Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC
The idea of Hope and Scott in this opening, stemmed from partly the original leaked ending for Quantumania, as well as my approach to Secret Invasion.
Which has been what it is on Disney+
Liked some of the Flash movie, could have had a more emotional and meaningful (besides nostalgia) film if they went for the more direct adaptation of Flashpoint with a Jeffrey Dean Morgan/Thomas Wayne Batman.
Back to Secret Crisis
Universal Collision: Secret Crisis
Chapter 13: Revolution
Quantum Realm-Months ago
"Don't let me go, don't let me go," a frantic, bruised and battered Scott Lang clung to the woman he loved.
Hope held him, tighter than she wanted to when considering his injuries. They had come to the Quantum realm, lost one another, found out the secret to Janet's time there and found each other again. When they pressed their foreheads together, any further moment between them was interrupted by the cheering below them. Kang's 'Quantum metropolis' was in tatters, Jentora and her people had freed their home of his army, and the conqueror was gone, robbed of his prize and his ticket home was the means of his execution. Holding each other, the couple waited, and then the portal opened behind them.
'Great job Peanut,' Scott thought with pride.
When they turned to the portal however they were met with a far different sight.
"So wait, wait, wait, wait, you are Kang, but not that Kang?"
He looked away from his terminal, turning towards Stern, an eager man whose potential had been wasted.
"Yes Samuel…"
"Um Leader please," the gamma scientist said.
"Of course Leader, I am Kang, but there is not just one Kang in the Multiverse and not all variants are identical, that being race, gender or even species. I am a Kang who conquered many things, be it science or warfare," Kang called the Multiversal core to his hand and analysed it with a smile.
They were in his base, in another pocket of the Quantum realm, or as people of one Earth called it the Microverse (though not out loud due to copyright laws). He walked through the air whilst Samuel Sterns kept to the spiral staircase that Kang's metallic rings created for him. They walked to an upper level of their lab, one where MODOK was working, floating around the circular platform and using his mental powers to flip switches and push buttons.
"But not all Kangs are created equal; some are so ahead in the game that they like to claim that they are the leaders, the council of Kangs we call ourselves. The Conqueror variant was not the first Kang opposed to every other version, he was just the first to be exiled, we're all as bad as one another," Kang explained.
"So you don't work for the other Kangs?" Sterns asked.
"Work with, not for, it's the same for every Kang, we like to party and cheer with one another in the arena but we are all just waiting for that right moment to stab one another in the back, especially the big three," Kang stated and his fellow scientists looked at him in confusion. "Rama Tut the Pharaoh, the cosmic Centurion and the oldest of 'All of us,' Immortus, we all want to be in charge, we know that the others intend to betray us, they know we intend to betray us…it's like a game, last Kang standing wins," he chuckled whilst his allies looked at him oddly for his brief shift in voice pitch earlier.
"And have you ever killed a Kang before?" MODOK asked.
"Just like the Avengers, even our own variants start to blur together eventually," Kang took on a deep and ominous tone, there was almost a look of regret on his face.
"We are ready to begin the cosmic tuning simulation," Samuel said.
"Very good, whilst we do that we should analyse what the heroes are doing," Kang said.
He clicked his fingers together, opening the window that allowed him to see what his foes, the Avengers and this League were doing.
Kara looked sympathetically at Kendra Saunders. She had removed her helmet, was kneeling by her lover and weeping over what was left of him.
"I'll find you," she whispered.
"It would be curious to see if you are both still capable of reincarnation, new Multiverse, new rules I suppose," Savage said.
"Watch your mouth," Sam said.
Inwardly though he wept too out of frustration, he was supposed to be Captain America now, yet he wasn't the one rallying people.
"There's still hope, we can get out of here and save the others," Superman said.
"Savage obviously must have a way out," the League's Batman said, looking towards the immortal.
"So what'll it be Savage, the hard way or the easy way?" Batwoman asked.
