Chapter 44, Pandora

The Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 44

Pandora

Edited By: Joe Lawyer

Asteroid M

Eric Lehnsherr AKA Magneto

Leader to the Brotherhood of Mutants.

In geosynchronous orbit a cloaked asteroid lazily orbited around the earth as it looked down from on high. Eric leaned back in his throne taking in the view that laid before him. Times like these made Eric appreciate the quiet moments, and yearn for more of them, but that was asking far too much of the universe.

There was a voice from behind him, but before Eric could reply, someone appeared within his sight, standing beside the view down to Earth.

"Aaaarrrrggghhh, Pietro! You knew I wanted that last bagel!"

The smirk Eric spotted on his son's face told him all that he needed to know. The fact that he needed the boy and his unique powers was what ultimately stayed his hand. And it would be a waste to spill mutant blood at the moment. He had found the twins a few years ago when he had gone back to visit one of his old safe houses. It was more than a little surprising to find that the woman that he had laid with had birthed him two strong mutant children in secret. He had played the role of father while he was there, no matter how unsuited he was for it. Once he had made the right impression he removed the obstacle keeping his children there, rather than with him, once he was ready to move on. It was far too easy to arrange for their mother to suffer an unfortunate accident while out.

Before his headache of a daughter could get too worked up due to her latest argument with her brother, Eric intervened.

"Enough!" Eric all but growled out at the two. "Wanda, report."

There was now merciful silence, but Eric noticed the flash of red at the corner of his vision shift. Sitting on his throne, Eric ignored her, as she walked slowly before him. Instead of going into a kneeling position, his daughter sneered at him, wearing her signature large red coat with the inner black lining. The blur of movement from his son reminded him of that damnable boy. Forcing down the urge to rub the stump that was once his arm, Eric steeled himself.

"We made contact with Essex, like you asked." Wanda replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, he wasn't too happy to come work for you, but we overheard his phone call. It appears he had nowhere else to go." Pietro quipped excitedly.

"That doesn't matter; he agreed." Wanda answered as she waved her hand lazily in the air, as if the man's reason for accepting didn't matter. Eric didn't give a reply as he looked down at both of his troublesome children, allowing the silence to stretch on.

"Good. You may go." Eric replied, dismissing his two children from his sight. Without looking up, he pressed a command button on the armrest of his throne. Wanda snorted before turning around and leaving, but before she could get anywhere, her brother picked her up and sped out of the room.

"You called for me, my lord?"

"Exodus, I have need of your talents." Eric said as he looked at his top lieutenant. Exodus was a mutant that he rescued from some hellhole. He soon made his worth known time and again and now stood side-by-side with Fabian Cortez as one of his acolytes. Exodus was a supremely powerful telepathic and telekinetic mutant firmly within the class of Omega-level powerhouses. "An important guest will be arriving soon, and I would like you to extend our hospitality."

"Your will shall be done, my lord." Exodus replied from his kneeling position before Magneto's throne.

o.O.o

The Shadows

Sitting within the shadow of a large mountain was a veritable castle of the damned. This castle was the home of the shadows that fed upon the earth. Inside the castle sat a long table catering to the needs of the worst magic users to have roamed Midgard. Above that same table hung a star of silver with mystical writing on silk. Sitting in the slot were lamps that cast moving shadows around the room. Even though there was light, the shadows appeared to have won the day since none shone down upon the room's occupants. All around the table stood high-backed chairs in the shape of individual thones. Upon the thrones sat seven figures that were unable to walk within the light.

"Status report." The leader demanded from his throne.

"We have located the child of Gaea." A figure shrouded in shadows spoke.

"Then, we shall retrieve her." Another figure in the shadows also responded.

"Her guardian refuses to leave her side." A figure cloaked in jade green silk.

"Then, we shall kill her guardian." A person with glowing eyes growled.

"We shall deliberate more." The shadowed figure that sat at the head of the table spoke.

"I second the motion." Spoke up a person hidden in the corner.

o.O.o

Manhattan, New York, New York

Harry Osborn

Unknown

Harry rolled up the window of the limo that he sat in before growling at the irony of it all. He had finally gotten out from under his father's long shadow, only to have his first big break get taken down. Ignoring the flashing lights of the police cruiser, he commanded his driver to take him back to Oscorp Tower. There was no stopping another growl that escaped his lips as he picked up his cell phone.

"Doctor, I'm on my way." With a click, Harry hung up the line. There was no stopping his leg from bouncing as he waited for the limo to deliver him to his destination. Mere moments felt like forever as Harry watched the time slowly tick by.

Before he could yell at the driver, the limo finally came to a stop under the bright LED lights of the underground garage. One of the doormen got to his side of the limo to open the door for him, allowing Harry to bounce right out of the vehicle. Getting into the elevator, Harry didn't even look back once, never slowing to even offer a small look of thanks to any of the people there. Making sure that he was the only one within the elevator, Harry punched in his passcodes that looped the security camera. Once the camera was no longer seeing him in real time, a second panel opened for another set of codes. Entering the appropriate codes, the elevator began to move down.

The elevator moved swiftly as it took Harry down to the hidden lab left over from his father's time. Tap, tap, tap, went the sound of Harry Osborn's thousand dollar shoes as he couldn't help himself but tap his feet in irritation and impatience.

Beep.

With a quiet swish, the elevator doors opened, allowing Harry to leave at a quickly increasing pace. The elevator opened up onto an ultra-advanced lab space. The room was separated by an inner glass with scanners on the side. Standing by the door stood armed guards and within the lab stood various scientists.

All those within the room turned around, coming face to face with a very angry Harry Osborn. There was no time to speak as Harry's voice thundered through the room.

"Can someone tell me, why the fuck, was I met with police lights as I drove by the safe house?" Harry screamed around the lab.

The guards looked at the lab techs, and the lab techs looked at the guards.

"Sir, your contact wanted to confirm that the Mutant Growth Hormone could work out in the wild, and not just within the labs under carefully controlled conditions."

"That doesn't fucking tell me anything!" Harry screamed once more.

"Well, sir, one of the strays that the caretakers of that facility picked up was able to get out with her newfound abilities." One of the lab techs replied shakily. "That was what the security camera showed. We followed the time table of that private investigator that found her. This also shows there might be a link with this Detective Knight and the person in yellow."

"We are unable to find a true link between the three, but we have found a place that the private investigator often frequents." Said a man in a three-piece suit as he walked in from one of the far doors.

"Simon, I want this mess cleaned up. We can not allow this project to get out further than it already is." Harry replied with a hard edge to his voice.

"I have already contacted our informant on the inside to destroy the recovered samples. WE have already removed those that have derailed this project." Simon replied with a slight bow.

"I want them dead and move the damn project out of New York altogether!" Harry yelled once more before turning to leave the secret underground lab.

Everyone turned to look at each other before Simon took command.

o.O.o

Undisclosed Location

Nathanial Essex AKA Mr. Sinister.

Gliding through the upper atmosphere was a silver cruiser shaped like a metal sphere. This sphere had no easily discernible method of propulsion, nor did it have any apparent means to see out from within. Sitting within this cruiser sat a man wearing all black leather. The man had ash-grey skin with a red diamond on his forehead and a goatee on his chin that gave him the aristocratic look of a distinguished gentleman.

Nathanial had to hide his frown as he waited for the sphere to arrive. He had been approached by two interesting youths, ones who espoused the virtues of being homo-superior. Nathaniel himself didn't agree with such trivialities, but this was a way to get what he wanted.

The envelope that they had given him outlined a deal that would give him options in the future, after he fulfilled his end of this deal and made a younger body for this mutant by the name of Eric Magnus Lehnsherr. Refusing to allow his irritation to show, Nathanial waited for the docking procedure to finish as he stood up from his seat to greet his guests.

