Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
And thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his aid once more.
Magneto finally gets finished this time, and Logan begins!
Guest 1: Thanks for the review. Probably, let's see.
Guest 2: Thanks for the review. True that, that was an unexpected power.
Chapter 13- Trials Part 4
Apocalypse told Charles he will send a message to the world, telling them that En Sabah Nur will lay waste to the world. Charles looked at Erik for any kind of reaction, reluctance, hesitation, anything. There was none. Like he had said, what was good in him had died with his family.
"He didn't even react", Natasha noted.
"We'd like him to wake up, but its not that simple", Sam sighed.
"Losing Nina and Magda might have been the last straw", Willow agreed.
"He is hurting, and wants to hurt the world in return", Merlin summed it up.
Charles told the First Mutant that he couldn't without Cerebro, only to earn a scoff from the blue skinned Mutant, as if the notion was ridiculous. "You don't need a machine to amplify your powers. You have me."
"He made you strong enough to connect him to every person on the planet by himself?" Kara asked in surprise.
"Apocalypse took control of me with Cerebro. I never felt such power before."
"Are all telepaths this powerful?" Bonnie asked.
Some looked at the Martians, Wanda, and Jean.
"Not all of us are so gifted." J'onn from Earth-38 then admitted.
Apocalypse spoke, his eyes glowing, and Charles repeated the words, connecting to the inhabitants of the planet, sending his message across every culture and language on Earth. "Hear me, inhabitants of this world. This is a message. A message to every man, woman, and Mutant. You have lost your way, but I have returned. The day of reckoning is here. All your buildings will fall. And the dawn of a new age will rise. for there is nothing you can do, to stop what is coming. This is message is for one reason alone, to tell the strongest among you..."
"Those with the greatest power, this Earth will be yours." Apocalypse finished.
"Those with the greatest power..." Charles' eyes never left Apocalypse's, repeating every word as he so wished, until now. "Protect those without."
Erik reacted for the first time since Charles reached out to him, staring sadly for what may happen to his brother now.
The telepath snarled at the godlike Mutant in defiance. "That's my message to the world."
Charles Xavier, a man so unflinchingly kind and good-natured that he would risk staring a God right in their eyes and defying them for the sake of protecting as many people as he could. Even if those people despise him simply for existing, he's willing to stand up for them.
"Respect to you", Spike gave a little salute, speaking for everyone.
"To look someone like that in the eye, and not back down, yeah", Superman agreed.
"You are a true hero", Steve smiled, as Charles nodded.
"Yep, nicely done", Kal said.
A great deal of respect went out to the Professor by all of them.
"I've never been so attracted to a guy with wheels before." Harley admitted at that point.
"Me neither." Peacemaker backed her up.
Looking out over Cairo, the powerful First Mutant meant for it to be the centre of the universe, and it would be. Hands raised, Apocalypse's power reached out to the city, and unleashed devastation. Molecules we his to control, as a sandstorm of matter taken from buildings, cars, people, anything that he could find, were disassembled, and in mere seconds, a great pyramid stood in the centre of the city, after much destruction.
Charles, Erik, and the Horseman could only stare in horror, shock, and awe. The power, the control, unlike this world has ever seen.
People watch in horror at what Apocalypse can do with his own power so easily, Stefan muttered. "This guy…"
"We've never faced people who can do all this", Piper gulped.
"So powerful, and evil", Lena sighed, and then Peter noticed her finally.
"Huh?" He realized she looked like his Betty, but it was the Multiverse, so he shrugged. "Weird."
"How did you guys stop something like that?" Big Blue asked.
"We nearly didn't." Kurt confessed.
"A truth would be revealed to us, that we did not understand at the time." Charles muttered, sharing a look with Jean, as those who'd been present during that incident realized what would happen.
Particles gathered between Apocalypse's hands, forming into a new helmet for Magneto. His purpose, to rip out what humanity has built, wipe the world clean, so they may lead the survivors into a better one. Charles asked what his role was in this madness.
"You have the most important role of all."
"What more did he want from you?" Balthazar asked in concern.
"Your powers." Aragorn realized, remembering what Charles said before when En Sabah Nur first appeared.
"And my body."
