Chapter 7 - An Amazing Fantasy, Part 2

In one of the still-intact shelters of Tokyo-3, those who settled in worked on ways to occupy their time until the emergency was declared to be over. For them, it was routine for the better part of a year, given the conflict with the Angels, so they wasted no time when alerted to the possibility of a similar situation arising. For a certain number of people, they had more than a little insight into what was behind the current source of the emergency.

In a corner of the shelter, those 'in the know' of the superwomen had gathered together out of a sense of solidarity. These included Kodama and Nozomi Horaki, Rika Deshima, Katsuo Makinami, Toji and Sakura Suzuhara (the latter of whom had finally fully recovered from her leg injury from the start of the Angel battles), and Kensuke Aida, who was currently fiddling with his laptop. It didn't take long for Toji to see that his friend wasn't trying to bring some games online.

"Ken, are ya doin' what I think it is your doin'?" Toji asked, a hint of wariness in his voice.

"Hey, cut me some slack-S.I.D. owed me," Kensuke answered quietly, "and there's no way I'm gonna miss out on seeing footage of a truly historical event happening right above our heads. Just be glad I'm not sneaking out of the shelter this time around." He continued to weave his way through the electronic back doors Iron Maiden's A.I. provided him as he started pulling up live feeds of the sites where the four heralds were being fought. "Also, considering these are our friends fighting for the fate of the world, we need to see that they're doing okay." Soon, he finally managed to get four video feeds up on his laptop screen: two from the drones that accompanied those who were fighting Stardust and Air-Walker, one from the American Dream at the site of the Terrax battle, and one from the equipment Domino was using at the face-off with Firelord. The footage from the Stardust fight was what drew Kensuke's eye immediately.

"Whoa...Toji, get a load of this-!" he quietly but fervently urged his friend, who joined him in gaping awe over the unexpected twist in the struggle with the water herald, as Stardust suddenly found themselves in a duel with a dark-skinned girl in a green fish-scale swimsuit...

The Indian Ocean tower site, around the same time...

A pair of tridents, one white and one golden, clashed as Stardust and the newly-arrived girl traded blow after blow, and while Stardust was powerful in their own right, the girl was proving to be a highly-skilled combatant, parrying each of the herald's thrusts with ease. When it appeared they would be at a stalemate, Wasp took the opportunity to give her rescuer an edge.

"Go for the herald's core!" she urged the girl. "It's the little orb somewhere in its chest!"

The girl, on hearing this, quickly scanned her opponent until she spotted the object in question, hanging in what looked like suspended liquid concentrated in Stardust's chest area. Thinking quickly, the girl swung her trident fiercely enough to knock Stardust's out of their hands, and with a swift stroke, the girl plunged the pointed end of her trident into the center of Stardust's chest. Once the tip made contact with the core, the girl concentrated, and soon the trident began glowing with a golden light that was then funneled into the tip, and from there into the core. The core itself began to glow brighter, until finally, it couldn't handle the sheer amount of mystic energy being pumped into it. The core soon gave out and shattered, and with it went Stardust, who dissolved into a puddle of what looked like ordinary water; their trident soon followed.

Wasp returned to her normal size as she landed beside the girl, joined by Dazzler and Dragon Man. "Nice job!" she said with a small, appreciative smile as she held out her hand. "Thanks for the assist, um..."

The girl turned to face the trio with a steely gaze. "I am Nadia of Atlantis," she introduced herself, in a cautious but stoic manner. "While I appreciate your assistance, I could've handled that herald, as you called them, myself."

Wasp and Dazzler stood there, surprised both by the girl's manner and specifically how she described herself. "Wait, did you say Atlantis?" Wasp asked. "Atlantis is actually real?!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Dazzler concurred.

"It's real all right," Hawkeye chimed in as he and Kyouya joined them on the ground. "Following World War II, it was agreed between the Allies to keep Atlantis's existence a secret. It's one of the many things S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been tasked with keeping under wraps since its founding."

