Imagine if you will an Earth which had a history of Superheroes stretching back to World War II, where the group of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes were known as the Squadron Supreme. Now imagine if they were unable to stop a big threat from causing massive damage to the Earth.
In the satellite headquarters of the Squadron Supreme known as the Rocket Central, 2 of the founding members were watching the news together on a big monitor. One was a tall muscular ginger haired man in the dark red bodysuit with short sleeves and a yellow atomic symbol, yellow cape which was draped over his right shoulder, yellow briefs over his suit which stretched to his abdomen and yellow boots. He was Mark Milton who was known as Hyperion the leader of the Squadron.
The other was a black haired woman with a tall Amazon physique wearing a golden headband, a black sleeveless leotard like bodysuit with a golden belt, golden wrist bands and black boots. She was Zarda Shelton who was known as Power Princess.
They looked down as the news footage showed monuments and cities around the world which still didn't look like they were just rebuilt and others that looked like they just started rebuilding. The reporter said about how two years had passed since the Squadron Supreme had defeated the robotic monster known as Ultron but not before devastating a large part of the world, wounding many countries and destroying many more.
The two Squadron members thought about how even though they stopped Ultron in the end, it didn't feel like a victory. The Squadron has spent all this time rebuilding the world afterwards, not given much time to mourn the members who were killed during it all. Even the Rocket Central was badly damaged and they needed special scientists to help get it back in the air using the notes of its creator, the late Tom Thumb who had died of cancer.
The reporter continued on saying one of the masterminds behind Ultron stood trial and had several life sentences to him, Emil Burbank one of the smartest people in the world that worked as a government scientist and was an arch enemy of Hyperion. Hyperion shook his head of the wasted genius as the TV report showed footage of his testimony blaming Hyperion for putting him on the road that he went on:
"By the time I turned two digits my IQ was already in the 3 digits, the youngest graduate of MIT in history and my Nobel Prize never made it to a single front page because of the first appearance of that glory hound Hyperion! Him and all the super folk took the attention away from me and I only wanted to give us a weapon to use against his kind!"
Then the reporter said that the other architect of Ultron had disappeared before Ultron was defeated: billionaire philanthropist Kyle Richmond who was also considered one of the smartest people in the world and was revealed to be founding Squadron Supreme member Nighthawk. There had been a worldwide manhunt for him and his assets were confiscated and used for the worldwide relief efforts.
"We all thought he was a friend but even when we started, he didn't fully trust us and if we are being honest I don't think he ever really did! To think behind our backs that he was working with Burbank to build something to replace us, he never even explained and just ran away before we could stop their creation!" Mark muttered as Zarda put away a tear in her eye.
"Another failure in my mission as Utopian ambassador along not doing more in the civil rights movements!" Zarda said her face showing fury. "I can't believe that I was ever attracted to him, if I didn't spend so much time drinking and boxing..." Zarda thundered thinking about how in her free time she would practice boxing with a special necklace from her original home of Utopia that put her to human levels and liked to drink.
"He fooled us all Zarda, possibly himself..." Mark said as there was a blur and then they were met with a man in a dark blue and dark red bodysuit with yellow linings and a dark blue mask that covered his face except for his mouth with red goggles. He was James Sanders better known as Speed Demon who was the nephew of Stanley Stewart the retired founding Squadron Supreme member known as Blur.
"If you are both done sulking, Joe thinks that he has found a way to find where Richmond ran off to!" Sanders told them making them alarmed as they followed him to the control panel where there was a monitor showing a lab facility and inside was a man in a blue, yellow, red and green bodysuit along with a dark blue face mask with a bright glowing multicoloured stone on the palm of his hand. He was Air Force Colonel Joe Ledger better known as Dr Spectrum.
"What have you found Joe?" Mark asked as Ledger showed a portal device which looked like it was out of Stargate and they recognised what was clearly an out of power Cosmic Cube, a device that used Cosmic energy to rewrite reality.
