FRAMEWORK
In the early hours of the morning, on the distant fringes of the urban landscape, a woman wearing a long, black trench coat, scarlet high heels, and luscious, flowing red hair cascading over her shoulder was seen taking a leisurely stroll down the street. Despite the frosty atmosphere, she rubbed her hands together in an attempt to keep warm.
As she strolled down the deserted streets, a man donning a top hat trailed behind her at a leisurely pace. However, the woman remained oblivious to his presence and continued on her journey towards her intended destination. Gradually, she began to sense that someone was following her as she advanced down the street.
As she glanced around, she realized she had stumbled upon a dimly lit alleyway. Filled with unease, she hastened her steps to leave the area. As she walked, the shadowy figure trailed behind her, much like a lion tracking its prey. The girl hurried on until she reached a dimly lit alleyway with no way out.
She started to freak out and looked around for an escape as the figure came up with a knife. She then backed up and closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was coming. The man then walked out to reveal to her a monster non-other than Jack the Ripper.
"Oh, good." The girl said in relief as she stood up and dusted herself off. "Sorry for making you chase me. Just needed to make sure I had the right guy."
The perpetrator appeared to be taken aback and disoriented by the woman's actions. She then proceeded to remove her coat, revealing a striking dress crafted from leaves. The attire accentuated her legs and stopped at her shoulders, leaving little to the imagination. It was none other than HYDRA's highest-ranking Security member, Pamela Isley, also known as Poison Ivy.
"You've been killing a lot of innocent girls around this place lately," Pamela stated as she raised her hand, causing the plants surrounding them to come to life and used them to wrap around his limbs to keep him in place. "HYDRA doesn't have much sympathy for murders. You should have taken your chances with the police."
Then a staff came in and smacked Jack in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious, and revealed the figure was none other than the Black Canary.
"We promised to bring him in alive." Dinah reminded Pamela.
Ivy groaned and loosened the vines on his neck and just used them to tie him up. "Fine. The Director's sympathy annoys me at times."
"Sympathy isn't what I call what he has in mind for him," Dinah said as she strolled past and dislodged her staff into two pieces before placing them on her belt. "Your suffocation would be a mercy compared to what he has planned."
"True." Ivy supposed as she picked up her coat. "Let's get him to the WPD, let the law take care of him."
CHAPTER 4
WELCOME TO HELL
When Eli and Alice woke up in the Framework, they discovered they were side by side in a park. They exchanged an uncomfortable look before beginning to rise off of the ground. Eli rose and massaged his head, then observed his surroundings. Alice mimicked the action as she wiped her eyes to adjust to the strange surroundings. They were situated in the center of a small town square that seemed to be from the 1950s, with everything in black and white.
Eli looked around for a moment and spotted a sign that read: "Welcome to Arendelle Public Park."
"What the heck?" Eli exclaimed as he got a better look around the area. "Wait, did I just say 'heck'?"
"What's going on here?" Alice asked as she looked herself over. She was lost in trying to figure out why she was dressed like she was from an old sitcom. "And what the heck am I wearing?"
Eli said, "This doesn't look like much of a prison." He then looked down at himself and noticed he was wearing the same attire as well. "Okay..."
"Now I don't remember much about Arendelle," Alice said as she stood up and looked down at her 1950's style attire, "but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Main Street USA."
Eli said, "I think we better get some answers before we go any further." He looked over and noticed a small malt shop. "We could probably start there."
"Not a bad idea," Alice said as the two walked across the street and into the store.
As they walked in, a group of teenagers was seated at the bar, enjoying their drinks. Upon hearing the bell, they all turned to see Eli and Alice enter, followed by them noticing that the Warriors knew them. Courtney and a few other young Avengers and JSA members from Earth-2, all donning 1950s-inspired outfits.
Courtney exclaimed, "Alice! Eli!" before setting down her drink, "It's so good to see you guys!"
"Yeah," Eli said awkwardly. "It's good to see you too."
"Well, can we see it?" Courtney asked.
"See what?" Alice asked.
"Oh, don't be coy with us," Jessica Cruz said, noticing they were staring at the tattoo over her left eye, which looked exactly like her Green Lantern symbol. "It's all over town."
Eli started to say, "What's all over town," before glancing down and seeing something that caught his eye. "Oh, that?"
"What?" inquired Alice.
Eli put his hands together and wiggled his fingers, trying to signal to Alice what he meant. Alice's eyes darted around, and then she looked down at her left hand, where she saw a sparkling diamond ring. Her eyes widened before she tried to play it off.
"Oh, that? It's nothing." Alice said nervously.
Courtney said, "Oh Eli, that must have been expensive!"
