Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or any other comic universe
You'll see what I mean in the middle of the chapter
The Hunt
Chapter 28: The hardest battles
There comes a time in a person's life when they are faced with tough battles. Whatever the opponent, the hardest battles are the ones that define us. It is those battles and their outcomes that determine our strength.
Cade landed on the cold hard ring, sweat and blood gleaming from his body. The cheers of the crowd echoed around him as they rattled the cage. He rose from the ground to the jeers and hatred of people that were betting on him to lose. His opponent, a man far bigger than him was clicking his fists together. The man was fat, but that meant he had plenty of weight to put behind a punch, when men said fat was power it was no joke, Cade's opponent hit him hard. He jumped on the spot, studying his opponent carefully. Even as his vision blurred, Cade watched every step, every tense of the man's body fat and every moment of his body. The fight promoter rang the bell and Cade moved back into the fight. He ducked under the man's haymaker and grabbed either side of his arm. Jumping and curling his legs around the man's arm, Cade gave him a quick kick to stung him then rolled back, pulling his opponent to the ground. The man tried to throw Cade across the room, but the fighter kicked him in the nose, drawing blood. His second kick wiped the blood across the man's eyes, blinding him partially. Cade altered his position, making it so that the man's cheek would be pressing against the floor and Cade would have a better grip on his arm. With a twist, Cade broke the man's arm, causing him to yell in agony. Without even waiting for the ref to begin the countdown Cade stormed out of the ring.
He sat on his stool in the far corner of the bar, looking at his shaking hands. Violence was something he was good at, but he hated it. There wasn't even any enjoyment in beating up someone who deserved it. All the pleasure in fighting had gone the day Cade ended his father's life. He truthfully enjoyed killing his father, the man who had so many times beaten him, never at any point during his years of growing up did Cade believe he was at fault in the abuse he received. His father was a monster and deserved to die, with that belief Cade slept soundly, he didn't even think back on his father.
"What do you want to go to a funeral for?" the old man asked him.
He was a child again, looking at his father sitting on the coach. The man tilted the contents of vodka down his throat, glaring at his son from the corner of his eye.
"Well, why do you want to go to a funeral?" he asked again.
"B-because, Laura died today," Cade cried.
"That spaz you keep hanging out with? Hah, how did that happen?" his father seemed to find it funny as he drank back more.
"Her father killed her, and her mum," Cade whispered.
The man hung his head back and laughed. He got off his chair and walked around Cade, ruffling his hair.
"Sloppy work, I always knew that hippy was insane, you see Cade I'd never kill you, I'll smack you around for the discipline but I would never end your life, one because you're my son it would be a waste of good genetics to kill you and the other cause well…I'm not a fan of enclosed spaces, pray before you go to bed tonight kid, pray that that psychopath who killed his daughter drops the soap," he explained.
"I want him dead!" Cade growled.
"HA! Maybe we're more alike than your slut of a mother thought," Cade's father grinned before he walked out of the room.
Sometimes the struggle people go through, the toughest battle they ever face is with their past, their parents, their blood. There comes a time in every person's life when they must decide what path they follow, whether they should let their genes define them or whether they should forge a path with their own hands.
Young Sven Reilly was a very happy boy, it was his friend's birthday and he'd be the first to help her celebrate. The boy ran with a skip to his step as he rushed towards Laura's house.
"Laura, Laura I hope you haven't started that cake cause everyone's on their way," Sven smiled as he knocked at Laura's door.
He raised his eyebrows in confusion as the door drifted open. Sven felt a chill down his spine, the inside of the house was cold, the opposite of what he had expected. The boy, curious and innocent walked into the house, hugging his arms as he walked.
"Laura," he called. "Mr and Mrs Masters?" Sven walked into the living room and saw that the TV had been toppled; the carpet was stained by what Sven's innocent mind processed as a tomato splatter.
He followed the trail until he reached the kitchen. Sven widened his eyes in horror, seeing an horrific image that haunted his mind from then onwards. Rushing to Laura's side, Sven shook her, trying to wake her up. Sven froze and moved his head around. Standing with the sunlight shining on his bare back was Laura's father, holding a bloodstained knife.
