Infinity Crisis Aftermath: The Last Archer
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their owners, this is just for fun.
Yeah, this is yet another Infinity Crisis plot bunny. I've gotten quite a few I had to track down. At least it creates the creative juices flowing, ha ha. Enjoy this latest one-shot. It's a bit of a followup to An Avenging Christmas.
Somewhere on Earth-86315
The two Skrulls stared at the human they had captured and replaced. The man had short dark blond hair, and was clad in a black uniform with a downward-pointing purple chevron on it. His hands and feet were shackled to a large round metal circle, almost making him resemble a living take on Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. His head was braced by a headrest.
"I don't get why we don't just kill him, Vorlax." One of the Skrulls said. The other Skrull snorted at his companion.
"Because this thing can't extract memories from dead brains, stupid." The other Skrull reminded.
"I thought they were working on a way to get past that problem." The Skrull said.
"Thing is, the mind-reader hacks into the electromagnetic signals the brain sends out." Velmax pointed out. "If the brain is dead, then there's no signals to hack into. And we need to see their memories to make our performances more convincing, Selov."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Selov nodded. "I heard this human eschews firearms, and prefers to use an ancient primitive weapon. The bow." The Skrull snorted. "Why would the human do that?"
"Maybe he's insane." Vorlax shrugged. "No matter what the reality, Terrans always manage to be one of the crazier races. Although I have heard he was fond of using 'trick arrows'."
"Trick arrows?" Selov blinked.
"Yeah, arrows with little gimmicks. Arrows that blow things up, arrows that pack acid, that kind of thing. Kind of clever, actually." Vorlax admitted. "No wonder this Earth's Fury considered him one of his best men." The two Skrulls observed the man in silence for a moment. "When we conquer this world, I want to try riding what those humans call a rollercoaster. Those sound fun."
"I want to try one of those boba tea things." Selov said. "It looked delicious." The two Skrulls then heard the sound of a commotion. "The three Hells..."
"I swear, if Torjun is drunk again..." Vorlax growled. The door to their chamber blew open. The two Skrulls swore and whipped their blaster rifles into a firing position...only for their guns to be swiped away by a blur of yellow and black. "What?!"
"Howdy, Broccoli Boys." A female voice taunted in a Southern California accent. The two Skrulls saw a smirking young woman. She was Chinese-American, her skin almost completely white. Her hair was short and spiky, and she had a pair of pink shades on her head. She wore a black-and-pink bodysuit and a yellow overcoat. The bodysuit showed she had a toned frame, like a runner. She held up the blasters. "These yours?" She casually broke them in half and tossed the pieces away. "Oops!"
"Who-!?" Selov blinked.
"You're going to pay for that, human!" Vorlax growled as he transformed into a large cat-like beast. Selov also transformed into a matching beast. The woman smirked.
"Cute." Her hands crackled with what looked like fireworks. "Hey, Dragon! We got a tag team match!" A red blur slammed into the two into a wall with a mighty roar. The source was a nine-foot tall anthropomorphic dragon. The dragon snarled at the two transformed Skrulls. It had red scales, and its black hair was swept back by a pair of ebony pointed horns. The fingers and toes were tipped with fearsome-looking ebon claws, and a pair of large red wings were folded over its shoulders. He opened his beak-like snout, and a glow appeared from it.
FWASH!
A stream of flame erupted from the dragon's mouth, the Skrulls screaming from the flames.
"BY ALL THE HELLS, IT HURTS!" Vorlax screamed.
"MY REAR END IS GETTING COOKED!" Selov howled as the two fled from the room. The woman gave them a bit more encouragement by blasting them out with a stream of fireworks.
"Where's the Doc?" The dragon asked as it shrunk and turned into a Caucasian redheaded teenage boy. His scales turned into flesh and clothes. His hair was now red with yellow at the temples. He wore a bodysuit that was black at the top half, and red from the waist down. His chest was also covered by a triangular red chestplate with gold highlights and shoulder pads. Attached to it was a short golden cape that reached down to his hips. The cape had a stylized logo of a red dragon on it. The logo reappeared in yellow on the sides of his legs. The costume was completed by yellow boots, black gloves, and red-and-gold vambraces. "You were supposed to stay with her."
