Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC
Universal Collisions: Secret Crisis
Chapter 9: Force
He desperately wanted to hold onto it, to the future where he and his wife would have children. A future where they would be happy, he would be the celebrated hero with his own museum, founder of a league, she the greatest reporter in the world and they would both have lived their lives to the fullest. But Iris was dead, his own lightning had seen to that. Barry hadn't thrown lightning since then, he realised it was a lethal attack, excessive force in some cases. Perhaps it should have been his first warning not to trust 'Jay Garrick', the man behind that persona Hunter Zolomon had taken from Barry just as much as Eobard Thawne had. But Barry trusted the true Jay Garrick with his life. Even Jay though hadn't been able to offer him any advice, such condolences, the assurance that any future could happen. Some saw Hypertime as a bright spark of hope, the assurance that time, destiny, wasn't fixed. But for Barry it was just more sleepless nights.
"You can run ahead if you want," he heard Frost behind him.
Her hands nearly touched his shoulders, one cold like ice and the other hot like the shower. She was both godsend and a source of dread for Barry. Though no longer quite 'Killer' she still walked that line, that thin line that Joe continually reminded Barry that he shouldn't cross and he agreed. He wanted to let Thawne die, he wanted to erase him from existence, but only now did he realise yes he had deprived the world of a madman, avenged the woman he loved and his mother and the life his father had been denied, but he had let a darkness in that day. A darkness Frost continually flirted with, a darkness she had once served, a future Barry once thought he had erased.
"Chester, what can you pick up from the suit?" he asked over the communication wire.
The Star Labs cortex was occupied by the young genius, who looked at the monitors with Cecile Horton beside him. He was technical specialist, a worthy successor for Cisco. Cecile, Barry loved her, loved that she loved Joe, but he liked to think of her as Deanna Troi from Star Trek. Her telepathic abilities were useful when they counted, but sometimes she just pointed out the obvious.
'You're attracted to Frost,' he remembered her telling him.
It hurt that she didn't disapprove, hurt that she wasn't disgusted, that she understood. Even Joe was supportive, like he had been when he dated Patty. That future between him and Iris was slipping away.
"There's confidence, love, wonder in that sewer Barry," Cecile said.
"Good to know," he muttered.
"It isn't coming from either of you," she added and Frost chuckled.
The dreams were the worse part, since the Universal Collision (what Cisco had dubbed it) people began to experience dreams of other worlds. Not all had been bad, Barry remembered a memory of a counterpart reversing the destruction of his entire world, at the speed of force.
'Make your own past, make your own future, it's all right now,' he remembered the man saying.
That though had been the worst part of it, just another reminder that any future was possible. Dreams like that continued, crazy dreams where he was a crazy person committing all kinds of assaults, a glee club member (though he actually used to be in the glee club), Green Arrow (his favourite Elseworlds memory). Then dreams of him and Iris continuing, her living, Caitlyn living, him even falling in love with her, dreams of Kara, both as Supergirl and Overgirl, he tried to stop sleeping but they persisted, the dreams about Frost were the worst.
"For god's sake," he heard Frost say.
She gripped the bolts on his cowl and suddenly violently slammed her lips into his. As his back slammed into the brick wall, he felt the heat in his throat increase with the lapping of her tongue. His mind flashed to those dreams, dreams of them in his lab making love, dreams of her tearfully crying as he breathed his last breath, or her sadistically freezing him with a kiss. Then just as quickly he felt the temperature drop, cold air escaping his mouth as she pulled their lips away with a smack.
"The fact that I could do that Barry is proof you shouldn't be here right now, that your head isn't in it," she said.
He knew when she was scared, because she always acted angrier when she was afraid. The understanding look on her face, and the fact he hadn't run away, told her she'd failed already to convince him to go. That anger on her face was replaced by a child like look of dejection. She kissed him again, and this time he brought his hands to the small of her back and her hair. Specks of flame and lightning crackled around them both whilst their lips moved as one. She was everything Iris and Caitlyn weren't, everything that was bad for him, and what he needed. Her arms wrapped around his neck, hands on the back of his head, forcing him to hold her hips and deepen the kiss. A moan, followed by a laugh hummed from Frost's throat, and for a moment the lightning surging around them took on a blue colour.
