Unknown Location
34 ABY
This god damned sand seemed to stretch on forever. Tony was no stranger to desert environments, but this was ridiculous. As he stared down at the monitor of the makeshift controller he'd crafted using what he could salvage from what was left of his armor, he couldn't see anything but the curling tan hills glistening in the harsh sunlight. He hadn't even seen any rocks or even the slightest signs of vegetation- this planet was quite clearly dead.
Just looking down at this scout drone was beginning to drive him insane, the only thing that kept him from losing it completely was that he had someone to keep him company. Peter had decided to explore the rest of the ship, something Tony wasn't able to do due to his armor being completely destroyed by the power of the infinity stones. It was strange- Parker said it had been months since the battle with Thanos had taken place, but for Tony it had only been about fourteen hours. At least, that's what he thought. Time was weird in the desert.
Another strange thing about this particular desert is that the sand seemed to be made of a completely foreign material, in the short time he'd been here, Tony had discovered at least two dozen new elements, and none of them were on the periodic table. But despite that, the most intriguing part of this area was the crashed ship itself, it looked vaguely familiar somehow- like he'd seen it before somewhere.
Peter said it was a Star Destroyer from Star Wars, and while Tony had dismissed that possibility, half the ship was covered by the sand, and what little he could see of it bore an uncanny resemblance to the fictional ship. And with all the crazy things that had happened in the past few years, anything was possible. The air grew strangely thinner ever few hours or so, and the temperature dropped ever so slightly, meaning nightfall was close, then they could venture out themselves. Their bodies weren't built for heat like this.
The familiar sound of one of Peter's wrist-mounted web shooters echoed from above, his form casting a shadow over the ground in front of where Tony was sitting. "Anything?" The former leader of the Avengers asked without looking up from the controller.
"Yeah, this is a Star Destroyer, Mr. Stark," said Peter as he landed on the floor softly. It was very clearly darker now, the sky was turning to an elegant mixture of orange and violet, and the heat was noticeably relenting, "I think we're in Star Wars." Tony cast him a doubtful look, but it only furthered Parker's point, "Oh c'mon, is it really the craziest thing you've ever heard? In fact, at this point we should be expecting this."
He had a point there, "Maybe- and that's a big maybe- you're right. No matter how much I hate to admit it." Peter snorted at that. God, how did he wind up here? Tony looked back at the controller, noticing that the temperature was low enough for them to venture outside, "Alright, scavenger hunt's over. Time for you to find out what desert life is like."
Metropolis
7:04 PM
It was insane how much the world could change in just a matter of months. After Bruce left on his little adventure in another universe, Lex Luthor developed a new hologram projection system using assets he'd acquired from Wayne Enterprises's Applied Sciences Division- Bruce's disappearance left the company in the hands of a bunch of greedy board members, which created problems for the League and everyone else on the planet. The system was used to create several life-like holograms of various enemies of the Justice League, such as Darkseid, Doomsday, the Anti-Moniter, Braniac, Metallo, and even minor ones like the Joker.
Everyone thought it was the greatest threat they'd ever faced, and with Bruce gone, they had no idea they weren't real. Dozens of heroes arrived in Star City when Lex sent out the projections- Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Green Lanterns, Cyborg, Aquaman, Question, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and of course, Superman. The holograms were made to seem like they were physical objects, so they responded to hits and blows, making it seem like there was a middle distance.
When the dust settled, and Star City was nearly leveled, Lex turned off the projections- revealing it had all been a hoax. The entire League knew it was Lex, but no one cared. At least, the public didn't. There was no direct proof linking Lex to the holograms, and instead of attempting to convict him, they turned against the Justice League. It was only about a week before Superman disappeared, seemingly out of thin air, leaving the world without it's first line of defense.
Barry knew something was wrong about the situation, but no one believed him. They told him that the public was simply tricked by a shroud of smoke and mirrors that was deployed by Luthor, that they needed to find out how to stop him before he did something else drastic. It was around this time that Barry went to visit Bruce, if only for a little while. The speedster said they met in a bar of some kind in the other universe, and discussed the state of the world and what Bruce was doing there in the first place.
While the detective didn't actually tell him (because of course he wouldn't), he did say he thought he'd be done there soon enough. That clearly wasn't true either. Barry brought him a strange object that had been recovered from the Watch Tower- one that was eerily similar to the one that had turned up in the Batcave a few months earlier- a yellow smiley face pin with a blood splat on it.
It was obviously a sign that there was something supernatural about the situation- but as to what it was- well, that was the question. Barry returned to Earth without Bruce, which was probably for the best- since Gotham had turned on the Batman already. That was why things had become so difficult, and that was what Dick's mind had been lingering on for the past few weeks.
It wasn't that he blamed Bruce for making his job as Nightwing much harder, but he did think that he certainly wasn't helping. Nightwing began to represent Gotham just as much as he represented Blüdhaven, which meant lots and lots of travelling with very little free time. Barry was still combing through the speed force with his friend and partner-in-crime, Wally West- or Kid-Flash. They were looking for any disturbances in the time stream that could indicate outside intervention from a cosmic force of some kind, but their search had turned up fruitless.
