Tales of the Multiverse
Chapter 2
Seeds of an Odyssey
Old scrolls, ancient text, little trinkets, brittle tomes, bottles and beakers, buckets and brooms, shelves upon shelves filled with various oddities, all these things and more can be use to describe the dwelling of one who delves into the various forms of magic. As a gentle rain carried on outside, soft footsteps of dark blue boots, and slender light blue skinned legs lightly walked along the dark oak floor. With her dark blue cape draped over her shoulders, Neifirst looked around this ancient dwelling. With light feminine stride, her eyes looked around the various rooms as she went along, looking for something very specific in mind. She would check the tables and run a hand along the shelves, until behind some tomes she saw a blank spot in the wall behind them. Parting the books carefully she saw a large chest inside with a lock on it. Pulling it out she found it had quite a heft to it before she put it onto a nearby table before she drew the handle of her sword.
"A clever place, but not enough for me," she commented to herself as the blade slowly ignited and extended before she lightly stuck the tip to the lock, dissolving it, thus allowing her to open it with ease as she put her sword away. Upon opening the chest she found various old tomes, all large and all dated. These were the tomes she desired as she pulled them out, and went for the first on the list, and began to read it's contents. Her eyes would read over each and every page rapidly, taking in the information the instant it was read in her mind, and continued to do so, only spending a few seconds on each page before turning over to the next. She was reading carefully documented history, history of the Multiverse itself, beings known as the unversed, heartless, nobodies, and most of all, Keyblades and their masters, the Mark of Mastery, key students and pupils, and most of all the head masters themselves. What normally would have taken hours for a single person to read only took her a mere hour to read every single tome, as she was able to gleam the actual stuff of importance over small stuff that weren't important. Soon various names were going through her head, potential targets to seek out. At that moment though the door to the room opened and a tall, old man walked in with a grey beard, wearing along blue robes, and a tall pointed hat which featured several white stars on it. He looked around the room and saw nothing out of place, save for the open box on the table. He went over and found the books on the table, but were all orderly and closed, although he knew they had been read.
"Former Keyblade master Yen Sid I presume," Neifirst spoke.
"Who's in here?" Yen Sid demanded as he whirled around, looking for the intruder. He soon heard slow soft steps as Neifirst began to step out of the shadows, her feet being visible first as she continued to walk.
"A being crafted by human hands, through flesh, blood, and the best traits and qualities of most powerful beings I was molded through science, and given the spark of life, to become the world's light, it's salvation, hope, secured," Neifirst replied as she slowly continued to step out of the shadows until she was in plain sight, her head then tilting up to look at Yen Sid, a smile on her lips as her eyes gazed at his. "A world's savior, molded into perfection."
"You…aren't like any other being I've seen before," Yen Sid stated.
"Not surprising. Even with being aware of multiple worlds you and your fellow brothers and sisters in arms never even punctured the surface of the vast Universe that is the Multiverse," Neifirst stated as she went to a window and placed a hand upon the glass as she looked at the storm outside. "If you think you've seen the worst horrors of war Yen Sid, hmhmhmahahahaha…you haven't seen anything yet."
"What madness are you plotting?" Yen Sid demanded, prompting a sinister glare from Neifirst's eyes as she grinned softly.
"Your greatest nightmare has already begun. Gateways to other worlds have already been opened, gateways you and your kind have been ignorant of for countless millennia! Ah, hahahahaha! Even as we speak armies are being rallied, forces of light and dark are preparing for war," Neifirst replied before she turned and pointed at Yen Sid. "A war not even you or your precious Children of Light can hope to contain!" and with that Yen Sid quickly pulled out his wand and cast a spell towards Neifirst's direction, but she seemed to have vanished as it simply impacted the wall behind her. He couldn't even so much as glance before a glowing blade was held before his throat from behind.
"Your worlds will eventually fall old man. None of you will be safe from anyone, especially myself," Neifirst spoke before she released Yen Sid, but when he turned, she was gone again, he was only left with her echoing laughter that slowly subsided.
