Chapter 80: Persona

Xavier subconsciously shivered as he witnessed this phenomenon on the Astral Plane, a place of static energy and great power.

He doubled over, falling back to the ground; begrudgingly, he looked back up, witnessing the metamorphosis. 

Hank cautioned him about the adverse effects of using the helmet for too long. Though their fight seemed to have lasted for a while, it had only been a few minutes - time that Xavier couldn’t afford to waste.

The Astral Dimension, like the Mirror Dimension, coexists alongside the Material Plane. However, to access it, one must successfully separate from one’s physical form, which exists in a pure energy state. 

Time is relative inside the Material Plane; one perspective is that outside, the world is slowed to a crawl

Cole’s berserker rage was triggered during their fight. Mammoth, a physically powerful being, had joined the conversation, and his low percentage was the only reason Cole did not lose control. 

Cole’s hand clenched and unclenched, pitched claws extending from his fingertips. The ectoplasmic mask hid the red of his Rage. Luckily, his other personas were closer to the surface than ever before.

Their battle had left the system’s pressure behind his eyes. With a mental call, he loosens that pressure, allowing the newer facts to float before him. 

—>[+16] Rage Suppression: Said to be a rarity amongst Red lanterns, holders of this power need not the baptism of the blood ocean. You can control all the Red Lantern ring’s degrees of intensity; lanterns under you have limited access to your passive suppression.

—>Rage Empowerment: Your new mutant ability, Raging Strength, synergizes with your plasmoid blood. Under the influence of the Ring[Activated], Rage itself becomes your strength.

‘Was this a quirk of the transformation?’ Cole wondered in his thoughts. 

The clouds rolled and undulated overhead, and eerie lights pulsated inside them. Xavier stared above, slack-jawed at what he was witnessing.

“Have you heard of mutants with secondary mutations?” he called out, drawing the teen’s now glowing eyes. 

Cole inclined his head, answering the Professor’s question; though a lie, he didn’t undergo secondary mutation. The Professor looked worried at the admission. This could pose a threat to humanity’s mutant relations. 

He is more dangerous than he had assumed. How had a mutant gone undetected? When had his X-gene activated? He had so many questions, but time was up. 

He stood, his resolve showing as his psionic power ebbed and undulated around him. A stray thought appeared in his head. 

‘When was the last time he had fought such a battle?’ 

He shook the thought. There could be no distraction. He must be vigilant and take necessary measures to prevent potential danger.

“I’m sorry it has come to this young man; I’m afraid I can’t-”

As Xavier fell silent, his eyes widened with terror as a sinister figure appeared parallel to him. 

The figure’s presence was imposing and unsettling, and its mocking laughter echoed, sending chills down Xavier’s spine.

“Truly, an Omega.” He murmured. 

Cole had heard him, especially now that he had transformed into Haunt, which was quite different from his last time doing it inside the astral. 

The clouds settled down, their rumbling ceasing, and the accumulation of what looked like a brewing storm became calm, but each one still thrummed with power. 

He stood almost eight feet tall, with a pale complexion and a lithe yet powerful physique. Like before, he knew that much of his power lay in cloud form. Was that what he should call it? He hesitated a glance above, his connection instant, a lone cloud pulsating at his mental fingertips, awaiting his beckoning. 

Information flooded his mind about his current transformation. He absorbed the ectoplasmic energies at a slower rate in this form. It was still quite a fast rate but much slower.

“No, Charles. It was my mistake not visiting your little school the first time you attacked me. I’ll rectify that. Do try and keep up this time.” 

The Professor had propelled himself away, no doubt sensing the startling power that radiated above. 

Cole refocused and launched forward. They traveled across an astral representation of New York at astonishing rates. Rooms grew cold as Cole passed through his power radiating through dimensions. 

Xavier was astonished. Potentially, he could project across the world, and with the amplification, he was more sure he could do it with little ease, but for someone else to easily travel far from their body without adverse reactions was alarming. 

