Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help as well.
Enjoy.
Guest 1: Thank you very much for the kind words and glad we inspired you.
THWA: Thanks for the review and true that.
Guest 2: Thanks for the review. 1. Things about them will be revealed soon. 2. You'll see. 3. Too early to make assumptions like that, don't you think? Plus you can't exactly kill what's already dead. 4. Yep, that'll happen. 5. Thank you, and there will be something at the end.
Guest 3: Thanks for the review. We'll see.
Chapter 3- Claiming another
Earth-199999, Avengers Compound
By now, some other Heroes of this Earth were in the Compound too, those being the Defenders, Marc and Frank, as well as Arthur, Merlin and Guinevere, and Lena from Earth-38 was with them too, while the rest would also eventually come.
The Charmed Ones, their husbands as well as Victor were all sitting in a corner, looking stricken. Wyatt and Chris were too young to really realize what had exactly happened but they too weren't much better in looks, sadly.
Steve sat near them and said again. "I'm sorry."
They didn't respond until Piper asked. "How does one deal with it? Losing everything? Their whole world?"
"While not exactly the same thing, I have lost my world once before", Steve admitted to her, and the other Earth-98 survivors as well. "I was frozen in ice in the 40s, and when I woke up, it was a different century, everyone I loved was either gone or too old. Only Bucky was alive, which I didn't know then, and he too was a brainwashed assassin for Hydra until we saved him."
"How did you move past it?" Paige asked, finding it the hardest thing ever. "Because it feels like-"
"It was impossible", Steve had to tell her, and the rest. "But eventually, I did regain it in some way."
"He is right", Arthur said as he walked next to Steve. "I had the same experience as him. I died, then when I came back, Camelot was nothing more than a myth for the people of nowadays, and I couldn't deal with it for quite some time. But eventually, I had to move past it. And I still had the woman I loved, and my best friend, and sister, even if it was a different version of her."
The Earth-98 survivors weren't exactly inspired on hearing that, which was to be expected, but they were a bit better, and realized in their cases too, their family was at least together, though the loss of Darryl and his family, and Billie, and the rest of their whole Universe was still hard hitting.
"Will we ever get it back somehow?" Leo inquired. "Because our-"
"Honestly, I don't know", Steve confessed with all honesty in his voice, putting a hand on the former Whitelighter's shoulder. "But we'll do our best for you all."
"Our world hasn't been attacked yet", Matt noted. "How long do we have?"
"Its not exactly a pattern", Natasha said to him. "Besides, I think it will come to our world much later because-"
"Apparently, it's the most powerful Universe", Bucky shrugged. "So while not safe, we probably have more time than the rest of them."
That was when a portal opened, and out of it came Willow, Tara, Angel, Cordelia, Spike, Buffy, Faith, Dawn and Fred, the Wicca couple holding Miss Kitty Fantastico.
The portal then closed as Wanda asked. "Red skies then for you too?"
"Yeah", Willow confessed with a nod. "And we figured we'd come here for help."
"They're out there too", Falcon pointed outwards and they looked, seeing the red skies in this world as well.
"Damn! Its going around", Cordelia commented as they all stood for a bit.
Faith walked to Marc as they shared a loving kiss.
Then Buffy saw the Charmed Ones, and seeing their faces made it pretty clear what had happened. "Did they-"
"Yeah", Rhodes told them. "They did."
"I'm sorry", Tara said, nothing but empathy in her voice as they simply nodded.
"And, what about the rest from your world?" Parker inquired.
"They're still there", Dawn said to them. "The destruction hasn't started yet. We just came to tell you all right now."
"Your world probably isn't going to be destroyed yet if the red skies have been there for a while", Danny predicted, based on the only pattern he could find. "But that's all I can say really."
"Let's just try to coordinate and figure out which world is next so we can save as many as we can", Merlin finally said. "That's what needs to be done."
That was when another portal opened as Oliver, Barry-Red, Sara, Cisco, Caitlin, Patty, Roy, Bruce and Catwoman came out of it.
"Red skies here too", Oliver noted as he looked up at the skies. "Looks like its already spread everywhere."