"Me?" Eli asked, still trying to process everything that had happened since he and Alice first arrived here less than a few minutes ago. "Oh, it did cost me a lot!" Eli said, before descending into awkward laughter that Alice had to put a stop to by elbowing him in the ribs. "But it was all worth it!" Eli said a bit too loudly.
Alice said, "Look, we were just curious if you guys had seen Peter."
"Which one?" Courtney asked.
Neither Alice nor Eli had any idea how to answer that question. There were hundreds of Peters in the Framework, and if Peter Barton had a doppelgänger there, other doppelgängers could have made it into the Framework as well.
"You know the one," Alice answered.
"Oh, I haven't seen him," Courtney said. "He'll be here soon, though. He likes to ride his bike on days like this."
"We'll wait outside then," Eli said as he dragged Alice back with him. "You guys have a good day."
The two people walked outside and began strolling down the sidewalk. They observed that everyone seemed to be going about their daily routines as if nothing were amiss. A mailman drove up to them and honked his horn, attracting their attention.
"Don't shoot, I'm just the messenger," the mailman cried as he continued on his way.
"That was odd," Eli commented, confused.
"It's like an old sitcom," Alice said as she looked around.
"And a terrible one at that," Eli said.
"We have no idea where the Director is," Alice said as she looked around. "Or anyone else, for that matter."
"I guess we'll have to hope it's bike-riding Parker who shows up that we're looking for," Eli said as playful music filled the air.
Fear and dread seemed to fill them both as they recalled what had happened the last time music filled the air. They were stuck in a multiverse where they broke into a song like it was a Disney musical.
"Oh, no!" Eli and Alice exclaimed simultaneously.
They turned around and saw Peter and Elsa riding down the street on a tandem bike. This was a strange sight, to say the least; yet it wasn't something they couldn't imagine seeing them do. Earth-118 Peter was sappy enough to do something like this, but seeing the Queen of Ice herself doing it was odd.
"Everything is tickety-boo, tickety-boo, tickety-boo," Peter-118 sang as he biked past Eli and Alice, who watched in complete confusion. "Everything is tickety-boo, on such a dreamy day-di-li-ootely."
"You could be a snickety-poo, snickety-poo, snickety-poo," Elsa sang as some of the other townsfolk began to walk out and watch the couple. "With the sky so blickety-blue it causes one to say."
"Bless mankind, including my attackers," Peter-118 said as he stopped the bike in front of the malt shop, "I'm inclined the feeling is oh, so jolly well oh, it's absolutely crackers!"
Peter-118 grabbed Elsa and gave her a twirl.
"Incidentally how about you?" Peter-118 asked some of the teenagers who came out of the malt shop.
"I feel it too!" Courtney responded.
"How do you do?" Elsa said to Eli and Alice and gave them a curtsy, only confusing them even further. "O everything is tickety-boo, On such a dreamy, peaches and creamy day."
"Everything is tickety-boo, tickety-boo, tickety-boo," Peter-118 said before jumping up on a lamp post and swinging around, "Everything is tickety-boo, on such a dreamy day-di-li-ootely."
"Heart is going buckety-buc," Elsa said as she picked up a milk jar from Coulson, who was a milkman now.
"Lord love a duck," Coulson responded.
Alice said, "Looks like we found Coulson."
"Yeah, but Earth-S Coulson or Earth-616 Coulson?" Eli wonders.
"Buckety-buc." The crowd sang out, spooking them back into the musical.
"Seems there's a bit of good luck awaiting on the way," Peter-118 shouted before flipping around the lamppost.
"High-ho-hay! The breeze is in the trees-o." The crowd sang before they made their way into the street and began to dance. "Oh, I say!"
"The morning is quite a bit of all right, I'm feeling so very cheese-o," Peter-118 said as he and Elsa linked arms and went to the front of the crowd.
"Incidentally, how about you?" Eli asked Alice, shocked he had just sung along.
"I feel it too," Alice sang, just as shocked as Eli was.
"Follow it through," Eli said before he grabbed Alice by the hand and pulled her into the crowd.
"Everything is tickety-boo on such a dreamy day." The crowd sang.
"High-oh-hip hurray." Peter-118 sang.
"On such a dreamy, peaches and creamy day." the crowd sang again, and the music continued to play cheerfully as the crowd kept dancing.
"High-ho-hay!" The crowd sang, and Eli and Alice danced with one another at the front of the crowd with Peter and Elsa, "The breeze is in the trees-o. Oh, I say! The morning is quite a bit of all right, I'm feeling so very cheese-o."
"Incidentally, how about you? Happier too? Follow it through! Everything is tickety-boo on such a dreamy day." The crowd sang.
"High-oh-hip hurray!" Eli shouted.
