Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC
Back with another update, a chapter that'll hopefully shock as Cade makes a drastic decision, plus the Marvel world is threatened yet again by outside forces.
The Redeemer
Chapter 9: Through the eyes of heroes
Sven looked over his regenerated armour to make sure that it was complete. He ran his hands across his face, forming his helmet. Coulson was taking them across America; his floating car dubbed 'Lola' would get them to their destination as fast as any Quinn jet could. The agent looked at Wanda through his rear view mirror. He knew exactly why she had decided to come along, she was in love with Sven and she thought helping him find his adopted son would bring them closer together. Despite what he had said Coulson didn't truly believe that they would so easily find Sieg. He and his agents had only caught a glimpse into another dimension and the images they found, two cities that didn't exist in their world and a satellite of some kind that definitely wasn't of S.W.O.R.D. design. They matched what had been seen in the dimensional hole that had appeared over Earth, the tear that Sieg possibly sacrificed his life to close. Sven believed otherwise and Coulson was willing to go on Sven's instinct.
'I've learned not to doubt the Reillys,' Phil thought, remembering Sven's father Slade, a good judge of character whom found a conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D.
Of course bringing it to light cost Slade his life. But his son was every bit, if not ten times the man he was. They began crossing over the Mexican border, slipping out of stealth mode as they flew over the city.
"Who else did you call?" Sven asked.
"Richards and his wife are on a diplomatic mission across dimensions and Dr Strange is collaborating with Minoru's team against a possible return of the Gibborim, Stein apparently refused until Virgil convinced him to work with adults, you've got quite an apprentice there," Coulson explained.
"Virgil's been through a lot lately, I don't think he's truly forgiven himself for the things he did under Muramasa's control, he may pretend otherwise but the deaths of the GLA still haunt him," Sven said.
"They weren't exactly true Avengers material, but no one wished any harm on them, they saved the world quite often you know," Wanda explained.
"I know, its just a reminder of what Sieg and now Virgil are trying to accomplish, there is no 'our problem' any more, because every thing that threatens humanity is connected," Sven looked towards Wanda as she lowered her head.
Truthfully, Sven didn't think of the loss of mutants as a bad thing. He felt sorry for the ones that had died, but some whom lost their powers felt that they had been blessed. The issue of mutation however was for another time, as Coulson reached the mountains he turned his stealth mode off. A gigantic trench had formed in the mountains, big enough for the Bus to land in. The Bus was the agencies retrofitted Boeing C-17, a gigantic transport plane equipped with some of the best technology and built as a mobile command centre for the new S.H.I.E.L.D. The cargo hatch was open and several agents Sven had recruited from the army and CIA were setting up the lab centre for Fitz and Simmons. Agent May stood with veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Dugan and Garret. She looked up at the hover car as it began its landing.
"Like father like son," Dugan said.
"Sven isn't his father, true he's a gifted investigator in his own right, but he didn't have anywhere near his father's reach," May explained.
"I thought he was with the MP," Garret said.
"He was, then he moved onto private investigation, it was a waste," May huffed.
"Or maybe he just didn't want to get tied down by red tape," Skye said as she and Agent Ward walked out of the Bus.
"Considering what he was really doing I'd say he didn't live a wasted life," Dugan said.
"Now he's wasting it again looking for a dead kid," Ward said.
"Ain't that a little harsh Grant?" Garret asked.
Ward huffed as he crossed his arms together.
"He protected this Sieg kid as a baby and then took him in and called him 'son', when we all know that Siegfried Wallace and Virgil Hawkins are the sons of Heinrich Wallace, mutant scientist and mercenary," Ward explained.
"I hacked a file on him, it wasn't very detailed, was he a mutant or a scientist who studied mutants?" Sky asked.
"Both, he was studying the mutant genome and its similarities between enhanced humans, cross referencing genetic data on ordinary humans and fossilised remains of early human life, trying to discover whether mutants really were the next step in human evolution," Dugan explained.
"What did he find out?"
"No one except Sven and his associates know, a series of psychic blocks apparently keep the secret of mutant origins locked within their minds," Ward said.
Coulson landed the car near the jeep and stepped out followed by Sven and Wanda. Dugan and Garret pulled up salutes whilst Ward walked away.
