Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC
Fans of Young Justice again can see their favourite show continue, and get treated to an extra special treat at the end of this chapter.
The Redeemer
Chapter 15: Alliances
He had spent twenty years under the thumb of vengeance, his actions never truly influenced by the spirit, he made his own choices yet he was always haunted by the visions and the duty that spirit demanded. Cade was bound by a power that had chosen him since childhood and had awakened at adolescence. For a moment Cade thought he was free of that power and that duty, he thought he would be free to do good under his own will and with his own power. Yet facing an opponent as powerful as Power Girl forced his hand, made him desperate enough to want that power back for just a minutes. Though the spirit of justice hadn't yet rejoined him, it still clung to him, like a child clinging to a parent's leg, ignored but still there, still crying. Cade looked at his hand, at the red energy that seeped from it. No one who hadn't seen the spirit realm or possessed power levels that matched the Celestials could see the energy of the spirit or its form lingering over Cade occasionally. When Cade looked towards the two women conversing in the kitchen he was in actuality looking at the wolf, the representation of the spirit. It was simply a 'blink and you will miss it' moment, though Cade knew it would get worse. He knew that eventually the wolf would appear to him constantly, that justice would demand its champion back.
After altering A.R.G.U.S, Cade retreated into Moscow and took refuge in Helena and Kara's shared hotel room. The two young women were still in their uniforms, Kara had repaired hers, choosing to keep her cleavage exposed and uncovering her thighs too. She seemed to be as proud of her body as Emma Frost, modesty went out the window with her. Cade could also feel the woman eying him, initially out of caution though she would occasionally check him out and give Helena suggestive glances, the kind that said 'you two or him and me'. Not that either of the women were unattractive but Cade wasn't interested, at that moment or any other. His focus for now was on his recording equipment and trace results. He dismantled his equipment and inserted the tracer chips and photo cards into the computers Helena had given him. After a few commands numbers began appearing on the screens.
"What's that?" Cade widened his eyes in surprise, feeling the Kryptonian's breasts briefly touch the back of his head.
His surprise made Kara smile, whilst Helena looked away in embarrassment. Her best friend was beautiful, strong, immensely intelligent and comfortable in her sexuality. She had had a number of one night stands over the years they had spent in this world. For a time she thought Kara would have an actual relationship with an inventor, they dated for months until they broken up and even after Kara always talked about how 'terrific' the man was. Helena herself had had no relationships, her work was her relationship. She looked over Cade's shoulder and like him understood what the numbers meant.
"Coordinates," the man nodded, agreeing with Helena's assessment.
"What for?" Power Girl asked.
"Where the league of assassin's boat is going," Cade said.
"It could be a base, or it could be Nanda Parbat itself," Huntress said.
"Either one would do, take out the operation or the head itself," noticing the curious looks on their faces Cade elaborated, "I tell the authorities about the League, or I tell the other league and they stop it, or if it's the former I'll have disabled their operation and gotten one more bit of Intel to lead me to another operation. Fighting crime is a constant and never ending process, one piece of evidence leads to another, one conviction leads to another case, but the league...do you two know anything else about them?" he enquired, turning his chair to face the two women.
Power Girl turned away and walked to her side of the room, she didn't associate herself with that level of crime. Her power levels were reserved for world ending threats. Huntress however was intimately familiar with it, both in her world and this one.
"The league of assassins are as their name implies..."
"Well duh," Helena shot her blonde friend a glare for interrupting.
"As I was saying," Helena continued, trying to ignore Kara's amused smirk, "Assassination, spy work, these people are believed by most to be an urban legend, some authorities think they exist and others don't because they aren't superstitious enough. They originated in Arabia and expanded to China and Japan, it was only during world war two that they started moving off into western territory, taking jobs for the seemingly more just allied governments but occasionally working with Axis forces when the need arose. Their leader is Ra's Al Ghul," she explained.
"The 'Demons's head'," Cade translated.
"That's what they call him, I only know that he's been their leader consistently, but I couldn't tell you whether the name Ra's Al Ghul is simply inherited or whether the man is truly immortal. What I can tell you is that his followers believe him to be divine in his judgements, like a god, their behaviour is more like a cult than an organisation of mercenaries," he noticed the hesitant look in Helena's eyes, she actually seemed to be afraid. "He has two daughters, Talia Al Ghul whom handles all of his western contacts and acts as a second in command and Nyssa Al Ghul who is responsible for many of his mass operations and shadow work."
"How do you know so much about them?" Cade asked.
Huntress and Power Girl both widened their eyes slightly. Cade looked at Helena as if he already knew the answer. She walked to her window, looked out at the city and imagined the people in it. All of them lived relatively simple lives in comparison to the problems she faced. For though she was as human as any of them, her life had gone in directions theirs hadn't.
