Chapter 220: The Grey Knight — Enters in Full Force
News of the superheroes' UN manhunt spread across the internet like a rising tide.
The first reaction from most people who saw it was confusion, followed quickly by the assumption that it had to be fake news.
How could superheroes possibly end up hunted by the UN?
But it didn't take long before the swarms of police cars clogging the streets, and the helicopters filling the sky, turned that "fake news" into something undeniably real.
Watching the convoys race past, the public fell into stunned silence.
Umbrella Corporation.
Matthew sat on the sofa in his office, his expression as calm as ever, while Eleanor gave him an update beside him.
"Sir... word has come through that the UN has formally issued a wanted notice against you and frozen every asset registered under your name..."
"And that's not all. We've also received a heads-up from our contact planted inside the U.S. government... three minutes ago, military units were deployed."
"The current NYPD Police Commissioner, Tore, sent you an email as well."
"He said he's grateful for everything you've done for him, and that he's refused his superiors' order to arrest you." Eleanor's expression didn't shift at all, though her eyes carried a clear note of contempt and disbelief at the whole situation.
Once she'd finished, Ada, beside her, spoke up as well.
"Boss, are you really just going to let them come arrest you?" A flicker of doubt crossed her eyes. "Anyone with eyes can see that what they're calling a manhunt and an arrest is really just an attempt to use public pressure on superheroes as a group to force you all into submission."
"As far as they're concerned, heroes who once saved the world will always side with peace and humanity, which means they're also convinced you'll bow your heads for the sake of humanity."
"But if you actually do bow, that's exactly when you fall right into their trap!"
"And once you do, those politicians, who'll stop at absolutely nothing, will treat every one of you like dogs on a leash!"
There was real contempt for those politicians running through Ada's words.
Listening to Ada and Eleanor, Matthew, still on the sofa, drew a slow breath and rose to his feet, unhurried.
"Of course I know exactly what they're thinking."
He walked to the window and looked down at the convoy of vehicles and helicopters closing in fast on the building.
"They probably saw how easily I let myself get walked away by a group of police officers last time, so they're convinced I won't put up any resistance this time either." Something faintly mocking flickered in Matthew's eyes.
"But I'm not in the mood to keep playing pretend with them this time."
With that, he spoke aloud. "Doudou, get me a call with One-Eyed Baldy."
"Understood—I will use the most..."
"One more word out of you and I'll have Tony format your whole system."
"...Connecting you to One-Eyed Baldy now."
Beep, beep, beep—
After a few rings, Nick Fury's line connected.
Before Matthew could say anything, Fury spoke first. "Lawrence, I can't help you with this one."
"...Who said I was asking for help?"
"Then what is this?" Fury asked, confused.
"I just wanted to ask... if Umbrella became a power fully independent of any government, would you send your old flame out in space to take me out?"
"My old flame out in space?" Fury was confused for a second, but he quickly understood exactly who Matthew was talking about.
The instant that figure surfaced in his mind, Fury's tone turned dead serious. "How exactly do you know she exists?"
"Ah... don't worry about that. I've got my own intelligence network."
"So, would you?" Matthew's voice came through the speaker.
Fury was quiet for a moment.
"And if I said yes?"
"Then I'd have to find a way to take out your old flame out in space first."
"Then why even ask me?" Fury sounded thoroughly exasperated.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I was just gauging how you'd feel about Umbrella becoming independent of the government."
"Whether you'd actually call in your old flame or not, honestly, I couldn't care less either way."
Listening to that, Fury drew a slow breath. "Don't worry, Matthew Lawrence."
"As long as you're still standing with humanity, I'm not going to come after you."
"As for those idiot politicians in Washington... that's not my problem."
At that, Fury's tone shifted abruptly. "—Though I'd still rather you not cause too much damage to human society. If it's at all possible... I'd like you to actually sit down and talk this through with them."
Silence on the other end of the line.
Half a minute later.
"...Hello? Lawrence?"
"Hello?" Fury called out twice into the phone.
Getting no response, he pulled the phone away and looked at the screen, confused.
"...Motherfucker. When the hell did this bastard hang up on me?! And didn't even say anything!"
The call ended.
Matthew glanced over at the projection screen, where another incoming call had suddenly popped up, and said flatly, "Answer it."
"Right away!"
This time, Doudou didn't try anything cute.
