Excalibur by David Wheatley

The four strangers were waiting, alone in a corridor of realities, waiting for their gatherer to return. They had been mingling, talking with each other, finding out who they were and getting to know each other, for if they were going to save the Omniverse, they needed to be a little more familiar with each other. However it had not been as easy as that, and it had taken some work to bring the company together.

Adam Destine was the typical patriarch, overseeing things, facilitating matters and pulling the others together, and he also knew this place as well, as he had been here before. Brian Braddock, who had been here first was back in his civilian identity and he had been stunned to see Elisabeth Braddock arrive. Not his sister, but a variant of her and they had been wary of each other at first, but no matter what reality they were from there was a definite brother and sister connection between them. Adam had helped push them together, as he done with so many of his own children and it made him feel glad that he had been able to do it with these two. They were different from the people he knew, harder and colder, but he had not lived their life, her had not seen what they had and from what he could tell it had not been an easy existence.

While the world he came from was not perfect, it was something to know that there were worse places to be. That said he was certain that he had visited their worlds on his last jaunt through the Omniverse, when he was trying to find his way home. He had not met them personally, but he had come across people that they knew. It was a little disconcerting and he wondered how much of this had been preplanned. As the siblings got to know each other Adam Destine turned to Adam Drake, who was soaking up what was happening.

"It's intense isn't it?" Destine said.

"You're telling me," responded Drake as he looked about. Flashes in the sky showed snippets of time, brief visions of the universe, the past, the present, the paths not taken and each vision passed and was replaced a moment later and no matter how hard Drake tried he could not keep what he had just seen in his mind. "I've seen so many weird things, worked with WHO, the Bureau, SHIELD, done my small part in saving the world, but this is incredible."

"I don't think I've ever been outside time in such a literal sense," Adam remarked. "To be honest, I'd stopped giving the passage of time such regard." Drake looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "After being alive for so long and having nothing able to harm you or affect you in anyway, you just stop. I don't even need to sleep."

"Count yourself lucky," said Drake. "Sleep leads to dreams, and there are some I'd rather not have, but they're there anyway." Drake looked the other man. "You really are him, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry?" said Destine. "Do you know me?"

"Of you. The legend of Adam of Destine and the heritage of the Destine legacy is something special where I'm from. You're either the father of mutantkind or the return of Arthur Pendragon. There was never any proof you ever existed though, not even in Ravenscroft, where you came from.

"Interesting," said Adam. "I wonder what happened for us to vanish so."

"It's been looked for, for many years. We know that there's been evidence of other legends, but there's more trace of the Loch Ness Monster than there is of you or your heirs." Then there was a shimmering and Widget returned with the final member of the group.

"Okay, Widgy, take me to you leader."

"Please, don't call me that," Kate said as they rematerialised and there was a deathly silence as everyone turned to look at the newest recruit, each one of them looking in stunned disbelief and then they all spoke at once.

"W?" said Brian, seeing a less haggard version of his friend and mentor.

"Peter?" said Beth, seeing an almost identical version of her husband.

"Wisdom…" said Drake with disdaining hatred in his voice. Peter Wisdom was synonymous with Black Air.

"Hello Pete," said Adam Destine, seeing the friend and companion with whom he had shared his last Omniversal adventure.

"Okay, now that's just weird," said Wisdom, reaching for his cigarettes, with a slight shake of his head. "I knew this was going to be one of those adventures."

"As you all gathered, this is Pete Wisdom," said Kate, "however in his world he's an agent of SHIELD."

"X-Force Special Executive," Wisdom said, blowing smoke. "Mutants with badges. Whoever figured we'd see the day? So, let me see. You're Elisabeth Braddock, you're a scrawny version of Brian, you're Adam Destine and I have no idea who the hell you are." He looked at Adam Drake.

"Adam Drake, head of the XL unit of MI6." Drake's gaze was cold, he knew Wisdom of old, and no matter what he looked like the man would never change from the blackguard he'd always been at his core.

"Mutant division?" said Brian. "Interesting how there are so many parallels between worlds."

"The Omniverse is like that," explained Kate. "Let me explain. The Omniverse is a world of shifting realities, dimensions that exists in the same place as our own on a different vibrational frequency. The worlds are often very similar, though there can be substantial differences, say perhaps the world is ruled by dinosaurs, or something like that. All these universes are connected via a central hub, which is Otherworld. These frequencies are all linked via ley-points in each of those realities, such as the old Excalibur lighthouse, or Stonehenge, or something along those line, though they can be accessed by certain beings." Kate gave it a moment for all the information to sink it.

