MSM Chapter 97 : Overwhelming Power

Natasha watched the surveillance feed from the micro-drones they'd deployed around the island.

The Quinjet itself was parked on a small island about five miles away from the target location. Close enough to maintain communications and provide support, far enough to avoid immediate detection.

Yelena sat at the drone controls, her fingers dancing across the interface as she switched between different camera feeds. Bruce stood behind them, arms crossed, watching the screens intently.

They'd just witnessed Lucien's display at the front gate through the drone footage.

"Well," Natasha said, a hint of impressed surprise in her voice. "That was fast."

"Fast?" Yelena repeated. "He took down multiple trained SHIELD agents in five seconds. That's not fast, that's terrifying. Even the drone cameras barely caught him doing that."

"Does it matter how fast he is?" Bruce asked. "As long as he's on our side?"

"I suppose not," Natasha admitted.

Natasha leaned forward and activated the comms. "Guys, move in. The entrance is clear."

She watched the feed as Lucien and Bob approached the main doors.

Everything was going according to plan. Almost too smoothly, which made Natasha's instincts prickle with unease.

When things went too smoothly, it usually meant you'd missed something.

But she pushed the feeling aside. They'd planned for contingencies. They had backup ready. Bob and Lucien were both incredibly powerful. They could handle whatever was inside that building.

Yelena continued monitoring the drone feeds, cycling through different angles and altitude levels. The building, the surrounding jungle, the shoreline, the—

One of the screens flashed red.

Yelena's expression immediately sharpened. "We've got movement."

Natasha turned her full attention to the screen. "Where?"

"Airborne," Yelena said, fingers flying across the controls to get a better view. "Multiple contacts, incoming fast from the northeast."

The screen zoomed in, and Natasha felt her stomach drop.

Three Quinjets. SHIELD markings are clearly visible.

And they weren't the only things incoming. Behind the Quinjets, shapes moved through the sky. Figures flying under their own power.

Natasha's eyes narrowed as the figures came into clearer view on the zoom.

War Machine, Falcon, and Nova.

"Damn it," Natasha muttered.

They'd hoped for more time before the Avengers arrived. The plan had been to get in, neutralize the telepath, and get out before the heavy hitters could respond.

But the telepath had been faster than expected.

Bruce stepped closer to the screen, his expression growing dark. "That's not all of them. Where are the others?"

Natasha didn't answer, already pulling up additional drone feeds and satellite data.

If these Avengers were coming here, to the Quinjet's location, then they'd been detected. But that raised another question—why weren't they going after Lucien and Bob at the building?

Unless...

"They're splitting their forces," Natasha said, the realization hitting her. "Some are coming here to neutralize our support, others staying at the building to defend the telepath."

"Smart," Yelena said grimly. "Take out our communications and extraction, leave our people isolated and surrounded."

Natasha's mind raced through options. 

They could stand and fight. The Quinjet had weapons systems, and Bruce could transform if necessary, but that would cause problems on its own.

Or...

Natasha spoke, "Fire up the engine, we are running."

....

Inside the Building

Lucien stepped through the entrance with Bob following close behind. The interior of the building opened up into a massive atrium that descended deep underground.

It wasn't what Lucien had expected. From the outside, the structure looked like a simple facility—maybe three or four floors at most. But inside, it was like looking down into a well. Metal catwalks and staircases spiraled downward, connecting multiple underground levels that stretched far below the surface.

Lucien could sense the life signs throughout the building. Hundreds of them, scattered across the various floors. SHIELD agents, most of them, controlled and waiting in the lower levels.

But on this top floor, standing between them and the stairways leading down, was a different group entirely.

Heroes.

Nearly two dozen of them lined up across the atrium, their eyes vacant and glassy. The telepath's control was evident in their posture—too rigid, too uniform. These weren't people choosing to fight. These were puppets being made to dance.

