One by one, the team all woke from their sleep- if they slept at all, that is.
Ahsoka had a night of deep meditation, in an attempt of reaching out to any Jedi who could hear her voice. There weren't any answers.
Loki slept quite soundly, having a pleasant dream about meeting with his brother once the mission was all over.
Kratos barely slept at all, anxious about returning home to his son who needed him, as well as being in service to who may as well be gods again.
Isaac, well, he rarely sleeps, anymore...
Rick had a decent amount of sleep, more than he had in quite a long time.
Joel had a similar night but given his near encounter with death, he had nothing but nightmares. Mainly of other innocent people he killed in the past. Joel swore that what happened in the hospital would stay in the past, but the universe refused to let him rest...
The others slept well, either excited to see this new Omniverse or just too tired to care about anything else.
Nonetheless, they were all awake and left their rooms.
Once they were all up and about, Samson was there to meet them.
"Good to see you all awake. Follow me, I'll show you all to our cafeteria."
They all followed, and after a good five-minute walk, the team was brought inside a massive cafeteria, immense and stretching out as far as the eye can see. It was in the form of an all-you-can-eat buffet mixed with a vast surplus of machines filled with food options from all across the Omniverse, with clusters of other Watchers either grabbing food from these dispensers or teleporting back to their offices.
"A great deal of Watchers prefer to eat in their offices, so you should all have no problem choosing seats... I'll leave you all to it, and come meet with me back in the Dojo when you're all ready. It'll be just down the hall we came from and to the left. Please... don't rush."
With that, Samson left, and the team was astonished at the sheer size of the cafeteria.
"...Is this the greatest power in the universe...?" Loki found himself asking.
"Omniverse, apparently." Double Trouble corrected him.
"Whatever."
The two of them headed off to explore their options, while the others were frozen in confusion.
"Where the hell do we even start...?" Joel asked.
"I guess by what's edible..." Rick responded.
Rick and Joel went first, seeing an endless number of world options, but decided to stick to Earth.
"...Mcdonald's...?" Rick asked first.
"Damn, haven't had that shit in God knows how long...?" Joel started but froze.
The last time Joel had any fast food was with his daughter, Sarah...
Rick had trouble as well, remembering sharing some fast food with Shane just before getting shot and entering into his coma.
"...Wanna see how it holds up?" Rick asked.
Joel chuckled and nodded.
The two picked their options and watched as the machine made a few beeps, let out a flash, and in an instant, two bags almost right out of a Mcdonald's appeared right in front of them.
Isaac decided on a specialty from his Earth, a meal he last shared alongside Nicole so long ago.
Peter decided on his usual when he was Spider-Man- just a slice of toast. Nothing too heavy but enough to keep him full. Sara was used to skipping breakfast, per her father's bickering of her gaining weight, so she skipped.
Jerome ordered a large stack of pancakes, one that he could never hope to finish. He honestly just wanted to see how much he could order.
Kratos had trouble figuring out the touch screen, almost breaking the first machine he touched, but he eventually got it under control and ordered a large helping of Melas Zomos- an ancient Greek soup consisting of pork, pigs' blood, and salt and vinegar for flavor. It was never good, but Kratos wanted to enjoy a good memory from Sparta... enjoying this blood soup alongside his fellow soldiers.
Frank wasn't picky- he chose an MRE breakfast package, being used to the taste and like almost everyone else, wanting a taste of back home.
Boba and Ahsoka both chose foods from their galaxy. Boba, choosing a portion of Numa legs from Mandalore, and Ahsoka choosing various fruits similar to ones from the Jedi Temple. When on the run after Order 66, Ahsoka could never be picky about foods, but she always preferred fruits and vegetables over meats. It felt nice for her to be able to experience that luxury of choice again.
Once they all chose their options, they started searching for seats. Loki and Double Trouble sat together, sharing stories about the greatest cons they've pulled.
"Wait, wait... how exactly did you manage to turn them all against each other?" Loki asked.
"Just some simple scenes, darling. A bit of manipulation here, a bit of guilt-tripping there..." Double Trouble explained.
