Fate of the World
The world of Worm is engulfed in chaos, so naturally I thought it would be a good idea to do a story with a Lord of Order added to the melting pot. I wasn't expecting a ROB to think that was a good idea and literally drop me in it though!
So I've been toying with this idea for a while, ever since the Strange/Fate Death Battle actually. The original idea was to give him both of them, but then I remembered that they were both OP as hell, so I decided to use Dr Fate and MCU Stephen Strange since hes slightly less stupidly powerful. It's not like Bet doesn't need a good dose of Fate. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
When I went to bed after staying up way to late working on a new story idea, I was expecting to wake up the next morning to the sound of my phone greeting me for another day at work. Instead, I was woken by the early morning light landing on my face and the fact my soft bed seemed to have turned into solid wood.
"What the...wuzgoinon?" I slurred as I opened my eyes, quickly throwing up my hand to stop the sunlight from burning my eyes out.
It took a moment to realize what was wrong with the image. My curtains were thick and I always closed them before I went to bed, so there was no way that sunlight should be getting into my room. I slowly lowered my hand and looked around the room, taking in the grimy walls that were covered in dark red stains, shattered furniture and the floor that had the rotten remains of a carpet that looked like it had been clawed to pieces. By claws that were strong enough to damage the hardwood floor.
"What the hel…" I started, before I suddenly realized that my voice sounded...odd.
I looked down and found that my voice wasn't the only thing that had changed. Instead of my thin body in nothing but the pants I went to sleep in, I found myself looking at a much more muscled body in my PJ pants.
"Huh...thats interesting," I muttered as I examined my new hands, absently running a finger over where I'd had a small scar on the back of my left one, "What the hell is going on?"
A loud crunch from outside made me jump and look up, just in time to see a twisted monstrosity I could only refer to as a troll stump past the window. I quickly scrambled to my feet and darted to the window, peeking out and down onto the street below. Just one glance made me realize that I might be in trouble. The town I was in was a complete wreck, with not a single house intact, although plenty of them seemed to have been patched up with wood and colourful bits of cloth and were inhabited by all manner of bizarre creatures that looked like something straight out of a fairy tale for little kids. If said fairytale involved orgies, debauchery and horrific table manners as the goblins gorged themselves on all manner of excess.
I gaped for a moment, before quickly pulling my head back before any of them could see me. I sat under the window for a moment, eyes wide as I tried to figure out what the actual FUCK was going on, before I suddenly remembered just what I'd been working on the night before.
"FUCK, I'VE BEEN ROB-ED!" I yelled without thinking.
I immediately clapped both hands over my mouth, but it was apparent that I was to late as the sounds filtering in from down below cut out. A moment later, they were replaced with chattering and the sounds of a number of footsteps moving towards the building I was in.
"Oh bollocks," I muttered, "This is gonna suck...I really hope I can figure out how to…"
"INTRUDER!"
I spun around, instinctively throwing out a hand and blasting the Goblin with a bolt of orange energy that turned him into chunky salsa. I blinked. That was...interesting. How did I…?
Then, it felt like my mind opened and I knew. I had so much knowledge in my head it was a wonder it didn't burst. All the knowledge of Kent Nelson, the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth and holder of the Helmet of Fate, and that of Dr Steven Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of a completely different Earth. Yeahhhh, this is going to be an...interesting new life.
Speaking of which, I bent down and picked up the golden helmet that had just appeared at my feet, ignoring the Goblins who had just burst into the room and froze at the sight of the red puddle that used to be the Goblin.
"SEIZE HIM!" screamed the leader, "TAKE HIM TO THE KING!"
I ignored him and put on the helmet.
The man once known as Jamie Rinke was many things. Delusional madman, S class threat, a King of Monsters and perfectly content. Oh sure, sometimes it became necessary to send his children out so he could restock on biomass to keep them from dying permanently and food was occasionally an issue, but generally he was perfectly happy to remain behind the walls in his little kingdom. Fortunately, it seemed that the peasants outside had learnt to keep away from his lands and his darling children. Occasionally there was an attack, but they were always dealt with and added to his reserves of Biomass and the retaliation served as a reminder that Nilbog suffered the Outside World because it was beneath his notice.
Unfortunately for the Would Be King, his little delusion was about to come crashing down.
The first indication was when one of his children was abruptly and very messily destroyed, prompting him to send a battalion to find the intruder. The next was when one of the buildings exploded with golden light, destroying the battalion he sent and a good chunk of the Goblins who were surrounding the building in question. There wasn't even enough left for him to convert back into biomass!
