Set in Stone?
Disclaimer: All characters in the Misfitverse belong to Marvel Comics or Hasbro. Spencer Burton/Sonic Blue is mine, and Leon Maxwell/Crisis belongs to Persiana13. And some of this one-shot was based on a preview I saw of the Avengers graphic novel "Endless Wartime" up on Major Spoilers. Enjoy!
Avengers Mansion
Two teenage boys were playing a Nintendo Wii hooked up to a television in the common room of the Mansion. They were sitting on chairs, and were using GameCube controllers.
"Alright! Another Final Smash!" One of the boys, a brown-haired blue-eyed kid, whooped. His hair was in a small ponytail, and he was dressed in a blue t-shirt and jeans. He was Spencer Burton, a Cincinnati native and teenage geinus who built himself a suit of armor that granted super speed and the ability to fire sonic vibrations from the gauntlets. With it, he became the armored superhero and Avenger known as Sonic Blue.
"Can't seem to catch you." The other teenager, a blond-haired muscular one, remarked. His blond hair was cut short, and his unusual bright red eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses. He was dressed in a white t-shirt with an image of a red dragon on it, and a pair of bleached white jeans. He was Leon Maxwell, a precognitive powerhouse known as Crisis. A member of the Avengers' West Coast branch, he and the rest of his branch had come over to the east coast for some fun and games. "I'm not surprised you play as Sonic."
"I'm best with him." Spencer shrugged. "He's my favorite character. I hope he returns in the next game."
"There's another Smash Bros. game coming?" Leon blinked.
"Yeah, there's a trailer out." Spencer nodded. "It'll be out next year. Guess who's going to be a combatant in the next one?"
"Who?"
"Mega Man." Spencer grinned. "Can't wait to try him out."
"Really?" Leon chuckled. "I thought Capcom was done with him."
"I think it was because of Keiji Inafune, one of Mega Man's creators, leaving the company." Spencer shrugged. "I dunno. But it will be epic seeing Mega Man in the next Smash game." The two boys quietly played some more. "Hey Leon, you okay? You're playing rather lackadaisically. I've never seen you like this."
"Sorry, it's just...I'm feeling a bit distracted." Leon admitted. The super-powered blond teenager rubbed the back of his head. "I've...just been feeling a little messed up lately."
"Oh, yeah." Spencer remembered with a nod. "Farrah's been worried about you since that incident with that experimental power source." (1)
"Yeah, I don't mean to worry her or anything, it's just..." Leon struggled to find the words. "...can I admit something to you, Spencer?"
"Yeah, sure." The inventor blinked. "What is it?"
"Well...that incident with the power source..." Leon rubbed the back of his neck. "...I went to the future."
"...the future." Spencer blinked.
"Yeah, the future."
"I see." Spencer chuckled. "You actually time-traveled."
"Don't knock it, you guys fought Kang, remember?" Leon reminded. "His shtick was time-travel."
"Yeah, but he had far-future technology that could accommodate it."
"I'm not sure how it happened either, but there I was, in the future." Leon shrugged. "And..." He dropped his head.
"Let me guess, we all become a-holes in the future, huh?" Spencer joked.
"I'm not Marty McFly, this is serious, Spencer!" Leon told the inventor sharply.
"I'm sorry, Leon." Spencer calmed him down. "It's just...it seems like a crazy way to jump through time."
"I know, but it happened. And the future was not pretty."
"...not pretty?" Spencer blinked. "How?"
"Tony Stark was director of SHIELD."
"Iron Man?" Spencer blinked. "How would he end up running SHIELD?"
"I dunno. I didn't ask." Leon shook his head. "And it's complicated, but a lot of people were dead..."
"We all have to die sometime, it's the way of the world."
"The Misfits and GI Joe had vanished..."
"I find it hard to believe the Misfits could vanish, even WITH the ninja training."
"And...it was a bad time. There was some kind of Civil War between the heroes..."
"A Civil War? What on Earth..."
"It started thanks to Nitro."
"Nitro? You mean that terrorist wannabe?" Spencer blinked. "The former explosives expert? The guy who battles Captain Mahr Vehl? Or Mar-Vell, as people are prone to call him." Leon nodded. "That exploding lunatic causes this Civil War thing."
"Yes, him. He battled the New Warriors in a small town...the details are a little vague, I don't quite remember all of it, but the Warriors screwed up and Nitro blew up a school..."
"The New Warriors? Those guys from the Crash Pad?" Spencer frowned. "I doubt it. I met Night Thrasher, their leader. He is a bit nuts, but he's not a moron. He wouldn't let his team screw up like that..."
"I don't know if he was leading the Warriors at the time. I didn't ask. Stark supported some kind of Registration Act, Cap was dead..."
"Wait, registration act?" Spencer blinked. "Leon, you know Congress. Those stubborn lunatics can't even agree on a budget!"
"Spencer, why are you acting like I am crazy?"
"I'm not saying you are crazy. I'm just saying that this future of yours sounds like something concocted by a British comic book writer."
"Spencer, I know you think it's funny, but I'm scared." Leon admitted. "I'm scared of that future coming to be."
"Leon, it's not that simple." Spencer explained. "Just because you think this so-called 'terrible future' will come to pass, doesn't mean that it will. I mean, technically, you have already altered things."
"I have?"
"Remember when you saved the Falcon after he was blasted by Ultron's coma ray?" Spencer reminded. (1)
"...Yeah..."