"On such a dreamy, peaches and creamy..." The crowd continued.
"Such a dreamy, peaches and creamy..." Alice sang as Eli twirled her.
"Such a dreamy, peaches and creamy day!" The crowd sang, "Tickety-boo!"
The music stopped, and the crowd began to disperse as if nothing had happened.
"What just happened?" Alice asked in utter horror as she jumped away from Eli.
Eli said, in complete shock, looking around, "I think we were part of a musical number."
"Okay, we take that to our graves," Alice told Eli.
"Eli. Alice." Peter-118 said as he approached the two, who were doing their best to act like nothing was wrong. "So good to see you guys."
Elsa said, "I see you popped the question?" Leaning closer to Alice, she continued, "I hope you like it; I helped him pick out the ring."
"Well, thank you," Alice said, looking down at the ring and then back up at them. She had to admit, these guys really did act like the real Elsa and Peter. Just as happy and just as grateful to have each other in their arms. "So, how are things with you two?"
He said, "They're just as good as ever." As he placed an arm around Elsa's shoulder, drawing her closer, he continued, "The town is growing, business is booming, and families are moving in. It makes a mayor very happy."
"Mayor," Eli said before Alice elbowed him again. He groaned and quickly stood up straight. "I-I mean, it's just hard to believe that you won the election."
Well, it's hard to lose when your wife is one of the most beloved figures in Arendelle," Peter-118 said, gesturing to Elsa and pecking her on the head, earning a giggle from her.
"More than you know," Eli muttered, recalling how Elsa had gone from Queen to Fifth Spirit and finally to Avenger in their world.
"We were looking for Peter," Alice said, wondering where he had landed. "Have you seen him?"
Elsa asked in confusion, "Who?"
"Courtney's boyfriend," Alice narrowed it down, wondering how many Peter's Director Parker remembered.
Peter exclaimed in surprise, "Courtney has a boyfriend?"
Eli tried to come up with a lie. "He must have just moved to town," he said. "We'll have to meet up with you guys again later."
"Oh, you must," Elsa said.
"I've got a new grill I need to try out," Peter-118 said.
"Ooh, what kind?" Eli asked, genuinely interested, but Alice grabbed the back of his coat and dragged him off.
Alice asked, "Can you not stay focused?"
"I'm sorry," Eli said, "This world sucks you in. It's like Pleasantville."
Alice said, "We've only been here for less than 10 minutes."
Eli said, "I know; think about our friends, they've been here for days, maybe even weeks."
"But...this is supposed to be a prison," Alice said as she looked around the town. "What is going on?" Alice asked as she looked around the town. "This feels like we're trapped in a sitcom from the 70s. It's like Dick Van Dyke."
"Well, if I had to guess," Eli said as he scratched the back of his head, "it appears Bill has created some kind of prison that is meant to make people not want to leave."
"Yeah," Alice said, "this place has a real Mayberry vibe."
"I kind of like it," Eli said, losing focus.
"Eli," Alice scolded as she smacked his head, "focus."
"Right!" Eli said as he snapped his fingers.
"Why are you so much more susceptible than I am?" Alice asked.
"To be fair my mind has been torn apart and stitched back together multiple times." Eli defended himself.
Well, let's see what I can see from an aerial view," Alice said as she attempted to use her powers to fly. But that was when she realized she didn't have any powers. "Uh, oh."
Eli got worried and tried to activate his Iron Armor. "Uh oh. Our powers are gone."
"Okay then," Alice said, "We've got to be careful."
"So, what's the plan?" Eli asked himself as he walked down the sidewalk. "We've got to find Director Parker, Fitz; any one of them would know how to take this place down from the inside without powers."
Alice also said, "We also need to find Simmons and Cisco."
"And Peter Richards, Firestorm, and Cindy," he added, wondering where they were if they weren't here.
"Oh, yeah," Alice said with regretful realization.
"This just became more complex," Eli said.
"You think!" Alice shouted.
"Keep it together," Eli shouted back. "We can't afford to lose it now!" That's when Eli and Alice noticed that everyone was staring at them. "Let's get out of here."
Alice asked, "Where are we going to go?"
"I have a hunch about something here," Eli said as he led the way down the street and away from the town square.
The camera captured Alice and Eli leaving the town square, their actions erratic as if someone else were controlling them. They weren't behaving like normal, they were acting as if they were alive again.
Meanwhile, from his desk at the Triskelion, Peter-616 noted their behavior in a journal. He closed it and revealed that there was a HYDRA logo on the cover, with the acronym HEX beneath it: HEXADECIMAL, EXPERIENCE, XVR.
Peter-616 noted as they left. "You're not acting correctly." He looked at them closely. "How are you awake?"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of his office. "Come in," he said as the doors opened.
