Unknown Date | Hell | Trial 2.6 of 3.5 | POV: Xander Morue
Xander Morue appeared in the depths of Hell itself, his feet hitting the ground as he gripped the crystal in his hand. His eyes set on the grand palace in front of him, which appeared to be a mass dungeon. If his knowledge of palaces did him justice, the throne room was either through the front door or just after the entrance room or hall. Xander's suit materialized around his skin, his HUD sliding down before Evelyn's voice came to his ear. "What are we doing now, Xander?"
"We've gotta save a woman known as 'Nada' located beneath Lucifer's throne. I need you to do some recon, and get back to me with an entry point," Xander replied, as he shot a nano-drone out of his forearm. The drone flew in front of him for a moment, before shooting off towards the black castle. Xander tapped his earpiece, taking cover behind a railing. "Talk to me, Ev,"
"Entry point located on the south-west side of the castle. Vent leads from outside directly into the throne room. Using your grapple, you can drop down to right behind the throne. In and out," Evelyn replied. Xander nodded, and slowly crept towards the castle, his eyes settling on the left-hand corner, where he could see a large vent. He approached the castle, flying up to the vent before retching it open. He climbed in and began to slowly crawl through, trying desperately not to make any noise. He approached the gate leading down into the throne room, and slowly slid it off.
Xander slowly attached his grapple to the vents roof, before he attached it to his belt. He removed a burning knife from his tactical belt, before speaking softly. "Evelyn, I need you to recon on the room. Any possible illusions or even if there are guards. I wanna make this easy and save my energy for the later tasks," Xander explained as the nano drone shot down into the room. After a few minutes of waiting, the drone returned, giving him the all-clear. Grinning, Xander repelled down from the vent, the knife in hand as he moved behind Lucifer's throne. He dropped down behind the throne and was met with a tiny cell that contained nothing but a toilet, a small desk, and a small bed. The woman inside wore an Egyptian style get-up, her skin was a dark caramel color, her hair was dark brown, and her eyes appeared light brown. It seemed she was a woman out of time. Xander positioned the knife on the bars, before motioning for her to stay quiet. "I'm here to get you out. Stay quiet as to not alert Lucifer's guards," Nada nodded in understanding, staying quiet as he slowly cut through the bars of the cell. Once the cell was open, Xander placed the knife into his belt, before removing the crystal.
"Grab my hand," He ordered, holding out his left hand while his right held the crystal. Nada grabbed it instantly, producing a smile on his face as he spoke the acronym. "TMTH," The crystal kicked in immediately, sucking them into a whirlwind of blue before they reappeared in Heaven's throne room. Xander shook his head, trying to regain his footing as God clapped his hands in surprise. Peter had left, leaving just the four of them in the room. "You're back!" Jesus exclaimed.
"Yes. It was quite easy actually. In and out in about ten minutes," Xander replied. God smiled, nodding as he removed another small crystal, only this one was green. He accepted the green crystal and waited for something to happen. "It has been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Morue. Hopefully, I will not meet you any time soon," God spoke, before snapping his finger. The crystal glowed up, sucking in his hand before sending him into a spiral through space and time.
