Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 446 PROPHECIES

The holographic projectors I bought were crap. Well, not so much crap as the Shi’ar palace had defenses against them. Somehow able to track anyone using one of the projectors it wasn’t long until guards found us. At least we were at an exterior wall though. I opened a Rift and the three of us were out in open air.

Rather than be jostled around by speeds normal humans weren’t meant to travel at by having her brother take her out, I carried Scarlet. Throwing her on my back, the red witch latched on as Quicksilver disappeared from sight and we got away from the palace. 

Of course it wasn’t that simple. The Shi’ar didn’t like prisoners escaping from them. Defenses around the castle activating, I narrowly escaped getting blasted by massive guns by using my Timeflow power, which again cause Scarlet to vomit, this time on me though. Which was actually a good sign in my book. I usually ended up having a pretty good relationship with women that puked on me for some reason. 

Once out of range of the Shi’ar palace cannons, we were able to use our cube projectors again. Disappearing into one of the many buildings scattered around the landscape we regrouped and planned. The only place I could think of to get information without drawing attention to ourselves, was the library. 

Wolverine was still out there too. I could hone in on his Spiritual Energy, but I would need to fly to cover the distance I needed to find him. I hadn’t seen anyone fly on the planet without a ship, so I felt that would draw unnecessary attention to myself. With an unknown AI watching everything, I doubted we would stay free for long if I did that. The three of us took the guises of Shi’ar and made our way to the library Polree had pointed out to me. 

“What the hell are we doing?” Quick asked. He was rather jittery. His head looking this way and that, the Shi’ar face he wore was just an alteration to his own body. Regular red robe clothes, gray puffy feather hair, he looked like he was either tweaking or had too much coffee. 

From what I understood about his mutant ability was he was super fast. Like a hummingbird, his heart beat multiple times a second, making everyone seem slow to him. He was pretty awesome in the movie renditions but I was getting more of an Avengers vibe than the X-men movie. He seemed more protective of his sister than child-like. 

“Dude, for the last time. We are getting information on the Shi’ar. There is a lot of shit going on that we don’t know about. And I don’t know about you, but it felt like those asshats weren’t about to let us leave this time.”

“I get that, but I feel like we need to be doing something.”

“Calm, Pietro,” Scarlet said, resting her hand on his shoulder as we walked side by side. Scarlet in the middle of our group, her guise was a woman Shi’ar. Red feathers for hair she wore black robes that glided over the ground. She was much more calm as we walked. 

I wasn’t exactly sure what her mutant ability was. I knew it had something to do with chance, but that was all I knew. She was called the Scarlet Witch for a reason, so I was sure she did something with magic, but the movies and comics never seemed to agree on what she could do. Both siblings did usually join the Avengers though so I knew they were good people. 

“Did you have any trouble escaping?” Scarlet asked. 

“Of course not,” Quick said. 

“Good. We need you to try to figure out a way to converse with the others. Also Wolverine is out here-“ I stopped talking as the siblings stopped walking beside me. I turned to face them. “What?”

“Who the hell put you in charge?” Quicksilver asked. His Haki was being mostly playful but slightly serious. He eyed Scarlet next to him. 

“My brother is right, why should we follow your orders?” Scarlet was the opposite. Mostly serious, she was only being slightly playful. “You are a human after all.” 

“True,” I said, annoyed that I had to play this game as well. “How do you handle things on Genosha? Fights perhaps?” I eyed the two of them, releasing my Nen to help relay how scared they should actually be of me. 

Nen was an amazing power. Practically able to manipulate my soul, no one had built up protections from the ability. In the Hunter x Hunter manga, Gon and Killua had been unable to move a step when Hisoka released his Nen. They had to learn to channel their own Nen to be able to fight against it. The twins didn’t have any such protection. Both became rigid as I looked at them one by one. 

“Shall I kick both your asses? Then dump you somewhere so you can be picked up and imprisoned like your dad?” I turned around to look toward the palace. “He hasn’t broken out yet. Maybe they have a way to negate the fridge magnet?” 

I pulled my Nen back in and Quick took a step back as he was finally able to move. “Don’t bullshit me. We are in this together. Step in line or leave now. I really don’t give a shit which one you pick.” I turned to begin walking back to the library. 

