I'm back, I hope the wait was worth it
Earth-4074
I would say the name of this town but someone else took the name I wanted. A "most loyal servant" or something.
The day of a bland grey, the city looked filthy with greed and the people were mostly stupid and apathetic to the highest degree. The streets looked as if they only had the bare minimum of cleaning in the last ten years and unnoticed by anyone there was a kid with dark skin and a red hoodie, standing on top of one of the tallest buildings posing heroically. He/she/they/it/uhdsbjayufewbyafcehbwak, it was impossible to misgender them, spoke out to a seemingly invisible audience. "HI! Wait, where are you?" the kid ran around the roof of the building looking in all directions, up, down, left, right, vertical, you name it. "Are we playing hide and seek?! I LOVE HIDE AND SEEK! Not as much as Invader Zim but -." The kid stopped, realization spread across his face. "You're all around me, aren't you?" With a giant smile and exited laughter, she spun around looking up at the cruel universe. "HI! IT'S ME, RECAP KID!" With endless energy and infinite excitement, Recap Kid bounced around making all sorts of exaggerated expressions, too bad you can't see them.
"Most of you probably have no idea who I am. If so WHY HAVEN'T YOU READ THE INVADER ZIM COMICS?!" RK suddenly got angry for no good reason. "THEY'RE REALLY GOOD! Any Invader Zim fan who doesn't read them ARE ALL FA-mnph." Recap kid lost the ability to talk as in this corner of the Infinity Crisis multiverse gatekeeping was forbidden among fourth wall breakers.
"Oh, fine. What was I here to do, OH RIGHT!" They got prepared to summarize a long tail. "So right now there's this big battle going on in this place called "Wacky-Nacky" because this BIG PURPLE GUY feels claustrophobic or something and to fix that he was collecting RAINBOW ROCKS like there were some sort of monster cards. ANYWAY, soon he will complete his collection and will use it to KILL HALF OF THE PEOPLE?! WOW, HOW BAD. Speaking of bad, HOW DARE YOU KEEP US WAITING! YOU ARE SO SLOW WITH UPDATES!"
Once again they got angry for no reason. "Aw, you're going to ignore me, but that's half the fun of fourth wall breaks. Did you know that every Earth has several, it's true somewhere out there you're famous. What was I saying?
Out of nowhere RK felt a tingling in the right hand. He brought it up to her face and saw their own fingers turn dark and cracked before breaking apart and blowing away. Rather than react in horror or pain something else happened. "Heh, heheh" Uhdsbjayufewbyafcehbwak laughed. "IT TICKLES, STOP IT!" They continued to laugh even after his arm was completely gone and legs gave way to the wind. Soon they were just a rapidly disappearing torso and head and even then all they did was laugh even harder as they left this universe for the soul stone.
You might be wondering why the Recap Kid was dusted early when Thanos has yet to snap his fingers?
...
Moving on, on the streets below there is a real skeleton of a man was making his way home. He was older, with graying hair and skin beginning to wrinkle but he was no less dangerous. Johnny C., or Nny to his nonexistent friends, was coming back form his snack run, all the people around him ignoring his presence, they had no idea of the real danger they were in. Dried blood on his shoes and selves, he was indeed a very dangerous killer but even if he were to kill right now in broad daylight no one will notice and he will never EVER be caught. It was a gift but mostly a curse.
He was getting closer to home. Nny had left the busy city and was now walking through his neighborhood. He was doing good, he hadn't killed anyone sense this morning and if no one bothered him he can wait until he gets home.
BOOM!
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
*ZAP*
"ZIIIIIIIM!"
Oh, it was those crazy neighbor boys and their silly alien game. Those two were a headache, always destroying property and even interrupting his "work" at one point. One time they even kept playing the game while the entire world collectively hallucinated the Earth transporting across the universe and almost being destroyed by a giant lazer. He could end it right now, he usually didn't go after kids but there was always exceptions.
"Soon Dib, this world will be the center of the new transport system!"
"Why would you make that? Don't have anything better to do since the Tallest were killed?!"
"LIES!"
Then again if he killed them he would have to go back to his old boring TV, cause those two were entertaining as hell. Nny sat down in a front yard that was not his, and started to get out some snacks in his bag, he might be here for a while. As he munched on some old chips that would cause gas problems he admired all the chaos and carnage that the rivalry caused. He thought, not for the first time, that he should join in the fighting just to make things more fun.
Before he could act out his desires something in the air changed. Nny shivered for a bit and dismissed it as nothing or at least he did until something went up his noes. He sneezed rather loudly and disgustingly and sniffled a bit, what was that? He stood up and looked around, where did all these brown speckles came from and for that matter where was everybody?
"Zim?" Nny heard one of the boys behind him. "What are you doing?! Stop I-I feel- I'm I-."
"I-I don't- I don't know what's-I didn't mean-"
Nny turned back around expecting to see his entertainment only to find two piles of dust in there place. "Master?" The robot dog was still around, looking distress at the absence of his master. That look quickly disappeared when he saw the dusty remains. "CANNON BALL!" The robot laughed as he jumped in the dust and played with the particles as if they were fall leaves. Before he could process all of this Nny felt his hand slowly come apart. As the homicidal maniac crumbled away he didn't yell or panic or even express confusion at his predicament he strangely felt at peace. He closed his eyes 'Maybe this time it will stick.'
