67. Negative Space
NEBULAPOLIS, RAGNANIVAL, ASGARD
"No," Amora said sternly.
"I would have thought you'd jump at the chance to have that kind of power," Loki rebutted. He'd made Amora an offer. She had refused flat-out.
"I do want that power," Amora said through gritted teeth. "And there are many things you could ask me to do in return. But I will…not…do…THAT."
"And why not?"
"Because I would rather go down in flames a hundred times than ever lay eyes on him AGAIN! All I want to do to him is tear him apart, piece by piece, and feed him to Jörmungandr alive!"
"Why does it matter so much to you?" Loki smirked. "You just can't seem to ignore him. No, whenever you're angry with him, it's always run him down, tear him apart, find where he hides…you care suspiciously much, Amora. After all, they say Hel hath no fury like a woman scorned."
"Are you…ARE YOU…" Amora felt rage building within her as though it were a physical force pressing up against the walls of her soul. "ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT I COULD EVER HAVE A SHRED OF…OF…"
"Lust?" Loki supplied.
"FOR HIM?" Amora screamed. "You know as well as I do that my heart belongs to one and one alone! And for that one, more than anyone else, I wish Surtr sealed away so that he is not hurt!"
"Your compassion for my brother is touching," Loki stated, his lip twitching. "And I don't doubt your obsession with him is genuine. Though I have to question your taste. But could it be that behind all this, you could have feelings for another? After all, it isn't unheard of."
"You would know," Amora spat. "You, who cast eyes upon every beautiful man who crosses your path…save the most beautiful one of all."
"The fact that Thor is my brother," Loki sighed, "is the LEAST of reasons why I would never find him, as you put it, beautiful. But we're not talking about me. We're talking about you and – "
"For the last time, Loki, I refuse to do it!"
"You'd give up the chance to see him one more time?" Loki posed.
"Must we go through this again?" Amora sighed. "Will you ever let this go?"
"It entertains me."
"Obviously."
"Then answer me this," Loki attempted. "Would you give up the chance to deal him a coup de grace? All I ask is that you deliver him to me physically unharmed. After that, the relationship between you two is strictly professional. I will be watching to make sure neither of you kills the other…again…but other than that, you can enact whatever revenge you want on him."
"And give you more reasons to think that I could feel…" Amora couldn't even say it. "Never. I no longer want revenge on him. Not if it comes with YOU grinning over my shoulder."
"Then I'm back to the obvious argument," Loki told her. "If he isn't among the recruits, then you aren't either. You'd give up the chance to be part of the elite. Part of those who would be adored by the public, who would stand above the lowly, and who would hold the balance of their lives in their hands. I would almost call you…a dark counterpart to Thor. Perhaps my brother would even see you in a new light. But if I couldn't have a complete roster…well, we might as well not even entertain the idea at all."
"You're bluffing. You wouldn't give up a plan that puts this much power into the hands of your Cabal."
"Would I? Or would I have something else in mind, in case my initial thought failed? It's your gamble, Amora."
She bit her lip hard, taking out her anger on her own skin in the tiniest way she could think to do so. "Then it's settled," she spat. "You win."
"Good girl."
"Don't talk down to me!" Amora snapped.
"Now, shouldn't you be running along?" Loki asked her.
Giving Loki a sour look, Amora vanished in a swirl of darkness.
"Somehow I knew she'd jump at the chance," Loki sighed. "And you'll see to it that Osborn gathers the rest?" he asked the apparently empty room.
A statue mounted against the wall stepped out before Loki, its shape melting into something far more familiar.
"You can count on it," Discord vowed.
NEW YORK CITY, 616TH EARTH
Back at Avengers Mansion, the Twilight Sword had been secured in one of the basements.
"Are you sure it's safe just to keep it here?" Rarity wondered out loud.
"Not like we've got a choice," Clint told her. "The only people who could keep it more secure are S.H.I.E.L.D., and I'm pretty sure they've been compromised beyond the point where we could go to them."
"Speaking of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Natasha informed the group, "Agent Wilson and I have to return before Osborn figures out anything's up."
"Actually, I'd been meaning to talk to you about that," Wilson broke in. "I know it was a scary, life-threatening mission, but that trip to beat up Surtr was the most fun I've had since I joined S.H.I.E.L.D.! I don't know…it just feels like the Avengers work more like a team. I kinda wanna stay. I'll take all the fall for being a deserter."
"Are you sure?" Banner asked him. Since the return to 616th Earth, he'd switched out with his counterpart for the lead consciousness. "I mean, that was just ONE mission. If you stick with us, you'll get a lot more of that, and it can get…stressful. Believe me."
"Oh, come on!" Jan argued. "Let him stay! He's cool!"
"You did handle yourself quite well in the field, Wilson," Steve told him.
"So can he be an Avenger?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Please please pleeeeaaaase?"
"If it's what you really want," Steve told Wilson. "We have more than enough room here."
"You MEAN it?" Wilson's face lit up. "Thank you! You guys will NOT regret this!"
"Looks like I've got to fix up your ID card, then," Tony stated.
"WOOHOOOOOOO!" Pinkie brought out the party cannon and fired it straight upward, causing a mushroom cloud of confetti to erupt toward the ceiling and rain down upon the Avengers and Equestrians alike. "WELCOME TO THE TEAM!"
"She's not even part of this team," Yellowjacket whispered to Jan.
"Buzz off," Jan whispered back. "She's a member in spirit."
"If you're going back to S.H.I.E.L.D.," Steve told Natasha, pulling her aside, "a few of us talked it over, and we want you to deliver a message to Agent Coulson. Phil."
"I'm listening," Natasha said.
"…The initiative will allow us to be more self-reliant rather than leaning on the Avengers to do our dirty work," Osborn told the various agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. he stood before. "Nor will we be forcing anyone to register who does not approve of the act."
Coulson couldn't help but feel suspicious about the whole affair, but he still kept his mouth shut. Osborn had never even addressed him directly; he wondered if Osborn knew he was supposed to be legally dead to the public.
He was aware of Natasha slipping in next to him. "How'd it go?" he whispered.
"The usual," Natasha answered. "Stopped multiple worlds from being destroyed by a mad god. Got a message for you."
"And?"
"They say: 'We're sorry. We're with you. Don't apologize.'"
Coulson smiled and gave a half laugh. "They don't have any reason to forgive me."
"You're a friend. That's a good reason. And you hate this Osborn thing as much as the rest of them."
"Where's Wilson?"
"That's more complicated."
