Chapter 81: Judgement Day X (Mass realease 2)

“You all think you pushed me to my limit,” Veritas said, his voice dropping to a cold, serious tone. “Let me show you what the source truly looks like.”

The black lips in his white mask widened as Veritas brought his hands together and locked his fingers into a strange symbol.

“Domain Expansion….. Ashen Apocalypse.”

[Auto Bgm: Malevolent shrine]

The moment Veritas uttered those ominous words, a tidal wave of black ash erupted from him. It happened in the blink of an eye. The scene around them completely changed.

A giant dome of ash engulfed them all and created a new sky inside. It was dark, cloudy, and orange. At the same exact moment, a giant black, round maw erupted behind Veritas. A shrine structure formed around the maw. The roof of the shrine appeared right under his feet, lifting him up as it grew. Several grey bovine skulls formed underneath it.

Burning dark buildings, rivers of lava, the orange and black sky, and the malevolent shrine in front of them – it looked exactly like an ashen apocalypse.

[Public Comments:]

[RetiredVet_67]: I’ve seen war. I’ve seen death. I’ve never seen anything like this. That man… that thing… he’s not human.

[SkepticalSam]: Guys… those are LAVA waterfalls. He created LAVA. In the SKY. I’m not okay.

[Will]: Veritas, I once lied to my dad for money, told him I needed books, but I just wanted to go buy a game.

[Armin]: @Will I did that too once, but I used the money to buy a hooker.

[Local_News_Now]: BREAKING: Reports of riots breaking out in multiple cities. Looting reported in downtown Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Police forces overwhelmed. National Guard is being deployed. Stay indoors. This is not a drill.

[London_Calling]: Not just America. It’s happening here too. Mobs in the streets. I can smell the smoke from my window. I think the whole world has gone insane. Guys… this really might be the end of the world we’re witnessing right now.

[Misa]: Okay, I know I said I wanted to blow his kazoo, but now I want to become that shrine roof on which he’s standing. Step on me, Jester daddy. 🫦🔥

[Ned]: this is the end this is the end we’re all gonna die!!!!!!!!!

[Owais]: My daughter just asked me if we’re going to die. I didn’t know what to tell her. What do you say to that?

[Ashly: @Owasi don’t let kids watch this. Please!!!!!!]

[Monica]: My husband has gone to get my children from the school. I hope I get to hold all of them one last time before he starts the purge.

[TheRock]: Stay strong, everyone. Whatever this is, we will get through it. Heroes don’t quit. 💪

[Patron Comments]

[ChucklesG6: A domain expansion replica? Or was one bought sneakily? Or my memory sucks and I forgot he got the power….]

[ChucklesG6 donated 30 TP]

[PPPPOTAH: @ChucklesG6 I’m sure he can’t have saved up enough TP to have bought it… maybe he got it from a gacha??? ]

[PPPPOTAH donated 30 TP]

[urPP: a fugging domain expansion. alright guys Veritas’s strong!! He would make them PISS and POOP themselves and CRY PISS and POOP. That’s how strong he’s become!!!!!! ]

[urPP donated 30 TP]

[The Fool Fan: @ChucklesG6 @PPPPOTAH guys’s trust me i don’t wanna ruin the moment. but its not a real domain, all of it was created in less than a second but I’m sure it was just his Black Smoke ability working overtime.]

[Ed1993: I’m curious about what the “guaranteed hit” will be. It has many possibilities.]

[Rabbid Lynx : das it I’m ded, I’m gana count seconds now. Show me!!!!!!!!!!!!]

[Yeageristo: das shit looks fire!!!!!!! TatakaaEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!]

[Yeageristo donated 30 TP]

As the continuous chimes of donation notifications echoed in his head, Veritas knew the viewers loved the visuals.

This was the absolute peak of his control over the Black Smoke ability. He was painting with heat and shadow.

The ‘buildings’ were just hollow shells of hardened ash built over the existing Quinjets and cabins.

By using forced perspective – creating layers of smaller structures behind the larger ones – he made the space feel infinitely larger than the Helicarrier’s deck.

“Where the heck did he bring us, his own personal hell?” Gambit said. He turned to look at the nightmare around him.

“It might really be it…” Rogue said as she stared ahead with Gwen and Captain. Gambit followed their gaze. He saw the jester standing on the roof of the terrifying shrine.

Veritas switched his hand signs. The black-and-orange sky above them twisted and churned. Dozens of massive ash cannons materialized in the air, their barrels glowing with fiery orange light.

