MARVEL

vs

STAR WARS

Mustafar: Arctic Magma Conversion Plant: 08:00 p.m

The searing heat from the magma below the mining plant didn't bother the workers. In fact, they were perfectly at home in the humid, sweaty factory. This was their everyday life. However, not everything seemed to be, in their definition, "normal".

"Did you hear about that odd project the bosses have been working on?" A worker would say.

To it someone would reply, "Yeah, but it's nothing to worry about."

But unfortunately, something was afoot. The Imperial Remnant had been making more visits here in the last month than they ever had. There was obviously something wrong, but no one wanted to take notice, fearing it would change their normal lives forever.

Admiral Gilliad Palleon strode down the corridor off the facility towards the upper levels. The project the Mustafarians had been working on was crucial to what he needed. A month and a half ago, he had discovered the existence of a new planet; one you could not travel to in a starship (he knew, he had tried). The coordinates simply didn't work in the reality he was used to, but he had discovered something else: Quantum Mechanics! This would allow him to travel into another plane of existence, yet still be in the one he lived in now.

But the planet itself was not the point of his efforts, nor was the ability to travel to it. Something else stirred his attention.

He reached the upper levels of the compound, and was greeted solemnly.

"Has the teleporter been finished yet?" Palleon asked.

"Yes, admiral." Said one of the technicians in very strained Basic. "We have finished the device as you requested."

Palleon was obviously pleased. One test remained, however. "Does it function properly?"

The Mustafarian blinked and croaked; "Yes, admiral. We have tested it's capabilities of going forward and back."

Palleon beamed with hope. This was his chance to make things right. "Send me in." He said.

The tech started. "But, sir? Are you sure you want to go in so soon?"

"There's a war going on, my friend." Palleon said grimly. "Without the genius of my old superior we are doomed."

With that, Palleon entered the coordinates, punched the teleport button, and stepped onto the platform as a brilliant blue light engulfed him, and a split second later, he was gone.

The Mustafarians glared at each other. "Wasn't his last superior Grand Admiral Thrawn?"

Baxter Building, Manhattan: 06:38 p.m.

Palleon's disembodied molecules shifted into their rightful place on the old man's anatomy, forming his being fully functional. A little dazed, he doubled over and almost retched. When he composed himself, he stood up straight, analyzing the area with his keen admiral's senses he had been so well trained to use. Once satisfied with his surroundings, he stepped off the platform he had reemerged from and began looking inside drawers and lab stations.

When he did not find what he seeked, he thought reasonably. "Obviously, this will take all day. I should call in some back-up."

He reached to touch the comm button on his wrist device, when he heard a slightly loud BANG! He quickly lept behind a desk, and drew his DC-44 blaster pistol. Holding it over the top as stealthily as he could, he waited.

A few seconds later, a thin man in a blue and white suit and lab coat walked in. He appeared to be a little on the lanky side as well. He had a communications device held to his ear.

"Yes, Tony, I know you want that particle beam as soon as possible, but there are too many tests I have to conduct!" The man said into it.

He reached his arm up to get a vial and it stretched about two feet and returned to normal! Palleon realized this man was not normal! A Jedi, perhaps? No Force powers he had seen had been able to stretch a man!

"Well, Reed," The mechanized voice of Tony came back. "that's just too bad. The Red Hulk is on the move and not even Thor seems capable of stopping him! I've tried to get Banner's help, but he refuses!"

Palleon put away his blaster, and tried to creep slowly over to the transporter. Reed seemed not to notice him, until his foot brushed against a small piece of broken glass from the table he'd jumped over, and Reed's head swerved around!

Palleon drew his blaster again and fired! The red bolt of energy hurled itself towards Reed, but the flexible man merely ducked. The communication device he had dropped to the floor and shattered!

Reed stretched out his waist and headed for Palleon, who fired a few more shots whilst backing toward the teleporter! Panicking, Palleon drew one of his frag grenades and threw it directly beneath the oncoming human rubber. It exploded in a cloud of smoke and rubble, and Reed lay cut, bleeding and stretched wearily in the corner.

As he inched closer to the wounded super-human, he heard clattering and yelling from the stairway. "Yo, Stretcho!" A stoney sounding voice called. "You okay up there?"