"What are we planning to do?" Barry-Red asked. "So far-"
"Right now, we're only waiting and thinking of how exactly to tread this all", Steve confessed. "So right now, we don't have a clear idea yet, sorry."
"We'll have to think fast, whatever it is, because I think its worse than anything else we've faced until now", Sara had to say, and she wasn't wrong about this either.
That was when another breach opened and out of it came Klaus, Hayley, Hope, Freya, Erik, Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan, Enzo, Alaric, Jo, Lizzie, Damon, Elena and Jeremy.
"Got the red skies, people", Damon told them all. "So that means we need-"
"You're not the only one with that, git", Spike said, making Damon glare at him. "Our world has the red skies too, as does this one." He pointed upwards. "Look."
They did and saw that, yes, this world too had red skies in it as Stefan muttered. "Well, sucks really."
"So, is our world gonna go now?" Caroline asked, looking concerned, and pretty scared too, as this was beyond anything their Earth had gone up against, and was worse than Grandmaster as well.
"We do not know what will happen yet", Elektra told them. "Its too soon, and already very unpredictable."
"I want there to be a home to go back to", Alaric simply said, holding both his daughters close. "For my girls."
"That world is my home now, I can't lose it", Erik said as well.
"We will do what has to be done", Steve assured him, and his words at least had a temporary affect.
Then another portal opened as Kal, Lois, Ollie, Chloe and Bart walked out of it with Ollie and Chloe also having their 2 kids, looking around at everyone, Ollie commenting. "Huh? Looks like it really is spreading already."
"Any plan yet?" Kal asked Steve.
"No, not yet, but all of us are gathering around already so I guess there will be one soon", Steve simply said.
"The rest of us are still back there, the red skies are there but nothing's gone yet", Lois told them all.
"Of course, it can get worse anytime", Bart muttered.
"Elijah!" Klaus suddenly realized, as he looked up. "Rebekah and Kol are both on this world."
"But Elijah…" Freya trailed off. "What world could he be in?"
"Actually, he's in our world", Roy revealed, surprising the Earth-29 crew. "Yep, he's with us."
"What's he doing there?" Hayley asked.
"I think it'd be better if he is the one to tell you guys what", Oliver simply said. "You'll meet him again, because our world still stands, so not to worry for now."
"I'd say a lot to worry but in time, one thing at a time, you know?" Chloe commented, and she wasn't wrong about that either.
Then another portal opened as Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir and Arwen came out of it, looking between the rest of them, with Legolas being the first to notice the red skies.
"Seems we are all now part of the greatest battle already", Legolas noted grimly.
"Indeed, one that the entire Multiverse has to face", Aragorn said with a sigh.
"Seems like a good bunch of us are here now", Steve noted. "So I'd say the plan is to-"
That was when Tony walked in. "Remember we had decided to break out all Infinity Stones if something really bad was upon us?"
"Yeah?" Natasha half-asked, half-said.
"Well, I figured this is the time", Tony told them all. "Already talked to all those who have the Stones, they're on their way."
As if on cue, Kent, along with Batman and Diana appeared, with Kent having the Power Stone in a container and Diana having the Mind Stone in a box.
"Diana", Steve whispered as the two kissed each other lovingly, sharing an embrace as well, the rest seeing the soft moment for a little while.
They parted as Kent put the container down. "Here you go."
"And this is the Mind Stone as well", Diana put it down.
"Our skies are red too right now", Batman told them, grimmer than usual. "We're wondering what to do."
"It's the same with all of us really", Bruce simply said.
Loki then appeared, with Rebekah and Kol on either side of him.
The Originals were happy to see them as Rebekah and Kol rushed to their family, happy embraces of reunion going about between them all while Loki smiled at that, then turned to Tony.
He lifted up his hand, and the Space Stone in its container appeared. "Here you go." He put it down. "Now you can use this as well."
"You said you'd get the Reality Stone from the Valar as well", Tony reminded him.
"About that", Loki cringed a bit, then raised his hand as the Reality Stone in its container appeared too, and he put it down on the table. "I never actually returned it to the Valar."
"What?" Gimli said in shock. "You mean to say you had it with you the whole time?"
