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[Date: Present Time – Two Thousand and Sixteen]
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Space bent around him.
Black Mentis floated motionless in the void. The dark blue and silver armor wrapped tightly around his body, every plate fitted seamlessly against him. His eyes remained fixed straight ahead, sharp and unreadable, without the slightest twitch or blink. Below him, Earth turned slowly through the darkness. White clouds drifted over oceans and continents in calm spirals, completely unaware of what was racing toward them. Sunlight crept across the curve of the planet, casting parts of the atmosphere in gold while the rest remained buried in shadow.
Around him, space remained silent and endless. Distant stars burned quietly across the black horizon.
Then the darkness ahead shifted.
A massive shadow moved through the void. The meteor. Its enormous size swallowed entire sections of the starfield behind it. Jagged layers of rock and scorched metal burned along its surface as it pushed violently through orbiting debris. Smaller chunks split away from the main body and tumbled wildly into space. One satellite collided directly with the meteor and disintegrated instantly, sparks bursting outward before vanishing into the darkness.
Earth's orbital defense systems erupted into chaos.
Warning sirens screamed through command centers across the world. Giant monitors flashed red across military stations and emergency facilities. Scientists leaned over glowing screens, their fingers flying across keyboards while updated calculations flooded the displays faster than they could read them.
"We are doomed…" A technician stared at the projected impact radius with pale, shaking lips.
Another scientist grabbed him hard by the shoulder. "No. No, there's still hope left." His voice cracked as he pointed toward another monitor. "Black Mentis is already there. He can stop it."
Inside a control room in Tokyo, workers shouted over each other while sweat rolled down their faces. "Impact projections are rising again!" "The fragments are entering lower orbit!" "We are losing satellite feeds!"
In New York, people poured out of buildings and crowded the sidewalks. Phones shook in raised hands as civilians recorded the burning object tearing across the upper atmosphere. A woman grabbed her child against her chest so tightly the little girl cried out. "Oh God… oh God…" Nearby, a man backed away from the street slowly, unable to pull his eyes from the sky. "That thing is going to kill us…"
Traffic jammed entire intersections. Drivers abandoned vehicles in the middle of the road. Car horns blared nonstop while terrified voices echoed between buildings.
In Paris, a priest stood outside a crowded church gripping a wooden cross so tightly his knuckles turned pale. People pushed past him into the building, some crying openly, others whispering frantic prayers under trembling breaths.
In Cairo, dozens gathered on rooftops staring upward in silence. One teenager wiped tears from his face without realizing it while another kept repeating the same sentence over and over. "He'll stop it… right?"
A sharp burst of static crackled through the silence surrounding Black Mentis. Multiple voices overlapped through the transmission as alarms blared loudly in the background.
"Black Mentis, tower control. Do you copy? I repeat, do you copy? The impact window is closing fast. Earth's survival depends on this mission. All eyes are on you, hero."
Black Mentis lifted one hand toward his earpiece and tapped it once with two fingers. He let out a slow sigh. "Yeah. I got this." His jaw tightened slightly. "Now stop freaking out in my ear already, damn it."
Inside the control room, several workers exchanged nervous looks. One operator wiped sweat from his forehead before leaning closer to the microphone. "Sir, the meteor's acceleration is increasing beyond projected estimates. If you fail to redirect it before atmospheric breach, the shockwave alone could wipe out entire continents."
Another voice broke into the transmission, thick with fear. "Black Mentis… please."
Black Mentis said nothing for a second. His eyes stayed locked on the meteor approaching Earth. Then he slowly raised one hand outward. His fingers remained loose and relaxed, as if the incoming disaster meant nothing to him.
Ahead of him, the continent-sized meteor tore violently through orbit. Its speed kept increasing. Fragments broke away and burned through the atmosphere below. Satellites kept exploding apart on impact. Emergency broadcasts interrupted every channel across Earth.
People screamed across packed streets. Governments rushed military responses that changed every few minutes. Scientists hunched over computers desperately recalculating impact zones while exhausted hands trembled across keyboards. One young researcher buried his face into his hands. "We cannot stop this…" Beside him, another slammed both palms against the desk. "Shut up."
