In the Hellfire Club, the Inner Circle were being held to ransom by the power of Apocalypse. There was nothing they could do, but in the shadows a lone figure stood watching. The red diamond on his forehead glowed as he saw the dangers of Apocalypse plan. He was not happy. Fleming's work was his and his alone, and Apocalypse would ruin everything. Essex sighed as he turned on the mortals and left them. If he'd have stayed a while longer, he'd have noticed the arrival of two people - Lord Geneva and his daughter Jo.
Lord Geneva had moved them back in time so that Jo would have knowledge of the Club when the time came and the needs arose. He had seen the potential his daughter had and was preparing her now. However this was not the sight he had anticipated and the both of them were taken with the others. Damn, thought Lord Geneva. I let my guard down for a moment and I was taken. He looked to his terrified sixteen year old, and saw something in her eyes he wasn't expecting. Something wasn't right about this picture and he looked to see what it was.
Dave Goldfish ran through London until he reached the club. The chimes of church bell told him it was about 11, and as it was dark, it must be at night, yet the Hellfire Club was strangely empty, and the lights were off. He didn't like it, and he knew something wasn't right. There were no doormen or nothing so it would be child's play getting in. He looked to the top of the club where the flagpole was displaying the Hellfire crest. "Going up," he said as he used the metals in his costume to propel himself up. He caught hold of the flagpole and swung on to the top of the building. When he had held his wedding reception here all those years ago - or would that be in the future? - he had explored the place fully and he knew how to get in. Then he sensed that he wasn't alone and he looked down through the skylight to see Apocalypse himself standing in the room, waiting for something. Until Dave knew what he was up against he had no choice but to wait. Or go see what was happening in the Inner Circle chambers.
As Dave crept across the roof of the building, he could hear the heavy thuds of Apocalypse as the Highlord seemed to follow him as he moved to where the entrance was to the Inner Circle. It was not helpful, as Dave knew that if he started a fight with Apocalypse, he didn't have the power to finish it, even though he felt better now he had recombined with the other incarnation. It was as if in the moment their eyes met, a cosmic spark was lit burning away the damage so that the true Dave Goldfish would eventually return. he had wanted this for such a long time, but he didn't expect the circumstances to be like this. He reached the doorway to find it locked and he unlocked it with his powers. He needed to get in closer, to see and hear what was happening.
Lord Geneva was surrounded by Shaw, Worthington and Leland - not their
modern day counterparts but their ancestors, all wanting to know what to
do. Lord Geneva had always had a knack in getting out of tight spots, and
the Inner Circle were wanting him to perform his magic now. Lord Geneva
was ignoring them. Someone was here who shouldn't be here, and that was
keeping Jo's fear at bay. Then he saw the man who was causing this.
"Good Lord!" he said. "Is that you, David Goldfish?"
"Who?" asked Shaw, surprised by Geneva's sudden outburst and scared that
the monster called En Sabah Nur would return at any moment. Geneva walked
across to a waiter and asked the question again.
"No, sir," said the man. "My name is not David, it is Cadet. David is my
cousin."
"Oh," said Lord Geneva, taking Goldfish's hint. "I know your cousin well.
He works for me. How did you come to be here?" He had to ask the right
questions, or Dave's cover would be blown as well as how he came here.
"I needed work, and here seemed to present opportunities." Geneva could
have sworn Dave's voice echoed and was about to ask further when the
Highlord entered.
"Why has Fleming not arrived yet?" he asked of Shaw. "You did stress the
urgency?"
"Y..Yes," said Shaw. "Of course I did. He is just finishing an experiment
and will be across soon."
"Good. It is unwise for a man to be too late for his own funeral."
Dave stood on the stairway outside the Inner Circle, hearing all that had
been said. Behind him he saw a figure move and he followed it, wondering
what sort of clues he could give. The figure seemed engrossed in thought
and Dave propelled himself at the target, shoving him to the floor.
