Chapter 7: What If? (Part 1)

Rewrite of my DxD fic, Forgotten Son of Destruction. Show some love.

Disclaimer: I do not have any rights of ownership for the characters used except the OC's. All the credit goes to the author of the Light Novel.

Chapter 7 – What if? (Part 1)

"Your universes are either under attack or will be soon by Ultron," he says. The Watcher announced that a picture of a giant red-skinned entity wearing armor that I had never seen before appeared before us, with six clear and recognizable Stones lodged within it. Yup, we were fucked. "An Artificial Intelligence elevated to the level of a cosmic being thanks to an enhanced synthetic body and the power of the Infinity Stones."

"Those are six stones of nearly unfathomable power, for those of you who are unaware. Each regulating an important component of human existence, and Ultron controls them all," Strange said, exposing the six stones hovering above them for all to see.

"So, if we can separate him from the stones, we might be able to put an end to his reign of terror," explained The Watcher.

"I might be able to assist you with that. I've stolen more from worse." T'Challa, the Star-Lord, stated with his hands on his hips and a confident expression on his face.

"I guess I have a slightly cooler but more reckless cousin somewhere," Killmonger muttered, shaking his head as he examined the alternate version of his cousin.

T'Challa's comment, on the other hand, made me chuckle softly, prompting T'Challa to raise an eyebrow at me. "What's the big deal?"

"Well, for one thing, you haven't stolen from worse, and this is as bad as it gets," I said, pointing to the image of the infinity powered Ultron turning my head to face the criminal version of the King of Wakanda. The realization of it all finally sinking in. "And two, aside from perhaps the Soul and Mind Stones, even touching one of the others would be disastrous."

"Disastrous?" Captain Carter enquired; her brow furrowed as she questioned the words of the lone person not from the Marvelverse. Of course, she was unaware of this.

"If your mind is not fortified when you hold the Time Stone, even a fleeting memory from the past, like when you were a kid and experienced a traumatic accident, would transfer you to exactly that instant in time. The only reason the Sorcerer here can hold it is because he floats in the palms of his hand," I explained, gesturing towards Strange as he looked outside, reminiscing about how he had done exactly that, with a sad smile on his face.

"The Reality Stone would much rather possess your body and drain you of your life force rather than obey your command. The Space Stone would teleport you anywhere in the cosmos within moments. And the second you touch the Power Stone, you will explode."

Strange coughed slightly to relieve the tension as I explained how serious this scenario had become, then chose to back up my argument with his remark about sudden death if they touched the wrong Stone. "Well, he isn't entirely wrong there."

"How do you know so much about these stones?" Gamora asked, her voice laced with suspicion. As Thanos' daughter, even she did not have such information on the stones. She doubted if even her father did.

"The same reason I know most of you. Or well, different versions of you at least," I said, a chuckle involuntarily leaving my lips. Looking at the Watcher, I tossed a question at him, "You want to take this one?"

The Watcher turned towards the eyes that were staring at him for an explanation. Sighing, he explained who exactly I was.

"The young man you see before you, is Nicholas Lucifer. Unlike most of you, he is a devil. Yes, the ones in your religious manuscripts. The reason he knows so much about all of you is because in his reality and universe, all of you exist as fictional characters. He knows a lot about all of you, as well Ultron," The Watcher explained, as every set of eyes in there widened to epic proportions. Even Strange had a hard time digesting this fact.

"What do you mean by fictional characters?" Killmonger asked, rather aggressively, making me narrow my eyes. I would have to keep an eye on him.

"It means that while in your respective universes, all of you are real, live beings, in his universe you exist only within the flaps of a book," the Watcher explained with a nonchalant look in his eyes. He knew it was difficult for them to digest this, but they were real in their own universe. Why would they care if they did not exist in some other one?

Everyone was a bit more melancholic after that. It seems like that particular revelation did force them to understand the gravity of the situation once more.

"So, what is the plan?" Gamora interceded trying to force the group back on track, trying to move beyond this disturbing fact about her life.

"Ah yes, the plan," Dr Strange says, motioning towards the chairs to seat everyone. He continued when everyone had taken their seats. "Well, we believe the only way to stop Ultron is for his body to be separated from the Stones."

"How do you intend to do this?" T'Challa inquired from his seat, his brow furrowed in mistrust at the doctor.

"Well?" Strange answered by slightly starching the back of his head, an uneasy expression on his face.

"Ah, you haven't come up with one yet." I guessed accurately, causing him to sigh loudly and add. "Great."