"I was eighteen when I came to this world, Kara had the luxury of her powers and intellect, I didn't, my training was incomplete and I couldn't just go to my mentor in this world," she explained.
"You should have gotten over your personal struggles, but I can't blame you for not wanting to look at your father, even if he is a different version," Cade said.
"How could you possibly know her father trained her or what she's feeling?" Kara asked.
Again Helena glared at her friend, Kara had heaps of intelligence but very little tact.
"That pained expression in your face, how you look up and down, how you're skirting around the subject and some of the things that the Red Skull said. I know Batman trained you because your fighting styles aren't that dissimilar, I know your name is Helena Wayne, there's only one notable Wayne on this Earth who can afford to be Batman and has the necessary trauma in his life to push him towards it. Batman is Bruce Wayne, you are his daughter, he died in your world and you don't want to look at even another version of him...tell me was he mean to you?"
"No, my father was stern but he never raised his hand to me, he died a hero," Helena said.
"Then I suppose it's a different reason than mine," Cade sighed.
"Wait, are you saying you've met another version of your dad and that's how you understand Helena's pain?" Kara asked.
"I've lived a long and colourful life," he shrugged his shoulders as he stood up, pulling the chip out of the computer.
"We all do, that's why I didn't want to give this version of my father more complications, or myself for that matter. So I sought out the League of assassins, I needed a deadlier fighting style for when I returned home. I drew their attention in the Middle East and they eventually sent agents after me, after I beat them I was recruited and stuck with a teacher, Nyssa herself," Helena explained.
"So that's how you're familiar with them, let me guess they taught you everything you needed and then you left them when you realised how ruthless they can be," Cade said.
"Pretty much, it started out good, I...killed people who deserved it, slavers, murderers, but then I was given a hit list of senators, activists and regime leaders...I didn't leave then, I stayed and killed them. Afterwards I felt so sick, I couldn't kill and then bow to Ra's and be proud of it. That's when I realised that Ra's indoctrinates people from an early age, his daughters, a few of his operatives but he finds people who want to fight injustice and gives them an easy way to fight it, it was a mockery of everything my father taught me. And for all their talk of honour and justice they aren't above performing crimes to meet their ends, killing for money and committing acts of slavery themselves."
"Exactly how far are they willing to take their justice?" the man enquired because he began to see a pattern forming.
"They'll kill the innocent with the guilty if they can't find the evidence. It started as far back as world war two, the mass slaughter of communities by Nazis, actually the League of Assassins, killing hundreds because they couldn't find one suspect," Helena's horrified look actually shocked Cade more than the act she described.
"These people don't know what justice really is, how did you get away?" he asked.
"I faked my death, Talia didn't recognise me because she and Nyssa barely interact," Helena said.
"Could this location be Nanda Parbat?"
"I don't know, I was never trusted with the exact location, what I do know is this...Ra's Al Ghul isn't insane, he believes completely in his methods of justice."
"Then that makes him all the more evil," Cade said, and Helena saw the rage in his eyes.
"Are you really going to go up against the league of assassins?" Helena asked.
"Not by myself if I can help it but it won't stop me."
"I can't join you," Helena said.
"Right now the best help you can give me is four things, a plane ticket to Washington, another to Star city, and then a plane ticket to Gotham, I can pick up some possible allies on the way," Cade explained.
"I can secure those, what about the fourth?" Kara asked.
"I need to use your shower if possible," Cade said.
The grin across Kara's face made Cade regret his fourth request.
Virgil continued looking at the fruits of Forson's labour. A.I.M. world was a technological paradise, a city of the future in the present. Of course it wasn't all floating cars and grand metropolis's, there were genetically engineered beings walking the streets, accepted unlike their mutant and Inhuman counterparts. As Virgil expected A.I.M. had been monitoring recent events, the arrival of NuHumans, Inhumans living amongst the regular human populace whose powers had been awakened by an unknown event. They had also monitored the situation in the Savage land, life seeds implanted by Ex Nihil and Abyss had led to the creation of new forms of plant life and event sapient beings adopted by Hyperion. Forson was true, the world had achieved things his world had taken decades to accomplish.
'Scientist Supreme, it's not a fitting title,' the young man thought.
He was more a fighter than a scientist (that and he thought Pym had been given the title by some 'supreme being') his grades at Xavier's had been exceptional but nothing that put him in McCoy's lead. He couldn't help but wonder whether he was just another pawn of Forson's, in some game A.I.M. was playing, but a lot of time had passed in the bubble judging by Forson's face. The man's armour was the only thing keeping him moving, perhaps the only thing keeping him alive considering he had used himself as a test subject for his cures. Virgil looked from the balcony of his room at the bustling markets, which resembled the interstellar markets Nova often spoke of.
"It's a fake," a woman said from the doorway.
