Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel

Here we introduce the Altered Ultimate version of my OC Cade Hunter, AKA Deathblade, establishing mainly his altered past and opinion of the new world. As well as the introduction of altered Ultimate characters, the members of Cade Hunters army.

Ultimate Aeon: Origins Reboot

Chapter 4: Rival

The world had changed in the blink of an eye, yet he was still where he was before. Alls that had changed for Cade Hunter was the uniform he was wearing. His room was different of course, less comfort, then again a padded cell suddenly turning into a chrome room with an energy wall blocking your escape could ruin your comfort level. The location had also changed, it wasn't in a city, in fact Cade had no idea where his new prison was. Alls he knew was that his straight jacket had been replaced with a pure white suit and his hair, once ignored by the institute staff until it was unkempt was now completely shaved. He also knew that he had only just gotten here a few hours ago, but the guards regarded him as if he had been there for far longer. Cade began to understand his situation more when the new memories started to contradict his old ones. Within the cell of his new prison, or rather the prison he had always had Cade came to the conclusion that something, or someone had altered reality, including the circumstances behind his imprisonment.

"Laura," Cade muttered the name of the woman he loved.

He saw it again, the two of them walking across the street like a couple, the way they never had before. In the past life they had been lovers behind closed doors, never open in public about their relationship. Then it happened, twice in different ways, one he walked into her house to find her cut up body and the other he saw an anti-mutant bastard kill her in cold blood. Both times he had been arrested for different reasons, one he had been wrongfully convicted of the murder and the other he had avenged her death and been called 'a mutant sympathiser'. The prison was filled with mutants and the humans whom had tried to help them. It had a very Nazi death camp approach to how the prisoners were treated, though guards reinforced the point that no one was supposed to die. That didn't stop them from getting too overeager when 'disciplining' escapees. Cade could now remember multiple times guards walked past his cell, dragging either a body bag or a stretcher with a prisoner who never returned to his, or in some cases her cell. He already had to watch as Kitty Pryde was dragged away, it was such a tragedy for the woman whom survived the Ultimatum wave, the Nimrod attacks against mutants and the great cataclysm only for her neck to be broken by a sadistic anti mutant guard. Mutants had their powers dampened by collars of some kind; Cade didn't know the science behind the devices. His cell didn't have a window, that much hadn't changed.

What had changed was what he saw. Before he only saw the four walls of his cell and the nightmares in his sleep. Now he had a much broader view of the world. It had started when the new memories began to crop into his head. He would look at his hand and see a red glow run across his skin like cracks. Then he would see everything, all of the wrong things happening in the world. He could see mutants being hoarded into trucks, men and women gunning one another down for scraps of food and shelter. America was barely stable and the rest of the world was tearing itself apart. He saw Hank Pym, debating with himself whether he should overdose and take his research with him or submit his new plans to the General. He saw the mother of Mary Jane Watson reporting her neighbour Ben Parker, revealing him to be a mutant sympathiser. He saw Sabretooth and Mystique murdering prison guards.

'I see Magneto has finally decided to get his people out of here,' Cade thought.

He didn't care, at the time at least. Empires came and went and Magneto and Rogers were just as bad as one another in the long run. There was no leader capable of bringing total peace and prosperity to the world. The world was in need of fixing, but he didn't have the power to fix it. He couldn't even begin to imagine how he went about fixing it. With every vision he received of another world everything became clearer to him. The past world was on its way to destruction, even with the Cataclysm behind them. This new world he was living in was also on its way to destruction and another world, a world a different version of himself lived in was on its way to being completely repaired, to accomplishing wonders the likes of which this world could only imagine. He would see him, a man in black armour leading heroes that looked familiar and different to Cade, a version of Captain America who wasn't a racist, or a violent brute, a version of Spider-man who was married with a daughter of his own, an Xavier institute that was loved by the public, a reduced mutant population, a Carol Danvers with super powers and a team of young and old heroes. This world he saw was better, and a certainty formed in Cade's mind, that he was the one who made that world a reality and not just a possibility.

'But how do I make that world happen?' he wondered.

