Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC, it's characters, movies and TV Shows
Sven Reilly, Jack Sanders, Cade Hunter and Dean Cormick are my original characters(as far as original goes in this day and age, the images present in the cover image are references for their looks).
Secret Crisis is my crossover of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCExtended Universe (Zynderverse cut version) and the DC Arrowverse (with some changes revealed as the story goes). One part mystery, another part Multiversal disaster/crisis and another part race against time as the villain of the story may not be who it appears.
Universal Collision: Secret Crisis
Chapter 1: Mysteries and Multiversal murder
Sven Reilly was passing through Westview on his way to nowhere. As soon as he got off the bus, he could see the great darkness hanging over the town. People looked at him, a stranger with a suspicion that he didn't blame them for. Internet blogs and video sites had confirmed that something strange had happened in the neighbourhood, it was the news that made it official and asked the important question, who were you supposed to call. It was an even more important question when the person responsible for Westview's suffering was supposed to be one of the people who protected them. If other rumours where to be believed, Wanda Maximoff was responsible for more than just a thousand traumatic neighbours.
He went to a charity shop first, buying some new clothes, cargo trousers, a T-shirt, his jacket he'd keep and clean the grease off of when he got to his motel. He changed and bought the clothes, handing the tags to the girl at the counter. She was probably from out of town, a student doing work over the summer, and one of the only people who hadn't shot Sven with a leer. He dispensed his old clothes into the charity bins and made his way to a diner for breakfast. His order was a cup of tea, no sugar or milk, and waffles with some syrup on. When he cut a piece off and put it to his mouth, it drew his eye line to the TV above the counter, and the report was what draw his attention.
"Damage control agents today established a cordon at the border of New Asgard, this comes a month after an attack on New Asgard that saw the death of an American citizen, known physicist Dr Jane Foster. Queen…wait what?" the newscaster looked to his side, clearly someone was correcting him. "My apologies, I did not know that Valkyrie identified her…I mean himself that way…"
Sven shook his head and smiled, Dean may have been the most successful out of his old friends, but that didn't mean he was the smartest. There would be consequences for that, but it made Sven wonder for a moment if he was perhaps in the wrong place. Then he remembered the Kaplans and he continued on his day.
Daily Star Studio-Minutes after the 'accident'
"I apologised," Dean Cormick said, throwing his arms up as he followed his boss.
"That isn't the point Sean," said the boss, infamous newsman (and forgetter of names) Dexter Bennett, and an older man who always wore bow ties over his shirt with braces for his trousers.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, loosening his tie and ruffling his brown hair out of its once neatly combed style.
He wore the suit for the presentation; he was actually more partial to wearing jeans and a shirt. They walked past cameras and makeup artists, and journalists coming in with last minute details to be reported. Dean waved with a smile to the intern Betty Brant, a bright girl he could see becoming a great journalist down the line.
"What's the issue Dex?" Dean asked again.
"Mr Bennett," Dexter corrected him. "On air Dean you made the mistake of misidentifying the King of Asgard," he said.
"I just apologised for that," Dean said.
"You moron, King is her title, she isn't identifying herself as a man," Dexter said.
"But she's chosen a title usually associated with a man," Dean said.
"But that doesn't mean she's changed her gender identity," Dexter threw his papers up, losing his temper. "I think it's insanity too Sean but make a mistake like that on the air again and I'll have you back on the streets with your little notebook!"
"It's Dean Sir," he stepped up to the man, already taller than him, looking at him with the same zeal and sternness that allowed him to sue Jameson when his behaviour against staff bordered on abuse. "And for the record, I preferred investigative journalism, and another record, a female monarch is a Queen, it isn't feminism to call them kings, because some of the most famous women in the world have been Queens," Dean explained and winked at some of the ladies on staff who pumped their fists, agreeing with him.
"Just do your job and report the news," Dexter said.
Dean shook his head as Dexter walked away. He leant down and began picking up the papers Dexter had left behind. Some stories he had rejected, a light elf impersonating Britney Spears, big foot sightings in Westchester, and the one that caught Dean's eyes.
