This was not an easy chapter to write, so I do hope you guys enjoy it.
Especially since, as usual, this site is on the fritz, now not letting new posts be viewed. Really hoping this works.
Green Hal37: Glad to hear it, that's what I was going for. Personally, I imagine Time by Hans Zimmer playing during that scene. Honestly, Arrow Slade is probably one of the most well written characters in television in the last decade. Glad to hear it. I don't, there's going to be quite a few differences. Yep.
Ellie Bishop: Nope, not good at all. Yep, life's full of irony. Yep, for all the screw ups, that relationship was always pretty great. Yep.
Guest 2.0: Thank you for pointing that out, I have fixed it.
Guest: Because she wasn't import to the story. Either she was one of the victims of the Decimation or she's still out there somewhere. In the context of the story, it really doesn't matter.
Underneath the rubble of the Compound, Harry was out cold, pinned under some debris along with Rhodey, who was a few feet from them. Towering above them, Hulk held up the collapsing ceiling.
"Go!" Hulk roared, waking Harry with a start.
"What happened?" Harry asked as he took a moment to assess the situation.
"Canopy Canopy canopy!" Rhodey cried out frantically.
His suit opened and he crawled out. Crawling over to Harry, Rhodey used a nearby pipe to move the debris off Harry. Harry rolled out of the way as Rhodey dropped the pipe, the debris falling back to where it had been moments earlier.
"Rhodey, Harry, get out of here!" Hulk said in Bruce's voice.
Then they heard it, the roar of rushing water. The trio looked up as a flood of water rushed into the room.
Elsewhere, Scott sat up, shaking his head as he heard a voice come over the Comms.
"Mayday! Mayday, dos anybody copy?! The lower level is flooding! We are drowning, does anybody copy!?" Rhodey asked frantically.
"Wait! I'm here! I'm here, can you hear me?" Scott asked as he tapped the Comms piece in his helmet.
Elsewhere, Clint pulled himself to his feet, trying to assess the situation. Natasha was a few feet from him, getting to her feet. They were alone; Clint had no idea where the others were. Maybe buried by rubble, part of him feared. Clint quickly banished the thought, he wasn't losing anyone else.
"What happened?" Natasha asked although part of her already knew.
"We messed with time. I guess time didn't like that," Clint said, switching on the light on his gauntlet and shinning it into the big hole above them. "Cap? Thor? Anyone?"
There was no answer. Behind him, Natasha looked away, eyes narrowing as she saw something. Walking away from Clint, she walked over to some rubble. Kneeling down, she moved some of it, revealing the Nanotech-Gauntlet.
"Clint," she called out, picking it up as he turned around.
"What are the chances?" Clint muttered as he walked over.
"Pretty big, it seems," Natasha noted.
Outside the rubble, Zod descended to the ground, landing next to a man in a cloak, wielding a two sided axe.
"They aren't dead, are they General?" the man asked.
"No," Zod said with certainty. "It will take far more than that to kill them. They are strong, for a group of mostly humans. Go find the stones my Executioner, bring them to me."
"And what will you do?" The Executioner asked and Zod smirked.
"Wait," he said simply.
Towards the top of the rubble of what had once been Avengers Compound, Barry walked through what had once been the workshop, holding Oliver's bow. Seeing Oliver nearby, Barry made his way over and knelt down next to him.
"Oliver, wake up. Oliver," Barry shook him awake with his free hand.
Oliver's eyes snapped open and he shot up as Barry stepped back. It took Oliver a moment to remember where he was and what happened.
"We were attacked," Oliver said and Barry nodded.
"We're in the endgame now Ollie," Barry said as he handed Oliver his bow.
Oliver accepted Barry's hand up, taking a moment to look around. Nearby, Tony was helping Steve to his feet as, a few feet away, Thor stood by an opening in the rubble, holding his burned arm. He was staring down at something. Together, the five heroes assembled with Steve and Tony standing on Thor's left side as Barry and Oliver stood on his right. Following Thor's gaze, they saw Zod standing in the center of what had once been the Compound's front lawn.
"Zod," Steve said in surprise.
"How'd he get out of the Phantom Zone?" Tony asked shocked.
"Thawne told him how to escape," Barry said and four pairs of eyes turned towards him.
"You knew he was gonna escape? Why didn't you tell us?" Tony demanded.
"Does it matter now?" Barry asked pointedly.
"Barry's right, what maters now is stopping Zod," Oliver cut in before turning to Barry. "Is he as strong as Kara?"