Virgil turned his head, confirming that the woman was Superia, though she wasn't dressed in her usual outfit. Strangely she wore a copy of Carol Danvers's first uniform. It was probably an attempt to drop his guard, but whilst Virgil could admit she looked stunning in the outfit he wasn't distracted. He had no concept of attraction or even a sex drive, hence why his fellow students at Xavier's used to say he 'swung for neither teams'. She removed her mask and placed it on the railing of the balcony, smirking at Virgil's lack of interest.
"This whole community is a fake, a copy made to emulate the ideal future, but with the portal we have seen numerous futures, numerous worlds and we have found no ideal Utopian future, only death," she explained.
"Why the costume, a little bright for your tastes isn't it?" Virgil asked.
"A necessity for a mission I was on, a mission to another reality," Superia said.
"Let me guess, an Earth where the bad guys are the good guys."
"If you want black and white distinctions yes that was the case, you are not at all amazed that we perfected sending people to other realities?" she asked.
"It's natural that you should be able to send what you pull out back, except you couldn't do it with Hyperion because his Earth was destroyed, how many collisions have you witnessed?" he asked.
"Personally I have seen two, there have however been six, or perhaps seven, it's hard to say because not all the collisions actually happen," she explained.
"Forson said that Earth's are being destroyed," Virgil said.
"Yes, sometimes single Earths, sometimes the collisions happen and thus those universes cease to exist. Though there have been cases in which the destruction of both worlds have been prevented," Superia said.
"Show me the data," Virgil demanded.
"We can do better, we can show you where the most recent has happened," a smirk spread across Superia's face as she walked out of the room.
Virgil followed the woman to the gateway chamber's observation room. There Forson waited, in full armour with his arms crossed per his usual preference. He looked at Virgil and Virgil imagined the man smirking underneath the helmet, for believing that he was so easily manipulated. Virgil was still suspicious as he had been for some time since his resurrection.
"Ah Virgil, come to satisfy your curiosity?" Forson asked.
"I'm here to get answers, unbiased answers, this is the all the equipment you've used to monitor worlds right?" Virgil asked.
"Yes, how could you tell?"
"They're advanced versions of machines that Richards uses to calculate probabilities, after the civil war he went from mathematics to actually looking at other worlds and our possible futures," Virgil explained.
"Yes, time inside the sphere allowed us to upgrade Richards original design, you can witness alternate worlds, the pasts, presents and possible futures and since your master...I mean Muramasa's dabbling with the Tesseract the entire multiverse has expanded, collision of realities. Would you like to observe or explore the worlds for yourself, if you're still unhappy with the world you live in now we can always find you another," Forson explained.
"No," Virgil said strongly. "I want to know when these collisions started, and what Superia was talking about when she said the most recent one."
"In that case then you will have to witness the past, not a possible past but the past of our world, going back just a few days after your Hunt," Forson said.
"A few days, but it's been barely a month, are you saying that a collision occurred just a month ago on this world?"
"No Virgil, I'm saying an incursion event occurred, allow me to show you!"
Raw rage, that was what guided the Superboys. Both seemed to be reflections of the other, as both let out grand yells as they flew at their opponents. In space however the Reach could not hear their enemy approach. Superboy and Supergirl crashed through their enemies, releasing blasts of heat vision and crushing armour with their bare hands. Kai-Vell felt overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Kryptonians, only his Nega bands put him on even ground with them. He fired one energy blast after another, zipping around Reach fighters as he made his way towards the capital ship. A HUD appeared over his helmet and he analysed the ships structure. For however different Reach technology and culture was in comparison to the Kree, it was still a ship and ships needed emergency hatches. He looked towards Superboy and widened his eyes slightly, the clone released a wave of telekinetic energy that crushed an entire squadron of drones.
Though physically identical and equally as strong in rage, the Superboy of another world was simply all rage. His roar was heard by Red Hood, but his attack was broadcasted too widely. Even though Superboy had the strength and durability of Superman, his human genes diluted his other Kryptonian abilities too much. So when the Red Hood saw Superboy leap into the air he did what any fighter would. He tilted his body back, grabbing Superboy in a hold and then threw him, using Superboy's momentum to leave a crater in the wall. Red Hood smirked as Superboy got up, snarling at him like an animal. He rushed forward, throwing one punch after another. But Red Hood dodged each one, tilting his head or sidestepping the blows. M'Gann's injuries unleashed the pure rage Superboy kept inside, all of Black Canary's lesson were forgotten as he tried to bash Red Hood into the ground. The masked man pulled off a flip Superboy had only seen from Nightwing, the momentary shock broke Superboy's anger. Then Red Hood threw a grenade from his belt, hitting Superboy's face. Liquid Kryptonite sprayed across Superboy's face, singeing his skin and making him cry out.