Then he remembered, that voice before the world changed.

"Find project Aeon," Cade said to himself as he got off the floor.

He looked at his hands again and again they were glowing. Cade gripped the collar of his shirt and began to tear at the fabric. He kept on tearing until he exposed the cracks across his skin, cracks from the energy building up inside him. Cade Hunter smirked as energy swirled around his hands, shaping into a pair of scythes. He knew exactly what to do to make that world a reality.

Magneto looked up at the memorial statue of his friend, his brother Charles. The streets were clear, everyone was enjoying Ali's concert. She was performing at a stadium Polaris built a few hours ago, lights blaring about the stage and Jubilee created fireworks for the sky. Magneto allowed his people the chance to unwind, to dance and drink their troubles away because they genuinely had the right. He was a Magneto better than his dead counterpart, and alls it took was the early deaths of his friend and children.

"Who am I my friend? Am I doing the right thing? Is this what you'd have wanted if your initial dream had failed?" he asked all measure of questions, looking to ghosts for answers.

Erik put on his helmet and flew towards his palace. He entered the main entrance hall and pulled his arms apart. The metal on the floor split, creating a tunnel for Erik to hover down. This tunnel led to an underground chamber. Evidence of its existence was spread throughout all of the savage land, chimneys allowed air to travel through into the chamber for the prisoner. The said prisoner was suspended above the floor by chains, his body was devoid of the muscle his previous versions were known for. Though he had been given air he was dehydrated and malnourished. James Howlett, also known as Logan and also Wolverine was a weak shadow of who he once was. Even his eyes were devoid of life, in a sense he was dead, his heart and lungs just hadn't accepted it yet.

"Keeping you alive has been a necessity up until now Logan, I needed to know whether mutant kind would live on beyond the first generation, if not then I would need to recreate the process that created mutants in the first place…that's no longer necessary," Magneto lowered his head in guilt as he waved his hand.

It was a magnetic signal to the chains. They began to pull on Wolverine's limbs. The chains themselves were Adamantium, just like his bones. Magneto stood for hours listening to the sound of Wolverine's flesh tearing, and looking at the fearful look in the broken man's eyes. The once living weapon's body was torn to pieces and Magneto stayed until the heart stopped beating.

"He's not the kind of man who could live in a world of peace, I regret having to kill him but he never would have agreed with leaving Earth. Logan would have been unwilling to make the sacrifices you have…Iron Man," Magneto turned to his latest ally.

The armoured man stood before the master of magnetism, completely confident in his ability to survive their encounter.

"Not many have lost as much as I have Erik, I've put every bit of money my company has into our plan, because something worse than the General is coming, something we wont survive," he explained.

"I know it was not easy for you," Erik sighed.

"No, my company can be recreated wherever we go, there's nothing else keeping me here, there was nothing keeping me here the day my son died."

"I know what it is to lose a child Iron man," Magneto said.

"Forget that, we'll be partners now and unlike you I'm not actually my name," Iron man said as he removed his helmet, revealing the face of a balding man in his late sixties. "Call me by my real name, Howard Stark!"

The cube was located within the N-Zone. Discovered by Reed Richards, the N-Zone is a space of dying stars and worlds. Built mainly to keep the prisoners inside, there was very little care for those prisoners. Soldiers whom guarded the prison were equipped with the best armour and weapons the Ultimates had to offer. But more importantly the facility itself was one of the hardest places to break into and out of. It was a fortress, automated turrets obliterated the residents of the N-Zone whom ever tried to break out. Super villains, unregistered mutants, even people who simply defied the new era were kept in joint wings of the prison. Problem prisoners, men and women considered to be the greatest threats to Steve Rogers were kept in the isolated wings, pocket dimensions within the N-Zone itself. The entry and exit portal was the most heavily guarded section of the prison. Escape through there was suicide, even for one of great skill.

"What's the situation?" Ultimates agent John Walker asked as the guards led him towards the cells.

"We wanted to keep it between just you and us sir, but during our hourly rounds we checked prisoner 1610's cell," one of the junior of the guards said.

