Author's Notes
Hello readers both familiar and new, this is my second commission and likely to be a lot longer than the previous one. I would give the credit to the ideas behind this to DOOMRAIDER, and then about 90/10 for the final plot with me being the ten. I wrote it all but it's all his ideas with just some suggestions and stuff from the fellow nerd me.
Several things won't be going as canon dictated, the ships have sailed and have been decided, and any toxic complaints will be dropped into a industrial shredder. With all that out of the way
He had failed, and not for the first time but this one stung more than most. As Ozpin stared down the new Maiden of Fall, he only felt the regret he carried grow ever more. Thankfully for either pity or cruelty, Cinder allowed his students to leave. That was good. They would be needed in the times ahead.
"This whole time… right beneath our feet." What better place to keep her? But that didn't matter. Ozpin could only focus on one thing and that was surviving. He couldn't afford the set back of another reincarnation. Another life that would be consumed by him. And more time lost not guiding the war against Salem. "She was right about you, such arrogance."
And she wasn't wrong. But just as the two stood off, ready to end each other… the hall that they were in started to shake. More than just the rumbling of the beast that flew above and more than the battle that was taking place now. The very foundation of Beacon was shaking. Ozpin could only think of one source. The relic. But why? As he stumbled to the side as the vibrations were growing to a full earthquake he could not think of a reason why this was happening. What's more… why the new Fall Maiden was not taking advantage of this.
"What… what did you do!" Cinder screamed as the glow of her body, the sign of magic in her, faded in and out. Ozpin could feel it now. Something was happening to interfere in the magic of the Brothers. The Maidens and the Relics. He did not know what but as the hall around them began to crumble and fall apart he knew that it had to be big. Given Cinder's confusion Ozpin guessed this was not her plan.
"I believe it is time for a change in action." If something new to the situation was entering into it, then that meant a need to step back. Fighting Cinder now would only result in a worse position for himself if he did not know the full picture. So, the Headmaster of Beacon jumped away as a falling piece of structure fell down where he had been standing. More and more ruble began to fall, perhaps the entirety of Beacon was shattering. A rather unfortunate possibility but it was the people that mattered in the end.
"You're not getting away." Fire was sent into his path, a flicker of Cinder's power coming back for a split second. While he was already nearly out of the room, entering a secret tunnel only he knew about, the flames of the Fall Maiden hit him in the back. Searing pain erupted as he was scorched. But the wall closed behind him and Ozpin knew his time was limited. He needed to get to his safe room. There was little else he could do other than survive this encounter and possibly come back from it. He just hoped that the distress signal still worked.
Bruce fell forward, and down a pile of dirt that had once been part of his front yard. His ears were filled with the sound of energy rupturing and cracking around him. It was a sound he had heard many times before. He rolled to his feet as he came to the end of the small pile, looking up he could see a massive pillar of black and white light extend into the sky. It pulsed with power every second and snapped at the air around it. The Dark Knight had seen far too many beams of light into the sky to know that it was a good sign.
"No matter what you do it will fail against me because I've seen countless worlds in the Dark Multiverse and learned far more than you can imagine because I adapted while you are still stuck in your ways!" The voice of the twisted version of himself laughed madly into the air. Batman ran around the dirt pile that had come with them to the source of the mad laughter, only to find it empty. The monster was gone, Bruce truly did hate it when he was on the receiving end of that trick. Gritting his teeth as a shot of pain ran through his body, reminding him that he was on borrowed time.
"Joker's here too… where are they?" As if to answer part of his question, a batarang was thrown to his feet, a brief distraction that gave his foe the opening to slam a fist into his stomach. With the will power rivaled by very few and endurance that cusped the extent of human capability, Batman held strong and grabbed ahold of the arm of his twisted twin. Bruce looked up and the two stared at each other, blood red eyes to cold Dark Metal Visor.
"Careful there, I think I see the ghost of a smile creeping in there." He mocked just before Bruce using all his strength, pulled the monster forward and onto the ground. He stumbled and Bruce delivered a kick to the back, a hard thud echoed around them. The fight returned to the state it had been in prior to their abnormal displacement. Fists and boots clashed as both found new vigor in their bout. "Did you feel it brother?! We traveled through where no one had been to before! And better yet! We managed to bring a bit of home with us!"
