Chapter 1
With a painful scowl that was hidden by his red mask, Spider-Man looked down at the Baxter Building. From up above, whilst swinging across the sky between towering skyscrapers, nothing seemed normal. As of late, quite a crowd of people carrying signs were gathered around the main entrance of the building, protesting and cussing. The web-slinger hadn't watched the news, so he didn't know precisely what was going on, but it seemed that the Fantastic Four were suspected of participating in racketeering. Either that, or terrorism. What little information there existed was conflicting, and honestly, didn't make a lick of sense.
The violent tug Spider-Man had felt from his trusty spider-sense had nearly knocked him down to the ground below. Something incredible must be somewhere about, threatening not just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but the city of New York as well.
He looked down at the crowd. The wall-crawler knew only too well that the most insignificant man or woman could do a whole lot of damage, but his spider-sense was getting nothing from the mass of people. Whatever had triggered it did not come from the crowd of protestors. It was coming from within the Baxter Building itself, and that sent shivers down Spider-Man's spine.
God only knew what sort of whacky shenanigans Reed Richards was up to in his many labs. Spider-Man certainly hoped that nothing disgusting had escaped the biology lab. Or that something worse had crossed over from the Negative Zone.
All it took was a slight twist of his body to change the direction of his swing. The web-slinger stretched out his arm and shot out a web. The tip snagged the wall of a nearby building. He swung, and in an instant his feet were touching the rooftop of the Baxter Building.
The observatory was just a few feet away from him. Spider-Man calmly walked towards it. His spider-sense was still buzzing, but there didn't seem to be anything specifically dangerous behind the entrance door.
He grabbed the knob and turned it. The door opened. The twenty year old superhero sighed. Leaving the door open like this was careless, especially with flying super-villains about who could easily invade. Johnny's idiocy was obviously at work here.
Spider-Man entered the observatory, and from there, he had access to the building. Usually, he didn't have an opportunity to admire the big telescope within the observatory or the beautiful vehicles within the hangar without having to put up with the Flaming Jerk, however, now he had to move, and given how strongly his head was ringing, even the Torch's absence was unsettling.
Quickly, the web-slinger made his way to the stairs that would lead to the fourth floor where the Negative Zone Access was situated. He had a feeling that that was where all of the trouble was.
Before he could make his descent, something popped up from below. Spider-Man recognized it immediately. It was something that no one should fear: a H.E.R.B.I.E robot, one of several mechanical servants made by Reed Richards.
However, even as Spider-Man's spider-sense was alerting him towards the greater danger, it was also forcing his attention on to the hovering robot. The little machine was quick to prove how dangerous it could be; its torso opened, revealing the barrel of a gun.
Spider-man heard the percussive explosion before he saw the flash. The projectiles, meant to stop any fast moving object, almost hit Spider-Man right in the forehead. A quick swerve saved his life.
The wall-crawler swung out his wrist, and tapped his web-shooter with his fingers. Two ball-shaped projectiles, harder than steel, came out. They crashed into the robot. Before the robot could come down with a violent crash, Spider-Man quickly caught it with one hand.
He took one look at the robot. For now, it was disabled. Few people knew, or remembered that his webbing could be used for more things than just sticky ropes. Still, he was surprised that something made by Reed Richards wasn't tougher. Right now, however, the problem was in knowing if H.E.R.B.I.E had or not revealed his presence through whichever telemetric link to whomever was causing his spider-sense to go nuts. He let the robot down on the ground quietly, and descended down into the fourth floor.
Even before reaching the fourth floor, Spider-Man adhered to the ceiling, crawling along it in case he met an intruder.
As stealthily as he could, and following his spider-sense, Spider-Man entered the Negative Zone Access room.
He didn't like at all what he saw.
Mr. Fantastic, Ben Grimm and the Matchstick boy were trapped within semi-invisible force-field bubbles. Try as they might, they couldn't get out. The Thing was constantly pounding on the field, while Johnny Storm's fire blazed the bubble into visibility.
Nearby stood Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl. She stood still as a mannequin. Indeed, her face was like that of a department store dummy as there was a vacant expression on her face. This was obviously the result of the strange, crown-like device on her head.
Without a doubt, this was a mind control device of some sort. Spider-Man wondered how powerful it was.
Further away, close to the Negative Zone Portal and a control console that Spidey didn't remember being there, were three imposing figures, all of which were Dr. Doom. Spider-Man was sure that at least one of them was a Doombot.
The Dr. Doom closest to the strange console, the one in the center, and the one likeliest to be Doom himself (Spidey didn't think that Dr. Doom would allow his Doombots to defeat Mr. Fantastic without him being there) patted the console gingerly.
