Disclaimer: I don't own DC or Marvel
This chapter introduces another alternate Earth
The Redeemer
Chapter 16: Doubt
Earth Designation 7119
"Everything dies, you, me, our planet, the universe, one might say that it is an inevitable eventuality...but I will not accept it!"
The words came easily out of Reed Richard's mouth, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of the smartest men on the planet. He stood in the meeting room of his Helicarrier, standing over a table with some of the greatest heroes his Earth had.
"I will not tolerate accepting something as inevitable, whilst we still have the power to prevent it," he tilted his glasses further up his nose before clicking his fingers.
Multiple screens appeared behind him, showing the heroes diagrams, coordinates and equations. He elaborated what they meant to those who weren't scientists.
"Eight hours from now another Earth will clash with ours, supposedly the destruction of both Earth's together will destroy the entire universe. Which means that to save two universes, two realities, one Earth must be destroyed," Richards lowered his head slightly before looking at the other heroes. "This is what this woman told us," he snarled as another image appeared behind him.
It showed a woman whose skin and hair was pure white. She wore a black top and had been encased within an energy barrier.
"Another Earth is coming, another Earth will clash with ours, but I don't think the universes end with either Earths destruction. We still have to evacuate our Earth though, so my friends will you help me to achieve something fantastic today?" he asked, turning to the heroes he had gathered.
There was no official name for them other than the 'superhuman community'. They sat in brightly coloured costumes, or their very forms had been altered because of their incredible powers. To lead them on the field was the Iron Patriot, a Stark-Tech designed armour painted red blue and silver, an armour that contained the preserved brain of Steve Rogers, the first super soldier of the modern age. On his left sat his best friend, another great hero preserved from world war two. Bucky Barnes however, having been younger than Steve at the time of his enlistment didn't require as extensive modification as Rogers did. An experimental super soldier serum slowed his age, both his arms had been replaced with metal prosthetics and his mouth was covered by a black mask. Opposite both Bucky and the Patriot was a couple from the streets, whose bodies had been altered by a lab accident. Greer and Bill Nelson went by the names Tigra and Lionheart respectively, their new bodies matched the animals they had been named after. From their left sat heroes from across the world, Illyana Rasputin AKA the Black Widow sat with her fellow heroes from Russia, her brother Piotr Rasputin the Titanium Man, Ex-Stark employee Ivan Vanco, AKA Whiplash, Powersurge and Ursa Major. From England came Betsy Braddock, AKA Captain Britain, the head of MI6 Peter Wisdom and Spitfire. From Europe came Walter Maximoff, the red cloaked Scarlet Warlock and his twin sister Petra Maximoff, AKA Silverjet, former and redeemed Nazi the White Skull, the super strong wrestler Toro, the time manipulator/speedster Velocidad and the expert mercenary Silver Sable. Solo heroes gathered from across the world, Japan's Mariko Yoshida AKA Sunfire, Canada's Walter Langkowski AKA the Green Sasquatch, New York's leading vigilantes Daredevil, the Punisher and Spider-man and Korea's Crimson Dynamo. They were a worldwide Initiative of men and women bought together to save the Earth, or avenge it if they failed.
"Black Swan may be right about the planets, but I'm willing to bet she's wrong about the rest of the universe, now let's get to work!"
Virgil Hawkins was unsure of himself, he hid it well from others because he was by his very nature a solitary person. He was never with his team mates long enough for them to see that things bothered him. They knew he had some sense of guilt over his actions during the hunt and they knew that he still harboured some resentment to the X-men and the Avengers. What they didn't know was the full extent of his grievances and his doubts. They didn't understand that he had been walking a dark path before Muramasa found him. Before the thought of killing someone didn't bother him, he was willing to kill (or at least attempt to) Hope, the supposed mutant messiah all because he despised the X-men. They were supposed to fight for human and mutant unity and yet, they accepted the name homo-superior and the theory that they were the next step in human evolution. When M-Day happened Emma Frost made a speech, Virgil was able to listen to it. She said that before M-Day happened the world was beginning to belong to mutant kind. Virgil hated her and wanted to kill her the most for that, his final thoughts as he died in the wreckage of the blown up bus were of Emma Frost and Cyclops dying painful deaths.