Rounds flew at the Superboy in space, but his telekinesis easily diverted the blasts. He began to punch the surface of a Reach ship, intending to rip it apart. Kai-Vell looked towards the Kryptonian, and fearing that the prisoners had been put on another ship, dived at his supposed ally. The new Captain Marvel slammed his fist into Superboy's face, knocking him away from the ship. Since they couldn't communicate it was the best he could do to make the angry child stop. Supergirl was just as angry, yet had just a little more control. She was using her X-Ray vision to scan the Reach ships, and she knew full well that Kai wanted the prisoners alive. Superboy rushed towards Kai-Vell, aiming a fist for his chest. Kai-Vell however created an energy field, blocking the clone's punch. Both were shocked to see that the field made Superboy's strength useless.
In the Justice League watch tower however Red Hood didn't need an energy field. He got by on pure skill and precision alone. Seemingly taunting Superboy by jumping over him, the man in fact planted an explosive on his back. It went off, destroying Conner's shirt. Red Hood then threw a disc shaped device onto Superboy's chest. A rocket activated on the device, sending Conner flying through the walls of the tower. Red Hood simply walked through the holes Superboy had made. Conner got off the floor and ran at Red Hood again, and again Red Hood hit him with an explosive, knocking him against the wall.
"You're forgetting Canary's training Conner, or perhaps you are following it, acting, never reacting to the circumstances, always pushing forward, never stopping and thinking about what your actions result in, I can see why you and your girlfriend hit it off so well," Red Hood explained.
Conner let out a yell as he jumped again. Red Hood removed a pistol from his holster and fired it into Superboy's chest. He then emerged from the holes in the wall, carrying Superboy by his foot. The other members of Young Justice were shocked to see a piece of Kryptonite lodged in the clone's chest.
"Well that was a rather anticlimactic end to the fight," Deadman Wade said.
"We can't afford to keep this going on for too long, if you have a complaint take it up with the boss, not that any of us know who the boss is," Red Hood huffed as he yanked the Kryptonite shard out of Conner's chest.
"It's not the Reach, and it's not Loki, or Lord Mar-Vell, so who in the Multiverse could be pulling the strings?" Blackfire asked as she floated around Red Hood.
"We can solve the mystery later, right now we have deliveries to make," Red Hood said.
A portal appeared, the same kind of portal the Red Hood and his gang walked through. One by one the members of the team were walked through the portal. Red Hood continued dragging Superboy by his foot and hefted Miss Martian over his shoulder. He walked through the portal, into the dark metallic corridors of a Reach space ship, there several Reach Drones waited with Black Beetle, a Martian covered in Green Beetle armour, the Crimson Scarab, a female Red Beetle and a bulky version of Blue Beetle. Grim Reaper also waited with Victorious the older version of Victor Mancha, a Cyborg Red Wasp and Smasher, but the white and red aspects of her costume were gold.
"Welcome to your new home, Young Justice," Grim Reaper said.
"Young Justice?" Red Hood tilted his head in confusion.
"Isn't that what they're called?" Grim Reaper asked.
"No, where did you get that from anyway?"
"So they're just called 'the team', not very dramatic is it?"
"They're a black ops team, they aren't supposed to have an identifiable name," Red Hood walked past Grim Reaper, dropping Miss Martian and Superboy at his feet.
"We're just being bombarded with Kryptonians today," Reaper grinned.
The unconscious members of the team were thrown into different types of cells, some designed simply to contain them, others to disrupt their powers. Guardian and Robin were thrown into regular cells, alongside yet another version and Kate Bishop. Kate looked at her surroundings, ever since her she and her team had been captured on the planetoid she hadn't seen any one of them. Every so often however she would see teams of villains emerge from the portal generator, carrying super human youths, some she recognised like a version of Noh-Varr in his Protector outfit or a Hulkling in the form he used when the Young Avengers were first formed. In fact Red Hood had to take several trips to carry back each founding member of the Young Avengers. Sometimes he would go as part of a team, or individual 'Reach' members would go to worlds and bring back super powered youths. So far Kate had seen thirteen unconscious teens go past her cell and she guessed from the size of the corridor that it was a long corridor with many cells.
"Like looking in a mirror right?" she asked the costumed teen in the cell next to her.
"Not really," Robin said.
When she awoke from unconsciousness Kate became familiar with the situation by talking to Robin. Unlike the Robin who had been brought in by Red Hood he wore a much brighter costume, even his red shirt was brighter and instead of black on his legs he wore green trousers, with green short sleeves on his shirt and green gloves and a pair of green boots with steel across the soles. Also unlike the other Robin his hair was longer, originally styled but since Red Hood's beating it partly covered his domino mask.
"Different person behind the mask?" Kate asked.
"Can't really say, he seemed to get a bigger beating than me though," despite his analysis of his counterpart, Robin kept his eyes on Red Hood.
