Marvel: The Journey

Val hovered before Apocalypse and taunted, "What's wrong, 'great pharaoh'? Aren't you going to show me the meaning of power? Aren't you gonna show me who's boss? Because, so far, you don't measure up to your reputation."

Apocalypse looked at him silently, and Val continued, "Look around you. Your Horsemen, supposed to be the 'most powerful mutants' you ever created, have been defeated, and another was reformed. Look at you, living for several millennia only to have your ass handed to you by a little ol' hero. They have failed. Face it, you're a failure just like them, En Sabah Nur."

Apocalypse laughed and said, " 'Show you the meaning of power?' Hahaha!"

"You're a mere bug that's simply getting in my way," He taunted while laughing, "Why should I fight a coward who runs away from a fight? Let me tell you a secret..."

He narrowed his eyes and said, "I have thousands of years worth of knowledge and experience in my head, and out of those thousands of years of experience, I have this extraordinary experience: Even if I don't kill you, if I let you live, an insignificant hero like you can never change this world... Not by an iota..."

"Really?" Val smirked and asked, "Even when this 'insignificant hero' has stolen your Seeds?"

"What?" Apocalypse's eyes widened, and his body swayed.

"You are nothing but the leftovers of an era long since passed. An irrelevant symbol, if you will." Val spoke, "I wiped out your treasure room when you were gone horsemen hunting. And, luckily, I found the Seeds."

Val smirked at Apocalypse's increasingly angered face and said slowly, word-by-word, "A-Purple-Seed and A-White-Seed. So, tell me, fake pharaoh.. what would happen if this insignificant hero like me uses these 'Seeds' of yours?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!" Apocalypse roared in fury and instantly teleported before Val to attack him.

Val saw his punch coming at him and raised his hands to block it.

* BOOM *

A vast shockwave reverberated in the air, and the impact was so strong that Val was thrown back.

* WHOOSH *

Val quickly balanced himself, saw Apocalypse teleport before him again, and punched him again.

* BOOM *

Val was quick enough to block it, and he noticed that Apocalypse was truly angry this time since he was repeatedly punching him.

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

Val kept blocking his punch repeatedly and absorbing his blows.

"AARGHH!" Apocalypse punched Val again when suddenly, he caught Apocalypse's fist and pulled his right hand back.

* BOOM *

* SPLURT *

Val gave a right hook to Apocalypse's face, and the strength behind his punch shattered his jaw instantly, which also healed itself.

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

Val kept punching him repeatedly, then grabbed his head and banged it with his own.

* BOOM *

* SPLURT *

Purple blood splattered everywhere as the impact broke Apocalypse's nose. Then, Val gave him an uppercut.

* BOOM *

* WHOOSH *

Apocalypse was flung upward, and then, he fell, but he balanced himself and teleported away from Val.

"HNNGHH! AARGH!" He grunted like a madman, and both of his arms glowed purple.

* CLINK *

* CLANK *

* BANG *

The rubble, cars, debris, trees, bricks, and everything around him twisted and turned until they formed hundreds of thick lances surrounding Val.

"DIEEE!" Apocalypse shouted and directed the lances toward Val.

* WHOOSH *

* WHOOSH *

Under Apocalypse's control, the lances swirled and thrust toward Val, who calmly watched the purple projectiles approach him.

* WHOOSH *

* WHOOSH *

* WHOOSH *

Val dodged the lances by a hair's width and flew at full speed with all the debris coming after him, creating multiple explosions in its wake.

"Is this all you have?" He mocked and continued dodging and weaving through the oncoming lances.

* WHOOSH *

At this point, Apocalypse had lost his cool, and he thought, 'How can such a thing be possible? How could I make the mistake of allowing him to snatch my treasures?'

He overlooked Val, who appeared before him suddenly as the rest of the lances were destroyed.

Val grabbed his throat and flung him on the ground.

* BOOM *

A huge crater formed underneath Apocalypse's body when he crashed into the ground.

* BOOM *

Val landed on top of his body and raised his fist.

* BANG *

* BANG *

* BANG *

Val kept punching Apocalypse's face while his purple blood splattered in the air and said, "How does this feel? Being beaten like a worthless dog? Understand this: Apocalypse! I. Am. Not. Going. To. Stop. Until. You. HAND. Charles. OVER. TO. ME. GOT. THAT. YOU. FAKE. PHARAOH!?"