Loki smiled and scoffed.
"I must say that surpasses turning myself into a snake and stabbing my brother..."
They both shared a laugh and overall enjoyed their meal as well as their conversation.
The latter was interrupted, however, when Kratos took a seat next to them, the table trembling as he sat.
The war god began eating his meal with the two trickster shapeshifters feeling a sense of discomfort around him.
Rick and Joel sat together as well, with both of them hesitant to take a bite.
Rick went first, taking a bite and immediately being brought back to a different lifetime. A lifetime long forgotten. Where people were still people, where law still mattered.
A lifetime where Lori was still alive, where Shane was still alive...
Where Carl was still alive.
Joel follows soon after, and they were both beginning to tear up.
"Shit, all these super, mega, ultra-heroes and such, and here we are, tearin' up over Mcdonald's..." Joel chuckled.
Rick smiled back, but the tears continued flowing nonetheless.
"Doesn't any of this... I dunno, weird you out?" Joel asked Rick.
He scoffed.
"Of course it does. We're from two different universes, eating Mcdonald's just aside from a guy I read about in one of my college classes, a shapeshifting goblin theatre kid, someone who looks exactly like... someone I knew, and not to mention the pale, God-killing giant. Yeah... this shit's pretty fuckin' weird. But... so's dead people coming back and attacking the living, am I right?"
They both shared a brief chuckle.
"Who was it for you...?" Joel asked Rick.
Rick took another bite and sighed.
"My wife... my best friend... my son... and so many others. Who was it for you?"
"...My daughter."
The two stayed silent for the rest of their food, deciding to leave the past right in the past for now.
Boba and Ahsoka sat together, neither of them saying a word to the other, but one thing was clear– this was neutral ground for the two. No Sith, no Republic or Empire or Rebellion. Just one Mandalorian and one Jedi. They both knew that fighting would be pointless, so they just ate their meals in silence.
Jerome, Sara, and Peter all sat together, with Peter retracting his mask and biting into his toast.
"Jeez, want some pancakes, there?"
Jerome laughed.
"I just wanted to see how much that stupid machine would give me!"
Peter chuckled back and noticed that Sara wasn't having anything.
"Hey. You should keep your energy up. Trust me, I've gone on a couple of stakeouts in the afternoon without breakfast... it sucks."
Sara glanced at him and smiled.
"I think I can handle myself just fine, thank you-"
Grrroowwl.
Sara's rebuttal was cut off when her stomach began to rumble.
"I'm just saying, the three of us have a lot of work to do..."
Sara turned to Peter in confusion, but quickly picked up what he was saying.
"What does that mean?" Jerome asked in confusion.
Peter smiled at the madman.
"Just give me some time. I'll show you what I mean. But we're not gonna be able to do much if we under or overeat, Jerome."
Jerome smiled at the former hero and set his fork back down on the table.
"I see... well, in that case..."
Sara politely borrowed the fork from Jerome and took a piece of pancake.
Isaac sat alone, processing everything that has happened over the last couple of days. Between he and Carver waking up after destroying the Marker to making their way back home just to see it destroyed and the discovery that his universe is only one of infinite, he just wanted to be alone and process all of this information.
Once everyone was finished, they made their way back to the dojo, where Samson was waiting for them.
"Hello, team... I trust you ate well?"
Many of them didn't respond, and Samson took this silence as a yes.
"Good. Now get ready... today's our first mission."
Behind Samson, a gateway opens, and Double Trouble barely makes out the palace in Bright Moon on the other side.
"You are kidding me..."
"Nope. Our first universe to clean is here, so just remember your training yesterday– stay together, no heroics, and stick by me... this should be easy."
With that, the team crossed the gateway, entering the world of Etheria.
However, things were drastically different.
A Horde flag flew high over Bright Moon, the gemstone in the center of the lake was missing, and the sky was a crimson red. Horde soldier corpses littered the lake below as well as in the halls of the palace...
Samson heard a bleeping on his wrist and he immediately put up his guard.
"Alright, people, Atrocity signatures are detected nearby and are approaching fast..."