"What are you rambling about now you monster." They landed at a stalemate as they caught each other's fists mid swing and were now pushing against one another's blows.
"I feel it. This power is of our home. That from above and below. The Black and White. The Dark and Light. And we have brought it to a place never before touched by such things. Who knows what it is doing!" With a crack of bone, The Batman Who Laughs twisted his arm a bit too far, a sacrifice that immediately bore fruit as it opened up Bruce to being thrown to the ground. He had so many counters and recoveries to this move, but the bite of the Joker Toxin in his blood once again caught back up to him and made Batman sluggish to respond. A metal boot found itself onto his neck as the monster towered over him. The grisly smile on his face widened ever so slightly. Both in victory and mocking Bruce for his deteriorating state. He opened those beastly teeth to say something but a flash of black removed him from Batman's sight.
Not wasting a gift like this, Batman quickly got back up onto his feet and saw the monster had been tackled by… another monster. A pitch black wolf-like creature with bone white plates covering its hide. The Dark Knight, even as stoic and level headed as he was, was somewhat thrown off by this. But it didn't last long as just as the monster raised a claw to slash at its prey… it was blasted into pieces from the inside. Bruce and his twisted twin stared at each other in bewilderment.
"What the actual fuck was that!" The monster was no longer smiling. In fact he looked about as angry as he could be that his fated duel with his Prime self was so unceremoniously interrupted. Then, to make matters worse, the two Batmen looked around to see that they were being surrounded by all manners of pitch black beasts. Some of which would suddenly and randomly explode. "Is this normal for whatever Multiverse we arrived in!"
So, they were in a new Multiverse. Bruce easily deduced that with that statement and the earlier remarks. One that was not connected with either his own Multiverse or its Dark counterpart. That was both good and bad. Good in the sense that now his own Multiverse was now free of The Batman Who Laughs, bad in the sense that it lacked its Prime Batman. About as even a loss and gain as anything.
The natives of this Multiverse however did not waste time in welcoming them. Roars and growls rang out as they charged towards the two Batmen. The number of them was uncountable as more and more entered the immediate area from the shadows of the city ruins all around them. However, the rate at which they were self-detonating was increasing. Bruce theorized that the exploding was not part of their nature. The most likely suspect would be the beam of light, the piece of home as the monster called it. The danger was still present though. Be it by the hand of a man with his own face or some extra-universal beast, he was not going to die this day.
Cinder watched as the Grimm dragon flew away, she stared directly out towards the pillar of light that fired into the sky from Mountain Glenn. The thing was drawing the Grimm toward it, all of them were like moths to the flame. That had to be what was interfering with her new powers. Was this it? Did she really just get the powers of the Fall Maiden just have it stolen by some crazy beam of light that came out from nowhere. Cinder could feel the magic in her, stronger and complete. But the moment it was activated and left her body to affect the world, it was smothered.
"I will say… I am impressed. But should you have fought without the handicap of my powers being abused as they are, you would not have fared this well." Cinder was lying through her teeth. As she stood over Pyrrha, more bloody and bruised than was acceptable, she knew that it was only thanks to luck and fate that she stood the victor. Beacon was falling down around them, with that in mind Cinder had used the crumbling structure to her advantage in this fight. "But you were sorely mistaken in your trust of people that had no right to promise you power that was never truly yours. But take comfort in the fact that I will use it in ways that you could never have imagined."
This was it. Cinder could feel the smoothing presence pull away. The light shining on them caused by the intruding beam was fading. Her power was returning just at the moment she needed it to end this pretender's life.
"Do you believe in destiny?" The defiant little girl asked, what a silly question.
"I do." Using her returning power she began to form a bow. Pulling back the arrow that would end the invincible girl's life. Cinder never felt so satisfied as she let it loose… but that was eaten by the jaws of two forces conspiring against her. First came from the beam of light, it had not faded… only receded like the tide before a tsunami. With an eruption so great it rocked Beacon off the cliff it was perched on, the sudden drop in elevation caused the arrow to miss. It passed over the right shoulder of Pyrrha… though from a certain angle it looked like it had pierced through her throat. A mistake a silver eyed girl made and thought one of her friends had just been killed. Setting off the second scorn of fate on Cinder.