Under his own power, Magneto hovered above the new "centre of the universe", loops of metal and everything else within the Earth's magnetic poles under his control, no matter the weight, no matter the number, it followed his control, as Erik's eyes shut in concentration, metal downsizing to form a shield around as he reached deep into the planet, and ripped out everything they built, just as Apocalypse wanted, from the lowest of oceans, to the highest skyscraper, there was no range to his power, no more limits. The world bent under his grip.
"The ocean floor is full of iron, nickel, cobalt…" Peter started.
"Anything built since the Bronze Age." Spider-Man muttered.
Mal said in shock. "He's basically terraforming the gorram planet!"
"The whole world was in his hands, literally." Angel realized.
"The same world that killed his family." Tara pointed out.
Everyone could scarcely imagine the untold chaos that was unleashed on the planet. Except for the Fantastic Four, they were there in Egypt, so they had seen everything that happened.
"I remember it, it was terrifying", Reed had to say to the rest.
"Yeah", Susan agreed with a nod.
With the magnetic shield around him, Magneto hovered, eyes still closed, as he felt the world crumble around him. Raven's voice roused him, and he stared in surprise that she was there, with the same boy who rescued him from the Pentagon.
The blue skinned Mutant told him he thought he lost everything, but really hasn't. "You have me. You have Charles." Raven shared a look with Maximoff. "You have more family than you know. You never had the chance to save your family before, but you do now. That's what I've come here to tell you."
Magneto's eyes levelled on her, before shifting to Maximoff. "And you?"
"I'm your..." He hesitated, the words were on his lips, but he couldn't speak them. He's been waiting ten years for this, but he can wait a while longer. "I'm here for my family, too."
Raven saw their jet crash, and immediately worried for her team, and she hoped Erik did too. With a declaration that she would fight for her family, she and Maximoff left.
With them gone, Magneto started to waiver, and Erik Lehnsherr remembered the words of his dearest friend.
"There is so much more to you than you know. Not just pain and anger. There is good, too. I felt it."
"It's not just me you are walking away from. Here you have the chance to be part of something much bigger than yourself. And it needs you, Erik."
Family is not always blood, and he's had no truer family than Charles. A tear escaped his eye as he looked out to where Raven and Maximoff have gone. Back to the fight.
He stayed in place, struggling between being driven by his rage filled mission to make humanity pay, and the memory of his family, those that passed, and those still alive.
That all stopped when he heard Maximoff scream.
"He…stopped for me?" Maximoff was surprised this was what had led Erik to attack Apocalypse. Even when he didn't know Maximoff was his son, he had turned over to the good side for him. A tear rolled down his cheek. "Oh dad….."
"If I had known Peter was my son…I wonder how things would be different." Erik muttered as he stared at the scene. He always wondered why the speedster was there, to save the world, yes, but not really. There was more to it, that he never realized. How could he have been so blind?
"Spent a lot of years playing "what if", it never usually works out. Everything happened, I'm not saying for a reason, but it did, there's no point in wondering. It'll just make you feel worse for just imagining things that may or may not have gone down." Logan consoled him.
"Hey, amigo, how did that guy tag you?" Bart asked his fellow speedster.
"Guy was able to react to me by an adaptation power he had, got good shots on him, but then he adapted and got fast enough to track my movement, and made the ground rise as fast as I run, and trapped my leg, and broke it." Maximoff revealed how it had gone down.
"That must have sucked", Bart groaned.
"I can relate", Barry-Red raised his hand, remembering his broken spine by Zoom.
It was the worst kind of injury for their kind.
Apocalypse found his prize, dissolving the building to reveal Charles and the remaining X-Men, and he walked forward to claim his next vessel.
Until his path was stopped. Two girders struck the ground in front of him.
Forming an "X".
Everyone seeing the events of Earth-10005 for the first-time heaved sighs of relief and even cheered.
"Looks like he is back on the good side", Bloodsport spoke for all.
"Made the right choice at the end", Gandalf smiled.
"Fan-fucking-tastic!" Jessica commented.
Earth-199999
"Hell yes!" Dawn cheered for all of them. "Now Apocalypse better watch out."
"He's gonna get it", Jeremy agreed.
Earth-1
"At least he came back to the light", Thea said, both saddened and happy for Erik for different reasons.
"He realized what mattered", Quentin agreed.
Earth-92
Lorne was stunned. Even after all he'd gone through, Erik had come back to the light at the end.
Finding the source, Apocalypse looked in shock at the betrayal of his Horseman of War, facing him as the metal debris that once filled the air above Cairo now began to fall. Magneto's attack on the world was over, Erik now had a family to protect.
