Author's note: This fell a little behind schedule, but I hope it proves to be enjoyable.
Earth-192
On top of the rooftop of a tall building, James, Torunn, Azari, Francis, and Pym looked out at the bustling city below.
"So how do we split up?" Pym asked.
"Not sure." Azari answered.
Francis grinned at Torunn.
"How about I follow you, beautiful?" Francis proposed.
Torunn blushed and farted her eyes away.
"Thanks, but I think I can handle myself for a bit." Torunn answered awkwardly. "We can do something later though."
Torunn flew off, heading southward. James walked over and smirked at Francis.
"Oof!" James laughed. "Looks like somebody got rejected."
"Shows what you know." Francis scoffed. "So, I suppose we should form teams of two now?"
"Yeah, I think that's a good call." Azari nodded. "How about I go with you and James can go with Pym?"
"Sounds good to me." James said.
"Tell me why that is." Francis grunted.
Pym flew up next to them, now tiny.
"It just makes sense, guys! Azari and I have powers, but you two don't." the boy explained.
"Fine." Francis said. "Let's get going then. I'm sure this 'Townsville' has plenty to keep us all busy."
McIntyre Lanes
It had been a day since the Powerpuff Girls had apprehended the Gangreen Gang, and both Buttercup and Blossom remained split about the short ordeal. The two hadn't really talked to one another since Buttercup had flown off. Even when Blossom and Bubbles both returned to the restaurant, it was clear to the former that Buttercup didn't want to talk about how she blew up at Princess. Blossom wasn't a fool or anything, and understood why she had said what she had. Heck, a part of her fully agreed with a lot of it. The thing that troubled Blossom about it was the last part; the idea that her sister would be willing to let somebody, even someone as atrocious as Princess Morbucks, die even if she could save them was not a pleasing thought. It troubled her then and it troubled her still, even as she clutched a black bowling ball with pink polka dots in her hand and sent it rolling down the lane.
"Hole in one! Hole in one!" Bubbles cheered.
"That's golf, sweetie." Professor Utonium chuckled.
The bowling ball smashed into the pins and knocked all but one of them down. Blossom turned back and grabbed another ball from the nearby rack.
"I guess I'm off my game." Blossom said.
Blossom looked at Buttercup, who was just looking at the scoreboard above their lane. Both of them were just a few points behind Bubbles, with the Professor trailing behind all of them.
"Uh...hey, Buttercup?" Blossom asked.
"Huh? Oh." Buttercup responded in slight surprise. "What is it, sis?"
"Do you think this ball...matches my bow?" Blossom asked, clearly making up her question on the spot.
"Blossom, that ball is seafoam green and your bow is red. So it doesn't match. It also doesn't matter." Buttercup answered.
"Okay then! I am going to go get that last pin and then it'll be your turn again." Blossom said with a smile.
Buttercup just shrugged and watched her sister knock over the last bowling pin. She then grabbed her own ball, a black one with jagged black lines. From a distance, a security camera watched the Powerpuff Girls and their creator. In a room somewhere in the bowling alley, a greasy looking guy in his late twenties watched the footage with a smile. He pulled out his mobile phone and dialed a number on it. A woman on the other end answered it.
"Are they still there, Wendell?" she asked.
Her tone was harsh and demanding, but her voice was husky in a way that could easily drive someone wild to hear more.
"Yes, they're all the way here on the other side of the city. You might have time." the guy answered.
"Good boy. All is going according to plan." the woman slyly responded.
The National Bank of Townsville
There was nothing unusual happening at the bank that day. No, nothing out of the ordinary. The thing to remember though, is that what qualifies as ordinary differs depending on where one is. For instance, in Townsville, it was anything but unusual for a certain group of failed villains to be trying to rob the bank.
"Give us, the Amoeba Boys, all of the loot!" the Amoeba Boys demanded.
"But I don't want to." said one of the bank tellers.
