Chapter Two: Ascension
Flashback — One Month Earlier
Peggy Carter's POV
She had seen a lot in her lifetime — wars, miracles, gods walking the Earth. But nothing could prepare her for this.
That… that was her son. Or the man who'd become her son. Floating in the sky like an angel of vengeance, eyes glowing, chest bare, muscles etched from the very bones of Olympus.
"Stephen…" she whispered, clutching her chest, not from pain — but from awe.
A tear rolled down her cheek. You were never supposed to be this… and yet no one else could ever be.
Back to the present (flashback scene)
"I love you... not just as a father. I love you, Stephen."
The whispered words detonated inside him. Rogue's lips touched his cheek, and then the machine surged.
Pain. Creation. Rebirth.
His screams shook the structure. His flesh sizzled under arcs of quantum plasma. The Brotherhood watched in horror as the containment shell failed.
[TEMPLATE SYSTEM ACTIVATED…]
[SELECTING INITIAL TEMPLATE: KRYPTONIAN - MAN OF STEEL]
[GENETIC ANCHOR DETECTED: X-GENE – ENERGY ABSORPTION TYPE… ALPHA LEVEL POTENTIAL…]
[BEGINNING ASCENSION. GODHOOD PROTOCOL INITIATED.]
The world cracked.
A sonic boom tore through the sky, shattering drones, blowing windows in Capitol Hill, and flattening trees along the Potomac.
A blinding light.
A ruptured sky.
A god was born.
And then — silence.
From the steaming wreckage of the machine, a figure emerged.
Lance.
No longer bound.
No longer human.
He stood shirtless, suit pants torn, black tie fluttering against glowing skin. His physique was inhuman — sculpted, divine, veins pulsing with solar plasma, chest rising like thunderclouds about to burst.
The world held its breath.
The crowd screamed. Cameramen collapsed. Global feeds flickered as the internet exploded.
Washington D.C. descended into panic.
Rogue sobbed beneath the wreckage. Peggy stared from the crowd.
And above them, Lance floated — raw power barely contained, eyes glowing blue-white.
"Anna. Mother. You're safe now."
Then, Magneto's wrath descended.
Steel cables, cars, and statues of presidents hurtled toward Lance like a metallic typhoon. He raised his hand—
And lost control.
The entire magnetic storm vaporized, disintegrated by a pulse of unstable solar energy. Buildings collapsed behind him. The Lincoln Memorial cracked.
"Stephen Lance Carter," Magneto snarled, "I MADE you a god. I changed mutant destiny the moment I activated that machine!"
"You tried to enslave my daughter to kill me," Lance spat. "You built a god you couldn't control."
Eric launched himself forward.
They collided midair — and the world shattered.
The Brotherhood of Mutants attacked.
Sabretooth lunged, claws drawn. Lance caught him midair, crushed his throat, and hurled him through the Washington Monument.
Pyro unleashed a towering inferno. Lance absorbed it — eyes glowing, skin crackling, barely stable.
Avalanche cracked the earth beneath D.C., sending tremors as buildings toppled.
Mystique shifted into Lance's form, trying to confuse him. He saw through it instantly and knocked her unconscious with a brutal chi-enhanced palm strike.
Destiny screamed, trying to bend timelines. Lance activated the mystic arts he'd learned in Nepal years ago — golden mandalas flared as he severed her precognition temporarily.
Blob charged.
Lance lifted him by the stomach and threw him into the Capitol Building, the dome cracking under the impact.
The entire crowd descended into chaos. Screaming. Running. Helicopters spinning. Broadcasts cut off mid-sentence. The world watched — frozen.
Peggy screamed for him.
Anna cried, trying to crawl toward him.
Then Juggernaut roared onto the battlefield.
A hulking, 616-style force of nature — over 9 feet tall, helmeted, arms like trucks.
"STEP ASIDE, LITTLE MAN!"
He plowed through the wreckage, barreling straight at Lance like a tank.
Boom!
Boom!
BOOM!
Lance gritted his teeth and met him head-on — fists colliding with shockwaves that leveled a city block.
Fist to fist.
Strength vs. will.
Juggernaut got in a few brutal hits. One sent Lance crashing into the Washington Mall. The Earth cratered beneath him.
Blood streamed down his face.
He stood again.
[TEMPLATE INTEGRATION: 38%]
He screamed — energy radiating in a golden blaze as he launched forward, tackling Juggernaut mid-charge and dragging him into the air.
They flew high — and Lance punched him through three clouds before slamming him into the Atlantic Ocean.
He returned, shirt gone, body burning like a star. His control fraying — the city flickering in the reflection of his energy output.
And Magneto still stood.
"You were always meant to rule, Stephen," Eric whispered, blood leaking from his lip. "Not as a man… but as the future of our kind. I gave that to you!"
"You gave me pain," Lance growled. "You nearly killed the only people I love."
Mystic sigils flared in his palm.
Chi energy ignited his fists.
He channeled both and — drained Magneto's life force, slowly — just like Rogue.
Eric screamed, armor buckling.
Then came Domino, leaping onto the battlefield, shooting down Brotherhood remnants with feral precision. Her voice cracked:
"Lance, STOP! You'll kill yourself!"
Psyclock teleported in next to Magneto, psionic blades active. Her eyes were wide. "We thought we lost you... don't become what we feared."
Lady Deathstrike, wounded but alive, snarled. "We've fought with you for years. Slept with you. Loved you. Don't throw that away."
Lance hesitated.
Then the Blackbird arrived.
Descending: Six mutants.
Storm – Ororo Munroe, goddess of the sky, eyes lightning-white.
Jean Grey – Phoenix aura burning softly.
Wanda Maximoff – Reality rippling around her hands.
Polaris – Lorena Dane, daughter of Magneto, tears in her eyes.
Colossus – His steel body gleaming.
Iceman – Freezing the surrounding air to protect civilians.
They landed silently. A family reunion mid-apocalypse.
"Dad…" Jean whispered.
Wanda's voice trembled. "Please… not like this."
Lorena stepped forward, eyes locked on her broken father. "Don't become the monster you swore to protect us from."
Lance hovered above them all, hand glowing. Energy unstable. The city in ruins behind him. Washington on its knees.
Then—
He let go.
The light faded.
He dropped to his knees, gasping, tears streaking his cheeks.
Rogue ran to him.
Peggy embraced him.
Domino, Psyclock, and Deathstrike knelt beside him.
He was human again.
[TEMPLATE INTEGRATION COMPLETE: 47%]
[NEW SKILLS UNLOCKED: FLIGHT, HEAT VISION, ENERGY PERCEPTION, BIOLOGICAL INVULNERABILITY]
[NEXT STAGE UNLOCKED: CHI-MYSTIC HYBRID AUGMENTATION]
The war was far from over.
But now, the whole world knew:
Stephen Lance Carter had ascended.