Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel
Just going to throw this out there, Merry Christmas everyone, at least for when its Christmas. The Hunt its reaching its finale, with a few more chapters to go. The game changes this chapter, more character deaths and shocking twists, the battle between Aeon and Deathblade reaches its conclusion and the heroes unite against Muramasa. I've also updated the She-Hulk and Spider-man spinoffs.
The Hunt
Chapter 30: Brotherhood
The ending world was a blur to Sieg. The fire and beasts that rained down on the sky were nothing to Sieg, not even the presence of the resurrected Hellion and Icarus fully registered in his mind. His focus was on the masked man in front of him, the man whom had claimed to be his brother. Sieg always had a feeling that he was not the only son of Heinrich Wallace, mutant scientist/mercenary and information trader. He knew his father was obsessed with discovering the true origins of mutants, and that search had led him a to a family. The way Virgil moved, fought and his abilities were a clear indicator of their shared origins. He was the son of Heinrich Wallace and Sieg's half brother. Virgil, the apprentice of Muramasa summoned a spear with his psionic abilities and pointed it at Sieg.
"We are blood, yet here we are on opposing sides, I've waited so long to meet you BROTHER!"
He suddenly threw the spear, cutting the side of Sieg's helmet. Sieg widened his eyes slightly as his helmet fell apart. He raised his sword, blocking Virgil's second strike. Energy crackled off of their constructs as the two brothers pushed their swords together. Sieg turned his sword into a staff and swung it at Virgil, but the young man ducked, changing his sword into a shield to block Sieg's second strike. Virgil then immediately turned the shield into a scissor sword, cutting the staff apart.
"Your constructs are weak Sieg, has wasting all of your power on the Squadron done this, or are you so shocked that we're on opposing sides?" Virgil asked.
Sieg summoned a crystal shield, shattering Virgil's scissor sword. He then threw his fist forward, but Virgil quickly grabbed it and threw Sieg over his shoulder. The young man landed on his feet and kicked Virgil's chest, knocking him back. Virgil then clicked his fingers, forming several swords around Sieg. Sieg raised his shield in defence, blocking several strikes before one of the swords flew into his back. But the sword shattered on contact with Sieg's skin.
"You see, our mutant based abilities keep us from turning our powers on one another, we have to rely on our fists then don't you agree?" Virgil threw his constructs aside and assumed a fighting stance.
Sieg looked to Sofia and Sooraya as they both faced their former boyfriends. He then focused his attention on Virgil, just in time to block his punch. Virgil then threw a right cross, striking Sieg's fist. Sieg stepped back and blocked the second punch, but the third punch struck him in the gut. Virgil grabbed Sieg by his hair and then threw him across the dirt. Sieg jumped to his feet and blocked Virgil's kick, then threw him to the ground.
"We've both sparred with Logan, difference is I was training with a martial artist before I met the X-men," Sieg said.
"Taking guidance from a ghost, the ghost of a man you replaced our father with," Virgil countered, kicking Sieg across the cheek.
"I never replaced, I never even knew our father, never connected with him!"
"Your blood was your connection," Virgil snarled.
Virgil punched Sieg in the chest and then across the face. Sieg quickly swung around, kicking Virgl's arm, and then punching his helmet. But Virgil quickly blocked Sieg's punch and took hold of his arm.
"I'm not defined by blood, when Muramasa, the man controlling you tried to chase me, it was Sven Reilly who risked his life to save me and put his own marriage under pressure by taking me in…where was our father for that, where was he for you?" Sieg asked.
"I was left in the hands of a family, then my powers manifested, I was labelled a mutant and sent on the run, taken in by the X-men, they filled me with their lies…their hypocritical philosophies," Virgil explained.
They took hold of one another's arms, their legs constantly shifting and adjusting positions. Both tried and failed to bring the other to the ground. They were equal in strength and skill but one was furious, the other was concerned. Sieg knew that his brother was under some kind of mind control, and he had been driven to Muramasa because he seemed a more appealing master at the time, especially with how Cyclops had ordered Wolverine to kill Virgil.
"Why did you feel they were hypocritical?" the silver haired boy asked.
"In the beginning it was all about Xavier's dream, fighting for a better world, and then they changed, the world got bigger, the threats more severe, so they said 'no, the Avengers aren't enough' the X-men need to protect mutant rights, and that must be the priority. Mutant problems equals mutant solutions, what bullshit!" Virgil snarled as he slammed his head into Sieg's, forming a bruise on the young man's forehead. "I attended the school because I believed I could become an X-man, that I could make the difference and fight for a dream that was worth fighting for, but we never made examples, never did anything to unite others, we divided again and again, I thought there would be hope when David's sister visited more and more, but instead Emma Frost said that the school was no place for a human, Emma Frost began setting the rules in a way that was a direct contradiction of the dream Xavier established," Virgil explained.