Earth-1898
The Harker Foundation
'Careful. Careful.' Deep underground in what the public assumes to be a typical Doctor's office, two individuals worked in suits that protected them both from the freezing cold and outside elements. The clear leader of the two stood up strait in confidence and clear control, the follower was shorter and meeker in demeanor with a slight hunch in stature. "Right here." The eldest of the two announced as they came to a small vault door. They entered the code and combination to open the vault, in it was a full shelf with several holders with test tubes filled with blood. The subordinate held a clamp with another test tube filled with blood, with careful precision he placed the tube in the one empty holder. They resealed the vault and left the freezer room in the elevator. As they rode in the elevator to the surface the two took off the helmets revealing Dr. Zoe VanHelsing and her ever faithful student.
His name is Ethan Mordrake and he was average 20 something with studies in medical sciences in the hopes of becoming as skilled as a doctor as his mentor and idol. The most strange thing about his was that his entire head, with the exception of his face, was covered in thick bandages. Zeo could feel Ethan staring at her, when people knew of the true nature of the blood they keep everyone had reason to stare at her. "I know what you're thinking and you're right. All of you are absolutely right." Zoe admitted. "But the knowledge the virus' DNA could give us, to humanity. We could regrow missing limbs, or organs. Many lives could be saved with the biology of the creature. I think the rewards outweigh the risks.
Ethan sighed, he would follow his mother figure to the end of the world but that didn't mean he'd agree with her on everything. After disinfecting themselves and having the suits burned to ashes, Ethan followed Zoe to her office passing by the various staff and the artifacts collected by the foundation over the years. First there was a skeleton of a large creature on display that walked on its forelimbs, had no eye sockets and its back limbs were used as arms, Zoe called it a Night Salker, even for her standards, that was a weird day.
Next Ethan herd the faint sound of a horn and constant drumming. Jumanji wanted to be played again, the next session was secluded in two days but giving the increased frequency the drums would beat it was starting to become unsatisfied with the staff. If that wasn't enough some rumors have been circling around of the game having a "sibling".
Next there was a small blue bowler hat locked in a glass case, a child's drawing of an orange blob with long noddle like arms was propped up next to the hat. It belong to the tickle monster they keep locked up in the basement. He friendly enough but once he targets you he's not going to let you go from his tickle attacks until he finds a new victim.
They entered Zoe's office and the first thing to notice was the grotesque painting of a rotting corpse. One would think that Zoe had a macabre taste but the truth was slightly different. It was always changing, when they first got it, it did not look good per say but the body was in better condition but as the years went by it became more and more clear that the paint would change so that the corpse would rot as if it were real. Even the way they got it was strange. They didn't find it rather it came to them in a package through mail. It had no return address and it came with a small note with the words, "Keep this out of D.G.'s hands."
There was a bill board adjacent to Zoe's desk with maps and photos of a figure in a red cloak, long goat like horns, and cloven feet. His face was always obscured but some in the foundation believed that this being was Krampus, St, Nick's opposite and strangely, the organization's biggest fan. No one really knew how it happened but sometime before Ethan joined, the entity somehow got wind of what the organization was doing and between the time of Halloween and Christmas he would silently watch their activities sometimes showing up in the backgrounds of photos they would take.
Zoe sat down on her desk while Ethan sat at the opposite end. She stared to type on her computer, continued to work on a personal project of hers, a biography of a seemingly ordinary Big Brother resistance fighter named Christopher Robin.
Ethan got out his favorite Sam Hain book and began reading. This was the routine they would do when they weren't out in the field fighting monsters or looking for artifacts, it was fun for them.
For a while the atmosphere was relaxed then Ethan felt a strange sensation, but he didn't thought much of it. It was probably his "sibling" again, giving him sensations a thoughts meant to unnerve and scare him. "It's not me this time you idiot." Ethan stopped reading, this was new behavior from his demon face, usually it took pride in the pain and suffering it caused to Ethan. "Believe me, if I was responsible for this event I'd be celebrating. Before Ethan could ask what that meant he herd Zoe call out. "Ethan?" Ethan put down his book but Zoe was not in her chair.
His phone started to buzz, the messages form colleagues were overwhelming and he could barley keep track of the contents. He ran out the room, his sibling mockingly laughing all the way. Whatever caused this panic and confusion, deserved admiration from the demon face.
Earth-1895
Washington DC, Apartment
It had been a long day and Henry Fleming would like nothing more than to collapse on his bed and wander off into the land of Morpheus. There was still one more thing to do however, after getting inside his home and locking his door Henry sat at his living room table to look over some documents. They were potential new recruits for S.T.E.A.M. which the organization might need someday.
Loosening his uniform's top buttons to feel somewhat comfortable, he looked at the first candidate's file. War veteran Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, one look at that name and Henry swiftly skipped the rest of the file and denied Drummond's entry. Henry knew by reputation that Bulldog's views will NOT make him any friends of S.T.E.A.M. Henry included.
Next there was Arsene Lupin, the infamous french gentleman thief and master of disguise who has baffled and provided a constant source of frustration for his country's police inspectors for years. Lupin was however not without his noble traits and he has had a history with the Fox. Perhaps thief to thief could help Lupin join and if that doesn't work he might join anyway for fun.
It was now Orlando's turn to be checked. They were an enigma, it seemed that there was no record of them in any recent records and yet President Lincoln himself considered them a dear friend and a mentor, they possessed a verity of skills and knowledge but few people have met them and those that do could not quite agree on what gender they are. Personally Henry could care less if they were a hermaphrodite as long as they were good in the field.