"What's that?" Dean flinched when he heard Betty behind him.
"Jeez Brant, give a guy a heart attack," he muttered.
"It's okay I'm sure that Valkyrie has bigger things to worry about than you misidentifying her," Betty smirked and Dean fake laughed.
"This is a scientific study, comparing the…"
"Purple sky and blue-sky incidents, I remember both of those, a year ago Spider-man had a fight with several villains, all of whom disappeared when the sky suddenly turned purple…"
"And then six months ago something appeared in the sky, a blue crack, some people reported that they saw another Earth in that sky, this guy Carlton LaFroyge confirmed that he had used a telescope to look into both of these anomalies," Dean continued for her. "This looks like a story!"
"A very big story," Betty said.
Dean eyed her curiously.
"Finder's keepers," Dean said.
"Your job is to read the news Dean, I could independently investigate," Betty said.
"You're good Betty, better than I was at your age but Dex won't take you seriously when you come to him with this, we need to investigate the facts first," Dean explained.
"We, I could share the by-line, but once again Dean you are supposed to read the news," Betty said.
Dean smirked as he slicked back his hair and tightened his tie. He sat down in front of the camera, reading what he would be reporting and calculating the time he would need to do that and say what he had to say.
"Ready in three, two, one, action!" Dexter said.
"Welcome back to DS News, before our break I made a very idiotic mistake with which I sincerely apologise to Miss Valkyrie for," Dean said.
"Sean, what are you doing?" Dexter whispered.
"I did not mean to misidentify your gender, if you've made the choice to bear the title king then as part of the patriarchy I apologise if you believe Queen does not carry weight, or perhaps," he began to mutter. "Perhaps Valkyrie thinks Queen isn't a badass title, despite the fact that England recently said goodbye to their own dearly departed Queen, I'm sure she means no disrespect to someone who continued to give the title meaning."
Dexter slapped the top of his head in horror whilst Betty stifled a laugh.
"Anyway, in other news, dating sites warn to be wary of pop star profiles as a shape shifting Light elf continues her serial con of impersonating female singers to trick high income men. Stark Industries also announced next year their arc reactor powered car, you'll see a link to their preorder site on the screen below, and Hammer Industries makes the switch to travel agency and how they've turned the 'stone giant' into the newest theme park, over to Munroe for the weather!"
"I can't believe that actually worked," Betty remarked as she and Dean walked out of the studio building.
Dean put on his jacket, having changed out of his suit.
"There's no lesson like experience Miss Brant, consider this training day, only this won't end with black mail and neither of us are as sexy as Denzel or Hawke," Dean explained.
"No argument there, shouldn't we be hailing a taxi?" Betty asked.
"I've got that covered, as a badass once said, I know a guy," Dean held up his phone and put his sunglasses on.
At that moment, a red Ferrari suddenly parked up, nearly hitting the curb and its engine noise indicating heavy modification. The door opened and Betty saw a red-haired man inside, wearing a white and red jacket, driving gloves and goggles over his head.
"Yo Dean I see you came down from the ivory tower also badass report on Valkyrie can't wait to see people rip her for the use of King," the man spoke with no pause for breath, and so fast Betty barely heard some of what he said.
"Hey Jack, nice to see you, can you get us to this address?" Dean asked.
"Consider me your uber," the driver tipped his head and upon snapping his fingers, the passenger door opened.
Betty climbed into the back whilst Dean climbed into the front. Jack drove fast, just at the limit, but he was clearly a great driver, basing his speed on everything ahead of him, always stopping at just the right moment and never turning his pace into a danger.
"How do you two know each other?" Betty asked.
"We went to school together," Dean said, she could tell it was a lie.
She dated the worst liar in the world, but the sweetest guy too.
"Sorry I didn't introduce myself I'm Jack Sanders," the driver said without looking away from the road.
"Jack Sanders, not Jack Sanders the race car driver?" Betty asked.