Xavier had made constructs with his psionic energies. Cole had used his Haunt abilities, making tendrils and spikes and extending his claws to a length that would make Lady Deathstroke jealous. 

The two clashed, but one was tiring, and the other was learning and improving.

Xavier’s telekinetic talents were his weakness, and he wasn’t a traditional fighter. He hadn’t fared well against the transformed young mutant. He was a telepath; his telekinetic abilities were well-trained, but his power lay in his mental acuity. 

The Professor trapped the transformed mutant into astral chains, one hand on his temple and the other outstretched. Cole veered around and twisted his bulk growing. 

“Cease, young man. Just think about the implications of your actions.” The Professor pleaded under great strain. 

Cole laughed and continued to grow as clouds moved into the area, threatening the Professor again. 

“You think I’m going just to let you do what you want,” Cole roared. Like the venom symbiote, he shot tendrils out to trap him. 

Cole had appeared before the Professor, trapped in what looked like the Spiderman webbing. Suddenly, the Professor vanished as his clawed hand swiped through the illusion midsection.

Multiple illusions appeared around Cole, each placing a hand on him. Xavier grabbed Cole’s head. 

Exasperated, he uttered. ‘It’s futile. Sleep. When we can free you from the burden of your gifts, I promise to wake you.’ 

Xavier had to hide his emotions as the youth struggled before him, his attacks growing in scope and power. 

Xavier winced but pushed further than ever, the mental shield and the transformation making it nigh-impossible. 

A cost would be paid today, but the teen couldn’t continue; he had seen too much, had made an enemy, and was now fighting to protect his students. 

‘Sleep, ' he intoned. 

Flecks of memories on the surface of the mental shield came to him. 

‘The Hand had wronged you, but this isn’t the path. Your actions are noble, but I can’t weigh your revenge on the backs of millions of our kind. 

‘I’m sorry, Jeremy.’ Cole had been trapped in an illusion. 

Xavier had somehow gotten into his mind again, and the system hadn’t warned or shielded him. 

He panicked and lashed out with a shrill roar that shook the bounds of the illusionary Plane and blew his attacker away.

He howled. 

Cole couldn’t easily contend with the mental warfare that the man could undertake. He had a single thought: his Ectokinesis was in the same vein as psionics, their abilities so similar that psionics could manipulate energies and souls with their sheer mental powers. 

Push. He wasn’t psionic, but two can play that game. Xavier was pushed back, his astral form howling in anguish as Cole grasped the man. 

The clouds thrummed with power, and a clap of thunder announced him as Cole suddenly appeared. The Strange clouds had rumbled overhead as blobs of astral particles came together. Energies ebbed and flowed, and power bolts poured down, pushing the professor out and away. 

‘He figured it out.’ Xavier floated in the astral, confused and haggard. 

Xavier had been pushed from the precipice of Cole’s mind, the one opening that hadn’t been shut, and he was optimistic it wouldn’t happen again.

For a split second, Cole exuded fear that translated into a psychic attack. Xavier shuddered as his nightmare manifested before him. 

The X-mansion lay in ruin. His students were amongst the embers of his familial home. And looming over its carcass was…

He was affected and turned away as dread threaded across his mind like a spintress plying her craft, diminishing his psionic abilities. 

“Without your helmet, you would be a dead professor.” Cole's voice echoed around him. He turned left and right, but he couldn’t discern his location. 

‘How? It’s like he’s everywhere.’

“What are you?” He uttered, reaffirming himself and redoubling his mental shields. He had fought battles with enhanced, but the sheer magnitude of fighting someone on Xavier’s level was unbelievable. 

Their blows weren’t physical but astral and esoteric, as Xavier’s psionics encapsulated him, shielding him from Cole’s seemingly endless means of attacks. 

Xavier, in turn, subverted Cole’s mind on a minuscule scale that caused him mistakes. Xavier had been right; he was untrained.

Xavier hadn’t seen a mutant come into their power this fast since his friend Erik. The fact that they both had experienced trauma that no child should endure wasn’t lost on the aging telepath.