Ahead was the large town from earlier where the bazaar was located. Tall buildings all around us, right in the middle of the city was the library. Supposedly containing all the knowledge of the planets in the Shi’ar empire, it was a treasure trove of information. I just needed to know what to look for. 

Wishing for my shadow clones again, I knew it was probably useless, but I needed to at least figure something out. I brought up my quest. 

I still had to figure out what was going on with the Shi’ar. This honestly seemed easier than the other two tasks. Wishing I still had my Search skill to find Polree, I decided to look the hard way. As I walked, the twins caught up to me. 

Their Haki altered toward me. Quick felt a little more respectful. Scarlet felt a little more…turned on perhaps. I eyed her, the red head blushed as I looked at her. She had been mostly indifferent to me before. I attributed it to the fact that I was a human and not a mutant. As I studied her Haki I was starting to think maybe she liked strength. Which was fine with me. 

Pushing thoughts of Anne out of my mind we walked toward the library quickly. The rest of the town seemed to be continuing on as usual. No one appeared affected by a huge villa housing a bunch of aliens being sucked into another dimension a few miles away. I wasn’t sure what kind of government was controlling these people but I doubted the emperor shared much with the common man. 

We eventually got to the large library. Inside had some minor security that was more focused on keeping books inside the library. None seemed to notice the holograms we hid behind. Which was good. Unfortunately the futuristic society had also updated their library. 

Rather than have physical books they had opted for a digital format. But for some reason the books/tablets were stored in physical locations as well. A fact that was explained to us after I bribed a librarian. 

Claiming to be from outside the system, the librarian happily showed us the sorting methods of the galactic library. Apparently there was a master search engine controlled by the Garuda AI of the Shi’ar. After looking up what you wanted to research, it would give you locations to find what you needed. 

Unfortunately most of the library was sorted by species of the author. So subjects had to be searched all over the building to find anything of use. 

At least the place was open day and night. We spent hours digging through the stacks of the futuristic bookcases. Checking tablets of digital representations of books as we looked up the Shi’ar history and people. 

It was rather enlightening to be honest. Telling me a lot about the universe at large. The Shi’ar really were more bird-like when the people began recording information thousands of years ago. A fact that they openly documented as they became more humanoid as they interacted with the alien humanoids in the universe. 

Having fought thousands of wars over the millennia, the early work of the Shi’ar was written much like the Bible. Hard to decipher but interesting as they met and interacted with species after species. Becoming stronger. Defeating more and more people as they spread from one world to hundreds of them as their territory continued to expand. 

It wasn’t long until they ran into the Kree, starting one blood feud after another. Both of the species trying to one up the other they fought over and over again. One war actually lasting 100 years, and only ending when an infestation of the Brood affected both species. 

Caught up in the histories it wasn’t enough for Quicksilver. Bored out of his mind as he ran from one end of the library to the other I sent him to go find Wolverine as Scarlet and I dug through the books. 

During one of our many ventures out into the stacks of bookcases she and I were comfortable with one another as we tried to find what we needed. 

“So what the hell is your story?” I asked after she asked about my own lame backstory. 

The witch giggled as she reached up for an electronic book above her head. I moved from her side, grabbing it for her and handing it down. Again her Haki flashed a little lust that she immediately squashed down. Her kink had turned out to be doing manly things. Showing off strength, ordering her brother around, and apparently getting books on high shelves did it for her.

She smiled as she stacked the thin glass-like tablet on the others she had gathered. “I was wondering when you would ask,” she said to herself. “Not too much to say really. Pietro and I didn’t really know our father. Our mother says-“

“Wait, I thought Magneto was your father,” I cut in. 

“By design,” she said, shaking her head. “Let me finish. Our mother was a Romani. Do you know what that is?”

“A Gypsy?”

“Basically,” she said with a sad sigh. “We wandered much when I was young. But when we stayed too long in a town once, my mother’s power…made too many people wary. She was killed by them..”

“What could she do?” I asked. 

“Much the same as I,” she admitted. 

“Which is…?”

“Why should I tell you?” She asked, turning to face me. Though she still wore the guise of a Shi’ar, my Haki could see the real her. Her Haki said she was being flirty. I was growing more and more fond of the lack of drama she had going on. No real connection to Anne. It was nice to be near someone that didn’t know of or seem to care about what else could be going on. Simply acting on her own wants and lust was a nice change of pace.  

