Chapter 99.
Hey everyone. Back with another chapter.
Somehow forgot to mention last chapter, but now e have over 900 reviews. Thanks so much everyone. I love you all 3000!
This chapter will cover the aftermath of the Battle of Earth, so I hope you're all excited for it.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favirouted this fic so far.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters and elements you see in this fic. I only own Jason Stark and any other OC's and worlds you see in this fic.
On with the show.
Power of Magic: Thanks for the review. I accidentally posted the previous chapter twice, which is why you got the notification. But this is the true Chapter 99. Enjoy the chapter.
No One's POV.
Following the battle, the majority of the troops had returned home via portals and breaches but all of them had promised to be there for Rumple's funeral.
White Canary's reunion with the heroes of Earth-92131 had been tearful, to say the least. She wasn't even letting them out of her sight now.
Tony had graciously offered the Avengers Tower for everyone to sleep in for the night.
And everyone managed to do it. However, a new day was dawning soon and it would start a new phase in the era of the Multiverse.
Later, The Shire, Bag End.
Sam knocked on the door and it was opened on the other end by Rosie Cotton, holding Frodo Gamgee.
Before husband and wife could kiss each other, Elanor came running out with a happy smile and tears of joy.
"Sam-dad!" She cried out as Sam lifted her up and kissed her forehead before wrapping her in a hug.
He then looked at Frodo and kissed his forehead joyfully before sharing a loving kiss with his wife.
"Well…..I'm back." He smiled as the entire family hugged each other lovingly.
Two days later, Earth-1937, Storybrooke.
Heroes from Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-3, Earth-9, Earth-19, Earth-21, Earth-38, Earth-51, Earth-X, Earth-84, Earth-89, Earth-96, Earth-143, Earth-167, Earth-898, Earth-10005, Earth-1937, Earth-1984, Earth-1992, Earth-2002, Earth-2004, Earth-2005, Earth-2012, Earth-2013, Earth-2016, Earth-2017, Earth-2018, Earth-2019, Earth-8096, Earth-80216, Earth-92131, Arda and Earth-199999 were all gathered together for the funeral of Rumplestilskin.
Rumple's body now lay under a cairn of stones where he was now buried. The cairn had been made by none other than Aulë the Smith.
Belle, whose eyes were puffy and red to a completely new level, placed a flower near the cairn.
Then Neal placed a flower near the cairn along with Regina, followed by Emma and Henry, then David and Mary Margaret, then Jason and Alexia, then Chloe and Ollie, and then Kal, followed by many more as all paid their respects to him.
Hook and Robin Hood had begrudging respect for the man, remembering how he helped stop David and Kal when they were brainwashed.
Chloe and Lois had tears in there eyes as they remembered his kindness to them, while Victor, AC, John Stewart and Bart lowered there heads in sadness.
Steve placed his hand in a respectful salute while the Amazons, Merry Men, Asgardians and Men of Westeros fired off fiery arrows into the sky as a gesture of respect to him.
Mantis swayed, as was the custom for mourning in her race.
The Gondorians, Rohirrim, Men of Dale, Dunlendings, Wakandans, Men of Westeros, ARGUS agents and Ravagers stood respectfully.
The Masters of the Mystic Arts used their powers to send sparks into the sky in Rumple's honour.
Jason, Chloe and Ollie sang a lament for him-
It's been a long day without you my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again
How could we not talk about family when family's all we got?
Everything I went through you were standing there by my side
And now you gonna be with me for the last ride
It's been a long day without you my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
When I see you again.
Then Queen Varda raised her hands into the air and some of the stars realigned, forming what looked like Rumple's face.
Everyone looked up at it, tears and respect shining in their eyes for Rumple.
And thus, the funeral for Rumplestilskin was over.
Next day, Earth-199999, Avengers Compound.
The battlefield and rubble were being cleared out by most of the heroes. Thor, Janna and Odinson used there weather manipulation to cleanse the fiery pits made by Morgoth's mace.
The speedsters were gathering most of the enemy corpses and putting them in a pile where either Thor lit them up with lightning, or the Supermen and Superwomen lit them up with their Heat Vision, or Carol lit them up with her photon blasts, or Leona lit them up with solar blasts.
The Trolls were too huge to lift by them so Hulk and King Shark were lifting them up instead to put on the piles.
Glaurung and Smaug, whose corpses had fallen on the ground, were going to be carried into the sun by Thor and Superman.
The rest were looking for the corpses of the defenders to take away for burial.
Strange, Cisco, Gypsy, Stephen and Breacher were helping those by opening portal and breaches respectively to their worlds or planets where they could be laid peacefully alongside their kin.
Barry-Red then sat down a bit glumly.
"Hey, you mind if I sit?" Oliver asked and Barry-Red shrugged.
"Free country," Barry-Red said as Oliver sat down next to him.
