Capítulo 231: Chapter 226: Chronopolis
(A/N: Sorry that it had been too long. I didnt drop the story, but I'm finishing it at chapter 250. Let me work on the ending first, and then I will upload all the chapter together at the same time when I'm done. )
-29th Century Zone-
"Why is it safe here?" Gwen asked after she was led to a hidden place inside the section. The dark and damp building was the safe haven for the two guardians as they struggled to survive in Chronopolis.
"3 years back, multiple sections of Chronopolis were destroyed by an intruder." Gamora explained as Adam Warlock was still outside to gather information. "The Chronopolis had lost the majority of its strength after that."
"The Grand Time port was destroyed, and the Citadel had separated from Chronopolis by Ravonna's order. They had relocated to the End of Time, in which the position was still unknown."
Gamora asked Carol to sit on the chair in front of her, and she used one of Kang's medical technology to accelerate the healing on Carol's fractured hands.
"Thank you." Carol said. "For saving us. I am very sorry that you had to spend 15 years here."
"You're welcome. And we already find the ways to return back to our timeline. We were just waiting for you guys." Gamora explained.
Gwen was silent and fell into a deep thought about the being that could destroy Chronopolis to this state. "That's…Ryan right?" Gwen said in both anticipation and concern." He connected to my communication line just a second before we were transported here. He said he is inside the ship."
"I…don't actually know." Gamora answered. "The destroyer's gone before I can meet him."
"Gone? Where did he go?" Carol asked.
"I don't know. But his presence had increased the security around the city, causing the soldiers to try and erase intruders in sight. Adam said the destroyed were indeed Ryan, but we cannot know for sure."
"That's…troubling." Carol said. "What will happen when you get erased?" Gwen asked.
"It will send you to the Void." A man's voice answered as he walked into the hidden base.
Adam Warlock turned to the newcomer and said, "Nice to meet you again, Gwen Stacy, Carol Danvers. I have been waiting for you."
"Why?" Carol asked, a bit vigilant by Adam's emotionless voice.
"Before I get to that, I need to show you a few scenes…from various timelines in the future." Adam said and casted a magic spell to display his memory toward the newcomers.
In the nine years he was there, he had managed to comprehend all of Dawn's Beginner Guide to Magic book and even develop a few of his own. "[Memoirs]" Adam Warlock muttered.
A silvery fog appeared in front of the newcomers, and with it, Adam's Warlock's memory was played.
The first memory shown was set in the 24th century timeline. Adam managed to get the files and footage from another survivor inside the city named Mobius M. Mobius.
It showed that the entire timeline was destroyed by a long haired blonde man with dead-fish like eyes and cold temperament.
"That's…Ryan! But why?!" Gwen covered her mouth in shock after she saw the files and footage inside Adam's memories. Ryan was laughing maniacally as he toyed with Arishem, one of the Celestial in the universe. He stored Arishem into a tiny snow globe, and he shook the globe so that the Celestial would fall down.
Gwen thought for a while, and asked, "What happens when a timeline is destroyed?"
"I know you will be able to pick up on this." Gamora said proudly. "The timeline was changed, not destroyed."
Adam continued, "It was listed as destroyed because Kang could no longer interfere in that timeline."
"I see. That's why he wanted to kill Ryan now." Carol said in realization. "He cannot do it at any other timelines."
Adam Warlock nodded and showed a memory of Ryan battling a man with a similar figure as him. The man in black robe had long white hair and a crown on his head.
"The Black Winter." Adam explained. "This is when Ryan lost…and the record disappeared."
Another memory showed Ryan had died after being in a coma for 3 years. Tim Knight went crazy and attacked the Ten Rings, starting a war with the Mandarin, and almost killed the President of the United States before Tim and Hiddle were stopped by the Avengers.
"He was supposed to die?" Carol asked.
"Based on the records, yes." Adam replied. "Let's go. He is waking up as he has sensed his lover's presence in the city. The city will be destroyed soon. We need to get as close to him as we can."
-Ryan's POV, Chronopolis: 3 years ago-
"FUCK!" I yelled as I hover on top of the hidden city.
"GWEN!" I shouted for her desperately, my mistake had cost me to be separated from her.
I started to hyperventilate, my chest tightened, my eyes lost their focus.
