The door burst open, clattering on the ground as the armored figure stepped through.
"Alright Cap, I'm in," Tony Stark said into his earpiece, scanning the room.
"What do you see?"
"A lot and none of it good," Tony replied as he took in all the dangerous tech. From his scans, he could see most of it was alien. He saw mostly Kree but there were also some Skrull and Shi'ar thrown in as well as other races. "They've definitely been experimenting but to what end isn't clear so far."
"Well, this is A.I.M. we're talking about. It's fair to assume it's some sort of world takeover plot."
Tony chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Still, I'll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. do some hacking into their servers, see if we can…wait, hold on a sec."
"What is it?"
"Something…" was all Tony said as he approached the table in the back where the only thing on it was a small metal cube. He scanned it as well but found he couldn't make out anything about it. Not the material, not its contents, nothing. This thing was alien in every essence of the name.
On the top of the cube was just two words. "Project Omega," Tony read. "Wow. That's both ominous and stupid."
Stephen Strange hovered above the ground, meditating. Something was off. It had been for the last few days but he hadn't been able to learn what it was. So here he was, meditating on it, trying to tune it to his source of discomfort.
He winced, feeling a small wave of cold wash over him. Was that it? He dug deeper, focusing on that small wave. The coldness began to seep into him but he ignored it, continuing to push forward until at last, like a veil lifting, his vision cleared.
He gasped at the sight. It was the Dark Dimension, its familiar gloomy atmosphere and otherworldly figments greeting him as if he was seeing it through a mirror. But that wasn't what made him gasp.
The Dark Dimension was being destroyed, an ethereal light burning its way through and decimating everything in its path.
"And I do believe that's a wrap," Spider-Man announced, webbing up the last criminal.
"Can't you at least come up with some better quips?" his partner Daredevil asked.
"Why mess with perfection?"
"You and I have very different ideas on perfection. Now, let's see what this whole thing was about."
The two had been catching up in a nearby coffee shop when they'd heard the commotion out back. Running (or swinging) into action, they had come across two different groups attacking one another.
"These are Hammerhead's men," Spider-Man said, looking at one of them. "I recognize him. His name is Sal. No wait, I think he's called Sal."
"And these are definitely Kingpin's men," Daredevil replied. "I recognized their voices."
"Alright, two gangs got into a bit of a scuffle. But why were they all here in the first place?"
"This." Daredevil lifted up a large briefcase with a combination lock on it. Listening carefully, he rolled the right numbers into place and opened it up. Inside were five metal tubes.
"What are those things?"
"I don't know. But we're going to find out."
Avengers Assemble: Coming Soon!
"En Sabah Nur. Some say he was the first."
"The first?" Aizawa asked, an eyebrow raised. "The first what?"
The researcher looked him dead in the eye. "The first person with a quirk."
"That's not possible," Toshinori said. "The first person to have a quirk was born only over a century ago. These documents date millennia."
"That's what I'm saying. If we're right, this could change everything we know about quirks. We thought we were wrong, but the more we dug, the more evidence we found. Notes on people around the world throughout history who possessed uncanny abilities. And it all leads back to him."
"Who are they?" Aizawa asked, gesturing to four figures around the main one.
"His followers. Wherever he went, he always had four. Disciples, protectors he would imbue with power."
"Like the four horsemen of the Apocalypse?" Toshinori asked wryly.
The researched grimaced a little. "You're not altogether wrong there. Based on our research, wherever he ruled, it always ended in disaster. A cataclysm that nearly wiped the area from the map. That's why people around here have started calling him that: Apocalypse."
"So why all the interest all of a sudden?" Aizawa asked. "If this…Apocalypse even existed, it was thousands of years ago." He looked at her expression and felt a jolt of fear strike him, already dreading what she would say next.
"We've been tracking a specific cult of worshippers to him. According to them, he's fated to rise again. They believe he was able to keep himself alive over the centuries by transferring his conscience from body to body. Always those with powers that he could take and make his own."
Toshinori sucked in through his teeth. That sounded like both All For One and One For All combined.
"And what do you believe?" Aizawa asked.
The researcher hesitated. "I don't know. Most cults like these we find are usually nothing but crazies. But this one? They're not. All the research, the evidence we've found, none of it has disproven a single one of their claims."
"You think they might be onto something."
"No. I fear it. Because if this Apocalypse is real and he is rising…God help us all."
My Hero Academia – Apocalypse: Coming Soon!
"Peter, have you seen my phone?"
"No. Have you checked your purse?"
"Of course I've checked my purse! I've checked my purse three times already!"
"Ok, ok, no need to yell," Peter Parker winced from his wife's outburst.
"Sorry. I just need to call my agent about this audition I heard about. But I can't find it and I've looked everywhere."
"Ev'wywhere."
Peter grinned at little May's attempt at the word. Her brother just giggled next to her.
"Hold on, let me call it," Peter said, reaching for his own phone. As he did, he suddenly felt his Spidey-Sense go off. Confused, he tried to hone in on the source of it but it felt distorted somehow. Then he felt a ping come from is phone, like a notification, and his Spidey-Sense blared out from his phone.
"What the hell?" he muttered. Why was his phone dangerous?
"Did you call it yet?"
"Ummm…"
"Oh, wait, there it is. It was behind the fruit bowl."
