52. Watcher's Gambit

As Cindy's form lost balance, Erik quickly caught her before she could fall down. 

Touching her neck, he observed her pulse, 'She's just passed out.'

"She was possessed by some powerful deity," Thor said, the dude looked scared shitless, not even Infinity Ultron could make him like that.

The others looked terrified as well. Only when Nieth had left Cindy's body, they felt okay to breathe again.

"That much was clear," Erik replied. "Do you perhaps know who she was?" Erik asked.

Thor shook his head solemnly. "No, but we are fortunate her ire was not directed at us..."

In a disorienting blur, the group found themselves teleported back to the unassuming cafe where their mission had begun. The Watcher, however, was absent.

Cindy soon came back to her senses, she was informed of the happenings of the battlefield and was also told about how some higher being possessed her body and protected them from Strange.

Cindy just nodded without getting surprised too much. She remembered everything that transpired in Neith's domain but decided not to tell them the details. 

As the group discussed the battle and praised Erik and Cindy for their contributions, the Watcher appeared with a flicker of the lamps.

"Guardians of the Multiverse, you have successfully defended the multiverse from impossible threats. The entire multiverse owes you a debt of gratitude."

Erik just sighed as he listened to the Watcher blabbing. He was too tired at this point to worry or get angry for treating him and everyone else as a chess piece. 

But well, he already knew that he'd get used, get told words of gratitude, and then return to his universe without any strings attached. At least he got a pretty good haul from this mission...

He was just hoping to figure out Watcher's plan first... If he was successful then he might have prevented Strange's spell somehow. But who knew that Strange would remain an ass even after destroying his whole freaking universe...

Still, though, Erik felt glad that Watcher's plan worked. After all, what would have happened if he were fighting Strange Supreme alone? Thankfully, Cindy was there to save them...

"But your worlds would never know of this victory," the Watcher continued. "Once you walk through that door, you'll return to the exact moment you left."

The heroes bid each other goodbyes and walked through the shining gate. Peggy stopped for a moment as she looked at Steve's photo on the wall.

Well, this pub was designed by Strange by taking her world as a reference so it was not surprising to see that picture, but if Watcher could open a portal to any time period then she'd rather return to a time where she could be with Steve.

However, Watcher urged her to return to her real timeline as the world needed her...

In the end, she agreed and walked through the door.

"And Eirikyr Anderson, I urge you to return the infinity stones that you took from that universe and the stones you took from Ultron..."

Erik really wanted to fight with Watcher for doing this. He felt like he was being bullied. First, he got used, then he was used as a fucking bait, and now he was being extorted of the best loot from the battle.

However, Erik knew that he could not win against Watcher. Watcher's complete powers were unknown to him but Erik's instincts that were obtained from heroes like Wolverine and Spider DNA told him that the enemy was not of the level that he could take head on.

'Let's check Watcher's patience then.'

"Nope, I can't give them to you, Watcher. I consider the stones as the trophy of the war. I obtained them fair and square. I can't simply hand them over." Erik glared.

The others looked back and forth between Watcher and Erik, they were nervous, wondering whom to support if a fight broke out.

"Those stones are not your trophy, Eirikyr. They have a purpose, they are linked to the natural order. And since the natural order would be disturbed mostly due to MY interference for putting you in that universe. I would have to make sure to return it to its original state no matter what I have to do." The Watcher folded his arms and waited for Erik's response.

For a few moments, pure silence befell the pub, until Cindy broke it, "Watcher, this is unfair."

Erik interrupted her, "No, it's fine, Cindy. Even if it's unfair, he's not someone we can fight against without a proper plan. I'll give him the stones."

Well, it was really not worth it to antagonize Watcher with his current strength, but surely he would have his revenge in the future.

'For now, I should be content with the fact that I get to use powerful heroes and villains as my servants... No need to be too greedy.' He thought as he handed them Thanos's and Ultron's stones.

After Erik stored Thanos with an empty gauntlet, he exhaled... it was about time he left this space and returned to his universe too. 

Erik gazed at Cindy, he wanted to bring her to his universe... But well, Cindy wanted to go home to find her parents first. To Cindy, her own universe was precious too after all.

But he remembered his promise that he'd somehow convince Wanda of a three-way relationship and then come to get her. 

Erik gave Cindy a small peck on her lips before he promised to find a way to get her and then he walked through the door. Cindy also told him that she would find her parents in her universe and tell them everything about him and would wait for him even if it took him an eternity. 

"Be fast though, or I'll have to find a way to your universe. I can be pretty nerdy too." Cindy said as Erik walked into the shinning door.

Watcher just silently observed for now. Well, he had an interesting plan... and he loved DRAMA...

As the heroes left one by one, the only person that remained was Cindy.

Natasha wasn't present in this timeline. There was no involvement of Natasha in this What If, Erik and the others took care of everything in the Marvel Zombie universe itself. Watcher planned to give her Ultron's set so that she could restore her universe. Although Ultron's mind stone was destroyed in the battle he would have no problem restoring it back too.

Cindy stayed here because she wanted to ask a question from Watcher.

"The Incursion in my world, did it stop after we defeated Ultron?" Cindy asked, hopeful.

The Watcher's eyes drifted shut as he somberly shook his head. "The Incursion – a phenomenon where two parallel universes violently collide, with Earth as the point of cataclysmic impact."

