A TANGLED WEB Part 8: Endgame
Chapter 26
by Charlie Nelson a.k.a. Ordinaryguy2
Updated: 2-16-2022
The main crossovers in this chapter include: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzi Across the 8th Dimension (1984); The Avengers (2012); Ben 10 (2005-2008); Blade (1998); Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-2001); Child's Play (1988); Conan the Barbarian (1982); DC Comics; Deadpool (2016); The Dead Zone (2002-2007); Dexter (2006-2013); Die Hard (1988); Doctor Strange (2016); Doctor Who; Eureka (2006-2012); Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981); Game of Thrones (2011-2014); Ghost Rider (2007); G.I. Joe (1985-1986); Halloween (1978); He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985); The Herculoids (1967-1969); The Incredibles (2004); It (1990); Jonny Quest (1964-1965); Kyle XY (2006-2009); Land of the Lost (1974-1976), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003); The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001); Lost (2004-2010); Men in Black (1997); Metropolis (1927); Mutant X (2001-2004); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003); The Punisher (2004); Red Circle Comics (1965); Rocky and His Friends 'Peabody's Improbable History' (1959-1964); Scream (1996); The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994-1998); She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987); Sky High (2005); Skybound Comics; Special Unit 2 (2001-2002); Space Cases (1996-1997); Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974); Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006)
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Updated AuThOr'S NoTeS: 2-16-2022
I've included an entirely new piece to this chapter which is the second half. This chapter which was originally very short by my standards. In the new part all the fighting takes place in some ravines. It's a follow-up of Mr. Peabody's group that had helped others escape the Xenomorphs back in chapter 15 and was last seen in chapter 18. I had never planned to do much with them other than have them be an example of how diverse and crazy everything was in the rest of the Land of the Lost. Now I've done much more. It's a bit of overkill, but I hope you like it.
THE PLANET GALLIFREY – THE HOME PLANET OF THE TIME LORDS
The Master looked out from the balcony at the city. The sheer wonder of the sight took his breath away. He had done it. He had succeeded in traveling back in time to the beginning of Gallifrey's Golden Age. He wasn't sure yet if the legendary Rassilon or the dreadful Pythia ruled the planet at this early age, but whoever it was would soon find themselves replaced by the Master himself. That is if his luck held out just a little longer.
"Geez, would you look at this place. George Lucas would be hard pressed to top this sight," commented one of his bodyguards.
Annoyed at his moment of reflection being interrupted, he turned to regard his bodyguards. He noted that they were all captivated by the city even as he had been. Deadshot had his mask pulled up so that he could smoke while the four-legged Mantenna had physically adapted himself with bio-oculars in order to see far away. Captain Nazi stared at the beautiful proud buildings of Gallifrey with his mouth hung open. The golden gynoid Mekanique scanned their surroundings while the cyborg Trap Jaw held on to one of the prisoners.
"Remember yourselves, fools. Don't be dazzled by the sights or they may be the last thing you ever see." The Master noted the effect his warning had on them.
Deadshot dropped his cigarette and stepped on it, grinding the smoldering embers beneath his feet. "What should we be looking out for? You really haven't been very forthcoming about what you want us to do."
"To do? I expect you to protect me. Leave everything else to me." He could see the stupid looks in Trap Jaw's eyes, so he elaborated. "This place can be even more dangerous than the battlefield we just left. I have no idea what may attack us or even what direction it will come from; therefore, you need to be diligently on guard at all times."
Having warned his now more attentive bodyguards, he regarded his old enemy. The captive Time Lord seemed to be in deep concentration as he sat on a stone bench. "You can stop that now, Doctor."
The wizened Doctor, the first incarnation of the Time Lord who had had his TARDIS captured by the Master during the great battle, blinked and looked up. "Whatever do you mean?"
The Master sneered at the other Time Lord's attempt to look innocent. "You know as well as I do that the Gallifreyans of this time period were highly telepathic. I had a device especially made which creates an invisible Cone of Silence around us. It keeps sound as well as thoughts from getting out from up to ten yards away."
The Doctor nodded, begrudgingly. "That is quite brilliant."
The Master frowned. He knew from centuries of battling against the Doctor in many of his incarnations that a compliment from him usually meant he had thought of something else to undermine the Master. "I feel I should remind you that your beloved 'grand-daughter' will pay with her life if you attempt anything on this venture."
The Doctor glanced to where the cyborg villain Trap Jaw held Susan close to him, her arm clamped tight in a vise-like attachment on his robotic right arm.
The Master smiled. "And if you try anything at all against me, Trap Jaw has orders to bite your precious Susan's arm off."
Trap Jaw opened and closed his large metal jaw menacingly causing Susan to try pull away from the villain in fear and revulsion.
"Relax, my dear," the Doctor said softly. "They don't mean us any harm yet." He hoped she understood the 'yet' part. He turned his attention to his adversary. "You're mad to attempt this," said the Doctor.
"'The greater the venture, the greater the prize," he responded. "It has always been that way. And what a prize this will be."
The Doctor nodded to the city. "And you think that they won't stop you?"
The evil Time Lord laughed. "This is Gallifrey before the Time Academies were founded. Rassilon and his allies are either studying the sciences of time travel and the application of quantum principles in secret due to the reign of the sorceress Pythia, or the early years of Rassilon's rule where he is converting people to the scientific application of time travel. I doubt that they have even learned yet to modify their biodata to include Symbiotic Nuclei in order to be Time Sensitive."
"But what of the Rassilon Imprimature that allows us to withstand traveling in time? If you take over now and Rassilon hasn't set it in place, then you risk an apocalyptic paradox."
