Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original media I get the proper nouns from in this story.
Nexus HWR 20.5 The Incredible Hulk:
Alibaba Saluja and his wife walked up a flight of steps flanked on either side by massive magically flowing waterfalls. The newlyweds reached the circular platform above that had three different levels of which they climbed to the center one. They walked over to a metal square on the floor with a panel sticking out of it that Alibaba tapped an icon on to hover it up to the floating platform above the main one. The one they lifted off of was in the shape of a hollow ring with various pathways leading off to smaller circular areas, some with small jets on them and others with anti-aircraft weapons.
The secret wedding they had the night before was to save face for the nation that had no idea Alibaba's marriage to Daenerys was a sham. Daenerys was one of the few they actually invited, though she was also the only one on the short invite list who did not show up. Morgiana glanced over her shoulder once more as their lift reached the higher platform where a larger jet than any of the fighter planes around the main platform below sat with its engines already getting louder. Morg quickly turned away after glancing back towards the floating palaces in the sky over Balbadd City that she had just said goodbye to her daughter inside of. I wish we told Yajirobe to bring Ally out to wave- Morg shook her head around fast to get those thoughts out of her head.
This is going to be difficult, the young mother pouted but took in a deep breath and released it in a calming way. "How are things in Leam lately? You were very busy with work before suddenly making this choice for us."
"I didn't-" Alibaba started. He sighed as he had had this argument enough times with Morgiana already to not bother discussing it again. He could also tell that she just wanted to distract herself from how they were leaving their daughter behind by asking questions about the situation across the world. She had been as busy as him lately, though she was busy raising their daughter while he had Kingly duties to attend to. "Hahh, alright. Well, it's not good."
"I mean, you already know that," Alibaba continued. "But it's worse than you think. Much worse. The borders of Resistance territory are now practically the borders of Leam."
"Really?" Morgiana wondered. "But, what about the Village Hidden in the Sand?" She asked.
"That's one of the few Resistance-allied nations still around too. Most of the rest have just become a part of Leam though," Alibaba told her. "And, as for the Kazekage, Gaara?" Alibaba brought up and looked at his wife in her eyes while they slowed down before reaching the private jet ahead of them that they had chartered for this mission. Morgiana looked at him with wide eyes, and Alibaba nodded back sadly at her, "He's been killed in action. Just a few days ago actually."
"He was, Temari's brother," Morgiana reminded Alibaba who just nodded his head showing he knew that.
"She's the one who reported it to me. Temari chose to stay behind and fight to avenge him. She's going to try and protect the people of Sunagakure who live on a very dangerous border." Morg nodded back at her husband who added after in a suggestion, "Maybe that's where we should start when we arrive. There is currently no Kazekage, so we could start by going there after landing in Remano…"
They reached the side of the plane and its door slid open. Alibaba turned forward expecting to see the pilot, but instead he stared in surprise at the man who just pulled it open for them. He was older than the couple but younger than the pilot and had black hair instead of gray as Alibaba knew the pilot to have. Also the man just inside had short stubble on his face rather than the thick bushy mustache of their jet's pilot. "Bruce?" Alibaba called out over the engines.
It was too loud, so he and Morgiana climbed into the jet while Bruce moved back to his seat and sat down in it. Morgiana closed the door behind her, but Alibaba spun back to her in surprise that she did that. He turned to Bruce again and frowned at the man sitting down in the middle of the jet. "What are you doing here? I told you all to stay and help Dany run the kingdom."
"Well," Bruce Banner chuckled and leaned back in his seat while showing no intention of getting up. "You aren't my king anymore." He cracked a smile but then gave Alibaba a slightly more serious look, though he was still smiling as he added on before the former king could protest, "Aebrith's a scary place, Alibaba. Won't you appreciate the Hulk's help?"
Alibaba's face lit up. He could not hide his excitement. Alibaba thought back to the preparations for the war against the NEG and the serious conversation the two of them had back then about how they would have to throw everything they had at Tetsuo. He did not get the chance to see the Hulk in that very short war against the NEG, but he doubted on a trip to Aebrith he would go without seeing it.
Morgiana's face also lit up. "I would appreciate the Hulk's help," Morgiana assured the older man who laughed again at the barely masked excitement from the girl.
"You did say two passengers, I recall," a scruffy man from the cockpit stepped back into the cabin and addressed the former king who looked back and saw the older man with gray hair rubbing his right thumb and index fingers together. "I don't remember throwing a free ticket in the deal."
"Sully! Oh him? Bruce is a, stowaway?" Alibaba attempted to get away with.