“Well I’ve told you my story. You know a few of my powers,” I said, putting on a cocky smile that transferred to my holographic guise. “Unless you need a first hand example of what I can do.” 

“Hmm that does sound interesting,” she said, turning back to the bookcases to hide the blush moving across her fake face. 

It took some time but as we moved to a new aisle she spoke. “It’s really just magic,” she admitted. “I don’t know how to explain it other than that. I have the ability to make things I want to happen, happen.”

“Fun, and you wanted this to happen?” I asked. “Us getting trapped on an alien planet and all.”

“Not that,” she said, pushing my shoulder playfully. Her heartbeat quickened, proud of herself for being so bold. “I can only do simple stuff. I call them hexes. Like if I want something to happen to someone like…they get what’s coming to them. It usually happens.”

“So don’t piss you off or someone will spit in my coffee?” I asked. 

She laughed heartily. “Actually once, a fly landed in someone’s coffee. They graded me unfairly and…”

“I’m guessing this was at Xavier’s school. Was it Beast?”

She blushed but admitted “Mr. Cassidy.”

“Banshee?” I asked, laughing. 

She nodded, covering her face with the glass tablet. “It was bad. I promised to never use my powers for evil after that.” 

“Thank god,” I said. “We could have ended up with the school blowing up if you weren’t careful.”

She rolled her eyes, whining, “be nice. I’m serious. I felt so bad about it.” 

“Sorry,” I said. I had been serious. In the Marvel movies she had enough power to go on a murder spree challenging the strongest in the world. She probably hadn’t reached her full potential yet. “So how is Magneto not your father?”

“He took us in when we were young. Our mother was dead. Real father was non-existent. And we were mutants. He gave us a home when no one else would,” she said. 

“That is surprisingly nice of him,” I said. “So the homicidal dictator that the media portrays him as?”

“A fabrication to demonize mutants,” she said without hesitation. I didn’t fully believe her though. Wolverine had said they fought the metal head multiple times in the past. And I still didn’t know Magneto and Xavier’s backstory. 

“You’re not very subtle with your thoughts, you know,” Scarlet said. 

“Oh, you can read minds now?” I asked. 

“Hexes aren’t the only power I have. Besides, minds aren’t that hard to decipher, especially yours.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because I love complimenting and being complimented by beautiful women,” I said with a wide grin. She blushed more deeply as she ended her search in the aisle. 

“Be careful, Bastard. I might have to put a hex on you,” she mumbled as she fought her flushed tone. 

“Please do. But rather than spit in my-“ I stopped as my Haki noticed something off in the area. No people around, I turned to focus on the pulsing energy. A constant thrumming that barely existed not far away. Caught off guard, I began to float toward it. 

“Where are you going?” Scarlet asked, annoyed our game of flirting was cut short. But I didn’t pay attention to her. The Haki had dimmed down and became almost non-existent again. In a far corner of the massive library we weren’t anywhere near the top. Somewhere in the middle area of the galactic library, I began to search for the strange Haki. 

It had come from an exterior wall. The many shelves covering it, the haki had disappeared, but I knew it was around there. Moving the futuristic tech tablets I didn’t see anything odd. Using my Observation Haki though I found a small alcove behind one of the bookcases. Looking around to make sure no one noticed us, I grabbed onto the shelf. 

“What are you doing?” Scarlet hissed as I struggled to move the twenty foot tall bookcase. Far heavier than I imagined I moved it a full foot to find a hidden compartment underneath. The compartment looked dusty but untouched in the library. Reaching inside, I pulled out a leather bound scroll. 

“What the fuck?” I mumbled as I studied the scroll. It was about two feet wide and six inches in diameter. A symbol imprinted onto it, the symbol was faded to mere unrecognizable lines. There was no Haki whatsoever coming from the scroll. Though it had been clear as day earlier, it was silent as I stared at it. 

Curious, I used Gyo. Moving Nen to my eyes the scroll actually glowed. Back in HxH world it was rare, but some masterworks had nen and lifeforce imbued with them. I had found a few items that glowed like this in Lex Luthor’s vault, but this one was like an inferno with how much lifeforce exuded off of it. I was surprised how alive yet dead it felt. Alive with life force, but dead with the lack of Haki. 

“What is it?” The witch asked, her inquisitive nature taking root.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Let’s find out.” 

