Disclaimer: I don't own DC Or Marvel
Review replies
Exile037: I like Onyx too, I made him to be the ultimate evil, unforgiving and always one step ahead of his enemies, and a badass too :)
Wolvmbm: I hadn't thought about A.R.M.O.R. at the time, cause the interaction with A.I.M is kind of crucial to the story, Virgil's personal development too, but I have provided a reason for not using them.
Seawolf: I have actually considered bringing in Image comics, characters like Invincible, Spawn and the Artefacts characters, but my knowledge on them isn't as extensive as Marvel and DC characters (I can always look on Wikipedia and Comicvine :) and if I do use them the characters wont play as big a role as the Marvel and DC Universes.
Thanks for the reviews guys, this chapter we introduce the Young Justice Universe into the fray, along with some new adversaries for Cade to face, plus A.I.M is put into a new light.
Italics are translated from Russian
The Redeemer
Chapter 12: Partnerships
To fulfill his ultimate goal Onyx needed allies, he knew he couldn't afford to throw away pawns for the sake of gaining power from their suffering. Amora had been personal, she was too ambitious, so he decided to use that ambition to his advantage. When one could travel across the Multiverse there was no end to the alliances he could make, especially when he could offer the same promise to their operatives. Onyx travelled to recruit one organisation to his cause. He stood in a dark circular hallway with his arms crossed, waiting for his allies to make contact. They appeared one by one, their faces concealed by the intense light their screens gave off. Onyx huffed at how dramatic the members of the Light were, at least when it came to how they appeared to their operatives.
"So, you are the one called Onyx?" L1 asked.
"Darkseid has told you nothing that can threaten me…Vandal Savage!"
The room grew silent, if the members of the Light had any shock, not even Onyx could see it. He didn't care if they were shocked or disturbed, his message had gone clear, he knew whom each member of the light was. They appeared one by one with each name Onyx stated.
"The immortal Vandal Savage," A dark haired man appeared, dressed in a military style uniform with a scar across his face. "Queen Bee," a dark skinned woman with a gold crown and earrings appeared, "Lex Luthor," then came a bald man in a business suit and red tie. "Klarion the Witch boy," Onyx's voice dripped with venom as the pale, demonic haired boy appeared, "Brain," followed by the hyper brain of a villain, encased in a floating container with a skull as its 'face'. "Black Manta," the dark suited villain then appeared on Onyx's command. "And of course Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul that is," the other Light members widened their eyes slightly as Ra's Al Ghul's face was replaced with that of an attractive brown haired woman in a black suit.
"How did you know of my father's deception?" Talia asked.
"I know a great many things Talia, including how your father survived Black Beetle's attack, why you are impersonating him as he regenerates. That and I know that out of all of you, only three are actually fighting for your organisation's mission statement, the advancement of humanity through the control of society…the rest of you are just trying to eliminate rivals," Onyx's eyes travelled to Queen Bee and Klarion, causing both to look away.
"Darkseid informed me of your activities, you have been cutting a path across dimensions, to what end?" Savage asked.
Onyx ran his hand over his helmet, turning it into dust and revealing his face to the Light.
"Improvement, for myself, for those whom exist, for all of the Multiverse, our goals are quite a like you see, to reach that end I will eliminate anyone whom rivals me…that includes you if you reject my proposal," Onyx explained.
"Is that what you have come here for, to declare war on us?" Black Manta asked.
"War? That would imply both sides have an equal chance of winning, I'm making a threat behind my offer," Onyx said.
"Very smart," Luthor smiled as if he approved.
"What are you offering?" Queen Bee asked.
"Information," he said.
"What can you offer that we can not discover for yourselves?" Klarion asked.
"Do you know the identities of every member of the Justice league and their team? Do you know the names of their loved ones? Their children? Their successors? Their potential successors? Potential new members of the League and the team?"
The questions Onyx bought forward intrigued the Light and they immediately knew what Onyx planned to give them. He was given them the means to eliminate and potentially control every super hero in their universe, present and even future enemies.
"What do we have to do in exchange for this information?" Savage asked.
"Its simple, move up your plans with Darkseid, tell him that the planet is ripe for his taking, that all of his competitors are gone, even the heroes," Onyx explained.
"Our original intent was to incapacitate the heroes and again provide Earth with the means to counter Darkseid," Lex said.
