POV T'Challa
"Where is HE!?" I shout at the thug while slamming him into a wall.
"Hehehehehe!" The man just laughs at me as he's clearly high on something.
"Where is N'Jadaka!" I scream at him once more.
"Ohohoho! He knew you would come here. He said he took everything from you!" the man says with a crazed smile.
I punch him in the gut and throw him to the ground.
"Tell me where. He. IS!" I demand once more.
"Hehehehehe! Oh, okay, okay, I'll tell, I'll tell," the man says with that same crazed smile.
I was starting to feel something was wrong with this guy. If he were high on something, he would be acting a bit differently. Then again, I don't have a lot of experience with this.
"Erik, said you would come here. He knew you would demand answers. But... Are you going to sacrifice what remains of your people cause Erik killed your family?" the man asks.
"What? What do you mean?!" I ask with growing impatience and slight worry.
"Oh, it's quite simple. Eric found your War Dog agents. While most are dead, a few still live. Not for long. So he gives you a choice. Go find him at his little base or save the few people you are sworn to protect," the man says with a crazed grin.
I pause and think back on everything that has happened in just the last couple of months. I lost everything. Erik murdered my family and every last civilian left in the settlement. Leaving my family's heads on a pike. He set the entire settlement to blow as soon as I arrived back. And since then, I had been tracking him across the world to get revenge, but somehow, he had been one step ahead of me at every step.
"Where is Erik!?" I ask one last time.
"Oh, so you have fallen that far. Very well, he's back right where it all began!" the man says with a disappointed or maybe bored look.
"What do you mean? Where did it all begin!?" I demand.
"Look, you're no fun. So let's liven this up a bit," the man says with an insane smile.
Beep... Beep... Beep
I hear a beeping and look down at the chest of the man I was interrogating. My angry look fades, and I reach for my helmet.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!" the man screams in mad laughter.
BOOOOOOOM
I barely get my helmet on before the entire building I was in is vaporized by the numerous explosives going off at once. But with my Vibranium armor, it was more of a minor inconvenience than a threat.
I leave the fiery ruins and walk right into encirclement.
"T'Challa, put your hands up! You are under arrest for the murder of over 11 police officers across Europe!" the Interpol agents say while aiming pistols at me.
"They were corrupt cops; they were working for Killmonger," I refute while thinking of how to get to my jet undetected.
"If you speak the truth, then come with us, and the courts will handle it," the agent says calmly.
"I can't do that; I still have things I have to do," I reply calmly.
"Don't try it," the agent warns.
I run straight towards them and ignore the several bullets as they flatten against my Panther Suit. I run straight into one of their vans and use it as a ramp, jumping over all of them and into some alleyways.
POV Shift Sabretooth
I look back and don't see the monster, but I still don't wait around and continue running. Whatever that creature was, it instantly woke me up from the mind control. But that wasn't for a good reason; it was because my instincts screamed that I was in severe danger. I had never felt so much fear and danger from anything in my very long life, and I had no interest in finding out if my instincts were accurate or not.
Speaking of those instincts, I feel a massive wave of danger and throw myself to the side. As I crash to the ground, I see an entire section of the forest has been cleanly cut down.
"I have to admit, you are quite the slippery prey. But I can't let such a prime specimen escape me. Especially not since you have something that is very important for me," the creature says calmly.
My legs shake in terror as I feel as if I were before a predator and I was nothing more than a defenceless mouse.
Bite
I bite my lip to regain a modicum of control and feel my body get flooded with adrenaline. I release my claws and charge at the creature. If I were going to die, then I would die a wolf, not a sheep.
"Rarrgh!" I scream as I attempt to dig into his hide.
Snap
My claws break off and regrow rapidly as I can't even scratch the creature's skin. The creature captures me in a bear hug.
"Your regeneration is as impressive as I heard. Rejoice, for you will now become another step in the process of becoming the perfect lifeform," the creature says with a smile.
I feel several punctures and then the slowly draining energy from me. Even with all my strength and powers, I cannot break this creature's grip, nor can I counter whatever it is he is doing. I see my skin start to wrinkle and decay as if I were rapidly aging. Slowly, I am drained of everything and feel my vision go dark.
