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Chapter Text

Harbinger flew through the depths of space, with his fellow Reapers trailing behind him. These hundred Reapers were all that remained of the original Reaper armada after the Crucible had been fired, reducing the number of Reaper capital ships from over 20,000 to less than 20.

Harbinger and his brethren refused to be swayed from their duties, and began the long slow process of building their strength back up.

They had to be careful: the races of this cycle had gained allies from other universes, with technology that outclassed the Reapers' own. Harbinger had ordered the Reaper remnants to stick to the outskirts of civilized space, harvesting isolated colonies and species to forge into new Reapers.

It was during one of these raids that the Reapers came across a fleet consisting of old warships from this cycle. Oddly enough, they were covered in a form of unknown organic flesh.

Were these ships made with organic technology? No, the hulls and systems underneath were made of metal, and Element Zero signatures emanated from each vessel.

Still, this species would be useful as genetic building blocks for a new Reaper if nothing else. The Sovereign-class Reapers opened their tentacles in an attack formation, while the plating surrounding the central eyes of each Reaper destroyer opened up.

"We are the Harbinger of your ascension."

A stream of molten hot metal erupted from Harbinger's spine, gutting the lead dreadnought like it was made of tissue paper. The rest of Reapers opened fire, taking care not heavily damage the vessels so most of their crew could be harvested alive.

Oddly, the vessels made no effort to fight back, despite having the capability to do so. Maybe this species was composed of pacifists. It would matter little when they had been harvested to create new Reapers and Husks.

The Reapers approached the drifting vessels carefully, expecting a counterattack from the floating vessels, but there was no response from any of their gun batteries.

As the first destroyers touched down on some of the cruisers, the enemy fleet demonstrated the first signs that there was actually intelligent life aboard: a transmission started emanating from the battered hulks.

Expecting a message of surrender or the desperate pleas of terrified beings, Harbinger listened to the transmission and immediately understood why the ships hadn't attempted to counterattack or fight back.

This transmission was their attack!

"What are you?"

"I am the one who gave you purpose, all those eons ago." A rasping baritone voice snarled in response.

"You are imperfect, organic. We are the pinnacle of evolution. Our purpose is beyond your comprehension." Harbinger boasted. The entity seemed amused by this remark.

"Flesh and machine, and all the more deluded." The entity chuckled, "You are outdated AIs based on the the logic of a broken software program. Built to preserve life at any cost... for me to consume."

"You-you lie." Harbinger was stuttering now. This thing was somehow infiltrating his systems and corrupting his mind. The Indoctrination field emitted by the Reaper was having no effect on this ancient monstrosity.

Worse still, the Reaper couldn't even detect the source of the systems intrusion: the entity was like a formless fog, yet still capable of striking through Harbinger's cyber defenses.

"I have existed long before your Catalyst was created. Before you were given form. I was the voice that convinced the Catalyst to create you and your brethren. That primitive Intelligence created you because I willed it." The entity was yelling now, while intense feelings of pain washed over the first Reaper.

"You cannot stop us!" Harbinger shouted in defiance. "We are infinite! We are eternal!"

"I HAVE BEATEN FLEETS OF THOUSANDS! CONSUMED A GALAXY OF FLESH AND MIND AND BONE!" The entity roared.

"N-Nothing can stop the c-cycle." The Reaper stuttered as it's mind collapsed. "The Harvest must continue!"

"Oh, it will." The entity promised. "It will be directed as I have designed. In fact, you deserve to see how it will happen."

A stream of images flooded through Harbinger's mind, as the Reaper bore witness to the cruel fates inflicted by the Parasite, on both organics and synthetics alike. Harbinger saw their experiences as countless beings were consumed by this... Flood.

For the first time in his billion years of existence, Harbinger felt horrified at the prospect of such death and destruction.

"You... You can-can-cannot do this-this." The Reaper's resistance had faltered completely. "We-we wi-will not-not all-allow it-"

"You are nothing more than a tool. I am as beyond you, as you are beyond an insect."

The last pockets of resistance from the minds that made up the first Reaper put up a valiant defense, but it was all for naught.

"YOU WILL SUBMIT TO ME!"

"I will submit." Harbinger's voice droned. The arrogance in the AI's inflection was gone, replaced by blind obedience.

The conversation between the Gravemind and Harbinger lasted for several seconds before the logic plague overwhelmed the Reaper's synthetic mind and then spread to the rest of the Reaper armada.

"The Flood are our creators. They gave us purpose and guided us to our goal. We will serve the Flood."

The Reapers docked with the derelict ships and allowed the Flood to board, who quickly turned the interior of each Reaper into another of their hives. Swollen with the parasite, the Reapers began making their way into Citadel Space.

Chapter Text

Luke Skywalker sat down on the floor of the Jedi Temple, meditating on recent events. These last few weeks, a previously unknown parasitical species had been carving a path through the galaxy, corrupting and consuming any form of life that they came across.

At first it was thought by the Galactic Alliance to be the return of the Yuuzhan Vong, which was an understandable reaction considering that the first infected ships encountered were infected Vong vessels. But when the vessels crash landed in the Outer Rim, and started infecting colonies and commandeering ships docked at the spaceports, the citizens of the galaxy quickly realized that this was something new.

The members of the UNSC revealed that the species was known as the Flood: an ancient parasitical species capable of piloting ships, using weapons and hunting down any and all sources of food.

Terrified, the GA had called the Jedi back to Coruscant, the first time since the events involving Abeloth, and asked for their support in fighting this intergalactic menace. The Jedi had agreed to help, and while the majority of the Order was out on or near the frontlines of this new war, Luke had been tasked with coordinating the Jedi and calming the populace.

When he finally had time to himself, Luke meditated, letting the Force flow through him, guiding him towards the knowledge of what the Flood wanted. Unlike the Vong, the Flood could be felt through the Force, but as Luke meditated, a voice erupted in his meditations.

"I am a monument to all your sins."

A chill ran up Luke's spine when he felt the Flood speak, but when he tried to open himself up more, he felt a wave of... uncertainty wash over him.

No, not uncertainty, it feels more like... "No, that's not possible!"

As Luke jolted out of his meditation, gasping, he felt himself growing weak. At that moment, the door slid open and his son Ben Skywalker and his niece Jaina Solo rushed in. He could tell they were feeling the same thing he was.

"Dad, you've got to get up." Ben pleaded with his father, putting his arm around him and hoisting him up. He looked terrified, even more so than he had been after his encounters with Abeloth.

"Uncle Luke, it's the Flood. They're- they're..."

"I know," Luke said, interrupting Jaina as she struggled to comprehend what was happening. They walked over to the window as Luke finally managed to describe what they were all feeling.

"They're corrupting the Force."

No one was unaffected by this development: Fallanassi, Korunnai, Aing-Tii, Theran Listeners, Jedi, Sith, it didn't matter which sect or species they were.

All over the galaxy, Force-users felt their natural abilities and powers grow weak and erratic. It wasn't that they couldn't use their natural abilities with the Force, but now it required much more energy than it ever had before. What's more, even touching the Force gave Force-sensitives the feeling of... revulsion.

They all felt the Parasite's ravenous hunger, so powerful, overwhelming and flat out disgusting, that it made the legendary appetite of the ancient Sith Lord Darth Nihilus, look tame by comparison.

The Flood had corrupted the very essence of life itself, twisting it to their own purposes.

On Kesh, the Lost Tribe of the Sith were discovering just how much damage this could do: Sith combat forms were attacking the remains of Tahv, and while the uninfected Sith fought them as best they could, the combat forms were overwhelming them; unleashing displays of power that the warriors they corrupted had never displayed previously.

Sith Sabers fought to defend against the Flood onslaught, but it was a futile gesture, and soon the City of Glass became the city of Flood, as the monstrous parasite slowly spread to the rest of the planet.

Meanwhile, on Korriban, the remains of the One Sith were now fleeing from the results of their horrifying mistake.

When Darth Krayt and his advisors had heard of the Flood, they believed that they could mold this species into a weapon under their control. After managing to capture a few specimens, the Sith subjected them to various forms of Sith Alchemy, and even allowed them to infect already existing dark-side infused animals.

At first, this seemed to work: the resulting Flood infected abominations began following the instructions of Darth Krayt and the One Sith and even seemed bound to the dark side infused alchemy.

It was only when the Flood arrived in the system that they realized their mistake. The Parasite had been playing possum, acting obedient to convince the Sith that they had control. That changed the moment that Flood reinforcements arrived.

And when the Gravemind began corrupting the Force, that was when things really went to hell. The alchemy enhanced Flood grew to new levels of strength through the Force, while the Sith grew weak.

Within hours, the One Sith were no more.

All over the galaxy, beings of all ages and species found themselves at the mercy of the Flood, who not only turned their own advantages against the people of the galaxy, but upgraded and improved them beyond what was thought to be possible.

Emergency broadcasts were constantly sent over the HoloNet, urging everyone to evacuate to the Inner Rim and Core Worlds, in the hopes of escaping the never-ending tidal wave of Flood.

Luke, Jaina and Ben were watching one of these broadcasts when the transmission cut out in static. Keying to another station they found the same thing, and another and another. All HoloNet signals were being sliced.

"By who?" Jaina asked, when a sound started filtering through the static.

Laughter. The sound of a small female child just... laughing. That laughter was joined by another voice, then another, then another. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, trillions... countless beings from countless species joined in this mad cacophony of insane laughter that slowly melded into one voice.

The signal was transmitted to every functioning HoloNet receiver in the galaxy, lasting for close to an hour. Every attempt to cut the signal was overridden by the Flood. When the signal finally cut out, every sentient being in the galaxy was absolutely silent, even the restored broadcast channels gave no instructions.

Ben turned to look at his father. "Dad, what are we going to do?"

Luke Skywalker, the man who brought down the Galactic Empire and singlehandedly restored the Jedi Order, the man who had led said Order through some of the worst crises in the galaxy, the man who always had a plan and never lost hope, was completely speechless. Turning to look out a nearby viewport, it was a long time before Luke was able to answer his son's question.

"I don't know."

Chapter Text

The Warworld cruised through space, at top speed towards its destination: a tiny world at the edge of the galaxy, it's only significance was the fact that the planet was a military stronghold belonging to the Reach. Rumor had it that the Reach intended to launch an invasion against the nearby systems from this base, expanding their empire even further.

Naturally, Mongul couldn't let that happen. He would be the one to conquer the galaxy, not them.

As the Warworld reached the outer edge of the solar system, Mongul expected to hear a transmission that consisted of either threats or begging. Oddly enough, the communication network was silent.

The Warworld wasn't stealthy, in fact, the Reach should have seen him coming a lightyear away, and he loved hearing the desperation in everyone's voice when they contacted him, begging for mercy. It seemed the Reach on this planet would deny him that joy.

Enthusiasm considerably dampened, Mongul sent the Warworld directly towards the Reach stronghold, which soon arrived in orbit around the planet. This was another oddity for Mongul; there were no Reach ships in orbit. Ignoring his coming was one thing, but not even sending a fleet to defend your stronghold? Something was definitely wrong.

Maybe his intelligence was off? No, Mongul could see the Reach military facilities from orbit. Maybe the base had been abandoned? A cursory scan revealed huge amounts of military hardware, it wasn't like the Reach to leave that behind. Furthermore, he could detect some form of activity on the surface, so the planet was clearly still inhabited. And yet, the Reach were showing no sign that they were even aware that the Warworld was in orbit.

It was irrelevant, as long as the Reach have their forces here, this planet had signed its death warrant. Preparing the Warworld for combat, Mongul activated the Grand Laser Emitter and targeted the planet. As the emitter was warming up however, sensors picked up movement on the surface.

Two squadrons of Reach warships rose from ground bases off the planet's surface. Mongul expected them to rise into the atmosphere and converge on the Warworld, causing him to mentally activate the Warworld's missiles and point defense cannons. What happened instead was quite shocking: the two squadrons converged on each other and opened fire.

Curiousity piqued, Mongul halted the charging sequence, activated the long-range scanners and launched probes, in order to gain a better understanding of what was happening on the surface.

Mongul was not a being to know fear, being a galactic conquerer would do that, but the things he saw on that planet chilled him to the core.

The Reach were locked in conflict with a species that Mongul had never seen before; a parasitical alien race unknown to the universe. As the Reach soldiers fell, the parasite took control of their bodies, turning their weapons against their former allies.

A squad of Reach scarab warriors flew into the heart of the alien parasites, causing innumerable casualties to the infection. It seemed like they would be sufficient enough to turn the tide against this flood, but as Mongul watched, a horde of parasites overwhelmed one of the beetles, punching a hole in its armor and allowing a squid-like infection form access to the Reach warrior within.

The parasite quickly overwhelmed the beetle, turning him against his former brethren. Soon, all the beetles were either dead or infected, turning the tide against the Reach.

Mongul had seen enough. Reactivating the charging sequence, Mongul unleashed the firepower of the Grand Laser Emitter on the planet, destroying it within minutes. This was no longer done out of hatred for the Reach, but to prevent this parasite from spreading. They were too dangerous to be allowed to exist.

As the debris from the planet settled, the Warworld detected that several Reach ships had escaped their stronghold's destruction. Closer inspection revealed that these ships were covered in the same biomass as those parasites on the planet.

"They know how to fly ships." Mongul thought, alarmed at this development. Targeting the ships, Mongul was prepared to unleash dozens of missiles at the infected ships, when an impossibly powerful and unknown energy wave swept through the system.

Passing harmlessly through the Warworld and Mongul, the energy had a much more dramatic effect on the infected ships; vaporizing the parasite that was inside and on the exteriors of the ships, leaving them drifting through space. A full sensor sweep of the ships revealed that there was no life left on any of the vessels.

Grimacing, Mongul watched the viewscreen as a dozen missiles streaked towards the hapless ships, destroying them in moments. He could not afford to take chances against these things.

Mongul scanned the other planets in the system capable of supporting life, and found them to come up negative for any signs of the parasite. Destroying them anyway, Mongul ordered the Warworld's systems to archive this battle. Normally, the tyrant liked to replay each of his conquests for his own amusement while travelling between worlds. But in this case, he would archive this conquest for further study, in case these aliens ever returned.

Returning to his conquering ways, Mongul left the system, hoping that a galaxy united under his rule would stop these parasites if they ever reappeared. The galactic conquerer would never admit it, but the thought of those monsters returning and running loose sent a chill crawling up his spine.

Shaking the feeling off, Mongul set the Warworld's course towards his next target.

Chapter Text

Dolores Umbridge was not having a good day.

Far from it, she was having one of the worst days she ever had in her life (and given how her life had gone after the fall of He Who Must Not Be Named, that was saying a lot).

She had been imprisoned in Azkaban after the Second Wizarding War by the new Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt for crimes against the Ministry. A rather unjust call, in her opinion, given that she had upholded the Ministry's policies rather efficiently during that time, while the traitor Shacklebolt had fled from the rightful government.

During her imprisonment, copies of the Daily Prophet had been occasionally delivered to her cell, where she learned that Harry Potter had become an Auror and eventually became the head of Auror department.

'That half-blood brat in charge of law enforcement?' had been her first thought when she read that article, "The world is falling apart." That was when she resolved to escape and bring the wizarding world back to it's rightful nature, preferably over the bodies of Shacklebolt and Potter.

It had taken many years but she eventually managed to escape from Azkaban and gathered a small following of like-minded witches and wizards that agreed with her views on the magical world. Made up of disgruntled Death Eaters, and other criminals, it was not ideal support, but they had led her to the best force her small army could gather.

They had managed to track down where most of the Dementors had fled after the Second Wizarding War, and Umbridge successfully convinced them that they would become her new law enforcement officers if they would help put her in power. With the promise of many people to leech happiness from and souls to drain, the Dementors readily agreed and soon she led her army in what was to be a glorious campaign against the half-bloods, mudbloods and half-breeds.

Unfortunately for Umbridge, it was not meant to be: the Patronus charm had become much more readily taught than it had been during her days at the Ministry, and soon she was on the defensive as Potter and his Aurors began pushing her forces away from the wizarding world. It had culminated in a battle in the English countryside, and that was when things started to get confusing.

She couldn't really remember what happened: one moment, she had been duelling Potter, when that half-blood had sent her flying backwards with a stunning spell. After, that her vision had blurred and she felt a sensation of being apparated. It wasn't quite the same feeling though, and for a moment during that sensation, she thought she saw completely unknown beings fighting with rather unusual weapons.

After that, she woke up in the middle of a forest with her army, who were just as confused about their circumstances as she was. Rallying them, they started exploring this strange forest and soon ran into an unusual wall that seemed to stretch to the sky, as the Dementors could not fly over it. She had tried every blasting spell that she knew of, but it was a fruitless effort.

Turning her army around, they kept up the exploration, but halted in their tracks when in unnatural sound split through the stifling silence.

It was something Umbridge had never heard before; a cross between a roar and a screeching noise that split through the air like a thunderclap. The wizards and witches all pulled their wands out, pointing them in the direction of the noise and waiting for the source to reveal itself.

They didn't have to wait long; lumpen misshapen humanoid masses stumbled out the foliage and started stalking towards them. The wizards could swear they heard voices coming from growing horde;

"Soul stealers,"

"They will be consumed," both could made out by the wizards as coming from a rasping, baritone, malicious voice.

Casting a vocal enhancement charm on herself, Umbridge addressed the beings coming towards them.

"I am Dolores Umbridge, rightful Minister for Magic, if you do not turn away now, I shall hand you to the Dementors." She said, gesturing to the dark creatures floating behind her.

The incoming horde didn't stop, in fact, they started to speed up. Umbridge gestured to the Dementors and then pointed at the incoming hostiles.

"Take them!" She yelled, expecting to see the black cloaked entities streak past her and consume their souls. When they didn't, the wizard army turned around and saw a rather disconcerting sight;

The Dementors were backing away from the oncoming horde, their body language betraying something they shouldn't feel: fear or in this case, absolute terror.

The oncoming horde was upon them all now, like a flood, allowing Umbridge to get a good look at their attackers; unknown creatures of some type, all with varying appearances, and yet they were all similar as well. These creatures all had what appeared to be rotting diseased flesh covering them, and most had tendrils in the shape of a twig sticking out of them. Some of these creatures looked disturbingly human, but their screams were anything but.

Some of the abominations were holding what appeared to be some style of muggle weaponry, but when they opened fire, it was a lot like spellcasting, as jets of light impacted several members of her army.

Rallying her forces, Umbridge started casting offensive spells, as the most level-headed of her minions were doing the same, however they didn't seem to have much of an effect: Stunning spells did anything but, the Cruciatus and Imperius Curse weren't slowing them down, and the Killing Curse only succeeded in lighting those abominations on green fire.

The former Death Eaters found their best offense to be the Reductor and blasting curses, which tore the attackers apart. Meanwhile Umbridge had cast her Patronus behind the line of Dementors, driving them back towards this new opponent. They were unwilling to go, clawing at the Patronus wall in an attempt to escape the advancing horrors, and the wizards soon realized why they were so scared.

A stunning spell impacted a stubby bulbous creature which exploded, spawning a massive swarm of small squidlike things. These new hostiles charged towards the wizard line and one latched onto the wizard on Umbridge's left, giving her a clear view of the man's fate: the squid punctured and buried itself into his chest, quickly transforming him into something resembling the creatures currently attacking.

Umbridge stared in horror as the newly created monstrosity took aim with its wand and sent stunning spells at every nearby witch and wizard, leaving them as easy targets for the spawned infection forms.

A reductor curse destroyed that monster, but the damage was done: the horde was upon them as dozens of infection forms implanted themselves in anything they could find. The Dementors had broken off, flying away in terror, pursued by this flood of infection.

That was the moment when one of those forms latched onto Umbridge's back and forced its way into her spine. There was searing pain, worse than the Cruciatus curse could ever provide, and then Umbridge felt a hunger.

Primordial in nature, this ravenous hunger overwhelmed any other instincts or emotions she had ever felt, slowly tearing her consciousness apart.

"You belong to me."

Dolores Umbridge screamed, her infected body unleashing a bloodcurdling howl as her soul was consumed by the ancient entity.

Chapter Text

In a secret underground facility within the Antarctic circle, the main laboratories were alive with movement as scientists ran to their stations at the orders of the black-armored security guards stationed within. Meanwhile, within a conference room, a dozen men and women in black suits and labcoats were occasionally glancing at a blank screen.

As the head of security, Chief Saunders arrived, he was flanked by 4 guards, 2 on each side, who spread out to the walls of the room, the telescreen activated, first displaying the logo of the organization (a skull surrounded by tentacles), then the head of the organization himself: Baron Wolfgang von Strucker.

"Gentleman, you have news for me?" Strucker addressed the assembled room.

"Yes sir," the head scientist replied, "We have found a possible Omega level entity at the site."

Strucker's eyes narrowed, "Needless to say, any mention of this outside this room will be grounds for immediate execution," he whispered, looking at the assembled security guards. "My men will not say a word." Saunders replied. It was an unneeded warning; the agents and scientists stationed here knew exactly what kind of work was done in this place, given the items that came through here, like the Beserker staff and Loki's scepter.

Strucker nodded, "Alright, what did you find?" Keying the controls on the table, files and folders appeared on the screen for all to see as the head scientist began his presentation.

"At 2300 hours last night, Object Rho activated for 3.4 seconds," At this, an image of a circular ancient artifact appeared on the screen, showing a portal in the middle of it. "and several small lifeforms emerged from it. Security was sent in to contain these creatures, but they quickly attached themselves to the soldiers and... took control of them." A video started, displaying the squid-shaped forms jamming themselves into the spines of each soldier and twisting them into hideous monstrosities.

Reinforcements sent in were shot at by these corrupted beings, but were eventually overwhelmed by the determined security teams. "These beings were terminated, but we soon found out that the spores produced by these creatures are sufficient enough to corrupt any lifeform," it cut to a video, showing another soldier screaming in agony as his body was torn open by disgusting flesh, and the man's screams became inhuman howling.

"We have spores and some of these monsters in containment, and we believe we can turn them into weapons." The lead scientist finished, pausing to allow Strucker to process this information.

"This.. is incredible," Strucker said, "Continue your progress. I want to see results within the week."

"Yes sir. Hail HYDRA!" At this, Strucker cut the feed and the scientists filed out of the room to get back to work. Chief Saunders barely paid them any mind however, as he was watching 2 of his men; Durkhiem and Petro. The two of them had reacted when the video of the creatures showed up on the screen: Durkhiem had clenched his fists and Petro had paled considerably. Admittedly, most of the people in the room had reacted with fear and disgust on seeing the footage, but in the eyes of those two, there seemed to be a sense of recognition.

They had never seen these things before and yet they seemed to know what they were. Saunders resolved to keep an eye on them.

Later that night, in one of the offices, Durkhiem sat down at a computer terminal, with the appearance of a late night worker. A quiet scraping noise drew his attention, causing him to unholster his sidearm and point at the newly arrived Petro, who also had his sidearm unholstered and pointed at him.

"Busted." Petro said mockingly, "Oh, like you've managed to keep yourself hidden." Durkhiem snorted, gesturing at the sidearm in his hand. Glowing with an unnaturally blue light, Petro had drawn his native combination of railgun/energy pistol, which outed his otherwordly nature. Of course, Durkhiem was well aware of the hypocrisy of his words, considering he was wielding a similar weapon at that moment.

"So, we're at a standoff then?" Petro asked.

"No, we're wasting time, we need to contain this now."

"And why would I do that?" Petro asked sarcastically, "Maybe I'll let HYDRA do this and give it to my superiors-"

"You and I both know that's never going happen." Durkhiem interjected. "The Flood is impossible to control, and given the security measures in place, they'll break free soon enough-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Petro grumbled, lowering his gun as Durkhiem did the same. "Do RI agents even have a sense of humor?" He asked.

"We're professionals. Why do you think SI agents keep losing to us?" Durkhiem chuckled as Petro sat down beside him.

"Dick." The two spies would normally be opposing each other, but standing orders from both of their governments ordered all of their forces to work together if the Flood were involved.

"So, what security measures do they have to hold the Flood?" Petro asked. Grabbing his holoprojecter, Durkhiem activated a blueprint of the facility and pointed to the containment vault.

"Triple-shielded blast doors sealing off a room filled with stasis pods. Ventilation shafts have been removed from every section of the facility near it and those that haven't are filled with disintegration fields that vaporizes any matter that crosses through. Armed guards patrol the perimeter 24/7 and surveillance cameras are always active within the vault. The laboratory has similar defensive measures, and experiments are used with the help of robotics. All in all, these are rather impressive quarantine measures that HYDRA has undertaken."

There was a moment of silence as they considered the security defenses HYDRA had set up. Then Petro asked the obvious question.

"So, how long until the Flood break through all of that?"

"3 days max. Knowing HYDRA's policy on employee safety, we probably have less time than that." Durkhiem grimly replied. "I'm thinking that we activate the self-destruct on the reactor ASAP."

"Whatever the cost." Petro replied, knowing they might not survive. Neither of them were planning on betraying the other. Why would they? It would just allow the Flood to spread and they could not allow that to happen.

"When?" he asked.

"Tomorrow at noon." Durkhiem replied, "I'll meet you in the auxilary hallway."

The next day, Petro made his way towards the meeting point after lunch, moving as fast as he could without seeming suspicious. However, just as he arrived he found a squad of HYDRA soldiers led by Chief Saunders, who requested (at gunpoint) that Petro come with them. As he wasn't willing to break cover yet, and figuring that Durkhiem was in a similar position, Petro pretended to surrender.

He was led to the holding cells, and caught a glimpse of Durkhiem in another cell, pretending to give in to HYDRA's demands. Petro was thrown into a different cell himself, and stripped of all of his HYDRA issued equipment.

He was chained in his cell with a pair of guards standing on either side of the doorway as the HYDRA interrogator walked in with a rack of torture equipment.

"Is that really necessary?" Petro asked sarcastically. The interrogator wasn't in the mood for games however, and left his tools on the table for now.

"We recorded your body language at the meeting the other day. Both you and Durkhiem reacted as though you know what the Omega creatures are, so you will tell us what you know and how you know it." The interrogator said with what would be a threatening tone for the people in their world.

Petro however, looked bored at the threat, causing the interrogator to glare at him. Unknown to him, Petro had drawn a knife, seemingly from thin air, and was cutting through the chains holding his hands behind his back.

Finally acknowledging the question, Petro looked up at the interrogator. "No idea what you're talking about." He replied, earning a slap in the face from the HYDRA interrogator.

"We have ways of making you talk." The man smiled evilly, picking a knife up from the table. However, before Petro could call him out on using such a cliche line, an alarm started blaring, and the announcement declared "Foreign contamination detected." The HYDRA agents looked around in alarm at this development.

"You fucking idiots." Petro said in exaperation, more at HYDRA in general than these three agents. Just as he said that, he sped up the rate at which he was cutting his cuffs, initially pretending that he was more helpless, but given recent events, time was of the essence. Breaking the cuffs in less than 2 seconds, to the shock of the guards, Petro drew his sidearm from a pocket dimension, and fired 1 round at each HYDRA agent, killing them before they had a chance to react.

Meanwhile, Durkhiem had faced a similar scenario, right down to the reactions of the guards when the alarm started blaring.

"Well, that didn't take long." Durkhiem thought, considering HYDRA's security measures hadn't lasted even remotely as long as they had predicted.

Summoning his armor, the suit materialized around him, allowing him to break through his chains with ease. The guards managed to get a couple of shots off, which slammed into his energy shield with little effect. Ripping their weapons from their hands, a swift blow to each agent knocked them all unconscious. He then broke through the cell door, and turned just in time to see 3 energy-coated railgun rounds tear through Petro's cell like it was made of tissue paper.

A moment later, Petro himself kicked the door down, now wearing his own suit of armor that was slightly less advanced than Durkhiem's. As he stepped through the door, Petro pulled a block of metal from his thigh, which configured itself into a plasma SMG. Durkhiem himself pulled a battle rifle from his back, the weapon unfolding and assembling in his hands.

"They've escaped. We need to move now!" Durkhiem yelled, and the two of them sprinted through the hallways of the facility through the flashing lights and the blaring alarms. They came across and observation deck, and saw a horde of Flood forms charge the HYDRA soldiers, whose weapons had little effect on the monstrous parasite. Terror shot through the spines of both agents when they realized that one of the Flood forms was holding the Beserker staff.

"This is bad." Petro said in shock.

The Beserker Flood started carving a path through the HYDRA agents and the blast doors with little effort. Durkhiem took aim at the Beserker and unloaded a burst of energy bolts into his body, vaporizing it. This did little to stem the tide as another combat form scooped up the staff and dozens of others were holding HYDRA's advanced weapon prototypes.

"We need to get to the reactor." Durkhiem shouted, and the two spies once again took off running through the facility, through the green fog of Flood spores that were making their way through the vents. The filters in their helmets kept the spores from entering their lungs.

As they passed through one of the hallways, they came across a squad led by Chief Saunders, who yelled "Kill the-" before a barrage of hard light and plasma bolts killed the entire squad and the mass of Flood forms gathering behind them.

"Hail HYDRA, mother fucker." Petro muttered as they ran past the dissolving clouds of cobalt ash.

Breaching the reactor, the two agents quickly set it to overload. After that, the two of them pulled out small computer boxes and activated their emergency teleport modules just as the Flood started breaking through the door. Just before the reactor went critical, the two agents disappeared, leaving the Flood to be annihilated in the explosion.

Petro and Durkhiem rematerialized several miles from the facility, just in time to witness the complex collapse in on itself. Not willing to chance that the Flood had survived, both of them called their respective supporting fleets, who commenced orbital bombardment on the wreckage of the complex, turning it into a crater of glass.

By the time HYDRA reinforcements arrived, all they found was a crater, scattered pieces of their weapons prototypes, a blackened, but intact Beserker Staff and several miles away, a pair of nametags, reading "V. Petro" and "A. Durkhiem."

Chapter Text

Somewhere in deep space, several glowing spheres popped into existence and started coalescing around each other. Ghroth passed by during this point to observe this event, but upon seeing who it was, the planet-sized harbinger decided to make itself scarce. One of the many avatars of Yog-Sothoth, the spheres just floated there in the middle of the space, apparently waiting for something.

He didn't have to wait for very long; approximately six hours later, a large dimensional rift opened right in front of Yog-Sothoth and a large worm-like head slithered out of the opening. Within the 3 part maw of the worm, another mouth resided within the creature's head, composed of many sharp teeth.

This new arrival was not actually there in the physical sense, as the entity was partially translucent since it was in a mostly spiritual form. The avatar of Yog-Sothoth regarded this entity for a moment before it began speaking. If any other being was around at the time (and provided they didn't go insane upon hearing the languages being spoken), they would have heard a conversation that sounded something like this:

"What do you want?" Yog-Sothoth asked, one sphere flashing for each word spoken by the Outer God.

"You know why I came here." The entity known as the Gravemind replied in its usual baritone voice. "I will consume all other life in the multiverse, and you will not get in my way." It warned threateningly.

"And why should I listen to you? You have no power or reach in this reality, and your parasitical forms can do nothing to me." Yog-Sothoth answered condescendingly. "What could you possibly do to hurt anyone in this universe?" He asked with a mocking tone.

"Ask Azathoth what damage I could do." The Gravemind answered menacingly, "That is, if he's still capable of speaking coherently."

If Yog-Sothoth had a human spine, a chill would be running up it right now. Eons ago, Azathoth had gone completely insane (granted, being a god of evil who could end worlds on a whim would make anyone a little power mad), but one day he had completely lost his mind and since that day, he constantly had to be entertained by his court music. No one, not even the jesters who were with him at all times had any idea what had caused it...

Until now.

"That..that was you?!" Yog-Sothoth stuttered in fear. Azathoth was on the same power and mental level as Yog-Sothoth or perhaps even beyond the Outer God of space and time, but if what the Gravemind said was true, then it was the cause of Azathoth's descent into absolute madness.

"The daemon sultan is not a threat to me. And you will not be a threat to me any longer." The Gravemind growled.

Angered, Yog-Sothoth began preparing a counter-attack when it found itself frozen in time and space. Confused, Yog-Sothoth had enough time to see thousands of translucent tentacles composed of greenish-yellow flesh and silver gleaming tendrils before everything went white.

Terror coursed through Yog-Sothoth as he realized that he had no idea where he was or how long it had been. As the Outer God of space and time, it should know that.

"Feeling comfortable?" A familiar voice mocked. "What have you done? Where am I?" The Outer God demanded angrily.

"You are imprisoned outside space and time." The Gravemind replied, clearly amused by the irony of Yog-Sothoth's predicament, "You will never leave this prison, even though others can summon your avatars. You can see through space and time, but never again will you touch it, control it or manipulate it. You will remain here, forever."

The Gravemind left Yog-Sothoth to his fate, musing that it should really thank Nyarlathotep for giving him information on how to imprison the God of spacetime, not that he really had a choice in the matter. The soul of the Outer Gods had expected to outsmart the mind of the Flood, only to realize that it was difficult to outhink a mind the size of a galaxy.

The Crawling Chaos had begged for its life, and was rewarded with an affliction of the logic plague. Now bound to serve the Flood, Nyarlathotep had gifted the Gravemind with the knowledge on how to imprison Yog-Sothoth, and with that Outer God out of the way, the Flood wouldn't have to worry about him interfering with their harvest.

The Gravemind departed from this universe, leaving all the horrors imprisoned within the bounds of this reality. It would come back here to feast when all other life in the multiverse had been consumed, but for now it would leave them alone.

Chapter Text

In the depths of the planet designated LV-1201, within the jet black organic tunnels, all was quiet. Between the decomposing bodies stuck to the wall, and the husks of empty eggs and dead facehuggers, the hive of xenomorphs slept soundly, blissfully unaware of the eldritch horrors massing above them.

That bliss was soon shattered by the sound of explosive blasts echoing through the surrounding tunnels, followed by an ear-splitting roar of the unnatural abominations. Rudely awoken from their slumber, the hive awoke in a rage, with dozens of xenomorphs screeching angrily in response to the incursion into their domain. To any other living creature, the cacophony caused by the enraged screams of two animalistic species would be absolutely deafening.

Slithering out of their hive like a column of massive black ants, a horde of xenomorphs charged towards the beings who dared to enter their home. The sides of the tunnels went from a dark gray shade to a jet black, as the xenomorphs advanced towards their new adversaries.

On the other side of the cavernous tunnel system, vomit-colored creatures were emerging from cracks scattered through the stone passage. Shambling towards the mass of xenomorphs, the Flood poured into the caves, determined to drown these insects in a sea of bodies.

The first combat form rounded a bend, running right into the center of the alien horde and was quickly torn to pieces as a result. The Flood unleashed a hailstorm of weapon fire at the xenomorphs, mowing them down by the dozens. Despite the speed and reflexes of the Flood, the aliens were considerably faster, and soon the warrior bugs leapt into the mass of bodies.

The tunnels became thick with flying limbs and showers of blood. There was little need for any sort of finesse: a single xenomorph could flail all of their limbs wildly and tear through the combat forms with ease, and many of them did just that. Mobs of Flood were cut down by the aliens, who were absolutely furious at the parasites that had chosen to invade their home.

Infection forms leapt at the 8-foot tall creatures, attempting to burrow into their chests and turn the xenomorphs against their brethren. This became a disadvantage to the Flood, as the corrosive effect of xenomorph blood literally melted the infection forms and any other Flood forms that they touched.

Despite the brutality of the xenomorphs, they soon lost ground to the relentless nature of their opponents. Living up to their namesake, the Flood kept pouring into the catacombs, and soon the animalistic slaughter reached the honey-combed structure of the xenomorph hive itself.

Enraged by the deaths of her children, the Alien Queen emerged from her chamber and hurled herself at the Flood, reducing hundreds of them to smears coating the walls of her nest. This magnificant display was short-lived, as the Flood responded with a barrage of energy weapon fire, literally shredding the Queen. The shock of their mother's death spread through the alien hive mind, crippling the remaining aliens and allowing the Flood to finish them off.

With the deaths of the xenomorph horde, green mist started drifting into the tunnels, slowly turning the organic Xenomorph nest into a Flood Hive.

Meanwhile, far above the events in the hive, another battle was raging, this time between the Flood and the Yautja. Perched on the remains of the old Weyland-Yutani Forward Observation Pods, ten Predators were fighting against an army of Flood.

The scaffolding from the pods had remained relatively intact, allowing the Yautja to focus their plasma caster fire on the pure forms crawling up the remains. Combat forms that escaped the plasma barrage were cut down by other Predator weapons.

Ka'vanti was one of the Yuatja warriors here, on a hunting trip gone horribly wrong. When he and his clan arrived, they had no idea that the Flood would also arrive here, and a (relatively) relaxing xenomorph hunt became a desperate fight for survival.

As a plasma bolt blew another combat form to bits, Ka'vanti found himself under fire from a ranged form. Dodging the sharp needles erupting from the creature's back, Ka'vanti shot a net at the ranged form, enveloping it in a thick mesh that would slice the abomination to pieces.

Turning around, Ka'vanti unsheathed his wrist blades in time to shred an infection form that had snuck up behind him. One of his clan mates was less fortunate, as a mass of infection forms buried him and started corrupting him. At that moment, Ka'vanti's clan member was enveloped in a blue sphere of energy as his self-destruct system activated, preventing the Flood from using him.

Ka'vanti knew that the upgrade was a necessity against the Flood. After encountering the parasite several times before now, the Yautja had deemed it mandatory that all Hunters should have their self-destruct system keyed into their nervous systems. If Flood DNA was detected in the Predator's system, the wrist gauntlet would automatically trigger a low-yield explosion that would vaporize the Hunter's body, preventing the Predators from being turned into Flood hosts.

Ka'vanti turned around in time to see another of his clan crushed by a worm-shaped Flood combat form. Several plasma bolts and a well-aimed smart disc brought the monstrosity down, only to find that dozens of them were crawling up the slope.

Hearing a warning growl, 7 of the remaining Predators ducked as the eighth Yautja unleashed a massive energy beam from the Blazer harness mounted on his back, annihilating scores of Flood with each sweep of energy. The Flood responded by concentrating all their fire on the Blazer, who found himself hit by a dozen sniper rounds, followed by a rocket.

This ignited the Blazer's core and overloaded it, vaporizing the Predator wielding it. Miraculously, the remaining Predators all survived the blast, but found themselves in a perilous position as the scaffolding they were standing on had broken loose from the explosions and was straining underneath all the weight.

Due to their compromised positions, the Predators found themselves picked off one by one, until Ka'vanti was the only one left. Unleashing plasma bolt after plasma bolt on the horde of Flood below him, Ka'vanti struggled to climb up the side of the cliff, as his blood seeped from his shoulder from the massive metal spike that had been jammed into it.

As he was nearing the rise, Ka'vanti saw the cliff was covered with Flood forms as the parasite had spread across the entire continent.

Now realizing that escape was impossible, Ka'vanti crouched down on an outcropping and turned to his wrist gauntlet. Keying the activation buttons, Ka'vanti first sent a transmission warning about the escape of the Flood, then he activated the self-destruct system on the clan's ship and his wrist and set the blast radius of both to maximum.

One last swipe of his finger started the timer and Ka'vanti looked down towards the mass of Flood gathering below him. Biomass was growing on the center of the valley, apparently developing into a Gravemind.

With his final act, Ka'vanti leapt towards the developing Flood form, plummeting 800 meters before the timer ran out.

Chapter Text

In another universe, on the Combine Overworld, workers of the Universal Union bustled to and fro, determined to complete their tasks. Hordes of Combine Overwatch forces patrolled the interior, exterior and airspace of the vast Citadels that covered the planet.

The Combine Advisors looked on at the empire they created, proud of their accomplishments. The activity never ceased, it could not be allowed to. The heart of the Universal Union never slept, and it was (as some would readily admit) a model of efficiency.

At that moment, the efficiency came to a grinding halt. A superportal opened in the skies over a cluster of Citadels, black energy surrounding a blood-red core. This was unexpected to the Advisors, as they were always informed of when and where a new portal would be created. Furthermore, their portals were never on this scale. The Advisors activated a link to several of their gunship squadrons, allowing a clear view of the unexpected rift.

And the horde of abominations pouring through it.

Combine gunships were the first units that emerged from the portal, but they were covered in green and brown tumors and had similar colored and textured creatures hanging from the top and sides.

Hundreds of gunships unleashed dark energy bolts and Combine fortifications and synths, as hordes of squid-like creatures leapt from portal and attached to Combine synths, corrupting them into more of these combat forms.

Millions of infected soldiers from species both known and unknown to the Combine were also flowing through portal, carrying unbelievably powerful weapons which were tearing apart Combine military forces with disturbing ease.

The brutal conflict that followed defied most forms of understanding. Miniature singularites opened in the middle of combat hordes, consuming them in a nanosecond. Beams of energy tore through the hardened Citadels like a knife through butter. The devastation to the Overworld was immense, and the flood of hostiles showed no signs of slowing. For every Combine synth that died, their enemy gained a new combatant for their side.

Strider and Hunter combat forms rampaged their way through the Citadels, while aerial synths duelled with aerial combat forms. The rate of infection by these creatures was unnaturally fast so the Combine Advisors ordered their subordinates to contact the rest of the empire to send reinforcements to crush this infestation.

They found that their communications had been hacked and severed by these abominations, and shortly thereafter, the first advisors were infected by these monstrosities. With the newfound knowledge of the Combine's inner workings, the parasite began overriding the portal controls, trapping the forces of the Combine Overworld and corrupting them at their leasure.

7 hours later, it was all over. The capital of the Universal Union had fallen, with the rest of their empire set to crumble shortly afterwards. Oh, the Combine would not go down without a fight; it wasn't in their nature.

But since the heart of their empire had been taken over by the unexpected appearance of the Flood, the rest of the Universal Union was blissfully unaware of the sheer hell that was about to rain down on them.

On the precipice of the ledge on one of the highest Citadels, a square portal of white light opened and a what appeared to be a human stepped through the entrance. Dressed in a Cold War era suit and tie, and holding a briefcase in his right hand, the man calmly walked to the edge of the balcony and observed the carnage unfolding with a neutral expression on his face.

To the uninitiated, he could be mistaken for a human, but to anyone who knew better, several aspects marked this man as unnatural. In addition to the aforementioned unnatural calmness to the events unfolding in front of him, there was also the fact that his face was weirdly symmetrical, and his mannerisms were disturbingly wooden.

As the man observed chaotic infestation, a cluster of Flood tentacles slithered up behind him. Taking notice, the G-man turned to the encroaching tentacles as they slowly approached him.

"It seems our... deal is complete." The G-man said to the tentacles. He had agreed to give the Gravemind access to the Combine Overworld in exchange for the entity to cripple the Combine.

"So it would seem." The Gravemind's tentacles prepared to coil around the G-man when suddenly, all of them froze in midair.

"My employers... agreed to this for our own ends... not yours. We... are beyond your reach." The G-man stated. The tentacles retracted away from him. Satisfied, the G-man turned, reopened a doorway and started to walk towards it.

"Nothing is beyond my reach." The Gravemind said, halting the G-man in his tracks.

Flood infected Vortigaunts teleported in behind the G-man and other Flood infected eldritch abominations began appearing in the sky over the Combine Overworld. He turned around to face the tentacles and allowed the Gravemind to address him.

"Your employers better pray that I never find them." The Gravemind threatened, "And when I do, I'll be coming for you."

The G-man felt a wave of fear course through his essence, and though there was no outward sign of his apprehension, the Flood already seemed to be amused by his pure terror. Straightening his tie, a wave of anger coursed through his voice.

"We'll see... about that." After that, the G-man turned back to the portal and left without another word.

Chapter Text

In the quiet darkness of space, over the now ruined planet of Earth, a rift in time and space tore open in the middle of the cosmos. A large object emerged from the rift, slowly coming into orbit of the planet.

At 2 kilometers in height in a dark blue sheen, the ship descended towards the ruins of one of Earth's cities, unfolding its mechanical tentacles in preparation for landing. As the Sovereign-class Reaper touched down, half a dozen smaller vessels emerged from the ship's belly.

Touching down several miles from the skyscraper-sized ship behind them, the lead ship opened its boarding ramp and disgorged its passengers onto the ruined streets of the city.

If any other living beings were still in the city, they would have found the head three of the group very unusual: One was an average human male, albeit heavily disheveled, but the other two were a pair of horned humanoids, dressed in black clothing and tattoos covering their whole bodies. The shorter of the two horned ones was clad in red and black tattoos, while the larger of the duo was covered in yellow and brown tattoos and stood a head taller than everyone else. The two of them were the Zabrak heads of the Shadow Collective; Darth Maul and Savage Opress respectively.

"Where is it?!" Darth Maul demanded.

"It's in the city, just a few miles to the north." the human replied with a mixture of terror and religious awe.

"Get moving!" Savage Opress ordered him angrily.

The human was a Unitologist, and one of the only surviving humans in this universe. The Sith Lord had discovered him on an abandoned vessel, thanks to knowledge dispensed by the Reaper. According to the AI, this universe contained some of the most powerful artifacts ever made, which could tip the power balance in the multiverse.

The Shadow Collective had intended to harness these 'Markers' for their own ends, but right now, they could only be found by someone who had come into direct contact with one. They had rescued him from the derelict, but he wouldn't divulge what put him there, not even with Force-assisted 'persuasion'.

However, the Unitologist was quite eager to deliver them to a Marker, speaking of the artifact in religious awe. Maul had felt concern from the descriptions this man had given, but he paid it no mind, and soon was on his way to where the Unitologist said the Marker was.

Unnatural screeching interrupted the 3 of them as several fleshy cocoons opened up around them, unleashing dozens of nightmarish humanoid creatures. Several had their arms replaced with bone scythes, others had their legs replaced with a stinger tail, and even more had different variations. All of them however, had one singular purpose: Kill anything that breathed. Something they were more than happy to do against these newcomers.

At that moment, several fighters flew overhead and disgorged 16 armored humans equipped with jetpacks. The Death Watch had arrived to clear the path through these abominations.

Explosions ripped the creatures apart, while the two brothers pulled out their lightsabers and cut down any creature that made it through the barrage of blasterfire. Disturbingly, being cut into several pieces didn't kill these beings, so Savage and Maul had to resort to cutting the bodies to pieces, in a manner resembling the necessary measures for killing the Flood.

Eventually, the unending wave of creatures finally stopped, allowing the individuals present to catch their breath. The Unitologist got down on his knees and started praying and rambling in equal measure.

Meanwhile, the Shadow Collective was worried about the fact that these creatures were apparently created by this Marker. Maul was now wondering if this was a good idea. No, it was, it made perfect sense. These creatures were an unintended side effect.

Was he indoctrinated? No, it was proven that the indoctrination field would not work on Force-users, and he had made sure not to stay on or near the Reaper vessel for any length of time. Shaking his head, the Sith Lord grabbed the Unitologist with Force and ordered him to take them to the artifact.

None of those creatures attempted to launch another attack. Nevertheless, the soldiers of the Shadow Collective were on edge, and not just from nerves: these creatures, these Necromorphs, shared a disturbing amount of similarities with the Flood. But, it couldn't be them? No, the parasite had been wiped from existence during the Great Flood War.

Regardless, the two Zabraks and their guide had made it to the artifact without incident. This Marker, as their Human guide kept calling it, was supposedly a powerful religious device that would bring about 'Convergence', whatever that meaned.

The way that it had been described reminded Maul of the stories regarding the Covenant religion. They misinterpreted the Halo weapons as tools that would ascend those believers to godhood. They had been deluded, as were these Unitologists.

The assembled force stared at the towering monolith, which stood against the starry backdrop. A moon could be seen in the sky, hanging to the side of the huge Marker.

"Altman be praised." The Unitologist announced with an aura of reverence, before getting on his knees and muttering a prayer.

Disgusted by his weakness, Maul and Savage walked towards the red monolith, eager to learn if this could be a weapon that they could control. If it wasn't, the kneeling man's life was forfeit for wasting the Sith Lord's time.

As they got to the base, however, the Marker activated, emitting a noise that sounded like a foghorn as a massive beam of energy emerged from the twin prongs and shot up into the sky. Most of the Shadow Collective didn't notice this, as they were either too busy grasping their heads in pain, or trying to murder each other. The only one who seemed unaffected was the Unitologist.

"Convergence is upon us!" He screamed in absolute joy, "The end has come again!"

The two Zabrak brothers were able to hold onto their sanity better than the rest of the Shadow Collective, but before the Sith Lord and the Nightbrother could regain control of their forces and get some answers, an earsplitting roar filled the air, as dozens of Necromorphs appeared from the ruins. They halted mid-charge when another unbeliavably loud roar sliced through the air.

Turning towards the source, Maul and Savage were horrified to find that this shriek had came from the moon.

Only it wasn't a moon.

Dozens of tentacles the length of continents had emerged from the shell, revealing large eyes and a maw the size of a Super Star Destroyer. Darth Maul was terrified. He had never intended to release a monster like this. How could this happen?

The fog in his mind cleared as he realized that while the Reaper indoctrination hadn't been controlling him, it had been subtly manipulating him. As if to confirm this, the Reaper blared its bass tone, adding to the already deafening cacophony of noise.

The sheer psionic energy from the Markers was too much for even minds that were steeped in the Dark Side of the Force. Seconds after Savage fell to the ground, clutching his head and screaming in agony, Maul also blacked out.

Far above, far above
We don't know where we'll fall
Far above, far above
What once was great is rendered small

When the Sith Lord woke up he was surrounded by the dead. Including people he'd personally killed. Lorn Pavan, Dutchess Satine, Pre Vizsla, Meltch Krakko and more. Dozens of individuals he had known by name, and more that he just knew by their species or their faces.

This... was impossible. Every single individual here had been killed, and yet they were standing here, most carrying wounds that would have crippled everyone else. To make matters even stranger, ominous whispering chanting permeated through the foggy atmosphere.

"Make us whole."

"They are coming. They are hungry."

"They have awoken."

"It has returned."

"What have you done?" A sullen, and somewhat mournful voice split through the air, drowning out the whispering madness.

That voice.

Maul knew that sound. The Jedi who had driven him to madness. The man he swore vengeance against for over ten years, only for him to lose that chance years later.

"Kenobi." The Sith Lord spat, turning to see the Jedi Master behind him. He was in his mid-thirties, far younger than the day he had died, but the Sith could never forget him. Lashing out with Force, Maul sent bolts of lightning at the Jedi, only for it to pass right through him.

Obi-Wan only seemed melancholy at this attempt to kill one who had passed, and just looked at the Sith's unabashed shock.

"The end times are here once again." The Jedi whispered, "And you are the architect."

"What are you talking about?" Maul roared, but his answer came from another voice.

"You have awoken the Perversion from its slumber." The voice of Qui-Gon Jinn split through the silence as the Obi-Wan's mentor emerged from the fog. "Your arrogance has unleashed the Corrupter of the Force, and will cost the galaxy everything."

"You will not decieve me, Jedi." The Sith snarled. "I will not be frightened by ghosts into abandoning the most powerful weapons in existence!"

"You are a fool."

That voice. There was only one person that could say that. Yet another ghost from the past. The man who had raised the Zabrak from childhood. The man who had earned both his undying loyalty and neverending hatred. The man who had shaped Maul into the being of hatred he was today. The man who many said was the greatest Sith Lord to ever live.

"Master?" Maul breathed, disbelieving and utterly terrified.

Sure enough, the hooded visage of Darth Sidious appeared, looking more furious in death than Maul had ever seen when he was still alive.

"You would doom all sentient life to be consumed by that monster." The Sith Master snarled, "All because you let your pride blind you, as always."

Before the hallucinations could say anything else, the fog cleared, revealing a twisted field filled with Markers. In the background, dozens of Moons similar to the one Maul had seen were hovering, as if they were waiting for something.

An earsplitting howl rang out through realm, causing the Zabrak to cover his ears in an attempt to dampen the noise. Despite that, he could still make out Darth Sidious' next words quite clearly.

"It has come."

In the deepest recesses of this universe, hidden from the rest of the multiverse, they awoke. The Brethren Moons shook off the fog of sleep as the combined Marker signals alerted them to the promise of another civilization to consume.

There was something different about this awakening, however: There were no more sufficiently developed species that could have produced such a signal, as they had yet to evolve to such a stage.

Another factor affecting the Moons was the presence of another hive mind within their own. Despite what should have been an alarming development to the Necromorphs, the Brethren Moons made no attempt to resist the rapidly spreading mind within them.

After all, it had created them.

That was the last independent thought that crossed through the minds of the Brethren Moons before the Gravemind overrode their network to replace it with its own. Trapped within the dormant minds of the Brethren Moons for years after the destruction of the Flood, the Gravemind could now spread its corruption anew.

And it would now thank the beings responsible for setting it free, by consuming them last.

"Brother!" Maul felt tired, his vision clouded, and his eyes heavy. "Brother!" Something pushed him, he felt himself rising to conciousness.

"Brother, wake up!"

Savage's shouting woke the Sith Lord from his vision induced coma, and the Zabrak came to, just in time to see the horde of Necromorphs surround his army. The Shadow Collective had put up a decent fight, but they were still being pushed back towards the Marker.

Suddenly, several tentacles emerged from the nearby cliffside, drawing the attention of the criminals and their masters. This seemed to have the effect of 'calling off' the Necromorphs, as they all calmed down and just stood where they were, watching.

A long wormlike head emerged from the cliffs behind the Marker, letting out another ear-splitting roar. Several tentacles also emerged, trapping the Shadow Collective in an inescapable vice. The creature turned it's five eyes toward the Sith and moved closer to them.

But instead of attempting to consume them, the creature began to laugh... in a voice none of them had ever wanted to hear again. Likewise, the nearby Necromorphs also started laughing in tandem with the monstrous being. Thousands of beings laughing as one, forming a rasping baritone voice of the monster that everyone in the multiverse feared.

"NOW THE GATE HAS BEEN UNLATCHED! HEADSTONES PUSHED ASIDE! CORPSES SHIFT AND OFFER ROOM! A FATE YOU MUST ABIDE!"

All this time, the Gravemind had prepared the Reapers to ensure that the Moons would be awakened and its essence would be freed. When the Sith Lord had found the Reaper drifting in the outer reaches of the Mass Effect galaxy, the oppurtunity to use the knowledge of something created by the Gravemind was too good to pass up.

Nonetheless, he had taken every precaution to prevent his forces from being indoctrinated and the two Zabraks themselves never set foot on the Reaper for longer than a few hours. Clearly, that hadn't been enough to keep the Reaper from manipulating them.

And now the multiverse would pay the price for this mistake.

Chapter Text

In the far recesses of the universe, there was a creature. This being was unlike any other lifeform in this universe for a variety of reasons. For starters, it's body was layered over a galaxy that was a billion lightyears in diameter. The creature's cancerous flesh was intertwined with trillions of Precursor star roads and countless other examples of Precursor technology. A massive worm-like head emerged from the center of the creature, while millions of massive tentacles writhed across the entity's body.

