Challengers to Your Corners
12/25/1948, Peterson Residence, Blue Harbour
The group had been enjoying themselves with a passion right now and as they did so, Nay had looked towards the group, “Are we going to go caroling?” She asked of them, Dorma who had arrived came over and smiled towards the girl, “I would be more than happy to take you, but Namor is scared because he usually gets in trouble.” she told them and hearing that, Namor scoffed while Nammu cackled towards them.
At least until the man saw that there was a gift that had his name on it, making him smirk until Veronica and Randal had noticed that there was something that made the two confused as they noticed how there was something that made the two confused as they went and started to walk over to the window where they saw that there was an old comic there that made them confused.
“Meranno?” Randal asked, looking to see that there was something that made him curious as he went and started to observe everything that was off about it, some of the words were cut out, there was ink from a pen writing on it, and also there appeared to be… is that The Scarlet Centurion?” Veronica asked, having heard some stories about him from Namor when he worked with The Squadron Supreme.
Namor was curious and took it, looking and seeing that there was something off, making the man confused on what it could mean, “Guess we know what I’m doing for Christmas.” he said and hearing that, the others had gotten confused by that before they started to pray that the man would be safe at the moment with whatever it is that’s going on thanks to that comic.
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12/25/1948, Blue Harbour, Maine
Namor had been walking down the street, looking around with curiosity before the man saw that there was something that was looking to be some sort of fake Meranno armor that made him confused before Namor realized that there was a resemblance to the man he hated, “Meranno.” he snarled towards the Atlantean who only gave a look before walking off.
As he did, Namor was glad that he had the armor on hand as the man went and started to approach him and as he did so, the man turned and pulled out a device, “The Scarlet Centurion wanted me to bring you here.” he said, making the Royal run forward, ready to tear him apart before there was something which sucked him inside, making Namor scream in pain as he was taken away.
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12/25/1948, Arena, Pocket Space
The Prince had arrived there, gasping from the strange feeling that he felt before looking around and saw that there was weaponry and gear that was there, seeing how things were so… so off as he noticed the weaponry that was there before he had been hit by an attack, some weapon had stabbed into his back making the Prince snarl, turning to Meranno, “Thank you! And welcome!”
That made the Prince turn and see that it was Meranno with the blade and it made him want to attack him before he realized that it wasn’t Meranno who had spoken, it was something that looked like a man that wore white fur appearing almost like a gorilla with pointed ears, wearing a loincloth and some sort of ceremonial clothes as well as a large ruby amulet.
“Greetings Champions! I am A Servant of The Grandmaster! Arbiter! And I will be more than happy to arbitrate your math!” he said, snapping his fingers, making the two of them look towards each other in shock and confusion before the field started to change, making the pair go to attack the Arbiter, only for them to be enveloped in light and taken who knew where this time.
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Namor had appeared somewhere else, somewhere that looked to be… illogical, impossible, somewhere that looked like an island, but there was ruins that looked impossible, futuristic and strange, making the Atlantean confused as he saw that there was a large A that made him confused, “What is all of this–?” “WELCOME CHAMPIONS NAMOR MCKENZIE AND MERANNO THE HERETIC!”
The made them confused and a bit curious about what this man was saying before they realized that there were weapons before them, “YOU MAY CHOOSE ONLY ONE WEAPON AND YOU MAY CEASE FIGHTING AFTER DEATH OR SURRENDER!” The Arbiter asked and hearing that, the two of them gave looks before Meranno spoke, “I wanted to leave you stranded here,” he told Namor.
“But not to worry, I’m going to enjoy tearing you apart before I make you watch me murder everything you care about.” The man said and hearing that, the Prince snarled as he twirled a trident that was there, an A on it as he saw Meranno grab a pair of scimitars that were on hand, making the two of them start to circle each other right now and as they did so, the Arbiter spoke.