"Darn it! Foiled again!" Bossman, the lead Amoeba Boy, growled as they slinked off. "I thought that would work!"
The Amoeba Boys would come in a few times a day to try and rob them, but would leave once someone told them they wouldn't be given it. It was strange at first, especially considering that the group consisted of three human sized unicellular organisms that had somehow gained faces and decided to become wannabe gangsters, but this had been going on for years, and nobody batted an eye at it anymore. What did catch the people filling the bank was the sudden appearance of two teenage boys bursting into the bank, looking primed for action. The startled Amoeba Boys stumbled back.
"We heard the bank was being robbed!" Francis announced.
"We're here to help!" Azari added.
The two teenage heroes followed that by actually looking around their surroundings. Naturally, the Amoeba Boys were what stood out to them the quickest. Both looked at each other with looks of total bewilderment. It was their first time seeing what were essentially strange blue-ish blobs with faces before.
"Any idea what these things are?" Francis wondered.
"You're asking me? How the hell would I know? I'm just as confused as you, Fra...Hawkeye." Azari said in response. "Why do they have hats?"
"We're the Amoeba Boys! That's why we have hats!" Bossman yelled at them. "Now you shall meet your doom!"
The three creatures then wiggled up to the boys and started to awkwardly rub themselves on their bodies. The two continued to look at each other with shared confusion.
"Is...this supposed to hurt?" Azari pondered. "If it is then it is not super effective."
"That's an understatement, Black Panther." Francis said.
The people in the bank watched and shuffled their feet. None of them were sure what was going to happen.
"Are these fellas trying to be superheroes or something?" a middle aged woman asked.
"I don't know, but 'Hawkeye' and 'Black Panther' sound like pretty cool names if you ask me." another of the bank tellers said.
"Okay, this is getting annoying." Francis sighed, kicking at the Amoeba Boys.
"This is not how I pictured this going." Azari said as he did the same.
"We'll show you!" Bossman angrily yelled at the two.
The Amoeba Boys proceeded to run back up to the same teller as before at his station.
"Give us the money!" Bossman demanded.
"Will you leave if I give you a buck from my wallet?" the teller asked.
The Amoeba Boys nodded and the bank employee took out his wallet. Somehow, the smallest member of the trio snatched it from his hand. The three then hurriedly tried to get to doors, only to realize that Francis and Azari were still standing there.
"Give that back." Francis said, aiming an arrow at them.
"No!" the three cried out in unison.
Francis shot the arrow, which then flew through the Amoeba boys and then hit the wall behind them, barely missing a man's head. The arrow was covered in a thin residue. The Amoeba Boys began to laugh.
"We did it!" the three cheered. "We're the best crooks ever!"
Azari had not failed to notice the three's lack of intellect and decided to try and fool them.
"His next arrow will work!" Azari snapped at them.
The Amoeba Boys then immediately surrendered. They left the bank with no protest and went straight to some nearby cops who somehow cuffed the three despite their lack of hands. The two teenage heroes walked out after the Amoeba Boys and saw everything, including the cops driving away with them in custody. The two looked around. Save for the cars going by in the street, there was nobody around.
"Hmm, no news media has shown up. Those 'Amoeba Boys' must be pretty low tier around these parts." Azari observed as he rubbed his shaved head.
"No exactly an epic battle, but whatever." Francis shrugged. "What even were those guys? Mutants like your mom?"
"No clue, man. We better get going though." Azari said.
"I don't know what the others have gotten up to, but it has to be better than that." Francis muttered.
Francis was partially correct in that assumption. Miles away, Torunn was having her conflict that was far more fitting of a superhero. Mere minutes earlier, the daughter of Thor had decided to ask for directions and, for reasons only known to herself, walked into one of Townsville's seediest bars to try and find someone to provide them. The poorly lit hovel was filled to the brim with brutish, unkempt men.
