Chapter 39

{A/N: Why is it sooo difficult to find motivation? Anyway check out my patreon @ patreon.com/TheFudgeNPC if you want.}

1st POV – Morgan

The streets of Manhattan were packed.

Thousands of people lined the sidewalks outside the first-ever Horizon Industries storefront, eager to witness the unveiling of The Beyond. Some had camped overnight, huddled in thick coats, braving the December chill just to be first in line.

News vans and reporters crowded the scene, their bulky cameras and microphones pointed toward the grand white-and-gold building standing tall in the heart of the city. Unlike its competitors, the Horizon store was sleek, modern, and pristine, a sharp contrast to the slightly outdated architecture of the surrounding area.

The world was still stuck in the early 2000s, drowning in flip phones, sluggish computers, and bulky monitors. Touchscreens were rare. Cloud storage was practically non-existent and the internet was still in a learning stage.

And today, I was about to drag the entire planet into the future whether they were ready or not.

Standing on a raised stage, I observed the restless crowd from behind a set of tinted glass doors.

Behind me, Jean and Tessa waited near the VIP lounge, chatting with a few of my best employees and corporate figures who were invited to witness the official unveiling firsthand. These were representatives of some of the most powerful businessmen and tech moguls in the world, and yet soon their empires would be rendered obsolete.

They just didn't want to accept it yet.

A nearby reporter adjusted his headset, glancing up at a large projector screen mounted on the side of the building. Unlike the holograms I would've preferred, this was crude by my standards—a simple LED billboard broadcasting my upcoming speech.

Good enough for now.

I checked my watch. Two minutes to showtime.

As the clock hit noon, I stepped onto the makeshift stage, my sleek black boots clicking against the polished black floor.

The crowd erupted into cheers, cameras flashing wildly as news anchors scrambled to start their live broadcasts.

Raising a hand, I silenced them with a mere gesture.

"Ladies and gentlemen… today, we take the first step into the future."

A hush fell over the crowd. Even the most sceptical attendees leaned in, hanging on my every word.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a sleek, triangular device no larger than a coin. Holding it up for everyone to see, I let the sunlight glint off its smooth surface.

"You might have seen teasers for this already, but for those who don't know, this is The Beyond."

Murmurs spread through the audience. Some looked intrigued, others confused.

"For decades, humanity has been shackled by outdated technology. Slow computers, inefficient tools, barriers between thought and action. But that ends today."

I pressed my thumb against the device, and instantly, my voice projected across every speaker in the area—but I hadn't spoken. The Beyond had read my thoughts and translated them into flawless audio. It wasn't truly needed for me but I wanted to create a spectacle.

Gasps echoed through the streets.

"This device doesn't just connect to a computer. It connects to you."

Somewhere in the VIP section, I heard a choked cough from an Apple executive, his face turning pale as he realized just how obsolete his company was about to become.

I smirked. "With The Beyond, there are no keyboards. No buttons. No lag. Simply think… and it happens."

To demonstrate, I remotely accessed the massive LED screen behind me. With nothing but a thought, I pulled up a basic paint app and generated a stylised strip of text, it said:

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE.

More gasps. Someone actually dropped their camcorder.

Jean, standing off to the side, whispered to Tessa, "She's definitely enjoying this."

Tessa chuckled. "Wouldn't you?"

I turned back to the audience. "This is just the beginning. Horizon Industries is here to uplift humanity—to bring about an era where technology is no longer a limitation, but an extension of ourselves."

A beat of silence. Then, a roar of applause

As the doors to the Horizon Store slid open, the first wave of pre-approved customers rushed inside.

The Beyond was officially on the market.

The world would never be the same.

A few weeks later I was still enjoying the massive public interest that came with the release of the Beyond.

In less than a week of the first sale the total number rose to 250 million individual sales, there were so many sales in fact I had to rapidly begin producing more because my stockpile was dwindling.

The legal side was horrible. Governments scrambled to regulate it, but I had already pre-emptively handled all legal loopholes.

Major tech companies scrapped their upcoming products, instead attempting to copy my creation and sell their own bootleg versions. It wasn't going to happen though; my tech was years ahead of even the most advanced thing the humans had to offer.

