comic
Previously turnt3chGodh34d
PROLOGUE
Once the path is opened, the gate swung open wide, keeping others out, or in this case “in,” becomes that much harder. Regulation of the multiverse was never something explicitly present. The creation of multi-versal organizations, like Smash Bros., gave a sort of hub. A safe haven in the dangerous and desolate expanse that is the omniverse.
Once a universe has tasted a rift, the walls begin to weaken. With each crack, the walls thin, until eventually, it becomes simple to cross through. Without governance or policing, the omniverse became a wild place with no rules and no laws. A place Leon S. Kennedy now found himself.
Peering over the wall, the agent squinted at the distant group around the raging fire, which consumed an effigy of... well, Leon didn’t know what it was of. He wasn’t here for it.
“Stark, what am I looking at?”
Leon placed a finger to his ear, listening in for the reply of one of his allies on this mission: Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. He’d met Stark not long ago when seeking out the means of multiversal travel in order to locate and track down the entity called “Master Hand.” Come to find out that Tony had been involved in roughly the same event as Chris had, against powerful factions vying for control of a “Nexus,” something inherently tied to Master Hand in ways Leon didn’t yet know.
"An effigy,” the Iron Man replied. "Why, someone you know?”
“Yeah,” Leon replied dryly. “We were supposed to grab a beer tonight.”
”Any sign of the source?”
“None...” Leon lowered his hand, and continued to slink in the shadows, where the fire light didn’t reach. The figures around the effigy yelled and roared their approval at the burning, strange and alien barks.
Aside from Stark, Leon’s current entourage consisted of E-123 Omega, an old friend, and Solid Snake, someone Ryu had introduced him to. The soldier was a man of few words, like Leon, with a voice that implied a bad habit of heavy smoking. Leon always got the feeling Snake knew more than he let on.
Omega was on stand-by, should Leon need any physical support, as was Snake, who was somewhere close by waiting to be needed as well. The agent continued to make his way through the desert he found himself in, glancing a few times down at a small pad on his wrist, a device from Stark that was tracking the location of an item Snake had made them aware of: a “Source Node” he’d called it, capable of mapping the greater omniverse. Apparently it was rare, hard to control, even harder to get ahold of, and most were already in the possession of organizations like the Smash Bros.
The device wasn’t exactly the most accurate, if it even was. This was the first source it had picked up, so this was a trial run to see if Stark’s tech had proven useful.
The DSO agent continued to make his way across the dunes, glancing every so often upward to the night sky. It was so strange, not knowing any of those constellations. This place was so distant from home, in so many ways. It was hard not to wonder about it.
Of course, the mission came first.
Using what little light from the stars he could, Leon was barely able to make out some kind of hovel in the distance, like an igloo made from sandstone. The source tracker was flashing a rapid red, which indicated he was nearly on top of the node. Now came the issue of finding it. Surely it wouldn’t just be tucked in some desert igloo, would it?
He approached the homestead, once more bringing a finger up to his ear. “Think I found it. Cover my exits,” he said, before closing the distance.
The home was simple in its design, nothing special. It seemed barely even occupied, tucked in the middle of nowhere. Who would live out here?
Aiming Matilda at every nook and cranny, Leon found no inhabitants. None present, anyway. Slowly, he lowered his customized handgun and consulted the source tracker once more. Tapping a few buttons on it, he brought it up, and the device began to scan the room. It lingered at a chest in the corner of the home.
This was too easy...
Glancing warily around, Leon cautiously approached the chest. Pulling out his flashlight, its beam cut into the darkness. He stuck the device in his mouth, held by his teeth, before he knelt and began to fiddle with the strange locking mechanism of the storage container, only upon seeing no obvious signs of booby traps.
A few minutes of fiddling later, and the chest opened with a ‘thunk.’
All that was inside appeared to be junk. Leon sifted through it all for a few moments, frowning, before he pulled out his flashlight with a sigh. “Stark, I’m not finding it.”
”Snake said it’ll take the form of something important from the world it appears in. Anything fit the bill?”
“Sure, if you think rusty old robot parts work, in a universe filled with rusty old robots.”
Leon frowned, pulling out a few hunks of metal, before he pulled out something that felt a little heavier than the others. It was some kind of rod, almost like a hilt. He shined the flashlight over the item, and felt a chill of recognition run down his spine.
He knew what this thing was.
“I hope you know how to use that.”
Leon’s reaction was immediate, the man spinning on a dime, aiming Matilda at a figure that stood at the entrance of the hovel. A cloaked man, hood over his head. The flashlight beam revealed only his dark brown clothing, but the man’s hands came up, pulling down his hood to reveal a somewhat old man. His hair was white, his eyes a striking blue. “Hello there.”
“Who are you?” Leon demanded.
“The owner of this home,” the old man replied, raising an eyebrow as he glanced about, almost like he could see the details of the house through the darkness, and the flashlight beam pointed at his face. “And you?”
So this was the guy who lived out here, in the middle of nowhere, with a Source Node in his trunk of spare parts. “Leon,” the agent replied, sill not lowering his weapon nor his flashlight. “Sorry to intrude, but I’m here for-”
“I know why you’re here,” the old man cut him off. “But that is not for you.”
He pointed toward the weapon hilt, which Leon had dropped when he’d turned to aim at the stranger. Leon glanced down at it. “I’ve seen weapons like it before...”
“A lightsaber.”
“Yeah, sure ain’t a life saver, though.”
“Depending on which end you’re at,” the old man replied, his tone almost humored, before he squinted his eyes. “It belonged to an old friend, and I intend to give it to a new one.”
Leon slowly lowered Matilda and his flashlight, getting the impression that this guy had no intentions of fighting. “Seems lonely out here. Maybe I could be that new friend you’re waiting for.”
The old man chuckled. “Not likely,” he said simply.
“Hey, what’s your name, anyway?” Leon asked.
“Ben. Just Ben.”
The agent frowned. He’d been expecting... well, not that. “Well, Ben, sorry, but I kinda need it. Might be the key to something big.”
It was here that the old man, Ben, fell silent, his eyes resting on the lightsaber at Leon’s feet. After a couple seconds, the agent stooped down and picked it up, looking it over. “Promise I’ll bring it back.”
Ben finally blinked, eyes returning to staring back at Leon’s. He seemed hesitant to say something, but his eyes were shaking. Leon could remember something similar to that happening, the psychics he’d met would do this when reading minds. Was it that this man was doing that right now?
If so, Leon didn’t mind. It would be easier to see what Leon knew than for him to try and explain it with words. Finally, Ben’s eyes focused. “That is pretty big,” he commented.
“If that’s all, I should go,” Leon said.
“I fear you may not get far,” Ben suddenly warned, forcing Leon to pause. What more did this guy know? “A traitor will be in your midst, Leon, and just as you hunt for truth, you yourself will be hunted.”
