Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or DC, Image comics characters are the property of their individual creators
The Redeemer
Chapter 45: Denying evil
Digger Harkness was panting, running faster than he ever had before. When he had a moment, he looked at the speed force gauntlet. It had been damaged, stopping him from accessing super speed. He pumped his shotgun and aimed at the darkness.
"Blimey," he muttered.
"You really don't help the stereotype you know."
Harkness shot into the darkness, hearing his intended target scoffing.
"A gun, that's your big plan to stop me, a gun…still better than a boomerang," his stalker said.
Harkness stepped back, over a chain. What he didn't realise was that his foot was in a chained circle. That circle suddenly constricted around his ankle. He was lifted off of the floor, yelling in both fear and agony as his right leg popped out of place. The career thief was bashed against the side of the statue he was facing, fittingly a statue of the Flash. Then he was thrown across the street, bouncing off of a car and landing on the curb. Harkness's vision was in a daze, blurring just in time to see his weapons had clattered across the floor. He grabbed the nearest one, his boomerang and then he threw.
Only for Deathblade to catch it, the man had a heavy black cloak wrapped around his neck, covering part of his mouth like a scarf. His armoured boots clicked against the ground as he span the boomerang in his hand. Harkness backed against the curb, his legs were broken, all he could do was raise his hand and beg.
"Please, please just stop, I, I saved the world you know, I really did save…"
Deathblade swung the boomerang, chopping off Harkness's fingers. The thief screamed, a scream that grew louder as Deathblade pierced his hand with a spear he had conjured. Then Deathblade nailed Harkness's other hand, effectively pinning him to the ground, the man's neck against the curb.
"Oh god, oh god, please no, please stop please, please, please," Harkness stuttered, looking up before water began to rain on his face.
Urine, he was being urinated on, Deathblade shook it and then stepped back.
"Please, I'm a human being, you can't do this," Harkness began to cry, blubbering and vomiting over his shirt.
Cade zipped himself up, looking down at Harkness with glowing red eyes, consumed by every crime, every double cross, every murder, every act of disrespect and disregard for life he had taken part in. Harkness's eyes widened as Cade raised his foot, giving him that final moment to think about the course of his life, and how much he deserved this. Then he put his foot down, snapping Harkness's neck.
Doctor Psycho immediately withdrew from his patient's mind, crawling back away from the regeneration pod.
"My god, he's, he's, completely sane," Psycho said.
"Even from a professional point of view, sanity can be a relative term, not all psychopaths have murderous tendencies, some sociopaths engage in violent acts without any sort of emotional reaction, a high percentage of psychopaths and sociopaths often do not engage in acts of violence," Scarecrow explained.
"I've never seen mental defences as strong as this mans, yes it is possible for one with specialised training, such as Batman to combat psychic abilities, but it is as if this man has a natural firewall over his mind, that is it, I am done," Psycho stated, throwing his hands up and walking away.
Vines wrapped around his legs and lifted him off of the floor, flipping him upside down so he could look Ivy in the eyes.
"You will try again," she growled.
"You don't get it Isley, if I dig any further his natural defences will kill me," Psycho said.
"Doctor Isley obviously anticipated such an outcome, which is why she has turned to my expertise," Crane said.
Jonathon Crane, former psychiatrist of Arkham Asylum, specialising in phobias. Isley tolerated him more than she hated Psycho. As well as a psychologist, he was also a chemist of skill comparable to her own. His experiments had involved hallucinogens, a gas he could use to push a person's mind and body into experiencing their worst fears. He mixed the chemicals of his concoction into the syringes he attached to his fingers, his makeshift claws had hydraulic devices for delivering the chemicals inside, all controlled through the movements of his fingers.
"Tell me Doctor…Cizko was it? What did you MD in?" Crane asked.
"He isn't actually a doctor," Ivy said, dropping the telepath, her answer made Scarecrow shake his head in disapproval.
"In other words I'm dealing with an amateur, oh what I would have done with telepathic abilities, can you at least describe to me anything that Mr Hunter was feeling during his experience?" he asked.
Psycho stood up, brushing the dirt off of his suit and straightening out his hair.
"That man felt nothing as he killed a man, don't get me wrong, there was some form of disgust and hatred, but none of it was targeted, there was no pleasure or anger in it, he just did it because he felt that the man deserved it. I don't know if it is a figment of his mind, or something he's done somewhere in the Multiverse," he explained.