‘Is that astral energies?’ He narrowly erected a psionic shield as a substantial fist slammed where his face would have been. 

Their battles turned from manipulating astral energies to a more physical one in which Cole was an expert. 

Xavier hardly kept up as Cole pressured him. Claws, tendrils, traps, and even pure ectoplasmic blasts were sent Charles’s way. 

Xavier’s eyes were askance behind the helmet that amplified his psionic powers to the peak of Omega, at least in theory.

Dr. Mccoy had updated it to the peak of his understanding, and even with some alien technology taken from the Shi’arempire alongside another powerful telepaths empowerment alongside his; the first trial run had been foolhardy but warranted, now he was second guessing the plan. 

Unexpectedly, his psionics blasts were rebuffed, and the teen began to ooze astral material, or as Cole knew it, ectoplasm. 

Xavier was unaware of the nature of Haunt and pretty much anything supernatural. Haunt powers weren’t considered a mutation by X-gene but a paranormal phenomenon. 

“Enough,” Cole said, transformed by Haunt. His mouth was large and spread across his face, and rows of white shark teeth were displayed. 

Cole formed in front of the staggard professor, his hand snaring the Professor. Xavier reached out and pushed against the young mutant, but his strength redoubled, and the helmet manifest form creaked under the pressure. 

‘It was over.’ Thought Cole.

Astrid Bloom appeared on the battlefield. “No. Don’t.” She pleaded her hand gently atop Coles’s transformed arm. 

Cole snarled at the woman who appeared he had known her at a glance, and he knew it was her doing.

Xavier looked at the newcomer, confused, but realization dawned on him. Without pause, Xavier vanished. Cole looked ahead but was stopped by the more petite woman. 

“Move!” He growled. 

“I’m not here to stop you but to join you. You cannot kill the Professor… at the moment. 

Cole looked past her, his anger boiling over. His arms ensnared the diminutive woman by the throat, and he roared into her face in anger. He continued to grow his form, consuming the astral as his berserker rage stoked the flames of his rage. 

Astrid’s hand weakly reached out to touch the side of the monstrous face thrice the size of her body.

‘Savior, please.’ 

Cole’s rage sputtered as a numbing cool sensation washed over him. His eyes soon dimmed to their usual glow. 

Cole stared at the black woman in bewilderment. 

“I.dont. Like. People. In. My. Head.”He enunciated every word, his hand still wrapped around her thin throat.

‘I'm…sorry. Cannot speak here too weak.” She managed weakly.

Her hand warmed on his face, and she shed a tear. He focused on that tear as he hadn’t known it was possible.

‘Listen…’ 

And he did. She telepathically connected them, and his anger simmered.

This was Astrid Bloom, the woman who technically trained Emma Frost and the reason she had a British accent. Emma had consumed Astrid’s psionic energies, which put the woman in a coma. 

Astrid also knew an awful lot about him. Cole extended his contract; Astrid eyes phased out, a smile emerging on her tired lips. 

Cole had received the notification. He looked past her again, feeling the connection he still had with the Professor. One does not intrude on a mind like his and not leave an impression. 

Astrid smiled and turned around, placing her back to the monster that still radiated fear behind her. 

“I’m afraid I don’t have much time. My body has deteriorated-

Cole’s form shattered as he pooled back into the clouds that thrummed above. 

Astrid looked up, not even turning to see the dreadful sign behind her. 

“You won’t die on me now. You will be working to pay off this interference for a long time.”

Cole’s disembodied voice whispered into her ear; for the first time, she shuddered as she felt his power so close to her that he could erase her in this weak state. 

“My drones are already at the hospital. Even if you die, I’ll use my new little toy and bring you back, even if it is lunatic.”

Astrid bristled at his words. 

“But we both know that you’re already quite mad.” Cole laughed, his clouds rumbling as he shot off toward the X-mansion. 

Astrid let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, even though breathing wasn’t required in the astral. 

Astrid had developed precognition during the awakening, and her only avenue of saving herself was the teen. 

