Hello my ever lovely peeps and peeplips!
Okay, once again, couldn't help myself, i had to do this one too. This story i mean as it has been like a leech on my mind, just taking any and all my attention away from all the other stories, and much like my other crossover stories, this first chapter will more or less be an overview of everything. A sort of information dump of how these two worlds work, how they're similar and how they work, so we can get the nitty, gritty out of the way in a way that makes sense without breaking the fourth wall completely.
Plus i'll just get this out now, but I've been watching Game Theory on Poppy Playtime and after watching the videos, even playing the first three chapters for myself, and seeing the final game theory video, for now anyway, about Chapter 4's big bad, i decided that i will indeed be adding Poppy Playtime to the Stark of Legend Series, as FNAF is already apart, so will this series. If Tom is right, then the main Big Bad of Chapter 4 will be a perfect villain for my OC to fight, as being the Avatar of Death himself, it is Xero's swore duty to find and kill people like that. Those who seek to escape death by very malicious means.
That and while Worm had parahumans beginning to run around wild, on Earth 616's 1900's, serial child killer/experiments were clearly all the rage by big corporations.
And let's be honest, we can never escape the similarities between FNAF and whatever else, it always comes back.
Just like Afton.
On the flip side, we get to keep killing the child killer, so once again, i cannot complain. Yeah, it is kind of following the FNAF way of doing things but it's different enough to not only make it integrating as hell with a different process to the whole thing, but the way it present's it lore and the story over all is something i am enjoying greatly. In a way it's basically Secuity Breach from FNAF but again, i am loving it and i can clearly see why its so well loved and i must say, Mob Games are doing a GREAT JOB!
Now, here's something that i must say, as i will be playing with the timeline, so it won't exactly be the same in the games between Poppy Playtime and FNAF with another certain cooperation involved in this story, i am just saying this to make sure that everyone understands that before we begin. But we all know that Indie Devs love keeping their 'timelines' as secretive as possible, leaving various theorists scratching their heads trying (And failing) to put together a proper timeline so they can recount the events. But fuck am i glad i wait to be late to these kinds of parties, as i would be tearing my hair out and crawling up the walls, wanting to know what happens next.
Funny how i originally heard about this over on Game Theory, watching the videos and slowly being interested by what i was hearing/seeing but it was when Chapter 3 that rolled already that got me thinking "Okay, I'll play the games or watch playthrough, then we'll see what happens" and hot dog am i glad i gave it a chance.
Okay enough of me talking, so as always i own nothing but my OC.
So please read, review and "What the fuc-BOON"
Chapter 1: When Two Worlds Collide: A New World Order Begins
"What do we know?"
Earth Bet and Earth 616.
Two different worlds that are so different in many different ways and yet, they are so similar just as much as they are different.
Among the many, many various alternative versions of Earth that exist within the vast multiverses within existence all have their own little quirks, their own differences. Some big, some small, some dramatic, some subtle and other so completely out of this world it's impossible to not notice the difference.
Earth Bet was no different and while on the outside, it may appear another comic book world come to life, in reality, it is a grimdark world. It was like many other versions of Earth, having the same history, same events that shaped that said history and even the dates when it happened bare a remarkable similtary to various other versions of Earth.
Even its sister planet, Earth Aleph.
In 1982, a naked golden man known as Scion appeared, revealed himself to humanity over the Atlantic Ocean. Following his appearance, a fraction of humans gains superpowers if placed in a traumatic and stressful situation, known in-story as a "trigger event".
The arrival of "parahumans" in 1982 leads to a "Golden Age of Heroism", during which the majority of people with powers work for the public good. In 1989, after a parahuman dies trying to prevent a riot, superpowered serial killers, thieves, cults, and gang members begin to increasingly threaten public safety. Governments worldwide create agencies to counter parahuman criminals, including the Parahuman Response Team (PRT), in Canada and the United States.
Despite the various, unique and deadly abilities/powers that have come about during this time, the PRT and Protectorate have been able to classified these types of parahuman abilities into the following.
Mover: An ability that grants a cape enhanced speed or mobility.
Shaker: An ability with an area of effect.
Brute: An ability that grants a cape enhanced strength or durability.
Breaker: An ability that allows a cape to shift into another state.
Master: An ability that allows a cape to control others or create minions.
Tinker: An ability that allows a cape to create or alter devices with futuristic technology.
Blaster: A long-ranged, offensive ability.
Thinker: An ability that focuses on information gathering.
Striker: A melee/touch-based ability.
Changer: An ability that allows a cape to alter their form or appearance.
Trump: An ability that allows a cape to manipulate powers in some capacity.
Stranger: An ability that focuses on stealth and/or infiltration.
It's possible for parahumans to receive hybrid and sub-classifications. Hybrid ratings are issued if two or more aspects are irrevocably linked and are designated with a slash, while sub-ratings are given if a power has side-effects or applications that belong in another category. These are placed within parentheses. It's possible for the number assigned to sub-ratings to exceed the number assigned to the main power.
The numbers assigned to classifications are not an indication of raw strength of an ability. Rather, the number rating is a ballpark scale indicating the threat to a team. As such, the numbers also take into account the possibility of harm but also panic.
Exceptionally high or low degrees of control are important to take into account: The first for the possibility of targeting specific team members or civilians, the second for the dangers of collateral damage or aftereffects. While the number scale starts at one and rises up with no hard limit (still, 10+ are rare and denote very exceptional powers), it's also possible to receive a rating of zero, or even a negative rating. It is the responsibility of PRT operatives and parahumans to familiarize themselves with the current ratings for all relevant threats.
That is not to say that the numbers are concrete, as powers can grow and adapt overtime as the user finds out more and more about them but they give a general idea of what they can do, how threatening they can be.
These classifications don't cover EVERY type of parahuman, just in general, as some of the most threatening and dangerous types of parahumans are Masters, namely Human Masters, and Bio Tinkers or Wet Tinkers.
A "wet tinker" is a term coined in Worm for a tinker, someone who has an inhuman building ability, that specializes in biology. There are three known wet tinkers right now, Bonesaw, of the Slaughterhouse Nine, who works with human biology, Blasto, who works with plants and fungi, and Lab Rat, who turns creatures into monsters.
Truly terrifying stuff, especially when such power is in the hands of the mentally broken and in this world, to gain power you must suffer the absolute worst day of your life. Even if sacrifice is required to gain power, as all power comes with a heavy price, one has to wonder; is it worth it?
More often than naught, such things are out of our control and in the world of Earth Bet, one event change the course of history. One simple event would cause a chain reaction of events, because of one single decision made by those believed only they knew best.
And it all begins, on December 13, 1992, ten in the morning.
A giant monster launches a devastating attack on the Marun Field, Iran. To adequately prepare humanity for future attacks and to manage the growing villain population, four prominent heroes form the Protectorate, an organization subordinate to the PRT dedicated to cooperation among superheroes. Two more monsters (collectively referred to as "Endbringers") appear and begin attacking cities across the planet, causing the loss of millions of lives, as well as catastrophic and irreversible economic and geographic damage. The PRT and Protectorate are forced to treat villains more leniently in return for assistance in fighting Endbringers. Mired in bureaucracy and politics, the PRT is increasingly unable to cope with the growing frequency and brutality of parahuman crimes.