It didn’t take long to find another reading nook. The scroll had pulsed with Haki a few times. Sporadically calling to me as we made our way to the room. Now that it was in my hands I could feel the power it held. Curious if I would be granted some sort of skill or maybe get increased intelligence for reading it, I opened it excitedly. 

It unrolled slowly. The single page of the scroll was weak and stained, but the words were legible. Nothing happened as I scanned the long sheet. With a frown I began to read. As I did, my heart pounded in my chest. 

“What is it?” Scarlet asked. Sitting beside me she didn’t seem to have the skill to decipher it. Luckily the many tablets we had found had an English translation. This low tech scroll did not. The only reason I was probably able to read it was the fact that the System that transferred me there also translated humanoid languages for me. 

“I…-” I didn’t have an answer as I skimmed the single long page. “It’s called the Prophecies of the Phoenix,” I said.

“The Phoenix? A children’s story?” Scarlet scoffed.

“No,” I said, locking eyes with her beside me. “A god-like being. I-I’ve heard of this before.”

“Where?” She asked. So close to me I could smell her. 

“A while ago I went to this auction for the elites in New York. I heard they were selling an item called the Prophecies of the Phoenix back then,” I said. “It went for a lot of money.”

“That was millions of miles away. Do you really think they would have the same literature?” Scarlet asked, leaning forward to get closer to look at the weathered scroll. 

“It’s a prophecy,” I said. “Who knows who sends them to people?” Instead of inviting more interruptions I let out a sigh and began to read. 

“In the beginning there were six beings that saw the creation of all that is, and ever will be,” I read. 

“Oh boy, it’s got the bible intro,” she said.

“Shh,” I said, my eyes fixed on the scroll. She blushed and waited expectantly. I too wanted to know everything inside so I continued on. 

“All that is, and ever would be, was brought forth with a single sentence.”

“A sentence?” She whispered. 

“The universe. One verse,” I clarified. 

“These six beings were all that was, as our worlds were birthed. Yet it was never enough. With existence came strife,” I continued. “Bringing forth the first of the six, Armageddon. The god of war. With his mighty coming allowed the birth of Death herself. Lady Death was there at the beginning, and she would cause the end. With her unholy comeuppance brings forth her counterpart, Divinity. Though it was once finite, Infinity was born. As day turn to night, Eternity blessed each and every one of us. Finally with reality, Galactus was made whole.”

“Fuck me, I’ve heard that name,” She said in a hoarse whisper. Me too, though I didn’t know the others, Galactus and his Silver Surfer were a common foe in Marvel. 

My eyes unable to look from the scroll I tried to scan ahead. “What is this saying?” Scarlet asked.

I looked over to her. “Basically this says that there were six gods in the beginning. Armageddon, Lady Death, Divinity, Infinity, Eternity, and Galactus.” 

“And you believe this?” She asked. 

“It’s written on a weird scroll,” I said with a shrug. Annoyed, I continued on. “These six gods were not aware of one another, but as the unspoken verse expanded, so did their reach. This time was filled with great turmoil. Threatening to break apart what was meant to be. Rather than allow them to continue to fight, the One Above All forced equilibrium upon them.” 

“Whose that?” She asked. 

“I’m guessing a seventh god,” I said. “Doesn’t matter. Shut up.” I eyed her and the inquisitive girl rolled her eyes but nodded. “Good, now…the gods made peace, but it was a facade. Each god had their own tale and story before all that was, came to be. Having survived what was before, they were the few that could push past. Each and every one was the embodiment of…something.” It was too smudged to read. “Their hubris while held back by The One, made them consider other avenues to affect the mortal realms. Thanks to this Accord, each one manifested a gem that entailed the embodiment of their existence. Infinity was the first, granting it the name, Infinity Gem.” I knew of Infinity Stones from the Avenger movies, but couldn’t remember if they were called gems in canon. I guessed it didn’t really matter. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“The universe was vast. Infinity wanted to grant someone he loved the ability to travel impossible distances, and gave them the Infinity Space Gem. This gem was purple like her eyes. When the other gods heard of this, they created their own gems and manifestations of a fraction of their godliness. Armageddon was next, he knew that war was born in the hearts and minds of men and created the Mind Gem. A deep blue, like his home planet. Death followed him. Even from the beginning people wanted to not accept her into their lives. She created the Reality stone, to make them understand that she was inevitable. Yellow like the fear men harbored for her. Then Divinity, obsessed with granting their subjects more in life, created the Soul Gem. Green like the life they so wanted to keep. Next was Galactus, weakest of them all. He was always striving for strength, and created the Power Gem. Red like his anger at the other gods.” 