"Why do you have such a problem with Sven?" Skye asked.
"So he's Sven now?" he asked back, raising his eyebrows.
"Wow, you're jealous," the brown haired girl grinned.
"No, I'm not Fitz, I just think Sven is a fool, after everything he's lost, all the loved ones how can he still believe in the world as he does?"
"Unlike you Ward he has faith," Skye said.
"It may be enough for him, but the rest of us need more Skye," Ward sighed as he walked away.
Sven and Wanda followed Coulson towards the science station. Fitz and Simmons were both working at their computers, tapping at the keyboards and dragging text from the displays onto the 'hologram table' in front of them. Though the math was lost on Coulson Sven understood it quite well, having studied the notes of the first scientists whom tried to access the spirit realm, it was clear the two prodigies had as well.
"Okay what you're looking at here is a display of Saxon texts, taken from ancient ruins, translated they are found to match the equations composed by those in our era that have tried to access the realm Sven gains his powers from," Simmons explained.
"Then turn your attention to the camera records of said scientists creating the ultimate monster Muramasa," Fitz interjected.
He bought up a recording, transferred to a holographic form of scientists gathered around a white haired man. The naked man raised his face, revealing eyes that shifted between dark colours and a sickening grin that to this day still made Sven's skin crawl. He had no doubt that Muramasa would be reincarnated again, the recording of his origin seemed like a dark reminder of the evil man's immortality.
"This is a good reminder of history but where is it going?" Coulson asked.
"The present actually," Simmons smiled, she clearly enjoyed her work. "Please turn your attention to that crack within the rock face," she pointed at the said rock face.
Sven's eyes glowed red as he looked upon the small crack. Though seemingly a normal crack in the rock, his eyes saw something different.
"It's a dimensional tear," he said.
"Exactly," Fitz said.
He pulled off his computer screen, switching it to tablet mode and handing it to Sven and Wanda.
"That was the tear that formed in space, the one Sieg…died to close, except it wasn't the only tear that appeared, look at this spectrum analysis," the Scottish scientist bought the camera of his tablet up so that it would face the crack.
Wanda and Sven looked at the screen of the tablet, which showed a black background and a blue light emanating from the crack.
"That's the same energy the cosmic cube generated," Wanda said.
"We've taken to calling it the Tesseract, its what Muramasa used to create the cracks. Simmons and I have been working on creating a window to see what's on the other side but here's the curious thing, and the part that makes no bloody sense," Fitz dropped his polite tone and frowned at the computer.
"What's the problem?" Wanda asked.
"It not a portal to another Earth, but a portal to a side dimension, the spirit dimension that you and your allies got your powers from," Simmons said.
"Muramasa can already freely move from this dimension to ours so why would he create a portal for it?" Fitz asked.
"Muramasa is an expert manipulator, he has in the past drawn individuals into the spirit realm and then had corrupted spirits possess them, tell me you didn't send anyone in there," Sven explained.
"Don't worry, we know not to trust anything when it comes to Muramasa, we got enough of a surprise when Muramasa attacked us," Coulson said.
"I still can't believe that Muramasa technically killed Mr Immortal, transporting his head into the sun," Simmons cringed.
"Didn't your apprentice help him kill the GLA?" Fitz asked.
"Virgil was under heavy brainwashing at the time, but if your looking for someone to be held responsible then Virgil does blame himself. Personally I think that it was Muramasa who killed everyone, not the apprentices he has used."
"So he has had more than one?" Simmons asked.
"I'll tell you about it later, right now I think we should focus on this," Aeon gestured to the crack.
He suddenly jumped, flying towards the crack. It expanded, creating a portal that the armoured hero flew into. Wanda widened her eyes as Sven was suddenly thrown out of the portal, his armour shattering to pieces, even his black under suit was replaced by his civilian clothes.
"SVEN!" Wanda yelled.
"All agents form a perimeter around the portal, close down the Bus and get in contact with President Rogers, we could use some Avengers down here ASAP," Coulson explained.
He walked past Sven and looked towards the portal. The veteran agent stood his ground, even as a pair of yellow eyes stared back at him.