In that moment he was out of his suit, shirtless, half his chest and face burned. Her hair was white and curly, and she was wearing her blue, coat like costume with silver on the top of it. She was Killer Frost, he was hers, and in that moment nothing else mattered, she would kill for him, he would kill…
"Guys, you're body temperatures are a little different than usual," Chester's voice in their ears caused them to break the kiss.
"We can't," Barry whispered and he felt her hands on his cowl, they were back in their world, back in the moment.
A moment that passed quicker than the kiss had been. They couldn't afford to waste anymore time, even if the question of whether he had witnessed another world or the past haunted him. There was work to do. They kept on walking through the tunnel, towards the place where they shared their first kiss, to where Barry thought he would die. The dark thought 'maybe second times the charm' briefly crossed his mind. Then they came to the entrance to the Anti-Monitor's prison.
"I know how to run a scanner Johnny," a gruff, gravelly voice spoke from the other side of the wall.
"Hey I'm just saying, in case you need a little help, we all know how difficult new technology can be to master," another voice spoke.
"Johnny if there's anyone who could be a man out of time, you'd be the one, you're still living like a child," the gravelly voice retorted.
"Enough you two," a woman said.
"This is very interesting, we have trace amounts of Anti-Matter in this room, but as you know traditionally when Anti-matter makes contact with Matter both are eliminated. Then there is the presence of this motion energy," another voice explained, deep, intellectual.
Frost stifled a laugh at the mention of 'motion energy' with Barry rolling his eyes.
"That would certainly explain the treadmill, the Watcher said this was a prison right? So what did the prisoner have exercise benefits?"
"The wires connect to a pocket universe, we should find out what it contains!"
"First honey I think we need to address the elephants in the other room."
The wall in front of Barry suddenly disappeared, revealing the four people in the Anti-Monitors old prison. They were in white and black suits, two men, both with brown hair, though the other had white side burns, the blonde haired woman had her hand raised for some reason, and then there was the orange rock skinned man in a sleeveless version of the suit.
"I'm only going to ask once, are you considered heroes or villains in this world?" Susan Storm asked.
Frost and Barry's hearts were suddenly exposed, the former let out a scream, flames surrounding her body. Barry ran forward, but slammed head first into the wall, recoiling back in dizzy shock.
"I am so sorry," Sue raised her hands, making the wall reappear.
"Is that a magic lady?" Barry asked, shaking his head.
"Nope, I'd say she's bending light," Cisco said, coming out of the shadows with Ralph behind him.
"Correct," Reed said from the other side of the wall. "My wife simply bent the light around your friend's skin in order to see their heart beats, we apologise for any distress but you have to understand your world is closer in similarities to an Earth we know as Earth 21195, a Utopolis ruled by the Squadron Sinister," Mr Fantastic explained.
"Squadron Sinister, and people think my nicknames are stupid," Cisco said as he began putting in the code for the wall.
"Been to an Earth like that, evil me's suck," Barry said.
"Let's hope the rest of the Multiverse is having an easier time meeting other universes heroes," Ralph said.
Earth 616-Avengers mansion
"Retaliators, TAKE THEM DOWN!" Crusader yelled.
Strange and Wong summoned portals, evacuating Rhodey and Pepper. Superman flew towards Lex, only for Sinestro to fire a yellow blast into his chest, smashing him through the wall. Clark groaned, it actually hurt him. Deathstroke began firing bursts from his rifle as Ravager ran at Batman with his sword drawn.
"I've always wanted to kill a Batman," his Katana clanged against Bruce's gauntlets.
They stepped to the side, Batman blocking another strike and dodging before delivering an elbow to Jo's helmet. Kate jumped off of her chair, dodging a flurry of bullets from Deathstroke. The assassin would have hit her if he didn't have to dodge Shang-Chi's rings.