Lucien recognized most of them immediately. Captain America stood at the front, shield on his arm. Spider-Man crouched on a nearby wall, his distinctive red and blue suit impossible to miss. She-Hulk's green form towered over several of the others. Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Shang-Chi—the list went on.

Natasha had briefed him during their journey about their powers.

They all stared at Lucien and Bob with empty eyes.

Bob gulped audibly beside him. "Do you want me to help?"

Lucien cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing in the atrium. "Nah. Just stay behind."

His voice carried confidence—not arrogance, just certainty. He'd faced worse odds before. These heroes were powerful, yes. To anyone else, they'd be formidable opponents.

But Lucien wasn't anyone else. And he was holding back significantly just by agreeing not to kill them.

The heroes moved.

It wasn't coordinated like a team would normally move. It was simultaneous, synchronized—every one of them launching forward at the same moment like marionettes pulled by the same strings.

Lucien moved too.

Captain America threw his shield. The vibranium disc flew through the air with perfect accuracy, spinning toward Lucien's head.

Lucien caught it one-handed without looking, his fingers gripping the edge mid-flight. The impact would have shattered a person's wrist. Lucien didn't even flinch.

He tossed the shield back almost casually. It struck Captain America in the chest, sending him stumbling backward.

Spider-Man swung down from above, web-shooters firing. Strands of webbing shot toward Lucien, trying to bind his arms and legs.

Lucien twisted, his speed making the webbing look like it was moving in slow motion. He sidestepped the first volley, ducked under the second, and grabbed the third strand mid-air. With a sharp yank, he pulled Spider-Man off his trajectory and slammed him into the floor.

The impact cracked the concrete. Spider-Man groaned but was trying to get up—the telepath's control forcing him to keep fighting despite the pain.

Hawkeye and Kate Bishop had arrows nocked, firing in perfect sync. Multiple projectiles streaked toward Lucien from different angles.

Lucien moved between them, flowing through gaps. An arrow passed so close to his face that he felt the fletching brush his cheek. Another whistled past his ear. He didn't break stride.

He closed the distance to Hawkeye in less than a second. His fist drove into the archer's gut—carefully measured, just enough force to knock the wind out and shut down consciousness. Hawkeye crumpled.

Kate Bishop tried to adjust, firing at point-blank range.

Lucien caught the arrow between two fingers, inches from his face. He snapped it and swept Kate's legs out from under her. She hit the ground hard, and Lucien's follow-up strike to her shoulder nerve cluster put her out immediately.

Wasp shrunk down, becoming nearly invisible as she flew toward Lucien's face. Her bio-electric stings crackled with energy.

Lucien's hand snapped up with impossible precision. He plucked her out of the air while she was still tiny; his senses tracked her easily despite her size. He took her in his fist and shook it. She lost her equilibrium and grew back to normal size in his grip, and when she did, he punched her face—unconscious.

He set her down almost gently.

Ant-Man tried the same strategy, growing to giant size instead. Twenty feet tall, he reached down to grab Lucien.

Lucien jumped.

He covered the distance in a single leap, landing on Ant-Man's extended arm and running up toward his head. Ant-Man tried to swat him away, but Lucien was too fast. He reached the giant's temple and delivered a strike.

Ant-Man's eyes rolled back, and he shrank rapidly as consciousness fled. By the time he hit the ground, he was normal-sized again.

Daredevil came at Lucien from the side, his radar sense giving him perfect awareness of Lucien's position. His billy clubs spun in patterns, striking from multiple angles.

It didn't matter.

Lucien blocked every strike with minimal movement. His forearms intercepted the clubs, redirecting them rather than stopping them dead. Daredevil was skilled—one of the best hand-to-hand combatants on Earth.

But skill had limits when facing overwhelming physical superiority.

Lucien slipped inside Daredevil's guard and struck his solar plexus. Then his liver. Then the nerve cluster in his neck. Three strikes in less than a second, each one placed to shut down a different system.

Daredevil collapsed.