"I'm sure you've got a nice severance package from that Queen of yours," Sully commented back and patted Alibaba on the shoulder in a rough way. "There's definitely going to be some interest payments to be made-"
"Wait? 'Severance?' I didn't get fired!" Alibaba exclaimed while following Victor Sullivan back to the cockpit to talk prices with the pilot.
Morgiana watched them go then walked back in the plane and sat down across the aisle from Bruce but in the seat facing the back rather than one facing forward like he was in. That put them face-to-face, diagonally, and she twiddled her thumbs in her lap for a few seconds before looking up interestedly at the physicist who rose his eyebrows at the young woman's anxious expression. For a moment he considered her look was because of her daughter who she was leaving behind and who he was going to ask her about, only for Morgiana to ask him first, "How strong are you really, when you become the Hulk?"
"Oh, uh," Bruce scratched the side of his head and let out a short laugh after a couple of seconds while wondering what he was just about to say that would have led to a much more gloomy conversation. "I suppose you weren't with us in those early days. The Hulk came out a lot more the first few months we were on Nexus."
"Alibaba has told me many things," Morgiana said and smiled at their friend who by all accounts was a very intelligent scientist with a kind heart. He was not very strong, nor did his figure suggest that which she could see as he wore a tight sweater right now that presented a less-than-fit physique. He was not fat, but he was not muscular or even lean, filling his sweatshirt out nicely. "I have only seen the Hulk once though," she continued. "And only after the battle was over."
"Did you now? Well, I'm sure you saw the surrounding area that day," Bruce mentioned and Morgiana nodded her head quickly.
The plane jolted and Alibaba stumbled on his walk back to the middle of the jet. He held his arms out and grabbed the seats he walked past to get to the mid-section and sit across from Morgiana on Bruce's right side across the aisle, both of them facing the front of the plane. "What are you talking about?" Alibaba wondered as it seemed he was hopping into the middle of the conversation. Bruce gave him a questioning look and Alibaba lifted the multiversal sign for 'it's okay' with his fingers to show he had worked everything out with their pilot. "Sully's jet is state-of-the-art. He assures me we'll arrive before noon tomorrow."
"That's fast," Morgiana mentioned as she knew it took longer for their zeppelins to reach Remano.
"A plane like this can move much faster than those less aerodynamic vehicles…" Bruce trailed off while watching Morgiana try to hold up a smile that was wavering and falling in disappointment. He sighed and then wondered, "Do you want to hear more about the Hulk?"
"Mm," Morgiana nodded once firmly and made Alibaba laugh as he saw how her mood immediately flipped back to the interested one she had when he approached before.
Ding! "Please buckle your seatbelts as we take off. This is your flight to Remano. I have zero meteorological reports for the path between Rhodar and Leam, so if the ride gets bumpy, don't blame your pilot." Ding!
Bruce sweatdropped at the pilot's warning. He glanced back and saw Morgiana had quickly buckled herself in before spinning to him again. He shook his head then buckled himself in while wondering towards Alibaba, "Have you ever told Morgiana about the day we met up with Aladdin for the first time?"
"Ooh! I think I've mentioned it-"
"You didn't say the Hulk showed up," Morgiana countered Alibaba sternly and made her husband throw his hands up defensively as he did not remember what he had said back when he first told her that story. "Or at least, you did not describe it in much detail," she added while looking back to Bruce and nodding at the man to go on with his story.
"Alright," Bruce crossed his arms in front of his chest and thought back on the day himself. It was not a difficult one to remember, even in the Hulk's transformation at the time. "The reason that day was special to me is less because we found Aladdin. Or rather, he found us. But it was because one of the villains he helped us defeat was an enemy of mine from my own world. A beast, known as Abomination…"
FD + 22
"That's Solomon Grundy! Leave him to me!" Hal Jordan surrounded in green light originating from his ring and shot away from the rest of the group towards the zombie-like brute of a reanimated man who roared at the Green Lantern flying his way. Solomon Grundy sprinted forward past his own ally who smashed two huge gray fists even larger than Grundy's into the ground and blew it apart in all directions including upwards.
Some of that rubble from the black dirt of the plains they were on rose up in Hal's face. He swung his right arm in front of him and a huge fly swatter of green light came out of his arm and pushed all the rubble that Abomination blasted into the air out of the way. Hal's other arm pulled back and created a giant green fist to punch at the enemy he thought he would see behind the rubble, but Grundy moved too quickly through the space that Hal just cleared before the Green Lantern could finish his punch.
