The Shadow King's greasy bloated face was filled with disbelief as he watched the red chair smash violently against his head again and again, emitting dull thudding sounds...
This was David's mental world, a void space constructed from consciousness and spirit. But the true ruler here wasn't David himself, it was this outsider, the Shadow King.
In the past, the Shadow King had operated in the real world under the human guise of Amahl Farouk.
By chance, he encountered Charles Xavier. Fresh out of university and full of ambition, the young professor had yet to meet the vengeance-driven Magneto. Traveling alone to Haifa Israel, he joined a medical team.
During those peaceful days, Charles found brief romance with a member of the medical team. Though their relationship was intermittent, they maintained occasional contact. During this period, the Shadow King selected the professor as his perfect host, only to suffer a crushing defeat in their psychic battle.
After this failure, the Shadow King turned his attention to Charles' lover. Through his deliberate influence, David was born.
This child inherited the professor's extraordinary mental gifts, allowing the Shadow King to infiltrate and secretly lurk in the depths of his consciousness. This was precisely what caused David's childhood auditory and visual hallucinations, ultimately leading to his dissociative identity disorder.
"This can't be!!" The yellow-eyed fat creature shrieked.
In David's mental world, he held absolute dominance. Even someone as powerful as the professor might not be able to harm him. Yet this young man not only easily rose from his chair, but was now violently assaulting the Shadow King. This unprecedented situation left the Shadow King stunned.
"With such low attractiveness, how dare you show your face? A villain like you shouldn't even survive two episodes." Sean planted his foot on the Shadow King's massive head, grinding his shoe against the greasy face.
Around the long table, the various personalities suddenly froze in place as if time had stopped.
This confirmed Sean's suspicion: the reason David had split into multiple personalities was due to the Shadow King's machinations. The former possessed the innate ability to absorb others' consciousness, while the latter survived by feeding on psychic energy.
The Shadow King continuously created eerie hallucinations, affecting David's psyche and generating more negative emotions; some of which he absorbed, while the rest split off to form other personalities.
"Wh–who are you?"
Ignoring the Shadow King's question, Sean continued slamming the creature's head against the ground until his greasy face was ground into a bloody pulp.
"Surprised? How does it feel to suddenly lose control of this mental space?" Sean mocked.
During his time in Sokovia, he had mastered the Mind Stone's power. In terms of pure psychic strength, even Professor Charles was slightly inferior.
Sean continued, "Now you can also feel pain, your wounds won't heal... and yes, I can smell your fear."
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Another series of dull impacts as the Shadow King was trampled like a toy, utterly defenseless beneath Sean's foot.
The greasy face was now unrecognizable. It was just a sticky bloody mess. The small eyes that once glowed yellow had lost their sinister cunning.
"You can't kill me! I'm connected to David's consciousness! You can't kill me without killing him!" The Shadow King shrieked defiantly.
He wouldn't surrender so easily. As long as Sean and Charles couldn't bring themselves to kill David, he would continue to exist. This strange entity of unknown origin was a pure psychic being. Once he possessed a host's body, he could use it as a vessel to operate in the material world.
"This is quite the problem." Sean muttered.
Seeing his troubled expression, the Shadow King let out a triumphant, piercing laugh. David was his carefully cultivated host. The Shadow King had lurked in his consciousness since childhood.
As he had said, in a sense, he was David's other half. The two were inseparable. Even someone of the professor's caliber, with his deep understanding of psychic powers, couldn't eliminate the Shadow King without harming David. It was impossible.
"Release me now!" The Shadow King's small eyes once again emitted their sinister yellow glow as he glared venomously at Sean, "You can't stay in David's mind forever! No matter what you do, I'll be the ultimate victor!"
"Charles, either sacrifice yourself to save David, your only son, or I'll take his body. He's an Omega-level mutant with limitless potential. By continuously absorbing consciousness, creating personalities, and gaining more abilities, he'll eventually surpass even you. So make your choi– Aaah!"
Before the creature could finish, Sean stomped down again, smashing his head repeatedly against the ground.
"Stop pretending I don't exist, alright?" Sean spoke calmly, his cold gaze fixed on the arrogant Shadow King, "You've waited over twenty years to possess David's body. Now that he's a ripe fruit, you'd never let him go."
"His body–"
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
"When I don't give you permission to speak, it's best you stay silent." Sean pressed down on the massive head, his eyes glinting dangerously as he added, "But the professor's appearance changed your plans. Compared to young David, his father, the world's most powerful mind controller, is clearly the better host. Rather than spend years strengthening David's abilities and unlocking his Omega-level potential, why not simply take Charles Xavier?"
The bald professor looked conflicted. Unlike Magneto, he lacked the ruthlessness to achieve goals at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing loyal followers.
On one hand was his son. For years, he'd failed as a father, and was burdened by deep guilt.
On the other was his own life, and potentially the safety of the entire world...
Charles understood all too well the destruction his powers could cause if misused, which was precisely why he restrained himself so carefully.
"You've created a deadlock, forcing the professor to make an impossible choice. Quite clever."
Sean's gaze shifted as he kicked aside the fallen Shadow King and slowly approached David. This core personality had been imprisoned in the deepest layers of consciousness. He was weak and sensitive, like a pitiful helpless child.
Sean placed his hand on David's head, his indifferent eyes turning to the struggling Shadow King, "However, there's a third option. I can have David kill you himself."
"How could you–"
The yellow-eyed creature's words cut off abruptly as he sensed an overwhelming surge of psychic energy flooding into this deep subconscious space.
For years, the Shadow King had silently controlled David, influencing his thoughts, locking away his core personality while creating others to manipulate the host body.
Yet in mere moments, David's power visibly intensified, rapidly seizing control of his own consciousness.
"Now it's you who has no way out." Standing by the long table, Sean snapped his fingers lightly.
The frozen personalities lunged like rabid dogs at the panicked Shadow King.
The cowering David slowly rose from his chair, his eyes like kaleidoscopes reflecting ever-shifting complex emotions.
"My name is Legion, for we are many." David quoted a verse from the Gospel of Mark in a low voice.
As the Shadow King's agonized wails filled the air, the swarm of personalities tore the creature to shreds, leaving only its hoarse, desperate screams echoing into nothingness...