“BEGIN!!!” The Arbiter shouted but neither one of them had to be told twice as they went and charged towards each other, both of them going to attack each other with weapons at the ready and as they looked, the pair of them went and clashed, his Trident hitting the first blade while the second one had barely grazed the left side of his ribs, giving a small cut as he went to punch.
The Atlantean using the gauntlet at full power and as he did so, the man went to headbutt him hard, making him snarl in rage before he drew his blades back and go into a cyclone to attack him, but there was nothing that Namor would be able to back away and then kick at him, but Meranno threw a scimitar and used his claws, glad for the poison as he hit him, but all he hit was a greave.
Namor smirked towards his opponent before going to leap into the water where he saw there were some razor sharp spines that were there and it made the group shocked by the sight until there was an idea in his head, looking, the man had seen that there was something odd in those spines, there were corpses there, looking towards him as if there were alive.
Shocked by the sight, he went to get up to try and get away from whatever had made them when he saw that there was Meranno who had leapt down with a manic smile on his face, going to stab into the face of Namor when one of the skeletons had tried to grab at them both before grabbing onto the ankle of Meranno, starting to drag him downwards into whatever they were.
“Come on!” Namor shouted, stabbing the skull of the skeleton that held him before grabbing him, “Come on! We need to go!” Namor said towards him, going and starting to pull him up but as he did so, the man noticed that there was one of them that had went to grab at Namors armor and then another went and grabbed at Meranno’s helmet, tearing it off as they started to move upwards.
The two of them got onto the surface and looked towards each other as they got onto the ground and that was when Namor saw that there was a face that was much older than anything he could have ever imagined, “What happened to you?” he asked of his old enemy who snarled towards him, “The Scarlet Centurion is a time traveler, think.” He snapped towards him.
“And the asshole thought that it would be fun to trick me into this hellhole.” he snapped as The Arbiter had appeared before them, making the two of them glare towards the man, “You are supposed to be fighting! Why do you dishonor this arena with your calm?” he questioned of them, making the two of them scowl, “We were tricked into fighting here, you idiot.” Meranno snapped towards him, making The Arbiter snarl now, his amulet glowing brighter.
“It does not matter! If you have come here, then you must face the consequences!” The Arbiter had snarled and hearing that, the two of them glared towards each other before they both nodded towards each other, both of them picked up some of the weapons that were there, Namor having found an ax and Meranno with a gladius and knife that he had picked up, the two of them at the ready.
“Oh–ho, you wish to fight me?” he snarled with a grin towards them, “Then I am going to enjoy this.” The man said and as he went to summon a whip made of lightning connected to a crimson gauntlet, “Then let us!” he shouted, going to whip them and as he aimed towards Namor, Meranno pushed him forward and getting him hurt by the attack that he inflicted.
The Prince had snarled in pain, getting electrocuted and making the man go to get the whip off while Meranno leapt onto the man there with a snarl, trying to tear him apart but as he tried, The Arbiter had seemed to almost be uninjured by the slash, instead the attack started to be absorbed into the amulet before all of a sudden a slash shot out towards the two of them.
Seeing that, the two of them dodged to avoid the attack from him, shocked by the sight before they started to think, “Necklace, we need to get–” “I’m not blind yet!” Meranno shouted out, making the two of them furious, at the ready to tear off the necklace while the man had laughed towards before he went and started to blast at them with strange attacks that they had never see before.
Whips made of bone went to attack the two of them but the pair were able to avoid everything, to get close and as they started to get closer and closer towards the sight before they had seen that there was flesh connected to the amulet, as if it had fused to his flesh and making the man smile towards the sight before Meranno grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back.
He was about to slash through his throat before Namor stopped him, hitting his claws with the blunt side of the blade he glared towards the man, “We don’t know if this place will be destroyed if you do that!” he shouted to Meranno, making the man glare but nod towards that as he went to claw off the necklace, working to tear off the item with all of the force he could gather.
