The pyramid emerged from the shifting sands.
Within dozens of kilometers around it, a lush oasis spread into existence, teeming with countless new creatures that appeared alongside it. Each had a grotesque form, baring teeth and snarling. Among them was a troop of small monkeys, their faces twisted and ghastly like zombies.
These creatures roamed the oasis with excitement, yet not a single one dared to approach the towering pyramid.
If anyone had been present, they would have realized this structure was far grander than any pyramid known to man. Several statues of Anubis stood solemnly before its entrance.
"Chirp chirp!"
"Guruguru!"
The "monsters" inhabiting the oasis seemed to have their own language. Though they dared not approach the pyramid, they periodically knelt and bowed toward it.
As if praying.
As if pleading for the protection of whoever slumbered within.
"Clatter—"
Once the pyramid had fully risen, something inside stirred awake. Roaring sounds reverberated from deep within its walls.
The awakened presence seemed displeased with the Death God's watch outside. A wave of chilling black wind swept from the pyramid, crashing into the statues. In an instant, the monstrous gale reduced them all to dust.
And it wasn't only the Egyptian desert.
In remote, uninhabited forests, strange phenomena began to manifest. Some of the things that appeared were twisted beyond comprehension.
The Amazon rainforest suddenly sprouted ancient ruins, as if fragments of a forgotten civilization had been abruptly woven into the Marvel Universe's history.
They appeared silently, waiting to be uncovered… and in time, they would stir great upheaval.
These changes did not directly affect Herman, but they would shape the Marvel Universe itself. No one could predict what consequences they might bring.
What could be said with certainty was that the Marvel Universe Herman now inhabited was destined to diverge from all its parallel counterparts, veering toward an entirely different future.
Almost at the same time, six or seven places across the globe underwent transformations. Most appeared in secluded, uninhabited regions, though some involved humans and other lifeforms.
The North Sea.
In a remote stretch rarely reached by ships or planes, a picturesque island surfaced from nowhere, home to thousands of residents.
Every inhabitant was a woman. Dressed in archaic garb, they trained like ancient warriors.
Though delicate in appearance, they possessed immense strength. Among them was a girl who looked to be only in her teens, yet even among the strikingly beautiful warriors, she stood out.
Especially her long legs—impossible not to notice.
But there were no men on the island to admire them. The women continued their rigorous training, unaware of the changes occurring beyond their shores.
"Hm?"
The girl who looked to be in her teens might have been the only one to sense something was wrong. She peered across the horizon and noticed the sea seemed wider than before. Its color, too, had shifted slightly.
Before she could process what she was seeing, a stern voice snapped her attention back.
"Diana! Focus! If you keep slacking off, you'll never become a true warrior!"
The instructor leading the young girls barked sharply at her.
The next moment, the older instructor swung her wooden weapon, tripping the distracted girl and sending her sprawling into the dirt.
"Yes! I understand!"
The young girl, caked in mud, quickly scrambled to her feet. She pushed aside her earlier unease, refocused, and threw herself back into training.
"Diana! Your movements are too stiff!"
"Faster!"
"As the Queen's daughter, you must be better than all the rest!"
...
The sudden emergence of the Oasis Pyramid, the unidentified ancient ruins in the Amazon, and the island rising in the North Sea—none of these had been discovered by the people of the Marvel Universe. Even S.H.I.E.L.D., which prided itself on monitoring the entire globe, seemed to have missed these changes.
In fact, S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't even noticed the events unfolding within cities.
Of course, compared to the massive disturbances out in the wild, the anomalies in the cities were far smaller—just the sudden appearance of something that shouldn't exist.
The commotion was minimal.
A strange object, shaped almost like a backpack, dropped onto the ground in front of a woman walking through an alley. She was so startled that her expression instantly shifted.
Yes, truly shifted.
The woman, originally a beauty with flawless skin and a perfect figure, shuddered from head to toe. Her fair skin rippled and flipped like scales, transforming from bottom to top into a deep blue hue.
Even her down jacket morphed, turning into a textured blue surface.
"Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!"
Her face tensed, but after glancing around and confirming the alley was empty, she let out a sigh of relief and shifted back into her human appearance.
Her blue skin folded away, leaving behind the form of a sultry young woman once more.
That's right.
The woman with the shifting skin was none other than the mutant Mystique—the one Professor Charles treated as a sister, and the shapeshifter said to embody every beautiful woman in the world.
"My powers… still haven't fully recovered."
Raven frowned deeply. Not long ago, during a battle, soldiers who hunted mutants had hit her with a drug through a ranged weapon. The injection had stripped her abilities, leaving her a powerless human for weeks.
Fortunately, the drug that suppressed mutant genes wasn't fully developed. Only in the past couple of days had her powers begun to gradually return.
"A box."
Having resumed her normal form, Mystique finally turned her attention to the object that had landed before her—a dark red metallic case with a distinctly sci-fi look.
Its surface gleamed with a strange luster. Under the sunlight, it seemed to radiate an ominous, almost sinister aura.
"This thing… might be some kind of special metal."
Her curiosity piqued, Mystique crouched down to examine the box.
But the instant her hand brushed against it, the dark red metallic lines etched across its surface flared with a lurid glow.
[Binding user.]
The box split apart.
The leading edge of the metal clamped onto her palm, then spread rapidly upward, encasing her body.
"Damn it!"
Caught off guard, Mystique tried frantically to shake it off, but within seconds the material had covered her completely.
In less than three seconds, the small metal case had reorganized itself into a full suit of armor around her.
Click—
A cold visor sealed over her face, hiding her shocked expression as the armor's assembly finished. A display lit up before her eyes.