A few months after he came back he learnt that the Cyclops who had been with Emma Frost was actually a Skrull, coincidentally it had been Virgil's half brother who freed Cyclops from the Skrulls. Yet everything didn't go back to normal, Cyclops went on to further isolate mutants by creating Utopia, a 'community' for mutants, a nation in theory with its own powers including death squads, squads Cyclops had sent after him when he was deemed a threat. The thought of claiming revenge was all that mattered to Virgil, so much so that he made a deal with Miss Sinister and regained his mutant abilities in exchange for a 'genetic sample', how he gave her a sample still disgusted him. After that he lost miserably against X-Force and began to suspect his connection to Sieg. Muramasa found him afterwards and confirmed his heritage.
His father was Heinrich Wallace, a scientist, a mutant, a mercenary but above all that a man who sought to discover the secret to not just mutants, but Eternals and Asgardians and Inhumans. He composed a theory most wouldn't believe and sought out evidence to support that theory. Muramasa never revealed what the conclusion Heinrich had come to was, because he bombarded Virgil with training and teachings and he revelled in them. Even when he put on the helmet of Muramasa's apprentice and was brainwashed, Virgil still enjoyed the prospect of killing those he felt deserved it. He laughed when Muramasa forced him to kill an entire world full of super villains to demonstrate his lethal techniques. But as he fought Sieg, more and more Virgil began to despise killing.
More and more Virgil began to care about other people again, his team mates, even the X-men who he knew were adamantly opposed to the joint Avengers/X-men teams. He wondered if it was a result of him temporarily at least becoming a spirit knight, a host to a spirit of brotherhood? If somehow being host to such a thing rekindled his ability to care about others? Yet it hadn't changed him that much, he still kept to himself and withdrew from others. But his thoughts and feelings had changed, they had evolved. He was no longer on a dark path, he had faith in that much.
"Maybe I'll accept the offer," he said to himself, rising from his crouched position.
He turned his back to the graves of the Initiative members who died in the invasion. After revising them all he put his hood over his face and began walking away from the memorial.
"Didn't turn up in costume huh?" a voice above him asked.
He heard the flapping of metallic wings as the new arrivals feet touched the ground. Without having to even turn Virgil knew it was the new Falcon. The young man's helmet hid his face well but his body size was smaller, more athletic in comparison to the deceased original Falcon.
"You know we often wonder whether you're praying for forgiveness when you come here, Hellion and I don't share that view point, Sofia and Sooraya too, they know you better enough to know that you don't believe in forgiveness for sins or god," Falcon explained.
"You're wrong about that, I do believe in god, I believe in a higher power but I don't believe in limits either. Why give us free will if we were supposed to follow limits, why give us the potential to break those limits if he or she or it demanded worship. The idea of god at least plays an important part in shaping the kind of people we can become," Virgil explained.
He turned around, actually looking the new Falcon in the eyes. The young man appeared less comfortable after Virgil's rant, more like a teenager than as trained a veteran as Falcon.
"I've been thinking, I don't think I'll reveal my identity to the world," he said.
"I hope this is for something more sensible than, 'people won't like a white guy using a black guys identity'," Virgil said.
He had his hands in his pockets and his stance depicted a lack of empathy for Falcon's situation. As much as Virgil cared about his team mates there were still things that didn't bother him.
"Listen a lot of people within that community care about the Falcon identity and what it symbolises. If they suddenly see a white guy, especially a mutant using that kind of identity then it might cause a lot of uproar, we could lose popularity not gain it," Falcon explained.
"There are white guys who liked Falcon, there are black guys who liked Falcon, think about that statement for a moment, there are billions of people in the world, exclude the people who don't think anything at all about super heroes and you'll probably get a thousand, exclude people who could care less about a super heroes race and judge by actions not ethnicity then you'll be reduced to a hundred, that's a hundred people who are too stupid to see that they're being hypocritically racist, a hundred minds to change by saving lives, Sam Wilson had a lot more lives to save to establish the reputation he did and he wasn't just defined by his super hero work, he worked with charities, social services, the military and in the end people saw a hero, not a black hero, but a hero."