“You’re psychic, then,” Leon replied. “I figured as much. What do you see?”
“Your death,” Ben was simple with the delivery. “The path of vengeance is one often left unsatisfied. It will become more than that.”
Leon pursed his lips, before he shook his head. “Probably,” he agreed. “But I’m not stopping now.”
“Then good luck,” Ben nodded slowly, “we’ll cross paths again.”
“I’ll bring minesweeper,” Leon said, “looks like you could use the entertainment.”
Ben said nothing more. He simply watched as Leon left the hovel with the lightsaber in-hand. Once again, it had all been too easy. Was this really the Source Node? The source tracker seemed to think so when Leon had it scan the weapon.
Once he’d made enough distance to the hut, Snake and Omega appeared, the former seemingly materializing out of the darkness as Omega rocketed through the sky before noisily touching down, blasting sand everywhere (Leon knew he’d be cleaning it out of his hair for months, now).
“OBJECTIVE ACQUIRED,” Omega stated. “I AM SURPRISED. THE CALCULATED CHANCE OF SUCCESS WAS 12%. I AM DISAPPOINTED THERE WAS NO FIGHT FOR IT.”
“Yeah, I feel like this was too easy,” Leon agreed, glancing toward Snake. “Couldn’t give me a heads up about the old guy?”
Snake simply stared back, no clear emotion displayed on his stoic face. “Snuck by me.”
Leon had trouble accepting that, but then again, Ben had a lot of mysticism to him. Maybe he’d simply appeared at the entrance. Or maybe Snake wasn’t as good as he’d been advertised by Ryu.
Leon brought a hand up to his ear. “Alright Stark, open the gate. We’ve got the package.”
As a light broke through the darkness, the air before them seemingly splitting open to reveal a path to another world, the three individuals stepped through, unaware that the hunt Ben had warned Leon about had already begun.
For in the same universe, billions of lightyears away, a helmet hissed as it was fitted onto its owner. He sensed a powerful disturbance in the force... and it felt familiar.
He drew a deep, mechanical breath.
Once a universe has tasted a rift, the walls begin to weaken. With each crack, the walls thin, until eventually, it becomes simple to cross through. Without governance or policing, the omniverse became a wild place with no rules and no laws. A place Leon S. Kennedy now found himself.
Peering over the wall, the agent squinted at the distant group around the raging fire, which consumed an effigy of... well, Leon didn’t know what it was of. He wasn’t here for it.
“Stark, what am I looking at?”
Leon placed a finger to his ear, listening in for the reply of one of his allies on this mission: Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. He’d met Stark not long ago when seeking out the means of multiversal travel in order to locate and track down the entity called “Master Hand.” Come to find out that Tony had been involved in roughly the same event as Chris had, against powerful factions vying for control of a “Nexus,” something inherently tied to Master Hand in ways Leon didn’t yet know.
"An effigy,” the Iron Man replied. "Why, someone you know?”
“Yeah,” Leon replied dryly. “We were supposed to grab a beer tonight.”
”Any sign of the source?”
“None...” Leon lowered his hand, and continued to slink in the shadows, where the fire light didn’t reach. The figures around the effigy yelled and roared their approval at the burning, strange and alien barks.
Aside from Stark, Leon’s current entourage consisted of E-123 Omega, an old friend, and Solid Snake, someone Ryu had introduced him to. The soldier was a man of few words, like Leon, with a voice that implied a bad habit of heavy smoking. Leon always got the feeling Snake knew more than he let on.
Omega was on stand-by, should Leon need any physical support, as was Snake, who was somewhere close by waiting to be needed as well. The agent continued to make his way through the desert he found himself in, glancing a few times down at a small pad on his wrist, a device from Stark that was tracking the location of an item Snake had made them aware of: a “Source Node” he’d called it, capable of mapping the greater omniverse. Apparently it was rare, hard to control, even harder to get ahold of, and most were already in the possession of organizations like the Smash Bros.
The device wasn’t exactly the most accurate, if it even was. This was the first source it had picked up, so this was a trial run to see if Stark’s tech had proven useful.
The DSO agent continued to make his way across the dunes, glancing every so often upward to the night sky. It was so strange, not knowing any of those constellations. This place was so distant from home, in so many ways. It was hard not to wonder about it.
Of course, the mission came first.
Using what little light from the stars he could, Leon was barely able to make out some kind of hovel in the distance, like an igloo made from sandstone. The source tracker was flashing a rapid red, which indicated he was nearly on top of the node. Now came the issue of finding it. Surely it wouldn’t just be tucked in some desert igloo, would it?
He approached the homestead, once more bringing a finger up to his ear. “Think I found it. Cover my exits,” he said, before closing the distance.
The home was simple in its design, nothing special. It seemed barely even occupied, tucked in the middle of nowhere. Who would live out here?
Aiming Matilda at every nook and cranny, Leon found no inhabitants. None present, anyway. Slowly, he lowered his customized handgun and consulted the source tracker once more. Tapping a few buttons on it, he brought it up, and the device began to scan the room. It lingered at a chest in the corner of the home.
This was too easy...
Glancing warily around, Leon cautiously approached the chest. Pulling out his flashlight, its beam cut into the darkness. He stuck the device in his mouth, held by his teeth, before he knelt and began to fiddle with the strange locking mechanism of the storage container, only upon seeing no obvious signs of booby traps.
A few minutes of fiddling later, and the chest opened with a ‘thunk.’
All that was inside appeared to be junk. Leon sifted through it all for a few moments, frowning, before he pulled out his flashlight with a sigh. “Stark, I’m not finding it.”
”Snake said it’ll take the form of something important from the world it appears in. Anything fit the bill?”
“Sure, if you think rusty old robot parts work, in a universe filled with rusty old robots.”
Leon frowned, pulling out a few hunks of metal, before he pulled out something that felt a little heavier than the others. It was some kind of rod, almost like a hilt. He shined the flashlight over the item, and felt a chill of recognition run down his spine.
He knew what this thing was.
“I hope you know how to use that.”
Leon’s reaction was immediate, the man spinning on a dime, aiming Matilda at a figure that stood at the entrance of the hovel. A cloaked man, hood over his head. The flashlight beam revealed only his dark brown clothing, but the man’s hands came up, pulling down his hood to reveal a somewhat old man. His hair was white, his eyes a striking blue. “Hello there.”
“Who are you?” Leon demanded.
“The owner of this home,” the old man replied, raising an eyebrow as he glanced about, almost like he could see the details of the house through the darkness, and the flashlight beam pointed at his face. “And you?”
So this was the guy who lived out here, in the middle of nowhere, with a Source Node in his trunk of spare parts. “Leon,” the agent replied, sill not lowering his weapon nor his flashlight. “Sorry to intrude, but I’m here for-”
“I know why you’re here,” the old man cut him off. “But that is not for you.”
