Disclaimer: I don't own The Boys, Marvel or Invincible
A content warning towards the end of the chapter, non-consent and child death. Not gratuitous in details as I try to make it in service of the story and in showing the horrifying changes that have occurred to this world.
The Invisible Universe used in this story has already appeared in my story Universal Collisions: Incident at Westview over on Archive, so this acts as a sequel to Invincible's arc within that story.
Marvellous World
Under
InVincible
Chapter 2: InVincible
Heat and rubble was a familiar feeling to him. For a moment, he flashed back to the Cataclysm, to being buried underneath both rock and flesh. The bodies of those who begged for someone to save them, though dead their voices echoed in his head. That was his origin story, to be surrounded by the dead and to hear one voice.
"Thank you, thank you god, I thought, I thought I wouldn't find anyone!"
The voice of a man who wanted so badly to save those who wanted to be saved.
'Never again,' Sven thought in remembrance of that tragedy.
He burst through the wood on top of him, feeling granite in his hair and blood over the lens of his mask. It had been torn, revealing a tuft of his blonde hair. Slamming his foot into the ground, red cracks ran along the floor and up Aeon's leg towards his head. A fusion with the building would act as a way to enhance the building's overall integrity and to feel all those within it. The fire would be his fuel, he would drawn from them like a generator so that even the flames might play a part in him saving people. He looked up, he had been blasted into the stairwell. Aeon squatted and then jumped, moving at a speed up the stairwell akin to a pinball. And like a pinball he darted to other rooms. Two kids hiding in the closet, their drunken father passed out on the sofa. Sven touched the side of his face, passing the red pulse to the man. It was an exchange of emotion that drove the man, formerly so focused on the pleasure of a drink back to what truly mattered.
"KIDS!" the man screamed.
Aeon removed his cloak, giving it to the man so he could wrap it around his youngest. Both boys were brave and stuck close to their father. They were supporting him as much as he protected them. Aeon felt the integrity of the floor was compromised, and he heard the sirens outside, fire and rescue department and paramedics, the real heroes.
"HELP!" he heard screams.
"OPEN! COME ON OPEN!" the trapped.
Even the faint heart beats of those who had suffered smoke inhalation. They wouldn't die though, not until they saw the person who had taught them to hold on that second longer.
I believe there is a hero in all of us, that keeps us noble, and allows us to die with pride.
Peter always remembered what his aunt said about heroes. They weren't just the people who pulled you out of fires or off of streets, they didn't just give you a warm blanket or a room for the night, they didn't just teach you about history or encourage you when you were on a diet and exercise regime. Heroes were the ones who convinced you to be better, even when you knew you weren't. When Peter arrived on the scene, Vought representatives were there, disguised as cops with trucks ready with their 'rescuees'. They told him to wait, then Peter remembered his aunt. Since the Spider had bit him in high school, his senses had been dialled up to a hundred. Though Peter was never going to pick up Liz Allen or Sally Avrill, the respective hot rich girl and cheer leader of the school, he was able to take the punishment of wooden beams falling on top of him. He could take punches from the likes of Flash Thompson and walk away, and move twice as fast as the star football player. Like how he jumped through the building, crawling on the walls and listening for those in need. His senses told him he shouldn't be in the building, every second was like a migraine for him but he couldn't stop. Couldn't stop until he had pulled six people out of the building, rappelling them down with his webbing. Then he went back inside and pulled out six more.
"Are you all right?" he asked a young woman.
She said something to him in Spanish, coughing, Peter kept low with her. The floor was giving way underneath them. His webbing wasn't true webbing, at the start of Peter's career he had been told Vought had plenty of spider people. Peter only got a Vought contract because the company's previous favourite, Web-Weaver disgusted his test audiences with where his webbing came out. Reloading the cartridges in the devices on his wrists, Peter pushed the button on the palm of his hand, releasing the fluid. Upon contact with the air it shaped itself into a line, Peter's enhanced eyesight and reflexes helped him to create complex shapes whilst normal people would have had riot foam at best. He tied the woman to his waist. Then he fired two more lines as the floor between them and the window gave away. He pulled on the lines like a slingshot, using the motion and force to launch himself forward. Peter held the woman close, smoothly flying through the open window. Once outside, he fired another few webs to slow his landing.
"She took in some smoke but there doesn't seem to be anything broken," he told the paramedics approaching him.
"Thank you," the woman whispered to him as the medics took her.
He looked at the six engines responding, the ambulances and cops present. It was supposed to be a simple bank robbery scene, but it had escalated into a blaze across the block. The lenses of his mask narrowed as he looked towards Firecracker. She was holding hands with several people, all Vought employees in civies, no doubt called in for a 'scene'. The woman was praying with cameras on her. Peter fired off another web and swung back to the action.
Eastern Europe
Help me, help me…
'Oh,' Aaron forgot, his voice box was damaged. He rebooted his systems, his HUD reactivated and gave him a view of the sky. X51 tried to turn his head, but it was no good. His arms and legs couldn't move, he had been torn apart.
"…finally, finally we've got ourselves a job besides singing in the country side," his hearing recovered first.
He felt his body jiggling along with the sound of a clicking wheel. It was enough for Aaron to make out that he was in a wheelbarrow. Whatever had attacked him had left him for salvagers, or so Aaron suspected. But the one who spoke had an American accent.
"Bro, I relished the chance to sing, after years wearing someone else's suit," another said, African American, the one pushing the wheelbarrow.
"You were Black Noir man, me, I've always been the fish guy and now, sent away from the sea, from my fish," the man walking beside them spoke with a fondness in his voice.
"Don't fucking start with the fish man, two groupies, two stunningly good looking ladies and you still whine about a damn octopus."
"Oh thanks for being my friend."