"You betray me?"
"No…I betrayed them."
Freya smiled, as Erik finally returned to the light.
Charles smiled in pride, the X-Men all looking various shades of happy that Magneto joined forces, and everyone else, cheering on.
"He was able to put aside his need for revenge." Castle noted.
"Not many of us could do that." Frank admitted.
"Nope, not at all", Punisher concluded this discussion.
Erik called upon the metal still in the air, on the ground, and falling in between, all hovering around him before throwing his hands forth, sending high speed torrents of meta at his former leader, forcing the First Mutant to conjure his shield, burning away the projectiles that came in contact with it.
Bombarding everything he can find at the Mutant, the Master of Magnetism was then joined by Cyclops' optic blasts while Beast rescued Maximoff and Mystique, and Charles struggled to fight the godlike being on the astral plane.
"We attacked him on every front imaginable, and he was still winning." Charles said grimly.
"How did you do it?" Tony inquired.
"As a team." Xavier told them.
Beast tried to leap at Apocalypse, but he threw him aside telekinetically, sending another pulse at Cyclops, sticking him inside a wall, immobile, with Erik strained to continue throwing his bombardment.
It seemed useless as Apocalypse walked forward toward Charles, but then Jean walked into the air as if on solid ground, her demeanour changed, and then, she let go, and unleashed her power, exploding with fiery energy in the shape of a Phoenix.
That shocked and awed all of them, Steve realizing. "So that's how it first came."
"Your power", Wanda turned to Jean, who nodded.
"It was always there, this was its first appearance", Jean said, staring at her first display of power.
"Such power….." Paige trailed off.
"How did you handle it all?" Willow asked.
"I couldn't", Jean shook her head in guilt. "It had to be sealed, that was the only way. Its still there, but buried."
Apocalypse's shield burned away, Erik hurled metal debris at the godlike being, and impaled his body. Cyclops was freed by an awoken Hank and fired his blasts once more. Apocalypse's portal began to form, until lightning struck from above, Ororo joining the fight against him.
"Nice going", Storm complimented her doppelganger.
"Late but not little", Ororo replied to her.
Shaking in pain, dying, his skin burning away from Jean's power, the First Mutant still smiled at the sight.
"All is revealed."
His final words, as he was burned away, his regeneration no match for the Phoenix.
Everyone sighed in relief as the ultimate Mutant is finally beaten.
"At last, he is beaten", Blaze commented.
"Didn't see Jean's power coming, did he?" Cordelia quipped.
"Didn't see that coming", Pietro chuckled.
"Actually, couldn't have done it without the Professor", Jean smiled at Charles. "This was the whole point of the X-Men, not just teaching Mutants their powers, or showing humanity that we fight with them despite their fear of us, but to face the threats that no one person, human or Mutant, can handle."
"It's a lot like how the Avengers were formed." Steve realized.
Everyone felt the tension leave their bodies as the last molecule of Apocalypse disintegrated. The two former Horseman floated down, sharing a look.
They had won.
But the damage had been done. As the world began to recover, Erik's role in stopping Apocalypse became known throughout the world, as did the heroics of the X-Men. No longer wanted, Erik was able to freely walk the world once more, but first, he had to help an old friend.
In Westchester, the destroyed mansion was repaired, by the magnetism of Erik, and telekinesis of Jean. The School of the Gifted open once again.
"Home." Storm muttered at seeing the finished mansion, the X-Men of Earth-199999 sharing smiles, including Logan down below.
In the underground base of the X-Men, Erik and Charles looked on at the new line up of X-Men within the newly constructed Danger Room.
"The world's already begun rebuilding its arsenals."
"It's human nature, Charles."
"I still have hope."
Erik chuckled softly. "Oh, yes. "Hope.""
"I was right about Raven. I was even right about you." Erik looked at the man, with Charles smiling knowingly.
"What about the rest of the world? Doesn't it ever wake you up in the middle of the night? The feeling that one day they'll come for you, and your children?"
The X-Men of Earth-199999 remembered exactly when that happened.
"It does indeed."
"What do you do when you wake up to that?"
Charles told him with no hesitation. "I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul that comes to my school looking for trouble."
"Yeah, invading a place like that will get you in trouble", Caroline agreed, thinking about the school they were now making.
"Only a dumb person would try it", Banner said.