"Another fascinating subject, could there have been a Crane whose expertise was appreciated, whom had unlocked the truth of human fear and used it to save the world?" Crane hummed, his syringes clicking as he walked towards the pod. "Let us see what fear will unlock," he said before he stabbed the pod.
The pod began to take on a yellow hue; Ivy frowned in disgust as to what was happening to her child. But if unlocking Cade's mind was truly the key to healing him, then she could afford it. Her babies were strong anyway.
Onyx let out deep breaths as he came to, his vision clearing. For a moment he wondered what happened, then felt the crater he was under and realised he had just been given a concussion.
'Was it Invincible? Or Supreme?' he wondered for a moment before tilting his head to the side.
And avoiding the punch thrown by the Captain Marvel of Earth 5. The crater they created went even deeper, and the lightning bolt that followed caused the planet they were on to shake. Jets of magma shot out of the ground, and Onyx came up holding Captain Marvel by his cape. He threw him aside, looking up as the people behind Shazam's champion reached him. Another Captain Marvel/Shazam and his family of champions.
"Captain Marvel Junior, that's seriously what you go by?" the blue suited champion said to his younger looking counterpart.
"I didn't give it much thought, do you have any ideas?" the Earth 5 Marvel Junior asked.
"Freddy focus!" the two Mary Marvels snapped.
The Earth 5 Mary Marvel, in her white dress, and the more mature Mary Marvel in a red and gold outfit. They were quickly joined by Invincible's Daughter, Mighty Man and the 'muscle suit' Green Lantern. He tried to trap Onyx with a cage construct, but Onyx expanded his armour, creating spikes that broke the cage. Onyx returned his armour to normal and dodged the electricity fired by the champions of Shazam. The girl Darla tried darting around him, confusing his senses. Only he had recovered from his concussion, firing his optic blast into Pedro, sending him flying back. Invincible's daughter Terra flew straight for Onyx, pulling her fist back. He flew to the side at the last second, and she flew off balance, knocking into the older Freddy Freeman. Mighty Man came down from the sky, managing to punch Onyx, knocking him into Green Lantern's bat.
"A bat, really, you couldn't think of anything deadlier?" Mighty Man asked.
"Focus people, I can hear you from the next planet," Supreme said as he flew through the atmosphere.
"Coordinate our attacks, drive him towards the ships," the older Invincible said.
Onyx shot up into the atmosphere, dodging a flurry of shots fired by Green Lanterns. He conjured a shield from his energy and then a sword, bashing through some of the Corps members. Earth 5's Green Lantern was impaled on Onyx's sword before the dark lord threw his shield, beheading the Red Son Green Lantern. Their rings flew away, seeking replacements in this universe that Onyx suspected would join the fight.
'An army that won't run out anytime soon,' he summarised.
Tilting his head, he dodged Hyperius's punch and then drove his elbow into the Earth 8 Hero's gut.
"Where are the rest of the Retaliators, running away, making deals to keep people like me away from their Earth right?" Onyx asked the questions he already knew the answer to.
He punched Hyperius across the face, and then kicked him, sending him flying into the approaching Viltrumites. General Kregg was a veteran of many battles, but he would never actually face Onyx. Instead he and Hyperius ended up flying into one another; both incredibly durable and fast beings crashed together, spraying Emperor Grayson and his men in their blood and guts. Emperor Grayson followed through though, meeting Onyx's fist head on. Mark felt bones break, both his and Onyx's knuckles. He followed up with another punch as Lucan and Mr Majestic grabbed Onyx. He was able to put a crack through Onyx's helmet and send him into the path of the alliance fleet.
"Target locked, OPEN FIRE!" Admiral Ackbarr yelled.
"First wave moving in, let's go Rogue Squadron," Wedge Antilles said.
His squadron of X-Wings flew alongside Shiar and Kree fighter, firing a flurry of beams and torpedoes at the dark lord. He fired his optic blasts, intercepting some of the missiles. Home One and the other ships began to open fire, unleashing a torrent of emerald, green and yellow blasts. Onyx flew, the faintest silhouette of wings glowing behind him as he flew on a path towards the fleet. The armour across his left arm expanded, engulfing his hand. The same thing happened to his right arm, but out of the left slid out a blade whilst the right transformed into a cannon. He dragged the sword across the side of Home One, and fired several blasts, creating nuclear explosions across the other ships around him, lighting up space before he was struck from behind.
"I know you have a no kill rule, but we can't hold back, hit him with everything we've got," Emperor Grayson said.
