Chapter 30 Back in New York
Janet dodged another series of rapid-fire blasts from repulsors directed at her by no less than three Ultron robots. She twisted, spun, and dove through the air in an effort to avoid the energy that could potentially do her serious harm. At her shrunken size she was hard to hit but the Ultron robots were good shots. She felt
one of the energy blasts clip her and grunted in pain.
In her flight from her pursuers Janet hadn't even thought about where she was going. The skyscraper that made up Spider-M Inc.'s headquarters was located equidistantly between Ultimates Headquarters, the Baxter Building, and the Parker Residence in Queens. Janet had subconsciously headed to Spider-M. She realized this the moment an Asgardian goddess dropped off the roof of the building and landed on the back of one of the Ultron robots. Sif's sword sliced off a second robot's head as she dropped by. Sif's sword completed the spin and came down into the back of the robot she was riding as it dropped towards street level. Janet spun and engaged the remaining robot using her energy blasts. She dodged the less frequent fire and managed to do damage to the robot. As she fought she dropped towards street level. Janet's gambit paid off when Sif's sword shot through the air and stuck in the last robot's chest like a throwing knife.
"Thank you so much," Janet said as she flew over to where Sif was pulling the sword from the robot. "Think nothing of it," Sif replied. "Why do these robots wear the appearance of Iron-Man?" "We are under attack from robotic duplicates of our team members," Janet explained. Sif's brow knit in concern.
"I will go with you to assist," Sif said with a tone of command. "That would be appreciated," Janet replied gratefully. Janet tapped into the transporter network and took them both away. Ultimates Headquarters
When Sif and Janet materialized at their destination it was in the middle of a pitched battle. The Ultimates were outnumbered by at least three robots for every Ultimate. Sif was immediately engaged against a robotic Thor, a robotic Iron-Man, and a robotic Hulk. Sif grunted as she was hit by a blast of lighting from Robo- Thor's copy of Mjolnir. The blast drove her back into the arms of the hulk who grabbed her in a bear-hug from behind. Immediately Robo-Hulk tried squeezing the life out of her. Two things became apparent to Sif in that moment. The first was that the robotic versions of the Ultimates were not as strong or powerful as their flesh and blood counterparts. The second fact that Sif perceived was that these robots may have had an academic appreciation of fighting tactics but no actual practical experience. Robo-Hulk had left himself wide open for counters to a bear hug.
"The real Thor hits harder," Sif taunted Robo-Thor.
Sif moved swiftly to lock her right leg behind Robo-Hulk's leg so he couldn't pick her up. She broke his grip around her by peeling his fingers away until she felt them break off. The robots were apparently equipped with the ability to feel pain. Sif's taunt had caused Robo-Thor to begin spinning up his hammer to throw at her intending to kill her. Sif had moved to shoulder-throw Robo-Hulk. Robo-Hulk went flying forward over Sif's shoulder straight into the oncoming hammer. The fake Mjolnir and Robo-Hulk collided with a crunching explosion. Sif came out of the cloud of debris which Robo-Iron-Man had been firing into and grabbed its right wrist. Sif redirected Robo-Iron-Man's repulsors blast into Robo-Thor.
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Robo-Thor staggered back under the onslaught but did not explode. He dug his heels in as his exterior began to slowly burn away revealing the robotic parts that made up his interior. Sif didn't intend to give him the chance. A spear Harry had enchanted for her expanded when she pulled it from her belt where it had remained magically secured until she needed it. Sif threw the spear straight into Robo-Thor's chest. While Robo-Thor clutched at the spear that was quickly draining the power from his circuits and watched helplessly as his opponent pulled a tiny knife from her belt which quickly grew until she stabbed Robo-Iron-Man through the side of the head and followed up with several more stabs that made sure Robo-Iron-Man was out of the fight.
Robo-Thor watched as she tossed Robo-Iron-Man aside and rushed forward to finish him off with the dagger. Robo-Thor knew no more.
Sif jerked her spear free from the robotic corpse of Robo-Thor and quickly scanned the fight to see where her help was needed most. Sif idly noted how good her sister-girlfriend Lorna was doing against their foes. Although the robots may have been designed with a magnetic manipulator like Lorna in mind it was obvious that didn't slow Lorna down. Lorna had a cloud of small ball bearings rapidly tearing through her opponents. Only the combined efforts of a Robo-Thor and a Robo-Iron-Man disintegrating the ball bearings with concentrated lightning and repulsors blasts slowed Lorna's progress. Sif then caught her breathe and leapt at a Robo-Spider-Man that was overwhelming Clint. Sif felt disturbed wrestling with a duplicate of her boyfriend in a non-fun-way.
"You may have his appearance but you are nothing compared to his strength," Sif said with a grunt before tearing Robo-Spider-Man's arm off and proceeding to beat it to pieces with the appendage.
