This time we're getting into the aftermath of the previous chapter. Also, for those who don't know already, if you're interested in what happened to Star Wars, the bulk of Halo, Mass Effect and more during the events of the previous chapter, then go read the latest chapter of Shadow of Order.
With that said, let's dive right in.
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Bionicle, the MCU, Young Justice or any other franchise that appears in this story.
In the shadowy realm of the Void, three beings appeared, one of whom was physically much larger than the other two. The moment of disorientation allowed the smaller of the beings to add their powers to the walls of the prison dimension, leaving the massive Gravemind trapped in there with them.
It didn't take long for the heart of the Flood to realize this, and its resulting scream of rage could be heard throughout the dimension. Silently, the two gods nodded to each other, as the Flood's attention was turned directly to them.
"What have you done?!"
"Simple, we've found a cage to keep you in for the rest of eternity." The Separatist Leader replied.
"You're trapped in a realm of your brothers creation," The Supreme Commander continued. "A void between the walls of the multiverse. There's no leaving this place, not for you."
"And not for you." The Gravemind began glowing. "Your powers are the only thing keeping me in here. And they'll only last as long as you don't break."
"Don't expect us to break so easily." The two gods began glowing as well, as the Void filled with power.
And so their eternal conflict began.
...
It took some time, but eventually what remained of the Republic and Separatist leadership had gathered to discuss the situation regarding the aftermath of what some were calling "the Tidal Wave."
For the two superpowers, the news was not good. Both sides had suffered heavily against the relentless Flood attacks, with trillions among the dead. Military wise, the Separatists had been struck the worst, their fleet and army all but a shadow of their former glory.
Granted, the Republic wasn't in a much better state. A lot of their planets and fleets had been destroyed, and of the civilian populace they had managed to save, they were but a minority in the grand scheme of things. Furthermore, most of their manufacturing facilities had been annihilated, with many Forerunner wrecks to account for.
The Ark itself was surprisingly intact, though the same couldn't be said for the fleet and Halos that had been guarding it. With some quick work however, it could be repaired rather quickly, which was one piece of good news.
But it was the damage to reality that was most severe. In the immediate aftermath, sporadic Portal Storms had appeared all over the multiverse, randomly swooping up people, animals, patches of land, and depositing them elsewhere.
One of those taken by a Portal Storm was on Spherus Magna itself, which had completely moved one of the prisons holding some the most dangerous surviving beings from the Matoran Universe, which was definitely a concern to all.
But they couldn't worry about that, not yet. For it was a time to rebuild, a time to celebrate, and a time to mourn. And in the case of the remaining Superpower leaders, it was time to reorganize.
Skyland
The battle had been absolutely bloody. Puerto Angel had literally been torn apart by the Flood attack. The block was in several pieces, the mounds of rock and metal slowly drifting apart.
Despite this, survivors did remain, though the population of the Pirate block was but a shadow of what it once was. As Aran Cortes looked over the wreckage of his home from the barely functional St. Nazaire, it certainly felt like a hollow victory.
Mahad was comforting Lena, the two children all but inconsolable at this stage. Their mother had been taeken by the Parasite, used as a puppet by the Gravemind as if to mock their efforts. All the work they had done to get her in the first place, it was all for naught now.
Combine that with the loss of the Vector, and the sheer destruction wrought by the Parasite, and it quickly became clear that they would need to abandon Peurto Angel.
It was Wayan and Dahlia who had reluctantly pointed this out, as neither of them had wanted to abandon their home. Cortes felt similarly, and had eventually ordered the survivors to retreat.
And yet despite the losses, there was still one ray of hope. The Flood had been destroyed completely, bringing the massacre to an end. And in spite of his own cynicism, Cortes allowed himself to feel hope, even as a hole in space time appeared near the St. Nazaire and a Republic ship flew out.
…
Atmos
Previously the world of a thousand mountaintop kingdoms. That number was considerably smaller now, after the Flood was done with the planet.
Piper and Aerrow looked over the devastation, seeing hundreds of smoke pillars as far as the eye could see. Unconsciously, the Sky Knight and Crystal Mage's hands found each other as the Condor rocketed through the sky.
It was chaos all across the known Atmos, with Atmosia and its Time Pulse generator completely destroyed. While navigation equipment had been improved, the disruption was still noticeable. Things weren't much better on the Far Side, which had already suffered significantly under the previous Flood incursion.
