Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC

I don't even own these versions of alternate comic heroes now appearing :) hope everyone enjoys the chapter

The Redeemers

Chapter 18: A team

After Iron Lad had all but taken over the team, Virgil retreated to his own safe house. Or rather a safe house that Aeon had provided him with. It was an old cave system underneath New York, which utilised a water power generator to power all of the computers. The cavern had a big lake at the bottom, where James Crowner had placed the generator, wires running up the cavern wall spread to every bit of powered equipment in the cave. Virgil wasn't one for names but Aeon always referred to the cave as 'the respite' as it was a place where his allies could rest, regroup and find themselves if they were ever lost. The computer ran on a DNA scanner, Virgil's biometrics had recently been added, it allowed him to read on the history of his brother's adopted father. Every tragedy, every mistake was revealed to Virgil, and constant reminders were set out throughout the cave. There were display cases with suits of armour in them, mere model representations of allies Aeon had lost to his fight. There was no display case for Sieg, as Virgil knew that his brother was alive. However there was a display case for Cade Hunter, AKA Deathblade. It displayed a cloth version of a costume Cade once wore, during the period he couldn't drawn armour from the spirit realm.

Virgil had taken the costume out and was in the process of grafting technology into the fabric, replacing the outdated titanium with sterner and more importantly nonmagnetic protection. As he worked he inserted the data he had taken from A.I.M. into the computer, including his discovery of the collisions and the Illuminati's return. He went over every bit of data, from him being offered leadership, to the abduction of his team mates and the other alternate realty incursions that had taken place. It composed a detailed case file that Virgil had been mulling over again and again, trying to compose a solution to the problems he was coming across. He was able to create summaries of what the different shifts in reality had led to.

Spider-man, his identity formerly known after the registration act was back to having a secret identity. Azure Eagle had recently been on an adventure with him in which they had to protect Spider-man's daughter from a Goblin cult. The X-men were also discussing approaching Spider-man about his daughter, whom displayed special abilities but was not a mutant. Reality had clearly been shifted in a way, as A.I.M. showed him what the world should have been like. Spider-man AKA Peter Parker revealed his identity during the Civil War and as a result his Aunt May was shot, but that timeline then suddenly shifted into a world where Parker and Mary-Jane Watson never married. Then during Karabai's invasion, the timeline changed again, Peter got his marriage back but also his daughter May Parker.

During Gothica's attack on Westchester with resurrected mutants and X-men, he had also utilised what he called 'twisted constructs' of the X-men. They were later discovered to be alternate versions of the X-men, DNA and mind scans confirmed them to be versions of Beast, Cyclops and others whom had been imprisoned within the prison Virgil knew was present on Utopia. Another X-men related event was the latest plan of Mojo, whom was abducting alternate versions of the X-men and their villains. A.I.M apparently wasn't able to send a team to study or rescue any of the abducted counterparts. Virgil had passed the message onto Cyclops, but the X-men leader opted to instead prepare for Hope's arrival. Hope, the mutant messiah that would bring back mutant kind, or the destroyer who would devastate the planet. She currently resided in a post apocalyptic world in which a new band of Avengers fought a seemingly never ending war with a great conqueror, whom Layla Miller claimed was Virgil's brother Sieg. After discovering that Sieg's brother didn't die, Miller began concocting a story that something would happen to Sieg in the alternate world he had gone to, something that would turn him into a destroyer of worlds. Virgil refused to accept that kind of future, because he knew it was false. Hope Summers had been taken to an alternate reality's future, one she like a few of the X-men thought was the genuine future if she didn't come back. Yet another X-men related case had been what some thought had been the first case of someone manipulating their timeline, an alternate version of Laurie Collins, AKA Wallflower had been dropped into their world just as Karabai's invasion began.

Reality itself was further altered when the warlord whom abducted Virgil, Muramasa arose during the great hunt. He had used Cade Hunter's hunt for criminals and the debut of a Squadron Supreme native to their own Earth as a distraction to claim the cosmic cube. Altering it with his own magic Muramasa created a convergence, a collision event between their Earth and another which was completely different from theirs. This Earth had different cities, continents even, different heroes, different alien species, even a different universal structure and different rules of magic and super powers. Muramasa plan had been to crash that Earth into theirs and as a result of both Earths being cosmically charged by the cube it would have generated a blast that atomised the surrounding galaxies. Unable to truly control the cube, Muramasa's manipulations resulted in changes, some small, others big.