A moment later, they opened fire, raining blazing cannonballs down on the heroes.

“Incoming!” Captain America yelled.

For the next forty-five seconds, it was not a fight. It was a desperate struggle to survive. A devastating hail of fiery cannonballs was raining down on them.

The heroes scattered.

Cap deflected what he could with his shield. Gwen web-swung frantically between collapsing structures. Gambit blasted incoming shots out of the air with his charged cards. Rogue, her borrowed powers gone, relied on her flight and strength to stay ahead of the explosions.

They tried to take cover, but the moment they ducked behind a wall, it dissolved into smoke, leaving them exposed once more.

The environment itself was their enemy.

Thankfully, with his current power, Veritas couldn’t deploy hundreds of fiery cannons. Most of his concentration was already focused on maintaining the intricate details of the Domain. Even so, a few dozen exploding cannons were more than enough to keep the heroes busy.

He could make the cannons repeatedly fire their blazing ash cannonballs, but maintaining the Domain was taking a serious toll on him. He had only two minutes before he would reach his limit.

Just as Gwen weaved out from behind an exploding building, it all stopped. Every single burning cannon and cannonball in the orange sky suddenly stopped mid-air.

In perfect synchronization, the dozens of thick cannon muzzles abruptly vanished entirely, melting away back into harmless soot clouds as if a timer had hit zero.

Captain America stood up, raising his vibranium shield above his head. Gambit skidded to a halt on his knees nearby.

“Well done avoiding those…” Veritas’s voice echoed from the shrine.

Gwen looked up and saw the Jester switching his hand gesture once again. This time, three swirling orbs of dense ash materialized in front of him. He aimed both of his hands toward them.

“Now dodge these.”

He blasted dozens of small, concentrated balls of explosive energy into the three ash spheres. But the explosions didn’t come out the other side.

Instead, Gwen’s spider-sense screamed, but there was nowhere to go. A point-blank explosion detonated on her back. Then another on her side. Then her leg.

“Gaaah!!!” she screamed, her body convulsing from the impacts.

“AAaaa!!” Rogue cried out as she was hammered by a similar barrage from all sides.

“Arghhhh!” Captain America grunted, his body jolted violently as small explosions erupted directly on his chest, arms, and legs.

They couldn’t even register what exactly hit them as they all screamed in pain while dozens of explosions detonated directly on their bodies with no way of dodging.

Overwhelmed by the sheer concussive force of the relentless, unavoidable attacks, their consciousness gave out. One by one, they collapsed onto the scorched ground of the ashen domain.

This was his sure-hit attack. During the chaos of the earlier fight, he had touched each of them, leaving his teleportation mark on their bodies. He had simply teleported the explosions directly onto them.

Sure, he didn’t exactly need a domain for this. He could have done it at any time. But who doesn’t like better visuals? Also, this was better for keeping the whole world unaware of his true powers and limits.

Gambit’s eyes widened in horror, staring at his fallen teammates. “What kind of black magic bullshit is dat?”

He was the only one left standing. He had kept his distance throughout the fight, relying on his cards and staff, never giving Veritas a chance to put an FTG mark on him.

“That was the guaranteed hit effect of my domain,” Veritas’s voice echoed from the shrine. The confused, mortified mutant looked up.

Veritas lowered his head slightly and waved a hand.

In a second, dozens of black ash swords, spears, and arrows floated in the sky. He threw his arm forward, and the weapons launched straight at Gambit like a rain of bullets.

Gambit spun his metal bo staff. He jumped to the side, a spear stabbed into the ground where he had been standing. The ground exploded from the impact.

He dodged and weaved through the deadly barrage, using his staff, his cards, and every bit of his acrobatic skill to parry, redirect, and destroy the incoming weapons. But these weren’t just simple projectiles. The moment a weapon touched anything, it blew up.

“Haaaa!” Gambit yelled. He sprinted forward, parrying and dodging through the chain of explosions.

He poured all his focus into the frontal assault, completely overlooking the few ash arrows curving through the air behind him. At the last moment, they twisted sharply, changing direction and driving straight into his back.

“Ugh!” Gambit gasped. He fell onto his knees, the bright pink glow around his hands flickering out. His metal staff slipped from his grip and struck the ground with a sharp clang.

At that exact moment, the domain reached its limit. The ash, the smoke, and the fake buildings started to crumble. The ashen apocalypse dispersed entirely, revealing the true blue sky above the Helicarrier.

