CHAPTER 1: Another Invasion
Gotham City 2:10 am EST
The nights during the past month have been surprisingly calm, almost like a comforting soundless blanket compared to the cacophony of gunfire and violence this city was known for. Aside from minor misdemeanors and a few testing their luck, there has been little to no criminal activity despite the active organizations and Arkham inmates being at large since three months ago. However it was nights like these that the people of Gotham feared the most; One might say it was like the calm before the storm and the storms in Gotham were the worst.
None knew this more than him: a figure clad in black and gray, his appearance complimenting the city's ghoulish architectures like the one he was perched on. His cowl, cape and emblem that was on his chest reflected his namesake. He is still considered an urban myth; sometimes referred, among criminals who whispered fearful parables, as the Dark Knight but he is commonly known as the Batman.
Even though this is the kind of peace he fights for everyday, Batman knew the perfect storm was brewing. He had little to back up his hunch and his colleagues insists it's merely his restlessness and paranoia at work but with the Joker and the rest of his foes being this quiet, he felt they were planning something big. For the time being he would need put a pin on this line of thinking, because tonight he's out for a different reason: tracking down Walon Jones.
The Dark Knight leapt off his perch and threw the sides of his cape which extended like a glider. As he floated towards one particular building that was still under construction, he thought back to the footage that Amanda Waller had sent him. Yesterday, a break out was orchestrated at Belle Reve Penitentiary with almost every Taskforce X operative escaped and their bombs mysteriously disabled. He mused that the woman must've been livid if she was desperate enough to contact him but if she thought that he was going to follow her rules, she had another thing coming; the last thing he wanted was to hand those criminals back to her.
After touching down on one of the top floors, Batman surveyed the area, occasionally switching the different vision modes on his cowl lenses. Walking within the skeleton of concrete and steel, he later noticed movement from behind one of the sections of the building closed off with a tarp. He approached the dark shape which was obscured by the translucent plastic and was about to tear it open when a pair of monstrous glowing eyes opened from behind the tarp!
His reflexes kicked in and immediately swerved out of the way of a huge maw tearing through the tarp and snapping at thin air. The beast that tore through the covering turned towards him as a low rumble emitted from his throat. His muscular tail, a sign of his worsening mutation, readied to strike.
"Croc." The Dark Knight addressed as he stood menacingly.
"I'm taking you back to Arkham where you belong and no matter what tricks Waller pulls this time, I'm making sure you stay there."
Killer Croc didn't seem to respond at first and seemed dazed. Batman noticed that there was something off about him. The crocodile-man then spoke in his deep guttural voice laced with a southern drawl.
"Stop...follow'in me!"
A berserk rage took over Killer Croc and with a loud thunderous roar, the beast charged at Batman. He first attempted to try catching him in his jaws again, then swung both his claws followed by whipping his tail. Each time Batman dodged and evaded his attacks and when Croc swung his tail, he leaped up and flung two bat-shaped projectiles. Croc swatted one of them away while the other embedded itself on the thick plates on his skin before exploding. With Croc reeling, Batman took advantage by flipping over the massive crocodile-man and attaching two small devices on the sides of the head when he was close enough. After landing, he pressed a button on one of his gauntlets which caused the two devices to emit a high pitch sub-sonic noise. Croc roared in agony and desperately ripped the devices from his head and then crushed them in his hands. With the beast's fury is now at it's peak, he lunged at Batman again.
From atop of a building across where the action was taking place, a small figure was observing them. He didn't know who those two 'people' were or if it was wise to interfere but his gut was telling him that the scaly one with teeth was probably an enemy and he always listened to his gut. With his mind made up, he broke into a sprint, making his way towards them.
The Dark Knight dodged a combination of punches and claw swipes, looking for an opening. When he found one, he jumped back and fired his grapple gun at his opponent. When the claw latched on to soft tissue, he pressed a button on the gun which sent volts of electricity into the creature. Croc roared and spasmed but then fought through the pain and yanked hard at the cable, hard enough to pull the Caped Crusader into a powerful clothesline.
With his opponent down and dazed, Killer Croc quickly took advantage by hauling him from behind in a bear hug and clamping his jaws down on his left shoulder. Batman yelled in pain, while his body armor protected his bones from being crushed, the teeth made their mark. Thinking fast, he jabbed his finger right into Croc's eye; causing him to let go but not without following up with a furious whip of his tail, smacking Batman against one of the steel beams.