The new Falcon felt much more comfortable after that, so much so that he chuckled slightly.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right, I mean it's not like I've become the new Black Panther or anything," he said.
"What would be wrong with a white man behind the Black Panther mask?" Virgil asked.
"Are you joking, I thought you were supposed to be logical, the Black Panther is an identity held by Wakandan royalty, Wakanda's an African nation."
"Firstly..." Virgil said, turning to Falcon with an aggressive look in his eyes. "It doesn't have to be Wakandan royalty, it isn't passed down generations there are tests people have to go through to become the Black Panther, T'Challa had a better drive than most of the other warriors who applied and secondly you're stereotyping without even knowing it, because...there are white Africans too you know."
"Smart ass, that's why people didn't like you at school you know."
"And I'm guessing you're the most popular guy on the team, Jay Guthrie!" Virgil frowned, causing the new Falcon to lift his mask off.
Underneath the mask was a red haired boy with green eyes. He was Jay Guthrie, the brother of Husk and Cannonball and someone who had betrayed the X-men by sharing information with Stryker. The bus bombing that killed Virgil and many other former Xavier students was Jay's fault, and as much as Virgil cared for Jay's safety he hadn't forgiven him for it. He wasn't sure whether he could even forgive him for it.
"I know that my faith led me to do something I could never take back, that no matter how many things I write in my own blood it'll never take away from the fact that I helped a mad man kill innocent people, that I believed that mad man was an actual prophet. I can't be an Angel, and I've already lost my old wings, like Icarus I grew arrogant, what I can be is a hunter, a Falcon tracking down men like Stryker and ensuring they don't hurt innocent people again," Guthrie explained.
"We're not executioners," Virgil said.
"That's why I'll carry them to the nest," Jay's helmet covered his face as he flew upwards.
Suddenly, claws attached to Jay's boots latched onto Virgil's shoulders. He widened his eyes as the Falcon lifted him off the ground and began flying through the air.
"Jay what are you doing?" he asked.
"Taking a criminal to the nest," Jay retorted.
Falcon flew him to the rebuilt areas of Washington, dropping him at a building. Virgil got off the floor, brushing dust off his jeans. He watched as Jay took off his helmet and landed amongst a group that included Iron Lad, Patriot, Sofia Montega, Sooraya Qadir, X-23, Hellion, Surge and Nico Minoru.
"Virgil, we're very disappointed in you," Iron Lad said, narrowing his eyes at the person who was supposed to be his leader.
Steve Trevor was getting tired of surprises, of people thinking he couldn't do the job he had been doing for years. He wasn't a colonel for nothing, yet Diana and the league doubted him. Amanda Waller doubted him too, she doubted he could take on a single man who had no real military training.
'Then again, when it comes to this man she's probably right,' Trevor thought as he watched Cade Hunter dodge round after round fired by Deadshot.
He knew Deadshot's reputation was well earned, he was one of the only members of the Squad who wasn't afraid of dying. The ruthless marksman had orders to incapacitate Cade however, his first shot was the test. Lawton grinned as his target performed several free running moves, jumping off of a car hood, rebounding off of a fence and using a pipe to climb to the rooftops. When Deadshot lost sight of him, he put his rifle away and removed his mask, revealing his dark hair and well trimmed moustache.
"Waller, Hunter got out of my sights, he won't be bothering Trevor," he spoke into his radio.
After putting his rifle back in its case, Floyd Lawton zipped up his coat and walked out onto the streets. His custom designed silencer and attire had made the rest of the world oblivious to what he had been doing. To them it was as if there was no fight going on. Cade had evaded Lawton via the building skylight. He was thoroughly surprised to find King Shark waiting for him. Just barely avoiding the behemoth's teeth, Cade jumped to avoid the projectiles launched by to new comers of the squad. One didn't look any older than eighteen, he wore a black sleeveless coat over a sleeveless body suit and fired electrical blasts from his hands. The woman beside him, much older, seemed to have a smile on her face as she fired blasts of ice at Cade. He back flipped and created an energy blade, shattering several ice spikes the woman threw. Her hair had taken on a white tone and she wore a blue one piece with some kind of jewel on her chest. White blasts flew from her exposed hands, which Cade easily broke apart with the heat of his sword. King Shark got in close, bringing his fists down on Cade. At the instant he was struck, Cade created a thick layer of armour on his shoulders, it was just enough to injure King Shark's hands. He then added a layer of armour to his foot and slammed it into the behemoth's face, knocking him to the floor.
