CHAPTER TWO
Tensions
Tony's eyes opened. Pepper was right next to him, and they were both in some kind of small, cylindrical chamber. Long, thin white lights ran up the light blue elevator, glowing like a soft-glowing jewel.
"Potts! Honey, you okay?" Tony quickly asked, opening his helmet. Pepper turned to him, and she did not look good. A bad cut was running along her forehead, her eyes were full of fear, and her normally amazing clothes were now in ruins.
"Um, Tony?" she asked. "Where are we?"
"Sir? Can you hear me?" something said in Tony's ear. Tony put a hand to his Bluetooth and said, "I'm here. What is it?"
"Sir, I…" Jarvis said. He let out what sounded like a sigh. "You know the central computer that I operate from?"
"Forty fourth floor, super-maximum security, why?" Tony asked.
"Those computers have been transported above this ship too," Jarvis replied. "But I can't tell where we are – or when. There's no time for me to lock onto."
"Tony, there's some kind of window here…" Pepper said, pointing to the back of the elevator. She opened the cover and gasped. Tony looked out and said, "Holy caliber-spit."
Just outside was a huge galaxy that was lit like fire. Plumes of energy roared out of its center, and all around the galaxy was debris, cosmic radiation – and a hundred thousand ships of an unknown type. Most of them looked cross between a praying mantis and a hawk, while others looked like whales, and even some of them resembled dragons, their breath obviously the exhaust. Why the exhaust was coming out of the front of the craft, Tony had no idea.
"Sir, those ships are several planets across," Jarvis informed. "And have…planet destroying weaponry, sir."
"How powerful is the whole fleet?" Stark asked.
"I'd rather not talk about that, sir," Jarvis started to say, but then the door opened behind Tony. Tony and Pepper turned around and slowly walked out. They were in a massive room, at least a thousand square feet, fifteen feet high, and had bright, large circles in the center of the roof and floor, five feet across. Bright white lines emanated out from the circles and stretched across the whole room. A single, very long piece of glass made a ring around most of the room, giving a two hundred fifty degree view of the space around them. The remaining space was occupied by a set of very large, black doors.
As Pepper and Tony were walking to the center of the room, they saw other people come out of the shadows – the hot chick with the double bladed laser sword (it was now strapped to her waist), the three gunmen with empty holsters, the rest of the Avengers teams, a group of the green-suited warriors, and some new people. There were six of them. They all wore jumpsuits whose pant sections were black, but a curve of the same color stretched up into the shirt. The rest of the shirt was a different color. Two of them, both men, had red, two had yellow, and two more had blue. There were five men and one woman. One of the men, a tall, broad-shouldered man with dark hair, beard and goatee, asked the other red man, an old bald guy with a long face and stern features, "Sir? Where are we?"
"Not sure, Number One," said the old man. It was an old voice, but a super-firm one. Each person had a small emblem on their shirt. The old man tapped his and said, "Picard to Enterprise. Where are we?" There was nothing but silence.
"Picard to Enterprise! Do you copy?" No response.
The other two in yellow were quite strange. One looked like a man with no evidence of unshaven facial hair (or facial hair of any kind), but had creepy yellow eyes and chalk-white skin. He said with the professionalism of any good soldier, "Sir, our tricorder readings indicate absolutely no contact with any Starfleet vessel. We are not even in the same dimension, or even the same reality. And for the lack of better words, I do not even know if we are in any reality."
"What do we do?" said the other man in yellow. He was taller than the first red shirted man, and much more muscular. He had wavy brown hair combed back, dark skin, and what looked like a crest of skin coming out of his forehead and stopped at the hairline.
"Man, I don't know where we are…" the fifth man started to say. He was a black man with short black hair, and a visor over his eyes. He was also wearing yellow.
"Captain, we've got company," he continued.
"Mr. La Forge, Worf," Picard said quickly but quietly. "Do not even move your hands toward your weapons." The one with the crest on his head, obviously Worf, growled, but lowered his hand that was going for something on his belt.