"Aggression issues with your boyfriend much?" Clint asked in a teasing tone.
"My boyfriend and I work out our aggression in the sparring arena," Sif replied as she tore into robotic versions of Natasha and Clint easily after dodging an arrow from Robo-Hawkeye and shrugging off an energy stinger from Robo-Black-Widow.
Sif completely missed the teasing in Clint's tone in the heat of battle. Sif jumped from group to group throughout the battle helping wherever one of the Ultimates was overwhelmed. She noticed Thor doing the same because he had finished off his opponents early as well. She used a mixture of sword, spear, and dagger whenever necessity. Her blood sung with the energy of battle. She hadn't had a chance to truly test the weapons Harry had gifted her since they became hers. These weapons worked beautifully.
"I will have to reward Harry," Sif told herself as she cut the head off of a Robo-Pietro.
Not that Sif needed any excuse to make love with her boyfriend. He had become her single greatest enjoyment in her very long life, something he had managed to do quickly. But that was the amazing thing about Harry in Sif's opinion. He always managed to surprise.
Back in the Savage Land, Magneto's Citadel
"Humanity will pay the ultimate price for its sins against my family," Magneto said as he reached out with his power and activated one of the dormant systems within his fortress.
The entire facility shook as the dormant system came alive. Within moments the feeling of gravity began to increase for those within the citadel as it actually lifted off and rose into the air. The citadel quickly climbed in elevation until it was high up in the atmosphere. The buildings that comprised the fortress compound had
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been designed for the immense g-forces that flight would put on them as well as for the vacuum of space. "What will you do father?" Robo-Pietro questioned.
"You will see," Magneto said with a contemplative look while closing his eyes and focusing on the readings he was getting from the magnetic interface he had designed to let him interact with the citadel's systems through his power alone.
Meanwhile a few rooms over "Should I kill Magneto?" Magnestar questioned. "He has begun priming up the Project Ultimatum systems."
Magnestar could interact with the citadel's systems just as easily as Magneto. Harry had been briefed on Project Ultimatum by Lily.
"No...the world needs to know what threats it faces so that people will wake up and see that they need to be stronger and do better. They need to prepare themselves and strive to be self-reliant. Relying on heroes to save them is a bad idea in the long run. They need to quit their divisive bickering and advance," Harry said.
"Won't they do that on your colony worlds?" Magnestar asked curiously. Harry had begun to inform his allies about his plans for his colony worlds in preparation to go public. "Yes. But this might be the push humanity needs for more people to go to those worlds," Harry replied. "I don't like letting so many die," Magnestar admitted.
Harry didn't immediately respond. He was thinking. He agreed with Magnestar that so many shouldn't die. Humanity needed to learn a lesson that was best taught by death but without permanent death. A plan began to form in his mind. "Can we do it?" Harry asked Lily.
Lily quickly ran some simulations. "Yes...if we begin preparing now," Lily replied. "It will take considerable power."
"Stick with my plan my friend. Do not worry about mass deaths. I have to pull non-critical copies of myself out of service for the time being to do something...something that will change humanity."
With that said that particular copy of Harry vanished. Multiple copies of Harry across the planet vanished where he wasn't absolutely needed. Those sensitive to the arcane sensed a shift in mystic forces. Something was about to happen. Sensitives didn't know what...but they knew something was coming, something profound.
Meanwhile at the Baxter Building "Alert, alert," The Baxter's systems, guided by a limited A.I. named Lexi, called. "Temporal incursion in
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progress."
Before Reed could ask for any further details older versions of Liz Allen, Kitty Pryde, and what appeared to be Wolverine were phased through the wall of Reed's lab. Within moments Liz was unleashing a stream of superheated fire at Reed while Wolverine leapt at Reed with claws popped. Reed twisted out of the way of the fire stream and wrapped an arm around Wolverine's leg before using his rubbery body to fling Wolverine at Liz. Liz managed to mostly dodge Wolverine but was slightly clipped by his bulky form.
Kitty simply leapt at Reed with her expression focused and her hand phased in a way Reed had never observed before. Her hand appeared to be letting off wisps of a silvery smoke. She leapt for his heart but Reed moved like a serpent to get away.
It just so happened that Susan and Sue were having lunch nearby when the alert went off. Kitty had had the forethought to destroy the electronics in the door lock on her way in. But Susan used her greater control of her force-field ability to rip the door open. When Susan opened the door and saw Kitty's hand she was instantly on guard. She went invisible immediately and darted behind Kitty. Susan's point-point accuracy force-field delivered a blow to a knockout spot on Kitty's head and the phase-shifter instantly dropped. Though Kitty had been out-of-phase Susan had long ago learned to shift force-fields in small regions of space into the same dimension Kitty's abilities shifted her to.