The Master smiled. "Not at all. The Rassilon Imprimature will simply become known as the Master's Imprimature. Everything of Rassilon's will be mine. I will rule all of Gallifrey at its height! And from there the universe! And then I'll take on the Multiverse!"
The Doctor shook his head and bit his tongue to refrain from saying anything else. As the Master turned to consult with Mekanique and Mantenna about their findings, the Doctor turned to consider the city below them. What he knew of Pythia was from myths and stories told to frighten the young. She had lived for over five hundred regenerations and was the leader of a matriarchal cult that domineered over most of Gallifrey through superstition and magic. Knowing that her rule over Gallifrey was coming to an end, she committed a final suicide, but not before using her vast telepathic powers to curse her people with sterility.
It had been Rassilon who had saved the Gallifreyans from dying out by creating genetic Looms to form the next generation of Gallifreyan babies; though the womb-less children had weaker telepathic abilities and did not live as long as their forefathers, they were just as incredibly intelligent and sensitive to time. If Rassilon was in power, then he, too, could be a deadly concern as he had had to enforce very strict guidelines to stay in power as well as from keeping everything from spiraling out of control by misuse of time travel.
As these answers he sought were at least temporarily unavailable to him, he tried to once again concentrate as hard as he could to try send a mental message in the form of a memory to his eventual incarnations to let them know when and where he was. It has to work, he told himself, trying to remain confident.
THE TARDIS
Magenta focused on her objective as she tried to remember everything she had been taught in training at her school, Sky High. She tried moving slowly and using objects in the room to keep between her and the other occupants of the room so they couldn't see her. Listening intently and gauging distance with her nose, she knew that she was getting closer. Soon she would have to make her move. And she hoped that she survived it, too.
She noted that the Master had left two guards in the TARDIS to watch over their hostages. The first guard she knew as Micro Lad who she herself had captured on the battlefield earlier and brought into the TARDIS before the Master had taken it over. He was an overconfident lout with red curly hair and wore a green jumpsuit. His sole power was to shrink to a very small degree. Why he still called himself a lad when he was obviously an adult made her wonder if he had other issues which might explain his arrogance and his need to overcompensate.
The other guard looked like a ninja, and yet was strangely dressed entirely in white. She had heard him addressed as Storm Shadow and she could tell that he disliked Micro Lad. Catching sight of him, Magenta thought he was completely dreamy, but she knew he would also be the type that would have no problems in killing her with the two swords that he had strapped on his back.
The captives were all jammed together off to one side. Two of them had been placed in large glass jars due to their liquid form. The jar with the yellow protoplasmic creature called Gleep had been sealed on top so that it couldn't escape. The other glass capsule held the semi-liquid form of Ethan, another Sky High student who she had been secretly dating. Ethan was still unconscious due to being electrocuted on the battlefield. While his power was to turn into a liquid puddle, after being shocked he kept fluctuating back and forth from solid to liquid. She hoped that it wasn't serious.
She was surprised to note that some of the captives had bags over their heads so that they couldn't see. When she noted that the hooded heroes were the Incredibles' Invisible Girl, Lexa Pierce of the Mutant X group, Houdini and Concussion from the Superhero Academy, she realized that those with bags on their heads had powers that might free them if they could just see. The hostages without powers had been arranged so that they encircled the others.
One of the hostages let out a groan as they began to stir. "Oh, my head." Tom Sawyer of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen blinked as he looked around. "Where are we now?"
"Silence," commanded Storm Shadow.
"Oh, damn," muttered the American agent as he realized the position he was in.
Storm Shadow drew his blade and slapped Sawyer's cheek with the flat of it. "Be silent or I will make you forever silent."
Agent Sawyer scowled at the threat but Barbara Wright, one of the first Doctor's companions, gave him a pleading look not to challenge the ninja. Sawyer said nothing but began looking around the interior of the TARDIS.
Magenta moved forward carefully, trying hard not to let her nails click on the floor. Her Guinea pig form that she transformed into was great for sneaking into places, but she still needed to be careful. If I could just get among the hostages, I could chew away on the ropes binding their hands behind their backs and then we could take control of the TARDIS, she thought.
Concussion or Invisible Girl were the ones she wanted to free first but they were right in the middle of the group of hostages so that if they did try to use their powers while the bags were over their heads, they would be at risk of hurting their comrades.
She looked back toward the hallway that she had come from. Peeking out from the corner she could see the MiB agent Frank the Pug and the muzzle of the robot they had repaired, K-9. While Frank had insisted that he could fix the small robot dog she had noticed that he seemed quite puzzled at some of the connections he had to make as he attached the head.
She gasped when Frank and K-9 hurried out to join her where she hid behind a chair. She shook her head frantically hoping they would turn back but they still came. Finally, when they were next to her, she whispered harshly to them. "What do you think you are doing? One of us could be lucky enough to sneak over to the others, but not the three of us. Are you trying to get us caught?"
"Yeah, relax. I just noticed something that you overlooked that can change how we approach this rescue mission. Take a lookie over at that," the pug dog-like alien whispered back, pointing over by the console of the TARDIS. There on the floor lay the gun that Per Degaton had used when he first captured the TARDIS before being vaporized when the Master seized control from him.
"You can use a gun?" She glanced down at his paws trying to imagine how the alien Remoolian could use the weapon without opposable thumbs.
"No, see, you go over to the gun. I'll go sneak over and untie the others. If those two goons spot me, you become Human again, pick up the gun and convince them to freeze."