-In another world-
The sun was rising above the ocean, making it glisten and sparkle from it's bright rays before the hum of a plane could be heard before it passed by overhead. Seated in the plane were numerous passengers bound for New York, while a few of these passengers were Jack, Hannah, Jill, Selina, and Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker. While Jack and Hannah were dressed mostly the same, save for a few of their pouches and equipment, Selina was garbed in a red jacket, blue pants and black boots, while Peter wore a grey jacket, a red shirt, blue jeans and some basic gym shoes. Hannah was currently busy writing away to pass the time.
"Eighty ninth entry in the continuing reports of Hannah Dundee, Wasoon Ambassador to the City in the Sea. I realize you'll be getting a majority of these reports in large bulk, but sadly I haven't had the time to send them, mostly since it would take a lot of time to get back to my world just to send one, so I do apologize for the potential future bulk you'll be receiving, but it couldn't be helped. It's been a few days since Neifirst had seemingly done our job for us when we went after the Crystal Skull. She is such a strange being, despite myself being a little wary of the Grith, she makes me even more afraid. Where as the grith don't do anything to us unless we do something in their territory, she is totally unpredictable, I'm not even sure she's even on anyone's side. Currently as I write this we're on a flight to…well, this world's version of the City in the Sea. It's so strange, I mean, here I am being able to view the world and places I've been to before they were all ruined and destroyed, I can barely believe it!" she wrote. "But the reason we're headed here is because of an unusual report of something crashing somewhere in the city but no one has been able to locate it as of yet. Mega Man and Link have gone on ahead in…one of Batman's private jets. Our gear is with them and they'll be waiting for us when we arrive so we can begin the search promptly. Spider-Man knows his way around the city, given he's spent virtually his whole life here. I know I wouldn't be of much help given I really only know such small portions of the city, they'd be in such great shape I wouldn't recognize em even if I stood on it." she then paused briefly as she looked to her right, gazing out the window, able to see the ocean shimmering below from the sun's shinning rays. She really had to make herself look back at the report she was writing since she was so captivated by the sunrise over the ocean.
"If only you could see the ocean from up this high, it's so beau…oh dear, I went and got distracted by the sunrise outside the plane's window I forgot what I was writing about, but it's so captivating to see the sunrise from this particular altitude, I almost don't wanna go home. Oh, here I am rambling and being unprofessional. Regardless, I'll be continuing my reports to document this mission as much as possible. I suspect it'll be an incredibly long one unlike some previous little missions Jack and I have gone on thus far," she wrote before putting her pen away along with the notebook, and soon sighed softly as she leaned on the side of her seat, gazing out the window.
"Feeling sentimental?" Jack asked.
"It's just so beautiful Jack. I've experienced so much already, and yet I'm still experiencing so many new things here. Not to mention…" Hannah paused briefly, her voice going soft, almost silent.
"Not to mention what?" Jack asked, curious to what she was gonna say, and also because he never seen her act this way before.
"Not to mention…despite being an essential stranger here…I feel more welcome here," Hannah replied. "Don't get me wrong!" she retorted as she quickly turned and waved her hands a little. "I do appreciate you and your friends being there for me Jack, but it's just…"
"Just that things haven't been going that well in The City in the Sea, I know. Honestly Scharnhorst hasn't been making things exactly easy for you to really make much of an impact with the city really. But speaking of her," Jack paused as he crossed his arms. "What's to prevent her from joining any of these "villains"? I doubt she'd hesitate at the opportunity should it arise."
"Well, we know Dahlgren won't stand for it when it does happen. She's been taking more active roles recently," Hannah commented.
"I know. And somehow I get the feeling we're going to need her before this is all over," Jack stated. This just made Hannah feel a bit wary, but she knew it was none the less true more than likely. Governor Dahlgren, one of the three Governors, and potentially the only smart one, has been taking more into account in recent months, especially when it concerned both the environment and the safety of all the citizens, rather than go for expedient progress results Scharnhorst is so obsessed with.
Sometime later within the confines of one of the buildings on a private airstrip owned by Wayne Enterprises, Mega Man and Link had finished a quick equipment check, and were mostly waiting around, Mega Man having a look under the hood of the Cadillac as Link twirled his sword leisurely about as he paced around the room.
"So what do you suppose the game plan is?" Link asked.
"For which now?" Mega Man asked back as he closed the hood.
