Chapter 19 – The Heroes' New York
"You ready to head out?"
Sixer glanced up, blinking in surprise at Maria as she leaned against the doorway leading from the living room to the kitchen. "Now?"
"Well, soon." Maria shrugged one shoulder. "It's a week after New Year's, it's cold and dreary, and it seems like a good time as any to get back on looking for a solution to the problem."
Sixer tilted his head slightly, considering Maria's statement. It was cold outside, and it was hard to really do anything outside – even for himself and Maria, with their similar fire abilities.
"Where do you intend to go?" Sixer asked.
"New York, in a dimension chock full of heroes who might know someone who can help," Maria replied. "I'm hoping to get to talk to Dr. Strange, but that's going to depend on who is available and who is causing trouble when we get there. I'm hoping not to get there in the middle of any big dangerous arcs, but with my luck…"
Maria shrugged while Sixer's ears pulled back a little at the prospect.
"…well, you wanted to see them, right?" Sixer hedged. "And it is the next place on your list of intended locations. Do you have…anywhere else in mind at the moment?"
"…not…right now," Maria admitted. "But Dr. Strange works with magic in a strange way, and I'm hoping that if the previous worlds didn't have an answer, this one might."
Sixer frowned slightly. "I see. Is there any way you could check in on what is happening in that dimension before we go? It might be better if we waited, if you wanted to make sure we weren't getting into anything too dangerous."
"Well, I could probably—"
Maria winced slightly as an alarm-like sound started going off in her head, and text ran across her vision: Call from: Captain America.
"Well, I think that problem just got answered," Maria muttered. She put a hand to her left ear, and the alarm stopped as the symbol of a phone appeared in the left corner of Maria's vision. "Maria Carlsdale speaking. What's up, Cap? It's been a while."
::That's one way of putting it:: came the reply. ::Flare-Up, we need your help with something, and since you're number's only been able to pop up again just now, I think I'm not the only one who thinks that::
Maria's expression went from surprised to serious as her eyebrows dropped. "I see. What's going on?"
Sixer frowned as well, but out of confusion.
::Something eldritch, probably – again. Except the guy this time is screaming about cursing your name specifically for killing one of his 'god's' brethren. Know anything about that?::
"Eldritch—" Maria paused. Her expression went even more dark, to Sixer's confusion. "Let me guess. Something about a beast with one eye?"
Sixer's eyes widened sharply.
::So you do know what's going on::
"Pit yes I do. I was just in the middle of one apocalypse, and I'm not about to let you guys go through one too – although, the idea of him going after your dimension sounds like he wants to sign a death warrant, considering how many super-powered people are gathered in one place." Maria nodded to Sixer, who rose quickly from the kitchen table. "I'm bringing over a friend who knows a lot about that damned demon as well."
::Good. We need all the help we can get right now. When can you get over here?::
"I'm coming over now."
Maria lowered her hand from her ear and snapped her fingers, summoning a portal. "This isn't something that can wait."
"No, it can't," Sixer agreed. "If a Cipher is attempting to break into that dimension, we don't want to give him a foothold."
"Can I come too?"
Maria and Sixer glanced at the living room, catching sight of a spiky, black-and-blond head peering into the kitchen.
"It's been a while since I've been on a proper mission with you, Maria," the young man added. "And if it's that guy again, I want to help."
"The more the merrier, Vash," Maria replied. "Let's move."
Vash sprinted for the portal and leapt inside. Sixer waited for a moment before following, with Maria almost on top of his tails as they jumped out of the Mystery Shack's kitchen and onto a city street.
Maria managed to get the portal shut just before someone rushed past them and almost stumbled into it by accident. She looked ahead, past the abandoned cars and the people trying to run past them. "Looks like we got here just in time – Vash, Sixer, let's go!"
"Right!"
Maria started running forward, then jumped up as her hoverboard disconnected from her back. She nearly clipped someone in the head as she climbed up into the air and over the running mob, but her focus was on the fight that was taking place further down the busy street. On either side, Sixer and Vash climbed up onto the roofs of the abandoned cars in order to get a better look.
A gathering of four costumed figures was standing in front of a crackling, hemispherical yellow barrier over what looked like a summoning circle, with a single figure standing in the middle of it over a giant triangle with a single eye.