Croc had a hand on his aching eye as he slowly approached the downed Knight who was too winded to stand again and clutched his injured shoulder.
"Ahm so hungry...Ah could eat a Bat!" Croc drawled smacking his lips with his long tongue.
Croc reared his head back and then sprung forward ready to devour his meal but at that moment there was a loud hoot and something somersaulted over him, putting itself between him and the Batman, extended its palm towards him which discharged a large fireball! The flaming sphere hit him in the mouth and he reeled back from the heat, swatting at the remaining flames.
Batman's eyes widened. The world's greatest detective has seen some strange things during his years in Gotham and with the Justice League but this left him flabbergasted! Standing before him was what could be described as a short portly man wearing denim overalls over a red long sleeved t-shirt, white gloves, a large red cap with an 'M' emblem and a wide mustache under a cartoony bulbous nose! The person go into a fighting stance as Croc turned his attention to him.
"Dunno who you are little man, but you look plump enough ta eat!"
The crocodile-man attacked by lunging towards his new prey. Just as he was about to make contact, the short man whipped a yellow cape seemingly out of nowhere, slapping the cloth against Croc's face. Normally such an action wouldn't do anything but for some reason the cloth had some kind of repelling force, strong enough to push Croc's face aside and make his body spin towards the other opposite direction. He blinked, confused as ever then turned back around sharply.
"How did ya...?"
The short man took advantage of the distraction by running up to him and then sliding on the floor with his boot extended. He connected with Croc's left foot with enough force to knock Croc to the floor and, in a move that made the Dark Knight drop his jaw, grabbed the crocodile-man's tail and started spinning him around! As the speed of each revolution increased, so did Croc's dizziness until finally when the momentum reached its apex, his tail was released which resulted in him sailing away from the construction site.
"So long-a!" said the short man, his voice sounding like a cheerful falsetto.
Croc's downward trajectory sent him crashing through a wooden sign and smack into a parked car, the poor vehicle totalled from the impact and its alarms blared as if complaining. The crocodile-man rolled off the car on to the road, his mind unable process what happened to him. Seeing a manhole cover nearby, Croc decided to not take any chances with Batman and the red-capped individual so he hefted the covering and slipped into the sewers below.
The short man dusted his gloved hands, a smile forming under the wide mustache, feeling satisfied he made short work of that person who looked like a 'Kremlin'. He turned towards the other strange person, the one he thought looked like some kind of combination between a 'Swoop' and a 'Ninji' but human-sized, and noticed that he was badly injured which made him gasp with a "Whoa!" and rush over to him.
"Hey, you a'right?" he asked with concern.
With most of the others in the superhero community, the assistance and concern from another would be met with immediate gratitude but the Dark Knight was a little different. Among his peers, he is known for being socially guarded, secretive and a little distrustful particularly with meta-humans. There are many reasons for his behavior but in the case of this small cartoonish person, Batman was a little on edge. It wasn't that he was intimidated, It was more that during the short man's fight, his cowl lenses scanned his cartoony facial profile and ran it through every database the Bat-computer had access to and there was absolutely no hits. From the way he handed Killer Croc, he obviously had fighting experience but his strength, pyrokinesis and feat with the cape seemed to indicate that he was either a meta or using some kind of augmentation. He had no record despite having easily recognizable features and was now in his city, this concerned him.
"I had the situation under control. Your interference let Croc get away." The Dark Knight answered curtly with narrowed eyes.
The short man didn't seem to listen as he was searching for something in one of his overall's pockets. He then fished something that "popped" into a volleyball sized object, it looked like a large mushroom that had a green cap with large white spots but what was unsettling was the beady black eyes on the fat stalk! The object was slowly brought to Batman.
"Wait, what are you-!?"
Before the caped crusader could react, the short man shoved the object into Batman's face. In his struggle to resist, he accidentally bit into it which made it simply disappear followed by a seven note jingle! Batman roughly grabbed the short man by his collar and hauled him up as he stood, making his feet dangle.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Batman growled, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Strangely enough, the red capped stranger didn't seem intimidated like most would with the Dark Knight's treatment. He instead looked at Batman's side and his eyes lit up.
"Hey, your arm's all-a better!" He said with a wide smile.
Batman inspected his other arm and raised it. To his surprise, the wound on his shoulder left by Croc had completely healed! He looked back at the mustachioed individual hanging from his fist and regarded him warily.
