Pandora
Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"
Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'
Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.
All Might/Powerful Beings Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"
All Might/Powerful Beings Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’
All Might/Powerful Beings Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.
Sound Effects: BLAM!
AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"
Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}
A long time ago, before Quirks came into being…
Spider-man, age twenty four, sat in the Quinjet, bouncing his knee. He wasn’t expecting to be pulled out of a job interview for an Avengers mission that day. He was just hoping that he could have gotten into Horizon Labs without dealing with a supervillain, but apparently very few of the Avengers were available, so he was called in, alongside some other heroes that usually weren’t called in to deal with threats of this level.
“Oh, I’m so nervous about this, how about you Tippy-Toe?” Doreen Gray, alias Squirrel Girl, asked her partner, who chittered in response. “You’re a braver mammal than I am.”
The flash of a camera caught everyone’s attention. “I’m just excited that we finally get to ride in an Aven-jet!” Kamala Khan, current bearer of the Miss Marvel mantle exclaimed, her phone out and taking pics.
“I just wish that I could have finished my history class homework first. Also, Tony says the aircraft’s official term is-” Viv Vision, daughter of the Vision, began.
“The Quinjet, I know, but Aven-Jet is much better! It’s much more memorable, and it fits the theme!” Kamala dismissed, using her power to stretch her arm out to the cockpit for the next picture.
“Why’re you taking pics, anyways? You know we can’t share ‘em.” Cassie Lang, hero name Stature, asked.
“Oh, I’m not sharing this, this is just for research.” the Inhuman teenager explained.
“Research?” Spider-man asked.
“For my fanfic! See, I’m doing this new one, where Captain America and Captain Marvel are caught in this space time vortex, taking them to another dimension where they have to survive, using only the supplies on the wrecked Avenjet, while also dealing with insectoid monsters ridden by-”
.:Hate to break this up, but we’re approaching the location of the energy spike.:. Came the voice of their pilot over the loudspeaker. .:Prepare for landing!:.
“Yes, Tigra, ma’am!” Kamala called up front, reeling her arm back in and stashing her phone.
Quentin Beck sighed from his workstation. “This would go a lot faster if you had brought my robots. Or if you told me WHAT exactly you were trying to hide.”
“I’m sure it vould, Herr Beck, but ve cannot risk any outside technology being hacked into. You vill simply have to make due vi-” *cough!* *cough!* *cough!*
Beck glanced up at the speaker, an old man with a monocle and robotic arm, the current leader of HYDRA, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. The baron was leaning over a table, coughing into a handkerchief. One of the soldiers ran forward, carrying a bottle of pills.
“Baron Strucker, are you-” the soldier was struck across the face, falling to the ground as Baron von Strucker glared.
“I do not need your help, dummkopf!” Grabbing the pills, the Germanic baron forced the bottle open and swallowed two pills dry. “Get back to vork, betrüger.” The leader left, grumbling angrily in German. From the few words Beck was able to understand, it sounded as though something called the ‘Death Spore’ was finally taking effect on him.
Rolling his eyes, Mysterio turned back to the machine that they demanded he build with no preparation time. Did it matter that they just scooped him out of that mental hospital? Sure, they were paying him, but it was clear that if he had refused, they would have made sure he wasn’t going to spill any secrets.
Besides… if the new scanning equipment in his suit was right, there was something even more valuable than money on this island.
So Beck played along for now… but like the others who underestimated Mysterio, they would lose everything, and he’d gain it all.
“So, do we have any idea what that energy pulse actually was?” Stature asked. The group had landed on the island, Spider-man and Viv leaving to scout for possible dangers.
“No, the burst didn't last long enough to get a proper reading, but JARVIS says it’s possibly related to the Power Cosmic.” Tigra explained. “Either way, someone’s interested in it, and we need to make sure it isn’t someone like A.I.M. or the Brotherhood.”
“What if it’s someone bad?” Squirrel Girl asked, sniffing the air to see if there was anything approaching.