"Why? Why did you do this?" Sven asked.
"They didn't feel pain, Laura screamed but her soul felt nothing, she wanted this, they both wanted this," the man half cackled and half cried as he began to walk towards Sven.
Sven crawled back, slipping on the body of Laura's mother. He looked at her back, seeing that she had a cleaver stuck to it. Then his eyes went to her hand, gripping a pistol. Sven clawed at the woman's hand, having the tear the gun away from the rigor mortis grip. He rolled onto his back and aimed the gun at Laura's father.
"The death of innocence, that is what every hero needs!" he cackled.
Sven let out a scream as he fired several shots from the gun. The bullets flew through the man's arms, legs and his chest, throwing him to the ground. When the police had finally arrived, Sven was continuing to pull the trigger. A black haired officer in uniform knelt by Sven's side and gently pried the gun from his grip.
"Its okay, you're all right," the man said, rubbing the boy's shoulders.
"Castle, this guy's still alive," his partner said.
It later occurred to Sven that that time he spent in Laura's house had been the longest time he had ever been there. At two thirty he had found the bodies, the police arrived at six and by eight o'clock the street had been lit up by the lights of cars and the flashes of cameras. Officer Castle gave Sven his jacket and sat him by the ambulance, even though Sven didn't have a scratch on him.
"What did you and your partner do Frank?" a police captain asked.
"Nothing Stacy, gunshots through the murderer's limps, enough to incapacitate him but the bullets avoided all of his vitals and arteries, that boy…he did something even trained snipers have difficulty doing!" Castle explained.
"My god," Stacy pulled his pipe out of his mouth and sighed. "That poor boy, no one should have to see that, go home Frank, your family is probably worried."
"Actually Captain Stacy I'd like to stay, until the kid's parents come pick him up," Frank Castle looked into the crowd and spotted a blonde haired boy looking at the house in shock.
The boy suddenly rushed past the police line and straight towards the house, just as forensics began carrying the bodies out. Frank grabbed Cade, lifting him off the ground, holding him as he screamed for the friend he had lost.
Years later, Sven visited Laura's grave as a man. Her gravestone read: 'Laura Masters, her time in this world was short but she had made it a brighter place'. Sven laid flowers by the grave and stood up, standing beside his wife Faith.
"Happy birthday Laura, I'm sorry I wasn't there," Sven sighed.
"What do you mean Sven?" Faith asked.
"If I'd gotten there earlier, I could have done something, I could have stopped him…or I should have told someone about how sad Laura was," Sven explained.
"Sven, we've been over this before," Faith sighed as she touched Sven's cheek. "We were kids, we didn't know anything about what was going on in Laura's house, there was nothing we could've done, and blaming others will only trap us in sadness, that's what Laura told you when you saw her in the spirit world remember?" she asked.
Sven raised his head and smiled at his wife. He blinked in surprise when his phone started ringing. Taking the phone from his pocket, Sven pressed it against his ear.
"Jack? Jack slow down I can't understand you when you talk at super speed," Sven said, Faith giggled at the antics of their super fast friend. "Kyle? Yeah I can see that Jack passed me onto you what's up and why can I hear explosions?" Sven asked. "Yeah, the Wheel? Boomerang? Trapster? I wouldn't have thought you guys would have a lot of trouble with them. Okay, okay calm down I'm on my way!"
"Duty calls?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, I'll see you later for dinner?"
Faith smiled before kissing Sven's mouth. He returned the kiss and began running out of the cemetery. Faith turned to Laura's grave and touched the stone.
"He is who he is today because of you, he's an amazing hero Laura…and fairly soon he'll be an amazing father," Faith rubbed her belly as she spoke.
The past is important but it can't define you. You have to accept the things you can't change, have the courage to at least try and the wisdom to know when. Laura's death could have been prevented, but not by me and not by Cade. Alls it needed was someone, anyone with the will to pick up the phone and tell someone that their next-door neighbour was abusing their child. Cade, is that why you're so filled with hate, that you didn't see any good in anyone that day?