"Stronger," Barry said, to Oliver's horror. "He makes Kara look like a human compared to him. Ollie, Zod is going to be the most powerful enemy we have ever faced. We'll need to face him together."
"I think that goes without saying," Oliver muttered.
"What has he been doing?" Steve asked Thor.
"Absolutely nothing," Thor said simply.
"Where are the stones?" Oliver asked.
"Somewhere under all this. If I'm right, they should be safe where they are," Barry explained.
"Then let's keep them that way," Steve said determined.
"We know it's a trap right?" Thor asked.
"Do any of us actually care?" Oliver asked sarcastically.
"Nope," Tony said.
"Good. Just as long as we're all in agreement," Thor said, raising his burnt arm.
After a moment, Stormbreaker came sailing through the air and into his hand. Thor's eyes flashed with lightning as the wound on his arm healed until it completely faded, as though it had never been there at all.
"Let's go to work," Thor said firmly.
Together, the five heroes made their way down the mountain of debris and towards Zod. Oliver gripped his bow tightly as he saw the rogue Kryptonian smirk at them. He reminded Oliver of Malcolm, a psychopath who cared only of himself. Only he had the power of a God.
"It's customary to kneel before your betters. So kneel before Zod," Zod commanded them.
"Yeah, we're not gonna do that," Tony said flippantly and Zod only smirked.
"We shall see," Zod said darkly.
"I will say this only once. Get off this planet," Thor commanded.
"I think not. You see, you have something I want," Zod said.
"You're not getting your hands on those stones," Oliver said firmly and Zod only laughed.
"You speak as though you will be able to stop me. I am General Zod, the rightful ruler of Krypton. And I will take the stones you have collected and take my revenge on Krypton. Then, once Krypton is nothing but a barren wasteland, I shall establish New Krypton on this world. And if anyone resists, they shall be eliminated," Zod raved, the five heroes growing more horrified with each word he spoke.
"You're insane," Steve finally said and Zod smirked.
"No. I am General Zod," Zod said.
Then, Zod's eyes flashed red. Barry sped Oliver out of the way as two red beams shot out of Zod's eyes. Thor roared, his eyes flashing with lighting as he rushed Zod. Zod dodged Stormbreaker as Tony shot a repulsor beam at him and Steve threw his shield. The battle for Earth had begun.
Inside the rubble of the Compound, Natasha and Clint were walking the tunnels, looking for their friends when their hair stood on end. Natasha's grip on the gauntlet tightened as they exchanged a look. Clint drew his sword as they whirled around, coming face to face with The Executioner.
"Give me the stones and I will spare your lives," he said simply.
"Sorry, we can't do that," Natasha said, pulling out a pistol.
"Then you will die," he said in a growl.
"I would not be so sure of that."
The Executioner looked over his shoulder, seeing Slade walk out of the shadows, his sword drawn.
"It's three against one," Slade said.
"Three weaklings against me will still fail, no matter how many there are," The Executioner said matter of factly.
Angrily, Slade and Clint rushed him as Natasha fired. However, the bullets seemed to have no effect on him as he used his axe to block Slade and Clint's swords.
"Nat get out of here! Get that thing as far away from him as possible!" Clint shouted
Angrily, The Executioner struck Slade and Clint with the handle of his axe, sending them both flying. Knowing she couldn't let him get the stones, Natasha turned and started running as fast as she could.
"The longer the chase, the slower the kill," The Executioner said as he began his pursuit of Natasha.
Back outside, the fight against Zod was not going well. Zod used heat vision to force Oliver and Steve to jump back before Tony shot a repulsor beam at him. However, Zod simply held up a hand, catching the repulsor beam, looking bored. Tony stopped as the five of them stared at the smirking Zod.
"We need a new plan guys," Tony said after a moment.
"We're open to suggestions Allen," Thor said as they all looked at Barry.
Before Barry could say anything, they heard a roar. Everyone looked up as they saw something in the sky. It was the creature Tony had encountered in the Phantom Zone. It flew down at them and Thor flew up into the sky, to Barry's alarm.
"No Thor don't!" Barry cried out but it was too late.
Thor swung Stormbreaker as the Phantom made contact with him. There was a blinding flash of light followed by two loud bangs followed by a tremor that shook the groups. There were two craters on opposite sides of the grounds. Thor crawled out of one, Stormbreaker still in his hand while what crawled out of the other…was also Thor.