Wasp and Dazzler traded looks, an unspoken acknowledgement of just how much sense that made. They returned their attention to Nadia as Wasp asked the obvious question, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"One of our outposts in the area alerted us to the construction of this tower, and I and my platoon were sent to investigate," Nadia answered, as said platoon made its presence known (as if on cue). The blue-skinned soldiers, all armed and wearing specialized breathing masks, emerged from the waters that were still held at bay by the tower's presence. They certainly looked to be a fearsome sight to the quintet, who did their best not to draw their ire. "When we spotted you and your struggle against the herald, it was determined that we shared a mutual foe, hence my decision to come to your aid." Her eyes narrowed as she continued. "Make no mistake, the majority of Atlanteans don't have a lot of love for you surface-dwellers, but until this crisis is ended, we will temporarily ally ourselves with you."

Wasp nodded at this. "Uh...good to know," she warily said, before determination graced her features. "How's this sound? Now that Stardust is out of commission, once we trash the tower, we're going to go after their master. If you want to join us for that, we'll gladly take you." The others nodded in affirmation.

Nadia considered this for a moment, before she turned to one of her subordinates, a female Atlantean with auburn-colored hair wearing a purple bodysuit with one pantleg, silver bracers that matched the light armor with shoulder pads on her chest, a pair of maroon flared boots, and a headband with a large, silver pointed crest in front. "Andromeda, you're in command until I return," Nadia ordered. "Inform King Namor I'll be accompanying these air-breathers to deal with the source of the disturbance. I'll update once this is over."

"Aye, ma'am," Andromeda replied with a bow, as she then motioned for the other soldiers to follow her back into the water. Once they were beneath the waves, Nadia followed Wasp and the others into the waiting Quinjet, and once they were at a safe distance, Wasp gave the word for Hawkeye, Kyouya, and Dazzler to fire away at the power couplings on the tower. Soon, multiple explosive-tipped arrows, light beams, and shots from a Kree military standard-issue rifle hit their marks, as the tower soon became engulfed in explosion after explosion as it collapsed into pieces, the water that was held back by its presence soon cascading back into its proper place. With that accomplished, the Quinjet carrying the five, along with Nadia, was soon on its way back towards Tokyo-3.

"Wasp calling Central Dogma," Kaede started to say as she opened a channel using the Quinjet's communications system, "we've taken down both Stardust and the Indian Ocean tower, heading back now to help with Galactus. Also, brace yourselves, we're bringing a guest home with us..."

Inside Galactus's ship...

Ms. Fantastic, Iron Maiden, Yellowjacket, Ms. Marvel, and Doc Samson had been wandering through a corridor that seemed to stretch on for miles, wherever it ended just barely in sight.

While looking over their surroundings, a thought dawned on Maya. "It just occurred to me," she said. "Something tells me this isn't just some random hall within the ship."

"What do you think it is then?" Hitomi asked.

"A conduit," Maya answered. "The whole time, we've been walking through an energy conduit."

The eyes of all but Maya and Samson went wide on hearing this.

"Hang on, you mean..." Mana started to ask. "We're actually inside a gigantic wire?"

Maya nodded an affirmative 'yes'.

"Guess Galactus is literally bigger than we might've initially thought," Samson mused.

"...Somehow, that's not very reassuring..." Hitomi said with a hint of worry in her tone.

It was then that Aoi spotted something ahead of them. "Looks like we've found the light at the end of the tunnel," she pointed out as soon as they arrived at the large opening, currently closed off by a large, circular panel. "Dr. Samson, Hitomi, think you can get it open?"

Samson cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "We'll certainly try. Dr. Kaga, if you'll take one side..."

A moment later, the panel was pulled out of the opening by the two powerhouses, who then tossed it aside as they and the other three looked at the tableau before them. The very sight of it filled them with a sudden dread and awe.