"I'll make my way to you guys," Banner said over the communication link.
The other holograms faded, Quill's and Shuri's concerned expressions were the last thing the Avengers saw. Kate slid to avoid Grodd's crushing punch, taking note as she did of the baby strapped to the Gorilla's chest. She was thrown into the air by a blast from Purple Rain. Strange however threw his cloak, using it to catch the new Hawkeye.
"Thank you," she said before flying in and kicking Red Dragon's guns out of her hands.
She followed through with a punch the older woman caught. Bucky and Sam noted the eerie similarity the red head's fighting style was to Natasha's. Which meant they both knew how to fight it. Bucky braced himself as Red Dragon flipped Kate to the floor and ran towards him.
"Nope," he snarled, grabbing one of her legs before she could wrap it around.
He threw her to Sam, who used the added leverage to slam her into the meeting table. Mr Mind unleashed a beam from his cyborg host's eye, cutting a line on the fire place inches from Sam's face. Monica got caught in a beam lock with Sinestro, leaving her vulnerable to Wundajin. His axe sparked with electricity and he was about to strike when Aeon kicked him in the chest.
"Why are you all doing this?" he asked.
"To protect our world," Ladybug said.
"At the expense of someone else's?"
"You wouldn't understand," Crusader said, ramming Aeon with his shield.
"Usually I'd like to," Sam said, approaching Crusader.
He was able to weave between Crusader's strikes, grabbing the edge of his energy shield and grappling with the Retaliator's leader.
"But my friend with the staring problem said we seemed kind of alike, the models are the same, but that's where the similarities end," Sam slammed his palm into Crusader's neck, making him gag. "We've had our dark moments, but the Avengers have and will never compromise a world even if it means keeping ours safe," Sam said before he kicked Crusader across the head.
"Fool," Wundajin said, bearing his axe on Sam.
Suddenly, twin red beams slammed into the god of thunder, knocking him away from Sam.
"No, heroes," Clark said.
He flew at Wundajin, delivering a punch to his face. Then he used his ice breath to freeze Sinestro's hand, giving Monica an opening to blast him. Brute and Cyborg Superman both punched Clark to the ground. Machinehead and Purple Rain began to bombard him with attacks, but Superman still did not go to his knees. He grit his teeth together, pushing against the blast and even the lightning that Wundajin fired at him.
"That is enough, this ends now," Wong said.
He drew a circle, summoning a portal. From that portal, a green fist shot forward, slamming into Brute and throwing him into the wall.
"There's a big blue hulk in a diaper, something tells me I'm going to feel bad about that later," She-Hulk said.
"Try not to trash my house too much Walters," Pepper said, stepping out of the portal in her Rescue armour.
"Iron man wannabes mine, plus I've got a delivery to make," Rhodey said.
The helmet of his bulky Iron patriot mark 2 armour slide over his face as he flew over Kate, dropping her bow and quiver into her arms. She immediately drew a bow and arrow, firing it and trapping Joseph Wilson's arms. Batman punched the mercenary so hard that his helmet flew off. Deathstroke kicked the copy of his helmet aside and put his rifle on his back.
"The Batman of my world is older, and I've always wanted to fight you at your prime," he said, drawing his sword. "Let the games begin!"
"I'm not playing games," Batman snarled.
He blocked and punched, ducked and weaved, he could feel that Deathstroke was older. But it wasn't just his armour that added weight to his blows, this man had trained his body as much as he had but also had a naturally larger frame. Which didn't always translate to his opponent being slower, Bruce could feel the sweat underneath his cowl, feel his bones shake as he took a kick and parry a sword strike. But he immediately utilised Deathstroke's weakness, except Wilson accounted for it, backhanding Bruce when he tried to attack from his blind side. Shang-Chi launched himself with his rings, using them as close range weapons to try and whip Slade. To his shock though Deathstroke was quick, his armour tough, and he hit hard, harder than the Deathdealer, harder than his father.
"Arrows, like the Star City vigilante, he was far better," Deathstroke said as he deflected Kate's arrows.