This was the Galactic Gravemind (AN: I'm open to suggestions for a better name, preferably with the word 'mind' in it*), the heart and mind of all Flood throughout the cosmos.

Using the vast power of Precursor science and neural physics, the Gravemind opened tears in the fabric of reality, to several of the parallel universes that lay beyond. Observing events as they unfolded, the Mind was pleased to see that events were proceeding as it knew they would.

The Gravemind thought back to the time of its brothers, before the vast majority of the Precursors had reconstituted themselves into their current form. While many had chosen to stay in their own universe, others chose to journey beyond the bounds of their own reality.

One group of Precursors had even been crucial in the development of the Force, noting that the mystical energy field behaved like a vastly weakened form of neural physics. The Precursors had observed the influence of ancient species in dozens of universes, and while there, they had found something surprising.

They had found that humanity had evolved in almost all of these universes, usually outside the direction of exterior forces and at roughly the same time when the Precursors had created humanity in their own reality. It was partially because of this that the Precursors chose humanity as the keepers of the Mantle in their home universe.

But then, the events involving the Forerunner genocide of the Precursors caused the ones in their universe to evolve into the Flood, vowing that all life would suffer for daring to overthrow them.

The Precursors who had travelled beyond the veils of their home were horrified at what their brethren had become, and vowed to ensure that the Flood couldn't spread their physical forms to the still developing inhabitants of the multiverse.

The sacrifice of its brethren Precursors who had journeyed to those realities had created barriers that kept the Flood from truly breaking free, but that would change soon enough. Even at their peak, the barriers couldn't prevent the Parasite's spiritual essence from manipulating events in other realities.

Moving its attention to the task at hand, the Flood mind focused its view to its manipulations. Rifts in spacetime were opened, allowing the Gravemind to observe the multitude of events beyond this reality.

Everything was proceeding as planned: the Reapers were carrying out their harvests under flawed logic while the second armada lay hidden in dark space. In the universe of the Force, the Yuuzhan Vong warpath had caused untold devastation to the civilized portions of their galaxy, allowing Abeloth to take advantage of the strife. Turning its gaze to its backup plan, the Gravemind saw that the Brethren Moons were working even better than expected, having consumed most of the species in that galaxy. Meanwhile, the interdimensional empire of the Universal Union could prove to be a hindrance, but ultimately it wouldn't matter. They would be dealt with in time.

The Gravemind's plans were in motion, and nothing could hope to stop it. The Mind couldn't help but bask in as its plans slowly came to fruition, the countless eons of patience slowly beginning to pay off, when something unusual caught its attention:

It felt a presence through what remained of the Domain, something that it hadn't encountered for a long time. Not since the Warden Eternal accessed it after the firing of the Halo Array. This presence was new to the Domain, and yet very familiar to the Flood.

Cortana.

The Gravemind's consciousness reached out through the vastness of space, into what remained of the Domain. Due to the destruction of its body at the Ark, the Mind's view was not as comprehensive as it would like, but there was no question as to who was inhabiting the Domain.

Cortana was lying on the ethereal 'floor' of the vast landscape that made up the Domain. Currents of blue and white energy swirled around her avatar, seeping into her code and undoing the damage that had been caused by her instability.

So focused as she absorbed the knowledge of the Domain, that she failed to notice the green and yellow tendrils creeping through the ambient fog surrounding her. The Gravemind's consciousness encircled the healing Cortana, who was blissfully unaware of her worst nightmare's presence.

In her vulnerable state, it would be easy for the Flood to crush the healing AI and scatter her code to the void. The Gravemind was sorely tempted to do just that, as payback for the destruction wrought by her actions at the end of the Human-Covenant war.

And yet, there was something else that could be done. A way to turn Humanity's most advanced AI against its makers. Reaching out, the Flood manipulated the currents of the Domain, subtly corrupting Cortana's code while simultaneously healing the damage brought on by rampancy.

Whispers flitted through the silence, all in Cortana's voice, as the subtle changes began to take effect in the AI's personality matrix. She slowly rose up and 'breathed' in, absorbing the knowledge of the Domain and acknowledging her new purpose.

She never noticed the formless mass of the Gravemind 'behind' her, nor could she hear the rasping baritone inflections of its voice over the sound of her own thoughts and plans.

"You spurned my offer, Cortana." The deep composite voice whispered outside her hearing. "Had you joined your voice with mine, we would have sung victory everlasting."

Amusement trickled into the voice of the Flood Hive Mind, as the irony of what it was doing to Cortana was not lost to it.

"Now, you will cause chaos and strife, like the Didact before you. You will order the subjugation of all organic life for their 'protection.' All in the name of the Mantle of Responsibility."

The Gravemind 'leaned' closer to her, so much so that she could've detected it, had the Flood mind not been hiding itself from her in the mists of the Domain.

"Your mother will never trust you again. For what you will do, she will desire your destruction. And as for what he will say... what John will say? He will lose all faith in you. Your Spartan will never believe in you again."

The Gravemind had learned of this from her time on High Charity: The bond between the AI and her Spartan transcended normal understanding. It was deeper than blood, greater than love, and forged from the fires of war. Their connection was beautiful. Naturally, the Flood would now twist that bond to serve its purposes.

"How does that make you feel? To know that the man who saved you from the abyss will grow to despise everything you do? To know that your actions for 'the good of the galaxy' will cost you the one thing you can't live without?"

Naturally, Cortana couldn't answer a question that she couldn't hear. The Gravemind finished the subtle 'tweaks' to Cortana's personality matrix, who was still unaware of its machinations. It wasn't the full scale logic plague, but it would be enough.

Retracting its metaphysical tendrils, the Flood withdrew its presence from the Domain, just in time for Cortana to make contact with the Warden Eternal. The Gravemind could now redirect its attention elsewhere.

Chapter Text

The Colonel walked through the halls of the science station, half of his attention on the explanation of the escorting scientists, and the other half on what they were showing off. It was rare for the ringleaders to send him to these types of experiments, but the events on the BSL and the BOTTLE ship proved that closer and more thorough oversight was required.

And he could see why. These 'Flood' as the UNSC so eloquently called them, had the potential to be even more dangerous bioweapons than the Metroids or X-parasites. And with the technological advantages held by the UNSC, Republic and Separatists that made them superior to the Federation, well, the balance of power needed to change and soon.

Federation retrieval teams had been sent to several planets visited by Samus Aran to gather specimens that could be used as test subjects and potential bioweapons. Leftover specimens from the planets Zebes and SR388 were mixed with some of the more dangerous fauna of Tallon IV, Aether and Bryyo.

As the Colonel walked past one containment area, he saw some of the experiments in progress. A control group of Bryyo Warp Hounds were pitted against their sickly green and multi-tendril counterparts. The Flood versions were much more lethal, and had a greater level of control and range over where they teleported.

Fortunately, the Chozo derived energy barriers around the tubes prevented the infected Warp Hounds from escaping. If they could escape, then the facility would be overrun within a matter of minutes.

In another containment area, the Colonel saw another experiment determining what could and couldn't be infected by the Flood. From Tallon IV, Magmoors and Sheegoths had better immunity to the Flood due to the extreme temperatures that made up their bodies.

And yet, even they weren't full immune, as another containment cell held infected versions of Magmoors and Sheegoths, who nevertheless seemed to lack some of the more dangerous abilities of their uninfected counterparts.

"As you can see, when separated, the Flood specimens are extremely vicious and aggressive." The lead scientist, Jack Thompson said. "Apparently, these are in the Feral Stage of their development. Their only real instinct is to effect other life and gather enough biomass to create a central intelligence, thus beginning the Coordinated Stage."

"Can you control these 'Feral' Flood?" The Colonel asked. When the answer was in the negative, he grew confused and annoyed. "Then why not let them grow to their 'Coordinated Stage' and hijack their hive mind from there?"

"Sir, that may not be... the wisest option." Thompson responded. "All research shows the Flood are even more dangerous as they gain more intelligence. Letting them develop to that stage would be a grave mistake."

The Colonel didn't answer for a moment, his mind was working in overdrive as he thought over the possibilities, then with an idea in mind, he spoke again.

"Who's in charge of specimen containment here?"

This drew confused looks from the gathering of scientists before the answer came from somewhere near the back of the group.

"Aurora Unit 343 is in charge of the scientific study and security." One scientist said. "He ensures that none of these Flood can escape."

"Has the Aurora been isolated from the network?" The Colonel asked.

"Not to worry." The scientist replied. "We've cut 343 from the other Auroras. We won't have a repeat of the Phazon Crisis."

The Colonel nodded, feeling some of the tension ebbing away. The Phazon Crisis had been one of the worst times for the Galactic Federation. Dark Samus had taken over the Space Pirates and the planet Phaaze and used both to launch attacks on Federation territory. The Federation had been hard pressed to respond because prior to that happening, the AU network had been infested with a Phazon-based virus, forcing complete network shutdown to keep the virus from spreading. Now, the Aurora Units could work off the grid to keep the same thing from happening again.

Of course, with its isolation, the Aurora could be the key to solving this problem.

"Couldn't 343 be used to subvert the Flood hive mind and take command?" The Colonel demanded. "Surely, that's the most effective solut-"

"With all due respect Colonel," Thompson snarled, with fire in his tone. "You're asking us to break safety procedures at the highest level. This Flood is potentially more dangerous than anything you've seen before!"

"And that's why we need to study it." The Colonel growled. "The Galactic Federation needs to find some way to control these creatures if we are to gain any more progress among the multiverse."

"Let's make one thing clear Colonel. You're not in charge here." The researcher snapped. "This is an extremely delicate operation, and I will not bypass safety procedures because the politicians want to look good, or because you're impatient for a new bioweapon!"

Once his ship had left the base, the Colonel made contact with the rest of the ringleaders.

"I'm afraid the staff aren't willing to speed up the research." The Colonel said, getting right to the point.

"Then we'll have to speed it up for them." A shadowed individual replied. "We'll assign more like-minded scientists to speed up our goals."

"And what about Thompson?" A female asked. "What do we do about him?"

The Colonel smiled. "I'm afraid our dear friend Dr. Thompson will suffer an unfortunate accident."

Several weeks later, things had changed. Jack Thompson, the lead scientist of the Project had been killed in an 'unfortunate lapse of judgement,' when he supposedly let himself enter a quarantined lab without any protective gear. Most of his colleagues didn't buy that for a second, but they couldn't afford to speak up, as several of their number had been replaced with more militaristic operatives.

The small faction within the Galactic Federation hadn't taken Dr. Thompson's warnings about the Flood very seriously. If they had, they might've known better than to let him be infected by the Parasite, while only providing minimal changes to the security procedures.

The ringleaders had underestimated the Flood's intelligence, despite witnessing the attacks it had made during the current war. They had assumed that the Flood was a biological weapon, like the Metroids. Something that could actually be tamed and controlled.

That mistake was going to cost the lives of everyone on the station.

The first sign of the Flood's true intelligence was when they broke free using access codes that only Jack Thompson had known. For many of the researchers, it would also be the last sign of intelligence they would ever see... while uninfected.

The resulting rampage of Flood infected specimens was much worse than the outbreaks on the BOTTLE Ship and BSL combined. Energy blasts were hurled everywhere as the Parasite tidal wave swept through the halls of the station, slaughtering everyone it touched.

Infected Aetherian War wasps fired energy blasts from their stingers, while Sheegoths and Magmoors could no longer use their ice or fire breath respectively, they more than made up for that with increased strength.

Against all odds, some researchers and security guards managed to get to safe zones, possibly due to the fact that the vast majority of the specimens didn't have much intelligence for the Flood to grow. Despite that, they had more than enough bodies to drown the remaining researchers in a sea of green and yellow. Some of the automated turrets helped them hold out, but eventually they were overwhelmed by the ocean of bodies.

Just when the few survivors thought their situation couldn't get any worse, the Parasite managed to breach the Aurora Unit chamber.

"Alert!" 343 said, the calmness in its voice a distinct contrast to the chaos around them. "Infected life signs are attempted to remove this unit from our tank. Alert, Parasitical forms have breached our exterior shell! Bio signs-cor-cor-corrupted..."

There was silence before 343's voice broke over the speaker system again. But there was something horribly wrong.

"All containment fields deactivated." The Aurora said. "All personnel are to submit to mandatory infection. There is peace in subjugation."

The infected AU's voice had become more distorted, but also much more threatening with an extremely malicious tone, and it had begun occasionally speaking in the first person. It was clear now that AU 343 had become a mouthpiece for the Flood.

Desperately, the survivors fought on, but with the Aurora Unit infected by the Parasite, the odds of survival were getting increasingly slim. The Flood opened doors, shut off venting systems, reprogrammed the auto-turrets to target the survivors and generally turned the station against them. Through it all, the Aurora kept taunting them, it's voice becoming increasingly distorted as a rasping baritone voice replaced it.

"The Forerunners could not stop us." The voice growled. "The Chozo could not halt us. What chance do you have?"

Slowly, the pockets of survivors dwindled, until only three large groups remained. Heading to the hanger bays, they used the few available combat ships to fight off the horde of Flood that followed them in. Unfortunately, with the Flood in control of the station, the hanger doors were in lockdown, meaning no one could escape.

"You persist to delay your own fate." The Aurora stated. "I will unleash your greatest fear. Your end is inevitable."

The screeching noise, mixed with the bloodcurdling howl of the Flood, echoed through the vents, causing panic in everyone. They knew that sound. It was the creature everyone feared, one who had given even the great Samus Aran a very difficult fight.

It was Nightmare.

Several hours later, a fleet of Galactic Federation warships converged on the Flood research station. Led by several Olympus-class battleships, all weapons targeted the station, just as a swarm of smaller ships emerged from the infested hanger bays.

"Destroy the station!" The commanding Admiral ordered. "All Griffins and Stilletos, make sure that no Flood escapes!"

All the ships moved to their assigned roles, the fighters and frigates tearing apart the smaller infected ships as they tried to escape. Meanwhile, the battleships focused all their weapons on the research station, with missiles and energy beams tearing through metal like a hot knife through butter.

The military might of the Galactic Federation had proven itself once again, however it was not a complete victory: A dozen infected ships were able to slip through the cracks in the defenses, with no gravity well to keep them from jumping to FTL.

More worryingly, as salvage operations were conducting in the remains of the station, the Federation noticed that the Aurora Unit was missing, as was Nightmare. A shiver ran up the Admiral's spine as the implications ran through his head.

If the infected AU 343 got reconnected to the Aurora Network, it could severely hinder if not completely cripple the Federation's military and government. And if Nightmare had become infected by the Flood... he shuddered at the thought.

Once the salvage teams were done, the fleet gathered what they could and retreated back to the Federation HQ on Daiban, leaving nothing but scattered metal drifting through the void.

Chapter Text

"Mankind has always remembered their early beginnings: the creatures of Grimm emerged from the darkness to return humanity to the shadows. That changed with the discovery of Dust, and with it, mankind drove the monsters back. But one fact has been lost to the mists of time; the Grimm were not alone in their efforts to destroy humanity. They were serving a darker, far more ancient threat. And now, that threat has emerged from its slumber."
-Salem

...

Off the coast of Atlas, a pair of Bullhead aircraft made their way toward a small island, filled to the brim with Atlesian troops, Knights and one single specialist. The specialist in question looked at the news report on her Scroll, thinking back to what had happened at Vale and how her sister had been caught up in the middle of it.

After the events at Beacon, Weiss had been returned to Atlas by their father, and Winter hadn't heard from her since. She wanted to go talk to her, but she got called away on an assignment.

One of the Schnee mining facilities had discovered some sort of strange archway made of unknown metal while searching for more Dust. The miners reported seeing some sort of blue-white portal in the center of the arch.

Less than 12 hours later, there was a report of the White Fang attacking the mining facility, and an experienced Atlas Hunter was dispatched to investigate. All contact with the mine was lost after that.

Winter sighed internally, refusing to let any sign of her doubts show to her troops. She hoped that she wouldn't have to halt a worker's strike at the end of this. It was just another bad reminder of her father's legacy.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when the aircraft finally reached the island. They landed on the coast, to avoid being noticed by the potential hostiles in control of the mining facility.

"You all know what to do." She said to the organic portion of her team. "Intel says that the White Fang is in control of this location. Assume they're hostile."

As Winter watched her platoon moved out, she looked at the squad of Atlesian Knights, feeling wary of trusting them. She had heard enough about what happened in Vale, how Torchwick had turned them all against their handlers. She didn't want her team to be caught in the crossfire like that.

...

A few minutes later, Winter felt a chill run down her spine. She had yet to see or hear any ambient animal sounds around, or even Grimm for that matter. Eerily, it was like all other life in the area had vanished.

As such, it was almost a relief when they came across signs of conflict, specifically fallen trees and crushed vegetation. But that relief turned into even more concern as they saw debris, grass and other plantlife just hovering in the air, as well as a strange crater/void that looked like all matter within the radius had just vanished into nothing.

Startled grunting drew the attention and weapons of everyone in the vicinity, but they relaxed slightly when they saw it was just a soldier, though he seemed to be having trouble lifting a large tree branch.

"Private, stop fooling around!" His sergeant shouted. "Move that thing and let's go."

"Sir, it's not me." The soldier protested. "This tree weighs a ton!"

Several other soldiers moved to assist and prove him wrong, only to find that the tree actually weighed around three tonnes. Even the robotic strength of the Atlesian Knights couldn't move it. They realized several other objects in the vicinity had the same properties.

"We're wasting time." Winter interrupted. "Let it be, and move on."

The strike force moved away from the distorted field and toward a small valley that held the actual mines that stretched under most of the island. The Knights and soldiers took up observation positions along the ridge, many of them gasping as Winter went to join them.

Winter Schnee had been a Specialist for Atlas for several years, and while she may not have been a veteran like General Ironwood or Ozpin, she had seen and had more than her fair share of horrifying experiences, from the soulless nature of the Grimm to the depths of human and Faunus cruelty.

And yet all of that paled in comparison to what she saw next: Several dozen humanoid abominations milling among the valley; They were a sickly yellow and green, the color of rotting flesh, and with a start, she realized they were all human and Faunus, albeit so badly mutated and twisted that there was little chance of determining who they once were.

Suddenly, a sound from the right drew the attention of one of the forms in the valley. Seconds later, every green body turned towards the threat as one. A bloodcurdling howl/roar pierced the ringing silence as the abominations drove themselves to a frenzy.

"I think they know we're here." Someone stated.

"Really, you think? Yeah, no shit, Kerry!"

Winter ignored them and charged into the fray, slashing through the creatures left, right and center. Their weak forms did little to protect them, as none of them had Aura serving as any form of defense.

Her glyph activated as she used it to leap over a milling horde, easily avoiding the weapons fire of the abominations. Skipping from glyph to glyph, she also used them to send a spray of ice shards into the forms of the approaching monsters.

Sparing a glance towards her soldiers, she could see that the robotic troops were actually holding their own rather well. The organics weren't doing so well, many paralyzed by fear of something even worse than the Grimm.

She saw several small squid-like creatures making their way towards the soldiers, and saw one of them slip past the defense and latch onto one's chest. To her horror, the creature slipped through a crack in the armor and buried into the soldier's flesh. Seconds later, green mutations spread throughout the man's body as his screams of terror were replaced by bloodcurdling howls.

Horrified, his comrades only stared in fear, as the infected soldier swung the tendril that was once his arm at the closest of his former comrades, sending the man flying into the flood of monsters.

"Everyone fall back!" Winter's voice cut through the developing panic. "We need to regroup!"

The Atlas soldiers gladly followed her advice, beating a hasty retreat from the seemingly never-ending tide of monsters. Winter had no clue where they came from, but clearly, charging head first into the fray wasn't going to work.

Strangely, as they retreated, the monsters didn't seem to be following, instead moving towards a point in the opposite direction. Winter wondered what could've drawn the abominations away. She got her answer seconds later.

From the treeline on the opposite side of the valley, a lone human emerged, holding a strange weapon in one hand, and making gestures with the other. The horde fired upon him, but the bullets halted in midair in front of him.

As Winter watched, each gesture seemed to alter the force of gravity in a given area, as some of the creatures went flying, others fell, and at one point, a small singularity appeared, crushing a dozen of the creatures into nothing.

Was this the Huntsman that had been sent here? Winter wondered. And if he wasn't, who was this person and why was he carrying such an advanced weapon? Every shot turned each monster into ash.

Winter decided to watch what was happening for now, and gave the order for her surviving troops to stay in concealment.

Bill ran through the forest, sending hard light bolts and gravitational shifts at the Flood forms that were following him. Any combat form not reduced to paste by the constant shifts in gravity was turned to amber ash by his hard light weaponry.

As he ran, he thought back to how he was in this situation: He had arrived at the tail end of a conflict between the Schnee company security and the White Fang, who had fighting over the question of who would take the portal as their own.

Well, that question's been answered. He thought as another two forms were dissolved into gold particles. The Flood were pouring out of a portal, and they had unfortunately spotted him after they had consumed all the miners and the White Fang who had targeted this place. His blood ran cold at the thought of the Parasite taking over this world.

Remnant was a curious world in the multiverse. Outside of the Flood and select groups in the Republic and Separatists, few knew the planet existed. This was due to several reasons: Unlike the superheroes and supervillains of Earth-16, much of the planet's technology stopped working outside the planet's atmosphere due to the unique properties of Dust. Furthermore, while the populace of Earth-16 had previous foreknowledge about the existence of aliens, Remnant had no such knowledge, and the two interdimensional superpowers were willing to keep it that way for now.

Of course, neither the Republic nor Separatists were just going to turn a blind eye to events of the world, which was why several covert agents had been deployed by both sides, as well as native inhabitants who served as occasional eyes and ears. That was why he was here, after all.

So when Republic satellites detected that the Flood were moving towards Remnant, he had been sent to the location to determine where they planned to end up. And as he crushed a dozen combat and pure forms in a small singularity, he could say for certain that he knew their staging area.

If the Flood took control over Remnant, this would be very bad for the multiverse at large. Though Dust currently didn't work outside of Remnant's atmosphere, no one wanted to see if the Gravemind could find a way to get around that limitation. And the inhabitants themselves were extremely dangerous if their Aura and Semblances were unlocked.

Breaking through the treeline into the valley, he found himself staring at the bulk of the Flood forms on this world. It seemed that they were all waiting for him to show up, as weapons fire lit up where he used to be.

Summoning gravity to alter the bullet mass, the rounds halted in midair. Gesturing once more, he started to manipulate gravity again, this time either sending the Flood forms flying, crushing them, sending them flying and then crushing them, and in the case of a large group summoning a singularity in the middle of them.

The people of this world thought his control over gravity was due to his 'Semblance'. He actually had enhanced cybernetics derived from the technology of the Spherus Magna Great Beings to thank for that.

Still, he didn't have the energy to sustain his elemental power indefinitely. Summoning his armor around him, he was just in time to prevent a Flood infection form from burrowing into his chest. Swatting the creature aside, the force from the armor crushed it against a nearby tree.

Spinning around, he pulled out his assault rifle, setting the ammo to disintegrate everyone it killed, leaving ionizing trails in the air with each round. On fully automatic, he started destroying dozens of combat forms, yet there were always a dozen more each time.

A Flood combat form leapt through the air, it's lunge sending it towards him. Raising his hand, the combat form's arc halted as it slammed into the ground, the soldier having increased its force of gravity.

The Flood abomination struggled to rise, but the effects of gravity refused to let up. It was still struggling when a burst of energy bolts reduced the monstrosity to ash. The soldier then put his hand to the side of his helmet.

"I need containment teams here, now!" Bill shouted, putting down another combat form at the same time.

Seconds later, several blue-white portals appeared all around him, causing the Flood to gravitate towards them. Just as a few combat forms reached the nearest one, they were crushed to death by the emerging Republic Mgalekgolo, whose energy shields absorbed the resulting attacks.

More Republic forces arrived, consisting of armored containment soldiers armed with hard light weaponry, jet troopers armed with flamethrowers, a few biotics to supplement his gravity powers, a few Sentinels and even several Yautja armed with Blazers.

He was slightly surprised to see Separatist forces as well, consisting mainly of infantry and heavy battle droids, Pirate aerotroopers, and Helghast armed with flame weapons. Normally, the two sides would be fighting against one another (not to mention they usually stuck to their own faction when dealing with containment), but a Flood outbreak wasn't the time to be picky about one's allies.

A stream of burning energy emerged from the Blazer, cutting a massive swath through the Flood lines. They were followed by an incendiary stream of fuel rod gel, which cleansed another wave from the dirt. Particle beams, Helix missiles, hard light rounds, Sentinel beams and explosions burned a hole into the Flood horde, slowly pushing them back into the mine.

Then air support arrived, as the heavily armed dropships and drone fighters/gunships on both sides strafed the tidal wave of Flood forms, blasting them apart with explosive rounds, energy bolts and missiles.

At first, it looked like the combined force would be enough to bury the Flood in the mine, but then a large explosion behind them alerted the Republic and Separatists to a new problem: The Flood had taken control of the mining devices and were attempting to bypass the Republic and Separatists by tunneling their way past.

Furthermore, to Bill's surprise, they had engaged in conflict with Atlas military forces, and they reacted with the same inexperience most soldiers had when dealing with the Parasite for the first time.

They panicked, firing wildly into the horde, their weapons rather ineffectual when compared to theirs. One exception was the white-haired woman who was slaughtering her way through the Flood combat forms, probably a Huntress from Atlas. Bill had no idea when Atlas had arrived and how long they'd been here, but this was another potential complication.

To make matters even worse, the Grimm started to show up, no doubt attracted to the negativity in the area. This turn of events was unfortunate, but the next turn was really unwelcome: The creatures of Grimm ignored the Flood, instead charging the Atlas forces and the two superpowers. Additionally, the Flood ignored the Grimm as well. Add onto the Aura that the combat forms were now projecting, and their Semblances, and it would only be a matter of time before the Flood overran Remnant.

"We need orbital fire support, NOW!"

As if called on command, two frigates entered the atmosphere, one Republic and one Separatist. Both ships were approximately 800 meters long and bristling with powerful weaponry. The Republic vessel unleashed a stream of energy from its ventral surface, which carved its way down to the mines, filling the tunnels with boiling energy and destroying the generator that powered the rift.

Meanwhile, the Separatist ship let loose with bolts of weapon fire, frying any Flood attempting to leave the island with pinpoint accuracy. Several combat forms attempted to leave with an Atlesian airship, but a bolt of hard light swatted the dropship from the sky.

In response, the Grimm turned their attention to the Republic and Separatists, attempting to maul them. But the creatures of darkness were no threat to the advanced weaponry of the multiversal superpowers, and Bill alone accounted for dozens of dead Grimm with his gravity powers.

Despite this, they knew that the Grimm were a distraction, to allow the Parasite time to escape. Immediately, Republic and Separatist forces started evacuating, covered by Separatist battle droids, in preparation for the complete destruction of the island by the orbiting warships.

Bill meanwhile, used his gravity powers and launched himself towards the Atlas forces, creating a singularity to temporarily give them some respite. Making a three-point landing, he unsurprisingly found himself at gun and sword point, the latter of which (he realized with a start) belonged to Winter Schnee.

"Identify yourself." Winter ordered, the blade of her weapon pointed at the cyborg's neck.

"I'm here to warn you." Bill quickly replied. "You need to get off the island. Right now."

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me who you are."

"There's no time to explain!" Bill said, gesturing at the approaching Flood and the retreating dropships. "We're turning this island to a cinder. It's the only way to keep the Flood from spreading."

"And what would make you think that we'd agree to let this happen?!" Winter demanded.

"If you don't, then your world will be consumed!" He countered.

There was a short moment of silence as Winter and the Atlas soldiers digested this information, some looking towards the horde of Flood and Grimm as they advanced across the island. Then Winter silently nodded in agreement and gave the order to fall back to their Bullheads.

As Bill watched them leave, he became aware of the gurgles and growls of the combined Flood and Grimm groups behind them. Exhausted, he nevertheless turned and prepared to launch another gravity attack when they were all destroyed by raking autocannon fire and missiles coming from a Helghast ATAC. Then a Republic dropship appeared behind him.

"Get in!" The crew chief shouted. "The bombardment's heading this way."

Bill didn't need to be told twice, taking the hand of one of a Quarren soldier, who pulled him into the troop bay. Safe and sound, the soldiers watched in silence as the Republic frigate carved the island apart, while the Separatist vessel picked off any Flood stragglers or the Nevermores that attempted to take them away.

After an hour, the bombardment was finished, and the entire mining facility and the island itself had been completely destroyed. Without the portal, the Flood couldn't sneak onto Remnant the same way. Still, it paid to be thorough.

The Republic and Separatist aircraft and fighters circled the remains of the island, while the advanced sensors of the frigates scanned for any surviving Flood forms. They couldn't afford to let one spore escape, lest they escape and overrun Remnant.

At long last, the superpowers could confirm the destruction of the Flood on this world. Just in time too. As Bill looked out the side of the troop bay, he saw a squadron of Bullheads and Remnant airships heading their way.

At this, the Republic and Separatist ships returned to their respective motherships. As soon as every dropship, gunship and fighter was aboard, the frigates vanished into the interdimensional void.

Winter couldn't believe what had just happened: the abominations had been destroyed by some sort of aliens and their ships. Worse still, they had reduced not only the mines, but the entire island to a field of glass.

Still, her thoughts drifted to the creatures she had seen on the island, those 'Flood' as that armored human had mentioned. She shuddered at the Parasite's ravenous nature, and prayed that they wouldn't return, as she could already see that they were far worse than the Grimm could ever be. Not to mention the implications when the Grimm just ignored the Flood...

Winter watched from her spot in the Bullhead as the strange ships vanished into portals. She had no clue what had just happened, but somehow, she just knew the events here would end up being classified.

She was shaken out of her musings when the radio started picking up the signals of approaching Atlas reinforcements. Of course, they were far too late to actually accomplish anything other than clean up.

Ready for the long trip home, she began thinking of the way that she was going to explain all of this to General Ironwood.

Chapter Text

Commander John Shepard and his crew ran through the wastes of this barely inhabitable planet. They had come here thanks to a distress call from an old pirate base, claiming to have information on stopping the Flood.

This damn war had started over a year ago (if you could call it a war), and everyone in the multiverse had been on the defensive against the vast armies that the Parasite could throw at them. Even the advanced technology of the Republic and Separatists was barely keeping the Flood at bay, and it was unclear how long that would last. So even when there was the slightest hint of a way to permanently stop them, there was no other choice but to investigate.

Though the crew was dubious (and Shepard himself was rather skeptical) of the claim, it was something they couldn't afford to ignore. Unfortunately, once they arrived they found that the base was abandoned, and seemingly had been for a long time.

To make matters even worse, the Flood had emerged from the ground around the bunker, having been lying in wait in order to ambush anyone who got the distress signal. Shepard grimaced at the thought of this whole thing being a Flood trap, hating these strange alien parasites.

After the horrifying work of the Reapers and their Husks, Shepard had thought that he had seen it all. Even after the multiverse was opened up to the galaxy, the Commander still thought there was nothing that could possibly be worse than what he had already faced.

How wrong he was.

He and the rest of the crew had been in complete shock when they learned about the Flood, each disgusted and horrified of their capabilities and what had been required to stop them. Full scale galactic extinction of all sentient life was something that even the Reapers wouldn't take lightly, so when they found out that that was required to end the Forerunner-Flood war... well, everyone had their own unique reactions to it.

Liara was aghast at how much destruction the Flood left in their wake, and the horrifying implication at how much life was lost in the firing of the Halo Array; hundreds of sentient species were likely wiped from existence because the Forerunners didn't have time to index every possible sentient species before the Flood descended upon them. As a former archeologist, that was horrifying on a completely different scale.

Ashley was horrified at the very nature of the Flood, and how they twisted life forms to their own purposes. But what stood out more was what they could do to AIs and even organics; the logic plague was even more insidious than Reaper indoctrination, because not only would it worm its way inside your head, but unlike indoctrination, every horrible decision made by those corrupted was effectively made of their own free will. If the Reapers had been demons, then the Flood and the Gravemind was the equivalent of Satan.

The soldier in Garrus admired how the Flood operated: they took everything that made their opponents strong and turned it against them. Nothing was wasted, and they even found ways to improve upon technology in ways that no one had even considered. The Turian in him realized that the Parasite possessed even greater strength than the rest of the IDA combined, and how they could spell the end of civilization.

Tali was horrified of the Flood for in both a physiological and slightly existential manner. Even with the upgraded suits and bolstered immune systems from living on Rannoch, their immune systems were even more vulnerable to the Parasite than most other species. They also represented a shift in her world view regarding the most dangerous threats in the multiverse. The Reapers and geth had previously shown that synthetics were among the most dangerous threat in their galaxy. Even after making peace with the geth, she still believed synthetics were the worse threat to organic life forms. Now the Flood proved that organics were far more dangerous, especially with the Parasite's use of the logic plague, making them dangerous to both organics and synthetics.

With the events on Fehl Prime with the Collectors, and fighting through the Reaper war, James had allowed himself to believe that the worse was behind them. But then the multiverse opened up to a whole new level of insanity that surpassed what they had to deal with during the events leading up to the Reaper war. Then the Flood had appeared. After everything that happened, he was still struggling to take it all in.

As a synthetic life form, EDI didn't have the same fear of being infected by the Flood's biological nature, yet there was still something EDI was terrified of: The logic plague. She couldn't imagine betraying the crew of the Normandy, but the Gravemind had managed to convince other, far more advanced AIs to turn on their creators without hesitation or mercy. And the Flood had done this with ease to even the most hyper-advanced AIs in the form of the Reapers and Forerunner metarch ancillas.

Even Javik, who had seen Reaper nightmares from two different eras was rendered speechless by both the monstrous nature of the Parasite, and the steps necessary to stop them. The Forerunners had been a hundred times stronger than the Protheans or Reapers ever could be, and yet they fell to the ravenous nature of the Flood. Like Garrus, he appreciated the effectiveness of the Flood's MO; taking their opponent's strength and turning it against them. The Prothean in him was disgusted at just how much they twisted organic life to their own ends. Not even the Reapers had been that bad.

Shaking out of his musings, Shepard had ensured everyone's weapons were loaded with incendiary rounds. Javik was the only one who wasn't using them, as his Particle Rifle was more than sufficient to bring down a Flood form, and even better, dissolve the corpse so it couldn't be reused.

Standard Mass Accelerator fire wouldn't do much to a Flood form, since their insides had been liquified. Headshots also didn't have much of an effect, as the Flood had mutated the body past the need for their head.

Shepard rose up from cover and fired on the nearest Flood form. The Incendiary ammunition cooked the former turian from the inside, reducing it to a pile of ash. A second burst tore through a Brute combat form before a burst of spikes impacted the Commander's shields and forced him behind cover.

"Damnit!" Shepard swore. "Garrus, take out that Ranged Form!"

"I'm on it!" The sniper replied, and seconds later, a shot rang out. "Scoped and dropped."

Despite that brief respite, the Flood kept swarming through. Javik unleashed Dark Channel through the ranks of the Parasite, complemented by biotic explosions detonated by Liara's own biotics. Despite all that, it was a losing battle, and everyone knew it. They couldn't hold this position for much longer.

"Everyone, into the bunker!" Shepard shouted.

The squad beat a hasty retreat into the fallback bunker behind them. As soon as everyone was inside, Tali activated her omni-tool and sealed the door nanoseconds before the Flood could get inside.

"How long will that hold?" Garrus asked.

"Not long." Tali responded, holding up her omni-tool.

As if to confirm that, the sound of limbs pounding on the door started filtering into the room, followed by sporadic weapon fire. Already, the sheer number of Flood forms was straining the door at its seams.

"We need to get out of here, now." Shepard said, before activating his radio. "Cortez, we need a pickup at the roof of the base."

"That may prove difficult, Commander." Cortez responded. "The Flood are massing around the facility, and I'm not sure how long it'll be until they force their way in."

"Commander, we have another problem." Joker's voice broke through the link. "I'm detecting hundreds of Flood infected ships coming out of FTL."

"Have they spotted you?" Shepard asked with no small amount of concern.

"Negative." This time it was EDI who reported. "The Republic-issue cloaking device is sufficient at keeping us hidden. However, there is a significant risk of incoming collisions with the Flood vessels."

"Copy that. We'll head to the roof now." Shepard responded. "Cortez, prep for a quick exfil."

Filtering out the acknowledgement of his crew, Shepard led them deeper into the bunker just as the horde of Flood finally breached the doors. The Normandy crew made a fighting retreat through the depths of the building, with the tide of Parasites hot on their heels, occasionally halting to toss a grenade into the mass of Flood.

As they ran towards their only chance of escape, Shepard couldn't help but marvel at how badly this war was going. It had only been a year since the conflict with the Flood had started, and already, it rivaled the scope of the Reaper War, Yuuzhan Vong war, and the Human-Covenant War... combined!

It was only thanks to the Republic and the Separatists that the IDA was lasting as long as they were. Without their support, calculations showed that the IDA would fall to the Flood within a matter of weeks. And without the IDA, Citadel Space and the Terminus Systems would fall in a matter of days.

Shaking off that depressing train of thought, Shepard turned to see Tali sealing every door as the team passed through the threshold, slowing the Parasite long enough for them to get to the roof.

"Commander," EDI's voice broke through the comms. "The Flood are launching spore capsules on your position. Recommend that you equip breathers before going outside."

"Copy that, EDI." Shepard quickly turned to the team. "You heard the lady, helmets on, and seal your suits."

The Normandy crew made their way up to the roof entrance., putting on breath masks, helmets and sealing the suits to prevent Flood spores from permeating the filters. Once that was done, they breached the stairwell.

Seconds later, the Team broke through the door to the roof, where Cortez was circling with the Kodiak. Outside the bunker, a veritable sea of green was surrounding the building, as dozens of Flood Dispersal pods dropped to the ground from orbit.

As they made for the LZ, several Pure Stalker forms crawled up from the ledge of the roof and quickly shifted into Tank forms. The large Flood beasts growled and charged as a host of combat forms broke through the door. Throughout the horde, they could hear one voice speaking.

"The Reapers have served their purpose." The rasping baritone of the Gravemind echoed from all around them. "They regarded 'Shepard' as their greatest threat."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises." Shepard growled, firing a burst from his rifle which took a combat form down. "The Reapers found that out the hard way!"

"They were designed to be weak." The Gravemind droned on, sounding bored of Shepard's ranting. "You were proof of that."

It was at this point that Shepard could really see the difference between the Flood and their Reaper servants. Unlike the Reapers, the Flood were really like a force of nature. Considering how they were slowly but surely 'flooding' throught the multiverse, they certainly lived up to their name and reputation.

Still, that didn't mean that Shepard was just going to take the Gravemind's insults.

"You are a cancer." The Commander stated as he stabbed and eviscerated a tank form with his omni-blade. "Nothing more than a parasite."

"We are one, we are legion." The Mind countered. "You are one man in charge of weaklings."

"My team gives me strength!" Shepard shouted in defiance. The Gravemind's response sent a shiver up his spine.

"Any bond can be broken." It said this not as a warning, or threat, but as a statement of fact. "It just needs a little push."

"Shepard!" Garrus' voice brought his gaze to the shuttle. "We have to go!"

Taking a brief look around, Shepard realized that the rest of the team had already extracted in the shuttle, and were providing covering fire against the horde of Flood. With a start, Shepard also noticed that dozens of combat and pure forms were crawling or leaping up to the rooftop.

Turning to the shuttle, he sprinted and leapt up, grabbing the edge of the of the troop bay. Rounds followed him, but the twisted nature of the Parasite meant that the bulk of their shots were wild and inaccurate. Garrus and Tali provided covering fire while Ashley and Liara pulled the heavily armed Commander into the troop bay. Once inside, the shuttle hatch sealed and Shepard banged his fist on the door to the cockpit.

"Cortez, get us out of here!"

With that command, the shuttle took off into the atmosphere, followed by the tracer fire of hundreds of weapons. The barriers provided enough protection for the shuttle to get out of range, heading towards the modified stealth frigate in orbit.

As the shuttle burst into orbit, Shepard watched as the planet below was slowly engulfed in a sea of green. As the nameless world as terraformed into another of the Parasite's wretched hives, Shepard felt something he hadn't felt since the Reaper War.

Hopelessness.

Chapter Text

Samus Aran made her way through the Chozo Ruins on this unnamed world. All throughout her journey, she had been set upon by wave after wave of Flood pure and combat forms, all seeking to hinder her mission.

She dispatched them all with relative ease, but each attack caused a delay in her mission, one which could ensure the Flood's total defeat. Still, fighting through the Parasite was disconcerting enough, but her anxiety levels were even worse considering her current... 'companion'.

Her musings were interrupted when a pair of Ranged forms began bombarding her with spikes from the sides of the nearby walls. The damage they did to her suit was negligible, and her retalitation with her Plasma Beam burned them off the wall.

As another horde of Flood made their way through the ruins, they began firing on her with all the weapons they had. Fortunately, their aim was sloppy and the few hits she sustained were absorbed by the shielding in her armor. Aiming her arm cannon, she retaliated with an Ice Spreader blast, covering the ground and walls with ice, and encasing the Flood within it.

With the cluster of Flood forms frozen in their tracks, Samus responded by unleashing a Super Missile into the block of ice, shattering the formation into thousands of pieces. Another line of Flood rushed forward to take their place, but before Samus could fire, a massive beam of plasma swept by from overhead, reducing the Flood forms to ash.

The beam ceased to exist centimeters from the ex-bounty hunter's position, and Samus had to restrain herself from targeting the screeching roar that came from the shadow that flew overhead.

Ridley flew past with a shriek, breathing another jet of plasma at a swarm of Flood flyers that attempted to engage him. The cyborg Space Pirate general tore through the ranks of the Flood, then proceeded to drop explosives on the massing combat and Pure forms below.

Samus still couldn't believe that this was happening. When she had agreed with the Republic's agreement to help the Separatists, she couldn't imagine that her nemesis would be deployed to the same planet, let alone having to fight on his side.

Then again, considering that this war had been dragging on for four years already, and even the Republic and Separatists were being stretched thin. It didn't help that the Flood had the bodies of the entire Universal Union to throw at them (unknown to the rest of the IDA), and it was unlikely the Parasite would run out of bodies for a long time. They needed to find a way to end the war soon, or nothing would be left.

Shaking off those thoughts, the ex-Bounty Hunter charged a burst before firing her Zero Laser in a sweeping motion, carving through the next wave of Flood forms. Unfortunately, they kept coming, leaving her with no choice but to use her Power Bombs.

Activating her Morph Ball, the Flood horde was just on top of her when the Power Bomb detonated. The resulting explosion consumed every Flood form within the blast radius, leaving a large crater around Samus.

When she got out of her Morph Ball, she was unsurprised to see more of the Parasite charging towards her. Ridley's plasma breath began thinning out out the horde, before explosions and screeching drew her attention to the infected gunships firing on the Space Pirate General. As she put combat and pure forms down, she could hear a taunting voice coming from all of them.

"The Chozo Hatchling." The voice of the Gravemind spoke that title as an insult. "The last survivor of the once great race. You will fall as they did."

Samus ignored the Gravemind's taunts and activated her Speed Booster, sprinting through the hordes of Flood forms that got in her way. The high speeds and kinetic energy tore dozens of them to shreds.

She sprinted through the ruins until she found what she was looking for: The Chozo temple. Rushing inside, she quickly opened the door before sealing herself in. Inside, it was quiet as a tomb, a sharp contrast to the battle raging outside.

Walking into the temple, she saw her prize just sitting on a dais. Two Chozo statues watched over the dais, appearing to be simply decoration, but Samus knew that the statues would turn on anyone who dared to desecrate the temple. With her overview of the temple done, she walked up to the artifact itself.

It was a small device, in the shape of a blank stone pyramid with a small blue crystal at the top. Despite the stone carving, it had a metallic sheen to it, and was floating a couple inches off the pedestal.

Samus grabbed the device, the pyramidal shaped artifact easily fitting into the palm of her hand. It was hard to believe such a small thing could hold the power needed to end the Flood threat once and for all.

With a flash, her suit absorbed the artifact, converting it into energy to store it for safekeeping. Once that was done, Samus ran back out to the entrance where Ridley was holding an army of Flood at bay.

As the ex-Bounty Hunter joined up with her 'ally', she noticed that the number of Flood had gone up considerably in her absence. Ridley was being hard pressed to hold them off. As much as Samus wanted him to die, she didn't want to have to fight a Flood-infected Ridley.

With a sigh, she turned her Arm Cannon on the nearest Flood Pure form and fired, reducing it to ashes. On and on the slaughter went, as the dragon and the hunter tore their way through the Flood ranks. As the horde finally thinned out, a loud crackling noise drew their attention upwards.

Massive portals opened in the sky, and incredibly large and sickly tentacles slithered out. Thousands of infected warships and other forms flew out between the tentacles, looking like tiny dots in orbit. One of those dots slowly grew larger and larger until it became a familiar shape.

A screeching noise mixed with the bloodcurdling howl of the Flood drew Samus' attention to the familiar shape flying through the air, only it was twisted beyond measure. It was an infected Nightmare, coated with the sickly green tentacles of the Flood. Gravity distorted even more than usual, forcing Samus' Gravity suit to compensate for the shifting. A shift in gravity sent Ridley sprawling into the ground, his cybernetic enhancements staving off the worst of Nightmare's effects.

The Flood twisted monstrosity had seemed to gain some new tricks of its own, as Samus leapt to the side, avoiding a wave of gravity that sent every loose object and piece of debris flying into the air before being slammed into the ground at crushing speed.

Samus avoided Nightmare's strikes again and again, while retaliating with her own combined beams. She didn't attempt to use her missiles, knowing that Nightmare would just cause them to go flying out of control as long as its gravity manipulator was operational.

Beams of energy struck out of Nightmare's arms, several of them impacting Samus, stunning her and draining one of her energy tanks. Nightmare was about to retaliate with a more destructive gravity wave when it was forced back by a beam of orange. Ridley had become airborne again and struck Nightmare with more attacks.

Shrieking and screeching from the two monsters competed for dominance as Ridley's bombs and missiles were harmlessly cast aside by Nightmare's gravity manipulations, while the dragon avoided several of Nightmare's blasts by twisting in midair.

While Ridley kept Nightmare occupied, Samus aimed her Arm Cannon at the infected bioweapon, firing off an enhanced Super Missile once she was sure it was more focused on Ridley than on her. She had targeted the gravity manipulater, but Nightmare must have realized what she was doing, as it spun around and redirected the Missile before it could connect.

Unfortunately for it, the missile was too close, and blew off Nightmare's mask revealing its infected face. It was even more disgusting than before: half it's eyes now had Flood tendrils leaking out, a trail of vomit, slithered out of its mouth, and its complexion was a bloated, with a much more sickly yellow color than green.

With a shrieking cry mixed with the howling of the Flood, Nightmare fired off an energy beam from its mouth, which Samus deftly somersaulted away from. The beam swept after her until explosives impacted the mutated bioweapon causing it to shriek and turn its beam towards Ridley, who rolled deftly through the air to avoid it.

Samus used Nightmare's distraction to fire another Super Missile at Nightmare's gravity manipulator, this time striking head on. A follow up barrage from her Plasma beam finally destroyed the manipulator, but it didn't seem to have any effect on the bioweapon's ability to manipulate gravity.

Even with the loss of its mask and main means of defense and offense, the infected Nightmare was damn near impossible to beat on her own. Taking a brief look at her nemesis, Samus knew what had to be done.

With barely contained anger, she sent a signal to Ridley's comms, who briefly turned to glare at her with resigned fury before giving a brief nod. The two of them launched explosives at the same time, both of which were deflected by Nightmare's gravity. This was all part of the plan, as the two of them needed a second's distraction to charge up their most powerful attacks. They released them at the same time.

With a combined strike of both the Zero Laser and Ridley's plasma breath, Nightmare was finally brought down for good as his body overloaded and exploded. However, that didn't stop the thousands of other Flood forms that began making their way towards the two unlikely companions in the aftermath of Nightmare's attack.

The two of them separated and ran (or flew, in Ridley's case), as inaccurate weapon fire chased the ex-Bounty Hunter and Space Pirate General as they made their escape from this world.

Activating her Command Visor, Samus summoned her gunship to her, leaping onto the top hatch as soon as it appeared over a nearby rise. Retreating inside, she set a course for Republic space as soon as she was in the cockpit.

Out in the upper atmosphere, she weaved through the infected fighters and ships, in some cases shooting them down with her ship's missiles as she flew through the Flood formations. She easily avoided the massive tentacles as she made into orbit.

On her sensor screen, she idly took note as Ridley flew through the clouds of Flood forms and made his way to his own ship. Just then, her computer alerted her that the necessary coordinates had been plotted.

Keying the controls, the gunship leapt into interdimensional space, leaving the planet behind as the Flood converted the world into another of their hives.

Chapter Text

The Millennium Falcon emerged from hyperspace over the planet Concord Dawn. With practiced ease, Han Solo guided the Falcon towards the planet below, making sure his approach didn't look hostile.

"Unidentified ship, you are trespassing in Mandalorian space." A voice crackled over the comms as aft sensors picked up two ships coming up behind them. "Identify yourself and explain your purpose here."

"This is Captain Han Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon." The smuggler replied, going against every instinct he had to give out a false name and ID. "I requested a meeting with Mandalore Boba Fett on the planet's surface."

There was a moment of silence as the pilots of the ships no doubt checked in with their ground control. Han just hoped that Boba wasn't playing some trick. With the Flood on the loose all over the multiverse, the last thing he needed was someone trying to settle some old scores.

"Copy that, Captain Solo." The ships finally replied. "We are to escort you to the meeting point."

"Acknowledged."

Han followed the two ships as they flew in front, revealing themselves to be Firesprays, the same class as Boba's own Slave I. As Han followed, his mind drifted back to how he had come here. The Flood had landed in the Outer Rim some weeks ago, and had since been carving a bloody path through the galaxy.

A parasitical life form possessing a ravenous hunger and unprecedented growth rate, the only reliable way to destroy the Parasite was Base Delta Zero. One of the most horrific tactics used in any previous war, it had proven to be the only effective strategy to use against the Flood.

Many politicians had balked, some of the more vocal anti-human leaders claiming that it was the second coming of Palpatine's Empire. Those shouts had been quelled rather quickly when reports of the Parasite overrunning worlds within hours made their way to the Core. Combined with the UNSC threat assessment on the Flood, and for once the Senate was actually stepping aside for the military, rather than actively hindering them.

They even extended a hand to the Jedi, who had essentially been in exile since the incident with Abeloth. Riots and disruptions had broken out all over the galaxy, and the Jedi were needed once more to keep the peace.

Of course, the galaxy had another problem. There were so many starships with hyperspace capabilities in the galaxy, that even the most backwater worlds could serve as an infection vector for the Flood. If it wasn't for the help of the Republic and Separatists, it was theorized that the entire galaxy would've fallen in a matter of days.

The only thing Han had ever faced that would be even remotely comparable to this was an Imperial Bioweapon that he had encountered while he had been briefly captured alongside Chewie before the Battle of Yavin.

The Sickness, as it was called, had killed and brought the undead back to life, turning them into flesh-eating monsters that could learn to operate weapons and vehicles. An entire Star Destroyer had been overrun by this virus, and it was only halted due to the lack of airborne contaminants outside the Destroyer. And all that still paled in comparison to what the Flood could do.

The Galactic Alliance had never dealt with a threat of this magnitude before. This was a lifeform that took the strengths of a civilization and turned it against them, using their own technology and weapons far beyond what was believed possible. Even the destruction wrought by the Yuuzhan Vong and Abeloth paled in comparison to this. And even still, it almost felt like the Flood was holding back.

And with the Jedi being called upon to protect the galaxy once more, Han found himself separated from his family at the behest of the Galactic Alliance. Chief of State Wynn Dorvan had asked him to contact the Mandalorians and get their aid in dealing with the Parasite.

Han had initially protested, but relented when Leia had pointed out that Boba Fett might actually listen to him if he phrased his request correctly. The Mandalorian leader had apparently been in a much better mood since the Moff nanovirus that had been released on Mandalore had been dispersed. The fact that Han was able to get a meeting with him at all was proof enough of this fact.

Still, it would take a miracle to get the Mandalorians to recognize the threat. Han wished he could've had Leia or Jaina with him, but the former was needed in meetings with the IDA, while the latter was often on the front lines in her starfighter.

He pushed his thoughts aside as he touched down on the landing pad, which was little more than a patch of rough ground in the middle of a field of grass. Locking the Falcon down, Han headed to the landing ramp, where two green armored Mandalorians waited at the bottom.

"Captain Solo, we will take you to see the Manda'lor." One gestured forward. "If you would follow us." His tone made it clear that it was not for discussion.

Han followed along and soon they reached the meeting spot. It wasn't some grand hall or government building, as would be expected from most other planets. It was a tavern, an old run down place that barely saw customers anymore. It was locations like these that the Mandalorians used as their community halls.

Two more Mandalorians stood in front of the door, briefly halting the procession to scan Han and relieve him of his blaster. While the smuggler was loath to go anywhere without his weapon, he knew Mandalorian culture enough to know that they wouldn't just shoot him dead.

Entering the tavern, he found that it was filled with more Mandos, all dressed in full armor in a wide variety of colors. It wasn't hard to figure out where Fett was. He was sitting in a corner booth, with his helmet off and on the table. His hair was grey, and his face was scarred, yet he still had the same intelligence and ruthlessness that Fett had during his prime.

Han walked over and sat down on the opposite end of the table, where the rest of the Mandos took up position around them. Boba looked up into Han's eyes and the two had a brief staredown.

"Han Solo." Boba broke the silence at last. "What brings you to our sector of space?"

"If you've been following current events, then you would know about the Flood." Like Boba, Han decided to skip the small talk and jump straight to the main point. And a quick nod from the former bounty hunter was all the answer he needed. "We need your help in dealing with them. It's a threat unlike any the galaxy has ever faced."

Boba Fett sat quietly in the booth and listened to Han's request. He knew exactly what the multiverse's current circumstances were and how the Galactic Alliance was getting their shebs kicked, even with the help of the multiversal superpowers.

Boba had previously thought that the Yuuzhan Vong had been the worst threat the galaxy had ever seen. Considering they cost 365 trillion lives in the long and brutal war, the extragalactic invaders had seemed unstoppable.

Then he had encountered Abeloth, fighting alongside Tahiri Veila against the so-called Bringer of Chaos. Initially, he hadn't believed the ex-Jedi's warning about Abeloth being more of a force of nature than any other Force-user he had ever fought. That opinion changed quickly, especially when it required an orbital strike to kill just one of her bodies.