The data was enough for Aaron to determine the identity of his handlers. The Second Black Noir, now called 'Lucas Steel', his new identity had been a disaster for Vought and called 'the dictionary definition of blackspoitation'. The Deep, otherwise known as Kevin, believed he could communicate with fish but was actually hallucinating based on his sexual desire for them. Both had at one point been members of the Seven. The Deep debuted first in his solo adventures 'The Deep: King of the Sea' before joining the Seven in 'Seven of Vought-America-Issue 43'. The Second Black Noir succeeded the first in 'The Seven Volume 3 Issue 1' unmasked in Issue 5.
"But why the hell are we picking up after the new guy on the block?" Lucas asked.
"We do whatever the heck we can to get back in Mr Homelander, I mean President-Saviour Homelander's good graces, and we're close man I can feel it," Kevin said.
"Why, because of that journalist we killed back in the city?"
"Don't tell me you're bothered by it, you got a hard on when you killed his wife, that was a waste of a hot woman," Kevin said.
"Bro you killed her husband, you didn't think you were going to fuck her did you?" Lucas asked.
"Bro come on, do you really think I would force myself on a woman?" Kevin asked.
"Bro you knew Sister Sage was lobotomising herself just to stomach fucking you," Lucas said.
"Fuck you bro, I had just as much chance with Sister Sage as you did."
"If you lobotomised her," Lucas retorted.
'Oh god,' Aaron groaned.
Someone please help me, he wanted to scream out.
Deep Space
Three battle cruisers were deemed sufficient to conquer Earth. An accuser and a disgraced captain deemed it a foolish endeavour. But Dar-Benn had convinced the Supreme Intelligence to accept her view on the Earth.
'Who?' she had heard many in the Kree Star corps ask and laugh whenever her name was brought up.
Clad in a black outfit, she walked with her black and gold armour troopers, inspecting the grey and green clad soldiers lined up and ready to receive her briefing. Her cosmic hammer clanged against the floor as she walked, her silver hair almost shining in the darkness. Long had she been forsaken, underestimated, because of her family position, her sex and her lack of blue skin. She found it ironic that she would conquer Earth, she who bore not even the Kree pink skin, but the tone on those who were once looked down upon by the greatest nation of Earth. Soon all of Earth would understand what it was to be enslaved.
"Earth is weak, it has always been weak," she began, catching the attention of her soldiers.
"It is a primitive world that yes at one point the 'great Mar-Vell' once chose to protect, but it has fallen into decadence and weakness. These are the 'intelligence reports' we have received."
She pointed her hammer to a holographic emitter, which began to broadcast a signal from Earth.
"…come back to another exciting episode of Vought Rising: last week Vikor fought against the Frost Giants of the Ice planet, his lightning is weak against their ice clubs."
"Oh All-Daddy, I cannot beat these foes, what hope is there?"
"Never fear my Slavic friend, Homelander is here…"
"They play hero, they pretend, they broadcast books analysing the powers of their 'heroes' but they are all…actors," Dar-Benn said with disgust.
Some of her soldiers visibly gagged whilst her elite troops grunted in disgust.
"Actors, the greatest scum that ever existed," she said. "Conquering Earth would be a favour," raised her hammer and her troops raised their fists, cheering in agreement.
Suddenly, the ship shook, claxons blared over the heads of those on the ship. Dar-Benn heard an explosion in the distance. She brought up a hologram from her bangle, widening her eyes in shock as she saw that one of the battleships had been rammed into the other. Swiping her finger, she displayed the status of her own ship, multiple hull breaches were being formed, one from the outside, then another from the inside, then again in the same sequence as if someone was flying in and then out repeatedly. The ship shook again and something ripped through the ceiling.
"Weapons free, to battle for Halla," Dar-Benn declared.
Her soldiers levelled their weapons at the man who had crashed through the ceiling. He was wearing a white and red suit that included a cape and cowl. The man smiled, looking at the soldiers as if amused by their weapons.
"My apologies for not knocking first, but I have to make this quick," he said.
"ATTACK!" Dar-Benn yelled.
The Kree fired their weapons, releasing beams of green light that struck the man. He hovered off of the floor, the blasts only made the man grin more. Suddenly, he was in front of the Kree soldiers, swinging his arm. One soldier was cut apart by a mere punch, the top of his body flew into several more soldiers and knocked down a line of the soldiers. Dar-Benn's elites flew over them with their jetpacks, only for the seemingly human man to dash straight through one, showering the soldiers beneath him in blue blood. He threw the weapons and they moved like spinning blades, imbedding themselves in the heads of gullets of the elite soldiers. Grabbing the head of another elite, he crushed the man's helmet and the head beneath it, spraying the blue blood across his face. Dar-Benn watched as the man blocked a laser sword with his bare hand and then flew forward; pushing the Kree swordsman through a line of soldiers, bones cracked, flesh tore and the invader left a bloody trail behind him, with only the top of the swordsman remaining in front of him. More soldiers came in to provide reinforcements, but the man clapped his hands together, releasing a shockwave that made the ship shake and cut through the first soldiers to come in. In the blaze of blaster fire, Dar-Benn activated her hammer.
'You will not underestimate me,' she thought.
"I am Dar-Benn, proud soldier of the Kree," she said.
Light shined across the hammer, cosmic rays crackled along the ground and Dar-Benn took a running start. She dodged the stray blast deflected off the attacker's skin. He beheaded a man with a swing of his arm and severed another's foot with a mere stomp. Dar-Benn jumped at the attacker and swung her hammer down. Her hammer made contact, cracks spread across the floor, the ship itself vibrated. But the hammer broke on contact with the man's head. Dar-Benn looked at her broken hammer in shock; the man stretched his neck a few times before he turned to Dar-Benn with a small smile that conveyed his indifference.
"Thank you, I've had a crick in my neck all day," he said.
Dar-Benn raised her staff, but the man suddenly grabbed her wrist. The bones became dust within an instant and Dar-Benn screamed. Her attacked grabbed her by her leg and 'lightly' threw her across the room. She slammed into the wall, feeling her spine snap, her remaining limbs breaking as they too made contact. There was a ringing in her ear, her hair was caked in blood, fragments of bone stuck out of her scalp.