"AAAAAGHHHH!" Apocalypse screamed in rage, and his eyes turned completely purple.

* KA-BOOM *

A thick cosmic energy beam emerged from Apocalypse's hands and struck Val in the chest, flinging him away like a ragdoll.

* BANG *

* CRASH *

"Ughhh!" Val winced in pain and glanced at his broken armor. He sighed and stood up, only to see Apocalypse standing nearby.

The aura around him had changed entirely. The aura around him had completely changed. His eyes were glowing purple, his body had strange purple lines that shone brightly, and Val could sense cosmic energy seething and thrumming around him.

Apocalypse raised his hands and shot a thick, concentrated cosmic energy beam at Val.

* SHOOM *

* BOOM *

Val created an energy shield before him quickly.

* BANG *

The energy beam collided with the shield. Val was being pushed back, but he gritted his teeth and tried to block it even though he knew he couldn't stop it much longer.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUUUU!!!!" Apocalypse roared in anger and shot the most powerful energy beam at him.

* SHOOOOM *

Val couldn't handle the beam, and his shield broke under its impact.

* SPLURT *

The cosmic energy beam passed through Val, and he looked down only to see a large hole in his stomach with his armor obliterated. Suddenly, his body jerked forward, and he spat a mouthful of blood while his face distorted in pain.

"I..msuh.. be...wfjworgg..." He mumbled something gibberish as his eyes rolled back in his sockets and dropped on the ground motionlessly while blood began pouring out of his lips.

There was a moment of silence everywhere, as if the world stood still until...

"VAAAAAAAALLLLL!" A blood-curdling scream was heard.

Mystique was the one who screamed, and her tears couldn't stop as she collapsed to her knees.

"NOOOO!" Wolverine and Sabertooth, who were watching the whole battle from the side, shouted in shock.

"No! He can't! He can't! He can't be dead! HE CAN'T BE DEAD!" Banshee, Angel, Havoc, Beast, and all the others shouted in distress while tears streamed down their cheeks.

The civilians who were behind the X-Men were also bawling their eyes out.

Their hero, their strength, and their pillar... It couldn't be! It just couldn't be that the man who had fought and protected them countless times and had done so many good things for the mutants and humans alike had died! They couldn't believe it, but the cold, cold, and brutal truth was staring them in the eyes... And they had the proof before their eyes. Their hero was dead!

* * *

Inside the pyramid,

"Aaaah!" Charles groaned and grabbed his bald head while his face contorted in pain.

"What happened?" Emma asked with a concerned expression on her face.

"Aaaah! T-this feeling! I-It can't be.." He gritted his teeth and clutched his chest as if trying to stop his beating heart.

"AAAHHH!" Jean screamed in pain as she clutched her head.

"Jean?! JEAN?!" Emma shouted, alarmed, and shook her body.

But Jean couldn't respond since she was feeling extreme pain in her mind. It felt like something dormant had been awakened, angrily thrashing around in her mind to free itself.

Suddenly, her eyes began glowing fiery red, causing everyone's hair to rise.

"Jean! Control yourself! You can't go berserk now! Jean! Stop! STOP!" Emma shouted and desperately tried to help her, but Jean continued groaning loudly until her mouth slowly opened, and a white mist escaped her.

* * *

Gazing upon Val's dead body, Apocalypse sneered at him and shouted, "HOW'S THAT, YOU FUCKING MORTAL!!!"

In his mind, Apocalypse gloated and thought, 'Pathetic. This so-called hero is simply pathetic! He dared to try and steal my treasures? What a joke!'

Apocalypse observed the crying bunch, and a sinister grin stretched across his face, "Your 'hero' is dead. How does it feel to become a loser? Become a nobody? Like that hero over there... dying a painful death because he wanted to save you all?"

"Hahaha!" Apocalypse laughed heartily and said, "You will jo—"

* BOOM *

* BANG *

He was cut short by two huge metal poles that struck the ground before him. He eyed it and shifted his gaze slightly to see Magneto approaching him.

"You shouldn't have done that," Magneto said with a face full of hatred and sorrow.

"War, now's not the right time..."

"My name is Magneto, not War!!"

