Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC
I originally wanted to publish this chapter on Stan Lee's birthday as you can probably guess.
Universal Collision: Secret Crisis
Chapter 10: The forgotten
"Does this stuff come out of you?"
"Are those wings carbon-fibre?"
"There's usually not this much talking in a fight!"
Peter looked at his cash jar; he had a bank account of course. But his rent was paid through cash and it was how a lot of his jobs paid. The day was hard, with him running across the streets for one job interview after another.
"I attended Midtown High, it was a school of science and technology," he told one would be employer.
"Great, what are your references?" the man asked.
That took Peter aback, it always took him back, to people who didn't remember him.
"I'm sorry, we're having trouble tracking your digital records," was another one.
"Hey kid, a lot of people were blipped, well at least you didn't end up in one of those camps!" then came politics, why did politics always come into the story.
So Peter had to take different jobs, the assistant at a bar was paying some bills, and it kept him out late. He could clean up messes quickly, clean the dishes, take out the trash and on his breaks do some crime fighting.
"Your breaks are fifteen minutes, not forty-five Parker," his boss said before firing him.
Delivering pizzas was the next job. Though Peter never used the catchphrase, how in the world did it become a thing anyway. He wasn't great with the company guarantee, delivery of the pizzas on time or you get them free.
"That isn't just a guarantee to me Parker, it is a promise, and I know those mean nothing to you…" gosh he hated it when his employers thought of him as selfish.
But they weren't wrong, there were promises he couldn't keep. He passed the coffee shop where she used to work, she wasn't there anymore. She and Ned had gone to Boston, they were moving on and he was stuck.
"Your assignment was late, but it was good, just try to be on time Parker," giving in GED homework and trying to get his online degrees.
"Rent!" the first word he often heard from his land lord.
"MYSTERIO FOREVER!" he sometimes heard people yell when he swung by.
"Rent Parker, like Captain America says, 'You gotta do better, you gotta step up,'" the reminder of heroes who weren't there, even just to speak up for him.
"No way, Daredevil, its Daredevil a hundred percent, you're only saying the new Hawkeye because she's a chick," the conversations he overheard.
"Thank you," the words from a person he would save, that would make it all better.
At least until Peter would make his regular visit to his Aunt and Uncle's graves. He always tried to do right by what they said, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. But often though Spider-man won, beating up thugs or super villains in Rhino costumes, it was Peter Parker who lost. Tony once said to him that if he was nothing without the suit, then he shouldn't have it.
'Except now, all I am is the suit,' Peter thought.
Maybe he could just leave it all behind, dump the suit in the rain and just be Peter Parker. He could get a real job, be with Ned and MJ but just leave out Spider-man this time. What did the world need with Spider-man anyway?
But then he looked at the graves and remembered what happened if you turned your back.
"Upward," someone spoke behind him.
Peter turned and saw an old man walking away from one of the graves. He was wearing glasses, but just had that face that Peter could swear he had seen everywhere.
"Ever upward, at least that's what I tell myself," he said.
"Oh…like Excelsior," Peter said.
"Exactly," the old man smiled.
"Does it work?" he asked.
"You're always going to miss those who are gone, there's nothing wrong with that, and it is natural to miss what you don't have but could have had. But if you're focused too much on what could have been, you often miss what is, so you think about the future, it isn't always perfect and sometimes it can lead to problems in itself, but generally it is always best to move forward and not back," the man explained.
Peter hummed, not entirely convinced, but still feeling a little better. He just looked at the graves and remembered the old mantra, one that transcended to two other universes as well, to his spider brothers 2 and 3. With great power comes great responsibility, it took him a while to remember his uncle saying it before aunt May. When he turned around he saw the man wasn't there anymore, and he wondered if he had gotten enough sleep, there was no way the old man could have run away that quickly.
'Thank you,' he wanted to say.
It was another normal day of swinging through New York; he had managed to stop an armed robbery, two car chases and had caught a little girl's balloon. But he still wasn't close to getting a new job. Spider-man sat with his legs dangling off of the edge of a building, he had a good view of the statue of liberty. Though it was gold still, they at least didn't put Cap's shield back on it. That was one good thing from that. The eyes of his mask suddenly widened when his spider sense rang, though not in the warning sense.
"Spider-man," he heard in his head.