Sieg stepped backwards, blocking several punches before taking a knee to his gut. He quickly elbowed Virgil's helmet, then delivered a brutal punch to Virgil's armpit.
"Then M-Day happened, 'the future of mutant kind has ended', 'we were the inheritors of the future, the new dominant species' the fight wasn't about equality anymore with her, it was about putting mutants on a higher pedestal than others…our own country? Genosha was the biggest mistake we could have made and Utopia is too…like less contact between mutants and humans was what the world needed, that's why I'm angry with them, that's why I hate them…because they ruined what the dream should have stood for," Virgil continued his rant, backing up every point with a punch to Sieg's face.
He grabbed Sieg by his shoulders and then threw him across the battlefield, making him land inches from the battle between Muramasa and the Avengers.
"What did Xavier's dream mean to you Virgil?" Sieg asked.
"There's the thing, Emma Frost was filling my head with so much crap that I eventually even started believing her, that humans and mutants couldn't live in peace, that we were doomed to always fight one another…then I found out about you Sieg, before M-Day…when I learnt of your existence I was so happy," Virgil lowered his head, balling his fists as they shook. "But when I learnt that you'd rejected your mutant abilities I wept, because I believed we would never see eye to eye, yet still I loved you as any brother would!"
Sieg wiped the blood hanging off of his mouth as he got off the floor.
"I love you too brother, when I found out about you I started looking into your time at Xavier's…your mindset then, was the kind that we all should've shared. But I never would've rejected you, I rejected my mutant heritage because it sets me apart from others, I reject my mutant heritage now because I don't have faith in the dream that the X-men are fighting for at this moment," Sieg explained.
The crystal armour across his chest and shoulders, shattered, revealing his blue muscle shirt. Sofia and Sooraya looked over at Sieg and widened theireyes. His silver hair faded, replaced by light brown hair. The action caught Virgil off guard before Sieg rushed forward. With his eyes glowing blue, Sieg swung his fist towards Virgil.
"I don't believe in mutant kind, I believe in life, the good of all, because those people who call themselves and are called mutants…THEY ARE PART OF THAT ALL!" Sieg yelled.
He punched Virgil across the head, shattering his helmet. Virgil slid across the dirt, his blue eyes and black hair fully revealed thanks to the destruction of his helmet. He looked at his surroundings in mild confusion before he realised what had happened and where he was.
"No," Virgil whispered.
Sieg stood over Virgil and offered him his hand.
"Come on Virgil, we still need a person like you," Sieg said.
Virgil looked at his hands, stained with the blood of the people he killed. Without even acknowledging Sieg's presence he summoned his sword and split a zombies head in half.
"Everybody, we need to work together, don't hold back on the zombies," Cap said.
Sunfire unleashed a blast of fire on the zombies swarming towards him and the Avengers. Spider-woman fired a venom blast, and Beta Ray Bill and Thor unleashed bolts of electricity on the creatures. Even the zombified version of Wolverine was burnt to a crisp. But the Parademons continued their relentless attacks against the heroes. Warriors of Asgard fell one after another, Sif and Balder stood back to back, blocking the sword strikes of Hela's corrupted Valkyries. The Warriors Three struck down enemy after enemy, only faltering when Bor stampeded towards them. Fandral thrust his rapier at the father of Odin, but it shattered upon contact with his skin. Bor grabbed Fandral by the neck and deflected Volstagg and Hogun's attacks. He threw Fandral across the battlefield and swung his axe into the other two warrior's weapons, sending them sliding backwards. Brunnnhilde the Valkyrie, the only one of her sisters free from Hela's control cut her way through waves of her fellow Valkyrior.
"I don't completely understand, why would Hela suddenly become involved in this conflict?" White Tiger asked.
"Perhaps Muramasa has offered her something," Finesse threw one of her Escrima sticks at a Parademon, bringing it to the ground.
Striker created a force field, protecting himself from a Parademons energy blast.
"What are these things anyway?" he asked.
"I've read about every threat the Avengers have faced and this is like nothing I've ever seen," Finesse said.
Power man and Iron Fist slammed their Chi powered hands into Bor, throwing him back. Muramasa formed an energy shield, blocking the attacks of the Avengers surrounding him.
"This is indeed an inspiring sight, people putting aside their differences, the X-men going against the orders of their douche bag leader to save the world!" Muramasa dragged his sword across Cap's shield. And then kicked Hawkeye back.
He fired a blast from his eyes, hitting Rogue in the chest and knocking her into Jimmy. Sofia used her wind to push Julian back, but the telekinetic kept up his assault, whilst Jay slashed at Dust's sand particles.
"What has he done to you Jay?" Sooraya asked.