"Okay," he said, "I want answers.." he turned his quarry over to reveal
the face of "..Sinister?!"
"I don't know you," he said, "yet you know me, like two others I have
encountered. Curious. I wonder how you compare to those two. However this
is not the time for this." A bio blast sent Goldfish flying. "Once I have
dealt with the Fleming situation, I shall deal with you." As Goldfish got
up, Sinister disappeared.
"Damn," said Dave, who suddenly realised there was someone else behind
him.
"Come with me," said the figure and Dave felt a blade at his throat. He
grabbed the arm of his assailant and threw him to the floor with a thud.
Whilst the man was down, Dave cut off the blood supply to his head and
watched the man's eyes close. He was out cold, and Dave rearranged his
clothes to match the assailant. It was time to see what was happening in
the Inner Circle and he went downstairs, only to be met by an explosion.
Whilst Dave had been confronting Sinister, the other Dave been uncovered by
the Inner Circle.
"I don't remember hiring you," said Shaw. "Show me your credentials." Lord
Geneva looked at Dave who shrugged.
"Some things just don't work as well as you plan them," said Dave
uncovering his face. The members of the Inner Circle were stunned as the
facade surrounding Goldfish was dropped and a being of pure energy stood in
their wake. "Now, siddown!" he ordered the Inner Circle who promptly did
so. Dave sighed. No wonder Apocalypse had taken over them so easily. A bit
of power and it made them like new born babies. Thank the universe that
their descendants developed a back bone. "Now," he said to Lord Geneva, "I
don't have time to explain but..."
"You've arrived here after saving the Earth from a crystal wave some way in
the future. You don't know what has happened or how you have your avatarr
powers - yes I know - but you do know that Apocalypse must be stopped."
"And you think you are the people to do it?" rumbled a voice. Apocalypse
had entered the room, alerted by the increase in power. Perhaps there was
someone who was worthy of the right to survive.
"You two," said Dave, "deal with Sinister. Apocalypse is mine."
"Sinister?" asked Apocalypse and the Geneva's, Jo's silence finally broken.
"Do it," said Dave. Lord Geneva nodded and he and Jo were teleported out.
"What is this?" asked Apocalypse, having seen nothing like this in decades.
It was enough for Goldfish to strike first - but he had to hold back his
powers or the future itself would be imperiled. It resulted in an explosion
as an irresistible force met an immovable object, and the Hellfire Club's
Inner Circle chambers were devastated.
The explosion threw the entering Dave back, and he protected himself from the debris and heat. His job was simple - rescue the Inner Circle and make sure they lived, to spawn their future generations. Of course it would help if they remembered none of this later on, but he'd have to cross that bridge when he came to it. He could see that they were unconscious and he stopped for a moment to watch this clash of the titans. Apocalypse and Goldfish were evenly matched, even though if Dave let go of his restraint he could turn the Highlord in to so much dust he'd be indistinguishable from the rest of the rubble. But he was holding himself in check and so it was a battle royal for supremacy. As Dave cleared the others out, he noticed that the other Dave had winked at him. He knows, thought Dave. But how much? He pushed it to the back of his mind as he got on with task at hand.
Lord Geneva and Jo arrived outside the rooms of Fleming and looked about.
Sinister was just down the hall. Jo looked to her father who was looking
pale.
"Daddy?" she asked. Her father did not reply but waved her on. He had been
ill for a while and running Network and C&C were taking a toll. Perhaps it
was time to start planning for his retirement. When he had a moment he
would go to the future to see what he might do, but for now all he could do
was watch his daughter confront Nathaniel Essex.
Dave moved Shaw to a safe distance and went back to watch the battle. He
had rescued all those trapped and had prevented their deaths as far as he
could. He smiled as he saw that Apocalypse was finally on the ropes. He
wondered what Blaquesmith would say if he could see this battle, but he
pushed it out of his head as the other Dave slammed the Highlord to the
floor.
