Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC
The Redeemer
Chapter 26: Colliding forces
Andrew Forson looked upon the battles taking place across the Multiverse. There were too many battles for A.I.M. alone to respond to. Earth 2 and its earlier counterpart Earth Two, were under attack by fused Sentinel and Parademon drones. A variation of his own Earth, seemed to be facing the full brunt of the forces that were attacking the Multiverse, almost as if the tactics used to attack other Earths were being combined. The fire pits, landmarks on Earth 2, Brother E.Y.E. machines and Ultron Sentinels, both the natives of worlds that had wiped out their heroes, then the waves and variants of Parademons, the Revengers of the Cancer Verse and other evil variants, just like the kind that had attacked New Earth, several times in fact. It was all connected, like tactics, or rather experiments.
"Could whoever has been manipulating these events, be testing his strategies?" he suggested to Superia.
"Or perhaps gaining resources, it's easy to think of all of this as simple chaos," she said.
Forson nodded his head, indeed A.I.M had quite often used chaos to achieve an ulterior motive. Beside the two scientists, the former Batman of Earth 2 narrowed his eyes.
"Military tactics, distraction techniques, raids, this may be both test and strategy," he seemed to hum, keeping a hand on his chin.
Like a true detective he analysed a situation, judging the characters present. He had been doing the same thing to A.I.M. since 'the team', had arrived on A.I.M island, trying to determine whether Forson's desire to reform was genuine. The scientist supreme didn't blame the detective, if anything it entertained him, the Batman trying to catch him out. Bruce Wayne was certainly a more bearable opponent than Tony Stark.
"He's cut off several realities from our view, which means he doesn't want us to see what he's doing in these realities," Bruce explained.
"Why do we think it's a he? It could just as well be a woman doing all this," Superia said.
"True," Forson muttered.
"I don't think so, this is rage, a test of raw strength, the amount of women across the multiverse who could gather something like this would operate with subtly," Bruce added.
"It's not just raw strength, they're trying to make us compromise, Thor has left himself alone, young heroes have been deployed before they are ready, etc," Superia explained.
Bruce narrowed his eyes as he saw Thor's stand against the Revengers. In some ways it reminded him of his intended final stand against the forces of Apokolips. There was almost a comparison between the trinity and the three prime Avengers. Captain America and Wonder Woman, both star spangled warriors, Batman and Iron Man, billionaire geniuses, Thor and Superman, alien beings whom could break planets if they wanted to. But one could not simply be paired with the other, there were many combinations. Superman and Iron man, the men of steel, Thor and Wonder Woman, children of mythology, Captain America and Batman, masters of martial arts. But more so both Captain America and Superman were icons, symbols, of patriotism, of freedom, of hope. He looked away from that reality, the similarities already too much for him to bear. Then Bruce's eyes fell on another reality, a young reality where the first icons to reveal themselves to the public, were remarkably Flash and Green Arrow, who hadn't yet decided to go by Green Arrow.
"Incursion imminent," one of the A.I.M scientists reported.
Perhaps this young Earth had reached its final days.
Arrow Verse
Barry had stopped running, to look up at a truly terrifying sight. Central City had recently faced the singularity, after his fight with Thawne. This however was something else entirely, Zoom and other metahumans from other Earths had already crossed over, but an entire planet, this was new.
"Guys," he touched the radio on the side of his cowl.
"There's been no shift in weather patterns," Catelyn Snow said.
"Satellites aren't picking up anything, it's almost as if the other Earth isn't there," Cisco said.
The pair of scientists looked at their screens, torn between scientific shock and utter terror. On the streets, Detective West was coordinating with other precincts, and even calling across town in Star City.
"Another Earth, I know weird stuff happens in Central City a lot, but another Earth," Detective Quinton Lance was understandably very sceptical.
A friend in Star city often bugged the Star City police precinct. When Star labs got the news from Felicity, it sparked Cisco's scientific interest.
"Barry, run out of the city borders, tell us what you see," he said.
The Flash ran as fast as he could out of his home city. Upon reaching the highway he looked back, and saw exactly what everyone across the Earth saw, nothing.
"Cisco, you are never gonna believe this, but there isn't another Earth in the sky," Barry said over the radio.
Cisco and Catelyn both got into contact with another scientific genius, one who had replaced their former boss. Professor Martin Stein stood outside his house, looking at the other Earth with the same mix of intrigue, awe and fear the younger scientists did.