"Hal!" Alibaba yelled to his right as he saw their powerful friend getting smashed into the ground and dragged through it. "Bruce, we need… yes!" Alibaba called out at the sight of the transforming Hulk. Might not be enough though. "Guard me for a second!" Alibaba called out to others with him who were also fighters in their group. He leapt backwards himself and pulled a shortsword from a brown belt at his waist made from the pelt of a giant mammoth creature they had killed for food and new clothing the other day.
"It's okay. We will protect you!" Alibaba called out without turning around to the screaming and fearful people in the group they had with them, as well as the group they had run into who were hiding from the Warlord of these parts who had declared himself their ruler.
"Ahhh-"
"Shannon, calm down," Sayid Jarrah shook his girlfriend by the shoulders. She focused up on him, still looking terrified, but Sayid nodded once he saw that she was focused on his eyes. "I need you to get the others to help take children and move farther back from here. As far from the fighting as possible." Sayid pulled out the futuristic gun he had disarmed a man for on the First Day. He had used it on the space warrior himself when that man had held a group of innocents at gunpoint in his panic and terror that they were 'going to kill him again.' He had been trying to conserve its ammo ever since as he doubted there was a chance he would be able to reload it once it ran out, but the glowing blue bar on the side was only half empty and suggested it would still work right now.
"You three, with me," Sayid called out to others in the group who Alibaba and his own people had run into. He turned and looked towards that younger blond man who lifted up his shortsword which started to glow. "What the…" Sayid's eyes grew much wider as the boy who seemed too young to be leading the group he showed up with yelled something out and engulfed himself in fire.
"Amon!" Alibaba's sword turned ten times its previous size. The giant black broadsword had a glowing pentagram in a circle in the center of it just over the guard. Alibaba's arms turned black from his hands up towards his elbows, with red pulsing lines glowing through his skin that looked much hotter as it seemed to smoke just like his blade. "You hold a position here. We'll take care of this!" Alibaba yelled over his shoulder, nodding at Sayid and the others who were armed with weapons but did not seem very strong and who would likely get hurt trying to fight here.
Alibaba flew forward himself with wind blasting behind his back into the others who pulled away from how fast that wind hit them. "Amol Saiqa!" Alibaba slashed towards Abomination which made the creepy gray monster even larger than the Hulk snap its head up to him. Alibaba suddenly saw the intelligence in the eyes of the monster that clearly was not just a mass of brute force when it looked into his eyes.
Emil Blonsky had focused on the Incredible Hulk when Bruce Banner was transforming. The former British Royal Marine who had been subjected to similar gamma-radiation experimentation as Banner glared towards Alibaba through the flying slash of fire dropping towards him. He was powerful enough that slamming the floor as he had before had left him standing in a huge crater, but his speed was close to matching that brute force. Alibaba could see as much when the monster pushed his muscular legs down and shot forward towards the Hulk. Abomination dragged his right hand through the ground as he ran, and he ripped forward throwing debris at the Hulk which crossed its arms only to get punched in the crossing arms a second later by Abomination's other fist.
The monster did not have to worry about the guy up in the air who tried crossing his own sword only to get hit by several fast-moving chunks of earth that Abomination just launched his way too. Alibaba flew backwards but shook his head around and recovered. The young man with longer blond hair after his transformation darted a look towards Hal who just knocked Grundy backwards, only for Solomon Grundy to roll over onto his feet and sprint through the Green Lantern's minigun attack next, the small green bursts of light like bullets doing nothing to the zombified monster who just grabbed Hal by the head and slammed him back into the ground. "We need to take one of them out first, then focus everyone on the other," Alibaba whispered to himself.
Hal's attacks aren't working on that villain he knows. The Hulk is fighting back against the one he called Abomination. I feel like at this rate, Judar is about to show up! Or Hakuryuu, Alibaba darted a look around for his own enemies who might be on the side of the brutes based on the pattern here.
Alibaba spotted a man floating up in the air who made his skin crawl. The guy had dark circles looking kind of like eyeliner around both of his eyes. He wore a red cloak and glared straight through the sky towards Alibaba when the flying swordsman spotted him. "Uh, that's not someone I know," Alibaba admitted, though he still felt like this guy was his enemy nonetheless.
If they are allowed to team up against one or the other, it may not go our way, Kaecilius thought. The sorcerer lifted his right hand while still glaring at Alibaba who shot forward instead of waiting or calling out at this man to wait. A glowing circle of yellow light appeared in midair in front of Kaecilius, and Alibaba became confused as he saw himself flying on the other side of that circle. His eyes bulged as a second circle opened in front of him and just above his head, and then a spear of red light forming in Kaecilius' hand stabbed through the sling ring's portal.
