Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC, or Power Rangers, Invincible, Hellboy and TMNT.
The Redeemer
Chapter 31: Tipped scales
Carol opened her eyes, feeling her face pushed against the glass of the car. She looked at the driver's seat, smiling as Sven looked over at her.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey, how far have we gone?" she asked, stretching her arms out, deliberately brushing her hand against Sven's neck.
"Hopefully not too far for you to change your mind," Sven said.
She looked at him, seeing the doubt in his eyes.
"Sven, I'm not going to change my mind," she said.
"When I was a drifter, that was okay, because it was just me. When I didn't take credit for what I did as Aeon, that was okay too because it was just me. But I know you want more Carol, I know that you want to have interviews on talk shows, I know you want your own office on a star base, hundreds of smart and kick ass galactic heroes to answer your call. You're an icon Carol, a hero, and I love you but..."
"We'll need to stop for gas, it is my turn to drive Sven," Carol interrupted her boyfriend, pointing out the nearby gas station.
Sven rolled the car up to the fuel pump. Both he and Carol got out of the car, the latter walking around to the driver's section as Sven put the pump in. When he turned, she pushed him against the car, one hand on his chest, the other gripping the back of his head. Then she captured his lips with hers, they stood there, holding a passionate kiss as their car was refuelled. Slowly, she brought her lips away from his, her hand caressing his cheek.
"I want this, more than anything," she whispered as he looked at her in surprise.
"This is the life that doesn't lead to it. No Alpha Flight, no Ulysses, I don't care about any of that, I just want this. I love you Sven Reilly, you're my dream," she explained.
He smiled, kissing her again.
"I'll go and pay," he said, still smirking as he walked towards the store.
As Carol got into the driver's seat, she looked towards Sven as he turned around.
"Carol," he called out to her.
"This, what we have, it fell apart because you wanted to change the future, because you judged people guilty before the crime," he explained. "Please, don't give up on him!"
Carol looked at the man she loved in confusion. Suddenly, a blade burst through his belly. Carol screamed, tears flooding out of her eyes. Deathblade yanked his sword out of Sven's chest, glaring at his body.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED THEM!" he yelled.
Carol opened her eyes, screaming and in a cold sweat. She looked at her surroundings, the drab, cold atmosphere of her quarters. Devoid of photographs or personal items. Even her beloved cat Chewie was absent, long gone just as many of her friends were. It had been a different dream, but the end result was the same. Sometimes they had an apartment, sometimes they were getting married. This was probably the first time she ever experienced a truly happy moment in the dream, a moment when she realised fully that she had avoided all of the things that weighed down their relationship. Their opposing stances when she took things with Ulysses too far, the different paths they took when the Spirit war began. In that single dream she saw what she had to do to avoid all of that conflict, to truly be happy, even if it meant giving up the stability military life had given her. But it was just a dream and she was trapped.
She changed into her black and grey gym clothes, leaving her quarters and going to the training area. There she released her anger on a bag. It had been twenty years since Cade had murdered Sven, and everything on Earth 616 fell apart. Carol's hybrid Kree-Human physiology enabled her to still look as young as she had twenty years ago. She never felt her real age, and probably never would. So it would always take hours for Carol to work up a sweat, she just kept punching the bag until her knuckles went red. After changing into her uniform, she reported to the lab for the next part of her routine.
Every day between missions, she laid down on the gurney and had two energy beams fired into the sides of her head. The procedure was meant to charge her, though Carol found it more relaxing. It was monitored by Minn-Erva, also a member of Star Force. She alongside Att-Lass, Korath and Bron-Char reformed ten years ago, removing their previous augmentations in favour of the new Kree technology. Despite the years that Minn-Erva had spent as a villain, she had become a valued member of Star Force, and perhaps the closest thing to a friend that Carol had left. Ronan walked into the lab and watched over the process, looking to Minn-Erva as she worked.
"She didn't eat yesterday," he told her.
"I know, she used the machine unsupervised, it's the closest thing to food she'll have anymore," Minn-Erva said.
"I remember how I was when I lost Crystal, but I didn't completely turn my back on life. Seeing Hunter the other day, must have triggered the memories," Ronan explained.
