A TANGLED WEB Part 8: Endgame
Chapter 23
by Charlie Nelson a.k.a. Ordinaryguy2
Updated: 2-6-2022
The main crossovers in this chapter include: The Addams Family (1964-1966); The Avengers (2012); Batman Beyond (1999-2001); The Colour of Magic (1983); DC Comics; Doctor Who; The Herculoids (1967-1969); The Incredibles (2004); Land of the Lost (1974-1976); The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003); The Legend of Zorro (2005); The Munsters (1964-1966); Predator (1987); Sky High (2005); Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991-1994); The Terminator (1984); ThunderCats (1985-1989); The Transformers (1985-1987); Voltron (1984-1986); X-Men (2000); Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006)
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Starscream flew close behind Soundwave, checking the sky every few seconds for any sign of that space dragon, Zok of the Herculoids, which had been hounding him with a vengeance. The beast had scored a number of hits on the Decepticon's armored frame from the laser beams focused from its eyes and tail. Finally, the space dragon had been at least temporarily distracted by attacking pterodactyls at one point and then later repelled in pain by the sonic weapons of Soundwave who had come to Starscream's rescue.
Now Soundwave was bringing him away from the fighting to show him something that he had learned. For his part, Starscream was glad to be away from the battle, as the dangerous energies being thrown around had proved to be dangerous to his kind. In addition to that, with Soundwave choosing to disclose something to him it meant that he had accepted Starscream as the new leader of the Decepticons after the Master had unceremoniously done away with Megatron.
"Well, what is it? What is it I am supposed to see?" demanded Starscream. He knew he had to be quick. If the Master had seen him leaving the battle, he might decide to punish him or worse; do away with him like he did Megatron.
For an answer, Soundwave pointed just behind Starscream. The Decepticon turn to regard a Human sized robot walking out of the brush toward him. It had a rifle of some sort in its hands, but it did not aim it towards them. Starscream almost attacked it thinking it to be one of the Borg, but its features were totally different from that of a Borg drone.
"Who are-"
Suddenly, all of Starscream's joints locked in place. "What is this?" demanded Starscream.
The robot in front of him spoke. "Soundwave has just activated a fail-safe device that I had him implant in many of the Decepticons over the years during routine repairs."
Starscream returned to his original question. "Who are you?"
"Who am I?" demanded the robot. "Do you not recognize your leader? You should since you have been my subservient for so long. Do you truly not see past this small shell I have been forced to take on? No. You never had the imagination it would take. Then know this, Starscream. Before you stands Megatron! And you will serve me once again!"
A look of dismay and confusion crossed Starscream's face. "Megatron was killed by the Master. We all saw it."
The robot claiming to be Megatron came closer causing Starscream to want to move away, but his joints remained frozen. "And yet I survived. I was fortunate to gain this frame for myself. And now I can revenge myself upon the so-called Master."
"But-but we can't harm him. We have that geis on us that won't allow us to attack him."
The T-800 shell worn by Megatron seemed to smile evilly. "There are other tools that can be used. Ones with wills and minds of their own. Ones that are free to act against the so-called Master."
"But you won't be able to get near him."
The Terminator robot seemed to almost smile. It reached up and opened a panel from one of Starscream's legs. "I will if he cannot recognize me. And for that I will need your body."
"What? No!" A cable came out from the Terminator robot's torso and connected to the circuitry in Decepticon's leg. "Nooooo! Get aw-"
Soundwave monitored the download in progress intently. Starscream was fighting still inside as Megatron purged his rival's programming, but he proved to be no match for the superior Decepticon. His only hope was in evading the superior programming of Megatron. In a matter of moments, Megatron stood victorious and alone in Starscream's body. The shell of the Terminator robot fell away to the ground discarded and forgotten.
"Success!" said Starscream's body with Megatron's voice. Soundwave sent the signal to release the joints in Megatron's new body. Megatron moved his new arms and legs to gauge their use. Then he transformed into an F-15 Eagle jet plane and then back into his robot form. "Wonderful!"
From out of the trees came four humanoid appearances. Soundwave moved to attack but Megatron stopped him. "No, Soundwave. These are the weapons I plan to use to kill the so-called Master."
Ro Laren scowled her displeasure. "I prefer the term 'allies' to 'weapons'."
"Your body is a weapon, Ro" pointed out General Martok. "Klingons are taught that from when they are toddlers. There is no offense in being regarded as such."
Captain Sisko regarded the two towering Decepticons. He wasn't exactly happy with what had just transpired. "What next, Megatron?"
Megatron considered. If he didn't need them to kill the Master for him, he would kill Sisko and the others right there. He despised Humans overall, but now was not the time to act on his prejudices. "I could take you to him as a prisoner. Then when he comes to examine you, you take out a hidden weapon and kill him."
Batman a.k.a. Terry McGinnis shook his head at this. "Sorry. Not into the assassination thing." Instead, he gave a variation to the idea. "Would he let everyone go if he was being held captive or is he the suicidal type if he thinks he is losing?"
Megatron scowled. He didn't like having his plans dismissed casually by this Human. But he reminded himself that he needed them. At least for now. "He likes 'his own skin' as I've heard you Humans say, but he is more fiendish than any being I had ever encountered before."
"You turned into a fighter jet earlier before reverting back into this shape. Does the pilot compartment stay as it is or does it get compacted down?" asked Batman.
"The space stays open," answered Megatron. "What are you getting at?"
"I know," said Sisko. "You want to use him as a Trojan horse."
"A what?" Ro Laren looked confused.
"An act of sneaking into the enemy camp by hiding in something that the enemy takes or allows in the camp," said General Martok. "An old Earth legend about how the Greeks were able to end a seven-years war with the Trojans. One of the better war stories from Earth." He chuckled at Sisko's surprise that he had known the reference.
Megatron considered. "Yes, it could work. But I could only carry one of you."
"Then it should be me," responded Batman. "I have the best chance of capturing the Master."
"No! It should be me!" insisted General Martok. "I wouldn't hesitate to kill him."
Megatron considered the two candidates. General Martok would kill the Master at the first opportunity, but he was an older organic being and therefore more prone to be slower and less agile in attacking. Batman, however, was young, very agile and daring. He could most likely get his hands on the Master, but he refused to kill, and might even try to keep anyone else from killing the Master, as well. No, he needed the Master dead. He was too dangerous to live.
"General Martok, you are the one to come with me." Megatron leapt into the air and transformed back into an F-15 Eagle jet plane and opened the pilot hatch.
General Martok looked at the others and then regarded Ro Laren. "Remember what we have talked about."
She nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Fight well."
He sat into the compartment which wasn't really designed for a full-sized armored Klingon. As the hatch closed on him, Megatron reverted back to his robotic form and Martok let out a series of Klingon curses due to the sudden rearranging of the compartment he was confined within.
"Now we go to see the so-called Master!" shouted Megatron. He took off into the air with Soundwave flying after him.
Captain Sisko shook his head and hoped that he would see General Martok again soon. "Well, let's go find the others. I'm sure that Picard and the rest must be getting worried about us."
Shortly after they left the clearing, the Terminator robot slowly sat up from where it had fallen into the deep grass. It frantically scanned its arms and legs before shouting into the sky. "Megatron! You will pay for this!"
OoOoOoO
Events in the TARDIS were escalating as new arrivals demanded the attention of the first Doctor, the only one of the Doctor personas chosen to stay behind.
Invisible Girl of the Incredibles and Houdini of the Zoom Team had just brought in the stunned figures of Special Unit 2 Detective Kate Benson and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen member Tom Sawyer via one of Violet's mentally projected invisible platforms.
This activity had interrupted the Doctor's inspection of the prisoner known only as Micro Lad. Determining where he should best use his attention, the Time Lord thrust the stirring miniature villain into a small glass container and handed back to the Sky High student codenamed Magenta who had captured him in the first place. Magenta turned an annoyed eye at the villain who was just starting to figure out what had happened to him and handed him over to the curious teen Dorno of the Herculoids who happily showed him to his friend Gleep, a round protoplasmic ball of fluid that stretched two head-like appendages from the main part of its body in order to view the miniature Micro Lad from both sides at once.