That was how the legend and the horror became a reality in the form of these three monstrous creatures.
The Leviathan, The Tyrannical Ruler of the Seas.
The False Angel, the Hope Killer, the Mind Bender; The Simurgh.
And the powerhouse, the eldest of the deadly trio and believed to be the strongest of the three, The Unstoppable Behemoth.
Three beasts of unbelievable, unimageable power, so strong that even the greatest heroes of Earth Bet, Legend, Eidolon and Alexendria could not hurt the beasts, let alone kill the monstrous creatures. Even with help from the various parahumans, both heroes, villain and even rogues alike, the best they could do is drive them back.
With the loss of life being high and the always ends with a city being completely decimated, even with the world's greatest heroes fighting the beasts, many have come to believe that these three are unbeatable. Even with the full might of the Triumvirate, and various heroes and villains joining the fight, it always ended the same way.
Total and complete disaster.
Because of this, it has given the rise of cults known simply as The Fallen.
The Fallen are a supervillain group, notorious worldwide for their worship of the Endbringers.
Many of the rank-and-file focus on petty larceny and similar, it's only the higher up members that engage in actual felonies like murder. Unpredictable members are known to do things like hijack radio broadcasts to praise the Endbringers for killing unbelievers.[3] Kidnapping and forced marriage is also common, especially for the Mathers branch. The Fallen are incestuous, supposedly to increase the possibility of having powered children, regardless they have several very powerful members in their group. Members are frequently swapped around to provide greater manpower for physically weaker factions. Similarly, arranged marriages are also common among the various family units that make up the Fallen.
The Fallen's beliefs vary quite widely, but like other cults they have an us vs. them mentality against outsiders. Homophobia, wide spectrum racism and prejudice against Case 53s are all present to varying degrees in the different branches. As for their namesake belief, whether they actually believe in Endbringer worship and what that means changes with each branch, each group or family unit and the individual members. Roughly half of them truly believe in Fallen ideology; the rest simply using it as an excuse. Ideas that a true-believing Fallen member might believe included "humanity deserves to be wiped out", "so-and-so deserved to die at the hands of Behemoth", or "the world would be a paradise if the Simurgh were to achieve full influence, if we only let it". They might also celebrate specific Endbringer attacks for their casualties, although the Fallen were - perhaps tellingly - never known to actually interfere to help their 'gods'.
The Fallen of Wichita are an example of the particularly religious. They mingled obscure interpretation of Bible tracts and Endbringer-worship, along with a belief that only the powerful were "worthy" and would be spared. This was seen with other Fallen groups as well.
Can't have an apocalypse without a few psychopaths' running around after all.
That wasn't even including a certain set of laws known as the NEPEA-5 bill.
Which this bill basically prevented Parahumans from using their powers to work a legal job. While undoubtable, it worked in certain situations such as Precogs and Thinkers basically rigging events to suit their taste, all but monopoly on a Market that is at best, a game of chance. While in truth, it certainly makes a good amount of sense, as Brutes and Blasters can easily create their own construction companies with ease, effectively killing hundred jobs that several people could get for their price of one, outsourcing certain jobs can be just as effective for companies.
But regardless, the result of this is that many Parahumans are forced into crime, simply because their powers preventing them from obtaining work legally.
Even Tinkers can't really get a legal job, as not only do most have a specialty type of Tinkering, but most if not, all Tinkers don't actually understand the craft behind their built items. Yes, they can build futuristic tech with ease but the HOW behind it, they do not really, truly understand how they do it. Just that they can do it without understanding a thing.
Hence why Tinker Tech are so sought after, as only Tinkers can work on Tinker tech.
Which in turn has led to many being forced down the path of crime and villainy, not because they wanted to, but because of a broken system that seemed intent on making as many Parahumans as possible, forcing them into the role of villain and hero, whether they like it or not.
Truly a lose-lose situation.
Which leads us to the main profession for most Parahumans, being either heroes or villains. The heroes are atypical apart of the PRT or Parahuman Response Team paramilitary organization that also encompasses police and/or emergency functions. They are trained to deal with parahumans and the fallout of their actions.
The PRT is dedicated toward law enforcement, akin to SWAT, with a code of justice (the PRTCJ) modeled loosely after the UCMJ. Congress has the power to stipulate the laws governing the PRT. The Executive branch has the power to direct the PRT. The Protectorate, Wards, and Watchdog programs, among others, fall under the umbrella of the PRT. While treated like the military in many respects, the PRT is not explicitly a military organization.
A big focus of the PRT is public relations, with the goal being to shape the public perception of capes. This includes things like giving Protectorate capes tips for interviewing, facilitating safe international travel for heroes in their secret identities, and making sure movies portray parahumans in a positive light, with heroes being invincible and heroic. Furthermore, the PRT tries to keep some of the more extreme feats that parahumans are capable of from leaking to the public, for fear of the knowledge causing undue distress. The PRT is a multinational organization spanning the United States of America and Canada, with talks about expanding into Mexico. It is overseen as a whole by the Chief Director and Deputy Chief Director while Directors and Deputy Directors oversee individual PRT departments. Local Parahuman Response Team Directors usually have a say in the decisions that the Protectorate make as well as the equipment, locations, and funds available to them. Each Department has varying responsibilities and jurisdiction based on their placement.
That is not to say many heroes and their groups go independent of the PRT and the like, but many groups more often than naught get snaked by a powerful villain, not so nice organizations such as Gesellschaft and the Yangban.
These two groups alone are considered two of the most powerful, terrorist groups on Earth Bet and thanks to how they operate, it's all but impossible to root them out without declaring all-out war, which would undoubtedly kill millions, both human and parahuman alike in the ensuring conflict.
And that's not including those who's powers are not just bullshit but super bullshit amongst a sea of insane powers.
If not for the fact everyone needed as many parahumans as possible to fight the Endbringers, it is very possible many would be hunting down these two groups for some of their more twisted practices. Such as kidnapping and straight up enslaving and brainwashing both humans and parahumans. regardless of who they are, where they're from or if they're even apart of another organization if you have a unique power.
Or a Tinker, Precog or even a high-level Thinker.
That's not even mentioning the number of possible Master, Tinkers and Thinkers they already have amongst their ranks made them dangerous just due to the fact no one knew if they had them and if they did, how strong and deadly they really were. One little breakdown could be equivalent to a nuke bomb being dropped on a city and it could happen at a moment's notice without any warning.
Little wonder why this world was all but doomed as it is.
On the flip side, Earth 616 did not have a super powered, God-like golden man to shape and change things up, known to all as the first super powered being. In fact, in the modern-day age, the Age of The Gods had long since ended, with many leaving the mortal realm forever, with only a rare few interacting with mortals once again. But many different events lead to that and here is where the story of Earth 616, no, universe 616 began.
Since the dawn of its universe, magic has had a huge part to play in this world but for one universe to be born, another must be snuffed out.
The theory of The Big Bang was not too far off the mark, as when the previous universe ended, another was born. One of the remnants of the previous universe are six elemental crystals of unimageable power that control a different aspect of the universe known as The Six Infinity Stones. Not only that but the resulting explosion had also sown magic into the very fabric of reality.
