Marvel Cinematic UniverseAbove New York City, New York, USA – 2012
"Director," one of the agents on the bridge called. "We have a visitor."
Fury turned to look at the agent, "how do we have a visitor? We're on a flying battleship?"
The agent pointed outside.
Fury followed the gesture to see Ben floating in the air in front of the bridge, "motherfucker."
His arms were crossed as he glared at the entire crew on the bridge. His cape flapped in the wind adding just a bit more to the scene. He landed and marched to the door. The metal groaned as he turned the vault-style handle. A gush of air flooded into the bridge for a moment before he closed it.
"You had it the entire time?" Ben growled. "I told you it was dangerous, I told you the attention it would bring, and you had it the entire time?"
"BEN!" A familiar voice bellowed. "What brings you here, friend?"
Thor rushed over and scooped Ben into a bearhug. He spared a quick moment to smile at Thor, then motioned to be set down. The Asgardian did so, the broad smile still in place.
"The titan I have been hunting," Ben didn't take his eyes off Fury as he spoke. "I tracked him to Earth. There was an artifact that he was after. Now I find that these morons have had it the entire time."
Thor furrowed his brow, "the Tesseract?"
"You know it?" Ben asked.
Thor nodded, "it was stolen by my brother."
"Loki stole it," Ben said. "That tracks. Where did he hide it?"
Thor shook his head, "we don't know."
"Has he tried to stab you yet? That's usually the punchline," Ben mused.
Thor's expression darkened, "this isn't the Loki you know. Something has happened. He is in league with powers we do not know."
"Where is he?" Ben finally turned his attention to Thor. "I need to speak to him."
"Loki is our prisoner," Fury said as he walked over. "Ben, is it? Our information on you is lacking. You appeared in Harlem when Abomination went on a rampage, then showed up later to kill someone. Where have you been the last two years?"
Thor cut in, "you fought an abomination? We'll have tales to trade once this business is done."
"Did you not hear the part about killing someone?" Fury asked rolling his eye.
Thor shrugged, "he would not do it without reason."
"What's Flyboy doing here?" Stark asked as he joined them on the bridge.
Ben saw Banner, Captain America, and Widow standing with Stark. His eyes widened. He realized the scene that he had interrupted. A resupply jet had just requested permission to dock.
The helicarrier rocked with an explosion.
"Loki," Thor roared.
He took off running to the containment area. A fissure in the deck opened beneath Widow. Banner moved to catch her resulting in both of them falling into it. Alarms started blaring, agents on the bridge began to call out damage reports, and Stark rushed to get his suit. Gusts of wind from farther down the level told him there were more holes.
"Captain," Ben inclined his head. "I would have liked to meet you under better circumstances."
Rogers raised an eyebrow at that. He put a hand to his ear to listen to whatever Stark was saying.
"Tell him I'll push the turbine," Ben said as he jogged over to the nearest hole.
He hopped out and flew over to the damaged turbine. The unplanned ventilation shaft was in the ceiling which meant it wouldn't take on water if it had to make a water landing. Thor and Hulks fight in the hangar was loud enough for him to hear over the wind while gunshots came from multiple directions.
Ben flew over to the turbine. He began to push it to give it a jumpstart. Stark went to help Captain America with the technical side of the issue since he didn't need to be the one in the spinning blades of doom.
"Tell him to get out now," Stark told Cap.
"He doesn't have a comm," Cap replied.
"Shit," Stark muttered.
"Language," Cap admonished.
"Bite me," Stark flipped him off.
Ben chuckled and dropped out of the turbine before it could smack him around. Super hearing could be pretty awesome when it wasn't giving him migraines. He returned to the bridge just in time for the holding cell to be ejected with Thor inside. Loki and his remaining mind-controlled minions escaped a minute later. He probably could have stopped them, but he still needed them to open the portal.
Stark and Cap trudged back into the meeting room. They nearly collapsed into the chairs around the shield shaped table. Fury solemnly walked in a moment later.