"You guys are seeing this right?" Tony asked as he, Thor, Steve and Oliver stared at the other Thor in shock.
"Thanks for sharing," the other Thor said with a smirk.
"What madness is this?" Thor breathed as he stared at his Doppelganger.
"I took a little piece of your DNA. Now I'm gonna take your life," the other Thor said as he walked out of the crater.
"Okay, is anyone else confused?" Tony asked as Zod laughed.
"He's a Kryptonian lab experiment," Barry said as four pairs of eyes turned to him. "Jor-El was ordered by the leaders of Krypton to create the perfect solider. But it went horribly wrong. This…creature was created only to destroy, it has no sense of morality or conscience. It had no real form, so Jor-El sent it to the Phantom Zone. I guess that's where it joined up with Zod, right?"
"We came to an agreement," Zod said with a twisted smirk. "Should we ever escape that Godforsaken prison, he would help me take my revenge and I would help him find one of the two bodies that could sustain him. A Kryptonian."
"Or an Asgardian," the Phantom said with a smirk as he looked down at himself. "I must admit, I would have preferred the body of a Kryptonian…but this'll do."
"Look Bizarro Thor, you may look like him but there's only one Thor," Tony said as Bizarro smirked.
"I guess we'll see," Bizarro said as his hands sparked with lightning.
Thor roared, rushing Bizarro as Bizarro shot a blast of lightning at Thor.
Back under the rubble, Natasha was running from The Executioner, trying to keep him away from the stones. He threw his axe at her, which spun in the air like a Frisbee. Natasha dodged by rolling onto the ground as the axe him the wall. However, this slowed Natasha down enough for The Executioner to catch up to her. Before she could take two steps, he had grabbed her by the throat, lifting into the air as she struggled to breathe in his vice like grip.
"I'll take that," The Executioner said as he took the gauntlet from her. "It's a shame; you are an exceptional human specimen. I regret that I have to kill you."
Suddenly, he was hit from behind by a blue beam. It was so unexpected that he was sent flying, losing the gauntlet and letting Natasha go. She fell to her knees, grasping her neck as she coughed, sweet air filling her lungs.
Before she could make a move, she felt someone grab her from behind and suddenly she was standing next to Cisco, who had been the one to fire the blue beam. Jay let her go as she realized he had the gauntlet, to her relief.
"Well don't worry, you won't get another chance," Cisco quipped.
An arrow suddenly hit the pipe next to The Executioner. As he turned to face it, Cisco opened a breach and he, Jay and Natasha rushed through it. As they did, they heard an explosion.
On a level above, Roy stared down at the scene with Nyssa as fire engulfed the area as Cisco, Natasha and Jay exited the Breach.
"That won't stop him," Natasha pointed out as Roy lowered his bow.
"But it'll slow him down," Roy said certainly.
The words had barely left his mouth before The Executioner suddenly jumped through the fire and to the higher level. With a snarl, he sent a powerful kick to Roy's chest, sending him flying. The Executioner then tried to use his axe to cut off Jay's hand that was holding the gauntlet but Jay sped out of the way. Nyssa tried to strike him with her sword but, to her shock, he caught it with his free hand, the blade not even cutting his skin.
"You're primitive weapons will not aid you against me," he sneered.
He suddenly cried out as an icy blast hit his chest. Frost approached, shooting him with a never ending ice blast. He released Nyssa's sword, his entire body shuttering as he was covered in ice.
"Cisco!" Frost cried out.
Cisco fired a Vibe Beam and the frozen Executioner was shattered into a million pieces. For a moment, it was silent as they all stared at the spot where The Executioner had been moments earlier. That had been too close.
Elsewhere under the rubble, Hulk was struggling to hold up the ceiling as water continued to fill the room. Rhodey and Harry were floating at the top, their heads just barely above water. Unknown to them, Scott, in his miniature form, was swimming towards them.
Outside, the battle was ragging on. With a roar, Thor swung Stormbreaker and struck Bizarro. Bizarro was sent flying, landing in a pile of debris. Growling, Bizarro got to his feet before an arm was suddenly around his neck.
"Now Thor!" Barry shouted as he restrained Bizarro.