She was shocked when Bucky joined the fight, not because they had to resort to such tactics, but because even then they struggled. Deathstroke's sword was sturdy even against a Vibranium arm, he dealt out kicks, slammed his head into Shang's and punched Batman in the jaw. Within a few seconds he knocked the four of them back and made them hesitate, one against four, three of them the best hand to hand fighters the Avengers had to offer. Aeon was suddenly thrown between them, crashing through the wall. Blue markings appeared across his skin as he stood up, but Grodd slammed his fist into his chest, drawing a gargled yell from his mouth.
"Pathetic," Grodd snarled.
Aeon snarled back, his eyes going wide, grey pupils turning black briefly before the baby strapped to Grodd's chest began to cry. Grodd himself groaned and clutched his head.
"Aeon," he looked over his shoulder and saw She-Hulk with Riri, Harley and Cassie.
"Get back, right now, he's a telepath," Aeon said.
"That requires a lot of concentration," Riri said.
"Don't have to be the 'smartest girl alive' to figure that one out," Harley rolled his eyes.
"He's still just an ape though, stronger than humans and with more sensitive hearing too," Aeon said.
"Good to know, get back," Jennifer said.
She began to clap her hands together, at such an impact that they generate miniature shockwaves. Both the baby and Grodd began to grimace, backing away from Aeon. War Machine and Metalhead crashed through the wall, the bulkier Iron patriot armour threw the green armoured man to the ground. Pepper hit Lady Bug with a blast and released funnels from her back, creating an electromagnetic shield to block Sinestro's blast. He created creatures similar to centipedes, destroying some of Pepper's weapons. She released a Uni-beam from her chest, prompting Sinestro to create a shield on his arm. The blast pushed him back, but he quickly created a curved axe, throwing it Pepper's shoulder. Her cry echoed out of her helmet, and some of the Avengers spotted her blood coming out of the wound.
She-Hulk stopped clapping her hands, looking towards their wounded host. Suddenly Grodd and the baby unleashed a blood curdling roar, amplified by telepathy and something else too. It was a force that made all of the Avengers slow to a crawl.
And the Legion and Retaliators were unaffected.
Magnus looked impatiently at the Midnight Angels. For a brief moment they both exposed their faces, Okoye, former general of the Dora Milaje. They were fantastic hand to hand fighters, but in truth glorified bodyguards, perhaps even errand ladies for the royal family of Wakanda. Okoye held a fearless and fierce expression as she often did with her enemies. She could be firm and professional with strangers, teasing and warm to her friends, and unforgiving to her enemies. Her eyes alone convinced Magnus that she regarded him as an enemy. Her lieutenant Aneka was eager, confident, a nonconformist in many ways.
"It doesn't matter what the time is, the woman you have taken is under our protection," Okoye said.
"Is she really?" Magnus asked.
He took a step forward and Okoye tightened her grip on her spear. She knew not to underestimate those considered old, Queen Ramonda was an example of how years could make one formidable. But still she was biased, what could this western man offer to challenge their superior technology?
"So tell me, where was Wakanda, the Avengers, the supposed heroes of this world…where were they when this woman needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to embrace her, where were they when her mind was breaking down, when she was so utterly alone that she turned to darkness and even murder?" Magnus asked.
"We aren't Avengers," Aneka retorted.
"Which is precisely the only reason why you are both alive right now," Magnus said.
"Bold words," Okoye said.
"Such arrogance, general, why do we not just take Miss Maximoff back?" Aneka asked in Wakandan Xhosha.
"Because she is not well, we must be gentle, the same cannot be said for how we will treat this man," Okoye said.
The corner of Magnus's mouth twitched and he shook his head.
"You speak to me of arrogance, but it was Wakanda that arrogantly hid from the rest of the world, convinced and proven twice wrong that its traditions and technology would keep it safe."
Both women looked at the man in shock of his fluency in Xhosha.
"Your technology is wondrous, but, you are still quite frankly inferior, primitive, unevolved!"