Then he turned and saw the ghostly figure of Stephen Strange. There seemed to be a slight look of déjà vu across the Doctor's face. All at once he was feeling regret, frustration, and desperation, just like those five men had been when Strange was going to send them home, just like…but the memory came up blank to the sorcerer. He knew Spider-man was important, he knew he was good, better than him, everything else though was forgotten. Even the regret was forgotten in both of them, as they focused on the crisis.
A battle's tide could turn with the slightest addition. For the Avengers it was Spider-man, as soon as he silenced Luthor, distracting the Legion, the rest of the Avengers found their second wind. The shockwave of Aeon, Rhodey and Superman's blasts also provided decent cover. Grodd was also still learning to fully use Turtle's abilities. She-Hulk rushed through the smoke, punching him in the face. Ms Marvel provided a cushion for the gorilla to land on with her constructs. She ducked when Sinestro swooped over her, only for Monica to hit him with an energy blast. Strange returned to his body and immediately attended to Pepper. America ran to her mentor and swung her fist, creating in the shape of a star her signature portal.
"Earth 118, it has a good lab, and considering who the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. there is, it's a bit more militaristic too, so plenty of help," she explained.
"Thanks," Strange said.
He looked towards Spider-man, who was too busy knocking out Joseph Wilson with a kick. The young vigilante dodged Slade's sword swipes, actually finding it difficult to dodge. Batman fired his grappling hook, lifting himself to the ceiling, kicking Slade as he went up. As soon as Slade recovered from his dazed state, Bucky punched him in the chest, sending the mercenary flying back. Red Dragon fired her pistols at Shang-Chi, who blocked them with his rings. He then grabbed her leg and pulled her onto her back. The force of her hitting the back of her head on the ground, knocked her unconscious. Superman delivered an uppercut that sent Sinestro through the ceiling. He used his ice breath on Purple Rain, just as Rintrah charged into Crusader, knocking him into Wong's kick.
"We appear to be losing," Mr Mind said.
Sam took up Crusader's shield and smashed the Cyborg Superman across the face.
"No shit," he said.
"Language Cap, you gotta do better," Spider-man said, swinging over Sam and covering Brute's eyes.
This gave Bruce an opening to punch his Earth 8 counterpart on top of Wundajin. Monica and Kamala fired energy blasts that knocked both heavy hitters back. Kate fired an arrow, wrapping a line around Lex. He shook his head in denial, before Sam punched him across the face.
"This was a gift," he said, holding up Pepper's arc reactor.
"Retreat, abandon those we have lost, Grodd," Sinestro said.
The Gorilla released another telepathic wave, and in that moment Wundajin threw his axe at Hulk. The electricity fried Bruce's clothing, shredding his shirt off. Aeon ran and grabbed Wundajin's axe, his blue lightning mixed with the God's yellow before he slammed it into the ground and fired an optic blast at Wundajin. Deathstroke tapped a few keys on his gauntlet, opening a portal that released a 'boom'. Cyborg Superman landed near Aeon, his eyes burning with rage.
"Look out," Spider-man said.
He tackled Aeon, and the cyborg's heat vision flew past them, hitting Bruce in the face. His skin melted and his cry became more 'Hulk' like. Jennifer looked towards her husband in concern, but when she tried to help him, a blast from Sinestro knocked her back.
"You took some of ours, its only right that we returned the favour," he said.
He fired a construct from his ring, a barbed drill that slammed into Bruce's chest. It rotated, ripping through flesh and bone, the Avengers froze when they saw it burst through his back. The drill collided with the wall behind them, bringing down the roof. Jennifer unleashed a roar of utter fury, charging Cyborg Superman as the mansion came down around them. She threw her fist, slamming it into Cyborg's Superman's chin and sending his head flying. America was about to open a portal for a retreat when yellow chains wrapped around her body. She was yanked towards the Lantern, but an Eldritch whip caught her. Rintrah pulled again the line he had made, his eyes filled with determination against the yellow Lantern.
"I've got you Chavez, they won't take you," he said.
Chavez saw the sword fly past her cheek, and when she looked towards Rintrah, the sword had skewered his neck. Deathstroke huffed as Chavez screamed; Sinestro threw her through the portal, and the Legion of Doom, leaving Lex and their unconscious members and Retaliators behind, left Earth 616 with their prisoner. Spider-man burst out of the rubble with Aeon, looking around for survivors, Sam came up from where he was buried, having protected Crusader and Purple Rain. One by one the Avengers and their allies emerge. Strange's cloak draped itself over Rintrah, and Jennifer desperately threw aside bits of rubble to find her cousin.