"They did try it once, and they met Logan", Rogue revealed with a little smile.
"Pity indeed", Legolas chuckled, speaking for all.
Looking at his friend, Erik felt nothing of his previous criticism of Charles' ideology. Instead, he felt respect, and pride, in the man he called brother.
"You're sure I can't convince you stay?"
Erik smiled, joking. "You're psychic, Charles. You can convince me to do anything." He clapped the telepath on the shoulder before walking to the elevator.
"Goodbye, old friend."
Still with a smile, the pain of the loss still present within him, but the help of his other family, Erik could live again, and leave the Holocaust, Shaw, the Sentinels, and Apocalypse, in the past.
"Good luck, Professor."
Those parting words were the last thing said before the doors shut behind him.
The scene faded away, and the two Mutants were back in the arena.
Everyone took a moment to pause and regain their bearings at what they just learned of a man they either only knew one version of, met but barely knew him, or never met him at all.
The anger, the hate, the suffering that one man could endure over just one life. There's nothing they could say, but look at Erik Lehnsherr with respect, sympathy, and admiration.
Freya was smitten. Not just smitten, deep down, she knew that she truly had fallen for Erik. Never having believed in love at first sight, but learning of his life, it spoke to her on a level that no one could ever have imagined. It was not very different from what she had gone through.
"In spite of all of it, at the end, he rose and fought against evil", Clint said in admiration.
"He sure has a quality", Elijah admitted.
"I don't think I could do it", Mal admitted.
"Humanity always surprises", Lucifer smirked.
Logan looked at Erik with newfound respect. "I know a lot about pain, and you've certainly had your fair share."
"There's only so much one can take before breaking."
"I hear that." Logan meant to speak further, but the arena changed once more.
"Now, it's your life." Erik muttered in anger. His suffering was not enough to quench the Grandmaster's sadistic desires.
"Ought to be educational."
"You don't remember?"
"I don't know. I remember most of my life but there is still some…" Logan trailed off when the scene moved to a young boy, a teen at most, sharpening his nails into claws, while coughing could be heard.
Logan's eyes couldn't tear away from him as the place and year were revealed.
Northwest territories, Canada, 1845.
"Canuckleheads for life!" Deadpool cheered, until Cable's metal fist knocked him down.
"1845?" Bucky was shocked.
"I knew he was old, but this?" Elektra muttered.
"That would make him 175 years old, at least." Storm realized how old her friend truly was.
Earth-199999
"Now its his turn", Sarah Connor noted, watching with John as she took a sip of her drink. "He couldn't even let us process Erik's before throwing Logan's at us."
The one coughing was revealed to be another, younger boy, wrapped up in a robe and under the sheets of his bed. The older boy complained he was always sick, which the younger one rebuked he was sick at his age too.
"He looks about 13." Buffy said.
"188 years old." Iceman reminded.
Logan didn't speak, barely breathed, as he learned about his own life, from his earliest days.
A man walked in, making the teen stand up, hands behind his back. He greeted the man, well-made clothes and bearing indicating wealth. Tersely, the man greeted back. "Evening, Victor."
"Victor?" Steve and Bucky shared a look before going back to the screen.
"Who is he to you?" Erik asked.
"My brother." Logan's eyes went from Victor to the boy on the bed. "That would mean…"
The man didn't realize he would still be there, Victor quickly saying that he was just keeping James company.
"The Wolverine…was a sick kid?" Piotr finally realized.
"Oh, my stars and garters." Beast gasped.
"Now that is a shock", Luke said.
"Yep, never expected that, mate", Constantine agreed.
"Everyone has their own beginnings", Steve shrugged, remembering how he was before the serum.
James' father said it was kind of him, asking his son with care how he felt, which was still cold. His father promised it's only a mild fever, smiling and stroking his hair to calm the boy, saying it'll be gone in the morning.
James quipped he always said that, and he always pulled through, his father said, as Victor watched the two with jealousy. James' father prepared his medicine, before a banging on his door and shouting for Elizabeth, his wife, James' mother.
"I don't…I don't know any of this…"
John Howlett said with derision Victor's father was drunk, again, and he should help him home, but Victor argued it wasn't him his father was calling. John glared at the boy, before leaving James' bedside when he heard arguing.
The son called to his father, but John told him to stay, Victor following him as he shut the door. The arguing only got louder, and James only got more frightened, until a gunshot was heard.
