The Secrets of Cheyenne Mountain

Elena Vexus and her bodyguard arrived just outside of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. She was planning to extract some information from the U.S. Government. She had done them the courtesy of letting them know she would be arriving. Elena has dealt with the United States Government on a number of occasions in the past and they know what she is capable of. Giving them time to prepare for her arrival was her way of saying, ‘you’re welcome to try something, but that would just make it more fun for me’. Previously she was in New York City trying to find a couple of recruits to hopefully bring to this little skrimish, however they all proved unusable. It was not so much that she needed help, more so she would have preferred someone else do this little errand for her.

The two of them strolled down the winding mountain side until they were within sight of the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain. A government facility created as a base during the cold war and the only know structure in the U.S. that can withstand an EMP. Its defensive capabilities were truly remarkable for the time period it was constructed in. Even now, being able to stand a near direct hit from a nuclear missile is quite impressive. It is this sort of structure that makes it clear there was MetaHuman levels of intelligence tampering here.
As the two of them brought themselves closer, it seems that the government decided to give them a welcome party. There were a number of tanks, and armed personnel all with interesting looking weapons. They must be testing some experimental weaponry.
”I see you all have failed to use the preparation time I gave you wisely.”

”The United States Government is not your personal library for you to withdraw information whenever you like. This stops here, Elena.” said a military general.
The tanks took aim and quickly fired at Vexus and her General.
From the smoke and debris her bodyguard launched himself up, drawing all four of his energy swords. The crowd of soldiers opened fire on him. With his advanced programming he destroyed any of the bullets that were going to hit him. The massive bound he made landed him on top of one of the tanks. Vexus’ General sliced of the barrel of the tanks and continued to do the same with the rest.
Meanwhile, the debris was blasted away by a wind based spell of Vexus’. She then extend her arm out and a copper spell circle appeared underneath the soldiers. This created a massive amount of pressure in the area, preventing the soldiers from properly lifting their guns, some unable to even remain standing. Vexus casually walked forward and made herself a path through the spell so she remained unaffected.
”I’m feeling particularly generous today. None of your soldiers will perish here. I’m not sure why you sent these poor boys to their deaths by having them stand against me like this.”
Her bodyguard deactivated his swords and conjoined his arms landing himself next to Vexus.
”Now, you can either show me the way to the control room, like a proper and polite host, or I will find it myself via whatever route I please.”
The military leader scoffed but agreed to lead her to the control room. The spell circle under the soldiers vanished. Most of them collapsed out of breath, some losing consciousness. They looked on the cloaked figure of Elena Vexus filled with a new terror they had not yet experienced in battle.
”Where is he? Did they not say they would send him…?”
”They confirmed with us. I don’t know… He must just be taking his time…” two random officials whispered between each other as Vexus was lead into the mountain and the blast door was shut.

Elena Vexus had been a name Damian saw a few times, through files and even the occasional video. A powerful name with powerful implications, but that was the reason he existed. Only a powerful force could neutralize another. Only someone like him could stop someone with such overwhelming force. The fact she was bothering the US military of all things, now that was a problem few people wanted to have going on. Information dumped onto him rather quickly as he nodded along, eyes half lidded with only the most important details coming through. “Damian, are you paying attention?” The harsh female voice demanded as it pierced through that thin mental veil. A low hum issued from his throat as he considered the smartly dressed female, knowing what he had to do and how quick he needed to do these things.

”Yeah yeah, go to the Cheyenne Mountain facility and stop this Vexus person from doing whatever.” He explained, much to the annoyed expression of the person that had asked said question. It would take six or so minutes to reach tere full speed, and he was expected to get there as fast as possible. Failing the government would have been no good, especially considering they were likely a good amount of income for them. The wind picked up, causing his curly hair to whip around.  ””I believe that I should get moving on that. Damian added, taking in the minute sounds that were happening around him. Keys clicked, people breathing and even the slight sounds like heartbeats. Sounds that came with people living around him, all these fragile lives.

“Well...yes. I’m sure with your speed you should be able to reach there rather soon.”

”Mhm.” He said with a small nod, mentally considering which way he would need to head. The small eyepiece over his left eye giving out a small map and where he would need to actually fly. Making some distance from the fragile human next to him, Damian took a deep breath and within seconds he was in motion. Everything turning into nothing more than a blur as he flew high above New York and from there he was even going further. Cities becoming indistinct things beneath him, all color that mashed together as the map rapidly had him moving closer to the mountain.