"You're a little tougher than humans, only a little though, still I wasn't expecting you to survive," the dark haired man said, floating over Dar-Benn.
"I'm sure you've got some fancy tech to heal you up nearly as good as new, your empire is certainly as advanced as mine, worthy of respect which is why I'm only going to say this once and you will repeat it to your Supreme intelligence, and anyone else who will listen out there," he crouched on the ground, looking down at Dar-Benn. "Tell them Earth is not theirs to conquer, tell them it is mine tell them Earth now belongs to…
Invincible
Earth 3897
The alarm rang in his ear, a reminder that today was the day. Rolling out of bed, he booted up his computer. He made the final adjustments to his assignment, a little animation he made based on that Space Racer book his dad gave him. Attaching the file to an email, he sent it to his teacher along with the doctor's note. He'd be out of commission for a few days and staying with his parents so as to avoid infecting anyone on Campus, the concern was still there since the pandemic. Will would send the rest of his stuff later; he had the spare key for the dorm after all. He lifted the case out from underneath his bed; apparently they had someone to stand in for him on the other front. The test suit fit perfectly as Art designed it to, but it still wasn't completely his. Then again that was the point.
It wasn't Invincible flying away from his university, but Mark Grayson. He moved at night so as to not be seen, anyone who did look up though would have seen a dark haired boy wearing a yellow and orange suit. The yellow lenses he wore were enough to cover his identity, as for the flying there were plenty of super heroes so no explanation was needed there. Increasing his speed, Mark broke the sound barrier and made his way across the state in seconds. His flight and the strength necessary for him to survive flying at supersonic speed was all due to his heritage, a heritage his father had begun to make him truly aware of.
Nearly a year ago, Mark Grayson, half Viltrumite son of Omni-man, and the super hero Invincible had his first encounter with the Multiverse. Many universes collided with a speed driven monster raiding multiple realities, including Mark's own. Eventually Mark, his father, the Guardians of the Globe and many other heroes from across the Multiverse were drawn to a small town called Westview, what had been made the epicentre of a Crisis.
This Crisis and the encounters they had had along the way led to Mark's father Nolan to making a confession. Viltrumite's were not protectors, but conquerors; they explored the stars and sought out other worlds because they had decimated their own world and their population. Mark had always thought of his father what the rest of the world thought, that he was the greatest hero on Earth. His mother Debbie had been angry, but she was ultimately a calm woman who sought out reason and there was a reason for Nolan. Though Mark could no longer see his father as a hero, he could at least respect him as a man, even as he struggled to truly understand why his father was turning away from his people.
Nolan insisted that Earth, Mark and Debbie had changed him. But Mark knew it had had something to do with that superman. As lazy as he found the name, Mark knew that that man had inspired something in Nolan, probably for the first time in his life. Mark knew this because he too felt hope.
"Hey, Mark," he heard her and slowed his speed.
She flew up to his side, as beautiful as the day they first met. As disciplined too, Eve knew the risks and accepted them. The world knew her as Atom Eve of Teen Team, Mark knew her as a friend.
"No classic suit?" she asked him.
"I thought it was supposed to be covert, hence the guy they have to fill in for me," Mark said.
"Somehow I don't think people are going to be fooled by Bulletproof," Eve said awkwardly.
"Who else do we have on the team?" Mark asked.
"No idea, not Rex though," Eve said, frowning as she flew beside Mark.
"Did something happen between you guys?" Mark asked.
"I left Teen Team," Eve said.
"Why?"
"Rex and Kate, I…they were, Rex was with two Kates…"
Mark widened his eyes, blushing as he realised what Eve was saying.
"Oh," was all he could say.
"I know, god I knew Rex was an asshole but this," Eve shook her head.
"And to think, there I was believing my dad was part of an evil race of conquerors was all bad," Mark said.
"How are things with him by the way?" Eve asked.
Mark flew ahead slightly, turning so he could look at Eve.
"Better I suppose, part of me always knew Dad held back, which I thought was a given considering he, or at least I thought he was a hero. But Westview, the Infinite Monitor, heck just Thanos, it was a reminder that even Viltrumites are small fry compared to what's out there," he explained.
"Some of the deadliest forces in the universe are small," Eve said, creating a pink molecule in her hand to prove her point.
"Microscopic, not atom sized even," Mark quipped and Eve rolled her eyes.
"There's something else," he added.
"Yeah?" Eve asked.
"Do you remember that grey and red guy, and those two with the really unimaginative names?" Mark asked.
"Well one is dressed like a bat and the other is…definitely super," Eve said.
"Well he was definitely comparable to my dad, but genuine, like really that…"
"Corny?"
"I was going to say inspiring, because dad, he is different now and I don't think it's just because of his experience with the Multiverse or confessing to us. Part of me is jealous, angry even, it took strangers, one just a guy in a bad costume to inspire my dad to be better," Mark explained.
"Mark I don't know your dad, hell my own family isn't an ideal environment but sometimes the people who inspire us are strangers, but the people who save us can be friends and family. Let me ask you something, do you think your dad loves you and your mom?" Eve asked.
"I know he loves us," Mark said, though Eve noticed the way he avoided looking at her.
"Then he's changing because of you, I mean trust me I know a lot of things go into…"
"Atoms," Mark smirked and Eve swatted at him
"Please stop," she groaned.
"Hey you started it," Mark laughed.
Eve's smile dropped as she pointed ahead, towards what Mark guessed was the location they were told to fly to. Mark saw the speck of light he had come to recognise as the teleporting affect of Cecil Stedman. He was the top cop of their world, not a man to be completely trusted as Nolan said, but certainly a man who could be trusted to protect the Earth. The white haired man was balding, though Mark didn't know if that was because of the vicious scars across his face. He wore an unordinary business suit usually associated with secret agents. A few costumed individuals were already waiting on the desert rocks.