James rushed from his bed, through the halls, down the stairs to find father on the ground, bleeding, and his mother in the grip of Victor's father, Thomas, a shotgun in the other.
James ran to his father, John's last words as he clutched onto to him was his son's name, before falling back, as life left him.
"He lost his dad….." Terry muttered, sympathy in his voice.
"Its like almost all of us have to lose someone", Parker said sadly.
It was a sad truth, it seemed. Most Heroes had lost someone in their lives, or many people.
"We are going to see what we never knew, maybe he didn't either", Natasha pointed out to the rest.
Earth-199999
"I'm sorry, Logan", Sarah said sadly to the on-screen Logan.
Sympathy went out to Wolverine, as they could all see that he never knew this part of his history, and the earliest memory he has ever seen, was his father dying.
Thomas told him he didn't understand.
"Understand? Understand that you killed his father?!" Sam asked in rage.
"This guy is a scumbag, and dumb", Yelena scoffed.
"First kill the dad, then say you don't understand", Caroline shook her head.
"Yep, clearly not too bright", Spike quipped.
But Logan could only watch, his mouth open, eyes wide, and never looking away.
Elizabeth tried to stop him from speaking, but Thomas needed to tell him, but James wasn't listening. His hands were shaking, from pain. He didn't understand.
Something beneath his skin moved, and as James held them up, he saw three tips pierce through his knuckles, more following as short claws made of bone emerged, any pain he had was overpowered by the sheer shock at what was happening to him.
Both adults froze with eyes focused on the boy's knuckles, another set of claws emerging from his other hand.
"That's how it began", Steve realized, all watching with wide eyes.
Overcome with pain, anger, and adrenaline, little James charged forward, Thomas raising his gun, but Elizabeth knocked it out of the way, allowing the boy to impale his father's murderer on his newly formed claws and forced him into a wall.
"That had to have affected him for a long time", Bruce said, all of them once more feeling sympathy.
"The mutation just awakened at such a traumatizing experience", Beast noted, the X-Men watching sadly.
"Logan….." Rogue whispered sadly.
Earth-199999
"He killed at such a young age", Sarah said in shock, that would be as traumatizing as his father's death.
His mother screamed his name, but James only glared at the man who killed his father. Until his next words changed everything.
"He…he wasn't your father." James' look of rage changed to utter shock, moving to look at his mother, who could only watch with wide eyes filled with fear, of the truth, or her son? James turned back to the dying man impaled on his claws, uttering one last word.
"Son…"
"What the….." Red Hood trailed off.
"Huh?" Pavitr muttered. "Was it just…?"
"Yeah…." Rachel sighed.
None of them even knew how to react, what do you do when a boy kills his father's murderer, only to learn the murderer was actually his real father?
"He did kind of look like John Howlett", Damon finally said.
"Could be true, and could not be true as well", Stefan told his brother.
"I know how it feels, mate, I know." Klaus connected to Logan there, his world having changed when he found out Mikael was never really his father.
Hunter asked Clint. "Did you all know any of this?"
"No", the archer shook his head. "His memory only came back in pieces, but he never went so far back."
Earth-199999
"Oh my God!" Sarah whispered, taking another sip. This was already exceeding her expectations and shocking her more than she anticipated.
James stepped back as the body of the man claiming to be his real father dropped, dead, and turned to his mother.
"What are you?" There was neither warmth or concern, at least, not for James, in her words. Staring at her in anger, for causing his REAL father's death from her unfaithfulness, little James ran out the door, barefoot, not stopping for anything, nowhere to go, and no idea what to do, until he was tackled by Victor.
James held up his fists in warning, saying he didn't mean it, but Victor said he did, and his father deserved it. Victor clasped his hands on James' shoulders.
"We're brothers, Jimmy. You realize that? And brothers protect each other. You have to be hard now, hard so nothing can ever touch us." The young, innocent James wanted to go home, but Victor said they can't, they stick together, and deal with anyone in there way. "Can you do that, little brother?"
Shakily, he nodded, and that was when the posse looking for them arrived. Victor started running with James trying to keep with him, telling him not to look back, as the two brothers ran, and never stopped for the next hundred years.
"So this is where it started…" Logan whispered to himself as he finally learned where he really came from, how Victor was really his brother.
"He is just a kid, and its already begun", Steve shook his head in sadness.
"Poor man never got a break", Superman sighed sadly.
"For hundreds of years", Lois whispered.