Birds, insects and even planes nothing more than painfully stagnate figures within his sights. A few of the lesser creatures splattered against his body, not a speck remaining once they were brushed away by the sheer force his speed created. Minutes passed, along with the states he had flown over and with the faint beep of him arriving at his destination, Atlas landed on the ground with a resounding slam.

The ground cracked underneath his feet, these fissures spreading upwards from the point of impact. Sliding up the small piece, he considered the military operatives settled before him. Some were unconscious, but luckily none of them were dead. The only thing he could tell was off with the situation was that there was no Elena Vexus to be found. Cracks his knuckles, Atlas turned to the massive blast doors which had closed. One of the officials came to him, looking almost surprised by his actually arriving.

”You...you actually came.” One of them said, Atlas considering them for a moment. Oddly mismatched eyes sizing the person up, bearing the usual build of someone in their station and bearing a few firearms which posed no threat to him.

”I am. So...how much are these doors worth?” He asked, approaching the massive compact steel doors and thrusting his arms backwards upon reaching the door and letting it sink into one of them. Wrenching the arm backwards, the massive door would begin to audibly creak as each joint began to snap, and within a span of ten seconds the entire thing came off. With a motion, the door hit the ground and he began to walk through. There was no presence of lead, which looking for any heat signatures much easier, one of them being the one he was after.

In the control room, Elena sat down and began to get to work. Some of the men in the room gave small smirks, as if doubting her abilities to hack government grade firewalls.
"These are wonderfully great firewalls you all have in place here. Even I wouldn't be able to break through them... If I hadn't been the one who put them in place..."
The peanut gallery immediately quieted down. One looking over to a higher ranking officer who nodded, confirming Elena's statement.
"Honestly this should just be routine." she said with her Prada glasses on, looking over them from time to time as she typed away.
"Just email be a heavily encrypted PDF or something next time, and we won't have to go through all of this."
There was then a resounding bang that echoed through the halls of the military base. Vexus pulled out a strange looking flash dive and set it on the table. It sprung insect like legs and appeared to melt itself into the computers itself. The men all looked on with borderline horror. What sort of technology does this woman have at her disposal, they thought.
Vexus then stood from her chair, hearing another large sound.
"You all seem remarkably calm. I'm assuming you were all expecting company besides me? General, stay here and insure the information transfer completes. My device will reemerge when its done."
"Very good, madame."
Vexus moved out of the control room to investigate what the sound was. Nothing should be echoing this far deep into the mountain. There was someone, or something at the main blast door. One of the internal blast doors that lead into the control center was left open. Once into a main corridor area there were more sounds. As if a door was being ripped from its hinges. A very large door.
"What sort of lunatic did you guys hire to try and...." her words trailed off as the individual who tore the massive blast door came into view.
Y-You all called Project Atlas in to stop me..." Vexus' heart rate when up a little bit. She waved a finger and a bronze spell circle appeared back on the blast door that lead to the control room. Despite its size and weight it slammed shut. The ground and materials around it were broken up and pulled onto the door, barricading it further. It wouldn't stop Atlas from getting in, but it would slow him down. However she had a feeling he wouldn't bother trying to stop the information transfer.

"I've heard of you, as a matter of fact I've read some of your project files. One of the few human experiments that I have not had my hands in. How very interesting... They managed to get you strong. Stable and very strong..."
This was a problem. Vexus would not be able to force herself past this boy. Her General would have to take the information and retreat on his own, and Elena would hopefully attempt to follow.
"Heh... The government really doesn't want me meddling with them anymore I see."
A bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face, she tried to hide wiping it away by using the same motion to tuck her hair behind her ear. She was a little worried on this encounter. She took a deep breath in, and released slowly.

"Alright now, my little test tube baby boy, show Mama Vexus all the fun power my thieving scientist friends gave to you..."

“Atlas be very cautious. We don’t know what Elena Vexus is fully capable of.” The message came across, which he had a feeling just meant  deal with her as quickly as possible. If his superiors were worried about this woman could do, then he would have to be as well. His own footfalls echoed throughout the hallways beyond the initial blast door, not even thinking about the potential dangers that came around. “Evac will be set aside if things go south.” Not that he expected anything to go wrong. This was just another  day for a hero, or so that was the thought that was moving through his mind. Catching the sound of solid matter smashing against other solid matter, cracking and breaking as it began to grind against itself in an odd way. Something was happening not too far ahead of him, and what that was he would find out soon enough.

What felt like minutes passed as he came to the massive blast door, now enshrined within sections of the wall and earth that had encased itself around it. Likely the work of Vexus, who did not want him stopping her before whatever she had in mind came to fruition. ”I imagine the army won’t mind if I make..a little collateral damage.”

