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The Redeemer
Chapter 41: The refuge
The Rigellian recorders were much like the Watchers in a way. But whilst Uatu was driven as much by curiosity as by duty, the Recorders were compelled to study the meaning behind different events.
This was the Recorder who witnessed the trial of the Phoenix, and later the destruction of the Phoenix as a concept through the shattering of the M'Kraan crystal. Reality itself became fractured from that point on, coming back together in many unique ways. That event that saw the apprentice of Aeon, Sieg, meet his favourite heroes for the first time, in actuality served as the basis for this Multiverse to become different from what it was supposed to be.
Now the Rigellian recorder was witnessing the events of a war of darkness across the Multiverse. Under the covers of a brown cloak, he joined other refugees of the Shiar, Galador, Tamaranean, Thanagarian, Rann and many Earth variant worlds on a place where none expected to find refuge, a place called Battleworld.
The Rigellian watched the exchange between the very creator of Battleworld and the Avengers he had sent to a Secret War.
"Beyonder," Steve seethed as he, Rhodey and Monica walked up the hill the Beyonder stood on.
He was a dark haired man in a simple white shirt and jacket with white trousers and shoes. When the man turned around though, his eyes let out the briefest yellow glow.
"Captain, or is it Captain anymore?" the Beyonder asked.
"The Guardians and the Nova Corps picked up a shift in the solar system's gravitational fields, disasters have occurred across thousands of worlds, the Nova Corps is spread thin," Monica explained.
"Imagine our surprise when we found this place," Rhodey said.
"Brings back memories doesn't it, I'm not the only familiar face here though," Beyonder grinned, pointing down at the crowds of refugees.
Steve cautiously walked to the Beyonder's side. He looked down into a sea of refugees, following the all powerful being's finger to a small but wondrous sight. A white haired girl was knelt by the side of a wounded woman. The girl was dressed in a purple robe, and after briefly touching the woman's wound, generated a light that slowly healed the wound. Steve's eyes grew wide in realisation at the knowledge that Battleworld wasn't the only thing to return.
"Zsaji, the healer," he said.
"Yes, a necessity of this world created to support the heroes, to keep the battle going. But now, she has returned to aid those in genuine need of it. I hope this shows the benevolence in my actions Captain," the Beyonder stated and Steve rolled his eyes.
"If this is to do with all of the Multiversal threats attacking our world, what's stopping you from doing anything about them as opposed to bringing more destruction to create this refuge world?" Steve asked.
"The same reason the Living Tribunal, the Spectre, and many of the other near limitless but not so limitless beings cannot stop what is coming, we are not powerful enough," the Beyonder took a satisfaction in the shocked expressions of the heroes.
"What do you mean?" a voice asked from above.
The Beyonder and three Avengers looked up. Floating on a green platform created by the Green Lantern John Stewart were the heroes of another world, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
"Ah the Justice League unlimited, or is it Infinity? Whatever it is, your future has been decided," the Beyonder said.
"We have some experience with seeing the future, this crisis is evidence that the future isn't fixed," John Stewart said.
"Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman," Captain America said.
"You have us at a disadvantage," Superman said, though he still had a friendly smile on his face.
"I've met versions of all three of you before, it was another cosmic game of a higher power, if you're anything like them besides the costumes then I know you can be trusted, Steve Rogers," he offered Superman his hand and the last son of Krypton took it without hesitation.
"This place exists in between dimensions, it's why so many Earths have been able to retreat to here, are they completely devastated?" Batman asked.
He looked down the hill at the refugees, his eyebrows shooting up when he saw the Batman and Robin of Earth 66, the Batmen nodded respectfully to one another before the DCAU Batman turned back to the Beyonder.
"Some of these worlds weren't even in the best shape to begin with, Earth 49, Earth 63, Earth 55, and that's just on your side of the Multiversal tree. Within the past," he paused to look at his watch, something that wasn't there before, "Six minutes, twenty Earths have been created, variations of all of yours, some with just a single difference telling them apart, others so different they're barely recognisable, and ten of those have been rendered lifeless, or had a path so dark laid out for them that their inevitable end will be destruction, what do you all know about the Exiles?" the Beyonder asked.
