~A Creed of Bloody Pasts~
Desmond sat in front of front of his ad hoc council. They were deep within one of the dimensional folds of Serenity, the Sanctuary specifically. At the table were River, Crichton, Kanye (he had the skills, if not the attitude), and the Doctor. He had been the most surprising addition to the group. He was against violence vehemently, but acknowledged that sometimes the needs of the few outweighed the needs of the one that needed to die. He had been the one that had outfitted the Serenity with the TARDIS warping, but refused to have weapons installed on board, citing it as a condition.
Mal was sitting at the table as well, although it was a polite formality as he was the Captain of the ship. He had no say in what went on in here.
The recruits were there as well, although they weren't afforded a seat. Melaka Fray. Bea, A young woman that claimed to know Mal, at least in the future. And Spike, a particularly rude Vampire that claimed to have bagged multiple slayers. It had taken a three hour standoff just to convince Mel not to stake him on the spot.
Even Lisa has been allowed inside the Sanctuary despite her hesitancy about joining the Creed. Desmond didn't really care about the rules, even the ones he had made.
Desmond was speaking to the group, telling them the things they needed to know, although not everything. Some parts of the plan the Mentor had taken pains to hide from even River.
"You all know what's going on. The demon actually attacked the Coalition directly, I don't give a fuck what our allies say. He's dangerous, and the coalition is going to need all the help it can get. I never wanted to mark anyone for death, but he needs to die for things to change." The wording was a little odd, mainly because he was quoting what one of his friends had told him when
he was being inducted into the old Order.
Desmond rubbed his face. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He had started this Order, this Creed, to stop a specific threat, not turn everyone here into murderers.
"All right. To stop this from turning into a complete clusterfuck we're operating in small teams. I'm going to recruit an old friend, Lisa going to go talk to Daddy, and someone here needs to try to contact Bayonetta, have her meet us at the rendezvous."
Desmond stood and turned to leave, then stopped.
"All of you. You've been handed the future of the multiverse, take care of it, and each other, no matter what."
And then he left to make his preparations.
~~~
Lisa rocked back on her heels. She didn't know what to make of these people. They were all so... well, they weren't really any different than her in a lot of ways. That scared the woman. She hated herself. What was desirable about an army of monsters? The worst of the group would end up being her father, of course. Oh. The joy she'd felt upon hearing there was a version of her father still alive out there. Then the horror upon realizing the things he'd done in her brother's name. In her mother's name. In
her name. What would she say to the machine her father had become? Then Desmond came around and sent her on the mission to retrieve him. Lisa stoically grunted in response and went to do as she was told.
She found herself in a fairly impressive facility. Lisa had done her research beforehand. The place was full of wizards, costumes, and other such oddities. She watched the man quietly for days, waiting for her father to leave Rin so she could face him. Her opportunity came one day when he went out to perform a favor for Rin... at the expense of a rather heinous wizard, of course. Lisa came up on him in a back room. She thought she was going to catch him by surprise when an arm shot out and knocked her on her ass.
Frank didn't take well to being followed. The girl before him was... familiar. Maybe she was afriendly. She didn't do anything to make it seem that way, though. In retaliation to the punch, she grunted and swept his legs out from under him.The older man growled at this, and quickly got up. This was turning into a standoff. She tried to talk. He launched a jab at her nose. She duckedand kicked him in the gut. Not hard enough. He didn't flinch. She was holding back. A rapid fire barrage of information hit the two as the fight went on. It was over rather quickly, though, whenFrank introduced the girl's head to the wall. She slumped to the ground. He drew his Colt. Lisa was tough and fast, but Frank was tougher and much stronger.
"W-Wait!" She got out with a groan. "I'm Lisa!" This gave him pause. "I'm your daughter!"
The old man's eyes narrowed. "My daughter is dead. She bled out in my hands." He got ready to shoot.
"Not in my world," Came her answer. "In mine, you- Frank Castle, Navy SEAL, Special Operations instructor, father, husband, born in Queens-
you died. Saving me." She listed off everything she knew about the man before her. She showed Frank the burn scar on her arm. "They tried to burn us... after they shot you."
Everything froze for the older man. Every single detail of information the girl said felt like a blow to him. Now he was realizing why she looked so familiar. She had his hair. His chin.
She had Maria's eyes.
Everything crashed down in an instant. His expression became soft. Confused. Almost angry. Most of all, he looked afraid. One of the things he'd always dreaded was that his family would know about what he'd done... and hate him for it. "What... what do you want?"
"We need your help. The demon needs to die."
That was all it took. Frank left Rin a simple note promising to return, and that they'd see each other if she helped fight the demon. And he was gone.
