Disclaimer: I dont own Marvel
Sorry for the wait loyal followers. This chapter also serves as a build up towards a story I'll be posting in the Ultimate Marvel section
The Hunt
Chapter 20: Crossing the line part 3
They call it the spiritual realm, a place where all of the spiritual embodiments gather. If one seeks the embodiment of something, then they'll most likely find it there. Alchemists, magicians and scientists have all accessed the spiritual realm in the past. Sometimes they have called upon benevolent spirits, other times demons have seeped through the portals and attacked this world. Aeon, believing that the spiritual realm should remain closed off, sealed it forever, so that no ordinary human could stumble across it. But during my attack on the Infinite Avengers mansion, I retreated to the outside of the mansion and used my powers to cut open a portal, integrating the spiritual realm into that of the infinite Avengers mansion. Pym no doubt knew about it, but he has no knowledge as to the power that is sealed inside the spiritual realm. Alls it needs is someone to wield that power.
A new generation of heroes now fought for their lives within the confines of the infinite Avengers mansion. Hank looked at his students, watching them fight and out of habit evaluating them. Finesse, a mistress of combat was holding her own well. She flipped, blocked and ducked under the attacks of her opponents. Hank couldn't see Veil, but judging from the mist she was probably keeping herself safe. He looked over to Reptil and Mettle, both of who were brawling with the other 'justified' heroes. Hank shrank to avoid an energy blast, and then punched his attacker at full size.
"Is there anywhere we can go to hide from these Justifiers?" Tigra asked, slashing a Justifier across the head.
"What about shutting them down, if I could analyse…" any idea Jocasta could give was cut off, along with her head.
Striker fired a blast at several Justifiers; only for them to knock him back with force blasts.
"Become Justified," his attackers said as they approached him.
Suddenly, Zack crashed into the Justifiers. He punched and kicked at the men, drawing them away from Striker. Flipping backwards, Zack dodged several blasts before he crashed through a door.
'Smooth landing Zack, luckily nobody saw you,' he groaned as he got up off the floor.
An energy blast suddenly struck him in the back, causing him to cry out in pain.
"ZACK!" Tigra yelled.
Greer snarled as several Justifiers tackled her to the ground. They pinned her arms, taking her kicks as if they were slaps. Tigra's eyes changed to cat like slits as she sunk her teeth into a Justifier's neck. She spat the blood out and slipped her hand free, slashing the others back.
"We need to find a door that hasn't been replaced, Jocasta are there any exits available?" Hank asked over his radio.
Zack got off the floor, turning to the new arrivals. He gasped, for Speedball had already been taken by the Justifiers. The former New Warrior accessed his pain-induced abilities and shot energy blasts at the boy. Zack jumped around the room, dodging the energy blasts with all his speed. He rolled across the floor before hiding underneath a table.
"Damn it, this is tougher than I thought, at least master Aeon got Sieg away," he smiled.
"What do you mean at least he helped Sieg, what about the rest of us?" Veil asked as she appeared next to Zack.
"I can…feel it somehow, even though we're here Sieg is back in the real world doing everything he can to stop the Squadron and restore peoples hope in heroes. Its working Veil, he can do it and its all because of the lessons Aeon taught him," Zack explained.
"Your crazy, ever since I got here I've had to do things I would never do, now I'm faced with a whole army of people that were once super heroes, we're going to die here and if not I'm going to be in therapy for weeks!"
"THEN YOU SHOULDN'T WEAR THAT COSTUME!" Zack yelled.
Speedball thrust his hands forward, firing a blast that threw Zack and the table into the air. Veil quickly turned to mist, escaping Speedball's aim. The Justifiers fired their blasters at Zack, hitting his arms and legs. Speedball then fired a blast that sent Zack crashing through the wall of the cafeteria and into the corridor where the Justifiers had gathered. They were tearing apart the Jocasta drones, ripping off arms and legs or simply blasting them to pieces. Zack jumped to his feet and a gold aura surrounded his body. It formed a silhouette of a super strong warrior, and he used that strength to 'softly' knock some of the Justifiers against the wall.
"I still don't understand, why don't you just give up and run away?" Veil asked.