"Captain Picard!" said another voice. A man ran out of the shadows. He wore something that resembled the attire of a WWII officer. His hat was under his arm. He was white, had flat and trimmed and dark hair, a smooth face, and stern eyes, blocky nose, and a countenance of thousands of men at once. He was very strange, and a few people in that dark room cringed. Something felt strange about him.
"Captain, I can tell you right now that something…feels out of place," the man said. "Like…" He seemed to taste the air for a second before continuing, "The reality tastes different. I don't even think this is a reality…"
"That's not the thing I wanted to hear from an all powerful entity," Number One sighed.
Of course you are not in your own reality…something in the air said. Everyone jumped all at once. What was that?
You are in my control. Please gather yourself in this area. At these words, a section of the floor to Stark's right and behind glowed. Everyone moved to that area. Then another flash of light appeared. A black woman with no eyebrows, a large purple headpiece and matching dress appeared out of nowhere and collapsed. The white-skinned man and Number One quickly ran up to her.
"You okay?" Number One asked in a panic.
"Riker, I'm fine," the woman smiled, getting back to her feet. She then muttered under her breath, "And I thought Data making his own comedy show was insane…"
"Guinan, I am now capable of creating what you call, 'a good time,'…" the white skinned man started to say, but Picard cut him off and said, "Guinan, do you know any way out of here?"
"Captain, get her out of here!" the new man snapped.
"Q, you're not in command…" La Forge tried to say, but then there was a flash of bright white light from the elevators on the other side of the room. Several people walked out of them. Some were tall, human in business suits with dark glasses, ear com-links, varying hair colors, and massive pistols in their hands. Someone (Neo?) hissed, "Agent Smith! Get ready!"
Another one was the same white-skinned, yellowed eyed freak that had almost suffocated Stark – Malgus, Stark thought the creature's name was. With him was a very pretty green skinned alien that looked humanoid except it had no hair, but two long, thick tentacles that came out of its head and dropped over its shoulders, thinning out at the bottom. She wore a full combat suit with extra clips, guns, and survival gear. An intricate blaster was in her hand. Also accompanying Malgus was a group of soldiers in black armor, dark masks, and red laser swords already ignited in their hands.
A group of misshapen humans hobbled out of the elevator. Their heads were huge, brains completely un-proportional to the rest of their bodies, but had yellow, disgusting eyes. They were talking amongst themselves, saying things like, "What has the Master done?"
"Master Paralax would never have done anything like this – taking us out of realities completely."
Loki also appeared out of another elevator, the staff in his hand. Out of yet another elevator came a slick, disgusting mass of black ooze. It rose and stretched until it became a human shape. It had no eyes, mouth, nose, or any other distinguishing feature, only that it was human-like (except for its legs, which were a pool of the same black ooze) and that it was completely consisted of the black ooze. Several of the first arrivals from this Starfleet group hissed, "Oh, no! Not Amaris!" Fire leapt into Data's eyes, and he lunged for the black goo creature, but Worf and Riker held him back. Trinity, Neo, and Morpheus, who were also present, rose their guns at the businessmen with the guns, who did the same. The girl with the double-bladed laser sword ignited her blades as Malgus ignited his, and the green-skinned alien's blaster rose and was aimed at the girl's head. The Starfleet group drew their weapons, and Guinan and Q raised their hands, vibrating energy surrounding them. The Avengers raised their weapons as Loki's staff started to glow. The big-brained men's yes began to glow as the green soldiers' rings shone brightly. Everyone prepared for a violent attack.
Then there was the pain.
For every being in that room, there was nothing but pure, untainted pain. All that there was in their entire existence was pain. A thousand overlapping screams echoed in the room, as everyone fell to the floor. A beastly roar escaped Malgus' mouth as the green-skinned girl grabbed her head once, and fell, unmoving, to the ground. The Smiths' guns turned bright red and seared their skin. The guns fell and became slithering, fang-bearing serpents. The Smiths all fell, writhing in agony, as did Trinity, Morpheus, and Neo. Thor fell to the floor; screams that he never thought were possible escaping his throat. Even the goo creature, which didn't look as if it could experience pain, melted back into a puddle, an unrealistic roar of pain echoing in the ominous room.