"Let Darkseid invade, many heroes will die, that I promise you, move up your plans and deceive Darkseid, the heroes will save the planet but at great cost to themselves, this will give you the opportunity to take over, you cant outright eliminate them so turn them into martyrs," Onyx explained.
"I've always found dead heroes to be better than living heroes," Klarion chuckled.
"How do we know you'll deliver the information?" Talia asked.
"You don't, then again I don't know whether you'll really lie to Darkseid, either way it doesn't matter," Onyx said.
"Why, your entire plan hinges on us doing what you ask?"
"I simply made an offer, if you refuse I could always rip open a hole in your dimension and unleash a force that will decimate your world, this way you'll at least achieve your goals."
The members of the Light remained silent as Onyx put on his helmet.
"After careful deliberation," Savage finally spoke, looking between each member. "We have decided to accept your offer, welcome to the Light Onyx!"
"Welcome, to the gap," Onyx opened his arms and the members of the Light widened their eyes.
No longer where they in their individual fortresses. Onyx had pulled each member of the Light into the gap. They saw the numerous dimensional windows filled with different kinds of Earths. The Light had known of the existence of multiple Earths, but had never thought that there would be infinite Earths as Luthor initially theorised.
"Remain useful and you will survive the experience," Onyx closed his hand into a fist, a symbol perhaps that they were his to control.
A.I.M island, or perhaps more accurately the airspace a few thousand miles away from A.I.M island, the Avengers were preparing their attack plan. A Helicarrier flew through the crowds, utilising the newest repulsor technology of Tony Stark to keep a loft. Mainframe, the sentient Iron man armour stood amongst Avengers such as Smasher, the human farm girl member of the Shiar royal guard, Starbrand, an average college student in control of a planetary defence network, Nightmask, a messenger of an incoming apocalypse, Spider-woman, S.W.O.R.D. agent Jessica Drew, Hyperion, the survivor of a destroyed reality and the X-men Cannonball and Sunspot.
"What are we waiting for?" Starbrand asked.
"A.I.M island is protected by a barrier that is capable of blocking even Hyperion's advance, an undersea infiltration unit however may be capable of lowering the defences for a potential strike," Mainframe explained.
"That's where Virgil's shadow ops team comes in right?" Sunspot asked.
"The first mission he's actually taking part in right? If so I want to know if he's up to the task?"
"Don't worry Spider-woman, Virgil was always tough, he and his training squad would always win their field days, it was just unfortunate that he always forwent the benefits of team work," Cannonball explained.
"What do you mean?" Smasher asked.
"Virgil's squad always failed team exercises because he would go off and do his own thing."
"Which means he's completely inept at leadership," Spider-woman said.
"Well, it's a good thing he turned leadership over to Sofia and Reptil," Sam chuckled sheepishly.
Jessica looked towards a S.H.I.E.L.D. trooper, noticing that he had his hand on his comm. Device.
"Agent Drew ma'am, we have a slight problem," the man gave the device to Spider-woman and she sighed in annoyance.
"Spider-woman here," she said.
"Spider-woman, its Finesse, we have a severe problem," a young woman spoke over the communicator, her voice lacked any real concern or even emotion.
The Avengers academy student and shadow ops member stood inside a S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine. Finesse wore her usual white and black suit. Around her stood members of the covert ops team of proactive young heroes that had been put together by Sieg, and later expanded and improved by his brother Virgil, the current leader. A leader who was nowhere to be seen amongst the young heroes. Which included Finesse's fellow founding Academy students Reptil and Striker, the best friends were close together as always.
"You know what I don't get, why are we going to A.I.M when we have a reality monitoring agency in A.R.M.O.R." Reptil said.
"Who?" a look of confusion crossed Striker's scarred face.
"A.R.M.O.R. come on man you must know about them, they monitor alternate realities," Striker made a yawning noise as Reptil explained the off shot of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"A.R.M.O.R. recently faced troubles of its own, an attack that destroyed most of its equipment," a dark haired girl explained as she walked towards the two students.
She had a demeanour that reminded people of Wolverine, it was to be expected from his clone. X-23 wore a white suit with black and brown insets. Behind her stood three former Young Avengers, Iron Lad, Speed and Stinger. Stinger was Cassie Lang, the daughter of Scott Lang and after abandoning her Stature identity began wearing an armoured black and purple suit, her black insect control helmet was built into the costume and had clear lenses and exposed her mouth. The pheromones to control insects were released from the antenna, which were controlled through Cassie's brainwaves. Her boyfriend Iron lad, the founder of the Young Avengers wore his psionic armour in its usual silver and red style. Speed on the other hand wore a blue and silver costume in honour of his dead uncle.