The column of light faded, leaving a glowing, golden figure floating in the air above Ellisburg and for a moment, Nilbog thought that the False God Scion had attacked him until he saw that the figure was clad in blue and gold with a golden cloak and helmet rather than actually being the golden man. The figure looked around, before he vanished into a golden ankh that appeared out of thin air. A bright glow from behind Nilbog made him jump and turn, just in time to see the glowing figure appear in his underground sanctuary, apparently completely unaffected by the miasma of poison and disease in the air that should have seen him collapsing with dissolving lungs within seconds.
"Jamie Rinke, your fate is here," said the figure in a voice that sounded like many people talking as one, "For the murder and desecration of countless Souls, I will banish you from this world."
Nilbog opened his mouth, but before he could get out more than a syllable, his world was engulfed in golden light for about three seconds before it cleared and he found himself stood on a rocky plateau, smack bang in the middle of a swarm of dog sized insectoid creatures.
He barely had time to scream before the Gaunts tore him to shreds.
The streak of blue light known as Legend came to a screeching halt a few miles from Ellisburg and slowly flew towards the walled off city, staring at the enormous firestorm that was engulfing the city, burning blood red and forming into the shapes of snakes, lions, dragons, chimeras and other creatures from both reality and myth, apparently being directed by the golden figure floating nearby, waving his hands like a conductor.
He glanced to the side as Alexandria and Eidolon came to a stop beside him, both silently watching the flames as their movements seemed to reach a crescendo and they began to shrink, leaving nothing but black ash behind as they did. Within moments, the flames had compressed down to a small ball the size of a softball between the strangers hands, before he brought his palms together and snuffed it out. Then he turned his gaze on the Triumvirate and all three went rigid.
There was a fair distance between the three of them and the new Cape and his helmet made seeing his eyes difficult, even with the golden glow emerging from within the metal, but even so, all of them could feel the weight of his gaze. It felt like he was studying them right down to the core...and finding them wanting. Even Eidolon, battle happy as he was, suddenly got the feeling that picking a fight with this new Golden Hero would be a tremendously stupid thing to do. Like, right up there with picking a fight with all three Endbringers and Scion at the same time levels of stupid.
He floated towards them slowly, making all three tense, before stopping within hearing distance.
"Good afternoon," he said, "You'll have to forgive my distraction, but Fiendfyre can be difficult to control and I'm here to fix things, not burn the world to ash."
The Triumvirate looked at each other, before Legend floated forwards slightly.
"Its fine," he said, "Might I ask who you are?"
"Ah, of course," said the golden man, "I am Dr Fate. And the three of you need no introduction of course. So, did you like my grand entrance?"
"It was certainly impressive," said Alexandria, "What did you do to Nilbog? Was he burnt as well?"
Dr Fate tilted his head slightly and clapped his hands together. He pulled them apart, creating what looked like a golden bubble between them that quickly formed into a screen that showed a very familiar crazy killer getting torn apart by a pack of what looked like mutated dogs.
"I sent him to a world where he could experience something similar to what he put others through," said Dr Fate, "Tyranids use biomass harvested from those they consume to reproduce and create more of their kind, so I felt it was fitting for him to go out that way."
"I...see," said Alexandria as the screen vanished, "Might I ask what you plan to do now?"
Dr Fate tilted his head slightly.
"I am...unsure," he said, "I need to clean up the mess this world has become, but Magic alone will not be enough, even with the power of Nabu."
He refocused and fixed the three with another intense look.
"I will not be joining your rotten organization, but I will aid you as needed," he said, "Should you need me, simply call. I shall be around."
He turned to leave, before pausing and looking at Alexandria.
"But before I go, a token of my...esteem."
He pointed at her and a thin beam of golden light shot out of his finger tip to strike the legendary Brute directly in her missing eye before any of them could react. Alexandria rocked back in the air as Legend and Eidolon jumped between her and Dr Fate, only to be completely ignored as he vanished through a golden portal. Apparent threat gone, they whipped around to check on their friend.
"Are you OK Becca?" asked Legend, catching her as she swayed drunkenly in the air.
"Y-yes, I think so," she said, "But…"
She reached up and probed at her helmet, before slowly digging in her fingers and pulling a small piece away, revealing what had been a mass of white scar tissue. Instead, it revealed unblemished skin and a perfectly whole eye.
"Wha...how did he…?!" spluttered Eidolon at the sight of the healed injury.