No one saw or felt anything else except the pain. After what seemed like an eternity, Q looked around. He was completely shocked at what had just happened. He was part of the Q continuum! He was invulnerable! Even Guinan with the thousand powers that Q did not understand was down and was struggling to get herself back up.
The pair of long doors opened, and in walked a man. He had a huge outline, and was completely in black, covered in robes, cloaks, armor, and metal plates inscribed with some kind of obscure language. His armor made him almost look like a rectangular prism. Huge shoulder armor plates stuck out several inches, and a large, dark hood covered his face and eyes, casting an impenetrable shadow. All together whatever this guy was, even though he had no weapons on him, he looked absolutely terrifying.
"The hostilities will cease."
There were just four simple worlds, and yet there were as direct as four bullets fired at point blank range. The tone was cold terrifying, sorrow-filled, and commanding. Even Malgus gave his soldiers a look, and a moment later, all of the laser swords were deactivated.
"Guys, stand – down!" someone hissed, but Q and Guinan both exclaimed, "NO!" Both of them raised both of their hands. The figure was now well into the room, and he raised his hands in defense. Giant, super thick blasts of lightning filled the room. Q propelled yellow, Guinan shot blue, and the figure sprayed red. Everyone else hit the deck and covered themselves as wind and energy splattered everywhere. Guinan's robes flew around her, and Q's face morphed into that of a monster. But the figure remained cool and calm. Even the massive blasts of light, while lightning up his robes and armor, nothing lit up its face, still as dark as a void. The intersection of the bolts gradually moved closer and closer to Guinan and Q…until an explosion of energy sent them both flying. The figure's hands, still smoking, lowered as there was a growl from beneath the mask. Then there was some sort of laugh, and something was said in Russian.
"Nat? What's he saying?" Stark asked.
"He says that he admires their strength…" Natasha translated. "I did not expect you to be that powerful…but even powerful entities like you are no matches for my strength…resist again, and the punishment will be even more severe."
"Coward!" Tony screamed. Everyone in the room jumped. Even the hooded monster jerked in surprise as Tony stomped forward, helmet down, as he demanded, "You call yourself our master, but you use overwhelming force and refuse to hear us out! You're nothing BUT A COWARD!"
"Am I?!" the figure shot back. "COWARD? I've been through more than all of you combined! YOU ARE THE REAL COWARDS!" His words silenced Stark and the excess muttering in the room. The figure raised his articulated armored hands and pulled back his hood. The face was a man with stringy black hair than stuck out in several directions like an anime character's hairdo, a firm jawline, high cheekbones, darkish skin, and strange eyes. And I mean strange. His eyes were sunken into his head. They were dark, but at the same time shone brightly, like a fluorescent black. A large, gaping wound, stitched together with no expert hands but not amateurs either, stretched across the entire right side of his face and stood out like a man with a blood-stained axe in a public park.
"you…THINK you know courage…but you know NOTHING of it until you've been what I've been through…"
"And what do you know of courage?" Malgus hissed, his voiced muffled by his mask.
"I will hear nothing for you," the figure hissed. He raised his left hand, and all of a sudden Malgus' body glowed bright white for a second, and then suddenly ceased. But Malgus' eyes were completely different. There were hollow and black, with no emotion, no anger, only emptiness. The other soldiers under his command tried to attack, but in seconds, they were subjected to the glare and their eyes were dark. The weapons of those who were altered were immediately deactivated or sheathed. The alien black blob suddenly shot a bright bolt of yellow glowing energy that almost looked like a soft pixilation, like in a computer. It stopped just before the figure in a flash of orange, hovered in the air for a moment, and shot right back at the blob. An ear piercing scream rang out and there was a flash of fire. When the light died down, there was nothing left but a small pile of burning muck.
"I WARNED YOU…" the figure snarled. There was another flash of light, and all of a sudden, several more were under the influence, including several Sith, the Smiths, the group of Chitauri who accompanied Loki, Malgus' green slave, and the wacky-brain humans. All of their eyes were replaced by emptiness.