Yes, in this universe, magic was a real thing.
Unlike on Earth Bet, where tales of magic, witches, monsters and folklore were created in the minds of children, believers and the like, Earth 616 is much more different. In some cases, even a lot more dangerous than the parahuman world of Earth Bet, where's parahumans only became a thing in the late 1900's, Earth 616 always had some form of mythical monster inhabiting it.
One of the most powerful, ancient species living on this world, aside from humans, are The Creatures of The Fae or simply known as Fairies.
Popular media would have people believe the Fae are cute, little, harmless pixie creatures that love mischief and have an abundance of magical power at their fingertips. This is only half right, as Fae do have quite a lot of magic power, but they are far, FAR from harmless. The fact of the matter is that between humans and Fae, not just them but many other species across the world/dimensions, but their way of thinking is not the same. The Fae did not understand how humans think and vice-verse, humans do not understand how Fae think.
Where's humans were weak, fragile without an ounce of magic in their bodies and equally short lives, Fae can easily live for thousands of years with the power to wrap reality to a fundamental level with a flick of their wrist.
And they weren't the only ones.
Before recorded history, humans were already at war with monstrous creatures, some man-made and others supernatural. In a time before history was begin recorded, the Gods walked the Earth, some benevolent, kind and caring to these weak but cunning creatures. While others weren't so kind, viewing humans as nothing more than playthings for their own amusement and even when history was begin recorded, towards the end of The Age Of the Gods, many gods became outright cruel and vain towards humans.
But it was during the first age, the dawn of humanity that a new species rose from the shadows:
Yoma, Hybrids and Magus aka the first of humans to be gifted with the ability to use magic. The first species to be able to use magic in this world but most certainly not the last.
Yoma are a subspecies of humans that feed on human flesh and blood. They can shape-shift into human form that allows them to live among humans. They are created by combining the flesh of both a humanoid and an "Awakened" Asarakam, which forms a parasite with trans-figurative abilities that is capable of infecting the brains of unsuspecting human hosts. The end result is a Yoma. Yoma have strength and speed beyond humans and can regenerate damaged bodies at incredible speeds. Yoma in their true state have golden cat-like eyes, razor sharp teeth and claws, muscular, elongated limbs and torsos, purple blood and brown, purple, gray or green skin.
These creatures were natural predators, much like Vampires and Werewolves, they fed on humans to survive but unlike the other two, the Yoma had a certain dietary, human guts.
Not humans in general but their guts inside their stomachs and yes, it was as gross and disgusting as it sounded.
To fight back against this threat, a group of secretive people were able to create a hybrid warrior of human and Yoma, capable of standing toe to toe against these blood thirsty creatures. For many years, centuries even, the war between the three species raged, having many deaths on all sides, it had finally come to an end when the truth of their existence came to light.
An event that leads to the Warriors that had survived the suicide mission at The Northen Campaign. Where the Sliver King had gathered twenty-four powerful Awakened Beings, each one strong enough to take down entire teams of Warriors with ease. It was during this time, some of the more suspicious Warriors were able to finally able to put the clues and pieces of what was really going on.
Namely where the Yoma really come from, what the reason for their purpose and why it seems like the Warriors were nothing more than tools to be used. The answer to the third question is, it's because the Warriors WERE tools to their leaders. Living weapons to be used and thrown away the second they disobeyed or showed signs of getting too close to the truth of both the Yoma and the Organization as a whole. How the Yoma weren't born but in fact created to be a sub-species of humans meant to kill normal humans, while giving the Warriors a "Trail by fire" kind of training of sorts with the penalty of failure being either death or succumbing to the Yoma within them to become Awakened Beings.
All for the purpose of fighting an enemy they did not known even existed but like with many things, these human experiments eventually backfired and forced the leaders of the Organization to either die or abandoned the project altogether, leaving their fate unknown as the Warriors that survived the Northern Campaign joined forces with the newly created Magus to build a better future for both species.
The leader of the Warrior Rebellion, Phantom Miria soon married one of the Magus, something that should have been impossible thanks to the surgery performed to create Warriors but with magic, nothing is impossible. This would lead to the rise of Magus around the world and thanks to several isolated events, would lead to the creation of the first and last Magus kingdom: Avalon. One that stood strong and unmatched for a thousand years, as no one kingdom or country could defeat this power kingdom.
But nothing lasts forever, and no country can stay invincible forever either.
But the downfall and the total destruction of Avalon, being erased from the very history books themselves, along with the existence of the Magus themselves, was just as by design as it was done out of spite.
The fall of Avalon would lead the Magus and their secrets of the magic to scatter to the winds, to all four corners of the world as their abilities faded into myths and legends. Only a few know what truly happened to Avalon, as very few families, their descendants of the ancient bloodline still exist within the modern world and even then, those that do know the secrets are very tight lipped about it. Be it out of loyalty to their families, some sort of dark truth hidden within the past or just simple paranoia, unable or unwillingly to trust their follow Magus with the secrets, it is unclear. But given the attitude of modern-day Magus, it's no true surprise when you stop and think about it for a second.
But that hardly mattered, as it was just so, a couple of weeks after that time, a cosmic event happened for the first time in this newborn universe that would forever shift and change not just the two Earths but their universes forevermore.
The Convergence.
It is a cosmic event that occurs every five thousand years, when all Nine Realms are placed into alignment.
During the Convergence, all Nine Realms of Yggdrasil are in alignment. This alignment causes the dimensional boundaries between each realm to become thin, resulting in various physical and hyper dimensional anomalies occurring at random. These phenomena include shifts in gravity, spatial extrusions, and the fabric of reality potentially tearing apart. Perhaps most notably, invisible wormholes that allow matter to move between realms seemingly open and close at random. As the Convergence reaches its apex, several larger, visible wormholes open in the sky above central locations in each realm, with each portal acting as a window through which parts of other realms can be seen.
This event led new monstrous from other worlds, other dimensions to not only cross into the 'mortal world' but soon lead to the end of The Age of The Gods during the golden age of Greece and caused it to fall into Greek Dark Ages in 1100-800 BC.
Throughout history, whether the rest of humanity realized it or not, the Convergence opened the gateway of Earth 616 into the multiverse, if only for a couple of minutes, for several new species to take root into our world. To the point they've become not only nativity but have become a fundamental part of life on Earth 616, such as humanity themselves. Many myths, legends and stories told around the campfire all have some grain of truth to them, some more than others but all these 'fantasy' stories have to come from somewhere.
Which ones where true and how accurate they are, depends on which story and or myth you are talking about.
Be they benevolent or malevolent, every legend and myth is true in some way.
And unlike Earth Bet, Earth 616 had its own 'Parahumans' long before the 1900's in the form of Mutants. Replacing the Corona Pollentia, the part inside a parahuman's brain that adapts to and controls the 'powers' that parahumans develop and display. In contrast, mutants have a certain DNA strand known as the X-Gene, actives during puberty or in similar way to how parahuman's trigger, under extreme duress. Not only that but a person could possess the X-gene and never even know it, let alone activate it during their lifetime.