Space and reality, that left four more to go, then it was time to live. Steve Rogers had spent most of his life adrift, he imagined that drifting through the Quantum realm and being frozen for all those years were similar experiences. Never in his life did he think he would break the boundaries of space and reality. But that was the crazy life he lived, had he lived it though? His thoughts drifted to what he lost, Natasha, her wit, her smile, that ability to cross that threshold of darkness yet still remain good. Tony, his arrogance, his stubbornness, both things pushed him and in particular that way about him, he was rich and often the most intelligent person in the room, and he was never sorry for either but he was still a likable and respectable man who always wanted to do the right thing. Both tried to tell Steve to live, whether it was adjusting to the future or going out on a date.
'I miss you both,' he thought.
The next two would be difficult, especially since they blundered with the space stone. But Steve had the job of returning the Infinity Stones to their original reality, and that was what he was going to…
Wait, no, Steve's breath rate increased as he felt as if a great wave had knocked him off course. 2012, that was what he aimed for, but why couldn't he get there?
Now he was drifting, now he really felt like he was stuck in the ice again, with no where left to go. Then he saw it, a blue tear in front of him, a tear that showed Earth and its upper atmosphere. He blinked in confusion behind the visor, someone was reaching out to him. It was a ship of some kind, one that had him in some kind of grip. Steve had seen the sci-fi shows, he was familiar with the concept of a tractor beam. When he got into the ship, the hatch closed behind him and the artificial gravity caused him to sprawl across the floor.
'This is different,' he thought.
He got off of the floor, the Nanotech sliding back into the containers in his suit. Part of him was wishing he still had Thor's hammer with him. The hatch opened and an armoured figure emerged. It was similar to Tony's armour but had a colour scheme based on Steve's own suit, including a white star on the chest. The helmet again looked like Steve's more than Tony's, though a grey plate covered the mouth area. Still keeping his shield raised, Steve cautiously approached the armoured warrior. Suddenly, nano-tech came out of the man's hand, creating a shield with an Arc reactor on it. Steve threw his shield out of defensive instinct, but his move was matched by the other man. In fact it was a literal match for it, deflecting it back to Steve's grip.
"That brings back memories," the armoured man said.
"Who are you?" Steve asked, and blinked in confusion, the man asked the same question.
"Don't play games, stop that," again and again he repeated Steve's words in synch with him.
"I remember standing here," the armoured man took a few steps forward; his walk was all too familiar to Steve.
Then there was the voice pattern.
"And you're standing there speechless, analysing me, wondering who I am and why I seem so familiar," the armoured man said.
Steve lowered his shield, shaking his head as the man's helmet slid apart.
"No," Steve whispered.
"Exactly my reaction Steve," said Steve, or rather what Steve imagined he might look like as an old man.
"This shouldn't be possible," Steve said.
"It is possible Steve, because time and reality has been altered, we tried to cut the branches but someone beat us to it Steve. I promise you though everything will work out, but before that there's something you have to do, and it means letting the shield go," old man Steve said.
Steve widened his eyes at what the man said. Still, he knew there was more to the story, so he began to listen and walk with the man through the corridors of what appeared to be a ship. They were moving, at least Steve got that feeling in his stomach, similar to when he was on a plane. The walls, floor and ceiling were of a blue alloy, smooth and not at all like how the Guardian's ship had been.
"You've hit a snag, or rather we hit a snag when we tried to return the time and mind stones. When you attempt to return the power and soul stones you'll hit the same snag again," Old Steve explained.
"It was like there was nowhere for me to go," Steve said.
"That's because there was no place to go Steve, both realities were erased by the TVA," Old Steve said.
"The TVA?" he looked at the older soldier in confusion.
"The Time Variance Authority, an organisation dedicated to maintaining a single timeline, our blunder trying to get the space stone led to a Loki variant discovering them. Obviously that other Thanos's arrival in our timeline prompted them to destroy his too. They were the start that the Avengers in our time were ignorant to until the arrival of the one whose existence they were trying to prevent, a new Thanos," Old Steve explained.
"A new Thanos?"
"Well we say a new Thanos, but he was a step beyond them, everything though works out you see," Old Man Steve said.