Up on the crumbling shrine, Veritas vanished. He appeared instantly right behind Gambit. His fingers barely grazed the shaft of one of the arrows embedded in Gambit’s back.

Veritas pushed his large, thick, and black arrow deeper inside Gambit from behind.

“AAhh Faahh!!!” Gambit screamed, his body arching in agony.

But even then, the fight wasn’t out of him.

With a final, desperate surge of will, his trembling hand fumbled inside his trench coat.

Veritas saw it.

A small blast erupted from his palm, point-blank against Gambit’s skull. Gambit went limp and collapsed.

Veritas rolled his head slowly from side to side. The movement made several cracking sounds.

“Mhhmm.” A soft, strained groan caught his attention.

Veritas turned around.

Gwen was trying to get back on her feet. Somehow, she was still moving despite everything that had been thrown at her.

She was almost too durable for her own good.

Veritas tilted his head. Sure, he had toned down the heat of his explosions during that barrage of sure-hit blasts. Even so, she had been hit by at least a dozen explosions at point-blank range.

He had expected her to get back up eventually.

Just… not this soon.

There were still about six minutes left before the minimum stream duration was met. Six minutes was a long time. Far too long for things to be reaching the climax already.

Veritas walked slowly toward her. He crouched down on one knee as she tried to push herself off the deck.

“I have always admired your strong will, Miss Spider,” Veritas said. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “But as I fought you today, all I felt was pity.”

“You weren’t supposed to be here, you know,” Veritas said, slowly removing his hand before straightening up. “When I heard you’d walked away from S.H.I.E.L.D., I was pleased. I thought, for once, my words on that ship had actually reached you. That you’d actually stopped volunteering to be their broom.”

He looked down at her.

“And yet here you are again. Helpful.. Heroic… Sweeping up after the mess they made.”

Veritas let out a quiet sigh.

“The saddest part isn’t that they use you. It’s that they have made you believe that dying for their mistakes is somehow your responsibility…”

Gwen forced herself upright, still wobbling a bit.

Veritas tilted his head, almost fond.

“And after everything you’ve done for them. When the day comes that you need saving – none of them will move. These Avengers, X-Men, S.H.E.I.L.D., and every single person you’ve saved… they will make up excuses about how they can’t bother to make an effort for the friendly neighborhood Spider-Woman…”

The mask’s painted smile somehow looked unbearably sad.

“You are completely alone in this world. Just like me.”

His words sent a sharp sting through her chest. She knew part of it was true. She really was just cleaning up SHIELD’s garbage. But she was not alone. The heroes around her were good people. They would definitely have her bac—

As she looked up to reply to him, she noticed Veritas was now looking upwards into the sky.

Even through the mask, she could sense that whatever he was looking at made him shocked and frustrated.

She followed his gaze and saw several smoky trails from a few… missiles. But they were not coming this way. No… these missiles were shooting straight up, toward space.

‘What’s going on…’ she wondered.

But Veritas realized what was happening.

It was Fury’s work.

And in that instant, he knew he had lost. These were not nukes. No, these were anti-satellite weapons, being deployed against SHIELD’s own satellites.

The Insight satellite would certainly be destroyed.

But the real question was… would they destroy the most crucial satellite for his purpose as well…?

A notification from his phone answered his internal question.

[World Wide Stream Interrupted!!! Cannot Connect to Broadcast Satellites.]

Luke took a long, slow breath, forcing the rage down. When he hijacked Hydra’s plan, he knew it had flaws, strategic holes he couldn’t plug in time. He had war-gamed the possible counters.

This was always the most likely one.

________________________________

For thirty-one minutes, the world had teetered on the brink of madness.

Ever since the Jester’s declaration of the worldwide purge, a wave of chaos had swept across the globe. The fear of certain death had pushed people over the edge. It drove some to anarchy, while others, in a twisted display of passion, saw the madman’s purge as a long-overdue form of justice.

Riots erupted in major cities. Mobs roamed the streets, some looting in blind panic, others shockingly chanting Veritas’s name as they set fire to symbols of the society he condemned. It looked like the world was tearing itself apart from the inside out.

Then, exactly thirty-one minutes after the broadcast began, it stopped.

The screens in every home, every public square, every handheld device that had shown the horrors of the Ashen Apocalypse suddenly flickered to static, then went black.

The Jester’s voice, which had held the entire planet hostage, was gone.

For a moment, a stunned silence fell over the world.

And then, a new image appeared. It was the official seal of the President of the United States.

