Edward looked at the man in an energy barrier cell. He had an old wizard robe similar to Dumbledore. However, he had what looked like a Saiyan Scanner in his right eye, along with a watch that looked both futuristic and retro.
However, the weird man's dress was not the oddest part about him; that prize went to his face. He looked exactly like Edward.
"Who are you?" asked Edward.
"I am Edward F-234," said the man. "You should understand what this means?"
"You guys have created a council."
"That's correct," replied F-234. "I've come to formally invite you to the Council of Bones."
Edward groaned. He read comics and cartoons in his past life, so he knew of the Council of Reed, created by Reed Richard from the Fantastic Four. The Council of Kang–created by Kang the Conqueror, and the Council of Rick created by Rick Sanchez.
So, he knew some of his variants would also walk that path. In fact, he also planned to create the council to keep a watch on his other variants. However, he did not expect them to arrive so soon and find his timeline.
"What's the name designated to my dimension?"
"You're G-003," replied F-234.
"I bet many of you were fighting for C-137 and 616, weren't you?"
F-234 blushed in shame before quickly hiding it. C-137 is the name for "Prime" Rick in the show Rick and Morty, while 616 is the main universe of Marvel in the comics.
As such, many variants wanted these numbers and fought for them, including him.
"When is the meeting?" asked Edward.
F-234 looked at his watch.
"According to my calculations, in about a month of your timeline."
"How to get there?"
"Have you developed Multiverse Traveling Technology?"
"Why are you asking?" retorted Edward.
"So, we can send someone to pick you up," replied F-234 calmly.
Edward looked at him before sneering: "I see. Strength and technology determined status in the council."
F-234's heart skipped a beat, but his face did not change. Unfortunately, the enchantments in this prison were monitoring every atom of his body.
"You don't have to worry about my transportation."
"That's fine," replied F-234, not showing much emotion through facial expression. He took a card and said: "This is your invitation to the council. It also serves as a coordinate."
Edward waved his hand to summon the card through the energy barrier. He did not immediately touch it but glanced at it.
"Another test?" he said with a sneer. He took a few minutes before something like a map appeared before him.
Meanwhile, F-234's face finally changed; he had never met a variant who cracked the code so fast and easily.
"I will be there," nodded Edward.
"It will be our honor to have someone of your caliber in our midst," said F-234, who proceeded to show an embarrassed look. "Um, could you free me?"
His experience in this timeline was unique. As soon as he appeared, a group of people proficient in Space and Time Magic arrested him. To his shock, they even had methods to prevent him from using his machine and running into another timeline.
Finally, after meeting his variant in this timeline, he could not see through the latter's strength and capabilities. However, his intuition was warning him of great danger.
Edward nodded to someone, and the shield was removed. Without hesitation, F-234 typed a bunch of numbers on his watch. Then, an orange energy shield surrounded him.
Boom!
The shield or sphere propelled itself forward with immense speed, breaking the space-time continuum barrier between parallel dimensions and leaving numerous space cracks in the room.
It took a few minutes before the space naturally healed itself, and everything returned to its original state.
"What a rough way to travel the multiverse," commented Edward. "However, their navigation system is worth learning." He looked at the card in his hand.
The Empire's current navigational system of traveling the Multiverse originated from Novad's race technology, which he acquired from the Indiana Jones Universe. However, he could learn from the Bone Council's system as it seems more efficient.
"Bring it to me," said Edward, and soon afterward, someone brought him a pure crystal.
Without hesitation, he used his soul strength to read F-234's memory that they secretly took. Although the latter had very high proficiency in Occlumency, it was useless to the Empire's current understanding of the soul and Soul Flame.
F-234's life was similar to Edward's in its infancy but diverged in one instinct–he lost all his family members, including Aunt Amelia. In grief, he began to study magic intensely with the purpose of reviving them.
But he made a fatal mistake–he did not hide his magical talent, garnering the attention of Voldemort. The latter invited the 11-year-old Edward to become one of his Death Eaters.
After rejections, Voldemort attacked a young Edward during his Second Year of Hogwart, right before he died at the Potter's house.
F-234 survived and escaped with severe injuries. So, he hid and never showed up again in the magical world. However, his existence was torn in Voldemort's sight.
The Dark Lord became obsessed with finding F-234, so he did not even attack the Potter, escaping his fate of death. Then, as time passed, Voldemort became more worried due to the boy's magical talent.
He could not fathom how powerful he would become if given enough time. So, he became more obsessed with power, using any means possible to increase his strength.
Everything culminated in an all-out war between F-234 and Voldemort, affecting the entire planet. His variant was the final winner, but both muggles and wizards suffered tremendously.
F-234 did not care about the state of the world; he only wanted to see his family again. Alas, most of the mysterious rooms in the Department of Mysterious–which were Elder God's Divine Spark–were destroyed or missing after the war, leaving only the Time Room.
F-234 focused on studying this thing to reverse time and save his family. The result was he invented Multiverse Travel Technology. He was fine with this outcome, so he searched the multiverse for a timeline where he could reunite with his family and succeeded.
Then, another variant contacted him and invited him to the newly built Bones Council.
Edward then watched how F-234 integrated into the council, fought for the moniker of C-137, and lost, acquiring his number through a randomly generated program.
Then, F-234 traveled to the Multiverse, inviting different variants to the council.
'What should I do with these people?' thought Edward, who was a little frustrated. He had many problems to deal with, but now another one popped up.
'My first instinct is to attend this meeting and use this opportunity to murder all of them. However, that would be pointless as it won't be long before another council is set up.
'Plus, if I use these people correctly, I can accelerate the speed at which I become Tier 11.'
Many thoughts flashed in his mind. 'The council appeared to be friendly so far. However, that's because they probably do not know the requirements to become Tier 11. Once they do, they'll turn on each other faster than I can say my name.
'I also cannot rule out that some people know and plan to use the council for their own use like myself.'
Edward grunted softly, 'The best course of action is to take a position of power in the council, influencing and controlling them from the inside.
'However, I also need to take precautionary measures to prevent these people from popping in and out of my timeline like it was their back garden.'
Edward sighed as he teleported away. He knew he would be extremely busy in the next few years; he had too many problems and was unhappy about it.