“Then we stop them, and retrieve the item for safe disposal, or to be sent to Odin’s vault, if it can’t be destroyed.” Tigra looked up, seeing the android and arachnid heroes returning. “What’re we dealing with?”
“HYDRA. It’s not a large base, but they’ve got a lot of troops on patrol.” Viv explained, her expression sour.
“A couple of helicopters, some tanks, and a few turrets. I don't think they’ve been here very long, because a lot of crates are still outside, waiting to be opened.” Spider-man added, to Tigra’s visible annoyance.
“Damn… okay, I’m going to send out a message to Tony and the other Avengers, see if we can get their help with the assault.”
“Hey, while we’re waiting, I’m going to send out Droney to see if he can find out what’s got HYDRA so hush hush.” Spider-man offered, the Spider-emblem on his costume removing itself and forming a small, spider-shaped drone.
Tigra nodded. “Fine, just try not to draw attention to yourself.”
With a mock gasp, Spider-man put a hand over his masked mouth. “Miss Grant, do you not trust me?”
“Well, you have a rep for being kinda loud.” Kamala commented, taking pics of Droney in action.
“Hey, I know how to be subtle when I need to!”
Viv Vision watched the scene in amusement, Tigra rubbing her temples in frustration. “Fine, fine, just be stealthy.”
Spider-man nodded and pulled out what looked like a Nintendo Switch Lite that had been gutted and rebuilt using parts and tools laying around in someone’s garage.
Leaning in, Stature couldn’t help but ask “Where’d you get that thing from?”
“Dumpster diving. Not all of us are genius billionaire playboy philanthropists.” Spider-man admitted casually. “Now hush, I’m trying to focus.”
The heroes all watched Spider-man expertly pilot the little drone to the base without being spotted. In under a minute he located one of the air vents and flew to it, using the little robot’s legs to delicately remove the screws and a small laser to burn away the microfibre mesh screen. Crawling inside, Spider-man navigated Droney through the confusing maze of air ducts.
“Okay, my mask’s picking up some weird readings not far from Droney’s position. I’m going to approach it, see what it could be.”
The five heroes huddled around the Wallcrawler as he navigated his mechanical spider through the air vents. “Wait… I think I’ve found it…” Spidey, focused on his screen, directed his drone to emerge from the air vent, entering a large room. But all that was in it was a desk, some computers, a machine with a lead glass dome atop it, and a table covered in left behind construction tools. “I don’t see anything… but the readings are definitely coming from here.”
Tigra narrowed her eyes, leaning in closer. “Hey Spidey, zoom in on that computer display, the one closest to the machine.” Once Spidey complied, Tigra’s face morphed into one of horror. “Oh god, is that a-”
“AVENGERS!”
The six heroes spun around, a lone Hydra agent staring them down. Grabbing his radio he shouted into it “AVENGERS SPOTTED AT THE- HRMP!”
Though Spidey was quick to web the goon’s mouth shut, an alarm still blared across the island.
“So much for stealth.” Viv muttered.
Sighing, Spider-man set his drone to autopilot, then cracked his neck. “This is where the fun begins.”
Mysterio made his way through the facility, ignoring the HYDRA soldiers around him. They were too busy running towards the fight against the Avengers to pay attention to a low ranking scientist moving against the flow. Soon, though, he made it to his destination: Lab 42. Normally there should have been security around these two doors, but everyone was running, either to fight or escape. Thus it only took a quick laser blast from his gauntlet to get through the door’s lock. At first the room didn’t seem all that special, despite the equipment… but then his suit’s scanners directed him towards the main machine. Looking through the glass, he found himself puzzled when all he saw inside was a cube, glowing a light blue.
.:What is this thing?:.
“An item of utmost power..!”
Without turning around, Mysterio observed Baron Strucker approach, carrying a plasma rifle. “Now step aside so zat I can use its power to change history!”
Raising his hands in surrender, Mysterio moved away from the device in the center. Despite remaining in the crosshairs even as the Baron went to type on the computer one handed, Beck couldn’t help but press for information even as he walked to a nearby table. .:Baron, please… explain what it is that you mean? What is this object?”:.
