Disclaimer: So, I just recently went on to see Marvel's Doctor Strange. Needless to say… IT WAS AWESOME. I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't already.
That being said, I don't own the rights to Marvel or DC.
Chapter VII
A single arrow struck the target dead center and then a second one struck the same point mere centimeters from the first. A third arrow followed and struck the target just like the first two. Clint stood at the far end of the trailing room. He looked up at the target and smirked at his handy work. He readied another arrow and let it fly, but it never reached the target. Clint readied another arrow and shot it, but that one didn't reach the target either. Clint knew it was the Flash messing with his shots and readied another arrow. He let it loose, this time in a curved angle.
From the arrow's point of view, it traveled across the training room at lightning speed. Then the tip of the arrow halted suddenly directly in front of the Flash's face. The Flash had the arrow in his hand and thus managed to catch it. Clint lowered his bow and leered at the Flash, who removed his mask to reveal his face. Clint was mildly surprised at how young the Flash, or Barry Allen, appeared. He wasn't as young as Raven but had to at least be in his 20's. It almost made Clint feel old by comparison.
Barry smiled at Clint and said, "Nice arrows, man; not nearly as nice as Oliver's arrows, or even stylish with the silly purple color and all that. Seriously, does everyone in your world even where that much purple?"
"I don't know. Do you ever shut up?" Clint asked.
Barry slipped behind Clint without him even noticing until Barry replied, "Nope."
"Geez, stop doing that!" Clint said just as Barry slipped away from him.
Barry reappeared appeared back in the same spot he was standing before. "Sorry, bad habit. So, do you guys have any speedsters in your world?"
"We've got a couple. One's a mutant and one's an Inhuman." Clint stated.
"What's the difference?"
"Well, mutants are born with genetic abnormalities, but Inhumans manifest their power from crystals. The results tend to be a little difference between the two. I'm pretty sure Quicksilver would give you a run for your money." Clint said with a smirk.
"Yeah right. Green Arrow would make you look like an amateur." Barry quipped as if he was challenging Clint's theory.
"Sure, okay. So is this Green Arrow guy another member of your little group of super friends?" Clint asked.
"First of all, we're called the Justice League and second, Oliver Queen is one of my best friends. He just hasn't been interested in joining up full time." Barry explained.
"With a last name like Queen, I wouldn't want to join up either." Clint mocked.
"At least Oliver doesn't wear purple on his outfit." Barry countered back.
"Says the guy with lightning bolts on both sides of his head. If you're trying to get HBO, you're doing a bang-up job." Clint snapped.
Barry laughed at the barb and retorted, "Oh, that's a good one. What about your magic users, huh? We've got Zatanna and Dr. Fate and Vixen. I'm not really sure if Vixen's powers count as magical but…"
"Big deal. On my world, we've got Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch. FYI; Scarlet Witch is the twin sister of Quicksilver and they're the children of Magneto, one of my world's most powerful mutants." Clint retorted back with a smirk.
"Yeah, we'll I'll bet this Magneto guy wouldn't last five minutes against A.M.A.Z.O. and he's an android." Barry countered.
"This A.M.A.Z.O. sounds like a toaster on steroids." Clint countered back.
"What are you idiots doing?" a voice asked, and Clint and Barry looked up to see Arthur Curry at the training room entrance.
Barry thought quickly and replied, "Uh, we're comparing notes on the differences between our two universes." Clint smiled and nodded.
Arthur approached the bantering heroes. His scowl spoke volumes as he closely studied Clint, while Barry slowly backed away. Barry knew how Arthur got when he was annoyed, as if he was aquatic equivalent of Batman. Arthur stood over Clint like a shadow. Clint didn't back down and tightened his grip on his bow. As much as he knew that he wasn't going to last very long against Aquaman, and less against Superman, Clint was determined not to show even the slightest hint of cowardice. But Arthur took a step back and, in lightning quick fashion than gave Barry a moment of pause, he snatched Clint's bow from him.
"You're brave. I'll give you that." Arthur said.
"Comes with the territory of being an Avenger." Clint said with an air of confidence.
Arthur held the bow in his hands and examined it closely. "This bow shows some remarkable craftsmanship. The multitude of arrows in your arsenal warrants considerable preparation from whoever you fight from time to time."
"Yeah well, when you've been an Avenger for as long as I have, you could stand to make a few adjustments… even if most of those adjustments are unwanted from Stark," Clint said and tried to take the bow, but it wouldn't budge from Arthur's grip. "Can I have it back now?"
Arthur pulled on the bow and on Clint, bringing the Avenger face to face with the Atlantian King. "Just make sure that when the fighting starts, you know who it is you're shooting." Then Arthur let the bow go.