Meanwhile Sue had engaged Liz trying to starve Liz of oxygen. Older-Liz seemed to gain a look of concentration before her fire changed color to a silver blaze. This new fire actually seemed to be burning through Sue's force-field. Meanwhile Reed had wrapped Logan up so that the claws were pretty ineffective. Susan turned her attention on delivering a force-field knockout to Liz through Sue's degrading force-field while Sue kept Liz busy.
"This guy is strong," Reed said as he struggled to hold Wolverine.
"That isn't Logan," Susan said before gesturing and causing force-fields to rip off "Wolverine's" appendages.
The Wolverine look-a-like was in fact a robot of some sort.
"Another time-traveler wasn't foreseen in this timeline," Robo-Wolverine stated as he took in the two versions of Susan Storms.
"Why did you attack me?" Reed demanded from Robo-Wolverine. "And how did you know he wasn't a robot?"
"You do this long enough and you'll be able to tell the difference between robots and humans," Susan said. "I knew they were time travelers the moment I saw Kitty using her phase-disintegrate technique. She draws in higher dimensional energy trapped in a field around her hand by shifting to that dimension and uses it to disintegrate what she touches. I suspect she was aiming for your heart."
"Reed Richards must die in order to prevent a horrible future where all of mutant-kind is made human or worse," Robo-Wolverine announced.
"Is anybody else getting Terminator flash-backs?" Sue quipped. "Why must Reed die?"
"He builds a machine which terms certain types of enhanced humans to regular humans for the sake of Ben Grim. But a despot in our time, Susan Storms, intends to turn all mutant-kind and others she is imprisoning human," Robo-Wolverine explained.
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"You're in the wrong timeline. Your time travel tech must have malfunctioned," Susan said. "From what my lover has told me of temporal mechanics at least. Our Benjamin Grim has already been turned human by my lover and the technology he used is safely locked away."
"Who is your lover?" Robo-Wolverine questioned.
"Spider-Man," Susan answered, seeing no harm. "I can send you back from whence you came." Susan debated helping these people. What would drive them to want to kill Reed? "And I will take a trip to help you. But killing Reed will be unnecessary. You are welcome to come and bring the team. Troubling things are brewing here at home but given we will be time traveling we have the time."
"Is that why Harry isn't here?" Sue asked.
"Yes. He is busy. If we need him he will be here. Let me call in some backup just in case," Susan said while closing her eyes. Moments later Spider-Woman and Sif materialized looking ready for battle. "Gather your team while I wake these two and talk this out."
It was a minor distraction visiting the future but an educational and interesting experience for all involved. The alternate Susan Storms had gone mad after the death of her brother. Johnny's presence on the mission from Harry's universe seemed to restore Alternate-Susan's sanity somewhat. In the end helping the alternate universe versions didn't really change much because there were an infinite number of such alternate universes. But the experience was still educational.
"Where are we?" Logan said as he looked around in confusion at his surroundings.
"In a place from before your memories were wiped," Fleur said while walking along a dark corridor beside Logan.
This announcement caused Logan to look around at his surroundings with a new focus. Fleur had decided that Harry had gotten distracted with other things and had forgotten to help Logan find out about his past. So she would tie up this loose end. Besides that, the man walking beside her had a past which was key for the mutant race in this universe.
"Where?" Logan asked.
"The better question would be when," Fleur replied. "We're in Alberta Canada in the year 1943 James Logan Howlett."
Fleur and Logan came out into a chamber that held a familiar figure suspended in a liquid within a tank. Younger-Logan was apparently unconscious and had various sensors running to his body. A younger version of Dr. Cornelius stood with others observing the experiment. Logan swiftly absorbed the fact that he had been transported back in time by the blonde woman. He instead focused his attention on what was going on in the chamber. Logan assumed the locals couldn't see either himself or Fleur.
"Wake him up," Cornelius ordered.
A technician injected a solution into an IV line running into Younger-Logan. The naked Younger-Logan let out a roar moments later as he shot out of the tank. Fleur watched on with interest. She had made love to a
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different version of Logan's form before for that was the form her Ascended husband had taken on in one of the other universes he lived in.
"Settle," Cpl Rittle called. "Stand down," Private Berkley shouted at the same time. "Guns down," Cornelius barked at the soldiers. "You're with friends James."
James apparently didn't think so because he fought his way out of the Weapon X base. Fleur and Logan followed along with James' progress. When James was confronted with a frozen snowy exterior to the base wearing no clothing he paused for only a moment. James had only made it a few hundred feet from the entrance to the base when half a dozen soldiers carrying rifles flooded out of the base.
"X Station...we have him," Private Stannis said over the radio. "What are our orders?" "Shoot him," Cornelius barked.
