Marvel: The Journey

 

 

A few moments ago,

 

Val sighed and got up from the couch.

 

* BOOM *

 

He burst toward Mystique and before she could walk out of the room, he caught her hand.

 

Mystique kept her head down and whispered, "Let go of my hand."

 

Then, she looked up and stared into his eyes and ordered, "Let go of my hand!"

 

Seeing him not responding, she yelled angrily, "LET GO OF MY HAND!!"

 

Val sighed again and he pulled her toward him and embraced her in a hug.

 

He patted her back and said, "Calm down Mystique!"

 

However, she was having none of it and tried to get out of the hug.

 

So, he whispered, "I am sorry!"

 

And, Mystique stopped resisting and held onto him as she began crying loudly.

 

He patted her back and said, "You are a good kid, Raven. You are a selfless person. You care more for others than yourself. And that's a good thing."

 

She gazed at him with her red eyes and said, "So, are you going to help me or break my trust in you all over again?"

 

He smiled and wiped the tears off her cheeks and replied, "Of course! I'm not that selfish."

 

He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the couch and said, "Lay down. I will treat your wounds."

 

She gently lay on the couch and Val treated her wounds.

 

After a few minutes, he took a step back and said, "Ok! You are all good now."

 

Mystique got up from the couch and looked at her cleanly dressed wounds and said, "Thank you!"

 

"Nah!", He dismissed her as he waved his hand and said, "You don't have to thank me."

 

He turned around and walked away.

 

Seeing him walk away, she asked, "Where are you going?"

 

He stopped and turned around as he answered, "To save the children."

 

Mystique looked at his casual clothing and asked, "In... that?"

 

He rolled his eyes at her and replied, "Of course not!"

 

He turned around and ordered, "Follow me!"

 

A few seconds later, in a secret room,

 

"Woah!", Mystique exclaimed as she gazed at the black and golden armor behind a glass cage.

 

She touched the glass and asked, "W-What is this?"

 

Val had a smile on his face and proudly replied, "This, my emotional kitty, is... the Starlance armor."

 

. . .

 

A few minutes later,

 

Val was hovering in the sky above Xavier's school.

 

He gazed at the destroyed and burning parts of the school and flew toward it.

 

He put out the fires, helped the students, dragged some of them out to safety, and gathered them at a safe part of the school.

 

He consoled the students who were crying at the sight of other dead friends and helped bury them.

 

Finally, after everything he did, he turned his attention toward the unconscious Charles.

 

He smirked and ordered the students, "You can wake him up."

 

He hovered in the air and was about to leave when some of them stopped him and asked, "Where are you going, Mr. Haller?"

 

He smiled and replied, "I'm going to stop a robot."

 

. . .

 

At present,

 

Val turned his head around and stared at the robot who was firing the energy beam at him and thought, 'It's a Sentinel! It's... Mark 001! So, this means that Madame Hydra had stolen it from Trask and kept working on it while he was busy in the Paris Peace Accords. Because, in Trask's memories, neither Mystique nor Charles saw Mark 001 other than the time he was proudly showing it to Madame Hydra.'

 

He shook his head and thought, 'What a fucking snake that woman is! She stabbed Trask in the back and stole his invention while promising him that they would be working together. No wonder she became the supreme leader of Hydra.'

 

The Sentinel stopped firing its energy beams at the helicopter when it realized that its attack wasn't doing anything to it.

 

It saw Val standing in front of it and scanned him as it said, "Error!"

 

It scanned him again and said, "Error!"

 

It scanned him for the third time and encountered the same problem, "Error!"

 

Val, on the other hand, didn't stall.

 

He stretched his hands and burst forward.

 

* BOOM *

 

He arrived in front of the Sentinel and aimed a powerful punch at it.

 

* BOOM *

 

The Sentinel didn't have time to react and was thrown back like a ragdoll.

 

* BANG *

 

* BANG *

 

* BANG *

 

It crashed through several cars and skidded on the road for a few meters until it finally stopped.