"She told me to go ahead and back you up." The woman said.
"I could have handled this, Lee." Jake Wildfire grunted, his voice showing a thick Boston accent.
"Yeah, but you never know." Jubilation Lee stated. The two then heard the sounds of blasters firing and screaming. A woman then walked into the room.
"Ah, I see that you have found one of the Skrulls' targets." The woman said. She appeared to be a black woman in her forties, her hair in braids, and her voice showing a London accent. She had a slightly stern air about her, which was shown by her outfit: A pair of black combat trousers with matching boots, and dark blue tweed frock coat and waistcoat. Her shirt had an upturned collar and frilly cuffs and appeared to be made of Kente cloth. Over her eyes were a pair of yellow sunglasses. She was holding a pair of blasters...and strapped across her back was a purple and black bow and a quiver filled with arrows.
"Yeah, it's him, Doc." Jake Wildfire confirmed. He frowned. "He looks quite a bit different from the Clint Barton of my reality."
"Same from mine." Jubilee agreed. "Mainly this Clint is white as Wonder bread. The Clint Barton of my reality was Cherokee."
Jake snorted in amusement. "The Clint Barton from my world was as 'white as Wonder bread' as well."
"Well, let us get him down already." The woman said. She eyed a console and headed towards it. She fiddled with the controls on the console, until the restraints opened. Jake and Jubilee quickly moved to catch the archer.
"Uhnnn..." Clint groaned.
"It's alright, Barton. You're among friends." Jake assured him.
"Uhhh..." He blinked at Jake. He then turned to Jubilee. She grinned at him, revealing her fangs. "Whuh-?"
"She won't bite." Jake said.
"Wait, what?!" Clint blinked.
"Yeah, I'm half-human." Jubilee assured. "Unlike full vampires, I don't need to feed on blood."
"Wait, WHAT?!" Clint yelped.
"No time for explanations, Mr. Barton." The woman said, holding out his bow and quiver. "Your world is in danger. Skrulls."
"Skrulls?" Clint blinked as he took the weapons. "Wait, not Talos's group?"
"I just said there's no time for explanations." The woman said. The four then fumbled around as the ground shook.
"Earthquake?!" Jubilee yelped. Jake saw some screaming Skrulls run by. He ran to the entryway and peeked out into the hall. His eyes widened, and he cursed.
"It's here! We have to get out!" Jake yelled.
"What's here?" Clint asked.
"Come on!" Jubilee grabbed Clint and effortlessly hefted him over her shoulders.
"Wait, what?!" The archer yelped.
"Let's go!" The woman ran down the hall, the two mutants following.
"What is going-" Clint's eyes widened when he saw what looked like a wall of solid white consuming the complex behind him. "WHAT IS THAT?!" He screamed.
"Death." Jake said simply. The group headed towards a blue police box.
"How are we all supposed to fit-!?" Clint yelped.
"We'll fit!" Jake snapped as Jubilee carried him inside. She put the archer down and he looked around at the large white room with a console in the center.
"Wait..." Clint looked around as Jake closed the door and the woman ran to the control console. "How did-?"
"You get used to it." Jubilee told him.
"Yeah." Jake nodded. A strange whining noise was heard as the woman worked the controls frantically.
"The antimatter wave has hit this world..." The woman muttered to herself. "It's doomed..."
"Another world gone..." Jake sighed, rubbing his temples. The room shook for a moment.
"What was that?!" Clint yelped.
"You're welcome." The woman said.
"Trust us, Barton." Jake said to the archer. "You did not want that wave to touch you."
"Wave?!" Clint blinked. "That's what that big white thing was?"
"A wave of antimatter." Jubilee told him. "It hit our worlds, too."
"Your...your worlds?" Clint asked.
"Yeah." Jake nodded. "Jubilee, myself, and the Doc all come from different realities. Different from yours."
"Those Skrulls came from a reality similar to yours." Jubilee added.