Stannis relayed the orders. Logan and Fleur stood watching as the soldiers opened fire and took James down. The time travelers knew James had recovered by Logan's presence there. The soldiers cautiously approached the bullet riddled James.
"Target is down," Private Donner called as he reached the body first. "Is he alive?" Lieutenant Beck asked as he approached last. "He's not breathing," Donner reported. "Check for a pulse," Beck ordered.
"Yes Sir," Donner said as he shouldered his rifle and checked for a pulse. Donner jumped back as he saw something that he didn't think was possible. The bullet wounds were closing up. "Did you guys see that?"
"Grab him and bring him in before he wakes up," Beck ordered.
"We shot him in the head...what do you mean wakes up?" Stannis asked.
"Just grab him quickly. We don't have time for this," Beck barked out.
The environment shifted around Logan and he suddenly found himself in another laboratory. Cornelius stood talking to a man in a black suit.
"This is three years later," Fleur said. "Cornelius is talking to Henry Colcord who is in charge of several Canadian black ops programs at this time."
"At first we were following experiments intending to create our own version Captain America, another super soldier. Something happened we didn't even know could happen. Look at this slide," Cornelius beckoned towards a microscope.
"What am I looking at?" Colcord questioned.
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"This is the normal human genome, what makes us everything we are. Now look at this," Cornelius said as he switched to another slide.
"The way the parts are arranged is quite a bit different," Colcord noted. "What is the importance of that?"
"Something entirely new has been created from Mr. Howlett's genes," Cornelius replied. "This is a mutation. We call it the mutant gene. Man has created his first gene, the mutant gene, right here."
"What does this mutant gene do?" Colcord questioned.
"That all depends on who carries the mutant gene. We're still studying him but you've observed first hand Mr. Howlett's increased animal-like senses, his healing factor, and possibly more. Once the mutant gene spreads we'll see all kinds of different abilities," Cornelius predicted.
"Spreads...how would it spread?" Colcord asked.
"Eventually man would become extinct. You do know that right?" Cornelius responded. "Just like the dinosaur before us," He added while leading Colcord towards a holding tank where James was again suspended in fluid. "This never-ending world war might be our version of natural selection. The beginning of our end. But instead of finding a way to kill each other faster...we have found a way to survive ourselves. We'll survive...and evolve. We control the fate of man having created a new species. We created the mutant. And James Howlett is Mutant Zero."
James looked up at Fleur honestly stunned at what he had just learned.
"Now you see," Fleur said.
"I don't know what to say," Logan replied.
"Just think and don't act rashly. I'll take you back to your proper place and time now," Fleur said. "You can find out more later."
James had just learned that mutants were not so natural in this world. They were byproducts of a lab experiment. In the other universes Fleur's Ascended husband lived in this was not the case.
Project Pegasus Compound, Devil's Point, Wyoming
"What did you need, Nick?" Harry asked as he materialized next to Fury in the Devil's Point compound.
Harry looked strained.
"I've been hearing reports that you are busy and your ladies are handling things. What is going on?" Nick asked as he stood next to an obelisk with a glowing red eye-like point at the center.
Harry's focus switched to the obelisk then as it entered his perception. Suddenly Harry's mind connected with the obelisk telepathically and he became aware of it. This being was an A.I. named Uatu. Uatu was one construct known as a Watcher in a vast collective that numbered almost beyond counting spread throughout the galaxies in this universe and many others.
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Uatu began to share visions with Harry from ages past.
New York, 1942
Harry watched as a young Steve Rodgers with a gimpy leg was introduced to Dr. Erskine who headed Project Rebirth. Steve was then put through experimentations and testing. Dr. Erskine theorized that it was possibly Steve's will to fight which made Steve such a good candidate for Project Rebirth. Harry watched as Steve was led up to a chair where Steve was strapped in and injected with the super soldier serum created by Erskine.
Steve cried out and strained against the restraints as his forehead broke out into a sweat. Steve's scream grew louder until his straining caused the restrain mechanisms and the chair to shatter explosively with a release of heat and energy. Steve's body was glowing with a golden light. The lab technicians and Erskine were flung back.
"Here we go again. On my order," Lieutenant Baskez, a soldier with a long history of working with government black ops projects, said.
Baskez had been involved in similar projects, one other in particular where a super soldier had been the result. The soldiers had raised their weapons to point at Steve.
"Wait," Erskine cried out.
The fiery glow around Steve faded to reveal a much larger and more muscular Steve. Erskine stared in shock.
"Heil Hitler," Private Trumpin, a soldier on a nearby catwalk, shouted before firing his sidearm at Steve. Steve was hit in the shoulder and went down. Dr. Erskine ran in front of the next shot. "No," Steve shouted.
Harry watched as Steve picked up a metal disc that had been part of the destroyed lab equipment and flung it at Trumpin. Trumpin had begun firing at several other soldiers who had rushed him. Steve followed up with the disc to Trumpin's face by leaping up on the catwalk and taking out the spy for the Nazis.