"What attacked them?" Reptil asked.
"Zombies," Laura said.
"No seriously what was it?" upon seeing Laura's deadpan expression the pair realised she was serious.
The other members of the team included Prime, the teenager with the body of a classic comic superhero, Sam Alexander, the Nova of Earth, Ripcord, Skybolt, Tempest and Blackwing, wife and husband stood side by side as a new hero entered with other recent additions.
"So whose taken Wilson's mantle?" Ripcord asked, rubbing the scales on her cheeks.
Skybolt and Ripcord were both formerly mutants, but had lost their powers after M-Day. Ripcord however had begun to get back the scaly skin she had as mutant prostitute Stacy X. Likewise Tempest and Blackwing, Angel Salvadore and Barnell Bohusk used to be mutants but had no sign of getting their original bodies back. To compensate for the loss of their abilities however, they like Skybolt and Ripcord used technology. As Tempest Angel wore a brown and black shirt with white trousers, her abilities came from two gauntlets she wore, one that released fire and another that released ice. Her husband Barnell, formerly Beak had lost his bird like body, but had traded it for the real ability to fly. With a black armoured suit and armpit wings, Blackwing had the heart of Beak and the effectiveness of a valued field member.
The subject of their discussion was the new Falcon. With Sam Wilson dead another, younger man had stepped into the role. His armour however covered his face; his helmet was shaped like the head and beak of a bird ad his red metallic wings stuck out of his back as opposed to his armpits. Behind him were the techno powered flyer Sun Girl, the telepathic Hummingbird and the Inhuman Haechi.
"Who do we know with red wings on his back?" Beak asked, grinning to his wife.
They both knew exactly who the new Falcon was. There was little time however for the other heroes to care as Finesse addressed the problem of their leader.
"Virgil has gone off on his own," she said.
"WHAT!" Spider-woman's voice echoed through the channel.
"Water Snake went with him," Falcon pointed out.
Outside the sub, a blue skinned Atlantean woman swam alongside a black minisub. She stopped her swim and watched the machine move into the area of A.I.M island. Upon returning to the sub, Faira Sar Namora swept her hair back and looked upon her team mates.
"Muramasa's apprentice has begun his infiltration," she said.
"He really doesn't like it when people mention that," Hummingbird said.
"He'll have people mentioning it for a long time," Iron lad said.
"Says the time traveller," Striker huffed.
"You don't need to travel through time to know that people are judgemental, Virgil's mind was being controlled," Beak said.
"This debate is pointless, firstly because it is not a priority and secondly your arguments are wrong, Virgil was capable of breaking through mind control," Finesse explained.
"No he wasn't," Laura growled.
Despite both X-23 and Finesse forming a friendship because of their mutual lack of emotions, Laura was not one to listen to insults about Virgil. His brother had been a good friend of hers, and knowing that Sieg loved his half brother with all of his heart, Laura swore to protect him. She also knew better than the encyclopaedic Finesse how powerful control over the mind could be, Weapon X had turned her into a living weapon through both psychic and chemical manipulation. Virgil's mind body and even his soul had been forced to accept the teachings of Muramasa, to become his apprentice and assist him not only in recovering the Tesseract but in killing the Great Lakes Avengers and many agents of Pegasus. He never revealed to his teammates however the tremendous effect that had had on him. As Virgil landed his minisub on the beaches of A.I.M island he adjusted his equipment belt, filled with a multitude of none lethal weaponry. He wore a suit that was black around the chest, the hips and the legs but grey everywhere else, included the cowl that covered his eyes, it was cut to reveal Virgil's mouth and dark hair and his eyes were covered by white lenses, like that of a domino mask. As well as his equipment belt Virgil wore a pair of black gloves with armour concealed on the pouches on the knuckles and wrists, the palms of the gloves were red, just like the soles of Virgil's boots, he had red guards on his knees and elbows. The young man began walking through the bushes of the A.I.M. garden, beginning his infiltration by putting his hands on the back of his head.