"I have come to vanquish evil!" Torunn loudly announced as she hopped onto a small, vacant table. "Where might I find it in this land called Townsville?"
"Get her!" a brutish man yelled.
"Smash her head in!" another screamed.
"Well, that was quite easy!" Torunn grinned.
Four of the bar patrons leapt at the table where Torunn was standing. She easily flipped off of it and onto the nearby counter, smashing some empty glasses. She had moved so briskly that the four attackers failed to notice and change their course. As a result, they crashed into the wooden table, breaking it under their combined weight and falling on top of each other.
"I'll take it that those were not this realm's Fantastic Four!" Torunn joked as she drew out her massive sword from under her cape.
Another of the bar patrons took out an old pistol and shot at Torunn. She easily blocked the coming bullet with her weapon.
"You'll have to do better than that to threaten an Asgardian!" Torunn yelled at him. "Also, I did not actually threaten any of you so why are you people attacking me?"
The acting bartender, who had ducked under his side of the counter when Torunn landed on it, ran out of the building via the back exit.
"I'm not in idiotic goon like all of them! I have to get on my bike and away from all this!" the bartender yelled worriedly.
He ran and ran until he got to a nearby parking lot. The only vehicles there were five battered looking cars and a motorcycle. As the bartender ran towards his motorcycle, a gray haired man in a button down orange shirt exited from one of the cars parked closer to the bike. The panicked man slammed into the other and the two fell to the pavement below, next to a small pile of litter.
"Ouch! What's wrong with you, buddy?" the older fellow complained as he got back on his feet
"Sorry, I..." the bartender began as he also got up. "Wait, is that you Mr. Horgan?"
"Um, yeah, that's me." the man, Horgan, confirmed. "Have we met?"
"Yeah, I'm Manolo. My sister works at the library with you." the younger man explained.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't recognize you." Horgan said to him.
"It's fine; I've only stopped by once or twice to bring her some lunch." Manolo said. "What brings you to this part of town?"
"Nothing really. So why were you in such a tizzy a moment ago?" Horgan asked.
"It was crazy! I was at work, when this strange teenage girl came in. A bunch of the goons who're part of the usual crowd tried to attack her, but she has a sword and I think she has super powers or something. It was chaos! I had to get out of there." Manolo explained.
"And this was a new weirdo? She wasn't one of the Powerpuff Girls' usuals?" Horgan asked.
"No, absolutely not! Hell, I think the girl was going for a superhero thing. She was talking about wanting to fight evil and her Asgardian sword. Whatever that is." Manolo answered.
Horgan's face went white and his eyes bulged in surprise.
"Asgardian? Asgardian?! That can't be!" Horgan exclaimed, clearly caught off guard by that detail.
"Hey, are you doing well?" Manolo asked.
Horgan ran back to his car.
"Oh, yeah, Manolo! I have to go now! Bye!" Horgan called back.
Before the younger man could say anything more, Horgan drove his car away. Inside, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number on it. After ringing a couple times, somebody answered."
"Hello?" a man asked.
"Elton, it's Bruno!" Horgan shouted.
"Woah now! Slow down for a second. What's up, Melter?" Elton asked.
"We need to set up a meeting! All of us! Soon as possible!" Horgan answered frantically.
"Alright, alright! I'll call the others. Somebody will let you know when we can all meet up." Elton said. "You just go somewhere nice and quiet for a little, okay?"
"...yeah, okay. I can do that, Elton." Horgan sighed. "For now anyway."
Back at the bar, a large man was thrown out the front doorway and into some trash cans. Torunn strode out of the same one, her sword dragging by her feet.
"That got repetitive after a while, but I got some exercise at least." Torunn said to herself.
She walked over to the man she had thrown into the garbage cans. He looked up at her angrily.
"Who do you think you are, little girl?!" he snarled.
"Somebody who has easily bested you!" Torunn countered. "What does that say about you?!"