Even Stark Industries Not even Tony could keep up with this level of innovation.

And now?

I was three weeks into a complete global shift, and people still hadn't fully grasped what was happening.

But for now, I was done working.

It was time to relax.

The warmth of the fireplace crackled behind me, casting a warm golden light across the myriad pieces of jewellery lining the shelves around my living room. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I watched the snow gently fall over the Atlantic.

Behind me, Jean, Tessa, Rogue, and Kitty lounged on the couch, engaged in some ridiculous drinking game that Rogue had introduced. Kitty, already tipsy, was losing badly.

Across the room, Bruce Banner sat in an armchair, sipping from a cup of tea, clearly wondering how the hell he ended up here.

Meanwhile, Nick Fury had stationed himself in the darkest corner of the room, looking deeply uncomfortable as Aunt May offered him some fresh gingerbread cookies.

Peter, standing nearby, whispered to me, "I don't think Fury's ever had a home-cooked meal before."

I smirked. "He'll survive."

And finally, there was Eric.

Magneto sat across from me, a glass of bourbon in hand, watching the snow outside.

"You seem… at peace," he mused.

I swirled the lemonade in my glass, considering his words. "I've made a lot of progress."

Before he could respond, Jean's voice rang out from the living room.

"Morgan! Get over here, it's time for presents!"

Sighing, I finished my drink. "Shall we?"

Eric chuckled, standing. "Let's."

It had been two weeks since the Christmas party, and I was already bored out of my mind.

I stared at the massive screens in my private data hub, watching as Horizon Industries continued to dominate every market it touched.

The Beyond device had exceeded all projections. Governments were struggling to adapt to the new era of direct neural interfaces. Crime rates had plummeted in areas using my surveillance tech. Even global economics were shifting to accommodate the changes I'd forced into existence.

Everything was perfect.

And I was so, so bored.

Jean had suggested I take a break. Tessa tried dragging me into some research projects, and Eric had even invited me to help guide Meta human policies on a world scale.

I had joined them on a few of their projects but my mind worked too fast and the remnants of my human soul still impacted my emotions and feelings.

Sighing I twirl a bar of metal around my inhuman fingers, the metal pulsing and squirming as if it were alive under my control. Solidifying the metal into a bar it disappears into my inventory as I pace the length of my underground facility.

Tapping my chin a random thought strikes me as I think of things to do,, remembering the most crime ridden area of New York I pull up the recent statistics of the area. Almost exactly as I suspected it seems gangs have too much influence on the people there, it needs a more violent approach to gain control.

Smiling I open a portal next to me and step through, as I do my form shifts and I return to my base form. On the other side of the portal my large frame casts a long shadow across the filthy streets and buildings that make up Hell's kitchen. The district stretching below me as I hover in the moon lit sky.

Gently flapping my wings, the moonlight relights the area below me as I disappear from view. Focusing on my senses I quickly locate multiple crimes in the nearby area, the closest being barely a few metres from me.

Phasing through a wall a catch the arm of a drugged up woman mid swing with a knife in hand, squeezing a nerve in her wrist her hand falls open and the knife clatters to the floor. Dropping the woman on a nearby couch I crouch and slowly approach the snivelling seven year old crying in a nearby corner.

Reaching out I gently heal the gushing knife wound across the child's face before standing up again, moving to the woman I purge the mind altering drugs from her system. Instantly a glint of clarity moves into the woman's eyes as tears pool.

Slapping the nearby knife away the woman quickly crawls over to the sobbing child and cups their cheeks. Seeing her actually caring for the child I smile slightly before dropping two Beyonds onto a nearby table, whilst at it I atomise the needles around the tiny room.

Phasing out of the room I twist space to rapidly arrive at the next crime, stopping the basic mugging I speed up my actions. Blurring through the slum like neighbourhood I quickly and easily deal with the basic crimes.

A few minutes in, I finally find the first sign of organised crime. Dropping down into the dim light under a flickering streetlamp I slowly walk towards two shady individuals, one in a van, the other holding a duffle bag and standing by the street corner.

Emphasizing the sound of my footsteps by boosting the sound made, I'm quickly noticed by the two individuals clearly making some kind of deal. Looking towards me the first person, the one with the duffle bag, immediately chooses to flee. 