Clint nearly dropped to the floor before Barry zipped in to catch him. "That's good advice coming from a fish whisperer."
Arthur was already by the training room entrance where he stopped and said out loud, "I don't 'talk to fish'. I communicate telepathically with most forms of oceanic life. There's a difference." Then Arthur left the room.
"Right well, I'll be sure to remember that the next time you decide to RELEASE THE KRAKEN," Clint shouted while flailing his arms in the air, while Arthur was already gone. He then said to Barry, "That guy's a dick."
Barry then claimed, "Don't worry about Arthur. Once you take the time to get to him a little better, you'll find he's… pretty much still a dick."
"Victor Stone, if I may be allowed to inquire…" Vision said to Cyborg.
Cyborg warily replied, "Uh… what?"
"I would like to inquire exactly how it is that you came to be." Vision said.
"Yeah, I'm actually pretty curious about that myself." Bruce Banner added.
Cyborg didn't like talking about how he became Cyborg, not even to his fellow Teen Titans back on Earth, his universe's Earth. But he had a hunch that Bruce and Vision weren't going to drop it even if he asked super politely. On the other hand, Cyborg was curious about Vision and Bruce. He was hoping they tell him about themselves after he told them about him. It certainly didn't hurt to find it.
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. Before I became what I am, I was a star quarterback on my college football team. My Dad though, he didn't see the benefits at the time."
"Why not? It sounds like you would've had a promising career if you went pro." Bruce stated.
"We weren't on the best of terms, you know? Dad's a good man and a brilliant scientist, but he often chose his work over me. That was up until I was injured to the point where he had to fuse a Mother Box to my mangled body." Cyborg explained.
"Ouch." Bruce quipped.
"Hey, it all worked out in the end. Now I'm a superhero and luckily, me and Dad are still on speaking terms, more or less," Cyborg claimed with a slight smile. "So Bruce, how'd you end up being able to…
"Turn into an enormous green rage monster? That tends to happen when you're a foremost expert in gamma radiation and you happen to be downwind of a gamma explosion… and then you're constantly being hunted by the military while trying to cure your condition." Bruce said as if trying in vein to make it a joke.
"Damn. I thought I had it bad." Cyborg commented. "How do you control it?"
Bruce's eyes seemed bulge before rolling into the back of his head. He let out a sign and replied, "With a lot of effort… and anger management."
"Dr. Banner must maintain control over his emotional state at all times. Should he become agitated, he will transform into the Hulk who, at times, has little control over his actions." Vision clarified and, unknowingly, slightly embarrassed Bruce.
"Thank you, Vision." Bruce sarcastically quipped.
"You are welcome, Dr. Banner."
Cyborg looked at Vision and said, "Uh huh. You know what, Bruce? You and Raven would get along great as long as one doesn't kill the other."
"Agreed." Bruce said.
Natasha was restless, laid up in the bed in the Watchtower's infirmary and looking out the window at the Earth below. It wasn't even her Earth and she longed to be groundside. Captain Marvel had gone down to Earth with Green Lantern, Captain America was with Batman and Iron Man was likely giving Superman a hard time. Here was Natasha Romanoff, laid up on an orbital platform with bandaged ribs over her exposed midsection, in nothing else other than a sports bra, and she was antsy to get back to work in finding Thor… and maybe, possibly kicking Doctor Doom's mask off his mangled face. She had enough of lazing about and started to move off the bed.
The first move she made, sitting up from the bed, instantly made her wince of stinging pain. It felt that much worse than the number of times that Bucky Barnes, Cap's old war buddy now as the Winter Soldier, had knocked the snot out of her from time to time. Natasha made it clear earlier that she didn't like Wonder Woman, especially after that Amazon nearly killed her. Putting that image out of her mind, Natasha moved her leg to the bedside and put her feet on the floor. The pain in her ribs was there, forcing her to clench her sides as she walked to where the top half of her bodysuit was resting. She was thankful that her bodysuit could be separated into two halves as she picked up the upper half and started putting it on… with stinging effort.
"You shouldn't be out of bed, Natasha." a voice said, and Natasha looked to see Wonder Woman standing at the door.
"That's some bedside manner you have there… Diana," Natasha snapped as if trying to anger Wonder Woman. "Anyway, I'd prefer not to laid up in an infirmary. I'd rather be either working or training… or both."
"I'm guessing you're not fond of hospitals." Diana surmised.
"I'm also not fond of getting thrashed by an Amazon. Then again, we have a She-Hulk back in our universe." Natasha said.
"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult. Either way, you still need time to recover completely before even considering going back on the field." Diana explained.
"Look, I've been in worse situations than this. I've fought with the Avengers against gods and robots and time-travelling despots." Natasha snapped, wincing on every word.
