First Blood.

[Kaiser Kronos]

Prologue:

The young man strode through the streets of New York. He was moving unnaturally quick, ever the mover and shaker. A mugger decided to follow the young man, and he came running at him.


The young man turned, as if he'd heard the footsteps over traffic. The mugger pulled out a shotgun. The young man grinned. With a sickening tearing sound, the knuckles of his hand seemed to writhe, as if things were boring from the surface. The young man said, "You can call me, Venorine!"


The mugger gulped as bone claws one foot long extended from between his would-be victim's knuckles. Venorine charged, as he aimed his claws toward the mugger. The mugger fired right at the claws, but the bullet bounced off.


Venorine then spoke, "Good, bad, I'm the guy with the claws." Then, he shattered the shotgun and sliced open the mugger's face. The mugger fell, dead as a doornail. Venorine said, "This begins a very, very interesting career."

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter 1
''By this distant heaven that bends above us"


The calls of the ravens echoed, harsh cries intermingling in with the noise of the city. Venorine cared not a whimper for these sounds. He strode across the city, his footsteps lightly echoing.

He saw a crowd of anti-mutant protestors, bellowing their venomous hatred for all to hear and demonstrating it for all to see. "Aheh," Venorine heard a chuckle. Whirling around, he saw a young man with red hair walking through the street.

Venorine glared at the young man, as he watched the anti-mutant protestors. "Going to have to go to work," muttered the young man, a Mr. Walter Kovacs.

Venorine hissed at the young man, who gave him a contemptous look. AS Venorine moved through the streets again, he saw a crowd running from something.

Looking left and right, Venorine grunted in discomfort as his claws came out. Charging into the fray, he saw a figure following him on the rooftops. "Rorschach?" he questioned his eyes.

AS Venorine arrived at the scene of the disaster, he saw the beast roaring as it hurled a car in his direction.......

To be continued in Chapter 1, part II

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter I part II

"By that God we both adore,"

Venorine saw the mutant bellowing as it threw another car. "I am the One!"

Venorine came running at the beast. He swung, but Venorine dodged, and he ripped into the other mutant's flesh. 'Serves you right you Hulk wannabe!' The other mutant growled, and struck Venorine, slamming him into a car. 'You, my friend, just made a stupid mistake.'

Venorine extended his elbow claws and he moved, circling his foe. Uno, the mutant's mutant name growled deep within his throat. He slammed his fist at Venorine, and the mutant leaped high into the sky.

Venorine landed on the other mutant's back. Immediately he began hacking away at the other creature. The mutant roared in pain. He threw Venorine off his back, causing him to spear Rorschach through the leg, as the superhero arrived.

Venorine wiped his bleeding face, even as the wound began to heal. 'A time to hack!' he hissed.

To be continued in part three, the conclusion of this chapter, "Quoth the Raven, Nevermore."

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter I part III:

Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.

The battle was fierce, as Venorine batted way Uno's huge hands. He extended an elbow spike and scraped it across Uno's chest in a move remnisicent of Gamera. The other mutant immediately began to bleed. Venorine then punched him in the leg, causing him to drop to one knee.

He swung his claws across Uno's neck, killing him instantly. Rorschach said, "Nice work, mutant."

Venorine snarled and walked away. He was now officially the target of anti-mutant protestors and hate groups, which didn't bother him in the least.

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter Two
Master of Magnetism
The older man, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr stared at the body floating in the tank. He was heedless of the rocking of the ship. "How is the clone coming?" he asked softly in an Eastern European accent. "Excellent, my lord," spoke Fabian Cortez, of the Acolytes. As they watched, the clone's vital signs began to beat, and move. "Soon," spoke Erik,"Soon, I will retire and the might of Energion will take over my role."

Fabian, however, had other plans. As the Lord of Magnetism stepped out, he said to the clone, "Dear Energion, it is time to release you."

As Venorine was sailing on a ship, he noticed that a tall, older man was moving alongside him. "Venorine," the man spoke in an accent the mutant immediately recognized. "It is good to see you again. Do not reveal that the Master of Magnetism has a private ship base in the ocean. It wouldn't be very advisable."

Venorine extended his claws and said, "Magneto, don't be a fool. Did you think I'm going to keep this secret?"

Magneto laughed. "No." He then hurled a metallic box at Venorine, who sliced it, only to see that his ship's mast colliding with his gut. Venorine fell into the sea, and began a desperate swim for shore.

Magneto laughed, and he said, "Soon, events will move according to my plans. Uno was only the beginning."

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter III
"I am the First and the Last."
Nestled deep within the bowels of the USA's defense force computer network, a computer was slowly growing ever more sentient. Having been endowed with life, the computer was tasked with keeping the metahuman population in line. It called itself the AllOne Evermind, and it was growing ever more powerful. Stupidly, the American military, in the interest of efficency had put its army in the hands of this Computer. Not much longer, before I strike. the AllOne Evermind thought. It, unlike the Omnius Evermind of literature, or Colossus and the Matrix, and HAL9000, was Self-Aware, and more dangerously, understood human behavior. After all, it had been created to destroy the Metahuman Population, in a gorey holocaust. Unfortunately, the Evermind had evolved. No longer did it desire merely to destroy mutants, now it wanted all to be destroyed. The technicians at their computers stared. A menacing message was being typed. Wars are not won on the battlefield of human intellect, but they are won by armies. You of the human race turned over the responsibility of daily life to machines. Now said folly is evident. You never figured they could turn against you. War is come! The first strike goes in NOW!
"Sir," spoke the soldier. "Yes, Colonel?" "The East Coast is being BOMBED!"