Kate could tell from the look that Robin was trying to figure out who Red Hood was. He was going over all of the facts and information he already got from Red Hood's movements and speech. The costume was a lot like what Zack wore when he first got into the hero game, but the personality, the calculating, the detective mindset seemed more like Virgil to Kate. A few leagues down the corridor, Noh-Varr nursed a blaster shot he had taken in his earlier fight. He looked at the cell across from him and saw the yellow and red youth being thrown into the cell between two other speedsters. One wore a costume with the same colour scheme, except his cowl included red eye lenses and his bolt symbols were on the red parts on his shoulders. The second speedster was a dark skinned boy, his costume had a similar lightning motive but whilst the other two Kid Flash's had yellow, he had silver in his costume.
"Now who is that handsome devil?" the Kid Flash in the left cell asked.
Bart awoke from unconsciousness, looking at his counterpart in confusion.
"Alternate reality?" he asked.
"Alternate reality," the other Kid Flash nodded.
"Okay its clear you two are counterparts of one another, which is going to get confusing real fast," the dark skinned boy said.
"Not with you it seems, so are you like my future replacement?" Bart asked.
"More like the original, Wally West."
Bart widened his eyes, shocking the boy slightly.
"You are not Wally West," he said.
"I think I'd know who I am kid."
"WhatarewelikethesameagebesidesyouareclearlynotWallyWest!"
"Ohandwhynot?"
"Youknowbecauseyou're..."
"BecauseI'mwhat?"
Bart awkwardly scratched his head, not noticing his counterpart behind him shaking his head, trying to stop him from saying what was on his mind.
"Well I, IsupposeWallyWest'scantallbewhiteguyswithredhair!"
He seemed to forget that he was talking with a speedster.
"Your Wally West is white? Well I suppose not all versions of a person can be the same race, I bet he's nothing like me, I'm bored talking to you, you on the other hand," Wally West turned and grinned at a girl dressed in a Kid Flash suit with a black jacket.
'Oh yeah, you two are nothing alike,' Bart thought, he then thought of 'his' Wally West and fought to contain his tears.
"So beautiful, what were you doing when the crazy reality hoppers kidnapped you?" Wally asked the girl Flash.
"Visiting my dad, you know he's called Wally West too," she said.
Wally awkwardly stepped away, glaring as the two Bart's laughed (at super speed, so no one but Wally noticed). Young Justice Bart smiled, forgetting the loss his team suffered and just how much he had been reminded of his predecessor.
'These humans are as interesting as the people I have chosen as my allies,' Noh-Varr thought.
The Kree soldier narrowed his eyes as America Chavez walked past, following Grim Reaper like a worshipper.
"Another batch, you've done very well Red Hood," he said.
"Nightwing wasn't with them," Red Hood snarled.
"He's puny, we don't need him, besides you can always go and capture another Nightwing, that's the beauty of the Multi-verse you see," Grim Reaper explained.
"There's always new meat for Harvest," Black Beetle said.
"You mean the harvest," Chavez said.
Black Beetle glared at America as they came to the end of the corridor. Grim Reaper placed his hand on a scanner and the metallic door in front of him opened.
"He meant Harvest," he said, "Our boss man, and the one who's going to help me restore your lost world!"
Like the revelation of the villain in the theatre, Harvest emerged from the ceiling. He spread a pair of wings with grotesques feathers on them. The red lines across his armour glowed and he grinned, genetic manipulation had made his face monstrous, his eyes had been replaced with a visor of some kind. He tapped his staff against the ground and numerous machines came to life, a gurney popped out of the ground with a red furred boy on it. Red Hood noticed a slight resemblance to Beast Boy, the red furred boy looked like an older version of the shape shifter.
"For now though, we will carry out our masters will and begin testing his final solution," Harvest grinned as a machine began to lower itself towards Garfield.
The red furred boy struggled against his restraints and yelled as dark energy was shot into his body. America Chavez was the only one to notice Red Hood squeezed his right hand into a fist, his anger was obvious to her because she shared it, the anger of someone who hated themselves, the anger of a traitor.
Multiplex was running for his life, even though he was facing an opponent in theory he could beat. The blue and green suited man's duplicates were spread out across the floor of the Starling City docks. Arrows had struck their shoulders and knees, crippling blows that rendered them useless to the original. Multiplex slammed his fists together, the force made several more versions of him appear and he sent them after his Hunter. Two arrows suddenly flew out of the shadows and pierced the necks of the dupes.
"Oh god, how the hell can I be losing LIKE THIS!" Multiplex yelled in frustration.
Just as he created several more duplicates, his hunter jumped off of the crate he had been running on. Everything he wore was green, fatigues, boots, an armoured vest that left his arms bare and gauntlets with gloves. His eyes were covered by a domino mask with goggle lenses and a hood slightly obscured his green hair. He had strapped to his back and thighs quivers of arrows and he used a compound bow to launch those arrows into the dupes. Three got close, but the archer, Green Arrow used his bow as a club and delivered swift kicks. He rolled and fired an arrow towards Multiplex. The tip of the arrow exploded, trapping Multiplex in a net.