Now this was an interesting one, Dr. Harrison Wells, genius inventor and according to some social circles time traveler. There was some evidence for this rumor, he has not aged in over 40 years and he was known for his LONG absences, memory problems and talks about people and places that might not exist. He'd sometime forget old friends and significant evens and yet when he was next seen he remembered those friends and events just fine. Right now he was in one of absences, his last message was something about "fighting Skulls" and being a messenger between a "Rainbow lady, a question mark Scott, and a few others." Strange, but when he shows up again he could be a great asset.
He was about to look over more files but then he started to fell no so great. It felt like parts of him were slowly disappearing and when he looked at his hands that was exactly what was happening. Henry had experience, having fought in the Civil War and the aliens, and yet even he struggled to keep calm and comprehend what was happening. It wasn't painful but it still felt uncomfortable. Soon he was completely gone.
The Soul Stone
Softly breathing Zoe looked as if she was having a nice nap. But Zoe did not remember falling asleep, opening her eyes she found herself in a strange forest. It was nice looking forest with a natural smell but something about it was off. It was definitely no Heaven, Zoe had no idea how she knew that but for some reason she knew for a fact that whatever this is it was not Heaven.
Zoe continued to walk through the forest, despite everything she felt oddly calm. Was this an effect of the place where she was trapped it, it wouldn't be the first time. The problem with places and artifacts that have that effect, sure being calm all the time allowed for a clear head but it also prevented her from getting the necessary energy to run and fight should the need arise. If this was a trap she needed to plan now.
She stopped to think of a plan, but the tree she leaned on felt off with the bark. She looked at what her hand was touching and was surprised to see a stick figure carved in the wood. It wasn't old, it was made an hour ago at most. She looked behind and saw more tress with carvings, hopefully this will lead to some answers, someone had to have made these carvings.
As she continued to look for the artist by following the trail there was a gradual chance in the artwork. At first it was just stick figures and the most basic of landscapes but further she went the figures were no longer just sticks but had actual meat and fat to them. The backgrounds were actual backgrounds and not just a strait line and the content became more and more disturbing. Monsters and scenarios of death and murder or some poor examples of dark humor involving bodily fluids of all kinds or was it all an attempt to comment on the poor state of the world.
All of them looked unfinished as if the artist quit just out of frustration. There was even a poor but admirable attempt to recreate Francisco Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son. Who ever made these was angry and may be mentally ill. And now she just might meet him, a scratching sound reached her ears and it was not hard for her to track down the source.
She saw the backside of a man in a dark shirt. He had short back hair but there was a few grey ones showing he might be older or he could be prematurely graying. His hands were missing the ring fingers, giving him a slight deformity. From behind a bush Zoe saw him work on another carving using only a sharpened piece of wood not unlike a stake people like her would use to slay vampires.
He was whispering and muttering frantically to himself, the world around him invisible. The tip of the stake unfortunately broke off and splintered causing him to mess up his creation. Nny stopped what he was doing and clenched the stake in his hand. He screamed in anger and throw the stake to the ground. He punched the tree and he breath more steadily calming down. The soul stone did its best but Nny was too broken by supernatural means to keep calm forever.
Despite messing up this was truly the happiest he was since, well he can't remember when. He lacked the tools but he regained something that was long lost to him, his imagination and his skills as an artist. Screw that boring place with that lazy tub of lard they called God, this was the real Heaven he can feel it. He was about to move on but he felt the presence of his mysterious stalker.
"I know you're there!" Zoe's eyes widen, how could he tell? She made sure to be as quite as possible. He turned around an threw a rock hard enough to break a skull ... at a completely different location that was nowhere near Zoe. Zoe raised an eyebrow. "HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT? STOP TELEPORTING, ITS GETTING ANNOYING!" That settled it. Zoe did not made her appearance known, this man was just seeing things.
Nny walked away and when the coast seemed to be clear she stepped out of her hiding bush to see what Nny was working on. This time was of himself standing over a stick figure doing something to it. The stick figure's head was just a circle with no face but Nny had already finished his own face, his expression was one of pure rage. Below the head was his thin torso and legs but his arms, instead there was a thin line that didn't look finished. Zoe was about to move one when she was stopped by an arm wrapping around her neck. A hand covered her mouth and closed her nose completely stopping her breathing. She was loosing conciseness and while normally she could easily fight off her attacker this time because of the suddenness of the attack and the Souls Stones calming effect was dampening her skills.
Nny couldn't believe his luck, he went back because he throw his rock that he used to sharpen the stake he uses for carving and forgot to pick it up. Upon seeing the first flesh and blood being other than himself since he got here he did the sensible thing: Choke the life out of this woman so he can use her blood as paint. With the bright red liquid he could finally make his works true masterpieces.
Almost there, the good thing about being a daily killer was that he did the deed so many times he was mostly calm when doing it. She went completely limp and soon it wouldn't be long before he could start again. He was forced to stop when a massive force of pressure bashed his head, causing Nny to let Zoe go. Nny fell to the ground while Zeo was caught by her rescuer who ran off to be as far away from the killer as possible. Nny was disoriented, his attacker didn't hit him hard enough to crack skulls or even knock him out but it still hart like hell.
He got up, still dazed but getting angry. "My paint bucket!" He stood on his feet, how dare this thief take away his source of pride and joy. "That's mine! COME BACK!" He took off in pursuit. "THAT'S MY PAINT BUCKET!"