"But you've never fought Darkseid; none of you have. You don't want to take him lightly." Diana stated, but Natasha zipped up her bodysuit, holstered her guns and started walking for the doorway.
Natasha stopped next to Diana and asked without looking at her, "Did you take Doom lightly?" Then she walked out.
Diana stood alone and thought to herself, Yes, we did.
Natasha didn't care to wait for a reply from Diana and walked out into the hallway. She was holding her right arm across her ribcage and wincing at every step she took. Her teeth were grinding together as the pain in her sides seemed to come and go at every moment. She felt a particularly sharp pain in her ribs and had to steady herself against with her free hand placed on the wall. She stopped and tried to breathe, and it was as laborious as trying to keep Steve and Tony from arguing about heroic morality.
She pushed herself to continue on down the hall. Her intent was to see about finding Clint or Bruce or Vision. Deep breaths in between steps helped Natasha even though it wasn't by much. The spacing was becoming wider around Natasha and she was grateful that the Watchtower wasn't cramped. She had no idea that in her arduous journey, she wandered into the mess hall. It was wide open and devoid of life, which Natasha understood considering the locations of her friends. She found her way to the nearest table and she sat down the seat beside. The seat was hard as rock but at least it had a backrest. Natasha leaned back and breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that she wasn't alone in the mess hall.
Raven sat on the floor nearby, or more accurately, she was levitating just inches above the floor. She either didn't register Natasha's presence or was too focused on her meditation to care. Natasha seemed to understand and allowed Raven to meditate without disturbing her. While she sat quietly to catch as much of her breath as possible, Natasha looked the giant viewport at the Earth below. She had to repeatedly remind herself that it wasn't her Earth.
"You shouldn't be out of bed." Raven suddenly said without breaking her meditation.
Natasha was mildly startled and replied, "So I've been told. So, you must be Raven. Or, do you prefer Rachel?"
"Does it matter?" Raven asked.
Natasha lightly shook her head in the negative. "No offense, but you look a little young to be a member of this universe's group of heroes."
"Technically, I'm more of a reserve member. Cyborg asked me to keep him company while he worked along with Superman and Wonder Woman and the rest of the team. He and I are members of the Teen Titans." Raven explained.
"Never heard of them, but I'm guessing their… kids. Teenagers."
"Is that a problem in your universe?" Raven asked without looking at Natasha for even a second.
Natasha chuckled and asked, "Are you kidding? Our universe is literally chockfull of teenage heroes. Some are part of larger groups, others are independent and there are at least a handful of reserve members. Just be glad you haven't met Spider-Man."
Raven actually stopped her meditation to look at Natasha with a look of confusion. "Spider-Man?!"
"Yeah; great hero, tremendous upside, very intelligent and he can pretty much do whatever a spider can. Just don't get him talking 'cause he hardly ever shuts up." Natasha claimed with raised eyebrows.
"That sounds a lot like Beast Boy, actually. He's pretty overly talkative too, but he has courage when it counts." Raven said, and Natasha sensed something there was something more out Raven regarding Beast Boy. She didn't pry.
"I guess our two Earths have a little more in common than either of us thinks they do." Natasha said and stood up to leave, once more feeling the pain in her ribs.
Raven then said, "You don't have to leave."
"You did say I shouldn't be out of bed." Natasha reminded Raven.
"I changed my mind. In fact, you're welcome to join in my meditations if you like. Just don't make any sudden moves." Raven said.
"I'm not really much of the meditating type, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I mean, Doctor Strange does it, so why I shouldn't I?" Natasha said as she approached Raven.
"I have no idea who that it," Raven replied as Natasha slowly sat beside her. Once Natasha was seated with her legs crosses like hers, Raven said to her. "Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Stay focused and relaxed…"
Natasha was out of her element and she knew it, but she followed Raven's instructions closely. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, laboring to breathe despite her ribs hurting. Raven did the same, minus the labored breathing and focused on her meditations. While Raven had as easy a time at meditation, Natasha found her time a little bit more daunting. But she continued without pausing. As peculiar as it seemed, Natasha felt as if her ribs were actually starting to heal little by little. Maybe it was her imagination.
Unknown to both of them, Diana was watching the whole thing. Her first instinct was to grab Natasha and bring her back to the infirmary so she could recover properly, but she'd have risked Raven's ire in more ways than one as well as cause more harm to Natasha. Instead, she allowed them to meditate together while she looked on. If there was anything Diana would've learned about Natasha or the rest her friends, it was that they didn't appear at all likely to turn down a challenge. Diana inwardly hoped that would be enough when the time came to travel to Apokolips.