~~~
War... War Never changes.
Riley looked out at the Former City. He had seen his fair share of Wastelands. "Just another shithole city to get used to." He said. He adjusted his armor, and turned to Dogmeat. "How are you holding up, boy?" He knelt and pet the dog. His Pip-Boy started receiving a message. "Jesus." He muttered. He brushed off his Pauldron, and looked out at the rubble. "so, this is North of The Commonwealth. Once Humanity's biggest city. I can see why it was destroyed." He leaned over Dogmeat. "Good boy." he said. He reached into his Pip-boy, and sent out a Message.
The duo appeared quite alright upon arriving at the ruins of the world, heavily armed and a bit twitchy. They needed more firepower. The Wanderer was the place to get it.
Needless to say, with little convincing, they arrived at the ruins of New York with another ally in tow.
~~~
"I have seen enough for one life."
"Desmond? I heard your name once before, Desmond. And now it lingers in my mind like an image from an old dream. I do not know where you are, or by what means you can hear me. But I know you are listening."
"I have lived my life as best I could, not knowing its purpose, but drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon. And here at last I discover a strange truth, that I am only a conduit for a message that eludes my understanding. Who are we? To have been blessed to share our stories like this? To speak across centuries. Maybe you will answer all the questions I have asked. Maybe you will be the one to make it all suffering worth something in the end."
A ghostly image of Desmond appeared. Ezio layed his hand on the image's shoulder infriendship.
"Now Listen."
Desmond stepped out the shadows, the real Desmond. He looked tired. As if he were as tired of this life killing and death as much as Ezio was, despite being a good three decades younger, atleast in body.
"It's all a lie Desmond." He told his younger future self through the Animus, through Ezio.
"Desmond?" Ezio asked. He hadn't expected to finally meet the mysterious man that he'd been relaying messages for his whole life.
The younger Assassin ignored Ezio for a moment, instead looking to his right. "This isn't a glitch in the Animus, or another Templar lie. I'm really here, and I have a warning for you." Desmond took a deep breath. "Juno is lying. The Temple is a trap, a way to set her loose on the world. She saves it from burning, only to have it kneel at her feet in the end."
Desmond shook his head.
"You have to find another way. Good luck."Desmond raised the Apple, prepared to force his future self out of the memory, but stopped. "Hey, you should patch things up with Dad while you have a chance. He's an asshole. But he's family."
Then a pulse of light shot out from Desmond's apple, and his future self was booted back to Animus Island.
The whole time Ezio had remained silent. He had sensed that the conversation was not meant for his ears. Instead he waited till it was over, then pointed at the Apple. "You hold fire in your hands. You should have left it where you found it."
Desmond held up the now dimmed Apple. It had been a curse on his life, but it had also been the first sign that maybe these things could resolved without further bloodshed. He had used it towalk out of Abstergo without a single death. It had still been the longest hallway of his life through.
Desmond knew they weren't going to be using it for that now.
"It's taken enough from me, it will serve us for this mission. After that I don't care.
"So, you work with the devil's tools achieve your ends? I thought perhaps in the future, we would have moved beyond this."
"I'm using the devil's tools tools to kill the devil."
Ezio moved forward and placed his hand onDesmond's shoulder. He looked at him with knowing eyes. "You are too young to be so world worn. You have you lost?"
Desmond looked at Ezio for a moment, before saying hardly, "I killed a traitor.
Ezio didn't say anything. Just nodded. He hadbeen prepared to do the same thing himself, a long time ago.
Desmond finally spoke. "Join me?"
Desmond and Ezio shifted in at the same point as Frank and Lisa. It appears they had been a few minutes late. "Miss me?" He asked the large, stoic man.
~~~~
Frank and Lisa looked up with similar scowls, but answered differently.
"No," Came Frank's laconic answer.
"Yes," Came Lisa's, her expression slowly shifting to a grin. She had come to like Desmond quite a bit, as of late. The man was different than what she'd come to expect of people his age, even though his occasionally facetious nature irritated her now and then. He was calm. Tactical. Best of all, he didn't seem to want to lay a hand on her. She felt like one of the guys around the other assassins. She was a bit bruised, and had a rather sizable not on her head. To be fair, Frank was pretty beat up, too.
"You called. I came. Now what?" Frank was scowling at the two. He didn't know Ezio, so he was mostly asking Desmond.
So the motley crew of Frank and Lisa Castle, Desmond Miles, Ezio Auditore, and Riley the Lone Wanderer was formed.
((Credit goes to myself,
@Thuro Pendragon, and
@The Silver Paladin. Not sure if I put this together right, but... I tried.))
@Anyone