Chapter 20 – Invasions and Investigations – Part 2
Metropolis Pocket Dimension
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Unknown Time
3POV
Metropolis was badly damaged by the invasion of the Dark League, but not all the damage was done by the evil versions of the Justice League.
Near one building is a corpse. It's a huge muscular humanoid with gray skin. Ash grey skin with thick white bone spikes covering his forearms, shoulders, chest, spine, and lower legs. The body is headless with a blood-stained crater where the cranium should be. There are also large spikes driven through parts of the torso.
Ash Grey looks down the other Doomsday with a smirk and Rorschach walks up next to him.
"Who is that?"
"Jimmy Olsen. Ultraman's bodyguard and number one lackey."
"Why is he an inferior Doomsday?"
"The Earth-3 version was enhanced. I'm guessing they used Doomsday virus in his universe. Jimmy once turned himself into Doomsday when All-Star Superman was infected with Black Kryptonite and went on a rampage. Do I need to make him deader than dead? "
"Jimmy is super dead and I don't think he has any extra lives."
Rorschach gets a notification from the Gamer
"This is going to be fun – Ten Dark League members vs the two of us. The others are busy dealing with the minions and protecting the civilians."
The minions are the Dark League's followers. Like Superman's Regime in Injustice: Gods Among Us, Ultraman and the Dark League have taken control their world. Those loyal to them were either enhanced into superpowered beings or equipped with advance weaponry. The Dark League screwed their Earth up so badly, they planned on invading another world, when they encountered Dr. Stane looking for his wife and daughter. Due to time passing relatively faster in the other universe, they had months to prepare their invasion.
"The Others are doing fine."
The Others are those selected by Rorschach for this mission since he was the only person that could pierce the pocket dimension that holds Metropolis. There are many other heroes, but they are currently keeping the other cities together with Pip and Cognito's robots. With the League out of the picture, many criminals and wannabe villains see this as their chance to play while the cats are away.
Cognito is more than willing to prove them wrong.
Ash Grey's Girls - Blackfire, Starfire, Raven, Jade, Priss, and Max – have taken the facility where they are holding the captured civilians. They have also taken out the heavy military machines.
Rorschach's Girls – Queen Maxima, Supergirl, and Tali – have taken out the communications of the Dark League forces.
Young Justice Team – Nightwing (formerly Robin I), Aqualad, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis, Wolf, Sphere, and Rocket – are protecting the civilians and securing those under mind control until Cognito can cure them.
Gen 13 – Caitlin, Freefall, Grunge, Rainmaker, Burnout, and Sublime. - are moving through the city and taking out Dark League patrols and rescuing trapped people with help of volunteers.
The Emerald Knights – Kyle Rayner, Jade, Simon Baz, Jessica Cruz, and Keli Quintela – are setting up barricades in case some of the Dark League get pass us.
"Ten to Two is not going to be easy." comments Ash Grey.
"I agree. One-on-One will be Easier."
"Huh?"
There is a loud thunderous sound, and ten black spheres appear in various parts of Metropolis.
"I've temporarily trapped the Dark League in Pocket Dimensions. They decay at different rates, so we just have to take them out two at time." says Rorschach.
"You Must have selected Easy Mode."
"I jailbroke for Easy Mode~"
*DOOM*
Ash Grey vs Zatanna
1POV
The evil version of Zatanna is a very powerful sorceress enhanced by the dark forces. Her magic is powerful enough to crush vehicles into balls of dense metal and launch them at hypersonic speeds. These spheres would instantly liquify a human, but they merely explode when they hit me. I could have dodged them, but I was surprised that the adult Zatanna was cast spells without backwards chanting.
She gathers dark eldritch power in her hands before releasing a thunderous blast of dark magic. The immense blast turns the road into a river of fire and shatters the remaining windows of the surrounding buildings. I manage to keep my footing despite the road melting and blowing away in the stream of demonic energy. When the beam stops. I'm smoking, up to my spiked knees in melted road, and in danger of falling into the sewars.
Dark Zatanna moves her arms in a pattern, creating glowing symbols in the air. The magic circles then vanish and appear on the surrounding buildings, road, and objects. The items touched by the seals begin to move, transforming into vaguely humanoid forms with glowing eyes. The improvised golems charge at me, while Dark Zatanna attempts to make her escape. Like Hell I'm going to allow that.
I detonate the ground beneath me and surge forward, accelerating myself beyond the speed of a bullet. My insanely durable body goes through the golems of asphalt, concrete, and stone, causing them to explode into dust and tiny fragments.
Dark Zatanna manages to rise into the air before my claws can reach her, but I unleash my hellish fire breathe. She creates a spherical mystical barrier to protect herself, but bone daggers hidden in the flames pierce the barrier and go deep in her body. She doesn't have a chance to scream as her barrier fails and the flames wash over her. As her burning form falls, I jump and slash her in half with my bone claws. This may be overkill, but this is a comic book world and I have something to protect.
I wait a couple minutes. Then I reach down and pick out a blood red gemstone out of her remains. With my Soul Manipulation I can detect Dark Zatanna's soul inside the gemstone. She created a Soul Gem, housing her soul in a crystal for perverse Immortality and to protect it from the demons.
"Nice Try"
I pop Dark Zatanna's Soul Gem into mouth like piece of candy. I think I can hear a faint scream.
*DOOM*
Rorschach vs Gold Star
3POV
"You think you can take on Gold Star, the Greatest Villain of the Twenty-Fifth Century. I can turn you to dust with a wave of my hand." says the arrogant loudmouth as he fires an accelerated chrono beam. The beam from his armband can cause objects to age and decay.
Rorschach built one as a retro-futuristic gun and tested it on Ash. It aged Ash's clothing to million-year-old dust but did nothing to Ash himself. Rorschach's force field absorbs the time manipulating beam, leaving the Most Feared of Cognito completely unharmed.
Rorschach pulls out one of his guns. Gold Star activates his force field and looks smug, but then a laser pierces his mouth and out the back of his head. He collapses to the ground and stares unbelieving at Rorschach.
"Your force field can protect you against solid projectiles and energized particles, but I can still see you idiot. This means light can go through."
Gold Star's uniform may be reflective and heat resistant, but his big mouth is completely exposed.
Rorschach then fires the accelerated time particles his shield absorbed into the corpse, causing Gold Star to age and crumble to dust. Rorschach then continues to his next target.
*DOOM*
Rorschach vs Cyborg
3POV
Victor Stone was excited at chance to fight Rorschach. Dr. Stane's description of the Assassin of Cognito was impressive and Victor would love to absorb some of Rorschach's weapons to improve his arsenal. That was ten hours ago.