"I...don't know, but it works," said Alexandria, looking around and blinking her restored eye, "Who was that guy?!"
"I...don't know," said Legend, looking over at where the other Cape had vanished, "But...I think we need to find out."
I stumbled through the portal into a plush sitting room, wrenching the Helmet off as the portal vanished. The Vestments of Fate vanished as the Helmet left my head, leaving me in my Pyjama pants and gasping for breath as the last remnants of Dr Fate faded from my mind. That had been INTENSE.
The power held inside the golden helmet was immense, much more than the Human body was meant to contain and my body, while optimised for Magic by whatever had pulled me here, wasn't ready to handle it. Oh, I could manage for a time, but if I had kept the Helmet on much longer, I'd probably have been burnt to ashes. That more than anything was why I wasn't about to just fly around the world and blow all the threats to bits, although another part was that that would cause more problems than it would solve. I'd hit some of them once I recovered, but until I could handle Dr Fates power better, I was somewhat limited in terms of Godly Powers. On the other hand, I had access to all of Stephen Strange's powers without the helmet on, so maybe I should keep my gob shut.
Oh yeah, I had the powers of both DC's and Marvels Sorcerer Supremes, although I could only use one at a time and the latter was the slightly less stupidly powerful MCU version of Dr Strange. Still, it did mean I had the memories of two extremely intelligent and powerful men at my disposal, which would be extremely useful.
I finally caught my breath and got my burning muscles to stop shaking enough to get to my feet and take in my new surroundings. I was in a rather plush looking study with lots of dark wood, leather and bookshelves groaning under the weight of the tomes contained within. The room was dark, lit mostly by lamps and the fireplace, despite the open curtains and sunlight come in. Despite that, I found myself rather liking the room. It had a lot of class and looked like the perfect place for a Wizard to sit around brooding. Because all good Wizards should brood.
I put the Helmet on the plinth that was clearly designed for it and wondered out of the study to explore the rest of the house. It was fairly large, although not to the point where it was to much for one person, and mostly decorated in the same style of my new study, with the exception of the kitchen which was ultra modern. There was a decent sized basement with a training room, gym, ritual room and a portal room that would allow me to teleport all over the world in an instant, without the need of a Sling Ring, while the attic was a combination of store room and museum for a huge number of Mystical Artefacts, including the Cloak of Levitation, which turned out to be just as sentient and affectionate as its MCU counterpart when it came crashing through its case and wrapped itself around me in a way that reminded me of a big dog happily greeting its master.
After getting the oddly affectionate clothing to calm down, I headed back downstairs and into the master bedroom where I found that the contents of my wardrobe, my computer and my consol had crossed over with me, which was nice, iif a bit odd considering that both were from 2018 and thus, about seven years more advanced...probably. I have no idea what Dragon might have done with Tinkertech computers after all. Whatever, it was nice to still have access to my games, although I doubted I'd have chance to play them much. That feeling was made stronger as I scanned the package I found on my bedside table which contained all the paperwork to make me an actual person on Bet. Whether it was the ROB who dumped me here or the Resources perk, something had a sense of humor because I was now called Stephen Strange and was a fully qualified doctor with a medical licence and everything. Considering I didn't have any medical knowledge at all yesterday, it was a bit strange to consider that I could now perform even the most complex of brain surgeries with my eyes closed. Probably best not to though.
My stomach chose that moment to remind me that I hadn't had breakfast yet and using Magic to destroy crazy megalomaniacs was excellent at working up an appetite. With that in mind, I got to my feet and headed downstairs in search of food.
Unfortunately, Resources had not thought to stock the kitchen with much more than a box of weetabix and a small bottle of milk, which was barely enough for breakfast and, to make matters worse, I quickly discovered that, while my wardrobe had come through, very little of the stuff inside fit me very well any more.
"Well, on the plus side, Magic will make getting it all home a lot easier," I grumbled as I got dressed in some of my slightly larger clothes that vaguely fit me, "On the down side, I need to visit the bank first. This is gonna be a pain in the arse."
I headed for the door, absently grabbing the Cloak as I went, which wrapped around me and transformed into a very nice red trench coat. I paused and looked down in surprise.
"I didn't know you could do that," I said.
The tails of my new coat flapped and the collar tilted down in a way that made me think of a big dog preening at being praised. I shook my head, grabbed my keys and walked out the door, pausing to look back at the small townhouse that was my new home, noting the circular window in the roof that looked into the Artifact Room and had a design similar to the Greenwich Sanctum in the Dr Strange Movie. Considering that it WAS America's Sanctum in this world, thats not all that surprising.
