● 5 Months Ago.
A glowing blue creature, in the shape of a man, floated over Midgard, over the planets moons. The entity, with a muscular form depicting the idealized man straight out of greek mythology... was just as naked as those statues. He long since abandoned the concept of 'Shame'. He simply floated in the void, watching the worlds he created from a distance.
His shining eyes staring at Midgard... his favorite of his creations. Don't get him wrong. He loved his moons to, and he knew he shouldn't play favorites... but he couldn't help loving Midgardians the most... his real children, ones he crafted himself. It was terrible that he loved them more then the life he adopted... but he did.
"When I was young." He spoke to another entity, which approached him. "I ascended into a Celestial, a lower god, though I prefer the Christian terminology of calling entities like myself 'Angels'... though that just might be a sentimentality from when I was mortal...
"Soon after my Ascension, a few decades, nothing major... there was a war. Not a war mortals could comprehend. A war across every moment of time. Before the universe, as we know it, was even born."
"The Time War..." Thor acknowledged as he floated behind The true god. The being might be a lower god, but he was a living entity of conciousness alone. He percieved the universe in ways Thor never could understand... Thor was only a half god, though he had a greater kick then most with an Asgardian mother... but compared to a true celestial like Doctor Manhattan...
The 'Angel' as he appeared to prefer, turned his head towards Thor. His face blank, void of all emotion, as he spoke of such horrific things. As if they didn't effect him one way or another.
"It made me miss the days when I feared nukes would wipe out my home planet. This was a war between gods and god killers. I was drafted, by your father no less. He all but demanded my help in fighting off the Daleks, the Machine gods of Reapers, even the other energy beings like myself... and I did... to my eternal regret." He didn't look like he regretted it. He still looked indifferent, despite the occasional pause. "Without me there to protect it, my Homeworld was destroyed.
"It wasn't the only planet to be wiped out of existence... but their were survivors. Mortals that were lost in Space, abnormalities in time... billions of them. The Doctor, a mortal Time Lord that had helped end the war, collected these races and deposited them on what he called 'Refugee Worlds'. Choosing mega star clusters, like this one, to give them all a place to live...
"I volunteered the use of my moons. Even altered reality to give each race an Origin story I was comfortable with... Planet DC52 (don't think it ever had a real name) was a bitch to integrate. So many humanoid races... so much potential for violence that could have destroyed my precious Midgard... but I gave them a chance... and look what they've accomplished."
The god gestured at the worlds, "They live in peace, prosperity, coming together to protect each other... but it won't last... So many possible futures, most of them ending in disaster... all because of random individuals that seek to destroy it. Not armies or governments... just the occasional power mad entity, with already too much power..."
"That is why I have come," Thor informed. "I was hoping you could-"
"I know why you're here." Manhattan interrupted, "But I refuse to give you what you want. I won't tell you where he is."
Thor groaned, "I realize true gods are forbidden from interfering in mortal affairs, but surely this falls within your jurisdiction. Loki is not even of this dimension! By Odin, The very reason gods even have demigod children is because we are not bound by the same rules."
"Exactly," Doctor Manhattan said, impassively. "Your very nature allows you to change fate... and I like what Loki intends to do once he's in power. He will save my children from the nightmares that await them. So much pain awaits them. Nightmares that have already happened, and will always happen... he can change the destiny of my world."
"By enslaving it!" Thor glared.
Manhattan finally got an expression on his face... one of... disappointment. "You really don't understand your brother, do you?"
Thor flinched.
Doctor Manhattan looked back at his world, down at Loki struggling to adjust with a child's body. "Loki opens up new possibilities for Midgard. If he succeeds in conquering my world. He will rule it fairly and justly, he will create a golden age which last for 10s of thousands of years."
Thor paused, "Is that why you have never interfered when he has tried to conquer your world before?"
"I see paradise, instead of horror. It's not without flaw, no government is, but it will be a beacon of civilization... an empire that will eventually span the whole of the galaxy. Bringing with it peace and prosperity for all... isn't the loss of Asgard worth that?"
Thor froze, "To what do you speak?"
Doctor Manhattan sighed. He had difficulty talking with Demigods and Hanyou. They clouded his vision of the future. There were just so many possibilities it was easier to see what they might do from a distance, then when beside them.
"After all of the crimes committed against Loki's children... do you think they would allow Asgard to stand?" Manhattan's social skills had become severely lacking, without his future sight. "Isn't the loss of one dimension worth the utopia Loki would build?" it was a real question.