POV Shift ???
Once my prey is fully absorbed, I process the knowledge and powers I just got.
"Another step completed. Now, who do I strike next?" I murmur.
I had gained a power that would make me nearly unkillable, but that didn't stop the issue of who I could target now. I was strong, very strong, but I couldn't be sure if I was strong enough to take on one of the main targets. The Eternals and the X-Men are too powerful or united to take them on.
'Wait. There are a couple of mutants I could devour. Yes, that one might be a bit risky, but he is unable to fight back yet.'
I make my decision and decide to hunt down my next target. However, I have to change that as I dodge an attack from an enemy.
BOOOOOM
"Well, you dodged, huh?" says a man that I quickly identify.
"So you found me?" I ask rhetorically of the Eternal Gilgamesh, who had managed to find me.
'And where there is one there is...'
I don't even have the chance to respond before I am hit by another attack, this one much stronger than before.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
I am hit hard enough that I don't stop for nearly a mile. I walk out of the crater with only minor damage. But it was enough that I knew what I needed to do.
'Might as well collect some samples.'
I vanish in a flash of movement and strike the weakest link first. I absorb her as fast as I can as her allies appear and strike at me. First were Gilgamesh and Thena, who attempted to attack together, but I knew how to weaken them easily. I strike Thena with a psychic attack, causing her to keep the most dangerous Eternal occupied, allowing me to focus on Gilgamesh.
"Thena! Don't!" Gilgamesh gets distracted, allowing me to strike him several times.
That weakness allows me to kill him, but not without taking far too many hits. I could heal the damage, but I couldn't do so yet.
SNAP
Thena's neck is snapped violently, killing her instantly, leaving me with Ikaris. Who looks unimpressed. I don't even get the chance to react before he is already striking me. There was no chance for me to retaliate as he easily overpowers and outspeeds me by a massive margin.
BOOM
I weakly look up at the glowing eyes as they strike me, and I am vaporized with immense power. Every last bit of me is erased.
Or so he thinks. In reality, a chunk of my flesh had already absorbed Thena and burrowed underground, where I would slowly regenerate. My plan worked flawlessly as Ikaris didn't look around for long before rocketing into the sky and far from me.
'While I may have lost this battle, I gained more than enough. Some day, I will be ready to devour him as well. But I shall bide my time for now.'
POV Shift Kingpin
Crash
"Where do these freaks keep coming from!?" I shout in rage.
I had lost yet another large shipment of guns to a vigilante. If this were even just a year ago, I wouldn't mind that much. Business was good back then, and I could afford some losses here and there. But now! Now I was struggling to keep the damn lights on thanks to the ridiculous amount of metas in NYC.
'Why are there so many in New York? It's ridiculous!'
I had to deal with Daredevil, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Punisher, Batman, Powerwoman, Luke Cage, and, on occasion, the X-Men. I wasn't completely powerless, as I had been gathering metas of my own to combat the Guardians. So far, I have Bullseye, Kraven, Hammerhead, Tombstone, Shocker, Rhino, and, when someone pays the right price, Taskmaster. But I wasn't delusional; beating the Guardians was not possible for now. We needed to work together if we wanted to beat them. Or develop some super weapon to counter the Guardians and the other heroes. It also didn't help that I couldn't fully ascertain who was a Guardian and who wasn't, as there isn't an official list of members.
But if things continued like this, I couldn't be sure how much longer I could keep my organization going.
'Maybe I should reach out to Frost or Shaw and ask for their help. No, Shaw is hiding in South America, and the Hellfire Club has disbanded in all but name, so Frost won't help either.'
I was one of three members left in the club, if you can even call it that anymore, seeing as everyone else either left or was arrested. Or worse, judged by Ghost Rider. If there was a silver lining, it was that Ghost Rider didn't seem to show up in New York at all.
'Thank whatever gods are out there for that.'
I pick up the phone and make a call.
"Taskmaster, I got a job for you," I say with a grim look.