Mark loved comics, and he loved super heroes too. Ever since he was a kid he had been putting duct tape on and pretending he was 'Duct-tape man'. He followed every tweet and article on the super hero community so he was familiar with the names. Standing closest to Cecil and his right hand man Donald, was Robot from the Teen team. A brown armoured 'robot' with a skull like head design and green eyes. Also present was Dupli-Kate, who hugged her arms awkwardly as Eve avoided looking at her. The Asian girl was in a purple shaded costume with a number on her chest (Mark had to ask her how it changed when she created duplicates). There was a lesser known hero, Shrinking Rae, at full size she was actually quite a tall brown haired woman in green and yellow costume with glasses. She was more recognisable than the dark haired man Mark spotted leaning against one of the bigger rocks with his arms crossed. He wore grey/blue military gear and had a blind fold over his eyes. For some reason there was also a little girl, she looked like she was the youngest standing on her own.
Mark and Eve landed closest to Cecil, who was checking his watch and shaking his head.
"Late, late as always," he said.
"We did set our alarms," Mark said.
"Wasn't talking about you kid, I'm talking about your ride," Cecil said.
"What are we using?" Eve asked.
"Not what, who," Cecil said.
There was a flash of green light, before what seemed to be a portal opened before the heroes. There was a sound like 'thwip' before a man in an orange and black suit swung through it. There were web patterns on the black areas of his suit, a military style jump suit, white gloves and boots with a white A symbol on his chest. His face was covered by a white mask with red lenses on it.
"So," the man said, standing up from his previously crouched position and looking at Cecil. "You must be this world's alternative to Dick Fury," he said.
"Cecil Stedman, Spider-man I presume," Cecil huffed.
"Agent Spider actually," the new super hero corrected Cecil who shook his head.
"Same difference," Cecil said.
"So as well as doing whatever a spider can you can teleport people?" Eve asked.
"Only when I'm wearing my Spider Society watch beautiful, but no, you've got this guy to thank for it," Agent Spider pointed over his shoulder.
An unassuming dark skinned man walked out of the portal, smiling when he looked at Mark and nodding to Cecil.
"Everyone, meet Angstrom Levy, he's your transport and your only way home if things go south," Cecil said.
"Hello everyone, it's nice to meet you all, but I'm sorry it's under present circumstances," Angstrom said.
"How does this teleportation work exactly?" Eve asked.
"We'll be going to this exact location but in another universe," Angstrom said.
"Now to the heart of the matter, everyone, be prepared for what may be a long trip, or a short one. Some of you have volunteered for a mission you have no idea what the objective may be, others are aware of it, some of you might have heard whispers of a certain incident at a place called Westview, forget anything you read. You are not going over there to save a world, you are going over there to monitor, assess and if necessary intervene only if it is deemed a threat to our Earth. If you encounter a forest fire, or a super villain, or a couple being mugged in a dark alley, hell even if you witness a planet about to blow up, you will not interfere in anyway unless you have determined that what has happened there will happen here," Cecil explained.
"And now that he's said that we're pretty much guaranteed to interfere anyway," Agent Spider quipped and a few of the heroes, Mark included chuckled at Cecil's expense.
"I can brief the rest of you when we get there, don't worry, we're going to a place where the more…unique members of the team won't be spotted," Angstrom said.
"Before you go, Invincible, a word," Cecil said.
Mark walked over to Cevil, who had taken a few paces away from the group.
"All right Mark, now is the chance to back out, I'm sure you've picked up why the rest of those guys are here," Cecil said.
"I'm not sure I follow," Mark narrowed his eyes at Cecil who shook his head.
"Come on kid, other than Eve and Monster Girl most of these guys are expendable, Kate makes more of herself, Rae can just shrink and Robot is just a machine, if something bad happens they won't be missed. We need to be aware of what goes on in other Earths, but we can't risk our best people on them. You and your dad were drawn to Westview, no choice in the matter…"
"And we ended up saving a lot of worlds when we helped stop the Infinite Monitor," Mark said.
"Something big is coming Mark, not just across the Multiverse, but on our world too. Your dad can only keep the Viltrumites away from Earth for so long before they find out he didn't conquer us in the way they would have liked him to. We are going to need every advantage we can get, sometimes that means sacrificing a lot of people," Cecil explained.
"Then I'd better fight as hard as I can to make sure that doesn't happen," Mark retorted.
Cecil watched Mark walk away, partly impressed and another part annoyed. The Multiverse was a problem he wanted to avoid, just another expansion of his already important job. He had met the Fury's and the Wallers of the Multiverse and heard of the great icons, the supermen. Some felt one had changed Nolan for the better, Cecil disagreed in two ways, Nolan needed to be a killer. And the superman wasn't the only icon, Cecil recognised that red and grey knight, that man they called the fusion hero.
Aeon!
Earth MV-New York
The building was collapsing, the fire fighters had done their best to minimise damage and save who they could. But there were still more. Aeon heard the screams of a child. Her mother was dead, she had been in shock and lingered over the body for too long. A mother who had protected her child, even as an explosion ripped through their apartment. The child didn't want to let go of her mother's body, but perhaps realised too late that she needed to. Aeon ran up the crumbling side of the building, through the corridors, up an elevator shaft. He crashed through two other apartments and then up through a shattered ceiling. She was clinging to the wall, with one small bit of floor remaining to support her.
Time slowed for Sven in the moment she fell, he jumped between and off of falling debris, not caring that his armour was losing its integrity. His focus remained, save her, save someone, one more person, then another and then another. The girl had lived her life protected by a loving mother, in the shadow of heroes that had the expectation of protecting her. Firecracker had failed, with a callous and indifferent attack that created this incidence, that destroyed people's homes, injured people irreparably and even killed them. So Aeon flew, determined to save the girl who was left with nothing. She jumped, her arms going around Sven's neck and he fell back with her, gently putting his arms around her.
"I won't let go," he told her, voice echoing out of his helmet.
"I promise I will protect you, I will save people," he told himself as much as he did her.