Which seemed like a massive middle finger to the Parahumans, as they have to suffer the worst day of their lives to archive powers, while mutants could simply be lying in bed, ready to go to sleep and then, BAM, falling to the basement because you phased through the floor.
But where's Parahumans have not only been accepted, even deified and become celebrities on Earth Bet, often as heroes, it is not uncommon for mobs to form on Earth 616 to kill not only outed mutants but their friends and families as well. Not that Parahumans don't face the same thing at times, but unlike Earth 616, there are 'laws' that protect these types of humans, their families and even their identities to such a degree one might think the laws favor Parahumans more over regular humans.
And from a certain point of view, it does.
But that is a story for another time, as with Earth Bet, during the 1900's became a one of the massive turning points in human history, as World War 2 broke out, giving the rise to not just the Nazi's but one of the deadliest groups to ever exist in history. A secret nazi division that grew within Hitler's shadow known as HYDRA.
The reason why is because, not only did HYDRA have one of the world's first Super Soldiers, Johann Schmidt aka The Red Skull and his right hand, The Red Devil of HYDRA.
A man with delusional of grandeur that normally would have amounted to nothing as the Allies, in proper human history should have been able to defeat the Nazi's but HYDRA's secret weapon, The Tesseract allowed HYDRA to build weapons decades, if not, centuries ahead of their time, all but roughshod over not just the Allies but even the Nazi's themselves. It was only thanks to the creation of another super soldier, Steven "Steve" Roger aka Captain America helped turn the tide of war and defeat HYDRA once and for all.
Not that it mattered, as the Cold War soon broke out and with the threat of nuclear war breaking out, everyone was on edge.
But events behind the scenes were still moving, gears shifting and plans being made that would affect the future of the world forever. During the 1900's, events would be set forward that would shape the world forever, as three different companies were created: Playtime Co. The Umbrella Cooperation, and Freddy Fazbear Entertaiment.
No one, not even the founders would realize just how dangerous and what kind of evil they would unleash upon the world.
Now, normally a toy company, a pharmaceutical company and a small upcoming children's Entertaiment company that was for all intents and purposes just that, would not have anything to do with one another. Playtime Co. was created first, followed by Freddy's and finally Umbrella in 1968 was founded by Oswell Spencer.
The partnership between these three companies started out innocently enough.
Playtime Co. Developed an on-sight orphanage for children of all ages thanks to its founder, Elliot Ludwig and his genuine, honest love for children, wanting to see them with nothing but smiles on their faces. But many were more often than naught inflicted by diseases, some minor while others had more sever and uncurable diseases. Desperate to save them and after nearly a decade of being unable to help them, Mr. Ludwig turned to an up-and-coming pharmaceutical company for help.
Little did anyone know that this start a partnership that would forever be cursed by everyone and known as, The Devil's Triangle.
It would only be by the time of the 2000's, would this fact become known to the common folk, while very few outsides/involved with the companies personally would learn the real, true dark depths these people would sink, the real evil that took place to create their final products so to speak. Beings such as the transformed monsters known as B.O.W's, Zombies and the Undead in general created by a man-made virus known as the T-Virus.
Originally used as a cellular regeneration but with terrible side effects, the would be cure showed itself to have many military applications. Which naturally have branched off over the years, creating new, dangerous B.O.W's that, to this day still terrorize the living with their hunger for human flesh.
It wasn't the first time that countries, nations and groups desire biological weapons, but it was after the end of WW2 that the race for new weapons, namely a formal of some kind to create the next Captain America and Red Skull really kicked off, becoming a new arms race. Umbrella's T-virus was just one of the few that actually become very close and was a good alternative to the Super Soldier Serum. There was a secret project known as the Weapon X Program in the US that focused on mutants rather than regular humans, but the project blew up in everyone's faces, so it was shelved before it could truly get off the ground.
Even if splinter groups have formed since then, Umbrella was going to be the next one to claim credit for creating the next series of Super Soldiers.
Key word: Was.
The Umbrella Corporation collapsed in 2003 following Umbrella USA's loss at the Raccoon Trials, which found the corporation liable for compensation in the 1998 Raccoon City Destruction Incident. In 1998, thanks to unknown person committing corporate-sabotage, the T-virus was leaked into the water supply of Raccoon city, resulting in the very first viral outbreak that led to the complete and total destruction of Raccoon city to prevent the spread of the virus.
Officially.
Un-officially, it was to cover up not only the horrible experiments they had conducted to create the T-virus, along with the outbreak as a whole. But like everything else, what happens in the dark comes to life. Sooner or later and as a result, in 2003, the entire corporation was dissolved and everyone who worked on it was tried and convicted for crimes against humanity.
But a whole lot of rats did not go down with the sinking ship.
Which would be ironic, as Umbrella's two partners would limp on, as Fazbear Entertainment was already under fire thanks to the children that have gone missing over the years and in 2006, Playtime Co. main factory production would fall into disarray and like Umbrella would collapse. No one knew for certain what happened, just on the day of April Tenth, 2006, 5:10 AM, an announcement from the new head of Playtime Co.'s main and original factory was shutting down effectively immediately. All the employees were official let go and that was the end of it.
At least, it should have been as several lawsuits were filed that ultimately gutted the company a few years later, as various missing reports were filed with the police and who went missing? The people who worked at Playtime Co's original factory floor and even several tourists of all ages had suddenly gone missing. While there was no evidence to force the company to open the shuddered doors of their OG factory, the sheer number of lawsuits, combined that with several controverses already piled on years before had finally killed the former popular toy company.
Strangely enough however, the parent company did everything possible to keep the doors shut, sealed and all but buried for years now and any attempt to open them have been met with severe resistance, almost broadline desperation.
But thanks to the controverses surrounding Umbrella, the fall of its stock plus with the rising mysterious surrounding Freddy Fazbear, still having the Missing Children Incident hanging over their hands, and the increasing number of outbreaks across the globe, Playtime Co. was soon forgotten by the general public, save for those directly involved in one way or another.
Many have tried and failed to figure out just what happened on that dreaded date, April 10 but those that look too deeply have either found nothing or they themselves have gone missing, thus halting future investigations.
However, history once again changed as the truth behind the Children Missing Incident during the late 1900's and how one of Freddy Fazbear's founders was not only directly involved, but he had blown open the truth of what happened but also revealed the connection between all three corporations, which was later coined by the media as, The Devil's Triangle.
It would be some time before the truth of their alliance would be known to the world, before the connection would ever be made but the third and final member of the Devil's Triangle, a man known as William Afton would finally pay for his twisted crimes on February Tenth, 2010. The day the main master of Chaldea would infiltrate the Freddy Fazbear Mega Pizza-Plex in search of evidence, only to come face to face with the madman himself. In the ensuring fight, while his existence was outed to the world, the threat Afton posed to the entire world and children alike was ended.
But not the cult he had created.
Thanks to his twisted machinations and manipulations, Afton was able to create a cult soul devoted to himself, his followers seeing him as an undying entity and seeing as how he was able to cheat death the first time, it was no real surprise. Not only that, but what is now known as The Cult of Glitchtrap, had entrenched themselves throughout the world, as its members were willingly and unwillingly. Those who either truly believed in him, wanted to cheat death themselves or had been brainwashed like a certain blonde security guard, it has become an uphill battle in routing out the cult's members for good.
