CHAPTER I: OTHER WORLDS

New York City, New York, Planet Earth, Earth-616

Tony Stark had always been one for technology. Even since he was a little boy, computers fascinated him. His father, Howard, had been one of the most revolutionary scientists the world had ever seen. Or at least, that world. There were other worlds. He had been certain of that. He and the Avengers had never been to one...but there was one that particularly fascinated him. Apparently, it was called New Earth. Someone from that world had come to Stark's Earth. All he saw was...a red blur...

He was currently working on a portal. A portal that would take him to that Earth. All I need to do is replicate the portal that brought that thing here, thought Tony. He looked around. He was proud of himself. Stark had saved the world time and time again with the Iron Man armor. It was difficult for him to think that it had all started when he was captured.

After hours and hours of work, he had done it. Stark had created a portal to a different world. He couldn't believe it. Tony had a good reason not to believe it. He had no idea if the portal even worked. He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and called the Avengers. If something happened to him, he would probably need backup.

"Cap? Natalia? Spidey?" None of the Avengers answered. Then he heard a beep. It was a text from Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. The text read What do you need? Stark began to rapidly type a few words on his phone, specifically the words Come to the tower. He texted every other Avenger the same thing. By noon, Captain America, the Black Widow, Spider-Man, Thor, the Vision, and Ant-Man had arrived at the Avengers Tower.

"It's done," said Iron Man, "The portal is finished." None of them believed him. "Alright," he said, "Stand back." The Avengers did as he said, fearful of what would happen if the portal turned on. Relentlessly, Tony pushed the red button and opened the portal. A purple hole appeared in the middle of the portal, and expanded to a height almost three times that of Stark. Reluctant to go inside the portal, the Avengers simply stood there for a few moments. "I'll go first," said the Captain. Slowly and carefully, Steve Rogers entered the violet wormhole, disappearing. "Where is he?" said Thor. "Who the hell cares?" said Ant-Man, "Let's go after him!" They did. One after the other, each of the Avengers entered the portal, except Tony. Before entering the portal, Stark put on his Iron Man armor. On the shoulder of the armor, there were two things, a word and a number: Mark 42. After his armor was fully operational, the Iron Man entered the portal, leaving an unexplainable purple portal in the middle of Avengers Tower, where everyone could see it.

Gotham City, Gotham, Planet Earth, New Earth

The Batman stood on a gargoyle high above Gotham City. He waited anxiously for Jim Gordon to light the Bat-signal, but for three hours, it didn't come on. Afterwards, the signal was finally lit. He jumped off the gargoyle, extending his cape as he did so, and glided towards the roof of the G.C.P.D. Gordon was waiting for him there. While he was gliding, he thought deeply about the reason Bruce Wayne became Batman. Not a day went by when he didn't think about it. His parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, were shot and killed in an alley, and Gotham's hope died with them. For years, the city was hopeless. Bruce had taken the mantle of the Batman to make sure that no one else suffered what he had suffered.

When Batman arrived at the G.C.P.D, he let go of his cape, and landed on the roof. Gordon almost fell of his feet in surprise. He was expecting Batman's arrival, but at the same time, he wasn't.

"Jesus Christ," said Gordon, "You scared me for a second."

"I noticed," said the Dark Knight, "What's the trouble?"

"One of my units spotted a weird-looking robot flying over the city. No idea who or what it is. We hoped you might look into it."

"Thanks, Jim." Batman dove off of the building, and when he was about 3 feet from the ground, he extended his cape in order to land softly. He heard the roaring of an engine, and jumped high into the air. The Batmobile appeared out of nowhere, and Batman landed in the cockpit. He accelerated and headed straight towards the location of the "robot," as Gordon had called it. When he approached the location, Batman ejected out of the Batmobile, and the car came to a screeching halt. At first, the Caped Crusader saw nothing. He looked around. There was nothing to be found. What robot?

Suddenly, he heard a beeping noise. He pulled out his grapnel gun and soared into the air, grappling onto a nearby rooftop. He stood on a building, and a shining red and gold figure stood in front of him. "Who the hell are you?" it said. Wayne stared at the figure in slight disbelief. Not because of the man, but because the man had no idea who Bruce was. He lowered his head slightly, and in a serious, deep voice, he gave his usual reply: "I'm Batman."