"The one and only driver who only drove for one season," his voice slurred for a moment, and he shook his head. "You know the details," he said with the forced enthusiasm Betty could tell was a mask.
"I know that the official story is that you were banned for modding your cars beyond the legal standards," Betty said.
"Everything was legal, and my life was the only one being endangered, but that's not always the case, sometimes when you put yourself in danger, in one way you're endangering the people you care about. Anyway, you must be the intern with a bright future ahead of her the one that Dean admits is a better journalist than him," Jack explained, and Betty smiled, understanding him whilst Dean groaned.
Someone spat in the syrup, Sven knew that as soon as he bit into his breakfast. A guy like him needed the calories, so he didn't mind. The police car followed him, and they were deliberate in how they were watching him. Even when he turned up at the motel, he found local kids waiting, teenagers who had probably recently recovered from muscle atrophy. A lot of people had suffered because of having their minds taking over, the indignity of not being able to use the bathroom, dehydration from not being able to drink, malnutrition from not being able to eat and muscle injury from being stuck in one position, or from doing that one background task assigned for them to constantly do. Sven would have done the hick 'we don't take too kindly' impression with the youths, but he understood why they were wary of him. Being suspicious didn't make them stupid and being stupid didn't make them unkind.
"I'll be away in a day," he said, showing them the prebooked ticket.
He slammed the door behind him and locked it for the good measure. Once inside and with his jacket off, blue markings appeared over his skin. Those markings turned red as he began to 'scan' the room and for the briefest of moments he felt the fright of the person influenced by chaos magic, that fear when everything around him turned grey, the briefest of hope when colour returned, the embarrassment when he urinated on himself, the pain when it began to burn, the panic when he was freed and the rage when he saw who was responsible.
Wanda Maximoff may have caused the Hex in Westview, that didn't mean she was the only one responsible. There were three cases Sven was working at the moment, three disappearances and one a person who shouldn't exist. With the first case of Forson, it was just in case the freedom of information petition that Nelson and Murdock filed against S.W.O.R.D. didn't turn up anything more than a 'sorry we're still trying to find out ourselves'. Sven had seen the pirated footage online, he memorised the details frame by frame, second by second, the moment the man in the beekeeper costume appeared, the moment Wanda said 'no' and then poof he's gone for the rest of the show. The Kaplans were desperate when they came to him with their case, and Sven's uncle in OGA (other government agency) was curious when he told Sven about the curious case of Ralph Boner.
Apparently, he was an actor, but no studio had any records of him so much as turning up for an interview, his social media presence was as non-existent as Sven's and he had no social security number, no criminal or employment records, and no birth certificate. The confusion of the Blip was a possibility, but there was no death certificate either, his photo wasn't recognisable on any database, and he couldn't truly be questioned because as soon as he was in custody he fell into a vegetative state. The man who didn't exist, Ralph Boner, even the name sounded like a bad joke.
As Sven brushed his teeth and used soap for his pits, tired grey eyes and rough blonde hair, he thought about the last bit of footage of Wanda, and the most important words she said.
"Thank you for choosing me as your mother!"
"Thank you for choosing me as your mother!"
Like a badass investigator from his favourite novels said, 'in an investigation, details matter'. Everything mattered, but his priority had to be the desperate cry for help from the Kaplans. Putting his jacket back on, he took the key, locked up and walked away from the motel. Someone needed to be saved, that was his job.
Barry Allen dreamed of different lives. Not all were perfect lives, and he could never truly recall the specific details. But what he knew was that something within him was guiding him, a force to guide his speed. Everything came down to his knowledge of physics and trusting that this force inside of him could bend those rules. Yet still he had to trust in certain sciences. His costume for one, as he darted across Central City, his new thinner friction proof red suit (provided for him courtesy of the labs of Wayne enterprises) crackled with yellow electricity. The lightning he generated with his speeds was once blue. He couldn't just take away certain rules of physics, he couldn't keep people from falling.
