章 58: Chapter 58: Wasteland
Forty years ago.
New York City was enjoying a clear day, with a high of 26°C and a southwest breeze—perfect for an outing.
The Thunderbolts, a team handpicked from some of the world's most notorious super-powered criminals, had sworn to use their abilities to undertake the most dangerous missions. In essence, they were akin to DC's Suicide Squad.
Atlas, essentially a morally corrupt version of Giant-Man. Songbird, who, like Klaw, weaponized sound, but with the added ability to create solid constructs from sound energy. Moonstone, a so-called junior version of Captain Marvel. She could fly and emit energy blasts. Mach-X, formerly the Beetle, now donned in high-tech battle armor. Citizen V, whose iconic V-shaped metal mask had been passed down for three generations in the Watkins family.
On this fateful day, the team was joining the Avengers on their first mission: a trip to Las Vegas to deal with a dangerous criminal. This was their chance to prove they had reformed and were ready to contribute to the greater good.
Meanwhile, at the bustling intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, New Yorkers gathered in front of the iconic Times Square screens, captivated by breaking news.
The broadcast displayed Thor locked in an epic battle with the Absorbing Man, their figures larger-than-life against the backdrop of the screen. The onlookers marveled at the spectacle, but most went about their day. To them, it was just another routine superhero event. After all, villains like Thanos, Galactus, and countless alien invaders had never managed to permanently harm their heroes. Why should today be any different?
That was until dusk fell, and everything changed.
The Fall of Heroes
The first casualty was a Helicarrier. It descended from the skies at a terrifying speed, breaking apart mid-air. The intense heat and pressure caused its armor to disintegrate into fiery fragments, which rained down as the craft hurtled into Times Square. The impact obliterated nearby buildings, enveloping half the city in a cloud of ash and smoke.
The survivors, still stunned, stared at the carnage. Dusk's amber glow was quickly swallowed by the dark pall of destruction.
"What happened? Where are our heroes? Why didn't they stop this?"
These questions hung in the air as cries and screams began to echo. People held onto the hope that their heroes would soon fly in to save the day.
When the roar of engines broke the silence, heads turned skyward. A squadron of aircraft approached, silhouetted against the setting sun. At first, there was excitement.
But as the jets drew closer, revealing their blood-red Hydra insignias, the hope in their eyes turned to despair. Cheers gave way to silence.
The fading sunlight, once a symbol of hope, was eclipsed by the approaching war machines.
The Day the Villains Won
"Red Skull had united every villain he could muster—Sinister Six, Brotherhood of Mutants, Wrecking Crew—they overwhelmed the superheroes with sheer numbers and superior intelligence."
"The Thunderbolts betrayed the Avengers, allowing Baron Zemo, disguised as Citizen V, to infiltrate their systems. They even killed some of the Avengers themselves, just to save their own skins."
"Wasn't War Machine one of the first to die after being hacked?"
"Yeah, and Thor fell to the Absorbing Man, while Captain America was strangled by Red Skull on the Capitol steps."
That day, the villains wiped out every hero on Earth, dividing the world among themselves and reducing it to a wasteland.
The Present.
A scruffy man wearing a collar exhaled nervously, looking at the silver-haired man before him. "So, how'd I do? My history knowledge good enough?"
Noah smirked, pressing the barrel of his gun to the man's forehead. "A hundred percent. But here's a bonus question: got a current map?"
"Yeah! It's on Jamie with the purple bandana!" he shouted desperately.
The Punisher had already shot all the other duplicates, leaving only one alive. Ignoring the man's pleas, Frank Castle rummaged through the corpse with the purple bandana and retrieved the map. After a thorough inspection, he nodded toward Noah, signaling that it seemed reliable.
Some of the marked locations on the map gave them pause: Osborn City, Hammerfall, and Hulkland.
"What's with these places?" Noah asked.
The man chuckled bitterly, glancing at the bodies around him. "You're seriously asking that? What rock did you crawl out from under to not know any of this?"
Though the days of superheroes were now as distant as ancient myths, the fall of the world was common knowledge.
Madrox's gang had lived by pillaging, smuggling, and partying for years—until now, when they encountered an opponent they couldn't handle.
Their leader reminisced about that Jamie Madrox—the original Multiple Man. During the fall, he had recklessly overused his power to save his friends, forcing unwilling duplicates into battle against Hydra. Eventually, the corrupted clones overwhelmed the originals and sided with Hydra.
Red Skull initially planned to eliminate the duplicates after his victory, but they were too troublesome, endlessly replicating. Magneto had intervened, protecting the clones as mutants under his dominion.
What remained was the Madrox Gang, fractured remnants of an ideal long lost.
A Wasteland Universe.
Noah studied the map.
When Doctor Doom had transported them to this universe, he hadn't included a working portal machine. Not ideal.
This was Earth-807128, also known as the Wasteland Universe—a timeline set slightly later than Earth-2149 (the Marvel Zombies Universe). Here, most survivors lived a harsh existence reminiscent of Mad Max, scavenging for food and fighting over clean water.
Villains like Magneto, Doom, and Lizard, who had played pivotal roles in the fall of the heroes, now ruled over their territories under Red Skull's division. The exception was the Hulk, whose rise was… unique.
Bruce Banner's path to power was unlike the others, but that was a story for another time.
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