Disclaimers
I do not own the rights to any of the characters of the Marvel or DC universe. Any original characters referenced in this tale are my intellectual property (I think? copyright law is confusing :S)
I know and care little about the sexuality of any of the creators, actors, or characters involved in the Marvel/DC universe. Similarly, this story contains graphic descriptions of gay male sex. If that may offend you, I suggest looking elsewhere for entertainment. Otherwise enjoy some smut. The smut will be widespread and hopefully organic to character growth.
Partial credit goes to the story Mutation by Phoenixfire543 (on nifty) for inspiring me to write my own variation on the whole superhero genre. His protagonist inspired mine power wise, though mine varies a lot in temperament and disposition.
Authors note
This chapter will be told in the present tense as if Victor is narrating it in real time. For reasons that should be clear at the end. Sadly there's no sex in this one.
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Voided Chapter 7
I tell Jamie "You've got to go. Things have gotten messy. I'll talk to you later okay?"
He looks upset as he says "okay" as he gets dressed, then he leaves the room. Alone again. I sigh as I get dressed trying to get my head around being powerless while stuck in the `Matthew body'. It's like a bad cosmic joke at my expense. Like that thing Mom used to say about making faces. "If the wind changes you'll be stuck like that."
I shake off that random thought and go downstairs to check on the situation...
When I get downstairs, Magneto, Mystique, Jake and Misty are all talking. Magneto is depowered as is Mystique; Jake and Misty are unaffected by whatever happened to the rest of us. I asked Misty to mind probe me to check if my mental shields are in place. She does so and I can sort of sense the attempt.
"They're still up sir."
"Thanks. I guess that answers that question." Jake moves to Misty's side. "Jake could you prepare the bunkers for ..."
Magneto comes up to me interrupting the conversation and says, "This is my fault, Wanda warped reality to please me and now she's punishing me for what I did to Quicksilver."
"What did you do to Quicksilver?" I ask.
"I beat him to teach him his place and Wanda did this to teach me my place. I'm so ashamed."
"Hmm." I had no idea what was going on but I had bigger problems to deal with than Magneto and whatever 180 degree personality change he'd gone through in the other reality. I continue my conversation with Jake. "Could you make sure the bunkers are prepped for mutant refugees? I'm going to have to go sort out some other stuff shortly."
Magneto says "I have to find Charles and rectify this." Mystique follows him, now looking like an average white woman in her mid-20. I look around for John, I try calling him on his cell and nothing.
Wiccan appeared with a whole group of QSA members. I asked them to tell me their powered status so I could figure out what to do next. Northstar, Shatterstar, Hulkling, Sean, Vader and Mike still had their powers but Richtor didn't.
"How can we help?" Sean asks.
"The Mansion's gone crazy; most of the students have lost their powers. All the X Men went off without us to try and find Scarlet Witch to return things to normal." Mike says.
"They don't think we can handle it." Vader says.
"Well this may be an even more dangerous mission from what I've heard. Austin has gone off the deep end and has killed. I'm going to call Scale again to see if he's okay and what's going on and we'll make a plan to deal with him together."
I call Scale again while the others talked amongst themselves. I had to walk away to hear over the din they made. Being average sucks.
I ask "What happened?" (Last time I had only managed to get snippets from him while he had been running away)
Scale: We were working on building the electric guns like normal and all of a sudden, it felt like I got hit in the stomach and everyone was freaking out and screaming and yelling and they all looked different. Some of them looked like they usually do but others were altered. Centaur got hit the worst, he collapsed and he stumbled out to see what happened to Jackie. The next thing we heard is lightning and explosions outside and we go out to look and Centaur yelled that Austin had killed Jackie and there was nothing, nobody and then Austin did something with a weird purple bolt and it hit this kid named Billy with little goat horns who was unaffected by the thing and then he was gone. Disappeared without a trace. Just gone. After that the golems stepped in to try and calm him down and Austin snapped and he just kept firing at everything and everyone, lightning, fireballs, and mini earth quakes. The golems helped to evacuate Avalon. He hit us the hardest, he didn't target the `passers', he destroyed our home. I called you for help. Now we're waiting in the town nearby and we don't know what to do next.
Me: I'm going to send in some help and evacuate everyone from the area and I'll try and find out what happened to Billy and the others.
Scale: You don't have power anymore? Do you?
Me: No.
Scale: the golems said they couldn't feel you any more.
Me: yeah, no powers and in the wrong body. It's shaping up to be one of those days. We'll be there soon.
I hang up and walk over to the group that now include Jake and Misty. I shouted "HEY" for attention.
"What?" Sean asks.
"Okay I got an update. Things are worse than I feared. I think Austin may have absorbed some of the whatever that changed us and he's using it to erase people. We need to disable Austin without killing him so that he can undo whatever he's done when he's settled the fuck down."