"I am tired Richards" the possible Doom said with a deep metallic voice "Tired of having my plans foiled by the likes of you or the Avengers. This is a quick solution – a solution I think most appropriate, considering that you yourself invented this device, and discovered the Negative Zone and its horrors. I am fortunate that the most efficient of you accursed superheroes live in this city. It leaves me in the enviable position of being rid of you simply by pressing this red button. Your sweetheart will remain here as the countdown begins. She will not, however, regain her free will until it is all over."
A low growl escaped from Reed Richard's gut.
"You'll never get away with this" he said.
Dr. Doom chuckled.
"Richards, have you been reduced to spouting out tired clichés? I will get away with this"
"You won't. Do you think this country is going to sit down if you throw this city into the Negative Zone? Latveria will feel the full wrath of the United States, and if you escape this wild scheme of yours, your days will still be numbered. The dead can't savor their victories"
Dr. Doom then let out a demonic laugh.
"Richards, you truly are not aware of how well I planned your downfall and that of your allies. Do you think that the problems afflicting you were mere accidents? It was my hand that directed the events against you – the destruction of that space station, the attack on Air Force 1, the explosion in Phoenix, those accounts that those investigators found – it was all me Richards! When I press this red button and when the countdown is over, when this city and the surrounding landscape are sucked into the Negative Zone, you will be the one everyone blames! You will be given the treatment you have deserved for so long yet unjustly eluded. All I regret is that you won't live long enough to see your downfall"
Doom raised his hand. It was quite clear what he was about to do. And Spider-Man had had enough. He raised his arm, and with his web, he snagged the mind control device from Sue's head. The Invisible Girl let out a scream, and then collapsed.
Dr. Doom looked at the ceiling. His eyes met the big lenses over the young superhero's eyes.
"You?" the armored tyrant spat out.
"Yeah me. You thought that I was going to let you throw New York to magic No-No land? I eat hot dogs here!"
Dr. Doom raised his iron hand and a bolt of energy shot out of it, towards the web-slinger on the ceiling. The wall-crawler easily leapt away, landing on his feet on the ground as the bolt shattered the ceiling.
The Latverian growled but he did not raise his fist towards Spider-Man. His hand went down towards the red button. His finger was only an inch from it when another hand swatted it away.
Dr. Doom quickly turned to see Mr. Fantastic smiling at him.
"Didn't I tell you that you'd never get away with this?" Mr. Fantastic said as his fist increased in size, mass, and density. Propelled by his body's elasticity, Mr. Fantastic's cartoonishly large fist rammed right into Doom's armored face.
The Latverian was sent flying across the room, away from the console, only stopping as he violently hit the opposite wall. The Doombots were now confronted by the other remaining members of the Fantastic Four.
Doom looked up and saw that his defeat was once again, imminent. But defeat was something that he could never accept. Especially not to Reed Richards. Behind his mask, he scowled as he saw his enemy snake towards him.
From the depths of his lungs, he let out a horrible sound of dark cadence. The Earth shook, and suddenly, the two Doombots that were about to be destroyed by the Thing and the Torch began to glow and split apart, until there stood before them six Doombots.
"Doom, I always wondered how you made these things, and now I know: evil sex magic!" Spider-Man said as two Doombots approached him. "I don't want it!"
He webbed the head of one Doombot, and swung it against the other.
"See? You two don't need me!"
The Doombots quickly got on their feet; the one that had been webbed tore the webs away from its metallic face.
"Does anyone here know any insurance agents?" Spider-Man said, just before leaping and dodging the Doombot's blast.
The Thing and Torch were having a hard time with their Doombots, with each fighting two. The Thing was strong enough to take his Doombots out in a straight fight, but they weren't getting into a straight fight, choosing instead to blast the orange behemoth. Johnny Storm wasn't having an easier time. He tried his best to roast the Doombots, but they were particularly resistant to his flame.
With his armor on, Dr. Doom was at least as strong as Spider-Man himself. It seemed that these Doombots were no different. If it were not for his spider-sense and his agility, the web-slinger would have been pounded down into submission. However, as Spider-Man dodged the blows coming at him, he gave some of his own. The fact that he was fighting robots allowed him to punch as hard as he wanted. Their armor was tough, but he was leaving some dents in them. The Thing was equally beginning to force his way to the Doombots. Though they showered him with firepower that would obliterate any ordinary man, the orange powerhouse managed to make his way through and grab a Doombot by its leg, slamming it repeatedly against the other. The Human Torch had managed to find a way out of the Negative Zone Access room with his two Doombots hot on his tail, unknowingly doing exactly as the blond flamer wanted. In the meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic was coiling around Dr. Doom himself, who fought tooth and nail against his attacker.