"Who are you?" questioned Batman.
Even though the stranger was still being held up by the collar, he simply smiled and tipped his red cap towards him.
"It's-a me, Mario!" He announced in his sing-song Italian accent.
Batman dropped Mario, who landed on his feet, and looked over this stranger in overalls. By his appearance and behavior, he didn't seem to be dangerous but Batman couldn't be sure. He had learnt from experience that appearances can be deceiving. People and even aliens whom he had encountered in the past may have expressed benevolent actions but in the end, it didn't reflect their intent.
"What business do you have in here in Gotham?" inquired the Dark Knight.
Mario blinked and looked around.
"Gotham?" he asked.
Batman 'hmmed' to himself and then decided to try probing for more info.
"Where did you come from?"
Mario raised his finger, ready to answer but then paused. His expression morphed from clarity to confusion. He then brought that same finger to rest across his chin in thought. He found it strange that while he able to remember some things about himself and others, everything else was fuzzy and vague. He remembers Luigi and the Princess, He remembers the enemies he fought and how to use the items in his pocket but that felt more like instinct; he doesn't remember where he got them from. What was the three of them doing before he got here? HOW did he get here? Weren't they supposed to be at some event hosted by a 'Master Something'? The questions dominated his mind and he wasn't able to answer them.
Batman 'hmmed' again. It seemed that Mario wasn't going to be reliable for answers. For what he can tell, the red capped fellow seemed disoriented and lost. There were still some doubts: Perhaps him ending up in Gotham wasn't his intent but who's to say it wasn't somebody else's? The Dark Knight then decided that interacting with him further would be a waste of time. Although Mario's abilities were a concern to him, he still had pressing matters to attend to.
"Let's make one thing clear: This city is under my protection. I don't know what your story is but if you cause any trouble here, know that I will..."
Mario didn't seem to be listening to Batman's stern warning. Instead his attention seemed to be towards one of the adjacent buildings. He noticed something moving on the rooftop and eyes flashed in recognition. Without warning, he dashed towards the opening where a steel girder is being held suspended by one of the construction cranes. He leaped on the girder, ran across it and when he reached the edge, he made a long jump that cleared the distance between that edge and the rooftop of the building he was focused on.
"Wait!" called out Batman as he used his grapple gun to follow him.
Before he knew it, Batman found the both of them running and jumping across rooftop to rooftop but on separate buildings parallel to eachother. He noted how Mario displayed agility and acrobatic jumps that seemed superhuman and impossible for someone with his proportions! He was sure Dick would feel a little jealous by his feats. Batman glanced where Mario's focus was on: It looked like he was chasing something and from what Batman could see, it was roundish and was carrying a large sack.
The Watchtower 6:42 am GMT
Miles from the earth's atmosphere, one could see the rays of the sun beginning to peek from the Indian Ocean, completing the days in the east as the morning light made its way towards the west. The waves of light hit many objects along the way, some of the minor celestial kind and others mad-made, but the most impressive one was the largest and most advanced man-made structure in low earth orbit. It stood majestically like a lone sentinel watching over the planet, it was appropriately named The Watchtower.
The Watchtower served as the base of operations for the world's greatest collective of superheroes. Currently in this late hour, only four were present on board. One of them was in front of a monitor displaying the face of a beautiful young woman with what looks like a flight cockpit in the background.
"You know, you could've just used the Zeta beams and teleported over there." he said.
The woman shook her head, raven locks swaying, and smiled.
"Wouldn't work. Themyscira's mystic borders make it near impossible to be detected by technology. Besides, it's been awhile since I've taken the Invisible Jet for a spin." she responded.
"Still, are you sure you'll be alright, Diana?"
Diana couldn't help but chuckle. The man asking was sometimes called the Man of Steel; he was probably most recognizable and powerful hero on the planet with the blue costume, S emblem, feats of heroics that inspired awe and hope, and yet here was Superman worrying over her, Princess Diana of Themyscira aka Wonder Woman, just like how her mother would.
"Yes Clark, for the umpteenth time. I'm just visiting to meet mother. Hera, you're making it sound like I'm off to clean the Augean stables."
"You know that's not what I meant. It's just that you haven't seen her since you left the island."
Diana frowned as she thought back to the last time she saw her mother who was tear-stained, warning her about the evils of man's world, warning her that she may not return. It pained Diana to hear how much sorrow she brought her mother but after saving the world, she never regretted her decision to leave.