"So, this Ultron could be hiding anywhere in the multiverse?" Captain Carter stepped in, demanding additional information because it was evident, they needed to devise a plan, her leadership persona taking over.

"Yes." The Watcher's said giving a small nod of his head.

"Behind an army of killer robots?" As she sank back in her armchair, Gamora inquired, her face incredulous as she looked at the two of them.

"Afraid so," The Watcher extended his arms slightly, as if to apologize.

"And armed with the full set of Stones?" Gamora added to the onslaught of inquiries that was turning their goal into a suicide mission by the minute.

"She has a valid point," Strange agreed, a faint smirk on his face as he waved at the Watcher.

"Look, I never said this was going to be easy," The Watcher stood up for himself.

"This is a suicide mission," Killmonger leaned forward in his chair, his brow furrowed at the near-impossibility of their mission.

"Even suicide missions have a higher chance of success than this," I muttered under my breath, but of course everyone heard it and turned towards me. I simply ignored them and reached for the glass of scotch resting on the table, only to have it disappear right out of my hands. Looking at the doctor I gave him an expression that said, 'I am not impressed', as he sipped it himself.

"You are still 17. Even if you are a devil, I am not allowing that," he said, as a loud 'What?!' startled all of us. Yup, a lecture from Captain Carter was incoming.

"Um, yeah, excuse me, yeah." Thor interrupted clearly not having paid much attention at all, which was clear from the body language he was giving off. "Is there a universe of Chinses Food that has alternate dimension delivery? Tummy's getting rumbly."

"You picked them," Strange whispered to The Watcher.

~ A few moments, and lunch later. Third Person POV ~

"So, you are the Devil huh?" Captain Carter asked, as she walked towards Nicholas who stood on the sidelines, watching the portals in the sky with interest. She had blown a fuse once she realized he was only 17, but Strange and the Watcher had already explained to her that the laws of humanity do not apply to him.

"The one and only. Although I think the one you are talking about was my grandfather," Nicholas said, turning his head sideways to acknowledge the presence of the woman that was the brand ambassador of the 'buff and beautiful' campaign.

"Do you also tempt people to sell their souls and drink the blood of virgins?" she asked with a smirk plastered on her face.

That got him to laugh a bit as he looked at her with mirth clear in his eyes and spoke up, "No. my kind stopped dealing with souls years ago. Nowadays its more based on favors and equivalent exchange contracts."

"I'm Captain Carter, by the way, but seeing as we're teammates now you can call me Peggy." She offered with a smile.

She turned her head briefly as Thor fired a bolt of lightning at the ceiling behind her, presumably to confirm that he could attract unwanted attention and therefore lure Ultron to them when the time was right.

"Nicholas Lucifer. The Devil," the silver-haired teenager spoke up with a charming smile of his own.

"Tell me, Nicholas. You know the stories of all of us here, but we no nothing about you. Care to indulge my curiosity a bit and share a bit of your life as well as our futures?" Peggy asked as she looked at him.

Nicholas looked at her with an expressionless face for some time before he began saying, "I was born to a family that respected power more than me, and hence I grew up quick. By chance I found a way to the estate of the Lucifer family where the Original Lucifer, or his ghost at least, crowned me as his heir. That's all there is to my story for now."

Turning towards the woman who had all her attention focused on him, "As for your stories. I would rather just talk about you. In most of the realities, Steven does get the Super Soldier Serum as planned but he gets frozen in an ice cap for over half a century, as he tried to chase Shmidt while stopping an airplane from exploding. Howard Stark finds him decades later and much like you, he joins the Avengers. Only to find out you had become old as fuck instead of him. Your stories are pretty much the same."

From the look in her eyes, he could see that his words had affected her. While he did sympathize with her, he knew she would bounce back soon from this. She was Captain Carter after all.

But that was not his main concern. He turned back to gaze at the bustling crowd of his impromptu teammates and fixed his senses on Killmonger. He was needed here right now because of his abilities as the Black Panther, but…

"Something troubling you?" Peggy asked from beside him, her face scrunched up in concern.

Sighing he began explaining to her, "The Watcher has brought all of us here to fulfil a task in the story that has been written down. But the one thing I do not understand, is the presence of Killmonger here.

In every reality I know of, Killmonger causes some kind of a problem that leads to mass killings. And I wouldn't put him above stabbing us all in the back if he could be rewarded with something that would help his goals. So, keep an eye on him."