The Baron, too busy typing to focus on anything else, responded in a curt fashion.
“It iz a Cosmic Cube, an item zat can grant any vish, including creating a vorld vith HYDRA controlling et!”
Backing up to the desk, Beck placed his hands behind his back. .:...and you didn’t use it earlier, why..?:.
Despite clearly getting annoyed, the Baron continued explaining himself. “Ve vere avaiting the arrival of ze other HYDRA heads so ve could negotiate territories, but vith the Avengers here, I am forced to do zis alone. No matter, zey vill not hold a grudge against ze Fuher of ze vorld.”
.:I see… and how exactly does one use this Cosmic Cube?:.
“It ez not rocket science, you dummkopf! All you have to do is touch ze cube and say vhat it is you want.” Baron snapped, but stopped. “Vait, vhy am I explaining all zis?”
.:That would be the suggestibility gas I’ve been spraying out, along with the hypnosis I placed on you when I raised my hands.:.
Stiffening, the Baron turned to Mysterio and opened fire. But while the table and wall were torn apart by plasma, Mysterio himself was unaffected. The Nazi-offshoot only had enough time to mutter out a confused “Vhat…?!” when a wrench made contact with his head, knocking him out. Appearing from his spot, Mysterio dismissed the holographic copy by the desk. Spraying sedative gas into the sleeping Baron’s face, Beck quickly went to work, and removed the baron’s arm, before tying him up with some cables pulled out from one of the inactive computers. Lastly, retrieving his holocube from the table he placed it on, Beck took it to the door and, with a few pre-installed programs, made the door look as though it was still intact. Finished and satisfied that he wouldn’t be interrupted, Mysterio turned to the computer. Inputting a few commands into the machine, the capsule containing the reality altering artifact opened up, its contents ready to be taken and used.
Looking down at the cube, Quentin Beck hesitated in picking the item up. In spite of the bright glow, the cube felt surprisingly cool, almost like it was dipped in the arctic, but there was no frost buildup anywhere.
It would be so easy to use its power to become a god. To make himself immortal.
And he nearly did make that wish… but then he spotted something. On the ceiling there was a robotic drone… one shaped like a spider. As Beck processed this, a memory emerged… a strange tablet that he tried to steal from Empire State University granting him godhood, only to be bested by four different Spider-men.
So Beck turned away from the cube and sat down in a chair, thinking. He wasn’t too worried about the Avengers. The holocubes he spread throughout the base would alert him if they detected anyone approaching him. In any case, he had something that was dangerous… but beneficial if he could just figure out the right thing to ask of it.
But what did he want? Money? That was largely a means to an end for him. It was nice and all, but aside from funding his special effects and escapades, he wasn’t really interested in cash.
Power? The last time he received real magical powers, he got his hand cut off by that Spider-man copycat, and he’d be lucky if that was all he’d get this time. To say nothing of how the Spider would no longer pull his punches if he realized just how powerful his foe had become.
Immortality? Tempting, but when the Spider and what few friends he had died, he’d be left alone with old memories. And while he did enjoy being Mysterio on occasion, there were times when he regretted ever coming up with the persona. No, it’d be better to leave this world when his time came, and give the costume to someone else.
Ruling the world? Definitely not. He liked to pull strings from behind the scenes, sure, but he’d never actually take command, not even as a shadow ruler. Politics and leadership were unappealing, and taking command like Norman did to SHIELD was just asking for the Avengers to attack him.
He had already cleared his debt to… that entity , so there was no need to try and wish that away. Besides, there wasn’t any proof that Mephisto or some other demon would find a way to undo it.
Perhaps he could wish for a clean slate. Go back to Holywood, but be someone famous in the movie business as director, writer, and special effects man. That was appealing… but what’s to stop him from eventually just being another name in a history textbook? Sure, he would be alongside Kubrick, Hitchcock, and Speilberg, but Hollywood was always shifting and changing its attention, and he refused to be relegated to a mere footnote in a textbook! A man who could go toe to toe with Spider-man despite lacking powers or a billion dollar set of power armor did not deserve to-
Wait.