Eventually he had been able to get it off covered in viscera and blood, but the moment that he did so, The Arbiter had looked towards them with surprise and fear, “You fools! That is The Container of The Losers!” he shouted out towards them, making the pair of them confused as they saw that there were changes now, the arena before them was starting to crack and remold into… into something else.
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The three of them appeared in the center of the arena and as they looked towards everything, the two Atlanteans confused by what was happening when they noticed that there was… there were people that had looked towards them with rage, wanting to attack them, more specifically, they were looking towards The Arbiter with venom in their eyes, “YOU!” One of them who had spiked scaled on his body.
“You had imprisoned us! Used our powers against others to claim their powers!” He shouted towards the man, making the two of them look towards the man, “It was what I was designed for by The Grandmaster.” he explained towards the two of them and hearing that, the Atlanteans looked before Namor spoke, “You are going to release us once we save you, understood?” He demanded.
The Arbiter had nodded towards that before picking up a spear and shield, Meranno and Namor each picked up a set of blades, both of them at the ready to fight before turning to the others that were there, “You will not take him, he WILL return us home.” Namor said and hearing that, Meranno gave a shout as he and Namor both went and started to charge forth to attack them.
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The two of them had started to sit on the pile of defeated, they had hacked and slashed, Namor using his suits powers while Meranno had used the advancements that he acquired during the war, but both of them relied on the same thing, their power, their strength and abilities that would give them the strength to overcome the opponents there with all of their skills and knowledge they acquired.
And with those abilities and enough grit that they earned from a lifetime of fighting back home, in The Battlefield and over their whole lives, they were barely able to win, “Thank… Poseidon… you could fight…” Meranno said towards The Arbiter who gave a smile, “I was taught how to fight since my creation… not to mention there have been plenty who wished me dead after their loss.
But The Atlanteans didn’t care, instead they had got up and looked towards the man, “So… how are you going to send us home?” Namor asked and hearing that, The Arbiter spoke, “Since you had defeated the enemy, I think it only fair that you both shall return home.” He explained, making both of them glad, “Of course you shall both return to your proper times with your reward.” he explained.
Hearing that, the two of them were about to say something about that before they had both been pulled away from everything it seemed and as they were pulled away, the pair of them no longer a part of The Arena and now they were gone, the losers were as well, The Arbiter could not risk them there again, he was thinking on hoe he was going to get through this before there was a noise.
Someone had come in and looking, The Arbiter had been confused, looking towards everything before he realized that there was a individual who he had been warned of, “You– You’re The Scarlet Centurion!” The Arbiter had shouted towards the man and hearing that, the man just waved him off as he went and started to head towards the fallen.
“Well then… not everything I wanted, but I knew that when I sent the two of them here.” Nathaniel said towards him, The Arbiter ready to fight him when The Conqueror snapped his fingers and The 4–D Man, or who preferred MacAxton in his actual time, appeared and that made The Arbiter freeze, terrified that he was going to do, “4–D Man–” “Come on, I thought I retconned it already to MacAxton!” he snapped.
The 4–D ManMacaxton said towards them with a glare, or at least what they assumed was a glare and hearing that, The Scarlet Centurion had raised his hands, “I apologize, The 4–D ManMacaxton–.” He started to say before realizing that he had said the other name, “That is annoying.” He said towards him before looking back to The Arbiter who was terrified of MacAxton, “Well then, time to reward him.”
MacAxton nodded as he snapped his fingers and all of a sudden, some sort of copy of the defeated before they had entered his amulet, giving him the powers of before, “There, you get your powers without any issues, and we will be on our way with our new army.” The Scarlet Centurion said towards The Arbiter who had looked towards them, “The Grandmaster will–”
“Never know.” MacAxton said towards the man with a snap of his fingers, “You’re in the wrong time, and the one in the 20th Century will never know! I’ll make sure!” The being said towards the man, making MacAxton start to snap his fingers three times through three hands, first the details had vanished, than the three of them had vanished and finally the scene had cut to nothing.
