Shifting Destiny

Chapter 4

"Battle the Mechanical Monsters!"

Harry flew back in a stream of crimson light, skipping and sliding along the road, on his back, and arms, twisting as he flew. He shattered through several lampposts before coming to a stop in a wall. His chest sizzled and the red body armour he wore changed as his skin faded from red and his armour turned a solid dull silver colour with adaptive plating now leaving more room to breathe.

"Oww, man that hurt!" he muttered gruffly as he pulled himself up looking up at the giant purple robot thing that was fighting other mutants with huge blaster cannons, not mentioning they were about twenty feet tall, if not then taller. He placed his hand to the headpiece on his right ear. "This is Shift to base! Do these things even have a weakness?!"

However, he could wait for a reply as he dived out of the way of cannon fire. He looked up to see a blonde freeze as another blast headed for her. He ground his teeth tightly as he couldn't and wouldn't let her get hurt if he could protect her; it was his supposed saving people thing', but then he was supposed to be the hero, and that sounded like something the hero did.

Harry moved, exploding into an aurora of yellow light he was between her and the blast before the yellow light splashed away. His body blazed and shifted with blue scales. His armour tightened and pulled to his body as he crossed his arms and took the hit. He yelled out as the energy splashed into him and he grit his teeth. He glared up through the light of the energy at the shadow of the monster while holding its beam at bay while it melted into his armour.

"Tabitha!"

"Hold him there! I got this!" she said as she built a multi-coloured ball of energy between her hands, and he turned his head to look at her as she built the bomb of energy between her small hands, one of which had a ring on one finger. Her uniform was yellow and brown with strong brown leather boots and form hugging top showing her tummy and tight hipsters.

She smirked as she gave him a wink and blew him a kiss before she threw her energy bomb around him. It bounced once and then rolled where it finally landed like a reflective and football sized marble by the machines feet and then she clicked her fingers; it exploded up and out.

Harry turned while Tabitha dived into his arms; he held her pulling her down low as to protect her. The flames blazed at his back roaring behind while Cyclops had taken advantage, cutting into the machines generator with his red eye beam, causing the explosion to worsen and the metal to crumble and melt. It was like a storm of fire raging behind him and he was all that guarded Tabitha from being incinerated.

Tabitha was closing her eyes tight as she had tucked herself within Harry's protection so it was a surprise when his grip finally lessened. But he still kept holding her in his arms while she realised she was practically cuddling with him and let her cheeks blush slightly as her heart pounded in her chest.

She pulled back after a few moments of looking into Harry's emerald eyes, captivated, but shaking that off, she looked around to see that the mechanical menace was in melted pieces and sighed in relief but didn't let go of Harry quite yet as she felt weak in the knees and felt dizzy still. He had returned to his normal cute self and smile at her while she grinned after a moment.

"Hey, great going Boom-Boom, way to almost blow yourself up!" Quick Silver appeared next to them in a blast of wind. "And fraternising with a goodie-two-shoe X-Men too!" he said glaring at Harry.

She just snorted after a few moments to gather herself and stood on her own. "I'll be friends with whoever I want dickweed!" she said while rolling her blue eyes. "You're just smarting that he can move fast as well as shield his damsels without blowing to dust like you, loser!"

He sneered and turned away while folding his arms over his chest, almost sulking. "Whatever!" he said before he was gone in a blast of wind.

Tabitha shrugged and turned back to Harry as he was pulling away the adaptive armour Forge built him, but it was only a prototype and hastily put together. He wore the armour over his body, but it was falling away, so he tore the last remnants away and threw it down, leaving himself bare chest, giving Tabitha something to smile about as she bit her lower lip staring at his muscular chest and abs. not that Harry was paying enough attention to notice something like that right then.

The rest of his armoured outfit was adaptive too but not designed for the same kind of protection. His trousers were black skin-tight padded leather with a dark yellow belt around his waist with an X buckle. His boots were black too, light weight but strong up his shins with running designed soles and metal plating. His earpiece was still hooked around his right ear with the small black mouthpiece over his right cheek.