"Well, for dealing with the current situation. Honestly I think it's a bit bigger than it appears really," Link replied as he sheathed his sword.
"Keep up that kind of talk and you'll have me paranoid," Mega Man replied. "Although…"
"Although what?" Link asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Lately I've been having strange dreams when I sleep," Mega Man replied.
"Define strange," Link said as he crossed his arms while leaning his back against a nearby wall.
"Well…you know on how we entered through this particular world right?" Mega Man asked.
"Through essentially a giant dimensional archway. But what's that got to do with anything?" Link asked back.
"I think I've been having visions of alternate dimensional travel. Actual portals, rifts, and apparently keyholes," Mega Man replied.
"Keyholes?" Link asked a bit blankly.
"Yeah. Or rather keyhole shaped rifts. Along with what I think are giant keys of sorts. Almost as big as swords," Mega Man replied.
"Oddly enough I've been having the same kind of visions," Link stated.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Including unusual stained glass windows?"
"Yep."
"Okay, I think we can officially agree these aren't coincidence," Mega Man stated.
"And here I was half afraid I was going mad," Selina spoke, which made the two jump slightly as they looked towards the entrance to see Selina along with the others enter the doorway.
"I've been having the same visions as well lately. But if we're all having them, then I think it's worth looking into," Jill stated.
"Only one real problem," Peter commented as he went over to a nearby suitcase and opened it. "Our team is a bit small to even try and look into such matters." he pulled out his Spider-Man costume and other gear.
"As much as I hate to admit it, even with the others back in Gotham we really don't have that big of a task force to put it simply," Jack agreed.
"What about the Justice League?" Link asked.
"Only one who was able to really answer was Princess Diana. She'll be joining us later but that's it," Selina replied.
"And I take it the Avengers aren't on hand either?" Mega Man asked.
"Pretty much. We're essentially on our own here. And I wouldn't want to get Shield involved all things considered," Spider-Man replied. "Although the X-Men might be our best bet to try and give us a bit of an edge currently. Some of us should head to the X-Mansion while we're here."
"…am I the only one not following?" Hannah asked before Jill gave her a light pat on the shoulder.
"It's alright, I can explain on the drive, I'm acquainted with some of the people at the X-Mansion," Jill replied.
"I hope you know the directions to there. I'm not familiar with this world's layout," Jack stated.
"Let me behind the wheel and I can drive us there directly," Jill retorted. There was a faint silence for a moment until Jack sighed.
"Fine."
"What's with him?" Selina asked as she picked up a suitcase.
"He doesn't like anyone else driving the Cadillac," Hannah replied faintly.
"My last one blew up," Jack replied, which made everyone stare in a bit of a surprised and awkward silence. "It was just as well, considering the situation." he then sighed.
"I had to steer it into a giant rock formation to block a wildfire from reaching a particular set of wells. What made the explosion work was that the Cadillac was filled with nitro," Hannah replied.
"Sorry I missed that explosion," Selina commented as she walked off to get changed.
-In Another World-
Yen Sid currently sat at his desk in the main entrance room of his home, waiting for the arrival of a few individuals. There was soon a brief knock upon the door before it opened, and in strode five unique individuals. A small mouse black mouse-like being, a slightly taller white duck-like being, a really tall black dog-like being, and two young boys. One with short spiky brown hair, and one with short smooth silver hair. The with the silver hair looked older and taller than the other. The mouse wore what looked like royal clothing, while the duck and dog wore some armor along with their other clothing. The brown haired boy wore mostly black clothing, leather in style and lots of zippers. The silver haired one wore a yellow vest and pale baggy pants along with some dark colored shoes.
"Hello Master Yen Sid, what seems to be the problem?" the mouse spoke in a slightly high pitched voice.
"The letter you sent us sounded like it was urgent," the older boy added.
"And it indeed is young Riku," Yen Sid replied. "For you see, a young woman broke into my home, and dabbled into the very history of the Keyblades, up to present date."
"She read all the books?" the young brown haired boy asked.
"How could she have read that many?" the dog added.