"Because I know that Aeon and Sieg wouldn't run away either, there's no point in me calling Aeon my mentor if I don't follow the example he set," Zack explained.
He flipped over a Justifier, tripping him up from behind, and then blocked a Justifiers punch. With a simple palm strike, Zack sent the man flying into the wall. His aura surged as he accessed energy projection powers. Firing multiple blasts from his hand, Zack laid down cover fire for the last remaining Jocasta drone. Jocasta fired a blast of her own, knocking the Justifiers through the portal they had come through.
"We must withdraw to the lab, I have altered the shape of doors so that they can not teleport inside it," Jocasta explained.
Zack nodded his head and followed the android with Veil behind her. Striker blasted two Justifiers out of his way and ducked as Mettle threw two more Justifiers aside.
"Watch it Mettle," Striker said.
Kenny sheepishly raised his hands as Striker sparked. Reptil used a brachiosaurus tail to knock back several Justifiers, giving Jocasta, Zack and Reptil an opening to run through.
"Where's Hazmat?" Mettle asked.
"Speak of the devil," Reptil muttered as the building shook.
Mettle threw open one of the doors, only for a blast of energy to slam into him. The energy burnt off his shirt and threw him into Hank's hand. Hazmat was being held by her hair, her helmet rolling towards her fellow students. A Justifier glowed as the radiation she generated flowed into him. He raised his hand, the energy surging in his hands. Hank put Mettle down and narrowed his eyes at the Justifier.
"Greer, Jocasta, take care of the students," he said.
"Hank what…" Tigra widened her eyes as Hank lunged at the Justifier.
The giant smashed the armoured man with his fist, throwing him off of Hazmat. Hank then slammed the Justifier into the wall, crashing into the student's rec. room. More Justifiers flew at Hank, shooting him with energy or stabbing him with tasers. One Justifier threw a disc shaped shield into Hank's heels, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Jocasta get the students to safety," Tigra ordered the android as she broke off into a run towards the fight.
Jocasta opened one of the vault shaped doors, pushing Striker and Veil inside. Mettle ran to Hazmat and gently put her helmet back on. Carrying the girl in his arms, Mettle jumped into the room.
"We can't just leave them behind," Zack said.
"He's right we need to save them," Reptil turned his hands into raptor claws, only for Finesse to firmly grab his shoulder.
"They are outnumbered and have most likely already fallen, retreat is now our only option," she explained.
Jocasta grabbed Zack by his cape and threw him into the lab. He slid across the floor, looking at Jocasta in shock. For a moment he could have sworn that Jocasta's eyes were redder than usual. Finesse stepped into the lab, dragging a hesitant Reptil with her. Jocasta shut the door behind her and a series of locks activated, matching the doors vault shape. Zack slammed his fist into the floor, shaking his head in denial.
'I should have fought, I should have tried better, I'm sorry master!'
He looked at his surroundings and saw that the lab space was limited. The computer was on, showing various results of an experiment Pym had been carrying out.
"What's this?" Striker asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Deathblade did something to this plane of existence, he opened a rift of some kind, the rift disappeared but it changed the dimension somehow," Jocasta explained.
"How did it change the dimension?" Veil asked.
"Unknown!"
Jocasta walked to the computer and began typing at the keyboard. She cycled through various forms of communication, trying to send a message to the Avengers outside. But the very presence of the Justifier's was blocking access to communication. She resorted to bringing up a live video feed of the rooms outside the lab. Justifiers were gathering in different rooms, each with a 'justified' member of the Initiative. Prima Donna stood with a squad of Justifier's that each wore harnesses equipped with saw blades or gigantic fists. Jocasta flagged the images and labelled these Justifier's as 'bruisers'. She then recorded the simple, rifle wielding Justifier's with Equinox.
"Oh no," Veil gasped, watching as Frogman and Gorilla Girl forced Justifier helmets onto Hank and Tigra.
While the students watched in horror, Finesse worked with Jocasta to record and catalogue the images. Melee was leading a group of ninja styled Justifiers, while Siege led cyborg Justifiers.
"So what are our options?" Reptil asked.