Tabitha made sure to take a good long look at Harry's solid body, and it had only gotten stronger since gaining access to his new powers. He looked smoky with soot and was sweating, slick, and she licked her lips. His raven black hair was in a spiked mess plastered to his forehead and neck. His emerald green eyes were alit with energy as he pulled the last pieces of his armour free from his body, tearing it from his left wrist as he wasn't wearing gloves like some wore, mainly because when full-red he had claws that would have torn gloves apart, making them obsolete.

Looking him up and down Tabitha admired his body and couldn't stop herself from commenting. "Well for the 'good' guy, you sure are a great shield for this bad girl!" she said rubbing her right hand up over his abs and to his chest resting it over his heart feeling the soft pattering with her ring gleaming in the light. "… and-!" She quickly removed her hand as he looked down at it and went to continue.

However, she couldn't continue as there was a roar in the sky that attracted their attention. She let him go as they looked up to see a small fleet of huge robot things flying towards them through the sky.

"Oh shit!" Harry mumbled but Tabitha nodded in agreement. "Megan!" he called as the machines opened fire, Pixie stepped through a pink portal behind them and grabbed Tabitha as Harry turned to her and nodded through before it closed. They appeared half a mile away on the roof of a building as they watched the firestorm of destruction.

"Pix, what about Harry!?"

The pink haired girl grinned. "He'll be fine!" she said as she could see her 'bad' friend was concerned, and took her right hand in her left twiddling with Tabitha's ring and smiling while the blonde blushed, as she looked to see Megan's band on her right hand and blushed a little more. But neither girl felt the need to say anything then as it wasn't the right time nor place.

They pulled apart after a few soft moments that weren't uncomfortable as Tabitha would have expected. They looked around once Pixie let Boom-Boom go as a white Native American girl appeared in a purple rip in space with a young Native American man. He had long hair and ripped up clothes. He was helping a large black man with dreads through while the white Native American girl (with purple through her hair and purple markings over her bright green eyes-and purple and black outfit of leathers) was helping a white haired black woman through before the portal closed as she didn't seem able to stand by herself.

"Blink?" Megan asked in worry.

The Native American girl nodded her head. "I got them back to base, but these two were stubborn!" she said as the black man fell to the floor holding his side in pain.

Meanwhile, Harry blazed yellow as he dodged and weaved around explosions. The pavement cracked and rose, and he jumped up and off and was flung into the air by rising concrete and explosion. He cried out as his yellow light flickered out and exploded red, his muscles bulged and tensed as he crashed into the head of a machine, tearing it clear off with his huge claws.

He jumped up and let the head go before he was grabbed in a giant hand, blasting up, shooting into the sky, but he tore through its fingers with a roar of rage fuelled strength. His crimson tail of energy blast out from his tail bone. The machine blew out and started falling. Harry's crimson light flashed away a moment later as he started falling he turned in the air looking down as he must have been a few miles high.

"Oh no, not good!" he muttered to himself under the rush of air in his ears when two monster robots flew up towards him. One of the machines tried to grab him but he managed to slip through its fingers, slicing one off, but then another attempted and another, Harry moved backwards and stopped in mid-air.

He looked at himself in glee as he swirled with white light like wings of energy spread out wide and powerful. He grinned as he flew straight passed the robots and weaved around as his wings moved so effortlessly, folding around his body. He turned facing them as he floated for a moment within the sun above the darkening clouds.

He let himself fall as his silver light splashed away before clenching his fists he blazed with multiple colours, his skin reflective like diamond light, and he roared in triumph as he rose his hands into the bright light and then sizzled and built, drawing in the light from the sun like a super-solar-panel to power a super-weapon.

Harry aimed, and it was a white bean of light from between Harry's fingers that sliced down, and cut one of the machines into two halves down the middle. It exploded but the other took advantage and blast Harry with energy cannons, knocking him from the sky and he shot down towards the ground.

"HARRY!" Tabitha and Megan yelled out in concern as they had watched him in the sky when a streak of blue shattered into the ground with an energy blast.

"Megan!" Blink stopped her as her purple vortex shut down the younger girls pink vortex. "There is no way he could have survived! I'm sorry!" she said, having helped Strom to rest by her feet as they watched in horror as the energy cannon fire continued shattering into the ground as several more machines turned up attacking him too.