"I believe Central city has become, for lack of a better term a point, a point in reality in which one Earth can see the other," he explained.
"Is this just a more terrifying eclipse or aurora?" Barry asked.
"I don't like how the other Earth seems to be getting closer," Stein said.
"WHOA!"
"What is it Barry?" Catelyn asked.
"You guys aren't going to believe this, but Central city, its disappeared," Barry said.
"That isn't even the weirdest part, everything's blue now," Cisco waved his hand through the air, trying to determine what had changed with the atmosphere.
Barry squeezed his hands into fists, shaking any doubt out of his mind. He ran back into the city, and into the blue incursion zone. Running to the centre of the city, the Flash looked up at the other Earth.
"Um guys, not to worry any of you, I mean worry any of you more than you already are, but, I think there are people coming down from the other Earth."
Earth 610
A.R.M.O.R. headquarters was no longer a battle ground, but an arena. Miles got off the floor and shook his head, clearing some of his nausea. He remembered Thanos's invasion and the attacks by the Inheritors. They were vicious fights, but back then he always had experienced back up, and the advantage of his spider sense. Now he was blind, to the constant danger around him, that and his friends were in over their heads. Polaris tried to rain down metal fragments on Ronan, but the Kree simply pushed it all back with a force wave. Prodigy and Scoldfire were both firing energy blasts at the Ray, who was darting from one end of the fight to the other. Breakdance tried to hit Enid with blasts of his own, but she was stretching and weaving between debris. Nova tackled Ray in midflight, only to get hit by an energy blast from Reaper.
"HA! This is too easy," Reaper said as he looked towards Armour and Hornet.
"Damn it, it's my fault they're vulnerable," Miles cursed, limping his way to his team mates.
Ricochet suddenly tackled Miles, getting them both out of the line of fire. Two Face was firing a fully automatic rifle, not even bothering to flip his coin. Ronin blocked several swipes from Magik, flipping back to avoid her thrust. Armour was already activating her energy suit, including the dragon's maw. Reaper jumped back, avoiding the snap of her jaws. She bought her hand across, punching Reaper through the wall. He dragged his scythe across the ground, slowing his course, before releasing a blast of electricity. The energy pierced through the armour, and struck Hisako.
"Hey asshole, pick on someone else," Judge snarled.
He ignited the rockets on his boots, and flung himself forward. Firing his stingers, he put Reaper on the defensive.
"I want his blasters to jam, I want his blasters to jam," Reaper's eyes glowed blue, and he smirked viciously.
"What the hell?" Judge looked at his weapons in confusion.
Reaper suddenly hit him with an energy wave, throwing him through the wall. Prodigy punched Breakdance, knocking him out of the fight, then he turned to Ronan.
"You and me big guy, come one," Ganke confidently strode towards the Kree.
The accuser lifted his hammer, charging it with energy before slammed it into Ganke's side. He followed through with a force wave, throwing Prodigy on top of Scoldfire. Polaris's eyes glowed as she hovered over Ronan, intending to rip the iron from his blood. Suddenly, a blast of light hit her in the back, breaking apart her coat and bringing her to the ground.
"Too easy," the Ray grinned.
"Damn it, we're dropping like flies, we need to contact a more experienced team," Ricochet said.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Miles said.
Ricochet reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out his card style communicator. He was about to push the button, when a portal suddenly appeared. Magik ran through, slicing Ricochet's card apart. She cut the left sleeve off of Woody's jacket, then punched him across the face. Swinging around, she spread a cut across Miles's chest.
"NO!" Reaper yelled.
He teleported beside her, grabbing her wrist and twisting it around.
"Don't kill him," he said firmly.
"I already flipped the coin earlier, these guys get to live," Two-Face said.
Ronin and Nova, both clearly exhausted, stood back to back as Ronan and Ray approached them. Missy flew forward at the Nazi enforcer, taking a blast and bashing him against the wall. Ronan lifted Ronin up by his neck and turned his hammer on Nova. A force blast pushed her away from Ray. He then fired an energy blast, hitting Missy in the back. Ronan threw his unconscious opponent aside and fired a blast the same time Ray did. Nova crossed her arms together, keeping her defence firm as the two men's blasts smothered her. Breakdance limped to Ronan's side and smirked. He fired a sonic blast, pushing Nova further back.