"I'm sorry about your agent," Ben said as he stood nearby.
"He was a good man," Fury said.
Stark nodded. Fury started on his speech about the failed Avengers Initiative and the Tesseract. Ben stood nearby letting the man speak. He hadn't been a part of this at the beginning, but he was now.
Ben watched Stark flee.
"What about you, Ben?" Fury asked.
"Traveler," Ben corrected. "My friends call me Ben." He stopped, hearing Stark have his epiphany a few levels below. "Time to go."
"Are you coming?" Captain America asked with Widow and Hawkeye flanking him.
Ben nodded and followed them to the hangar, "I've got my own ride."
He hopped out into the air and followed after Stark. Doctor Selvig was talking about a new universe when he arrived. Stark hit the device with a blast and the two were knocked back.
"The barrier is pure energy," Stark relayed the information to Ben. "We can't breach it."
Ben turned his attention to Loki.
"Careful with him," Stark said. "That staff controls people."
"Ben!" Loki called once they stepped inside. "I did not expect to see you so soon."
"Your boss and I need to have a conversation," Ben replied evenly.
"I'm sorry," Stark said. "Am I interrupting?"
Loki chuckled, "please tell me you're here to appeal to my humanity."
"Actually, I’m here to threaten you," Stark said as he casually strolled over to his bar.
"You should have kept your suit on," Loki smirked.
"It's seen some milage and you've got the glowstick of destiny," Stark motioned to the scepter. "Would either of you like a drink?"
"I don't drink." "He doesn't drink." Ben and Loki said at the same time.
"You remembered," Ben inclined his head.
"If you two are done flirting," Stark sighed.
"Always the center of attention," the smirk returned to Loki's face. "Stalling me won't change anything?"
"Not stalling, threatening," Stark corrected. "No drink, are you sure? I'm having one."
The two started in on their chat while Ben stood nearby. Loki paced back and forth, gloating until Stark said the perfect line.
"We have a Hulk."
God, he loved that line.
Loki poked Stark in the chest. Nothing happened.
"Flyboy, a little help?" Stark grunted. "Deploy."
Loki tossed Stark through the window, the Mark 7 flew after him a moment later. The god turned his attention to Ben.
"Let's see if it works on you," Loki said strutting over to Ben.
"And there's one other person you pissed off," Stark said appearing in his suit. "His name was Phil."
Loki took a blast for the suit and went skidding along the floor. A beam erupted outside, piercing the sky to open the portal.
"Right, army," Stark muttered. "Are you coming, Flyboy?"
"I've got business on the other side," Ben said holding up his hand as his sword appeared.
"Neat trick," Stark said.
The two flew toward the portal. Stark blasted the Chitauri with lasers and mini-missiles as he flew. Ben sliced a few chariots in half before he paced through the portal. The rest of the Chitauri army waited on the other side. Countless troops, a few leviathans, and larger chariots were all lined up waiting for the portal to grow enough for them to pass.
"I forgot about this part," Ben muttered.
The first leviathan sped forward like an avalanche, somehow slow and incredibly fast at the same time. Ben landed on its head, pulled back one of its plates, and jammed the sword down to the hilt. It roared but didn't slow down.
Ben wrenched the sword out at an angle, opening up a gash. He followed it up with a strong burst of laser vision. It shuddered and died. The power that kept it aloft failed, sending it straight down heading for the street. Chitauri troops burst from the sides ready to wreak havoc on the city.
He rode it down, steering it the best he could to avoid clusters of civilians.
"We got its attention," Stark said. "Now what?"
Thor landed next to Cap, Hawkeye, and Widow. Ben landed a moment later. Cap started in on his plan until Banner arrived. Ben elbowed Thor as Widow and Banner flirted.
"Another one?" Ben sighed.
"This one is mine," Thor started to spin Mjolnir.
Instead, Hulk took it out with a punch and explosive assistance from Stark. Cap started in on his plan.
