Issue #8

(I did not get home until 6 am and slept until 10 am without writing a single word last night. So posting this chapter at 1120-something am is pretty good for me. Enjoy. Or don't. I'm an author, not a dictator."

Looking at the ultimate Sentinel in front of him, Jack had to make a move first. It was his best chance of taking down the Sentinel.

"Magneto! Kill!"

It was only the three of them in the air which Jack preferred. Calling any of the other mutants over would have just made their task harder.

Nimrod had the ability to instantly adapt and develop powers to counter whatever mutant power he faced. So the more mutants he battled against, the more powers he would create for himself in order to not only counter one power but that could also be used against another mutant.

Magneto did not hesitate to follow Jack's command. He could hear the fear in Jack's voice. Something he had never heard before. So with thought, thousands of scraps of metal began to float in the air around them.

"Power Detection: Magnetic Manipulation. Countering," Nimrod said in a nearly emotionless, robotic voice

An aura of blue energy appeared around Nimrod before the robot unleashed it into a huge wave that covered all of Genosha. All of the metal that was floating because of Magneto fell to the ground, lifelessly.

Magneto began to fall from the sky due to his lack of being able to control the metal of his armor to keep him in flight. No matter how hard he tried to command more metal around him, Magneto could do nothing.

Jack saw Magneto fall but wasn't worried. There were enough flying mutants and those that could cushion his fall that he did not have to worry about him. His focus had to stay on Nimrod.

Several portals opened around Jack's body before firing beams of destructive energy at Nimrod. With a flash of purple, Nimrod disappeared from his original spot as the beams flew off into the far distance where a large explosion was soon heard.

Jack instantly felt a heavy blow from his side sending him flying through the air. While his body was able to quickly repair the damage, it still unnerved him that the attack that should have been instantaneous was dodged.

Nimrod teleported above Jack's flying body before trying to swing his fist at him. Jack was able to respond this time by going intangible and letting the fist pass through him before firing a blast of freezing energy at Nimrod's chest, blowing the robot back.

"Power unknown. Unable to detect method and origin. What are you, mutant?" Nimrod said in confusion at his lack of being able to detect either of the powers that Jack had just used.

Jack didn't answer him. Instead, he realized that in the future he saw, he wasn't there. Nimrod killed the mutants but he had never killed Jack.

'I still have a chance. He can't adapt to me. As long as it is just me and him, I can win this!'

Filled with renewed confidence, Jack began his counterattack. Instead of remaining passive, Jack took to the offense.

The pair began to clash time and time again against one another. At first, Nimrob held the advantage. With his superior strength and powerful regenerative abilities, he was able to keep up with Jack.

But after so many rounds, Jack was slowly taking advantage of each clash. His [Ruin Beam] and [Dark Ice] slowed down the repair function of the robot while using his other powers allowed Jack to counter the superior strength.

Blades of black ice, beams of energy, telepathic blasts, magic spells from every school he knew. Jack used every tool in his arsenal.

The mutants below watched as the pair battled for over 20 minutes before Nimrod's head was finally frozen in black ice before getting crushed within Jack's hands. With this, Jack's victory had been assured.

"Hahaha!" Jack began to laugh as the fear truly left him. Even though he had gained confidence in his battle against Nimrod, there was still the subtle fear of it due to Nimrod being the ultimate mutant killing machine.

{Emma. How's it going?} Jack called out to his fiancee to check on the progress around the world

{It seems we get to live another day. Stella and Ororo decimated the Chitauri forces in the city while Strange was able t0 back up the New Mutants and assist them in slaying the demons.

We were also able to repel the hand and their various reinforcements from the mansion with a few serious injuries but no deaths from anyone.} Emma quickly responded. She was currently using her powers to calm to emotions of the students that had just emerged from the battle.

{Got it. I'm going to head to space to help with the Brood.} Jack wanted to continue fighting but Emma instantly shut him down

{You've been out and about all day. You've battled against an army of sentinels and I'm sure you have even confronted something terrifying by how unstable your emotions are right now. You need to rest. Come back home.} Emma said in the warmest voice Jack had ever heard from her. It was easy to see how concerned she was for him

{Fine.} Jack agreed. He could definitely feel the mental drain on his body So after he landed back in Genosha and confirmed with Magneto that he was no longer needed there, Jack began flying back to the institute.

A man with purple and green armor along with a blue mask sat in a seat while watching Jack flying on a screen. What Jack didn't know is that everything he had done since he started killing the Sentinels with Magneto, was seen by another person.

"So this is the anomaly. He must be dealt with soon," Kang said to himself

Kang was a powerful conqueror from the distant future that went through time doing nothing but causing trouble as he tried to take over the Earth much earlier when the greatest heroes were alive. He had even kept a vault full of powerful weapons and trophies he had collected from the various heroes he had killed in different universes.

Kang was a member of the Council of Kangs who shared information with one another as they conquered various universes. But this Kang was having some issues.

No matter what plans he made, there was an anomaly. So many of his plans were thrown off course due to the natural behavior of many of the heroes on the planet.

So Kang made deals or controlled the 5 forces that invaded the Earth in order to find the anomaly that stood out. And after all the dust settled, he knew what it was. Jack was something that no other universe had and had subtly been changing everything happening in the universe.

So Kang began making plans on how to personally handle Jack in order to ensure that he would conquer the world much easier.