"You see the idea is to take them alive, and add them to the Harvest," Reaper said as he teleported to Ray's side. "I want Nova to fall unconscious," he swept his scythe arm across the air, releasing a pulse that finally threw Missy back.
She stood up, her armour steaming as she looked defiantly at her attackers.
"Wow, these guys are tougher than we thought, no wonder they survived Thanos's invasion," Reaper said.
He sighed as he clicked his fingers together. Out of thin air, a monster appeared. Wearing a sleeveless outfit with a purple pattern on his chest, the creature had hulk like muscles, wings popping out of his back and the maw of a lizard. He whipped his tail around, hitting Missy in the chest and throwing her miles away.
"Thank you Teddy," Reaper said, stroking the monster's chin affectionately.
"Is that your pet?" Miles spat as he shot a web at Reaper.
"No, he's my boyfriend," Reaper grinned, cutting the web apart.
Two Face fired a flurry of darts into Miles's back. He walked several inches before falling to the floor, and drifting into unconsciousness. Enid looked at her team mates fall in shock. She prepared to fire a cosmic blast, when a portal appeared below her feet.
"What, NO!" Enid screamed as a pair of arms wrapped around her, and pulled her into the portal.
Jason Long crawled out of the rubble of his facility. He clicked his broken leg into place, suppressing his scream by biting down on a pen. Spitting the ink out of his mouth, Jason poked his head out of his cover. There he saw Ronan and Teddy carrying the Young Avengers into another portal.
"Damn it," he muttered, falling onto the floor again.
He reached for his Avengers ID, pushing the communication button.
"Director Coulson, put all teams on high alert...and if...possible...get me a...medic," overcome by weakness, he dropped his card and his consciousness.
Quantum Verse
The fight for prisoners had grown even more intense. Starman and Magika fought a duel of energy blasts, cosmic radiation against magic. Crimson Dawn was locked in a fight with Catwoman, using her Bo staff to block the thief's clawed gauntlets. The symbiotes Phage and Riot came at Hulk from both directions, biting him and lashing at him with their tentacles. Riot slid underneath McCoy, wrapping his tentacles around his wrists. Phage then brutally slashed the man across his face and throat. McCoy gripped his wounded fast, screaming in agony.
"JETSTREAM!" Winter Soldier yelled, throwing his sonic blaster upwards.
Jetstream caught the weapon in midair and fired a blast, hitting Spider-man and ripping his symbiote off. Iron Knight then threw a sonic grenade at Black Cat, separating her and the symbiote. With the lovers unconscious, they moved onto Hulk. Jetstream fired an energy blast, and Iron Knight threw his bombs. Both attacks pelted McCoy, causing him to step back until he hit the wall. Crimson Dawn kicked Catwoman across the head, and then back flipped to Winter Soldier's side.
"We can buy time, but we won't last long unless we have something that can hurt a Hulk," she said.
"Hurting a Hulk is easy, its keeping him down that is the hard part, give me time to get the Hulk buster laser," Winter Soldier turned to his other team mates and nodded.
Whilst the core agents of Loss kept their enemies busy, Noah and the others ran back to the prison cells.
"Us against a vampire Batman, this'll be easy," Ricochet said.
"No, if anything he's going to be the most difficult to take down, Phage, Riot your symbiotes should make you immune to his vampire virus, keep him occupied whilst I get the laser," Winter Soldier explained.
The team however found something very different waiting for them. Nightmare Batman was nowhere in sight, and the lights had dimmed.
"Herbie, try to restore the lights," Noah said.
But there was no response from his digital assistant. Ricochet looked towards where the Hulk buster laser lay.
"All right, easy pickings," he said.
"WAIT!" Noah yelled.
But he was too late, Ricochet was already running towards the weapon. Before he was half way there, a shroud came down from the ceiling. It enveloped him, lifting him up towards the ceiling. His screams were cut eerily short.
"Ricochet, damn it, everybody stay together," Winter Soldier said.
"This is some scary movie crap," Hornet muttered.
Prodigy kept ahead of the group, despite Noah's orders. He looked up, the lenses of his mask bulging as something came down from the ceiling. Winter Soldier swung his head towards Prodigy, looking at Nightmare Batman.
"PRODIGY MOVE!" he yelled.
"Don't, if you do you won't get to play the hero," Nightmare Batman said.