42, SUBSPACE
The floating space station known as "42" used to be the most top-notch prison facility for 616th Earth prisoners; a portal allowed law officers to transport criminals from their home planet to the detainment center designed by Hank Pym, in a dimension he, for lack of proper terminology, had termed "The Negative Zone." It was supposedly a dimension filled with nothing but negative space, with no lifeforms other than what 616th put there. Pym, of course, had only thought such a thing because he only saw a part of the Negative Zone – or, as grander cosmic beings liked to refer to it, "Subspace." He had no idea of what else that dimension contained.
All of 616th Earth's justice system got the first look at the true colors of Subspace when Annihilus had attacked 42 with his army of insectoid creatures. 42 had encroached upon his universe, trespassed in his territory like it was nothing – the fools from 616th Earth, he thought to himself often, literally believed that his home dimension was nothing.
He'd attacked 42 with the intent to destroy. Pym and several Avengers, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, had been there to hold him off. Their grand scheme, in the end, had been to release the prisoners of 42 – the powerful supervillains and intelligent schemers – to form an army against Annihilus and his familiars.
All the prisoners but one. One was considered too untrustworthy to ally with, even in the face of certain doom.
The resistance against Annihilus was successful. The prisoners of 42 were all pardoned – save one. And because Annihilus had opened the eyes of S.H.I.E.L.D. to the fact that Subspace wasn't as empty as they believed, they cut off the portal between dimensions, stranding 42 in empty negative space, hopefully never to be touched again because of the dangers surrounding it.
They knew full well they had condemned one prisoner to death in doing so. And that was seen as a fringe benefit of closing the portal.
Amora materialized in the abandoned 42, on a metal platform from which she could look around and see various detention cells that had once held prisoners behind impenetrable doors. This was where she had been sent to look.
Obviously, a struggle had taken place. She new nothing of the Annihilus incident, and was left to wonder why she had to constantly step over metal shrapnel and rubble as she explored the prison, seeking her target. Occasionally, she would hear the scuttling of multiple small legs, but when she turned to view the source of the sound, she saw nothing.
Power flickered on and off. Some hallways were lit. Some were not. The shadowy hallways made her uneasy – and she never had been afraid of the dark, not truly. She supposed it was the scuttling sound that always evaded her…and the fact that she still hadn't found her target yet.
She passed a control room that was largely destroyed. She passed a corridor where one wall was ripped out, and outside was a straight drop into Subspace – which was, surprisingly, breathable. That was good. She turned down yet another hallway.
She didn't even register a presence behind her – just when one strong hand grabbed her wrist, forcing it behind her back, and a dull knife blade pressed up against her throat. She gasped. Her assailant pressed close to her, and she could feel his chest against her back. The fabric that covered his face brushed against her cheek as he positioned his mouth beside her ear.
"You are in a very dangerous place," a voice said softly but sternly. A solid voice, with a thick German accent. It confirmed the identity of Amora's assailant…and her target. When she knew for sure it was him, she felt her heart pounding in her chest and blood rising to her face. Loki would have called that lust. She would have called it justified anxiety.
She clenched the fist of her bound hand, and dark green plasma formed in a cloud around it. "I am not concerned for my life," she lied. "Perhaps you should be concerned for yours."
"I am not the danger here, Amora."
"You will address me as Enchantress. You will also stand down and let me go."
"If you swear you will not do anything idiotic. This place is infested, Enchantress, and only the tactful survive. If I let you go, you will not move, you will not speak loudly, and you will not do ANYTHING to bring them here."
"Bring what here?"
The knife blade was removed from her throat, and the hand relinquished her wrist. She let the green plasma abate. The two turned to face each other, and each was ready to kill the other at the sign of the first false move.
He was covered, head to toe, in a suit of purple, with a circlet and a wide belt of gold, yellow boots and gloves, and black-and-white spotted fur accents at his shoulders. A ridiculous combination, Amora thought. She herself had swapped out Surtr's promiscuous-looking clothing for her and donned a strapless bodice of emerald green, a striped miniskirt of various green shades, dark leggings with green figure-eight patterns, deep green boots, and an emerald headdress that kept her blonde hair out of her face. She'd never seen the man before her unmasked, and while part of her wondered what lay beneath the purple fabric, part of her felt more secure not knowing, as she was well aware his body had been ravaged for years by a virus of his own creation that affected him alone. He clutched in his hand a long piece of metal shrapnel that had been methodically scraped against a wall repeatedly in order to sharpen the edge into that of a knife. He must have missed carrying a sword.
"The last time I saw you, Baron Zemo," Amora said, "you killed me and sent me to Surtr's realm."
"For one of the dead," Henrich Zemo replied, "you seem quite lively."
"Surtr took his opportunity when he spotted my soul. He gave me life."
"Interesting. Now, Enchantress, I beg you not to accuse me of murder when you yourself were trying to murder me. You had killed several of my associates on the way, as well."
"Only because you betrayed me in the worst of ways," Amora seethed. "When you locked the collar around my neck in an attempt to control me with the Nornstone."
"Attempt to control you?" Zemo almost laughed. "When all you and Loki ever did was control me?"
"We offered. You accepted."
"Then it seems we have reached an impasse."
"Explain to me what you are doing here," Amora told him.
"It isn't a long story," Zemo said. "This was a prison built to hold the most dangerous criminals in the world. After the incident that sent you not quite all the way to the grave, I was taken here to serve out a life sentence. Not too long ago, a very powerful and quite angry being attacked this prison in an attempt to destroy all positive life in this zone. The Avengers decided to free every prisoner in order to form an army to stop it…but they left me behind a cell door to rot."
"I wonder why," Amora sarcastically spat.
"Such contempt, Enchantress," Zemo remarked. "They evacuated the prison and closed its doors for what I can only assume is forever. Since then, the power generator holding up my cell door gave out. There are enough provisions here to last years. And so, I began my rule over an empire of nothing…but the thing that attacked us wasn't finished. Its army constantly invades. I am the last living thing here, and it will not consider its mission done until I am dead. However, if that is its goal, it will have to wait for quite a long time."
"You have been living in this ruin," Amora reiterated, "fighting off monsters…"
"Quite accurate." Then, without warning, he charged forward.
Amora threw twin blasts of green at him. He ducked them, careening past her. Amora whirled about to see three strange creatures, ones that looked horrifying to her eyes, scuttling down the hallway, and she knew the true source of the sounds that had been stalking her. Each was as large as a Labrador retriever, the green color of a swamp, walking on six legs that protruded from the abdomen while the thorax bent upward at a "waist" joint, the head atop framed by two large pincers. The insects lunged for Zemo, clawing at him, out for his blood. With three quick slashes of his makeshift sword, Zemo reduced them to six half-insects, collapsing to the ground and leaking their internal organs.
"As you can see," he said, turning to face Amora, "They are quite persis – "
She sensed it when he paused. She turned and blasted a fourth insect in the face; its head was blown off. "Persistent indeed," she agreed.
"Now you know what brought me here," Zemo told her. "What brought you here?"