Palleon didn't even wait. He threw another frag into the doorway, and launched himself into the teleporter. The blue light engulfed him, and he was gone.

Mustafar: Arctic Magma Conversion Plant: 08:01 p.m.

Palleon once again found himself on the heated, metal floor of the Mustafar Plant. The techs and Stormtroopers all rushed to his aid, as he doubled over again. This time he did puke.

"Sir, what happened?" One of the young officers asked him.

"There was an odd...man...and he heard me in his laboratory. He attacked me and I left...his friends were coming..." Palleon said, gasping for breath.

"Ah, that's what I forgot." The head tech said, sheepishly. "It only takes you to that building. It is inhabited."

Palleon looked at him angrily. "You're lucky I'm not Vader!" He gasped.

The tech stepped back, obviously afraid.

Two Stormtroopers helped him up, but Palleon pushed them aside. He had to think. Maybe he could bring his troops with him and fight.

"How many men can that teleporter carry at once?" Palleon asked quickly.

"About three, maybe." The tech said, still a little frightened.

So storming the place wouldn't work. But it could carry three people at a time. He could bring two of his best soldiers with him.

"Commander Cody! Sergeant Rex!" He called. "Step forward."

Two Stromtroopers walked forward, one with an orange strip on his armor, the other with a blue one. Both carried fletchet shotguns on their backs, and AC-11 blaster rifles in their steady hands.

"You two are coming with me." He beckoned. "But not right away. I need time to catch my breath, so to speak."

And with that Palleon limped off to find a place to sit and relax.

Mercy Hospital, Manhattan: 07:29 p.m.

"Oh, Lord, will he be okay?" Susan Richards asked the doctor wheeling Reed Richards into the room.

"Everything will be okay, we just have some work to do." The doc said, calmly.

The door closed and Sue stood in the hallway staring at the grey door. Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm stood behind her.

Ben put an orange, rocky hand on her shoulder. "He'll be okay, Suzie. He may not look it, but Reed's one tough cookie."

"I know." Sue said. "It's just...who would do this to him?"

"I can give you two words as to who!" Johnny piped up. "Doctor...Doom!"

"But how could Victor have gotten in?" Sue asked, starting to tear up.

"Don't know." Ben said. "But there's only one way to find out!"

Mustafar: Arctic Magma Conversion Plant: 08:15 p.m.

"Are we all ready?" Palleon asked Cody and Rex.

The two nodded and they began to walk towards the teleporter, when they heard one of the technicians call out, "Wait!"

Palleon turned. "What is it?"

The Mustafarian, obviously straining to speak Basic clearly, asked, "May I know what you are looking for? I could help your search go much faster."

Palleon didn't know if he could trust an alien like this, but he had no choice if the matter was to be resolved quickly.

The tech brought them over to a large computer in the trench between two labs. The whirring and buzzing of the circuits inside the huge machine bugged Palleon a bit.

"Now, place your hand here and think of the item you wish to acquire." The tech told him.

Palleon did so and thought vividly of the one item that could end this frivolous war with the New Republic. Before he knew it, the item popped up on screen: a golden metal glove with four gems in the knuckles, a gem in the thumb joint, and a gem on the back of the hand shape. Each gem was a different color.

"Yes, that is what I seek." Palleon said, a little amazed, but still anxious to get going.

"It says, "The Infinity Gauntlet was designed to hold six of the 'soul gems', better known as the Infinity Gems. When used in combination their already impressive powers made the wearer nearly invincible. Time Gem-Total control over past, present and future. Total control over all aspects of time including time travel; stop, slow down, or speed up flow of time; accelerate or slow down aging, see into past/future and can also be used as a weapon by trapping enemies or entire worlds in unending loops of time.

"Space Gem-Travel through space, mostly through teleportation. Able to interfere with the motion of other objects. Allows the user to exist in any location or all locations, move any object anywhere throughout the universe and warp or rearrange space.

"Soul Gem-Observe, attack, steal, manipulate and alter souls, living or dead. The gem is the gateway to an idyllic, pocket-universe. Also used to devolve artificial organisms back into a primitive state.

"Reality Gem-Alters reality to anything the user wishes.