"Okoye, my arms," Aneka gasped as her helmet slid back over her face.
She spread her arms back, and back, at an angle that threatened to break Aneka's shoulders. Okoye was about to throw her spear when she suddenly turned it on Aneka, slashing her knee and making her fall. Gone was the fierce expression, replaced by shock and regret, her fingers locked onto the spear, but her arms struggled, the armour creaking.
"Has the armour been hacked?" Aneka asked.
"I can't tell, the HUD it won't respond, I can't even deactivate it," Okoye said.
"It isn't a technological answer," Magnus stated.
"Telekinesis," Okoye gasped.
"Think smaller, much smaller, Vibranium is a truly fascinating material, metal detectors can't sense it, it absorbs radiation, but it is still a metal. And you use it for all your weapons, your buildings, your medicine, like that implant in your knee former general, a training injury perhaps?" Magnus asked, slowly lifting his hand.
Both women were levitated off of the ground, Okoye's eyes became locked in fear as she looked at Magnus, his eyes glowing blue briefly as a humming sound echoed from his hand.
"You integrate vibranium into your own security systems, into your jewellery and even the fabric of your clothes, you're nation won the lottery of fate when that font imbedded itself in your land, a source that runs underneath your own nation, what's happening to your armour right now, that's like the flick of a finger for me," and flick his finger Magnus did, sending Aneka flying towards the mountain range.
He brought Okoye closer levitating off of the ground himself.
"This is the only warning you will get, tell your prince, tell your Avengers to stay away from Wanda, they can't absolve themselves of responsibility by caring now. She is under my protection, the protection of Magneto and the Brotherhood," Magnus said.
Before Okoye could even ask who Magneto was, Magnus sent her flying towards the mountains too. He could make out the 'boom' from the impact of her landing. Brushing the dust off of his coat, Magnus turned to the door. Then he heard a 'boom' behind him, some kind of portal opening. Magnus turned, clicked the cricks out of his neck and raised his hands. Metallic marbles began to float out of his pockets. But then another hum came out of the portal and Magnus lowered his gaze. A far older man came out of the portal, wearing a red coat with a cape attached to it.
"That will be enough Mr Eisenhart!" the old man said.
Magnus looked at the man in surprise before smirking.
"To what do I owe the pleasure Mr Lensherr?" he asked.
"You are familiar with the Multiverse?" the other Magneto asked.
"As well as the crimes Wanda committed in other universes," Magnus said.
"Such as the violation of my daughter's mind, the traumatisation of my grandchildren and the murder of my only friend," despite his age there was a ferocity to Erik's voice and a strength in his pose.
"What sort of life did you lead? What does it have in common with mine? Was the good professor as much your friend as your enemy? Do you bend to the whims and the norms of these humans?" Magnus asked.
"We remain the next step in evolution, but there are things she must answer for," Erik said.
"And what is your daughter's view of this?"
"She is biased in her forgiveness, what happened to this Wanda to drive her to such evil? Where were her friends the Avengers? Where was her father, her real father?" Erik asked.
"Preparing the world for those they will inevitably hate and fear," Magnus retorted.
"Ah, the good old fashioned war between Homo-superior and Homo-sapien," Erik said.
"That may have once been my goal, but not anymore, I seek an altogether different solution to the problem that plagued mutant kind," Magnus stated.
"Anonymity is our greatest defence, a good man once said that to me, but how is it that the mutants of your world have remained anonymous for so long?" Erik asked.
"Tell me Erik, are you familiar with the runes of Kof Kol?"
Avengers Mansion
Joe Wilson smirked as he walked around the Batman, a legend in his world, a legacy grounded by the those whom had taken the bat symbol and used it for their own means. He was about to drag his katana across the man's mouth, when Deathstroke snapped the blade.
"Enough," Slade Wilson said.
He had a son in his world, though Joseph was very different, blonde haired and a mute and not a total dick like this young man seemed to be. Slade removed his helmet and looked over the younger Batman, he was certainly close to matching the Batman of his world, though he lacked the killer edge. Lex Luthor was dramatically clapping his hands together when he walked up to Superman.