"I know," President Calvin Ellis grit his teeth together.
He, Invincible and Supreme held onto Onyx, pushing him forward, flying at their top speed across the galaxy. They struck a planet, burrowing deep into the core and emerging from the other side, breaking the planet to pieces. Again they did it to a moon and the planet, then again with another. Calvin noticed Onyx's body twitch, but he ignored it, altering their flight path so that they would pass through that Earth's sun. The three superheroes braced themselves for the pain and flew on through, pushing the dark lord into the star. Calvin could feel his cells screaming, overloaded from the continuous bombardment of solar energy. It protected Supreme and Grayson from the heat, but not enough to save their shirts from burning. Calvin screamed, his eyes glowing yellow as they collided with the Earth.
"The Solar flare," the atomic Batman of Earth 17 identified the attack.
A cloud of dust rose from the crater the super heroes imbedded Onyx in. The Watcher and his Guardians looked on in shock and horror at the devastation, hoping it had been enough to stop the lord of evil.
Earth N52
Evil though continued to reign across the Multiverse, none more so than Brainiac, or Galactiac as he went by. The embodiment of Ultron's appearances across the Multiverse shuddered in a form he regretted as being human. When the form shifted back to his usual self, he watched Galactiac reshape his own ship, changing machines used to absorb data, into machines used to absorb energy.
"Is this your plan Onyx, to unleash the worst evils in the world upon them, what of I, what will I become I wonder?" Ultron thought.
An idea flashed in his mind, or minds, he gained the creativity of so many of his counterparts. Galactiac was focused on his own work, so Ultron used the Colouans machinery and the Multiversal data to create rather than destroy.
"Across the Multiverse there are those who embrace the superiority of steel, my Vision and T.O Morrow's renegade creation, they are both so similar, one can't deny the similarities between the Amazo and the Super Adaptoid, there is a link even in the way Will Magnus's Metal men value life over the Sentinels that hunt mutants," he would have laughed if he could.
But then he did laugh, taking on his 'cinematic' form.
"You've taken the first step Brainiac my friend, lets embrace the Amalgams," he said.
On the surface, protectors rose to fight on the streets. James Gordon fired his sidearm, a useless gesture when the Brainiac drones approached him. His intent though wasn't to destroy, but to protect, putting himself between the robot and the civilians, a mother and child. He braced himself as the drone fired a cable from its hand. The cable however didn't pierce through him, instead the cable was drawn back as electricity filled the robot's body. Gordon looked towards the newly arrived Batgirl, in her yellow sneakers and purple uniform.
"We'll take it from here," she said, nodding to her father.
She raised the electrified Tonfa she wielded, just as a biker came around the corner. He jumped off, sliding out his staff. Robin drove the staff through the next drone he saw, he and Batgirl went back to back as more and drones landed on the streets around them. They were about to defend themselves when multiple photon blasts slammed into the robots. Carol flew over head as Aeon landed on the ground. He let the markings of his armour glow purple and green. Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon were overwhelmed by a sense of trust. They nodded to Aeon before they became energy that joined with Aeon's armour.
When the light faded, Aeon began moving with the same agility that Robin possessed. His armour though hadn't taken on the colours of Robin or Batgirl, instead he had a high collar, blue armour with yellow highlights across it. In place of his knight's visor and helmet he had a Batman like helmet with a glowing yellow bird shape around his white eyes. Yellow Escrima sticks appeared and he threw the batons at the drones coming out of the sky. He linked the sticks together to form a staff, batting some of the drones back. More came down from the sky though and began jumping at him. He bashed two back, but three more were able to get on top of him.
Just when Aeon thought he would have to fall back on his optic blasts however, the drones were suddenly pulled off. A flaming sword sliced the drones apart, whilst blue batarangs sliced through the others. Michael Lane spoke a silent prayer before running through several of the drones, cutting each one down with his sword. Luke Fox thought of his father, wondering if he was safe in Wayne Tower. Batwing however flew forward, slicing the drones with his wings and firing batarangs from his wrists. Aeon broke the fusion with Batman's protégés and raised his hand, grabbing Carol's as she flew by.
"Made some new friends?" she asked.
"Yep, inspired them hopefully," Sven looked back at Robin, smiling underneath his helmet.
"Then let's join some of our old friends," Captain Marvel said.