"Yeah, gave them a fake by putting a similar signature on it magically", Loki revealed, surprising them all. "Kept the Reality Stone in a secret place. Just found it fun is all."
"Old habits die hard, don't they?" Parker simply asked him.
"That would be true, young Parker", Loki chuckled a bit before begging everyone. "Please don't tell Thor."
"We will try our best not to", Arwen smirked as he sighed at that.
"Well played, Reindeer Games, well played", Tony told him as he smirked, which was to be expected for sure.
Then Adam Warlock landed outside the Compound before walking in, looking at Tony, and pointing to the Soul Stone in his forehead. "I too have what you want, and you will have it in time."
"Ramon", Tony then said as Cisco looked at him. "Here you go." And then a suit flew in, wrapping around Cisco. It was black with yellow stripes on the shoulders there was a line in the center which was hotrod red. The lower torso and waist were also colored dark while the helmet had a long thin eyehole for his glasses. The palm gauntlets had black circles to allow him to fire his vibe blasts. And they would enhance their powers as well.
"Oh! Its this baby!" Cisco said happily as he looked at the suit he'd used during the War of the Infinity Stones. "I've missed this. Thank you Tony, been a while since I got this."
"No problem, Ramon", Tony assured him before turning to Parker. "I know you're supposed to be street-level but this threat is too much, so-"
"Yeah, I'll be using that suit this time", Parker agreed and Tony nodded.
"So, what will be done with all of the Stones?" Lena then inquired out of curiosity as Tony looked between all of them.
"I will make an armor to handle the stress of taking a small Big Bang", Tony revealed what he was really trying to do. "Because otherwise, I do not think there is a way anyone using the Stones will come out unscathed, no matter how much power they wield, as much as it sucks, ya know?"
"Reasonable idea", Kal agreed. "So you'll be making that suit then with all the Stones."
"Yep, that's what I'm gonna do", Tony nodded before Kal noticed the Earth-98 survivors.
"Their Universe is gone", Steve told them, to the shock of those who did not know. "They've nowhere else to go now."
Kal and Kent shared a look, then turned to the Earth-98 survivors, looking at them with empathy as Kal sat near them. "I'm sorry, I know how you feel."
"Really?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah, I lost my planet when I was a baby since I was sent to Earth", Kal told them. "I was the only survivor, until Kara came around."
"Same with me", Kent revealed. "So trust us, we know how you feel. Its one of the worst feelings in the world. We're sorry."
They nodded in appreciation before Boromir then asked. "So, shall we stay here and wait for Tony to make his suit, or is there anything else to be done?"
"That depends upon what happens after this", Aragorn told them.
And in that moment appeared Uatu the Watcher, with Thor, Strange and Fate appearing there as well, making all look at them.
"Who are you?" Steve asked Uatu.
"His name is Uatu, he is from a race of beings known as the Watchers who watch over Universes but cannot interfere", Strange revealed. "But he has interfered once before for our sakes. He is the one who told me of the Ultimate Nullifier."
"And I still keep it with me", Uatu told all of them.
"Thank you for what you did for us then", Steve said humbly as Uatu simply smiled.
"Now, I will have to break my oath again to directly aid all of you", Uatu said, with the ones from Earth-92, Earth-98 and Earth-29 surprised on seeing a being like this, with power yet also kindness.
"Damn!" Faith muttered.
"You were making your suit, right?" Strange turned to Tony, before taking off his amulet with the Eye of Agamotto. "For once in my life, I'm giving this up. Don't make me regret it." He put it down on the table with the rest of the Stones.
"I won't", Tony assured as Strange nodded simply.
"Uatu the Watcher knows about the Crisis, and shall enlighten us about it", Fate then told all of them.
"When the Multiverse was formed, it was made up of what we call positive matter", Uatu revealed to everyone present in the room. "But, there must always be a counter for everything. So, an anti-matter Universe was also formed at the same time our positive matter Multiverse came into existence."
And then appeared Mar-Novu himself as Kal noted he looked similar to the Monitors with the way he was dressed.
"Who are you now?" Kal inquired, as Uatu and Mar-Novu shared a look.