Flipping in midair, he landed on a piece of falling debris and launched himself off of it. Firefighters looked into the blaze and saw people emerge from a hole in the wall. They were holding hands, carrying one another, some carrying injured but all linked to one who stood at the front. Aeon's armour and costume was covered in soot, he still held the girl he saved and the hand of another, who held hands with the father and his children, themselves holding the hands of their neighbours and others. Others coughed from the exposure to the smoke, Aeon though fell to his knees in exhaustion.
"Someone, please, this girl," he called out.
"Don't worry I got this, oh you poor child," Aeon froze as he heard the southern accented voice.
He still held the girl, even as Firecracker raised her hands, expecting him to give her the girl. Her smile, the shine in her eyes, all fake. Aeon found himself growling, something dark and hungry for battle wanted to get out, wanted to tear the bitch apart.
"This, this tragedy, these people, your survival is truly a miracle," Firecracker said.
"Miracle?" one of the survivors asked, glaring at Firecracker.
"We were looking out of the window, it was you, you created the explosion," a woman pointed at Firecracker, who raised her hands defensively.
"I did no such thing, I was working to apprehend a man who attacked heroes, this man," Firecracker pointed at Aeon as the cops came by.
"You intended to kill me not apprehend me, hence why that building behind us has crumbled," Aeon adjusted his grip on the girl, stepping away from Firecracker, not out of caution but because he was dismissing her.
"Suspicious, isn't it all suspicious, to go from attacking heroes to 'saving' people, from a wreck he has caused," Firecracker said and a few murmurs from the growing crowd.
Murmurs that indicated that maybe Firecracker was right. None who Aeon saved though agreed, in fact they came closer to him, almost as if part of some growing army. Aeon turned to the father and his children, kneeling in front of them.
"Please take care of her," he said.
He had to pull her away she didn't want to let go. Aeon stood up and looked at the rest of the blaze, some fires had been put out, and others had been left to burn as there were no casualties inside. There was a crackle of sparks in front of him; Firecracker clicked her manicured fingers together.
"Hey, are you paying attention, you are coming with us," she said.
"Maybe after we save more," Aeon said.
"Go," the formerly drunken father said. "Go, save those people," he said.
Go, another voice told him, don't stop until you've saved as many as your body can. Aeon was about to jump when he felt someone tap his leg.
"Here you are Mr Superhero," the child he gave his cloak too held the dirty and holey cape out for him.
"You know why heroes wear capes now don't you?" Aeon asked as he put the cloak back on.
"To comfort those they rescue," the boy said.
Aeon nodded, and then ran, jumping, stepping off of a fire engine and launching himself to another burning building. Spider-man watched the man go back into the flames. Peter took a deep breath from the oxygen tank one of the paramedics gave him, then he rolled down his mask and swung into the action again. Firecracker bit her lip as she watched them fight in a way she never had. The paramedics ignored her, the cops and firefighters ignored her and more importantly, her loving fans ignored her. Cameras flashed and just like everyone else Firecracker looked up at the sky. Her eyes though held more reverence than any other, as if she was looking upon a god. She was close to crying watching Homelander hovering over the people, looking at the burning buildings and huffing as if it was to be an easy save for him.
Suddenly, water began to fall onto one of the buildings. Even Homelander was shocked as he watched the gushing water put out the flames. People looked up at the sky and saw one of Vought's newest super heroes, someone who had been performing feats that were almost as miraculous as Homelander's. The man known as Invincible paled in comparison to Homelander though, at least in Firecracker's eyes, he lacked the vision based powers or Homelander's charisma.
'I suppose he isn't bad looking, for a gook,' Firecracker thought.
Invincible held the water tower over his head, the volume of water could have obliterated every insignificant human on the streets below. But he needed them to believe he was on their side for now. He smirked at Homelander, knowing that the 'President-Saviour' was irked. Homelander pressed his lips together, his brow furrowed for a moment before he smiled and clapped his hands. It triggered a response in the sheep below. They began to applaud too.
"Well done, very well done," Homelander said.
Vought-Tower
"Come on Tony," Howard whispered in frustration.
Tony's phone wasn't even ringing, in fact the battery had been removed judging from the fact the tracking app wasn't picking up a signal. Howard walked through the corridors of the tower, passing the statue of the founding members of the Seven. Homelander was at the front as always, intimately close to him was Queen Maeve, then there was Tek-Knight, in his Mark 3 armour (it debuted in Investigator Comics issue 616 as part of the 'Fallen Tek' storyline) what was essentially a helmet with armour made to look like a body, nipples included. Jack from Jupiter had yet to be moved out, the company stated Jack's loyal service to Earth made him the only alien not deserving of deportation (ironic considering he was human anyway).
Mister Marathon was advertised as the 'fastest man (changed to person in 'modern days') alive'. The red suit, the bolts on the side of his biker helmet were all supposed to promote the idea that he was fast as lightning. Officially he disappeared in a 'crisis on unlimited planets', in truth he died because of stupidity. After getting high, Marathon said he could run up the side of a building. He wasn't able to move at an appropriate speed and ended up as a puddle of human gunk on the floor.
Mister Marathon's demise was tame in comparison to the original Deep. The company was never quite sure what to do with the man. When he made his debut in the Seven (the iconic issue of Journey into Enigma: the Seven versus Starfish the Con-artist) he had an old diving helmet. Several years later he debuted in a type of blue suit, then he had his long hair phase and king of the sea phase. One day, he had the idea to rebrand himself as an edgy super hero. He grew out his hair and beard and even cut his own hand off with the idea of replacing it with a hook. The original Deep ended up getting an infection; he spent days in the hospital bed delirious, seeing things like a land shark with legs before he suffered a vicious heart attack. Officially the original Deep died in battle with his archenemies Dark Ray and Sea Dominatrix. He was succeeded by that sex pest Kevin.
Before Lamplighter there had been the second attempt at Vought creating a purely tech based hero. Bright-Torch was sold to the public as an intergalactic policeman; Vought even based his green uniform on a beat cop's outfit. His powers came from his flashlight, which could do anything. His film though tanked and he was accused of racism, Homelander used it as an excuse to promote his 'human lives over alien lives' policy. Bright-Torch's flash light ended up failing him when he tried to save a group of drunks on the Queensboro Bridge. He tried to catch them with a hand construct, but one of the drunkard's ended up peeing on the torch. Vought didn't even bother coming up with a cover story since they were already so embarrassed by the construct creating hero.