"They must have considered him a major threat!" the black man said while gasping for breath looking away from the attack and cringing.

"That fucking hurt!" Harry interrupted them, and they all looked up to see him standing to one side looking out over the monster machines with blood covering his face and right side and bruises over his torso and missing his comm. link from his ear. But other than that he looked like he was in better shape than some of the others.

"H-Harry!" Pixie cried out as she threw herself into his arms. He staggered and winced a little but he pulled his arms tightly around her in a cuddle anyway.

"You idiot!" Tabitha said while she sighed in relief too, hugging with the pair before the three pulled back, "but how did you get over here?" she demanded while she assisted Megan in checking him for serious damage.

"I'm just that awesome remember!"

"You mean you don't know?" she asked while Megan wouldn't stop hugging him and making sure he was in one piece while she was certain he was in no immediate danger from his injuries.

"Y-yeah, pretty much!" he said sheepishly. "But smashing into the ground at one hundred plus wasn't very nice. I wasn't exactly armoured up when that cannon hit so it was a good job that my solar shift had some strength to absorb some of that energy or I might have been a gonna."

"We're not exactly winning this are we?!" the black man said as he stood with the Native American man while Blink stood between unsure about what they could do as they were separated from the others and it looked like they wanted to fight.

"W-we have to stop them!" Storm said as she pulled herself to stand while blood trailed from her head down her face. "There are so many innocent people, not just mutants we must protect. Those machines do not care about any collateral to human life. Whoever programed them just wanted to commit such hideous atrocities."

"Whoa!" Harry grumbled as three Sentinels ascended upon them from below the building they were using as a temporary refuge. Suddenly one veered off as Wolverine landed on it with his claws dug in while Cyclops appeared in a blue smoky poof with Nightcrawler bandaged up and breathing heavily.

Cyclops moved fast vaporising another robots head as it was so close and it veered back and away shattering into buildings before coming to an explosive stop. Harry moved while splashing with yellow and grabbed Pixie, Boom-Boom, and Blink, dropping them in a heap by the other two men before they charged and the three of them stood together.

"This is going to be easy right?" Harry asked moments before the two men were blasted back off the roof behind him and he could only flash blue and shield himself as the final machine attacked them.

It stopped firing for a moment as Storm managed to hit it with some lightning, but if the machine had emotions that would have only served to piss it off. It went to shoot her as it started raining and pouring over the city and lightning struck through the sky. Storm looked up as if she was thinking she could have done with a storm before now. The sky was dark and struck with thunder, lightning brightening the scene, making the monster robots seem even more ominous.

"Manners much!"

It missed shooting Storm as Harry growled out while having pounced in red light tearing his fist through its skull and tearing out some circuits. It went falling back from the roof as Harry had obviously stumbled across the machines flight controls and without them its engines shut down.

However, moments later Harry was shocked as he poofed back to the roof as the machine started careering out of control as it fell lifelessly back into the city and Nightcrawler was letting go of him.

"Always have a plan of escape my friend!" the blue furred mutant said with a pained smile.

"I can fly!" he retorted smugly.

Nightcrawler laughed slightly. "Bragging is not becoming!"

Watching from a distance Magneto had gotten curious. Shift was a very unique find in deed. It was just a shame that the X-Men found him first. He looked closer, wondering what Boom-Boom was doing. Was she betraying The Brotherhood? He would have to give her loyalty some thought. Or just kill her. She served no purpose, and it would be better safe than sorry. His daughter would get over it! Tabitha knew too much about his plans, and though he didn't start the fight he would finish it and prove mutant superiority!

"The other two?" Harry asked in concern as he rushed to the other side of the roof and looked down, sighing in relief as the two other men looked banged up down below but they were alive somehow.

"Nightcrawler!" he said turning back to the furry blue guy. "Get them and take them and Storm out of here. They're in no fit state to fight, and look at you!"