"People unstuck in time, Beak and Psylocke from the X-men were with them, they even had prior encounters with the group, and they're supposed to fix mistakes in different timelines," Monica explained.
"All a lie, even their former masters the Timebreakers were fictions created in order to manipulate these individuals into performing tasks for them, tasks that would destabilise those realities and create misery across them. Of course, the one manipulating the Exiles had to be careful; he needed to choose missions that would seem good at the time, or necessary sacrifices, but in the end each mission would lead to disaster deeper down the line of that reality's fate, the Exiles were led to believe that they were heroes, but they never were, never could be again, because like you all those years ago became my pawns in a test of good versus evil, they became the pawns of evil in a test of bad things being done for good reason," Beyonder explained.
"What does he mean?" Diana asked.
"He means that anything can be done with the right justification, taking one life because it's necessary," Batman said.
"Exactly, you see even an evil performed for the sake of good empowers him," the Beyonder said.
"I guess that leaves anything Castle could suggest doing off of the list of solutions, basically, we can't compromise, even one life taken for the sake of others…"
"Evil is evil, lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same," Superman muttered, "sorry," he said sheepishly to Steve.
"No, I understand, that's the Witcher right?" Steve asked.
"The books are great, can't say I'm fond of Netflix for veering away from them," Clark smiled.
Battleworld was vast, and more refugees, both alien and human were coming in by the hundreds. Hundreds was all some people were capable of saving. Jimmy Olsen stood with masses of people from his Metropolis, a world where at one time he had even served as President after the term of Lex Luthor and his Russian Rival Superman. New arrivals from Central City came through, led by Captain Cold and his Rogues.
"Saving lives comes with a price, so here's the deal, all of you empty your pockets and purses," Cold said.
"That won't be necessary."
Jimmy looked towards the man who spoke, he hadn't come through one of the portals. He was a man younger than Jimmy, but still quite elderly, his build though indicated a life of being on the frontlines. The silver haired man with the moustache walked past Weather Wizard and Golden Glider, who looked at him with amusement as he stepped up to Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang and Captain Cold.
"You should stay put old man, this is one fight you won't be winning," Cold said.
"You've got it wrong, I'm not here to fight you, I'm here to either arrest you or recruit you, the choice is yours, if you take too much time though my friend with the high powered rifle will take your head off. He's a great marksman, but he has less patience than I," the man said.
His statement made the rogues look around, and old military man resisted the urge to laugh. In his experience they would we dead before either of them could have figured out where the shooter was perched.
"Welcome to battle world, civilians will be protected and sheltered here, criminals however will be drafted or imprisoned for public safety," the man explained.
Cold suddenly turned and threw his hand forward. His hands had his cold guns implanted within them, and he had encased the military man in ice. Bullets were fired at him, but they stopped around him.
"Cold field, I'm a lot more than just shooting ice," Snart said.
He was smirking and confident, but even that faded as steam began to rise from the hunk of ice. The refugees of battle world looked at the ice in shock. The steam soon turned into mist and a huge red hand burst out of it. Ross broke out of the ice transformed into the very thing he had spent years of his life hunting, a Hulk, the Red Hulk. He grinned as he looked down at Snart and his Rogues, all of whom were beginning to shake in fear.
"Now, about the drafting, let me be the first to welcome you to the new Thunderbolts Squadron," he said.
Peter Parker sat in his ruined apartment with Mayday and Mary Jane in his arms. His little girl was growing up, it had taken him a while to see the strength inside her, the strength that would no doubt lead her to one day take up a costume of her own. She was still his girl though, holding his hand tightly because she didn't want him to go. He shared a kiss with MJ and smiled as she hugged him.
May watched this exchange and fought off the urge to cry. She looked at the photo of her husband and knew that he was seeing this too, he knew they had done their work well. Her hand shook due to her age as she looked out of the window. Patrick, Felicia and Miles were on the street, even Betty who had lost the love of her life was still helping. This was the amazing community, the amazing family they were a part of and May's only regret was the reality that she would never see them reach their full potential. She let out a weak sigh and sat on a chair.
"Miss Parker," she looked up and saw a man she recognised from some of Peter's science papers.
