MARVEL: Lord of the Abyss

A/N:

" " : Dialogue,

' ' : Thought,

"Italicized text" : Telepathy,

"Bold text" : Shadows,

[ ] : System,

| | : Artificial Intelligence.

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Omniscient POV

Thanks to the much more advanced technology that exists within this Earth, a great number of things had already adopted the functionality of the Internet into their workings. For example, banking, news, entertainment, commerce, and of course, information transmission.

And due to the advancements made, in most of the technologically developed parts of the world, the Internet was already running on 4G networks. This allowed Ashwani to very quickly send the information he had on Gao's drug operation and the corruption of Midland Circle Financial to multiple news networks, the NYPD, and federal agencies, such as the IRS, CIA, FBI, and even SHIELD.

While the issue of drugs definitely wasn't going to be seen as minor, the kidnappings of multiple children and money laundering operations were still going to be the major point of this investigation, at least on Gao's part.

On Alexandra's part, or more accurately, Midland Circle Financial's part, they had multiple money laundering operations, multiple cases of predatory financial policies for its customers, even some cases of defrauding customers.

The reports also showed Alexandra's involvement with Gao and her operations, so as things stand, neither her nor Gao would have had any chance of reintegrating into society, if they were alive, that is.

As for the children that Ashwani had rescued, they were actually being kidnapped as the Hand's form of recruitment, rather than being used for the resurrection of the Black Sky, and due to Alexandra's death before she suggested such a thing, the Black Sky was most likely never going to be a thing in this universe.

And as for the culprit of all this tumult, Ashwani was inside an aircraft, one that many Wakandans would recognize if they saw it. He had made a replica of Wakanda's Royal Fang aircraft using his nanomachines, and was flying it around with all stealth technologies on Earth, and at Mach speeds towards Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, otherwise known as the X-Mansion.

...

Ashwani POV

Screwing over the Hand felt nice and cathartic, but personally flying a high tech aircraft that has been given space faring capabilities feels awesome.

Thanks to the memories from Wakanda's dead scientists, royals, Dora Milaje, and even the memories of Mar-Vell and the other Kree and Skrulls that had been killed here, I was able to make a suped up version of the Royal Fang.

As for its power source, I owe that to Howard Stark, as I have the memories for the arc reactor blueprints, as well as the full capabilities to make the improved version that he had speculated and hidden in his Stark Expo model. Now, this doesn't mean I've made Badassium - I'm definitely going to give it a better name than that, Tony. I've only made a rudimentary version of the mini arc reactor, which can easily power this baby for about 30 minutes, and I won't even need it for that long.

As for the Hand, they're not going to be having a good time, especially since a lot of their bases in America are currently being raided by multiple federal agencies. As for Gao and Alexandra, I'm going to masquerade their deaths. For Gao, I'll just send a box with ground human flesh that matches her DNA to one of her drug dens, and I'll make a video of Alexandra immolating herself with napalm.

I'll also leave a little message behind for Sowande, Bakuto and Murakami. I'm sure that they'll have some suspicions that they'll come here to confirm, so it'll only be a matter of time before I fully destroy the Hand.

As for my visit to the X-Mansion, it's mainly for me to see what universe's X-Men I'm working with. If it'll be the 20th Century Fox version, pre or post Days of Future Past, or if they come from some comic or cartoon storyline, if they're a mashup of multiple storylines, or if they're a whole new AU version.

I soon reach the X-Mansion, and as soon as I do, I revert the entire aircraft to nanomachines. As I walk onto the premises, I let my senses cover as far as they can, mainly to check for the presence of this universe's Jean Grey.

Seeing as I only detect one Omega level meta, who is also familiar, I conclude that the Phoenix's avatar has not yet awakened to her powers. "ELITE, call Xavier's office." |Roger.| She says and immediately patches a call through to Charles.

"Hello, may I know who this is?" I hear his voice. "I'm outside, Charles." He sharply inhales. "I'll let you in now, Ashwani." Knowing him, he probably sent multiple telepathic messages in that short time.

I walk up to the building's entrance and knock, and almost immediately, a chrome plated beefcake opens the door. "Professor let us know you were coming. Please come in." Piotr Rasputin, AKA Colossus says with his thick Siberian accent.

"Спасибо, тебе друг(Thank you, friend)." I tell him in Russian, surprising him, if ever so shortly. "Right, follow me. I'll take you to the Professor." He says and begins walking.

We passed through the school part of the mansion, and I used Void Gaze in conjunction with my EM vision to look through walls and see the full interior of multiple classrooms.

