Dial (Ben10/Marvel Cinematic Universe SI)

[DesertChocolate]

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

I stood in the doorway to the kitchen, watching the carnage before me. The roof had been torn off, leaving room for the behemoth to continue his feast. His long flashing teeth sliced through meat, red liquid dripping to the ground. He growled as he filled his stomach with flesh.

Good thing it was already dead.

"Yo," I said to the big dragon/dino that was currently devouring a side of some herbivore dinosaur about the size and weight of an elephant, looked up to glare at me. "It's almost time man."

He swallowed a big chunk of meat, looking down at my insectoid form. He growled something. While the Omnitrix was hopefully back to normal, Hauzer still wasn't speaking any sort of language I could understand. I didn't know if that was because he was less sentient then I thought he was, because he was just magic enough to muddle the Omnitrix up, similar in some way to Wildmutt's species, or just because he was refusing to speak at all, but that was the situation.

"Are you full?" I asked while scuttling forward on my six legs, dodging around the many things that had fallen on the ground. "Because we have a fight soon."

He growled. "Yeah… You get Styro. But we have the rest to deal with."

If he could have, I think he would have rolled his eyes. I let it go. "Come on. We're going into the arena. One last fight. Then we turn this whole place to rubble."

I turned around and left. Soon, I heard the footsteps of a giant follow me.

------

I got to the arena, where my fellow former slaves, X, and Kraven had been setting up. They'd tossed aside the crap armor and weapons they had been wearing to replace it with quality gear. As I entered, everyone looked at me. Then up. And up, until they were looking Hauzer in the eyes.

"Grrrrrr," Hauzer said, looking around at them all.

The gladiators and freed slaves stepped back, even Demi. X cocked his head to the side, looking up at him. Kraven…

"Oh," Kraven stared up at Hauzer, a look of stunned awe on his face. "Magnificent. Absolutely magnificent," Kraven looked down at me. "Ha! You've been hiding something quite special from me Dial!"

"Don't try it," I said, walking past him. "Hauzer might end up killing you."

"You can't simply entice a man like that," Kraven walked up to look at Hauzer. The Earth Dragon leaned down to glare at him. Kraven smirked. "When all of this is over, I think you and I will have to have a discussion. Hauzer."

The Earth Dragon cocked his head to the side, a flicker of flame coming from his lips. Kraven, on seeing that, looked like he'd never seen something more amazing. Seriously, at this point, I was pretty sure anyone who tried to pull him out of the Savage Land would be fighting a losing battle.

I came up to X. "How long until the Quinjet arrives?"

"Four minutes," X said.

"Perfect… Hey X. Thanks for coming for me man," I said quietly. "The past few days were damn hard."

X stared down at me. "I was worried. We had no plans in place for things such as Anti-Metal, despite knowing of its existence. Or any secondary plans for if the Omnitrix could be damaged in some way."

"The Omnitrix usually was the plan," I grumbled, looking down at the symbol around my neck. "I put a lot of faith in Azmuth, but I should remember he isn't omniscient. Just smart enough that it seems like it."

"Who is Azmuth?" Gresh asked nearby. I ignored him. Probably shouldn't have, considering what he made of that later.

"Regardless of that," X said. "Your current plan isn't the kind I would have expected from you, especially if your hatred for this Stend person is as you said it was."

"It is," I would have smirked if I had lips. "Stend… I think if I have him pegged? Nothing will piss him off more than my plan."

X shook his head, his blue eyes spinning briefly. "And Sauron?"

"He's the threat. The main threat. Firebreathing, super-strength, speed, flight, the ability to absorb the life force of others, the ability to control minds… Sauron is the one I'm most worried about. We have no idea how much of his power is the way I remember it, but I do know the guy is powerful. If I had my way, we'd have a small team taking him on. As of now, that isn't the priority."

I looked at the group of people we had helped. Around fifty, in total. I went over to them. Gresh, Demi, and Winggirl… Okay, I just realized something. I had no idea what her name was.

"Hey," I said, walking to look up at her. "What's your name?"
She looked down at me, leaning down to look me in the eyes, blue skin glittering in the light of the Omnitrix around my neck. "I'm Gena."

"Nice to finally meet you," I said a little awkwardly. "I'm sorry it took me so long to ask. We had a lot to get done."

Gena blinked down at me. She looked better. Her torn off wing, or at least, the section it been attached to her back, was beginning to heal. But I could still see that undercurrent in her emotions, that deep sadness that filled her.

I left that thought aside, instead focusing on the moment. "Demi. Take the civilia-" I cut myself off. Right. I was so used to thinking of people who needed help as civilians. But in this setting, that word didn't really have as much meaning to former slaves. "Take anyone who can't fight up top. Transport that can fly will come by soon. I need you to help defend them with the escort team, so you're in charge. Understood?"

Demi nodded, speaking in that oddly feminine voice of hers. "I have no problem with that."

"Why is she in charge?" the Raptor guy grumbled.

"Because Sauron can breathe fucking fire," I told the guy impatiently. "How about this, if you wanna block that, you can be the leader."

"...I was just asking," Raptor guy said at last, looking pretty disgruntled.

"You're a warrior," I narrowed my eyes at him, then at the rest. "I'm taking a chance, trusting a lot of you. So stop questioning my orders. We don't have time to swing dicks around just so that you can feel better about yourself. We all get out of this place, free to eat, drink, and whatever, and I guarantee you that I can get you out. Before you guys ask how I can guarantee that, remember that I have a robot and a dragon helping me, so your arguments are invalid."

X blinked by shuttering his eyes closed, while Hauzer prowled forward, Kraven still eyeing him like a steak dinner.

"So stick to the plan," I looked around at everyone. "The arena team boxes it out. The escort team protects civilians. Besides that, we all have our personal opponents. Ready?"

No one spoke. I took that as a yes.

"All right. Head to your places… And Gresh. What the hell is the Avengers symbol doing painted on your chest?"

I finally noticed it. The reptile man now had a half-assed 'A' symbol in a red circle emblazoned on his chest and stomach, dripping wet even as we spoke.

"Ah, you like it?" Gresh thrust his chest out proudly. "The metal man told me this was the symbol of your nation."

"...Gresh, I'm starting to wonder if you're more dangerous than I thought."

"Thank you!" he said proudly.

"Not in the way you think, man…" I said starting to realize Gresh might be more off than I thought.

"By the way, sir," X said, distracting me. I looked up at him. "Shouldn't you change back? You may come close to passing your time limit."

That was a good point. If I changed back now, I'd be less likely to drop transformation mid-fight. With that in mind, I reached for the Omnitrix with one of my legs, tapping it to turn back into a human. The Omnitrix beeped.

"...Wait, what?" I said, still in Ball Weevil form. I tapped the Omnitrix symbol again and again. It beeped each time but left me in my tiny yellow form. "What, first you break because of some chump metal, and now you decide to stay in alien form?" I tapped at the symbol again and again, getting nothing for my efforts.

"What is happening?" X asked.

"I'm stuck," I grunted, irritated. "... Fine. Whatever AI, or Azmuth, or Eunice being funny, I'll just deal with it," I said without much heat. Stuck in Ball Weevil form. Not that bad, really. I was just curious as to what was going on. Did this mean the Omnitrix was still repairing in the background?

Whatever the case, it was time to get ready for a fight again.

"Places everyone," I said as badass as I could while looking like the latest adorable product of the Pokemon company. "We've got bad guys to fight."

------

We stood side-by-side when they entered. I was in the center, with X on my left, then Kraven. On my right were Gresh and the Ankylosaur gladiator. Behind us, towering tall on the large stone platform, was Hauzer, his flames dripping from his mouth like magma to scorch the rock under him.

Sauron strode onto the sands of the arena with his hands behind his back, a proud smile on his face. He wasn't what I expected. More… well, he kinda reminded me of Steve, to be honest. It was in his stance. The proud way he held himself, straight-backed and powerful. Like he wasn't above the rest of the world, but he also damn sure wasn't going to bow to anyone. He looked almost heroic. Which I wasn't sure I liked much.

Styro was wearing armor as he stood on Sauron's left side. He looked almost unearthly calm. As soon as he came through the doors, his eyes snapped onto Hauzer. And I felt the heat behind me rise. Oh yeah. Hauzer and Styro had some words they wanted to trade.
Pter was on Sauron's right side, clutching tightly at a pair of knives as he strode in. He smirked at us, looking far too cheery for my tastes. A pair of eyes took him without him noticing. Just as planned.

Stend was just behind Pter. He looked at us, passing his eyes over me. Then they snapped back, his jaw-dropping at the sight of me. I would have smiled if I could have.

"My, my!" Sauron said, stopping about twenty feet away from us. "I must say, Dial, you have quite the skill with theatrics."

"I'm an anime nerd," I stepped forward. "Learned from the best."

"Hah!" he chuckled. "I can see that. I must admit, however, I've always been more a fan of fantasy literature. Obviously, I suppose."

"Can't hate a guy for taking inspiration from Lord of the Rings," I shrugged. "So… We all know why we're here."

"Indeed," Sauron looked around. Our allies were almost silent. Kraven was chuckling under his breath. Pter's clawed feet scratched at the sand. Hauzer's flames continued to drip. "I suppose you've already made plans for how this battle will go. Are you planning to fight me, Dial?"

No fear, no hesitation. Just curiosity.

"Yeah, I am. Everyone else has their dance partners."

"No," Stend growled.

Sauron blinked, surprised. He looked at Stend. "My child."

"NO!" Stend pushed Pter aside. "I don't care! YOU ARE MINE. This arena is mine!" Stend walked forward, surprising everyone who wasn't me.

"Bullshit," I snarked.

Stend scowled, his fists clenched and strode across towards me. "That impudence. I'm going to-"

"Stend," Sauron growled, his eyes flashing. Stend stilled in an instant. "Don't move."

Stend's eyes widened. His muscles twitched as he stood there. I could see him struggle to move.

Mind control. Sauron must have hypnotized him already. From what I knew of the comics, that usually took eye contact. Stend vibrated in place, his breath coming fast and panicky.

"Dial is mine," Sauron said casually. "It is okay. You clearly are too close to this. Step aside. Fight-"

Stend's eyes widened again. He stepped forward.

Sauron's own gaze shook. "Stend-"

"He is mine," Stend stared at me, his eyes almost insane. "I will have your life. DIAL!"


He shook like a dog, and Sauron gasped as though in pain, stepping back in surprise. Stend rushed forward, claws outward. "DIIIIAAAL!"

"Told you," I said to my left.

"Yes," as Stend tried to claw at me, X stepped in the way and easily caught his claws. "You did."

Stend screamed, trying to rip into X. Only to stagger when X easily lifted him off the ground. "W-What!?"

"You wanted to learn about the modern world?" I asked smugly. "About all the little wonders we've created? Well here's your chance. X! Teach him about the magic of engineering."

"Target engaged," X said in response. His eyes flashed blue. Then he leaped forward, smashing into the walls of the arena. Before he and Stend disappeared inside, Stend got one last look at me. He looked at me in desperate rage. I turned and ignored him. When he let out a loud scream of affronted anger at that, I once again I had lips, just so that I could grin at the satisfaction that gave.

"So," I said to Sauron.

He looked from where Stend and X had gone, the sound of things being destroyed coming from that hole. He looked shocked. Then he slowly chuckled, before straight out laughing.

"Today! Today has been the most interesting day I've had in years!" he was almost crying with laughter now. "Thank you, Dial! You have made things fun," his wings spread out. "Saur-Lords! Take them!"

"Yes!" Pter swung out a knife. "Time for a hunt to-"

"Hunt?" Kraven slammed his own knife into Pter's, getting up in his face while pushing him back. He grinned in the Saur-Lord's face. "I know a thing or two about that. Let's trade notes."

Styro ran past them, heading for Hauzer. Hauzer roared, blasting out flame at Styro before the two were behind me and I lost sight of the fight.

A group of guards entered behind Sauron. Gresh and the Ankylosaur gladiator gave Sauron an awkward look. He smiled.

"No, go ahead," Sauron eyed me. "I believe I have my own fight to handle."

The two ran past him, heading toward the group of guards, some of whom ran towards the upper levels of the arena, where a big group of former slaves was. The two Aerians who could fly lifted up, Demi clenched her fists, and soon everyone was brawling around us.

Sauron and I faced each other for a moment as the arena exploded into violence.

"So… Shall we?" I asked, spitting out a ball of green plasma.

"OF COURSE!" he said proudly.

So that's who he sounded like. I knew his voice seemed familiar.

Then he breathed fire at me. I jumped aside, launched a ball of plasma that exploded at his feet, which he dived out of the way of, still breathing a gout of flame hot enough to scorch the sands. I spun in the air and launched another plasma ball. He lifted into the air, cutting off his fire breath to dodge. The ball rolled across the sand, quickly growing until it hit a gate, exploding with immense force and tearing that section of the arena. I ran towards the doorway, Sauron following as everyone else let loose.