Charles Xavier looked at her with compassion and understanding.
"They grow up so fast and so well don't they?" he asked.
"Yes, I know Summers has the best of intentions, I know that what you all want is a world where mutants are safe. But safety isn't always a guarantee of happiness, I know that there are many mutants whose families have abandoned them, even tried to kill them. But please, please don't diminish humanity or deny that that's what you all are, don't take that away from her, don't take her away from us."
She didn't know if she was crying in some kind of illusion of Xavier's design, or if she was balling her eyes in the broken kitchen. It had certainly given Xavier much to think of. When May opened her eyes she saw a mechanical arm holding a tissue. Her eyes widened when the masked Octopus put his hand on the window.
"May," he whispered.
To her shock, when Otto pulled his mask away he revealed that there was an older man behind it, far older than he should be.
"You were dead," she said.
"I am dead; I had one more contingency…"
"Just in case you had failed to possess my nephew's body?" May interrupted, not hiding the judgement in her voice.
"Yes, I turned to Warren's research in cloning, I would take a younger body, but something I didn't foresee went wrong," he said.
"Perhaps its karma for the things you've done," she said and to her surprise he chuckled and smiled.
"Karma, or arrogance, I reaped what I sowed, in trying to harness the power of gods I fell like Prometheus, but Prometheus was not just guided by arrogance…"
"Is that how you justify trying to take that girl's father away, is it how you've justified every other parent or child you have robbed?" May asked.
She wanted to yell, to scream, but her heart just couldn't take it anymore. That and she didn't want to tear Peter away from a moment he so desperately needed with his family.
"What do you want here Otto?" she asked.
Octavius looked into May's eyes, and for once she could see that there were tears in his eyes.
"I was desperate to escape the judgement of Deathblade, but it seemed Aeon had given me a far worse punishment than the execution his rival would have carried out. I have been haunted May, haunted by the realisation of the things, both good and bad that I could have done, as well as the depth of the pain I have caused. Once I tried to tell myself it didn't matter, that my life was all that mattered, so long as I could live one more day and earn one more score it would all be worth it so long as I made that one discovery that eclipse all the bad that I had done as Doctor Octopus.
"I was shown that I could have arrogantly tried to be as Superior Spider-man, but fail miserably, I was shown that I would try to harness the power of the sun, yet die trying to prove I was not a monster. I was shown a path that began with good intentions, I was even your nephew's hero and friend, but then I did so many horrible things that eventually led to your death. Then I was shown another path, I held the power of the sun, yet still I had done wrong and so I faced punishment for all I had done, and in prison I would find redemption. Then I saw another life story, one where I had tried to give happiness a shot…with you," he explained.
The revelation made May shift uncomfortably, but the Doctor held his hands up.
"I am not speaking of missed opportunities and specific regrets, only a series of wasted moments, this life I saw was again a failure because I hadn't been the man I should have been, the man you would have deserved just like I was in this life."
She could see that he truly was crying.
"And I am so sorry for having deceived you back then," he said.
"I barely think of it, because I have had so much better since," she said.
He wiped his eyes and put on the glasses he kept in his coat pocket.
"I am dying, and it isn't the act of dying that frightens me, it's the act of dying without leaving at least one good thing in my life," he stated.
"It is never too late to be the man you want to be," May said.
"I used to mock sayings like that, but now, I truly believe it, with great power comes great responsibility. Knowledge is a gift and not a privilege, one I must use for the good of mankind," he reached into his pocket again and pulled out a flash drive.
"What is this?" May asked.
"Something I want you to give Peter when there is time, every invention and formula I ever had is on that drive, perhaps he can find a way to use it for something good," Otto explained.
"Is that it, is that all you're going to do, leave it to someone else?"
"No, but please, please take this Mrs Parker, please," he said.
May reached out, her hand touching Otto's for a moment as he gave her the drive. Again he said sorry as he climbed down towards the ground. May looked at the flash drive in her hand, and the bin beside her. She was tempted for a brief moment to throw it away, to ignore everything Otto had confided. But then she remembered her words, words Ben liked to live by too, that it was never too late for people to be the best version of themselves that they could be.