He opened fired with his signature sonic blasters, but Rorschach generated a sound-proof barrier that blocked the shockwaves. Victor than attempted to use laser beams since he could see Rorschach. The lasers were first reflected when the points on the barrier went from transparent to mirror reflective. Then small "crystal bubbles" appeared in the air redirected the lasers so they would hit Rorschach. He attempted to overload Rorschach's shield by heavy ion plasma beams and ultra-high velocity solid projectiles, but the man's impossible shield continued to hold. He even sent out microscopic nano-explosive charges loaded with radioisotopes, but they were destroyed like fragile mosquitoes hitting a high-power bug zapper.
In frustration, he sends out black-and-gold biomechanical tentacles at Rorschach, only for them to crumble to dust when they come in contact with the barrier.
"Why? Why!? Why can't I get pass this stupid shield!?"
"It's because I'm way smarter than you."
Victor turns to see Rorschach standing behind him and realizes he was attacking a decoy. He charges at Rorschach, blinded by rage, only to collapse top ground a meter away. Electricity arcs across his body as the gold circuitry pattern glows brightly.
"Wh... What is...happening!?"
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Some do and I know one man turned machine that can hallucinate. Do you really think I would waste Ten Hours on You?"
"Wha...What?"
"Our ten hours of combat has actually been twenty second simulation. I hacked your nanomachines and put you in this cyber fantasy world until your execution was ready." says Rorschach as parts of his body fade away like Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. "Your nano lost its ability to recognize itself and is cannibalizing itself over and over again, wasting energy. Your mental world should collapse soon."
Everything around Victor begins to vanish into a white abyss, soon only himself and Rorschach's floating mask. Soon, even Victor begins to dissolve into ethereal white flames. As Rorschach's mask vanishes, he comments "You shouldn't have been so quick to throw away your humanity. Victor Stone was a winner."
Victor's life flashes through his mind and he remembers his parents when he was young, his friends and his girlfriend. He feels a deep sadness before those memories and what remains of Victor's mind vanishes.
In the real world, Victor's nanomechanical body bubbles and radiates heat, before collapsing and crumbling into a metallic bones and lifeless dust on the floor. Rorschach pulls out his Anti-Metal pistol and liquifies the dust pile just to be sure.
*DOOM*
Ash Grey vs Sea King
1POV
Sea King raises his hand and his squad of Shark-Men soldiers pause. I walk out of the shadows and smile showing my own shark teeth. I make a gesture which I learned from this world's Nanaue is a symbol of challenge.
"I am Sea King Nanaue, son of Kāmohoaliʻi, Ruler of Atlantis and the Oceans of my World." says Sea King, "Who are you?"
My Omnilingualism translates the animalistic growls into Old Atlantean than into Perfect English.
"I am Ash Grey the Doomsday, Blood of Kryptonian, Human, and Plague, Knight Commander the Shark men of Atlantis of this world." I reply in Old Atlantean.
"Shall we fight with tooth and claw? No weapons or powers, just the strength of our flesh and bone. The cunning of our minds and the boiling blood of our hearts. Let this be a duel of Atlantean honor."
The battle is savage and bloody, but it is pure without the interference of others. Sea King's divine-blessed teeth manage to scratch my gray hide, but my smaller set of shark teeth tear deep into his scales. Our titanic blows send shockwaves through our bodies, but only he possesses the organs that can be damaged. He even pulls off a cool move that dislocates my arm, but I'm able to snap it back in space and deliver a rib-shattering punch.
"Your teeth are sharper, your skin is tougher, your strength is greater." says the defeated Sea King, reading himself for the end, "You look more like a man, but you have the savagery of a Shark God. It has been a pleasure."
My spike-knuckled fist punches through Sea King Nanaue's chest and out the back. After a couple of seconds, Nanaune is dead and there is a new ruler of the Shark-men. The Shark-Men soldiers roar in respect to their fallen King and to their new leader.
*DOOM*
Rorschach Vs the Martian Malefic
3POV
Martian Malefic is worried. He's willing to do anything for his own survival and he considers Rorschach and Ash Grey to be two extreme threats.
The Martian Malefic has many forms due to his mastery of shape shifting. His primary battle form is vaguely humanoid with long elastic limbs and powerful legs. He uses this form while his living costume has formed layers of black hard exoskeletal armor with numerous spikes and a clear faceplate to deploy his Martian Vision. Sometimes the master shifter would generate long prehensile tentacles, which were also covered into armor to become living weapons.
If he was fighting Heroes, he would use that form. Instead, he's fighting the Most Feared Man in the world and an Immortal Monster.
The Martian has morphed his body into his ultimate battle form, which looks far from humanoid. His body is now a ribbed barrel-shaped mass of pulsating green flesh covered in rows of eyeballs. Those eyes are covered by a hard transparent carapace that protects against physical attacks and darkens when exterior light becomes too bright. From this ovoid body is a mass of tentacles that makes the Martian look like an immense oddly colored Crown-of-thorns starfish. These tentacles are covered in toxin spikes so sharp they are invisible to human vision. The Martian battle form floats in the air, constantly scanning in all directions (360 degrees) and ready to fire Martian vision from any of its eyes. Deep within the floating mass of spiky tentacles and baleful eyeballs there is a biomechanical device designed to cool his cells, protecting from heat and fire. It even suppresses the normal fear of fire that exists inside the brains of Martians.
No normal Martian of any color would consider developing shapeshifting to this level. This is because they fear losing their original form to the new inhuman body. Only one with an unstable and brilliant mind can transform into something that resembles the lovechild of an Elder Thing and a Shoggoth. If Ash Grey was witness to this fight, he would compare the abomination to one of the Demon God Pillars from Type-Moon's Fate/Grand Order.
"You are one ugly motherfucker."
The eyeballs and motion sensing filaments search for the source of the voice. Some of the eyes fire narrow beams of Martian vision in random patterns in case someone is hidden with stealth technology. These beams are start small fires around the Martian, but the cooling device protects the Martian.
It also scans with his telepathy, it's twisted mind ready to destroy any mind it contacts. If normal humans were to enter this room, they would drop dead as their minds are crushed with such force their brains would hemorrhage. Even Miss Martian – one of the strongest Martian telepaths of her own universe would fall into a comatose state.
"Where are you!?" says the Malefic, both telepathically and audible threw an unseen orifice.
"Nano-communications. Bio-nanites were injected into the air and absorbed into your body. They replicated and infiltrated your cells." says Rorschach over nano-communications, "I know what you're thinking. You'll shapeshift and expel the infected cells like getting rid of an Oreo addiction. Wrong. Did you think I would tell you until all your cells are infected?"
Malefic is panicking as he can now detect changes in all his cells. He's ready to negotiate.
"What do you want?"
"To steal all of valuable data your mind possesses, which I have already done. I also wanted to give you one final Fuck You before I kill you. Now Die!"
The bio-nanites – organic molecular machines the size of mitochondria – detonate in a chain reaction. Within less than two seconds, all thirty trillion living cells in Malefic's body burst.
Malefic's astral form attempts to escape, as his now deceased body dissolves into mush. The psychic form rises from liquefying flesh. only to see Rorschach to phase into reality holding a new gun.
