The Negative Zone
Michael felt himself falling and felt like he was passing through eternity. Slamming into a solid surface he looked around him at the darkness that surrounded him. The only light seemed to come from himself. Glancing down at his arms, he grew brighter momentarily as what had been cleaved off during the battle regrew. He felt around for an energy source to draw from to regain his strength and panicked when he didn't feel energy emanating from anything around him. If he hadn't been so focused on the fact that he had nothing to replenish his life force with, he would have noticed the glow appearing in front of him. As it was, he didn't notice it until the brightness eclipsed his own. He looked up and he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. His initial thought was that it was how he had wanted others to see him. As a omnipotent being, but the glow kept increasing until fear set in. He remembered the stories his mother would tell him as a child of the guardians from sky's that would carry out their gods commands. He felt very small in the presence of this being. As the being hovered in front of him, Michael couldn't help but to stare into the light. It was mesmerizing.
"My child, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I have been alone for so long." The being reached its hand down to Michael and pulled him to his feet. "I can teach you to use the energy around you to your advantage, and together we can break free from this prison."
Michael could feel the energy emanating from the being. It was different than what he was used to, almost stronger. "How long have you been here?"
The being chuckled. "An eternity. When I was placed here, giants were still walking the universe." He reached up and caressed the gem than hung around his neck. "Using the companions to this, they banished me here." He looked down at his new protege. "Banished but not killed. It took me a millennia for learn to use this new energy. You can benefit from my knowledge and together we shall escape our bonds. Once free you shall herald my reign over this universe."
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Knowhere
The Collector looked up as the doors to his private quarters opened. He wasn't overly surprised, he did have the ability to see what was going on in the universe. He was well aware of what happened on Earth. "Is this the disguise you chose for your time on Earth?"
Carina shrugged. "It suited its purpose and helped me blend in. Plus, he seemed to like it." She twisted the ring on her finger subconsciously and the facade dropped, her pink skin revealing itself. "What did I miss here?"
The Collector leaned back in his chair, patting the head of the dog he had rescued so long ago. "Your uncle has acquired an Infinity Stone. They are almost all accounted for. I may have a lead on the Soul Stone."
Carina sat down in the chair opposite her father. "Does that means we have a quest? Gathering the stones could be fun."
The Collector nodded. "I would like to finish the collection we started. Do you know where they ended up?"
"On Earth. All eight of them."
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A/N: Skreeeetch...ok...I really haven't had a whole lot of deaths in these stories. I like to think of this AU as the happier, friendlier AU. But...Chadwick Boseman...
Following is an epilogue snippet...if you like living in the happier, friendlier AU where none of the good guys die...stop here or skip down to the next note.
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The King is Dead, Long Live the King
"Ok. I think he's finally down." Pepper lowered herself gracefully into one of the chairs in the living room. "He definitely knows when you're about to leave the room." At three months old, baby Ben was proving to be a challenging sleeper. She smirked at the two exhausted parents laying on the sofa. Peter thought his ability to function on less sleep would make parenting a breeze. Pepper was somewhat enjoying the fact that he had finally admitted that he was so very, very wrong. "Where's your dad?"
MJ pushed herself into a sitting position from where she was laying in Peter's lap. "Morgan got up and asked for water and then he got a phone call so he went into his office so there was no chance he would wake Ben up." No one wanted to admit it but they were all certain Ben had Peter's hearing. So far none of the other "skills" had appeared but she wasn't ruling them out. She felt Peter tense behind her.
"Dad...?" Peter straightened up. He could tell from the look on his dad's face that something was wrong.
"That was M'Baku." Tony took a deep breath and looked at Peter. "TChalla's plane went down over the ocean. They think it might have been some kind of mechanical failure...".
Peter lurched to his feet. "Do they need help with search and rescue? We could get there in a couple hours."
Tony shook his head. "The plane broke apart. They've been recovering pieces over the last 12 hours." Tony's voice broke slightly. "They haven't recovered a body but..."
"No!" Peter tried to push past his dad. They had to go...now. He felt MJ reach up and grab his hand. He looked at his dad, his eyes pleading for there to be another outcome, another answer.
Tony put his hands on Peter's shoulders. "M'Baku called because they're releasing it in the morning. He didn't want us to hear it on the news." He looked sympathetically at Peter. He knew Peter considered T'Challa to be a good friend. Peter was no stranger to loss but he would give anything to spare his son from this. Unfortunately he wasn't done with the bad news. "Nakia is missing. They think she may have been on the plane with him."
A sob escaped MJ as she reached for her phone. Quickly finding Nakia's name she dialed. After a moment the call went to voice mail. She looked up at Peter, tears brimming her eyes.
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Peter slid his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as the door slid closed behind him and he waited for the elevator that would take him to Shuri's lab. They had been in Wakanda for almost a week. He hadn't fully appreciated T'Challa's roll as King of Wakanda. He hadn't expected the closed casket to lie in state for several days while presidents and kings paid their respect. He hadn't expected the relatively enjoyable time reminiscing with friends. He hadn't expected the feeling of helplessness. He hadn't expected the remorse at not spending more time with someone he truly had considered to be a friend. He hadn't expected Shuri to react the way she had but in retrospect he wasn't sure what he should have expected.
The door opened into Shuri's lab. Not everyone could actually get in here. He was slightly surprised his access still existed and that Shuri hadn't locked everyone out. He paused briefly when he saw her hunched over her lab table. "Shuri..."