"What happened Sven?" Wanda asked as she knelt by Sven's side.
"I felt…someone I know is definitely beyond that portal, but something else is absorbing energy in the spiritual realm, something that's 'monitoring' both our world and the world Sieg is stuck in, I can feel its hunger, it wants to destroy everything Wanda," Sven explained.
Sven got off the floor and ran past Coulson. He looked into the portal again and put his hands to his mouth.
"SON!" he yelled.
"Son, Clark, open the door please!"
Cade stood in the closet of a school, cleaning equipment and other chemicals were around him and he was in agony. He was sharing the agony of a dark haired boy sitting curled up on the floor. The boy was probably eight years old and was gripping his head. He looked at the door and saw beyond that door most of his classmates, his teachers and his mother. But beyond them he could see their bones, their organs pumping, even the molecules of those organs and he could hear them too. His classmates whispered about how odd he seemed, how he never played with other children, how his parents always picked him up from school early. Beyond them he could hear the sounds outside, people walking, water running from taps, cars driving across the road, men and women screaming and planes flying above them.
"Come out Clark, we're worried," the woman said.
"It's the world mom, its too bad," the boy let out a gasp of pain.
"Then make it smaller, focus on my voice honey, pretend it's an island out in the ocean, can you see it?" she asked.
"I can see it," the boy raised his head, his senses seemingly clear.
Cade's agony stopped too and he understood the boy's feelings. This woman's mere presence made the boy feel safe. It was the kind of bond Cade had never had with his mother. The boy walked out of the closet and into his mother's arms. The scenery shifted and Cade felt grass on his feet. He was on a farm of some kind, he could see the boy, slightly older sitting on a broken down tractor. His house was across from him; his parents were sitting in their living room talking with another woman and her son.
"Don't try to hide it Jonathan, Peter saw what Clark did, Lana and the others saw it too, they saw what he did to the bus," the woman explained.
"I'm sure what they thought they saw was…"
"Godly Jonathon, it was godly," the woman said.
The boy's father shook his head and walked across the room, looking at the boy sitting on the tractor.
"Clark's been through a lot, they're all been through a lot, why don't we just be thankful that everyone's all right?"
Cade turned away from the scene and began walking towards the boy.
"Who are you?" he asked. "Why am I here, why am I experiencing everything you are, is this all happening right now, am I a dead man witnessing another's life?"
No answer came from the boy, but the boy's walked over and Cade could feel anger, fear but above all compassion from the man.
"What did I tell you Clark?" he asked.
"What was I supposed to do, just let them die?" he asked.
"I don't know…maybe, you have to understand Clark that if or when people find out what you can do it'll change everything, people's beliefs, how they see the world, it isn't just your life or ours that are affected," Jonathon explained.
"The way that woman talked, I don't want to be thought of as a god, I don't even want to know why I'm like this, I just want to be your son," the boy cried.
Cade felt himself feeling tearful as well, but the tears faded as Jonathan embraced the boy.
"You are my son, never doubt that, but somewhere up there you had another father who gave you a different name and he sent you here for a reason, we're all alive for a reason Clark and its up to us to find out why…we found you on that field and we took you back with us, and when no one came for you we knew…that we had to raise you, that you would be important, you're going to grow up son and whoever you grow up to be, a man of good character or bad character that man is going to change the world and its my job to make sure you grow up to be that man."
Cade gripped his head as the scene shifted again. The boy was eighteen, standing underneath a bridge, ushering people to shelter. A tornado was blowing in front of him, his father had gotten stuck in the car. He moved forward, but the man raised his hand and shook his head. Cade and Clark watched as the tornado swept the man into its grip.
"DAD!"
Cade fell to his knees and looked up. He saw the teenager age into a man; a blue suit and red cloak replaced his clothes.
"Superman," Cade gasped.
"I let my father die because he was afraid that if the world find out about me, it would reject me, he was convinced they weren't ready," Superman explained.