Cade, Sven and Ares looked up at Sentry in shock. He floated above them, his mouth twisted into a sadistic grin.
"Bob, why have you come here?" Ares asked.
"To dispose of an unnecessary distraction," Sentry said.
"Ares wait, that isn't Bob Reynolds!" Aeon warned the Olympian.
"What does he mean Bob?"
The Sentry suddenly flew into Ares, elbowing him in the face and sending him bouncing across the landscape. Cade and Sven looked up, glaring at the Void as he floated over them.
"I thought, I thought you'd decided to be a hero Robert," Aeon said.
"Bob got a better offer," The Void removed a small black vial from his belt.
"That formula, but we wiped out the last samples of them," Cade widened his eyes in shock.
"I found a brilliant scientist, and a master manipulator, he gave me everything that I needed to experience that grand feeling again, the feeling of being the most powerful man in the universe," the Void cackled.
"Robert listen to me, you don't need that drug to feel great anymore you already have everything that you need from your wife," Aeon explained.
"No, he doesn't," Cade growled as his eyes glowed red.
"Wow, look at those eyes of yours on overtime, seeing every sin other than your own…tell Sven Cade, tell him what I did to Bob's wife," the Void hung his head back and laughed.
"No, NO!" Aeon yelled.
"One tiny moment of weakness on Bob's part was all that I needed to get rid of that bitch, he was happy because he got a chance get high again and now I can get high from the ultimate drug, life itself, making you both suffer is going to be my favourite pass time," the Void narrowed his eyes at the two rivals, his hands forming fists.
Cade and Sven both dropped into defensive stances as the Void rushed forward. Aeon suddenly barged Cade out of the way, using his shield to block the Void's punch. The Void then followed through, punching Aeon in the chest and lifting him off of the floor. Sven flipped in midair, aiming a kick at the Void's head. But the Void grabbed his foot and flew back towards the ground, slamming him on the rocks repeatedly. Deathblade prepared his energy sword again, but stopped as the yellow circuitry of the technarch virus spread across his arm. Cade narrowed his eyes at the Void before closing his hand into a fist.
Muramasa's laughter echoed through the halls of Project Pegasus. Cap, Iron man and the other assembled Avengers looked at the madman in horror as cosmic energy spread across his body. With a mere hand gesture he took himself, his allies and the Avengers away from Project Pegasus and onto the battlefield of Oklahoma. Sieg looked at the sudden appearance of the Avengers and the villains in shock, this was not part of his plan. He looked through the crowds and widened his eyes at the sight of Muramasa. Sven had told him of all his enemies, including Muramasa and his apprentice.
"AVENGERS!" Cap roared, rallying the shocked troops. "ASSEMBLE!" he threw his shield, hitting Gorgon across the face.
"LETS KICK ASS!" Reptil yelled as he and the Avengers Academy students rushed through the Hydra forces.
Mettle smashed through a mech whilst Veil knocked several agents out in her gas form. Finesse and White Tiger overcame their opponents with their martial arts skills, whilst Striker overloaded two mechs with his electricity. The resulting explosions threw several agents back. X-23 suddenly jumped onto Sentinel's hand and Juston commanded the robot to throw the clone through the explosion. When the smoke cleared X-23 was sent flying towards Gorgon. She swung her leg around, slashing Gorgon across the back. He pulled out his sword and swung at Laura. She ducked and deflected Gorgon's sword strikes. Jimmy suddenly ran towards Gorgon, slashing his sides. Red Raven then swooped downwards, cutting Gorgon's shoulder. Jimmy retracted his claws and grabbed Gorgon by his head and slammed his forehead into the ninja's nose.
"Now that's a knock out," Reptil grinned.
"Destroy!" Juston's Sentinel muttered, before the boy gave its head a kick.
