Earth-555326
Yet-To-Be-Named, New York
Tony Stark sat in his bed with a pad of paper in one hand and a pen in another.
"Let's see...let's see…" Stark mumbled to himself. "Who am I forgetting? Come on, Tony…"
On the paper were the scribbled down names of various heroes who had died battling Ultron and his legion of robots. Tony has been trying to remember all that he could on his own for some time.
"Iron Fist…" Tony said as he looked over the name. "...yeah, he had an apprentice, I think. A little kid. A girl...that's dead. Because of me."
Tony sighed sadly and got out of his bed. He walked over to the window and looked outside. Even with all the buildings that had been built since Ultron's destruction, the nameless city was still dwarfed by the ruins. Despite this, Tony smiled when he looked down to see small groups of people walking around and talking to each other. Even if he didn't live to see it, civilization would return in full someday. A civilization that would remember the heroes of the past.
"But what about the heroes of today, though? Those kids better get back soon, or I'm gonna have to send out a search party." Tony said to himself.
It wasn't uncommon for the people sent out to help escort more survivors and refugees to the city to go unheard from for a great while. With Ultron gone, that could happen without people immediately assuming the worst case scenario. Still, Stark longed for the return of the five youngsters. He wanted to tell them about his idea as soon as he could.
Earth-192
The Utonium Residence
It had only been moments ago that the ring of the landline in Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup's room began to blare loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. Said moments were all the time it took for all of the nine people downstairs to rush up to find out what was going on. The Powerpuff Girls flew inside first, trailed by the rest.
"The thing looks like a stupid toy." Francis commented as he and Azari walked in.
"Mind your manners." Azari said with a flick to the older boy's head. "This might be serious."
Blossom picked up the phone as the Professor entered the room with Torunn, Pym, and James.
"Please put it on speaker, Blossom." Professor Utonium requested.
Blossom did so, resulting in a loud scream blasting out of the phone. It was so severe that both Bubbles and Pym felt the need to cover their ears.
"Powerpuff Girls! Powerpuff Girls!" the Mayor screamed over the phone. "Are you there?!"
"We're here!" Buttercup yelled. "Stop yelling! Just stop yelling! We hear you!"
"Who else would he have expected to answer it?" James flatly wondered.
"Maybe a talking sheep." Torunn jokingly answered with a grin.
"Mayor, what's wrong?" Blossom asked, ignoring the others' comments.
"Oh, Blossom, it's...it's horrible!" the Mayor wept. "There are people who dislike pickles! Oh, the humanity!"
The Next Avengers looked at each other with baffled looks. Nobody had bothered to tell them of the Mayor's intense love affair with any crunchy, salty gherkin. Francis and James both facepalmed at the notion that this is what their hosts regularly had to deal with.
"So...is that it? False alarm?" Pym huffed.
"Mayor, is that all that's wrong?" a slightly bewildered Bubbles asked.
"Oh. Oh no. There's much more going on that needs to be dealt with, I am afraid to say.." the Mayor answered with a sigh. "The Gangreen Gang broke out of jail last night. Several guards have been...oh dear...killed, Bubbles."
"That can't be." Buttercup objected. "Those guys just like to cause trouble…"
"The police think they had an accomplice." the Mayor added. "They've apparently fled to the desert. That's not all though; Princess Morbucks has been kidnapped!"
"Oh no. So terrible." Buttercup sarcastically chuckled.
"Wait, that's the girl who was chasing Pym!" Azari realized, remembering his encounter with her.
"Could it be this 'Gangreen Gang' that kidnapped this girl?" Torunn asked.
"That would make sense, Torunn." Blossom replied. "There's clearly some bad blood between them, what with them vandalizing her home the day before we met you."
"Wait!" the Mayor shouted. "It wasn't them! Princess' kidnappers sent a message here to me; They say that they've flown her to the old campgrounds in the mountains. ...boy, I could go for a pickle."
"If this is true, we have two missions!" Blossom declared.