"You wanna talk about it?" Oliver asked gently.
"It's not like I've never killed anyone before…so why does this time feel different?" Barry-Red sighed.
"Because there's a difference between allowing someone to die and actually making that decision, to look into someone's eyes and decide to end their life. And then actually ending it," Oliver explained and Barry ran a hand over his face.
"You know the worst part? I don't regret it. Just that it had to be done. Does that make me a bad person?" Barry-Red wondered.
"Barry Allen, a bad person? Not a chance," Oliver teased and Barry-Red chuckled before Oliver frowned.
"Barry, doing whatever you have to in order to save your family and protect your city doesn't make you a monster. If you'd enjoyed killing him, that would make you a monster. But you didn't. You're one of the best guys I know and no evil speedster from another world or another time is gonna change that."
"Thanks Ollie," Barry-Red said gratefully and Oliver nodded as he patted his shoulder and the two got back to work.
Gandalf, Jason and Chloe walked to Strange during this time and asked, "Did you know?"
"Yes." Strange said regretfully, "On Titan, when I looked into all the possible futures, this was the only way we won."
"And there was no other way?" Chloe asked as a few tears fell out of her eyes at her old friend's loss.
"No." Strange said as a tear fell out of his own due to the guilt he himself was feeling for not being able to find any other way, "I looked through every single event, every small action we took. I wanted to find a way where we would win and all of us would come out of it alive. But there just…wasn't. Once we reached Titan, there was no other way."
Strange rubbed his hand on his forehead as Gandalf put a hand on his shoulder and said soothingly, "My friend, many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. But you cannot give it to them. Even if you think you can, you cannot. Rumple chose to fight so that the Multiverse could thrive and be free of evil."
Looking at the heroes who were carrying out the recovery operations, he said, "And it will be. Families will be reunited. Darkness shall pass. But not forever. And that is why people like you and I are here. To help the epic forces of light prevail over those of darkness. Because that is how we will make sure that Rumplestilskin's death was not in vain. That is how we will make him proud of us. All of us. Even though he gave up his life, he knew he did it for a good reason. He understood."
"What?" Strange asked him.
"That part of the journey is the end." Gandalf said kindly as Strange nodded with quivering lips.
"Thank you, Gandalf." He said and moved away while Gandalf, Chloe and Jason watched after him.
Later.
As the SHIELD agents stood together, a breach opened up and Mar-Novu exited along with Phil Coulson and Dr Jack Bright.
"Sir?" Mack asked in shock at seeing him.
"Agent McKenzie." Coulson greeted with a smile.
"How?" Fitz breathed out.
"They saved me." Coulson gestured to Mar-Novu and Dr Bright.
"Thank you." Jemma Simmons said to them gratefully.
"No problem. Just doing my job." Dr Bright said humbly, while Mar-Novu simply gave a curt nod.
"I wish you all the best of luck." Mar-Novu said before he and Bright vanished again.
"So, what exactly did I miss?" Coulson asked, making all chuckle.
"We'll tell you." Mack replied, just as Grant Ward entered the room.
"Ward." Coulson greeted in a neutral tone.
"Sir." Ward said, avoiding Coulson's gaze.
"Mar-Novu told me everything. About you helped save the whole Multiverse." Coulson continued.
"I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you." Ward said sincerely.
Avengers Tower.
Marie was sitting alone when she saw Logan approach her.
Without warning, she ran to him and embraced him, "I missed you so much all these years! Where were you?"
"Hiding." Logan said as he returned her embrace, "But I'm here now. I'm here for you, Marie."
"You won't leave again, right?" She asked.
"I'm an Avenger now." Logan said and could sense her disappointment, "But I promise I won't leave like I did. I will always visit once a week."
Marie hugged him tighter and said, "I'd love that."
Wanda was eating lunch glumly on the table when she saw Clint approach her. He put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "How you holding up?"
Wanda looked at him with tears in her eyes and said, "I lost Vision. He was one of the few good things I ever had. What will I do now?"
"He may have been, but he wasn't all you had." Clint said as Wanda looked at him,
"I'm here for you, kid. We all are. You're not alone, and you never will be."
Hearing that, Wanda hugged his chest and broke down as he hugged her back and patted her head lovingly like a father comforting his daughter.
Thane stood in a corner, staring out of the window. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see Gamora and Nebula approaching him.
"Brother." Gamora greeted with a nod, and Thane smiled thinly.
"How are you both?" Thane asked kindly.
"We are fine. More concerned about you though." Nebula replied.
"I am fine Nebula. I just cannot believe that he is finally gone." Thane said, as his shoulders slumped, years of pent up emotion finally being released.
"Neither can us. But it was for the best." Gamora assured. "What will you do now?" she asked.