But on the fly, he could compose a strategy to catch them. First was debris, which was falling faster than the construction workers (wind resistance just wasn't applying to them; it wasn't weight for the smaller but heavier debris that fell before the people). People were still looking up, sometimes that was the gut reaction (heads up some people would yell) he moved for them first. But he couldn't just grab them and run them away from the debris, he had to be careful. He wrapped them in an embrace, keeping their heads supported as he moved them to an entirely different area, away from the falling debris. Once the debris was on the floor, he moved to the still falling people. Two men, both heavier than him, he couldn't just catch them because they had still fallen from a very high height.
He began to rotate his arms at a speed that was enough to generate two wind funnels. Like miniature tornadoes, only he had to be very careful, too fast and he could rip the men apart, or send them flying. He hit that soft spot of wind speed, like a fan lifting the men, slowing their fall, allowing them to turn at a good angle. So instead of landing on their heads, they landed quite hard at a sitting position. Sore bottoms were better than broken backs. Doctors and onsite medics could handle the rest, he had other places to be. He ran to the address that the Central City Police Department texted him with, the red suit and gold boots all shrunk quickly, back into the ring on Barry's left hand. The dark-haired young man quickly put on his overalls, slips over his boots and latex gloves. Flashing the beat cop his crime lab ID he slipped underneath the police line and put on his hood and mask.
"Nearly late Allen, we might have had this solved without you," said his boss.
"Sorry Singh, I missed my bus," he said.
"Excuses won't give this poor bastard some justice, he was in the hotel under the name Don Lieber, ID though looks fake but we're clarifying that with the downtown lab, you're on the body and surrounding area," Singh explained.
David Signh was a veteran well beyond Barry's years, back during the days people thought 'don't ask, don't tell' and David didn't. He rose on his merits and achievements, and even when he did come out, he was still a hard taskmaster with almost no charm. If Barry didn't do well, he knew Signh would have gotten rid of him the first month on the job, let alone let him onto crime scenes. But these were the places Barry had to be, crime scenes, making sure the job was done right, that no assumptions were made. So, he focused on the victim first, what could the victim tell him?
"Caucasian, possibly eighty to a hundred years old," he said.
"Correction there Allen," Sighn said, putting in front of Barry a printout of an ID.
In the ID was instead a man within his early forties. But there were enough physical similarities for the man in the photo and the cold body on the floor to be considered the same man.
"Some malnutrition, no penetrating wounds," Barry scanned the body, and then the floor, noting an ashtray, the cigarettes, the apple.
He looked over the apple, one side clear and healthy, and the other side withered.
"One cigarette decayed, half an apple decayed, the wall paper, he was standing just across from the table the ashtray and apple were on, was hit, he stumbled back, got hit again and then fell down onto the floor, signs on the body similar to a large stroke, induced by age, this man died of old age," Barry explained, standing up and looking at the door, how it faced the wall paper and where the knocked down table had once been.
He walked outside, the long corridor that most were ignoring. No scorch marks, so no boom tube, so perhaps there was a teleportation device that left no physical signs.
"We've been starting to see weirder things in this town," David sighed.
"Yeah, impossible things," Barry muttered.
Impossible like another Barry Allen, a Barry Allen who looked different from the Barry Allen working as a CSI in Central City and founding member of the Justice League. Across the Multiverse, perhaps one could call it the Earth next door was a Barry Allen who had been one of the first modern superheroes of his world, the fastest man alive, Paragon of love, currently basking in the afterglow of love making with the woman whose room he shared on a ship hurtling through time. His brown hair sweaty, he sat up, only for the strong, blonde-haired woman to push him back down.
"We're not there yet, slow down," she whispered, pressing her lips against his and pushing down on his abs, straddling him on top of her bed sheets.
"You're half dressed," he said between their kisses, his hands running up her pants and to the clip of her bra.
"The captain has to be up first," she playfully swatted his hand away.
"Sara," Barry whispered.