"Medic...we need a medic," Tom Stevens, a lab tech, shouted as his colleagues gathered around Erskine's body.
"What the hell is that?" Private Tomkins shouted while gesturing towards a Watcher obelisk that had suddenly appeared on the platform where Steve had been injected upon.
The Watcher was focusing on Erskine's body.
"You have to get out of here," Baskez called to Steve, realizing how important Steve could be to the future of the war effort. "This could be a bomb. Move people."
The scene shifted again to Harry: Steve talking to the President of the United States, Steve saying goodbye to the woman that had been perhaps the love of his life Gail before heading off to fight in the war, and then Steve fighting in the war.
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Harry's attention temporarily shifted out of the connection with Uatu as Agent Troperty came running up to Fury.
"Fury here, report," Fury said into the special communicator he had accepted from Troperty.
The technology protecting the project site was meant to block all communications between the inside and the outside that wasn't approved.
"Sir, the obelisk situation has escalated. We are getting reports of identical obelisks appearing all over the world in many locations. Our analysts have noticed that there is a higher concentration in areas where our assets are," Agent Danvers reported over the communicator. "Obelisks are in the Baxter Building, at the Institute, at Ultimate Headquarters, and many other places."
"They are just sitting there but inactive?" Fury clarified. "Yes Sir. So far they haven't done anything else," Danvers confirmed. "Standby," Fury ordered. "I've got Spider-Man looking into it. When he has something I will let you know." Harry's mind reconnected with Uatu and flashed back to the past again. Alberta Canada, 27 Years Ago
"Get up," Erik Lehnsherr directed as he stood over a Weapon X holding tank containing Wolverine. Erik used his magnetic powers to lift Wolverine free before breaking the restraints on Wolverine. "I know what they have done to you," Erik said. "Your name is James, not Weapon X or Mutant X, James. Do you remember that?" Logan let out a pained sound from behind the muzzle they had on him and his eyes were wild. "It's over now...you are free."
"Erik, please," Sylvia Lehnsherr called as she came down a set of stairs into the holding area with armed soldiers following her. "This isn't how to do this. This isn't your place."
"You look scared mother," Erik said. "Are you scared of me?"
"I am right now, Erik. Y-yes," Sylvia faltered as she spun and saw the soldiers behind her fall dead to the ground at a gesture from her son. "Put everything back and – and – and just calm down."
"Your life's work is to torture this man," Erik said.
"My life's work is to help them find a cure," Sylvia replied as she knelt next to one of the soldiers she thought might still be alive.
"For me," Erik said.
"For all of you," Sylvia said while imploring him with her eyes to understand. "You have a disease. "I'm trying to help cure - -."
"Goodbye, mother," Erik said as he extended his hand towards her. "I hope there is a hell." Then the young man that would one day become magneto killed his mother.
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The scene shifted to 18 years previously in San Francisco. Harry watched the first meeting between Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier. Then the scene shifted again to 16 years previously with Erik and Charles leading a small band of mutants to colonize the Savage Land. Magneto built his fortress then as Harry watched using magnetic powers. Harry saw a Watcher obelisk in the background of all these scenes. Never did the participants in the scenes notice the obelisks. Harry felt an energy field in place similar in effect to a Notice-Me-Not charm.
The scene shifted yet again to a conversation which took place in a hospital within the country of Kuwait at about the same time period. Nick Fury was in a hospital bed while General Ross confronted Fury about the truth. Nick Fury was another super soldier but without Captain America's resolve to be an icon. Fury was also over 90 years old at that point. While Fury wasn't willing to be an outed super soldier icon he was willing to help out. A year later Fury with the backing of the president started a super soldier research project in Dover, New Jersey.
Dr. Franklin Storm, Dr. Richard Parker, Dr. Bruce Banner, and a young newly graduated Hank Pym made up Fury's think tank with the mission of reverse-engineering the super soldier formula from a sample of Fury's blood. Franklin Storm was eventually called away to work on the Baxter Building project but the other three remained.
"Hey, between you and me, scale of one to ten, how certain are you that this serum you created works?" Hank asked Bruce as Bruce started at a vial of the serum.
"Damn certain," Bruce replied. "Do you want to test it?" Hank asked.
"On who?" Bruce questioned. "You know Fury is blocking any human trials."
"You could test it on me," Hank suggested.
"On you? No. No, kid," Bruce said.
"Why not?" Hank demanded. Hank was growing agitated as Bruce remained silently thoughtful. "Seriously. I want it," Hank said.
"I'll do it first. Then if it works you can do it," Bruce suggested. "Alright," Hank agreed. "Go make sure Richard is out of the building and I'll prepare the injections," Bruce said. Hank hurried off to do so. The scene shifted to a chamber where recording equipment was set up. "We're good to go," Hank said as he came back into the room.