"Hey, I'm not the lameness crook in town, at least. That would be the Amoeba Boys." the guy said rather defensively.
"I have no idea what you are speaking of. Farewell, oaf. Try to keep out of trouble." Torunn said to him.
Torunn then flew off into the sky.
"I wonder what Pym and James have gotten up to. Surely they must have found some sort of foe to face." Torunn said to herself.
James and Pym, however, had failed to find any threats to clash with yet. As she had suggested right then, the two were simply walking down the street in the suburbs of the city. Things hadn't been completely uneventful though.
"James, the dog could talk." Pym said.
"I know, Pym. I was there with you." James replied in a disinterested tone.
"It's not every day you meet a talking dog!" Pym whined. "Couldn't we have stayed with him for a bit?"
"And what, Pym? What do you think that would have accomplished?" James sighed.
"I don't know, but maybe we'd have met whoever gave the dog the power to talk." Pym answered. "Somebody who knows how to do that might know someone who could help us get home."
"I don't see how meeting a Dr. Moreau type would lead to traveling across universes." James said dryly.
"You are just impossible sometimes." Pym sighed.
James rolled his eyes as they continued to walk past the idyllic small homes that surrounded them. In one of the yards, James spotted some little children playing in a sandbox. He stopped in his tracks and continued to watch them play. Pym noticed and went back next to him, looking concerned.
"I kind of envy this world, Pym." James said. "Even in our lush little bubble, we didn't get to be like those kids. We grew up knowing that the world was full of danger and evil that had killed our parents, and so many others."
"That's why we have to get back, James! We're the superheroes now and it's up to us to help protect the people rebuilding society." Pym said as he smiled. "I know it can seem bleak when we're thinking about what happened, but I think we can pull it off!"
James smiled at that.
"You're right, Pym." James nodded. "That's why we have to stick to Azari's idea; If we can prove ourselves to be heroes here, someone may step up and help us. Maybe some boy genius."
"I'm not sure if we'll meet him around these parts though." Pym chuckled. "Can you tell me again why you wanted to come here."
"I figured that there might be someone trying to break into a nice home to steal things they could sell to a pawn shop." James explained.
"That could still happen." Pym said encouragingly.
"True, but there's no way of predicting when and where it could." James sighed. "Maybe we should head back to the city. It's clear that none of the others had the same idea."
"We should probably find a place to stay for the night when we all meet back up." Pym added.
Suddenly, a loud explosion could be heard. The two turned around and looked up at the sky in the direction they heard the noise from. A few large plums of smoke appeared in the sky and faint screaming could be heard only a short distance away.
"That doesn't sound like anything good!" Pym exclaimed.
"Let's go! Whatever it is, we can help!" James bellowed.
The two young heroes then began to run towards the perceived disaster, with instinctually Pym shrinking down and flying next to James.
"It smells like a fire!" Pym said as they got a bit closer. "I'll alert the others."
"Good thinking, Wasp!" James complimented.
Pym smiled a bit at that. Wasp was fitting for him. He figured that if his real name was taken from his late father, he might as well take the alias of his late mother. After all, he did have the same wings. He pressed a button on his wrist.
"Guys, we think there's a fire somewhere in the suburbs!" Pym yelled into his wrist.
He then pressed the button again as he and James continued heading towards the smoke. The screams were getting louder, and it was clear that some of the ones screaming were children. Both we're really hoping that the others would get the message in time if it turned out that they were needed. As they got closer, the two could hear a woman laughing. Finally, the pair got near enough to see what was going on; A single house had been set on fire. It appeared to be shaped like three large cubes, with three circular windows and a red door on the front of the block that appeared to be the main component of the place. It was the garage that was clearly where the billy of the fire was. A massive hole had been made in its large metallic door. The screens were those of various neighbors who were all fleeing the scene at various speeds, with the children being carried away by their parents. It was inside the garage that the maniacally gleeful woman could be heard. James and Pym, following the laughter, leapt in through the hole in the garage door to confront whoever it was inside who was responsible. The two were surprised by her appearance.