"He's right fuzz-ball!" Wolverine stepped over after having climbed back up onto the roof. "You'll be a hindrance without some more rest, we still have Blink and Pixie in the game!" he said as the three girls (Tabitha (Boom Boom), Pixie, and Blink) had pulled themselves up and glared half-heartedly at Harry while he gave them sheepish grins.

"I understand!" he agreed reluctantly.

"I should stay!" Storm tried to say but she could barely stand as she held herself up on a ledge. It only took one look from Cyclops, and though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew him well enough to understand that look. "Okay, I s-shouldn't try to kid myself!" she reluctantly agreed while Nightcrawler moved over to her, helping her he poofed them away, taking the two men moments later.

"Are there more of those bloody robot things?!" Harry demanded as he looked out upon the city and felt sick as buildings had been brought down and it was like the world was on fire.

"We don't know!" Cyclops said as he handed Harry a new earpiece and he quickly placed it on. "All we know is they must have been planning this for years…-!"

"To have that many sentinels, yeah!" Wolverine agreed when suddenly out of nowhere he went wide eyed as he was lifted from the roof by an invisible force and was hurtled flying over the city by a mile or two while Harry, the girls, and Cyclops watched in shock before they all turned as a man with maroon and black robes with maroon coloured helmet on his head floated down to land on the roof with three men standing on discs of metal.

The first man was huge and bulky wearing brown armour with a huge dome helmet over his head while the second was thin with silver outfit with a glass shield over his face, and the last wore furs with fanged teeth and claws; he was tall and muscular.

"Ah, Cyclops!" Magneto said with a smile. "And your new little recruit, Shift if I'm not mistaken!"

"Oh shit. Another old man with issues!" Harry commented coldly while Magneto (Harry had been told about him and the Brotherhood) had to stop Sabretooth from attacking him while he smiled and Harry continued. "Yeah, had a controlling sociopath headmaster, and still have him hunting me most likely for the Greater Good of course, but then I have a sociopathic psychopath after my head too-but what can you do-magicians…? Humans…? Mutants…? What next-aliens?" he suggested in amusement.

"Seriously wouldn't rule it out!" Tabitha commented while keeping as far from Magneto as she could as she wasn't sure how he would see this.

"Ah, there you are Tabitha!" Magneto said coolly storing away the information Shift gave him for later use and turned to her. "The Brotherhood does not take kindly to traitors!" he said with a smile.

"You have to get through me to get to her!" Harry growled out coldly while clenching his fists. However, he turned a moment later as Blink disappeared. "Well… didn't expect that," he said while looking back to Magneto and now he showed some concern.

"Hurry!" he turned to his men. "Kill Tabitha, and capture Shift, alive, we don't have much time before she returns with reinforcements. Do what you want with the other two, now hurry!"

"Always wondered what a freak like you looks like naked!" Avalanche commented with a sick grin as he looked at Pixie, licking his lips. He hadn't expected to have his arm torn off while blood gushed out and he screamed, but no matter what, no one saw what happened until they looked to Harry.

He was different. He was new. His eyes were pitch black and he had black markings, patterns, runes running from under his eyes down his body while ripples of transparency snaked around him as invisible beast. It was likely only because of the rain that they could see these monsters.

"Don't ever threaten them!" he hissed while one of his beasts continued to tear into and attack Avalanche with huge wide wings like a monster with female shape and form like devils called into being to their masters command. Harry looked at himself and grinned as he pet the hair of an invisible daemonic girl as she curled around his body while other stalked their pray.

"My Devil Girl Shift!" he laughed insanely for a moment before stopping and turning to the remaining three men as Avalanche had become lunch, and was already dead.

"We should leave!" Magneto said cautiously as they started floating up and back when the invisible devil girls started advancing.

However, Juggernaut laughed and jumped down back onto the building. "Nothing can stop the mighty-augh, ahhhh!" he roared out while the other two widely fled as they watched the mighty-augh staggering back as devil creatures tore into him and he stepped back off the roof and fell, but the devils jumped back, flying to land with their master, pushing their supple body's to him to keep him warm in the cold rain while he pet them.

"Harry!?" Megan asked timidly as she approached, she flinched as she felt one of the invisible monsters brush up against her leg but she didn't attack but started licking her fingers like a loving puppy might.