"I have a back door, but it closes itself in the event that I approach it with anyone labelled a so called hero, there is one option however," Savage said.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"The parameters cover all of you, but not him," Savage pointed at the younger Batman. "Quite frankly considering the youth and 'ground' nature of your Earth, you weren't considered anywhere near the level of the paragons, league or Avengers. If you feel I will betray you, have vengeance accompany me," the immortal explained.
"Deal/no deal," the young and league Batman respectively said at the same time.
"Stereo," Kate said and Kamala awkwardly smiled.
Kara patted the girl's shoulder, making her look away from Carter's remains. Batwoman on the other hand turned Kamala by her chin.
"This is the life, and the price we might end up paying," she told her.
Kamala hesitantly nodded, and Kara realised her friend wasn't being snippy or unkind with the girl. The Kryptonian of the former Earth 38 looked to her other world cousin standing between both Batmen, diplomatic in his stance despite being taller than them both.
"Right now we don't have a lot of options, he's tougher than you'd think Batman," he said to his League team mate.
"I'm not doubting his strength, or his ability to spot a betrayal coming, because make no mistake Savage will use this to pull something," the League's Batman said.
"Short of trusting whoever is left on our Earths to get us out of this, we need another way," Sam said.
"You're free to debate, I have plenty of time to spare," Savage grinned and the younger Batman walked up to him.
"You're taking me with you, if you try something I'll make you regret it," he threatened.
The immortal huffed, though still had an intrigued look as he stared the vigilante down. His hand lingered over the knife in his coat, whilst he spotted the grapple gun shift on the Batman's gauntlet.
"I have been impaled by Mayan spears, crucified by the Roman Legionnaires, shot by revolution muskets and killed across many timelines by those who called themselves Legends…you being Batman is simply overrated to me," Savage explained.
"I would call that a challenge," Batwoman said, nodding to her cousin variant.
"After you," Savage motioned for Batman to follow him, but the vigilante remained still and stoic.
The immortal shrugged before walking away with Bruce following. Superman and Supergirl listened in, knowing that Savage would pull something.
There was always someone outside of Steve's cell. But at certain points there was even more activity, people rushing by it. Steve had been in the military long enough to know what those rapid sequence of footsteps meant, someone big was coming and they needed to haul their butts to present themselves. This meant there would be a lapse in security, true such a thing was paradoxical as people had to be at their best during inspections. Then there was the change of deadline, these 'Skrulls' wanted to know something about him now. The door opened and a familiar face walked into the cell.
Sharon Carter, Peggy's niece, it seemed like a cosmic joke that he would find himself attracted to a relative of his first love. She cautiously walked towards him and released his chains.
"Steve," she whispered.
"Sharon," he said back.
He hated it, but thanked Nat for her acting lessons. Very few people could or should be trusted, he didn't approve of that kind of thinking, but he knew she would.
"We don't have a lot of time, I was able to slip away," she hadn't even covered herself in soot, done anything to indicate she had been taken prisoner. "We need to get out of here, I was able to find a ship but they'll realise my cell is empty," she said, helping Steve across the room to the door.
"There were others here," Steve said.
"We can't do anything about that right now, our priority has to be to get out of here and bring in reinforcements," she stated.
Steve supported himself more, moving away from Sharon. The kiss they shared was still on his mind, her words at Peggy's funeral. Then it hit him, a kiss he shared with a woman mere days after he buried one he had loved.
"There's something wrong happening here Sharon, you know what we have to do though right?" he asked.
She just looked at him though confused and Steve had to chide himself. He wasn't a perfect man by any means; he had made a mistake in kissing Sharon as good as it was. No magic spell there, just a grateful man affected by the stress he had experienced those few days. But he remembered her words, better than she did it seemed.
'Plant yourself like a tree,' he remembered.
"Such a shame," she muttered.
Three lines briefly appeared on her chin as her eyes glowed green. They returned to Sharon's natural colour as she looked at Steve, her hands glowed with some kind of electricity when she began to approach him.