"I am called Mar-Novu", Mar-Novu introduced himself to the room of Heroes. "And I shall continue where Uatu left off. The culmination of this anti-matter Universe formed a being known as Mobius, the Anti-Monitor."
"Anti-Monitor?" Kal asked. "Like the-"
"Worse than those whom you faced", Mar-Novu told him, Uatu shooting the Monitor a look from where he stood. "He and I battled for centuries, until I managed to imprison him, sealing him behind a door in an Eternium-encased chamber, on Earth-1 itself."
"He was on our Earth the whole time?" Caitlin asked in horror as Mar-Novu nodded. "Oh my-"
"Then Thanos used the Infinity Stones and the breaches between Dimensions started weakening", Uatu continued now. "And that weakened the prison of the Anti-Monitor, bit by bit it was decayed, until now, when its finally broken, and he is out."
"So its all because of Thanos then?" Steve asked and got nods from both Cosmic Beings.
"That bastard", Thor snarled in anger, holding up Stormbreaker, and all noted he too looked quite weary. Perhaps because of his vision that he had, and now it was coming true.
"I am sorry for your loss", Uatu said to the Earth-98 survivors in sympathy before telling the Heroes. "Many more worlds are gone too, including some that you know. Earth-8, Earth-9, Earth-19, Earth-40, Earth-65, Earth-66, Earth-84, Earth-89 and Earth-928."
The news struck everyone's hearts like a bag of bricks as they staggered back, Parker falling to his knees. "Miguel…..Old man….Eddie…" He looked down, crying for them as Wanda hugged him from behind for comfort, though she wasn't much better, and the rest weren't much better either, due to these losses as well as the other ones. Frank put a hand on Parker's shoulder.
"No….." Batman whispered in horror as he, Bruce and Catwoman looked at each other, realizing Crusader, Bats, Robin, Wayne, Selina and the Titans from Earth-9 were all gone. "Our-"
"We lost them", Bruce said sadly, Catwoman putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'd told our Earth-8 counterpart he'd never be alone", Batman remembered, feeling guilty for not being there with him. "Now he died alone."
"Mom…." Chloe whispered, thinking of Wonder Woman-66, who was her mother's doppelganger, and fell onto a chair in tears, Ollie embracing her for comfort, as her two children did the same.
Lois too put a hand on her cousin's shoulder, while Kal rubbed her back from behind, the former saying. "I'm sorry, Chlo."
"Hunter", Barry-Red muttered, as Bart too looked down, thinking of him and his passing, Cisco and Caitlin having similar expressions.
"The family that was saved from Michael Myers, they'd be gone now", Buffy realized as the Earth-92 crew shared sad looks as well.
"We're losing a lot of loved ones already", Dawn muttered, clutching her fists, trying to control herself.
Mar-Novu started. "I know this is hard but-"
Uatu suddenly looked down, sensing something, and then looked back up.
"What is it?" Thor asked him. "What did you see?"
Uatu looked at Kent, Batman, Diana and Lena. "There are no words to describe the pain that you will feel."
"Our Earth…." Kent gulped, realizing what was happening. "Its….."
"I erected a Tower upon your world, in National City", Mar-Novu revealed as the four Earth-38 Heroes looked at him. "It can slow down the wave, but now Anti-Monitor's minions will come to battle and finish what he did."
Steve looked at all of them and gave his order. "Assemble!"
Earth-38
It was already chaos, because while the Tower had slowed down the wave, it was still spreading bit by bit, and had destroyed a lot of the world already, though National City still stood.
The Shadow Demons of the Anti-Monitor were upon them, as Danvers flew into the air, firing her Heat Vision at them with a roar as she took out a group of them.
Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Arwen, Oliver, Sara, Bucky, Natasha, Falcon, Matt, Elektra, Jessica, Luke, Danny, Colleen, Frank, Marc, Roy, Patty, Bruce, Catwoman, Batman, Ollie, Lois, Chloe, Buffy, Faith, Angel, Spike, Dawn, Cordelia, Klaus, Hayley, Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan, Enzo, Damon and Kol moved through the Tower that the Monitor had erected, with the Earth-29 and Earth-92 crews all having a weapon or the other. Klaus still had the sword he'd gotten during the Grandmaster mess, while Clint kept his Adamantium sword at the Compound so Kol had gotten it again.