Sixer sucked in a breath when he saw the black and yellow robes the figure was wearing. "Oh no."
Maria glanced at him and frowned when she saw the recognition and shock in his eyes. After a moment, she shook her head and returned her focus to the people in front of them. "Let's get over there – Sixer, that might be made of the same energy you were exposed to during Weirdmageddon, do you think you can do something about it?"
"I-I might."
"I think I can too, since it's energy from between dimensions," Vash spoke up.
Maria gave a curt nod. "Then do what you can. Let's move!"
Maria zipped forward through the air towards the costumed group as Vash and Sixer leapt from car roof to car roof to keep up. People running past them looked up in confusion at the strange young woman in civilian clothes riding a high-tech hoverboard, and at the two strange men with her, but they didn't stop.
"If you want to get caught in the end of the world, that's your funeral!" a man shouted from below.
"Not happening today!" Maria barked back.
Maria reached the edge of the cars and dropped down to street level as Vash and Sixer finished car-hopping. As she stepped off the hoverboard, she could now hear what the figure under the sparking barrier was saying, but she couldn't make any of it out. It sounded like gibberish.
"Cap, when did he get here?" Maria asked as Sixer and Vash caught up with her.
The red, white, and blue-costumed man who'd turned at their approach looked down at Maria with a grim expression. "He's been here for about a week now, trying to get followers for some kind of cult. Luckily, they've abandoned him for the moment – Stark's working on tracking them down."
Maria gave a curt nod, then glanced back at Sixer. He nodded in reply, then started to move his way through the other three heroes, muttering "Excuse me, I know how to handle this." Vash followed after him, giving the heroes a sheepish grin as he passed.
"Who are your friends?" Captain America asked.
"One of them is my nephew, through my cousin Joshua," Maria replied. "How that's possible is a little complicated."
"The other guy looks a lot like that so-called high priest in there," remarked someone else. Maria glanced over and saw a young man wearing a mostly-light green costume with a helmet and visor over his head. She could almost see the data streaming across the visor.
"He's an alternate," Maria explained. "And from the looks of things, he knows that idiot under the bubble."
"How?"
Before Maria could answer, Sixer gave his own shout.
"You zealous idiot! Come to your senses!"
The young man in green stiffened in surprise. "Wha—"
"Something tells me they met before, Gear." Maria turned her attention to the crackling barrier, then started to move forward herself.
Behind her, Gear and Captain America exchanged surprised looks.
"Come to my senses?" the man under the barrier – who was indeed identical to Sixer except for the fox ears and tails, as he had none – laughed in a way that made him sound crazed. "It is you who must come to his senses! You served him before, why turn your back on him?"
"It wasn't something I signed up for!" Sixer yelled back. His hands were up in front of the barrier, not quite touching, but close enough for something to be happening: the energy was sparking less under his hands than it was anywhere else.
Vash positioned himself on the other side and raised his hands as well. His red coat was almost flung back behind him as a result of the force of the energy, and he gritted his teeth in response.
"This stuff feels a lot different from that other Cipher's stuff!" Vash called. "I don't know how much of a help I'm going to be here!"
"Weirdness is weirdness and like it or not it all comes from the same place." Sixer gritted his teeth and took a step forward, pressing his hands against the barrier. "How far has your mind gone that you decided to listen to that damned monster? I know you were taken before I was, but by how long?"
Maria sucked in a breath sharply, causing the other two costumed figures watching the scene to look in her direction.
"Maria, I almost didn't see you show up!" A dark-skinned young man wearing purple, yellow, and black, with the yellow insignia of a lightning bold on his chest, moved closer to Maria. "Do you know what's goin' on? That guy was really cursing you out a minute ago."
"I have a pretty good idea." Maria's fists clenched, and she took a couple steps forward. "Hey, Ford!"
Ford's gaze turned sharply, and his eyes widened with an almost manic glee. "There you are! Where the servant goes, the master follows, I—"
A shockwave of fire exploded out from Maria, creating a small circle of flames around her as fire licked at her hair. "Shut. Up."
Sixer, whose ears had pulled back when Ford had started speaking, looked to Maria with an expectant expression.