"I recall that one, he hasn't been a problem since he got put off of suicide watch," John said.

"I think he might be a problem now sir," the second guard's nervous and fearful expression was a preview of the shocking sight Walker would behold.

He widened his eyes as he looked upon Cade Hunter's cell and saw nothing. The prisoner was gone, as if he had never been there. What no one noticed, what no one could notice was the subtle tear in the dimensional barrier. Something of great power had cut its way out of the N-Zone. Cade Hunter walked through the streets of New York, breathing natural air again. He found it exhilarating, having never realised just how much he missed freedom. But it was incomplete, it would forever remain incomplete. This hellish world had deprived him of the woman he loved, just like the previous world. Yet unlike that world he had power now, the power to punish those who took her from him. He just needed the tools now. Returning to the scene of her murder, the house, abandoned by its previous tenants. They had no idea what he had hidden within the basement. The foundation of bricks was still there as he expected them to be.

Long ago, in both versions of his world he had considered taking up arms as a vigilante. He considered taking the fight to those whom made victims. But he found love with a girl named Laura. He was going to marry her, until she was taken from him. People called him crazy, said that he had killed her but he knew in his soul that there was another to blame. He was certain of it, others deserved to be punished and he would not rest until he had punished every evil in the new world. Then he would destroy the evil that intended to destroy the world. He smashed his fist through the layers of bricks, the energy of his soul, or perhaps it was from the spiritual world, wherever the energy he wielded came from it protected him, increased his rate of healing. The bricks crumbled at his touch as he picked out the layers of armour he had designed. He put on the padded military fatigues, the Kevlar vest and shirt. But as each layer of clothing went onto his body it changed, the red and black energy shifted the very form of the clothes, turning what was once makeshift battle armour into practical yet terrifying plates of red and black armour. The armour covered in particular Cade's chest and shoulders; with what looked like scale mail on his sleeves and legs. He raised the mask to his face, feeling the object shift as if it had come alive. It enveloped his head, covering him like a mask, yet protecting him like a helmet. The mask was black but had red lines running from the nose in a V shape, over his scalp and towards the back of his head. His exposed eyes glowed red like the red portions of his armour.

Energy swirled in his hand, shaping into a sheath with a handle pointing out of the end of it. The guard of the sword stretched outward like two batwings, and a crescent blade was attached to the end of the handle. Cade clamped the blade onto his back and stretched his hands out. As if tearing through wrapping paper, Cade tore open a portal into the N-Zone. But he didn't appear at his old cell, he appeared at the isolated ward. The guards, dressed in armour to survive the toxic atmosphere of the N-Zone looked towards the new arrival in shock, they saw what Cade would see when he looked in the mirror. On his mask, below the nose was a set of teeth, making the mask look like a skull. The chin of the mask stretched past Cade's own chin and the teeth of the mask covered his cheeks. The guards were not looking at a man, or even an armoured knight, but a monster. Their bodies struck the ground before they could even scream. Images of their sins faded from Cade's eyes, with the sinners dead he would no longer be haunted by them. He cut through the armoured door one grand swipe at a time. The scythes he had summoned tore through metal and flesh until he arrived at the ward. Down a long corridor were the prisoners that Rogers most feared, the greatest threats in terms of their power to his regime. Many were people Cade despised, because many of them had a criminal past. But he didn't care for them, he wasn't approaching them as a hero looking for allies. He needed sacrificial pawns for his army, the kind of army his counterpart used.

"I have a proposition for you all," the mask distorted his voice, making it just as terrifying as the armour he wore and the power he wielded.

He raised his hand and energy from the entire ward flew into his hand. The blue sparks of electricity changed into a red swirling water, like blood it seeped through Cade's armour and into his skin. He felt renewed, charged with energy he used to create an atmosphere his pawns could breath. Each pawn stepped out one by one and with each one that came out Cade saw not only what this world had turned them into, but the sins they had committed as well. Eleven pawns for his plan.