Elsewhere Zoe came back to the world of the waking with drops of water being flicked on her face. She got up, wondering if what she experienced was just a dream or not. "Hey, hey. Its alright!" She turned and saw a man, a soldier in a red uniform and young with a steampunk aesthetic. "You're ok. I put as much distance between us and whoever that was." Zoe did not know if it was safe to trust this man but then something else came to mind. "I'm not calm."
"Yeah, I noticed that too." Just like Zoe Henry had been taking a walk through the forest wondering about this place. The a strong urge to run and fight overtook him. He didn't why but something was telling him that someone was in danger and he needed to hurry fast. He finally came to what was the danger and who he needed to rescue and acted accordingly. Running as fast as he could he stopped at a body of water so he could wake her up.
"He's coming." Zeo said with the upmost certainty. "How do you know?" Henry asked, Both he and Zoe got up to their feet got in fighting stances and waited for Nny to show his face. "I faced monsters before," Zoe said, "and not just the literal ones."
Slinece, that was all there was the anticipation was thrilling. Leaves were being trampled on and screaming was getting louder and louder. With a crazed yell Nny jump out of the bushes with a new wooden stake and his rock. His yelling allowed both Zoe and Henry to doge Nny. The killer's epic moment was ruined as his stake was planted firmly in the ground. Quickly, while Nny was knelling on the ground, Zoe grabbed his right arm as Henry took his left. They help his arms apart and kept their feet away from his so he wouldn't stomp on them. He had already let go of his stake and all Henry had to do was squeeze his arm so that Nny would drop his rock in pain. He thrust around trying to escape their grasp, this didn't usually happen no matter how messy he was he would never ever get caught.
Zoe had an idea, it might seem a bit cruel but it would get this person off her back. "Hey, do you know how to dislocate a shoulder?" Henry looked at her with unease. "You sure?"
"Go ahead," Nny was not bothered by this, "I shot myself in the head once. Do your worse." Zoe doubted that, one look at his head revealed no scars not to mention he was still alive. "You're an artist, right?" Zoe asked. "I-I lost it for a long time, but-but. Doesn't matter, I'll have it back soon."
"Lets make a deal, leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. Don't," She and Henry maneuvered Nny so that he would know what they were about to do. "I won't leave you crippled but dislocating and relocating both shoulders will require slings for your arms. You won't be doing art anytime soon."
The anger that Nny displayed became replaced with fear, he wasn't screaming but he did know what that would mean. Contemplation was on his face, he didn't want to lose what he had regained so quickly. He hung his head down and muttered "Fine."
Zeo and Henry threw Nny into a nearby pond and walked away. As the serial Killer watched the two leave he silently swore if he saw the woman again he would end her.
Zoe and Henry walked together to find a way out of the forest. "Thank you for your help." Zoe expressed her gratitude. "You're welcome, who was that anyway?" Henry asked. "I never got his name." Zoe now regretted not pressing the killer for information. "Sorry where are my manors?" Henry and Zoe stopped and Henry stood strait like a proper military man and held out his hand. "Captain Henry Fleming at your service." Zoe took his hand. "Dr. Zoe VanHelsing."
Henry smiled. "You must be exceptional in your work." Henry meant that as a compliment but he was from a different time. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, I meant that you must be so good that they gave a doctorate to a.." Henry begin to trail off, he saw from Zoe's face that perhaps he said the wrong thing. "A what? Go on, say it." Zoe dared him. Henry blushed and looked away, trying to find something to change the subject. "Lets just move on." Henry walked forward but Zoey lingered behind, she knew he meant well but it was just to fun to mess with him, maybe Hyde had a point.
Henry soon came to a clearing, standing on top of a hillside, the horizon went on for miles and miles and it truly was a magnificent sight. The landscape was filled with wide open fields trees and lakes with high mountains with tips covered in snow. There were not alone as he looked down and saw a few people wandering around in the distance. He got out his binoculars to get a look, most were human but some were not.
He saw a androgynous looking kid in a green and yellow sweater standing next to a purple lizard. The lizard was doing a weird pose and seemed to be yelling something at the kid who in turn was as still as a statue. He also saw a group of fuzzy creatures of various colors, with wild hair, small snouts, and looks of wonder and awe rather than fear.
"Can I see?" Zoe asked, Henry obliged. "Strange isn't it." For her own survey she saw a man made up entirely of bees and wearing a purple cloak. A few hybrids here and there, two men in bowler hats sitting by a dead tree and even a Silver Sorceress cosplayer.
"I've seen more unbelievable." Zoe admitted. "I've seen scarier." Henry retorted. Both decided to move and try to get some answers. It wasn't really successful, most were just as much in the dark as they were and it all seemed like a fruitless endeavor. On the bright side the two got to know each other better with the help of conversation. "So your family has a history of hunting monsters you say?" Zoe was surprised, it seemed that Henry was believing everything that she was saying. "We hit a bit of dry period for a decade and a half but things have been picking up lately."
"You must have been board with the lack of monsters."
"Actually I liked it better when the monsters were hiding. It let me catch up with research."
"I can't agree with." Zoe thought this was funny, of course he would think that. "Rather have a big exciting adventure than read a book?"
"No, both are equally tedious in my opinion." Henry said with a friendly smile and both of them laughed. "What about you?" Zoe asked. "What happened after the Shoggoth left?"
