Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel comics, or any characters/places/concepts of Detective Comics
This fic is kind of going into crossover territory, but I'm hoping to keep the elements a bit on the vague side whilst still remaining clear on what universe I'm crossing over with. Lets just say that this fic will lead to a spin off/sequal that isn't part of Sieg's story.
Anyway enjoy the fic
The Hunt
Chapter 29: Rivalry
I know what your thinking, how can the man who abused Cade Hunter all his childhood be the one to save him. Ultimately it comes down to a person wanting to listen.
"You've certainly grown boy, got your mother's eyes," David Hunter smirked at his son.
Physically they were alike in many ways, save for the fact that Cade had the appearance of a fighter, a strong athletic build with scars from cuts and punches on his face. David Hunter was just the opposite; he carried himself like a thug and had the appearance to boot, as well as a beer gut that was the result of years of alcoholism.
"That is when they aren't glowing, I figured you would've settled down by now kid, found a wife and had those eight kids your mother hoped you'd have," Cade frowned at his father's small talk.
"Is this your last hope Sven? Well done, my father's the best person to talk to about morality," sarcasm gushed bitterly from Cade's mouth as he turned away.
David suddenly grabbed Cade's shoulder and swung him around. Despite his alcoholism and cruelty, David had been a mob enforcer, so even though he was out of shape he knew how to hit. He punched his son across the face, drawing blood from Cade's mouth. Cade stepped back, looking at the blood on his hand in shock.
"I told you," he growled. "THAT YOU WOULD NEVER HIT ME AGAIN!" he roared.
Cade swung his arm forward, but David disappeared. A force slammed into Cade's gut, forcing him to his knees. David appeared in front of him and punched him across the cheek.
"You're still getting beaten up by me boy, you'll always be that pathetic child who never had the courage to ask for help, no friends to turn to!" David punched Cade again, holding him by his neck. "Always relying on himself and never the people around him, the boy without a hero!" he smiled before punching Cade in the stomach.
Cade grit his teeth together and directed his gaze at Sven.
"What? Going to lose your temper boy, blame everyone but yourself, what is it going to take to make you open your eyes?" David asked.
"Shut up," Cade whispered.
"No, you're going to listen to what I have to say, you are my son, it was never my job to make life easier for you and it was never my job to beat you up whenever I lost my temper, watching you from the spirit realm I always believed that you would become something better than me, now I see you are better…the kingpin's got nothing on you," David laughed.
"SHUT UP!" Cade yelled.
Cade screamed, releasing the red energy he had been gathering. Sven's armour covered his body, as did Cade as the two men returned to the conscious world. The Void's black flames were blown aside as Aeon and Deathblade emerged. Deathblade swung his scythe at Aeon, crashing the weapon into his shield. Energy wings burst out of their backs as the markings across their armour shined. The Avengers and even the Void looked towards the two rivals in shock. They both yelled before taking flight, leaving a smoke of dust below them as they soared into the sky. The energy particles that dropped from the sky fell onto Ms Marvel, whose body began to glow as she absorbed them.
"Thank you Sven," she whispered before firing a blast into the Void's chest.
The Void let out a vicious scream as the beam tore through his dark form. Scarlet Witch released her chaos magic, whilst the resurrected Avengers fired blasts from their hands, cutting through the Void one after another. Meanwhile above them, Aeon and Deathblade ascended past the clouds and flew across the country. All could see their forms flying across the sky and the sparks as they clashed. Deathblade span a scythe in his hand whilst Aeon connected two escrima sticks, forming a staff with energy on the tips.
"This is what its about isn't it Sven? The choices we have to make, I've made my choice, now make yours, them or me? The criminals or the real heroes?" Deathblade asked before he flew at Aeon.
Both rivals let out thunderous roars as they flew at one another. They slammed their fists together, releasing bolts of electricity that turned night to day. The heroes on the battlefield looked up in shock at the sudden shift in time. Even Muramasa seemed astonished by the change. His concern for his plan quickly turned to delight as he watched the light generated from the battle between Deathblade and Aeon. Suddenly, a shield flew into the side of Muramasa's face. He swung around, watching Captain America approach.