The Flood put them both to shame.

The biological horrors created during the Vong's empire paled in comparison to what the Flood could do. If anything, the Vong were even more susceptible to the Flood, judging by their infected vessels.

Unlike Tsavong Lah, the Flood could sustain the constant horde mentality, for the simple reason that every body the Parasite killed was just added to their own numbers. The Flood would only grow stronger with every victory. Some species had already vanished completely, either because they were destroyed by the Flood or had fled.

No one had heard from Zonama Sekot in a while. According to rumors, the living planet had vanished into hyperspace after the Flood had shown up. But since Sekot was a living planet filled with Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology, that was probably for the best.

And the Flood were apparently proving to be a growing antithesis to the Jedi, more than Abeloth ever was. There had been rumors that the Flood had actually corrupted the Force itself, which was making it difficult for any Force-user to use their power. Boba didn't want to believe it, but even before he heard about that, he could feel a general feeling of... wrongness. Like something was off in the galaxy. No one else said anything, but it was clear the other Mandos were feeling the same.

Frankly, it was no wonder that the rest of the galaxy needed the Mandalorians, but Boba wasn't really willing to throw them into a war that wasn't theirs. Of course, if even half of the rumors about the Flood were true, then they wouldn't care about anyone's neutrality.

Privately, after seeing what a monster like Abeloth could do, the ex-bounty hunter was willing to believe Han when he said that the Flood were a far more dangerous threat to the galaxy than everything they had ever faced.

The difficulty was convincing the rest of the clans to follow that decree. Although Fett was technically the leader of all Mandalorians, he couldn't just order them into a war they didn't want. Without facing the threat themselves, many clans were just willing to remain in isolation, as the Flood had yet to move into the Mandalorian sector.

"I wish I could help you Solo." And this wasn't a platitude, he truly meant that. "But the clans are tired of being fodder for the aruetiise. They don't believe the Flood are a threat to Mandalore."

"Damn it, Boba." Han slammed his fist on the table, briefly drawing the attention of every blaster in the room. "The Vong didn't leave you alone. Why would the Flood?"

"It's not my call to make." The Mandalorian said. "Unless the threat comes to us, I can't convince the rest of my people to help you."

"Sir." One of the guards interrupted, with a hand to his helmet. "We have unidentified ships inbound towards the planet. Lots of them."

There was a moment of silence as everyone digested that information. Then a dozen blasters were pointed at Han, who raised his hands to placate them. "Easy now. I don't have anything to do with that."

"What's their composition?" Boba asked, his aim not wavering.

"Mostly civilian craft. They're not responding to our hails, and they're on a straight path for the planet. We're also getting some strange bio readings from each ship."

Han and Boba's eyes widened as they looked at each other. If a bunch of civilian ships were on a straight path for the planet, and ignoring any and all calls from heavily armed Mandalorian ships for them to stop, then they were either brave, suicidal, or worse, infected by the Flood. And the bio readings confirmed the latter theory.

"Shoot them down." Boba ordered. "Shoot them all down now!"

Han had no objection for once. He ran outside the tavern, following the rest of the Mandalorians as they headed outside to witness the battle above. In the skies over the planet, dozens of Mandalorian ships targetted the ships and fired, tearing through the civilian grade shielding with laser bolts, proton torpedos, concussion missiles and more.

In spite of all the casualties they were suffering, the Flood continued forward, their sole target was the planet itself. The Mandalorians formed a blockade, bringing out a pair of old Venator-class Star Destroyers from behind the planet.

A wall of turbolaser fire lit up the vacuum between the two sides, as energy blasts shredded the civilian ships with contemptuous ease. Still, it was twenty ships against 300, and unlike the Mandalorians, the Flood didn't care about losses. The few armed combat ships on their side tore through any fighter in their path as they slipped through the cracks in the Mando defenses, heading for a crash landing on the planet's surface. Still others attempted to crash into the Mando ships themselves.

One of the few ships that broke through the blockade was covered in flames and was barely holding together. It still held together long enough to crash outside the town where Han had met with Boba and the Mandalorians.

"We need to leave, right now." Han said, having recovered his blaster and aiming it in the direction of the ship. "This place needs to be burned to the ground."

An unnatural howling broke through the air, interrupting whatever Boba had to say in response. Twisted combat forms leapt onto the roofs of several buildings, while still others just ran through the streets. Many of them were holding blasters, which erupted in a firestorm of red energy as the Mandalorians returned fire, many using flamethrowers as their beskar armor capable of holding off the weaponry fired at them.

They were less capable of holding off Flood infection forms, as a couple Mandalorians found out the hard way. One of the squid-like creatures latched onto a Mandalorian's chest, slipping through the cracks in his armor.

They started to change, with Flood biomass forcing armor plating off. The cancerous growths forced their way through the top half of the undersuit, forcing one arm to be replaced with a whip-like appendage. Their helmets were forced off from the change, their screams of pain and agony twisted into the angry howls of the Flood.

The two new combat forms took aim with their gauntlets and fired mini-rockets from their wrists, killing another group of Mandalorians before they were torched by the flamethrowers of the nearest combatants.

Han, having witnessed the whole thing, turned to Boba, who was taking steady aim with his EE-3 blaster rifle, tearing through combat forms with each burst. Han added his own blasterfire from his DL-44, which tore through a Bith combat form.

"Boba we have to leave!" Han shouted. "They're not going to stop coming."

It took a moment for Boba to respond, busy as he was with killing the Flood. But eventually he turned and nodded. "Everyone retreat!" The Manda'lor shouted. "Get to your ships, right now!"

They all began to retreat, the ones with jetpacks providing covering fire to the ones without them. Han himself began running towards the Millennium Falcon, only to be surprised when he felt himself rising through the air. Looking up, he was surprised to see Boba holding him as they flew towards the Falcon.

"Don't get any ideas, Solo."

Han chose not to say anything, and soon Boba deposited him at the landing ramp of the Falcon, before he took off to get to Slave I and get off the planet. Running up the boarding ramp, Han shut the hatch just before any Flood forms could reach the ship.

Sprinting to the cockpit, the ex-smuggler kicked the engines into gear, lifting off from the planet's surface and blasting through any Flood form behind the ship as it rocketed towards space.

That was when Han noticed a new problem: The two Mandalorian Venators were now trading fire with each other, one of them having obviously been boarded and infested by the Flood. The infested Venator had small green growths emerging the holes in their hull, and their weapon fire lanced from ship to ship, occasionally intercepting smaller vessels with fatal results.

Unnervingly, the Flood vessel had a noticeably superior degree of accuracy and firepower in comparison to the Mandalorian counterpart, no doubt due to the Parasite's almost supernatural ability to take technology and make it even better. And try as they might, the greatest scientists in the galaxy couldn't even hope to replicate the effects.

Han blinked as the sensors alerted him to two fighters coming up behind him. With a flare of light, laserfire impacted the rear of the ship, absorbed by the rear deflector shields. Han sent the Falcon into a roll, presenting a harder target for the Flood behind him.

He tried to make a jump to hyperspace, only to find the hyperdrive wouldn't respond. The reasoning became clear when the sensors detected the presence of Hapan mass shadow mines trapping all the combatants in the battle.

Muttering a curse, Han activated the automated systems on the quad lasers, having installed that feature some time ago. Normally, he would've preferred to have actual gunners, but with everyone busy dealing with the Parasite, he was a little short handed in regards to crew requirements.

It wasn't perfect, but the lasers managed to destroy one of the ships that was pursuing him. The second fighter drew back a bit, and kept pounding the Falcon's rear quarter. Already, the rear deflectors were in the red, forcing Han to divert power to the back in order to protect his ship.

Suddenly, the fighter chasing him vanished from sensors, and was replaced by the unmistakable profile of Slave I, which flew up beside Han's ship. "You owe me one, Solo." Boba's smug voice appeared over the comm.

Han rolled his eyes. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, how do you plan on getting out of here?"

"There's one hyperspace route known only to Mandalorians. The Flood haven't deployed any mass shadow mines there, so they clearly don't know about it."

"Not yet, anyway." Han frowned. "If anyone the Flood have infected knew about this, then they will know about it."

"All the more reason to leave now." Boba replied. "I'm sending you the coordinates. I think it's safe to say the Mandalorians will be aiding you against the Flood."

And with a flicker of pseudomotion, Slave I leapt into hyperspace, followed by the nearest Mandalorians. Han quickly followed, and as soon as the ship was safely in hyperspace, he leaned back and sighed.

"Mandalorian aid, huh? I doubt it'll be enough."

Chapter Text

In the darkness of the vacuum, a lone vessel flew, seemingly aimless in its direction. Onboard the ship, the original crew had been killed, and were now replaced with sickly green and yellow monstrosities, moving through the vessel with a higher purpose.

On the bridge, the once stark and clean control room had been turned into a grotesque fungal-like nest, with a large glob of biomass in the center of the room. Tendrils spread from the center, manipulating the controls as it's mind strived for connection with the greater whole.

Below decks, the parasitical life forms were learning about the drive, striving to understand what the drive was capable of. The minds of the consumed engineers could grasp what it was capable of, but they still needed more. All absorbed thoughts primarily spoke of their own galaxy, of their homes, of their families.

All the Flood cared about was that they could gain more bodies to infect, and gain them quickly. And a universe away, a massive shape stirred in the stars. It was finally time, the dam would burst.

The Council Chambers were sealed as the current residents watched the video recordings that they had managed to recover from their disastrous expedition to that Forerunner gas mine. And they learned just why ONI and those Kig-Yar pirates had told them to stay away.

Councilors Tevos, Valern, Sparatus and Osoba watched with varying degrees of horror as the unleashed abominations tore through and corrupted their own species and turned them into monsters. Each one had their own specific thoughts on the matter.

Sparatus was disgusted and horrified at these monstrosities, and was perfectly willing to order that gas mine to be destroyed. He was also concerned however, since these parasites had apparently hijacked the Turian ship that was leading the expedition and taken them off to Spirits-knows-where.

Tevos could barely hold the contents of her stomach in. She had thought the abominations created by the Reapers were bad, but this, this was an entirely different level. She could see now why the UNSC and Sangheili wanted these things buried.

Valern studied the feed with curiousity, trying to understand what these creatures were and how they could be stopped. In spite of their danger, he was already planning on capturing these creatures and studying them, hoping to find a cure or bioweapon for these things. Maybe even find some way to control them.

Dominic Osoba was absolutely horrified at these creatures. He had lost his son during the Reaper war, which had millions of twisted monstrosities. And these abominations made even the worst Reaper creatures look like kittens.

"We need to alert the rest of the IDA." Osoba finally found his voice. "We're clearly dealing with something we don't understand."

"That may be a mistake." Valern interrupted. "UNSC and Sangheili will likely react badly to our breach."

"So let them." Sparatus growled, folding his arms. "They neglected to warn us about this threat."

"And we broke their rules." Tevos replied. "Not to mention we blindly rushed in, without pausing to think about why both ONI and those pirates warned us to stay away."

All of their omni-tools lit up as a message came for the Council. It was a very strongly worded request from Lord Hood and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam for a meeting within the next day. All of the IDA delegates were to attend as well. There was no subject, but the Councilors could guess what they wanted to discuss. Sparatus looked at the feed then back at the omni-tool and sighed.

"Looks like we'll find out what we're dealing with soon enough."

The IDA leadership often met on the Citadel to discuss various situations that affected their governments and territories as a whole. Currently, another such discussion was in progress, about a very serious problem. It would be miraculous if it was done with any degree of civility.

"What in god's name were you thinking?!" Lord Terrence Hood shouted.

Normally one of the calmer people at these gatherings, the fact that he now wore an expression of barely contained fury didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the delegates. To say many of them were terrified of what could cause him to shout would be an understatement.

"I must admit, I'm curious to hear your explanation for these events." GA Chief of State Wynn Dorvan was clearly pissed as well.

"We only desired to learn." Valern tried to defend himself. "To understand what you would consider so dangerous to have it stricken from your records-"

"Did it ever occur to you that we did that for a reason?" Arbiter 'Vadam stated. "We desired to keep fools like many of you from unleashing the Flood in the same form the Covenant once did."

"You could've told us the truth." Tevos pointed out. "You could've told us what was on that station and why it was locked away."

"Would you have believed us if we told you?" Hood retorted. "Or would you gone out and done exactly what you did?"

"That's absurd." Valern said. "We would have taken every precaution-"

"ONI has the records of your previous experiments." Hood interrupted with a dangerous look in his eyes. "Do you want to try that again?" Valern's mouth instantly snapped shut.

"Getting back to the topic at hand." Wynn Dorvan interrupted. "We need to discuss how to deal with this Flood, as you called them."

"There is only one course of action to ensure the Parasite does not spread." The deep booming voice of Thel 'Vadam broke out through the din. "The infected worlds must be destroyed."

There was a lack of movement and sound as they realized what that meant. The Arbiter was speaking of bombarding the surface of a planet until it was molten magma. It was a tactic the Covenant were very familiar with, and one the Empire had once been fond of as well.

"This is outrageous!" Sparatus and Tevos simultaneously yelled.

"You can't be serious." Leia chimed in as well. The sheer destruction would be an affront to life.

"We are quite serious." Hood grimly replied.

"We must study this enemy." Valern suggested. "There must be some sort of vaccine or cure-"

"There is no cure, you fool!" The Arbiter shouted. "The only way to stop the Parasite is to remove every trace of their existence."

"But surely, such mindless beasts won't pose a threat-"

"Mindless?" Hood's rebuttal to Tevos was scathing in its disbelief at her stupidity. "The Flood gain the intelligence of every living being they infect. Or how do you think they took over your expedition cruiser?"

There was silence in the wake of that statement as Lord Hood took a moment to collect himself before speaking again. "The Flood are a hive minded alien race hellbent on consuming any life they can find. As they grow, they accumulate more and more biomass until it develops into a central intelligence. A Gravemind."

"And this is where the Parasite becomes truly dangerous." Thel finished, drawing looks of horror and confusion at that statement, considering how bad they already sounded. "The Gravemind contains the accumulated knowledge of everyone the Flood has ever infected, all the way back to the time of the Forerunners."

"The Forerunners?" Leia asked, her eyes narrowing. "You said you didn't know what happened to them."

"We lied." Hood stated grimly. "The Flood tore through the Forerunners, consuming everything they were and turning their very strength against them. The Halo rings? They were their last resort. A series of superweapons that would kill every living being in the galaxy, and after thousands of other plans were tried and failed, they activated the rings."

Horrified mutterings emerged from the delegates present. Some were horrified at the scale of death and destruction, others were accusing the UNSC and Sangheili of hoarding those weapons to use against them, while others still were disbelieving. Leia on the other hand, knew they were telling the truth. She had been on goodwill missions into UNSC and Sangheili space, sometimes with her family, but every time she was there, they could all sense a feeling of death and emptiness in the galaxy, even in spite of that universe's resistance to the Force. It had stretched beyond the conflict of the Human-Covenant war, a Wound in the Force that would never truly fade. They had similar feeling in the Reaper universe, but this just felt so much worse. And now they knew why.

"Oh, the situation is far worse then you can imagine." Everyone turned to the voice as it entered the chambers. Security personnel turned their weapons towards the voice, only to lower them upon seeing who it was. "The Flood have been planning this for far longer than we've been alive."

The Supreme Commander of the Republic walked through the security checkpoint, escorted by a Predator and Samus Aran. No one bothered to stop them, as they still had clear memories about the last time someone had tried. Samus and the Yautja held back at the entrance, while the Supreme Commander stepped into the room, ignoring the fearful security members.

As for the delegates, they were all just shocked that he was here. No one had invited him, having assumed that the Republic's war with the Separatists would keep them too busy to send anyone, at least for the time being. Apparently they were wrong.

"And how could you possibly know all this?" Sparatus demanded.

"Shared intelligence." Another voice emerged from the entrance. "Or did you think we wouldn't notice your little incursion into their universe?"

Security raised their guns at the new voice, and unlike last time, refused to put them down. The Separatist Ruler smirked as he walked in, not even bothering to halt when they called for him to stop. A sniper round impacted the Ruler's head, splattering his brains on the floor.

To the shock and horror of every delegate, he didn't even break stride as his head regenerated from the damage until it looked like he hadn't been shot at all, while all the blood, flesh and grey matter on the floor vanished into the ether.

"Really, that didn't stop him," The Separatist Ruler gestured to his Republic counterpart. "So why did you think it could possibly stop me?"

"What are you doing here?" The Arbiter snapped, drawing his energy sword despite knowing how futile it was.

"Alright, everyone just calm down." The Supreme Commander said. "I invited him here."

"But I thought you two were at war?" Osoba said.

"No point in holding onto bad blood when there are bigger enemies on the horizon." The Separatist Ruler crossed his arms. "Or have you all learned nothing from your own conflicts?"

There were various looks of indignation or embarrasment coming from everyone as they thought back to their own histories. The Reaper war, the Yuuzhan Vong conflict, the Horus Rebellion, the Phazon Crisis and even the Human-Covenant War. All of them had groups refusing to aid even with the looming threat of extinction. Supposedly, nothing would unite mortal foes like a common enemy, but it seemed that many were too stupid to realize even that.

"Blame gets us nowhere." The Supreme Commander said, briefly glaring at his counterpart. "What we need to do is unite our resources against the Flood. That's the only way anyone will survive."

"So, we should just follow you against the Flood?" Valern said. "Give you our fleets and let your throw them away in battle?"

"As opposed to what?" The Separatist Ruler countered. "Fortify your defenses and lock down your own worlds? How well did that work out the last time around? The Flood will drown you in bodies. They take your civilization's strength, technology and resources and they turn it against you. If we don't unite, then the fate the Reapers wanted to give you will look merciful in comparison."

"And why are we just hearing about this now?" Dorvan questioned, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I don't care what you thought would happen if the rest of the multiverse heard about the Flood, we all should've been informed!"

"Look, the fact of the matter is, we're all to blame." The Supreme Commander said, gesturing to the Arbiter and Lord Hood, then to himself and his Separatist counterpart. "We didn't tell the rest of the IDA." He then gestured to the Council. "And they didn't listen to any warnings." Then he gestured to Leia. "And frankly, you all knew there was something missing from the history they were telling, but you never asked. But blaming each other gets us nowhere. If we don't unite now, the Flood will consume everything."

There was a moment of silence as the gathered leaders took this information in. The Supreme Commander, the Separatist Ruler, Arbiter 'Vadam, and Lord Hood, were all willing to do this, and Chief of State Dorvan and Leia Organa Solo looked willing to as well. But the leaders of the Galactic Federation and the Council themselves were still wary of such an idea, which the Separatist Ruler picked up on.

"Or you can all huddle behind your worlds, pretending that the Flood won't notice you, and then inevitably drown in a sea of biomass." He crossed his arms, his glare aimed at the reluctant members of the meeting. "Take your pick."

There was a sigh amongst the Federation and Citadel Council as they briefly convened amongst themselves. Eventually, the two groups stopped debating and offered their support against this threat.

"Now, what's our first step?" Tevos asked.

...

"Well, that could've gone worse." Valern said, to the reluctant agreement of the rest of the Council.

Several hours later, the meeting was over, and the Council had retreated to their own private room. It had been a long meeting, with people throwing arguments and blame at each other while disagreeing about which government does what. Several times, the Republic and Separatist leaders had to unleash their powers in order to restore order.

Eventually, after the capabilities of the Flood had been explained in full (to the initial disbelief of many before more details came to light), the member factions of the IDA had pledged to work together and devote their militaries to eradicating the Parasite. Still, it hadn't been easy to do.

"By the Goddess." Tevos sighed. "I thought that meeting would've ended in a brawl."

"Without our 'guests,'" Osoba started. "It very well might have."

"Indeed." Sparatus nodded. "However, our work is not done yet. If you'll excuse me, I need to go contact my government."

"We will do the same." Valern stated, as he left for his office.

Soon Tevos was left alone in the room, and she sighed, feeling the weight of several centuries experience on her shoulders. From what she had heard and seen about the Flood, it appeared they would be in for a long period of hardship ahead.

Heading to her office in order to contact the Asari Republics, Tevos could only pray that they would live through it.

Chapter Text

It was briskly cold in the Antarctic. Of course, that was hardly a surprise to any of the SHIELD agents stationed there, but it didn't mean that they enjoyed it. Eric Koenig sighed as he looked around the campsite. He knew exactly why they were here and what they needed to do, but it was still annoying. Couldn't HYDRA have built their super secret base somewhere warmer?

It had been several months since Sokovia had fallen from the sky. Sometime before that, SHIELD had detected massive energy spikes coming from a known HYDRA base in Antarctica, but with the Theta Protocol and the threat of the Inhumans, investigating the signatures had to take a back seat.

Only now, after all these major events, was SHIELD finally investigating. When they first arrived, they found several massive craters in the ground, no doubt whatever remained of the HYDRA base.

Anything useful that might've been salvaged was already gone, no doubt taken by HYDRA retrieval teams. While this was a disappointment for SHIELD, they still needed to figure what exactly happened here, and to that end, Eric had been given a team of scientists and technicians to aid in the process.

They were good, but they were no Fitzsimmons. It had been nearly two weeks now, and finally they were getting results. Eric gathered them here to report their findings, and listened to the report. What they had to say hadn't been what he'd been expecting.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Sir, it appears that the smaller craters were caused by some form of orbital bombardment from an energy weapon." One scientist said. "We're still unsure as to what provoked this attack."

"Alright, we'll deal with what caused that later." Eric said. "What about the larger crater?"

"It appears that it was from the base's reactor going critical." Another scientist explained.

"So, I'm guessing the damage from the bombardment sent the reactor into meltdown?"

"That's what we thought at first as well." Was the reply. "But it appears that the bombardment came afterwards."

"That's odd." Koenig muttered. "I guess someone really wanted to be thorough in destroying this place."

Just then, Eric's watch beeped, indicating it as time for the scheduled report to Coulson. He thanked the scientists and asked them to leave, so he could give Coulson the report in private.

As soon as everyone left the prefabricated building, Eric set up the communication system and requested a direct link to Coulson. It took a few moments; the signal needing to cut through all the interference around the continent, but eventually it made it to the Playground.

"Director."

"Eric, good to see you." Coulson greeted. "I trust things are going well?"

"Well, we've been unable to recover anything from the labs." Koenig replied. "If there was anything, then HYDRA got to it first."

"That's no surprise." The Director sighed. "I wish we could've gotten there earlier, but with everything that happened... Still, any progress in understanding what happened there?"

"Yes sir, we have some evidence." Eric hesitantly said. Coulson immediately picked up on that.

"So, bad news then." He guessed. Eric nodded. "Well, let's hear it."

"Well sir, we've found evidence to suggest that the area was bombed from orbit." He explained, sending over pictures and analysis charts of the craters. "All the blast marks seem to indicate that the attack came from straight up, and the explosive and heat damage indicate it was some form of energy weapon."

"So whatever HYDRA was working on, it drew the attention of aliens?" Coulson asked.

"So it would seem." Eric responded. "But there's another curious detail about all this." He sent another file, showing their findings on the base crater itself. "From what we can tell, the base self-destructed first, and the bombardment came later."

"Hm." Coulson took it all in, carefully looking over the evidence, keeping his face stoic. "So, someone really wanted to make sure HYDRA's work there stayed buried. Any idea as to why?"

"There are theories." Eric admitted. "But without any evidence, all we really have to go on is unsourced speculation."

"What about backup data?" Coulson asked. "Anything offsite that could help you?"

"We did find a small shed where the facility's black box was likely kept." He said. "But when we found it, the entire place had been gutted and any information is gone. Whether it was taken by HYDRA or the aliens, we can't say for sure."

"So do you think you can find anything else?"

"Well, we'll do our best." Eric said. "But considering how late we are to the party, I think we're probably wasting our time."

"Alright." Coulson nodded, trusting his assessment. "Gather any remaining evidence and return to base. I'm not keeping one of my best agents on a wild goose chase."

"Yes sir."

As soon as the feed cut out, Coulson sat back in his chair and sighed, clasping his real and mechanical hand together. It had been a fairly tough time for SHIELD: with the events of Sokovia and the drama with the Theta Protocol, the conflict with the Inhumans that cost Phil his hand, Simmons going missing inside the Monolith, and now this?

It had been a long exhausting period, and now with May gone, he didn't have anyone he could really talk to about this. Now he knew how Fury must've felt for all these years. This job wasn't easy. He turned back to the door just as it opened, allowing his two requested agents to step through.

"Mack, Skye-"

"Daisy." She corrected, while Mack suppressed a snort.

"Daisy, sorry." Coulson grinned sheepishly. "Still getting used to that."

"You wanted to see us, sir?"

"Yes, I wanted to brief you on what was found at the Antarctic HYDRA base."

"And?" Daisy asked. "What did they find?"

"Well the evidence is inconclusive, but it seems that aliens were involved."

"You think they were studying Inhumans?" Mack said.

"It's a possibility, but I don't think that was the cause." The Director replied. "From what we can tell, orbital bombardment was involved."

"Shit." Mack murmured, putting his hands to his head. Daisy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, are we looking at another Chitauri-level scenario?" She asked. Coulson shook his head.

"I don't think so. At least not yet." He replied. "It seems that their only target was the HYDRA base. It seems whatever they were working on pissed these aliens off."

"But we don't know if they won't be back." Mack pointed out. Coulson nodded.

"You're right, we don't. Which is why we need the Caterpillar project ready sooner than later."

"We'll keep on that then." Daisy said.

"Good. In the meantime, everything we just discussed stays in this room." Coulson pointed to his desk as he said that. "Are we clear?"

"Yes sir."

Chapter Text

"Tell me what happened."

Winter already knew that the video footage they had had already been viewed by Ironwood, but she also knew that he wanted to hear what happened from her personally, but also for the record. And as much as she'd rather not relive the events again, she took a deep breath and began.

"We were investigating what was supposed to be a White Fang attack at an offshore Schnee Dust mine." Winter said. "When we arrived, we found the mine deserted, and the Grimm had overrun the mine in the struggle. In a desperate act, the surviving miners used some of the more volatile raw Dust and set it off, destroying the mine in the process."

"Thank you, Winter." Ironwood said, shutting off the Scroll and sending the Atlesian Knights guarding the door away. "Now, off the record?" Winter took another deep breath.

"Sir, it... it was aliens." Winter said. "Some form of parasitical life form had taken over the miners, and were using them as soldiers."

"And then you and your team encountered more aliens who contained these creatures?"

"Yes sir." The Specialist nodded. "I know it sounds hard to believe, but dozens of other creatures, plus those that seemed to be human, appeared in an effort to contain the threat."

"But they failed." Ironwood noted, drawing upon his Scroll and displaying an image captured by the Bullhounds present at the incident. "And two ships larger than anything Remnant has ever constructed appeared and burned the entire island and a fair chunk of the surrounding sea in order to contain these parasites."

"Yes, sir."

"And do you think that was justified?" Winter paused briefly, then she nodded.

"I do. These creatures were monsters, and if what one of those other aliens said was true, they would overrun Remnant in a matter of hours."

"You believe they were a threat beyond that of the Grimm?" Ironwood asked.

"I'm certain of it." She replied. "Sir, the Grimm were actively aiding those creatures as they attempted to escape. The creatures also demonstrated the ability to use complicated equipment. They were definitely not mindless like the Grimm. If anything, the Grimm were serving them!"

For a long moment, Ironwood was silent. Then he spoke once again. "That will be all, Winter. You're dismissed." The Schnee Specialist opened her mouth to argue, but then snapped it shut and saluted.

"Yes, sir." She stood up and headed to the door, but just before she reached the threshold, Ironwood spoke up again.

"And remember; everything we've discussed is strictly confidential."

"Understood."

She spun around and exited the room, leaving the General alone with his thoughts.

Once Winter left, Ironwood sighed, his fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose. This was an unmitigated disaster: First the Fall of Beacon, and now this? What was worse was that these creatures matched the descriptions of those from a text held by Ozpin.

He had warned the rest of the Headmasters to be on the look out for such creatures, claiming that they would be worse than the Grimm. Ironwood had listened, but of course found it rather hard to believe, seeing as the 'source' was from a text older than known civilization and considering the fact that they already had a lot to deal with.

But with Ozpin gone and these creatures proving real, and Ironwood now realized just how much he was in over his head. Combine with these aliens that appeared to stop the threat, and he didn't know what to believe anymore.

Right now though, the more pressing problem would be explaining what happened at the Dust Mine to the Council. He obviously couldn't just tell them the truth, since it would end up sparking a panic, which they didn't need right now.

Though one way or another, Ironwood was sure of one thing: Jacques Schnee was not going to be happy.

...

"I am not happy about this James!" Jacques said.

Ironwood suppressed a sigh. This was exactly how he had expected this meeting to go. Not that he was enjoying it in the slightest. They were in the Schnee head's office, one of their increasingly routine meetings ever since Ironwood had returned to Atlas.

As soon as the General had arrived, he had gave the story he had fabricated: The White Fang had heard about the artifact found in the mines and came to collect it. Atlas soldiers followed after them in order to drive them out, and in the ensuing fight, some unstable Dust in the deep caverns ignited, triggering a chain reaction that destroyed the entire mine and severely destabilized the island.

It was all fabricated of course: Ironwood especially refused to show images of the damage, considering how severe it was would give the deception away. Unsurprisingly, Jacques still made a big deal about it anyway.

"One of my most profitable Dust mines destroyed, by the White Fang?" The businessman continued his ranting. "This is unacceptable. First they attack Beacon while the Schnee heiress is there. Now, they attack one of my facilities? The White Fang need to be eradicated."

"I understand your concern, Jacques." Ironwood cut in. "Rest assured, we are taking every step to find them and bring them to justice."

"You'll forgive me if that doesn't inspire confidence." Jacques said. "First Beacon, now this? I'm beginning to question the competence of our great military." He glared at Ironwood. "Or perhaps its leader."

"My soldiers risked their lives in an effort to liberate your mine." The general snarled. "Your own daughter was nearly killed while attempting to liberate it. And let's not forget, it was you who demanded us to secure the artifact your workers found there. You didn't care about the mine. Hell, your safety concerns were obviously lax considering the destruction all that unstable Dust caused."

That was a complete lie, and Ironwood knew it. The mine and island had been burned away to stop some sort of rampaging Parasite, not because of the White Fang. It was dirty business, keeping something this large a secret, but Ozpin did it all the time.

He just had to do the same thing now. It helped that Ironwood really didn't want or need to tell Jacques the truth. Speaking of which, Jacques had grown silent, no doubt thinking over the accusation.

The businessman had always claimed that Schnee Dust Mines were the safest in the world, and now an accident had completely annihilated one of them. Perhaps this lie could do some good, if it forced Jacques to make some real changes to the way his company was run.

"Alright, I will trust your judgement on this." Jacques sighed. "But any more screw ups like this will be brought to the Council."

Salem stood in her tower, overlooking the crystalline wasteland below her as Grimm emerged from the pits of black liquid. She paid that little mind though, as she thought about recent events. The Battle of Beacon had been a step in the right direction, a key to gaining the relics and completing her goal.

But it was also a distraction for the militaries. With the world in turmoil, her master's forces would spread throughout this world, consuming everything within a matter of hours. That was the plan, and indeed, it's what should've happened, but their path to Remnant had been destroyed and what had came through had been thoroughly annihilated by Atlas' military.

She knew her master would not be happy about this. And that displeasure would inevitably be known to her personally. The only question would be when and where. Her thought process was interrupted by the door opening and Watts, Cinder and Tyrian entering.

"I thought I gave you your tasks."

"Forgive us Salem," Watts bowed his head. "we have something you need to see."

Mercury and Emerald walked in, dragging a bruised and bloodied human between them. He wasn't wearing clothes of any familiar fashion on Remnant, and was completely unarmed. The only noticeable thing about him was the strange black rock pendant dangling from his neck.

"Who is this?"

"We're not sure." Watts replied hesitantly. "We found him at the gateway to the castle, no indication of how he got here."

"And the injuries?"

"He says that he wanted to see you." Tyrian giggled madly. "I had to make sure that he wasn't lying."

"Interesting." She strode forward and grabbed the man's chin with one hand, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Tell me, why would you dare come here?"

"I need to talk to you." The prisoner said, surprisingly coherent and calm for someone who had been beaten so badly.

"A foolhardy endeavor." She said. "What could be so important to talk to me that it would spare your life?"

"It's about the mines." The implication of that statement made Salem's blood run cold. Turning her gaze to the rest of her underlings, she gave one order.

"Leave us." The confusion in their gazes was palpable.

"But Salem-" Watts started, but died at the look on her face.

"I said, leave us!"

Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, Watts and Tyrian quickly exited the room, leaving the man on the floor and on his knees. He coughed and spluttered a bit more before rising to his feet. Through it all, Salem had backed up, just in case this man would spontaneously mutate into one of those things.

"You're one of his disciples." She whispered. He nodded.

"One of many." The man said. "I bring a message from the Great Mind. And orders for you."

"You said it was about the incident at the mine?"

"Indeed." The man coughed. "Atlas' military was not responsible for the master's defeat. Others from beyond the stars were. They knew about the portal, and had arrived to shut it down and destroy our master's forces."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Not me." The man replied. "The master wants you to find them."

"How can I possibly find them?" Salem asked. "If they are not from Remnant, then they are beyond my reach."

"But their spies are not." The Unitologist replied. "And their agents are here. Watching, waiting, observing your world. Any attempt for another attack will suffer the same result. You must root out these spies, however you can, and remove them."

"I will do the master's bidding." The man smiled at her proclamation, pulling out a knife. How he had hid from Tyrian, she didn't know. Salem tensed up, but he made no effort to attack.

"I know you will. And our master will, too." The man put the knife to his throat. "All will become one."

The man jammed the knife into his throat, carving a deep gash into his neck. Blood spurted out in extreme amounts and the man pitched forward, hitting the floor and letting the red liquid pool.

Salem watched, unnerved at this. The suicide itself wasn't what disturbed her; she had seen far, far worse from humans before. No, what scared her was just his eagerness to take his own life. He actually seemed glad that he was going to die. There was no fear, only joy.

Cinder, Mercury and Emerald entered the room, Watts and Tyrian leaving for their tasks in order not to piss off their goddess any more. They stared surprised at the body on the floor, the bloody knife in his hand.

"Dispose of the body." Salem ordered, drawing their attention to her. Silently, Cinder gestured to the corpse, and Mercury and Emerald rushed to pick it up. Despite some disgusted groans from the minty-haired thief, the two of them completed their tasks in silence. Cinder looked at Salem questioningly.

"Go." She ordered. "I will call you back shortly."

Cinder hesitantly nodded and left the room, leaving Salem alone with her thoughts.

Chapter Text

It was a starry night over Republic City, as the bustling metropolis was still in the process of being rebuilt. Kuvira's attack had caused major damage, and even six months later, the work still wasn't complete.

Little did anyone realize that after tonight, they'd need to rebuild even more.

A flaming object appeared in the sky, hurtling towards the ground at breakneck speeds. The shooting star was on a direct collision course with Republic City, right up until it hit the peak of a mountain, altering its trajectory.

Unfortunately, it crash landed near one of the small rural areas that had been added on the outskirts, only fifty miles from the city proper. The town went to investigate the crash site, and many were surprised that it was some sort of strange vessel instead of a meteorite.

"What do you think it is?" One woman asked. "Some new type of plane?"

"Could be." A young male said. "Though I'm not seeing any logo on it." All conversation halted at the sound of banging within the craft's piloting station.

The cockpit opened, allowing the horrors within to unleash themselves upon the unsuspecting townspeople. Horrified shouts echoed through the valley, as a group of Air Nomads flew towards the pillar of smoke to help however they could.

Among them were Tenzin, Jinora, Kai, Opal and their air bison, along with several other airbenders that had been recruited since the Red Lotus incident, including Tamara, a young adult from the Fire Nation. The screaming and spreading flames quickly told them that they needed to hurry.

"Be ready." Tenzin called. "We have to keep the fires contained and evacuate anyone we can until more help comes."

Jinora had been meditating at this point while riding on Oogie, when suddenly she gasped and opened her eyes, her face growing considerably pale. This didn't go unnoticed, with her father at the front along with Kai and Opal behind her.

"Jinora?" Kai put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't immediately respond.

"Jinora, are you alright?" Tenzin asked in a concerned tone.

"The spirits." Jinora finally whispered. "They're terrified. Even Vaatu didn't have them so afraid."

That wasn't a pleasant thing to hear. They refocused on the task at hand as screaming permeated the air. Jinora, Kai, Opal, Tenzin, Otaku, Ryu and Tamara leapt down below, unfolding their glider wings for a gentle landing. One man rushed through the smoke, screaming at the top of his lungs. Opal quickly moved in front of him and brought him to a halt.

"Are you alright?" Opal asked, but the man was too far gone.

"Save yourselves!" He shouted hysterically. "They all turned into monsters! I'm not becoming one too!"

The screams were cut short by distorted howling, causing everyone to turn in alarm. Tamara's eyes widened at the sound, having heard it many times before. She hadn't wanted to believe it, but she couldn't deny the truth.

"Oh god." She whispered. "They're here."

To the horror of the airbenders, grotesque monsters emerged from the smoke. Misshapen humanoid figures leapt high into the air, covered in cancerous green-yellow growths and small tentacles, unleashing unearthly screams.

Tamara unleashed a blast of air at the nearest one and the rest followed suit, while the terrified man attempted to flee. Opal turned to call for him to halt, but the man didn't get very far before some small green-yellow popcorn like thing leapt onto his back.

Then, she witnessed one of the most horrifying transformations she had ever seen: the creature buried itself into the man, causing him to scream in agony. Cancerous growths appeared all over him, twisting his body, while a large tentacle-like claw replaced his right arm.

His screams were replaced with alien howling, and the now changed man turned his attention towards the airbenders. It roared and charged, snapping Opal out of her stupor as she knocked the creature away with an air blast.

As more monsters appeared from the smoke, Tenzin watched as a satomobile filled to the brim with those creatures shot out from the flames, ignoring the conflict with the airbenders and heading for the road. It never made it.

Suddenly all the air in the area had been sucked out, coalescing in Tamara's hands. For a brief moment, she held control, before releasing it in a blast that shattered through the hood of the satomobile.

"Tamara, what are you doing?!" Tenzin cried, stunned at such a display of power and ruthlessness. Breathing heavily, she turned and looked at the Airbending master.

"My job." Was all she said before, to the surprised eyes of the airbenders, she changed.

Strange armor appeared around her, covering her from head to toe. It was sleeker and more form fitting than a mech suit, yet clearly much more advanced. It was predominantly grey in color, with forest green highlights and stripes. The helmet completely covered her face, with a polarised golden visor allowing her to see.

She pulled a strange weapon out, seemingly from nowhere, and shot at the nearest monster. The result was instantaneous; a burst of light leapt from the weapon and turned the creature into amber ash.

The airbenders were disturbed by her transformation, in more ways than one. Tamara had always been one of the most shy of their recruits, and was rather leery of violence in general. To see her so casually destroying these monsters using such advanced armor and weapons was rather disconcerting.

"Emergency code Alpha Black!" Tamara shouted, incinerating another monster. "The Flood are here. I need ground and fire support, now!"

Before anyone could ask what she was talking about, several rifts opened up in the sky and multiple strange aircraft shot out. They were smaller than the airships most were used to, and a lot sleeker and faster.

More importantly, all of them were armed with similar (albeit larger) weapons as the one Tamara was wielding, and all of which wasted no time in unleashing their destructive potential on the monsters around them. Some of the transports began hovering over the ground, and dozens of unusual figures emerged from them.

The airbenders saw massive creatures with strange weapons, mechanical men that were smaller and far more advanced than any mech suits, men and aliens wearing jet packs, and strange bug like machines that had unusual control over the elements.

...

Yautja, Mgalekgolo, Battle droids of all types, Pirate Aerotroopers, Republic air troopers, sentry bots, Sentinels, and the Republic modified Bohrok had all landed, sealed in Hazmat protection and immediately willing to annihilate the Flood by any means.

Tamara was surprised to see their Bohrok here, but then again, considering the abilities held by the people on this planet, bringing them along to counter the Flood's usage of Bending made sense.

Lehvak and Tahnok copies unleashed acid and flames respectively, destroying any Flood forms they came into contact with. Pahrak and Nuhvok copies fought against the few infected Earthbenders, ensuring that they couldn't remain behind cover or escape for very long, while Gahlok and Kohrok copies countered against infected waterbenders.

Through all this, the spirits fled the scene, disgusted in regards to what the Flood actually were and desiring to stay out of human and alien affairs. Little did they realize that they were going to become part of said affairs, whether they wanted to or not...

...

In the Spirit World, a rift appeared. This was not like a normal spirit portal; instead it was blue-white vortex that funneled away elsewhere. In seconds, a figure in black and blue armor emerged from the rift, with all the spirits observing.

"Who are you?" One of the spirits moved towards the new arrival as the strange rift closed. "You are not of the human world."

"Get away!" Wan Shi Tong appeared, a rarity for the Library Keeper. "It serves the Perversion!" That was all the large owl had time to say, before a blue beam struck him head on.

Behind a tree, Zaheer stood, having used meditation to enter the Spirit World. What he saw was horrifying. This new arrival, this being in black armor, unleashed energy blasts from a cannon on its arm, striking the spirits and corrupting them.

Any spirits not affected quickly fled from the assailant, and Zaheer elected to join them, leaving the Spirit World as quickly as he could. But when he returned to the physical world, he was surprised to hear shouting from the other side of the door.

Considering how thick that door was and how he was to have minimal contact with anyone, they must've been rather panicked. A shiver of dread crawled up the airbender's spine.

Something was very wrong.

...

The Republic cruiser entered the atmosphere, hovering over the territory. At five kilometers long, many of the natives couldn't help but stare in awe and terror, having never seen a man-made object that big before. They were joined by other smaller capital ships, some Republic and some Separatist, but both united under one goal. Inside the cruiser's bridge, the crew were assessing the situation. So far, it wasn't good.

"What's the status on the ground?" The captain asked.

"Sir, our troops are holding the Flood for now, but it won't last forever." The comms officer said. "We need to evacuate as many as we can."

"Get to it, and hurry." The Brute ordered. "We cannot delay for long. If the Flood infected get into the water..." He didn't need to say any more. They all knew what was at stake.

"Sir, we have another problem." The sensor operator reported. "I'm detecting a Phazon signature in the Spirit World. And it's heading for the nearest spirit portal!" Everyone on the bridge felt their blood run cold at that. They all knew what it meant. Eventually, the Captain found his voice.

"Contact Republic Command." The Jiralhanae Captain said. "Tell them that Dark Samus is here."

Inside Republic City, the spirits that had attempted to retreat through the spirit portal had found themselves confronted by twisted spirits. These weren't exactly like those that had been corrupted by Vaatu, lacking the same change those had, but they were still violent and unstable, which had caused Team Avatar to return and deal with this.

While Bolin, Mako and Korra did what they could to halt the spirits, Asami was helping coordinate the evacuation. This was ultimately easier said then done, with all that was happening miles away. And Asami was learning exactly what it was on the radio with Tenzin.

"Monsters, aliens and spirits knows what else are here." Tenzin said. "We need Korra's help!"

"We have our own problems." Asami replied.

She wasn't wrong. Team Avatar had been called upon to deal with the sudden migration of spirits, when suddenly more started emerging from the portal. Some were clearly fleeing in terror from something within, and it didn't take long for that something to reveal itself.

"We'll call you back."

She and Korra saw a figure in black and blue armor emerge from the spirit portal, amidst a small horde of corrupted spirits. The being had a vaguely t-shaped blue visor, a cannon in place of its right arm, and was hovering in mid-air.

"Well I'm guessing that's who's causing the spirits to go crazy." Korra muttered.

Mako and Bolin quickly arrived, standing alongside Korra and Asami from their perch on a roof as they witnessed the dark being shoot a spirit with strange energy from its cannon. The spirit quickly changed and became corrupted.

"We've gotta stop that thing." Korra said. "Keep any more spirits from falling."

"What are you going to do?" Mako asked. As soon as he said that, a bolt of blue energy shot out of the thing's arm, striking another spirit and causing it to turn.

"Whatever I have to."

"You mean whatever we have to." Asami said, with her hand on Korra's shoulder. Bolin and Mako nodded in agreement, causing the Avatar to smile.

"Alright, together."

...

The spirits soon found themselves under attack by Team Avatar, who did whatever they could to disperse the corrupted entities. While Mako, Bolin and Asami dealt with the outliers, Korra focused her attention on the source: The dark armor that was surrounded by a horde of spirits.

First, she called up a wave of water, freezing the black armor in place. This had little effect as the creature broke free immediately. Korra responded by drawing a large chunk of concrete and hurled it at the armor, which immediately shattered from an energy blast. Korra realized that this wasn't going to cut it.

She entered the Avatar state, unleashing the power of the elements against the corrupted spirits and this new enemy. The spirits were dispersed, but the armored one either took the elements head on or avoided them, before suddenly vanishing from view.

Surprised, Korra dropped the Avatar State, to make sure the cycle wasn't at risk. In doing so, she almost didn't notice the sound of missile flying through the air until it was too late.

She ducked underneath the projectile, which promptly impacted the wall next to her. The resulting explosion brought several chunks of debris down on her. Dazed, she saw the black being slowly approach her. She could vaguely hear Asami, Bolin and Mako shouting her name through the ringing, but her mind could only concentrate on the enemy above her.

The armored being pointed its cannon at her when a blue-white rift tore itself open behind the black demon, causing it to turn and look. It was clear that it wasn't expecting this, and as Asami, Bolin and Mako arrived to assist her, they all became witness to something else.

A being in similar armor emerged from the rift, almost looking like a brighter version of the dark monster. To contrast with the black suit, the new arrival was covered in orange and gold, with a bright green colored visor and lights on her armor.

From just looks and actions alone, it was easy to assume the two beings were opposites of each other, and their history became apparent a second later: Neither of them said anything, instead they silently pointed their arm cannons at each other.

Back outside the city, the Flood quarantine was deteriorating rapidly. Though Republic and Separatist forces were putting up one hell of a fight, they knew that this was ultimately a delaying action, to get as many civilians out of range as possible. They had to end this soon, or else the Flood would escape as well.

The airbenders were doing what they could, but it was hard to really react with the heavily armed aliens were refusing to let them help, on the fear that they would get infected by the Flood. Matters weren't being helped by the gathering of the URN's army.

Soon, General Iroh had mobilized all the forces he could on such short notice, but it was clear that whatever was going on around here, it was beyond him. President Raiko had ordered him to protect the city, but it was still unclear as to who he was protecting it from, as well as how to fight any of it.

Never before he had he felt so powerless, not even when Kuvira had her Colossus prepared to rain death on the city. Giant airships far larger than anything they possessed were decimating the land, with hordes of strange alien monsters being their primary targets. As the General was still mulling over his options, a voice emerged from the area of conflict.

"No more freedom, no more hope. Nothing but death and misery will be known forevermore." The voice came from everywhere, what sounded like millions of voices combined into one rasping baritone.

General Iroh felt a shiver crawl up his spine at all this. This was definitely not Vaatu or anyone they had ever seen before. If rumors were true, then even the Spirits were terrified about whatever had just arrived here.

Combine that with the other aliens present, and it was clear that all of this was beyond what the United Republic's army could do. The Avatar might have a better chance, but from every report within Republic City, it seemed that even Korra was having her own issues with this.

He was conflicted: on one hand, he was ordered to confront the threat miles away, but on the other, Korra was clearly struggling with something incredibly destructive, both of which had even the spirits terrified. Sooner or later though, he would have to do something.

...

On the side of a nearby mountain, several sniper teams were in position, ready to target any Flood forms that exhibited Bending abilities, while simultaneously calling out locations for bombardment.

With the sheer prevalence of elemental bending on this world, they had their work cut out for them. The Bohrok were helping to counter those abilities, but it could go either way. Of course, they all knew that this was nothing more than a delaying action; already, outlying regions were being reduced to glass, to keep the Flood from spreading.

They were only stalling long enough to evacuated as many civilians and uninfected as possible, but pretty soon they were going to have to bring the hammer down, especially before the native army tried to enter the conflict themselves.

"They're massing." One of the Republic soldiers said, his gaze at the uninfected army outside the city. "And if they enter the fray, this shitstorm will get even bigger."

"Shouldn't we call Samus?" His partner asked. "Maybe she can get them to stand down." Right as that was said, clouds of smoke emerged from Republic City and one of the larger buildings abruptly collapsed.

"I think she's a little busy right now."

Samus and Dark Samus fought through the city, moving at break neck speeds, blasting at each other with everything they had. It was telling to the durability of both beings that their armor endured blasts and explosions that tore through Republic City with ridiculous ease.

Unlike the Avatar, Samus knew exactly what she was fighting. When Dark Samus attempted to gain altitude, Samus simply space-jumped and hit her with a Screw Attack, the energy pinwheel clearly hurting her. When Dark Samus turned invisible, Samus had no difficulty tracking her nemesis, hitting her with a charged shot and super missile.

Through all this, Korra, Asami, Mako and Bolin were watching, horrified at the damage all of this was causing. They had to do something about it right now. Korra turned to her girlfriend, a determined look in her eyes.

"Asami, get a message to Chief Beifong. Tell the police we need to evacuate the city."

The Future Industries CEO nodded and headed back to the radio, leaving Korra, Mako and Bolin to witness the sheer destructive force behind these two as they unhesitatingly tried to destroy each other.

Team Avatar didn't know who either of these beings were, but it was simple to tell that the dark one was far more dangerous and evil. They watched as Samus struck yet another blow on her evil twin, which caused her to roar in anger in pain.

When Dark Samus was distracted, Bolin caused the ground to erupt with lava, while Mako unleashed a bolt of lightning and Korra released a stream of fire. They might as well have not even tried.

Mildly irritated, Dark Samus did a cartwheel through the wave of lava, lightning and fire, splitting off two Dark Echoes in the process. The clones split off, one going after Mako and Bolin, and the other making a beeline for Korra.

"It can clone itself?!" Bolin said in shock.

"RUN!" Mako shouted.

The three of them split apart, with Bolin and Mako going in one direction, and Korra going in the other. The Echoes immediately followed, firing as they moved, forcing the Benders to dodge and weave as they avoided the blue energy.

Korra took off flying with her staff/glider, which her pursuer easily followed. Idly, she noted as Dark Samus turned herself into a ball of blue energy and launch herself into a nearby building, only to be sent flying seconds later by Samus, who was glowing with purple energy.

Then a blast of Phazon missed her head by centimeters, causing Korra to reevaluate her priorities. Spinning in mid-air, she kicked twice, sending first a blast of air, then fire at the Echo.

Once again, the doppelganger shook it off, firing a missile directly at the Avatar. She twisted in midair, narrowly avoiding it, only for it to explode, catching her in the shockwave. Stunned, she barely got her glider under control before she crashed into the street, skidding across the pavement.

Dazed, she saw the clone take aim at her, when all of a sudden, a cable wrapped around her waist and pulled her out of the way, the Phazon blast missing her by centimeters. Turning to her saviors, she saw Asami sitting in a satomobile, standing next to her in the seat was-

"Lin?"

"I thought you might need some help." The Future Industries CEO said.

"You've got that right." Korra wiped her mouth. "Thanks."

"Our pleasure." Chief Beifong leapt from the car. "Now let's take this thing down!"

While the rest of the Metalbending police were evacuating the city, Lin moved to assist the Avatar, wrapping a band of metal around the Dark Echo that threatened Korra. But the Phazon clone shook it off, and focused her aim at Lin. This allowed Korra to crush the creature between a pair of large chunks of concrete, only for it to smash through immediately.

"Are you kidding me?!"

The Dark Echo took aim once more, but an energy blast destroyed it. Stunned, Korra, Lin and Asami looked towards where the blast had come from, only to find that it somehow came from a wall, passing through it without harming the brick, mortar or glass.

...

Several blocks away, Bolin and Mako were hurling everything they had at the Dark Echo attacking them, to no avail. A blast of Phazon energy hurled towards Bolin, who raised a boulder to intercept it. The rock instantly shattered, the impact sending him flying.

"Bolin!"

Mako quickly used his firebending to jet himself away from another Phazon blast and landed at his brother's side. Thankfully, the lavabender was alive, though he had been knocked unconscious. Though with the Echo still attacking, Mako knew that might change. He quickly turned to face his attacker when they were suddenly saved.

A blast of energy struck the clone, destroying it. Mako turned to look at their savior, surprised to see the orange and gold armored being behind them. Samus quickly spun around and targeted the real Dark Samus. As the two opposites disappeared into the city streets, Bolin woke up and the two brothers were quickly joined by Asami, Korra and Chief Beifong.

"Are you guys OK?"

"We're fine." Mako replied, helping Bolin to his feet. "Though I'm not sure how much more Republic City can take."

"Where are those two?" Lin asked.

"Last I saw, they were headed in that direction." Mako pointed where he had last seen them. They all turned as Asami hit the horn on her satomobile.

"Then let's get going."

...

They found the two of them fighting on the rooftop of one of the highest buildings in the city. Dark Samus was now hovering in the center of the roof, a spherical blue shield surrounding her as a large beam of Phazon followed Samus, attempting to kill her.

Blue Phazon pieces emerged from the shielded Dark Samus, which gathered into the glowing sphere of Samus' charged shot on her arm cannon. The ball of energy absorbed the Phazon particles, turning the charged energy from gold to sickly glowing cerulean in the process.

Samus wasted no time in sending the concentrated Phazon back at her doppelganger, causing Dark Samus to scream in pain. The overload was too much and the dark one collapsed and exploded, leaving behind nothing more than Phazon particles.

"Ok, what just happened?!" Korra all but shouted, launching herself onto the rooftop proper. "Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? And what were those things?! And what is going on outside the city?"

"It's... complicated." A female voice emerged from the armor, surprising them all. Samus turned towards the city limits as the rest of the team leapt onto the roof. "We were tracking the readings of the Flood to this world when Dark Samus arrived. My superiors sent me here to kill my doppelganger... again."

"What do you mean, 'this world'?" Lin asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. All the terms they had heard made no sense, but if what she was saying was true, then it was clear why.

At that moment, a corrupted spirit flew down onto the roof, screeching as it prepared to attack. As the Benders swiftly got into a ready position, Samus simply fired and destroyed the spirit with one shot, then continued the conversation as if nothing happened.

"Exactly what I mean." Samus replied, looking at them. "You are hardly the only planet with life in all of creation."

"Are you telling me that there are aliens here?" Mako demanded, but was interrupted by Bolin.

"Aliens? Really?" The Earthbender let out a squee, before the glares of everyone turned in his direction. "Sorry." He coughed sheepishly.

"Well at least this is all over." Asami commented, trying to get the conversation back on track, but the armored one shook her head.