CLUNK!

CLICK!

The door opened and settled into place as the oxygen changed from the in-air system to a larger cycling system.

"Welcome to Asteroid M, my name is Exodus, and I will be assisting you on this fine day."

o.O.o

The Island

Benjamin Blake

Leader, Doting Father, Lover, Son, Brother.

December 25th, 2010

Moving, one leg in front of the other. The cool sweat on my fingertips as I pumped my arms in motion. The wind on my face as I sliced through the air. Breathing deep gave me cool air flowing into my lungs, even if oxygen no longer powered my cells. My muscles burned as I pushed myself beyond my limits, again and again. There was no sweeter feeling that I could think of as I ran. It was a runner's high, times a thousand.

There was no longer a 'me', at least not what I had started as, in either life. What I truly was, now, even I didn't know. I wasn't the Juggernaut. I wasn't the flash either. I was something new. I was strength and speed; power and fury. Hell, I was an unrelenting force of fucking nature all on my own.

The beep finally drew my attention to my lap number, 4,386. I had been ignoring the counter on my HUD so far. Who cared how many laps I had done, I just kept going. I ran up and down ocean waves, through both rainforests and deserts. Nothing was going to stop me as I ran. Not time, not distance, and not mother nature herself. I placed one leg in front of the other and just kept on moving.

Everything had been going smoothly lately, a little too smoothly to be honest. This was Marvel, and I couldn't help but be paranoid, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something was going to happen soon, and I really didn't know what it was. So, for now, I ran. That was all mine. That belonged to me. I ran my troubles and issues away. I ran, hoping to get the excess power out of my system, hoping desperately to get some sleep.

Gritting my teeth, I chose to run through a wave that loomed over me, a wave as tall as some skyscrapers in New York City. This was going to be a quick little wash and rinse before I made my way back home. My HUD was telling me that it was almost time for the sun to rise on my island. Bursting out on the other side of the wave, the suit I wore cleaned up just fine. I was wearing one of the new Unstable Molecule Fabric (UMF) suits that had built-in self-cleaning capabilities, its current configuration that of the Saiyan suits from Dragon Ball Z, without those ridiculous shoulder guards.

This version of the Saiyan suit was actually modeled after Vegeta's. There was no doubt that the man had style in battle armor. My upper armor was shaped like that while I wore custom made sneakers designed by my Chief Science Officer. On both arms I wore vambraces that housed a smart system with inbuilt fingerless gloves.

Another beep drew me out of my thoughts with a sigh of disappointment. My moving meditation, as I sometimes referred to my runs around the planet, was over, so I set myself on a course towards home. My fingers trailed droplets of water, seemingly suspended in mid-air, as I made my way home, running on the surface of the ocean. The water's natural surface tension worked in my favor as each of my steps felt as if I was running on solid ground. The water beneath me barely rippled as I took a hard step towards home. That same water practically exploded when time essentially caught up to each of my powerful steps.

Sand and snow, jungles and forests, they all flashed before my eyes before I slowed down on my approach to the Pacific Ocean. For the briefest of moments there was a brush of contact at the edges of my mind before I quickly moved out of range. I smiled as the air lightly shimmered before me.

Smiling some more as I looked up, the heart tree was the first thing I noticed. At the top of the heart tree sat a beautiful dome of glass, sparkling like a star as sunlight hit its many surfaces. The next thing to draw my sight was the city on the horizon. Tall skyscrapers reached up to the sky, while smaller black dots floated through the city. Leaning to the side, I took a turn as I decided to take the scenic route and began to circle around my island. I took in the sight of my cities as I looked over my island. The air shimmered, like I was looking at a heat wave, as I got closer and closer to the island.

My eyes could actually pick up the harmonics of the shield as it flowed like dragon scales over the island. Moving swiftly, I soon came to my home. The house that I live in on the island would not be considered a mansion, or a palace, but then again, I was cheating. The inside was actually a lot larger than the outside. Once the Ancient One gave me the runes way back when, I had cheated my ass off, using that magic to expand spaces many times beyond what would be considered normal. On the outside the house looked to be a rather normal two-story, three-bedroom home, but on the inside, it was an entirely different story.

The girls had said one hundred rooms would be far too much, so we kept it simple with the spatial manipulation. The house had about thirty bedrooms, each with a decent sized connected bathroom. The kitchen and other living spaces could all hold large family gatherings with ease. Having advanced construction techniques, paired with space expansion, was such a cheat.

As I got closer to my home, I had to stop at certain locations for the security systems to check my biometrics, which allowed me to get through the security shields that I had up protecting the island and house. There were three shields protecting the house, all with an independent power source. They would need at least a planet cracker to break the shield that protected the island itself, and then they would need another to crack what I had protecting just my home. Overkill, sure, but it was necessary with the number of incredibly powerful big bads in the Marvel-verse.

Walking into the house, I noticed Natasha and Emma sitting in the kitchen, chatting quietly, each sipping from a coffee mug as they watched the holo-projector on the wall. They both turned from the news to give me a radiant smile before going back to their little chat. Tapping my belt buckle, the suit I was using for my run retracted into the belt leaving me entirely naked. Emma wolf whistled as I turned around, heading for a shower. Shooting them both a grin over my shoulder with pure roguish delight, I made my way up the stairs.

Looking at my bed, I had the distinct urge to hop in for some fun. Jean and the rest were lying on a bed that was a comically large twenty feet across. Everywhere my eye could see was nubile flesh. It was in moments like these that I wished I wasn't such a responsible guy. Placing down the belt that contained my UMF suit, it was time to get clean, clean in a way that running through an ocean wave just couldn't replicate. The bathroom to our master suite could only be described with two words, PALATIAL OPULENCE.

Marble, gold, and platinum as far as the eye could see. It was a bit over the top, in my opinion All that glitter and gold, that I was going to blame on Emma, but since I lived in a house full of women, I wasn't so sure I could blame her alone. Ignoring everything, I stood under the multiple shower heads enjoying the hot water as it rained down upon my skin, washing away the sweat of a fulfilling run many times around the planet. The click of the bathroom door opening alerted me that my women were coming in to go about their own morning ablutions. Looking over my shoulder, I found Jean and Felicia wrapped in a large, fluffy bath towel as they eyed me hungrily. They shared a look before dropping their towels to join me.

Felicia walked into the shower first, as Jean followed up right behind her. They shared no words, but I was set upon with pure predatory grace. Yeah, it was starting to look a lot like Christmas.

It had taken some hours to get clean as I seemingly kept missing locations to lather with soap, while also leaving my marks on my ladies. At some point during this epic-length shower, Ororo, Raven, Emma, and the rest found their way into my arms as I licked their curves from top to bottom. It had taken a while, but that shower was time well spent in my opinion. We had gotten dry and walked down the stairs back to the kitchen when I realized we now had a full house. Everyone was dressed in their holiday best, while I had on the custom ugly sweater that matched my Dad's, Uncle Ben, and Otto's. I guess it was the customary ugly dad sweater and I was now expected to wear one now that I was a dad. Logan, like always, had his flannel on with his sleeves rolled up and chest hair out on display. I noticed the look Dr. Kenny was giving him and could only mentally shake my head at that.

If I had increased olfactory senses, I suspected I would have been able to smell her on him. Ororo, Emma, and Felicia had gotten together and did some crazy fold-up and braids-down type thing that was looking awesome. Jean and the rest didn't do anything fancy like that, but they had all let their hair down, which certainly enhanced their beauty in my opinion.

The entire extended family had shown up for the Christmas breakfast. My parents had both Alfred and Maya while Uncle Ben and Aunt May were also fussing over Peter and Laura. Logan was here with Dr. Kenny, and so was the Octavius couple. It was one thing knowing intellectually that my family had expanded, but it was quite another to see them all in front of me. The girls had split off to mingle with the family while I made my way over to my mother, I had to know if ol' Uncle Nicky was going to show up with his shadow in tow. The answer I had gotten surprised me, to say the least.