Icarus's only response was a swing from his sword. Sofia pushed Julian against the ground, but his telekinesis was ultimately superior. He threw her into the air and then slammed her against the ground. Laura ran to Thing's side and nodded to the Fantastic Four founder. She jumped onto Ben's hand and was launched towards Julian. X-23 drew out her claws and slashed Julian across the back, breaking his concentration enough for Sofia to hit him with a blast of pressurised air, knocking him to the floor.
"One team focus on Muramasa, the other protect the civilians and take out the combatants," Sieg said.
He ran alongside White Tiger, Sunfire, Gilgamesh, Starbrand and Dark Angel ran across the battlefield, cutting and blasting their way through the enemies in their way. Gilgamesh knocked a Wendigo into the sky and White Tiger split a zombies head apart before Sunfire burnt the creature to ashes. Sieg jumped over a Parademon, which Dark Angel shot apart with her blaster. Starbrand flew over Sieg and fired a blast into the demons from Mephisto's realm. Energy surged across Sieg's arm as the elbow of his gauntlet opened. Light burst from the gauntlet, launching Sieg forward like a rocket. He flew past Havok and Cap and slammed his fist into Muramasa's face. The villain's helmet flew off of his head, revealing his white hair and his glowing purple eyes.
"Very good, very inspiring, you truly have surpassed both your fathers, Aeon in skill and Heinrich in power," Muramasa grinned, then raised his eyebrows in confusion at Sieg's brown hair. "HA! HA! HA! I see, you've abandoned your mutant heritage," he giggled.
"I didn't know I was a mutant to begin with, and even if I did it doesn't matter to me, like I told Virgil, I fight for the good of all and mutants are a part of that all," Sieg explained.
Nightcrawler suddenly teleported behind Sieg and grabbed his shoulders. Muramasa narrowed his eyes at the smirk on Sieg's face. The X-man teleported away with his charge, behind the group of heroes assembled in front of Muramasa. Cap stood with his hand raised, alongside Havok, Mimic, Sunfire, Starbrand, Captain Universe, Beta Ray Bill, Iron Lad and the newly arrived members of Ms Marvel's group.
"AVENGERS FIRE!" Cap yelled.
The assembled Avengers released their blasts, consuming Muramasa in fire, energy, and radiation, magic basically burning him badly. Wanda in particular unleashed her rage for her brother's death, using chaos magic to attack Muramasa's internal organs, increasing the chances of his vessels bursting and bones breaking. His armour broke apart and his skin fell off in flakes. The warlord fell to his knees, ash flying off of his burnt body.
"Did that do it?" Wiccan asked.
"The Tesseract is still active," Ares pointed to the sky.
Muramasa's body suddenly stood, his skin reformed and changed into glowing black energy. He laughed insanely, revelling in the shock and anger of the heroes. Even those still fighting looked to the man, never believing the horrifying impossibility of him surviving. His armour and cloak reformed around him, followed by his sword and an avatar of pure terror, a gigantic demonic version of himself that lingered over him and followed his every movement.
"With just one of my souls linked with the Tesseract, my powers have increased exponentially, there's not even a time limit for my reformation anymore, I have become truly immortal, TRULY GODLIKE!" Muramasa yelled.
With a mere swing of his arms, the heroes no matter their power levels were sent flying away from him. Sofia used her wind powers to grab as many non-powered Avengers as she could. Wonder Man grabbed Wanda and cushioned her from impact with the ground. Mimic and Red Raven's wings fell apart, but the latter, her body not enhanced like Mimic's, broke her neck upon impact with the ground.
"ONCE THIS WORLD HAS CRASHED INTO ITS MIRROR IN THE OTHER MULTIVERSE I WILL TRANSCEND THIS REALITY AND SPREAD THIS SUFFERING ACROSS EVERY INCH OF CREATION!" the warlord continued to laugh as he launched beams of energy and blades across the battlefield.
Thor deflected the axe strike of his grandfather, widening his eyes as an energy wave swept through Bor's head.
"You turn my grandfather into a slave and then cast him aside! YOU WILL BE THE ONE TO SUFFER MURAMASA!" Thor yelled.
A great bolt of lightning crashed down on Muramasa, causing his avatar to buckle slightly before firing an energy blast into Thor. The god of thunder crossed his arms together, putting everything he was into surviving the ruthless assault. He carried on with his attack, pelting Muramasa with lightning and in turn Muramsa intensified the power of his energy blasts. Thor looked at the battlefield, at his faltering brothers and sisters on both the side of the heroes and the Asgardians. Volstagg protected several civilians from Limbo demons, taking fire to his back. The mind controlled Namor stabbed Fandral in the chest with his trident. Reptil and the other founding academy students tackled Namor to the ground, trying to pry the Justifier helmet from his head. Nighthawk and Constrictor carried on a vicious fight, punching one another mercilessly. Hogun smashed a Parademon across the head, and even as a blast cut through his chest he continued swinging his mace around. Exhaustion and blood loss overcame the warrior and he fell at his brother Fandral's side.