"Holy crap, that outfit certainly leaves little to my imagination!" James gasped.
"I think I need an adult." Pym said.
The first detail one might notice about the arsonist was her chalk white skin. She had wild, wiggly looking black hair that almost resembles snakes, possessed strikingly bright green eyes, and wore a red leather leotard, opera gloves, and thigh-high, high heeled boots with black pathyhouse under red fishnets. The outfit clung to every curve of her hourglass frame. She stopped laughing when she noticed the two were there and gained a more angered expression.
"Who are you two brats?! Who do you think you are to try and confront I, Sedusa?!" she snarled madly.
"A guy really put off by your outfit! Seriously, save that for the bedroom!" James quipped as he generated an energy shield from his metallic gauntlet.
"I'm the Wasp! We're superheroes!" Pym proudly answered.
"Ha!" Sedusa laughed mockingly as her hair extended out like growing tentacles. "I can handle you wannabes! It'll be a cold day in Hades when I fail to take my revenge on the Powerpuff Girls!"
Sedusa attacked the two with several extensions of her hair. James flipped around and ricocheted off the walls to avoid getting snared, while Pym stayed small and zipped around the room as fast as he could, occasionally zapping at the bizarre hair.
"I think I read in Tony's files that the queen of the Inhumans had powers like this!" Pym shouted.
"Nice piece of trivia, but it doesn't help us at the moment! We can't stop the fire if we have to keep ourselves from being split up by her split ends!" James replied as he continued to dodge Sedusa's attacks.
"What is that a pun?! I hate puns!" Sedusa roared like a beast. "Die die die! Die die die!"
"Yikes. I feel sorry for any guy who's dated you!" James quipped as he jumped towards her.
"He should be sorry! I'm burning down his house!" a distracted Sedusa screamed.
James' energy shield smashed right into her face. Her nose instantly became blooded and her face bruised. James flipped back and threw the shield right at her chest. It slammed into them and she cried out in pain as it flew right back onto James' gauntlet. Sedusa clutched her arms around her breasts and groaned as her hair began to sag and go limp.
"That...that won't feel good for a while. Ow." she complained.
"Wasp! Zap her now! Don't give her a chance to strike back!" James ordered.
Pym swiftly flew up to Sedusa and zapped her several times in the face. She shrieked in pain and then collapsed onto the floor, having been rendered unconscious.
"We did it!" Pym cheered happily. "Oh wait, the fire!"
The two then heard a crack of thunder outside. The two ran out, James having grabbed Sedusa and flung her over his shoulder. The two looked up at the now stormy looking sky, and saw a hovering Torunn holding her sword up to the sky. Rain began to fall and quickly extinguished the fire that had been spreading only a few seconds before.
"I got your message, friends!" Torunn hollered down. "The others are right behind me!"
McIntyre Lanes
"Please don't fire me! Please don't fire me!" Wendell the bowling alley employee begged on his knees before the man in front of him.
"Why shouldn't I fire you?! I just caught you talking about how you're trying to aid a known super villain so you could 'score' with her!" the man, an older, white haired fellow in a suit and tie, snarled furiously. "I should've never let the manager hire someone like you to work at my bowling alley! Being complicit in burning down the Powerpuff Girls' house?! You are a fool, Wendell!"
"But Mr. Healey, she was just so sexy! I couldn't help myself!" Wendell wept.
"Shut your yap!" Mr. Healey snapped, slapping Wendell across his greasy face.
Healey looked at the security footage and noticed that the Powerpuff Girls and Professor Utonium were still there, playing their game. He rushed out from the room and over to the lane they were playing at.
"Powerpuff Girls!" he cried out.
Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup all turned and saw Healey. Professor Utonium followed suit.
"Who are you, sir, and what do you want with my girls?" the Professor asked.