Ol' Uncle Nicky had wanted to show up, but since he was the head honcho of SHIELD, he couldn't go anywhere without someone looking over his shoulder. Mom and him were talking about getting him a robot copy to replace him at times, but ol' Uncle Nicky wanted too much control, so she was shutting him down.

It was funny to hear her talking about making a deal that would leave him beholden to her, like when they were kids. I knew there was a lot more to it, but there was no way I wanted details of the interpersonal dynamics of the super spy siblings. I was stunned as I walked into the kitchen to find Michelle kissing Warren near the back door. With a sigh, I sent a small bolt of electricity to zap the two as I made my way to the stove. Everyone had gathered around the large kitchen table as I whipped up breakfast with my super speed.

It was always fun using my powers in new and interesting ways. Cooking breakfast in this manner actually required the use of multiple simultaneous skills and extremely fine motor control, so in addition to cooking for my family, it doubled as a training exercise. My primary cookware was actually a comically large 5ft x 3ft skillet. Using my control over gravity, I had it levitated in the air, and I heated it with the access I had to fire and earth through the strength force.

I had to admit that I felt a touch of pride at being able to make a world class french toast breakfast for such a large group within thirty minutes. Maya had then shown up, with Alfred following right behind her, as I was in the middle of creating chocolate pancakes. The two of them looked so cute in their footie pajamas, I felt like I was going to get diabetes just from looking at them. While I was manipulating the food around the kitchen, I also picked up the kids. Alfred wanted to build gingerbread houses, and Maya didn't want to be left out. Lucky for me, I had already prepped everything overnight as a precaution.

Placing another container to brew some coffee, I turned to get the caramel bacon off the fryer and onto the clean plates sitting on the table. While the kids played with the gingerbread foodstuff, Raven, Natasha, and Ororo watched over them. I noticed the look in Laura's eye, so I sent some in her and Peter's direction. Before I knew it, Uncle Ben and Aunt May took that little activity over. Jean took over with her telekinetic powers as she shooed me back towards finishing breakfast.

As I set down all of the plates, I took a step back to look at my handy work. Scrambled eggs, toast, french toast, but also pancakes for those that like the flapjacks. Steak and bacon, with hashbrowns on the side. Fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and hot chocolate to quench the thirst of those around. There was no helping the smile as I looked at the veritable feast that I had made with love and laid out.

Everyone stood around me, looking at the table laden with food in anticipation as they waited for me to give the go ahead. Pulling back a chair for my mom, I let her be seated first before I said anything.

"You can dig in." I said with a smile and a wave of the arm. Following the movement of my arm, the chairs around the table all came out, and everyone took a seat. Before I could sit down at the head of the table, though, there was a ding at the door, which I got up to get. The first thing I noticed through the door was the double shadow before I checked the door's holoprojector. What I saw had me wanting to shift into battle mode, but damn if he wasn't lucky that it was a holiday. Natasha, Raven, and the rest quickly noticed my change in temper and demeanor as I opened the door.

Raven shot up from her seat as in walked Anna Marie, aka Rogue. Right behind her was the reason I was about to go into battle mode. Remy fucking LeBeau stood there with a five o'clock shadow and a cocky fucking smirk on his face. That smirk dropped off his face right quick once he made eye contact with me though. He knew who I was and what I was capable of. My inner fanboy wanted to get an autograph, but the logic driven part of my mind, the part that carried all of the past, present and future lore of the Marvel Universe, told me that this man could not be trusted. I looked at his black slacks and cardigan with distrust, like he was dressed as if he was coming for Christmas dinner.

This was a man that did whatever it took to survive. That attitude alone, if it came with a few limits, with some things that he wouldn't do no matter what, I could respect. But this man worked for Sinister. Growling, I took a threatening step forward as he took a step back.

"Anna, aide moi, s'il te plait." Remy said as he backed up some more while I followed him out of my house.

Before I could do anything, Anna came running out of the house with Raven on her tail.

"I invited him as my plus one. Please don't hurt him; he didn't do anything." Anna said defensively as she stood protectively in front of Remy.

"Use your words, Ben." Raven said, cutting me off as I eyed Remy, also known as Gambit.

"No killing on Christmas day." Natasha yelled from the doorway to the house.

"What?" Anna squawked with indignation as she looked at me. "You can't just kill him because you don't like him."

"This is my island. You'll find that I can do just about anything I want here. In this case, I even have a very good reason. He works for Sinister, one of our most hated and dangerous enemies." I spat with venom, my eyes never leaving Gambit. The look Raven shot Gambit at this revelation could have frozen the oceans solid, but it was the sudden calm and loss of good humor that Natasha projected from the doorway that said it all. An agent of our enemy was at our doorstep.

Something flew past my ear at great velocity, my eyes momentarily shifting to identify what it was. Gambit was already in motion, trying to jump out of the way with his advanced agility, but I too was already in motion. Before he could evade the dart that Nat had launched with extreme precision, I was already there. Grabbing Gambit by the scruff of the neck, I held him in place, allowing the dart to penetrate his neck. The little dart was about five centimeters in diameter with glowing red lines that denoted its owner. The little dart was one of the main weapons in Natasha's Widow gear, so I knew she was ready to end him.

Beep.

Beep.

Gambit froze as he heard that noise, I felt grim satisfaction as I watched his eyes widen in surprise.

"Anna brought you here, so you will get the benefit of the doubt for the moment. But one wrong move and it will be your last, do you understand?" Natasha warned as she walked up to where we stood. "That little trinket will explode if you attempt to remove it or fry it with your powers. Just so you know."

The smile on her face was pure predator.

"Why can't we just be civil?" Anna groaned as she pushed us away from her plus one.

"We can, but I also reserve the right to get rid of your boyfriend." Raven said as she wrapped an arm around my waist.

"It's your lucky day. The ladies say you get a stay of execution." I said, giving him a grim look. "Fuck this up, and you won't survive the day. Don't force me to prove exactly why Essex had to go into hiding."

There was no way anyone in this group could have missed the sudden shift in his body language, going from fight or flight, right into steady, but relaxed. Ignoring him, I turned around to find the Ancient One herself standing in the doorway. She gave me a slight bow before a smile graced her lips. I gave her a bow of the head in return as we all made our way back into the house. As I waited for everyone to get inside, I heard the Ancient One talking about the strings of fate.

Choosing to ignore that completely, I decided it was finally time to get some food into my system. With the introductions all around out of the way, it was finally time to eat.

o.O.o

Breakfast had started off awkward as hell before my mother and the Ancient One broke the ice. Once I stopped giving Gambit the stink eye, everything went along smoothly. We all ate, chat, and ate some more, and just had a great time overall. As the meal was coming to a close I had a kid on each leg as they ate off of my plate. Alfred was obviously still getting used to his body. I could tell from some of his reactions to the foods he ate or when he tried different materials within new clothing. Maya, on the other hand, was daddy's little girl.

Jean levitated the plates from the table as the meal came to a close before we moved into the living room to hand out gifts. I was the last one in as I had kept a close eye on Remy. He was actually trying to sweet-talk my mother. It was pretty hilarious how badly he'd misread her considering she would be the first one to happily ghost him if he made even the slightest move she didn't like, dump his body in the Pacific Ocean so that he would never be found again, and then go right back to opening Christmas presents like nothing had happened.

Ignoring that, I placed Alfred and Maya down since I had them both floating around me with my gravity manipulation. Looking over in the corner, I smiled at the sight of the Christmas tree. Gifts floated around the tree from the bottom to the top. I was strange seeing the presents float on their little platforms.