Much like Umbrella, his vile legacy lived on to this day.
So much to do yet so little time to do it and as the world moved forward, uncaring if it inhabits were ready for it or not, the future marched forward. As a result, everything changes for Earth 616, in the year 2011, July 10, 1:22 pm, one year later.
New York city was subjected to a massive evacuation order by the leader of the Avengers many hours prior, on the belief that a hostile army was on its way with New York, namely Midtown Manhattan. The reason for such an event, was because the entire world was begin threatened by a megalomaniac Asgardian known throughout Norse mythology as Loki, the God of Mischief.
After his failure to have his brother cast out by nearly starting a war that would have thrown the Nine Realms into chaos, Loki vanished into an abyss believed to be dead. Only to return with a new backer, as he and his allies turned their eyes to the little blue ball of a planet known as Earth. One he planned to conquer as recompense for his imagined slights and delusional of grandeur.
Loki's allies included the armies of the Chitauri, seeking to conqueror the world for Thanos and secure both the Space and Time Stones.
The Forst Giants of Jotunheim, who were forced to cooperate under the threat of death from the Mad Titan and a burning desire for revenge against the race's home world that had unintentionally help halt their own conquest by wiping out it's inhabiting and taking the planet for themselves.
And Loki's own Heroic Spirit, Gilles de Rais, who sought revenge on the leader of the Avengers personal for 'defiling' the Holy Maiden, Jeanne D'Arc. The Demi-god was even able to employ the help of several rogue Magus, rogue Vatican Church members that had survived The Great Purge, Dead Apostle and several lesser demons and even Devils/Fiends to his side for the fate of Earth 616.
Even one of the generals of Hell's armies, Straga, The Tower Sized Demon.
However, in response to this threat, the Avengers formed to combat these villains. Along with several other groups, some even considered 'villains' banding together to combat the seemly overwhelming odds Loki brought to the table.
The X-Men, Fantastic Four, Brotherhood of Mutants, SHEILD, Sable International and even solo heroes and villains such as Spider-Man, Venom, Jessic Jones, Dare-Devil, The Punisher, Black Cat, Sandman, The Prowler, Tombstone and his gang with the kingpin himself, Fisk having his forces join the battlefield to defend Earth 616. Alongside other organizations such as the BSAA, The National Devil Extermination Public Safety Commission, even various members of the Vatican church with the entirety of the NYPD, a little over 36'000 officers and even national Guard fighting off the invading forces. Not only that but seeing as Loki was in fact a member of the royal family on Asgard, adopted or not, Odin not only sent his son to capture Loki but sent the reborn Valkyries, now Sheild Maidens with the Warrior Three and Lady Sif to stop Loki.
The result was an entire day's war and within just one day, New York was all but destroyed in the battle.
The great city had suffered so much damage, one might think it was bombed by every single bomb in the world, reduced to nothing but dust and ash once the dust settled. It was only thanks to the help of the Ancient One that the city was restored to its previous state before the battle began.
From that day forward, the battle has called, The War of Worlds and A Day's War.
The day Earth's mightiest heroes and villains banded together, led by Xero and The Avengers to face Loki and his Unholy Alliance
While the main evacuation took place on the island of Manhattan, that was still more than a million people getting the hell out of dodge thanks to Xero's Teleportation Tunnels, created for such an event. While Loki's invasion is not exactly what he had in mind when he first proposed the idea to the mayor and the chief of police, getting amass of people out of a possible hot zone was the idea.
And it worked wondrously.
The fact he was able to correctly assume that Loki would attack his home to use the massive prototype Arc Reactor to stabilize the portal to allow his army through, he was able to warn the people of Manhattan and the rest of New York hours prior, allowing people to escape with only the criminals, petty thief's or plain idiots behind when the Chitauri came charging through to wreak havoc. It had helped that Xero had personally helped not only root out the corruption within the NYPD but armed them with new armor, weapons and equipment, while not enough for the police to hold off the hostile army by themselves, it did allow them to hold their own for a time against the invaders.
Even if many had died, many more would have died for certain had it not been for the influx of new equipment and surplus of funds.
These acts had cemented Xero as a hero to the people, becoming one of the strongest Avengers and earned him the trust of many, including the mayor of New York and the NYPD. It also inspired a great deal of fear amongst the criminal underworld, as Xero himself had become quite the scourge amongst the various criminal organizations.
The fact his daughter is the world's greatest healer, saving millions of lives from nigh-uncurable diseases, while slowly helping advanced medicine become developed behind the scenes only increased his popularity amongst the people as well. Not to mention his infamy amongst the criminal underworld, many all right giving up on New York as a place to set up shop, as only the truly stupid, desperate or most powerful dare try to do something very illegal in the city that is the home of the Grim Reaper made flesh.
Especially one who had a massive army that would not only back him up, but he could summon in an instant.
The only reason figures like Rhino and the Kingpin are still alive is because they figured out how to work around the Reaper and do enough crime to make a profit without attaching his attention or bloody retribution. Well, the Kingpin did, as the supervillain known as the Rhino was captured by New York's own Spider-Man and sent to the maximum-security prison, The Raft.
Even if the man known as the Rhino could be described as 'dumb muscle' with the appearance to match, Aleksei Sytsevich is that much of an idiot. At least not dumb enough to play with fire that has a body count easily reaching in the triple digits. Sadly, some did not get the message and the ones that did, set a precedent to future attempts and just how badly it will end when the Magus caught them.
The one foolish enough was one of Spider-Man's enemies Mac Gargan aka The Scorpion had done what many now considered to be assisted suicide.
During the man's 'debut' as a powerful, dangerous super villain and attempting to lure the leader of the Avengers out, in order to establish dominance by killing such a big name, he attacked a group of children and pre-teens on a school trip. This result in several being poisoned, and part of a very, very stupid plan, he had nearly killed Cassie and Gregory, two of Xero's children with a number of other kids and even a few adults trying to protect the kids.
The result was Xero hunting down the criminal with no one trying to stop the enraged father. Not even Spider-Man, as even he knew that Gargan had crossed the line and if it had been Aunt May, Harry or MJ the green clad villain had hurt, Spider-Man knew he would have done the same so while he didn't condone it, part of him wanting to stop his friend, he knew a losing battle when he saw one and very reluctantly, left him be. Even if he did try to find Gargan first, to put him in jail to protect him from Xero's righteous fury, the Magus found him first. So, when Xero did finally find the man, he ended up ripping him limb from limb, leaving him to bleed out after knocking all of the man's teeth out, but not before he broke his jaw, nearly tearing it off as a result of a very powerful punch. His spine had been broken with both of his eyes torn out in a very brutal, bloody fashion.
While the Magus did get some heat on him for his brutal killing of Gargan, it ultimately went nowhere. There were just some lines you did not cross, not without server consequences and given how the merc had no problem with harming anyone that got in his way, any possible case was dismissed thanks to public support.