Dropping the slightly unzipped bag, white packets and bundles of cash fall in a pile on the ground. Taking off in the other direction the clearly experienced man proves to be fairly quick. The other man seeing this happening begins throwing the fallen items into his van whist alternating between me and the stuff he's not moving.

Having a bit of fun playing the big bad monster I continue to elevate my performance, shooting out a tendril from my arm it rapidly crosses the distance between me and the runner before wrapping around his ankle.

Caught mid motion the man falls face first into the ground, but with adrenaline flooding his system he quickly recovers and begins trying to crawl away. Releasing a bestial chuckle, I begin quickly pulling the man closer by retracting my tendril.

Sliding on his back the man screams and grabs onto anything in reach blood flowing from his fingers as he does so, the other man just so happens to be in range of his wild swings and gets grabbed. Tightening his grip the man I'm holding draws blood from the other's arm as he tries to survive.

Tugging my arm the man looses his grip with the tearing of flesh and flies towards me, grabbing him out of the air I flash my mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Releasing a blood curdling scream the man in my grip shits himself before passing out.

The other man seeing this decides to forgo the bag of goods on the ground and scrambles into the drivers seat whilst clutching at his open wound. Watching the van skid away I decide to give him a bit of hope.

Turning to the unconscious man in my hand I quickly scan through his mind and find he's connected to a small scale gang. The man also believes his group is connected with the larger gangs. Humming I drop the man to the side, deciding he isn't guilty enough to die.

Steeping forward space warps around me as I disappear from that spot. Reappearing a few streets over I stand under the only functioning streetlight as a van tears up the street. Having a bit of fun with it I distort the light around me to cast a bloodlike illusion on my scales.

Grinning widely my draconic jaw is in full sight to the horrified drug dealer as he begins desperately changing gears. Drifting to the side the van's tires screech as rubber is burnt and the vehicle enters a side street. Warping again I appear further down the street in the exact same pose.

Continuing the little game of cat and mouse for a few more minutes it eventually ends when the desperate man tries to run me down. Revving up his van the engine roars as it aims dead on with me, phasing slightly I watch with mild humour as the van sores through me and into the thick metal pole behind me.

Stepping to the side of the crashed van I stop my phasing and slowly walk towards the drivers door, all the while making my footsteps echo up and down the street whilst staying within view of the mirror.

Screaming the man attempts to escape the confines of his vehicle but can't as the buckle won't release. Standing outside the door my head clearly out of view above the car, I raise my hand.

*Knock* *Knock*

Freezing the man's head slowly turns to look out at the window as sweat drips down his forehead. Bending down my terrifying grin comes into view for the man as he turns pale with fright and shits himself.

"Hello there, have you heard of our lord and saviour Jesus Crist?" – Morgan

Instantly the man passes out as I break out into a fit of laughter, rolling on the ground I generate an image of the mans expression and look at it. Breaking into even more laughter it takes a few minutes for me to recover.

Hopping off the ground I can't get the image of a Jehovah's Witness chasing someone down horror movie style to talk about Jesus out of my head. Taking the image, I created in my hand I take a roll or duct tape from my inventory with the other.

Lining up the image I slap a strip of tape on it and smack it onto the balding man's face. Whilst at it I also scan his mind for any connections he might have, what I find though causes any remnant of a smile to drain from my face.

The man in question is a long time gangster, someone who actively sought out a gang to join so he could commit heinous crimes. The man here was the epitome of the standard man in a van stereotype. He was a rapist, paedophile and murderer. And for this he would die.

Sharpening my hand into a blade I swipe it horizontally, cutting through the flimsy car roof and then the man's head. I easily take the top of his skull off just above where I pasted the image, reaching into the car I flick the disconnected piece of skull away.

Flying deeper into the car it reveals the man's brain perfectly intact and exposed to the world, sifting through the back of his van with my senses I find a bag of meth and a few knives. Warping space the items appear in a pile on the man's lap.

Grabbing a knife, I begin turning his brain into a grim modern art exhibit, topping off my creation I sprinkle the meth across the man's exposed brain. Dusting off my hands I send out a call to the cops before turning to leave, warping space I move to my next target – This man's gang.