Unknown Date | Unknown Location | Trial 2.7 of 3.5 | POV: Xander Morue
Xander reappeared within the middle of what appeared to be a conference room, which held what looked like two dozen golden chairs, all occupied by what appeared to be giants. Only not the Harry Potter giants, but giant human beings wearing odd clothes that he'd never seen before. Xander looked around, utterly confused when the man in the middle spoke. "Xander Morue?" Xander nodded. "Well, you have come at a rather odd time, but that is to be expected. The Underworld has refused to be a part of your trials, meaning you will skip your sixth task. For your fifth task, we have one mission for you,"
"Finish your trials," One woman interrupted, drawing silence as Xander frowned in confusion. Was this woman suggesting he just skip to his seventh task? He wouldn't complain, but at the same time, he was not sure how the Speed Force would react to this news. Xander ran facial scans on all of them and was met with a decent surprise. He was not in some room with giants, he was within Mount Olympus. Zeus had spoken first, and Aphrodite had been the one to interrupt. "He has come here for one reason, Zeus. He is the one, and he must live to see the end of his trials,"
"Oh, silence yourself, Aphrodite. If Zeus wishes to give this mortal a trial, then Zeus will do so," Hera spoke as some nodded in agreement, while others shook their heads in disagreement. "Right, because Zeus is sane enough as it is," Poseidon remarked. "Without his lightning bolt, he's merely a mortal among God's," Zeus growled, ready to remark when Xander cut them off. "How about none of you are gods?" He asked, his armor dematerializing to reveal his face and clothes. Some scoffed at this, some were surprised, and Hades appeared furious. "Sure, compared to me, you're a god. But compared to you, beings as powerful as God himself are gods. And beings above him are Gods to him. And the Overmonitor, overseer of all, can step on all of you without batting an eyelash. You're not gods. You're beings with extraordinary abilities that others do not have. You breathe. You sleep. Just as myself and any mortal does. Just because you can manipulate water, throw lightning, or manipulate love, doesn't mean your more special than mortals who put there lives on the line every single day,"
The Gods were all silent at this, contemplating his words as he finished. The silence was cut off by Artemis, who smiled. "You are a wise one, Mr. Morue," Xander smiled before his suit rematerialized. "We will fall through with Aphrodite's plan. If we cannot handle our problems without help, then we are no better than Apokolips itself. Continue on through the doors there, and you will be sent to your seventh trial," Artemis added, motioning to the giant doors behind him. Xander smiled, nodding to them all, before spinning around. He could tell a few were angry with the decision, but he didn't much care. He passed through the doors, entering the blinding light before stepping onto some sort of matter that he couldn't name.
He stood in front of what appeared to be a very large wall, which he instantly recognized as the Source Wall, something he had come across in his journey through the fifth dimension. Xander examined the wall with interest, along with the symbols etched into it. His attention was averted by footsteps behind him, his swords shooting out of his wrists as he spun around to face...an unthreatening giant. The giant was seven times his size, with white hair falling behind to his lower back as well as a white beard, and the man wore a black and gold armor, much like the Monitor's.
"I see you have arrived for your seventh and eighth tasks. I am afraid that Apokolips, much like the Underworld, has forbidden your appearance. And as such, we are forced to...mix things up. Your seventh and final task will contain two parts. You are to infiltrate the Multiverse's Bleed and steal a vessel located directly outside of Earth-47. The vessel, an abandoned Monitor Destroyer, will give you the ability to destroy universes. Taking the ship will be part one of the trial. Part two is clean-up. After the first Crisis, the Monitor's were wiped out, leaving only Mar Novu to test Earth's for the Next Crisis," The giant explained.