Two eyes appeared on his face, and his gaze pierced through Prodigy's armour. Dusk jumped past Prodigy, attempting to punch Batman. But the vampire gripped her fist and pulled her neck back.
"NO!" Winter Soldier and his team mates rushed forward.
Hornet prepared his sonic blasters, only for Ricochet to jump behind him. The lower part of his mask was torn, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth, teeth he pierced through Hornet's neck. Batman bit into Dusk's neck, drained some of her blood, and then let her slip towards the ground. Prodigy recovered from his hypnosis and stumbled back, looking up at Dusk in shock. She ripped part of her mask off, revealing her pale skin and fangs.
"Welcome to the family," Nightmare Batman said as he spread his wings.
Phage and Riot hissed in anger, a sentiment Noah shared. He looked towards the hulk buster laser, and then down the corridor, his keen eyesight seeing that McCoy was already beginning to get the advantage back. He was slamming Iron Knight repeatedly against the floor, whilst Jetstream was flying around to avoid the symbiote couples tentacles. Black Cat had slipped into some kind of feral form, her eyes and lips were replaced by a single maw with sharp teeth, and a sonic scream that made sound attacks useless.
"You guys may destroy this station, and release its prisoners, but..." Soldier suddenly whipped his hand around.
He pushed the palm of his hand, grabbing the hulk buster laser. Pulling the weapon into his grip, he aimed it down the corridor. A blast of energy came out of the cannon, flew past Ricochet and Hornet and slammed into McCoy. It knocked him off of Iron Knight and slammed him against the wall. Noah then fired a second blast, even bigger than the last. It hit the blue Hulk again, so hard that the wall behind him broke apart. McCoy screamed as he was sent hurtling into the microverse.
"We won't all go down so easily," he said, looking towards Batman with defiance in his eyes.
Earth 0
Cade pushed himself up again and again, it was light in comparison to his usual routine. The push ups were one part exercise, another part boredom killer. Waller had been keeping him waiting, he already cleared Trevor of suspicion, not her. The colonel stood outside his 'cell', a simple formality at this point. Steve hadn't even dressed in his combat gear, even his tendency to drift one hand to his sidearm had stopped. Beside him stood another person of interest, someone whose life Cade had recently put in danger. Sara Lance's expression was, understandably angry. Clean of the lazarus pits waters, and whatever curse they held, she stood in what was considered to be her super hero outfit. Only this time she wore no mask, and her eyes remained firmly on Cade.
"You took some unnecessary risks," Steve said.
"I can't say whether they were unnecessary or not, but they got the job done, if I could've seen any other way, I would have taken it," Cade looked towards Sara between his pushes.
"I believe you, but it still hurts," she said, rubbing her chest.
"Death was instantaneous," Cade retorted.
"It bought the league of assassins down, but it hasn't increased your good standing with the Justice league," Sara said.
"Which I thought was your original goal," Steve chimed in, trying to make himself seem important.
Cade stopped his exercise, and moved onto another. Grabbing edges at the doorway, he began pulling himself up.
"I wanted to do several things there Trevor, one, bring down the league, two, determine their connection to what's been going on, three, show the government that I can be on their side, four, show the government that I won't simply play by their corruptible rules, same both ways for Green Arrow and the Batman," he explained.
"The Batman is big on rules, the Green Arrow not so much," Steve muttered.
"What do you think is going to happen afterwards?" Sara asked.
"Batman will tell Superman, who will tell Wonder Woman, the three of them are the prime of the Justice league."
"Prime doesn't sound right, they're the trinity," Steve said.
"The three of them will seek me out, demand to know my motives, and I'll tell them the truth," Cade explained.
"And what is the truth?"
"That he is from another Earth," Waller said as she walked into the room.
Finally, Cade stopped exercising and stood to face the three of them. He crossed his arms together, waiting for Waller's second gesture.
"You asked to join two of my projects, why?" she asked.
"One, so I can determine whether these missions you send them on are chosen for the right reasons, what's best for American interests isn't what is best for world interests. The second one, well I know this Justice League of America plan you have is going to back fire, that they and the first league are going to fight, weakening themselves when the real threat comes through and then throwing the world into potential disaster. Then the two teams will either pull together and save the day, or someone we didn't expect will do it for them, thus increasing his or her good standing, ruining your reputation and making him, or her the top hero, the novelty will run out when another threat presents itself that he, or she can't handle," Cade explained.