Cade clutched his head and fell to his knees. Once again his surroundings changed, as did his feelings. He felt fear, helplessness, all of the feelings of a child. Bats swarmed around him, moving further into a cave. Cade turned to where the bats had come from, the bottom of a well. A boy sat at that well, pushing a rock away from his leg, the scrapes on his arms indicated that he had fell and slid down the well. Both heard a clicking sound above them but only Cade understood what it was, someone setting up a harness. The boy however thought of the bats, swarming around him, scratching him. When he saw the man rappelling towards him however his fear slowly faded.
"Bruce," the man had a kind face as he reached the boy.
They grasped one another's hands and the man began to pull the boy back up to the surface. Cade was suddenly taken to the living room of a grand mansion. There the man was bandaging the boy's leg. He didn't say anything, even in silence the boy felt comforted and fearless. Cade looked at the scene and felt envious of the boy. He never felt at peace with his father, unlike the boy he was watching. When the scene shifted again Cade felt envious. The man and his wife had taken their son to the cinema; they had just gotten out of the theatre after watching a film. They walked through an alleyway, the boy making swishing movements with an air sword; he had obviously seen some kind of swashbuckler flick. The boy stopped his movements and held his parent's hands. Cade looked at the path ahead, a man was walking towards the family, covering his face with the collar of his coat. He reached into said coat as he drew closer.
"NO!" Cade yelled.
He rushed forward as the man drew a pistol. Without even talking to the family the man fired the gun, sending a bullet passing through Cade's chest. Again the man fired, and again the bullet passed through Cade. The man walked through Cade as if he was a ghost and knelt either side of the two bodies. He took the man's wallet and yanked off his wife's pearls. Cade turned and widened his eyes in shock. The boy sat between his parents, his eyes frozen with tears flowing from them. He was frozen not just by the shock of what had happened, but by the grief of losing what was most important to him. Cade shook his head in denial, he knew criminals could be disgusting, but to take away a boy's family like that, the kind of family he never had. The boy stood and suddenly changed, taking on the form of yet another hero.
"Batman," Cade identified the man.
Batman pulled off his cowl, revealing the blank face of a man whom closely resembled his father.
"My name is Bruce Wayne, when I was ten my parents were gunned down before my eyes, I have spent my life training to fight the criminals who took them from me," he explained.
"You're trying to make me understand aren't you?" Cade asked the force that had put him into the time stream.
He hugged his arms, feeling his body being thrown into another place in time.
Sven stood in front of the portal, even as it flared he continued to yell out for the one person who wasn't beyond it.
"SIEG! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME JUST ANSWER! GIVE ME SOMETHING SIEG I'M RIGHT HERE! I'VE NEVER STOPPED LOOKING! I'VE NEVER STOPPED!"
Wanda looked at the man she loved, but part of her pitied him also. He was still clinging to his adopted son. Sven hadn't hesitated to abandon the search for Zack and go and find Sieg. While Sven's rationalisation of Zack being safe with the Young Avengers may have been true, the fact remained that he looked away from the son in front of him for the son who may or may not be alive. She wanted to love him and be loved by him, just like she was in the House of M. But she wanted him to love both his sons equally, to put an equal effort into finding them both.
"Reilly give it up already, Siegfried Wallace isn't going to be in that reality, the sheer energy it takes to close a dimensional gateway would kill him," Ward explained.
"And I suppose you're an expert scientist now Ward," Fitz said.
"Exactly, we're dealing with cosmic forces we cant even begin to read and catalogue, look at Galactus, Black Bolt, Thanos, they have taken punishment that we always believed would kill them yet they always come back…we can not make the mistake of believing that Sieg or any other hero would be different," Simmons explained.
"You're just trying to get Sven to stop because you don't like him," Skye said.
"I don't have a problem with Reilly," Ward shook his head.
"Oh that's a load of crap, ever since Sven got here you've been making snide comments, what do you know about his relationship with Sieg, I was adopted and I thought of the people who raised me as my parents," the hacker explained.
"You really want to know my problem with the Reillys Skye? Fine then, Sven's father Slade was part of S.H.I.E.L.D. he was in internal affairs, he accused me and several other agents of being Hydra spies. The investigation was never picked up but it took time for me to get my reputation back, he nearly ruined my career," Ward explained.
Sven suddenly turned towards Ward, shooting a glare at the agent.