Harry watched in horrified fascination as Pym injected Banner with the serum. At first nothing seemed to happen. But then about twenty-five seconds after the injection was administered Banner's skin began to turn green. He started to grow larger and more muscular.
"Aagh," Banner said in a voice that was deep and inhuman. "This isn't right," Hank said as he backed away.
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Bruce thrashed and his flailing limbs began destroying everything around him. It was at that point that Hank turned and fled. Harry watched as Hank fled out of the building. Hank jumped the railing out of the exit where Richard Parker was talking to his wife Mary. Mary was holding baby Peter Parker.
"What the hell happened in there?" Richard demanded of Hank after hearing the sounds of destruction from within.
"It's --! Don't! No!!" Hank screamed in terror before fleeing the grounds.
Richard started going into the building and shouted back at Mary, "Go to the car!!"
"What happened?" Mary asked.
"Go to the car!!" Richard repeated.
Richard walked into the building with power out. In the dark he could see a tall form.
"What – what did you --?" Richard asked but got out no more before the form of the Hulk resolved itself and the building was torn down.
Mary was mortally injured in the flying debris. She managed to shield her baby by some miracle. "N-not..." Mary got out before she died with baby Peter lying in her lap. The Hulk came out of the building and stared down at baby Peter and Mary's corpse. Hulk looked back at the destruction of the building with a grimace and said, "No..."
The Hulk then transformed back into Banner.
"No..." Banner repeated in horror before turning and stumbling barefoot away from what he had done. "I didn't mean to--," Bruce said just before Fury came leaping through the air and delivered a side-kick to Banner's jaw that knocked the scientist out cold.
"What did you do?" Fury demanded of the unconscious man while looking over the rubble. "What did you do?" He shouted with rage. A sound baby Peter made drew Fury's attention. Fury went over and picked up the baby. "Hey, little guy. I swear to you, kid. This wasn't supposed to happen this way. The good news is you are so young you won't remember any of this."
Then the visions being sent by Uatu ceased. Harry was stunned. He had not known the exact details of his death.
"Banner killed my parents," Harry whispered. Fury tensed up and paled as he waited for an explosion. Spider-Man turned to face Nick Fury with an unreadable expression. "Uatu here just showed me some very important events that have shaped our civilization including that talk between you and Ross in Kuwait," Harry said almost conversationally. "Uatu's kind are Watchers that observe the significant events that shape a culture. They are here to observe the coming devastation of the most significant event of our generation."
Those words sent a chill down Fury's spine. He was well aware that he couldn't hope to stop Spider-Man. If learning the truth drove Spider-Man over the edge into insanity then it would be all Fury's fault. It had been
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Fury who had allowed his blood to be reverse-engineered and thereby creating the Hulk. It was as if Spider- Man could read Fury's mind.
"I'm not the cause of the destruction, Nick," Harry said. "What is?" Nick asked.
Harry looked off into the distance and debated on if he should tell Nick the truth or not. Harry thought about it and decided that there was nothing Nick could do to stop this.
"Magneto. I won't stop the destruction. This lesson is too important for mankind not to learn now rather than when it's too late. But I can stop the death," Harry assured.
"Aren't you angry at Banner, Pym, or me?" Fury just had to ask. Truthfully Spider-Man finding out about this secret was one of the biggest fears Nick had had in his life.
"I won't deny that I'm upset," Harry said. "But I learned a long time ago how to deal with my anger. And let's be honest here Nick. I have the ability to bring Richard and Mary Parker back to life."
"I wondered about that," Nick said. "It kind of takes the heartache out of the equation a little."
"Indeed," Harry confirmed.
"The question is...will you bring them back?" Nick questioned.
"That is the question. I haven't decided yet. That is a decision to make at another time when things are less hectic," Harry said. Nick snorted at that notion. "Yes...I know the absurdity of that notion given my life."
"Back to these Watchers," Nick said while gesturing towards Uatu. "Did they just come to warn us and do nothing else?"
Harry looked back at Uatu. They knew of Harry's capabilities in a roundabout way, a broad sense, but didn't know of his exact abilities. The Watchers stayed far away from any species or being they thought capable of wiping them out from an entire region of space and willing to do so. They had been carrying out a long-term study to determine his intent and had only recently determined he would not likely harm them. Uatu conveyed this all to Harry in a flash of information through the telepathic connection they were communicating with.
"Uatu and the other Watchers are choosing a herald with which they will bestow power to help us with the coming world order," Harry explained. "Just in case."
"Great...another super-hero running around," Nick half-muttered. Harry glanced back at Nick at that comment.
"Nick...I share your concerns about the world depending solely on superheroes and becoming complacent as a result," Harry informed Fury.