"Thor, you gotta bottleneck that portal," Cap said.
"I'm going with him, I need to go through it," Ben added.
Cap nodded then continued his plan as the two flew away.
"Get through there and I will blast it," Thor split away to get a better angle.
Ben slipped through the portal, dodging another leviathan which Thor shortly turned into a lightning rod. The army was too focused on getting through the portal to worry about him. He rocketed through space, coming to a stop above the horde, searching for the floating chunk that Thanos used as a throne. Telescopic vision zoomed in on a distant asteroid. It was turned to watch the invasion with borderline indifference.
He put on speed, closing the distance pushing beyond a blur. The asteroid throne came into focus just in time to see Thanos stand.
"Thanos," Ben said landing in front of the titan.
The asteroid had its own gravity and bubble of air. He wasn't sure if Thanos could breathe in space. It might slow him down. The time had come to see if his Asgardian Blade could kill a titan. Fandral had told him it was enchanted to be lighter, never lose its edge, and shine when he sang. He had named it Vitesse.
"And you are?" The Mad Titan smiled down at him.
He shrugged, "does it matter?"
Thanos chuckled. Ben launched forward leading with the sword. Thanos backhanded him out of the air, sending him spinning. He caught his balance and approached once more, this time with some caution. His fights up until now hadn't been more than brawls. Even Abomination lacked much skill. The titan plucked his sword staff from its place beside his throne. He spun it with ease, bringing it to a stop to point at Ben.
"What is it with morons and impractical weapons?" Ben sighed.
Thanos' eye twitched. He moved incredibly fast despite his size. Ben ducked under the sweeping blade that was meant for his head. He dodged to the side to avoid a lunge, jumped back out of reach of another sweep, and flew up out of the way of a rather impressive impression of a blender.
Ben charged in, trying to take away the reach advantage. He caught a knee to the chest for his attempt. The blow lifted him off his feet. A bone-shaking chop slammed him into the ground. His sword dropped out of his hand and skittered a distance away. He could feel the gash in his armor. The thread of his torn cape tickled the skin along his spine.
Thanos' blade had cut through his armor but not his skin. It hurt like a bastard even if he wasn't bleeding. The titan gripped his torn cape and lifted him easily off the ground.
"Interesting," Thanos said studying him. "You are more than you appear."
Ben lunged forward, the crown of his forehead made contact with Thanos' nose resulting in a thunderous CRACK. The grip on his cape vanished. Ben stared directly into Thanos' eyes and let loose with a concentrated burst of laser vision. The titan stumbled back, waving his blade in an attempt to block the attack. He wasn't lucky enough for that to take Thanos out, but it did buy him some time.
He dove for his sword, landing in a sloppy crouch as his hand closed on the grip. Desperation pushed him faster than ever before. He spun to face Thanos. With a burst of super speed, he closed the distance and sliced at the titan before he could recover. His blade bit flesh, slowed slightly as it continued through bone, and then tasted air once more.
Thanos roared as his right leg was chopped from his body just above the knee. The sudden change in balance sent him half-stumbling half-hopping back. He landed in a slouched sitting position on his throne.
Ben pushed the advantage. He surged forward, bringing the sword down in a chop that would have made a woodsman proud. Thanos' helmet put up a valiant attempt at defense, but the enchanted blade combined with Ben's strength broke through, splitting it in two and continuing on through the skull it was supposed to protect.
Thanos went still as the blade came to a rough stop against the collar of his armor. Ben placed a foot on the fallen titan's chest. He grunted as he removed the blade from the cooling corpse.
Ben wasn't going to let that be the end of things. Better to go with some overkill than to leave it to fate.
The herald of Thanos approached to find Ben in the midst of dismembering the corpse. He had removed the head and one arm when the alien arrived. It screamed in horror at the sight. Ben looked up long enough to send a burst of laser vision through its skull before he went back to work.
