AN: Bonus chapter. C'mon, guys, lacking power stones.
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Lorna stared at Sebastian Shaw for a long moment. Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear the beats. Every cell in her body screamed to either run or fight, but to her at that moment, finding out about her father was more important than running away. She wanted the truth more than she feared what might happen if she let go.
She closed her eyes. That strange hum she had always felt in the background roared forward. It was like opening a door that had been locked her whole life. The air around her shimmered. The damp smell of the field was overtaken by the scent of ozone, sharp and electric.
Green light began to spark along her fingers. Her black-dyed hair shifted, the color bleeding away strand by strand until it was the vibrant green she had hidden for years. Her boots lifted off the gravel as if the earth itself had released her.
The world sharpened. She could feel every piece of metal in the field. The rusted bolts in the old fence. The nails in the telephone pole. The steel skeleton of the boxcars in the train yard. Every coin in the pockets of the men in front of her.
She opened her eyes. Shaw's three goons stood ready, their confidence faltering for the first time.
Lorna smiled coldly. "You wanted me to stop holding back. Fine."
The energy around her intensified, a green aura crackling and snapping like lightning. With a flick of her wrist, the knuckle dusters she had been holding shot off her hands and flew into the nearest goon's chest with enough force to knock him into the dirt. A second movement and the metal pipe in another man's grip wrenched free, spinning in the air before slamming across his jaw.
The tattooed one charged anyway, snarling. Lorna's eyes narrowed and the chain-link fence rattled violently. A moment later it tore free from its posts and wrapped around him like a net, dragging him backward.
Shaw clapped again, but this time it was slower, heavier. "Better. Much better."
"You're next," Lorna said. "I'll beat the shit out of you, then you can tell me about my dad while you're spitting teeth."
She shot forward, the ground beneath her boots sparking as stray nails and bolts ripped free. Shaw moved to meet her, his stance calm but prepared. Her first strike sent a wave of green energy that tore through the grass and dirt between them, carrying shards of rusted steel. Shaw took the hit full-on. The impact rang out like a gunshot, but he stood there, grinning.
"I absorb energy, my dear," he said, his voice low. "You're feeding me with every attack."
"Then I'll just have to give you more than you can handle."
"This is me at 5%," Shaw said calmly. "If you think you can overload me, go ahead. Show me everything you have. That rage and raw emotions... Use it all and come at me, kid."
She raised both hands. The scattered debris in the field shot toward Shaw in a deadly storm. He waded into it without hesitation, the metal striking him with explosive force. Each hit only seemed to make him stronger, his grin widening. When he lunged forward, he was faster, heavier, and his fist came down like a hammer.
Lorna crossed her arms and a wall of twisted metal rose between them, his blow denting it inward but not breaking through. She pushed back, the wall flattening and then exploding outward, sending him skidding across the gravel.
Shaw laughed as he stood. "Yes. That's it. You are getting there."
"You asked for it," she muttered.
The boxcars in the train yard groaned. Metal screamed as she pulled their frames toward her. Panels tore free, wheels ripped from axles, and a moment later, a dozen massive pieces of railcar were circling in the air around her like a storm of blades.
Shaw's eyes narrowed now, his earlier amusement replaced with focus. Right now, he was barely using his full power. He charged as she sent the first wave of metal hurtling toward him. He smashed through the first few chunks with his fists, absorbing their kinetic energy, but the next barrage was faster, heavier, and relentless.
One jagged panel slammed into his side and spun him around. Another caught him in the back, driving him toward the dirt. Before he could recover, Lorna ripped a rail from the gravel and snapped it like a whip. The steel lashed across his chest and hurled him into a heap of old scrap.
She advanced, eyes burning with green light. "You're going to tell me everything," she said, "or I'm going to bury you under this yard."
Shaw rose slowly, brushing dirt from his jacket. The grin was gone. "Impressive. You pushed me to 10%. That's more than I expected," he admitted. "But you still don't understand the scale of your power."
"I'm figuring it out just fine," she said.
He moved faster than before. One second he was standing among the wreckage, the next, he was right in front of her, fist cocked back. The blow landed against a faint green barrier she formed instinctively just in time, but the force still knocked her back several feet. She gritted her teeth and pushed forward, shoving him away with a blast of magnetic force.
He twisted in the air and landed on his feet, absorbing the energy from her attack like a sponge. His next move was a feint followed by a low strike that caught her in the ribs. Pain lanced through her side, stealing her breath.