"We have to warn Fury!" Clint yelled. "Let me out!"
"You can't." The Doctor said. "The wall destroyed your universe."
"That's impossible!" The archer yelled.
"Hardly." Jake said. "We should know."
"You really expect me to believe that?" Clint demanded.
"She ain't lying." Jubilee added.
"I don't believe this!" Clint growled. "I'm getting out of here!" He opened the TARDIS's door...only to see blackness. "W-what?!"
"I took us two seconds out of sync with your universe, Mr. Barton." The Doctor said. "What you are seeing...is your universe. There is nothing there."
"...nothing?" Clint whispered.
"Nothing at all." The Doctor told him. Clint fell to his knees.
"Laura...Cooper...Lila..." The archer whispered. "They're..."
"Gone. Along with everyone else in your universe." The Doctor told him. Jubilee walked towards him, and helped him to his feet. Jake closed the door.
"I'm sorry, Clint." Jubilee said sincerely. She hugged the archer. "I'm so, so sorry."
"We've been there ourselves." Jake added, putting a hand on Clint's shoulder. "Jubes and I come from worlds that were also destroyed by the antimatter wave. We..." He bowed his head. "We both lost loved ones, too. We know what you're going through, man."
Jubilation Lee grunted and stuck her tongue out as she played on her Nintendo Switch.
"Yeah! Yeah!" She grunted as she tilted her console like it would help with the action in the game. "Whu-YEAH! WHOO!" She whooped, pumping her fist and kicking her feet in the air. "Yeah! Eat that, Master Hand!" She smiled, until she turned her head. The dhampiric mutant's smile fell when she saw the figures in the framed photograph on the desk next to her bed.
The photo was in color, and it was clear it was taken at a beach. It depicted a grinning Jubilee with her arms over the shoulders of two other people, also having smiles on their faces. She had her shades on her head, and was clad in a pink-and-yellow one-piece bathing suit. On the right was a young bald Black man. His head was covered not by hair, but a black pork pie hat. He wore a red Hawaiian shirt, opened up and revealing his muscled chest. His outfit was completed by a pair of red-and-yellow knee-length swim trunks.
On the left was a tanned young woman with long black hair in a ponytail. Her frame was thin and toned. She was wearing a black-and-white striped bikini top and jean shorts. Jubilee eyes glazed when she ran a hand over the photo.
I miss you so much, my loves... She thought. The dhampiric mutant heard a ringing. "Come in!" She called as she put the photo back. The door slid open, revealing Clint.
"Uh, hello...Jubilee, right?"
"That's my name." She said as she sat up. "How...how're you doing?"
"I'm...adjusting."
"That's good." The firework-firing dhampir nodded. "If you ever do need to talk, you can talk to me or Jake."
"I appreciate that." The archer said. "Where is Jake, by the way?"
"The Red Dragon's hanging out in his favorite cave: the gym." She said. "Kid's a gym rat."
"This place has a gym?" Clint said.
"Yeah." Jubilee confirmed with a grin. "The TARDIS can configure itself into any rooms its occupants need."
"I...see."
"It can give you an archery range if you need one." Jubilee smiled. "If you're anything like the Clint Barton of my universe, I imagine you'd want one of those."
"There's...there was a me on your world?" Clint asked.
"Yup." Jubilee nodded. "I met him a couple times. Nice guy. Although his hair was brighter blonde than yours. Almost like, bright yellow." The dhampiric mutant recalled. "He also had a grandfather that was Cherokee."
"Huh." Clint blinked. "Did he have a family?"
"He married a woman named Bobbi three months before the anti-matter wave hit my universe." Jubilee recalled. "I attended his wedding with the other X-Men. It was fun. Beast showed off his juggling skills, and Rogers made this beautiful drawing of them for a gift."
"X-Men, huh?"
"Yup." Jubilee nodded. "I was one of them. We weren't just superheroes. We were basically a civil rights group. We advocated for human-mutant peace."
"Mutants?"
"Yeah. On my world, there are people that are born with what's called an X-Gene." Jubilee explained.