Anyone else would have been shocked by a forest defending itself. Flowers rose from the ground, their stems extending like vines and their buds opening to reveal cameras and blasters. Virgil however knew better, some called him Reckless, both for his behaviour and the fact that he was taught by Sven, whom used a persona called Reckless for a while. He knew that A.I.M had spent years within the time bubble turning their island into the pinnacle of technology and science. One part of science was evolution, how a species adapted to defend itself. His father had been an expert within evolution, specifically experimenting in the field of mutation and its supposed connection to evolution. The stems of the flowers expanded, as if something was being forced out of the flowers. When they opened their buds, A.I.M troopers came out, holding guns to Virgil's head. He pulled away his cowl, knowing that one look at his face would be all he would need to be taken to their leader, the Scientist Supreme.
Moscow offered very little in terms of tourist attraction. Then again Cade wasn't in Europe as a tourist, despite the presence of new cities like Star, Gotham and Metropolis, every other place in the world had nothing Cade hadn't seen in his own dimension. Just like his world, Russia was a place were trouble often started. Between political corruption and the Ukraine affair, Russia was hardly a decent place for foreign nationals to hang out. Fortunately Cade spoke enough Russian to pass himself off as one, having spent time in Russia getting to know criminals through the mafia. It seemed history was repeating itself to a degree; Cade's first real campaign against crime would be the mafia again. He walked on the grounds near the Kremlin and counted the cash he had scored from a labour job at the docks. Sneaking onto a boat hadn't cost him much and before leaving America he had managed to get clothes from a charity place. There were of course other methods of getting money that were less legal. As night began to pass Cade once again returned to the docks. Jumping between crates and hiding in the shadows, Cade spied on the suspicious shipments the authorities turned away from.
"Latest shipment from Kahndaq," his mind automatically translated the Russian they spoke.
"How desperate were they to get to America?" the apparent ringleader asked, in actuality he was a go between, someone representing an employer too politically important to reveal himself.
Cade knew what the shipment was, he didn't need to hear the coughs coming from the shipment containers.
"Desperate enough to pass through Europe before going to the states, fortunately your employer has given us a better offer than what the women could offer."
Cade tensed, resisting the urge to destroy the criminals with an energy wave. But that was the old him, a man who wouldn't have hesitated to murder these slavers for taking advantage of desperate people. People whom desperately wanted to escape a home consumed by civil war and dictatorship, men desperate enough to depart with their fortunes and women desperate enough to abandon their religion and offer their own bodies as payment. He counted the perimeter guards; six in total with the possibility of cops coming to back them up. Cade made fast and silent work of them, moving through the shadows, grabbing men in choke holds until they fell unconscious. When he was done with the two leaders he opened one of the containers. There comes a point where no matter how tough the body is, something disgusting enough will cause a person to vomit. Cade fought that desire off, gripping his nose as the stench invaded him. He turned away from the container, the scent of the dead bodies like toxin to him, the stench had been as trapped in the containers as the bodies.
People desperate to escape their war torn country had parted with their fortunes only to be crammed into a container, offered no food and water. Cade braved looking into the container again, looking through the bodies, their limbs and faces set by rigor mortis. His abilities no longer focused on the dead but the living and he sensed them underneath the bodies. After helping them out, Cade gave them the food that the slavers intended for them, making sure they ingested slowly so as not to choke. It sickened him, letting the men live but he realised why it was important, one could not stand by a principal and coat it in blood. That and the men were pawns in a much grander game. He took their phones from their pockets and checked their speed dials, the letters K and G were both linked to cell numbers. Cade's first instinct was to check G.
"Hello, is the shipment here?" a sharp authoritative voice asked over the phone.
Cade hung it up and opened the phone's casing. He placed in the monitoring chip he had made from parts he raided from a recycling yard. One part of his travels in his youth had been abut finding alternatives to his powers, fighting skills was one, weapons another, and espionage a third. Cade had done some off the bookwork for Fury in the past, another sign of the corruption the heroes of his world denied. He sealed it shut and melted the barrels of the men's guns. If any of the prisoners were strong enough to pull a trigger, Cade didn't want to tempt the chance that they would become murderers. They certainly had the right to kill the men, but Cade didn't want them to dirty their souls by killing. Cade also didn't want to stoop to the slaver level by taking the money, so he settled for the cash in the slaver's wallet. It would be enough to get him a room for the night.
But still there was the issue of the slaves. Covering himself in his armour, Cade flew upwards and began firing a beam across the docks, drawing a message and making enough carnage to attract attention. He then fired a blast into the atmosphere, hitting the League's fortress in space. If there was an advantage to their watchtower then it would be revealed today. He hoped they would look towards where the blast had come from, he hoped they would see his message, 'There are slaves down here, save them!' If they were every bit the heroes Cade hoped they were then he knew they would do the right thing.