Standing in the middle of the room, manning a strange apparatus, was a gigantic being, at least three times larger than an Evangelion or the 14th Angel, clad in blue and purple armor of a design not seen on Earth, or anywhere in the solar system. The armor was highlighted by light purple piping that glowed, and the being's head was encased in a large purple helmet with two angled 'horns' on each side. The only skin seen was through the opening in the helmet's face that showed off the being's nose and mouth, and golden yellow eyes glowed brightly through the eyeholes in the helmet's 'mask'.

It didn't take the collective genius of the quintet to figure out who it was that stood before them. This was the very foe they had sought to face.

This was Galactus, the devourer of worlds.

To be continued...

**Author's Note(s)**

In addressing a little point Mike313 brought up with me, a bit of insight into the storytelling here I want to share is that in terms of intertextuality, I take my cues from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. All those little 'winks' and 'nods' to prior adventures of the heroes peppered throughout the film, even though it was the only cinematic outing we received of that franchise? That's what informs how I've treated my take on Orion's Marvel-based side of the Superwomen of EVA coin.

So, how 'bout the new addition to said superwomen's ranks? I have a feeling they'll be getting along...swimmingly. Speaking of aquatic supers, for our shockingly only two annotations for today:

-Namor, soon to be making his big screen debut in next month's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is one of Marvel's oldest superheroes, debuting not once but twice in two anthologies put out by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics in October 1939-first in the never-circulated Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1, then properly in Marvel Comics #1, both in stories by writer/artist Bill Everett.

-Andromeda, another notable Atlantean from the Marvel canon, made her first appearance in 1985's The Defenders #143 by Peter B. Gillis, Don Perlin, and Kim DeMulder. She was added to the famous 'non-team' by Gillis as part of his long-term plan at the time of populating the group with his own crew of characters, who in his words nonetheless had ties to interesting parts of the Marvel Universe. She'd wind up being the last one he added to the group, as shortly following her debut, Gillis was informed that the book would be cancelled nine issues later.

And now, a bit of fun in tribute to Mike313's side of the Superwomen of EVA fence that plays upon Marvel's homespun riff on their biggest rivals.

OMAKE 3 - Distinguished Competition by GainaxVel3o

Yui and those on the bridge could do nothing but stare helplessly as the heroes fought off Galactus's heralds. The fighting was so intense the probes were having a hard time picking up the data.

"We're getting static…" Aoba said solemnly. "We don't know what's going on."

"If only there was something we could do…" Yui said. "We could have really used some backup."

"Can't argue with that, Dr. Ikari," Fitz noted. "But where would we even find it? All the known powered individuals on our side are accounted for!"

"That's because we weren't here!" a new, yet familiar voice sounded, contradicting Fitz's statement.

Hearing this caused most of the people on the bridge to turn towards a bright flash of yellow light. Yui blinked, only to find a rather colorful set of people…led by Asuka?

"Asuka?" Yui said. "Why aren't you out there in the field? And why did you suddenly switch costumes-" Her train of thought halted as she took the time to examine the group, only to be left utterly bewildered. They looked like versions of her friends, colleagues, and children, but there was something quite...different about each.

The Asuka of the group was clad in a red and gold super-suit that came with a bright yellow cape and boots, with an atomic symbol on her chest and a domino mask on her face. She also was hovering a couple of feet above the floor.

Were it not for the mole on her face, Yui wouldn't have recognized the group's Mayumi, who was in a dark, avian-themed suit with a yellow birdlike emblem on the chest that matched her gloves, boots, and the 'feathery' mask on the front of her cowl; flaring out from her shoulders was a red cloak that seemed to resemble wings, and on her face was a menacing glare aimed at the bridge technicians.

The Rei in the group wore a single-strap purple leotard with matching boots; a yellow sash around her waist that matched the headband around her head; and two pairs of golden bands, one on her forearms and one on her biceps. On the left forearm band was what appeared to be a translucent shield.