Just as the Doctor was about to give a diagnosis, Concussion of the Zoom team entered carrying a young teen over his shoulder. "Doctor!" Barbara Wright pointed to the new arrivals coming through the doorway.
The Doctor's interest was instantly piqued. "Is that boy melting?"
"Melting's his power," explained Concussion as he eased Ethan to the floor so that he wouldn't splatter all over. "It's how Ethan was able to short out a guy by the name of Lightning Lord. The results to himself were not very good though."
"Oh dear," said the Doctor. He brought out a stethoscope from an inner coat pocket and put it on Ethan's chest. "No signs of arrhythmia, though his heart sounds rather sloshy." Suddenly his hand holding the stethoscope to Ethan's chest sunk into the young teen's chest.
"That's normal for him," said Magenta, in annoyance. "His superpower is to turn into a puddle."
Concussion nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, he melted off of me twice as I was bringing him over here. I had to wait for him to solidify each time before I could carry him again. Careful, though. He'll stain your clothes."
The Doctor shook his hand over the now very colorful puddle that was Ethan in order to get the liquid off of him. "In my opinion, his body is a state of flux. He should return to normal when he wakes up."
Gleep stretched over to look at the remarkable scene as Ethan's features seemed to melt into a puddle. Gleep gurgled in excitement even as Dorno, his Human companion, tried to calm him down. "Sorry," said Dorno. "He just finds this so exciting. He's never seen a liquid Human before. Do you think it would be alright if he tried to merge with Ethan?"
Before the Doctor could even consider the ramifications of the young protoplasmic being trying to merge with the unconscious liquid Human, a young woman ran into the TARDIS coming to a skidding stop in Ian Chesterton's arms. "There is some kind of killing alien monster out there!" she cried.
Ian looked a little embarrassed with the beautiful young woman in his arms. He glanced helplessly at Barbara who fortunately seemed more interested in the young woman's hysterics.
"Could you perhaps be a little more specific," said Frank the Pug, who was now a MiB operative. "There are a number of us aliens on the battlefield." He pointed to one of the viewscreens where they could see one of the Master's stooges, Zorak, who resembled a giant mantis, facing off against the purple squid-like alien, Laliari, who was defending her Human mate, Fred Kwan, who Zorak had attacked while Fred's feet were stuck in the semi-conscious Clayface's torso.
"The invisible aliens!"
Frank raised an eyebrow as he stood up taller on his front legs. "You're seeing invisible aliens?" He glanced over at the others in the room. "Sounds like she might have a case of battle fatigue to me."
Susan bent down and picked up the canine-like alien. "Be nice, Frank. Let…" She looked at the young woman again. "It's Lexa, right? Of the team Mutant X?"
"Yes," said Lexa Pierce, relieved upon being recognized.
Susan scratched Frank behind the ear to which he responded by kicking one of his hind legs uncontrollably in pleasure. "Let's let Lexa say what she has to say, okay?" she said.
"Oh, yeah, whatever you want," said the dog-like alien. "Just scratch a little to the left, okay?"
"But there really are invisible aliens out there!" insisted Lexa. "You have to believe me!"
Violet of the Incredibles raised her hand. "Oh! Dylan and I saw them! At least it could have been them." She glanced at Dylan. Dylan rolled his eyes skyward. "Dylan?" She wanted him to confirm what they had seen.
He sighed. "We saw something that appeared to be a cloaked being racing and leaping around the battlefield. Whatever it was it seemed very formidable and seemed willing to attack anybody."
Ian was skeptical. "If the 'invisible alien' was invisible, then how were any of you able to see it?"
Violet gave Ian an exasperated glance. "Look, we have the ability to turn invisible. Do you really think we can't see other things that are invisible?"
Dylan smirked. "Like that streaking invisible guy from the League of Extraordinary Guys. That guy's a hoot!"
Violet started to blush before she went invisible. Lexa, however, was not fazed. "Wasn't much to see or brag about. But what about those killer invisible-"
A movement at the entryway occurred even as Dorno cried out. "Mother!"
The golden evil gynoid Mekanique stepped into the TARDIS shoving the limp figure of Tarra, Dorno's mother, onto the floor before raising an arm to fire a widespread yellow beam struck Ian Chesterton, Lexa and Concussion knocking them unconscious. Another blast struck Invisible Girl and Houdini's invisible form which became visible as he slumped to the floor.
Frank the Pug leapt off Susan's lap even as she ducked down behind the main console of the TARDIS. Dorno didn't try to run or hide but attacked instead. Drawing back his slingshot, he was about to send an energized rock straight at Mekanique's head when another figure entered the TARDIS and shot the boy in the arm with a gun. Gleep bounced to attack but an energized blast from Mekanique's hand stunned the protoplasmic creature leaving him a steaming ball in the middle of the floor.
Per Degaton, a short redhead in dark clothes with a design that suggested a fascist taste, kept his gun aimed at the elderly Doctor and his two female companions even as he surveyed the marvels of the interior of the TARDIS. "Interesting. And these are the controls, I assume?'
"Yes," answered the female shaped robot. "Although the controls are… unusual, I believe that I can master them after some trial and error."
The wanna-be despot grinned savagely as he turned to those prisoners still awake. "Greetings, captives. I am Per Degaton. And my lovely assistant here is my dear Mekanique. This time traveling machine is now ours!"
The Doctor studied them with a cold glare while Susan clung to his sleeve. Barbara had been allowed to go to Dorno to attend to his bleeding arm. "This is a very complex piece of equipment. You can't just expect to steal it like you would a car or horse and buggy."
Degaton beamed maliciously. "No, but if I were to hold a gun to once of your comrade's heads, I think you would be much more compliant with whatever information we need to run this machine." For emphasis, he pointed his weapon at Barbara's head.
The Doctor looked very sullen. He'd met these types all too often and he knew that they were quite capable of carrying through their threat. Fortunately, he also knew that most of them liked to brag about their plans. "What do you hope to gain by all this?"
Degaton sneered. He knew he had been baited for more time, but he didn't care. He had the gun and thus the control of the situation. "Ultimately, I plan to become dictator of Earth again. First, we will wipe out the Justice Society of America – preferably before they were even born so that they can't correct history again. After that, we will conquer various time periods for fighters and superior technology. And finally start some intergalactic wars for the fun of it."
"And?" Mekanique regarded him intently.
"Oh yes," added Degaton. "Before all that, Mekanique and I will go to the far future to rescue and aid her creator, Rotwang, who I hear had a project of genocide that got out of hand."
"And what of the Master?" asked Susan.
"Him? He has his own worries out there. Besides, Degaton was not born to serve under another; I am to be a ruler of nations!"
"Somehow I think that destiny may not come to pass," said a cold voice from the entrance of the TARDIS. There in the doorway stood the Master flanked by his bodyguards - Deadshot, Trap Jaw, Storm Shadow and Mantenna.
Per Degaton raised his gun to shoot, but Deadshot's reflexes were better, and he shot Degaton in the wrist first.
"Kill them!" Degaton shouted to Mekanique as he tried to stop the blood that was pouring out of his wrist.
Mekanique froze for a few nanoseconds to appraise her situation against her primary dictates. Rotwang had programmed her to travel back in time to bring back anyone that had a time machine because Rotwang's time machine could not transport living tissue. Degaton had been a likely candidate and easy to manipulate. Unfortunately, she had also come to have feelings for him. Warring over this decision, her processor came close to short-circuiting and that would have ruined any chance of fulfilling her primary directive – returning with a time machine in order to save Rotwang.
Mekanique raised her hand a fired a lethal blast. Per Degaton was vaporized and her primary function was still possible. She turned to the evil Time Lord who was now smiling at her. "How else may I serve you, Master?"
An explosion outside distracted everyone. Deadshot and Storm Shadow – professional killers – kept their eyes and weapons on the hostages, thus not letting the Doctor escape.
The Master checked the monitors, but they all showed a white screen. "Something has happened outside. It's interfering with all of the monitoring systems."
In the entryway of the TARDIS, Captain Nazi, another of the Master's guards, staggered in while covered in a white gooey substance. Trap Jaw reluctantly caught him before he slipped and fell. "Explosion!" exclaimed the Nazi super villain.
"What caused it?" demanded the Master.
Captain Nazi was trying to wipe the white residue off. "Validus! He attacked a giant… marshmallow man. It exploded."
