American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

493. On the Other Side of the Mirror.

In the midst of chaotic darkness, Alex stood silently, gazing at the bubble-like barrier, feeling the power within it gradually weakening.

It worked.

The moment Ryan uttered that single word, everything underwent a monumental transformation. This universe born from corruption, this world that had continually rejected Alex's descent, had finally opened its doors to him for the first time. The balance of order was quietly shattered at this moment.

Although Alex's true form still couldn't fully enter this world, the terrifying energy within his body had at last found a vessel capable of carrying it.

"I should have realized sooner."

Alex chuckled silently to himself.

"Ryan is one of the cornerstones of this world, the most critical link in the development of this universe. Only he has the capacity to become my 'sword.'"

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At the secret Vought facility, on the grassy field outside the school ruins...

The body of Alex's previous host, David, suddenly lost all strength and collapsed to the ground. Blood-red veins rapidly spread across his skin like a spider web, creating a horrifying sight.

Opposite him, Ryan's body erupted with an overwhelming surge of energy. The atmosphere shifted dramatically, and even the grass on the ground bent low as if bowing, pressed flat by the sheer force emanating from him.

A raging storm swept through the area, overturning parked cars and intensifying the downpour as if celebrating the arrival of some otherworldly entity.

CRACK!

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, splitting the dark clouds apart and illuminating the earth below with an eerie brilliance.

In that fleeting flash of light, a sinister and monstrous shadow loomed behind Ryan's small figure.

Despite being only about 1.2 meters tall, the shadow projected onto the lawn depicted a being with massive wings, sharp horns protruding from its head, and grotesque tendrils writhing across its form. The mere sight of this shadow instilled a suffocating sense of dread.

Slowly, Ryan opened his eyes. A ghostly green glow lingered in his pupils before gradually fading.

Ryan—no, Alex—had returned.

"Finally..."

Lowering his gaze to his pale hands, Alex clenched them, feeling the boundless power flowing continuously from the deepest layers of his soul.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Alex marveled at how perfectly suited this body was for him.

If David's form had shackled him with the weight of a thousand chains and bound his soul with iron bonds, Ryan's body was the opposite—free of restraints, allowing Alex to wield his full power unhindered.

Turning his head slightly, Alex looked at the two corpses beside him: one, his previous vessel, David; the other, Ryan's mother, Becca.

"..."

Gazing at them with a complex expression, Alex raised his hand slightly. Two flickering flames of ghostly green emerged from his fingertips, spreading instantly to the two bodies.

Though the flames seemed fragile and ready to extinguish at any moment, the pouring rain had no effect on them. As soon as they touched the corpses, the flames roared to life, burning brightly.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Under the eerie firelight, the two corpses began to regenerate at a visible pace. Torn flesh knitted back together, shattered organs reformed, and lost blood replenished itself.

"Be grateful this world has no so-called 'gods,'" Alex muttered to himself. "Otherwise, with their souls taken away, reviving you would've been much harder."

Shifting his gaze from the bodies, Alex looked toward the dim heavens.

The work here was done. Now that he had fully reclaimed his power, it was time to set everything back on its proper course.

With a light tap of his foot on the ground, a deafening sonic boom echoed as Alex shot skyward, piercing through the rain-soaked air into the clouds.

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High above the earth, walking amidst the thunder and storm clouds, Alex observed the scene below. He realized the rain didn't cover just this location. A vast portion of the United States lay shrouded in the oppressive storm, resembling a typhoon or the end of the world.

Frowning slightly, Alex seemed to have realized something. His pace slowed as he spread open the mystical "Eye of the Sorcerer."

Instantly, his vision transformed. The blackened clouds turned inky dark, every raindrop laced with the essence of corruption.

Below, the city ravaged by war resembled a steam engine running at full capacity, spewing immeasurable amounts of corruption into the air. The noxious fumes coalesced into the storm clouds above, feeding the rain that poured down incessantly.

Watching indifferently, Alex descended rapidly toward the battlefield.

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He neither knew the city's name nor cared about the people involved in the conflict below. Yet, from the fiery explosions and cries of battle that echoed in the storm, it was clear the fight had reached a fever pitch.

Surveying the battlefield-strewn streets, Alex saw only mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.