However, the Magus had damn near killed J. Jonah Jameson for supplying the funds Gargan used to create the suit, and it was only thanks to Jameson's long hated enemy, Spider-Man.
Irony at its finest.
While he might have halfway tried to save Gargan, Peter did stop his friend from killing the boss of the Daily Bugle. For all his faults and uncompromising hatred of Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, would never, ever willingly put innocents in danger like that, especially children. Even going so far as to apologize, on public record and live no less.
Some blamed him, others didn't, a few wanted Jamason in jail for his indirect actions in creating the Scorpion, but it ultimately mattered very little in the end as Gargan had no family or friends or even enough general goodwill with anyone to complain about his death. But it did send a message to everyone, one Xero wanted to make sure EVERYONE understood; Hurt his family and nothing and no one would be able to stop the Reaper coming for you.
While a few more foolish or desperate have tried, all have failed, meeting very brutal, bloody ends that would keep even the most harden criminals awake at night with fear. The ones that remain know better than to poke the sleeping dragon and while crime wasn't completely eliminated from New York, as such a thing simply isn't humanly possible without becoming a police state or just straight up occupying it, there was no doubt that New York was basically a black hole for criminals to be sucked into, if they're not careful.
Especially after the War of Worlds, all but putting the Avengers on top of the food chain in terms of power and influence, as no one wants to get on the bad side of the people who fought off an enemy that came straight out of stories, myths and legend itself.
But two years later, with only minor zombie outbreaks, some more dangerous than others, New York and the world enjoyed a time of peace. But like many other things, all good things had to come to an end.
Because in 2013 an ancient evil rose to threaten the world and the universe once again. An evil that was born long, long ago, when the universe was young and new, all life in this new universe was being threatened by a deadly foe. During a Convergence in 2988 B.C. Malekith, the king of the Dark Elves sought to take advantage of the weakened boundaries between the realms to use a powerful weapon known as the Aether to revert the universe to the primordial state of darkness in which his race had once thrived. These attempts were thwarted by the Asgardians under the command of their king, Bor, father of Odin Allfather and grandfather of Thor Odinson.
Following their crushing defeat, Malekith and the surviving Dark Elves retreated, entering a prolonged hibernation until the time of the next Convergence in 2013, when Malekith made his second attempt to restore 'his' vision of the universe.
So, you might be asking why, after 5'000 years of sleeping and hiding, did they choose to reveal themselves now? To one of the few forces capable of stopping them, after all this time?
It's quite simple, Jane Foster, a scientist had discovered the Aether aka the Reality Stone in a liquid form. Unknowing of what it was, the scientist had touched it, becoming a vessel for it and awakening the Dark Elves from their sleep. It was during this time, that Xero and his wife, Gudako were visiting Asgard, not only as vacation but for Odin to grant a reward to Xero for capturing his wayward son and delivering back to Asgard alive, despite nearly plunging his world into a three-way war.
Who would have guessed allying oneself with both hostile alien and demonic forces could be such a bad thing?
Regardless of the confusing concept, the husband and wife came to Asgard's defense when Malekith and his forces attacked, saving queen Frigga's life, earning them even more goodwill from Odin. Along with the rest of Asgard's people and Thor most of all. To the point he defied his father's order, when the Magus duo came up with an admittedly dangerous, risky plan and not only save Jane in the process but defeat Malekith once and for all.
Which of course it didn't exactly turn out like they had hoped, while it had worked in saving Jane, Xero ended up in another world while Thor and Gudako fought Malekith. The world he ended up in, while not relevant to the discuss, had in fact boosted Xero's magical and demonic Yoki power, where's he was able to go toe to toe with a transformed Malekith. Forced to concentrate on Xero, the Dark Elf leader left himself open to attack from the God of Thunder and the fire welding Magus.
However, when all their power combined, IE smashing, colliding and fighting against one another had caused the Reality Stone to unintentional absorb more and more magical power. When Xero, Thor and Gudako combined their powers together, to create one combined attack to defeat Malekith who was using the Reality Stone's power, caused said Stone to lash out and with the weaken barriers between worlds thanks to the Convergence, it reached out for something to funnel it's power into, ripping a hole in-between realities, that had caused Earth to collide with another world.
One similar yet so different at the same time.
The result was that two Earths, Earth Bet and Earth 616 were forcefully bond together, fused together in every way possible with the very land/cities themselves basically being SMASHED into one another. As one could expect, the blowback between two Earths suddenly becoming one in a very gory fashion, resulted in millions of dead, with thousands missing and the numbers are still climbing, even after eleven weeks of these two worlds becoming one.
But it wasn't consistent.
As several of the same cities did indeed become one, certain cities and place that did not exist in one world, merged with other cities that existed in both worlds.
Such as Brockton Bay of Earth Bet and New York of Earth 616.
Brockton Bay is a dying city, both because of the economy downfall due to several factors, one of the biggest is because of the three major gangs all but chocking the city with crime, drugs and every other criminal activity under the sun. The 'defenders' the people who were supposed to stop these criminals were either too weak to stop them, didn't have the money or resources or had simply given up, bidding their time until the decaying city finally collapsed in on itself. Brockton Bay was considered one of the worst cities in the USA with one of the highest crimes rates across the nation.
Even if the PRT did in fact have the resources to help the city, certain factors all but banned them from helping the slowly dying city.
On the flip side, New York city of Earth 616, despite suffering from a literally alien/demonic invasion was considered one of the safest cities in the USA. Unlike Earth Bet, New York and the USA itself were suffering from the aftermath of 9/11, where's on Earth Bet the devious plot was stopped by a parahuman, Earth 616 did not have such luck.
While it was a terrible event, even to this day its stigma has not faded, the event did lead to the rise of several sophisticated criminals silently taking over New York from the shadows, as nobody knew who to trust or believe in anymore. One of course being the Kingpin of crime himself integrating himself in New York, to the point where he was capable of pushing out more 'undesirable elements' from the city without any backlash to himself if it in some event, failed. While it was highly unlikely, it did happen and, in the event, it did fail, Xero, Spider-Man and even Black Cat helped remove these elements.
For all his faults, the Kingpin did care, in his own twisted way and did want was best for (Him) New York. And with all the attempted invasions, celebrity heroes living in the city, New York was thriving despite all the negativity that seemed to be drawn to the city.
In short, Earth 616's New York was for all intents and purposes, a miracle city that is thriving to one of its highest peaks ever since it was founded in 1624, while Earth Bet's Brockton Bay is a slowly dying city, being strangled by the gangs, politics and forces behind the scenes. While New York has thrived and grow in five short years, Brockton Bay was dying and decaying for decades, all but ready to fall into anarchy, disillusion and damn near total collapse of democracy, ready to enter a state of pure chaos.
Which leads us to where we are now, inside the Rig that housing the Brockton Bay PRT ENE, where the director of the branch, Emily Piggot was having a meeting with her subordinates, both protectorate heroes and wards in order to get everyone up to date. She even called New Wave, as this affected them just as it did every other parahuman and human of Earth Bet. Once a PRT soldier, she survived the Ellisburg incursion with Thomas Calvert, now a PRT field commander and consultant. Along with her deputy director, Richard "Rick" Reinck.
