165 All-Spark

We exited the portal onto a plateau in the grand canyon, overlooking a beautiful sandtone ridge colored in reds and purples, oranges and greens, rippling across the landscape like waves in the ocean.

"It's beautiful!" Ace gawked, looking around happily.

"It is isn't it?"

Ace nodded.

"But what are we here for?" She asked.

"To bring you to your new home."

"But you promised to take me with you!" She protested.

"Once I deal with this situation. For now, like I said, you should try to live like a normal girl. In this world." I said.

"But I am not normal." She argued.

"I know. That's why you're staying with some very special people. So you can learn to control your powers." I said, opening a portal to the Chthulu dimension, as tentacles shot put of it, tearing through rocks, crushing stone, thrashing all around.

Ace grabbed my head and shifted back at the sight, looking away in fear and disgust.

"Are those the special people?!" She asked, afraid.

I chuckled, patting her head.

"No. Those are." I pointed at a glowing Ankh that appeared in the sky as soon as I opened up the portal to the Chthulu dimension.

Out from the golden Ankh came a man in a similarly golden helmet and blue-gold costume, his cape fluttering in the wind.

Kent Nelson. Otherwise known as Dr. Fate. Sorcerer Supreme. Lord of Order. Master of magic.

The equivalent of the Ancient One in the DCAU.

"Close the portal, Stranger. And surrender. Lest you force my hand...."

I raised a hand, waving his concerns away as I closed the portal.

"Chill. I mean no harm. I just wanted to meet you." I assured him, "I have a request."

"A request?" He asked, floating closer.

"Is it in regards to the girl?"

"Yes. You know of her?"

"I know of most things that matter." He replied, cryptic in his words.

As if realizing something Ace sat up straight, her eyes widened.

"Wait! You knew?! And you let me rot in there?! Why?"

"I had my reasons child. The Justice League has an uneasy truce with the CADMUS project. It is what we must do to keep peace and order."

"Allow them to experiment on children?!" Ace snapped, "Do you know how much I suffered? You could have saved me. So easily..."

"No-"

"Don't lie! I can read your mind! I know you knew. You know even now. You can see it all! And you turned a blind eye to it! All of it!"

"Ace! Calm do-"

"How am I supposed to calm down? These are the special people ypu wa t to leave me with? The people who ignored me? Left me to rot all alone in a CADMUS cell?!" She turned to Dr. Fate and spat at him.

"You should be ashamed of calling yourself heroes! You're no hero!"

Damn! Not even an hour into our meeting and she's already ripping on heroes!

I wioed a metaphorical tear and smiled.

She'll fit right in with my family!

"Silence! Child! Lives are held at balance, lives far more important than yours!" Fate's voice boomed, echoing across the valley.

"I made a choice! War to free you and others like you, to overthrow the government would result in countless deaths. If the price to avoid that is the life of one girl, it is a price I am willing to pay!"

"My life is not for you to decide! I am not currency! I am a person! A human being! What gives you the right to decide what to do with-"

Ace stopped herself, and realized the implications of her words.

"Do you see now?" Dr. Fate replied, "The same way I cannot decide to let you die, I cannot decide to free you either. It is your choice. Your actions. I admit, we have made mistakes. Hard choices. No child deserves to suffer like you did. But we always kept the greater good in mind."

"Fuck you!" Ace snarled, turning away,

"Excuses, all of them."

"Ace! Please. Just for a few days. Till you learn to control your power. They have experience with reality warping. They can help you."

"Like they helped me before?"

I sighed and Dr. Fate lowered his head in guilt.

"You don't have to like them. Okay? But your powers are growing, Ace. And if you can't control them....you might lose your new family too." I explained, "You understand what I am saying right?"

"I wouldn't hurt you! I promise!" She cried, hugging my hand.

"I know." I patted her head, comforting her.

"Just a few days. I'll come pick you up, I promise. I won't abandon you. You know that right? I don't abandon my kids." I assured her.

She nodded meekly.

"Just learn from them. For a little bit. Then, we can go home. Our home."

"....okay. A few days. But you have to come visit me. Everyday. Promise?"

I smiled and pulled out her pinky from my pocket, wiggling it before her.

"Pinky promise."

She giggled finally, and turned to Dr. Fate again.

"So...?" I prodded at him.

"I am sorry. Ace. I didn't mean to ignore your plight. But if I can make it up to you like this.... let me help you with your training." He extended a hand to her.

Ace hesitated at first turning to look back at me, and gave me a hug.

"Please come back for me." She whispered.

"I will." I said, and pulled out the CodeRed epipen.

"Give me your hand. Let's heal you up before you go."

Ace nodded and extended her arm at me.

I grabbed her wrist and rolled back her straitjacket, jabbing the epipen into her veins, as she winced.

Slowly, her complexion improved, her sallow and pale look brightened and her sunken cheeks, filled up with a rosy blush, her breathing evening out.

But her pinky did not regenerate.

To be honest, it was weird already that it did not bleed when it fell off her hand earlier. That she didn't even have a wound. Just a tiny stump where her pinky should have been.

Noticing my confusion, Dr. Fate interjected.

"Her finger is a part of her whole, conceptually. Once it is removed, especially willingly by her, it won't regenerate. Not without significant effort of her own. Don't worry. By the time she has finished her training with me, she will be able to do much more than regenerating a finger." He explained.

"I see."

She sniffled and nodded, running over to Dr. Fate, and grabbed his hand, disappearing in a flash of light.

I watched the two disappear into a glowing Ankh and stood back up, patting my pants clean, and took one last look at the grand canyon in all it's majesty, and took a deep breath of fresh air, as I stretched.

I checked the time.

10:21 am. Nearly an hour wasted on this.