First to come out was a man of living energy, he once went by the name Maxwell Dillon, but an industrial accident turned him into the electrically charged villain Electro. Trapped within a black suit that controlled his powers, only his face was shown. His skin glowed blue; you could see every vein underneath his skin. Again and again Cade saw people dying from electrocution or from a malfunction in electrical equipment, people in hospitals dying because machines vital to their treatment had been shut down.

Second came a woman who would have been considered beautiful once. Red hair, a body that was strong and flexible. Her face had been badly burned however, forcing her to wear a gold mask to conceal her deformity. She wore a black suit of military issue. Her sins involved assassination, stealing, torture and betrayal. Natasha Romanoff had earned her scars, she was every bit the person Cade remembered, the woman who betrayed the Ultimates to the Liberators, murdered Hawkeye's family and nearly drove the country to ruin, all for the sake of revenge and a profit. Cade wanted to kill her, but her spy skills would be useful.

The third pawn was someone Cade could consider respecting. He had green skin and wore some kind of blue robes that included a cloak. He was built like the Hulk yet did not suffer from the effects of a reduced intellect of blood lust. Drax had been one of the first alien species humanity had made contact with whom weren't invading. Per Rogers's legislation on the treatment of aliens, the military immediately opened fire on the first contact diplomats. Rogers then led a purge of Drax's species, only a few handful were left, but the ones who mattered to Drax were dead. His wife and child had been brutally murdered and he had been used as a guinea pig for super soldier experiments. Drax was stronger and more durable than any member of his species, he and the fifth pawn would be the powerhouses of the group.

Charlie-27 was as strong as Drax, but was human, his memories stripped away in exchange for strength. His current name was merely his serial number, one of many thousand attempts to create super soldiers. Charlie's soul however still retained his sins and memories, he had been an air force colonel and killed an entire alien species using a bomb created by Howard Stark. The mission haunted Charlie and resulted in not only the genocide of a species, but the deaths of Howard's wife and son. Charlie was dressed in a type of spiked harness designed to keep his Hulk level strength in check.

Another sole survivor of a dead species came in the form of the sixth pawn. Martinex's people were unique in the fact that they consumed energy for sustenance. Composed completely of crystal, Martinex and his people came to Earth attempting to peacefully negotiate for a food source. Howard Stark provided the food source in the form of his arc reactor technology, and for a moment it seemed like the negotiations would be successful. An anti alien group however blew up Martinex's ship and Rogers encouraged the riots that killed the last survivors of Martinex's people. Martinex himself had been labelled a criminal and locked away, yet his anger over how his people had been treated still remained even in his freedom.

Again Cade felt that he could understand the seventh pawn. She was a warrior like him, a natural in blade combat whom had been deprived of her true love. Gamora was also beautiful, her green skin and hair were not off putting, neither were the yellow rings around her eyes. Her people were still alive but Gamora had not been to her home planet in some time. She and her lover Peter Quill attempted to serve as examples to Earth of just how close humans could be with aliens. Rogers however captured and executed Peter and locked Gamora away.

The eighth pawn however was someone Cade despised. Remy LeBeau was a thief, a very good thief but someone who didn't have a high moral compass. He would serve only to keep himself alive. Gambit was considered a threat to the Ultimate regime because he had come very close to stealing and selling Rogers's shield, he had blown up and entire helicarrier to cover his escape. The man was dangerous, but predictable so Cade felt no reason to fear him.

That of course meant Cade's fears had to go to someone else. He was looking upon someone who had been called a myth before, often used in films and books to portray a species people thought of as fiction as well. The ninth pawn wore red armour, his skin was deathly pale and his eyes were blood red. His white hair rested on his shoulders and he smirked as some of the easily intimidated pawns quivered at the sight of him. He introduced himself as Vlad, which was true in a sense. Cade and the rest of the world knew him by the name of Dracula. His body count numbered in the thousands, he had been the first of the vampire species, a species that had been reduced to only himself. Rogers had the rest of the vampire species purged, but saw value in keeping Dracula alive for experimentation, he spared Dracula over Blade the vampire hunter, despite Blade's great role in the grand vampire purge. Dracula was no saint, but his species were not all killers, many relied on willing blood donors before Rogers had the secret charity disbanded.