"It's true, I didn't leave in the best of circumstances but I feel this is a visit that's long overdue." Diana said with a nod.
"Well, if she's aware of all the good you've done for the world, I'm sure she'll be proud of you. You take care Diana and tell her I said hi."
"You too, Clark and please give my love to Lois. Wonder Woman out."
With that the transmission was terminated. Superman turned behind him to see two heroes in green, Green Arrow and Green Lantern, who had probably entered the room when he and Diana were in mid-conversation, listening in on them. He was about to chide them about eavesdropping when Green Arrow gave a low whistle and spoke up.
"Imagine that, an island populated by women just like her. Why didn't I get shipwrecked over there instead of Lian Yu!?"
Green Lantern elbowed his companion playfully.
"I dunno, Why don't you ask Dinah? Come to think of it, is that why you're here in the Watchtower this late? She kicked you out again, didn't she?"
Arrow turned toward Lantern with a hand over his chest in exaggerated offense.
"I'm hurt, Hal! So, what? All of a sudden I need a reason to enter your ivory towers to watch over the earth with the rest of you?"
"So did she?" asked Superman.
"NO!" yelped Arrow, his voice pitch suspiciously higher.
Both Superman and Hal looked at him in sarcastic disbelief until Arrow finally caved in with a sigh and mumbled a small "yes". Luckily for the green clad archer, any further bruising of the ego of Oliver Queen was interrupted by a voice calling over from the intercom.
"This is Cyborg! I need everyone at Monitor Womb now!"
It didn't take long for the three heroes to arrive at the requested location. The urgency of Cyborg's voice made them anticipate all kinds of scenarios: A natural disaster threatening to wipe out thousands of lives? an attack from a new group of supervillains? an evil force from space on a collision course with Earth? Instead, they saw their metal-clad comrade frantically typing in front of a large monitor with some telescoping tubes from of his body interfacing with the machine. The monitor displayed the world map within a dark grid, corners laden with numbers of various measurements and readings. Cyborg double-checked the monitor, getting more flustered by the second.
"The Hell!? They were right there!" he exclaimed.
Superman and the two in green looked at eachother in confusion and then approached their comrade.
"What's there? What's going on Cyborg?" asked Superman.
Cyborg turned towards them, trying to figure out how to explain to them, as well as to himself.
"I...My sensors detected something, multiple anomalies...but they're gone!"
"What do mean gone?" asked Hal with a raised brow.
"I mean they were there one second and gone the next!"
"Maybe you imagined it?" suggested Green Arrow.
Cyborg silently fumed. He was part machine, there was no way the machine side of him would allow that. Luckily him remembered that the monitor system records logs of any activity within the last two hours. Interfacing with the machine again, he brought the monitor display to the state it was just a minute ago.
"Does this look like an imagination to you?" he said gesturing to the screen.
The still screen of the map Cyborg put on display was definitely abuzz with activity. There were colorful shockwaves emanating from North America and some parts of the Atlantic. The numbers and readings were shot to extreme levels. But at first, the heroes aside from Cyborg didn't know what it meant. Green Arrow was the first to voice that.
"Okaaay, I see pretty lights. You gotta give us some context, Vic."
"As you might know: since my body is actually part of a motherbox, I'm able to detect Boom Tube signatures or any tachyon anomalies."
"Are you saying these are Boom Tubes?" Superman asked.
"Something like Boom tubes but I've never seen them just...spike in activity and drop instantly like that. It could be a glitch but if it's not..."
"...It could be another invasion." finished Superman.
Green Lantern decided that further verification would be helpful. He trusted Cyborg but he had his own piece of alien tech that could shed some light on the matter. He stepped towards one of the Watchtower's large windows overlooking the Earth and held out his glowing ring.
"Ring, scan the planet for any Trans-Dimensional activity within the last hour." commanded Hal.
The green Power Ring, one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, did as he commanded and relayed the information back to him through an emotionless voice in Hal's mind, or rather it was more like a thought as if information was wired directly to the brain. It was difficult for the bearers of the Power Rings to describe how the ring's artificial intelligence communicated with them.
'SCANNING...RESULTS NEGATIVE.'
"Nothing." confirmed Hal.
"Well, that answers that!" affirmed Oliver.