Everything was part of the show, and Howard had been reduced to a mere special effects artist. He walked up to Stillwell's desk and placed his computer tablet on it. She looked up from her own computer, raising her eyebrow in surprise at Howard's stride.
"Is this a fix for the medication?" she asked.
"Which one?" Howard retorted.
"At some point one of us is going to have to answer a question Stark, mine first, what the fuck are you doing up here?" she asked, leaning against her table.
There was something almost flirtatious about her presentation. Howard wasn't impressed though, she wasn't Maria after all. He turned the computer pad over and slid over to the lab results.
"Two, six, eight, thirteen products in our pharmaceutical range have the same peptides and hormones within them. The strongest concentration of course being the 'correctional' drugs you sell to our highest paying clients," Howard explained.
"What do you know about our clients?" Madelyn asked.
"Privately owned 'behavioural correction' camps, six of which are described as cults by those on the internet with actual original ideas. Rich parents typically send their kids, sometimes even adults there when they exhibit homo-sexual tendencies or a desire to transition. We provide those organisations with both drugs and 'correctional therapy' composed by Stormfront," Howard explained.
"We are a business Stark, we provide a service," Madelyn shrugged.
"I suppose ethics are overrated," Howard said.
"Now that you've seen my reaction to this 'revelation' what else do you…"
"They're the same," Howard said.
"Beg your pardon," Madelyn narrowed her eyes as Howard highlighted some of the formulas and chemicals.
"The peptides target brain function, we have toothpaste, shower gels, vapes, all with the same chemicals for altering the mind," Howard stated.
"You can't just change a mind with chemicals," Madelyn said and Howard chuckled.
"Of course you can, hormone therapy, anti-depressants, the brain and its ability to process emotions is just as much a series of chemical reactions as our reproductive system," Howard explained.
Madelyn leant back on her chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"What are you working on anyway?" Howard asked, turning her laptop around.
He grunted indignantly. Pictures were displayed of Vought super heroes.
"You're still trying to work out a roster for this 'New Seven' plan Homelander has?" Howard asked.
"We have some promising candidates," Madelyn said.
"You mean four people, because Homelander wants Stormfront and Black Black," Howard said.
"Black Noir," Stillwell corrected.
"You could call him Black Nero and you'd still be calling him black twice. It is the dumbest idea Vought has ever had, and this is the same company that came up with 'Betterer Spider-man' (the series that saw Peter Parker's mind replaced by his arch nemesis the Wall, pick up Vought's Omnibus edition now)," Howard explained.
"People actually liked that series," Stillwell pointed out.
"Well who did you have in mind?" Howard asked, walking around Stillwell's desk and leaning over her.
If she found it uncomfortable, she didn't show it, even leaning back slightly. The back of her hair brushed against his arm and Howard fought the urge to smirk. She was working him just as much as she knew he was working her.
'Question is does she know that I know she knows I'm working her?'
"Demolition Man?" Howard raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking at a wrestler with a red Mohawk.
"He's good in the ring, simple enough powers to understand and obscure enough to make interesting, 'oh we've never seen this guy before'. Besides I have it on good authority that he's gay, it'll win us points with the LGBT community," Madelyn explained.
"You think he's going to just come out because you ask him to?" Howard asked.
"No he'll come out because we tell him to, and pay him to as well. And if the rumours aren't true, well with our writer's we can just make him gay, people will complain for a while but it'll be the norm, just like we did with that ice kid," Madeline explained.
"Who else, Screaming Mimi, she looks like a clown," Howard said.
"She can make sound based constructs, her powers make her very toyetic," Madeline said.
"As in they'll translate well into making a line of toys about her, she has a criminal record," Howard said.
"We don't need to expunge it or bury it, we own it, people love that 'redemption' bull shit."
"I see you got a K-pop star here, Luna Snow, oh I remember when we used to be able to just diversity hire," Howard said fondly.
"Every hire is a diversity hire now," Madeline retorted.
"I'd hire people because they're qualified, for a job like this, maybe for their character too," Howard said.
"Oh Stark," Madelyn looked up at him, smirking as she fixed her hair. "Optimism and naiveté are endearing qualities, but not attractive ones," she said.
"You're a good liar Stillwell," Howard retorted.
"Excuse me," Howard and Madelyn looked up.
Stillwell's assistant Ashley stood there; the woman was nervously rubbing her sweaty hands together.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but, he wants to see Mr Stark," she said.
"If you excuse me Miss Stillwell," Howard said, walking away from the desk.
"Oh Howard," Madelyn called to him.
He looked over his shoulder; the woman leant back on her chair and bit the tip of her pen.
"Next time you try to flirt with me, I'll report you for harassment," she said.
"No you won't," Howard retorted before he walked away.
Transporting to another reality felt far different than Mark would have imagined. When it came to the 'Incident at Westview' it was like blinking and then 'pop', some omnipotent being bound by a flimsy moral code had transported you to the middle of a crisis. Angstrom Levy's portals though were like doorways, one step and you were somewhere different. Or rather the same place, Levy took a deep breath and sighed.
"Same kind of air, no cleaner sadly," he said.
"I concur, scans do indicate that this is a similar environment to our own, strangely perhaps even more pollution though. Oh I see…" Robot muttered.
"You connected yet?" Monster Girl asked.
"They call it Vi-Fi, Vought owns it, the concept of pollution and green house gases was dismissed as a fantasy of the 'woke-facist mob' as Vought calls it," Robot explained.
Eve didn't focus on the conversation, she instead looked at the ground, the soil and the clouds in the sky.
"This is really another Earth?" Eve asked.
"You were expecting hellfire to be raining from the sky, poisoned air, maybe a flat Earth?" Angstrom asked.
"I mean I do get it, scientifically even if string theory is real then the differences between two universes wouldn't be all that different," Eve explained.
