Marvel: Road to Endgame & Beyond…?
by Alex Kane
Prologue-Champion of the Multiverse Part IV
It was finally time for Zon to come home…to Earth 19999. With many DNA samples and several more powers and skills copied (not to mention various facets of others universes leaking into Earth 19999), Zon was ready to begin preparations.
He settled during World War II. Zon, operating under the name Jon York (named after his adoptive home city) worked closely with Captain America, Bucky, Agent Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, the Howling Commandos, and the SSR. Zon's accumulated intelligence allowed him to work somewhat with Howard on various projects. Zon even accomplished making the very 1st copycat Super Soldier Serum. He named it the Infinity Formula out of respect to his overall mission. The only catch was that he had to share a sample with the then-ally Soviet Union. Based on his knowledge of Earth-616, he knew the USSR would use the sample on one of their members of the Black Widow program in the Red Room operation. Knowing how valuable Natalia Romanova, or Natasha Romanoff, would be in the future, the trade was seen by Zon as a no-brainer even if his US superiors didn't take kindly to it. Right now, a little girl needed it to start her journey. It wasn't all bad though. Not long after Cap's disappearance, an outstanding sergeant was heavily injured protecting his fellow soldiers in an explosion. It was decided that Nicholas Joseph Fury would be the recipient of the US's sample of the Infinity Formula and lead the Howling Commandos in Steve's place. The effects would improve Fury's and Romanoff's physical traits to approximately the same as Steve Rogers. The one big difference would be a reduced aging effect. It would take 6 or 7 decades for Fury to age from a man of his 20s to past middle age. Romanoff was now a little girl, but the stuff the Red Room gave to her mixed with the Infinity Formula would make sure she aged even slower than Fury did. Most wouldn't think of the famous Black Widow as about as old as Captain America, but falsified Soviet records would fool anyone trying to dig up dirt on her, even years later when the cybernetic Arnim Zola tried and saw her birth date as somewhere in the 1980s.
When Peggy Carter had her solo adventures, Zon stayed working with the SSR and Stark, building more wealth and power for himself so he could be self-sufficient and to make sure NO ONE interfered with his work, not even the government. He even saved Jack Thompson's life when he had been shot by members of the Zodiac organization. Though Thompson was ever grateful, Carter herself was still yearning for more, even after finding some semblance of happiness with Daniel Sousa. This led to Zon spearheading the movement behind reorganizing the SSR into S.H.I.E.L.D.
Zon tried to stay out of things in the next few decades. He did consult with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the 60s when their lead scientist Henry Pym invented Pym Particles and became Ant-Man. After a month or so, he reluctantly brought on a partner in socialite/aspiring scientist Janet Van Dyne, who wanted justice for her father's death. She became the Wasp. Not long after, Pym brought in Bill Foster to help him perfect the Pym Particles so Hank could become Giant-Man. For months, Hank could only grow to 12 feet. With more of Foster's help, Pym finally broke the 12 feet barrier and became Goliath. It wasn't long until Pym began making weapons for a new suit called the Yellowjacket. It was around this time that Hank's mental state began to suffer from overwork and various mental disorders. Luckily he recognized that and put the Yellowjacket project on the shelf and let Foster take over the Goliath project. To improve S.H.I.E.L.D.'s efficiency and security, Pym looked into creating artificial intelligence. He actually managed to make a device to scan his own brain waves and duplicate them onto a machine. Upon activation, the new Robbie the Robot looking thing, dubbed Ultron by Pym, acted very….erratically. The thing was nearly screaming its robot head off calling Pym "Dad" constantly and wrecking the room. Hank shut the thing down and immediately shelved the program. Little did he know that years later, Tony Stark would restart it and add his OWN brain waves to the artificial being. It wasn't long after that when the Wasp supposedly sacrificed herself and Ant-Man retired his superhero career. His relationship with Foster suffered enough to the point where Bill was blinded by Elias Starr's stealing of Hank's technology. The actions of Starr, or Egghead as his coworkers tended to call him, would result in another catastrophe years later: Ghost.
Zon still managed to stay out of the spotlight well into the 2010s. He became a private benefactor for any hero in play. In fact, he even started up an astronomical research facility in Hawaii to study the moon after Inhumans became public knowledge, knowing that Attilan was somewhere up there. Zon figured that if studied closely enough, Black Bolt might come down to Earth and extend an olive branch of sorts if he saw that humanity wasn't so bad. Zon knew that if this occurred, he could eventually use this as good PR for Inhumans in general, maybe even ALL superhumans in general. Thankfully this plan more or less worked perfectly.