"You couldn't have done this before Grodd?" he asked.
"Turtle didn't want to," came Grodd's simple answer, the baby on his chest giggling when Grodd stroked his head.
"Good, that will hold them for now," Crusader said.
"Hold, oh we won't be holding anything my good man," Lex said.
"We didn't come here to murder heroes," Red Dragon said.
"Then you're terrible inconsistent, in case you didn't notice we are the villains in this," Lex smiled despite the fact Brute and Wundajin were glaring down at him.
"We can't afford to kill them recklessly, especially if any of them are the new paragons or the Marks," Sinestro said.
"I sincerely doubt this one is a paragon of anything, perhaps the paragon of collateral damage, or the paragon of snapped necks, hope," Lex sneered as he ran his finger over Superman's house of el symbol. "Why would anyone see the likes of you as a symbol of hope, you only got involved with humanity when your own kind were knocking at the door," Lex brought his face closer to Clark's, tilting it slightly so he could whisper, "What was it your father said, when you asked him if you were supposed to just let a boy die? 'Maybe!' that's the kind of man who raised you Clark," the young Luthor explained.
Whilst the villains and Retaliators debated however, two ghostly figures hovered unseen.
"Quick thinking Strange," Wong complimented his fellow sorcerer.
"It's a bubble, everything outside of the mansion is moving at a normal rate, they aren't so much altering time as they are the body's perception and movement in relation to time," Strange explained.
In their astral forms, the two men looked for any gap in the bubble, any way they could overcome the attack. That was when Strange had an idea, an idea both of his mind and of his heart. His astral form summoned mandalas and runes meant for communication, and he locked onto a very special frequency, whilst Wong turned to a simpler method of getting reinforcements. Taking pathways through the mirror dimension, he came to Kamar Taj, the fortress where the sorcerers of Earth trained.
"Too young," Lex commented, looking at the 'interns', "Too eager," he scoffed at Kate. "Too broken," he dismissed Bucky. "Now you, you interest me," he stopped at Bruce, looking at the Hulk's eyes. "You really have a handle on it don't you? Or are you just lying to yourself? I wonder if you integrated the Hulk with your personality, or if you in fact killed the Hulk, I only became an expert in psychology after my brief tenure in a mental asylum, but there is another possibility, could it be you actually buried the Hulk, I wonder how angry he'll be when he gets out, Oh Mr Mind, I think I've got another job for you," Lex clicked his fingers and smirked when he saw the beginning of Bruce's look of horror.
They were all trapped, hearing what Lex was saying, but their reactions slowed. Batman's arms moved as if he was having a seizure, defensive, even when the older Wilson defended him from the younger. Kate was still trying to draw back her bow, but the villains were constantly moving around the room. Pepper was too busy bleeding, and Rhodey was helpless as Cyborg Superman ripped the weapons off of his back.
"As interesting as it would be to take over such a creature Luthor, my efforts are dedicated to keeping Henshaw from murdering you, contrary to your opinions of his Earth, he's actually quite strong willed," Mr Mind explained through his thrall.
"Are we going to take all of them or not?" Deathstroke asked.
"I'm still going through candidates, we've got our first at least, Mr 'You've got to do better'," Lex said, pointing his finger at Sam.
Grodd nodded his head, walking to Sam. He generated a psychic wave, stopping the effects of the Slow force in order to put Sam under a telepathic spell. The new Captain America's movement speed returned to normal, and he fell to his knees, gripping his head as Grodd pushed into his mind. He had to watch his wing man die again, had to watch his nephews grow older before his eyes as he turned to dust again. Then there was the torment of the mantle, the dismissal and taunts of Isaiah, the ignorance of the public, the disappointment of Steve. He pushed his fist against the ground, glaring at Lex and Grodd.
"Determined to an almost insane degree, perhaps he is one of our paragons, all right paragon of 'do better', you're coming with us," Lex said.
