Things soon became routine for everyone and their lives settled down. Monster Woman ended up in a three-way relationship with Shrinking Rae and Knockout, with an occasional invitation to Minotaur for when they needed a man's attention. The normally shy man was happy to be involved, too.

Debbie didn't want to get married again. She had tried it and once was enough for her. Instead, she asked Atlas to continue their relationship exactly like it was. It worked for her and she didn't want what they had to change or interfere with their work. Atlas agreed.

The dimensionally displaced Eves officially moved out of the abandoned warehouse and into Atom Eve's large treehouse, after it was expanded to give them their own rooms. Surprisingly, they offered to make a room for Atlas to stay in as well. He didn't have an official residence and it was something the Eves all wanted him to have and to share with them.

Atlas had been flattered by the offer, especially after Debbie had chosen to not advance their relationship to the next step. So, he accepted and became a part of their household. It would eventually become the start of a whole new branch of quite powerful Viltrumites with a various mix of powers that would make the Eves proud, since their atomic restructuring powers pretty much made them immortal.

The Praying Mantis colony thrived under new management and they bred like rabbits that were always in heat. The underground mine had quickly become an elaborate labyrinth that could house them all. Cecil also took advantage of their kind nature and hard working mentality, since they had to work hard before they grew too old and died.

Andressa's child was adopted by Sinclair and Justine and raised to be just as scientifically inclined as his birth mother and his adoptive mother. They easily adapted to the boy's faster growth and taught him appropriately during his development years, giving him a great basis for when he gained his powers. Work smarter and harder soon became their motto and they embraced it fully.

The Omni-man ReAnimen was a success as well. He was even stronger than the original and could take much more damage, too. There was no danger of a fatal blow for him, not with all the reinforcement that had been applied to the corpse. His fate was quietly and discreetly shared with he families of the heroes he had killed and all of them were pleased that he would eternally serve to protect humanity.

Mark Grayson was only a consultant at the Global Defense Agency, so there were no regulations about dating someone else that worked there, namely Agent April Howsam. She had spent a lot more time with him than she had with Atlas and found him to be a great guy with a good head on his shoulders. Plus, he did a lot to add new gadgets and technology to the GDA and made her own job a lot safer and easier.

At one point, Allen the Alien showed up again and was more powerful and larger than he had been before. Thanks to the new sensors, Mark was called in again for the emergency and ge donned his Invincible suit once more and flew out to Jupiter to meet with him.

After complimenting Mark about cleaning up the place, Allen had a long telepathic conversation with him about the Coalition of Planets, about how the Grand Chancellor was a Viltrumite named Thaedus that betrayed his people and formed the Coalition of Planets, in order to slow down and hopefully stop the Viltrum Empire's aggressive expansion across the universe.

Invincible let him rant and rave and listened to the alien's pitch to recruit his help against the empire, that when it came to the next battle, he should stand for freedom and against oppression. He didn't say anything for a moment as he thought about it, then his hand darted out and he grabbed Allen's head.

You're wrong, Allan. Very, very wrong. The Viltrumites will never stop. If even one of them is left alive, they will wipe out entire planets to punish you for your defiance. Collateral damage means nothing to them. Nothing. Invincible thought at him. I've seen a thousand Earths ravaged by them and those were the ones where Omni-man and Invincible agreed with the Empire.

Allen struggled to pull Invincible's hand off of his head, and couldn't. How are you so strong?

That doesn't matter. Invincible responded. What matters is that the worlds where either Invincible or Omni-man defied the Empire, the Viltrumites killed nearly everyone. There are so many worlds that have been devastated by their defiance of the inevitable and I can't... no, I won't let this Earth suffer the same fate. I've saved too many people from other dimensions to allow that.

Allen felt something take over his mind and he saw, and felt, everything Invincible experienced as he searched the thousand worlds the Angstrums came from, then ten thousand others to search for a better world for everyone to escape to. It had taken months to succeed in saving only a fraction of their populations, which ended up being over six billion people.

The previously empty Earth they had been deposited on was now fairly full and the people were happy there, because there was no one around to threaten them. They were all too grateful about being saved to ever want to see conflict again, let alone cause it, so the entire world saw a peace that was only spoken about in dreams.

Allen cried at seeing the very thing he was fighting for. He stopped struggling and accepted Invincible's strategy of compliance and hiding in plain sight. Since the Viltrumites were so long-lived, the only thing defying them gained you, was a long time for them to have their revenge on you and wipe out any and all resistance.