"It's so pathetic back in your world Steve, no one questions why me, a formerly dedicated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would abandon her country and go criminal, they'll probably think I'm part of some secret empire or something," she chuckled.
Steve prepared to dodge whatever she was going to fire from her hands.
"We wanted to know whatever final pieces of information you might have had, details we can't get from a name and serial number, from a file. We needed intimate moments to find out just who you were, so that we could do more than just drop a shield into an unworthy replacements hand," 'Sharon' said.
She raised her head suddenly, putting her hand to her ear. Steve recognised the ear piece and suddenly broke off into a run towards her. He broke his run however when she fired a yellow blast from her hand. It was like electricity in how it coiled, narrowly missing between Steve's leg, leaving a scorch mark and fumes from where it landed on the ground. She fired a blast again, making Steve flip back to avoid it. He rolled to the side to dodge a third blast and ran around the corner, yelling as a fourth blast struck his shoulder. His arm felt numb, but not so numb that he couldn't move it. Despite his treatment, he still had some energy left, enabling him to outrun his jail keeper.
When he came around the corner he saw two Skrulls patrolling. He used the momentum of his run and jumped to slam his feet into the first Skrull, throwing him back. The attack made the guard drop his blaster. His friend began firing at Steve, narrowly missing the super soldier before he grabbed the fallen weapon. Steve fired the alien gun, burning a hole through the Skrull's chest with a green beam. Panting and sweating, Steve looked over the weapon, barely able to hear the claxons blaring over his head. He looked down the corridor he had run, keeping the blaster ready for any trace of his pursuer. She seemed to have given up for now.
Criti Noll slammed Stephen Strange against the floor, whilst his guards shocked the collar that America was wearing. He looked to his fellow Skrulls and smiled, fully shifting into his purple uniform.
"It is done my friends, I have claimed our first mark of destiny," he said.
"And jeopardised all of our infiltrators in the process," 'Sharon Carter' said as she walked into the room.
Every Skrull suddenly bowed, much to the confusion of the armoured prisoners and America and Strange. Rhodey widened his eyes in a sudden realisation, seeing the CIA agent, head of her own department, with access to weapons, personnel and information. 'Sharon's body shifted, her skin and hair turned green, her white and blue combat suit turned into elaborate red and black robes, gold chains on her neck and wrist linked a black cape on her back. Suddenly the reason the Skrulls knelt became clear as a silver crown formed on the Skrull woman's head. Rhodey felt his back scream as he, Riri and Harvey were forced onto their knees.
"All hail Queen Veranke," Criti Noll said.
"He loves you," the Skrulls chanted.
"He loves you," the newly named queen stated, her fellow Skrulls rising with a wave of her hand.
"What about us?" Strange asked, making his protégé chuckle despite the collar around her neck.
The queen showed no reaction to the sorcerer's quip, instead she walked towards him, two guards lifted him onto his feet as she created an energy blast in her hand.
"Even you Stephen Strange, even you whom failed to respond to the Scarlet Witch at the most important moment, perhaps if you had been there at the start of Westview, you might have prevented her from falling to the dark hold," she explained.
She turned, looking at Rhodey as the energy in her hands faded.
"How affective even are you as protectors? When you couldn't even protect one of your own members?" she asked.
"You've been manipulating things from the start," Rhodey said.
"We didn't need to, the Avengers broke apart because Steve Rogers kept secrets and because your dear friend Tony Stark was so egotistical and prideful," Veranke said.
To her surprise and the confusion of the other Skrulls, Rhodey laughed inside his armour.
"You're right, man Tony sure used to be egotistical, you're right, all it took was some woman coming around with a story to convince him that he needed to put things right, regardless of how anyone else thought. One thing that Tony could never admit to being, was wrong, it frustrated me, it frustrated Happy, I'm pretty sure it's the least attractive thing Pepper found about him. But that need to always be right, to always be the one leading the way, it comes from love, and don't you dare roll your eyes," Rhodey snapped, making the queen frown. "He needed to be the guy in charge; to be the guy who failed, because then it would have been his success and his fault if he failed, so that the guilt would be on him and no one else. It wasn't the best way of dealing with things, but it his way of dealing with things, people called him a futurist, the truth is he was an engineer, always trying to make things, or fix them," he explained.