Alibaba slashed and parried the spear, but it was too close and the tip of the spear slashed across his right arm and drew blood anyway. Alibaba spun away from the portal then dove down to avoid the entire vibrating section of the air as Kaecilius called out a spell and pointed glowing purple palms towards him.
"Mirror dimension!"
Reality warped around Alibaba as he tried speeding up to reach the sorcerer assisting Grundy and Abomination. "Amon Alsayf!" Alibaba spun in a circle and slashed in a ring around his body. Flames surrounded his glowing form and then shot out in all directions towards the wavy reflective walls of the strange dimension he was finding himself in.
Hulk shook his head around after that last huge hit to the face. Abomination stopped charging after him too and glanced to his right towards soldiers cresting a hill to assist their allies they thought looked to be losing. Sayid and the others on that hill got confused as their friends and enemies were disappearing right before their eyes into the mirror reality next to the normal one.
"Maybe we're doing this the wrong way," Alibaba wondered after seeing his own magical attack do little against this sorcerer's magic. "Bruce! Or Hulk?! Switch!" Alibaba spun and dove down at his friend who glared back at Abomination but turned towards the wall of the mirror dimension behind him. If Alibaba's fire magic wasn't enough to break through it, maybe the Hulk's physical strength could?
This looks like Strange's magic. Strange's magic is powerful. Hulk is stronger! Bruce's thoughts were not as smart as the scientist was normally, but he shared consciousness with the beast inside after years of fighting together. It allowed him to at least not just ignore Alibaba and attack Abomination again who growled and chased Hulk for a second before spinning and showing he was just feinting to get Alibaba to dive at him faster.
Alibaba slashed early and sent the flames at Abomination from too close this time that the monster had to just guard rather than dodge. It started to punch expecting the sword to slash through next, but its punch fell short and the wind from it just hit Alibaba and knocked him back even faster than he was already being yanked back up in the air by the whip of yellow light wrapped around his left ankle. Kaecilius smirked while creating another spear of red magic that he dove down at Alibaba with. He swung his other hand in front of him and dove straight into a sling ring portal, appearing on Alibaba's right side while the swordsman was twisting to guard above him.
Hulk slammed his fists into the barrier over and over, but the mirror dimension was not breaking apart. "RAAA!" Hulk spun around and glared at Abomination whose footsteps he felt approaching fast behind him. Hulk bent his legs and held his arms up ready to catch Abomination by the fists, and then at the last second he dove to his right and twisted his body at the same time. Abomination's run-up punch had a lot of momentum behind it. The mirror dimension could sustain a blow in one spot of its wall, but two blows from powered-up monsters at the same time in different points put too much strain against the wall that cracked all over and then started breaking apart.
Kaecilius darted his eyes to the right as he watched his mirror dimension breaking. He stabbed his spear anyway, only for Alibaba to fly backwards away from Kaecilius against the force of his own momentum. Alibaba looked stunned himself as he was not responsible for flying away like that. Kaecilius turned and gave chase, but the space between him and Alibaba looked to just double in size for some reason. It looked as if space itself had expanded far more than Kaecilius was able to close that distance.
Solomon Grundy lifted Hal Jordan by his skull and slammed back down on his other side. "Die!" Grundy yelled down at the coughing Green Lantern whose chest he was about to stomp on. A tornado lifted up under Grundy's other foot when he lifted one up to stomp on Hal, and the tornado gained strength to lift the zombified villain into the air and throw him off. "Hey! What the?!"
Kaecilius turned and sweat covered his face at the feeling he got from the boy in a pair of white baggy pants and a blue vest opened down the middle. The young man had a long braid of blue hair falling behind his back down below his feet even. He hovered in midair holding a staff that had a small veil of spinning air around it showing he had just created that giant tornado getting even larger and sending Grundy spinning at a few hundred miles per hour around inside it. The base moved farther from the Green Lantern's injured body to keep from picking him up, and finally the tornado spat Grundy out and straight towards Abomination who tried pulling back but got hit by a part of his comrade's leg and knocked backwards.
Aladdin pointed his staff at the mirror dimension that looked like a dome of breaking glass shards all in the shape of hexagons. His staff glowed, and the breaking barrier already full of holes like the one he sent Grundy flying through, shattered completely. "So you're the ones who were troubling the people around…" Aladdin's voice trailed off as he spotted the blond-haired man flying in front of him with flickering fire around him and sporting some bloody wounds. "Is that you, A-Alibaba?"