"I don't understand, what do you mean everything works out?" Steve asked as a blast door opened behind his older self.
It opened the way to a circular chamber where a bigger version of the Time Platform had been built. Steve looked at it in awe, particularly as it was double the size of what Tony and Bruce had been able to build at the platform. It looked big enough actually to transport an army.
"What I mean Steve is that if I tell you everything that happens…"
"It won't happen," Steve said.
"You remember what Strange said, there was a reason he had to do that, as tragic as losing Tony and Natasha was," Old Steve lowered his head as he spoke, the memory clearly affecting him.
"There must be something that I'm meant to do," Steve said.
"There is Steve, live," his older self smiled.
Again Steve looked at his older self, who simply smiled and walked towards the console that must have controlled the platform.
"We never realised until now the opportunity that Lang's discovery gave us. A chance to live the life we never got to live Steve, to give Peggy that dance," Old Steve said.
Steve looked at himself in shock, his eyes shining for the briefest moment.
"You can be with her Steve," his older self said.
"But the fight?" he asked, gripping his shield.
"You were right, there doesn't have to be one," Old Steve said.
"Who…"
"Sam, all we have to do is give him the shield and he'll take over from there, new heroes will come Steve, the fight is in good hands."
Steve looked at his shield, imagining giving it to Sam, imagining his friend as Captain America. Of course he would be a great choice. But before all of that, he would live, dance with Peggy, kiss her, live the life he never got to life. But as he lived Bucky would be tortured, brainwashed, Howard would be murdered, Hydra would infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D, people would die in alien invasions whilst the man who knew they were going to happen lived.
"It's wrong," he said.
"What?" Old Man Steve turned to glance at his younger self.
"From how Bruce explained it I would basically be making a new reality, but everything that happened in our world would still be happening whilst I lived with Peggy. Peggy whose life moved on after me, she had a husband, children, why should I take that chance away? Then there's the fact that I'm not even her Steve, the Steve Rogers she fell in love with would still be in the ice and I would be taking his place," Steve explained.
"Steve listen I understand those initial thoughts, but you are overcomplicating…"
"Don't you mean we overcomplicate it?" Steve asked and it was the Old man's turn to look at him in confusion. "Earlier you said I was right, that there didn't have to be a fight, that should have been 'We were right' but you're not me, we're not on the same path, 'everything works out' that's not how we should be thinking," he explained.
He stepped back, sliding his shield over his arm and looking at his older self in caution. Old Man 'Steve' shook his head in disappointment, before snapping his fingers.
"It is a shame Steve, all you had to do was do nothing, and everything would have worked out," he said.
The door behind them opened and Steve looked to see two Hulk sized men standing there. They both had Stark based armour, but their faces were that of green skinned men with pointed ears.
"For us," one of the aliens said, his eyes glowing with electricity as he raised a hammer over his head.
Steve raised his shield just in time to deflect the blast that the Older Steve fired at him. He rolled out of the way of one of the big aliens, avoiding a punch that would have crushed him. Then he slammed his feet down, lifting the shield and using it to block a hammer strike from the second alien. His arm shook as the shield hummed and vibrated from the impact. It wasn't even at half the level of Mjolnir, but there was still a lot of strength behind the blow. The first of the aliens released glowing green rings from his wrist, hitting Steve's shield again and again. The Older Steve threw his own shield, knocking Steve off balance.
"Careful, he can do this all day," Old 'Steve' laughed.
"Which is why we end this NOW!" the Thor copy said before bringing his hammer down on Steve's head.
The first Avenger slammed into the ground, unconscious with the Skrulls standing over him. His older doppelganger suddenly became young again, turning to the blast door again.
"It is done, the first step has been made Pitt'o," a woman said and two of the Skrulls bowed.
"Have we become so desperate though that we would take another world, and worse, hide from its populace, if they are truly to fall for it then why don't we just take it?" the Skrull asked.
"Because there's more to them than meets the eye," another Skrull spoke from behind the woman.
"And because it is has been written, we will invade, we will take this world," the woman said.
"Very well my queen, you know humanity better than anyone after all," Pitt'o said.
"Criti Noll was the first of us to be sent, the first of us to go, he knows just how easy it is to fool these humans," the Queen said.