Hoping on a terror organisation doing the right thing was never an option. Unfortunately the times had changed, and Virgil didn't value his life enough to take caution. If he was executed then he knew the Avengers would respond and beat A.I.M as they did time and time again. Virgil however did not believe in the old ways of the heroes, so he would not follow them. Of course when the arrogant Jeremy Briggs approached him about becoming a 'partner' Virgil took his operation down, by pouring the entirety of the Spin. Tech formula down the bastard's throat. Many of his team mates had been apprehensive over his methods after that, true he had taken Briggs down without killing him, but he had stripped the young man of his powers and a fortune he had used to help people, of course that had only been to attract others to his grand plan of 'curing' all the worlds superheroes.
'Do motivations matter?' Virgil wondered as he allowed himself to be led through the high tech streets of the city A.I.M had built.
It was a show of force, not in military might but science. They wanted to show Virgil that they had made a city that was self sufficient, powered by renewable energy source, a garden filled with food that would grow through the harshest conditions and a political structure that was incorruptible, though that had yet to be proven. One of the A.I.M troopers reached for Virgil's utility belt, he quickly grabbed the man's wrist.
"I wouldn't do that," he shook his head in warning as he removed the belt on his own.
The trooper snatched the belt from Virgil's grip, he immediately regretted it. Electrical currents ran through the man's body, forcing him to the floor. The belt fell next to him. The other troopers aimed their guns at Virgil, one bringing it right up to his face. But as it was said before Virgil didn't value his life, he showed no signs of fear.
"I did warn him," he said.
"A valuable lesson in humility I'm sure," a voice spoke from the depths of the garden.
The A.I.M. troopers lowered their guns and pushed Virgil into the bushes. He waded through the trees and came to a clearing. There was another garden, one filled with a multitude of flowers and trees Virgil knew didn't exist. Standing amongst the flowers, with his hands behind his hips was the leader of A.I.M. their scientist supreme. He was dressed in an armoured, high tech version of the old Aim Uniform, the exotic looking plants reflected off of his helmet's visor.
"We live in such an advanced world that we forget even the oldest methods can overcome us, that has been proven in every fight we have had with the Avengers," Andrew Forson turned to the young man, and Virgil had no doubt that the man was far from helpless. "Many times, we, the smartest men in the world were driven to defeat by brutes, monster, grunts and second rate scientists whom had yet to leave a significant mark on the world," he explained.
"Its because you're all second rate scientists too," Virgil noticed the man's shoulders tense and knew he had struck a nerve.
"The same could be said of your father, whom never really decided what he was…a mercenary, a scientist, a hero, he couldn't even decide whether to be a father could he?" the question was as much asked in mockery of Virgil's life as it was to sate Forson's curiosity.
"The future isn't decided by any one group, it's the actions of everyone on the planet that shapes history, no single organisation or person owns the future," Virgil explained.
"Is that why you no longer seek the counsel of your teachers in the X-men?" Forson asked as he crouched by a flower, its petals had broken but slowly began to mend itself. "I know all about you, a student whom went to Xavier's eager to learn control of his powers, only to be one of many whom died because of their stupidity, is that why you hate them?" he turned his head to Virgil as the young man looked at one of the trees.
Noticing his curiosity Forson stood up and walked to Virgil's side.
"It doesn't require the sun or water you know," he spoke like a lecturer to his class, trying to sate Virgil's curiosity. "Like the human body it grows, and like humanity each is genetically diverse, I had to incinerate a few because they were genetically flawed," he gestured to the branches and the fruit that grew on them. "Each piece of fruit produces the essential vitamins that the human body needs to survive, water, nutrients, vitamins, all put to a controlled level. They also manipulate the mind I'll admit, but don't jump to conclusions yet," the man raised his hands as Virgil looked at him, "have you ever been hungry when your body decides its had enough, have you ever eaten when you know you don't need to? This fruit produces a chemical that interacts with the brain upon breaking down, it basically tells you that you don't need to eat, up until the point of your next meal revised by your body clock."
"You're trying to cut obesity by eliminating snacks, this fruit is basically all nutrient supplements rolled into one," Virgil said.
"A fair evaluation, I know the Future Foundation has already begun to deliver supplies to third world countries, wouldn't this make their efforts easier? A tree that never runs out of food, that suppresses gluttony so that every family can have its fill without worrying about people killing one another to get to it? Armed escorts for food would be unnecessary, relying on the kindness of corrupt politicians would also be unnecessary, my motivations are not what you think they are Wallace," Forson spoke with sincerity that anyone would assume to be genuine, Virgil was not as trusting though.
