View Full Version : Fiction A What-If Story #2 (read only)
Another God-forsaken day as leader of the Avengers. The man who wore the red, white, and blue into battle every day climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He grabbed his razor and looked at himself in the mirror. It just didn't pay to be Frank Castle.
After shaving and showering, Frank pulled on the uniform. He pulled his shield onto his back and strapped the two 50. Desert Eagles at his hips. Another day, another fight for life.
"You're looking as chipper as ever, flag man." came the lilted voice from across the room as Frank entered the kitchen. Professor Otto Octavius, or Uncle Otto to this group, was eating his rice bran as usual. Near him, letting the sweet juices from the pear she was eating drip down her chin, was their Asgardian muscle, Sif. She had displeased her husband, the All-Father Thor, and he had condemned her to Earth for eternity. Her scant garb was blood red, and she wore an unbreakable sword at her hip, once enchanted by Odin before he died to be held only by the worthy.
As Frank sat down with his Wheaties and scrambled eggs, the brothers Osborn entered the kitchen. Peter Parker Osborn, adopted by family friend Norman Osborn after his aunt and uncle were murdered, and Harry Osborn, heir by genetics to the Goblin Serum that gave him his powers. They made an awful mess in their breakfast preparation every morning and rarely cleaned up after themselves. Frank scowled.
"Mornin' all." Ben Grimm grumbled as he made his large, orange-stone exterior through the kitchen to the refrigerator. He removed three large steaks and tossed them into the microwave-the leftovers from last night's meal.
Then the explosions began.
"They couldn't let me get my beauty sleep, could they?" game the distinct and almost painful to hear voice of Logan, deputy leader of the Avengers. Behind him in a red-wash black outfit was The Devil, who crouched near the stairs. The group was gathering in the main hall in preparation as the attacks began anew.
Coming down the steps to join the group was a young woman that looked like living crystal. she shimmered under the lights with an ethereal beauty. She was Valeria Von Doom, the legacy a dying Dr. Doom gave to his daughter, transferring her memory engrams to the sophisticated machine's AI before they both passed away. Latveria was a smoking ruin now, for Doom was too great a threat to he who sought to rule the world.
"Ready yourselves, people. Here comes another wave." Frank told his team. The machines were swarming the building, barely held back by the Stark defense measures. Iron Man had been a casualty last year.
The rooftop exit opened. Goblin held Sif and flew her up atop his hover glider, while Spider-man and Uncle Otto used their 'special means' to ascend. Ben Grimm made a mighty leap and was out. The door slammed shut behind them.
The remaining four stepped into the airlock and waited for the door behind them to close. When it was secure the outer door opened and the team began the assault on their foes.
The Devil leaped into a mass of machines and began ripping them to shreds with his clawed fingers. Elsewhere Wolverine did the same thing with his adamantium claws. Valeria used her incredible strength to crush the machines in her crystalline hands. Frank Castle bashed them with his shield and shot out their processing cortexes with one of the powerful pistols he carried.
They were soon joined by the rooftop crew, and continued to do massive damage to the machines. These mindless opponents were their easiest foes, and every day began with their onslaught. When their numbers had sufficiently thinned the team went back inside to rest and prepare for that which was still to come...the humans.
Uncle Otto bandaged Goblin's leg wound while The Devil injected himself with amphetamines. Everyone was dead tired except Thing, Sif, and Valeria-it wasn't in their nature to grow weary. Sif sharpened her sword and Spider-man re-filled his web cartridges. Frank Castle/Captain America traded his pistols for an assault rifle with scope.
"You'd better go back and eat what you can. It won't be long." Castle said, putting the shield on his back. Some of the others ambled to the kitchen. There would be no opening the airlock to fight this new threat, they'd all have to ascend.