"What is this?!" Loki hissed. Suddenly, his staff flew out into the hand of the figure.
"I win," the figure hissed. "Now do as I command, traitor to Asgard, or you die." For a second, the Avengers thought Loki was going to fight, but he let out a sigh and said, "You win. For now."
"ForEVER!" the figure snapped. Wordlessly, the turned Chitauri pushed Loki towards the door, and the rest followed, their footsteps sounding hollow.
"My servants and I have matters to attend to in regards to my fleet," the figure said, the staff in his hand turning to a deep red hue, the red flowing over the gold like water over a meditation stone.
"And who are you really?" the woman with the double-bladed laser sword asked. She closed her eyes for a moment and said, "You aren't any normal being – not even a superbeing. What are you?" The figure did not respond immediately. He obviously did not want to talk about it, but he finally said, "You may call me Acreb (pronounced a – cray – b.) I am your host for now, but turn against me and you become my slave in a heartbeat.
"Take the time to get to know one another here…you shall need it in the fight against Isht…the enemy." Acreb walked out of the room, his turned servants following him soundlessly.
"Who is that guy?" Stark whispered to himself.
"Well, you heard our…host," Data said. "The logical proceeding at this time would be to obey his orders. Anything else may prove futile. I have preformed scans of the vessels outside. Each one has a collection of super massive stars serving as primary and auxiliary engines. These vessels are, at minimum, over five times the size of a planet. The biggest ones stretch for over a hundred astronomical units, or approximately nine hundred two million miles, give or take four thousand, two hundred and…"
"Thank you Data," Picard cut in. "Point being?"
"Someone who can mastermind a fleet of this power must have either the brains of a genius or the powers of a devil," Riker shivered, crossing himself when no one was looking.
"I must agree with you," the woman with the double ended sword said. "And what may I call you?"
"Commander William T. Riker, First Officer aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise," Riker replied, extending his hand. When she took it, Riker respectfully kissed her hand.
"Jedi Master Sateele Shan, Grand Master of the Jedi Order," the woman replied, smiling.
"Quick question," Stark asked. "Name's Tony Stark, this is my girlfriend Pepper Potts. What is that weapon you've got?"
"It is called a lightsaber," Sateele replied, taking off her lightsaber and holding it in her two lovely hands. "It is a type of sword that uses pure energy intensified into a form that can cut through almost anything, with the exception of enemy lightsabers and blaster bolts, which these can deflect." The whole room was then filled with the buzz of introductions between everyone in the room.
"Hello there, friend. I am called Thor Odinson, of Asgard."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Thor Odinson. I am Data, and I am Lieutenant Commander aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise."
"Hey there, Neo."
"Hi Neo, Natasha Romanoff."
"Captain Picard, commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise."
"Hal Jordan, protector of sector 2814 of the Green Lantern Corps. Pleasure to meet you Captain."
"Clint Barton."
"Hello, Clint. I'm Guinan."
"Hi there. Beverly Crusher, Chief Medical Officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise."
"Hello, Beverly. I am Morpheus."
This went on for about forty five minutes until there was a dinging, like a symphony bell.
"Your rooms are prepared," said a soft computer voice. "There are stations waiting for you outside. Please use the terminals to locate your rooms and board the appropriate trains." The voice cut off, and the doors slid open. Everyone walked out and formed lines. When the first person approached a terminal, a computer voice said, "Please state your name."
"Jordan, Hal," the Green Lantern said. After a beep or two, the computer said, "Hal Jordan. Reservation – seat 119. Please follow the signs for train two." A series of signs lit up the hallways.
"Okay, that was easy," Hal said as he walked down the hallways. As he was passing Sateele Shan, the woman asked, "You are with those Lanterns, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am, I am."
"Could you tell me a little about your force?"
"Oh, where do I begin? Hal Jordan, by the way."
"Grand Master Sateele Shan. It is good to make your acquaintance."
"Well, let's hope it lasts."