I won't give up my hope that the Coalition of Planets will win. Allen told him.

Invincible chuckled. The Viltrum Empire doesn't even have to do anything to win, Allen. They just have to exist and heir long lives alone will let them outlive all of their opposition.

Allen reluctantly agreed. Then, what do I do? What do I tell Thaedus and the council?

Tell them the truth. Invincible answered, surprising the alien. Earth is staying out of the conflict for at least a hundred years. If the Coalition of Planets still exists at that point, then we'll make a choice.

Allen sighed and nodded. All right, I'll tell them.

Thanks, Allen. Invincible said and let his head go. For what it's worth, I'm sorry.

I know. Allen responded. So am I.

Invincible watched the alien fly off at a ridiculous speed and then he returned to Earth and reported in. Cecil agreed with the plan, because pretending to capitulate was better for everyone, since there was no way the heroes of Earth were prepared to take on an entire race of Omni-men.

They needed time to prepare their defenses and both Atlas and Invincible promised to work hard for the next century to be ready for it.

*

The world slowed down to a stop and greyed out, going into the Pause World function. My split consciousness reformed into a singular one and it wasn't as jarring as I thought it would be after so long having two different bodies.

For some reason, I had assumed my Atlas persona would move on and my Mark Grayson persona would stay behind. It was funny to think about it now, especially since I was both people at the same time. I had just gotten so used to living two different lives at the same time that I thought I'd have to leave half of myself behind.

Fate's little blue box appeared in front of my face. You did really well.

I heard a huge unspoken qualifier there. I thought back with a chuckle.

I don't like cursing crudely, even if it's fitting.

Fate answered and the word 'giggle' appeared.

It was quite the mess. I thought. But, I knew that going along with things would work up much better. The entire situation was a garbage fire from the start and the whole thing could have been avoided if Nolan had just done as I said and never mentioned his mission or panicked about me having powers.

Then you proved you were a better person than he could ever be. Fate's little box showed. We are all proud of you for what you did.

I knew she was talking about the hidden Earth where all the refugees had been sent. Getting those alien power generators from the Thraxians had changed how easy it was to establish a completely independent society that didn't have to worry about using up the planet's natural resources for heat, fuel, and power.

I assume my Karma Points are practically an infinity symbol at this point? I asked and the word 'giggle' appeared in Fate's little blue box again.

You changed the fate of the people from eleven thousand Earths. Of course you have more Karma than anyone else that ever existed. Fate responded. You can pretty much do whatever you want now.

You don't have any recommendations? I asked, knowing full well there were many worlds out there that Fate and Death were more than happy to send someone in to interfere with.

Fate's little blue box didn't show anything for several minutes. Well, we do have a few trouble spots that could use a deft hand and handling problems.

Do I get any background or will you send me along and I have to figure things out for myself like in this last world? I asked and Fate's little blue box didn't show anything for a few minutes. I wasn't stupid enough to try and force her to hurry up and say anything, though. She was Fate and she spoke when she knew she had to for the most impact.

You can choose. You always could. Fate finally answered. Even when you thought you didn't have a choice and were being punished, you easily could have said no.

My mind kind of stuttered after seeing that. Had I really been so accepting of my situation that I just allowed them to shuffle me along and didn't protest anything? I did remember arguing a few times; but, I never vehemently refused anything, except when that other entity tried to muscle in on my good fortune, only for me to stop them in their tracks.

For everything else? I just assumed it was all a part of the experience and accepted it.

Damn.

I thought and felt like laughing. I had gone through so much, and gained so much, and I could have refused it all without consequences. With the Karma I had banked, even before part of it was locked away, I could have changed my own fate in a multitude of ways and I didn't.

Do you want to create a new world? Enter an old one? Combine some into a new version? Alter the circumstances to allow you to be whomever you want as the protagonist of their own story? Fate asked me. It's all up to you and you can do whatever you want.

I spent the next few minutes thinking about that and let my mind wander. What was it that I wanted to do? It was my system and I had countless Karma Points to spend. What options did that give me? What could I do with an unlimited ability to make whatever I wanted?

My mind went over everything I did in the last world and I realized I had worked hard for nearly the entire time. I had only briefly relaxed when it was convenient and the rest of the time, I had needed two bodies to pull off how much work I had to do. I had succeeded, and that was what mattered.