"Father," Thor whispered.
Asgard broke apart and began to fall on the battlefield. Speed ran as fast as he could, taking civilians away from the fight and pushing his teammates away from debris. He then punched Namor across the face, knocking the Justifier helmet off of his face. Constrictor wrapped his coils around Nighthawk's neck, pulling the man who murdered his best friend towards him. He gripped the Squadron member in a headlock, keeping him in place as debris from Asgard fell around them.
"Let go of me you idiot," the Squadron's Nighthawk pleaded, fear overcoming him.
Diamondback threw her shards into the heads of two squadron grunts and looked towards Constrictor.
"Never thought our hero streak would end like this huh Kyle!" he muttered.
"FRANK NO!" she screamed.
Constrictor closed his eyes and even smiled. A huge piece of Asgardian debris flattened the redeemed hero and his friend's murderer. Diamondback screamed, tears flying from her eyes.
"Have I failed?" Thor looked to the heavens and then to Muramasa.
The Avengers founder and former ruler of Asgard grit his teeth together. He pulled his hammer back, covering it with the energy of the Odin force.
"FOR ASGARD!" he yelled.
With that great bellow he threw the hammer towards Muramasa. The warlord turned, aiming the palm of his hand at the hammer. As soon as the weapon made contact with him he disappeared, as if it had passed through a door into another room.
"Idiot, I can transport matter, even energy itself into any dimension at any time, if the government uses nukes I'll send them to a peaceful Earth, if you hit me with energy blasts again I will ensure that you supposed heroes become party to the genocide of another Earth," Muramasa explained.
"I don't mind genocide!"
A spear suddenly pierced through Muramasa's back, the tip of the spear glowed and Muramasa widened his eyes in shock.
"The Norn stones, you made them into a weapon, you mischievous bastard," Muramasa turned his head towards his attacker.
Loki stood behind Muramasa holding the spear tightly.
"Mischief is my weapon, you can't transport things of power like this can you?" Loki asked.
He didn't wait for the response, he snapped the spear and left the tip and the Norn stones inside Muramasa's chest. Muramasa clutched his reforming chest in horror as the skin formed over the stones.
"Your instant regeneration is your own undoing, you cant tear the stones from your chest nor transport them," Loki smirked.
"Tricky little dick!" Muramasa growled.
He swung around, plunging his hand through Loki's chest. Thor looked to his brother in shock, but Loki merely smiled. Even as Muramasa began to slowly turn his body into charcoal he smiled.
"For Asgard…brother!" he whispered.
"LOKIII!" Thor yelled.
Muramasa crumbled Loki's body to pieces and turned to the heroes, his usual casual expression had returned, but sweat still ran down his face.
"Now, where were we?" he asked.
As the heroes continued their devastating battle with Muramasa, the two rivals known as Aeon and Deathblade still fought on. Even as the final moments of the heroic dead flashed before their eyes, the angelic and demonic fighters still battled on. They fired beams at one another and the very force of their flapping wings created vortexes and maelstroms. Slamming their heads and fists together, both fighters glared at one another and yelled, unleashing their total fury, with one another, with the world they lived in and with the battle taking place miles away from them. Cade slammed his fist into Sven's face, sending him sliding across a desert sand. He fired a blast of energy from his mouth, turning the sand around Sven to glass, trapping him in a prison. But unsatisfied with the imprisonment, Cade continued his assault, shattering the glass and delivering multiple strikes to Sven's chest. Sven finally managed a counter attack, head butting Cade and kicking him across the neck. Using the distraction Cade's pain offered, Sven grabbed his leg, bringing his rival to the ground. He swung Cade around, throwing him through the sphinx and sending him flying across the continent.
Similarly the two Hyperions, one of the Avengers and the other of the Squadron fought in space, very close to the portal of the Tesseract. The dark energy seeped from the portal, burning off the Squadron Hyperion's hair. The Avenger then tackled his darker counterpart and flew as fast as he could towards the sun. Both titans crashed through the sun that fuelled their powers. The darker Hyperion laughed, genuinely amused by the actions of the heroic Hyperion. They flew out of the other side of the sun, crashing into other planets, the harsh conditions of those planets would have decimated any ordinary man, but both men were far from ordinary. One empowered by the DNA of the Eternals, the other a mutant Eternal, both had achieved power that made them greater than any super human in the Avengers. They struck the Earth's atmosphere, partly burning their costumes. The good Hyperion let out a yell as he punched his counterpart in the face, throwing him towards the ground. Then he fired a blast of atomic vision from his eyes, hitting the man in the chest and slamming him back first into the ground.
"Idiot, putting me through the sun, that's just charged me up more," the dark Hyperion said.
"No, you've never had to cope with overcharged powers before, I have, from the day I was born I was left in agony because of my enhanced senses, but in time I mastered those senses…you however haven't," the Avenger crossed his arms together.