[It's okay. Just let yourself loose.] A sweet whisper sounded inside my mind. Another me with pupilles, black eyes were getting closer and closer to me.
[The world never gave you a chance to rest right?] The voice whispered.
[Even though all you want…was to live a carefree life.] The whisper resonated next to my ears, making me feel sure that I was going crazy.
[All you want…is for them to be safe…All you want…is for us to be happy. But the threats came one after another, and it will continue until the day you die. Don't you deserve…a peaceful life? A life where you don't have to worry about the threats the entity could destroy your entire existence at the whim of its mind?]
[The only way for you to be happy…is for the story to…End.] The voice whispered to me. [Let me out. Let me End the entire story. Let me close the curtains on those threats, and make a peaceful life for us…A happily ever after…]
I was smitten by the voice. Every whisper was like floating around inside a mother's womb, telling me that I would be safe from every harm that the world had plotted against me.
In my mind, I was staggering to the darker me…I was reaching my hand to him…to let him end this story and give me peace.
"COME DOWN, OR BE ERASED!" A voice shouted to me from the ground, causing me to snap out of my delusions. I looked down and I saw a familiar looking face. "Ravonna." I said while gritting my teeth. "Am I inside Kang's City? The Citadel, or Chronopolis?" I asked her.
"GIVE UP VARIANT!! THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM HERE!" Ravonna yelled in my direction. I smirked and I raised my right hand to the sky. A dark energy orb started to congregate on my palm, with each whisper it became darker and darker.
"Where is Gwen?" I asked Ravonna.
"Any variants that entered the City will be erased!" Ravonna said.
"I see. Then, you're all…erased." I muttered, letting my anger take over my entire being. "It's the END. For you guys."
Maybe there was a chance for me to get her back. Maybe, she was still out there somewhere. But right now, I had no qualms in erasing all of the people here and tearing up the entire city to the ground for me to ease my anger.
I shot the destructive orb toward the Citadel. The energy inside the orb could take out the entire earth and burn it to its core. My body was continuously swallowing energy from the Limbo part of the city, devouring the energy greedily as it grew and strengthened.
"Block it." Ravonna ordered coldly. I scoffed at her naivety as she still thought she was above everyone else here. A few defensive energy shields were activated in the orb's parth. However, the orb tore up the defensive shield like tearing through paper, shattering each and every single one of them before it hit the Citadel.
BOOM
The Citadel's upper right side of the building was obliterated by the orb.
Ravonna looked at the Citadel with a face full of fear. She looked back toward me, but I was already in front of her face. I touched her face with my finger, and said, "You guys have run out of time."
"Ravonna!" An agent of Kang tried to hit me with a pruning stick, but he froze when he tried to raise his hand. I grabbed Ravonna's face, my nails dug deep into her skin.
"I need access to your record." I said and I forcefully invaded her mind, tearing all the defenses along the way.
As I peered through her memories, and finally I understood that Gwen had never come here before this.
'She had never come here. And she wasn't erased by the citizens.' I thought in relief. My heartbeat returned to normal, and I finally calmed down a bit.
'Wait. What was I doing?' I became confused and the whisper in my mind moved further and further away till it became indiscernible. I casually threw the paraplegic Ravonna to the side after I got what I needed. After messing with her brain, it would take a lot of time and effort for her to heal herself – if Kang has the technology to do it.
"You! You have destroyed the Grand Port!" Mobius said. "Do you have any ideas of what you have done?!"
"Unstabilizing the space-time continuum. Creating a lot of nexus events and new timelines. But that's okay. That is the natural order of things. Time shouldn't be controlled by one person in the first place. Kang is not god." I said casually to Mobius.
"It will also destabilize the entire city. Those of whom you're sacrificing yourself for when you came here to save them…will also disappear as their destination is ruined." Mobius explained.
"Ah shit," I muttered in surprise and contempt. "Ceasefire for now?" Mobius tried to negotiate. "I know that you're strong enough to destroy everything here, but some universe needs us."
"Just go." I chased the guy away. It was hard for me to treat Mobius the same way as Ravonna as I knew he was only a brainwashed guy, and he believed that he was doing the right thing.
Without Mobius realizing it, I planted a seed inside his mind. As his suspicions toward the Citadel grew, he would be able to break free of the brainwashing by himself.