Henry would wonder how she could miss the Shoggoth's invasion but the two have deduced that something weird was happening with their respective histories. "Same as you except until now there was nothing to fight or investigate. Only a few of us are still here, most of the others moved on".
"With what just happened though, there might be a reunion soon." Henry thought about the sensation of his flesh crumbling away. It reminded him of the Shoggoth's army, just being in their presence felt instinctively wrong. "By the way, were the Martians actually from Mars?" Zoe shuttered, having the look of someone who was eternally frustrated with something. "Don't get me started." Henry took that as a request not to pursue the question. "Agienst all odds, we repelled them but at great cost." Henry looked down at the ground sadly.
"I was in the middle of looking over some potential new recruits when all of this happened."
"Yeah. Looks like we're not getting any closer to figuring this out. Do you have any idea?"
"A few theories in mind." Another voice answered them. Both Zoe and Henry turned in surprise to see that walking next to them was an ape like man. Despite his scruffy appearance he was dressed rather fancy in a Byron like frock coat. "Sorry." The stranger noticed the looks the two gave him. "Am being rude." He held out his hand to shake. "Am Doctor." Zoe was unsure but Henry took it, not wanting to look rude himself. "Doctor?"
"THE Doctor." The stranger said his job as a title that he was proud of. He held up a beeping device and walk away, he had a mission to do. "Coming?" The two looked at each other to discus. "It not like anyone else has answers." Henry brought up which Zoe nodded in agreement. "If its a trap, we can just kill him." They went with the Doctor who continued to walk and mess with his machine. "Other selves too busy with Skrulls and Hyperion." The Doctor begin. "Need to see whats on horizon, something big, doom to all. Went back, got lucky, now taking readings."
"That's ... nice and all." Zoe begin, not really understanding. "But what does that have to do with why we're here."
"Sorry," The Doctor again apologized, "Need someone to talk to, been alone for so long. Mad man, Thanos says he is savior. Is liar, most of all to himself."
"So this ... Thanos, he's responsible?" The Doctor nodded. "Believed the universe was too small. Had a funny solution." The shock his head and look up in the sky with pity. "The powers of a god, genocide was best idea. A wast." The beeping stop and was replaced with a singular ping. This pleased the Doctor as he put away his device and pulled out a pocket watch to check the time. "Got the readings, almost time we go." They stopped at clearing and in the sky was a man in blue cloths and a red cape meditating.
"Familiar?" The Doctor looked at Zoe, not that she noticed she and Henry were looking at the man, something about him bothered Zoe and she didn't know why. She borrowed the binoculars again. 'Is ... Is that Sherlock? The Hell?' The Doctor looked at Henry with concern, his universe might not let him remember but hopefully he will retain the felling. "Henry," The Doctor got the soldier's attention. "Something wrong?"
"Something went wrong when you get back. Should've been brought back safely but maybe residual from invasion or perhaps they still there and bitter." Henry could see that the Doctor was serious about this.
Before anything else could happen the sky became bright. It became brighter and brighter and it became impossible to see anything. The only thing the trio could see was a bright green light coming from the Sherlock doppelganger shooting in the sky and then there was nothing.
Earth-4074
A few hours had passed and soon the people that disappeared came started to come back. Most went back to there business as if nothing had happen, only giving a brief thought and it won't be long until this version of humanity will completely dismiss it. It will be barely thought of and when it is it will only be a strange dream or a mass hallucination, or even a small unexpected vacation.
Only a few people fully understood the full implications of what just happened and among them was a big headed boy and his green skinned frenemy. Both stared of in space, struggling and trying to internally theorize what just happened. Zim glanced at the ground and saw one of his discarded ray guns. Dib was still thinking but was knocked back into a fence by a small explosion. Getting up Dib saw Zim on his PAK extensions pointing his ray gun at him. "Its not over Dib stink!"
While it will be inedible that Dib's mind will come back to the Soul Stone right now fighting Zim took presidence. As the archnemises resumed their battle neither took noticed of the discarded groceries still on the ground. Unlike the others the owner didn't come back and it didn't look like he would return anytime soon. "How mysterious." The annoying red hoodie kid was standing right next to the groceries. "You didn't think I'd forget about you did you? hehe, Wait, where are you going? We have so much to talk about! Wait! WA-"
Earth-1898
Zoe opened her eyes, in shock, she was back in her desk. Her computer was off, Ethan was gone, and there was a bit of a mess. What just happen, she tried to think, she could remember some nice land, a twig of a man who was not friendly, and some soldier who made for nice company. She couldn't quiet recall as if it was a dream that you just woke up from and can barley remember. The more she tried the more the memory slipped away and then she could recall nothing, just a feeling of confusion.
She stood up, just now noticing her phone buzzing with alerts. Frantic text messages asking if she was alright, news alerts involving mass disappearances and a secret code that M used to summon the League. After a quick glace to see that M had called off the summons, she checked the news of the mass disappearances all over the world. Without reason and warning random people vanished, leaving only dust. Didn't matter what they were doing or if they were of importance, rich or poor, famous or unknown, anyone was in danger of disappearing.
Her office door suddenly slammed opened and Ethan ran into the office. Both he and Zoe looked at each other, Ethan looked like he was about to cry. "Ethan, what just happened?" But Ethan ignored her, he just run up to her and gave her a tight hug. Zoe was surprised but only for a moment as she returned the embrace. She'll ask what happened later, right now it was obvious he needed this.