The Man of Steel turned from the Green-clad men, who looked satisfied, to Cyborg who was wearing a conflicted expression. Clark pondered to himself: Tech from Oa and tech from the New Gods, giving conflicting results. Cyborg's tech has never been wrong before but to detect so many Boom Tubes at once and then nothing, what did it mean? Superman then decided on a course of action.
"I'll go check out Metropolis. It's highly likely it could be nothing but we'd better be sure. Lantern and Arrow should check out their respective cities as well." he announced.
With a greatful smile, Cyborg nodded in agreement.
"I'll stay back and see if the situation changes as well as contact any leaguer near the marked areas."
The two men green-clad sighed and followed the Man of Steel towards the Watchtower transporter, they were pretty sure this was going be a wild goose chase but they readied themselves in case it wasn't.
Metropolis 3:14 am EST
"Open your eyes!"
He felt he heard the voice before but can't place where or whose is it belonged to, just that it felt important for some reason.
"Wake up, L-...You must wake up!"
He heard it again but this time it was so distant. It felt like something pulled him away from it, something that threatened to pull him further into a dark abyss.
"Yo! Wake up! Yer Dirty'n up da sidewalk!"
He awoke with a start when he felt a light kick to his side. He immediately bolted up right and frantically looked around. Nothing was familiar. It was nighttime yet the area was lit up with glowing lights. There were moving contraptions and the buildings were like sky flung monoliths; It was definitely a city but none like he had seen before. A sickly feeling suddenly came over him, his head spun and he could feel the acidic burn in his food pipe. Before he realized it, he vomited the contents of his stomach on the road.
"Woah! Woah! Easy, Mac! Looks like ya had one Koul-Brau too many."
Mac? Was that his name? It sounded familiar. With a shudder, he turned toward the gruff accented voice. Standing there was a grizzled burly man with a large chin, probably the man who kicked him. He wanted to question him but he was having difficulty forming the words he needed, his head felt fuzzy. Why did his head feel so fuzzy?
"So eerrm, what's wit dat outfit? Yoo one 'o dem, Watchoocalit? Cos-players or sumthin?"
The man's comment made him look down at his own attire and see his various pouches. He began to pat them, feeling the shapes of the items he carried within. Their familiarity were jump-starting bits of his memories but the two spheroids strapped to his belt puzzled him, there wasn't any feelings of familiarity or instinct when he noticed the two objects, it was more like kinship?
He heard the gruff man make an irritated sound so he turned towards him, now realizing that he had been rude and was ignoring him this whole time.
"Listen kid, I only came out here cuz you wer lying outside my joint like some weird bum. Ya see dis place b'hind me?"
He looked where the man's thumb pointed and saw a building with a lit up sign, the script wasn't in his native language but he recognized it as English. It read 'Ace O' Clubs' and had two playing cards as the logo. He felt confused, when did he learn how to read English?
"That's my pride an' joy. Metropolis's fav'rit joint! Superman's too! He an' I are pals doncha know? So it's bad fer business if they go linkin' up my place to your..."
Something about what the man said, a key word, triggered his memories. Bit by bit, they made connections and unraveled to bring clarity. His eyes widened as his remembrance finally lifted the fog from his mind. They were attacked! Mario was in trouble! His friends were in trouble! SHE was in trouble!
He took off despite the cry of protest from the gruff man. He knew that he was probably being rude but he needed to find out where he is, he needed a vantage point.
If one were peek in an alleyway not too far from the Ace O' Clubs, one would find a woman garbed from head to toe in a magenta bodysuit that was festooned with teal armor plates and two squarish 'fins' on the sides of her head. She was accompanied by an assortment of beings or creatures; some fearsome, some like caricatures, some anthropomorphic and others not.
With a huff, she closed the lid of a large spherical containment which held an unconscious person inside.
"For someone in dress, you were such a pain to capture!" she whined.
She tapped on a box-like device strapped to her belt and a holographic map appeared suspended in front of her.
"Hmm, two more them in this city..."
She turned towards the menagerie under her command with a wicked smile.
"You lot follow me! We're going hunting."
AN: I know, something very different compared to my previous stories and such a weird crossover! But Nintendo and DC Comics happen to be among my favourite things so I decided to tackle it. This is kinda my own take on the DC universe, nothing strictly from comics or other media but it's kinda it's own self-contained universe. The same can be said for the Super Smash Brothers lore. Hopefully I won't take too long updating this, I have some other works in the pipeline and I'm helping a friend get his fic off the ground but rest assured, stuff is happening. And of course, feedback will be much appreciated.