It was white. All around, it was white. Logan looked down at himself, and with surprise realized that he hadn't noticed that he was still in uniform. The Darkclaw costume hugged his body like a second skin; one that shielded him from most of the hazards of his chosen field of work: crimefighting.
As his eyes scanned the place around him, nothing seemed to help. All he heard were his own bodily functions. All he saw was white, white that went on forever. Nothing revealed anything.
"Hello?" He called.
"Who are you?" His own voice, strangely tinted by a crude accent, grunted back at him. He spun on his heels, lifting his claws to the ready, ignoring the spike of pain that came with them. What he saw was himself, claws raised at the ready, like his own. But the mirror image he was presented with wore no costume. The face seemed older, if that were possible in his flesh, as if the mirror image had weathered greater pain than he.
For some time, they were both speechless; their noses reached for answers, where there were none to be found. All they could smell were their own scents.
"I am Darkclaw," he told this mirror image. The other one tilted his head a bit.
"Nice to meet you. The name's Logan," and with that, the claws were drawn back into his own flesh, and the strange doppelganger's hand outstretched in greeting. Darkclaw withdrew his claws, but let his hands fall to his side. After a moment, the other's hand dropped. "Not much of one for bein' polite, are you?"
"What is this place?"
"Not a clue. Looks like some kind of illusion. Or some extradimensional construction."
"Perhaps some kind of communication between planes?" Another voice, one different from those heard so far, growled through the air. Both men spun, their fists up, their eyes finding the man decked in black. Darkclaw thought his suit had a remarkable resemblance to his own, in both utility and symbolism. What came to mind, however, was a bat most of all. Darkclaw had utilized the bat as part of his inspiration for his image, but this man seemed to stop at that.
"What is this, a Halloween party?" The other Logan said roughly.
"Do you know what this place is?" Darkclaw asked the man-bat.
"No more than you do, if my hunch is correct. But that is why we are all here. Someone has decided to show us."
"A very astute deduction, Batman," yet another voice rang out.
"Will you stop doin' that?" The other Logan grunted fiercely. A man that Darkclaw recognized as Dr. Strangefate stood about fifteen feet away from the three of them.
"You, I should have realized you'd be involved," Darkclaw stated darkly.
"I bear no ill will, Darkclaw, calm yourself."
"Your helmet, it resembles that of Fate's," Batman voiced his own observation.
"And the rest of you looks like Dr. Strange," Logan grunted.
"You are all correct."
"Yes, you are."
All three men turned to face two others.
"My colleagues, Fate and Dr. Strange. One of you should know one of us." Dr. Strangefate lifted both hands, each introducing yet another shadowy figure. Dr. Strange was the only one with his face revealed.
"We got that," Logan grunted. "What do you three magic freaks want with us?"
"Assistance." Strangefate answered curtly.
"What kind of assistance?" Batman seemed used to talking to those magically inclined.
"There are three individuals that are upsetting the balance of each of our three universes. One from each universe. The three of you are in key positions to stop their meddling. If they continue what they're doing, they can upset the balance between universes enough to cause the implosion of each."
"Who are these three men?" Darkclaw probed.
"You would know the one called Green Skull best," Strangefate answered.
"Batman, you would know Lex Luthor," Fate added.
"And you, Logan," Strange started.
"Let me guess, the Red Skull?" Strange only nodded with a smile.
"I've always liked you Logan," Strange added.
"Too bad the feeling's not mutual. How are we supposed to stop them?"
"They each have a machine, each in their respective strongholds, that has the power to bridge the gap between worlds. What it does, is create portals between dimensions. Interestingly, it needs something from the foreign plane to work, so that the machine can tune itself to the foreign plane's frequency. Then the portal becomes a tuning fork, emanating the foreign frequency. That is what is causing the imbalance. With the tuning fork method, each machine is interfering with its own universe's frequency. Every time they are used, they fluctuate their own space-time worse than the last time. It is not enough to simply destroy the machines. You must make sure that the machines are never made again." Strangefate explained.
"Sounds simple enough to me," Logan said sarcastically. Darkclaw was finding him both amusing, and annoying.
"Again, how are we supposed to do this?" Batman asked gravelly.
"Each of you has the best resources available to you. We do not exactly care ourselves with your methods, as long as you do it. For you, three, are the best candidates for this assignment, we have made sure of that." Fate responded.
"You're all always so high and mighty. Why don't you do something about it yourselves?"
"We are. We are coming to you. We have our hands full with other things, almost constantly. Like intergalactic super-intelligences that want to destroy our respective Earths. Like cross-dimensional predators wanting to suck the life-force out of every living being in our galaxy. And like demonic energies trying to empower dead bodies to life, hoping to turn Earth into a giant garden for the undead." Strange scolded. Logan only nodded quietly.
"Now that it is morning, we shall release you from our spell, but remember, you don't have much time. According to our estimates of how much they're using the gates, you have less than three months to stop them." Strangefate stated. "Be well, and do not fail us." And with that, everything faded away. Darkness enveloped them back into the embrace of sleep.