"Loki has yet another proposition for you," she explained. "For both of us, actually."
"He expects us to work together? I wouldn't have taken Loki for a fool."
"I do take him for a madman and a sadist."
"Ah, yes…that is a more convincing explanation."
"He is behind several machinations on Midgard," Amora went on. "He has called many to action to build himself a dark reign. He wishes for us to join his team in this venture. Particularly to oppose the Avengers. I to oppose Thor, and you to oppose Captain America."
"For what reason would I re-enter his control?"
"You want to," Amora explained, "because it would give you power and a chance at revenge. You cannot expect me to believe that any offer Loki gives you would not be a step upward from where you currently stand. On the other hand, I want you to because if you do not agree, I will be rejected as well. It is both of us or neither of us."
"When you put it that way," Zemo said, "I just might consider it."
There was a sound of scuttling. "LOOK OUT!" they both cried, running at each other, crossing paths. Insects dropped in from the air vents; Amora blasted them to pieces. Some chewed their way up through the floor; Zemo beheaded them swiftly.
They looked at each other again when the bugs were gone. Each had gone after the insects about to attack the other. And both knew it. "Think NOTHING of it," Amora growled.
"I was not about to think anything of it," Zemo replied calmly, "but if it crosses your mind to warn me, then perhaps I should warn you of the same."
Amora clenched her teeth. She would make Loki pay for making her deal with Zemo again. "Do you want to come back with me or do you not?"
"Are you TRULY giving me a choice, or do you intend to bring me to Loki in chains in order to receive your reward?"
"I may as well."
"Then there is no point in refusing, is there?"
Amora smiled. At least he was doing what Loki wanted him to do. That was a start. "Good. Besides, once you see what is in store for you, I highly doubt you will regret it."
"Lead the way, Enchantress."
She was skilled in that she did not need to touch a companion in order to bring him or her along in an Apparition at the speed of darkness. It crossed her mind how awkward that would have been. To have to touch him. Even with just a finger. The thought filled her mind with words of hate. Ever since he'd locked that collar around her neck, hate was all that filled her up when she thought of him. It left room for nothing else. And that was good.
She raised her hands into the air, and a sphere of green encircled herself and Zemo. It disappeared, taking its passengers with it.
SUBSPACE
Far from 42, Annihilus could still detect the appearance of the new lifeform composed of positive space…and then the disappearance of both of them. At long last, that area was clear.
He could focus his full attention elsewhere…thankfully. He raised his golden staff into the air, directing his entire army to another corner of Subspace…the corner that was slowly being eaten into nothingness, a fact that even struck fear into Annihilus, for it could easily mean the whole dimension would one day collapse due to the creature that gnawed its edge.
Negative space tasted empty, but for some reason, Galactus found he couldn't seem to get enough of it.
As gigantic as a Titan, he was clothed in armor of blue and purple shades, including a tall helmet, glowing ominously against the dark backdrop of space. His eyes glowed like stars. He was known as the eater of planets, and since he had been banished to Subspace, he was trying to make the most out of consuming it all.
Annihilus' creatures landed upon him en masse, crawling over his armor, trying to chew through it to no avail. When they landed on his face, he merely swatted them away. Some, he swallowed. Annihilus could send as many of the creatures as he wanted, Galactus thought. It would change nothing.
For day upon day his routine had been to slowly consume more of Subspace, filling up on emptiness, until suddenly the face of a creature as giant as himself…an enormous draconequus who so happened to like playing with the dimensions he could occupy…appeared out of nowhere to stare him straight in the face.
Discord spread his arms wide. "GALAN!" he cried.
Galactus ceased his consumption in order to speak. "Galan is no more," he told Discord.
"Ohhhhh, I could recognize you anywhere, Galan," Discord asserted. "Though…there's something different about you. Don't tell me. You changed your hair."
"Discord."
"You lost weight?"
"DISCORD."
"No, that's not it. Hmm. Oh, I know!" Discord snapped his fingers. "You've bonded with cosmic forces that turned you into a giant devourer of planets! I DON'T know why it took me so long to come up with that."
"I am Galactus," Galactus informed him. "I am more powerful than existence. Existence itself trembles before me, for I shall devour all that lives."
"Now, where was this attitude back during the Age of Chaos?" Discord asked, slightly miffed. "I thought I liked the fact that you were always trying to explore and map out Chaos before we switched it all around and confused you and then you'd start over. But this is BETTER. Why couldn't you have been this?"
"When the Age of Chaos fell," Galactus told Discord, "most of your kind suffered harmless fates. Those of us who were lesser were destroyed. Only myself and few others from the corner of Chaos you called Taa were able to escape, but as the Lands of Legend formed, we became engulfed. I was transformed. I lay in wait; time broke, worlds split away, a multiverse was formed. When I reached the apex of my power, I made myself known. There is not a world in existence I cannot destroy out of mere will."
"Ooh, I like that," Discord said. "I can see myself having a lot of uses for that. You see, I'm going in on sort of a high-risk, high-reward venture. I'm rounding up everybody I can find that ran with my crowd in the Age of Chaos and getting us all together for one big strike so we can get back to Chaos. Because, let's be honest, you've never had a real CHALLENGE, have you? If things were the way they were back in the day, why, you'd have to figure out a battle plan in order to consume everything. Where to start, where to end, where you could even, so to speak, sink in your teeth."
"Things will never be as they were in that age," Galactus told Discord.
"I hate that word," Discord moaned. "'NEVER.' That's just a killjoy of a word."
"Do you mean to tell me you actually have a plan to manipulate the cosmos?"
"Galan. Er, Galactus," Discord sighed. "It's ME. Do you really think I don't have a plan?"
"I was a fool to insinuate you didn't. Then again, were you able, you would have stopped your reign from falling in the first place."
"That was when I implemented what I call BACKUP plans," Discord said, miffed. "Besides, what's a little hiccup of a few billion years between chaotic reigns?"
"To you and I, perhaps nothing."
"Exactly! Now you're getting it! Now. I have Mirage, the Ethereal, my annoying little brother, most of the Titans, and Mephisto on board. We have the backing of the Incubators. Are you in?" Discord grinned with glee.
"Never let it be said that I was any less than the most powerful," Galactus began.
Discord had to bite his tongue, thinking about entities he knew that could knock Galactus dead in one punch.
"However, your point remains," Galactus went on. "A true challenge is something I have not faced."
"Question," Discord said. "How did someone all-powerful end up confined to Subspace?"
"An impossible event," Galactus said. "An anomaly."
"I love those!"
"A team of mortals from one planet in particular sentenced me to this fate."
