BOOOOOM!!!
The energies around the three people collided against each other and rolled off in waves of destruction.
The land around them was searing with different types of energies that even walking for a normal person was hard.
Due to Magneto's power, the gravitational pull around them had increased over three times its normal amount but the three of them shrugged it off.
The area around then was so chaotic that some areas had floating rocks while others cracked with lightning.
Magneto's power had completely changed the landscape for over 3 km and it was still increasing.
Explosions and flashes of different elements danced around as the three of them continuously clashed.
Draul had them beaten in durability as he was able to heal from any type of injury they inflicted on him, followed by Doom who had an enchanted armor with his superhuman physique. Magneto had the weakest physique among the three of them which was super soldier level. He made up for that deficit by having the most impenetrable defense out of all of them.
His force field was stronger than Draul's and Doom's put together making him harder to hit than both of them.
Magneto drew metal from deep within the earth and formed a giant hand that had multiple hands on each of the fingers and spewed them at the towering Draul.
Draul formed a red cleaver on one hand and sent a slash at the hands coming towards him adding on to the cacophony of booms resounding that night.
He sent out his lasers and watched as they bent at impossible angles for anything in motion and chased the flying Doom. Doom with two clasped hands, brought them together to his chest in a 'X' form and charged a spell and sent it towards the hunting beams of red.
The spell collided with the beams and the effect of the collision caused the red to lose its dangerous luster as it turned black as if it was decaying.
Those lasers were one of Draul's hardest to dodge attacks because of its speed and its destruction affinity. Those weren't normal lasers by any stretch of words. Doom could feel them practically eating away at his runes and spells, that's why he tried to dodge them anytime Draul fired them.
Draul used the small window he got from Doom's absence and descended on Magneto. Magneto was the harder one to reach due to hax-like ability. The protective force field around him was harder to penetrate than Doom's armor.
They had been fighting in the middle of the storm for minutes with all of them dealing damage of varying degrees to each other that the fight could be said to last through the night and into the morning if nothing happened. But that couldn't be more farther from the truth.
As the fight went on, Doom and Magneto could feel that Draul was getting stronger and his attacks were becoming more diverse and lethal. His mastery was reaching terrifying levels that one time during the fight, all he needed was a slight tap to the ground and a few hundred meters around him turned to larva in seconds.
Doom was wracking his mind on how to cope with the increasing slew of attacks that Draul was sending because he could feel that most of his runes had been destroyed and he was creeping ever so closely to the bottom part of his energy reserves. The thought to cut off his loss here came to him but he refused to run away TWICE.
He already had the teleportation matrix set up to be activated at any time with his thoughts.
Magneto on the other hand could feel that he was off the steep end but he pushed through. He could feel that if he could push himself further, his abilities would become so terrifying that none would stand against him.
Never in his life had he thought he could be capable of such high magnitudes of power. How could the humans not bow before such supreme was something he would never understand.
But with the joy of his new heights came the rage that someone could still measure up to him and put him at the back foot. They had been fighting for what felt like hours and yet… and yet, he still could not kill this mutant.
'He is strong.' Magneto was as arrogant as he was strong but even he could no longer deny the fact that Draul St. Cross was one of the strongest mutants he'd ever seen.
'But what a pity he chose the other side.'
If he had chosen to fight for his brethren in brotherhood then he would have been a king when the new world order came into fruition.
As admirable as his strength was, so was the conviction to kill him that Magneto had. He would never be at peace if he knew there was a mutant this strong that directly opposed him and his goals.
Magneto's danger sense rang like Christmas bells as he saw Draul raise his hand to the sky. Trusting his instincts, he expanded the field around him and bolstered up its repelling force. He was thankful for his quick action as no sooner had he done so, a lightning struck from the clouds at him.
The force was terrifyingly so that it tore through the layers of his force field without losing momentum and if not for Magneto covering his entire body with a repelling force opposite of that of the negatives of the lightning. He was flung away from the resulting explosion as the lightning met the earth.
He looked at the mutant… no the monster in human flesh as the fear he had been bottling down with his rage started seeping out.