I made a mental note to double check the protections to make sure they weren't weakening considering that they were supposed to keep out extra-dimensional threats like Scion and walked off in the direction of downtown. It was unlikely there'd be a Demonic incursion in the few hours I'd be busy if there hadn't been one yet. And if there was, I could just grab the Helmet and boot them out with Nabu's power before fixing the hole in the protection net.
It didn't take me long to arrive at the bank where I was quickly assured into a meeting with a very excited looking manager. Considering my bank account had more zeros than I'd ever seen outside of a Harry Potter fanfic, I'm not to surprised by that. Nor was I surprised by the stupid amount of paperwork I had to fill out to get access to my money.
We were just finishing up (much to my relief) when a loud crash echoed from the main hall of the Bank, followed by a lot of screaming, the sound of a massive dog barking. I had just enough time to let out a 'oh you have got to be…' before a cloud of black smoke came billowing into the office, cutting both me and the manager off from everything, and someone grabbed me roughly by the shoulder and frogmarched me back into the main hall where I was shoved down with the rest of the hostages.
I ignored Tattletales little speech and I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to elevate the headache I was feeling. Of all the days to arrive, I was expecting to end up having to fight Lung. Instead, I arrived in time for the bank job. Oh well, this just meant I needed to be quick so I could keep Coil from nabbing Dinah.
I sighed, put my palms together and twisted. A white smog erupted out of me and covered the hostages, killing the spiders Skitter had planted on us. A second twist of my hands caused a glowing barrier to form around the hostages as I stood and allowed the Cloak to lift me into the air, converting my clothes into black robes as my coat morphed back into its cloak form. I smiled at the looks of utter shock on the Undersiders faces, especially Tattletales, as I floated down and landed lightly between them and the doors.
"Sorry to interrupt your no doubt well planned heist, but I have a lot to do today and I don't fancy having to put it off more than I have to," I said.
I felt a slight tickle in the back of my head and my arm jumped slightly. I responded by conjuring a disk of firy energy and throwing it at Regent. It smacked into his head with a loud gonging sound and exploded, knocking him on his ass.
"Try that again and I'll lock you in a Hell dimension full of tentacle monsters," I said mildly, "Now, you lot have a choice. You can either leave and consider the ramifications of working for a two headed snake like Coil…"
I twisted my wrist and conjured a blazing sword of eldritch energy.
"Or I can kick your asses and hand you over to the PRT and Wards who just arrived."
Tattletale narrowed her eyes.
"You'd let us go?" she asked, "Why? Your a hero."
I snorted.
"I'm here to deal with the big problems that are tearing this city apart," I said, "Your boss might be one of them, but throwing a bunch of kids who made bad choices or have no choice in the matter at the mercy of the courts is not on my purview. Your plan was good and would result in no casualties, your small time thieves who mostly target other Villains and, if it wasn't for the fact that Coil is a greedy dick, you wouldn't even be here."
Grue twitched slightly.
"Wait, Coil?" he asked, "Our boss is Coil?"
His skull helmet turned on Tattletale, who winced. Before he could start an argument though, I clapped my hands, drawing their attention back to me.
"Argue later, for now, make your choice," I said, "Leave or get tossed in the slammer."
I smirked and flicked a hand, summoning a portal to the Mirror Dimension. The Undersiders stiffened at the sight of the shattered fabric of reality, but Tattletales eyes went so wide I'm surprised they didn't fall out.
"Or I can just lock you in my little prison," I said smugly.
"We're going!" yelped Tattletale, grabbing Bitch and Regent by the collars and dragging them in the direction of the back exit.
I hid a smirk as the Undersiders booked it amid confused protests from Regent, which earned him a smack and hissed scolding from Tattletale, who seemed scared out of her wits. Not that I blame her. I have no idea what information her power had fed her about the Mirror Dimension, but it was probably enough to give her nightmares for a while.
Once they were gone, I closed the portal and dispelled the barrier that had been keeping the bystanders safe and unable to hear the conversation. I ignored the looks I was getting as I turned my clothes and Cloak back to their civilian form. I glanced over at the manager who had helped me.
"We are done, right?" I asked.
She blinked and nodded slowly.
"Good, in that case, someone tell the PRT that if they want to talk to me, they can do so another time," I said, pulling out my Sling Ring and summoning a portal into existence, "I've still got a lot of stuff to do today and I don't fancy being stuck talking to them for hours."
"Wait!"