"We could figure out a way to disrupt the signal of the Justifier helmets," Finesse suggested.
"I am unfamiliar with their systems, if I am unfamiliar with them then it is likely you would have no knowledge of them," Jocasta said.
"Well we can't just stay here and wait for them to break through," Mettle said.
Hazmat groaned as she woke up, resting on a nearby chair.
"Unbelievable, I figured that somehow we wouldn't be safe," she said.
"She's right, we would have been better off out there," Veil sighed.
"Maybe this is where we need to be," the students looked at Zack quizzically as he spoke. "Aeon came here to get Sieg and he left me behind, maybe because he knew that there was something for me to do here," Zack explained.
The academy students shook their heads as Jocasta turned to Zack.
"Your master simply made an error in judgement Ulti-Boy, there is no ulterior motive or reason for you to be here," Jocasta explained.
"I refuse to believe that," Zack shook his head. "I'd rather believe that us being here serves a purpose, that we were meant to do something with these powers. If we don't do something with them, if we just regard them as curses then the sacrifices we went through, the tortures we might have gone through to get them would be for nothing," he explained.
"My skin started falling off, instead of helping me Osborn tore the rest of it off and turned me into this," Mettle sighed.
"But your strong and sturdy, you can take the hits so no one else has to!"
"I nearly killed my boyfriend, now I'm stuck in this suit for the rest of my life," Hazmat shot a glare at Zack from beneath her visor.
"Sure its tragic and hard, but the Avengers can help you if you put them up to it, Tony Stark can build suits that come out of his bone marrow, I'm sure he could do something for you if you asked him to. That will enable you to keep this power, power you can use to run facilities to keep people safe!"
"I'm going to die because of my powers, eventually I wont be able to touch anything," Veil said.
"Then live, live your life and help others live their lives."
For every negative, Zack came out with a positive, a reason for the young heroes to be heroes. Finesse turned away from the boy, unwilling to tell him of her secret, that she was incapable of understanding emotion. That and she didn't see the logic of Zack's optimism, of his faith. But she turned to her fellow students and saw changes in their body language. They seemed hesitant, yet slowly they seemed to stand easy.
"He did say live your life you know," Striker winked at Veil.
Veil rolled her eyes at Striker's lack of subtlety.
"That's easy for you to say Ulti-Boy, you like having your powers," Hazmat said.
"Yeah, but sometimes I feel like my powers have come at a cost," Zack lowered his head slightly. "I have no memories of my parents, or of a childhood even. Reading, moving, talking eating and understanding things is something I have memory of, even my acrobatics and how to use my powers. But I don't know the source or whether I was happy as a kid. It makes me wonder whether I lost my memories because of my powers, or whether they were never there to begin with," Zack explained, sighing as he sat on one of the chairs.
"You think you were manufactured," Finesse concluded.
Zack nodded his head.
"I hate to interrupt the moment but are we going to work out some way of getting out of here?" Reptil asked.
"We can't evacuate, the mere presence of the Justifiers, as well as what Deathblade had done to the mansion earlier has disrupted our ability to make gates," Jocasta explained.
"What did Deathblade do?" Veil asked.
"Dr Pym was analysing the tear Deathblade created with his scythe, it merged the space that the Infinite avengers mansion is on with an unknown reality. Our scans indicate that though this has disrupted our ability to transport to infinite locations, it did assist Dr Pym in an experiment he was carrying out," the robot began typing on the computer, bringing up the silhouette of a human shaped being.
Zack and the students looked at the image curiously. They were all confused as to what it meant, but Jocasta understood perfectly. It was sentient being that Hank had discovered in the Avengers mansion, living on the edge of existence, akin to a ghost. She cycled through a few more commands, highlighting the energy signature the being gave off. Zack widened his eyes slightly as he walked towards the screen.
"I've seen that before," he said.
"Impossible, the likely hood of you even knowing what this is…"
"I know what it is," Zack said, interrupting Jocasta.
The boy ran his hand across the image, comparing it to something similar he remembered seeing. He had seen it in the mirror when using his powers, as well as when Aeon would change his armour forms. Jocasta watched the boy cautiously as his eyes began to glow red. He suddenly collapsed to the ground as a ghostly image appeared before the eyes of the Academy. Mettle jumped at the ghost, punching straight through its body.
