Ego Exitium

by Phantom Drache

Chapter 1: The Schism

I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.

It is widely accepted by both certain members of the public as well as portions of the scientific community that our world is not the only world. This is not meant on the cosmic scale of course, for we have known of the other planets in our solar system for thousands of years, nor is this in regards to the universal scale seeing as in the last few decades we have discovered a great many other planets in other solar systems that may host living organisms.

We are talking about things in a scale beyond the universe. We are talking of the multiverse theory, which states that our universe is but one of many, potentially infinitely many. Each universe is its own separate entity, some virtually identical to our own, except perhaps for the fact that oranges taste like lemons and lemons taste like oranges, while others are so diametrically opposite to ours that you would be hard pressed to find any similarities at all.

We could spend hours simply discussing these potential universes, but that is neither here nor there. For now, let us view one such universe. For identification purposes, let's label this universe as P-264.

P-264 is part of what we'll refer to as the "marvel" multiverse for reasons that are irrelevant to our current conversation. As for what exactly that means, we need to move from talk of universes, and shrink our focus down to the cellular level.

In the group of universes that all fall under this umbrella name, the difference between them and our own universe lays in the genetic code of humanity. For lack of simpler terminology, the DNA of Homo Sapiens in these universes is far more complex than that of Homo Sapiens in our own universe. It is more developed, and has sections of it that are relatively new, and are only just coming to the forefront.

The primary example of this lay in a new nitrogenous base, known as "Xenium". Unlike any of the other bases it can link with any base, and is present in both DNA and RNA with no apparent pattern. It's primary composition is still unknown, though it's effects are not.

Depending on what section of the genome the Xenium base is found in, it can have wildly differing effects on the host. This can range from allowing them conscious control over their internal body temperature to unlocking parts of human DNA that have been shut down over millennia of evolution, physically altering their appearance into shapes that are almost impossible to recognise as human.

Due to the side effects of this base, those who possess it have been labelled a subcategory of human, with some referring to them as humanities first attempts at a next stage in human evolution, explaining why so many new traits are appearing in such a widespread number of people.

Named Homo Mutatio, after the latin term for 'change', the scientific community was divided on how to feel about this new section of humanity. The public was equally divided. Nicknaming the sudden mutation in human genetics as "the X gene" and it's bearers "mutants", most common folk became fearful towards their newfound brethren, and in many cases violent.

For some this was a religious issue, where they believed that 'mutants' were a sign that a god, goddess, or set of divine entities had judged humanity and was cursing the 'unworthy'. For others, it was simply xenophobia, the fear of those that are different from them. Either way, the most vocal of those who were taking a stand on this issue were those calling for the eradication of Homo Mutatio.

Because of this, several groups came into existence. For simplicity sake, let us separate them into five categories. There were the non-mutants who hate mutants, which we have already discussed. This includes many hate groups, religious organizations, and politicians.

The second group would be the non-mutants who fight for equal rights. These are typically scientists who think that homo Mutatio would be the next stage in human evolution and as such valuable to humanity's existence. It also includes several charities, friends and family of some mutants, and people who remember times where other groups of people were mistreated and almost eradicated.

The third group is made up of mutants who fight against normal humans. Some do it out of self-defense, either reactively or proactively. Some do it because they think that as the next stage in human evolution they are thusly superior to Homo Sapien. Groups in this section have since changed from referring to themselves as Homo Mutatio, and instead refer to themselves as Homo Superior.

The fourth group are those mutants who wish for peaceful coexistence with Homo Sapien. The most famous of these groups would be the ones called "X-Men", founded by Professor Charles Xavier, a telepath and leading figure in the realm of genetics. The X-Men fought against the mutants that were attempting to fight the normal humans, in a form of self-policing, and they sincerely hoped that they could peacefully coexist with Homo Sapien if they stopped their brethren from attacking humans, and never reacted violently towards those humans who did not appreciate their existence.

The fifth, final, and smallest group of people would be those who took no official stance on the matter. This is the smallest group not so much because few people were actually neutral, but rather because the other four factions would demand that a stance be taken, and neutrality was heavily frowned upon.

Now, in some universes, the X-Men succeeded in their quest for peace. In some, everything went swell, and they ended up all living peacefully and happily ever after. Now, unfortunately, P-264 is not one such universe.

The X-Men, fractured and scattered after their Leader was killed by one of their own in an incident known only as "The Schism", and then further hindered thanks to the advent of the Sentinel program, which involved training highly advanced robots to search out and eliminate those carrying the X-Gene.

Eventually, the first group of people stumbled upon an unusual sixth group of people. The magicians. Those capable of wielding power unimaginable. Not as powerful in individual tasks like certain mutants might be, and yet with access to a hundred mutants worth of abilities and able to alter reality itself with a mere thought, word, or gesture.