"You do?" Nick asked with a surprised look. Nick would have thought that as arguably the most famous and well-liked superhero in the world that Spider-
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Man of all beings would be for accolades being heaped upon superheroes.
"Of course," Harry assured. "I may be a popular superhero but I'm also all about surviving. I am taking measures to encourage humanity's independence."
"I don't suppose you would be willing to share what these measures are?" Nick asked hopefully.
"Nope. You will find out just like everyone else. But I can promise you...you won't have to wait long," Harry said. Harry glanced back at Uatu then. "It's done. They have chosen their herald. The other obelisks are leaving now. Uatu will leave soon as well."
"I'm not sure what this entire situation amounted to," Nick said as he glanced around the large chamber he was in with Spider-Man.
"It helped me to better understand what has gone on in the past," Harry pointed out. "That helps me direct our future."
"I suppose it did at that," Nick said. "I'm glad you are on our side Spider-Man."
"But you still don't like that I'm so far out of S.H.I.E.L.D. control," Harry said with a grin.
"Always," Nick mused.
"Later Nick," Harry said before vanishing via teleporter.
Nick just stared at where Spider-Man had been and thought to himself, "May we live in interesting times indeed."
Begin Smut Scene
Harry drank in Sif's beauty as she sat on the ledge he had just transfigured out from the wall where he had pinned her. She gripped his shaft while sliding the head up and down through her folds.
"Inside me," Sif hissed as she put Harry's prick to the entrance to her snatch.
Harry thrust his hips forward and felt his entire length slide into Sif's heated sleeve. He felt her flexing her inner muscles around his length as he bottomed out inside of her. He could feel his tip pressing against the entrance to her cervix. It was a perfect fit. Sif had wrapped her legs around his lower back. Her hands were on his sides. He brought his left hand up and cupped her cheek before kissing her. Sif hungrily returned the kiss as he slowly started rocking his hips back and forth. Harry loved nothing more than the feeling of Sif's vagina sliding up and down the length of his tool slowly. They hungrily devoured one another's mouth as he slowly pumped her pussy. Gradually Harry lengthened his stroke until his entire eight inches was sliding to and from her quim. Harry's right hand settled on her left hip and after releasing her cheek his other hand took her other hip.
Sif felt a sense of thrill shoot through her as they broke the kiss and she beheld the excitement in her lover's eyes. His face was inches from hers with his eyes looking over her expressions and also occasionally locking gazes with hers. His eyes were an intense brilliant green shade. She felt every inch of his impress dick pumping in and out of her sex. Sif couldn't get enough of the stretching full feeling as he worked her insides. She squeezed his hardness back with her inner muscles. As he reached his full depth within her core
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she would bear down on him and try to hold him in place. Despite her Asgardian strength he still managed to move through her embrace. She felt his grip on her hips tighten as she held his biceps. Her bare rump slid along the comfortable ledge he had magicked up as he pounded her cunny with more vigor. He began to grunt as the joy he derived from her vaginal embrace intensified. Each deep throaty grunt from him sent a tiny tingle down her spine followed by the sensation of his hot shaft pulsing within her. Sif didn't need to be a mind reader to know her lover was enjoying this.
"Shit...you...are...so bloody...tight," Harry said between soft grunts. "And so beautiful," He added.
Harry attacked Sif's neck with his mouth. He felt a hunger to taste her. She bared her throat to give him better access and enjoyed the sensation of his lips, tongue, and a bit of teeth working over her flesh. The tasty of her was slightly salty from sweat but was also distinctly feminine. Her scent was intoxicating to him. Harry's hands came up and ripped open her top baring her chest to him. Her breasts were heaving as her breathing quickened. Harry's mouth descended down over her soft left melon until his lips encircled her nipple. Sif hissed and brought her hands back to the back of his head. Harry's mouth worked her chest over as his shaft continued to pump in and out of her core.
"Yes," Sif hissed. "Don't stop...stretch me...fill me," She urged while using her legs to pull at him and urge him faster and harder.
Sif lost track of how many times her lover had thrust into her and just existed in the moment. Gradually she realized he had pulled his upper body back and was staring down at where they were connected. She also looked and watched as his thick weapon disappeared into her sheathe before sliding out and revealing her glistening nectar. It was hard to believe for Sif that something so impressively big could fit inside of her tiny cunny. And it felt glorious inside of her. She felt arcane energy searing through her nerves. She watched and felt her belly muscles gradually tightening as her pleasure built. She locked eyes with him and felt him connect with her telepathically mind-to-mind. She felt how wonderful her pussy made his prick feel and just how truly much he wanted her. She felt a hunger burning inside of him for her and just being here with her in the moment made him so happy. Then a need to take her from behind flashed through his mind and she pictured herself taking his cock from that position. Suddenly she wanted that too and they worked together as he pulled out of her. She flipped over onto her front as the ledge changed form under his will. Then he was spearing his dick into her gash from behind.