"I knew we should have run away," Veil said.
The ghost turned its head towards Veil and a pair of bright red eyes narrowed at the girl. Veil turned into her mist form as the ghost flew towards her. She reappeared behind Hazmat as the girl fired a blast. But the blast simply passed through the ghost again.
"What is that thing?" Reptil asked.
"It may be a force that was using Zack as a host body," Finesse said.
Jocasta turned to the computer screen, widening her eyes as the mansion monitors showed the Justifiers trying to break through the door.
"No, we need to stop this now, Striker, shock Zack to wake him up," Jocasta said.
"But I might kill him," Striker looked at his hands, remembering the first time his powers had kicked in.
"STRIKER LOOK OUT!" Veil yelled.
The young man turned, widening his eyes as he looked at the ghost. It suddenly grabbed his head, causing his eyes to glow red. Suddenly, Striker yelled in agony as hundreds of images ran through his mind. He relived his life and the events that shaped him in mere seconds. But he wasn't the only one witnessing the cruelty of his mother and agent; the ghost raised its eyes in a mixture of shock and sympathy for the boy.
"If your not famous your nothing…such a statement is a sign that your mother truly was nothing. Stop trying to live up to her, live for yourself and your own will!"
Striker heard the voice in his head; it was soothing and spoke with such clear wisdom. He stopped convulsing, squeezing his hands into fists as electricity crackled around him.
"Branden?" Veil looked at Striker in concern as he began floating off of the floor.
Suddenly, Striker turned into pure electricity, phasing through the door and striking the Initiative Justifiers. His strike was instant, so fast that it seemed as if he hadn't changed at all. Branden collapsed on the floor and the ghost passed to its next host. Veil tried to use her gas form to escape. But the ghost passed through her body, causing her to scream as she changed into dust. The dust shaped into particles of some kind and for a moment it seemed as if she had ceased to exist. But it was only for that moment as the shining particles flowed around Zack. He slowly got up off the floor, rubbing his hair in confusion.
"What just happened?" he asked.
Veil suddenly appeared, landing on his back.
"Owwww," the boy groaned.
The ghost reappeared as the Justifiers began to break through. Jocasta readied an energy blast, but Speedball knocked her into Hazmat. The ghost looked at the Justifiers and the academy students and immediately knew what it had to do. It flew at Reptil, passing into his body through his eyes. Reptil's eyes took on a red colour and formed into reptilian slits. He grew in size, until eventually he had changed into the king of the dinosaurs, a gigantic tyrannosaurus. The mansion shook as he roared and swung his tail, hitting the Justifiers.
"When did he learn that?" Mettle asked.
Reptil then turned into a Triceratops, crashing through the walls of the mansion as he charged his enemies. He swung his tail, hitting Frogman and Vox. Then he seemingly disappeared, changing into a prehistoric insect and flying back to the safety of a group. He grew to his regular size, landing on top of Zack, just when he got Veil off of him. The ghost reappeared before the Justifiers, its form gradually becoming more and more real. Zack pushed Reptil off of him and looked to the ghost, as it became a solid and sentient being. He widened his eyes, looking upon the form of his master Aeon.
"What's going on?" Hazmat asked.
"I've got to admit even I'm confused," Finesse said.
"You are constantly confused!"
"Is that god speaking cause we could really use some divine intervention right now," Mettle said.
He sheepishly smiled as Finesse and Hazmat gave him annoyed glares.
"Master Aeon is that you?" Zack asked.
"I am Aeon, but not the Aeon you know, I am the original, the alien being that first possessed Sven Reilly," the now solid ghost explained.
"How does this assist us against a superior force?" Finesse asked.
"As I said, you are still confused, but you must awaken your heroism another way. Right now I must awaken the heroism inside these people. It is a regrettable decision to force them to see why they must become heroes, but it can't be helped given the circumstances!"
