Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait, I went back to work. And writing stories at once is very hard.

Good reading!

Chapter 8

Earth – 1; Central city

Thor, Barry and Oliver had just arrived in front of the building where Cisco Ramon lived. At least they hoped that Cisco was living here in this new reality.

"Okay, we... get Cisco, breach to Earth – 38, find real Superman." announced the speedster.

"Barry, remember what Deegan said," Thor pointed out to him. "That all of our friends were no longer the same and that we were not safe anywhere. Even if we find Cisco, he'll not be the one you know. And more, we are considered criminals in this rewrite reality."

"Hopefully we can find him and make him help us," said Oliver.

"I already met Cisco in an alternative reality," explained Barry remembering the Cisco of Flashpoint. "Who knows how he's been rewritten this time?"

They opened a door…

And suddenly found themselves on an oval platform surrounded by stars, as if the three of them were in space.

"Where are we?"exclaimed the Asgardian, stunned.

"Gentlemen," said a familiar voice.

The three of them turned to see the Monitor walking towards them, with serene eyes.

"It's time we talked about your destiny. Must confess my interest is piqued. You possess neither power nor abilities, yet still managed to outwit an opponent with the powers of a super man."

"It's just one word, "Superman"." cried Barry.

"You said you were testing us!" Thor retorted, glaring at the cosmic being. "Why? What purpose?"

"What is this?" asked Oliver. "If you're testing us, then let us get back to it."

"Oliver Queen,"replied Mar Novu. "A man who channels his hubris and anger and calls it strength. Are you truly that eager to die? (He took a few steps and stopped a few meters from the three men.) No. Not eager. But willing. (He turned to the God of Thunder.) Thor, Son of Odin, you are looking to become a better man than the drunkard you stayed with for five years, following your defeat against Thanos. You are ready to accomplish what must be done to save the universe. So ready to. Good. There might be hope for this universe yet."

"If that's supposed to be a pep talk, I've had better." commented Barry.

"Self-sacrifice alone will not see you through this trial. Survival will only be found by knowing your true self, or this world will be doomed, like all the others."

"What are you talking about?" cried Thor impatient and furious. "What will this world be doomed to? What is this Crisis?"

"I cannot answer you. You have proven your worth in my eyes, Thor Son of Odin. You will get your answers when the time comes."

He moved his finger, immediately, the decor changed, and our three heroes found themselves in the building they had just entered. All three were shocked.

"Whoever he is, this Mar Novu, I don't trust him," muttered Thor.

"Well, that was very glass-half-empty." said Barry.

"We need to find Cisco," added Oliver.

"Praying that he agrees to help us," added the God of Thunder, knowing that their friend Cisco would not be the one they knew.

"Okay, well, if us good guys are bad guys, stands to reason that our good-guy friend is now a bad guy." said the speedster.

"And bad guys have become nice," Thor concluded.

"Sure," Oliver agreed.

"So where can the bad guys hide in this city?" asked Thor.

The three heroes therefore went to a bar full of infamous criminal infrequent. At their sight, all let them pass, as if they were masters of the place.

Barry was uncomfortable, while Oliver and Thor looked at the offenders, watching them closely.

"Are they all afraid of us?" Barry said nervously.

"Go with it." said Oliver.

"Good," added Thor. "I prefer to fight them, rather than Deegan."

"We need allies and resources." replied the archer, going towards the bar.

They discovered Gary Green at the counter as a bartender. At the sight of the three heroes, Gary seemed to be in ecstasy.

"Oh, my God, the Triplets Twins," he cried ecstatic. "Sorry, I'm just a huge fan of your criminal history."

"Just great, I have no desire to know why our history is criminal" replied Thor, embarrassed to be considered a criminal.

"You guys are my heroes."added Gary, shocked. "Well, not heroes. Legends."

"I'm already a legend, that doesn't change," said Thor with a delighted smile. (He brought his face close to the bartender with a serene look.) Listen buddy, we need resources and allies! Do you know where we can find Cisco Ramon?"

Gary looked even more shocked than he already was.

"You mean the boss?" he exclaimed.

Thor raised his eyebrows, then answered in a hurry:

"Yeah, the boss, where is he?"

"Are you looking for the boss?"said a voice behind them.

Barry, Oliver and Thor turned around and looked dumbfounded to see James Rhodes – Rhodey– with a black band over his head, dressed in a jacket in black sleeves. He looked more like a scum than an Avenger. That wasn't the Rhodey they knew.

"Rhodey?" exclaimed Oliver, amazed.

The black man appeared scandalized, as if he felt insulted.

"Who do you call Rhodey, buddy? My name's War Machine! The one who will end up having the head of Superman! My dream is to kill him, this great God!"

"Superman isn't a god!" Thor retorted, before Oliver stopped him.