She rubbed her paws over her face in a nervous gesture. "I don't know about that. I've never used a gun before. What if the safety is on? Or worse, what if I accidently fire it?"
"You have other problems, rodent!" squeaked a small voice as something small jumped onto her back.
"Ieeeeeee!" Magenta jumped about as Micro Lad stabbed her back repeatedly with an Imskian knife.
Frank had to jump back as one of Storm Shadow's katana blades tried to pin him to the floor. "Ulp!"
A laser beam from K-9's muzzle blasted the katana away. The ninja retaliated by knocking over the chair on top of the small robot before jumping back and draw his other sword.
Frank yelped as he ran toward the captives. "Ah, jeez! Who do I untie? Who do I untie?"
"Just pick somebody and untie them," snapped Det. Kate Benson as she edged to one side to let him have access to the ropes binding her wrist. Tarra, Tom Sawyer and Ian Chesterton also moved to give him room to their wrists.
He went to Agent Sawyer's hands first. "Hey, a problem. They used wire on your wrists."
"That explains why my wrist hurt when I try to pull them apart," Sawyer spat.
"They didn't use wire on everyone," pointed out Barbara Wright.
Frank looked for the next closest wrists tied with rope which happened to belong to the Invisible Girl.
The hooded head of the Invisible Girl jerked up as Frank began trying to untie the knots around her wrist with his teeth. "Hey, what's going on?" she cried out. "I can't see anything."
"Ha! The alien mutt chose to untie someone that wasn't awake yet," laughed Houdini of the Zoom team.
"Just for that I'm untying you last," muttered the Remoolian through a mouthful of rope.
"You'll never do it in time that way," criticized Houdini.
"If you have a better idea, we would love to hear it," spoke up Det. Kate Benson.
"I'll do better," he said. "Hey, Violet, do you have a bag over your head like I do?"
"Uh, yeah. I think so," said the dazed girl.
"Good. Make the bag invisible so you can see around and free the rest of us."
"Ok, just a minute. I have to clear my head a little."
Meanwhile, Magenta was trying to rub the attacking Imskian terrorist off her back against the chair, but Micro Lad laughed at her efforts, shrinking down or growing to continue his attacks with his knife.
Being maddened by the pain being inflicted on her she twisted suddenly and bite down hard.
Mirco Lad cried out as she pulled him off her back. She shook him back and forth by his left leg that she had clamped between her teeth until he finally flew over against the chair and bounced onto the floor. He fought against his instinct to shrink and instead grew to his full height.
Magenta grew to match the redheaded villain. She chose to use something that one of her teachers had helped her work on and remained in her Guinea Pug form but grew to her ninety-pound size and managed a growl. "Drop the knife or I'll finish what I started and bite your leg off!"
His leg was mangled with part of the bone sticking out. Trying to stop the flow of blood with his hands, he nodded. "Just don't let me die!" he pleaded.
K-9 chased after his quarry making sure to stay between those tied up and Storm Shadow. The ninja had thrown a variety of items at the metal mutt while dodging its laser blasts. He was unprepared for the sudden blast from the freed Concussion.
"Nailed him!" shouted Concussion.
"Great. Now help free the rest us," requested Agent Sawyer. The Invisible Girl, who had used her powers to free herself and Concussion was working on freeing the others.
Frank the Pug jumped about excitedly. "Ha ha! We did it! We did it!"
Now that he was freed, Ian Chesterton moved over to the console of the TARDIS and turned on the outside monitor. "No sign of the Master."
"That's what's outside?" asked Agent Sawyer, who was still waiting to be freed. "I've – I've never seen anything like it."
Once the Invisible Girl used her powers to break Tarra's bonds she went over to her very still son to examine the gunshot wound Dorno had received when Per Degaton had captured the ship. "He's in shock. I need blankets."
"I know where there are some," Barbara responded. "I'll bring the medical kit, too."
Det. Kate Benson moved over to examine Magenta who had reverted to her Human form. Kate ripped the back of Magenta's shirt to get a better visual. "Ouch, that looks like it hurts."
"Multiple stab wounds in my back and you wonder if it hurts?"
"Sorry," Kate replied. "They all look like superficial wounds though."
"Thank goodness Guinea pigs have thicker hides on their backs," commented Magenta as she winced, "otherwise I probably would be dead."
"Well, I don't think anything vital was hit. I will have to stitch these closed after I clean the wounds or else you will lose too much blood."
Among the former prisoners, Lexa pulled the hood from off her head. "I hate being captured and tied up."
Agent Sawyer rubbed his wrists. "Not many people do."
Concussion dragged over Storm Shadow by one of the villain's arms. "I was thinking of tying him to a chair, but then I thought 'why should he be more comfortable than we were?', you know?"
Sawyer nodded. "I'll get some wire to bind his wrists."
Lexa tossed over her hood. "He can wear this, too. Oh, and you are going to want to search for any hidden weapons or tools hidden on his person that he could use to free himself," she added. "In fact, you might want to strip him to his underwear." Getting a look from the others, she added, "Just in case."
Ian Chesterton looked over the settings on the TARDIS. "I think I can get us back to where we were on the battlefield."
"What?" Concussion looked up from where he was searching Storm Shadow. "We should be going after the Master and pound him and his henchmen into the ground, not running away with our tails between our legs."
"Hey!" barked Frank. "I resent that metaphor!"
"We need reinforcements," Det. Kate Benson said. "Not to mention the fact that we need to get the wounded to safety."
The discussion continued as the differing of opinion grew. One thing both sides knew was that time was a necessity and they needed to come to an agreement soon.