The original Aeon crossed his arms as his eyes began to glow. In a flash of light, energy surged from his eyes, passing into the Justifiers. They screamed in agony as images passed before their eyes. Tigra fell to her knees, tearing the Justifier helmet off of her head. Speedball, Hank and every other brainwashed hero slowly lifted the helmets away from their heads before falling unconscious.
"You each became heroes for your own reasons, this life may have been forced on you but in the end you chose to do the right thing. Every last one of you, despite fault and principals is a hero, find that heroism and be the heroes you know you can be!"
Finally the Avengers tore the helmets away, falling into unconsciousness. Jocasta immediately rushed to Hank's side, checking his vitals.
"They are all alive, what did you do to them?" Jocasta asked.
"Something both you and your master are unaware of," Aeon said.
"My master, I have no master!"
"Indeed, Ultron is apparently your husband," Aeon huffed.
Jocasta opened her mouth to speak, only for Aeon to grab her by the neck. Her eyes took on a red colour as she yelled out in a voice that wasn't her own:
"IMPOSSIBLE! NO HUMAN HAS THAT INTELLIGENCE!"
"Ultron," Finesse gasped.
"Oh I knew she was spying for Ultron," Striker said.
"HOW! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS?" the Ultron possessed Jocasta screamed.
"Like every member of my species I can look into a person's very soul, I look into Jocasta's soul now and shall awaken it from the confines of mortal programming," Aeon explained.
"WE ARE MACHINES WE DO NOT HAVE SOULS!"
"At the point that a being can be considered sentient it develops a soul, I will awaken that soul now," Aeon tapped Jocasta's forehead and dropped her to the ground.
Her eyes changed from red to yellow, looking at her surroundings in a mix of shock and awe.
"I…feel…I actually feel as if I am smarter now, as if I know more about life," Jocasta said.
"That is because you are now alive and don't just understand life but are capable of experiencing it, but my work is not yet done, I must awaken humanities heroism and lead it towards a better future," Aeon walked past Jocasta, turning to the computer screen that showed the being Hank had discovered.
Zack walked up to Aeon cautiously, knowing not just from his voice that he was nothing like Sven Reilly. The alien typed at the computer, opening a hidden door on the far end of the lab. He began walking towards the door, with Zack and the other academy students following.
"What do you mean a better future?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, your not the first person to talk about what's going to happen in the future," Reptil said, recalling their encounter with Korvac's wife.
Aeon stopped and turned to the young heroes, regarding them with an air of superiority.
"I resided inside you Zack, a mere temporary container until the day I would reunite with Sven Reilly. But his actions against Deathblade and regarding his other apprentice Sieg has shown me that he, like this whole planet is incapable of protecting the Earth from the dark forces that now threaten it, but not just this world but the entire multiverse as well," he turned away and continued his walk.
"What are you prepared to do then, look into everyone's soul and draw out their heroism whether they like it or not?" Reptil asked.
"Yes, the Justifiers as well as Striker and Veil were put through great pain," Finesse said.
"You have no idea," Veil sighed.
Zack stepped in front of Aeon, blocking his path. The alien shoved Zack aside, walking onto a platform that took him outside of the mansion. He looked into the white void, seeing two sides of energy, a black side and a grey side that formed an image similar to yin and yang. Jocasta suddenly grabbed Aeon's shoulder, throwing him back into the mansion.
"I thought you would see the logic in my actions," Aeon growled.
"I also see how wrong it is, to force something on the population when you have exact knowledge of the enemy's battle plan. You are supposed to be a spirit of heroism, this is not heroic at all," Jocasta explained.
"Sometimes heroism requires great sacrifice," Aeon said.
"Only when its willing," Zack said.
"Indeed, this procedure you are suggesting is extremely invasive."
Striker lowered his head, thinking on Jocasta's statement.
"Its like rape," he muttered.
"Rape of the soul, Sven Reilly chose to be a hero, the rest of the world hasn't. Besides we can still convince them to help us in their own way," Zack explained.
Aeon huffed as he threw his hand forward, throwing the Avengers into the wall. He then ran at Zack, kicking him in the gut and lifting him into the air. Zack threw a punch at Aeon, only for the alien to grab his hair and throw him into Jocasta's arms. She drew her hand back, before firing an energy blast into Aeon's chest. But the blast did little to affect the man as he floated across the floor. He grabbed both Jocasta and Zack by their heads and slammed them into the wall.