The Squadron leader stood up and looked at the Avenger. He saw the man's vital organs, his bones and every cell of his body. Looking at his surroundings he saw every germ, every atom of existence. He felt the immense pain of his opponents punches amplified because of the increased sensitivity of his touch. His eardrums burst, having heard the cries of the dying, the screeching of cars, explosions and battle and even the marching of the ants beneath him. The villainous Hyperion yelled before glaring at his good counterpart.
"You knew this would happen DIDN'T YOU!" he yelled.
"That your powers would grow to the point you couldn't control them? Yes I did, I've had a whole childhood to learn Mark, you only gained your powers a month ago, you do not see every atom of existence like I do, and you have know nothing about life," Hyperion explained.
"I know how to take it," the Squadron leader retorted.
"Which is why I wont allow you to continue fighting!"
"SHUT UP!"
The dark Hyperion lunged at the Avenger, pinning him to the ground. He slammed his fists into his counterpart again and again, releasing sonic booms that cracked the ground beneath them. Hyperion raised his hand and punched his counterpart a final time. But much to the evil man's horror, his hand struck the Avenger's face with the effect of punching a moving cannonball. The bones in his hand shattered, obliterating it completely. He yelled in agony, stepping away from Hyperion with a look of horror written across his face.
"HOW! HOW!" he screamed.
"When we flew through the sun it boosted our powers exponentially, in your case it increased them so much that it effectively burned them out of you," the real Hyperion explained as he stood off of the floor.
With a simple slap he knocked his doppelganger out. Then he flew to where he needed to be, the battle of Oklahoma. Hyperion flew alongside Prime, Blue Marvel, M and Darkhawk, with Surge running across the ground and Wolfsbane and Meltdown riding on a hover cycle. Meltdown threw a flurry of bombs onto the zombies below her bike; Darkhawk then fired his gun batteries, finishing the creatures off. Wolfsbane jumped off of the bike, shredding into the Wendigos with her teeth and claws, whilst Surge electrocuted them. Muramasa grit his teeth together as he continued to block beams fired by Havok and Sunfire. Cap and MVP rushed towards the warlord, the latter kicked him across the face. Steve then threw his shield, cutting Warlord's face. MVP then grabbed the shield and slammed it into Muramasa's shoulder. The warlord fired a blast into the shield, knocking MVP back. Speed rushed into Cap, knocking him out of the path of Muramasa's blast.
"What the hell did Loki do to me?" Muramasa wondered.
"My brother's sacrifice has weakened your connection monster!" Thor growled.
The son of Odin rushed towards Muramasa, wielding a sword and mace. Despite the loss of his hammer, Thor was still a warrior and fought an even battle with the cosmic empowered warlord. He and Ares slammed their blades against Muramasa's sword, forcing him to defend himself, blocking strikes from the warriors around him. The Black Panther, Shuri threw herself at Muramasa, dragging her claws against his sword. He kicked her in the ribs and shattered Thor's mace and then knocked Ares back with a blast from his eyes.
"HAVE AT THEE!" Thor yelled, cutting Muramasa across the side.
His skin instantly regenerated, but Thor carried on the assault, plunging his sword through Muramasa's chest. Muramasa gripped the blade of the sword and passed an energy current through it, throwing Thor back. He then pulled the blade out of his chest and shattered it to pieces.
"Nothing will stop me, there isn't a force in the universe that can stop me," Muramasa snarled. "CATASTROPHE! FILL THEIR HEARTS WITH FEAR!" he yelled.
Catastrophe blasted Nara and Striker away from her. She nodded to her leader and flew into the air. Opening her arms, the demonic woman released a wave that filled the heroes around her with the greatest sense of fear they had ever felt. Asgardian warriors and Initiative members fell to the floor in terror. Karen fell to her knees, shedding tears over her fears before Arachnophillia kicked her across the face.
"THAT'S IT MY FLOWER SPREAD THE FEAR!" Muramasa cackled.
America Chavez tried to punch Arcanna across the face, only for Moonglow to hit her with a blast from behind. Wind Dancer flew to Catastrophe's level and released a great gust of wind. The heroes suddenly regained their senses and leapt back into battle.
"Those are pheromones, but you cant be…she's dead," Sofia glared at Catastrophe.
The demonic woman smirked before flying into a dark portal. Muramasa blasted Reptil and Mettle away from him and deflected Hazmat's energy blast into Wolverine's face. Sieg punched a Chitauri across the face and then flipped backwards, dodging a flurry of blasts fired by Parademons. He nearly fell on his back, but X-23 pushed him back to his feet. She gave him a nod before running at the two Parademons. She sliced the machine/alien hybrids in midair and then beheaded the two Chitauri on the ground.
"You should be careful, you don't have your sword," the clone noted.