"To start off, I would like the first gifts to go to my parents, then Uncle Ben, and then Aunt May." I said with a smile as I levitated out four packages. Each of the packages came in different colors with large, colorful bows on top. Turning around, I gave Otto and Rosie their own boxes.

"Aww, you didn't have to get us anything, Ben." Aunt May gushes as she opens her gift with Uncle Ben.

"It was important to me, and I know it's also equally as important to Peter." I replied with a smile as they pulled out vials of baby blue serum. "Peter and I both worked on it."

Before I could say anything else, Peter broke in.

"The super-soldier serum had been recreated a while ago, but it was still dependent on the vita ray chamber." Peter fired off before anyone could ask anything. "Since it was dependent on the vita rays, we decided to improve upon it. It took some time, but we redid the formula and made something that would work with the NX5 chi supplement. We were able to cut out the need for the chamber with the addition of the nx5 variant of the Super Soldier serum. Now you can be as fit as Captain America with all of the ups and none of the drawbacks."

"It comes with an extended life span, but best of all, flawless skin, with no more wrinkles for the ladies." I added with a smile, as I placed my hand over Peter's mouth to stop the mini-science/history lesson. The gleam in Aunt May's eyes said it all. My mom also had a smile on, but it wasn't the full-blown smile I was expecting. "I would suggest taking it later, since it will flush all of the toxins out of your body."

That would also give me some time to talk with mom about why she wasn't as excited as I thought she would be.

From there, more and more gifts were passed around. I had gotten socks with warming features built-in, then some ugly Christmas sweaters, which made me laugh. A few had the 'If lost, please return to' written on it with Ororo, Natasha, and Jean's names on them. The one gift that had me up and yelling like a little school girl came in the form of a black helmet. It was a combined gift from Ororo and Natasha, and I had no idea they even had access to those files.

Sitting on my lap was the helmet of Nova.

There was only one way they could have gotten their hands on this thing and I didn't even care if they dropped a billion dollars for it. The black gloss of the helm, the red cross star in the middle with the hollow eyes, it all matched up. This was one of the helms that carried all of the powers and information of the Nova force from that Empire. I couldn't wait to dig into its brains and milk it for all of the information it possessed and create my own Lantern Force.

"Ho… How?" I asked in a hushed whisper.

"Well, since we are amazing, let's just say we worked it out." Natasha said with a smirk.

"Muahaha!" I couldn't help the maniacal laugh that escaped out of me.

Whack!

"Oww, what was that for?" I asked turning around to look at Raven.

"No letting the evil out in front of the kids." Raven replied as she looked at me with a smirk, chuckling.

"I agree." Ororo quipped from her location on the couch.

Since they wanted to play it like that, I did a mad cackle then rushed around to the garage for some pretty toys that I have been working on. Before anyone realized that I was gone, I was already back with a large rectangular box in my hands. Everyone had gotten a bag or purse that had the extended storage rune clusters on them, and the kids had the most gifts. Now, though, it was time to give out the goodies.

Pulling out a sphere with a button on it, which always reminded me of the Pokeball, each person got one. Felicia was the first to open hers. Inside were diamonds and some clothes that I knew she had her eyes on. Yes, I went to Paris to pick them up, but why not? When you could run around the entire planet at super speed, the entire world was your playground. Jean got some rare books for her bookshelf with some exotic clothes to go along with them, ones that I knew her sense of style would appreciate. Gwen got the 'keys' to a top of the line laboratory right here on the island, along with some dedicated research assistants that will keep her from doing any more crazy experiments that could see her hurt, though I wasn't going to tell her that.

Maya gave me the dreaded puppy dog eyes and I just couldn't help myself. I placed the Pokeball within her hand and she positively ran off with a smile on her face to Ororo. Alfred stepped up right after her with a look in his eyes, but not really knowing how to ask. With a smile, I gave him the Pokeball with his name on it. He gave me a whispered thanks before going to Natasha.

Maya opened hers to find a hover-kart. It was a double seater with safety helmets and a full suite of advanced safety features. As it had been designed for a child to operate, the hovercar had both a speed and altitude regulator which prevented it from getting more than five feet off the ground. The front of the hover-kart had a kiwi flame with smiles on it. There was also a backpack that had her UMF jumpsuits that carried several tracking devices, of course.

Alfred looked at what Maya had received then looked at his own Pokeball. The smile that split his face warmed my heart. When he pressed his button, what came out of his Pokeball caused Nat to smile in delight. Out of the Pokeball popped a hoverchair shaped like a spider bot. The spider on the front was shaped like a chibi, while the legs attached to the seat carried universal connectors and adaptors for any tech he might encounter. The chair had tons of advanced features, as did Maya's hover kart, but I was going to let them discover it for themselves.

Pulling out three more Pokeballs, I gave one to Ororo, Emma, and Natasha. What they found inside were all custom motorcycles that also came equipped with hover technology. Ororo's bike looked like a lone rider, something that I had caught her checking out from time to time. It was painted blue, with lightning and flame designs. The gasp and mad gleams told me all that I needed to know. Turning around, I had one ready for the Ancient One, which I gave her, but she gave me that little smile as she simply placed the Pokeball within her robes.

The last one in the box was for Raven. Instead of letting her throw the Pokeball, I told her to just press the button and keep a strong grip. What came out were real, life-sized replicas of the Blades of Athena from God of War. The rune clusters went to work instantly as these weapons bonded to her, attaching at the wrist, and leaving a little dagger tattoo mark on both of her wrists. Flicking her wrist with intent, they both appeared before she flicked them once more, putting them away. Natasha and Ororo gave me a raised eyebrow, signalling rather obviously that they wanted some bonded weapons too. Chuckling to myself, I made a mental note to create a set of bonded weapons for them also, ones more in line with their tastes and style.

We made some more small talk as the girls examined and tested their gifts before the clock struck twelve. The smile Otto gave as he checked the time was that of a mad scientist, and I couldn't help but sigh. I guess it was time to get this over with.

"Alright, fam, I guess it's about that time." I said loudly with a clap, catching everyone's eyes and attention. Most of their smart bands went off with a beep, letting them know that we had more to do today. I knew what the notification was for, but I was going with the mad Doctor. The last thing we needed was for him to blow up the island. A second ping went out from my smart band, pulling my attention.

What I found made me nod in approval. The Professor was here, and he had brought company.

O.O.O.O.O

The family had left for the stadium as I made my way to the main portal to the island, in order to greet my guests. Dr. Otto had left for the main city surrounding the heart tree. I sat in the hovercar with my General as we flew through the air. It was a quiet ten minute flight as we both did a little work on our tablets. As we smoothly touched down on a landing pad, I could see the Professor inside the building with the students from the school.

The portal building was a loose recreation of the portal doors at the Sanctum Santorum. The building was grand and imposing like the Roman Cathedrals. There were three main doors, each set into a wall with rune clusters engraved all around the frame. When the Ancient One came onboard, I jumped at the chance of setting up a division with magic as their main focus.

The masters of the Mystic Arts were one thing, but sending a bunch of super-geniuses to study, catalog, and improve upon that magic helped to create so much more. We could eventually create a society based solely on magic instead of science, but I wanted the ultimate combination, a hybrid of the two. With that goal in mind we had made some impressive strides in enchanting, runes, and sorcery already. One of our greatest discoveries was when I tried to bring to life an idea stolen from Full Metal Alchemist, courtesy of Roy Mustang, but that could wait for later.

For now, I had to focus on the here and now.

The door opened and raised up into the air to allow my exit, and I stepped out of the hovercar like a boss. My height and figure were imposing, but the dope ass Christmas kitty sweater that I was wearing said I was dashing.

Walking into the building, I was greeted with a cacophony of sounds. Kids were talking, yelling, joking, and all manner of things. Walking up, I shook the hand of the man that was thought of as a father to the original team of X-men.

