Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC
Here it is, the ending to one of the most important tales in my Struggle of the Apprentice series. This chapter is like the other final chapters of my previous stories, an establishment of the new status quo and the plots that will come in the future, as well as potential spinoffs if I ever get in the mood.
Anyway hope you enjoy the end
The Hunt
Final Chapter: Brave new world
The world could finally rest, mourn and rebuild. Though Ben Urich expected people to criticise the actions of the heroes and to accept Victory Peace's promise of them disappearing his predictions never came true. People realised more than ever that the world they lived in was a dangerous one and that it required extraordinary people to protect it. Miriam Sharpe, the most vocal opposition the heroes ever faced remained silent as America voted unanimously for their new leader. As his first act as president, Steve Rogers called for the unification of his countrymen as they began to rebuild the country and the world. The UN welcomed new members into its fold, for the first time in history, alien cultures were acknowledged by politicians as allies of Earth. As Kl'rt, Lilandra and Black Bolt signed peace treaties on behalf of their people, the United Nations was appropriately renamed, and the Union was born.
Kate Reilly looked upon a surprising sight in the morning edition of the Daily Bugle. The front page showed Steve Rogers attending the inauguration of the Kree, Shiar and Skrulls into an alliance with Earth. She smiled as she placed the paper on the table. Her children Jason and Slade rushed past her as the doorbell ran.
"Stop you two, remember what I said, mummy must always be the one to open the door…"
"Until we don't have to jump for the handle," the two boys said.
Kate shook her head at her children's sassy attitudes before she opened the door. Her eyes widened in horror. Standing before her was Sven, except he wasn't in armour like the other times he had visited. She looked upon her brother as a man of pure flesh and blood.
"Hey Kate," Sven said.
"UNCLE SVEN!" Slade yelled as he and his brother grabbed Sven's legs.
"This isn't a trick right?" Kate asked.
"No sis, it isn't, there are some people I'd like you to meet," he shyly turned to the porch steps.
Zack fidgeted slightly as Kate looked towards him and Carol.
"Whose that?" Jason asked.
"Ones Ms Marvel, the coolest super hero ever," Slade said.
"That she is," Sven chuckled.
"That boy, he looks like," Kate gasped, seeing Zack as a mirror image of her brother when he was younger.
"His name is Zack, he's my son Kate," Sven said.
Kate walked down towards Zack and smiled as lowered his head. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as Sven hugged her sons.
"Welcome to the family Zack, I'm glad I finally got to meet you," Kate cried.
Sven walked over to Carol, patting Zack on the shoulder.
"This is Carol, she's a friend of mine," he said.
"Friend?" Carol smirked as she looked at Sven.
"I just want to get this out of the way, you rock girl," Kate shook Carol's hand before kneeling down to Zack again. "Zack, do you want to see the families famous chicken pie recipe, we can make it with your cousins," she suggested.
Zack eagerly nodded his head and walked with Kate back to the house.
"So that's your family?" Carol asked.
"Yeah," Sven smiled.
"So, are all your first dates like this?"
Sven blushed as Carol smirked.
"How about dinner and a movie?" Sven asked.
"Well your sister is making a pie and I've got some free time, plus I know that the first thing you want to eat is that pie," Carol explained.
She cupped Sven's cheeks and planted a kiss on his mouth.
"Don't worry, I'll wait," she said.
"Stay for the evening Carol, trust me you haven't lived until you've had Kate's chicken and leak pie," Sven grinned.
"Okay, but consider this the last night you get to call me friend in front of your family," Carol said.
"Yes ma'am!"
After reuniting with his family, Sven began to move back into his old private investigation office. As he was unpacking his things he happened upon a photo of very special significance. It showed him and his friends just when he had formed his private practice. Kyle stood alongside Rick like the best friends they were, Lazlo stood with James and Jack and Sven stood alongside the two people whom at the time were his closest friends. His wife Faith was in his arms bridal style, shock written across her face as Sven lifted her up. Next to Sven stood Cade, covering his face slightly with the palm of his hand, but underneath his hand a rare smile could still be seen. Sven looked behind him as Luke Cage and Danny Rand walked into the room, carrying more boxes. He wiped a few tears away before putting the photo back in the box.
"Nice place you've got here, you know there are a lot of people on the streets in need of cheap help," Luke said.