In one corner, a zombified Wolverine slashed through hapless civilians with his razor-sharp claws. Hot on his trail was Colossus, throwing himself into the fray with relentless determination, desperate to halt the slaughter.

Zombie Wolverine and Colossus?

Alex frowned, squinting to focus his vision once again.

On the ground, a girl composed entirely of steel was chasing a canine-like beast-shaped superhuman. The creature, gravely injured, clutched at its spilling intestines as it fled.

"Huff...ha..."

Panting softly, Alex's eyelids twitched slightly. He shifted his gaze, looking toward the more distant battlefield, the main street where the fighting was most intense. There, the sounds of screams and explosions echoed ceaselessly.

Cheetah leaped from a rooftop, pinning Daredevil beneath her. Deathstroke's severed head was held aloft by Ant-Man, who then hurled it at Killer Croc.

Polaris and Starfire clashed mid-air, while Miss Martian was torn in half by the Lizard. Batman stood atop a bus, laughing maniacally as he mocked a one-armed Spider-Man below.

It all seemed like a surreal illusion, yet beneath the veil of the rain, it felt disturbingly real.

The pollution's presence was even more pronounced here. Alex could almost perceive countless parallel universes teetering on the brink of annihilation.

"So, this is the truth?"

As he observed the mutual slaughter among the Vought superheroes, Alex's gaze turned icy.

Originally, Alex theorized that pollution was a cognitive energy radiating downward from a higher-dimensional consciousness.

But now, it seemed the reality was far more complex than his assumptions.

Pollution resembled a mirror. Whether it was the Marvel Universe or the DC Universe, they existed as worlds outside the mirror, realms Alex could intervene in. However, this universe—the world of The Boys—existed within the pollution.

In other words, this universe was the reflection within the mirror. Perhaps this explained why Alex could not physically descend here and had to rely solely on his mind and soul.

The two sides of the mirror constantly influenced each other. When superheroes were born on one side, counterparts instinctively emerged within the mirror.

Under the influence of higher-dimensional consciousness, the heroes within the mirror gradually deviated from their righteous paths, veering toward an extreme trajectory—a trajectory designed to entertain those higher beings.

Moreover, the actions of these mirrored heroes might even manifest as cognitive pollution, corrupting the world outside the mirror.

Closing his eyes, Alex revisited the memories of his past experiences:

Peter Parker, who succumbed to the spider virus; the X-Men girls, reduced to lounge entertainers; the Flash of Hawaii, erased by a catastrophe right after a timeline reset; and the mighty heroes who fell to mere blades.

Perhaps, when Starlight knelt before the Deep, somewhere in a DC Universe beyond the mirror, a similar scene was playing out in the Justice League's Watchtower.

Shaking his head silently, Alex accelerated, racing toward the epicenter of the pollution—the origin of this war: Vought Tower.

The sonic boom scattered rain and clouds around him as Alex streaked across the sky like a meteor.

By the time Alex arrived at Vought Tower, the battle was nearing its end.

Blood pooled across the ground, mingling with rainwater. Soldier Boy's corpse was impaled on the statue in front of Vought Tower's plaza, a charred, gaping hole burned into his chest.

Rage and disbelief lingered in Soldier Boy's eyes, as if even in death, he couldn't comprehend how he had been defeated or that a greater power existed.

Beneath the statue, Homelander, drenched in blood, bore a horrific scar stretching from his scalp to his chin, nearly splitting his head apart.

Panting heavily, Homelander sat motionless, letting the rain wash over his broken body.

Around him, the plaza was littered with corpses: Butcher, Frenchie, Cindy, and even Termite and Polarity had perished in the conflict.

In this desolate plaza, Homelander was the sole survivor, slumped against the statue's base, his vacant gaze fixed on the sky. Suddenly, his eyes flickered, and his dulled mind seemed to sharpen momentarily.

In his vision, a terrifying shadow loomed closer through the clouds, its mere presence stirring a tempest that swept across the battlefield.

His throat moved slightly, and an inexplicable sense of foreboding washed over him. Homelander shifted his gaze downward.

There, amidst the sea of blood and corpses, stood a man clad in a black trench coat. Holding a black umbrella, the man quietly stared back at him.

.....

30 advanced chapters on p@treaon
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494. No More.........
495. Back on Track!!!
496. Suggestions.
497. The Mysterious Arrival!!!
498. Barbatos!