Shang-Chi attacked immediately after, his martial arts mastery evident in every attack. He targeted pressure points, tried to disrupt Lucien's chi flow, and used techniques designed to defeat opponents stronger and faster than himself.

But Lucien blocked Shang-Chi's strikes almost lazily, his speed making it seem like Shang-Chi was moving through water. When he saw an opening, he took it. A single palm strike to the chest—carefully controlled—sent Shang-Chi flying backward into the wall, leaving web patterns on the wall.

The martial artist slumped down, unconscious.

Echo tried to mimic Lucien's fighting style, her perfect photographic reflexes allowing her to copy his movements.

It didn't help. Copying the movements didn't give her the speed or strength behind them. She matched his style but not his execution. Lucien's counter-strike caught her mid-motion, and she went down.

Mockingbird's durability let her take several hits that would have knocked out an average hero. She kept coming, her fighting sticks striking at Lucien's vital points.

Lucien respected the tenacity, but tenacity only went so far. He caught both her sticks in one hand, yanked them away, and delivered a knockout blow to her jaw.

She dropped.

Spider-Woman recovered from his earlier strike and came at him with venom blasts crackling between her hands. The bio-electric energy splashed across Lucien's chest as he closed the distance.

It did nothing.

Spider-Woman's eyes widened—probably some part of her conscious mind recognizing that her best attack had done essentially nothing.

Lucien grabbed her wrist, redirected her next venom blast into the floor, and struck the back of her neck. She went limp immediately.

Miles Morales appeared from camouflage, his invisibility dropping as he tried for a surprise venom strike.

Lucien had sensed him the entire time. He sidestepped the attack, caught Miles by the costume, and tossed him toward Spider-Man, who was trying to get back up. Both Spider-people tangled together in a heap.

Lucien was on them in an instant. Two quick strikes, and both were unconscious.

Luke Cage rushed forward, his bulletproof skin making him confident in his durability. He threw a haymaker punch.

Lucien blocked it with his forearm. The impact made a sound like a gunshot echoing through the atrium.

Luke's eyes widened. Nobody blocked his punches like that. Nobody should have been able to stop his strength so easily.

Lucien's counter-punch caught Luke in the gut. Even with his unbreakable skin, the force behind Lucien's strike drove the air from his lungs and rattled his internal organs. Luke staggered.

Lucien didn't give him time to recover. He struck Luke three more times—kidney, liver, solar plexus. Each hit was precisely calculated to cause maximum disruption without causing permanent damage.

Luke Cage fell to his knees, then forward onto his face. Unconscious.

Jessica Jones came at Lucien in a rage—or as much rage as someone under telepathic control could manage. She leaped at him with her super strength, trying to tackle him to the ground.

Lucien caught her mid-leap. His hands gripped her shoulders, stopping her momentum completely. For a moment, they were frozen—Jessica straining with all her strength, Lucien holding her effortlessly in place.

Then he pivoted and used her own momentum against her, redirecting her into the floor. The concrete cracked under the impact. Jessica groaned and tried to get up.

Lucien's strike to her temple ended the attempt.

Iron Fist charged forward, his fist glowing with golden chi energy. The Iron Fist technique—one of the most powerful martial arts abilities in existence. 

Lucien met it head-on.

His fist collided with Iron Fist's glowing hand. Chi energy exploded outward from the impact point, washing over both of them.

Iron Fist's eyes widened in shock. His most powerful technique, charged with all his chi, had been stopped cold.

Lucien's other hand shot forward, striking Iron Fist's chest before he could recover. The martial artist flew backward, his chi dispersing as consciousness left him.

Ms. Marvel stretched her embiggened fist to giant size, swinging it at Lucien with tremendous force.

Lucien ducked under it, moved inside her extended reach, and delivered a precise strike to her actual body—not her stretched limb. Her shape-shifting made her durable, but not invulnerable. She deflated rapidly as she lost consciousness.