"Listen, bub, I don't know how high as a kite Bill made you in order to stick you like this, but I've got a few good ideas about what he tore out of your head." A fireball materialized in Maria's hand. "You'd better hope that, for your own safety, you don't take this dimension, otherwise I can't guarantee how sane you'll be by the end of it. Especially considering that your family is who knows where and likely not in the same state you are."
"They're not!" Sixer confirmed. "He would have gloated about it if they—" He grunted as the sparks from the barrier increased suddenly, trying to crawl up his arms. A pulse of fire magic pushed the energy back and made its way into the barrier over Ford, causing it to flicker slightly.
Vash noticed and pushed himself, feathers sprouting up his arms as he did so. The barrier flickered again.
Ford gritted his teeth. "You're all fools. Lord Cipher brings enlightenment, he—"
"Tears dimensions apart because he wants to make a never-ending party with a host that never dies, but that's not something that's possible for him in the way the multiverse is set up," Maria fired back harshly. "Sixer's dimension is gone because of Puppeteer's actions. Do you really think that a benevolent being would sacrifice an entire dimension like that? Think about your family, Stanford Pines! Think about the people you've stood with and the people you've fought for! What would Stanley tell you if he saw you standing on the side of the damned demon that you spent thirty years of your life battling against?"
Maria could feel the group of figures shifting behind her at her words. She was going to get questioned when all this was over, that was a certainty.
Ford's expression, meanwhile, was starting to shift slightly from that angered zeal to something else. His eyes almost seemed to flicker, like they weren't quite sure of themselves.
Sixer looked between Maria and Ford for a moment. Then he nodded slightly and looked at his counterpart. "I doubt you intended things to end up like this. I didn't either. If you can still – can still re-re-resist him—" He flinched at the pain that flared in his soul. "—then do so. There is still a chance. Maria saved my life, we can still save yours."
Ford looked confused. He looked angry, then surprised as his hands raised to either side of his head.
The barrier collapsed abruptly; Vash and Sixer stumbled and regained their balance in its absence.
And Ford screamed.
He fell to his knees, then his entire figure glitched and vanished in a bright flash of yellow-blue energy that burned the summoning circle into the ground at the same time.
…except, the eye of the triangle was completely blacked out.
"…Auntie, I don't like the feel of this." Vash looked down at his arms worriedly as the energy that had made up the barrier now sparked up and down, causing feathers to sprout.
"I've felt worse." Sixer grimaced as the energy sparked on his own arms.
"Allow me."
Maria turned sharply at the voice, and a mustachioed man with a bright red cape and what could almost be described as wizard attire stepped out of the group of assembled heroes.
"I'm going to need something from his realm in order to seal his dimension off from ours," he continued. "Both of you – please."
Vash and Sixer exchanged looks, then held out one arm each to the man. Sixer met Maria's gaze over the wizard's shoulder as he did, and was met with a nod in response.
"It's not going to feel pleasant," Sixer warned. He winced as the energy sparked again.
"I think I've felt worse," the wizard replied. He gripped both their hands and inhaled sharply as the energy jumped from Vash and Sixer to him, and then he started chanting something in a language Maria couldn't quite place but Sixer seemed to recognize it as his eyes widened in surprise.
As the wizard finished chanting his spell, the summoning circle on the ground flashed again and vanished in a burst of yellow-green energy, leaving no trace of it.
The wizard pulled his hands away and stumbled for a moment. His cape flapped, helping him get his balance. Sixer and Vash reached their own equilibrium in the same way, with Sixer's tails flailing a bit behind him as Vash's arms pinwheeled for a moment.
Vash blinked and shook his head. "Well, that was…funky. I do feel better, though."
"I should think so," the wizard replied. "That type of energy isn't something people of outside dimensions are meant to be exposed to for long."
Maria approached as the wizard turned to look at Sixer, frowning.
"You, though…you feel like you've been changed by that energy, somehow. And that talk before – you've…met and served this 'Cipher' your other self was mentioning, correct?"
"A-a version of him," Sixer admitted.
"But you guys finished him off," Maria spoke up as she joined them. She nodded to the wizard. "Dr. Strange, it's good to see you."
Sixer's ears went straight up as Strange turned to look at Maria.
"I could say the same, as you managed to stop a rather dangerous entity from reaching our dimension," Strange said. "Do you…know what happened to this man?"