"HERE THEY COME!" Otto yelled from the monitor room. The group scrambled to the main room immediately and made for the roof. As sure as clockwork, the Green Horde appeared before noon. Purposely irradiated, most of New York City were now shambling hulks, under the control of he who sought to dominate the world. This included former heroes and villains. Grimm was grieved every time he saw a member of his former group. He had not been affected by the gamma attack.
"NOW!" Cap yelled. The front line began their leaping assault, landing on the roof with them. Sif sliced the arm from one with her sword as Wolverine plunged his claws into it's neck. It stumbled, and a punch by the Thing sent it off the building.
The Devil clawed at another hulk, aided by Uncle Otto in the attack. Frank placed his gun to the creature's eye and fired, killing it.
The next to attack sparked with electricity, shocking Goblin when he attacked. "It's Electro!" Spidey said, jumping and kicking the former man in the chest. Sif disemboweled it, finishing the beast off.
After an hour of assault and defense, the hulks thinned and wandered away. The team were at their wits' end, exhausted to the core and several injured. They descended back into the fortress they called home and prepared for what was to come.
"Get him to the med room, he's losing blood fast!" Frank ordered. Spider-man and Sif hoisted Otto Octavius and ran for the hospital wing of the mansion. His arm had been nearly ripped off by one of the hulks, and it didn't look good for the old man.
They got him onto a bed and Peter Parker, the backup medic after Otto, rushed to the cold case and brought out blood. He hooked it up and injected the needle into Octavius, beginning the return of warmth and color to the man. Without pause he saw to the wound, but before he could do anything Uncle Otto flat-lined. After several minutes of trying to resuscitate him, Spidey tossed a bed across the room and slid down the wall, weeping.
Frank cursed under his breath. Another one lost. Black Cat had been killed three weeks ago. Now their doctor and emotional strength was a corpse before them.
"Get him into the incinerator, sterilize this bay. We want to be ready for the next assault." Cap ordered. Harry shot him a hateful glare. "You really are dead inside, aren't you?" he spat, then picked up the body and did as ordered.
The team ate silently in the kitchen, not wanting to look at each-other. Thanks to Stark's preparedness and his suspended animation inventions, they would have fresh food for the next two years, if they survived that long.
Valeria, who did not eat, sat in the watch station, monitoring several parts of the city. Occasionally she saw the hulks moving around, no purpose nor motivation when they were not controlled. It was 4 PM when she saw the first aircraft. Not long after that the explosions began.
Harry Osborn was discovered that evening. He had hung himself in his quarters, no longer able to deal with the hell they were trapped in. Peter went on a rampage through the mansion upon learning of his brother's death, until he found consolation and release in the arms of Sif.
When darkness fell, the hulks returned. If they remained inside and let the green horde pound away, the fear was that eventually their combined strength would be able to breach the defenses. Thus Wolverine, The Devil, Sif, Ben Grimm, and Peter Parker went up to face them. Valeria manned the watch station to warn them if some other assault was coming, and they had not been able to find Cap. The five killed and destroyed, venting their anger and frustration on these former humans. The heroes that had once been had been beaten out of them, and all that remained was a group fighting for their very survival.
"I need.." Spider-man cried out before five hulks piled on and overtook him. Sif cut a swath through the attackers in her way and freed him, helped finally in the end by Grimm. Peter Parker lay unconscious where he fell.
"Devil, get him below!" Sif ordered. The Devil leaped over and scooped him up while the others blocked the way into the mansion. When the rooftop passage was sealed they continued to fight freely.
Ben Grimm smashed two skulls together and tossed the hulks from the rooftop. The next to approach was surrounded by green flame and hovered just off of the ground.
"J..Johnny?" Ben froze. The hulk before him heated to furious intensity and grasped Ben's neck to strangle him. "Johnny..." Ben moaned again, before grasping the creature's arms and squeezing them. Tears streamed down his rocky face as he killed his former best friend.
"Get in, their numbers have lessened." Sif ordered. Ben kicked the remaining corpses off of the roof and headed for the lift. Sif joined him, but Logan stood at the edge of the building and stared out at the wrecked city.