The Originals shared look as the bond established between the brothers was much like theirs.
"Always and forever."
And so, the life of the two brothers began, moving from place to place, hiding who they were, letting nothing stop them as Victor promised, until they grew into adulthood, and onto the battlefield.
From the musket ridden fields of the American Civil War, to the trenches of World War I, and the bloodied sands of Normandy beach in World War II.
Nothing stopped the two brothers as they fought side by side through countless battles, enduring bullets, cannons, flames, swords, not even age, and returning everything in kind, and if one could not, the other brother would do it for him, with blood coating their claws.
It wasn't until Normandy, when Victor took out a machine gun nest with their own weapon, and smiled at the death, that James saw the truth. Victor enjoyed this.
"Glad I never met them in the war." Damon muttered, seeing the two animal-like Mutants wearing the Union uniform.
"They were there." Diana and Prince paid close attention to their time in World War I.
"The day we met, one of the darkest in our history." Steve muttered as visions of D-day came back.
So much blood shed, so many lives most.
Bucky broke him out of that daze. "It would have been worse if not for you, and them."
"What were they back then?" Faith asked out of curiosity.
"Canadian Special Forces. They were with us for a time, until they got reassigned." Bucky explained.
"Logan went to Japan. Victor…I don't know where he went." Steve said.
"If what we saw back then and know now, I have a feeling he was put to the dirty work." Banner told them all.
"They saw more war in their lives than any of us." Frank pointed out, something every single soldier and Marine among them recognized.
Most have fought in one or two wars, Logan and Victor fought in at least four.
"I fought for so long…and I never even knew." Logan muttered to himself.
Erik, and many others, did not care that Victor was killing Nazis, but if he enjoyed it, then they knew, it was only going to get worse.
It changed to the Vietnam War, and like with the nest, Victor was smiling as he unleashed machine gunfire on anyone he could shoot from atop a chopper, until James tried to stop him.
When his brother refused, James took matters in his own hands and piloted the chopper out of range. When they landed in a village, the younger brother ran from the helicopter to look for Victor, fearing what he'd do, and unfortunately, he was proven right.
Victor carried a young woman into a hut and threw her in, his grin was savage until another soldier tried to stop him, the feral Mutant throwing him away.
"This…." Wanda snarled in rage, contorting her fingers.
"How could you…?" Batman glared, clutching his fists.
"He has clearly fallen", Gimli said, staring angrily too.
Sheer shock and rage was rampant amongst all at what Victor was going to do.
Spike couldn't bear to see it, and turned away, and Buffy was the same, both remembering a certain incident when Spike had been soulless.
So it began, as James called to his brother to stop, but Victor did not stop in his rampage, he went from one soldier to another, one man levelling a gun to fire had James not shoulder charged into him.
"He was defending him after that?!" Wayne demanded.
Logan looked at Erik, and his eyes told him everything, with shame, he could only answer. "He was my brother. He was all I had."
"They were brothers", Stefan said sadly, sharing a look with Damon. "And they only had each other."
Their senior officer tried to command Victor to stop, but the Mutant instead threw his hand forward, his claws cutting into the man's neck. Victor became surrounded by the rest of the squad, James by his side with his claws out, threatening to move on anyone against his brother. The men could only stare in shock and fear with the guns the only thing protecting them.
"Don't think even the guns would do much", Johnny pointed out.
"He enjoys it", Punisher said about Victor. "The violence, the rage-"
"It is like a drug to him", Klaus finished telling something similar to the rest. "He has lost it."
Elijah told his brother. "He's more animal than man."
"Victor embodies the animal and darker side of Logan, an aspect about himself which he hates. They are two sides to the same coin, a much more violent coin than mine and Erik's." Charles said.
Even back then, they could see the rift growing between brothers as they got older. During the Civil War, Victor seemed genuinely concerned when Logan got hit. But by the time they get to Vietnam, Victor is essentially oblivious to everyone he's fighting alongside and only embraces warfare for the bloodshed.
The two brothers were tied to posts as a firing squad readied their rifles.
"Wake me when it's over." Victor said casually, James looked at him in anger before going back to the firing squad, ready, and Victor roaring.
"Why was Logan shot?" Barry-Red asked.
"He was a Mutant, he helped Sabretooth, either way, there was no getting out of that." Oliver pointed out to him.
"Logan never seemed to use his claws." Ollie noticed.