Even Peggy looked troubled now. Unlike him, she did not know much about this Killmonger, but he knew more about their lives than they did at this point. Why wouldn't she believe his words?

"Care to fill me in on the roles we are supposed to play?" Peggy questioned, folding her hands in front of her chest. Something that drew his eyes to her impressive bosom. An action that did not go unnoticed by the war veteran, causing her to smirk.

"From what I know about all of you, Thor is the muscle of the group. A warrior of the highest order, who wouldn't hesitate to charge at the enemy. He can be immature, idiotic and selfish at times but he is a good person who would never abandon his comrades," Nicholas said as he gestured towards the God of Thunder.

"As for Gamora, she is the adopted daughter of Thanos, the Mad Titan. Perhaps the most knowledgeable person who knows about the Infinity Stones in this room."

"After you I assume?" Peggy teased him, causing a chuckle to leave his mouth.

"Maybe. Strange is a magical force to be reckoned with. And this variant of his, would give Ultron a run for his money alone. T'Challa is the Star Lord and a Ravager, a change from the usual moniker he is known by, but I assume he is here because of his agility and skills as a thief. But I wouldn't worry about him betraying us. He is an honorable warrior. As for Killmonger, he is a skilled tactician and warrior, but be careful around him. He fights only for himself, and has no honor."

Peggy simply nodded at his words. It was then she realized that he hadn't mentioned her name. Turning towards him, she saw him smirking at her and realized he already knew what she was going to ask.

"You are here for the same reason you always are. To lead us into the battle, Captain."

"After we recover the stones, we destroy them using this," Gamora's voice brought Nicholas' and Peggy's attention back to the group, as Gamora stepped forward to the centre of the room.

"Um not to be that guy. BUT how would even go about destroying an infini-" Thor began but was cut off by Gamora who lifted up a strange device that she had brought with her. "OH, you're answering my question. Sorry. Thank you."

"The Infinity Crusher, designed to disintegrate each stone into nothing," Gamora stated proudly, as everyone gathered around, her voice supremely confident.

"Yep, I picked them." The Watcher's voice proudly pitched in next to Strange, his voice showing that his choice of heroes had been proven correct.

Nicholas stood there, scanning the device the green lady was proudly bragging about. his thoughts running rampant with calculations and possible way to improve the device he thought was… lackluster.

"Something to say, kid?" Gamora asked, her eyes fixed on the Devil examining her masterpiece.

Nicholas looked at her, not showing any sign of being offended by her calling name calling, and said, "Yes. It's a well thought out device, a technological marvel even. But you missed out on crucial detail. The device will only work against the infinity stones of the universe it was designed in."

At his words, Gamora narrowed her eyes at him, along with everyone else, as she barked out, "Explain."

Taking a seat in front of her, Nicholas said, "It's simple really. Each Universe has a different gamma frequency that the Infinity Stones of that universe radiate. The Crusher measures that frequency and prepares a counter frequency to overwhelm and bombard the stone with, and thus, atomize it. Am I right?"

Every head turned to look at Gamora and saw her with her eyes widened and her mouth open. Even the brightest minds of her universe would need a few months of testing to decipher how the Crusher worked. And this ki- man, did it within a minute.

"Theoretically, I could improve the design enough that it would work against Ultron and his stones, but for that I would need time. Time we do not have. So, anyone else has any bright ideas?" Nicholas asked as he addressed the room at large.

"Yes. We improvise," Peggy said, and everyone collectively agreed. This was the only way forward.

"Actually… I might have something," Nicholas said, gaining the attention of the room once more. "But I'll need a few minutes to set it up. Can you buy me some?"

Addressing the room at large, everyone saw the seriousness on his face and nodded their heads in agreement.

"Good. So, here's what we do."

~ Uninhabited Universe ~

Seeking out Ultron was the stupidest thing they could possibly do, if what Nicholas said was to be believed. Which was why all of them were waiting on a cliff, the only intelligent beings in an otherwise desolate universe. According to strange, Ultron wouldn't normally enter this universe because there isn't much intelligent life here to gain his attention. That was at least until they decide to.

As they sat around the campfire, each of them overlooking the serene landscape as it washed a sense of calm over them, while Strange began performing protective enchantments over them.

Peggy stood at the edge of the cliff, preparing mentally to once again charge into battle. Her mind was still reeling from some of the things Nicholas has revealed to her. Was it true though? Had Steve been the one to receive the serum, would he have done a much better job.