"She's always thinking about it Ronan, she always remembers, and she'll never forgive him."
"Carol Danvers is the strongest human woman I have ever known, if there is anyone who can be counted on to not let her emotions drive her, she is the one. But this is a very different scenario, if Hunter ever comes back, we must be careful. Danvers lost much of her credibility in the years before the Spirit War, because she had wanted to change the future."
"Ronan," Minn-Erva said, drawing Ronan's attention away from Carol. "We should also explore the possibility that, if Carol tries to prevent that future, she may end up creating it."
Ronan nodded her head, crossing his arms together as Carol stepped off of the gurney, looking at her glowing hands before she walked out of the lab. Carol stepped onto the hanger area, pushing the side of her head and calling forth her mask/helmet. When the hatch opened, the energy field appeared around her mouth and she took flight into space. She moved into Earth's atmosphere, the field on her mask fading as she breathed in the Earth air. After breaking the sound barrier, she moved towards the desert the JLA and Justice League were meeting.
"Captain Danvers, we've been monitoring the situation with a Pym drone Ronan placed on Trevor when he shook his hand," Korath's voice came through on the communication grid, a Pym particle based device that linked Carol and the other members of Star Force with the ship.
"What happened?" she asked.
"The JLA is trying to keep the Justice League from causing an international incident, wait..."
"What is it?"
"Dr Light, he doesn't have control of his abilities, he's blasted Wonder Woman," Korath explained.
Carol increased her speed, surrounding herself with an energy field. She landed between Dr Light and Superman, pushing against the angered Kryptonian's chest.
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" she yelled.
"Who are you?" Superman demanded.
"The person trying to prevent you idiots from fighting each other," she retorted.
Superman flinched, his veins throbbing as he yelled, his heat vision struck, shooting Carol in the head. It destroyed her helmet, but when the smoke cleared, she was fine. Every day she exposed herself to the energy beams, she was much more powerful than she was years ago. Delivering a punch to Superman's face, she addressed the communication grid again.
"What's going on Korath?" she asked.
"Readings indicate some kind of radiation in Superman's brain, can you deal with it Pym?" Korath asked.
"Already done my friend," a voice said over the grid.
There was a flicker as a figure jumped out of Superman's ear. They grew to their full size, immediately putting the heroes on their guard, not just due to the fact they were holding Atomica, but also the shard of Kryptonite in the palm of their hand. Carol also knew they were on guard for his appearance alone. Henry Pym wasn't exactly the man he used to be. Considering he showed only half of his human face. The rest of him was fused with his creation, Ultron.
"Hello, we are Ultron, and Dr Hank Pym, it is nice to meet you all, now could you tell us why this woman here, using crude shrinking tech, (I thought so too Ultron), would put a piece of this," the machine/man hybrid held up the piece of Kryptonite. "Into Superman's brain?" Ultron's voice enquired.
Carol narrowed her eyes at Atomica, she didn't trust any of the heroes of this Earth. But there was something about that woman in particular she didn't trust. If her memory served, it wouldn't be long now before a breach opened between this world and Earth 616. Ronan would disapprove, but she would do what she had to, to keep everyone who came through safe from the Anti-Monitor.
Planet of the Bravest
Alex Winters floated in the air, his assistant AI Rikai next to him.
"Well, what do you suppose the solution to this little problem is?" the avatar asked.
Alex observed the clash between the forces of Lord Hulk and the Justice League. Wonder Woman was engaged in a duel with Hulk's wife Caeira. The Old Strong slammed her sword into Diana's shield, shaking the ground beneath them. Across from them, Power Girl, Steel and Stripes were engaging Skaar. The smaller version of the Hulk tore through Stripes's armour, only for a blast from Power Girl's heat vision to push him back. Aquaman jumped in behind Skaar, grinding the trident of Atlantis against his skin. On a mountainous region, Hiro-Kala was bringing up platforms of rock to try and knock Shazam out of the sky.
"SHAZAM!" Billy yelled, bringing his lightning down on Skaar's twin.
Then there was the most challenging fight of all, Superman against the World Breaker himself. It was a testament to how strong both men were. Hulk and Superman were causing Earthquakes that required the attention of the rest of the League to evacuate the surrounding areas.