"Come now Pitt'o, you saw how easily Sam Wilson fell for the 'old Steve Rogers' façade, even Rogers's best friend didn't question it, the man who never gives up suddenly giving up, it's a sign that in a sense they deserve to lose this world. But they had every bit of evidence before hand, they were so easy to trust Pagan when she assumed Carol Danvers's identity, so easy to accept the 'other world's didn't have you' excuse she gave for Danvers's absence. Millions of people across Earth disappeared, giving us ample opportunity to replace people with whoever we want. But even before Thanos it was easy to infiltrate them, as the Queen has demonstrated with her disguise," the Skrull scientist walked around the Queen, looking at her blonde haired form.
Sharon Carter smirked back at him, giving a mock bow for a performance that lasted years. She looked down at the unconscious Cap and pouted.
"It's a shame he never came to find me, maybe he really didn't move on from Peggy, it at least made your job easier Commander," the Queen said to the armoured Steve Rogers doppelganger, then she turned to the other Skrull. "Criti Noll, it seems it is official, with Rogers no longer returning, you are officially one of the last of the original Avengers," she said.
Criti Noll smirked as he took on the form he had assumed, since Abomination's defeat at Harlem. No one questioned his face, or why he hadn't contacted a woman he supposedly loved, even why he had 'fallen' for Romanoff suddenly. They never questioned his absence after Ultron, the true time of which was easily hidden due to Sakaar's time dilation field. Even when the Hulk began to inconveniently not appear during the war against Thanos (partly Criti's joke and his plan for the infiltration) they never questioned it. And of course the best part of all, 'Bruce's' sudden shift into a semi-permanent Hulk form. That was what made Criti Noll laugh the most.
Even more than the fact that all that time, he hadn't even been using the real Bruce Banner's face. The telepathy had grafted onto him perfectly.
The Present-Earth 616
There were no words they could speak as they looked over the Skrull corpse underneath the rubble. Jennifer Walters stepped back and brought her hands to her head. There was a sudden wave of memories, and regrets.
"So you see I'm better at controlling my rage because I've had to do it, INFINITELY MORE THAN YOU!"
'How could I have said that?' she wondered as a suppressed memory wormed its way into her mind again, the kind of memory she experienced as a child in passing, something she overheard said between her parents, one of the few times she had seen her dorky father truly angry.
"That son of a bitch Brian, how could he?"
"Please Morris try to calm down, I understand better than you'd think how angry my brother can get."
"Elaine, he beat that poor woman to death, AND MADE BRUCE WATCH!"
"And I said all those unbelievably selfish things, I'm sorry Bruce, I'm so sorry," she wished the man himself was there to hear it.
It all dawned on her as one face was replaced by another. Similarly, Strange and Peter began to see a different face too. A different photo from science and medical journals, likewise people across the planet began to remember someone different altogether.
"What happened to my daughter?" Secretary Thaddeus Ross wondered.
His curiosity was replaced with anger, and he quickly shifted to the 'Thunderbolt' files.
"They finally figured it out, I wondered how long it would take," Kang chuckled as he and Zemo walked along a green field.
"I'm still struggling to understand it all myself, perhaps you overestimated my brilliance," Zemo smirked.
"Not at all, anyone's mind can be manipulated, it was only the technology of my city that protected me from the effects of the Skrull's spell, that and I know how that whole 'Secret Invasion' ends though lets just say now there is something very different about it," Kang explained.
"You are still keeping things to yourself I see, like the use we'll have for our next recruit, or how a dead man is going to be of use to us," Zemo said.
As he spoke, he noticed a small, fox like creature walking by in the distance. Despite his statement Kang didn't seem bothered; his smile even seemed to grow wider.
"He only had his soul taken from him," he said.
"Oh, just that huh?" Zemo hummed sceptically.
Then they noticed the armed and red robed crowd gathering in front of them, blocking their path. Zemo looked to Kang, who had an expectant look on his face. The conqueror gestured for Zemo to have his try, even though he knew what the results would be.
"People of Ta Lo," Zemo began, his Mandarin wasn't perfect, but it was certainly enough to communicate a point to an alternate dimension's populace. "My colleague and I have come to your beautiful world not for the dragon or your scales, but for one individual, one body of which you have no use for or love for, allow us to take him and we will leave your world without incident."