He pointed toward the weapon hilt, which Leon had dropped when he’d turned to aim at the stranger. Leon glanced down at it. “I’ve seen weapons like it before...”
“A lightsaber.”
“Yeah, sure ain’t a life saver, though.”
“Depending on which end you’re at,” the old man replied, his tone almost humored, before he squinted his eyes. “It belonged to an old friend, and I intend to give it to a new one.”
Leon slowly lowered Matilda and his flashlight, getting the impression that this guy had no intentions of fighting. “Seems lonely out here. Maybe I could be that new friend you’re waiting for.”
The old man chuckled. “Not likely,” he said simply.
“Hey, what’s your name, anyway?” Leon asked.
“Ben. Just Ben.”
The agent frowned. He’d been expecting... well, not that. “Well, Ben, sorry, but I kinda need it. Might be the key to something big.”
It was here that the old man, Ben, fell silent, his eyes resting on the lightsaber at Leon’s feet. After a couple seconds, the agent stooped down and picked it up, looking it over. “Promise I’ll bring it back.”
Ben finally blinked, eyes returning to staring back at Leon’s. He seemed hesitant to say something, but his eyes were shaking. Leon could remember something similar to that happening, the psychics he’d met would do this when reading minds. Was it that this man was doing that right now?
If so, Leon didn’t mind. It would be easier to see what Leon knew than for him to try and explain it with words. Finally, Ben’s eyes focused. “That is pretty big,” he commented.
“If that’s all, I should go,” Leon said.
“I fear you may not get far,” Ben suddenly warned, forcing Leon to pause. What more did this guy know? “A traitor will be in your midst, Leon, and just as you hunt for truth, you yourself will be hunted.”
“You’re psychic, then,” Leon replied. “I figured as much. What do you see?”
“Your death,” Ben was simple with the delivery. “The path of vengeance is one often left unsatisfied. It will become more than that.”
Leon pursed his lips, before he shook his head. “Probably,” he agreed. “But I’m not stopping now.”
“Then good luck,” Ben nodded slowly, “we’ll cross paths again.”
“I’ll bring minesweeper,” Leon said, “looks like you could use the entertainment.”
Ben said nothing more. He simply watched as Leon left the hovel with the lightsaber in-hand. Once again, it had all been too easy. Was this really the Source Node? The source tracker seemed to think so when Leon had it scan the weapon.
Once he’d made enough distance to the hut, Snake and Omega appeared, the former seemingly materializing out of the darkness as Omega rocketed through the sky before noisily touching down, blasting sand everywhere (Leon knew he’d be cleaning it out of his hair for months, now).
“OBJECTIVE ACQUIRED,” Omega stated. “I AM SURPRISED. THE CALCULATED CHANCE OF SUCCESS WAS 12%. I AM DISAPPOINTED THERE WAS NO FIGHT FOR IT.”
“Yeah, I feel like this was too easy,” Leon agreed, glancing toward Snake. “Couldn’t give me a heads up about the old guy?”
Snake simply stared back, no clear emotion displayed on his stoic face. “Snuck by me.”
Leon had trouble accepting that, but then again, Ben had a lot of mysticism to him. Maybe he’d simply appeared at the entrance. Or maybe Snake wasn’t as good as he’d been advertised by Ryu.
Leon brought a hand up to his ear. “Alright Stark, open the gate. We’ve got the package.”
As a light broke through the darkness, the air before them seemingly splitting open to reveal a path to another world, the three individuals stepped through, unaware that the hunt Ben had warned Leon about had already begun.
For in the same universe, billions of lightyears away, a helmet hissed as it was fitted onto its owner. He sensed a powerful disturbance in the force... and it felt familiar.
He drew a deep, mechanical breath.
“Just set it on the workbench.”
Tony Stark gave a casual wave from his lounged position on the swivel chair he sat upon. Finding the “workbench” he spoke of was more difficult; easier said than done. There were at least five here.
Leon held up the lightsaber, giving it a once-over, before he set it on the workbench nearest him.
“No, I meant-” Stark blinked, and Leon looked back, before Tony shrugged. “Nevermind.”
“So, what’s our next step?” Leon led with, glancing over toward Snake, then Omega, both having taken positions at either end of the room.
Stark rose from his chair, approaching the workbench before Leon and eyeing the lightsaber. “First things first: I need to see if this is a source node, and if so, if I can tap into it.”
“Tony,” Leon pursed his lips. Stark had promised he’d have all the tools required to get to the bottom of this “Master Hand” dilemma quickly.
“Hey, worse comes to worse I’ll ask Reed for help,” Tony replied quickly, scooping up the lightsaber before he eyed down at the hole in the top, before he pointed it away and fiddled with a sliding switch - causing a blue saber of plasma to erect suddenly from the cylinder.
There was a moment of silence as Tony stared at it, before he glanced back at Leon with a small smirk. “Careful not to point it at your face.”
The blade disappeared as Tony reversed the switch, then approached the workbench he’d been near before. “Dee, preliminary scan, show me what I’m working with.”
He casually tossed the lightsaber into the air, and above the workbench it came to a stop in the air, caught by a wave of anti-gravity technology. A holographic screen appeared in front of Tony as a synthetic voice with a southern cowboy-like drawl replied with; “Looks like this hunk o’ junk is useless without the crystal inside it.”
Dee, or “DeTAS,” was Tony’s artificial intelligence, one he’d apparently designed during his own experience in a pre-Dimension Games event, revolving around the Nexus, Chris Redfield having similarly been involved, though elsewhere.
Leon watched Tony get to work, bantering back and forth with his AI as they deduced what the lightsaber was, what it could do, and if they could deduce it as a true source node. His gaze drifted away toward Snake, who was similarly watching Tony with his perpetual gaze of seriousness, but his eyes were quick to meet Leon’s.
No words passed between them, more of a silent exchange, before they turned away from one another. Snake knew Leon wanted to speak with him in private, and Leon knew Snake didn’t really care to — the mercenary probably knew what the agent wanted to ask about.
Finally, Leon’s gaze rested upon E-123 Omega, who stood perfectly still at his end of the room, every so often rotating his minigun barrel. Was it boredom, or some artificial desire to riddle something with bullets?
“Looks like it is,” Dee continued speaking with Stark. “One certifiable, honest to God source node. What’re ya plannin’ to do with it?”
“Depends on if I can crack its code,” Tony replied, stroking his chin, before he began to take apart the lightsaber - or rather, its holographic form, the screens now erected around him at all angles. Whatever each screen said was beyond Leon. “Dee, process the latent energy and translate it into polygons, categorize by wavelengths: impossible trident formation.”