Alibaba spun his head away from the enemy he dared not turn from after how Kaecilius had been beating him. He looked towards Aladdin who Kaecilius also darted his gaze away from for a second and to Alibaba who he considered taking out while the man was distracted. Kaecilius' eyes bulged and he panicked as Aladdin seemed to notice that killing intent and spun back towards him in fear that Alibaba was going to be hurt again. Beyond the fear in Aladdin's eyes was an intensity though of someone much stronger than the young boy Alibaba knew back before his death. "You're older," Alibaba whispered after seeing Aladdin for the first time in what felt like so long.
Aladdin had tears in the corners of his eyes but did not let them fall while his focus shifted from Alibaba, down to Hulk, and over to Abomination and Grundy who each got up and pushed away from the other. Aladdin lifted his wand and turned his body sideways. "We'll catch up in a minute, Alibaba. Right now, I'll take care of these guys for you!"
"We'll fight together," Alibaba called back.
"No, I can handle this myself," Aladdin countered which surprised the swordsman who lowered his long black weapon down a bit at the sound of Aladdin's confident tone.
Aladdin shot forward through the air with a gust of wind blowing behind him to send him flying at Kaecilius. The older sorcerer started using his sling ring, but a wind pulled behind his back too, while the space in the air did the opposite as it did when he raced at Alibaba a minute ago. The air seemed to contract and bend around them as Aladdin twisted his body and swung his staff forward. "Hadika Hadeka!" Aladdin slashed his staff early while Kaecilius created a magical sword of yellow light out of a hilt he drew from his cloak.
The sword of light faltered and broke apart as Aladdin's staff vibrated the air to combine Sound and Wind Magic. The attack shook the air so hard that Kaecilius only heard it for a second before the force hit his chest, while both of his eardrums shattered. He was launched backwards through the air, but Aladdin just immediately pointed his staff down and called out, "Har-Har Infigar!"
Grundy was pulling back a huge chunk of earth that had been dislodged during Abomination and Hulk's fight. The fire attack coming down at him was ten times larger than anything Alibaba had created. Abomination leapt away while Grundy tried throwing the attack first and just tanking it…
BOOOOOM!
The edge of the explosion slammed Abomination away inside the fireball. The Hulk skid back himself on his heels. He turned towards where Abomination rolled onto his feet and started charging Aladdin again, and Hulk jumped and extended both legs out into the side of Abomination's head which the villain did not see coming while focused singularly on the biggest threat for a second.
Hulk sent Abomination rolling away, and straight into a hail of gunfire and explosions from the weapons of the people up on the hill firing down at him. "Abomination killed hundreds of people these first weeks. Thousands!"
"Kill him!"
"He killed my mother!"
"You're King of nothing! NO ONE!"
Aladdin looked towards the hill and heard the infuriated screams from the people in a group that Abomination had apparently conquered already. Not everyone was okay with it when the beast declared himself their ruler, and many had suffered the ultimate price to the monster that roared and emerged from the attacks unscathed. He glared at the hill with a look that made the majority of weaker soldiers firing at him fall backwards and scream out in fear that none of their attacks would work.
Aladdin took in a deep breath then flew very fast directly above Abomination. He rose both of his arms and they glowed bright white. The air below him swirled and picked up the dirt and broken chunks of ground all around Abomination who spun back and forth then started punching at pieces of debris rising too close to him. Those pieces were just to keep him occupied though, and Abomination turned his head after a few seconds when shade cast down over him. Everyone running away stopped. The children and weaker people even farther than the armed soldiers slowed as well and turned back to stare in awe at the giant of dirt that Aladdin had created with his magic. "Ugo," Aladdin named the giant. "Attack!"
The headless giant pulled its right arm back and threw both legs up in the air behind it. An aura of wind surrounded its right fist that it slammed down at Abomination who turned and crossed both arms above his head to block the giant's blow. Right before the fist was going to connect, Aladdin took in a deep breath then stated in a resigned voice, "Dhoruf Asshara."
The force of the giant's blow became fixed in the moment it hit Abomination. The monster was pummeled so hard that he smashed through the ground, and then that force continued to push him downwards. The force of the dirt giant's blow never got any weaker. The ground below Abomination got stronger though, as Aladdin had already learned it did in the first three weeks on this world. Trapped between the constant force of Dhoruf Asshara and the ground at whatever level he reaches where that force can no longer break apart the crust around him. A prison fit for a monster.
Present
"…Aladdin really got so much stronger in that year since I died back on our world," Alibaba mentioned with a look back to his wife from Bruce who he was explaining the story with. Alibaba looked back to Bruce and joked, "As much as I was hoping to see the Hulk when we took on Tetsuo, I really thought we might be screwed without Aladdin's help."
"Did you think if he heard that we were losing he would come to our rescue?" Bruce wondered back.