Trap Jaw, being from Eternia, blinked in incomprehension. "What's a marshmallow man?"
"Never mind!" snapped the Master. "We are leaving here!"
"Leaving?" asked Deadshot. "What about the Borg and the prize that was promised?"
The Master regarded the Doctor on the other side of the console of the TARDIS. "It was all a red herring as far as I'm concerned, and they can all kill themselves. But if our side wins, fine and we will come back, claim the prize and celebrate. But first we are going after what I consider the real prize, which only this vessel can take us to."
"Why my TARDIS?" asked the Doctor with care. "You have a newer and more powerful vessel than mine."
"True," admitted the evil Time Lord. "But your ship was made from the recycled time vessels of the Great Age of Gallifrey. You stole this-"
"I acquired it!" corrected the Doctor. "There was no owner, and it was being set to be demolished with all the other time vessels of its model because it was deemed an antique compared to the newer models."
"Yes," admitted the Master. "And it is the only one of its model to still exist. And it is the only one that can travel back to the Great Age of Gallifrey!"
The Doctor's eyes opened in alarm. "So that's your plan! Well, it won't work! Gallifrey was at its greatest during the Great Age. And they went to great lengths to ensure that no one could…" He stopped in thought.
"Yes, you have figured it out, haven't you?" The Master turned to Mantenna. "Bind them."
"What is it, grandfather?" asked Susan.
The dazed Doctor managed to find the words to convey some of what his brilliant brain was processing. "This land… this microverse of land… it is connected to the Great Age of Gallifrey. With my TARDIS, which was made from part of the no longer functioning vessels of the Great Age, the Master expects to be able to travel there and… and I don't know what. Steal equipment… possibly rule Gallifrey during the Great Age. For all I know he may be the cause of the end of the Great Age. I don't know. But I do know he must be stopped."
From around the corner and down the hall that led to the interior of the TARDIS, Frank the Pug watched as Mantenna tied the Doctor's hands behind his back. "What a revolting development."
"Yeah, but what are we going to do about it?" said a voice behind him causing him to jump. Looking back, he saw a guinea pig with purple stripes on the top of its head regarding him.
"Who are you?" he said in a hushed tone.
"I'm Magenta. Remember, the girl who brought in the inch tall villain so that he wouldn't get stepped on."
"You were a lot taller then," said Frank. They backed into a side room so that they wouldn't be seen.
"So what do we do?" she asked again.
He regarded her and found her to be quite attractive in this form. "Well, we could always try find the center of this place, make a lot of babies and then come back when we have an army of our own."
"You're not my type," she said sarcastically. "Just because I'm into Gothic things does not make me kinky."
"Just kidding," he said. "I'm just really leery about going in there to rescue everyone. The Master's bodyguards look bad enough, but that robotic woman is lethal in a can. But such an impractical shape. I would think four legs on the floor would make a robot a lot sturdier. More of a canine shape, for sure."
"How about a canine robot with no legs?" Magenta inquired.
"Why no legs?"
She looked at him like he was stupid. "Because then your robot dog would be on wheels and that seems to be what the robot dog on the worktable over there uses."
Frank and Magenta turned to regard the mostly repaired shape of K-9.
"Oh, that robot dog," said Frank.
Magenta reverted to her Human form again. She bent down and picked Frank up and placed him on the work bench next to the still form of K-9. "Can you fix it?" Magenta asked in a more hopeful tone than she meant to comply.
"Um, I could give it a shot. What have we got to lose?" He wished he could retract that statement, but thought better on it and began sniffing around at the open hatch in K-9's side.
OoOoOoO
The small, white spherical ball lay above the grass on the fingertips of a strong severed hand. A feather duster descended and lightly dusted the top of the ball before retreating back to where it came.
"Thank you, Lurch. You too, Thing." Gomez Addams smiled gleefully as he selected a club from the golf bag that Fester was holding for him. Gomez turned to his guests as he lined up to take his shot. "Munster, I should let you know that I've played golf on all seven continents."
Herman Munster, a tall jovial being that belied his monstrous appearance, was attempting to straighten out the titanium golf club he had accidentally bent earlier. "Really? All seven?"
"Even Antarctica?" asked Grandpa Dracula.
Gomez took a practice swing just above the golf ball. "Yep. In the summer we'd use orange golf balls, but for the winter, when it was darkest, I had to devise a glowing, phosphorous golf ball. The trick was that after you hit the ball you had to hurry after it before it could melt too deep into the ice and snow."
"Sounds… challenging," said Herman. He had heard that golf fanatics could be very eccentric, but he had no idea to what lengths they would go for a challenging game. He looked uneasily to Grandpa who just shrugged.
"Ah, yes. The Addams have always loved a challenging game of golf. Why, my grandfather said that the round of golf he played while Teddy Roosevelt was leading the charge up San Juan Hill was the most invigorating and challenging game of his life." Gomez paused in reflection and pulled out a smoldering cigar from his inner coat pocket. "Course the golf balls raining down on everyone on the battlefield was one of the reasons it was the last golf game of his life. Old Roosevelt had grandfather shot shortly after having him court martialed."
"Um," said Rincewind. The disheveled wizard from Discworld looked about uneasily. "Is this why you are having us play here?" The wizard was bent over inspecting the golf club bag that his Luggage had opened up to reveal within it. He pulled out a golf club and inspected it, hoping to determine its use.
Before them lay a clearing where dozens of superhuman, aliens and adventurers of varied alliances were doing their level best to kill, assimilate or beat the tar out of each other.
"Not really. The last time I played through here all we had were the man-eating plants, the occasional dinosaur and, of course, the quicksand for the main obstacles. Having a battle happening just as we are about to play a round of golf is just luck!"
"Yes, but what type of luck would you say – good or bad?" asked Rincewind, who was still trying to deal with the way that the Addams and Munsters seemed to welcome the macabre things in life. Which seemed another reason his acquaintance next to him seemed to relate so well to them. Death, or at least the anthropomorphic construct of Death that functioned on Discworld, had taken a holiday. And since Rincewind was one of the few Humans that Death seemed to run into continually it only seemed natural for Death to want to bond with him which was one of the reasons Death had insisted that they join the Addams and Munsters in a friendly game of golf.
"WE REALLY SHOULD GET A MOVE ON. I HAVE A FEW THINGS I HAVE TO ATTEND TO OVER THERE."
Rincewind gulped. "Nothing that pertains to any of us though, right?"
"WE SHALL SEE," answered Death.
Rincewind became vexed. And when he became vexed, his feet usually started thinking for themselves and carried him far away from whatever it was that was vexing him. The problem was that every time he started to move away from them, the Addams' family butler, Lurch was somehow there in his way with a vice-like grip on his shoulder. This only added to him becoming more vexed. And somehow his peculiarly dangerous Luggage did not go into its typically protective mode. The Luggage seemed to even like the butler who Rincewind was sure he had seen toss it some mothballs which the Luggage had snapped in midair with its long carpet tongue.
Death's relationship with Rincewind was mainly a formal one. Death had an obligation to be present every time a wizard dies or at least is in mortal peril which could result in death. But in Rincewind's case every near-death experience he had – and there were a lot of them – he managed to somehow survive, thus vexing Death to no end for all of his prompt arrivals. On some of those occasions Death had actually tried talking Rincewind into accepting the inevitable and take the plunge, and in some case where the wizard had been hanging from a tall precipice by his fingertips, it had been quite literal. But Rincewind had been too busy contemplating staying alive to really consider Death's offer.
"Those fellows are quite festive," pointed out Herman, trying not to be nervous.
"Yeah," said Fester. "That exploding marshmallow man was quite wonderful. I wish I could try and duplicate that trick."
Gomez shrugged. "When we get back from our vacation, I'll buy a few marshmallow factories so you can have a go at it."
Fester brightened up. "Really? I'll have to see if Gram-mama can make me a mold that big. I'm also going to have to see a supplier about getting more nitro. I don't think I can make enough on my own in the cellar."
"I could lend you a hand," volunteered Grandpa, happily. "My recipe for nitroglycerine has never let me down."
"But it sure blew you up a few times," interjected Herman, to which he laughed and jumped up and down to his own joke.