"You will use the vessel to destroy a few dead and plagued universes, before using the vessel to take you to a second vessel located outside of Earth-19. A Seed Vessel. Acquire the ship, and use it to replace the universes you destroyed with new and clean universes. Do this, and you will be finished with your second trial," The giant spoke, before slapping his forehead. "Where are my manners? My name is the Highfather, supreme God over the New Gods of New Genesis. And I am aware that you are Xander Morue, Sha Fan-him, or Phantom. It is good to finally meet you,"
"It's good to see you as well, Highfather," Xander replied. Highfather smiled, before placing a hand against the Source Wall, which partially peeled away to reveal a red breach. "This will take you to Earth-47, where you will find the Destroyer. Take the vessel and destroy Universe-7, Universe-9, Universe-13, Universe-15, Universe-22, Universe-29, Universe-30, Universe-31, Universe-43, Universe-45, and Universe-50," Highfather listed, forcing Xander to go wide-eyed. Eleven universes? This god wanted him to destroy eleven of only fifty-two universes? That was ⅕ of the recorded Multiverse. "From there, go to Earth-19 and acquire the Seed Vessel. Once you have completed the second part, entered the Bleed, and fire off eleven seeds, replacing the universes you destroyed with fresh and clean universes,"
"Got it...two questions. What about the people in these universes, and how will I know where these ships are?" Xander asked, not liking the idea of having mass genocide on his hands. The Highfather smiled, and removed a small compass from his belt, handing it to Xander. "I believe your suit has supersonic flight capabilities. Use this to find the Destroyer, and it will help you find the Seed Vessel when the time comes. As for the people...some universes in that list have no survivors. Others, well...there is a price to pay for living in such a corrupt place. And unfortunately, collateral damage will occur regardless," Xander frowned, accepting the compass as he looked down at it. He nodded in understanding, before wordlessly stepping towards the breach. His cowl slammed shut, his suit becoming air-tight as he moved forward. "And Xander...safe travels," Highfather called out. Xander nodded, still not liking the idea of this trial as he jumped through the breach and into Universe-47.
Unknown Date | Earth-47 | Trial 2.8 of 3.5 | POV: Xander Morue
Three hours after entering Earth-47, Xander finally found the Destroyer ship in the Milky Way's outer rim, merely sitting there with no purpose. It was quite large, with three engines, all powered by something Xander had never seen. There were tentacles falling off of the wings made of some sort of rubber-metal he'd never heard of, and the front of the ship appeared to be some sort of weapon, which he assumed was used to fire off large universe-killing blasts or missiles. Xander shot towards the ship, easily finding a port on the right-hand side of the gigantic ship. He used his knife to cut open the sealed and stuck door before he entered the section between the airlock doors. Xander shot a nanite towards the keypad, hacking into it within seconds before he sent another nanite at the wall he had cut open. The nanite reproduced within nanoseconds, creating a wall that sealed the ship from the vacuum of space. He opened the door into the ship, and stepped through, shutting the door behind him as he moved down the large hallway looking for a directory.
When he finally found it, he discovered two details. One; he was near an elevator that would take him up to the ship's bridge. Two; the ship had roughly four dozen cargo bays filled with materials and whatnot. Smiling, Xander ran off towards the nearby elevator, using his nanites to power it as it shot up to the bridge. The door slid open, and he was surprised to see a rather small room. There was a walkway leading towards the captains standing 'U' shaped holodesk, and beneath that walkway was a holotable with a universal map, and in front of that were two holodeck, which Xander assumed were for navigation, piloting, defense, and offense.
He ran towards the captain's desk and found what looked like an odd looking plug to something he had never seen. A connecting port. Xander sent his nanites into the port and spoke. "Evelyn, light this thing up," At once, a jolt of energy moved through him, and he expected failure, only for all of the lights and holo-tanks to turn on at once, the ship coming back to life as the gravity turned back on. He deactivated his grav-boots and moved towards the captain's holodesk, his eyes scanning it for any signs of instruction before he found something he recognized. Another port. He connected the holodesk to his HUD through his nanites and immediately began to work. "Evelyn, take scans of everything in the cargo-bays. Anything non-essential I want you to throw out. We're going to need the room,"
With the Monitor's tech now connected to his own, he reprogrammed the holodesk to read off English, but he also reprogrammed the order of the data. He kept his nanites in the desk but deactivated his HUD as he began to slowly tap away. Xander started off by shrinking the ship into the size of an atom, before warping it into The Bleed. From there, he activated the Doomsday Missiles and set eleven targets. He then moved towards the left panel, where he discovered that over 329 million tons of crap had been sent overboard from the cargo-bays. Smiling, he activated the transporters and set his targets. He turned on the transporter, waiting a moment before turning on the missile launcher, launching eleven Doomsday Missiles across the Multiverse. Xander watched the red bubbles in fascination, his eyes searching the Multiverse as the missiles hit, piercing the bubble's before blowing up within them. He rushed towards the transporter panel and spoke. "Evelyn, how many do we have?"