Harry was standing outside of her house, looking up at the window and smiling hesitantly as she looked back down. Liz walked to the front door; she was going to open it when the flashes appeared in her head. They were the memories of everything that went wrong before, the fights, Harry losing himself to drugs. But then there came the good moments, the moments of Harry pulling himself out of that darkness, of not becoming his father, but being a good father and a good man who helped those like her brother Mark.
'A man I still love,' she thought as she reached for the door handle.
"Please don't open the door Liz," she widened her eyes when she heard his voice.
They leant against either side of the door.
"I came because there's something I need to do, and I know it's going to be difficult for you to understand, but I'm doing it for the right reasons," he said.
"Harry, we need to talk, face to face," she said.
"Please Liz, just be patient for a little longer, I'm not who I need to be right now," Harry said.
"Normie just wants his dad Harry," Liz said.
"And I want so much more, I've always wanted so much more. Dad's dead, and I'm not sorry he's gone, Lily is dead and so is our child, he was mine Liz, just one life that was a victim of all the pain that the Osborn name carries. I can still make the Osborn name mean something good, but I just need a little more time, I will come back, please just wait a little bit longer," Harry explained.
Liz rubbed her eyes as she cried, cried for all the time they had wasted, and for all the time they could have again. She opened the door, but Harry was already driving away. He drove to a warehouse where other cars waited. Sarah Stacy was not an easy person for him to look at, for more than just her looking like Gwen Stacy, she even wore her 'mother's' style of hair band. With her was her boyfriend Kyle, the brown haired man was wearing his usual blue coat and a scowl aimed at the others who had been gathered. Herman Schultz, Flint Marko, Quinton Beck and Aleksei Sytsevich, Beck stayed where he was whilst the others walked inside. Harry got out of the car and walked to his 'sister' with a face filled with regret.
"Why did you call her here?" Kyle asked.
"I am sorry, but there was something I needed to discuss with Sarah," Harry said.
"Go inside with the others, and try not to start a fight," Sarah commanded.
Kyle was taken aback by her tone, he looked between Beck and Harry to show it was them he didn't trust before leaving Sarah with them. She turned to face Harry with an expression he remembered from the days Gwen was alive.
"There's stuff here we're going to need if we're going to help Spider-man out," Harry said.
"You've been getting nightmares haven't you?" Sarah asked.
"A lot of people have, nightmares about Spider-man failing, against an army of villains. I know that Beck, Marko, Schultz, Octavius, everyone whose ever gone up against Spider-man in some way has gotten a nightmare about him losing and the rest of the universe suffering for it. Its bigger than any of them could hope to stop, well beyond street crime, so a few who were left decided they would do something about it, like they did when the Goblin cult came around," Harry explained.
"So can we expect more, Tombstone maybe?" Sarah asked.
"Tombstone's dead, he got thrown down an elevator shaft by that Cade Hunter guy, his daughter was crushed by the previous Beetle trying to avenge him," Beck said.
"Jenkins, I thought he was a hero."
"No, the previous Beetle, the one in the bulky armour Leila Davis, she got resurrected by Deathblade as part of his thrall army," Harry said.
"There was another woman who was a Beetle before Lincoln?" Sarah asked.
"Well there were three people who took the Beetle armour and…you know what, we're getting off topic, there's a very specific reason I called you here, it would have been better if we had a seat," Harry explained.
"Get to the point Osborn," Sarah said impatiently.
Harry rubbed his hands together and leant against the back of his car.
"I am not the real Harry Osborn," he said.
Sarah didn't know what shocked her more, the revelation or the fact that Beck wasn't shocked by it at all.
"The real Harry Osborn died in hospital after he tried to be the Green Goblin. Before all that though he created an elaborate means of getting revenge on both his father and his best friend," Harry explained.
"You're a clone," Sarah said.
"I found out at the hospital last year, after Gabriel attacked me, I did some digging through some old Oscorp assets and I found that the revenge plot goes a lot deeper than just replacing the real Harry," he opened the trunk and pulled out a box.
It was stuffed with files and blue prints, as well as records like bank statements, loans and birth certificates. They read Sarah and Gabriel Stacy, but from her experience working for the secret service, Sarah had gained an understanding of falsified documents. The photos she saw however were not fake as the time stamps showed the quick growth of a pair of babies, one with Gwen Stacy's blonde hair and the boy with a variation of the Osborn red.
"Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn never had an affair, though you two are their children through genetic splicing. Harry, the real Harry hired me to implant false memories in Mary Jane Watson and Norman himself to collaborate a lie," Beck stated and Sarah glared at him.
"Please go inside Beck, I would like to finish this alone," Harry said.
Mysterio hesitantly walked into the warehouse. Sarah dropped the box and moved aggressively towards Harry, he didn't resist when she grabbed the collar of his shirt.
"My brother and I were clones?" she asked.
"What makes more sense Sarah, that for some reason the goblin serum results in advanced aging? Why wouldn't Harry and Norman have suffered from it too?"
She grit her teeth together and back away. The anger inside of her slowly rose before she kicked the box on the floor.
"Why didn't you tell Peter, MJ, Liz and Normie?" she asked.
"How could I? What am I supposed to say to them, that the Harry they knew is dead? That he died being exactly like his father, worse even? No, they get to think that Harry is a good person, that he's fighting to not be like his father, that he loves them," he stated.
"They're living a lie, just like we were," Sarah said.
"And sometimes a lie is better than the truth," he said.
"Then why tell me?"
"Because you can tell a version of the story to them, a version of the story where Gwen didn't betray Peter, you can clear her name," Harry said.
Sarah seethed, fighting with everything she had to keep herself from lashing out at Harry and striking him. She ran her hand through her hair and brought them to her mouth, so that she could let out a frustrated and muffled scream.
"I'm sorry this hurts you, but Gabriel is in prison, and we need to put things right," Harry said.
"Don't you dare use me for your redemption," she said.
"I need your help to put things right!"
"You already said that, you said this to 'free me' and yet you're still asking me to be your pawn, Harry Osborn's pawn," she spat.
"I'm asking you to help, to help everyone, there's a reason we've had these nightmares…BECAUSE WE ARE THE VILLAINS AND WE NEED TO PUT THINGS RIGHT!" he yelled.
He stopped talking; his hands had been raised because he was so angry. But then he lowered them and backed away from Sarah, letting her pick up the box and the documents.
"I'm not the bad guy; you're not really unless you make the choice…Harry," she said with a bit more compassion in her voice.
"Is everything alright out here?" Kyle asked, walking out of the warehouse.
"We're leaving soon," Sarah said. "I will help people however I can Harry, but I won't be part of whatever scheme you have cooked up with them."
"I understand, you do what you need to do, and I'll do what I need to do," Harry said apologetically as he walked into the warehouse.
"So what's going on, are we teaming up with villains or not?" Kyle asked.
Sarah put the box in the back of her car, making sure to cover it with a spare coat.
"If I turn my back will you think any less of me?" she asked.
"I have my own reservations, he says people are in danger, you don't need prophecy to see that," Kyle said.
"Do you love me?" Sarah asked.
She touched his cheek and he stood in place, letting her weep slightly.
"It's a question two people need to answer, you and me," he said.
"No matter what secrets, do you love me as I am?" she asked, cupping his cheeks.
"Always," Kyle said.
She stood on her toes and kissed him, he took hold of the sides of her hips and joined her in the passionate exchange. Slowly their lips separated and Sarah opened the car door.
"Let's join the other heroes, leave the villains to hide," she said.
Kyle hesitantly followed her, driving the car away. Harry had finished changing by the time they had gotten a few miles away; he could see them from one of the windows. He turned away and looked to the other 'villains'. Rhino had reinforced his suit with some grey plates of armour, a 'Mecha-Rhino' suit he once used against the Hulk, complete with an arm cannon. Shocker had to go for a mishmash of the old blue plates of armour Scorpion used in the 90s, alongside wings the Vulture also used in the 90s. Beck had put on his uniform, and carried a bag no doubt filled with pumpkin bombs; he was also eying an old 'broomstick' flight platform originally used by Jack O'Lantern.
Harry completely overhauled the remaining Goblin gear his father had left behind. Gone was the general goblin theme, replaced by a simple white suit with gold gloves, boots and a faceless mask. The Gold Goblin was a persona he could use to put the Osborn tech to some good and finally put things right.
