Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 430 STONEWALL

I sat in the booth of the hotel restaurant drinking heavily. It was a victory party for me. I was on the news, or at least my figure from a distance was. Most all of the televisions above the bar were playing shots from the fight. At first they were focusing on the damage. But now that phone recordings were being sold to news channels they also showed my hundreds of bodies carrying people to safety. 

Each wearing my Watanabe heart etched hoodie and black pants they kept their hood and face masks up. Only showing their eyes, my bodies never stopped pulling people to safety. Running into burning buildings, lifting cars and rubble off people, kissing babies and being the ever present savior for the people of Metropolis. 

My clones were still running around like crazy. Each one assigned a vast amount of chakra from Tabi’s infinite supply, they would be able to help people far more easily than regular firemen and police officers. Utilizing Observation Haki to search through rubble they directed people where to dig while they themselves pulled people out. 

9/11 didn’t happen in this world, but it was easy to see this event would be a replacement for that. The people would rebuild and recover, hopefully not declaring war on supes in the process. I raised my glass to the cat opposite me. 

“Sure pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” She mumbled. 

“We did good today,” I whispered.

“We did,” she said, some joy in her Haki. Which was a nice change compared to the bloodthirsty tail beast I brought along with me on my adventure. “But you didn’t push yourself.”

“I didn’t,” I said with a nod. “This is like jumping to DBZ level of power. I’m still hesitant.”

“I understand, Weston. But remember your promise. No more going easy on these worlds.”

“I know, Tabi. We will keep training and pushing, and again, thank you for all you do. I couldn’t have made those clones without you. I’m sure you saved a few thousand people today,” I said. I locked eyes with the two tailed cat. She judged me with those big blue globes for eyes then went back to her food. 

I slammed my rum, happy to be alive. My head resting on my fist I stared at the televisions. One disheveled woman was giving a recount of how it started. One of my clones in the background ran past while princess carrying someone. Then noticed he was on TV, turned around, waved, then went back to it. I chuckled. 

For so long I had trained to be a hero, and it was finally paying off. I could show all my skills here because there was nothing illegal about being a hero. Not yet at least. Finally able to let loose and help all those that were in need, it felt good. Granted I could have been there, helping more people, but my date hadn’t showed up. 

As I thought that, a line of SUVs stopped in front of the restaurant. Men in suits getting out of their vehicles, they talked to the bartender and ushered the few people outside. Paying their bills, I moved Tabi to my side of the booth. The small cat acted like that’s all she was as she dug at the bones of the salmon. 

It wasn’t long until Waller was sitting opposite me. Rick Flag standing guard outside the booth, the diet Captain America was as pissed off as ever as he glared at me. 

“You broke your parole,” Waller said. The once beautiful woman was now as ugly to me as the comic version was. 

“Technically, I didn’t set foot anywhere but Gotham,” I said.

“Then what the fuck is that army of you,” she said, pointing at the television. A few of my clones posed for a photo. 

“Those are my clones,” I said. “They’re basically just copies of me. But not me. They’ll fade away or end themselves eventually.”

Waller groaned, not understanding anything. Rubbing her temples she eventually asked. “What’s with the cat?” 

“Tabi?” I asked. “I got her as a stray-”

“Don’t give me that shit, Walker!” She yelled. I shot out my Nen. Putting far more fear into it than normal, sweat broke out on her forehead as she glared down at me. Slowly she sat back down.

“I know you like to be in control,” I said. “I get that. But raise your voice again, and I make sure Zod isn’t the only person I kill today.”

“You wouldn’t,” she said slowly, but didn’t believe her own words. The terror she was feeling was very real, very new for her. 

“I would,” I said. “Who are they going to send to discipline me? Superman? Are they going to discipline him for what happened today? Fuck no. They’ll forget it happened. Superman will save more people than died today, and they will eventually forgive and forget. I’m the only man in the world that knows how to kill Superman. You need me, far more than I need you.” I released the nen and she took a slow ragged breath. 

“How did you do it?”

“No, you don’t get answers to questions,” I said. “If I feel like tossing you some scraps of information, that’s on me. But you pissed me off, Waller. Or did you forget pressing that button that could have killed me?”

“I doubt that would have worked with all the shit you pulled today,” she said. “How much…” She rethought asking me a question. Instead she quieted, staring at me with her bug eyes. 

Studying her Haki it was easy to know why I didn’t like her. She saw people as tools. Things to use, abuse, and toss away once broken. Everything was all part of some game of chess she was playing, and I was more than happy to be off the board. 

“I’m guessing your higher ups are more on board with your Suicide Squad now, but they are also upset you let their strongest,” I pointed at myself, “go so easily. So no, I won’t be playing into whatever bullshit you concoct to pull me back in. I saved you from pissing off Superman, and killed the deadliest terrorist on American soil. You’re lucky I won’t be contacting talk shows to announce who I am tomorrow. Because if I did, I would be telling everyone about what kind of shit you put me through.”