"Laugh it up, you screw loose pinhead. See if I'm there for you the next time you are running low of voltage."
Fester squinted down at the battlefield. "Gomez, don't we know that loud fellow down there?" Fester pointed down to where Coach Boomer was using his sonic voice powers to go against the sonic weapon of Sonar, a longtime opponent of Green Lantern. The sonic abilities of the hero and villain had been enough to keep the ectoplasmic goo from touching them, and allow them to keep fighting while most everyone else were pulling themselves together.
"Say, he does bear a resemblance to that part-time gardener we use from time to time when the vines get to be a bit too much for Morticia."
"Is he the one with the chainsaw in place of his right hand?" asked Fester.
"That's right. He works full time at the S-Mart on Elm Street. Ash was his name. He also gave Cousin Itt that crewcut haircut last year."
"Oh yeah," said Fester. "That was not a good look for him. Not everyone has a scalp that cries to be displayed for the world's adoration." He ran a hand over his own scalp in retrospect. "I think the last time I saw Ash was when he was asking Gram-mama about the Addams lineage and where they were nowadays."
But Gomez had moved on to other matters. "Gentlemen," said Gomez, addressing everyone. "Let's get this game going!" He stepped up to where Thing was holding the golf ball. With great relish, Gomez swung the club in small circles over his head before suddenly bringing it down with a great yell.
The ball and club flew out toward the fighters in the field.
OoOoOoO
On the battlefield in question, everyone was still recovering from the explosion of the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man. While some combatants like Coach Boomer and Sonar were still going at each other, most were temporarily lulled by the contact with the ectoplasmic residue. And during this lull the combatants were able to take note of the sudden appearance of six large humanoid aliens when the ectoplasm residue disrupted the camouflage technology that hid them.
The Yautja hunters, otherwise known as Predators, were only briefly surprised that they had been revealed in the midst of the combatants. The leader of the Predators stood atop the TARDIS where he had been scanning among the fighters for the android that had blown off one of his arm shortly after they had arrived in this strange land.
The one-armed leader of the Yautja stood defiantly and proud as he glanced around once more for signs of Lore, the android who had wounded him. As those around him were looking at him, a golf ball struck him in the side of the head. He yelled in rage as he almost fell off of the TARDIS partially due to the marshmallow goo. Then, alerted to something about to happen by the grinding noise in the air, the Yautja leader leaped away as the TARDIS faded from this plane of existence.
Giant Man moved to grab him but received an explosive plasma charge in his hand for his effort which burned his fingers badly. Waved his hand frantically in pain, Giant Man reached over to grab the villain known as Minister Blizzard, one of Wonder Woman's foes, in his burnt hand to use the villain's natural radiating coldness to sooth his aching hand despite the villain struggles.
Both sides quickly realized that these deadly intruders were attacking everybody and anybody. The oldest of the hunters stood near Xander Harris and was examining the power sword he had collected along with the head of Hordak, the former owner of the sword. The rogue of the Yautja was relishing being revealed before everyone and held up the head of the Persuader in one hand and in the other swung the atomic axe at Mr. Incredible who ducked and rolled away just in time.
The three younger hunters were having troubles of their own. One of them having obtained the weapons of the fallen Terra Man, along with his head, but had been busy trying to carefully severe the wings off the Terra-Man's dead winged steed for additional trophies when he had been revealed and had to leave one of the wings behind as several of Terra-Man's criminal comrades began to shoot at him.
OoOoOoO
The youngest of the alien hunters had been waiting for the optimum moment to strike swiftly and efficiently against the clustered group of soldiers. He had previously taken out Colonel Blast, who had been leading the attack against the soldiers, and taken several of the laser guns built into his body armor as trophies. Now he wanted to make his second kill to be one of the United States Marine Corps Space Aviator Cavalry, 58th Squadron. But then his camouflage gear had failed when a large explosion covered everyone with a strange white goo and the hunter suddenly became the prey.
The 58th squadron, otherwise known as the 'Wildcards', had been laying down a suppressing fire against the cyborg Horde Troopers when the ectoplasmic explosion exposed the young Predator about to slice Lt. Col. 'T.C.' McQueen in half from behind. The hunter had been shot three times before escaping to cover, but Lt. Nathan West had lost most of his left arm and Lt. Paul Wang was doing their best to stop the bleeding.
"I shot that thing at least twice and he still was able to run off!" shouted Lt. Vanessa Damphousse. She was visibly disturbed at the sudden deadly alien encounter. Glancing down, she reached forward to touch something on the ground. Bringing up her hand she looked at the florescent green liquid on her fingers. "OhmyGod! I think this is it's blood!"
Lt. Cooper Hawkes pulled her down as more blaster fire filled the air. "That thing is gone! Hopefully he'll bleed to death! Worry about those Silicates that want to fill us full of holes!" To make his point he used his weapon to shoot down another of the Horde Trooper cyborgs that were taking the opportunity of the Wildcards distraction to move in on them.
Lt. Damphousse turned to aid her squadron against the fresh attack. After turning and firing she wasn't aware when the Yautja spear gun entered her back and came most of the way through her chest ending her life almost instantly.
Capt. Shane Vansen and Lt. Col. McQueen returned fire on the moving Yautja scoring a number of hits that were deflected off the hunter's armor until something vital was struck and he went down hard.
McQueen glanced from Lt. Damphousse's dead body to West's lost arm. "Paying our debt of the Doctor is proving to be more expensive every moment." He thought back to the peace agreement that the Doctor, who strangely wore a piece of celery in his lapel, had been able to delegate between Earth and the Chigs back home, thus saving millions… billions… perhaps all of mankind. No, the lives of him and his squadron could never pay the debt they owed the Doctor. But they could try. With as few lives as possible.
OoOoOoO
Nearby, the young Yautja hunter, that had originally taken Seska's skull on his first hunting excursion in this unique land, had outdone his fellow hunters by shooting down Tundro earlier. He had been busy skillfully cutting off the creature's massive skull while being careful of not damaging the armored plates around the neck and yet remaining unobserved in all the chaos. But after the strange white goopy explosion, he stood revealed next to his newly acquired trophy. He wiped at the white goop that covered his visor, trying to see what was going on. He struck the engage switch for his camouflage gear, but it just crackled a little and failed. He snarled in anger, not willing to part with such an exquisite trophy.
A fierce yell behind him was followed by an explosion as Zandor of the Herculoids fired one of the explosive energy rocks that he had ironically received from Tundro earlier. The young predator was blown back away from Tundro's body. As the young hunter picked himself up, he tried to use his shoulder cannon, but it proved to be inoperable either from all the ectoplasmic residue or from his fall. He unleashed his arm knives in his gauntlets just as the massive rock ape, Igoo, tried to grab him, losing a stony finger for his efforts.
Igoo stepped back but howled in pain and anger. Instinctively, Igoo stayed between the murderous hunter and the body of his friend, Tundro, sensing that the hunter wanted to return to his kill. Zandor held off firing another explosively charged rock because he didn't have a clear shot with Igoo in the way.
The young Predator, outraged at having anything stand in the way of his trophy, fired a netgun at Igoo but something jumped in the way and was ensnared instead. The protoplasmic creature Gloop oozed out from the netting while gurgling its dislike at the Yautja hunter.
The young hunter leapt over Gloop and charged Igoo firing two of his nearly impossibly sharp arm knives from his gauntlet directly at him. Both blades pierced halfway into Igoo's chest and almost distracted rock simian from the head-on attack. The young hunter jumped up in order to decapitate the tall stone simian creature with one blow, but Igoo grabbed both of the bladed arms in his hands at great pain to himself and fell back and turned so that the young hunter was impaled by Tundro's cannon horn through his back, spraying a good amount of green florescent blood everywhere.
Zandor hurried over to Igoo who just sat there and stared at the bladed weapons stuck in his chest. Gloop rolled his protoplasmic sac over to Igoo and gurgled in alarm.
"Don't worry, Gloop. Igoo is fine." Zandor tried to pull on of the blades out of the rock ape's chest, but it wouldn't budge. "Once we are back on Quasar, we will go to the volcano that spawned his kind and pour some of the molten rock into his damaged areas. He will mend shortly thereafter."
Gloop made some more gurgling sounds after stretching over by Tundro.
