38 38: Fire-with-Fire (3)
Chapter 38: Fire-with-Fire (3)
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"—Unless you want your arms to go useless like your legs."
All of the X-Men as expected were not a fan of what Super-Nova just said. Charles was a person who all of them deeply respected, regardless of the questionable things he had done throughout the past.
"The balls of this guy!" Scott "Cyclops" Summers reacted before anyone else, as he put a hand beside his visor. "Did your parents never teach you manners? Apologize!"
"What's up with that middle-schooler dialogue?" Enrique chuckled as he looked down at Cyclops with a tilt of his head. "I have a different suggestion. How about you shut the fuck up, bitch?"
"This bastard!" Cyclops's jaws snapped harshly. "I'm not holding back this time!"
Scott had seen and heard enough of Enrique, in previous times he barely held himself back, but now it was starting to get too much. This guy needed to be taught a lesson!
The other X-Men didn't try to stop him this time, excluding Storm who hesitated for a bit—but before she could do anything, it was too late and Scott had made his move.
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Moving his eyes from Emma Frost who was taking cover behind the X-Men while wearing a smirk, Enrique looked back at Cyclops who immediately fired a red beam of explosive, concussive force directly at him.
Enrique didn't look shocked, and he didn't try to dodge either—knowing he was invincible against that thing. Besides, that beam was too fast to dodge. Rogue had attacked him with the same power back when with Magneto, and Enrique was more than just fine even after facing it head-on.
So, he decided to do the same this time too, despite the Cyclops' bluff of 'not holding back'.
Enrique brought his arms forward, forming an 'X' in front of his chest, as the beam clashed with his forearms. The sharp black claws that were coming out of his wrists met the beam head-on, just as the beam was cut into dozen parts that splattered by Enrique's side, leaving him very much untouched when the beam finally dissipated in thin air soon.
The X-Men took a battle stance, and Enrique unwrapped his arms that were emitting hot smoke, standing straight in the air with his jaws clenched. Two sharp tusks were coming out of the above row of his teeth, making him look like a terrifying beast, as he glared down at the group of racist superheroes.
"Remember," Enrique sounded gruff. "Your guy started it."
Then, like a bolt of thunder, Super-Nova launched downwards at Cyclops with the intention to tear him apart.
– Bzzt!
Jean Grey was about to use her telekinesis powers to stop Enrique, but Enrique was already expecting that—so he shot a bolt of lightning at Wolverine standing just beside her, shocking him greatly, thanks to his metal skeleton, as he stumbled on Jean's body that worked to make her lose concentration.
Cyclops, with his hand rising to touch his visor in high alert, was just an arm's reach from Enrique. At the speed Enrique was moving and perceiving this world at, he was sure to grab Cyclops by his face and slam him down on the ground before the latter managed to touch his visor to activate his power.
Intending to do just that, Enrique reached out to grab Cyclops' puny head! — Just as a thunderous beam of lightning slammed to his side, sending him flying off to crash on a tree nearby.
– Bam!
With a growl, Enrique fell to the ground as leaves scattered down from the tree. He stood back up and shrugged, tree leaves falling from his body, as he locked eyes with his attacker—Ororo "Storm" Munroe.
"…I don't wish to fight you," Storm replied softly, but her eyes were determined. "Please leave this place before you get hurt."
"And we were building such a sweet romantic story, too." Enrique started to float in the air again, his stoic expression unchanged. "Looks like it comes to an end today."
Without hesitation, Enrique rushed to Storm—who was but a side-grade version of himself—as she failed to react to his speed and got caught in his grip. Enrique grabbed her by the throat, flying forward before he slammed her against a tree—hearing a 'crack' sound come from where he was grabbing her by the neck.
"Ak-"
Enrique's palm came flying on her face, interrupting her moan of pain, and causing the back of her head to slam against the tree once again, her eyes going white. But the whiteness was not a sign of Storm activating her power but was rather a sign of unconsciousness.
"Fair warning, stay down even if you do wake up mid-battle," Enrique warned while looking at Storm whose bloody face fell right on the ground. "Because next time, I won't go so easy."
Hearing the sound of something charging up, Enrique reacted to his senses to jump upwards in the air, as immediately a red beam of concussive force passed through where he was standing a moment ago.
As the beam stopped, Enrique looked down on Cyclops from the air. As he stood in the air, his cape started to flutter in the air which was starting to get rough once again, now that no Storm was messing with it. Thunder clouds gathered up in the sky, ready to be used at any time with the help of Mut, as Enrique met eyes with the X-Men challengingly.
Professor-X and Cyclops looked a bit nervous, while Wolverine looked pissed and Jean looked confused for whatever reason. Enrique slowly locked eyes with Emma Frost who was hiding behind them, and a smirk formed on his lips when he noticed her stunned expression.
Amongst them all, Logan growled in a voice that matched Enrique. "You shouldn't have hurt her, bub, not after she said she didn't wanna fight with ya."
Enrique turned to meet the metal beast's eye. "As I said, your guy started it—blame him if you want to."
Wolverine wasn't a guy of logic, so before Enrique could finish he had already taken out his claws and run forward—except Enrique was high in the air, where he couldn't jump up to, and he didn't have any intention to give up that advantage either.
Enrique pointed a finger at Logan, who instinctively took out his claws, but that was a mistake as Enrique channeled forward lightning of great voltage—that met with metal claws of Logan and shocked him harshly.
"Hot-headed guy."
Enrique wasn't cheap on channeling more power since otherwise, Logan's healing factor will make him return to normal in no time. Unfortunately, he knew the others wouldn't keep still in their place while he did this, and that was true as Cyclops once again blasted his beam at Enrique—who had to stop shocking Wolverine, as he fell to his face, to cross his arms in front of his chest.