------

I ran deeper into the halls of the coliseum before skidding to a halt, my insect legs scratching at the concrete. Sauron landed at the same time, looking down at me with a smirk.

"Attempting to limit my mobility by forcing me to follow here?" he asked, looking around.

"Nah," I spat out another ball of plasma, hopping onto it. "I just like privacy when I invite a guy to dance with me."

"How charming of you!" Sauron crowed. Then he was in front of me, claws slashing down. I rolled aside to let his claws slash through the stones, leaving five long lines in the gray floor. I tossed the ball I'd made into his face, blowing it up and sending us both back from the explosion. He skidded on his heels, clawing up the floor with his talons, while I bounced and rolled to come to my feet again. Without missing a beat, Sauron let loose with the flames again. I tossed another ball, only to be surprised when the plasma absorbed the flames, growing in size.

"Hooooo?" Sauron hummed, slipping around the plasma to let it detonate on the wall behind him. "It can absorb my flames? And even leaves a mint scent when it explodes?" he noted the hole left by my explosive orb before looking at me. "The outside world has truly changed if beings like you are coming from there."

"Bruh, you have no idea. There's a whole world of weirdness out there," I spat a line of green plasma, and lashed out with it like a whip. He ducked underneath it, spinning aside when I brought the whip back around to snap at his leg. He brought his arms behind him and began dancing between each whip strike.

I somehow controlled the ten-foot-long whip of plasma-like Wonder Woman bringing the heat, spinning, snapping, and slicing the air, as Sauron continued to dodge with the casual cool of a martial arts master fighting against a novice.

"A whole world," Sauron mused to himself, hopping over a spinning plasma whip. "I dismissed the outside world when I came here. But I suppose I was a bit hasty. Perhaps I should-"

He was cut off when the whiplashed around his ankle. He had enough time to blink before I pulled him off his feet with surprising strength, following with letting go of the whip. The plasma pulled in around him melding into a ball that surrounded him from neck to ankle.

"Explode!" I shouted. The ball blew outwards, sending Sauron ricocheting off a wall. I didn't let up, tossing another pair at him, but he didn't let something like getting literally blown up stop him from spinning to his feet and rushing me. I tossed a plasma at him, but he leaped up, gliding forward and wrapping his talons around my body. Screeching like a falcon, he lifted me up in mid-flight and bashed me into a wall, my tough exoskeleton breaking the stones to free us from the arena and enter the streets. With a mighty beat of his wings that sent the dust from our exit flying, he burst up into the night sky, still carrying me in his claws.

"You fight well!" he crowed. I twisted to look down at the ground below, getting further and further away. "But I think I'd like a taste of that power of yours!"

I felt it then. His talons wrapped tight around me, began to absorb my energy. It felt horrible. Like something clawing at my insides, pulling pieces of me out. I screamed, a grating insect sound, and instinctively lashed out a plasma whip, lashing it around his jaw and pulling hard. He let out a muffled shout as his mouth was forced closed, spinning in the air and letting me go in shock. I let go as well, letting the whip wrap around his long jaw entirely before blowing up in a green ball of smoke with incredible force as I fell towards the ground, spinning around and around.

"EXHILARATING!" Sauron shouted above me. "This is what I've longed for! What is the point of having the power of gods if you can't unleash it, test it's limits, to create storms!"

He had a point. Our fight was getting a little insane. The cracks of explosions were erupting everywhere, the sky alight in green, silver, and red as he and I traded blasts blow for blow.

I spat out another ball of plasma, catching it before it could fly out of my reach, then spat out as many as I could up toward Sauron. He ducked and dodged in the air, the sky getting lit up by green explosions as each ball blew up around him.

"Hellzone Grenade!" I shouted, stealing my favorite Namekian's move as I unleashed a final barrage of plasma.

"Not enough!" Sauron crowed. His hands glowed a bright silver that flickered with all the colors of the rainbow before he brought both up over his back then swung them down. Pulsing beams of energy flew from his hands, aiming for me. As planned, I raised the single plasma ball I'd prepared.

I was surprised when, rather than coming for me, the twin beams of energy shot around me. "What the-"

"You were planning to absorb the energy," Sauron said with a smirk. "But how do you deal with this!"

The twin energy beams met just behind me, blowing up in an explosion of silver that sent me flying upwards. I shouted in surprise as I twisted in the air, narrowing my eyes to hold back the pain.

At the same time, Sauron found himself surrounded by a field of plasma balls. He watched them all with amusement, looking down at me as we both fell. "Heh. I think if you had lips you'd be smiling, wouldn't you child?"

"...Fuck yeah," I said.

Then dozens of plasma balls exploded with a thunderous sound that cracked the night sky above the city.

I fell down fast and hard, propelled by the explosion. Below me, a building made of stone came up to meet me. I spun as best as I could to face my back downwards, making it just before I hit the roof.

The roof cratered under me, then crumbled. I fell through it to land on the floor below in a shower of dust. I bounced upwards, then got hit by a falling piece of rock, before I finally lay on my back, looking up at the night sky full of green explosions.

"......ow."

I took in the pain with a weird sort of happiness, if I'm being honest. I'm not a masochist or anything. It's just… I'd been worried I'd never get to fight an alien form again. This. Fighting against a superhuman opponent on equal ground, coming up with creative ways to use some crazy new powers. I loved it. It was good to have the Omnitrix back, for all that I felt fulfilled knowing that I could take on challenges at my weakest.

I lay there watching as the explosions faded through the five-foot wide hole made in the roof by my impact. A shadow swept down from them, streaming smoke. He finally landed at the edge of the hole, looking down at me. "That was-" he cut himself off, coughing. "Ah. That was a big explosion. Are you going to lay there all night, child?"

"I was just taking in the view," I replied casually. "You know, for someone who literally enslaved people and forced them to fight in death battles, you're a real friendly guy."

Sauron smiled down at me, not moving as I rolled over to my stomach, spitting out a ball to hop onto. "I am finding myself in a bit of a good mood. Still, I do think manners are important."

"You should teach Stend that, then. Because he's an asshole… You know. I think he was planning to dethrone you."

I'd figured that out a while ago. Stend's obsession with obtaining knowledge, the fact he was equipping his own men with Damascus steel while no other guards had it, the dissatisfaction he showed with how much Sauron hadn't shared about the outside world. Stend hated Sauron. He wanted him out of the way, wanted to replace him and steal more knowledge, to rise up.

"He does, doesn't he?" Sauron sighed. "But that is simply the way with the truly ambitious. You try to feed their greed, but it's never enough. I was hoping he'd try his revolt later in the year. It would be a good test for my Saur-Lord's, fighting a civil war! After all, it is a testament to a father when his children show the will to surpass him!" he said in that hammy as hell voice of his.

I stared up at him. "You'd just… let a civil war happen?"

"Yes and no. I would try to stop it beforehand, first through peace, then through violence. But if it happens, it would be a learning opportunity. I want my city to grow, to become a civilization of its own, fighting the battles both literal and philosophical that all other societies must," Sauron looked around the city. "But that has nothing to do with our battle. Now, Dial. Shall we continue?"

"...Yeah."

I fired immediately upwards, the roof exploding under him. He somersaulted back, dodging my next blasts, then firing silver beams of energy at the roof, trying to force the whole thing to fall on top of me. I spun in a circle on the ball I was standing on, spitting out plasma as I pivoted in place, the plasma orbs rolling outward and picking up debris as it fell to the ground. I exploded the orb under me, letting it propel me out of the hole. The orbs I'd unleashed blew apart as well, turning the top floor of the building we'd been fighting on to nothingness. That's the nice thing about Ball Weevil orbs. They don't leave rubble but instead clean it up.

I landed on another rooftop and kicked more orbs at Sauron, who dodged the three I launched before he was on top of me. He blasted me with a single energy beam before I could block it with a plasma orb. I took the painful hit to my stomach, launching an orb out that hit him in the chest as well.

We both went flying back, landing on opposite buildings and facing each other. I was breathing hard, trying to keep my eyes on him. We were both covered in scorch marks and bruises. While I didn't have bones in my form, I was pretty sure every muscle inside me was a little tense.

"...You're hard to kill," Sauron mused, chuckling just a bit. "This form you have taken is quite the tough one!"

I thought of Diamondhead, Four Arms, Rath, all of my tougher aliens. "You have no idea."

"I suppose I don't," Sauron cocked his head to the side. "I must ask, child. Are you like me? A human forced by circumstance in a powerful form? Or are you… No, if you were a muta&*#$!-"

The rest of what he said was a blinding screech of noise as my head exploded. I screamed in pain, shocked at the suddenness. What the fuck!? Is this what his brainwashing felt like? I'd made sure not to really look him in the eyes, why was this happening!?

I shook my head, struggling to keep my eyes open. But when I looked back at Sauron, he seemed as surprised as I was.

Then his face cleared with realization. "Ah, my old friend… even now, you…"

"W-What did you do to me?" I struggled to say.

Sauron shook his head. "I did nothing. It isn't my secret to tell. But tell me, how do you know my human name?"

"...I read it on the internet," I forced out as the headache suddenly disappeared. For a moment, I felt guilty horror in my mind, but that faded as well, which surprised the hell out of me.

"Hm," Sauron cocked his head to the side. "The internet? I suppose it became pretty big while I was here. I'll have to visit the mainland when I'm finished here."

"You won't be able to do that without being in a cell," I growled, annoyed at the pain in my head.

"Oh?" Sauron chuckled. "I suppose we're both being overconfident, aren't we!"

"Overconfidence is just confidence after you win," I returned. As I spoke, a purple light in the sky behind Sauron flashed. "Besides. I know two things you don't."

Sauron, still chuckling, kept trying to meet my eyes, which I kept dodging. "I suppose that statement is the beginning of a very surprising development in this fight of ours? Very well!" he tapped his chest with his fist. "Show me those two things!"

"I think I'll let them speak for themselves," I spat.

From out of the sky, a silver streak fell. Sauron, reacting faster than I could believe, desperately leaped to his right. A fist of vibranium hit the roof where he'd been standing, shattering the roof with ease. Without stopping, the silver figure spun around to punch at him again, Sauron flipped back before the roof fell under him from the first blow. Then his eyes widened when a purple beam of energy came down, the Pterosaur-man countering it with his own silver beams of energy to explode just in front of him. He flew up and hovered in the air to dodge the plasma balls I launched at him, the green orbs finishing off the section of roof he'd been standing on.

I landed at the same time as my friends did.

Creel, standing in his full vibranium form, ripped his shirt off, glaring at Sauron. "Huh. I know X said this guy would look like a dinosaur-man, but he really does look weird," he clenched his fist with a metal on metal squeal accompanying it.

Fantasma floated down to my right, landing on her high heels with elegance and grace. "Not necessarily strange, Mr. Creel. We have seen many wondrous things. This man is simply yet one more."

"That's the nice thing about being an Avenger," I snarled as much as my adorable bug from could. "You see a lot of cool shit."

If this were an anime, there would be three panels showing Creel, myself, and Fantasma in a close-up of our faces.

Sauron quirked an eyebrow. "Well! It seems things have gotten dangerous for me!"

"Fuck yeah," Creel sped forward, followed by myself on a green plasma orb and Fantasma, who twirled up into the sky.

"Good to have you guys back!" I said before we all unleashed hell once more, Sauron letting loose as well.

------

Author's Note: Next chapter, a brief stop in with the other characters. Then, Sauron's POV, and his brief history.

I'm not sure if you guys could tell, but while I had taken inspiration from a lot of different sources for this arc, everything kinda ending going in more of a modern anime direction. The main hero fights the big boss while everyone else splits up to take on his various proteges and minions, classic stuff. That might be because I've been watching a lot of My Hero Academia while writing this arc. Which is a fantastic show, by the by.

 

[LordCirce]

... huh. So, I'm guessing Xavier did something to brainwash the world to prevent them from finding out about muta&$#%@...

What was I just talking about?

 

[hunter81095]

... huh. So, I'm guessing Xavier did something to brainwash the world to prevent them from finding out about muta&$#%@...

What was I just talking about?

Click to shrink...

Hey man, it's a silly thing to do you know, pretending you're under the effect of not being able to think or talk about mut@#$%

 

[karmafalcon]

... huh. So, I'm guessing Xavier did something to brainwash the world to prevent them from finding out about muta&$#%@...

What was I just talking about?

Click to shrink...

Hmm... considering he said Old Friend, I do wonder if it actually is Xavier. I mean, why specifically bleep out the word or thought of mutants? Things mutate all the time! Several games and television shows utilize the word in their very title.. unless all of those are not considered part of this world. I suppose it would be weird if people kept blanking out whenever they thought of Teenage Muta&$#%@... If people kept blanking out whenever they thought of that one football game Muta&$#%@... what was I talking about?

 

[hunter81095]

Hmm... considering he said Old Friend, I do wonder if it actually is Xavier. I mean, why specifically bleep out the word or thought of mutants? Things mutate all the time! Several games and television shows utilize the word in their very title.. unless all of those are not considered part of this world. I suppose it would be weird if people kept blanking out whenever they thought of Teenage Muta&$#%@... If people kept blanking out whenever they thought of that one football game Muta&$#%@... what was I talking about?

