A jump across Timelines...

Lunar Orbit (Earth 617)

The Meteorite sailed past the Kree Scout Vessel in orbit around the Moon.

“Track the approach,” the mission commander said with a yawn.

“I have been ever since it changed course, the question is what does he want with it?” The sensor operator said.

That sent a wave of commotion across the bridge of the small vessel.

The commander slammed her fist down on a consul and everyone stopped talking.

“What do you mean,” the Commander asked, “Since it changed course?”

The Sensor Operator entered a few commands and the situation display hologram projectors illuminated and displayed the area of space around the ship. The Star, locations of the planets and the third planets moon were depicted. A gold dot was highlighted and with a few more buttons a cone appeared ahead of the dot as it became a path across space. With another few keys a curved series of line segments appeared ahead of the gold dot and then the time indicator showed it was now being played back at an accelerated speed. The Gold Dot followed the dashed path as it swung away from the dark side of the moon, towards the planet below and was changing it’s path to a different point on the planet in a series of arcs.

“The Meteorite should have hit here,” the sensor operator pointed, “And either skipped off the surface, broken up, or both. Now it is going to land on the third planet.”

“What did you mean when you asked ‘what does he want with it?’ Who?” the Mission commander asked.

The sensor operator hit some more buttons and the hologram changed to be a view of the planet below them, a section called ‘Europe,’ or some variation in the local dialects. There was one section in a dark green with a black mask indicating a particular country. There were only a few dozen or so ‘Earthlings’ that warranted the attention of the Kree and far fewer that warranted the fear of the Supreme Inelegance. Doom was on of them. A cone appeared as the playback continued and it enveloped the whole of Latveria. But it was soon shrinking and the commander noted that the cone was staying over a mountain top lake. The Mission Commander reached in and tapped the feature to increase it’s size, only to find a wire frame model with notes about topographic data from past survey missions.

“Why would he try to kill his own people?” another crew member asked, “Isn’t that much even for that tyrant?”

“I am not sure he means to kill his people,” the Mission Commander noted, “There are maybe five beings on that planet that could catch a meteorite without people destroying the area around the impact site. Doom is at the top of the list of those beings. Why does he want that meteorite?”

“Perhaps it has that that ‘Vibranum’ stuff the Terrans are so fascinated with?” the communications officers offered.

“No… It has a Klyntar in it!” the sensor operator shouted, “There is one of parasites in it!”

“Is it an Agent of the Cosmos?” The Tactical Officer asked, “Or a feral?”

“Unknown,” The sensor operator said, “But if he wants them, then we cannot risk him using them to destroy the galaxy!”

“Engines to full power!” the Mission Commander shouted, “Target that Meteorite and destroy it before it reaches the atmosphere!”

*

Gotham City, Connecticut, United States, Earth (Earth 025)

Belfrey Secure Links

[B1] Everyone on line?

[R1] Kind of hard not to notice this.

[A1] Yeah, what hot wings said.

[R3] What the hell is going on?

[A2] What are your orders sensi?

[A3] There is a crack head dressed like a mummy here!

[AP] Your suspicions are confirmed, Professor William Omaha McElroy of Yale University, is trying to open his ‘star gate.’

[A1] Stargate? Like the movie or the TV shows?

[B1] In this case it is an interdimensional gateway. That is why those things we found were all dated from the 1960’s. He crossed timelines into our world. And now he is trying to get to the realm of the Gods.

[R1] Is that all? Why don’t we get him a Mother box and send him on express boom tube to hell?

[R3] I am sure him and big Dee could form a great slam poetry duel.

[AP] By these readings his home made ‘boom tube’ may destroy the city if it fully activates.

[A3] What the hell is with these whack jobs dressed like mummies?

[B1] Those are the missing persons reported by the homeless shelters and the outreach programs, McElroy made a sort of hypnotic gas that convinced them that they are his eternal slaves from the afterlife.

[R3] Spoiler duck, I am coming around on a line!

[B1] Robin, Black Bat, Spoiler, you three handle the mummies and do it loud so McElroy focuses on you. Nightwing and Batgirl, infiltrate and take out the power to the building…

[R1] What are you going to do?”