A woman of average height stepped into the room. Her short blonde hair had bangs in the front, while her hair on the sides extended past her ears. Wearing a red headband, she wore a pink t-shirt underneath a white jacket and light green trousers. Known as Gwen Stacy, or Gwen Parker in this world.
"Hey!" Gwen exclaimed with a smile, holding a paper bag in her hand. "I brought you lunch from that Mexican restaurant you love so much."
Peter looked up at her with a smile, but then his expression quickly changed to one of worry. "We weren't supposed to have lunch together, were we?"
"Oh no," Gwen assured him. "I was having lunch with Leopold and Ophelia. I thought you could use some food."
Peter sighed as he removed the camera screen and turned his attention to his wife. "I wish I had been there," he said.
"They understand," Gwen said, handing him the takeout bag. She stepped behind his chair and rested her hands on his shoulders, wrapping her arms around his neck. "They get it," she said. "They understand the burden of being the Director of Earth at this point."
"Still," Peter said with a sigh. "I should be with you more often than just sitting here staring at this stupid computer."
"What is it you always tell me?" Gwen asked with a fake look of curiosity. "Whenever I say you should hire a plumber whenever the pipes start leaking in the house?"
Peter repeated, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."
Gwen said as she leaned down and pecked him on the head, "And what you're doing is much more important than fixing leaky pipes."
Peter then smiled and pulled Gwen in for a kiss, which she easily returned. "I love you," he said.
"I love you, too," Gwen said, backing off. Then she noticed he wrote something down in the notebook. "What happened?"
"A few residents in the HEX seem to have woken up," Peter sighed. "I'll have to run down to the tech department and see what's happening. If one of them wakes up, the rest of them will wake up too."
"And if those people wake up, there could be a gigantic revolution, and a million people might die," Gwen said as she followed what he was saying. "Tell you what, I'll go check on Cisco in the tech department, take that load off your shoulders. You can finish up here, and I'll see you tonight." She then grabbed her purse and pecked his lips. "I'll pick up Richie from daycare on the way home, and Sarah should be getting out of school by the time I get back."
Peter 616 said as Gwen turned to leave the room. As she walked out the door, she addressed the guards at the entrance.
She said, "Hail HYDRA," as if it were a usual thing to say.
"Hail HYDRA," the guards replied as they shut the door, revealing a massive HYDRA symbol on it.
Peter-616 looked at the symbol on the door and smiled with pride. "Hail HYDRA."
Triskellion
The alternate Spider-Men were collaborating to combat the various enemies from different universes. Each of them possessed unique abilities and multiversal signatures, making it challenging to track them down. However, with the advanced technology provided by the Legends, their task was simplified. They only needed to determine their objective since Rip Hunter's location was unknown to the Legends.
"I think this is some sort of...WHOA!" Violet took a quick jump backward when she realized what she was holding. "This is like some sort of Anti-Matter bomb."
"Wait, you're telling me we've been carrying that thing on the Waverider this whole time?" Sara asks in shock.
"That could have wiped us out and our entire universe," said Peter-65.
"Actually, no." Ray broke to his friend as he looked it over. "This thing has the capacity to sort of expand, similar to an atom bomb. But it has some sort of endpoint to eventually end."
"Great." Peter-1 scoffed. "What use would that be?"
"Well, the only way to kill something that's not made of matter..." Peter-38 guessed as he looked the box over. "This weapon could potentially kill anything."
"Or anyone," Rick Tyler from Earth-2 said.
"Keep that thing under wraps for now," MJ said as she came out of the room, wearing her entire Project-Spinneret attire. "When we need it, we'll use it."
"Whoa," Doreen took notice of MJ's attire. "Where have you been hiding that?"
"Well, Peter thought I should have a way to defend myself if something ever went down like Battleworld again," MJ explains. "If this Framework thing fails, or Bill launches a scaled attack, these weapons are going to be our best line of defense. So, figure out what does what, so that we can start fighting back."
"Got that." Peter-1 nodded as he placed Mayday in a baby carrier he was wearing. Caitlin was going to be caring for the Framework people, so he was going to need to care for Mayday for some time. "We'll get to work."
"You think that's a good idea with the baby?" Ollie asks him.
Ashley said, "Trust me, you want him to take responsibility." As she walked away.
"It's not like you will," Tommy said as he looked over the weapons.
"Of course." Oliver sighed as he walked past a room full of Peter's. "A room of Peter Parker's."
"Well, that's what you get for living in the Spiderverse," Lane commented with a sigh.
"So, what do we do with everyone in the Framework?" Violet asks.
"Yeah, they're living in a whole new world," Peter-118 added. "That can't be easy."