"Who's next?" Cade turned to the two newbie's and braced himself.
Both fired their energy blasts, striking their target. Steve widened his eyes in horror as sparks of electricity shattered the building windows and chunks of ice tore down the bricks. He immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialling a very specific number.
"DAMN IT WALLER!" he yelled.
Waller bought her phone closer to her ear, she expected Steve's outrage.
"You sent out Voltaic and Killer Frost, Frost is a psychopath and Voltaic's a minor offender," the colonel stated in outrage.
"I know, both however have significant power, El Diablo was out of the option as his powers can cause too much property damage," Amanda explained.
She watched the battle from the comfort of an operation room.
"Yeah, I'm looking at some pretty decent property damage right here Waller, call the attack dogs off now."
"You are not in charge here Trevor," Waller replied to Trevor's orders and put a hand to her ear. "Killer Frost, secure the target," she commanded.
"With pleasure Waller," Killer Frost licked her lips as she approached the ice Cade was trapped in, or seemingly trapped him.
He suddenly disappeared, causing both Voltaic and Frost to widen their eyes in shock. Cade suddenly appeared behind Killer Frost, a quick slap to her neck knocked her out. He then rushed towards Voltaic, grabbing his hands and aiming them upwards. Out of panic Voltaic fired electricity into the ceiling, overloading the lights and causing them to explode. Cade tilted his head back, avoiding the shower of glass, Voltaic however wasn't so fortunate. A foot to his face only made the cuts the glass caused worse, and knocked him out of the fight too. Steve kicked the front door down, scanning the room with his pistol. Cade had already taken the alleyway exit, to face his next obstacles. A razor sharp blade sped past his head, followed by an electric blast. Cade dodged both (even the returning boomerang) and looked towards the other squad members.
"Boomerangs? Really?" Cade asked.
"You should have been around earlier mate, Killer Frost made an ice pun," the ginger haired man said, removing another boomerang from the sleeve of his blue coat.
"Back off Jackman, I've been looking forward to jumpstarting this freak's heart ever since he broke my jaw," Electrocutioner said, slapping his hands together.
"Another gimmick reference? Also the names Harkness or Captain Boomerang," the Australian said.
"Someone has an inflated opinion of himself, also didn't I knock you out with one punch last time?" Cade asked the Electrocutioner.
The thug yelled before he ran at the man, raising his gauntlets. Cade created a layer of armour around his knuckles and slammed them into Electrocutioner's right fist. Much to his shock, the gloves broke apart. Despite already having been proved inadequate, Electrocutioner still swung his left fist. Again Cade broke it, then grabbed the sides of Electrocutioner's head and slammed the man's forehead against his knee. Captain Boomerang huffed with no sympathy for Electrocutioner's skull wound. He held several boomerangs between his fingers like cards and grinned as Cade created two energy swords.
"Energy projection, teleportation, construct creation, is there anything you can't do?" he asked.
"Make bad guys shut up," Cade retorted.
"I don't know, your methods seem pretty thorough," Boomerang chuckled before throwing his weapons.
Cade deflected two, sliced another in half and grunted as one slashed his arm. He realised if he hadn't side stepped the cut would have been much worse. The blades returned to their wielder and Boomerang released another flurry. Again Cade deflected and dodged, keeping pace with the projectiles, watching them but focusing on the thrower. By watching Harkness's muscle movements he could analyse his style of fighting and predict where he was going to throw them. But 'Captain Boomerang' was good, his technique was flawless as was hit timing. As each blade returned to his hand he throw it again without even having to take the time to aim, and throwing it in a way that meant it would always return to him. Contrary to popular belief, a boomerang had to be thrown the correct way to return to the thrower.