"What do we do?" Vader asked
"Shatterstar I need you to transport me to Peter Hale's lab so I can pick up some supplies. While I do that I'm going to need Wiccan to teleport the rest of you over to meet up with Scale and whoever survived and transport them back here in a mass evacuation to the shelter downstairs. When you're there Sean can telepathically scan the area to see if there's anyone left hiding. Northstar can use his super speed to salvage any weapons you can from Scale's workshop and rescue anyone left in the region. Vader and Mike I'll need you to scout the area carefully to see what's going on the ground. DO NOT ENGAGE."
"Why not?" Vader and Mike both ask.
"Vader is vulnerable to electricity which Austin can generate and you may be able to avoid normal people noticing you but I don't know how strong a psychic Austin is now and he may detect you up close; I don't want him disappearing you too. Just skirt the edges to see what we have to work with and keep in constant contact with the others."
"What will I be doing?" Wiccan asks.
"Once all the survivors have been collected and transported over to the underground bunker they should be safe, then come get me at the lab. Hopefully I'll have what I need from there and I'll need your particular help to guard against Austin."
"Everybody set?"
"What about me?" Richtor asks.
"I'm going to need you to help look after the wounded, basic first aid."
"And me?" Hulkling asks.
"Aerial surveillance. Fly over see if there's anything we should look out for when we engage. A quick scout, then tell Wiccan and I'll figure out a battle plan from there."
Shatterstar steps over to my side.
Wiccan said "TeleportUsToScale" a few times and disappears. Shatterstar grabs my hand and we end up outside Peter's lab. Mister Beck, (Peter Hale's ex-Navy SEAL security Chief) is waiting for us. He leads us to where the Lazaruses are waiting. They've been synthesizing a variation of the Cure for me.
"How would you deal with a super charged super powered person?" I ask Mister Beck while we wait for them to finish up.
He thinks about it for a moment before he responds. I feel adrift, I've never had to face something this dangerous without my powers and I'm drowning in expectations and fear. I'm not used to being this scared.
"I'd suggest a long distance sniper attack."
"Hmm that didn't work on me. It might not work on him but it'll do for a Plan A."
"No plan remains intact upon contact with the enemy."
Before I can comment one of the Lazaruses comes up to me with ten Cure Darts similar to the ones used in the Alcatraz battle but with a much higher dosage.
Wiccan appears suddenly beside me and I'm startled. I'm all jumpy and anxious and my throat feels dry. I shake off the anxiety and fear before it can take a hold and try to listen as Wiccan tells me what's going on in Avalon. The gist being that Austin has gathered 10 `passers' and is using them as his own private army boosting them via psychic linkage. He's temporarily preoccupied with them and hasn't noticed or reacted to the others being there.
I ask Mister Becks "Can you help us? We need an experienced sniper."
He takes a moment to respond "It has been a while since I've seen action but sure, I'll do what I can to help."
"Good" I hand him half the Cure Darts while I fill my pockets with the remainder.
"He looks over the darts and says I'm going to need a modified rifle for this. I've got one in my house."
"Shatterstar can you take him to his house?"
"I need a connection to do that. Remember?"
"Sorry, I forgot, brain is a little fried at the moment." I clutch my head trying to focus enough to think. "Wiccan teleport him to his house, then come back here immediately I'm going to need you to help me with a different kind of prep."
"I'll come with." Shatterstar says.
They disappear and I turn to the Lazaruses. "So are you guys happy that you're not mutants now?"
One of them comes up to me. "It's a relief, 45 killed himself shortly after the wave, jumped off the roof, he didn't come back."
"Um k." I didn't know what to say so I just stood there saying nothing as I stared at the 50 variations on the same person, different haircuts and hair colors, some of them wearing different clothes but they seemed strangely sedate as they clean up the lab.
Wiccan returned. "What kind of prep did you have in mind?"
"Anti-Magic shield."
"I've never really done anything like that."
"That's fine. I have faith in you and if it doesn't work I'll probably not be around to complain about it."
Wiccan looked worried, face pinched in concern. "I'm sorry that you lost your power. You'd be better off asking Doctor Strange, he's the master of Mysticism."
"Okay can we go see him?"
We teleport outside his house. It looks fairly unexciting for a magician's house; it's just a two story townhouse. We knock on the door and before Wiccan or I can explain our situation his manservant tells us "he's out and he's told me to tell everyone that he doesn't know how to reverse the spell without Wanda." He then closes the door in our face.
"Well that was a failure. Just do a chant and we'll have to hope for the best."
"Okay." He teleports us to Mister Beck's house and Shatterstar and him are talking about battle preparation.
"Ready?" I ask. They nod somberly.
All of a sudden, I feel overwhelmed and panicked and short of breath. I repeat silently in my head the mantra that served me so well in high school; COOL CALM COLLECTED over and over again until my breathing settled. Everyone stared at me.
"You okay?" Wiccan asks.
"Just a little anxious. Moment alone?"
Wiccan nods and we go into what looks like a seldom used dining room. "What's wrong?"
"Feel a little anxious without a safety net. Could you do a chant to guard against disappearing magic?"
