[The First Mutant Mayhem] – The Echo of Mutant Wars – Val Takes the Lead

Val's grin broadened at the sight of Mystique's startled expression, playfully tapping her forehead with his finger.

Mystique yelped, "Ouch!" The sudden discomfort broke her trance-like state, her hand instinctively rushing to the throbbing spot on her forehead. She shot Val a reproachful look.

Turning away, Val maneuvered the fighter jet back onto the warship, his attention momentarily pulled away from Mystique. Once the jet was secured, he swiveled back, his gaze once again landing on Mystique.

Mystique stared at Val and questioned, "Why are you even here?"

Val responded, "I did warn you about this, didn't I? It's expected for me to be here."

Mystique flashed a wicked smile and retorted, "Is that so? You're quite the liar, given that you've been lying since our first encounter. Isn't that correct, Mr. I-am-from-an-undisclosed-secret-government-agency-whose-name-I-can conveniently-disclose?"

Val's smile wavered at Mystique's words. He sighed, looked at her, and asked, "How did you find out?"

Mystique folded her arms, huffed at him, and replied, "Much earlier than you could ever imagine, you deceptive blood-stealer!"

Val was about to reply when the warship shook harshly again, making Mystique grip the railing. Val swiveled and saw tornadoes repeatedly striking the warship. He squinted his eyes, thinking, 'Ah, so Riptide is already here.'

When the tornadoes faded a few moments later, Val faced Mystique. He pulled out a mask from his armor. Ignoring her objections, he placed the mask on her face, which then twisted to fit her face perfectly.

Val told Mystique, "This mask will keep you from drowning if you end up in the sea. I need you to stop the U.S. fleet from launching any missiles, alright?"

After seeing Mystique nod in agreement, Val affectionately patted her head. But before she could brush his hand off, Val swiftly turned and jumped, flying up into the sky toward the Russian warship. He left Mystique with a warning, "Stay safe!"

* BOOM *

A sonic boom echoed in the sky as Val rocketed towards the Russian warship.

Erik observed Val's soaring figure and turned to Charles, asking, "Who is that?"

Charles squinted at Val's flying form and answered, "He is..."

* BOOOM *

A powerful blast rocked the U.S. warship, causing it to shake once again. Both Erik and Charles lost their balance and fell, looking towards the site of the explosion.

Heavy smoke billowed from the explosion's epicenter. But what they saw next took them by surprise.

Amidst the dense smoke and fire, Shaw, clad in his helmet, emerged with Azazel, who was sporting a wicked grin.

Shaw halted a bit away from Erik and Charles, who were still on the ground. He surveyed the mutants aboard the warship and remarked, "Such a shame!" He extended his hands and declared loudly, "You are all mutants! The future of the human race! We are stronger, faster...we surpass the ordinary humans in every way! We are destined to prosper while they are meant to fade into obscurity! So, stop resisting us! You're being manipulated by the lesser humans!"

Angel Salvadore rose to her feet, wiping blood off her scraped elbows. As she listened to Shaw, she questioned him softly, "W-Why d-do you want to kill the humans?"

Shaw turned his smile towards Angel and responded, "We are the children of the atom. Radiation gave rise to mutants. What will destroy the humans will only make us more powerful."

Suddenly, he deftly sidestepped a large metal plate that whizzed by him. He spun around to examine the metal plate, then turned back to Erik with a smile, "Oh! What a delightful surprise to see you here, Little Erik."

Erik's teeth ground together in anger as he bellowed, "Don't you dare utter my name with your foul mouth! You killed my mother right in front of me!" Erik used his power to lift the surrounding metal parts and declared, "Today, Shaw, you will face the consequences for what you did to me."

Shaw smirked and taunted, "Come on, little Erik. Show me how much you've grown since the last time we met."

Meanwhile,

Val was in flight towards the Russian warship. As he drew near, the warship unleashed a barrage of missiles at him.

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

Val halted and hung in the air as the missiles barreled toward him. Before they could strike, he abruptly altered his course and shot directly towards the Russian warship.

The missiles redirected and trailed Val toward the warship. Deliberately, he let the missiles slam into the ship, resulting in a series of fiery explosions.

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

* BOOM *

Val landed on the Russian warship, drawing in the energy from the wind and surrounding explosions. He clenched his hand into a fist, imbuing it with the absorbed energy, and struck the flight deck beneath his feet.

* BOOOOM *

The warship's flight deck fractured like brittle shell under the force of his punch, triggering a powerful explosion beneath him. Val stood and launched himself up, hovering a few meters above. He looked down at the scene of chaos on the Russian warship as it split into two parts amidst the explosion resulting from his strike.

Turning his attention to a submarine some distance away from the warship, Val set off towards it.

As he neared the submarine, Val witnessed a massive tornado manifest from nowhere and rush towards him.

With a smirk, he halted. As the tornado closed in on him, he merely extended his hand and absorbed all the kinetic energy from it, causing it to abruptly dissipate.

Val cast a glance at the submarine, confidently crossing his arms. A moment later, two more tornadoes formed and charged toward him, prompting an even wider smirk from Val.

Once again, he stretched out his hand, effortlessly absorbing both tornadoes. Yawning, Val signaled arrogantly for the submarine to make its move.

In the blink of an eye, a multitude of tornadoes sprung up around him. Val extended both hands, absorbing the tornadoes. As they faded away, he manipulated the absorbed energy and directed it all towards the submarine.

* BOOM *

The water above the submarine divided as the energy struck it, resulting in the detachment of its front portion.

With a sonic boom, Val raced towards the submarine. Punching through the roof, he descended inside it.

He then turned to see Riptide glaring at him, mini tornadoes swirling at his hand while the water level under their feet continued to rise.

Riptide was preparing to launch an attack on Val when suddenly, he saw a fading image of Val, and in the next moment, Val was standing right in front of him.

Riptide gave Val a contemptuous sneer when unexpectedly, he coughed up blood and felt an icy chill around his abdomen.

Looking down, his eyes went wide in terror at the sight of Val's hand piercing through his stomach, his blood pooling and mingling with the rising water at their feet.

Riptide looked up to see Val sneering down at him, whispering the word "Trash!" into his ear.

Val then withdrew his hand from Riptide's stomach and delivered a powerful kick to his chest.

* WHAM *

Riptide was sent flying back, colliding with the metal door behind him. He slid down, leaving a bloody trail on the door, lifeless.

Seeing Riptide's lifeless body, Val looked up and flew out of the sinking submarine.