The tenth member of Cade's group didn't have a trace of sins within her. She was a red haired beauty by the name of Mary, her only crime had been her genetics. Whilst most mutants had been the result of a Canadian super soldier experiment, Mary possessed naturally evolved genes that granted her increased agility, empathy and strength. She was perfect.

Cade looked away from the woman, not wanting to think about how much she looked like Laura. His attention was drawn to the final pawn, whom stepped out of his cell after the other pawns. He was someone who astonished Cade, because he could not see any kind of sin from him. His eyes were useless in the fact that the man's soul didn't have a history that Cade could see, so he could find no way to identify what he had done to become one of the greatest dangers to the Ultimate regime. The man himself didn't look like much, he wore a blue shirt with his sleeves rolled up and remarkably didn't have a trace of hair on his head or face.

"You've all been wronged in some way by Steven Rogers's regime, many of you want to survive, others of you may want revenge. Join with me and not only will we put an end to the regime, but we will make it so that the regime never existed," Cade explained.

Ten of the pawns looked at him with confused expressions. Only the eleventh didn't seem shocked, in fact for a moment his eyes took on a pure white colour.

"Your weapons and tools are waiting in the armoury, make your way to them, I have more business to attend to," he turned and began walking away from the cells.

"Hey, who the hell are you?" Widow asked, trying to catch up with the man.

Cade swung his scythe, creating another portal. It faded as soon as Widow reached it. Again Cade travelled from one end of the N-Zone to the other, reappearing at the watch tower of the main prison. His scythe split, its shape changing into a pair of ruby red blades. Cade spread the blades out and then stabbed them into the roof of the watch tower. The men working inside the watch tower looked up and gasped in horror as Cade slid the blades out, allowing the toxic fumes of the zone to spray into the watch tower. He took no pleasure in listening to the young men and women inside choking and fighting for their lives. The alarms of a containment breach blared across Prison 42 and the guards began putting on breather masks. John Walker loaded his rifle as he walked into the main courtyard.

"Send a message to the portal bays, plant bombs on the generators," he said to one of his lieutenants.

"But sir, what about our escape route?" one of the soldiers asked.

"We all know what will happen once these animals reach Earth, it's time we did what Rogers said to do before the do gooders got involved," John raised his rifle as he began walking to the cells.

He opened one of the cells and put a bullet in a prisoner's head. She was a young woman, she hadn't done anything more than make a blog against Rogers.

"IF YOU ALL WANT TO GO HOME THEN KILL EVERY LAST PRISONER!" the agent yelled, brandishing his gun as he opened another cell. "Every last freak and do gooder who defied our nation," he snarled, shooting a teenager in the head.

There was an insanity in Walker's eyes, one none of his men had. Some were afraid, others were ignorantly enjoying what they were doing. But for John Walker, the agent of the Ultimates it was different. He genuinely believed he was doing the right thing, and the insane patriotic belief that his country was in the right echoed within his mind. A portal opened in the wall and Cade emerged, standing between one soldier and his prisoner. He walked towards the soldier, a young man with very little blood on his hands. But still the soldier raised his rifle to defend himself. Cade rushed forward, sliding his swords through the man's shoulders and pinning him to the wall.

"Oh god, please don't kill me," the soldier looked at Cade in horror.

That horror extended to the rest of his body, Cade smelt the odour of urine. He yanked the blades out of the man's shoulders, leaving him to crumble to the floor crying.

"I wouldn't kill you or the other agents here boy, you're all just following orders," Cade walked away from the soldier, leaving him to believe he was safe.

A look of pure terror however crossed the soldier's face as the prisoner he would have executed picked up his gun.

"Only the wronged can decide your fates," Cade said as he slashed the locks on the doors, or drew power from the barriers.