"Wolverine, come on." Sif said. the man did not move. "I just want a cigar, lady. Frank has his guns, Otto had his lab. I just want a g#####n cigar."
"Peter has a serious concussion and two broken arms. He won't be fighting any time soon." Valeria told the assembled group, sans Cap. They had not yet been able to locate Castle, and suspicions abounded.
"I'll bet Frankie decided to pack it up and go." Ben Grimm mused, leaning in a corner. The Devil crouched near the stairs, silent as ever.
Wolverine shook his head. "Where you think he's going? There's no escape."
"If anyone can get out of this alive, it's that man. He's survived more than we've ever experienced."
"Really, Grimm? You have no idea what I've experienced. As far as I know I'm the last mutant on Earth. The people I called family were slaughtered by...him."
Sif stepped between Grimm and Logan. She cocked her head to one side, reached for her sword. "He's coming." she stated. The others stood and prepared for battle.
The Thing moved toward the airlock. "He hasn't personally attacked us in months. Why now?"
"He knows about our casualties. He has eyes everywhere out there." Valeria replied, entering the room. Their foe would not be alone. He would come with the machines and the hulks. He believed himself undefeatable.
"AVENGERS! NOW COMES YOUR DOOM, AND THE DOOM OF ALL FLESH!" came a booming voice from outside. Wolverine growled. He, perhaps more than any of the others, had the best chance of defeating their foe. He popped his claws in anticipation. This would be life or death for them all, and they knew it was probably the latter. Ultron was coming.
The group watched on the monitor as Ultron approached the mansion/fortress, surrounded by attack machines and shambling hulks. Sif had developed an almost supernatural sense about his coming. She'd warned the others, but there was really nothing they could do to prepare. The Devil injected himself with more drugs. Sif wondered how much of a human being was left in the mind of that man.
"If it's time for us to die, I welcome it. We can't live like this anymore." Grimm muttered. It was long ago that the words 'It's Clobberin' Time' last passed his lips. He, like all of them now, were utterly alone.
Wolverine, as he said, was probably the last mutant alive, his incredible abilities saving his life when they could not do so for his friends.
Spider-man, who would be unable to fight, had just lost his brother Harry to suicide.
Sif was cut off from Asgard and all Asgardians forever, for she had vexed the merciless Thor.
The Thing had lost the people he cherished most in his life, the rest of the Fantastic Four.
Valeria Von Doom, one of a kind, no longer had her loving father Victor to watch over her.
Frank Castle, Captain America, had lost his family and now the nation he stood for.
None knew the story behind The Devil, he had never uttered a word in their presence.
Now, as Wolverine, Sif, Grimm, Valeria, and The Devil waited to make perhaps the final defense of their headquarters, Frank appeared. He smiled, even though he surely knew that Ultron was coming.
"Where have you been?!" Grimm yelled, lifting Castle into the air and pinning him against the wall.
Castle smiled still. "Calm down. I'll show you where I've been, and how we may still come out of this alive."
Captain America led the remaining Avengers downstairs to a room they had not been able to enter before. Inside, in recharge banks, were 15 suits of Stark-designed armor. One was red, white, and blue, and bore a place to connect the shield. Another was green with purple trim.. it would have been Harry's. There were several others that would have been worn by other Avengers that had fallen to the onslaught.
"Holy Christmas." Ben Grimm whispered. Labels were atop each armor, though most were obvious in whom they were intended for. Ben found a huge one at the end that was basically a framework with flight capabilities, to provide him with more defense and allow him to move around easier.
Sif immediately went to her bay and began putting on her white and red armor. "We don't have time to stare at them." she chided the others as she pulled on the gauntlets. Her sword fit in a scabbard at the waist of the armor.
Frank followed suit and dressed in his armor. When it was on and connected, the on-board computer began directing him in it's use. Though he was looking straight ahead, a helmet projection allowed him to see 90 degrees to his left.
