In a quiet tavern, the Watcher lazily swirled the clear liquor in his goblet, watching it spin gently. His expression remained calm.
"Judging by the time, the Anti-Monitor should have already descended upon that fractured reality. What? You're not going to step in personally to handle the mess?"
"I trust Pietro and Kara to deal with it. That's why I created the Overseers in the first place," Alex replied.
"You place a lot of faith in that Kryptonian... but that mutant... Honestly? I don't see anything redeemable about him. Isn't he just dead weight to you?"
"Dead weight?"
Alex chuckled, raising an eyebrow. He pointed outside the tavern.
"You know what it was like when I first came here? I had no identity, no powers, no skills worth mentioning. If Pietro hadn't protected me all the way, I would've died long ago. If anyone was dead weight, it was me."
"Heh…"
The Watcher let out a dry laugh, like someone amused by a joke only they understood.
"A being who has defined the fabric of matter and magic in this reality calling himself dead weight? Time Bard, what's the term again? 'Versailles'?"
Alex froze, goblet in hand. His expression shifted, some realization flashing across his face. He looked at the Watcher with a mix of surprise and understanding.
Seeing this, the Watcher smiled subtly.
"Yes, you guessed right. This isn't the first time I've seen an 'intruder' like you. You outsiders from the higher-dimensional realms always carry strange phrases with you. Watch something long enough and you start to pick up the language. It comes in handy."
"Where did you see people like me before?" Alex asked.
"Don't you already know the answer?"
Their eyes locked. The Watcher didn't push the question, instead letting the silence settle before continuing:
"A colossal dark rift once tore through the Multiverse—so vast it shook even the most indifferent of cosmic entities. We Watchers were the first species to encounter the infection, and we assumed the responsibility to investigate its origin. I led the expedition—three of us traveled to its source."
Alex's mind flashed back to the first time he formed a pact with the Timepad—to that infinite scar stretching across countless realities. He remembered the abyss of darkness and writhing parasitic creatures pouring from the crack.
He recalled how Miss Minutes had no records, no documentation of that place—as if the information had been erased or had never existed. But it was now obvious: she had a deep connection with the infection's origin.
Alex didn't interrupt. He simply listened.
"At first, we believed it was another standard incursion—nothing unusual for this universe. Multiversal-level crises happen so often they barely raise eyebrows."
"But what we didn't expect... was the nature of the energy. It was warped. Alien. Unlike anything we'd ever encountered. No rules. No pattern. Born from endings. Died with beginnings. You wouldn't even notice when it became part of you—until it already was. Once touched, it's like a parasite in your bones. You can't scrub it off. But even so… there was something else in that darkness."
Setting the goblet down, the Watcher looked at Alex with curious intensity.
"Care to guess what's on the other side of that rift?"
Alex's mind raced with possibilities. For a moment, he even considered if the rift led back to his original world—but he quickly dismissed it.
He took a sip of his drink and shook his head gently.
"Earlier you asked where I had seen others like you."
The Watcher knew that Alex had already pieced it together. He didn't call it out—just kept the conversation going.
"Remember the story you told me… about the mirror? I admired that. You were close to the truth then. Very close."
"It's just like that—on the other side of the rift, like a mirror turned inside-out, there exists a darkness that reflects countless universes exactly like ours…"
"Born from corruption. Spreading like radiation through reflection," Alex muttered. His mind went to the Boys Universe, and those numbered sequences originating from the infected zones.
"No one knows how that mirror-world came into being. No one knows how many more twisted multiverses exist beyond our own."
"What did you see?" Alex asked, his voice lower now.
He wasn't sure why—but his heart was racing. His palms clenched involuntarily.
The Watcher, clearly satisfied with Alex's reaction, smiled—though Alex could hear his teeth grinding beneath the grin.
The Watcher gently shook his head, a trace of reflection flashing through his expression.
"I've seen countless beings like you—invaders descending from higher dimensions into the lower worlds. They carry with them corruption strong enough to rewrite entire universes, spreading recklessly through the Multiverse of that realm."