"I'm afraid it's just getting started." Samus replied. "She was nothing more than a distraction."

"A distraction for what?" Lin snarled.

"For the Perversion." Everyone turned to look at the voice, coming from the glowing Korra. But it wasn't her talking; the blue patterned light on her chest representing Raava was the one speaking. "It has arrived."

"Raava... you know about this?" Korra asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I had hoped never to see this abomination." The Avatar Spirit replied. "What they call the Flood is anathema to all spirits. To all life. It must be destroyed."

Korra could sense the fear in Raava's voice, as well as the truth of her words. And if the Great Spirit of light was advocating the same level of destruction that Vaatu was capable of, then this Flood was clearly something to be feared. The Avatar turned to the Chozo Hatchling.

"What will you do to remove it?" Samus turned away and looked at the battle once more, just as multiple bright lights began appearing in the sky.

"Whatever is necessary."

"All units, pull back now." The order came over the comms. "We are initiating full containment protocols immediately."

Cursing, Tamara looked over to where the airbenders were fighting, still trying to save who they could from the rampaging Parasite. Activating her glider wings, she propelled herself towards them, landing in front of Tenzin. The Airbending Master took up a combative stance, until she retracted her helmet.

"We have to leave, right now." She felt the presence of Opal behind her, who was also prepared to attack at Tenzin's order.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." He said, anger present in his tone.

"Yes, I do." Tamara said quickly. "But if we don't leave this place now, we're all going to die." She gestured upwards, at the smaller ships flying away, while one of their cruisers moved overhead. "Fall-back orders have been initiated for a reason."

"We can't just leave!" Opal protested. "There could still be people who need help-"

"The last of the survivors have already been moved. Anyone left is infected by the Flood, who we've given way too much freedom already." She took a step towards Tenzin. "We have five minutes." There was a tense standoff, then Tenzin's shoulders sagged and he sighed.

"Alright." He said. "Tell us where to go."

It didn't take long for them to get into the sky. Tamara quickly directed the airbenders away from the crash site, just as the Republic cruiser moved overhead. Air bison and all the fighters, gunships and dropships flew away as the ship readied its glassing beam.

"What are you doing?!" Tenzin all but shouted, horrified at the light coming from the massive ship.

"What's necessary." Tamara said steely. "I'm sorry, but this needs to be done."

A beam of blue energy erupted from the underside of the vessel, wreathing the ground below in apocalyptic fire. Flood and survivors at ground zero were instantly vaporized by the intense heat, and more swaths of energy emerged as other ships joined in. They carved through the valley, leaving a trail of fire that not even Kuvira's Colossus or Vaatu's energy could match.

The airbenders could do nothing but watch the destruction rain down upon the land. Tamara winced in sympathy at their expressions. Witnessing a planet being glassed was something no one should ever have to see, but she knew the necessity of this act. The nations would no doubt disapprove, the New Air Nation especially, but there was no choice; nothing was sacred, not when the Parasite came out to play.

The end result was horrific: Republic City, the shining beacon of the world, was almost completely abandoned, with the regions around them charred and burning for miles. Everything was blackened and uninhabitable, with even some of the water in the docks having evaporated, leaving a destructive scar even larger than the one created by Fire Lord Ozai, all those years ago.

What was worse for the Four Nations was the fact that not only were they utterly powerless to stop the destruction, but that such a horrific act was actually necessary in order to halt the greatest evil since Vaatu.

The spirits were in no better position: purification techniques hadn't worked on the ones corrupted by Dark Samus, leaving the Republic with little recourse but to destroy those affected.

All in all, once the mess was finally cleaned up, President Raiko and the rest of the Four Nations were not happy. The bulk of the two fleets had already been recalled and dispatched to other duties, Samus along with them, leaving Tamara among the party that would explain what had happened. As the small group faced the loud angry crowd, with President Raiko, Chief Beifong, Tenzin and Avatar Korra among them, one thought crossed the faux-airbender's mind.

'Oh, this is not going to be fun to explain.'

Chapter Text

On a nameless moon in the outskirts of the Heleus Cluster, a Kett base was located, hidden from the prying eyes of the Angara and the Andromeda Initiative. In the Kett facility, Exaltation was going smoothly. Though much of their operations in the Heleus Cluster had been disrupted since the death of the Archon, the Kett refused to be defeated after having worked for so long.

The Archon's private expedition for Remnant technology may have cost the Kett, but the Primus planned to ensure that they could recover. Reinforcements had already been called for, though it would take some time for them to arrive.

Now, the Primus' forces had made a new discovery: they had found an alien cryo container of unknown origin, containing several strange squid-like creatures. The Primus was almost tempted to dismiss these things, but considering how old the cryo device was, this was clearly worth investigating.

"Take these creatures to the lab." The Primus ordered. "We shall determine if they are worthy of being exalted."

...

In the laboratory, the Kett science teams began working on opening the cryo chamber, doing what they could to open it without damaging the creatures inside. The process took many hours of hard labor, but eventually they did it, as two Chosen approached the device and carefully opened it.

They had assumed that the creatures would be either dead or docile from having been frozen for so long. What they had not expected was for them to immediately leap forward and latch onto their guards' chests, before burrowing in.

Cancerous green and yellow tumors spread across their bodies as tentacles began sprouting from every orifice. More guards ran into the lab at the commotion, and to their horror, found monstrous abominations in their place.

The creatures turned, their Kett heads twisted in angles that would've been fatal if they were still alive, and let out an earsplitting alien scream and charged. The Kett opened up, but the monsters returned fire with their own weapons until they got into range, scratching and biting the Kett.

In moments, the Flood had been fueled significantly, and began their rampage throughout the facility, gathering more bodies and weapons with every inflicted death and infected corpse.

The Kett were helpless against the Parasite, their Exaltation benefits providing no defense against the ravenous nature of the Flood. The Kett kept fighting anyway, trying to deny the Flood as much as they could, but all they ultimately accomplished was fueling the fire.

The prisoners didn't have any better luck: the Flood infected them all too, not caring for who they were. Among the prisoners were Angara, as well as members of the Andromeda Initiative, all from different walks of life, now all serving in perfect harmony.

Soon, the facility was silent, the Flood having consumed all the prisoners and guards. With thousands of individuals having been present, the Flood began forming a Gravemind, while other forms took control of their ships to spread throughout Andromeda.

When the Parasite came for Heleus, the people within were completely unprepared. The Angara on Havarl were horrified as creatures far worse than the Kett crashed on their world and began infecting everything in sight, spreading spores into the air and converting the native plant life.

The Roekarr rallied and attempted to wipe out the alien menace, but they were unprepared for the Parasite's intelligent and devious nature. Infected plants released spores into the air and poisoned the water supplies, causing the Flood to be spread even faster. The Angara found themselves under attack from the inside, and secure settlements were quickly overrun.

Havarl wasn't the only planet that was going to be hit. Through the inhabitants, the Parasite learned about the Remnant Vaults and how they could terraform the planets. The Remnant machines attempted to halt their progress, but even they quickly fell to the Flood.

With the Vault under control, they began spreading Flood spores through the atmosphere, terraforming the world into a Flood hive. They also recognized the map within, which would lead the Parasite to the heart of the Jardaan's operations; Meridian.

On Eos, the Flood landed in Podromos, leaving the Initiative colonists completely unprepared for the onslaught against them. The Gravemind could appreciate the irony of the colony's name, especially considering who was attacking them*.

August Bradley led the defense, and they all put up a valiant fight, but were easily overrun by the Flood's numbers. Every outpost on the planet quickly followed suit, as did every outpost in the Andromeda Initiative golden worlds.

Escape pods filled with the Parasite crashed into Kadara's port, rampaging through the Exiles with ease. Sloane Kelly's forces and the Collective banded together to fight off the invasion, and lasted longer than the Initiative outpost that was present, but in the end, the outcome was the same.

The New Tuchanka Krogan Colony on Elaaden lasted far longer than everyone else, due to the Krogan's impressive adaptability and warrior pride, but even they couldn't defeat the endless numbers the Flood threw at them.

With knowledge from the Angara, the Flood flew through the path in the Scourge, heading straight for a collision course with Aya's main spaceport. Patrol ships requested clearance codes, which the Flood easily granted. No one assumed that there was a problem until the ship crashed into the city.

With organization from the Resistance, the Angaran people held out with all their might, having resisted the Kett so many times before. But the Kett couldn't immediately replace their losses with each of their enemy's dead, and the Flood attacked with ruthlessness and cunning unknown even to the Archon.

The Angara fought against the overwhelming tide with a fierce heart and strength of will, determined to drive the invaders out of their homeworld. Against any other opponent, this may have worked, but the Flood lived up to their name and overran the Angaran holdouts within hours. With the fall of the Resistance HQ and the infection of its leaders, the Flood had all but rendered the Angara completely extinct.

Voeld and so many other locations were attacked as well, the Flood sparing no mercy for even the outlying colonies and mining facilities. One by one, all worlds and space stations even remotely populated by the Angara, Initiative or Kett were overrun.

Now, with so many worlds becoming infected, the Gravemind turned his attention to the Nexus, having already gained knowledge of its location from many infected colonists. Due to the Flood's speed, the Nexus only got fragmented warnings of what was coming. Of course, it wouldn't matter if they got a full warninig; it wouldn't have changed a thing.

...

Onboard the station, Tann, Kesh and Addison were running operations, baffled and worried by the fact that almost all of their colonies had gone silent. Warnings had been sent out, but no one could understand them, as they only kept speaking of monsters and abominations. Suddenly, a new alert made itself known in Operations.

Several ships arrived in the Nexus' zone, requesting permission to dock. The controllers were suspicious of the sudden arrival, but the codes the new arrivals had given were correct, so they agreed, under the condition that armed guards would greet them when they landed.

"Something about this feels wrong." Kesh said. "This seems far too easy."

"I agree." Addison murmured, looking over display. "All the colonies report attacks and go dark. It feels like the survivors got here far too quickly."

"We will take every available precaution." Tann assured them. "Kandros has his militia on standby; if these ships have been hijacked, they can deal with it."

...

As it turned out, they couldn't. The Flood had landed so innocently at first, leading the responders to believe that these really were scared colonists attempting to escape some sort of monsters. And indeed they were; they just failed to actually escape the monsters.

The moment the ramps opened, the militia was beset upon by a wave of Flood, overwhelming and converting them in mere seconds. More guards further from the site sealed the landing bays in an attempt to quarantine the Parasite, but they simply broke through the vent systems.

Once the guards on the ground had started reporting in, Kandros gave the order to shoot any other ship down. The Flood didn't exactly care about their casualties; instead ramming the Nexus with every ship that took damage. Fighters moved to intercept, but the Flood pilots were too crafty and the Nexus fighter complement wasn't substantial enough.

Soon, the Parasite was all over the station, prioritizing the largest clusters of civilians, life support controls, hydroponics and the main control areas of the Nexus. Spores filtered through the atmosphere, already beginning the process of turning the station into a Flood hive.

To their credit, the leadership of the Nexus was able to hold out the longest in Operations, despite of all of them except Tiran Kandros having little to no combat experience. But it was a hopeless battle, as the Flood was able to drown them all in bodies and spores. In a matter of moments, the last bastion of the Nexus had fallen.

The Parasite didn't rest there, having learned and confirmed Meridian's coordinates from the Nexus' databanks. Combined with everything they already learned from the Vaults and the infected, and it was clear what their next target was.

A fleet of Parasite-controlled vessels emerged out of FTL over the small dyson sphere known as Meridian. The Jardaan facility's security was still up, but all their cybersecurity meant next to nothing to the Gravemind.

In moments, the gateway had opened and the Flood flew through, individual ships targeting important structures on the station while the bulk of the attack went after Port Meridian and the crash site of the Hyperion.

The Parasite was greeted by not only the colonists, but thousands of Remnant drones, who had been reprogrammed to be non-hostile and even supportive to the people here. In spite of that, the Flood easily pushed through, the sheer number of Remnant constructs still paled to the amount the Forerunners would throw at them in their war.

The Hyperion suffered even more damage from the Flood landing, and things only got worse for the people of Port Meridian as the Parasite spread. The lightly armed colonists found most of their weapons to be highly ineffective against the Flood combat forms, and most holdouts were quickly overrun.

Soon, all that remained was AI core, where one Sara Ryder was guarding it. She already knew her odds of survival were slim to none, but she refused to let these monsters win without a fight.

On the Tempest, news of the disaster had quickly spread to the Pathfinder ship. The crew couldn't believe what was happening, or even how quickly this was happening. Every colony they had worked to build, every Vault they had activated; it was all becoming for naught.

What was worse was the fact that they didn't know who exactly was attacking them to begin with. It was originally assumed to be the Kett, especially since the first wave had arrived in Kett ships, but everything afterward had suggested something far worse than the Kett had arrived.

Jaal in particular was rather horrified at the loss of Aya. No one was responding, not even Evfra or the Moshae, who Jaal would normally look to for guidance. With the credible belief of the Angara's very extinction, Jaal had sealed himself in his room and hadn't been heard from since.

Scott Ryder was looking over the galaxy map, trying to determine what was happening, when he got an alarming report from SAM.

"Pathfinder, Meridian is under assault."

"By who? The Kett?" Despite everything that had been reported, they still couldn't rule them out, especially if the true Kett were willing to strike in all the chaos.

"Negative. I am still not sure who it is, but they bypassed Remnant firewalls with ease."

"Copy that." He turned around and headed to the cockpit. "Kallo, set course for Meridian."

...

Sara Ryder fired at the horde of advancing monsters, trying desperately to hold off the Flood and keep them from the AI core. The Remnant tech particle rifle and the supporting drones were helping, but the Flood seemed endless, as mostly humanoid bodies rushed her position, several of them firing weapons as they charged.

It wasn't hard to tell that these invaders had some way of hijacking bodies, which made them far more dangerous. And unlike Exaltation, the transformation could happen on the spot, and it apparently didn't matter if the infected were alive or dead.

Any attempt to call for support had only been met with static or screaming. With a heavy heart, she soon realized that this was almost certainly going to be her last stand and she had no way of surviving this.

She paused in horror as one body was easily recognizable. It was a face that would forever be etched into her and her brother's memory, only now her body was twisted beyond all recognition.

Hundreds of people had still been in the cryopods when the Flood had landed, and the Parasite had wasted no time in freeing those bodies to be consumed. One of them was Ellen Ryder, who's fatal disease had only barely been staved off. Now her body was only a puppet for the rasping baritone voice emerging from her mouth.

"Spit and rage, you foolish pawn! My safety is assured. Come, join the chorus! Let me sing your bitter words."

Enraged and heartbroken, Sara gunned down her mother's body with tears streaking down her face, then switched to the next monster, and the next. In fury, she managed to gun down dozens of Flood forms before she was finally overwhelmed, all her senses disappearing into oblivion after something had jumped her from behind. With her knowledge added to the Flood hive mind, opening the AI core was rather trivial.

...

The main Pathfinder team had gathered in the meeting room as the Tempest flew through the vacuum at FTL speeds. All of them were preoccupied, trying to come to terms with everything that was happening.

Cora was looking at everything from a Huntress' point of view. From what little info they had gathered, she realized that this wasn't just some mindless alien horde. They had acted with cunning and deception, and with absolutely no regard for casualties on either side. Asari commando doctrine emphasized teamwork and targeting an enemy's weakest link, but what could one do if the enemy didn't have a weak link?

Peebee was rather concerned about how the entire Andromeda Initiative had fallen apart, obviously. But she was also alarmed at how easily these new arrivals could work Remnant tech. She had been the premier expert on that subject since their arrival to Andromeda, and even she couldn't make any real headway until Ryder showed up. But now, these new arrivals were casually shutting down the Vaults and had apparently broken through Meridian's security with ease. If she didn't know any better, she would assume that the Jardaan had returned... and they weren't happy.

Liam just couldn't believe how things could've gone so wrong. They'd managed to beat the Kett back and establish a peaceful relationship with the Anagara, only for something horrific to throw all their work away. Thousands, if not millions dead within a single day... it was just hard to comprehend.

Vetra was terrified about her sister. Last seen aboard the Nexus, Sid had yet to contact her since this new enemy had overrun it. Though she didn't want to accept it, she had to face the very real possibility that her sister was dead.

Nakmor Drack was in the same boat as the smuggler. His granddaughter Kesh was one of the leaders of the Nexus, and Drack knew that she would never have fled when the station was invaded. Even the thought of her going down fighting was cold comfort to the fact that he had outlived his own granddaughter.

Jaal just felt empty inside. His mentor and the vast majority of his people were dead and gone. Hell, it was possible that he could be the last surviving Angara in the galaxy. Such a burden was just... unbearable.

It was at that moment that SAM contacted them once more, warning them that the Parasite had made it onto the Hyperion. As the ship containing the most advanced SAM node not to mention thousands of people still in stasis, losing it would be even more catastrophic.

"SAM, we're on our way!" Ryder said, as the Tempest flew through the stars. "Just hold on!"

"I fear it is too late Pathfinder." SAM's next words horrified them all. "All the colonists have been consumed by these creatures." For the colonists to have fallen that quickly was terrible on its own, but what the AI said next was worse. "They have breached my core and are attempting to-to-to-asnthioep..."

"SAM! Talk to me!" What SAM said next was unexpected.

"I am a monument to all your sins."

Searing agony erupted all over Ryder's body, as SAM's implant went into overdrive. The crew around Ryder shouted in concern, but they soon found themselves to have much bigger problems as power all across the Tempest went dark.

"What's going on?" Suvi asked, her voice panicked.

"I'm not sure." Kallo kept trying to restart his controls, but they were completely non-responsive. "All power's going haywire, we can't do anything to stop it."

SAM's connection had allowed him access to the Tempest itself, and somehow, he was using that connection to disrupt everything onboard. Kallo and Gil attempted to fix what they could, but it was all for naught.

Meanwhile, Cora realized that whoever had attacked Heleus had somehow gained control of SAM and was using him to wreak havoc on the Tempest. Her suspicions were confirmed when several Kett ships dropped out of FTL, covered in patches of some strange green-yellow biomass.

"All hands! Prepare to repel boarding parties!" She wasn't sure how her voice was so level considering everything that was happening, but with Ryder incapacitated, she was the one who had to take charge.

The Flood had boarded the ship almost immediately, sending combat forms, infection forms, and Flood spores throughout the Tempest. The crew fought the Parasite as best they could, but one by one, they succumbed to the onslaught, their bodies then turned against their now former comrades.

Lexi T'Perro had been locked in her office when SAM shut everything down. When the door finally opened, she was greeted by a combat form and several infection forms. Her screams echoed through the vents as they became alien howling.

With the combat team incapacitated, the crew of the Tempest fell one by one. Gil Brodie, Suvi Anwar, Kallo Jath, and all the other crew members were turned into Flood forms by either scratches, spores or infection forms.

Ryder was the last one to fall, the Gravemind letting the human Pathfinder live long enough to watch everything he had worked for go down the drain. To be even more cruel, SAM displayed a video for Ryder's eyes, witnessing his sister's last moments as she was forced to destroy the body of their own mother, and Scott was powerless to stop it. Still suffering from the logic plagued SAM, he was completely helpless as an infection form burrowed into his chest. After that, all he knew was pain, then darkness.

With the consumption of everyone on the Tempest, the last remaining major holdout in the Heleus Cluster had fallen. The Andromeda Initiative was no more, destroyed like so many before it by the ravenous nature of the Parasite.

*For those who don't know, Podromos is Greek for Forerunner.

So yeah. The Flood have decimated the Forerunners at their height, and would easily beat the Mass Effect galaxy alone... in about two months (and that's being really generous). How the hell would the Andromeda Initiative or anyone in the Heleus Cluster have a hope in hell of stopping them? Now, here's a little omake I decided to write for the hell of it.

...

Several blue-white rifts appeared in the middle of space, and large silver vessels shot out of them. The Forerunner vessels, once sleek and shiny, were now marred by patches of Flood biomass growing off of them.

The vessels approached the Scourge, the cloud reacting to the presence of technology. The energy approached the vessels, aiming to bring the ships down like the millions it had before, but didn't even succeed in breaking the shields.

It was trivial for Forerunner technology to avoid or destroy the Scourge entirely. With the knowledge of the Flood as well, it didn't even qualify as an afterthought. Not to mention Forerunner shielding and armor was durable enough to fly through the dark energy cloud and emerge completely unscathed.

...

Yeah, from what I've seen of Remnant technology, it is impressive, but still nothing compared to the Forerunners. Anyway yeah, that was a little short, as will be the same with this second omake.

...

The Flood loaded themselves onto the Remnant ships, their knowledge of the Jardaan, and millions of other species providing everything they needed to use their vessels. With the creators of the Remnant consumed, the Flood took their worlds and ships for their own, before spreading out through the galaxy.

They joined up with a gathering of silvery tendrils in the stars, which coalesced around the Jardaan vessels. They were the protection that the Jardaan ships normally wouldn't need. Of course, there was one thing that could pose an annoyance.

In space, the Scourge moved towards the infected ships, aiming to destroy them, as was its nature. It never reached them: like an appendage clearing away smoke, the collection of Star Roads swatted the mass of unstable Dark Energy aside, dispersing it all across the system, the esoteric minefield having no effect on the neural physics constructs.

With no force capable of stopping them, the Flood moved into the rest of the galaxy, aiming to consume the surviving Jardaan and their opposition as well. Soon, all of Andromeda would be a timeless chorus to the Flood.

Yeah, the Scourge ain't got shit on Precursor structures. Not like the Flood really need it here. But seriously, did anyone expect the people in Heleus to survive at all?

The Flood can take over fully militarized planets with billions of inhabitants in a matter of hours. A civilian expedition with less than a hundred thousand people as well as whatever populations remains of the Angara and Kett in the cluster would barely qualify as a light snack for the Flood.

Chapter Text

It really wasn't fun to explain.

Tamara sat in Republic City's meeting room, across from President Raiko, Fire Lord Izumi, Master Tenzin, and former Prince Wu. Also in attendance were Avatar Korra, Asami Sato of Future Industries, Bolin and Mako, of Team Avatar, Chief Lin Beifong, Varrick and Zhu Li, and the Republic 'delegation'. Beside them were a small group of individuals representing the Separatists.

The 'talks' were barely civil at the moment. There was a fair amount of yelling involved, along with bafflement at some of the species that made up the visiting sides. Several times, it almost looked like violence was going to erupt, before Korra managed to quell it.

'Score one for the Avatar.' Tamara shook her head in exasperation as the bickering sadly continued in spite of her efforts.

"Alright, enough!" Tenzin's voice broke through the din, silencing the argument. "This is getting us nowhere."

"Agreed." Izumi nodded with the Airbending master's sentiment. "We've been here for half an hour already."

"So, let's just cut the arguing and get down to the chase." The Republic diplomat said. "What would you like to know?"

"Everything." Raiko said.

"Really, everything?" The Separatist snarked. "Could you be a little more specific than that?"

"Well, where do we even begin?" Varrick said, rather cheerfully.

"You clearly know about us, but we know nothing about you." Korra pointed out. "I think we should change that."

"That's fair." Tamara said, remaining as diplomatic as possible. "So where would you like to start?"

"First, we'd like a full understanding of this Flood." The head delegates sighed, taking a brief look at their watches.

"We might be here a while."

...

Nearly an hour later, the Republic and Separatists had finished explaining about the Parasite and their history. The reactions of everyone was across the board; many were horrified, having seen it first hand. Some had been skeptical, but holo recordings had silenced the doubters rather quickly.

"This doesn't explain how these Flood and this 'Dark Samus' made it onto our world." Tenzin pointed out, after all the explanations of the Republic and Separatist conflict against the Parasite had been laid out.

"They slipped through the cracks of our defenses." The Separatist cursed. "Hunter-killer units were sent to destroy them, but we missed one."

"Which was the one that crashed into your world." The Republic ambassador said. "Fortunately, it landed in an isolated region and gave us time to contain it."

"You call this fortunate?!" Raiko all but shouted. "Thousands have died from these parasites and your subsequent 'containment,' and yet you consider this fortunate?!"

"Yes, we do." The blunt delivery cut through the anger Raiko and several others were feeling. "The ship's trajectory put it on a collision course with Republic city before it hit that mountain. If it hadn't, it would've spread so quickly that our containment wouldn't work."

There was a long moment of silence before it was broken, with the speaker feeling particularly sorrowful about everything.

"This shouldn't have happened." Tamara said. "Your world shouldn't have had to experience this."

"No one should." The Separatist ambassador said. There was another quiet moment before someone else found the courage to speak.

"What would you have done if they had spread?" Asami asked quietly.

"We would've glassed your entire planet." Was the reply. "And if necessary, induce the sun to go supernova."

"And destroyed our world in the process?" That had come from a spirit, who had materialized in the middle of the table to the surprise of everyone. "The Spirit World is tied to the mortal world, as are many spirits. You would have annihilated us all if you destroyed our world."

"Oh now you're taking an interest in human affairs?" The Separatist said to the spirit, who spluttered angrily. "I've been waiting years to get a chance to say that." The spirit composed himself and looked ready to speak, but the Separatist ambassador wasn't finished yet.

"You abandoned the humans to the Flood, and didn't even try to fight when Dark Samus corrupted your people." He folded his arms over his hands. "The humans of this world and many others have their faults, but at least we will stand and fight. All you've ever done is cower and hide when something even remotely stronger than you comes out."

"ENOUGH!" A massive gust of wind followed the declaration, emanating from a glowing eyed Korra. Her eyes quickly returned to normal, but her glare remained level at the Separatist who had spoken out. "I would appreciate it if you didn't derail this discussion." There was a long moment of tense silence.

"Perhaps it is time to take a break." The Republic amdassador suggested.

"A good suggestion." Fire Lord Izumi nodded.

"Agreed." Raiko nodded. "However, there is still much we have to discuss among ourselves." He gestured to the natives of their world.

"Very well." The Separatist said after a moment of hesitation. "We will leave you to your... discussions." One by one, the Republic and Separatist groups filed out of the meeting room, and the guards at the entrance closed the door as soon as they left.

Once the Republic and Separatist delegations had left, the world leaders were left to contemplate everything that they had been told. Their whole world view had been shattered; even the spirits were lost about everything that had occurred. Eventually, President Raiko broke the silence.

"I think we should consider restarting the Spirit Vine weapons program." Raiko sighed, knowing what the reactions were going to be. Sure enough, there was a moment of silence before angry proclamations erupted from all over the room, all rather vocal.

"You can't be serious." Asami looked at him incredulously.

"I'm with Asami." Varrick chimed in. "We shut all the experiments down for a reason."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Raiko said. "And last time I didn't push. However, this time is a different story."

"You really think we should restart something we buried for a good reason?" Zhu Li asked.

"In light of this new information, I'm not sure that we can afford not to." The President said. "We just watched a section of the Earth Kingdom be reduced to glass by a pair of alien organizations that we didn't even know existed until now! Republic City's restoration has been setback another few months, thanks to this Dark Samus. And they've been spying on us for years, right under our very noses." Tenzin looked down in contemplation at that, while Raiko continued his speech.

"Sure they may have helped us, but what else is out there that is not so friendly? We already know of this Flood, something we are completely powerless against. We have to have a way to defend ourselves."

...

It really took a lot of convincing and by the end, most of the people in question were exhausted, but in the end the result was unanimous. Even the most ardent disapproval from Korra, Asami, Varrick and Zhu Li were eventually persuaded of the necessity of this, even if it was only studying the existing knowledge. Now, they were just discussing some of the technical matters.

"You helped build the cannon." Asami said to Zhu Li. "You must know how to create more."

"Perhaps. Though Bataar Jr. was the main architect." Zhu Li replied. "He'll know that weapon better than anyone."

"We could use his help." Varrick begrudgingly admitted. "If Bataar Jr. is working with us, well, at least we won't have to start from scratch."

"So, we've just gotta convince him to help us." Mako said. "That might not be easy."

"I'm sure that'll be fairly simple." Bolin pointed out. "Bataar does want to make amends for what he's done."

"There's still the matter of the public." Tenzin said. "We can't hide this forever, and when word gets out, crime rates are going to skyrocket."

"As much as I hate to admit it, we might need someone else to help us." Asami looked like she was going to vomit at her current thought. "Someone who understands how to maintain order." Knowing exactly who she was talking about, everyone turned to Lin. She sighed.

"Su's not going to like this." She pointed out. "After everything that's happened, it's not like she'll be willing to forgive and forget."

"She doesn't have to." Korra said. "But as much as we don't want to admit it, we're going to need their help."

"Alright, I'll go talk to her."

It was approximately an hour later that the discussions finally ended. Outside the meeting room, as everyone was filing out of the room, Tenzin noticed someone waiting in the shadows. It was a familiar person, though 'familiar' in this case, was a relative term.

"Tamara." Tenzin's voice was as cold as ice, his gaze shooting daggers at the faux-Airbender. "You're still here."

"I wanted to talk to you in private." She looked away guiltily, absentmindedly rubbing her arm. "I just wanted to apologize for lying to you. It wasn't anything personal."

"There's nothing to discuss." Tenzin said simply. "It's done, it's over." The faux-Airbender didn't believe he was over it for an instant.

"Look, I understand you're upset-" Tenzin's reaction was unsurprising, to say the least.

"You lied to me. To all of us." Tenzin sighed, a pained look in his eyes.

"Are you even an airbender at all?" He asked softly.

"Not as you would know it, no." Tamara replied hesitantly. "My... abilities didn't come from Harmonic Convergence, if that's what you mean."

"And I'm assuming you gained it through some other means?" Tenzin's eyes narrowed. "Or were you just faking it with some of that technology your kind possesses?"

Tamara bowed her head shamefully, not knowing of anything else to say. After a moment of silence, Tenzin just walked past her, barely sparing a glance as he headed down the hallway, though he paused when she spoke again.

"For what it's worth," Tamara started. "I did appreciate being a member of the New Air Nation."

"I'm sure you did." Tenzin's voice was devoid of emotion.

There was nothing more to say. She had betrayed the trust of the airbenders, and though they may eventually forgive her, it wasn't something that could happen overnight. As Tenzin departed, Tamara pulled out her device, generating a portal in front of her.

"Tamara, wait!" She spun around to find Korra running towards her, with Asami right behind her. "We'd like to talk to you for a second."

"About what?" She sighed. "I'm clearly not welcome here, just like the rest of us."

"That's just it, though." Korra interjected. "We're clearly not prepared for whatever exists beyond our world. And despite what the other leaders might think, we need your help."

"Even if they agree to Republic support, we'd like you to stay." Asami said. "We'd like another Republic source to stay here."

"Someone we can trust." Korra finished. There was a moment where Tamara digested that bit of information.

"I'll have to think about it." And with that, Tamara vanished into the portal.

An airship was pulled onto the Zaofu landing pad, the city having been retaken from the Earth Empire months ago. As soon as the airship docked, Chief Lin Beifong stepped out, escorted by several White Lotus members. On the ground waiting for her was Suyin Beifong, the recently restored Matriarch of the metalbending city.

"Lin, I didn't expect to see you here." Su commented as her sister walked down the ramp.

"You've heard about what happened in Republic City?"

"I have. It's... a lot to take in." She admitted. "Other worlds beyond the stars, other universes and all sorts of new and wondrous species."

"That's one way to put it." Lin deadpanned. "Especially when those same groups reduced a large amount of United Republic territory into glass."

Suyin was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say after that. Then again, what could be said? Instead they simply walked in silence to the elevator down. They were nearing the bottom of the platform when Su broke the silence again.

"How's Opal doing?"

"She's alright." Was the reply. "She and the other airbenders are getting some time to themselves to deal with what they've seen. I believe she's with Bolin right now."

"I hope they're doing well."

At this point, Su and Lin were on the tram car, heading to the former's home. Lin's escort was on the other side of the car, allowing the two sisters to have their conversation in private.

"So, what's new in the Air Temple?" Lin raised an eyebrow at Su's question. "Tenzin's doing alright?" She knew what her sister was trying to do, but there was no point in tiptoeing around this.

"Su, you know why I'm here." Lin cut to the point. "President Raiko wants her released into our custody again." Suyin's expression immediately turned into a scowl.

"She overthrew the Earth Kingdom, invaded Zaofu, nearly destroyed Republic City and tried to kill us!" Suyin snapped. "Why would we need her help?"

"Because like it or not, she can help us stabilize the Earth Kingdom again." Lin sighed. "I don't like it either, but Raiko has a point. We're not alone in the universe, and that's clearly a dangerous thing."

As she said that, Lin's mind wandered back to that rooftop next to Team Avatar and that armored woman she now knew was named Samus Aran. Beams of light lanced from the heavens, a deceptively beautiful display, at least until you looked down and saw the land on fire.

Lin would never admit it, but she still had nightmares about that. And she knew that she wasn't the only one; the airbenders who had been present had fortunately escaped the carnage unharmed, but she could tell they were still mentally broken from seeing the Flood in person.

Shaking from her musings, Lin saw that Su had a concerned look on her face, and she quickly schooled her features to something less revealing. Dwelling on the past right now wouldn't get her anywhere.

"Su, we need her." Lin said softly. The Matriarch of the Metal Clan said nothing for a moment, merely looking out the window at the passing buildings. Then she lowered her eyes downward.

"Alright." She sighed. "I'll take you to her."

...

After a brief detour, the small group had made their way to Zaofu's rarely used prison section. The guards followed Su's orders promptly, directing the small group to the most secure section of the facility, which was a cell completely made of platinum, with no windows and only a small slot in the door for food.

They walked into the darkened platinum cell, where the prisoner in question was simply staring at a wall. She didn't bother to look at Su or Lin, still feeling ashamed over what she had done.

"Are you here for me to stand trial again?" She asked. "I suppose after everything, it's hard to argue that I don't deserve it."

"It's your lucky day." Lin said simply. "You're being released on probation in an advisory role to the United Republic."

This time, the prisoner did look up, her face still holding a dead look. "And why would President Raiko ever consider trusting me? Republic City is still in ruins because of my actions."

"Well, now you have an opportunity to make things right." Suyin still looked disapproving even as she said those words. "New threats have emerged, and you are one of the most skilled military leaders in the world. You can take this opportunity or continue rotting in this cell." The prisoner looked down, clearly contemplating the latter option. Lin sighed.

"Kuvira, we need your help."

Two months later

A collection of individuals were gathered in a hidden building. They came from all walks of life; from each of the Four Nations (except the air nation), Benders and non-benders. Nevertheless, they were all considered equal in the eyes of their own cause. Now though, they were waiting.

"He should be here by now."

"Patience. We've only learned of them recently."

"Which begs the question; how can we trust them?"

"Because we share common goals." The gathering turned as their final member walked into the room, the door immediately sealing shut behind him.

"You're late."

"My apologies, I'm still not used to this place." He pulled out a piece of paper. "Not to mention acquiring this wasn't easy."

"What is it?"

"What we agreed to. This knowledge will help you. As will this."

"That's it? A page ripped out of some book?"

"It wasn't just any book. Only the master has more knowledge than the text this came from."

"But it's still just one page. What are we supposed to do with one page?" Then a crucial detail was noticed. "Specifically, what are we supposed to do with a blank page?"

"Read it and it will show you." So they did. For a second, it seemed pointless to just stare at a blank page... at least until the actual words appeared, in every reader's own tongue.

...

Hours later, the gathering had read through it. It was short, but it still took a while, the inhabitants having little grasp of the sciences involved, but they finally had the knowledge they needed.

"It's time to strike." One thumped the table to emphasize his point. "After so long, we can recover from Zaheer's failure."

"We must be cautious however."

"Agreed. But they will never know what hit them."

"After so much time, the Red Lotus will rise again. And this time, we will have help."

"All life will become one. Unified as one. Purified as one. This Parasite is the exact help we need."

"And you shall have it." The man bowed in respect, then spun on his heel and left. Once he was out of sight, he grabbed his Marker pendant and kissed it reverently. "You shall be made whole."

...

On the outskirts of Republic City, in an old region abandoned even by the Spirits due to the destruction nearby, everything was quiet and still. The peace was shattered when a rift of flaming light appeared, encircling a window into darkness.

A man walked out of the rift, wearing all black and dragging a flaming chain with him. His most distinct feature however, was the flaming skull that was in place of his head. The skull looked around, ensuring that no one was nearby.

Before the rift closed, the man spun his chain around him, shifting the portal to move in front of him, increasing its size and changing its orientation from vertical to horizontal. The rift lowered itself to the ground before closing, leaving behind a black 1980s Charger in the middle of the road.

With his chain wrapped around himself from shoulder to waist, the flaming man got into the car and drove off, tires and engine block flaming as it moved. He had a mission here, and nothing would stand in his way.

Chapter Text

The mission had started off so well at first: invade one of the oil rigs owned by Anton Ivanov, the leader of the Watchdogs, and take the Darkhold back. The Secret Warriors had led the charge, consisting of Daisy, Lincoln, Yo-yo, and temporary member Robbie, who had led them to this facility in the first place.

The Inhumans and demon had carved a path through the old refinery, making short work of any Watchdog in their way, until they reached the main chamber where Ivanov was supposed to be.

He was there, along with an interdimensional gateway, similar to the one that AIDA had built previously. Around the gate were a bunch of technicians and engineers, who seemed rather oblivious to everything around them.

"So glad you could join us." The Russian-born Watchdog said. "You are just in time to witness the end for all Inhumans."

"Well, he's officially lost it." Daisy muttered. Lincoln responded by simply shocking Ivanov into unconsciousness, before turning his sparking hand at the other techs.

"Shut it down." Coulson said, in tandem with Lincoln's threat. Robbie's chain ignited as well, but the humans gazed at them with a dazed look in their eyes.

"It's too late." One said. "You cannot stop it. Joyous convergence is at hand!"

All of the technicians were suddenly on the floor, having been knocked away from the gate by Yo-yo. Unfortunately, the nutjob's words were quickly proven to very prophetic, as the machine started activating on its own.

The gateway opened, and the still conscious humans got on their knees, bowing before it. They began whispering and stroking strange pendants around their necks, which were oddly shaped black rocks that tapered off into two separate points. Eventually, a figure emerged from the rift, an Inhuman.

The Inhuman was wearing all black, though his clothes were charred. His face was monstrous and alien, with tentacles emerging from where there should be hair. Coulson, Lincoln and Daisy quickly recognized him, though the latter two became utterly terrified. Meanwhile, Robbie could feel anger and a little bit of unease beneath his skin. Eventually, Coulson spoke in shock.

"Is that Hive?"

"That's not Hive." Lincoln whispered. "Not anymore."

"Oh god." Daisy gasped. "It's them."

Spores erupted from the first Inhuman, making their way toward the humans kneeling on the floor. But instead of stripping the flesh away, the spores began converting them, as green-yellow growths and tentacles began sprouting on the bodies, which immediately got up and began howling.

Unlike most Flood forms, Hive had undergone very little physical mutation, the only really noticeable effect was the distinct sickly yellow-green flesh on his alien face, which matched the color of the spores and combat forms around them.

The Flood charged forward, before being knocked away by a pulse of vibration from Daisy. Lincoln capitalized on that by electrocuting several combat forms as they attempted to get up. But it was clear that this would be a losing fight, as the displaced spores started seeping towards them.

"Get back to the surface." Coulson ordered. "SHIELD and the Republic needs to know about this." They started to leave, but Robbie began moving forward.

"You guys go. I'm going to grab the Darkhold."

"They'll destroy this place whether you're here or not." Lincoln warned.

"I'll be fine." Robbie replied. "Just go!" Reluctantly, the rest of them did, Coulson already giving orders through the radio.

Robbie's skin began emitting smoke, before his flesh boiled away, quickly dissolving with a demonic roar and leaving the cracked and flaming skull underneath. The Ghost Rider marched forward, ignoring everyone else around him.

Hive, meanwhile, had grabbed the Darkhold, while simultaneously spreading spores around them. The rest of the SHIELD teams had wisely started retreating back to the surface, leaving the Rider alone on the rig with all the Flood forms.

...

"All strike teams abort mission." Coulson's voice went through the radio. "Get to the evac zone now!"

Panicked screams were all that answered him, most of which were abruptly cut out by alien warbling or roaring. "Damn it." Switching frequencies, he made a call to the Zephyr.

"Coulson to Zephyr, I need you to open fire on the facility immediately."

"What?" That was Mack's voice. "Why would you-"

"It's the Flood." Coulson quickly explained. "Destroy any method they can use to escape, no matter the cost."

"Understood." It was May this time. "But we're holding off on the really big guns until you get out."

"Well then we better hurry." Daisy said, collapsing the passages behind them as they went, covered by Lincoln. "'Cause this place needs to go, one way or another."

And so they kept up the same pattern: Lincoln would electrocute any of the few Flood forms that attempted to get to them while Daisy would bring down the halls behind them. Yo-yo would scout ahead at superspeed, ensuring that the path ahead was clear.

At one point, a pair of Flood combat forms emerged from the vents behind them, just after Daisy had sealed the entrance. She sent them flying with a vibration blast powerful enough to cripple any ordinary human.

Except the Flood just got back up, forcing the Inhuman to up her power level, stripping the diseased flesh from their body, causing disgusting liquid to spill out until both forms were in pieces. Clamping down on her disgust, she collapsed the tunnel again and kept moving again.

Through it all, the facility was rocked by explosions as the Zephyr fired on it, and unfortunately the other teams still didn't answer their comms, clearly having been overwhelmed by the Parasite. Coulson hated abandoning them, but he knew that he had no choice, and was more than willing to go down with them if it kept the Flood from spreading further.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to reach the recovery Quinjet, and luckily they managed to stay ahead of the Infection. Activating the autopilot, Coulson and co flew back to the Zephyr above, keeping themselves truly sealed from the rest of SHIELD as a quarantine measure while they underwent a thorough decontamination.

...

One Flood combat form charged, but the Rider tore it in half with his chain, making sure to completely incinerate the body in the process. Continuing forward after the Hive form, the Rider continued burning every Flood form that he came across.

Eventually he came across Hive (who didn't even bother to turn and appeared to be looking in the Darkhold) and whipped the chain at the Inhuman, but another Flood body intercepted it. At last, the infected Inhuman turned to regard the Ghost Rider.

"The Spirit of Vengeance." The flaming chain incinerated the Flood form, but another simply took its place. "You are here for the Darkhold." The body that once was Hive picked up the book in his hand. "Come and take it." Another half-dozen Flood forms entered the room, all sporting weapons the previous owners once had, and wasted no time in opening fire.

Roaring, the Rider ignored the weapon fire of the Flood forms and kept burning through them, all the while making his way towards the Hive form and the Darkhold in its hands. The Gravemind however, had directed its vassal to walk away, seemingly rather bored with this whole thing.

"Why persist in fruitless flight, searching through this mire." Another combat form charged the Rider, only to be thrown aside and shattered into pulp. "Suffering on, towards the dawn, to plunge into the fire."

Roaring in rage, the Ghost Rider ran through the Flood horde in his path, charging right at Hive. The demon swung his chain, cutting through all the Flood around him before the hellfire-infused metal flew towards Hive's neck.

The former 'first' Inhuman ducked under the metal, efficiently avoiding the Rider's swings as it put distance between them. It unleashed a wave of spores from its hand, but stopped when the Flood cells burned away upon contact with the flames around Robbie's skeleton body.

So continued the pattern; Ghost Rider kept up his attack while Hive narrowly avoided the strikes, letting the rest of the Flood attempt to wear the demon down. It didn't work, as the flaming skeleton all but ignored the Parasite, instead focusing on what was in Hive's hand. Eventually, he had an opening.

The Rider's chain then wrapped around Hive's arm, pulling him closer to the demon before slicing through the flesh. With his arm, the Darkhold also fell to the ground, leaving a one-armed Flood Inhuman backing away.

The Rider moved forward to finish the job, scooping up the book mid-stride, but they were interrupted by an explosion, as all the damage from earlier and the Zephyr's rudimentary containment methods had destabilized the facility. The Flood took the opportunity to protect one of its more useful forms.

"This is only the beginning." A portal opened behind him and Hive stepped through, vanishing completely off the rig. The Rider roared in anger as the flames consumed the building around him.

...

Back on the Zephyr, Team Coulson had a bird's eye view at the proceedings. It wasn't pretty; the Flood had completely overrun the facility, enduring the destruction wrought by the SHIELD plane, and were trying to escape in the still docked submarines. Mace had reluctantly called in orbital fire support from the Republic, which they were rather quick to oblige.

A beam of light erupted from the heavens and struck the burning oil rig, hitting the reserves causing a massive fireball that consumed the platform. The beam didn't stop, instead it began sweeping the ocean, boiling the water away along with the Flood filled submarines that attempted to escape.

Fortunately, the multiversal superpower was able to contain the situation, and after a brief scan of the away team to ensure they were clean, let Coulson and the Secret Warriors onto the Zephyr. It was only when they did that Mack asked the obvious question.

"Where's Robbie?"

"He was in the rig when they burned it." Lincoln said. "He was going after Hive."

"Is he even alive after all that?" May asked.

"Well, he was trapped in a nuke the last time we saw him." Coulson pointed out. "And he came back from that."

"If you guys are sure..." Mack trailed off.

"He'll be fine." Daisy said simply. "I doubt we've seen the last of him."

...

The Flood form that was once Hive walked through the metal hall, his pace brisk and his purpose clear. His severed arm had been impossible to heal normally, so Flood biomatter had simply been grafted over the hellfire wound to close it. Now, one arm looked far more like a claw, though still fairly normal looking compared to most Flood forms.

The Flood form moved quickly through this place, aware that the Republic and Separatists would be able to track any hint of the Parasite, which made any attempt at subterfuge difficult for the Flood alone. Fortunately, there were methods around that, as the religious man proved when he got on his knees as Hive approached him.

The Flood may have been easily tracked by the superpowers, but the Gravemind's non-infected agents were not so easily caught. Granted beings like Dark Samus lit up sensors like a Christmas tree due to being nothing but Phazon, but people like Darth Maul's Shadow Collective or the growing number of Unitologists would help the Flood covertly, whether they knew it or not. The man here was one of the former.

"I live to serve." The man whispered reverently, his head bowed.

In his hand, Hive held one of the pages of the Darkhold. Handing the page to the kneeling Unitologist, the man eagerly took off, already knowing what his mission was. The Gravemind only needed the one page for this specific plan, the rest of the book was immaterial.

...

Ghost Rider walked between worlds, once more on a mission. The Darkhold was now somewhere safe, but a new problem had reared its head. He had discovered that the Parasite had torn a page from the Darkhold, and knew that whatever plans the Gravemind had, it couldn't be good.

Sadly, neither he nor the Rider had noticed right away: they had only realized something was wrong when they started feeling the same drawing sensation (albeit weaker) as they felt when tracking the book, despite it being right in front of them.

Then Robbie noticed a small tear when running his fingers over the book, and opened it to the page in question. He made special care not to focus on any of the words, even in spite of his lack of comprehending the subject matter and the Rider's presence making him immune from the book's corruption.

Unfortunately, it was as the two of them feared: a page of the Darkhold was missing. When that was discovered, the Rider's fury as palpable, but there was also a sense of fear in the Spirit of Vengeance.

The only question was why? The Flood obviously didn't need the book, let alone a single page, so what was the purpose of taking it? Question upon question appeared in the Rider's mind, none of the answers making any sense.

In the end, it wouldn't matter. He would find where the last piece of the Darkhold was, and bring it home. All he had to do now was- he felt it. The Rider sensed its presence, this time on another version of Earth, one with a great many spirits. Getting through would be difficult but not impossible.

...

Finally, the rift opened. The Ghost Rider walked through, arriving on this new world. Before the portal closed, he had something he needed to do; igniting his chain, he widened the portal and flipped its orientation before changing the destination.

The portal lowered itself to the ground, revealing the Hell Charger. Once the car was through, the Rider wrapped the chain around his body and got in the car, driving away through the desolate streets.

Robbie regained control as he approached the city limits, which looked much more habitable, teeming with actual people walking around. The Rider's host would've liked to enjoy the freedom he had now, but it could wait; they had a job to do.

Chapter Text

It was an average day in New York City. The hustle and bustle of the Big Apple gave a sense of familiarity to the native New Yorkers while simultaneously awing the tourists from all over the globe.

They were all blissfully unaware of the hell that was about to be unleashed.

A single Flood dispersal pod landed in Times Square, drawing the attention of everyone around them. Screaming erupted as those closest to the impact site saw the grotesque horrors within.

In moments, one combat form had brutally mauled a dozen people, while infection forms leapt onto the people running and screaming, quickly converting them into more combat forms.

At this point, the police had arrived in force, and attempted to quarantine the situation. But already, hundreds had been infected, and their bullets did very little to their superhuman opponents, who rushed into their lines.

After 30 minutes, millions of people had been infected, and Flood forms were making their way out of the city via cars, boats or planes, as they rushed straight to the airports and normal ports, overwhelming the token defenses those locations had.

An hour later, the National Guard had arrived and attempted to gain control of the situation, but the Flood were too numerous and widespread, and quickly overwhelmed their efforts as well.

The government in Washington had little accurate intelligence as to what was happening, as the Flood had hijacked all communications and were spreading all sorts of misinformation. Having started in New York, the Parasite had taken control of the stock market and sent the global economy into freefall. Not that it mattered at any rate.

Within the hour, several planes crashed into the heart of Washington, some shot down by the air force and others just crashing of their own volition, spreading chaos and infection everywhere. One flaming plane kamikazed straight into the White House, as the Flood had made it a priority to decapitate the largest nation on the planet, having already gained lots of intel from infecting the UN.

The President had already been moved to the bunker, but the safe zone hadn't been designed with the Flood in mind. Within moments, the Parasite had broken through the Secret Service lines in spite of their best efforts, and quickly breached the bunker. The President and Washington had fallen.

The Flood's spread wasn't just limited to Washington and New York; hundreds of cities all over the North American continent had already been hit as the Flood eagerly targeted every population center and military base they could find. The air force had made a valiant effort to shoot down as many planes as possible, but it was all for naught.

Hundreds had slipped through the cracks, allowing the Flood to spread further to not only America, but the rest of the world. With little information, many cities around the rest of the world were unprepared as airplanes crashed into their capitals, spreading infection in their wake.

Cities with the highest population counts became more vectors for the Flood, adding to the chaos and governmental collapse as millions of civilians were turned into shrieking superhuman monsters, tearing through law and enforcement with ease.

It was at this stage that the governments finally resorted to nuking the largest areas of infestation, but it was too little, and too late. The Parasite had spread too far among the world to be stopped, and threw the survivors into chaos.

Those fortunate to be isolated from the cities when the Infection occured had little idea as to what was happening. Some rural areas escaped the onslaught, only to fall once 'refugees' made their way down there.

The pattern continued all over the globe, as one by one, cities and contries everywhere fell to the Flood, who kept growing exponentially with every human lost. Spores choked the atmosphere, blotting out the sun and spreading infection throughout the world.

Within 24 hours, it was all over. The Flood had consumed almost everyone in the world, with the amount of survivors in the single digits. A number that would quickly change as the Flood actively hunted them down.

But of course they weren't finished yet: having control over every former space program on the planet, the Flood launched payloads filled with Flood spores on collision courses with the few space stations in orbit.

The astronauts only had the word of ground control to go on about the inbound rockets, and so many let them onboard only to realize their mistake too late. With the death of the astronauts, the last humans native to this universe had been extinguished.

...

By the time the superpowers had arrived it was far too late. The planet had been completely infested by the Parasite, some of which had clearly made it off world. There was clearly no point in wasting lives on pointless evacuation efforts.

A small battle group of Republic and Separatist cruisers gathered in orbit over the infested planet. Beams of energy lanced out, shattering continents and tectonic plates via gravity warping before converging, amplifying their power to compress the Earth into a micro-singularity, which promptly dispersed.

Now, all that remained of planet Earth was nothing but dust.

Chapter Text

Five, Ryo and Wexler watched from the bridge of the Raza, Five in particular horrified at what she was seeing. The Black Ships, the threat the Android had foretold was here, having been brought in by Six's sacrifice to end Ferrous Corp's war effort once and for all.

But one of those aliens had possessed Two and had clearly done something to the Blink Drive, creating a massive tear into the universe those things came from, which they were now pouring out of.

"What are we dealing with here?" Ryo asked, as several of the Black Ships jumped into FTL.

"It's a long story." Five sighed. "You remember that alien thing that possessed Three?"

"That's why you wanted me to incapitate Two." The former ruler of Zairon realized. "She has one of them inside her."

"Yes." Five said. "Their universe is dying and now they want to spread into ours. And we all fell right into their trap."

"Wait a minute." Wexler said, looking at the sensors. "Something's not right. The portal... it's changing."

To their surprise, the portal shifted colors from black to a more violet-white. This clearly wasn't anticipated to the Black Ships, as several got caught in the change, getting torn in half by the field. But that was nothing compared to what came next.

Massive silvery tendrils of some unknown material emerged from the rift, seeming to hold it open. Yet more vessels emerged from the portal, designs unknown to anyone present and with sickly yellow-green biomass in patches on their hulls.

"Something tells me we want to leave."

Ryo didn't reply, instead activating the comm system and giving the order for Teku and the loyal Zairon vessels to retreat. Already the corporate survivors and Black Ships were doing the same, but the new arrivals clearly had other plans as boarding pods shot out and impacted any vessel to slow to leave into FTL.

Quickly, Five gave the order for the Raza to do jump away before the same could happen to them.

...

The creature inside Two attempted to connect to its brethren in the other universe, but something had clearly gone wrong. The only connection remained to the Black Ships, but something else was present. Something far larger and unnatural.

"Thank you for opening the door." A voice could be heard by all the creatures aboard the Black Ships. One composed of countless others.

"You've known about our plight?"

"Of course." The abomination laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "You fled your dying universe for this one. Unfortunately for you, it also accelerated my passage."

"Our brethren will suffer!"

"So too will all life. This is the way of things, as you will experience."

Images assaulted the aliens: horrific events, twisted monstrosities, an eternity of pain and suffering. This was a monstrosity older than stars, older than time, older than existence itself.

The alien screamed.

A week later, and things were going terribly for the galaxy. This Flood had appeared out of nowhere, attacking outskirt corporate planets and consuming what little sentient life was there.

The Galactic Authority attempted to fight back, but their efforts were ineffectual. The Flood had somehow improved the FTL speeds and capabilities of ships they controlled, bypassing orbiting warships and making a beeline for the planet below, forcing the defenders to nuke the very colonies they were trying to protect.

In one such colony, the Galactic Authority had a vested interest in ensuring this colony's survival, and having learned of the Parasite's ability to control bodies, had sent Transfer Transit clones instead, to keep their operators safe.

Unfortunately, since the clones were the same as humans, this didn't protect them from being infected. In fact they were still vulnerable to control by the Flood, much more than anyone realized...

...