Of course, the first group decided to eliminate the magicals alongside the mutants. This lead to the already war-torn world being introduced to a whole new level of carnage.

Where a well trained mutant can equal a dozen soldiers, a properly trained and reasonably powerful magician can equal a hundred. Sadly, where Homo Sapien numbered in the billions, Homo Mutatio numbered in the low thousands, and the newly dubbed Homo Magicae only numbered in the hundreds.

This meant that while it would take entire armies to take down a stronghold of the "Gifted" as the mutants and magicals would refer to themselves, Homo Sapien had said armies and more at their disposal. In the process, the world was torn asunder. Metaphorically more so than literally, thankfully, though plenty of the latter occurred as well.

Now, this is not ancient history, like the phrasing may imply. This is happening in the present tense for those living in universe P-264. Let us take a look at one such person living in this world.

Latveria, Dr. Doom's Castle

We find ourselves in a European country, founded by the Von Doom line. Surrounded originally by lush green plains, the victorian castle and associating town were once a prime tourist spot as well as a political powerhouse.

Now however, the plains have been torn apart, trampled upon, and painted the crimson of life and death. The castle, instead of open and inviting, is locked down both physically and with a large blue shield of pure magical energies that flickers as the munitions of Sentinels and siege weaponry hit it repeatedly.

On the walls, both mutants and sorcerer's defend their last refuge to their dying breaths. Every other safehouse has fallen. Every other home torn from them. This is their last stand, and they are slowly losing.

Inside, three figures stand around a glowing circle. One wears all crimson. This is Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, one of the most powerful mutants in existence, capable of rewriting reality with her words alone.

The next figure is a man clad in silver armor and green robes. This is Victor Von Doom, or Doctor Doom as he had taken to calling himself. A master of technology and dabbler in the mystic, as well as artificially empowered by the powers cosmic and ruler of Latveria itself, Doom is an intense and intimidating figure no matter how he is approached.

The final figure is no less important, and yet by far the least renowned. They are a male, roughly six foot three in height and twenty years old. Clad in what used to be black slacks and an immaculate light blue button up with a white undershirt, the pants are now closer to brown in colour and the button up is open and torn in several locations. Red liquid seeping into the white fabric in several locations where it is also torn shows that the figure is injured.

His hair is a brilliant red, and his eyes a deep purple, though any observer might notice that his irises aren't the usual circles, and are instead diamond in shape. His hair, normally pulled back in a loose ponytail, is now messed up as though he had put his face in front of a high-powered fan, and is free to reach his shoulders. He has dark bags under his eyes, and his lightly tanned skin is oddly pale, probably due to a combination of exhaustion and blood-loss. The unlit cigarette in his mouth twitches as he clenches his jaw, which has gained some slight stubble lately.

This is Syd Strange, child of the former Sorcerer Supreme: Steven Strange. Or at least, that's what he had learned some thirty minutes ago. Originally believing his name to be Syd Calhoun, and his father to be a dead truck driver, Syd had been a normal kid even if he only had one parent who died when he was twelve thanks to a bank robbery that went bad.

At fourteen, he made a few less than stellar friends, ended up in a gang, and unlocked his magical abilities in a fit of pure self-preservation and instinct when a gunfight went south.

At fifteen, he had his own gang and controlled almost the entire city in which he grew up. He became one of the most feared and respected individuals in the area, though he was smart enough to keep his magical talents a secret from everyone besides his most trusted advisors.

At sixteen, he started a turf war with every other gang in the city, intentionally putting himself at a huge disadvantage "for the hell of it", as he had said when questioned by his advisors. No less than a hundred people had died by the time the dust settled, and Syd was one of a mere dozen gangsters who survived the encounter. Syd had lost the fight, though he had a huge smile on his face as he fled town.

At seventeen, he had gone back to finish high school, which he had dropped out of at fifteen. He got a highschool diploma after only three months of intense studying, and managed to get a scholarship to a small community college. He knew that they had only offered it because they wanted to "reform" him, but he would take what he could get.

At nineteen, he graduated early with a bachelor's degree of science in pharmacy. He then got a full-time job working for a small clinic in LA, and spent most of his free time studying the occult to finally try and figure out what exactly his powers were and why he had them, as well as becoming more powerful and efficient.

At twenty, he resumed using his powers for violence, though this time for good rather than self-service. Using the alias Emrys, he donned an over the top masquerade outfit, and began to fend off small-time crooks. This originally was purely for the adrenaline, though he wouldn't deny that helping people felt good.