Around her were the heroes such as Armsmaster aka Colin Wallis, Miss Milita aka Hannah Washington, Velocity aka Robin Swoyer, Dauntless aka Shawn Norris, Assault aka Ethan Hunter, once known as the villain Madcap, his wife Battery aka Samatha "Sam" Hunter with the semi-graduated Ward Triumph aka Rory Christner.
The wards were teenagers, ranging from 13 to 18, starting with the youngest of them all, Vista aka Missy Brown. Next is Gallant aka Dean Stansfield, Aegis aka Carlos Hernández, Clockblocker aka Dennis Walker and Kid Win aka Chris Brown.
There were also several PRT troops, with their commanders in attendance as well, just to make sure everyone was up to speed on everything.
"Good, your all here, Dragon." The large director spoke, as a holographic map appeared on the table, outlining the "New" city that they were living in, "As you all know already, our world has been merged with another by unknown mess. All the world's governments are in disarray, not knowing who to trust and entire countries that didn't even exist before existing now. Everyone, even the criminals it seems have taken a step back, trying to figure out how to navigate the new waters we've all found ourselves in, both humans and parahumans, even weeks later. We're lucky on that front but i don't expect it to last for much longer, as sooner or later, something is going to break, and crime will rise again, and we need to be ready. That's not even including the cities that haven't been merged with their counterparts, such as Brockton Bay being forceful merged with the other Earth's New York, thus," The blonde director motioned to the holographic map Dragon made, "our city has become a supersized city now." The Bay had been merged with Manhattan, increasing the sheer size of the two cities, while their base, the Rig was smacked dab in the middle between Manhattan, Brookyln and Queens, while damn near boarding the super prison, The Raft.
"Not only that, but other pieces of land that while originally somewhere else have been transported to New York." Dragon spoke, as the image changed to show a large factory that has clearly been abandoned, "This is Playtime Co.'s first factory, that was original in Massachusetts on this Earth's world. Playtime Co. itself is a toy company created by a man named Elliot Ludwig over a century ago and was once one of the most famous toy makers on this Earth. For the record director, for the moment, i would like to call this other Earth, Earth M. Just to simplified things ma'am."
"Agreed."
"Thank you. Now, as i was saying, aside from being merged with another city, several others have been merged with their counterparts, at least the ones i have been able to send my suits have been able to confirm. I do not have the network i once had before this...'convergence has done to the world.' Armsmaster."
"First off, we're still trying to get comminutions back up." Armsmaster spoke picking up where Dragon left off, "As you know, what caused our worlds to become one, took out many of the satellites and while we've restored basic comminutions, contact with the rest of the world and other cities are slowly but surely coming back online. The only reason why Dragon can talk to us, is because she and one of her suits were within the Bay before the merge, enabling her to use said suit as an anchor for her to lock onto and piggyback off of it, to open up a connection to our local network. This has resulted in many of the criminals trying to take advantage of the communication blackout."
"Tried?" Shadow Stalker crossed her arms, "We've been patrolling for the past few weeks and haven't even seen a single druggie fuck or Nazi wannabe out and about."
"Language." Miss Militia chided the young hero, causing her to scoff, as the military themed hero turned towards Piggot, "Despite her crud words, Shadow Stalker is correct director. Many of the big players, such as Empire 88 and the ABB have been laying low, while their foot soldiers have tried to stir up trouble, we've had reports of masked figures stopping them before they can even break a glass case. Even the Merchants have been keeping their heads low, after a small group attempted to attack FEAST South."
"FEAST? Isn't that a homeless shelter run by that Martain Lee guy?" Battery asked thoughtfully, "Why would those bottom feeders attack them?"
"Because they're actually a good shelter that prevents more people from joining the Merchants." Assault joked, only to blink as the director, Armsy and Milita all went still for a second, "Wait, seriously?"
"FEAST is one of the main reasons why New York of Earth 616 have so few people drugged out of their minds and has successfully helped several homeless people get back on their feet." The director said simply, as she scowled, "Mush did try to lead a force to raid FEAST west, only for the entire group, save for Mush himself, to be captured by New York's own Grim Reaper." The director pulled up another sheet of paper, "Those who resisted arrest were beaten so badly, several of them have to eat through a straw as a result of their injuries and his daughter refused to, and i quote 'heal a bunch of dipshits that will try to shank me the second i turn my back or worse, try to turn me into some drugged out sex toy like that Squealer woman'. Which, given their history, Ms. Mazoku is right in that regard."
"Yeah, sounds like her." Amy muttered softly to herself, having worked with the black-haired girl for the past few weeks to save as many people as possible. Of course no one heard her, as they continued talking.
"Great, another Shadow Stalker." One of the PRT troops muttered, as Sophia flipped him off, getting more heat for it but she didn't care.
"Grim Reaper? Man, talk about being edgy." Clockblocker spoke, "Does he use a scythe and have a ripped cloak too?"
"Yes, and a body count reaching the thousands." Armsmaster said with all the bluntness of a sledgehammer, making the wards blink, as the looked at the Tinker, "He has gone by many names, The Grim Reaper, The Frozen Emperor, The Scourge, Baba Yaga, The Lethal Protector, Phantom Xero...and an open 'cape', thus we know him as Xero Mazoku/Stark/Le-Fay/Pendragon. And yes, Dragon did look it up and that is his full legal name. He is not only leader of the Avengers, Earth M's heroes, but head of the Mazoku clan, along with being a member of the Hound Wolf Squad of the BSAA, more often than naught leading them into highly toxic environments that would kill entire battalions of soldiers, either by the toxins themselves or the creatures that arise from the mixed viruses. Several that could have killed many capes if they weren't properly prepared and equipped to deal with the infected." The famous Tinker paused, allowing everyone to absorb the information before continuing, "In addition, he has been involved in several classified operations, preventing or containing several outbreaks all over the world in the past few years, while having a personal hand in destroying several crime syndicates. More than a few had either personal affected him, attacked him or his family. The police, the mayor and even higher ups in the Earth M government have all but given him a blank check, so long as he refrains from committing more heinous crimes, with a massive amount of public support and being a part of a PMC has given him a lot of leeway. As you can image, his bloody reputation has basically driven most of the criminals out of New York M, with only the most dangerous or low-level criminals operating within the city." And even than it was at a bare minimal, least they risk the Reaper's wrath, "In fact, the tower he and his family are living in right now once belonged to an international arms dealer known as Glenn Arias, one of those weapons being of the biological type, which put him on the BSAA's radar. We aren't sure, but someone like Mr. Mazoku faced off against an unknown ally of Arias, known simply as The Lightning Beast, had fought in the skies above New York M, so intense, every lightning bolt that hit something was all but vaporized. That was nearly five years ago in Earth M's time and it's fair to say that he's only grown stronger since then. Along with his allies as well." He put down the paper, as he nodded towards the director.
"Before you ask, we are telling you all this to make it very clear, not only how dangerous this man is, especially when it appears he does not have a Manton Limit but more than likely, the threat a city-wide gang war to break out is now very high, all but inevitable at this point. Not only because of their leader, but the rest of the Avengers and many of their allies have all proven their more than willingly to go for the killing blow when needed. Lung and Kaiser won't stand for that, especially when it's clear he won't align with their goals, when they try something, it will backfire and erupt in an all-out war."