One of the Doombots tried to punch Spider-Man, but the arachnid superhero grabbed his arm and placed him in the way of the other Doombot's blast, leaving a big smoking hole in it.
"You really don't know how to dance the Frug, don't you?"
The wall crawler then ripped off the Doombot's arm and hurled it, fingers first, into the other Doombot's chest. A torrent of electric sparks came out of the robot's mouth, before it fell down.
"Wait, why am I talking about the Frug? That's one of the stupidest named dances I know. Not worst than the Macarena though"
Spider-Man made a summersault and landed on the head of a Doombot that the Thing had turned his back on because it was so mangled as to not seem to be a threat. With one stomp he crushed it.
"You owe me now" Spider-Man said "I want waffles"
"Oh goody" the curmudgeonly brawler replied.
Mr. Fantastic however, did not fare so well against his adversary. With one blast, Dr. Doom had the smartest man in the world out cold. Richards fell down like a curtain. The Latverian tyrant looked at the man he hated. He didn't say a word. He simply opened his palm towards the fallen hero. And then he felt a wall crash against the entirety of his body. He looked up to see Sue Storm glaring at him.
"I really hate you" she said, trapping Doom in a bubble not dissimilar to the one she had trapped the rest of the Fantastic Four in. she then rushed to check Mr. Fantastic. She held his pliable body in her arms and looked at his face.
The Thing and Spider-Man quickly joined her.
"How is he?" the young superhero asked
"He's breathing. He's tougher than he looks" she said
"What about you Suzie?" Ben Grimm asked.
"I have a headache, and my pride's wounded, but that's all. Help me take Reed to the infirmary."
"You have an infirmary?" Spider-Man asked as he helped pick up Reed Richards' unconscious body.
"What bug brain, you thought we didn't have one?" said Johnny Storm, who had clearly taken care of his Doombots outside. He walked towards Reed and helped Ben with him, replacing Spider-Man. Beneath his mask, Spider-Man raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing.
And then, it hit him, his spider-sense. He turned quickly, but not quick enough. Dr. Doom somehow managed to break the force-field Sue had trapped him in. the Invisible Girl grunted, and Doom let out a blast that hit Spider-Man. If he hadn't hardened his body, he would have been seriously hurt. As it was however, he was shoved violently against the wall, in addition to the blast, leaving him momentarily dazed. Doom aimed again, this time at Richards, but Sue Storm was quick. As the blast left Doom's iron glove, it hit the Invisible Girl's force-field. It bounced back, and hit the console of the Negative Zone Portal. The device began to glow oddly, and the entire room shook.
The Invisible Girl waved her hand and sent another force-field at Dr. Doom. This time, the Latverian tyrant was sent through the portal.
Shaking off the cobwebs in his head, Spider-Man got up and looked at the console, and then at the portal. His spider-sense was acting up again and he didn't have to guess why. He turned to the Invisible Girl.
"Sue, I need you to get Mr. Fantastic and everyone else out of here. I'm getting a very bad feeling about this"
"How bad?" the Invisible Girl asked
As she finished that simple question, the room began to shake. A horrible whine came out of the portal.
"I think it's pretty bad. Worse than the Macarena"
The Invisible Girl began to walk towards the portal, but she was stopped when Spider-Man grabbed her arm.
"Hey lady, where do you think you're going?" he asked, his tone serious.
"I have to…"
"Do nothing!" Spider-Man said, cutting her off "You may be the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, but can you stop that thing without tearing this city apart?"
"What do you suggest we do?" she asked
Spider-Man looked at Ben, he looked at Johnny, and then he once again looked Sue Storm straight in the eye.
"I can fix it" he said, nervously.
"How?" Johnny asked, horrified by the implication.
"I can do it. I'm a science major!" he said with some pride, amidst his growing fear "I may not be as smart as Reed Richards, but I got the basics" he then pointed a finger at Johnny Storm "I know more about this than he does"
Ben Grimm scowled.
"He's right Suzie. Let the kid do his thing. We'll get Reed patched up in no time to fix this mess" the Thing then looked at Spider-Man "Don't do anything stupid"
Spider-Man nodded. And then, something occurred to him.
"Wait! Before you go, there's an old lady called May Parker. The best lady there ever was. She lives in 738 Winter Garden Drive Forest Hills. Tell her that Peter loves her. And tell her that he's very sorry and that he wished he could do better for her. Will you do that?"
"I give you my word" Ben Grimm said.
"And please take care of her. She's been through too much"
"Don't worry" Johnny said with a sad expression.
