Hero Time

Later, we were in a new cell. No nicer or anything, but it had more room. We'd been placed in together with the guys we'd been trying to kill earlier, which made things tense as hell, even with the guards watching. My guys took the right side of the cell, while the other guys took the left.

I broke the tension about a moment after by looking around at everyone.

"Hauzer. Where'd he come from?"

Everyone looked confused, if still pissed at each other.

"Hauzer?" Winggirl asked. Hearing her voice for the first time surprised the hell out of me. I tried not to show that instead looking her in the eyes as she stood between Demi and the male Aerian.

"The orange T-Rex with horns. Any story about him, about where he came from?"

Winggirl looked around. German guy seemed confused, as did the others.

"In the ice of the East," someone said outside. We all spun around.

Yellow Triceratops guy was standing there, Stend on the right side of him and the orange pterodactyl on the left. Oh, and the requisite group of angry-looking guards.

"Hauzer," the triceratops said softly. His voice was deep, almost echoing. "I had no idea of his name. We have been calling him Devil."

Stend began to speak. "My lord-"

The triceratops didn't make a move, but Stend cut himself off anyway. The triceratops continued. "I found him when I went to the icelands on an exploratory expedition. He was encased in ice, completely frozen through. I thought him dead. But those eyes were alive, staring through the chill. He wanted to kill me. And I decided that a beast of such stature and interesting design was worth bringing back."

The triceratops turned and walked out, surprising the hell out of me. "Stend. He knows the Devil by another name. Make of that what you will."

"Yes, my lord," Stend said, bowing.

The big yellow triceratops continued on his way. I thought about making a BJ the dinosaur joke, but I decided against it.

"So you're the Outsider," the orange Pterosaur said. He sounded like how movies portray snake oil salesmen.

"Nah, that's the guy from Dishonored," I could never help my nerd side. "I'm Dial. Who are you?"

"Lord Pter, ruler of all the Ptero-Saur-Lords," he said proudly.

"...Why don't you have wings?" I asked hesitantly.

Behind me, I could hear Winggirl let out a small sound. I winced internally.

Pter chuckled. "I'm afraid that only our lord has been given such a gift," he leaned forward to rest against the bars. "Tell me, Out-... Dial. Who are you, in the world beyond? A warrior? A hunter, like myself?" he smirked at me. "I imagine you'd make better prey than predator."

I walked across the space between us and leaned against the bars as well. "You know, I have a friend I should really introduce you to. It'd behilarious.But that aside, I'm a superhero."

"And a fool," Stend said, walking forward. Pter stepped aside to let him past. "You should have taken my deal, Outsider."

"Not a chance," I shrugged. "So. What's next?"

"Your punishment," Stend nodded to the guards. As he did, I brought my left hand behind my back. I prayed Gresh, Demi, and the others would notice it when I flashed two symbols with my fingers. Hopefully the fact they didn't move when two guards entered the cell and grabbed me. They pulled me out with no little amount of roughness. Stend watched them pull me out until I stood before him. We eyed each other.

Stend… looking up into those reptilian eyes, I don't think I'd ever personally hated anyone more.

It didn't help when he grabbed me by the neck and lifted me in a smooth motion.

"URK!" I grabbed his left arm with mine, trying to get air, panicking. The pain of his scaled fingers squeezing around my neck was followed by a taloned finger stabbing into the hole in my shoulder left from the arena. Fresh blood poured out as I tried to scream.

"I'm not doing this to get answers from you," Stend said coldly. "While I am pleased that you survived, you have still defied me. This small bit of pain," the talon sliced through flesh, digging out a chunk of me to spill more blood on the floor. "It's what you deserve."

"Fuc-" I tried to say, only to choke.

He held me there, choking and bleeding before tossing me aside.

That first gasp of air hitting my lungs again was like a drug. I got to my knees and filled my lungs with air, gasping and panting.

I knew he'd do something like this. But I still fucking wanted to kill him for it.

"I'll be locking you in a new prison," Stend growled. "Come."

The guards forced me up and dragged me along. That was fine. I was fine.

Deep breaths. Take in oxygen. Focus on the goals.

We walked along, Pter, Stend, the guards, and myself. Soon, we were in one of the more remote sections of the arena, a place that looked like it had been built years before the rest of it.

"You must have done something special," Pter mumbled quietly to me. "I've rarely seen Stend so ready to torture a man."