"Oh charming, the star spangled Avenger rises to oppose me, Apprentice deal with him!" Muramasa commanded.
The Apprentice swung his sword in a show of force before jumping onto his self made flight platform. He flew towards Cap, only for Sieg to suddenly tackle him. They rolled across the floor, toppling several fighting heroes and villains before they stood to face one another. Both brandished their swords and both said nothing as they energy constructs harmlessly rebounded off of one another. Unlike the two men fighting across the country, Sieg and the apprentice spoke no words and simply slammed their swords together.
"Come on, let's help out Sieg," Sofia called to her teammates.
Scion hit her with one of his iron fists and threw X-23 into Azrael's sword. Azrael then drew an axe from his belt and threw it into Jimmy's shoulder. Dust suddenly formed a ball of sand and slammed into Azrael's back, throwing him to the ground. Catastrophe fired more blasts from her hands, keeping Jason on the evasive as he flipped backwards. He landed on Wondra's hands and she launched him over Catastrophe. Jason threw one of his Escrima sticks, hitting Catastrophe in the back of the head. Wind Dancer then created a gust of wind that threw Catastrophe into Scion. She kept up the assault, launching the pair into Azrael before Wondra fired a blast dead centre into the group, knocking them back. In the process, Scion and Azrael's helmets were knocked off, revealing their true identities to the shocked former X-men.
Deathblade and Aeon continued their relentless battle across the skies. Aeon blocked one energy blade after another and took a kick to his face. He span around, dodging and blocking a flurry of blows before swinging his fist into Deathblade's face, sending the young man flying backwards. Deathblade gathered energy into his scythe and swung it upwards, releasing an energy wave that pushed Aeon further upwards. Cade followed, slamming his knees into Aeon's shoulders and head and then kicking him further upwards. Deathblade and Aeon flew past Dark Hawk and Prime as the two heroes made their way to the battlefield. They looked up in shock as the rivals grinded their weapons together then punched each other in their cheeks.
"Real heroes? Is that what you think of yourself? I never thought you were arrogant enough to believe that!" Sven snarled as he flew backwards.
He swung his leg into Deathblade's chest, kicking him backwards. Deathblade quickly recovered and hit Aeon with the handle of his scythe. Aeon then swung his staff around, hitting the side of Deathblade's face with the energy tip. Cade flipped in midair, driving his knee into Aeon's side. The pair then swung their fists into one another's faces, throwing each other back. Aeon rolled across the moon, his armour cracking from the strain of Deathblade's attacks. Deathblade swooped downwards, spinning his scythe around. He swung at Aeon, who leant his head back to dodge. Aeon kicked at Deathblade's knee, and then struck him in the head. But Deathblade slammed his elbow into Aeon's cheek and then kicked him in the chest. He swung his leg around again, dropping Aeon to the floor. Aeon then grabbed Deathblade's foot and threw him out into space. Deathblade flew outwards, sending energy blades flying at the moon. Aeon threw pieces of his own armour, deflecting the blades into different regions of space. He then raised his hand, shaping the armour on his gauntlet into a cannon. A blast suddenly flew out of the cannon, flying towards Deathblade.
Cade flipped his head back, barely dodging the blast. But the beam of red light kept on flying, hitting the evil Hyperion. Mark then slammed his fist into Hyperion's face, sending the Squadron leader flying. The true heroic Hyperion flew at his evil counterpart, delivering a series of punches to the mans face. The pace of his blows grew quicker as the two eternals approached Earth. Deathblade and Aeon then fired their energy attacks and their beams collided, releasing a shockwave that threw the two Hyperions back. Aeon returned his hand to its original shape and flew at Deathblade again. Deathblade formed chains on his twin scythes and threw them at his rival, cutting Sven's shoulder. But he pulled on the chains, brining the scythe back and cutting Sven again. Aeon tore off his shoulder pad and turned it into a boomerang, throwing it at Cade's head. Their eyes glowed before they fired optic blasts, hitting one another in the chest.