"I'm the owner of this bowling alley and I have to tell you something! It's your house! Sedusa is trying to burn it down!" Healey worriedly informed them.
"What?! Really?!" a flabbergasted Bubbles asked.
"Yes. One of my employees was working with her, letting her know you were occupied here. I'm so sorry." Healey said before turning around to the show counter where another young male employee was wiping the counter. "Shigeru, turn on the television and turn it to the local news!"
The employee obeyed, but by the time he turned on the television above him on the wall, the three Powerpuff Girls had already surged out of McIntyre Lanes.
"Girls…!" a concerned Professor shouted. "...wait."
Professor Utonium sighed and then walked up to Healey.
"Thank you." he said.
"Well, you're welcome." Healey said. "I just wish that I had called Wendell sooner. I had been on the phone with a friend."
"I guess you're kind of hands-on with this business." Professor Utonium smiled. "I didn't catch your name."
"It's Healey. Elton Healey." Mr. Healey said while extending his hand. "Let's see if the news is talking about your house."
The two walked over to the shoe counter. Shigeru, the employee who had been cleaning it, turned up the volume as he saw them approach. On the screen, a handsome male reporter holding a blue umbrella was speaking while people were gathered around the house snapping pictures of five young people. Utonium's eyes widened when he recognized one of them as the boy who had appeared in the street the previous day. Elton Healey's eyes also widened when he noticed Torunn and her sword.
"It was true. She looks like Thor too." Elton whispered.
"I'm here on Pokey Oaks, where a group of young heroes have apprehended the career villain called Sedusa!" the reporter said. "Locals say that she appeared out of the blue and attacked the home of our very own Powerpuff Girls! Oh look, there they are now! I hope they appreciate the favor! Let's watch what happens!"
The Utonium Residence
Outside on the lawn of the Utonium home, all five of the Next Avengers stood and watched as the Powerpuff Girls landed right in front of them. All looked concerned, but also surprised to see the beaten Sedusa unconscious on the ground between them.
"It really was her!" Bubbles exclaimed.
Buttercup looked over the strangers before her and then realized she recognized Azari from the other day.
"Hey, you're that guy who was chasing Princess and ruined her gear!" Buttercup observed, pointing at Azari.
"I'm Blossom and these are my sisters. This is our home. Who are you people?" Blossom asked sternly.
The five looked at each other before all turning to James. James then turned to Azari, surprising them all.
"This was your plan. You get to do it." James said with a mature, encouraging grin.
Azari nodded and stepped forward.
"I am...the Black Panther!" Azari announced. "We are the Next Avengers! We are heroes like you, Powerpuff Girls, and we hope you can help us as we have helped you!"
McIntyre Lanes
"Well, it looks like we have some new superheroes in Townsville!" the reporter said. "Pretty exciting news if you ask me. Back to you, Larry."
"Wow! This is neat!" Professor Utonium proclaimed. "What do you think, Mr. Healey?"
But Elton Healey was gone. Just a moment ago he ran off out of the building and over to his bright yellow car in the parking lot. He hopped into the driver's seat and drove off.
"Alexa, call Chen Lu, Bruno Horgan, Elihas Starr, Joseph Manfredi, and David Cannon!" Healey shouted.
"Playing 'Fight Song' by Rachel Platten on Amazon Music." his small Alexa said.
"No! Do not play 'Fight Song'! I hate that song!" Healey yelled.
"Shuffling 'Kidz Bop' songs by Kidz Bop kids on Amazon Music." the Alexa said.
Healey angrily grabbed his Alexa and threw it out his window. It smashed to bits against a fire hydrant. He then pulled out his cellphone. Back at the bowling alley, Professor Utonium also exited the building and got into his own car. He knew a shortcut to get back home quickly.