"Luke Cage are you plotting another heroes for hire business?" Jessica asked as she and Squirrel Girl walked into the room, the latter cradling Danielle.
"No baby, just a partnership, one big private investigation firm that wont get involved in anything to do with super villains or heroes," Luke explained, flashing a smile at his wife.
Jessica looked at the man sceptically, whilst Danny laughed. Sven turned to the window and looked down on the streets. Virgil stood by a lamppost, looking up at the office. A few seconds passed before Virgil walked up into the office. Luke and Jessica moved to the next room to discuss their future and Danny played with his goddaughter on the floor.
"Hey Mr Reilly," Virgil said.
"Virgil just call me Sven!"
"Thank you, I was hoping for a little more privacy but…what happened with Sieg, I know you think that it should have been you, and I think it should have been me…I've never really believed in fate or a higher purpose, lord knows I've gotten plenty of platitudes from Wagner and people patting me on the back saying that…that it gets better, but they don't really understand what happened, because our power cant just be explained can it?" Virgil asked.
"It cant really be understood, Cade…Cade had his powers since he was ten years old and it was only in his last moments that he truly understood them, but they can be mastered and controlled," Sven explained.
"Then teach me," the young man said.
"Listen Virgil I don't think…"
"Stop, I'm not my brother, I don't need what he needed…someone to believe in him, a father…I respect you Mr Reilly and I respect what you are to my brother, but I don't need that, I need a mentor not a guardian," Virgil explained.
Sven smiled as he sat at his desk.
"Sure thing, we can start today, just as soon as you help me get my office set up," he said.
Virgil nodded his head and walked down to the moving van. He moved to pick up a box, but stopped. Stood across the street was Laura, Sooraya and Sofia. The young man moved away from the van and walked across the street.
"Sieg's usual place, tonight at nine o'clock, we'll do what we need to do there!" he said before running back to the van.
Everything changed, with Earth decimated and vulnerable, the people began to rally around leaders. Tony Stark the inventor, Reed Richards the scientist and Steve Rogers the president, people no longer saw super heroes but people willing to help them. Steve began his presidency not only with the promise to rebuild and improve, but with a clear message, that heroes would be remembered and whilst they had fought for people to continue their free speech, mutant kind would not be isolated. To reinforce the point that Cyclops had driven away from, that mutants were a part of America and the world Steve called for the formation of a unity squad. Alex Summers became the spokesperson of the premier super hero team; they bore no name though many called them Avengers. Every other super hero was trained and coordinated by Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, the registration act was thrown aside and a new way to organise the super hero community was born, in keeping with the vision Steve and Tony originally had. All heroes would report under one team, but their identities would ultimately remain secret.
The iron men that Tony created already began to develop independent personalities and began acting on their own initiative. Mainframe remained with the Avengers, whilst suits like Igor and Red Snapper began assisting construction crews. Tony put his arc reactor plan into effect, effectively solving the world's energy problem. Retiring, at least temporarily from heroics, the primary Iron man of the Avengers became Tony's blue and gold creation Mainframe, but within the confines of his private lab, Tony worked to perfect his Iron man armour for a threat he knew was coming.
Reed Richards unofficially broke up the Fantastic Four. Expanding the Baxter building, Reed and Susan formed a think tank called the future foundation. Ben Grimm moved back into Yancy Street and assisted with rebuilding there. After marrying Alicia Masters he joined the Avengers. Johnny Storm remained very much the same and joined the Avengers before Ben, but he made a personal promise to the media to reform the Fantastic Four one day. As a member of the Avengers he wore a costume to honour the original Human Torch. It was during his time with the Avengers that he rekindled his relationship with Lyra, his former wife and teammate representing the Skrull empire.
The Avengers themselves, or at least the main team that everyone saw in the media was formed from a diverse group. As well as including Mainframe and the Human Torch and Havok as leader of the team, additions included Sunfire, Hyperion, Monica Rambeau in her new costume and identity Spectrum, She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Lyra representing the Skrull empire, the new Smasher Izzy Kane representing the Imperial Guard of the Shiar, Carol Danvers joined the team under a new name and costume as Captain Marvel, the team were faced with great surprise when they were asked by the resurrected Ben Reilly if he could join under his old Scarlet Spider identity, with the additions of long time Avengers Thor, Scott Lang as Ant-Man, Hulk, Wonder Man and the Scarlet Witch, the Avengers had grown in both their ranks and their fame to be the most effective team to date.