He freed one prisoner after another, in time whole blocks of the prison were free and rampaging through the complex. The number of prisoners outnumbered the number of guards. Cade led the prisoners of block seventy towards the cells holding the mutant prisoners. Only a twenty foot high barricade kept the rioters out. From the top of the barricade, guards fired their rifles at the crowds. The line behind Cade fell, cut apart from the volley. Cade himself however rushed forward, the bullets bouncing off of his armour. He ran up the barricade and kicked two of the riflemen back. Bullets ricocheted off of his armour as he proceeded to beat the other guards, throwing fists and twisting his enemy's limbs. He kicked one guard into the wall, hearing the man's spine break. Then he walked towards the control console and opened the barricade, allowing the prisoners to rush into the block. He stood by as some picked up weapons and executed the guards, or beat them for the pleasure of it. In Cade's eyes they had earned the right to punish those responsible for their troubles.

"Take justice back into your own hands, TAKE BACK YOUR LIVES!" Cade roared as his followers rushed into battle.

He did not start life as a violent man. True life had pushed him into a violent upbringing, his father was an alcoholic, a down on his luck boxer. His mother had taken custody of him in the divorce and had proceeded to 'fall in love' with numerous men, all of whom ended up abusing Cade in some way. In the end he was put into a foster family. There he met Laura, they grew up hating one another at first. In Cade's eyes Laura had been lucky, social services had spotted what was wrong with her family early and managed to take her to a better place. Cade was just the charity case, the people who took him in were nice enough, he just didn't like handouts. They were a couple whom couldn't have children of their own, devout Christians as well. But they developed an odd friendship with the couple whom lived next to them. The man Slade Reilly was an agnostic whilst his wife was an atheist. It was during a dinner meeting with them when Cade met their son, Sven Reilly.

"Hey, want to help me climb this tree?"

"Why?" Cade asked the boy.

"Cause I can get a better view of the street silly," Sven smiled.

Sven was the opposite of Cade in many ways. He had lived a childhood free of drama and hardship. His parents never abused him or spoiled him, his childhood had been normal. Sven grew up never wanting more than the simple things. Sure he got in trouble with people who didn't appreciate his laid back attitude but he never held grudges. Cade spent time with Sven, always feeling as if he was living in the boy's shadow. That grew worse as they got older. During the period of the Wakandan war, both Cade and Sven signed up to fight. Sven proved to be a descent shot with a fire arm, Cade however proved himself the better hand to hand fighter. They became rivals of sort, racing one another at boot camp. Ultimately however Sven proved to be of better worth to the army for his intellect and not his skills. A gifted investigator, Sven became part of the army's efforts to investigate potential weapons of mass destruction in Wakanda.

The Wakandan war started when the leading Black panther at the time T'Chaka had been faced with a revolt, a revolt that had been born from a rivalry between two tribes hundreds of years before Wakanda had become a recognised nation. There had existed two tribes, one whom worshipped a Panther god, and another whom worshipped the lion. The panther tribe however grew to be more powerful as time went by, eventually forming the Wakandan nation. The descendents of the lion tribe however continued to despise the panthers. When T'Chaka began talks with American representatives to share their advanced technology, the lion tribe called out to the people, saying that their king was trying to abandon traditions and Americanise their nation. Things were only made worse when a Dutch mercenary called Ulysses Klaw began to fund the lion tribe. US forces went into Wakanda with the intent of quelling the chaos caused by the traditions both tribes held onto. Despite Wakanda being a more advanced nation than others in Africa, their weapons were no more advanced than any other super power. Cade was assigned as a guard for Sven's investigation team. It was when they passed through a town in Kenya that both young men got an idea of just how far the conflict had gone.

"Come on Sven the transports getting ready to take off," Cade said.

He carried his rifle religiously. Sven on the other hand wasn't even wearing a kevlar vest. He had been playing football with the local youths and asking their parents about the situation in Wakanda.

"Give me a minute Cade," Sven laughed, feigning a injury from a boy's slide tackle.

He got off the floor and kicked the ball far enough for the children to run. The young man then walked over to a couple standing with their daughter.

"Thank you for the water Mr Reilly," the man said.

"Thank you for the pictures Mr Munroe, and please call me Sven," Sven smiled, accepting the man's gift of photos of the landscape.

"Only if you call me David my friend," the man smiled as he shook Sven's hand.