Back in space, surrounded by endless silence, Black Mentis floated alone before the approaching catastrophe. And he still had not moved.
A low violet pulse gathered around his fingers. The glow thickened slowly across his hand, crawling between the gaps of his knuckles and fingertips. Small distortions rippled around his arm as gravity bent unnaturally around him. Tiny fragments of drifting debris nearby folded inward and crushed themselves flat before dissolving into dust.
Inside control rooms across the world, warning systems spiked violently. "He's generating a gravitational field!" "Energy output is still climbing!" "Dear God…"
Black Mentis flexed his fingers once.
The pulse exploded outward.
Space twisted. A violent gravitational wave slammed directly into the meteor. The impact hit with such overwhelming force that the entire surface folded inward for a split second before rupturing apart. Massive cracks tore across the meteor from end to end. Entire sections split away violently. Burning rock and molten metal burst outward into space while smaller fragments spiraled uncontrollably away from the main body.
The meteor shuddered hard. Then the gravity wave crushed deeper. The massive structure caved inward piece by piece. Layers of rock compressed into themselves with deafening force. Whole sections collapsed and fragmented apart into smaller chunks before breaking again into tiny burning grains.
The shockwave rolled through orbit. Nearby satellites spun out of control. Loose debris scattered violently away from the collapsing meteor field. Clouds below Earth's atmosphere rippled outward from the pressure wave high above the planet.
Inside mission control, people stared speechless at their monitors. One operator slowly lowered his headset. The plastic trembled faintly against his fingers. "No way…" Another scientist leaned closer to the screen, eyes wide behind trembling glasses. "He destroyed it…"
The meteor continued collapsing until nothing remained except glowing fragments drifting harmlessly through space like scattered dust.
No effort showed on Black Mentis' face. His breathing never changed. His arm lowered casually back to his side.
"…It's time." His voice remained calm and quiet through the endless silence surrounding him.
He stayed motionless for several seconds. His eyes remained fixed on the empty darkness where the meteor had once existed. The muscles along his jaw tightened briefly before relaxing again. "It was fun while it lasted."
Slowly, he shifted his gaze toward Earth below. Blue oceans. Bright clouds. Cities full of people who had no idea what was coming next. His eyes stayed there. "It'll be them next."
Then he moved.
His body dropped toward Earth instantly. The surrounding stars stretched into blurred streaks behind him. Fire erupted around his body as he tore into the atmosphere. Layers of compressed air exploded outward around him in violent bursts.
Massive sonic booms rolled across the sky one after another. Clouds split apart violently as he pierced through them. Lightning snapped around his body in jagged blue flashes.
Far below, people stopped in the streets and looked upward. A burning streak ripped across the sky faster than their eyes could follow. "He's coming down!" "Oh my God…" Windows rattled from the pressure overhead.
Black Mentis descended faster. And faster.
Until his boots touched the glass rooftop of the skyscraper. The impact barely made a sound. His knees bent slightly as his body absorbed the force. The rooftop gave a faint vibration beneath his boots as his legs absorbed the remaining force. One hand lowered beside him instinctively for balance, fingers hovering inches above the glass as he steadied himself and lifted his chest, maintaining the crouched landing position.
He remained crouched for a moment. Then slowly rose to his full height. A controlled breath expanded his chest once before settling again. His shoulders loosened slightly while his head tilted a few degrees to the side.
His eyes scanned the city below first. A loose paper scraped across the rooftop and caught against his boot. The wind pushed hard against him. His cape-less silhouette remained completely still while the gusts curled around his body and passed behind him. The faint glow in his eyes dimmed slightly as he continued staring over the city in silence.
He took two slow steps forward. Each movement stayed controlled and deliberate. His boots scraped lightly against the glass surface. One hand opened and closed once at his side before settling again. The front of his boots hung slightly over the edge of the rooftop.
Far below, traffic moved through packed intersections in slow streams. Cars crawled through crowded streets. Tiny figures crossed sidewalks carrying on with their lives completely unaware of the figure watching them from above.