Marvel: I'm a Symbiote

Moving from ‹Advanced Lightning Manipulation› to ‹Lightning Divinity› didn't introduce any new abilities to Alex's repertoire, but it was a qualitative change to the ability. The lightning Alex manipulated was no longer generated from a violent electric discharge. Nor did he need to use charged electrons to generate lightning. He could naturally create as much lightning as necessary.

The most visible change was that Gwen was constantly in a state of lightning empowerment without any need for ‹Atmospheric Burst›. Alex no longer needed the support of the clouds to generate the kind of lightning that was necessary for empowerment.

"I've already killed a Thor, Apex. If you're relying on just that, then this planet is mine," The blonde Wanda asked Alex.

"I'm offended that you would compare me to a Thor who isn't even able to call upon the Odinforce," Alex said as he used his

"You overestimate yourself," she scoffed and created hundreds of spikes composed of pure chaos energy. They shot forward and disappeared in a blue glow, appearing in front of Alex before he processed their creation.

"I don't like your underhanded tactics," Alex grunted and released a thick bolt of lightning that shot down to the ground. It split apart and intercepted the spikes that were racing for Gwen.

"Underhanded? Darling, I'm hurt," She shook her head with a demure laugh. "I don't plan to battle a clone that you can create endless copies of. I wonder what will happen if I destroy all of your Anchors."

"Nothing," Alex said. "I'll just create new ones."

"How practical," She spoke and their surroundings immediately changed to show a blank white space. "I wonder if you truly are that practical?"

A figure materialized in Alex's vision and he was subjected to the scene of Laura being impaled through the heart by a Murasama Blade that completely negated her healing factor. Somehow, new information came to the front of his mind. He knew that this was far stronger of a negation of her healing factor than anything else — directly targeting her genetic makeup to break her biology down.

"You know that I'm connected to all of my Hosts, right?" Alex shook his head, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling that came due to being unable to help Laura.

"Maybe," she smiled a knowing smile as Laura's body was mutilated even further, brutalizing her. Another figure appeared beside Laura's form— that of Gwen, similarly brutalized and hurt immensely.

Alex felt an internal urge to go on a rampage and destroy everything all around him. He wanted to give in to the rage and take it out on everything around him. He wanted to kill Wanda, who was trying to manipulate him. He wanted to kill the planetary inhabitants who were opposing his rule. He wanted to destroy the being who was playing this game with him as the center of this massive.

"Nice trick," Alex quickly calmed down. "But I also have the Mind Stone."

"I wonder if it would've had a better effect if I showed you your other hosts as well … How many do you have at this point?" Her rhetoric was dripping with schadenfreude at his expression.

"If we're done here …" Alex shook his head as four tentacles appeared behind him, but instead of his usual black mass, they were composed of pure lightning that was generated by his Divinity. The lightning whips extended in all four directions around him, releasing an aura that cracked the fabric of the reality that Wanda had created using the Reality Stone and her Chaos Magic. Within seconds, the white space shattered and the duo appeared back in their previous spots — floating above the ruins of the city block that had been decimated in the aftermath of Shang Chi's actions.

"I'm just getting started, Apex," Wanda spoke softly before waving her hand.

Her spell took effect and surviving buildings in the surrounding blocks morphed into some kind of an elastic structure that elongated and charged at him like huge snakes. Alex countered the approaching buildings with lightning, but the bolts seemed to meld into the structures as if being absorbed by them.

"I'll just go even further …" Alex said excitedly. He was having fun testing the limits of his lightning. He suddenly increased his output exponentially, making him glow like a white sun. The bolts of lightning he released this time tore through the spell Wanda had used on the buildings, destroying them. Just as he turned the buildings into debris, Wanda slammed into him with a huge amount of force. With his Cosmic Physique, it barely felt like the touch of a feather, but his flight was disrupted, throwing him across the street to collide with a surviving building.

She seemed to understand the extent of his physical prowess and quickly gave up on a physical confrontation, quickly gathering a large amount of Chaos Energy before sending a burst down at the heroes underneath them. Doctor Strange created a large barrier to block the encroaching energy, but it barely held up for a second before breaking, sending him flying from the backlash. The others made their attempts as well, but her attack directly tore through everything.