"NO!" Thor raged, "The loss of a single life would not be worth it! Let alone an entire dimension. My Dimension! My Father's dimension! My family and friends! You speak of a utopia but what would the cost be to build it. How many would die in the war machine Loki would produce!"
Mahattan looked down at the boy, Loki, again. Though Thor could not see him from so great a distance. "I have watched over this planet since the beginning of time. I still take pride in the day when I first crafted my Midgardians as single celled organisms. In that time, there have been plenty of wars. Some as small as tribes fighting other tribes. Others being between all the moons and the planet itself. Loki's war will be long. It will be bloody... but in the end, it will truly end all wars... The entire Galaxy will know nothing but peace, for thousands of years. However, if you don't allow this... then Midgard will fall."
Thor tensed even more.
So Doctor Manhattan continued, "That is your choice, self proclaimed 'god of thunder'... allow Loki to save Midgard, or stop him and save Asgard. Either way... billions will die. You have to choose which."
Thor shook his head, then gritted his teeth, "You aren't the first Oracle to give me such an ultimatum! I have defied destiny before and saved EVERYONE. I will do it again."
Manhattan looked away from Loki, and back at Thor... then back at Loki, hidden on the planet. "I hope so... But I prefer the version where Loki wins."
###
● Now.
"What do you mean 'Our choices don't matter'!?" Trickster glared at the demi giant.
He normally enjoyed his discussions on Science vs magical theory... but THIS!
"Of course they matter." Loki fished for his chemistry books... his locker really was a mess. Yet he needed everything in here for school. "But you already MADE your choices."
"How does that make sense!" Trickster demanded, "Is this like some Matrix shit. Where I made my choice before being presented with the problem."
Loki snorted, "Of course not. Last I checked, you weren't a seer."
"Then WHAT!?" the idea that he couldn't control his Destiny was really pissing him off.
"Look. There is the future, that is always changing and never concrete. All your possible choices are laid out in an infinite number of possible timelines. Then you have the past. That is everything that already happened, every choice you ever made, permanently ingraved in stone in a singular timeline. Lastly, we have the present, where choices are made.
"We, at this moment, exist in an echo of that. In the past. Everything that happens here, has always happened here... normally. When Time Travelers go this far back. They can't actually change anything. Here they are already part of events, through a paradox. Or, they create an alternate Reality, where time progresses in a totally new dimension.
"However, if it makes you feel better, know that I muddy things."
"Eh?"
"I'm a being from another dimension. As a result, I'm not naturally a part of THIS dimension. Which means that just by me being here. I alter Destiny. We might still be in the past, but it's capable of changing due to me simply existing in a given area."
Trickster eyed him, "Think pretty highly of yourself there, don't ya."
Loki sighed, "It's not ego. Any and all interdimensional beings cause the same effect. Hell, Captain Cold could alter reality in any dimension he enters, simply because he is part Elemental."
In all rationality, Captain Cold should never have been born. His grandparents never should have interacted, let alone fallen in love. They were from seperate dimensions, and gave birth to a child of pure chaos as a result... which might be why Loki liked Cold so much. Even in comparison to other Ice Maidens, full blooded and proper ice Maidens. The man shouldn't exist, he reeked of chaos... but true chaos, not malicious for the sake of it, but merely wanted to do whatever the hell he wanted. Not for good or ill, but simply wishing to live free with the people he cared about... he was... amazing...
Loki shook his head and looked back at James. "Even you could change the Destiny of my home dimension, if you went there. Simply because you aren't native to it."
"So I only have free will so long as I'm around you..." Trickster looked thoughtful, hand to chin.
Loki sighed, again, "You DO have free will, it's just you already made your choice. Everything you do here, you have already done... except where I am involved."
Trickster suddenly hugged him, "Glomp." said the 'older' boy.
"Honestly!" Loki snapped, trying to force the teen off him.
"Never leave my side!" Trickster over dramaticly wailed. "Oh defier of Destiny!"
"Boys!" A teacher spotted them, "Stop roughhousing and get to class!"
###
● 4 Months Ago.
The Avengers eyed Doctor Strange as he attempted to trace Loki's magical signature. Thor had provided a toy Loki use to carry around with him as a child... But Strange couldn't get any readings from it.
This was beginning to truly irritate the good Doctor. He was the most skilled magic user on this planet. In fact, from the way Thor spoke of him, Strange might very well be within the top 10 magical mortals, within the entire multiverse... but he couldn't get a lock on Loki.