The team gathered and readied their weapons. Boba and Frank began to fly, being able to see for a couple of miles ahead.
"I'm pickin' up six!" Frank said.
"Alright, keep your heads on a swivel, there could be more." Rick said, readying his revolving blaster.
"They're moving fast..." Boba said.
"Then we must hit faster." Kratos said, readying the Leviathan Axe.
Within moments, a swarm of Atrocities became visible. Kratos delivered the first blow, throwing the axe into an Atrocity's chest, freezing it solid. Frank and Boba opened fire on the swarm, but their bullets and blaster bolts only did so much, despite some landing headshots and obliterating the skull and splattering chunks of fungus, brain matter, and flesh all over.
"They're part Necromorph, dismember them!" Isaac shouted.
Frank took the advice and used the shoulder-mounted Vulcan to shred an Atrocity's leg, bringing it to the ground as its black blood stained the dirt ground.
However, symbiotic tendrils shot out from the amputated limb and pulled it back into place, causing the wound to heal.
"Ah, shit, of course they regenerate!" Samson cursed.
"The hell does that mean?!" Rick asked.
"Try burning them, that can kill the symbiote!" Peter said.
Boba flew over them and activated his flamethrower, blazing the pack with fire.
They started slowing and started fighting against the fire, desperate to put it out.
"Now!" Isaac cried out.
Boba, Frank, and Isaac opened fire, targeting their limbs.
After a moment, the Atrocities were reduced to armless and legless stumps on the ground. Despite the symbiote being burned away, some began pulling their limbs back.
Rick, however, kicked the limbs away before they could.
"Alright... that could've been worse..."
One of the Atrocities then began to bloat and swell up like a balloon.
"What's it doing...?"
Bright red spore patches began swelling and growing out from inside the skin, breaking through and exposing the Cordyceps fungus.
It only took Joel a moment to realize what was happening.
"Cover your airways, don't breathe this shit in!"
Samson quickly pulled out tiny discs from his side and threw them at the team whose faces weren't covered, forming respirators out of nanotech.
Isaac activated his RIG helmet, and Boba removed his helmet and put on the respirator.
Everyone else put on the nanotech respirators just as the first Atrocity exploded, releasing Cordyceps spores into the air.
"Spores...?" Rick asked.
"Yeah... that's how the infection in my world spreads..." Joel said.
The Watched conjured a cylinder and secured a couple of spores. He also walked over to one of the bodies that didn't begin to swell and injected some blood. Lastly, he cut off a piece of fungus growing on the side of an Atrocity.
"What're you doin'?" Rick asked him.
"Gathering samples for our analysts to research. We need to learn exactly what we're up against, here..."
The rest of the team started moving into the palace.
"What are we looking for, here?" Kratos asked.
"We're looking for the hivemind. Whatever or... whoever made these things, it seems that it or they made them operate off of a mind link. We take out the neural network, we take out this universe's strain."
"Hmm, sounds easy enough. Honestly, just leave this mission to me, and it should be done quite quickly." Loki said with pride.
"Loki, with all due respect, I don't think you'd last a minute here on your own." Samson said.
Loki smiled and went to respond, but Double Trouble quickly cut him off.
"You know, you're quite the egotist, Loki... what was it, daddy issues? Mommy issues? Both?"
Loki's expression changed from astonishment to anger.
"Be very careful with the next thing you say-"
"Oh, so it was definitely both... and not to mention your brother—that was your brother in your illusion, right?..."
Loki's tearful expression told them everything they needed to know.
"Oh, he was your brother. He doesn't really look like you, though... perhaps he was adopted? Or maybe... you were. I can't imagine what that must've been like, always feeling like second best... not to mention the years of neglect by your parents, projected onto him..."
Loki had enough and held a dagger to the shape-shifting performer's throat.
"That's not very careful!"
Boba and Ahsoka helped pull Loki away as Double Trouble simply smiled and clapped.
"That's one down. More or less, anyway."
Double Trouble changed back to themself and watched as Loki finally calmed back down.
Boba glared at them and tilted his head.
"If you're trying to get yourself killed, then please, keep at it."