"People born with powers, huh?"
"Yup. But those kind of mutants are rare." Jubilee added. "On my world, most mutants have harmless physical mutations. Odd-colored eyes, skin or hair, extra fingers or toes, that kind of thing. Unfortunately, some superpowered mutants like to use their gifts to raise a little hell, if you know what I mean."
"And that gets people frightened." Clint deduced.
"Even the ones who have no powers at all are feared because of that." Jubilee said.
"I honestly can't blame people, to be honest." Clint admitted. "I mean, walking talking WMDs? When you think about it, that's some scary stuff."
"That's why my world's Charles Xavier formed the X-Men. To show that we mutants are people, too. In our own way." Jubilee nodded. "I'm a bit...different. As I'm sure you noticed."
"Yeah, you said you were a vampire?"
"Dhampir." Jubilee corrected. "I'm half-human. I have all the strengths of the vampire, but none of the weaknesses."
"I see." Clint eyed the photo of Jubilee with the two other people. "Who are they, if I may ask?"
Jubilee glanced at the photo. Clint noticed that her red eyes took on a bit of a sad sheen. "...Laura Lewis-Logan and Everett Thomas." Jubilee explained. "They were mutants, like me. Everett was a Missouri boy. He could sense and track superhuman beings, as well as imitate their powers when he was in a certain distance from them. It's why he was called Synch."
"And Laura?"
"She was the daughter of one of the X-Men, the original Wolverine. Her father was like an uncle to me." Jubilee explained. "Her mother was a Canadian Ojibwa woman he hooked up with once. She inherited his powers: super senses, healing factor, and had claws like his, only hers were bone, not metal. She had two in each hand and one in each foot. She was codenamed Talon."
"Huh." Clint said. "In my world, Fury had heard rumors of some wild man with claws roaming around Canada..."
Jubilee blinked. "Then maybe Logan existed in your world, too. Do mutants exist in your universe?"
"Well, Fury knew there may possibly be some, but from what SHIELD understood, they were incredibly rare."
"Oh. That's different. Tons of them in my world." Jubilee said. "Which means your world likely had no X-Men."
"None that I knew of." Clint looked again at the photograph. "You were close to them, huh?"
"Very." Jubilee nodded. "I loved them both so much." Clint raised an eyebrow.
"You mean, you..."
"Were with both of them? Yes." Jubilee nodded.
"I...see."
Jubilee chuckled. "Yeah, it's not common on my world, either. There was a love triangle, and well..." She shrugged. "It avoided a broken heart."
"How did the other...X-Men react to that?"
"Ororo shrugged. Hank laughed. Jean facepalmed. Logan went to the bar. Kitty went with him. Scott banged his head against the wall for three hours straight. Remy wanted to say something lewd, but Rogue smacked him." Jubilee recalled. "Laura and/or I had to be near Everett constantly for a week. Because we didn't want Logan to kill him."
Clint found himself snickering. "I can't blame that Logan guy. I'm...I was a father myself."
"Yeah, but Everett is...was a sweetheart. And he was a gentleman. Just as Laura was a lady." She held the photo. "The X-Men were like a family to me. That anti-matter wall took them from me. And I want the head of whoever created it."
"I don't blame you, kid." Clint agreed. "What do you plan to do afterwards?"
"I don't know." Jubilee admitted. "I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. At least I would have avenged the X-Men."
Clint walked into the gym, where he saw Jake Wildfire punching a heavy bag. The young redheaded mutant grunted as he hit the bag.
"Not a bad technique there, kid." The archer complimented. Jake looked up.
"Thanks." Jake said. He took off his gloves. "I was trained by some people who knew some punch-throwing."
"Really?"
"Yup." Jake nodded. "How you doing?"
"Still dealing." Clint answered honestly. Jake nodded as he removed the tape from his hands and threw it in a trash receptacle.
"Yeah, I don't blame you. It's...hard being the last survivor of a world." He took a seat. "Heh, my younger brother Kyle, he was a big comic book nut. He would read stories about the Squadron Supreme joining with the Golden Agency, saving the multiverse. He would find it awesome learning it was real." He smiled sadly. I wish he was here...