"Captain Boomerang has the target distracted, Quinn, Black Spider move in now," Waller ordered.
Cade threw his sword at Harkness, just as his weapons returned to him. Harkness ducked to the left, avoiding the sword, which imbedded itself on the wall. Cade jumped onto a trashcan and then off of the wall, just as Harley Quinn and Black Spider jumped off of the roof. He grabbed Quinn's leg and threw her into Black Spider, then he rebounded off of the wall and tackled Boomerang. A final punch to the man's face was all Cade needed to knock him out.
"Amateurs, the lot of them," Cade turned to the edge of the alleyway.
He narrowed his eyes at the man standing there. Slade Wilson threw aside his thick trench coat, revealing a simple black and orange clothed costume. He put his signature mask over his face and drew a katana styled blade from his back.
"You sacrificed defence for speed, not worth it considering your blind spot," Cade said.
"I'm no amateur either," Deathstroke rushed forward.
The speed increase was something Cade anticipated, but Deathstroke moved faster than he thought he could. He barely dodged Deathstroke's sword, covering his hand with armour as he swung it towards the man's face. Much to his shock though, Deathstroke took the punch as if it was a jab in a bar brawl. The strike was supposed to knock him out, it was the equivalent of someone running into a girder. But Deathstroke stood, delivering several kicks to Cade's own face. Cade punched Deathstroke's stomach, and the bruising and pain on his knuckles was all he needed to determine that Deathstroke had altered his costume.
"You've put layers of Vibranium underneath your suit," Cade said, holding up Deathstroke's sword hand.
"Vibranium, I don't know what the hell that is," Deathstroke suddenly head butted Cade, knocking him against the wall. "It's called Nth metal, and it's something I've been saving for people like you," he said.
Cade created an energy sword and swung it with all his strength. Their blades locked, much to Cade's shock. He expected Deathstroke's sword to shatter.
"Nth metal sword too," Deathstroke thrust his palm into Cade's face, knocking him off balance.
Steve barged through the door, widening his eyes as he watched Deathstroke's sword tear through the armour Cade hid underneath his clothes. It tore through his chest and burst out of his back.
Virgil looked at each of his team mates. A few had new looks but he knew their secret identities, their back stories and most importantly the weaknesses of their powers. Patriot was Eli Bradley, founding Young Avenger, he no longer wore his red domino mask and instead wore a blue cloth over his eyes and head, his uniform also had the addition of a golden eagle, both changed to his costume were respectively tributes to his uncle Josiah and the first Patriot Jeffrey Mace. He used Cap's original shield, sturdy but it couldn't be thrown unlike cap, Patriot's strength levels and stamina weren't comparable to Cap or is uncle's because of his age and lack of regular intensive exercise. Nico Minoru was sometimes called Sister Grimm though she didn't have a taste for the codenames of costume of a super hero and instead wore a black dress that exposed her shoulders. She coated her lips and nails black and her dark hair had red dye on the lengths resting on her shoulders. As always the staff of One was in her hands, but she wasn't bound by the one spell rule as she had been taking lessons from Doctor Strange and Brother Voo Doo. Julian Keller was back to using his Hellion name, like Jay he had been used as a pawn by Muramasa, his hands cut off and replaced with cybernetic appendages. He wore the red and black X-men uniform he wore after Decimation and though his telekinesis was strong he was arrogant. Close to him as always was X-23 with her white and brown suit and her psychological baggage. Surge wore exactly what she wore as a New Mutant squad member, alongside Wind Dancer (though Sofia had an Avengers 'A' on her chest instead of an 'X'). Sooraya as always was wearing her traditional Burqa. Everyone of them was looking at him with judgemental eyes.
"I see, and simply asking me to come here wasn't enough? What kind of complaint do you have?" Virgil asked.
"It's more than a complaint, you let Kate and Billy go off on a mission with Teddy and that wildcard Noh-Varr," Patriot said.
"Someone sounds awfully jealous of our resident Kree," Sofia whispered to Noriko, who giggled at Patriot's expense.