Speedball bounced around the room, his kinetic energy field making him nearly untouchable as he ricocheted off walls, floor, and ceiling. Each impact charged him with more kinetic energy, making him faster and stronger.

Lucien tracked his movement easily. When Speedball bounced close, Lucien's hand shot out with perfect timing. He caught Speedball mid-bounce, absorbing the kinetic energy with sheer durability.

Speedball struggled in his grip, trying to discharge his stored energy.

Lucien squeezed, disrupting Speedball's concentration. The kinetic field collapsed, and Lucien struck him across the jaw. Speedball went limp.

Captain America had recovered his shield and was back in the fight. He threw it again, this time banking it off the wall to hit Lucien from an unexpected angle.

Lucien caught it again. This time, instead of throwing it back, he held onto it.

Cap charged forward, trying to reclaim his shield with a flying kick.

Lucien sidestepped, letting Cap's momentum carry him past. As Cap landed and turned, Lucien tossed the shield back—but not at Cap. He threw it straight down into the floor, where it embedded itself edge-first into the concrete.

Cap would have to stop and pull it free. By then, the fight would be over.

Cap realized the same thing and abandoned the shield, coming at Lucien with pure hand-to-hand combat. The super soldier serum gave him peak human speed and strength.

But peak human wasn't enough. Not even close.

Lucien blocked, parried, and countered with minimal effort. He could see every punch coming and react faster than Cap could adjust. And then a punch, and Captain America slumped down, unconscious.

That left She-Hulk.

She'd been hanging back, and Lucien suspected it was the telepath being strategic. Save the heaviest hitter for when the others have worn down the enemy.

It wouldn't make a difference.

She-Hulk roared and charged. The floor cracked under her footsteps. Her fist came at Lucien like a freight train.

Lucien blocked it with his forearm. The impact created a shockwave that blew dust across the room.

She-Hulk's other fist came around. Lucien blocked that, too.

They exchanged blows, and for a moment, it looked like an actual fight. She-Hulk had the strength to match Lucien—or at least get close enough that her attacks needed to be taken seriously.

But strength wasn't everything.

Lucien was faster. Much faster.

He slipped inside She-Hulk's guard and delivered a rapid combination to her midsection. One strike. Two. Three. Four. Ten. Twenty. His fists blurred with speed, each impact calculated to cause maximum disruption without lethal damage.

She-Hulk tried to grab him, tried to create space, tried to land a counter-attack.

Lucien was already gone, repositioning, striking from a different angle. Her durability kept her standing longer than the others, but durability just meant she stayed conscious long enough to realize how outmatched she was.

Lucien swept her legs, and when she fell, he delivered a strong strike to her jaw.

She-Hulk's head snapped to the side. Her eyes rolled back. She hit the floor and didn't get up.

Silence fell over the atrium.

Lucien stood in the middle of unconscious heroes, his breathing barely elevated. The entire fight had taken maybe ninety seconds. To Bob, watching from the entrance, it had looked less like a fight and more like a force of nature moving through obstacles.

Lucien looked down at the fallen heroes. None of them were seriously injured—he'd been very careful about that. Bruises, maybe some cracked ribs, definitely concussions. But nothing permanent. Nothing that wouldn't heal.

They'd been mind-controlled. They didn't deserve to die for someone else's manipulation.

Bob finally found his voice. "That was... you just..."

"We need to keep moving," Lucien said, cutting off whatever Bob was about to say. He gestured toward the stairwell leading down. "The telepath is somewhere below."

Bob nodded mutely, still processing what he'd witnessed.

Lucien could sense life signs deeper in the building. More SHIELD agents on the lower floors, waiting. And somewhere down there, the person responsible for all of this.

He started toward the stairs.

Then he stopped.

His senses picked up something new. Movement. Energy signatures.

More people were coming. Six or seven of them, approaching fast from deeper in the facility.

And they were coming straight for him.

"Time for another beatdown." Lucien muttered as he waited for them to arrive.