"So he IS dead." Iron Man grunted, not looking impressed by the greatest Sorcerer Supreme their planet ever produced.
Doctor Strange glared at him, as he ran his hand over the globe. "If he was dead, I wouldn't get a reaction at all. No, he is alive, and somewhere on our planet... but I can't pinpoint it. Though I can confirm he isn't on any of the moons."
"Wonderful!" Iron Man raised his hands above his head, as he let out the childish exclamation. "You've limited our search to the entire planet!"
Strange scowled, "You're the one who asked for MY help."
Thor sighed, "This was, as Stark calls it, 'a long shot'. Loki is a god of the Magical Arts. Shielding his signature, to the point he cannot be detected, is child's play for him..." Thor got a sad smile on his face. "As a Child, he used to hide us from Father himself, simply in order to steal sweets from the kitchens."
Iron Man scowled, while a nearby Captain America looked more sympathetic. "I realize you and your brother have been feuding for near 300 years... but you have millenniums of happy memories with each other... you don't have to be with us when we confront him."
"My brother's madness makes him a danger to all the nine realms." Thor shook his head, "I need to get him back to Asgard. Where we can keep him contained and treat his affliction of the mind..."
Stark couldn't keep it to himself, "You know most crazy people are more dangers to themselves then others. Don't go blaming the deaths of thousands on a chemical imbalance."
Thor eyed him, "I do not intend to shift blame. My brother is clearly aware enough to make complicated plans within plans... but tell me something Stark. What would you do if you were told you were destined to give birth to your 'Antichrist'?"
Stark sneered, but Thor didn't let him get away with it.
"There was a prophecy, when we were but children, that Loki's spawn would destroy all of Asgard. That they would kill... everyone... Father has been doing his best to prevent the prophecy, while still showing mercy... but the cost was too high for my brother... Monsters or not, demons by their very nature... Loki still loves his children... and as any parent would. He is willing to burn all the realms to protect them. That is his madness."
###
● Now.
Barry was sitting in his office, going over his files. He was expected to keep detailed notes on his patients. Though those files would never, legally, be seen by anyone outside his department.
Barry's civilian job was as a local reformation officer. Basically it was his job to act as the therapist of criminals, who had done their time. He was supposed to help them find jobs and do his best to help them integrate back into society. He specialized in metahumans, and actually had a high success rate.
The Rogues weren't the only metahumans that caused trouble. Quite a few mutants would turn to petty thieving or vandalism. Barry would work with them, and help them achieve their dreams. For his worse cases, he had to help them find dreams.
The Twin Cities was actually one of the few island nations that offered this. Some of the more enlightened islands offered something similar, but most would just throw their criminals out of jail once their sentence was up... and then they would just fall back into a life of crime or drug abuse. Usually not for any malicious reasons, but simply because they had no other options.
Central realized the only way to truly combat crime, was by giving criminals the option for a better life. Not all of them took it, like the Rogues, but most did... and Barry felt, since Conner got involved, their was a good chance the Junior Rogues would grow up to be respectable young adults... of course, he doubted they would care much about stopping robberies. Though, they were having a lot of fun stopping super villains and mob bosses.
They didn't really have organized crime in Central, mostly BECAUSE of their Reformers system making it hard for such evil individuals to keep their grunts interested in a life of crime. 15 years after they implemented Barry's department, all the Mobs lost their power... not that it was really Barry's department. He was just one of many grunts working in these offices.
Although the fact he apprenticed under the previous head, did make it so people were more likely to trust him with complicated cases... like meta humans. He even had a PHD in meta psychology, before he started his apprenticeship here...
Not many knew it, but the previous head only took him on because Barry was endorsed by the first Flash...
Before Barry knew his life's calling, he was apprenticing in a crime lab, back when he was 19 and still in college... there was an accident... he woke up in the hospital... and the entire world was frozen.
There was no ice or anything, but people weren't moving. Many were trapped mid-step. Birds were suspended in the air... needless to say... he freaked out. He spent the first month screaming, not knowing what was going on... then he spent the second month laughing, slowly losing his mind. All the while the world remained frozen... he lost count of how many years passed, though he didn't appear to be aging... and the sun never moved... He begun to wonder if he was in hell, that maybe he died and this was some kind of Divine punishment for all the pranks he pulled as a child. He hadn't done anything bad enough for eternal torture. But maybe this was it...