"Anti-Psi Beam. I haven't had a chance to test this one. Ash is already immune to psychic energy," says Rorschach to the psychic ghost. "Thanks."
Malefic is hit by a strange beam. He screams in pain as his astral form shatters. With the psychic death, his energy is dispersed across the universe.
*DOOM*
Ash Grey vs Jonny Quick
Jonny Quick accelerates to the point that would stands still and moves towards his enemy. He's very cautious about the bone spikes that protrude from various parts of his body. He tosses pieces of wood at me and watches as the ones that come to close to my spikes are sliced apart by invisible edges.
Jonny Quick grabs a sword from one of the soldiers and swings at my neck at absurd speeds. The blade ripples and explodes into expanding cloud of shrapnel. Quick grabs a rod and throws it like a spear at my eye, but the rod of metal deforms into a disk.
Jonny Quick then gets close and begins punching different points, avoiding the spikes. He delivers thousands of punches at relativistic speeds, but they fail to do damage to me. They do damage the special gloves he was wearing to protect his hands. There are droplets of molten metal suspended in the air.
I suddenly grab him by the neck and time returns to normal. The exploding sword and improvised spear make very loud noises. When the explosions finish, I still have a firm grip around Jonny Quick's neck.
"How did you catch me?" says Jonny, struggling against my monstrously strong grip.
"I saw you from the beginning. I'm pretty fast."
Jonny calms down, as if accepting his fate.
"In life - there are winners and there are losers." says Jonny, "I'm guessing a lot of people back on our world just won, because I just lost."
"The big secret is Heroes win in this world."
I squeeze my hand into a fist and the effect is instant. Jonny Quick is decapitated.
"I would have just broken your neck, but the Flash family have survived some crazy shit."
*DOOM*
Rorschach vs Power Ring
3POV
Power Ring protected by a multi-layer green barrier, watches as Rorschach emerges from the shadows. He scans his opponent with a hundred advance extraterrestrial sensors created by the Maltusians. Not detecting anything to be concerned about, he fires an emerald beam. Rorschach is trapped inside a projection.
Rorschach is strapped to a cross-like structure with thick metal bands on various parts. There are bands around his ankles, upper legs, waist, chest, shoulders, upper arms, wrists, neck, and even one around the forehead to secure the head. Each band has rows of spikes ready to pierce their victim.
"Cute"
Power Ring's head turns at the sound to see Rorschach standing near the shadows behind him. Power Ring looks at his captive, only for the fake Rorschach to become a translucent white projection before dissolves into vanishing particles.
Rorschach raises his fist towards Power Ring, showing he's wearing a black-and-white imitation of a Lantern Power Ring bearing a Rorschach-like pattern in the shape of a butterfly. Rorschach's white beam instantly pierces Power Ring's multi-layer barrier and traps Power Ring in a bubble. Power Ring tries to counterattack, but he can't release any green light. Instead, he can only watch in shock as the green glow fades from his body retreating to the ring in his chest.
"The Maltusians are so arrogant believing only they can control the green light of the emotional spectrum. I made my own ring without any of their lazily-ignored defects."
Power Rings curls up in the sphere of white light, holding his chest in pain. The actual ring is getting hot and burning him where it's embedded in his body.
"I didn't just catch you; I also prevented your Ring from emitting energy. That energy is building up and making the Ring hot. I'm even feeding it more energy."
The Power Ring embedded in John Stewart's chest finally reaches its limit and cracks. A split second later, there is an immense explosion as all the stored energy is released and converted into heat and light. The temperatures inside the bubble surpass the heat of the sun or the heat of lightning, instantly reducing the human body into a cloud of ionized gas. The explosion is contained by Rorschach's lantern bubble, but John Stewart is completely reduced to plasma.
Rorschach breaks the bubble into smaller bubbles that randomly pop after a minute, turning what remains into a firework displays.
*DOOM*
Ash Grey vs Superwoman
1POV
Superwoman possesses immense strength, but the evil version of Lois Lane transformed into an Amazon quickly learned when it comes to durability there no one that can match me. She punched me hard enough to send me sliding back several meters, but she damaged her arm in the process. This is because I used my bone manipulation to add a layer of sharp bone scales that can pierce her body.
She throws a piece of debris at me and when smash it into a cloud of powder, she manages to lasso my wrist with the Lasso of Submission. While Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth forces those bound by it to tell the truth, the Lasso of Submission can compel obedience and even love of the wielder in those it ensnares, including even Kryptonians.
It has zero effect on me. After my trip to hell and literally eating Doctor Fate's collection of evil items, nothing can mess with my mind. I give the enchanted rope a yank with my monstrous strength, pulling Superwoman off her feet and flying towards me. When she gets close, I attempt to elbow her the face with my elbow spike deployed. She somehow manages to stop herself from being impaled in the face, but she can't avoid my following backhand with the spiked knuckles.
Superwoman tumbles through the air and crashes into a concrete pillar. There is a trail of a blood droplets from where my spikes managed to cut her face. She holds her face in disbelief as I coil up her Lasso of Submission.
"So. You don't have a problem hitting a woman?"
"Man or Woman, Young or Old, Light or Dark, Sinner or Saint, Mortal or God. All that face me, fall before a Walking Apocalypse." I say, trying to sound cool. I then take the Lasso of Submission and devour it like it was giant piece of spaghetti.
[Whipfist+ Upgrade]
I activate my upgraded skill and the result resembles Heller's fully upgraded Whipfist, an arm covered in metallic spikes with a curved blade at the end resembling a combat knife. The difference being instead of red coloration of viral biomass, it's the same ash-grey flesh illuminated by a flow of red light
"Thanks for the Upgrade."
I attack with my upgraded skill, moving at inhuman speeds I fire the Whipfist and pierce Superwoman's shoulder. I pull her towards me as If I'm Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. As she gets close, I grab her by the throat and hold her in the air. I begin stabbing her over and over.
Wonder Woman is vulnerable to piercing attacks and Superwoman is her analogue. She tries to block with her strength and martial arts, but I pierce her arm in a way that will disable the nerves. I then stab her in the vitals, the nano-edge blade piercing her stone hard flesh with ease. Even if he wasn't aiming for the vitals, the hellish toxins would still rot her divine-enhanced flesh.
I casually toss the corpse to the ground. I can feel the Qliphoth within me sing with approval.
*DOOM*
Rorschach vs Owl-Man
3POV
When Rorschach first encountered Owl-Man, Owl-Man was surrounded by a dozen Talons. Those owl-masked assassins didn't last two minutes, as Rorschach dropped a baseball-size spherical device. The device released an expanding blue-white field that instantly froze the entire area. The air instantly filled with droplets of ice and liquified gases. Owl-Man survived thanks to his supernatural cape and thermal devices in his combat suit, but his men became ice statues.
The battle between Cognito's Assassin Gamer and Gotham's Knight of Darkness is brutal and confusing. Both fighters use a combination of stealth, deception, martial arts, and high-tech gadgets against their numerous opponents. Owl-Man is experiencing something new; he's slowly losing against a masked vigilante.