"No!" She didn't even look up from what she was doing. She had known Peter had been on his way up. She had briefly contemplated locking him out but had hesitated long enough where she knew she didn't have time to put the codes in without putting the entire capital city in lockdown. Part of her wanted to see him. She considered Peter a friend. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to trust him.
"Shuri, I just want to make sure you're ok." Peter studied her. Her muscles were tense as if she were about to pounce. "Why don't you come back to New York with us. Just visit for a couple days. A change of scenery."
"Peter, I don't need a change of scenery and I don't need you to rescue me." She finally looked up and almost broke again. "I have things to do."
Peter frowned. Shuri had nothing she 'had' to do. She had turned down the throne, although turned down might be an understatement. M'Baku was acting ruler until the people of Wakanda could reach a decision. Without heart-shaped herb, they had found that their traditional methods of choosing a ruler had to be altered. But, he knew that's not where her head was. The first night they were here, Shuri had what could only be described as a monumental breakdown. She had vacillated between believing T'Challa was alive to believing that T'Challa had been killed. Okoye had finally been able to sedate her. Since then, Shuri had barely said two words to anyone. "You know I will always help you no matter what you need, right."
Shuri forced her eyes back down and blinked back tears. "Peter, I know. And I will call you when I need help." She steeled herself and looked back up. "I promise."
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A/N: I can't imagine seeing another actor play T'Challa. Chadwick Boseman embodied the Black Panther and King T'Challa. Rumor has it they're not recasting him. I hope that's what they end up doing. In the comics, Shuri assumes the Black Panther mantle and that's what's been rumored to be happening even before Chadwick Boseman's death. I hope T'Challa dies off screen and not on screen through some CGI/adapted unused footage (a la Carrie Fisher). I went back and forth when I was thinking about writing this snippet whether T'Challa dies in action or just by some fluke accident. I settled in the middle. The plane could have gone down because of some weird fluke...or maybe Namor caused it.
Speaking of...I may be done for the foreseeable future. I've set up a couple future stories if I decide to pick this AU back up. Some may have been obvious but not all of them. Just for fun...here's what's set up.
Galactus - he's such a well known villain but freaking impossible to imagine outside of a comic book. It seems like every time it's been tried it turns out to be horrible (Fantastic Four movie). Then I read a tidbit about Galactus...species see him differently...and it got me thinking. Anyone remember the Vorlon from Babylon 5 (yeah, I know, dating myself). When they revealed their form, everyone saw something different..something from their religious mythos. Some saw angels, some saw demons, some saw nothing. It was a fascinating insight into the individual characters. J. Michael Straczynski created Babylon 5. He also spent a stint writing a Spider-Man series for Marvel comics. Galactus all of the sudden makes more sense to me. So maybe...
The Collector - Carina is alive. Was she in love with Michael or was she working for her father the whole time? The Collector still has a ring. And still wants a full set. He'd sell out his brother for one ring, what would he do for the full set?
Namor - he may or may not have been teased in EndGame. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't show up at some point in the MCU. The sometime hero / sometime villain may or may not have caused T'Challa's plane to crash.
Kang - I love Kang the Conqueror. A time traveler forever chasing the change that will restore his timeline and bring his lover Ravonna back to life. I think I may have cut it in the final draft but one of the planets Michael destroyed was Carelius..which happens to be Ravonna's homeworld. Kang takes a weird turn somewhere in the comics and at some point I think he's actually Reed's son and at another time Iron Lad. I hate both of those storylines. Before EndGame, Kang was actually one of my scenarios for wrapping up Infinity War...him trying to fix Thanos's snap. I never really fleshed it out but the idea was there in my head. Rumor has it he's been cast for an MCU movie so we'll see where that goes.
Shuri as Black Panther - she's not handling things well. Plus, she thinks it wasn't an accident. With the herb gone in the MCU, Black Panther can only now exist via technology...which is all Shuri.
Kate Bishop - did anyone know Kate Bishop once dated Miles? The Kate that MJ asks Miles about is Kate Bishop.
Professor Hulk - Mantis has gotten Bruce thinking. After all this time he's starting to understand the Hulk.
None of these are well fleshed out in my head so it's not like there's a story brewing. But never say never. If I end up writing more maybe I can do more with some characters I could never quite figure out how to use...
She Hulk - I just cannot figure out how Jen becomes She-Hulk. It's got to be some kind of accident, I just haven't been able to make it work inside any of these stories so far. She is in an on again/off again relationship with Wyatt.
Amanda - I really liked Amanda's character. I mentioned her briefly in one of the last chapters and at one point in sketching out the Ten Rings arc I had her with Johnny taking on the Fire Ring. I ended up going a different direction and couldn't work her back in. She and Johnny are also in an on again/off again relationship although theirs is more along the lines of a fire that burns really hot, really fast, then dies out only to ignite again later.
Johnny and Peter's friendship...at some point in this last section it dawned on me that Johnny and Peter are similar to Steve and Tony's friendship. There's an idea floating around in my head somewhere of their friendship imploding just like Tony and Steve's did. Not sure what that means...I think the idea started with Peter fighting on an airport tarmac again...
Here's another left field idea...back in the original story, Ned was there but I could never quite get him in the main story. After what happened in California, he never really recovers fully and ends up becoming the Hobgoblin - which he kind of was in the comics. Ned as a villain has potential...