Small and dismissed was Aeon, his permanent armour state was gone and he could now appear as a normal man. The Terrigen mists had also been released turning certain individuals into Inhumans. Loki and Asgard had been destroyed and many of the resurrected Asgardians had disappeared. Thanos had been resurrected and led an invasion force of an Earth designated 610, fortunately the heroes rallied and thanks to a sacrifice of a hero called Slade Muga, managed to imprison Thanos, whom had been left in the Illuminati's, or rather the Black Panther's Necropolis. Black Panther died during Karabai's invasion, yet he was alive again, a result of Muramasa's tampering with the cube and reality.

A.I.M continued looking into the Multiverse and found that as a result of Muramasa's tampering two Multiverses had been joined together. The Multiverse was even larger than before. Different points in time were being altered on several Earths, creating variations of those worlds. Some were small, others were worlds where everything that was supposed to be had changed in a flash. As a result of reality shifting, A.I.M was able to pull someone from a pocket dimension on an Earth designated Earth-16. He was a speedster by the name of Wally West, he should have died in his world but Virgil had no taste for destiny.

The shifts to reality with the cosmic cube had changed him too. In a flash (Virgil was disturbed by how much he was using that world) he was able to see a whole 'Spider-verse', a war over a great web. His own Spider-man and Spider-men, women and even animals and robots had fought Morlun and his family and kicked them off to a radioactive world where they could feed on mutated spiders for the rest of their lives. But it hadn't ended there, Virgil also saw other 'missions' into other realities. He saw the Exiles, teams of super heroes bought together by a bug like race interfering with the destinies of other worlds, and not all in good ways. He saw what had been, the possible futures and what 'destiny' stated the world should have been. For reality had been changing further back than Muramasa gaining the cube. Reality changed the moment Cyclops of the X-men was replaced with a Skrull, that had been the catalyst for all the changes to their world. The cry of the Phoenix, Karabai's invasion, the rise of the dead and the great hunt had all been connected, they were not just random occurrences but the result of a plan. Virgil had seen an echo of the world that may have been and still existed, a world where Cyclops was never taken by the Skrulls, where he genuinely did have an affair with Emma Frost and began leading the X-men down a different path, which then shifted to the X-men. Something had altered reality to get Sieg and Aeon into the game, Sieg's numerous relationships with girls in the X-men (not all romantic of course) established a personal reason for him to get involved in their fights, the sudden arrival of an alien force that united every species in the galaxy and the even more sudden arrival of Aeon's alternate reality son Zack. Everyone of them was to get them into the game, but Virgil wasn't one for games.

He also wasn't one to care about destiny or mourn losses, he saw the world that his would have been if it had been left alone. There were some small improvements, Sam Wilson had become Captain America, the X-men and Avengers worked together, Sabretooth was a hero and Sunspot ran A.I.M. But it was not better, Charles Xavier was dead, Wolverine was dead, Cyclops was a wanted man, Thor was unworthy, Steve Rogers had lost the effects of the super soldier serum and Iron man was a weapons designer again with a superiority complex. Virgil felt that that world was far from better, he wasn't going to let it happen to his world. He wasn't going to let Tony Stark or Scott Summers compromise more and more until they had become pale reflections of the great men they had once been. He wasn't going to let any more Earth's be destroyed by their supposed heroes, or allow them to crash in the collisions.

"It stops, it all stops," Virgil said as he looked at Cade's mask, it would be worn by someone fighting for life and not death.

Patrick let out a deep yawn as he got out bed, looking at the woman lying there. He had to take a moment to look at the expensive apartment, filled with items his lover had accumulated over a life of crime. Only now she was a full time hero, the head of her own security company, adored by many, wanted by many more. So Patrick had to wonder if he was just Felicia Hardy, AKA the Black Cat's boy toy. Her affection had been welcome of course, Patrick's experience with women had only been programmed, he was a clone wearing an Iron spider suit and using a clone's name. The government had always intended him to be an expendable super soldier. But as a free man he had the life he always wanted, the chance to go to college and get real knowledge not programmed knowledge. Mayday Parker thought of him as a big brother, and as one of Spider-man's partners he got a chance to make the Scarlet Spider name his own. Even with Ben Reilly's return he still wasn't being referred to as 'the iron spider' which felt good.