Sam widened his eyes in horror as yellow shackles appeared around his wrists and neck. He glared at Lex, who simply smirked, poking the hero's goggles.
"And the rest?" Mr Mind asked.
Lex walked over to Pepper, removing a knife from his pocket. He dug the knife into the arc reactor on her chest, the tip of the knife glowing as he chiselled the reactor off of the chest plate. Pepper was forcibly ripped from the still force effects, her armour disappeared as soon as she fell to her knees.
"This is a container for nanites, fascinating, although I know a source that will be a significant improvement on this element powering it," Lex stated.
It was a non-verbal plan, even though the heroes had their speed significantly reduced, they were still moving. Rhodey raised his hand just a little bit, and Superman and Aeon looked in the right directions. It was Monica who fired first, releasing a slow blast from her hand that Deathstroke easily dodged. But the mercenary saw too late what their plan was. Aeon, Superman and War Machine released their blast attacks, and the beams collided together. Even a blast that was incredibly slow generated a shockwave, enough to break Grodd's concentration. Just as the effects of the Still force passed, a star shaped portal appeared above them.
"Well this is easier than I thought," Lex grinned.
"Is that a Hulk cow?" Joe asked.
"I'm pretty sure being green doesn't make you a Hulk," Sinestro said.
"America Chavez," Lex narrowed his eyes at the Multiversal teleporter.
She aimed a punch at Lex, only for him to grab her hand.
"I know I look like another rich boy, and that's exactly what I am, but I'm a rich boy with a plan Miss Chavez, they might as well have delivered you to me on a…"
Thwip!
New York never lacked for heroes, vigilantes in hell's kitchen, a bullet proof man in Harlem, a rich guy with a glowing hand and his katana wielding wife (that's right Coleen/Dany enthusiasts). But out of all those heroes, in his mind, but more importantly in his heart there was one Dr Strange knew he could count on more than any of them. It didn't take long to track him down, he was in costume, blue and red fabrics put together for a blue and red suit. His webbing silenced Lex, inspiring Chavez to backhand the Legion leader.
There was no quips, no jokes, it wasn't easy for Spider-man to answer the call, Strange had a feeling why. What had he forgotten because of the runes of Kof Kol?
Europe-The borders of Wundagore
There was a lake near the house, one Erik and Magnus walked along, conversing whilst Wanda slept. The sky was grey, rain clouds were beginning to form. It was exactly the kind of weather both men remembered experiencing when they were boys, being ripped away from their parents, multiple German guards holding onto them as they bent the gate separating them from hundreds of people being sent to die. Only for Magnus, he didn't bend the gate so much that it inspired a scientist to experiment on him. The younger boy's powers only briefly and benignly manifested, instead he was taken with everyone else to a camp. Erik had done terrible things in his life, but he wasn't so cold as to not have sympathy, especially knowing that Magnus sat in the same confined space as his father, wearing the same striped clothes, ridden with knits, muscles aching from work and sickness.
"My parents were both taken to the gas chamber, I would have been too if not for the arrival of the allies and the SSR, I even briefly met Margaret Carter," Magnus explained.
"The first super soldier!"
"Interesting," Magnus mused at Erik's statement. "She was formidable, for a human, many years passed and my powers grew, my strength, even my rate of aging could be slowed through control of magnetic fields."
"Impressive, I never thought to push my abilities in such a way, you mean to tell me that mutants have existed in this world?" Erik asked.
"Yes they have, and in order to protect them…"
"Anonymity is our best defence against the rest of the world," Erik said and Magnus smirked.
"Exactly, an idea taken to a new level, if we could gather in secret, if we could erase the very concept of mutation then the world would never be able to harm us," Magnus explained.
"But we are the next step in evolution why should we…"
"Tell me, how has mutation worked for your world, for other worlds, I've seen them Erik, I've seen a world where mutants are hunted by Sentinel services, mutant protectors good and evil considered lost and forgotten, I've seen worlds where mutant kind has been reduced to a handful because of mutant killing treatments hidden in common shop bought drinks."