Give me those future memories, please. I thought and my mind was filled with memories from both Mark Grayson and Atlas, whom never stopped working hard.

The many children with the Eves and the many children with several of the Viltrumites, made the future into a near utopia. Mark became Planetary Governor as he promised Thula, whom was his Adviser after she retired from active duty as an enforcer. They had seven children together, to the old woman's delight, because her Viltrumite genes bred true and all four of her daughters looked just like her and the three sons looked like her father.

That kind of made my decision for me, actually. I wanted a quiet life for a while and asked Fate to send me to whatever world she wanted to send me to, as long as I wasn't hard pressed to deal with the planet's problems right away. I still would, I just didn't want to have to work at it as soon as I appeared.

Then you should prepare yourself for a life mostly filled with drudgery and boredom. Fate's little blue box said with a lot of sarcasm. I hope you can enjoy it for as long as you can stand it, my chosen champion.

Everything faded to black and I sent her a burst of affection. I knew she was going to screw me over, because she was Fate. If she wasn't screwing you over, then something was seriously wrong.

*

I came to on the cold floor and my face stung from a heavy slap. I felt the water trapped in my lungs and I turned over and threw up as much of it as I could, coughed, and tried to get my bearings. As my lungs drained out, thanks to a touch of hydrokinesis, memories flowed through my head without pain.

I was seven years old, nearly eight, and I had just been drowned by the woman I had previously thought of as my mother. She had caught me staring at her eldest daughter, whom was nearly six years old, and she thought I was contemplating doing something untoward to the very pretty girl.

My thoughts at the time were how such a pretty girl could be such a huge bitch to me, which was behavior she had learned at the behest of her mother as an example, because the woman treated me like the bastard she assumed I was and I was less than dirt in her eyes.

“Listen closely, you bastard!” My ex-mother spat at me. “If you ever look at my Sansa like that again, I won't bother pulling you out of the tub the next time I drown you while you bathe!”

I coughed and wiped at my mouth, then I rolled over onto my back to look up at the angry face of the woman that had just killed me. I was tempted to thank her for disciplining me and calling her mother again, because I knew she hated it when I did, and chose to go with a more pointed example instead.

“I... I under...” *cough!* “I understand, my liege lady, the great Lady Catelyn Stark.” I said and coughed again. “I will never let my eyes fall upon Lady Stark's daughter ever again.”

Catelyn looked startled at my words and then her face went red, either from embarrassment or anger. “I will hold you to your word, even if I fear it is as worthless as you are.”

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

The door crashed open and a blank faced Lord Eddard Stark stood there. His eyes took in the whole scene and he frowned at the state I was in. “My lady wife, what are you doing?”

Catelyn's face was definitely red from embarrassment at being caught. “My lord husband...”

“My liege lady was disciplining me for overstepping social boundaries, my lord.” I said and coughed, then I rolled over onto my hands and feet to half-stand and ended in a bowed position. “It won't happen again.”

Lord Stark looked from my dripping nakedness to his kneeling wife. You could see him making a decision and he nodded. “See that it doesn't.” He said and motioned towards the door. “You may go. I need to have a quiet word with Lady Catelyn.”

“Yes, my lord.” I said and grabbed my small clothes and pulled them on, without drying off first, and then pulled on my breeches and tunic. I bowed to him, then to Catelyn, and fled the bath room as quickly as my little legs could carry me.

The door closed behind me and I intentionally ignored the muffled argument and went to my room. It wasn't much, considering I was the bastard of the current Lord of Winterfell, Eddard Stark, or Ned to his friends and family. I sat on the roughly sewn mattress on the sturdy wooden bed and took several deep breaths.

Fate, it seemed, had taken my request to the extreme. It put her last comments into a new light, now that I was in a medieval world that didn't have any modern conveniences, like electricity, running water, or indoor toilets. Heck, they didn't even have basic medicine and relied on poultices and herb remedies to deal with sickness and wounds.

“Yeah, this world really is going to be filled with drudgery and boredom.” I said with a chuckle and laid back on the bed with a thump. “That is, until all the horror and death that starts in about ten years.”

I would have laughed more if I didn't know I only had so long to prepare for the upcoming events. Then again, I was only 7 and no one would believe the word of a seven year old, not even Ned Stark. He couldn't afford to, actually. His job of taking care of the entire realm of the North was much more important than the troubles of a kid named Jon Snow.