"Hulkling had a personal stake in finding Mar-Vell's son, Noh-Varr was eager to go as was Kate and Billy obviously couldn't leave his boyfriend to go on a mission alone," Virgil explained.
"What about David then?" Surge asked.
"I asked him to go, to keep an eye on Chavez, who seemed a little bit too eager to follow Billy!"
Iron Lad walked closer to his leader, his helmet fading to reveal his face.
"You've been suspicious of both Billy and Chavez, hell you're suspicious of all of us aren't you?" he asked.
"I trust you all...to a certain extent, but let's keep in mind that we're all still teens...our inexperience means we can lose control of our abilities and let's keep in mind our older counterparts have hissy fits from time to time, we've got more reason than most of them to be angry, and what happens when we're angry?" Virgil turned to the edge of the building, looking down at the people on the street. "They suffer, whenever people like us get angry and decide to lash out, so yes I believe you'll fight for the right reasons, but that doesn't mean I'm going to put it all on faith," he explained, turning back to his team mates.
"You sound an awful lot like Senator Kelly used to sound when he talked about mutants," Sofia said.
"Have you been composing methods of killing us Virgil?" X-23 asked.
"No," Virgil said and the youths sighed with relief. "I've been composing means to incapacitate you!"
"Should have known a flat scan would start composing ideas to hurt mutants," Hellion muttered.
"What does he mean Virgil?" Sooraya asked.
"Haven't any of you figured it out yet? Virgil doesn't have his powers anymore," Iron Lad said. "He's been working with A.I.M!"
"He went to A.I.M island to keep an eye on them and to find out what they were doing," Sofia said, floating in front of Iron Lad and pushing him away from Virgil.
"Tell me Virgil, are you going to accept Forson's offer to lead A.I.M?" Iron Lad asked.
"How do you know about that?" Virgil asked.
The members of his team looked at him and before the young man's eyes appeared Stature. She grew to her full natural height, landing beside Iron Lad and looking at him with accusatory eyes.
"You're not the only one who doesn't trust Virgil, we never trusted you either," she said.
"I expected this kind of thing from the adults," Nico said.
"I was going to tell you all, did Cassie tell you about Forson, how he wanted me to reform A.I.M?" Virgil asked. "Or did you just naturally assume I was in league with him somehow, yes I worked with each of you to study your abilities and compose plans to incapacitate you if any of you went to the other side, and I had faith that if ever I went to that side again you would all do what was necessary to stop me. But this isn't even one of those cases, I'm using A.I.M's resources and determining whether they are truly genuine in their desires to reform. And it's paid off, I found out where our team mates are being held and I've also found something else that warrants our attention," he explained.
"What do you mean?" Sofia asked.
"Reed Richards, he's reformed the..."
"No, no more talking," Hellion snarled.
He covered Virgil in a green aura, lifting him off of the floor. Virgil clicked a button on his belt, triggering a sonic device on his buckle. The sound waves moved at a specific frequency and homed in on the genetic markers present in telekinetics. Julian gripped his head in pain, but his robotic hands fell apart as his nose began to bleed. The former X-men squad leader fell to his knees, his skin had turned pale and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. X-23 looked down at her lover and then glared at Virgil as he landed on his feet. Any approval she had for his contingencies faded as she popped out her claws.
"Hold it X-23, I've got this," Iron Lad said as he aimed the palm of his hand at Virgil.
"Alter your destiny Kang Richards!" Virgil said.
Iron Lad looked at the man in confusion, before the light on his chest began to flicker like a bulb. He instantly fell to his knees and vomited, causing the members of the team to look at him in shock as his armour melted, becoming a mere puddle beneath him.
"NATHAN!" Cassie screamed.
"What did you do Virgil?" Sofia demanded, trapping him in a miniature, low pressure whirlwind.
"I voice activated a virus I installed in Iron Lad's armour, he won't be sick for long and the sonic device I created temporarily burns out a mutant's telekinesis, they are not permanent solutions," Virgil explained.
"That virus," Iron Lad mumbled, his eyes wide and voice fast from hysterics. He swung towards Virgil, his fist passing through the wind as he punched the young man across the cheek. "YOU FREAK!" he yelled.