"Let's split up, gang!" Professor Utonium hollered. "Heh...I've always wanted to say that."
"Sounds like the right idea." James agreed.
"Oh, and I'll need some of you to come here to my office too." the Mayor chimed in. "Any of you will do."
"Huh? Why?" Bubbles asked.
"I'll explain in person. Good luck, Powerpuff Girls!" the Mayor said before hanging up.
"Hmm...okay. Time to get down to business, everyone." Blossom affirmed, turning to the assembled group. "Buttercup, you'll come with me to rescue Princess."
Buttercup's eyes bulged. Her expression quickly turned to a disgusted glower. She turned away from her sister.
"No." Buttercup coldly said. "I meant what I said the other day, Blossom."
"No you didn't!" Blossom angrily snapped. "You were just letting your anger get the best of you. A real Powerpuff Girl wouldn't really..."
"Excuse me?!" Buttercup snarled. "You can't just go and say that I'm not a real…"
"Girls! Please don't fight!" Professor Utonium pleaded.
Pym ran up between the two and looked directly into Blossom's eyes.
"I'll go with you, Blossom." Pym said. "Please, calm down."
"...thank you, Pym." Blossom smiled. "I'd like that."
Blossom casted a glare at her dark haired sister.
"You're a real hero." Blossom said, barely looking at him.
Francis looked at Torunn and the two exchanged concerned expressions. Torunn walked up to Buttercup and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"This 'Gangreen Gang' sounds like they need to be dealt with too. How about Hawkeye and I join you in that task, Buttercup?" Torunn suggested.
Buttercup glanced over at Francis, who gave her a reassuring nod in response.
"I'll go see what's up with the Mayor." Bubbles said. "Would you like to come, James?"
"Sure." James answered, still clearly put off by the sudden tension between Blossom and Buttercup.
"I'll come with you two." Azari volunteered. "Pickle thing aside, it may actually be important."
"If that's the case, I think I should accompany Blossom and Pym." Professor Utonium said.
"Professor, that's truly unneeded…" Blossom began to sweetly object. "...I think…"
"I need to get out, Blossom." the Professor assertively cut her off. "Plus, I think we're going to need to talk."
Blossom zoomed out through one of the windows into the sky, carrying her creator on her back. Pym hurriedly followed after her.
"I can't believe she said that about me." Buttercup said.
She looked over at Francis and Torunn and feigned a grin.
"Whatever. Let's get going." Buttercup said to the two.
Francis then leapt into Torunn's arms. Buttercup raised her eyebrow at this, which he noticed.
"I have to come with the two of you somehow." Francis shrugged. "I'm Hawkeye, not Hawkwing."
"Boo." James groaned. "Zero points."
"Come on, James. Let's go." Azari said as he was following Bubbles out the door.
James rolled his eyes and followed after the two. Buttercup flew out one of the windows with Torunn close behind, carrying the smiling Francis. Buttercup glanced down and saw Bubbles, Azari, and James exit through the front door to go head to see the Mayor.
An old campground in the nearby mountains
It only took a short time for Blossom, Pym, and Professor Utonium to land in the heart of the campgrounds. The area appeared to be abandoned. The cabins were in various states of complete disrepair. The tall trees casted long shadows that made the area very dark in appearance. Random disused objects like flashlights and backpacks were all over the dirty ground. The only noise that could be heard was the sounds made by a rusty wind chime hanging above the door to one of the cabins, which had 'The End is Near' graffitied onto it in white paint.
"This is pretty creepy. It's like something out of a spooky story." Pym observed.
"I can't argue with you there, young man." the Professor concurred.
Blossom tried to listen carefully for any sounds that could lead to Princess Morbucks and her kidnappers. If that was what was even happening at all. It wouldn't have been the first time she had been tricked, not that she'd be willing to admit it. After a few minutes, she could make out a voice.
"Hide. Your time will come." a man whispered.
Blossom could tell which cabin it had come from the cabin with the rusty wind chime and graffitied door. She motioned first the Professor to stand back and for Pym to follow her. She opened the door and saw a figure standing in the shadows.