Zon started getting more exposure post 2015 when he designed the 1st ever supervillain prison: the Raft. However, after approval was given to build the facility was when things turned worse. In getting his fiercely driven independence, Zon ruffled quite a few feathers in the US government and military. His biggest opponent was General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Zon couldn't generally stand the government or the military. When Ross retired his military commission and joined the President's cabinet, he was essentially both. Ross, knowing how much Jon York hated him and brought up his mishandling of an international hero like the Incredible Hulk, wasted no time in getting the best payback possible: stealing control of the Raft! Zon was furious and would seek to discredit Ross whenever possible to get his prison back. Surely the President would have SOME common sense than having a dinosaur like Thunderbolt in his cabinet! Unfortunately, shit REALLY hit the fan with the "Civil War" caused by the Sokovia Accords and Baron Zemo. Even though Zemo was apprehended and Ross looked further like a fool when Steve Rogers broke out his fellow "Secret Avengers", it had been a pyrrhic victory. There were only 3 legal Avengers: Iron Man, War Machine, and Vision. As far as Zon was concerned, ALL 3 of them were emotionally compromised. Zon was so infuriated with it all, he even threatened Tony Stark to STAY AWAY from actually using the armor OR ELSE. The Avengers knew the truth of what Zon was, though they didn't know his mission. He dare not reveal it for fear of his goal of fixing it being compromised. But, they witnessed enough of his power, growing ever more when adding the various heroes, antiheroes, and spies of Earth-19999. They didn't question him EVER. Though that didn't stop them from displeasing him with their petty squabbles. Zon threatened Rogers too. If his plan was to succeed, the universe needed BOTH Captain America and Iron Man, but neither man could be trusted in Zon's eyes. They had to earn his trust back by taking a year's sabbatical. Steve could coordinate, and sometimes operate with, Falcon and Black Widow in the Secret Avengers. Tony could only get in the suit in an emergency. The only time (or time and a half) came when Spider-Man was investigating the criminal known as the Vulture. Zon wanted Peter to get away from his Tony Stark hero-worship, which kind of worked, and for Tony to make it up to Peter for using him as a child soldier against Steve and not even apologizing for it! Though Zon was further frustrated by Tony offering Peter a place on the official team, due to said action officially giving Peter's secret identity (and likely his freedom from the government) away, he was MORE than proud of Peter to say no.
As heroes like Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Daredevil were getting more popular with the public (even Punisher got some love), PR for the Sokovia Accords went DOWN HARD. Zon took heavy advantage of this as soon as possible. The first thing he did was finally take back control of the Raft from Ross since there was only one prisoner or two inside, making the place a waste of money. Thanks to intel from S.H.I.E.L.D., a few stragglers such as Blizzard, the original Whiplash, Angar the Screamer, Hellfire, ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Felix Blake, and even the still cryogenically frozen Abomination were all accounted for, apprehended, and put into the Raft along with Diamondback and Zemo. Zon then began work on amendments to the Sokovia Accords. That way cops couldn't take in the local heroes, even if they wanted to. The original document specified ALL superhumans had to be registered. Right now it was just the organization of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Seeing how misguided some of the prisoners were, like Blake or Hellfire or Blizzard, Zon began a new program that even the President and Ross thought had merit: the Thunderbolts.
Seeing how misguided some of the prisoners were, like Blake or Hellfire or Blizzard, Zon began a new program that even the President and Ross thought had merit: the Thunderbolts. The Thunderbolts program, named somewhat mocking Ross, would work to rehabilitate certain prisoners. They could go on VERY covert ops under strict supervision. Should they do this and take various psychiatric evaluations, they would be eligible for parole. Thank God Zon came up with this program, because the newest prisoner broke his heart: Patricia Walker. Zon had grown very fond of her during his time with her and Jessica. Zon had agreed that it was possible Alisa Jones was too dangerous to be incarcerated, but Trish lost it when she tried to kill Jessica. But, she saw that she lost herself. She felt immense shame when Jessica saw her in chains. Zon KNEW there was room for redemption. If Jessica could find it after killing under Purple Man's influence, the Trish could find it with the HORRIBLE science of Karl Malus. He worked tirelessly to remove much of the doctor's treatment of Trish. She still had some strength and agility, but it wasn't as about on par as Cap or Black Widow if not SLIGHTLY better. It turned out Karl's research really was shit! It figured to Zon since Jessica and the Whizzer had been more or less accidental and Alisa's continued treatments were more controlled. Malus had used much of the same methods on Trish he used on Alisa, bringing out their worst selves. Truly, Malus was a quack.
With psychic treatments from Zon, Trish's drug-fueled impulses had vanished. She was reluctant to join the Thunderbolts because she felt she wasn't ready yet for the outside world, even if it was under supervision. With some convincing by Zon and him opening himself up more about his own past and the things he'd seen, both good and bad, she joined without any further thought. Right now, the team consisted of her leading the team, under the name Hellcat with a brown-yellow with black catsuit, Blizzard who now had continued therapy sessions to get over his loneliness and perceived persecution, Davos now operating under the name Steel Serpent to make up for what he did to his friend Danny and his own failure to protect K'un-L'un, and even volunteers Mary Walker, aka Typhoid Mary, under Joy Meachum's supervision and Ghost under Bill Foster's supervision. In about a year and a few months, Trish earned her freedom, but chose not to come back yet. She still had major guilt issues towards what she did to Jessica, Alisa, and even Malcolm for using him repeatedly. Besides, at the moment she was content with doing the good she always wanted to do and be with her new love Zon.