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A RAVINE IN THE LAND OF THE LOST
Dr. Emilio Lizardo hit the ground and did not get up.
"And that is how it is done," Mr. Peabody commented as he adjusted his tie. "Are you all right, Sherman?"
"Sure, Mr. Peabody." The boy held up his leg for Mr. Peabody to examine the manacle on his leg.
"Hmm, I wonder where they found an Italian manacle from the 15th century in this strange landscape. And in such excellent condition, too."
"Gee, Mr. Peabody, everything in this place seems to be time tossed."
"Hmm, true. There is quite a bit of flotsam and jetsam from eclectic eras spread around here. A few from non-Earthy origin, too."
"Dr. Lizardo does claim to be an alien from another dimension," supplied Sherman.
"Yes, my nose told me of that fact when we first encountered him," remarked the talkative canine. The white dog winced slightly as he brushed himself off. Shortly after their accidental arrival to this unique landscape, Mr. Peabody, Sherman and a few others they had met had a violent encounter with Dr. Lizardo and Warlord Shank in which Sherman, Mr. Peabody's pet boy, had been captured. Only now, after a series of misadventures and a gaining of a few allies, were they able to track down the fiends.
"Who, or perhaps the better term would be, what, are those fearsome things?"
Sherman glanced to see where Mr. Peabody was pointing. "Oh, Kulan Gath calls them… uh, just a sec,… I think it was Uruk-Hai. He might have had something stuck in his throat while he was saying that. The whole pack of the… big, beastly guys were tearing through the place until Kulan Gath put some kind of magic spell on them to serve him."
Mr. Peabody frowned. "I despise magic. It's cheating."
"They wanted to eat me, but Dr. Lizardo said he was saving me for Pennywise."
"Pennywise?" asked the white dog, as he paused while cleaning his glasses.
Sherman pointed over to where a white-faced clown was doing battle with burning skeleton on a motorcycle.
A thunderous growl drew their attention to their left and they watched as an angry, muscular, green behemoth fought with the Uruk-Hai. The Uruk-Hai stabbed, slashed and bit while the Hulk just smashed them into the ground one after the other.
"And where is this Kulan Gath person?" asked Mr. Peabody.
"Over there, fighting that guy with the cape who is shooting some kind of light at him."
"Ah, yes. The fellow in the cape as you put it is Dr. Stephen Strange. He used to be quite the surgeon to hear him tell it. A very interesting person to talk to, as long as the subject of magic does not come up."
"You really don't like magic, do you, Mr. Peabody?"
"It's a subject I'd rather not discuss. Now come, Sherman. Let's get to safety. We were quite worried about you, you know?"
oOoOoOo
Using his binoculars, Jim Taggart was watching the fighting. Next to him was Captain Jack Sparrows who was using a collapsing telescope that he normally kept in one of his many pockets.
"A doubloon on Warlord Shank," Sparrows said.
"What?"
"I bet a doubloon on Warlord Shank defeating Lightyear. You savvy?"
"But Buzz is on our side!" Taggart remarked in surprise.
"True, but most of his armor and weapons have been destroyed by those evil beasties with the acid-for-blood."
"But he's on our side!"
Sparrows sighed in exasperation. "It's not about who is on whose side; it's about betting, man."
Taggart considered that. "I don't have anything worth a doubloon."
"Pfft! Please! Your two-piece eyeglass there must be worth a lot. Specially since you say it can spy farther than my one eyeglass can."
Taggart was only a second behind when he realized that the pirate was referring to his binoculars. Also, he'd like to have a gold doubloon of his very own. "Ok, you're on. I say Buzz Lightyear will kick Warlord Shank's scaly butt!"
Sparrow's chuckled and held up a flask. "Spot of rum?"
Taggart grinned back. "Don't mind if I do."
oOoOoOo
Kyle and Hadji carried Cassie's unconscious form away as carefully as they could. She had been injured while she and Ben Tennyson had been fighting Omni-Man in the air above. Fortunately, even as she passed out, she had reverted to her Human form, thus, taking away any injuries she had obtained due to her Animorphs abilities. Now it was up to Ben alone and whatever alien beings his Omnitrix could turn him into to deal with Omni-Man.
"Where do you two punks think you're going?"
Looking for the voice, they spotted a large redheaded doll holding a knife that dripped blood.
"Kyle, I think you should take Cassie while I deal with this."
"I think I could handle the doll man better than you, Hadji."
"Awe, are you two fighting over who gets to take on little ol' me? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Pardon moi," came another voice. "But we haven't finished our musical number yet!"
The doll looked behind him in alarm. "What?! I killed you already!"
"It didn't seem to take, did it?" Deadpool was leaning against the wall with one of his katanas out. "But the way I see it, turnabout is fair play. Oh, and look, my blade is bigger than your blade."
A growl emanated from the doll. "I'm gonna gut you and knit a hammock out of your intestines!" shouted Chucky.
"You can always try, but this time you are going to have to face me head on. No more of this 'stabbing a person in the back of the head when they aren't looking' crap unless I'm the one doing the stabbing, kapesh?"
"Are you sure you're a hero?" asked the doll, tilting his head in suspicion.
"No, my guidance counselor got me on the mercenary/assassin/caterer career path. There was no plan for 'hero' anywhere in that dark alley." He took out his other katana and started fast swordplay practice that was rather dizzying to follow. "I call this move 'the lawnmower'. And you can be the garden gnome that I accidently/on purpose run over and chop into little bits."
Chucky ran for it.