Tony stood on the roof of crowner tower, putting on a green and silver version of his second armour, or at least the first armour that wasn't a repaint of his first. As the Avenger equipped himself with an older but upgraded model of his armour, James looked up at the sky, seeing that the lights from Aeon and Deathblade's battle had stopped.
"Are you okay James?" Gloria asked.
"Sven and I had a pretty heated argument before he left, we both said some things…or I did some things," James sighed, he was at a loss for words.
"Take it from another genius billionaire James, we're the ones at fault, with our arrogance…that man Muramasa is proof of that," Tony said.
"I don't know whether we've gone that far, sure we've made some tough decisions but we're not on Muramasa's level," James retorted.
"Really, I made my fortune from government weapons contracts, I became a super hero, secretary of defence, leader of the Illuminati, face of the super hero registration act and the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and we all know what that got us don't we?" Tony grinned.
"You became an alcoholic, blasted the hulk into space leading him to declare war on the planet, kept a devastating secret from the Scarlet Witch that resulted in her decimating the mutant population and you divided the heroic community and spent tax payers money on your armour which resulted in it temporarily being controlled by Norman Osborn," Gloria explained, causing Tony to drop his grin. "Then there's what James did to get his fortune, freeloading off of his uncle, forging multiple identities so he could run every corporation he took over his way, carrying out experiments on his friends so he could make his armour, risking his best friend's adopted son on multiple occasions and even hiring a telepath to deceive the said adopted son, did I get everything?" she asked.
"Gloria, we didn't need you to remind us of all our sins," James sighed.
"I thought secretaries were supposed to get their bosses back on track," Pepper said as she walked onto the roof.
"I'm just saying that, I wish I could have taken it back!"
"Well whilst you're here talking about your regrets whilst facing the end of the world, I'll be doing something about it," Tony retorted before putting on his helmet. "Jocasta am I connected?"
"Yes Iron man, the house party protocol is engaged," Jocasta spoke through the radio link she shared with Tony's helmet.
"If you've got yourself another suit James then come and join me, if not look after the civilians and the wounded," Tony pulled his thumb up as he hovered off of the roof.
Tony flew upwards and through the clouds, dashing over New York, with an army behind him.
Cade and Sven both breathed heavily as they rose from the ground. Their battle had taken them to the dark side of the moon, their glowing eyes was the only thing that illuminated the rock. Without uttering another world, they both attacked one another again. Aeon threw an energy fist into Deathblade's face, knocking him back. Deathblade then charged his foot with energy and kicked Aeon in the side. They slammed their fists together, releasing energy waves and sparks, that revealed Uatu watching them. It was a testament to the intensity of their rivalry and the importance of their battle as the last of the Watchers observed what could perhaps be their final battle. Deathblade wrapped his chains around Aeon's neck, grinding them against the armour. Blades shot out of Aeon's wrists and he cut the blades apart. He swung his arms around, dragging the blades across Deathblade's gauntlets. Deathblade leaned back, causing Aeon to miss him and stumble forward. Cade then slammed his elbow into the back of Sven's shoulder, causing him to let out a yell of pain. But Sven struck back with his elbow, hitting Cade's stomach twice before turning around and punching him across the face.
"Do you think they see us?" Uatu asked his companion.
Carina watched the battle continue as the two men again took to space. Their energy wings flared, growing in their size to the point where they even eclipsed the power of the cosmic cube. But with every pulse of the cube, the energy output of the wings shrunk. Yet Cade and Sven still thought on, kicking one another and rebounding off of rocks in the debris field. They jumped, grappling and slammed their heads together, rolling through space. Both shifted to their beasts forms and dragged their claws against one another's armour. Aeon flapped his wings and fired a blast from his jaw. Deathblade moved his head to the side, barely avoiding the blast as it moved through space, scraping the side of the moon. Deathblade then swung his tail, releasing a torrent of energy blades that scratched Aeon's body. But two more flew past Sven and scratched the side of the cube.