One of the screens displayed something that seemed like an optical illusion of sorts, something Tony seemed to comprehend as he looked it over. “The middle column, that’s our key.”
“It seems to still be connected to the range y’all just left,” Dee replied. “I think it’s ‘cuz of the appearance. Takes the shape o’ somethin’ important in its universe, right?”
“I follow,” Tony said. “So that means there could be a node in every universe - and if not, the nodes eventually alter their composition to compensate for a new universe.”
“Prob’ly.”
“Wait,” Leon finally spoke up, brow furrowing. “Dee said it’s still connected. These source nodes, can’t they open up gateways?”
“You make any enemies back there?” Tony asked, his tone clearly rhetoric, but Leon had an itching feeling, a pit beginning to sink in his gut. He felt like something bad was close to happening.
“Not this time.”
This time, it was Tony’s turn to frown as he turned to look at Leon. “You’ve been there before?”
“Remember the games Omega and I were in?” Leon asked.
Recognition danced over Stark’s face, before he looked back toward the displays around him. “You told me tall, dark, and edgy got killed by the Belowski kid.”
“And I also told you we all revived.”
“Omniverse is big,” Tony continued. “Makes every multiverse look like grains of sand on the beach. Who’s to say the universe we pulled this from had anything to do with-”
“Pickin’ up a strange energy source,” Dee interrupted.
All eyes fell upon the lightsaber, an impression befalling each present individual.
“TARGET: APPROACHING. KILL IT?” Omega asked. Leon glanced back at the robot, before he held up a hand, signaling it to hold fire, even as its barrels began to hum as they rotated, eager to engage a target.
Aside from Dee’s warning, there was no visual distinction in the lightsaber to indicate it was opening any kind of gateway, if that’s even what was happening. The confirmation of this answer came when a tear opened in the air between Tony and his workbench. The holographs all unanimously faded away as Stark stumbled back, eyes widening.
Leon conjured Matilda, gritting his teeth. This was the part he’d been expecting when he’d collected the source. The hard part.
Several seconds passed in which this tear, a gateway, sat in the air, humming with energy. As suddenly as it appeared, it began to dispense. Humanoid beings emerged rapidly from the rift, clad in stark-white armor, carrying ebony-colored weapons that immediately began to fire. Red bolts of energy pulsed through the air.
Tony dove aside and into the cover of another workbench, right beside an exit door.
Snake took cover, his own P90 conjured, safety off.
Leon acted similarly, getting out of the way of the bolts as he clicked off Matilda’s safety.
And Omega?
He did his thing.
“INEFFICIENT. YOUR ARMOR WILL NOT SAVE YOU,” the robot claimed as bullets rained like hail upon the emerging troopers, who began to fall as quickly as they emerged, only a few bolts of red meeting their mark upon Omega’s shell, leaving smoldering scorch marks, but not seeming to do much more damage than that.
“Dee, lockdown, and get me a suit!” Leon could hear Tony shout as he fled the room. The DSO Agent’s grip on Matilda tightened, before he peered around his cover to see Omega was being extremely effective in his methods. Bodies were already beginning to pile up.
But these troopers were only a prelude. Like a missile, another figure came from the portal, carried by a jetpack. This one’s armor was primarily of a shade of green, and its design was wildly different. Was this the one who’d organized this sudden invasion? How did they have the time to organize this so quickly?
Leon was reminded that some universes were affected differently by time.
Omega changed his aim, trying to follow the flying individual as it closed the distance to the robot. Several shots pinged harmlessly off the green armor, as though Omega’s heavy firepower was made of nothing more than cotton.
Leon didn’t have much time to register this new threat, as another wave of white-armored soldiers began to pour out of the rift. This time it was Leon and Snake’s turn to deal with them. Leon opened up with shots from Matilda, cracking into the shells of white. It took a few shots here or there to put one down, and those lasers they fired were definitely something he didn’t want to get struck by.
Omega was forced to stumble back when the green armored individual slammed his legs into the robot’s chest at full-force, before kicking off. While it didn’t do much to Omega, it was the small disc beeping red on the robot’s hull that was the intention, as it immediately detonated, launching Omega backward, crashing through the adjacent wall with a mechanical groan from his overheating systems.
He rose to his feet, but his opponent was quicker, carrying a heavy blaster and opening fire upon the recovering robot, these bolts packing a heavy punch compared to the weapons of the troopers. Sparks and bits of metal sprayed off of Omega with each shot, hitting with enough force to knock him back down before he could get back up.
Seeing this, Leon quickly turned his fire, a few bullets pinging harmlessly off of the bounty hunter’s armor, before he raised his free arm, jettisoning a burst of flames toward the DSO Agent. Leon’s eyes widened as he bounded backward, flipping through the air to avoid being roasted.
Who the hell was this guy!?
With Snake being left to deal with the encroaching troopers, Leon now aimed to aid his android friend against this threat, who stopped firing to turn toward Leon, clearly noticing the agent having weaved around the fire, and was now fast approaching.
Leon’s leg came out, his shin smashing against the foe, who’d raised his forearm to block it. Leon’s leg bounced off, dealing no damage, barely moving the armored bounty hunter. Leon followed up with a throat jab which was slapped aside before the man rammed his shoulder into Leon, immediately bringing up a knee to slug into the agent’s gut.
Wind knocked out of him, Leon grunted, falling to the ground - but not without purpose, his legs extended, locking around the bounty hunter’s. He twisted, trying to destabilize the foe, who simply activated his jet back, rising into the air, taking aim at the exposed Leon Kennedy, whose breath hitched as he realized how screwed he was.
BAM!
The bounty hunter was slammed out of the air, Omega having activated his own thrusters to throw his entire body into the foe, bodying him. The green armored man was sent flying to the far end of the room, almost right back through the portal, crashing into the wall. His jet pack released sparks as the flames sputtered out.
Leon noticed that the soldiers had stopped pouring in, the last of them dispatched by Snake.
“Who the hell are you?” Leon demanded, aiming Matilda toward the last man standing.
Slowly, the bounty hunter got to his feet, cautiously tucking his weapon aside. Was he surrendering?
“My name is Boba Fett,” the man’s voice was like gravel, and cold as ice.
“What do you want?” Leon demanded.
“I’m just a simple man making his way through the universe.”
This cheeky little...
“CAN I ANNIHILATE?” Omega asked.
Leon pondered on that, staring at the armored individual called Boba Fett. He didn’t seem like the type to be all that chatty when it came to revealing information, and he was clearly a match for them.
“You’ll find that a hard thing to accomplish,” Boba Fett replied coolly. He was the first to move, diving to the side. Omega, Leon, and Snake opened fire, many bullets disappearing into the still-open gateway, but when Boba Fett emerged from the other side — he was holding the lightsaber, its blade igniting in its azure plasma, swinging through the air to destroy many of the bullets headed for the bounty hunter.