But waking up next to the Black Cat every few days was conflicting for Patrick. The woman was attractive no doubt, but their 'dates' only ever took them to her apartment, never his and when they did she was always gone by the morning. Peter warned him that though Felicia was a good person and would always do the right thing (at least in this reality) she was fickle and not one to commit for very long. That and she was a bit spider obsessive, Patrick had noticed her flirt with Ben Reilly once, even Kaine, yet she always went to him when it came to physical comfort. Patrick lost himself the moment she suddenly pulled up his mask and kissed him. But the nights they spent together were becoming more routine and Patrick actually wondered whether his old life was any better. He looked down at Felicia, the first woman he'd ever been with and knew he didn't have the experience to correctly say whether he loved her.

"I see now why you haven't been picking up your damn communicator," a voice said from the window.

Patrick immediately prepared for a fight as someone in a black suit materialised in front of him. He turned to wake Felicia up, but stopped as the man pulled his mask off.

"Virgil, nice new suit," Patrick complimented.

"Not new actually, it's not mine originally, hmmm," Virgil looked over at Felicia, stirring in her sleep and hugging the covers. "Felicia Hardy? Are you sure about this?"

"Here it comes," Patrick groaned.

"No, you're right, you've probably already been given lectures I'm sorry, if its genuine I'm...happy for you," Virgil said.

"Are you a Skrull?" Patrick asked.

"No, I'm talking about her track record with relationships, and occasionally the law!"

"That's more like it," Patrick grinned.

Virgil neglected to mention his 'flash sight' also included Hardy's original fate of going back to super villainy (the other changes were a bit logical but hers was completely random, considering her past and personal development) and he was genuinely happy for Patrick and wasn't judging him based on the age gap.

"Well you creepily know where I spend my down time now, what do you want?" Patrick asked.

"There's something I need help with but only a few of our team mates are answering my calls, do you know about what happened between me and Iron Lad?" Virgil asked.

"I heard, it doesn't surprise me that you composed a means to disrupt Iron Lad's armour and Hellion's telekinesis, I've seen firsthand what can happen if there aren't countermeasures against people with great power. Also, it's good that you aren't keeping secrets, Sofia told me that you tried to explain yourself and own up, keeping secrets can be the downfall of great powers too," Patrick explained.

"I know what happened to the Initiative because of Gyrich and Stark's secrets, but disunity can be just as damaging, we all need to be united, except there are crisis's going on right now, and I can't fight them on my own," Virgil picked up Patrick's suit and threw it to him.

"All right, what's the crisis and who else is with us?" Patrick asked.

"Well," Virgil rubbed the back of his head as he spoke, "You weren't my first choice!"

Striker

"Join up with you and A.I.M? I don't think so pal, joining a terrorist organisation won't do very well for my image."

Reptil

"I heard about what you did to Iron Lad and Hellion, how could you go behind our backs like that Virgil? Do you have a method of taking me down? How can I trust you?"

Hazmat

"Get bent!"

Mettle

"Sorry about Jen, but she's kind of right man, I get why you did it I do but we were supposed to be different from the older Avengers."

Veil

"Oh my god, I thought it was a simple mission, but two Earths colliding together, what can a girl who passes through objects do against that? I knew I shouldn't have let you talk me into staying."

Finesse

"Your countermeasures are a reasonable and logical course of action, your decision regarding these 'collisions' however is not, if the Illuminati truly are planning to blow up Earths then that is the only logical course of action."

Kid Briton

"HA! Me side with a bleeding heart like you? Sorry but I'm with Kang all the way!"

Speed

"Sorry, can't talk, got to go..."

Deathlocket

"How can I trust and follow someone who probably downloaded a virus into me the first day we met?"

Spider-girl

"Sorry Virgil but I'm already part of something bigger than you can imagine, if things are as bad as you say my other team will need me more."

Spider-woman(Mattie Franklin)

"It would be good to get back in the game, but reality hopping? Sorry this isn't what I started putting on the costume for."

Nova (Sam Alexander)

"I trust you Virgil but my responsibility is on this universe and I can't just ignore what the Chitauri are doing right now."