Uatu eyed the cosmic cube, curious as to the effect Deathblade's unique energy had on the portal. Carina however seemed to have perfect clarity. She kept on watching Deathblade and Aeon, the roars of their beast forms would not be heard in space. But the reality altering powers of the Tesseract/cosmic cube echoed throughout the cosmos, and on Earth itself. The axis and orbit of the Earth shifted, switching day to night in many a country. Storms brewed, hurricanes rocked countries that didn't have them and the battle between heroism and insanity continued. Speed Demon and Quicksilver continued their race around the planet, days had gone by for their speedster mindset, but they had both begun to slow down. For the first time in years Pietro felt his knees grow weak and his lungs tire.
"The whole world is falling apart, hell the whole universe is probably shaking from the effects of the cube," Pietro explained.
"I wonder what will give way first, the universe or the two Earths that have been connected," Speed Demon chuckled.
"I only just realised, you're not the Speed Demon I know," Pietro narrowed his eyes at the speedster.
"Ha, I could tell you my story Quicksilver, but you probably wont believe it, once the cosmic bomb has gone off, the two Earth's will crash into one another, just like they did in Hyperion's world," Speed Demon explained.
"Who are you?" Pietro asked.
"Lets keep the surprise going shall we?"
The speedster slammed into Pietro, sending him rolling across the ground. Pietro felt the snow on his toes, his shoes had torn from all the running he had done. Suddenly, Speed Demon slammed into him, punching him in several different places at speeds that were too rapid for any man to see. But Pietro felt them all at a snails pace, they were hard punches, punches that dug into his shoulders blades and ribs. Speed Demon then ran off and came back round with a rock. Pietro quickly rolled, dodging the rock as it slammed into the ground. He threw several snowballs, but Speed Demon vibrated through them and punched Pietro several times across the face.
"HA! You're a far cry from the speedsters I've met," Speed Demon cackled.
He grabbed Pietro by his foot and began to spin around. Speed Demon threw Quicksilver across the snow. Pietro coughed out a few spots of blood and looked at his legs. They had bruises across them and felt incredibly painful. Speed Demon dashed towards him and slammed the heel of his foot into the back of Pietro's knee. The Avenger screamed in agony, feeling his leg lodge out of place.
"I was hoping this would be a challenge, too bad your world's speedsters don't have a connection to the speed force," the villain sighed.
"Speed force?" Pietro looked at the man in confusion.
"You need an explanation? Muramasa came to my world through the aid of his backer, I agreed to help him with his plans for this world, I even agreed to wear this costume which isn't really to my taste, I prefer yellow…do you recognise where you are yet?" Speed Demon asked.
"Wundagore, I'd recognise the feeling of the snow anywhere," Pietro said.
"Yes, your childhood home, now you can die here!"
Speed Demon picked up a rock from the ground and raised it over his head. Pietro narrowed his eyes at Speed Demon, taking in the sick smile on his face.
"I really hate speedsters," the psychopath muttered.
Suddenly, the stone exploded in Speed Demon's hand, piercing through his gloves. Speed and the original Whizzer slammed into Speed Demon's back, lifting him off the ground as they ran out of Wundagore.
"Thank you Thomas," Pietro whispered.
He bellow in pain, unable to put weight on his leg. Pietro grit his teeth together as he gripped his knee.
"Come on Maximoff, all your life you've only used your powers to run, use a little imagination," he said to himself.
Pietro took a few deep breaths before he closed his eyes. It only took a moment for him to vibrate his bones smoothly back into place. But that moment was one of the most painful of Pietro Maximoff's life. So painful that he screamed and cried for a few seconds before standing up. He began to walk, then a slow jog, growling through the pain as he gradually increased speed.
"There may be faster men on your Earth Speed Demon, but on this Earth, I…am," he growled as he began to sprint, moving over water, air rushed past him and the rest of the world became a mere blur, "THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE!" he yelled.