"You who are you already, butterball?" exclaimed Rhodey sarcastically. "Except for one of the robber brothers! I know who you are, guys!"

"We came to see Cisco Ramon!" said Barry. "Do you know where we can find him?"

Rhodey pointed out to them a table in which stood a Cisco Ramon, completely different from the one they knew. The latino was dressed in black, and his long hair tied. He had several bundles of cash.

Then another man came to see them. This time Thor looked upset because the man had the face of his deceased brother Loki. The Loki who was standing in front of him had very short hair, and like everyone else in the bar, wore a dark outfit. His jovial look reminded him of his brother God of Mischief.

"Hello gentlemen! From what I heard from War Machine, do you want to speak to the boss? I'm his right-hand man! His assistant, sort of! We are friends thick as thieves!"

Thor approached him, his gaze upset. Loki looked at him with concern, as if he feared being attacked by the obese man.

"Are you all right, buddy?"

"Loki?"

The man nodded.

"I didn't know that my made-up name was known. Most Central City criminals regard me as the God of Mischief. (He giggled.) Where the heck did they get this! I may be a God, but Superman is much stronger than me!"

"Loki, it's me… Thor…" whispered the Asgardian, about to burst into tears.

The last time he saw his brother was when the Sakaarian ship was attacked by Thanos to take the Tesseract and add it to his Gauntlet. And he had watched his brother die helplessly.

Oliver intervened and stood in front of Loki's doppelganger.

"Can we talk to Cisco Ramon, please?"

The man smiles at them.

"Coming from robber triplets, the boss will not refuse you, I am sure about that," assured them Loki, all smiles.

He went to see Cisco, while Barry and Oliver hastened to calm Thor down.

"Thor, what's wrong with you?" exclaimed the speedster.

"This man…" said the Asgardian with sorrow. "It's my brother Loki! I saw him die by Thanos' hand! My brother… is alive?"

"Thor, he's not the Loki you've known," Oliver replied in a loud voice. "Your brother is dead! Thanos killed him! He's just a Loki from another Earth rewritten! This man isn't your brother! Take your sens! He isn't your Loki!"

Thor tried to stay serious, but this version of Loki reminded him of his brother, without long hair.

At Star Labs, in the pipeline where she was still locked, Kara was trying to find a way to escape. Although she was helpless, she tried to determine if she had some superpowers left, and found that she still had her super breath.

She managed to use her breath to freeze a section of the glass wall.

"Well, that's not nothing."

It was then that she saw her "sister" walking down the hall outside of her cell. The Kryptonian girl got up and called her.

"Alex!"

The latter stopped and walked towards the cell with curiosity.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

Kara looked shocked, not knowing what to answer. This Alex wasn't her Alex. What could she tell her?

"I'm not from this Earth. Where I come from, we're sisters."

Alex giggled ignoring her completely, as if she had one half-witted in front of her.

"You? You are as despicable as they come. I mean, the stories of all the twisted things that you've done…"

"Alex," Kara interrupted. "I know things look one way to you, that I look one way to you, but the way things are, it's not real. Not really real. And if you just let me explain, I can tell you..."

"You are dangerous, and you are clearly crazy," replied Alex, pointing to her with a theatrical gesture. "And I have work to do."

She walked over to the cell control panel.

"No, wait. Wait, just let me explain. I can tell you everything." cried Kara.

But Alex had already locked the cell shutters, leaving her alone in her cell.

At the bar, Loki spoke to Cisco.

"Boss, the robber triplets are here! They want to talk to you!"

Oliver, Barry and Thor walked over to him.

"We need to talk!" said the archer.

But Cisco glared at the three arrivals, continuing to count his money.

"Hey, Laufey, did these three make an appointment with me?"

Loki's enthusiasm faded and seemed nervous.

"Uh… no, boss!"

"So tell these guys: "go screw yourself"!"

"But boss," Loki insisted. "These are the robber triplets! They wouldn't be here without a good reason! We can get a great deal! I think that…"

"Laufey!" Cisco replied in a bad mood. "I don't pay you to think, but to do exactly what I ask you to do!"

"Laufey?" exclaimed Thor, stunned. "Like the leader of the Giants of Jotunheim?"

The two men looked at Thor, as if he were crazy.

"Tell me, your obese brother —no offense, buddy— would not have lost his mind?" asked the Latino.

Ignoring the question, Barry addressed him as if he were his friend.

"Cisco, we need your help!"

The Latino crossed his hands on the table, annoyed.

"Listen. I don't know who you think you are. But around here, people call me Mr. Ramon."

Then James Olsen joined them with a few bandits, eyeing the arrivals with a grim look.

"You got a problem there, Mr. Ramon?"

Then it was Rhodey who joined them, glaring at Barry, Oliver and Thor.

"Mr. Ramon, if these guys bother you, we can get kick their asses!"