Of the notable metahumans that had a start at the X-Mansion, I see Robert Drake, AKA Iceman, John Allerdyce, AKA Pyro, Katherine Pryde, AKA Shadowcat, but I see no sign of any member of the Summers family, not Alex, AKA Havok, not Gabriel, AKA Vulcan, and not even Scott, AKA Cyclops. I don't see any sign of Anna Marie, AKA Rogue, or even Piotr's little sister, Illyana Rasputina, AKA Magik.

Looking at all of this has made it quite clear that this is definitely an AU that has elements from different universes mixed in, meaning that even some extremely pivotal events may not pan out the same way I would expect from watching the movies, or even from reading the comics.

We soon reach Charles's office and Piotr opens the door, and inside are Charles, Logan, Ororo, Hank and even the metahuman inventor, Forge. And unlike last time, Charles is in his yellow hoverchair instead of a wheelchair.

"Hello again, Ashwani. We're glad to see you could make it." Charles greets me from his hoverchair. "Hey, kid." Logan greets gruffly. "Hello, Ashwani. I'm glad to see that you're alright." Ororo says with a soft smile.

"Hello. Glad to see you're all doing okay too. Hello, Henry. I'm a fan of your work and studies on the X-gene. Hello, ᎬᏃᏥ. (A/N: Cherokee for Blacksmith.) The Danger Room you've made is quite a marvelous machine." Forge jolts upon hearing his old name, then he shakes his head.

"I have long left that past of mine behind, young one. Just call me Forge." He says, and I nod. Meanwhile Hank just looked at me with amazement. "Fascinating. From what you've told me about him, you never mentioned me, but he knows of me, even as I look now. How does that work?" He says, his scientific curiosity showing itself in full bloom as he walks close to me, looming over me like a hawk.

"He's still like this?" I turn to Charles and ask. "Only when he's amazed by something. Now, Hank. Let our guest have some breathing space." Charles says from his hoverchair. "Ah, right. My apologies." Hank says as he backs away. "No problem. I understand how we can get when we see something that interests us."

He raises a brow at me, while I look at Charles. "I take it that you didn't, or rather, couldn't properly explain my death related abilities to them." I say and he nods with a sigh. "Well, since I'm here now, I can do that. But first, anyone else here that I need to meet?" I ask him with a raised brow.

"No, there's no one that has need to know of your presence that isn't already here." Charles says, and I nod and create a chair from darkness, then begin telling them of some of my Shadow Monarch exclusive abilities, my inexplicable link to the deaths of all intelligent beings and my Darkforce abilities. My powers as someone with the power of the Outsider and my nanomachines will be kept hidden from them, and most of the world for the next few years at least.

I also keep my access to the Plane of Eternal Rest, and my shapeshifting abilities a secret. No matter how much they may want to claim that they know about powers from the X-gene, when it comes to those that are intimately connected to some dimensions, they have proven multiple times over in the comics, where they're meant to be more capable versions of themselves, that they are not equipped with the proper knowledge to help them.

"This is far more than I would have expected. A connection to death, shadows and darkness. But you said that your power from the X-gene is the ability to use... Darkforce, you said?" Hank says as he continues writing on his clipboard, that he has for writing down observations.

"Yes, specifically it makes me a conduit for the Darkforce. My powers as the Shadow Monarch are derived from my magic." He looks at me like I have 3 heads. "There's no way that magic is real. Right?" He asks, skepticism lacing his tone.

"I guarantee you, Hank. Magic is definitely real, and it also has its own categories, just like science." He looked at Charles and Logan, as if seeking confirmation. "Hank, I have the full history of every single intelligent being that has ever died on this planet. So you should understand that when I tell you that something is real, I'm doing so from a place of experience, not just as an eyewitness."

"Ah, sorry. It's just... I..." He stutters. "Don't worry, there's a lot of stuff that I have full knowledge of that most people would call me crazy for even suggesting. So I understand if hearing that magic, something that most scientists would immediately deny, is real would be so averse to you." I say with a smile.

"Hey, kid." Logan's gruff voice sounds from the side. "Your ability to raise the dead, is it limited by anything in particular?" I expected this question, so I just smile. "No, not that I've seen." I say and bring out a few of my Shadow Ninjas, startling them.

"I'd say that maybe bringing someone that's been dead for a really long time would be a bit of an issue, but apart from that, there's nothing limiting me." Logan looks at the shadows with a cautious gaze, while Hank looks like he can't hold himself back from trying to study them.

"So this is how you raise the dead, huh? And when did these guys die, 100, 200 years ago?" Logan asks while Ororo hands me a cup of water. "Thank you, Ororo. And they died yesterday." They all look at me, wondering where I would have gotten so many ninjas in just the span of 24 hours.