With a roar, Thor threw Stormbreaker, intending on ending it then and there. However, just before it hit, Bizarro broke free of Barry's grip. Yanking Barry off his back, Bizarro threw Barry onto the ground, stepping out of the way as Stormbreaker hit the ground. The resulting shockwave sent Barry flying. He hit the ground, hard, and was knocked out cold. Enraged, Thor summoned Stormbreaker back to him and rushed Bizarro. With a laugh, Bizarro's eyes flashed with lighting and he lunged at Thor. The two met in a blinding flash of lightning before being thrown back.
Elsewhere, Oliver, Tony and Steve were facing down Zod and it wasn't going any better. Tony fired a repulsor beam at Zod, who once again caught it with his hands, although he was pushed back slightly and was noticeably strained by the effort. Zod's eyes flashed and heat vision once again shot out of his eyes. Tony dodged before redirecting the beam at Steve. Steve used his shield and the beam once again shot towards Zod. As Zod caught it once more, Oliver fired an arrow with a metallic tip. Focused on the repulsor beam, Zod paid it no mind. As it neared Zod, the metallic tip opened up, revealing a green arrow head.
Zod felt fatigue hit him before the arrow hit his shoulder, piercing the skin. He grunted at the pain, feeling the kryptonite beginning to poison him. He lost the battle with the repulsor beam, getting slammed into a pile of debris. Tony's gauntlet turned into a blade as he flew towards Zod, intending on finishing this. However, Zod yanked the arrow out of his shoulder, grabbing the blade and stopping it inches from his chest. Feeling the power of the sun coursing through him, Zod smirked as his would healed. Zod reversed their positions and Zod slowly inched the blade backwards until it was inches from Tony's chest. Tony tried to fight him off but it was useless.
Oliver fired another arrow, this one landing a few feet from Zod. Suddenly, Zod let out a cry of agony as a high frequency that only a Kryptonian could hear pieced the air. He let Tony go, stumbling away from him as he clutched his ears, attempting to block out the wretched sound. Picking up the arrow, Zod crushed the arrow head, ending the sound. Glaring at Oliver, Zod let out a big breath. Oliver was suddenly struck by a powerful gust of wind that slammed him into the ground, knocking him out. Tony tried to move but Zod suddenly whirled around, striking him in the face. It would have killed Tony if he hadn't been wearing his face visor. As it was, it only knocked him out.
Steve then rushed him, trying to strike him with his shield, but Zod grabbed his arm, stopping the shield inches from his face. With a sneer, Zod threw him aside and Steve flew a foot away. He landed on the ground, hard. Steve managed to pull himself to his feet but Zod sped over. Steve managed to bring his shield up just in time to avoid Zod's punch. It would have destroyed any other shield, but the Vibranium only clanged as Steve lost his hold on it. Steve was sent flying back again, the shield landing next to him as he hit the ground. Again, Steve got back up, picking up the shield, prepared to continue fighting.
"You know you cannot win, but you continue fighting," Zod said, his voice filled with begrudging admiration. "You have my respect Captain. For that, I will make your death quick so you will not have to witness what I do to your planet."
Steve then heard what sounded like multiple objects flying through the air. Steve looked up as several people, dressed like Zod, flew down to the ground, assembling behind Zod. Zod's army of rogue Kryptonians, Steve realized with dread. And they weren't alone.
Behind then walked all the beings who had been watching as he and Slade had fought in the Phantom Zone. The ground shook as something jumped down next to them. A giant, grey behemoth even larger than the Hulk with red eyes. The creature that had attacked Steve and Slade upon their arrival in the Phantom Zone.
And it wasn't just them. There were more creatures, more prisoners of the Phantom Zone that Zod had unleashed on Earth.
"If you will not kneel before Zod…you will die," Zod declared.
Steve took a moment to assess the situation. Oliver and Tony were both out cold. And several feet away, he could see Barry's unmoving form. Steve hoped Barry was only unconscious. Thor was still standing, Steve could see as he saw Thor stare down Bizarro. But he was noticeably tired and Steve wasn't sure how many more rounds Thor could go with his doppelganger. And the others were buried under the remains of the Compound. If they weren't dead, they couldn't help right now. The only thing standing between Zod and the Earth…was him.
Having a feeling this would be his final battle, Steve stepped forward, intending on fighting alone when-
"Cap, do you read me?" Steve froze as he heard a voice he hadn't heard in over a year come over the Comms. "Cap, it's Sam. Do you read me?"
Shakily, Steve put ah and to the Comms piece in his helmet, not daring to believe it.
"On your left."