Hank Pym resumed the Avengers Academy plan, but moved to LA and opened the ranks of the school to include not just teenagers but adults whom had been powered by cosmic phenomenon. The first adult student was Kevin Conner, the Starbrand and in time a majority of the world's super powered youth joined the academy. MVP became an instructor in physical fitness, teaching the future generations of heroes to have the drive to never give up through his intensive exercise regimes. James Crowner, having converted his company and tower into a shelter for people left without homes joined the academy staff as both a youth counsellor and financer for the school. Members of the Braddock academy also joined the school, Tim Bashir in particular became a valued field member and despite the loss of his sister he was happy.
"Every machine has a weakness, in its design, its purpose, you name it and if you can spot it you can bring it down," Tim was leading a class on appropriate tactics to bring down Sentinels when Virgil walked into the class.
He looked across the room towards Prime. Kevin Green rose from his seat and walked over to Virgil. But the young man shook his head.
"Not just you, but them too," he motioned to the first class of the academy.
The five super heroes followed Virgil and Prime into the main hall, ignorant of his motives. Steve and the reworked Young Avengers were already waiting. As president and the new commander of S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve wore a blue suit with an American star design on his chest and fingerless gloves. The Young Avengers had been reformed, with Vision gone and Eli Bradley retired, the very idea of the Young Avengers had been reworked to suit a vision formed by a very specific person. Kate Bishop remained with the Young Avengers, but wore no mask, her new costume included a purple headband and a purple suit that lacked a left sleeve and archery gloves. Noh-Varr joined the team wearing a version of his original outfit, but the suit itself had long sleeves. Speed replaced the green in his uniform with blue and had abandoned the use of his goggles. Wiccan wore a new costume that had gloves and long sleeves and a straight cape on his shoulders. Hulkling had drastically altered his costume, he no longer wore fingerless gloves and his sleeveless suit matched the colour scheme of his father's famous black and red costume, it even had a star burst symbol on his chest. Stature wore a purple version of her father's old costume, but wore no mask. Iron Lad also rejoined alongside Grasshopper, Wind Dancer, Dust and X-23. Laura had strangely taken to wearing a full body white suit composed of brown accents.
"Why is the future Kang the Conqueror here?" Finesse asked.
"I'm not even going to ask how you know about that," Steve frowned at the teenagers. "Pym's already told me everything about you, all that you went through with Osborn, your rebellious spirits and your conflicting personalities," the president explained.
"He left out the fact that you all think the Avengers are watching you because they're afraid of you," Virgil said.
"Whatever you believe, we didn't do this so we could mould you into what we wanted you to be, well I suppose that isn't true…let me ask you, looking up at Norman Osborn did you believe that the path he chose was better than what we offered?" Steve asked.
"No sir we don't," Reptil said.
"But it's the only option you're giving us," Veil said.
"No it isn't, you've always had a choice, if you want to walk away now then do it, you all have reasonable control of your abilities, or…you could stay, learn more and join the team Virgil was putting together," Steve explained.
Virgil crossed his arms over his chest as the students looked at him uneasily.
"I was the leader of my training squad at Xavier's and I still retain everything that Muramasa taught me under mind control, I'm free of him now but I intend to use what he taught me to get into the mindset of the bad guys still out there, to predict their plans, their movements and to take them down," he slammed his fist into the wall, taking a chunk off of it.
"You want us to be Young Avengers? All right this'll really help the reputation," Striker said excitedly.
"No, this is a strictly covert team," Iron Lad said.
"What!"
"Sieg taught us something, that sometimes the most effective hero is the one whose constantly on the move, the first aider applying CPR to a heart attack victim, the passer by calling the police when he sees a robbery, or in the most extreme cases, the guy stepping in when someone is being assaulted, going in the path of a fist or a bullet to protect the stranger…Sieg had a point, that we weren't doing enough, so whilst the public teams I've set up handle problems on the surface of society and crime, this covert ops team will get to the villains before they become problems, it doesn't matter where you have to go to Atlantis, into the deepest depths of space or even in another reality," Steve explained.