[AP] Isn’t it obvious? This King Tut is about to face the Batman.

*

Castle Doom, Latveria, Earth (Earth 617)

“Lord Doom, there is an alien space ship following your prize,” a woman said from one of the control stations.

Doom tried to remember the name that went with the voice. Not that it mattered, but little things tended to make the minions work that much harder for him.

“Miss Hofer, bring it up on screen,” Doom intoned calmly.

“Yes my lord,” the woman said with a smile on her voice.

It was inconsequential, he had already signed the order to terminate her and all her coworker when this project was completed. Doom turned his attention to the camera feed coming in from the series of robots that had latched onto the meteorite he needed. The cameras scanned around until they spotted the craft coming after them. It was a Kree scout craft, one or two were always just beyond the Earthy Treaty boundaries, but it was not a full warship.

“Activate the self-defense systems on the recovery probes,” Doom intoned calmly.

Doom knew that that would create problems with SWORD, SHEILD, NASA, the ESA and the Russian Space Command. Part of how the Latverian Space Exploration Agency had gotten around sanctions was a guarantee that no weapons would be brought into space. But this close to getting his hands on the Adamantium his hands.

“They are firing at the meteorite,” another technician said as one of the camera feeds turned to static.

That should make things easier, no weapons fire, just the Kree destroying his probes and then getting hit by the debris knocked loose. Cannisters flew out towards the Kree ship and exploded as they got close. Most of the blasts were deflected off the ship’s shielding. But a question nagged at Doom.

“Run a new spectrum analysis. What is are the Kree so interesting in?” Doom intoned.

The main display on the wall in front of Doom changed and projected the incoming results of the scans. In the surrounding displays were the camera feeds of the retrieval probes launching canisters of explosives at the Kree ship.

“Lord Doom?” A communications Technician spoke up, “Commander Brand of Sword is calling for you…”

“Center bottom screen,” Doom said.

“Victor, what is the hell is going on?” The green haired woman was rather flush.

“I was hoping you could tell me Abby,” Doom snapped, “I briefed all of you on the planned test for the Interception-Harvest system for the last three years. Why is some alien warship attacking my meteorite?”

“I seem to recall that you said it was discovered by the Soviets back in the day,” Brand interjected.

“I am not concerned about who discovered it, or named it,” Doom took one arm from behind his back and pointed at a screen next to her image, “I am concerned about the fact that it has what amounts to millions of US dollars of high tech equipment being blasted by aliens, equipment meant to steer that meteorite into a specific location in the center of my nation, surrounded by my citizens that was mandated by the rest of the world’s governments as a condition to test the viability of my meteorite defenses system.”

“How much faith do you have in your system now? Brand asked frankly.

Doom went from pointing at a screen to a group of minions behind him. A monitor put up updated trajectories.

“As long as the meteorite holds current trajectory, it should be caught by the interceptor-harvester system,” Doom said.

“And you don’t have any idea why they want to keep you from getting that meteorite?” Brand asked.

“All our scans show it to be 98 percent Iron Ore, with maybe enough adamantium to make a nice helmet,” Doom intoned coldly, “And the United States Government has two hundred thousand times that amount at their Yuka Mountain facility.

*

Gotham Life Building, (Earth 025)

The man had been working out, that much was clear. He might have had some belly fat left, but he had been taking mixed martial arts lessons and getting into fights. That didn’t put him on the level of Batman, but still, it meant that McElroy wasn’t just a pudgy blow hard.

“None shall stand in the way of Tutankhamun’s entry into the realm of Ra, and my immortality!” the former professor bellowed as he swung the Solid bronze staff at Batman’s head.

Batman grabbed the staff.

“No one stopped the boy king, but you are just an imposter with a mental disorder!” Batman snapped before using the leverage and the staff to throw the man dressed in Pharos drag across the roof top.

“And We got it!” Batgirl called over the cowl mounted communications system

“What?” McElroy shouted as the power to the roof top went off and the whole place went dark, “Cleopatra, engage the auxiliary!”

“Did he say Cleopatra?” Spoiler asked over the comms, “She wasn’t even Egyptian!”