Charles Xavier stood before me in all his shiny bald glory, a soft smile on his face.

"Merry Christmas, Professor." I greeted him with a smile, as I shook the man's outstretched hand. Xavier gave me a low chuckle in response, and I couldn't help but take a long look at him. Xavier had opted for a mind transfer into a fresh clone based on his DNA, with no improvements or anything else beyond that which he had been born with. Of course, I had made arrangements just in case, but he didn't have to know anything about that just yet. Xavier now stood on two strong legs in a dapper dark blue suit.

"I say, Benjamin, this island is fascinating." Dr. Hank McCoy said as he also stretched his hand out for a shake.

"This island is our home, doctor, a sanctuary for our kind who come in all shapes, sizes, looks, and abilities. There is no need for you to wear that camo band anymore to blend in, like in the States. All metas are welcome here." I replied back to the man. He looked down at his wrist for a moment, thoughtfully, before returning a nod. There was so much more I wanted to say, but I just didn't have the time for such a weighty discussion. I was on a tight schedule. After exchanging some small talk with them both, I cut it short to talk with the head security guard. What I found out was that everyone now had a guest smart band, allowing them basic visiting rights and access privileges here on the island.

I noticed Mercury amongst the kids from the school and Waller surrounded by many more. There was also a young Asian female with glasses who was popping gum that caught my eye, but I had things to do before I could satisfy my errant curiosity. The schedule of a billionaire CEO and ruler was mapped out to the minute.

"ALRIGHT, PAY ATTENTION, NOW!"

Once I went loud, everyone became silent as I informed them that we would be taking the hyper-rail system to get to the stadium. From there we would watch the birth and launch of the miniature artificial sun before some games. They had asked how they would pay for food, but I was already ahead of them on that. Each of their smart bands carried credits I had given them, issued by my nation and backed by the gold we had mined from the ocean floor. There were a lot of happy smiles all around as some asked about getting more information about the island and what was required to move there permanently. With a wave of my hand digital paperwork was sent to everyone's smart band.

Each city on the island had been designed to comfortably house a million or more people. That was a bit of overkill for the moment, considering our population has barely risen above a quarter million for the entire island. We currently had five major cities and the current population barely made a dent in the total housing I had built in preparation. One reason for that was simply me preparing for the future and accommodating a huge sudden influx of new citizens once the island's existence became public, another reason was that right now I had access to the markets and economies of the world for equipment and materials. Once the world learned of what I was doing here, that might not be the case.

We filed out of the main portal building as we made our way down to the hyper-rail transport system. We still didn't have a name for the bloody thing, but it did head towards the military district, and virtually everywhere else on the island. The hyper rail system had been built in a way that it went both under and over ground to give the rider a spectacular view while traveling. As we got onto the train I noticed Xavier placing two fingers to his head as he obviously tried to use his powers. The furrowing of his brows said more than enough for me.

"You will not be able to connect with anyone telepathically without consent, Charles." I informed him with a smile on my face. "This island is meant for and has been designed with metahumans with all kinds of powers in mind, but it was also built in such a way that those same people are not able to abuse those same powers." Holding up a hand, I stopped him from saying anything. "Not saying that you are abusing your powers per se, but on this island you can be a telepath, but you will need an official license or consent to use it on another person. To prevent unauthorized telepathy each citizen's smart band cloaks each individual's theta, beta, alpha, and gamma brain waves. It also creates a cloak for the mind within the astral plane."

"Remarkable." Hank McCoy said from his seat.

"I can sense the minds around me, yet I'm unable to hear any of the normal background noise." Charles said as he closed his eyes to focus some more. "I must admit, it's quite refreshing to not have to deal with all that noise."

"We built a telepathic blanket, of sorts, with input from two of the world's strongest telepaths." I replied, feeling a little smug. The telepathic blanket worked hand-in-hand with the smart bands, which worked in a few interesting ways. Besides giving the wearer smart communications, it also made a telepathic bubble or shield. The telepathic bubble would surround the person with the smart band, but would carry along any projected or manifested powers used that were allowed, permitted, or consented to. In effect, it worked kind of like a screening system. All other telepathic waves were blocked out less someone was granted permission.

These permissions were logged into the smart bands and kept track of at all times, with some people choosing to keep their minds open, perhaps as a show of trust to their fellow citizens. Personal information like this was housed behind a firewall that the AI collective guarded fiercely, lest it be abused. The telepaths would be able to feel the minds of the people around them, but would be unable to pierce the person's telepathic bubble membrane without either permission given by the person themselves, or the intrusion was officially backed by my government. The telepathic shielding was granted by my technology, did anyone really think I wouldn't leave myself a backdoor if needed?

It wasn't foolproof yet, and we were still working out some of the bugs, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Runes could be so incredibly versatile when you put incredibly smart and motivated people to work developing solutions. "We figured that plenty of telepaths might be born or move onto the island in the years to come, and they would probably like to live in peace without hearing voices in their heads constantly. You would be able to apply for a usage license, but not right now. Right now, we have to get to the stadium."

"That is quite the accomplishment, but might I ask what are those little golden scripts there?" Hank McCoy asked, as he pointed at the faint lines of several rune clusters along the side of the pathway.

"Those are runes, Doctor, and its study, understanding, and mastery will set us apart from the rest of the world as we integrate them into our technology." I replied as I pulled out a holo-pad from my front pocket. A tap on the screen enlarged the device. I gave him the tablet with a very brief and non-restricted primer about the runes and their power to affect reality, but he didn't get very far as we made it to the stadium. Like a drug dealer giving out his wares to hook a new customer, I suspected Dr. McCoy would be eager for more.

The stadium that I had been pushing us towards was four times the size of Michigan Stadium. That stadium was one of the largest football stadiums in the United States, and I had upped it even more. That stadium was capable of seating one hundred thousand, but the one I built could seat far more. The island was seven thousand square miles and damn close to eight, just a bit smaller than the state of New Jersey and I had plans to use every bit of space in some way.

While huge, I was still working with nature, rather than against it, so that I didn't turn it into something that wreaked of artificiality, The stadium was magnificent with an almost organic design. There were spiraling towers of glass that went up over the seats. The glass was a smart variant that could change with commands. For decorations, there were also large spartan statues at seven points with smaller warrior variants inside.

We allowed the kids to break into smaller groups and go do their own thing as Xavier and Hank followed me up to my box, in this case the Royal viewing box. With the guards around and the smart bands explaining things for the kids and preventing them from entering various unauthorized areas, I had to reassure them that it was perfectly safe to leave them mostly to their own devices.

Leaving all of the kids behind to explore, we took the elevator three floors up to my box, where my family and guests were already waiting. The automated doors opened, allowing Xavier and Hank inside as I followed up behind them. Once inside, I found luxurious and comfortable looking couches that could also recline back. The room was large, and it had space and food for everyone to sit comfortably with a great view of everything taking place in the stadium today.

Of course, with Xavier walking in with me, I began making introductions, including the various members of my ruling council, before I let them mingle freely with everyone else. Ororo and Raven had paired off with Hank to talk with him about our recent findings about the X-gene, and its link to magic and the various cosmic forces.

The ten minute warning went up, causing a scramble for people to get food and drink before being seated. Looking around, I noticed that Logan, Peter, and Laura had left. Jean, Felicia, and Gwen didn't look like they wanted to join in, so that was fine. With a double-tap on my smart band, I brought up a holographic screen to check the progress of Dr. Otto and Alex's work. Faora was doing her thing with the security team, so everything appeared to be going well.

o.O.o

The time flew by, but with the lights dimming and the music changing, I knew it was all about to start. Lights, camera, action, the hologram projectors went up as our announcers for the evening made themselves known.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, COMING TO YOU LIVE, AND IN COLOR, I'M KRISTY AND THIS IS MISTY. AND WE ARE YOUR ANNOUNCERS FOR THIS MOMENTOUS EVENT!"