"Sure. I'll do my best." He patted me on the shoulder and I tried to take comfort in the contact. He chants "DoNotErase" over and over again for the next few minutes as I silently repeat my mantra to settle my sudden pre battle anxiety.
"Okay that's probably enough."
"I don't know if it'll work."
"Well if it doesn't and Austin takes me out I'll need you to not use magic against him. He'll just absorb it. When I give you the signal takes out his followers and I'll do the rest."
"What will you do?"
"Whatever it takes to save the remnants of Avalon from complete destruction."
We go back to the other room and Wiccan teleports us over to the Underground bunker which is full of scared and confused depowered Avalon mutants. I barely recognize most of them.
I spot Scale and I hug him, he is tinged green around the face and hands and has sharper than (human) normal teeth. Razor stands beside him and is near unrecognizable as an average looking white male. Centaur is 7 foot tall and looks more like a satyr now and his eyes are red from crying over the loss of Jackie.
I ask Wiccan to teleport Scale, Razor, Centaur and myself up a few levels to talk to the others. The group I sent off returned except for Sean, Mike and Vader who remain on the outskirts of Avalon to keep an eye on things. Jason and a `golem collective' representative are also in attendance.
I double check with the others about the current conditions of Avalon and roughly outline 3 plans for dealing with Austin non lethally. First is Mister Beck with a long distance sniper attack with a Cure Dart, second plan I'll try and talk him down and if the first 2 plans fail they are to take out everyone excluding Austin who I'll deal with personally. Northstar comes up to me looking worried and I whisper a fail-safe plan for if I fall, handing him a couple of the Cure Darts.
Wiccan teleports us 40 yards outside Avalon where Sean and Mike are waiting. I hug them both, happy to see them okay. I don't bother trying to give Vader one as he's all shadowy and intangible.
I tell Sean the plans and we scatter into positions outside the ruined entrance of Avalon. The whole place is ruined, pockmarked with fire and lightning and the ground is all uneven. It looks even worse than when the `golem collective' had activated and people had panicked.
Broadcast just stands out in the open talking to 10 `passers' his back to us, oblivious. Only a few of his followers I recognize; the weak telepathic animal trainer, a class 3 fire generation guy and Spark. My head starts to pound as I walk closer to them. Broadcast is alerted to my presence and he moves towards me and the others move aside, making room for him.
A Cure Dart bounces off his head and drops to the ground and Austin laughs hysterically as fire covers him. "You think that would stop me. I can generate fire strong enough to melt rock." He points down at the Dart "This is nothing." He crushes it with a foot.
Austin stamps and the ground shakes and I'm knocked to my feet. When I look up Austin is standing over me with a ball of fire in one hand and a ball of lightning in the other. "Wait. I'm sorry." I apologize.
He tilts his head looking at me curiously for a moment. "You don't have your powers any more do you?"
I lift my hands up and kneel in front of him. "Completely powerless Austin. Isn't that funny? I build this place with power and I have nothing left but remnants of my efforts." I look down, trying for meekness. "Tell me what went wrong with you?"
He shouts at me, his voice nearly breaking with the strain. "THIS WORLD IS WRONG." He looks around and he seems suddenly lost and vulnerable and continues in a near whisper. "I was mutant nobility. I lived in a world ruled by Magneto where mutants and those with powers had the prestige they deserved and the weak were cast down into the slums where they belonged." His voice evened out to normal. "Now I'm here and everything's wrong."
"I know. Reality has been changed."
"We can get it back. There must be a way." He says, crouching down close to me, the heat coming from him diminishing but I'm perspiring heavily and my face feels like it's suffered a bad sunburn. He snuffs out the lightning and fire in his palms. "Do you know how to get it back?"
"Xavier is working on finding Scarlet Witch and once that happens, things can be changed back to the way it was..."
Austin drops to his knees, his hands over his face, sobbing. I place a hand on his shoulder with no reaction but his followers backing away watching me warily. I pull him closer, hugging Austin, patting him idly. He whimpers "it's all wrong. I don't belong here in this filth."
"I know. I'm sorry. We'll find a way to fix it all." I tighten my grip on his back pulling into a tight one armed embrace.
Should we strike? Sean asks me telepathically.
I nod and dig into my pocket with my free hand and Hulkling sweeps away telepathic animal trainer, Richtor fires a salvaged electric gun and knocks out a couple more as do Vader and Sean who strike from behind with electric guns. Northstar takes out the rest in a blur of motion.
Austin stirs, noticing the commotion through his mental breakdown and said "You betrayed me." As he starts to heat up again, his hands generating fire and sparks of lightning. The heat is intense. I'm burning.
"I saved you." I say as I stab him with a Cure dart.
He pushes me down onto the ground and I'm hit with fire and lightning before the Cure takes effect. I'm being char broiled alive. The pain is excruciating. I die. Vision blurring. Thoughts fragmenting. I drop to the ground with Austin yelling and kicking me, his powers temporarily gone.
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Well I hope that was mildly entertaing even without the sex.