Issue #81

Aura flowed off of Vulcan and Onslaught both as the two men stared each other down.

" What is this? How? What are you?" Vulcan asked in disbelief. He was surprised when Ian had heat vision, but now he seemed to have the same power that he did.

" I don't know myself. But I have a feeling, things just turned around in the best way possible." Ian told the man.

Vulcan tried with all of his might to shut Ian's powers down, and he did. But feeling the invading power in his mind, Ian returned the favor. And now, both men were devoid of their ability to manipulate energy.

Normally this would mean that they were now on equal fields, unfortunately for Vulcan, manipulating energy wasn't Ian's only strength.

' What's going on? How is he still so strong?' Vulcan asked himself.

Ian smiled at the man and started laughing. He could see from the look on his face he was confused.

" You shut off my new powers. That's dangerous. But I have something you can't turn off." Ian told the man. He grabbed Vulcan by the back of his head and slammed it into the ground hard. " Real strength!"

Vulcan's body bounced back up straight. Ian then hit him in the face repeatedly, the force of his blows lifted Vulcan up off the ground and held him in place for Ian to pummel him.

" Imperial guard! Protect my husband!" Deathbird, who was watching as Vulcan was being beaten, screamed to the guard to drop what they are doing to help the new prince of the Shi'ar.

Gladiator immediately stopped what he was doing, rushing Ian so fast that he appeared as a blur and tackled the man away from Vulcan.

" Uh! You again? You're annoying!" Ian told the man. He grabbed Gladiator's face with one hand and used the other one to punch him in his chin.

Gladiator's head jerked up before coming down. He tried to use his heat vision, but soon found he couldn't.

" What? No heat vision?" Ian asked. He raised his hand and blasted Gladiator right in his face, forcing the man to drop him.

Ian began falling towards the ground, but he could feel the energy pulling him, telling him what to do, almost instinctively. He leveled himself out and recoiled back into a straight position, and he began to hover.

" Ha! What can't I do with this?" Ian asked. He was amused, like a child, with his newfound power.

" No time to get distracted, Earther!" Smasher, one of the imperial guardsmen shouted.

" Hehahaha! Just what I needed, target practice." Ian stated. He raised his hand and fired another bright blast right into the guardian, sending him flying. Ian reveled in delight. The more he flexed the energy the more he began to understand what he could do with it. Heat, energy, whatever form of energy it was, he could now bend it to his will. But on the other side of things, he could feel that using the power came with a cost. He had his own storage of energy inside him, and if he wasn't careful, he would use up his reserve.

Vulcan, on the other hand, was still baffled by what had happened. He couldn't understand it. And he didn't want to. As he looked around, he saw how his forces were being pushed back steadily. They weren't losing, far from it, but then again Vulcan didn't want to risk losing the one thing he wanted more than anything. Revenge.

" Forget him. It's time for Xavier to meet his end." Vulcan exclaimed. He retreated from the battlefield and swiftly returned to his altar, where Xavier and Darwin were both waiting for Xavier's execution. " I will not be denied my revenge. It's time for you to get what you deserve." Vulcan told Charles as he lifted him off the ground while Lilandra watched.

" Forgive me, Lilandra." Gladiator told the woman.

" Charles!" Ian turned away from the guard and flew straight for Vulcan.

" Heh! They're trying to save you. But there is no saving you now, Xavier. Now you get to see what it's like to be trapped in a rock." Vulcan told the man. He then, with a smile on his face, threw Xavier right into the M'Krann Crystal.

" NOOOOOO!" Lilandra yelled in anguish.

Gladiator flew down and grabbed the woman, keeping her from running after Xavier.

Everyone was in shock, but Corsair was more hurt. Ashamed.

" My god, what sort of monster did they turn you into my boy?" Corsair asked, but his question fell on deaf ears as Vulcan laughed in victory.

" Damn you! Not yet, Charles." Ian shouted. He flew straight into the crystal after the man and the moment he did, his entire body began to burn. Every inch every atom, every molecule of his body felt like it was being torn apart. He pushed his way further into the crystal to try and get to Xavier, but every inch he moved felt like an eternity of torture for him.

Vulcan's laughs only grew louder as the Darwin and Ian both jumped in to save the man.

" Fine then, you can both die too. I don't really need you for my plans anyway." Vulcan spoke. " Now's there's only one thing left." Vulcan muttered to himself. He turned and watched as D'ken confronted Lilandra.

" Sister, sister, sister... It's been too long since I've seen your face in agony." D'ken told the woman as he choked her.

" Vulture! Carrion! Prey!" Lilandra shouted in the man's face. Insulting him in every way she could imagine.

" Coming from your lips, even those words sound like emperor." D'Ken told the woman. " My only dilemma, little sister is... Do I kill you now, or let you witness my victory first?" D'Ken asked the woman. He was so caught up in his apparent victory that he hadn't noticed Vulcan approaching him from behind. And that seemingly small, but very serious mistake, would cost him dearly, as the moment Vulcan was close enough, he blasted a hole straight through D'Ken's back. Critically wounding the man. D'Ken yelled out in pain and every person on the moon, Shi'ar and Rebel all turned in shock and confusion towards the two.

" Actually, that would be my victory you mother-killing bastard!" Vulcan yelled. " You think I would be your brother?! That I would serve beneath you?!" Vulcan asked the man.

D'Ken looked up in sheer horror and was viciously incinerated on the spot by Vulcan, being reduced to muscles, then bone, and finally to ashes completely.

" You think I could ever forget what you did to me?" Vulcan asked the pile of ashes.

" Vulcan! No!" Deathbird yelled. She flew towards her husband and what remained of her older brother as fast as she could to confront the man. " I trusted you." Deathbird told the man. She wasn't angered, but she was hurt. Something not usually seen from the cold and callous woman.

" And I heard your wishes, Cal'Syee." Vulcan told the woman, using her real name instead of her moniker, as he picked up the crown. " And I respected them. You did not want to rule. Now that we're married, you won't have to." Vulcan explained.

Deathbird's frown quickly turned into a smile of pleasure as she watched Vulcan raise the crown above his head.

" Because I claim D'Ken's throne as my own! By right of Blood and Combat! By right of Succession! I name myself, Emperor Vulcan! Ruler of the Shi'Ar Imperium!" Vulcan placed the crown on his head and looked out over the battlefield in victory