"Power Gem-Virtually limitless strength, durability, and energy manipulation. This gem contains access to all power and energy that ever has or will exist, and can back the other gems and boost their effects. It allows the user to duplicate almost any physical superhuman ability and become invincible.

"Mind Gem-Virtually limitless psionic abilities including telepathy and telekinesis. Backed by the Power Gem, it is possible to access all minds in existence simultaneously."

Palleon had to use his hand to close his gapping jaw. This was a more powerful item than he had first anticipated!

"It also says," The tech continued. "the current whereabouts of the Gauntlet are unknown."

That didn't matter to Palleon right now. All that mattered was finding this, getting his better back, and presenting him the Infinity Gauntlet to crush the New Republic!

"Cody, Rex! Let's move!"

Castle Doom, Latveria: 08:06 p.m.

Sue, Ben and Johnny all jumped out of the Fantasticar and stromed the castle! Ben busted the door open with two quick punches, after which Johnny flew in and burned everything from robots to henchmen in a blazing orange inferno. Sue flew overhead on her invisible force field.

"All right, Victor!" She shouted at the grey, brick castle. "What have you done to Reed?"

At first there was silence. The three members of the Fantastic Four stood waiting for a reply. What they got instead was an energy beam of great power flying towards them! They evaded, and Ben tossed a burning robotic husk at the window. It exploded on impact and the flames spread quickly inside the castle. A black shadow jumped from the burning room and landed in front of the heroes. It didn't take long to recognize him.

"Doom!" The three cried at once.

Without a word, Dr. Doom lifted his hand and fired a bolt of blue lightning at Ben. It hit him extremely hard, knocking him backwards and into a hot dog kiosk that had been sitting there.

"Well, this ain't too revoltin' of a development." He said, sticking a hot dog in his hungry mouth.

Johnny fired a stream of flames at the maniacal genius, who merely deflected it using his magical defenses. Quickly after that he shot a beam of yellow energy at Johnny, which knocked him out of the air, and into the gripping clutches of Dr. Doom! Sue stopped before moving again.

"Now," Doom finally spoke. "Perhaps you can tell me why you have attacked my beloved kingdom."

"QUIT PLAYING DUMB, DOOM!" Sue screamed. "YOU HURT REED!"

"As much as I would love that to be true," Doom chuckled. "I did no such thing."

"QUIT LYING! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO-"

"Do you really believe me to be a modest person?"

Sue froze. That was true. Doom wasn't modest at all! "So who-?"

Before she could finish that question, however, Boris rushed forward to greet his master.

"My lord, Doom!" He cried out. "That beast, Darkoth, has escaped the prison! He's destroying everything!"

Doom turned slightly towards Sue, still clutching Johnny by the throat. "Do you see what you're meddling has done?"

He turned away, dropping Johnny to the brick laid street, and strode off to deal with the threat.

Sue ran to Johnny, who was barely conscious and shaking his light head. "Ouch."

Ben walked up to them and noticed Doom walking away. "Hey! Aren't we gonna clobber 'em?"

"No, Ben, he didn't do it." Sue said. "But maybe he knows who did..."

She got up and tailed Doom as closely as she could without being detected...invisible, of course. She followed him for a little while, thinking Boris had merely lured Doom out of a fight. Her doubts were assuaged once she saw a platoon of Doom Bots fly out of the corner. Boris, Doom, and Sue herself ran against the wall. Doom peered over the corner, apparently looking for the monster, Darkoth. At first there was silence. Nothing but the cool summer breeze.

Then in a matter of seconds, Darkoth burst through the wall between Boris and Doom, grabbed the maniacal despot, and slammed him face first into ground! Boris took up his walking stick and smacked the purple demon over the head. Merely annoyed with the inconvenience, Darkoth smacked the old man away, giving Doom a two second window, which was all he needed.

He thrust his armoured palm against Darkoth's shelled chest, and let loose a strong current of blue electricity! Darkoth screamed in agony, and was flung back into the hole he had broken in the grey brick wall. Doom quickly got to his feet, rushed to Boris to check his pulse, then followed Darkoth through the hole.

Sue, still invisible, jumped in after him. She couldn't let Doom die without first knowing who had hurt her husband. Of course she needn't have worried. She turned the corner to see Doom holding the demon in a painful looking chokehold. Darkoth was struggling hard to get free, but he couldn't free himself from the deadly grip of Victor Von Doom.