"She saved him from Cipher," Vash spoke up. "A-and his family too."
"Really?" Strange looked back at Sixer. "This is a story I am interested in hearing."
"As are the rest of us, I'm sure," Captain America spoke up from behind the four of them. "But I really doubt that a city street is the best place to talk."
"Especially about something like this," Maria agreed with a nod. "Does Stark still have his tower, or are we going to have to go somewhere else?"
"I should think Stark still has his tower, since we're interning there!" Gear exclaimed indignantly. He elbowed the other next to him. "Right, Static?"
"W-well, yeah!" Static nodded. "Come on, Maria! You should really see what we've done with the place!"
Maria offered a slight smile. "Looking forward to it."
Time Break
Stark Tower, thankfully, wasn't far enough that everyone needed a ride. It turned into a walk instead, with the heroes that the locals were familiar with assuring them that there wasn't any danger.
It gave Maria time to introduce Sixer and Vash properly to the group of four present.
"So, you're her nephew?" Static looked Vash up and down. "How does that work?"
Vash rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I…I was adopted?"
"Joshua found out about the people Vash and his brother Knives are a part of before the whole Dark Arms thing," Maria explained. "They got to interact with him a little when we got shipped out to find a new planet to colonize a few centuries back."
"Centuries?" Gear squeaked. "But it's been – what, three years since we've last seen you?"
"Maybe that much, maybe not," Strange replied. "The multiverse has a strange way of causing events to happen and fall into place."
"That's one way of putting my headache," Gear grumbled. "Machines make a lot more sense than this."
"I'm sure Fiddleford would agree with you," Sixer commented.
"Fiddleford?"
"A friend of Sixer's," Maria explained. "Fiddleford McGucket. He's an inventor who…makes a lot of robots. Usually with destructive tendencies."
"Helpful destructive tendencies," Sixer said quickly. "If it weren't for him, I can think of a number of fights that would have been more trouble."
"I think I'd like to meet this guy," Gear commented, a grin crossing his face.
Static stared at him. "Uh…would it be cool if he didn't?"
"Fiddleford isn't interested in traveling across dimensions, so that's probably not gonna happen." Maria had a grin on her face despite her words, however. "I do have his basic design for a house-based mecha that punched that triangular demon in the face, though, if you want to have a look later."
"Heck yes!"
"Oh now you've done it," Static muttered.
Captain America shook his head at the two of them and turned to look at Sixer. "You don't seem to be too startled by what's going on. Has Maria told you anything about this dimension?"
Sixer shook his head. "She's mentioned briefly that this dimension is based off a series of comics in her dimension, and I think I can see now which ones correspond with comics my brother read when we were kids, but for the most part the people in this dimension are very new to me. I'm from a version of Earth, so New York as a whole isn't a big shock to me, and I've seen a multitude of other dimensions over the course of my lifetime."
"Was this—"
"Both before and after…all this." Sixer motioned to his vulpine ears. "I did meet Cipher before I was thrust into the multiverse, but I didn't end up in the state Zealot had seen me in until after a certain point."
"Zealot suits that one," Maria spoke up. "Did you come up with it or—"
"I…I did," Sixer admitted. He glanced around for a moment as they reached the doors of a tall skyscraper…and the large number of people with cameras that was swarming them. "But I called him another name when I first met him and I am disappointed that it was the first thing that came to mind."
"I bet I can guess what that name is." Maria's expression soured. "You did mention you'd met someone in his position before."
"Perhaps it would be best if we continued this inside," Strange commented. "Captain, if you would do the honors?"
Captain America nodded. "Static, Gear, give us some cover. I don't think Maria, Sixer, and Vash want their presence announced."
Static's fingers sparked with purple electricity. "Hey, fellas, give us some space, will ya?"
A series of loud pops went off behind them as the paparazzi were suddenly blinded by a series of electrical bursts from Static's fingers. Captain America and Strange took the opportunity to usher Maria and Sixer inside the lobby of the building before Gear and Static ran in after them.
"Come on. We've got an elevator to catch," Captain America said. "Stark's probably waiting for us already with the others."
"Others?" Sixer repeated.
"We'll find out when we get up there, I think," Maria said with a somewhat playful grin. "Let's go!"