Chapter 164 – Devastation

[2009 – October]

"E-Elijah?", Emma called out tentatively, trying to tell her younger brother that it might be better if they just left things as they were.

Hatred and sorrow still tore at her heart but the worry for her daughter overshadowed even those emotions as she held tightly onto the thin figure in her arms.

No matter how much she wished to tear apart the minds of those responsible for her plight, her concern for the girl's well-being was much greater.

Elijah though didn't give her the opportunity to voice out her thoughts as he replied raspily, the tone of his voice turning wholly demonic: "Don't worry, I won't leave any of them alive nor will they go in peace."

A surge of terrible power erupted from his black-clad figure, ripples and cracks appearing in the space around his body as his flesh turned into pure darkness while the earth beneath their feet started to rupture.

Emma didn't even notice when Elijah had set up an invisible barrier around her and her daughter to protect them, but this was the last thing that entered her mind as she saw her younger brother transform into a life-reaping demon.

The atmosphere shook and trembled under the weight of his presence, massive cracks spreading from beneath his feet. It felt as if the whole world was moaning out in pain, crying and begging as if to plead for him to be merciful.

Elijah was a disaster personified, his anger and bloodlust a calamity in itself.

A moment later, he raised his left hand and the world turned upside down.

Deafening shockwaves came from the distance, carrying with them fierce winds that blew away the ashy remains of the plants around her.

Turning her gaze to the origin of the sound, Emma's knees nearly gave way as she saw the mountain range in front of her collapsing as if an angry god was tearing open the earth itself.

Emma could do little but watch in abject horror as Elijah ripped out the secret base from deep underground, deforming the very face of the planet with his actions.

She didn't want to be afraid of her younger brother, and she knew that Elijah would never harm his family, but seeing with her own eyes as he ravaged the land in his anger, a spike of fear inevitably rose in Emma's heart.

It didn't persist though as she recalled the gentle way he cared for her, as well as the warmth and comfort his presence granted her tortured heart.

Like a floating city, he lifted the base into the sky while the dark cracks around his body became larger and more pronounced as if reality was slowly shattering under the immense weight of his power.

Suddenly though, Elijah vanished from his position at her side, and a moment later an arc of pure darkness broke out from within the floating base, turning everything it touched to nothingness.

Like a blooming flower, a dozen more pillars of condensed black energy burst out from inside the gigantic levitating underground base, devouring everything in its path.

Twisting and turning, like voracious black dragons, the life-reaping arcs of Darkforce slowly fused into one while wholly engulfing the flying base.

It looked as if a dark sun had suddenly appeared in the sky, the sheer pressure it exuded flattening the land beneath it while terrifying storms started to ravage the land in the distance.

In the dark night sky, the black star was clearly visible as even the light of the full moon couldn't escape its insidious hunger.

Emma could feel the surrounding psions tremble, the intense suffering of the hundreds of dying men and women inside the dark sun causing the ambient psionic energy to react violently as the Darkforce ripped the life from their bodies.

It took only a few moments until the dark sun shrunk again, the horrible darkness retracting until only a lone figure was left standing in the sky. Elijah's body, formerly made out of malevolent shadows, turned back into indestructible flesh and blood while his eyes still burned with white flames. He floated quietly in the air as he looked up.

The underground base was nowhere to be seen, having been turned into nothingness.

And just as Emma thought that things had already reached the climax and that it was time for them to leave, a horrible roar sounded out as Elijah once again turned into a living nightmare.

"ROOOAARR!!"

With her younger brother's demonic and shadowy figure at its center a wave of pure destruction spread out, arcs of dark energy carving deep furrows into the already ravaged earth, the shockwave alone uprooting every tree in a few miles.

It looked like the end of days had arrived as Elijah turned the massive mountain range into a deep crater, the resulting tremors shaking the land in a thousand-mile radius.

What Emma couldn't see were the dozens and dozens of satellites hovering in the void of space, which suddenly turned to dust only a few moments after Elijah's roar sounded out.

…

Silence.

Absolute silence reigned in the surveillance room of the SHIELD Headquarters. No one moved and no one spoke.

Those present didn't even dare to breathe loudly as they looked at the large screen at the front, even though the only thing that was displayed on the screen were two words – 'Connection Lost'.

Even Fury wasn't any different, his single eye widened in terror as he couldn't shake off the fear that had gripped his heart.

Still, having experienced his fair share of horrible things, he recovered the fastest as he released a trembling breath.

For the past few months, he had been trying to find out more about Elijah Frost's mutant abilities. He had been trying to get an understanding of the kind of danger that this newly-awakened mutant posed to the world as a whole.

Right now though, on this rather terrible day, Nick Fury couldn't help but wish that his ignorance could have lasted a little longer.

…

Returning back to the Hellion Mansion, I brought Emma and the still unconscious girl to the small high-tech medical ward underground.

I didn't stay with them though after casting a barrier that would eliminate any drugs still in the girl's system, even though I sensed Emma's nervousness at the thought of being alone with the girl.

I knew that she was strong enough to handle the situation, though I did shield her mind with another barrier at her request, which she could remove by herself at any time, to prevent the girl from entering her mind without permission.

I understood that she was worried about what the girl might find in the darker corners of her mind, not to mention the fact that we did not know about the girl's mental state. If she was unstable and unable to control her power, she might attack and injure Emma the moment she woke up.