This… wasn't the plan that he had in mind. World conquest and turning Prime Earth into his playground was only the start. Making the boring and unhappy Prime Batman see the truth had been a neat little cherry on top. The endgame, ending all life in the Multiverse and its Hand. But unfortunately… those plans need to change. With new information comes always comes changes. He was thinking so small, so very small. What he thought was everything was but a tiny fraction of a fraction of it. But now he had seen it. The true Omniverse. His goal was clear, this first Multiverse he found himself in would be a springboard to a new infinite chain of destruction until everything including The True Creator was nothing but an empty void and him.
The Batman Who Laughs trudged through the forest that had surrounded the ruined city that he had arrived in. A new Multiverse. One in which he had no immediate access to his own. But that could change. And it would. He had a little inkling, nothing confirmed but enough to form a plan around. That a very interesting possibility had come with this new development. But first he needed a foundation.
"I will need the right tools and information to show this world what an apex predator can do. The question is who can I use to achieve this and will I have to make my own doomsday weapons if this world has none or arrange events in this world to bring it to ruin. Whatever happens whether I fight armies alone again or am against those who call themselves gods, my victory will be assured because Batman always wins. A ruin of a city was where he first arrived, and that meant sentient beings. Hopefully human… but considering this was a new Multiverse that wasn't guaranteed. But the forms of those annoying pests suggested a familiarity of earthy bio-forms. "If I could be so lucky as to find something. Anything."
It was a weird feeling, being so lost. None of the stars were familiar, no landmarks to give him an idea of where he was, utterly lost. But as he pulled out a vial of sickly green liquid from his pocket, he knew that all would come back to him. This was an incomplete Dark Multiverse Joker Toxin. One crafted by him and it had been intended to be used to finish off the Prime Batman but now its need was something greater. It needed to be diluted in order to make more of it, but with this in hand he was sure that new allies could be made. And he was sure to always keep just enough of the pure strain for an emergency. For now all he had was this and a limited amount of Dark Metal, more than enough once he actually found things to use them on.
Fortune favored him at last as his visor picked up in the distance three living beings. With all the grace and skill that a man like he possessed, the smiling man soon was perched in a tree overlooking a crash site. Humans, one of them had their helmet off so he confirmed that. Military outfits suggesting an organized government, tech looked advanced too.
"Still not get anything? It's only a matter of time before some Grimm shows up." Listening in on their conversation, the nightmare Batman chuckled at the coincidence that they were speaking English. Theorizing that even the Omniverse is localized, with similar Multiverses being close to one another. That would be supported by the fact his own home Multiverse was essentially a dark version of the Prime Batman's own.
"All I'm getting is static. You saw what happened, things must be crazy with the fleet now." The two conscious men, the third appeared wounded and out cold, had no idea as to the shadow lurking nearby. Both huddled over a comm system lugged out of the crashed Bullhead. The sound of a batarang flying through the air catches the attention of one while the other is knocked out by said weapon. Another hits the last soldier before he could have done anything about it.
"Well, what have we here." An ominous chuckle escaped the teeth of The Batman Who Laughs as he lazily walked over to the downed men. Reaching the crash site he looked over the three men, basic humans. Their tech however was unfamiliar, it all seemed to be powered by small glowing crystals. Very interesting, but what was more was the information they had to give. Being the man he was, getting that information out of them was child's play.
Hours later, the twisted smiling man walked away from the crash site as three mutilated bodies burned inside the wreckage of their vehicle. He had gained much from his little interviews with the men. A new world with a funny name, Remnant.
Bruce was burning up from the inside, but it was better than ending up as what he hated most. The Joker Toxin in his blood had not taken him yet, even after it being a full two days after arriving in this world. In the chaos of that arrival, he had lost the Joker and the monster that wore his face. The horde of beasts that descended down on them had effectively put that fight between them on hold for now.