"Welcome." the figure said in the same voice she heard prior.
The figure pulled a string above him, causing the lights to the cabin to turn on. It was Egghead. He was clad in a darkly colored, militaristic outfit. He had multiple gun-like devices latched into his belt. Behind him laid a tied up and unconscious Princess.
"Who are you?" Blossom demanded to know. "Why did you capture Princess? Let her go now."
Egghead looked at Pym and smiled creepily. He had been hoping for this opportunity.
"My name is Elihas Starr." Egghead answered her. "Though I think your friend may know my other name. Right, boy?"
Pym was confused until he noticed the notably shiny bald head before him. Suddenly, a memory of a story Tony had told him came to the forefront of his mind.
"Egghead." Pym said. "You...you fought my mom and dad. But…"
"...I should be dead?" Egghead rhetorically asked. "Afraid not. You see, I came to this world long before you did. I escaped Ultron's armies. So did someone else I'd like you to meet."
Egghead then snapped his fingers.
"Whirlwind! Now!" Egghead shouted.
Whirlwind then bursted out from the door to a closet in the cabin. His armor made him look tall and imposing, catching Blossom off her guard. Pym gasped. He had been told stories about this enemy of his parents' as well.
"Surprise! I'm not a coat!" Whirlwind laughed.
Before Blossom or Pym could even question why Whirlwind had been hiding in the closet, he created an intense blast of air that knocked the two straight through the wall of the cabin. The two were covered with a pile of broken wood that Blossom almost instantly threw off of them. She looked over to see the Professor reacting to it.
"Professor! Get somewhere safe!" Blossom cried out to him.
Professor Utonium quickly ran into the dense trees. He looked back and watched Whirlwind come out through the joke he had made, with Egghead following behind him holding a gun of some kind.
"Who are they?" Utonium wondered aloud to himself.
"Whirlwind and Egghead. That's what I learned." a youthful voice answered.
A startled Professor Utonium spun around to see that he wasn't alone. Before he could say anything more, the young figure pressed her index finger to his lips.
"Shush." she commanded.
Pym blasted at Whirlwind repeatedly with his gauntlets, but none of them could penetrate his thick green armor.
"Your mother was much better at this than you, kid." Whirlwind mocked.
He hit Pym with a swirl of incredibly strong wind, sending him flying up into the air. He activated his wings and then began shooting more at Whirlwind, but he brushed them all up. He flew up to Pym and grabbed him by his head.
"You're just like your father in all the worst ways." Whirlwind said to him. "I was always stronger than him, no matter how big he grew. If it weren't for your mother, I would've killed him long before Ultron could've gotten the chance! Your mother deserved better than him!"
"Liar!" Pym shouted at him.
Down below, Egghead was shooting repeatedly at Blossom. His gun produced beams of purple energy that she was able to evade one after the other, letting them singe the cabins around them instead.
"I heard that you were the brains and the leader. So why are you on your own?" Egghead asked aggressively as he continued to try and hit her with his weapon.
Blossom didn't have any retort to give. Honestly, that comment stung more than he could have possibly known. She already regretted what she had said to Buttercup back at the house, at least a little. That didn't stop her from using her eye rays to strike Egghead's gun and causing it to explode, sending him flying into the side of one of the cabins. Egghead groaned in pain, but then smirked as he looked up and saw how Whirlwind was doing. Pym was now trapped in an orb of circling wind, which Whirlwind promptly directed to slam right into Blossom.
"Aaughh!" Blossom yelled out.
The orb dissipated as the two laid in the grassy dirt.
"Oooh...that was not fun…" Pym moaned.
Whirlwind landed between the two young heroes and his comrade and helped the latter get back up on his feet.
"Old age hasn't ruined me yet, I suppose." Whirlwind chuckled.
Egghead grinned as he took another, smaller laser gun from his belt and aimed it at Blossom and Pym.
"Can't let the kid go and blab about this." Egghead stated.