Prodigy

"The slingers would be glad to help out, if you weren't leading us into another death trap."

Hornet

"I just got back from the dead and you want me to go into another kill zone?"

Ricochet

"Sorry, but I'm done with going to funerals."

Dusk

"Come on Dusk, at least come out of hiding and dignify me with a response," Virgil said.

Layla Miller

"I know stuff you know, and I know you're going to fail, miserably."

"Why are you following me?" Virgil asked.

"But...weren't you going to ask me to join your reality hopping team?"

"Let me make this perfectly clear, NOOO GOD! NO GOD PLEASE NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOO!"

Ms Marvel

"Yes, yes Allah yes, I mean who would say no?" Kamala Khan asked.

"I'm glad some people can look beyond petty differences," Virgil said.

"You composed countermeasures against all of our team mates Virgil, I think that's a little more than a petty difference," Patrick said.

"Everyone's a critic," Virgil muttered.

"Well, sure I'm a little sceptical, what with you having made countermeasures against us," Kamala said. "But I'm sure you did it with the best of intentions and that you never wanted them to get out under the circumstances they did. God knows I've made my fair share of mistakes and have let my anger get the better of me sometimes. Heck every few months heroes have fights with one another or they lash out and end up hurting people, so I understand completely why you've prepared yourself in case the worst happens. Then there's what you've told me about what Stark and Richards are planning, it's probably a lot bigger than me, Captain Marvel would probably shake in her boots in front of that kind of problem, I'm not so smart but I know that destroying Earths is wrong, and I won't stand by if something else can be done about them," she explained.

"You know, if you keep on like this, people are going to be thinking 'Kamala Khan' whenever they hear the name Ms Marvel," Patrick smiled.

Kamala widened her eyes slightly as Virgil suddenly hugged her. She and Patrick were both shocked to hear crying underneath his mask.

"Thank you," Virgil said, "I started to think no one would agree to help!"

Kamala smiled as she patted Virgil's back.

An hour after they had assembled, Virgil led his team mates through the redesigned 'respite'. Using A.I.M's dimensional technology and with the help of Juston Seyfert and Tim Bashir managed to create a dimensional teleporter, observation device and the same 'hook and grab' system A.I.M had designed when they pulled Hyperion and Kid Flash out of the Multiverse.

"A long time ago a man named Sven Reilly gained super powers," Virgil said as he turned to his team mates. "He started out a lot younger than we are, he made plenty of mistakes, but he saved the world more times than can be counted and he was never acknowledged for it."

"Along the way he gained allies, he had this place built, but they never truly united, now they're separated by their differences. It's the same with the Illuminati, they discovered some time ago that the Multiverse was breaking down, or it at least appears to be. I've never believed that there's any great order or structure to the universe, I've never believed in god or destiny, but that's my issue, I know most of you have your faith and I respect it. But these collisions, they're bigger than religion, bigger than our differences, Stark and the others would have us all believe that we have to give into the inevitable, that we have to destroy an Earth to survive, that it is unavoidable. They would sacrifice everything they are in the name of survival, or worse, they would sacrifice and then go back to their old lives, back to teaching young mutants, to running the Avengers, to laughing and spending time with their families, as if they never crossed a disgusting and unforgivable line."

"I'm not foolish enough to believe that they're putting all their effort into making things that blow up though. I do think they intend to create some means of saving lives, but there will still be compromise there, they'll go for people who can rebuild the human race, they'll decide who should live and who should die and the rest of the universe will say that humanity itself will die. We'll sacrifice all of the friends we've made in outer space protecting our world from them. Everybody thinks they have the answer, I don't know if I have the answer, but I know I can't let them keep doing this, keep making sacrifice after sacrifice until only sorrow and regret remains."

"That's why the world doesn't need a society making sacrifices in the dark, or an organisation like A.I.M, endlessly studying but never doing anything to help others. It needs people willing to lay down their lives for what's good, willing to be the ones to die so that everyone else can live. I can't demand this of you, I'll go it alone if I have to, but we're the kind of thing the Multiverse needs, a team!"

Virgil turned to his team mates and the individuals he had gathered from across the Multi-verse.

Earth Designate 65:

"FACE IT TIGER YOU HIT THE JACKPOT!"