"But he couldn't fix you could he?" Veranke retorted.
"I'm not broken, and I don't regret a thing," he said.
"That's the biggest lie I've ever heard," the queen chuckled.
"Enough of the posturing, I had enough of dramatics and 'banter' from playing Lang, the most painful experience of my life was playing some dullard," Criti stated and again Veranke rolled her eyes.
"He loves you Noll, your sacrifice has been noted, as well as your contributions to the cause," Veranke said.
She stretched her hand, taking hold of Chavez's cheek and turning her face.
"So much power in one so young, a cosmic joke really, to give ultimate power to those who would waste it," she sighed.
"America hasn't wasted her power," Strange said.
"She could have continued travelling across the Multiverse, she could have seen the damage that was being done to it by Onmni-Avengers, Paragons, Spider-Societies, she could have been the portal that would have led so many people to their salvation. There is a darkness growing across time and reality, every present, every past, every future is under threat because of a growing mould caused by the fusion of multiple universes once separated by invisible walls. But there is a way to save it…"
"The marks of destiny, the latest Macguffins that need to be gathered," Riri said.
"So intelligent and brave, of course you would be allowed to fight alongside the Wakandan army," Veranke scoffed as she looked at Riri.
"MacGuffins, I like that," Criti chuckled.
"Once we realised that something had been created to potentially restore the Multiverse and its balance, we knew that we had to be the ones to have them. Because of course the Avengers couldn't be trusted with it, you'd get it wrong," Veranke explained.
"Sects of Skrulls were infiltrating your world, but they were thinking too small, a war between Russia and America was their initial idea, to use the chaos to take over. But we are not mere conquerors, we want to save our people, we want to save the Multiverse," Criti explained.
"And yes, we even want to save you," Veranke said.
"He loves you!" the Skrulls whispered.
"I'd rather he not," America muttered and yelled in pain as the two guards put her to her knees.
"Leave her alone," Stephen snapped.
The guards pulled his arms back, making him yell out, both nearly pulling his arms out of his sockets. Criti moved his armoured prisoners across the room, making sure they were out of ear shot.
"Skaar was discovered alongside our agent impersonating the Hulk, I believe the other world heroes may have freed him of the mind control," he stated.
"A shame, Gravik and the agents already on Earth are deploying as we speak, if it is possible to break the mind control, then our own people are in jeopardy," she explained. "There is another unfortunate issue," she added and Noll narrowed his eyes at her.
"What has happened?" he demanded.
Steve huffed tiredly, leaning against the wall and holding the Skrull rifle close to his chest. He looked at the dead Skrull guards, none had been able to raise the alarm. Whatever hold Sharon/the Queen had must have been fragile if she wanted to avoid a panic. Steve checked the bodies for anything resembling a key or security pass. Security must have been minimal; or rather whatever accounted for a budget to these people had probably been dedicated to certain areas of their plan, akin to the power diverted from the city grid when Steve took the super soldier serum. The enhancements for their soldiers must have had a cost beyond whatever genetic material they took. He stumbled into a lab of some kind, materials were kept in opposite rooms with energy fields as the doors.
"That's the security I see," Steve muttered.
He walked up to the energy field surrounding one 'store room' and was taken aback by what he saw. Inside the room were pieces of Iron man armour. Steve recognised the XLVII chest plate, the dome helmet and bulk of the XLIV hulk buster and the chest and shoulder weapons of the War Machine Mark I. Moving along the room Steve looked inside another storage room and boxes filled with I.C.E.R pistols and rifles, gauntlets and devices that looked like centipedes. Steve looked over his shoulder at the room opposite him, not needing his vision to know that there were light weight battle suits from Hammer industries (probably the only thing he made that worked) along with bullets Steve had heard of known as Judas bullets.