Click to shrink...

It's probably meant to specifically target X Gene mut@#$% and not the more mundane mutations, or radiation induced mutations.

Xavier is one of the most powerful telepaths in Marvel, barring Phoenix bullshit. He could probably do it.

They key to breaking it is quite possibly just speaking about a mutant whose X Gene was activated by more mundane method of mutation.

 

[karmafalcon]

It's probably meant to specifically target X Gene mut@#$% and not the more mundane mutations, or radiation induced mutations.

Xavier is one of the most powerful telepaths in Marvel, barring Phoenix bullshit. He could probably do it.

They key to breaking it is quite possibly just speaking about a mutant whose X Gene was activated by more mundane method of mutation.

Click to shrink...

Or talk about Mutants whose X-Gene activated in unique ways due to outside sources. Like the Juggernaut perhaps?

 

[DesertChocolate]

Just before Creel and Fantasma joined Dial

X

Pushing with just enough force, X tossed Stend through another wall, then let him go. X noted the room they'd found themselves in, some sort of public bathhouse built inside the arena, possibly for those guests who were rich or important and wanted to relax in between bouts. It was rather primitive in design, with brown stones pressed together with mortar, and water flowing into the baths, most likely piped from somewhere else where it would be boiled first. The water was cold now, dripping everywhere.

X took in the sight for a moment before looking back at Stend. The slaver spun to his feet, glaring at X. "Who are you!?"

"X, an AI created by Dial. I have been told to guide you in a lesson on making mistakes," X lowered into a martial arts stance, facing Stend with blue eyes glowing.

Stend stared at him, uncomprehending, before growling. "Fine. I'll kill you first, then I'll find the Outsider and-"

The Stegosaur-man ducked when a metal fist tried to take his head off, only to receive X's boot to his chest, sending him back into a pillar, his back spikes embedding into the stone.

"You misunderstand," X swung his fist again, Stend blocking with crossed arms only for the force of the blow to send him through the pillar, leaving the man sliding back on the wet floor as chunks of stone flew about."This is a lesson. Be silent and take it in."

"You-" then Stend was forced to dive aside as X kicked out at him. Stend swung his tail out, the four spikes flashing out to stab toward X. X grabbed the tail out of the air and pulled while spinning, letting go to send him skipping across the water of one of the baths like a stone before he hit the side of the pool with a large splash.

"Silent. Now. The first thing you must learn is simply not to enslave individuals anymore. I will allow that you were raised in a culture that prided itself on such things," X walked around to where Stend was sputtering in the water. "But it's an uncivilized and cruel practice. However, that brings me to my second subject."

Stend struggled out of the water and got on his hands and knees, dripping wet, only for X to punch him in the face with enough force to send teeth flying. X kicked him in the ribs, sending him sliding back.

"Pick your battles wisely," X strode towards Stend as the stegosaurus-man got staggered to his feet. "You kidnapped a man with a sword and armor far in advance of anything you'd ever seen, wearing a watch you were unable to remove, who made it clear the only reason he was willing to enter any negotiations was the fact he was injured. And now, you have the eyes of the most powerful organization on Earth on you, with men and women capable of destroying cities, assassinating political figures, and dueling gods ready to attack you."

Stend reached out to try and grab X. X caught the other man's wrist, pulled his arm close, then broke it with a jab to the elbow. Stend's eyes widened in horror and shock before he began to scream.

"You couldn't have known," X said, ignoring the pained screams to punch Stend in the face once more. "That you were poking a sleeping giant. But you should have suspected that Dial was more than just a human. That someone with armor and weapons that had clearly gotten lost in the jungle might have friends that worried for him. Friends who would hear what you had done. Who would become enraged."

"I-I-" Stend said, staggering back.

"I won't kill you," X said. "In fact, if you surrender now, I'll simply place you under arrest for the numerous crimes you've committed."

Stend's eyes flashed. "No! I-"

X's fist took the breath from him as it slammed into his stomach. "Then I suppose I must continue. As a being with enhanced durability, you will be able to sustain spectacular amounts of damage," Stend's tail flashed forward. X let the spikes hit him this time, the sharpened bones bouncing off his metal body. "I would like to apologize in advance. If you continue to refuse to surrender peacefully while continuing to fight back, you will be significantly hurt. But I will admit. After hearing how you treat those under your care, that is more of a bonus for me than anything."

Stend responded by grabbing at X. Claws scratched against a metal body, and he tried to lift X off the ground. The android responded by headbutting Stend. As he did so, he continued to communicate with the incoming Quinjet.

Four minutes until reinforcements arrived.

------

Kraven

Kraven and his latest opponent had found themselves in a garden just outside the arena. The garden was large, lit by torches, and made up of flowers, bushes, and trees right out of the jungle. Pter, the Saur-Lord with orange skin, had a long slash across his chest, bruises around his neck, and an excited look on his face as he walked along the trails. Kraven watched him from the trees, calmly watching Pter.

Neither man spoke. They had no wish to banter. No words had to be traded. They were trying to kill each other after all, and speech was but wasted movement.

Instead, Kraven swept down for the trees the instant Pter was in range. His daggers nearly sliced into Pter's neck, before the Saur-Lord parried them in a loud clash of blades. Kraven landed on the ground and pressed the attack. Pter spun his daggers around, and fought back. Lit by the fires of the torches around them, shadows dancing across Kraven's tan skin and Pter's orange scales, the two men tried to kill each other. Their blades clashed in a spray of sparks from the speed and strength of their blows.

Kraven's abdomen obtained a thin scratch. Pter's right shoulder was briefly stabbed. They both kept silent, continuing to clash.

Kraven forced Pter to back into a tree, only for the orange-skinned Saur-Lord to backflip into the air and land among the branches. Kraven followed, his boots scarring the bark as he twisted to face Pter. The two jumped from branch to branch in their quest to murder the other, the trees shaking loose leaves from the violence of their attacks. Kraven ducked under a stab, landing on a lower branch, and bouncing back up with an uppercut slice. Pter twisted desperately out of the way but was too late. The blade sliced deep into Pter's jaw, then moved upwards, cutting out Pter's left eye. Pter screamed, but still managed to stab outwards. His knife stabbed deep into Kraven's shoulder, then cut down at an angle, stopping at Kraven's vest. Kraven kicked Pter in the stomach, pushing him back. The two stopped fighting for a moment, panting as they stood in the trees. Pter's eye spilled blood and intraocular fluid. Kraven's shoulder and part of his chest had been split open, revealing muscle beneath to the open air.

They took stock of their injuries. Then they moved forward in a flash, leaping from branch to branch before meeting in mid-air. Kraven reached his blade out. Pter stabbed down with two daggers.

In a single move, it was over. And both fighters ended the night with no regrets.

------

(Sound of Stone Shattering in Harmonic Fashion)/Demi

Demi punched a Saur-Lord in the chest, caving in his ribs, then was forced to block an axe on her right arm. She'd been fighting among the stands of the arena for several minutes, desperately keeping back the guards.

The last few days had been a nightmare. First, she had been kidnapped in the middle of the night, forced to fight in gladiator combat, taking on warriors she had no business fighting. She was a chef, not a warrior. And yet, since she'd been enslaved, she'd been forced to battle to the death, getting beaten with an axe for her trouble.

Her people were peaceful. She'd never seen violence the likes of the past few days.

And then… A man stepped forth. From all the rest of those enslaved. He'd been kind. He'd also been a killer. She hadn't known the two traits could be in a single person in such excess. The man had trusted her with a single task. Protect the civilians, as he'd called them. Those who were unable to fight.

She wasn't sure why she didn't count among them. But Dial had praised her. Said she was a natural. She'd try to live up to that.

So she fought on, getting exhausted as her stone muscles ground down faster than they could regenerate. The Saur-Lord guards were pouring in, trying to get to the people higher in the stands. She punched someone's sword, a T-Rex-lord's teeth snapped against her skin, a Bronto punched her back before the Raptor gladiator stabbed him in the stomach. Demi took deep breaths, trying to keep on her feet. A small army was coming at them. Above, the two-winged Aerian's were throwing spears as they dived and rose above the crowd, fighting desperately to help while dodging arrows, the male already having a single one embedded in his thigh. Below, she could see Gresh slicing and leaping about, fighting frantically, the Ankylosaur-lord dueling with two others of his kind. Somewhere in the distance, green explosions could be seen in the city, with plumes of fire to the East. Dial and Hauzer.

Ten minutes. That's how long X (so shiny) had said they had to survive. Had it been that long already? Demi felt like she'd been fighting for hours, and yet somehow like no time at all had passed at the same time. Help had to be coming soon. Soon.

But right now, they were in trouble. Demi raised her fists, wincing internally as she waited for the next blow.

A noise came from the sky above. Demi looked up at it, only to jump in surprise and awe. It sounded like something spinning really fast in the air. The two Aerians above shouted in surprise as they dived down from where they had been harassing the enemy. The beat of their wings sent air flying. Then, dust was blown away by far stronger winds.

The object that came down towards them was enormous, as big as a triceratops or bigger, yet impossibly hovering in the air. A man was sitting inside it, behind a pane of some sort of clear crystal. Something under the object began to make loud booming noises.

Just like that, the enemy began to die. Massive gaping holes appeared in their backs, with smaller ones in their fronts. Surprised and horrified, they staggered.

Something spilled out of the back of the object that Demi was just realizing was a vehicle of some sort. A human in some sort of black armor. Three more came out, all holding long rectangular shaped objects. The objects released noises, and more Saur-Lords fell.

"Get into the quinjet," the vehicle said, surprising them all. It sounded like X. "This is our escape vehicle. Enter it as fast as you can."

"Holy-" the Raptor gladiator was about to say before he was cut off by more loud noises.

"Get in!" one of the humans said in a language Demi didn't understand. She could understand the frantic way he pointed however, and quickly rushed to follow his instructions.

The humans who had come to help split up, some going down to the arena to aid Gresh and the Anklyo-saur-lord who had been helping him.

Gena, the Aerian with one wing, panted as she pulled her spear from the chest of a Saur-Lord. "These are the Avengers!?" she shouted, her face set in amazement as people ran into the back of the vehicle, standing awkwardly inside.

Someone chuckled, apparently understanding the word 'Avenger'. "Nah, lady. That's them."

He pointed up at the sky. Demi and Gena looked up in unison just before entering the Quinjet.

A woman dressed in purple, holding a man made of metal, shot over the arena, headed in the direction of the explosions. Gena's face lit in purple light as she watched a woman fly with no wings to support her, her mouth open in awe.

------

Hauzer/The Earth Dragon

Styro burst out of a third story headfirst, falling to the street below. A plume of fire burst forth from the hole he created, lighting the street in a burst of red. The flames faded, before the building began to shake. Moments later, it crumbled apart as Hauzer exploded out of the stone structure, magma dripping from his lips as he roared.

"SKREEEEE-EEEEEONGK!!!" the ground shook under Hauzer's footsteps as he ran towards Styro, his top horn extended forward. He stabbed down at Styro, who side-stepped the attack and punched Hauzer in the face. Hauzer rolled with the blow and spun around, his tail snapping out to smash into Styro's chest, sending the yellow-scaled man back-flipping through the air until he hit a wall with enough force to form a crater.

Styro pulled himself from the wall as fast as possible, barely dodging the fire blast Hauzer unleashed his direction by diving and rolling. He stopped near a carriage, grabbing the side. His muscles twisted and bunched as he lifted the large wooden vehicle and turned to toss it at Hauzer like a child's toy. The carriage shattered apart on contact with Hauzer's head, sending the dinosaur staggering back with fire still pouring from his lips. Hauzer landed on the building behind him, still breathing flame as the stone shattered beneath his bulk, before cutting off the stream to stare at Styro.

Hauzer did not speak any sort of language. While he was sentient, his thoughts were in the form of emotions and feelings, on images, sounds, and scents, not words.

So when he glared at Styro, his thoughts on the man were simple. Hate. Deep hatred, formed from days in captivity. Styro, on the other hand, only stared back at Hauzer with a neutral look on his face.

Deep within Hauzer, the flames that had been blended into his body raged forth. He held them back. Thus far, Styro had been dodging all his flames. Hauzer was a trained fighter. He knew better than to stick to a strategy that wasn't working. Instead, he spun in a circle, lashing out with his tail again. Styro ducked under it, then had to back off when Hauzer followed with a kick, his talons sending Styro back in a roll.

Using that momentum, Hauzer snapped his teeth out at Styro, who caught the dragon's jaws in his hands, holding them open. Styro grunted, struggling with the massive being attempting to devour him.

"You've… ugn… gotten stronger…"

Hauzer understood the words, if not as language, then at least the feelings behind them. They only enraged him further.

He had not gotten stronger.

As Hauzer lifted Styro and tossed him aside, the Earth Dragon knew the truth. He had simply regained his true power. He was finally unleashed, ready to unleash hell.