Earth-1895
Henry's return was not as happy or peaceful as Zoe's. He woke up, the same thing was happening in his head as Zoe's but before he can ruminate further he head a loud boom. The building shook and Henry got the feeling he needed to got out and assemble S.T.E.A.M. IMMANENTLY. He ran out his home passing the many confused people that were being restored before his eyes. Down the stairs and through the lobby, he made it outside and the sight was not pretty.
Wrecked cars and motorcycles were everywhere but that was nothing compared the the bloody and disgusting mess. The remains of bodies littered the the pavement, splattered on the ground as if fallen from a grate height. Were he not a veteran soldier Henry would have had trouble holding down his lunch. But even then that was not the most concerning part, he heard a few screams and gasps of terror far to his side and when Henry turn to their directions to see one on the many burning wrecks of the zeppelins crashed on the ground.
Henry came back to his senses an ran to the wreck. He'll check for and rescue any survivors and once that was done, it was time for S.T.E.A.M. to reunite.
The Massive
Guard duty, always boring especially when there are only two prisoners. A lone irken, only there because no one else wanted the job, struggled to stay awake. A few times his eyes dropped and his head went down but he caught himself before he fell. Why was he here? There was only two prisoners, why did they station him so far away from the only occupied cell?
Oh Irk, something NEEDS to happen, he can't take any more of this torture. Plip Plop Plip Plop. Oh thank the control brains, an intruder. "Hold it!" The guard raises his gun, exited to blow them to smithereens. The noise of the intruder became silent, signaling that he had stopped. "Come here where I can see you." The guard was savoring this moment, who knows the next time when he got to kill something.
The intruder did as they were told and, "Huh?" This was unexpected. "You're so … tiny."
"Bit hypocritical, don't you think." That was a strange thing to say as the Irken was clearly the bigger of the two. "What are talking about?"
"Oh, heh heh, sorry, I'm always forgetting to do this." The tiny figure reached for the device they had strapped to their back. "What's haAHHHHHHHHHH!"
The Irken shirked as he was strangely shrunk to death, when he was dead the figure put the device back and walked into the brig. "That never gets old."
Elsewhere
To think there had ever been a time when she idolized those two idiots. She stood alone in front of a memorial plaque the others had set up for the Tallest. She needed to take a walk to clear her head, the others refused to let her come on the mission. It was a fruitless endeavor anyway, humans in the new universe were much smarter than the ones she knew. She had the perfect plan to but she was just a Tablehead.
Her thoughts shifted back to the ones who gave her the new job and title.
"He beat you," Purple looked down at Tak, "he's Zim and yet you lost."
"I-I know how this reflects on me but this was just a one time thing. It won't happen again." Red and Purple tried to put on a show of apathy but Tak's heart broke as she notice slight twitches on the corners of their lips. "We know it won't," Red leaned back, "because you are an even worse Invader than Zim." Something in Tak died that day, she wanted to scream, to protest, to do anything to resist but her body went limp as she fully absorbed Red's words. "The Control Brains have already decided a new role for you." Red pushed a button, summoning the guards. "Take her away, I can't look at her any more."
Something in Tak died that day, that awful day. As the months went by more and more pieces of Tak continued to die, she watched as her Tallest showed themselves to be nothing more than pathetic figureheads, Purple was an idiot while Red was just apathetic. Many hardworking invaders were often dismissed or even outright killed because they were too short, their efforts and conquests the Tallests took credit for.
Any ideas she had the Tallests refused to acknowledge and she gave up completely when what was supposed to be a triumphant return with a plan for the Tallest that would ensure complete and total control of the known universe only earned her a severe beating for interrupting snack time, shutting her up for good.
She couldn't handle it anymore, she took out a laser and sliced the plaque in half. They'll never realize it was her and it will eventually be replaced but it still felt good. If only she could get the others to listen, they leave her to her own devices now, but she needed to think and have someone to talk to.
Everyone ignored her, sure they let her interrogate the human, but that was because she was the one who found him. They won't even let her on the new Earth, saying that she'll mess it up like Zim.
She had a good plan, a brilliant plan, if they would only let her explain it then the invasion would be successful. Because of their arrogance they were loosing badly. She made it to the brig, that's funny were was the guard? Not that they needed guards for the brig these days, with only two prisoners if there must be guards why not station them outside the prisoner's cell. Question for the prisoners themselves she supposes.
She made it to the only occupied cell, Lincoln was writing something in a makeshift journal and Narn was relaxing on his bed still smoking those nasty things. "Someone call you by that name again?" Lincoln started. "Must have made you really angry to make him scream like that." Tak ignored what he said to instead focus on that disgusting habit Narn had. "Can you stop with that human poison. Don't you realize you'll destroy your lungs" Narn just blew smoke into Tak's face. "Oh please, its not like I can't tare the old ones out and grow new ones when the damage becomes irreparable."
Tak shock her head, just contact the sane ones in the other universe and she won't need him any more. "Why do you keep him alive?" Lincoln had to ask. "Hey!"
"I can understand me, I have information (that you people barely use) vital to your invasion but what about him? Don't misunderstand me I ... appreciate the company but wouldn't be more beneficial for you to tie up loose ends."
Tak looked away, not caring for this question. "We'll kill you when I contact the Irken Empire of the human's world and it will be the start of something beautiful." She began to walk away but stopped when Narn scoffed at her. "Knowing you, you want to turn the Empire multiversal don't you?" Tak shown no response, just her back. "Let me tell you something, you could be a ravenous beast like the Undermind, a despot like Lord Vyce, another Empire like the Combine, or even some sort of nightmarish deity like the Scarlet King, the Multiverse is impossible to defeat. It's infinite, and chaotic, absolutely impossible to contain and conquer. You'll either die trying or you'll find something bigger and badder then you."
