So here it is. The last chapter. It's a long one (the longest chapter of all, actually), so I'll keep this brief and just say that I hope the wait wasn't too long. I don't want you people handling the TV Tropes page to forget about me entirely! Enjoy.
The desert
The Masters of Evil members known as Oddball and Radioactive Man couldn't help but be amused at what they were watching occur. The two stood side by side atop some large, sandy rocks as the daughter of Thor and the green clad Powerpuff Girl clashed in the distance.
"Little miss Buttercup came to my restaurant not so long ago. I talked to her and her creator." Radioactive Man said with a smirk. "I wonder if she'll ever be able to come back."
"Not if Thor's child is as strong as he was." Oddball chuckled. "Either way, we will be ridding ourselves of one of them."
Oddball looked over at Francis, who was still trapped. Even though the boy looked more like his mother, Oddball took a twisted pleasure in seeing Hawkeye's son suffer on the ground in pain. The exact opposite could be said of Torunn, who kept looking to him in concern even as she repeatedly had to dodge the attacks of the savage, screaming Buttercup. Her eyes glowed green as she kept charging towards Torunn. Radioactive Man smiled as his eyes also flowed green.
"Kill...Kill...Kill." Radioactive Man softly commanded.
It didn't matter that he was fairly far away. It didn't matter that his voice was hushed and reserved. The villain's voice bombarded Buttercup's mind, blocking out all other thoughts with hatred and a thirst for carnage. She roared as Torunn repeatedly struck her body with her sword.
"Yes, my servant…" Radioactive Man continued. "Kill the Next Avengers. Just like you killed those boys…"
Oddball looked back in the distance. Under the sounds of the battle, a faint, pitiful weeping could be heard. He hopped down from the rocks and walked towards the direction the crying was coming from. It had all happened so fast that it was almost like he hadn't seen it at all, but Oddball had been there when this all began.
Twenty minutes earlier
Buttercup, Torunn, and Francis had made it to the desert very quickly. So far, they had yet to see any sign of the Gangreen Gang.
"So, Buttercup, you've fought this 'Gang' before, right? What should I be looking for?" Francis asked.
"Five weirdos who all have green skin." Buttercup answered.
"It sounds like they are easy to spot in a crowd." Torunn said. "...do you want to talk about what happened back at your home?"
"No. Maybe later." Buttercup huffed.
After flying around for a little while more, the three spotted the Gangreen Gang sitting in the back of a battered old pickup truck.
"This looks off." Buttercup observed.
She landed near the truck. Torunn followed suit and she and Francis followed her as she walked up to the vehicle. All of the Gangreen Gang members looked nervous and uncomfortable, even before they really seemed to notice the three heroes. Ace looked at Buttercup and struggled to say anything.
"Hey...um...I…hey." was all he managed to get out.
Buttercup lifted up the pickup truck and dumped the Gangreen Gang out of it and onto the ground. A purple ball also fell out of the truck, but nobody seemed to notice it.
"Ssssshe sssssssure isssss sssstrong." Snake slickly spoke.
"What did I tell you about using alliteration to get more 's' words to draw out?" Lil' Arturo complained. "You know it confuses Billy."
"It hurt my brain." Big Billy nodded.
Grubber made noises with his armpit. It was actually his way of expressing his opinion on the current state of politics on the small island nation of Albonquetine, but nobody who would've even understood that cared about that at all.
"We found you awfully easy." Francis.
"That's because they were supposed to be found easily!" a man shouted.
The purple ball sitting in the sand then burst into a massive purple smokescreen. It blocked out everyone's vision and all stumbled around trying to see.
"Hawkeye! Torunn!" Buttercup called out.
She was then grabbed from behind by a pair of glowing green arms that appeared. She could tell that it was a man, a super powered one.
"Hello, Buttercup." he greeted menacingly.
Buttercup recognized the voice.
"Wait. Chen Lu...?" Is that you?" Buttercup asked.
Instead of an answer, Buttercup was met by a glowing green face. This had all been Radioactive Man's trap. He blasted green light from his eyes and let her go as he did. When he stopped, she then simply floated in front of him.