"I'm a charmer that way," I grumbled in return.

We came to a locked door, which one of the guards opened. Then we entered a massive circular cavern, covered in dust. I could tell at a glance it was made as a prison for something big or very dangerous.

In this case, both. Hauzer was passed out in the corner still covered in darts. Stend stared at Hauzer for a moment before turning to face me.

"I am glad you are alive. It gives you more chances to come to your senses," he smiled slowly. "I'm going to lock you in with the beast," when I tried to speak, he punched me in the face. I fell to my knees, bumping my left hand into the crossbow-wielding guard next to me, my palm brushing against the pouch on the guard's hip.

"What the fuck dude!?" I shouted in pain, my head ringing.

"Enough," Stend snarled. "I have had enough. You will be locked in with the beast, with this," he took out a bell from his pants pocket. "And be given until the beast wakes to decide if you will surrender the secrets I want," Stend lowered to the ground. "If you ring it, I will save you. If you do not… well. You know the creature's name. You must know of its ferocity. It's rage and hatred towards all life," Stend smirked. "You're a smart boy. I'm sure you'll make the right decision."

He grabbed me off the floor by the back of my neck and tossed me into the cell. Then he followed up by tossing the bell at my feet. "Live or die, Outsider. You have five minutes."

"And if I decide I'd rather be dino-food!?" I yelled at him while rolling to face him.

"Then clearly you were a waste of my time all along," he said dismissively. "Which is fine. That monster hasn't been fed since we found him. You'll make a good meal."

The group left the cavern, Pter laughing all along. Then they closed the door behind them with a loud quaking thud.

Just as planned. Well, sort of as planned.

I slowly rose to my feet and opened my palm. In it was the small crossbow bolt I'd lifted off the guard I'd bumped into. I grinned with blood-soaked teeth.

"Stend. You're gonna want to watch a few movies, one day. Never depend on the death trap to work on the hero."

With that, I rose to my feet and looked at Hauzer. The big guy was asleep, snoring, with the horn on his head raising and lowering as he lay on his stomach. But I doubted that would last.

Okay. My plan had been simple. All of them had been. Plan A, the Omnitrix heals itself.

Plan B, the Avengers show up to break me out. Plan C, open the lock to the cell, take care of the guards, get fellow prisoners out, head out of the city. Plan D, free Devil Dinosaur Hauzer, break out in a torrent of super-dino fury, probably riding his back.

Like I said, all simple. The best plans had to be. You could have a complex one, sure, but be ready to toss all the Rube Goldberg machines out of the window when just throwing a rock would do the job.

The instant I'd gotten wind of the giant super-dino, my plan had changed. I didn't have powers until the Omnitrix healed, but I could borrow them from someone.

Thing was, I had to depend on somehow convincing thousands of pounds of Earth Dragon that I was his friend. And somehow do it without the raw masculine charisma of Zangief.

I walked over to him and leaned down to look him in the face. He was huge. Even without feathers, he was built with layer upon layer of muscles. Even lying down, he was as tall as Thor was.

"Where did you come from, big guy?" I asked softly, patting his nose, feeling the unnaturally warm scales under my palm. "Rio is a long way from here."

Damn Rio. That had to be how he'd gotten to a Marvel universe. At a guess, the Rio Incident hadpulledat every dimension, time, and realm close to the one I was now sitting in. And Capcom had been smashed into the Marvel universe more than almost any other franchise. Outside of, ironically, the DC universe.

What a fucking mess Rio had caused. We still had no idea what made that happen, but I was taking that whole thing personally.

I looked Hauzer over, then walked back to a wall, pressing my back to the cool stone. Then I fell to sit my ass on the dirty floor, my loincloth fluttering upwards. I took a moment to adjust myself. I was still wearing the armor I'd had in the arena, with fresh blood on it, though the stab wound in my shoulder was freshly bleeding. I took a handful of the bandages that had been covering it before and roughly treated the wound. Then I sat to wait.

Five minutes. Stend had predicted it would take that long for Hauzer to wake.

He was up in three.

First, he began to growl as best as he could around the tight muzzle that wrapped around his jaws. His eyes fluttered. His breathing sped up and he began to move. It was really something, watching all that dragon-dinosaur lift itself hesitantly off the ground. I stood up as well, slowly, continuing leaning against the wall while cradling my arm.