Lifetime Christmas Romance Movie #144Above Earth, Milky Way Galaxy – December 27th 2005
Ben launched one half of Thanos' head toward the sun. He landed on the moon and buried the torso near the lunar landing.
The Walking DeadAbove Earth, Milky Way Galaxy – 2010
He repeated the first step. The remaining half of the head was sent toward the sun. He didn't want to chance something strange happening if he put a piece of the corpse on the same moon as Abomination. Instead, he turned toward deep space to throw one of the arms.
Lifetime Christmas Romance Movie #253Above Earth, Milky Way Galaxy – 2020
The rest of the body was buried on the moon orbiting this planet.
Marvel Cinematic UniverseBehind the Dairy Queen, Missouri, USA – 2012
Ben appeared next to Ego's Seedling. He ripped it from the ground. It had grown roots deep into the soil to the point he had to fly to get it all. He wrapped it all into a ball. Tossing it into space wasn't going to work. He didn't want to know what would happen if he threw it at the sun. For the same reason, he didn't want to risk hitting it with laser vision. The best idea he had was to remove it from this dimension to cut the connection.
Lifetime Valentine's Day Romance #812Smalltown, America - 2019
A short stop later and the remaining pieces of the corpse were buried twelve-feet deep on the moon. He took another stop at his Cube to change his clothes. His body was aching, he had a splitting headache, and he wanted a hot shower.
Ben landed in an alley behind a locally owned shop that sold hand-made wicker baskets. It was directly across the street from a hardware store. The plot for the movie immediately became clear. Artist and hardware employee romance. For a twist, the artist might be a guy, and the hardware store would be owned by a woman. She was the rough and tough tomboy while he would be a sensitive artist. Damn, he had seen too many of these stupid movies. He could trace most of it back to one girl he had dated when he was in high school.
He couldn't be made about it now. They provided a good selection of safe dimensions for him to unwind. He had thought to bring the survivors from the Walking Dead to one of them. Considering no one knew the cause for the zombie thing and people came back even without a bite. It was possible that the zombie virus or whatever would come with them.
Ben rented a room at the overpriced Bed and Breakfast. The hot water was plentiful and the pressure was great. Another reason he liked these dimensions as a safe zone. Housework only needed to be done when it was plot relevant. People outside of the story didn't have to worry about their water-heater breaking, the lights going out, or whatever else needed to happen to bring the romantic leads together.
The shower went a long way to helping him feel better.
Thanos was dead. With that the MCU timeline had been altered significantly. He would check back in a week or so to make sure it hadn't gone completely off the rails. No rush. Traveling through time was an option in that dimension. That way he didn't have to wait for whatever plot happened next. For now, another topic has come to mind.
Alternate Realities.
Most notably, alternate realities created by The Flash. Barry created multiple variations of the timeline in the show and movie. Flashpoints, as they were so aptly named. There are glimpses of other realities while he's in the Speed Force in the DCEU movie. It was a little sad, Flash finally comes to the big screen and he's a side-character in a Batman and Supergirl movie.
Unfortunately, his instinctual knowledge of his traveler ability didn't provide any new information yet. He could feel something just out of reach like a shape he couldn't make out just yet. Whatever it was would expand his abilities. Times like these he really wished for a leveling system. Then he would at least have a visual representation of his progress.
He had won through guile, luck, and fighting dirty. The dice didn't have a memory. It was just as likely that he failed the next big fight if he didn't do something about it. He needed to learn how to handle himself if he was going to keep getting into these types of situations. The problem was finding someone that would be able to train him. The superpowers were amazing, but they limited his options.
Ben stopped at the hostess desk for the Bed and Breakfast. The woman at the desk was TV-Movie attractive but fell short to make it to the big screen. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a dazzling smile just like a thousand other hopeful actresses. He wondered if any of the woman bled through to this world.
Nothing like getting your ass kicked to start overthinking things.
"Excuse me," Ben said with a smile. "Where could I get a good cup of coffee?"