When the beam ended, Enrique growled at Cyclops—who shot another beam, but Enrique had expected its trajectory and used it to dodge the attack.
Enrique flew forward fast, and at the same time he shot a beam at the handicap, who was Professor-X, forcing Jean to use her telekinesis to cover him up. But that left Cyclops alone, to try and get a lock on Enrique, just as Enrique reached him in time.
Enrique spun in the air, building velocity, as he slammed his feet on Cyclops' chest. He didn't use his arms because then there would have been a hole in Cyclops' chest, but the kick was more than enough as the fool was sent crashing back into the wall of Emma's school building.
Enrique left him to his own accord, knowing he would be unconscious after such a blow—given his normal physical build—and turned his head onto the remaining people.
"Let's see," Enrique looked at Charles, Jean, and Emma. "One is handicapped, both mentally and physically, so let's count him eliminated already. That only leaves the Phoenix between me and my punching bag. Jean, get out of here."
"…You don't seriously expect me to do that, after what you just did to my Scott?" Jean asked with a flabbergasted expression, making Enrique shrug his shoulders.
"Isn't that more of a reason to fuck off? Go check if your boyfriend got any more mental injuries or not. I don't know, personally I would say he is retarded enough already." Enrique told her off, which only made her frown deeply.
"Why are you even doing this? You get nothing from fighting u-"
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Enrique was offended. "I am after Emma Frost, and given her history you should expect she did something bad which is why I am after her. I don't fucking want to make an enemy out of the X-Men for no real reason, do I? I am not insane, what the fuck? Stop asking dumb questions and get out of here, Jean. This is between me and Emma only, don't tangle yourself into this—as we both know nothing well would come out if you and I fight."
"…."
"Phoenix, are you in there?" Enrique called the main player when Jean didn't find a reply. "Get your host out of here—and no, I am not threatening you, before your ego gets hurt."
Jean, who was wearing a hesitant expression, flinched sharply as her eyes went fiery red and the end of her hair caught on fire. The storm that was brewing in the sky suddenly got harsher, and sparks of fire started to dance along with the thunderclouds. The wind grew stronger, and the tree leaves cried aloud as wind slapped them, some even catching on fire.
Professor-X' expression went severely pale while the White Queen looked shocked and confused, as she entered her diamond form. To her credit, she did have the decency to grab Charles' chair and pull him back from 'Jean'.
On Jean's bubbly lips, a soft but mischievous smirk formed.
"Directly addressing me, heh? Who gave you the permission, Child of Demiurge?" the Phoenix Force asked, as fire caught onto the thunderclouds in the air, painting the sky red. "Just because I said I like you doesn't mean we are close friends, are we?"
"…Oh, no, certainly not." Enrique Nova didn't look nervous; he just wore a smirk of his own. "Though I was hoping we could be friends, you know? Such was why I suggested your host Jean Grey and I don't fight, as that'd cause unnecessary beef between us. I didn't mean any offense."
The Phoenix Force, descent onto Jean, tilted her head to the side and stared at Enrique. A moment later, it laughed softly.
"Haah… A part of me just wants to tear apart your mind to see how much of your word is true, but a greater part of me says maybe I should be kind for once in a while and let you slip this time." The Phoenix kept staring at Enrique, and before long she sighed. "Be proud then, Child of Demiurge, for you are to survive even after seeing me in person."
By the term 'Child of Demiurge', Enrique supposed she was talking about how his void– [Blank] –power came from Demiurge. That connection was surely the only reason the Phoenix was letting him off.
'…Not that I didn't have a backup plan.' Enrique noted mentally, knowing that Rogue should be hiding somewhere around here by now, as ordered. 'If a fight did break out, sure it might not be the Phoenix who would have suffered a loss—but I certainly wouldn't have died here.'
Anna "Rogue" Marie wasn't someone who could absorb the entirety of the Phoenix in one go, but even so—she was stronger than him against opponents like this bird.
"Say, you owe me one, and I will take these distractions to their home." The Phoenix suddenly said, as the X-Men, unconscious and conscious alike, all moved towards her via her telekinesis. "Goodbye, darkness, may our next meeting be less fiery."
Enrique gave her a nod as, in a swift motion, the Phoenix-possessed Jean Grey flew off with the other X-Men, including Charles.
Now, on the battlefield, only Emma Frost and Enrique were left, and the latter didn't look so good.
"…Azazel," she called softly. "Anytime now… Aza-"
"You are looking for this guy?" Suddenly, from beside Emma, a feminine voice called, and she jumped on high alert to look at the person who just spoke. "Oh my, you are easy to scare."
Emma Frost took a step back as she looked at a teenage girl with red skin, sharp ears, and a pointy tail swinging behind her. On her grip, was an unconscious man—her servant, Azazel.
"There is nowhere to run, Emma." Enrique said as he flew to her, landing beside the red-skinned girl and putting an arm around her waist. "No point in trying to ruin her mind, either, I have it pre-defended, thanks to my dear Goddess. Though I doubt you can use your mind powers in that diamond form."
Emma was stuck. He was right, she couldn't use her mind powers in her diamond form. That was one of her main weaknesses. So, she could either turn her diamond form off—therefore making her vulnerable to any of Enrique's attacks—with just the hope of cracking this red-skinned girl's mind, or just surrender for once. Swallowing her pride, in exchange for her life.
"…We can talk this through, Mr. Nova." Emma sighed at last, stopping her legs from backing off any longer, and rather just raised her arms in surrender. "I… It's my defeat, and I apologize for ruining your night. Please look over this and allow me a chance to propose another, better deal for you."
Enrique looked at her with a gaze of contemplation, as he tried to decide what exactly to do with this scheming, arrogant woman.
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