"Well, you saved his life when he was buried alive." Spencer reminded. "So, you already may have altered future events. And considering the chaos Kang may have woven up and down in his travels through time, who knows how the future may turn out?" He scratched his chin. "Have you ever heard the song 'Iron Man' by Black Sabbath?"
"That's a good song, why?"
"You ever really listened to the lyrics?"
"...Not really, why?" Leon blinked.
"The song is a predestination paradox." Spencer explained. "The lyrics of the song tell the story of a man who time travels into the future, and sees an apocalypse. He returns to the present, but on the way, he gets mutated into a man of metal. In his new state, the man cannot speak."
"Okay..." Leon blinked.
"He still tries to communicate, but his attempts are laughed at. Driven mad by his frustration and anger over the situation, the 'Iron Man' rampages against humanity, creating the apocalypse he saw in his vision."
"Ahhh, I see." Leon nodded. "You think that if I try to stop the future I saw from happening...I'll create it."
"It's a possibility, Leon."
"But the future heroes didn't say I caused it."
"You still might do it indirectly." Spencer shrugged. "You never know how much something we does may impact the world. A slight action could lead to a huge disaster."
"...what're you saying? I can't stop this bad future?" Leon shook his head. "I can't accept that, Spencer. I love my family, friends, and Farrah too much to let that future come to pass."
"It may not happen, Leon." Spencer countered. "If you ask me, the only way to really change the future, is for everyone to do their best to make a positive impact on the world now." Leon looked up, letting the young genius's words sink in. "That bridge is too far away for us, Leon. We may not even get near it. We'll just have to see where the road takes us."
West Coast Avengers Compound, that night.
Leon Maxwell was lying his bed. Clad in a white t-shirt and red shorts, the powerhouse was in dreamland. And his dream was an interesting one...
In front of a Quinjet that was parked on the roof of a mighty tower, a muscular blond man was doing pushups. After he was finished with his routine, Steve Rogers walked out to the edge and stared out at the New York City skyline as the sun rose. The city never seemed quite right to him after he was freed from the ice. To him, there shouldn't be so many building that are so tall. Even though it had been years since he was unfrozen, to the legendary hero, he still felt like he was in another world.
He decided to walk inside, coming down the stairs to a large common room. He noticed Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' ever-faithful and reliable butler, working with a coffee machine in a kitchen in a corner.
"Good morning, sir." Jarvis greeted warmly. "Coffee?"
"I can do it myself, Jarvis. I don't want to trouble you." Steve told the butler.
"Sir, allow me to make your life a little easier, because it is very difficult outside of this tower."
"This Irish Brooklyn boy will never get used to having a butler, Jarvis."
"After all you have done for this nation, you deserve it, sir." The Englishman chuckled and noticed a figure fly in. It was a beautiful blonde woman dressed in a red-and-blue military-like uniform with gold highlights, and a chest emblem of a golden eight-pointed star. Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, had arrived. She landed in front of the door and walked inside. "Good morning, Captain Danvers. Coffee?"
"Please." The woman answered with a smile, her voice showing her Boston heritage. "I love Jarvis's coffee."
"It's good you came by, Carol." Steve walked over to a desk. "I was about to call an Avengers meeting. I imagine that your...old friend Farrah is doing the same in California."
"It's hard to believe that furbrain Persiana now leads the West Coast Avengers." Carol shook her head. "Considering her history and the disasters she's caused over the years."
"To be fair, Carol, she has matured greatly over the years." Steve reassured. "She's proven herself quite a bit. And Leon's been nothing but helpful to her when it comes to learning to calm down. Besides, I thought you were over that crush on Leon."
"I am, but I do consider the guy a friend." Carol shrugged. "I still worry about him."
"That's good." Steve nodded. "I still can't help but wonder, though." A mirthful smile appeared on his face. "Why did you decide to join the Chair Force? Didn't want to join a real service?"
"Oh, that's cute, Cap." Carol chortled. "You wanna know what Army stands for? Air force Rejected Me Yesterday." She turned to Jarvis. "Ain't that right, Jarvis? You're an RAF man, you know what I'm talking about."
"I am staying out of this." The butler held up his hands.
"Anyway, I just went over to see the X-Men. They're been doing alright. Been making some real progress over the years on the human-mutant peace front." Cap nodded.
"Indeed, things have been rather calm in that front lately." He smiled, then glanced at the television.
"In music, the Superstars' new album, 'Beyond the Stars', has just been certified platinum. Their fifth record, critics are hailing the album as a future classic, stating that the World's First All-Mutant Rock Band has not lost their creative touch..."
"Their music has helped." Carol remarked.
"Seems that everything is bright for us." Cap chuckled, looking up at the sun in the sky. "People love the heroes, the X-Men are making great progress in their dream, the Fantastic Four are still going strong."
"Yup..." Carol smiled. "It sure is. We fought real hard to make this world a better place, and we're really earning the happy ending..."
"Uhhnh..." Leon opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. "Huh...what a dream." He looked out the window of his room and noticed the sun was rising. Maybe Spencer is right. Maybe the bad future I saw won't come to pass. Farrah does say I worry too much... A small smile crossed his face, and he laid back down to go back to sleep.
Thanks for reading!
(1) - See Persiana13's "That Which Could Be".
(2) - In Persiana13's "Brothers in Arms"