Even if they could see her face she showed no emotion, refusing to let doubt enter her mind. "Are you even an Irken?" On that note, she left imagining the look on Narn's face because of that insult. Far away, on the other side of the brig was a cell that take converted to her own privet quarters when she needed to get away from everyone and their judging stares. She made sure that no one followed her and she wasn't being watched, satisfied she sat down on her work bench and continued on her problem, they'll listen to her after they see this.
She continued to work with nothing but pencil, paper, and her mind. "It's not going to work ya know." Tak stopped what she was doing and look the the direction of whoever said that. "You dare-" She went silent as one, she made sure she was alone and two, instead of another Irken there was just a small wooden human. Tak picked up the doll, she couldn't quite remember what the humans called this thing but she remembered seeing one on Earth. How did it get on the Massive? "Hello!" She was startled, when by itself the doll opened its mouth and spoke. It's eyes and neck also moved by itself, it seemed to take amusement out of Tak's unnerved face and began to chuckle. That did it for Tak, she grabbed the thing and smashed the head of the creature against the wall, the head crack and was destroyed into a thousand tiny pieces.
Tak picked up some pieces and didn't see any flesh or bone nor any wires or metal. Tak sighed and rubbed her forehead, the madness of the others was getting to her. She moved back to her work, not noticing the pieces moving and putting themselves back together. Just as Tak was about to go back to the work, the voice of the dummy spoke again. "That hurt you jerk."
Tak quickly turned around to see that dummy's stupid face. "A little trick I picked up from the gnomes." He was sitting on a shelf, legs crossed, hand in his lap and a smug smile permanently carved on his face. "Are you going to speak or did i scare a high and mighty ... Table Head?" The dummy laughed to himself, Tak didn't know what to do. "What are are you? You're no organic being and you don't seem to be a robot?"
"Would you believe me if I said I'm a fictional character from a scholastic book series brought to life by a magic type writer?" Tak rolled her eyes, who cares if this dummy was truthful and she really needed to get back to work. "If you just come here to pester me then I suggest you leave." The tone in Tak's voice made it sound like she was not one to be reckoned with but all that did was make the puppet laugh. "Go ahead and try." Slappy took out a cylindrical device. "Please try, I love using this thing." Tak became curious at the weapon and reached for it. "Don't touch!" Slappy shouted protectively at Tak. "Do you know how hard it was to get this thing, baldy waldy did not want to let this go!"
Tak was really starting to get annoyed. She prepared her spider leg cannons, this will surely desegregate him to the last atom. "You can't hurt Slappy, his boss will just revive him which by the way is the reason I'm here." From Slappy's shadow the smoky dark wisp appeared and floated up to Tak's face and moved around her body as if to inspect her. Usually Tak would be disgusted by any living being invading her personal space but something about this wisp made her feel nervous as if she instinctively knew that attacking it was a bad idea. "This is your "boss"?"
"He prefers the terms "Lord and Master" but no, this is one of his arms I guess, I don't know what to call it." The wisp moved away from Tak and wrapped itself around Slappy's torso. He looked down at his master in silent communication. "We've come to make an offer."
"Forget it." Tak imminently dismissed without even interested in hearing the offer. She didn't need the help of this creature and it master. "You didn't even hear what we have to say."
"I already have a plan and the only Master of me is me." The last time she had masters it ended badly for her. "He doesn't want you as a servant, but if you're offering..."
"No."
"Thought not, he wanted you as a buddy anyway." Slappy then materialized on Tak's workdesk without her looking causing her to jump back when she saw he was there. The Living Dummy looked at Tak's plans, pretending he could understand them. "Your really smart eh but even you have to admit, this is just a fools dream."
"Ok, trying to force a mutation might not be a good option (at least for right now) but once the Empire of the human's realty hears my-our cries the ones here will see reason and nothing will stand in our way." Tak thought about her future rise to glory, surly she will finally get what she deserved when the new empire sees what she accomplished. "I've seen worse plans, some of which were mine, but what makes you so sure that your people exist on that other reality?"
"If a pathetic species like humans are there then of course there are also Irkens. It would make no sense if they weren't there." Tak answered as if Slappy was the idiot. Slappy laughed at something Tak couldn't see. "You really think that?" The dark wisp wrapped around Slappy's arm which he then outstretched to Tak. Tak backed away, not trusting this power. "Don't you dare!"
"Relax, he just wants to show you something." The wisp leaped off of Slappy's arm and onto Tak's head. Tak panicked and tried to grab the thing and throw it off but it was like she was grasping nothing. "Oh by the way, he's a fan of pain so ya know, brace yourself." The wisp curled around Tak's PAK and seeped through the three circles and touched her brain. Slappy took out a bucket of popcorn out of nowhere and munched as he watched Tak's eyes turned black.
Tak clutched her head as images filled her mind. "T-Too much. Too much information." It wasn't just the amount of information, it was also the adjustments that the wisp was making to Tak's brains so that she would not go mad. (Well, madder than she already was) "No more, please no more." Surprisingly the wisp obeyed and left Tak's PAK and just orbited around her. The Irken's eyes went back to their normal color and she laid down trying to process what just happened.