"Val was my friend and comrade.."

"He's a hero to the people and a hero to me.."

"And.."

"YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE, APOCALYPSE!!"

Apocalypse observed his face and understood, 'So, the mutant has betrayed me. What a waste of great power. He would have made an excellent Horseman.'

Magneto raised his hand, and every metallic part within a hundred meters around him levitated in the air.

"THIS IS FOR KILLING MY FRIEND!!" Magneto shouted, and the metal parts lunged at Apocalypse.

* WHOOSH *

* BANG *

Apocalypse constructed a force field around him and calmly waited for the dust to settle. When the dust settled, he released his force field and said, "That little piece of work right there was impressive but too weak."

He sneered and teleported before Magneto.

"Unfortunately, you have disappointed me, mutant! Die, then, knowing your sacrifice would not bring about your desired world. It would be ruled by me!!!" Apocalypse shouted and punched Magneto with all his strength.

* BOOM *

* SPLURT *

At the last moment, Magneto had constructed a magnetic shield before him, slightly saving him from the worst impact, but he was still flung away.

* BANG *

* CRASH *

He crashed into the ground and coughed up blood.

"V-Vaallll..." He weakly muttered while lying on the ground.

Apocalypse looked around and saw every X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D., and C.I.A. agent glaring at him, preparing to strike.

"Come!" He ordered, "Come at me so I may show the world how worthless you are! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

"Everybody, attack!"

* BOOM *

* BANG *

"AAAHH!

* SHOOM *

* KRAAAAAAEEEE *

* CRACK *

"AAAAHHH!"

"NOOOO!"

* KA-BOOM *

A few minutes later, Apocalypse hovered above the ground with a sinister purple aura around him. He smiled as he looked around at the bruised and defeated bodies of the X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, C.I.A. agents, and some citizens.

"Pathetic," Apocalypse muttered under his breath.

"You should have realized back then... there's no point continuing like that!" Apocalypse shouted, and everyone faced him.

"Because know this well... There's no hope for anyone in this world anymore! Who will be able to win against En Sabah Nur? Who could take me on? Who would go against me? Who would fi—"

He stopped when suddenly...

"ME!!"

A voice, filled with intense anger and ferocity, came, and Apocalypse turned around to see Val standing right before him with a smile.

"Hehehehe!" Val laughed under everybody's shocked and astonished faces and said, "I was hoping to keep my final trump card in the box for later, but, oh well. You just made it worse for yourself, buddy."

"W-W-Wait! T-T-That can't be! I-Impossible!" Apocalypse stuttered and stepped backward, shocked.

At that moment, everybody raised their heads and saw a projectile heading straight toward the Val at the speed of a meteor.

* KA-BOOM *

The projectile's arrival brought an intensely large shockwave as it touched the ground. Everybody watched silently when the dust before them was blown away by the shockwave, and what appeared shocked and dumbfounded them all.

The projectile was none other than armor, which had landed like a meteor. The armor stood up from where it had landed, an image that would stay engraved in everybody who saw it.

The armor floated toward Val and slowly attached itself to him.

Val closed his eyes and thought, 'I researched so many ways to treat my inability to absorb cosmic energy, but I never figured out a way to do it until I discovered the properties of the new metal I created after merging Carterium and Adamantium. So, I had to think outside the box. If I can't absorb cosmic energy, I would create an armor that would do it.'

He clenched his fists and murmured, "Let's begin absorbing Tesseract's energy."

A small glowing blue core attached to the armor's chest suddenly glowed brighter as the armor sucked the cosmic energy out of it and distributed it throughout Val's body.

* BOOM *

A loud shockwave reverberated in the surroundings as soon as the cosmic energy entered Val's body.

Everybody watched as the armor glowed black and blue, with the huge star on his chest shining blue brightly. They could see blue strands of energy weaving through the armor.

* BOOM *

Then, blue beams emerged out of his body as energy danced around him.

At that moment, everything stood still. Everyone stared at Val's slowly floating body in awe. They saw Val's hair change from black to white, glowing brightly as blue strands of energy coiled around it.

Val opened his eyes, which spit golden sparks while they slowly turned into a glowing, bright blue color.

Val looked at Apocalypse and said, "You had your fun now, it's my turn, bitch!"