Discord had to bite his tongue again. He was constantly amused by how all-powerful Galactus thought he was when even a team of mortals from 616th Earth (oh, he knew, he knew exactly) could best him. Eventually, he found the right words: "Wouldn't you also just LOVE to give them what they deserve?"
Galactus smiled. "As a matter of fact, nothing would please me more."
"Then come hang out at my place for a while," Discord invited. "Of course, we'll have to downsize you a bit so you can actually use the front door, but I think you'll like what I've done with the place."
"Then let us proceed," Galactus said.
With a wave of a hand, Discord had taken them both away.
Now the presence of the dimension eater was gone. Annihilus was stunned. The two biggest threats – the persistent human, the enormous devourer – to his domination of Subspace were gone. He could take it all back.
He commanded his armies to stand down.
A black starship slowly peered, then slid into Subspace from a more positively oriented dimension. Its pilot looked out the front window upon the vastness of Subspace.
"Even in negative space," he said to his traveling companion, "there is still life. There is still substance to give you, my lady."
He was tall and muscular, purple-skinned and bright blue-eyed, dressed in a dark purple suit with gold accents. His traveling companion was a statue of a woman in stately robes. The statue was nothing more than stone and made no remark.
"But I have not come here to give to you," the pilot went on. "Not yet. For, my lady Death, there is a lifeform here who has also given you much. Almost as though he competes for your affection. But he expresses no interest in you when I refer to you by name. You need not fear. I am always here for you. I am the only one to whom you can entrust your heart."
The statue, as usual, said nothing. The entity it represented didn't happen to be around either, and if xe had been, xe gave no sign of it.
"Loki has failed us," the pilot went on. "He has failed me, and in doing so, has failed you. He must be punished. Luckily for the both of us, I know where he resides and what he plans to do there. Imagine, my lady, being able to feast upon the souls of the gods themselves. They say that they cannot be permanently killed…but is anything truly immortal in your presence? You always find a way. Your persistence is one of the traits I find so mesmerizing in you. Yes, I shall find a way to give Loki and his kind to you for all eternity, if it means I must kill him again and again and again until he simply gives up. I had warned him, as you know." A grin crept over his face. "I had warned him that there was nowhere he could find that Thanos could not find him.
"Then there is the matter of those that decimated my armies. Why did you let my own people fall into your arms after I had done nothing but serve you? But I cannot question you. You work in ways that mystify and fascinate me, my lady Death. Those that remained all told me…they told me." His grin grew. "They said that to challenge the ones who had destroyed my armies would be to court Death. How fitting. Ah, my lady…I am afraid I must cut our conversation short. We are nearing the location of my ally. He will make up for the Chitauri troops I lost. He and I shall deliver Loki to you on a plate of gold."
Thanos moved out of the cockpit of the ship, leaving the motionless, emotionless statue carved in the likeness of his perception of Death behind. He walked until he reached an exit portal, standing within it and looking out into space, feeling the soft pulse of the ship's "heartbeat" – Chitauri elite ships were more than just scrap metal.
He knew Annihilus would find him, and soon, the being floated before his eyes. He took in the full sight of Annihilus. Dark purple armor with gold and green accents. Great batlike wings, deep green, whose span was five times the size of Annihilus' body. Eyes that glowed bright yellow. The slight view of crackling yellow energy within his mouth. He held a long golden staff with which he commanded the insectoid army; the Avengers had broken his original weapon, but he'd forged another one out of necessity.
"Annihilus," Thanos greeted.
Annihilus hissed in reply.
"There is a creature in positive space that needs to die, and he is surrounded by legions, no doubt preparing to protect himself from any threat," Thanos told Annihilus. "Will you join me in his destruction?"
Silence. Annihilus was thinking it over.
"To get to him," Thanos offered, "we must take all of Asgard. And after that, 616th Earth, to destroy those who eliminated my troops…the Avengers."
Annihilus went wild at the mention of that name, hissing loudly.
"I take it that is an agreement?" Thanos asked.
Annihilus pointed his staff at Thanos, who moved backward. Annihilus then hovered into the ship, folding his wings up against his back. He held his staff aloft; it glowed. With no more warning than that, a horde of his insects rushed to the ship, pouring through the exit portal to perch on walls and crawl on floors.
When the last bug had entered, Thanos closed the exit portal. "Very good," he said, grinning at the insect troop that had crawled aboard. Then he made his way back to the cockpit to pilot the ship back to the dimension that contained 616th Earth.
NEW YORK CITY, 616TH EARTH
"Oh, Tony, darling?" Rarity knocked on the doors to Tony's workspace as she opened them.
"If I had a dollar for every time a pretty woman said that," Tony replied with a smirk, looking up from the computer screens where he assembled his concepts. "Actually, that would only increase my current net worth by less than ten percent. Five, maybe."
"Ha…ha," Rarity replied with contempt.
"He's just full of hot air and you know it," Steve laughed, following her into the room.
"What, is this the Make Fun of Tony Stark league?" Tony asked. "Headquartered at Make Fun of Tony Stark Tower?"
"Nope," Steve replied. "The Make Fun of Tony Stark league is actually a worldwide underground operation led by Clint. We're just fringe members."
"I knew it," Tony replied with a smirk. "So, what brings you down here? Come to look at my masterpieces again? Have your minds blown?"
"Actually," Rarity said, "I had rather a…request. I'm sure it was brought up to you earlier that Rainbow Dash quite admires that armor suit of – "
"Oh, not this again," Tony sighed.
"I was just thinking that since you already gave one of the spares to Falcon," Steve pointed out, "maybe you were ready to convert another."
"Look, I know what you're both thinking." Tony pointed to Rarity. "You're thinking that if it's done in the name of a friend, you can just get whatever you want…" His finger traveled to Steve. "And you're thinking me constantly making and hoarding these things means I'm sick or something. You want me to let go of them."
"Tony," Steve said sternly, "I would never want you to LET GO of these suits. I know what they mean to you. But what good are they actually doing just sitting around down here? Nobody ever sees them. Nobody knows what they can actually DO. Everybody got their first look at the Falcon today, and if he'd actually done battle in that suit here in New York, it would have gotten everybody talking about Stark Technologies all over again."
"Take it from somepony who knows," Rarity added. "The work is still yours, and the credit is still yours. But the way to really get others to see what you're capable of is to put it out there. That's why I absolutely love giving my designs to my friends! Well, of course, I also enjoy making them happy. But you get the point."
"Say I did decide to refurbish one of the ones gathering dust to fit Rainbow Dash," Tony replied. "Is this going to start a trend where everyone and their brother expects to walk out of my workspace with their own personal armor?"
"No," Steve promised. "Falcon and Rainbow Dash are just special cases that came out of circumstance."
"Well, I do like that girl's enthusiasm," Tony admitted. "She…gets it."
"You mean she's like a female version of you, but nicer," Steve teased.