She placed Aeon on top of the bat wing, Batman inside it with Green Lantern and Wonder Woman flying beside him. Jordan had gone back to using his traditional suit, the Green Lantern symbol glowing on his uniform as he joined Bromm-Charr and Att-Lass. Diana was soon flanked by Minn-Erva and Korath. It felt strange to Aeon, seeing these usually antagonistic Kree fighting alongside Earth heroes. Then he looked up at Brainiac's skull ship and remembered that they were fighting a non-traditional foe.
"Incoming heat sources," Batman reported.
He swerved to avoid the incoming blaster fire. Korath unfolded his laser swords and flew straight towards the Ultron drones with Diana. Minn-Erva activated the holographic sight on her rifle and began sniping the robots trying to flank the warriors. Diana kicked and pulled Ultron drone's back with her lasso before she stabbed or beheaded them. Bromm slammed his fists together, charging them with energy as he barrelled straight through a group of the drones. Att-Lass knocked several back with his Anti-gravity gauntlet, and then proceeded to move between them, shooting their cores and heads with his laser pistol. Hal created two gatling guns on his shoulders and rivet guns on either side of him, firing blasts that blew the drones apart completely. He surrounded himself with an intense cloak of will, flying up with Carol, who was glowing with photonic energy. The cosmic protectors slammed into Brainiac's barrier, the sparks lightning up the sky.
"Incoming, we need covering fire, use your optic beams," Batman commanded Aeon.
"I've got a better idea, this might feel a bit strange," Aeon placed his hand on the bat wing, the energy of his armour slowly began spreading across the aircraft.
"You're kidding me," Batman said and Aeon grinned.
There was a flash of light and the bat wing suddenly performed a 180 spin, firing red blasts at the drones. It then began to fold, arms and legs forming on it as a head came out, a fusion between Batman's cowl and Aeon's helmet, along with the mouth guard of a famous hero.
"You turned my plane into a transformer," Bruce remarked.
"Notice you got a radio, you know what else we've got?"
"No, no, no, no," Batman shook his head but it was too late.
"You've got the touch…you've got the Power!"
"Is that the Batwing playing Stan Bush at full volume?" Harvey Bullock asked the cop beside him, who nodded. "I really need to transfer," he sighed.
The Bat-Aeon-Former punched through several drones. Firing its arm cannons at the barrier. It flew between Carol and Hal, bombarded the barrier, letting the music play at full blast too.
"YOU GOT THE TOUCH! YOU GOT THE POWER! WHEN ALL HELLS BREAKING LOOSE YOU'LL BE RIGHT IN THE EYE OF THE STORM!" Aeon sang.
"I would say make it stop, but it's actually working," Hal remarked.
Carol smiled, photonic energy running through her body and into her fists. She threw her arms forward one final time, the blast shattering the barrier around the skull ship.
"Good job Aeon, Danvers, now lets…" Batman stopped, looking through his view screen.
Three figures floated in front of Brainiac's ship. One had a cloak with a high collar, a mixture of red and green across its 'skin', a yellow T across its chest and glowing purple eyes, the appropriate fusion of Red Tornado and Vision, the Red Vision. Then there was the bulky android beside it, its metallic upper body made to look like a human, save for the wing like protrusions on its back, green swashbuckler boots taken from Cap, a helmet taken from Iron man but pointy ears that belonged to Amazo, it had become Amazo the Adaptoid. A more feminine body floated, hair resembling Jocasta's, but her body was a metallic red and she wore a purple cape, the water coming out of vents on her arms told the heroes that she was a mixture of Jocasta and Red Torpedo. One robot looked more human than the others, save for the red lenses imbedded on his eyes, X-51 the Machine man but his coat seemed to be made of a liquid mercury, whilst his chest was Platinum, his right arm gold, left arm iron, right leg tin and left leg lead.
Finally there was the robot floating over the fused creations. It was bigger than the others, bulkier too, Carol recognised the head shape as Nimrod, but it had a purple studded collar and a red body as opposed to its usual pink. Cracks ran across its armour as it began to glow like molten rock. The Nimrod had been fused with a robot known as Red Volcano.
"We're not through yet team," Aeon said.
The Mindscape…or perhaps another world
"We're not through yet Task Force X, Boomerang was a convict but he was my convict to kill off, search Metropolis for his killer and I won't blow your nanobombs," Amanda Waller, or rather, an Amanda Waller looked over the vitals of her minions, the Task Force she was using to save the world.
She checked over her cameras, noting the pattern of the guards patrolling the hall of Justice. No refugees had come in from Brainiac's invasion, so no new guests to welcome.
