on the ground, his legs giving way in what seemed to be shock...

'W-Who is that?' Jean and Kurt's minds then echoed in chaos, their instincts screaming at them to flee, to put as much distance as possible between them and this inexplicable horror...

The Hulk stirred, sensing Alex's presence, snapping awake from his seemingly mindless state. Even in his primal fury, the Hulk registered a distinct deviation in the atmosphere.

!!!!ARRGGGG!!!!

"N-NOOO!!!!" Storm shouted, even if he was different, this was still Alex.

The ground trembled as the Hulk bellowed, lunging forth with a thunderous left punch aimed directly at Alex. However, what followed stunned every onlooker. Instead of being sent flying, Alex stood firm, his right hand casually intercepting the blow.

The sheer force of the punch reverberated, sending a shockwave that forcefully pushed everyone else back. Astonished and still seething with rage, the Hulk attempted another strike, only to meet the same effortless resistance.

Scott, Storm, Kurt, and Jean all were equally in disbelief. The very monster capable of unleashing such immense power was practically being contained, effortlessly too.

Undeterred, the Hulk adjusted his stance, preparing to slam into his adversary. Yet, in a blur imperceptible to the bystanders, Alex assumed a stance, a boxer's posture tinged with unorthodox elements, and seemingly vanished and reappeared in an instant.

In that fleeting moment, he delivered a devastating left hook to the Hulk's liver, the impact causing the ground to quake violently. Trees in the vicinity toppled from the sheer force of the blow.

The team desperately clung to anything stable to withstand the resulting shockwave that lifted the Hulk off the ground effortlessly.

"RARRHHHH-AARGGG!!!!!!!!!!"

The Hulk's agonized roar filled the air, blood spilling from his lips as he crumpled, consumed by the pain. In his suffering, he momentarily forgot the looming figure before him...

Meanwhile, Alex, displaying an almost inhuman balance and flexibility, elevated his right leg with precision, in the next instant he slammed it down, aiming a punishing blow toward the Hulk's head.

In that moment, they all felt pity for the Hulk... The impact alone triggered an earthquake that eclipsed all previous tremors, rendering the green giant unconscious...

As Alex turned to face the X-Men, a sudden weakness seized him, causing him to collapse to the ground unconscious...

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END

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END