These two women were hot, bubbly, and I just knew that it was Emma and Raven that had picked them to be the announcers. Kristy, as she was called, had green skin with dragonfly wings on her back, and a darker shade of green hair with what I would call large bright anime eyes. Her partner, Misty, had light blue skin and was a stunning beauty in her own right, her beauty enhanced by her exotic coloring. Of course, in the outside world, it had marked her visibly as a so-called 'mutant' and had made her fear for her life.

Looking around, I noticed that the crowd went nuts about the representation live over the holovids. Ignoring the bubbly announcers, I focused more on the notifications I was getting from Alex about the power plant going live. It had taken a while to get the power plant built where I wanted it, but I was persistent. I wanted it close to the heart of the island because it would be the symbolic star that lit the path into the future, guiding humanity away from the darkness of its past fear and bigotry.

"GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO OUR HANDSOME MINISTER OF SCIENCE, ALEXANDER EL! AND LET'S NOT FORGET THE MAN WITH THE PLAN. THE MAN THAT WANTS TO HOLD THE POWER OF THE SUN WITHIN THE PALM OF HIS HANDS, DR. OTTO OCTAVIUS!"

That wrested my attention away from my tablet. Looks like I had found myself in one of the front seats with Emma sitting on the arm of my chair, though it was more of a throne to be honest and obviously meant specifically for me considering none of the others matched mine. That must have been Emma's design work, a visible reminder to people of my position. A hush went over the crowd as Otto went into great detail about completing his life's work and bringing free energy to the world. Most didn't know it, but with my study on the speed force. I had created my own particle from hyper-kinetic energy tied to the universe's expansion. The power was near limitless, and all clean. I was calling it the 'Blake Particle' in the privacy of my thoughts.

This was my equivalent to the discovery of dark energy, without all of the horrific explosions and destruction. It was also my replacement for arc reactors, since that was all Tony's thing, but also kept people away from my speed force particle discovery.

Otto finished up his speech before turning back around to the command center that was overlooking the large chamber that was going to house the miniature sun. Assistants went running around the control room as Alexander and Otto finished up the final sequences.

"LET'S LISTEN IN FOLKS."

"Alright, Alex, let's start by syncing the harmonics, then power up the shields." We all heard, Otto giving quick orders and making last minute final adjustments as things around the command center kicked into high gear. Down beyond the control room, you could see a center ring twelve feet in diameter. Around the center ring floated thousands of panels designed to absorb the incredible amounts of thermal and solar energy the new star would produce every minute. Using runes, instead of pure technology, had allowed us to create wafer-thin panels made of vibranium, specially treated in a solution created by the science team. You could see the energy absorption and conversion on the back of the wafer panels. This little hub located on the back of the wafer panel was the size of a golf ball.

Each one of the hubs carried its own power storage unit; this allowed them to dock then go back to orbiting the miniature sun to absorb more power. Originally I wanted each of the wafers to be connected by a graphene cable, but we were worried about not being able to keep a proper eye on the star. The other worry was with how tough graphene was. It could tangle and then we would be in another spot of trouble. For now this first star would work with a thousand wafers circling it with another thousand located in docks for hot swaps. When a wafer went bad we would be able to remove it and study it to see what went wrong and prepare for the next time.

Along the outer rim was an eight ring gyroscope. Yeah, I know, OVERKILL, but there was no way I wanted my island to be destroyed like the Spiderman movie. The gyroscope activated as a blue shimmer came down over the space, letting us know the containment shield had activated.

"Set the gravity actuators to automatic." Otto said in the command room, firing off commands. It was a sight to see as silence fell over the stadium, as people sat on the edge of their seats, watching and waiting for Dr. Otto to succeed. "Now, the tritium!"

A small ball, almost less than an inch, fell from the ceiling perfectly into the center of the reaction chamber, stopping to float in the exact center, the gravity actuators keeping it locked perfectly in place. As the tritium floated in the center of the chamber, four points of energy slammed into it, irritating the molecular structure, sparking the tritium to life. There was a hum right before the small ball of tritium grew exponentially in size.

The crowds erupted in cheers and applause as we witnessed the birth of a star, a miniature, artificial sun. It was surreal watching it happen in the middle of a stadium.

"Energy storage capacitors are holding." Alexander, the leader of my science division, reported as he looked over the numbers on one of the holoprojectors. "Let's increase the output by 25%, then bring it up slowly to 50%."

Slowly, the sun grew from twelve inches to three feet in diameter, and yet it kept on expanding.

"Increase the magnetic stabilization in zones 3, 8, and 13!" Otto quickly barked out as the assistant began to scramble to follow his command.

"Holding at 42%!" Alexander called out as the additional stabilization stopped the miniature star from increasing in size any further.

The tension within the stadium was palpable as we all waited on tenterhooks. We watched as several solar flares bulged out of the miniature star. Solar fins were activated to better control the magnetic and gravity spikes produced as a byproduct. Thirty nail biting minutes rolled by, thirty minutes where the new sun's energy output and size remained stable and predictable, before Alexander turned to Dr. Otto with a smile on his face.

"Success, doctor! Success!" We all heard Alex say over the loudspeakers.

"Rosie, flip the breakers, let's light this island up!" Otto said with grand cheer.

"THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS, CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR OUR ISLAND NATION!"

o.O.o

"NOW THAT THE GOOD DOCTOR HASN'T BLOWN US SKY HIGH, I BELIEVE IT'S TIME TO INTRODUCE LOGAN'S SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS."

"OOH, YOU HEARD ABOUT THAT SCHOOL ALSO MISTY?"

"OF COURSE, KRISTY. THESE ARE THE KIDS WHO VOLUNTEERED TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD TO RESCUE OUR FELLOW METAS."

"SO, YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT THEY WANT TO FACE THE LIKES OF THE PURIFIERS, AND THE MURDEROUS TERRORIST GROUP THAT CALLS ITSELF 'THE FRIENDS OF HUMANITY?'"

The hologram of the labs cut out as the camera view changed over to one of the entryways onto the field. The field, while we were closely watching the hologram, had changed without anyone even noticing. This little Christmas get together was turning out to be a grand time. Tuning out the announcers for the moment, I watched the girls walk out first.

"BEFORE THESE CLASSES WERE EVEN PUT TOGETHER, MOST OF US HAVE BEEN SAVED BY THE ANGELS THAT RESIDED ON THIS VERY ISLAND."

"RIGHT YOU ARE, MISTY."

"SO LET'S GIVE THESE SAVING ANGELS A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"

"HERE COMES THE WINDWALKER, THE GODDESS OF THE STORM, THE HEADMISTRESS OF OUR BELOVED SCHOOL… STORM!"

We watched as Ororo came flying in over the stadium with lightning and wind whipping violently around as she made quite an entrance. Ororo was wearing an all-black UMF suit with a headpiece that kept her hair out of her eyes. The black UMF suit was full body with gold accents that matched the bands that held her warrior's braid together.

I was happy to see that she had taken my concern to heart about her hair whipping around while she was in flight or during a fight. There was a roar of lighting and thunder as Ororo sent a blast into the air with an outstretched hand, just as she touched down.

"SHE IS SILENT AND DEADLY. IF YOU SEE HER, THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE SHE HAS ALLOWED YOU TO LIVE. THE DEADLY, AND SEXY, BLACK WIDOW!"

It started with her doing a dive from one of the gunships, turning invisible as she leapt out. During her freefall, she flipped her visuals on and off, causing people to rise with panic as she ghosted into sight closer and closer to the ground.