"How could you possibly know any of this?" Steve asked, somewhat taken aback by the rush of Cade's speech.
"Because it happens in my world, a lot, damn near every time actually, and it always happens to these government teams, they think they know better but disaster strikes when they're proven wrong and yes heroes will pull through at the end of the day but...something will be sacrificed, every time," there was a fury in Cade's voice, like someone who had grown tired of a repetitive pattern.
"You intend to force the team in a new direction," Waller said.
"I intend to force the entire super human community in a new direction Waller, the point is that A.R.G.U.S. isn't exactly doing the 'Uniting' part of its acronym, the league is too spread thin, most of its members have their own commitments, when there are well over fifty super humans out there who could be doing the same thing just as effectively, if not more so, that orange alien in Hawaii is just as strong as Wonder woman and she can fire energy blasts, there are like twenty bat people across the world, as many super humans too who pretty much have identical abilities to Superman," Cade explained.
"You want to be the new leader for meta humans?" Sara asked.
"No, I'm not qualified to lead people, but to organise them? Why shouldn't the worlds super heroes be more organised? Why shouldn't they help each other through their problems, I understand their home commitments are just as important as world crisis's. A crime wave in Gotham is just as important to Batman as an alien invasion, hell a storm in that orange alien's home is as major a crisis as an invasion by Galactus."
"Who?"
"You ever encountered some kind of alien who feeds on planets? Big, has a weird helmet?"
"I think the JLI encountered someone like that," Sara muttered.
"Why should I help you?" Waller asked.
"Because despite your attempts to prove otherwise, you have a conscience, I know why you put together that squad, why you're so damn cold to other people, why you don't trust the League. Your doubts are actually understandable and warranted, but your superiors are making the wrong calls, you know more about the disappearances of those teenage heroes, but some bean counter up top has told you not to get involved," Cade explained.
His voice was calmer now, almost like a psychologist. Waller's face, for a moment had a flash of that old compassion Steve remembered.
"I have no desire to rule this world, or to lead its heroes, I just want to keep them from making the same mistakes my world did," Cade said.
"In your world, will they invade us?" Waller asked.
"No, they'll probably cross over, there will be a big misunderstanding, a big super hero fight and probably a team up, they won't be coming to rescue me, they'll be coming to arrest me," Cade explained.
"Why?"
"Because I was one of my world's greatest villains!"
Marvel Universe-Asgard
When Tony and Steve emerged from the Bifrost, their hearts sank, their brother had been left behind. Heimdall's face was solemn as he pulled his sword out of the control port. His gold eyes could see the pain the first born of Odin was enduring.
"Send us back, NOW!" Steve yelled.
"I cannot," Heimdall said.
"Like hell, I'll go back broken armour or no broken armour," Tony retorted.
"I won't stand by as our world is burnt to the ground, send me back right now," Steve grabbed the collar of Heimdall's armour.
"ENOUGH!" a voice yelled from the Bifrost entrance.
Tony and Steve looked towards Baldur, the Asgardian god light, and brother of Thor. He was dressed in full battle armour, decorated by the damage of battle.
"Midgard is not the only realm facing threat mortals, the Warriors Three, Tyr and even Thor's beloved Sif are fighting across the realms. I would say Ragnarok is upon us, but even Surtur has joined us in battle, this new enemy has turned foe into friend," Baldur explained.
"Or just a temporary ally," Tony said.
"Indeed, Hela leads an army of the dead against an army of the dead, many of whom bear the symbols of you mortal warriors," Baldur removed his helmet and walked across the rainbow bridge. "Come, my brother bought you here to prepare a counter attack, it is best we start preparing."
"Wait, Heimdall you can see everything on Earth right?" Steve asked.
"Aye captain I can," Heimdall said.
"Can you tell me what Sven Reilly is doing?"
Tony looked towards Steve, like him, his concern had shifted from Thor, to the young man they took as a protégé. Heimdall looked into the darkness of space, a beautiful sight to anyone. But he was not just anyone, his gold eyes were a symbol of his vast sight, a sight that stretched across worlds. He narrowed his eyes, frowning in frustration, but also confusion.
"I cannot see him, he was the warrior who defeated Death's blade and lover correct?" Heimdall asked.