This wasn't because of the fact that they couldn't find any strange anomalies- but because they found a lot of them. It was almost like the entire history of their universe had been fabricated- changed by someone or something- and it was clearly done intentionally. There were heroes that no one even remembered, like a group that pre-dated the Justice League by more than a decade- it was called the Justice Society of America.
Regardless, Superman's disappearance had shook the world to it's core, and was no doubt a result of the battle in Star City. The nation was divided, people were killing each other in the streets, wars had broken out all over the world, even one between Britain and Russia, which resulted in both countries' governments being utterly destroyed. Britain was the only one that was able to come back, but there were still problems, like an anarchist leader who was wreaking havoc on the new government- one that was so bad they were even saying he might be the devil incarnate.
That was one of the hundreds of examples of terrorism throughout the world right now, but even now, with all the power the League still had- they were facing the worst foe they had ever encountered- politics.
Hawkins, Indiana
October 12th, 1985
11:59 PM
Why? wondered the satire of a man that was Steve Harrington, Why do I have to do this? It very well could be the hardest thing he's ever had to do, of all the monsters he'd faced, of all the times he'd stared into death's cold eyes to help save his friends, this was different. This was the one creature that broke him. Drove him insane, revealed things to him that his brain could never comprehend, and yet- it didn't come from the upside down.
No, this one came from just down the street, "-so then it went like- My name is Oswald-ius, links-and-blinks- like jeez, lady, I'm only ten!" Erica Sinclair. God dammit.
"Uh-huh..." Steve mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his gloved fingertips. He was only half listening- or actually quarter-listening- to whatever she had just said. She was constantly talking about how her teacher made them read stuff that was clearly made for adults and high schoolers, which was definitely a problem, but only because he had to listen to it on the way back from picking her up after Girl Scouts.
Lucas had decided to pull a fast one on him and told his mom Steve Harrington could take his sister to and from the scouts, which of course was true, but it most definitely was not at all beneficial. It was almost like the girl had no idea how talkative she was, often times they went entire hours where she would just spew a bunch of nonsense with Steve retaining none of it, "I mean my brother is into all those stories that those old guys liked to write," She continued, "But it's only because of that game he loves."
She was also the embodiment of irony, because she loved that game too. He could pretty much see the edge of that Monster Manual or whatever poking out of the side. He pushed through each passing moment, since the girl's constant babbling clearly wasn't stopping any time soon. He couldn't catch a break, could he? First he loses it with his girlfriend, who then went and dated Jonathan Byers (which she kind of already had been at one point), the next time he finds someone he likes it's someone who's into girls. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but god damn.
He used to have girls throwing themselves at him, but now he was reduced to nothing more than a bus-boy at an ice cream shop. How he wished those days would- "Hey!" Steve mentally slapped himself in the face and turned his attention back to the real world, taking in his surroundings. When did he get here? "We're at my house, nerd." Erica snarked, earning a mocking face from him.
"Alright, kid," He mumbled, rubbing his eyes, "Let's get you inside." He approached the door with the spare key he'd been given and unlocked it, opening it into the dark house. It was beyond him why her parents thought she was responsible enough to get herself ready for bed when they were all asleep.
"See you tomorrow, Stephen." Erica mused, practically skipping inside her house.
He rolled his eyes at the sound of the name he loathed so much, "Yeah, yeah. Hope you get that whole thing with Oswald-uis or whatever sorted out." She looked at him strangely, almost like he had Tourette's, "What?" He groaned.
She looked at him for a moment longer, "Ozymandias. You mean Ozymandias." Steve rolled his eyes and prepared to say something snarky, but she slammed the door shut on him, "Later, nerd!" She yelled from inside.
It always seemed like she got the last laugh. That was his job. Steve sighed and turned around, tugging the collar up on his jacket and preparing to return to house, "I admire her education," A slightly British voice came from behind. Steve whirled around to see a blonde-haired man with bright blue eyes standing at the foot of her yard. He wore a black suit with a purple handkerchief tucked neatly into his chest pocket, and a somewhat amused smile on his face, "She has a bright future. Whether she knows it or not."
Steve was slightly taken aback by his sudden appearance, he couldn't have been standing there for more than a few seconds, Erica would've made some remark before she closed the door, "Uh... who are you?"
The man's smile brightened a little, "My name is Adrian Veidt, and I require your assistance."
Please allow me to introduce myself,
I'm a man of wealth
and taste.
-The Rolling Stones
I've got to stop telling you guys what's coming. Because quite frankly, I barely follow through with it. I can promise that I will get back to some of the other plot points soon enough, most of them in the next chapter, but I'm particularly looking forward to exploring this one. Super excited to show you all what happens from here on out, and hopefully I'll be able to start writing this next one soon.
Now, if youwant to see the chapter come out quickly, please leave a review. I know I seem like a broken record, but hearing what you all think really speeds up my writing. Even if it's just constructive criticism or something like that. Anyway, until next time!
-MB