Kid Briton slashed one Nazi mech after another and punched the ground, knocking down Aim troopers. He flew at Muramasa's Apprentice and tried to slash the boy across the throat. But the apprentice easily ducked underneath and deflected the strikes of the sword. He changed his sword into a hammer and hit Kid Briton across the face, throwing him backwards. Anachronism and Bloodstone jumped over Kid Briton's unconscious form and resumed the attack on the apprentice. He ducked to avoid Anachronism's axe and deflected Bloodstone's bullets with his sword. The apprentice jumped up, kicking off of Anachronism's shoulders and launching himself into Bloodstone, kicking the boy in the chest. Anachronism ran at the apprentice and continually struck his sword with his axe.
"That man has some serious training," Cammi muttered.
"He's good, but nothing against someone from Atlantis," Nara said before she jumped into battle.
She swung her fist at the apprentice, but widened her eyes as a shield materialised on his arm. He pushed her back, and then smashed her across the face. The Apprentice jumped and kicked Anachronism on the chin, then summoned a spear that he threw straight through the man's thigh.
"DAMN IT!" Anachronism yelled.
A sudden gust of wind blew the apprentice back, throwing him away from the British Academy students.
"Who is that anyway?" Anachronism asked as he pulled the spear out of his leg.
"He used to be a student at the Xavier institute," Wind Dancer said as she and Dust landed in front of the students.
"So he's an X-men problem then," Apex huffed.
"There's no such thing today," Sofia narrowed her eyes at the apprentice as portals appeared beside him.
A horde of demonic creatures suddenly flew out of the portal. Bat like and devilish creatures screeched as they entered the battlefield, furthering the chaos.
"What are those bloody things?" Apex asked.
"They look hungry," Death Locket gasped.
"Then lets give them something to feed on!"
The heroes looked up as Sieg flew over them. He ran his fingers across his sword, his armour colours changing to an aquatic blue colour. With a swing of his sword Sieg sent a jet of water slamming from one demon to another. Wind Dancer controlled the water with the wind, creating a water tornado that swept around the battlefield. Sieg returned his armour to its natural form and jumped straight into the demons. He slashed one another after another, downing several more with punches and kicks.
"Just keep pushing them back," Cap said, slamming his shield into an undead Asgardians face.
"Captain Rogers what happened back at Pegasus why is there another world up in the sky?" MVP asked.
The youth ducked, avoiding Arachnophillia's claw strike. She swung her acid covered talons around, but struck the staff of Karen's spear. Karen narrowed her eyes at the girl before slamming her foot into her chest, sending the spider villain flying.
"Time for me to punish you for what you put Sieg through," Karen snarled.
Arachnophillia jumped onto her feet and grinned as Karen rushed towards her.
"I was his first you know," she said.
"You wont be his last and you certainly wont be his most loved," Karen retorted, swinging her spear at the girl.
Arachnophillia jumped and kicked Karen in the chest, pushing her backwards. She fired a bioelectric blast from her hand, hitting Karen's shoulder. Thor flew over the two rivals and threw his hammer at an AIM airship. The airship came down on top of several Squadron Supreme members. The son of Odin then charged his hammer with electricity and crashed it down on Dr Spectrum's sword. His female partner Spectrum fired a blast from her hand, hitting Thor in the side. The force of the blast threw off Thor's helmet and the two Spectrums' ganged up on the Asgardian. They hit him with a barrage of blasts, burning off his cloak and cutting his armour apart. In a last ditch effort to defeat his opponents Thor raised his hammer and released the power of the Odinforce. Spectrum raised her shield.
"NO SPECTRUM DODGE IT!" Dr Spectrum yelled at his protégé.
The blast cut through Spectrum's armour and obliterated her body. Dr Spectrum glared at the thunder god before raising his sword over his head.
"DIE!" the man yelled.
Lightning flashed in the sky and another figure landed in front of Thor, deflecting Dr Spectrum's sword.
"Beta Ray Bill," Thor said.
The cyborg lifted his hammer, storm breaker and pointed it at the Squadron member.
"You have my sympathy for the loss of your sworn ally, but you will not-take-MINE!" Bill yelled as he deflected each of Dr Spectrum's sword blows.
He threw storm breaker, hitting Dr Spectrum in the chest and throwing him back. Beta Ray Bill turned to his sword brother and helped Thor onto his feet. The two wielders of Mjolnirs power raised their hammers over their heads. A gigantic lightning bolt crashed into the hammers, causing every Asgardian on the battlefield to look to the two heroes.
