Title: "Episodic"

Rating: T

Genre: adventure, friendship

Character(s): the kids of the Lab Rats and Mighty Med universes, plus many, many, MANY faces familiar to those who had been with Disney XD from the start

Summary: "I told them never to touch that thing." Or: the Elite Force plus a guest find themselves scattered throughout different universes and timelines. With their absences causing a strain to their own universe, will they all make it back in time, or will complications cause lasting and permanent damage?

Notes: This idea's been swilling in my head awhile. A post on tumblr (a false one, though) indicated that Disney XD will be shutting down soon. It ain't. Still, that rumor jolted me into memory lane. Yo, DXD's about 9 years old now. I still remember when they were promoting it on Disney Channel. Funny how time goes by, huh?

This is also partly inspired by DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, at least the plot on the comics. Is anyone else excited for the TV event? It's coming in a few months. Ugh, I can't wait! XD

Thanks in advance for reading! Bonus points if you can guess which three shows are featured in these first (and future) chapters!

01. reality is a complex, complex thing

Leo's eyes popped open at the sound of a horn bellowing at the distance. He squinted, the light coming through the room much too much for this eyes, and got up.

He looked around. A framed Brock jersey by his bed, a pool table at a distance. The warmth and scent of the ocean outside. Obsessively tropical decor all over the room.

And Kaz. Kaz sleeping on the other bed adjacent to his.

Where were they?

"Rise and shine, My Kings!" boomed a baritone voice. If that wasn't enough, the man that came in, too muscular and tall to Leo's liking, sufficed to alarm him.

However, the man seemed as surprised to see him, though for a different reason. "Huh. That worked," he said. "Usually it takes me four tries to get you two to wake up."

Leo blinked. "Who are you?"

The man stared at him blankly. Then, he smirked. "Funny. I see you're getting started with the jokes already, Your Highness."

"Ugh, my head." Looking, Leo saw Kaz sitting up on his bed, a hand clutching his head. "I feel like someone just hit it with a baseball bat."

"Are you getting sick, Your Highness?" the man asked, sincerely concerned. "Should I get one of the doctors to take a look at you?"

Kaz, with a hand still covering the left side of his face, opened his right eye and looked up at the man. He glanced at Leo, and then the man again. "Who is this?" Kaz asked.

"I don't know, man!" Leo responded. "I've been asking him that same question."

Another person entered the room, taking both of their attention away from the disturbed expression that began to form on the man's face. She peered at both of them, paused thoughtfully, and then said, "Huh. I'll never thought I'll see the day. You guys woke up without the help of the royal rooster. That's an improvement."

"I think something is wrong," the man said.

"Something's wrong? What do you mean?" The girl gave them a quick scan. Satisfied, she said, "They look fine to me."

"Thanks. You're pretty fine yourself," Kaz said, grinning flirtatiously.

The girl rolled her eyes. "See? I told you they're okay."

The man observed them warily, unconvinced. "Do you know who you are?" he asked.

"Yes? I'm Leo, that's Kaz - but that wasn't the question I was asking." Then, remembering that the man could easily best him based on his stature alone, he added fearfully, "Sir."

The man and the young woman looked at each other. "'Sir'?" the young woman repeated. Now also worried, she asked, "Who are you?"

Leo frowned. Kaz, thoroughly confused, answered, "We just told you."

"No. Who are you to the people of this island?"

Leo and Kaz exchanged glances. "I don't know," Kaz said. "Which island are we talking about? Are we on the Bionic Island?"

"What's a...Bionic Island?" the girl asked.

"This is Kinkou, Your Highnesses," the man said.

"What's Kinkou?" Leo asked. "And what's up with the Your Highnesses and My Kings?"

"Is this a joke?" the girl asked, annoyed. "Because if this is, this is not funny."

"No, this isn't," Leo agreed. A smile of understanding slowly rose to his face. "This is a prank, though, isn't it? Who set this up? Adam?"

"Who's Adam?" the man asked.

The smile on Leo's face strained. "Adam. My brother."