“Oh damn...” Leon muttered. Boba Fett was already a challenge, but give him a lightsaber... the DSO agent had seen what those could do.
Boba Fett’s jet pack fell off his back, he didn’t need it anymore, and he closed the distance, surprisingly agile in his heavy armor.
Normal bullets weren’t doing shit... there had to be some alternative, something that could pack enough of a punch...
Boba Fett landed in front of Leon, swinging the lightsaber. It would have cleaved the agent in two, had he not provided his defense: a knife.
Sparks flew as Leon took a step back, pushed by the force of the hit. Boba’s head cocked slightly to the side at this development, before he dove to the side, avoiding a heavy swing from Omega. With distance made, the robot followed up by launching a volley of missiles toward the bounty hunter, who pulled a small pistol-like weapon from his hip, and like a sharpshooter, he planted bullseye marks rapidly into each missile, before he threw out his elbow, crashing it against Snake’s own elbow, the mercenary having sneakily closed the distance, though clearly not sneakily enough.
For a moment, Leon and Omega held their fire as Snake and Boba began to grapple with one another. Leon was good at close quarters combat, but he’d sparred with Snake — he knew just how efficient the soldier was at CQC.
Snake ducked beneath a saber cut, sliding himself simultaneously to the side to avoid Boba Fett’s knee, before he hooked his arm under the bounty hunter’s leg, and lifted him into the air. With immense weight, Snake swung Boba Fett through the air, slamming him into the ground on his back, before leaping backward to avoid a leg sweep.
Boba Fett was quickly back on his feet as Snake smirked, raising a hand, holding a device.
There was a small black block on the bounty hunter’s shoulder.
Snake activated his explosive, Boba Fett disappearing in a cloud of smoke, to which Omega responded by opening fire again, riddling every inch of the cloud with bullets for the effect of overkill, but from the shadows came that blue glow of the lightsaber, taking a majority of the shots.
A wire, almost invisible to the naked eye, fired from the cloud. “Huh!?” Snake’s arms and legs were suddenly clamped to his body, wires wrapping around him, before electrifying. Snake yelled as he fell to the floor, unable to break the wire.
Boba Fett leapt from the cloud, upon Leon and Omega in a second, blocking a kick from the agent while swinging the lightsaber.
Omega’s left arm dropped to the ground.
“No!” Leon yelled, moving to intercept another slash, blocking the saber with his knife before it could remove Omega’s head.
“I wouldn’t take it personally,” Boba Fett said, his voice as level as though he were on a morning stroll. “Just part of the contract.”
Leon pushed back, shoving the saber away, his eyes flitting over the bounty hunter’s body, trying to find a weak point. That armor was too tough, but the gaps between...
The agent was given no time to react, however, as Boba Fett’s arm shot out, grappling Leon’s neck. He tried to grapple back, but was too focused on keeping the saber back with the knife, allowing Fett to slam the agent’s face down, right into Boba’s knee.
His ears ringing, Leon’s vision blurred as he fell backward, recoiling from the hit. He could feel something warm wettening his face as he collapsed on the ground with a grunt.
Omega’s attempt to intervene failed, his other arm slamming forward to pummel Boba into the ground while he was distracted with Leon, but another cut from the lightsaber rendered Omega armless, before Fett leaped backward as Omega assessed his damages, calculating a response, only to find the now-distant Boba Fett leaning forward - and firing a missile. An eruption of smoke and fire consumed Omega, who flew backward and made another hole in the wall, lights of his eyes flickering.
Boba Fett stared at the robot, before his gaze turned over the disoriented Leon, struggling to even get his feet under him, and the writhing Snake, who was still caught in the electrified wire.
“Sorry to crash the party!”
Boba turned — only for a beam of energy to slug into him, launching him through the air. He grunted as he spun, planting his feet beneath him before he raised his rifle toward the fourth threat.
Iron Man emerged from the darkness, boots clanging against the ground, repulsor beams charging for another shot. “But I guess you already crashed it. If it isn’t me, I don’t really like party-crashers, buddy. Get outta my house.”
Boba didn’t reply, instead opening fire. Tony raised his forearm, a faint blue shield appearing around him. The blasts were absorbed into the shield, before his boot thrusters burst to life, and he launched like a rocket toward Fett, who dove to the side, replacing his rifle with the lightsaber again.
Favoring his arm, the one Snake had set the explosive on, Boba Fett swung upon Iron Man, whose thrusters shot him out of harm’s way, before two mini-silos rose from his shoulders. Tiny missiles pelted out, each striking the bounty hunter before detonating, knocking him back again.
Skidding on the ground, Boba Fett kicked himself back up, only to find Iron Man already upon him, emerging from the cloud of smoke, the center of his chest shining brightly. The unibeam ravaged the bounty hunter, who yelled out in surprise and in pain as the beam buried him into the floor for several seconds, before finally relenting.
When the residue smoke dispersed, it revealed a struggling Boba Fett, the chestplate of his armor melted and remolded. Tony found himself surprised that this man was still moving, but was quick to raise an arm, activating a magnetic beam to catch the lightsaber and call it to him.
The weapon deactivated as it left Fett’s hand, flying toward Stark, who found himself perplexed when the lightsaber sailed by him, completely ignoring the magnetic pull. He turned, following its trajectory, before he found himself pausing.
The lightsaber was caught in a leather-clad hand, its owner not even acknowledging the saber that once belonged to him, simply clipping it upon his belt as he drew in a mechanical breath.
“Oh. Shit.” Tony Stark bit the inside of his cheek, before he glanced at the others. Snake, Leon, Omega... it was only thanks to their performance that Tony had the necessary intel to take down Boba Fett, but this new, black-themed challenger, seemed to be the one Leon had warned him of. If people really had been weakened in that “Dimension Games,” he was a bit anxious to see what this “Darth Vader” could pull off without hindrance.
“Dee, use Reed’s teleporter. Get the others out of here,” Tony immediately ordered.
“No- Tony... wait!” Leon grunted, blinking through the blood in his eyes, but immediately, he disappeared in a flash of blue light, as did Snake and Omega (including the severed arms). The electrified wires collapsed in a heap.
“Alright,” Stark said to Darth Vader. “I get the impression you don’t know me, so let me be the first to introduce you to Earth.”
He raised his arm, immolate laser fully charged from his forearm, the dispenser popping out - only for the Iron Man’s arm to be completely ripped off by an invisible force, tossed aside. Vader watched on impassively, having barely lifted a pinky. The removal of the arm revealed the absence of a driver in the suit.
Without a word, the dark lord began to slowly approach the suit of armor as its thrusters activated, trying to create distance while firing with its remaining repulsor. Vader’s arm raised, each repulsor blast catching in the air before him, and with the slightest twitch, were all released back at the armor. It blasted apart the chest.