As he saw her reach for it, he felt his Spidey-Sense blare out again, louder this time, and he acted on instinct, shooting a web that took hold of the phone and thwipped it to his hand.
"Peter! Now is not the time to…Peter?" MJ asked, her anger fading as she took in his expression. "What is it?"
"The screens," he said. "There's…there's something wrong with the screens."
"While I can understand your fears, Captain, I can assure you that…Captain?" the President asked, confused as to his companion's expression.
"Shhh," Captain America said, listening carefully. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" They were both seated in the Oval Office, going over the events of the day.
"Screaming," Steve told him, slowly standing up and lifting his shield. "There are people screaming."
"Where?" the President asked, also rising now.
The sound of gunfire caused him to jump and made Steve raised his shield high now to face the doors. He positioned himself in front of the President, already analyzing escape routes. He then focused on the sounds of running feet and prepared himself as the doors burst open.
He lowered his shield slightly when he saw it was the Secret Service, all of them yelling at one another with their guns raised. Now that the doors were open, Steve could hear the sounds of screaming louder. Not only that, he could tell there were two types. One was people screaming in fear while the other was…something different. Wrong.
"What is going on?" he demanded.
"The White House is under attack," one of the agents informed him. "The staff, the people, they just started going crazy. Attacking people."
"I've never seen anything like it," another agent said shakily.
"Barricade the doors!"
"We need an escape route!"
"I'm calling in the Chopper!"
As they all talked, Steve noticed something from the corner of his eye. One of the agents was standing apart from the others and seemed to be shaking a bit.
"Agent, are you alright?" he asked, walking up. As he did, he noticed there was a tear on his suit with a bloody scratch. "Agent?"
The agent turned and Steve only had a second to see the dead eyes and the gaping jaws before the agent hurled himself at him.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y., what the hell am I looking at?" Tony demanded, eyes moving from screen to screen. Everywhere it was the same. The streets of major cities awash with people attacking one another, biting and scratching as much as they could. It was like something out of a horror movie.
"It appears to be some sort of technoorganic virus that attacks the nerves, transforming the individual through physical contact or by looking at a specific screen."
"How is this happening?" he muttered. "Put out a red alert to every Avenger, every Defender, every X-Man, basically just everyone. I don't care if it's even Boomerang, just get everyone. This is…" he stopped, his eyes drifting to another screen. Specifically one of his building.
It showed his employees getting attacked and brought down by the horde of…Anti-Living.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y. send out the Iron Legion to the worst areas and try to contain this. And get me the toughest suit in our arsenal. NOW!"
Marvel Zombies: Coming Soon!
"…there have to be consequences for their actions. Look at what just happened in…"
"…an ongoing debate amongst the world governments on how to proceed…"
"…the death toll still rising as the emergency services work to clear out…"
"…today, the people of the world are asking, how do we feel safe when heroes go about…"
"…NO MASKS! NO MASKS! NO MASKS!"
Bruce Wayne looked at each screen carefully, judging their relevance. Many considered him to be among the world's greatest detectives if not the greatest. Bruce himself didn't care much for such titles, only in the mission at hand. But, he had earned such praise from his due diligence in measuring the situation at hand and gauging reactions, by seeing the evidence and clues to predict what might happen next. And after what had happened and the mass hysteria that was occurring as a result, he could make an accurate guess.
"This will make things difficult," he murmured. Almost impossible, if it went as bad as he thought it would. Fortunately, as always, he had contingencies in place. Still, a part of him prayed it wouldn't come to that.
Unfortunately, his guesses often proved correct. Some hours later, the announcement was made.
"Today, congress has passed the Superhuman Registration Act to place all super-powered or masked individuals under mandatory government registration and supervision. No longer will they act above the law, but within it to ensure the safety of the America people and the world at large."
Bruce sighed. He already had a hunch what might happen next. There would be a division. Some would balk at governmental control and authority while some would prefer it. Battle lines would be drawn. He knew which side he would be on. And he knew who he would have to face.
"If you want peace," he said to himself, "then prepare for war."
DC Civil War: Coming Soon!
"Some believe that before the universe, there was nothing. They're wrong. There were six singularities, each representing and, to an extent, controlling an essential aspect of existence. Then, the Big Bang occurred, forging these systems into concentrated ingots, or stones, and hurtled these singularities across the virgin universe to fall into the hands of the oldest being of all, Chaos itself. With them, the structure of the world we know. Space, time, soul, mind, power, and reality. With a single stone, one might rule the world. With all of them, one might reshape it."
"Who is he?"
"Thanos. One of the newer Titans and certainly one of the more dangerous. His power and tactical thinking was unrivaled on the battlefield, making him one of the most feared warriors of his time. When the war came, he sided with the gods, seeing them as the necessary change. But, over time, he lost his way. He saw the rise of the other pantheons and their influence over the human race. He saw the powers overwhelming each other and knew that something would have to give. He feared it would be the world itself. So he proposed a plan. And he was dubbed a madman. Then he tried to enact his plan and he was imprisoned for all eternity."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"…because he is free. And he has no lost sight of his goal. He searches for the stones as we speak. And if gets them all, he will wipe out half of all life. Every creature that can think or do, be they mortal or immortal, will suffer."
Percy Jackson took a deep breath. "Alright then. Let's get to work."
RiordanVerse – Infinity War: Coming Soon!
And so much more!
This will be deleted within a week but the posts will updated on my profile.