The alarm was now undeniable on the man's eyes, which didn't help Leo's confidence over the situation any. "Leo, you only have one brother: Kaz," the man explained. Finding no recognition or memory on the boy's face, he added, "He's your...twin brother."

"Wait, what?!"

Kaz sighed, burying his whole face in his palms. "Yup. Definitely hit by a baseball bat."

"I'm going to get a doctor," the young woman told the man then left.

Once she was gone, the man asked, "King Kaz, you must remember my daughter's name."

Kaz thought about it. "No. Have I met her?"

The man stared. "Oh boy."

Deciding to take the offense, Leo stood up from his bed and said, "I – we – see that you're frustrated. We are too. All we know is that we're in some island called Kinkos, or something. We're..." he glanced at Kaz in confusion, "brothers or whatever. But besides that, we don't know anything else. I mean, are we being held hostage? Brainwashed? What are you trying to do here?"

"You're not being held hostage, King Leo. This is your island, your kingdom. You and King Kaz are safe."

Kaz gaped. "Kings? We're kings?"

"Yes. You inherited the throne from your father, from my good friend." With a look of loss, the man added, "I'm Mason, your royal advisor. You've known me for years. You don't remember me?"

To his dismay, he was met with sympathetic yet blanks stares.

"What do you remember?" Mason asked.

What do they remember? Leo racked his brain for what he could recall. His brain was still fuzzy from the bright Pacific sunlight and the early morning string of questionings. At first, it wasn't giving him much of anything.

"I'll go help Mikayla. Please stay here," Mason said before leaving them.

It was then the answer popped into Leo's head.

The same thought occurred to Kaz, too. Soon, the two of them were staring at each other. "Chase's project," Kaz said.

Leo huffed, annoyed. "I told them never to touch that thing," he said, plopping back on the bed as he understood how serious of a situation they've found themselves in.

. . .

Pain. Bree's body was wrought with pain when she came to on the lightly padded floor. She stared up the higher ceiling, her mind swimming with confusion. Where was she? And what was she doing on a cabin?

Suddenly, a familiar face, smiling and holding out his hand, popped into her view. "Sorry I flipped you so hard, Bree," he said. He shrugged. "You did kind of leave yourself open."

His face. She knew that face. It made her blood boil. It made her forget everything else save for one thought.

The boy watched as she got up, careful to keep her distance from him. He chuckled, finding her intense glower and refusal to take his hand awkward. "If you want, we can just make that a practice round."

How could he smile like that at her? After everything he had done to her and her family? "I thought I destroyed you years ago," she spat.

The boy frowned. "I'm sorry?"

"You died. I know it," Bree said. "I made sure of it."

There was a heavy pause. Then, "Man, Jack. How hard did you hit her?"

Looking, Bree saw four more boys watching them: one who was heavy-built and black, another who was lanky and auburn-haired, still another who was of medium build and Latino, and the oldest of them: a blond man in a taekwondo uniform. "I don't think it was that," the blond, smirking, told the boy sitting closest to him. Then, to the boy she was facing he said, "I thought you said the break-up went smoothly. This doesn't look like you both stayed friends." Then, he left.

Bree ignored the comments. She only saw one explanation as she looked into the boy's face: Giselle was back. Or, maybe, someone from their past was back, and they had brought Giselle's androids back to life to continue the villainess' plans.

Fooled me once, Troy, she thought.

"Okay, it's not like that," Jack told the others. Turning to her, he said, "Tell them, Bree. Tell them you're just messing around. You're just joking, right?"

"If you think you can come back and pick up where you left off, you're sadly mistaken," Bree said. She positioned into a battle stance, ready. "I will end you and your fellow trashcans."

Jerry gaped, placing a hand on his chest. "I told her I had to unfollow because my Insta account was hacked," he told the others sitting with him. "How can she say such hurtful things?"

However, Bree heard none of this. "You broke my heart, and you almost got Chase killed," she fumed, gazing into his eyes fierily. "Now I'll break you."

Jack backed up, holding up his hands as she moved. "Wait – Bree. Stop," Jack pleaded. "What's going on?"