One moment she was in the air, the next, gone, only to reappear closer and closer to the ground. About 20 meters above the ground Natasha had stayed visible before doing a midair flip to bleed off momentum, then pulling a truly epic three-point superhero landing at the last moment. The damn stadium went wild as she stood back up and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"SHE'S A BOMBSHELL THAT LIKES HER SPANDEX AND HER SWORDS, GIVE IT UP FOR PSYLOCKE!"

There was a roar as a purple cat-type construct came running out of the west entrance onto the stadium field. She performed some jumps that turned her constructs into different varieties of animals before taking the stage with the others. In the time since we had taken her into our service, we had contacted her older brother, Captain Britain, who worked for the British Secret Service as a superhero. When she found out that we had a friendly relationship with the British service, well, that mellowed her suspicion of us some. After meeting Captain Britain, I understood why she left home, a grown man in spandex was not good on the eyes.

Spiral's introduction was next, but I had already turned to talk with Xavier, who had that damn Dumbledore twinkle in his eyes. It was easy to tell he was really enjoying himself. Turning back, I watched the ladies on stage give a wave to the crowds.

"NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WHO ARE INTO THAT TYPE OF THING, LET US INTRODUCE YOU TO THE MAN THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. HE MIGHT HAVE A ROUGH AND GRUFF EXTERIOR, BUT WE ALL KNOW HE HAS A HEART OF GOLD... WOLVERINE!"

The crowd went positively insane at her announcement. Damn, it would seem that Logan gets around. His entrance was pure spectacle. Triple flames burst out of the ground on both sides of him, Wrestlemania-style, as Logan walked down with a lit cigar in his mouth, as cool as fresh snow. Logan took a pause to release some smoke and glance around the stadium, then shot a hand up in the air with all three claws fully extended, before he walked up the stage to join the rest.

"I didn't know that he had such a large fan base." Hank said with a chuckle as we all listened to the crowd who hadn't stopped cheering for the man. With a chuckle, I responded with the only thing proper.

"Logan is like a well-loved stepdad to a lot of these kids. He might act rough and gruff, but his wild nature is magnetic for a lot of these kids who often had bad home lives." I responded as I got up from my seat to get myself a drink. Moving away from everyone's line of sight, I felt it was best to subtly check a few of my pending notifications. There was an alert ping from the island shield systems, indicating a loss of power as we switched over to our new power source. I don't think it was too selfish of me that I didn't want the hyper-kinetic particle I had created as the island's main power source? I think not. It was a substance with massive repercussions if mishandled, and I was already regretting putting it onto my black server.

The other thing that pinged for my attention was the satellite we'd launched reaching its designated coordinates in the asteroid belt, which was going to open the door to a lot of new industries for us in the future. I knew we were already sitting on a billion dollars worth of gold and counting, but that was value according to earth standards. What was a valuable material on Earth could be utterly worthless to the galactic community of advanced races, or vice versa. With the completion of that new satellite module, combined with our own encrypted quantum frequency, we would finally be able to get our hands on the galactic community's material index. This would not only allow us to find out the rarity of certain materials, what was common and what was exotic, what was known and what was unknown, but ultimately what was valuable by galactic standards. Just by looking at this index our own materials science technology should be advanced by half a millenium, at least.

Putting that topic aside for later, I noticed that we had completed a sensor survey of the debris within orbit around the planet. What I saw was surprising and unexpected, to say the least, especially at the amount that was floating up there that was obviously artificial. Something big had been destroyed in our solar system at some point in the past and I couldn't even remember any Marvel movie or comic that could have had any spaceship destroyed within the upper exosphere.

Grunting, I slid that one aside and saved it as I checked the next notification. This one was on the gravity engine and shuttle for space flight. It would seem that we had combined runic clusters with a modern, frictionless gravity drive. Nodding at that, I sent the order to have one of the shuttles built. Hopefully we would be able to take it out for a test drive in the new year.

There was always lots to do, after all.

There were more notifications about the smart band version 2.0 and some about the omnitools hitting the R&D department. Flicking those aside, I noticed that one of the magic wards meant to protect the island from magical or extradimensional threats. This was a runic base that I had sent to the magical R&D section of my island. From the look of the thing they had succeeded in creating what I had wanted and the island was going to become Marvel's version of Themyscira. That meant it was only going to be visible for those invited, while for those that came around without an invite. The island would not only be invisible, but also created a layer of mental manipulation sending them away. There was far more on what the ward would theoretically do and protect against, but I skimmed through it all. I couldn't wait to see what my magic-users planned to do on that front. I knew that the island was only lightly warded against those types of threats at the moment, but what they had planned was going to bring us to the next level entirely, and I was excited, to say the least.

o.O.o

Turning my attention away from the smart band on my wrist, I brought myself mentally back to family time. Looking around, I found Maya floating by the glass as she looked down on the field while Alfred was sitting in my mother's lap. Smiling, I grabbed a loaded eggnog for my dad before taking the empty seat amongst them.

"HE IS QUIPPY, AND I HAVE BEEN RELIABLY INFORMED THAT HE HAS ONE OF THE MOST PINCHABLE ASSES IN SPANDEX. GIVE IT UP LADIES AND GENTLEMEN FOR THE AAAAAAMAZING SPIDER-MAN!"

The crowd cheered as Peter slingshotted himself into the air. Light constructs formed, allowing him to do a few tricks, before he came back down for a landing on the stage. I turned to the side to see the look on Aunt May's face and laughed at the astonished look she was giving Uncle Ben. Yeah, I guess she realized that little Petey-pie was growing up.

"SHE IS A SOUTHERN BELL WITH A KISS DEADLIER THAN ANY ROSE YOU MIGHT COME ACROSS, GIVE IT UP, FOR ROGUE!"

Anna Marie came flying in over the crowd, and that surprised the shit out of me. Captain Marvel wasn't around for her to steal those powers from, so I had no clue how in the hell she pulled that off. That was until my brain caught up to my thoughts, and I realized just where we lived.

"NEXT UP IS THE MAN YOU WOULD LIKE TO INVITE TO A BBQ, BECAUSE HE IS AS COOL AS FRESHLY FALLEN SNOW, IT'S ICEMAN!"

This was a man that liked to show off, and damn did he do it well. Out of the east entrance a gigantic ice bridge came flying out. Iceman really hammed it up as he made a large loop in the air before doing a light sprinkle of snow for everyone.

Damn, I felt mighty smug right now. Colossus was next. After him was Kitty Pryde, aka ShadowCat. There was nothing I could say because this was going far better than I could have hoped. Logan got up and did his gruff man speech that made Ororo and Nat smile before they took over. I got up out of my seat to stand by the window, and I felt it shake as people roared and stomped their feet.

Logan's School of Hard Knocks , but they didn't do that. Instead, a statement appeared on the holo-projectors for the crowd. After that finished, Nat gave a small speech and told the kids how they could sign up when they reached the right age. After this display of cool, I knew that many were going to put in an application with the use of their smart bands, and that was okay. We needed variety out in the world, metahumans of all shapes, sizes, ages, and powers, fighting the good fight.

The feel of the crowd changed before things shifted once more as drums rolled, music blared, and the lights dimmed and changed. I had noticed the dimensional distortion as the Ancient One left from the royal box, but I wasn't going to stop her as I wanted to see what she had planned. There was a triple base thump before she appeared in the center of the field with lights surrounding her.

Her appearance felt like it signalled the start of a well choreographed kabuki show. The Ancient One started out with creating brightly colored magical mandala fans made of bright dimensional energy, fans that she whipped around sending gale force winds harmlessly out into the crowds. The Ancient One smiled when several Masters of the Mystic Arts joined her on stage in a coordinated demonstration of skill. Sling portals opened and water and fire flowed out of them, moving in intricate patterns in the air. Damn did she knew how to put on a show.