"Stop!" Professor Utonium shouted. "There's someone here for you!"
The Professor ran out from the heavily tree filled and threw his body of Blossom and Pym. He then pointed back towards where he had come from and the two villains looked to see an unexpected arrival; it was a young tween girl in a cute, little yellow dress, white stockings and black shoes. She had short, straight black hair fashioned into a sleek bob cut and had a yellow beret close to her right ear. Her skin was a fair beige, her eyes were dark and her facial features were soft and round. She had a black earpiece on as well.
"Hi, daddy." she softly greeted.
"...Amy." a surprised Whirlwind said. "You're here."
"She...knows? Oh no." Egghead gulped.
Professor Utonium pulled away from Blossom and Pym. The two had heard everything and were not looking at Amy. Pym looked at her very carefully.
"She…" he stammered. "She looks a lot like…who does she..."
The images from some photos Tony had shown him over the years came to his mind. He couldn't deny who this girl looked like. He watched as the girl walked over to Whirlwind and hugged him.
"Please stop, daddy." Amy begged.
Whirlwind fell to his knees and hugged her back before removing his helmet and setting it on the ground, showing the face of the man Amy recognized as her father, David Cannon.
"So...you know, Amy? You know where I came from?" David asked.
"I do, daddy." Amy confirmed. "I found your costume and put a bug on it."
She pointed to a seemingly random spot on his armor, near his right shoulder. If one looked closely, they could see a small metallic circle attached to it. She looked over at Pym with an almost knowing look. Blossom's mouth fell agape. Pym simply looked stunned. Pym was no fool, but he couldn't keep his composure.
"Whirlwind hooked up with this universe's version of my mom!" Pym screamed.
"What?!" Blossom gasped.
"Yup, the boy is right." Egghead nodded, clearly amused at Pym's distress. "Whirlwind held a torch for the Wasp for years. He couldn't resist seeking out her alternate self when he learned of her existence. It...obviously went in his favor."
"You...you don't hate me, sweetie?" David asked his little girl.
"I'd never hate you." Amy smiled. "...especially because you and Uncle Elihas are going to surrender. Right?"
Whirlwind looked at Egghead with a nervous look. The bald villain shook his head.
"Fine...we surrender." Egghead groaned.
He tossed all his weapons away and Blossom froze them all with her ice breath. Pym just stared at Amy, not sure what to say to her. The Professor was just taking it all in. He had a feeling that this was far from the end. Princess then appeared, having been woken up by all the fighting.
"My dad's gonna sue you!" Princess shrieked.
"You're welcome, Morbucks." Blossom said as she shook her head. "Now please shut up."
Amy walked over to Pym and extended her hand to him, but he stepped back. He was too put off by what he had just discovered. He turned away from the girl but glanced back to see Blossom restraining Whirlwind and Egghead, which Amy also turned to watch. Professor Utonium looked at both of them with a concerned look.
"I'm sorry." Pym said.
Townsville Hall
Bubbles had figured that whatever the Mayor was worried about could be handled very quickly. She could then easily fly James and Azari to wherever they needed to be to help the others, she thought. She had walked ahead of the two, leading them to the town hall. It had been a very casual affair. Neither one of the guys had brought up her sisters' fight, which helped keep Bubbles happy. Her happiness had abruptly, and justifiably, turned to pure distress when they actually arrived at the building, where it was clear that something strange had happened.
"No...no!" Bubbles cried out.
"Woah." was all that Azari could say when he saw it himself.
"This...this can't be right." James said.
It was indeed an upsetting sight; Townsville Hall was in ruins. The roof of the building was gone, which large blocks of broken material dropped onto the lawn. Scratch marks covered the building and most of the windows were broken. What was most bizarre of all was that several parts of the building looked as if they had been turned into an ugly, lumpy goop. This included the stairs to the building and most of the left side of it.
"What could have done this?" James wondered.
"I don't think this mayor told us everything." Azari said.
"The Mayor might be hurt!" Bubbles wailed.