Darkoth's flailing tail smashed over quite a few old relics, and machines. It eventually hit a control panel that looked like it hadn't been used in years. The platform Doom and Darkoth stood on began glowing light blue. Soon the entire room lit up in a brilliant flash of light. Sue had to reveal herself, as the light gave way to her curved form.

"You?" Doom shouted, angrily. "You dare follow me into-"

Darkoth had broken free of the chokehold and ran for the hole in the wall! Sue attempted to stop him with a force field, but the brute was too strong. As Sue collapsed onto the glowing floor, nose bleeding, she heard Doom cry out, "NO!"

Then all flashed white.

Unknown Location: Unknown Time

Susan Richards mind was being invaded. Not by an enemy, nor by a friend; but by something more intricate than any living being. Information, teachings, knowledge; all flooded her mind, gaining her more wisdom about this weird place than any creature could understand. Knowledge of saber styles, old Jedi teachings, Sith legends, and all knowing facts of every livng species in the universe. This was The Force, and it was now Susan Richards.

Mustafar: Arctic Magma Conversion Plant: 08:26 p.m.

Doom's magical shield was barely holding against the oncoming lasers fired from the Imperial Stormtroopers. If he couldn't retaliate soon, he was finished. He looked back at Susan. She was still lying on the ground.

"Weak!" Doom grunted. "I have to do everything!"

With that, Doom twitched his fingers and the magical shield dispersed as tiny magic needles! The Mustafarian Techs all fell prey to the piercing sigils, but the Stormtroopers, being armoured, merely winced a little. Doom used the moment of confusion to his advantage, and threw one of his old cryogenic grenades at the group of troopers. It exploded in a puff of white mist. When it cleared, the Stormtroopers were frozen in place. Doom stepped up to one, admiring the white armour.

"This is a very interesting suit of armour they wear." Doom said, looking the trooper from head to toe.

He failed to notice the head tech sneaking up from the trench in between the labs behind him. The tech pulled an old Geonosian sonic gun and aimed. Doom however, heard the gun being drawn, whirled around and shot four lasers from each of his fingertips at the tech, who took the full attack and fell to the ground dead.

Doom noticed the computer screen behind the tech. He jumped into the trench, curious as to what this alien was looking at. When he turned his head to the screen, however, what he saw made his eyes bulge. The screen portrayed a fully intricate design of the Infinity Gauntlet!

"These creatures!" Doom bellowed. "What could they possibly want from this?"

"These poor souls did not know of the Gauntlet." The voice of Susan came from behind him.

Doom turned to see her standing straight up, her blue and white suit a little stained with black soot. But her eyes...her eyes were glowing all sorts of different colors! Doom caught on.

"You are not Susan Richards." He said.

"No." Susan said. "I am something far beyond a mere mortals conception."

"Than tell me why these creatures have the Infinity Gauntlet on their little list of items?" Doom demanded.

Susan turned toward the computer screen. "The one that seeks the Gauntlet is no longer here. He has disappeared beyond my reach of perception. Out of the Force."

"The Force?" Doom asked, curious about this entity which now possessed Susan Richards.

"I am the entity that combines all living things. The epicenter of creation." Force Susan said, nonchalantly.

Doom was slightly amazed. Slightly. "So how is it the one looking for this is out of your reach?"

"I am unsure." Force Susan said. "Perhaps we can find out."

"Yes," Doom chimed. "perhaps we can."

Doom's Castle; Latveria: 09:37 p.m.

"And then they were gone!" Johnny finished.

Iron Man stood arms crossed in his armour with the mask flipped open. He stared at the spot Doom, Sue, and Darkoth had been standing on. "Any sign of the creature?"

"No, none at all." Captain America said.

Cap's appearance had changed over the years he had been revived. He no longer carried a shield, and instead had a 9mm pistol as his weapon of choice. His suit no longer had a mask, and was now only blue with white stripes across the chest, belt, boot strap, glove strap and neck. His blond hair was neatly combed back. The white star on his chest rose and fell with every breath he took.

Iron Man frowned. Not only had Doom and The Invisible Woman been transported to another place, but Darkoth had also escaped.