I paused, one foot through the hole of horrifically tortured special fabric, and glanced over my shoulder at the girl who had spoken up. Judging from the freckles, frizzy hair and the fact she had the guts to stop an unknown 'Cape' who apparently didn't give a shit about a secret identity, it was probably Panacea.
"Who are you?" she asked.
I smirked.
"My name is Dr Strange," I said and stepped through the portal, allowing it to close behind me.
Right, this is all for the…'official' for want of a better word part of the chapter, but I'm going to keep going for a little longer. See, I had an idea for this that would result in a lot of craziness. I probably won't continue with either version, but I still wanted to get it down, just for the absurdity of it all. Enjoy!
I sighed deeply as I dropped the bulging bags of groceries on my kitchen table and started unpacking, dropping the paper I'd picked up off to the side for now. I'd been lucky enough that my little debut with the Undersiders had taken long enough to get out that I'd been able to get all my required food without getting mobbed, but I had no idea that I'd be having the PRT drop by soon enough. However, I'd hopefully have enough time for a cup of tea, some lunch and to read the paper. With that in mind, I made a sandwich, a cup of tea and headed to the sitting room where I lit the fire and sat down beside it. I took a sip of tea, shook the paper open…
And immediately sprayed the former across the room when I was met with a large image of one of Dragons suits stood beside Iron Man with three people tied up at their feet and a pile of shattered metal and sparking wires behind them.
IRON MAN AND DRAGON CAPTURE DRAGONSLAYERS!
Proclaimed the headline, with a slightly smaller one underneath it announcing that Dragon had come out as an AI created by Richter, backed up by Tony Stark. I ripped the paper open and scanned the articles, quickly finding information on Spider Man assisting in the take down of some Villain in NYC, the Hulk being spotted somewhere in Nevada having a tussle with the Nine (and winning) and a hammer being found in New Mexico.
Not only that, but apparently Matt Murdock was making waves by getting Canary off scott free, a survey team had managed to dredge the remains of a bomber from the arctic and found the still living body of Captain America inside and the nation of Wakanda was busy showing the Parahuman Warlords of Africa WHY they were a world superpower with the help of their advanced, Vibranium based technology.
I finished the paper and closed it, setting it aside as I stared into the fire.
"Well...thats interesting," I said eventually, my voice slightly hysterical, "I wonder if Thanos is after the Infinity Stones in this reality?"
Then I remembered what I had in my basement, paled and ran downstairs. Sure enough, in the portal room, there was a pedestal holding the Eye of Agamotto, which, after a quick check over, I determined did indeed hold the Time Stone.
I groaned, scrubbing at my face as I tried to figure out if this was a good thing or a really bad one. On one hand, the Avengers, on the other, Thanos was likely a thing. If that was the case, I'd need the power of Fate even more than I thought I did.
"God, this is going to drive me to drink," I groaned as I stumbled back upstairs, "I need a nap…"
Unfortunately, resting my abused mind would have to wait because at that exact moment, the doorbell rang. I glared at the door, before stomping over and opening it.
"Dr Steven Strange?" asked the man on my doorstep.
"Thats me," I said, "Can I help you?"
I was mildly surprised that the man was both alone and not a Cape. I had honestly expected to open my door to Armsmaster backed up by a squad of Troopers, instead I got a perfectly normal looking man, flanked by only one woman. True, she had the bearing of a skilled assassin, in addition to being a complete...knock...out.
Oh hell, they weren't PRT!
"I'm Agent Coulson and this is Agent Romanov," said the man, "We're with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Not the PRT?" I asked.
Coulson smiled thinly.
"The PRTs purview is over Parahumans," he said, "But you aren't a Parahuman, are you?"
I stared at him for a moment, before smirking.
"Oh, your good," I said, "Alright Agents of SHIELD, you have my attention."
I stepped back.
"Please, come in."
Coulson smiled and stepped inside, followed by Black Widow. I glanced out the door, made a gesture, and closed it as the goon watching my house from across the street fell back with a yelp as his camera exploded in his hands.
Like I said, a bit much, mainly because adding the Avengers would utterly break Worm, and I don't just mean because I'm not entirely sure how Zion would react to someone else trying to invade 'his' petri dish. Probably with sheer terror at the thought of facing Thanos. Plus, the existence of the Infinity Stones kinda make him seem like much less of a threat.
Like I said, I won't be continuing with this and if I did, it wouldn't involve any more of a crossover with either Marvel or DC, I just wanted to get it out there. Don't forget to leave a review!