Rock and roll, Virgil liked all manner of music, but he didn't know what he was listening to now. He stood amongst a crowd of fans of the Mary Janes (Virgil hoped he wasn't arrogant enough to name his team after himself) a band of slowly growing fame through the internet. Virgil kept his eyes on his target for recruitment, Gwen Stacy. This Earth's Peter Parker died when he became the Lizard, and though it had a Spider-man by the name of Jason Doyle, Virgil felt that 'Spider-Gwen' had the benefit of experience and the knowledge that came with being a police captain's daughter. Spider-man would stay, and Spider-woman would go. Once the gig was over, Gwen began walking home. Her spider sense didn't alert her, but she knew Virgil was following her. When she turned the corner of the street, she quickly ran into the alleyway and changed into her Spider-woman costume.

"All right creep, you've lost your first target, let's see where a predator goes when he has no prey," Gwen said as she jumped over the building.

"He goes back to his stash, plus you should avoid broadcasting what your mission is," a voice spoke from behind Gwen.

Gwen yelped slightly, losing her grip on the roof. The new arrival suddenly swooped downwards, flapping his black wings behind him. He grabbed her before she hit the ground and flew up to the roof. Gwen jumped away from the man, looking at him as his wings folded into his back. He wore a black suit with red markings over it, his mask included red eye lenses.

"Sorry to frighten you Spider-woman, and I know you just got over a recent trip through reality, but I need your help," Virgil said as he removed his mask.

Gwen raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Aeon? why are you wearing Deathblade's costume?" she asked.

Virgil widened his eyes slightly, before forgetting (or at least trying to) Gwen's comment. He dropped into a very long explanation.

Earth Designate Mega-10.0

Tim and Juston complimented Virgil on his designing skills. And criticised him for going behind Sam's back. One time Virgil had been able to look at Sam's Nova helmet. As well as identifying ways to counteract the Nova-force, Virgil found a way to apply a version of it to his suit so that he could fly in space. Tim thought that he could control the suit, so Virgil wasn't going to reveal why his suit was different from all other pieces of technology Bashir had controlled. He needed the advantage of Tim not knowing what the countermeasure against him was if his sister ever came back. Virgil swooped through an asteroid field and fired off a blast of the Nova force, knowing that it would attract the attention of the people he intended to reach out to.

"Any minute now," Virgil muttered.

He looked at the watch on his suit and tapped his foot against the asteroid he stood on.

"HADANGEKI!"

Virgil flipped backwards as a white energy blade cut through the asteroid. He then widened his eyes as Zero rammed into him, slamming him against an asteroid. The android put his sword to Virgil's throat, glaring at him.

"You're not designated to use the Nova-force," Zero said.

"No I'm not, but it's an energy source anyone could mimic with the right resources, I was kind of hoping I would get Richard Rider, but I suppose I'll settle for anyone, Nova corpsmen Zero," Virgil explained.

"Mega-Nova Corp," Zero corrected.

Earth Designate M10

To say that this was the exact Earth Alex Summers had visited would be incorrect. It was more like a variant. This variant was a place where the majority of the heroes were still alive. It was a place filled with possible recruits for Virgil to pick up. But every team and individual hero was in the middle of some kind of big battle. Everyone except for Angelica Houston, AKA Firestar.

"Is it convergence? Or collision? Or perhaps a secret war?" Firestar asked, smirking as she floated around Virgil.

"All three could apply actually, it might happen on this Earth one day, listen if you don't want to help I won't fault you," Virgil said.

"No, I want to help, it's just this sounds huge, quite frankly I'm honoured you'd consider me over the Six."

'I'd consider anyone over X-men,' Virgil thought as he and Firestar walked through a dimensional portal.

Justice League Unlimited Watch Tower

"I'm telling you Mareena, the new shift patterns are boring as hell, I know mom complimented them but I'm a warrior not a soldier, patience is the last thing I'm known for!"

"Hmmm."

"Superman and Batman are checking out some kind of disturbance at Cadmus, Captain Marvel and Flash are on some weird date and I'm actually starting to miss Barda and Impossible."

"Hmm."