The blue clad Powerpuff Girl flew inside and towards the Mayor's office. James and Azari chased after her. The damage was just as bad inside as it was out. Objects all about the ruins of the building were either torn apart into shred or melted into gunk.
"There's got to be an explanation for this." Azari huffed as he ran.
"We'll figure that out later." James responded. "We gotta keep up with Bubbles."
All three came to the door to the Mayor's office. It seemed to be untouched, which seemed quite odd. Bubbles opened the doors and the three ran inside. What they saw didn't bring ease to any of the three at all. The diminutive Mayor was tied up to his chair. Next to him was his apparent captor, an aged man wearing an orange half helmet with a black visor, and orange painted chestplate, gauntlets, and boots, all over dark blue-green tights. On the middle of his chestplate was a rectangular red light.
"Surprise, fools!" the Melter sneered. "It is I, the Melter!"
"Melter? Who's the Melter?" a baffled James asked.
"Wait a minute…" Azari said. "I think Tony mentioned having an enemy called that!"
"Ah, so Stark lived? That's disappointing." Melter chuckled. "I was hoping his robot killed him."
"Help me!" the Mayor cried. "Lyle I. Brarian is evil!"
"Shut up, nincompoop!" the Melter snarled.
"Wait...so you're the same guy as from our world?" James asked.
"That's right, boy." Melter answered. "We escaped Ultron's massacre by coming to this alternate Earth. When we learned you had come here, we decided to come out of hiding."
"Let the Mayor go!" Bubbles demanded.
"Wait, who's 'we'?" Azari questioned.
A shadow appeared and everyone looked up to see a swarm of bats. Somehow, they were carrying another man, this one clad in a costume consisting of two varying shades of purple, with a mask shaped like the silhouette of a bat. In his arms was Ms. Bellum, tied up in ropes like her boss.
"Allow me to answer that!" Blackwing laughed. "We are the Masters of Evil! Now cower in fear of my mutant bats and despair! Grovel befo…"
Bubbles then flew up and grabbed Ms. Bellum from the masked villain with ease. The clearly startled Blackwing stumbled back, causing him to fall back and off of his bats. He plummeted to the ground, crashing into the Mayor's desk, breaking it in two.
"Joseph!" a concerned Melter gasped.
The Melter quickly went to his comrade's side.
"Ow." Blackwing groaned. "I'm too old for this shit."
Bubbles landed before the two and used her laser vision to safely burn away the ropes on both Ms. Bellum and the Mayor.
"Hooray!" the Mayor cheered, hopping out of his chair.
The three heroic youths knew the battle had only just begun, and their assumption proved correct when Blackwing's mutant bat minions flew down and began to attack them all. Bubbles punched and kicked them off of her. James flipped over to the freed Ms. Bellum. He had his wrist device create one of his energy shields, which he used to protect her from them as best he could. Azari slashed back at them for a while before sending out a wave of electrical surges that made the bats either fall to the floor or fly away into the sky, abandoning their master. Unfortunately, all of this gave the Melter time to create a hole in the wall with a blast from the light on his chest. He picked up the injured Blackwing and carried him out of the building. The Mayor just danced around eating pickles during it all.
"Will make them pay for that, Blackwing." Melter promised.
The Melter got Blackwing into the back of the car the two had driven to Townsville Hall in. He then turned and ran back towards the building. Azari leapt out through the inelegant hole Melter had created and began to run right at him.
"Melter! Tell me how you got to this universe!" Azari demanded.
Melter shot a melting ray at the brave young man, but he easily dodged it with reflexes that were unmistakably inherited from his father. He pounced at the Melter, who clumsily managed to get out of the way before he could be pinned down.
"Iron Man was more my foe, but I fought your old man T'Challa too, kid!" Melter shouted while throwing a punch at Azari.
Azari ducked out of the way of his attack and swiftly kicked the Melter in the stomach, knocking him into the grassy lawn below. He then shot some lightning into his chest light, causing it to go begin to glitch out.