"I was out patrolling when I found this place underground, seems that our old buddy Kyle Richmond was looking into travelling into another universe using some old notes of Tom. I don't know where he used the Cosmic Cube but it looks like it was damaged before it was completed, my guess is that he had acquired it from some bad guys and in its damaged state he couldn't use it to its full potential. I bet he used Ultron's rampage to power it up enough to use his machine to escape." Ledger explained and they looked angry at the cowardly actions of their old teammate.
"Would the Power Prism be able to power it up again?" Mark asked and Ledger thought it over.
"It should but we would need someone to work it as well as find where the bird flew the coop and we all know there is only one person smart enough alive to do it." Ledger said and especially Mark's face darkened.
"Mark, I know this will be hard for you but Nighthawk must be found to answer for what he has done." Zarda told him softly and he nodded.
"He will be extremely supervised." Mark answered and the Squadron thought about how this was their best bet at tracking down where Kyle Richmond had escaped to...
ANOTHER EARTH
21 year old Peter Parker was swinging about as Spider-Man with it getting late at night in his new Advanced suit with the special white coating that he had invented, the perks of taking advantage of the resources of his new job at General Techtronics Labatories East (where it had all started out for him in a sense) as well as his new status as a reserve member of the Avengers better known as Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Right now he was investigating a lead of stolen technology that had originally belonged to Trask Industries before they went bankrupt as well as stolen Stark technology.
Trask Industries had been responsible for working with the Mutant Response Division (before being folded into SHIELD) in creating giant Mutant hunting robots called Sentinels but they had been shut down when they were too costly to mass produce and the reported property damage to hunt down Mutants was too great. Plus enough pro-Mutant activists got enough support to shut down the idea of giant robots designed to hunt them on the street.
The lead that the culprits were members of the anti-Mutant hate group known as the Friends of Humanity, he tracked down the hiding spot where his leads reported that they were using and saw the black clad FOH members sneaking into it. He jumped down and made his way through the window until he saw the main lab where they were testing their creations including what looked like Iron Man suits with Sentinel technology outfitted along with being colored dark blue and purple.
"Trask thought too big and if only he had gotten the idea to use his technology like Stark does, an army of human Sentinels ready to fullfill our cause with less risk of property damage or human casualties..." The leader wearing a black mask and a dark purple cloak with holes for the eyes and mouth (not that he could see one).
Peter took that as his cue to drop in as one shouted "I thought we had this place fitted with alarms if a Mutant found this place..." Peter sighed as he had gotten to work knocking them out.
"Firstly: I am a Superhuman and not a mutant and secondly: you know I never understood why you anti-Mutant bigots focused so much on Mutants without targeting all us powers but bigotry itself doesn't make sense." Peter retorted as he then began web slinging them up and fighting them, focusing on those who were closest to the weapons and technology so that they didn't have time to get to them. He got to the leader ripped off his hood and mask to reveal a man with half of his blade mutated green with a large yellow eye and the half side off his hair was melted off to match the face.
"You dare call me a bigot! I have been working to saving the world from the Mutant plague! Thanks to you and Hank, I am forever disfigured!" ranted the man who was Herbert Landon a wealthy geneticist at the Brand Corporation and college roommate of founding X-Men member Hank McCoy aka Beast, Hank and Peter had teamed up when Herbert kidnapped Hank to try and make him the test subject of a toxin created to kill Mutants, he had been thrown into his vial and mutated.
"You were the one who didn't think of what you're oh so special 'cure' would do to normal humans!" Peter retorted as there were members getting to the weapons but then there was a smoke bomb as the lights went out. Peter stood carefully but his Spider-Sense didn't go off while he heard screaming from the Friends of Humanity members.
then Peter had to use his Spider-Sense to dodge back as there was a mini EMP explosion disabling the tech, Peter found a torch and saw Landon being lifted up from the neck by a muscular African American man in a dark blue bodysuit with a black symbol on it, dark blue cape with shoulder decorations that resembled hawk's claws and a dark blue cowl that was shaped like a hawk's head. Peter recognised him as Nighthawk the new vigilante that started making a name for himself in New York for a few months now.