Hauzer looked around. Eyes the color of caramel gazed at his cell. Then he made a sound that seemed to get choked off by his muzzle before spinning around, anger in his eyes. He stomped the ground, the area around us shaking, the horn on the top of his head twitched upward, and he sniffed the air.

"Hauzer," I said hesitantly.

Immediately he was facing me, head low, eyes blazing.

"That's your name, right?" I said as calmly as possible. Which wasn't much. He was just… big. Big the way everything is when you're a little kid. I remembered being, I don't know, 10? And my class went to a Fire Station in my town on a field trip. We'd been allowed to interact with one of the fire trucks. I remembered looking up at that big red truck and feeling so small in comparison.

In this case, the fire truck was pissed off. He took a step in my direction.

"I'm not with those assholes!" I said quickly, raising my left hand. He seemed undeterred, lowering his head to stare at me and prowl forward. "They threw me in here as punishment!"

He roared, speeding forward. I steeled myself and waited before diving aside.

Hauzer hit the wall I'd been leaning against with incredible power, his horn slicing through the stone with ease. Despite that, the wall was pretty intact.

"They locked you away, but they don't know your true power!" I shouted as I rolled and ran for it before turning to face him. "But I can help you! I can get that muzzle off you!"

He pulled his head away from the wall and turned to look at me. This time I could see what I'd been depending on. Intelligence, resting in the surprised look on his face.

"Hauzer the Earth Dragon," I declared. "You're not just some dinosaur. You're a force of nature. But you haven't eaten in days. I'm willing to bet that the ice you were frozen in ended up weakening you too. Enough that that yellow bastard could capture you."

Hauzer growled. The sound could be felt in my chest, shaking my heart. His eyes blazed with rage.

"Yeah… I get that," I said softly, my face twisting. "I get that kind of hate now. Having someone catch you at your weakest, imprison you, force you to fight. And all along, you know that if you had even half of your real power you could take them apart with a breath," I was clenching my fist. "It's infuriating. Getting pushed around by someone who would usually not even be worth paying attention to. Isn't it?"

Hauzer glared at me. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"Then let's escape together," I tossed the crossbow bolt I'd stolen at the ground. He stepped back as it skidded across to him, then leaned forward to look at it. "I want revenge, Hauzer. I want to help my fellow prisoners escape, sure. But what I want to do," the words felt harsh in my throat, my eyes felt hot, and my fist was beginning to turn white. "Is to destroy this place. Kill the person who put me here, and show these guys just who the fuck they were messing with… How about you? You wanna light some shit on fire?"

Hauzer's eyes lit up.

Stend/Slaving Asshole

Stend stood outside the Devil's prison, standing dozens of feet away from the main entrance. Around him stood dozens of guards. Pter was there as well, jabbering away as always. Stend ignored the smug bastard's speech to focus on the problem at hand.

He didn't like this plan. Putting the Outsider in a cell with the Devil couldn't end in any way that Stend would benefit from. But Lord Styro had told him to do it and his word was law, even more than the other Lords barring their true master.

Stend had his suspicions as to what Styro hoped for. Ever since the Yellow Lord had found the Devil, he'd been obsessed with the beast, studying the creature's battles, inquiring into its condition, drawing sketches of it. And ordering the Outsider locked in with it? There was something there, Stend was sure of it.

Hauzer. That was what he called it. The Outsider knew more than he was telling. Once again. That infuriating little slave, larger, taller, and more muscular than all but the better-trained warriors he'd ever seen among humans. The way his eyes glittered with emotion and intelligence. In fact, that more than anything made Stend notice him. He was insolent, yes, was keeping the secrets of his world behind a veil of humor. But the anger behind his jokes had something more behind it.

Stend had captured dozens of slaves. But never had he felt as though the people he was capturing felt superior to himself. Always, they had been aware of their place.

Not the Outsider. That one seemed to believe that he wasequal. It was in his stance, his brash words, even the way he fought was cautious, but not cringing with fear.

Deep inside, Stend was worried about one more thing. That bracelet around the Outsiders wrist. They'd been unable to remove it, finding it was somehow melted into his wrist, joined to his skin and bone. Just another mystery.

Stend was thrown from his thoughts when a loud sound came from the prison. The guards shuffled nervously when it was followed by the familiar sound of the Devil smashing its head into a wall, then the Outsider shouting.