"Hawkins," Virgil corrected the man as they walked through the corridors of the forest, tree branches moved away from them and the position of bushes shifted. "I am the bastard son of Heinrich Wallace, I am Virgil Hawkins," he said, looking up as they reached another clearing.
He looked upon what could only be described as a giant hive, filled with insects that resembled golden hornets.
"Don't be alarmed, they are not harmful, what is the next step in perfecting the world when you have designed a self sustaining energy source?" Forson asked, again like a lecturer to the student.
"You cleanse the atmosphere that people have ruined," Virgil said.
"Yes, years within the time bubble these little creatures were created, they pollinated the plants and within a month of their creation all mental defects within our citizens was purged, sorry that is probably too severe a word, I don't want to offend you by saying cured…you do know what I am saying don't you?" Forson asked.
"No one on this island gets cognitive conditions," the young man looked at the scientist and waited for some kind of response.
"Autism, Cerebral palsy, Alzheimer's and even Dementia, we've effectively and humanely 'cured' it, tell me as an outsider do you think people would agree to it being called a cure?"
"I've lived in both worlds, the world where certain things are impossible, and the world where everything is possible, I can say without a doubt that people would want to live in a world without dementia or cancer, but at the same time they would ask what is the price? People no matter how good a gift you give them, they wont sacrifice their freedom," Virgil explained.
"At the same time however they want a better world, a world where the young can learn and the old can be given the security and comfort they deserve. So how do you overcome the problems of population control and economy, the answer to the first is expansion, the answer to the second is simply eliminating the term economy, the first has been achieved through the alliances we have formed with alien cultures and the second has yet to be achieved, our world has been driven to the brink, money doesn't have the greater value over lives anymore," Forson continued leading Virgil through his home, accepting the bows of respect from his fellow scientists.
They went from a garden paradise, to a technological one, a metallic fortress that showed that whilst A.I.M. was perfecting nature they were also perfecting technological comforts, and building weapons. Forson took Virgil to a grand hallway, where a glowing gateway had been formed at the end of the wall. A.I.M scientists in their signature hazmat style suits swarmed around a mechanical arm on the ceiling, that would extend into the gate way. A glass screen separated a control room and observation post from the lab. Virgil saw Graviton and Superia standing there, both with their eyes on him.
"I see the resemblance to his father," Graviton said.
"Perhaps he's more like his mother," Superia said.
"He is apparently a better fighter than a scientist," the man agreed.
"I knew that with Richards away and A.R.M.O.R destroyed you would need to turn to other experts in the field of traversing reality, our recent (by your standards) actions involving the acquisition of Hyperion alerted us to a problem in the Multiverse, we pulled Hyperion from a dying Earth, it invoked our curiosity, we scientists are helpless to curiosity so we dug deeper, we looked, we took and we discovered that Hyperion's was not the only one to be destroyed, it had become a recurring problem, one Earth was a tragedy, a second Earth a coincidence and the third, the evil masterminds within us saw a plan, a deliberate act to meet an intellect's end goal," Forson explained.
"So naturally you began to dig deeper again," Virgil said.
"Yes, we always took from a dying reality, never working to save it because we knew that if we did we would be attracting the attention of whatever was destroying these realities, until we had figured out exactly what it is we couldn't risk confronting it without a plan, besides there's really nothing we could've done to save those world's lost, then we began noticing something," Forson raised his hand and clicked the fingers together.
An A.I.M. scientist walked out of the crowd and gave Forson a computer pad. He typed on its surface and after pushing a final button bought up holographic images of people Virgil recalled seeing on the Xavier campus. The ones he had known were versions of Calvin Rankin, Illyana Raspution and Clarice Ferguson, the others however were unfamiliar to him, but according to Sammy they were a female Sasquatch, Morph and the alternate reality daughter of Scarlet Witch and Nightcrawler, Nocturne.
"The Exiles," he identified the group.
"Yes, I began to notice a pattern developing from the visits of these Exiles, every world they go to, unless they visit it a second time, a year later that Earth is destroyed, their brother group Weapon X even ends with the planet being completely destroyed in an apocalyptic event, all except for ours," Forson explained.
"Which suggests that our Earth is part of some plan, that our Earth needs to keep existing," Virgil said.