"This Hulk, he claimed he is the strongest there is, that his rage is what makes him more powerful," Alex said.
"Indeed, what is your point?" Rikai asked.
"He's strong, and he's giving off intense concentrations of gamma radiation. But his body is still very much human, his rage determined by hormones that flow through the body. Adrenaline doesn't last forever, there is going to come a point where.." Alex paused, widening his eyes as Hulk threw Superman back.
The man of steel slammed into the ground, part of his costume ripped, blood on his mouth.
"Well, figured that guy who can beat him would get knocked out, we need to buy time Rikai," Alex explained.
"It seems we aren't the only ones with that idea," Rikai mused.
Batman slammed into the ground, only he wasn't in his traditional suit. He was wearing armour that included boots and gauntlets that made his limbs seem gigantic. A cloak was flapping behind his back, and a helmet resembling his mask was attached to his thick chest plate. Another moment passed and another figure landed on the ground. Only this one was a robot, its armour coloured purple and green. It had no head, and was just a thick body with large arms and legs, cannons on its back and a large screen on its front, the screen showed the face of the man controlling the robot from far away.
"Such an inferior design of armour Batman, you might as well have wrapped yourself in tin foil," Lex Luthor grinned.
"Of course he put his face on the robot," Alex muttered as he flew towards the Hulk.
His armour began to expand, covering his hands in massive three fingered gauntlets. Plates of armour covered his chest and head, then his legs. His wing pack was replaced by a hunched back as he landed between Batman and Luthor's drone.
"We need to buy as much time as we can," he said.
"You don't have to tell me," Luthor said.
"Don't worry, this Hulk-buster armour will help you handle him," Rikai said.
"Hulk-buster? Where did you come up with a ridiculous name?" Alex asked.
"It doesn't take a genius to form such an idea!"
Across the multiverse, said genius's (and in most of them, playboy, billionaire philanthropists) all sneezed.
Earth 610
The Tony Stark of 610 rubbed his nose, his ears were burning too. Understandable as he was currently preparing his weapon's platform. It was the 'armour' he used to beat back the Liberators. Deploying it again would cost him a fortune, luckily he had a billion to spare at the moment. And the heroes needed it to turn the tide against the forces of Brainiac.
"Thor, Hyperion, Power Princess, you guys ready?" Tony asked.
"Ready Tony," Hyperion said.
He, Thor and Power Princess had broken away from the main fighting across the city, and were heading towards Brainiac's ship.
"Cap, Spiders, you guys ready?"
"We are," Thornton said.
Terry and Peter were both behind him, alongside Daredevil and a few other Secret Avengers and Secret Warriors. They included the Punisher, Psylocke, Elektra, Ant-man and Penance.
"Time to begin, operation 'save the world'," Tony said.
"Dude, you really need to work on your code names," Terry said.
"I happen to be phenomenal at naming things," Tony grinned.
"Oh yeah, cause 'Hulk-buster' is an awesome name!"
"It is an awesome name!"
Unbeknownst to the heroes of Earth 610, a young man looked up at Brainiac's ship from the streets. He removed his sunglasses, his eyes glowing red.
616-Sword base
"Why are we here?" were the first words Sven asked when they arrived.
He, Wanda, Jericho Drumm, Speed, Carol and a few other Avengers had come to SWORD station. They kept a short distance from Brand's troops, using a separate work station.
"We tracked Noh-Varr's ship to a far quadrant, they engaged Chitauri, and a group we don't recognise. Then they were taken through some form of pocket dimension that we haven't been able to track," Sydren explained.
"Thank you for the effort," Sven said.
"That doesn't mean we can't stage some form of rescue mission from here," Carol said.
A pink portal suddenly opened, and the SWORD agents quickly drew their sidearm's.
"We have a breach here," Brand said.
Pixie rushed through, holding her hands up.
"Wait, wait, it's just us," she said.
Virgil and a few of the other New X-men then walked through.
"Good to see you're okay Virgil," Sven said.
"Iron Lad and Cassie tried to go rescue Zack and the others," Virgil said.
"What happened?" Scott Lang asked.
