Exiles: The Monarch

Strangers in a Strange Land… Again

The sky was an angry red in Central Park. Four strange figures stood around in a circle. They were the heroes known as Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, Flat-Man, and Power-Man. Oddly though, neither Mr. Fantastic nor The Thing wore the traditional "4" that we are so used to seeing them wear. This is because they are not our own Mr. Fantastic or Thing. They exist in a different reality. We are looking in on theirs.

Power-Man checked his watch. "Did that old bat say when they were gonna show up?" Power-man demanded. "Sue's waitin' at the restaurant.

"No," said Reed Richards tersely. He had a problem with this whole idea. Supposedly they were waiting for travelers from other realities. He himself was having trouble building a machine that even let you view other realities, let alone navigate them. He just couldn't believe in something he hadn't built with his own two hands. Not to mention he didn't like Power-Man. It wasn't a racial thing, he was just jealous as he was dating Sue Storm, his ex-wife.

"Well I think we should just wait a little…" Flat-Man began, but was cut off by a soft "blink" sound. In a swirl of light six people were dropped in front of the four assembled super-humans. They stood up to reveal themselves a motley crew.

"Hommunna, hey Blue, how 'bout me an' you?" said Ben Grimm as he helped Namora from the ground. However as he helped from the ground he made sure to touch areas she didn't want touched.

"INSOLENT WRETCH!" she bellowed and belted him, sending him flying into the trees. Now there is a standing rule that if two groups of super-heroes meet, they will punch first and ask questions later. That rule stands here today.

Power-Man leapt in and surprised Namora with a strong punch to the jaw. In doing this he received a swipe of claws from Victor Creed. Victor was surprised to say the least when Power-Man's skin was left completely intact. A punch to the face was his reward. However, as the thing was back in the battle he was met with what looked like a cross between Colossus and Wolverine (both friends of the Thing).

Suddenly a barrier divided the two warring groups. It was Flat-Man, the 2-D defender. "MY GUYS," Blink yelled. "KNOCK IT OFF!"

The Exiles stepped back, basically joining Beak who had eked out of the fight as quickly as he could. "Well that was certainly impressive," Morph said sarcastically. "Getting a little dull there Vic?" he morphed into a caricature of Victor with extremely blunt claws.

To his credit, Victor only growled. He had learned already that trying to kill Morph through dismemberment was useless.

"Who the hell are you?" Blink demanded, ignore her teams banter.

"Yeah, not really the Fantastic Four we were expecting," agreed Cal, also known as mimic.

"Fantastic Four was disbanded a long time ago," Ben Grimm said, rubbing his jaw where Namora had hit him. "The Monarch sent us to greet you."

The Exiles looked amongst each other. "How did he know we were coming?" asked Beak quietly from the back.

"Destiny, the 'prophet'," Reed said, sneering at the idea.

"Well she was right," said Flat-Man, also known as Dr. Mac Ventura. "Listen, we weren't sent here to fight you," he said removing himself as a barrier. "We're supposed to take you to the Monarch." He pressed a button on a key chain on his hip and a large bus like vehicle floated down from the sky.

"You sure you don't have a short one for Beaky here?" asked Morph as he ribbed Beak in jest. The heroes from the current reality looked at each other in confusion before shaking their heads no.

They piled into the vehicle, which Reed later told them was called the "Fantasti-Bus", and took off. The city looked very different. There were buildings that looked as if they had been blown up without ever having been cleaned up. There were other buildings that looked like they were cutting edge. "Next stop," Power-Man announced. "Freedom's Plaza."

Along the way they saw an odd sight. They watched the Hobgoblin and a pink pterodactyl like woman chasing a man engulfed in flames. "What's going on there?" asked Clarice, the leader known as Blink.

Reed, Ben, and Luke, Power-Man, each clapped a hand to their face in embarrassment as Mac explained, "Human Torch is wanted for questioning in certain crimes against the Monarchy."

"How far stretching is the Monarchy?" asked Beak, curiously.

"World wide," answered Reed quickly. "Well, almost. There are a few insurrectionists in Wakanda, but they'll come around eventually."

"Or what?" Victor asked sourly. "You'll send in your shock troops?"

"Actually the Monarch doesn't believe in conquering," said Reed in an off-hand manner. "He has no intention of taking Wakanda."