"Jimmy, War Machine," said Cisco in a neutral tone. "I think the Pet Shop Boys here need an education on how things work around here."

"No problemo, we'll take care of them, Jimmy and me!" replied Rhodey, smiling cheerfully.

"I don't think that should be a problem. They don't call me Superman's worst pal for nothing." added James.

Then other criminals joined them, as if they wanted to fight. Thor did everything to stay calm, despite the circumstances.

"Look guys, we're between criminals! Why would you want to fight? Do you think it's by killing each other that we will defeat Superman?"

"We don't want any trouble." said Barry.

"We just have a business proposal for Mr. Ramon." said Oliver eagerly.

Thor turned to Loki, pleading with his gaze.

"Loki, do something! We need to talk to… Mr. Ramon!"

But his "brother" gave him a helpless and neutral look. He was discreet as if he feared being in the crossfire.

"Sorry pal, but it's not me who decides here!"

"Laufey, why does this fat man call you Loki?" exclaimed Cisco, intrigued.

"I have no idea, Mr. Ramon," said Loki hastily. "This is the first time I have seen this guy!"

"Jimmy, War Machine, make these gentlemen robbers understand that I watching my people put a beating on other people." replied the Latino to his henchmen.

"It's a little pleasure we have in common!" James replied, revealing a brass knuckles between his fingers.

"Oliver, Thor, we've got this, right?" asked Barry watching the big arms move towards them.

Thor, who had resolved to fight, looked at the bandits with a look full of threat.

"If these morons want to kill us, they can always try! I may no longer have powers, but I am still able to bump a fool of a criminal!"

Rhodey giggled and approached the Asgardian, clenching his fists.

"You really don't know who you're dealing with, fatty! I'm not War Machine without reasons!"

"You should listen to him," Loki warned Thor. "He's not kidding!"

"We'll handle them," said Oliver confidently.

A few seconds later, the three heroes were thrown across the bar. Even Thor had to admit that even in the face of criminals, he was just as helpless as Deegan in the form of Superman.

"Is now an okay time to ask for a selfie?" asked Gary, grimacing at the sight of the three men on the floor.

As James brandished a baton, and Rhodes clenched his fists, Cisco approached his henchmen and spoke to them casually:

"Stop. Stop. Stop. Jimmy, War Machine, what are you thinking? What, are you gonna kill 'em here, now? Gary's still cleaning up from the last mess you made, you morons. Do 'em out in the alley."

James and Rhodey immediately grabbed Barry, Thor and Oliver and dragged them outside the bar. Then the speedster quickly called his "friend".

"Wait, wait! I knew your brother. Dante! "

At the mention of his brother, Cisco called back his acolytes.

"Stop. Hold up. How do you know Dante?"

"It's a long story," said Barry. "If he were here, he'd tell you to listen to our proposal."

"What's our proposal?" asked Cisco again.

"Look, guys," Thor said. "We all may not be the same, but we have something in common, we want to kill Superman! That's what you all want, isn't it? Mr. Ramon, would you like us to help you kill your enemy? Our common enemy?"

Loki stepped forward and leaned into Cisco's ear.

"Mr. Ramon, I think it worth a listen. Don't you?"

With that, Cisco invited them to join him in his office.

"All right, I've got ledgers to keep and miles to go before I sleep, so talk fast."

"Right. But first, we need to know if you can vibe?" asked Oliver.

"Can I vibe?" exclaimed the confused Latino, throwing tickets from his desk to the floor.

"What do you mean?" added Loki.

"Teleport," explained Barry. "Open a breach. You can still do that, right?"

Cisco poured himself a glass of scotch tape before retorting dryly:

"Rhetorical question. How do you think I got into all those bank vaults? (Then he took his place in an armchair, glass in hand.) But the three of you, you didn't know that. You came in here not knowing if I could do what you thought I could do. That's very risky."

"We're kind of desperate." replied Barry simply.

"And we need your vibes," added Thor.

"And what can I serve you, the three robber brothers?"

"All right, listen," said Oliver. "You could use your powers for so much more than breaking into bank vaults."

"Go back to the part about taking down Super-dick." retorted the Latino. "That's the part I wanna hear."

"We're gonna get to that," Thor assured him, smiling at him with an air of delight.

"For now, I could teach you how to use your powers to get to a whole different Earth." said Barry confidently.

"A whole different Earth?" said Cisco.

"Are you talking about traveling in the Multiverse?" intervened Loki, intrigued.

Barry nodded, nodding.

"Tell me more," replied the Latino, taking a sip of his drink.

I hope you liked this chapter. At the start, I hadn't planned to introduce MCU characters into the story. It was a reader who gave me the idea in Deegan's rewritten reality.

The Loki of this reality is called Laufey, reference to the biological father of Loki.

Thank you for reading and reviewing.