"Iron Lad put his trust in the wrong people," Virgil rubbed his head as he spoke. "He locked me up to keep me from interfering, then he worked with the Young Masters!"
"There are young masters?" Sven asked.
"Yeah, I've gotta admit I had no idea about them either," Carol said.
"Seconded," Hawkeye raised his hand.
"Third," Voo Doo added.
"They're being held alongside multiple teenage super humans, from multiple realities," Virgil explained.
"Then it isn't just invasions across the Multiverse, but abductions too."
"That's right Ms Maximoff," the heroes turned to the portal and gasped.
Again the Agents of SWORD raised their rifles, even the heroes became aggressive as Andrew Forson stepped out. The director of A.I.M raised his hands, walking to Virgil's side.
"I did say that this would be a bad idea," he said.
"We can't have any more secrets, Forson, explain yourself," Virgil suggested.
"I would like to be a good guy," Forson said.
The heroes exchanged looks, before they began to laugh.
"A.I.M. has been unethical and just damn evil for years," Carol said.
"How many super villains have A.I.M. created, how many victims has it left in its wake?" Wanda asked.
"About as much as say the Brotherhood of Evil mutants, don't they now possess diplomatic immunity too?" Forson asked.
"Enough, Virgil what is this?" Sven asked.
"In short Mr Reilly, A.I.M. has spent years in a pocket of controlled time space, bettering itself as well as monitoring the Multiverse, Hyper time, pocket dimensions, etc. We discovered a great many things, realities where A.I.M succeeded in world domination and created a Utopia, ones where they created hell on Earth, some where our arrogance even destroyed the Earth. To put a long story short, we gained perspective, found the years we had spent trying to break the world pointless and decided a new approach was needed," Forson explained.
"You had a change of heart," Carol said sceptically. "Next you'll tell me you found god."
"That would have made me truly insane Colonel Danvers, or is it Captain Danvers now? Anyway, we didn't find god, we didn't even find the devil, but we did find something that came a close second," Forson bowed and moved his hands to the portal, an invitation.
"I'm not going to listen to this," Carol said.
"Actually Miss Danvers, the olive branch we're extending involves you as well, you might want to look at it, might give you some perspective yourself," Forson explained.
"Carol, Wanda and I will go, the rest of you guys should focus on helping the others on Earth," Sven said.
The three of them, plus Virgil stepped through the portal.
New York
Peter continued searching desperately, heading into the Bronx for the next step of his search. The cops had said something about a monster being here. He landed on one of the rooftops, seeing a commotion in the streets. He narrowed his eyes, seeing the new Ms Marvel get thrown into a bus. She expanded her hands, using them to shield herself and the bus from blood red tendrils.
'It can't be,' Peter gasped.
What he saw was much more terrifying than Carnage. Behind him were Phage, Riot, Scream, Agony and Lasher. Seeing that Khan was struggling, Peter jumped into the fray.
'I can't just leave her be,' he thought.
His daughter was the most important thing in his life. She had to be saved, but he couldn't sacrifice a young girl like Ms Marvel. Shooting webs into the symbiote family, he bound Phage and Riot to the concrete, grappling with Carnage as Kamala grabbed Scream and Agony.
"I was wondering when we'd get our team up," Ms Marvel said, punching both symbiote sisters.
"I can't stay for long," Spider-man said.
He flipped and ducked, avoiding Carnage's axes. Then he kicked out at Kasady (or at least who he assumed to be Kasady) and jumped over Agony, webbing her arm to the floor so that Ms Marvel could punch her again. A tendril shot up at Spider-man, wrapping around him and pulling him to the ground.
"Venom," he said, recognising the colour of the symbiote.
"You're starting to wish aren't you?" a voice asked behind Peter.
He looked over his shoulder, seeing two things that made him gasp in horror. First was the sight of himself in the black suit, arm extended as a tendril. The man in the black suit even sounded like him, but devoid of any of the compassion he had. He also had at his side Felicia, her costume made from parts of a symbiote. And behind them was an squad of symbiotes all coming out of a boom tube.
"Let's add him to the family lover," the symbiote Black Cat said.
"Are you getting naughty thoughts?" the symbiote king asked.
"You know it baby," she grinned.