'They collected different weapons and equipment for physical enhancement from our universe, but to what end?' Steve summarised.
Before leaving the room Steve saw additional storage units for black armour that he didn't recognise, probably alien, and white and red armour that looked like they had fish fins on them. Steve heard more men coming down the corridor and quickly made his way in the opposite direction.
When Bruce looked out of the portal with Savage, he was shocked by the sudden change of colour. It wasn't that it was night or the lightning, but the world itself seemed like it had gone through a camera filter of the 1950s movie.
"Don't worry, the teleportation has not affected your vision," Savage said, a teasing smile across his face.
"The Multiverse," Bruce muttered.
"Of course, this world's light and background are different because of its uniqueness, it even used to be black and white," the immortal's smile seemed to deepen.
They had appeared in an alleyway, looking into a street where the closest building was one that had a giant planet on it. Bruce had heard of Metropolis and the Daily Planet, in fact he had just stepped on a newspaper with the date on it, current day and month, but the year was 1958.
"Certain worlds are stuck in time, unable to move forward," Savage elaborated.
"I would have said that's impossible until now, so why pick this world, are there no heroes to stop you here?" Batman asked.
"Oh there is a Superman, but the level of technology here is as you can imagine stuck at the level it was in the 1950s, no internet or digital footprint that can be tracked, it is a good place to put a backdoor," Savage explained.
"To your base?"
"No, to another world that has the technology to get me to the base and any other world," Savage said.
"Why not just skip to the world you need to get…" Batman stopped, realising what was happening.
He grabbed Savage's hand, locking it around his back and pushing him against the wall.
"In case you had a passenger you didn't want, you were going to back stab them and leave them here," he said.
Savage kept his smirk on his face, before putting on a look of terror.
"OH HELP! HELP ME! A VILLAINOUS HOOLIGAN IS ATTACKING ME!" he yelled.
Bruce loosened his grip slightly on Savage, wondering just why he talked so strangely. Suddenly, the wall behind them was blown open and out rushed a Superman. His costume looked like fabric as opposed to the League's Superman, the S logo was smaller, his cloak hung off of the back of his neck and the suit included red trunks and a yellow belt. Superman grabbed Batman by his shoulder and threw him across the alleyway.
"Oh thank you Superman," Savage said gratefully.
He reached into his coat pocket and swung around, slashing the Superman's chest with a knife. Only instead of shattering it cut through fabric and flesh and that world's Superman recoiled and looked at the Kryptonite blade Savage held.
"Kryptonite, my only weakness," he proclaimed.
"Indeed," Savage said.
"And this was nothing more than an ambush," Superman said.
With the man of steel's power drained, Savage kicked the super hero to the ground. He raised his arm, ready to finish him off when something pierced through his hand. The knife clattered to the floor and Savage looked at the bat symbol sticking through his hand, taken from Bruce's chest plate. Savage reached into his coat again and pulled out a grenade, throwing it at Bruce. Superman however rushed in front of Bruce, taking the explosion on his back and shielding Batman from the flames. When the dust settled, both heroes saw that Savage was gone.
"I apologise for the misunderstanding, your armour looked so sinister, but it does not excuse me for judging you like that," Superman stated.
"I'm sorry too to bring this to you, that man is dangerous and we need to find him, there's more than just the lives of the people in this city at stake," Bruce explained.
"Say no more friend," Superman offered him his hand, helping him off of the floor.
Batman wiped the dust off of his suit whilst Superman stood with his fists on his hips, declaring they would bring the villain to justice together. The Batman and Superman of two vastly different eras stood side by side, and something in Bruce told him, that he had nothing to worry about now.
