The Ashes of Mars
Where Arakko had once stood, there was now only a slowly expanding asteroid field.
Molten fragments of a broken planet drifted through space.
Shockwaves still rippled through the debris cloud. Pieces of Martian crust the size of continents rotated slowly in the vacuum.
And in the center of it all,
Derrick floated.
His body was still regenerating from the unimaginable kinetic stress of the impact.
The Blacklight biomass crawled across his skin like living armor, sealing microfractures in bone and flesh.
But he wasn't resting.
He was hunting.
Black tendrils erupted outward from Derrick's body.
Thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
They spread through the Martian debris field like a living neural network, each strand capable of sensing bioelectric signals across vast distances.
Even in vacuum, mutants were still alive.
Some had survived inside fragments of the shattered crust.
Some floated unconscious in space.
Some were already dying.
Derrick found them all.
The tendrils pierced the debris and dragged the survivors toward him.
No resistance.
No speeches.
Just quiet consumption.
Omega Mutant Assimilations
Lactuca the Knower
A broken slab of Martian stone drifted through the void.
Clinging to it was Lactuca the Knower.
Her body was barely conscious. Spatial perception had warned her of the disaster seconds before it happened, but the planetary explosion had still nearly killed her.
She looked up weakly.
A black tendril pierced her chest.
Assimilation occurred instantly.
Her memories flooded Derrick's mind.
Her mutation followed.
Power gained:
*Complete spatial awareness and manipulation.
*Lactuca could perceive every location in the universe simultaneously and manipulate spatial vectors accordingly.
Now Derrick could:
*Instantly locate objects across astronomical distances
*Fold space to travel faster than conventional flight
*Manipulate gravitational vectors with extreme precision
His perception expanded instantly.
He could now see Earth, Jupiter, and the asteroid belt simultaneously.
Sobunar of the Depths
Another tendril dragged in the body of Sobunar of the Depths.
Sobunar's mutation was bizarre.
His body contained access to an entire extradimensional ocean ecosystem.
Assimilation completed.
Power gained:
*Access to a pocket dimension containing alien oceans
*Control of massive water pressure forces
*Ability to manifest oceanic biomass constructs
Derrick now had access to billions of tons of extradimensional water mass.
Xilo
Among the debris floated fragments of living Martian ecosystems.
At the center of them was Xilo.
Xilo's body was barely holding together.
Their mutation allowed them to function as a planet-scale biological ecosystem.
Derrick consumed them.
Power gained:
*Planetary-scale biological manipulation
*Self-sustaining biosphere generation
*Ability to convert environments into living systems
The Blacklight virus adapted instantly.
It began evolving toward planetary-level biomass control.
Dozens of Other Arakko Mutants
The tendrils continued harvesting.
Energy manipulators.
Gravity users.
Reality warpers.
Warriors bred through millennia of Amenth combat.
Every assimilation strengthened Derrick's genetic library.
One survivor remained floating among the debris.
Isca the Unbeaten
Derrick looked at her from across the asteroid field.
Her mutation still made direct conflict problematic.
She could not lose.
But Derrick understood something now.
Her power forced her to join the winning side.
And after the destruction of Mars…
The winning side was obvious.
Isca slowly turned toward him.
Her golden eyes met his.
She did not attack.
Because her mutation already knew the outcome.
Derrick ignored her for now and stopped hunting.
He needed time to process the new abilities.
The Blacklight virus began reorganizing his biology, the process taking minutes..
Cells rewrote themselves.
Neural pathways expanded.
New organs formed to manage the incoming energy and spatial awareness.
For several minutes Derrick remained perfectly still as the upgrades integrated.
Scientific Analysis of Derrick's Current State
Using Lactuca's spatial perception, Derrick began analyzing himself.
The numbers were terrifying.
Strength
Before Mars' destruction, Derrick's Viltrumite physiology already placed him in the multi-teraton force range.
The kinetic energy required to shatter Mars through core penetration was roughly:
~10³² joules
For comparison:
The Chicxulub impact event released ~10²³ joules.
Meaning Derrick's impact produced billions of times more energy than the asteroid that caused Earth's mass extinction.
Speed
By orbiting the Sun repeatedly, Derrick achieved near-relativistic acceleration.
Estimated peak velocity:
~0.02c (2% the speed of light)
That is roughly:
6,000 kilometers per second
At that speed, a human-sized object striking Earth would release planet-destroying energy.
Perception
With Lactuca's mutation integrated,
Derrick could now:
Detect biological life across planetary distances
Observe gravitational distortions across the solar system
Predict spatial trajectories with extreme accuracy
To him, the entire inner solar system had effectively become a single battlefield.
Biomass Control
Combining Xilo's power with the Blacklight virus created a terrifying result.
Derrick could now theoretically:
Convert entire ecosystems into viral biomass
Create planet-scale biological structures
Spread infection through atmospheres, oceans, or soil
Dimensional Resources
Sobunar's mutation granted Derrick access to a near-infinite water mass dimension.
This could be used for:
*High-pressure attacks
*precise Mass manipulation
*Environmental devastation
Derrick's Final Calculation
Derrick opened his eyes.
Through Lactuca's spatial perception he could now see Earth clearly.
He spoke quietly.
"That was efficient."
Mars had contained millions of mutants.
Now their powers existed within him.
His strength had increased exponentially.
And the Blacklight virus continued evolving.
Earth – The Observation
Deep within an orbital monitoring station, alarms began screaming.
Governments had been tracking the destruction of Mars in stunned silence.
Now something else was happening.
On the screens appeared a new movement signature.
An object moving through space at impossible speed.
One analyst whispered.
"That… that's him."
Orchis Command Center
Inside the headquarters of Orchis, every screen displayed the same horrifying data.
Dr. Alia Gregor stared at the readings.
Mars was gone.
Destroyed by a single entity.
And that entity was now moving again.
A scientist spoke with visible fear.
"He just absorbed the surviving Arakko mutants."
Gregor slowly exhaled.
"Meaning he's stronger now."
The room went silent.
Another technician whispered.
"Trajectory prediction complete."
Everyone looked at the screen.
The line pointed directly toward Earth.
Gregor's voice was quiet.
"Activate every Sentinel we have."
Because something that could destroy planets…
Was now heading toward humanity.