I looked down at the pinky finger in my hand and stuffed it back into my pocket.

One item down. Another handful to go.

And just two hours left.

First things first, I needed to get the materials for the reality anchor, high tech devices, and other materials. Materials not commonly available.

If I had to create them from scratch, it would take me all day and that I couldn't afford.

Two hours. No more.

So I had to find high tech materials ready for use. And even if I did find them, I still needed to work fast.

I didn't just need to make a reality anchor.

No. I also needed to up my armaments, if I had any hope of defeating Death herself, remove her curse and make myself, if not permanently then at least temporarily immune to the power cosmic. And there was one world that would give me all that I needed. Well, almost all.

But first, I needed something else too.

A distraction.

The moment I return to the MCU she will know. And she will escape.

I can't allow that.

I need something to distract her. Overwhelm her senses.

And what better to send Death into a sensory overload than life itself.

Specifically, an epidemic of new life.

Now usually, I would have just made use of a quick acting pathogen of some sort. Rick had a whole laundry list if them, some that I even used in my revenge against the Mandalorians just an year ago.

But not in my ship. Not with my kids at risk.

So I needed something else that created life. And without consequence too. Maybe even to my benefit, turning the battlefield into one I could control.

And I knew just where to get it.

I opened a portal to my next destination and walked in.

.

Sam screamed as he ran from the gnarled metal grasp of Megatron, darting down the street, weaving around the abandoned vehicle and falling rubble as the earth itself shook beneath his feet with each step, Megatron took.

"Give me the All-Spark I may yet let you live!" Megatron shouted, throwing a car to the side, sending it crashing through a building.

But the impact was served its purpose.

Sam tripped on a broken car door, and fell flat on his face, skidding to a stop on the pavement, the All-Spark flying out out his hand, tumbling down the street.

With a pinch, Megatron reached put for the All-Spark and picked it up, raising it above him, reveling in his glory.

"No!" He pushed himself up, but the pain halted him in his tracks.

He looked down to see a massive piece of concrete pinning him down by his ankle, shattered and bloody.

"No..." He repeated this time, softer, as he pushed past the pain and rolled the concrete block over.

But it was too late.

"Should have taken my offer when you had the chance, human."

Megatron cackled with glee, his fist raised.

"Now die!"

Megatron brought his fist down on him, and Sam closed his eyes curling up into a ball, screaming like a girl.

But the hit never came.

From the dust cloud engulfing the street, obscured from view, a blinding blue blaze ripped through the air, slicing the decepticon in two. Then four, and eight as the parts of him slid off his body, falling apart all around Sam, miraculously avoiding him altogether.

Seconds passed. At first nothing. Then footsteps echoed across the empty street.

Tip, tap.

Crisp and clean.

Through the settling dust he could see him.

A man cloaked in a shimmering forcefield, walking casually down the empty street, as if he was going for a walk in the park.

And was he...yes.

The man was whistling.

He had seen walking machines and life giving cubes.

But somehow this was the most bizzare thing Sam had ever seen.

The man walked towards him unbothered by the destruction and knelt down beside him, looking hin int he eyes as Sam waited with bated breath.

"Hey there!" He greeted, "Is that the All-Spark?"

"What?"

.

"The All-Spark. The cube thingy? Is it that little one there?" I asked the idiot lying prone on the street.

Looks like he had a brain freeze.

I snorted in amusement.

"Uh...uh yeah." He stuttered.

"Oh ok then. Just wanted to confirm. My memory of the movie is a bit spotty. Been a while since I saw it." I replied, grabbing the basketball sized metallic cube, tucking it under my arm.

"Wait, movie? What do you mean? Are you with the government?" The guy asked.

What was his name again?

Probably something stupid and generic like Jack or John or something.

It doesn't matter either way.

"Something like that." I replied, fiddling with the cube.

The pattern carved across it was intricate and somehow meaningful. Like a naturally produced source code for an A.I.

Is that what the Transformers are?

"Don't think too hard about it Shia. It'll hurt your pea sized brain." I added offhandedly.

"Who's Shia? I'm Sam. What are you doing with the cube? It's dangerous!"

"Oh pish posh. Life is short. Sometimes you just gotta sit down and take a sip of lava to see how it tastes."

"No you really don't!" Sam tsukkomi'd.

"What a pussy." I mocked, and focused on the cube.

I pushed my technokinesis into the thing and found a near boundless well of energy. It was an almost empty well, but it's capacity was boundless.

Even what little energy there was in it was substantial and growing with each minute.

And the energy, it seemed to be programmed in some way. Like it had intentions and feeling. Almost like a ... soul. An oversoul of sorts. A hivemind maybe?

Maybe I'll look into it more once I get the soul science data from Bleach.

But for now this should do.

The ground thumped and I looked up to see Optimus Prime crawl towards me.

"Thank you for stopping Megatron. Now give the All-Spark to me. I will keep it safe. With it, we can revive our-"

"Let me stop you right there, Optimus Prime." I said, making air quotes in the air.

"First of all, stupid name. Optimus Prime? You really like rubbbing your superiority in everyone's faces, don't you?

Might as well call yourself Biggus Dickus, or Maximus Genitalius.

I am the smartest man in the multiverse but you don't see me calling myself Maximus Brainus, do you.

And secondly!" I pulled out my portal gun with a mischievous grin.

"You want me to give you the cube? Make me!"

I opened up a portal and jumped in, flipping them the bird, as Optimus Primed swiped at me, missing me by a wide margin.

"Noooo!" I could hear his cries as the portal closed behind me.

Two down. One to go.

_____________________

The extra chapter for 400 powerstones as promised.

See you later with another chapter.

Thanks for reading.

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