Nick Fury knew he had something to worry about. He stormed through the offices of S.H.I.E.L.D. or at least the public front of the agency. Alphonso 'Mack' Mackenzie wouldn't have been his first choice to take over as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. considering the man had never really been on Nick's radar. But Mack had done well in leading a more clandestine (70 percent of the time at least) of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick went past the man's shocked and confused secretary and went straight into the director's office. Mack defensively looked between Nick and the other Nick sitting in front of his desk. The Nick who just entered put his hands on his hips and gave his doppelganger a 'really' look.
"Well this is awkward," the other Nick's voice changed, his twang almost Australian.
"Please don't scream, and if you're going to push the alarm, at least come up with an excuse to keep us here as I explain to you a few things Director, Talos," Nick nodded to his friend sitting down.
The Fury doppelganger suddenly turned into a green skinned alien, even his clothes shifted with him, Fury's signature coat turning into a grey waistcoat. It didn't take long for Talos to take on a human form, the agency director in the 90s Keller.
"What is this?" Mack asked.
"Please don't shoot me with that shotgun under your table director, and Nick what are you doing here exactly?" Talos asked.
"Something's come to my attention, certain agencies and organisations have been compromised," Nick said.
"Then by that justification, how did you really lose your eye?" the Skrull asked.
Fury sighed in frustration, removing his eye patch to expose his scarred eye.
"Not to a goddamn cat I'll tell you that much," he said.
He set himself on the seat next to Talos and took something out of his pocket. It was a simplistic notepad that he passed onto Mack across the desk. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D cautiously took the paper and read what was inside. His muscles tensed as he ripped one of the pieces of paper away, squashing it into a ball.
"This is accurate?" he asked.
"We have multiple sources, the only thing we don't know is when it is going to happen," Fury said.
Mack flinched when his phone began to ring. He tiredly wiped his eyes and the sweat off of his brow before picking the phone up.
"Talk to me," he said, humming and nodding as whoever was on the other line spoke. "WHAT!" he yelled, standing up and toppling his chair back.
"Is it happening?" Fury asked.
Though he didn't specify, 'it' seemed to be happening in S.H.I.E.L.D, CIA headquarters in Langley, the Inhuman home in Sydney, the Wakandan embassy in Manhattan and the Stark offices in LA. 'Happy Hogan' walked out of the Stark office in Malibu, just as the bomb he planted exploded, sending glass raining down on the crowds below. Armed men walked into the Wakandan Embassy, holding weapons that looked like they had been made from sea shells. Having just survived its battle with an undersea faring people, it left a bad taste in the Wakandan's mouths. Then the men began shooting, energy blasts piercing through some of the workers. A blue beam suddenly cut some of the weapons apart. Vision floated out of one of the offices, T'Challa putting on his helmet and sliding out his claws before jumping down to meet the attackers.
"You picked the wrong place," he said.
Daniel Sousa was a man out of time, literally out of his own time and facing a lot of guns. Again armed men and women came into the Langley offices, using repainted Stark armour, I.C. and improved Hammer guns. The man from the past yelled as he was thrown across the room. He rolled onto his back, looking up at the one that attacked him.
"Daisy?" he gasped.
She stood in her S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit, her hands raised. The Inhuman agent of S.H.I.E.L.D generated multiple shockwaves, bringing down sections of the building, killing many agents and opening cells were prisoners were kept. One such prisoner dizzily stumbled out of his cell, sliding down a concrete slope made by the explosions. He landed in the office area, watching as Quake aimed her hand at Sousa, himself unwilling to shoot the woman who brought him to this time, the woman he loved. Suddenly, a white blue moved past Daisy, delivering a punch that twisted her neck to a 180 degree angle. The white haired man looked at his hands in shock, everyone laughed at his name Ralph Bohner, but something inside him told him that wasn't his name at all. He heard the clicking of a gun and immediately ran away, leaving behind in seconds. Sousa walked over to Daisy's body, and instead saw her brown hair slipping back and her face changing into that of a Skrull's.