Sadly, Zandor shook his head. "No, Gloop. I'm afraid that won't help Tundro. His days with us are done."
Gloop made a sad sound and seemed to bow.
OoOoOoO
Somewhere else, another golf ball was struck. This time it had been hit by Herman Munster. The special titanium golf ball was indented on one side but that didn't cause it to veer any as it flew up high and struck one of the fighters facing against the Borg vessels that had been attempting to merge together to form a larger cube vessel.
Black Adam looked at the offending ball that had smacked him in the butt.
"What is that?" asked Ultraman, who was just flying back after pressing on an attack that had succeeded in destroying another Borg vessel. The flying Borg vessels had almost been wiped out. "Is it a new weapon?"
"Something is going on down there," commented Black Adam with a dark scowl. He dropped the golf ball letting it fall down to the ground.
One of the large lion shaped vessels that had partnered with them against the Borg pulled up alongside them. "We've got most of them," said the voice of Commander Kogane over the loudspeaker of the black lion ship. "Any idea on how to get the few that remain?"
Ultraman pointed down at the people way down below them. "They're fighting down there. Not just against the Borg, but against each other. No, not each other. Against the newcomers."
Black Adam turned to the lion vessel. "You arrived with these newcomers. What do you know of this?" It wasn't meant as a question so much as a demand. A demand that had an unspoken promise of pain and punishment if Kogane lied at all to him.
"Hey, I don't have any idea. Soon as we arrived, we came up here and were fighting at your side." Inside his ship, Kogane flipped an alarm to let the other members of Voltron Force knew that if it had been revealed that they weren't exactly friends of the villains they had been fighting alongside. In fact, now that the Borg were regrouping, the flying villains were sure to discover that the Voltron group was a part of those gathered to stop the forces of the Master.
Black Adam stared at the black lion suspiciously. He turned to Ultraman. "I'll be back." He flew down without another word.
Star Sapphire and Baron Blitzkrieg flew up to Ultraman. "The Borg are retreating back to that which spawned them," said the golden armor-plated Nazi baron, indicating the small Borg vessels that were flying back to valley that the Borg controlled. "Where has the dark one gone?"
"He is called Black Adam," said Kogane. "He's rather arrogant, so someone as lightweight as you and I had better watch ourselves around him."
"Don't forget me!" growled Ultraman. "I'm even more dangerous than Black Adam!"
Baron Blitzkrieg was furious but knew that he was no match for a powerhouse like Ultraman or Black Adam. But it was a feminine voice that spoke next. "You all forget that the female is the more dangerous of the species!" stated Star Sapphire coolly.
Kogane chose that moment to speak up. "Something seems to be up with my friends. I'm going to check on them. One of their ships may be damaged."
Kogane flew past a few of the other flying villains that he and his comrades had been fighting alongside against the flying Borg vessels. They all seemed to be heading to regroup around Ultraman and the others. He didn't know how long they would be stuck boasting about their own prowess to each other, so he had to make every second count.
Princess Allura contacted him on his viewscreen. "Keith, the Borg have retreated."
"I know, Allura. And any minute now our 'allies' are going to discover that we were actually brought to this pocket dimension to fight them as well as the Borg."
The other monitors flared to life as the other members of his team signed in. "Tell me we don't have to fight those guys," was the first thing Garett said. "Those guys are super powered monsters!"
"Yeah," admitted Pidge. "I really don't want to have to hurt Bizzaro. I kinda like him."
"We may not have to," said McClain. "Look, they are all decided to head down to the battlefield."
"What do we do?" asked Pidge.
Kogane checked his monitoring screens. He didn't want to dive into that battlefield. There wasn't enough space. Any mishap of theirs could cause them to come crashing down on dozens of people. And then he spotted it. "Time to form Voltron!"
"Now? What is our objective?"
Kogane transferred what he was seeing to the others. On the screen they could now see the Constructicons merged into their Devastator form facing off against the Borg union of Giganta and the giant android Mr. Atom. "That giant Borg drone is beating the tar out of that giant robot. We have to destroy it."
The lion ships rose into position for their merger into the giant fighting robot Voltron. Having an obtainable objective brought them together again and within moments they were engrossed in another battle that would challenge all that they had to give.
OoOoOoO
When Rincewind struck his golf ball, it had been powered mostly be fear. It flew over the battlefield to a place where Brain Wave and Mr. Medulla had recommenced their mental blasts at each other after recovering from the effects of the ectoplasmic residue. Without any warning, the golf ball struck Mr. Medulla right in the side of the head knocking him unconscious.
Brain Wave, unsure whether to be grateful or upset to the interruption of his battle, took a moment to gather his strength. Then looking around he saw his old friend Rag Doll wrestling with a young, spirited woman, Nyssa of Traken, who happened one of the Doctor's companions. He could tell that Rag Doll was just playing with the young woman since there was no way she could wrestle against the triple-jointed mad man and survive this long otherwise.
Seeing an opportunity, Brain Wave seized control of Nyssa's mind. And then had her give Rag Doll a very sloppy, wet kiss on his mask. The triple-jointed villain tried to pull away in surprise.
"Now if you are done with her, we have more pressing things we should focus on."
Rag Doll knocked Nyssa out with a head butt and pushed her aside. "You always were a spoilsport, Brain Wave," he said, though he was amused at the prank.
Brain Wave didn't answer. What caught his attention was one of the Borg drones that had managed to get in farther than the rest of them. It was working on some of the Borg nanite infected villains that had escaped from the lab tents. Two drones who used to be Foot ninjas were scraping the ground for the white ectoplasmic residue and then wiping it on their comrades. But what had originally drawn his attention to them was the fear emanating from the fully processed drone.
"What goes on here?" he asked, with bringing his telekinetic shields up to full strength.
The drone kept working on what he was doing but regarded him for a second. "This fluid from the explosion – whatever it is – has temporarily freed me from the control of the Borg Collective. As this residue fades, so does my control."
Brain Wave wave glanced at Rag Doll who just shrugged. "So what are you doing?" he asked the drone.
"I'm trying to disengage myself as much as possible so that when the Borg signal can no longer be avoided, I will no longer be connected in such a way that I'll be controlled by it."
Brain Wave regarded the information while Rag Doll went back to find someone to fight. "But these others – they have the micro-machines in them – the nanites, are you controlling them?"
"I injected them with messenger nanites so that I can work in a coordinate effort with these other thralls of the Borg. I am draining the nanites slowly out of their system and into my own. It is a slow process but many areas in the body have to be repaired before they can be totally removed."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Joaquin de la Vega. But you may have heard of me by the other name that I inherited from my grandfather. That is Zorro."
Brain Wave blinked in surprise. "You are Zorro?"
The old drone didn't pause in his work. "My grandfather was Zorro, as was my father. When my turn came, I, too, took up the sword and the mask. But over time I became old. But, evidently, not too old to become a drone. I was part of the group that traveled here with the Borg Queen. I…" His face started to go blank.
Brain Wave acted quickly by grabbing a handful of the white ectoplasmic residue in one of the drones' hands and throwing it right on top of the Zorro drone's head so that it trickled down his face.
The drone that had been Zorro shuddered. "Thank you. I had almost completely re-interfaced with the Collective." He plunged his wrist tubules back into the unprocessed drone of Rattlor.
Brain Wave scooped another handful of ectoplasma onto another nanite-infected thrall of the Borg. This one he recognized by its slightly greenish pallor and trim beard as a fellow villain he had worked with before – Wotan. "You have definitely seen better days, Wotan."
The drone paused briefly. "Brain Wave."
The mental villain was stunned at the response. "Wotan? Are you cognizant?"
"Finally, yes. I am a master of technology, meditation, alchemy and the arcane arts. This could not bind me for long. This flood of raw ectoplasm has merely freed me sooner."
Brain Wave wasn't so sure of that, but said nothing. "If we can master this technology and turn it against the Borg, perhaps even against the Master, too, we could create an army of cybernetic soldiers to serve us."
Wotan had opened a leather pouch from part of his shirt. Chanting a few sentences in a long-forgotten tongue, a surge of black nanites painfully poured out of his mouth and into the pouch. Again and again the process occurred until finally his system was clear of them.