"Come back!" Deadpool gave chase. "I want to show you that I am secure enough in my manliness that I can allow myself to be seen playing with a doll!"
Kyle and Hadji glanced at each other. Unsure of what else to do, they went back to taking Cassie to relative safety.
They ducked down reflexively when they heard gunfire. When they realized it was in the next ravine, they continued on.
"It's most likely the Punisher going after that Hans Gruber fellow," said Hadji.
"How did he know the man was Hans Gruber?" asked Kyle.
"He is probably on the Interpol Wanted list. Punisher said something about him being a terrorist. That's how I know his name."
And that is when they heard Hurley scream. The large man was running as fast as he could from a fast-walking male wearing a white mask and holding a large knife.
"I'm faster," Kyle said, even as he helped Hadji shoulder the full burden of carrying Cassie.
Kyle jumped and was skidding down the ravine wall towards Hurley and his silent assailant.
"You are alone now," spoke a young voice.
Hadji spotted a blond teenage boy in rich garments of some begotten age long ago and holding a sword.
Hadji frowned in annoyance even as he lowered Cassie gently to the ground. "And who might you be?" he asked. Using the ploy of keeping the blond boy talking was risky, but it was what Hadji had available at the moment.
"I am King Joffrey Baratheon, king of-"
Something crashed into the hard rock and dirt within feet of them. There was the sound of a motorcycle coming closer towards them.
Pennywise crawled out of the small hole his body had created and grabbed the first body he saw, which was Joffrey.
"Let go, you fool! I am on your side!"
Pennywise used Joffrey as a shield even as the Ghost Rider closed the distance between them.
The flaming skull seemed to grin as it came to a stop. "You seek to hide yourself behind innocence."
"Oh course," answered the alien-clown-demon thing. "I can tell you are one of those that protect the innocent."
The Ghost Rider seemed to chuckle at that. "You chose your shield poorly." The flaming demon began to give his penance stare.
Joffrey began to scream as all of the hurt and cruelty he'd done to others was now felt by him. He screamed and screamed until he collapsed against Pennywise. Pennywise, feeling all the fear inside of Joffrey, which was way more than he'd ever been able to cause someone to have, couldn't help himself. He ate Joffrey.
With the demon-clown's shield gone, Ghost Rider struck quickly with his chains and hellfire. The trapped Pennywise did not die quickly, but he did die.
And poor Hadji would have nightmares of the event for months.
oOoOoOo
Conan brought forth his new sword that replaced the one that had melted due to the blood of the Xenomorphs he had slain. The long sword was of a different make than he was used to, but he come tell it was a fine, sturdy weapon. He had gained it when a newcomer to their group had fallen to a foe called the Borg, which seemed to be some kind of mystic zombie army to Conan. And while Prince Valiant had been taken by the Borg, he at least left his sword by which Conan swore to avenge him.
"Come, faceless fiend, and die upon my blade!"
The man wearing the rough leather mask sewn together over his face reached down and pulled the string on his weapon of choice: a chainsaw.
Conan heard the roar made by the engine of the chainsaw and became even more determined to kill this person and destroy his demonic weapon.
They rushed forward and when their weapons connected, sparks flew wildly about them.
Conan held on with difficulty even as the teeth of the chainsaw tried to tear the sword out of his hands. He risked a kick that struck hard, but Leatherface just grunted and returned the kick with one of his own. Conan shoved with his blade against the blade of the chainsaw. Leatherface went back, but did not fall. This went on for a while. And Conan's new sword was picking up some serious damage.
oOoOoOo
Johnny Smith was floating in the air, his arms and legs being pulled painfully in opposite directions. He gritted his teeth to keep from crying out in pain.
Grinning, the alien calling himself the Brain Emperor, floated over to the man he had captured. He had done a brief scan of the group when they attacked, and the mind of Johnny Smith held something different than any other the Brain Emperor had encountered before.
This 'Johnny Smith' displayed no abilities that could affect the Brain Emperor, but there was a power inside his mind. Though calling it a power might be the wrong term. The Brain Emperor decided to call it an 'opening'. But an opening to what or where?
The Brain Emperor was a canny being. He had to be to have taken over his home planet of K-Shazor, though he his mutant brain helped by supplying him with telepathy, mind-control, telekinesis and incredible intellect. It still had not stopped him from being overthrown and having to flee into exile. He had set his sights on Earth after that. They were a more primitive people and much more malleable to suit his desires. He planned to subject the planet, convert its people into super-soldiers and use them to overcome K-Shazor, and from there start the beginnings of an interstellar empire. Unfortunately, his biggest stumbling block had been the Mighty Crusaders, who had fought him time and time again over the decades. Now, while investigating some strange energy signatures, he had found himself transported to this micro-verse which suggested so many possibilities. And the Brain Emperor planned on investigating each one. Starting with what was in Johnny Smith's head.
The Brain Emperor determined it was not a part of the brain that Humans normally used. So reached out into it with his mind. His mind was slammed with visions of alternate futures. Some of him getting his dreams of returning to K-Shazor. Some of him deciding to be emperor of Earth. Others with him being defeated by the accursed Mighty Crusaders.
He was so caught up in the visions that he was caught totally unaware when Alex Mack smashed him in the head with a rock she was levitating.
Alex telekinetically let go of the rock to catch Johnny before he could fall. She wouldn't know until much later that the rock she let go of had fallen down and smashed in the head of the unconscious Brain Emperor.
"You did good, kid."
She looked back startled only to see it was one of the newcomers that had joined their group. A dangerous looking black man in leather who called himself Blade if she remembered right. She finished lowering a barely conscious Johnny to the ground to make sure he was okay.