I entered the city's core and started to stabilize the chrono-particles that were sustaining the city.
"Hmmm. The energy in Limbo is continuously being absorbed by the magic circuit." I muttered and sat down in the middle of the core, letting my body absorb Limbo's energy while I became a power source for the core to sustain itself.
"Gwen. I…want to be with you again." I muttered and closed my eyes, letting my body fall into a state of unconsciousness as I waited for her. I didn't know how long it would take for me to wait for her to come here and ensure that she's safe. I will wait here even for ten years…one hundred year….one thousand years…or even until the end of time itself.
"See you then." I muttered my final words before I went to sleep inside the core without realizing the Chronal energy had been transferred to form variants of myself inside the multiverse. Variants with…unparalleled destructiveness and intelligence.
I didn't know how long I had been asleep inside the core. Time flew by faster here than the outside world. Sometimes…it flew slower…like the rest of the world was a cheetah, and I was a snail.
I was waiting for her without giving up, and I kept stabilizing the entire city, just for Kang's minions to build it back up again.
Finally, after waiting for such a long time, I could sense her existence again. But time was in a period of slowness here inside the core. It'll take me 6 hours just to take one step to get out of the core.
-3rd Person POV-
"After he comes out, the entire place is going to be destroyed. We need to make some preparations and secure our path back to our timeline." Gamora said.
"How? Using a time port?" Gwen asked as she learned the know-how of the mechanism in the city. She had learned almost all of Gamora's knowledge in the two hours they were together, and she surpassed the knowledge by her own understanding of the city.
"Yes. The citizens here have fixed a few of the time ports, but it couldn't bring us back. What we need is to throw ourselves into the raw time vortex, and let this…" Adam Warlock pointed at the soul stone in his forehead. "... this fragment of our universe to guide us back."
A sudden tremor shook the entire city, and Adam Warlock said in a grave tone, "It's time. Let's just hope he can be reasoned with and haven't fallen into temptation of this place."
"Don't worry. If that is really Ryan…he will listen." Gwen said confidently.
"I just hope that you're right." Gamora said.
"Let's get the hell out of here." Carol took the lead and flew out of the hidden place. Gwen controlled her wing feathers to create mini wings at Gamora's back. Gamora was stunned by the sudden ability to fly and asked, "This is?"
"My suit can regenerate itself very quickly. You can even keep the wings. It is bonded to your thoughts, so you can control it easily." Gwen explained with a smile. The older looking Gamora smiled softly and said, "Thank you Gwen."
As all of the team members could fly, they quickly arrived in the golden building and they saw the entire building being imploded. The unlucky citizens in Chronopolis were then obliterated, and disappeared from existence.
"We don't have much time." Gwen said. "The whole place is getting blown in 10 minutes."
"Knight! Are you there!" Carol yelled out toward the core's direction.
"Vice-Captain! Are you there?!" Gamora yelled.
"Mr. Knight! Come out!" Adam Warlock said urgently. However, no one responded to their call.
"Darling~!" Gwen called out sweetly, causing all eyes to turn toward her.
"Yes dear?" Ryan replied sweetly as he got out of the core and flew toward Gwen. He hugged her on sight, giving her a tight embrace that had created some cracks on her Mercy battle suit.
"I was so worried." Ryan said.
"Me too." Gwen said.
"Even though I want to let you guys continue, we need to get out of here now." Adam Warlock said.
They flew toward the broken time port, and found a turbulent time vortex.
"Ready?" Adam Warlock asked.
"Yeah. I'm ready." Ryan replied while holding Gwen's hand tightly.
Adam Warlock entered the time port and quickly sucked all of the displaced people into his soul stone as the stone started to come to life. He needed to do that to ensure that no one would be separated as they traveled home.
Adam arrived back at his own universe quickly after following the soul stone guide. It was less than 10 seconds since Kang's ship had disappeared from their universe, and they were now home.
Adam finally released the displaced people out in the universe after they got home.
"We're back." Adam Warlock said. The girls breathed in relief, but no sound was heard from Ryan Knight.
Gwen turned to Ryan in concern and asked, "Ryan?" Suddenly, Ryan's hand attacked Gwen's throat, and he started to strangle her.
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