"I heard about the multiversal theory from some eggheads in SHIELD." Clint remembered. "...SHIELD was a thing in your universe."
Jake nodded. "Yup. Also a thing in Jubilee's."
"So..." Jake smirked in amusement. "Did Jubilee tell you about her...personal life back on her old Earth?"
"Yeah." Clint nodded. He ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe that was a thing."
"Look up the creator of Power Princess sometime." Jake said. "He was in a polyamorous relationship, too."
"This doesn't weird you out?" Clint asked. Jake snorted in a way that showed that it didn't and the idea of it weriding him out amused the redhead.
"Pal, I can breathe fire, fly, and turn into an anthropomorphic dragon for short periods of time. I helped fight a war. I witnessed a wall of antimatter destroy my world. I travel with a universe-jumping Time Lord alongside a dhampir mutant from another dimension. Trust me, those experiences will open your mind up real good and quick."
"Fair enough." The archer agreed. Something Jake said perked him up. "You said you fought in a war. At your age?" The redheaded teenage mutant sat on a bench.
"Yeah. I did. It's...a long story." Jake said. "A very long story."
"Well, I got some time now." Clint sat down next to him.
"Alright. I'll abridge it as best as I can." Jake then told Clint his story. The redheaded mutant talked about the Misfits, the formation of the West Coast Misfits, and what became known as the Gathering of Twilight.
"Wow. That's...a lot." Clint said. He rubbed his head. It was a lot to take in.
Jake nodded in agreement. "Sorry. I did try and abridge it all. It was nuts." He smiled wryly. "You thought talking about it was insane? I lived it."
"Yeah..." Clint frowned, rubbing his forehead. "It's just...in your world, GI Joe is real, not a cartoon."
"As real as you or I." Jake said. "I learned that in quite a few worlds, I have no counterpart. It's...kind of sad."
"I see." Clint nodded. "So, you weren't too fond of being among these...West Coast Misfits?"
"I admit...I wasn't to thrilled with it at first." Jake sighed. "At the time, I was...I hated General Whithalf. I hated that man. I hated him so much. I thought he just cared more about keeping secrets than letting us help fight in the Gathering. To be honest, I never wanted to be involved in this superhero stuff. But when Whithalf told me and Kyle about what the Massachusetts Academy and what they were really like...well, we felt a..." Jake's face scrunched as he tried to find the words he was trying to use. "...a responsibility to try and stop the Hellfire Club."
"The Hellfire Club?" Clint blinked. "That rich people's club in New York?"
"It exists in your world?" Jake asked. Clint nodded. "Huh. Anyway, we revealed we were spying on them to save our friend. Her name was Tessa. Thanks to us, she was able to continue her work spying for Xavier."
"Sounds like you did something rather noble there."
"Yeah." Jake nodded sadly. "Whithalf put me and Kyle on a Joe base in California to protect us from them. But at the time, I was furious with him." He sighed. "I thought he was a dishonest lying scumbag. Not to mention he locked my parents up. 'Protective custody', he called it. It made me hate him even more."
"Sounds like he was just watching your back." Clint said.
"Yeah, he and the other West Coast Misfits said the same thing. At the time, I didn't think so." Jake said. "I didn't believe him when he said we couldn't fight the Hellfire Club. One day, two of the Club attacked our base. They...they wrecked us. Long story short, I learned the hard way he was right. It was..." Jake sighed. "...it was humbling for a lack of a better word. After the whole Gathering thing was over, Whithalf and I did a lot of talking." He smiled a bit. "We managed to hash things out a bit."
"Well, that's good. So, how did things go for you after this Gathering thing?" Clint asked.
"...at the time, I felt...really down." Jake answered. "The other heroes that fought in the Gathering, well...they were nice to us. But I never felt that we were truly respected by them. I mean, us West Coasters didn't have a major role in the Gathering of Twilight, so that was understandable. We did get three new members out of it. That was pretty much the only plus. Bart Allen, a speedster from Alabama. Theresa Rourke, a girl from Ireland with sonic powers. And Longshot, a stuntman from another dimension."
