The journey to Crisis might have been completed, but this modder still had a few stories left in him to tell. Crisis presented a great opportunity to have the DC and Marvel universes intertwine once more, but instead of losing focus on the heroes and having the villains drive the plot, the aftermaths brought attention to individual teams and characters back into the forefront. Of course, it was very important to me that I got around to tying up a few loose ends, and if I had to use Claremont’s Exiles to do so, then so be it.


The Aftermaths:

As you may have realized by now, Crisis was a project that took a lot of effort on my part to put together. The coding and scripting was nothing in comparison to plotting it all out and making sure that each mod furthered the story while still keeping it accessible to those that didn’t keep up with all the fine details I attempted to work into each tale. I think I succeeded on that front, but even big plots need an aftermath to settle the dust and to reveal what happened to some of the players. This is where the Exiles came in and tidied up the remaining plot points I left open. What were those, you ask? Oh nothing… just the sudden appearance of Psylocke and the fact that rifts still remained open in both the DC and Marvel universes.

Time Hopping:

Originally penned as a three (3) mission mod, Exiles: Aftermath ballooned out of control and eventually became an Exilesadventure worthy of nine (9) completed missions. With Psylocke and Morph serving as the key members as far as the connection to Crisis is concerned, the Exiles found themselves hopping from universe to universe, working to clean up the remaining rifts and left over villains. Of course, things couldn’t be that easy for them, as Lex Luthor, who had managed to keep his memories, had formed his own team of villains to take advantage of the situation. Reuniting Joker, Ivy, and Harley was only the beginning of his plans; Lex had dreams of grandeur as he located and collected the infinity gems for his own purposes. Over time, however, Lex began to go mad from his usage of the inifinity gems as his mind began to wear down. Ultimately, the Exiles use Lex’s fragile mental state to their advantage and defeat him. With the gems back in their possession, the heroes decide to return to 616 Earth and leave five (5) of the gems with the Fan 4 for safekeeping.

Missing Pieces:

Crisis is a mod that was so big and had so many characters in it that I consciously left openings in the story that I wanted to fill out later. In my original outline, I had four stories planned. Two of those tales were completed (Exiles and Ultimate Trio), although none of them fit the original drafts as they were penned; one of them, the somewhat preamble to the mod and its situations, was never produced. It probably will never be created, so you’ll just have to live with the description I provide in a few moments.

The first missing piece was built around The Human Torch. Throughout Crisis, it’s obvious that he’s nowhere to beIceman and Torch found despite his teammates being prominent in several cutscenes. The team itself don’t seem to notice his absence and don’t appear to be worried about his safety at all. At the time, I wanted it to look as if he was just a victim of time compression, but in truth, Johnny Storm was out having his own adventure with his old friend Iceman and the Marvel loon, Deadpool. Trapped in a different plane of existence operated by Arcade, the Ultimate Trio fought robots, demons, zombies, and alternate versions of their friends, as they tried to make it back to the world they knew and loved.

Speaking of missing characters, it was no major secret that Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman were omitted from the mod. Unfortunately for the Big Three, they ended up in a different reality before Thanos and Darkseid even began their assault. Where were they sent, you ask? To a reality where a smart Solomon Grundy existed, Mxyzptlk was more powerful than ever, and where hell was considered a safe haven.

The final missing piece happened to revolve around the infinity gems once the Exiles dropped them off with Reed. Although the story didn’t necessarily need an ending, which is one of the reasons this mod didn’t get made, I had also burned out completely by this point. The main characters of this mod, however, happened to be the Avengers. In an effort to keep the gems out of the hands of the Red Skull, the Avengers reunite  to ward off the Skull’s forces while attempting to hide the gems. The sub-plot of this mod would eventually mirror the different ideologies of Captain America and Ironman as was shown in “Civil War,” but hopefully in a more in-character set of events.

Conclusion:

As you can see, Crisis wasn’t just one huge feat but a culmination of several smaller accomplishments that eventually conjoined together and shaped a story that took years to fully realize. While it may not be the best set of mods in existence, I’m proud of the stories I set forth, and I figured it was about time I sat down and documented it for those that never had a chance to read my assorted outlines. I know it took a bit of time to read all of this, but I hope you enjoyed finding out how everything connected in my mind’s eye. Maybe now you will find the story of Crisis more compelling, maybe not, but who knows what could spring forward from this point on? Perhaps a new story could be emerging in the mind of a future modder, or someone was inspired to go out and create something new? Either way, I’m satisfied and am just waiting for my next creative spark to force me back into activity.

Dust off your shoes and adjust your cap because the road to Crisis is officially over. Hopefully, you enjoyed gaining a new perspective on a project that lasted 3 whole years. While my body of work will probably never outshine the truer talents of the FR community, I definitely think it’s something that defined me in the terms of my work ethics and abilities. If for nothing else, the “Crisis project” advanced several of my skills into new frontiers, and I really appreciated that. So what are you waiting on, gangers? Go start a new project and push yourselves past your current limitations. You never know what you could evolve into. Unless you’re a psychic, then that’s a different story. :)