Styro landed on a nearby building and started running, just before the building he'd been standing on began to crumble. The roof exploded in a burst of fire. Hauzer stood in the flames, his eyes glowing with power. Styro landed in front of him and stood tall, gazing upon Hauzer.

The pair eyed each other, one glaring, the other smiling just a bit. Then they rushed towards each other, slamming together with explosive force.

Yeah. The fight was gonna take a while.

------

Karl Lykos/Sauron

My name is Karl Lykos. When I was a child, my father, a famed paleontologist, took me to the Antarctic circle, a place called Tierra del Fuego on an expedition. With us came a man named Dr. Anderssen, who brought his medical skills… and his daughter.

Tanya. As a young man, Tanya was everything to me. As a child, I felt so alone. I went on expeditions with my father so often that I had no chance to speak with anyone else. All I had were my books and my father. So Tanya… she changed my life. She was smart as a whip. She was brave. And she was funny! Or at least, I thought so at the time.

In truth, my memories of Tanya become rather rose-colored as the years pass. But I can't help but remember those days fondly. Tanya and I in our tent, her white hair cut short, her blue-eyes flashing as we talked about Lord of the Rings, dinosaurs, and shared jokes a child finds hilarious.

We spent months in the Antarctic circle, playing together, reading, making plans for the future… one day, she kissed me. Because she wanted to. I only wish I could have been as brave as she was.

Because, in the end, Tanya was everything. And the beginning.
One day, she went missing. Our fathers went looking for her, telling me to stay behind. But I went anyway. And found her, impossibly, fighting a group of Pterosaurs in front of a cave. I wasn't as brave as her. But that day, for the first time, I did something courageous, charging in with a walking stick held high, to save the girl I loved, just like the heroes of my books.

It ended with me bitten, scratched, and hospitalized, deliriously screaming about prehistoric dinosaurs somehow alive and attacking us. That, in combination with Tanya hysterically trying to say the same thing, led to no one believing us. By the time I recovered… well, no one is easier to convince than a child. Tanya and I were left believing what we had seen was impossible. We must have been attacked by some other wild animals. Had made up the story.

We went back home. I continued my studies, sending mail to Tanya, though I have never seen her again. Then, one day, I began to feel sick. I was tired, sore, and dizzy. My dog, Jasper, tried to comfort me.

He was the first being I ever absorbed energy from. I managed to stop before he died, but he never saw me the same. Never approached me as eagerly.

I found my own feelings on that mixed. On the one hand, I was horrified that I had nearly killed my puppy. On the other… power. Pure, absolute power, filling a gaping hole in my chest I hadn't realized was there. It was as if I had been thirsty for years, and only now drank my first sips of water.

Sips. Not enough. Not nearly enough. My timid nature held me back. But my true self awoke under the scared child.

I began to experiment. First, with small animals, trying my best to control the intake. Many fish simply died in moments from my touch. But I soon got better. I moved up the ladder. I began to workout. Not to gain strength, but to have an excuse to be in the vicinity of men and women with incredible vitality as they became tired. I would brush up against them, take a portion of their energy, and not a single soul was hurt. This hunger inside me grew, even as I felt my own body, once so weak and small, grow in power as well.

Then… Tanya. She told me of her troubles with her father in a letter. That she was supposed to marry a man with the financial means to support her. She railed against the idea of marriage without love, without freedom. And I began to put my efforts towards medical school, focusing on a field that would make me a great amount of money.

I became a skilled hypnotherapist. I used that profession to become close to my patients, obtaining money even as I absorbed their vitality, even using medical technologies I created to make the process easier. I began to approach Tanya about the prospect of love. I met a man who opened my eyes to a greater world. I helped his students. I helped myself to their energy.

And it went off even better than I had hoped. One of his students awoke my true self! I still remember the pleasure of my human weakness burning away to reveal the man I had always been! I took a name befitting my power!

No more was I Karl Lykos! I was SAURON! Named for the symbol of power I respected most!

I took to my new gifts with ease, battling my enemies with brilliance, despite some minor defeats! Mere gravel on the path to my greatness!

But… my wishes began to change. My true destiny called me back to the place of my birth. To the distant lands that had made me.

I left America. I flew back to Tierra del Fuego, and found my way further south. And soon, I found myself in the cave Tanya and I had been fighting in front of. I entered the cave. I followed the tunnels, and soon reached my new home.

I used my knowledge of biology to make my children. I made a kingdom. I guided them in the lessons all other civilizations must learn. I watched, proudly, as my children rose to dominate their lands.

And then, he arrived.

Dial, the Outsider. A man with the ability to change into a seemingly harmless insect. An insect that has turned blocks of my home to rubble in moments. He is a beast with powers the likes of which I have never seen. His allies are much the same.

The ultimate test of my greatness!

------

I can feel my blood boiling as I follow him into an alley, breathing flames. He ran on top of one of those green orbs of his, spitting out more to explode behind him. I stopped when he turned a corner, landing on the ground to join him. The buildings around us began to fall. I raised my arms, the power I had absorbed from Dial flooding through my veins until it left in a flurry of silver light.

Instead of hitting the small insect, I found my beams splashing against a strange energy field made of purple energy. I was reminded of shields in the Star Trek show.

How fascinating! Wondrous even! I watched as the barrier fell apart to reveal the young woman who had come to Dial's aid. She was dressed rather scandalously. But then, it was none of my business what she chooses to wear.

What truly mattered was her powers.

I stood before her as she floated down to land on her high heels, her hands glowing with violet energy, her hair fluttering about.

"You will not touch him!" the young woman declared proudly. "Not without going through me!"

"Oh!?" I had to smile. She was serious. As she and Dial stood side-by-side, she looked positively enraged. "Is she your saviour, Dial?"
"Some days," Dial responded while glaring at me with those alien eyes. "We switch it up."

"Then I suppose I can't be so rude as to ignore a lady's request!"

I beat my wings while jumping forth. I grabbed her by the neck and lifted off into the air in moments, absorbing the purple-clad woman's energy as I took off into the air.

Something… strange, happened. While she struggled in my arms, and I flew higher up, I felt the energy I was absorbing fill me with power.

But it was not human. It wasn't even like my old friends children. It was something dark. Something intoxicating. It entered and bolstered me like few things I'd ever seen. I hadn't felt so strong since I first turned to my true self.

And the girl. She wasn't getting tired. She raised a hand with a snarl of something that sounded Russian and blasted me back with shockwave of pure energy.

I let her go and tumbled back. Someone was laughing. I was so intoxicated with power that it took a moment to realize it was me.

"My god! The strength within you, girl!" I stopped tumbling to spin around flying towards her hovering form.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" the girl raised her hands and spoke in a strange language. And for a moment, the world chilled. My children below could be seen shivering in the sudden chill that rose in the air, despite the fact the girl and I were hundreds of feet above them. I felt my limbs weaken. The girl said a final caustic word, her eyes glittering violet. Then she thrust her hands towards me. "Burn."

A floating skull came from nothing. It seemed to rise from the air, like a hole had been opened in empty space. The skull was the size of a man, made of violet fire.

That was when I felt it.

Fear.

I was going to die. And there was nothing I could do.

The feeling sat in my heart, certain and focused. I felt my wings stop beating as I fell through the sky. A horrific heat began to burn me. My mind began to fad-

"WHAT!?" I shouted, realization filling me as my eyes snapped open.

DIE? Before I had realized my dreams! Before I had seen my children rise to greatness! NEVER! I would turn death himself aside if it meant rising to the challenge!

"RAAGH!" the shadows fled my vision. I felt my skin beginning to burn under a purple flame that surrounded me. I ignored it with brilliance!

The skull! That was the source!

I released a proud call, silver light bursting from my skin, and blasted the skull. For a moment, we struggled. I felt it attacking my mind.

What folly! Mine is the mind of a genius, a warrior, someone who has known love, triumph, and failure that would kill lesser men! What was this sorcerous monster that my own life had not already set before me!?

I glared into the empty sockets of the specter. "Come specter! Let us see if you can stand against SAURON, LORD OF THE SKIES!" With that final defiant cry and a full force of my peerless strength, I unleashed the full blast of power! The skull stood for a moment, before shattering apart.

The girl reeled back, shouting in pain. I flew towards her, ready to finish the job, only for her to stop and blast at me with a purple beam I was forced to dodge.

"Most impressive!" I shouted at her, feeling as proud as if she was one of my own children. She had clearly spent herself, panting as she floated in the skies, sweat dripping off her, staggering. But still she fought. "What is your name!?"

"Fantasma!" she hissed.

"Fantasma… I will remember you," I promised. Then I began to speed around her, flying even faster than I ever had before in my life, shooting beams of energy from my palms. She blocked the first two on purple shields of energy the shape of mandalas. Then I added my fires, forcing her to tax her energy stores further. I could see her gritting her teeth. Elated, I stopped flying to hover in front of her, fire and energy pouring onto her shields as she struggled. She began to slowly get pushed back. The mandala's were sputtering. Just a moment longer-

The familiar sound of green explosions distracted me. I looked away from Fantasma in time to dodge the silver being who attempted to punch me in the face. It was only as he passed me that I realized he had been aiming for Fantasma, catching her out of the air when she finally faltered. Then I saw a green ball fall in the man's wake.

I realized in a moment what had happened. Dial had used his explosive power to propel this metal man into the air, and gave him a smaller one to hold. As he passed, the metal man had tossed the explosive my way.

I had enough time to raise my arms before the explosion sent shooting out of the sky, landing in front of a guard tower. Dial landed in front of me, followed by the silver man and Fantasma. The three eyed me as I stood up. I was laughing.

"The fuck you laughing about?" the silver man said rudely.

I scoffed at his language, clasping my arms behind me. "I am amused, of course. And happy."

"About getting beat up?" Dial asked, cocking his head to the side.

"OF COURSE!" I laughed, ignoring Dial's small 'there he goes again' comment. "Don't you know? The most important part of this isn't me… it is the city. It's people. All fighting to defend it… from the monsters attacking it."

"What are you talking about?" Fantasma panted. "You enslave people, force them to fight in death battles."

"You've been gaslighting a city for decades," Dial growled. "Never telling them-"

"The truth…" I looked at the guard tower. "How serendipitous that we should land here…"

The three before me looked at the tower. Through the windows, we could see my people watching. Saur-Lords, humans, saurians, all staring at us. At them in fear. At me, with hope. They were too far to hear us speaking. But I knew what they thought we were saying.

I chuckled. "They have known no life but this. And now you come here. Invaders to our nation, killing and beating our guards. Trying to assassinate their leader with monstrous powers and abilities. You are villains, come to kill, rampage, and force your ideals upon us."

"Because you never showed them a better way!" Dial shouted.

"And your way is best?" I raised an eyebrow, my amusement fading. "You could have left… This nation may have treated you incorrectly, I will admit that. But you have no need to continue fighting. Go," I nodded towards a nearby gate.

"I-" Dial began to say. He stopped, staring at me.

"Ah… I see. Stend," I nodded slowly. "You wish to kill him."

Fantasma and the silver man looked down at Dial. He didn't speak.

"So… you are attacking me, terrorizing my people, destroying my city, for revenge. These people have nothing to do with your anger. They are innocent, their only crime being raised in a primitive society. And now? What will the outside world think? When they hear that you brought a city of indigenous people to their knees out of a grudge?"

Dial's eyes widened as I spoke. He stared at me. I could read his pain. I could only guess at what he was realizing.

This would not end well. He may well get his revenge. But this city would stand. It would rail against those who had attacked it, against whatever organization he worked for. The outside world, as well, did not look well on armies attacking tribal nations with superior force.

"I must say… for your vengeance, Dial? You have managed to destroy the homes, lives, and families of many others," I shook my head. "I have my sins. But they do not negate yours."
Dial was staring at the tower, at the civilians and guards watching. I looked as well.

That was when I saw it… The girl. The young raptor who had been with her mother earlier. She was leaning out of a window, screaming something while tears fell from her eyes. She was calling out her support to me, distraught. It made sense. I was covered in burns and bruises. She was worried about me-

The child leaned out too far. I stared, horrified, as she began to tumble from the window. My arms spread out, and I leapt for her. Too far, I needed to be faster! I had to save her! I reached out, beating my wings desperately-

A blue blur came from my left. I had enough time to watch the girl disappear from my vision. Then the wind blasted past me. I tumbled, still reaching out, then slid to a stop.

A figure knelt near the guard tower. He was covered in blue fur, his body shaped like a human man. He was clutching the small raptor-girl to his chest. She was shaking, crying as she held him for comfort.

"...thank you," the man said. His eyes opened. They were a bright piercing green. "I forgot. At some point, in all the… mess, what my life is. I forgot what I am. A hero," he looked down at the child in his arms. "I protect the people who need it. At some point, I got so focused on revenge. On Stend. On you for creating this place. I wanted to hurt someone. But I could have done it a better way. Without hurting you," the last sentence was said to the raptor child, who he gently placed on the floor, making sure she could stand on her own. As she stopped clutching to him, I finally saw the symbol on his chest.