The Storm Hawks had miraculously made it through intact, though the same could not be said for the others. The Wallops were now an endangered species, and Terra Rex was now a barren wasteland.
But the Storm Hawks felt their most personal loss with the infection of Starling. The lone Sky Knight had been helping the evacuation of Terra Saharr when a Seeder had latched onto her.
When the news had made it to the Storm Hawks, their morale had almost broken completely. Even Aerrow had almost given into despair. But it was Finn who pulled them from the brink, pointing out that the Flood was actually gone.
And with word from the Republic that they were starting to rebuild, offering Atmos a permanent place among the Republic, things were starting to look up.
…
Bending Earth
The loss among their world was just as bad as countless other worlds, as Korra's communication with the Republic was warning. All four Bending Nations had suffered horrendous casualties, and though the damage could be repaired relatively quickly, the dead could not.
Too many were known to have lost their lives against the Parasite, with even Meelo and Lin Beifong among them. And to make things worse, it was Meelo's own sisters who had to put their infected brother down, while Mako and Bolin were forced to destroy Lin.
To further compound the issue, no one could get into contact with Tenzin either, leading to everyone to assume the worst. The leadership of the New Air Nation henceforth fell to Jinora, the only remaining Airbending Master available.
Kuvira and Prince Wu had also survived, with the latter reporting that the Earth Kingdom was once more in disarray, with the former helping to stabilize it again. This time, Kuvira was joined by Suyin, who had helped reconstruct Zaofu beforehand. Su had claimed it was to keep an eye on Kuvira, but the others had guessed she wanted to distract herself from her grief.
Under Asami, Future Industries was aiding in the reconstruction as best as they could, collaborating with Varrick Industries and the few Republic forces that the superpower could currently spare.
As for Korra, she had a lot on her plate in both the human world and the Spirit World. The Flood had unleashed catastrophic damage in the realm that eclipsed even that of Vaatu. Less stable Spirit Portals were appearing sporadically all over the globe, colloquially dubbed as Spirit Rifts, which Korra was often rushing around to close.
And yet, despite everything, things really had improved. The Republic had fully provided their aid, and even offered to bring their world fully into the Republic itself. And with Raiko gone and Zhu Li now President, it seemed that they would truly accept that offer.
...
Earth-199999
The scale of the devastation was unlike anything the Avengers had ever seen before. Even Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy hadn't seen destruction of this size before.
Cities lay in ruins, and the lack of bodies didn't do much to ease their discomfort. Miraculously, most of the heroes had survived, even Thor and Ghost Rider, who had only survived the Star Roads due to the Gravemind's sadistic tendencies.
But there had definitely been loss, and for the Avengers, it hit hard. After digging through the rubble of a collapsed building, Captain America's shield was all they could find of him, just as the shattered remains of the Hulkbuster and his torn shirt was all they could find of Bruce Banner, not to mention a broken bow all that could be found of Clint Barton, and a pair of alien knives that belonged to Drax.
Normally it would be rather arguable not to assume someone was dead without a body, especially in their line of work, but considering all the missing dead bodies were destroyed Flood forms... things were not looking good to assume their survival.
"Damn it." Tony cursed, looking at the debris covered shield.
Everyone else was silent, hardly daring to believe that the first Avenger had fallen. Sam, Bucky, Coulson and Natasha held vigil over the impromptu funeral. Even the Guardians kept their peace, though they were also mourning the loss of Drax.
Eventually, the heroes were able to pick themselves up and continue their work. It helped that the Republic had kept their word and restored the cities that they had managed to evacuate before the Parasite wave hit.
Thor was relieved to see that the Republic had indeed managed to recover the surviving Asgardians, and T'Challa was willing to let them settle in Wakanda, which the God of Thunder accepted.
Meanwhile, Robbie only stayed long enough to ensure that his brother was safe before the Spirit of Vengeance compelled him to return to Hell, to see just what kind of damage the Parasite had wrought there.
Strange likewise returned to the Sanctums, coordinating with Wong to ensure that the barriers still remained active in spite of everything that had happened. The Guardians themselves were initially planning on leaving the planet, but were stopped temporarily by the arrival of a Republic envoy, who had a proposition for them all.
...
Earth-16
Truth be told, the scale of destruction wasn't really surprising to the people of Earth-16, especially given the superheroes and villains and what their battles would cost. And yet even still, the Flood's attack was far more devastating than anything they had ever dealt with before.