Harry turned to her and dropped to his knees puking up blood as his eyes returned to normal and the markings receded while the devil girls faded away. Harry was breathing painfully while Tabitha and Megan went to him, holding him while he shivered and felt weak.

"Maybe that new one-maybe you should give that a miss from now on!" Cyclops said as he sighed in relief. "Until you have a handle on your other shifts-."

"T-they were-were representations of my will!" he replied quietly. "I could only think about protecting Tabitha and Pixie and-I don't know what happened. I felt so cold, but at the same time con tent-I knew they would defend me, and protect the girls! But I tapped into my inner darkness-that shift-it was different-it utilised magic as well as my mutation!"

"I can't say for sure, but I think it's all over now!"

They were interrupted by Blink as she had returned with a girl with white in her brown hair, she was pretty and knelt in front of him.

"I understand what its like to be afraid of your own powers," she said with a small smile as he reached out and pat her bare shoulder as she was wearing really long white sleeves to her elbows, and though she flinched, nothing happened.

"Rogue…?"

Elsewhere on the planet Hermione Granger had been at home and saw the news coming from Las Vegas, saw the freaks, eyes wide as they could expose magic to the world. she knew she had to be quick and contact Albus Dumbledore and tell him quickly, especially when they slowed down the blur of yellow and she saw him, just barely recognisable. If she hadn't seen him so much at school she would have never recognised Harry using powers in front of muggles.

She had been informed that he had somehow became emancipated and escaped his relative where he would be safe away from the dangers of the muggle world. It didn't cross her mind once that Harry was a powerful being, and that he could take care of himself. After all, she would only listen to Albus Dumbledore because he knew what was best for Harry.

Hermione didn't notice her parents watching her in concern as she was speaking out loud. Mr. Granger had been looking into things in the magical world and he and his wife were rightfully concerned. The situation with the resurrection of the Dark Lord Voldemort, but that wasn't what was troubling. mutants or evolved humans or whatever was going on was common knowledge these days so they didn't much care, and having a witch daughter they brushed off all the hateful bigots and hoped everything would settle peacefully in the end.

But now, their daughter was acting strangely, racist even. They knew she was becoming distant, and that her belief in this Albus Dumbledore was becoming obsessive. That was why they weren't searching for someone who could help them, hopefully before she sends off her letter to the old loon.

That was when the doorbell rung and he gave his wife a look while Hermione looked at them for an answer as she didn't want muggle guests, and hadn't since joining the magical world. However, Mr. Granger got up from the couch and went into the hall to the front door, and returned a few moments later with a tall man with black satin suit. his hair was black with grey sides and a greying goatee around his lips and powerful blue eyes.

He didn't say anything for a moment and Hermione felt concerned as he stared at her and slid her hand into her pocket where her wand was hidden and shooting her parents looks of betrayal.

"There shall be no need for that, Miss. Granger!" The man spoke coolly, unconcerned as she quickly drew her wand he only clicked the fingers of his right hand and her wand dissolved into nothing, leaving her defenceless. "It took your parents a great deal of effort to find someone to help you, and I am surprised by what I see!" he said while she scrambled out of her seat and moved away from him.

"W-who are you? What do you want? Mum? Dad? How could you?" she demanded frightened. "H-he's a muggle! You're handing me over to muggles!?"

"Never!" her mother said in outrage. "We love you no matter what! We're worried about you! The wizarding world isn't a healthy place for you! They're using you! This headmaster is not a good person! Your friend Harry is better off running away where he'll be safe from Albus Dumbledore!"

"No mum!" she screamed. "Harry is only safe with Professor Dumbledore! And now you're trying to send me away with his nobody!"

"I am Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange! The Sorcerer Supreme!" he said in a powerful voice as he swirled with power that made her back up, quivering as she was entranced in a multitude of different colours blurring out the world and a power that made her fall to her knees with its sheer magnitude.

Hermione was held by nothing but her own fear and awe, screaming so loud her voice seemed to have faded into nothing. She was crying and screaming as she shot through an empty void that was full of everything.

Then there was nothing.