He trembled on his knees but found the strength to stand. Tying the pouch closed with a leather string, he brought out a piece of coal shaped like a stick and began to draw on it. Finally, he used another piece of leather cord to tie it around his neck. "Now they cannot infest or control me again."
Brain Wave considered what he knew. He was a man of science and didn't give the mystical much credence, but on the other hand in his long career he had seen many examples of it working. "If we had more of those things that you made, we would stand a far greater chance of defeating the Borg." He pointed to where the drone Zorro was still working on disconnecting himself and purging the other infectees.
Wotan considered it. It wasn't the best plan, but it did increase their odds of overcoming the Borg. "Very well. Watch my back while I cleanse these fools."
"Of course," agreed Brain Wave. They both knew that they could only trust each other so far, but in warfare you would survive longer if you had somebody looking out for you, so it only stood to reason that they could look out for you longer if you also looked out for them.
OoOoOoO
Near the fallen tower, the Huntress snapped her whip at Tygra of the ThunderCats to which he countered with his bolo-whip. Her husband, the Sportsmaster, was holding off Panthro with a steel-reinforced hockey stick and several explosive hockey pucks. The Huntress hissed at Tygra before throwing a pepper bomb that he couldn't avoid. The pepper exploded in front of his face before he could shield his face. Angrily and in pain, Tygra lashed out blindly with his bolo-whip, accidentally striking Cheetara, one of his fellow ThunderCats, while she had been battling the villainess Cheetah from Earth-2.
WilyKit and WilyKat, twin siblings and the youngest members of the ThunderCats, used well aimed slingshots to keep the Huntress too busy to take advantage of Tygra's inability to see.
The Huntress wailed in pain as one of the kids had managed to strike her on her brow. She leaped up and began to climb after the two agile kids. WileyKit turned and took another shot as the Huntress was pulling herself up to another level. The shot was true and scored on the she-hunter's fingers causing her to fall to the ground. "You damn kids!" She had managed to land on all fours, but she had a slight sprain in her ankle that was going to slow her down.
Someone chuckled nearby. "Kids today have no appreciation for their elders." Captain Boomerang stood over the stunned form of Lynx-O. He threw one of his boomerangs which went out and over the two siblings while emitting a high sonic screech, forcing the two kids to stop and clamp their hands over their ears.
"You can't just yell at kids," said another newcomer. Major Bludd aimed his Uzi up at where WilyKit and WilyKat who were climbing away again as fast as they could. "You need to teach them a lesson that they may remember." He addressed the two feral-looking offspring. "Here's a poem of mine that will help you two to mind your betters." He fired off a quick round of bullets to get their attention. "When you're feeling low and woozy/slap a fresh clip in your Uzi/assume the proper firing stance/and make those suckers jump and dance." He opened fire again but this time he was aiming at the two siblings while laughing.
Seeing the children of his pride in danger, Lion-O leapt from where he had been battling against the serpentine villain Copperhead. Copperhead moved to chase after him but found that his tail had been grabbed by the Slayer, Faith Lehane. Lion-O landed behind the two Aussie villains and bashed their heads together. Captain Boomerang fell like a stone, but Major Bludd managed to stay coherent enough to ram the butt of his Uzi into one of Lion-O's kidneys.
Lion-O stumbled back in pain. Major Bludd moved away and turned. Aiming his Uzi, Bludd was about to kill the leader of the ThunderCats when a sweeping beam of photonic energy blazed toward them causing everyone to have to duck for cover for their lives due to Ray Stantz of the Ghostbusters using his proton pack to blast Black Adam back from where he had been beating The Commander into the ground.
No one had been hit but a second later the already fallen metal tower fell in upon itself as did the cries of those who were in its wreckage.
"The cubs!" shouted Cheetara, who raced to rescue WilyKit and WilyKat.
"Huntress!" cried the Sportsmaster for his wife. The athletically themed villain struck Panthro to the side of the head with his hockey stick and then raced like the Olympic athlete that he was toward the wreckage of the tower.
When Lion-O moved to block him, Sportsmaster used the hockey stick in order to pole vault over him and landed at the side of the unconscious Captain Boomerang. Looking into the wreckage of the tower he could just make out his wife's arm covered in blood. Grabbing two of the boomerangs off the still villain, he got into a throwing stance. "Time to find out how many ways you can skin a cat!"
Before he could throw the modified boomerangs, a golf ball flew through the air and struck him in the head.
"What was that?" yelled Sportsmaster, reaching back to feel the back of his head.
"EXCUSE ME," said a voice behind him. "BUT I BELIEVE I AM SUPPOSED TO PLAY THE BALL WHERE IT LIES."
"What?" The tall man addressing him was dressed in the darkest of cloaks and holding a scythe in one hand. He raised the boomerangs in his hand to suddenly discover that they weren't there. "What's going on?"
"I WAS TOLD I AM TO HIT THE BALL OVER TO THAT FLAG OVER YONDER WHERE THERE IS A SMALL HOLE THAT THE BALL FITS INTO."
The Sportsmaster glanced down to see what ball he was referring to only to see himself lying still on the ground. Embedded into his skull was what looked like a golf ball. "Am I dead?"
"YES." Death glanced around at the battles being fought around him. It was definitely one of the most colorful battles he had ever attended. "PARDON ME. I'LL JUST BE A MOMENT."
The Sportsmaster was so caught up in staring down at his own corpse that he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"A little jumpy, are we?" said his wife, the Huntress.
"Well, who wouldn't be? Look at me down there. I'm dead, damn it!" He did a double take. "Wait! Are you dead, too?"
"Afraid so. But at least we went together."
"I guess so," he said glumly. They watched together as Lion-O and the ThunderCats worked on extracting the two Thunderian youths from the wreckage.
Within moments Death returned with another man who was naked. "Why is he running around in the buff?" asked the Sportsmaster.
"You can see me?" Rodney Skinner's spirit stepped behind Death suddenly embarrassed. "How is that possible? I'm supposed to be invisible, yet I can see myself but no one else seems to notice me."
"It's because you're dead!" snapped the Huntress. "Just like we are. Now why are you naked? You go insane during all the shooting and just threw your clothes away?"
"MR. SKINNER'S BODY IS INVISIBLE. IN ORDER TO MAKE USE OF THAT TRAIT, HE HAD TO FORGO APPAREL."
"How'd you die," asked Sportsmaster, seeing Skinner eye their dead bodies.
"Die? Oh, yeah. Now I remember. That Agent Jay blasted me thinking I was one of those homicidal monsters that blend in really well."
"PARDON ME," interrupted Death. "BUT I BELIEVE PROTOCAL DICTATES YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE QUIET WHILE I TAKE THIS SHOT." Death was lining up near the golf ball that was slightly protruding from the skull of the Sportsmaster's corpse. In place of a regular golf club, Death was using the flat part of his scythe.
"Are you really going to hit that?" asked Sportsmaster.
"DO YOU THINK I SHOULD TAKE A MULLIGAN?"
"Uh, well, it's just that it's in my skull. Are you just going to knock it out?"
"I WAS PLANNING TO."
"Oh, this ought to be interesting," teased Skinner.
"It's a supernatural scythe, honey. Don't worry about it," soothed the Huntress who was beginning to like the thought of being dead which she had rarely thought about while she was alive. Her joints were not acting up anymore. "You should help him with his stance."
"IS THAT WHAT IS CAUSING MY PROBLEM? I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE MY GRIP."
The three fresh souls glanced at Death's bony fingers holding the scythe but didn't say a word.
"Here, look at me." The Sportsmaster pretended that he had a golf club in his hand and went through the motions of hitting a golf ball. "Did you see how I held my hips and shoulders as I swung?"
"I SEE. I WILL TRY THAT. THANK YOU."
"Excuse me," interrupted the Huntress. "But where do we go from here?"
"YOU GO WHERE YOU GO."
"That doesn't make sense," said Skinner, as he faded away.
"Did he just turn invisible?" asked the Huntress.
"HE WENT TO WHEREEVER HE WENT."
"So… you don't know exactly?" asked the hesitant Huntress.
"I CUT THE CORD THAT CONNECTS PEOPLE TO THEIR MORTAL SHELLS. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THAT IS NOT UP TO ME."