Hearing a hissing sound behind him, Steve turned around. An orange portal opened up in front of him and three figures walked out: T'Challa, in his Black Panther suit, with Okoye and Shuri on either side of him. T'Challa retracted his helmet as Steve stared, in a state of disbelief. T'Challa nodded at Steve as Sam flew out of the portal. Steve stared at Sam, in a state of wonder as he circled the sky, more portals opening up behind him.
Stephen Strange emerged from one, Drax and Mantis in front of him, both in a fighting pose as Drax wielded his knives. Peter Quill landed in from of them, retracting his mask as Spider-Man swung up in front of them all. Peter retracted his mask, smiling.
Steve nearly broke down, realizing it had worked, they had done it. They had brought everyone back.
"Yibambe!" T'Challa chanted, which was echoed by the Wakandian troops that emerged from the portal behind him.
A portal opened up in the sky and the Waveridder emerged as the Benatar emerged from one of Strange's portals. Towards Steve, a Breach opened up and Slade, Natasha, Nyssa, Roy, Jay, Clint, Cisco and Frost emerged from it, taking a moment to look around in awe.
"Yeah baby, we did it!" Cisco cheered.
Bucky and Groot walked out with the Wakandian soldiers, Bucky having his rifle at the ready.
From another portal, Sif, Valkyrie, Korg and Miek emerged with the Asgardian army as Wanda flew down next to them, ready to fight.
From another portal, John Constantine emerged, two yellow circles on his hands as the Masters of the Mystic Arts deployed their Tao Mandalas.
From another portal, Wally West, in his Kid Flash suit, sped out as Hope Van Dyne enlarged, looking around at everything.
From another portal, John Diggle, Rene Ramirez, Dinah Drake and Thea Queen emerged, Thea wielding her bow and arrow as Rene and Diggle had guns and Dinah wielded her staff.
Nearby, Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Nate Heywood, Amaya Jiwe, Rip Hunter and Mick Rory emerged from their ship with Firestorm flying out.
Close by, Rocket, armed with his blaster and Nebula, armed with her knives, emerged.
Seeing all this, Thor laughed as Barry, Oliver and Tony awoke, getting to their feet just in time to see Kendra Sanders and Carter Hall land on the ground as Mari McCabe jumped down, a look of determination on her face.
"Is that everyone?" Strange asked Wong.
"What, you wanted more?" Wong asked incredulously.
Suddenly, everyone turned as something broke though the top of the rubble of the Compound. It was Scott, now in his Giant-Man form. He lowered his hand to the ground, opening it. Hulk jump down, letting out a wild roar as Rhodey, back in his suit, followed suit. Harry calmly walked off Scott's hand, his Pulse Rifle armed and at the ready.
As Zod looked around at all this, he sneered.
"It doesn't matter if there's one of you or one-thousand of you! Every last one of you will kneel before Zod!" he raved angrily.
No one responded, every last one of them staring at him in come defiance.
"Avengers!" Steve cried and it was silent as they all waited for his command. "Assemble."
There was an explosion of sound as several of the heroes let out battle cries, rushing forward. At Zod's signal, the Zoners rushed forward as well. One way or the other, the battle for the fate of the galaxy was about to come to its conclusion.
The Executioner in the comics is a Thor villain that the MCU already adapted as Skurge in Thor Ragnarok, but if Arrow can get away with making Vigilante be someone other than Adrian Chase, I can get away with having the Executioner not be Skurge. The Executioner would be played by John Cena, thank you to Bl4ckHunter for help with the casting.
In the comics, Bizarro is an imperfect clone of Superman but Smallville, which I'm basing this Bizarro on, did it a little differently. He was a Kryptonian lab experiment gone wrong that was sent to the Phantom Zone. He needed a sample of Kryptonian DNA to survive and clone himself a new body in order to survive. I think if he encountered an Asgardian though, that that body would be able to sustain him. That is just my opinion, you are free to disagree.
For the final battle, I'm going to do something I did in my story Crisis on two earths. I'm going to give a reviewer submitted pole for the Zoners. For those of you who are new to this, it means I am going to be taking suggestions for the Zoners. They can be from DC or Marvel.
There are rulers for this pole. First, the villains have to be aliens. The Dominators are not allowed. Supergirl villains like Astra are allowed, but I make no promises. Smallville villains can be allowed, as I've taken a lot of inspiration from Smallville for the Phantom Zone, so we'll see how that works out. No characters who have already appeared in the MCU are allowed. Aside from those rules, anything goes. If you have a suggestion, bring it on.