"You know this sounds an awful lot like a shot I used to watch, it was a great show," Reptil sighed.
"So great that it got cancelled!"
"Oh up yours Striker, lousy corporate executives that think toy sales are a reflection of a shows success!"
"Can we get back on topic?" Mettle asked.
"You want us to be part of the team?" Hazmat asked.
"Yes, a proactive group of Avengers that takes the initiative, we'll be given cases by senior Avengers but still have free reign to make our own missions as Sieg did," Virgil explained.
"You said other realities, what did you mean by that?" Veil asked.
"Muramasa shattered the walls of time and space, the very essence of time travel has changed," Iron lad said. "If we go to the past, nothing we do there will alter the time stream, if we go to another reality, nothing we do there will effect the structure of the worlds and the future is no longer set in stone, I'm living proof of that!"
"Which also means that the future the mutant messiah has gone to and where Layla Miller came from is merely the future of an alternate reality," X-23 said.
"A world where Sieg became a conqueror and tyrant," Finesse said.
"Which we all know isn't going to happen now," Striker laughed until Veil elbowed him in the chest.
She pointed to Virgil, causing Striker to lower his head in embarrassment. But Virgil remained stoic and simply awaited the responses of the students.
"Well, I suppose I'm in," Reptil said.
"Definitely in, Sieg really helped us out and I'm not going to do his memory injustice by stepping aside," Mettle said.
"I shouldn't do this," Veil sighed.
"That's okay Maddy you don't have to…" Virgil suddenly raised his hand, cutting off Steve's speech.
"I've heard about you Madeline Berry, you're always so hesitant, is it because you're scared?" the young man asked.
"Of course it is, I want to do good but I don't want to destroy myself in the process," Madeline said.
"I see, so you're a coward and stupid too," Virgil sighed.
Veil looked at Virgil in shock, whilst Mettle and Striker glared at him.
"I read your test results and your school reports Madeline, you're good, smart I mean, but you're not that smart, you don't have it in you to come up with anew food source or a cure for a disease, likewise I'm good with science but nowhere near the level of my father, let alone Tony Stark or Reed Richards…alls I know is how to fight, that's it, that's all, I don't pretend to be something I'm not, I'm a fighter who can create crystal constructs and you are a woman who can alter her molecular structure, you could turn into poison or rather the antidote to a poison in a gaseous state, you can recon in areas too dangerous for another…there's what you want to do, what you try to do and what you can do, I can command but I cant inspire, I can fight but I don't really know much about living, unlike my brother who has it all figured out. The gist of it Veil is that you can spend all of your life trying to be normal when you're not, all your life trying to help people with charity or soup kitchens, when you are capable of doing so much more. But like Rogers said its your choice, you can make the right one for yourself, or you can make the right one for everyone like my brother did!"
The Academy students looked at Virgil, shell shocked by the speech. He turned his back and began to walk towards the door.
"Virgil? Aren't you going to stay and hear about who will join us?" Sofia asked.
"I don't really care Sofia, I've got something else to do!"
"I think we all have somewhere else to be, we can sort the rest of this out later," Steve sighed.
Elsewhere within the facility, Hank stood making adjustments to a special project. He was trying to rebuild the original Vision, the Vision destroyed by She-Hulk. His progress was good and he had already succeeded in repairing most of Vision's body and software, even preserving his memories and emotions. He considered the idea of changing Vision's outer costume, but realised that it was probably something best left to Vision himself. Jocasta had been a big help and was almost constantly at Vision's side. Hank theorised that Jocasta's interaction with the original Aeon had awakened Jocasta's previous feelings for her fellow android. She was however teaching some of the students, aiding Apex in his classes.
"I think he needs a new costume," a voice said behind Hank.
He paused as he turned, facing the one person he always wanted to see again, but could never bring himself to look in the eyes. Janet stood wearing a new costume, one that was too inspired by Hank's Yellowjacket costume for his liking. She even wore a helmet to help with controlling insects. Resting the helmet on the nearby table, Janet walked to Hank's side and examined the robot.
"He definitely needs a new look, how about you?" Janet turned to Hank and smiled.
"What's got you in the mood for making costumes?" Hank asked.
"Virgil, I offered to make a uniform for him but he blankly refused, he's too angsty for his own good," Janet sighed.