Then they saw an army of Shadow Demons outside as Oliver raised his bow, Legolas, Ollie and Roy doing the same on all sides of him. "Time to show them all."
"This might be the biggest army I've seen", Boromir said grimly. "And its not even all of it."
"Does not matter, we will face it", Arwen simply said, and all agreed.
As they all sped in, the four archers fired special arrows, getting them already as Gimli swung his ax, destroying three of them as Arwen killed two more, and Boromir got one.
Bucky and Frank fired their guns, killing more of them. "Stay together and look out for each other!"
Natasha flipped and struck one with Widow's Bite, while Falcon flew around, shooting some more, and Patty too took out one while Batman and Bruce threw special Batarangs that sent out pulses, getting a group of them.
Catwoman got another one as Chloe fired, taking out some more, and Lois struck out, getting one herself.
Cordelia glowed, disintegrating three of them near her. "Yeah, how do you like that?"
Matt took out one as Elektra sliced another, Danny slamming his fist down and getting more, while Colleen sliced three down and Luke hurled another away, Jessica taking out another. "Fuck you!"
Trish also got one while Marc struck two, getting them, fighting alongside Faith and Buffy.
Buffy killed two with the M? as Faith took out another with the Troll Hammer, Dawn taking out another with a fireball as Angel and Spike took out two each.
At the same time, Klaus sliced one down as Kol stabbed through another, while Caroline, Stefan, Enzo, Hayley and Damon got one each.
"There are too many!" Damon cried out.
"Thank you for stating the obvious", Klaus shrugged.
Bonnie chanted as some Shadow Demons were blown back and incinerated by flames.
Outside, Danvers looked up as the sky darkened, and lightning struck down at various Shadow Demons, killing a chunk of them as Thor flew down next to her. "We stand with you."
"I know, thank you", Danvers smiled as Kal flew next to them, blitzing through more Shadow Demons and taking out more with Heat Vision.
Steve was then in the air, making a green machine gun and firing as some were killed, before he made a blue hammer and used it to launch his shield, killing more, while Rhodes too killed some, and Arthur flew, slicing down three with Excalibur.
Then Mjolnir struck another group of them, taking them down as Aragorn caught it on return.
Parker swung through the air, now in his Iron Spider suit as he took out another group of Shadow Demons.
Merlin held out his hand as some of the Shadow Demons disintegrated into nothingness while Lena froze a group of them and they shattered.
Cisco was making breaches for the people all over, as Fate too transported them, and Strange opened portals for the same reason.
Killer Frost also froze some of them, killing them, while Wanda wrapped a group in her energy and nothing was left of them, Willow and Tara flying together as their aura simply disintegrated more Shadow Demons.
But no matter how many they took out, more kept coming.
Erik was then there, using his powers to hurl pieces of buildings at the Shadow Demons, taking them out, and then lifted vehicles containing people, transporting them through Cisco's breaches, Fate's rips or Strange's portals.
An Adamantium arrow flew about, striking and taking out another group of Shadow Demons as Freya hurled it around telekinetically, while Hercules then ripped apart a group of them effortlessly. "I AM HERCULES!"
Surfer flew on his surfboard, slaughtering another group.
Barry-Red ran on the ground, killing Shadow Demons with lightning as Bart evacuated people and blitzed through more Shadow Demons. Pietro, who'd joined them just before they'd arrived on Earth-38, was doing the same as Bart on a slower rate.
Loki covered some Shadow Demons with his magic and pressed his fists as all turned to smoke and were gone, while Rebekah was near a group of them, and bright light shone from her, disintegrating them into nothingness as well.
Kent then flew in, holding Diana, both looking very grim and shattered.
"What happened?" Tara asked.
"Smallville, Themyscira, Gotham, Freeland, they fell already, as did the DEO just now", Kent said, tears rolling down his cheeks as Danvers' jaw dropped. "Lois, Mom, Bruce's family…."