The scenery changed, as he waved his hands, showing a flashback of Cindy Moon's life in the bunker. "You read about them in the bunker provided to you by Ezekiel Sims." 

Another transition revealed the ongoing, catastrophic destruction ravaging Cindy's home universe. "If you believed the Incursion stemmed from Ultron's actions, you were mistaken. The events were unrelated. There is no averting the obliteration of those two universes."

Cindy gasped, despair flooding her eyes. "Can't you do anything? What will happen to my parents and..."

"Your family is already dead, Cindy Moon, it was an accidental death, a plane crash." Watcher told her with his soothing voice, he was kind enough to not show her the parent's death. It would affect her for the worse. 

"Then for what purpose did I fight the battle?" Cindy yelled. "Did you only bring me to use me? Why did you even summon me..." Drops of tears left Cindy's eyes, she was feeling hopeless. 

"You fought to protect — him." The scenery changed again, showing Erik entrapped in Strange's spell and then Cindy (Possessed by Neith) breaking free from the spell and attacking Strange.

As Cindy watched Erik, unknowingly her tears stopped flowing...

Even when she was depressed by the fact that her world was going to end, she couldn't help but feel joy at the fact that she was able to save him. She loved him, after all.

"I see...so what is to become of me? Will you return me to my dying world?"

"No, as promised to your mother goddess, I shall reunite you with your groom, Spider Bride." 

Listening to Watcher's words, Cindy's eyes shimmered...

A sigh of relief escaped her mouth... "Thank you, Neith..."

.

.

.

.

After everything was concluded, Watcher continued to browse through the multiverse, to narrate another story.

He found Erik's story to be most entertaining for now, "How would Erik convince Wanda Maximoff to share him with Cindy Moon? That too, when I have sent her at the worst possible moment..."

"You are quite the mischievous one, Utau," Neith said as she emerged from a portal behind the Watcher.

Utau is the Watcher's real name. 

"Since this was one of the few times where my intervention was required, I merely thought to do what was best for them. With this Eirikyr Anderson wouldn't be able to delay introducing them to each other which would resolve any possible misunderstanding between their relationships due to his cleverness." He said with a smile.

Gazing at at Eirikyr's universe, he continued, "The ensuing drama will be but a fleeting squall. This Wanda Maximoff is an understanding character, she would accept this fairly easily, besides, she knew this day would be coming in the future...."

Watcher faced Cindy, "Anyway, it was mostly because you influenced them that Eirikyr Anderson and Cindy Moon lost control over their lusts, Goddess Neith, thus causing this situation. So, I don't think I should be the only one to be called the mischievous one."

"Haha," Neith laughed softly, "I was merely a wing-woman... Utau. He wouldn't have taken Cindy if I hadn't interfered. I saw him rejecting a girl earlier and couldn't help but fear the same would happen to my daughter. I did what I had to, after all, how couldn't I help my daughter claim her rightful groom..."

Watcher shook his head in exasperation.

"Anyway, for your invaluable assistance in resolving this crisis, Goddess Neith, you have my eternal gratitude." The Watcher bowed deferentially.

Watcher wasn't just thanking Neith for taking care of Strange Supreme. He was thankful for helping him summon Erik as well. 

At first, Watcher scourged the whole multiverse in search of one true hero who could help him kill Ultron. 

This hero was Eirikyr Anderson...

However, some mysterious powers were not letting Watcher interfere with that world even though he wanted to.

And at such a time, he was approached by the Goddess Neith herself. She proposed a deal with him. 

Neith would employ her divine powers to breach the mystic barriers surrounding Eirikyr's universe, facilitating the Watcher's ability to summon him. In return, he would save Cindy Moon of a particular universe.

Thus, Watcher formulated a plan that would help him eliminate two threats of the multiverse in one full sweep. 

Watcher knew that Erik could handle Ultron all on his own with just a small amount of help but since he wanted to eliminate both Strange Supreme and Ultron, he built a team.

As predicted they chose to divide the task and Strange's team went to Ultron's original universe to revive the dwarfs of Nidavelir and Erik's team went to distract Ultron. 

Watcher could have brought Strange and others back to Erik's location at any time possible as his portals could cross all space-time. But... He chose the moment when the battle was nearly over... when Erik was giving it his all, displaying all his skills. 

This triggered Strange's greed to steal Erik's skills to revive his universe and thus he put two pieces against each other. And of course, Watcher had known about Erik's skills because he was seeing when Erik was training in his home universe.

If Strange and Erik had fought Ultron together then the latter didn't stand a chance. Thus, Strange wouldn't have been able to see all the powers that Erik possessed, thus, there might not have been any conflict between these two.

This is what Erik was feeling off when Strange was taking too long to come back, though at that time he didn't have time to ponder about this...

But if Erik had figured out Watcher's plans or at least guessed that Strange would turn against him, he might have been able to do something to prevent that illusion spell. 

Beelzebuth would have helped a lot...

Regardless of how the events ensued, Watcher's Gambit was a success. He had taken care of two threats of the multiverse in one go. However, a third threat was created due to this... it entered Eirikyr's universe when Neith breached the universe's barriers but it would be taken care of by Eirikyr himself in the future. 

The ultimate winner was the Watcher.

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Thanks for reading! 

With this chapter the "What If" arc is finished. And for the readers who fear the upcoming drama, don't worry there is not too much of it. 

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