"One thing I know about my father, one thing he proved when he died was that he was never wrong in his suspicions. You may have been proven to be loyal before Ward but you're still not above suspicion and you never will be in my eyes," Sven said.
He turned back to the portal and began walking forward.
"SVEN WAIT!" Wanda yelled.
Ward shook his head and turned away from the heroes. Coulson looked at the agent and considered his lack of a defence. His attention however was then drawn towards the portal. Sven raised his hands as white fabric surrounded his body. Red eyes formed on a mask over his face and red markings began spreading across the suit. He crouched to his knee and placed his hands on the ground, like a runner at the starting point. Wanda gripped his shoulders and allowed herself to fuse with the hero. Her body turned into energy that flew into the lines of Sven's suit. His outfit began to take on a scarlet colour and a red coat appeared over most of his suit. Stopping his running position, Sven stood and clicked his hands. He began floating off of the floor, his eyes focused on the portal.
"Aeon wait, we called in some Avengers, wait for backup," Coulson said.
Phil widened his eyes as a blast suddenly flew from the portal. Aeon deflected the blast with a wave of chaos magic. He narrowed his eyes as figures began emerging from the portal. They resembled the creatures Muramasa summoned, only they were bulkier and their gold armour covered their eyes, the armour also had omega symbols on the chests. The Parademons roared before rushing towards Aeon and the agents.
"ALL AGENTS BATTLE STATIONS!" May yelled.
She flipped over a Parademon that tried to swipe at her. When she landed, the Parademon noticed a satchel attached to his arm. The explosion ripped off the creature's arm. Ward drew a pistol from his holster and began firing bullets that pathetically bounced off of the Parademons armour. Simmons ducked as a Parademon swung its claws at her.
"SIMMONS!" Fitz yelled.
Suddenly, a flurry of energy blasts flew into the Parademon's head. Coulson emerged from behind the creature, holding an advanced pistol.
"Standard issue S.H.I.E.L.D. needle gun, never leave home without it," he said.
Coulson shot another demon in the head as Garret and other fully armed agents ran into the fray, firing fully automatic weapons. Dugan threw demons back with single blasts from his explosive shotgun. He cocked out an empty shell and then fired again, blowing a chunk out of a Parademon's chest. May manoeuvred through the fight, using her enemy's uncontrolled rage against them. She dodged every claw swipe, even redirecting their flames blasts towards their own allies. Aeon utilised Wanda's powers, releasing probability-altering waves that broke apart the armour of any Parademon in the way.
"Guess he's not so bad now," Skye said as she watched Ward shoot the armour less enemies.
"Skye get Fitz and Simmons to safety, keep yourself safe too," Ward said as he covered her.
Skye smiled to herself, finding the young man's concern for her sweet, yet at the same time somewhat annoying. Aeon landed on the floor, creating a sword from chaos energy. He slashed the Parademons that attacked him apart, fighting alongside a surprisingly skilled Coulson. The agent fired kill shots and was nimble too, ducking underneath claws and shooting his enemies weak spots. He slid underneath a Parademon, shooting its groin and knees. The Parademon clutched the beloved region and squealed before Phil shot it in the back of the head.
It wasn't all victories though, many agents fell to the Parademons too. Either they were cut apart by claws, burnt by fire or even eaten. Garret yelled in anger, firing full bursts from his rifle and gunning down several of the creatures that killed his men. He cursed, ejecting his empty clip as a Parademon ran towards him. Garret raised his rifle defensively, only for an arrow to pierce through the creature's head.
"Is that it, is that all the Avengers that responded?" Fitz asked, running his hands over his face in frustration.
Standing on flight platforms were some Avengers. Just not the Avengers the agents were expecting. Hawkeye stood in his purple costume and classic mask, wielding his signature bow and arrows. Shang-Chi wore a red and black suit with the Avengers symbol on his belt. Finally there was Black Widow, dressed in her usual black suit with a widow symbol on her belt buckle.
"Here we are facing an invasion and they send us the most useless Avengers there are," Grant sighed.