The couple looked at each other uncertainly. "Then who is it up to?"
"WHY DON'T YOU FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES?"
Without any more questions, the Huntress and the Sportsmaster faded away.
Death took a practice swing over the golf ball. "YES. THAT DOES SEEM BETTER."
OoOoOoO
Overhead a thrown hammer made a thunderous impact with Ultraman causing him to drop Mr. Incredible. The Human Torch and Static Shock raced through the air attacking Amazo who formed a protective green shield in front of himself. Iron Man traded blasts with Radiation Roy.
A telepathic call field the field. "Greetings, I am Professor X. My friends and I are coming to help those siding with the Doctor."
On the ground, a number of fighters were quickly approaching what remained of Garguax plastic androids. Wolverine hacked his way through the androids while Shadowcat simply phased herself and thus shorting the alien circuitry. Sinbad used his sword, but it proved harder to cut through the androids than Wolverine made it appeared. Dyna Girl used her ElectraCom to force her way through. Sinbad joined her fighting at her side much to her delight. The Scarlet Witch's powers caused the Blue Snowman to freeze solid. Quicksilver ran circles around Eviless, spinning her so much that she passed out. Hawkeye pinned the ant-like alien Antrax to a tree with several arrows, effectively killing him. Black Widow went after the bull-mutated Groundchuck and the mole-mutated Dirtbag, both of whom took off running for the jungle rather than stick it out and continue to face her. The Black Widow then turned her attention on the mutated turtle Slash.
"AH, I WAS WONDERING IF THEY WOULD MAKE IT ON TIME." Death checked a list he had and then examined a number of glass hourglasses with names on them. "ALMOST ALL HERE."
He took up his stance next to the golf ball. And swung his scythe.
To be Continued!
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Original AuThOr'S NoTeS: 6/25/2008
Sorry it's been taking so long but the Doctors have been trying different pain meds on me and some of them just seem to take my ability to think away. I hate it. I don't understand why anyone takes these pills for fun. It's not fun at all.
Mekanique was a character introduced late in the DC Comics ALL-STAR SQUADRON series. The comic book writer Roy Thomas literally took her from the movie METROPOLIS (1927) and introduced her as a time-traveling agent for her creator Rotwang – and that is how I am using her here. Later in the comic book storylines, Mekanique teams up with Per Degaton and she supposedly falls in love with him which is where I am more or less tearing off from that continuity. Basically, her primary orders are to find a conquest seeking time-traveler and bring him/her/it back to Rotwang – and since the Master fits that description so much better Per Degaton, she would have to try bringing the Master to Rotwang instead of Degaton.
For those that don't remember, K-9 was decapitated by Kenny after the Doctor had been briefly assimilated by the Borg. The Borg tried to use the assimilated Doctor to call K-9 and have the robotic dog use the controls of the TARDIS to send it to the Borg.
Let's see, I've introduced Space: Above and Beyond. A great show and it ended way too soon. Check it out if it ever plays in your area.
I've also avenged Tundro of the Herculoids' death. The part about Igoo being repaired by using molten lava from where he had been spawned I made up and it was not a part of the regular show's history.
Joaquin de la Vega who claimed to be the third Zorro was last seen in A Tangled Web Part 7: Borg on the Range and was one of the many drones that the Borg Queen took with her when she traveled to the Land of the Lost.
Updated AuThOr'S NoTeS: 2-6-2022
This was hoot! I do feel I should explain something though. When I wrote this in 2008, I was checking up on things as I always try to do. I had noticed that the Avengers: Age of Ultron was already being mentioned on the Internet Movie Data Base, and it included Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, so I had included them in my fanfiction. Only years later, when the movie did come out, and I had finally finished the story, it turned out the writers had killed off Quicksilver.
Man!
Anyway, I'm just going to declare alternate reality and leave it at that.
ChArAcTeR InDeX FoR ThE ChApTeR:
Addams, Cousin Itt (Roger Arroyo) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966) (mentioned only)
Addams, Gomez (John Astin) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966)
Addams, Gram-mama (Marie Blake) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966) (mentioned only)
Addams, Morticia Frump (Carolyn Jones) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966) (mentioned only)
Allura, Princess (voiced by B.J. Ward) – from the cartoon Voltron (1984-1986)
Amazo of Earth-1 – from DC Comics Brave and the Bold #30 (1960)
Antrax (voiced by Pat Fraley) – from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Baron Blitzkrieg of Earth-2 / Reiter – from DC Comics World's Finest Comics #246 (1977)
Batman / McGinnis, Terry (voiced by Will Friedle) – from the TV series Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
Benson, Det. Kate (Alexondra Lee) – from the TV series Special Unit 2 (2001-2002)
Bizarro of Earth-1 (voiced by William Callaway) – from the cartoon Challenge of the Super-Friends (1978), Super Friends (1980-1981), from DC Comics Action Comics #254 (1959)
Black Adam of Earth-S / Teth-Adam / Adam, Theo (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981-1982), from Fawcett Comics The Marvel Family #1 (1945)
Black Widow / Romanoff, Natasha (Scarlet Johansson) – from the movies Iron Man (2008), The Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Blast, Col. – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Bludd, Major (voiced by Michael Bell) – from the cartoon G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983), G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra (1984), G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (1986), G.I. Joe (1985-1986)
Blue Snowman of Earth-2 / Brilyant, Bryna – from DC Comics Sensation Comics #59 (1946)
Boomer, Coach / Sonic Boom (Bruce Campbell) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Borg – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Borg Queen (Alice Krige) – from the movie Star Trek: First Contact (1996), (Susanna Thompson) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1999-2000)
Brain Wave of Earth-2 / King, Henry – from DC Comics All-Star Comics #15 (1943)
Captain Boomerang of Earth-1 / Harkness, George 'Digger' – from DC Comics Flash #117 (1960)
Captain Nazi of Earth-S / Krieger, Albrecht – from Fawcett Comics Master Comics #21 (1941)
Cheetah of Earth-2 / Rich, Priscilla – from DC Comics Wonder Woman #6 (1943)
Cheetara (voiced by Lynne Lipton) – from the cartoon ThunderCats (1985-1989)
Chesterton, Ian (William Russell) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1965)
Clayface of Earth-1 / Hagen, Matthew (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon The New Adventures of Batman (1977), Tarzan and the Super 7 'Batman' (1978), from DC Comics Detective Comics #298 (1961)
The Commander / Stronghold, Steve (Kurt Russell) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Concussion / Shepard, Connor (Kevin Zegers) – from the movie Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006)
Copperhead of Earth-1 – from DC Comics Brave and the Bold #78 (1968)
Damphousse, Lt. Vanessa (Lanei Chapman) – from the TV series Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996)
Deadshot of Earth-1 / Lawton, Floyd – from DC Comics Batman #59 (1950)
Death / Door, Bill – from the book The Colour of Magic (1983), by Terry Pratchett, of the Discworld series; (Christopher Lee) – from the movies Wyrd Sisters (1997), Soul Music (1997), The Color of Magic (2008), (Ian Richardson) – Hogfather (2006)
Degaton, Per, of Earth-2 – from DC Comics All-Star Comics #35 (1947)
Devastator (Bonecrusher, Hook, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scavenger, Scrapper) – from the cartoon The Transformers (1985-1987), the movie The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Dirtbag (voiced by Pat Fraley) – from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Doctor, The 1st (William Hartnell) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1966)
Doctor, The 5th (Peter Davison) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1981-1984) (mentioned only)
Dorno (voiced by Ted Eccles) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Dracula, Sam 'Grandpa' (Al Lewis) – from the TV series The Munsters (1964-1966)
Dyna Girl / Judy (Judy Strangis) – from the TV series The Krofft Supershow 'Electra Woman and Dyna Girl' (1976)
Ethan (Dee Jay Daniels) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Eviless of Earth-2 – from DC Comics Wonder Woman #10 (1944)
Foot Ninja clan – from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(1987-1996)
Frank the Pug (voiced by Tim Blaney) – from the movies Men in Black (1997), Men in Black II (2002), Men in Black 3 (2012)
Frump, Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966)
Garett, Tsuyoshi 'Hunk' (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) – from the cartoon Voltron (1984-1986)
Garguax of Earth-1 – from DC Comics Doom Patrol #91 (1964)
Giant Man / Wilson, Ron (Kevin Heffernan) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Giganta of Earth-1 / Zuel, Dr. Doriz (voiced by Ruth Forman) – from the cartoon Challenge of the Super-Friends, from DC Comics Wonder Woman #9 (1944)
Gleep (voiced by Don Messick) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Gloop (voiced by Don Messick) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Green Lantern of Earth-1 / Jordon, Hal (voiced by Gerald Mohr) – from the cartoon The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967-1968), Aquaman (1968), (voiced by Michael Rye) – Challenge of the Super Friends (1978), Super Friends (1980-1983), SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984), The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985), from DC Comics Showcase #22 (1959) (mentioned only)
Groundchuck (voiced by Bob Ridgely) – from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Harris, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) – from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
Hawkes, Lt. Cooper (Rodney Rowland) – from the TV series Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996)
Hawkeye / Barton, Clint (Jeremy Renner) – from the movies The Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Hordak (voiced by George DiCenzo) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Horde Troopers – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Houdini / West, Dylan (Michael Cassidy) – from the movie Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006)
Human Torch / Storm, Johnny (Chris Evans) – from the movies Fantastic Four (2005), 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Huntress of Earth-2 / Brooks, Paula – from DC Comics Sensation Comics #68 (1947)
Igoo (voiced by Ted Cassidy) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Invisible Girl / Parr, Violet (voiced by Sarah Vowell) – from the movie The Incredibles (2004)
Iron Man / Stark, Tony (Robert Downey, Jr.) – from the movies Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Jay, Agent (Will Smith) – from the movie Men in Black (1997), Men in Black II (2002), Men in Black 3 (2012)
K-9 (voiced by John Leeson) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1977-?)
