Witness the story of how a Blake Riley variant joined the TVA, the Time Variance Authority...

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Time. Space. Reality. It's more than a linear path.

It's a prism of endless possibility. Where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know.

I am the Watcher. I am your guide through these vast new realities.

Follow me and ponder the question...

What If...?

—

Uatu: "You thought the stories were over, but it was only just the beginning. There are many stories to uncover, each revolving around many individuals or to one specific. As our Journey ended with our hero, Blake Riley, saving the multiverse with several others from different realities, they all returned back home to live out their lives. But throughout this course, I had many of Blake's friends, family, allies, and of course, lovers, come together and view this adventure. Joining them were many unexpected visitors, few of which were variations of Blake Riley."

Uatu: "As of now, many stories of different variants are being told. Such as a universe where our hero became a Star-Lord, another where he is part of another group known as the Justice League, one where he joins that group but they were a brutal force just to maintain order, and one where he lived his entire life in Hell and helped a princess to redeem demons and give a second chance to go to heaven."

Uatu: "So many possibilities and journeys, each Blake Riley has to venture. But there are those whose stories are left untold and haven't been revealed until now."

—

New York City, 2015

Earth-???

The Watcher was up in the sky, looking down upon the city. Car horns were heard on the streets, people going about their day.

Uatu: "This universe was just a simple one, following the exact way as your universe. It was the year 2015, as the Avengers were headed their way back to the tower after their fight with HYDRA over in Sokovia."

The Avengers quinjet landed on the pad, as Helen Cho and a couple of doctors helped Clint get some medical treatment. Maria Hill walked in to see Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Blake Riley.

Hill: "Lab's all set up, boss." She called out to Tony.

Tony: "Actually, he's the boss." He said as he pointed to Steve. "I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

Blake chuckled as he saw Maria smiling at him. Both she and Steve walked away as they were talking about the Maximoff twins.

Tony: "Come on, kid. Got something I want to show you."

Blake followed after Tony as they left the quinjet. We look back up to see Uatu observing everything that is occuring.

Uatu: "There was nothing different about this reality, as everything went as it should be. You may be asking yourselves, why are we watching this reality if there isn't anything different. Well, unfortunately, this reality did change. And it was all caused by another universe."

—

Uatu: "Earth-838, as it was designated by the people who live there. For those who aren't familiar, this was the world where our heroes: Doctor Strange, Hot Shot, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Hawkeye, and America Chavez traveled to and were apprehended by the Illuminati. Stephen and Blake were brought before the Illuminati when they explained what happened to their Doctor Strange."

Earth-838

Professor X: "Our Strange did not die defeating Thanos. We were at war. While the rest of us banded together to try to stop Thanos, Stephen, as always, chose to go it alone."

Mordo: "He turned to the Darkhold. Began dreamwalking. In hopes that our salvation might lie in the Multiverse."

Maria: "And guess what? It didn't. But he kept doing it anyway."

Reed: "One day, you called us all together, to profess that you've been dream walking. And in your words, "things have gotten out of hand." You never told us the details of what had happened. Only that you had inadvertently triggered an incursion. You, our friend, had caused the annihilation of another universe."

Maria: "Everyone in that reality died. Everyone."

Uatu: "Yes, my friends. Their Stephen Strange caused an incursion and brought up annihilation of this universe. But with this event, Doctor Strange of Earth-838 unknowingly created a hero, to which the entire Multiverse needed the most."

—

Back at the Avengers Tower, everyone was gathered together as everything was a mess. Everyone was just having fun lifting Thor's hammer, until a rogue AI named Ultron crashed the party. Ultron stood there as the Iron Legion was destroyed.

Ultron: "That was dramatic. I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to... evolve? With these?" He then picks up an Iron Legion. "These puppets." [Crushes its head and throws it aside] "There's only one path to peace. The Avengers' extinction."

Then, Ultron began to glitch out before anyone else could do anything.

Ultron: "W....What? Wha.....i....happe....me?!"