Owl-Man's supernaturally enhanced stealth abilities makes him invisible to visual, auditory, or infrared sensors, but not to Rorschach's sensors, which all detect the "blank" areas Owl-Man is occupying. This eliminates one of Owl-Man's strengths – one that he shares with Batman – the ability to surprise his opponent. Rorschach's own stealth is not just making himself invisible and inaudible, but intangible by phasing into other dimensions. This intangibility eliminates other forms of detection like touch and smell.
Owl-Man's demonic cape – unique to his particular version of Earth - can create realistic illusions that can magically inflict real damage to their targets. Owl-Man received this demonic cape from a dark ritual performed by Dark Zatanna back when the two were involved with each other. Rorschach's Illusionary copies are created by advance solid light holographic technology that can also inflict real damage to their opponents.
Owl-Man has mastered many forms of martial arts. He doesn't know all hundred twenty-seven styles that Earth-DR's Batman knows, but if both Rorschach and Owl-Man were fighting in the nude, Owl-Man would have the advantage in pure skill. Owl-Man would not have the advantage in physical durability because the Gamer Body makes it near impossible permanently injure and the "Dragon Blood" he absorbed in China makes Rorschach completely immune to weapons.
When it comes to high-tech gadgets, Rorschach is far superior by an absurd level. While the evil version of Batman may have access to all of his world's science, technology, and resources, plus whatever alien technology he could acquire, Rorschach is RICK SMART. Someone who is Rick Sanchez smart can create a gadget that can literally do anything, from transmute a person into gold to slicing a car and its occupants into sentient living fragments.
Even Owl-Man taking dozens of innocent people – men, women, and children – hostage, with explosive collars around their necks, was completely pointless. Rorschach just used Chronoton Disruptor to freeze them in time, making them indestructible until he could remove the collars later. Owl-Man knows that Rorschach could capture him the same way, but the masked vigilante has no mercy for him.
Owl-Man tries to dodge the beams that come out of Rorschach's retro-futuristic gun, only for the purple-pink beam to curve and track him. Owl-Man even use his emergency teleporter to move twenty meters, but the beam continues to track. When the beam strikes Owl-Man his dark cape disintegrates, and he's knocked into a wall hard enough to crater it.
Rorschach switches to a different gun. It's a thick pitch-black gun, unlike his typical retro-futuristic Fallout-inspired ray guns. Red and blue lights pulsate as if signaling a warning away people as he aims. As Rorschach pulls the trigger, the Gravitational Beam Emitter fires a red beam. This isn't a typical slow beam of mysterious energy. Instead, it is a beam moving at actual light speed. A beam that pierces everything in its path at the same speed. Owl-Man doesn't have time to grapple line away or react to the beam as in an instant the beam makes a burning hole in him. It also makes a hole in the wall behind him, the wall behind that one, and the wall behind that one. The beam only stops when it hits the edge of the pocket dimension creating an aurora-like distortion. The air is filled with glowing red particles that burn what they encounter.
As for Owl-Man, the Gravitational Beam Emitter is designed to pierce futuristic military-grade armor and construction materials. A human body, even a peak human body covered in advance combat armor has no chance. The piercing of the beam turns metal and ceramic into a cloud of particles and does even worse to the flesh and bone.
"Some people would call this Overkill. When you're fighting an evil version of Batman, there is No such thing as Overkill."
*DOOM*
Ash Grey vs Ultraman
1POV
"You're so weak. I just killed your buddy, Jimmy. I also killed your wife, the psycho bitch with the Lasso. Is this the best can you do, Kryptonian?"
Ultraman has lost the capacity for rational thought. When he first saw me, I saw the instant fear in his eyes. On some level he knew I was a biggest threat he has ever faced. This made him cautious, using his laser vision on me. These immensely powerful beams fueled by Kryptonite could easily vaporize the most durable Earth metals, but it only managed to push me back a little. It's difficult to move forward when you're standing on melting ground. He even tried to fire into my eyes to destroy my brain, but even if the beams could reach, they would find nothing to burn.
Then I started to taunt him, turning his fear into anger, making him more aggressive. He slammed into me with enough force to create rippling shockwaves. The destructive energy is so immense, the ground beneath us ripples and buildings around us collapse into rubble. His fists could crush diamonds, but they fail to make me bleed. Ultraman on the other hand is bleeding from a hundred cuts and lacerations. He doesn't know that my toxins are damaging his Kryptonian tissues and preventing any healing.
If he was a different type of Kryptonian like the tyrant from Injustice: Gods Among Us, I would be flooding the area from radioactive Kryptonite fog, but that would only make Ultraman stronger. Instead, I'm using toxins I developed when I killed Kryptonite Man. They are slowly spreading through my opponent's body, stripping his cells of the Kryptonite radiation they need to function at superhuman levels.
Finally, Ultraman stares at me and coughs blackened blood on my face. I have extended my arm spikes into long sharp barbed spears of toxin bone. Those spears have finally pierced Ultraman's chest and out his back.
"What... What the Hell are You?" says Ultraman. The sclera (whites) of his eyes have turned blood red and he's bleeding from his eyes, nose, and mouth. My toxins are liquifying his organs, burning his bones, and his blackened blood pouring from the numerous severe wounds.
"Death." I whisper to the dying Kryptonian. I then proceed to tear him apart in a very gruesome manner. When I'm done, I'm soaked to the bone and Ultraman doesn't have a single unbroken bone or intact organ. I even used my Soul Manipulation to shred the man's screaming soul and disperse the particles across eternity.
I let out a thunderous roar, deep and inhumanly loud. I feel Good!
Deep within me, I feel a sense of satisfaction. A Doomsday has killed a Kryptonian, which is its purpose in existence in many universes. The Tree of Death pulsates with energy on its plane of existence. I wonder if that tree can produce flowers.
"Ash, this is Rorschach. I just got a notification that the Main Quest is complete."
"Ultraman is Deader than Dead. Hey Neo, you have some of those cleaning slimes?"
"Yes."
"I'm going to need them."
*DOOM*
Rorschach and I watch as the pocket dimension collapse with the city of Metropolis returning to its original position. I notice the water that flooded the hole where Metropolis was is instantly vaporized. Any marine flora or fauna is also disintegrated by the returning city, along with a small number of sea birds and one drunk boater. The steam explosion causes more damage to the city, but Metropolis has returned to the world.
As clouds of steam wash over us, a notification appears.
[Save Metropolis]
The Dark League – an evil version of the Justice League – has captured Metropolis.
Objectives
Eliminate the Dark League - Complete
Bonus – Boss Doom-Jimmy - Complete
Eliminate Dark League forces - Complete
Rescue the Justice League – Complete.
Rescue the Citizens of Metropolis – Complete.
Difficulty: Hard
Time: Complete.
Status: Complete.
