Council of Kangs HQ:
Where there were once stomping feet and the sound of chanting, now silence reigned. The gaze of hundreds of thousands focused entirely on the two lone figures standing in the centre of the arena,
Dr. Doom calmly adjusted his gauntlets, watching the emerald runic circles flare around his wrists. Besides him, Kang glared up at the triumvirate that had exiled him, a sneer drawing across his face as his neurokinetic armour activated with a low hum.
"You dare to believe that you can simply walk back to your throne?" Immortus scoffed at the words. "I admired you for your intelligence, but it appears your time in exile has made you delirious."
Kang narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak, Doom cleared his throat, "While it is amusing to see you squawk like a peasant, Doom does not tolerate the barking of lesser minds," the man lowered his arms and the emerald runic circles sunk from his arms towards the ground.
They wove a glowing, geometric web of sorcery beneath their feet, the man continuing with a stoic tone, "You call yourself a Council/ a legion of conquerors? Ridiculous. What Doom sees here is no more than an assembly of cowards, hiding away from a single speedster."
"Have care for your words, Victor. You are but a foe I have bested once. I would happily let you relive your defeat," Scarlet Centurion replied with a glare, but he felt uneasy as all he saw was Dr. Doom's smug gaze.
"Yes," Doom replied, voice dripping with condescension, "but that was when Doom had little knowledge of your capabilities. Now, he does."
"Enough! Guards, rid our sacred arena of these fools!" Immortus exclaimed. The shock-trooper droids standing on the edge of the arena readied their weapons and aimed.
Before a single shot could be fired, the eyes of the Council's co-leaders widened when gaping pits of emerald voids tore open beneath the droids, swallowing them into nothingness.
"Doom's time in the Quantum Realm has allowed him to perceive and understand elements far beyond the capacity of what your feeble, insignificant minds can comprehend."
"As did mine!" Kang added and thrust his hands forward.
With a violent roar, a shockwave of ethereal blue chronal force erupted from his gauntlets, crossing the distance between his hands and the balcony before any could blink.
True to his skill, Immortus ducked down just as the beam punched directly through Rama-Tut and Scarlet Centurion. In front of his wide eyes, their forms glitched and ceased to exist.
Moving his gaze down to look at his staff's interface, his fingers flew across the piece of technology only to find that all access codes to their secret weapons had been taken with them.
"Y-You...what have you done?!"
"Your throne was built on a foundation of stolen time, Immortus," Kang's voice echoed, Immortus looking back over the railing to see the other thousands of Kangs trying and failing to open their Time Platforms.
"I have built empires across millennia. I have broken timelines beyond repair, and you threw me in the dark because you feared my ambition!" Kang growled, sparks of temporal energy flaring from his suit. "You thought you could cage a conqueror?! Insolent fools! I have mastered the Quantum Realm! I have sealed all of time from these coordinates! So, try as you might, but know that every escape route, every future loop, every alternate branch is gone! I...have come to take back what you took from me, and I am leaving you with nothing."
"Kill them!!" Every Kang's neurokinetic suit activated at once, lighting up the arena stadium in a blinding flash. However, neither Doom nor Kang looked worried. Instead, the former raised his hands as the latter finished entering the needed sequence on his interface.
"Is it done?"
"It is," Kang replied, dropping his hand. "The terms of our temporary alliance have ended."
"Good. Then, Doom shall return to his timeline."
"As shall I, but know, Victor. I will return to the 21st Century and we shall find out which of us two is truly fit to rule existence."
"Doom awaits your attack."
"You think you will escape?" Immortus growled, rising from his cover when the two didn't attack. With a growl, he thrust his staff down, unleashing a blast of chrono-energy down upon the duo.
The other Kangs followed suit with their own creating a massive volley of temporal erase upon the duo. Yet, the attacks never hit for the moment they entered the domain of Doom's runic circle, it froze perfectly in mid-air
"See you at our battle."
"The same," With a firm nod, Doom thrust his hands down while Kang clenched his fists, creating two Time Platforms that the two tyrants both walked through.
None of the Kangs followed. Their collective gaze was focused upwards, staring through the transparent dome of the Citadel in horror at the hundreds of galaxies that were slowly folding, warping and imploding in on themselves
"T-They...they created an Incursion Bomb," Immortus muttered in horror, staff falling from his hands. The heat of an approaching, collapsing star flooded the arena, slowly but surely disintegrating everything in its path as the very walls of the Citadel began to liquefy and tear.
"TO HELL WITH YOU!!" Immortus screamed into the blinding light, the Council of Kangs roaring in agony as the Incursion erased their very existence.