He then disappeared. Everyone was left confused, as to what had happened. Then, Blake groaned as he dropped to the floor, clutching his head. Something was happening, he could feel it. The Avengers quickly rushed to their friend.

Tony: "Blake? Blake, talk to me. What's going on?"

Helen: "Tony?"

Stark turned around to then see Helen glitching, the same way Ultron did. She reached her hand out, before she disappeared.

Rhodey: "Wh....what happened to her?! What's going on?!"

Hill: "Guys, look."

Blake got up and turned around to see the world now going to hell. There was a giant crack in the sky, and everything began to shake. Everyone in the streets panicked and ran for their lives, as a few began to glitch as well and disappear.

Blake: "This is not good. We have to do something."

Natasha: "Blake..."

Blake turned around, as his eyes widened in shock. He sees Natasha, Clint, Tony, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Maria, and Rhodey glitching.

Blake: "No....NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

He tried to reach for them, but they were gone before he made contact. He stood there in shock, processing his friends were gone. Reality was on the brink of collapse, as Blake simply looked out the window to see buildings being demolished. Then, a noise was heard as three strange people exited a rectangular orange portal. They had "TVA" written on their clothes.

One of them took out her TemPad and looked straight at Blake.

B-15: "That's him. Quickly, bring him in before this universe collapses." She ordered.

The two Minutemen walked over to Blake and escorted him to the portal.

Blake: "Wait, wait, who are you?! What the hell is going on?! My friends, they need me!!" He yelled as he crossed through the portal.

B-15 walked behind them and entered the portal in the nick of time before the entire universe was destroyed. Billions of lives were lost. Only one survived.

—

Blake finds himself in a very different place. In front of him was a person sitting on a desk, talking with one of the Minutemen.

B-15: "Get him situated. They would want to speak with him." She tells the Minutemen as they both nodded.

Blake: "They? Who's they? Hey, what the hell is this place?! What happened to my friends?!" He yelled as he was dragged away.

Uatu: "Where was he, indeed. The place he was brought was an agency known as the Time Variance Authority, or the TVA. This TVA monitors all realities throughout the Multiverse, and would only interfere if it was to correct certain events that don't follow. Of course, this isn't the TVA you know during Loki's journey."

Blake had gone through the rigmarole of processing, and was now wearing a prisoner jumpsuit of sorts, as he was being escorted by two hunters, X-05 and C-20. He was taking deep breaths, afraid and confused about what was happening. Everything was going so fast, that he hasn't had the time to process anything.

TVA War Room

People were gathered as people present there were Judge Ravonna Renslayer, General Dox, Judge Gamble, and Agent Mobius. There was another person there, simply waiting patiently until the two hunters arrived with Blake.

Blake: "HEY, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Dox: "You best watch your tone, variant." She said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"General, please, that is no way to treat our guest here."

Blake: "Guest? Who the fuck are you?"

Nathan: "My name is Nathaniel Richards. You could say that I am the one in charge here of the TVA." He introduced himself. "I see that you already met Hunters X-05 and C-20 along with B-15. These are Judges Renslayer and Gamble, General Dox, and my most trusted friend, Agent Mobius."

Ravonna: "Pleasure meeting you, variant." She said, as she was eyeing him up and down.

Mobius: "Oh come on, Ravonna, he does have a name you know?"

Gamble: "This is rather unique, since this is the first variant of Blake Riley to appear here in the TVA."

Dox: "Which makes him a potential threat."

Nathan: "You may see it that way, General, but I believe...this gives us a chance."

Blake: "A chance? For what?"

Nathan: "All in good time. Now, I must speak with these people here, while in the meantime, Agent Mobius will escort you to one of our Time Theaters and he will explain everything from there."

Mobius: "Come on, kid. Let's have ourselves a chat."

He escorted Blake out of the War Room, leaving the rest of the people of the TVA there. The two walk out to the hallway.

Blake: "This can't be real...this has to be a dream of some kind."

Mobius: "No, it isn't a dream, Blake. This is all real." He said as he pointed out to the side.