"Where is the guy I saw you fighting?" she asked, unsure what else to say just then.
"Some guy calling himself 'Count' Yorga. He's dust in the wind. It's surprising how many vampires label themselves as a 'count'.
She was wiping away some blood from Johnny's nose, then opened one of his eyelids. "Maybe they're compensating for something."
Blade gave a mild snort of amusement. But some sense made him jump to the side as some kind of liquid hit the rock and sizzled. He looked up to see what was going on.
"Hey, kid! Catch him!"
She looked up.
Falling out of the sky was one Ben Tennyson. And he would land near them. Hard. Unless she did something.
Alex, getting more and more used to this sort of thing, used her telekinetic abilities to catch his still form.
She didn't dare just do a sudden stop, because at the speed he was falling, it would have killed him. Instead, she worked at slowing him down and shifting him to swing like a pendulum to cut down on the inertia of his momentum. It wasn't easy and her face showed the strain.
Blade was looking passed Ben to where the mustached man in the white and red outfit was writhing in the air. "Something is happening to him."
Alex didn't ask as she was slowing down Ben's speed on his second swing downwards. This time he was slow enough that she could bring him down to where she was. "Ben?" she asked as she set him down.
Whether it was the contact with the rocky ground or her voice, she wasn't sure, but his eyes fluttered open. "Huh?" he asked, glancing around to get his bearings.
"What happened up there?" Blade asked.
Ben managed to look up to see Omni-Man screaming in pain. "Oh yeah," Ben managed to say.
"What did you do?" Alex asked.
"My Omnitrix lets me turn into different alien species. I managed to get a copy of whatever he is and turned into a version of his species, but he was too strong and experienced. He was trying to kill me." Ben groaned and moved his neck painfully. "I knew I didn't have much time, so I used my Omnitrix to change again, and I got what I was hoping for. Alex, you remember those black creepy things that had kidnapped a bunch of that other group to use them as hosts for their young."
She shivered but nodded. "The ones with super dissolving acid for blood? Ohhh!" She glanced up at Omni-Man again.
Ben nodded with a wince as he checked his hands, which were ok. "I made sure to jam a clawed hand into his mouth. He bit it off like I thought he would. And I made sure to spray blood all over his face."
"And he's done," Blade remarked as Omni-Man went still and fell to the ground in another nearby ravine.
Ben swallowed nervously. "Do you think I killed him?"
"The man is without a face. He has no eyes, nose, or mouth. Definitely no mustache. I sure hope he's dead. Plus, he was clearly a stone-cold killer who had no problem with killing you. In my estimations, you did good, kid. You both did."
Ben and Alex could only agree with Blade's summary, though their stomachs were queasy.
oOoOoOo
Hurley was running, praying that this wasn't a dead-end ravine. His luck was not the best. Nor was it this time as he saw there was no way out. First, he'd been chased by Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then he was chased by Michael Myers from Halloween. Now, one of the killers that player Ghostface in Scream was after him. Hurley was now sure that he must be back in the mental institution and everything he'd been going through – this place, the airplane crash, and that damn island – it was all down to dementia. And he didn't know how it could get any worse.
And then he saw him.
"Jason Voorhees. Un-frickin-believable."
The large muscular zombie wearing a hockey mask and holding a machete started marching towards Hurley.
Panting heavily, Hurley turned to run back the way he came. "I don't care if this is all in my mind! I'm getting out of here!"
He had only gone a few yards before Ghostface raced around a large boulder and blocked him.
"Un-frickin-believable!" Hurley glance back and forth between the two, his mind wondering which one would kill him first.
"Mind if I cut in?" came a voice above on the ravine wall. A short man was standing on the vertical wall, with his feet sticking to the surface of the rock wall. He wore a light blue long-sleeve shirt and sweatpants, and a rough red hoodie with the arms cut off and a spider emblem on his chest. He also had a red mask over his entire eyes and some kind of weird goggles.
"Who are you?" Hurley asked, having seen the guy in the new group, but Hurley had been too interested in the guy who claimed to be the comic book character Doctor Strange that Hurley hadn't got his name.
"I'm Spider-Man!"
The two killers had stopped to stare up at the strange man defying physics, so Hurley asked, "For real?"
"Let me give you a demonstration!" Spider-Man leapt down even as he sprayed webbing that stuck Jason's legs together, and with the other hand made a webbing line to the wall to send him towards Ghostface. The man in the Ghostface costumed cursed and went to run away only to discover he was literally tied up in super-strong spider webs. He screamed in frustration.
Spider-Man turned back to Hurley, which turned out to be a good thing since Jason had hacked and tore his way through the webbing that bound his legs. A quick webbing of Hurley's chest and a pull brought Hurley out of Jason's machete range.
"What?" Hurley asked in confusion as Spider-Man.
"Hockey Mask Guy got loose. I'm going to have to tie him up again." Spider-Man sprayed Jason with more webbing.
"That's not going to hold him!" shouted Hurley. "That's Jason Voorhees!"
"I don't know who that is," stated Spider-Man. "But my webbing is really strong so-"
"Then why is he breaking free?" Hurley shouted pointing at Jason as the mass murderer starts to get an arm free.
"How in the world…" Spider-Man starts to walk over toward Jason only for Hurley to pull him back.
"Look," said Hurley. "I don't know if you are really Spider-Man or if I am just imaging you since you are one of my top five comic book heroes, but that thing over there is Jason Voorhees!"
"Comic book? Um, never mind. Who is Jason Voorhees?"