Wait a second..!
Sitting up, Beck knew exactly what he wanted.
And after only a minute of thinking of his words, Beck reached forward, grabbing the cube with both hands.
Spider-man was panicking. The last image he got from Droney before his controller got blasted was the sight of a Nazi criminal about to release the cube from containment. Unfortunately he couldn’t go inside because he was dealing with several large robots.
Meanwhile, Kamala Kahn was slapping away tank shells with her massive hands, bending the barrels back towards the cockpit. Squirrel Girl was slashing away with her claws, leaping from person to person like her namesake. Viv, already upset at having to be called in, was taking out her frustration by blasting the helicopters that flew overhead with lasers, or flying through them to mess with the circuitry. Stature was fending off a massive skull… octopus… robot ship thing with her bare hands, utilizing wrestling moves to pile drive the machine into scrap.
Lastly, Tigra was taking on the HYDRA Troops alongside Spider-man, her claws doing painful, but nonlethal damage to the human troops while decapitating the mechanical ones with ease.
*Pfft!* *Pfft!*
Spidey groaned in annoyance, recognizing the sound of empty webshooters. Unfortunately, with the area being an active battlefield, he couldn’t stop to reload. Especially since one of the robots was about to blast him with superheated plasma. “Ah, krabby patties.”
*“BWOOM!”*
Luckily, a laser tore through the robot before it could open fire. The perpetrator being none other than a man wearing red and gold armor, blasting out a classic rock song from several hacked speakers.
“Sorry we’re late!” From above the island, three more figures appeared: a man in a red, white, and blue suit with a round shield, a blonde haired viking warrior carrying a hammer that crackled with power, and a massive muscle bound powerhouse with green skin. Captain America landed in the middle of the battle, throwing his shield with such precision that it took down fifteen HYDRA soldiers before returning to him. Hulk & Thor, meanwhile, went to town on the remaining mechs.
“...also, did you seriously just say ‘Ah, Krabby Patties?’”
“I don’t like cussing.” Spider-man said defensively.
After only a few minutes, the machines were reduced to spare parts, and the soldiers were taken down and rounded up.
“Well, now that that’s settled, we can go inside and-” Ironman stopped talking, an alert appearing on his HUD. The same thing happened on Spidey’s end, and he felt his heart plummet into his stomach.
“No, no, no, we’re too late!”
A massive wave of pure white light expanded from the facility. Just before it hit, he heard a crash, and then a massive explosion in the distance. Spider-man could only think of a single sentence before the light washed over him.
‘I’m sorry Aunt May… Mary Jane… Mayday… Miles… I failed…’
A few seconds passed. Spider-man blinked, the light slowly fading… to reveal the island base to be exactly as it was before the flash of light.
“...what just happened?” Kamala asked.
Blinking spots out of his eyes, Thor stared at where the detonation had occurred. “That… that was the cosmic cube, I’m sure of it…!”
“But then… what changed??”
“Uh, Spidey! Thoughts on HYDRA?” Squirrel Girl asked.
“They’re a group of nazi-derived jerks who should not be in charge of the world.” Spidey instantly responded.
“So Hydra’s not ruling the world…” Captain America muttered. “So then… someone else must have used it! But who?”
“That would be me.”
Everyone turned to the entryway of the HYDRA base, where a man with a bowl cut and strange eye pendant emerged, dragging Baron von Strucker behind him.
Naturally, Spidey was the only one who recognized him. “Beck?! What are you doing… Oh no, what kind of crazy powers did you get?! Laser visions?! Turning into a swarm of eyeballs?! Mind Reading?!”
“No, nothing like that. I didn’t want superpowers or magic.” Beck assured the group. “I made a wish on the Cube, yeah, but not to gain any powers.”
“Wait… you had what was basically Aladdin’s lamp in your hands, and you didn’t even wish to become a god or anything?!” Spider-man asked, incredulous. “This doesn’t make sense!! You’ve sought out magical powers before!! What makes this time different??”