"Don't get me wrong I'm glad Wonder Woman's back, and despite his issues Zod's been doing great, but come on why did Cairo have to be the GL to answer the Guardian's call, that Hal Jordan kid is as arrogant as they come, the new Firestorm is surprisingly greener than Jordan and don't get me started on Batman's recommendation, Zeta's more interested in some search without end than say...monitor duty!"

"Hmmm."

"I mean he's a machine, Red Tornado was one of the best from the old days but Zeta, he's just basic holographic tech, weaponry and intellect and even that isn't as great as it should be. Also, shouldn't he do monitor duty twenty-four seven, he doesn't need to eat and he never loses concentration."

"Hmmm."

"Mareena are you even listening to me?"

Mareena Curry looked over at her boyfriend, whom looked back at her with a frown. Rex Stewart had his father's discipline, a discipline that came from being a former marine and one of America's oldest and most influential Senator's. He looked at Mareena with the Thanagarian battle rage of his mother. But the Atlantean princess smiled as she touched his cheek, immediately calming him down.

"Sorry Rex, I was distracted," she said.

"Your father still hasn't woken up?" Rex asked.

"Yeah, and mother has been really pushy lately, now that we've put our water with the Justice Lords under the bridge and that the Sinestro Corps has disappeared (which by the way Hal Jordan played a crucial part in) she truly believes that now is the time for me to begin ruling in father's stead," Mareena explained.

"I get it I really do, I'm a child of two worlds as well, hell mum wasn't born on this world and she still chose to save it," Rex said.

"And you later saved your home world, so things kind of worked out," Mareena smiled.

"Yeah, when it came to saving one world whilst another was at peace I chose to go where the fighting was, where I was most needed, and I've never regretted it," Rex explained.

"Okay, but this is slightly different, I need to be a queen," Mareena said.

"Yeah, but your father was a king and he was still able to join the League," Rex retorted.

Mareena nodded her head, remembering fondly her father's days in the JLU. It had been like an army before, but the collection of active super humans was significantly less than it had been in her father's time. A few super humans were popping up across the world, though disappearing just as quickly. In Central City a new group of Rogues had appeared, though they were all street thugs whom had gotten their hands on equipment that gave them their powers and they had no relation to any of the former rogues. Roy Harper's daughter Lian, the Red Arsenal recently disappeared in Star City and a few of Batman's villains had disappeared including Spellbinder, Inque and Shriek. Part of Mareena wondered whether the disappearance of known super criminals was related in some way to the disappearance of young super heroes.

"Your gears are turning," Rex said, touching Mareena's cheek.

"Yeah, I've had more than one thing on my mind," she said.

"How about I give you something more to think about," Rex grinned.

"What would that be?" Mareena asked.

"Sorry to cut this short!"

Mareena and Rex both looked at the black suited man, standing right in the middle of the monitor room. Rex activated his Nth Metal armour, drawing his maces as he flexed his wings. The intruder raised his hands warily.

"Listen I know it's practically a rule for heroes to attack one another when they first meet but I'm out of time and I'd really like to talk about this instead of..."

"HRAARGH!" Warhawk yelled in a manner reminiscent of his mother.

"Oh for god sake," the man in the black suit sighed.

A.I.M headquarters

"Apparently similar dimensional occurrences have appeared in what we've designated as Earth 12," Andrew Forson explained to his council. "In fact their recent crisis involved their counterparts of an Earth their League encountered decades ago crossing over into their dimension. Virgil was able to appeal to Aqua girl's reasonable nature and assure the two leaguers that their interests are aligned, he has since gone onto Earth 7, a world where the only big difference between others are the appearances of the heroes."

Forson, Graviton, Superia and the Entropic Man sat in a circle. As A.I.M's ruling council they presided over the running of their new nation and the current issue with the Multiverse.

"He's assembling an army," Superia presumed.

"I disagree, he's forming a team, gathering information and discerning patterns and events in other worlds that may be linked to the current crisis," Forson explained.

"The deaths of numerous alternate versions of Spider-man, the invasion of Earth 610 by Thanos, the incursions and the disappearances of several villains," Entropic man explained.

Holographic images of Absorbing Man, Equinox and the U-Foes appeared in front of the council members.

"We've recently confirmed several common criminals that had adopted famous names have disappeared as well, such as the new Eel and the Ringer," Superia said.

"Who?" Graviton asked.

"Exactly, the disappearance of a few low level thugs are not our concern."