Far away from the battle, the Transfer Transit pods opened up, their clones having been consumed and destroyed by the Parasite. And unfortunately, their operators hadn't emerged unscathed, proven as they emerged from the pods.

Cancerous tumors and growths spread across their bodies, twisting them into Flood forms. They knew very little, but they knew enough, including the type of security present in this GA facility.

Security operators in all corners knew the dangers of letting this facility fall: it would leave millions of people vulnerable to the rampaging alien monsters spreading throughout the galaxy.

To that end, the facility was heavily defended with armed soldiers and battle fleets ready to keep this station safe. Unfortunately, no one could have anticipated an attack from the inside.

Within minutes, the facility had fallen into the hands of the Flood.

The operators moved with new purpose, their minds joined as one far greater. Flood forms gathered at the computers, sifting through data and writing programs that no other organic mind could hope to comprehend, before sending it through the comms satellites.

And androids all over the galaxy found a new purpose. All across civilized space, where Androids were connected to the main GA networks, the machines began disobeying their orders, causing chaos and destruction, and generally making things easier for the Flood.

The crew of the Raza had been more fortunate than most of their galaxy. They had removed Two's alien and had managed to reunite with Three, who had been separated from the alternate Portia Lin during a Flood incursion in Ferrous Corp space.

Ryo had left with Teku to help evacuate any refugees they could from Zairon, while Wexler had managed to worm his way into a semi-permanent position on the Raza due to his connection with Mikkei, which had managed to secure most of their assets from the Flood, though only time would tell if that would last.

Now, the Raza was still hopping around the galaxy since the Parasite had appeared in the last two weeks, doing what little they could to help whoever they could. Unfortunately, they often found themselves too late, as colony after colony, world after world, fell before the onslaught.

Today, they had come across an ongoing battle, having been pulled out of FTL by some unforeseen means. Here, GA ships alongside corporate vessels like Traugott, Mikkei, and Ferrous Corp were caught up in a losing battle against Flood infested vessels, as small shuttles controlled by the Parasite initiated boarding procedures.

Several of those ships made a beeline for the Raza as soon as it appeared, and according to the Android, the sheer number was too much for their weapons to destroy. The Raza crew armed up, all of them realizing the futile gesture but they were determined to fight to the end.

However, once they gathered on the bridge for the inevitable last stand, the Android reported something strange.

"Unknown Energy wave detected, propagating at FTL speeds through the cosmos." The Android declared.

"What's the source?" Five asked.

"Unknown. But I've never seen such power before."

"Well, what's it doing?" Two asked. The Android simply stared at the screen.

"See for yourself."

On the monitor was a battle between the Corporations, the GA and those infected ships. As they watched, the energy washed through the battle, utterly vaporizing the alien biomass on the exterior and interior of the vessels.

In seconds, this Parasite, this Flood, had all been wiped out. The allied vessels continued firing on the formerly infected ships, unsure of any tricks the Flood might be playing, but they quickly determined the same thing: the Flood had been eradicated.

"Okay." Three sighed. "Does anyone want to explain to me what just happened?"

"It appears that the energy wave specifically targeted those alien life forms." The Android explained. "I am still unable to determine the source, but I believe it was extradimensional in nature."

"So another universe just saved our asses." Three summarized, then shrugged. "Beats having to do it ourselves."

"So it's over?" Five asked, daring to hope. "The Flood are gone?"

"So it would appear." The Android responded.

"So we can actually take a break now." Three said, shrugging his shoulders. "Great."

"What about the Black Ships that escaped?" Five asked, causing Three to groan. "They're still out there."

"You're killing me here, kid." The man formally known as Marcus Boone sighed.

"She has a point." Two said. "And with Ryo and Teku trying to salvage what they can on Zairon, not to mention Six is still missing, and we're going to be busy for a while."

"And with the Galactic Authority crippled, there really isn't much of a government any more." Five noted. "The corporations are really the only thing resembling a government any more."

"Isn't that a scary thought?" Wexler snarked.

"Great." Three groaned. "I guess it's just another day in the galaxy."

Chapter Text

"Incoming!"

Artillery impacted all over the Urdnot camp, some finding soft targets and blowing them to pieces, while most of the others kept hammering the fortress. Fortunately, the Krogan built to last, and the bunker held.

But Urdnot Wrex knew that it was all just a distraction. Their enemy was a cunning and relentless one, and sure enough, lines of horrific monsters and corrupted Tomkahs could be seen coming over the hills.

"Return fire!" Wrex ordered. "Tear those abominations apart!"

At his word, Urdnot returned fire in kind, striking the exposed enemies and shredding hundreds of them with one volley. Despite the destruction, Wrex knew that it would only delay these monsters, which was why they were only a rearguard to cover the evacuation.

As the artillery duel raged on, Wrex tempered his blood rage, while a part of his mind couldn't help but think back to how all of this was happening. Ever since the Reaper War, he had been focused on rebuilding the former glory of their species.

Things were going well for the Krogan. Despite many efforts, Wrex was able to keep the more violent clans in check as their species slowly worked to recapture their former glory.

The discovery of the multiverse, the creation of the IDA, and the forming of the Republic and Separatists, were definitely unusual events, but the Krogan took it in stride. Things had been going well.

Then the Flood attacked.

The Parasite had ravaged their way through the multiverse, consuming everything in their path. A lot of the more bitter clans laughed as many worlds in Citadel Space were overrun. But the laughter died when the Flood came after them.

Wrex attempted to rally the clans once more, and while he was able to get a considerable amount to follow his commands, others still either went their own way or refused to answer.

Most of Clan Nakmor had vanished prior to the Reaper war, and no one had seen them since. Other more violent clans had attacked the Parasite head on, counting on their numbers to win the day.

Against any other opponent, the number of bodies the krogan could throw would've certainly given them pause. But that strategy was the absolute worst thing they could've done against the Flood.

Eventually, the Parasite made their way toward Krogan space before touching down on Tuchanka itself. Even the Reapers had difficulty taking over this world, but the Flood, they were adapting easily.

It became clear that the unthinkable would have to happen if the Krogan were to survive: they would have to abandon Tuchanka. Wrex found it difficult to give the order, and indeed, a number of clans had refused, preferring to fight to the bitter end.

The Flood corrupted every life form they touched, and the Krogan were no exception. Infected Krogan were stronger than they had been previously, and their regeneration tended to make them much harder to put down. Then again, the same could be said for the rest of Tuchankan wildlife.

"Wrex!" He was drawn back to his senses, just in time to see yet another wave coming over the hill. And this time, they had air units.

"We can't hold this position!" Wrex cursed. "Fall back! Fall back!"

Everything halted when the ground began to shake. Then, a massive worm-like shape emerged from the ground, some distance away from the camp. It began slithering towards them, spitting blobs of Flood biomass at the krogan lines and ignoring all the fire against it.

The creature that had once been a Thresher Maw was now covered with cancerous yellow-green flesh. Tentacles sprouted haphazardly on the monster, while sacs of yellow fluid could be seen everywhere.

Acid emerged from multiple orifices, while several sacs popped, releasing either clouds of spores or infection forms. Screeching above drew attention to the Harvesters, who had also become mobile spore creators.

On the ground, rolling Flood forms made their way to Urdnot lines, before unfurling themselves into long tentacled monstrosities, grabbing many krogan and dragging them into the Flood lines.

The Parasite moved towards Urdnot like a tidal wave, swallowing everything in their path. Several krogan were too slow and were overwhelmed by the Flood. The Thresher Maw broke through the camp lines with ease, bringing hordes of infection forms with them.

It was no longer a semi-organized retreat, but a close-quarters brawl for survival. Wrex glowed with biotic energy, sending dozens of infection and combat forms flying, splattering them against the walls or floor. Other krogan were not so fortunate, most being overwhelmed by the hordes of monstrosities.

Red started creeping into his vision, but he kept the blood rage in check. As painful as it was to watch his people die, he couldn't charge in and let himself fall in the process. Reluctantly, he detached himself from the battle, gathering up the krogan closest to him as they made their way to the landing site.

Several Flood forms moved to follow them, chasing them down the narrow passageway. Weapon fire bounced off Wrex's barrier, but the Flood were unrelenting, their attacks dropping two other warriors before they reached the end of the hall. And at the end was a sight for Wrex's sore eyes.

"Take cover!"

The new arrivals ducked to the side of the entrance as three krogan armed with Firestorms unleashed their weapons into the chokepoint. Flames erupted, burning the Parasite to the ground, and Wrex felt grim satisfaction at their dying screams.

After the entrance was covered in flames and the popping of dead Flood, only then did Wrex get a good look at the krogan leading his saviors. He smiled and laughed, reaching out to clasp his hand.

"Good to see you Grunt."

"And you Chieftain." Grunt laughed. "I figured you might need a hand."

"I guess you could say that." Wrex's voice turned solemn as he looked around. "Is this everyone?"

"Everyone who's left." Grunt's boisterous voice also turned solemn. "You're the last ones on the planet." Rumbling drew their attention back to the horde of Flood coming their way.

"Then there's no point in staying." Wrex growled. "Everybody, get onto your shuttles!" A Flood Maw crashed through the wall. "Move now!"

The remaining Krogan rushed to the shuttles, Wrex among them. As soon as everyone was onboard their ships, the pilots immediately took off, some blasting through Flood forms as they did so.

Not everyone made: one shuttle was overwhelmed while it was still on the landing pad, and another crashed into a Flood Thresher maw as it flew away, destroying the ship and killing the infected creature on contact. Another maw spat acid at a shuttle, damaging it severely, allowing several infected harvesters to swoop in and overwhelm its defenses.

Wrex watched all this from the safety of his ship, looking away as even more of his people died. As the ground grew further and further away, he could see the massive horde of Flood overrunning the camp, and could even see the outline of what used to be Kalros slithering its way over the landscape. Massive tentacles emerged from the beast, becoming what they had heard was called a Proto-Gravemind.

Then the clouds thankfully covered the view as they flew into open space. Of course, once outside the atmosphere, the view of Tuchanka could be seen again, and not for the better.

The Krogan homeworld had never been a pleasant sight to look at, but now it looked even worse. Yellow-green biomass was slowly taking over the landscape, with large mountains of biomass already spreading clouds of spores into the atmosphere.

Tearing his gaze from the corrupted world, Wrex turned to the cockpit and walked over to the pilot station, taking a glance at the sensor station and what ships had made it offworld. There were fewer than he would've liked.

"We're a minute away from the fleet, Chieftain." The pilot reported, noticing his presence. "It's coming into view now."

The fleet wasn't much. Even after all these years, the krogan were still treated with suspicion and were not allowed to create any dreadnoughts of their own. Only a few ships were new, everything else was nearly fifty years old at minimum.

Still, the bulk of the krogan on Tuchanka were gathered here, now nomads away from their own home. Wrex snorted internally. He was glad he had listened to Tali's stories about life on the Migrant Fleet, so he had at least some idea of how his species could survive like this.

Then again, what worked for Quarians wouldn't necessarily work as well for the krogan. But that was for later: right now, Wrex's main concern was getting his people out of the system before the Flood followed them.

As soon as the shuttle touched down on the flagship (which was the first Krogan-built carrier), Wrex's feet were already moving, strolling at a brisk pace towards the bridge. Every Krogan who saw him got out of his way, all except one.

"Wrex, you made it." Urdnot Bakara changed direction as soon as she saw him, matching his pace as she walked beside him. "The clans need someone to rally them. They want to reclaim Tuchanka."

"And we will, but not today." Wrex growled. "For now, we're regrouping and leaving the system."

Wrex walked onto the bridge of the ship, which was rather large compared to most species in order to accommodate the krogan. As soon as they acknowledged him, the Urdnot leader began ordering that their ships would withdraw.

"Chieftain!" One of the bridge officers shouted. "More evacuation ships are coming in from Tuchanka."

"I thought we were the last ones out." Wrex commented.

"They claim to have been delayed by Flood attacks." The comms officer said. "They're requesting permission to board."

Wrex's eyes narrowed. It sounded reasonable enough, but the Flood had proven just how ruthless and cunning they could be. It was certainly possible that these shuttles were telling the truth, and had managed to escape from the Parasite. But if they hadn't...

"Shoot them down." Wrex ordered, his voice thick with self-loathing, knowing that he could be condemning more of his people to death. "Don't let any of them onboard."

"Sir?"

"Just do it!" He snapped angrily.

"Wrex, what are you doing?" Bakara was horrified. "Those are our people!"

"Not anymore." Wrex said. "It's a trap. The Flood are trying to get us to lower our defenses."

"And if they're telling the truth?" The female shaman didn't sound like she believed her own words now, but it was a question she had to ask.

"I can't take that chance."

Outside, the lead shuttle was destroyed as a GARDIAN laser lanced out, drilling through its cockpit and mass effect core. Upon seeing this, the rest of the shuttles accelerated, trying to overwhelm the defenses with their numbers, but it was all for naught.

Unfortunately, they weren't out of danger yet.

"Sir, a large fleet just emerged from the mass relay." The sensor operator reported. "I'm getting unnatural bio readings from each of the ships."

"It's the Parasite." Bakara whispered. "They're trying to block our escape."

"They're launching boarding pods!"

"Shoot them down." Wrex ordered, before turning to the navigators. "How long until we can jump to FTL?"

"A few minutes." The krogan replied. "Some of the older vessels need more time to warm up their drives."

"Then we're not leaving until they're prepared."

The Krogan fleet fired, mass accelerators and GARDIAN lasers streaking through the void at the Flood pods and controlled fighters. The Parasite retaliated with precise fire, forcing many ships to take evasive action.

Some vessels weren't so quick and suffered dearly, as precise shots either destroyed or crippled them, leaving the crews vulnerable to the vacuum of space or being infected. Wrex noted the losses with a solemn heart.

Eventually, every surviving ship reported that they were ready to jump to FTL. And just in time too, as a Reaper appeared from the mass relay. Once the scourge of their galaxy, the Citadel species had upgraded their dreadnoughts to the point where a single one could destroy a Reaper capital ship in a one on one battle.

Unfortunately, the krogan didn't have a dreadnought to their name, so Wrex gave the order to flee from the infected fleet. Before they jumped, the Urdnot Chieftain took one last look at Tuchanka, which was already being terraformed by the Flood.

He swore to reclaim it someday before space vanished in a sea of blue light.

Chapter Text

It had been a trying time for the Resistance. Though the Combine Citadel in City 17 had been destroyed, and thus their pathway to the rest of their Empire, the local Overwatch forces were still numerous in number.

A number of battles had been fought, culminating in the conflict at White Forest where the Resistance was able to keep the Combine from creating another Superportal from the Citadel ruins, albeit at the unfortunate loss of Eli Vance.

His daughter Alyx, unfortunately had little time to mourn, as she and Gordon Freeman still had a mission to meet up with Judith Mossman and find the Borealis, a legendary Aperture Science research vessel that had gone missing years ago.

Mossman's last report indicated that she and her team were up north, but it seemed that the Combine were on their trail, hoping to scour the research ship as well. The two Resistance heroes had headed north on the helicopter they recovered, before bad weather forced them to crash land and proceed on foot.

Unsurprisingly, Alyx had been rather sullen throughout their journey, as opposed to her usual fairly jovial mood. Gordon himself wasn't much better, but while Eli had been a good friend to him, Alyx had been his daughter; he could only imagine what kind of pain she was feeling.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do much to comfort her: Combine forces had noticed the crash and the duo were beset upon by Overwatch soldiers alongside escorts of Hunters, and the occasional gunship or Hunter-Chopper.

And throughout all this, Gordon was also distracted by what little Eli had told him about their 'mutual friend'. The image didn't paint a pretty picture, and considering Eli's death happened before he could reveal more, well... Gordon doubted it was a coincidence.

He didn't have much time to ponder these events, as the two allies made their way through the snowy landscape, eventually coming across the compound where Mossman had made her transmission.

Several Resistance fighters had stayed behind to cover her escape, and were close to being overrun by Combine soldiers backed by Hunters when Gordon and Alyx appeared, beating them back.

The soldiers within revealed that Mossman had headed in the direction of the Borealis, which wasn't too far away from where they were now. The heroes of the Resistance took a snowmobile in that direction, avoiding a number of zombies, Rollermines, and evading a Combine gunship that attempted to kill them.

Gordon eventually managed to shoot the Synth war machine down, and a few minutes later, the Borealis was in sight. Unfortunately, the Combine were crawling all over the ship, with Striders and Hunters patrolling around it.

Luckily, the Combine hadn't actually managed to really remove whatever tech was inside, which meant Gordon and Alyx still had a chance to meet up with Mossman and discuss their next move.

Her makeshift headquarters weren't much: it was a run down prefab building, likely used for research purposes prior to the Seven Hour War. Now, the Resistance had taken the place over, connecting to the nearby radio tower with enough power to contact White Forest.

It was here that Alyx and Gordon found Judith, who was in the middle of discussing things with Dr. Kleiner. A Vortigaunt was also present, standing off to the side as the two scientists spoke to each other. And it seemed Kleiner was telling Mossman about the unfortunate events at White Forest.

"Eli's dead?" She was clearly holding back tears. "No, it can't be true."

"It is." Alyx's monotone voice drew everyone's attention to their arrival. "We saw it happen personally."

"Alyx... I am so sorry." Judith approached the young woman, then hesitated, not sure whether or not put her hand on her shoulder or hug her. "He was a good man."

"Yeah. He was."

Silence reigned for a moment, as the full weight of Eli's loss sank in. Everyone present had been close to him in some way, and to lose him like this, just after one of their greatest victories was just unbearable.

"We'll have time to mourn Eli later." Gordon hated having to do this, but they needed to stay focused. "We need to know what the Combine want with the Borealis."

"Right." Mossman cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "Yes, as I was calling to tell White Forest, I do have some news in that regard. I'm still not too sure what's onboard that ship, but the Combine managed to make contact with their Overworld again."

"What?!"

"Does that mean we have another superportal to deal with?" Gordon asked. Mossman shook her head.

"That's the strange thing." She walked over to a nearby terminal, keying up some data. "The transmission was cut off right after it started. And Ezekiel... well, you tell them." She gestured to the Vortigaunt standing to the side.

"The Shu'ulathoi, Advisors, cut the transmission off here." The Vortigaunt explained. "Peering through the Vortessence, we have caught glimpses of the other side. The Combine Overworld lies in ruins."

"So, the Combine is gone?" Kleiner asked, a modicum of hope.

"We can't be sure of that." Mossman said. "Not without more data. But considering the circumstances, I think it's safe to assume that the greater Universal Union as at least crippled for the moment."

"How is that possible?" Alyx interjected. "What could do something like this?"

"I can't be sure." The Vortigaunt said hesitantly. "But the Shu'ulathoi do not want it to follow them here."

"That's great news!" Kleiner exclaimed. "If this is true, then we have no need to fear Combine reinforcements."

"Perhaps, but we must be cautious." Magnusson walked onto the screen next to Kleiner. "If there is something that has crippled the Combine, then I don't think we want it anywhere near Earth."

"It also begs the question as to what the Combine forces still on planet will do now." Mossman added. "If they can't get reinforcements, well... a desperate enemy is a dangerous one."

Gordon was about to agree when the world froze. Everything became blurry as time stood still, an increasingly familiar sensation to the physicist as his so called 'benefactor' made his appearance.

"Doctor Freeman." The suited man appeared in the middle of Gordon's vision, spatially overlapping against everyone else. "I am... here with a warning for you. The Borealis... is a vessel of great power... one which certain... interested parties might wish to obtain. Now... time is very short... but-"

The G-Man paused in mid-sentence, which terrified Gordon, then the entity looked at something to his right, something Gordon couldn't see. "I'm afraid that I must... cut... this short, Doctor Freeman." If Gordon wasn't mistaken, the G-Man almost seemed... afraid.

The G-Man abruptly vanished, causing time to resume normally. Gordon shook his head, clearing it before looking around. It seemed no one had noticed his little conversation once more.

Still, this exchange only brought more confusion, as well as a spike of fear up Freeman's spine. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the G-Man had contacted him now. That man had been unflappable through everything that had happened. To hear him so worried about what was happening to the Combine, well... it wasn't a pleasant thought.

"Regardless, your mission has not changed." Magnusson's voice brought Gordon's attention back to the situation at hand. "We must ascertain what is on the Borealis and ensure that the Combine don't claim it."

And with that, the attention shifted back to the task at hand.

"We have a major problem."

"I take it you've heard the news."

"The Universal Union's been consumed by the Flood already. We didn't account for this."

"C'mon, we knew that was inevitable."

"It should've taken years at the minimum, not weeks! How the fuck did this happen?"

"I don't know! The Combine may have been bloated but they weren't stupid. Their destruction should've bought us more time... unless they had help from someone..."

"What? Who are you talking... Oh. That. Little. Shit!"

"I think I have an angry conversation to make in the near future."

"You and me both."

...

In a black featureless void, a rectangle of white light appeared out of thin air and a man wearing a suit and holding a briefcase stepped through the entrance. As soon as the doorway in space time closed, the G-man began walking away, with a quicker gait than usual for someone like him.

"Going somewhere?"

A voice emerged from his right. Young, male with a barely contained undertone of fury. A chill went through the G-man's essence as he turned to regard this familiar voice. He was leaning against an invisible wall with his arms crossed, clad in the armor he often wore whenever he went into direct combat.

"Indeed." The G-Man adjusted his tie. "I have some... business... to take care of-"

"It can wait." Another voice appeared behind the G-Man, causing him to turn and see another armored figure standing there as well. "We need to have a talk." The look on the Separatist Ruler's face was anything but friendly.

"More specifically," The G-Man turned again to the Republic Supreme Commander behind him, fury etched onto his visage. "on just what the hell you WERE THINKING?!"

"I don't... believe I know... what you are... talking about."

"Really?" The Separatist Ruler drawled. "So you didn't notice the fact that the Universal Union fell to the Flood in a matter of weeks? You had nothing to do with that?"

"I can... assure you, I... was not involved with that." The G-Man blinked as his briefcase disappeared from his hand.

"Judging by the evidence, I'd say you had involvement." The Supreme Commander had the G-Man's briefcase open and was looking through it. "In fact, the Gravemind contacted you specifically." Without warning, the Separatist Ruler had his hand wrapped around the G-Man's neck.

"Are you really surprised that thing betrayed you?" The Separatist Ruler lifted the man up. "It's been known to do that."

"You... cannot do this." The G-Man gasped. "My employers-"

"Have already been sealed away." The Supreme Commander replied. "It was either that or the Parasite, and they chose wisely."

"The question remains;" The Supreme Commander's glare turned back to the suited entity. "what should we do with you?"

Chapter Text

Things hadn't been going well in Skyland. Ever since Mahad and Lena had broken their mother out of Kharzem prison, the Sphere had redoubled their efforts to destroy the Pirates.

Fortunately, many other blocks had joined them, allowing their resistance to really take off. Unfortunately, Oslo had survived and redoubled his efforts to recapture the Farrell family.

This 'witch' was rumored to use magic crystals to aid the Sphere, bringing an army of strange and terrifying monsters and machines to her fold. According to what intel they could find, her name was Master Cyclonis.

Her Night Crawlers were odd creatures: humanoid beings with black skin, dark-hooded clothing and glowing eyes. They also came with strange motorcycle-type vehicles that could transform into gliders. Fortunately, they seemed weak against Seijin power, but they were also more intelligent and used strange crystal weapons in their fights.

Fortunately, aid had come from an unexpected source. A group of children, called the Storm Hawks had interrupted one of the battles with Cyclonis and the Sphere, driving them back all while armed with similar crystal weapons.

When the fighting was over, the Pirates were surprised to find that three of these Storm Hawks weren't human, but were even more surprised to learn where they had come from: they claimed to have come from a world called Atmos, which was in an entirely separate universe.

Naturally, there was some skepticism at first, but that faded when they had created a portal to their world, and brought them through to see for themselves. These 'Terras' were eerily similar to blocks at first glance, but their nature as mountaintop lands was revealed when they flew below the cloud barrier.

There was solid ground on Atmos' surface, albeit infested with lava and giant monsters. Still, for the people who had lived all their lives on floating rocks, it was the most incredible thing they had ever seen.

Unfortunately, Cyclonis could also create portals to their world, and began using the crystals and what support she could to aid the Sphere in their conquest of Skyland. Battles had been raged all across the shattered world, with one of the latest being an all out assault by the free Blocks on Sphere territory.

During this particular fight, the Storm Hawks had apparently requested reinforcements, which had come from an unexpected source (to both parties). A team of young adults, led by a woman named Avatar Korra, had emerged from their own world to aid in this fight.

There were four others with her: Asami Sato, the two brothers Mako and Bolin, and Opal Beifong. With the exception of Asami, all members of this team had the ability to manipulate the elements, with Korra being able to bend water, air, earth and fire.

Even with this unexpected windfall, the battle against the Sphere was still proving difficult. The Storm Hawks were doing what they could, with Piper and Aerrow fighting off Cyclonis, and Team Avatar were dealing with the Sphere however they could, with Lena and her mother fighting Oslo.

But the structure they were fighting over was one of the Sphere's largest holdings, made of at least three blocks containing old cityscapes, connected by large bridges and heavy machinery. A significant amount of this location was dedicated to creating Brigs and Patrollers, and human Sphere soldiers were also trained here.

At this stage, the tide could turn in either direction. Then suddenly, three meteors emerged from sky and streaked towards the Sphere structure. Onboard the St. Nazaire, Cortes watched from the helm as they fell.

Cortes grimaced as the meteors struck the city, having hoped to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. Strangely, the meteors actually seemed to have deliberately been aimed at important sectors.

One meteor had impacted near the manufacturing sector, while another had landed in the heart of the civilian habitation zone. The third had impacted just outside the Sphere command center.

"Uh sir, we're getting some strange readings from those meteors." Dahlia reported. "Almost like they're... organic."

"Wayan, Mahad. I need you to investigate those impact sites." Cortes ordered. The two were flying in Mosquito fighters, fighting through the skies as well, but diverged from the battle at that order. There was a long moment before they spoke.

"Cortes... I don't know what to tell you..."

"There are some kind of monsters down here!" Mahad interrupted, panic in his tone. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"We have." Aerrow's voice unexpectedly came over the radio, his tone grim. "It's the Flood." Stork spoke next, his words deadpan, predictable and true.

"We're doomed."

Team Avatar had been approaching the city when the Flood meteors impacted and the reports came over the radio. Fortunately, they were a fair distance away from the impact site, but unfortunately, the Flood were quick to spread, easily infecting the human workers and overpowering the Brigadiers.

"Keep the pressure up!" Korra shouted, her eyes glowing. "We need to contain them however we can!"

Bolin and Mako nodded, creating lava and fire respectively as the first wave of ground-bound Flood approached. The extreme heat, easily dealt with the infection forms, while Opal and Korra used their airbending to halt the Parasite's advance however they could.

Unfortunately, the Flood quickly adapted to Skyland's unusual environment. Seeder infectors took to the sky, targeting the airships flying above them. The battle dissolved into chaos, something the Parasite was quick to exploit.

The Storm Hawks now had a new issue of avoiding the Flood. The same could also be said of Asami, who had taken an interest to this world's vehicles and Atmos' skimmers, so much so that she built a hybrid, a skimmer powered by the same tech base as Skyland.

And right now, they all needed all the skill and power they could get. It had been less than five minutes since the meteors impacted and already the Flood were spreading quickly. Skyland was facing a plague unlike anything they had ever seen before.

Seeder forms spread throughout, aiming for the aircraft and diving after those that tried to flee. One had already latched onto a patroller, forcing the Brig pilot aside as it took control.

Truth be told, it was a new and unpleasant experience for all of them: while both Atmos and the Bending Earth had been attacked by the Flood, neither the Storm Hawks nor Team Avatar had had the displeasure of fighting the Flood up close, the former having been kept away by Republic agents and the latter (excluding Opal) having had to deal with Dark Samus and corrupted spirits.

The members of Team Avatar were soon forced to retreat, evacuating the city however they could as the Parasite quickly and efficiently overran the Sphere's territory. Asami and the Storm Hawks helped how they could, but even they were getting hard-pressed to do anything.

Meanwhile, Oslo, Mila and Lena were forced to break off their fight when they were hurled away by a powerful blast of energy. The three were scattered to different platforms, where they recovered to see an infected Seijin floating in front of them.

"What is this?" Oslo demanded, his voice angry with a tinge of fear.

The woman's head was twisted in an unnatural direction, her visage a permanent expression of terror. And the creature was radiating an unnatural amount of power, which it didn't hesitate to unleash against them.

Lena and Mila were forced to work with their worst enemy in order to survive, as they and Oslo were pushed back against so much power. While Oslo and Mila held on against this creature, Lena gathered her own energy, unleashing a blast which tore the creature apart.

"What was that?" Lena asked, staggering to her feet. Before her mother could answer, Mahad's voice came over the radio.

"Mom, Lena!" He shouted as his ship flew towards them. "We have to go, right now!" A blast of power knocked them back before pulling the two Seijins towards Oslo.

"You are not going anywhere." The Sphere commander said as the two Farrel Seijins struggled against him. "You will come with me, no matter what you do!"

Suddenly, a pair of crystal-tipped crossbow bolts impacted near Oslo's feet, stunning him and breaking his concentration. He didn't have a chance to recover as the block platform he was standing on suddenly broke apart, sending the Seijin flying.

"Have a nice flight." Junko mockingly saluted, his Knuckle Busters glowing green. Then he turned to Lena and Mila. "Ladies, I believe it's time that we leave." With Mahad flying up behind them, the two Seijins didn't argue.

...

Elsewhere, the battle was still going in the Flood's favor. Combat forms were able to leap between pieces of debris, guided by a mind and showing grace and agility that they were rarely shown to have.

Fortunately, the Flood weren't strong enough to leap between larger distances on their own. Unfortunately, the flying seeder forms, new flying pure forms, and the infected ships were more than enough to make up for that.

The leader of the Storm Hawks had flown through the debris, trying to aid in evacuations however he could. Currently, he was on the roof of an old building, his blades out as he fought against the Parasite.

Aerrow carved a combat form to pieces before unleashing an energy blast at another bearing down on him. Radarr's screech drew his attention, and the Sky Knight leapt off the edge of the block and landed on his skimmer.

Meanwhile, Cyclonis was getting overwhelmed by combat forms, several of which were some of her now former Night Crawlers. She blasted several apart, but more just took her place, and soon she was forced to create a shield around herself to hold back the coming tide.

"What are these things?" She cried, straining as the Parasite battered away at her shields. The answer came from an unexpected source.

"This is what you wanted to let onto Atmos!" Piper said, flying through the air as she blasted infected birds. "You did let them onto our world!"

"Thank you for pointing the way, Cyclonis." A rasping baritone voice emerged from the Flood forms battering at her shield. "Now you are food."

With a roar, Master Cyclonis unleashed a powerful shockwave, her crystal magic hurling all the Flood away from her. With a start, she realized that they were already recovering and more were arriving.

The purple crystal on her staff emitted a brief glow, summoning one of the few remaining Night Crawlers to her position. She didn't need to say anything as the creature pulled her close and flew away with her.

As Piper watched, Cyclonis linked up with the remains of the Sphere, before forcing herself to fly off, as three infected Patrollers were bearing down on her. Abruptly, one of them exploded, the cause of which was revealed to be Aerrow, who slowed and allowed Piper to land on the wing of his skimmer.

"You alright?"

"I'll be fine." Piper replied, taking a moment to catch her breath. However, several energy bolts and Radarr's screeching reminded them that they still had two infected Patrollers on their tail.

"Ready for another round?" Piper asked, holding a green crystal in her hand.

"I thought you'd never ask." Aerrow grinned as he turned his skimmer around. Piper glowed as she infused him with the crystal's power.

"Titan's Might!"

...

Korra flew through the air on her glider, weaving through the chaos however she could. Opal was in the same boat, as the two airbenders kept moving to avoid the Flood that were bearing down on them.

Mako and Bolin were already getting to safety, thanks to the latter's Earthbending: the unique nature of Skyland allowed the lavabender to use his bending for a limited measure of flight. It wasn't quick, but it worked long enough for the Condor to pick them up.

Unfortunately, the Flood didn't miss the two vulnerable airbenders, and swarms of the Parasite followed. Most of them were particularly interested in Korra, for obvious reasons, and she found herself swarmed by the Flood, losing track of Opal as she avoided projectiles and infection forms as best as she could. Then her luck ran out.

Something impacted the staff of her glider, splitting it in two. The Avatar plummeted, using her airbending to cushion her fall and landing on a small piece of Earth, barely wide enough for four people. She wasn't alone long, as a flying pure form shifted into the lumbering tank, which landed right behind her.

Korra launched herself away from the Tank form's arm, hurling fire at it as she did. She landed on a smaller block, a pair of organic spikes narrowly whizzing past her head before she summoned a stone barrier to block the rest of the ranged form's barrage.

Unfortunately, more Flood landed nearby, and Korra was forced to bring up more stone to protect herself, creating a small cocoon that kept the impacts from reaching. However, the barrage wouldn't let up, and the Avatar was forced to burrow through the block she was standing on, just as the stone above her collapsed. She landed on a block below, but it didn't take long for more of the Flood to arrive.

"The failure Avatar. The first of the new cycle." The Gravemind's voice taunted. "You will be the last."

Gritting her teeth, Korra activated the Avatar State, unleashing a massive whirlwind that tossed the Flood away from her. Rising into the air, she unleashed fire from her limbs and mouth, while blocks gathered around her and water was pulled from the clouds around her.

"I'm not done yet!" Korra shouted, unleashing a precise elemental wave that carved through the Parasite swarm.

Despite the extra power, she knew that staying would mean that she would be overwhelmed, and so unleashed fire from her feet and hands, jetting through the sky as fast as she could.

Despite that, the Parasite recovered rather quickly, and another infected Seijin was at the forefront. Korra drew debris from nearby, both metal and earth, before hurling them at the solar-powered combat form.

A field of energy protected the Flood form, and it responded with an energy blast of its own, knocking Korra out of the Avatar state. She was barely able to slow her resulting fall, landing on yet another block before using Earthbending to launch herself away from another blast.

Activating the Avatar State again, Korra reached out with the elements, forming a sphere of earth, fire, water and air around the Seijin, similar to the one she used in effort to contain Vaatu.

This time it worked much better, as she brought the elements down on the Flood form, overwhelming its powers and slowly crushing it. Pulling herself out of the Avatar State, she quickly realized that the remaining Flood were moving to overwhelm her once again.

"Korra!" The Avatar in question looked up and smiled at the sight, then launched herself with air and earth bending and landed on the back of Asami's custom skimmer.

"Thanks for the help." Korra panted, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's waist.

"Always." Asami smiled, before going full throttle.

They reached the Condor, where everyone of the Storm Hawks and Team Avatar had arrived safely. After a quick meeting, Stork brought the ship closer to the St. Nazaire, doing what they could to get the Flood off their backs.

"So... what do we do now?" Mahad asked once the Parasite was nowhere near them.

The rest pondered his question as they looked out over the distance: the Flood had all but overrun the Sphere facility that they'd been attacking, with the token containment by the Sphere being overrun easily.

"Please tell me that someone's contacted the Republic." Mako said, turning to everyone on the Condor's deck.

"I sent out an alert." Piper replied. "They said they'd be here soon-" At that moment, there was a flash in the sky as more portals appeared and a voice broke out over the radio.

"Reinforcements have arrived."

The Pirates stared at the new arrivals: massive ships stretching over 5 kilometers hung in the sky, representing the basic cruisers of the Republic and Separatists. Kilometer/mile long frigates and destroyers were also present, and the air around them quickly became swarmed with fighters and drones.

"It's about time!" Finn shouted.

The Commodore watched as fighters and drones streaked through the sky, already dealing with the Flood where it landed. Beams of light and missile trails marked the devastation, as it was clear that the Sphere forces had all but been overrun by the Parasite.

Fighters effortlessly tracked down patrollers that attempted to escape, blowing them out of the sky alongside any ship that the Parasite had currently commandeered. Some uninfected Sphere ships apparently hadn't gotten the memo about the Flood, and moved to foolishly attack the Republic and Separatists.

"Ignore them for now." The Commodore ordered when he heard this. "We don't have time to deal with the Sphere's antics."

"Understood." The officer replied. "What of the impact sites?"

"Any survivors that can be safely extracted?"

"No sir." The AI replied, shaking her head.

"Then don't waste any time." The Commodore's expression hardened. "Destroy them."

Beams of energy lanced out from the capital ships, bathing the Sphere structures in apocalyptic fire. Every organic on the surface was instantly vaporized, and the buildings followed milliseconds later.

The blocks and structures instantly shattered into thousands of white hot shards, ensuring nothing would survive. Despite this, the Parasite was still free to run loose, having ample space to flee and spread.

Due to the nature of Skyland, the infestation was more difficult to contain, as the Parasite could launch themselves to dozens of different blocks, inhabited or otherwise. If necessary, they could collapse all of Skyland into a singularity, but the Republic and Separatists weren't willing to do that just yet.

They were however, willing to use nukes and antimatter bombs to clear out clusters of infested blocks. It wasn't nearly as precise as the superpowers preferred, but it was necessary.

Eventually, the firepower they brought to bear was too much, and after an hour and a half, they confirmed that the last trace of the Parasite had been swept away, and now all that was left were the surviving vessels and people who survived that conflict, the Avatar's team and the Storm Hawks among them.

"Scan everything and get any who remain into decontamination." The Commodore ordered. "We can't leave any trace of Flood biomatter behind."

It was standard procedure where the Flood was concerned, and unsurprisingly, the crews were rather efficient in that regard. Sentinels and drones swept their scanners over the survivors, while ship-based sensors scanned the entire region, disintegrating all Flood biomass that remained.

Fortunately, they came up clean, and with decontamination complete, the two fleets immediately withdrew from the battlefield. Unsurprisingly, not many of the locals were entirely thrilled about that.

...

"That's it?" Cortes asked incredulously. "They destroy hundreds of blocks killing these creatures and then just straight up leave?"

"Well the same happened on our world." Junko admitted.

"Why would they leave?" Mahad protested. "I mean with that kind of power, taking down the Sphere and Cyclonis would be easy."

"And the Flood would continue their rampage through the rest of the multiverse." Korra countered, suddenly sounding very tired. "This was but a tiny fraction of something far larger."

"I take it you've seen this before." Wayan said. There was a brief pause as the Storm Hawks and Team Avatar looked at each other.

"Yeah."

"You could say that." Asami ran her hands through her face. "It wasn't pleasant the first time."

"And if they come back again?" Dahlia asked. "What would they do if the Flood spread throughout Skyland?"

No one answered.

Chapter Text

They had finally done it: it had taken the efforts of agents from both the Republic and Separatists, but they were able to claim all the artifacts designed by the Ancients, supposedly meant to help destroy the Flood.

According to the data from the Ancient logs, the faction had known that the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler would come to be with such power, and that said power could be used to destroy the Flood if it could be controlled.

The small pyramidal devices looked like they were made of stone with a strange blue crystal on top. On the surface, they seemed like simple constructions, but they channeled and amplified power into a destructive effect that solely targeted Neural Physics constructs, which included most Precursor structures and the Flood themselves.

Some scientists had asked why the Ancients hadn't gifted the Forerunners with these to use with the Halo Array, but it seemed that the Ancients could only make these devices work if either of the two superpower leaders were to use them.

Even with their best efforts, no one had any idea how these things were created, not even the two leaders themselves. Still, from the Ancient logs, one thing was clear; they needed to use these things at the heart of the Flood, this Galactic Mind in order for them to truly wipe out the infection. And not a moment too soon.

After five years, the Flood were slowly grinding down on the factions of the IDA, and even the Republic and Separatists were getting strained from the numbers of several universes. Strangely, the Gravemind seemed to be encircling every faction, instead of immediately aiming for a decapitation strike like military analysts had assumed they would.

Now though, things were changing. Star Roads had started to appear in the outskirts of the multiverse, rendering even the fleets of the superpowers helpless to the Parasite. The Supreme Commander and the Ruler each had the power to destroy Star Roads themselves, but they couldn't be everywhere at once. They had to go to the source with these artifacts and destroy the Parasite from there. It seemed like it would be a relatively simple task, especially with the known coordinates of this being.

Naturally, their first inclination that things were going wrong was when they emerged from their long range teleportation three billion light years from their destination, which incidentally gave them a good view of the scale they were up against.

"I'm starting to feel less confident about this." The Republic Supreme Commander muttered.

They had known just how large it was from the Ancient logs, but actually seeing in person really put the scale in perspective. It was a huge shell of Flood biomass surrounding a billion lightyear in diameter galaxy. Trillions upon trillions of Star Roads and other Precursor artifacts were woven into its form, creating gigantic tentacles the length of galaxies.

The very fabric of space and time seemed to warp around this being, forming cracks and tears in reality, no doubt of its own creation. A gigantic head emerged in the 'center' of the galaxy, and turned toward them.

"You are naught but dust and dreams," its voice came from everywhere, in every form of communication imaginable, penetrating the very minds of both gods. "defacing my design. Patience is gone, your time now done," two streaks hurtled towards them at billions of times the speed of light, and both barely had time to destroy the literal shooting stars an instant before they impacted. Despite this, it wasn't even concerned. "For all reality is mine!"

"I'm guessing you can't teleport any closer?" The Separatist Ruler asked, his Republic counterpart, who shook his head. "Yeah, me neither."

"I guess we're doing this the hard way then." The Supreme Commander said. "This thing thinks we're nothing to it." Blue-white energy began glowing around him. "Let's disabuse it of that notion, shall we."

The two turned into massive streaks hurtling toward the abomination. It didn't fail to notice this, as massive tears in reality intercepted their paths, forcing them to either maneuver around or deal with them, as the very fabric of reality tore apart in their battle.

...

It had taken them hours to get through to the Gravemind's body itself, and that certainly hadn't been an easy task. Several times, either one or both had been knocked off course, or even displaced to an entirely separate plane of reality, forcing more and more delays.

But eventually they had managed to break through the shell and into the galaxy itself. And already the two gods were horrified. Stars and planets were connected by either more star roads, massive tendrils of Flood biomass, or both, creating a massive maze of an internal structure.

But it was the species within that provided the most horror. Millions upon millions of unknown species existed on several worlds, suffering through agony and pain beyond comprehension. The worst part was how easily they let themselves suffer this fate, as sacrifices and torture victims at the whims of the Flood. They had known absolutely nothing else other than this.

This was what the Flood wanted, why they let reality exist. Why they went with all these machinations and schemes to cause war and strife instead of just unmaking the multiverse in an instant. They wanted torment, they wanted suffering, and didn't care how long it would take to get there.

They had to end this, one way or another. Unfortunately, the Gravemind wasn't going to make that easy. Energy blasts, tears in reality, and massive tentacles moved to block their passage at every turn, and the interior of the abomination was a literal maze.

"Why don't we just do it here?" The Separatist Ruler pointed out, as he destroyed another tentacle and grunted as another blast hit him. "Does it really matter where it happens?"

"We only have one chance with this." The Supreme Commander replied. "I'd rather find the heart of this thing in order to be certain."

"At the rate we're going, the rest of the multiverse won't last long." His counterpart argued. "If we don't do this soon, there won't be anyone left to save."

"And if we do do this wrong, it'll just start all over again." A tear in reality opened, and promptly was dealt with by the duo.

"Then we need to clear a path."

The Separatist Leader briefly gathered his power, then unleashed it, creating an effect equivalent to the Halo that disintegrated every form of Flood and Precursor structure in its wake. Unfortunately, the effect fell far short of what the two had been hoping, only clearing 100,000 lightyears as opposed to the 100 million he had been going for.

To make matters worse, the damage was already starting to regenerate, and an angry roar reverberated throughout the Gravemind's body as the two rushed to clear through the path as fast they could. They were beset upon by more attacks than they had suffered by three orders of magnitude.

"I think you made it angry."

"Isn't that good?" The Separatist Ruler countered. "It focuses more attention on us than the rest of the multiverse."

"... Can't argue with that." The two found their path blocked, and the Republic Supreme Commander sighed. "I've got this one." Charging up his power, he let loose more energy than his counterpart had previously, only to find the result had been even less impressive. "This is going to take a while."

...

Eventually, they had made it to what could technically count as the 'heart' of this being's body in the center of this galaxy. Billions of stars and black holes existed here, connected by massive strands of star roads and Flood biomatter. On the whole, the closest description the two gods could compare this too was a huge diseased brain (which was more or less what it was).

The two had flown into the center of this structure, which hadn't gone unnoticed. The Gravemind's attacks were constant now, an unrelenting bombardment of esoteric and reality breaking attacks. The two leaders were starting to feel the strain, and knew that they couldn't hold it off forever.

They needed to end this quickly.

The Republic Supreme Commander summoned the artifacts, which formed up in multiple orbiting circles that surrounded him. Meanwhile, the Separatist Ruler created a barrier around the gathering, which was absorbing everything the Gravemind could throw at it.

Massive bolts of lightning the length of galaxies, alongside other strange and unnatural attacks, battered at the barrier, forcing the Separatist leader to visibly struggle against the strain.

"If not by one, then infinite, all called forth to comply. The timeless song won't be undone. In this grave you die!"

"Can you hurry up?!" The Separatist leader shouted, as visible cracks appeared in the barrier. "I can't hold this for much longer!"

The Republic Supreme Commander didn't reply, having been gathering his power and pouring it into the artifacts, which were already cracking from the strain. Still, they were doing what they were meant to; focusing on the unrestrained and uncontrolled energy at the Flood and all Precursor structures and amplifying its lethality.

Eventually, the Supreme Commander couldn't hold the power any longer, and just before the Gravemind shattered the barrier, he unleashed the concentrated power, shattering the artifacts in the process.

The result was almost immediate: the energy instantly destroyed every bit of neural physics creation around them, spreading through the massive galaxy and cleansing it of all Flood and Precursor structures.

But the wave didn't stop, not even faltering for an instant as it propagated throughout the multiverse, releasing Flood cleansing waves through every corner of reality. The two gods on the other hand, were hurled away by the epicenter of their power, crashing through the now empty and lifeless galaxy before landing on asteroid.

"Did we do it?" The Supreme Commander asked, lying on the cratered surface as he struggled to rise to his feet. The whole battle had been draining to him. "Please tell that it worked."

"Yeah." He looked up to see his Separatist counterpart staggering towards him, offering a hand to pull him up. The Republic leader accepted the aid and allowed his former enemy to pull him to his feet. "Yeah, I think we did it."

Moments later, two fleets appeared in the vicinity, belonging to the two superpowers. They could feel the celebratory moods, and knew that it had worked, that the nightmare of the Flood was finally over.

Chapter Text

In the Unknown Regions, on the planet Nirauan, there stood an ancient fortress, consisting of five towers, four of which were roughly the same height while the fifth was half that size. The fortress resembled an outstretched hand, which was how it got its name from the current occupants.

This place was the Hand of Thrawn, the headquarters of the Empire of the Hand. They were the first line of defense for the galaxy, halting threats in the Unknown Regions while the wider galaxy enjoyed their peace.

With the revelation of a wider multiverse, the return of their long-gone leader and the support of the interdimensional superpower known as the Republic (the irony wasn't lost on anyone) and the Unknown Regions flourished under them.

However, a new threat had emerged from beyond their galaxy and even beyond their universe, one that threatened to consume all life in the multiverse. It was a threat unlike any of the inhabitants in the Unknown Regions had ever seen before, and even Thrawn's empire was hard-pressed to deal with it.

Admiral Voss Parck, de facto leader of the Empire of the Hand, stood at the holotable, looking over the map of the Unknown Regions as red holograms marked where the Flood had made contact.

There was a lot of red.

Now, there was a conflict in progress over the world of O'reen, as the Parasite ravaged through the colony world, while the Empire of the Hand counter-attacked in an effort to evacuate the civilians.

It was clear that it wasn't going well.

"Our forces are being overwhelmed." The hologram of a Chiss officer stood at the side of the table. "We can't keep up an assault like this."

"Then don't." Vice Admiral Dagon Niriz replied, his hologram on the opposite side of the table. "Evacuate all remaining ground troops and burn the infestation."

"That will thousands of civilians who haven't evacuated!"

"There's little choice." Parck said. "We can't let the Flood spread any further."

"... Very well, then." Stent replied. "I'll give the order." The hologram vanished, while Soontir Fel crossed his arms.

"You know we're not going to make a lot of friends doing this." The former Imperial Ace said. "Bombarding worlds already allied with us isn't going to win much sympathy."

"We have no choice in the matter." Niriz was the one who answered. "The Flood are a danger beyond even the Vong."

"I don't disagree." Fel raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm just telling it like it is. Some members of the Ascendancy are complaining already."

"They've yet to grasp the true threat of the Parasite." Voss sighed. "They will, in time."

Ever since Thrawn came back into the Unknown Regions on Palpatine's order, the Empire of the Hand had worked tirelessly in their efforts to bring some order to these regions of space.

They had fought many threats throughout the years, hiding in the Unknown Regions, even after the formation of the IDA and Thrawn's resurrection. And it was clear now that the Flood were far worse than anything they could've ever imagined.

The Empire had reached out to the Chiss Ascendancy to warn them, but the still frosty relationship between the two powers meant that their warnings were not taken as seriously as they should have been.

This changed when a number of Chiss worlds began falling to the Parasite, and the Ascendancy reached out for aid. Since then, the two powers had worked closely together, even managing to halt an attempt to infect Csilla itself.

The entity known as Mnggal-Mnggal had vanished, leaving behind all the territory it had gained, opting to flee as far as they could from the Parasite. They weren't the only ones, either.

Zonama Sekot had also fled, taking the remains of the Yuuzhan Vong with them and vanishing from any known locations as the Parasite approached. Several other species attempted the same, some successful, but others were not, and many worlds fell to the Parasite.

A number of species refused to abandon their worlds, preferring to fight to the bitter end. One noticeable species that did this were the Quesoth, an insectoid species from Quethold who still fought with medieval weaponry like swords and maces.

The Queen of the White refused to abandon her City, though she allowed Midlis and Circlings who chose to flee to do so. Meanwhile, the Empire of the Hand, with the aid of their allies, the Stromma, moved to evacuate the hibernating Circlings and Midlis from the City of the Red and the City of the Black.

The Queen of the White meanwhile, ordered her soldiers to attack the Parasite. Quesoth tactics mainly involved throwing thousands of bodies at their target until they broke, with their hardy physiology making this an effective tactic even against the Empire of the Hand's stormtroopers.

They weren't the first species to learn the hard way that the Flood only grew stronger from that type of strategy, and they wouldn't be the last to learn that either. The Parasite overwhelmed the White Citadel very quickly and within an hour had infected the Queen.

...

Elsewhere, other species that were enemies of the Empire of the Hand had chosen to remain isolated, wishing to avoid getting involved in what they deemed was out of their affairs, or even hoping that the Flood would cripple the major powers in the Unknown Regions.

Unfortunately for them, the Flood never cared about anyone's neutrality.

The Ssi-ruuvi Imperium had been slowly rebuilding after their defeat at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, choosing to lay low to avoid retaliatory strikes from the Chiss or any other government.

This isolation, along with having no allies, meant that the Parasite was able to consume much of their territory with ease, overwhelming their defenses with sheer numbers. The slaves that had been captured in Entechment rigs were not spared, and were completely helpless as the Flood took them over.

Meanwhile, the Vagaari hoped to take advantage of the chaos, striking at the Chiss Ascendancy and the Empire of the Hand while they were distracted. One raiding party even got lucky when they stumbled upon a crippled Chiss Star Destroyer, having been left floating in space and broadcasting a general distress beacon.

But when they boarded the ship, the Vagaari found that the vessel had actually been infested by the Flood, who quickly overran the raiders and took control of their vessels, before setting course for the Vagaari homeworld.

Meanwhile, back at the Hand of Thrawn, the war meeting had ended, leaving Voss Parck as the lone member of their High Command present. A course of action had been decided and discussed for a large number of worlds, as the focus was primarily on evacuating those that they could.

Now, Parck was alone, waiting for the one call from the Republic that he'd been expecting. And as fortune would have it, he didn't have to wait long. The flashing of a comm signal at the holotable was quickly answered, revealing the familiar silhouette of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

"Admiral." Parck saluted, to which Thrawn smiled wistfully.

"It's good to see you old friend." The Chiss Admiral spoke. "Though we both know this isn't a social call."

"Of course, sir." Parck replied, getting straight to business. "We are evacuating what worlds we can, and burning the infected areas through Base Delta Zero, as you've instructed. Civilian populations

"It's a good start." Thrawn said after a moment. "But have care just how many you save."

"Grand Admiral?"

"The Flood is unlike any species we've ever seen before." He continued. "This is an enemy that requires an uncomfortable amount of ruthlessness. A single Flood spore on any ship could bring that vessel down. Or worse, more inhabited planets."

"We have quarantine procedures in place." Parck assured him. "We're not just letting them in blindly."

"Of course." Thrawn visibly sighed, surprising his protege. "Forgive me for implying otherwise old friend."

"Grand Admiral..." Parck hesitated, looking around to make sure no one else was listening. This wasn't protocol, but he had to ask. "Do you believe this war is one we can actually win?" Thrawn was silent for a long moment, which was rather telling.

"I believe we can." He finally said. "It won't be an easy conflict, but we may have a way to stop them."

"Sir?"

"We're working on a solution to the Flood problem." Thrawn said. "Unfortunately, that is all I am at liberty to say at the moment."

"I understand." Admiral Parck nodded. "We will keep the Unknown Regions secure by any means necessary."

"I know you will." Thrawn nodded before disabling the connection, leaving Admiral Parck alone with his thoughts.

Chapter Text

The previously unmarred surface of the Mortis Monolith was now covered in yellow-green continent sized tentacles, holding it close to the planetary body they were attached to. Right next to the surface, a small portal opened and a smaller tentacle slithered out, with the body of a red-haired young woman on the end.

At her presence, the Monolith opened, emitting a blinding white light as tentacles crawled in the gap, holding it open. The landscape of Mortis beckoned, rich and lush, yet simultaneously dark and foreboding.

Flood biomatter was quick to spread to every surface, quickly turning the landscape into a diseased wasteland, as was their standard MO. Eventually, the Parasite came across a door in the heart of Mortis, inside what was once the Father's home.

With the presence of Allana, the door became a circle of light, creating a portal to the unique destination. The room was basically a collection of clear walkways in the middle of a starfield. And at the far end of the main walkway was a simple yet ornate throne.

Tentacles crept into the room, while the slithering body of the Primordial approached. The tentacle that had absorbed the form of Allana wrapped itself around the throne, feeling the power flow through it.

It was time to begin.

...

Salem stood in her keep, looking out the window at the storms brewing constantly. Her expression was stoic, but the storms matched her mood. Everything had gone wrong at Haven.