"Like Widget," said Pete. "The one thing I've always wondered about the Omniverse is who numbered all the realities, and whose job was it count them in the first place?" The others looked at him. "I'm from Earth 616. You are from?"

"616," said Adam Destine.

"616," said Adam Drake.

"I have no idea," said Elisabeth.

"Me either," Brian said.

"How can we all be from 616?" asked Pete. "Unless the numbering system really has gone to hell."

"Well, it kind of has anyway," Kate admitted, "but I've gone through not just the Omniverse but the Multiverse as well to gather you all."

"So explain the difference between the Omniverse and the Multiverse." Brian was intrigued by all this, his scientific brain seeing the possibilities, and his understanding and knowledge were expanding with every moment.

"The Multiverse is different, and is governed by the timeline. Every decision you make, or rather don't make creates another timeline. Now imagine that for everyone on Earth. The Multiverse is a true definition of infinite, and every one of those realities spawns another Omniverse, and that's one of the things we're going to try and save."

"How does Hypertime fit in to this?" Adam Destine asked, as he looked around them. "I know that's where we are now, because I've been here before."

"Hypertime is basically an entrance way to every alternate reality, timeline and everything else, which they call Kingdoms. How it exists nobody seems to know, but it's as if there were a backdoor for some supreme being to access, given occasion. And there are two universes as well, two bubbles if you will, that touch and in touching merge slightly to create singular points that hold aspects of both realities. The hyperium energies that are ambient in this place are lethal to those who aren't protected and it can erase all versions of a person throughout all timelines and realities…" Kate paused a moment, as if something had dawned on her.

"The last time I was here, there were devices that allowed us to safely exist here," Destine said. "I'm guessing you've inoculated us somehow?"

"Yes," Kate replied. "You all are protected, thanks to passing through the portals I created. Hyperium is the energy that fuels Widget, I realise that now, and that explains other things as well. Tweedledope was more inventive and intuitive than any of us ever guessed."

"He hid it well," muttered Wisdom as he threw his cigarette to one side. "So is this thing a giant loop, or does it have ends?"

Kate paused a moment. "It seems that at one end of the Hypertime vortex is Otherworld, because I can sense it. What's at the other end is still a mystery, or at least whatever is there is beyond Widget's capability to sense."

"Perhaps it is the home of whoever used the corridor originally," said Adam, contemplating it and thinking he would ask his son Newton when he returned home and wondered why he had not done so before. "However, it explains much. Thank you."

"So what's going on?" asked Drake. "What is the threat to everything that is? Who could be so powerful that he could do all this and not be noticed by the higher powers?"

Kate looked at them all. "The Omniverse has been damaged by the manipulation of time. There is… was… a powerful object called the Forever Crystal, which could manipulate timelines, erase them, diverge them, whatever the holder desired and it has been abused by various villains. In doing so, history has been altered and several worlds have been ravaged. There is one in particular where a section of its history became a whole new universe, and nature has tried to reconfigure itself in two universes. This has created ruptures within the Omniversal order, rifts within the Multiverse itself and these have in turn created blind spots in reality. Somehow a being known as Necrom has managed to use that." Only Elisabeth and Brian didn't know the name, but the others did.

"The Anti-Phoenix has returned?" said Destine.

"No," said Kate. "Just Necrom, using his powers and the last vestiges of the power of the Anti-Phoenix that he possessed. However he is still a powerful sorcerer and he is seeking to gain control of time. The last time he wanted a convergence of all the Omniversal realities. Now he has the capability of merging every timeline that is."

"How can we stop such a being?" asked Brian. "And how does this relate to my Otherworld?"

"First, your Otherworld is slightly different to the Otherworld we know. It is not the actual one, but one of the three realms - science, magic and a combination of both. You came from the combination of both, but there is a realm of magic, which you called Otherworld, and the realm of magic has many different aspects, such as the hell dimensions." Brian nodded. That was as good an explanation as he could understand it, and though he wondered about the world of science, he let it go.

"As for Necrom, he is not invulnerable and it will take time before he can achieve his ends, but he is already manipulating things and with each moment his control grows. We have to strike now, while he is unaware of us."

"Which is why we're in Hypertime," said Elisabeth, who had stayed mostly silent, listening, and observing, taking residual psionic readings from those around her, just to see where they had all come from and what their allegiances were. They were all here for the same reasons - because the need was there. "Necrom can't sense us here, can he?"

Kate smiled. "Exactly, we're outside the Kingdoms. He doesn't even realise that there are plans being made against him. We're an unknown quantity in his grand scheme, but we don't have long if we're to save everything."