"Thanks. You've been a good friend Firebug. All of you. Now please get out of here"
The four left the room and Spider-Man closed the door behind them. The room began to shake again, and once again, the portal began to whine horribly. As quickly as possible, the web-slinger sealed the room with a coat of webbing, exhausting an entire cartridge.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Spider-man didn't bother to reload his web-shooters, instead moving towards the console. The room began to shake harder, and the whine became more horrendous by the minute. It would be hard for any normal man to stand up. However, Spider-Man had the balance of a spider, as well as its strength and agility; along with his ability to adhere to any surface, the web-slinger had a steady footing.
Standing behind the console, Spider-Man saw that it was a mess, but a workable one. There were cracks here and there, and some wiring was exposed, but the information on the screen seemed reliable, and the controls worked.
However, despite Spider-Man's previous boast, the console itself, and its controls, seemed beyond his understanding. It took a few seconds for him to get a hold of his bearings and understand how to work the buttons and the dials in a proper manner.
Once he got the basics, his fingers worked furiously on the console, tapping buttons and turning dials. And as this happened, the room began to shake as if the Earth itself were being torn apart and the whine coming out of the portal turned into a roar. Idle things that had been lying about in the room, knocked over by the terrible fight with the Doombots, and indeed, the Doombots themselves were suddenly sucked into the portal by a strong attractive force.
Spider-Man held on dearly to the console as he figured the situation out. He read the data on the screen. The portal it seemed, no longer opened to the Negative Zone. The readings were too different. It seemed that the portal opened to another world entirely. However, the information was too incomplete. Either way, as things were, the entire city of New York would be sucked in, as Dr. Doom would have wanted.
The wall-crawler could only see one solution and that was to cut off the portal's power and hope it weakened, but it would take time. Guided in part by his own scientific education and in the other part by his spider-sense, he typed in more commands and turned the dials several times. He ripped out a panel and let it fly into the portal and began to tamper with the wires, redirecting electric currents and making sure that everything worked as it should.
And then, things began to come together. The portal's power was fading away. He still felt it tugging at him, but by the time the portal had gained enough strength to drag within it all of New York, it would have no power to do so.
Beneath his mask, Spider-Man allowed himself to smile. He might see Aunt May after all.
Spider-Man's spider-sense hit him like a truck. The portal roared one last time. Spider-Man held tightly to the console, but soon that turned into a vain gesture; the console itself, despite being strongly attached to the building itself, succumbed to the immense pressure it had been subjected to. It was ripped off of the floor, taking Spider-Man with it. Desperately, Spider-Man reached out and aimed for the wall. He tapped his web-shooters. To his dismay, nothing happened, and he flew aimlessly into the black void.
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'No one with a rack this great should be this bored,' Power Girl thought to herself.
She didn't mind monitor duty; she wasn't a fucking brat like some of the younger members, who just wanted to have fun putting out fires and punching bad guys. It was a really important position, if you thought about it, worthy of having an actual superhero spending their precious time sitting in front of a computer like some Star Trek fanboy. If anything came up, it took the wisdom and maturity that came from actually being out in the field to determine who should be assigned where, what crises required intervention and which could be handled by the proper authorities, and most importantly, if any of the distress signals they picked up were traps.
Karen felt very appreciated to be trusted with that responsibility, practically leading the JLA, really. It would just be nice if something were actually happening.
Since the defeat of the Luthors Secret Society of Supervillains and Darkseids invasion, about seventy-seven percent of the Earth's supervillain population was jailed. The remainder were, by and large, small-time criminals—or those presumed dead but with no corpse (so, probably not dead). Thus every supervillain on Earth was either in prison or lying low. There were no volcanoes. No wars. No tidal waves. No riots. No earthquakes. No meteors. Everyone, including the superheroes, seemed to be staying home and enjoying a well-deserved rest.
Except for Karen, who had monitor duty.
She wished she had a boyfriend. This would be a great time for some phone sex, and she was sure she wasn't the only one who'd thought so. Every time Vixen wrapped up a shift on monitor duty, the place smelled like fish.
In lieu of that, could she watch The Walking Dead on the big monitor? Yes, she could, but would Batman know about it? Yes, he would—but could she beat him up if he said anything about it? Probably.
Then again, she was supposed to be monitoring, and that meant checking in on her teammates. Making sure none of them had been captured, tortured, made to watch CBS, whatever. And if the spy satellites happened to pick up anything—interesting—well, she'd just stop watching. Eventually. Once she was sure no one was going to be tortured.
Karen was pretty sure she'd just figured out why Flash and Booster never volunteered for monitor duty so much. And here she'd thought it was a great thing too.
Just then the monitors went off, indicating an anomaly appeared on Earth, a portal to be more precisase.
"Batman, this is Power Girl we have a situation here..." Power Girl said over the radio.
To Be Continued...
Authors Notes:
Character Ages:
Power Girl: 20
Supergirl: 16
Spider-Man: 20
Superman: 28
Batman: 27