And then the President himself appeared on every screen. His face was stern but calm. He stood behind a podium in the White House briefing room.

“My fellow citizens, people of the world,” he began. “A short time ago, a dangerous terrorist held us all hostage with a threat of unimaginable destruction. I am here to tell you… that threat is over.”

He explained that the government and the military had successfully stopped the Jester’s apocalyptic plan. The situation was finally under control.

To prove his point, the President revealed the truth behind the threat and explained the secret blueprints of the SHIELD satellite network. He had to do that to win back the world’s trust.

The President went on to explain the SHIELD satellite network and revealed how the military had managed to destroy every satellite connected to it.

That included the Insight satellite.

The most important one.

Without it, the targeting system used by the Insight Helicarriers would be useless. The weapons could no longer identify and lock onto targets across the planet. Even the stolen Helicarrier that the madman had taken control of was now effectively blind.

The President made sure to emphasize that point.

“The threat has been neutralized,” he said firmly. “The satellites required for this attack have been destroyed, and the weapons systems can no longer carry out the terrorist’s plan.”

Across the globe, a collective sigh of relief washed over humanity. The panic in people’s hearts finally began to ease. They had nothing to fear anymore.

The world had survived.

“We must also give our deepest gratitude to the brave heroes who fought tooth and nail against this evil terrorist,” he said, looking directly into the camera.

“Captain America, members of the X-Men, and Spider-Woman risked their own lives to keep the villain occupied and unable to activate the insight satellites. They bought our government the exact amount of time we needed to get the Satellites’ coordinates and lock onto them to launch the strike. Today, humanity stands victorious because of their incredible grit.”

“The heroes are still currently trying to apprehend the terrorist. Let’s pray that they succeed.”

.

.

.

.

The worldwide stream may have ended, but the T-Stream app’s inbuilt broadcast to all devices was still active. However, it had a maximum range of 100 kilometers, so only the people of Washington were able to see his ongoing stream.

But since they had realized they were safe now, they were no longer his hostages.

And as they saw the Jester’s defeated figure standing silently on that Helicarrier, a melody of a violin filled the surrounding air. The music was chaotic and rough, with a tempo that perfectly captured the escalating psychotic madness inside the Jester.

[Auto BGM: Homelander’s Theme]

Luke had prepared himself for this possibility. Hijacking Hydra’s plan meant inheriting the flaws in their design. But knowing it could fail and feeling the failure happen were two very different things.

He was this close. This close to victory…

The thought of the massive loss, the billions of Terror Points that had slipped through his fingers just 4 minutes before the end, stung with an almost physical pain.

He stood there for a few moments, lamenting his bad luck. As he did, the sky above the Helicarrier began to change. The clouds turned a dark, bruised purple, and loud thunder started to rumble in the air.

Veritas paid no attention to Spider-Woman standing right in front of him. He slowly turned his head to look at the unnatural weather. In the distance, he spotted a sleek black jet cutting through the stormy sky. It was heading straight for them.

That was the Blackbird — the X-Men’s jet.

That meant the weather was Ororo’s doing. And if Storm was here, Jean Grey was almost certainly on that ship too.

It was time to leave this place, Veritas thought. He let out a quiet sigh and turned his masked face back toward Spider-Woman.

“I am taking my leave now, Miss Spider,” Veritas said, his voice calm. “But you should know that I am not your real enemy.”

Gwen gritted her teeth. She forced herself to take a step forward, but her battered body made her stumble. With the Blackbird on the horizon, they finally had enough firepower to actually take him down.

She needed to keep him on the deck somehow.

“Stay and fight, Veritas,” Gwen taunted. “Or are you afraid now?”

Veritas just tilted his head. The heavy, serious atmosphere around him vanished instantly, and his usual mocking and playful energy returned.

“I know you want me, Spider-Woman,” he said, “But you really need to control your urges.”

Before she could even raise her wrist to shoot a web, ash swirled up around him in a sudden, silent spiral – and he was gone.

[Public Comments:]

[Owais: Guys we’re saved!!!! I can’t believe the government actually did something right for once!! 🎉🎉🎉]

[Adorable_Filter: sigh…]

[Emily: @Adorable_Filter that is not a sigh of relief is it? You’re disappointed Veritas failed, aren’t you?]

[Caffeine_Witch]: The President said it’s over. The satellites are destroyed. He can’t target anyone anymore. WE’RE SAFE. Finally.