"Comics explain it all the time, they even use the old 'happened in an alternate dimension' to explain inconsistencies like in company crossovers," Mark said.
"You could spend an entire lifetime trying to find differences in one world from another, some organisations catalogue worlds, but only end up using the same letters or names to refer to completely different Earths. This reality has sometimes been designated 6417, other times it is known as the Marvellous World," Angstrom explained.
"And how accurate a description would that be?" Rae asked.
"It is a young world when compared to others in the Multiverse, and it hasn't actually accomplished a great deal besides surviving an incursion, and that was only through the intervention of another universe," Angstrom.
"Hey, aren't we going to get started?" Dupli-Kate asked.
"Believe it or not back story can help, it helped me avoid fighting with Angstrom here," Agent Spider said.
"Why would you fight Angstrom?" Eve asked.
"A version of Invincible briefly ended up in my world and told me that he had been sent to it by Angstrom Levy, but it's a big Multiverse, lots of Angstroms," Agent Spider said.
"Just so we get this out of the way, that version of myself was severely traumatised and broken. Many of my counterparts attempted an experiment on that Invincible's Earth, only to end up merging into one, a psychologically damaged person who couldn't truly tell where his own thoughts or anyone else's began. One constant though was that many of those versions of Angstrom Levy had been wronged by a version of Invincible," Angstrom explained.
"Damn, evil Invincibles, that's a nightmare," Mark said.
"There are many, so many you'd begin to wonder if there are any good versions, which there are. Unlike my counterparts I found worlds where Invincible had become a hero, one had even reformed the Viltrumites and became their emperor, eventually bringing peace to his universe," Angstrom said.
"Really?" Mark widened his eyes in shock.
Eve smiled whilst Agent Spider shrugged his shoulders. Robot raised his head; the light in his eyes flickered slightly. Unbeknownst to the rest of the heroes, his internal view was that of a HUD showing an assortment of data. Some of it was articles on Vought, a live news feed of a fire in New York, Vought satellites picking up an object in the solar system (Robot hacked another satellite and saw no such object existed, it was a fabrication). Others were databases on Vought sponsored heroes and villains. He sifted through the data and separated the name 'Miles Warren' for future reference. Another signal came into his network, not Wi-Fi but a digital signal. At first Robot ignored it to focus on studying the world. Most of the history was defined by Vought published articles and books, some of which looked as if they had been written by a child (remember to buy 'The Real American History: by Lord-President-Saviour Homelander). Again though the signal worked its way into Robot's systems, so much so that Robot finally acknowledged it.
"Curious," he found himself muttering.
"Something wrong Robot?" Monster Girl asked.
"No, nothing of any interest, if we walk there will be a gypsies camp six clicks ahead of us, it will provide ample opportunity to take clothes to cover our costumes," Robot stated.
"Already covered," Eve said.
She waved her hands around. The clothes on the costumed heroes began to change with the pink light Eve generated. Altering the structure of the materials in their outfits, Eve changed them. Rae was covered by a simple green hoodie and jeans, the blind man had his gear turned into a business suit with shades. Mark looked at his own clothes in surprise, Eve had replaced his shades with geeky looking glasses and his costume with a blue suit jacket, shirt and red tie.
"The glasses are a bit much, I'm not really a suit kind of guy," Mark said, putting the glasses in his breast pocket.
"Too bad, you look handsome," Eve said.
"Really Eve?" Kate asked, motioning to her own new shirt.
It was a purple shirt with the words 'Man-stealer' on them. Eve flipped Kate off, changing the text to a T-Rex with a cave woman riding it.
"You aren't subtle Eve and I didn't know, Rex lied to me too," Kate said.
"If we are done, we need to focus on our mission," Robot said.
"He's right, have you picked anything up?" Angstrom asked.
Robot paused; the signal invaded his systems again. It was a digitised distress beacon, a binary code that in computing language was a literal cry for help.
"Nothing of any importance," Robot said.
New York
Ben looked over his phone; Vought was providing a play by play on the downtown fire. But on a separate civilian blog there were blurred photos and some 'amateur' (in fact much better pics than Vought) shots that showed Spider-man resting. Instead of beaming with pride tough, Ben sighed, closing the articles and putting the phone back into his pocket. He had work to do, no more checking on the kid.
Now came the difficult part.
It was never easy talking with people who had lost family. In a way, you were making them relive the trauma. 'Tearing open old wounds' was what Ben called it before he met May. She had a kinder way of looking at it.
"Sometimes you have to face what's hurt you, talking about a loved one's life is more important than their death, which is itself important too. Especially if you know that how they died was wrong!"
His wife, Ben thought the urge to smile. Maria Castle understood his pain, but Ben wasn't there to talk about his wife. There was a difficult air about the Castle house, Maria had recently dusted and done some cleaning to make the house presentable. Family photos were set above the fire place and on some of the tables. Photos that included Maria's family the Falconios, her children as babies, her husband's uniformed photo (next to the rolled up American flag) and downtime tour photos. But there was nothing of Frank Castle's family.
"He changed his name to Castle, he did it to disconnect from his family. That seemed to be Frank's thing, disconnecting," Maria said.
"He kept it all inside didn't he?" Ben asked.
"He was never the jolliest man in the room, but he was a great dad," Maria wiped her eyes, fresh tears forced their way through and Ben took his time.
"It's okay," he reassured her.
"After he left the marines he was even more distant, he had good days he did but I…I was, I'm awful, I was going to divorce him," she said.
"But you couldn't Mrs Castle, you couldn't divorce him and you couldn't fix your marriage, please tell me why you couldn't do this?" Ben asked.
Maria wiped her eyes, squeezing her hands into fists. She was a small lady, but the way her hands shook and the anger in her eyes was enough to know how she and Frank became a couple in the first place.