"Come now, if you truly believed you were right nothing could stop you from completely destroying me!"
He threw them other his shoulder, sending them flying across the room. Zack landed smoothly on his feet, catching Jocasta with an energy hand. He shaped the energy into armour and a sword as he ran towards Aeon. Their clash lasted a second before Aeon kicked Zack in the gut, sending him to the floor. Again the alien huffed and walked to the platform.
"Wait, just tell me, why cant we succeed, what are you planning to do?" Zack asked, his tone helpless as he crawled across the floor.
"I suppose it doesn't matter now, its not as if you can stop me. Beyond this world, in the Multiverse is another Earth. It is a significantly different version of ours yet still there are similarities. There are no Avengers, at least the Avengers you know. Their supposed heroes are shadows of the ones you look up to, selfless only when pushed to their limit, but at the core flawed. Steve Rogers in this world is a brute who can only settles things with his fists, he doesn't have the empathy and wisdom of our world's version. Nick Fury is an arrogant fool who believes he is the only one capable of saving the world, he will sacrifice countless innocents to keep the power he feels is the only way he can protect others. Thor fancies himself an actual god, Tony Stark is a dying drunkard, Natasha Romanoff is a selfish nomad, a true spy, Clint Barton is broken beyond repair, Hank Pym is an vane man who willingly abuses his own wife and she lets him, never trying to help him change. The X-men are foot soldiers; none of them are committed to Xavier's dream. While Magneto had wisdom, this version of him is a simple madman. Even Reed Richards is drunk with arrogance, believing his option to be the only one available!"
Zack looked at the original Aeon in shock. He saw a remnant of the past dismantling and disapproving of a supposedly modern form of heroism.
"In fact the only one that could be described as a hero was their worlds Peter Parker, their Spider-man, until the day he died while the Ultimates were too busy fighting each other!"
"What does this other world, and these Ultimates have to do with anything?" Zack asked.
"This world has been targeted by the avatar of death, a member of the dark forces that will come to consume the multiverse. You see our two worlds are the very centre of it all, if both worlds fall then the result will be a portal to the centre universe…if death defiles that place then all of reality will follow," Aeon explained.
"So your going to abandon this other Earth and do whatever it takes to save our one?"
"Indeed, once I have fused my soul with that of Slade Muga then I can exist permanently without the need for a host body. If one world must be sacrificed for all of reality, better it be the world with heroes that don't care about it one bit!"
"YOUR WRONG!" Zack yelled.
He got off the floor, causing Aeon to turn to him in shock. The boy jumped at the alien, only to be kneed in the stomach. Zack flipped in midair, aiming a kick at his opponent. Aeon grabbed Zack's leg and threw him to the ground.
"I'm sure they care about the world they live in, and I'm sure that they're heroes, they just need help to reach their full potential," Zack explained, jumping off the ground and kicking at Aeon's head.
"That's assuming they'll even accept help, that they're capable of being more than what they are. Even so by the time they realise it they'll be too late, they'll have doomed their planet because they couldn't get over themselves, because they couldn't strive to be better or to make their world better," Aeon slammed his fist into Zack's chest, causing him the gag. "They do not seek out power to create more heroes, but so that they can be superior to their rival countries, in their world wearing a costume is merely a disguise for their own flaws, they are not the symbols the universe needs them to be!"
Aeon grabbed the back of Zack's head and kneed him in the face, breaking the lenses of his mask. He then pushed Zack into the ground, stomping his chest repeatedly. When he finally stopped, Zack looked at Aeon with a weak expression.
"He can guide them, Sven Reilly," Zack coughed.
"Their worlds Sven Reilly doesn't have the power to even reach their level. They will ignore him, besides he doesn't know of the threat approaching, he lives a life where he wishes he could do more…"
"THEN HELP HIM TURN WISH INTO WILL! WILL INTO ACTION! HELP HIM REACH THE POTENTIAL WE BOTH KNOW HE CAN!" Zack yelled.