"I disagree Superia, Excavator recently disappeared," Forson said.

"Who?"

"Very funny but inappropriate Graviton, Piledriver of the Wrecking crew had a son whom took the name Excavator during an extremely brief period in which he joined the crew in their bank jobs. When Deathblade slaughtered the Wrecking Crew, a sliver of their godlike power survived and passed into Excavator, whom began a career of robbing Stark technology to sell and...well none of you have heard of him so there's the answer to the success of his career," Forson explained.

"What are you getting at?" Graviton asked.

"The disappearance of criminals and young super humans, typically they are very small groups or isolated individuals, this is an occurrence in other realities."

"More incidents that you believe are connected to the collisions," Superia huffed.

"Our recent tests also confirmed that the alterations to reality did not begin with Muramasa's plan, but with Karabai's invasion," Forson said.

"What do you mean?"

"The sudden arrival of an alien warlord with a power set similar to that other Earth's Superman? It's obvious that Karabai was from another reality, his just as sudden disappearance as well is also another reason to believe that he is not native to our universe."

"What are you planning to do with this information?" Superia asked.

"Give it to Virgil of course," Forson said, casually crossing his arms.

"You truly are serious about making him the new head?"

"Of course, he has a brilliant mind you know, not just in terms of his intelligence but his sense and temperament. That boy thinks differently than any hero or villain, he's much like his father that way," Forson explained.

The scientist Supreme rolled his chair around and looked at the holographic images of Virgil, from his childhood with his relatives, to his time wearing a blue and yellow uniform with the X-men, then his imprisonment as Muramasa's apprentice and finally in the cloth version of Deathblade's suit.

"The key to changing this world for the better or the worse lies in that boys actions, he makes me curious, and I am powerless in the face of curiosity," Forson smiled underneath his mask as he continued to monitor the Multiverse, and his potential successor.

Earth 616 Future 34

It was incredible to Virgil that someone besides Tony Stark could become Iron man. His transporter took him to a potential future the New Warriors had already been to, one where the original Night Thrasher became Iron man and ruled the world as a dictator. Coincidentally, Stark became Night Thrasher and opposed the regime. Iron man suits built with the Night Thrasher colour scheme flew across the streets of New York, it was both a wondrous and dangerous sight to Virgil. He crawled down to the streets, using tech that allowed him to mimic Spider-man's abilities. The eye lenses of his mask was a combination of traditional infra red and Chase Stein's X-ray goggles. He saw through the walls as well as in different spectrums. The weaknesses of the armoured drones was clear to Virgil, he admitted though Dwayne Taylor was a genius in his own right, his Iron man designs were not as advanced as Stark's. Virgil was thankful for that, Stark's armour was a constantly evolving machine, even Iron Lad's could be hacked more easily than Stark's. He hacked the drones with the same ease he had Iron Lad's armour, slowing their movements enough for their target to destroy them.

"Who are you?" Tony Stark asked, looking up at Virgil.

"Someone who needs a team," Virgil said.

Supergirl's Earth (for lack of a better designation)

"So, can I get your cousin's help?"

Kara Zor-El looked at the man in the black suit and frowned. Virgil quickly bought his hands up, gesturing apologetically.

"Not to say that you'd be useless it's just, I think experience would be better considering the dangers of this mission," he explained.

Supergirl crossed her arms together and floated off of the ground, looking at Virgil with a disapproving expression on her face.

"Wait a minute," Virgil said, causing the girl to look at him in confusion. "You actually have no idea where your cousin is do you?" he asked.

"Well um, I can guess where he is, but I'm kind of in the middle of my own things at the moment," Kara said.

"Like what? Stopping common car chases? Deciding what your suit is going to look like or getting Cat Grant coffee?" Virgil asked.

"You don't have to sound like such a jerk when you say that, I do things that matter you know, I stopped a plane from crashing into a bridge," she explained.

"That's exactly why I'm looking for your cousin, because right now I haven't heard of him doing anything in this reality, whilst you've been more active," Virgil said.

Kara widened her eyes slightly, taken aback by Virgil's compliment and logic.

"You know, I don't hear a lot from my cousin either, that's a good point, but why not me?" she asked.

"Because right now there is a point to you being here, whilst the world doesn't see a lot of your cousin," Virgil explained.