"I can't waste time here," Peter muttered. 'But I can't just leave these people,' he thought.
The father was torn between those he knew he could save, and a distant daughter he had to find. He looked up, seeing the swarm of symbiotes approach him.
'I can't, abandon my daughter, with great power comes great responsibility, with great power, comes great responsibility!' he thought as the symbiotes piled on top of him.
Ms Marvel looked at the mound in shock, before punching Phage back. Riot landed a hit with his mace tendril, throwing Kamala onto the roof of a car.
'May,' Peter thought. 'She's my daughter, my strength...my power,' the mound of symbiotes bulged, drawing the attention of the symbiote Spider-man and Black Cat.
"My...RESPONSIBILITY!" Peter yelled.
He burst out of the symbiote pile, landing on a lamp post. Replacing his traditional costume, was the black suit, though unlike the symbiote king, it looked less life like. Peter narrowed his eyes at his evil counterpart.
"LOOK OUT!" a voice yelled in his head.
He jumped up, avoiding Carnage's axe tendrils. Spider-man landed and ducked to avoid Scream and Lasher's tentacles. Then he span, tripping both up before shooting Carnage in the eyes with his webs.
'I'm going to find her, and save her, but I'm not going to just let everyone else who needs help dies too, no one dies whilst I'm around,' Peter thought.
"Glad you think so Peter," again the voice spoke.
'Wait a minute, that isn't the symbiote talking,' Peter looked up.
Colossus suddenly landed on top of Riot, and lightning bolts crashed down on Phage. Nightcrawler teleported with Wolverine, both slashing at Lasher's tentacles, Logan with his claws, and Kurt with his pirate swords. Symbiotes were suddenly thrown aside by Rachel and Jean's telekinesis.
"You have a very strong will Peter, but I thought I'd give you a little telepathic help in resisting your counterpart's influence," Jean relayed to Peter.
"Thanks X-men, I'm sorry I have to leave, but I can't just abandon the search," he said.
"And I can't just leave it to you," Cyclops said.
"Butt out bub, if there is anyone who can save that girl, it's the web head," Wolverine said.
Nightcrawler teleported Colossus into the air, leaving him to crash into Riot. Kitty came up through the floor, punching Carnage across the face. She went back down through the floor as he sliced at her. Cyclops fired an optic blast at the symbiote king, only for the evil Spider-man to throw a car at him. Peter caught the car with his webs, glaring at Scott for a moment before he swung away.
"Right now X-men our job is to keep the people safe," Jean said, pushing Scream back with a TK blast.
Storm formed a whirlwind, blowing aside several symbiotes.
"All right, my first X-men team up, can I be an honorary member?" Ms Marvel asked.
"Oh I don't know, Scott's a real stickler about our quota, are you a mutant?" Kitty asked.
"Inhuman!"
"Oh, then you definitely don't meet his standards," Kitty grinned.
"Lookout Katya," Colossus ran in front of Shadowcat, taking Lasher's bladed tentacles to his back.
Nightcrawler then teleported behind Colossus, cutting at the tentacles as Wolverine slashed Lasher across the face.
"You dummies, you know those symbiotes can't touch me," Kitty said.
Suddenly, symbiotes lunged at the three X-men. Shadowcat widened her eyes in shock, watching the symbiotes cover her three best friends. Colossus looked at his hands as the symbiote completed its work. He was consumed by the black suit, but he had red bands on his hands and feet, and a red stripe going across his chest. His 'venom eyes' joined with the white hair on top of his head.
"Bozhe moi," he muttered.
Wolverine let out a chuckle as he looked at his symbiote form. The yellow parts of his suit had been replaced with the black substance, and the blue parts were white. Nightcrawler too was wearing the symbiote, and was very calm about it.
"You can thank us for not losing your minds darlings," Emma said.
Logan popped out his claws, the symbiote had coated them, making them as hard as metal. He looked at the Spider-man symbiote king and grinned.
"Thanks for the upgrade idiots," the X-man said as he and his team renewed their assault on the symbiotes.