Wolverine had his armor on before Grimm had finished with his exo. However, The Devil crouched nearby, looking at the armor intended for him.
"Aren't you gonna put it on?" Logan asked. The Devil shook his head. Sif brandished her sword and checked the perfect blade.
"Put the armor on, Devil." Castle ordered. The Devil again shook his head. Frank was getting angry. "Fine, die then." he said, cursing under his breath.
The Devil pulled his mask off. His face was grotesque, with burns and scars leading down his neck, so you knew that his whole body was like this. Much of his mouth was missing, including the majority of his tongue. His eyes were clearly blind, but his nose twitched as though he picked up a far away scent.
"By Odin!" Sif shouted upon seeing The Devil's real face. Castle and Wolverine both had to turn away, like everyone else. Even in all their experiences they had seen nothing as horrible as this on a man still living. "No wonder the drugs." Wolverine said, exiting the room. Grimm and Sif followed.
There had been no armor for Valeria. It would have been weaker than the machine's own body anyway. She simply followed Castle out, letting The Devil trail behind them. The six went to the rooftop exit and departed the mansion for their final fight.
Blood spilled as the massive Vulcan chain guns on Cap's armor tore into the hulks. Grimm and Sif had gone straight after Ultron, while Wolverine ripped beasts and machines to shreds to allow them their battle. Ultron, the living adamantium android, had infiltrated and taken control of every electronic medium. He/it had launched a massive war against his/it's enemies, decimating most of the world. New York was spared for it would be the crown jewel of his/it's empire. When humanity's plague was no more, Ultron would begin a new race of artificial intelligences that would rule the world. Eventually, they would continue with the domination of the solar system and then, the universe. No climate was too harsh for an indestructible being that needed neither breath nor food.
Grimm pounded away at Ultron, but his strength could not compare to the adamantium monster's resilience. He had to concede to a secondary position, defending the others by destroying machines and hulks. Wolverine engaged Ultron, aiding Sif, who had not been able to get her blade near Ultron's body.
The Devil had begun the fight with the rest of them, but he now lay in several pieces, rent limb from limb by the hulks. Matt Murdock had at last found peace for the first time since the truck bearing toxic chemicals collided with him and changed his life forever. No more pain, no more drugs.
Valeria Von Doom destroyed everything in her path as she slowly made her way to Ultron. She was a machine now, one unlike any other, but she was still the daughter of Doom. She had a plan.
When both barrels were whirring and empty of bullets, Castle let them unlatch and fall to the ground below. He began using the on-board energy weapons, carefully monitoring the power left in his armor. He and Grimm were actually making quick work of the hulks and machines.
"DIE, D### YOU!" Wolverine screamed, trying to slice at Ultron. Every time he did, one of Ultron's eight arms stopped him. The same with Sif. Ultron appeared unassailable.
"Ultron." she said. With that one word, Valeria Von Doom had the attention of the mechanical megalomaniac. Still easily defending himself from the others, he looked at her.
"You are a masterwork." he declared, examining her.
Valeria smiled. "Will you rule alone forever? Would the master of all not prefer to have.. a mate?"
"Come to me. Help me to dispose of these fleshbags and all I will have will be yours as well."
Valeria grabbed Sif and tossed her so far that she collided with and flew into a building. She punched Logan in the gut and tossed him even farther than Sif. Then she embraced Ultron, and he embraced her.
Castle and Grimm, disposing of the last of the hulks, froze in shock. How could she have betrayed them, after they had fought for so long to survive?
It was then that Ultron convulsed in Valeria's arms. He began to beat upon her crystalline form, but to no avail. His strength was fading.
"How can this.." the machine began. It was the last thing Ultron would ever say. Slowly, then faster, the adamantium MELTED away from Ultron's form and covered Valeria.
"This.. is vengeance from beyond the grave." came a man's voice from Valeria's mouth. The crystal and adamantium began to take a new shape, one all too familiar to Grimm.