"I do not know." Thane said honestly. "I was so concerned about Father finding me, that I don't know what else to do. Tony Stark did give me an invitation to join the Avengers though."
Gamora and Nebula exchanged looks of surprise before turning back to Thane. "You're going to join the Avengers?"
"I said I would think on it." Thane replied.
"Well if you want to join the Guardians, we always have a spot open." Gamora said to him, making Thane smile lightly.
"Thank you both." Thane said, and the two nodded in response.
Jason sat in the Med Bay, his burnt arm bandaged, with Banner, Atom, Caitlin and Shuri working on it together, with Gandalf and Strange on standby.
"I've used a mixture of nanotech, Wakandan technology and Gandalf's magic to help regenerate the burnt areas." Banner explained.
"It is healing the areas, but it will take several months until they are fully healed." Caitlin continued.
"Thank you guys." Jason said gratefully.
"You welcome Jay." Caitlin smiled.
"Mar-Novu saved you didn't he?" Strange asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"Yes he did." Jason looked at him in surprise. "How do you know?"
"I had a hunch." Was all Strange replied, making Jason roll his eyes.
"You did well Jason. I am proud of you." Gandalf said fondly.
White Canary was sitting alone, when she heard footsteps and turned to see Vi approaching her.
"Hey, kiddo." Sara smiled.
Vi beamed.
"I missed you so much." She said to White Canary who grinned.
"Me too kid. How's things going in Piltover?"
"Not bad."
White Canary chuckled before grabbing Vi's hand.
"Listen. I'm truly sorry for leaving you. I guess after the battle, I was just too much of a coward to stay. And for that I'm sorry." White Canary said with guilt in her voice and tears in her eyes.
Vi smiled sadly.
"Caitlyn and Jayce still love you."
"I'll always love them." Sara smiled.
Bruce and Liam stood together with Selina and Kate.
"I missed you guys so much!" Liam said, hugging all three of them.
"Me too. This fight was insane." Selina quipped.
"I know. I love you guys." Liam said, making Bruce, Kate and Selina all look at him with surprise.
"I love you too Liam." Selina said, hugging him.
Later.
Jason and others stood before the grave of Takio Maseoshiro, for his funeral, as his body was laid to rest in the backyard of the Avengers Compound.
Carol Danvers of Earth-8096 was there too with Steven, and she was weeping.
Steve gave a respectful and firm salute like at Rumple's funeral as Legolas sang a lament.
While they had defeated Thanos and Morgoth, the victory had been a pyrrhic one. And that is why there was no celebration or feast of any sort.
But a new day and Age were on the rise.
And several important decisions had to be made to make sure the new Age fared better than this one.
And Chapter 99 is done. I hope you all enjoyed it.
I hope you all enjoyed some of the character interactions in this chapter as well.
Now, I'm thinking of having Thane join the Avengers next chapter along with a few others. Let me know what you think in your review.
Anyway, this story has one more chapter to go where important decisions regarding the future are made. And some more conversations between characters will be shown too.
Here is the list of Earths involved in this chapter:
Earth-1. Home of the Arrowverse, Star Trek, Lucifer, Devil May Cry, Fast and Furious and Final Fantasy.
Earth-2. Home of Jessie Quick and Black Siren.
Earth-3. Home of Jay Garrick.
Earth-9. Home of Titans.
Earth-19. Home of Gypsy and Breacher.
Earth-21. Home of Smallville.
Earth-38. Home of Supergirl and Keanu Reeves' Constantine.
Earth-51. Home of the DCEU.
Earth-X. Home of the Dark Empire.
Earth-84. Home of Venom.
Earth-89. Home of the BurtonVerse.
Earth-96. Home of the 'Kingdom Come' heroes.
Earth-143. Home of the Young X-Men.
Earth-167. Home of Dr Who/Torchwood.
Earth-898. Home of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Earth-10005. Home of Supernatural.
Earth-1937. Home of Once Upon A Time.
Earth-1984. Home of G.I Joe and Transformers.
Earth-1992. Home of the DC Animated Universe.
Earth-2002. Home of the RamiVerse.
Earth-2004. Home of A Heist With Markiplier.
Earth-2005. Home of the NolanVerse.
Earth-2012. Home of The Amazing Spider-Man.
Earth-2013. Home of Avengers Assemble!
Earth-2016. Home of Stranger Things.
Earth-2017. Home of the Injustice Universe.
Earth-2018. Home of A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones.
Earth-2019. Home of Jumanji.
Earth-8096. Home of Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes.
Earth-80216. Home of Star Wars.
Earth-92131. Home of League of Legends.
Earth-199999. Home of the MCU, John Wick and Lord of the Rings.
Now, next chapter will wrap up this story, so I hope you're all excited for it.
Until next time, review, follow, faviroute, stay tuned and tell me what you think of this chapter.
Arrowverse Fan 217 Out.