Quicksilver ran so fast that he appeared like a trail of energy, a lightning bolt rushing across the Earth, leaking quakes behind him and splitting the water of the oceans. Pietro ran to catch up with his nephew and predecessor. Speed Demon struggled under Speed and Whizzer's grip, vibrating his own molecules in an attempt to break free.
"THOMAS!" Pietro yelled.
Speed looked over his shoulder and widened his eyes as his uncle began to reach him.
"Old man stop, you'll tear your legs up like that," he said.
"You've got a job to do Speed, help the civilians facing disasters across the world, you can save them in a mere blink of an eye, get them some place safe whilst Robert Frank and I deal with this man," Pietro explained.
"Uncle Pi," Thomas muttered.
Pietro shoved Speed aside and grabbed Speed Demon's arm.
"This man thinks we're slow Whizzer, lets show him how wrong he is," Pietro said.
Whizzer nodded his head, matching Quicksilver's speed. The two men ran and ran and ran as hard as their legs could, their molecules vibrated and they turned into energy.
"HOW'S THIS FOR TACTICS SPEED DEMON!" Quicksilver yelled.
Speed Demon looked over his shoulder and widened his eyes. The Lightning struck the Void, creating a sonic boom that knocked the Avengers back. The Void and Speed Demon screamed in agony as the lightning faded, carrying them with it.
"What was that?" Eric asked.
Speed suddenly appeared, looking at the ruined landscape in confusion.
"Where's the Void and did any of you see Quicksilver?" he asked.
Wanda widened her eyes and put her hands to her mouth. A sudden booming sound alerted the Avengers to a presence behind them. They heard a yelling sound as a figure vibrated into existence. Speed and Wiccan looked at their uncle in horror as he fell to his knees. His body was frail, stick like thin and his hair was thinning.
"No," Wanda whispered.
She rushed to her brother's side, catching him as he fell.
"Wanda, thank god, I was able to get here," he said weakly.
"Don't talk, save your strength, we can work something out," Wanda rubbed her eyes, tears forced to overwhelm her.
"I could run him to the city, Elixir of the X-men is there," Speed said.
"Look at him, you do that and he'll have a heart attack before he gets there," Beast said.
"IwanthimtohealIwanthimtoheal!" Wiccan chanted, his eyes glowing blue as he fell to his knees.
"Its no use, he's another casualty of this war," Ares said.
"SHUT UP WE CAN SAVE HIM!" Zack yelled.
"There's nothing we can do, I'm sorry but he's, he's too far gone," Simon touched Wanda's shoulder and looked down at Pietro in pity.
Pietro let out slow and deep breaths, looking his sister in the eyes.
"Pietro please, please don't leave me alone," Wanda whispered.
"You were never alone my sister, I will always be with you…Thomas, keep running towards the future, you'll catch up with me with so little effort…William, stop trying to change the things that cant be changed, accept them, try to change what can be changed and have the wisdom to know the difference…Zack, I'm glad I was able to meet you, even though you are from another world you are my family."
The Avenger weakly raised his hand and touched his sister's cheek.
"You are not alone, Wanda, forgive our friends, forgive yourself…tell Crystal I'm sorry that I wasn't the husband she needed, tell Luna that my love and pride for her was never unspoken, she is my hope and my joy…and tell father, tell him, I forgive him. I've been there sister, the future, the true future…it could go either way, it could tilt to another end, but I have faith that what I saw will come to pass…they were wrong about him, tell Aeon, Sven Reilly his faith is not misplaced, in either of the two he believes in!"
Pietro's hand fell to the floor and Wanda gripped his body tightly. She let out a scream that echoed throughout the island.
Cade's eyes let out a flash of light and he gripped his head.
'What was that?' he wondered, unfamiliar with the strange feeling in his soul.