"I knew he would have," Alibaba replied. He scratched the back of his head and added with a look to Morgiana, "Honestly, I think the reason I didn't give up my throne earlier and just go with him to Aebrith when he left, was because of how he wouldn't help us out back then. I think I was a bit sore about it."
"More than a bit," Morgiana replied. She remembered Alibaba and Aladdin's argument about taking on the NEG had nearly split up their friendship at the time. "I'm glad it didn't come to that," she added softly.
"Well, for most of us it didn't," Alibaba remarked back. Morgiana glanced away and whistled while looking out the windows as their plane rose up into the clouds and continued to get higher in elevation. "Some of us actually saw some action if I don't recall…"
"Let's just hope you remember how to swing your own sword, Alibaba," Bruce mentioned to the former king who spun back in surprise to him. Morg looked Bruce's way too and he just added encouragingly to her, "It may be a good thing that Morgiana has seen combat recently. Aebrith will not be a safe place. Even in the center of Leam, it is much too dangerous a continent to assume our safety on any inch of it."
"Another reason we're so happy you decided to come along," Morg responded to the Hulk's human form who nodded back thankfully at her for those words. Alibaba sighed as he had had to haggle with their difficult pilot over that issue, but he smiled after a second and tilted his head to the side with a shrug. He supposed Morg was right and that he was happy Bruce had come along too. Alibaba leaned back in his seat and put his hands behind his head again. He reminisced back on the story they were just talking about, "That was the day we met Sayid as well. I was surprised when he brought the remnants of that group to us again farther in the future."
Alibaba looked out the window of the plane on his side too and mentioned softer, "I wish he would have come with us right after that day too. I suppose they wanted to find something better though than relying on a thirteen year old, and friend." Alibaba referred to himself as just the aside after they just talked about how difficult it was for him to face the enemies of that day. "Once he heard that I was the one leading Rhodar he figured he could trust us though. I'm really glad he showed up when he did. Sayid was a huge help in managing a country."
"I hope Dany will heed his advice," Alibaba finished softer, putting his chin and one cheek in his hand and leaning on it while he continued to stare out the window. He could still partially see the land down below the scattered clouds. "Bye Rhodar. It's been fun." He lifted a corner of his lips back up after saying it. "I'll see you again soon."
"We'll be back in no time," Morgiana agreed with a nod of her head. He husband looked back at her and Morg smiled brightly at him and said, "With the three of us together again, there isn't anything we won't be able to do. We'll beat them all!" Morg lifted her right fist in front of her and flexed in a way that Alibaba found adorable and just smiled in awe back at the beautiful Fanalis girl in front of him.
"Of course we will," Alibaba agreed with a laugh. He lost his nostalgic look and took his chin back off his hand, leaning back in his seat again with a cocky grin. "The three of us, and the Incredible Hulk! Raa- Hulk Smash!" Alibaba mimicked the Hulk's favorite phrase and grinned towards Bruce who rolled his eyes but chuckled along with the young couple.
Bruce's laughs were dryer than the couple's though. He looked out his own windows after joining in with them for a few seconds. I will protect the two of you. I respect you both so much for making this decision, but I will not allow you to sacrifice yourselves with your child waiting for you. The Hulk will protect your family.
Alibaba looked back to Morg after Bruce turned to stare out his windows. It was going to be a long flight, and he leaned back more in his seat then adjusted the settings to lean it back as well to give him a more comfortable setting. The seat jolted backwards and Morg giggled at his legs flinging up as the footrest popped up too. Alibaba laughed along with her, but his laughs trailed off as well while he turned to look out the windows again. He could see the coastline they were flying over below, and he shifted his gaze out over the Great Ocean that seemed endless from up here.
There's someone else besides Aladdin I can't wait to see out there. King Titus mentioned him in a call. That he was fighting against the Ren Empire, his own siblings. Just like back on our world. I know the Rens are going to be our enemies, but Titus didn't call him an ally. What are you up to now, Hakuryuu?
Nimbus
Hidden inside of dark clouds high above the surface of the Ren Empire, not far from the borders of Alvarez, Arachne, and just a bit farther to the Resistance, a city floated. Cloaked from the rest of the world in territory disputed and fought over too much for it to be located easily, a secret fortress magically hovered in the sky where it constantly moved around to prevent any suspicion from arising. The dark clouds around the city were currently pouring heavy freezing rain over a thousand square miles below them. Lightning crashed around the city inhabited by dark figures wearing black cloaks, and not many of them at that.