"Yes, fascinating isn't it?" Forson asked.
"Fascinating but dangerous, I came here not only to reach a conclusion regarding your gateway but your organisation as a whole," Virgil explained.
"Yes, if I have you killed or imprisoned then the Avengers will come here and destroy everything I have built, just as they have always done. I don't desire a fight with the Avengers, I have seen a bigger threat to the goals of A.I.M than them, the breakdown of reality can ruin our plans too."
"And what are your plans now?" Virgil asked.
"I bought this island into a time bubble and turned into a paradise, you underestimate just how many years have gone by, Superia and Graviton do not age because of their powers," Forson said as he began removing the clips to his helmet. "Mere days passed in this world, but within the bubble years went by, years became decades and decades…" Virgil noticed that without the synthesizer on his helmet, Forson's voice was a lot more strained for his supposed age. "Do you know how I know that the cures for Alzheimer's and Cancer work?" he finally removed his helmet and Virgil widened his eyes.
Whilst Superia remained beautiful because of her advanced physiology and regenerative abilities, and Graviton had converted himself into energy, Forson was but a man. Without his helmet Forson revealed just how frail that fact made him. His face sagged with wrinkles, his hair was white and balding, he had numerous age related moles across his head and his eyes were tired. It's how Virgil realised that Forson, Superia and Graviton were probably the only ones from the initial A.I.M team left alive, everyone else was either a clone or their offspring. Forson had used his own aging body as a means to test his cures. For once Virgil didn't see a potential villain, but a sad old man running out of time.
"When the bubble passed I saw the new world created in the aftermath of the Hunt, I saw that what I had achieved decades into my world's existence had been achieved within a few short days in this world. You were right Virgil, the future doesn't belong to mutants or aliens or super heroes or scientists or even gods, it belongs to all, everyone has worked and is working to create the perfect world we had previously envisioned, before our Hydra founders corrupted us with their Nazi ideals," Forson explained.
"What are you saying?" Virgil asked.
"I'm saying I want to go back to being the scientist I was, a man who studied and experimented for a better world, not just a world where an organisation can rule. I'm saying boy that like you I believe the old ways are irrelevant now, we will ally ourselves with the Avengers, if only to see the Earth through this threat," Forson stated as he knelt and raised his helmet.
It was in a convenient position to give Virgil, causing the youth to raise his eyebrows in shock.
"Take A.I.M. in a new direction Virgil, become the new Scientist Supreme," Forson said.
Virgil looked at the helmet as he took it. He had hoped that A.I.M would accept his offer to reform, but not in this way.
Cade sighed as he listened to the radio in his hotel. The money he'd taken from the slavers was enough to get him a few things, a change of clothes, a room at a hotel for a few nights and some materials for his suit. He set his suit out on his table, his apartment was run down, the hotel was cheap enough not to ask questions or even care for the maintenance of the room. Cade cared little for his own comfort; he wasn't drifting for comfort, but to keep himself and others safe. Since he lived off of the grid, he could avoid being tracked by authorities although his face being seen by cameras was another issue. He knitted a mask together and put receivers into the ears he could use for the spy equipment he had made. After making a makeshift 'utility belt' placing pouches onto a belt he placed the equipment into the pouches and looked over what information he had.
A day after he had liberated the slaves, Cade discovered that the League had responded as he had hoped. The UN however intervened and had the immigrants extorted back to Kahndaq. His actions had at least reminded the League of Kahndaq, and if they didn't do a thing about it then he could always get involved as he had with Bialya. He reminded himself to check that situation as well, but focused on the information he had gotten from the Internet café. As he looked at the situation on Kahndaq he learned two things, one that Kahndaq was being ruled by a dictatorship and the possibility that the person he heard speaking on the slaver's phone was a politician.
"We can not tolerate slavery, but at the same time, we can not tolerate an immigration build up. I feel for these poor people I do, but the situation in Kahndaq is quite frankly not America's, not Britain's, not the EU's or even the UN's problem let alone Russia's," Smerdyakov spoke with that man's voice.
Cade searched the name and found that he was formerly a General in Russia's USSR. He had caused controversy five years ago when he deployed the Red brigade, a fleet of red armoured suits intended to protect Russia from possible Apokolips invasions. The suits however were hacked by a man known as Toyman and turned against the Kremlin, the Justice League however and one of the only men to gain full control of the suits managed to cut the connection and the government decommissioned the rest, leaving a man called Gavril as the sole Rocket Red. Since then Smerdyakov had gone into policing and became the commissioner of the Moscow police.