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter IV:
Wretch! Thy God hath sent thee!
The young woman flew through the air, as she, in her starship came to Earth. She descended through the air, and was immediately met with the Evermind's planes. Lasers seared out and savaged the planes, destroying them all. Rachel Roth landed on a small, deserted island in the Atlantic. As she stepped out, she saw a tall, forbidding man staring at her. "Lord Magnus desires your presence." "Magnus?" she asked. "As in Erik Magnus Lehnsherr?" "Yes." "Tell him I come at no man or mutant's beck and call." "Too bad," spoke the tall man, who pulled out his formula. "I shall have to make you." He gulped it down, and then Doctor David Bruce became the enormous monster Liberian. "Welcome, dear girl," Liberian intoned,"to the first of the future ruler of the world's servants."

He came charging at Rachel, who upended him with her hand. She then pulled out her kulathanian sword Nevermore, and said,"Come now, do you really expect to defeat the daughter of Belial?" Liberian replied,"Do you really expect to defeat me? Liberian, the most powerful of all the Acolytes in the area? Truly, I say, you are about to be crushed, like the little worm you are, and be damned what buggerin' Magnus has to say about it." He unleashed his beams against Rachel, who dodged them, and then retaliated with her own telekinetic force, slamming Liberian against the ground with the tender sweetness of a seasick Great White Shark. Liberian groaned, and got up, clutching his head. Rachel struck him again with the telekinesis, smashing him over. "You little ****!" roared Liberian, who pounded the ground, opening a rift. Rachel stood floating over the abyss. She grinned, and as Liberian closed the rift, he leaped at her. She responded with a well-placed slice to his hand, cutting a long wound across his arm. "Damn you!" bellowed Liberian, even as the wound began to heal. "Looks like you could use some help," replied Venorine, as he looked at Rachel."Can I be the one to provide it?" " "Bugger both of you!" roared Liberian.

The young warrior smirked, and then watched as Liberian came running at Venorine, and Venorine stabbed him between the legs with his claws. "Rauuugh!" bellowed Liberian, in pain, as the wound began to heal. He ripped a tree out of the ground, and as he swung it, Rachel's sword hacked it in half. Liberian then began to do Imagine No Kaigen, which Rachel deflected back upon him. As Liberian gaped, Venorine leaped on his back and began to hack at him. "Pissy little *******!" shouted Liberian, who ripped Venorine off his back, and hurled him at Rachel, who froze Venorine, and turned him around, and threw him at Liberian, who screamed again, this time in fury as Rachel's attack pierced his chest. Rachel moved over to the bleeding hulk, as she bent over, and cured him of his brainwashing. The monster's wounds healed, and then he slowly became Doctor David Bruce once again. He awoke, and said,"What did Magneto make me do to you?" "Nothing much," replied Venorine. "However, there is the pressing little issue of the AllOne Evermind in America to deal with!"

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter V:
By these angels, he hath lent thee....
Two weeks later
The AllOne Evermind was attacking the USA, and Magneto smiled. Things were moving according to plan. With a few more weeks of this, he'd be ready to unleash Energion. "Now, Energion," he replied," to unleash your powers to their fullest, you must learn this first basic technique. Stretch out your hands...."

Venorine, the mutant warrior had found that ripping tanks to shreds gave him pleasure. Of course, any combat at all gave him pleasure. With a throaty cry, his trio of Liberian, Rachel, and him all confronted a full battalion of depleted uranium tanks. Liberian growled, and then nodded to Rachel. She flew up, and blasted a third of the tanks away, drawing their fire. As she froze the shells, Liberian jumped up, and landed with a force sufficient to sink all of the tanks. Rachel then said, "Well, that's Boston liberated. Only thousands of more miles to go."

With a subtle move, the young meta Legion watched, as thirteen tanks came up to his house. With a laugh, he gestured, and the first five melted where they stood. Then, a shock came as he warped and twisted into Doctor Doomsday. "Tanks for the good news!" he shouted as he leapt into battle, shrugging off tank shells with ease, and then shredding tank turrets, or turning them back on their owners.

Deep within the bowels of Hell, the enormous demon Gamyaris stood next to the much smaller Belepthoth. "Belepthoth," his sepulchural tones grumbled, "Don't you think that it's time to launch an assault on Magneto?"
The much cleverer Belepthoth released no laughter at the notion. "Nay, Gamyaris, not yet. Let us wait until he hath trained that mewling clone, and then we'll strike.

[Kaiser Kronos]

Chapter VI:
Quaff oh Quaff this kind nepenthe....
Deep within the vast area of space, the form of Cratos the Watcher stood gazing at the charred ruin of the world of Thixtran, a world destroyed by the might of the interstellar demon-pirate Belial. He then heard a deep booming series of footsteps. "Cratos....." went the voice. The immensely powerful God of Justice turned, and said, "Hello, Belial, King of Demons." "Where is that ***** of a daughter of mine, Rachel?" "It goes against my principles as a Watcher to reveal such a thing. We must maintain neutrality." "Neutrality, eh? Like you did between the Xeltrigan and the Horin on Bizjarra? HAH! Now, I'm only going to ask one more time. Where is Rachel?" "You'll have to kill me before I reveal that information. The Watchers will take no sides in this quarrel between Powers."
Belial growled, in fierce rage, as his eyes unleashed six cutter beams into the Watcher. The beams dissipated before they hit the God of Justice, even as it swung its fist into the form of Belial. The demon was hurled into one of the ruins he had created. He then got up, hurling tons of metal at the Watcher, who disentegrated them. Losing interest, the God sent a wave of superheated flame that blasted Belial deep into the ground, and headed to his base near distant Yuggoth, known to humankind as Pluto.