 

It lay on the road and said, "Warning! Critical Damage Detected! Tertiary Systems Compromised!"

 

Val smirked when he saw the Sentinel fly away like a ragdoll and crash on the road some distance away.

 

He turned around and noticed the people panicking around and thought, 'The first rule of being a superhero is to uphold the 'hero' part. Since it's my debut, I have to show the world that I'm a hero who helps people in need and I don't even need to worry about anything else. The T.V. news helicopter above would do the rest.'

 

In the helicopter, Sarah asked Victor with widened eyes, "Who the fuck was that?"

 

"The fuck do I know?", Victor replied as he clutched his racing heart and tried to calm down.

 

Sarah peered down at the ground below and she could see a small black and golden person helping people to safety.

 

She saw Val helping the people as he brought them to safety or he saved children from burning cars and her arms began shaking crazily.

 

Victor noticed her shaking arms and thought, 'Oh no!'

 

Sarah turned around and grabbed Victor by the shoulders and ordered while dollar signs flashed in her eyes, "Quick! Focus on him! Only him! He's a superhero! A fucking superhero! Hahaha! I am going to earn a hefty bonus again!"

 

Victor nodded and tried to reply, "I-I w-would d-do t-that i-if y-you st-stop sh-shaking m-me."

 

On the ground below,

 

Val reunited a lost son with his mother.

 

The mother clung to her son firmly and looked at Val and said, "Thank you! Thank you very much!"

 

Val smiled at her and replied, "There is no need to thank me. I was just doing my job."

 

Suddenly, a blue energy beam shot toward him from the side.

 

He raised his arm and blocked the energy beam.

 

The boy in his mother's arms turned around and asked, "Who are you?"

 

Val grinned and replied, "I am... Starlance!"

 

He turned toward the energy beam and charged toward it.

 

* BOOM *

 

The boy saw Val flying away and muttered, "Coool!"

 

Val flew toward the Sentinel and without giving it any chance, he attacked it.

 

* BOOM *

 

* BOOM *

 

The Sentinel flew back and crashed through a few cars on the road.

 

It struggled to get up and said, "Warning! Critical Damage Detected! Secondary Systems Compromised!"

 

While the Sentinel was scanning itself, Val took this time to not fight the Sentinel again and helped the onlookers and people around him.

 

While helping them, he thought, 'If I want to prove to the world that I'm a superhero and that my heart is made of gold, then, I have to prolong the fight and not end it quickly. Because if I prolong the fight, I have more time to help people. This means that I would rescue and help more people which in turn would increase the number of my supporters and fans.'

 

A few minutes later, the Sentinel finally got up from the ground and scanned around for Val.

 

When it found him, it charged toward him.

 

Val noticed the Sentinel charging toward him and he hurried the couple into an alleyway.

 

Val ordered the scared couple who clung to each other, "Stay here! It's dangerous out there!"

 

Seeing them nod, he smiled at them and turned around.

 

* WHOOSH *

 

Val quickly ducked the Sentinel's punch and retaliated with a punch at its midsection.

 

* BOOM *

 

The Sentinel slipped back a few meters and attacked Val again.

 

* WHOOSH *

 

Val ducked its punch again and retaliated by throwing a punch at its chest.

 

* BOOM *

 

Then, Val followed through with an uppercut.

 

* BOOM *

 

Val jumped and spun around in the air and kicked the Sentinel in the chest.

 

* BOOOM *

 

The people around and Sarah and Victor were mesmerized by Val effortlessly fighting with the Sentinel.

 

The Sentinel was heavily damaged as it scanned itself and said, "Warning! Critical Damage Detected! Secondary Systems Compromised!"

 

It stood up with difficulty and scanned Val in the distance again.

 

A few seconds later, it was successful in its attempt, "Scan - Successful! Unknown Lifeform Detected! Threat Level - Failed To Calculate! Requesting Access To Special Protocol! ... Access Granted!"

 

It ominously declared, "Tesseract Protocol Activated!"