'Crystal', princess of the Inhumans was in the middle of new Attilan when explosions started going off around her. She raised her hands, creating torrents of wind to add further destruction to the city. Changing to her Skrull form, she added fire and used Nano-tech to create Iron man gauntlets. Some of the newest Inhumans, Flint and Inferno tried to stop her, but were quickly knocked back by the Repulsors. She was about to finish them off when someone landed behind her. Underarm wings folded back into the man's black and grey costume, resembling much his 838 counterparts though more armoured, the Inhuman King Black Bolt looked at the creature that had replaced his sister in law and made a choice between information and the citizens she was threatening. Looking up at the balcony above them, he saw his queen Medusa. She wore a purple suit with a black colour, gloves and boots, her red hair wavering as she nodded to her husband.
"No," Black Bolt said.
It was one word that released a sonic wave, disintegrating the Skrull imposter.
The White House however was quickly being overrun by the Skrull threat.
"Give me a gun," President Ritson demanded of one of his service guards.
"Sir, we need to get you to a bunker right away," one of the guards said.
The guard behind him suddenly took hold of his neck and twisted it around. An orange glow rose in the man's throat before he let out a cloud of fire, burning one of the other agents. He set his gaze on the president, shaping his hand into a sharp wooden stake. Suddenly, Ghost came through the ceiling and thrust her hands into the Skrull's chest. His skin glowed orange with the Extremis enhancements, burning off his shirt and revealing the centipede injector on his back. Ava yelled with the Skrull, reaching her hands forward and grabbing the Centipede. Her body shimmered and she yanked her hands back, along with the centipede, fusing it to the Skrull's heart.
"The president is secure," she spoke into her Comm. Device.
"Good, keep him safe Ghost, the rest of us will deal with the rebels," the voice of her commander spoke over the radio.
Yelena was surprised by that fact she wasn't made the field leader, even more so that the other choice wasn't Walker. The US Agent hid his disappointment well beneath his helmet, strapping the black and red shield he had received to his arm. Likewise Alexei admired the shield he had been given, his new suit including black sleeves and highlights as opposed to white and missing his helmet. No doubt the Red Guardian was looking forward to upstaging American agents and saving the President. Antonia put on her mask, or rather Taskmaster's mask; the bulk of her costume still gave off the impression that she was a man. She wasn't the only masked and unknown quantity in the team; Val had assigned a new agent last minute. He had a bow and arrows like Barton but a more militaristic version of that suit he wore over Christmas. The man covered his face with a mask that had a bull's eye symbol on it.
Finally there was the Thunderbolt's field leader, he acknowledged Ava's method and opened the bay door of their transport. His bulky frame was almost breaking through his yellow shirt; he wore fingerless gloves and a belt buckle that had a thunderbolt on it.
"All right Thunderbolts, let's become Earth's mightiest heroes," Luke Cage said.
Sven had begun to struggle with his memories, the experience of being buried in New York when the Chitauri hit. Then he could see his mother dying; only it wasn't his mother. He remembered the disadvantage of Fusion; it was possible for him to lose himself. The more people in the Fusion the worse it could get. Barry Allen should have been an easy fusion, but his own memories were just as complicated as if Sven fused with a group of people. Sven saw the briefest of flickers of Barry in his first Flash suit, pushing a truck along, then it changed to him reversing time completely. He could see babies falling from the sky, a Batman who wasn't either of the men they met, a Supergirl who wasn't the Supergirl they met and an encounter with an older and darker Flash.
"NOBODY DIES!"
"I've lived more than you can dream!"
Sven could feel tears well up in his eyes when he saw the woman who must have been Barry's mother.
"Love you first!"
But there was more, far more flooding through Sven's mind like the very name Barry had taken on. If anything it was more intense than when he fused with White Flash, because it wasn't a case of just two life times, but multiple branches of another. He could see an apocalyptic nightmare with a rogue Superman torturing a Batman in a trench coat, a world that had no Superman but the other Supergirl and that old Batman training a Batgirl. It was becoming too much for Sven to bear.