Aeon suddenly struck Deathblade with his tail, sending the man flying back down towards Earth. The rivals returned to their warrior forms, with Aeon grabbing the side of Deathblade's face and pushing him downwards. Their armour glowed as they re-entered Earth's atmosphere. Deathblade grit his teeth together, continually punching Aeon in the face to get him off. But Sven kept a hold of his rival and dive bombed towards an unknown island. On that island, clear of people thanks to the Crowner corporation was a volcano. Cade widened his eyes slightly, getting a good view of that volcano as Aeon slammed him into the side of it. Magma crashed down on the rock, missing the rivals by mere inches. Their energy wings faded but their pure intent towards one another remained. Cade lunged forward, throwing a punch at Sven's head. Aeon blocked and countered with a kick, and then a punch. But Cade blocked both strikes and elbowed Sven across the head. He blocked Sven's backhand, but got caught by his knee strike. Sven grabbed the side of Cade's head and pulled the man into his fist.
'That feeling I had? What the hell was it?' Cade wondered.
He jumped and slammed his fist into Aeon's head, knocking him off the mountain. Cade took flight again, dodging rocks of molten magma thrown at him from the mountain.
"That feeling boy came from your eyes, just like you can sense the loss of evil you can also sense the loss of good!"
Cade looked at his surroundings in confusion. He wasn't even in the spirit realm and he could still hear his father's voice.
"You didn't think that your eyes could just see people's sin did you?" the man asked.
'Shut up, I can see every bit of evil in this world, there's still so much more remaining…I will erase all of it,' Deathblade summoned another scythe and looked for his rival.
Aeon suddenly fired an optic blast, throwing Cade off the island. Sven flew after him, dodging swipes from Cade's scythe. He pulled his fist back and punched Cade's shoulder, then grabbed his arm, stopping him from swinging his scythe.
"Face it boy, all this time you've been ignoring all the good in the world, ignoring everything that the people you kill could be!"
'I've been destroying evil before it could blossom.'
"Osborn perhaps, but Menace's child? What was so evil about that baby?"
"He was just a victim of his genes!"
"Is that how you justify it Cade?" Sven asked.
"So you can hear him too?"
"Of course I can, unlike you I embrace all aspects of the spirit world, both the good and the bad!"
"What bull shit, I know for a fact that you separated yourself from your dark side, from Onyx and why not? What's wrong with wanting to be rid of evil?" Deathblade asked.
"Even if you punish the innocent as well as the guilty?"
Cade let out a roar before unleashing an energy wave on Aeon's body. His rival's armour shattered, revealing the glowing fabric of a white suit, with a red crystal on his chest. Lines spread from the crystal, covering Aeon with sparks of red energy. Energy wings extended from his back, completing his transformation into his angelic form. A star shaped object appeared in Aeon's hand and a blade of light appeared from the star.
"I will stop you Cade, no matter the cost," Sven said.
"It always has to be like this dealing with you doesn't it?" Cade shook his head and sighed. "When will you realise that some people are beyond helping? Can you not even accept the fact that there are some people born to kill, whom will always remain evil no matter what you do for them?"
"The day I do that is the day I give up on people and unlike you that's something I'll never do!"
"I haven't given up on people, I just accepted the fact that a certain type of person is the problem, bigots, thrill seekers, career criminals whose best excuse was 'it was the opportunity society gave me' there's only one aspect of society that leads to criminals and that's the leniency of the law, murderers are insane, they cant be held accountable for what they do, its thinking like that that leads to thinks like Stamford, an event bought on by corporate corruption, by men who thought it was acceptable to employ super villains, to destroy a town for the sake of a contract," Cade explained.
"This isn't about the past Cade, its about the now, what you're doing now…do you really think when you go to meet Laura she'll smile at you? Kiss you like she did when you first went to the beyond?" Sven asked.
"And now there is only one way for me to go there, if I do not survive then I will continue my hunt for evil, I will eradicate it from the face of the UNIVERSE!"
Red cracks appeared across Deathblade's armour. His chest plate shattered, revealing red skin with a diamond on the chest. Black, bat like wings burst out of Cade's back, whilst the rest of his armour shattered, revealing a body that was a mix of armour and flesh. His mask finally fell off, to reveal Cade, but his skin was red, his canines had elongated into fangs, his hair was silver and horns stretched out of the back of his head. Pieces of diamond stuck out of Cade's knees, elbows and shoulders and black diamond gauntlets covered his hands.