"Multiplex, you escape A.R.G.U.S. only to end up doing the same stuff that got you on the government's radar in the first place, tell me where Cyrus Gold's body has been taken," Green Arrow demanded, twirling a black card between his fingers. "And you can tell me what the hell this is?"
"I don't know, it was given to me," Multiplex said.
"Oh it was given to you, that tells me everything I want to know, not, WHO GAVE IT TO YOU!" Arrow yelled.
"The point of interrogation is to not lose your cool!"
Green Arrow knocked back his bow as he swung around. Cade huffed, tempted to laugh at the man's perfect mix of stupidity and courage. His energy had recovered enough for him to use his red and green energy armour.
"You were surprisingly easy to find Green Arrow, perhaps we can both help one another," he said as he continued to hover over the vigilante.
It was a room that seemed to be made of pure darkness. There was only enough light for anyone to see the people sitting in the room. The Black Panther, king of Wakanda and the Necropolis, Prince Namor of Atlantis and ally of the X-men, Reed Richards the founder of the Fantastic Four and Future Foundation, the mute king of the Inhumans Black Bolt, the founder of the X-men Charles Xavier, the sorcerer Supreme Steven Strange, Tony Stark and Captain America. It was Richards who was standing, looking between each member of his Illuminati with dread across his face.
"Everything dies," he said, with finality and acceptance. "You, me, everyone on this planet, our sun, our galaxy and eventually the universe itself, this is simply how things are and I accept it," Reed continued standing and again looked between each member to gauge their reactions, they knew him well enough to know his speech hadn't ended there. "What I will not tolerate, what I find unacceptable is the unnatural acceleration of that end," his eyes stopped at the Black Panther, "Which is why T'Challa has summoned us here, as the untimely end of everything is what we now face."
Virgil looked at the team in shock. He stepped off of the viewing platform of what the A.I.M. members called 'the observatory'. His lingering connection with the spirit world told him he had been seeing his world, not another but his. Which told him several things, the biggest minds and leaders on the planet knew that the Collisions were occurring, they had already taken steps to stop one.
'Richards called the Black Panther T'Challa, so he didn't die during the invasion, was he one of the few given a second chance by Deathblade or did he never die? And Strange, he had his cloak of levitation on, is he the Sorcerer Supreme again?' the vision had only given Virgil more questions.
"Richards said that T'Challa summoned them, they meet in the Necropolis," he said.
"Interesting, it's a simplistic answer but it may be so simplistic that its true, a secret base in a place anyone with secret organisation level Intel knows about," Forson explained.
"If these Incursions had been occurring why doesn't anyone know about, even with Cerebro Xavier can't erase an entire planet's memory on his own," Virgil said.
"There are 'Incursion points' places where the two Earths are linked, for example if the Incursion occurred in Westchester then both Earths X-men would see another Earth in the sky," the Scientist Supreme drew a diagram to illustrate his point.
No matter the rotation of the two Earths, the shared Incursion points would always be perfect reflections of one another. Incursions could appear in the past, the present or the distant possible future. It was clear that Forson had been studying the Incursion events and collisions for as long as A.I.M. had been in the time bubble. His understanding and fascination with it was greater than any of his fellow ministers. Though the understanding could also be called obsessions, Virgil could see that in the way Forson spoke. The Incursions both exhilarated and terrified him.
"But the Incursion points for our Earth appeared at remote locations," Virgil said.
"Not necessarily, the first Incursion point was our entire planet, the day you all fought Muramasa," Forson said.
"So Muramasa is behind this?" the boy asked.
"No, though his actions probably helped, or in this case exasperated," Forson turned to his scientists in the gateway room as the portal lit up.
"What are they doing?" Virgil asked.
"Pulling an object out of the Multiverse, much like they did with Hyperion," Forson said.
The gigantic metallic arm extended into the portal. Virgil watched the process intently, his father's scientific curiosity sparked within him.
Gotham was a naturally cold place, but not enough to make security guards freeze into blocks of ice. Daggett industries had been assaulted by a disgruntled employee. Cryogenics expert Victor Fries dragged Daggett himself towards the building's main generator. A cold fusion generator that used nitrogen as a power source. Fries initially planned to use it as a power source. But since Daggett attempted to murder him those plans had changed. The 'industrial accident' Daggett caused resulted in Victor's skin turning chalk white and him having to rely on a bulky containment suit to keep his temperature at constant subzero temperatures. After modifying his lab equipment he was able to create a freeze gun, one he used to freeze Daggett's guards and his legs. This hadn't been the first time Batman had encountered the villain.
"WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS GET IN MY WAY!" Fries yelled.
He fired his freeze gun at Batman, but much to his shock the weak beam melted upon contat with Batman's armour. The bulky suit he wore was known as the extreme environment suit or XE suit for short. Batman's knuckles glowed orange as he delivered a swift punch to Fries's face, shattering his helmet and bringing him to the ground.