"Be careful in Wakanda Sven, they are very stooped in tradition over there, they will not accept a democratic government so easily, it is why I left," N'Dare grew up in Wakanda, but left when she fell in love with David.

"Thank you for everything you've told me about Wakanda N'Dare, I'll do everything in my power to make sure peace is restored to your home," Sven explained.

"Please do not be so eager to play hero child, you are barely older than Ororo," N'Dare smiled as she played with the strands of her daughter's hair, the white haired girl fidgeted under her mother's grip.

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't be as responsible as an adult," Sven said.

"Then stay safe child," N'Dare said.

Sven smiled and nodded to the family before he began walking away. It was at that moment Ororo looked up at the sky, she had always been drawn to the clouds and at night the stars. This occasion however her attention had been drawn to something else.

"Momma look," she said, pointing to the sky.

Sven looked up as well, his curiosity would save his life. He immediately knew what the object in the sky was, falling towards town.

"GET BACK!" he yelled.

The mortar shell struck the ground, but unlike traditional explosives it didn't create a ball of fire. It generated a shockwave that altered the tectonic plates, causing the ground to rumble and crack. Sven felt himself fall and quickly drew his knife, stabbing it into the rock behind him. The Earthquake had created a cliff face, Sven stepped off of the wall and jumped, avoiding a hail of debris.

"SVEN ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!" Cade yelled into the hole.

He ignored his friend's concern and looked towards where the family had been. He calculated just how big the crevice was and determined to his horror that the family had fallen.

"HELP!"

Sven eyes grew wide in horror as he looked down towards the bottom of the abyss. The debris had gathered into a pile, and wriggling out of that pile was the hand of a little girl.

"ORORO!" Sven yelled.

"HELP PLEASE HELP!" the girl screamed.

"Oh my god she's trapped, I'M COMING ORORO!"

"SVEN!" Cade yelled into the crevice.

"PLEASE HELP ME! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Ororo screamed as the clouds turned black.

Cade looked up, disturbed by the sudden shift in the weather.

"SVEN GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" he yelled.

A bolt of lightning suddenly slammed into the crevice, and a torrent of wind knocked Cade back. He looked up just in time to see Sven slam into the ground, the top of his head cut open in what would probably become a scar one day, the same for the burn mark on his arm.

"ORORO!" Sven yelled, standing up and fighting through his pain.

"They're dead Sven, it's no use they're dead we have to go before more bombs are dropped," Cade said.

"No, we have to go back and help her," Sven said.

"Nothing could survive that."

"SHE WAS ALIVE I SAW HER!"

They argued and argued again and again. Their friendship had begun to break down. At the time Cade believed the storm was caused by some kind of new weapon developed by Wakanda, whom had already vibranium weapons capable of shattering the ground. Sven continued his investigation however with every Wakandan facility they claimed. He found weapons developed after the war began, but nothing to suggest that the Wakandan's had been developing weapons of mass destruction or anything on that level. On their original Earth cooler heads prevailed and the American forces left Wakanda in peace, the economy had been drained because of the war and Cade and Sven's friendship shattered. Their new Earth however offered a horrifying alternative Cade wouldn't have wished on anyone, even when he was ignorant as to what really happened at Wakanda. Steve Rogers authorised a nuclear strike on Wakanda, his logic had been that if they had a nuclear deterrent they would use it, thus revealing they had weapons against America, if they didn't stop the nuke then America would be protected from a potential rival. Wakanda had been reduced to mere rubble, no faction claimed it that day.

"I think you should call Sven!"

He was home again, in bed with the woman he loved. Cade didn't smile anymore, but he did back then. Being in Laura's company always gave him something to smile about.

"We've said too much to each other," he said.

"It would have been nice to have had a best man at our wedding, not just some general talking about your achievements," Laura said.

"General Ross wasn't the only person there, we had the world's greatest super hero, Mr Fantastic," Cade smiled as he kissed Laura's forehead.

"I'm sure Mr Grimm is a good man, I'm sure the General is in his own way, but there was only one good man that mattered to both of us Cade. He was your best friend, your brother and he needs us as much as we need him," Laura explained.