"True, but listen, I can't get a hold of my cousin, so if you want I can help you, things have been quiet lately so I'll be glad to help for one mission until you've found a suitable power house to be a permanent part of your team," Kara explained, smiling down at Virgil.

Virgil nodded, smiling underneath his mask before activating his portal and leading his newest recruit through the portal.

The team had all been assembled and together they looked at Virgil with bewildered expressions across their faces. Each one assembled from different worlds, each one sharing two concerns, what was happening to reality and who the man in front of them was.

"I really appreciate you getting me off that island pal, seriously everyone there seemed to be wearing bee keeping equipment," Kid Flash explained. "But come on just tell us, who are you!"

"Virgil Wallace, son of biologist Heinrich Wallace," Tony Stark/Night Thrasher said.

"On my Earth he's a more prominent scientist than his father, and he goes by the name Virgil Hawkins," Firestar said.

"I've never heard of him," Starwoman said.

"That makes two of us," Zero nodded.

"He's the bearer of the spirit of heroism, Aeon," Gwen said.

"DONT CALL ME THAT!" Virgil yelled.

Kamala and Patrick both looked at Virgil in concern, the others were even more sceptical over his leadership abilities because of his distraught voice. Ms Marvel and Scarlet Spider however were simply concerned, they hadn't known Virgil to show anger and Spider-Gwen's referencing him going by his mentor's identity truly struck a nerve. Kid Flash however understood better than anyone, Virgil had spoken with dread in his voice, as if he hated the very idea of being Aeon. Wally West understood that feeling better than anyone, his best friend Dick was the first Robin. At one time it had always been thought that Dick would become Batman, but he had become so fed up with the idea that he made his own identity. Wally knew that even if one day Dick did have to take his father's mantle, he would always be known better as Nightwing. But most of all Wally felt it in himself, that expectation put on him, his uncle repeated the experiment that gave Jay Garrick his speed and became the Flash and he did the same. He was by most standards an adult now, yet he still went by his old moniker. The dread itched at the back of his mind, that one day he would have to take up the costume of the crimson speedster.

"No offence pal but you're a mess, how are you supposed to lead us?" Zero asked.

"Because I'm not going to lead you, he is," Virgil said, pointing to a figure in the shadows.

Kid Flash and Supergirl's eyes lit up as the figure emerged, revealing his grey and black armoured costume, and the bat symbol on his chest.

"And why should we follow this guy?" Zero asked.

"Cause he's Batman," Kid and Kara said together.

"Batman? No, the only black Batman wears is that spot on his cowl, he wears mostly grey, yellow and blue and the symbol is all wrong, Batman's symbol is a black bat on a yellow circle," Starwoman explained.

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, blue and yellow? Stealth goes out of the window with that," Kid Flash said.

"Why would Batman have to use stealth? He fights in broad daylight you know!"

"ENOUGH!" Batman yelled.

The heroes all stopped and looked towards the older man. He stood proud alongside Virgil, patting his shoulder.

"This young man knows what's happening to the Multiverse, and instead of compromising, instead of crossing the kind of lines villains would he's decided to do whatever it takes to stop these collisions and save as many lives as possible, he started with me, my world Earth 2 was under attack by Darkseid, Virgil plucked me from my universe at the exact point when I died...and he didn't stop there, instead of blackmailing me or tricking me he offered me a choice, to fight with him and save other Earth's or go back home. My world has moved on, I may never be able to get back to the point in time in which my friends and I drove back Darkseid...because I've chosen to help Virgil fight off whatever is causing these collisions," the Batman explained.

"Me too, I have a girlfriend and family waiting for me, but if I ran away from this they would be ashamed of me," Kid Flash said.

"Going back to my world would be useless if I didn't stop these collisions," Stark said.

"I'm part of another team of reality hoppers, or maybe I should say slingers...my point is expanding the idea of a team fighting for realities makes sense," Gwen explained.

"If everyone's decided you'd better get ready, another collision is going to happen soon," Batman said. "We'll only have one shot at this, so all of you listen to the plan Virgil and I have composed!"

Next Chapter 19: Alliance

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time we skip between Virgil's team, Cade in New 52 Earth 0 and Sven, the Avengers and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as they begin carrying out their respective plans.