"DOOM!" The Thing exclaimed.
"Yes. I am Victor Von Doom. Valeria was a means to an end. Now I have destroyed Ultron, and I will rebuild the world.. and I shall rule it."
Castle hit Doom with a bombardment of energy attacks. They had no effect. "Surrender, Frank. I mean you no harm. We must collect the last vestiges of humanity and reverse what Ultron has done. I will be a fair and just ruler, trust me when I say this. Besides, I am more indestructible than Ultron could have dreamed."
Doom kept his word. The surviving million or so human beings began the arduous task of reconstructing their world. Doom improved upon Stark's technologies which provided food for everyone. Humanity learned a vital lesson from this. There would be no more war, high technology would never again rule their lives. In the hundreds of years to come, Humanity turned Earth into a utopia.
All under the watchful and beneficent rule of an undying Victor Von Doom.
THE END
ok, there's another story done. Please feel free to post now, tell me if you liked it or hated it, what you thought could have been better or what you thought was cool. I welcome your comments!
freakazoid_x
07/09/2003, 13:49
I thought it was interesting. The end was a bit of a let down and I'd have liked to see more into the Hulk attacks. Perhaps more heroes on the Avengers team too.
Not as good as your last story about the Nazi's and Cap in 1978 but still a good read.
Superhero Mixer was hilarious... but why so cruel to Supergirl? :)
Another very interesting read. I enjoyed it and look forward to hitting the others.
These first two stories have started off very bleak and you've played that aspect very well. You really know how to translate that feeling of hopelessness into words.
Maybe some sort of explanation of why that room with the suits of armor was locked before and how Cap got into it would have been nice. Other than that, no holes that I could see.
freakazoid_x
07/09/2003, 16:27
Wow someone read my Superhero mixer story. The reason I was so cruel to Supergirl is because I dislike Supergirl. She's never been anything but a liability and the most awkward moment in all of comic history was when Superman had to explain to Supergirl that they couldn't get married because they were cousins and it was illegal for them to marry. He didn't mention the possibility of "flipper babies".
She was like a child though, wasn't she? Later on she matured and had more sense in her head.
?
freakazoid_x
07/11/2003, 20:23
She was old enough to "bleed" so she was old enough to have to have that explained to her. She was about 16.
The Matrix SUpergirl who let Lex Luthor sex her up sometimes while he was commiting crimes, she wasn't very bright.
Even the current incarnations are sort of shameful to watch. Really it's a small miracle as to why Superman doesn't take the S away. I should write a story about that.
Let me remind you of Clark's words. He said they couldn't get married 'because it was illegal here', not because 'it was wrong'. Perhaps Kryptonians were commonly kissin' cousins...
freakazoid_x
07/12/2003, 02:39
Yeah a scientifically advanced community, I'm sure that they did a lot of inbreeding. Krypton is actually the Alabama of the stars.
I formally apologize to everyone who lives in, or has an emotional attachment to Alabama. It is not a state completely populated with inbred people. I just met an abundance of them when I was there. My friend identified them for me as inbred. I'm sure Alabama has its share of scientists and the like. I just noticed more inbred people than anywhere else.
:)
just keeping these on page 1 for new readers..
darius_dax1
08/02/2003, 04:14
I really love the WHAT IF SPIN on Daredevil and Captain America.
Like the Frank Castle as Cap. The story was a bit rushed I thought. Could've spent more time with background detail and exactly what's going on in certain situations (like Doom killing Ultron). Still, great story and great writing.
Colesy Kid
08/06/2003, 16:01
well done!
freakazoid_x
12/11/2003, 13:05
I am taking it upon myself to give all of Masadas old stories a fresh bump as a tribute to the currently away due to illness Masada. We miss you, get well soon.
I'm still hanging on edge for the continuation of what-if 12
These haven't been up on the front page in months, so...
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