"How could you be so blind Cade? Do you not see yourself in the mirror? Do you not see that you've taken on the form of evil incarnate?" Sven asked.
"Religious nonsense, this is the form that offers me the most power, I will shatter evil and corruption once and for all!"
Cade yelled as red flames engulfed his body, charging him with power. He rushed forward, kicking Sven in the head and sending him flying. Steam shot out of Sven's nostrils as he growled like an animal. He extended his wings before flying after Sven. Aeon recovered in midair and transferred the energy of his sword into his fists. He flew forward, yelling like Cade did. Both rivals slammed their fists together, releasing an explosion that trumped the volcano.
Muramasa opened his eyes, every time he closed them he could see the battle between Aeon and Deathblade. Every punch, every blow and every blast from the fight was something he could sense, and it made him feel incredible. With his soul linked with the Tesseract he could feel the very essence of the universes he had linked together. But he found himself captivated by the sight of two people, rivals and friends clashing with both their super powers, their bare hands and their ideals. The very souls of Cade Hunter and Sven Reilly were on opposing sides, yet Cade hadn't even seen it yet.
"I can see it, I have attained the closest power to god there is possible," Muramasa whispered.
"There's only one god Muramasa, and I'm sure he doesn't look like you!"
Muramasa turned and grinned, facing Cap and a rising number of Avengers. Even with the addition of the demonic forces from the hell realms, Muramasa was slowly losing the advantage. Sieg continued his duel with the apprentice whilst Nighthawk and Constrictor battled. Muramasa's other generals were having reunions with one another. He revelled in Sofia and Sooraya's reactions to the identities of Scion and Azrael.
"You wont get away with this Muramasa," Steve Rogers said.
"Really? You didn't think I put all my faith in the forces of the hell realms did you? No I've still got some tricks up my sleeve, oh Tyrone!" Muramasa called.
Tyrone Cash stepped in front of Muramasa, his muscles expanding as he looked at the heroes in front of him. The Hulk suddenly landed between Tyrone and the Avengers, causing Muramasa to grin.
"Oh yes, the fight I've been waiting for, Tyrone Cash verses the Hulk, the ultimate first against the incredible!" Muramasa cackled.
"First?" Hulk raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"They call me the first hulk dumb ass, your pea sized brain is nothing in comparison to my superior intellect," Cash said.
"You're real name is Leonard Williams, you're a second rate biologist who deliberately turned himself into a wannabe gangster, the term hulk wasn't coined to you until a few years after I left the Avengers," Hulk explained.
"Wow, that was surprisingly well put," Muramasa muttered.
"What? You're supposed to have a cave man's intellect," Cash gasped.
"What's the square root of six million, two hundred and eleventy?" Hulk asked as he stepped forward.
Leonard thought for a moment, but focused on Hulk as the green giant got closer and closer.
"What's the capital of Texas? How many legs has spiders got? Can you tell Hulk the formula for coca-cola?"
"Stay back you FUCKING FREAK!" Cash yelled.
He swung his fist forward, but much to his shock Hulk grabbed his fist and forced his arm down.
"You had stable job, stable life, good friends, wife and child, but then you threw it away, you killed people, made your wife and son think you were dead, became puny gangster!" Hulk growled.
"SHUT UP!"
Again Cash tried to punch the Hulk, but again the Hulk blocked it like it was a mere piece of paper.
"Puny man think being gangster makes him strong, puny man think it better than woman and son, puny man pathetic, puny man weak, puny man PUNY!"
"SHUT UP!" Cash screamed.
He stepped back and punched Hulk straight in the face. But much to his horror, Hulk took the punch like it was nothing.
"Puny," Hulk whispered.
"SHUT UP! SHUP UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Tyrone screamed as he punched Hulk again and again.
"Puny man call himself first Hulk, delude himself by saying 'people say it', puny man not first Hulk, HULK IS FIRST HULK!"
The green Avenger head butted the crime boss, throwing him to the ground.
"Well that was disappointingly quick," Muramasa sighed.