There was a moment of silence before the defenders of Ta Lo activated their weapons and assumed fighting stances. Zemo rolled his eyes at the satisfied look on Kang's face. He stepped aside, letting the Conqueror walk past him. Kang's helmet appeared over his face and he stretched his hands out, unleashing twin energy blasts on the people in his way.
Earth 1
Wally West flickered around the Coast City PD CSI, looking over their work. The red haired man was more of an engineer than a biologist, but had picked up a lot on crime scene analysis from his uncle. His world's Barry Allen, like a few others, was the doppelganger of Jay Garrick and in some world's Henry Allen's doppelganger. A variant of Earth 90, Barry Allen was the Flash for years before retiring the mantle to Wally.
But putting the remembrance of his uncle and origins beside, Wally focused on the case. This Earth that had recently seen the emergence of Black Adam, had recently lost its Joker. But there was another murder very recently, this one connected to the deaths of the Tony Stark variant and Max Mercury. CCPD (Coast not Central) had found the body of Swamp Thing, or rather the man who in this world was supposed to become Swamp Thing. The Green's protector had been in Coast City, preparing a thesis for S.T.A.R. labs that would have seen him transferred to the swamps to study the interdimensional fault lines that would lead him to the Green. Cause of death was a slashed throat with a very specific cut line. Wally took pictures and would clarify with Nora later. With that out of the way Wally took a little time to explore.
He wasn't being arrogant in his assessment of being the fastest speedster alive. His younger variant (though still a grown man using the moniker 'Kid Flash') hadn't yet discovered his true potential, and this world's Barry Allen was slower than him. So in a sense Wally was invisible as he watched a world going about its business, having ignored a telepathic summons from J'onn J'onnz.
One thing common amongst most worlds though, was that peace never lasted. They had ignored the warnings of a Kryptonite meteor shower; a particularly big one would crash into Metropolis. But there was no Superman around to stop it. That didn't mean that the Earth was without heroes, Flash could see the black and blue blur that was no doubt Paladin, the Sentry of Earth.
Alex felt gravity shift as he climbed the atmosphere, Rikai was covering calculations, but he filled any gaps that required some original thinking. It was mostly though from studying Superman, stopping objects in motion like planes. There was a time when the Man of Steel flew underneath a plane, dug his fingers into the hull and acted as a new engine, matching his speed to the crashing plane in order to slow it. It took exact control of his strength, which for a meteor wouldn't require that much delicacy. This meteor was unique though, in the fact that Rikai detected a life form inside it. So rather than destroy it, they needed to save it. Alex created additional boosters on his back, trying to redirect the meteor.
"You need to apply more pressure to it," Rikai advised.
"I could crush it though," Alex retorted.
There was a sudden crunch, and Alex looked to his right, he saw a red cloak, Superman?
"Its speed has fallen, but its velocity could still potentially harm the individual inside," Rikai said.
"Then we need to slow it more," Alex said.
"Emit wols dnuora roetem!" a voice echoed in the aid.
Alex raised his head, seeing a hover cycle, similar to what Intergang used. Only it had been painted green, matching the sleeveless outfit of the man piloting it. A man with a rough blonde beard, a pair of green goggles and a hood attached to the shirt under his armoured vest. Alex recognised him as Star City's vigilante Green Arrow. The woman sitting behind him though was someone Alex only recognised from the internet, advertisements for a magic show. The dark haired woman wore a white shirt with a tie and a blue short sleeved coat that went with her dark trousers and boots. Zatanna seemed to generate some kind of field that was reducing the velocity of the meteor. They had managed to redirect the meteor to a road outside of Metropolis, but there would still be some damage. That was until a red and silver blur ran underneath where the meteor would impact.
Wally ran backwards, and rotated his arms, creating wind funnels that struck the front of the meteor, slowing its fall. But not enough, Wally was about to increase his speed when something red, huge and elastic looking enveloped the front of the meteor. He then ran out of its landing path and alongside it as it slid across the ground, it wasn't clean to the environment, but it was safe for the person inside it. Wally smiled, maybe the Superman of this world wasn't so alone after all, in more ways than one.
Alex landed on the ground, the red and silver blur had rushed off, but with enough time for him to take a picture he could analyse later. He looked to the heroes gathered around the meteor.
"Ow, Ow, ow, hot, hot and hot," a voice spoke from underneath the meteor.
A red and pink substance oozed out from underneath the rock, growing and forming a man. This dark haired 'Plastic Man' wore a red shirt, striped trousers and a pair of white rimmed sunglasses.