Dial. This man was Dial.

The catman he had become gave the girl a smile. "You have any parents?"

The raptor girl sniffed tearily. "Mommy," she said, looking at the tower. We could hear someone inside calling desperately to her as a scuffle went on.

Dial nodded. "Okay," he patted her head. "Go to your mother."

"N-No!" she sniffed. "Stop hurting Lord Sauron!"

He shook his head. "Heh…" He gave me a look. "I will. But we need to finish talking first… And I'm sorry kid. But I'm not giving you a choice."

Another blue blur. I released a beam his way, but he was already gone. Before I could do anything else, he hit me in the face with incredible speed! I heard the doors to the guard tower open, and blearily noted the raptor girl in the arms of her mother again.

Dial was next to his friends again.

"Done with your little crisis?" the silver man asked him.

"No," Dial responded. "I screwed up. Guys. Mind helping me make-up for it?"

Fantasma smiled. "I do not. I get the feeling it will be a regular occurence."

I rose to my full height. "So. You have more power than I thought!"

He chuckled. "Oh yeah," he looked down at the green symbol on his chest.

"And what now? Dial, the Outsider?" I asked.

------

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

I had screwed up. I'd been so obsessed with getting Stend. With destroying the center of power of the place I'd gotten stabbed and tortured in, that I had decided a whole city was worth my anger.

Then… that girl. She'd been crying, reaching out for Sauron. Her mom was behind her doing the same. Then she'd slipped. And everything crystalized for me. I tried to speed towards her. Fantasma reached out. Creel got ready to jump. Sauron spread his wings.

And in me, something shifted. Maybe literal. Maybe just mental.

I'd proven I could fight on my own. But at heart, I needed a reminder of who I was. A hero. Someone who saved, no matter what. She was falling from the window. And I could see the fear in her eyes. Her scales glittered with tears as she reached desperately for her mother, who screamed.

In that heartbeat, I didn't care about Stend, Sauron, or me. She was afraid, in danger. And I wanted to save her.

The Omnitrix glowed. And fur erupted across my body. I was Fasttrack in between steps, transforming and running forward in the same breath. And when I saved her, I felt all the disquiet in my heart, all the rage and shame, disappear.

Now I was standing with my friends, across from Sauron. I looked at the Omnitrix. It was glowing on my blue furred chest.

"And what now? Dial, the Outsider?" Sauron asked me.

"...Karl. You have no idea what you've been fighting," I said, looking at Creel and Fantasma. "You called yourself Sauron. Fine. This is my fellowship," I waved at them. "And I'm the hobbit," I tapped the Omnitrix as I spoke. "Guess what the ring is?"

Sauron, to his credit, was already flying upwards. But I had already become the wolf.

As Blitzwolfer, I howled at him. "▅▅▅▂▅▂▄▅▃▃▄!" The unholy blast of sound hit him with physical force, sending him back as he screamed in pain, clutching his ears. Creel and I jumped for him, but he dived out of the way, spinning off to fly away. Fantasma followed, blasting at him, while Creel and ran on the ground. He fired beams of energy at us, which I dodged, running on all fours and returning with soundwave blasts. Creel just tanked the blasts, running through them to finally leap upwards and grab Sauron by the ankle.

"Off, damn you!" Sauron shouted, lifting upwards as Creel clung to him.

"Not a chance!" Creel shouted back, shifting to a denser metal as Sauron struggled.

Fantasma and I came in, her floating down and me jumping up to blast Sauron. He fired his silver beams and fire at us, but was still sent spinning back, jarring Creel off of him at the same time..

"Out of the city!" I shouted at Fantasma. She nodded while breathing hard.

Then I changed back into Fasttrack form and ran forward. I grabbed Sauron as he was falling and blasted forth while carrying. Realizing what was happening as we approached the city limits and the jungle, he breathed flame again, blasting beams of energy from his palms. I shouted as my fur burned, but kept going.

We hit the city limits before I let him go, letting him bounce ahead of me while I ungracefully skidded to a stop. With a thought, I changed into one final form. For nostalgia's sake, I shouted out the name of the transformation. The one that had been my very first.

"Swampfire!"

I clenched plant fists and sighed happily. "Man… I missed this guy."

"You…" Sauron struggled to his feet. He had a grin on his face. "What has happened to the world beyond… to require warriors of your caliber?"

"Honestly. HYDRA came back."

"...Seriously?"

"Yeah, really."

"That is disgusting," he said sourly. "I hope they are swiftly destroyed."

Huh. I guess evil really does have standards.

Then he took a deep breath and breathed fire. Couldn't blame him. I was made of plants after all, and you didn't have to be a Pokemon fan to know what that meant.

So the look in his eyes when I raised my hands and released my own flames must have surprised him. Our two streams of fire met in the middle, then poured out from each other. The temperature rose around us. I felt my body produce more and more of the gases I was igniting. I guided the flames, forcing them to get hotter. Hotter. My plant body adjusted to the insane heat, even as my flames started to become more precise, more focused. Soon, Sauron was struggling to push my fires back.

He didn't seem ready to give up though. He raised his hands, both sprouting that silver energy he was able to project, and sent twin beams of power at me.

I wasn't too worried about it though since I'd seen my friends coming to join me. Creel dropped down next to me and caught one of the beams against his chest, while Fantasma flew down and blocked the other on one of her defensive mandalas.

Sauron didn't stop using his beams, forcing Creel and Fantasma to keep defending. He held us there for a moment. I was forced to partially grow my feet into the ground for more support. Creel's silver form reflected all of us. Me in Swampfire gritting non-existent teeth as I blew fire from my palms, the vines in my arms moving as they constantly regenerated under the heat. Fantasma holding off fire and energy beams with a look of determination on her face, her mandala's sparking under the power assaulting them. Sauron breathing flame and blasting energy our way, his eyes slowly glowing.

"Don't look in his eyes!" I shouted as an afterthought.

"We know!" Creel shouted, before he grunted as he was sent back a step. "Holy shit, is he getting stronger!?"

"YEEEESS!" Sauron roared, though I guessed he wasn't shouting it as a reply. He stopped breathing fire, instead bringing his hands forth and blasting a single beam of pure silver energy. The beam sliced through the fire I was blasting to smash into Creel and Fantasma's beams. "This is wonderful!"

"I have never hated a compliment more!" Fantasma shouted.

"Split up!" I shouted. "I'm almost ready!"

"Hope you know what you're doing!" Creel said, spinning past the giant beam of destruction. "Come on asshole, give me all you've got!"

"You are extremely rude," Sauron scoffed, blasting Creel once more. When the beam only bounced off of his vibranium form, Sauron instead shot the ground under Creel, sending him stumbling. "You are quite fast. So that metal of yours must be rather light right about now…" Sauron mused while speeding forward to grab Creel by the shoulders and tossing him high into the air with a display of superhuman strength.

"Fuck!" Creel shouted as he flew back, landing in the wall surrounding the city.

I stood at the edge of the jungle and began to toss seed pods into it while releasing bursts of gas from my palms, spreading them into the trees, bushes, and vines. I felt the jungles metaphorical heartbeat slowly fill me as Fantasma flew down to confront Sauron behind me.

"I must confess, young lady," Sauron said while dodging an energy blast. "You've recovered rather well from being absorbed by me. How is that possible? I took enough from you to power a city. And yet, here you are, still fighting."

"Magic," Fantasma scoffed, raising her left hand to create one of her purple swords.

Sauron ducked under a sword slice and raised his right hand to counter Fantasma's energy beam with one of his own. "Truly? Or are you simply being facetious?"

"Both," Fantasma grit out, blocking one of his beams with her mandala. Creel ran in then, tossing a boulder at Sauron. Sauron blasted the boulder out of the air, only to widen his eyes when he was forced to dodge Creel's follow up haymaker. Fantasma looked at me. "Dial, hurry up!"

"I'm ready!" I shouted back.

"As am I," Sauron snarled, spinning back. "ENOUGH! I will not be brought down without a fight! THE LORD OF THE SKIES WILL BE VICTORIOUS!"

"Who gives a fuck!?" Creel shouted in response.

Sauron stared at him for a long moment. "..."

That was when the Pterosaur-man began to glow. "Uh oh," I said softly.

He let out another roar. Then he exploded. That was the only comparison I had. Waves of silver energy sliced out from his body in a cacophony of the air being split, the rocks and dirt under us shattering and burning away. Creel was sent flying back, spinning through the air before grabbing the ground, screaming as he was bashed at all sides by pure energy. Fantasma raised her mandalas into a pair of shields in front of her, only for both to shatter after a moment, sending her back into a wall. For fifty feet around him, Sauron created a field of energy that sent us flying back.

Except for me. When the waves of energy hit me, I only had time to widen my eyes. Then I was being ripped apart. My whole body became nothing more than ash as the wave of silver energy passed over me.

He kept that up for a moment longer. Then, slowly, the wave of energy petered out. When he was done, Sauron stood in a crater, panting with his arms spread out. He looked around. "Incredible," he said between gulping breaths. "Incredible."

"...Are you… complimenting yourself?" Creel asked.

Sauron's eyes widened as Creel slowly rose out of the earth. His body was still silver. He looked tired, but none the worse for wear. "How?"

"...Vibranium," Creel said softly. "It's immune to everything."
Sauron tried to say something else. I raised a single sprout of my body behind him, then grew into my full Swampfire form in mere moments. He somehow sensed me in time to spin around and slice out with his claws. I let his hand pierce my chest, then hardened the plants there, momentarily trapping him in place as I glared down at him.

"Like you said before you pulled some Dragon Ball shit. Enough!"

From the jungle beyond, they shot under the ground before popping up around him. Sauron stared around in surprise as trees grew up into the sky, the work of centuries happening in seconds. Then vines snapped out to grab him, wrapping around each limb. "No! Unhand me!"

"Not today," I narrowed my eyes. "Happy Arbor Day."

Then the forest I'd created came down around him. Sauron, in a roar of defiance, began to fight back. He sliced with his claws, breathed out fire, blasted out beams of energy. But I kept pushing the plants to grow and grow, to move in as he tore them apart. Then I moved in.

He sliced my right arm off, so I punched him with my left while growing back the other. He tried to fly up and out, only to find a canopy made of branches as thick as cars blocking his path. A tree the size of a building grew next to him before creating more of a net above.

Creel was on that tree. The second he was close enough, he leapt off it and grabbed Sauron by both ankles, pulling him back down until they landed on a branch. Sauron blasted a wave of energy at Creel, tossing him back a bit and sending wooden splinters and leaves flying. Fantasma dropped in and hit him with a wave of purple energy. Sauron tried to hit her back, but I grew a branch that blocked him off before more vines snapped out to grab him. When Sauron turned to block them, I landed beside Fantasma and Creel. The forest grew so thick that the only illumination came from Fantasma and Sauron's powers. I was on my last legs by now. I think Creel and Fantasma felt the same.

Sauron stared at us as we approached, vines wrapping tighter and thicker around him. When he blasted out more fire, it was weaker now, easily blocked by Creel. He tried for another energy beam, but the vines tightened further. He smiled.

"Well… I suppose this isn't so bad," he sighed.

"...You sure you don't have some more second winds in you?" Creel asked, panting.

"Yeah, you've been like the Energizer Bunny all fight," I added in Swampfire's nasally voice.

"Don't encourage him," Fantasma grumbled.

Sauron chuckled tiredly. "No… After many years, I believe I am, for once, exhausted to my bones. And satisfied. This fight… my people will remember it for decades… So. Will you kill me, Dial?"

I felt my hold over the vines wrapped around him. They were growing very strong now. And everybody, no matter how strong, can get their neck snapped with enough force. Still, I shook my head after an internal struggle. "Not if you're beaten."

"I am," he said without a hint of shame. He seemed as proud and regal as ever somehow, even wrapped head to toes in vines. "That is too bad, however. If you'd killed me, I could have become a martyr. But this is more satisfying. I'll be able to see the effects of this adventure in person."

"No," Fantasma snarled. "You will be in a cell, as a US citizen who enslaved dozens if not hundreds, and who was complicit in the kidnapping of an Avenger. You will never see the light of day again, otherwise."

Creel and I looked at her. I think we were both surprised at how… vicious, she sounded. After some time around her, I'd started to forget the short witch I'd befriended was also a Russian soldier. Less Hermione, more Dresden. Both were good guys, but one had killed a heck of a lot more badasses.

"Never?" Sauron chuckled. "I'm sure that seems like a horrific threat, young one. But I think I'll keep some secrets to myself for now."

I glared at him. Finally I stepped forward and raised a fist. "I'm going to knock you out now."

I landed a right punch that shook the leaves from the branches around us. Sauron's head snapped to the side. He coughed some blood, then turned to smile at me. "Close. You may need to-"

I hit him again. He laughed. "Damnit, go to sleep!"

My final punch sent him, still laughing into his slumber. I sighed in relief.

Finally. Sauron had been the toughest fight I'd ever had. It felt like I was taking on an anime protagonist. Full of speeches, grandeur, and fucking second winds. I finally felt some sympathy for Vegeta. It's annoying when the guy who is kicking your ass also keeps getting stronger as he does it.