"Every being they touch becomes little more than a puppet, mindless and hollow, strung along by the infection. I watched universe after universe collapse—without warning, without reason. Entire realities crumbled to dust."
"Even the invaders who crossed into that world… were erased, as if everything simply ended—snuffed out in silence."
"You want to know what I saw?" the Watcher asked, a somber smile curling across his face.
"I saw the truth of this world."
-----------------------------------
Flashpoint Universe – Earth-1
Arkham Asylum Ruins
The skies over Gotham had gone pitch black without warning. Within the swirling storm clouds, shadows slithered like fish through water, casting the city beneath in an eerie, breathless silence.
Then, before anyone could react, a thunderclap like a divine war-drum tore through the heavens. It shook the ground beneath their feet, forcing both Punisher and Batman to stumble back, grimacing.
From within the clouds, dozens of dark, shadow demonlike phantoms emerged. Their bodies radiated with a substance that did not belong to this world—screeching in alien tongues, they swarmed downward like a plague of locusts.
"What the hell are those things?!" Punisher gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on his axe.
"I've never felt energy like this," said Doctor Strange, his brow furrowing. "It's like the antithesis of life itself… though not quite the same as that tentacled Batman variant."
"They're shadow demons from the Antimatter Universe—soldiers of the Anti-Monitor," Batman clarified, casting Strange a sideways glance. He didn't know what that 'tentacled version' of himself meant, but there wasn't time for questions.
The Sentry narrowed his eyes. Now it was certain—the strange energy he'd sensed earlier, something eerily close to The Void, had come from the Antimatter Realm.
"This is just their welcome committee," Batman muttered. "The Anti-Monitor is coming."
Despite the pain from his injuries, Batman turned on his heel and ran.
"Hey—where the hell are you going?!" Punisher shouted after him.
Batman didn't stop. He called over his shoulder in that hoarse voice of his: "With the antimatter horde incoming and the Anti-Monitor descending, Gotham's about to become a war zone. And the rest of Earth's heroes? They've got no leader right now. What do you think I'm doing?!"
Punisher opened his mouth but said nothing.
He glanced up at the sky—nearly blacked out by the sheer number of shadow demons. It was obvious: the four of them couldn't take this army alone. And if Batman looked this worried, then the Anti-Monitor was no ordinary enemy.
The priority now was to gather reinforcements—fast.
Raising his axe, Punisher stepped up beside Doctor Strange and Sentry.
"If this is just their opening move, then I hate to see what a full assault looks like."
Licking his lips, he stared up at the shadow demons plummeting from the sky like rain and shouted:
"They're diving! Strange—hurry up and cast something! Use a Patronus or something!"
Doctor Strange rolled his eyes at Punisher's outburst but knew there was no time to argue. Without hesitation, he levitated into the air, golden streams of light gathering between his hands like strands of silk, weaving together into arcane sigils.
Above, the antimatter shadow demons shrieked through the storm-choked sky. Their howls tore through the air as they dove down like feral beasts, claws outstretched, targeting the three heroes below.
Even for someone as battle-hardened as Doctor Strange—who'd clashed with entities beyond comprehension—this moment made him frown.
"This reminds me of that mess on the Hellfront years ago…" he muttered under his breath. "Honestly, I'm starting to miss Mephisto."
Then, without looking back, he suddenly shouted over his shoulder: "Robert! I'm gonna need you to tank the magical backlash!"
"Got it. Leave it to me," the Sentry replied calmly, already shifting into a defensive stance.
It wasn't the first time he'd helped Strange with the cost of sorcery. What would cripple a lesser mage—lost limbs, burned-out organs, maybe death—barely scratched him. Even the most violent feedback from raw arcane force couldn't make him shed a fingernail.
With a powerhouse like Sentry absorbing the consequences, Strange's face lit up with confidence.
"Alright then… time for a little magical feast."
....
📢Advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
1. 20 advanced chapters of The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes.
2. 30 advanced chapters of What year is this? You're still writing a traditional diary?.