"Who is- Are you kidding? He's a super-strong, psychotic, mass murdering zombie! He's like the Energizer Bunny of zombies who just keeps coming and coming, chopping and slashing everyone along the way!"
"Zombie? There is no such thing."
Hurley rolled his eyes. "Says the guy who walks on walls and is in a strange land with dinosaurs inhabiting it!"
Spider-Man considered for a moment. Then shot a webbing at Jason's mask and pulled in off before the killer could reach up and grab it.
"Holy crap!"
"Oh god. Yeah, that is his face. I could have warned you of that." Hurley had to turn away before he threw up.
"I'm so leaving this guy for Doctor Strange or that Blade guy." Spider-Man covered the writhing Jason with all the webbing he had in his webbing cartridge, then put in a new cartridge. "How do you know all this?"
"I must be making all this up in my mind," Hurley whispered to himself.
"And if you aren't making this up in your mind? Then why do you know all these things? Just tell me already!"
The big man sighed resignedly. "I was talking to Johnny Smith and Doctor Strange, um, I should say that Strange is a comic book character where I come from also. Anyway, they are of the theory that some books and movies and the like in one universe can actually be real life people in another part of the multiverse."
"And you recognized me?" asked Spider-Man.
Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes regarded the masked man. "Barely. Your costume is the worst I have ever seen, and I've been to five comiccons."
"Hey! I made this myself!"
"How long have you been doing the whole fighting crime thing? A few weeks?"
"A month. And four days."
"Listen, dude," Hurley said with a shake of his head, "if this is all real, and you really are Peter Parker under that-"
Spider-Man grabbed hold of Hurley and the much bigger man into the air. "How do you know that name?"
"I-I told you! Comic books! Really popular comic books! I even have a cousin with you tattooed on his arm!"
Before they could go any further, a burning motorcycle came barreling down the ravine wall. Spider-Man, with a firm grip on Hurley, leapt out onto the other wall and stayed there.
"Ouch! Hurt a rib," Hurley moaned. "I don't think web-swinging was meant for guys my size."
Spider-Man was too busy staring as Jason broke free and faced the oncoming fury of the Ghost Rider.
Jason didn't last half a minute.
oOoOoOo
Doctor Stephen Strange was finding his battle with Kulan Gath to be more dangerous that he thought it would be by far as they bounced from the sky, then into the jungle and then back into the sky again.
This whole adventure began for him when he had been contacted by Black Widow and Hawkeye of the Avengers. They told him that a time depot from the future had captured the other Avengers and placed them under his control. They needed help to save them as well as to take down Kang.
Black Widow said they needed a team, so first they brought in the Hulk. Next was Blade, who recommended Ghost Rider. Black Widow suggested the Punisher which nearly got them all shot. Punisher mentioned hearing of a new hero calling himself Spider-Man. When they went to see Spider-Man, they found him battling Deadpool. Deadpool joined immediately much to everyone's dismay.
It had been difficult to follow Kang's trajectory through space and time, but they managed to land in this strange microcosm that was many populated with flora and fauna from various areas of Earth.
They met Mr. Peabody's group when Deadpool launched himself at Conan. After profuse apologies and Deadpool healing his trachea, they joined together to help rescue Sherman as they also searched for any signs of their friends. But what none have them had considered was that Warlord Shank and Dr. Lizardo would also gain new allies. Dr. Lizardo had even built an antenna to draw similar evil minds to join them.
"I will consume your heart and then your powers will be mine!" laughed the evil sorcerer, as he sent another lethal spell at him which missed and hit the side of a small mountain where a yeti watched in wonder.
"Trust me. I would just give you heartburn."
They were skimming the trees again when there was a flash of metal. And down came most of Kulan Gath's head followed by him body which remained stuck in the tree.
Strange flew a few feet up and was still breathing hard from all his exertions. Below him in the trees was a scantily clad redheaded woman in a metal bikini of all things. "Um, hello?"
"My thanks for distracting that piece of offal. I have history with him and am glad to have put an end to him."
"You're welcome and you have my thanks, too, miss…?"
"Sonja. I am called Red Sonja."
oOoOoOo
Hans Gruber had been lucky. He knew that. If that dinosaur had not taken after that damnable American with a skull on his chest, he would never have a chance of leaving this strange land.
He was limping badly, and his left hand hung limply at his side. His right hand was clamped tightly over a bullet wound to his abdomen. It had only clipped him badly, but it could still easily cause him to die of blood loss.
Spotting a small cave, he went for it. If the American maniac wanted to come in after him, Hans would have the upper hand. More or less.
He moved in slowly letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the cave.
"Hello?" a male voice asked in English.
"Who's there?"
"Um, hi, I've been stuck in here for a day. There had been what looked to be a dinosaur guarding the entrance, but I think all that shooting- Are you hurt?"
Hans fell against the side of the cave wall and slide down unable to bring up his gun.
"Here, I can help. I have medical training."
Hans eyes looked up in hope.
The man smiled at Hans. "My name is Dexter."
To be Continued!
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Original AuThOr'S NoTeS: 3/31/2009
Hey, I posted faster this time. Next, I'm going to work on the battle some more in the Land of the Lost. I'll try to be quick again.
Rassilon and Pythia are actually listed in the history of Gallifrey so I tried to be as factual as I could be with what I could find on the Internet.
As for the Imskian knife I mentioned, Micro Lad is actually from the planet Imsk where everyone has the power to shrink. Their clothes and weapons could shrink with them.