Sieg tapped his gauntlet and released a burst of energy from his elbow. He slid past X-23 and crushed the head of a zombie version of the Hulk. More portals appeared above the heroes and more combatants entered the fray, the worm like creatures the Chitauri used as battleships and even colonies of Brood. The Sentinels fired beams from their hands, knocking the creatures out of the sky. But the swarms began tearing into the cockpits of the Sentinels, eating their pilots. Juston ducked behind Colossus, who was protecting him and Deathlocket from blasts fired by Arcanna.
"Time to end this magic bullshit," Luke Cage growled.
He picked a chain off of the ground and threw it, wrapping it around Arcanna's ankles. Then with a sharp tug he pulled the witch head first to the ground. Dr Strange fired a blast from his hand, knocking Moonglow out of the sky.
"There are too many of them and we're exhausted," Finesse said.
"I can keep this up all day," Taskmaster beheaded a Chitauri.
Wendigos and Brood rained from the sky, jumping at Taskmaster and his daughter. Black Widow emptied the clips of her guns, killing the creatures.
"I'm out," she said.
A flurry of bullets suddenly flew into the Wendigos. Widow turned her head, seeing Nick Fury alongside Dugan, Coulson, Carter and most surprisingly of all the Punisher. Frank Castle carried a minigun and gunned down the Chitauri in waves.
"Reinforcements have arrived," Fury said.
She-Hulk suddenly landed on the ground, squashing a Brood. She waved her hair, smiling as Driver ran past her, knocking out several Chitauri. Starfox and Thundra punched a Chitauri battleship until it broke apart. Muramasa looked to the sky and widened his eyes, someone in a Spider-man costume was flying on a goblin glider alongside the Mattie Franklin and Julia Carpenter Spider-women, Arana, Azure Eagle and a woman in the American Son armour. Spider-man and Scarlet Spider landed on the ground and began punching and kicking their way through the Chitauri.
"You're not alone Sieg," Jason said as he and Zack fought back to back, knocking down one Wendigo after another with their escrima sticks.
"You bought the New Warriors back together," Nova, Sam Alexander slammed into Muramasa from behind.
Tempest, Phaser, Blackwing and Skybolt bombarded Muramasa with energy blasts. Sungirl flew around Muramasa, hitting him with concussive blasts from her pistol, whilst Aracely struck Muramasa with a telepathic wave. She bombarded him with torturous images before Night Thrasher punched him across the face, knocking him into Ripcords tentacles. Stacy X threw Muramasa across the field, sending him flying into Beta Ray Bills hammer.
"Fools, you cant stop me, I have the power of a god, I can bring anything from any universe into this one," Muramasa raised his hand, summoning more portals.
More Chitauri began to appear, but Yellowjacket and the other Dead Avengers flew into the fray, blasting the aliens apart. Several Repulsor blasts flew into the ground, knocking off the pieces of Muramasa's armour. He looked up to the sky and widened his eyes. Iron man floated above him, alongside an army of Iron men, empty suits of armour that Tony had spent months building, he had even named them.
"Let me introduce you to the House party protocols Muramasa, Iron Avengers infused with all of the moral knowledge I have gained through my career as an Avenger, I'd run through their names but as you can see you're clearly outnumbered, boys start the party," Tony clicked his fingers and the iron men flew into battle.
They flew across the field, intercepting Muramasa's reinforcements before they could attack the exhausted Avengers. Hank Pym squashed several Parademons and widened his eyes as Yellowjacket flew in front of him.
"DeMara?"
"No Hank!"
"Jan!"
Janet Van Dyne swooped downwards, shooting two Chitauri in their heads.
"You have fallen to pride," Bill said as he smacked Muramasa across the face with his hammer. "Loki's sacrifice is the key to our victory, the Norn stones are slowly severing your connection to the Tesseract!"
Muramasa telekinetically caught Stormbreaker and cut off Bill's hand with an energy blade. But the brave warrior still fought on, grabbing Muramasa's throat.
"We will stop you, even if we all fall," Bill growled.
"Shut up and die," Muramasa snarled.
He thrust his sword into Beta Ray Bill's chest and pushed the warrior back. Anti-Venom and Agent Venom tackled Muramasa from behind, biting his shoulders. The warlord screamed as the symbiotes ripped his arms off. His sword clanged to the ground, but new arms quickly began to grow from his shoulders. He swung around, blasting the two Venoms and sending them flying past Thor. The Asgardian warrior knelt beside his sworn brother, supporting his head.
"Odinson, please, take Stormbreaker and finish this!"
Thor crossed Bill's arms together and looked to the Cyborg's gold hammer. He stood tall and picked up the hammer. Lightning flashed around him as he turned towards Muramasa, but he wasn't alone. Stood beside him were the first Avengers. Iron man charged his gauntlets, Cap readied his shield and Hank and Janet briefly joined hands before Hulk landed behind them.