“Atlas, what are you thinking?” The question came, but he gave no real answer. Letting a low hum issue from him as he considered the  now massive blockade within his way, and people beyond it. Nothing that proved to be an annoyance as of yet, letting his muscles build up energy within them. Breaking through felt like it would be simple, and he went with it. Letting faith within his own overwhelming physique be the thing that guided him. As Damian propelled himself forward with a massive leap, shattering the sound barrier with a thunderous boom and shattering any earth that stood in his way.

Metal tore, unable to withstand the force produced by Damian and blasted the door outwards as the shape moved through. Damian let his eyes fall to the one that appeared to be Vexus, eyes peering through the facial mask and bearing an intense expression. ”I’m giving you one chance to turn yourself in. Do it Elena Vexus, or you might come to regret it.”

Her defenses proved null and void against this one's speed and power. She needed him out of this room as quickly as possible. The upload was still in progress. This boy was ready to finish her off as quickly as possible, and as if she was just another errand on his list. Telling her to surrender right off the bat. So cliche. He truly was underestimating her, whoever sent this child knew not of her abilities. However, in their defense she had not showcased much in recent times. Now would probably be as good of a time as ever to stretch her wings a little bit...
"The things I regret transpired nearly a century ago, child. Putting a boy like you in his place will hardly phase me..."
Her hands went together, activating her own physical boosts. Simultaneously her Celestial Eye activated in her left eye. Behind her, bronze spell circles appeared and warped the walls together pinching and sealing off the entrance to the control room yet again. This was clearly more flimsy than the blast door from earlier, Vexus just stood in the way this time.
She extended her arm forward and created a three tier red spell circle that filled the entirety of the hallway where they were standing in. She let out a slight grunt as a deviating amount of fire was blasted towards Atlas.

The walls were melting and the remnants of the blast door were charred and dripping with molten materials. The mountain was designed to take damage from outside, not hemorrhage from the inside. The two of them would easily bring this whole base down if they didn't eventually leave. Some of the burnt materials were being pulled onto the pinched entrance to the control room. She would continue to reinforce it until she needed to remove her focus from that particular spell. Elena knew that a lower tier spell like that fire would more than likely not even move the boy, but she needed to start somewhere to gauge how much power would be required. Though, Ms. Vexus had a feeling she would more than likely need to replace this body after an encounter with the likes of Atlas.

Atlas typically didn't prefer pointless fights, seeing them as something that could have been avoided but his strength did have a purpose. Eyes were focused on Vexus, taking in each small movement and wondering what it was she would do in response to the ultimatum. There was the expectation of retaliation, that she would do something to either make him stand down or even try to kill him outright. The odd bronze circles suddenly forming were apparent enough to that truth, forming from nowhere and sending him on a sudden defensive postion. Walls warping and collapsing in upon themselves, forming a barrier between Vexus and the one that was after her.

Fire followed this, Atlas responding in kind. This came down to drawing in breath, deeper than a human and filling his lungs up to the brink, something he had only tried once before and it had interesting results. With an exhale the air came out, but with the force of a hurricane. Blasting and barreling through the small confined space to meet with the massive wall of fire, slamming into it and even force it back from the sheer concentrated strength of it. In the end this dispelled the fire, reduced it to nothing before him and it was a show of force in some senses. Let Vexus know that he was capable of much, perhaps more than she could deal with.

Putting forward into his forward jump, Atlas shot like a bullet to smash through the debris put before him, caving around him much like so much styrofoam. If she wanted to play, he would play but hopefully this wasn’t going to come back on him. This came down to a punch, not even close to full power but likely to anyone that was hit with it..well it would feel like he were hitting them full force. That was always the confusion that came with those fighting Atlas; they always assumed he fought full power.

As her fire was barreling down the hallway, Atlas responded with simply his breath. It pushed the flames apart, funneling them to the walls and knocking the blast door further open. Vexus was forced against the wall she had pinched closed only moments ago. She knew she couldn't be pinned against a wall like this, using her currently enhanced speed Elena shot herself forward hoping to possibly slip by Atlas. Unfortunately she had wildly overestimated her capabilities while simultaneously underestimating him.