If she hadn’t intervened, he would have killed the Professor and caused the X-men to fall alongside thousands of others. If only she could use that power more, it came with risks. 

Before she departed, she smiled sinisterly as she thought about her old protege, Emma Frost. She wondered how the woman was doing and if she had improved. 

Astrid promised she would not make the same mistake a second time.

Name: Cole Stephens

Known Name: Jeremy York

Alias- Red Hood

Race: Updating

Physique: Updating…

Alignment: -Neutral

System-Bank: $2,945,234

Minion(s) Bullseye—Contracted

Anne Weying—Contracted

Kevin Lourdes-Contracted

Legal—Contracted

Angelica “Angel” Jones—Contracted

Dr. Mishimoto-Contracted

Kaecilius- Red Lantern-Holder

Morlocks-Coerced 25%/100%

Leech-Protectee

Annalee-Corerced 29%/100%

A.T.C Soldiers- Coerced 12%/100%

Anna Bloom-Contracted

Persona(s)Jason Peter Todd- Red Hood 103%|100%

Daniel Kilgore- Priest - Haunt 50%|50%

Kurt Kilgore- Special Agent - Haunt 50%|50%

Baran Flinders- Mammoth 19|100%

Attributes

Intelligence: +Moderate Tier 10

Strength: Exceptional Tier 2 -> Extraordinary Tier 1

Speed: Moderate Tier 10->13

Durability: +Exceptional Tier 1->3

Energy Projection: +Moderate Tier 10

Fighting Skills: Advanced -> Exceptional Tier 1

Gear-Inventory

Red Hood Symbiosis Costume

Mammoth Costume

Roy Mustang Gloves

Atrocious Lantern Ring

Jokers Crowbar

Batman Utility Belt

Clark Kent’s Glasses

Clark Kent Cape

Scarecrow Gear

Cloak of Destiny

Orichalcum Knives

Nth-Promethium Katana

Dual Pistols [9mm rounds]

Dual Modified| Sniper Mod|M1911 [.45]

Deadshot Wrist Gauntlets

Captain Cold’s Gun.

Fear Toxin

Smoke Grenade

Pocket Explosives

High Powered Taser

Bulk Medical Bag

Bulk Duffle Bag [Electronics]

Ace of Winchesters

Kinetic Hammer

Penguin Umbrella

Super-bike

Black Hawk

Blue Beetle Bug

Tumbler Batmobile

Star Trek Commbadge

Desiccated Hand

Smith & Wesson Model 500.

.44 Magnum Model 629.

Abilities

X-Gene: Host mutant factor has awakened.

Thermokinesis, Fear Inducement, Superhuman Strength.

[Unexposed]Terrigenesis

Unique physiology: The Host’s mutant abilities, alongside your latent inhuman nature and the new ghost-like powers and skills, have caused the Host to develop a unique physiology.

[+1] Holder of the Hero-Villain System.

[+10] Criminology: Deception. Stealth. Infiltration. Demolition. Enhanced Investigation.

[+7] Occultism: The Host is knowledgeable about various mystical concepts due to his training with the All-Caste and formal training as a Catholic priest.

[+9] Superhuman Senses: The Host has supernatural senses, allowing them to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel better than their average species member.

[+19] Superhuman strength-Class 50: The corrupted energies of the Lazarus pit flow through your unique physiology. Your extraordinary strength grants blow that can deliver devastating damage and are known to shake the Earth.

-> Raging Strength: Berserker, this ability is throttled by the Host’s rage—the potential to lose yourself in the haze of battle. The longer you fight, the more significantly your strength grows.

-> Super-Leaping: The Host can make extraordinary leaps in the air thanks to his strength.

->Superhuman Stamina: When fighting, the Host appears almost untiring, a force of nature that does not stop until defeated.

->Superhuman Durability: While not invulnerable, the Host is still challenging to injure.

[+12] Skilled marksman, assassin, and expert tactician, Gadgetry

[+9] Martial Artists: Dim Mak Expert, Rain Taijutsu Specialist.