Reward(s):
Special Reward (Rorschach) - [Mega-City Savior] - Requirement: Save a city with a population of over 1 million (Metropolis Population: 11 million) - Effect: Enhanced Charisma and Exp gain in the City of Metropolis.
Special Reward (Ash Grey) - [Crisis Killer] - Requirement: Kill members of an alternate universe Justice League – Effect: Bonus damage against extradimensional Super Powered Beings. Special Trait: Super-Kryptonite – A form of Kryptonite that is effective against all dimensional analogues of Kryptonians.
"Damn!"
"We also got something from killing each member of the Dark League"
Rorschach clicks on each Reward and looks at the description.
Gold Star – Reward: Legion Flight Ring
"Legion Flight Ring enables its wearer the ability to fly in both atmospheric environments and outer space. It's made of something called Valorium and was made by Brainiac 5. I could give these out as cereal box prizes if I wanted to, but I think I'll put it in a nice museum case."
Nano Cyborg – Reward: [Nanotechnology Skill Boost]
"Nanotech Skill is what's on the label. It just boosts my knowledge on the subject. It would make a normal person a genius, but for me it's a drop in the bucket."
Martian Malefic – Reward: [Martian Biotechnician Skill]
"I can now build Martian biotechnology from their clothing to their bioships. I could already do that, but now I know every little detail."
Power Ring – Reward: [Protection from Emotion Spectrum]
"Protection from the Emotion Spectrum means I can't be influenced by any of the Lantern Rings. It also means all empathic powers are now useless against me. I wouldn't want to get Atrocious' red plasma vomit on me, but at least I know I won't be harmed... If I didn't have my tech."
Owl Man - Reward: [Owl-Man Skill Books]
"The Big Reward: A collection of skills belonging to Thomas Wayne, Jr. Business Management, Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced), Intimidation, and Martial Arts. Not too bad I guess."
It's my turn to show the loot.
Dark Zatanna – Reward [Soul Crusher]
"Soul Crusher – the ability to instantly destroy any soul jar within range (10 m), no matter the physical or mystical protection. At least I won't have to eat more foul-tasting crap."
"I thought you liked eating mystical gems."
"I do, but some of the souls nearly made me vomit. But, you know, no stomach."
Sea King - Reward: [Blessings of the Shark God]
"Blessings of the Shark God – Not good. It's all Question masks outside of having enhanced charisma with Sharks and those with Shark traits."
"Question marks always mean trouble. I killed the Riddler for a reason."
Jonny Quick – Reward: [Blessing of the Black Flash]
"Blessings of the Black Flash - Enhanced speed against Speedsters and more Question marks."
Superwoman – Reward: [WhipFist++ Upgrade]
"My WhipFist was upgraded when I ate Superwoman's lasso. I upgraded again when she was dead."
Ultraman – Reward: [Superman Slayer]
"Superman Slayer – Kryptonians and analogues do less damage against me. Zero damage is still zero damage. I also do more damage against them. This damage is multiplied if I facer multiple Kryptonians!? "
"There was a version of Doomsday that was beat to death by a bunch of Kryptonians."
"I guess it would help if there were a big escape from the Phantom Zone"
Bonus: Doom-Jimmy – Reward: [Doom-Slayer]
"I got a Bonus from killing the Doomsday version of Jimmy Olsen. Doom-Slayer – I do massively increased damage against Doomsday and variants. Also, if I kill one (even if it's temporary), I get all of the deceased one's adaptations in addition to my own."
"Just when I thought you couldn't get any tankier."
*DOOM*
Monday, September 22, 2014 – In the news, Lexcorp and Cognito Inc are working together on the Metropolis Restoration Project. The amount of damage done by the invasion of Dark League is extensive including structural damage to the buildings and foundations, and the severing of all lines – electrical, water, and communications leading in and out of Metropolis.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014 – The Shark-Men of Earth-DL (Dark League) official joined the Shark-men Army of Atlantis under my command. Rorschach also arranged for the families of said soldiers to be transferred to this world. I must ask – Why do female Shark-men look like sexy monster girls!? Seriously, the males look like extras from Street Sharks, but the women look like Mersharks from Monster Girl Encyclopedia minus the mermaid fish tail!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - Rorschach has created a bridge to view Earth-DL. With the Dark League wiped out, the rebellion lead by that world's Alexander J Luthor have begun to retake the world. The retraction of the Shark-Men of Atlantis has greatly reduced the Dark League forces and the three is massive infighting among the commanders. I believe Cognito will be sending support which will officially make Cognito Inc a multidimensional company.
Thursday, October 2, 2014 – I noticed the Justice League is a little nervous around me. I guess they have been nervous since the Dark League invasion, since the Dark Leaguers were more powerful than the Justice Leaguers and they were slaughtered Rorschach and Me. I had Rorschach drop off an obscene amount of baby and childcare products for the JL mommies. A little prank to relieve the stress.
Saturday, October 4, 2014 - Is this a Running Joke? I was on a group date with my girls when some new wannabe Rogue showed up. I don't care about this teenage glue villain's motivation, I just transformed into my full battle mode and roared at him. The little fool was so scared, he broke down crying and pissed himself. Flash actually came in and comforted the "Wannabe Rogue". I think he's being nominated for the Nicest Hero award.
*DOOM*
Rorschach's Inkwell
Location Hidden
Monday, October 6, 2014
No Clock Available
I'm sitting next to Rorschach at his base. This isn't a Quest meeting or Rorschach showing off his latest creations, this is just two friends sitting down and sharing stories.
"The story about quests of the Party of Adventurers called the Blue Rose Knights. The theme is gender bender! Every member of the Party was formerly male and now they are all female."
"Seriously, that was on one of my channels?"
"It's high-quality animation, good characterization, and storytelling with a kick ass soundtrack. It also represents the issues of the lgbtqia2+ community with respect and doesn't censor itself because of foreign prejudice. Damn, I sound like a promoter."
"So, what are the characters like?"
I pull out my new Cognito-brand smartphone and find the wikia.
The first picture is a handsome young man or European descent with brown eyes, dark tanned skin, and short raven-black hair. He's dressed in dark red leather armor decorated with black and gold flames and dragon symbology. He's holding a majestic looking sword and looking smug and arrogant at the camera.
The second picture is a very beautiful young woman with gold eyes, lighter complexion, and long white-blonde hair. She also has pointed ears and sharp canine teeth. She is dressed in a similar armor modified for her body type. Her new sword is clearly magical as it looks like it's made of some sort of fiery crystal and releases sparks around her.
The third picture is an immense dragon that has a mixture of Western and Eastern features with gold eyes, white scales with gold patterns, and a mane of white hair. She has a very flexible, but strong body with a long neck and nail, sharp claws, and huge leathery wings. She also a beaked snout with long ears and big expressive eyes.