"Its over Muramasa," Cap said.
"You didn't think that pathetic directionless man was my last line of defence did you? Linked with the Tesseract I can control the very fabric of reality, I can summon forces and creatures not just from the Earth we're linked to, but from our Multiverse!"
A singularity appeared in Muramasa's hand, he threw the singularity into the sky and fired another one at the ground, teleporting himself away from the Avengers. Muramasa grinned as he again released another singularity, opening a portal near new Asgard. He fired another blast, opening yet another portal. The mad man clapped his hands together as 'reinforcements' for his forces emerged from the portals. From the ground rose rotting people in familiar costumes, out of the depths of New Asgard came grey reptile creatures with gold helmets and cybernetic parts. They flew on platforms and led massive armoured beasts that had fins like whales, yet hovered across the sky. From one of the portals in the sky came what Jimmy Hudson recognised as Wendigo, but multiplied into an army.
"The zombies of an alternate Earth, The Chitauri of our Earth and the Wendigos of the Paradise X dimension, I can transport matter from our Earth and many others across the Multiverse, but now that a firm link has been established with the other multiverse I am able to summon the nightmares of that Earth above us," Muramasa explained.
Sieg blocked the apprentice's sword, both fighters looked up as figures swarmed from the portal above them.
"What the hell are those things?" Michael Van Patrick asked.
"I've never seen them before, could Muramasa be right, could he be drawing something from that other Earth above us?" Cap wondered.
The creatures that had joined Muramasa's forces could only be described as demons. They were cyborgs of some kind, armoured but with monstrous red eyed faces. Their armour consisted of green and gold materials, with wings on their backs and staff weapons that rained beams down on the heroes.
"Tony, anyone else out there, we're going to need some back up real quick," Cap said over his radio.
"I hope that dark guy wont mind me borrowing his minions," Muramasa chuckled.
"We're going to need another army for this," Sieg sighed.
Suddenly, a blast hit Sieg from behind, throwing him past the apprentice.
"DON'T INTERFERE!" the masked boy yelled.
Sieg got off the floor, taking off his helmet and looking upon his attackers. They threw Sofia and Sooraya at his feet and stepped up beside the apprentice. Sieg widened his eyes in shock at who they were. Scion was in actuality a black haired boy, and Azrael was a young man with red hair.
"Julian? And Jay Guthrie? You were the ones Gothica gave a second chance?" Sieg asked.
"They're under some type of mind control Sieg, Virgil is too," Sofia said.
"Whose Virgil?" Sieg asked.
"They mean me," the apprentice stepped forward, pointing his sword at Sieg.
"That voice…it was you, Virgil Hawkins, you're the one Wolverine's X-Force attacked on Cyclops's orders, one of the students killed when the Purifiers hit the bus," Sieg explained.
"Yes, and a victim of the corruption, no the downfall of the X-men," the apprentice said.
"Why do you say that Virgil?" Sofia asked.
"It is the downfall, their isolation on Utopia, they might as well have said fuck you to Xavier's dream, the true cause of the X-men!"
"I don't exactly approve of Cyclops's actions as of late either, but what you're doing…your just a pawn Virgil, tell me…what don't our powers effect one another?" Sieg asked.
"Sieg," Sofia looked at Sieg in confusion.
"Isn't it obvious apprentice of Aeon?" Virgil asked.
"Yeah it is," Sieg said as he cast his gaze to the floor.
"You've finally figured it out," Virgil darkly chuckled.
"Sieg what is he saying?" Sofia asked.
"Hawkins was my mother's name, my father's name was Wallace, your true father Sieg, you and I share the blood of the same man, you and I are brothers!"
Next Chapter 30: Brotherhood
We're getting closer and closer to the end, the ultimate war between the forces of good and evil continues with Muramasa's empowered forces continuing their fight with the heroes of Earth, reinforced by a few new arrivals. Sieg faces off against his half brother Virgil while the X-men turned Avengers tried to save their resurrected and brainwashed friends, plus another chapter in the battle between Aeon and Deathblade