"Out of the calculated 852 trillion främling in the eleven universe, we were able to collect 651 trillion främling's, placing us at maximum capacity. Would you like me to set a course for Earth-19?" Xander nodded, typing away at the desk as he sighed. He had only gotten 76% of the eleven universe's population, and he had killed 201 trillion individuals, human and alien. Xander sighed and watched as the ship performed the slipspace jump to Earth-19, stopping directly in front of another ship, which appeared smaller. "Evelyn, ship capacity?"
"This ship's holding capacity is 651,492,593,458,524. While the Seed Vessel's holding capacity is 240,309,284,384,583. I would recommend taking three trips, Xander," Evelyn replied as he typed away at the transporter controls. He connected said controls to his gauntlet, for setting the destination for the Seed Vessel's bridge. Xander removed Evelyn from the holodesk and transported himself for the first time to the other vessel's bridge. After an immensely odd feeling, Xander appeared within the deactivated Seed Vessel, which had a similar bridge design to the Destroyer. He moved to connect his nanites to the holodesk but was interrupted when a portal opened above him. A woman dropped through it, aiming her outstretched hand towards him. "By law of Earth-19, universal travel is banned and is punishable by death. Speak your case and I might not kill you," She spoke, her stance and face expressing threat as he sighed. Xander turned around, the nanites from his back going down to connect to the vessel's controls. "I'm here for cleanup. I've been tasked with creating universes, and it turns out this ship is the way to do it. And it just happened to be just outside of Jupiter. So...I'll do some stuff, and be on my way, never to return. Deal?"
"And I'm just supposed to take your word? How do I know you won't use this ship to destroy my world?" The woman asked. Xander sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before motioning to the visible Destroyer. "If I wanted to destroy Earth-19, I would have used that. This ship creates new universes. Now, get off my ship, or I will be forced to remove you," She laughed, obviously not believing him as he pressed a single button on his gauntlet, the transporter locking on to her signature. He pressed another button, transporting her onto Earth-19 before putting up the ship's shields after turning the power on.
"Evelyn, transport the first batch onto the ship. We'll go in a minute," Xander spoke as over 200 trillion signatures appeared on his ship. Okay, Evelyn, take us into The Bleed," Xander watched the ship shrink into the size of a molecule, before slipping out of the universe and into The Bleed. Once they were there, Xander reprogrammed the launchers and fired off eleven seeds. He then typed away at the holodesk and activated the temporal drive. He set it for January 1st, 1946, and reappeared within the Bleed, where he was met with the Multiverse, only inside were eleven new and mature universes. "Ok, Evelyn. Spread our guests out," Xander spoke.
Over the span of four hours, the Seed Vessel went in and out of the universe, transporting people from planet to planet in order to regulate population, before picking up the second of three groups. After another eleven hours, the Seed Vessel popped back into Earth-19, directly in between the Destroyer and Jupiter. "Evelyn, shrink the Destroyer and Seed Vessel. I've completed my tasks," Xander spoke as he took a drink of soda. The replicator on the ship really came in clutch with the burger, fries, and soda. As soon as he spoke, Xander was met with the same feeling of light-headedness. He looked down at his hands and found that he had indeed finished his second trial, and was now moving onto the third. He removed Evelyn from the holodesk and drifted off into the Speed Force.
Unknown Date | Speed Force | Trial 3 of 3.5 | POV: Xander Morue
Xander Morue stood in the middle of the Speed Force, his eyes settling on the form of his not-sister, who held the same goldenrod she had held when he started his first trial. The blue and red gems were gone, leaving only the green gem left. The third trial. "You've surprised us by not only your skill and intellect but also your luck, Xander. Saved by your knowledge and yourself in the first trial. And saved by your tech and the realms in your second trial. You've come far, Xander, but you've got some way to go," Xander nodded in understanding, his fists clenched slightly in annoyance at the Speed Force's antics.