"Calm down Nathan," Patriot said.
"CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN! I saw the timestamp on the virus before it shut my armour down, he uploaded it the day we met," Nathaniel explained.
"That is kind of freakish...and badass at the same time," Nico muttered under her breath.
"ENOUGH!" Jay yelled.
He flapped his wings, releasing a burst of air that threw Virgil and Nathaniel away from one another.
"Our team mates are captured and probably being tortured right now, Virgil has information we can use, so let's use it and be done with him," he looked at the one who was supposed to be their leader with disgust. Part of him wished he had never put on the Falcon costume Virgil had made, he had many reasons many of which involved what he had discussed with Virgil mere moments ago.
The past few seconds had given Jay even more of an excuse to abandon the identity. He knew that Virgil had implanted some kind of failsafe in the suit to knock him out of any fight. But he wasn't angry about that, Jay believed he didn't deserve trust after the things he had done. A bus explosion flashed in his mind's eye and he lowered his head in regret, picturing Virgil bleeding out amongst the rubble, cursing his heroes without anyone even trying to save him.
"Jay's right, we can't keep fighting now, it's obvious what we should do with Virgil," Patriot said.
He walked up to Virgil and tore off his belt buckle, crushing the sonic device. Virgil did nothing, he didn't brace himself for the punch he expected to come at him. But Patriot didn't hit him, he simply turned away and walked to Nico's side.
"We're getting out of here team, we need to work on rescuing our own, you know Virgil you match A.I.M. pretty well, it deserves another insane leader," Patriot explained.
"You aren't one of us anymore Virgil, neither a mutant or a part of this team," Julian said as Laura helped him up.
Virgil tried to speak to his team, to warn them not to do anything rash. But Nico tapped her staff against the ground, using her training from Dr Strange and her other teachers to access a teleportation spell. Flames engulfed the team, included Nathan's shut down armour. The flames formed skeletal hands that slammed together, with the team right in the centre. Virgil knew it was a teleportation spell, so he wasn't surprised to see now blood or guts on the hands when they separated and subsequently faded. What he did find disturbing was the spell Nico used, he read a little bit about both the light and dark sides of magic. Nico had been using dark magic, one from hell (or at least one of the numerous dimensions that numerous people claimed was the genuine hell...despite the numerous holes in logic that proved otherwise).
'Looks like there's a reason I made those countermeasures after all,' Virgil thought, but shook the thought aside.
He had to confirm his doubts first before he judged them too harshly. That and the last thing he wanted to be was someone like Tony Stark or Norman Osborn, someone who decided themselves what was best for the rest of the world.
'But...am I already becoming that kind of person?' Virgil wondered.
"A Justice League of America will never work Waller!"
Those were the words Trevor used when Waller called him into her office, to discuss A.R.G.U.S's latest project. The office had a drawing board set up, with a photo of the league pinned into place. Steve knew exactly what it was for, each league member would be assigned another 'league' member. What really angered Steve was how Amanda drew him in, what she used to get under his skin and doubt his loyalty to Diana. She clapped a photo onto the table, a photo of Diana and Superman kissing. A.R.G.U.S. had one of the best spies in the world, someone who worked at a microscopic level and Superman wasn't paranoid enough to use his enhanced vision all the time. Inside Steve admitted that seeing the woman he loved kissing another man so passionately bothered him, but he knew he had to be better than Amanda Waller.
"This image was uploaded by Booster Gold, seconds later he vanished and we have no idea why," she explained.
"Boosters never been a government man, unless it's gotten his face on a TV screen, if there is any truth to his 'man from the future' garbage he may have gone home," Steve explained.
"Don't avoid the real problem Steve," Waller said as she took the photo and threw on some more photos, Diana in a desert with rebel fighters, Diana brutally killing super villains, they all spelt one thing, "Wonder Woman has always wanted to change the world, what happens if Superman's do-gooder nature isn't the one that rubs off? What happens when they start deciding to 'fix' the world's problems regardless of the consequences? People with sense are frightened of this pairing Steve, they're frightened of what their children could do..."