That's when he was found by Jay Garrick, the first Flash, from back in the Golden Age of Heroes. The old man explained the world hadn't frozen, that Barry was just moving very VERY fast... and he taught Barry how to slow down. He taught him "On" and "Off"... got him back under control to the point he could return to school... and it wasn't long before Barry was fighting crime... and saw what it meant to be a real hero... so he changed his major from Chemistry to Metahuman Psychology.
Once he got his degree, Garrick introduced Barry to the head of the Reformers... and Barry began his new life.
Barry was only a few years out of his apprenticeship now, so still a grunt... but a respected grunt. He even got his own office, due to his success rate.
Barry blinked, hearing a familiar ringing in his ear. He recognize the ringtone as being someone of high priority. Pressing his small earring, he answered, "Go ahead Mayor."
"Flash!" The man sounded his usual panicked. "The Defense department is picking up an unauthorized jet descending over the city! Satellite images indicate it's the bloody AVENGERS!"
Barry blinked, "What are they doing here?"
"That's what I want you to figure out." The Mayor insisted, "Learn why they are here, assure them you can handle it yourself, and then send them on their way. We don't need the type of collateral damage those maniacs inflict on the cities they 'save'."
Barry sighed, the Avengers had gotten a bad reputation since Ultron. Though Flash genuinely felt they were doing some good... they were also careless, and left plenty of room open for mistakes. It probably be better for everyone if he just took on whatever their mission was, himself... he also wasn't a fan of their habit of killing those they chased down.
"I'll meet them when they land," Barry promised.
###
● 1 Month Ago.
"A Gamma Signature?" Iron Man eyed Bruce Banner. As his fellow scientists frantically ran around the room.
"Loki was killed by the Hulk." Bruce explained. "And the Hulk leaves a trace everywhere he goes. It's how the good general was able to trace my location. By testing other Villains the Hulk has fought, I found he leaves a trace of Gamma on them. It normally dissipates after a few days. However, with energy constructs, like Loki and Thor, it leaves a type of scar tissue... one I can TRACE! I need access to SHIELD satellites, but I can do it... It will take a while to go through the red tape, nothing is easy with Shield, but I can scan the world for this unique scar tissue. Then it is just a matter of scratching people off the list. We would probably be able to track down a lot of Hulk's other villains this way."
###
● The Present.
Thor couldn't take it anymore. He had to see what Doctor Manhattan was talking about... So he went to the moment his father had forbidden him from entering... the present day of Midgard. The land where choices were made and destinies decided... and he knew why Odin had forbidden him from coming here.
The sky was red and burning, the skeletons of his mortal friends lay about the ruins of the planet. The very trees were dead, not even the grass survived... everything... was dead... the oceans themselves had boiled over, and the moons were blasted into asteroids, raining like fire balls across the sky.
Then Thor saw the truest nightmare... his own corpse... hugging a small child... dressed in green...
"You shouldn't have come here." Thor looked to the side to spot Doctor Manhattan. "Not even a god can change their own Destiny, once they are aware of it."
"I will not allow this to come to pass." Thor crouched down, to examine the child.
"It's inevitable now." Doctor Manhattan sighed, "You have seen your own future... There is no stopping this now."
"I have changed Destiny before..." Thor insisted.
"You think you're special in that?" Manhattan visibly scoffed. "Any interdimensional being can change the present of another reality. You don't need to be some great Demigod Warrior. There are laws of physics, even you are bound by... and no being, be they mortal or god or a combination of the two, can alter their own future. Not if it's read, and certainly not if it is seen... you have doomed my world by coming here..."
Thor gently touched the boy's cheek, as he realized, "Loki..."
Doctor Manhattan sighed, "My world is doomed. Perhaps it is time I claimed a dimension of my own. I could start again in a more self contained environment... goodbye Thor, bane of my world."
"Will you not tell me what happened here?" Thor looked over at the lower god.
Doctor Manhattan looked at him a moment. Then shrugged. There was no harm in telling him anything anymore... the world was already doomed... "Thanos is coming, as is Apocalypse, as is Darkseid, as are the Sentinels, but it starts with a war between the heroes, themselves. You will do all in your power to stop these events, but they will happen one after another. Slowly breaking down Midgards defenses... until it is helpless to defend itself from Galactus... all will die... and it is entirely your fault." With nothing more to say at the loss of his beloved world... Doctor Manhattan left Midgard in a flash of blue light.
Thor stood back up, but continued to look down at his own corpse, attempting to protect his foolish little brother... it was almost uplifting to know they would be united again... in death... but Thor refused to allow this horrific world to stand. He would change the course of destiny. He had done it before... he could do it again... he would save... everyone... he had to... and Loki was the key...