Blake looked over to where he was pointing and there, he got a view of the TVA in its entirety, and there were even flying cars. He stopped for a bit, watching everything in awe right now. If Tony was here he would definitely freak out....Tony...

He shook his head and continued to follow Mobius into an elevator. He pressed a button to have them both go to the Time Theater.

Mobius: "So, how are you holding up, Blake? Or Mr. Riley? Which one do you prefer I call you by?"

Blake: "Uh...Blake is just fine. And...[Sighs] I don't know what to feel right now. Everything is just happening all at once, and it's too much to process what is going on." He said.

Mobius: "Hey, don't sweat it, we can take little baby steps with this. We have plenty of time to talk. Oh, here we are, let's go."

—

A Minuteman opens the door to the Time Theater as Mobius and Blake enter the room. The door closed behind them. Blake looked around the room, warily as Mobius walked to a table.

Blake: "Uh, are you sure this is a Time Theater, because this honestly feels like a killing-me kinda room." He commented.

Mobius: "Well, you can rest easy as that isn't the case. Come and have a seat."

Blake: "I don't understand one thing. From that weird introduction from that clock lady, if the TVA oversees time, then how come I haven't heard of you until now?" He asked as he sat down.

Mobius: "Simple, it's because you never needed to. You've always lived within your set path. However, that got disrupted."

Blake: "How? Where exactly did I go wrong?"

Mobius: "Let me assure you that it wasn't your fault. Nor your friends or in fact anyone in your timeline, what happened was caused by another universe. But we'll get to that in a bit, let's start small and we'll work our way up, is that okay?"

Blake: "Uh, sure, I guess..."

Mobius: "Let me tell you a little bit of what I do here for the TVA. I specialized in the pursuit of dangerous variants."

Blake: "You mean someone like Loki, for example?"

Mobius: "No, particularly dangerous variants. Loki's just a little pussycat." He said as Blake chuckled. "I mean we pretty much dealt with Kree, Titans, and even vampires."

Blake: "Wait, vampires? They're real?"

Mobius: "They are. In fact, most of the things you think that are either strange folklore or myth, they are very real. Who knows, maybe you might bump into a few of them. Now, with that short introduction out of the way, let's talk about you."

Blake crossed his arms, feeling a bit worried, as Mobius opened a file folder, showing information about Blake.

Mobius: "Blakeworth Riley. Son of Owen, leader of the Wolf Clan, and Selina, leader of the Fox Clan and Queen of all reality itself. Both died when you were just a kid, then taken in by Nick Fury. Throughout your whole life, you've been trained in SHIELD and later down the road, you met Clint Barton, Maria Hill, and Natasha Romanoff."

Blake frowned, hearing the mention of those names.

Mobius: "You were then assigned to three different tasks involving Tony Stark, Thor Odinson, and Bruce Banner. Of course, at the end of that week, Steve Rogers came into the picture. A year later, the Avengers were assembled. Following those events, you were involved with a few of these guys on their journeys up until Ultron. And that's where everything went downhill in your universe."

Blake: "H-How did you...?"

Mobius: "Simple, the TVA knows everything. Your past, your present, even your future too."

Mobius then turned on the projector, as it then showcased the events of the party where Ultron attacked. Thor was seen throwing his hammer at the android, destroying it to pieces.

Ultron: "I've had strings but now I'm free."

Blake: "Whoa... that's what was supposed to happen?" He asked.

Mobius: "Oh yeah, and quite frank with you, your future wasn't all great, well, a few moments. Like here."

He switched the next scene with Iron Man and Hot Shot fighting against Captain America and the Winter Soldier in Siberia.

Blake: "Barnes? Why are we fighting?"

Mobius: "After the Ultron attack, the Sokovia Accords were created to prevent disasters like Sokovia, and Lagos was a close call, thanks to you saving people in time. As for here, well, Stark learned the truth of his parents' death and...Rogers never told him."

Blake: "He...he lied? But...he said he would tell him..."

Mobius: "Well, at least it's a good thing you went with your gut and told Stark about it, in case he never tells him."