"For Asgard and MIDGARD!" the sworn brothers yelled as they threw their hammers.
The two hammers flew into Dr Spectrum, shattering his hammer and facemask. He rolled across the floor; stopping at the feet of the Warrior's three. They smiled as Bill and Thor caught their hammers.
"Now we shall finish this battle and return to the halls of Asgard in celebration," Thor raised his hammer over his head and the warriors around him cheered.
Iron man began his flight towards the Earth's atmosphere. His armour gradually changed as he got closer and closer to space, changing into the red and gold form of his god killer armour.
"Link established with Crowner tower, are you seeing what I'm seeing James?" Tony asked.
"I'm coming up right behind you Stark!"
Tony turned his head and saw James flying upwards in his armour.
"It looks like the Tesseract has been turned into a gateway, but not into deep space like we initially theorised," James explained.
"We're looking at another Earth James, I've been running my databases for anything even resembling some of those landmarks I'm seeing, we haven't got a Daily Planet or an Arkham Asylum, those cities don't exist on this Earth," Tony explained.
"Lets see what we can learn inside the portal," James said before he rushed forward.
"CROWNER WAIT!" Iron man yelled.
The cube suddenly generated a pulse that threw James backwards, slamming him into Tony. The two armoured men yelled as their armour systems shut down and they began to fall back towards the Earth.
"Crap," Rhodey and Pepper muttered, seeing the two billionaires fall.
War Machine and Rescue flew upwards, chasing after both James and Tony. They caught them both and looked up at the pulsing Tesseract.
"Something tells me it shouldn't be like that," Pepper said.
"That's because it shouldn't," James muttered.
"The Cosmic cube, Tesseract whatever you want to call it has been converted into some kind of reality bomb, positioned between two Earths, if that thing goes off in its current state it'll create a singularity that'll draw the two Earths together, Steve get to Muramasa now and get him to tell us how to stop that reality bomb," Tony explained.
Steve nodded and looked through the crowds of battling heroes. He spotted Muramasa staring at the sky and knew that he wouldn't get a better chance to attack.
The Void continually punched Aeon across the face, throwing the hero across the sands of the prison. Cracks ran across Sven's armour as he got up off the floor. The young man gripped the open gaps of his armour and repaired them.
"How heroic of you, to fight me one on one, but that's the whole point of you isn't it, you've got so much power you never needed to be part of a team," the Void cackled.
"He's not alone!"
The Void turned, only to be slashed across the neck by Wolverine. Wonder man then flew into the Void and punched him across the face, throwing him into the wall. The Void walked out of the rubble and widened his eyes at what he saw. Ms Marvel and her team stood in his way. But they weren't alone either. Stood with them was the Young Avengers Stature and Hulkling, Moonstone and Ares and Deathblade's own Dead Avengers Genis and Mar-Vell, Yellowjacket, Thunderstrike, Nightwatch, the Scott Lang Ant-man and Jack of Hearts.
"Avengers ASSEMBLE!" Deathblade roared as he summoned his energy sword.
The Dead Avengers were the first to pounce on the Void. Yellowjacket fired blasts from her hands, hitting the Void's face and neck. Thunderstrike then jumped up and slammed his mace into the Void's chest. The Captain Marvels then fired blasts that threw the Void backwards, sending him flying into Stature's fist.
"Well done Cassie," Scott said to his daughter.
"Thanks dad," Cassie smiled.
The Void began walking out of the sea, his skin cracking to reveal slithering black tentacles.
"You should have remained loyal Bob, I thought we friends, it seems I was wrong," Ares said as he raised his axe.
"I HAVE NO NEED OF FRIENDS!"
The Void's sudden roar was only a calm before his full transformation. His skin disappeared, replaced by pure energy. Tendrils extended from his back and mouth and became nothing more than a monster of pure darkness and evil. The distortions in the sky caused by the Tesseract grew worse and more frequent, lightning flashed in every corner of the planet and in spite of the position of the sun every nation grew darker.