"This guy is crazy," Creel mumbled.

I turned to look at Fantasma and Creel, about to speak, when I suddenly had to catch Fantasma as she wrapped me in a hug. "Eh! Fantasma! What-"

"We thought you died," she said against my chest.

I stilled. When I looked up at Creel, he was slowly turning back into his flesh form. He walked up to join us. We looked at each other awkwardly for a moment as Fantasma continued to hug me before I wrapped my arms around her.

"Sorry…"

"...You stink," she sniffled.

I laughed, honestly surprised, and looked back at Creel. He smiled, shrugging. "She's right. Swampfire ain't the best smelling alien."

"Yeah, well," I looked around at the forest. In mere seconds, I'd created life that would take thousands of years to create, making the very landscape attack Sauron. "He makes up for it."

Fantasma let me go, stepping back to look up at me. "You were gone for so long. I'm glad you're okay," she said with a small smile.

I smiled back sadly. "Sorry I worried you guys. I-I'm really damn glad to see you again. It's been a tough couple of days."

Creel patted my shoulder in a manly fashion. "Same here. Stop getting tossed into rivers, okay?"

"Not like I planned on it," I grumbled.

"Don't let him fool you," Fantasma smirked. "He spent a lot of time in the jungle yelling your name. It was so cute!"

"Fantasma!" Creel shouted.

I grinned at Creel, who looked like he was desperately holding onto his too-cool-for-school attitude. "Awwww. I love you too, big guy!"

"Shut up! I wish you'd died in the jungle!"

"Creel!" Fantasma said, sounding scandalized.

I grinned at the pair, then looked at the city. My smile faded when I noted the fires in the distance. "We aren't done yet."

Fantasma and Creel looked in the same direction, their own faces soon reflecting my seriousness.

"What's the plan?" Creel asked.

"We make sure our people get out, then we get out," I said.

"Just like that?" Creel looked at me. "Don't you have someone you want to kill?"

Fantasma looked at me as well. The pair didn't speak as I turned to where Sauron was tied up and mentally forced the vines to cocoon around him until he had become a bundle that I then brought to my shoulder.

"Maybe… Would you guys stop me if I decided that was what I wanted?" I asked them, finally looking in their eyes.

Fantasma shook her head. "I understand. I am Russian, Mahmoud. We know the importance of revenge."

I looked at Creel. He hesitated. "...If you do it, make sure no one is around but us. We'll keep it quiet."

Didn't know how to respond to that. Instead, I just mentally told a set of vines to grow into a platform for us. We got onto the platform and began lowering down to the ground as I thought of my next plans.

"... What is 'Arbor Day?'" Fantasma asked all of a sudden, looking at me.

"It's a holiday where people grow trees," I said.

Creel cocked his head to the side. "... You should have said-"

"Got wood, right?" I rolled my eyes, trying not to start laughing my green ass off. "Thanks for the advice, Seth MacFarlane."

------

Author's Note: Seriously, Happy Arbor Day is a great one liner when using trees as weapons. More seriously, this whole story arc is about to end. And in some ways, the first stage of Dial as a story. Things have been rather crazy this whole arc. That said, I've had a shit-ton of fun writing it man.

 

[robopanda]

Nebraska says you're welcome for Arbor Day.

 

[TimEd]

stone flew about."This is a lesson.

Click to shrink...

about. "This


Should have used that electric dude to suck up Stend's stolen energy.

 

[hunter81095]

Did I misread something, or does Dial have some basic grasp of the Omnitrix Master Control now? Mentally being able to switch aliens, but only ones he's unlocked?

 

[TimEd]

Did I misread something, or does Dial have some basic grasp of the Omnitrix Master Control now? Mentally being able to switch aliens, but only ones he's unlocked?

Click to shrink...

he's been able to do that for a while. Also, there arent many cases of him not choosing which alien to turn into, so already better than young Ben in that aspect.

There is a possibility that this doesnt have the full database of a true Omnitrix since this is apparently an imperfect copy.

 

[RaptorusMaximus]

Gotta say, I really like Sauron. He's got his issues, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. Just a bit messed up. And waaaaay to Anime lol. I'm gonna miss the big reptilian.

 

[DesertChocolate]

Chapter 99

Hauzer/The Earth Dragon

Hauzer and Styro had been at it for a long time. Now, Hauzer's left leg was twisted slightly out of alignment, while his right arm hung dislocated. Blood dripped slowly from a series of cuts across his chest, and several of his teeth had been knocked loose, allowing magma to drip freely from the gaping holes left behind. The molten liquid scorched the earth under him, making him look less like a dragon or dinosaur, and more like a demon that had sprouted out of hell.

Styro stood across from him, standing in the rubble of a building. The yellow ceratopsid's scales had been scorched off in massive patches. One of his horns had been ripped out at some point, leaving the wound to leak blood down to drip off his horn. His clothes were gone now, armor stripped.

Hauzer glared at Styro. Styro, on the other hand, simply took deep breaths.

"...North."

Hauzer stopped glaring to blink in confusion.

"After this. Go north," Styro said simply. He stepped forward, almost stumbling, but somehow getting back to his feet.

Hauzer thought about that. For less than a breath. Then he roared, breathing a plume of fire. Styro watched the burst of red heat approach.

Then he ran forward, eyes narrowed against the intense heat. He dived into the intense heat with no regard for his safety. His scales, more durable than Kevlar, burned and peeled away. His muscles were charred. His wounds were sealed by the heat. And he ran forward before leaping up into the air, punching Hauzer in the face. As Hauzer stumbled back, Styro grabbed onto his opponent's shoulder and began to punch him in the chest. Hauzer, in response, twisted around to grab Styro's leg, teeth crunching into charred flesh, then pulled him around toss him into a building.

The Saur-Lord was no longer entirely yellow. Massive portions of his skin had been charred black. He looked like hell. And yet, his eyes still burned with fury.

Stryo, his burned skin ripping open, leaped forward head first, bashing his forehead into Hauzer's. Hauzer bulldozed forward as stars filled his eyes from the painful blow, ignoring the headache to run through a building with Styro on his head.Styro held on tight as he was forced through several walls. He raised a powerful fist and punched Hauzer, the cooked flesh on his knuckles scraping off to leave a dark charcoal and blood mark across Hauzer's face.

Hauzer didn't stop running until they had based entirely through the building, leaving Styro to be thrown off of his nose. As Styro fell, Hauzer roared.

"SKREEEONGK!!!"

Styro landed on his back, bounced upward. Hauzer took his left arm in his mouth and raised him high before slamming him into the earth once more, cratering it. Styro punched him with his right arm with intense force, but Hauzer refused to let go. As Styro grabbed and pulled at him with desperate strength, Hauzer raised him up and smashed him into the earth again and again, sending shockwaves through the earth.

Styro didn't laugh. But as he fought, a sickening grin grew on his face, accompanied by the crackle of burnt flesh.

Hauzer's rage erupted at the sight of him smiling. With another horrendous roar, he let go of Styro and moved back, before leaping onto a nearby building, leaping two stories. Styro continued to smile as he watched Hauzer moving to finish him.

Hauzer leaped off the building, coming down towards Stryo like a several ton meteor. He breathed a plume of fire as he dropped, the immense flames surrounding him until he glowed red hot. Then he landed, talons first, on top of Styro. The flaming dragon's exploded on impact with Styro. The last thing Hauzer saw of Styro as he landed was his hated enemy's smile fading away. Then he slowly faded to ash before the immense heat. A taloned foot smashed into his corpse, sending the ashes flying about.

The flames continued to rage around him in the crater Hauzer had created. He stared down at where his enemy had once laid.

Hauzer was intelligent. He understood revenge quite clearly. And now he had it. Weeks of imprisonment, torture, starvation, forced to fight to the death. All with Styro watching calmly, taking pleasure in what he had done.

If anyone ever told Hauzer that revenge was unsatisfying, he would have laughed as only a proud dragon could. Revenge was wonderful. It filled him with a fierce and enveloping glee. It had been hard won, leaving him with bruises, shattered bones, massive wounds, his energy waning. But he had won. He had won!

Hauzer raised his head to the sky, staring at the moon above. He roared, the flames around him blown away by the volume of his cry, his throat vibrating with muscle as he let the world know of his dominance.

And everyone in the guard towers and shelters of the city cowered in fear.

------

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

"What the fuck was that!?" Creel said as we walked along carrying Sauron.

The sound of Godzilla mixed with a supernova split the air for a long moment. The ground shook moments before that, with a small sun showing up in the distance before it faded, and now it sounded like Blitzwolfer, Echo-Echo, and Black Canary were having a shout-off mere feet from us.

I looked at Creel and Fantasma, wincing. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that… So. I made a friend. Well, ally. Of convenience, ya know?"

We continued walking for a while. Fantasma kept looking at me like I should explain further, but I decided to leave that alone. I had another issue on my mind.

I kept it to myself for now, simply circling the thought through my mind.

We soon had left the city entirely. The three (four with Sauron, who was peacefully lying in my vines), walked through the jungle for several minutes.

I felt tired. That was odd. I'd never felt tired in alien form, at least not to this point. But now, as Swampfire, I was a little weary. Physically I could probably continue to fight, but whatever my plant powers ran on, they had been strained. I'd regenerated myself from absolute destruction three times during Sauron's outburst, which hadn't been that much of a strain. But making an entire forest, trading blows with Sauron, blasting fire strong enough to match him, it all took a toll over time. The closest human equivalent was a long jog. Which, yeah, wasn't too bad, but still weird to feel that without just turning back into human form.

We finally entered into a clearing. I placed Sauron on the ground, then looked around. "Nobody else is here, huh?"

"The Quinjet is waiting to support us just in case," Creel explained. He moved over to a stump and sat down heavily. "But all of those guys you wanted us to save got out. Last I know, the charges were set."

"...blow them," I said at last.

"You sure?" Creel asked me.

"We cleared the arena, right?"

Creel turned away to press a finger to his ear, listening to the voice on the other side. Finally he looked up at me. "All the civilians either joined us or left. And the guards left the second the Quinjet cloaked. Apparently they're trying to hunt us down in the city."

He sounded amused. I couldn't blame him, since the image was kind of funny.

I hesitated for a brief moment. Creel and Fantasma watched as I turned to look in the direction of the city. Then, I nodded. "Blow them. Now. Take it out."

Creel pressed a finger to his ear again. "You heard the man. Light the fireworks."

In the distance, the charges set by me as Ball Weevil lay peacefully around the arena, hidden away. Then, the C4 I'd told the BRIDGE soldiers to lay as they fought began to explode. Those blew up the Ball Weevil plasma.

And so, in the distance, the sound of a series of explosions, almost puny compared to all the other noise of the night, was followed by the sound of a building crumbling.

"Not as massive as I thought it would be," Fantasma said softly.

"Demolition is precise destruction," I explained. "The arena had dozens of tunnels under it, so most of them have now collapsed, tearing apart the structure they had been supporting. The wood has ignited throughout the arena thanks to extreme heat. And the main arena is pretty much a crater. As of now, that big place is gone, in all the ways that matter… didn't even get to see it go," I mused to myself.

I turned to look at the two. My friends had complicated looks on their faces. I smirked. "I feel… well, pretty good, to be honest. I could use a fucking burger when we get home though."

Creel grinned, while Fantasma sighed in annoyance.

The trees parted nearby. And Hauzer stepped forth.

The instant his head popped from the trees, Creel had turned into vibranium, spinning up to face the dragon in a fighting stance, while Fantasma raised two magic shields.

"Holy shit!" Creel shouted, watching Hauzer slowly prowl forward.

I walked up to Hauzer. "Hey. How'd it go?"

Hauzer grumbled, huffing, before smirking down at me. The Omnitrix didn't translate his speech as words but as meanings. In this case, it was easy. He'd won, got his revenge, and was incredibly satisfied.

"He's very expressive," Fantasma noted, staring up at him in awe. Seeing that he wasn't attacking, she began to lower her arms. I subtly waved for her to keep her guard up, and she raised the mandala's again.

Hauzer noticed. He scoffed at the pair, then looked down at me. He wanted to know what happened now. Would I fight him as well? Try to enslave him, go back on our deal. Because it wouldn't end well if I did.

I shook my head. "I'm just respecting you as a possible enemy. But I don't want you as one. If you want, I can try to take you somewhere. But you can do what you want, Hauzer," he stared at me questioningly. "Hey, I got you your revenge, didn't I?"

That seemed to be enough. With a bark and a small roar, he turned to walk away. Before he did, he looked over his shoulder to growl something at me.

"...Don't know yet," was all I could say to that question.

He rolled his massive eyes, roared again, and lopped off into the jungle.

"What the fuck was that about?" Creel asked, sounding spooked.

"He said that revenge is sweet," I said softly, thinking about what the meaning of that statement was.

Hauzer headed north, leaving the three of us to awkwardly watch him go off.

