Chapter 225: Outbreak
Authors Note-
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Shaw continuously absorbed the kinetic energy from Kalibak's relentless punches. When he felt he had enough, he suddenly released it, sending Kalibak flying.
Kalibak's massive body smashed into several fighter planes. Despite the ferocious attack, Kalibak was only slightly injured, which made him even angrier. He roared at Shaw and charged again, fists swinging as usual.
Shaw wanted to shout, "I love fighting brainless guys like you!"
He absorbed the kinetic energy again, knocked Kalibak flying again, and watched the cycle repeat.
Kalibak took heavy blows and sustained injuries each time, but he stood up again and again. Shaw couldn't help but admire his willpower and incredible physical strength.
It was no surprise that Kalibak had such resilience. According to the original plot, he was a formidable warrior capable of going toe-to-toe with Superman. Of course, that wasn't the Clark Shaw trained by Ivan. Now he could wrestle even Darkseid and hold his own for a while, especially after absorbing more solar energy.
As the prince of Apokolips, being beaten repeatedly was humiliating. Several of Darkseid's subordinates couldn't stand it anymore and decided to intervene. A dark-skinned woman with sharp hooks on her fingers and a dangerously alluring demeanor flew out. She leaped from one fighter plane to another, her claws aimed at Shaw's neck.
Borgin, who had been fighting in the background, decided to step in. Initially, he refrained from intervening to maintain the one-on-one fairness, but now that others had joined, he felt no such obligation.
Borgin shapeshifted into a phantom form, blocking the hook-clawed woman's path.
Unexpectedly, the woman didn't stop. With a cruel smile, she accelerated, becoming a black shadow. Her right paw, gleaming with cold light, aimed straight for Borgin's heart as if to rip it out.
Borgin, a wizard with keen mental senses, immediately detected the poisonous force emanating from her claws. He transformed into a pure magic form, silently but powerfully repelling the attack.
The hook-clawed woman was unlucky. Hit by the magical impact, she spat blood and lost control of her body. She would have fallen to her death, but a leather whip wrapped around her, yanking her to safety onto a spaceship.
The whip belonged to another woman with an imposing presence. She wielded it with a commanding air, exuding a queenly demeanor. But her fierce whip could explode fighter jets, making her as deadly as she was alluring.
The whip cracked loudly as it lashed out, striking Borgin in his magical form. A strong current flowed through the whip, numbing Borgin momentarily, but he retaliated by forming a giant black hand to strike back.
Blocking the hand was a tall, sturdy warrior, reminiscent of the Hulk if not for her distinctly female form.
The strong warrior served as a shield while the whip-wielding woman attacked from behind. Their coordinated assault kept Borgin at bay, his silent form hindered by the whip's electric shocks.
After being shocked several times, Borgin grew enraged. He retreated a hundred meters, returning to his human form, and let out a beastly roar. His body began to swell, sprouting black scales. His limbs turned into claws, a tail extended from his back, wings unfurled, and horns jutted from his head. In moments, he had transformed into a hundred-meter-long black dragon.
"Roar!" The black dragon bellowed furiously, its tail sweeping the strong warrior and the whip-wielding woman aside. They screamed as they were flung into the distance, their fate uncertain.
In his dragon form, Borgin's animal instincts took over. Seeing the demons and Chitauri airships intensified his rage. He opened his maw, and a sulfurous breath preceded a massive column of fire. Everything in its path, whether demon or Chitauri, turned to ash.
Seeing the black dragon rampaging, Chitauri and demonoid forces converged to attack. Even the main guns of some spaceships turned to target the fearsome beast.
Shadow Mercenary Group mutants couldn't just stand by and watch one of their leader get besieged. Dozens of them leaped onto the black dragon, combining their powers to create an oversized protective shield. Artillery attacks bombarded the shield, creating ripples but failing to penetrate and harm the dragon within.
Although uninjured, the black dragon was further enraged by these attacks. His ferocity was fully unleashed, and he rampaged through the battlefield, occasionally blasting dragon breath that caused a series of explosions.
The mutants cheered at their leader's ferocity. Using the black dragon as their spearhead, they split into groups, encircling and suppressing the Apokolips demons and Chitauri forces. With the upper hand, it was only a matter of time before they completely wiped out the enemy.
Meanwhile, Stakar's mission hit a snag. He was supposed to locate Star-Lord using the watch provided by Ivan, which could track his location. However, midway through the flight, Star-Lord's signal vanished. Stakar flew towards the last known coordinates, only to find ruins and wreckage left from a battle. He began searching for clues to Star-Lord's whereabouts.
Amidst the ruins of a tall building, several figures faced each other in a tense standoff.
Star-Lord held the Orb and an energy gun in one hand. He looked at the figures surrounding him, uncertain who to trust with the Orb.
If Ivan were present, he would recognize the future members of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora, and even Nebula.
Rocket and Groot were hunting Star-Lord for the 100-million-unit bounty.
Gamora and Nebula, under orders from Thanos, sought the Orb despite their desire to kill him. They knew their strength was insufficient to challenge him directly, so they followed his commands.
Drax the Destroyer had joined the fray by chance. Initially en route to prison for killing someone, his transport vehicle crashed during the battle between Star-Lord and the others. Escaping the wreckage, Drax spotted Gamora and Nebula, daughters of Thanos' ally Ronan, who had killed his family. Vowing to break their necks, he joined the melee.
Star-Lord fought and fled, finally reaching the ruins where their battle caused the building to collapse, trapping them all inside.
The situation was precarious. Gamora aimed a gun at Star-Lord with one hand while defending against Drax with a sword. Nebula had her guns trained on Rocket and Groot.
Groot's arms formed a wooden shield, hiding his body, while Rocket stood on his shoulders, aiming a large gun in various directions, unsure of who to shoot first. Drax never took his eyes off Nebula and Gamora.
As they all stood poised for action, a sudden click drew their attention to Star-Lord's wristwatch.
"What are you doing?" Rocket roared, and everyone aimed their weapons at Star-Lord.
Star-Lord gave a helpless look. "If I say it has nothing to do with me, would you believe it?"
"I believe it!" came a voice from the watch. The watch transformed, sprouting eight tentacles and turning into a spider-like robot the size of an egg, which fell to the ground.
The spider robot projected a beam of light, forming the holographic image of Ivan. He smiled and said, "Standing still like this won't get you anywhere. Let's negotiate the ownership of the Orb."
Everyone was taken aback, even Star-Lord, who had no idea the watch he had been wearing was a robot.
"Who are you? The signal here has been blocked. How did you connect?" Gamora asked, her gun still aimed at the spider robot.
"I'm an intelligent program, a subprogram, to be precise. You can call me Ivan. I'm here to negotiate on behalf of the Black Shadow Mercenary Group. Please don't worry; I'm authorized to do that."