"Tic Toc, tic toc, are you counting the clock Waller," the 'Joker' giggled.
He wore the make up rather than bleached his skin, Waller heard one of her staff describe him as trying to 'find his place' and she had a laugh in private at the absurdity of such a statement. No matter the world, Joker was a sadistic bastard, she was surprised she was taking the risk of putting him on the Task Force.
"We've completed a patrol Waller, no sign of Boomerang's attacker," Flag's voice came through the radio and Waller nodded.
Waller didn't sigh in relief, she checked over the cameras again and the guards patrolling. Her eyes widened when one of the cameras cracked. There he was, the armoured man, decimating her soldiers with only hand to hand moves. Only the vitals of the A.R.G.U.S. agents were fine, no casualties beyond bone breaking injuries. She pulled her pistol out of her shoulder holster, when a red blast suddenly sliced through the door. The two halves of the door suddenly flew across the room, one half crashing through the Joker's cell, the clown's eyes widened before his head was crushed by the flying door.
The dust settled and Waller reached for her gun, only for a foot to slam into her knuckles. She screamed, hearing her hand break. A chain wrapped around her neck and lifted her off of the floor, forcing her to look into the glowing red eyes of Deathblade.
"Taste of your own medicine Waller?" Cade asked, showing Waller the device she had used to implant so many bombs into the squad.
He stabbed the needle into her neck, her eyes freezing in horror as she heard and felt the bomb go in. Cade threw Waller back, holding the remote so she could see it.
"I think I know why people like you can do the things you do, atrocities, kidnap, murder, terrorism, slavery…" Cade let the words sink in, reading Waller's glare.
"We can work this out, you don't have to do this, you're really going to take away this world's only hope?" Waller asked.
"There is no hope Waller, you killed all the heroes, you may not have pulled the trigger, but you unleashed those animals. The reason you can do what you do, is because you're just like them, and somewhere in that head of yours…you know you deserve this," Cade explained.
"Damn you, you self RIGHTEOUS HYPO…"
SPLAT!
The blood from her head spread across Cade's helmet as he dropped the remote. He stood up, his eyes glowing, suddenly, the Joker's headless corpse began to laugh. Cade drew his scythe, walking over to the body in case there truly was any life left in him. The lights dimmed, everything began to go dark and Cade felt his helmet fade. But the blood remained, coating his face and hair.
"Well, well," he looked over his shoulder in shock.
It was his father, standing with a bottle in his hand and fresh blood on the bandages around his knuckles.
"You really do look just like me," he said and Cade shook his head.
He wasn't anything like his father; Virgil swore that he was nothing like his father.
'Remember, try to remember,' he told himself.
His body, if he could say he had a body, felt as if it was continually being torn apart along with his memories. All he could remember was who he was, what the threat to the Multiverse was, and that he had something important to do.
"KILL HOPE!" he yelled.
No, it wasn't him, the image was him, the techorganic virus flashing across his face. He was holding up the infant Hope, ignoring her cries.
"SERVE YOUR MASTER!" he yelled.
Again, it wasn't him, the black masked apprentice of Muramasa, slaughtering the Great Lakes Avengers.
"Have to remember, have to get…to get…BACK!" Virgil screamed.
Things began to appear around him, ground to stand on, air to breath. Time moved at a crawl as he looked at his glowing black and red hands. His consciousness joined back with time, space and matter, having to because neither could exist without the other.
'Matter can't exist without a place to go, and space needs time, it needs a when, damn it, focus, why are you here?'
Something familiar, he had to cling to something familiar. His X-men uniform materialised around him, and then he remembered his hatred for them. A black suit formed around him, bandages over his knuckles whilst a black mask wrapped around his mouth. He stood up, stretching his arms and taking a few deep breaths. Images flashed before his eyes, of the man who taught him more than the X-men could.
"So you're basically a living generator of Anti-Matter, the opposite of what your father and Sieg were intended to be," he remembered the man saying.
The scenery shifted around him as if to match his memory. Time and space changed to another Earth entirely, and he looked at himself, standing behind a blonde man in a blue coat. They were stood in a park, looking at a pond and people playing in it.
"My father?" he was about to ask but stopped himself.