Cade caressed the woman's cheek before pulling her lips to his.

"People often say when they're married that they are the luckiest people alive, I don't think they have any idea. Most of the time they've married just some housewife or working girl, someone who they're comfortable with, but me, I found someone who brings out the best in me who gives me peace and hope...I am the luckiest man in the world Laura Hunter," he explained, kissing the woman he loved again.

"Oh Cade, I love it when you get romantic, call me Mrs Hunter again," she said.

"Are you happy Mrs Hunter?" Cade asked.

"Happier then I'll ever be in all my life," Laura closed her eyes and kissed Cade again.

They held the kiss longer this time, both fully enjoying their new lives and one another. Looking back on those memories Cade realised that in that moment, a moment where he was actually able to marry Laura gave him more happiness than anything in his old life.

"Happier than any life," she said as he kissed her neck.

He had found paradise for but a small moment. In a way his life had been better than Sven's because he had less hardship in this world than he had in the other, and above all he had gotten to marry the woman he loved. Sven didn't even get that far. But as seemed typical to Cade, his happiness didn't last.

Cade knew that he would only be happy when justice was restored to this universe, before he remade it completely. He watched the imprison citizens rise from their hells and give the guards a taste of what they had endured. The war would be bloody, all wars are, but the belief that the world that would be created by the conflict drove Cade. He swung his scythe, creating a portal that led him to the armoury. Charlie-27 had two crates of weapons resting on his shoulders, Dracula was examining the multitude of high-tech blades and Gambit was admiring his metallic staff, something that had been confiscated and stored within the facility. Likewise Gamora claimed her lover's helmet and element gun as well as his red trench coat. Mary emerged from behind one of the crates, zipping up a black and red suit. She then put on a black helmet with a red visor shaped like an X.

"You've gathered us because you want to restore the world," she said.

"You remember what happened to the world?" Cade asked.

"I remember that there are some people who probably don't want to go back to being who they were, like you and I there are people whose lives were hell before this all happened, but...the number of people whose lives were better before outweigh those whose lives are better now," Mary explained as a pair of metallic blades slid out of her suit's wrists. "It's our duty to restore the world!"

"Peter will be alive?" Gamora asked, putting on her lover's mask.

"Yes, though I can't say what your relationship will be with him,"

"It doesn't matter, so long as he's alive, Peter Quill is a good man."

"What are you talking about?" Gambit asked.

"Something beyond your understanding thief, whatever you were before, you are now my soldiers. Once we have slaughtered Rogers's 'yes men' we will then go to Project Aeon and finish this once and for all," Deathblade explained.

"Where and what is Project Aeon?" Drax asked.

"It is the answer to everything, as for where it is, it's where my rivalry began...Wakanda!"

Next Chapter 5: Rush

Characters and looks:

Mary: You know who she is, in this altered world she is a kind hearted woman, but a woman willing to fight to restore the world. She wears the armour her 616 counterpart wore when she went by the name Mutant Zero.

Gamora: Far different from her 616 counterpart and the Ultimate counterpart I will one day introduce, Gamora in this world met and fell in love with Peter Quill and took some of his belongings when he was killed. She wears his helmet, wields his element gun and is set on getting revenge.

Drax the Destroyer: His origin is alien like his film counterpart, but he appears in the form and with the power level he had in his first appearance in the 616 comics.

Gambit: Classic look, perhaps he has a different attitude, perhaps he's more cowardly or perhaps he's more of a hero than any version of him. Only time will tell if this Gambit is every bit the villain people expect him to be, or the hero his 616 counterpart is.

Electro: His suit is based on what he wore in the Amazing Spider-man films.

Black Widow: Disfigured like her Age of Ultron counterpart, wears a suit and mask like Madame Masque, also somewhat like a version seen in the Avengers Assemble cartoon

John Walker: A look that's similar to his first appearance in the Ultimate comics, whilst his opinion on the mutant situation was ambiguous, here its confirmed that he despises mutants.

Next time Sven and Ben make a break for the Daily Bugle building, aided by some street level heroes.