As she contemplated this, a pained grunt was heard from behind. Looking back, she saw Strange's arm transform into an unnatural state as tentacles began pouring out of his while it turned black. she was sure it belonged to something inhumane. Something she wouldn't wish on her worst enemies. She trudged forward to help him out, but before she could, Strange grabbed him arm and began muttering spells which resulted in his arm turning back to normal within moments.

"Can I ask, what happened?" Peggy couldn't help but marvel how a man as educated and skilled as the one in front of her had ended up in such a position.

Strange released a heavy sigh, getting his breathing under control, closing his eyes briefly as images of Christine, flashed in his mind before he answered. "Same thing that happened to you," he answered, his voice carrying a severe amount of sadness. "Love."

However, their attention was soon drawn to the blonde god that seemed to be on a ton of amphetamines for every second of his life.

"Hasten friends! TONIGHT, we FEAST. For tomorrow we FIGHT." Thor announced the usual Asgardian custom before battle, raising Mjolnir in the air causing lightning to course throughout his body.

"In that spirit, I propose a toast." Strange declared waving his hands across each other to summon a tray of drinks, for everyone. Each drink was suited for one of them. Thor had mead; Peggy was swirling around a glass of Pina Colada; T'Challa carried a big glass of Wakandan whiskey, while Gamora and Killmonger each had a glass of some kind of bluish liquid. Strange himself raised a glass of cocktail for a toast.

"A wise sorcerer once told me to face death was part of the plan. To face death is to face one's greatest fear: the unknown, nothingness, and the end of all ends." Strange's voice was slightly detached as he delivered an ominous toast, leaving everyone in the room wide-eyed as he just continued.

Peggy, for her part, tried clearing her throat to urge Strange to stop, but he merely continued with his toast, which seemed to declare that they were all about to die and that existence felt pointless. Peggy's gaze was drawn to Gamora, and all she could do was shrug and give her a look that plainly said, 'I have no idea where this came from.'

"The senseless nothing and the vast opening of infinity to your…" Strange continued on his manner clearing showing that he had either always been terrible at toasts or else had not been around people in a long time.

T'Challa finally interceded simply pushing himself next to Strange and placing an arm around the man's shoulder. "Let me. You've done enough, Doctor. To the Guardians of -"

"The Multiverse!" Everyone finished T'Challa's toast raising the glass together in the air.

Each of them brought their respective glass to their mouths to take a sip but T'Challa and Thor drowned theirs in a single gulp, being raised in a culture of hard drinking.

The moment he finished his drink, Thor smashed his glass down on the ground and shouted, "THE MULTIVERSE!" his voice booming across the empty planet as he unleashed a torrent of lightning that illuminated the night sky.

But that proved to be a little… excessive.

As if summoned by the little show by Thor's lightening, the sky above them was soon filled by an image of the android bot that was hunting them. Or where they hunting him? Never mind, that wasn't important.

"So, there is life in this universe, after all." Ultron's synthetic voice rang out across the planet, as he seemingly leaned forward to cast his gaze down on the Guardians of the Multiverse.

"There goes waiting till we're ready." Strange also joined in with a disappointing remark at Thor's expense.

"In my defence, I did warn you. I excel at attracting unwanted attention." Thor defended himself, his voice a little guarded at being attacked.

Before anyone could retort, the Cloak of Levitation tapped Strange on his shoulder and gestured behind them, where the sky was cracking open like a piece of glass. The armored machine that was wreaking havoc across the multiverse soon entered, his menacing eyes glowing along with the stones adorning his chest and head.

"All right, here comes a non-compliant spell." Strange exclaimed, his hands swinging around as a massive wave of defensive magic washed over the group, all of them slightly wincing as Strange fired small frisbee-like charms at them. It stun them a little when cast, as would all powerful spells. "Yeah, sorry about that. You'll feel it a little."

"Wow! This is incredible." Peggy exclaimed in response to Strange's protective spell, as an astral version of her outfit glowed quickly over her, the astral version of the flag on her chest glowing brightly, and she immediately felt not just powerful but in the best shape of her life.

At her words, another portal, similar to the one that got them here, opened up behind them as Gamora and Killmonger slipped through it, to prepare for the next step of their plan. The other four however remained behind, to at least weaken Ultron and buy some time.

The being hovering above them was beyond a level of power that Peggy could understand. She had faced countless force through the years as Captain Carter. But nothing came close to the power of the android gazing at them as he levitated in the sky.

However, before the remaining guards could enact their plan, Thor stepped forward confidently, declaring. "I know how to deal with this party pooper!"