Crimson light illuminated her vision. A virtual screen projected across her retinas, listing a series of armor parameters. Unfortunately, Mystique's limited education left her unable to make sense of any of them.
[Armor system loaded… User detected is not Bruce Wayne. Only basic functions will be available.]
A flat, mechanical voice echoed in her ear.
Mystique stared in disbelief at her hands—now encased in sleek black gauntlets. Crimson lines pulsed across the joints, glowing and dimming like something alive, breathing in and out.
"Armor? Like Tony Stark's?"
Once she calmed down, Mystique tried speaking to the voice. She quickly realized the armor itself didn't seem hostile.
[User, select mode— Godspeed Mode, Aquaman Mode.]
The system ignored her question.
"What the hell does that even mean?"
She muttered in frustration. But as she took a few steps, she discovered she could suddenly sprint at blistering speed. She even managed to run along a wall—collapsing part of it in the process.
Mystique froze, realization dawning. She had stumbled onto something incredible. With this power, she could surpass Iron Man himself.
"Should I try Godspeed Mode?"
She began experimenting with the armor, still clueless about its origin.
But something told her this strange suit could become her greatest weapon in storming mutant detention facilities and rescuing her people.
[Godspeed Mode activating.]
With the prompt, the armor shifted instantly. Parts of the plating liquefied into fine streams, flowing and reshaping into a new form in less than half a second.
The armor's overall structure became sleeker, more aerodynamic. The pulsing patterns across its surface shifted from crimson to radiant gold, flickering with such speed it was as if lightning coursed within.
[Godspeed Mode online.]
Mystique heard the voice again. And then the world around her froze.
A droplet of water had just begun to fall from a rooftop. Now it inched downward so slowly it was nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.
"This feeling…"
Mystique was stunned.
She could see golden currents of electricity flowing across the display, as though an invisible force field in the form of energy coursed through every component of the armor.
She tried running. Even in the middle of a bustling downtown street, where people and cars seemed nearly frozen in place, she finally understood what this so-called [Godspeed Mode] really was.
"Current capacity… ninety-nine percent."
Just as Mystique was reveling in the exhilaration brought by the Amazo Armor, its warning tone instantly sobered her.
"Energy drain? Stop! Shut down this Godspeed Mode now!"
She intended to use this armor to save her fellow mutants. Wasting an unknown, irreplaceable energy source on meaningless testing was the last thing she wanted.
"Maybe Charles would know how to recharge it. Erik… well, like me, he never studied."
Mystique had no desire to seek out Professor Charles. She could already picture the outcome: showing up with something this mysterious would earn her nothing but a scolding and the armor being confiscated.
[Godspeed Mode deactivated.]
The voice of the Amazo Armor sounded again. Immediately, the plating shifted back to its original state. The golden lines dimmed, replaced once more by crimson patterns.
The world, which had felt utterly frozen, returned to its normal clamor. Cars rolled forward, pedestrians resumed their walks, and the city came alive again.
"What is that?"
"Cosplay?"
"Probably an Iron Man fan."
"I think it looks cooler than Iron Man's armor, but hey, Iron Man can fly. This thing's probably just a prop."
...
As the crowd resumed their day, eyes naturally fell on Mystique. The Amazo Armor was far too striking to go unnoticed, instantly drawing stares from every direction.
She ignored the whispers.
Her gaze was fixed on a shopfront TV broadcasting news coverage—once again, it was about the so-called Homelander.
New York media loved recycling footage of Herman battling in his armor, splicing it with solemn expert commentary analyzing the "Homelander's" strength.
"So this is the rising mutant Charles mentioned? He looks even stronger than Erik."
Mystique's eyes stayed glued to the screen, captivated by Herman's overwhelming presence. The report had just reached the part where Herman demanded the public call him Superman.
"Superman…"
Mystique muttered under her breath.
Charles was always hiding in his castle. Erik had tremendous power, but all he thought about was building a mutant nation.
Once, she believed Erik was right. But after being crippled by the suppressant a few days ago, she realized both Charles and Erik were wrong. If mutants didn't fight for their rights, they would be erased from history.
The suppressant she'd faced might have only temporarily suppressed the X-gene, but who could say the next one wouldn't erase it forever?
Mystique had lived through many ages. She had no formal education, but she understood one truth well—technology advanced at terrifying speed.
Now, watching Herman on the TV, she felt as if she was seeing a stronger ally than either Charles or Erik. Was he trying to reshape humanity's view of mutants by walking the path of a superhero?
"Still too naive. Kindness won't bring us peace."
Her mind filled in the blanks on its own. She had already judged Herman to be a mutant like herself.
"When the chance comes, I should warn this Superman."
Mystique was about to turn away when—
[Absorbable target detected—Kill him!!!]
The Armor's screen flickered violently, crimson text flashing, and its voice roared in her ears.
"I will not harm my own kind!"
Mystique's heart sank. There was something sinister about this armor.
[Kill him! You can absorb his power!]
The same crimson warning pulsed again, blindingly insistent.
"You can absorb other people's powers!?"
She froze in horror. She had never even heard of such an ability—let alone one built into a suit of armor.
[Absorbable target detected! Highest priority!]
The Armor's interface projected its top-level command protocols.
[This armor was created because Superman should never have existed!]
It seemed the very mention of "Superman" had triggered its response. The Amazo Armor tried to invoke its creator Bruce Wayne's command protocols, forcing its wearer to kill Herman.
But—
"No matter what you're capable of, I will never harm my own kind. Otherwise, I'd be no better than those who experiment on mutants!"
Mystique's voice was resolute.
She ignored the Armor's frenzied flashing prompts and, without hesitation, disappeared into the sea of pedestrians, leaving behind only curious stares.