Necrom sat in his tower in Limbo, utilising the equipment that had been left by Immortus.

It had not taken him long to feel that this was now his fortress, his place of power and he had started in his task. The multiverse was vast, but it was not infinite. That had been a surprise to him, as he knew there was change and rebirth, but there had been no rebirth with the death of at least one universe, dying at through the use of the ultimate nullifier at the hand of the being known as Korvac, though that gap within the universe had been the starting point. The Living Tribunal had originally sealed the universe off to prevent such an occurrence, but the recent events had undone what the Tribunal had done and he had, as yet, not noticed.

With the damage that had been done to existence with the Forever Crystal, Necrom surmised that the Tri-Headed Judge was busy dealing with other things, and Necrom would deal with him if and when the moment arose. For now, he had the means to begin his plan and through the nothingness he started to touch the other universes and slowly began to bind the threads of order, pulling the universes that did exist closer together through the nothingness that had been left by the destruction of that universe. As they got closer, they seemed to blur and shift as the timelines of each realigned, and existence was reordered - such was the power of the dark mystical forces that Necrom was using in combination with the advanced sciences. They fitted together flawlessly, but that was because he knew any sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic, and that the reverse of that edict was also true. He was altering the Multiversal order and such tasks had ramifications, but he had factored those in to his plan.

What was occurring was exactly what he wanted, because as the worlds realigned, they became closer to each other in likeness. He had learnt that much from the power of the Phoenix, seeing the memories that Rachel Summers had possessed and seeing how close her timeline was to our own. Now, the closer the universes got, the more alike they became and then the natural order began to take over, continuing what he had started. The universes continued to get closer and the circle began to tighten, brining more universes with and now it was a question of waiting for the eventual moment to arrive and there was an unexpected benefit - death energy was being released and he was able to absorb it, adding it to his own power. Not every part of the Anti-Phoenix had left him, and he could feel his powers rising.

"Let them come," he said, no longer concerned with King Britain and Otherworld. There were higher powers now and he would deal with them before he crushed Merlin and the House of Braddock.

Hypertime shook with the disturbances that were being created by the realignment of the universes and the heroes were thrown about.

"Betsy!!" shouted Pete as he saw her flail and almost fall in to one of the portals in the vortex. He could see she was trying to stabilise herself with her TK but it wasn't working and he fired hit hot knives. "SHIELD YOURSELF!" His hot knives flew through the air and wrapped themselves around her, forming a makeshift rope and he pulled her back from the edge and she landed close towards him.

"How did you do that?" she said. "Your hot knives aren't solid."

"Didn't used to be," Pete admitted. "They were amped by a bloke called Alistaire, and then tweaked by the Shadow King's people so they don't run down like they used to. Always on."

"The Shadow King?" she said, and he could see the look in her eyes. She'd obviously run in to Farouk herself and the memories were as unpleasant as his own.

"Yeah," he said. "Glad the bastard's dead." He helped her up, to see that the others were finding their feet and that Brian had changed to his Captain Britain guise, his sword drawn. "Forget the scrawny comment," he muttered.

"What's happening?" Drake asked. "This isn't natural!"

"Someone is altering reality," said Destine. "I've seen this when Hyperstorm was devouring Kingdoms! We have to get out of here!"

"Agreed," said Kate, as the place shook and rumbled violently once more, but she couldn't form a portal. "This is having an effect on me - I'll have to move us in to the timestream!"

"Do it!" said Drake. "We can't take much more of this!" Kate focused and the portal formed, expanded and gathered the all and then they were outside of Hypertime, adrift in time.

"Everyone okay?" Captain Britain asked and everyone gave agreement. "Necrom's begun his game."

"So let's go have a word," said Pete. "Kate, you up to it?" Kate nodded and a portal to limbo began to form but before she could take them anywhere, there was a flash of light and then Kate was gone and they were adrift in time alone.

"This can't be good," said Elisabeth.

"What's that?" Drake asked as he looked over and they could see some kind of vessel on the horizon.

"I have no idea," said Britain, "but it's coming this way."

"Can anyone else move?" Pete asked. "I've no motor control in my limbs."

"There's an energy field around us!" said Drake. "I can see it with my powers. It's coming from the vessel!"

"Yeah, this isn't good at all," said Elisabeth, as the vessel got closer and closer. Sonn they could see an opening and as it came on them they were gathered in to it and the aperture closed behind them once they were all fully inside the vessel. The energy field vanished and they could move again.