Soon enough, the Quinjet dropped down to join us, landing in the clearing. The back opened, and I could see the inside was packed full of people.

"How the hell did you fit everyone in there?" I asked the BRIDGE soldier who came out to greet us. He came to a stop before me and smiled up at me.

"Well, it wasn't easy, sir," he said respectfully. "We had to use two Quinjets. And your rock friend taxed our engines a bit. Gotta say, sir, it's damn good to see you again."

I nodded at him in my Swampfire form, looking at the Quinjet, where Demi, Gresh, Gena, and a few others walked out to join us. I ignored them to look back at the forest, though I did hear it when Demi, on seeing Creel in his vibranium form, let out a small gasp.

Kraven came from the direction of the city next. He was dragging something behind him. It took me a second to recognize the corpse of Pter. Kraven was covered in cuts, bruises, grinning ear to ear through teeth soaked in blood.

Pter had a hole in his chest over his heart though, so Kraven looked pretty good in comparison.

"You have fun?" Fantasma asked her fellow Russian blandly.

Kraven chuckled. "Yes. And even in the end, so did he," Kraven tossed the body forward, letting Pter's corpse flop onto the ground. "The hunt is only worth the opponent. And this has been a beautiful hunt."

I ignored him as well. Instead, I watched X step out of the forest next. Everyone stilled as the android came towards us dragging a body as well. This one was breathing though.

Stend. His arms shattered, his tail bent oddly, blood pouring from his lips, his chest weakly rising and falling. He looked almost as dead as Pter was. Almost.

Not enough.

"Dial," X said, finally stopping in front of me. He dropped Stend, who didn't respond.

I looked him over. Still in very good shape. X had a few small marks, but nothing that couldn't be buffed out. "How'd it go?"

"He was not receptive, pardner," X said, his southern American accent a touch stronger than normal.

"Hn."

I moved to look at Stend. He met eyes with me.

And slowly, carefully, he tried to reach out. He gasped weakly, pain filling his eyes. But that pain was outstripped by the hatred. "-ill… ill. K-" he coughed. I got the gist.

"How pathetic is that?" I sighed. "You can't even… I cannot believe what a waste of time you ended up being, Stend," his hatred burned deeper in his eyes. His broken arms made clicking noises as he kept trying to reach for my throat, but could barely lift his arms.

I lowered down to his level. As I did, I transformed. From Swampfire, to human. I didn't pay attention to the reactions of those around me, just focused on him. I did note that my arms had healed, though they were still sore.

Stend and I kept our eyes locked on each other, him hateful, me disgusted.

"I can't even hate something as worthless as you anymore. Sauron, the guy you wanted to replace, begged me to save you, the weakest of his children he said," a lie. But a dig in with a knife. "And honestly, if I gave a damn…"

I raised a hand toward the BRIDGE soldier. "Knife, please."

He hesitated, looking worried. Then he took the blade from his belt and put it in my hand. I brought the blade to Stend's throat in a smooth motion, the blade cutting just a bit into his scales. Stend froze. Fear entered his gaze. A harsh and bitter part of me relished in that fear.

"I almost forgot who I was," I mused. I dug the blade in more. Blood spurted from the tip. "All the people you hurt. The way you stabbed me, choked me. Not knowing, in truth, that the petty amount of power you had was shit. Your way of living was shit. You, in fact, are shit."

I took the blade and tossed it back to the soldier, who seemed relieved. The Savage Landers, BRIDGE soldiers, and my fellow Avengers watched as I stood. "I'm leaving you here. Die, don't, I give less than a shit. But the next time you hurt someone, you don't get a day to regret it. I'll kill you. And it won't be personal, it won't be in a life or death battle. I'll come down from the sky, snap your neck, and move on with my life."

Stend hissed something at me. I gave less than a shit.

"Come on," I headed towards the Quinjet, ignoring Stend.

"Mahmoud," Fantasma whispered as I passed. I looked at her. She was staring oddly at me, worried. "You… you have scars."

I blinked at her, not understanding. Then, my Omnitrix let out a series of beeps. I looked down at the half-melted device to see the entire watch, not just the dial, but even the parts that had been melted, glowing green, with black striations through it like a circuit board. I stared at it in wonder as the watch began to shift and move, the Omnitrix growing across my wrist to change its shape.

I'd seen this in the cartoons. In Alien Force, when Ben put on the watch again, the Omnitrix had changed into a more streamlined version. Except, instead of becoming smaller, the Omnitrix was growing, coming up along my arm until it covered the back of my left arm like a bracer. Soon, I was standing in a loincloth, barefoot, staring down at an omnitrix that now extended across my arm, the portion with the actual dial that was my name sake covering the center. It finished to reveal a smooth texture, like armor out of a sci-fi movie.

Creel stepped forward, tapping the Omnitrix on the metal part. His arm changed to match the color, and he blinked in surprise. "It's… different. I mean, still made of the same stuff, but it's like the alloy has been modified somehow."

"Is that supposed to happen?" Fantasma asked me curiously.

The correct answer was, 'how the fuck should I know?' I wasn't even sure why it had done that in Alien Force for crying out loud, let alone why it had transformed for me. My best guess was that it was reacting to the initial damage it had taken from the Anti-Metal, and it did that by not just repairing itself, but turning into a form that was able to resist the effects.

But I could feel the eyes of the Savage Landers on me. They all looked awed at yet another miraculous event happening, before Gresh began to look up at me. I had to remember that these guys respected me. So I couldn't just admit that I had no clue what was happening. Better to pretend the Omnitrix changing forms was part of some big plan.

I only smirked and walked toward the Quinjet. "Yeah. Felt like a change."

Fantasma and Creel hurried to follow me. She was giving me a very bland look as she whispered. "You have no idea why it did that, do you?"

"Nope," I admitted freely.

I stepped fully into the Quinjet and looked back at everyone. "We made it out. But now you have a choice," I looked at Demi, Gresh, and the German Guy, stopping on Gena, whose single wing fluttered behind her, then at the group of around ten Savage Landers behind them. "You can go to your homes. Or you can come with us, and we'll make sure to help you. In fact… if you want, you can even join us."

God, I was bullshitting so much right then. I had no idea if Director Hill would be down to have the Savage Landers join BRIDGE's team in the Savage Land. But I was pretty sure having natives help with understanding the place and acting as guides could only help.

"How about it guys?" I asked the group, smiling widely while raising the Omnitrix and clenching my fist. "Come with us, and I'll introduce you to the wonder of guns, reality television, and badass superheroes."

"Can…" Gresh stepped forward, looking hesitant. He looked down at the 'A' symbol he'd painted on his chest. "Can we become Avengers?"

Huh. I'm getting pretty good at making speeches.

------

Later, after a shower, change of clothes, and some damn good food, I stood in front of a hologram emitter in the BRIDGE base, wearing a BRIDGE shirt, military pants, and steel-toed boots, the Omnitrix glittering in its new form on my arm. Director Maria Hill was being projected in almost picture perfect quality, with only a few glitches. I explained, in detail, as much as I could about the situation I'd gotten into, trying to stick to the facts the way Cap and Nat had taught me to deliver reports, but I think she noticed whenever I felt ready to punch something and had to calm down.

Still, I got through the whole tale soon enough. When I finished, Director Hill just eyed me for a long moment. Finally she spoke.

"First, Mahmoud. It's good to have you back," she smiled. "We were all worried. I had to have guards set on Ruby so that she wouldn't try to escape and find you, especially after she found X had done it."

That honestly surprised me. While Ruby had seemed to be more comfortable around me, she never struck me as particularly caring. I was more of a guy to grab books from at best. Then again, that might have just been a teenager being a teenager.

"Regardless, I'm glad I don't have to worry about any other Avengers or BRIDGE personnel chasing after you," Director Hill looked closer at me. "Are you really okay? I've never seen you with a scar before."

I touched my face. I'd forgotten that, during my battles, I'd ended up with several cuts. Now, the one I'd gained from when the Pterosaur-gladiator had sliced open my right cheek had 'healed' into an ugly mark. Another one went up next to my eye on the left side of my face, though it had healed as a much cleaner line. That would take getting used to.

Along with that, I had some claw marks across my abs, a stab mark in my shoulder, some in my chest. I'd had to stop before my shower to stare in shock at the mirror when I realized what I looked like. Since arriving in this universe and finally meeting the Avengers, I'd trained, fought, and eventually ended up here. Now, I was covered in new muscles I hadn't found before. I looked like… well, like a superhero. And my new scars made me look like Conan the Barbarian's bearded brother.

"I think that my scars were healing already. And when I changed into Swampfire, I just, well, finished the job," I explained to her, my fingers running over the portion of smoother than normal skin that had been left.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Hm. So you won't get anymore, as far as we know. Which means I can have it seem like you're more vulnerable than you really are."

"I'm pretty damn vulnerable," I said with a small snort.

"Not according to the rest of the world," Director Hill crossed her arms. "Dial. Mahmoud. I need to be frank with you-"

"I thought you were Maria?" I joked. She wisely ignored that.

"I was worried about your disappearance from the perspective of a friend. But I'm also the director of BRIDGE. So I had to think on what your sudden disappearance could mean on a larger scale. And I'll be honest. It wasn't good."

"Larger scale?"

"...I'm trying to figure out how to tell you this without giving you an ego big enough to rival Tony's."

That was enough to make any amusement I felt fade. She looked like she'd been dealing with a hell of a lot lately. I tried my best to joke anyways.

"Just hit me. I'm pretty sure one of the people I love will pop my ego soon enough. Especially Tony."

Maria nodded seriously. "The fact is, you've had an effect on the world. When the Avengers were formed, the world was changed. They suddenly realized that the universe was so much bigger than we thought. But we had heroes to protect us. Tony, Steve, Nat, they're not just heroes. They symbolize so much more now."

She shook her head. "And now, there's you… You and your aliens. Able to shift into one of dozens of beings. Mahmoud, you may not be as famous as the first Avengers team, but you're the most well known superhero out of the ones who followed. You came out of nowhere, and suddenly you have joined nearly every superhuman mission we've got. There's a Facebook group full of people who claim you saved them before you even showed up at the Triskelion battle."

The Director narrowed her eyes. "But that means our enemies know they have to worry about you. The Omnitrix gives you a level of unpredictability they can't account for. The only Avenger who really matches you in that respect is-"

"Iron Man," I finished.

She nodded.

I knew what she meant immediately. In terms of power, Tony and I shared a couple of things. Mostly because we both could just be as powerful as we needed to be. If we weren't strong enough, Tony could build a stronger suit, and I could become a stronger alien. If we weren't fast enough, we could become faster. Except, that Tony had yet to reach a level of tech that could match how fast the Omnitrix could let me adapt. We both were wild cards, but my deck was stacked.

"People have been trying to make counters… to me," I wasn't dumb enough that I hadn't considered the possibility, so Director Hill's nod didn't surprise me. Ben had faced the same problem. All heroes did. The second you became a hero, people wanted to find a way to match you. Either to beat you with something that could match your powers, or to be you. Hell, to list off the ones in this universe, we had Iron Monger, Abomination, Whiplash, Winter Soldier.

You could argue that was just comic book conventions. But the fact was, the second you realized your enemy had obtained power, the first thing you did was try to match them. If they used steel, you used steel. If they made guns, planes, and bombs, you did the same.

"How has that been going for them?"

"So far, about as well as most attempts to make arc reactors," Maria said dryly. "You were right. The Omnitrix is so beyond human science it might as well be magic. That doesn't mean people won't try to find other ways. The Avengers are the natural enemies of a lot of people. And a lot of them know that you can show up at the speed of sound."

"If you died, we'd have a lot of people ready and willing to help save everyone. I think we would be able to survive as long as someone doesn't literally make their own Omnitrix. But I have to admit, it'll be a lot easier to survive as long as you're around."

She didn't give me time to think about that. Instead, she waved a hand, and a rough photo appeared. "Now, Hauzer. The dragon, you said. He came from the Rio incident?"

"That's my best guess. He comes from a universe that is way different from this one. More than usual, I mean."

"Rio. That place is still a pain in my ass no matter how much we do to mitigate it…" she looked pissed. "Where is he now?"

"In the jungle, last I checked."

"Think he's smart enough to consider us allies?"

I chuckled. "I don't think he has allies. Just 'not enemies'."

"I know the type."

Thinking about the jungle reminded me of something. "By the way, where is Ka-Zar? I thought that guy would have shown up at some point."

"He was caught up in something else, apparently. While you were having your battles, Ka-Zar and Zabu ended up taking on the Saur-Lords when they tried to kidnap a small village. He took on someone named Anklyo and ended up chasing them off."

Well. Guess Ka-Zar could be forgiven.

"Going back to what you said before. About people getting ready to fight me. I think, after all this, I'm gonna take some time off to train. Not with martial arts or anything, but to get better with my powers. To master them on another level."

I'd been planning on that for a while, to be honest. To not just unlock new aliens in the Omnitrix, but to take the aliens I currently had and figure out new ways to use them. I'd done pretty well with that so far. But I never really made that my focus. Because why would I need to train in alien form? Each form was powerful in their own rights, the time limit made any training too slow to really work, I already had Ben's example to follow, some aliens just didn't have any real way to train with their powers.