"That wasn't an answer to my question." Azari told him sternly, placing his foot on his stomach. "Tell me now, Melter. We want to get back home."
James and Bubbles ran up, excited to see that Azari had defeated the Melter. The former patted him on the shoulder while the latter planted a smooch on his shaved head. Even though it had been completely platonic, Azari couldn't help but blush and smile. It was rare he got to have the big hero moment, if only because of how great his brothers, sister, and Francis could prove to be.
"Wait...where's Blackwing?" James asked.
Bubbles then noticed a car driving off into the distance. Her enhanced sense of vision allowed her to make out that it was Blackwing in the driver's seat.
"He's in that car! He's getting away!" Bubbles squeaked, pointing in the direction of the car.
"Bubbles, throw me at the car!" James requested.
Bubbles wasn't sure what James was going to do, but she figured he had a plan. She picked James up and tossed him at the car. James used his energy shield to smash into it with no harm to himself. This caused the car to skid to a halt. Blackwing got out and lunged at James, but collapsed in front of him on the street, clearly still hurt by his fall from earlier. James picked him up over his shoulder and dragged him back to the others. Bubbles was restraining the Melter. Ms. Bellum and the Mayor were now standing next to Azari.
"Tell him!" Bubbles demanded, referring to Azari's earlier inquiry.
"Fine." the Melter reluctantly grunted. "We came to this universe in a ship Dr. Doom created. We killed him while Latveria was being razed by Ultron."
"Do you still have it?" James asked.
"...yes." Melter said before grinning. "But you'll never get to use it!"
The light on his chest lit up again and he began to laugh. That is until he started to feel something going wrong; the beam was malfunctioning and wasn't coming out of his chest piece. He could feel it getting hotter and beginning to rumble.
"Oh fuck." he said.
His body began to become engulfed in red energy. Everyone backed away from him, clearly confused by what was happening to him. The light then faded away. It was already too late though; Bruno Horgan was no more. All that remained was a horrifically melted corpse.
"Bruno!" Blackwing screamed, tears welling in his eyes.
Bubbles pressed her hands to her chest and flinched away in horror. Everyone else just stared, clearly disturbed. The body barely looked human anymore.
"Damn...what a way to go." James observed in a hushed tone.
Blackwing crawled forward a bit and broke down sobbing.
"He...he was my friend...he was...my friend…he can't be gone..." he blubbered.
Azari looked down at his hands, looking almost afraid as he noticed tiny flickers of electricity still dancing on his fingertips. He then went over and, to everyone's surprise, hugged the crying, near elderly supervillain.
"I'm sorry." Azari whispered.
James then heard a beeping on his wrist device and looked down. A light on it was flashing. It was the one that indicated he was receiving a message. He walked away a short distance from the others and answered it, producing a holographic image of Torunn.
"Torunn? What is it?" James asked.
"You have to get here now! Everyone has to get here now!" Torunn cried out. "Something terrible has happened! ...it's Buttercup!"
The sudden mention of her sister caught Bubbles' attention and drew her away from the others. She zipped over to where James was standing.
"What happened?" Bubbles asked.
Torunn tried to provide an answer, but was interrupted by a bright burst of green energy that took over the hologram. The message cut out and the hologram shut down.
"Torunn!" James yelled.
Far off in the desert
"James! Bubbles!" Torunn yelled.
Though she had been unfazed by the green energy, Torunn's communicator had been destroyed. She turned around to face her opponent, the one who had sent the blast. It was someone who only moments ago had been her friend. A snarling Buttercup stood before her with glowing green eyes, looking almost possessed and her jittering hands soaked with blood. Nearby, Francis was pinned under some large rocks, his bow broken in two under another. Torunn drew her sword and pointed it forward at Buttercup. She didn't want to do it, but she had no other choice at the moment. She had to save Francis.
"I'm sorry." Torunn uttered softly.
No matter the obstacle, no matter the cost.
Next chapter is the conclusion to the story, and it is going to be quite a doozy. I have a lot to cover there, so it may take a little while to complete, but I think it'll be worth it.