"The Leader was a dragon-blood Hero, trained since birth to bring glory to his family. During a mission to kill an evil dragon, its dark spirit possessed the hero's body before dying. The Hero was saved by inhabiting a dragon's body. The Hero was able to take human form, but he quickly learned the dragon was female. She goes from a prideful loud hero to shy awkward girl trying to find a place in the world. She also wanted to avoid her family forcing her marry to continue the famous bloodline. "
The first of the second set of pictures is a short, thin man of Asian descent with dark eyes, tanned scarred skin, and messy black hair. He's dressed in cheap old clothing resembling the clothing of Han Dynasty of China. He's holding a straw and wood broom in his hands and is looking tired and unhappy.
The second picture, the post-transformation picture, is a young beautiful woman of Chinese descent. She has ice blue eyes, pale flawless skin, and long flowing black hair. She is dressed in Han-style clothing, but white-and-blue outfit appears to be made of more expensive materials. Instead of a broom, she is carrying a fantasy silver spear that is producing a trail of ice and fog.
"The Lancer is a xianxia-style hero. He was typical weak-start protagonist, working harder than everyone else, but not making progress due to the meridians (flows of energy) being damaged. He was nearly killed by a higher-ranking member of his sect and swallowed a mythical pill. It saved his life, and granted him amazing potential, but the pill was meant for women. He spent years as part of an all-female sect, but eventually travelled West after killing her former oppressors."
"One Interesting point is Lancer and most of the cultivators in the series have a mix of elf and human blood. Apparently, when cultivators first appeared in the fantasy world, they encountered a tribe of elves. Relationships were difficult and centuries later, the first half elves were born. The half-elves were treated badly at first, until the Elves and Cultivators learned the hybrids could achieve new levels of power."
There is a loud beep.
"Sorry, it looks like my computers are finished making calculations."
"Calculations for what?"
"Let me show you."
*DOOM*
I'm standing on one of the Inkwell's numerous walkways looking down at Rorschach's creations. It's kind of funny, but I used to have a minor fear of heights. Those fears have been erased by my immunity to fall damage.
Down below are a dozen egg-shaped devices, each one a meter in length. Each "eggshell" is composed of a white metal with an iridescent shine. There are also numerous faint lines and the top and bottom of each egg has a flat tip with a black lens.
"The Council of Ricks managed to seal off a strand of infinity to create the Central Finite Curve. To prevent invasions from alternate worlds, attacks of Lovecraftian horrors from between dimensions, and retcons from Crisis events, I'm going to severe us from the multiverse. These Bleed Probes will map out our piece of the multiverse and set things up to erect a barrier."
"Cool. What are they powered by?"
"Baby universes."
"Seriously. Wouldn't dropping baby universes into the bleed cause them to grow? I remember the evil Batmans doing something like that during the mess with the Dark Multiverse."
"My Bleed cores will destroy themselves if they breech containment."
"So, they self-abort?"
"Yes." says Rorschach with a smirk under his mask, "This isn't my first set of probes. It's the tenth set. That is only a third of the number of probes I'm sending out."
"Find anything yet."
"A few things and all of them concerning."
He activates one of his numerous screens. It shows three images.
The first image enlarges to reveal a severely damaged spacecraft marked NASA. Four image windows open to reveal the occupants of the spacecraft. One is a viscous liquid draining out a space suit. The second is a what looks like an empty female space suit occupied by something invisible except for ash stains. The third looks a pile of fused orange rocks kept in a vaguely humanoid shape by the large male space suit. The fourth is a partially exploded, partial melted spacesuit fused to the floor. In all four, the insides of the ship are blackened and melted by intense heat and flame.
"The Fantastic Four. It looks like this version didn't survive there first outer space adventure."
"I managed to reconstruct some of data. They were tested an interdimensional drive system in their universe and got their math wrong. Jonny Storm's transformation is what finished them off. "
The next exhibit of the Bleed's insanity is clearly a giant turd. It's a giant cylindrical mass over five meters long composed of various metals and embedded objects, but it's clearly shaped like a piece of excrement. It's contained by thick walls and shielding with numerous warnings.
"Analyze of this giant turd indicates its composed of the hyperdense remains of a dead universe. Apparently, there are cosmic horrors that will eat entire universes and take dumps in the Bleed. This is another reason why I want to isolate our little bit of meta-stability; to permanently take us off the menu."
"What's with all the security?"
"It's a highly radioactive, contains toxins that break down organic matter, and is a Cognito-hazard. It drives people insane if they get within seven meters."
Cognito-hazardous poop!? This sounds like the Golden Turd from American Dad.
The Final Exhibit of the Bleed is terrifying. It's a mummified corpse of a monster. It was over seven feet tall, extremely muscular, and humanoid with grey skin and long white hair. Its body has thick white bone spikes coming out of its knuckles, forearms, shoulders, chest, knees, and spine. It's clearly yet another version of Doomsday.
"Another one, First Jimmy then this Guy." I comment, "How did he die and why is he still dead?"
"I checked a sample of his cells. Every cell was normal, except there was no DNA or RNA in any of them. It's as if some force or tech phased out all his genetic material, so his body didn't have anything to work with." says Rorschach, "According to my experiments, you should be fine."
"What experiments?"
"I dimensionally phased DNA out of some of your cells and you adapted. Even if your DNA and RNA are destroyed, your cells can reconstruct the DNA from scratch."
"You and I need to have a discussion about you experimenting on me. I may be unharmed and get stronger, but it is... rude."
*DOOM*
Thursday, October 9, 2014 - Rorschach pranked the Light gain. He somehow managed to get baby pictures of Light children and the parents acting goofy. Lex Luthor taking time to play with Lena is cute and Queen Bee holding her own child warms the heart (and makes amazing propaganda). What annihilates common sense are pictures of Ra's holding baby Talia and Vandal Savage playing with his children from various points in history. Klarion was the only exception, he just got scenes of him playing with his cat, but the baby-talk seriously hurt his street cred.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 - Rorschach introduced me to new foods from the fictional worlds. He somehow used the memories of various foods from the Cadmus Upsilon subjects to recreate the appearance, texture, taste, and smell of food items. One example was using Genesis Rhapsodos' memories to recreate the Banora White fruit (also known as dumbapples) using Apple as a baseline cultivation. It's good enough, that Genesis is even promoting the juice of the imitations.
Sunday, November 2, 2014 – Watching nothing but 5-Star anime has made me a couch potato. The girls are going to be busy for a few days. Blackfire and Starfire have a meeting with some extraterrestrial representatives and are helping to improve the alien-human relationships. Raven and Jade are helping Doctor Fate and Zatara handle some sort of magical seal for some ancient, sealed evil. Priss and Max are in the Caribbean, having become odd friends with Pamela and Harley. I guess I'll watch an Isekai Marathon.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014 – Holy Shit! That was nuts. I watched Isekai Anime for Fifty-two hours straight! I need more hobbies.
*DOOM*
Rorschach's Inkwell
Hidden Location
Thursday, November 6, 2014
10:35 (I'm wearing a Watch Today)
Rorschach called me, saying he has a Big Surprise. I'm both interesting and worrying. Rorschach is Rick Smart and when not investing his time in the environment and humanity, he can do a lot of weird stuff for the sheer entertainment value. Unlike Morty, I know I'll survive if something goes wrong, but I do have a life outside of our friendship.