"We've all had plenty of reason to be angsty lately, him especially."
"True, but there's been a surprisingly jolly atmosphere, Genis lost his father but he's spending a lot of time with Songbird, Steve couldn't do a thing to stop him from joining this new Thunderbolts group."
"Did you even leave any villains to reform?" Hank asked and chuckled as Janet elbowed his ribs.
"Bad joke Hank, but one thing Cade taught me as cliché as it sounds is the power of forgiveness…in the end Cade forgave us for whatever sins we had committed in life and gave us all second chances, Genis to be with Songbird, Ben Reilly to live, Kraven to redeem himself, Mar-Vell to see his children and me to do this…" Hank widened his eyes as Janet gripped the back of his head and pressed her lips against his.
The scientist and Avenger stood in shock before returning the kiss with equal passion. As the two held one another, Vision's eyes blinked to life. They separated, sheepishly looking at the android as his head turned and looked at them again and again.
"Welcome back Vision," Hank said.
"You two are back together?" Vision asked.
"I guess she's giving me the second chance I don't deserve!"
"Actually it would be more accurate to say that this is your eighth chance," Vision said.
Hank and Janet looked at the android in shock. They were both trying to figure out whether he was serious or joking. Either way they laughed, holding one another's hands, ready to face whatever future awaited them.
After everything had been rebuilt to a standard where people could live again, the people of America and the whole world joined one another in grieving for the dead. Washington had become a sight of remembrance, not only for the brave sacrifices the first responders of super powered threats had made, but also for the victory against Swamp Thing. Sven and his allies stood in their armour, over a grave made for Cade Hunter. His grave had been placed between the graves of the Avengers and the villains, though some debated that it had been placed in the centre, away from those labelled heroes and villains because of the sacrifices he had made to stop Swamp Thing. Steve stood in front of his fellow Avengers and addressed them as he had the whole nation months before hand.
"A few months ago, we had been faced with the worst crisis we had faced since …well I don't really know how you can judge the severity of the threats we've faced, can you label them? Name them? I don't know, alls I do know is that this war, this conflict, this disaster whatever you want to label it as cost this country its leaders, very nearly its humanity and some of its greatest heroes. Sam Wilson was my closest friend, my best friend, he started out during a time of racial hatred and bigotry, he could have gone another way but he didn't, he served as an inspiration but above all he saved lives and did the right thing always. James Barnes, Bucky was my brother, some of you may be able to understand that others of you may not, because sometimes you have to go through the deepest kind of hell to truly be able to call another person brother, he had done some bad things because he had been forced to do so, his mind controlled and altered by the Red Skull, we have to acknowledge the bad that we do but not acknowledging the good is an insult to the memories of those whom die to seek redemption, like Adrian Toombs, he flew and fought, exhausted and wounded to save the life of a little girl, like Erik Josten whom had spent one half of his life doing bad and another half doing good. We're here, this place is here to remember everyone, everyone that we've lost and every mistake we have made because Deathblade was right about one thing, some of the problems and incidents happened because of us but we will remember, we will learn, we will be better because something bigger is out there and we have to be ready for it!"
There was no great cheer or roar of applause. Because everyone felt that things were going to get worse before they got better. Sven knelt by Cade's gravestone, taking his helmet off and placing his hand on the stone.
"Well Cade I guess you got your wish, we decided to be better, to start being Avengers, I just hope you find peace old friend," Sven sighed.
He lowered his head to speak a prayer. But as soon as his hands crossed together he widened his eyes, feeling a tingling sensation at the back of his head. He stood up and looked at the sky, his eyes briefly glowed red before the light faded.
"HA!" he laughed. "Good for him," he muttered, walking away from the gravestone as if he had no reason to grieve.
Later that day, Virgil went back to his safe house. The young man emerged from his room, wearing his new costume. It was a black suit with grey padding and red markings on the arms and back; it also included a domino mask with white lenses over the eyes and fingerless gloves. He looked at his brother's teammates, the Young Avengers, the six founding Academy students, Prime and Grasshopper, Vision, Hellion, the new Thunderstrike Kevin Masterson, Surge, Prodigy, Wallflower, Pixie, Rockslide, Elixir, Noah, Darkhawk, A-Bomb, Night Thrasher, Blackwing, Tempest, Skybolt, Phaser, Aracely, the reformed Power Pack, the new Daredevil Ray Connor and the new Nova Sam Alexander. Virgil stood looking at the team for a moment before turning to the board, a board of potential cases for the team to take part in.