"Nettie's Place," she replied. "Out the front door and to your left. You can't miss it. She has excellent apple pie too."
"Thank you," Ben gave her a casual grin.
He followed her directions. Nettie's Place truly was easy to find. It was practically the only place other than the hardware store and wicker place. Everything else were houses converted to be a business. The place was a classic diner with a country flare. It was rather spacious all things considered.
"Hello, darling," another blonde with blue eyes on the edge of beautiful greeted him. She was a little older than the woman at the front desk shone by a smattering of grey hairs.
The accent didn't fit the area.
"Ma'am," Ben smiled inclining his head. "Just me for a coffee. For now."
She winked at him and led him over to a table, "sugar and cream are on the table."
"Thank you," Ben replied.
He waited for the coffee to do his thinking. There was something about a nice hot cup of coffee that always seemed to help him think. Alternate Realities and dimension Multi-Verses were one part of it. Ideas on how to get trained were another thing.
In the movie, Super Ex-Girlfriend, her powers were taken away when she touched the meteor again. Another touch and they came back. At some point the villain managed to acquire a chunk of the meteor. He could get the meteor and remove his powers long enough to get trained have them again once it was done. Downside being that it would be a gamble to approach him without a backup plan. Dealing with them from long range or subterfuge would be the best option. Following that logic, he could 'deactivate' the powers whenever he needed. That would fix the problem of finding a super-powered lady when he wanted to hook up.
He instinctively knew that he couldn't rely on powers that required an outside source. It needed to be contained within himself to work as he traveled. That was why the meteor was a good choice. Cultivation was another option as it didn't need dimension specific energy to work. If he learned magic in a fantasy setting it might carry over to others that also had magic. It was likely that there would be some issues in the process. Power levels, elemental controls, and functionality would be different. Magic wouldn't work in a work with a similar energy to fuel it. Just like how the TemPad only functioned in the MCU.
Ben knew that he could attune with the energy of a native dimension. It would only be for that one. That would come in handy when he could travel beyond live action sources. It did bring him back to the Alternate Reality situation.
If he traveled to a Flashpoint version of a dimension would it only connect there? Would each variation of the timeline be a separate world?
Ben took another sip to find that the cup was empty. He waved at the waitress then raised the cup. She nodded in understanding and brought over a fresh pot. Her eyes went wide when he took another drink of the steaming hot coffee. He probably should have waited for it to cool a little first.
Plan A –
1. Find the meteor
1a. If in possession of movie villain, kill him then take it
2. Put it in the cube
3. Activate and deactivate his powers as needed
He didn't have a Plan B yet. No time like the present.
My Super Ex-GirlfriendUnnamed Woods, USA – 2006
Ben fell to his knees as he appeared in dimension. It felt like his soul was being forcefully removed from his body. The meteor had not been moved, and he appeared right beside it.
He shook the dizziness away then got to his feet. The meteor was glowing again. It did make sense that no one had bothered to move it now that he thought about it. There wasn't anything special about it once it couldn't grant superpowers. It may have made an interesting piece in an art gallery or something. There was an obvious lack of payoff for the required time and effort to move it.
Ben grabbed a couple of spots that jutted out. He felt the power surge through him again. Those three weeks of practice were well worth it now.
Cube
Ben appeared in the Cube now easily holding the meteor. He placed it in one of the corners then sped back to his little landing area to test if the distance was enough so that it didn't yank the powers out of him.
He really needed to put some effort in making this place more comfortable. A bookshelf, a desk, maybe a couch and a bed. He could arrange the furniture so that it gave the impression of separate rooms. There wasn't much reason for him to stay long term in the Cube, but it would feel better if it wasn't just blank slabs of concrete. He was able to travel with Widow so having someone stay here was an option. Once again he reminded himself that he needed to test if technology worked inside the Cube.
The meteor was obtained. It was a while since he had checked in on The Walking Dead. Stopping for some more cash would be a good idea too.