She curled up, holding her legs to her chest. She needed to think, go through her own head see what damage the wisp done. She could see a planet, Lincoln's planet, another Earth. It was similar, yet very different to the one she knew. Humanity though, she saw them walking about and going their lives and although they whore different fashion and had creepy five fingered hands, they still reminded her of her failures to make her blood boil.
Then she saw space, the knowledge the wisp imparted on her told her is was still Lincoln's universe. She could see the stars, the planets both inhospitable and habitable, the specious that live there both primitive and advance. While most would be enamored with the sight all Tak could think of was 'where was the empire?' Indeed, she could recognize the stars but none of the enslaved species or their planets. The last thing she saw, well it was horrifying.
An empty space, nothing but stars as far as she could see. What was so disturbing about this spot? This is where Irk should be, but in its place was nothing not even a solar system. "It's not true." Tak chocked back a sob. "I won't believe it!" There was no way the Irkens didn't exists there, especially if humans were there.
"You know you're lying to yourself." Slappy commented, "Boss has looked around, check inside your head to see." Tak didn't want to do it but felt like she had no choice. She saw more universes, the stars were still in their positions but all the planets kept changing. Sometimes she would recognize a planet, but it would be completely unrecognizable when she looked closer. All universes were different in planets and species except for one, Earth and humanity. Sometimes humanity would be extinct but their legacy was left behind.
They were everywhere, even if Earth didn't exist humanity, even under a different name and the smallest of physical appearances, were the same. How dare they? HOW DARE THEY!? This pathetic, stupid, ape descended race. How is it that they of all the lifeforms were the only constant in the multiverse. The Irkens, strong, smart, superior in every way were just a tiny barley noticeable speck in the grand scheme of things.
Something this offensive of an injustice will not stand. She looked up at Slappy and turned to his master, still connected to her back. "What do you need me to do?"
"Good," Slappy said and moved back to get a better view. Tak looked deeply at the dark form, having a mental conversation with it. "Is that all?" Tak asked, the answer was only heard by her. Before Tak even said, "Do it, I don't care what happens!" the wisp was already starting its work. Tak accepting was all it needed to begin in earnest. The pain was terrible but in her mind it was worth it.
Yes, Tak made a deal with whatever is killing the Skrulls to become the new Tallest. As to what was exactly the full agreement however remains to be seen. Before that we saw the Blip/Dusting/Going from the perspectives of all three Earths which led to Henry, Zoe, and Nny meeting in the Soul Stone.
Three Doctor Who references in this chapter. (Really big fan of the show, I couldn't resist) The Earth-1895 version of Harrison Wells has been acting as a messager between various incarnations of The Doctor to minimize the damage of potential paradoxes. The incarnation of the Doctor Zoe and Henry encounter is Doctor Ogron from the Big Finish story Planet of the Ogrons, during the Time War a Dalek with a mad scientist streak infused a regular Ogron with the Doctor's DNA and memories and he truly believed he was the Doctor, with the Eighth Doctor himself eventually coming to accept the Ogron as another version of themselfe.
Right now Doctor Ogron is investigateing the coming of the Anti-Monitor. He's not too concered about Hyperion or the Skrulls, in his mind his other selves have it covered. And finaly we have Slappy in posession of the Master's TCE. If you didn't get the indication, Slappy took it from Alex McQueen's bald Master from Big Finish.
As we've seen in other stories when the people were restored some of them landed on the worng Earth. For Earth-1895 however something went wrong with the restoration.
Literary references:
Earth-4074 isn't just an Invader Zim Earth, it also has the characters from Johnan Vasquez earlier comic works
The blood sample that Zoe keeps is from the alien Thing from John W. Campbell's Who Goes There/Frozen Hell. Don't panic ... yet.
Eathian Mordrake is an adaption of the penny dreadful charater Edward Mordrake. He takes the role of Seward from Dracula 2020 as Zoe's studant.
The Night Stalker is from Dougal Dixon's speculative biology book After Man
Jumanji is from the Chris Van Allsburg book of the same name. Jumanji's sibling is Zathura.
The tickle monster is Mr. Tickle from the Mr. Men series of books.
The painting in Zoe offiace is from The Picture of Dorian Drey by Oscar Wilde
Krampus has a certin fasination of the Harker Foundation.
Christopher Robin is from the Winne the pooh books by A.A. Milne. Christopher being a WWII veteran is from the live action Disney movie Christopher Robin
The Sam Hain books are from the Resident Alien comic books by Peter Hogan. You can imagen how much more dangerous it is for Harry to hide his apprance in this setting.
S.T.E.A.M. recrutes: Bulldog Drummond created by H.C. McNeil, Arsene Lupin created by Maurice Leblac, Orlando was already mentioned, Harrison Wells, the Earth-1895 version of the main character of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.
People in the Soul Stone: Kris and Susie from Deltarune(doing a certin dead meme), the Fraggles from Fraggle Rock, Swarm the Spider-Man villian, Didi and Gogo from Waiting for Godot, and the actual Silver Sorceress from DC's Champions of Angor.
Threats to the multiverse that Narn brought up: the Undermind from IDW's Infastation, Lord Vyce from Atop the 4th Wall, the Combine from Half-Life, and the Scarlet King from the SCP Foundation.
Slappy the Living Dummy is from Goosebumps by R.L. Stine. We've head him before, he was one of the two voices in Matilda's vision talking about watching the thing in the Ocen.
Please like and review. Constructive criticism is welcomed, see you in another year I guess.