Lorna's vision swam, but she forced the pain down. She yanked the steel fence from the far side of the yard and hurled it toward him. He caught it in one hand, but she twisted her fingers and the entire structure bent around him, wrapping him in a cocoon of metal.
For a moment he was still. Then the metal began to bulge outward as he absorbed the force. She clenched her fists, tightening the grip until the steel groaned like it was about to snap in on itself.
Shaw simply took a step forward as the metal busted, shards flying in every direction. He caught one in midair and threw it like a spear. She deflected it, the projectile spinning harmlessly into the dirt, but the distraction gave him time to close the gap again.
Their next exchange was brutal. Her attacks came in waves, metal slamming into him from every direction, each piece bent and reshaped mid-flight to strike again. He absorbed the punishment, returning each blow with crushing punches and kicks that forced her to shield constantly. The ground around them was a cratered mess, littered with twisted steel and smoking debris.
His punches carried the weight of every attack she had thrown at him, each one a shockwave through her battered body. Every impact rattled her bones and drove the air from her lungs. She staggered back, boots skidding over the gravel.
Lorna's vision was clouded with the green flicker of her own energy. Blood streaked down from her nose and she tasted blood every time she swallowed. Her ribs screamed with every breath. She was sure something inside her had cracked.
Shaw yelled in excitement. "You are stronger than when your father first awakened his power. It's impressive. Your control is much stronger than his. Back then he could barely bend a fence."
She spat blood into the dirt and watched him, her hands loose at her sides. He thought she was breaking. He thought he had her figured out.
But something had shifted.
The hum in her head was no longer just the pull of the boxcars or the fence posts. It was as if her perception got much clearer. She could feel it in him. The metallic tang that lived in every human being. The trace of iron in his blood was like a thread she could see with her mind, coiled and ready to be yanked.
Her heart slammed in her chest. She had never felt this before.
Shaw took a step forward. She let him. Another step and his shadow fell over her.
"You don't have anything left," he said.
Her eyes locked on his. "You sure about that?"
The air between them tightened. Invisible weight coiled around him, not from the metal in the yard, but from inside him. Shaw froze mid-step. His smirk twitched.
Lorna clenched her fists and pulled. The iron in his blood responded. His muscles jerked in protest, his veins burning under her control.
Shaw's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he masked it. "Clever," he said, his voice strained. "But... Sadly, we have to end this."
Suddenly, Lorna's vision blurred as she let Shaw go. Her body wasn't under her control and someone was controlling her mind. She could tell it, but too weak and exhausted to resist.
"Fuck!" She cursed.
...
[Horizon Island]
A few minutes earlier on Horizon Island, Tony was running a routine systems sweep when the alarms lit up.
A sharp spike in the electromagnetic spectrum tore across his monitors. His AI flagged it instantly. The energy signature was off the charts, almost identical to the readings he had on file for Magneto. But this one was stronger, wilder, and unrefined.
Tony's fingers flew over the controls. Satellite feeds pivoted to the location. Grainy visuals sharpened into high-resolution images of an abandoned rail yard. There was a girl in black boots floating above the gravel, a green aura blazing around her. Metal swirled in a storm around her body. Opposite her, Sebastian Shaw was laughing like a lunatic, shrugging off attacks that could level a tank.
"Of course it's Shaw," Tony muttered. "Guy never learned the meaning of a peaceful night."
He tapped into the comms. "Wanda. Priority one."
Her voice came in, calm but clipped. "Really now? It's midnight. What's wrong?"
"I've got a fight on my screen that's about to level a small town. Your sister's in the middle of it. She's going toe-to-toe with Shaw and somehow holding her own." He rewound a second of footage. "Scratch that, she's doing more than holding her own. She's turning the guy into a piñata."
"Sister?!" Wanda asked, confused. She never knew about Lorna since Magneto kept her hidden and used Mastermind's power to erase her existence.
"Stepsister, to be precise. And right now she needs help. Shaw is never alone. Emma Frost is always with him. So, expect a strong Omega-level telepath," Tony replied.
There was no hesitation in Wanda's tone. "Location."
Tony sent it with a flick. "Get there now. Shaw's soaking up her hits and getting stronger. If she keeps throwing at this pace, she'll burn herself out and he'll take her alive or probably use Emma to manipulate her mind. So, saving her is the top priority. As for the rest, capture them alive if possible. And bring everyone to Shield Base 1. I'll meet you there and be careful."
He walked out to the balcony and flew away with a streak of golden light.
This time, Tony didn't use his suit; instead decided to fly using his cosmic power.
"Understood," she said. The channel cut off.
...[POWERSTONES AND REVIEWS]...
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