A crimson blade ignited as Vader’s raised arm called upon the force again, Iron Man’s attempt to create distance failing as he was pulled toward the sith, scarlet saber cutting him in half, before his hand curled into a fist. The suit of armor twitched as it collapsed in on itself, imploding into a mesh of broken metal, before it fell to the ground.
Tony Stark winced as he pulled away from his ARC screen, quickly reaching over to grab a card sitting on the table beside him. “Dee, get ready for war — this guy isn’t gonna play nice.”
The room around him lit up, floor by floor, lights shuddering to life, revealing rows and rows of Iron Man suits, each activating to life with the hum of energy charging through them. “So neither will we”
He lifted the card up to his face, a stylized “A” on its surface. Recognizing his face, it activated, sending out a signal to the other cards like it, sent through two words:
“Avengers assemble!”
What came next was something of a blur. A confused and frankly unconcerned Reed Richards calmly asking them a few questions. Snake answered most of those, with Leon interjecting here or there. Reed was quick to reassemble Omega as best as he could, before an alert came in, one that was evidently urgent, as Reed’s stoic and mostly apathetic demeanor showed the first glimpses of worry.
Leon caught parts of the call that came through that alert. The voice of Tony Stark, requesting help. Reed forwarded that to colleagues, and the other members of the Fantastic Four, before he approached the defeated group just as Leon was regaining himself.
“Mess with the multiverse, it tends to mess back,” Mr. Fantastic said as he looked over them for one last time. “There’s far too much uncertainty about it all - maybe the universe invading our own already has a higher power ceiling. Maybe they bring through a disease. Maybe the instability of it all is enough to encourage reality to implode in on itself and destroy the entire universe for simply existing.”
Richards stretched his arm over toward a distant table, fumbling with the contents atop it for a moment, before his arm returned, carrying a small device. “I already warned Stark that just having you guys around was risk enough. Now you have somebody who can kill Avengers?”
Leon grit his teeth as he rose to his feet, wiping off the dried blood from his head with a wet rag Reed had given him at some point. “Who’s dead?” He asked.
Reed swallowed, staring back for a moment, before he absently scratched his scruffy beard and cleared his throat. “As far as I know? Falcon, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, and Ant-Man.”
The DSO agent felt his teeth might break with how hard they ground together. Those deaths... that was on him. It had been his desire to seek out Master Hand that led to the chain reaction of events that brought him here to this moment. Darth Vader... there had to be a way to take that guy out. If only there was a way to strip a great deal of his power, if not all of it, in the way Master Hand somehow had for the Dimension Games.
“How can we help?” Leon finally asked.
“Help?” Reed’s eyebrows raised slightly, before he quickly shook his head and began to fiddle with the device he’d grabbed. “You’ve done enough. Dealing with multidimensional threats isn’t a new thing to us, we’ll handle it, but I think it’s time you three went on your way; lessen the chances of a more deadly convergence from taking place.”
“We can’t just-”
“You can, and you will,” Richard interrupted, ending his fiddling by pressing a blue button at the bottom left of the device. A familiar portal emerged in the Fantastic Lab.
“Wait,” Leon shook his head. “Did Stark tell you what we were doing?”
“I know the details.”
“We found it; the source node,” the agent continued. “But now Vader has it. He’s here because of it, I think. We can’t let him keep it, and we won’t leave without it.”
Reed stared hard at Leon for a long moment, before his gaze shifted to the other two, and he finally let out a low, barely audible sigh through his nostrils. “Fine. If you get yourselves killed - it’s not on me.”
“No. All of this is on me,” Leon said, his gaze turning away. “I just need the opportunity to fix it.”
“Focus on saving what you can,” Richards replied. “Most of the damage done is irreversible to this timeline. The others should be waiting for me at the fantasticar: go join them.”
“What will you do?” Snake inquired.
“The Council of Reeds will want to hear about this,” Mr. Fantastic said plainly, though his expression indicated he’d much rather be doing anything else. Leon had no time to ask about this “Council of Reeds,” as the scientist had already closed the portal and opened a new one, and quickly made his way through it.
“DATA LIMITED. HOW WILL WE APPROACH THE TARGET DIFFERENTLY?” Omega asked, rotating his minigun and running a diagnostics check over his systems, only to find Reed Richards had made improvements that Ivo Robotnik had never concerned, lacking both the resources and intelligence by comparison. It was like getting a total upgrade without changing any of the fundamental and familiar systems.
“The Avengers already have his attention,” Snake pointed out. “We might be able to use the element of surprise.”
“I agree,” Leon nodded, folding his arms. He was beginning to wish for simpler days, when he’d thought the worst he’d ever see was zombies in Raccoon City and Las Plagas in Spain. There was always another fight, and a bigger threat. “I’ve got an idea, but we should let the other Fantastic members know about it first.”
The idea was a daring one, with plenty of subversion. On the hopes that the Master of the Mystic Arts, Doctor Strange, hadn’t yet begun to battle the sith lord, Leon planned to use that magic to an advantage. Trick and fool the dark lord, get close, and take out his life support - literally.
When the three reached the Fantasticar and relayed Reed’s whereabouts and Leon’s plan, they took off into the sky. Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm both elected to join the Avengers in the fight, leaving Sue Storm to take the group to the Sanctum Sanctorum.
All that remained was convincing Strange to the plan. Hopefully they could launch it without any more deaths.
Captain America grit his teeth, feeling the waves of heat washing over him. It had been a back and forth against the dark tyrant for nearly a minute now, but the shield was beginning to glow with heat. That saber was weakening the vibranium, and if this kept up, the shield would be destroyed.
“I... hate... ROBOTS!”
Cap glanced over to see Wasp zipping forward, her arms extended as she unleashed a hail of yellow projectiles, her “stinger,” at Vader, whose arm raised.
The blasts dissipated against an invisible barrier, before Janet Van Dyne gasped, stopping in the air as she clutched at her throat. Steve Rogers knew what was coming before it happened, his eyes widening as he dove toward Darth Vader. “No!”
But her neck had already been snapped, and her body fell out of the air, growing to her normal height.
Natasha, Clint, Vision, Sam, Hank, and now Janet... all gone, just like that. After everything they’d been through, everything they’d done...
This guy wasn’t anything they’d faced before.
“Janet!” A woman yelled, blitzing out of the air toward the sith, her arms raised for a power slam, coming in on the opposite of Cap, both aiming to grapple Vader, who waved his hand casually. The woman, Carol Danvers, was flung violently into a nearby building while the crimson blade clashed against the shield. Cap pushed against it, trying to force Darth back, but he was strong, shoving back.
The heat was growing unbearable.
Vader was forced to pull away, using his free arm to grasp the edge of the shield, and fling both it and Captain America out of the way. His reasoning was the energy blast coming for him, Vader raising the blade to block the concentrated beam coming from Iron Man, the lightsaber deflecting the energy back.