"I have no idea, but she is clearly not human. Her skin is a pale blue, her hair a dark blue like the ocean and night sky, her eyes a piercing red. I'm not even fully aware of what she's capable of but I dare say she's even more dangerous than Malificent," Yen Sid replied. "Possibly even more dangerous than Xehanort."
"Please tell me that's an exaggeration," the young brown haired boy stated, to which Yen Sid only shook his head.
"I'm afraid it isn't, Sora," he replied.
"Awwweeeee no," the duck groaned.
"Do you happen to know the woman's name?" a mature, young woman's voice asked, prompting everyone to look over at the doorway to see a young woman with long blond hair, and fetching blue eyes standing in the doorway. Her clothing composed of a black piece of a cloth she wore on her head like a hood, a long blue robe with golden edging along the rims. Said robe was secured at the middle, apparently by a zipper, and she wore a brown belt around her waist. The robe went to around her shins, which revealed she was wearing a pair of black knee high boots. "Pardon the intrusion but the door was left open and I couldn't help but overhear."
"…oops," Sora said sheepishly.
"Awe, I think it's ok," the mouse said, although he did receive a bit of a glare from Yen Sid but then woman quickly continued as she walked into the room, closing the door.
"My name is Goeniko Schlussel, and perhaps I can be of some assistance in your search for this woman," as she approached the robe would part in the middle with each step she took, revealing her legs were bare before she stopped. "I'm none the less intrigued and I might be of use in the other worlds. After all, I'm an outsider here."
"Then how is it you came to be here?" Yen Sid asked.
"Through a temporal rift. They appear to be opening up throughout the Multiverse as of late from what I've come to understand," Goeniko replied. "I take it you've discovered a means to travel between worlds much easier?"
"More or less, but they aren't accessible to everybody. Although I do have to wonder about others a little," Sora replied.
"You can come with us, but I believe you're aware that it will be dangerous?" Riku asked, to which Goeniko nodded with a smirk.
"I won't be a hindrance, I can promise you that," she replied confidently as she leaned to the side, raising the opposite leg a little while putting a hand to her hip.
-In Another World-
Jill soon pulled Jack's Cadillac up to the front of a large gate before a pretty large yard.
"So this is Xavier's school for the gifted?" Hannah asked.
"Yes. And I'm pretty sure we'll all be allowed entry," Jill replied before the gate opened, allowing her to pull in all the way around the yard and to the large mansion at the far side, parking in front of the entrance. Everyone unbuckled and got out of the Cadillac before walking up the steps to the front door, which soon opened as they approached and stepped inside.
"I must admit, walking into here sure does feel a lot different compared to other places we've been," Jack commented as he and Hannah looked around at the modest and pleasant décor.
"I must admit, it's a surprise to see you here, miss Valentine," a middle aged man spoke, wearing a green suit and blue tie, with no hair, and sat in an advanced golden hover chair which hummed as it glided over the floor towards the trio. "But I must wonder the nature of your visit, especially with such distinguishable company."
"You can say it's urgent Professor Xavier. We need the aid of the X-Men," Jill began to explain.
-Elsewhere-
"So what will you be doing now that your somewhat source of income has changed, or rather is gone, what will you do now?" Mega Man asked as he stood near the edge of a roof with Catwoman.
"I'm not entirely sure. Mostly on account of what I'm potentially able to do. After all…if I do potentially pick up again with Bruce…well, I imagine he'd want me to do something worthwhile," Catwoman replied, looking out at the city while Mega Man looked at her, beginning to ponder a little as he then looked over her costume a bit, and then recalled what he's seen Selina in out of costume.
"Ever considered fashion?" he suggested.
"Pardon?" Catwoman asked as she looked over in surprise.
"Ya know, what with the custom costume and what you wear outside of costume, you seem to have a keen fashion sense," Mega Man replied a little sheepishly. Catwoman blinked a little at this, realizing he basically suggested she start her own clothing line, and then smiled, as it wasn't half bad of an idea really.
"Whoa, guys, my Spider-Sense is actin a little weird all of a sudden," Spider-Man's voice spoke over the radio.
"What's going on?" Mega Man asked.
"I think I'm close to whatever landed here. I'm not picking up any real danger, but I'm definitely picking up something weird, around one of the bigger construction areas," Spider-Man replied.