"Heinrich Wallace, a scientist specialising in mutation, specifically anything related to the X-gene, his mutant ability was to create construct of matter. He spent years practicing and studying, the mutant genome as well as what the world could gain from his abilities, he couldn't feed the world as his constructs were inorganic, not edible and they disappeared after a time regardless of how long he was concentrating on them. Sieg had an improved version of it but he suppressed his mutant gene, both as a result of his father's deliberate attempts to suppress it and his own opinion that he shouldn't have his powers," Sven explained.
"My father and brothers the creators, and me the destroyer," Virgil lowered his head as he spoke.
"Well it depends on how you look at it, when matter and anti-matter clash, both are destroyed and in its place is light, so if you think about these two forces are clashing all the time. The world is still standing though, it isn't a force of utter destruction, but a part of our existence," Sven stated and turned to Virgil.
"The Anti-matter that you can create is basically a muscle, and muscles can be controlled and exercises," Sven let his own abilities glow slightly.
The same effect appeared across Virgil in the present as his flashback faded. He returned to the time and place he had been thrown into, just as a massive fist cast a shadow over Virgil. It was about to crush Virgil and obliterate him from existence until…
Battlefield Earth
Members of the Multiversal army moved towards the planet where Grayson, Supreme and Calvin had taken Onyx. The Shazam family and Marvels of Earth 5, Terra Grayson and her lieutenant Ursaal, the cinematic Green Lantern with the Magic Lantern of Dreamworld, Flashlight of Earth 36 and the demonic Abin Sur of Earth 20, Mr Majestic also arrived with Mighty Man and Lucan. Calvin limped out of the dust cloud, supported by Mark whilst Supreme floated over them. A portal opened and from it emerged Peggy Carter with Prince Thor, Kahhori, Earth 8's Doctor Multiverse, Thunderer of Earth 7, Aquawoman, Homelander and Atom Eve. Cal nodded to Mark and he hovered to his wife.
"Did you get him?" she asked.
"Don't count on it," Supreme suddenly called out. "We need more, we need to hit him again with everything we've got this time!"
Thor and Thunderer raised their hammer and spear high, beginning to gather clouds in the sky.
"This looks like a job for the Marvel family, bring it in everybody," cinematic Shazam said.
"Are we forming a magic ring?" Darla asked eagerly.
"We need to focus our magic, all of the powers of the gods need to be accumulated and then unleashed upon a single spot, concentrate on each gift we have been given and repeat after me, words can be powerful when it comes to magic too," the older Captain Marvel explained.
"S for the wisdom of Solomon!"
The storm that the thunder gods gathered became more chaotic, energy crackling beyond the clouds, in the atmosphere itself.
"H for the strength of Hercules!"
Clouds formed in the skies of other planets in the solar system, even worlds where there was no life bore witness to clouds of atmosphere that shouldn't have existed there. These clouds, began to move across space, crackling with energy.
"A for the stamina of Atlas!"
Billy and Freddy gripped hands tightly with one another, Billy with his older counterpart, whom held the hand of Billy's foster sister Mary, whom held hands with her counterpart, the older Marvel's sister. Darla felt comfort holding the hand of Mary Marvel, seeing her as her sister no matter the reality; she felt the same way about Captain Marvel Junior. Pedro and Eugune completed the circle, all of the foster siblings thought of their parents and their world and the magic word that bound them together as family.
"Z is for the power of Zeus!"
Dinocop and the atomic Batman looked through the monitors of the Ultima Thule, detecting the intensive clouds of energy gathering around the planet Onyx had been smashed through. Luke Skywalker looked out at the cloud from his X-wing, his hand shaking as he felt the tremors of ill will coming from the planet. Dr Manhattan put his hands on his chin, intrigued whilst Marvel/Miracleman, Michael Moran was crouched on a nearby asteroid, watching the great battle with Uatu and Ulana in apprehension.
"A is for the courage of Achilles!"
Electricity ran through the chain of the Marvel/Shazam family, clouds of energy gathering into a great storm above them, one that grew out of the control of even the gods of thunder. Family, friendship and hope all gathered into one place, with heroes from many universes, and the Quintessence and gods of two Multiverses in witness.
"M is for the speed of Mercury!"
Their eyes glowed with electricity as they looked up at the sky, almost lost in the high and rush of power. For a moment they were all one, seeing the battles of Captain Thunder and his battle cat, the carefree adventures of the first iteration of Captain Marvel and all those whom in some way embodied him, Prime of the Ultraverse, He-man of Eternia, Miracleman and his 'family'. All of it going back to that one boy whisked away by train to the Rock of Eternity, and given a great power, a power that embodied the belief that one word could save the world.