"They were members of a secret society known as the Hand. It's been around for centuries now, and was created by five Chi practitioners who were trying to achieve immortality." They all looked like they couldn't fully grapple with the fact that something like that has been present for so long and they had no idea.

"Centuries? No one could actually live for that long. Right?" Hank says with his hand on his chin, and a confused expression on his face. "Why are you getting so surprised about that, when you've got someone who's well over 100 years old right here?" Logan looks at me, slightly offended.

"Hey, kid. I'm a single person. You're talking about an entire organization being around for hundreds of years, while also managing to stay secret." I just look at them, understanding how little knowledge they have of the world around them. "So? It's not the only one. Hydra's also there." The room goes silent.

"What do you mean, Hydra? I thought they were gone with Captain America dealing with them back in the second World War." Charles asks, clearly alarmed by my words. "That was only a single sect of Hydra. Hydra had been spread all over the world long before then. Not to mention, they've infiltrated many leadership positions around the world, even in SHIELD." As I continue speaking, everyone's expressions become more and more sullen.

"Then, doesn't this mean that we've already lost the battle against them?" Charles asks, his voice carrying a sense of defeat that I wouldn't have expected. "Not really." They look at me, wondering what I would suggest.

"Hydra is still hated by most of the world to this day, which is why they stick to covert actions and diversion tactics. So if we're able to inform the world of their presence and identities, we'll be able to unite a great deal of humanity against them." I tell them the general idea to tackling Hydra.

"How can you be sure that would work?" Hank asks, his voice distraught. "Because for one, most of the world's brightest minds also hate Hydra, and there are some of them that prefer to just be left alone. Second, the thing that unites humanity the most in recent days is a collective hatred for something or someone." Charles looks ready to try to defend humanity, but even he, with his rose-colored outlook on humanity's nature, has to agree that I'm right.

"Okay, so that's agreed on, but you haven't explained anything about this Hand group." Forge says, lightly clearing the gloomy air from the room.

"Right. The Five Fingers of the Hand, as the leaders like to call themselves, are chi practitioners, as I'd mentioned earlier. This means that they are veritable superhumans with a considerably better physique than most humans, which would grant them greater strength, speed, durability, cognitive ability, healing, senses and lifespan than most humans." I say, outlining the basic abilities of your average chi practitioner.

"Chi. I've heard of it before, but I didn't think it was something that could be so effective." Hank says. "Oh, it's effective, alright. Hell, if you're able to get strong enough with it, you can manipulate objects around you with your own chi, like you're a telekinetic." They look at me with questioning gazes.

"Yes, I know how to use chi, and I've even started using it to nourish my body, but you do need to understand that this is literal life force." I tell them, and they calm down. "Something so esoteric can't be all that easy to understand." Hank says, understanding the point I'm trying to make.

"But back to the Fingers. Most of them have used the time granted by the pseudo-immortality that they were able to achieve, to create their own criminal empires and gain a moderately strong footing in different parts of the world. There was Gao, who chose to create a heroin operation that had its roots in Hell's Kitchen. Then Alexandra, who chose to make Midland Circle Financial, while also cooperating with Gao to take control of Rand Industries. Sowande, a South African warlord, who if I remember correctly, is currently operating in Harlem, trying to kill off the other society that has been opposing the Hand. Bakuto, who despite operating as a martial arts teacher in multiple dojos, still works alongside Gao and Alexandra every once in a while. And finally, Murakami, the only one of them that I may have some second thoughts killing." They listened as I put out some information on the Fingers, but Charles frowns.

"Why would you kill them?" I look at him, deadpan at his foolish question. "I just told you how 4 of them are as shitty as they are, and that there's only one that I might actually give some thought to killing, but that's the stupid shit that came out of your mouth?" I just sigh at him after.

"Gao, Alexandra. I've heard those names quite recently." Ororo mentions. "Yeah, on the news. Not to mention, I've already killed and raised those two, so anyone looking for them is going to be wasting their time." I say and summon Gao and Alexandra's shadows.

"If you aren't going to move your hands to do the dirty work, then no problem. Continue rescuing metahumans and helping them, but don't get in the way when I'm taking out those that have to be." I say to Charles, my intent clear.

"Now, that's enough of that. It's about time I did something helpful." I say, causing them to look at me with confusion. I manipulate the darkness that I used to make my chair. "I'll need you to take off your clothes, Logan." The room went silent for a few seconds. ""What?!""

Chapter End.

Word Count: 2,794

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