"You mean Mr. Reaper and the rest of the Avengers got the balls to do what you lot won't do and put bastards like the Empire 88 the ABB down for good, thus fucking with the status quo." Sophia snarked, as she leaned against the wall, "I don't see the problem. Hell, from what I've read up on them, people like the Reaper, Wolverine, Talon, Hulk, and Fire Angel alone could solo most of those fuckers." And boy oh boy she would pay cold, hard cash to watch that Canadian mutant tear Hookwolf and Krieg apart. Now THAT was someone she wanted to study under. The real hero, the one that slays the monster and makes actual change and not just pussyfoot around the problem like the PRT did.
"And get an untold number of civilians killed in the process." Miss Milita spoke harshly, as SS scoffed again, looking away from the military themed heroine. Bitch please, a large amount of people already died because of the two gangs alone, the difference is they'd just die faster with a chance for real change.
"Okay, is no one going to address the elephant in the room?" Dennis asked, as all eyes went to him, "Look i get that the Avengers are basically everything we're supposed to fight against and throw in jail but come on, their leader regularly fight against REAL LIFE ZOMBIES! And some of those zombies can and have mutated into what look like the final bosses of video games, only in real life?!"
"And that's not even mentioning that Mazoku and his wife are two of the most powerful pair of master's i have ever seen." Carlos said, a bit pale at mentioning this tab bit of information, "Unlike most master's on Earth Bet, not only are these two grab bag capes that can easily be classified as Trumps that can match Triumvirate if terms of power, but they're also far from being weak, squishy humans and insanely powerful, as mentioned. I swear if i didn't know any better, i would swear these two are Earth M's version of Eldion."
And wasn't that kick in the balls AND send a shiver down a person's spine. The videos recorded of both Mazoku's were enough to make the local PRT realize they'll need ALL of the reinforcements they can get if they ever need to face off against the two, let alone the rest of the Avengers.
"That's not even mentioning they have their own healer, who is even better than Panacea." Vista spoke, earning a wince from said girl and a small growl from Carol, something that didn't surprise the younger girl as the Avengers were basically New Wave in a lot of ways.
Only better.
And stronger.
...Along with a far better debut that was basically a PR wet dream, after all, saving the world from a hostile alien/demon army was a once in a lifetime opportunity and they did it flawlessly.
"I hate to say it or think it, but it's true." Vista wasn't a fool, as for years New Wave have tried to clean up the Bay and while they started off strong taking down Marquis, when Fleur died, the whole movement pretty much died with her. They've had a decade to do it and failed horribly. Hell, Xero and the Avengers had less than half the time and were able to accomplish that and then some!
It was inspiring, horrifying and annoying at the same time as the Reaper's methods made Shadow Stalker look like a modal Ward and overachiever.
While yes, they didn't have drug lords with super tanks, Nazi blade wolves or rage dragons, fighting off an army both demonic and alien in origin, led by one of the well-known Norse Gods, a son of Odin the Allfather no less, was a huge accomplishment in on itself. Say what you will but the Avengers had risen up to the challenge's life had thrown their way and come out, smelling like roses.
"And that's not even including the other Avengers, such as Bruce Banner. Otherwise known as-"
"Their alterative version of Lung?" Miss Militia shot Clockblocker a look, as the boy seemed determined to call out the elephants in the room, as he went on, "Look, i'm not saying that he an even worse version Lung. If nothing else, the dude seems like a chill version of him... expect when he turns green with rage and of the reports are right, gets stronger as the angrier he gets. Sound like a certain local rage dragon if you ask me."
"He's not wrong." One of the troops muttered, as the director slammed a hand on the table, getting everyone's attention again.
"Be that as it may Ward, we should count ourselves lucky that Mr. Banner is not criminal inclined and we, will not do ANYTHING to cause the green goliath to come out. Understand?" At that, many gulped. Even if she hadn't been on active duty for a decade, the director was scary when she wanted to be, and no one wanted to piss of a man with breath taking anger management issues.
Honestly Lung could easily level the city and someone with the same problem, namely getting stronger the angrier they got would be nothing short of catastrophic.
"Yes, well-"
BBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR~
Only for all talks to end as the dreaded alarm sounded, causing everyone's blood to go cold.
It was the Endbringer alarm.
Done.
Happy New Year everyone, been working on this and the next chapter for some time now and while i wanted to make this chapter a tab bit longer, with a bit more information, i've already got 10,000 words so let's just finish it here. That way i can focus on the next chapter, which is already half way done. So that's good.
Next chapter will of course be the Endbringer battle and guess who is coming?
I know it's a little overused but given the location and the timing, i figure Leviathan would be a perfect opening for the others to set the stage.
Preview: They Wanted You To Break, but Your Clamness Broke Them Instead
"You know what's funny?" Taylor silently shifted, glancing up at her, what? Friend, partner, mentor? as he spoke, "They thought they could break you, thought they could crack your spirit, watch your crumble and laugh at the rubble they made. But here you are, standing, breathing, exisiting. THAT'S what eats them alive, that your still here." She was confused, what was he talking about, it didn't make sense.
Either seeing or sensing her confusion, Xero keep going, "You see, they don't want you broken, they NEEDED you broken. At some point, when it became clear that you wouldn't bend the knee or whatever it is they wanted you to do, when you dared to defy expectations and kept going, kept standing rather than bow down it became personal to them. Perhaps i'm reading too much into this and i'm wrong but from the way you described it, it's clear to me at this point in time, breaking you in body, mind and spirit is their ultimate goal. No longer just for shits and giggles but to prove a point, to validate themselves and prove to everyone, themselves most of all that you are the failure they keep calling you. The fact you keep existing, keep going back ready for more, is not only shocking but it insults them on a personal level and hurts their pride, Heiss's pride most of all."
"Why would Sophia be more insulted than Emma and Maidson?"
"Because, from what you've told me, this girl has the whole 'the strong survive and the weak die' mentally but undoubetdly even more extemre given her age and ego, making every excuse possible when things don't go her way and willing to go to equal extermes to win as well. So be warned Taylor, the moment you prove her wrong, there is a high chance she will do ANYTHING to get a shot at you. And she proved that she isn't above using lies and striaght up attempted homcide. Only this time she'll do it more directly, rather then indirectly."
The curly haired girl shivered against him, swallowing thickly, she could most certainly see that happening.
"While what happened, what IS happening to you is horrible, those foolish girls have helped you more than they ever realized." Blinking in confusion, Xero smiled down at the girl, "While many would believe cynicism and paranoia is a bad trait, which to be fair it is, but in small doses it is very helpful. As bad as those girls are, there are FAR worse people out in the world who would take advantage of anyone's easy trusting nature. Many of the traps the common people would fall into, you yourself won't fall into because it's been beaten in your head to be distrustful of others can and will help you down the line in your life. You only need to learn how to learn how to use it properly, rather than let it control you." He paused for a moment, before he added, "And if you like, i can teach you, if you let me."
Taylor felt her breath catch in her throat.
Done.
Devil out!