"I mean if anybody in this whole place is going to get one of the old models, it's that one," Tony explained.
"Oh, good!" Rarity gushed. "I just knew you'd understand!"
"I'm only saying I'll think it over," Tony said.
"If you should come to a conclusion," Rarity informed him, "I just wanted you to know that while she absolutely abhors almost all things feminine, Rainbow Dash does have a penchant for, well, rather obviously, rainbows. So if you could incorporate that into the design at all…"
"Rainbows," Tony repeated.
"…Think on it?" Rarity suggested.
"I will," Tony replied. "But first I have to get Falcon's ID card set up."
"Thank you so much for hearing us out, dear," Rarity told him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the practice room to see if I can shoot fast enough to convince Clint to step down as chair of the Make Fun of Rarity league." She strode out gracefully.
Steve followed and was almost at the door when Tony called out, "Hey."
"What?" Steve looked back at him over his shoulder.
"I'm nice," Tony argued.
Steve just smiled. "I know you are." Then he took his leave.
Tony pulled up an old file. Mark XXI. He wasn't using that one for much. "J.A.R.V.I.S.," he said, "do you wanna show me what this would look like in an iridescent paint job?"
Anyone who passed Namor was immediately struck by the thought that his presence aboard the H.A.M.M.E.R. helicarrier was odd. Then again, calling it the H.A.M.M.E.R. helicarrier was also odd.
On his way to the main room, he crossed paths with Doom, who greeted him: "Namor. A moment?"
"I have been summoned to discuss the future of Atlantis as related to H.A.M.M.E.R. with the other agents of this operation," Namor replied. "I do not have time to spare."
"Trust me. It will be worth your while."
"Then be brief."
Doom opened a door to a side room, a smaller conference space. "I prefer we be alone."
The pair entered; Doom shut the door behind him. "You and I have much in common," he began. "We each oversee a nation that is overlooked and underrepresented."
"I had wondered if you felt about Latveria the way I do about my own kingdom," Namor admitted.
"Osborn intends to further our agenda by reconciling our nations with the world at large," Doom went on. "But it seems even the famed Norman Osborn has gone soft. Is reconciliation what you really want?"
"It is the most available and logical path," Namor argued. "For Atlantis to make peace with the rest of the world. Is that not enough for you?"
"Frankly, it is not," Doom admitted. "I ask myself often if I am satisfied with my lot, and the truth is, what I want is something much greater. I wish for the entire world, Namor. At least…its lands. After all, a planet is too much for me to handle." He stared directly into Namor's eyes. "The waters, on the other hand…"
"You think I would be suited to rule the seas while you ruled the lands," Namor concluded.
"Precisely."
"And Osborn?"
"He will become a nonfactor."
"And Loki?"
"He will have to make do with Asgard."
"Does he know of this?"
"No. And you're not to tell anyone. This is between the two of us. But I trust that an honorable man like yourself knows how to keep a secret. Tell me, Namor, does it appeal to you?"
"I…" Namor thought it over. "I cannot say the thought hasn't crossed my mind. But as an honorable man, I cannot double-cross this Cabal."
"I will leave you to think it over, then."
"This is what you had wanted since the inception of the Cabal, isn't it?" Namor asked. "To take the lands of the earth for yourself, once you had the power."
"Perhaps."
"Why choose me? Simply because I am connected to the seas?"
"I chose you," Doom said, "because I know you would not do wrong by my vision. I know that deep down…you share that vision. A vision where you and I are no longer in the back of the mind of the world." Doom reached out, putting a hand on Namor's shoulder. "You and I are more alike than you are willing to admit."
"I had thought you would be closer to Loki." Namor thought about removing Doom's hand. He ultimately decided against it.
"What he doesn't know won't kill him." Doom put his hand down, backed away. "I shall not keep you any longer from Osborn's business."
Before Namor left, he told Doom, "Your proposition is not without merit."
The tall, dark-haired woman clothed in an official H.A.M.M.E.R. jumpsuit of blue with Osborn's hammer-shaped logo imprinted upon it strode down the hallway. As she passed, various agents muttered a greeting: "Agent Ice." "Agent Ice!" "Agent Ice."
Agent Eva Ice hadn't existed in the H.A.M.M.E.R. database before Osborn had put her there. Since her appearance, nobody had questioned her. And that gave Loki a good laugh, that everyone bought into the new identity he took on whenever in public on the helicarrier. Besides, it felt good to shift into a female shape for a change. It meant he had variety.
As Loki made his way down to the Cabal conference room, he passed Doom and Namor walking down the hallway together. "…Is looking far more appealing," Namor was saying before Doom shot him a glare.
Loki raised an eyebrow. "What were you two discussing?" she asked.
"Merely H.A.M.M.E.R. business," Doom replied.
"What H.A.M.M.E.R. business, exactly?" Loki pressed.
"Small odds and ends," Doom answered.
"It wouldn't be advisable to keep secrets from me," Loki reminded them.
"Why would we?" Doom asked him.
Loki stared Doom down before proceeding to the darkened Cabal conference room.
There, Osborn, Crouch, Blackheart, and Frost were already waiting for them. When the door was closed behind them, Loki shifted back into his traditional appearance.
"My contributions will be appearing shortly," he informed the room. "Yours, Director Osborn?"
"Two of them were easy enough to convince to get on board," Osborn replied. "I'll have to pull some strings to get the third."
"I suppose you're calling on your connections from your days as the ruler of the criminal underworld," Loki surmised.
"Actually, I was only able to acquire certain paroles because I've renounced that title," Osborn told Loki. "The Green Goblin may have been able to take whatever he wanted, but Norman Osborn can ASK for whatever he wants."
"So when you said the Goblin was a thing of the past," Loki inferred, "you meant it."
"As a matter of fact, I did."
"Pity. I always did admire the concept."
Osborn shot Loki a very dirty look before continuing.
Blackheart grinned as he watched all of this. He had a feeling that very horrid and by that nature very entertaining developments would come of this.
When the conference room emptied, only Loki and Crouch stayed behind.
"I have to ask," Crouch said. "What have you got against these Avengers that you want them brought down first?"
"Besides the fact that they are potentially the most powerful opposing force this realm has for us?" Loki replied. "We do have a bit of a…personal grudge. For one, there is my brother." He took a moment to reflect. "Then there's the little matter of how they've tried to stop me from getting my due."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's a long, sordid story, but I suppose I'll tell it. When I discovered that I was little more to my father than a pawn, a monster he'd dressed up to look like an Asgardian, my only thought was that I needed to prove to him that I was fit to be part of the royal family."
"You're the god of mischief," Crouch interjected. "Shouldn't that qualify you for something?"