"Finally, finally I am free to wreak havoc across this world, I will plunge the remains into darkness," the Void threw his tendrils forward, sending the heroes scattering.
Aeon and Deathblade however were trapped as the dark tendrils formed a circle around them.
"Fight one another," the Void demanded.
"If you think we're going to play this game of yours Void your surely mistaken," Aeon said.
"But it's the rules, the hero must face his nemesis in a ring of fire, the final showdown!"
"The only villain here is you Reynolds, how could you do it, how could you kill your own wife?" Deathblade asked.
"And how could you draw the attention of the heroes away from the real threat?" the Void giggled at Cade's shocked face.
"What are you talking about?"
"Muramasa of course, the man who tempted Reynolds with the drug, thus unleashing me, although your psychological warfare against him contributed to his downfall," the Void explained. "He used you like a pawn, distract the attention of the player and then strike at the king from another angle, he played you like a fool, you didn't actually think that your grand hunt was all your own doing did you?"
Aeon looked over to his rival, sensing the immense guilt coming from his soul. Cade squeezed his hands into fists and grit his teeth together.
Sometimes the hardest battle is with yourself. Your own darkness, it's a fight Cade Hunter had many a time. Is he hero or villain, monster or just another killer? I found out exactly what he was that day.
"RAAAAAAGH!" Cade let out a horrific roar as energy seeped from his very skin.
A katana and sheath appeared in his hand as he darted out of the ring of darkness. He unsheathed his sword, slicing through the Void's face. The shadow creature yelled in agony as Deathblade darted from one side of the prison to the other, using the momentum of his movements to cut cleanly through the dark tendrils. He landed in front of the Void and slid his sword back into its sheath. The Void suddenly screamed as numerous cuts appeared across its body.
"Laugh, go right ahead Avengers, laugh at this villain's pawn standing before you," Cade said, stomping his foot against the dirt.
"Cade, you didn't know what Muramasa was truly planning," Mar-Vell said.
"Why didn't I move quicker, why didn't I do this before, if I had done this sooner then none of this would've happened, DAMN IT!" Cade yelled, smashing his fists against the floor.
Beast and Ant man emerged from the prison block, Hank held Gyrich's arms behind his back and looked on in confusion as Cade kept smacking his hands against the floor.
"Perhaps you could have well avoided it, but then your soul would be stained with the blood of thousands Cade, the people would be afraid of you," Sven explained.
"Good, maybe then we wouldn't have thieves, liars, zealots and murderers walking through the streets, accepted as a part of ordinary life when they're leeching off of all the good that exists in society," Cade got up off of the floor and looked at Henry Gyrich with a glare. "Maybe then we'd have politicians that actually worked to help the world and not further their own careers, maybe we'd have a society where the desperate worked twenty times harder so that they wont have to cross the line crime offered, maybe the police would live by the principals they were supposed to, maybe heroes wouldn't have to hide behind masks, maybe…maybe she would still be alive!"
Tears fell down Cade's eyes as he deflected the Void's tentacle lashes.
"You think what happened to Laura justifies this?" Sven asked.
"Why? Why does the world go through so many corpses? WHY WONT PEOPLE CHANGE?!" Cade yelled.
"Cade," Sven whispered as he approached the man.
"Are you going to mock me for clinging to that memory, for all the sadness I feel everyday when I witness sins that have gone unpunished?" his rival asked.
"No Cade, the truth is, there was a time when I agreed with you…four perfect shots, all disabling his limbs. A kid acting on instinct would have shot to kill, but my sub consciousness, I'm pretty sure that some part of me wanted Laura's father to live with what he had done," Aeon explained.
"What?" Cade widened his eyes slightly.
"I wanted him punished, not with death but with life, I wanted him to get help, to be cured of his insanity, to realise how wrong what he did was and to live a long and healthy life with the memory that he murdered the woman he loved and the girl he was supposed to protect with his very life, I wanted him to suffer with the agonising knowledge that he had done something he could never take back, like Lazlo did when he injured Faith, like Rick did when he betrayed Kyle, like Jack did when he ran down two kids on the road and like I did when I became Onyx and killed innocent people. I wanted him to suffer from his guilt as an ordinary man would, because sometimes the greatest punishment is not death but life!"