"Don't worry, before I rescued Barry and Parker from demise, I sent in some help," Oliver promised as he was practicing his skills on a few targets, hitting them all. "A bit of a mole."
"Where did you get a mole?" Peter-1 asks.
"Let's just say as the Spector, I have access to worlds beyond your comprehension." Oliver gave an eerie answer.
Framework
Eli led Alice down a neighborhood sidewalk as night was beginning to fall on Arendelle. They weren't entirely sure how long they were walking, but they knew there was no way that it was long enough for time to change that day quickly into the night. Eli just kept going when he checked his wallet and came to a stop outside of a familiar household.
"Where are we?" Alice asked, she noticed Eli was looking at a mailbox.
"I think we're at my house." Eli stepped out of the way to reveal the name 'Roberts' on it.
"How did you know where this place was?" Alice asked.
"Well, the wallet certainly helps." Eli said, "I guess that we can set up some kind of base of operations here."
The two went inside the house and noticed that it was an altered version of the West household. Everything looked almost identical to their household, just with a few small differences with all the photos being replaced with photos of them. Seems like their FRAMEWORK counterparts actually had a pretty happy life in this place. Maybe that was the point of this world, Director Peter gave everyone the life that they always wanted. A happy, normal life. Isn't that what everyone wanted?
"This is nice," Alice said as she walked around and caressed the couch.
"Yeah, it is," Eli said as he took off his coat and put it on a rack before rolling up his sleeves. "Let's see what technology we have to work with." He then picked up a radio and ripped the back off. "This could work to get a message out."
"What's your plan?" Alice asked.
"I'm going to see if I can build a device I can use to communicate with the rest of the world," Eli said as he came up with a plan. "Quick way of locating everyone, using a signal that could only be heard by our brainwaves."
"You know everyone's brainwaves?" Alice asks.
"Don't you?" Eli asks sarcastically. "I got the frequency off from the computers before we were plugged in."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Alice asked.
"Yeah," Eli said, ripping apart the radio. "Can you go to the store and get me a typewriter and a television?"
"How am I supposed to carry those home?" Alice asked sarcastically.
"Well," Eli was beginning to consider the idea, "you can check and see if Robbie will lend you his car."
Alice nodded and started to walk towards the door. "Alright." But then she realized what he said and was confused. "How do you know Robbie Reyes lives next door?"
Eli had to admit that he froze up when he heard that. "I don't know," he confessed with a bit of a worried expression on his face. "That's...weird, right?"
"Not much weirder than everything else that's going on," Alice commented sarcastically as she gestured around them.
"Okay..." Eli decided to just forget it. "Please go get the stuff we need."
"Sure thing," Alice said before turning and opening the front door.
She turned back for a moment and looked at Eli as he looked at the broken radio on the table in front of him. She felt a little worried for her friend after everything. After everything that went down with Crisis on their world, then Battleworld, and whatever that strange thing was between the entire gang. Nobody is quite sure what was going on when that went down. And now with the return of one of their enemies, Bill Cipher of all people. She shut the door and went next door and noticed there was a vehicle that she recognized as Robbie's Ghost Rider car. She then walked up to the front door and knocked. It opened and Robbie Reyes approached the door dressed as some kind of greaser.
"Hey Alice," Robbie greeted happily, "What can I do for you?"
Alice had to do a quick look over and was a little confused when she saw Robbie was dressed like Ren McCormack from Footloose. "Uh, hey." She had to wonder what kind of things happened to Robbie in this world. "I was just wondering if I could borrow your car for a moment?"
"Your car is still in the shop?" Robbie guessed as he reached over and grabbed his keys. "Bring it back with a full tank if you go too far."
Alice was a little surprised with how easy that was and nodded. "Thanks."
"Going to get some wedding venues?" Robbie asks.
Alice stopped and looked down at the ring, remembering how this version of them are getting married. "Something like that."
Alice then made her way to the car and drove to the store to pick up what they needed. She felt a strange sensation in her head; something was clearly amiss in the town. The place seemed to be affecting her mental state.
Meanwhile, Peter Richards/Barton gasped as he jumped up and found himself in a bedroom of sorts. He was a little confused as to why he was in bed and noticed that it was currently 9 in the morning. He was a little confused as he got up and looked around to see all of the strange experimental projects he has in his room. Seems his alternate self in this fake universe was into science as well.
When he got out of his bed, he began to make his way around the room and was a little amazed at the experiments. They looked almost like the ones he saw were being performed at OsCorp when he was bitten. Seems that he was some sort of science expert or something. These were the kind of experiments he used to perform until one too many accidents lead to Clint banning them to the garage.