The symbiote Black Cat covered her head in her symbiote, her hair became tendrils and she screamed, releasing a sonic wave that knocked Wolverine back. He yelled, digging his claws into the ground. Shadowcat suddenly came up out of the ground, holding Ms Marvel, who delivered a swift uppercut to Black Cat's chin. Cyclops then fired his optic blast, hitting Black Cat in midair. Colossus delivered a flurry of punches to Carnage, Nightcrawler then wrapped his tail around the villain and threw him towards Scream. Storm brought down a lightning bolt, causing agony to both symbiotes. Rachel rained down bits of debris on the symbiote king, who was cutting them apart with his tendrils.
"Ready Jeannie?" Wolverine asked as Jean levitated.
"Of course, one TK fast ball special coming right up," she swung her arm forward, launching Wolverine towards the Spider-man counterpart.
Wolverine roared, dragging his claws through the man's side. He slid to a halt behind him, huffing as the symbiote villain held his wound.
"You better get to her Pete, you better save her, cause I'm in no mood for Cyclops saying 'I told you so' today," Wolverine said, before he rushed back into battle.
Eternia
Cade slammed his scythes down on Kalibak's hands, the Apokoliptan holding the handles of his weapons, keeping them from his face. Though strongly believing that Kalibak was not the smartest of the mighty Darkseid's army, he was by no means incompetent. He was strong, matching Cade's full strength. That and he was no stranger to fighting, hitting Cade before he could react. Kalibak's greatest strength though was his savagery, he held nothing back. Even if it meant breaking his hands on Cade's armour, he delivered harsh punches that cracked the shell over his head. That and he wasn't alone. Some bulking man with a cybernetic arm, and a prosthetic jaw joined the fray, alongside a fish man with a trident and a furry man with super strength.
"That's it Trap Jaw, Mer-man, Beast-man, take him," Kalibak said, gleefully punching Cade in the back.
'Well, at least their names fit,' Cade thought.
Ridiculous names and perhaps even more ridiculous looks. But Cade knew better than anyone, that people who laughed at them and mocked them were ignorant idiots. It was easy for them to forget how dangerous people like them were. That was the deceitful tactic behind the colourful costumes and names, it got people to drop their guards. Cade didn't drop his guard, but still struggled, which was a testament to the strength behind these warriors. He deflected Trap Jaw's arm and locked blades with Mer-man, only for Beast-man to grab him by his head and throw him across the battlefield. Several energy blasts then slammed into Cade, cracking his chest plate. He swung his scythe, cutting the Parademons in the sky with an energy blade.
"Eternia is in jeopardy," a voice said behind Cade.
He looked over his shoulder, seeing a pale woman in a purple outfit that left little to the imagination. Cade possessed eyes capable of seeing all sin, even without those eyes, he was a good judge of character. The woman moved as if she was a victim, perhaps an ally of the prince. But Cade could see through the deception. He swung an energy blade, which she blocked by raising her staff and forming a shield of magic. She was powerful, as indicated when her spell split Cade's blade in two.
'Even the heroes back home would be taken by surprise by these people,' Cade thought.
Evil-Lyn pointed her staff at the new warrior, her new master Kalibak landing behind her. Part of the armour on Cade's mask fell off, exposing his glowing red eye.
"You're outnumbered and outmatched," Kalibak grinned.
"No," Evil-Lyn said, realising before Kalibak what Deathblade had inadvertently done.
The armoured warrior had provided the prince with an adequate distraction. Grabbing the legendary sword of power, Prince Adam raised it over his head.
"By the power of Gray Skull," he said.
The skies darkened, and lightning crashed down on the small man. Within the lightning, the man began to change, his muscles expanding, hair becoming more wild. His clothes changed, straps formed over a symbol on his chest, bands covered his arms and fury loin cloth covered his lower body. He lifted the sword with one hand.
"I HAVE THE POWER!" He-man yelled.
He jumped, landing beside Cade. Both held their blades at the ready and faced the army of Apokolips.
"What was that you were saying about outmatched?" He-man asked.
The hero of Eternia and defender of castle Gray skull grinned as he and Deathblade lunged into battle.
A.I.M. island
"Welcome to my abode, I can't say anyone in it is humble," Forson said as he and the heroes he gathered exited the portal and came into the A.I.M lab.