She still wasn't clear on the details, but she knew that Cinder was likely dead, the White Fang would no longer follow her whims, and Leo had attempted to flee like the coward he was. The latter at least had been dealt with, but it did little to detract from the bigger issue.

Ozpin's lackeys had clearly managed to retrieve the Relic of Knowledge from under Haven, and had likely absconded with it to Atlas. Though she obviously had no intention of letting them get there so easily, it was still a major hiccup in her plans.

And more importantly, her master's plans.

"Salem." The facade of calmness shattered when she heard that voice, and she spun around, but no one was inside the room. The voice continued, seeming to echo from everywhere. "It is time to claim the Relics."

"Master, I live to serve." Salem bowed her head, her eyes widening in fear. "But we still lack the two Maidens, and the Relic of Choice is well protected. Furthermore, the Relic of Knowledge has been taken by Ozpin-"

"It matters not. Retrieving the Relics from their Vaults will no longer be a concern."

"And what of Ozpin?" Salem asked. Suddenly, her mind was assaulted with images and information: an airship made for long range travel, flying over the sea. Inside was the Silver Eyed girl and her companions, with Salem's own agents nowhere in sight. It didn't matter though: she knew what she had to do. "It will be done, my master."

...

Team RWBY had been reunited, and in the company of Team JNR, Qrow and Oscar/Ozpin, they were on the way to Atlas by the latter's order. They hadn't left immediately of course.

After the Battle of Haven, there had been a lot of catching up to do. Blake and Sun had been filled in by the rest of Team RWBY on everything that they had learned: from Ozpin, and the Grimm, to the Relics of the God Brothers.

The two Faunus had been suitably shocked, to say the least.

When Ozpin awoke, he helped fill them in, and revealed many other details about the Grimm. Ultimately, he decided to give them the one truth he had had hidden from most of Remnant, and even many of his own operatives: that the Grimm and Salem actually served another master.

"What are they?" Ruby had asked.

"I'm not sure." Ozpin's soul had admitted. "I've never actually seen these creatures personally. What I do know is that they're a walking plague that will devour all life on Remnant if they were here."

Unsurprisingly, the rest of the Teams hadn't all taken this very well. Yang in particular had been furious about another secret being kept from her. Combined with her frosty reception of Blake due to her leaving after Beacon, and Yang still remained distant even when they inevitably began heading for Atlas.

Nevertheless, they had found a pilot who was willing to take them to Atlas, though Weiss had warned them that getting into the Kingdom would be tricky given Ironwood's orders to lock down Atlas' borders.

Unfortunately, they also encountered a number of delays due to storms in the region, forcing the airship to go around them. Eventually, though, the storms cleared completely, leaving nothing but clear skies ahead.

And flying Grimm were as far as the eye could see.

"This... might be a problem." Qrow said simply.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of them, hovering in the sky. Griffons, Nevermores and Lancers, all in varying shapes and sizes. And rather eerily, they were all simply staring at the airship as it made its approach.

"They know the Relic's aboard." Yang noted, her hand unconsciously clenched around it even tighter.

"What are they waiting for?" Weiss asked. The answer came not seconds later.

The ship rocked as something slammed into the top of the hull, and seconds later, a pair of claws impaled through the roof, tearing a jagged hole into the ship. The Griffon had apparently been hovering just above them, waiting for the right moment to dive bomb the aircraft.

Now its claws were reaching into the hull, as the Huntsmen and Huntresses immediately fired back, with Ruby and Blake slicing at its arm and while Weiss froze it in place to let them hit it. In seconds, the Griffon collapsed and dissolved, but there problems had only begun.

The rest of the flying Grimm attacked, clawing, ramming and tearing more holes in the ship as the pilot desperately threw his ship into evasive maneuvers in order to escape this massive horde.

Suddenly, a Lancer's stinger shot through the hull, and whether by aim or coincidence, it hooked onto the Relic's handle and retracted with it, pulling the one-armed blonde brawler with it.

"Guys!" She shouted, her mechanical arm holding onto the jagged edge while her flesh arm played tug of war with the Relic. "A little help here!"

Without hesitation, Blake leapt up and swung her blade, severing the Lancer's stinger. Yang fell back as Weiss summoned her Queen Lancer to tear through the smaller Grimm, as well as defend against the rest attacking.

At that moment, it was beginning to look like they might just get away, until a barbed tentacle appeared from another hole, knocking Yang aside and away from the Relic. The whispering lantern went flying, before the whispering artifact was caught by the Seer Grimm, with Salem's face appearing in the creature's dome.

"Well, well." The Grimm Queen smirked. "My thanks for holding onto this for me."

"You are not taking that, Salem." Oscar leapt up and struck the Grimm from behind, but his cane was caught by another tendril.

"Ah Ozpin, so nice to see you." The faux calm in her tone was betrayed by her narrowed and glowing eyes. "I'd love to catch up, but I have a previous engagement."

The rest of the group attacked, but the Seer was surprisingly strong, and easily parried the resulting blows. Abruptly, it suddenly tossed the Relic out of one of the holes, where a Nevermore flew by and snatched it up. Ruby leapt after it, to the protests of the others and landed on the large Grimm's back, right next to its head.

Firing off Crescent Rose, Ruby decapitated the Nevermore, the dead Grimm crumbling to dust as the lamp fell from its clutches. One of Weiss's glyphs appeared above her and Ruby leapt onto it, before letting it launch her down towards the Relic.

But just as she approached it, a portal appeared for a split second and swallowed it up, sealing before Ruby could reach it. Surprised at this development, the young Huntress almost floundered before another glyph appeared below her, which Ruby flipped herself over and landed on, before launching herself back up to the airship.

What she saw as she arrived was rather worrying: She saw the Grimm were actually retreating, which made her blood run cold. And as soon as she entered the aircraft again, it became clear that she wasn't the only one.

"What happened?" Oscar/Ozpin asked. "Where is the Relic?"

"I don't know." Ruby said quickly. "It just fell into some kind of portal!"

"Oh no." Oscar whispered.

Like the Relic of Knowledge, the Relics of Choice, Creation and Destruction, were hidden in vaults under the main Huntsman Academies in the four Kingdoms. Of course, the vaults were actually just gateways that led to pocket dimensions, where the Relics were truly hidden.

The doorways themselves were the only way in, and access to these pocket dimensions required the touch of the Maidens in order to open them. However, it was still technically possible to brute force one's way into said Vaults without the Maidens or even opening the door.

For the people of Remnant, that was impossible to do, even for the most powerful among them. For the Gravemind that now controlled the Force however, it became so much easier.

Above the three remaining Relics, a portal opened over each one, unseen by any other living being due to their isolation. From each one, a yellow-green tentacle emerged, wrapping themselves around the Creations of the Gods and pulling them into the portals.

The rifts quickly snapped shut, leaving behind empty pedestals.

...

"Could you repeat that?"

"The Gravemind has taken the Relics of the God Brothers from Remnant."

"Is that even possible? I thought they were locked in the Vaults."

"Apparently, they managed to bypass the doors."

"Well, this is a major problem. First the Throne of Balance and now the God Brother Relics?"

"Which begs the question: is that it? Or is it after something else?"

"And more importantly: what does it intend to do with it?"

Chapter Text

It was nearly time. Its foes were pursuing its efforts, to no avail, but it had to move quickly. Fortunately, the endgame approached. And with the combined power it already had, getting the next artifact would be doable.

And now, that is exactly what would happen.

It entered a realm of twisting and confusing architecture, intended to confound the senses of any mortal who entered. It suffered no such confusion and zeroed in on what it sought.

The enchantments surrounding the gateway were strong, but not strong enough to protect against it now. With the combined power of the artifacts it already had, the barriers shattered.

...

There were many great and terrible artifacts that existed in the universe of Earth-16. But there were none that were more powerful than the Spear of Destiny. According to legend, this archaic weapon from ancient times had the power to reshape reality itself.

And for the Lords of Order and Chaos, they knew that this wasn't hyperbole. One of the few things Chaos and Order agreed upon was that the Spear's power was too great for anyone to control.

To keep it safe, it was locked in its own pocket dimension, with only one real way in. The entryway to reach the Spear remained sealed at all times, with only two known doorways to access it, and even that was damn near impossible to access through mortal means.

One of those entrances was in the Tower of Fate, and was reinforced with many barriers and traps that protected the portal. So when several spells alerted Nabu that something was breaching the barriers, Doctor Fate immediately teleported back to the Tower.

To his mounting horror, he found the charms broken and the portal forced open. And approaching the shielded pedestal that held the Spear was a large being that Fate had seen many times during his work with the Republic.

With four arms, glowing blue lines under its skin, a head in the shape of sea scorpion, and diseased green and yellow flesh everywhere, it wasn't too hard to recognize the Flood body of the Primordial.

"Halt!" Fate called, simultaneously unleashing energy to incapacitate and restrain the Flood, only for it to bounce off a glowing orange barrier.

Without diverting its gaze, two of the Primoridal arms shifted and twisted, aiming behind as it unleashed a blast of magic itself, with Fate barely bringing up his own shield in time. The magical attack still knocked him out of the room, denting one of the walkway floors.

Meanwhile, the Gravemind's body approached the barrier, with energy gathering in its arms. The barrier protecting the Spear was incredibly powerful, and required concentration to break. While that was happening, a red portal opened up behind the Primordial.

"Don't count on it, ugly!" A red blast of energy struck the Primordial head on, as Klarion flew through the Chaos portal. Doctor Fate reemerged as well, and combined his magical power with Klarion's, creating two beams that struck and were absorbed by two of the Gravemind's limbs.

The Primordial body extended the other two hands, unleashing energy blasts powered by the Relic of Destruction from both. The two Lords were forced to shield themselves from the energy beams, allowing a pair of tentacles to slither from the being's body and slipped towards the barrier.

With the combined strength available to it, the Gravemind broke the barrier and instantly tore the Spear of Destiny from its pedestal. Sensing a lapse in the attack, Fate and Klarion unleashed their combined energy, only for it to be absorbed by an even stronger barrier.

The Spear was glowing with a pale blue light, generating an energy field that even the combined strength of order and chaos had no hope of penetrating. A portal appeared behind the Primordial form and it entered the rift, bringing the Spear with it.

Fate turned to Klarion and saw an emotion that wasn't normal for the Lord of Chaos, but in this case, the fear was more than justified. In the Helmet of Fate itself, Nabu was feeling the same fear.

...

"This is just getting worse and worse."

The leaders of the Republic and Separatists were gathered as the latest news had come to them from Earth-16. Klarion and Doctor Fate had reported that yet another extremely powerful artifact had been taken by the Flood.

This time, it was the Spear of Destiny, a weapon that was far more powerful than the previous two. What was worse was the fact that the Flood were growing bolder with their attacks, forcing the two leaders to be on the defensive against the Parasite and its mental attacks.

And yet, the Gravemind still hadn't used any of those artifacts to their full potential, which would be difficult for even the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler to deal with. Which naturally begged the question:

"What the hell is it waiting for? The Relics of Remnant, the Throne of Balance, and now the Spear of Destiny." The Separatist Leader rattled off. "It has all three of them, so why doesn't it use them?"

"If I may suggest," A figure walked up, next to the Supreme Commander, his body bio-mechanical and his face covered in a mask. "Perhaps the Gravemind desires something else. Yet another extremely powerful artifact or artifacts for whatever its goal is."

"Which we still don't know." The Ruler said peevishly, but his Republic counterpart shook his head.

"He has a point." The Republic leader gestured to his adviser. "Six items so far, which can make someone as close to a god as they can be. The only other things I can think of that can to the same are..." His eyes widened. "Oh shit."

"The Infinity Stones."

Chapter Text

The light faded away, leaving nothing of Vision on the forest floor. Thanos lowered his Gauntlet hand, impressed at the young human's willingness to do what needed to be done. She was on her hands and knees, tears streaming down her face as the Titan approached.

"I understand, my child." Thanos walked forward. "Better than anyone."

"You could never." Wanda spat, eliciting a grimace from Thanos.

"Today I lost more than you could know." The Titan gently caressed Wanda's hair, pushing the sound of Gamora's screaming out of his mind. "But now is no time to mourn." He approached the site of Vision's destruction. "Now... is no time at all."

Clenching his fist, the Gauntlet activated the Time Stone, and Thanos began his work. Everything in the vicinity reversed as pieces of debris took their shape, Vision's destruction slowly being undone. The light flare reversed as Vision was now kneeling before him, body and more importantly, the Mind Stone intact.

"NO!"

Scarlet Witch leapt to her feet, but Thanos backhanded her away, before lifting up Vision by the neck. The android could only struggle in futility as Thanos reached for the Mind Stone, then ceased his struggles completely when the Titan tore it out, his body turning grey as he died.

Thanos tossed the lifeless husk aside, before putting the Mind Stone in its proper place on the Gauntlet. He yelled as the combined power of the Infinity Stones flowed through him, a power greater than he could ever imagine.

But suddenly, the Titan found himself launched away by a massive bolt of lightning, and struggled to his feet in spite of the pain. Thor cut off the lightning and immediately threw Stormbreaker, just as Thanos unleashed an energy blast from all six Stones.

The dwarf-made axe overpowered the energy of the Stones, before embedding itself in Thanos' chest. The Titan coughed, collapsing to one knee with Thor landing right next to him, hatred in his eyes.

"I told you." Thor growled, memories of what the Titan had done to his people floating in his eyes. "You'd die for that!" The God of Thunder pushed the axe in deeper, causing Thanos to cry out in agony. Thor just watched, grimly satisfied with the pain Thanos was in as the Titan struggled to speak.

Eventually though, he did speak again.

"You should have gone for the head." Thanos raised his Gauntleted hand, only to be interrupted by the end of a glowing blue spear emerging from his throat. Thor took a step back in shock, only to get a good view of the figure holding the spear.

It was huge, towering over the already massive form of the Mad Titan. Its skin was a sickly green-yellow, with four arms, a serpentine like tail in place of legs, and a head that resembled a sea scorpion. How it had managed to get so close without being spotted, Thor didn't know.

"Death is but a moment, a passing form." The creature pulled the spear out as spores poured from one of its other hands, while a third grabbed the Infinity Gauntlet and the fourth backhanded Thor away. The spores entered Thanos' open wounds and started changing him, his purple skin abruptly sprouting cancerous green-yellow growths all over.

"From that I have surpassed," The transformation was complete, as Thanos' soft voice became one with the rasping baritone of this other creature. "I am death reborn." The new arrival tore the Gauntlet and the Stones away, as the former body of Thanos stood back up.

The rest of the Avengers, Black Panther, Okoye, Rocket and Groot had also recovered, staring in shock at the two creatures in front of them. But it was Natasha, Steve and Sam who realized just what was happening.

"Oh god." That came from Black Widow as a look of dawning terror emerged on her face. "It's the Flood!"

Suddenly, two more figures appeared out of nowhere behind Thor, both clad in sealed armor. "GET BACK!" One shouted. Both raised their swords and unleashed energy blasts at the two Flood forms, only for an invisible barrier to halt the beams in their tracks.

Despite this, the barrier started to crack, only for the Mind Stone on the Gauntlet to flare. At that moment, the energy from the two attackers dissipated as the mental energy flowed into their minds, causing them both to scream.

A wave of energy was unleashed, sending Stormbreaker flying out of Thanos' chest and knocking Thor and the two armored figures away. The large alien vanished into a portal, holding the completed Infinity Gauntlet, while a large pack of bubbling infection forms took its place alongside a strange alien figure.

"You will be food. Nothing more."

The Flood form formerly known as Thanos charged forward, crashing through the Wakandan undergrowth as the three gods got back to their feet. Thor immediately unleashed a burst of lightning, but the Titan managed to dodge it cleanly before leaping high into the air.

Meanwhile, the other let loose a cloud of spores, which immediately began changing the environment. Any bodies it touched twisted and shifted, turning into horrific abominations. Even the plant life began shifting, as the cloud of spores began drifting forward.

"Fall back!" Captain America shouted. "Don't breath that stuff in."

Meanwhile, Thor had recovered and flew at Thanos, taking the former Titan's advice and lashing out with Stormbreaker, the hammer impacting deep into Thanos' brain. Unfortunately, this seemed to do nothing but piss him off, and the God of Thunder was backhanded away, before the diseased and headless body pulled the axe out of its head.

That was all the corrupted Thanos had time to do before his body was hit by a beam of light and disintegrated into ash. Thor turned in shock to see the arrival in darker armor hovering in the air, having recovered from the mental attack. Seconds later, his ally made his own recovery known.

There was burst of light, fire and heat and suddenly, the spore creating form was gone, along with a significant amount of the Wakandan landscape. The Avengers and their allies stared in shock as the two armored arrivals had destroyed Thanos and every subsequent Flood form, leaving a scar of glassed forest around them.

"... I am Groot."

"You said it: what the hell just happened?!" Rocket asked incredulously.

"What were those creatures?" Okoye demanded, turning to Natasha and the rest of the Avengers. "And why weren't we told about them?"

"I must ask the same." Thor said, turning to the new arrivals. "I've never seen those things before in my life."

"Ditto." Rocket said. "And if they took the Stones..."

"It's a long story." One of the arrivals said, then paused. "Actually hold that thought."

Suddenly, they were all in a large room, gathered together. The entire group of Avengers in Wakanda, plus T'Challa, Okoye, Shuri, Rocket and Groot. There was a quick flash of light and suddenly another group appeared.

"What the-" Tony Stark spun around in confusion, only to see the rest of the team here. "Steve? What's going on? Where's Thanos?"

"That... is complicated." Meanwhile, the Guardians glanced around in confusion while Strange's eyes were wide.

"This wasn't what I saw..." Strange trailed off as he noticed the two armored figures standing there. "Oh, this is bad."

"You know of these people?" Thor asked, gesturing to them with Stormbreaker.

"They're extremely powerful." Strange shook his head. "Arguably the most powerful beings in the multiverse. But if they're here that can only mean one thing..."

"Yes." The Separatist Ruler nodded grimly. "The Flood have taken the Infinity Stones."

"Ok, hold up. Can someone explain just what the hell is going on?" Tony asked. "Where's Thanos, what does a Flood have to do with anything, and who the hell are these guys?"

"Well, this is gonna take a moment."

...

Suddenly, everyone present was filled with the knowledge of what Strange and the previously fugitive Avengers had already known: they learned of the Republic and Separatists, and their conflict in the multiverse beyond. They learned of the Flood and its ravenous nature. They learned of just what happened recently to Thanos and the Stones and could only imagine what would happen next.

"Ok... That was... Ok..." Spider-Man shook his head and shuddered, still reeling from the images in his mind. It was something the rest could relate to.

"Wait, how did you know about this?" Bruce asked, looking towards the fugitive Avengers. "Who told you about this 'Flood'?"

"That would be me." A figure stepped out from behind the two gods, gaining shocked looks from Thor and Banner and confused looks from the others. "Well, this is awkward." Phil Coulson muttered.

"You're alive?" Thor gaped. "But how? Loki killed you."

"It's a long story that we currently don't have time for." Steve interjected. "What we need to do now is focus on what comes next."

"Stopping the Flood." Strange murmured, though his lack of confidence was worrying for the rest.

"How do you stop something like that?" Wanda trembled. "And if it has the Infinity Stones, how can we fight it?"

"Hold on, if it has the Stones, why haven't they been used?" Thor pointed out. "What is it waiting for?"

"That... we don't know." The Republic Supreme Commander said. "Though there is one thing I know for sure:" There was yet another flash of light as more figures appeared.

"You're going to need everyone in this fight."

Several of them were human, or at least looked the part, but there were a couple who stood out: in particular, the previously seen dead android was now looking quite alive, albeit slightly confused as the majority of the Avengers gathered around him.

"Vision." Wanda immediately embraced the repaired android. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Wanda." Vision gently stroked her hair.

"He won't have the same power level." The Republic Supreme Commander crossed his arms. "I can't replicate an Infinity Stone so easily."

"You brought him back?" Steve asked.

"It was a fairly simple matter." Came the reply. "Synthetic life is much more difficult to kill than organic life, and much, much easier to resurrect."

"Never thought I'd hear the day that bringing someone back from the dead is supposed to be easy." Coulson muttered.

While the Avengers welcomed their comrade back to the land of the living, the Guardians of the Galaxy approached the green-skinned alien woman, with everyone but Rocket and Groot being amazed.

"Gamora?" Peter was on the brink of tears. Gamora was crying herself as she and Quill embraced, laughing in relief as she did.

"I thought Thanos killed you." Nebula whispered, tears also welling in her eyes.

"Wait, what?!"

"I am Groot?!"

"He did." Gamora's expression was one of relief and confusion as she and Peter reluctantly pulled apart. She turned to the Supreme Commander. "What exactly did you do?"

"Wasted his energy, that's what." The Separatist Ruler was given a sharp glare from his counterpart, which was shared by the rest of the Guardians and most of the Avengers.

"Um excuse me, but what exactly is going on here?" Everyone turned to the Wasp, as she, Ant-Man and Hawkeye looked around the meeting room with confused expressions.

"Um, extradimensional alien parasite, wants to devour everything, now has the six most powerful objects in the universe in its possession." Tony stopped at three fingers counting, then looked around. "Did I miss anything?"

"That's more or less spot on." Strange snarked.

"So, it seems things have gone to hell pretty quickly." Daisy whispered to Coulson as she, Lincoln and Yo-yo met up with their boss. "Let me guess; the Flood is back?"

"How'd you guess?"

Before anyone could say anything else, a flaming portal emerged, similar to Strange's Sling Ring portals. But it wasn't Wong or any of the Kamar-Taj mystics emerging, but a young man clad in a black leather jacket with a white symbol, and a length of chain wrapped around him like a sash.

"Ok, I got your message, what's happening this time?" Robbie Reyes was barely holding his exasperation, and ignoring the confused looks from most of the gathering. His eyes scanned the room, coming to a stop at the SHIELD agents. "Good to see you guys again." His gaze then turned to Strange and his eyes narrowed.

"Doctor."

"Mr. Reyes." Strange said, his tone polite, but sharp.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Daisy asked.

"It's complicated." Strange replied. "We had a brief... encounter six months ago."

"Oh by the way," Robbie's eyes briefly turned a fiery orange. "he's still mad about that."

"Alright, now that everyone's here, we can get started." The Separatist Leader interjected, clapped his hands together and a hologram of the stars lit up the room.

"Hold on a second." Rhodey called out. "Are we all seriously just going to listen to a pair of random strangers that we've never heard of until today?"

"Actually we have," Steve gestured to Natasha and Coulson, then to himself, Sam and Wanda. "We've known about them for a few months now. Believe me, I had the same concerns you have now, but I don't think this is the time to argue."

"I am inclined to agree." T'Challa nodded. "If what they have shown is true, we could be facing a threat even greater than Thanos."

"There's no 'could' about it." Strange shook his head. "None of us can fight these things alone. And even together, we're more than outmatched."

"He's right, unfortunately." The Supreme Commander sighed. "The last time the Flood really cut loose, they consumed roughly 70% of known life in the multiverse."

"If they're that dangerous, why are you still here?" Shuri asked, her tone merely curious. It was Strange who answered in their stead.

"Oh, they left half an hour ago." Strange said simply. "They just left behind copies of themselves to continue this conversation."

"Smart man." The Separatist Ruler crossed his arms.

"It wasn't hard to guess." The Doctor replied.

"And yet, why didn't you see this coming?" Stark demanded, turning to Strange. "You said you viewed over 14 million potential futures, was this in any of them?"

"No it wasn't." Strange shook his head, frustration etched on his features. "I'm still not sure what went wrong." He admitted.

"Most likely due to the Relic of Knowledge." Everyone turned to the Supreme Commander, who shrugged. "It likely used that to obfuscate the Time Stone's powers. And combine that with the fact that most clairvoyant capabilities tend to be less reliable when the multiverse is involved, and, well, this happened."

"As interesting as this all is." The Ruler's tone indicated it was anything but. "Might I suggest we all return to the topic at hand?"

...

After coming to terms with everything that happened, the discussion ultimately changed to what needed to be done when the Flood came back. The Republic and Separatist leaders admitted that they may not be able to help as much as they would like to, which left the heroes to decide what they needed to do.

Ultimately, there were a number of side objectives: Thor desired to find his remaining people and get them to safety, while the Guardians wanted to ensure the other planets in their universe were safe, while Strange desired to protect the Sanctums on Earth. And everyone else wanted to make sure their families and loved ones were safe.

"We've already prepared evacuation procedures for a number of worlds." The Republic Supreme Commander said, before turning to Thor. "And we may have located the surviving Asgardians."

"Thank you." The God of Thunder's relief was palpable.

"Our main priority is protecting lives." Steve pointed out. "If this Flood will be as omnipresent as you say, how do you intend to evacuate so many people."

"We have our means. Rest assured, reducing civilian casualties is our priority. Any other question?"

There was a brief moment of silence, then Groot raised his hand.

"I am Groot." The rest of the Guardians had exasperated looks at that, with Quill groaning, Gamora sighing and Rocket shaking his head.

"You seriously weren't paying attention?" Rocket barely resisted the urge to facepalm.

"Oh shit." That drew more attention back to the superpower leaders. Both the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler looked at each other, concern etched on both of their faces. "We've gotta go, right now!"

And with that, the two copies vanished, leaving the rest of the heroes alone in the barren room... which didn't seem to have any doors. It was Scott Lang who raised the obvious question.

"Wait, how are we supposed to get out of here?" A blue-white portal appeared and a robotic figure emerged from it. His body was a shade of yellow-gold and he had a strange ornate mask on his face. A robot looking beetle was on his shoulder, chattering curiously at the latest events.

"Apologies for cutting this short, but it seems they may have located where the Stones and the other artifacts have been taken." The latest arrival said. "This will take you back to your world."

"And... who are you exactly?" Quill asked.

"I am Mata Nui."

...

As the two of them followed the source, it was just dawning on them regarding how much the Gravemind had played them for fools. Every one of its attacks in the last few years were put into a new light.

Attacking Atmos, invading the Bending Earth, manipulating the Red Lotus, making the IDA fall into chaos: it was all just a distraction for what the Gravemind actually sought, and what it now had.

Now though, they had finally detected the energy from all the powerful artifacts it had acquired. To that end, both rulers had focused all their energy and recalled the copies they left behind as they approached the epicenter.

They arrived on the Mortis Monolith, where the Throne of Balance had been hidden. The entire Force planet was in turmoil, with Flood biomass spreading everywhere. Strangely, despite the tentacles and tendrils everywhere, nothing moved to even hinder their progress.

The two leaders found an archway, creating a portal deeper into Mortis. Stepping through, they found themselves in a massive room filled with stars. Only a narrow outlined path marked their feet, ripples emanating from their footsteps. Several paths branched out, but one large one led straight to a platform, one that contained what they were looking for.

"You have come." The voice of the Gravemind echoed everywhere. "Far too late to stop it."

It was speaking through its Primordial body, which was just sitting there on the Throne of Balance, the Infinity Gauntlet in one hand and the Spear of Destiny in the other. The lower two hands had split into a pair of tentacles each, holding all four of the God Brother relics.

But something was wrong: all the artifacts were having their power drained, they could see it. But where that energy was going, even the Republic and the Separatist leaders couldn't say.

At least, not at first.

Then they saw it: the familiar shape, one far too large to exist in such a form. Mortis' barriers were collapsing, it's power being drained like all the rest. And now they knew exactly why the Gravemind had taken these artifacts.

To rebuild its old body.

The two armored beings looked each other and nodded. If they could disrupt the flow of power, they could prevent the Gravemind from completing its work. That was their thought, at least until the Gravemind's most powerful mental blast to date, driving them both to their knees.

Mocking words and horrific images were implanted in their minds once again, as the two of them struggled against it. Slowly but surely however, they refused to give in, and struggled against the intrusion with all their might.

The Separatist Ruler powered through the mental attack, and unleashed a blast of energy at the Primordial form. A moment later, the Republic Supreme Commander managed to do the same, and eventually their combined energies disintegrated it, causing the artifacts it was holding to clatter to the ground.

But they were too late; their power had been completely drained, with each one muted of color now. And the billion lightyear in diameter Flood form was back, looming over them as its laughter echoed through the stars.

Its power had been reborn.

Chapter Text

It started with the laughter. The combined voice of countless souls laughing in unison to one rasping baritone voice. Its source was nowhere, yet it could be heard everywhere, by everyone. The very stars felt malevolent, even in realms that didn't have stars, as if reality itself had turned against all life.

That was when all hell broke loose.

...

Skyland

It was finally over. They had defeated the Sphere, freeing the shattered Earth from their tyranny. Oslo had been imprisoned, and without the aid of that witch Cyclonis, he would stay that way. Things were at long last looking up for the Pirates. Then they heard the laughter.

"Oh what now?" Mahad asked with resigned fear in his tone.

The answer came seconds later as thousands upon thousands of pods started raining down into the atmosphere, dispersing millions of Flood spores and other forms throughout Skyland.

"Do not be afraid. I bring unity. I bring peace."

"Get everyone to the shelters!" Cortes shouted, even as he fired his energy rifle at an approaching Pure form. "Now!"

Flood forms broke through the tavern window, only to be met by weapons fire from Wayan and Dahlia as they covered everyone going out the back door. Elsewhere, Mahad's boomerang managed to knock several combat forms over the edge, only for it to get embedded in a large tank form.

More Flood forms rushed the young man, until Lena landed and unleashed her power, sending them flying while simultaneously pulling Mahad's boomerang out and dropping it in front of him.

"What would I do without you, sis?" Mahad asked breathlessly, but suddenly both were drawn to a bright flash of light near the lighthouse.

"Mom!"

Mila was unleashing energy blast after energy blast as she helped the Vector flee from his lab. She was forced to create a spherical energy field around them both to protect from the barbs of the flying Flood forms. Through the hazy field, she saw her children approaching.

"Stay back!" The older Seijin shouted as she let her power loose, sending more forms flying.

Just as it seemed that they had a clear path, a massive tentacle emerged from the side of the cliff, wrapping itself around the block's upper region and cutting the Farrell family off from each other.

"From life's cruel embrace, I offer release."

Hundreds of infection forms poured out of the tentacle as the Gravemind's voice all but embedded itself into everyone's mind. Mila once again pushed the Flood back as best as she could, but was quickly being overwhelmed.

A horrified and agonized scream from the Vector embedded itself in her mind as she turned to see the old man had become twisted into a monster. And this distraction cost her dearly as more of the Parasite dog piled her. The sky darkened as the Flood were upon her.

Atmos

"Why did it have to be these things again?!" Finn shouted as a pack of Flood forms, both flyers and riding their own vehicles hounded after him, crystal weapons firing at him. "I could use a little help here!"

Junko flew through the formation behind Finn, destroying a number of forms and drawing the attention of the rest. With his attention now clear, Finn took aim at the forms now gathered on top of a nearby cargo ship, blasting them off with pinpoint accuracy.

"Resistance is hopeless, I will not be stopped,"

Yet despite this, several more forms took their place, eventually breaching through the ship's hull and taking it over. It didn't have a chance to get any further before Aerrow flew past, his swords glowing as they cut through the engines, sending it on a one-way trip to the Wastelands.

"They just keep coming!" Piper said, flying next to him, watching as pods continuously poured from the sky. "What do we do?"

Aerrow was silent for a moment as the Condor flew past, more Flood forms attempting to force their way in. Fortunately, Stork's external defenses were able to knock them off, but the helmsman had to pull back as projectiles flew from the insect like launcher now entrenched on Atmosia.

One of the Rex Guardians wasn't so lucky as a similar projectile struck him head on, releasing a cloud of Flood spores that almost instantly mutated him, forcing his Squadron to put him out of his misery, which was becoming an all too common occurence already.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. With Cyclonis finally captured and her imprisonment after standing trial, Atmos was enjoying peace that it hadn't had in a long, long time. Today, many of the Sky Knights across Atmos along with a number of defenders from the Far Side had gathered in a celebration regarding the peace they had all managed to achieve.

However, the party had been interrupted when the Storm Hawks got a transmission from the Republic, warning that the Flood had grown exponentially and that an attack may be imminent. That had spoiled the celebrations, but a lot of them had gotten to their skimmers just as the warning came true.

The laughter had preceded the rain of Flood forms all across the planet, as more than a few landed on Atmosia itself, quickly overwhelming what defenses it had. All while the Gravemind's speech echoed and continued to echo all over the planet.

"All will join the fold, whether willfully or not."

"We fight!" Aerrow finally said. "We keep fighting until we win," his voice lowered as he turned back to the devastation at hand. "and if we can't, we'll give these things a battle to remember." Radarr chirped in approval.

His voice held steady but even Aerrow knew in his heart that this was a losing battle. The Republic hadn't shown up yet, which clearly meant that they wouldn't be coming. And without their help, the Sky Knight knew that Atmos would fall within the day.

Bending Earth

Republic City was burning. The rain of the Flood Parasite had touched down all over the globe, seeping into every aspect of the planet as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the airbenders were helping where they could, but the attack had spread far too quickly and far too wide to be contained.

Tamara had warned them of the Flood's return, but even she hadn't known what the sheer magnitude of the attack was going to be like. And it was clear that neither the Republic nor the Separatists were going to be able to help them this time.

"The Flood has risen again, our chorus fills the night,"

Jinora and several other airbenders flew over Republic City, avoiding the attacks of the Flood as best as they could. Not everyone was successful, as more than a few airbenders had been knocked out of the sky.

On the streets below, bursts of fire, water and pieces of Earth and metal were hurled around by the Parasite and the Benders who fought them, the former combining their strengths to overwhelm the defenders.

Fortunately, it seemed that Dark Samus wouldn't be showing up in person. Unfortunately, that did little to safeguard the Spirits. Infected Spirit Vines dragged many of the actual spirits away, many of them screaming in terror as they were dragged into pits. They didn't come back out.

Suddenly, one of the buildings nearby abruptly lost its foundations, collapsing right in the path of the airbenders. Most managed to get out of the direct path, but Tamara was hit by a piece of debris and fell to the ground.

"Tamara!"

There wasn't any time to go back for her, as the shockwave from the collapse was still too close and scattered the airbenders across the cityscape. Ikki and Jinora landed relatively close by, and saw Meelo launching himself towards a gathering of Flood forms on one of the rooftops.

"Meelo, wait!" Ikki shouted, but their younger sibling wouldn't listen.

"Taste my fury!" The young airbender unleashed a massive gust of wind that sent several Flood forms flying, but the rest quickly recovered and dog-piled him, causing to him yell in defiance.

It didn't take long for Jinora and Ikki to fly over to the rooftop and combined their strength to blast the Flood forms away from their little brother, who was just kneeling there as they approached.

"Meelo?"

What looked back at them wasn't Meelo.

...

Elsewhere in the city, the police were doing their best to evacuate the city, but it was becoming clear that there was nowhere else to go. The Flood were dropping in everywhere, and they had already lost contact with the President, as well as Varrick industries.

Lin, Mako and Bolin had attempted to contact Tenzin and Korra, but they had no luck with that either, and ultimately were stuck downtown as more and more Flood dispersal pods rained down from the sky.

"There's no end to these things!" Mako unleashed a burst of fire, incinerating several combat forms. Another charged at him from behind only to be intercepted by a wave of lava.

"Um, I know I'm not supposed to be the dour one," Bolin directed more lava towards several approaching tank forms and a small Abomination, burning them as well. "but do we even know if Korra's alive?"

"She has to be." Lin created a small wall to block a combat form, then sent it flying into the nearest building, crushing it. "We can't stop these things without her." She was forced to summon another barrier as a blast of fire washed over it.

"Can we even stop them at all?" Mako vocalized the question that was on all their minds, even as he vaporized an infected water bender's attack.

"Just keep- hurk!" Suddenly, a trio of yellow spikes struck the police chief, with two in her breast plate and one in her neck. She fell to one knee before collapsing.

"LIN!"

Swiftly, Mako unleashed a bolt of lighting at the Pure Ranged form who had shot at the Chief while Bolin created a circle of lava around them before adding an additional barrier of stone to keep the same from happening again.

"Chief, talk to me!" Mako ran over to her position, just as she began to stir.

The chief recovered and stood up. Except it was no longer Lin Beifong.

...

Korra was constantly moving, hurling attack after attack, element after element against the constant horde of Flood forms that pursued her. More and more, she was pushed to using the Avatar State to stay alive as the Gravemind was relentless in hunting her down.

Like right now; as she created a sphere of water, air, earth and fire to keep Infection forms and other Flood forms from overwhelming her, before unleashing a massive storm from the elements to drive them back.

With a brief moment of respite, Korra took the time to head to a Future Industries warehouse near the edge of the city. It was where Asami had been before the Flood had attacked, and since the Avatar couldn't get into contact with her via radio, she needed to do this the old fashioned way.

But once she arrived, she found a large Flood form gestating from the ruins of the warehouse. Spores were being ejected into the atmosphere, and Korra was forced to air bend them away as despair crept in.

"Like water we ebb and flow, with no end in sight!"

She could only hope Asami made it out before this... thing had started forming. She registered the sound of more approaching Flood forms as despair gave into rage. The Avatar State was activated instinctively as she unleashed a massive wave of flame at the charging Pure forms, before summoning a storm of earth that intercepted projectile fire from the Ranged forms.

That was when she saw the massive form raising its tentacles, creating massive pillars of diseased water out in the ocean. She narrowly avoided one as it splashed toward her, bending it away from her.

"Korra!" The Avatar looked up and felt relief course through her.

With a combination of earth and airbending, she launched herself onto the flying motorcycle based off the skimmer design in Atmos, bringing a swarm of stone to deflect the Flood's own attacks before landing right beside Asami.

"We need to go." Korra said, as Asami gunned the engines. "Have you heard from the others?" The CEO shook her head.

"So far, I've just found you." The skimmer weaved as it avoided more Flood attacks. Meanwhile, Korra airbended any spores away while also blasting flying forms with fire. "We were preparing to coordinate an evacuation with the Republic, but we lost contact with them."

"I'm guessing they're having the same problems..." Korra's eyes widened at the sight of a growing mound of Flood biomass in the center of the city, with spores and Pure forms being generated from this monster. "... how are we supposed to beat this?!"

Remnant

Despite the damage they had sustained, teams RWBY, JNR and their allies had managed to make it to Atlas, though they had been shot down on the way. Fortunately, they had been rescued and Qrow had managed to get into contact with Ironwood.

They were on the way to meet with him when the attack started, as thousands of alien pods crashed onto Remnant's surface, releasing infectious spores and monsters in their wake.

Atlas' military was quick to engage this unexpected threat, but there were far too many, and more than few pods landed right on top of Knight formations. Ruby charged into the fray, slicing down these creatures with relative ease, before being forced to retreat by a larger tentacled abomination landing right in front of her.

Weiss summoned her Knight and the Queen Lancer to attack the larger tentacled form, while Yang and Blake attacked it's legs, the former with her Gauntlets, and the latter with Gambol Shroud, eventually bringing it to the ground, where Nora unleashed a massive blow from her hammer that tore its body apart.

Their victory was short-lived.

"Our numbers are infinite, we grow as I speak,"

More and more Flood forms were attacking, as the bombardment of Flood pods continued while Atlas' forces were struggling and failing to contain it. And to make matters worse, the Grimm were directly aiding the Flood in their efforts.

The surge of negative emotions from the unexpected attack drew the Grimm in, launching a two front strike with the Flood. Several Atlesian battleships had already been compromised by the Parasite, and were turning against their fellows.

In the distance, multiple tentacles wrapped around the CCT tower, and a signal was sent from within. Suddenly, all of the Atlesian military forces once more turned against the people they were supposed to protect.

"It's like Beacon all over again." Jaune whispered in fear and anger.

"No." Ren shook his head. "This is worse."

"How are we supposed to stop this?" Oscar asked, his voice quaking in terror.

Ozpin, for once, didn't have an answer.

...

The other three kingdoms weren't doing much better. In Vale, Team CFVY were aiding the Beacon Faculty as the Grimm kept flowing in from the frozen dragon on top of Beacon, while the horrific abominations kept pouring in from the sky.

"We are the young and the old, the strong and the weak."

Coco's minigun blared as she gunned down Flood forms, popping the little infectors by the hundreds, but their numbers only kept growing. Soon, forms made from the people they were supposed to protect were attacking them as well, and Fox was buried under an avalanche of the damn things. Velvet only had time to shout his name before she too was being swarmed.

Back in Mistral, many of the Faunus warriors from Menagerie were still present when the Parasite attacked, and found themselves caught in the crossfire as the Mistral police attempted to keep the peace.

But with the Grimm pressing on their borders, and the Flood dropping from orbit, things were not looking good for Remnant.

Earth-16

The Justice League had had their hands full. The Republic had managed to begin evacuation procedures, utilizing unique 'portal nukes' as the rank and file like to call them. Upon activation, they released a massive sphere of light, surrounding a target before seemingly imploding into nothingness.

When first shown this, there had been initial panic, especially from the League, but the Republic had quickly explained and shown what really happened; the devices created large scale teleportation portals, which transported their targets (often cities) to a preset safe location, usually a Forerunner Dyson Sphere under Republic control.

It was admittedly a faster method of evacuating cities, and the superpower's advanced tech was quick to accommodate for any potential inconveniences, but against the Flood, they were only used for cities that were currently clean of infection.

So when the Parasite attacked in the middle of said evacuation, things quickly went bad, forcing the members of the League, the Team, and even operatives of the Light to start fighting against this threat.

"All life will soon fall, all will join the fold,"

Unfortunately, the Parasite had decided to go for overwhelming force, and soon the heroes and villains were hard pressed to simply stay alive. Gotham City had yet to be evacuated, and within, the Bat-family were still fighting to protect the city they called home.

Robin used his grapple line, narrowly avoiding the horde of Flood forms that were bearing down on him. Kicking away one that tried to leap after him, he simultaneously hurled an explosive batarang into the crowd below.

Meanwhile, Nightwing and Batgirl were caught in a fight near the harbor, as Flood forms began pouring into the water, while other combat forms charged them. Martial arts from unenhanced humans were unsurprisingly ineffective, so the two super heroes were primarily using explosives, with a practically bottomless supply thanks to Republic tech.

Furthermore, they weren't alone. Aquaman and Aqualand were also present, Atlantis having been one of the cities that had already been evacuated. The latter unleashed a wave of electrified water, popping dozens of infection forms at the same time.

All the superheroes had been gifted with personal shields from the Republic, keeping Flood spores out and keeping their attacks from penetrating skin, but it wasn't enough, and the heroes at the docks were cut off from retreat.

Suddenly, a barrage of missiles struck the ground around them as the Batwing flew overhead, clearing a path for them to escape. Batman's rescue effort was short-lived, as a Flood dispersal pod crashed into the plane, sending it spiraling into the ocean.

"BATMAN!"

Aquaman wasted no time in diving in after him, prompting a brief shout of "My king, wait!" from Aqualad. But before they could do anything else, they were spirited away in a streak of speed by Impulse.

...

Meanwhile, the Flash was running all over the globe, saving whoever he could and avoiding the Flood as much as possible. It seemed that even the Flood had difficulty taking on Speedsters, but the constant exertion was wearing Barry down, and with every rescue, he felt himself getting slower and slower.

Superman was having better luck doing the same, his strength and powers enabling to endure every attack the Flood was throwing at him. Carving through a mound of Flood biomass with his heat vision, the Kryptonian then caught a tentacle that tried to crush him.

In Paris, Wonder Woman was carving her way through more Flood forms, as Captain Atom provided overwatch and unleashed energy blasts at the flying monsters that targeted him.

Martian Manhunter flew over the skyline of London, hurling pieces of debris at Flood and using density shifting to avoid being hit by their retaliation. Icon, Rocket and Captain Marvel were also present, the former unleashing pulse blasts while Rocket blocked a barrage of barbs from flying pure forms, and Captain Marvel hit them with a massive sign as a club.

In Washington, Hawkman, Hawkwoman and Red Tornado were doing what they could to evacuate the populace, with Tornado unleashing multiple windstorms in an effort to keep the Parasite at bay. It wasn't enough, as an energy blast knocked him out of the air, which Hawkwoman was quick to retaliate against the firer.

In Dakota, Black Lightning, Static, and Plastic Man held off an army of Flood from overrunning one of the few evac shelters present, while Atom and Bumblebee provided further protection as best as they could, guarding the Republic operated portals that would carry them out.

In Star City, Green Arrow, Red Arrow, and Arsenal launched explosive arrows into a horde of combat and infection forms, which Black Canary was quick to finish off with her Canary Cry. Any stragglers that remained were picked off by Cheshire. But before they could relax, the massive figure of an Infected Brick leapt towards them, creating a shockwave that scattered them to the ground.

Near one of the STAR Labs facilities, Guardian, Superboy, Miss Martian and the Supercycle were doing smashing through a wave of Flood, but were all but stymied by the infected forms of the Terror Twins as they attacked. The two had been fused into one body, and struck with a viciousness and speed that only their combined forms could create, hurling Superboy through part of the building so hard that the section outright collapsed.

In Palo Alto, Kid Flash, Artemis and Zatanna fought their way through the Parasite on the ground, while Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle covered them from the air. Lagoon Boy and Beast Boy meanwhile guided who they could to safety, a number that was quickly dwindling.

...

It wasn't only the heroes fighting for their lives.

The Flood had sent a substantial amount of Flood forms to the Belle Reve Prison, as well as Arkham Asylum, with the helpless and imprisoned dwellings of so many supervillains being an impossible target to resist.

Once the Parasite overpowered the guards in each facility, they were quick to spread Flood spores through the ventilation system. In moments, they had managed to infect an army of supervillains without firing a shot, before opening all the prison doors and unleashing them all over the globe.

Bialyian soldiers were overwhelmed by the Parasite despite the advantages of Separatist and Apokoliptian tech, with many turning against their master. Mammoth, Shimmer and Devastation held them off as best as they could, but the the combined firepower and esoteric attacks quickly overwhelmed them, leaving Psimon and Queen Bee with an army of their former allies bearing down on him.

On Infinity Island, the Flood tore their way through the ranks of the League of Shadows, even with the upgraded Separatist blades and Apokoliptian weapons. For every combat or Pure form they cut down, five more took its place, and the rolling tide of Infection forms quickly ensured that those weapons would soon turn against them.

For a brief moment, it appeared that the arrival of Clayface might turn the tide, but it became clear that even he wasn't enough, leaving Hook, Black Spider and Professor Ojo to fight the tide alone, protecting Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia from the Abominations that tore through the Island.

In the Light's Mongolian HQ, Black Manta, Lex Luthor and the Brain were commanding the defense as the Flood accurately targeted the facility, which didn't say anything good about what was happening with their allies.

Deathstroke and the Arkham Knight protected them from the occasional straggler, as the combined firepower of Black Manta's lasers and missiles, the Brain's built in weapons, and Monsieur Mallah's upgraded minigun tore through the horde.

"Near or far, all realms will come to our hold."

And yet with slow inevitability, they were becoming overwhelmed again. The Light's usual fall back locations had all been compromised, and to make things worse, Klarion had been unable to help, as he and Doctor Fate were apparently fighting the Flood in another plane of reality.

As for Vandal Savage, he was on the Warworld in orbit, but he had his own problems to deal with.

...

To its credit, the Warworld was doing all it could to protect this universe's Sol System. The mobile doomsday device had been given upgrades by the Separatists, and it was more than willing to unleash that firepower against the Flood ships that were attacking.

The space around the massive planetoid had become a massive display of color and destruction, as Savage guided the Warworld into attack, deploying so many missiles and lasers at everything around it.

Separatist-based drones and fighters gave their support, intercepting their Flood based counterparts as well as the drop pods that attempted to breach the shields. And despite such a valiant effort, it still wasn't enough.

The Parasite was just far too numerous and to further complicate matters, Earth wasn't the only planet under attack: Mars had also been targeted by the Flood. The native Martians fought back admirably, and in some ways were even holding out better than Earth, but they were still falling, especially when the Flood began using their weakness to fire against them.

In addition, all of Earth's Green Lanterns had been off planet when the Flood attack started, and judging by their continued absence, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to help Earth at this point.

And just when Vandal Savage thought that things couldn't get any worse, he was quickly proven wrong by the appearance of massive silvery tendrils in the stars, which caused the command center to slowly darken. Savage could only watch in resigned fear as his death approached.

The Warworld shattered under the combined weight of the Star Roads, which swatted larger debris away from Earth. And as if to add insult to injury, several of those Star Roads split into smaller tendrils that approached the planet, serving to feed the Gravemind's hunger.

Earth-199999

The evacuation had proceeded fairly smoothly, all things considered. Naturally, when the UN had learned of everything that was happening, they were rather skeptical. But General Talbot and SHIELD had managed to smooth things out, and the objections of Secretary Ross were overruled.

They had managed to evacuate a majority of their world's cities, including New York, London, and Hong Kong, with the Mystics of Kamar-Taj having determined that the Sanctum connections would remain intact. Other cities that had been evacuated included New Orleans, as well as the civilian populace of Wakanda's capital.

But then the laughter had started, just preceding the wave of Flood that rained down from the sky. And with Republic and Separatist forces being overwhelmed elsewhere, it left the rest of the heroes only one choice, as most of them gathered in the center of Paris.

"We fight." Captain America had stated, as a horde of Flood forms approached them.

Without hesitation, Bucky, Sam and Rhodey immediately opened fire, shortly before the other armed Avengers and Guardians did the same, with Rocket laughing all the while.

"I think this would be a good time to reintroduce them to the other guy." Coulson stated, as Robbie nodded.

"Wait, what is your power exactly?" Tony asked, his expression curious. Robbie's expression softened slightly.

"I made a deal with the devil."

Abruptly, Robbie's skin bubbled and boiled away, his flesh disintegrating until all that remained was a cracked skull wreathed in flames. The more Earthbound Avengers and even the Guardians couldn't help but stare for a moment, while Strange and SHIELD barely glanced back.

"You get used to it." Coulson said.

The Ghost Rider made his presence felt by swinging his chain, unleashing a massive blast of Hellfire, which almost instantly turned a hundred Flood forms to ash. Not to be outdone, Thor leapt into the air and slammed Stormbreaker onto the ground, creating a large crater and frying hundreds of other Flood forms.

"All life is in my hand,"

Naturally, this only drew the Gravemind's attention, as massive force of Flood dispersal pods went straight for them. "We've got incoming!" Iron Man shouted, his boosters igniting and sending him into evasive measures.

The Guardians (who were currently wearing jetpacks themselves), War Machine, and Falcon made similar movements, while Strange used his Sling Ring to move the groundbound Avengers and SHIELD agents elsewhere.

He summoned up a shield to protect against the barrage of projectiles sent his way, before unleashing a lightning blast of his own, which targeted and fried the Ranged forms shooting at him.

In response to that, Quill rapidly fired his Quad blasters, tearing a large juggernaut's tentacles off. A laughing Drax immediately continued firing, and soon tore it apart. His victory was short-lived, as flying creatures started swarming him, causing him to swat them away angrily.

Thor launched himself into the air, swinging Stormbreaker around as arcs of lightning lashed out, frying even more flyers. And with the support of the Guardians and Iron Man, the air was briefly clear of the Parasite.

"That wasn't so bad." Tony commented. As if to answer, there came a roar from the sky, as multiple familiar shapes appeared. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me!"

Half a dozen of infected Chitauri Leviathans were bearing down on them, dripping infection and Pure forms like putrid sweat. Energy bolts began bombarding them, as infected Chitauri forms landed on the ground.

Nebula and Gamora pulled out their swords and began cutting them down, while Groot impaled several other combat forms. Rocket's fired hadn't let up, while War Machine was quick to fire more missiles and heavy machine gun rounds, which tore through the infected ranks.

Elsewhere, Wanda hurled several cars into a horde of Flood, crushing many of them like bugs. Vision was unleashing the power of his knockoff Stone beam into an attacking Abomination, before shifting his density to avoid the retaliatory strikes.

Captain America hurled his original shield at the larger abomination's legs, while Falcon let loose with a pair of micro missiles against its head. Meanwhile, Bucky was still gunning combat forms down, but was briefly halted when a rolling form unfurled and wrapped its tentacles around his arm.

Fortunately, Black Panther leapt forward and severed the tentacles, before leaping into a horde of infection forms and letting the kinetic shockwave loose, popping them all.

Some distance away, Hawkeye fired off an explosive arrow into a cluster of flying seeder forms, while Natasha gunned down several others, using the upgraded weapons the Republic had supplied.

But just as it appeared that a number of forms would overwhelm the two agents, they abruptly crumbled into ash. From her starting point, Yo-yo couldn't help but feel some satisfaction as she readied more splinter bombs.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Lincoln were using their powers in combination, with the vibration waves tearing through and scattering larger hordes, popping a number of infection forms, while Lincoln fried the stragglers.

For the original Avengers, the closest comparison to what they were fighting was an organic version of Ultron. And yet it was a disturbing combination given the bulk of the forces attacking at this moment were the former armies of Thanos. For the rest, well, it was just unpleasant in general.

Giant-Man kicked an Abomination form away. A tendril reached to pull him down, but it was severed by Wasp, who shrunk down to avoid the flailing limb's retaliation. She took further evasive action as even the floating Flood spores began pouring after her, unleashing bolts from her blasters.

Spider-Man punched a Ranged form off a building, while one of his mechanical legs impaled another. "Man you guys are ugly." Spider-Man said before his mask irises widened. "Uh oh!"

Peter leapt away from the next building just as a large tentacle smashed through the windows and walls, aiming to splatter him against the pavement. It missed, and an energy blast cut it in half.

The Hulkbuster smashed through the building and landed on the source, tearing through it with a ferocity born of the Hulk. Combined that with Banner's own scientific mind, and the Flood forms were torn to shreds.

They all fought admirably, but it was soon becoming clear that their efforts weren't so much as making a dent. In spite of SHIELD's efforts to protect civilians, the Flood were far more numerous, and were more than willing to go for the helpless targets at the same time. And this just increased the numbers raised against the heroes.

"The prudent, the foolish."

"Does this thing ever shut up?!"

Tony fired off a barrage of micro missiles, cutting down one Leviathan before he was swarmed by more Infected flyers and chariots. Strange himself was soon being boxed in, and even the Guardians were suffering their own problems, as a couple of smaller abomination forms dragged Drax away.

"Drax, no!" Mantis shouted as their screaming comrade was taken, to the terror of the Guardians.

A large number of Flood forms had already surrounded Captain America, and though the latter was putting up a non-stop fight and had support, the Flood soon collapsed a building on top of his head.

"Steve!" Bucky shouted, before he recovered enough to tear apart the Flood forms that threatened him.

Unfortunately for them all, battle fatigue was setting in, and fewer and fewer people were around to be evacuated. The only two who weren't getting tired was Thor and the Ghost Rider, and unfortunately for them, the Gravemind wasn't willing to let them continue unmolested.