"It's over, for both of you," Batman said as his mouth guard slid back.
"What do you mean?" Daggett asked.
"I have enough evidence to put you away for a long time Daggett, for Fries's attempted murder and a list of other things," the dark knight didn't smile or smirk, though he was happy a criminal finally couldn't escape justice.
Commissioner Gordon collected Fries for transport back to Arkham, he had a special cell waiting for him. Daggett was dragged away the traditional way, put into a squad car in front of numerous reporters. Batman watched from the rooftops, out of his XE armour and holding what Fries had had on him, a black card. He turned the card over, examining it for switches whilst scanning for energy sources.
"World's greatest detective at a loss?"
"No, I know you already paid Green Arrow a visit, Redeemer," Batman turned the floating armoured man.
"You keep tabs on your friends?" Cade asked.
"Yes," Batman said simply.
"Suspicious of everyone I see, we'll get along just fine then," Cade said as he landed in front of the dark knight. "You and I can help each other, I need information and I can give you information on the league of assassins."
Cade couldn't tell whether that had caught the dark knight's interest.
'And Sven said I was stoic,' he thought, slightly annoyed by the man's demeanour.
Kai-Vell was tired, the artificial atmosphere his energy field provided made sure he didn't suffocate, but he still felt deprived of Oxygen. He and his allies had been facing a seemingly never ending stream of enemies. Reach drones, Chitauri, even dark elves wielding weapons they didn't typically wield (they even wore futuristic armour and used guns). Captain Marvel looked towards the Kryptonians, even with Superboy focusing his anger he was still fighting a losing battle against a version of the Earth villain Count Nefaria. Likewise Supergirl was at a disadvantage again a pink skinned woman using a yellow power ring. She created multiple asteroids and bombarded the young woman. Kai-Vell flew to support both his allies, but almost instantaneously a portal appeared in front of him. He barely stopped in time, his feet touched the surface of the portal and he felt his energy drain further. Not from exhaustion but dread, every instinct he had told him not to go through the portal.
'Why am I suddenly so uncertain?' Kai-Vell wondered.
He backed away as the portal expanded and figures began emerging from it. Kai-Vell knew he was dealing with alternate realities, but he was shocked to see versions of the Avengers emerging. A Captain America, a Scarlet Witch, a Giant-man, an Iron man, a Ms Marvel and a Thor, but there were all different, their suits were darker. No in their colour schemes but their designs, though those with visible skin seemed paler, like death. Kai-Vell kept his guard up as another came out of the portal.
"Hold Revengers, no one will harm this one," the leader of the creatures said.
Kai-Vell looked at the man's uniform, it was much like his own though instead of a star burst symbol it had the shape of a star glowing on the chest. The man also wore a cloak attached to his nega bands and his face shocked the young Kree hero. The man opened his arms as if expecting a hug from Kai-Vell.
"Yes Lord Mar-Vell the undying," the Revengers chorused.
"Father," Kai-Vell whispered.
"Infinite realities, infinite possibilities, here I see a world where death has won," the Cancerverse warlord sighed as he turned to the Yellow lantern.
He suddenly fired a blast from his hand, ripping the woman's chest open. The action didn't shock the Revengers, but everyone else, even Nefaria looked at Mar-Vell in horror. A white ring suddenly flew from the portal and latched itself onto the woman's index finger.
"Katma Tui of Korugar-3, live!" the voice was followed by a bright white light.
Katma Tui rose from the light, dressed in a shining white uniform with the symbol of the White Lantern Corps on it. She hit Supergirl with an energy blast that sent her flying past Kai-Vell.
"But soon, this world and every world out there will become a world where life has won," Lord Mar-Vell smiled, but it didn't ease Kai-Vell's dread.
He couldn't help but think that his father's statement wasn't as good as it implied. In fact his instincts told him that the idea was terrifying.
Steve Trevor walked out of his office carrying nothing. No government agent would take his work home, only the knowledge he had in his head. What Trevor knew felt heavier than any suitcase or piles of files. His latest clash with 'the Wall' hadn't been productive, and it hadn't made a difference. He remembered fondly a time Waller cared about people and didn't think of them as pieces on a board. She had asked for his input in the formation of a government sanctioned Justice League team. Of course to anyone else it would be a team the government could control, but the real reason for forming it infuriated Waller. The part of him that still believed in Diana and the league hated Waller for her idea, the fact that she opened the meeting by showing a picture of Diana and Superman smooching only made his anger worse.
'One day someone's going to smash the wall down, I only hope it's not to a point where you can't change Amanda,' despite what she had become, Steve still hoped his old team mate would see the error of her ways.