There were still bodies that had yet to be recovered, and several heroes were missing, Batman and Aquaman among them. Likewise, there had been no contact from Infinity Island or Bialya to the surviving members of the Light, and there was nothing to indicate that Vandal Savage had survived the destruction of the Warworld.
Neither Doctor Fate nor Klarion had returned either, leaving Zatanna in particular worried over her father's fate. John Stewart had thankfully returned, reporting that Hal and Guy had also survived. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Green Lantern Corps had suffered many casualties, leaving the others to pick up the slack until new Ringbearers could be selected.
J'onn and M'gann had managed to get in contact with the surviving Martians, who had revealed that despite heavy losses, their species had managed to survive this apocalypse. And speaking of the that, all contact had been lost with both New Genesis and Apokolips. When they attempted to create Boom tubes to the locations in question, the Mother or Father Boxes had the same "ERROR. LOCATION UNAVAILABLE." message.
Still, the Justice League and the Team did what they could to rebuild, and were openly aided by the Republic, who were offering to bring their world fully into the fold. When asked how the Separatists would take that, the envoys admitted that there were some changes between the two superpowers...
…
Lex Luthor sat in his bunker, stewing over the recent developments. The Light was in shambles, their forces scattered to the wind. The Separatists had lost much of their leadership, and it seemed the survivors were actually merging with what remained of the Republic.
The owner of LexCorp was unsure how to feel about that. He had never really liked being at the whims of the superpower, a feeling he knew most of his fellows in the Light had shared, but after their failed attempt at usurping control of the Separatists with Darkseid's help, they had remained in their service for quite some time.
And as a businessman, Lex knew better than to let personal feelings get in the way. But at the moment, his primary attitude was to wait and see. His musings were interrupted by the buzz of his intercom.
"So sorry to disturb you, Mr. Luthor." The scientist at the other end said. "But we were just taking inventory of our remaining stocks, and came across something peculiar: do you remember the substance Dust?"
"Yes, it's a unique compound from the planet Remnant that is rendered inert outside that world's atmosphere." He recited with a bored tone. "What about it?"
"Well, that's just it, Mr. Luthor. The Dust Samples we took are no longer inert."
...
Spherus Magna orbit
On one of the surviving stations in orbit over Spherus Magna, a figure stood at the window, overlooking the planet that he had spent 100,000 years preparing to rebuild. Mata Nui knew that the people would inevitably recover, but the damage was still hard to witness.
The Great Spirit thought back to how he had first met the Supreme Commander and everything that had happened since then. He had befriended the then young human, recreating his body with the Mask of Life as the man grew into the supposed god that he had been, aiding in fighting some of the planet's worse threats like the gold-skinned being and Velika's plan.
When informed about his plan to create his Republic, Mata Nui had helped broker the deal with the other Spherus Magnans to allow their world to be used as the superpower's capital.
And through the Republic's existence, the former Great Spirit had become one of the Supreme Commander's advisers, doing all that he could to ensure the superpower's population was content and happy while avoiding having any actual power. Even during the conflict with the Separatists, he had continued with that role to the best of his ability.
Then the Flood appeared, cutting a bloodbath throughout all of reality. The Parasite had seemed unstoppable, and even after the end of the Great Flood war, had found yet another way to return, culminating with an attack of unprecedented scale before they were stopped again, in what was hopefully a more permanent solution.
After so long and with so many losses, Mata Nui wasn't sure whether to believe it was true. Or for that matter, believe that his friend was gone from this plane of reality. His musings were interrupted by the sound of someone teleporting in. Without turning from his position, Mata Nui sighed.
"I should be down there with my people."
"You know they called you up here for a reason." The armored figure replied, her Varia Suit vanishing in a flash of light. "We do need your aid, old friend." Mata Nui finally turned to the blond woman in her skin tight blue suit.
"It's good to see you, Samus." The Great Spirit said. "I just wish more of us could be here."
"As do I." Samus replied. "With so many bodies gone, it's difficult to ascertain who's dead and who's MIA."
There was a brief pause as Samus' comm activated, and the Chozo Hatchling listened to what was said on the other end. The brief conversation and short answers ended with her saying "I'll tell him." before she turned back to him.
"What is it?"
"The Republic and Separatists are merging." The ex-Bounty Hunter replied. "It was apparently the last order of both our friend and the Separatist Ruler." She turned to face him fully. "They want you to lead it."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Mata Nui asked. "My last efforts at leading ended with my people enslaved."