"Ah," Pter said at his side, smirking. "Pity. It looks as though your nemesis is about to be killed by another."

"Nemesis?" Stend couldn't ignore that little jab, glaring at Pter.

"Oh, don't be coy," Pter chuckled, orange scales bouncing in the light of a torch. The sun had begun to fall, making the torches a matter of necessity. "You hate that human. And he hates you. There is something between you both, something so adorable I almost want to squeal," he hissed out a pleased laugh. "The way you clench your jaw when you look at him, the way he eyes you while clenching his fist. I wonder, are you pleased that he is dead now? Or disappointed you never had the chance to commit the deed yourself?"

Stend opened his mouth to speak before snapping it shut when he realized something. He turned from Pter to stare at the door to the Devil's prison.

The door, made of wood reinforced by layers of steel, had begun to smoke.

"What-" Stend began to say.

BOOM!

FWOOOOSH!

The door exploded in a burst of flame that turned into a jet of intense red heat flying forwards, cooking the three guards in front of it alive in an instant.

Stend, in a burst of speed that had kept him alive in the arena long ago, dived backward and ran, Pter squawking right next to him as the guards shouted and followed.

The fire followed them with predatory intent, filling the hallway, setting two more guards alight in a chorus of horrific screams, and heating the stones until they began to melt. Stend screamed wordlessly as he ran, the heat on his back was painful. The flame only stopped about thirty meters from the door, leaving Stend to continue running before turning to face the door.

"What the blazes was that!?" Pter gasped, apparently not noticing his pun.

"The Outsider," Stend spat out, the thought filling him to his core. "He did this!"

"The Outsider can summon fire!?" Pter gaped at Stend. "Why didn't he do that before!?"

Before Stend could answer, a sound came from the prison of the Devil. The fires that had been blazing in front of them, cooking the bodies of the dead and melting the stones, were blown out in an instant. Stend, Pter, and the remaining guards stared at the doors.

Out from the doors, walked the Outsider. Dressed in the armor of the arena, his long hair fallen about his shoulders, he came to stop in front of the destroyed remains of the door. He smirked at them. Then he tossed something towards them, some sort of leather.

Behind him, the head of the Devil slowly came forward until it was on his right side. Stend's eyes widened when he realized something.

The muzzle was gone.

Stend stared at the leather object the Outsider had tossed, then at the man himself. The Outsider's smirk widened.

Hauzer's jaws opened, revealing his lethal teeth and the sound that left them hit Stend with physical force.

"SKREEEEEROOOOONK!"

It was insane. Loud, echoing, and haunting, a screeching noise that made the primal instincts within all life want to hide. Then, deep in the Devil's throat, something flickered red.

"Oh shit," Pter whispered.

"RUN!" Stend shouted, spinning.

"Go ahead!" the Outsider was laughing, a gleeful insane laugh, one that echoed off the walls. "Run! But I'll find you! I'll have my vengeance, in this life or the next!"

Then fire erupted from the Devil, a great plume that tore the world in front of it apart as it passed. Stend looked back for a moment.

The Outsider stared at him, the red light of the Devil's fire flickering across him, his brown eyes glowing in the flame. The Devil roared alongside him, flame exploding from his jaw. But Stend only saw the Outsider, standing there. Waiting.

Stend ran. Though it galled him, though it burned in his soul more than the scarlet flames coming to kill him, he ran from the Outsider.

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

Stend, Pter, and the guards ran for it. Hauzer stopped breathing flame and panted next to me. I took in the warmth that followed Hauzer's attack, letting it soak into my bones.

Even with the crossbow bolt I'd pickpocketed helping, it had been a job and a half to cut through Hauzer's muzzle. Not just because leather is tough as hell and I only had one hand to use, but because he didn't trust me, glaring at me as I used a sharp bolt near his face to cut at the leather. Honestly, I didn't trust him either.

Hauzer may not have been evil, but he had no real good intentions towards me either. He was a bad guy in his first game appearance after all.

Still, I'd gotten it done. A couple of cuts in the right place, a few tugs on the knots and ties, and he was loose. In truth, I think half the reason I was able to do it was that none of the people who had muzzled him had ever expectedanyoneto want to help Hauzer. Only human-ish hands could have untied him, and the big guy wasn't exactly cuddly.