The show went on for a little while before the Ancient One started to spin in a circle with her fans. As she turned, each of the masters vanished with their own little flamboyant styles. With one last jump, we all watched the Ancient One take to the sky before imitating a dragon, releasing a breath of fire from her palms, feet, and mouth. The flames threw out waves of blazing heat across the stadium causing some to flinch, but I noticed that it didn't even harm the ground. The fire swirled up above the Ancient One's head as she brought it back down to rotate around her position in the air. We watched stunned and awed as the flames split with her hand movements, before surprising us all with a clap loud enough to cause most of us with sensitive hearing to wince. Gasps rose up as we all watched the flames transform somehow into that a swarm of butterflies, before they all flew into the sky.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE MASTERS OF THE MYSTIC ARTS!"

The crowd went wild once more, and damn, that rare smile on her face said it all. The other masters uncloaked and showed themselves as they gave a regal bow to the crowd. The masters around her looked different as they stood there without cloaks. It was one female and three males that stood around her. There was no hiding my smile as I looked down on them as they showed their tattoos to the world. The tattoos had come around to solve the magical focus situation. I had taken my thoughts on Full Metal Alchemist and allowed them with a mix of DC's atlantiend magical tattoos. The geometric tattoos my mages sported showed the world the viability of my idea.

One of the things I noticed about 'magic' in this world was that it didn't offer a lot of the utility that you would find in a world like Harry Potter or World of WarCraft. One of the other directives that I gave my soccerers was to have them solve real-life problems with magic. They were coming up with a lot of ideas once they got their hands on runes. With my grand magical library created and open, some of the Masters of the Mystic Arts were visiting the college regularly, either teaching classes or just to browse the library that I was creating. Hell, from some of the reports I had received my sorcerers were improving rapidly and making some incredible advancements in magic. It was akin to a magical renaissance and even the most conservative Masters of the Mystic Arts were amazed at what was being discovered.

The Ancient One gave a speech, then one of my Sorcerers gave a speech of their own. They also put out a call for those that would like to learn and study magic. Once they did that, the mood shifted, and I knew it was my turn to speak.

The world shifted as I moved with fluid grace, but of course my speed allowed me a great deal of relative time to check on a few things. First, I checked the runic pillars that were placed at seven points around the island. I looked at the fine work of the mage division as the gold and vibranium mix positively gleamed in the light, and I couldn't help but to run my fingers over its smooth surface. They had created something that I thought would never be possible, but when you had access to over one thousand four hundred runic symbols, anything was possible. We had everything from Norse, Greek, Roman, Aztec to Babylonian. Hell, we had so many runes I was starting to tell that the possibilities were endless.

One of the issues we found was that the known magic and runic languages of this universe were mostly oriented towards battle magic, and it took us more than a little while to figure out the stealth I wanted. It was taking so long, that I had suggested that we should just create our own magical system. I noticed that the runes I was touching faded in and out of sight for a moment, and I took that as a job well done.

Looking to the side, I noticed a leaf frozen on a stream of wind. These pillars were damn cool, one of the things that they did was phase the island slightly out of the native dimension, while also creating a cloak of invisibility. I wanted it to be a mixture of what covers the island of the Amazons, Themyscira and that blasted fidelius charm in Harry Potter that still confounded my people.

I knew there was a cloak of some kind over Themyscira, but I had no clue how it worked. This one, on the other hand, placed a dome over the entire island that only allowed those with smart bands to gain entry. If you didn't have the bands, or gain access to the island with proper transportation and at certain designated entry points, then there would be no island. The wards also worked to befuddle the mind, allowing people to just fly by or sail passed without ever realizing it was there. It also protected us from detection by satellites and all forms of scanning systems, even ones based on magic. They knew what I wanted and damn did they deliver.

With one little push, I leapt up into the air for my little performance.

Lightning flowed around me as I made the clouds above darken to a menacing black. All around me glowed as a dragon formed from my will. I kept pumping more and more of my power into the dragon as I held the picture firmly within my mind. I couldn't get the real Shenron, but there was nothing in the playbook that said I couldn't create my own. More and more lightning flowed as I forced it into the form I wanted with only my will and my imagination.

The static built to a crescendo about to burst before I let the power speak for me. The roar that the dragon let loose was something I felt deep within my bones. The dragon's head was large and imposing, the eyes blazing a deep azure blue. Damn, this wasn't just a display of power, this was also a display of how deftly I could wield such power.

Everyone backed away as the dragon's head lowered to about ten feet from the ground before I had the dragon roar once more. The ground rose up to the dragon's chin before I stepped onto its crown in controlled, measured steps. Looking up at the holo-projections, I noticed my eyes blazed with the same spark of power that the dragon carried. The dragon and I shared a nod before it launched itself back into the air once more. The dragon circled around before it did a thing most daring.

Everyone sat on tenterhooks and waited with bated breaths as it circled once, then twice, then on the last turn, its attention focused on me. It roared and charged and I stood my ground and roared right back at it. As the dragon got closer, I allowed my size to increase and met it head-on. As the dragon collided with my chest, I had my arms outstretched and I absorbed it all within my body. It had been created with my power after all.

Damn, did it feel like I just drank a triple espresso.

"THE BIG MAN HIMSELF, THE ONE WHO PUT ALL THIS TOGETHER, BENJAMIN BLAKE, YOUR KING, THE GOD OF SPEED!"

The static dissipated from the air as I held my arms outstretched. The crackling of the energies I used faded, and the crowd went fucking ballistic. I held a fist in the air as I soaked it all in. Damn, I felt good. Looking up, I noticed the faces of my family through the glass screen of the Royal Box. I could tell that Xavier was having kittens from my little display of power. If she wanted to, Jean could do a lot more to show off and if Ororo had a bit more imagination and flexibility in the use of her power could probably replicate a lot of what I'd just done.

The cheering went on for quite some time before I held out my hand to quiet them down.

"Thank you for that introduction, Misty!" I laughed out bombastically.

"You're welcome, bossman!"

"Look at all you beautiful people, my fellow metahumans!" I roared once more to the crowd. "I just want to say that I'm damn proud of how our little celebrations have turned out, and hopefully it's given you something to think about, perhaps even a way to give back and help your fellow metahuman. Our island is beautiful, and we are ever-improving and prospering as a fledgling nation, but we still have much to do."

There were more cheers.

"Now we all know that the New Year is fast approaching and what that date means for our island." I said out loud over the speakers. "We are all safe, able to live our lives here on the island freely, as proud metahumans. But that's not the case out there, out there in the world. A cruel world that often doesn't acknowledge our right to exist! Out there many of our brothers and sisters still yearn for acceptance, for a better life. Out there, our brothers and sisters still face inequality and persecution and constant threats to their very lives. But we seek to change that. With the coming of the New Year this island will be opened to immigration, and I will be placing an open call to all metahumans, around the world,who desperately yearn for a better life for them and their families."

More roaring and cheers greeted me from the crowd.

"Now, many of you have asked me to name this island, to name this home we've built. To grant you and our people an identity. As our magical practitioners would tell you, there is power in a name. So tonight I share with you the name of the island!" I was bombastic, and the crowd was loving it.

"We put forth twenty-three names and gave everyone a month to vote on their smart bands for their choice. The time has finally come to reveal the name you've chosen for our island..."

More roaring from the crowds as the holoprojectors changed. The names flashed as everything realigned, and we got a winner.

"From this day forth, this home and sanctuary we've built, shall be known as PANDORA!"

End Chapter…

Author's Notes:

Please leave your thoughts on the chapter, I would love to hear some of your thoughts. I do read every comment and you can always chat with me on discord or the message systems.

Also Shout Out to the awesome Joe Lawyer for editing this monstrosity for me. Also check out his story The Adventures of Augment Gothic.

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