"Among mortals, it may seem that way," Loki told him. "Among ourselves, it doesn't matter how much power one has. One is still either Asgardian or Jötunn. Or one of a host of various other kingdoms. To the end of trying to prove my worth, I staged an assassination attempt on the life of my adoptive father, then slew my father by birth. And yet it was still…not…good enough. I aimed to destroy Jötunheim. And it was STILL not good enough." He clenched his teeth. "I found myself falling from a broken Bifrost into the space between realms, and as I fell, I began to wonder. Why? Why go to such lengths to prove my worth to someone who never gave me what I deserved, to someone who never saw me for what I truly am? Why beg respect from someone who would never give it to me? Thus came my decision to go against Asgard. To take control on my own terms. I battled the Avengers for my father's throne, and they defeated me. So I found another way to establish my position in the Nine Realms. The Chitauri. Thanos gladly aided me with everything I desired, even giving me an army of my own to command, on the condition that I did not fail. And were I to fail, there would be nowhere I could hide that he could not find me to give me due punishment."
"You failed, then," Crouch inferred.
"The Avengers," Loki clarified. "Now you see why it's them I need brought down."
"But…wait," Crouch realized. "You said…this Thanos wants you punished?"
"Yes," Loki clarified. "A leader among the Chitauri. I suppose he wants me either tortured or dead. Or both."
"He can't kill a god."
"Oh, he'll find a way. I'm sure of that."
"And there's nowhere you can avoid him?" Crouch asked, starting to worry for the safety of his newfound employer.
The grin Loki gave him was unsettling. "That's the idea."
Before Crouch could ask him what he meant, a blinding flash of light above the table caused them both to flinch. When it subsided, it left Discord, in human form, lying across the table in what he supposed was a seductive pose. He wore a three piece suit of gray with a polka-dot tie.
"What NOW?" Loki snapped.
"You know him too?" Crouch asked.
"Iiiiiiit's a small multiverse after all!" Discord crowed. "Iiiiiiiit's a small multiverse after all!"
"WHY did you come here?" Loki growled.
"Well, that's not very polite," Discord replied. "I just came here to wish you luck on the endeavor. And also inform you that as soon as you have it set up, I'll send you the first hurdle. Sound fair?"
"Fair indeed," Loki conceded.
"I still love the concept," Discord said. "Especially how you went to the lengths of setting up parallels to everyone the public wants to see! The only way you could make it better is if you had something for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!"
"Is there a point to this?" Loki sighed.
"Oh, I'm just making observations," Discord said, standing up. As he did so, a rather large container made of rather tough glass slid out of his suit jacket and hit the table with a CLUNK. Inside it, a black mass of goo writhed.
"Ooooooooops," Discord said with a smirk. "I DO wonder how that got there. Oh well. I wasn't using it anyway." With a snap, he vanished.
Loki reached out and snatched up the container, looking almost hungry. He turned to Crouch, wide-eyed.
"I need you to bring me one more person," he said.
The slight, pale brunette woman, dressed in a tan tee, a brown jacket, and plain jeans, approached the gateway to Avengers Mansion. The gates parted for her. J.A.R.V.I.S. was not only accustomed to opening the way for her, but was quite polite about it.
To make the case, when the woman entered the foyer, she could hear J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice calmly saying, "Welcome back, Ms. Foster."
"Nice to see you too, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Jane Foster told the AI.
"JANE!" Thor cried, rushing from one of the branching hallways. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her gently – after all, he had the strength of a god, and one has to be careful about that sort of thing – and they kissed for quite a long time.
When their lips parted, Jane asked, "What were you up to? I heard there was a…fire demon incident."
"It was quite an adventure," Thor said. "Come with me, and I shall tell you the tale." He took her by the hand, and the two walked through the halls as Thor related the account of what had happened with Amora.
"So," Jane said, rather amused, when Thor described how Amora had reacted to being saved, "she still isn't over you."
"Nay, and I fear she never will be," Thor sighed. "On one hand, I feel as though she should move on. On the other, I know that what she feels for me may very well be undying, as that is how I feel for you. And for that, I pity her."
"When you put it that way, I feel bad for her, too," Jane admitted. "I know how it feels to be in love with you, after all. I just got pretty lucky. So what happened next?"
Thor finished the tale, and Jane thought it over. "I'm curious about these six new heroes," she said.
"I will introduce you," Thor replied. "They are currently gathered in the kitchen. Come with me."
Thor and Jane meandered toward the kitchen to find Twilight, Tony, Rainbow Dash, Clint, Rarity, Jan, Pinkie Pie, Banner, Fluttershy, and Applejack gathered around the kitchen table, playing some sort of card game. "Friends!" Thor cried, causing all present to look up. "I would like you to meet Jane Foster."
"So YOU'RE Jane!" Rarity gasped.
"Jane," Thor said, "this is Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack. They saved Amora from Surtr, and in the future, they will save my past."
"Ooh, you're just so…FORTUNATE!" Rarity gushed. "To be swept off your feet by a god!"
"Forgive little miss hopeless romantic here," Clint laughed. "That's kinda how she rolls."
"Well…you're right," Jane told Rarity. "I am lucky."
"It's great to finally meet ya," Applejack said. "We've heard all about ya. Especially that you're real smart."
"Well, I'm flattered," Jane replied, "but in all honesty, most of what I do is just taking shots in the dark."
"What DO you do?" Twilight asked.
"I'm an astrophysicist," Jane answered. "I met Thor because my team registered his coming to Earth as a cosmic anomaly. And ever since then, I'm learning that there's a lot more out there than I thought."
"Tell me about it," Twilight replied.
"Thor said you'd come from another planet," Jane pointed out. "I'm guessing you've seen several cosmic anomalies yourself."
"We've seen all sorts of fun stuff!" Pinkie Pie gushed. "We've seen magic flying carpets and a princess that could heal things by singing – she's one of my best friends, by the way – and a school for witches and wizards and all SORTS of gods and so many planets where everpony is human!"
"Everypony is human?" Jane repeated. She smiled. "So I'm guessing you're not."
"We are now," Twilight clarified. "But it's not how we…normally are."
Jane smiled. "I'd love to sit down with you later today and talk about some of your discoveries, if that's all right."
"MORE than all right!" Twilight cried. "I'd LOVE that! Actually, can I ask you a question right now?"
"Go ahead," Jane said.
"When you look at the stars recently," Twilight asked, "can you see anything coming, like a big wave of chaos?"
"I'm sorry," Jane replied, "but that's astrology, not astrophysics. You can't see the future in the stars."
"But I know someone that – " Twilight stopped herself from bringing up Firenze. "Never mind. I'm sorry."
"But if I do see anything that looks like chaos," Jane said, trying to make Twilight feel better, "I'll let you know."