"Avengers," the green behemoth growled.
"Fight," Thor whispered.
"AS ONE!" the Avengers yelled together.
Cap threw his shield, but at the same moment Iron man fired his Unibeam. Muramasa changed the direction of the beam, but the shield sliced through his shoulder. Wasp then flew at Muramasa, firing beams into his eyes. Utilising the distraction, Hulk lunged at Muramasa, punching him into the ground. He then threw Muramasa towards Hank. Using his Pym particle blaster, Hank increased Muramasa's size, creating an overall bigger target. Thor threw Stormbreaker right into the cut on Muramasa's shoulder, using it as a lightning conductor to draw electricity towards Muramasa.
"AVENGERS HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT THIS TIME!" Cap yelled, throwing his hand forward.
Energy blasts, gunfire and the elements themselves flew towards the gigantic warlord, burning and shredding every inch of his body. He yelled in both agony and immense anger and the portal in Earth's orbit began to expand. Muramasa's agonising screams turned to insane laughter before he released a bright flash of light that consumed all in its path.
The dust settled over Sven and Cade. Whilst they had fought, reality-warping waves had been spreading across the planet, manipulating the very cities they had flown through. But as their wings faded, Sven and Cade were in a place that wasn't at all far from Oklahoma. They panted, near exhaustion from the intense battle they had fought. The reality warping waves of the Tesseract reacted to Sven's armour, causing it to shatter. But instead of nothingness as Cade and Sven both expected, flesh was revealed behind the armour. Sven stood in a grey and red suit, his red hair short and skin healthy. Cade's devil form shattered to reveal his human form. Dressed in a pitch-black suit, his face had the faint lines of old battle scars; his blonde hair slightly obscured his red eyes.
"Everything's going to change now Cade, we've gotten better," Sven said.
"The heroes? Yeah right, how many murders did they become party to? How many people did they kill with their lenience? If they had killed Bullseye when it was obvious he would never be redeemed, then thousands of people would still be alive, if they had killed Osborn before he became a global name then his goblin cults would never have existed, if they had killed Nitro then Stamford wouldn't have happened in the first place," Cade explained.
Sven lowered his head for a moment before looking to his rival.
"I get it Cade, I really do, but we have to be better and that doesn't just include beating them, it includes beating what they stand for, we have to do the right thing no matter what," Sven explained.
"And why isn't the right thing killing psychopaths?" Cade asked.
"Because it dirties us…"
"What nonsense," Cade snarled.
"It isn't, it's the damn truth, when we start executing people because it 'seems like the most sensible thing to do' then we might as well be animals, if we adopt it for one person then we have to adopt it for everyone, and there are people out there who are capable of redemption, WHO CAN BE MORE THAN WHAT THEY ARE! THAT'S TRUE JUSTICE! DISCERNING THE IREEDEMABLE FROM THE REDEEMERS!"
Cade narrowed his eyes at Sven as his rival's eyes glowed blue. They both yelled at one another as they ran at each other. Sven attempted to punch Cade across the face, but Cade leant his head back and kneed Sven in the gut. He then knocked Sven to the floor and began punching him multiple times across the face. Sven grabbed his arms and diverted his fists to the ground. He pushed Cade back and stood up.
"You killed people that couldn't be forgiven, but you also killed people that could become more, they've become victims, their family's have become victims…HAVE A LOOK!" Sven yelled as he pulled his head back.
He slammed his head into Cade's, causing the vigilante's world to freeze. Instead of seeing the evil across the world, Cade saw the good, the heroes risking their lives to stop Muramasa. He saw the redeemed Thunderbolts, Eddy Brock, Kraven the Hunter, Kaine Parker and the villains of Spider-man turning themselves in, including Dr Octopus and the Vulture both sacrificing themselves to save their nemesis's child. The faces of Magneto and his children flashed before his eyes, including the Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed. When it all became too much for Cade he screamed in agony and fell to his knees.
"My god, you've never done that before Sven," Cade said.
"You got tired of all the corruption in the world, well I got tired of your corruption Cade. I know there is good in you, I know that you can redeem yourself Cade, so lets fight together, fight to protect the world that Laurie loved, to protect the good that's left in the world," Sven explained.
Cade looked at his hand for a moment and then towards Sven. He reached out and took Sven's hand, allowing his rival, his friend to pull him back onto his feet.
Sieg coughed as his vision began to clear. He looked at his surroundings and saw that the battlefield had been turned into a decimated wasteland. Remarkably however the heroes were still alive, most were wounded but a few were barely standing. Cap leant on his shield whilst Jan and Hank helped one another off of the floor. Sieg chuckled softly and leant his head back. He had unfortunately landed on a chunk of granite, where a steel pipe had stabbed into his shoulder.
"We survived," he laughed.
"Yeah, everyone's survived," Sieg widened his eyes as he heard a voice behind him.