"Not going to die from the toxin in my blood, but from an unfamiliar disease." That was the only thing he could think of for why he had such a high fever. Everything was so warm, from the very core of his body he could feel this unbearable heat. The environment of this world was earth like but that didn't mean he had any defense against local viruses and bacteria. Dying here, to some illness when he left his world in such a sorry state. He could only hope that The Justice League would manage without him. Damian was still too young to take up the mantle, but he would in time.
The sound of a stream caught his ear, the fact he was so thirsty made its way into his mind. Dragging himself towards the source of freshwater, Batman knew he was taking further risks but dehydration was a horrible way to go. He was without his money, the majority of his gear, and all of his allies. There was not a single moment in his time as The Batman that he was so isolated. Stumbling toward the small stream, Bruce was without any idea of what he could do. Then… he saw his face in the water. His eyes were clear of red and his skin wasn't the horrible pale it had been. There was even a faint gray glow to him.
That was impossible. He did nothing to fight the Joker toxin in his body. And here he was looking at it receding. Was it something that this Multiverse was doing? Why and how. These questions needed to be answered as soon as possible. Once he was out of danger of dying. When he had gotten his fill of fresh water, Batman took a moment to gather himself. Enough with thoughts of dying and being defeated. If the threat of his own blood could be dealt with then there was nothing that couldn't be done. That monster and Joker were still out there. This world shouldn't have to deal with them, they were his problems and he was intent on handling them.
The ecosystem of this world was nearly identical to that of Earth. Once he found that out, finding edible plants and even a few medicinal ones became easy. But that also brought up the possibility that maybe its diseases were the same. Unproven but if true then where was the heat his body felt coming from? For now The Dark Knight's goal was to find the nearest settlement or group of people. Humans, as he assumed the continued similarity to Earth.
Originally he had wandered into the forest seemingly in a daze after the battle with the beasts. Of which he has not encountered again since then. But now he returned to the ruins that he first arrived at just as dusk was coming. Finding the tallest ruined tower he grappled to its top to get a lay of the land. Off in the distance was a walled city, smoke currently coming from it. Perhaps it had been under attack by the creatures. More information was needed. But then something caught his ear… an encrypted message was caught by his suit's system. While he now lacked much of the digital capabilities his suit had due to being cut off from WayneTech, it still had some onboard systems that could be useful. Decrypting the message was challenging, unfamiliar with the source code and it being military grade, but he had managed.
"-Suspect is attempting to escape through Mountain Glenn, reinforcements are on their way.-" Along with it came a series of coordinates. Which would be useful to Bruce if he knew what they meant or had a frame of reference. What did help was the sight of a few small helicopter like vehicles flying and landing nearby. It was a better lead then anything he had so far.
He made his way through the ruins, gilding and grappling his way. The urban environment familiar to The Batman. Sounds of gunfire came as he approached the landing site. In the shadows, The Dark Knight watched with keen eyes. Below was a squad of armed men in futuristic looking body armor firing on a single point. There were already several of them dead, blunt force trauma to the head for most of them. Then out of the point where all the guns had been aiming at, came a flash of silver. A single young man with gray hair popped out and dashed over to the remaining squad of soldiers.
This was where Bruce felt uneasy. He had no idea of the situation. The comm message suggested that he was a criminal of some kind but that was subjective. Technically he was a wanted criminal back in Gotham. Not knowing the full story blunted his response. The young man went through the squad, killing them. That did inform Batman at the very least this gray haired young man was dangerous and willing to kill. So, as the current person of interest to The Batman strode over to the helicopter equivalents, The Dark Knight employed one of his tried and true methods of justice. Suddenly appearing behind a person and knocking them out before they know what happened.
Mercury Black was not used to people sneaking up on him. It took a special kind of skill to do that. But he was man enough to admit when he had been beaten. But he was also petty enough to swear he'd even the score one day.
Waking up, bound to a chair and stripped to only his pants. This was not what he expected nor did he find it funny. Looking around he could see that he was still in the ruins of Mountain Glenn, at a particularly high tower. There was no stairway to get down so the only way to escape was to jump… and he wasn't sure that he could make it. Even with his prosthetics and Aura a fall like this would not be an easy thing.