And thus, the Council of Kangs, consisting of hundreds of thousands of the same variant, ceased to exist, leaving only an empty void.
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Zakopane, Poland:
"Nat, might want to take this one here," I spoke with my hands raised, smirking despite staring down the barrel of the gun held in my face.
"Yelena, would you put that down?"
"As soon as you can tell me why the hell my sister and this silver-haired freak appeared from thin air," Yelena replied, still keeping the hunting rifle pointed at my head.
I just chuckled as I looked around, admiring the sight of the small wooden cabin we were in. It was a quaint one, having the necessities and a pretty nice view of the hill it was built on, looking out at the forested area below.
"Pretty nice place you got here."
"Thank you. Natalia, who in the hell is this?"
"Natalia?" I repeated with a raised eyebrow, watching as Natasha just replied with a sigh.
"Natalian Alianova Romanoff. That's my real name and this is Yelena Belova as you know, my adoptive younger sister. Yelena, this is Pietro Maximoff, my...boyfriend?"
"Kind of fits," I replied with a shrug and lowered my hands when Yelena lowered her guns, though now wearing an incredulous look as she turned to her older 'sister'.
"Really? You? You got a boyfriend?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?"
"Does he know about the killing and the 'being an assassin'?"
"He's part of the Avengers."
"Really? Huh, they'll recruit just about anyone these days."
"Should I be insulted?"
"You're not?"
"Eh, most people are jealous of me," I responded, to which Natalia smirked as Yelena snorted.
"Nope, not jealous of you."
"Denial is but the first step. Don't worry, acceptance will come soon," Chuckling as she rolled her eyes at my words, I watched as Yelena turned to her sister with a frown.
"Seriously, though, I don't see you for three years and then you show up in my safehouse with a silver-haired fashion model out of thin air? I'm guessing that was you?"
"Yep, though not out of thin air. I ran us here."
"Oh, so like a super-solder."
"That can survive in space and run so fast that time looks frozen to him," Natalia replied, to which I shrugged when Yelena gave me a doubtful stare. "Also, I thought I said no more junk food. Being on the run doesn't mean you can eat and live like a slob."
"I'm not."
"Your bed is unmade, your dishes are dirty, you haven't checked the filter on your water filtrator and don't get me started on what I am smelling. Just tell me that's not laundry," Natalia asked, sighing as Yelena gave an embarrassed groan.
"Ugh, great. The first time I meet your boyfriend and you make me out to be a slob."
"You are a slob," Honestly, I was elated as I got a first hand view to the sisters arguing, sitting down at the table before I blinked as I heard vibrations further down the mountain.
"Hey, sorry for intervening, but you live alone, right? The foot traffic coming up the mountain aren't friends of yours?"
"No Widow would let their footsteps be detected."
"So, it's just a few of your many admirers. Pietro, go and take care of them."
"Wow, not even married yet and I'm already getting ordered."
"Go and I'll sleep naked tonight."
"That's not enough to make me want to work," I replied with a smirk, raising an eyebrow as she rolled her eyes when Yelena gagged.
"Just go and I'll do that thing you want."
"With the throat and the tongue?"
"Yes."
"Well, then your orders are my commands," With a step, time paused as I opened the door of the cabin, shooting down the mountain at high speeds.
The first of my targets got a swift chop to the balls, just enough to feel both pop before I continued onwards. The second I grabbed by the head and threw his frozen form at the third and fourth.
Continuing to the fifth, I dismantled his guns before snapping my fingers next to his ears, taking off to the rest.
With practised ease, barely a second passed as I finished hanging the last of the twenty soldiers from a tree by his underwear, running back up and closing the door behind me.
Sitting down, time resumed and Yelena ducked slightly as she heard the cries of people, wide eyes focused on me as I smiled and waved.
"...Natalia, I am scared of your boyfriend."
"Don't worry, he's a big soppy, cuddly bear at heart. Now, back to what we were talking about. Have you finished with the other Widows?"
"Uh, yeah. They're all safe and with Melina right now."
"The same farm."
"No, another just a few hundred miles east from it."
"Pietro, could you run us there?"
"No, I don't want to talk to her," I stayed seated as Natalia sighed, turning to her sister and pulling her off towards the bed. With a glance from my girlfriend, I nodded and stood up, leaving the cabin and letting the two of them talk.
It was half an hour later that the two of them finally walked out, Yelena now holding a heavy Duffel Bag over her right shoulder.
"Alright. So, how are we doing this?"
"Pietro, Saint Petersburg."
"Saint Petersbur-Oh, got it. Just straight north-ease from here."
"Wait, so he's really just going to run us?"
"Pretty much."