"Yeah, his powers...Sven never had true control over his abilities, they were always shifting and changing, even after Thanos was defeated, eventually his power faded," Tony explained.
"He was living in his own apartment at the time, was the block destroyed in the fighting?" Steve asked.
"No it still stands," Heimdall turned away from space and looked at both heroes.
"Maybe he's working on getting his powers back, he'll be back when we need him most as usual," Tony grinned.
"Perhaps you are right, his rival however," a grin spread across Heimdall's face as he looked towards Midgard again. "Death's blade is living up to its name."
In the streets of that universe's New York, another version of Cade Hunter had been driven into combat. His black armour gleaming, red eyes shining, he threw himself into waves and waves of Parademons. Breaking them apart, crushing their heads, Deathblade let out a roar as the swarms picked him up off of the ground. He touched one of the demon's wings, changing its very surface. The wing's armour turned black, and red cracks spread across it. Deathblade swung the Parademon around, using it as a makeshift club to bludgeon the other Apokolips forces. The Parademon he held felt fear for the first time in years, the effect that had spread across its wings, was slowly spreading to the rest of his body.
Cade Hunter's mind was still focused, though his body had become a berserker, his attacks were still directed. He was assimilating the helpless Parademon, turning it into a weapon. Deathblade's helmet expanded, creating a beast like maw. He roared, daring the Parademons to come at him. Cade rushed forward, smashing one creature after another. When the Parademon was fully embraced by Cade's energy, he threw the monster, and blew it up right in the middle of its kin. Cade looked around, seeing numerous other portals opening. Ultron drones emerged, fused with the technology of the Brother Eye OMACS. Their heads glowed as they surrounded Cade. Energy surged in his hands, forming two swords. Letting out another roar, he flew into battle again.
In three universes, Spider-man was swinging frantically across the streets. A young Peter Parker, fresh out of college, wore the original makeshift costume he wore when he first began super heroics. His fight with the lizard and even the Green Goblin paled in comparison to what was pursuing him. In the universe right next door, an older Spider-man, having only recently proposed to his girlfriend Mary Jane, was trying to avoid his own pursuit. He actually found himself praying for that cursed black suit, despite what it had done to his attitude, and fashion sense. In the third universe, a father was desperate to find his daughter.
"Do we really need that?" Patrick asked.
Peter was using one of his spider tracers, a redundancy at this point. Whatever May had become, had left an easy to follow trail. Felicia cast a look at her lover, silently conveying the concern for her old boyfriend. Patrick nodded his head in understanding, Peter wasn't making quips today, he was focused entirely on the search. The trio came down to the streets, to see a terrified public. A hydrant had been burst open, two cars had crashed together, and a hole had been melted into the sidewalk. Peter walked over to the small shirt that had been abandoned on the ground, it had several tears, conveying May's growing mutation.
"Acid," Felicia said, looking at the substance clinging to the side of the hole.
"She's spat out acid before, hell even poisoned a Squadron soldier," Patrick explained.
"Unintentionally."
"I know Cat, she's got more abilities than Spider-man, all it would take was one accident with her powers and she'd have complete control," Patrick rubbed his arms as he spoke, the eyes of his mask shrunk from the despair. "I'm waiting for her to snap out of this, to turn back to normal and laugh at us," he explained.
Felicia touched Patrick's cheek, looking him in the eyes.
"We'll find her all right," she said, firmly, and with more determination than Peter remembered her having.
"I'm glad you two have each other, and there's no one I trust more to help me with this than you two," Peter said.
"What about us?"
Peter looked up and saw his other allies, Hobbie Brown the Prowler, Sarah Stacy, clad in the American armour created by Osborn, Thomas Fireheat, AKA Puma, Robert Farrell the Rocket Racer and the latest addition to Peter's 'family', Miles Morales, AKA Kid Airachnid.
"It's okay, we'll get her back," Sarah told Peter, wrapping her arms around him.
Peter looked over Sarah's shoulder, to see her boyfriend land on the street. The man's metallic wings folded into the complex blue armour he wore. Azure Eagle's name was a good fit, his helmet was shaped after an Eagle's head. The man had been of immense help when Peter rescued his Mayday from a goblin cult, and very nearly died protecting Sarah and her brother from Deathblade.
"So, who wants to go into the sewer first?" Prowler asked.
"Ladies first," Patrick said.
"Such a gentleman," Felicia muttered.