"Must've been nice, having new friends."
"Looking back..." Jake sighed. "I wish I did try to get to know them better. I...saw no reason to then. As I said, I had never liked being in the West Coast Misfits. And my mentality at the time was 'why bother', you know?" He scratched his nose. "I mean, it wasn't like making friends with anyone on the team was going to change anything. The only person I was really close to at the team at the time was my little brother Kyle. He was codenamed Thunderbolt because he was an electrokinetic."
"Maybe it would have made being on the team more bearable." Clint suggested. "I mean, I'm not saying that you had to like being on that team, but...having some real friends on it could only have helped."
"Maybe." Jake admitted. "Theresa and Longshot...they tried. I remember Longshot once saying to me that he thought I was very lonely. I furiously denied it, but deep down...he was right. I was lonely." He bowed his head. "Sometimes, I...I just wish I could see them one last time and...try to be a better friend to them. Hell, try be a friend at all. But..." He shook his head. "I can't now. And I never will be able to. I just have to live with that." A bitter chuckle escaped his lips. "Ever since General Whithalf put me on the West Coast Misfits, all I ever wanted was to get out. And now, I am free. I'm free of the West Coast Misfits...only to be the last survivor of my world. Be careful what you wish for."
Clint nodded. "True. But, you're still here. And you know what?"
"What?"
"Maybe one day, you could have a chance to start again. Learn from your mistakes, and make some new friends."
Jake nodded. "And maybe one day..." He smiled slightly and patted the archer's shoulder. "Maybe you can start a new family yourself."
"Maybe." Clint agreed. "Hey, Jake. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"What're you going to do after this?" He asked. "After you found...whatever destroyed your Earth?"
"I...don't really know." Jake admitted. "Maybe travel with the Doc some more. And then...maybe find a world where I can just...live a quiet life, away from superpowered craziness." He smiled slightly. "I come from a family of professional wrestlers. Maybe there's a world where I can do that. I had always wanted to be a pro wrestler. Like my Dad."
"Really?" Clint gave Jake an amused smile.
"Yeah."
Clint chuckled. "Well, I hope you get to achieve your dream, kiddo. I'd love to see you in the squared circle."
"I hope that you get to have your fresh start, too." Jake shook Clint's hand. "So, you looking forward to being a part of the Doc's motley crew?"
"Well, you all did save my life, so I figured I owe you all that."
"I am sorry we couldn't save your world."
Clint nodded. "Maybe hopefully, we can make sure that whatever destroyed our worlds doesn't destroy anymore." Jake's blue eyes hardened, and the two fist-bumped.
"Your world will be the last one to fall to that wave. That I swear." Jake said to him.
Clint Barton walked into to the console room, wearing a new uniform. It was primarily dark purple, with light purple highlights. He also had on a cowl that was pulled back. Slung on his back was a purple quiver full of arrows, and he had his bow in his hand. The Doctor looked up at him. A smile formed on her face.
"A new uniform, I see."
Clint nodded. "Yeah. Figured I'd go for a new look."
"You look quite handsome in it."
"Thanks, Doctor." Clint said. "Listen, I just...I just want to say thanks. Thanks for saving my life."
"I wish I could have saved your family, too." The Doctor told him sincerely. "But time...time is a funny thing. It never works the way you want it to."
Clint nodded. "I do want to put an arrow in the head of the being that caused the destruction of my world...and Jake's...and Jubilee's."
"I do not blame you." The Doctor said. "I would love to put a few laser blasts into the being responsible for all that death and destruction myself. But we have to find them first."
"You have any leads?" Clint asked. The Doctor was about to answer when an alarm went off. "What was that?!" The Doctor ran towards her console and looked at a screen on it.
"You're about to have your first taste of multiversal travel." The Doctor said. "We are going to an Earth very different from yours, but you may recognize some things from it. We're traveling to Earth-D."
Clint nodded. He pulled his cowl over his face, revealing it was purple, and it had a silver letter "H" on it. "Earth-D, huh? Alright, then. Let's get to work..."