"SHAZAM!" they yelled together.
The gigantic bolt came down from the sky, straight into the crater and into the core of the planet.
"EVERYONE BE READY TO EVACUATE AS SOON AS THE PLANET BLOWS!" Supreme said as the Green Lanterns formed barriers around them.
Cracks formed around the entire planet, the power of Shazam shined out of those cracks and gave way to jets of lava bursting out of the ground. Many worlds shattered in the bid of an army of super heroes saying no to evil.
Westview
Zack's body flickered, his costume continually changing between a 'homemade' look to his true costume. He stumbled, shaking his head at Billy and Tommy as they looked at him.
"Zack," Wanda called out in concern.
"GET BACK YOU WITCH!" Zack yelled.
"It's okay, mommy's here," Wanda said.
"YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!" he yelled back.
She stepped back, putting his hand to his chest, tears nearly forming in her eyes as he glared at her.
"Something's wrong, not just out there, but in here, how could you? How could you? I know you suffered! I get that, but that doesn't give you, ANY OF YOU! THE RIGHT!" he grit his teeth together, putting his hands to his head as red energy gathered around him.
"The House of M, the Decimation, I thought in other universes you'd be different, that there would be a version of you who was happy, but this world…you, YOU'RE WORSE THAN MAGNETO! THAN THANOS!" he slammed his foot forward, forming fists with his hands.
"Big brother stop it," Billy cried out.
"What right do either of you have to say anything, YOU'RE NOT EVEN REAL! You're just part of this fantasy she's made up, party to the suffering she's inflicting on these people, that…that…ISN'T ME!" Zack recoiled. "I love Billy and Tommy, my Billy and Tommy, Wiccan and Speed, I know who I am, Dad, Virgil, Granny, Auntie, Uncle Pietro, even Magneto, I know, I know," he fell to his knees and began to fight the Hex, fight the forms it was forcing him to change into.
Forms such as a kid Magneto, a Chton possessed version of himself, or just a black clad sorcerer. He focused on the white, grey and red of his costume, the short cape that his cousin's teased him about, small sneakers that his grandmother taught him to tie, and the mask.
"Personally I don't think a domino mask covers much," his aunt Kate said. "But hiding our family's chin and cheeks would be a real crime, do something funny with your hair and then people won't notice," she smiled, ruffling his hair.
"I'm good, we're all good, and we fight evil," he declared.
He saw them, saw his father as a transformer fighting alongside Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman against the Amalgam androids. Then he saw Virgil, holding back the fist of the called 'the Giant'.
"Who the hell is that?" the yellow and blue suited Invincible asked, flying around Giant.
"No fair, this was between me and Invincible," Giant said in a childish tone.
"Virgil," Zack whispered.
Virgil suddenly flew into Giant, punching him in the face. He was able to lift Giant into the air, knocking into Invincible. Time and space shifted again, the three of them passed through a portrait of the galaxy before slamming into city streets. Virgil landed and looked at the destruction he had caused with his anger. He stumbled back, putting his hand to his head.
"You aren't bad," he heard Zack say.
"I am, I am," Virgil whispered, falling to his knees and screaming in anguish.
"You're everything I trained you to be," he froze, looking over his shoulder, seeing Muramasa standing there.
"Everything that I am," then he looked up, seeing his father standing above him.
Virgil's eyes began to crackle with red energy as darkness obscured his face. A light shined over him and he looked up, seeing a new hero in a black and white suit, a dome shaped helmet with expressive, glowing white eyes on it.
"Are you the guy who messed up my neighbourhood?" the hero known as Radiant Black demanded.
Suddenly, another pair of eyes appeared on Virgil's face, glaring at Radiant Black before Virgil yelled in berserk fury.
His corrupt form had revealed itself.
Another world
Harley Quinn opened her eyes, strapped to a chair by layers of tape, whilst the chair had been nailed into the ground. She let out a brief chuckle, despite the fact her jaw ached. One moment she had been swinging through the city, doing what Waller told her to do. Then she was face flat on the dirt, not even given the courtesy of seeing her attacker. Suddenly the door to her right opened and Deathblade walked through the door, holding a bag and a tape player.
"Well what's it going to be, torture, you should know I like electrocution," Harley said, grinning at him.
His helmet folded apart, revealing his face to her, the glow in his eyes fading as he looked down.