He gasped as Parademons surrounded him. Shang-Chi however landed in front of him and rushed towards the creatures. Grant dropped his jaw as the martial artist easily dispatched the monsters, kicking their jaws out of place, even breaking through their armour with his bare hands. Hawkeye landed in front of Fitz and Simmons, killing one Parademon after another with his arrows, not shot was wasted. Black Widow jumped from her platform and moved with the grace of a gymnast, and the destructive force of a wrecking ball. She broke necks with her kicks and fried brains with her wrist stingers.
"So Ward, what was that about us being the most useless Avengers?" Clint asked, grinning as Ward glared.
Wanda broke away from her fusion with Aeon and let out a final blast that stripped the last Parademon of his armour. Sven then rushed towards the creature and knocked it out with a single punch.
"I know you couldn't recover any of them after the battle with Muramasa, buts lets see what you can learn from this one," Aeon said to Fitz and Simmons.
"Excuse me, would anyone care to update us on what's going on?" Hawkeye asked.
"STOP! STOP!"
Cade was on a desert road, watching a child running and yelling at the cars that drove past his mother's broken down vehicle. She grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back.
"Barry Allen you stop, don't bother trying to change them its just a waste of energy," his mother said.
"But mom, you're supposed to stop when people need help," Barry said.
"I know, unfortunately not everyone agrees, let me tell you a prayer my grandmother used to tell me…accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can and the wisdom to know the difference," she explained.
Barry raised his eyebrows in confusion. Cade however understood the words perfectly, it was Laura's favourite prayer, a prayer Cade never truly understood until it was too late. He couldn't change the world without destroying it.
"Besides, you know only I can get this piece of junk running again," the woman smiled as she kissed Barry's forehead.
Cade watched the scene change again. This time from a desert to a street in the suburbs. Barry was running along the pavement, running a stick against the fencing. Cade could see a birthday card sticking out of his bag. The boy's run began to slow as he reached his house. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.
"Mom, did Dad make it back in time?" the boy asked as he opened the door.
Cade ran up behind Barry and shared the boy's shock. He lowered his head, the entity seemed intent on showing him images of death and tragedy. Young Barry Allen losing his mother, taking the first steps in becoming the scarlet speedster the Flash.
"If I had run a little faster I would have been there, I could have done something if only I ran faster," the Flash said.
"Stop this, STOP IT NOW!" Cade yelled.
He swung his arms around, causing the image of the Flash to disappear.
"Why are you putting me through this?" he asked.
His suit changed to an indigo colour as he fell to the floor. He watched a brown haired boy in a crowd, witnessing the death of the boys father in a wrecked pane crash. The boy suddenly became an adult, wearing a green ring and holding a lantern.
"In brightest day in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil's might, beware my power Green Lantern's light," he raised the lantern, green ribbons spread across his body, creating a black and green uniform, with white gloves and a domino mask.
Cade threw his head around, feeling the agony of yet another soul. A teenager was thrown against the wall by an energy blast, with his father helpless to do anything to stop it. He took his son's dying body into a shelter and began fusing his body to some kind of machine, creating Cyborg.
"You're alive Victor," the scientist said.
"You call this alive? This machine? This is what it took for you to finally care about me? I had to become one of your experiments?"
"SHAZAM!"
He watched two lightning bolts come from the sky, striking a man in a black suit with a ragged cape and a boy. The man turned to dust and the boy changed into the hero with the power of the gods. Cade grit his teeth together, the emotions pouring into his mind and soul. He felt the sorrow of the heroes and all the struggles they had been through. He rushed through all the battles they had fought, all of their failures, every loved one they had lost.
"YOU BRING HIM BACK DIANA! YOU BRING HIM BACK OR I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" a blonde haired woman screamed at Wonder Woman.
"You're the same as everyone else, you think I became the league's liaison to follow you? I had a job to do Diana, I'll always have a job to do, the world was being threatened before you came along Diana and its still no closer to changing," Steve Trevor explained.
Cade looked at the scene in confusion. He knew Trevor had lingering feelings for Diana but what he was seeing was anything but love. His suit turned to a red colour as Steve bitterly turned his head away from Wonder Woman.
"I see now, you're showing me all the good and all the bad," Cade said.