"And a shattered world restored." Samus pointed out. "Spherus Magna would still be barren fragments if it wasn't for you."
"Perhaps." The former Great Spirit sighed. "He did ask me to lead in the event that he either died or was incapacitated. I just didn't think that would actually happen."
"None of us did." Samus replied. "But times have changed, and the Flood have left everything in chaos. And let's be honest, you're the best candidate out of anyone."
"I suppose you're right." Mata Nui said reluctantly. "I suppose we shouldn't waste any more time."
...
There wasn't exactly much ceremony to be had, not with so much work to be done. Fortunately, the former ruler of the Matoran Universe was willing to dive right in to start solving the problems currently plaguing the new and merged Republic.
And unfortunately, there were quite a few problems to solve. While the Republic had sent envoys out to a number of planets, they were still dealing with the fallout of the Tidal Wave. Portal storms had been running rampant all over the multiverse, displacing people and locations across reality.
One such displacement had occurred on Spherus Magna, as the imprisoned Dark Hunters had escaped from their prison during the chaos and had teleported beyond their current sight.
While this was indeed a grave concern, the Republic and Separatists still had their priorities in both rebuilding, finalizing their merging, and more importantly, ensuring that they were free of the Parasite. Fortunately, the latter at least was showing evidence to be true, given the scout vessels returning with the news that no Flood forms could be detected anywhere in the known multiverse.
"It seems the Flood has been totally destroyed."
"We thought that the last time." Thrawn pointed out. "And that only lasted for five years before they were active again."
"An excellent point." Mata Nui agreed. "We must remain ever vigilant for the resurgence of the Parasite, and their followers."
"Well we're off to a fairly decent start there." One officer reported. "Many known Unitologists have either been apprehended or killed."
"And what of Dark Samus?" Thrawn asked, turning to the ex-Bounty Hunter. "Could she have survived?"
"I'm not sure." She admitted after a moment. "I want to believe she's gone, but I've seen too many of my former enemies seemingly destroyed only for them to reappear later."
"Then we will keep a watchful eye for her as well."
...
Remnant
In the realm of her Keep, Salem looked over the foreboding landscape, feeling that same sense of fear that Mercury and Emerald had no doubt felt when they first arrived here.
Things had gone perfectly according to plan: in less than a day, her master had undone thousands of years of Ozpin's efforts by effortlessly stealing the Relics. Shortly afterward, she felt the Gravemind's return to full strength.
The Grimm had responded by her will, aiding the Parasite when it launched its attack on Remnant (not that it actually needed the support), making Ozpin's inevitable short life as painful as possible.
At least, that was what she had assumed.
An energy wave had eradicated all Flood forms from Remnant, and to make matters worse, it also destroyed three fifths of the total Grimm population across the planet. She could replenish those numbers, but it would take time she likely didn't have.
And then there were the fact that her agents in Watts, Hazel, Mercury and Emerald still had yet to get into contact with her. While the latter two were mostly loyal to her out of fear, the former two were genuinely loyal in their own ways. But could she still say the same after today?
Even she couldn't be sure how well their loyalty would hold after seeing the Grimm help the Flood in battle. Even loyal Tyrian's faith was shaken, and considering everything that had happened, she wasn't sure how much she could keep them in line anymore.
There was only so much that fear could accomplish, after all.
Her musings were interrupted by the appearance of a storm of energy appearing right outside the window. Salem leapt aside as it approached, as it crashed through the glass and broke the conference table in half before abruptly vanishing.
Salem shakily rose to her feet, only to find that she wasn't alone anymore. In the middle of a crater where the table used to be, another figure staggered out, its body seemingly trying to hold itself together.
It was humanoid, but that was really the only 'natural' part of it. Three yellow eyes were on its mouthless face and it had more and less internal organs than it should've. One of its arms was also a gun, and the actual hand of the other arm had a human eye on the back of it. Despite the unexpected appearance, Salem felt a sense of grim satisfaction, as well as a banishment of the fear she had felt only a moment ago.
"Well now," Salem approached the dark armored figure. "What do we have here?"
And that's the end of the chapter. For the record, further ramifications and events will be explored in Shadow of Order, which will add its own variables into the mix. How and why? Again, I don't want to spoil the surprise. Suffice to say though, a lot of these plot points will be explored in the future.
With all the said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and reviews are always welcome.