"He didn't, not unless he had to. We never knew what he was until one of HYDRA's weapons came too close for comfort." Bucky revealed. "Victor though, never had that hesitation."
"It seemed like just another day to him." Kal said about Victor at the execution.
"From what we saw, and know, it was. Death doesn't mean much to them anymore, it seems."
Earth-199999
"Bet the soldiers were in for a surprise", Sarah commented, knowing Logan, and Victor too clearly, could heal.
The scene went dark, until it changed to a door sliding open to reveal a man in military uniform, looking down on the two brothers, the days spent in the cell counted on a wall, and the bullets holes still in their clothes. The man revealed himself as Major Stryker.
"Stryker." Logan growled, and the other Mutants that knew him glared in hate, including those from 'Earth-10005, and Cable.
"Who's that guy?" Cordelia asked.
"He took Logan's life away." Steve told her simply, and that was fully true.
Styker revealed their charges of killing their officer, the oldest brother quipping they had a problem with authority, while a rat climbed around on his body. Styker said their sentence was carried out, but James quipped it tickled.
Removing his sunglasses, the major asked if they were tired of running and hiding their true nature, he recognized their value, and offered them to stay locked up, or join his team and serve their country.
"We're Canadian!" Cable growled. His history with Weapon X was different. The real culprit behind his Adamantium bonding, then using him like an animal, was none other than Abraham Cornelius. There were more, but it was that man that drove the needles in his skeleton. With Logan, it was similar, just with Stryker instead.
"Guess it's not just me that was used by the government." Banner said.
"Man, our government is so shady." Parker realized, and they all agreed with him. They were, whether it's Ross, Stryker, or whoever else, their government could rarely be trusted.
"Seems to be a common theme." Cisco said, as Team Flash remembered General Eiling.
"Got some experience there too", Tara told them, the Scoobies thinking of the Initiative.
The brothers shared one look before, years later, the two of them were onboard a plane among other members of Team X.
And Earth-199999 Wade Wilson was amongst them.
"Look! It's me! Awwww! I was so cute, adorable, and my God was I sexy." Deadpool praised himself.
"Cable." Bloodsport called out.
"On it." The Cyborg Mutant pulled the trigger, and Deadpool went down with a bullet in his head, dead. For now, at least.
"That's Deadpool? I thought he was…" Chloe gestured to the groaning and recovering mutate.
"Different Earth. Our Wade Wilson must have been a Mutant." Sam told her.
"And born earlier if he was a grown man in the 70s." Tony added.
No matter the Earth, it seemed all Wade Wilsons shared one thing in common. They talked. A lot.
"I love this weapon more than any other thing in the whole wide world, and you wanna know why?"
"No." Victor said gruffly.
"That doesn't work at all", Kal said.
"It's memorable." Logan joined his brother at looking at him oddly. "Sure, it's a little bulky, tough to get on a plane. You whip out a couple of swords at your ex-girlfriend's wedding, they will never, ever forget it."
"That's funny Wade, but I think you've confused me with someone who gives a shit."
Wade smiled. "Granted, it's probably not as intimidating as having a gun, or bone-claws," he eyed Zero and James, before looking back at Victor, "or the fingernails of a bag-lady..."
Victor extended his claws, while Wilson readied his sword.
"Manicure?"
"Remember this, people, it's all you'll get before," Wade in the present inhaled deeply and dramatically, "My greatest shame." Another bullet to the head and he dropped.
"At this point, I'm going to run out of bullets." Cable quipped.
James told Victor to calm down, and the topic shifted to the big man, Fred's new tattoo, which "concerned" Wade.
Earth-199999
"Look, he's Fred too", Dawn quipped to Fred, who chuckled.
"I'm Winifred, Fred is for short", Fred pointed out.
The younger brother of the animal-like Mutants told Fred he only met last night, but he said he loved her, despite James' scepticism, another Mutant sitting opposite Stryker laughing.
"MERRY?!" The residents of Middle-earth, Steve, Natasha, Oliver, and Sara exclaimed in shock.
"The resemblance is truly uncanny", Gandalf agreed.
"Never thought I'd see him as a Man", Gimli commented.
"None of us did", Boromir told him.
"I said it once, and I'll say it again: the Multiverse is so gosh darn weird." Tony said what they were thinking.
The rescue team were engaged in another battle.