I let out a sigh. I remembered the Infinity Stones from the movie of course. They never really got into where the stones came from though. Or they did and I wasn’t paying attention, which tended to happen. I was pretty sure they supposedly appeared like the Big Bang itself. Curious if this was canon or not, I pushed on, hoping to figure out what the hell this had to do with the Phoenix. 

“Last was Eternity, hoping they could all come to an end, he created the Time Gem. Orange like the suns that marked his passage. The six sent these stones amongst the mortals. Hoping to see whose power would reign supreme. They watched these wars and power struggles with great interest. Finally something that they could take a part in without breaking covenants. Though this was a dark time, it was far brighter than before. Man fought man for the gems, proving that strength corrupts all.” 

“That was until Death began to lose. Upset, she decided to create something new. Something not covered by the Accords. Because man would fight over the gems, the power was too easily corruptible. Instead she wanted something that would guide her will into the mortal realms. Or more accurately Force them to her whim.” My mouth was dry as I continued to read. 

“An embodiment of her power, she manifested the Nova Force. But even she was not omnipotent. The Force became unruly, not following her direction. Instead the Force escaped, not out into the single verse, but into a small child. The Force laid dormant for many years. Hiding from Death until it was ready. All at once the Force was released, granting the child intense power. To her surprise this became helpful for Death. As the child yearned for yet more power, it left in search of the gems. Eventually they were able to gather two Infinity Gems. A feat that had never been done before, and the other gods took note. Galactus followed next. Creating the Cosmic Force. Again, it became unruly and chose it’s wielder from the near infinite beings out in the sentence. Then Infinity caught on, creating the Void Force. By the time the last three gods heard of this, the stones were under the control of those with a Force. Angered, they did something never seen before or since. Working together to create their own Force. Armageddon, Divinity, and Eternity, made the Phoenix Force. The Phoenix Force was far beyond anything made. It did not hide or escape from the gods, but simply waited. Watched and waited for the right person. As the other Forces caused havoc in the verse, the Phoenix Force chose a single perfect being. One star in the innumerable amount of them. When this child was eventually born, it brought upon the end of all that is known. Histories and knowledge was lost as the Phoenix turned all to ash. The people forgot and rebuilt amongst the ruins of the old worlds. Cursing the name of the gods as they played their games and released the calamities among us.”

My eyes bleary, I could feel power in the words. Amazed by the heavy sense that came over me with each syllable.

“Eventually the Phoenix was laid to rest. All the men and women of the single sentence banded together to end it, but the Phoenix has no end, only new beginnings. It laid dormant. Watching and waiting for that one among many. A single bit of perfection that can wield her and bring about the life, death, and rebirth of all. Even the gods fear her and her passing. All pray ye, all fear ye, oh mighty Phoenix.” More gibberish at the end I trailed off. 

Scarlet and I sat in silence for long seconds as we thought on the implications of this. Carl Danvers had admitted to having the Cosmic Force to us. Which by the words of the prophecy meant a lot of fighting would happen around him. 

Of course my worry was about Jean though. Secretly holding onto the Phoenix Force I started to see why the professor panicked and tried to hide her powers. It sounded like she was strong enough to challenge gods. 

“Why the hell does it smell like you're pissing yourselves,” a gruff voice said, making Scarlet and I jump. We both turned to see Wolverine walk in. Trailing behind him was Quicksilver. 

“No reason,” I said, rolling the scroll back up. Sliding it into my pocket I put it in my subspace for the time being. “He found you then?”

“More like, I found him,” Wolverine said. “Come on. Enough reading, nerds. I think I’ve got an idea where we need to look for answers.”

“What kind of answers?” Scarlet asked. “Breaking our people out or escaping the planet?”

“Both,” Wolverine said in a cocky tone as he chewed a cigar. His Haki was far less confident but I was happy to know he hadn’t been captured. Putting away my worries of the Phoenix for now, I decided to figure out the next step of my quest.