Misadventures in the Multiverse

Chapter 44: It's Too Late

"Sir, we retrieved a pre-recorded message from the great leader." A person on the bridge of Marcus's ship proclaims. "It can only be good news, transmit it live to everyone." He said already knowing that was part of the plan when it got to a certain point. It plays over an intercom, but also on the personal communication devices of everyone in the empire's employ, as well as anyone who wanted to listen. Marcus gets ready to listen happily, only to see The Generals' vessel barreling down toward him. "Is that woman mad? Evasive maneuvers now!" He ordered, but it was far too late to avoid it. They collide, and slowly start to crash to the ground below together.

On the ground, Cindy looks up to see it terrified. She tries to rush off, but Theron grabs her by the tail and slams her back down. "Our fight isn't finished yet." She seemed to be enjoying it. She reluctantly kept fighting her, but her focus was elsewhere. Wolf rushed in, clawing at Theron. "I'll be your opponent then. Go to him, commander." She said, standing in Theron's way. She flew off right away, looking at her with a thankful expression. Theron seemed a little disappointed but accepted her challenge.

The Message started to play. "Hello to all that are listening. It is I the leader of The Multiversal Empire. If you are hearing this message, it means that Project Deforestation is entering its final stage. It's far too late for anyone to stop us now." The men all cheered, morale rising higher than ever. The recording keeps going as they break down the barrier and Loki passes out. The Scouts and Squad defend him the best they can, but are being over run.

"For many reasons, we could not fully share everything about this plan right away, but you all have a right to know. When I said we would be taking on The Caretaker, I meant so in a literal sense. As this recording plays, I am at the source of it all, siphoning all the power the Multiverse has to offer and becoming so powerful not even it can hope to defy me. Then I will recreate The Multiverse in my image. A Multiverse with no suffering, everyone will live in the happiest moment they have ever had forever in that state." He says, sounding truly happy.

Marcus rushed to try and escape his falling ship down the hallways, only somewhat listening to his leader's message. Natasha stops him in his tracks. He sighs, seeing that he has no choice but to fight her. He pulls out a multi-tool and transforms it into a fencing sabre putting his right hand behind his back as he engages her. She blocked it just with her wrist and punched him in the gut, but he backed away, still able to fight

The Recording persisted. "There will be no death, no life, just being in the moment for an eternity. No longer will there be endless probability and senseless deaths with no meaning or reason? This, of course, includes all the people that opposed me. We may have never agreed on things, but this was my goal all along. The unfortunate thing about all this is everyone will die." Marcus froze in place, eyes widening, as did many all over the battlefield. That didn't stop the general from punching him, though.

"Sadly, that's just how it has to be for me to be able to do all this. This Multiverse is set up that way after all nothing can get done without sacrifices, but I assure you it will be like you never died once everything is recreated, and it will never happen again. Oh, my dear love, it won't be long now till I get to see you again. All hail the empire." The Transmission ends. The battlefield is covered in silence for a moment before many of them throw down their weapons in a panic, running away or lying down to die. Some, however, were still proud to fight under The Empire's banner.

"That's the man you all fought for. He used you, left every one of us behind, and now he plans to kill us all for some vague fantasy." She said as she punched him several times consecutively. He stopped fighting, not sure what to do, filled with mixed emotions. Before she could land another hit, Cindy swooped in, grabbing him and flying away. "Well, shit." She said, looking around for a way to escape now that her opponent was gone. That message was sent all over the multiverse. It may be a little too late, but people all over everywhere got off their asses and started making their way to the source world since it was still opened up for anyone to enter, granted they could find it.

The rest of The Union finally mobilized and surrounded the empire's force that had gone into shambles. Now it was The Empire that was overwhelmed by numbers. Theron defeated Wolf, charging forward, and leading the way. As surviving members of the Legion grabbed their fallen comrades, limping away, no longer caring about the battle, just trying to get away.

In the roots of the tree, the strike team finally makes it face-to-face with The Emperor. "Hmm, so more of you made it here. How vexing. But no matter, even if I'm not fully powered up, you can't hope to stop me now." He says, looking down on them like they are nothing to him. Clyde sees Rebbeca in the corner, rushing to her. "Why did you have to rush ahead like that," Clyde said, hearing no answer. He checked her pulse to see if she was still alive, and as far as he could tell, she was. Cyrus spoke up, "We heard your message. What nonsense."

"Commander Cyrus. I was saddened to hear you and Darrian had betrayed us, you were some of the best we had. Don't you wish none of the suffering in your life happened, that you could live in a moment forever? I'll forgive your transgressions if you betray them and join me now." The Emperor offered. "You're going to kill us all regardless of my choice! Sir, I used to idolize you. You were a great man, but I'm sorry the death of your wife has driven you mad." "It's a necessary sacrifice. It pains me greatly to have to do it." Lucius says, dismissing most of what he said.

"Cut the crap. How can anyone even trust you to do everything you say? You and that man tortured me, and my sisters, since we were born. Was that also necessary?" Raleigh said with anger. "I can never truly be forgiven for what we did, but this is my way of rectifying it." He says to her coldly. Clyde sighs, standing up and getting closer to him. He strikes a pose right away and transforms into Scout form, running at him. "Do you even believe the bull shit coming out of your mouth right now!" He hit him in the face, not letting him ramble on. Every second they waste is a second he becomes stronger. He catches his fist even with the power suit on and squeezes his hand, slowly crushing it.

"Clyde!" Raleigh said, rushing in to help with a hammer to his face. He took that as well, like it was nothing. "It's no use, I'm already..." The Emperor started to say as Clyde's hand started to glow red. "Curious, it all makes more sense now. There is nothing special about you. You just had the arm, but your advantage ends here." He lets go of Clyde, showing his hand to him. It starts to glow just like his. They gasp and Clyde starts to think it really might be too late, and he is more or less useless with his arm nullified by another. "That works both ways, though, right."

"The kid is right." Darrian laughs, punching him hard in the stomach, seeming to do damage. "It's not enough!" He Punched Darrian even harder, knocking him to his knees. "I was born on the battlefield. I've trained for generations before you were in the gene pool to get stronger. In what universe could you ever beat me!" He screamed, swiping his hand, creating a shock wave that knocked them all down.

They slowly rise to their feet, demoralized. It was starting to feel more and more hopeless. Behind them, the machine the clone is in started to make alarm noises. Rebbeca has managed to get up for a small moment and hack into it with her remaining cord, rendering the machine useless. The Emperor panicked for a moment before taking a deep breath. "You were so close, but I can feel it now.

The power within me. I need no machines anymore. I can seize this power with my own hands!" He reaches behind him and rips the seed free from the air it was floating in, stopping the flow of information. It flows in his hand as his presence starts to become more and more overwhelming. A flash of light envelops them all as he laughs. "Let me give you all a taste of what's to come. Surely then you will see what I'm doing is the right thing."