"Things really went to shit didn't they." He grumbled as he shifted a bit in his restraints. They were tight and he had no chance of escaping like this. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. Obviously he hadn't been taken in by Atlas or whatever was left of Vale's military. Maybe a hunter? That was possible. Beacon falling apart like that was clearly not part of Cinder's plan as both he and Emerald had gotten separated during the chaos. All the Grimm for miles around wasn't also part of the plan. Which scared Mercury of one thing… Cinder didn't have nearly as much control over them as she claimed.
When he agreed to Cinder's mad scheme to gain some magical power from a fairy tale it was on a whim. But then she did it. After that it was more because Cinder got results and did things that seemed impossible. The concept that it was a borrowed power, that someone was behind Cinder was on his mind frequently. But the woman was cagey with such information. Another thing he could be sure of was Cinder was a cold bitch that would cut him off the second he stopped being useful. Could this be his chance to change sides? Nah, he had been seen very publicly by this point. His options were very limited right now.
The sound and sight of a grappling hook hitting a nearby wall broke Mercury out of his thoughts. He at first tried to play the cool guy that wasn't daunted by any captor. But a guy dressed like a bat came in. The suit the man wore looked both high tech and perfectly designed to maximize the psychological effect on a person. However it still also had this look of absurd comic bookishness that Mercury couldn't ignore. It was one thing to read comics and it was another to be facing down a guy that looked straight out of one."It seems you have woken up. Good." His voice was stern and deep, this wasn't going to be a guy that would like his jokes. Nowhere did Mercury see his boots or other gears, smart of the guy."
"Listen guy, I don't know what you think I did but I didn't do it." Lying, not exactly his best skill. Not even close to Emerald but better than most. The mask that the guy wore whited out his eyes, but they were still expressive. As shown by the threatening look he gave, so simple yet very effective. "I'm not fooling you am I?"
"No. You're not." He walked closer and that's when Mercury noticed that this dude has his Aura on. It was feint, but a gray glow covered his body. Odd… that must be tiring. Could be he's trying to fight through the pain of an injury that his Aura is healing. "I have questions for you. Questions that might be relatively simple to you but are very vital to me."
"Ask away, but if I answer is all up to me." A minute later Mercury was trying not to crap his pants as the chair he was tied to was dangling over a twenty-five story drop. He was biting his lip trying not look as scared as he really was. "So uh… what do you want to know?"
"Where are we?" This had to be a joke. Or maybe he was just asking a simple question to test if he was lying. That had to be it.
"Uh…Vale? If you want me to be specific we're in Mountain Glenn." It went on and on like this. Eventually he was taken back to the solid floor of the top of the building but he had learned not to joke around with this guy. As strange as he was. When he said these questions would be simple he meant it. Pretty much every common knowledge thing was discussed. From where they were, to what was money, to basic historical facts. Eventually Mercury just got too curious for his own good. "Okay please don't get pissed or anything… but why are you asking me all this and not stuff like who am I working for or why was I running from Atlas soldiers?"
"Because I'm from another reality and have no context to my surroundings." Mercury just stared at the man dressed like a bat as he turned around and walked to the ledge of the ruined floor. He… he had to be joking. No, this guy did not joke. Mercury could tell that in the first five seconds of meeting him. "I arrived two days ago while fighting a distorted and vile version of myself. I have no idea if I can return home but now I must find the two that came with me and make sure they cannot harm anyone."
"Oh my Oum… you really are a comic book hero. I would say you're insane but… given there was a big ass beam of light in the sky and you're way too put together to be making this up." Mercury had always loved comics, a good escape from it all. Plus he had seen some crazy stuff working for Cinder. The big question is now… how was he going to come out of this. If this guy was a real life superhero from another reality, Multiverse cool, then that changed everything. He was smart, and knew how to do things by how he handled him. And given how he had already disrupted Cinder's plans already. It would be a smart idea to be on his side.
"I saw you kill those men, I should turn you into the proper authorities." He was so cool… that kind of brooding dark hero that knows the score and doesn't take orders from nobody. Wasn't Mercury's favorite but was quickly becoming it. "But. Seeing as I'm short on allies at the moment. I could use a guide."
"So I don't get thrown in jail and then become the sidekick to an actual hero? Cool." It was way better than being Cinder's lacky. That cold bitch didn't care about him in the slightest. So, he would show the same loyalty back, he always had a feeling for people and right now his gut was betting on this bat dude.