They lined up in the weapons bay. Osborn surveyed his hand-picked trio. The concept had been suggested by Loki, but Osborn had lobbied for these three in particular. The idea, the two of them had thought, would be to give the public an exact mirror of what they had come to know and love. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, and Hawkeye for the bulk of the Avengers. And a dash of Wolverine thrown in for good measure.
Iron Man: that was something Osborn could handle on his own. Stark Technology wasn't as well guarded as Tony thought. Obadiah Stane might not have been able to replicate a suit of Iron Man armor, but Osborn could.
After that came the three that Osborn stood before. The one dressed in a darker version of Wolverine's signature uniform looked altogether too amused to be there. Next to him, the one dressed in a dark version of Hawkeye's garb just looked…bored. Finding and outfitting them was easy enough, and both had lobbied for the positions immediately when Osborn had approached them. The third, a well built young man with short, golden hair and wide eyes that betrayed his apprehension, had needed more convincing.
He addressed the youth by name: "John Jameson. I want to thank you again for joining in on our little meeting."
"You said you could help me," John replied, voice trembling.
"Like that's any way to talk to Norman Osborn," "Wolverine" snorted.
"Hawkeye" laughed. "At least he didn't walk in here and greet him by asking, 'What's up, Stormin' Norman?' like you did." The pair chuckled softly.
Osborn ignored them. "You haven't been well, John," he said to the youth. "I heard they were able to cure the physical effects of your transformation, but you were still institutionalized when I found you. Do you want to talk about it? Don't worry. You can tell me anything. I won't judge you."
Osborn's soft vocal tones were inviting. The man had a knack for sounding more paternal than John's own father ever did. "I…didn't want them to cure me," he told Osborn. "I wanted to keep that power. That energy. I never felt more alive before that. Right now…I don't feel alive at all."
"I understand, John," Osborn replied. He took a moment to shoot a dirty glance at "Hawkeye" and "Wolverine" to remind them what would happen if they dared interrupt this delicate moment. "I also know what it's like to be drunk on power. I used to be a bit of a wayward soul. I changed my ways because that was what was best for me. John, if they hadn't cured you, you wouldn't be alive at all."
"It might have been better to die like that than to live like this," John said softly.
"That's why I have a little bit of a different solution for you," Osborn said. He withdrew from a pocket a slender black box. When he opened it, a hypodermic needle filled with red liquid lay inside, almost glowing. "This is something I recovered from an operation that used to call itself Code Red. It will make you as strong and as powerful as the Hulk. You've heard of the Hulk, haven't you? He has a lot of the same traits as you had when you were Colonel Jupiter. This serum can give you back the power you want, but at a safe level. It will eventually wear off, but we can give you more as needed. It won't ever become unstable, and you will never be in danger."
"Why are you doing this?" John asked. "There has to be a catch. People like you don't just find people like me and…"
"I've changed in a lot of ways, John," Osborn said. "I want to help the less fortunate. But more importantly, I want you to use this serum to be part of a new defense line for H.A.M.M.E.R. A defense line that, if all goes well, can replace the Avengers as the nation's primary security system. After all, the Avengers are a haphazard and uncontrollable organization. Now, I understand if you don't want to stand against the Avengers, because honestly, that is what you will be doing. But if you don't have any objections with that…"
"I'll TEAR THE AVENGERS APART if you just give that power back to me!" John yelled.
"Whoa, there, tiger!" "Wolverine" laughed. He was shut up by another glare from Osborn.
"They've never done me any favors!" John growled. "And they've endorsed Spider-Man. The one who RUINED ME!"
"Welcome aboard the 'hate the Avengers' train," "Wolverine" told him. "Why do you think WE'RE here?"
"Hey, I don't have anything against the Avengers," "Hawkeye" argued. "I'm just in this for the thrill."
"Can't make an omelette without cracking a few heads, though," "Wolverine" replied, and the pair was set to laughing again.
"If you have no problem with it…" Osborn removed the hypodermic from the case. "We can begin. Your new life starts now, John Jameson. Roll up your sleeve?"
John obeyed, extending his bare arm toward Osborn. The hypodermic was inserted, emptied, removed. The change took place immediately. John's body stretched out of its original proportions, ripping through his shirt. His skin deepened into a rose crimson.
When it finished, he stood at twice his original height, with a body of solid muscle bound in blood red. "How do you feel, John?" Osborn asked.
"PERFECT," John replied. Even his voice was deepened, and "Wolverine" flinched for a moment. "It's all back…I feel RIGHT again!" He laughed heartily.
"I'm glad," Osborn said. "Now, we just have to wait for Loki to show up with…"
He was interrupted, to his surprise, by Crouch marching into the weapons bay with another young man, pale and blonde, well built, in tow. "…I don't remember discussing this," Osborn stated.
"That's because we didn't," Crouch informed him. "Last-minute change of plans. Everyone say hello to Eddie Brock."
"I don't get why I'm here," Eddie grunted. "This guy just APPEARED and dragged me here. Said I wouldn't regret it."
Osborn raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Crouch, my acquisition of John Jameson was done completely legally. You stole Brock from a government facility. Questions are going to be asked when he goes missing."
"Well, Loki's going to cover for it," Crouch replied. "Same way he put Surtr out of commission so we didn't have THAT to worry about anymore."
"Can't remember," "Wolverine" whispered. "Was Loki the hot one?"
"He was the one with the god complex that was even bad for the gods," "Hawkeye" replied.
"So the hot one, then."
"He still legally dispatched an Asgardian army," Osborn argued, "despite the deception…never mind. I'll just trust him on this one. Now, what is this all about?"
"Loki and I decided that our little operative would work even better if we had a Spider-Man of our own to go with our Avengers and our Wolverine," Crouch explained. "And wouldn't you just love a chance at revenge on him, Brock?"
"How am I supposed to DO that?" Eddie snarled. "My powers are GONE. I'm NOTHING."
"Ooh, that would be a problem, wouldn't it."
All turned to see Loki striding into the room, holding out the glass canister Discord had left him.
"Yeah," "Wolverine" muttered to himself. "The hot one."
Before anyone could say anything else, Eddie charged at Loki, recognizing the substance in the canister. "GIVE IT BACK TO ME! I NEED IT!"
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Crouch bellowed, flicking his wand. Eddie froze in his tracks, completely paralyzed.
Loki moved closer to Eddie until he was staring into the youth's eyes, the only part of him that could still move. "Do you want to calm down and try again later?" Loki asked with a smirk.
Eddie's eyes practically burned in response. Loki dangled the canister before him, then opened it. The black slime inside leapt forth, latching onto Eddie's body and surrounding him like a catsuit. "You can let him go now, Barty," Loki ordered.
Crouch flicked his wand. As the slime finished working its way over Eddie, enveloping his head and carving its own face with a wide, fanged mouth and flickering tongue, the entity forged by Eddie and this Symbiote laughed. "We are complete again!"