"Wait, Thor! The pla-" Peggy began, trying to stop Thor from doing whatever he was about to do.

"VIVA LAS VEGAS!" Thor's battle cry echoed out as he unleashed the greatest lightning blast that all of them had ever seen, the air itself burning slightly as the lightning arced forward, and hurtled towards Ultron.

The blast of energy immediately hit Ultron, but it appeared to have little effect, as the Synthetic Cosmic entity, along with practically everyone else present, only looked perplexed as Thor continued to yell his unique battle cry. T'Challa, on the other hand, being a good thief, saw this as an opportunity to slip away and prepare for his part of the plot.

Ultron, on the other hand, grew bored of entertaining Thor's stunts and simply lifted his palm, easily absorbing the massive quantity of electrical energy before closing his fist and ending the assault. Thor was perplexed that his blow had not even scratched the bot's armour, and Ultron simply looked down in interest at Thor and the others.

"Can't say I've heard that battle cry before," Ultron remarked dryly slightly bemused by these creatures' attempts to fight him.

But before Ultron could move forward to attack them, Thor wasted no time and launched his hammer straight at the being. His pride as the Prince of Asgard and a warrior had been hurt. After all, it was one of his strongest attacks and his opponent walked away without a scratch. That wouldn't be a good story at all.

Strange wasted no time in aiding his comrades as he used a spell that created multiple copies of the hammer and began pelting Ultron with it. Peggy seeing her chance, used one of the hammers to launch herself into the air and towards the android that was being annoyed by the hundreds of hammers circling him life flies.

Once she was close enough to the bot, she gracefully moved her arms in front of her head bringing her shield forward to impact Ultron, Strange moved quickly his arm waving as a spell that caused her shield to glow with power. Getting right above Ultron;s head, she brought her shield down to knock his head off, something that created a sound so loud that if any normal human would have heard it, their eardrums would have permanently given up.

The strike was so hard that even Ultron's infinity stone created armoured helmet cracked at the blow. She then promptly grabbed hold of one of the passing duplicates of Mjolnir whose path allowed her to return to the ground quickly.

Then with the timing only a Black Panther and a Ravager could have, T'Challa appeared leaping onto Ultron's back. "Gotcha!" He declared as he placed one of his Quad Blasters to the android's head, whilst his other hand slipped to the Androids chest.

GET OFF!" Ultron declared in frustration, throwing T'Challa from his back and blasting the insolent human groping his body. Had it not been for the protective spells, T'Challa would have been toast.

Landing on the ground like a sack of rice, T'Challa coughed a bit before Peggy jogged up to him, while Strange and Thor kept the android occupied.

"Did you get it?" she asked.

"As Yondu says 'Never doubt sticky fingers'" T'Challa grinned showing the Soul Stone resting in the palm of his hand.

"Good," Peggy smiled at her teammate before turning to face the sky and spoke up once more. "Watcher! Portal!"

Another blue vortex swirled open and T'Challa smiling leapt into it taking the Soul Stone to phase 2 of their plan. Peggy began following him but before she could, through the corner of her eyes, she could see a red first with a glowing purple aura nearing her face. Ultron's fist.

It seems like the Guardians of the Multiverse had forgotten that Ultron was capable of flying at speeds that broke sound barriers. He just floated slowly more often as it looked a lot more menacing.

Peggy knew she had no chance of survival if she was hit. And not even Strange's protective spell could save her from at least being knocked straight into a coma. She simply shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable hit that would soon connect to her head.

But it never came.

Turning around, she saw a hand holding the fist of the android, inches away from her face. Moving her eyes to look at her saviour, and lo and behold, their stood the man she had called a 'kid' not too long ago. His iridescent eyes glowing in the darkness that shrouded them, while black and gold miasma swirled around his body, much like the aura of the infinity stones.

"I thought you would be stronger," Nicholas said with a bored expression on his face, internally squealing at how cool he must be looking right now, as he took great pleasure in the way Ultron's eyes widened as he simply couldn't comprehend what just happened.

Author's Notes

The next chapter focuses on the fight with our Mc taking centre stage. I know its been a while but my laptop is beyond fucked. If anyone knows good laptops under $700, for college work as well as light gaming, do mention them in the comments. Check auxiliary for character images.

If you guys see any errors, or points that you feel are plot holes then let me know.

Comment and review please, it works as great motivation.

Check out my 'PT' for more stuff by yours truly. Advanced chapter is already up for patrons at $3/month. The link is in the bio. I have a few one shots there as well.

See ya. In the next one.