He floated within a white void, his suit having changed to a blue colour. Cade kept his eyes open as he watched scenes of the battle-taking place in the real world, in the flooded streets of Boston. Element Woman created slides from her own body, getting civilians in buildings a safe distance from the fighting. Hawkman rushed the Atlantean troops, cutting them down before they could reach civilians seeking shelter.
"For centuries the surface has hated us, poisoned us, now you say that they are not the ones whom attacked us brother, that it was your servant Vulko?" Ocean Master asked as he and Aquaman continued their vicious duel. "Even so it is only a symbol of the surface worlds corrupting influence, it has corrupted him as it has also corrupted you brother," Orm kicked Arthur in the chest, throwing him into the water.
Ocean Master narrowed his eyes as blood flowed to the surface. Aquaman suddenly emerged, with the body of a trench creature impaled on his trident. Creatures of the Trench began emerging from the water, attacking both Atlantean and surfacer alike. Ocean Master impaled a creature on his trident and fried it with lightning.
"What creatures have you summoned brother?" Orm asked.
"This isn't my doing Orm, they must have been attracted by the Atlantean army," Aquaman said.
"Lies, and you dare to use our people to cover your failures, this will not stand Arthur, BEGIN THE COUNTERDOWN! BRING THIS CITY TO THE DEPTHS!" Ocean Master yelled.
Kaldur moved with the Atlantean bomb squad, keeping his eyes open for Superman and Wonder Woman. He stopped when he heard Ocean Master's order over the radio.
"But this city hasn't been evacuated yet," he said.
"It doesn't matter his majesty gave us an order, beginning countdown for the bomb," an Atlantean soldier said.
"Commander look!" another soldier aimed his rifle into a nearby building.
Kaldur widened his eyes, seeing a man holding his children. He then looked towards the trench creatures moving through the water, the creatures his people were ignoring.
"This is wrong, we can't do this," Kaldur said.
"Consider this surfacer a mercy our people didn't get," the Atlantean commander trailed his gun over the civilians.
"STOP!" Kaldur yelled.
He drew his water bearers from his back, picking up the water around him. The water shaped into two blades and Kaldur rushed at the Atlantean extremists, cutting the barrels of their weapons apart. Trench creatures emerged from the water, biting and dragging the Atlantean warriors under. Kaldur however fought back, creating blades from the water around him. He sliced the trench creatures apart and then turned his blades into a hammer that he used to smash a large monster's head apart.
"We cant do this," Kaldur repeated his words from earlier. "Gar, Tula, please help me," he said.
Gar and Tula watched as Superman and Wonder Woman flew through the streets. They lowered their heads and allowed the two heroes to go past. Kaldur took his defiance of Ocean Master's reign a step further. He stepped in front of the bomb and raised his water bearers. The water underneath the bomb suddenly shot up, taking the bomb into the air. Superman and Wonder Woman looked up at the bomb in shock before flying towards it. They grabbed either side of the bomb and took off towards the clouds.
"There is good in all of them Cade," the blonde haired man looked to his right, seeing the dead heroes again.
"We all make mistakes," Winter Soldier said.
"Its just a matter of taking responsibility for those mistakes," said Hercules.
"Of rising and becoming something better," Atlas said.
Cade looked up and saw Laura smiling at him. Stood by her side was Cade's father David, and Sven's wife Faith with a little boy identical to Cade's rival. Cade turned and looked at his surroundings. He saw dead heroes of his universe, the many whom had died in Washington.
"This world is young Cade, which means it might not make the same mistakes," Laura said.
"I cant be what Sven is," Cade said.
"A father? You would have been a great father, a teacher? Perhaps not, but how about an example?" Laura asked. "You will be an example of hope to these people."
"They already have their symbol of hope," Cade sighed.
"Yes, its true Superman's shield stands for hope and he is certainly a symbol of all that is good in people. But he's not an example of a Redeemer, a person who can become something great no matter where he comes from," Laura explained.
Cade looked at his hands as his suit turned blue.
"The hope that people can be better, that they can find the good within them, I see now what you were trying to show me Sven…the hope that lies in the lives of many people so long as there are those willing to see it," he explained.
But then he shook his head as the glow in his suit faded.