Samson's wrist device began beeping once again, but this time, it was louder and quicker.
"Cut the chatter, people, we're getting close..."
The team kept pushing on, eventually seeing Bright Moon's throne room.
A large web of symbiote with fungal networks spreading about left the palace in disrepair. Walls were broken open, glass windows were shattered, and various bodies were strung about, many of them familiar to Double Trouble.
"I remember her..."
They focused on the body of Glimmer, strung up in the large webbing, with the Cordyceps and symbiote covering her body.
"Yeah... that's the one who... y'know...?" Loki began to ask.
Double Trouble only scowled at her and walked off with most of the others, who weren't even caring about the bodies.
The exceptions were Rick, Joel- mainly out of horror over the fates of the people in the throne room.
Samson, however, was also shaken by the Atrocities' hivemind.
Rick noticed this and signaled to him.
"You good?"
Samson looked away from the scene and towards Rick.
"I'm fine. Let's just... get this over with."
The three catch up with the others and they all find themselves staring at She-Ra's sword.
Being held by a large, deformed Atrocity-ed Adora.
"Oh, shit..." Samson cursed.
Adora let out an inhuman roar as the team prepared themselves for a fight.
"I've been waiting for this one!" Double Trouble shouted as they pulled out the mimic of She-Ra's sword.
"Stay together!" Samson shouted as he conjured energy cannons from his hands, opening fire at She-Ra.
"Just how big of a problem is she?!" Joel asked, taking cover behind a knocked-over bench and opening fire.
His question is answered when She-Ra picks up Double Trouble and throws him into the wall with one hand, only stopped because Loki used his magic to slow their velocity.
"Big problem, got it!" Joel said.
Samson's device began beeping very rapidly, and he let out a sigh.
"Come on! They just had to choose one of the two most powerful beings in this universe?!"
Rick looked to Samson as he provided covering fire.
"Where the hell's the second one?!"
"...Offworld!"
Upfront, Kratos, Frank, and Loki charged She-Ra. Kratos swung his axe, but she managed to catch it by the wooden grip and kicked Kratos back, sending him a few feet back.
"...Impossible..."
Frank opened fire with both his arm-cannons and the Vulcan on his shoulder, but the bullets just angered her even more.
She let out a roar that caused her jaw to dislodge and deform, exposing her rows of teeth far in the back of her mouth.
"Well, that's disgusting..." Double Trouble grumbled as they got back on their feet.
Boba flew up and lanched a knee-missile at her, managing to send some flesh flying off of her face, exposing some of her skull underneath.
"...I take it back. that's disgusting!"
She-Ra used her sword and transformed it into rope, attempting to lasso Boba. However, Ahsoka used a lightsaber to catch the rope, causing it to sizzle over her lightsaber.
"Thanks for the assist, Jedi!"
Ahsoka nodded to Boba as She-Ra turned her sword back and swung it at Ahsoka. The two began dueling, trading, and blocking blows until She-Ra managed to grab Ahsoka's arm and almost take a bite. However, Rick nails a blast to her neck, blowing off a large chunk and saving Ahsoka.
"Thanks!"
Jerome leaped over his cover and pulled out a few Batarangs from his toolbelt.
"Ooh! These look fun!"
He threw the projectiles to She-Ra, and they managed to dig into her skin, but not deep enough to be painful. With a simple flex, the Batarangs hit the ground.
Sara wasn't willing to form a certain strategy, she simply yelled a battle cry and charged Adora, using the Vibranium suit to lunge at She-Ra with her Adamantium knife in hand.
She managed to drive it into She-Ra, but like before, it wasn't deep enough to hurt.
"Aw, just die, blondie!"
She pushed the blade in a few more inches, resulting in a pained screech. However, She-Ra was able to swat Sara off and pull out her knife.
Isaac aimed with his Plasma Cutter and aimed for her legs. While he nailed his shots, She-Ra's skin wasn't easily penetrable.
"We need another plan... where's Parker?!" Samson asked.
Outside, in the throne room, Peter focused the powers of his symbiote and reached out to the other bodies in the webbing.