"Wait that's getting a little ahead Waller," Steve said.
"I have to plan ahead, I have to plan for the worst possible scenario, like what happens when this relationship breaks down...can you honestly tell me Colonel that Diana wouldn't react violently when angered?" Waller asked.
Steve took a moment to think about what Waller was asking him. Despite how she worded it she wasn't asking about just Diana, she was asking about the entire team. Each member of the League had powers that could be devastating, even Batman was dangerous on a global scale. Steve could honestly say however that each member, even the inexperienced Shazam had a cool head. Diana however, she was almost like a child in terms of how hard she held onto her warrior's pride and her sense of morality. If something outraged her, more often than not Diana would turn to violence. Superman was a symbol of hope and leadership to many, under Diana's influence he could easily go on a more violent path.
"She would, and the results can be devastating," he let out a sigh in defeat.
"Which is why I have had to plan for every contingency, that and the world is quite frankly tired of a league they can't depend on," Waller said.
"You mean your superiors are tired of a league they can't control, don't sugar coat your words," Steve retorted.
"The point is Trevor it's time for a league that hasn't put itself above us!"
Waller drew from her desk a pile of folders.
"Here's your team," she said.
"Folders and files? Isn't that a little low-tech?" Steve asked.
"If it's on a computer Cyborg can find it, we do this the old fashioned way, just like the first person on the list."
"What makes you think you'll be able to pull this team together Waller?"
"They'll each have a reason to be on the team, something to gain if they accept and something to lose if they refuse," Waller explained.
"So you're to pull the same crap you did with the Suicide Squad, you aren't picking people Waller you're picking weapons," Steve said.
"That's exactly what the team is Colonel, a weapon to use again the Justice League!"
Those words made Steve doubt himself even more. Except he wasn't doubting whether Diana's league was trustworthy, but whether A.R.G.U.S. itself was in the right? He looked at Deathstroke, one of Waller's attack dogs. He had stabbed a man right through the chest, a man who so far had been antagonistic towards A.R.G.U.S but had actually achieved some good. Cade Hunter's hands shook as they touched the sides of Deathstroke's arms. Wilson and Trevor widened their eyes as Cade disappeared, turning into a red dust of some kind. The dust reformed itself behind Deathstroke, Cade himself was alive, with armour shaped around his fist like an anvil. He slammed his arm into Deathstroke's face, throwing him into the wall.
"Now that Waller's attack dogs are out of the way, I'm hoping I can have an actual conversation with you Colonel," Cade said.
Steve gripped the handle of his pistol, tempted for a moment to hold Cade at gunpoint. The energy around Cade faded however, and Trevor had seen what he had done to the suicide squad.
"All right," he relented, stepping into the alleyway. "You've got five minutes, tell me how we can help one another?"
Next Chapter 17: War of the worlds
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time we'll be revisiting the world of 7119 when the heroes of that world meet the DC heroes of Earth 9117.
Also Jay Guthrie probably wont stay as the new Falcon, but he'll take the suit (the awesome space suit used in Infinity) change the colour scheme and take on a new identity. Was the reveal controversial? I hope so, Marvel's made Iceman gay so I have to be even more controversial and throw aside even more established continuity since that's apparently what you're supposed to do, next time Steve Rogers will be pro-Islamic state, Mary-Jane not a natural red head, Tony Stark will have a sex change, the Hulk will get weaker every time he gets angrier and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will be revealed to not be Magneto's children (oh wait)
Jokes aside, changes can be the beginnings of decent storylines, and I admit I kind of reflected my personal opinion in Virgil, he's the kind of guy who doesn't care about race or sexuality they aren't factors he uses to judge a person. I like Sam Wilson as the Falcon, to me that is his identity, I like his new storylines as Steve's successor, I just call him Captain Falcon instead now :). I like all Caps, all Green Lanterns, all Spider-men, and I'm still going to read X-men comics and regard Iceman as my second favourite X-man (Nightcrawler first :).
I don't think stuff like this should drive people to hate one another, least of all put people off of good story telling, so unless Cap is made pro-isis or they turn Nightcrawler into a hate preacher, make mine Marvel, and DC :)