"Okay, Darkhawk, you said there are more raptor crystals out there, lets start by getting a Shiar ship and tracking them down, at the same time we can find Hulkling's half brother Kai-Vell, Ronan said he went missing behind renegade Skrull lines," Virgil explained.
"Is that it, straight into business and no motivation?" Nova asked.
"If you want to be inspired watch Any Given Sunday, after that do your job, our job, Wolverine got a telepathic message from Sage, turns out her Exiles weren't saving realities but screwing them over, she needs some help to correct those timelines…" Virgil grunted as Noah, his squad mate from the Xavier academy slammed into his back, putting his arm over his shoulder.
"No welcome to the team? No inspirational speech? You never change Virgil," the ginger haired boy sighed.
"At least I'm consistent," Virgil said, without smiling.
"Okay team, we've been put together for one reason, to protect worlds, ours, the Shiars even the worlds beyond our reality," Sofia walked to the front of the board.
"We're here to save lives but to preserve the way of life that people like us have sacrificed their lives for," Grasshopper followed the girls example.
"Though people may never know who we are, they won't forget what we do," Prime said.
"We will save one life at a time, again and again, no matter who they are because that is who we are," Dust nodded her head.
"People will ask us are we heroes? And we'll say to them that we damn well are," Virgil turned to the team, closing his hand into a fist.
The assembled heroes nodded their heads, some smiling and others speaking their agreement. They had a clear purpose and they were willing to fulfill it. In New York Steve Rogers declared the reformation of the Avengers at the old Stark mansion. The people of Oklahoma and Asgard reopened their rebuilt town and in Wundagore, Wanda, her sister and father and Crystal and Luna buried Pietro's body beside Magda's. The world got to turn again and when he had a moment, Virgil stood in his room without his mask. X-23 stepped into the room, crossing her arms as Virgil looked up at her.
"They're saying that Sieg should have got a grave stone at Washington, even Finesse," Laura said.
"I would have thought she would've figured it out first," Virgil huffed.
"None of them were as close to Sieg as Sofia, Sooraya and I were, he was our leader, he made us better," the clone explained.
"I know…but that doesn't matter right now, I think I'll let them remain ignorant for a little while longer, although they'll probably think I'm crazy," Virgil sighed as his eyes glowed a blue colour.
He then did something he very rarely did. He smiled and looked up at the skylight with hope in his eyes.
"He closed the portal to that other Earth from that side, but he had more energy left than Aeon, the strain wouldn't have killed him…I know in my soul that he is still alive on that Earth…and he's still fighting the good fight!"
A very different Earth
Sieg had been in the new world a month and he already liked it. He had caught glimpses of the super hero community in action and though he didn't recognise anyone, he found the new faces refreshing. But he realised he needed to keep an ear to the ground, in case trouble from his reality or another ever came. Nothing had changed, he still intended to change his destiny, if he had to be a tyrant on his world then he would be a hero in the new one. He walked through the streets of an unfamiliar city, the world that was his new home had at least six cities that didn't exist in his world and they had very deep histories linked to the super hero community. The best, or perhaps hardest thing about his new life was that he didn't exist on paper; he was able to make a bank account and transfer cash he got from a cheap paying courier job. His new job however involved working at a news network, one that was apparently struggling but was still very famous. With a new world and hair colour came a new style of outfit for Sieg, he had dumped his old clothes after paying for a pair of gloves, a red shirt, a short sleeved hooded jacket and a pair of red and black sneakers.
"Ah I thought that you would be coming," the editor of the paper watched Sieg enter the office.
"Hello Mr White I'm…"
"Siegfried Reilly, good to meet you kid but I hope you understand with your lack of references I cant give you a journalism job just yet, what do you know about investigation anyway?" the grey haired man asked as he led Sieg through the busy corridors of the office.
"A fair amount," Sieg rubbed his head sheepishly, unsure whether the man would really believe that he was raised by a private investigator.
"Well I'll stick you with a mentor, but for now you're going to work in archives, be sure to read the old articles too, familiarise yourself with this place!"