"Saved his mommy, and ruined everything didn't he?"
"Unthinking of the consequences again and again."
"Selfish, imperfect hero, not worthy of the name, just like…"
Sven screamed, feeling the darkness creeping through the cracks of his psyche. He had to break the fusion quickly before he lost himself. In a burst of lightning, Sven and Barry were thrown away from one another, both rolling across desert sand. Sven patted his cybernetic arm; the device was sparking from the affects of the speed force and was beginning to let out some smoke.
"Now that was an experience, are you okay?" Barry asked, standing up and patting the sand off of his suit.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that, it wasn't my intention to do that," Sven said.
"It's okay, so long as we're not hurt, but where are we?" the speedster tilted his head, looking around.
"Hopefully Egypt or some other desert region and not…dystopian future," Sven said.
"Please don't jinx us," Barry groaned.
"Maybe you could run around for a bit, scout…" Sven was cut off when the Flash suddenly ran off, the lightning crackling along the sand as he did.
Sven put his hand on his hips, drawing circles on the sand with his feet, waiting and looking up at the sun. He could make something out in the sky, the silhouette of a person. Cosmic energy seemed to glow around her, helping Sven to recognise her as Carol Danvers. There was a puff as she broke the sound barrier and went straight towards him.
Aeon raised his robotic arm at the least second, teeth coming down on the alloy. Finally getting a closer look at this world's Captain Marvel he could make out the torn segments of her blue and red suit, her right leg was exposed bone, forcing her to constantly fly. Her skin was an unhealthy white, almost blue colour and whilst she was wearing her cowl, the top of it was half ripped, exposing her scalp ripped open to expose her brains whilst only a Mohawk of hair was left. With dead white eyes she snapped at Sven again, making him jump back, sliding across the sand to draw some distance between them. There was a crackle of yellow lightning that signalled the Flash's return.
"Yep, we definitely need to leave this place, oh I see you found out what kind of Earth we're on," he said.
The ground suddenly shook and both heroes turned. Abomination had landed, only he too had dead eyes and teeth like razors. Necrosis had also begun to consume the right side of his body, leading to one of his fins falling off as he walked towards them. Zombie Danvers fired a photon blast, hitting Barry in the chest. She fired again and Sven deflected it with an optic blast. He was about to jump when Abomination barged into him. Blonsky stomped towards Sven, rearing his head back for a bite. His jaw grabbed Sven's robotic arm, lifting him off of the floor.
"Run Flash RUN!" Aeon yelled, unleashing his optic blast on Danvers.
It threw Danvers into the sand, practically burying her. Sven's arm was ripped apart, causing him to fall at Abomination's feet.
"No," Flash called out as Abomination spat out the arm and looked down at Sven.
There was a sound like a furnace, before a blast hit Abomination in the head. The attack melted Abomination's skin, half exposing his skull. A second blast melted through the bone of his chest, knocking him off balance. Sven and Barry looked towards where the blasts had come from. Whoever he was he was using the Destroyer armour prototype gun that S.H.I.E.L.D. made. Iron man rocket boots enabled him to hover off of the air; patches of the red were half sprayed with purple paint. The rest of the armour didn't match the Stark rocket boots, the old Ant-man helmet looked especially out of place with the bulk of the rest of the purple and green armour. There was a hiss and the man behind the helmet was revealed, bald head, and a beard that had grown dirtier in the time he had been in the zombie infested world, yet had done little to hide the smug sense of superiority he gave off.
"Come with me if you want to live," Lex Luthor said.
Next Chapter 14: Sons of Gods
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, the Superman Batman teams up with is based on the George Reeves era TV Show and the universe Flash and Aeon end up on is the What If Marvel Zombies universe with designs and characters to be introduced based on the future planned TV series.
Also, another retcon, Fury's eye is not lost to a joke.
Next time the heroes navigate their 'prisons' whilst on Corban a battle royale commences between the son of Odin, the son of Darkseid and the son of Zeus.