New York City, Earth-9954
In an apartment in the City that Never Sleeps, a man was sitting in a room filled with various eldritch tomes and artifacts. He had neat short black hair, and was clad in blue robes. A medallion was around his neck, with a red emblem on it similar to the old Soviet Union's hammer and sickle symbol.
"Anton?" A woman's voice called to the man. Anton Mordrid, the High Mystic of Earth-9954, opened his eyes. He turned his head and saw a blonde woman, clad in a gray suit smiling at him.
"Samantha." He greeted warmly, getting to his feet.
"We got a case." Samantha Hunt held out a file to him. The sorcerer/criminal psychologist looked it over.
"Hmmm..." He thought. "I can see why the NYPD want me to look at this one."
"You think it's mystical?"
HELP ME! A woman was heard screaming in their heads.
"Gah!" Samantha gasped, clutching her head. "What was that?!"
"A cry for help." Anton said. He ran over to a crystal ball nearby. The mystic waved his hands over it, and green mist appeared in it. The ball started to glow, and it projected an image in the air. The image was of a green-skinned woman, with dark hair that fell over one of her scarlet eyes. She was dressed in blue clothing and silver jewelry that recalled the stereotypical clothing of a genie. Her image was rippling, like she was being viewed through a raging stream.
Help me! Desiree cried out. Tears ran down her cheeks. Please! Help me! The image vanished.
"What was that?!" Samantha yelped.
"A djinn." Anton explained. "Somehow trapped between realities."
"She seemed...in pain."
Anton nodded in agreement. "It appears that this djinn was forced to grant a wish that was meant to erase her from existence."
"So...something went wrong?" Samantha asked.
"Sort of." Anton answered. "It must have triggered a magical fail-safe."
"A fail-safe?" Samantha asked.
Anton nodded. "In this world, djinns have magical fail-safe that prevent them from granting certain wishes. My guess is this djinn may have one as well."
"What kind of wishes?"
"Resurrection, that kind of thing." Anton explained. He looked over the image of Desiree. "Someone must have wanted this djinn to erase herself from existence. Instead of erasing her, the fail-safe caused her to be trapped between realities."
"She looked...in pain." Samantha observed.
"Indeed. We'll have to get her out." Anton went over to a bookshelf and started looking over his tomes and trinkets. "Hopefully, I have something here that can help..."
Yes, folks! The Fugitive Doctor is also investigating the coming crisis! And she's picked up quite a...well, a motley crew, ha ha. I was inspired by the flashback in Batguy01's An Avenging Christmas, revealing that the Clint Barton of Peggy Carter's reality was one of the people replaced by the multiversal-invading Skrulls. It made me think, what if he was still alive, and was saved from the anti-matter wave that consumed that reality? And this came about.
One idea I had was for versions of Marty McFly and Jennifer Parker to be among the Fugitive Doctor's crew, with them implying that Doc Brown sacrificed his life to save them from the anti-matter wall.
Jake "Red Dragon" Wildfire is an original character of mine, and he came here from another fanfic, one that was written by a former friend of mine: RogueFanKC. Jake Wildfire was one of the West Coast Misfits in his story Kingdom Hearts: Mutants of Twilight. However, he and I had a really bad falling out that was my fault. I do regret it, and as a result, he decided to stop writing the story as I made it no longer fun for him. Unfortunately, he was not at a point where Jake could appear in the story yet. He did appear in some side-stories I wrote that focused on the West Coast Misfits, though. I figured that since RogueFanKC would likely never finish MoT, I decided to bring Jake from that story into this one.
The Earth-D I intend to have the Fugitive Doctor and her crew visit will be based on the Earth-D that first appeared in Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths (February 1999).
The numbering of Earth-9954 is an homage to the birthdate of Jeffrey Combs, who played the titular character in Doctor Mordrid: September 9, 1954. I saw the film on Pluto TV, and I thought it would be fun to bring that movie into the Infinity Crisis multiverse, and establish he's the Sorcerer Supreme of his Earth.