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"You're Either Perfect... Or You're Not Me."
- Perfect Cell (Dragon Ball Z)
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<(Atem POV)>
"Who are you? And why'd you come to Earth? Identify yourself, invader," War Machine—James Rhodes—demanded, his repulsors glowing bright blue as the double-barreled machine gun on his back locked onto me. I didn't sense any demonic inclination in his voice, but there was an ominous edge there, as if his voice was cold and stripped of any warmth.
"Rhodey, I can practically smell death on this guy. He's not from around here. And he sure doesn't have the 'gift' our generous masters so kindly bestowed on us," Iron Man—Tony Stark—said, eyes locked on me as his repulsors lit up too. "If I had to bet, I'd say he's from another universe. Maybe a parallel timeline." Tony tilted his head slightly, calculating. "If we can take him alive, we might learn how to get to his universe. Spreading the gift of eternal life to a new reality would definitely please our masters." He shot Rhodes a look that left no question about what he was planning.
"Hey, hey—I'm standing right here. Could you not act like I can't hear you? Seriously, heroes these days are so annoying. At least my universe's Tony has the decency to be polite… well, at least around me, he is decent," I scowled, fully aware that the other members of the team were probably eavesdropping too.
Honestly, this Tony Stark felt much more like his comic book version than the one from the movies—and way more prepared, too. He'd even managed to shield himself against telepathic scans and mental probes using neural disruptors built into his helmet.
'But regardless of all that, they are still ordinary humans, nonetheless.' I thought to myself as I felt an unknown warmth in my eyes.
"AAAHHHH!" Tony and Rhodey screamed like banshees as I dramatically squeezed my hand in the air right in front of them.
I could see it on their faces—they were itching to vaporize me with their repulsor beams and every other weapon system they had installed in their armor. But before either of them could trigger a single one of those systems, their hearts and lungs burst inside their chests under the crushing force of my telekinesis. Within a few seconds, blood began to seep from every opening in their bodies as they collapsed, falling from the top of the skyscraper to the ground beneath like broken toys.
Stepping to the edge of the skyscraper, I jumped off with a stoic expression, landing on the street below with a minor shockwave that cracked open the pavement.
Just like I'd sensed earlier, the rest of the Avengers were waiting for me down here, clearly intending to jump in once Iron Man and War Machine had finished their recon. Almost all the official roster was present—Captain America, Wasp, Falcon, Black Widow, Thor, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man, and even the Hulk, who, honestly, looked less like the Hulk and more like some demonic green minotaur.
Most of these heroes looked pretty much like their canon selves, except their costumes were shaded darker and styled to look a lot more... "villainous". Captain America, for instance, was rocking a deeper, more ominous blue suit with a bloody, red hexagon stamped on his mask, while Thor straight-up looked like a savage barbarian with a cracked hammer.
"You—what did you do to Iron Man and War Machine?" Captain America demanded the second he saw me hit the ground.
"Isn't a peak human supposed to have perfect vision?" I shot back with a smirk as I stretched my body before glancing toward the blood-soaked, mangled bodies of the two armored "heroes". "They're obviously dead." I shrugged, then caught my reflection in the mirrored glass of the skyscraper beside me. My eyes glowed with an ominous crimson light swirling with violet energy. 'Looks like I was right. These eyes really can force true death on anyone who dies in front of me… or anyone I kill myself,' I concluded in my mind with a hum. 'Maybe it can also...?'
"They can't be dead. We are eternal. There is no cursed thing called death in this universe." The Captain answered with a voice that carried obvious disbelief and distrust towards me.
"Not anymore." I clenched my hand, unleashing a burst of telekinesis that made Black Widow, Falcon, and Hawkeye's heads burst with a wet squelch, barely costing me any effort.
"NO! Revengers Assemble!" Captain America shouted before hurling his shield at me with everything he had. Even corrupted to this degree, he still cared about his team. Honestly, I had nothing but respect for that—it was admirable.
But respect or not, I wasn't about to humor him with some drawn-out fight. I had far bigger threats waiting in this universe. And if my senses were right, I'd need to save every ounce of power for what was coming next.
"This thing's pretty sturdy—and those edges are sharper than they look... Hmm, there aren't a LOT of 'fault points' that I can notice on it, unlike most other things, but it isn't invincible." I remarked casually after stopping the flying disc in the air with just one hand. "Anyway, you can have your frisbee back. Here, catch," I said, whipping the shield back at him with about a hundred times the force he'd thrown it.
Captain America tensed and was ready to dodge—and he could've done it, easily. But with a flick of my telekinesis, I locked him in place, and the shield slammed into him, slicing him clean in half at the waist.