At twenty one, the Sentinel project started targeting magicals, and Syds life was turned upside down for the second of three times. His life very quickly went from "work, protect the city, sleep, repeat" to "try not to die at any given moment".

He would meet up with and join forces with a series of interesting characters, eventually becoming known as a small-time but frighteningly efficient warrior and defender of the weaker Gifted. After several months of this, he would be invited to bring his troupe to the last safe place: Latveria.

This is where he finally met the man by the name of Stephen Strange, who would recognise Syd's unusual magical strength and mental acumen as being reminiscent to his own. It would take a few more months still for Stephen to figure out that Syd was his son, who his wife had said died in an accident right before she left in the middle of the night nearly twenty years prior.

Stephen did not immediately share this revelation with anyone, believing it to not be the right time for such matters. It was only a few days after Syd's twenty second birthday, when the humans launched their final and largest attack, that this truth was exposed.

The assault went on and on, and a full thirty hours after it began, Steven finally told Syd the truth of his heritage. He did this before handing Syd the Eye of Agamotto and heading into the field where he would lay waste to dozens of sentinels before being slain. In a combination of grief and blind rage, Syd would then decimate nearly a fifth of the invading forces single handedly before being dragged back inside by Wanda and Doom.

After waiting for him to collect himself, they explained their plan. Latveria was lost to them. With every passing moment, the encroaching forces grew closer and closer to breaking through their defences. There was nowhere left to turn, no forces left to call upon, no resources not used. This was the end.

Unless they did something that would violate not only several magical laws, but also a few moral and ethical lines. They would combine their powers, Doom supplying incredible technology, Syd the raw magical energy, and Wanda would add a touch of pure chaos to the mix.

Their hopes were that by combining and condensing all of this power, they would be capable of creating a singularity. A small tear in the fabric of reality that they would then pry open to allow for their forces to escape into a new world, one where they might be safe.

Syd had his doubts that this was even possible, but putting the Eye of Agamotto around his neck, he admitted that there was little else they could do. The ritual they would create wouldn't take too long, but it would drain the three of them past dry, and potentially even kill all three. They considered it worth it in the end.

Now we are caught up with the present of this universe. Syd grits his teeth, pushing through the pain of several injuries he gained while fighting the incoming forces, and the pain of channelling far more power than his mortal frame could contain.

The three figures stand in a triangle, with a large runic circle surrounding them and spread across all the surfaces of the room. A room in the heart of the castle, where the sounds of the war were faint, though rumbles still occasionally shook the stone. The three ignored said tremors.

Chanting in his deep, raspy voice, Syd is mirrored by the other two figures, all of their arms raised to the air. Between them, pure energy crackles. Raising their voices, the three channel even more power into the ritual. Syd almost stumbles as he feels the magic starting to literally burn him from the inside out. He pushes on, the Eye glowing brightly as it rests on his chest.

Slowly, the power between them starts to condense. Soon, a tiny pinprick of purest black appears. A soft breeze appears, whipping up the three's hair. Rapidly, the wind speeds up, almost lifting Syd off the ground.

"I think we got it running!" He yells towards his two older companions, who had also stopped chanting.

The hole stops trying to pull everything in as it expands, slowly revealing a circle that is made of a myriad of colours, like a 60's parade threw up on it. The Eye's light dies down. Unable to see through their portal, Syd lights his cigarette, takes a deep breath in and out, shrugs, and hopes that the other side is habitable.

"So, who wan-" At that very moment, the three look up as they feel the magical protections fall. Syd then feels a hand on his shoulder.

"We're sorry. This is the only way to make sure this never happens again, and the portal will only last a few more seconds." Before Syd can say anything, Doom pushes him with a surprising amount of force.

Flying forwards and tumbling so his face is almost on the ground looking back, Syd can barely let loose a shout of surprise. At that very instant, a loud roar of fire rushes through the reinforced door to the room. The last thing Syd sees of his home universe is a group of Sentinels behind the now blazing door and his two companions turning to defend themselves.

The portal closes the instant Syd is through, and he finds himself engulfed in darkness. Floating for a moment, his only thought is 'well, fuck'. He doesn't quite know how to feel about this development, though he's pretty upset over the fact that Doom had made him drop his smoke.

Due to his magic he's basically immune to things like nicotine addiction, but he had started smoking at fifteen and it had become a habit. Though he has a pack in his shirt, he's not sure how long he'll be in this void, and as such will probably need to ration it.

As he thinks this, the Eye of Agamotto on his chest starts to glow once more. Furrowing his eyes, Syd pulls it off and goes to examine it. The moment it's off his neck, however, it rips itself out of his hands and flies a little bit aways where it stops.