“That wouldn’t…” She stopped herself again, still not believing her own lies. I was a household face now. It wouldn’t be hard for me to prove I was the mysterious man that helped save thousands in Metropolis. 

“So, you can keep me on parole for now. Just simply pretend I don’t exist for the time being. If you see someone wearing my hero costume, look the other way, because I will be helping people when I leave. When my parole is over, I’ll probably go somewhere else. I don’t think I’ve found my forever home yet, but I am rather enjoying getting in touch with my roots. If you need to tell the higher ups something, tell them I have a special skill to deal with Superman if he were to step out of line. If they want more, tell them they are lucky to have anything at all. Today could have ended much worse, Waller. I want you to get up, leave my life forever, and pray that the next thing big that happens, I’ll be there to help you save the asses of the world.” 

Waller opened her mouth, many times in fact. Each time she closed it slowly. Trying to think of a response she couldn’t. Eventually she got up and turned to leave. “Oh, and when you tell them who saved the city, please be a dear and tell them it was Batman. I don’t like the name of Rift anymore.” 

She didn’t acknowledge what I said but kept walking. Rick walking after her I let out an annoyed sigh. “Should I have handled that differently?” I asked. 

“Yes, you should have killed her. She is a snake in the grass. I wouldn’t be surprised if she sent your suicide friends after you,” she said.

“You think?” I asked. I frowned, that didn’t sound too far-fetched, but I hoped Waller was smarter than that. My good mood ruined, I thought for a moment. DC was in a good place for now. Though there were unanswered questions between Willow, Kara, and I, I was enjoying where the story was going. There were still plenty of mysteries to figure out, but I had already stayed longer than I meant to. 

“Time to go,” I said.

“To where?” Tabi asked. 

“To World Escape,” I said and everything turned black. Back in the Red Room I turned to see that I had a green light over one door, the one for 300. Smiling at the gains I had had over the last few months I looked to my two other open worlds. 

“Invincible and Marvel,” I said. I felt I could go back to Invincible and would be able to progress it further, but I wasn’t in the mood to kill a bunch of blue aliens. “Marvel it is.” I walked into the door without hesitation and it all turned black. 

—-

I opened my eyes and Kitty Pryde was staring up at me. I was back in the future of Marvel. Unsure how far into the future I was I guessed less than 10 years from when I was pulled from, but more than five years. I had left at a strategic moment and instead of trying to remember what she said I looked Kitty in the eyes asking, “What the fuck are you on?”

“Ugh!” She yelled, then quieted herself. Looking around nervously. She took some calming breaths and explained in as few words as possible. “Robots are bad. They hurt people like me, mutants. I need you, a not-so-mutant-mutant to hide inside to get me past them,” she said.

“And you’re from the future?” I clarified, slowly remembering that this was like the Days of Future Past movie. 

“No, you’re from the past,” she said. “Can you please just do what I ask without question? We are kind of in a time crunch.” 

Pain began to sear in my bones. I gritted my teeth as my World Lasting Physique kicked in. My legs almost buckling as my muscles grew, my bones became thicker, and I grew more awesome in this body. Tears in my eyes she could see something was wrong. But I pushed through and the pain receded.

“I’ll do whatever you need,” I said.

“Are you alright?” she mumbled. 

“No questions, remember?” I asked. “Come on. What do you need?” 

“I…” She opened her arms and hugged me. At first I thought she was going to go through me, but she didn’t. Instead she just wanted a hug. My hands moving to her back she melted into me and I felt her shudder. Her Haki a mix of hope, pleasure, and a lot of nostalgia, I hugged her tighter. 

“You alright, pussycat?” I mumbled. 

“Yeah, just missed you. Jeez, I didn’t know I did until I saw you. I’ve just lost so many people recently,” she mumbled. Pulling back she wiped a tear from her cheek. 

“Hey,” I said. “Kitty, you’re safe with me. Did you say I died too? How far in the future are we?”

“Six years?” she asked. “Maybe a little more. I can’t remember the date. But it’s been a while. I really don’t know if you died or not, but we assumed you did since you didn’t come back.” 

“Back from-” I stopped as we heard another crash. This one was closer. Kitty shook in fear. 

“We need to get to Cerebro,” she said. “There is a part inside of it I need.”

“Okay,” I said. “Where will-” I stopped asking as she phased inside of me. It wasn’t long until her head popped out of me. 

“I will match your speed. You walk. If you see man-size robots. Run. They shouldn’t use lethal force on you since you’re human.” 

“On it,” I said. “Stepping.” She pulled her head back inside my body and I walked. She was actually an expert of matching my stride from inside. She must have been practicing on other people. Using them like camouflage to get around. I extended my Haki outward, searching everywhere. I felt a strong being off by a classroom. Heading for Xavier’s office I wanted to ask questions about the rest of the students, but knew it could come later. 