Peter was the first to dive into the sewers, followed shortly after by his allies. Even with his spider-sense he wouldn't have had any idea of the group watching him from the rooftops.
"I knew it was only a matter of time," one of the watchers said, her white cloak moved as one with the wind.
"It's not like he meant for this to happen, and he does have a habit of pulling through," the brown haired woman beside her said.
"Da, this is a sensitive case, he has proven himself capable of protecting her in the past," the giant of the group nodded his head, the sunlight reflected off of his skin.
"No," the leader of the group said, his eyes flashing red. "He's put the girl in danger too many times, she comes with us, whether Spider-man likes it or not!"
Loom world
Onyx's smile faded as soon as his helmet slid back over his face. The shock of what had happened wore off, and the web warriors stood up. Brian threw a fist towards Onyx, only to be backhanded. Onyx slid across the floor, dodging the web lines fired by the warriors. Spider-woman tried to kick him, but he grabbed her leg and threw her across the room. Peter Parker from the Noir dimension loaded his revolver and fired multiple shots. The primitive bullets seeped into Onyx's armour as he walked towards Peter. Jason and Gwen jumped towards him, throwing multiple punches and kicks. He easily dodged each one of them, the natives of Earth 65 jumped at him from either side. Onyx slammed his head against Jason's and grabbed Gwen by her throat. He then grabbed Jason's leg and threw him into Ezekiel and Rio. Multiple blasts flew from Onyx's eyes, curving when the warriors tried to dodge. A beam hit Paviitar, and the second blast curved around a pillar, then reversed in the opposite direction, following Anya no matter how hard she swung. It struck her in the back, sending her sliding across the ground. The forth beam seemed to fly a complete circuit across the hall. When Onyx let go of Gwen, the beam finally hit her stomach.
"That was entertaining," Onyx said.
Spider-ham suddenly came down from the ceiling, attempting to strike Onyx with his hood. His hand shot out, fingers wrapping tightly across Porker's neck. Spider-ham gagged, feeling not just Onyx's grip, but the energy that continually crackled around him.
"Well, don't tell me that's all you've got," Onyx threw Spider-ham at Karn's feet.
The Inheritor had retrieved his energy spear, prepared to stand and fight with the warriors of the web. His mind flashbacked to the times he tried to kill the spider totems, the times he even succeeded. Now he was protecting them, and fully prepared to die to do it. But just as Onyx expected, the Spider-men and women rose.
"That's right, all of you stand and fight like the heroes you are," the dark warrior slowly raised his hand, closing his fingers into a fist. Red markings spread across his armour, forming the intricate, almost graceful pattern of a web. "NOW FALL!" he yelled.
Great pain suddenly surged through the warriors, bringing them to their knees.
"STAND AND FALL! STAND AND FALL! STAND AND FALL!" Onyx yelled, the web markings flashing again and again, the warriors screaming again and again.
Onyx's helmet slid aside, revealing the look of glee across his face. He put a hand to his forehead and rolled his head back. The delighted laugh echoed through the former chamber of the web. Clicking his hands together, Onyx summoned a dark portal. A tall, almost crocodile like version of the Lizard emerged, holding Spider-man by his head. Gwen gasped, at first believing it was the version whom had led them against the Inheritors. But she and the rest of the warriors saw that the webs across his suit were sharper, almost silver. Again Onyx clicked his fingers, and a portal appeared. This time however a man in Rhino armour emerged, carrying a hammer made from a Rhino's horn, and a Spider-man in a homemade costume with black lenses.
"Behold two Spider-men, both Peter Parker, Kurt's Parker here is from a world where he is the only hero there," Onyx patted the older Spider-man, ripping off his mask. "He recently went through quite a rough patch, an alien costume, finding out his uncle was killed by the Sandman, a goth/dance routine phase...it's worse than it sounds," he chuckled.
"Technically it wasn't Goth, it was just dark clothes and a bad haircut," the Spider-man defiantly quipped.
"Yeah, but when he realised what the suit was doing he got rid of it, beat Venom at the cost of his best friend's life, but he and Mary Jane Watson repaired their relationship. In fact, when the great web collapsed, Peter here was proposing to her, and she was going to say yes," Onyx whispered into his ear.
He walked to Rhino's side, tearing off the mask of the younger Spider-man.
"Oh man, he's possessed by an alien suit too, just look at the haircut," the other Spider-man said.