Tony was blasted out of the sky, slamming heavily into the ground after taking his own attack, about to thrust himself back up before a black boot came down on his back, forcing him down for only a moment, before the blade was swung.
The suit of armor shut down as the body was split in half, revealing no pilot inside once again.
“Looking for me?”
The voice was a chorus, as though dozens had spoken at the same time, and Vader turned to see at least a hundred more suits of armor floating in the air, all of different varieties, each special in their own unique way.
Through his red lenses, Vader could see the other heroes reassembling together around a panting Captain America, his chest having, his shield bent from the remolding it had suffered due to intense heat.
“You can’t beat all of us,” Iron Man continued. “More are on the way. This isn’t a fight you can win.”
Vader was silent, staring back for only a few seconds that ticked by so slowly, it may as well have been an eternity, before he reached under his cloak, and grabbed the second lightsaber. Still wordless, the blue blade was ignited, two sabers now in the dark lord’s hands. His message was clear.
“He’s gonna try,” Cap grimaced, body tensing in anticipation for what came next.
And when it came, it was a display of raw, unequivocal power. The dark lord was suddenly faster, upon the heroes before they realized it, and one by one they went down. Suits of armor were ripped apart and out of the air, blasts from them flying to intercept, and failing to strike. Perhaps it was the serum, giving Steve the ability to perceive more quickly. Perhaps it was dumb luck. Whatever it was, he managed to avoid the fate of the others for now by kicking off the ground, leaping back, the lightsaber grazing the shield in passing as Vader’s onslaught progressed.
Tucking into a roll, Cap came to a stop, only to feel the ground leave his feet, and then he was yanked through the air.
A gasp escaped the captain’s lips as he felt the saber impale his gut, cutting his spine in two as it crackled out of his back. He felt what little strength remained rapidly ebbing away as Darth Vader held him there for a moment longer, before the blue blade quickly followed, and blackness greeted the veteran, an embrace of death.
Turns out, convincing Doctor Strange was no difficult feat. In fact, Strange greeted them outside the sanctum, revealed he already knew why they were there, agreed with Leon’s plan, and they were underway in barely any time, soaring through Manhattan, quickly approaching Avengers Tower, the building releasing a heavy cloud of black smoke, the fight having moved outside.
“Hey, Sue!”
Leon nearly shot the man that had appeared out of nowhere, dressed in red and blue spandex, and now clinging like a frog to the side of the Fantasticar. “What’s happening? Where is everyone?”
“The Avengers are under attack,” Invisible Woman replied.
Spider-Man rubbed the back of his head absently. “Yeah, the burning building tipped me off. I meant what’s the event? I get the feeling it’s not a bbq. Well... okay, if Hulk is the chef, then maybe...”
“Extra-dimensional threat, Spidey,” Sue said. “You might wanna sit this one out.”
“And let you guys have all the fun? Nah, I’ve got your back,” Spidey glanced away from the woman to the three other individuals, and offered an awkward wave. While his face was obscured, his gaze seemed to linger on Omega.
Spider-Man covered his mouth as he leaned into Sue. “What’s with the obviously-evil-destructo-bot?”
“MY AUDIO RECEPTORS HEARD THAT.”
“Sorry, I meant to say obviously-evil-no-privacy-destructobot.”
“THAT IS BETTER.”
“Chit chat’s over,” Leon butt in, readying Matilda as the fantasticar zoomed in toward the battle. The streets were littered with bodies, most of which appeared to be suits of armor. How many of those did Stark have?
“Whoa...” Spidey said, his eyes seemingly widening as he too soaked in the carnage. Their eyes lingered on the fallen Avengers.
“ROUND TWO: COMMENCE,” Omega rumbled, but Leon quickly turned to him.
“Not yet, we stick to the plan.”
“Which is?” Spider-Man asked. Up till now, his tone had been almost consistently sarcastic, but now it sounded worried.
“No time to explain, just play along,” Leon replied.
Hopefully Doctor Strange could play his part.
It had been a quest of discovery. In oneself, in power, and in the threads of fate and destiny. Never again, would they dictate his path. Never again, would they influence his direction. The dark lord of the Sith ripped yet another suit of armor apart, the force flinging bits metal in every direction, before a bolt of lightning arced through the air.
Vader turned his gaze, dropping the limp body of Iron Fist to the ground. Luke Cage, cradling a shattered arm, glanced up to see the God of Thunder hovering above the battle, mjolnir spinning in his grip. “Thor!” Luke yelled. “Take this fool o-”
The dark lord’s fist closed, and Luke Cage fell silent as he collapsed, his windpipe crushed into oblivion. This Thor seemed more formidable than the others. “What madness is this!? The Avengers- mine own friends!!” The norse deity’s eyes fell upon the sith, and hardened. “Thee, automaton! Now you face my thunder!!”
A storm gathered overhead, lightning crackling along its girth, as the god swung his hammer, barreling down toward Vader. Recognizing the weight of the attack, Darth slid backward. Mjolnir smashed into the street where he’d been, concrete shattering and flying apart from the hit, knocking Vader back another step. He quickly regained himself, using the force to knock Thor to the side just as he was kicking off the ground to lunge at the force-user, before the crimson lightsaber slashed across Thor’s neck as he passed.
Thor slammed his feet into the ground, skidding to a near-instant stop, before he turned around. Charred skin had formed on his neck, but clearly, it would take more than a single slash to dispose of the God of Thunder.
Raising mjolnir, Thor called upon a strike of lightning, which boomed down from the gathering storm. Vader raised his arms, the lightning bashing against a force shield, buckling the dark lord’s knees, leaving him wide open for Thor, who was leaping forward with another swing and accompanying battle cry.
Darth Vader felt his mechanical arm bend and slightly crumple beneath the weight of the mystical hammer, but taking this opportunity, a blade found its way into Thor’s gut - and through. The god gasped, glancing down at his impalement, before he let out a roar.
Vader pulled back, but was stopped when Thor grabbed his arm, keeping the blade firmly planted, and another bolt of lightning came down upon them.
The sith let out a rare yell as he felt the ground leave his feet. This wasn’t an ideal position - the beings of this world hadn’t been expected to be this powerful. He’d been wiping them out with ease until now. What other surprises were in store?
Tumbling to a stop, Vader grunted, hearing a mechanical wheeze come from his respirator. Through the cracked scarlet lenses of his mask, he turned to see Thor, who had fallen to his knees. The saber was still lodged in his gut, sparks flying from it as it began to slide, cutting deeper into the god, who was quickly losing strength as his fingers grasped hopelessly at the blade’s length, before he fell to the side. Drawing another wheezing breath, Vader climbed back to his feet, sensing through the force for any other beings nearby. Immediately, he could detect one, closing in quickly.