"I don't like this," Drake and Wisdom said at the same time.

"Mutant scum!" came a voice. "Consider yourself prisoners of Ahab, Master of the Hounds!"

Kate looked around, realising that Excalibur were missing. She was in Limbo, but where were they?

"So you are the anomaly in time," said a voice and she could see Necrom standing there. "I sense your presence…" he gestured and Kate's spirit was pulled from Widget's body. "Intriguing," he said. "I have seen you before. Katherine Pryde, is it not?"

"Kate… Pryde… Rasputin…" she said, compelled to answer him.

"Well. A future variant of the girl I encountered." Then a memory came to him. "Rachel's mentor, am I right?" Kate fought to keep from answering.

"Ye-es," she said, her voice straining as she fought to keep from betraying her friend and failing. Necrom laughed out loud as he realised how close he was to accomplishing another of his dreams and he gestured, drawing Kate's spirit closer to him and he looked her in the eye.

"You may remember, my dear, that I am master of the dead," he hissed, and Kate was suddenly very afraid and then her fears were confirmed as Necrom spoke. "Finally, I will have my revenge on Rachel Summers…"

Author's Note

Here we are again! Three issues in a month, if you're counting #0 - it's almost like being back full time! Yes, I am kind of retired from the fanfic game, but I still do special events, if needed, and what's better than a special event like this?

For those of you who've read the issue but can't quite place it, the destruction of the universe by Korvac happened in the classic 'What if #32 (1st Series) - What if the Avengers had become pawns of Korvac?' which I believe was part of the What If? TPB that came out… quite a few years ago now. Anyway, that's the main comic reference for the issue. Now - letters!

There's been a few nice comments said about the series thus far and I'll answer them here. First up is David Evans (of the Pendragon's Legacy fame!): Excalibur is getting good. I love this cross universe stuff and an interesting mix of characters especially in comparison to their Pendragons counterparts. Its great to see a Destine used in the Pendragons universe, I have been waiting for someone to come up with a Clan Destine story for ages.

Thanks for the comments Dave. It's a fun story to work with, and now I have the cast set up, I can get to the action. Bringing Adam Destine in to it was a nice idea, as I was strictly limiting it to a UK cast and Adam fitted the bil quite nicely. While it's not a ClanDestine story in the way Pendragons should have one (the forgotten UK heroes they are!), it's a start.

Next is Mr Barry Reese, Pendragon's supreme and writer of many, many series: I agree that Excalibur has been loads of fun so far -- I'm thrilled to have David onboard and I hope that he's enjoying things as much as those of us reading are :-) Our mailing list has added 5 new members since Excalibur debuted, too... coincidence? I think not :-) David's legions of fans are obviously beginning to follow him!

Kind words, Barry, and yes I am enjoying things immensely. Alternate realities, multi-group crossovers, and all sorts of fun! How can I not be enjoying it? I've always said I write for myself and one other person, because if that person enjoys it then the work is done, and I have to enjoy it myself to do it! That said, I don't think the people who've joined the list have necessarily come for me - the Pendragons creative roster is wide enough and talented enough to get them all by themselves!

And finally, a paragraph or two from Robert Rock, scribe of House Braddock and Penance Council: Wow, that sums up my feeling in just finishing Excalibur #1. It was like old home week for me. I was a dedicated follower of David and all things M2K while he was writer and EIC there. He was even the first person to put my work out there. (thank you sir).

Not at all, Rob. You wanted to write and I believed in letting people have a chance and you've done pretty well for yourself since. And thank you. 'Wow' is high praise indeed! A short word that says a lot.

I'm excited to see the return of Adam Destine, expecially the version of him that appeared in David's Wolverine series. As well, Pete Wisdom from the X-Force series (both at M2K) was my in my humble opinion, one of the best characterizations of him that I've read.

Thanks. Adam Destine is highly underused in fanfic circles, or at least the group ones and I like to readdress that whenever I can. He's highly useful in terms of this story because he's got the experience from the 'Black Air Rising' storyline for my first Excalibur series back in the day! As for Pete… well, as the years pass there's fewer and fewer people who will know who he is (being dead and all in the canon, though that's still debated) but he's always been one of my favourite characters. The original idea for the series was to have a legion of Wisdom's from the various universes I wrote, but I figured that would get confusing. Another time perhaps…

Glad you're here David and look forward to reading the rest of this story and hopefully a few more that you have hidden in the recesses of you brain.

Thank you, Robert. As for the future, we'll see. I am supposedly retired from fanfic, after all!

David
25 August 2004