But for some weird reason, almost dying ended up making me pretty eager to make the most of all the time I had.

"I can understand that. I'll make sure to give you some extra time off," Maria smiled. "On the plus side, now I don't have to worry about Jen beating me with my own arms because I lost you."

She cut out before I could reply. I smirked for a second. Then I scowled.

So. People were trying to figure out a way to take me down. To kill me. Granted, they had been from the start, obviously, but now I had guys making their own gear to try and counter the Omnitrix.

I had to plan for that. Not just for things that were possible, but the things that were impossible as well.

Training. Lots of training. And weapons creation. I'd need to prepare for everything and anything.

Stend, the Savage Land, and all I'd faced showed me I could be a hero, Omnitrix or not. I was willing to prove that to every other asshole who showed up next.

------

Author's Note: Seriously Dial, more training? Goddamn it.

So yeah. Stend isn't dead. But that's mostly because a hero killing a man who has been beaten to a pulp is kinda... well, it isn't something a person should do. A hero has to be an exemplar of morals and justice. Which Dial kinda fucked up in when he told X to beat the literal shit out of Stend. Killing him would have been worse, but Dial still crossed a line, and he'll need to learn to do better.

He's only human though. I think after getting tortured, choked, enslaved, the fact he managed to STOP is still noteworthy. He ain't perfect.

I will say one thing though. If Stend returns to hurt anyone, he dies. No constant battles through the centuries, no getting sent to the phantom zone or returns through a Lazurus Pit. Just death, and the hell that follows. To be super nerdy about it.


That aside, there is also the prospect of Dial training.

He has had his alien forms for some time, but his focus up to now when working out has been mastering his human form, to cover up his weaknesses. But he's good now. He isn't exactly strong enough to take on the various assassins, super-soldiers, and such that exist, but he can take on most military-trained humans and martial artists now, and will only get better.

Now I want to focus his training on two things. His aliens, and a new sword.

And I just want to make sure Dial realizes he has room to grow. As a fighter, he's come into his own. But now he needs to stand as a hero as well, to personify the ideals that make that word worthy. Not just a hero in the sense of being famous, but a hero in the more modern sense.

 

[Krazyfan1]

Great as always!

So yeah. Stend isn't dead. But that's mostly because a hero killing a man who has been beaten to a pulp is kinda... well, it isn't something a person should do. A hero has to be an exemplar of morals and justice. Which Dial kinda fucked up in when he told X to beat the literal shit out of Stend. Killing him would have been worse, but Dial still crossed a line, and he'll need to learn to do better.

He's only human though. I think after getting tortured, choked, enslaved, the fact he managed to STOP is still noteworthy. He ain't perfect.

I will say one thing though. If Stend returns to hurt anyone, he dies. No constant battles through the centuries, no getting sent to the phantom zone or returns through a Lazurus Pit. Just death, and the hell that follows. To be super nerdy about it.

Click to shrink...

So, basically this?

 

[robopanda]

Cue the anime style training arc!

 

[DevonFazbear]

Play eye of the tiger.

 

[DesertChocolate]

Great as always!


So, basically this?

Click to shrink...

EXACTLY! God help me, I love Gargoyles so much.

Oh, uh, Gargoyles are absolutely a form the Omnitrix can scan, by the by.

Cue the anime style training arc!

Click to shrink...

Lets get ready to level up, bitches!

Play eye of the tiger.

Click to shrink...

Rising up! Back on the street!

 

[Krazyfan1]

Oh, uh, Gargoyles are absolutely a form the Omnitrix can scan, by the by.

Click to shrink...

Hmm..
CAN scan, or COULD scan?
cause the first one implies certain things about the setting

 

[DesertChocolate]

Hmm..
CAN scan, or COULD scan?
cause the first one implies certain things about the setting

Click to shrink...

Oh. Uh, could. Sorry

 

[stsword]

Oh. Uh, could. Sorry

Click to shrink...

Pity Dial didn't end up on a DC Earth, he could have met Behemoth and the Gargoyles of Notre Dame.

 

[DevonFazbear]

I look forward to seeing when dial unlocks brainstorm and greymatter. BTW which transformation is smarter.

 

[hunter81095]

Oh, uh, Gargoyles are absolutely a form the Omnitrix should scan, by the by.

Click to shrink...

Fixed that for you.

Because Gargoyles are awesome.

 

[DevonFazbear]

Did the omnitrix scan hauzer?

 

[DesertChocolate]

Author's Note: Chapter 100 is up on the patreon, but I wanted you guys to have a gift for the New Year. Enjoy!

Omake:

Greenwich Village, Spring of 2018, Earth 199999

In a street that had been covered in debris, a confrontation was beginning.

Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Wong, and Bruce Banner strode forward together, watching as a blue beam of light is emitted from a donut-shaped ship above. The beam disappeared, revealing two figures. One, a thin elderly looking being with a massive flat space where a human nose would usually be. The other, a massive and towering being carrying a hammer and covered in armor, smirked at the group of heroes.

The elderly alien, a man who went by the name Ebony Maw, began to speak. As he did, none of those in the street saw a figure far above flying through the air, a green light emitting from it's back as it soared on orange wings.

The heroes and Ebony Maw traded quips for a moment, before the elderly man lost patience at Tony Stark.

Something he shared with many people. Ebony Maw told Cull Obsidian to charge, and with that, the battle began. No one noticed the green figure waiting above on the rooftop.

Tony Stark revealed his nanomachine armor when Bruce Banner was unable to transform, blasting away Cull Obsidian, only to be sent flying in turn. Cull Obsidian, angered by his sudden flight, rises up to his feet and prepares to reenter battle, launching his hammer at Tony.

A familiar green flash flies past Tony, bashing the hammer out of the air before it can hit Tony, before launching forward and punching Cull Obsidian in the face with enough force to shake the ground, sending him flying towards a nearby park.

"Hey, good to see you back, Bruce!" Tony shouted at the green figure. In turn, the figure looked over at him.

And Tony stared for a moment. "You uh… You're not Bruce."

"What tipped you off," the green figure teased. She smirked at him, then rocketed into the air towards the park. Tony, meanwhile, focused on Ebony Maw again, firing twin beams of energy at the alien, who blocked them with pieces of rubble.

Then Doctor Strange dropped from the sky to block a piece of tossed rubble on one of his shields, dropping it to let Iron Man fire another repulsor blast at Ebony Maw, whose face twisted in frustration.

Bruce, meanwhile, was slapping himself in the face as he ran in the middle of a grassy field. "Come on, Hulk! Come out, you're killing me he-"

"NOOO!" Bruce's face morphed, half of it becoming a sickly green collor, growing in size as a voice that wasn't his own screamed. Then it returned to normal, leaving him to fall back onto the grass. "No!" he screamed to the sky incredulously. "What do you mean no!?"

His internal struggle suddenly took a backseat to an external one when Cull Obsidian crash landed in the park, just a few feet away from him. Bruce staggered back, staring as the massive being rose to his feet. Cull snarled something, then noticed Bruce. A sickly grin spread on the muscular aliens face.

"Uh, hi?" Bruce said nervously.

Cull chuckled, raising his hammer to smash Bruce to paste. Bruce raised his arms uselessly, closing his eyes and wincing when her heard the hammer hit flesh.

It took a second for him to realize that he felt no pain. He opened his eyes, then gaped at the sight before him.

The hammer was being held by a being with skin of a green hue that he had only ever seen in reflections of broken glass. The figure was tall, built with muscle, and curvy. She was wearing workout shorts and a t-shirt, a pair of tough boots on her feet. Her long hair flowed in the wind. She turned her head to smirk at Bruce.

"Hey, cuz. Need a hand?" she said confidently.

"...Jenny?" Bruce stuttered in shock.

Cull, enraged, raised his hammer to strike once more. Jen kicked straight out. Her boots slammed deep into the groin of her opponent. Bruce winced as Cull gasped in shock and horror, before a relatively small fist uppercut him back.

"Don't touch my cousin," Jen growled, emerald fists clenched in fury. She bent her legs and jumped forward, cratering the ground beneath her.

Cull Obsidian, just getting to his feet, swung his hammer out at her, smashing her out of the air as it's chain extended out to keep throwing her..

"JENNY!" Bruce shouted in two voices.

Jen landed on her back, flipped back to her feet, and grabbed the chain hammer. She pulled, hard. Cull was lifted off his feet and towards her in a vicious tug, sent flying towards her. She spun around and roundhouse kicked him in the face, sending him back, before looking at Bruce. "If you can't help, hide, now!"

With that, Jen jumped back into the fray. Cull and her hit each other with immense force, sending shockwaves out from the impact as Bruce watched in stunned silence.

------

Back with Tony and Dr. Strange, Ebony Maw was still throwing pieces of the street at the pair.

"Will you just give up already?" Tony snarked, blocking a hail of bricks shaped into daggers with a shield made of nanobots. "You're getting your ass kicked."

"I think not. Your powers are fake and mercurial things, easy enough to overcome," Ebony Maw said to the two bearded men.

"Yeah, how's that working for you so far?" Strange said with a smirk, floating nearby to block an array of sharp stones from skewering him.

"You wanna run, let bygones be bygones?" Tony added, getting hit by a car. He rolled with the blow as Detroit steel shattered around his armored form, then flew forward to keep fighting.

"I will leave, when your corpses are cooling on the stones of this filthy rock," Ebony Maw snarled, ripping a sign off a building with his telekinesis and tossing it at the pair, only for a portal to open just in front of him to let the sign harmlessly fall into the Sahara Desert. Then another portal opened behind Ebony Maw, who spun to see Tony standing there to fire a shot at him, which Ebony Maw barely dodged. "Imputent little-"

The sound of an explosion drew their attention. All three fighters looked up to see the alien spaceship begin to list over. Ebony Maw stared upwards in rage as smoke poured out of a hole in the side.

"...You do that?" Tony asked Strange, who was also staring upwards.

"Nope. I think it was that guy."

A figure fell from the ship, landing next to Tony and Strange with a loud booming noise. A green flash of light was followed by a human man standing there, grinning. Like Tony and Strange, he had a beard. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail on the top of his head, and the sides were shaved. He was also wearing black armor with green highlights across it that covered his body, a large dial resting on his wrist.

"Wassup," the man grinned at Ebony Maw. "I am here to kick ass and chew bubblegum."

Ebony Maw snarled and launched a large truck at the trio. Tony raised a hand and blasted the truck out of the air. The man, to his credit, didn't flinch. "And I'm all out of bubblegum."

"Jesus, are you just a giant Fanboy?" Tony asked.

That made the man flinch and sigh. "Everytime, Tony. Everytime."

Then the man raised the large green dial on his wrist and pressed down on it. In a flash of light, he became a large being made of diamond.

"Diamondhead!"

Ebony Maw tossed another car, only for the crystal being to slice it in half by turning it's right hand into a sword. Then it looked over at Tony and Dr. Strange. "Am I doing this on my own, or do neither of you old guys want to help save the Earth?"

"OLD!?" Tony and Strange said in unison, sharing a sour look before raising their hands, magic and technology lighting up their palms.

Ebony Maw took one look at the gathered trio, eyes narrowed, and raised his hands, several objects rising into the air around him.

Then he was forced to toss aside Cull Obsidian when he came falling from the sky. The giant alien crashed into a building and wearily looked around, staggering to his feet.

The green woman from earlier dropped next to the diamond man, raising her fists. Wong showed up next, raising his arms to summon a magical shield. Tony's hands shifted into a pair of powerful cannons. Dr. Strange lifted into the air. And the diamond man clenched a fist of crystal with a sound like stone shattering, his sword hand slicing the air.

"Five on two," the crystal man growled.

"Offers still on the table," Tony added. "You can run to daddy if you want, tell him you screwed up."

"But if you come back," the green woman punched her fists together, a thunderclap echoing, and grinned. "It'll be for an ass-whooping."
"...When I come back," Ebony Maw said sourly. "It'll be to strip the flesh from your-"

"Yada, yada, yada," Tony cut him off.

"Go, you fucking moron. Go and start writing your will," Ebony Maw stared at the crystal man with eyes full of hate. Then a blue light came from the damaged ship, pulling the insensate Cull Obsidian and the enraged Ebony Maw into its depths before it lifted up into the air, pouring smoke while it took off.

Diamond guy shone a bright green, turning back into the human from earlier. Then he and the green woman turned to look at Wong, Tony, and Strange.

"So," Tony's helmet pulled back, revealing his face. "Any chance you two could explain what amusement park you came out of?"

"New York," the man said sarcastically, getting a chuckle from the woman. Then he scowled. "Seriously though. I'm Dial. This is She-Hulk. And we're Avengers from another world. And an arrogant badass named Professor Paradox sent us here to help yours."

 

[saveralter]

oh god!!! there gonna be chaos when two tonny's meet
if Dial's tonny come to that is