Chapter 43 : Abduction attempt
The story of the day is I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire. Sci-fi story with elements of Fantasy. Notably magic, races like Elves, goblins etc… It's a funny story with lots of hilarious misunderstandings, an oblivious but overly competent protagonist, with great martial prowess. You can buy them on Amaz*n.
Now, on me, my readers ! Send me stones, leave a comment or a review. You can also follow me on Patréon, support me and read ahead or other stories.
Enjoy and see you later !
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Hearing Peter's quip, the only thought on my mind is… how bad it is. As if it was thought out by a bad author. Then, I shake it off and focus on the three people. Two of them are conscious, and the last is carried like luggage. I don't know the woman, but as if it's a preordained reality of this universe, she is quite beautiful. And hot.
Moving on… The other, whose skin is covered by a metallic alloy and is taller than most human is obviously Colossus, AKA Piotr Rasputin. He's also an X-man. So then… Why is he kidnapping one of the children ? I can only draw one conclusion…
« Careful guys… Santa's elf over there probably has brainwashing powers ! »
This draws the woman's attention to me, along with a displeased frown. But then, it eases somewhat and a smirk replaces it. She raises her hand to her cheek and says :
« My, oh my ! What a clever, if somewhat rude child, you are ! I am called Lullaby. Now, let me sing you a little song… »
As she starts to sing, I think about who she might be. Neither her name nor her appearance rings any bell. Then again, Marvel is a very old franchise. There are many characters who've been forgotten or erased. That's not even mentioning the different realities, dimensions, etc… Also, since that's now my reality, I can't rule out the possibility that she's just a character that never appeared in the comics. An original character. Kinda like me… Is she meant to be my nemesis ?
« Huh… Nate ? Why is the tattoo you gave us heating up ? » Doreen asks uncertainly.
As soon as she says my name, I realize one thing : I'm wearing my human skin ! Talk about blowing out your cover identity ! At least, Peter's wearing his suit. He's much more serious about protecting it, since he refused to take it off even after our training session… Must smell something awful !
I sigh :
« It's meant to protect you from altering status effect. Her song must have activated it… I don't know how effective it'll be so, maybe we should get a move on ? Oh ! And the big guy is supposed to be a good guy so, try not to kill him, alright ? »
I say the last part while looking at Cory. She's the only one powerful enough to inflict any significant damage on him. Peter and Doreen with just break their fist on his skin… As for me ? Maybe I could do something, but at the moment, I'm not sure what.
Lullaby opens her closed eyes and sees that we're unaffected by whatever she did. It obviously annoys her, given the tone of her voice and the order she gives :
« Colossus, dear… Crush these pests for me ! »
The man nods silently and I notice that he seems… out of it. His eyes are a bit vacant. I think to myself while I direct my friends :
« Spider-Man and Squirrel Girl, you take Santa's… I mean miss Lullaby. Quake and I will deal with the giant… »
As the former two head for their own target, Cory and I face off someone twice as tall as we are. You know the scene in movies of someone staring straight ahead at a wall, and then looking up… and up, and up until finally registering that it's a human in front of the character ? Yeah, that's basically what we're going through right now.
I take my distance and say to Cory :
« Don't let him get close to you. Can you give me a few minutes of preparations ? »
She nods, a frown of concentration on her face. Right after this, she blasts a quick burst of vibration toward Colossus, drawing his attention to her as she gets farther away from me. Despite the fact that I'm closer, the Russian giant still pursues the quickly fleeing girl.
Since it seems I'm good for now, I take out my notebook and start… well, coding. Kind of. I can't use the tattoo I used for my friends, 'cause… Well, he's already affected by whatever Lullaby's power is. Given her name, I figure she should put people to sleep, but then… Colossus is moving and following her orders. A form of hypnosis, then ?
I shake my head to stop my conjectures. There's too many bullshit powers and possibilities for me to consider it the truth. Instead, I have to create something that'll take Colossus out of the equation entirely. Perhaps, shut down his motor function ? Or maybe teleport him far away from here ? Both good options, but… Yeah, too easy and I feel like I'm only treating the symptoms and not curing the disease.
The disease here being Lullaby… Or rather, the effect she has on Colossus ? If she has any anyway… Could be a drug, an artifact, or just a case of betrayal. Those are pretty common in stories and life !
« So… Let's reset the giant, then ! » I mutter as I continue working as quickly as I can. Once again, I pat myself on the back for Gagna and I's magnificent creation. It makes my life and the use of my powers so much easier ! I write much better, much more quickly now that I use both my hand and my mind to do so. My hand traces the forms on the paper and my mind focuses the ink exactly how I want it to be. Magic and genius !
When I finish, I look at the drawing I'll use on Colossus. It's cartoonish, of course. The head of a cartoon character with steam coming out of his ears and off the top of his head. The steam is supposed to represent whatever is afflicting Colossus being purged. In addition, there was a speech bubble with a few Zs coming out of the character's mouth. This should put the big man to sleep. Hopefully…
Now, all that was left was to apply it !
I look at the skirmish between Quake and Colossus and… Man, oh man ! I understand why there's so much hate going around against Mutants, and by extension, mutate. A few minutes and the small forest is like a battlefield battered by mortar shots.
I don't know how to get closer… Quake is quick, but so is the Russian giant, contrary to what his frame suggests. She's having a bit of trouble keeping him at bay without really injuring him.
I sigh. Guess there's no other choice than to plunge into the deep end !