Harry and Sif were still connected mind-to-mind and he fed her images of her rump as his groin bounced off of her backside. He could feel how much she loved his frenulum rubbing against his g-spot each time he slid forward into her. Harry held her hips and admired her rear for a while as he took her this way. Then he slid his hands up over her smooth back and felt the lean muscles flex beneath his touch. He conjured a mirror so she could watch his expression as he covered her. Her legs were straight and beneath his as he plundered her sleeve over and over. To Harry it felt as if Sif had been made to take his cock in this way and when she felt that emotion flash through their connection she strengthened it by agreeing. Harry felt like he wanted to be closer to her so leaned over her back and felt his bare flesh press against her back. His mouth descended next to her ear.
"Can you feel it...how much I want you to be mine...forever?" Harry whispered. "Can you feel how right this makes me feel to be buried completely inside of you?"
"I feel it," Sif whispered back as his hands slid over top of hers and she intertwined her fingers with his. "And I want it...always. Spill your seed in me...mark your territory. I want to be dripping your hot seed four hours."
Sif turned her head and kissed him. The feeling of being in his embrace as their sexes slid together in unison
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providing one another ecstasy was overwhelming. Sif went rigid in his kiss and screamed into his mouth as an orgasm the likes of which she had never imagined let alone felt tore through her. Her vagina went through violent spasm after spasm around his shaft while her nectar gushed out of her gash. Harry meanwhile had buried his prick in her pussy and groaned deeply as he let loose with his hot load of cream into her core. Sif's snatch eagerly drank down Harry's seed. Ecstasy surged back and forth through their connection. They simply held one another as their climax built and built. The stone of the ledge deformed and cracked beneath their group as they clawed at it. Both lovers lost themselves completely in one another.
"Fuck," Harry whispered as he managed to catch his breath.
"I agree," Sif replied. "Take us back to my bed. I don't want to separate."
Harry and Sif vanished. They didn't separate for some time to come.
End Smut Scene – Warning Talk of Fem-Slash (but no actual fem-slash to follow)
Sif's Bed
"That was...wow," Sif declared.
"I think you broke her Harry," Jessica teased as she rested on the opposite side of Harry from Sif leaning on one elbow and looking over at her two lovers.
"You had a hand in that," Harry pointed out with amusement.
"True," Jessica admitted with a dreamy expression and tone.
Jessica had a thing for imbibing Harry's essence directly from the spot where he left it.
"Not going to lie...that's such a turn-on," Harry admitted.
Jessica grinned and leaned over to kiss him. Sif sat up more fully and looked at her two partners with amusement.
"This is so normal for the both of you...being with two other people at once," Sif observed. "It's fairly normal," Harry admitted. "What can I say...I like women and I like my Harry," Jessica replied with a grin.
Sif laughed and said, "Existence will never be boring with you two." Her grin dimmed somewhat and she couldn't help but ask, "Not that I'm complaining. But in the middle of this big crisis is it exactly wise to take the time out for this?" She said while gesturing at the three of them in bed.
Harry smiled warmly and said, "There is always time for spending time with two beautiful people such as yourselves. Plus I am not willing to do more than I am already doing at this time. And I'm doing a lot. The spell I'm constructing is bloody complex and exhausting. Frankly this is helping me stay sane. I've never attempted something of this magnitude."
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Jessica lightly smacked Harry on the chest and said, "Stop teasing us with hint-dropping and just tell us what this spell is doing."
Harry looked undecided for several long moments.
"Right," Harry said as he finally decided to tell somebody. "Keep this between us for now. Many people are going to die if I don't intervene with the coming disaster. But if we save humanity again then society won't learn to strive for better. We're sitting in a first world country where many people just don't have the same level of competitive drive that other countries do. Don't get me wrong...some have that edge to do better... but most don't."
"So this spell will help teach them?" Sif inquired. "I hope so. For a limited amount of time my spell should keep anyone from dying," Harry explained. There was silence for a minute as the two ladies absorbed this. "From anything?" Jessica was the first to break the silence in order to ask.
"From anything," Harry confirmed. "And their bodies will regenerate by the end of that limited time frame. For the duration of this coming disaster nobody can die but they will still experience injuries which seem mortal."
"Impressive," Sif noted. "I did not know such a spell was possible on a scale of this magnitude." "It may not work and I might explode," Harry said.
"That's enough serious talk. I want to make you explode in a different way," Jessica said as she took hold of him beneath the sheets and then ducked her head down to stop speaking.
Meanwhile Sif leaned over and began kissing Harry. Harry had no objections to any of this. For a little while he could escape what was going on out in the world.