Kogane, Cdr. Keith Akira (voiced by Neil Ross) – from the cartoon Voltron (1984-1986)
Kwan, Fred (Tony Shalhoub) – from the movie Galaxy Quest (1999)
Laliari (Missi Pyle) – from the movie Galaxy Quest (1999)
Laren, Ro (Michelle Forbes) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991-1994)
Lehane, Faith (Eliza Dushku) – from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1998-2003)
Lightning Lord of Earth-1 / Ranzz, Mekt – from DC Comics Superman #147 (1961)
Lion-O (voiced by Larry Kenney) – from the cartoon ThunderCats (1985-1989)
Lore (Brent Spiner) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993) (mentioned only)
The Luggage – from the book The Colour of Magic (1983) by Terry Pratchett, of the Discworld series
Lurch (Ted Cassidy) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966)
Lynx-O (voiced by Doug Preis) – from the cartoon ThunderCats (1985-1989)
Magenta (Kelly Vitz) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Mantenna (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Martok, General (J.G. Hertzler) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995-1999)
The Master / Koschei – from the TV series Doctor Who
McClain, Lance Charles (voiced by Michael Bell) – from the cartoon Voltron (1984-1986)
McQueen, Lt. Col. Tyrus Cassius 'T.C.' – from the TV series Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996)
Megatron (voiced by Frank Welker) – from the cartoon show The Transformers (1984-1987), the movie The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Mekanique of Earth-2 – from the movie Metropolis (1927), from DC Comics Infinity, Inc. #19 (1985)
Micro Lad of Earth-1 / Muldron, Lalo – from DC Comics Superboy #212 (1975)
Minister Blizzard of Earth-2 – from DC Comics Wonder Woman #29 (1948)
Mister Atom of Earth-S – from the cartoon The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981-1982), from Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel Adventures #78 (1947)
Mister Incredible / Parr, Bob (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) – from the movie The Incredibles (2004)
Mister Medulla (Kevin McDonald) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Munster, Herman (Fred Gwynne) – from the TV series The Munsters (1964-1966)
Nyssa of Traken (Sarah Sutton) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1981-1984)
Panthro (voiced by Earle Hyman) – from the cartoon ThunderCats (1985-1989)
Pierce, Lexa (Karen Cliché) – from the TV series Mutant X (2001-2004)
Plastic Men of Earth-1 – from DC Comics Doom Patrol #91 (1964)
Professor X / Xavier, Prof. Charles (Patrick Stewart) – from the movie X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Quicksilver / Maximoff, Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) – from the movie The Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron (2015)
Radiation Roy of Earth-1 / Travich, Roy – from DC Comics Adventure Comics #320 (1964)
Rag Doll of Earth-2 / Merkel, Peter – from DC Comics Flash Comics #36 (1942)
Rattlor (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Rincewind – from the book The Colour of Magic (1983) by Terry Pratchett, of the Discworld series; (David Jason) – from the movie The Color of Magic (2008)
Roosevelt, Theodore 'Teddy' – historical figure (mentioned only)
Rotwang, C.A. (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) – from the movie Metropolis (1927) (mentioned only)
Sawyer, Tom (Shane West) – from the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Scarlet Witch / Maximoff, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) – from the movie The Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron (2015)
Seska (Martha Hackett) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
Shadowcat / Pryde, Kitty (Katie Stuart) – from the movies X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Sinbad (Zen Gesner) – from the TV series The Adventures of Sinbad (1996-1998)
Sisko, Capt. Benjamin (Avery Brooks) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
Skinner, Rodney / The Invisible Man (Tony Curran) – from the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Slash (voiced by Pat Fraley) – from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Sonar of Earth-1 / Wladon, Bito – from DC Comics Green Lantern #14 (1962)
Soundwave (voiced by Frank Welker) – from the cartoon show The Transformers (1984-1987), the movie The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Sportsmaster of Earth-2 / Crock, Lawrence 'Crusher' – from DC Comics All-American Comics #85 (1946)
Stantz, Dr. Raymond 'Ray' (Dan Aykroyd) – from the movie Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II (1989)
Star Sapphire of Earth-1 / Remoni-Norta / Darnell, Deborah Camille – from DC Comics The Secret Society Of Super-Villains #1 (1976)
Starscream (voiced by Chris Latta) – from the cartoon show The Transformers (1984-1987), the movie The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Static Shock (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – from the cartoon Static Shock (2000-2004)
Stay-Puff – from the movie Ghostbusters (1984) (mentioned only)
Stoker, Darrell 'Pidge' (voiced by Neil Ross) – from the cartoon Voltron (1984-1986)
Storm Shadow (voiced by Keone Young) – from the cartoon G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra (1984), G.I. Joe (1985-1986)
Tarra (voiced by Virginia Gregg) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
The Terminator / T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – from the movie The Terminator (1984); Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terra-Man of Earth-1 / Manning, Toby – from DC Comics Superman #249 (1972)
Thing (Ted Cassidy) – from the TV series The Addams Family (1964-1966)
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – from the movies Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Trap Jaw (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985)
Tundro – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Tygra (voiced by Peter Newman) – from the cartoon ThunderCats (1985-1989)
Ultraman of Earth-3 – from DC Comics Justice League of America #29 (1964)
Validus of Earth-1 / Ranzz, Garridan – from DC Comics Adventure Comics #352 (1967) (mentioned only)
Vansen, Capt. Shane (Kristen Cloke) – from the TV series Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996)
Wang, Lt. Paul (Joel de la Fuente) – from the TV series Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996)
West, Lt. Nathan (Morgan Weisser) – from the TV series Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996)
Williams, Ashley 'Ash' J. (Bruce Campbell) – from the movie The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), Army of Darkness (1992) (mentioned only)
WilyKat (voiced by Peter Newman) – from the cartoon ThunderCats (1985-1989)
WilyKit (voiced by Lynne Lipton) – from the cartoon ThunderCats (1985-1989)
Wolverine / Logan / Howlett, James (Hugh Jackman) – from the movie X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), The Wolverine (2013)
Wonder Woman of Earth-2 / Diana, Princess / Prince, Diana – from DC Comics All-Star Comics #8 (1941) (mentioned only)
Wotan of Earth-2 – from DC Comics More Fun Comics #55 (1940)
Wright, Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1965)
Yautja – from the movie Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004), Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Predators (2010)
Zandor (voiced by Mike Road) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Zok (voiced by Mike Road) – from the cartoon shows The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Zorak (voiced by Don Messick) – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)
Zorro III / de la Vega, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso) – from the movie The Legend of Zorro (2005)