[ConspiracyTheorist_X]: What if this was all part of the plan? What if he WANTED the satellites destroyed? What if this is exactly what he wanted?

[Noah: @ConspiracyTheorist_X Veritas is a plain ol madman terrorist. Ass theory. You did not cook bro… 🥀🥀🥀🥀]

[Pizza_Time: So… do I still have to go to work tomorrow? ]

[NoobMaster69: Bro got third-partied by the President and decided to rage quit back to the lobby. ]

[Edgelord_Supreme: The President ruined everything. The purge would have fixed the housing market.]

[Misa: nooo please don’t gooo 😭😭😭 come back💦]

[Lunaticia: See you soon, my lord.

[Amaira: Veritas… same time tomorrow??]

The Jester had disappeared, but his floating phone still hovered in the air for a few seconds.

And just when Gwen shot her web at the annoying phone, it disappeared like it was never even there.

And just like that, the stream finally ended for the people of Washington as well.

.

.

.

.

.

Luke had teleported away two Helicarriers.

One was for his personal use. The other one he teleported because he had bombarded it with missiles, and it was crashing straight down on the heads of everyone at the Triskelion, whether they were SHIELD or Hydra.

The destroyed Helicarrier ended up on an uninhabited island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He had put a mark on this island during his flight to India a few days ago for the Lemurian Star hijack. That long flight really paid off.

After appearing at the crash site, he spent a couple of hours salvaging what he could. The My Terror Hideout feature provided an auto-repair function for his main base, but it never hurt to have spare parts.

He spent 4 hours teleporting cables, missile pods, anti-air cannons, and a few mainframe chips from the smoking wreckage. Luckily, there were no surviving Hydra agents to bother him while he worked.

After all that work, he now had to hide this carrier.

The carrier did not have its own anti-surveillance gear, unlike the carrier he registered in My Terror Hideout, so some random satellite might have snapped a picture when it first arrived.

Well, even if someone found it, there was nothing to worry about. But still, why make it easy for them?

‘I’ll probably just fly a few thousand miles, teleport it on the ocean, and let it drown. And then teleport to my new base…’

And he did exactly that.

An hour later, Luke stood on the deck of his real prize, Insight Helicarrier IN-01, floating peacefully in the middle of nowhere.

The sun was already low on the horizon, painting everything orange and gold. He walked to the edge, checked the mission results on his phone, and let out a long sigh.

Failed.

The major criteria were missed. The app needed the hostages held for the full minimum stream time, but the world got “rescued” four whole minutes early.

Billions of Terror Points… gone.

Just like that.

Still, Luke wasn’t going to cry over spilled milk.

He achieved his main goal for the day. He got himself a top-tier flying hideout. On top of that, he raked in more than 7000 Terror Points from donations alone. That was a pretty amazing profit for a failed mission.

These past three days felt like an absolute eternity to him. The Lemurian Star hijack, the highway revenge, and today’s crazy stream all happened back-to-back. He was exhausted.

Luke decided he was going to take a few weeks off before planning his next big stream. He wanted to spend some time doing normal things.

He would spend some time doing what he wanted, with the family he had always wanted.

Phil, his dad, had already texted him earlier. The man wanted to build a batting cage in the backyard, but his mother wanted to build a she-shed.

Luke knew what a man cave was, but it was probably the first time he had heard the term she-shed.

But still…

‘What did he mean by “take care of it wink? What does he want me to do about it?’

Luke actually smiled under the mask at the thought.

Luke let out a long sigh as he sat down on the edge of the carrier.

His legs dangled thousands of feet in the air as he watched the peaceful sunset.

Slowly, he reached up and pulled the white Jester mask off his face.

________________________________

Season 1 END

________________________________

What’s in for Season 2:

A more balanced approach on Luke/Veritas dual identity. (Well, I wanted to do that from the start but winter soldier arc kinda messed it up since all the events happen in the span of 2-4 days. I obviously dragged it out. )

Major majooooooooor progress in romance. (The kind that’d make you cum in your pants, for people wondering if lemons will be there… well duh this is NovelPhoenix…)

Organization building. (Remember how I have been trying to set it up slowly? It’ll take in an actual shape.)

Also, Veritas sure might have crushed his opponents in the past couple of arcs but please don’t mistake him for all power. He’s just careful in choosing his opponents. There are plenty of Marvel hitters that could wipe the floor with him right now.

Last but not the least, I know Veritas actually lost this time. But for the plot reasons, I obviously couldn’t hand him over the billions of TP just like that.

Hope you understand, thanks.