"Not as hot as some others right?" the Plastic Man asked Alex, winking at him as he tilted his head to Zatanna.
The young man raised his eyebrows slightly when a bike rolled up to the scene. This new hero was dressed very similarly to Batman, having a yellow Bat symbol on her blue and purple suit. She wore a half cowl though that exposed her red hair, a short yellow cape and yellow boots and gloves.
"Copy cats," Alex huffed, especially when he saw a literal man of steel come out from around the meteor.
He was holding what looked like a high tech demolition hammer. Other than that and the cape he wore, the rest of the man's armour was incredibly advanced, his helmet acting more as a second skin to show a face and mouth. Alex recognised the work of John Henry-Irons.
"Who are you?" Paladin asked.
"Consider us your reserve Justice League," Plastic Man said.
"Batman gave the task to Batgirl here, and she called the rest of us in," Green Arrow elaborated.
"If you guys are Justice League, I need to get information to them pertaining to a crisis event," Alex said.
"Then maybe we should…" Zatanna was interrupted by a sudden hissing sound from the meteor.
"We might have been right about it being a star ship," Batgirl said.
"Could it be Kryptonian?" Steel asked.
'Rikai, I need another analysis, a full spectrum scan,' Alex relayed through his mind.
"Of course, there are pockets of lead within the meteor, but not enough to block out the K-radiation and the body heat, confirming there is indeed a life form within…curious," Rikai hummed.
'What, what is it?'
Batgirl had removed a pad from the front of her bike, putting her camera over the meteor and scanning it. She tapped some of the results, highlighting them, and then took another scan to confirm. Her eyes went wide in fright whilst Steel shuffled back, his own scans getting similar results.
"Zatanna, GA, we need to get away from here right now," she said.
"What is it Batgirl?" Green Arrow asked.
"There's something overpowering the K-radiation, and its rising in intensity," Alex repeated what Rikai was telling him at that moment.
"Gamma radiation," Steel said.
At that moment, a thin and bony green fist burst out of the meteor, Kryptonite shards were imbedded in the knuckles and as more and more of whatever inside the meteor smashed out of it, the heroes saw a true horror. His skin had shrunk to the bone; shards of Kryptonite stuck out of his back and were attached to his eye brows and jutting out of his mouth like tusks.
David Bruce Banner, the real David Bruce Banner screamed not in anger, but agony.
But the Justice League's main team were already a world away.
Earth 616
Just as they had lost, the Avengers had suddenly gained. Believing that the portals opened on either side of the mansion would have new combatants, each of them, even those too wounded for a fight stood up. Superman hovered off of the floor, prepared for a fight. But then he saw them, his friends, with the addition of the Atom Ryan Choi, and he smiled genuinely in relief.
Batman didn't know the strangers that came out of the other portal. But the blonde haired woman amongst them wore a suit like Superman's. Then there was the woman with the obvious red wig, her costume seemed perfect except for the loud red gloves and bat symbol on her chest. They were accompanied by a man and woman in brown leather costumes with hawks styled helmets, a dark skinned man in a blue and black costume with yellow lightning bolts on the chest, a blonde haired man in a trench coat (with the shimmering 'ghosts' of a dark haired man and woman behind him). This group seemed to be led by a brown haired man with a dark haired woman.
"They have a Batman, I didn't know they had a Batman," Supergirl said.
"Something tells me his presence here is a little complicated right?" Alex asked.
Batman raised his arm as Kate drew back her bow.
"These people aren't our enemies," he said.
"What can we do to help?" Diana asked, kneeling by Kamala's side to check her over.
"First we need to secure a cell for the people we caught and then…" Superman paused when he saw Supergirl.
Kara too was taken aback by the appearance of this other Superman in front of her. Lena smirked at her friend's reaction, still remembering the fact she once complimented a Superman for his looks (thinking he was a Ray Palmer doppelganger of course). She probably would have done the same for this man.
"Clara Kent?" Superman asked uneasily as he landed in front of Supergirl.
"Not exactly," she said.
"You should have kept up with that Kara, you and Batwoman could have had a ton of gender bent jokes," Alex said.
The older Batman took note of Batwoman for a moment, and only a moment before he helped Wong up off of the floor.
"Avengers, meet the Justice League," Superman said.