Then there was our prison. The doors had been covered in steel layers around wood and had been heavily dented from Hauzer smashing into them over and over. But the second he was able to breathe fire without it getting stuck in his mouth and turning his tongue into charcoal, he was able to pour on the heat. Even weakened, that had been enough to get business started.

Now we'd been unleashed. And it was time for revenge.

"I know my way out," I told Hauzer. "We can free the others and get out of the city, get you fed. Then we come back. Deal?"

Hauzer growled, giving me a look.

"Yellow Bastard will be waiting for you, I promise," I grinned. "Mind breaking a wall?"

Hauzer crawled through the door until he was in the hallway entirely. I backed away to let him pass. With a roar, he spun and rose, kicking outward.

The hallway turned into rubble, opening up to the night sky. Hauzer lifted his head into the air and looked up at the night sky. I did the same.

"SKREEEEEROOOOONK!"

The sound that left him reminded me of Godzilla mixed with a lion. Another plume of fire left him, rising into the air and turning night to day for just an instant. Then he turned to look at me. And I began to worry that I'd made a mistake.

He didn't need me anymore. I could see the look in his eyes. That calculating expression. He could leave now. Head off on his own. That wouldn't have been so bad. But he could also kill me. Just being in the vicinity of his flame was scorching. If he tried to attack me with it, even a miss would still superheat the air around me enough to kill me.

We stared at each other.

"I made you a promise," I said softly. "I'll get you food. I'll get you revenge. But if you want to leave? That's up to you."

His large eyes blinked and narrowed. Then he scoffed before lowering his head.

I grinned before climbing onto his back, straddling him just behind his shoulders, my knees clenching to him tightly. "All right Hauzer. Let's do this!"

He roared in agreement, charging forward as the alarms of the city rang about us. We went down a street straight out of a medieval city, his taloned feet crushing the cobblestones, the wind rushing past us, people screaming as they leaped aside to dodge us.

"YAAAAA!" I shouted joyfully, head down low as I felt the rush of escape.

"GRAAGHH!" Hauzer roared as well, his tail whipping behind us, a wide grin on his saurian features.

I rode on the dinosaurs back through a city built out of time and felt… good. Great, even. I felt at peace.

Ever since I'd come to this world, this Marvel universe, I'd felt unworthy. Given immense power out of nowhere, for no reason I could understand, I'd tried everything to make myself worthy of it. Of every good thing. The Omnitrix when I first got here, the friendships I made with people I'd admired from across dimensions all my life, the money I'd gained from robbing HYDRA, my relationship with Jen. All of it was something I'd worked to be worthy of. But it had always been tarnished by a voice in the back of my head, that self-doubt that whispered it was undeserved.

I was a fake hero. If I didn't have the easy power of the Omnitrix, my friends, my armor, I'd fail.

But now? I'd gotten lucky a few times. But that didn't account for my survival. I'd made it through the jungle and chased off a pack of velociraptors. I'd been given the choice between an easy survival and risking my life for others at my weakest point, and chose to try and save someone. I'd been shoved into a gladiator match and survived. And now, I'd turned my enemies' death trap against them.

I never had to prove anything to anyone but me, and now I had. I was more than just a guy who had the strongest weapon in existence on his wrist, I was able to fight without that tool. Hell, I was able to fight and survive even with a broken arm against superhumans!

All the training I'd done, all the work, had been in an attempt to silence that voice. And now, under the stars, with tons of Earth Dragon under me as we ran together? The voice was faded. Still there, like it was for every human being that wasn't a sociopath. But no longer as insidious as it once was.

The Omnitrix beeped as I thought that. I looked down at it.

White shone from its lens. Then, as I watched, it switched over to green. It was still half-melted and beaten, but it was glowing a bright and oh so wonderful green once again.

"...Now? Really?" I mumbled. "Right when I don't need you for an escape?"

Yeah, this thing had a sense of humor, that was for sure. I tapped the faceplate experimentally with my nose.

The Omnitrix blinked green at me and I couldn't help the warm smile that lit up my face when the dial rose up and the hologram came to life.

So when a giant fireball began to fall from the sky to arc down towards Hauzer and I as we ran through the streets, I didn't dodge it. I didn't leap, I didn't panic. As the big ball of flame approached, I just pressed the Omnitrix against my chest.

"IT'S HERO TIME