Draul had grown another foot during the fight, putting him almost at a whooping 9, making him easily towering over his two foes.
He had stopped dodging their attacks mid-way through their slug fest and he became stronger for it.
Magneto couldn't be sure whether he had eyes anymore. From the bridge of Draul's nose up to the crown of his head was covered in red flames that increased his already terrifying image by extra points.
The lightning around his body was so intense to the point that normal attacks did not work anymore against him as it created a static field around him that bounced back insufficient attacks.
Only now did Magneto realize that this was a true death match. None would stop until the other was dead or escaped.
He could feel the exertion toll his abilities had on his body, he had taken on too much in too little time that it was starting to affect his control over his abilities but he couldn't stop here. They were on the cusp on a new era, he could feel it.
He could feel his people around the city, he could sense them fighting. He could not be allowed to fail here when come the morrow, was a new dawn. He would lead them through. He had promised them supremacy and he would deliver as the true leader he was.
With a shout, Magneto tapped into more of his power and the earth around them rose up. He continued to draw into the vestiges of his mutant gene, the endless power his status as an Omega level mutant gave him.
All around the state of New York, irregular storms came into existence in minutes while the bodies of water around the state and its coast raged.
News channels around the country and its neighboring borders spoke of the number of earthquakes that were appearing in some parts of the continent while sea guards complained about the number of ships that had been sunk in a night.
The state of New York was hit the worst disaster in its history two years after the 911 bombing.
"Oh. My. God!" Bobby exclaimed as they tried mitigating the damage the city was suffering from by helping the people while Storm tried to calm the weather.
They could feel where the eye of the storm was and they could tell that if they so much as neared it, they would die.
The reason for Bobby's exclamation was because of the tremble that ran across them which they knew that the entire city felt. Someone's power was affecting the entire city and neighboring states to the point that it was unreal.
It became even more improbable when two such people joined forces together to kill one man. Bobby was forever thankful that the Nightmare wasn't so gung-ho about killing them that night.
"Is there no way for us to help Draul?" The dude who Logan told them was the real Captain America asked.
That had been a real kicker to find out that the world's first super hero was still alive and so young. Kitty and Kurt had been so shocked at that that they immediately started apologizing which confused the older man greatly.
"That place smells of danger, even for me. Going there would be no different than suicide, Captain." Logan said. It was the first time ever that they had seen Logan so tensed.
They had been fighting the members of the Brotherhood who attacked them the moment they landed which prevented them from going to Magneto before whatever he was doing skyrocketed into whatever this was.
"Clint, what's Fury saying?" Steve askes the marksman of their makeshift team.
"He's in an emergency meeting with the council and the president right now… We just elevated by another 3.08%. If this continues any longer, the city is going to be split apart like pizza."
They could all feel the constant tremors under their feet and the cracks that were steadily appearing on the road was enough for them to tell that it would be incredibly dangerous as the city gets higher above sea level.
"Do we have any way to slow down the rate of the elevation?" Steve asked as he threw a meta over his shoulder and knocked him out with a kick.
"Reed and the furball are on it but they said they'll have to get closer to the eye to increase the chance of success and we don't see how that's happening anytime soon." This time it was the flaming kid that answered. Present times sure was strange to Steve Rogers, there was a talking rock and a human torch. Since when had living beings and fire become so close to one another except during wars? He sure as hell didn't have the answer to that.
"We need to find a way to get to Draul pronto. That's the only way we can hope to stop this before it gets any worse than it already has." Steve kicked a car towards a meta and had it smash him against another car.
"I'll go."
A huge gale of wind struck each member of the Brotherhood before small bolts of lightning struck them and knocked them out. Storm landed on the ground with her eyes pure white with small sparks of electricity running through them.
"Any progress?"
She sighed before she shook her head at Logan. "I was able to calm the tempest at sea and others around but the ones in the city are constantly recurring. We need to stop it at its source if we want to prevent further disasters."
