I stood at the edge of the roof of St. Bart's hospital, watching two men walk into the building. I smirked. They would do nicely. One was tall and gangling in a blue scarf, black trench coat and a mop of black messy hair. The other was his complete opposite, short and built in a leather jacket and crew cut blonde hair. They were talking about the latest case they were solving. The tall man was a genius with an analytical mind to rival even mine, while the other was a doctor. So there was the leader and the healer of their team. I smiled to myself again and vanished.
I reappeared in the corner of a control room. A central circular panel with a tall, lighted column was in the center of the room. Around the room there were doors, leading off into many directions. A man in a pinstriped suit and black framed glasses was running around, pressing buttons and pulling levers and turning dials, constantly looking at the lighted column. Two people were watching him work. One was a built man with dark brown hair who was standing off to himself, a longing in his eyes when he looked at the eccentric man spinning a dial. The other, a woman, was oblivious to his torment, as she watched the insane man rush around the control room. She had black hair pulled back in a ponytail, dark skin, and seemed to be very determined to get both men's affections. I didn't doubt her abilities to compete, yet had very little faith that she would be the choice. But the one who was currently bracing himself against the central panel and looked to his companions to do the same would work wonderfully. The other two were his choice, and therefore his responsibility. Satisfied, I disappeared again.
The final time, I reappeared in the kitchen of an old ranch house. The place was warm and homey. Every available surface was littered in books, some on folklore, others on angel lore, still others on hell lore; anything relating to anything not human was somewhere there, not to mention an unprecedented amount of firepower. I observed the two impossible brothers reading some books on Greek Mythology. One was tall with long brown hair that fell in his face and welcoming brown eyes. The other was muscularly built, shorter with bright green eyes, and was almost falling asleep. Happiness flowed through me at the sheer humanity of this situation. They would work well indeed. They were hunters after all; survival is in their blood. Contented, but more than a little curious as to who else they would choose, I reappeared in my quarters. Now to plan a little scavenger hunt to get these very different universes to collide for my "game".
One week later, I was standing in an abandoned warehouse, waiting for the people I asked for to make their entrance. I heard screeching tires and flying gravel, followed by a door screeching open and being slammed shut. A heavy person sprinted up the stairs. I closed my eyes and scanned his body. He had two handguns and two knives on him, a demon blade and an angel blade. The man peered around the corner, one of the guns out and at the ready. He caught my eye.
"Dean Winchester. How are you today?" I asked coolly. Dean stayed tense, his gun still aimed at my chest.
"Confused. How-" he begun to ask, but was cut off by a screeching that cut through the air, beaming in and out of the room. A blue police box appeared in front of us. I watched Dean turn his gun on the box, rolling my eyes. The door opened and the man from the control room popped his head out.
"Hello!" he singsonged at us, jumping out of the box and walked right up to examine me.
"You're not human," he stated. I nodded. Dean's eyes widened and his aim switched between me and the man staring at me.
"Hello, Doctor." The Doctor jumped back in surprise.
"How-" But he was also interrupted by the sound of another car outside. This was a taxicab that pulled up and let out the man in the blue scarf.
"Ah, Mr. Holmes, how are you?" The tall man glanced at me, disinterested. I addressed all three of them.
"Doctor, Dean Winchester, Sherlock Holmes. You are all here because you have been chosen across time, space and alternate universes to compete in my challenge. Now what this may entail, I will explain. There will be four "rounds" in this challenge. One in each of your universes, and the final in one of my choosing. Each of you will be a team, consisting of three people: a leader, a healer, and a woman, or intelligence. They are yours to decide, however you must keep to the order. My dear Doctor, you choose first. Mind you, they can be anyone from ANY time." Confusion spread across the Doctor's face before he cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"I choose Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness as my team."
"A wise and rather predictable choice. The woman shall obviously be Rose and Jack will be the healer." I turned and energy built in my hands. I took a breath and blew gold dust out of my cupped palms. Out of the dust formed a blonde-haired woman and a tall, built man. The Doctor's hands flew to his mouth in shock.
"How- but she-"
"Questions should be kept for later, my dear friend. Mr. Holmes, you are next." Sherlock stepped forward, glared at me, and then fixed his gaze on a point behind me.
"John Watson and Molly Hooper will work for mine." I smiled again.
"Another good choice. John will be the healer and Molly the woman."
Energy built up in my hands again, but this time I snapped, and they appeared out of nowhere. John was shocked, but visibly relaxed when he spied Sherlock. Molly maintained her confusion. I turned to the last person.
"Dean? You are last but not least." Dean steeled his features and step forward.
"I choose Sam Winchester and Castiel as my team. Cas, you gotta make him an angel again."
"Done." The ritual with gold dust was repeated. Sam stretched, and Castiel stayed tense as he looked around in confusion.
"Sir, you said there must be a woman. Dean chose no woman," Sherlock reasoned.
"Actually, Mr. Holmes," I explained, "Angels are neither male, nor female. Therefore Castiel works well. Castiel shall be the healer and Sam the intelligence." I turned to Sam. "My apologies but that is how the powers are designed in your case." Sam shrugged. I addressed the group of now nine people.
"And now for the fourth and final team. First, from the Winchester universe, Lucifer." I snapped, and Lucifer materialized. His face split into an evil grin at Castiel's visibly distraught face, and sent a suggestive wink at Sam. Dean stiffened in response.
"Next, from the Doctor's universe, The Master." Gold dust turned into a blonde-haired man, strangely resembling Lucifer. He sneered at the Doctor. Rose showed confusion, whilst Jack showed only horror.
"And last, from Mr. Holmes' world, James Moriarty." I snapped, and a cocky dark-haired man in a black suit appeared, beaming at Sherlock's obvious discomfort, then stood next to the others. I cleared my throat.
"The rules are very simple. Don't die, and don't lose anything or anyone. Each round will have an item pertaining to each of the members of your team. Your goal is to retrieve those items. By the end of the third round, you should have three items in your possession, each in the care of the person they pertain to. The final round will be to defeat the member of the fourth team from your individual universe." I waved my hand, and three scrolls formed in mid air.
"On each of these scrolls is a list of objectives you will have along the way. Complete the objectives and retrieve the item, and you will advance to the next round. Good luck." I raised my hands to clap to send them into the challenge when I remembered the most important thing. "Oh, and I forgot. Fail a challenge and you will be erased from existence."
"Yeah, no pressure or anything," Jack grumbled. Smiling, I clapped and everything went black.