"Looks like you aren't so perfect yourself," the Void cackled as he appeared over Cade and Sven.
Cade swung his sword around, sending an energy blade flying into the Void's head, splitting it wide open. The dark creature yelled in agony and was forced back by the heroes relentlessly beating it. Sven and Cade continued to stare one another down, neither man giving up in what was the hardest battle they fought, more gruelling than any fist fight, more bloody than any duel, the battle of their ideals had always been the centre of their conflict and they did not need fists to settle that battle. Even as the Tesseract crackled above them and the Void spread around them, the eye contact between the two rivals didn't waver for one moment.
Their armour and wounds faded and they were in a white void devoid of everything that could distract them. Sven saw a blonde haired man with blue eyes standing before him wearing black combat fatigues and a muscle shirt. Cade saw a red haired man with empty grey eyes, wearing a red shirt underneath a blue coat.
"Cade," Sven whispered.
"I forgive you for not killing him, I stopped blaming you for a long time, but why? Why didn't you try to change things? Why didn't you use your power to change the world?" Cade asked.
"Change the world?" Sven looked at Cade in confusion.
"You can fuse with others, you could…you could force out the best in people, why didn't you…you could have stopped so many disasters from happening. That's what I cant forgive you for, you were supposed to be a hero, you're supposed to have all the answers, you're supposed to be that miracle that people pray for…how could you not stop this from happening?"
The scene around them changed, from the white void to the battle they were far away from. Wind Dancer threw several Hydra agents back with her wind, only for one of Scion's fists to bring her to the ground. She got up off the floor, nursing her broken arm. Dust flew around Scion, trying to prevent him from reaching Sofia. Scion suddenly generated a pulse of green energy, throwing Dust onto the floor. Catastrophe fired a blast into Sentinel's chest, knocking Juston off of its back. He landed, spraining his ankle, screaming in agony as Deathlocket ran in front of him, firing blasts from her arm. Catastrophe flew out of the way and blew a cloud of dust into Red Raven, causing the woman to scream in terror as she flew into Reptil. Mettle grabbed Hazmat, shielding her from gunfire that ripped off his shirt. Karen screamed as Arachnophillia bit her arm, spreading poison across it. X-23 and Jimmy fought back to back, cutting down one demonic creature after another. Fire burned at their skin yet they still fought on. Apex, now in the form of Kate Bashir's brother Tim aimed the palms of his hands at approaching Hydra mechs, halting their movements as Cammi applied field dressing to a cut on Nara's arm.
"All of this," Cade muttered.
Kid Briton clashed swords with Azrael, the two flyers moved in a circle around the tired heroes, whom still fought on. The Thing used his own body as a shield to protect civilians from gunfire. Invisible woman was on her knees, blocking laser blasts with everything she had. Bloodstone fired his rifle, only for the last clip to eject from it. He smacked one Hydra agent across the head, but another came up behind him and punched him in the side. Quicksilver and Speed Demon rushed past the fighters, throwing both the Hydra agent and Bloodstone aside. The Hydra agent was the first to rise and drew a knife from his belt. Amadeus Cho tackled the man from behind and smacked him across the head with his ant man helmet.
"This could have been avoided," Cade said.
"We can still stop this Cade!" Sven retorted.
"It shouldn't have happened to begin with!"
"Your blaming me, the Avengers, X-men and every other obscure hero out there for what's happening here Cade and your right, we are responsible, but so are you!" Sven pointed his finger at Cade and motioned to the war going on in the world they had left behind.
Cade looked at the battle and narrowed his eyes at Muramasa. Several heroes then tried to attack the warlord, only for his Apprentice to appear beside him. The Apprentice ducked underneath Gorilla-man's punch and stabbed him in the chest. Muramasa then shot through M-11's head with beams from his eyes and blocked Ikaris's punch.
"Impossible, with his bare hand," the Eternal widened his eyes as Muramasa punched him across the face.