"Shut up Forson," Superia snarled.
"Now, now, be nice, they are my guests," Forson said.
"What are we waiting for? In fact why are we here when we should be out there trying to get my sons back?" Wanda asked.
"Please calm down Miss Maximoff, all in due time, first I must show you it, behold," Forson presented the heroes with the same device Virgil had been using to traverse realities.
The dimensional window showed the battles going on, on in the year 2099, Earth 610, on Earth 0.52, the Planet of the Bravest and numerous other realities. A.I.M. troops were assisting in the other realities, aiding Magneto's X-men in the Age of Apocalypse, another Earth where Spider-man was teamed up with Firestar and Iceman, and two Earths protected by two Squadron Supremes.
"As you see, we are currently at work helping the heroes of multiple universes fight these dark forces spreading across the Multiverse. That's not all, I've also deployed our resources to rescue the survivors of a world where 99% of the population has been turned into zombies. We're also disposing of certain threats that have arrived in a universe where Thanos has erased precisely fifty percent of the population, although I assure you our presence there is only temporary, the heroes there will probably have things back to normal late 2019," Forson explained.
"Is this what you're here to show us Forson, how heroic you guys are now?" Carol asked.
"Oh no, I assure you, there is much more to it than that, when we alter the stream of energy, we are able to see potential events across potential universes. Behold again," Forson bowed, motioning to the dimensional window.
Sven and Carol both raised their heads in shock as they saw themselves yelling at each other. Other events occurred, including two Squadron Supremes fighting one another, with what seemed to be an Avengers and X-men team as witnesses. Another showed Avengers fighting alongside heroes in costumes similar to the Green ranger. Then there was Aeon and his allies clashing with the X-men, the seeming arrival of Hope, attempting to kill Virgil. Virgil himself turned away from the window, as it showed him putting on Aeon's helmet. Sven looked over at his protégé.
"Is that what you've been so afraid of?" he asked him.
"Forson just showed you a vision of you and Carol arguing, and you're focused on my future?" Virgil asked.
"I am, because you're Sieg's brother, Sieg was a son to me and I loved him. So I love you too Virgil, and I'll always believe in you," Sven patted Virgil's shoulder and smiled.
"I've always believed in fighting the future," Carol said.
"Or the past," Forson suggested as the window shifted.
Sven widened his eyes as an image of Carol and Cade appeared.
"Hate that costume Carol," Wanda commented, indicating the green version of her uniform.
"The colour is pretty hideous," Carol said.
She quickly gasped in shock as she saw her future self punch Cade through his chest. Other heroes seemed to be present, ones Carol recognised.
"Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and the Justice League, wait..." she paused, putting a hand to her head. "Why do I suddenly remember them?" she asked.
"The two Multiverses have been linked before," Forson said, indicating the window as it showed the Spectre and Tribunal clashing, and a host of other battles such as Batman against Captain America, Namor against Aquaman and Lobo against Wolverine. "Now, this latest cosmic anomaly has seemingly permanently linked them together, but there is more, the darkness has been tearing open realities we previously knew nothing of."
As Forson spoke they saw other realities, ones that included heroes like the Green Ranger fighting against Ultron drones. In another universe a devil in a brown coat was shooting at Parademons. One universe showed a dark haired boy in a blue and black costume fighting a version of Superman. The fourth showed four turtle men fighting alongside Batman against Superman. A final reality appeared, and Sven shot up.
"Is this live?" Sven asked, seeing Cade fighting alongside He-man.
"We have already tried to aid it, if we force the travel, it might result in more tears," Forson said.
"We still need to get to the heart of the matter, Zack and Wiccan," Jericho said.
"Indeed Mr Drumm, you are correct, I have managed to track Wiccan and the other Young Avengers, including that foolish Iron lad and his team of would be rescuers. Zack however I am sorry to say has been sent somewhere else."
Zack landed flat on his face, rubbing it as he got off of the floor. He had managed to get away, only to get caught by a portal.
"Am I back?" he wondered, seeing that he was in a New York alleyway.
He jumped to the rooftops and gasped. Sentinels were flying across the sky, their red and gold armour was highly decorated.
"Welcome Zack!" a voice spoke behind him.