The armoured alien picked Zack up by the scruff of his neck and hung him off the edge of the platform. He turned his head, seeing Jocasta gathering with the other Initiative members.
"Let him go," Hank said.
"No don't let him go, put him back on the ledge," Frogman said.
Aeon loosened his grip on Zack's collar before throwing him towards the heroes.
"So I was right, that other being was Slade Muga," Hank sighed.
"Yes and now he will serve as a sacrifice to ensure the survival of all life," Aeon said.
"He's taking away a person's choice, if that isn't being a villain then I don't know what is," Finesse snarled.
Zack leant on Reptil and Striker for support, focusing his eyes on Aeon. The alien warrior's physical form began to fade, returning to that of a ghost.
"Please, don't let it end like that," Zack begged.
"There is no other way!"
"If you don't try you'll never know, forcing people to be better isn't the way, it has to be natural. I know about you, Sven told me before we came here. Your species developed into a perfect society, but that's your flaw, your society was perfect, there was nothing left for you to develop. Its true that humanity can be selfish, sometimes just plain evil, but we still strive, we seek improvement constantly in our own way. Sometimes we need reminding of the right path to take, sometimes we need something to aspire to…I know Sven can give them that, if you let him try," Zack explained.
Aeon froze, seeing a young Sven Reilly in place of his costumed apprentice. Zack nodded to Reptil and Striker and they stopped supporting him. He stood tall and looked Aeon in the eyes.
"You said that heroism is sometimes about sacrifice…please teach me," the boy fell to his knees, but still looked at the old hero.
Aeon's stance softened as he helped the boy to his feet. He looked at his hands and saw that they were beginning to fade.
"Very well," he nodded in understanding and acceptance.
Turning to the edge of the platform, Aeon raised his hand. It began to fade completely as a portal of some kind formed.
"This is a portal into the Multiverse, it will take you to where your needed most," Aeon explained.
"What about you?" Zack asked.
"I will do what I must," he sighed as he looked at the form of Slade Muga.
"If you think I'm going to let you kill Slade then you've got another thing coming," Hank said.
"Have faith Pym, perhaps I have seen the flaws in my judgement, perhaps this little boy with his innocence and ignorance has reminded me of what heroism truly is," Aeon explained.
"I'll choose to believe that you've made the right choice," Zack said as he walked into the portal.
"I've had enough of this place to last a lifetime," Veil sighed.
Hazmat nodded, following the girl into the portal. One by one the Avengers left the Infinite mansion via the portal. Finally Hank walked through the portal and left Aeon alone. He looked at his fading hands and then at the incomplete form of Slade Muga, the hero that had sacrificed to save Earth from an alien invasion. The original Aeon raised his hand, pouring his own energy into Muga, shaping him into the form of yin and yang, a man covered in white armour on his left and black armour on his right.
"Go to this other Earth Slade Muga, find Sven Reilly, help him become the Aeon of that Earth and if possible, help him unite that Earth to protect it from death's avatar," Aeon explained.
Even his ghostly form had begun to fade, and though he was afraid he still chuckled.
"I've lived so long as a ghost, I'm actually scared to see what's beyond this world. Those boys were right; I'm far from perfect. Sven Reilly…your sons a chip off the old block, I just hope the 1610 version of you isn't that different from you," he watched as Slade Muga flew into the portal towards the world where he was needed most.
The original Aeon smiled underneath his helmet as he finally faded completely. Yet something still lingered to deliver one final message:
"I have put my faith in all of you, I hope you will succeed where I failed, I hope…"
Then there was silence, the peace before the greatest battle the multiverse ever faced.
Next Chapter 21: Crossing the line part 4
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, Ultimate Aeon: Origins will be the debut of my Ultimate version of Sven Reilly, with Slade Muga the protagonist of Echo of Destiny as his mentor, it'll serve as an origin story for Aeon featured in Ultimate Marvel comic storylines and also serve as the build up to a grander storyline.
Next time we slip to the three main focus characters. Sven is in a race to find Deathblade, while Deathblade faces off against Azure Eagle in a tie in to Azure Eagle and the Spider-man family, and Sieg faces off against Iron Lad in a battle to determin his future.