Issue #22
The 10 teams gathered in front of the staff while looking very puzzled. They looked toward their advisors for hints of what was going on but most of the advisors also looked confused. It was only Emma, Jack, Scott, and Ororo that knew what was about to happen. Well, those 4 and one other mutant.
Forge walked out from the crowd with a metal disk in his hand. Forge was the most powerful mutant inventor. His mutation allowed him to create incredible machines subconsciously. It made him a genius on the level of Tony Stark or Reed Richards without truly being smart.
Forge threw the disk into the middle of the field. The disk rapidly started expanding until it turned into a large metallic field. The lining on the metal made it resemble the danger room
Once the field was in place, Scott began to explain what the competition was and the point of the disk that Forge had just thrown out.
"Everyone, this is the Danger Field. Emma, Jack, and Forge worked together to create it for you. It is a mobile Danger Room that will allow for training outside of just the Danger Room. The Danger Field creates realistic holograms and AI that will combat you and test your skills.
The 10 squads will be tested against these AI one by one. There are various levels and each team will challenge a level. The higher the level, the more points one gets from beating eat. But if the squad fails to pass the level, they shall get no points.
The levels range from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest and most difficult. Level 5 is something that even a squad of X-Men will find difficult to complete.
The levels are also divided by types so that teams that specialize in a certain type of combat have a chance to show off. We have psionic, bionic, mutate, mutant, alien, magical, animal, and human.
We are going in alphabetical order so the Advocates will be going first."
The Advocates were Rogue's squad and one of the squads that were not really suited for combat. And since they knew they were not suited for combat, they went for a lower level and one of the easier species to combat.
"Level 2 animal," Naiad, the leader of the Advocates, declared their stance as they stood on the field. The field soon changed to a forest environment.
To the Advocates, the world seemed to change into a real forest. Those that were watching also saw a forest but it appeared transparent to them. It was as if the Advocates and the animals they were facing were hiding behind colored glass.
Jack watched the match for a few seconds before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He saw Stella and Rachel standing next to him while nodding. Jack nodded back at them.
He leaned over and whispered something in Emma's ear before walking back to the mansion with the ladies. The trio entered their room where a gateway to Okkara was open. After a few seconds of waiting, Krakoa, Vulcan, Sway, and Petra walked out of the gateway.
The 4 nodded at Jack and the two women. Jack nodded back in response.
"Good. Everyone knows who their target is. Show no mercy!"
Jack teleported everyone away, each to take on the mission that had been assigned to them.
--- Flashback ---
The previous Saturday morning, Jack was woken up by Emma smacking him in the face. Several times. When Jack grabbed her hand to stop her, she smacked him with her other hand a couple of times.
"Your phone is ringing. Get up!" Emma complained before turning over and going back to sleep.
Jack took in the view of Emma's perfect butt for a few moments before picking up the phone next to him. Even as he answered the phone, he also enjoyed the sight of her butt.
"Hey, Val. What's up?" Jack answered with an audible smile on his face
"This is an automated voice message set up by the amazing Valeria Richards. An error in the system suggests that someone has tampered with it. Failure from Valeria also suggests that she has been tampered with. A backup of the files Valeria had last night before the system breach has been sent to you," the robotic voice said all at once before hanging up
Jack felt worried. He teleported his laptop into his hands and looked at the latest file Valeria had on her computer. She saw it was a video of Reed in a room all by himself. But when the video played, Jack was able to see and hear the entire conversation.
He also saw the part where Tony and Xavier tried to erase all evidence by erasing both Val's and Franklin's memories as well as the video she recorded. Luckily, the girl learned from the best and second-best.
Once Jack saw the situation and held back his urge to kill them all, he came up with a plan. It was time for him to shut down the Illuminati.
--- Flashback Over ---
They were going after different targets to make sure that the team would not be able to gather themselves. Jack wouldn't allow them to.
In Genosha, Xavier was about to board a jet that would take him back to New York. But as his wheelchair was rolling forward, it suddenly stopped and was forcibly turned around.
Xavier was surprised to see Magneto and several other members of the Brotherhood standing next to him. Each of them had grave expressions on their face.
"You keep making poor decision after poor decision, old friend. Today, the Illuminati falls.
Xavier was terrified. Their secret had been found out. And if Magneto was stopping him, that meant that the others must be in danger.
{Stark! Strange! We have a problem!}
{They know} Jack intercepted Xavier's message to the others and cut him off from being able to talk to them.
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In Atlantis, Krakoa had summoned an entire forest of trees, binding and trapping all of the Atlanteans that lived there as he made his way to Namor's throneroom. But before he could reach it, Namor himself walked out of the castle wearing his armor and with his trident in hand.
"Who sent you!?!?" Namor questioned, feeling how powerful Krakoa was
"The one who you planned to assassinate today," Krakoa responded before summoning thousands of sharp branches, destroying Namor's entire castle in one move.
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Meanwhile, in the Baxter Building
Reed was trapped in an invisible sphere that was slowly shrinking. Ben wanted to help but Johnny, Crystal, and the kids were blocking him. So all he could do was watch the situation unfold. Reed looked at his wife in fear and blame.
"You betrayed me!? For him!?" Reed could not figure out what was going on.
Susan smirked mockingly. Not at Reed but to herself.
'This was the man that I fell in love with? How pathetic was I? At least he gave me two wonderful children.'
Sue's mocking gaze soon turned to a smile before she looked back at Reed with pity. A look that she had never given him before.
"I didn't betray you. You betrayed this family. You abandoned us! You kept secrets from us! And you even dared to allow others to bring harm to your children while you just stood by. Be grateful that you are Valeria and Franklin's father. Otherwise, I would have killed you."
Sue was so furious when she found out that she truly did want to kill Reed. But she also knew that it would be a mistake if she did. She had to plan properly. Otherwise, the other 5 would have acted irrationally.
They already proved they were not above laying their hands on children (wording, I know) so if they found out their initial plan failed, they may have done something else.
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In different parts of the globe, Vulcan, Sway, and Petra were sent after Black Bolt while Prestige and Zenith went after Strange. Jack made sure that he sent everyone after who they would best work against.
Vulcan was an Omega-Level mutant that had the power to take down Black Bolt by himself. The others were there to ensure that the process went smoothly and that the other Inhumans did not stop the beatdown that needed to occur. Even though they agreed earlier, Jack still had to be safe.
Stella and Rachel were an even more obvious pairing. Jack made sure that Stella had been loaded up with the 8 most powerful mutations before sending her on her way. He was even less worried about Rachel because he saw that the young woman was very skilled with her telepathic powers.
Tony watched on the computer screen as the Illuminati that he had put together was being beaten black and blue by the ragtag group Jack had formed in less than a week. He turned and looked at Jack with fire in his eyes.
"I'll kill you!"
Jack smirked at Tony's arrogance. Even in such a situation, he still dared to threaten him.
"With what? Valeria destroyed all of your suits except for that one in particular. And do you really think a suit that relies on psionic communication will work against a telepath of all people?" Jack taunted. He wasn't afraid of Tony. He had planned for everything.
Tony knew that Jack was speaking the truth. He wanted to disagree and fight it but he just couldn't. If what they had done came to light, no matter what actions Jack took, he would still be the hero while their legacies ended there.
Tony slumped down in a nearby chair, feeling defeat wash over him. He looked as bad as the last time he had fallen off the wagon. Tony looked at Jack with a mixture of hate, desperation, and fear.
"What do you want?"