Bree smirked as she walked backwards slowly, giving herself more room for what she was going to do next. "It's over, Troy. This is the end of the line for you." Then, she super sped forward to tackle him.

Jack flew a few feet in the air at impact. He hit the door, the glass on it cracking, before rolling down to the floor.

"Jack!" Milton cried out before running towards him.

Jerry, meanwhile, stared at Bree in fear and shock. "Did you just...What was that?"

"What happened?" Rudy asked, hurrying back in the room with a plate half-filled with food.

"Bree just..." But Jerry was soon after at a loss for words.

Bree felt satisfaction at seeing Troy on the floor, groaning and helpless. He should've known better than to break her heart years ago. Now he had at least an idea of how it felt like.

Still, there was something about everything that felt wrong. She had become more skilled and gained more abilities over the years, yes, but she didn't think that she would be that powerful that one hit would incapacitate Troy that quick and that hard. Also, he looked terrified when she attacked. It was as if he didn't know what was happening and what to do.

He was completely clueless.

"Whoever reprogrammed you must be dusty," she reasoned as she looked at the others. "You would think as androids that you would improve in time."

"What are you talking about?!" Milton screeched, desperately trying to get Jack to sit up. He looked over his friend's poor condition. Helpless, he looked to Rudy for help.

Rudy understood. "I'm gonna call for an ambulance."

"Is Jack okay?" Jerry asked.

"I don't know." Milton shot Bree a look, and it was the first time she realized that she had made a big mistake. "Jack, are you all right?"

"He's bleeding," Eddie said as Jack turned.

Bleed? Androids don't bleed. Bree stared in guilt and uncertainty as the three looked at her. One glance at Troy's form (who, she realized, they had been calling Jack since the beginning), and she saw their words to be true. Busted lip, bleeding nose.

Troy – Jack – whoever he was! – was a hot human mess.

"Who are you?" Bree asked the three of them, feeling as if this world held her in judgment for an insensible decision.

...

Chase jolted awake when the van hit a speed bump. The 'Sorry!' that came from the driver's seat up front was lost on him. Coming to, all he could see were discarded pieces of clothing, the black leather of the back seat, and the vehicle's carpeting that reeked of deep fried junk food.

He tried to sit up but found that his hands were bound behind him. He also wore a dress shirt, a tie, and brown slacks. The outfit wasn't as nice as the ones he usually wore, but...

It wasn't his. He didn't recognize it because it wasn't his.

He startled when someone's head popped over the backseat. "Ah, you're awake," the man said, his dark hair long and – was that a British accent? "I was starting to think we did something wrong."

"Is he awake?" Another man's face appeared above him. He was bigger, his blond hair curlier and shorter. He also appeared a lot happier than the first guy. "Hey, kid! You're up!"

"Where am I?" Chase asked warily.

"The old band van, my man!" the blond chirped. He chuckled. "Ooh, that rhymed."

"We've got 20 more minutes before the next stop," said the brunet. "We'll let you out then."

Chase struggled from his binds. Didn't work. The material was of leather, should be easily breakable, but with no super strength he wouldn't be able to get it off. The laser from the bo staff can cut it, but with such small space he would risk hurting himself. Molecular manipulation was a no-go too.

Reasoning, then. Maybe that would work. "If you pull over, you can let me out now," he said.

"Then what, risk people thinking we kidnapped you?" the brunet asked, smirking.

"Well, didn't you?"

The brunet thought about it.

The blond, on the other hand, said, "Kidnapping is too strong of a word," he said sheepishly, "one that I'm sure your mom doesn't need to hear about. Right, Chase?"

Chase frowned. "My mom?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's been years since we last saw each other, but she's never left my heart." The blond smiled as he stared off into a faraway dream. "She will always have my heart."

She? "Tasha?"

The blond looked back at him, snapped awake. "Who?" he asked.

"Tasha. You said my mom. Tasha's my mom's name—well, stepmom, technically, but—"

"I thought her name was Beth?" the brunet asked.

"Who's Tasha?" the blond asked.

"Who's Beth?" Chase asked.