ChArAcTeR InDeX FoR ThE ChApTeR:
Baratheon, King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) – from the TV series Game of Thrones (2011-2014)
Benson, Det. Kate (Alexondra Lee) – from the TV series Special Unit 2 (2001-2002)
Black Widow / Romanoff, Natasha (Scarlet Johansson) – from the movies Iron Man (2008), The Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Blade (Wesley Snipes) – from the movies Blade (1998), Blade II (2002) Blade: Trinity (2004)
Borg – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Brain Emperor – from Red Circle Comics The Mighty Crusaders #1 (1965)
Degaton, Per, of Earth-2 – from DC Comics All-Star Comics #35 (1947) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 1st (William Hartnell) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1966)
Dorno (voiced by Ted Eccles) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Captain Nazi of Earth-S / Krieger, Albrecht – from Fawcett Comics Master Comics #21 (1941)
Cassie – from the book The Invasion (1996) by K.A. Applegate, of the Animorphs series
Chesterton, Ian (William Russell) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1965)
Chucky (voice by Brad Dourif) – from the movie Child's Play (1988)
Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – from the movie Conan the Barbarian (1982), Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Concussion / Shepard, Connor (Kevin Zegers) – from the movie Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006)
Deadpool / Wilson, Wade (Ryan Reynolds) – from the movie Deadpool (2016)
Deadshot of Earth-1 / Lawton, Floyd – from DC Comics Batman #59 (1950)
Doctor Strange / Strange, Dr. Stephen (Benedict Cumberbatch) – from the movie Doctor Strange (2016)
Ethan (Dee Jay Daniels) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Foreman, Susan (Carole Ann Ford) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1964)
Frank the Pug (voiced by Tim Blaney) – from the movies Men in Black (1997), Men in Black II (2002), Men in Black 3 (2012)
Ghost Rider / Blaze, Johnny (Nicolas Cage) – from the movies Ghost Rider (2007), Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
Ghostface – from the movie Scream (1996)
Gleep (voiced by Don Messick) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Gruber, Hans – from the movie Die Hard (1988)
Hawkeye / Barton, Clint (Jeremy Renner) – from the movies The Avengers (2012), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Houdini / West, Dylan (Michael Cassidy) – from the movie Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006)
Hulk / Banner, Bruce (Eric Bana) – from the movie Hulk (2003) – (Edward Norton) – from the movie The Incredible Hulk (2008) – (Mark Ruffalo) – from the movies The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Invisible Girl / Parr, Violet (voiced by Sarah Vowell) – from the movie The Incredibles (2004)
K-9 (voiced by John Leeson) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1977-?)
Kulan Gath – from Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian #14 (1972)
Kyle (Matt Dallas) – from the TV series Kyle XY (2006-2009)
Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) – from the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Lightyear, Buzz (voiced by Patrick Warburton) – from the cartoon show Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-2001)
Lizardo, Dr. Emilio (John Lithgow) – from the movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzi Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
Lucas, George – famous person (mentioned only)
Mack, Alexandra 'Alex' (Larisa Oleynik) – from the TV series The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994-1998)
Magenta (Kelly Vitz) – from the movie Sky High (2005)
Mantenna (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
The Master – from the TV series Doctor Who
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)
Morgan, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) – from the TV series Dexter (2006-2013)
Myers, Michael (Tony Moran) – from the movie Halloween (1978)
Omni-Man – from Skybound Comics Invincible #1 (2003)
Peabody, Mr. (voiced by Walter Tetley) – from the cartoon show Rocky and His Friends 'Peabody's Improbable History' (1959-1964)
Pennywise (Tim Curry) – from the movie It (1990)
Pierce, Lexa (Karen Cliché) – from the TV series Mutant X (2001-2004)
Punisher / Castle, Frank (Thomas Jane) – from the movie The Punisher (2004)
Pythia – from the book The New Doctor Who Adventures: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible (1992) (mentioned only)
Rassilon (Richard Mathews) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1983), (Timothy Dalton) – from the TV series Doctor Who (2010)
Red Sonja – from Marvel Comics Conan the Barbarian #23 (1973)
Reyes, Hugo 'Hurley' (Jorge Garcia) – from the TV series Lost (2004-2010)
Sawyer, Tom (Shane West) – from the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Shank, Warlord (George Takei) – from the TV series Space Cases (1996-1997)
Sherman (voiced by Walter Tetley) – from the cartoon show Rocky and His Friends 'Peabody's Improbable History' (1959-1964) (mentioned only)
Singh, Hadji (voiced by Danny Bravo) – from the cartoon show Jonny Quest (1964-1965)
Smith, Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) – from the TV series The Dead Zone (2002-2007)
Sparrow, Captain Jack (Johnny Depp) – from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Spider-Man / Parker, Peter (Tom Holland) – from the movie Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Storm Shadow (voiced by Keone Young) – from the cartoon G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra (1984), G.I. Joe (1985-1986)
Taggart, Jim (Matt Frewer) – from the TV series Eureka (2006-2012)
Tarra (voiced by Virginia Gregg) – from the cartoon The Herculoids (1967-1969), Space Stars 'The Herculoids' (1981)
Tennyson, Ben (Tara Strong) – from the cartoon show Ben 10 (2005-2008)
Trap Jaw (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-1985)
Uruk-Hai – from the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Valiant, Prince – from the comic strip Prince Valiant (1937) (mentioned only)
Voorhees, Jason (Warrington Gillette) – from the movie Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Wright, Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1965)
Xenomorphs – from the movie Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004), Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
Yorga, Count (Robert Quarry) – from the movies Count Yorga, Vampire (1970), The Return of Count Yorga (1971)