'Oh I intend to do just that,' archives was perfect for Sieg, he could study the differences in history this world had from his.
"Come on, I'll let you meet your mentor, well I suppose mentors, they're married so don't be surprised when they start arguing like a couple," the editor stopped at the door to one very specific office. "Kent, where's Lois?"
Sieg looked over Mr White's shoulder and saw whom he assumed to be a journalist clumsily getting off his chair. He had neatly combed back black hair and thick-framed glasses resting on his nose, he wore an untidy blue blazer and a pair of trousers, as well as a white shirt and red tie.
"She's on an assignment Perry, covering an announcement at the Hall of Justice," Kent said.
"Fine, she can meet Siegfried later," Perry said.
"Actually I prefer Sieg Mr White!"
"And once you've earned your place here you might be able to get away with calling me Perry, but never chief," Perry growled. "Anyway, show Reilly the ropes and keep him out of trouble," the editor walked out of the office, leaving Sieg with his new mentor.
'He wont hold a candle to Sven,' Sieg thought, rather ignorantly.
"Nice to meet you Mr Reilly, my names Clark, Clark Kent, welcome to the planet!"
Sieg sheepishly smiled as he shook the man's hand. Whatever future awaited him in his new world, he knew it would at least be interesting.
The Gap
The Other once feared Thanos, but for the longest time he knew that Thanos was not one to be feared, in fact Thanos was nothing in comparison to his new master. Time passed differently in the Gap, which was literally the gap between dimensions, allowing access to any world in any universe, at any point in time. The power to traverse existence had gone to one man and for the first time in a millennium, the Other feared for the existence of life. His only comfort was that his new master unlike Thanos had no interest in death.
"Death is a release from this world, let them suffer!"
The Other bowed his head in respect. Beside him knelt the newest allies that his master had drawn into the circle. Beautiful, seductive and deadly was Amora the Enchantress. From a realm where life and suffering was eternal was Lord Mar-Vell. Annihilus and Blastaar knelt down as slaves to their new master's will.
"Suffer, now I like your thinking," a white skinned, green haired man laughed.
Any kind of psychotic laughter the clown could generate however was cut short, as a black gloved hand removed itself from the arm rest of the throne in warning.
"I'm wondering…" a new voice emerged from the shadows.
He stepped out, revealing his white suit and green tie.
"Did all of that just happen so you could deprive your counterpart of his son?" Loki, the ultimate god of mischief asked.
"Their suffering has only just begun!"
"Indeed," a portal suddenly opened, revealing Muramasa.
The warlord bowed, smirking at Loki.
"Was killing my counterpart really necessary?" the Asgardian asked.
"He delayed the plan, I could have crashed both worlds together, allowing absolute suffering," Muramasa said.
"You wasted my power," Mephisto growled.
"You wasted a contract on a marriage, to save an old woman's life HA!" Muramasa retorted.
"FUCK YOU MURAMASA! FUCK YOU!"
"Enough!"
The two men shivered as their master stood off of his throne. He turned, revealing himself as the dark energy around him faded. Loki and Enchantress widened their eyes, for they had not seen their master's true form. It was a suit of pitch-black armour, along with a helmet with a knight's visor across it.
"Aeon," Amora gasped.
"I am Aeon yet not Aeon, I am Sven Reilly's darkness made flesh, my name is Onyx!"
He swung his arm around, revealing a tear that acted as a window, for him to watch other realities. The window showed the Avengers Sieg had left behind, the future Hope and Cable fought in, Mojoworld in ruins, the first Exiles and the Timebroker.
"No true despair can exist without hope and faith, so I will give them hope and faith, then…I will break their spirits, turn them against one another…I will shatter worlds, forging bonds of hatred and sorrow and I will destroy their hopes."
"Then they have YOUR PERMISSION TO DIE!" the clown yelled before Enchantress elbowed him in the ribs.
"Not die Joker, death is a release, and suffering is eternal!"
Loki and Enchantress cast uneasy looks at one another as Mephisto, Muramasa and the Joker cackled; laughing hysterically at the plan Onyx had formed to break reality.
The End
So what did you all think? Hope you guys enjoyed it, the Struggle of the Apprentice series isn't over, it'll split into two tales. Sieg's tale however will take place in The Brave New World, the preview of which can be viewed next chapter.