"So, what your big surprise?"
"Project: Cybertron."
Cybertron is the home planet of the Transformers and (usually) the body of their creator, Primus. Cybertron is (almost always) a shining metal, technological world; a planet of towering future cities without end and vast metallic plains, spiraling metal mountains and bottomless neon-lit chasms. In many timelines, the war between the peace-loving Autobots and war-like Decepticons often depleted the planet's resources. In some cases, the planet would merely be dormant until it could be refueled by a star's energy. In other cases, the planet was left a lifeless husk. In one timeline, a Decepticon scientist named Shockwave (realizing how doomed his race was) seeded other planets with energon allowing colonies to be created.
"Cybertron?"
"New Cybertron."
Rorschach's floating screens light up.
The first video is an enhanced satellite image of a desert world that is a dirty dark brown with red-brown patches and no cloud cover. There are numerous volcanic areas with surface temperature readings of 1,250 degrees Celsius (2,200 degrees Fahrenheit). The colder are cold enough to liquify gases in the atmosphere. Completely inhospitable to a human, but not to machines and mechanical life forms. A smaller video shows the surface which is a barren desert of dark brown and black gritty dirt lacking the water and organics of organic soil. In the background there is a volcano spewing lava and volcanic gases.
"Stage 1 – locate a suitable planet for cyber-forming. A large planet with an abundance of metal, especially rare earth metals, and extremely low levels of liquid water. Instead of looking for a planet in this universe, I manipulated the creation of a micro-verse to generate the perfect planet."
The second video shows the same planet, but there is pink-purple glow spread across the planet is an interconnected web of lines. Even the atmosphere has a faint purple glow from space. A new sensor shows high levels of energon radiation. The video of the surface now shows pink-purple crystal clusters growing everywhere like bushes with glowing veins in the ground. Even one the volcanoes is spewing purplish-red lava from its top, showing how extensive it is.
"Stage 2 – Implantation and accelerated growth of Energon using crystal technology. The crystals grew through the planet like a hybrid of circulatory and nervous system. I was even able to inject more energy into the planet, so the crystallization was visible on the surface."
The third video is completely different as planet is now a smooth sphere of dark metallic silver-gray. There are liquid ripples on its surface indicate it might be an ocean. The purple-illuminated atmosphere reflects off the planet's surface making it appear brighter. The surface video shows an ocean of dense dark silver liquid metal. On the surface the liquid is covered in iridescent ripples and the occasional large ripple of purple. There are even lightning storms that illuminate the ocean of grey goo.
"Stage 3 – Seeding the planet with nanomachine colonies. These colonies which are based on Transformium cells devour the planet's surface. The gray goo becomes a primordial ocean for the birth of mechanical lifeforms."
The fourth picture is a video shows two shockwaves of radiant energy emerge from the poles and go across the planet. These ripples travel across the entire planet and ripple back a dozen times. If these shockwaves were caused by explosions the explosions would have been visible from space and destroyed parts of the planet. Instead of a wave of destruction, it's a wave a change.
The surface video, with a time stamp taken days later, shows various humanoids composed of rippling dense liquid metal and pulsating sparks. Eventually these proto forms scan their surroundings and transform into extraterrestrial machines and animals. They then transform into solid mechanical humanoids covered in armor resembling their alt modes.
"Stage 4 – The Spark. I implanted a device patterned after the AllSpark at the heart of the planet. Fueled by a micro verse, I transmitted the energy to all parts of the planet. Instead of mere mechanical lifeforms, neo-cybertronians began to evolve."
The fifth shows thirteen other worlds. These worlds range from massive to tiny, from a lush jungle world to a desert world to a planet covered completely in water. One world looks very familiar looking like ancient Earth with the continents locked together into super-continent Pangea. There are thirteen surface videos showing the variety of each world.
"Stage 5 – The colonies. I seeded other worlds with energon and in some cases - grey goo seeds. In more organic worlds, I released samples of the T-O virus from Sari and the other technoformers."
Technoformers is the name given to the humanoid techno-organic Transformers that we rescued from Project Cadmus Upsilon. Unlike pure mechanical transformers, techno-organics can go long periods without the need for energon, possess superior abilities relative to their size, and can reproduce like organic life forms.
If the Heroes were here, they would be appalled by the mad scientist playing God and creating life to the point he created a World. Thankfully, it's just me with Rorschach so I can cry out-
"Holy Shit! You created a Transformer Universe!"
"Eat your heart out, Primus."
"What if Unicron appears?"
"Unlikely, but if he does, I'll give him worst indigestion than Rodimus did with the Matrix of Leadership."
I then notice something about the Earth planet.
I would also be blushing if my grey skin could. The surface video shows some technoformers exploring the organic design of their bodies. It's quickly turning into a crossover between a National Geographic video and a pornographic video. Rorschach quickly turns off that screen and looks at me (I know he has a raised eyebrow under that mask).
"I blame Fred Perry."
"Who?"
"Fred Perry is an American comic book artist and writer, currently working, back in our old universe, at Antarctic Press. He's famous for making the awesome Gold Digger series."
"So."
"He also has an internet porn hobby –Zelda, Teen Titans, Naruto, Avatar, Harry Potter, and especially Transformers. Gold Digger even has a parody of the Transformers. In canon Gold Diggers, Gina Diggers and her companion ended up in universe with them as robots and the first thing that came to Gina's mind was sex. They would have done it there, but they were spotted by the decepticon knockoffs.
"So?"
"I read all of Fred Perry's comics."
"It could be worse."
"Yeah, it could be Kiss Players."
*DOOM*
Wednesday, November 26, 2014 - Hero News – The Atom (Dr. Ray Palmer) and the Engineers (Dr. Angela Spica and Dr. Serling Roquette) have officially become members of Cognito Inc. Doctor Genus' knowledge of nanotechnology now surpasses anyone in the known universe, but he can't dedicate himself solely to its research. The heroic threesome is the best choice as they represent the other three smartest scientists in the field of nanotechnology.
Saturday, November 29, 2014 - Holy Shit! I got to meet Taylor Hebert, the infamous Queen of Escalation from Earth-Bet. I also got to meet Amy Dallon and Lisa Wilbourn. I don't completely understand it, but Cognito not only healed them from being severed from there Entities, but also restored their powers. The last time I saw them, they were on TV doing a PSA for metahumans. As expected, Taylor is a shy, awkward girl and she was a little intimidated by my knowledge of her. Amy almost had a seizure when she touched my arm, my biology is fascinating to her power, and she even called me a "Super-Crawler".