"That's how I always style my hair."
"Wow, you must get called pineapple head a lot!"
Onyx clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"Finished with the quips, this Peter Parker has had it rougher, his career hasn't been as long as the other one. He's made some mistakes, gave Conners the equation that turned him into the Lizard, got his girlfriend's father killed, refused to save his best friend's life. What was it you promised George Stacy?" Onyx put a hand to his chin, before clicking his fingers. "That you would stay away from Gwen, that you wouldn't get her involved. But then you broke your promise, you went back to her, then when she's about to leave for London, when she's about to be free of your life of craziness you get her involved again. And what happened to her? Well, what happens to most Gwen Stacy's," Onyx made a clicking sound with his teeth, pretending to snap his neck.
"Stop this Onyx now," Karn warned, taking a few steps forward, his spear raised to strike.
Rhino and Lizard took a step forward, but stopped when their master raised his hand.
"He was depressed for a while, but then he put the mask back on, he stood up, stood tall and proud. This Spider-man showed the true power of Spider-men, the will to never give up," Onyx stepped between both Spider-men.
"No, please no," Gwen whispered as portals appeared around them.
The edges of blades slid out of each portal, lingering inside them, waiting for a command. Onyx raised his hands, and the blades suddenly turned to face Karn.
"Very well, if this is what you demand then, go right ahead," the last of the Inheritors slammed his spear into the ground.
Gwen grit her teeth together, taking a step forward and removing her mask.
"How could a person like you, ever have been a hero?" she demanded.
"Inevitably, all heroes fall, these two men had nothing going on, they grew complacent unlike the one in 616, who is constantly assaulted by evil forces. That's why they were such easy targets, but also because unlike the one on 616, both these men have the opportunity to have happy endings, the old Peter will settle down with MJ, the young Peter will find a new love with his world's Mary Jane," Onyx explained.
"You're saying that unless a hero is fighting the eternal battle, they're destined to fall into corruption or irrelevance?" Jason asked, taking a few steps forward.
Lances suddenly slid towards the web warriors, trapping them in a web of metal. Gwen stumbled forward, making a run towards Onyx. She hit Lizard and Rhino in the eyes with webbing and jumped towards Onyx.
"You've just chosen who dies next," Onyx huffed.
He kicked Gwen, and then threw his arm forward. The blades he had summoned flew, straight towards her and Karn.
"GWEN!" Jason yelled.
Blood spread across Loomworld.
Enid Richards shook her head as she woke up. Her mind was instantly on her team mates, looking at her surroundings to see if she could still aid them. But they were gone, in fact, Enid was sure she wasn't at the A.R.M.O.R. facility, or even on Earth anymore. She was surrounded by halls of machinery. The walls continually shifted, as if the place she was in was a living thing, breathing in a perfect pattern. Whatever the machinery was, it was far beyond anything Enid had seen before. People suddenly began to emerge from the network of corridors. They were dressed in pure white suits, whether they were men or women they were all bald, but their bodies were the images of perfect health, Enid would have disagreed with anyone if they said they were the images of perfection.
"It can't be," she muttered.
Every bit of logic told her it couldn't be true, that he couldn't be alive. But then she thought of so many other times evil men had cheated death, despite entire worlds coming down on top of them. Then it hit her, other worlds, other realities, other versions of her captor. She looked up as a platform began lowering itself off of the ceiling. The man standing on it, in contrast to the others wore a black suit. A helmet rested on his head, the tip of which pointed outwards past his back.
"She awoke exactly when you said she would Maker," one of the white suited men said.
"Of course she did," the man said, as if his predictions were fact, law even.
"My friends, they needed me, you son of a cruel, child beating asshole," Enid spoke in fury.
"Good thing you didn't say son of a bitch, because what you just said certainly applies to both your old man and mine, our realities are too similar," the man chuckled as his helmet began to slide apart. "Except, there's a greater strength in you than there was in my sister!"
Enid looked at the man in disgust. He revealed the scarred face of a man whom in her world, nearly bought it to ruin. The creator of the city, the children of tomorrow, and founder of the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards.
Next Chapter 27: Clouds of darkness
Will Gwen and Karn perish at Onyx's hand? What does the Maker have planned? Who is following Peter, and will he ever get his daughter back? What is Onyx's next move in the war across the Multiverse? Find out next time folks :)