"Justice League, that works, why didn't Cisco think of that one?" Hawkgirl asked.
She then saw the Skrull body and paled, stumbling into Hawkman's arms. The expanded group looked to She-Hulk, who suddenly screamed.
"Wong, Strange, anyone, I need to go, I need to teleport right now," she said.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked.
"My mom and Dad's house, there's one there right now," she said.
"How do you know?" Sven asked.
"Bruce went off grid for a few months and when he came back he introduced us to his 'son' Skaar," she said.
"And nobody questioned that?" Spider-man asked.
"Oh believe me we had tons of questions, but the point is that guy, whoever he is, is renting a place at my mom and dad's house," Jennifer explained, tears of panic welling in her eyes.
Strange crossed Rintrah's arms together, taking a deep breath before he set a cold look onto his face and asked:
"Where do they live?"
Next Chapter 11: Avenging Justice
The main teams finally meet up, and the conspiracy deepens.
Now just to point out, I like Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, to the degree of his performance. What I didn't like were certain writing decisions for his characters, his development often shoehorned into the Avengers and Thor, understandable because of the legal situation with Marvel Studios's use of the Hulk. But certain things just didn't land right, the 'Hulk not coming out for Thanos' could have been interesting, if they didn't outright delete part of the story arc. The time skip Professor Hulk appearance becomes more of a joke than a natural progression of his character, because we don't see the build up of this payoff, we've essentially skipped part of his arc whilst technically killing the Hulk off screen (or at least that is...a certain point of view).
I know Marvel and certain people want to forget the Incredible Hulk existed, but regardless of what Edward Norton is like as a person or creator, that film worked, both as a homage to the old Bill Bixby Hulk and a portrayal of both the characters of Bruce Banner and the Hulk. Instead we get a more humorous version of the Planet Hulk story condensed into Thor Ragnarok, a Professor Hulk meme and a disgusting rant from She-Hulk that wouldn't have been used if this version of Bruce Banner had the comic's domestic abuse background, and if it had and the writers were decent, would have been part of a 'realisation arc' for Jennifer, instead its just used to prove Bruce's point on her anger.
And another thing, I understand the story of Steve Rogers has got to end somehow, the moment he and Peggy reunite has its merit. But then you remember Professor Hulk's explanation of time travel...so Steve is essentially taking the place of a Steve Rogers who Peggy did fall in love with and is now trapped in ice. Congratulations 1610 Cap, you're now less of an asshole than the Cinematic Universe's Steve.
Rant over, it was these things lol that led to my canon of Steve and Bruce being Skrulls and part of the Multiversal Skrull empire's actions to manipulate the super hero community of Earth. Who else, anyone's faces that have suddenly changed, or the people you'd least suspect, or perhaps even most suspect.
My expansion of the DCEU characters is a rant in itself about how DC has handled their cinematic universe. But I've had some fancasting behind these new characters and here's how I went.
John-Henry Irons/Steel: David Washington, Nando v Movies on Youtube had this idea for his Superman reboot pitch and I agreed with his casting for DC's hammer wielder.
Barbara Gordon/Batgirl: I know DC initially had Leslie Grace as their Batgirl, a movie that yeah, probably would have been bad...but none of us will know for sure now :[ the initial rumours seemingly indicated this was a version of Michael Keaton's Batman world that her character inhabited, so I'm treating her as a version of Barb in the Muliverse (I mean, she deserved her shot more than Ezra Miller did) for DCEU Batgirl I'm going with Jane Levy with a costume based on Gotham Knights.
Oliver Queen/Green Arrow: Charlie Hunnam is a popular choice, but he's already Brian Braddock in my continuity. We could go for Steve Amell, but for the DCEU approach I'm going with Alexander Ludwig.
Patrick O'Brian/Plastic Man: Andy Samberg, great in Brooklyn 99, already a shapeshifter with his facial expressions, though not to a degree of Jim Carrey who would have been my choice if they did a Plastic Man movie in the nineties or 2000s.
Zatanna: Camila Mendes, though I understand Alexandra Daddario is another great choice and popular one with the amount of Fan-Art out there, who do you imagine?
Who do you imagine for any of these characters?
I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, sorry for the rant but despite my feelings on Hulk and Cap's fates, they did inspire me. I was also inspired by the Buzz Lightyear film featuring Chris Evans as Buzz :)