He turned his head slightly and saw Muramasa. The man's armour had been completely torn, but cosmic energy was still glowing across his face and his sword.
"SIEG!" X-23 yelled.
She crawled across the floor, her legs were broken and beginning to heal. Wolverine had a similar problem and Sofia got her leg caught under a rock. Everyone else was either wounded or too far away to help in time. Sieg narrowed his eyes at Muramasa defiantly, waiting for the villain to strike. The warlord swung his sword down, only for another blade to catch his. Sieg and Muramasa looked at the wielder of the sword in shock. Virgil stood holding the blade, keeping Muramasa from harming Sieg.
"You wont hurt my brother, or ANYONE AGAIN!" the young man yelled.
Virgil pushed Muramasa back and tightened the grip on his sword. Light began to envelope Virgil as he raised his sword over his head.
"What is that light?" Hank asked.
"Its power from the same dimension Cade and Sven draw their powers from," Janet said.
"They have the power of justice and heroism, what does Virgil have?" Sofia asked.
"Isn't it obvious, look at the way he protects his little brother, its fitting really, he has the power of the spirit of Brotherhood," Muramasa snarled.
"There's no greater power!"
Muramasa turned, yelling in pain as Hulkling and Genis-Vell punched through his chest. They grabbed the Norn stones and threw them towards Speed. Thomas took them one by one and ran to Wiccan. Billy wrapped his fingers around the stones as if praying and narrowed his eyes at Muramasa. Wanda walked up beside him, supported by Simon. The Scarlet Witch's eyes glowed red as her son's glowed blue.
"NO MORE MURAMASA!" they yelled.
Wiccan opened his hands, releasing a blast from the Norn stones that enveloped Muramasa. His body began to fall apart, showing no flesh or blood, he was simply erased. At first it bought back Wanda's memory of the House of M, when she had erased Nuke and Hawkeye. But upon seeing her son's focused stare and Virgil's desire to protect his brother, she remembered Muramasa's role in her brother's death.
"This one's for you Pietro!"
She released a hex bolt, completing the spell and erasing Muramasa and the Norn stones.
"We did it," Hulkling huffed and puffed and offered Genis a fist to punch, though the reference was lost on the other son of Mar-Vell.
"He's finally gone," Virgil sighed and fell to the floor.
"Don't write me off so easily!"
The heroes gasped, Muramasa still lingered as a black representation of the cosmic cube.
"The Tesseract will still explode if the gateway isn't sealed, but don't worry, I'm sure my final curse will give you all good deaths," his disembodied voice echoed across Oklahoma.
"What are you talking about Muramasa?" Sieg asked.
"Only my last wish from the cosmic cube, to bring the greatest threat of the world now connected to ours, the avatar of the black!"
Black vines suddenly began to burst from the cube like a seed. The vines and tree trunks crossed together as they grew, extending to a height greater than any tree the heroes had seen before. The very ground beneath the creature the black vinery formed began to decay, greenery turned brown and then withered. Sieg and the other heroes looked at the creature in horror as the vines shaped arms, legs and a head. A mouth opened on the head, revealing decaying teeth. It opened its eyes, red irises and black pupils stared blankly at the world. A symbol then began to form on the creature's chest, five squares on top of an upside down triangle. The monster could be seen from the opposite state, where Sven and Cade looked at it in horror.
"What is that thing?" Sven asked.
Cade narrowed his glowing red eyes at the creature.
"Its killed thousands of people in its own universe," he snarled.
"They call it Swamp Thing!"
The two men turned to the new arrival. Carina stood before them, not even her glowing yellow eyes hid her concern.
"Muramasa bought a sliver of the creature here, and using the souls of the dead and the power of the cube restored it to its full power," Carina explained.
"The souls of the people he killed?" Sven asked.
"No Sven Reilly, he used the souls of the people Cade killed!"
Cade widened his eyes and looked towards Swamp Thing. The creature began running away from Oklahoma, its intended destination unknown.
"How…how is this my fault?" Cade asked.
"Look within yourself Cade, then you will know," Carina lowered her head.
"No…the corrupt form of justice is vengeance," Cade said.
Sven widened his eyes and rubbed his head in astonishment.
"Justice is about what's fair, and the opposite of fair is unfair, chaos and evil…your mindset wasn't effected unlike me when I turn into Onyx but you were still killing people in cold blood and those you did kill in cold blood…"
"Their souls became one with the black, with the very force Muramasa was using to fuel the growth of Swamp Thing," Carina finished for Cade's rival.
Cade looked at Swamp Thing in horror. If it didn't spread its life draining influence across the planet then the unstable portal would still explode, colliding the two Earths with one another. Either way the world would end, and it was all his fault.
Next Chapter 31: Sacrifice
We get closer and closer to the end, find out what must be sacrificed next chapter!