"One rule, no killing." And there was cold water.
"Fine, I can live with that." The hero gave him this look, Mercury was telling the truth. He didn't have to kill people. Didn't mean there wouldn't be bodies but nothing no one could prove. Mercury stayed still as the hero walked over and freed him from the bounds to the chair that was holding him tight. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on running away. I ain't got many options now."
"At the moment Ozpin is stable but in intensive care. The best doctors in all of Atlas will do everything they can to keep him alive." James Ironwood reported to his fellow secret cabal members as he spoke from a recently constructed command center in the heavily damaged city of Vale. Over seventy percent of the city was in ruins but thankfully the death rate was not nearly the same as the property damage. Vale would rebuild… but it would be many-many years before it was even as close to what it used to be. At best it would be a minor settlement with some city walls. "I will keep you all updated with his status." With that the screens of the other members went to black.
"Do we have any idea of what happened? We know that the Fall Maiden's powers fell into her hands but nothing about whatever happened at Mountain Glenn." Glynda Goodwitch, Ozpin's second in command, remarked as she looked out the window at the endless sea of refugee tents. Beacon was gone, and Vale had been reduced to a ghost of itself. And she was under no illusion of who was going to try and pick up the pieces.
"The vault is underwater right now, getting to it would be difficult. Amber's loss is… unfortunate. But we knew that it was inevitable." He had tried, and failed to deliver on the promise he gave to Ozpin. But James couldn't let himself dwell too deep on that. More important things had come to his attention. "As for what else that happened that day… I believe I have an idea."
"You do? How?" The beam of light that had come that day had been a mystery to everyone. No one had any idea what it could have been. Reports of weakened or even nullified Auras and Semblances had come in all over during it. Then the Grimm from all over had been drawn to it. And in its final moment, it detonated and killed countless Grimm. From what Glynda had seen from the internet, the effect radius was massive and encompassed around half of the territory of Vale. It had been a blessing as the lack of Grimm attacks and their omnipresent threat had been the only reason why Vale had survived.
"I had secretly installed cameras in Mountain Glenn after the last incident." James looked away from Glenda's look of shock at his very illegal actions. While only a ruin and tragic grave, Mountain Glenn was still part of the Kingdom of Vale and for him, a high ranking member of Atlas, to place surveillance equipment was a huge breach of several treaties. "Listen, I know how that looks but you'll thank me once you see this."
"This had better be good James." The general shivered in dread at the thought of angering her even more. As fast as he could, he pulled up a recording that had been taken at the center of the ruined city. At first it showed just a normal empty plaza, then sparks of energy started to fly about. They grew and grew until a snap of air blasted the equipment's audio and a flash of light blinded the screen. The camera still functioned however and once it was clear, the plaza was now at the center of the pillar of light that everyone had seen. But that wasn't all.
"Who are they?" Glynda asked as she focused on a mound of dirt that had not been there before. Three figures rolling down from it. Each dressed strangely, two somewhat similarly while the other entirely his own style. But they all had pale white skin. They actually, to Glenda's fear, look remarkably like her in complexion.
"Unknown. I've been trying to go through all Atlas records for anyone that could even remotely be compared to their appearances." They both watched as the two similar looking men fought each other. The third had vanished entirely from the recording and was nowhere to be seen. Just as it looked like the more sinister looking of the two was about to win the fight, a Beowolf tackled him. "The Grimm then explodes, much like all the reports we have been getting about during that night. The two fight an incoming Grimm horde before getting separated. I haven't been able to do a proper manhunt due to our strained resources."
"Nevertheless, they are our only way to know what happened that night. At least concerning one half of the mystery. But given the beam's effect on the Grimm, I'd say it's safe to assume they are not allied with her." The fact they had such a striking resemblance to her was a concern but perhaps there was another reason for their paleness. The question of how best to handle this development was on their minds. "I think it would be best to make this public James."
"That was my plan." He said though he doubted that it was in the form that she was wanting. He was going to find these three, and he was going to use the full power of Atlas to do it. The very idea of the ability to instantly destroy half a continent worth of Grimm was too great a prize to ignore. And these three were his only lead to do it.