She hushed him, putting her fingers up, her signal of ten seconds. Technically, Barry was a consultant, and technically he had his own quarters. He and Sara Lance were just two people who had a mutual friend and only shared in common the gift of travelling through time and beating up bad guys on a regular basis. They did not spend five years stuck in the Vanishing Point (where the effects of aging didn't pass) they did not have their world histories turned upside down by a disrupted Multiversal rebirth, and they most certainly did not mourn a friend together. Sara put her grey and blue baseball shirt on and as soon as she moved to the door, Barry was in front of her, his watch, socks and boxers on and yellow lighting flowing like water around him. That same lightning enveloped Sara as he gently locked lips with her, cupping her cheeks. Time, even on the Wave Rider, and even in transit to another point in history, came to a crawl as Sara wrapped her arms around him. He was less muscular than Oliver, gentler than Nyssa, and warmer than Ava. It wasn't the moments of drawn-out pleasure that Sara liked most about the aptly named 'Flash time' but the moments of joy, drawing something like that to a crawl rekindled her enjoyment of those moments that she was once numb to.
Every lover she had made her feel like more than just Sara Lance, former league of Assassin member, formerly dead, the White Canary, Captain of the Wave Rider and the Paragon of Destiny. It was Barry who made all of these things seem worth it.
But she firmly kissed him before he could say 'I love you', it wasn't what she needed to hear at the moment. She left him in the room and walked to the bridge, her false enthusiasm coming to the surface to show off for her crew.
"All right Gideon, where have we been brought today?" she asked.
"Keystone city, 1933, it is the great depression when people, desperate for work have turned to crime. Reports of a blue streak proceeding the arrival of the Flash were reported in Keystone city during this time." The ship's AI explained, her voice echoing out of the computerised round table at the centre of the chrome room.
"What change has been made to history?" asked Martin Stein, Professor of physics, once dead, reborn through the Multiversal rebirth, and one third of the nuclear-powered hero Firestorm.
"Rumour has become fact, the first case of metahuman activity confirmed by the Keystone post on May 15th, 1933," Gideon said.
She brought up a hologram of a newspaper clipping, 'Devastation in Keystone, Gods amongst us'.
"Gods, that's a new one," scoffed Jax Jefferson, injured football star, auto-mechanic and the second third of Firestorm.
"I wouldn't make too much fun of the idea, some people we've faced were actual gods even with the scientific explanation behind them," explained Ronald 'Ronnie' Raymond, nuclear engineer, nice guy and the third part of the Firestorm matrix.
"I think I know what's going on," Barry said as he walked onto the bridge.
He was already in his red shirt and kneepads, having downgraded his suit a bit for missions across time. Behind him the other legends came in, Nate Heywood, Steel and Amaya, Vixen.
"Jay told me there was a speedster operating in Keystone in the past, he was kind of a 'guru' of the speed force, Max Mercury," Barry said.
"Max Mercury, dies at the age of One hundred and forty," Gideon said, bringing up the death certificate.
"But this is a murder case, good thing we bought a CSI with us," Sara smirked.
She span around and clapped her hands together.
"Okay folks; let's get our fedoras and high heels, because we're going to…who the hell are you?" Sara asked, her eyes narrowed in fury.
The other legends turned to the captain's office, an area where their founder Rip Hunter once kept items from history in and plotted his revenge against Vandal Savage. Sara used it on occasion for meetings, but now there was a stranger sitting inside it. He sat at a chair Rip once used, his purple gloved hands holding a compass and tracing a route on the map, playing with the relic really but still with a somewhat fascinated eye. There were green robes mixed in with the purple suit he wore, a technology the likes of which Barry had never seen before. He had short dark hair and a thinly shaved beard over his face, the dark-skinned man didn't seem to be bothered by Nate's skin suddenly becoming metal, or the blue glow that emanated from Amaya's totem, accompanied by a gorilla's roar as she manifested the animal's strength.
"Sara Lance and Barry Allen, across multiple timelines you both share a common destiny of time travel, and of blunders," he put the compass down and stood up.
"Who are you?" Sara demanded.