"I'm not a good person, I've never been a good person, I've tried, I've really tried to be better, but there's so much evil in the world…I don't know what I hate worse, evil existing, or being allowed to change, being allowed to become better, I understand that rehabilitation exists, that redemption exists, it is the fundamental principle of god and…"
"Blah, blah, blah, you can see my deepest sins, you're angry I helped the Joker a few times, angry I shot big Bats…"
"You had a good run, going around Gotham, helping Joker sow children's bodies together, sucking his dick whenever he got in the mood," Cade kicked Harley's chair softly as he walked around her.
"Hey if anything he was going do…"
"Causing emotional harm to everyone you meet!"
"Oh I see what you're doing there, that's pretty…"
"Never once feeling bad, never once shedding tear, never once hesitating."
"Never once stopping to…"
"Harkness was a career criminal, a loser for life, Deadshot was a killer, who actually thought he had the right to raise a daughter and King Shark was just a shark," Cade explained.
"Now that's a meme," Harley giggled.
"But you, you're pure evil," Cade said, pushing play on the tape player.
"Katie died before she could see the park, Jack blamed me and said I should never have taken her to Gotham general in the first place…but how was I to know…he told Doctor Young to triple the dosage of her alternative meds but that only seemed to make things worse. She died last week and the pain is unbearable…Dr Quinzel says it won't get better…she says the pain will just get worse and that there's no point in going on…she's right…she always is. I signed the park over to Jack and my only hope is that he does something inspiring with it. As for me…I'll be with Katie soon…these pills Jack gave me will make sure of that, they're supposed to be painless!"
Edward Burke's agonising screams and laughter filled the room; Harley said nothing as she looked at Cade, who put the pills on the table. She gulped and tried to free her arms.
"Okay, okay, now I see what you're doing, yeah, yeah I convinced that guy to off himself…"
"Say her name!" Cade snapped.
"What?"
"Her name, say her name, say his name, say their names, do you ever know, do you even remember? Can you even tell me why you even bothered to keep this recording?" Cade asked.
"I, he, Joker he…we thought it was funny, we enjoyed listening to her screams and…wait a minute, you injected me with…"
"Sodium pentothal, science's truth serum, I'm not sure on the exact dosage though so that could be what's killed you," he said.
"Oh, poison, death by heart attack, for a moment I thought you were going to force feed me those pills," she nodded at the pills and sighed in relief.
"I already have!" Cade said.
Harley widened her eyes slightly, looking at her arms.
"The truth wasn't the only thing I injected, a liquefied version straight into your blood stream, the effects take a lot longer to take hold, and a lot longer to pass," Cade explained.
"I, please kill me now," Harley said, her heart rate beginning to rise.
"Why?"
"Because, you said so yourself, you're trying to be better right, be better than me, don't let me die like this," she grit her teeth together, shaking in her chair as her limbs began to spasm.
"Why?"
"Because…oh HA HA! You don't have to do HA, HA, HA! Oh god…I know I'm bad, I know I did bad but please ARGH HA OOH HEEE HAAA AAARGH!"
Bile rose from her mouth, tears from her eyes as her body shook uncontrollably. She bit her tongue, but the blood simply gushed out of her mouth, she laughed and screamed, her lips rising into a permanent frown that caused her cheeks to tear. Cade watched, then grabbed Harley by her neck.
"I think you need some more Doctor," he said before putting more pills down her throat, holding her nose to get her to swallow.
She flailed, bone snapping on the chair, her scream ringing through Cade's ear before her body went still. Her horrified face was frozen and he took a moment to spit on her.
"Dad!"
Cade looked over his shoulder, seeing two boys standing watching him. Kate Reilly's children, his sons.
"I thought you were one of the good guys!"
Next Chapter 46: Corrupt Form unleashed
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.
Radiant Black is a great comic that has been on the up lately, might do a story with it later.
In case you didn't notice...not a big fan of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice league :(
Fun, if repetitive gameplay (what game isn't repetitive to a point?) but bogged down by a live service and the fact that it's considered a continuation of the Arkham universe when it makes no sense to skip straight to a Suicide Squad game featuring the Justice league.
Anyway, not being consumed by a rant about Rocksteady's decision in their games, I am a firm believer in redemption, SS:KLJ's Harley Quinn/Arkham Harley, does not fall into that category when you analyse her history and I thought who would be a great villain for Cade to sadistically torture? (Besides Joker)
Next time Zack and Virgil fight back, Westview Wanda looses her cool and the fight with Onyx isn't over.