The fortress was rather uninhabited. A shirtless man with a long black braid of hair walked down the roofed pathway between the fortress' walls and the citadel in the center of the city that he swung a hand idly towards. The huge double doors of the citadel opened inwards, revealing the red carpet just inside of those doors leading all the way up to the stone steps on the other side. No one else was around outside of the citadel. A couple of dark-cloaked figures stood back on the wall behind Judar, and he saw one hulking shadowy form standing out in the rain on a balcony higher up outside the citadel. For a place this size though that could even be considered a floating city, there were very few people around.
It would have been more difficult to supply a hideout with more people on it without the place being discovered by the various factions all hunting for them. Whether they flew over Resistance or Cooperative territory, no one was on their side. They were designated as a criminal organization, after all. Judar walked through the doors of the citadel and towards the throne on the other side of the room. "Hakuryuu! Why the long face? Didn't you hear the news? That prick Zod got knocked down a peg. I heard Meruem kicked the shit out of him!"
"Hmm," Hakuryuu just hummed acknowledging what Judar just said. He was seated on the throne atop the stone steps with his right elbow on the armrest and his cheek resting against his hand. The index finger of his right hand tapped against his cheek in a rhythmic pattern that seemed annoyed, or just restless.
Judar cocked his head to the side but shrugged his shoulders at the sight of Hakuryuu's unreadable look. "Well I'm in a good mood! Gaara's out of the way. Zod's been taught a very valuable lesson." Judar hopped up in the air then crossed his legs and leaned backwards, floating through the hall between tall marble pillars in the room in a relaxed way of his own. "And I've heard some other interesting news too." He looked up through the open air of the grand hall of the citadel and towards the pointed ceiling high above him. He left the bait and waited for Hakuryuu to ask the question he wanted his King's candidate to ask.
"Killing Gaara has just brought his brother back home. His sister as well," Hakuryuu mentioned. Judar rose his eyebrows and rolled over from his back to float belly-down over the red carpet in the middle of the room. He put both forearms under his chin and nodded interestedly back at Hakuryuu to continue. "His brother Kankuro left his Elite Squad of the Resistance. His sister Temari abandoned Rhodar to assist him."
"Ha! 'Elite?' They still throw that name around like it means anything after the Third War of the Gods wiped most of their strength-"
"And Temari isn't the only one from Rhodar who's staying here," Hakuryuu added. Judar's mocking smile lowered down and his lips flattened after a second. A more uneasy and unsettled look spread over his face at what Hakuryuu just said. "Aladdin isn't leaving. I was checking up on flight plans out of Leam to see if he would be going anytime soon. You know what I found?"
"He isn't on any manifest," Judar responded in annoyance, not needing Hakuryuu to ask a hypothetical when that answer was obvious.
"No, he isn't. But you want to know what else our spies uncovered?" Hakuryuu asked, lowering his hand from his cheek and sitting up to give Judar a more serious glare that had Judar standing in midair from his prone position. "Another flight from Rhodar. Unscheduled. A surprise trip, and the two passengers on board are Alibaba, and Morgiana."
"So, the King of Rhodar is on a diplomatic-" Judar started, and Hakuryuu just glared at him even harsher. "What is it this time?" Judar snapped in exasperation over Hakuryuu's attitude.
"I just learned that Alibaba isn't the King of Rhodar anymore," Hakuryuu responded to his Magi who stared at him in confusion for a second and then with much wider eyes. "He has abdicated his throne and is on his way here. Whatever has kept Aladdin here is now bringing Alibaba and Morgiana. I wonder, do you think they hold a grudge?"
"Do 'they?'" Judar asked. His voice came out scathing and made Hakuryuu ease up his own harsh expression at the look of anger that covered Judar's face. "If I see Aladdin again…" Judar's fists curled at his sides in rage for a few seconds.
"I'm sure you will," Hakuryuu replied to his Magi and closest advisor. "I cannot imagine they will ignore us. I doubt a guy like Alibaba is coming after revenge… I don't think, at least, he would come here searching for that." Hakuryuu did not sound certain about what he just said. He hummed and regained his more thoughtful and disturbed expression from when Judar entered. "It is troubling though. You're right in that the Resistance are weaker after the Third War of the Gods, but their allies continue to arrive. First Son Goku's group, Aladdin, now this? Forces are gathering…"
"Well, big things are happening. And more to come soon," Judar added. Hakuryuu lifted his eyebrows and then leaned back in his throne. The King with dark blue long hair nodded at his Magi who had had something else he wanted to say before Hakuryuu cut him off about his 'interesting news.' Hakuryuu nodded at Judar who dropped down to the ground then waved a hand in front of him and created some visuals with his magic.