Quentin Beck sighed, slumping his shoulders. “It’s just like you said, Spider-man; I’ve obtained godlike powers in the past… and each time, what should happen, but you show up and beat me down!! Or you get several parallel Spider-men to help beat me up! Or your Scarlet Spider friend chops off my hand!!” he threw his hands into the air, shaking them in frustration. “I get maybe an hour of godhood in exchange for months of staying in the prison hospital recuperating!” Calming down, the supervillain lowered his arms. “No… I’m not going to retread that plotline, Spider-man… so instead I simply wished for I, and by extension the identity of Mysterio, to be well remembered by the coming generations, even amongst the most powerful and greatest of heroes and villains that come after.”
‘And to find a worthy person to take up my identity.’ The villain mused to himself.
“...well… that’s not… so bad I guess.” the arachnid hero muttered. “But then… what was that explosion we heard?”
“Oh, that was my fault. You see, I rigged up a means to destroy the cube after granting my wish.”
“Wait, you DESTROYED the Cosmic Cube?!” Flying down, Iron Man’s faceplate retracted to show an appalled Tony Stark. “That cube holds power unlike anything the world has ever seen, and you just smashed it?!”
“Technically, I rigged my illusion suit to overload its power cells and self-destruct whilst containing said cube, then sent one of HYDRA’s robots into the air while wearing it, but yes.” Noting their incredulous stares, Beck shrugged. “I didn’t want someone like Mr. Sinister or Dr. Doom doing anything that could affect my wish.”
“Besides? What’s the worst that destroying it could do?”
Nine months later…
On a cloudy day, a woman laid by the bank of a Japanese river, screaming at the top of her lungs. Despite the noise she made, no one was around to hear her cries. Even if they had, she was certain they wouldn’t help her. Her Mutation made sure of it, the stubby bone spikes spread across her body giving her an inhuman appearance. So she was alone, screaming at the top of her lungs as she was forced to expel a brand new life form.
She should have been at a hospital, and in fact she was on her way there… but her pregnancy had taken a toll on her. Every day, she felt weakened and drained, as if she had been carrying a parasite inside of her. She was certain the cause of it was the father, a westerner whose name she never got. She was certain he had powers, though she was unsure what they were. It probably didn’t matter. She hadn’t seen him again since that day.
With a final scream, came sweet relief… and the cries of an infant.
Looking down, the woman weakly pulled a small form towards her, crying nonstop. He was so small… thin… he looked weak, as though he was about to die any second. Even his hair, the few thin wisps she could see, were sickly white, and his skin looked tight over his bones. She was tempted, sorely tempted to put the child out of its misery, before sickness got to him first… but then he opened his eyes. Beautiful green eyes looked into her own… and all other thoughts vanished save for one.
‘He’s my son… and he’s beautiful.’
Pulling her child close, she allowed the child to feed, her thoughts occupying her otherwise. She hadn’t wanted a child, she could barely take care of herself, and had to degrade herself just for grocery money, but she promised that she would do all she could to see this boy live.
Unfortunately, fate had a different plan.
Before she could get up, a new wave of pain shot through her. She pulled the newborn closer, even as sharp pain shot through her, worse than when her child was emerging. She felt terrible, awful, like a piece of her soul was being ripped out. The pain seemed to gather around the bone stubs on her body. In an instant, the spikes vanished, collapsing into dust.
The woman stared in shock at her now normal looking arm… before screaming in agony as a new spike of bone shot through her gut, tearing a hole through her. Keeping a grip on her son, the woman fell back to the ground, screaming as… something forced its way out of her abdomen. Even as the thing ripped itself free, the woman kept her son close, shielding his eyes from the nightmare she had to have been experiencing.
Her vision blurred, the pained tears flowing from her eyes without restraint. She only had enough cognition to see that the thing that tore out of her looked vaguely like a human boy with a head of thick white hair… only it had spikes of bone all over its form…
Feeling her mind fading, all she could think about was the creature staring at her… and its eyes… how they were the same color as its father’s, and her last thoughts were of her praying that the monster drowned before it could spread its inherited evil to the world.