The group's Misato wore a full bodysuit colored green from mid-waist-to-toe, red on the right upper half and yellow on the left, and blue on the upper chest all the way up to the full mask on her face, matched only by the gloves she wore. A strange-looking prism crystal appeared to be embedded in the back of her right hand.

Their Mari also wore a full bodysuit, only all yellow with a black, zig-zagging 'W' on her chest, a pair of white boots and gloves, and an opaque pair of strange, yellow goggles on her eyes. Black bands topped the cuffs of the boots and gloves, and were connected by black lines that trailed all the way up to the black band of the suit's collar. This Mari also appeared to be fidgeting at a speed that was hard to track to the ordinary naked eye.

The Hikari of the group looked the strangest of all of them, sporting green skin, pointy ears, and a slight series of ridges in her chin. She was clad in a purple bodysuit with green boots, gloves, and trunks, along with a flowing green cape with a high collar, and a white pattern on the chest that looked like an upside-down 'A' with a white band underneath.

Finally, their Maya wore a blonde wig, a white tuxedo jacket over what looked like a green, strapless swimsuit with matching buccaneer-style boots, and fishnet stockings on her legs, which some of the men on the bridge couldn't help but glance at to the point of nearly drooling.

"Sheesh, we just met and already you're confusing me with my counterpart," this second Asuka said as she waved her yellow cape around. "An easy mistake, but one you won't make twice-we're the Squadron Supreme. Charmed, huh?"

"Asuk-er, I mean, Hyperia, we can't waste any more time," the alternate Misato (aka Doctor Spectrum) stated, raising her prism hand as it began glowing with a full rainbow of colors as she addressed Yui. "Aahno already informed us of what's going on-as our world's greatest heroes, we're used to these kinds of cosmic-level threats already."

"Now hold on a minute, you can't just hijack the story like this!" a peeved Simmons said while waving her hands exasperatedly at the new arrivals. "We don't even know if you'd work together well with-well, yourselves!"

"We will not need to. As our name implies, where we come from, we are supreme," the other Rei said as she clenched her fists. "By the honor of the Utopians who trained me, we will fight to defeat this menace, as a league of justi-"

"NO-we don't mention the name, Power Princess," the alternate Mayumi (alias Nighthawk) grimly said, in a gravelly voice unlike what Yui had ever heard from the girl. It was almost laughable how hard she tried, though Yui did her best to hold it in as Mayumi faced her. "My parents died so I could fight. We won't let anyone else's parents fall victim to-"

"*Ugh* Yeah, yeah, we get it, you pint-sized edgelord," a slightly-embarrassed Asuka/Hyperia groaned as she gave a cue to her Maya. "Arcanna, take us right to the action!"

"Right!" Maya/Arcanna replied as she brought out her spell book. "Now which of these did my father say was…?"

"Sorrywecan'tstaylongbye!" the other Mari (aka the Whizzer) said quickly as the group glowed in the light of Arcanna's spell.

"Don't think any less of us, we only want to help!" the alternate Hikari (aka the Skrullian Skymistress) placatingly got out.

Soon, with a wave of her hand, Maya/Arcanna teleported her team elsewhere to aid those facing Galactus's heralds. Yui and the others were left bewildered, until the video-comms came roaring to life, the transmission coming from the site of the fight with Firelord.

"HEY, what gives?! I just saw a bunch of cheap knock-offs coming in and stealing our shtick!" Deadpool yelled from his side of the line, clearly annoyed. "Could ya tell them to screw off already?! This is a MARVELOUS thing we've got going here, we don't need to be upstaged by some 'distinguished' competition!"

Yui gave herself a facepalm as she replied, "*Sigh* Believe you me, Deadpool, we're just as weirded out as you are..." Palm still on her face, she shook her head resignedly at the unusual turn of events. "Aahno, why...?" she muttered.