"I go by many names and titles, much like you Miss Lance, a foolish girl looking to hurt her sister, an assassin in a self-righteous cult, a vigilante and then a captain of a time ship that continually breaks the fabric of what they're supposed to protect," the stranger explained.
"We screw things up for the better," Nate retorted and the stranger scoffed.
Barry ran into the man, knocking him into one of the bookcases. He winked at Sara, who drew from her pockets her batons. Ronnie, Stein and Jax quickly brought their hands together. Flames consumed them, bringing their bodies together and created a black and red suited being, the Firestorm matrix glowing on his right breast. He bore Jax's face, but his skin glowed gold whilst on the top of his cowl blazed a fire.
"Now the captain asked you a question," Barry said.
"You in particular are an interesting man Barry Allen, sad how destiny has always been in your path, your mother murdered by your own nemesis, eternally binding you to right the wrong that was your father's imprisonment, seeking out the strange, the impossible and then being struck by it. Yet an interesting variation, you chose to fight destiny, the fate of marrying a woman you grew up with, yet still you fall into destiny's embrace," a smirk crossed the man's face as he looked between Barry and Sara.
Barry pulled his fist back, punching the man in the blink of an eye. As if reacting to Barry's attack, a material quickly covered the man's face, blue and thin, as if altering the colour of the man's skin. A purple helmet also wrapped itself around the man's head, and the palms of his gloves began to glow.
"Nano-technology," Martin spoke from within Jax's mind.
Barry was going backwards before the man thrust his arm forward, walking around the man. He had unleashed a blast, sending it harmlessly through the glass door to the bridge. No, not harmlessly, Barry realised, his eyes wide as the energy blast moved towards Sara. Barry could think at an incredibly fast rate, but when it came to people he loved, he reacted. Grabbing her, Barry vibrated his molecules, passing the affect onto Sara, believing that matching the frequency of the blast would enable them to pass through it harmlessly. Only it didn't, it melded with them both, infecting them in a way. Their screams echoed as one and the ship violently shook as the speedster and their Captain became an electric storm.
"To give you peace of mind Mr Allen I confess, that I killed Max Mercury for his knowledge of the Speed Force, and that I kill you, Paragons of Love and Destiny, because you're both rivals to what I can build, I am a killer, but not a murderer, I'm a conqueror!" the stranger declared as a yellow doorway appeared behind him.
He walked through, dropping an orb on the floor. Lights across its surface began to glow, and the device beeped with increasingly rapid frequency.
"JEFFERSON THE BOMB!" Ronnie yelled.
"Which one?" Firestorm asked, looking between the other merged ones and the device.
A hero to the end, Barry knew there was only one thing he could do, he felt Sara nod in agreement. They phased through the surface of the Wave Rider, into the flow of time itself. But both screamed not just in pain, but despair when they saw their Wave Rider blow up from the inside anyway. The pain grew even worse as they floated in nothingness.
"SARA!" Barry cried out, wanting her to know even though she did. "I LOVE YOU!"
Yellow lightning exploded out of their bodies, seemingly disintegrating them like paper in a fire. It was the Flash death felt across the Speed Force. In a Future Central City, Nora and Bart Allen dropped the controllers of their video game, both their eyes shining with tears. On a placed formerly called Earth 2, Jesse Quick looked up from her lab data, on the neighbouring Earth formerly known as Earth 3 Avery Ho was so shocked by the surge through the speed force that she fell whilst running, dirt and grime staining her pink speedster outfit. The red-haired Wally West of Earth 9 stopped working on the car he was building; blue electricity flickered in his eyes for a moment. Though it was yellow lightning that flickered through another, dark skinned Wally West's eyes as he ceased his meditations, realising he had to return home. Likewise, veteran speedster Jay Garrick solemnly took up his helmet again at his home on New Earth 2.
CSI Barry Allen however, still investigating the murder on his Earth, slapped his hand against the ground, keeping himself from passing out.
"Everything all right Allen?" Singh asked.