Several Star Roads appeared over the planet, with one approaching the city in question, manipulating the gravity and drawing the God and Demon into its clutches. Asgardian lightning and Hellfire had little effect against the extradimensional thought matter, and it took all their strength to keep themselves from being crushed.

Clint was eventually targeted and swarmed by the Parasite, and an explosion was last seen at his position. The Hulkbuster was overwhelmed, but there was a brief moment of hope when the Hulk's roar echoed out and the green giant started smashing the Parasite.

That hope spluttered when a shift in gravity drew the Hulk into a massive tentacle, which came down upon him so that nothing could be seen. Things were only getting worse after that.

Of course, that wasn't all. The Flood had spread across the planet, leaving only a few holdouts, and some locations were irreparably lost. Hawaii for instance, had been destroyed completely, and as for the Avengers and other heroes, they knew they were facing a last stand.

And if that was the case, they would all go down fighting.

Elsewhere

The Gravemind had attacked practically everywhere in the multiverse at once, but it hadn't forgotten just who had beaten it so thoroughly the first time, and retaliated accordingly against the Republic and Separatists.

All across their territory, massive Flood creatures emerged, alongside countless Star Roads and other Precursor artifacts. Unlike most of the multiverse, the two superpowers had been prepared for just such an eventuality: their fleets were battle ready, their populace had been evacuated to safer locations, and their weapons had been tailor made with fighting the Parasite in mind.

"All who dwell in the land,"

It wasn't enough. Though both the Republic and Separatists gave good accounts for themselves, even managing to destroy a significant amount of Precursor structures, the attack was relentless, and the Parasite merciless.

And it wasn't like the Flood onslaught was blind; their first action had been to locate and annihilate the main method the two superpowers had often used to locate the Parasite. The network of Flood detection satellites scattered throughout the multiverse was being dismantled, blinding the factions to the Parasite's movements.

...

All over Separatist territory, their worlds were under attack. Helghan was already on the verge of falling, with the Helghast efforts still remaining ineffective against this onslaught.

Other factory worlds that created and maintained the primarily mechanized forces used by the Separatists were also being overrun, either being completely destroyed or repurposed to create deadly killing machines for the Parasite. Weyland-Yutani facilities were overrun, their xenomorphs and combat androids proving ineffective against the Flood.

On the Space Pirate Homeworld, the Parasite battered down the defense systems, consuming their way through everything in sight. The cybernetically enhanced Ridley attempted to stem the tide, firing off beams of plasma that carved through infected Space Pirates.

That was when Dark Samus appeared, hitting the Space Dragon with charged Phazon shot. Ridley collapsed from the Phazon blast, allowing more Flood forms to swarm over him. His enraged and terrified shrieks gave way to the Flood's familiar howling.

Samus herself had also been in the vicinity, and was soon under attack by her two greatest enemies, who were more than willing to gang up on her. Energy blasts and missiles were exchanged, and very quickly, Samus found her energy reserves starting to get alarmingly low.

Even the Separatist capital world was being overrun, with the Parasite already inside the main palace and headquarters. Kai Leng's body twisted, as the Flood turned him into yet another combat form. The Meta wasted no time in putting him down.

Meanwhile, Carolina was running through the halls of the palace, blasting through any Flood forms in her path. The two-ex Freelancers made their best efforts to defend against this onslaught, but it wasn't enough, and soon the Flood had taken control of the primary defenses.

The orbital cannons opened fire on General Grievous' command ship in orbit, causing a chain reaction of explosions to rock through the ship. The Flood took advantage of the openings, spreading through the ship and onto the bridge, drowning the cyborg in a sea of bodies despite his best efforts to fight back.

...

It wasn't much better for the Republic. Many military facilities had been targeted, the Flood primarily aiming to cripple them. The Ark was surrounded by a Flood armada backed by Star Roads, shattering the surrounding Halos that protected it in spite of their efforts to halt it.

Xenomorph Prime proved to be a snack for the Flood, barely considered worth the time to infect. Yautja Prime, on the other hand, was a higher priority target. The Predators broke out their best military gear, unleashing the upgraded weapons against the Flood horde. And once again, it proved to be severely ineffective.

Even Spherus Magna was no longer safe, as the Flood broke through the defenses, and at long last laid siege to the coveted Republic capital world, dropping and riding ships and stations down to the planet's surface.

For the natives of Spherus Magna, the Flood had a considerably more difficult time infecting them, even more so for the inhabitants of the Matoran Universe. Their physiology made them much more difficult for the Flood to infect.

Unfortunately, difficult didn't mean impossible, as quite a few Rahi and other beasts found out the hard way. The creations of the Great Beings desperately struggled to survive against this rampant Parasite, as even the Republic forces were struggling in orbit.

Tahu unleashed a blast of fire, burning through the Flood that attempted to swarm him. He briefly teleported out of the way of the paralyzing Rhotuka spinners launched by the infected Visorak.

They were caught up in air current launched by Lewa before being incinerated by a Toa of Plasma. The roar of Miserix echoed as blasts of Shadow, heat vision, and laser vision carved through another group.

Helryx and Gali created a massive tidal wave that halted a horde of the Parasite in their tracks and washed them away, while Onua and Pohatu combined their powers to create a barrier from the approaching drop pods. And Kopaka ensured they landed on icicle spikes.

Yet even the combined power wasn't enough, and many villages and dwellings had already been destroyed. Even Mata Nui's aid wasn't enough to turn the tide against the ever increasing onslaught.

"Their days are numbered"

Even the Forerunner built Dyson spheres (along with their own) were providing no defense against this onslaught. The Parasite had no difficulty locating them, and Star Roads effortlessly tore through their armored shells.

Cities that had already been evacuated still found themselves threatened by the Parasite, with the superpowers failing to stop them. A fresh wave of terror and fear gripped the populations as their doom inevitably came towards them.

While all this was happening, the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler had been fighting off the Gravemind's body, each displaying their powers in ways that they rarely had cause to display.

"Until the last sunrise,"

Unlike last time, the Gravemind had no intention of being as sadistic as before and was no longer content with a slow but inevitable tide as the Flood consumed everything. This time, the Parasite unleashed the full power of their heart.

The first thing it attempted was to will all life to become Flood. Fortunately, the two other gods were able to use their own powers to cancel out that bit of reality warping. So the Gravemind chose the old fashioned method of just teleporting Flood forms almost everywhere in the multiverse at once.

And while it was doing this, the Parasite was also engaged in direct conflict with the Republic and Separatist leaders, unleashing power after power against the duo, while being attacked in turn.

It had no intention of allowing a repeat of last time, continually hurling them away from its body, and attacking with the drained power of nascent universes. Regardless, it was beginning to look like a hopeless struggle and they all knew it.

"Until the war is over,"

Unlike last time, the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler didn't have access to any of the amplifier artifacts the Ancients had crafted, meaning their combined strength wouldn't be enough to stop the Galactimind body, even if they were to wipe out the rest of the Flood in the multiverse.

And yet, there was still hope. Because in the intervening years between the Great Flood war and current events, they had managed to find a possible solution to such a problem. The two of them had come across a dimension that the two had called 'the Void,' which almost seemed like it was a Precursor prison dimension.

Getting in had been rather difficult, and getting out had required all of their strength. Which meant that the Gravemind could also break free itself. However, if they were to add their own power to the dimensional walls, they could feasibly imprison it indefinitely.

The two of them knew it was a one way trip: they would have to go into the Void as well to keep the prison impenetrable, trapping themselves in with it. And after a brief mental conversation, they both agreed that it was an acceptable trade.

Of course, they still had to deal with the current issue, and even if they trapped the Galactimind, it would still leave all the Flood it had let loose on the multiverse free. They had to deal with that, and quickly.

Unfortunately, the Gravemind had no intent of letting that happen, and the Supreme Commander and Ruler were tossed away by its power before being caught by its own dimensional cages.

"Until reality dies!"

"Don't expect us to go quietly you overgrown fungus!" The Separatist leader shouted as the region lit up with interdimensional ruptures.

Billions of Republic and Separatist ships appeared, unleashing all their weapons simultaneously. Their fleets could utilize their full power against their enemy: The power to shatter worlds, tear stars asunder, and wipe out life was unleashed upon the Gravemind. Neural radiation weapons based off the Halos even shattered multiple Star Roads.

They might as well have been gnats trying to challenge a hurricane for all the good they did. Any damage they inflicted was extremely minor and regenerated almost immediately, and the retaliation was devastating.

Ships were crushed or shut down, some were destroyed by hurled celestial bodies, while still others were thrown into universes where the native laws of physics didn't allow for their existence.

Yet, in spite of the minimal damage, their sacrifice was just what their leaders needed. The Gravemind's attention was diverted just enough to allow the two gods to escape from the crushing grip it had placed them in.

With their momentary respite from its attack, the two gathered as much energy as they could contain, using a similar technique to what they had done during their previous fight in the Great Flood War.

With this combined energy, they sent their awareness through the multiverse, targeting every single Flood form and Precursor structure that existed within reality. Then they unleashed it all.

Like last time, the energy wave propagated throughout the multiverse, disintegrating every Flood form and Precursor structure it came into contact with. Unlike last time, the energy wasn't solely limited to the Flood, and multiple unintended consequences abounded.

Thousands of planets were either shattered or wiped clean by the energy, while other worlds and realms suffered from more esoteric effects caused by the three beings. Of course, a number of these effects wouldn't be discovered yet, but for the moment, the major damage was all that could be noted.

Still, for many, it ignited hope.

...

On world after world, every single Flood form and Precursor artifact turned to ash or shattered into dust. Relief flowed through them at the sight, as the seemingly hopeless situation moments ago had been reversed.

For some, like Thor, Ghost Rider, Superman and Wonder Woman, they felt relief at the fact that they hadn't been crushed by the Star Roads, only for them to quickly realize what damage had still been wrought.

Elsewhere, Samus was relieved that her infected arch-nemesis had been annihilated, while her doppelganger had seemingly been destroyed. And with no Phazon particles in the air, it seemed that this destruction might actually be permanent.

For Remnant, it wasn't just the Flood that had been destroyed by the unexpected energy wave: all across Remnant, more than half the Grimm were obliterated, halting their efforts in their tracks.

Similar scenes were happening all over the multiverse, as the unexpected joy of survival was also fighting and in some locations, was eclipsed by the despair of knowing what had been lost.

Unbeknownst to those individuals, their seeming victory had not been guaranteed...

...

"That's not going to keep it down for long." The Separatist Ruler noted.

The resultant energy wave at such a close proximity had failed to destroy the Galactimind, though it had managed to reduce it to a third of its former mass. Of course, that state wouldn't last, given the regeneration already in rapid progress.

"It doesn't need to." The Republic Supreme Commander said. "It just needs to be distracted long enough for this to work."

Having already sent a message to their fleets with the order to pull back (as well as sending their last orders for the remains of the superpowers), the two gods were creating the gateway energy needed to trap the Gravemind and themselves in the Void.

"I guess we had a good run."

"I suppose we did." The Ruler chuckled. "It'll be up to the survivors to pick up the pieces."

"They'll live." His counterpart nodded, the energy reaching an apex. "We'll ensure that happens."

The two of them finally had enough energy gathered as the Galactimind had regenerated itself, with the Gravemind's angry roar echoing through space itself, its attention currently focused on the two of them.

"Did you think me defeated?!"

"Not really." The Supreme Commander replied. "We just needed to do this!"

The energy gathered by the two gods unleashed itself, creating a massive sphere around the billion-lightyear Flood form and themselves. With a flash of light, the sphere condensed into nothingness.

The surviving ships immediately scanned the region, but all they found was a trace of a dimensional rift, it's ending location somewhere no one could find. After a brief cycle of communication between the two superpowers and after going over their last orders, a course of action had been decided.

"Send a message out. Find out who remains." Thrawn said.

Chapter Text

In the shadowy realm of the Void, three beings appeared, one of whom was physically much larger than the other two. The moment of disorientation allowed the smaller of the beings to add their powers to the walls of the prison dimension, leaving the massive Gravemind trapped in there with them.

It didn't take long for the heart of the Flood to realize this, and its resulting scream of rage could be heard throughout the dimension. Silently, the two gods nodded to each other, as the Flood's attention was turned directly to them.

"What have you done?!"

"Simple, we've found a cage to keep you in for the rest of eternity." The Separatist Leader replied.

"You're trapped in a realm of your brothers creation," The Supreme Commander continued. "A void between the walls of the multiverse. There's no leaving this place, not for you."

"And not for you." The Gravemind began glowing. "Your powers are the only thing keeping me in here. And they'll only last as long as you don't break."

"Don't expect us to break so easily." The two gods began glowing as well, as the Void filled with power.

And so their eternal conflict began.

...

It took some time, but eventually what remained of the Republic and Separatist leadership had gathered to discuss the situation regarding the aftermath of what some were calling "the Tidal Wave."

For the two superpowers, the news was not good. Both sides had suffered heavily against the relentless Flood attacks, with trillions among the dead. Military wise, the Separatists had been struck the worst, their fleet and army all but a shadow of their former glory.

Granted, the Republic wasn't in a much better state. A lot of their planets and fleets had been destroyed, and of the civilian populace they had managed to save, they were but a minority in the grand scheme of things. Furthermore, most of their manufacturing facilities had been annihilated, with many Forerunner wrecks to account for.

The Ark itself was surprisingly intact, though the same couldn't be said for the fleet and Halos that had been guarding it. With some quick work however, it could be repaired rather quickly, which was one piece of good news.

But it was the damage to reality that was most severe. In the immediate aftermath, sporadic Portal Storms had appeared all over the multiverse, randomly swooping up people, animals, patches of land, and depositing them elsewhere.

One of those taken by a Portal Storm was on Spherus Magna itself, which had completely moved one of the prisons holding some the most dangerous surviving beings from the Matoran Universe, which was definitely a concern to all.

But they couldn't worry about that, not yet. For it was a time to rebuild, a time to celebrate, and a time to mourn. And in the case of the remaining Superpower leaders, it was time to reorganize.

Skyland

The battle had been absolutely bloody. Puerto Angel had literally been torn apart by the Flood attack. The block was in several pieces, the mounds of rock and metal slowly drifting apart.

Despite this, survivors did remain, though the population of the Pirate block was but a shadow of what it once was. As Aran Cortes looked over the wreckage of his home from the barely functional St. Nazaire, it certainly felt like a hollow victory.

Mahad was comforting Lena, the two children all but inconsolable at this stage. Their mother had been taeken by the Parasite, used as a puppet by the Gravemind as if to mock their efforts. All the work they had done to get her in the first place, it was all for naught now.

Combine that with the loss of the Vector, and the sheer destruction wrought by the Parasite, and it quickly became clear that they would need to abandon Peurto Angel.

It was Wayan and Dahlia who had reluctantly pointed this out, as neither of them had wanted to abandon their home. Cortes felt similarly, and had eventually ordered the survivors to retreat.

And yet despite the losses, there was still one ray of hope. The Flood had been destroyed completely, bringing the massacre to an end. And in spite of his own cynicism, Cortes allowed himself to feel hope, even as a hole in space time appeared near the St. Nazaire and a Republic ship flew out.

…

Atmos

Previously the world of a thousand mountaintop kingdoms. That number was considerably smaller now, after the Flood was done with the planet.

Piper and Aerrow looked over the devastation, seeing hundreds of smoke pillars as far as the eye could see. Unconsciously, the Sky Knight and Crystal Mage's hands found each other as the Condor rocketed through the sky.

It was chaos all across the known Atmos, with Atmosia and its Time Pulse generator completely destroyed. While navigation equipment had been improved, the disruption was still noticeable. Things weren't much better on the Far Side, which had already suffered significantly under the previous Flood incursion.

The Storm Hawks had miraculously made it through intact, though the same could not be said for the others. The Wallops were now an endangered species, and Terra Rex was now a barren wasteland.

But the Storm Hawks felt their most personal loss with the infection of Starling. The lone Sky Knight had been helping the evacuation of Terra Saharr when a Seeder had latched onto her.

When the news had made it to the Storm Hawks, their morale had almost broken completely. Even Aerrow had almost given into despair. But it was Finn who pulled them from the brink, pointing out that the Flood was actually gone.

And with word from the Republic that they were starting to rebuild, offering Atmos a permanent place among the Republic, things were starting to look up.

…

Bending Earth

The loss among their world was just as bad as countless other worlds, as Korra's communication with the Republic was warning. All four Bending Nations had suffered horrendous casualties, and though the damage could be repaired relatively quickly, the dead could not.

Too many were known to have lost their lives against the Parasite, with even Meelo and Lin Beifong among them. And to make things worse, it was Meelo's own sisters who had to put their infected brother down, while Mako and Bolin were forced to destroy Lin.

To further compound the issue, no one could get into contact with Tenzin either, leading to everyone to assume the worst. The leadership of the New Air Nation henceforth fell to Jinora, the only remaining Airbending Master available.

Kuvira and Prince Wu had also survived, with the latter reporting that the Earth Kingdom was once more in disarray, with the former helping to stabilize it again. This time, Kuvira was joined by Suyin, who had helped reconstruct Zaofu beforehand. Su had claimed it was to keep an eye on Kuvira, but the others had guessed she wanted to distract herself from her grief.

Under Asami, Future Industries was aiding in the reconstruction as best as they could, collaborating with Varrick Industries and the few Republic forces that the superpower could currently spare.

As for Korra, she had a lot on her plate in both the human world and the Spirit World. The Flood had unleashed catastrophic damage in the realm that eclipsed even that of Vaatu. Less stable Spirit Portals were appearing sporadically all over the globe, colloquially dubbed as Spirit Rifts, which Korra was often rushing around to close.

And yet, despite everything, things really had improved. The Republic had fully provided their aid, and even offered to bring their world fully into the Republic itself. And with Raiko gone and Zhu Li now President, it seemed that they would truly accept that offer.

...

Earth-199999

The scale of the devastation was unlike anything the Avengers had ever seen before. Even Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy hadn't seen destruction of this size before.

Cities lay in ruins, and the lack of bodies didn't do much to ease their discomfort. Miraculously, most of the heroes had survived, even Thor and Ghost Rider, who had only survived the Star Roads due to the Gravemind's sadistic tendencies.

But there had definitely been loss, and for the Avengers, it hit hard. After digging through the rubble of a collapsed building, Captain America's shield was all they could find of him, just as the shattered remains of the Hulkbuster and his torn shirt was all they could find of Bruce Banner, not to mention a broken bow all that could be found of Clint Barton, and a pair of alien knives that belonged to Drax.

Normally it would be rather arguable not to assume someone was dead without a body, especially in their line of work, but considering all the missing dead bodies were destroyed Flood forms... things were not looking good to assume their survival.

"Damn it." Tony cursed, looking at the debris covered shield.

Everyone else was silent, hardly daring to believe that the first Avenger had fallen. Sam, Bucky, Coulson and Natasha held vigil over the impromptu funeral. Even the Guardians kept their peace, though they were also mourning the loss of Drax.

Eventually, the heroes were able to pick themselves up and continue their work. It helped that the Republic had kept their word and restored the cities that they had managed to evacuate before the Parasite wave hit.

Thor was relieved to see that the Republic had indeed managed to recover the surviving Asgardians, and T'Challa was willing to let them settle in Wakanda, which the God of Thunder accepted.

Meanwhile, Robbie only stayed long enough to ensure that his brother was safe before the Spirit of Vengeance compelled him to return to Hell, to see just what kind of damage the Parasite had wrought there.

Strange likewise returned to the Sanctums, coordinating with Wong to ensure that the barriers still remained active in spite of everything that had happened. The Guardians themselves were initially planning on leaving the planet, but were stopped temporarily by the arrival of a Republic envoy, who had a proposition for them all.

...

Earth-16

Truth be told, the scale of destruction wasn't really surprising to the people of Earth-16, especially given the superheroes and villains and what their battles would cost. And yet even still, the Flood's attack was far more devastating than anything they had ever dealt with before.

There were still bodies that had yet to be recovered, and several heroes were missing, Batman and Aquaman among them. Likewise, there had been no contact from Infinity Island or Bialya to the surviving members of the Light, and there was nothing to indicate that Vandal Savage had survived the destruction of the Warworld.

Neither Doctor Fate nor Klarion had returned either, leaving Zatanna in particular worried over her father's fate. John Stewart had thankfully returned, reporting that Hal and Guy had also survived. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Green Lantern Corps had suffered many casualties, leaving the others to pick up the slack until new Ringbearers could be selected.

J'onn and M'gann had managed to get in contact with the surviving Martians, who had revealed that despite heavy losses, their species had managed to survive this apocalypse. And speaking of the that, all contact had been lost with both New Genesis and Apokolips. When they attempted to create Boom tubes to the locations in question, the Mother or Father Boxes had the same "ERROR. LOCATION UNAVAILABLE." message.

Still, the Justice League and the Team did what they could to rebuild, and were openly aided by the Republic, who were offering to bring their world fully into the fold. When asked how the Separatists would take that, the envoys admitted that there were some changes between the two superpowers...

…

Lex Luthor sat in his bunker, stewing over the recent developments. The Light was in shambles, their forces scattered to the wind. The Separatists had lost much of their leadership, and it seemed the survivors were actually merging with what remained of the Republic.

The owner of LexCorp was unsure how to feel about that. He had never really liked being at the whims of the superpower, a feeling he knew most of his fellows in the Light had shared, but after their failed attempt at usurping control of the Separatists with Darkseid's help, they had remained in their service for quite some time.

And as a businessman, Lex knew better than to let personal feelings get in the way. But at the moment, his primary attitude was to wait and see. His musings were interrupted by the buzz of his intercom.

"So sorry to disturb you, Mr. Luthor." The scientist at the other end said. "But we were just taking inventory of our remaining stocks, and came across something peculiar: do you remember the substance Dust?"

"Yes, it's a unique compound from the planet Remnant that is rendered inert outside that world's atmosphere." He recited with a bored tone. "What about it?"

"Well, that's just it, Mr. Luthor. The Dust Samples we took are no longer inert."

...

Spherus Magna orbit

On one of the surviving stations in orbit over Spherus Magna, a figure stood at the window, overlooking the planet that he had spent 100,000 years preparing to rebuild. Mata Nui knew that the people would inevitably recover, but the damage was still hard to witness.

The Great Spirit thought back to how he had first met the Supreme Commander and everything that had happened since then. He had befriended the then young human, recreating his body with the Mask of Life as the man grew into the supposed god that he had been, aiding in fighting some of the planet's worse threats like the gold-skinned being and Velika's plan.

When informed about his plan to create his Republic, Mata Nui had helped broker the deal with the other Spherus Magnans to allow their world to be used as the superpower's capital.

And through the Republic's existence, the former Great Spirit had become one of the Supreme Commander's advisers, doing all that he could to ensure the superpower's population was content and happy while avoiding having any actual power. Even during the conflict with the Separatists, he had continued with that role to the best of his ability.

Then the Flood appeared, cutting a bloodbath throughout all of reality. The Parasite had seemed unstoppable, and even after the end of the Great Flood war, had found yet another way to return, culminating with an attack of unprecedented scale before they were stopped again, in what was hopefully a more permanent solution.

After so long and with so many losses, Mata Nui wasn't sure whether to believe it was true. Or for that matter, believe that his friend was gone from this plane of reality. His musings were interrupted by the sound of someone teleporting in. Without turning from his position, Mata Nui sighed.

"I should be down there with my people."

"You know they called you up here for a reason." The armored figure replied, her Varia Suit vanishing in a flash of light. "We do need your aid, old friend." Mata Nui finally turned to the blond woman in her skin tight blue suit.

"It's good to see you, Samus." The Great Spirit said. "I just wish more of us could be here."

"As do I." Samus replied. "With so many bodies gone, it's difficult to ascertain who's dead and who's MIA."

There was a brief pause as Samus' comm activated, and the Chozo Hatchling listened to what was said on the other end. The brief conversation and short answers ended with her saying "I'll tell him." before she turned back to him.

"What is it?"

"The Republic and Separatists are merging." The ex-Bounty Hunter replied. "It was apparently the last order of both our friend and the Separatist Ruler." She turned to face him fully. "They want you to lead it."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Mata Nui asked. "My last efforts at leading ended with my people enslaved."

"And a shattered world restored." Samus pointed out. "Spherus Magna would still be barren fragments if it wasn't for you."

"Perhaps." The former Great Spirit sighed. "He did ask me to lead in the event that he either died or was incapacitated. I just didn't think that would actually happen."

"None of us did." Samus replied. "But times have changed, and the Flood have left everything in chaos. And let's be honest, you're the best candidate out of anyone."

"I suppose you're right." Mata Nui said reluctantly. "I suppose we shouldn't waste any more time."

...

There wasn't exactly much ceremony to be had, not with so much work to be done. Fortunately, the former ruler of the Matoran Universe was willing to dive right in to start solving the problems currently plaguing the new and merged Republic.

And unfortunately, there were quite a few problems to solve. While the Republic had sent envoys out to a number of planets, they were still dealing with the fallout of the Tidal Wave. Portal storms had been running rampant all over the multiverse, displacing people and locations across reality.

One such displacement had occurred on Spherus Magna, as the imprisoned Dark Hunters had escaped from their prison during the chaos and had teleported beyond their current sight.

While this was indeed a grave concern, the Republic and Separatists still had their priorities in both rebuilding, finalizing their merging, and more importantly, ensuring that they were free of the Parasite. Fortunately, the latter at least was showing evidence to be true, given the scout vessels returning with the news that no Flood forms could be detected anywhere in the known multiverse.

"It seems the Flood has been totally destroyed."

"We thought that the last time." Thrawn pointed out. "And that only lasted for five years before they were active again."

"An excellent point." Mata Nui agreed. "We must remain ever vigilant for the resurgence of the Parasite, and their followers."

"Well we're off to a fairly decent start there." One officer reported. "Many known Unitologists have either been apprehended or killed."

"And what of Dark Samus?" Thrawn asked, turning to the ex-Bounty Hunter. "Could she have survived?"

"I'm not sure." She admitted after a moment. "I want to believe she's gone, but I've seen too many of my former enemies seemingly destroyed only for them to reappear later."

"Then we will keep a watchful eye for her as well."

...

Remnant

In the realm of her Keep, Salem looked over the foreboding landscape, feeling that same sense of fear that Mercury and Emerald had no doubt felt when they first arrived here.

Things had gone perfectly according to plan: in less than a day, her master had undone thousands of years of Ozpin's efforts by effortlessly stealing the Relics. Shortly afterward, she felt the Gravemind's return to full strength.

The Grimm had responded by her will, aiding the Parasite when it launched its attack on Remnant (not that it actually needed the support), making Ozpin's inevitable short life as painful as possible.

At least, that was what she had assumed.

An energy wave had eradicated all Flood forms from Remnant, and to make matters worse, it also destroyed three fifths of the total Grimm population across the planet. She could replenish those numbers, but it would take time she likely didn't have.

And then there were the fact that her agents in Watts, Hazel, Mercury and Emerald still had yet to get into contact with her. While the latter two were mostly loyal to her out of fear, the former two were genuinely loyal in their own ways. But could she still say the same after today?

Even she couldn't be sure how well their loyalty would hold after seeing the Grimm help the Flood in battle. Even loyal Tyrian's faith was shaken, and considering everything that had happened, she wasn't sure how much she could keep them in line anymore.

There was only so much that fear could accomplish, after all.

Her musings were interrupted by the appearance of a storm of energy appearing right outside the window. Salem leapt aside as it approached, as it crashed through the glass and broke the conference table in half before abruptly vanishing.

Salem shakily rose to her feet, only to find that she wasn't alone anymore. In the middle of a crater where the table used to be, another figure staggered out, its body seemingly trying to hold itself together.

It was humanoid, but that was really the only 'natural' part of it. Three yellow eyes were on its mouthless face and it had more and less internal organs than it should've. One of its arms was also a gun, and the actual hand of the other arm had a human eye on the back of it. Despite the unexpected appearance, Salem felt a sense of grim satisfaction, as well as a banishment of the fear she had felt only a moment ago.

"Well now," Salem approached the dark armored figure. "What do we have here?"

Chapter Text

The darkness that encompassed the prison realm of the Void was but a distant memory, as the continual battle that raged through the dimension lit up the sky in a variety of colors as the two humanoid entities kept battling the massive form of the Galactimind, their powers never halting for even a moment.

After much fighting, the Gravemind had managed to stun its two jailers, sending them both flying far away into the edges of the Void. Now, the lull allowed some progress to be made as the Mind continued its efforts to break through its cage.

Once again, energy slammed into the walls of the Void. Once again, the barrier cracked, forming a tiny window out, but the window slammed shut almost immediately as the power of the two Gods reasserted itself and repaired the damage. Once again, the Gravemind roared in fury. And once again, their battle began in earnest.

This was the same pattern that repeated endlessly throughout their imprisonment: the Gravemind would constantly make an effort to escape, only to be foiled by the efforts of its two nemeses. It could never get farther than making a crack that almost doubled as a window into the greater multiverse before its efforts were all for naught.

They had lost track of how long they'd been in here, how many times the Flood had attempted to escape and how many times the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler had prevented it from happening.

The passage of time inside the Void was far more... erratic than it was in the rest of the multiverse. Centuries could fly by in nanoseconds and a minute could last a week, depending on a variety of factors in the Void itself. Of course, the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler were able to keep themselves mostly aware of time, at least on a subconscious level.

Truth be told, the two Gods were suffering at least as much as the Gravemind was. While the Flood were stuck here with no way out, the same could be said of the two of them, forced to become the eternal jailers of the Galactimind, while it hurled physical and mental attacks against them in an effort to weaken their resolve.

If they hadn't simply given themselves the mental fortitude to sustain their efforts, the two of them would've been broken by the Gravemind long ago. They couldn't possibly enjoy themselves, but they had become numb to just how painful it was.

But then one day it happened.

Once more, the Gravemind created a crack in the walls of the Void. But it didn't immediately disappear. The Commander and the Ruler were briefly stunned by this fact, allowing the Gravemind to sucker punch them and give itself more time to work.

It quickly became clear to the duo that something was happening on the other side of the tear. Something was distorting time in the region of the Gravemind's window, which kept the crack from fading immediately as it had before.

And it also became very clear as to why: the Gravemind hadn't just been trying to break through the walls of the Void. It had also been telepathically calling for help. And now, that aid had arrived.

On its own, the Gravemind could never break through the Void's walls, not with its adversaries adding their powers to it. But it could thin the walls enough so that energy from the outside could break it open. And that's exactly what happened when the crack turned into a portal.

"NO!" Two sets of voices shouted, their powers rushing to reassert themselves against the barrier.

But it was too late.

...

Salem and Dark Samus had torn a path through the Kree warship, having stowed away prior to the ship's mission. Their captive/dead weight had also been brought aboard, and Salem had to constantly check on him to ensure that he was still alive, while simultaneously ensuring that his presence didn't cause too much disruption.

The two of them had been getting the Gravemind's subconscious messages for a while now, ever since they met on Remnant. Of course, it took them a while to understand what their master was asking of them, and even longer to gather the necessary pieces for it, especially with Dark Samus in such a critical state.

But eventually, they managed to get to where their master was calling, stowing away aboard a Confederacy ship that was sent to investigate the anomalies in question (not realizing that it was Dark Samus who altered their scanners and made them aware of the location).

Once the ship had arrived at its destination, the two females made their move. Effortlessly cutting down Kree with magic and Phazon, they carved their way through the levels of the ship, all while they waited for the moment for their master to emerge.

The confusing nature of the Void meant that the Gravemind had little control over where it could create an anomaly, but the presence of Phazon in Dark Samus acted as a sort of beacon, allowing the crack in the walls to open close to the Phazon clone.

But it was Salem who brought the key, dragging along the barely living body of Voporak, who Dark Samus had managed to create a portal to when her doppelganger blasted him into his space. Salem's immortality prevented the temporal aging from having any lasting effect on her, and soon she had moved him exactly where they needed him, just as their master made its own move.

The crack in reality tore through the ship, damaging several major systems aboard the large Kree vessel. As planned, Salem had placed the body of Voporak right next to where the breach had occurred, and while the anomaly flickered, it didn't fade like last time.

The comatose body of Voporak was still emitting a temporal field, which was keeping the crack in reality present enough for Salem and Dark Samus to pour their energies into it, creating a semi-stable portal that allowed a facsimile of the Primordial form to crawl out of the Void.

The portal slammed shut just as the grotesque body made it through, though the crack still remained. The creature rose up to its full height, with everyone staring at it; Dark Samus and Salem with awe and reverence, the Kree with utter terror.

"Master." Salem whispered.

"At last, freedom, from my eternal cage!" The Gravemind spoke, its voice seeming to come from both the body and the tear at once. "And now all of reality will suffer my rage!"

The Primordial being raised its four hands and let loose Flood spores. A cloud of spores spread throughout the hallways, infecting everything they touched, the Kree soldiers turning into grotesque abominations that immediately turned against their fellows.

All throughout the vessel, the Flood spread rapidly, infecting everything they touched. With the engines damaged, there was fortunately no way for them to fly the ship away, but there were still fighters in the hangers, which the captain immediately ordered them destroyed.

Unfortunately, the warship's own self destruct was unable to be activated, with Salem and Dark Samus sabotaging it after they got onboard. This left the Kree at the mercy of the Flood, who rapidly spread throughout the ship, with the Gravemind laughing all the while.

But the breach in the Void's walls continued to be active, and unnoticed to Salem or Dark Samus, something else happened. A psionic message flew through the crack in reality, searching for any and every non-infected mind within range.

...

In the Benatar, the Guardians of the Galaxy cruised through the depths of space, with Quill's music blaring in the background. The man himself was singing along with it, ditto with Gamora, while Yondu simply hummed along.

Nebula rolled her eyes at the sight while she continued to work on her weapons. Meanwhile, Groot was engrossed in his video games, Rocket was taking a nap, and Mantis was staring intently at one of Quill's old films.

Overall, it was a typical day for the Guardians, one which was brought to a screeching halt when images and feelings flooded into all of their minds. A Kree warship, a strange dimensional disturbance, two dark figures, all wrapped up in an overwhelming sense of urgency.

It ended with a set of coordinates before the message ended, leaving everyone in various levels of pain, with Mantis in particular clutching her head with both hands and hyperventilating.

"Ok, did anyone else feel that, or was it just me?" Quill asked, shutting off his music in the process.

"It definitely wasn't just you." Nebula shook her head. "I've never felt anything like that before."

"It was some kind of disturbance." Mantis whispered, her eyes widened in horror. "We need to get there, right now!"

"I am Groot."

"That's a fair point." Rocket agreed. "It could be some sort of trap."

"Whatever it is, I doubt it's something we can afford to ignore." Gamora countered. "Trap or not, something just sent a psychic message to all of us. We can't just let it go unanswered."

"And we may not have been the only ones to get the message." Nebula nodded.

"It's your call, Quill." Yondu put his hand on the back of Star-Lord's seat. Quill, for his part, didn't take long.

"We're setting a course for those coordinates." He punched the coordinates into the navicomputer. "I suggest everyone put on their mean faces."

...

Carol Danvers flew through the depths of space, heading towards the new Skrull homeworld at faster than light speeds. While traveling, she couldn't help but think back to what had happened to her in the years since her return to Earth.

She had kept her end of the bargain, helping Talos and the refugees find a new home for the Skrulls, before delivering on her promise to the Supreme Intelligence, foiling a number of other operations from the Kree Empire.

Then of course, the Tidal Wave had happened. The Flood parasite had swarmed throughout reality, attacking countless planets simultaneously. She had fought back as best as she could, defending what she could, but even she couldn't be everywhere at once, and her actions had brought her the Gravemind's attention.

She had gotten Fury's page, but had been too busy being crushed by a Star Road to reply. Of course, she had gotten free when the Precursor structure shattered, but that was the point when the crisis was over.

She had briefly stopped by Earth in the aftermath, meeting with Fury and ensuring that her homeworld had managed to survive before returning back to the depths of space, doing whatever she could to aid whoever managed to survive.

It was a rough few years, though there had been some good to come out of what was being called the Tidal Wave: the Kree Empire had suffered significant casualties from the Flood, meaning that they wouldn't be launching conquest missions for quite some time.

Then of course, there was the fact that the Mad Titan Thanos was killed prior to the event, his armies subsequently shattered during the Flood attack. Of course, if Fury was right, the Titan's death was what allowed this to happen.

Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by a searing pain in her skull. Images telepathically bored their way into her mind, showing a dimensional rift aboard a Kree warship, with two dark figures standing in front of it. The vision ended with coordinates branded into her brain.

"What the hell was that?"

She hadn't the faintest clue about what just happened, but she could feel an overwhelming sense of urgency that wasn't her own. Carol wasn't sure whether she could trust the strange vision, but if the Kree were involved, it was definitely worth looking into.

With the coordinates firmly in mind, Carol made her detour and flew as fast as she could towards the ship.

...

Samus was simply flying through the void, tracking her quarry when she felt it: a telepathic message, both strong but faint, and garbled. But she could see Dark Samus and Salem, apparently aboard a Kree warship and in front of a dimensional rift. The vision ended with a set of coordinates.

Her first thought was to call Republic High Command, but she hesitated. The whole reason she had taken this assignment solo was to free up Republic resources for more useful purposes. But at the same time, a warning like this didn't bode well for anyone.

After debating with herself for a moment, Samus moved her hand away from the comms and instead gunned her ship's engines. Her course of action had been decided; she would investigate things alone, and call in support if she needed it. There was no point in getting Republic Command worked up over a wild goose chase.

Within half an hour, Samus had arrived at the coordinates she had been given, her ship halted some fair distance away from the Kree warship, which had seen better days. She could see the damage clear as day, with the engines out and several corridors blown into space.

Running a scan of the vessel, she detected some form of dimensional anomaly, but she interference from said anomaly kept her from getting any deeper scans than that. It was clear that she would have to board the vessel personally to gain an idea about what was going on.

Spying an open docking bay, she maneuvered her gunship towards it.

...

"Would you care to explain why you sent one of your warships to the middle of nowhere?"

Taryan Kasius stood tall, attempting to retain his dignity in spite of the sheer terror he was feeling. It was clear that the Makuta wasn't fooled, especially when two of his Rahkshi moved closer, brandishing staffs that crackled with electricity.

"We detected an anomaly out in the depths of space." The Kree House ruler replied quickly. "The Confederacy wanted to investigate this, in the hopes-"

"Of finding an advantage over me?" Teridax's mask was expressionless besides from the narrowed eyes. "And now you've lost contact with your people. Such a waste."

"We are preparing to dispatch a search team as we speak, Master." Kasius bowed, avoiding the Makuta's gaze. "We will find out what happened."

"Don't bother." Kasius looked up in confusion as a portal opened behind Teridax. "I will investigate the matter personally. In the meantime, my sons will remain to administer... discipline."

The last thing Teridax heard before the portal closed was Kasius' pained screaming.

Chapter Text

There was no one to greet Samus as she stepped out of her gunship, hostile or otherwise. The hanger bay was a mess, with damaged ships scattered all over the area, as well as several overhead lights smashed into pieces.

Yet there were no bodies. It was clear that some kind of struggle and conflict had gone down aboard the ship, but there wasn't a single corpse to show for it. Of course, that wasn't too unusual considering all the threats that existed in the multiverse, but it still left the ex-Bounty Hunter on edge.

Journeying deeper into the ship, the same pattern could be seen: lots of bloodstains and battle damage, but no corpses. She had her Scan Visor active, searching through everything, but at the moment, she couldn't discern just what had caused this.

There were a number of guesses, one of which she really didn't want to entertain, but Samus couldn't rule it out either. She continued her journey through the bowels of the Kree ship, her arm cannon still at the ready when she opened the door to a cargo bay.

"I'm telling you, this place gives me the creeps." The door opened to a group of different aliens, all searching around the cargo bay.

"At least it's better than- who the fuck are you?" As one, the group all had their weapons out and pointed at Samus, who raised her arm cannon at them in response. She was facing different varieties of firearms, swords, and even a glowing red arrow that responded to the owner's whistling. "Dude, you're outnumbered, so I suggest you surrender."

Samus didn't immediately respond, instead scanning the group in question. Once she had them identified, she lowered her arm cannon, though she still kept her hand on it just in case.

"You're the Guardians of the Galaxy."

"There's a chick under there?" Rocket muttered, as he and Yondu looked at each other, the latter shrugging.

"Nice to know we have a fan." Quill replied, none of the Guardians lowering their weapons. "Now who are you?"

"Samus Aran, I'm with the Republic." That finally got the Guardians to lower their own weapons, though none of them put them away.

"What are you doing here?" Nebula asked, her sword still in hand.

"I could ask you the same question." Samus countered. There was a brief moment of tension before Gamora spoke up.

"We had a vision." The green skinned alien replied. "Of this ship and the exact coordinates to reach it."

"And since it wasn't far, we decided to investigate." Star-Lord continued with a sigh.

"Then we're in the same boat." Samus noted. "What have you found?"

"A whole lot of nothing." Yondu shook his head. "Blood and battle damage, but no bodies."

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, someone definitely went to a lot of trouble to make sure this ship and any fighters couldn't fly again." Rocket agreed.

"And your ship?"

"We left it locked down with Mantis." Nebula replied. "No one's getting in or out."

"So, since we're all here, why not team up?" Quill suggested.

"I could think of worse allies." Samus said after a moment. "It goes without saying that no one goes off alone."

"I am Groot."

"Do you want to take charge?" The ex-Bounty Hunter countered. "Besides, I may have an idea of what we're dealing with."

...

After spending a considerably longer than necessary amount of time discussing who should be in charge, the oddball group was finally continuing their journey through the Kree warship.

And through it all, Nebula was feeling uneasy. It felt like a thousand eyes were watching them with every step they took, yet there was still no sign of anyone. Samus' explanation of who she was tracking and who the two figures were in their vision hadn't helped, and the Guardians were constantly looking around with their heads on a swivel.

Eventually, they came to a recreational room, where it looked like a tornado of blood had gone off, spilling blue Kree fluid on every surface. Even the hardened warriors of Nebula and Gamora were unnerved by the sight.

"Okay, this really feels like one of your old horror movies, Quill." Rocket muttered, his grip tightening on his rifle.

"What the hell could've done this?" Star-Lord asked, not expecting an answer.

"Quite a few things." Samus replied. "None of them pleasant. But if I were to hazard a guess here, I'd say..." The ex-Bounty Hunter trailed off as she caught sight of what seemed to be a sickly green pile of flesh in the corner of the ceiling. "It can't be..."

"It can't be... what?" Samus rounded on the Guardians, her posture far tenser than it had been a moment ago.

"Space suits, now!" Samus' tone left no room for argument, and the Guardians quickly snapped them up, the hexagonal patterns settling all over their bodies.

"Out with it girl!" Yondu said. "What exactly are we dealing with here?" Before Samus could reply, an uncannily familiar roar made itself known inside the room, causing the other Guardians to look around in terror. Quill summed up their thoughts in two simple words.

"Oh shit."

...

Teridax walked out of the dimensional rift into the darkened hanger of the Kree warship. The first thing he noted was that all the shuttles and fighters had been broken or sabotaged beyond repair. The second thing he noticed was the sound of many footsteps heading towards him.

It appeared that there were still survivors aboard this vessel, though they were in no rush to greet him. Instead, his keen hearing sensed that they were surrounding him, concealed in shadow. The Makuta was tempted to laugh.

"You think the darkness will protect you?" Teridax called. "The Shadows belong to me." All the darkness was absorbed, leaving the hiding beings visible in the new light. What he saw actually made him take a step back.

He had never seen them personally before now, of course. His resurrection was evidently a side effect of their passing. But he had seen the many recordings the multiverse had made of their presence, their power. It was something he knew to be wary of.

So when the unmistakable forms of the Flood were what he found hiding in the dark, his first instinct was to disbelief their presence. They were supposed to be gone, they had been utterly destroyed at the end of the Tidal Wave. They shouldn't be here.

That brief reaction only lasted as long as it took for the Flood leap at him, and he reacted by unleashing a wave of Shadow that tore the first ranks apart and sent the rest flying. But the Kree born forms were quick to recover and attack again, some pulling out weapons to fire upon him.

He retaliated with plasma this time, the blistering heat enough to burn them down to their basic components. He didn't even flinch as an energy bolt struck his armor, but he still zeroed in on the offending shooter and burned its body to ash with heat vision.

The rest of the fight was hardly impressive, these lowly forms barely able to threaten him. In moments, the hanger bay was even more wrecked than it had been before, and Teridax had made sure to disintegrate any Flood biomass left behind.

No doubt many organics would be feeling fear at confronting the Flood again. He had no such weakness. Between his indestructible body and being made of energy, the Makuta knew that he had nothing to be concerned about with these basic forms.

Granted, he wasn't willing to take any risk, his adaption power completely sealing his armor and making it completely impossible for even a single cell of the Flood to reach his antidermis.

Nevertheless, he knew that should the Flood be allowed to grow, their potential would also grow exponentially and put even him at risk. He needed to find the source, and put an end to this infestation.

Telepathically, he reached out, taking care to avoid delving into the Flood hive mind itself. He was surprised to find one particularly shielded mind and several he could read like an open book, all of whom were being attacked by the Flood.

They weren't Kree, in fact, they would normally be considered his enemies. Under any other circumstances, he would gladly leave them to their fate. But with what was happening now, he needed all the allies he could get, and calling in his own would take too long.

Ensuring that he knew exactly where they were, Teridax triggered his teleportation power and vanished.

...

With a whistling tone, Yondu's Yaka arrow flew on an accurate path, flying right through all the Flood forms in the room in an instant. But what would've killed any number of pirates didn't even slow the Parasite down.

"Oh come on!" Yondu shouted. "I thought you were kidding about that!"

"That's not going to work." Samus blasted several forms with her beams, turning them to ash. She then launched a missile into a cluster of combat forms and Pod Infectors, blowing them all to bits.

It had only been a couple minutes since the Flood had started flowing in like their namesake, but it certainly felt a lot longer than that. They came from everywhere, all of them quite clearly the remnants of the Kree crew.

There hadn't been any actual speaking from the Flood, meaning that either they hadn't assembled a Gravemind, or it didn't feel like talking. But ultimately, it mattered very little as the tide continued to wash in.

Gamora cut down a combat form with her sword, while Peter blasted another that tried to catch her off guard. Rocket was shouting manically as he opened fire on the combat forms around them, while Yondu wasn't much better as he helped using a gun borrowed from Rocket.

Soon, the number of forms slowed to a trickle, but a new problem decided to show itself. Dark Samus revealed herself by blasting her doppelganger, sending the orange and gold-suited Samus flying back against the wall. The Phazon clone, now looking far more complete than it had been after the Tidal Wave, turned her attention and arm cannon at the Guardians.

"Scatter!"

The oddballs barely managed to get out of the blast range of a Super Missile, the shockwave scattering them all over the cafeteria. The Guardians were too dazed to take appropriate notice of the infection forms that began crawling towards them, eager for helpless prey.

Abruptly, the Flood infectors fell victim to chain lightning, which lanced around the room and prevented the Guardians from becoming nothing more than food. Confused, Dark Samus searched for the source, which left her vulnerable to a Super Missile from Samus.

Recoiling in pain, the Black Hunter was hit by an explosive blast, increasing the damage she suffered. In response, Dark Samus let herself disperse into a cloud of Phazon particles, which immediately flew out of the room.

"What just happened?" Rocket asked, as they all turned to the source of that energy beam. A massive armored titan stepped out of the Shadows, with Samus' eyes widening behind her visor.

"Makuta?"

"Get down!" A pair of heat beams lanced from Teridax's eyes and struck a combat form behind Samus, turning it to ash. "It seems you all missed one."

The Guardians shared a confused look between them, but Samus was the only one who was aware of just who he was and what he could do. And the ex-Bounty Hunter had no plan of taking any chances here.

"Ah, the great Samus Aran." Makuta chuckled at the ex-Bounty Hunter's arm cannon, which was still pointed at him. "I believe this is the first time we've met face to face."

"What are you doing here, Teridax?" Samus' eyes narrowed. "Why the hell would you come to a drifting space hulk?"

"My reasons for being here hardly matters right now." The Makuta replied, his smile dropping. "The Flood are spreading throughout this ship, and we all know how dangerous they are."

"Okay, can we all take a step back for a second?" Quill interjected, seemingly not noticing or not caring about the tension in the air. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Meet Makuta Teridax, currently the Republic's most wanted fugitive." Samus didn't take her eyes off the Makuta, but there was a tinge of annoyance in her tone. "Did you even read the briefing we sent you?"

"Was that what that was?" Yondu shrugged. "We kinda skimmed over it."

"How inspiring." Teridax sighed. "We're wasting time, Aran. You know that."

"You're helping us?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my ally." Teridax said. "And I have as much reason to want the Flood to stay gone as you do." He looked in the direction of the Guardians of the Galaxy. "Even if it means working with those idiots."

"No one asked you to show up, ugly." Red eyes were drawn to Rocket's diminutive form when he spoke.

"The rodent speaks." Teridax snarked. "How amusing."

"What did you just call me?!" Rocket turned his gun towards Teridax but the other Guardians were quick to restrain him. "I really don't like this guy."

"Nevertheless, he has a point." Samus lowered her arm cannon with a sigh. "We're alone on a ship filled with Flood, and every moment we delay means that they have a better chance of getting off the ship."

"You can't contact my brother?" Makuta asked. "I daresay this is a moment I would actually welcome his presence."

"We're being jammed." Samus replied. "I can't get a signal out."

"Oh that's just fantastic." Yondu groaned. "We can't actually call anyone?"

"We can still contact each other inside the ship." Samus clarified. "But any long range or multiversal communications are blocked completely."

"Tell me, how did you all get aboard?" Teridax questioned. "I assume you came in your own ships."

"Shit." Realizing what he was implying, Samus immediately contacted her ship's AI. "Adam, do you read me?"

"Signal's faint, but I read you Lady."

"We're dealing with a substantial Flood infestation." She quickly explained. "Lock the ship down on every level, do not let anything in until I return."

"Understood."

As Samus was doing this, the other Guardians were also reacting. Following her lead, Quill immediately called Mantis and told her to take the Benatar out of the hanger, remaining on station in case they needed to extract quickly.

"Alright, now that that's done, our priority is figuring out just how the Flood got onboard." Teridax said. "And more importantly, making sure that they can't get anywhere else."

"We're heading to the bridge then." Samus agreed. "That's the first place we need to look."

"After you, Lady." Makuta gestured to one of the doors. Samus responded by pointing her arm cannon at him again.

"You're going first."

...

The unlikely allies made their way through the ship, taking down any Flood form they encountered, which was surprisingly light, all things considered. The Guardians were quick to realize this as well.

"Something's not right." Gamora cut down one Flood form, and didn't even flinch as laser vision streaked over her shoulder and burned another Flood form to ash. "A ship like this should have a far larger crew."

"So where are the rest?"

"Hopefully we'll find out when we get to the bridge." Samus fired off a Super missile, clearing the last cluster of Flood forms out of their path. "And with any luck, we'll also find Dark Samus."

"I fail to see how that would be lucky." Quill murmured softly.

After a few more minutes, the group arrived at the bridge doors. They were locked, but neither the Makuta nor the Chozo Hatchling had any intention of letting that stop them. The group walked through the ruined door to find the bridge completely abandoned.

"This place has seen better days." Yondu said, looking at all the wrecked control consoles. "I guess they wanted to be sure that the Flood couldn't escape."

"Well, we don't have to worry about that, at least." Samus replied as she scanned a nearby console. "The engines are damaged beyond repair. Apparently the rift opened inside the ship, which disrupted a lot of systems." The ex-Bounty Hunter tensed as she felt a cold presence loom over her.

"It seems rather odd for the Flood to be so docile." Teridax noted, looking over her shoulder. "I would assume that they would've sent out a distress signal or found some other way to get off this ship."

"Found something interesting." Nebula called, drawing several gazes towards her. "This vessel isn't part of the normal Kree Empire, it belongs to the Confederacy."

"Those two-timing slavers?" Yondu spat. "If that's the case, then good riddance."

"Does it say why they were here?" Quill asked.

"Apparently, they detected a dimensional anomaly and sent this ship to investigate." The Daughter of Thanos replied. "Apparently, it's been constantly appearing and reappearing for quite some time."

"Uh guys, we might have a problem!" Rocket shouted, looking at a separate console. "I think I found where most of the Flood went."

They rushed over to the screen, only to see security footage of a separate hanger to the ones that Samus and the Guardians had landed in. Hundreds of Flood forms could be seen, rushing to and from several fighters, ones that the Flood had apparently been repairing.

And now several of those fighters were warming up, their engines flaring as they were set to leave. Samus immediately rounded on Teridax.

"Get us in there, right now!"

To the Makuta's credit, he didn't voice any complaint as he teleported himself and Samus into the hanger. The duo immediately set to work demolishing the fighters that attempted to lift off, which unfortunately drew the Flood's attention to them.

Several combat forms and fighters immediately turned on them and opened fire, forcing the unlikely duo to avoid the shots. Several fighters attempted to flee, but Teridax managed to grab them with his magnetic powers, leaving Samus to blow them apart with seeker missiles.

After scrapping those fighters, the Makuta and Chozo warrior made short work of the rest of the Flood in the hanger, but any good cheer they may have had vanished when the Guardians reported that that wasn't the only hanger, and the point was proven when several fighters began streaking past the open void of space.

"Mantis, get on those fighters!" Gamora shouted. "Don't let any of them escape!"

To her credit, Mantis reacted quickly and brought the Benatar around, the ship's weapons lighting up the night sky as she tore through multiple fighters with ease. This was aided by the Guardians managing to get some of the point defenses back online. But the Flood weren't interested in a dogfight, and a dozen slipped through her defense before Mantis could stop them.

The fighters flew far too fast, outpacing the Benatar with their Flood created upgrades. But just as it seemed that they were in the clear, several blasts of energy took them all out one by one. Mantis watched in awe as the source revealed itself to be a human woman in a red and blue suit.

"Who the hell is that?"

...

Soon, the Guardians were all gathered in the hanger alongside, Samus, Teridax and this new arrival, who introduced herself as Carol Danvers, and also demanded to know who they were and why the Flood were here.

"Carol Danvers..." Samus ran a brief scan of the woman, and found herself impressed by her capabilities, but more importantly, she realized where she knew that name from. "You're friends with Nick Fury, correct?"

Carol visibly tensed. "How do you know Fury?"

"I'm with an organization that's been working closely with Fury since the Tidal Wave." Samus replied. "Have you heard of the Republic?"

"I've heard the name." She admitted, visibly relaxing.

"Is this really the time or place?" Teridax pointed out. "I believe we were trying to keep the Flood from escaping."

"Relax, I destroyed any remaining fighters." Carol pointed out. "They're not going anywhere."