"I know you can hear me..." He whispered.
After a moment, Glimmer's eyes shot open, with only white being visible. She clawed at the webbing as a mixture of symbiote, fungus, and necromorph tissue overwhelmed her. The final result was barely recognizable, with large, spider-like legs sprouting out of her and her body filled with the three Omniversal plagues.
"Good... now you."
He reached out towards Bow's body, and his eyes snapped open, as well. His transformation was different, his was mainly with the Cordyceps fungus, with spores popping out at random spots of his body and fungal growth covering most of his body. The symbiote covered his face, however, resulting in a head with plenty of rows of sharp teeth, and the classic Venom eyes.
"These two should do it, for now..."
Peter turned to the door the others were in and pointed towards it. In a moment, Glimmer and Bow's Atrocity forms were obeying his command, charging at the door.
Back inside the room, the others' fighting was stopped when Bow and Glimmer began pounding at the door.
"What the hell is that?" Rick asked.
"I... don't know." Samson said.
The door broke, and in front was Peter.
"Take some cover!" He cried as he leaped into the air, shot a web at She-Ra, and zipped towards her, nailing a kick to the face that drew some blood.
Behind him were Bow and Glimmer, who lunged at their former friend, managing to dish out some damage.
"Oh, shit!" Isaac cried out, just missing the crossfire.
Samson managed to pull everyone back as the three Atrocities continued fighting each other.
"Alright, good thinkin', but what's the plan, now?" Rick asked.
"We wait them out. We can't leave until the hivemind's been severed..." Samson said.
The fight raged on, with Glimmer using the spider-pincers to try and stab She-Ra. A few were successful, but most of them were misses.
Bow's strength was greatly enhanced by his mutation. He was able to block She-Ra's strikes and tried shoving spore pouches down her throat, but she always managed to bite down on them and spit them back at him, not that it did anything.
Peter stepped forward, forming axe blades with his hands, and turned to Kratos.
"Hey, pale-guy... is this how you do it?"
Peter launched an axe blade into She-Ra's side, causing her to cry out in pain as he sent in the other before throwing her up against the wall, causing some rubble to fall on her.
"Glimmer. Finish the job..."
Glimmer crawled forward, rose a spider-leg high, and drove it right into She-Ra's head, killing her.
As she died, the symbiote and fungus surrounding the room began to peel back or burn away as the Atrocities in the room screeched out in pain before returning to deformed, mutilated corpses.
As the group began to recover, Double Trouble spotted this She-Ra variant's sword and picked it up,
"Hello, beautiful..."
They made the mimic sword return to their orb form and shaped them into new armor that began to envelop them. The design was more like She-Ra's, save for the gown being swapped out for leggings and room for their tail. The tiara was also removed from their armor design.
"Perfect." They said with pride as they sheathed the sword.
Peter walked up to Glimmer and Bow's corpses and set his hand by them, starting to let his symbiote copy and infect them...
...Until Samson pulled him back.
"Yeah, no, I don't think so."
He grumbled but didn't protest.
The team made their way out of the palace, where they saw survivors slowly come out of hiding, and either look for their loved ones in vain or tremble at the destruction the Atrocities caused.
"Well, what now?" Rick asked Samson.
"Now, we leave, let this universe heal without our intervention. We're done here..." He spoke.
He opened another portal, and the team all walked through it, with the gateway closing behind them.
With the team back inside the Observatory, Loki let out a chuckle.
"Well, that was easy..."
"Yeah, that universe was easy. It won't always be as easy as turning other Atrocities– some universes will have more, and others will have less. And that's not considering all of the different variations we'll face... But yes, I would say I've had worse cleanups..." Samson said.
"Take five, everyone... I have to go write a report. We'll be back out in a few hours, or so."
The team all began walking back.
"Loki!"
He turned and saw Double Trouble.
"I just wanted to say... thanks, for what you did, back there."
Loki smiled.
"You're very welcome."
He turned to walk away, but Double Trouble stopped them.
"I'm... I'm sorry! Man... just gotta rip it off..." Double Trouble said, catching their breath.