The pattern started to form and fit, just like the adjustments Cade had made to his suit. His suit was formed of unstable molecules, so any additions he made became part of the suit. Listening and receiving devices became part of the suit, the material even spread to the mask, turning the balaclava into something more along the lines of the masks professional vigilantes like Spider-man and Daredevil wore. He added a mask to his suit in order to conceal his identity, should his armour even be shattered. But Cade didn't have the energy he needed to make his armour or even fight with an energy blade. Until he had regained his energy he would need to fight old school, relying on his skill. Cade spent the next day staking out the Moscow police station, and keeping an eye on the monitoring device he had implanted on the slaver's phone.
'Finally,' he thought as he watched the two men exit the station.
Just as they left however a limo pulled up. Cade broke off into a run after the limo, jumping across the rooftops and using small bursts of energy to glide. He threw a disc shaped object from his belt, latching it onto the limo's roof. As he continued running, Cade pushed a button on the side of his mask and listened to the conversation going on inside the limo.
"Was it a rival gang?"
"I'm sorry sir but rival gangs wouldn't alert the Justice League or spare our lives."
Two men, one of them sounded like Smerdyakov, but Cade knew he couldn't jump to conclusions. He kept following the limo, hoping to learn something from his night out.
"Our potential new allies will not be pleased, the League does not forgive easily, neither do I," the older of the two men spoke.
'The League,' Cade thought, again not willing to jump to conclusions.
The Justice League couldn't be the only organisation to take on the name League and if they were involved in the slave trade someone would have found them out by now, considering most of the world watched them.
"Mr Smerdyakov, it wasn't our fault, everything was going so well."
"Then you should have remained alert," a new voice spoke.
Upon hearing the name he wanted to hear, Cade smiled. With evidence confirming Smerdyakov's involvement alls he had to do was recover the phone, take all the data the bug had recovered and then send the evidence to the top, directly to Russia's home office. He focused on this league and resumed his listening.
"The League's representatives, are arriving tonight, we will be meeting them at the airfield," Smerdyakov said.
"And prey that it is Miss Tate leading the assassins and not Bane."
"Mr Knyazev, is Miss Tate really as reasonable as they say?" the young slaver asked the new man.
"HA! She'll listen to whatever excuses you have for failing, but if she doesn't like them she'll at least kill you quickly…don't be afraid, she's quite beautiful, there are worst ways to die," the new man, identified as Anatoli Knyazev, formerly of the KGB and Smerdyakov's right hand man laughed.
'League of assassins, they might be this world's version of the Hand,' Cade theorised.
The Russians and the assassins were definitely meeting at an airfield. Cade resumed his pursuit but stop when he noticed something shine out of the corner of his eyes. He slid to a halt on the rooftops and tilted his head back. A silver tip, attached to a purple shaft brushed against Cade's cheek and flew into the night. He immediately jumped and flipped onto another rooftop, dodging a second arrow. The third flew towards him, but much to the shock of the shooter he grabbed the third shot. That's when Cade saw that the arrows were actually bolts from a crossbow and that the shooter was a woman.
"Impressive," she said, adjusting her aim.
Cade split the bolt in two and looked at his attacker. She had the pose of a professional marksman, guaranteeing accuracy but she was clearly no assassin. Although maybe she was an assassin, Cade had known and killed some assassins who wore costumes. She wore a black suit with purple boots, purple gloves and armbands and a cape. A white cross was on the chest of her suit and much of her face was covered by a purple mask, which left her forehead, eyes and mouth exposed. The mask had ear ornaments on it, running past the woman's own ears and through her long black hair.
"If you are an assassin I'll give you a warning not to get in my way, if you are a hunter though I offer you my help," Cade's eyes softened as he extended a hand to the woman.
She fired her crossbow again, forcing Cade to flip back. He hardened his gaze as the woman abandoned long range fighting and removed a metallic staff from her utility belt.
"Actually they call me Huntress," she twirled the staff around, smirking as Cade lowered into a fighting posture, "And I only have one partner!"
Next Chapter 13: Assassins vs. Heroes vs. S-men
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, we'll go back to the Marvel side of things eventually but the next few chapters will be DC centric, next time Cade joins with Huntress in tracking the Mafia and the League of Assassins, eventually getting caught in the middle of a fight between the assassins and unexpected rivals in the S-men (who you will know from the Uncanny Avengers series :)