"Welcome to the team, Venom," Loki greeted.
"Venom," Osborn repeated, a slow smile working over his face. "It's brilliant, actually."
"We didn't bring you back for nothing, you know," Loki said. "Remember how much you wanted to destroy your old friend Spider-Man?"
"I could NEVER forget," Venom hissed.
"All we need you to do is exactly that," Loki explained. "Well, that and go up against the other Avengers as well. We'll make you the hero, not them."
"Perfect!" Venom laughed.
"So long as you leave some of Spider-Man for me," John, the Red Hulk, insisted.
"Damn!" "Wolverine" remarked. "What did SPIDER-MAN ever do to everyone?"
"Well, what did Wolverine do to you?" "Hawkeye" asked.
"Pretty sure he didn't abandon both these guys as kids, unless I REALLY missed something about his biography."
"That gives us an Iron Man, a Wolverine, a Hawkeye, a Hulk, and a Spider-Man," Osborn recounted. "That leaves…" He paused. "Where did you find the symbiote, anyway?"
"I find what I want when I want it," Loki answered enigmatically.
"You promised me a Thor and a Captain America," Osborn reminded him.
"As promised," Loki announced. He raised his voice: "Enchantress?"
Amora strode into view. Osborn flinched, wondering how long she'd been there in the shadows. "Consider me your Thor," she said, lighting her hands up with green energy.
"She is a fellow Asgardian," Loki explained, "and someone wronged repeatedly by the Avengers. As for the Captain…well, he should be someone fit to lead the group the way Steven Rogers does to his, should he not? I believe you've heard of him." He nodded toward Amora. "Amora, if you will."
Amora sliced her finger downward through the air, opening a portal that gleamed green as though her fingernail had torn reality. The portal expanded, and through it strode a figure carrying a Vibranium shield, forged of spoils from a looted Wakandan mine. The shield itself was an exact duplicate of Captain America's signature weapon, but instead of red, white, and blue, it was patterned in purple, gold, and white. He strode to where the rest had lined up.
"It will be an honor to lead you," Baron Zemo said.
"Oh, yeah?" "Wolverine" countered. "And who put YOU in charge?"
He flinched when the point of Zemo's new sword was pressed against his throat. "You will learn not to question me," Zemo growled.
"Are we going to have any authority issues with him?" Osborn whispered to Loki.
"Most likely," Loki whispered, almost laughing. "But HE already knows not to question ME."
Osborn stepped before the lineup, forcing Zemo to take his place in line. "Well, gentlemen…and lady." He nodded toward Amora. "I officially induct you the Dark Avengers."
Chapter 67:
· Confession time: I ship Zemo/Amora. HARD. I was calling it "Zemora" until GAvillain suggested I call the ship "A-to-Z" kinda by accident, and now that's what we're calling it. Anyway, I'm trying my hardest to keep Amora's "love for Thor" motivation intact and keep those two in their twisted relationship of trying to kill each other while still teasing A-to-Z.
· Also, if you hadn't realized, I'm using AEMH Zemo. (I read the Wiki page on the original comics version. It was hilarious. And not in the good way.)
· Yep, Amora basically called Loki a slut. I have about a thousand ships for him, and I intend to play them ALL.
· Despite the name, I made the Negative Zone into Subspace (as defined by Super Smash Bros) instead of part of the Negaverse due to the physical properties. I'm also going to try and see if I can make DC's Phantom Zone into the same place. So basically, Marvel characters call it the Negative Zone, but it's known cosmically as Subspace.
· I decided to have them shut down 42 (AEMH timeline) after the Annihilus incident because I just really loved the image of Zemo turning it into his outpost for fighting off Annihilus-bugs and basically surviving co-existence with Annihilus and Galactus. Also, I REFUSE to believe they weren't going to do something similar with him in what would have been S3 of AEMH. They gave that scene with him TOO MUCH EMPHASIS in that ep. It was foreshadowing and we all know it.
· Real talk: Zemo's outfit is freaking ridiculous.
· Apparently, Galactus was known as "Galan" in the "pre-Big Bang universe." Which works out for him being Galan in the Age of Chaos. I knew I wanted Galactus to be an Old One; his backstory works perfectly. Of course, now it implies there were mortals in the Age of Chaos, meaning Mephisto's dialogue is kind of cheapened now…but we'll just say…there weren't as many mortals to toy with as there are now. Yeah. We'll go with that.
· Galactus is in the Negative Zone/Subspace because that's where he ended up post AEMH. However, his voice is the Tony Jay version.
· The version of Thanos I'm using is actually the one from the Silver Surfer cartoon because that's currently the only visual non-comic media where he TALKS for extended periods of time. (Though the eyes come from the MCU.) Now, as I'm able to see right through the censors' bullshit, I know the statue is supposed to be Death instead of Chaos. Note how he perceives her as a woman with flesh. As I said, everyone perceives Death a little differently based on xyr many forms.
· Wikipedia tells me Thanos and Annihilus are in fact bros.
· Doom is supposed to be flirting with Namor. It looks platonic because writing Doom flirting is next to impossible.
· The name "Eva Ice" comes from two factors. "Ice" from the Frost Giant thing ("Frost" is being used by Emma). And "Eva" is from a fandom joke that Eva Green would be the perfect fem-Loki form, inspired by YT user QueenCorpse's "Force Me In" fanvid (currently removed from YT, but I still have to give credit where it's due). So, on that note, please picture "Agent Eva Ice" as Eva Green. And all subsequent times that Loki becomes female, she's Eva Green.
· You'll see I'm hinting at events from Dark Reign here and there; I'm doing them on my own terms. Just wait and see how they unfold.
· I'm writing Jane Foster with her AEMH personality because I like that better, but she has the astrophysics career so that the Thor movies still make sense.
· Enter the Dark Avengers! So I changed the lineup from the comics version a little bit. For one, I removed Moonstone and others of that ilk due to lack of familiarity. For another, they didn't have a Thor or a Captain America (Osborn's Iron Patriot was supposed to serve as both Iron Man and Cap, but I wanted to do something twice as nice), and that gave me EXACTLY the right place to put Amora and Zemo, who I love. I chose John Jameson (Colonel Jupiter) for the new Red Hulk because while Ross bores me, I wanted to wrap up the arc John had in SSM instead of just leaving him in the mental ward forever (gooooooodbye canon reformation arc he had in the comics…). And finally, if you're familiar with Dark Reign, you should already know who "Wolverine" and "Hawkeye" are. You may even have guessed if you aren't. But I'm still not saying either name until next chapter because I like to keep at least a semblance of suspense at all times.
· I had to have at least ONE character call him "Stormin' Norman."