Atlas had also sent himself forward, but much quicker than Vexus. She caught him passing in the corner of her eye almost in slow motion. Her body couldn't react fast enough. Her feet barely touched the ground, arms forming a crude "X" in front. It was futile. In such a short amount of time no matter what form she had taken this punch was going to land.
Atlas' strike connected. In the first instant, she did not feel any pain, it was in the seconds following where she clung to consciousness. She had guarded her face and neck, so he struck her chest. She spewed blood from her mouth as her ribs immediately shattered, the bones puncturing her lungs and shredding her insides to pieces. The force of the punch sent a shockwave through her body knocking all sorts of other things out of place. Vexus was rocketed out of the hallway and through the general storage area of more open space, only barely losing any speed. As she approached the main large entrance to the mountain base she hit the ground, injuring her pelvis, her body skipping back up into the air. The next skip caught her right arm, dislocating her shoulder and whipping her arm back so hard it fractured her wrist. She lost most of the speed when she hit the ground a third time and started rolling. This messed up her legs and face, her left arm was surprisingly unscathed only because of the unnatural enhancements she had made to it.

Vexus was now just barely outside of the base, on her back blood fountaining from her mouth and nose. Any other human would have died on impact, plain and simple. She could probably aim to guess that such a punch could have been even more powerful. Too bad, this fight would have been over if he had used his full strength. A gold spell circle appeared underneath Elena that began to rapid heal her injuries. She would have suffocated on her own blood by the time her own regeneration managed to fix everything. Once she could feel her legs again she moved to her side and vomited up all the blood that had filled her lungs, taking a huge gasp of fresh air. She shakily brought herself to her feet, the gold spell still working hard. Elena had to think about her next moves, they would probably decide the direction this confrontation would go in. She had placed an unnoticeable amount of technomatter in the ground each time she skipped and skidded across, it was working slowly behind the scenes for her. Right now it was time for a plan of attack.

The gold circle remained despite her injuries being healed, her next trick required it. A very large amount of Technomatter began to swirl around at her feet before engulfing her completely. Elena only prayed now that he would take his time emerging from the mountain so she could complete this little bit of state altering. Within the vortex of silver sand, her entire body was being converted into the essence. In a short amount of time, all that was left was the single Celestial Eye. More of the booze spell circles appeared and began to condense the tornado of matter into a humanoid figure. All the spell circles vanished, and the Celestial Eye opened up in the middle of its head. This 'thing' was still Vexus, same heights and general size. She had just completely transformed her being into that of Technomatter granting her amazing levels of speed, strength, and durability. Which, of course, had its own downfalls. Elena figured there would be no point in playing it safe, prolonging a battle where she would have been so out classed it suicide. Unreal amounts of Technomatter surged behind her, flooding the road and climbing the side of the mountain. The grey essence appeared alive as it devoured its surroundings, growing in size. She would wait for him to exit the establishment, remaining still in this form would not take any time off how long she might be able to sustain it. However the sooner she could revert to her own flesh and blood the better.

Atlas felt the blow connect, a solid strike that hit flesh. While he hadn’t put all his force behind it, the reaction was just as expected as blood was produced from the villainesses mouth and she was propelled forward with savage force. He wondered if even that amount of force was too much for her to withstand but then again for all he knew she could recover from that quickly. ”I...think I might have overdone that.” He considered to himself, despite the fact that everything inside of him was telling the exact opposite. If anything in the past was to be believed, then she would have more up her sleeves than simply being disposed like this.

Perhaps this would have been over if he didn’t hold back on that strike. Well there was no reason to wonder that now, especially when a fight was still going on. Regardless of whatever was happening, he began to trudge through the debris as a reasonable pace. Brushing anything aside that would have impeded the normal man. Large sections of the wall and ceiling having collapsed from the impact of a solid body flying through them.

Seeing her heat signature ahead, still as warm as before he began to bulldoze through the rubble with a grand push before appearing before Vexus in a dizzying flash of speed. What had greeted him was the woman bound within a massive vortex of swirling silver sand, and the presence of a strange golden circle. He had caught her on the tail end of what he could only assume was some manner of transformation. Grandiose within design but likely not something that could be done with the enemy right before her. Rising from the road and mountain were extra measures of the same silver sand, as Atlas quickly took flight to avoid being touched by any of it.

It was an unknown and he did not want to take any chances.

What was once a flesh being was now something else. Composed of the odd material but resembling the original all the same.  ”Not sure what you’re planning but you’ll need to do better than that.” He said, feeling a little excitement bubble up within him. His eyes flared with massive amounts of energy, unleashed in chaotic but potent beams at Vexus to test to see what defenses she would fabricate.

