“Neither of us are interested in your ‘nurturing,’ old man,” Anakin scoffed at Count Dooku. He followed May’s lead and moved to flank the man, one on either side. “My Master might be a fool, but his power and knowledge are above what I sense from you.”
May sighed. This kid had such a big mouth, for such a tiny body. She flicked her hand and summoned a rune bound staff, a gift from Merlyn for her hard efforts. She thumped it on the ground and splintered the stone, an act that forced Dooku’s eyebrows to rise.
“We know who your master is, Dooku,” May spun her staff until it pointed at the man’s bearded face. So far, everything had gone as Dan expected, except she’d had to take his place. “Sidious isn’t the way forward, you know that… the Republic might be too far gone to save, but the Sith will bring only darkness.”
“And I suppose you’re here to show me the light?” Dooku gave an elegant smile as he drew his lightsaber from his belt. A crimson blade sprang to life, raised in a smooth and practised guard. “I’m willing to play along, until young Qui-Gon arrives at least.”
“The Jedi Master?” Anakin frowned as he summoned a staff of his own creation. Rune scribed beskar, he’d begged until Ultron had spared him enough to fill its core with vibranium. “Why are you interested in him?”
“He is my old padawan,” the Count squinted at the unfamiliar runes, filled with a strange kind of Force energy. “This blockade will fail, but it’s the perfect opportunity to bring him into the fold.”
“I doubt he’d be interested,” May snorted. She wasn’t a fan of Star Wars like Dan, but she trusted his words. His description of Qui-Gon Jinn left no room for evil. “The fact that you could train someone like Qui-Gon shows that you’re not the same as Palpatine,” she had seen the man from afar when she visited Doom, a black hole of pure darkness. “That man is a void, he’s gone beyond black magic and stepped onto the path of demonhood.”
Dooku frowned, sabre pointed at May, while his other hand held guard against Anakin. She could see a flicker of doubt behind his eyes. According to Dan, he’d only joined with Sidious as a result of seeing no other path. The Jedi had failed to fill their role and the galaxy was lost in chaos. Only a firm hand could guide the future, and Dooku had only the Sith.
“Let’s see if you can back your words with power,” the Count launched a volley of lightning at Anakin’s face, body pressed in a rush to close with May. “I’ll judge your arrogance by your strength!”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
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“Moving planets is really convenient…”
Dan strained to shift a massive, rocky world closer to the sun. None of the system’s had held habitable planets, but this one had something he’d yet to encounter. A solid world with a passable atmosphere, situated far from its star. He’d already buried the crystal deep within, now all he had to do was place it into a stable orbit that gave it a ton of sunlight.
“Have you figured out the coordinates of the Coalition of Planets headquarters yet?” A final shove and Dan was satisfied. This place would be a great outpost world. Located far from any inhabited systems, it also held no resource that would draw others to visit.
“We have integrated Nolan’s memories into a star map,” Venom rasped as a galaxy displayed before Dan’s eyes. A single star glowed red amongst the blue. “This is the system, a world with a red sun.”
“Figures,” Dan laughed. It wouldn’t do him any harm, but his growth would slow to a crawl while under its light. “Let’s head out, hopefully we can…”
Beep-Beep-Beep… Beep-Beep-Beep… Beep-Beep-Beep…
“Hmmm?” Dan withdrew his com-link. He’d only given out two of these, one to Cecil and the other… a twitch of his thumb and Robot’s mechanical face was displayed before him. “What’s up, tin-man?”
“There is a situation unfolding on Earth, one that could use someone with your strength to solve,” Robot ignored Dan’s bad joke and got straight to the point. “An interdimensional invasion has begun, we’ve repelled the first few incursions but each time they appear with more advanced technologies and strategies.”
Dan rose into the sky and accelerated until he pulled free of the atmosphere. He gave a stretch and nodded to the man that pretended to be a machine.
“I’ll be back right away, you can show me your progress on putting my technology to good use,” Dan deactivated the com and braced himself for the jump. “Take us back, Venom.”
The universe vanished, as it always did when they jumped into the phantom zone. He took up his routine hunt for the mystery light. It had not appeared since his first trip, but he was certain it existed. Reality slammed back into place and Earth filled his vision.
“Hey, Venom…” Dan angled toward Robot’s signal, located in downtown Chicago. “Is there a way for us to stay in the zone longer without getting trapped?”
“We… do not know,” Venom grumbled in his ear. “There is a chance… but also a risk that we would be trapped forever.”
“Fair enough,” Dan sighed as they broke into the atmosphere. It would be best to test it with some of Ultron’s drones, rather than accidentally freeze himself in the zone for eternity. “Forget it for now… hmmmm…”
The city below was in flames. Hundreds of Robot’s drones waged a lost battle against an army of green skinned aliens. His super powered ‘Teen Team’ stood at his side, alongside Mark and the Guardians. Dan had never met the younger heroes, but he’d read their files after Venom had copied the GDA’s database.
Mark, Immortal, and a girl dressed in pink worked together to hold back a cybernetically enhanced invader, but Dan could see they were hard pressed. The girl was the most well off. Her strange, construct based power, let her dance at a distance. She shielded her allies with semi transparent pink walls, then slammed her creation into the enemy.
“Looks like that one is the leader,” Dan cracked his neck, eyes narrowed. This alien tech was almost on par with Krypton’s, just focused differently. “Let’s go pick his brain!”