"Who is this Monarch you keep talking about?" Asked Morph, as he changed into some cartoon-ish king.

"He is the savior of this planet," Ben Grimm said adamantly. "He united us Super-humans and lead us against the greatest threats in the universe. He's a humble man with nothing but good hopes for th' world."

The Exiles looked at each other, Morph changed into a version of the Thing in robes with a cup of cool-aid in his hand. The others nodded. They landed in the building, that in the 616 reality was known as Four Freedoms Plaza. Here it was called Freedom's Plaza.

They disembarked and walked through the halls. "You didn't get to see it, but there is a lovely inscription on the base of the tower," informed Dr. Ventura. He began to quote, "Before justice, before discipline, and before leaderships must always come Freedom."

Beak's head whipped around as a figure passed him. He grabbed at Clarice's elbow, "Was that…"

She looked and indeed it was Doctor Doom carrying a filing folder. "What's he doing here?" she asked.

Their guides looked back to see who they were talking about. Reed and Ben sneered a little. "Him," they grunted.

Dr. Ventura supplied, "He served his time, and has passed the rehabilitation tests. He's now one of the Monarch's advisors and representative of the region of Latveria.

The other boggled at this idea. They continued to follow the four through the halls of Freedom's Plaza until they came to a large room that must have been on the opposite side than they had landed. The doors opened and the ten of them walked in. a man was seated on a throne, cloaked in shadows. His head looked up at the door, and the moment he saw them he stood and hurried over too them. "BEN!" he called in an amicable voice. "Ben, how did things go?"

The man who must be the Monarch wrapped his arms around Ben Grimm and embraced him as a friend.

When the Monarch stepped back, the four escorts kneeled, and Namora noticed a grimace cross the Monarch's face. She saw him twitch when they addressed him. "Monarch, we have brought you the ones Destiny fortold."

"Thank you," he said, again very kindly. The Exiles looked at the Monarch and came to a single conclusion; he looked fairly average; brown hair, brown eyes, slight build, and he was dressed no more extravagantly than others in the super-hero line of work. "You all must have other things to do," the Monarch said kindly. Reed and Power-Man left, Been and Flat-Man stayed behind, and were joined by Cloak, a tall young Black man draped in what looked like a living cloak, and Dr. Octopus, the infamous eight-armed super-villain.

The Monarch waved them in. "Please, come." He said with a smile. He looked excited, like something this strange hadn't happened in a long time. "Um, can we please have some chairs for everyone," the Monarch asked of the people who were scurrying about. They were normal humans, not enhanced in any way. Several quickly rushed out and brought in chairs for the Monarch's guests and guard. As soon as four of them had been brought Dr. Octopus took them gently, bowing to those who had brought them in and set them up for the guests. They took them tentatively.

"It is an honor to have guests from another reality," said the Monarch. Blink couldn't help but think he looked somewhat familiar. The Monarch sat on the throne, looking as if he could barely contain himself. He curled one leg up, perching it on the edge of the throne and leaned forward gripping the edge with his hands. "So, what are you here for, how may I help?"

Blink finally consulted the Tallus only to realize, "Its not working." She said.

"Not working?" asked the Monarch confusedly.

"Maybe the Time Breakers haven't got it fixed yet," suggested Beak, who at one time both hated and rather liked the bugs.

"What isn't working?" asked the Monarch. Now both his legs were perched on the edge of the throne with is hands between them. Victor noticed how easily he held the perch.

"The Tallus," Vlink explained. "Its what tells us our mission."

"Oh… can we help fix it?" he offered. "We have some of the most brilliant scientific minds in the world; Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Victor Von Doom, and I have to say, I'm no drop-out myself."

"No…" said Blink. "Its telling me that it can't yet tell me our mission."

"Oh," said the Monarch, leaning back slowly. He sat himself down normally. "Well until you have your mission you will enjoy the best we can offer you." He looked to his eight-apendaged guard. "Otto, could you call house keeping and get them to set up six more rooms?"

Octavius nodded politely and took out a cell phone with one of his tentacles.

"Thank you…er.. Monarch?" said Morph.

"Please," the Monarch said, with a shudder. "I ask no one to call me that, least of all people who aren't under my rule. My name is Parker. Peter Parker."