Thursday, December 4, 2014 - Hero News - The Misfits and X-Men stopped a group of metahuman terrorists and were treated like heroes by the public. This is something they are not used to as they had to deal with a lot of prejudice in their world. I talked to Rorschach, and he revealed the Misfits and X-Men have been experienced chaotic events and adventures ever since they were freed from Cadmus Upsilon. He even had the magi check to see if the group was cursed by chaos. If that spineless freak Mojo shows up, I'm tearing him in half and feeding him his own ass.
Sunday, December 7, 2014 - We had a minor demonic invasion. Klarion got bored and broke a collection of statues at a museum. These statues served as prisons for ancient demons sealed away by the sorcerers of Atlantis. Once freed the greater demons opened portals to summon their armies to Earth. When the vast demonic army arrived, they noticed that Dante, Bayonetta, Jade, Raven, and me were in the Museum at the time (damn Date Luck). The armies screamed and retreated, sealing the portals behind them. When the Old Demon demanded to know what the hell was going on, I made the introductions. Then five of us proceeded to annihilate the old demons.
*DOOM*
Broken Island
The Bleed
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 (on Earth)
Time: Unknown
3POV
A chunk of debris the size of Newfoundland floating in the endless red of the Bleed. It's surrounded by bubble of energy that traps the atmosphere. The surface of the island is mostly barren rock and gritty sand containing glass and metal fragments. There are a few places covered in extraterrestrial plants and towering fungus, but they are rare. The island also has very little in the way of native fauna, mostly insects and segmented worms whose simply bodies can survive the harsh environment.
Occasionally, the Broken Island had received visitors. There are remains of space vehicles on the island, severely corroded with time, and the remains of extraterrestrials – both humanoid and not - reduced to pale bone fragments. Some died peacefully in places that became their tombs, while some died fighting with a weapon in their hands.
There are visitors on the Broken Island.
One is a humanoid female standing 1.65 meters (5′5″) with blue eyes and shoulder-length gold blonde hair. She is dressed in a torn black-and-white costume decorated with pink include a pink-inline white hood. It's also stained by dirt and blood from her numerous wounds. Ash Grey and Rorschach would instantly recognize her as Gwendolyn Maxine "Gwen" Stacy, the heroine known as Spider-Woman, Ghost-Spider, and Spider-Gwen.
The creatures pursuing her look like canines, but they are not normal Earth animals. They are huge quadrupedal beasts with glowing red eyes, thick black fur that is sharp as blades, sharp claws, sharp teeth, and a curved horn on their foreheads. These bio-engineered monsters were created by Gwen's enemies to hunt those possessing the Spider-Totem like hunting dogs. Not only do they possess immense physical abilities, but their metallic fur renders them immune to spider webs and they can attack without setting off the spider senses of their prey.
There are over a dozen Spider-Hunters chasing her and she has been forced out the forest, where she held some advantage. Gwen cries out as a burst a flame manages to burn her side.
"Of course, they have to breathe fire as well! Seriously, Fuck You Jennix and your fucked up Experiments. "
She prepares for her last stand, when something lands between her and the canines, causing the mutts to pause to asset the new threat. Gwen sees a familiar shape in the dust cloud and wonders if it's one of Tony Stark's Iron-Man suits or even one of the Iron-Spider suits. If it's the former, she might forgive Tony for all that Civil War crap. If it's the later, she will stop complaining about Rick Pete being an arrogant douchebag.
Instead, the dust cloud disperses to reveal an Iron Legion Mark VI – The Blood Knight. The latest in Cognito Inc's Iron Legion was inspired by an anime that Ash told Rorschach about. It's a heavily armed barbarian unit designed to crush its enemies instead of being merely soldiers or royal guards. It still has the patriotic red, white, and blue, but it also carries a metal huge battle-axe.
In the blink of an eye, one of the Hunters leaps at the robot opponent only for the knight to swing its axe. The force of the impact is so immense the beast explodes on contact. As the beasts back off, the Blood Knight releases a brilliant chest beam that pierce everything in its path. It's so powerful the radiant heat of the beam is enough to melt the ground beneath the beam. The miniature wave-motion gun does its purpose, annihilating all the bio-engineered monsters and also setting a portion of the forest on fire.
"Gwendolyn Stacy?" comes a voice from the robot.
"Yes."
"My name is Rorschach and I represent Cognito Inc. We will be handling your rescue."
"Rorschach?" says Gwen recognizing the voice.
*DOOM*
Outer Heaven Moon Base
The Moon
1 hour later.
1POV
Gwen has emerged from treatment. The Cognito nanomedicine having healed her injuries and removed foreign pathogens. She also received an immune booster so if she does encounter a native pathogen, she won't become crippling sick.
"Rorschach and Doomsday!?" says Gwen, starting at my grey form.
"How exactly did you know that?" I ask her watching her carefully.
Gwen looks nervous.
"Did you read DC Comics?"
Gwen looks shocked then smiles with our correct guess.
"You're from my world, originally?" asks Gwen.
"It's possible. I'm from 2020s Newfoundland and Rorschach is from the states and was my internet buddy. Biggest thing going around was a pandemic. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that was first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019. "
"I was originally from 2030s New York. I got sick from the Pandemic. Omega variant. One night I went to sleep in my hospital bed and woke up in body of comic book Gwen Stacey in a hospital bed after she got bite by the genetically engineered spider."
"Omega, huh? We were only at Omicron when I ended up in Young Justice." I say, thinking back.
"Young Justice!? The animated tv series? So, how did you two appear?" says Gwen.
"Cadmus in my case." I say, finding a chair to sit in, "Some idiot combined a Kryptonian Doomsday virus with a sample from Superboy and made a monster. I tore myself out of the place and contacted the League."
"In my case, I found myself in Hub City with Gamer powers and disguised myself as Rorschach." says Neo. "I forgot introductions. You may call me Rorschach or Neo. My grey friend is Ash Grey."
"My name is actually Gwendolyne Stacy. I used to get teased in school about having the same name as a comic book character. Thing was I was named after Grandmother Gwendolyne. It didn't help I was blue-eyed blonde in my first life. It was a shock to actually become Spider-Gwen version of Gwen Stacy."
She goes on to explain how she ended up living the fictional Gwen Stacey's heroic life. It was a life full of tragedies. That world's Peter Parker attempted to obtain powers and was transformed into the Lizard and died fighting her. A corrupt lawyer Matt Murdock had her father killed and she was on the run until she was pulled into the Spider-Verse event. She nearly died fighting against the vampiric Inheritors and got help from several other Spider-Men and Spider-Women. This help ranged from fighting techniques to enhanced gear to even additional powers from a couple of "mad scientist" Spiders.
"During my escape through a portal, one of the enemies damaged the portal maker. I guess I was lucky as I ended up on that island instead of dying in the Bleed, but unlucky a bunch of Hunting Dogs also showed up."
"Well, hopefully after my biggest project yet is concluded, you won't have to worry about the Inheritors ever again. Of course... there will be a bit of a trade-off."
"Like what?"
Rorschach and Gwen start talking, and I suddenly feel like a third wheel. I tell Rorschach I'm going home and take a portal back to the Doomsday Bunker.