Sven opened his eyes; he grimaced and crawled on all fours, slowly getting off of the floor. He looked at his surroundings, it was a beautiful day, a far cry from the battle he had just been in.
'Great, Cthulhu must have smacked my consciousness into a dream,' he thought.
His armour flickered away when he saw himself running with a small child in his arms. It was a baby, Thane, his son. There was no sign of Faith, so maybe she wasn't alive in this world either. That was what dreams could be sometimes, windows to see other worlds.
"Dreams are much more complicated for mere science to explain," a dark haired man said.
He was sitting on a bench with a dark haired girl. The two of them both had chalk white skin, and were ignored by the general public. Sven Reilly the father went about his general day, whilst Sven Reilly the hero looked at the two people staring at his other self suspiciously.
"I need to wake up," he said.
"Cthulhu is something that should not even exist, it is an idea created to…"
"Does he speak that deeply and dramatically all the time?" Sven asked the girl, who nodded her head.
"Cthulhu is growing out of control, he is sending consciousnesses across the Multiverse, triggering what you refer to as Incursions, if he is not cut off from his link with the Multiverse, a link your other half created then he will consume more worlds in destruction," the Dream said.
"What are you two exactly?" Sven asked.
"Dream and Death of the endless."
"Oh I see, cosmic powered beings that are 'the' representations of things, I think I've lost count of how many devils and deaths there are, and don't even get me starter on god," Sven ranted.
"You are an interesting man Sven Reilly, you've lost so much, yet still there is more for you to lose isn't there, your son and the other boy you've taken in," Death said.
"You're definitely not my death, although if you are it gives people a lot of other reasons to hate Thanos, why is death in one universe a little girl?" Sven asked.
"Because sometimes it can take a kind word and a kind face to…"
"Make dying easier," Sven huffed.
"She has her duty, as I have mine, this dream must end Sven the way it always does," Dream said.
Sven widened his eyes and he followed his alternate self alongside Death and Dream.
Cthulhu was a dreamer, able to manipulate people's consciousnesses. Deathblade and the other heroes could physically fight him, but there was still chaos on the streets. Death of Earth N52 helped those transition to the next part of their lives, the inevitable part. But as she consoled those whom were being beaten death, something else happened. It was an odour that filled the streets like pollen. A red haired woman walked Gotham's streets, looking up at Deathblade flying in the sky, slashing at the energy form of the old one. Superman and Deathblade unleashed beams on the old one, making him lash out with his wings. Wonder Woman dragged her sword up the creature's glowing hide, drawing from it cries of agony.
But then Cthulhu changed once again, disconnecting from its mass of tentacles. It generated a shockwave that knocked the heroes back. Deathblade landed on one of the buildings and looked up at the transformed Cthulhu. He had become a robed man with a humanoid face, strands of his beard were like tentacles and instead of feet he had tentacles. In both of his hands were green swords with hilts based on his grand-parents Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth.
"He is losing himself to a dream," Cthulhu said, looking down at the mass of tentacles he had buried Aeon under.
"You still remember who Aeon is don't you?" Cade asked.
"Yes, I do…" the old one's voice drifted, his eyes narrowed in realisation before he and Deathblade flew at one another.
They slammed their weapons together, releasing physical and psionic shockwaves. But the streets below Gotham remained calm.
"Just a little more," Deathblade muttered.
"Not this time," Cthulhu snarled.
"No, always, it's what we both have in common, what we're both able to do," Deathblade said.
"Have you got something in the works, some kind of plan?" Batman asked, flying with the other heroes.
Cthulhu knocked back Steel and blocked Danvers's energy blasts.
"The time has almost come," Cade said.
"I'm dreaming, so that's why you're here, but why would she be here?" Sven asked.
He walked with the two 'higher' beings in the streets. They almost seemed like regular people, Death even seemed to have a kind smile.
"You know why I am here Sven," she said.
Sven's other self had gone home and was putting the baby to bed. Thane was crying in his cot, but everything was still peaceful. There were no villains to threaten his life.
"Almost every night you have the same dream, and the same end, and then you wake up…" Dream said.