Erik could say nothing, with Xavier dead in his world, mutants had lost one of their advocates. Earth 838 was mourning the loss of its heroes, and the mutant and human communities were divided. Angry and vengeful mutants argued that Xavier's approach failed, that his dream had died with him.
"Did you use Cerebro?" he asked.
"Cerebra, but no, no mutant alive unaided would have been able to erase and maintain the illusion that mutants do not exist, magic was the solution," Magnus said.
"The runes of Kof Kol, a spell that massively erases memory, but such a spell borders the edge of known and unknown reality," Erik stated.
"How do you think I became so familiar with the Multiverse?" Magnus asked and Erik widened his eyes for a moment.
"Did you create an Incursion?" he asked.
Magnus looked at his watch as he began walking up to the house with Erik.
"No, but what we did didn't help what with Strange rewriting time to resurrect the dead sorcerers and prevent Dormammu's invasion, and then there was Thanos. With a snap of his fingers he reduced the population of the entire universe to half, that energy ripping away at reality resulted in an incursion. There were more reasons for the heroes of the world to be depressed when they went to the garden. Heroes…" Magnus scoffed.
"You used the runes again to erase their memories didn't you?"
"To erase the world's memory of the time the heroes failed so completely, so utterly, that they proved they weren't heroes anymore, much like how your Illuminati did when they executed one of their own, when they debated executing a child. But just like them, even my heroes were capable of crossing the line. Another world appeared, threatening to crash into theirs, and they used the Infinity stones of our world one last desperate time, so desperate in fact that they ended up shattering the only hope their world had of restoring its original population," Magnus explained.
"But I don't understand, using the infinity stones is a feat no human could accomplish without killing themselves, and last I checked your Thor and Hulk hadn't burnt their arms," Erik said.
"Did they not?" Magnus asked.
"Impossible, there still would have been the physical scars," Erik said.
But Magnus kept on smirking, kept on walking to the house.
"Answer me Magnus, you claim that your heroes already encountered an incursion, why would you erase that?" Erik asked.
"Whoever said we were the ones who erased it?" Magnus asked back.
"You aren't the only ones trying to conceal something," Erik said.
"That's why they can't be trusted you see, to protect the world, to protect my daughter," Magnus said.
"But you failed her first," Erik retorted.
"And were you father of the year?" Magnus asked.
"There was a reason my Wanda was stable, happy," Erik said.
"Then why are you here?"
"To warn you Magnus, to warn you that the Illuminati are coming, coming in force, they think your daughter and others are the key to restoring universes lost because of Incursions, they think they will help them stop what is coming," Erik explained.
"She's been through enough, but thank you for the warning," Magnus said.
"She has been through much, which was why I hoped you could tell her to surrender and come peacefully," Erik said.
Magnus laughed, but his amused smile faded as portals appeared behind Erik. Out of the portal closest to Erik came a blue skinned and scaled woman in a white dress, her red hair slicked back. After her came a short man with a green hue to his skin, wearing an orange and brown jesters outfit. Then there was a tall man with black eyes and bestial teeth and nails, he was wearing a jacket with a fur collar, boots with fur on the heels and beige trousers. Magnus stood his ground in particularly when the people in the other portals stepped out. Out of that portal came Maximus and the Inhumans Gorgon, Triton and Karnak and Captain Carter's Avengers allies, the Grey Hulk, the Scarlet Spider and Firestar.
"That's a shame, and I was being so reasonable today," Magnus sighed.
Next Chapter 10: The forgotten
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter
Can't say my first reaction to DC's plans has been enjoyable, first Henry is in, then he's out, the Rock is out, too bad.
Earth 838's Brotherhood and Inhumans: Now you might recognise 838/Mckellen Magneto's Brotherhood, I wanted to go with the first X-men films roster and cast, and the same for the Inhumans, with classic outfits for all of them. From the Avengers I brought in a Grey Hulk, MCU Scarlet Spider Concept art and Zendaya as Firestar (Michelle Jones :)
This is all leading somewhere, trust me, next time though we finally have Spider-man's proper introduction.