Peter walked around and caressed a few of them when he noticed there was a photo that caused him to freeze. In the photo, he saw himself standing next to someone he hasn't seen in a long time. To anyone, it would look like an average woman with blue eyes and a blonde medium-length hairstyle with half of the hair brought to the front at the shoulders and the other half stays at the back, and her hair is combed from right to left.
Peter was shocked as he picked up the picture and looked it over. He now realized what the major difference was between this world and reality. His mother was alive. From the looks of it, seems his father didn't reach this new world. Or he was either killed or something like that took Reed. Then the door to his bedroom opened and Peter jumped when he noticed that his mother was standing in the doorway.
"What? You are actually up for once?" Sue asks in playful shock. Peter didn't even control himself as he sped across the room and engulfed himself around his mother. "Whoa!"
Peter didn't care if this did something to the universe or whatever, because this was his mother. Someone he hasn't seen in the last ten years. Someone who he lost to the like of the Dark Avengers and the Injustice Society.
"You okay?" Sue asks her son.
Peter just kept holding onto his mother as tight as he could. But that's when the realization struck him, seeing as he was using all of his power, but that's impossible. If he were using his full power, he would have broken her ribs. His powers...they're gone.
"Uh, yeah, I'm okay," Peter said as he separated from her. "I just...had a nightmare that spooked me."
"About those Metahumans again?" Sue asks.
Peter was a little surprised and glad that it seemed his FRAMEWORK counterpart also had nightmares. "Uh, sure."
"Well, you better get ready for school," Sue told him, walking out of the room. "I gotta get ready for work, and I might be able to give you a lift if you hurry."
Peter nodded and knew that he needed to work on trying to locate where everyone else is. Cindy might be going to the same school, so that's one person down. But he still needed to locate Firestorm, Eli, Alice, Ava, Daisy, and Jemma-S. Wherever they are.
Cisco stirred and found himself kicked back in an office chair in a tech workshop that was very similar to what he has in STAR Labs. This was seriously confusing to him as he looked over his attire which seemed more professional than the common clothes he would wear.
"It worked," Cisco said, he reached up and ran his hands through his hair. "Wow, this programming is really good. Why do I smell like ax body spray? Must be a glitch."
"Cisco," Gwen said as she entered the room. "I've got the update file on the Hes."
"The Hex?" Cisco asked in confusion.
"Cisco, you know how we feel about your sarcasm," Gwen said as she handed Cisco a tablet. "I want you and Chris working on this."
"Sounds great," Cisco said, playing along until he has more information. "So, what's going on with the...hex?"
"I took a peek," Gwen admitted, "It seems that Alice and Eli are waking up. That won't be good for ratings. We'll need you to turn up the Hex's intensity."
"I'll have Chris work on that," Cisco said he noticed Chris sleeping at his desk in the corner. Cisco picked up a notebook and then threw it across the room and hit Chris in the back of the head.
"I'm awake!" Chris said, startled as Gwen nodded and left the room.
"I need you to turn up the Hex on Alice and Eli," Cisco said as he started reading more of the report.
"What, like you can't do that?" Chris asked.
"I could," Cisco said, trying to make up an excuse for his lack of knowledge, "but I don't want to."
"You are like a man-child," Chris said before he picked up his tablet and turned up a few dials. "Look, it's not that hard."
Cisco looked over the file, he wasn't sure what it was talking about. There were mentions of plot points, character arcs, and fan theories. What exactly was in the HEX?
Cisco saw that there was some type of video streamer open on another tab. He clicked and he saw Eli, Alice, Peter-118, and Elsa dancing in a small 1950s town to a musical number. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but that definitely wasn't what he was expecting.
"What the fuck?"
Earth-616, The Fearamid
Bill, along with his band of interdimensional outlaws, were in a state of pure elation as they basked in the rewards of their recent victory. The spoils of their triumph were abundant and they reveled in the satisfaction of a job well done. They had conquered an entire world in just a short amount of time, and Bill thought it was time for the next step in multiversal conquest.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and other abominations from throughout the metaverse," Bill greeted everyone. "I just want to thank you all for the chaos and madness that you have released on this fine world. And I want to thank you for helping round up all the townsfolk here and help stack them into this massive throne of human agony!"
Bill stepped aside to reveal a throne made of frozen citizens of Washington D.C., all of them trapped in positions of pain. They were some of the few who had been unable to escape or the Secret Warriors had been too late to protect.
"Don't worry, they're unconscious. I think. Even if they aren't, it's mostly Congress. It's fine. But I think it's time we take this domination across the Multiverse!" Bill snapped his fingers and a massive portal to the rest of the Multiverse opened up in the sky. "Have at it, boys! This dimension is ours!"
The gang of nightmares ran into the portal.