Then it starts to spin. The glow intensifies, as does the spinning, until Syd has to shield his eyes from the ball of bright green light it has become. Suddenly, he feels something striking his body.

Once, twice, a total of seven times. He can feel the impact not only damaging his already strained body, but also ripping something away from him. With each hit, he feels weaker and weaker, until he can barely maintain consciousness.

Then, as suddenly as it started it stops. Opening his eyes, Syd is surprised to find that now everything is blue, and there's a harsh wind pushing his hair forward into his eyes. When Syd blinks and looks again, he finds that he's actually in the sky and free falling.

Eyes widening, Syd has just enough time to grasp that he's hurtling towards the ground at a very high velocity before he slams back first into a pool of water. He thankfully instantly loses consciousness before the pain of several broken bones hits him.

Xavier's School for the Gifted and Talented, roughly one day later.

A white haired woman and a large blue figure stand in a room while a bald man in a wheel chair sits besides them. The room is mostly white and silver, with medical equipment scattered about. In the center of the room, a heavily bandaged figure lays on a table.

"Honestly it's a miracle he's alive. Several lacerations, bullet holes, and puncture wounds; second and borderline third degree burns covering nearly a quarter of his body; the impact damage from hitting the water; nerve damage in his arms and chest from some unknown source. Most people would have had to be admitted to an ICU and even then they'd have to fight tooth and nail for anything better than a fifty percent chance of survival. Yet remarkably, not only has he remained stable, but a good percentage of the damage has been healed in a mere twenty four hours."

This analysis comes from the large blue figure. Vaguely ape-like in stature, and completely covered in fur from can be seen under a white lab coat, brown pants, a tan shirt, and a pair of black square glasses, the figure is one Henry 'Hank' McCoy. Hank acts as the medic for this facility.

"Any sign of the x-gene? There were no planes in the sky when he fell, so my guess is that he's some kind of flyer, though that wouldn't explain his healing factor."

Resting one hand against the chest of Syd, the white haired woman is the one to question Hank. Tall, slender, and of obvious african descent given ehr skin tone, Ororo Munroe is more of a lover than a fighter by nature, and has a degree in literature which she puts to good use to teach kids english and occasionally other languages.

"I must admit that there is something odd with his DNA that marks him as something other than base-line human, but no. There wasn't any trace of the X-Gene."

"Hmm, can I see those result?" this unusual request comes from the third member of this party, the bald man in a wheelchair.

Professor Charles Xavier is widely recognised and loved for both his intellect and compassionate personality. He started attempting to gather fellow mutants when he was young, with his former best friend Erik Lehnsherr at his side. That didn't go according to plan, but Xavier was positive that eventually his message of peace and coexistence would spread across the globe.

Taking the papers that Hank was passing him, Xavier skimmed most of the basic information. Average bone density; slightly above average height; surprisingly has 'pink' muscle fibers in about half of his body, with the other fifty percent split evenly between 'white' and 'red' indicating excellent physical abilities; most injuries sustained within the last forty eight hours, although a few scars indicate injuries sustained roughly five to ten years ago.

Most of this information is ultimately useless to the question at hand, and what Xavier does read indicates someone of slight interest, but hardly anything revolutionary. Getting to the section he was looking for, Xavier analyses the readings on the unknown mans DNA. What he sees causes his bald eyebrows to raise in surprise.

"Well, that certainly explains a lot." Xaviers two companions share a glance while unwatched, Syd's eyelid twitches.

"It would appear that our young friend happens to be a magic user. That would explain not only how he managed to find himself falling into our pond from a clear sky, but also how he's managed to survive such wounds and heal so rapidly. Those of mystical persuasion tend to circulate the powers arcane through their body even while unconscious, healing that which would require medical attention otherwise."

"You mean to tell me, a man of science, that you actually believe in magic?" While Ororo looks like she's on the fence about this revelation, Hank is less than convinced.

"I would retort that not only do I believe in the arts arcane, but have seen it with my own eyes and am close friends with someone of incredible power and renown in the magical communities. Of course, when we first met, I was equally disbelieving of his talents as you are now. That was before he showed me things that to this day I still have questions about."

"What is your friends name?" Hank shakes his head and moves to check the medical equipment again, while Ororo looks deeply interested about this mysterious person.

"You've actually met him before, and he should be coming over for tea here in a little over a month if he's available. Doctor Stephen Strange, also known as the apprentice to the current Sorcerer Supreme."

A sudden jerk from Syd catches the three's attention. He ignores Hanks attempts to hold him down, and reaches with shaking hand toward Xavier. Weakly grasping Xaviers shirt, Syd's messed up hair is pushed to the side to reveal nearly crazed eyes.

"W-What...did...you s-say?"

I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.