Sersi tried to mutate the Apprentice, but the young man threw an energy spear through her shoulder.
"My suit gives me plenty of power, and my mind is joined with the Tesseract, or the cosmic cube as you know it as, with a focused enough thought I can turn supposed god's into mortals," Muramasa cackled.
Ikaris gasped as he felt his strength leave him. He looked up, horrified at the mere sight of Muramasa before the man stabbed him in the chest.
"So your powers are controlled by tech right? I can shut them down then!" Apex grinned as she approached Muramasa from behind.
"Go ahead little girl, try and take control of my suit," Muramasa turned to Apex as she raised her hands.
Apex widened her eyes, for her powers didn't effect Muramasa at all.
"Katie Bashir, I knew your parents you know," Muramasa smiled at the shocked expression across the girl's face. "What were you planning to do? Take control of me and then use the Tesseract so separate yourself from your brother? If that's all you wanted you just needed to ask me!"
He clicked his fingers and much to the shock of the heroes present, Apex split into two. Two people rolled across the sand, one was the Apex everyone knew and the other was a boy the same age and race as her.
"Tim and Katie Bashir, your parents are perfectionists, they approached me, or rather one of my personas about designing the perfect child…you didn't think it was an accident that they got a child who could change sex and personality did you?" Muramasa asked.
"You were supposed to be dead," Katie looked at her brother in shock.
A blade suddenly slid into Katie's chest. Tim screamed in horror as the light left his sister's eyes. Muramasa's apprentice stood over the girl, pulling his sword out of her back.
"I deliberately put the two of you in one body as a little fuck you to those pathetic snobs, I'd like to say that Katie's selfish nature was my doing but the truth is she really was a grade A bitch who would've sacrificed everyone here to survive…trust my hypothesis, after all…evil knows evil!" Muramasa broke off into insane laughter as Kid Briton, Red Raven and Anachronism charged his apprentice.
The young man easily diverted Kid Briton into the ground and deflected the strikes of the other two heroes blades. He summoned a trident and stabbed it into Kid Briton's foot, pinning him to the ground. Then he summoned another sword and blocked the attacks of his other two opponents, keeping them on the attack until they tired.
"Well done my apprentice, continue to keep them occupied, until the big bang!" the evil man cackled as the war continued.
"This is everyone's fault Cade, the Avengers for not seeing it coming, the government for keeping the cube inside Pegasus, and us for being so focused on ourselves," Sven explained.
"You've just gone and admitted that your heroes are in the wrong Sven, are you admitting now that my path was the correct one?" Cade asked.
"You know that I can never do that," Sven said as they returned to the white void.
"Why are we here Sven, are you hoping we'll have regained enough energy to destroy the Void together, I will help you, but I'm going to kill Reynolds," Cade explained.
Sven closed his eyes and lowered his eyes. He let out a sigh before looking at Cade again, without sympathy.
"The hardest battle for me was never fighting you, or fighting against my dark side Onyx, or even whether I could live a normal life or not, it was believing that you could redeem yourself!"
Cade remained silent as Sven spoke, he kept his usual frown as Sven made a final attempt to reach him.
"I've been your apologist all this time and many years before, I loved Laura like she was my own sister and I know you loved her more than the people of this world…she saved you once remember?" Sven asked.
"Do you think she'll be able to do it again? What if I truly am lost Sven?" Cade asked.
"I don't believe that, but I'm not going to say anymore, Laura isn't the only one soul trapped in the spirit world," Sven sighed.
Cade widened his eyes slightly as he turned around. He then growled in fury at the man standing before him, a man who looked like him, save for the wrinkles on his forehead and his extra weight.
"Father," Cade snarled.
"Hello boy, I see you're still crying like a little bitch!"
Next Chapter 29: Rivalry
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, yes the other Earth the Tesseract has created a portal to is the Earth you're thinking of, or rather the universe you are thinking of :)
Next time as we get closer to the end the war heats up with the heroes facing off against a mind controlled Namor, Sieg fighting Muramasa's apprentice and Aeon and Deathblade engaging in one last battle