"Nice to see you Nighthawk, let me guess you came here because you wanted to be Batman with him as Two-Face..." Peter greeted him but then Nighthawk tossed him aside and glared at him with Peter knowing that he had gotten the ire of him for not the 4th or even 7th time.
"You got careless; they could have gotten to the weapons in the time that it took for you to be clowning about! What of those standing guard outside, I didn't I have time to take care of them because I noticed you foolishly going in so I had to make sure that you didn't mess it all up! How exactly you have done this for so long without dying or getting pulled in I have no idea!" Nighthawk told him sternly and Peter remembered how Daredevil in Hell's Kitchen wasn't too impressed by him at first but he warmed up.
Nighthawk didn't look like he would ever though.
Peter was about to retort when they heard noises going outside and Peter wasn't as alarmed as he should have been since his Spider-Sense wasn't going off, they went out and found the members of the X-Men having taken care of the rest of the Friends of Humanity outside. "Landon and the others are taken care of and I feel stupid for not thinking that you would show up with the FOH being here." Peter told Scott Summers better known as Cyclops the field leader of the X-Men in a dark blue bodysuit with a full face mask with a hole for his face, a yellow visor, yellow gloves, yellow belt and yellow boots.
"Thank you for the both of your help Spider-Man and you too..." Scott greeted them but then they saw that Nighthawk had vanished which he did a lot when Peter wasn't looking.
"Don't mind him but you really should have told us that you would be going after the Friends of Humanity, we could have worked together." said a voice as there was a brown haired woman about Peter's age in a black and yellow bodysuit as Peter looked her over. Kitty Pryde known as Shadowcat smirked as she put a hand on her hips and told him "I must warn you that I am in a happy relationship with my boyfriend so he won't like it if the superhero he had sold pictures off is looking over me in my suit." Kitty warned him as Peter then nodded grinning as he web slinged away.
He spent some more time on patrolling before going to his new apartment, making sure no one was watching he opened up the window and sneaked through. There was the door opening and there stood Kitty entering, "You know you shouldn't make that a habit in case you are being followed Peter. Plus the subject of finding out that you were on the trail of FOH? Never thought to tell me?" Kitty asked as Peter smiled at his girlfriend while taking off his mask.
"We have our own superhero lives separate; I don't badger you for details on if that Shadow King guy returned." Peter replied sitting on the bed as she came closer.
"Friends of Humanity one of many Mutant hating groups who we deal with, I think you should know that's our department to look into." Kitty told him as Peter shook his head.
"So you are saying we are to stick to our corners? Okay then I better not see you go after Shocker and warn Wolvie to stay far away from Sandman if he comes across him." Peter responded as they shared a kiss.
"You know your suit is lame by the way?" Peter asked and Kitty then gave him a face demanding that he explain himself. "I mean just black with yellow bits? You X-Men aren't all creative and I know you don't have to hide your identity but you should get something memorable." Peter explained as Kitty then put her fingers all over him to touch his suit.
"You shouldn't criticise my suits considering the dumpster outfits you started out with, though I love this knew one of your's. The spandex really compliments you and I was close to checking you out when we were out there. I can expect others admiring you in this as well." Kitty said as she felt Peter's hands over her.
"I want to clarify that I didn't say that I liked your suit, shows you off as well." Peter told her she then pushed him onto the bed. "Our first night in the apartment, a downgrade from the fancy X-Men mansion isn't it?" Peter asked as Kitty went in closer.
"I would give up the fanciest bedroom ever to sleep with you!" Kitty said as they kissed and went to work undressing eachother.
Another fic with Zarda paired with Spidey taking some inspiration from Heroes Reborn. I made it so that in this Squadron Supreme Earth, Nighthawk with Ultron was like Batman with Brother Eye.