The reason was simple...
This particular call happened to be from the one person Matthew had actually threatened to have format her: Tony Stark.
Again, before Matthew could get a word in, Tony spoke first. "Fuck, Matthew! Can you believe I woke up this morning to find every account under my name frozen, and now I'm apparently a wanted fugitive?"
"Take a look at me, then." Matthew glanced at Tony, who'd clearly just rolled out of bed, face unwashed, teeth unbrushed, and smirked, picking up his own wanted notice from the desk, already printed out by Eleanor in advance.
The instant Tony saw Matthew's wanted notice, he froze.
"WTF?... No way. Seriously? You got a warrant too?"
"How the hell do they even have the nerve?"
"It's not just me. Thor, from Asgard, got one too," Matthew said, spreading his hands, resigned.
"...Wait, hold on??? Thor Odinson got a warrant too?" The corner of Tony's mouth twitched. "JARVIS, pull up the full wanted list for me."
"Right away, sir."
The words had barely settled.
A moment later, JARVIS had the full list compiled and displayed in front of Tony.
Seeing that Thor really was on the list, a series of stress lines practically appeared across Tony's forehead. "At this point I'm starting to think whoever put out this warrant has genuinely lost their mind."
"What kind of sane person issues a warrant for a literal mythological god?"
"Do they think Odin can't hold a gun anymore or something?"
After venting for a bit.
Matthew looked at Tony, who was hurriedly throwing a jacket on. "You didn't call just to vent all this at me, did you?"
"You've got some kind of plan?"
"A plan? Absolutely. Of course I do."
"I'm going to go talk to the President and get him to rescind the warrants against us."
Hearing Tony's plan, Matthew let out a soft laugh. "Tony, setting aside whether the current President would even agree to meet with a wanted fugitive..."
"Do you honestly think a warrant of this scale could've been issued publicly without his approval in the first place?"
Hearing that, Tony didn't slow down. "I know all that, obviously. I still want to talk to him anyway."
"And if that doesn't work, I've got other options."
"By the way, what about you?" Tony ran a hand through his messy hair, looking at Matthew through the screen. "Are you still planning to just go along with them?"
"Not a chance." Matthew clasped his hands behind his back. "I've made up my mind."
"I'm going to use this whole mess as an opportunity to make Umbrella fully independent of any government."
"Because Umbrella was never in the business of protecting those sitting up high in power. It exists to protect the people..."
"What do you think?"
Listening to Matthew, Tony fell into a brief silence.
About five seconds later, he spoke again. "I'm with you."
"But I've got my own things to handle, so I can't help you directly with this one."
"Fuck it."
"Good luck out there!"
The call ended.
To make sure this next move went smoothly, once Tony's video call ended, Matthew opened another portal and headed to the New York Sanctum.
The moment he stepped inside, Matthew found Wong there, mop in hand, cleaning the floor.
Seeing Matthew arrive, Wong raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.
"Lawrence? You actually came?!" With that, he set the mop aside.
...What do you mean, I actually came?
"You knew I was coming?" Matthew, showing not the slightest hint of urgency despite currently being a fugitive, strolled casually out of the portal.
An apple.
He raised a hand, and the apple sitting on the tea table drifted up into the air.
The skin peeled itself away as if being undressed by gravity itself, leaving nothing but a bare, peeled apple hanging in midair.
Watching Matthew act like he owned the place, Wong's mouth twitched slightly, and he offered an explanation. "To be precise, it wasn't that I knew you were coming."
"It was the Sorcerer Supreme. She anticipated your move ahead of time."
"...So it was the Ancient One, then?"
"That would explain it." Matthew murmured to himself, then lifted his head, scanning the Sanctum. "So, where is the Ancient One?"
"I have something I need to discuss with her."
Watching Matthew's eyes search the room for any sign of the Ancient One, Wong cut the search short. "No need to look, Lawrence."
"Something's come up recently in the Dark Dimension. The Sorcerer Supreme needs to go into seclusion for a while to deal with it, and doesn't have time to meet with you."
"As for your question... the Sorcerer Supreme didn't explain further to me, but she did leave a message for you to hear."
"...What is it?"
"She said: do what you believe is right. There's no need to think about anything beyond that."
Matthew was quiet for a moment, then lifted his head. "Wong, please pass along my thanks to the Ancient One for me."
With that.