"They aren't dreams, they're nightmares and I still wake up to the same nightmare, that every reality, every world I couldn't save them, I couldn't save my son or my wife," Sven explained.
He looked to both Death and Dream and shook his head.
"You're going to tell me that there was some grand purpose right? That there is a reason they're both dead, I stopped believing in higher reasoning a long time ago, so don't bother," he explained.
Death looked down at the baby in the cot and smiled. She gently took him into her arms, easing his cries as his father searched for food. She hushed and rocked the child in her arms, and Sven's eyes grew wide when he saw the same baby was still in the cot.
"No," he shook his head.
"NO!"
He rushed forward, grabbing Death's wrist. Black markings appeared over his skin and it became almost corpse like.
"I'm afraid so, you can't stop this," she said.
"Fuck you, you can't even give me a reason that this child, this infant has to die can you?" Sven asked.
"Sometimes there is no reason other than it is time, it's a rare and delicate balance, you yourself are connected to spirits, concepts," Death said.
"I cling to one concept, no more people dying, if I can stop just one death…yet you, you claim that you are the natural death but A NATURAL DEATH ISN'T A CHOICE! You were never there when my wife was murdered, you were never there when my child died in my arms or when my father was betrayed. I died before and you were never there, so don't you dare tell me that you are Death, that you are the absolute rule. You pass through lives, you don't live them!"
"What of you Sven, will you let worlds die just to spite the endless, just to save one life?" Death asked.
"You have to wake up Sven," Dream said.
"If you don't, then those boys you have taken in will die, the people you must protect will die!" Death said.
"Who decided that?"
They rose deep from within Sven's throat. Words of power, that gradually turned the black markings on his body red.
"Worlds will perish, who decided that? You are the endless, who decided that?"
"Wait a minute, you're quoting…"
"Been catching up with anime, but here's the twist…we decide, our lives are our own and though the unexpected and the tragic still happens we still live before we die, and we will fight for that life!" Sven explained, his body beginning to shine bright, his skin tone restored.
Death looked at her hands, the baby was gone, instead he was in his father's arms drinking from a bottle.
"As for the boys, they have my faith," Aeon smiled before he disappeared.
A woman walked out of the kitchen, wrapping her arms around the other Sven.
"How was he?" Faith Jenkins asked.
"Fighting as he always does," her husband smiled.
"Not every dream has the same end Sven Reilly," Dream said. "Was that really necessary?"
"To give him some more motivation yes, besides, we have to do something, even if its small otherwise even the endless will end!" Death explained.
Both feared the shadow of Onyx.
But on Earth N52, light shined through the tendrils on the streets. Deathblade locked blades with Cthulhu as something shot up from the streets, shattering the tendrils and breaking the sound barrier. Red wings shined on a body coated in white energy, Aeon's eyes glowed red as he, in his angelic form pulled his fist back.
"What we can both do," Cade said.
"What we've both done," Sven said.
"Is surpass our limits!"
"Is catch up on our anime!"
"Because we are…"
"We are…"
Deathblade pulled Cthulhu's arms down, just as Aeon threw a punch over his shoulder.
"RIVALS!" they roared as Aeon's fist collided with Cthulhu's face.
It distorted his skin, leaving a dent before the impact sent him flying back into the clouds.
"Black Clover?" Deathblade asked.
"Love it more than Naruto," Sven said.
They patted their fists together and looked up at where Cthulhu had flown.
"Ready to finish this?" Cade asked.
"Of course, the others will probably be finishing off Cthulhu's other aspects in their worlds and dreamscapes too," Sven stated.
"All right then, let's give it everything we've got!"
"Always!"
Next Chapter 42: Go, go mighty heroes
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. It was very much a Spider-man chapter really with these new revelations, which will go somewhere in future chapters. I was tempted to not include the battle with Cthulhu at all and cover events going on in Battleworld. But further chapters will expand on the meeting between the DCAU Justice League and the 616 Avengers.
Also Neil Gaiman is great, his stories are great, I wanted to show that there's still this 'cosmic plan' going on amongst these entities but the situation has escalated enough for them to have some involvement.
And yeah Cade and Sven are both anime fans :)