"We went to Central Park, it was a good day, a good day and then Vought super heroes were fighting 'Mafia hitmen', fucking bull shit, I'm sorry…" Maria's anger faded slightly and Ben waved the apology off. "Frank and I grew up around those types of people; they don't all act like the Sopranos or the Godfather. They were just actors, but they were using real guns, that Frank knew. He pushed us back, told us to keep low and run, he knew exactly what to do. It was the one with the wings and that ridiculous bow and arrow 'Eagle the Archer' fucking stupid. My Frank got a purple heart after he used his bag to cushion the explosion from a grenade, he lived through an airstrike, but then…" Maria made a sound like an arrow whooshing by.
"What happened after that?" Ben asked.
"Vought made a public apology, Frank got a hero's funeral and the Eagle got sent upstate, he took a picture with Tom Cruise and his lot saying he was on a 'healing path', he'll apparently make a comeback this Christmas," Maria explained.
"Did they offer you money?" Ben asked.
"Ten thousand, my Frank's life was worth ten thousand V-dollars, we didn't care about money, we just wanted someone to be punished for this," Maria said.
Hers was not the only story. Castle lived in Queens, so it wasn't a long trek for Ben to reach the Campbell residence. They had a pain Ben couldn't begin to understand and he didn't want to imagine it either. David Campbell was the one who spoke to Ben, his wife just sat on the sofa with him, cradling an old blood stained scarf. The family were on their way to Disney land when the 'accident' happened. A Vought truck swerved off of the road, it would have crushed the driver and front passenger side if not for a Vought super hero 'bravely intervening'. It was Soldier Boy himself who threw the Campbell's vehicle out of the way. Only it had landed at such an angle that their daughter Jessica suffered catastrophic head trauma.
"Vought offered to pay for her healthcare, they were the leading pharmaceutical company, it seemed like an obvious thing to trust them. If anyone could get Jessica out of a coma, or at least make her final days comfortable, it would be Vought. So she got transferred to a private hospital, we had to drive out of the city to get to her," David explained.
"There was something wrong, at our first visit, one of the entertainers, Thompson the Purple man, he was in our girl's room when we got there," Mrs Campbell said.
"The hospital was run by Mind Droid, a member of Payback, supposedly a robot," David said.
"Yeah right," Ben scoffed.
"The man had a fucking hard on," Mrs Campbell snarled.
"We came in a few more times, noticed bruises," David said as his wife walked out of the room.
She came back in with a box, she took out a set of photos and couldn't stop herself from looking at them with disgust and fury. Ben's anger paled in comparison to hers as he looked at the photos she gave him. The photos were marked with dates, showing bruises on Jessica's arms first. Then there was bruising on her thighs. A day after the Campbells braved looking underneath the hospital gown. There were pinch marks on Jessica's breasts, huge purple swells from a grip that wouldn't have come from a person with regular strength. Ben looked at the photos of her groin area for only a few seconds before closing his eyes and turning the photo down on the table.
"My god," he muttered.
"It was worse than that, Jessica had been waking up, other patients told us they had seen her walking around always with Mind Droid and Thompson," David said.
"But the medical records, she never…"
"Never woke up, she couldn't wake up for herself but one of them, or maybe both 'pushed' her brain into working her body for them. They must have made her do god awful things with them," David lowered his head and cried, unable to speak at all.
Husband and wife held one another and Ben used the rest of the information that was public and conspiracy knowledge to piece the story together. The Campbells report their concerns, Kevin Thompson the Purple man though is a popular entertainer and a man who has done extensive work in hospitals. Mind Droid too is just a machine, so the best Vought offers is a transfer to a facility exclusive for women. But the Campbells are smarter than that, they wish to take Jessica home. Only before the transfer can take place, Jessica dies from an infection. The Campbells are then hit with medical bills, charges for care given to Jessica.
"It wasn't even five minutes after we had been told our girl had died," Mrs Campbell said to Ben.
The detail stuck in Ben's mind, but he didn't cry, David wasn't alone. Ben had to drive to Hell's kitchen for one final stop, an interview though that unfortunately wouldn't happen.
Jack Murdock was called 'Battlin Jack' in the ring. A boxer who though lost more matches than he won, was famous in the local circuit for never getting knocked out, always losing on his feet. He had never married, whatever girlfriend he had left not long after his son Matt was born. Jack raised the boy on his own. Then Jack was trapped in hell. Ben couldn't talk to the man, because Jack himself was so engrossed in his punching bag. It wasn't an exercise though, blood dripped through the bandages on his knuckles. His hands shook and his breath sounded hoarse but he never stopped. Jack kept punching, punching, punching, unleashing all of his anger on something that like him was close to breaking. Sand fell alongside the droplets of blood and Jack's breathing turned into a scream.
"WHY!" he yelled.
The gym had other people in it, none of them seemed surprised by the incident. There was plenty of sympathy but no one could kneel down beside Jack and answer his question. Everyone knew why Matt Murdock had died. Soldier Boy was putting down a protest in Hell's kitchen, an anti-cop protest that according to Vought had become violent. When everyone else was at their worst, Matt Murdock was at his best. He pushed another boy out of the way and was hit by the car Soldier Boy had toppled over.
'Kid should have left playing heroes to the professionals,' was what Soldier Boy said 'off the record'.
When Ben returned to his car he couldn't start the engine. He rested his head against the wheel and took a few deep breaths. Looking into his wing mirror, he saw the tears in his own eyes. The same tears Maria, David and Jack had, with the same question on their lips.
"Why me?"
He and May tried so hard to have a baby. After the hospital told them they wouldn't conceive, Ben's brother Richard rushed over. Not to offer them comfort or reassurance, but to leave in their care his son Peter. Ben fumbled with his phone, looking up his nephew's number and considering for a moment calling Peter. He decided against it though, putting the phone away. Peter didn't need him bothering him.
He didn't need him at all.
Next Chapter 3: SeVen
Some of the horrors of this world revealed.
Next time a scapegoat is chosen as Homelander assembles his latest vision of the Seven, Tony wakes up to find new allies, Firecracker sets her eyes on Peter.
Meanwhile in the arctic, the strongest there is searches for an icon.