The Utonium Residence
It had been just short of an hour since the Next Avengers had been seen on the news, introducing themselves to the Powerpuff Girls, as well as the world at large. Due to the rain, the people who had made up the crowd had all left to go back inside. After answering a few brief questions for the news crew, basically just revealing their superhero aliases and nothing more, the Next Avengers insisted they had to speak to the Powerpuff Girls in private. Blossom welcomed them into their home on the Professor's behalf, after making sure the police would be taking away Sedusa properly. After they all sat down on the couch and chairs in the living room, Blossom decided to get down to business.
"Okay, we appreciate you stopping Sedusa from burning down our home, but you have to be honest with us." Blossom said.
"Yeah, we barely know anything about you." Buttercup said.
"I completely agree. We shouldn't keep anything from you if we want you to help us." James said. "Man, where do I begin…"
Suddenly, the front door swung open and Professor Utonium rushed inside.
"Girls? Girls?" he stammered. "I saw some of the news report and headed right here."
"It's okay, Professor! We invited them inside since they saved our house from Sedusa." Bubbles happily informed him.
Torunn got up and extended her hand to the Professor.
"I think this is a good point to start making introductions to one another." Torunn said as he began to shake her hand in return. "I am Torunn Thorsdottir, daughter of Thor of Asgard."
"Nice to meet you." Utonium grinned as they finished their handshake.
"Are you the Powerpuff Girls' father?" Torunn asked.
"Well, yes, from a certain point of view." the Professor answered. "You see, I created the three in my lab. It's a crazy story."
"Heh, no need to explain yourself, mister." Francis chuckled. "My dad says I was an accident too. I'm Hawkeye."
"Your father named you that?" Blossom asked incredulously.
"His real name is Francis. Francis Barton." James informed them with a wide grin.
Francis grumpily glared at James, but did nothing else. James snickered a bit before continuing to speak.
"I'm James Rogers. Nice to meet you." James said.
"Who's the kid?" Buttercup asked, glancing at Pym.
"I'm Henry Pym, Jr., but everyone just calls me Pym." Pym said.
"Why?" Buttercup asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I forget." Pym blushed.
"And I am Azari, son of King T'Challa of Wakanda." Azari said.
"Wow, you're a prince?!" Bubbles gasped.
"Wait, I've never heard of any place called Wakanda." Blossom said. "I'm confused."
"I guess we'll just cut to the chase; we're not just from out of town, but from a whole other universe." James said. "One pretty dissimilar to your's."
"How so?" Professor Utonium asked.
"We had different heroes, a different history, some whole different countries even." Francis said. "Emphasis on had."
"Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that." Blossom said.
"You shouldn't." Francis responded. "Back when all of us were babies, a robot called Ultron created an army that ravaged our world."
"Our parents were the first Avengers." Azari added. "They were Earth's mightiest heroes, and even they couldn't all stop him. Only a few of them survived, none of them our parents, save for Torunn and Francis' fathers."
"And even then, my father only lasted so long." Francis said grimly.
"That's so sad!" Bubbles exclaimed.
"Eventually, we were able to defeat Ultron with the help from some of the last of the original Avengers." Pym said.
"Since then, we've been helping defend the remnants of humanity in rebuilding society." Torunn said. "We live in a city of refugees that doesn't even have a proper name yet. There are so few proper cities left that when half of the planet's population vanished a while back, it barely registered, since it all happened in settlements and camps too far away to contact us quickly. It was back to normal before we even knew it happened at all."
"Hey, half of the population of this world vanished too. I was among them." the Professor said. "Perhaps there's a connection."
"A short while ago, we went out into the desert to try and help some refugees from these far off settlements get to the city safely, but something happened. There was a bright flash of light. Somehow, we were transported to a random abandoned lot here in Townsville." James said.
Blossom rubbed her chin for a bit while everyone looked at her.
"We better help you then." Blossom said. "I'm not sure how we'll do it, but we'll help you get home."
"Really?" Pym asked.
"Yeah!" Buttercup assured him.
"We'd be being mean if we didn't try." Bubbles added.
