I own nothing. Everything belongs to Marvel. They are awesome.
Fire. Smoke. Screams. Blood. Violence. Death.
The bad dreams came rushing back to her while she slept, like a strong river current.
The bad dreams of that day. The day of fire, smoke, screams, blood, violence, and death.
Some people of the world called it "Herofall" while other called it "Age's End" but it all meant the same thing:
The day when heroes and villains, the forces of light and the forces of darkness, clashed one last time, leaving a trail of death and destruction behind them, and a new world to be rebuilt from the ashes of the old one.
It wasn't supposed to be that way. There was an odd truce between the heroes and the villains. The villains would attack and the heroes would defend. The good guys would win and the bad guys would live to fight another day. Yet, as time went by, the heroes, those sworn to protect, ended fighting each other, instead of those who were sworn to destroy and rule. Civil wars, the clash of two teams, it seemed like the heroes were imploding, turning their violence onto each other, unaware they were making themselves weaker, while others grew stronger.
And when HE arrived, it was the end. Neurothought was what he was called, at least by those who fought him. His real name was impossible to be pronounced by a human tongue, super, mutant, mystical, or otherwise. He came from a time beyond time, from a dying world, from the deepest darkest regions of the universe.
He was a ruler, a tyrant. His word was law, his power absolute, her strength unmatched. His people in stasis, he arrived on Earth with one simple goal: Take what his people needed, by any means necessary. But he arrived not with lasers, or armies, he arrived with a parasite, that when introduced into a human body, give him almost complete control.
With this parasite he enslaved nearly all of the world's mightiest heroes and villains, for one purpose: To destroy themselves, to destroy each other, to guarantee his absolute victory.
He studied the failure of all those who came to this planet before him, those who ultimately failed in their conquest by the might of the heroes. He would not make the same mistake. He would use the beloved heroes to his advantage, to annihilate, and when all was ashes, his people would repopulate and rebuild. They would have a second chance. HE would have a second chance, to fix the mistakes he made, which cost his people their old world, and nearly doomed them.
She dreamt of that day. She dreamt of fire. She dreamt of smoke. She dream of screams, blood, violence and death. Seeing Tony Stark, fall from the heavens trailing red, seeing Steve laying broken, and still on the road, Thor standing over him, blood dripping from his hammer. She saw Clint, fall and die, a pair of adamantium claws piercing his heart.
Neurothought's brain parasites didn't infect everyone, that would have been too easy. No, Neurothought wanted to watch those not-infected race to save those were, waste their resources, and their time, while the infected heroes and villains destroyed each other and everything in their path.
It worked better than he had hoped. By the end, estimates put the casualties on both sides at nearly 90%. It did not matter to him that they found a cure for his parasites, nor that the non-infected heroes and villains joined forces to stop him. No. It did not matter to him by the end, because he would be dead, and those left uninfected would be his judge, his jury, and his executioner.
The days following were dark ones. Many funerals, untold lives caught in the crossfire, entire cities leveled. When it was all over, those who remained, put aside their ideas of costume heroics and villainy, and instead, vanished into the shadows. What use would they be anymore? The world had seen enough. They had seen enough.
She never considered retiring. This was her life. This was the only life she ever knew. She had nothing else. SHIELD remained, more as a figurehead than
anything else, the world governments deciding to create their own unified task force, one not needing to be supported by costume characters.
Her days were lonely, her night even lonelier. She dreamt of days gone by, of old friends dead and buried, of the once bright future ahead of them all.
Now all she dream of was fire; and smoke, fire, and screams and blood and violence. She dreamt of death.
Natalia "Black Widow" Romanova was awakened by the buzz of her communicator, it's single light illuminating every dark corner of her room on board the Helicarrier.
Years of training kicked in, and she was alert and ready for action, milliseconds later.
"What is it General Fury?" Natalia asked, ready for a briefing.
On the other end of her communicator screen, a bald, eye-patched older african american man, looked at her, hesitating to ask her something.
"Do your ever think about them Agent Romanova?" He asks, his face blank as slate.
"General.." She was hesitant to respond. Why was he asking this?
"Do you ever think about that day? What we lost? What the world lost? Why did we survive when some many others didn't?" Fury asked her again, his voice monotone.
Has he been drinking? She thought. She couldn't blame him. Many of those who survived took up drinking after they took off their costumes.
"Do you know what we fought for? We fought for a legacy. They died for a legacy. And what if I told you that legacy could continue?" Nice Fury said.
"What are you talking about?" Natalia asked him.
"I'm talking about giving back some hope into the world. Those people out there, in the normal world, think they've seen the worst of what's out in the universe. We both now that isn't true. They're will always be another Thanos, another Galactus, another Nuerothought - - And they're coming. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow. But somewhere down the line, they will come, and the world will not be ready. It needs hope. It need hope that there will be people still around to rise up and fight that new darkness off.
They need a legacy to hold onto; and a legacy is what I intend to give them. I've asked a lot from you Natalia, but what I ask of you might be more than I ever thought possible. I'm asking you to give up everything you know, everything you might ever know, to preserve a legacy, to preserve the chance that a hundred, maybe even a thousand years from now, we will be ready". Nick Fury said, his voice never changing, his face deadly serious,
"Nick, do you have any idea what time it is? Couldn't this wait until morning?" She asked.
"Time is off the uptmost importance. Banner has just made the breakthrough we needed and this might be only chance. CHIMERA, has been sniffing around SHIELD files. This new world police usually only worries about it's own business, but word has been leaking out that we're up to something." Nick Fury said.
CHIMERA, the global international police force that now rivaled SHIELD after the events of that dark day. Their only mission was to protect humanity at any cost, including putting down whatever remained of the superheroes, should it ever come to that.
"And why would CHIMERA think we were up to something sir?" Natalia asked, already knowing the answer.
"Because we are. What we're doing is in violation of international Suspension Of Super Powered Activities, which would make us International Enemy #1 But if we're successful, it will mean a brighter future for humanity when organizations like CHIMERA ultimately fail. But I need your help on this, you're the only person I obsoletely trust with this" Fury stated looking at her with his one good eye.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Basically stated, Banner's been working on a serum, and just made the breakthrough an hour ago, and we need a female test-subject. Combining the absolute perfect genetic strands from the DNA profiles of current living and deceased superhero, once this serum reacts to you, it's going to create a rapidly gestating life form, based on the DNA in the serum and the genetic material of the female host." Nick Fury said.
She couldn't believe what Fury was asking her to do. She didn't want to believe what Fury was asking her to do.
"You mean to tell that you - - - -" Natalia said.
"Yes Natalia, we want you to get pregnant with a new generation of superheroes." Fury said, his face showing no emotion.
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