"Are they always building something here?" Link asked.
"When are they not building something is the better question really, but you guys better come on down here, I might need a little extra help finding it, whatever it is," Spider-Man replied. Only a few minutes went by before they managed to join up with Spider-Man on a roof near said construction site. It was mostly a large field of sand surrounded by fencing, with a few working materials sitting about, and the basic grounds for building up a building were laid on a far side. Numerous little walls were setup, it was almost like a maze.
"Judging by where you're sensing whatever crash landed here, I'm not entirely surprised no one has found it yet," Catwoman commented.
"And you can't really focus in on it?" Mega Man asked.
"It's technically covering a large area, I know it's inside there somewhere, but I can't really pinpoint it," Spider-Man replied.
"In other words the energy is so potent it feels strong no matter how close?" Link asked.
"More or less, but we'd better get down there, I get the feeling somebody might be trying to find it as well," Spider-Man replied before he quickly leaped down, shooting out a webstrand before swinging into the construction site as the others quickly came down a fire escape, running over to the fence and began to climb over it, Link being the first over and then Catwoman as Mega Man paused partway over and looked around, which caught Catwoman's attention as she looked back.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"I'm not sure…it felt like we were being watched all of a sudden," Mega Man replied.
"Under other circumstances I'd say it was just your imagination. But in my past experiences I've learned it's best you trust those instincts," Catwoman stated before Mega Man came fully over the fence. "We should be wary, whoever or whatever that maybe watching is probably waiting for when we find this potential alien relic." she turned around and began to walk somewhat casually through the site.
"So ya think it's alien?" Mega Man asked as he followed.
"Well, it fell from the sky. So it's either from another planet or it simply fell from a portal that opened within the sky. Whatever it was though it was small, and obviously hard to pinpoint when it landed. That being said I think it's more of the latter, because a meteorite would have actually made a pretty potent boom regardless of size and would have flashed like an explosive rainbow. That's what meteorite's actually do when they impact Earth," Catwoman replied. "Not to mention the shake they cause." as they continued onward, a tall figure wearing a black dress watched from a distant rooftop before walking off, leaving the heroes be in their search. However a few figures on ground level approached the construction site before stopping and silently observed.
"There's a lot of junk laying around," Link remarked as he looked at the numerous tools, supplies and other stuff he didn't recognize.
"These are the building materials," Spider-Man stated.
"Oh," Link said a little blankly before he continued his search, spotting one familiar tool, that being a shovel he picked it up and began to wander a little.
"Ya think it's buried?" Mega Man asked as he and Catwoman approached.
"Potentially. Never hurts to try a what options are available," Link replied. Spider-Man then perched himself atop of one of the current highest built points in the site and looked as far as the eye could see.
"I dunno about you guys, but suddenly I'm getting the feeling we're not alone here," he stated.
"That's sorta what Mega Man said. I think we're being followed. We need to move quickly, find whatever it is that's here and get out as fast as possible," Catwoman stated as Link saw a faint glow emanating through the grains just a few feet away. Holding the shovel aloft he hurried over before sticking into the soft ground and dug it in deep, eventually hoisting it up to have a bit of the sand come off, and reveal a gemstone, glowing bright red.
"I think I found it," he said. This prompted them to look over and come closer to examine his find.
"Yeah, that's definitely it," Spider-Man stated. "I'm really picking up some unusual vibes from it."
"Do you think it's safe to touch?" Mega Man asked.
"Only one way to find out…" Catwoman replied as she slowly reached for the gemstone, soon gripping it gently within her fingers before pulling it out of the dirt on the shovel, and the glow subsided within the gem, which they were all astonished it was in the shape of an Emerald that was about the size of her fist.
"That's an unusual Emerald. Aren't they a lot smaller? And green?" Mega Man asked.
"Right, but this one is far from normal," Link replied.
"Just where did this come from?" Catwoman asked as Spider-Man's Spider-Sense kicked in the warning signals, and with a swift turn he grasped with his left hand, gripping hold of a crowbar while he drew back his right fist and swung it hard it was followed by a firm pow, sending what appeared to be a thug type clown, wearing face paint, a yellow-ish hat and pants, along with a bright purple stripped sweater flying backwards and crashed through the fence as more quickly jumped out into the open, armed with crowbars.