"Now that's just playing in bad faith," Alex spoke as similar red energy escaped Gwen's body, countering Wanda's attack. He materialized in front of Gwen before floating back up to Wanda.

[Keep holding on to Shang Chi for a while. I have the perfect present for her.]

[You have to tell me about your history with her. You said that you'd just encountered her in that Hydra Earth. When did you two get so familiar?]

[Long story, I'll tell you later.]

As Alex flew higher, Gwen noticed a familiar sensation. He was using her as a medium to pass some kind of energy into Shang Chi.

'Wouldn't she detect it?' She believed that Wanda would quickly detect Alex's trick with Chaos Energy.

Her guess was spot on.

"What are you trying, Apex?" Wanda asked as her previously soft and gentle voice took up a chilling tone.

"Won't you find out when I'm done?" Alex taunted, only to receive a huge burst of Chaos Energy in response. He shrugged it off, but Wanda was already ready with her next spell. A red aura burst out of her figure and blanketed the entire sky. As far as the eye could see, the previously blue sky was tinted red. The only patch that wasn't red was above Alex, influenced by his ‹Lightning Divinity›.

"Are you trying to suck out the life force of the entire state?"

"I'm merely borrowing a bit of it. They won't even notice. Of course, as long as I don't pull too much," her eyes had a gleam of madness.

"You think too little of me if you believe that a hostage situation would work against me," Alex shook his head as Wanda released a concentrated bolt of Chaos Lightning at him.

He intercepted it, but she continued throwing more and more bolts at him. Empowered by her spell, her attacks were enough to slowly push back against Alex's untrained ‹Lightning Divinity›. He wasn't yet able to utilize the ability to its full potential.

"You will kill everyone in the city," Alex spoke gravely.

"I thought you said that a hostage situation won't work on you," She chuckled victoriously. "Cease that spell and I may consider it." The only reason she went this route was that Alex kept blocking her attacks on Gwen

"It won't," Alex focused his mind and suddenly released a matching blanketing aura of Chaos from himself as the center. It didn't spread out but merely expanded enough to form a domain around himself and Wanda.

"Trying to take control of my spell? How cute. You're a few centuries too early to battle me in the mastery of my magic."

"As long as you think so," Alex's words had an underlying meaning that Wanda wasn't sure that she grasped.

While Alex wasn't able to take control of Wanda's spell, he slowed it down enough that she wouldn't be able to kill everyone in the state within seconds. The delay allowed Alex to charge the clouds just enough for him to summon an ‹Atmospheric Burst›.

As if delivering some kind of punishment from the heavens, the sky itself seemed to split open as a thick bolt of white lightning fell down from the sky, directly on top of Wanda's figure. The nature of the discharge forcefully pushed away all of the clouds in the area, leaving a perfectly clear sky above them while the rest of the city was still covered under the red sky.

Wanda screamed in pain as her concentration was disrupted just enough that Alex was able to dispel her spell.

"You hurt me," Wanda's angelic appearance was somewhat ruined in her disheveled state after enduring the lightning attack.

"Come on, I haven't even used my ultimate lightning ability yet," Alex chuckled.

"I'll show you," She grunted and gathered up even more Energy in her hands, ready to throw it at Alex.

"You won't have the chance anymore," Alex shook his head. Before Wanda could attack him, Shang Chi's scream disrupted her momentum. The man was wrapped in an orb of red that infiltrated into the deepest parts of his existence, penetrating his soul itself.

"No!" Wanda screamed as she realized that she'd forgotten about the spell that Alex was preparing.

Before she could take any further action, she felt that spell probing into her form as well. Not only the incarnation she was using but her actual body as well.

"Thanks for the Infinity Stones," Alex smirked at her as Wanda felt a pull on the Mind and Reality Stones that she'd allowed Shang Chi to use freely. With the spell already underway, she had no way to stop it despite her vast repertoire of knowledge. The two stones were a lost cause and she knew it.

"I'll make you pay, Apex. I'll destroy this planet if it's the last thing I do before this incarnation disperses," Wanda's tone was chilling, but the amount of Chaos Energy she released in her actions was enough to make Alex feel the pressure despite ‹Lightning Divinity›.

***

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