"Yeah, I just need some air that's all," Barry said.
"Well take a moment, and then get back to work."
Barry walked outside of the hotel, pulling his mask and hood down. He took a few deep breaths, feeling the rapid pounding of his heart. It had beaten so fast before that Barry was sure for a split second, he had had a heart attack. That energy source of his, it had to be, for a moment Barry was sure he heard a scream. He needed to call in some friends to help. The reassurance that he wasn't alone helped to calm his nerves, his heart beat steadied.
To the same pace that another Barry Allen's heartbeat at, almost in perfect synch even though they looked nothing alike. As the doppelganger of the Flash that had died, the Flash whose murder was felt across time and universes, Barry felt his death more than most. But he wasn't alone, as a Paragon he was never alone. He removed his gloves and put them at the table, leaning against the chair that had his lightning logo on it. For once he was the first to arrive, across from him came an old friend, the signature mark of her Kryptonian house was on the chest of her blue suit. Her eyes always spoke more to him than her words could, they would speak together later. Then came third of the Paragons, teacher and father, Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning. Following him was last (unconfirmed though) of the Martians J'onn J'onnz under his guise as Hank Henshaw. All the way from Gotham came their fifth Paragon, Kate Kane, the Batwoman. Barry tried not to meet Sara Lance's eyes, the blonde-haired woman stood in her white suit, and he didn't doubt that she too had had some very strange dreams of late. Kara was the first to report it through her CatCo work, people across the world were having dreams they swore were real. It all started after an anomaly appeared in the sky, like a blue tear in Earth's atmosphere. Cisco tried to deny it, so did the rest of the new team Flash, so many people were hoping for the best, but then another old friend of Barry's confirmed what he was dreading.
Finally, the hall darkened with the arrival of the last Paragon; his footsteps silent despite the flutter of his long green coat. He lifted his hood up, revealing the pale and bearded face of a man Barry once called his friend.
"This is only the beginning," Oliver Queen, the Spectre said. "The New Crisis has begun!"
Westview
Sven walked towards the site where Wanda had made her 'house' it was just a patch of dirt now with some graffiti sprayed onto the grass, 'Witch's lair', 'Never come back,' amongst some personal curses aimed at Maximoff. He had visited the real estate agent and said that though legally speaking the land belonged to a 'Victor Shade' there were a great many offers coming in on the site, rich weirdoes looking to capitalise on Westview's history, even Westview locals who wanted to keep it away from people or make a memorial of sorts. There were no casualties, save for three who were often forgotten, that was who Sven was here for.
"Howdy neighbour, hope you're not planning on moving in, it'd be awfully cold, I've got a bed at my place, my husband Ralph is always on the couch," the next-door neighbour winked at him.
The people who were willing to talk to Sven told him that Agatha Harkness, though still very creepy was near enough part of the community, benign at best, annoying at worst with her antics. Sven could tell just from standing across from her that she was a prisoner screaming against the wall. Maybe what Wanda did to her was cruel, Sven had no idea whether it was necessary or even if Agatha deserved it, that wasn't for him to decide, and he was of the personal opinion Wanda was the least person qualified to decide what someone deserved. He didn't know if he should free Agatha, right now his focus was on the lost. Sven walked to where the white picket fence was on that second episode, where Vision and Wanda stood, watching a S.W.O.R.D agent come out of the sewer.
'No,' he remembered her saying, abruptly, like it wasn't part of her script.
That rage swelled within him, the markings going red when he walked to the sewage drain. He placed his hand over the manhole cover, closed his eyes and focused on that event, on finding the lost. There was a brief surge of energy, like scarlet thorns over the cover that made Sven withdraw his hand. The covering over his hand had burned, revealing the prosthetic that had replaced his right hand. He put his hand in his pocket and walked towards the centre of the estate. This time he closed his eyes and focused, and for the briefest moment he could feel two souls.
"STOLE FROM ME!"