Atlas soon emerged from the mountain, witnessing Vexus’ transformation. Seeing the outrageous amounts of Technomatter swirling about, he took to the skies. By only glaring towards Atlas, the Technomatter began to launch itself upwards towards him. Because of the large amounts, it was not moving very quickly. Her opponent retaliated with a blast of energy from his eyes. It blew a hole in the matter that had been ascending, however Vexus’ form vanished into the silver sand surrounding her. The attack struck the ground and destroyed the pavement it had hit, knocking a large amount of her grey matter into the air. Vexus reformed at a different location on the ground and manipulated her technomatter to viciously attack Atlas.

The large mass, along with what had been blown into the air, rushed to bind Atlas. It began to split off into smaller streams, increasing in speed each time it did. Keeping him occupied in the air, the Technomatter had nearly covered the ground as well, pushing this fight more into her favor.
Elena’s form tensed up and launched towards Atlas at insane speeds. So fast that she shot past him accidentally.
Hm, I haven’t yet acclimated to the speed of this form, interesting.
She used her positioning above him as best she could. Rapidly a base appeared above her where she placed her feet, simultaneously a copy of her formed below Atlas on a similar base. Both then rocketed towards him, their fists taking the form of a spear. Vexus had multiple small, sharp, streams of Technomatter accompany her from nearly all directions.

With this pincer attack in motion, she would begin to enclose the two of them inside a massive sphere of technomatter. It was happening slowly, piece by piece, hopefully he’d only notice once it’s too late. Even if she could attach just a little bit of her Technomatter onto Atlas, she could start to slow him down and eventually restrain him completely. It would no doubt take all the matter she’s conjured and then some, but it should be enough to subdue even this experimental powerhouse.

Beams of molten energy  emerged form his eyes and blasted away an ascending column of technomatter. While this happened, the odd form of Vexus shot past him in speed that surprised him. It looked like he was dealing with someone that had quite a few surprises up their sleeves. Turning towards her, attention turned away from the one that was forming beneath him, creating a flanking formation of sorts as both Vexus’ charged him with that same impressive speed. Add in the fact he was forced to dodge streams of the strange silver matter, every attempt to avoid leading to them coming closer to hitting him. Eventually managing to garner a glancing blow on him, which stung pretty badly giving his being used to not getting hurt. Granted that came with working against forces he had little understanding of.

Twisting mid air, he managed to avoid the spear that came from above but the one below slammed into his side, sending a shock of pain, pushing his body upwards as the weapon managed to push through tissue fine enough. It hurt for sure, but it wasn’t something that could take him down, more than anything he would push through it. Burning energy coursed through his body, reaching the skin and came out as a small wave that shoved any technomatter close to him away.

This was both a tactic to give him to breathing room and force the injury itself to speed up healing. Closing broken flesh, cleaning it of the matter and ceasing bleeding completely. ”okay, that hurt a little.” he managed, noting that he was close to being enclosed within a sphere of the technomatter. ”isn’t that interesting?” Like a bullet shot from the gun, he propelled forward with a little effort as he shot through the small opening and came out.

Vexus had managed to injure him but it would take more than that to actually put him down. So much more. Trying to find Vexus’s location within the mass out through a little application of x-ray vision, he would begin to unleash a small barrage of precision blasts from his eyes in the hopes to force the villainess to act.

She had managed to damage the super human. This was major progress. Despite his healing ability, she knew now that she was capable of harming him with her Technomatter. And with so much of it swirling about under her control it would only be a matter of time. Elena had thought it would not be so easy to capture him as Atlas shot through an opening in the sphere she was attempting to trap him in. He now appeared to be keeping his distance as he sent a barrage of beams in her general direction. She had been completely obscured from him at this given time so it was assumed he was using an ability to locate her.
She had a theory and would test it quickly, where he was firing his beams, Elena would leave a copy of herself while the real pieces of her swirled about in the surrounding Technomatter.

The grey sand cleared to show the humanoid form taking the barrage of lasers head on. Holes were being blown open and easily covered right back up. It started to float closer to Atlas while some slim and sharp offensive streams launched towards him from behind the Technomatter body. Again from below, more of the sand reached upwards trying to latch onto and restrain Atlas. Larger waves of the matter would rise up on either size of the clone aiming to crash down onto Atlas with insane force, the sand below ready to spring into deadly spikes if he was knock towards it.
The offensive barrage of Technomatter would continue, hoping to overwhelm Atlas. Sooner than later, because even in this heightened state manipulating such ridiculous amounts of technomatter was starting to wear on Elena. It would no doubt cause even more problems once she exited this form. He needed to be contained in her next couple moves.