Clint fired a Pym Particle arrow and shrunk a Kronan, allowing Thor to stomp on it, as the rest took out a few too, with Thor killing the remainder.
Mal quipped as he watched. "Pfft! Love at first sight? Yeah right." Him and Jayne laughed a little as they needed it after the roller coaster of a ride they went through with Erik's story.
Only for the laughter to stop when they felt massive headaches that left as fast as they came.
Meanwhile, Freya hid her hands behind her back from her siblings, but her sister stared at her knowingly.
Freya shook her head, as Rebekah snickered silently, then walked forwards, Freya blushing. Her little sister knew, it seemed.
With that, she walked forwards, hoping Rebekah won't be a tattletale.
Stryker ordered for Bradley, Merry's lookalike, to take them down, and with a hand to his temple, the plane moved as he willed it.
"A technopath?" Hank noted.
"Ironic, considering he's from medieval, fantasy world." Cisco said.
James groaned at the sudden shift in the flight. Fred wondered if he'd puke, James rebuked that they'd have wings if they were meant to fly. Zero quipped more people died from driving, and James threatened how many died from impaling.
"They seem friendly." Piper said.
The last member of Team X, Wraith, told James to be nice, "Or be your approximation of nice," before offering a bucket. Styrker told them they were landing in Lagos in five.
"Lagos…" Logan's eyes moved back and forth, trying to remember what happened in Lagos. It was important, it had to be.
"I think I know." Tony admitted.
Team X walked through the favelas to stare up at a building guarded by a fence and heavily armed men, even a tank. Wondering why they were there, Stryker brushed off the question as he sent Zero to quickdraw and shootdown numerous guards, throwing his guns up and pulling out extra clips to reload them before catching them again, leaping over the fence before Victor and Fred walked forward.
"Okay, that was something", Angel said, speaking for many of them.
"Eh! I know someone who can do better", Harley shrugged, and the Earth-50 residents knew who she spoke of. "This is nothing in comparison."
The tank fired when the large Mutant looked through the barrel of the main gun, before punching the fired shell, and making the tank explode. Next, the team of Mutants and human went up the elevator, until it stopped, the lights gone out, and who else but Wade to comment. "Great. Stuck in an elevator with five guys on a high-protein diet."
Even Stryker groaned. "Oh, Wade."
"Dreams really do come true."
"Just shut it! You're up next."
"Thank you, sir. You look really nice today. It's the green. Brings out the seriousness in your eyes."
"Oh, my God. Do you ever shut up, pal?" James desperately wanted to know.
"No. Not when I'm awake."
"You know, admittedly, this whole opening isn't half bad." Wade admitted, before Cable broke his neck.
"There's no version of him where he isn't…him, is there?" Bonnie asked.
"I really doubt it."
Bradley got the elevator moving again, with Wade getting ready, the others standing to the side of the elevator, before the doors opened, and the Merc with a Mouth came out, swinging his swords so fast that he sliced, deflected, and redirected every bullet that was fired at him.
Even when a man shot him from behind, Wade turned in time to slice the bullet in half and hit the two thugs behind him. Finally, Wade charged at the last two before leaping up and impaling them, leaving the boss alone. "Okay. People are dead."
"Wow!" Quill said. "Now that was….."
"He sure knows how to do it here too", Stargirl said.
"On one Earth, he can't die, and the other, he's Vergil." Parker mused to himself, trying to ignore the deaths by thinking on the fact the scene was over forty years ago. "Maybe if all Deadpools got together, we'd get a Dante."
"Please, for the love of God, no. We can barely handle one of them as it is." Ollie begged.
"Were your bullets faster?" Wade asked Cable, remembering the time he recreated the scene on the Mutant transport, but instead of answering, Cable just punched him in the head.
Walking through the carnage, Major Stryker called Wade the perfect soldier, if not for his mouth, which he responded by giving a very half-assed salute. Wraith teleported beside the diamond smuggler, taking his gun away while Stryker, instead of the diamonds, took up the meteor rock on the boss' desk, what he called a souvenir, but the team leader wanted the source.
"Adamantium." Logan whispered in realization.
"So that's why they were there", Steve muttered.
Earth-199999
"The thing inside you", Sarah said, as Logan had told her about himself.
And with that, they continued watching.
Well, Erik's story is over, and Logan's begins. Its gonna be Origins: Wolverine, the Trilogy, and The Wolverine except the post-credits scene.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help again.
Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.