Matthew didn't linger any longer, stepping back through the still-open portal behind him and returning to his office.
Out on the street, the convoy had already completely surrounded Umbrella's building.
Hundreds of fully armed soldiers climbed out of the vehicles, standing at the ready as Umbrella's own security teams began filing out of the building to meet them.
The security force currently on the ground was nothing more than the company's standard security detail, but even so, they'd come out just as fully armed as the soldiers facing them.
Wells, recently promoted to security squad leader and having successfully lost a considerable amount of weight, was standing among them.
He planted himself in front of the entrance like a man guarding his own family's fortune, refusing to give up so much as a single step.
"Lower your weapons!"
"Or we will treat you as accomplices and place you under arrest!" the leader of the soldier squad sent to apprehend Matthew called out.
As the unit assigned to bring in a "former superhero," they'd all undergone a certain degree of genetic enhancement.
As for exactly how that enhancement had been carried out...
Well. Umbrella Corporation did maintain a certain level of business dealings with various national militaries.
In other words, the super soldiers currently standing in front of Umbrella's own building had, at their core, come from Umbrella's own hands.
Through his tactical visor, Wells looked at the squad leader in the distance and let out a cold snort. "Not a chance we're lowering our weapons."
"You all, on the other hand, might want to consider lowering yours and getting back in your vehicles... we could just pretend none of this ever happened."
Hearing Wells's blunt refusal, the squad leader's grip on his M4 tightened further.
He'd just opened his mouth to say something when a figure descended silently from the sky.
A single raised hand, and every weapon in every soldier's grip turned instantly to drifting ash.
At the same moment—
On the streets flanking either side of Umbrella's building, the air itself warped violently.
A pale blue energy bled out from the pavement without warning!
As the energy churned, thick arcs of blue electricity spilled out from within it, crackling audibly.
The arcs raced wildly across the ground, up streetlamps, over fire hydrants, painting the entire street in a cold, icy blue.
The streetlights began flashing violently under the force of it.
The bulbs let out a shrill, grinding hum.
Sparks burst out from within them, glass shattering in a rapid series of sharp pops.
Cars parked along the curb had their alarms triggered simultaneously by the interference...
Their headlights began flickering erratically too, the whole scene taking on a distinctly unsettling quality.
The soldiers in the front row, seeing this bizarre display, instinctively took a half-step back.
Their hands moved on reflex toward the grenades hanging at their belts.
But when their hands reached their waists, they discovered that every weapon on their bodies had already, in the same instant that figure appeared overhead, turned into a handful of loose grit.
"...What... what is happening?"
"Are the aliens invading again?!"
"Take cover!" the soldiers called out, one after another.
Then, right in front of their eyes... the blue light suddenly contracted!
A resonant hum!!
Every ounce of that energy collapsed, in a single instant, into a single point of light!
And then exploded outward violently!
The shockwave carried with it the acrid smell of scorched asphalt, spreading outward in every direction and staggering the soldiers standing closest to the front.
By the time the light had fully cleared, hundreds of tower-like figures now stood lining both sides of the street, as if they'd simply always been there.
Their improved silver-grey powered armor caught the last sparks from the ruined streetlights, throwing back a cold, hard gleam.
Every single Astartes standing there now measured somewhere between two and a half and two point six meters tall.
Their heavy faceplates completely concealed their features, leaving nothing visible but a single narrow visor slit.
A faint blue light glowed from within that slit.
A cold, emotionless gaze swept out from behind it, taking in the trembling super soldiers in front of them without a trace of feeling...
At the very front of this formation of Astartes stood a single figure, its armor even more ornate, its frame even taller than the rest.
Intricate, elaborate patterns were carved into its shoulder armor.
Those patterns shifted subtly in the dying light of the electric arcs, the angle of their reflection changing constantly, like living scales on some enormous creature.
And this figure stood a full half-head taller than the two-and-a-half-meter Astartes surrounding it.
It didn't need to move, didn't need to do anything at all. Its mere presence alone was enough to make even those front-row, genetically enhanced super soldiers feel a threat rising from somewhere deep inside them, one they couldn't consciously explain.
As if the being standing before them, even doing absolutely nothing, was in itself something to be feared.
The oldest mutant alive... Apocalypse!
Or, more precisely... Progenitor One.
[The Grey Knight—]
[—Enters in Full Force!]
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