"This is wonderful. Your plan worked, Azari." Torunn said.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Azari half-joked.
"Just a smidgen." Francis said.
"You kids are welcome to stay here with us until we find out how to get you home." Utonium said. "We'll have to figure out where you can all sleep though."
"Wow, that's really nice of you!" Pym said. "I think everything is going to go just perfect now!"
Francis had to fight himself from saying that Pym had just jinxed things for them.
An undisclosed, hidden location
In a sparse, gray room sat six men who had all just recently arrived. Among them were Chen Lu, Elihas Starr, Bruno Horgan, Elton Healey, and two others; a swarthy old Italian man in a wool sweater and brown pants and another gray haired man in a worn, sleeveless undershirt and jean shorts. All of them sat around a round wooden table and wore grim, concerned expressions on their faces.
"Maybe it isn't what we think." the Italian man suggested.
"We all saw the news, Joseph!" Elihas snapped. "That kid with the wings looked exactly like how I'd expect Giant-Man and Wasp's son to look, if you ask me! Right, David?"
The man in the sleeveless undershirt, David, nodded with a sad expression.
"The older boy called himself Hawkeye. He sounded like him too." Elton said, sounding slightly disgusted.
"The girl is the spitting image of Thor as well." Chen Lu sighed. "We have to face facts, my friends; our universe was not destroyed like we thought. Somehow, the children of the Avengers survived Ultron's wrath."
"That would make the redheaded boy Black Widow's son." David stated. "She was the only redhead on the team."
"He had Captain America's eyes though, David." Bruno said. "Unless they had him together. Oh my god, that's probably what happened! Just picture it."
"I already have. Super hot." Joseph said coyly.
The others all just stared at him, clearly unamused by his comment.
"What?" Joseph asked defensively.
"Be serious, everyone! If these children know about us…" Elton began to say.
"...they can expose us for who we are!" Bruno finished for him.
"We would be ruined and everything we've built will be undone." Chen Lu grimly said, pounding his fist on the table. "Elihas, are you sure the portal machine hasn't been compromised?"
"I'm sure. No one has used it since we escaped from our world to this one all those years ago." Elihas answered.
"Maybe Doctor Doom had more than one." David suggested.
"That doesn't make any sense, Whirlwind!" Elihas snapped. "Doom would've used it for himself if he had another one."
"Plus, y'know, we killed the bastard for the one we did take." Elton added.
"Still hard to believe we pulled that off." Joseph chuckled.
"Believe it, Blackwing. The fact of the matter is that we managed to escape during all the chaos. We saw the end was near and we did what we had to do to survive." Chen Lu spoke as his skin began to glow green. "Against all odds, we managed to escape what we thought was a doomed Earth at the time. Yet now we face another challenge; these 'Next' Avengers. I'm afraid we have no choice; It is time for Townsville to meet...the Masters of Evil!"
Well, I think that's a good point to end the chapter on. This chapter is already longer than the first after all.
Some notes:
- Yes, the Masters of Evil are indeed from Earth-555326, and killed their world's Doctor Doom to use technology of his to escape Ultron's conquest of the planet. If you can't comprehend Doom losing, you can just figure he was distracted by, y'know, the army of robots attack
- I took the members from various incarnations of the Masters of Evil from the comics in order to have villains we don't see much take the spotlight. For example, I didn't want to use Enchantress since two versions of her are already present in this Infinity Crisis multiverse. I thought it'd be cool to have the kids face even more of their parents' enemies.
- McIntyre Lanes is named after animator John McIntyre, who directed several episodes of The Powerpuff Girls. Oddball's brother in the comic threw tenpins as weapons, so I think that, in-universe, Oddball is referencing his brother with his business.
- Funny fact I didn't include in the chapter itself; When the Masters actually arrived on Earth-192, they ended up in Peach Creek from Ed, Edd n Eddy before moving to Townsville.