A commercial airliner flew through the skies and inside the cockpit, the pilots busied themselves with keeping the plane straight and level. Their flight path was good; it was a relatively clear night sky with little to no turbulence to make it a problem. The passengers within the plane were all calm and relaxed. Some were either sleeping soundly or busy reading or watching the in-flight movie. One passenger was a young boy of 10 or 11 years old sitting by a window seat. He was playing with a Superman action figure modeled to be almost identical to the actual Man of Steel.
Then he looked out of his window and his eyes widened in disbelief. A blonde haired woman in a full bodysuit and surrounded be a glowing yellow aura was flying right beside the plane just above the right wing. She looked into the window at the wide-eyed boy whose own mouth was agape and gave him a crisp salute followed by a playful wave. Then as quickly as she appeared in the sky, she disappeared into the clouds. The boy was frantic to get the attention of his mother who was currently reading a book.
"Mommy, did you see the lady outside the plane? She was right there. Mommy?"
The mother, without looking at her son, simply replied, "That's nice, Billy."
The boy, Billy looked right back out the window to see if the woman would return, but she didn't reappear. As the plane continued on its path to its destination, Captain Marvel reappeared from behind a thick cloud. She had a sly grin on her face knowing that she left a lasting impression on the boy on the plane. It was all spur-of-the-moment. Captain Marvel grew up an Air Force brat and she had a huge love of airplanes. It seemed natural to be flying alongside one, be it a passenger jet or a fighter jet. She usually preferred the latter.
It wasn't until Green Lantern appeared behind her that Captain Marvel's grin vanished slightly. "Not for nothing, but that was just mean." he said.
"Mean? Maybe. Fun? Absolutely," Marvel enthusiastically claimed. "So, you were going to show me your old stomping ground, right?"
"I guess so. I'll race you there." Green Lantern right before he bolted away before Captain Marvel could protest.
Green Lantern was already well ahead of Captain Marvel, flying at breakneck speed across the sky with the carefree reckless abandon that was inherited from his time as a test pilot. It was something that Captain Marvel fully understood as a pilot herself, and she increased her speed to catch up with Green Lantern. She did catch up with him and, like she did with the boy on the plane, she gave Green Lantern a smirk and a salute. Then she bolted ahead of him, leaving Lantern in surprise. But it was the type of surprise that enjoyed when flying and he bolted after Captain Marvel.
It became a race between them and they were flying neck and neck, trading the lead several times at any given moment. Green Lantern held the held the lead for a time before Captain Marvel took it away. She lost the lead back to Green Lantern while he flew further out of reach. Captain Marvel wasn't about to lose so easily and put every ounce of energy she had into her flight. Lantern believed himself to be well ahead before Captain Marvel flew right passed him and in the process, she ended up breaking the sound barrier. Disbelief welled up in Green Lantern before he cracked a smile of his own and flew off after her.
After a long race, Green Lantern ultimately took the lead and led Captain Marvel all the way to their destination: Ferris Airfield. This was Green Lantern's old stomping grounds; his home away from home. He looked back and saw Captain Marvel closing in on him. With a wry smirk, he slowed his flight and a moment later, Captain Marvel flew passed him toward the airfield. Captain Marvel made to the ground and waited for Green Lantern to land beside her.
"Damn, I guess you beat me. You're faster than I thought, Marvel." Lantern claimed even though Marvel was on to him.
"Please, you let me win." she accused.
"Well, maybe a little." Lantern quipped.
Marvel shook her head in amusement before turning her attention to the airfield. "So this is where you got started, huh? Not bad if I do say so myself."
"Yep, this airfield's where I got my start as a test pilot. That was before I ended up getting this power ring and became basically a space cop. Pretty weird, huh?" Lantern said.
"Tell me about that later, Hal. Right now, you should give me a tour of this place, one pilot to another pilot." Captain Marvel said.
Hal was not even surprised that Captain Marvel addressed him by his real name, so he replied, "Whatever you say, Carol. Follow me."
Author's note: Well, that's a wrap for this latest chapter. Again, not a lot of major action but really more interactions between the Avengers and the Justice League.
You have Hawkeye and Flash being those funny, comic relief guys with poor Aquaman caught in the middle.
Cyborg, Bruce and Vision are discussing the circumstances of their origins, while Natasha and Diana not liking each other before Nat meets and meditates with Raven… because, sure why not?
Hal and Carol (Danvers) compete in a race to Farris Airfield, and there'll be more of that in the next chapter.
Fun fact: the boy on the plane is named Billy and he was playing with a Superman action figure… than just happened to see Captain Marvel flying. Yeah, it's a reference to Billy Batson/Shazam. No, I will NEVER include Shazam in this story. He's easily my LEAST favorite hero in the DC Universe, but that's just my opinion.
Anyway, I'll be back soon with another chapter, but keep the flames low. Peace out.