"No, not hope, not rage anymore, or even compassion…I'll accept both the good and the bad in everyone, and I'll strive to be good myself. Simply dying will not be justice, redemption, that is what I will strive for…I will be a Redeemer," he narrowed his eyes as they glowed a pale green colour. "By my own will I will SURVIVE!"
"And live for redemption," Laura smiled.
Cade returned to the living world, bubble gushed out of his mouth as he yelled. His armour began to reappear; a chest plate with a green light glowing in the centre of it covered his body, with green lights appearing on his gauntlets and greaves. Finally his helmet repaired itself.
"Take the good and the bad, and turn it into your power, Cade Hunter the Redeemer!"
He didn't know or care who spoke to him. His armour was not made from the materials he drew from the spirit world. Cade's reawakened will had forged the perfect armour of pure energy, resembling a purified version of his Deathblade armour, without the demonic wings. His blazing blue wings were the last thing the rising Trench creatures saw before they were cut in half. Cade, the Redeemer flew towards the surface. For the first time in his life he felt blind, he could not see the failings of others, and underneath his new armour that made him smile.
"No longer am I Deathblade, no longer am I the wielder of the spirit of vengeance or its purity justice, I am bound only by my own will, the will to seek redemption!"
Cade smiled, for even though he was just as blind to people's true nature he was free. Free to live his life and seek a better path, the fresh start he knew he had been given for a reason.
Sven raised his head, his helmet slid away to reveal his confused expression. The portal shrunk slightly and his connection with the spirit realm waned. Fitz and Simmons looked up from their instruments in astonishment.
"Coulson, Sven, the connection has changed," Fitz said.
Coulson and Sven walked over to the lab table. Simmons bought up the images her dimensional window was picking up.
"We're no longer looking into the spirit realm, we're looking at the Earth that the spirit realm connected us to, the Earth, or perhaps a variant of the Earth that appeared in the sky that day," Fitz explained.
Sven looked at the images in shock, whilst Coulson seemed more intrigued. He always was intrigued by the super heroes, and Fitz and Simmons were showing him a whole new world of heroes he didn't recognise.
"Judging from the look of the armour the army is wearing, I'd say the super heroes are fighting people from Atlantis, so there is an Atlantis in this world too," Simmons explained.
"I wonder if they have a version of Namor," Fitz said.
"This is live right?" Sven asked.
"Yeah, wait look," Fitz pointed at the screen.
He and Simmons backed away in horror as a figure emerged from the water, slicing two fish creatures apart with his sword. They were looking upon the man whom nearly destroyed their world. Sven however saw an old rival and friend, a man he thought was at peace. It seemed however that he wasn't as dead as people believed. Sven realised that the reason the spirit realm had called to him was the same reason he hadn't been able to determine who he was sensing in the other Earth. Cade Hunter was alive and he was no longer powered by the spirit realm. Sven smiled, for in a way Cade was taking the first step towards moving on with his life, he would no longer be tormented by his father's image and would no longer see the spirit of the woman he loved.
'Perhaps in this new world you have found peace my friend,' Sven thought.
"He's still alive," a voice said behind Sven.
Sven turned to see Agent May standing at the doorway. She was already pushing her phone to her ear.
"Cavalry wait," Coulson said.
"President Rogers, we have a situation that requires immediate attention, Cade Hunter is alive sir…I understand, I will tell them sir," she said before lowering her phone.
She looked at Coulson with disapproval in her eyes, knowing that if Sven had asked him to he wouldn't have reported their findings.
"The President is on his way with his Avengers world squadron, his orders are simple agent Coulson," May said as she looked towards the image of Cade fighting in the other world. "Continue using the mirror to learn everything you can about this world, so that the Avengers can go to that world and apprehend Cade Hunter for his crimes!"
Next Chapter 10: Life over death
Cade is no longer bound by the spirit of justice/revenge, thus he can no longer see the evil people have committed, but considering the future of the League is this a good thing? But no longer bound to the spirit realm Cade no longer needs to be tormented or guided by the ghosts of his past, including his first love, in a sense Cade is taking the first step from moving on from her death too. But the Avengers know where he is now, paving the way for a future confrontation.
Next time however Cade assists the League in saving Boston, possibly changing the fate of Atlantis as well, but what will he do that the League wont, find out next time.