Tattered cape billowing, Vader spun about to see a form of green descending upon him. With both arms raised, the Hulk’s tree trunks of arms barreled down upon it. In a single blow, the force shield shattered, and Darth was knocked back with a wince. Thinking quickly, he willed the force to lift mjolnir, and threw it toward the sage giant, who grunted in pain as he was sent flying backward, smashing through a building and disappearing from view.
“Lord Vader,” a voice spoke behind the sith.
Vader turned again, this time seeing Boba Fett approaching, cradling one of his arms, his armor somewhat melted. The defense of this realm was formidable. The sith would need more allies. Collecting the source node had been only the first step. He didn’t need to remain here any longer, the thrills of battle having kept him occupied until now.
A roar from the building drew both of their attention, and the Hulk burst out of the building, grabbing a car off the street, and hurling it toward the pair as though it were a softball. Vader waved his hand casually through the air, knocking the car out of the way, before he lifted Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, speaking to it through his thoughts.
A rift opened in front of the sith, and he lifted his other hand, calling Darth Vader’s back to him. Still having not spoken a word, the dark lord of the sith stepped into the portal, followed by Boba Fett, the gateway shimmering closed behind them, before Hulk slammed his fists into the earth where it had been a moment ago.
All that remained in Darth’s wake was a path of death and destruction.
“No!” Leon’s yell came from the fantasticar as it descended on the scene, Spider-Man leaping from its side, holding both hands to his head as he looked over the carnage. “We waited too long! Where’s Strange?” Leon called, sliding out of the fantasticar.
“Oh my god...” Spidey muttered, kneeling down beside the body of Captain America.
“WE SHOULD HAVE COMMENCED ROUND 2,” Omega told Leon.
The DSO Agent drew in a deep breath, before he exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. “You’re right, we should have. Maybe then...”
“Wouldn’t have changed anything,” the deep voice of the Hulk interrupted, whose arms were crossed as he stared at the dead heroes littering the street. “Except more of us would be dead.”
Susan Storm found the corpses of her brother and Ben Grimm nearby, falling to the ground and cradling Johnny’s body. Leon couldn’t so much as look at the scene. Where had Strange been? He could have stopped Vader, could have prevented him from leaving. They could have gotten back the source node.
A red and silver Iron Man suit hovered down from the sky, touching down in front of Leon. “Vader, is he-?”
“Gone. Went to another dimension,” the agent replied through grit teeth. The current suit of armor seemed like an older model of Stark’s.
The faceplate lifted to reveal Tony’s face beneath, his gaze grim as he looked over at the bodies. “I tried to stop him. I- I threw everything I had. Why wasn’t it enough?”
{Because.}
A strange voice had echoed through all of their minds, but its source could not be determined.
{You were not meant to stop him.}
At that moment, another gateway opened - though not like the others before it. This appeared more like a swirling white vortex, and Leon felt compelled to step into it.
{Come and speak with me. There is much you must learn.}
Leon couldn’t remember actually entering the portal. He couldn’t remember any of the details on how he’d showed up in some kind of white void, black constellations dotting the world around him. Beside him stood Omega, Snake, Tony, Spider-Man, and Hulk. Across from them were two individuals Leon recognized: Reed Richards and Stephen Strange, both of whom were facing the group.
“I’m sorry,” Strange immediately led with. “I tried to help, but-”
{I wouldn’t allow it.}
All eyes turned to see the speaker. A strangely golden form, vaguely humanoid. It radiated with an aura of power unmatched.
{I am the One Above All.}
Leon somehow managed to find his voice. “Why? Why’d you keep us from winning?”
The figure didn’t move as it spoke, the words simply appearing in Leon’s mind, and the minds of all those around him.
{You are needed for something else.}
“Please tell me this isn’t some sick game for some bored gods,” Tony groaned.
“It’s not,” Reed interrupted. “Vader was just the first. We’ve faced incursion events before, but this is new. This is bigger than the entire multiverse - it extends far beyond it.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” Spider-Man scratched the back of his head in confusion. “Could you spell it out in some lengthy exposition so some of us can understand?”
{Every universe is a part of something greater.}
The One Above All told them.
{But they all belong to something. When the barriers between other multiverses begin to fall, events like these become more common. More and more, this line is crossed. Those who did so initially regulated it. Some formed a universe specifically for these convergences, but after a while, the lines begin to break under the pressure.}
The void around them shifted, depicting hazy visages of various scenes from various events.
{The first notable event was the War of Zeliyis. A man who found and broke the barriers, but did not take the time to mend them as others had before. He was eventually stopped after countless universes were consumed in his conquest of power.}
The scenes shifted, some displaying a floating glove situated over a crowd of faces. Leon could recognize Ryu among the crowd.
{Some have gotten sloppy. Some have stopped following the rules and laws they themselves put in place to protect the greater omniverse.}
This, Leon was beginning to follow, as images depicting the Nexus began to appear.
{Every time the lines would be cut, it would weaken the foundations of the omniverse. Now we are reaching a boiling point. While the Nexus’ superficial damage was reversed, it did not repair the damage done to the foundation. And now, the omniverse is beginning to lose its balance. The barriers are so thin, they’ve become simple to cross. Each time the barrier is weakened with a crossing, both universes being traveled from and to are put at risk of total collapse. The Nexus recognized the dangers, and upon its destruction, it ejected the source nodes. Using one of them allows seamless crossing through the omniverse without causing any damage.}
A deep silence filled the void between everyone, before the first to speak was Spider-Man, trying to cut the heaviness with some wit. “Yeah... so I need to be home at 10, my aunt doesn’t want me to be late for school in the morning.”
How old was this kid?
“So where do we fit into this?” Leon asked. “Why weren’t we allowed to stop Vader?”
{You would have died, and he would have lived. I need each of you alive for what is coming.}
“What’s that?” The Hulk asked.
“The End,” Strange answered for the One Above All, “of everything, and everyone, across all realities conceivable. It’s already begun.”
Another heavy silence.
“How do we stop it?” Tony asked.
{You begin by stopping Vader - and surviving.}
Leon’s gaze stopped searching through the sea of images. All of this information... he was beginning to feel more and more like a fish out of water. The collapsing of the omniverse? An end to everything? He was way out of his depth. He found it hard to believe he was needed to stop something on such a scale.
But there was one thing he knew that he COULD focus on.
Stopping Vader. He just wasn’t sure he could survive it.
“Just tell us where to go,” Leon told the One Above All, glancing about at the group. They weren’t his ideal team... but if this was who he was working with, he felt confident he could choose worse.
{You will first be sent somewhere where the barriers remain strong. Find the source node within, and from there, you can pursue Vader.}
“Oh man...” Spider-Man groaned. “Aunt May’s gonna kill me...”