Seeing their teammates drop one after another, the rest of the Avengers-or maybe I should call them the Revengers—charged me all at once. Thor called down a searing bolt of lightning from the sky with his hammer and hurled it straight at me, while Wanda, the Scarlet Witch in this universe, unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of hex bolts. Even the Hulk, who'd seemed weirdly disinterested until now, bared his teeth in a furious snarl and lunged at me with a thunderous roar. Meanwhile, Ant-Man ballooned into a gigantic size, and the Wasp shrank down small enough to blur as she zipped in to join the fight.
Honestly, going toe-to-toe with the entire Avengers lineup in a straight brawl is a nightmare for most beings in the Marvel Multiverse. It's not just raw power—it's how well they coordinate with each other and how insanely versatile they are. Sure, most of them hover around street-level strength, but Hulk and Thor are legit planet-busters. Hell, base Thor can even dish out solar system-level hits like the God Blast if circumstances permit it.
But here's the thing—I had no intention of giving them those perfect circumstances. I needed this to be clean, efficient, and utterly effortless if I was going to finish my quest. And for that, I was ready to fight dirty.
Boost, boost, boost! The world around me slowed to a crawl as I powered myself up, tanking Thor's lightning strike behind a blazing red shield of divine energy. Then I tried channeling Susanoo, reaching for its protective exoskeleton to wrap around me.
Except to my utter disappointment—it wasn't there. I couldn't feel Susanoo at all. It was like the ability had vanished from my arsenal. Instead, there was something new. A power I didn't even know I possessed.
On instinct, I locked my eyes on the mystic hex bolts hurtling toward me—and they just… disappeared. Fizzled from existence as they'd never been fired at all.
This new ability of mine was… intriguing, to say the least. I could feel instinctively that my eyes didn't just kill, cancel, erase, or obliterate everything in their line of sight. That's not how they worked. No, what I could "destroy" were specific supernatural effects, certain types of magic, certain unique energies, especially non-elemental ones, and sometimes, even particular concepts of the universe. However, I had zero clue about the principles behind it. And quite unfortunately for me, these eyes didn't come with a manual or any helpful guidelines. I was basically using it on pure instinct. "Hmm…?"
"HULK SMASH!" The demonified Hulk crashed through my divine energy shield and slammed his fist into my face with a speed much faster than sound, unleashing a sonic boom that shattered every window for the next few blocks, launching me straight through the side of the building next to us.
***
<(Omniscient POV)>
"Hulk strongest," the green behemoth growled, grinning wide enough to show his sharp canines that matched perfectly with the huge, monstrous horns curling from his head. But before he could even enjoy his victory, he noticed something black creeping over the hand he'd just used to punch Atem. It felt ice-cold to his senses, like his flesh was being scorched by freezing black fire. Slowly, he started losing all feeling and control in his hand as the black flames began to crawl up the rest of his arm.
"Fire?" the gamma giant rumbled, trying to shake it off. But nothing worked. The black fire clung to him stubbornly, burning in a steady, silent blaze, feeding off his own flesh as fuel. Oddly enough, Hulk wasn't screaming in pain. He wasn't sure if it was thanks to the "gift" the Many Angled Gods had given him—like they'd given so many other heroes—or if it was just some freak property of this strange flame. Either way, Hulk didn't care. He only wanted it gone.
If any of the other sharp-minded "Revengers" like Tony Stark, Captain America, or Black Widow were still alive, they'd already be screaming at him, advising him to chop off his hand and let his healing factor take over. But unfortunately for him, they were all dead. And the only smart scientist left in the vicinity, Hank Pym, couldn't be bothered. He was far more focused on capturing Atem as a living specimen to study before presenting him to his masters to prove his devotion.
So, as the precious seconds ticked by, more and more of the Hulk's flesh burned away into literal nothingness, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Even his legendary regeneration seemed completely shut down under the fire's effects. Once the flames leapt from his arm to the rest of his body, all the Hulk could manage, with his limited intelligence, was to stagger around, frantically trying to rub out the flames.
But in truth, there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable. All he could do now was wait for the Void Fire to finish its work… and burn him completely out of existence.
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(A/N:I sincerely apologize to all of you for not posting anything over the past two weeks. I know I've been inactive, and I truly appreciate your patience. I was dealing with an urgent personal matter—specifically, arranging the loan for my MBA—which turned out to be far more time-consuming and stressful than I had expected. Turns out getting a good score and clearing interviews was the easy part; securing a loan with a manageable interest rate has been the real challenge.
That said, I am truly sorry for the sudden silence and the delay in updates. Thank you all for your understanding and continued support. I have managed to secure the money I needed from the bank, so I should be able to focus on updates again.)
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