"Oh, and if you could, try to track it down before you take us. I've noticed that you spent a bit more energy trying to get me to run with you," I smiled at her request and nodded, Yelena's eyes widening as sparks of gold and blue danced around my body.
"Okay. Just stay here and you'll be there in a flash."
"And he has corny one liners? You two are maaaaaa...." Yelena's voice trailed off as I crouched and shot forward. Chi and chaos energy exploded from the soles of my slides as I crossed country borders within the blink of mere moments.
With just a few lunges, I found myself slowing down, now running along the entirety of the country in search for this place.
'Last I can remember, there were some flowers nearby her place so if I just focus on areas that scarcely have life and flow-There you are,' I thought as I slowed down considerably, staring at the farm below where I could make out Melina's form.
She was not the only one as I also saw several dozen women working across the landscape, memorizing the direction before taking off back towards Yelena's captain.
Both were still frozen in time as I picked them up by the waist, turning and running right back in the direction I had come from.
Putting both down as we got just a mile down the road from the farm, I deactivated my Super Form and smiled as Yelena kept talking.
"-aaaare made for each oth-" she stopped, slowly blinking while looking around us. "Were...were we not just at my cabin?"
"Like I said, he's super fast, though not where it matters."
"Ugh, I don't want to know," Yelena gagged as she started walking, making me chuckle as I wrapped an arm around Natalia's shoulders before we followed after her.
"Why are we talking about our sex life to your sister?"
"I've missed years of being the older sister, weirding out my sister and embarrassing her. I'm not missing the chance to do so."
"Oh, you're a sneaky minx."
"I'm a spy, sneaking is part of my description," she replied with a sharp, beautiful smirk, leaning her head against my shoulder as we walked down the path.
"I cannot hear you! I am choosing to be deaf right now!" Yelena's shout made me laugh, watching as her boots crunched into the frost before she paused and let us catch up.
I wanted to ask why, but I just looked past her down the road, raising an eyebrow at the various red dots that were all aimed on my forehead.
"Right, we forgot to call ahead. Not that we could considering she's changes her number almost twenty times a month," Natalia murmured as I tapped against my forehead. "Pietro, I know that look."
"I'm not going to do anything, but I'd rather not have your 'mom' blow a hole in my head."
"She won't. Melina!! Take your weapons off my boyfriend!" You know, it felt wonderful to hear the Black Widow calling me her boyfriend and I watched as the dots shook for a moment before they vanished.
"Hello, daughters. I cannot believe that you already have a boyfriend, Natalia, and you did not even let him talk to me first," Melina spoke from a hidden loudspeaker, one that I tracked to a tree not too far off the side of the road.
"I did not think I need to. Now, can you just let us in?"
"Of course. May I ask? Is your boyfriend perhaps a former agent of HYDRA?"
"They're the reason I have my powers, yes, but I never worked for them."
"I see. Then, you are free to enter," With that, the loudspeaker turned off and we watched as the heavy, reinforced iron gates at the end of the path slowly pulled open.
"Well, I'd say that was a job well done," I spoke, drawing a sigh from Natalia.
"Only you would say that. Now, come on and let's get this over with."
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At the same time:
New York Sanctum:
Strange narrowed his eyes as he stared at the cosmic sequence of events in front of him, wondering if he was looking at it right.
"They just...vanished?" Deactivating the vision, he activated it again, but his eyes widened as this time, he found himself unable to move.
Stuck in the emerald void that stretched out in every direction for miles on end, Strange stared up at a pair of golden eyes, ones that looked at him and frowned.
"You managed to pierce through Doom's barriers? He is impressed," The voice of the eyes murmured and Strange felt his mental barriers repelling an unwanted entry. "And you managed to deflect Doom's probe? You are much more skilled than the Dr. Strange of his unive-Ah, that is why."
Strange strained and broke free from the binding spell when he felt a hand grasping the Time Stone, immediately tearing it away and watching as the eyes flinched.
"You dare to strike Doom when he was being generous? Know that I am in a good mood today. Now, remove yourself from Doom's presence," The Sorcerer Supreme gasped as a hand slapped against his forehead, sending him spiralling out of the void and back into his body.
His forehead was drenched in sweat as he stumbled backwards, staring wide-eyed at empty space with dread pooling in his stomach.
'Somehow, I just know this is Pietro's fault.'
A/N: And we end it here!! Now, I'm going for a more villainous Doom here since the OG isn't too much of a villain.
He's not going to be all 'Ha! I plan to destroy the world', but he's not going to be a bit heroic either. If I had to explain him in words, think Ozymandias from Watchmen.
Anyway, next chapter: DOOM I.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!!