"You sure you want to go? It's going to be incredibly dangerous. I would if not for the damned fact that the metal bastard would just toss me around." Logan growled a s he remembered the few times he had encountered Magneto. Never had he felt so weak against anyone other than the Master of magnetism.
"I'll be fine. Draul's been fighting them both for over an hour. He'd be able to defeat one of them quickly if he had someone to help him hold off the other." Ororo waved off his worry but Logan shook his head at her.
"I'm not talking about Doom or Magneto. It's Draul I'm worried about. Not even I would be able to keep my cool in such a stressful environment, you of all people should know that."
Everyone's face turned ashen as Logan said that… well not everyone.
"What do you mean? You think Draul would attack her if she wanted to help? That's impossible." Clint said with a frown.
"Dude's got some serious anger issues pal. Almost killed all of us the night he lost it." Bobby scoffed to the side.
"When was that?" Steve and Bucky frowned at that as they couldn't remember when Draul ever seemed out of his reasoning. They could say for certain that they had seen him get irritated, happened all the time, but they've never seen him angry. Certainly not to the point where he loses his reasoning and goes berserk.
"Regardless, I'm still going. The night has been wrought with far too many tragedies for it to go on any longer than it already has." She said with a tone of finality that also had a regal air to all who heard it. Without saying anything else, she flew up and made her way to the eye of the storm.
"I know I shouldn't say this given who I am but… damn she's hot!" Johnny Storm whistled.
Ororo flew towards the center of this disaster and only when she was close did she understand the magnitude of destruction that brought about what the cities were currently facing.
She was thankful for the fact that the battle that she could now hear was isolated because if it had been anywhere else in the populated city of New York, millions would have been the death toll before the end of the hour.
What graced her sight was something straight out of the Bible's telling of Armageddon. Fire, brimstone, disasters, hails, lightning. It was so apocalyptic that it brought phantom pain to her which confused her greatly. She knew she had always had some sort of connection to nature given her abilities but this was different.
She focused on her mission and pushed herself further into the quagmire only to find her flight speed slowed down due to the increased gravity. She scowled and then her body glowed in power, offsetting the increased gravitational pull and she flew towards her target.
She felt as if she was in another domain cut off from the earth as she entered a kilometer away from where the fight was going on.
She could instinctively feel something was off about this place. It felt like a mishmash of everything she had seen before. It felt chaotic.
She could finally see the three men fighting at the distance, moving at impressive speeds that left afterimages.
She saw Magneto covered by some sort of force field, controlling not just metals but rocks around him. Was this what the Professor meant by him controlling not just metals but the very polarity around it?
The other person was Dr. Von Doom who had some sort of letters etched into his armor that Ororo could only classify as magic. She felt strings of power from the symbols on his armor and she could tell which was dangerous by instinct.
The last was… Draul? She could only tell it was him due to that encompassing anger she always felt every time she watched him fight but instead of it being bottled up, it was rolling off in waves.
The upper half of his face was covered in red flames and his hulking physique which was way bigger than he ever was painted him to be the perfect image of a monster any child could imagine. A devil, if he had horns.
She felt apprehension when she looked at his form and she wouldn't be ashamed to say she even felt afraid and uncertain as she saw how he fought.
There was no longer any finesse he used to have the few times she'd seen him battle. No strategy employed or wise manipulations. All he did was dole out powerful attacks without making any effort to dodge the ones aimed at him.
She only remembered the reason she was here when Magneto held him down and Doom used some sort of energy and struck at his neck nut even that didn't kill him. The wound caught on red flames and healed in seconds.
She made the split decision at the moment he effortlessly broke free of the restraints and attacked Doom with lightning. She had to take some of the focus off of him if they ever had the chance to end it once and for all.
"How dare you obstruct Doom from his battle woman? Die!!" Doom raged and charged his spells while shooting blasts at her.
"Why are you doing this? Thousands are dead! Do you feel no remorse? Is your hate that great that you don't care about human life?" She replied back with her own questions. She wanted to understand how they could be this indifferent to the destruction they've caused.
"Doom doesn't care for the ants his boots steps on!" the megalomaniac in armor screamed out as he sent a wave of magic at Ororo who called forth a tornado and sent it towards Doom.