"You know I had a meeting with the guys from the other two," Judar said and Hakuryuu nodded to indicate he did know that. "Well that bastard Gyoro Gyoro from the Monster Association pushed all the wrong buttons. Hate that guy! So full of themselves, those fucking monsters. He was talking all this shit about staying out of their way, and upcoming plans for their monsters… and then, that Todo guy spoke up."
"Saburota Todo?" Hakuryuu wondered, nodding along for Judar to continue.
Judar paused though and made Hakuryuu more interested as Judar looked like he thought this was something huge. "He's in way over his head. I think he's actually human, which is why it blows my mind what he says Lucifer and Satan have got planned."
"Is it about what that demon Beelzebub told us?" Hakuryuu wondered.
Judar shook his head. "No, that's small game compared to this." Hakuryuu nodded in understanding and for Judar to continue again. Beelzebub had visited them just as the demon claimed to have gone to see many "demonic types" around the continent to recruit. They had both shut him down without a second thought, though Hakuryuu did wonder what it was that demon had been trying to accomplish.
"Looks like the Umbrella Corp is getting ready for something huge. Lucifer and Satan are both preparing surface bodies again," Judar explained.
"Lucifer doesn't already have one?" Hakuryuu wondered.
Judar shook his head. "No one knows, but apparently the surface body that he uses to be the High Lord out in Gehenna is falling apart. It can't handle his power."
"If they were willing to tell you though," Hakuryuu started and scratched his chin. "Then they must think that situation won't continue for much longer."
"Yeah, looks like…" Judar trailed off himself but then added. "There was, one more thing." Hakuryuu nodded at Judar in continued interest but then got an uneasy look on his face too as Judar went on. "Father's moving. One of the Homunculi showed up at our meeting. Told us they're going through with it."
"Damn," Hakuryuu shook his head around and stood from the throne. "That bastard…" Hakuryuu glanced towards the east wall of the citadel. He hesitated for a second but shook his head in a dark way. Judar glanced away with a 'tsk' under his breath after he subconsciously looked to the same wall in the direction of Rakushou and the rest of the Ren family who he had once protected just like he still did with Hakuryuu.
Hakuryuu sighed and shook his head. "Well, if that's really true, and he does go through with it," Hakuryuu loosened his fists and just regained a focused expression. "Then we need to move the hideout. We'll get away from this half of the continent for a while. Father's plans have gotten farther than I ever believed they would."
"The only one I see surviving it will be Zeref and his dragon," Judar commented while turning and then walking with Hakuryuu as his King reached him. "I want to come back to watch that fight when it comes. Zeref'll be pissed with the whole Alvarez Empire wiped. Not to mention the Deadlands, the Android's lands, most of the Resistance, the Sith, the Land of the Chimeras… the old Fire Nation lands, most of the Organization's territory," Judar cocked his head to the side as the list kept on going. "And, the Ren Empire too, it's going to be in his range."
"Unfortunate, but we'll see if his plan really goes the way he expects it to," Hakuryuu added.
"You think your siblings might suddenly spring into action and stop him?" Judar asked, half-joking with a small smirk on his face.
"Of course not. Kouen wouldn't risk upsetting High Lord Spriggan. Too much of a statesman that he'll just sit there as they all die," Hakuryuu said, his voice getting lower throughout that statement and a darker look covering his face. "They'll all ignore the signs until it's too late to stop him. Even the 'Immortal' won't be able to hold back Homunculus when it begins. Did they give a timetable?" Hakuryuu wondered.
"All I heard was," Judar started and put his hands up to make air quotes. "That it would be set in motion, 'Within the week.'"
A/N The Hulk joins Alibaba and Morgiana on the expedition to Aebrith. Their pilot is Sully from the Uncharted games/ the movie I recently watched (though I imagined the game version for this story, not Marky Mahrk). Kaecilius from the Dr. Strange movie, Abomination from The Incredible Hulk, and Solomon Grundy from Green Lantern comics were the enemies in the flashbacks. Sayid and Shannon were from LOST. Anyway! Judar and Hakuryuu end this chapter discussing the incoming arrivals of their old enemies, but also some other things about the other criminal underworlds on Aebrith, and about Father. We last saw Alpha Squad with some of our main group heading up towards Father, where Gajeel and Lambda Squad as well as some other Resistance members like Ed Elric and Wave and Cloud were all gathered. Apparently the Homunculi have plans of their own though while the Resistance are trying to take him down. What is Father planning? Will our heroes stop it in time? What about Beelzebub and the mysterious beckoning he made to all the demonic types a few chapters back? We never did see what happened with that... So much is going on all over the world of Nexus. I hope you're enjoying it, and looking forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading! 'Til next time everyone!