"Multiversal domination," he said. "I like the sound of that. You know, I could get used to this sort of thing."
Bill was interrupted by his minions being vaulted out of the portal and back into the Fearamid.
"WHAT!?" Bill floated over to the portal and attempted to put his hand through, but he couldn't.
Every time he tried to exit the universe, he was pushed back by some invisible barrier. That's when he realized that the entire planet had been shielded from the rest of the multiverse. There was no way for him to spread his chaos beyond its borders until he found a way out of this dimension.
"This might be a bit more complicated than I thought."
FRAMEWORK
"This doesn't make any sense," Cisco commented as he looked over the information he could get into on the computer.
This whole place was like a topsy-turvy world. Nothing made sense. Starling City was somehow turned into some Las Vegas counterpart. Central City was under lockdown after the accelerator explosion as HYDRA seemed to be hunting for metahumans. This whole place was as if S.H.I.E.L.D.'s power was used for the wrong reasons.
These people were as if ARGUS was on some sort of power trip and trying to conquer the world. Then he saw everything that made sense when he remembered this place was HYDRA. A world where HYDRA reigned supreme and took over.
"I don't understand," Cisco muttered when his computer beeped. "How could this have happened?"
A small hologram projection then came up, unveiling what appears to be a female human dressed in some giant overcoat. She also wore some strange glasses with hearts for the lenses. She was roughly in her early twenties, with pale-looking skin, and shoulder-length light brown hair cut short.
"Is there something that I could help you with, Mr. Ramon?" She asked him, scaring Cisco and causing him to jump. "Didn't get enough sleep, huh?"
"What the hell?" Cisco asked, looking down at the hologram. "Who are you?"
She then looked at Cisco with an even more confused look. "Cisco, it's me. Lyla. The artificial intelligence you created."
"Did I?" Cisco asks, figuring it was something the Cisco whose body he possessed would have done.
"Did you go out drinking last night?" Lyla asks him, sensing something is wrong.
"Well, let's say I did. Look, I wanna make sure everything in our records are clear." Cisco needed to learn as much about this world as possible. "Could you let me have a look at the records? Starting from the beginning?"
Lyla felt something was wrong, but then shrugged it off. This wasn't the first time he had asked for weird requests. She just shrugged and then showed the footage to match what she was saying, showing the world back in World War II.
"With the end of World War II, HYDRA reigned supreme and brought the war to an end. Years of peace were finally accomplished, and now, after countless leaders, we have been given one strong enough that he was given a name written across history. A soldier that is bred to be both a warrior and a leader. The greatest leader this world has ever seen since the Red Skull himself."
"What?" Cisco was shocked to see how one small change could alter the world. "It can't be."
"Years later, after the rise of Inhumans and Mutants, he created the Hex: A place where the most powerful of beings can live their lives and even provide entertainment to the masses. One day, he introduced an alliance with the Red Room: The girls chosen for the Red Room are put through strenuous daily training, including hand-to-hand combat training, acrobatics, weapons training, and tactical skills. Occasionally, two girls are chosen to violently spar against each other; weakness is not tolerated, and the loser is killed by their opponent. That's where Director H found his second in command: Yelena Belova. Baron Wolfgang von Strucker trained Yelena to be Hydra's very own Black Widow. She then later turned her fellow Red Room trainees into her Widow Soldiers and was able to recreate the Super Soldier serum that once gave birth to Captain America and created our U.S. Agent: Jonathan Walker."
"Who?" Cisco asked the artificial intelligence.
They helped keep the world safe from the latest threat of metahumans and mutants that had risen. With these new threats, that's where Pamela Isley came into play to help keep the world safe. She has the power to manipulate plant life, and she is partnered with Dinah Lance, the Black Canary. Then came the discovery of the people of Themyscira. Pilot Steve Trevor was the first to discover the world, but contact was later established by our leaders. Director H and his right-hand woman, Yelena, went and established peace between the island and the outside world. Queen Diana then sent out her most trusted warrior, Yara Flor, as a sign of trust. She has been there to help us in the wars between Wakanda and the one who helped us end the war with Atlantis by killing their king just last year.
Update: With the fall of Princess Shuri, the Wakandan government is on the brink of collapse.
"With Wakanda and Atlantis falling under the control of HYDRA, the world is finally becoming united..."
"Oh, my!" Cisco was shocked when he heard all of this information. "Ava." Then he recalled something. "Lyla...What's the HEX?"
"The HEX is the prison created to house the most dangerous criminals and metahumans," Lyla explains to the confused man. "They are placed in this environment where they can live out their lives and provide private entertainment for the masses of the world."