Blake: "Hm..."

Mobius: "But yeah, a lot of bad things happened. That isn't to say there aren't some good moments, like Spider-Man for example. You took him on as your protege and you made him into a hero, plus you even get to meet more ladies in your life. Which I gotta tell you, that's a change I never expected."

Blake: "Yeah...but that won't happen with me..."

Mobius: "I'm sorry, Blake. Like I said, your universe was going the way it was supposed to, but it was interrupted by an incursion."

Blake: "What's an incursion?" He asked.

Mobius: "An incursion occurs when the boundary between two universes erodes and they collide, destroying one or both entirely."

Blake: "Then, what the hell caused an incursion to happen in the first place?!"

Mobius: "Not what. Who."

He then showed a man on screen, who was a blue cloak and entirely all blue outfit.

Mobius: "Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme and Master of the Mystic Arts. This one is actually a variant from Earth-838. He was similar to your Strange except he founded a group called The Illuminati to protect his reality from threats. The members in his little club were Professor Charles Xavier, Captain Carter, Mister Fantastic, Captain Marvel, and Black Bolt."

The entire group was then shown. Blake's eyes widened in shock to see Peggy Carter and Maria Rambeau in Steve's and Carol's positions. However, for the rest, he doesn't know them or at least heard of them.

Mobius: "Now, here's what happened. Strange learned of the coming invasion from Thanos, and he thought the way to defeat him was somewhere out in the universe. He used this book called the Darkhold to dream walk and look for a solution, however he has triggered an incursion and destroyed a universe. Which was yours..."

Blake: "W-What?"

Mobius: "We would've brought him here for questioning, but..."

The screen switched over to Titan, where Thanos was seen stabbed in the chest. Meanwhile, Strange was on his knees, and the Illuminati were there in front of him. Strange's face was streaked with tears and blood, and his fingertips were tinged black. He slowly looked up to them.

Xavier: "I shall miss you, my friend."

Strange: [Nods] "I'm ready."

Black Bolt then steps forward and his headpiece glows.

Black Bolt: "I'm sorry."

He spoke as a high-pitched trill hit Strange, dissolving him. Blake growled as his eyes were filled with tears. The man who had taken everything from him, took the easy way out.

Blake: "Son of a bitch."

Mobius: "Yeah, from what I've seen in a few universes, including Earth-19999's, you and Strange don't get along too well."

Blake: "Gee, I wonder why." He said, sarcastically as he stood up from his seat.

He walked forwards and backwards, trying to wrap his mind into what was happening. Mobius simply sat there, letting him take his time to process things. Blake then stopped, took a deep breath, and turned his attention to Mobius.

Blake: "So, my world is gone. There is no way to bring it or everyone else back?"

Mobius: "I'm sorry, Blake. You are pretty much the only survivor in that reality."

Blake then walked towards the wall, as he slowly sat down, and lowered his head. He began to sob quietly. Mobius felt horrible for him, as he knows about Blake's experience with loss. He got up from his chair and made his way towards the young man. He sat down next to him and patted his shoulder for comfort.

Blake: "What can I do now? I got nothing left to live for..."

Mobius: "Blake...I know that you may feel like you have nothing to live for, but there's a reason why you are here."

Blake: "Yeah, and what's that?"

Mobius: "To help us. To make sure that no one out there in Multiverse should endure the same loss as you, going down paths that will lead to disastrous outcomes, or letting these incursions happen in the first place. And that's why we brought you here."

Blake: "And you think I can help you deal with all of that? I-I don't even know the first thing about the Multiverse, these different realities, hell, I don't know anything about the TVA."

Mobius: "We can take our time. And don't worry, I'll be there with you every step of the way."

He reached his hand out to Blake. The young man stared at him for a bit, contemplating. Then, after a moment, he shook his hand.

Uatu: "And so, his journey within the TVA commenced. With Agent Mobius by his hand, he would learn what he needs to know about this place and the Multiverse. And where does everything go from here? Well, we'll just have to see next time."

To be continued...

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