Loki seemed confused, and Double Trouble went on with their point.
"I've made it a hobby of mine to try to critique those around me. I want to study them, see what makes them the way they are... very much like you with your brother. I had no ill will behind what I said back there, and... I guess I wanted you to know that."
Loki stayed silent for a moment, before faintly chuckling and approaching Double Trouble.
"That is adorable…" He gently used his hand and brushed a few strands of hair out of their face.
"...that you think you can manipulate me."
He walked off, leaving Double Trouble with a deep shade of green filling their cheeks and a faint smile on their face.
Samson walked ahead, with Kratos walking behind him.
"That woman, back there... Was she a god?"
Samson tilted their head and shrugged his shoulders.
"I mean, she may as well be. Trust me, Kratos, there are beings out there just as powerful as you... if not more powerful."
"I have heard that many times, before... they were all wrong."
Samson smiled and kept walking.
"And that's why I admire you, Kratos... you and your variants rarely take 'no' for an answer."
Kratos stood there for a moment, having trouble processing this information, but he eventually went back to walking.
Rick and Joel walked in tandem.
"That was... some action, wasn't it?" Joel asked.
"Somethin' like that." Rick said.
A moment of silence, until Joel reached into his pocket.
"Look, if I, uh... don't make it, I want you to do me a favor, and give this to Ellie if you ever get the chance."
He handed Rick an envelope, labeled for Ellie Williams at Jackson.
"You have my word..." Rick said, putting the letter in his jacket pocket.
"That's all I ask." Joel said, making his way back to his cabin.
"I know how it feels to lose a child... I'm sorry." Rick said.
Joel didn't look back at Rick, but he stopped for a brief moment.
"I am, too..."
As the team all headed back to their rooms, Samson made his way towards an elevator, where he pressed the button for the top floor.
After a long elevator ride, he was on the top floor, where he stepped out and faced his higher-ups.
Variants of Twilight Sparkle, Doctor Strange, Doctor Fate, Alien X, and Knull.
"Hey, guys... you're all looking great today-"
"Status report." Twilight said, straight-to-the-point.
Samson took a moment to compose himself.
"Well, the team succeeded. The Etheria on Universe 2049821 is successfully cleansed of Atrocity presence. We just have an infinity more to go..."
Knull leaned forward and stroked his chin.
"If this variation is comprised of my Klyntar, it may be possible for one of my kind to control them. Perhaps weaponize them. Not unlike the Peter Parker variant did with Glimmer and Bow... he is dangerous—I suggest you keep an eye on him."
"Yes, my Darkliness." Samson quipped.
Knull let out a singular chuckle at the title.
"That Rick Grimes variant has potential. He takes charge and does well under pressure. That last part can be said for most of the team. You made a good call recruiting them." Doctor Fate said.
"Thank you, doctor. But I'm more concerned about what could've comprised this strain of Atrocity. I mean, symbiotes, cordyceps, necromorph, and regenerator? This feels too coincidental to be just tears in the Omniverse. This feels more... deliberate." Samson said.
Twilight was the first to join in on this conversation.
"So, what do you suspect? Knull variant? No offense." She said to her colleague.
"None taken. Believe me, no one knows better how dangerous I am than I. It may be me; it may be someone else. It may be no one at all. It is too early into this strain to tell. For now, proceed as ordered. Target Atrocity hives, exterminate them and gather samples for further study. Good work, Watcher Samson. I suggest you keep at it."
Samson nodded to his bosses and made his way to the elevator, leaving the Council of the Observatory alone.
"...Do you suspect it is him?" Alien X asked.
Doctor Strange was the first to respond.
"If it is, then telling him sooner rather than later may be the key."
Doctor Fate stepped in.
"We do not know how he may react. If we want to keep the upper hand, we will say nothing. We will wait until we know for sure what we are up against... the fate of the Omniverse may depend on it."
The others nodded in agreement and turned to observe the greater Omniverse.
"Everything we have, here is in jeopardy, and our every action from this day forward will determine our success or failure. We cannot afford to be brash. Not anymore." Twilight said.