"Your mother," the brunet asked. He frowned, observing him closely. "Ash, you told me we only gave him antihistamine."

"It was antihistamine!" the man called Ash yelled from the front. "And it was the kids' one because I was worried Chase would get hurt."

"You drugged me?" Chase exclaimed.

"Again, drugged might be too strong of a word to mention to your—"

"Burger," the brunet said. Chase wasn't sure if that was some kind of signal word to silence the blond or if it was his name. (He leaned a bit on the latter.) The brunet watched him a little longer then sighed. "Chase, we know you're still mad at us. We grew apart after we benched you from Iron Weasel, we haven't been answering your e-mails—"

"I've been keeping in contact with him!"

"Not the point, Ash," the brunet told him, annoyed. He sighed. "The point is, Chase: we did that for you. You were a bright kid. I mean, your grades were pretty dismal towards the end, and school was, understandably, not your favorite place, but we knew you needed another chance.

"After we played the Super Bowl, after the tours we had, we realized that there was nothing more to being a rock star than that. We were good with that; that's it for us. But you were young, and you had your mind set on that one thing. There's more to life, more for you to see. You weren't listening to us when we told you to go on a hiatus. So, we did what we thought was best."

"We didn't mean to hurt you, kid," the blond added, smiling apologetically. "We just wanted you to have better chances than we do. Something else to fall back on once everything ends."

"And believe us: many things in this business eventually end," the brunet said, a small smile on his face. "Stars die too, don't they?"

Chase could only stare at them. He was reading their sadness, even sensing the thick, palpable presence of it. Whoever they thought he was must have had a strong bond with all of them once upon a time. It saddened him to see it all, to hear their unspoken apologies and guilt.

What made it worse, though, was the knowledge that they have all gone spoken to someone who had zero context and connection to everything they had just mentioned.

Stars die too, don't they? Chase looked away. Maybe there was a connection there, only that the words meant something completely different to him.

He couldn't help but think about the team, about the eventuality that approached them that no one dared to speak of.

Stars die too, don't they?

He shook the thought off. He would not think of that right now, not ever.

Deciding that he wasn't kidnapped for a malicious purpose (which was a surprising first), he told them somberly, "My arms are starting to hurt. Can you please get this off of me?"

The two men exchanged glances. "Ash?"

"We're only about ten minutes away," Ash answered the brunet.

The brunet said nothing. Instead, he told Chase, "You're not even going to ask where we're taking you?"

"We're all friends, aren't we?" Chase replied wisely.

The brunet smiled sadly. Then, he left, moving to another seat.

The blond, on the other hand, grinned at him. "It's really nice to see you again, kid," he said.

"Hey, uh, Burger?" Chase spoke quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Can you...What do you know of Davenport Industries?"

Burger frowned. "Davenport Industries? What's that?"

"Tech company. Advanced technology, inventions." Hesitatingly, he asked, "Bionics?"

Burger racked his brain but came up with nothing. He shook his head. "I don't know if I'm the one to ask about those things, Chase," he said. "Maybe ask Derek? He knows more about the latest."

Davenport Industries, unknown? Almost everyone would have heard of them in one way or another. "So, superheroes..." "What about 'em?"

"You haven't heard of them or seen them on the news?"

Burger shrugged. "I've seen them on TV, but to be honest I prefer watching the movies. Marvel makes the best ones. DC's okay."

To double check the worrisome conclusion forming, Chase ventured, "It'd be nice if they were real, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. Too bad there aren't superheroes in real life," Burger said. At that, Chase felt his insides freeze. "Hey, by the way, you're not going to mention this to your mom, right?"

Chase, albeit stunned, shook his head.

Burger grinned. "Thanks, man," he said. Then, he moved back to his previous seat.

Where was he? In their world, in his world, superheroes were very much real. Children and adults knew of them. They saw them on the news daily, maybe even encountered them. How could they be mythical in this—

It all came flooding back to him. Mission Command. His invention. Leo yelling at him about an alternate universe. The black holes that formed. "Oh no," he mumbled, the dread of possibly never knowing how to get back home descending heavily on him.

tbc