She would keep him at bay until Draul was done with Magneto or when she was through with him. Either way, they all had their work cut out for them.
She didn't plan on talking anymore as it was clear that neither of the men attacking Draul cared. She, with lightning coating her hands, struck at Doom who with a magic spell, created something like a lightning rod that redirected the lightning as it came near him to another location afar.
Ororo didn't let up as she created a huge maelstrom that took Doom by surprise and drew him in. Taking this chance, she engaged him in close combat with lightning cladded fist. Let it never be said that Ororo Munroe wasn't a master fighter in weapons and close combat.
They fought each other, exchanging different strikes but Doom was no slouch either. He received every attack she put forth and donated a few of his own for free. Sometimes he had no choice but to fall back as Ororo's attack came carrying with it the force of gales and storms.
The two continued fighting while moving away from the slam of Magneto and Draul.
Magneto was getting weaker but the same could not be said for Draul. The moment Doom was gone, Magneto felt as if he was figuratively carrying the weight of the world. It was as if Draul fell into a pace that he couldn't keep up with. He knew that the reason he hadn't yet lost a limb was because of the force field protecting him.
He could feel himself declining at a steady rate. He was using so much power that it was beginning to take a heavy toll on him. Some of his attacks had created far more damage than intended. He felt like he was a newly awakened mutant, struggling to control his powers like he had done when he was a kid.
It would take a while to get used to the new heights and sensations his powers brought him… but who was he? The name Magneto was a symbol of power and authority.
He was pushed to the ground by an overwhelming force that he still couldn't identify whether it was electromagnetism or telekinesis.
He repelled himself off the ground to avoid the stomp that destroyed his former location but before he could do anything else, a shadow loomed over him in the blink of an eye and he was sent flying as an axe made of lighting struck his shield with so much force that he coughed out blood.
He was given no reprieve as Draul was on him the next instant with a low uppercut that sent his cruising through the air at humanly impossible speeds only to be double-knuckled down back to earth.
This time though, he wasn't fast enough to get up as he could tell that some his bones were pulverized by that blow.
Blood poured out of his orifices in large amount but even that wasn't enough to grant him pity, not that he would ever accept it, as a huge hand covered his entire head and grabbed him up.
With such close distance, Magneto tried once more to influence Draul's blood in any way as he was sure that even if the metal was superheated by the extreme heat of Draul's body, there would still be massive amounts of metal inside but, as if to prove his despair, he felt the same interference from Draul.
His actions seemed to anger the quiet Draul as millions of volts wrecked his body only for Draul's searing red fist to punch through his protection, destroying this helmet and taking a part of his face.
He was beaten.
He was humiliated.
He felt chagrined.
There was no way someone like him would go out, beaten like a fool. His path was supreme and like a king he shall go down, fighting to the bitter end. He refused to let his enemy take leisure with his death.
"C-curse y-you!" He cursed at the demon in front of him but its face didn't change as if all was within expectations.
Magneto was angered.
He had promised himself that he would make Draul scream, and he hadn't fulfilled that promise yet.
With his indomitable will, he channeled every iota of his abilities and called it forth to himself.
He could feel the wavelength of everything around him. The static of Ororo Munroe, the screeching of Doom… and then the dead silence of Draul. His was so orderly that he would have missed it had it not been that his entire focus was on the man.
"No matter what you are, I have given the promise of your death. I order you to accept this seasonal gift." He croaked out of his damaged throat.
He focused his abilities on Draul and forced his will upon everything his power could touch, his powers trembled as did the space around Draul. The gravity was increased over a hundred times that it collided against its own atoms. The force was so unbearable that Draul was forced to all fours as he kept struggling against gravity.
The red cracks around his body thrummed to life as they widened and flared as red flames spew out in opposition. The both of them clashed their forces together and lightning and thunder roared in the sky while the earth bled red.
The ground rose and fell like the apocalyptic visions of a prophet but neither relented.
This was their last stand.
Whoever won meant the others death.