"After all these centuries," gasped En Sabah Nur, "I have been defeated.
Kill me, my life is yours."
"Very well," the other Dave's voice echoed and he raised his fist to
deliver a killing stroke.
"NO!" called Dave.
"What is this?" said Apocalypse.
"Shut up," said Dave and punched the Highlord in the head, knocking him
cold. He shook his wrist. "Damnation, what's his jaw made of?"
"Allow me," said his counterpart, healing Dave's hand. "Nice punch."
"Thanks, but he'll give me better in a few thousand years. Just getting in
early."
"Why stop me? Do you know what would happen if he died now?"
"Yes. We'd never meet Blaquesmith. The Askani would never exist..."
"Cable would be free of the T-O virus, there'd never be a Stryfe, there
would be peace."
"True, but what of the things that would cost. Blaquesmith, Cable, the
Askani, Blaquesmith's children, X-Force. The ramifications would be
immense. When Legion kills Xavier in the past..."
"Future."
"Whatever, there'll be no Cable to guide the X-Men to what they're supposed
to do. Time will be altered forever. I'd love to kill him, but the future
is set. We cannot alter it. Influence yes, but destiny exists. There is no
fate is a lie that we've never believed. It just takes different forms."
"I hate it when you're right. It usually means I'm wrong."
"I know. You also know what has happened, correct?"
"Oh yeah. I know that you have to reclaim your selves from the time stream
to make yourself whole again. I know that only you can walk away from this
one. I'll send you to the future after..."
He stopped and Dave put his arm on his shoulder. "What is it?"
"Jo. There's trouble."
"Let's go." The avatarr powers transported them to Jo's location where she
was battling Sinister. And holding her own. The Dave's looked at each
other, knowing that Sinister was just testing her, to see what she was
capable of then taking her out. "Jo!" Dave called out. Both she and
Sinister turned, but Jo's reflexes were those of a trained agent of Network
and whilst Sinister wasn't looking, she teleported him away. The technology
for his tesseract would not be available for a few decades or so, and Dave
wondered if this was where he got the idea from. Then the other Dave used
his avatarr powers to render Jo unconscious, whilst reviving Lord Geneva.
"I love these powers. I wish we could still have them," he sighed.
"There are times I do as well," said Dave. "But we gave them up and some things are better that way" He walked
over to Lord Geneva. "He's removed her memories of me in this time," he
explained. "When events take their natural course, she'll remember. You
might need to give them a hand though."
"Sometimes, destiny needs a helping hand," said Lord Geneva with a nod.
"What of En Sabah Nur?"
"Dealt with," said the other Dave with a grin. "He should recover from this
in about forty or fifty years when the world will be ready for him. Plus
Fleming should be able to finish his work without any undue influence. I
don't sense any problems continuum wise."
"No," admitted Lord Geneva. "I haven't sensed anything amiss within time.
You did well, gentlemen. It's good to know that the training pays off."
"Thank you, sir," both Dave's said. Geneva nodded as he gathered up his
daughter. "I'll see you in the future," he said and vanished in the blink
of an eye, leaving the Dave's alone.
"So," said Dave.
"So," repeated his counterpart. "Let's do it." They looked at each other
and a spark of cosmic energy flew between them, each becoming the other.
"Now that is a rush."
"Yes," said Dave. "It is. What about you?"
"Well, reality isn't big enough for both of us, so I think I'll shift to
some other dimension. There is one where Darkside and Fever recreate the
universe in to a new one. I think I'll try there, try to stop them and when
I fail I'll become an energy source for the new universe. Do something
useful."
Dave nodded. "I think I know the place."
His counterpart smiled. "It's time for you to go," he said. "I'd better remove your avatarr powers as well."
"I reckon so. Nice to see you in action."
"T'was nothing. See you around, Dave Goldfish." He waved his hand and Dave
was off again, then without a word he shifted to the other dimension and
let fate take it's course.
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