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12/26/1948, Kendal Residence, New Canaan
The girl had looked towards the presents that were there and as she saw them, she also saw that there was something else, something that made her confused, it was from Autumn Snow and Shurrea and as the girl went to pick it up, she realized that there was something off about it, something that made her curious as she opened it and saw that inside of the box was a whistle that she blew curious.
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12/26/1948, Secret Space
Cass had opened her eyes and found herself in a drawing room of some sort that held three seats, three seats that made the girl grin as she went and sat in a seat that was definitely made for her, and as she sat, Shurrea and Autumn Snow were there as well, looking towards the her with a smile towards everything that was there before going to hug the two of them, “Shurrea! Autumn!”
The two of them chuckled towards that before she gave them both a look towards the each other, “What is this place?” Cass asked, seeing there was another whistle there as the pair gave each other a glance, “You know that we’ve been… busy.” Shurrea said, “Yeah, Phil told me.” Cass said towards them which made Autumn smile, “That’s why we made this place for the three of us.” The Fae said.
“Somewhere where we can just talk and not worry about… anything.” He continued while Cass was thinking, “Did the whistle teleport me?” she asked of him, making Shurrea shake her head, “Half of your mind was brought here, the other is still at home, talking to your family, and when you return, it’ll go back.” Shurrea explained which made the girl amazed.
“So we can come and go whenever we want?” Cass asked of them and hearing that, they started to think, “How about Noon tomorrow and every day afterwards? We can do it for an hour?” Autumn Snow said and hearing that, the others were in agreement with that, “Of course… that should be more than enough time for us to be together.” Cass said, smiling widely towards them.
“So how do we leave?” she asked of them, making Shurrea look towards Autumn Snow who nodded, “All you need to do is blow the whistle here.” The boy said and hearing that, they each took their own whistle and raised them to their respective lips, “See you tomorrow at noon.” Cass said towards the others before she blew her own whistle, bringing her back to her home.
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12/26/1948, Kendal Residence, New Canaan
The girl had remembered everything as well as the fact that there was memories from when she was here and smiling, Cass had went to look at the whistle and it made her start to look towards the others and smiling, “This is one of the best Christmases ever!” She had shouted towards them and hearing that, the rest of The Kendals had grinned towards her as well as they enjoyed the day.
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1/1/1949, Blue Harbour, Maine
The Prince and his Cousin had been walking back from the beach, the two of them enjoying themselves before they had seen that there was something which made the man confused by the sight of some sort of star that was crashing towards them and seeing that, the pair rushed towards the star crash in question and as they started to approach the crater, the two of them saw what was in there.
It was Solar Flare and Doctor Spectrum, the two of them had been lost since that attack and seeing them, the two had been surprised, going and starting to head over to the beings and as they did so, the Prism started to twirl and spin before it aimed towards the two of them before Joe woke up, glaring towards them as he got up, “Harry! Flash!” Joseph had shouted out.
Hearing that, the other man started to power up and as he did so, the man realized that there was the two of them, making the Soldier start to laugh, “We’re back… WE’RE BACK!” He shouted out with a laugh and hearing that, the Doctor started to laugh as well, tears on his face as he looked to his friend, “What the Hell? How did you guys get back here?” The Prince asked of them.
Hearing that, the two of them looked around, trying to figure out what exactly had happened before the Doctor had gotten up, “We need to get back to the others… and we lost our rings–” “How did you lose those?” Bobo asked, having been told by Namor how important they were, “We had to do many things to survive.” Joseph said towards him as Namor went to embrace them both.
“It’s good to have you both back.” He said towards them, making the duo smile, happy for the kind words it seemed as they sank into the embrace, glad for it now, “Come on, we can use mine to get you to Fort Erskine.” he said, making the pair of them smile towards that now as they went and started to head over somewhere private so that they could reunite them with the Team.