Though that concept became more unlikely every day Steve saw her at work. His belief in both Amanda Waller and Diana were fading. He walked to his car, cautiously maintain awareness of his surroundings. Graves and other villains had taken him by surprise and he vowed to never let that happen again.
"Tough day at the office Colonel?"
'Okay, retake, no one surprises me again,' Steve thought, turning to his pursuer.
Steve was surprised (again) to see that it was the very man who had escaped A.R.G.U.S. a few days ago. Though he wasn't in his armour or even his suit, but a set of regular nondescript street clothes.
"You have to make a decision fast Colonel, will you help me in exchange for the information I have?" Cade asked.
"I don't understand, what information can you possibly give me? And why do I need to make a decision fast?"
"Because Deadshot's about to interrupt our conversation," Cade said.
"Deadshot?" Steve looked around in confusion.
Cade stepped back and tilted his head to the right. It was at the exact moment a bullet flew at him, and Trevor was surprised again.
"Please get on the phone to Waller," Cade said firmly, as he jumped to dodge another bullet.
'Damn it Waller,' Steve thought.
Virgil felt ill standing beside the likes of Superia and Graviton. For as spectacular the sight of the gateway was and the possibilities it entailed, Virgil hated being in the same room as known criminals. Even Forson's seemingly sincere gesture of reform was dirtied by his history of A moral science and cold blooded murder. In Virgil's eyes the people around him were irredeemable despite the years in the time bubble they had to change. He felt that way about himself too, he had done things he couldn't take back. If Forson's statement of reform was true then Virgil supposed that they were all redeemers.
"We scientists are powerless in the face of curiosity," Forson repeated his past words, they seemed to be his mantra.
The young man he had chosen as his successor seemed to share that belief. Virgil looked towards the portal in concern as it flashed, releasing bolts of energy that made the mechanical arm groan and spark. Forson had seen it do that before, but he had confidence that unless they were trying to pull Galactus out of the Multiverse the arm would hold. The arm itself however began to vibrate as it pulled a body out of the portal.
"CODE YELLOW CODE YELLOW WE ARE DEALING WITH A SPEEDSTER!" one of the scientists yelled.
The room itself seemed to shake as the body the arm had picked up flailed, an echoing scream emanating from its throat.
"ARTEMISARTEMISARTEMISARTEMIS!" whatever it was it spoke at a rate no human could keep up with,
"GRAVITON USE YOUR POWERS TO GET EVERYONE AWAY FROM THE ARM!" Virgil yelled.
"I don't take orders from you boy," the man retorted.
"You will," Forson said.
Graviton glared, and it seemed clear that Forson was doing the same thing underneath his helmet. The scientist supreme won however and Graviton extended his hands, levitating the scientists away from the machine. He was surprised to it fall apart and the consoles they had worked on explode.
"THE PORTAL HAS SHUT DOWN!" another one of Forson's assistants yelled.
Virgil jumped into the smoke left from the explosion. Forson immediately followed, even trying to grab Virgil's arm. But the young man as Forson expected paid him no attention. His priority remained on the person they had pulled out of the portal. The electric field around him had faded and he had stopped vibrating. Virgil checked his pulse and sighed in relief, he was still alive and was slipping in and out of consciousness.
"They're coming, they're coming, kill us all, kill us all!" he repeated his words, panicked even in his comatose state.
Virgil looked over the young man's costume. He wore a pair of red trousers with yellow boots, his yellow shirt had shreds in it, revealing some of the padding inside. His cowl was also fully torn and the goggles over them were split and cracking. The young man had green eyes and red hair with the complementing freckles. Virgil had memorised the appearance of every super hero on his Earth, this one could have easily have been a counterpart of Speed or even Quicksilver, though Virgil doubted it.
"His name is Wally West," Forson said.
Virgil turned to the man, narrowing his eyes at him. His suspicion of Forson had increased, for a man whom had studied every super hero in the Multiverse and their secret identities was dangerous. If Forson had detected Virgil's animosity he made no comment on it.
"Or as his native Earth-16 once knew him as Kid Flash!"
Next Chapter 16: Doubt
Hope everyone loved the shocking reveal, and could get some of the implications made in this chapter, they'll be fully revealed in future chapters (as well as the results of Kai-Vell's battle with the Revengers). From here on out Virgil will be the secondary protagonist of the story (Cade being the first) since he is also technically a Redeemer. Next time Virgil meets back up with his team, and faces allegations of corruption. Meanwhile Cade faces off against the Suicide Squad again and Steve remember his meeting with Waller regarding the Justice League of America.
Some famous alternate reality heroes seen in this chapter:
Wally West New 52
Barry Allen/Bar-Torr New 52
Iris West of Kingdom Come
Robin of the Teen Titans show
Beast Boy New 52 (the same Garfield who appeared in the earlier chapters)
Scarlet Scarab of Batman: Brave and Bold
and Wally West of Young Justice, still alive and running:) screw the creators saying the speed force doesn't exist