“Fat, old white guy who claims to be the famous boy king?” Nightwing retorted, “I don’t think he give a flying…”

All around the roof the machined powered back up as the whatever the unseen henchwoman had done worked.

“I am looking for the bitch now!” Batgirl said.

Over his head the crudely constructed ring on the pillars started to power up.

*

Castle Doom (Earth 617)

It was clear to Doom now, the adamantium was not there by accident, or by nature, it was placed there with intent. The fact that it was the size of his helmet was also not an accident. It was a vessel to hold a symbiote. Doom didn’t know if this one would be like that Mayhem, or Anti-Venom or a monster like Venom, Toxin, and Carnage. But it could not be allowed to get free here on Earth. There were already to many close calls with those monsters! The only hope was that the Interceptor-Harvester system.

Another man’s face took up one of the monitors in front of him.

“What do you want?” Doom asked with more calm and patience than he felt.

“I am calling on behalf of STRIKE,” the man said relaxing in a chair, “It seems you got a breach forming in your territory. So either knock it the fuck off, or get your defenses ready.”

“I am currently dealing with other problems, where exactly is this breach?” Doom said.

“Right over that lake you renamed for your mommy,” the agent smiled, “Did anyone tell you just how adorable that little act was? Warmed my heart when I heard about it.”

“I am sure you are aware what else is going on?” Doom made sure to make the statement drip with malice.

“That Kree ship is blasting your meteorite off course?” the Strike commander smiled, “Well maybe if we are all lucky things will just sort themselves out. I am sure you have a handle on it regardless, I got a baseball game to take my kids to. Have a nice day Vicky…”

The screen changed back to a display of the remaining robot probes attached to the meteorite.

*

Kree Scout Ship, Low Earth Orbit (Earth 617)

“What is that energy reading?” the Mission Commander asked.

“Unknown,” the sensor operator said, “It doesn’t match the reading from the mountain lake complex.”

“Another blasted bomb is coming at us!” the tactical officer said.

The crew of the Kree scout vessel were watching as the meteorite plummeted down into the atmosphere of the planet.

“I have identified the energy, it is like that described in the prophecy of Ultimus!” The senor operator said.

“Ultimus here?” the Mission Commander shouted, “Now? Why?”

“I don’t know,” the sensor operator said, “but the energy is forming a riff right in the path of that meteorite!”

“Keep shooting it!” The Mission Commander yelled at the weapons operators.

The Scouting vessel kept plunging after the meteorite as gravity had long since taken control of it’s decent. They watched as the blasts tore apart the meteorite and then it plunged into a blue ring. The ring closed and the Scouting Vessel was left heading towards the planet.

“Change course, break off and get us back into lunar orbit!” The Mission Commander panicked.

*

Castle Doom.

You could hear a pin drop. Silence hung in the air. Until one of the technicians cleared his throat and spoke.

“Lord Doom, we have failed you. We await your justice at the hands of your Doom-bots,” the man said with resignation.

“Are you familiar with the term ‘Deux Ex Machinus’?” Doom asked.

“Greek for ‘God from the Machine.’ It refers to the practice of lowering an actor playing the role of a god down to the stage from a sort of crane in Greek Plays,” the man said.

“The Doom-bots will have to wait,” Doom said, “I want all of you to work on the energy readings from that portal. That might serve as a much more efficient means of protecting us from meteorites.”

Doom turned and walked towards the exit. No one was sure if they would live throw the night.

*

Roof of the Hispaniola Packing Plant, (Earth 025)

Spoiler and Black Bat had managed to get most of the ‘mummies’ to chase them up to the roof, Robin was jumping from building to building knocking the goons off the fire escapes. Spoiler punched a crack-whore she recognized and then tossed him into the river below.

“Hate that guy,” Spoiler said.

“Guard!” Black Bat called.

“Get down!” Batman’s voice called over the comm channel.

Spoiler looked up and froze as a big rock flew up out of the portal on top of the building down the street and then was struck by multiple blasts of energy and exploded. In a panic, Stephanie shot a line to get out of the path of the blast, but something struck her and knocked her into the river.