Cisco knew he needed to go and find the others. "Okay, great, look, I gotta head out. I need something to eat; I'll be back later. Don't tell anyone I left."
Earth-616, The Fearamid
Bill floated as he paced back and forth, trying to find a solution. He had just learned that there was a force field around the Earth, keeping them and their powers trapped within this one world. What confused him most, though, was the lack of any apparent means of escape, not even with their combined powers.
"Okay, can someone explain to me why, even with our...INFINITE POWER..." Bill cried as he summoned electricity to zap the enemies, who all dodged the attacks. "...None of us can escape the confines of this universe!?"
"There's a barrier placed around this dimension," Thawne explains to him. "Must have been a precaution Madame Web put up."
"Great. Now we need to find a way to get around it." Bill sighed. "But how?"
Then there was something summoning Bill from behind his chair, causing the pyramid to groan. He floated towards the back of the chair where a hump of iron was starting to form from a small device that had now taken on the shape of a hooded figure.
"Bill Cipher, have you begun the conquest?" Barbados asks his servant.
"Yeah, yeah, I started my invasion," Bill said as he flew over to the window to see the chaos. "There have been a few complications on the multiversal scale, but I'm working it out. This world is one of the few worlds still at war with itself. They can't even get their act together to help themselves." He then looked over to the Constantine statue. "And the only threat, he's been taken care of. This will be an easy conquest."
"Careful, Cipher. Your audacity got in your way last time you sought to conquer the multiverse," Barbados reminded the demon.
Bill grumbled and glowed red as he recalled how many times he had failed to conquer the universe. "This time, it's different," he said. "There are no Pine twins to stop me, John Constantine is gone, and the heroes left on this Earth are running scared and will be dealt with by my minions." He then looked over at a small table where Peter Parker-Coulson was sitting. He had some strange magical beams coming out of his head, while a beam was exiting from his chest and entering the rift above the city. "And my anchor to this universe remains intact."
"Just be sure not to return to our dimension empty-handed," Barbados warned him. "If you were to do so, then I would have no choice but to rip you of your power. The Dark Knights have already failed me. The Anti-Life Equation has been lost again, thanks to his work with Madame Web. Don't make the same mistakes they did."
Bill sighed as he stopped glowing red and returned to his usual yellow color. Barbatos then closed the connection, allowing Bill to growl in annoyance. "I'll let you come here...and when you do, you will finally be weak enough for me to kill you."
That's when the doorway to the Fearamid was blasted open and an old friend stood at the entrance. Bill flew over and wondered what was going on when he saw someone hovering on some sort of blue glowing board. It was Kang the Conqueror.
"Oh, come on!" Bill cried in anger, raising his finger to shoot the man. "Who do you think you are?"
"Bill Cipher," Kang said as he approached, using his hover disk. "I am Kang the Conqueror." He continued, raising a shield to deflect the beam Bill sent at him. "And I have come from the future to ensure you succeed."
Bill was surprised when he heard that. He cooled down his finger. "I'm listening."
Kang then raised his hand and holographic particles began to form in the shape of a familiar person. America Chavez was in Kang's palm, doing her jump that she would do right before opening a portal.
"Her name is America Chavez," Kang explained as Bill Cipher floated closer to inspect it. "She has the power to open portals to the entire multiverse. All she needs is a visual of the multiverse. Plant the idea of the Dark Multiverse in her head, and she can easily open a portal."
Bill was interested when he heard this and flew over to get a better look at the hologram. "And why, exactly, are you interested in helping me?"
"Because I wish to keep the timeline intact," Kang explained as he closed the hologram. "And to do that, I need you to accomplish this conquest."
"And how do you plan to get to her?" Bill wondered.
Kang smiled, knowing he had already sent someone to accomplish just that task. "Let's say, I now have a mole on the inside of the heroes."
Tommy swung through New York as fast as he could to make his way back to the Triskellion after being given his mission. He needed to go there and find the passcode to lower the defenses so that Kang could make his way inside. And he was warned that if he told anyone about the task, Kang would know and kill Tina. Tommy had to do everything in his power to save his sister.
With as much strength and speed as he could muster, he didn't pay any attention to anything but the distant building. He had to do this to save his sister and hoped that they would be able to come up with a plan to stop Kang later.
Right now, Tina is all that matters, as her life is currently in his hands. If he fails in this mission, he will doom his sister to death. Kang is too powerful even for the likes of them, and the only reason they are still alive is because he needs them. And they both are expendable to him if they don't live up to that purpose.
Tommy swung and then used an ice slide to glide across the lake, making his way through the multidimensional barrier keeping out all the other monsters just outside the building.
Tommy sighed in relief, unaware that Bill had made a deal with Kang and didn't know he was not in any danger. "I made it."