"My mother, my people….." Diana trailed off. "All gone."
"Oh Rao! Alex!" Danvers started crying. "Mom! J'onn!"
Steve embraced Diana as she cried into his chest, while Kent flew into the Tower, killing some Shadow Demons with his Heat Vision as he looked at Batman. "I'm sorry, Gotham fell."
Batman fell to his knees, looking shattered as well. Terry, Nightwing, Red Hood, Tim, Selina, Jim, Barbara, and Ace, his good boy, all gone.
The Monitor then appeared and said to all of them. "This world has fallen now. All of you must retreat."
Uatu appeared next to him as they pointed at the Heroes, making them disappear back onto Earth-199999.
However, Danvers looked up to see Annihilus, and Bart and Barry-Red stopped too, looking up at him as they recognized him.
"Its Annihilus", Barry-Red said.
"So he is Anti-Monitor's willing helper too", Bart scoffed.
Danvers now was enraged and flew at him, trying to punch, only for him to dodge with speed he hadn't shown before as he sliced her shoulder, making her gasp.
She tried to ram into him again but he sliced her abdomen, making her double down before kicking her up.
From there, she fired her Heat Vision but he blocked with his Rod, twirling it as the Heat Vision dissipated.
Before Danvers could do anything else, Annihilus rammed into her, making her crash to the ground painfully, and then he stabbed her through the chest, blood pouring out of her mouth.
Earth-199999, Avengers Compound
All of the Heroes had been transported back here by Mar-Novu and Uatu, as Batman staggered away, grasping a wall for support, Steve still embracing Diana who cried into his chest over her loss.
Caroline immediately hugged Jo and Lizzie as Klaus and Hayley held up Hope, the rest of the Originals family gathered around the girl too.
Ollie and Chloe embraced their children too as Willow and Tara picked up Miss Kitty.
"Many were saved", Mar-Novu told them, looking grim. "But many perished as well."
"Kara", Kent suddenly looked around. "Where's Kara?"
That was when Uatu appeared, and pointed at the table nearby, as Danvers appeared on it, mortally wounded.
"Kara!" Kent ran to her, standing over his cousin, as Kal stood behind him too. "Kara, oh no! Please…"
"Kal….." she held out her hand, grasping his, while Kal had tears.
"We can fly you into the-"
"No…." she shook her head, coughing blood. "Its too late now."
Lena made to help with magic but Uatu said. "What she was stricken with, it contained anti-matter inside, you can't help her now."
That made her stop, as she fell to her knees, tears in her eyes as she looked at Kara. "Kara…I…"
"You're…my friend still…." Danvers coughed out blood, and Lena nodded, a bittersweet smile on her face, Oliver and Barry-Red on either side of her, the latter also having tears.
Then, Danvers tilted her head. She was gone!
"No…." Kent whispered, sobbing into his cousin's chest as Kal put a hand on his shoulder, and Lois put hers on his other one, both trying to offer comfort, but not sure how to, since Kent had lost Lois, his mom, and his cousin, as well as J'onn and the Danvers family, and his whole Universe.
Lena was sobbing too, with Merlin, Arthur and Guinevere all embracing her to offer some comfort.
Bruce and Catwoman looked at Batman, whose face showed how broken he was, while Steve too tried to comfort the sobbing Diana.
Barry-Red started crying as Oliver put a hand on his shoulder.
While many from Earth-38 had been saved, the four surviving Heroes had lost their Universe, and everyone on their world whom they cared about.
So it wasn't a victory, and the Crisis had claimed another, as Earth-38 had now fallen!
And done one more. While I don't like Danvers, it was still hard writing her death, especially due to Kent's reaction.
So the only surviving Heroes from Earth-38 are Kent, Batman, Diana and Lena. Danvers is dead, as are J'onn, Astra, Alex and anyone else.
The Charmed Ones did not go to Earth-38 as they're still getting over their loss, while Tony is making his suit, and Warlock is yet to give up his Soul Stone to him.
Mar-Novu and Uatu meet the Heroes properly at last too.
Hope all enjoyed (or not) and see you all next time with another chapter.