It was a voice that boomed in his ear, like the jump scare in a movie. Scarlet energy curved like rose vines in front of Sven, prompting him to jump back. But then something else surged out of the affect, creating a type of singularity. It was yellow and white lightning, burning at the ground, wiping away the graffiti. Sven felt his own skin singe for a moment, prompting him to release his power.
Red fabric wrapped around his legs and arms, his eyes glowing blue as the markings surged like a pattern across his body. Grey gauntlets slammed over his hands; plates of grey armour slid over his shoulders. Black pads covered his knees, elbows and sides whilst grey plates slid over his lower hips, joining with the grey boots that wrapped around his feet. A blue diamond glowed on his chest before grey and red armour slammed over the top of it. A grey helmet began to cover his head, fins popping out of the sides and back of the helmet. Finally, his eyes were covered by a knight's visor, blue eyes glowing through the darkness it cast over his face.
His transformation complete, the spirit knight Aeon shifted into action.
A pulse ran through him, reacting to the concrete of the curb beneath him. Blue energy quickly created brick like layers of armour over his arm, before disappearing, his stance indicating his durability. He endured the shockwave and lightning bolt that came out of the portal, but his eyes quickly darted to Harkness.
"Wow now that's a light show," her punishment didn't even seem to affect her basic survival instincts as she marvelled at the glowing singularity.
Aeon rushed towards her; the air shifted around him. Like the ground beneath him, he enacted partial fusion with the air, the ground for endurance, and the air for speed. He grabbed Agatha and jumped as hard as he could, just as a bolt slammed into her house. Flipping in mid-air, he landed on the streets, purple marks appearing on his armour when he had touched Harkness.
"So you really are awake under there, don't you dare make me regret this," his voice echoed out of his helmet and he gently took the sides of her head.
He groaned, feeling a surge of pain, the thorns of chaos magic pierced his hands before he enacted a partial fusion. His armour took on crimson and black colours, not dissimilar to the patterns Wanda had used in her costumes that followed her awakening as the Scarlet Witch. The gym pants and shirt faded from Agatha, replaced by a purple dress, white shirt and opal collar, the style of the century she was born in.
"A spirit knight, I thought they died out," she muttered, her previous friendly air gone.
She instead stood and looked towards the singularity.
"All right, tell me what that is," Aeon demanded.
"The closest match to it would be the portals created by one America Chavez, a Multiversal gateway," Agatha said.
Purple hex runes appeared in her hands, whilst her hair floated.
"You better get ready hero, something's coming through," she said.
Aeon tightened his fists and shifted into a braced stance, just as a mixed scream came out of the portal.
Elsewhere, at her office in S.W.O.R.D. headquarters, Monica Rambeau had just gotten a call. She had passed her details onto Westview's police department, with the reassurance that S.W.O.R.D. would send people to support them if need be. Honestly, she thought things would be over with Westview. It was a good thing she had some friends to call on now.
She wanted to say 'Avengers Assemble' but maybe her team wasn't quite there yet.
Next Chapter 2: Assemble across the Multiverse
Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter.
Kang: Ahead of his appearance in Ant-man 3, he's certainly one of the major villains of the first arc and his presence in the DC Multiverse is what will prompt the team up of the Marvel and DC heroes. I don't know what kind of physical threat he will be in the MCU, but for his fighting style I'm going with what is shown in comics combined with things like his intelligence.
Sara Lance/Barry Allen: Romance isn't my Fourte, I like some crack ships, and I've read some good ones about Sara and Barry. Their variant appearances here was an easter egg, and I thought a great way of introducing Kang was to have him (the master of time) mess with the Legends (the blunderers of time :) But the Paragon/main White Canary and Flash variants will not be the end game romance, heck maybe their canon relationships are intact (read and find out :)
Earth 9 Wally West: Earth 9 is the Earth number for the Titans TV Show, Wally West has (at the time) yet to make an appearance. I'm going with the OG Wally West and his Rebirth costume, but in terms of voice I always picture Michael Rosenbaum.
Next time superheroes come together, and a Multiversal mystery thickens.