[+7] Mechanical Aptitude: Acute understanding and utilization of high-tech equipment, robot engineering, and advanced weaponry.

[+2] Bioengineering: Chemistry

[+8] Business Management: A.T.C., Wayne Enterprises, Lexcorp, Iceberg Lounge.

[+4] Computer Operations: Computer Hacking.

—>[+7] Ectokinesis: The user can create, shape, and manipulate energy unique to spirits/ghosts.

—> [+6] Astral Projection Portal: By manipulating Ectoplasm energies, The Host can project his consciousness, manifest onto the astral Plane, and create portals. However, the Host can only use the astral Plane to port to places the Host haunts.

—> [+14] Thermokinesis: The ability to manipulate and control the motion of molecules, slowing them down or speeding them up, thus changing temperature in the surrounding area with the power of the Host mind. It is an ability on a broader spectrum than simply being pyrokinesis or cryokinesis. By its nature, this Mutant ability can be affected and altered by other attributes and abilities. This is considered a mutant ability.

[+5] Pyrokinesis: Create and control fire, manipulate heat in your immediate vicinity with your mind.

[+9] Cryokinesis: The ability to control and manipulate frost, Ice, snow, and cold temperatures in general

—> [+10] Transformation: Originally, when Daniel and Kurt’s ghost merge, Daniel’s body becomes covered in ectoplasm that gives him various superhuman abilities; because of the unique nature of the Host, this transformation involves all personas, significantly increasing Haunt’s parameters.

Red Hood Armor Symbiosis: The joining of your ectoplasm|Bio-Electricity with your armor Amplifies Host parameters to an undefined amount.

Red Hood Cowl: Heightened Mental Resistance.

[0] Claws: Haunt has razor-sharp claws on each finger that can easily decapitate enemies.

[0] Metamorphosis: You can manipulate your ectoplasm to create tentacles, cobwebs, spikes, blades, and other appendages.

Adhesions: Haunt can stick on walls.

[+7] Inhuman Optimal Healing Factor: Granted by the system and augmented by Chi and Ectoplasmic energies, you can heal from extreme mental or bodily trauma in minutes.

Red Lantern Mantle: The first Lantern has been chosen; the Host now bears the responsibility of holding the Mantle of the Red Lantern Corps.

The First Ring- Atrocious: You wield the first Red Lantern Ring ever created. The boundless rage of Atrocious fuels your powers. Furthermore, unlike the more scientific Green Lantern Ring, the Red Lantern Ring uses vast amounts of magic in its construction.

A Red Lantern’s ring is one of the most potent weapons in the known Universe. Red Lantern’s ring can affect and use fundamental forces of the known Universe, including electromagnetic energies such as gravity, radiation, heat, light, and powerful blasts of concussive force.

The ring can also create fields of power formed from a red energy spectrum. However, such use is limited by the user’s skill, knowledge, and imagination.

—>[+16] Rage Suppression: Said to be a rarity amongst Red lanterns, holders of this power need not the baptism of the blood ocean. You can control all the Red Lantern ring’s degrees of intensity; lanterns under you have limited access to your passive suppression.

—>Rage Empowerment: Your new mutant ability, Raging Strength, synergizes with your plasmoid blood. Under the influence of the Ring[Activated], Rage itself becomes your strength.

—>[+9] Chi Manipulation: Host’s mastery of martial arts and hidden innate parameters have unlocked one of the most sought-after abilities in the Universe. You can wield and manipulate the natural forces of life and control your steadily growing Bio-electrical energy.

—> [+3] Augmentation: The Host Chi can enhance physical and supernatural parameters and significantly boost healing and recovery time.

[+6] Fear Inducement: Your presence has shown itself as a fragment of fear. The physical manifestation of your presence takes the form of an incorporeal bat-like thing. The target of your inducement perception may be altered, causing them to have waking nightmarish dreams pulling taut on their deepest fears. Your presence can now affect the waking and spiritual domain, causing the Host to become ominous, dark, foreboding, or even monstrous. This is considered a mutant ability.