"Your third trial has two parts. Part One; Retrieve an alien egg from within the asteroid known as Eros. Find the egg, replicate it, and bring back the replicated egg. Part Two...well, we'll leave that part for when the time comes. Find Eros, get the egg, and bring it back to the wall," The Speed Force explained in minor detail as it aimed the rod towards him. Xander never got a chance to speak before he was shot in the chest with the green-ray, sending him through a breach and into nothingness.
Unknown Date | Space. Main Asteroid Belt | Trial 3.25 of 3.5 | POV: Xander Morue
Xander reappeared with a large field of asteroids, his suit immediately sealing to avoid - you know - death. He connected his legs and feet, turning the armor around them into a hypersonic jet, shooting off through the asteroid field. "Evelyn, find Eros or any other colonized asteroids that might be associated," Xander ordered as he blasted away a large asteroid in his way. His HUD lit up, revealing a set of coordinates leading to a 6-kilometer deep asteroid not too far from his position. Xander positioned his arms out, firing a large laser from his repulsors as he shot forward, creating a path towards the planetoid asteroid.
It didn't take long for him to find it, only he was surprised to see it was actually colonized, round, and had an atmosphere, even if said atmosphere was filled with carbon-dioxide. "Evelyn, give me a date," Xander spoke as he shot towards the planetoid, his eyes examining the ships moving to and from it. It was obvious he was in the future, but he wasn't sure when he was. "August 3rd, 2201. Earth-Prime," Evelyn replied, causing Xander to frown. Why was the Speed Force asking for an alien egg to a species they might not come across for another 200 years?
Shaking it off, Xander landed on the planet roughly two miles away from the facility, his focus on the destroyed castle that looked like it belonged to Disneyworld. He blasted away the rubble blocking the entrance, before moving into the castle to find a red carpet moving towards a set of spiral stairs leading down. He moved down the stairwell, his katar ready in the off-chance that there were evil aliens lurking in this castle's dungeon. After all, he'd been through, careful was starting to become his middle name. Once he had reached the cellar, he was met with an odd sight. A young man, facing off against a large ant-like alien, only they weren't aggressive towards each other. They were actually communicating through physical contact.
"Umm...hello," Xander spoke, waving his hand to gain their attention as the two turned towards him. "Hi. Didn't mean to ruin the moment, which I'm sure it is, but I kind of need that," He motioned to the egg located in the center of the cellar. The queen thrilled in reply, confusing him before his universal translator kicked in. The queen was aware of his need for the egg, but had not been expecting him for some time, and was planning on producing another egg just for him. "You're not taking it," The boy spoke, his fists clenching as he looked down at Xander's katar.
Xander dematerialized the katar, along with his suit to reveal that he was indeed human. "I'm not here to steal it. I...I need to copy it. Or get a copy of it. I'm not clear on that part of the task, but what I do know is that I need that egg. So, may I please take it? Or will I have to forcibly remove it?" Xander asked as the queen thrilled once again. It moved towards the egg, pulling it from its resting place before handing it over to Xander, who's hands lit up with golden energy. The boy stood there in confusion, watching as Xander suddenly copied the egg.
Xander on the other hand was extremely confused. He felt absolutely zero connection to the Speed Force, and yet here he was using the Speed Force to create another egg. He shook it off and handed the original egg back to the queen, who bowed before placing the egg back in its sleeve. The boy sighed, shaking his head before taking a breath through an oxygen mask. Xander himself tried to take a breath and was surprised to find that he could barely breathe. His suit materialized around him, giving him oxygen after his cowl slammed shut. "Who are you?" The boy asked. Xander smiled, a blue breach wrapping around him as he clutched the egg. I'm a man out of time...call me Phantom," With that, he was sucked into the Speed Force once again.