Chapter Twenty-Four, Part Two

"Who the hell are you, Superman…" Omniman rubbed his jaw, cold eyes locked on Dan's approach. "This isn't your world, why are you interfering?"

Dan rose to match the Viltrumite's height, hands raised in an easy guard. He didn't answer immediately, focused on the unusual energy that tingled under his opponent's skin. Different from his own powers, but strong and steady.

"I'm just being a good guest," Dan shrugged. He would start slow, then ramp it up as he got a better sense of Omniman's durability. "I can't let you slaughter my hosts while I'm still under their roof, now can I?"

His body speared forward, driven by his biofield. The Viltrumite slipped back, faster than before. Their fists met with a crack of thunder and a jolt that brought a smile to Dan's face. Omniman had held back against the guardians. This punch could have collapsed their mountain base with a single blow.

"Then leave now," The red-caped hero ground his knuckles against Dan's. "This world doesn't need you, and you're standing in my way!"

Dan laughed and returned the pressure. He doubted the world was in good hands with this homicidal fellow at the top of its pyramid. The attempted assassination of the other heroes was an obvious red flag.

"Nolan!" Immortal flew up from the base, followed by the other Guardian's who could fly. "What's wrong with you…" He glanced at War Woman, a question in his eyes. "Could he be under someone's control?"

"It doesn't matter," War Woman raised her mace and squared against Omniman. "He has to be stopped, his power endangers the world!"

The Viltrumite snorted and blitzed in her direction. Dan shook his head and intercepted with a series of high speed punches. A combo of blows that tumbled the man toward the mountains below. These idiots would turn to vapour if Omniman hit them for real… he had to keep the man well away from this b-team league.

"STOP INTERFERING!" Nolan roared as he accelerated out of his spin. The Air ignited around him, burnt by the raw speed of his body. "THIS WORLD DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU!"

Dan shifted to the side and lashed out with a kick, caught on Omniman's elbow. The shockwave drove the Guardians from the skies and brought a snarl from Venom. Even after five years of work, the symbiote was still disturbed by loud, high frequency sound.

"LET US FEAST ON HIM!" Venom snarled as its form trembled. "HE IS TOO LOUD TO SURVIVE!"

"A trait he shares with you…" Dan muttered as Omniman lashed out with a kick of his own. The leg, wreathed in atmospheric fire, glided past the tip of his nose as Dan tilted back in the air.

"Who are you talking to?" Nolan darted from side to side, fists raised as he searched for an opening in Dan's guard. " I'd hate to think I'm not holding your attention…"

An explosive burst of speed, far beyond the last, set off a chain of explosions. Omniman's fist rode on a backdrop of nuclear flame, atoms split as they flattened on his body. Nolan pressed past the wash of radioactive force and drove toward Dan's face.

'He's stronger than Goku is right now…' Dan raced forward to meet the blow, biofield infused with Ki. 'But Etrigan could snap him in half.'

Blue met orange, an explosion that flattened the mountain ranged below. Dan spared a glance, the Guardians had long evacuated out of range. For the best, as their base had returned to the earth, along with most of the lands around it.

"Let's take this to orbit," Dan snapped his leg up and caught Omniman under the chin. The Viltrumite's brute force style had too many side effects in an atmosphere.

Fist's and knees collided as Dan pressed Omniman higher and higher. He left no breaths for his opponent to build up speed. Forced to defend, Nolan was soon between Dan and the moon. Rage blossomed on his chiselled face, veins raised to new heights as they twitched over his forehead.

Hands like thunder, Omniman launched a counter attack. Unburdened by the air, his speed had increased again. Dan reached out and drew more Ki into his body, compressed below the skin and infused into his aura. He'd noticed something…

His hands reached out and snared Nolan's, trapped them in the iron cored of his fingers. A wrench of force brought the man's arms apart, wide enough for Dan to deliver a knee to the chest. The Viltrumite's eyes bulged, but he returned a headbutt that Dan welcomed with a burst of blue flame.

It seemed like Omniman's durability increased as his speed did. He was tough, but movement seemed to stir the strange energy within the Vitrumite's body into action. If Dan prevented him from accelerating, he could bludgeon the man into submission.

'Sorry about this bud, but I can't give you a warrior's death…' Dan sighed as he leaned back and drove his forehead into Nolan's for a second time.

Omniman was the father of the kid he'd met the other day… Mike… Mark! Not only that, but he had still done a lot of good on Earth. Technically, he hadn't killed any innocents just yet… minus the animals around the Guardian's base.

Dan would beat the man until he stopped fighting and then infect him with one of Venom's clones. The unconscious fellow would be unable to resist and Dan would gain all of the fellow's knowledge.

– – – –

"Ready, Anakin?" May patted the young wizard on the shoulder. Most of the work in this battle would be Ultron's, but she and the young chosen one had their own roles to play. "It's almost time…"

"I'm ready," Anakin nodded, eyes focused out the window. "Our job will be to support the Jedi and protect Padme and the rest of the people down there."

May nodded and followed his gaze. Ultron had gathered a fleet of drones, each equipped with micro phantom drives. They would keep Garnib in line with the laws of the Republic, but still decimate the Trade federation's forces.

"Then let's go," A flash and the Naboo Queen's ship appeared from hyperspace. May tugged at his shoulder and led the way to Gladius' landing bay. "We don't want to be late.