Instead I was amazed by the terrible state of the once school. Everything dark, there were holes in walls everywhere. Obvious fires started and put out, class materials thrown about this way and that, there was also fecal matter from what I hoped was small bears. I got to Xavier’s office without issue and inside was even worse.

The wall with the access to the lower floors was ripped away, revealing a gaping hole. “Out, I’ll fly us down,” I said. She shot out of me, and I grabbed her by the waist. Lifting off, I descended us down to the lower level.

“How are you so calm?” She whispered. “I’d be talking a mile a second if I was you.”

“Because I need to be calm,” I said. “Answers later.” I landed on the remnants of the elevator and she melded back into me. Making sure I didn’t use Armament Haki or Zetsu to possibly shoot her out of me I was going to be a little limited if I had to fight. I jumped down into the gaping hole of the elevator. 

The doors askew I pried them apart with my hands. Barely enough room for me I felt one of the robots ahead. Cursing, I moved to the side. Kitty hadn’t expected that standing where I had stood. I pulled her to me. “What?” she hissed.

“Robot.”

“I can’t see anything,” she said.

“I know, sorry,” I said. “Get back into me.” She nodded and reabsorbed into me. I felt the robot stop at the end of the hall, but slowly begin moving again, toward Cerebro. Cursing I whispered, “moving.” 

Kitty stayed with me as I walked out into the once clean underground tunnels belowr the school. Lights no longer flickering on with movement. I was saddened to see the state of the place. A dripping noise somewhere further in, I hoped it was water instead of blood. 

“Cerebro is…” I mumbled and headed toward it. Of course no one had shown it to me in the past, er well my present. I had to do a little snooping. I preferred to call it exploring of course. But I was glad I did at that point. My mind’s eye watching the robot in the distance I knew that was where it was heading as well. 

“We have to hurry,” I said. “No robots for now. Out.” She jumped out and I held onto her. Lifting off I used my flight to get us to the room for Cerebro in seconds. Only the one robot in the area I knew we weren’t too far ahead of it as I dropped Kitty in front of the door. 

“Is this it?” She hissed. “I can’t see shit.” I released Sparks from my hand, lightning the area. “Fuck, I forgot how useful you were.” She began digging into the controls of the door. Splicing wires together she at least knew what she had to do. Luckily the door to Cerebro looked untouched. Unluckily the robot was coming closer. 

“Need to hurry, Kitty,” I said.

“Trying. It-it,” she began twisting some wires together. “There’s no power down here at all,” she said in disbelief. 

“No duh,” I said, annoyed. I closed my eyes, focusing. I knew that most small electronics were around 24 volts. Having played with gauging my Sparks to release that much, I shot a bolt into the keypad wiring. It lit up and the door to Cerebro beeped and opened. Of course that was when I remembered I could have used my Rift skill to get inside. 

“Holy fuck, I love you,” Kitty hissed and rushed in. 

I followed, watching the exit as the robot came into view. It was at the end of the hall, making it’s way toward us. I hoped it was dumb, but I doubted it.

“Light,” Kitty ordered. I released just enough Sparks so she could see. Cerebro was different than I expected. Not so much a giant room like the movies, it was more of a large bedroom. A gamer chair in the middle of the room there were a bunch of rings around it like a gyroscope. Kitty rushed to the chair and opened a panel. Pulling a small canister out she said, “This is it.”

“Let’s go,” I said, but as I did a booming voice sounded in the hall outside.

“Warning, presence detected!” It roared. 

“Fuck,” I said. Kitty’s fear was through the roof. Locked up by it, I didn’t want this robot calling for it’s brethren. Using Timeflow I ran outside. Everything around me moving slower I shot toward it. Coating my fist in Nen I studied the robot for a moment.

Of course it was a Sentinel. Instead of the 100 foot tall ones from the comic, this one was about nine feet tall. Shiny metal body, two arms and legs, it’s face was androgynous and smooth. A purple dome at the top of it’s skull I hit it with my strongest punch and it’s head exploded out. 

Time sped back up to normal and the robot continued standing there. The alarm died down slowly and Kitty ran outside of Cerebro. 

“Fuck!” She yelled. “I told you not to fight it.”

“What? It wasn’t so hard,” I said as she ran to me.

“Not that. These fuckers learn from each other. Become immune to powers they run into. Now, whatever you used will be useless in less than 24 hours,” she said.

“Oh shit,” I said. I had forgotten that part. There was a reason Sentinels were so strong. They were learning robots. “Fuck it, we need-” More alarms sounded from the elevator and an explosion went off. “You got what you need?” Kitty nodded. I picked her up in a princess carry and flew us away. 

Instead of heading to the elevators I got to the hangar for the Blackwing. The ship was not there, the panel that slid away to let it out was still up. Flying straight at it I cut the fake rock away with a Nen Blast and we were out of there. Flying into the midnight air of the future so I could figure out what the hell was going wrong in this world.