A distance away, Doom and Storm had stopped their battle as they felt the increasing danger of the chaotic space around the other two fighters.
Even in the city, people felt the increased pull of gravity but it wasn't as intense as what Draul and Magneto were facing.
Magneto kept trying to squash Draul with the collision of the space particles but he didn't know if it was Draul's body or the force he was using that was preventing him from victory.
He watched the huge Draul got on one foot and then another.
It was at that point that he knew his influence was failing. How unfortunate. With his new prowess, he could tell that he would be one of the strongest beings on the planet and at that point the revolution would come to fruition in less than a year.
At this point he couldn't help but think if he had been too hasty. He looked at Draul who was back on his two feet with a growing red orb of destruction in his hand.
"Even if I die… the revolution will still come to pass." He said.
Draul looked at the man while feeling like he was carrying an asteroid on his back. There was no need for second thoughts at this point, not that he could think of any.
He took a heavy step towards Magneto even as the pressure weighed him down. His bones were constantly getting crushed under the force with every exertion he made.
He stood in front of Magneto and he could see the loss of hope in the older man's eyes and also the iron conviction he held.
He didn't care about that as he grabbed the man by the neck but even then the man still held his resolution steadfast.
He felt the effect of Magneto's force subsiding as he choked the master of magnetism.
He put force into his legs and blasted upwards with a sonic boom with Magneto held by the scruff of the neck. Reaching a high enough magnitude he dropped the man and let him fall down before pointing the accumulated destructive energies he had gathered.
There was silence as the entire city saw the sky dye in red followed by the deafening sound of thunder crossing the skies.
The entire sky was dyed red for minutes that it could be seen as far as the neighboring states.
The seas and the earth stopped raging but the damage had already been done with deaths tolling in hundreds of thousands. The city of New York would be scarred for the next few years by this event but it would later be said by historians as what heralded the change of an Era.
Draul landed on the ground with a boom and his senses registered the static of lightning and immediately he flashed to where the person was only to see an apprehensive Ororo.
Ororo looked at the towering figure in front of her and she could still feel the waves of rage rolling off him. She prepared herself to fight to lead him away, farther, from civilization if he was still hostile.
Doom had teleported when she wasn't looking because of the disturbance he and Magneto had caused which left her here, waiting to know if the battle had really ended.
The tension she was feeling started increasing with every step that he took forward. She was not that delusional to think she could defeat him alone when she had seen the type of destruction their battle had caused the country.
She could hold him off for a while but eventually she would lose.
"Draul lis-"
"Don't bother." A deep voice came from Draul as he plopped his gigantic body on the floor. "So much for Christmas."
It was weird seeing such a figure talk in such a way but Ororo had seen some things in her short life not to be surprised by it.
She was still shocked on how to reply when she heard the sound of people coming near.
She could tell the authorities were on their way, probably had satellites down at this location now that the storm was gone.
"Hey Ororo." He called out to her. "Do me a favor and don't let anybody near me. I'm still feeling the need to rip someone's head off."
She hesitated for a moment before she finally asked what she wanted to from the beginning.
"Are you alright?"
He just chuckled and replied. "Never felt so cheated in my life. I'm pretty pissed off but I think that's just normal given the circumstances. Mildly irritated, which I think is nothing new… Oh right! I need a drink….? Fuck! The bar is gone."
By then some familiar people came into view with a black man with an eyepatch in the lead.
She walked forward to meet them like Draul had asked. She could tell he wasn't trying to be humorous when he said about killing people. She could still feel the killing intent rolling off from him even now.
…
[December 25th, 2003, 00:03 AM. The worst tragedy ever to hit the United States two years after the September 11th bombings, nicknamed the Red Eve or Red Christmas by news outlets, caused the deaths of 874,049 people in the city of New York alone and over 2 million across the country and affected states.
The series of natural disasters took place for over an hour with the red sky lasting minutes which crossed over to the hours of Christmas.
The fates and relationship between humans and mutants were forever changed with this event as its fulcrum.]
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Read up to 25 chapters ahead at pa*treon /Draul_TheOminous.