"Now who are these clowns?" Link asked as he quickly tossed the shovel while drawing his sword in his free hand before drawing the shield.
"Aren't you guys Joker's henchmen?" Catwoman asked, seeming to recognize their look.
"As in, "The" Joker?" Spider-Man asked as they huddled in a circle formation, back to back.
"Not bad kitty cat, but our boss gave us specific instructions. So hand over the shiny rock and we might not rough ya up. Much," one of the goons said before Catwoman drew a pouch from her belt and slipped the Emerald inside it, and tucked it under her belt.
"Not an enticing offer. Especially since I don't take client orders anymore," she stated.
"Not to mention, don't any of you recognize who any of us are? I think it'd be in your best interest in either running or giving yourselves over to the police and save us all a lot of hassles," Spider-Man suggested.
"Not interested punk," another spat.
"Suit yourself," Spider-Man said as he gave a quick shrug.
"Get em!" one ordered and a number of em charged, and Catwoman also charged back and did a quick slide alongside Mega Man, tripping several of them up while Link blocked a few blows before giving a swift swipe of his sword, knocking most of their weapons away before giving a quick turn of his wrist and gave a firm back handed blade smack to the sides of their heads, while Spider-Man firmly punched two aside before jump kicking the third in the face.
"I think it's a little cramped in here," Mega Man remarked.
"Despite it not being even over a quarter of the way built, there's not much room to maneuver," Catwoman stated before she quickly did a handstand and proceeded to do several frontal flips and perched herself upon the opposite fence. "We need a vantage point, and not to mention, get this Emerald out of here!" she then quickly leaped off as Mega Man and Link managed to follow and get over the fence before the clowns could attempt to overwhelm them, Spider-Man creating a web wall behind them to buy some time before swinging out of their as the clowns ripped away at the web wall with their crowbars.
"So ummm, any ideas on why ol creepy grin is here hunting for these Emeralds apparently?" Spider-Man asked as he landed on the street with the others and ran alongside them.
"Normally he isn't exactly into this sort of thing, but I have a feeling he's merely an asset to someone," Catwoman replied.
"Someone who knows more about these rocks than we do," Mega Man added.
"Well I think it's safe to say you were right in that we were being watched, we led them right to it!" Link stated. Before anyone could say anything else they all yelped and grunted as they got rammed backwards and skidded across the pavement a little before they saw what had hit them, two rather large mime type thugs carrying larges bags over their shoulders glared down at them.
"Ohhhh….who called the buffalo twins?" Mega Man asked as they quickly reached back into the bags and drew out a stick of dynamite each, but Spider-Man managed to quickly sit up, aim and shoot both sticks out of their hands, surprising them. Catwoman managed to quickly get up and charge one, skidded to a halt as she rammed her fist into his gut, making him lurch forward as she then proceeded to strike him in the gut and face with rapid punches as the other turned to face her, and was then met with a firm jump kick to the side of the head from Link who then bounced off before Catwoman jumped and spin kicked her enemy right into the other, making em fall flat onto the pavement as the remaining clowns were closing in from behind.
"Ready," Spider-Man paused as he webbed the two of them together with a load of webbing. "And." Mega Man darted over, and grabbed the remaining strand Spider-Man left.
"HEAVE!" Mega Man exclaimed as he then turned and hurled the two thugs through the air, right towards the clowns and bowled them over like bowling pins.
"Well, that's one small crisis averted," Link stated.
"Took care of our search and learned a little more of what we'll be having to deal with," Catwoman said as she lightly patted the pouch with the Emerald.
"Well, I think it's safe for us to either head back to our temporary base of operations, or take a pop over to the X-Mansion just to see how Jill and the others are…" Spider-Man trailed off as his Spider-Sense kicked into overdrive. "LOOKOUT!" he quickly jumped, and his shout made everyone scatter as suddenly large glowing balls of plasma struck the pavement, creating quick booms that quickly subsided as they appeared before everyone landed and looked down the street in shock as everything began to shake while they heard the sound of track treads rolling.
"Well that's not something you see every day…" Mega Man said.
Chapter End