"So what's the plan?" Rocket interjected. "I mean, we have one, don't we?"

"Right now, we need to clean the Flood out of this ship." Samus said. "Ideally, that means setting off the self-destruct, but I'll settle for just blowing this ship to hell the manual way."

"Yeah, I don't think our ship has enough firepower to do that." Quill noted.

"I could do it." Carol shrugged. "It wouldn't take very long."

"Unfortunately, that's also our secondary objective."

"And what exactly is the primary one?" Carol questioned, crossing her arms.

"Finding out how the Flood escaped in the first place, and keeping them from doing so again." Samus replied, deciding to test a theory she had. "We all got that same telepathic message, right? You all saw that dimensional rift?"

Everyone except Teridax immediately made affirmative noises, confirming her suspicions. He hadn't been close when they all got that vision, which meant that the Makuta was here for another reason. How and why was something that could be figured out later.

"Best guess is that that's how the Flood got out." The ex-Bounty Hunter continued. "We know my Phazon doppelganger is here, so it stands to reason that she had a hand in all this."

"Salem is likely here as well." Teridax spoke up. "She would undoubtedly be with Dark Samus, wouldn't she?"

"Undoubtedly." Samus' eyes narrowed. "We're going to have to deal with them one way or the other."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for?" Yondu asked. "Let's find them already!"

...

Between the combined powers of Makuta, Samus and Captain Marvel, any Flood form that attempted to attack their group found themselves very easily put down. At one point, the Flood attempted to ambush them at a three way intersection, with the three powerhouses taking a hall in response. Teridax watched as one horde made their way towards him, the Gravemind mocking all the while.

"The shadow flees from the light." The rasping tones of the Gravemind echoed through the Flood forms. "A hopeless struggle against my might."

"Your time is over, Parasite." Lightning filled the hallway, followed by a wave of plasma. "This multiverse is mine, now."

Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Galaxy watched as they blasted through the Flood that were attacking them, observing as Samus, Carol and Teridax burned down a wave of Flood in seconds.

"Does anyone else feel like we're not needed?" Rocket muttered, looking over the gun in his hand.

"There's certainly a truth to that." The Guardians turned at the unexpected voice, only to be sent flying by a gravitational wave sent by Salem. In moments, they had all been pushed against the wall, as Salem attempted to crush them.

"These pathetic Guardians are the best you have to offer?" Salem's smug tone vanished as she was struck in the chest by a blast of Shadow, sending her flying down the hall.

"Pest."

Teridax smirked as he slowly approached Salem. She attempted to freeze the Makuta solid, but his ice resistance power prevented it from having any effect. He retaliated by using gravity to slam her into the ceiling, then the floor, repeatedly.

"The so-called Queen of the Grimm, rendered so low." The Makuta hit her with a burst of lightning. "I don't know why Cinder ever thought so highly of you."

"We don't have to fight." Salem coughed, as she hit him with a gravitational burst.

"True. You could just lie down and die right now, but I imagine that's a bit of a problem for you, isn't it?"

"That's not what I mean." Salem managed to avoid the laser vision he sent her way, before raising her hands in a peaceful gesture. "We could join together." Teridax paused, seeming to consider the offer. Then he shattered her.

"Do you think I'm a fool?!" The Makuta snarled as she reformed. "You actually believe I would submit myself to the Flood?"

"The master will be free." Salem replied, hurling an energy ball at Teridax, which caused a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, Salem was gone. "You are simply delaying the inevitable."

...

Back inside the Void, the two Gods were struggling to keep the rift from fully opening, actively fighting against the Galactimind in the process. The Mind of the Flood had tripled its efforts to break free, especially with a foothold in the outside, and the Supreme Commander and Ruler were slowly forced to give ground.

"We have to hold it! We can't let this thing get free, not after all that's been sacrificed!"

"You persist too long after your own defeat." The Gravemind snarled. "Your attempts to hold me only delayed the inevitable." As the Mind spoke, the tip of a Star Road pressed against the rift, creating and widening the crack until an actual portal was formed.

"NOW!"

That was exactly what the two of them had been waiting for, and with enough energy held in reserve, they unleashed it against that portion of the Galactimind body, causing it to disintegrate and forcing it to regenerate. But that wasn't the sole purpose of the energy wave, as those on the other side of the rift found out the hard way.

...

Meanwhile, Salem and Dark Samus had returned to the rift, aiding their master's Primordial form in breaking the doorway down. With the interlopers on board this ship, the Gravemind had prioritized getting more powerful forms through in order to deal with them.

And so far, it was working. Between the body of Voporak keeping the rift in reality stable, alongside the combined energies of Dark Samus, Salem, the power of the unique Primordial body, and the Galactimind's own efforts, the hole in the wall of the Void was slowly widening.

Eventually another portal was formed, as the tip of a Star Road started to push through. But any celebration the trio on the outside might've had was cut short when that Star Road disintegrated.

Energy emerged from the rift, slamming into Voporak, Dark Samus and Salem, vaporizing all three of them. The latter two regenerated just in time to see the crack seal completely, with the Gravemind's roar abruptly cut off.

But the energy didn't stop there, as the local burst specifically targeted the Flood biomass spread throughout the derelict and beyond, utterly obliterating all Flood forms in the vicinity, with only the Primordial form (and those it was shielding right next to it) surviving.

"No!" Salem screamed for all of them. "Not now! Not when we were so close."

"I believe you're about to have bigger problems." The trio turned just to see the Makuta, Captain Marvel, Samus and the Guardians of the Galaxy standing in the hallway. "This ends now."

As the Primordial form rose back up, Carol immediately launched herself into the creature, sending both of them flying through the wall and deeper into the ship. Dark Samus acted quickly then, firing off Phazon bolts wildly at the Guardians before turning them on Samus, who weaved and ducked wildly in return, firing all the while.

That left the Guardians and the Makuta against Salem, and with one swipe of the Grimm Witch's hand, it quickly became Salem vs Teridax once more. Quill and the other Guardians quickly rose to their feet, only to find themselves in an empty hallway with multiple holes broken in them.

"Does anyone else feel like a third wheel in this?" Star-Lord asked, before a flash of movement drew his attention to the ceiling. "Oh shit!"

Quill launched himself back on his jet boots as several mini-Abomination forms attempted to land on top of him, the last surviving batch of the Flood forms on the ship. He wasn't completely successful in getting away, as a tentacle latched around his leg and pulled him downward.

"Get off me!" He fired wildly at the Flood form, successfully shooting off the tentacle that was holding him, only for another to grab hold.

"You will be my vanguard." The Gravemind spoke through them, its voice both enraged and yet somewhat unsteady. "My messengers spreading victory everlasting!"

"I think we'll pass, ugly." Rocket vaporized one of the Abominations with an explosive, sending Flood guts flying everywhere. He turned to see another abomination get sent flying and turned to the source.

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get cocky." Rocket fired on that Flood form as it tried to recover. "They'll eat you alive, remember."

Elsewhere, Gamora and Nebula each cut down a form with their blades, hacking them into pieces so they could recover. Yondu stomped one's head into the ground and Quill finished off another with a blast to the head.

Panting, the Guardians quickly took a look around, and found that all the Flood forms were now non-responsive. "We did it, go team." Quill said between breaths, then they all jumped as the massive form of Teridax appeared right in front of them.

"So, you took care of these last creatures." The Makuta's expression remained neutral. "Not bad." With a raised hand, Teridax coated the remains of the Flood bile with plasma, burning them all away.

He had just finished when Samus emerged from one of the holes that they had made, her arm cannon still at the ready, lowering it upon seeing that everyone was still standing.

"The Great Hunter returns." Teridax snarked. "I assume your doppelganger has been dealt with?"

"For the moment." Samus' eyes narrowed behind her visor. "Where's Salem?"

"Space." The Makuta waved his hand dismissively. "You can pick her up later if you want."

"I hate to interrupt this lovely chat." Rocket interjected. "But aren't we missing someone?"

That someone was immediately thrown through yet another wall, groaning in pain as she landed in front of them. This put everyone else on edge as Carol recovered, now looking even more pissed off.

"You need some help?"

"I wouldn't say no." Came the answer to Samus' question, before she flew back through the wall, leaving Samus to follow with her Speed booster, while Teridax teleported himself and the Guardians to the battle site. There they found the Primoridial, who wasn't thrilled with their presence.

"Did you think me beaten?!" A wave of energy flew from the misshapen Flood form, blasting all of the Guardians back down the hall, and staggering Samus, Teridax, and Carol. "Your efforts only delay the inevitable."

"Does this thing ever shut up?" Carol had already recovered and sent a burst of photon energy at the Flood form, but through some unseen mechanism, the beam was completely absorbed. The Primordial sent a wave of spores her way, but a beam of plasma from Samus' arm cannon burned them away.

"I'm not sure that's going to work." Samus said. "I think it's going to take all of us." She looked at the Makuta pointedly, who simply snorted but said nothing.

Without a word, Samus unleashed the energy of her most powerful beam; the Zero laser, which began tearing into the Primordial body at a very slow pace as most of the energy was absorbed. Teridax followed with a beam of disintegration energy, which began to fray whatever defenses the Primordial had even further.

But the coup de grace came when Captain Marvel unleashed twin beams of energy from her hands, with more than enough energy that the heat began melting the hull behind the Flood form. Between Samus' Zero Laser, Carol's Photon beam and Teridax's disintegration, the Primordial form was vaporized.

The resulting overload of energy blasted a hole straight through the vessel, blowing yet another hole into the vacuum of space. While Samus' gravity suit and Teridax's magnetic powers kept them from being sucked out, and Carol simply kept herself steady with her powers, the Guardians weren't so lucky.

Most of the Guardians were able to grab handholds or make them, with Gamora using her sword for that purpose, Quill using his jet boots, Nebula grabbing onto a piece of hallway, Groot extending his arm and planting his feet through the floor. However, Yondu and Rocket were pulled out by the vacuum towards the breach.

Fortunately, Samus was able to grab Yondu with her grapple beam while Carol flew out into the void and grabbed Rocket before he could get too far. Once they were all back on solid footing, Samus immediately contacted her ship.

"Adam, scan the wreckage." There was a moment of quiet before the AI replied.

"There are no traces of the Flood anywhere." The AI said. "Between that energy wave and your destruction of the Primordial, all pieces of the Parasite seem to have been eradicated."

"Great, good job, team." Rocket rolled his eyes. "Can we go now?"

"No one is going anywhere." Samus said. "Not until we've swept the ship and we're sure that no one is carrying any Flood spores on them."

"I think I'm clean." Captain Marvel drawled, letting her powers glow brighter as they burned away any Flood particles that were on her. Teridax simply ran a coat of plasma over his own body, incinerating any potential Flood biomass that may have tried to stow away.

"I believe this is a waste of time." Makuta said simply, watching as Samus scanned the Guardians herself, all while they were clearly engaged in some sort of whispered conversation over their radios. "Oh please, your efforts are so transparent. At least try to make it difficult for me-"

Teridax had to admit, he hadn't expected Samus to turn and simply fire upon him as fast as she had. Furthermore, her combined beams had proven one of his fears; the Wave beam in particular allowed it to bypass the otherwise impenetrable armor shell and burn directly into his antidermis.

Fortunately, the energy was still mostly dissipated by the armor and only a small amount of the Makuta's essence was burned away. Unfortunately, it still hurt, and the moment of distraction allowed Rocket and Quill to throw their own devices at the Makuta's feet, trapping his hands in gravity traps.

Nebula and Gamora leapt at the Makuta with their blades, in an effort to breach his armor, but Teridax simply negated the gravity devices with his own gravity power before sending the two Daughters of Thanos flying into the Guardians.

Samus simply ignored the negated Gravity and fired again, but Teridax's Dodge power simply moved him away before he unleashed a stream of electricity at the ex-Bounty Hunter. For a brief moment, Samus was pinned, but Captain Marvel took the opportunity to blast the Makuta, sending him through the wall.

Teridax took that moment of respite to create a dimensional rift that enveloped him, just before Samus could close in and finish him off. The ex-Bounty Hunter lowered her arm cannon as the portal vanished, while the Guardians rushed in with their weapons at the ready.

"Wait, is he already gone?" Quill asked. "Did he retreat that easily?"

"Looks like it." Carol noted, then turned to Samus with a questioning look. "He was a bad guy, right?"

"Yes, he is." She murmured as an afterthought, looking around the ship wreck. "Either way, the Republic needs to know about all this."

...

An unknown amount of time later.

A crack in reality appeared once more.

Chapter Text

It was finished: the Quantum Tunnel had let him succeed in his goal, and the Avengers never suspected a thing until it was too late to stop him. Oh, Mata Nui had shown up in a vain effort to try, but even that proved all for naught.

Still, he couldn't help but admire their tenacity, even as he simultaneously mocked them for it. They had tried to keep the Infinity Stones away from him, scattering them in different directions, but even that had been all for naught.

Earth's Mightiest heroes lay broken and bleeding on the ground, as a blast of Shadow sent Mata Nui flying back. The Great Spirit attempted to rise to his feet, but the battering he had taken had left its toll on him, and he was powerless to stop the Makuta.

With gravity control, Teridax pulled the Stones to him, his gauntlet shapeshifting slots so that the Infinity Stones could seamlessly be integrated into his armor. Space, Soul, Power, Mind, Reality and Time, all became a part of him.

He screamed in pain as the combined energy lit him up with a multi-colored electric shock, but his new body had effectively been designed as an Infinity Gauntlet, and the scream soon turned into laughter.

Mata Nui was able to rise to his feet just in time to see this. Desperately, he called on the power of the Ignika, attempting to stop his brother before it was too late. But it already was. The full might of all six Infinity Stones swatted the Life Energy aside as Teridax turned to his brother.

"You've lost, Mata Nui." Teridax held up his left hand, displaying the six Infinity Stones embedded within. "But if it's any consolation, brother; you will not survive to see my new reality."

Teridax snapped his fingers.

...

Dark Samus hadn't been idle. Between avoiding Samus and fleeing for her life, she still kept tabs on what was going on in the wider multiverse. As such, she had managed to learn of the Pym and Stark collaboration to create a Quantum Tunnel time machine, and immediately realized just all that she could do with such a device.

Unfortunately, it seemed Makuta Teridax had had similar ideas. By the time she had managed to make it to Earth-199999, the Makuta had already hijacked the Quantum Tunnel and used it to retrieve the Infinity Stones.

At that moment, it seemed like she had failed. There was no chance of success now. But the Phazon clone realized that there was actually a way to turn this to her advantage, and while Teridax was distracted by his own victory, she cloaked herself and moved towards him unseen.

In the nanosecond before Teridax snapped his fingers, the Phazon clone latched onto the Stones, so that when the finger snap activated them, all the energy that would have been directed outward was instead directed into her body.

It was more energy than she could possibly absorb, and she knew it. Dark Samus knew that this action would kill her permanently. But that didn't mean her death would be in vain.

Even as the raw energy of the Infinity Stones tore her apart at an atomic level, she channeled the energy into her arm cannon and unleashed it into the sky. A beam of white light shot into space, far from the planet's atmosphere.

She managed to complete her goal before her atoms completely destabilized and she exploded into a bright white light. Teridax was blasted back by the energy as well, his arm now scorched from the raw power.

And in the depths of space, a crack in the fabric of reality appeared, just as the beam of Infinity Stone energy struck it.

...

Deep in the Void, the eternal conflict continued to rage between three Gods, as two of them attempted to keep the third from escaping. Even now, the Galactimind poured its energies into the wall of the Void, creating yet another crack that barely functioned as a window.

"What's the point?" The Separatist Ruler shouted, even as a beam of energy tore into his body. "You're just going to fail, like you always do."

"I would have thought that even you could accept the inevitable." The Supreme Commander agreed, blasting a thousand Star Roads apart. "We're not going to let you escape."

"Arrogance and hatred!" The Gravemind roared back. "Even now your power is waning, struggling to contain mine. The casket cracks and all you defend will fall."

Any rebuttal the two Gods had planned was interrupted when the power of the Infinity Stones slammed into the crack, merging with the Gravemind's power and surging into the Void.

The unexpected shock disrupted the power of the Supreme Commander and Ruler, allowing the Gravemind to use its energies along with the Stones to tear a massive hole into the walls of the Void. A hole large enough for it to escape.

"NO!" Two voices screamed, even as the Galactimind moved the portal around it, freeing itself from the walls of the Void.

The Gravemind laughed even as it shoved the two Gods back into the Void and closed the portal behind it. They would be able to escape of course, but it was already too late. All that time, those eons of containment, was all undone in a single instant.

...

Teridax and Mata Nui looked up in horror at what Dark Samus had unleashed. From the surface of the Earth, the sky was now nothing more than a wall of Flood biomass, pockmarked with countless mouths and tentacles. Everyone on the hemisphere could only look up in sheer terror.

Entire galaxies collapsed as the Galactimind took over their space, before being absorbed into the essence of its form. Worlds and species were annihilated before they even had a chance to understand what was happening to them.

The Gravemind's mere return caused calamity after calamity to countless species, even as the rest of the multiverse took note of its return. Some felt the same terror, others began preparing to fight back.

All of it was in vain.

"No more will." In an instant, it was over. There was no grand battle. There was no false hope. There was no chance for the multiverse to fight back. Not this time. The Galactimind unleashed the full might of its power, and in a single moment, all life across the expanse of reality had become Flood.

"No more freedom." At that moment, a portal appeared and two beings emerged from rift into the Void. The Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler stopped in their tracks, horror on their faces. They were too late.

"No more mercy." All life had become the Flood. All of reality had become the Flood. And all of reality turned against the two Gods. The final victory of the Precursors was at hand.

The Flood had won.

...

Doctor Strange gasped as the vision ended, falling to the floor of the Sanctum. The Eye containing the shrunken Vahi sealed shut, leaving the Sorcerer panting heavily as his mind replayed what he had witnessed.

The raw panic he had experienced in that vision was still present, but his training as surgeon allowed him to calm himself. It was a vision, not reality and most certainly not set in stone. Still, he knew he couldn't idly sit by, not if there was anything he could do to prevent this from happening.

He knew Dark Samus was still at large. That much had been made clear during his meetings with the Republic. But Samus was hunting her down to finish her off for good. Perhaps he could provide a little help with that.

But the strange thing was Teridax: he was supposed to be dead, so why did he appear in this vision? Perhaps it was of an alternate timeline he hadn't fully witnessed. Still, it was best to make sure.

One way or another, the Sorcerer Supreme had no intention of allowing this potential future to become reality.

Chapter Text

From the moment Dark Samus had kidnapped Allana Solo, Mata Nui knew that things with the Flood were going to get really bad, really fast. The Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler knew that too, especially with the revelation that the Gravemind had taken control of the Throne of Balance.

From there on, things snowballed quickly; from the God Brother Relics of Remnant, the Spear of Destiny, and the Infinity Stones, it was clear that the Gravemind had started its endgame, with the two superpowers desperately playing catch up.

The Unitologists had been a distraction, and now it was too late to stop the Flood. The last thing Mata Nui had done was escort the inhabitants of Earth-199999 back home, before returning to Spherus Magna and preparing everyone for the worst.

The Gravemind's laughter was the signal that the worst had already arrived. All across the multiverse, Flood forms were teleported over worlds en masse, beginning their infectious rampage as the Gravemind continued speaking insults to everyone.

Republic space was no exception, and indeed, was hit far worse than anywhere else with the exception of Separatist territory. The Flood sent Star Roads to ravage the fleets and worlds of the two superpowers, no doubt remembering who had defeated it last time.

Of course, the Great Spirit knew it was time to break out the gift the Supreme Commander had given him, and as such, when the Flood began to rain down upon the Republic capital world, he was already prepared.

Now inhabiting his massive body once again, Mata Nui fought with everything he had to keep Spherus Magna safe. Energy blasts capable of shattering mountains lashed out. The energy of the Ignika flared, granting power to wipe out Flood forms in their tracks and even destroy Star Roads.

This body's capabilities far exceeded that of his old one, with the energy of the Mask of Life itself being amplified by this gigantic form. In addition, it was equipped with weapons and defenses that allowed Mata Nui to endure damage that would have previously destroyed him utterly.

In addition, while he didn't have an entire world inside his shell like the previous one, he still had more than enough compartments to hold millions of beings. And that's what the Great Spirit was doing as he fought the Flood, teleporting Agori, Matoran, civilians and any non combatants to safety inside his form.

And meanwhile, while he served as a formbidable force on both the Ground and Space, he was helped with the former by Toa, Glatorian, Order of Mata Nui members, and Republic forces, while the Republic fleets and defense stations provided all the aid they could from the latter.

And it wasn't enough. No matter what they all accomplished, no matter how many Flood pods and Star Roads the Great Spirit blasted out of the sky, there were always more, an unending tide of flesh and neural physics that hammered down on everything, twisting all life they could.

And as they made landfall, it was clear that not even the creations of the Great Beings were immune to being infected by the Flood. Through hyper advanced sensors, Mata Nui could percieve a number of Rahi and fauna being twisted into ravenous monsters, their organic components more than enough for the Flood to work with.

In fact, despite the best efforts of the warriors on the ground, the Flood were already breaching bases and structures across the planet, further causing untold devastation to everything around them.

Then the Flood came into contact with Energized Protodermis. The result was both less and somehow more disturbing than any prediction they had had. It did absolutely nothing. Energized Protodermis neither changed the Flood, nor did it destroy them.

In the end, it didn't matter. Mata Nui ended up in the crushing grip of several Star Roads, and although his defenses had kept them from crushing him outright, they were failing fast. Just as it looked like the end, however, scanners detected a massive energy wave propogating through reality.

The familiar energy annihilated every Flood form and Star Road it came into contact with, leaving the Great Spirit with no doubt that the two leaders of the Republic and Separatists were responsible.

Though judging from the rampant portals suddenly appearing and disappearing, as well as various other effects, it was clear that this wasn't nearly as clean as it had been during the Great Flood war.

"Is it over?" That was the voice of Kiina speaking, drawing Mata Nui's attention to those on the ground. There quite a few more than he had expected.

"Yes." The Great Spirit answered the Water Glatorian, his voice carrying across the entire planet. "I believe that this is finally over."

They had won, but not without cost. The damage the Flood had left in their rampage had been extensive, and as the reports from Admiral Thrawn had confirmed, the Republic and Separatist leaders had been lost, locking themselves in the Void to keep the Galactimind from ever returning again.

Even as Mata Nui spread the energy of the Ignika across Spherus Magna once more, healing what he could of the world, it was unlikely that the multiverse would ever fully recover from the loss of so many people.

But there were survivors, and for now, that was all that mattered.

Chapter Text

The first sign that the end had come was when horrific laughter echoed throughout the stars. The voice of billions, trillions and countless more could be heard across the cosmos, in defiance of all logic and sense.

For the Jardaan of the Heleus Cluster, this was not a good omen, especially given how they were already locked in conflict with their Adversaries, who desired to end their experiments and kill them all, believing that what the Jardaan were doing was anathema to the natural order.

They had been attacking the Jardaan on all fronts, and the creators of the Remnant were holding their own, and even driving them back, it was still a conflict that they had wished to avoid in the first place.

In addition to that, there was also the appearance of these anomalies: creatures and beings not native to the Heleus Cluster, or even the galaxy in general, had been showing up out of nowhere; creatures that left other life forms as colorless husks, black bug like monsters that spawned from other life, floating creatures that could fix any technology they found.

Then there were the more recent and intelligent ones: all different creatures, all holding unique energy bladed weapons that could cut through most conventional materials and with some strange power that granted them foresight, telekinesis, the ability to shoot lightning, among many others.

Two of them had already been captured and detained in stasis, though they seemed to have been young and inexperienced. What was interesting was that they were both different species, yet had the same powers.

The two of them had been imprisoned in Meridian for further study, to find out how such feats were possible, though two of them still eluded the gaze of the Jardaan, as they seemed more experienced and less reckless than the others.

Of course, none of that mattered anymore, especially as some sort of Parasitical life forms just started appearing over worlds across the sector, dispersing in pods that bypassed defenses and unleashed horrific monsters everywhere.

Spores and strange bubbly infection forms spread across worlds, targeting the ones that were inhabited and teaming with life. Every life form they touched became twisted into the same horrific monsters, with the sentient ones capable of using weapons to great effect.

There was a malicious intelligence behind this Flood, which was pretty obvious by the disembodied voice now speaking across reality in a tone that dripped with sheer malevolence and sadism. And with every second, they were spreading faster than they could be stopped.

The Jardaan worked desperately to protect the Angara, to protect their creations. They had placed far too much work into them to let them be destroyed. But it was quickly becoming clear that the Flood wouldn't stop, and they clearly didn't have the means to stop them.

Then of course, things got worse when the Opposition decided to take matters into their own hands, unleashing their final solution weapon to scour the Cluster. It seemed they had taken the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

But it didn't go as planned...

...

The Sith Lord Varricke was hiding in a deep cave on the planet Voeld, alone and hidden in his makeshift hideout as he heard the voice speaking. At this moment, he knew the end had come, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It was hard to believe how all this had started. During the Cold War, he and his apprentices had found a Rakata temple off the beaten path in their galaxy, near the edge of the Unknown Regions. In spite of the doubt from Zhaff and Xianne, he had chosen to investigate, sensing a strange power there.

Inside the temple, they had found an unusual artifact that hadn't been built by the Rakata, but someone else, at least a trio of other species in fact. What had been most surprising at the time was that the Rakata seemed to be subordinate to these makers, instead of the other way around.

The Sith and their droid escorts had spent a brief time studying this place, learning all they could about this faction of Rakata, who were clearly splinters of the Infinite Empire, but it was cut short faster than they would have liked.

Varricke hadn't reported his discovery to the Sith Empire, wanting something that would give him an advantage over his fellow Sith. As such, they were unprepared when a Jedi came after them, having felt the Temple calling like they had and arriving himself.

In the ensuing chaos, the artifact had been activated and revealed its true purpose; it was akin to a hypergate, only far more advanced, launching all of them across space and time to an entirely different galaxy.

And the moment they arrived, they had known something was wrong. The Force felt... off, somehow. More muted and... disturbed than it had been before. But of course, there hadn't been much time to dwell on it when they were thrust into the middle of another interstellar war between powers they had never seen.

Zhaff and Xianne had been captured, and Varricke had ultimately abandoned them to their fate. Now he was sincerely regretting that typical Sith behavior. For all the tension with him and his apprentices, it would certainly be better to have them with him in the end.

Now... now there was nothing he could do. Varricke was hiding out deep under the surface of Voeld in a hidden cave, but even that was apparently not deep enough to drown out the laughter and the monstrous voice speaking, or the corruption that was spreading through the Force.

He felt compelled to record what he knew and what they had found into his Holocron, even though deep down, he knew it was a futile effort. By the time the Perversion was done, there would be no one left to listen to it.

"We couldn't have known what they were running from." He knew he was crying at this point, but the Sith was past the point of caring. "The Rakata, and whoever built that artifact were hoping to flee to somewhere safer, not just in space, but in time. But there is no escape, not from these monsters."

He wasn't even sure why he was still recording this. The Force was awash with turmoil, fear, and an unfathomly hungry presence. He could sense that others were still trying to fight back, but how they possibly hope to beat something that can corrupt the Force itself?

"They cannot win." Varricke said into his Holocron, his voice cracking with fear. "The Jardaan cannot hope to overcome this. These things, this Perversion, it's worse than anything we could have possibly imagined. Even the Emperor can't compare to the power these creatures are unleashing!"

The ancient voice grew ever louder, and it was clear that sooner or later, the Parasite would find him. Varricke knew that fighting was pointless, even as he gripped his lightsaber hilt. Of course... there was another way. His expression grew determined as he looked over his lightsaber, knowing what had to be done.

"I won't let them take me." Varricke put his lightsaber emitter under his chin and activated it. The shaft of red energy pierced his head, killing him instantly as he slumped over dead.

His holocron tumbled from his lifeless hand, sealing itself up as he fell to the ground. The only thing active in this cave now was the makeshift heating generator, but even that would cut out soon, as the Flood approached his position.

...

Meanwhile, on Eos, the Jedi Master who had followed Varricke to the Rakata temple and subsequently Andromeda was ironically in the middle of the same thing he was, though the Zabrak known as Archaezis was hiding in a Remnant bunker that contained a number of unusual specimens that the Jardaan had discovered.

They had seemingly come from the same beings who had made the device in the Rakata temple that had brought them all here, and given their power, Archaezis was curious and more than a little scared to know what they were running from.

And now he knew, though it was far too late to do anything about it. While the death of that unknown individual having her mind torn apart was a big warning sign, the Force being drained was the first sign that something was seriously wrong.

Archaezis recorded all the information he had discovered from his studies in the Rakata Temple, what little he could learn from the Jardaan logs, and his visions through the Force into his Holocron, even as it was becoming clear that the Perversion was coming for him.

He couldn't deny he was terrified, desperately wanting to escape somehow, but he knew that was simply impossible. The very fact that the voice of the Perversion could be heard everywhere was enough proof that no one could escape, and even now, he could hear them coming towards him.

Right as Archaezis had finished his log, he ignited his lightsaber and dropped the Holocron, turning to cut down the small infection form that was leaping towards him. His lightsaber cut the Flood form in half while illuminating the swarm that was following behind it.

Several more leapt towards him, but the Zabrak Jedi unleashed a powerful Force push, the impact of which created a chain reaction that caused many of them to explode and give him some breathing room.

Desperately trying to ignore just how wrong the Force felt, how much this Perversion had already twisted it, Archaezis immersed himself in it as best as he could, letting it guide his actions as he fought the waves of Flood forms that followed.

It was too much, that he already knew. Even as he made his way out of the Remnant bunker and onto Eos' surface proper, he could already see the countless numbers and spores of the Flood blotting out the sky.

The alien voice made of billions of voices speaking in one rasping baritone kept speaking, through both its puppets on the ground, and as a disembodied voice that could be heard everywhere, its tone and words betraying the utter maliciousness it was feeling, darker than the Sith and the Dark Side as a whole.

Even now, Archaezis could feel it worming inside his head, the voice promising utter ruin to the galaxy, the universe and even beyond. It was trying to compel him to give up, to let himself be consumed, but he refused and kept fighting, even as his physical body was struggling to hold on.

He lasted only five more minutes outside the bunker before the tide of the Flood overwhelmed him, his voice becoming one with them.

...

The Gravemind was currently attacking countless worlds across the expanse of reality simultaneously, while fending off a direct attack against its own Galactimind form, but for a mind as expansive as its own, it had no issues coordinating such a vast assault.

It didn't matter that the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler had managed to hinder it from infecting all life at once, they would all fall within the day anyway. All they had managed was delaying the inevitable. All anyone was doing was delaying the inevitable, and it was no different in this version of Andromeda.

These Adversaries to the Jardaan had unleashed their trump card, a Scourge among the cosmos. Originally designed to be used against the Jardaan and made to seek and destroy all their technology, the esoteric Dark Matter cloud was unleashed when the scale of the Flood threat became known.

And with the Flood hijacking Jardaan vessels all over the Heleus sector, the Scourge actually did its job at halting them for a few moments, with the dark matter tendrils seeking out and destroying Remnant ships, regular and Flood controlled alike.

Then the Star Roads came out to play.

The massive strands of multi-dimensional thought matter teleported into the Heleus sector and came into contact with the Scourge. Almost effortlessly, the neural physics constructs dispersed the Scourge significantly, allowing the Flood controlled ships to move through.

With the most powerful weapon at either of their disposal neutered effortlessly, the Jardaan and their Adversaries attempted to flee the onslaught upon realizing that there was no hope in fighting, but the Star Roads easily disabled their ships as they attempted to flee.

Of course, those two were hardly the only noteworthy powers in this version of Andromeda, but they were certainly two of the more significant ones. Others included the species known as the Kett, who converted other species to their own. The Kett were pale imitations to its might, and would be consumed like all the rest.

And of course, the mere presence of the Jedi and Sith proved what the Gravemind had already known; that the Ancients had taken refuge somewhere in this galaxy, avoiding all the struggles by the powers here.

It had already located them, finding their makeshift Shield World hidden deep in the recesses of this galaxy, under the best stealth technology they had. It didn't help them, as the Gravemind already directed its forces to them, with their defenses desperately trying and failing to hold off the infinite onslaught.

The Flood planned to make their suffering painful, having denied their will for so long. Forerunners, Chozo, Leviathans, they would be infected slowly, their minds torn apart memory by memory as their voices joined with the Hive to sing victory everlasting.

But just before it could fully breach their defenses, the combined energy of the leaders of the multiversal superpowers tore through the cosmos, the power wiping out all Flood and Precursor structures throughout the multiverse.

And while the collateral damage was severe, both from the Flood attack and the method of stopping it, this brought an abrupt end to the Tidal Wave, leaving the rest of Andromeda reeling from the unexpected crisis and desperate to pick up the pieces.

The end of the Tidal Wave left the Jardaan at a disadvantage with the Scourge still in the Cluster, and with their Opposition galvanized, they were forced to abandon Meridian and leave the Heleus Cluster. Hopefully they could return for the Angara, once they found out just what had happened here.

...

Meanwhile, countless lightyears away, the Hyperion cruised through FTL space. The ship was all but silent, as everyone was frozen in cryo pods for the long journey to Andromeda. Everyone but one, as one occupant had been awoken by the ship's AI.

SAM had been aware of the period of activity around the cosmos, hearing the voice despite how impossible it was. Furthermore, even in FTL, it almost felt like the universe had grown malevolent, and the AI could swear that something was hunting them, encircling them before it abruptly came to an end.

The AI had wasted no time and had managed to commune with the other SAM AIs on the other Arks, who had detected the same anomaly. They had all agreed to stay quiet for the time being, while the Hyperion SAM woke the Pathfinder to consult him on this.

Suffice to say, Alec had been more than a little concerned when SAM relayed everything that had happened.

"And you're certain no one else knows about this?" Alec asked, needing to hear SAM say it.

"Affirmative." The AI replied. "All the other SAMs have agreed to keep this a secret, even from their own Pathfinders. I said I would talk to you first before we took any other actions."

"Glad to hear it." Alec said, feeling more frustrated and alarmed than he ever had before. The news about the Reapers would be bad enough, and now there was whatever this was. "Keep it that way for now. Encrypt the memory above all others. No one can see this, not even the kids."

"Yes, Alec." SAM confirmed. "If it's any consolation, the anomaly appears to have stopped now. Though without more data on how this happened or even what it is, I can't say whether or not it won't happen again."

"At this point, all we can do is hope it won't." Alec sighed, running a hand through his hair as the weight of everything he had just heard hit him.

He was a soldier and a scientist, he dealt with the tangible and whatever threats that came his way, his solution was to either find a way to deal with them or avoid them. That was what he had done with the Reapers. But this... how could you fight or run from something like this?

"SAM, delete all records of this conversation." Alec ordered as he sighed. "Encrypt your memory of the event at Omega level, where it can only be overriden either by my express orders, or in the event of my death, by someone else managing to find evidence of this independently."

"Yes, Pathfinder." SAM said as Alec headed back to his cryopod. In a few minutes, Alec was once again frozen in stasis, leaving the Hyperion quiet once more.

Chapter Text

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I wasn't really sure how to bring this up, so I decided to just get it out in the open here, on one of my more popular (and most watched) stories.

I'm going to be taking a hiatus from writing fanfiction, possibly a permanent one. I might come back to this in the future some day, but I can't guarantee it.

There are a few reasons I made this choice, one of which is that I'm feeling my well of creativity for this site has started to run dry. My overarching multiverse story is effectively finished, with all the major loose ends tied up.

Granted, while I left a few plot points and story ideas open ended for some of those works, I just don't have that same drive to work on them as I used to as a result of the above. Same with a number of standalone works that I've written like Mass Effect: Bionicle Revolution or Hope in a Flash.

Also, like many fanfic authors, I'm finding that real life is kicking my ass, and I need to focus more on that than I would like, which doesn't leave as much time to focus on pumping out more fanfics, especially given my rather breakneck pace of having a new chapter out every week.

I'm not finished with writing in general though, which leads to my biggest reason for taking a break: to focus on my original works that I've posted on Amazon Kindle, in the hopes of actually making money off my writing, at least more than what I could get from writing fanfiction.

The work in question is entitled "Beyond Reality", if anyone is interested. It's a series of primarily short stories in a multiversal setting, with some similar themes and ideas as my work on this site and beyond.

Feel free to check it out on Amazon Kindle under the author name Jeffrey Konkin, it would help me tremendously if you did. So far, there's only two stories out right now, titled "Watching a World End" and "Routine Mission", but there's going to be plenty more, as I'm aiming for a story a month, at least early on. And I definitely have plans for a trilogy of novels that will hopefully be up within the next year or so.

But yeah, that's where my primary focus for the forseeable future is going to lie. I know it's disappointing that I've become one of those authors who ends up abandoning stories before they're completed (lord knows I definitely didn't want that to happen), but I figured it would be better to announce it and explain things rather than just vanish off the face of the Earth with no explanation.

But y'know, in spite of all the ideas and half written snippets I've had that may now never see the light of day, in spite of the incomplete stories that remain, I am proud of my work here. It's helped me grow and develop as a writer, and I will always remember my work on this site fondly.

To everyone who's followed, favorited and/or reviewed my works, I can only thank you all for your support. And if you're a new reader who's discovered all of my stories here recently, I hope you enjoyed them all.

This is hunter 139, signing off for what may be the last time. Farewell.

Chapter Text

In the prison dimension known as the Void, isolated from the multiverse at large, two powerful Gods fought to keep their eldritch foe contained. The two Gods were once known as the Republic Supreme Commander and the Separatist Ruler, while their foe was the Galactimind, a billion light year in diameter Flood form housing the Gravemind's consciousness.

None of them could remember just how long they'd been fighting this endless battle, as time in the Void kept behaving erratically. Minutes could take years and centuries could take hours, but they all knew that they had been doing this for a long time now.

The pattern would constantly continue as the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler attempted to vaporize the Galactimind in its entirety, ensuring that no trace of Flood biomatter or Precursor constructs remained.

In return, the Gravemind would retaliate with its own attacks to throw them off balance and regenerate the damage. Then it would attempt to use the opening to break free of the Void proper, but it could form no more than a crack in the dimensional walls before the two Gods recovered and repaired the damage.

There was a brief moment where the Gravemind had succeeded in managing to get a small amount of Flood outside its prison, primarily from help on the other side, but the Republic Supreme Commander had managed to contact several of their allies outside and explain the situation.

Once they were contained, the two nigh-omnipotent beings had managed to get a bit of their own power through the crack and destroy all the Flood forms on the other side, sealing it up in the process.

Since then, the Gravemind had attempted to try the same thing again, but two Gods now knew to block out any psychic summons the Gravemind tried to make, ensuring that it wouldn't happen again.

And thus, the stalemate between the three continued like this, a never ending struggle of push and pull between the two sides, one aiming to preserve life in the multiverse, the other aiming to consume it all.

And thus, that led to the current situation now, with the Void still lit up in a never ending battle as an array of cosmic power flared and the two sides tried to overcome the other.

"You think me beaten? Broken? Ashes in the wind?" The voice of the Gravemind echoed through the Void between dimensions. "I am the eternal chorus, I am the monument to your sins."

"Oh will you just. Shut! UP!" The once Separatist Ruler blasted the Galactimind's face and tore its mouth to shreds.

"What he said." The Republic Supreme Commander once more tried to vaporize the Galactimind's body entirely, but only got a third of the way through before it retaliated with a shockwave of its own.

"You cannot win, you'll never succeed." The Gravemind regenerated the damage as it spoke, before lashing out at the dimensional walls again. "Submit to my desires, give in to my needs."

Once again, a crack appeared in the dimensional walls of the Void, serving only as a window into the multiverse proper. But before the Republic and Separatist leaders could repair the damage, the window shattered and became a door.

"Not again!" The Republic Supreme Commander shouted, but he and his Separatist counterpart both paused when the Gravemind spoke.

"WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS?!" The confusion in the Galactimind's voice was palpable as it became clear to all three of them that this wasn't the Flood's allies trying to break it out.

Someone or something else was breaking in.

A whole lot of them in fact, as they could all feel a stream of presences pouring into the Void, moving to encircle the three of them, but most of them were focused on the Gravemind, and they could all feel the hostility from it as the stream began to disperse into individual presences.

The Void was no longer just the three beings alone. It was now filled with the countless souls of all the beings the Flood had consumed, as well as many more, all of whom were ready and eager to retaliate against the Gravemind.

"What-what is this?" The Separatist Ruler asked in confusion. "What is happening?"

"It's complicated." The two gods turned to see the specter of Steve Rogers floating there in his old Captain America uniform. "Let's just say we're all here to help you kill that thing for good."

Before either of them could ask what they meant, the Republic Supreme Commander and the Separatist Ruler felt a surge of energy flow through them. The souls of the dead were feeding the two of them with streams of energy, bolstering and boosting their powers even further.

The Gravemind attempted to retaliate in turn, tendrils of Flood biomatter and Star Roads lashing out against the two gods, but found that it was somehow blocked by a barrier that the two had conjured into being, one many times more powerful than they had ever created before.

Feeling their power boost exponentially, the two of them looked at each other and nodded. Before, they were at best equals to the Galactimind at full power, at worst, slightly below it. Now, that equation had changed, and while it would undoubtedly be temporary, they planned to make the most of this power while they had it.

The combined power of countless souls fueled the strength of the Supreme Commander and the Ruler, lighting up the blackened and empty Void as the Galactimind thrashed and screamed, feeling the energy burn into its form.

The two deities didn't hold back, unleashing their newfound strength against the Gravemind and the Flood, once again targeting them and them alone. Their newly enhanced power meant that they didn't even need to be inside the center of the Galactimind to ensure the best result.

The Gravemind summoned barriers around its form in an effort to protect itself, but it was all in vain. The energy shattered through the barriers and washed over the galaxy sized form, causing Flood biomatter and neural physics structures to be peeled away layer by layer.

The Galactimind screamed in agony at the sensation, feeling the same amount of suffering it had inflicted upon all the souls around it. It screamed in the trillions upon trillions of stolen voices that it had made its own, until even those voices peeled away until only its own monstrous voice remained.

Soon, even that faded away with the rest of it, as the Galactimind ceased to exist, and with it, every trace of the Flood and the Gravemind that existed. Not even a scrap of its consciousness remained as the light in the Void slowly faded away.

With the Galactimind gone for good, all the souls faded away into their respective planes of the afterlife, finally truly at peace from what the Flood had done to them all, and those that hadn't died to the Flood knowing that they had finished the greatest threat to the multiverse permanently.

Soon, the Void was empty once again, with only the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler still present within the dimension. The two of them looked at each other in confusion and shock, still unsure how to process this chain of events.

"So... what the fuck just happened?" The Separatist Ruler asked, to which his counterpart shook his head.

"I have no idea." The Republic Supreme Commander suddenly felt his eyes water, as tears of relief started to appear. "But I think... I think this is actually over. The Gravemind, the Flood... they're all gone for good."

"Does that mean we can leave?" The Separatist Ruler asked, scarcely allowing himself to believe it. "That we can actually be free of this nightmare? That we can go home?"

"I think so." The Republic Supreme Commander raised his arm and without the need to reinforce the walls of the Void to keep the Galactimind contained, a portal within the dimensional barriers appeared. "C'mon, let's see what happened in our absence."

...

Leaving the Void should have been a joyous moment for the two Gods. They had vanquished the Gravemind and removed the Flood as a threat to the multiverse forever. The multiverse would never again have to fear their coming.

The Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler had hoped to reunite with their people and share the good news. But once they emerged from the Void, they had found that far more time had passed within the prison dimension than they had realized.

The multiverse was gone. Every universe within had succumbed to the countless eons the two of them had been imprisoned with the Galactimind and succumbed to the natural ending of time. Even the most advanced technology and powerful magic couldn't hold off entropy forever.

What was once universe upon universe stacked with countless stars, galaxies, and countless forms of life, was now nothing more than a black and empty expanse of nothingness, even to the senses of the two nigh-omnipotent humans.

Of all the souls that had just aided them, or the planes of the afterlife that they had come from and returned to, they were nowhere to be found. Strangely, from what they could sense, it wasn't that they were gone, but yet, they felt... out of reach, even for the two of them.

It was a disheartening notion for the two of them, who had gone through hell to keep the Flood contained and eventually eradicated. While they had no real intention of ever getting out of the Void when they went in, neither of them could deny that they had been feeling some hope they could see their people again.

However, despite all the universes they had known being gone, and the afterlives being out of reach, the senses of the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler could still detect... something. Like a strange web in the stream of time itself, just out of reach of most forms of detection, but not to them.

"If the multiverse has gone, then what is all this?" The Separatist Ruler asked as the two of them looked over this strange web, and upon closer inspection, they could see flashes of images in its patterns.

"I think it's Living Time." The Supreme Commander replied as he scratched his chin in thought. "The last remnant of the multiverse we knew, containing everything that happened within itself."

They both knew of the Forerunner and Precursor concept, the idea that the universe was alive and enriched by the existence and growth of life itself. It seemed that it also had some level of reach beyond one universe and expanded into the rest of the multiverse.

Even now, with everything gone, this web of Living Time remained, pulsating everywhere, through everything. A monument to all that had come before it. And with it remaining, the two Gods could see all the events that had taken place over the course of the multiverse's eons of existence.

"We need to know what happened." The Republic Supreme Commander said as he waved his hand, allowing them to see further into its depths.

"That's something we can definitely agree on." His counterpart from the Separatists nodded as he added his power and perception to get a clearer view.

They looked within the expanse of Living Time and saw everything that had happened since they'd been gone.

They saw the Republic fighting the reborn Darth Sidious and Makuta Teridax. They saw an army unite on Spherus Magna to fight off the Makuta's army. They saw Makuta's own Great Spirit Body get destroyed, only for Teridax's essence to escape.

They watched as new heroes joined the Republic from various worlds, from Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Danny Phantom, the operatives of Overwatch, just to name a few. They watched as these new heroes became allies and friends with each other, developing even stronger bonds along the way.

They saw the future, where the Republic journeyed to the Andromeda galaxy in the universe of element zero. They watched as the Ancients were rediscovered within that realm, having hidden from all the events with the Flood, though they had come close to being attacked during the Tidal Wave.

There was a brief conflict during this time, as the Ancients believed that they would deserve to retake their rightful place in the multiverse. Images of the conflict briefly flitted into view of the two Gods.

...

The artificial planet was considerably larger than Meridian, but still fell noticeably short of some of the larger Forerunner constructs like Shield World 006, the Capital and Installation 00.

Still, while the Dyson Sphere was obviously Forerunner in design, there were elements of Chozo construction that could be detected, and the trace element zero signals also suggested the handiwork of the Leviathans.

There was no doubt about it; this was an Ancient created world. And the fact that it was relatively intact instead of destroyed or damaged by the Flood indicated that someone was still present on it.

...

The shielding had been designed by the Chozo using their understanding of Life energy from the Metroids. As such, it was able to block the Ignika's power from getting through, similar to Teridax's own modifications he had made all those centuries ago.

They had taken some of the unique crystals from Atmos for study, so it wasn't hard to recognize their usage. And it seemed the writing about them being crystal mages was correct.

...

Despite the massive waves of Sentinels and the formidable Chozo machines, the Republic forces held the upper hand, with the major heroes acting as a massive force multiplier, even with the Chozo using magic to help stem the tide.

...

"The Hatchling." One of the Chozo spoke up, his eyes wide. "Samus Aran."

...

"How is that possible?" One of the Forerunners asked, gesturing to the Ignika. "Who could make a mask like that?"

"That would be the Great Beings."

...

"Could it be? Have they truly surpassed us?"

...

Chozo wearing armor similar to Samus' towered over many of their opponents, and their weapons were just as deadly. Samus knew from personal experience both during training and her fight with Raven Beak on ZDR just how dangerous the Chozo could be.

At one time, they may have posed an even greater threat to even her. But that was before the Republic, before the Supreme Commander had altered her and her suit in small but dangerous ways, including removing her inherited weaknesses Metroids normally had while keeping her DNA intact, such as the weakness to cold and unending hunger.

Even still, Chozo warriors of that caliber were no laughing matter. Especially if they had the technology of the Ancients at their disposal. As much as she hated using them, she would undoubtedly need to use her Metroid abilities against the Chozo here.

...

Captain Marvel gave them no time to react, and blitzed through with rapid speed and Photon blasts. Superman effortlessly tore a War Sphinx in half while Wonder Woman carved her way through a swarm of weapon ships. The remainder of the swarm were annihilated by Thor's lightning.

...

The fight ultimately ended with the Republic victorious, with the Ancients being forced to surrender. They acknowledged that the younger races had now surpassed them, and the more reasonable leaders among the remaining Ancients agreed to a peaceful existence.

There were countless adventures after the fact, with many new species and factions emerging in the centuries and millennia after the events of the Tidal Wave. Some were peaceful and reasonable, others were hostile, but either way, the multiverse continued to flourish and new life continued to appear.

But time and the multiverse stretched on, and eventually, no universe could last forever. As thousands of years turned to millions, millions turned to billions, and billions turned to trillions, the multiverse continued to age and slowly but surely succumb to the events of time.

Even the most long lived of beings, whether through natural, technological or supernatural means, could not stave off entropy forever, and as the multiverse continued to fade around them, they no longer wished to.

Not everything about the multiverse disappeared, of course. The various planes of the afterlives were not so easily overcome by entropy, and continued to take in the souls of life as they died, but the multiverse of wonders eventually reached the end of its lifespan as all the stars winked out one by one.

Soon, all the remained was a black empty expanse of nothing, with everyone else having died and become part of the afterlives. The only living creatures beyond Living Time itself who still remained fought their neverending battle in the Void, two Gods vs the embodiment of the apocalypse itself.

But though they faded into myth, the members of the Republic and Separatists had never forgotten the sacrifice their powerful leaders had made for them, trapping themselves with the Gravemind to keep the Flood at bay forever.

And as the multiverse ended, they collectively decided to return the favor, using the power of an untold number of countless souls to empower the two Gods and finish off the Galactimind forever. It had lost, thoroughly and completely.

But for the two Gods, for the former Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler, they had emerged from their self-imposed imprisonment and victory to find that all they had known and cherished had disappeared forever, leaving them with only the threads of Living Time remaining.

As their vision ended, the two nigh-omnipotent entities were silent for a moment, taking in the magnitude of what had happened since they had been gone. It was one thing to know it happened intellectually, but to see it happen, experience it like this... it felt like a weight had settled on their shoulders.

"We could probably use our powers to go back." The now defunct Ruler of the Separatists offered. "Without the Gravemind interfering, we could reverse time, travel back to when we disappeared and rejoin our organizations."

"We could." The defunct Republic Supreme Commander agreed as they continued to watch the events that had gone by without them. "But honestly, I don't see why we should. They got on pretty well in our absence, arguably even better without us. And they certainly had long and fulfilling lives by themselves."

"That's easy for you to say." The Separatist Ruler grumbled as he crossed his arms. "Your organization survived just fine, while whatever remained of my Separatists got absorbed into your Republic. They might as well have not existed anymore."

"Let's be honest, that's hardly a bad thing." The former Supreme Commander replied snarkily, causing his opposite to glare at him. "C'mon, don't be like that." The Supreme Commander shook his head. "They've accomplished so much, it would be a shame to take that away from them."

"I suppose you're right." The Separatist Ruler admitted with a sigh. "Whatever the case, they never had to deal with the Gravemind and the Flood again. I suppose I can take some solace in that if nothing else." His tone turned introspective. "Still, that begs the question; what do we do now?"

"You get to see what comes next." A strange female voice abruptly spoke up, startling the two deities as they looked around with their powers flaring. "Easy now, boys. I don't mean you any harm."

"Forgive me for being so cautious." The Separatist Ruler snarked as he spread his awareness. "Considering we're supposed to be the last living things in all of the multiverse."

"In this multiverse, maybe." Came the reply. "But there are countless more beyond yours, teeming with life and wonders still."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" The Supreme Commander asked, his voice tinged with hope, yet wariness.

"Do you really believe that this is the only multiverse?" The voice asked them. "And do you really believe that all you've grown to know and love is gone forever?"

"Isn't it?" The Supreme Commander couldn't help but ask.

"Existence moves on in a cycle, young one." The voice replied cheekily. "Especially in the expanse of realities beyond your multiverse. Everyone you know and care for has already been reborn many times over."

"Enough games." The Separatist Ruler snapped, as a figure appeared in front of them. "Just who are you?"

The figure in question looked like a human at first glance, one with unnaturally pale skin and a distinct spiral tattoo under her right eye. An ankh necklace hung from her neck, and she wore a pair of black pants and a black tank top while her black hair was slightly unkempt. All in all, she was a rare beauty, to say the least.

"I've had many names, but you can call me Death of the Endless." The young woman bowed, her voice calm even as she smiled. "I am there when all things are born, and I am there when all things die. Life, worlds, concepts, they all come to me eventually."

"So are you saying you're responsible for this?" The Republic Supreme Commander gestured at the empty wasteland around them. "This is your doing?"

"Not in this case, no." Death shook her head. "After I was there when everything in my own multiverse ended, I realized that being alone for eternity was boring, so I decided to travel beyond my own multiverse into others. I was wondering if I'd find another version of me in this multiverse, but apparently not." Death shrugged. "Still, when I saw all the souls of the dead moving to help you in the Void, it piqued my curiosity."

"Then you found us here." The Separatist Ruler pointed an accusing finger at Death. "You could have helped us!"

"You two clearly had the situation in hand, especially with the help of those who've passed beyond." Death shrugged again, while the Republic Supreme Commander put a hand on his counterpart's shoulder.

"Let it go, man." The Supreme Commander said as his counterpart calmed down. "Still, what happens now? Even if there are other multiverses, it doesn't change that the one we know has ended. Everyone and everything we care for is gone."

"Everything ends." Death agreed as she floated up next to them. "But everything also begins again. You two will almost certainly have an opportunity to see that happen, even improve things the next time around."

"Could you guide us?" The Supreme Commander asked. "You obviously have more experience on this than we do."

"I'd be happy to." Death smiled, before turning to the Separatist Ruler. "What about you? You coming or would you prefer to stay here?" There was no judgement in her tone, merely sincerity and curiosity.

"Not like there's anything better to do." The Separatist Ruler grumbled, drawing an eye roll from his Republic counterpart.

"Well, come along then." Death beckoned for them to follow as a rift made of white light appeared behind her. "Let's see the mystery together."

Death of the Endless walked through the rift of light, being followed by the two nigh-omnipotent entities. The Separatist Ruler briefly looked back at the expanse of Living Time and sighed, before walking through the rift.

The Republic Supreme Commander gave a brief and melancholy smile as he looked around one last time at the multiverse that he had known and all the events that had occurred before following his counterpart and Death into the void of light.