Zack turned and braced himself. He'd never really formally met Magneto in his world. This one was garbed in a black uniform with medals and a blue sash on it.
"Or perhaps I should say, welcome home grandson," Magneto extended his hand to Zack and smiled.
New York City-Time square-Earth 616
People were being gathered in New York, dragged out of their homes by the Parademons. Ben Urich looked up defiantly at the seeming masterminds of the attack. They stood upon a weapon's platform, surrounded by Parademons. One was a creature shrouded by a purple coat and hood, the other was a pale man in a black suit with red gloves.
"Rejoice people of New York, I am Godfrey the Glorious, Desaad and I are emissaries of the lord of Apokolips and ruler of your universe, Darkseid. You have all been chosen as slaves for your new god, and make no mistake, Darkseid is god on Apokolips," the man explained.
"Well, this isn't Apokolips," a voice said in the distance.
Godfrey and Desaad raised their eyebrows as two men began to approach the crowd. One was a brown hair man in a green jacket, the other man had red hair with a white streak in it, his clothes consisting of a black turtle neck and a beige jacket.
"Who are you creatures, you do not have the stench of this world," Godfrey said.
"Let's just say that even on my world I'm somewhat of a stranger," the man with the streak in his hair said.
"And I'm and Earth boy born and bred, just not this Earth," the man in the green jacket grinned.
"Seize them!" Dessad huffed.
Two Parademons flew in front of the two men. The man in the green jacket shrugged his shoulders, removing something from his belt.
"Oh well, I guess its...Clobbering time," he said.
He waited a moment, shaking his head with a sigh. Both Parademons exchanged glances, before a mound of orange rock slammed down on them.
"Cutting it close there Mr Grimm," the man in the green jacket said.
"Call me Ben Mr Oliver," Ben said, stomping on the Parademons for good measure.
"Please, call me Tommy," he thrust his Morpher forward. "Power Ranger one, red!" he proclaimed.
The Morpher shined red, coating him in a red suit with white gloves. A helmet then snapped around his head, a black star on the face of it.
"Red Zeo ranger," let out a battle cry as he slipped into his stance.
"Is such a sound really necessary?" the man in the beige jacket asked. "Gone, gone, the form of man, rise the demon ETRIGAN!" Jason Blood yelled out as he transformed into the demon knight that had come through the breach.
A portal appeared underneath the civilians, dropping them into seemed to be an empty space in midair. But they were all supported by an invisible force field, one created by Sue Storm. She stood on an invisible platform alongside Magik.
"Don't worry everyone, we'll get you back home," Sue said. "Once we've gotten rid of our unwelcome guests."
Manifold formed a portal behind Tommy, Etrigan and the Thing. Out of that portal came Steve, his Wakandan shield folding into its battle mode. He led Smasher, Hyperion, Thor, Sunspot, Cannonball, Starbrand and Nightmask. Mainframe also walked out with Machine Man, Vision, Victor Mancha and Alexis. Hawkeye led War Machine, Mockingbird, Living Lightning, Spider-woman and the Michael Van Patrick Captain America. Rogue walked out in front of Wonder Man, the Johnny Storm Human Torch, Havok, Sunfire and Synapse. Deadpool led Solo, Gorilla-man, Stingray and Domino. Finally Crystal walked out with the new Inhumans, Flint, Grid, Inferno, Iso, Mosaic and Naja.
"What is this, the fabled Avengers?" Godfrey asked.
"Today, we're all just heroes!" Steve said.
Suddenly, 'Hooked on a Feeling' by Blue Swede began to echo above the heroes.
"I hope you don't mind us inviting ourselves," Peter Quill said.
He was wearing his old military style, blue and red uniform and helmet. All of the Guardians with him wore the same type of colour scheme in their costumes, they included Jack Flag, Rocket Racoon, Groot, Drax, Phyla-Vell, Gamora, Bug, Moon Dragon, Mantis and Adam Warlock.
"I am Groot!"
"That's right," Rocket nodded. "You morons down there can all consider yourselves freaking Guardians of the galaxy, and Groot didn't use the word freaking!"
Next Chapter 33: Tipped scales part 2
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, next time the battle continues