"I live to obey." Buttercup stated, her mind overtaken.
"Kill them." Radioactive Man commanded. "Kill the Gangreen Gang. Kill the daughter of Thor. Be my monster."
"Buttercup!" Francis yelled out through the purple smoke. "Where are you?"
The smoke then began to finally clear away, Oddball now standing by the Gangreen Gang, who he motioned towards with his arm.
"Go get 'em, kid." Oddball chuckled.
The present
Oddball stepped around the puddles of blood that soaked into the sand as he approached the sobbing Ace, who was wounded, but still alive. He was kneeling down and holding the butchered Lil' Arturo in his arms, with the mutilated bodies of Big Billy, Snake, and Grubber laid in a pile behind him. It took him a moment to realize that Oddball had returned, but when he did, he dropped the corpse of his friend and punched him in the face. An unamused Oddball threw one of his balls at Ace, which knocked Ace down. The older villain watched as Ace broke down, crying even harder than before.
"Why?!" Ace screamed at him. "Why did you do this to me?! Why did you have to use us?!"
"Sorry, kid." Oddball grinned. "We couldn't have you go blab about us."
"Are...are you going to kill me?" Ace asked.
Ace had only survived due to the two Next Avengers having interrupted Buttercup's laughtering of his crew. He almost looked hopeful at the idea that Oddball would be the one to kill him instead of her.
"Do you want to know something? None of you had to be killed." Oddball chuckled. "I could've wiped your minds."
"What?!" Ace gasped.
Oddball pulled out a black colored ball, which appeared different from all his others.
"This here is a special ball of mine. Y'see, it releases a gas that can wipe your memories, make you a different version of yourself." Oddball explained. "You'd still be yourself, to a degree, but you wouldn't be the same. It works differently on some people."
Ace looked at the black ball and reached for it.
"Please. I need that. I need to forget this." Ace begged. "Can I use that to forget this?"
"Y'know what? Sure." Oddball answered. "There's a catch though; something I need you to do."
"Anything!" Ace cried.
Oddball smiled before kneeling down and whispering something into Ace's ear. Ace looked confused for a moment, but agreed to do what was asked of him. Oddball helped him up and handed him the back ball, then turned back towards Radioactive Man, who was still watching Buttercup clash with Torunn, who was beginning to falter.
"Hey! Let's get outta here, boss!" Oddball shouted at him.
Radioactive Man nodded in response before flying over and allowing Oddball to grab onto his back. Oddball looked down at Ace.
"Good luck, kid." Oddball said.
After that, the two took off into the sky.
"Are you sure this'll work?" Radioactive Man asked.
"Have a little faith, pal. Yes, it'll work." Oddball answered. "Now let's get back to the bunker. I don't want to be around when the green guy sets that off."
Francis watched the two as they flew out of sight. He tried to move, but the rocks were too heavy. They were crushing him so hard. Buttercup had pinned them on him so quickly. It hurt so hard then. It still hurt. He felt like he was going to die.
"T...t...Torunn!" Francis cried out in strained desperation. "I...I need you! Help me!"
Torunn didn't want it to come to this, but she had no choice. She focused all of her strength into summoning a storm. Even the animalistic Buttercup stopped as dark clouds began to rapidly gather up above. Ace gulped as he began to hear a crack of thunder. Buttercup then launched herself at Torunn, but it was too late; Torunn had what she needed. She held her blade to the sky. The threatening lightning shot down at said weapon, surging with power. Torunn redirected this blast of lightning right towards the incoming Buttercup. It hit her directly and caused her to fall to the ground below, her hair and clothes singed.
"No!" Ace yelled.
Ace ran over to the temporarily halted Powerpuff Girl. As he did, Torunn aggressively threw the rocks off of her boyfriend, who weakly smiled at her.
"I...I knew you'd come." Francis pitifully said, barely managing to faintly smile at her.
"Don't worry. You just need to get somewhere safe." Torunn responded. "I'm getting you back to the Professor's house. He has to have something there that can help."
"What about Buttercup?" Francis asked.
He groaned in pain as the concerned Torunn picked him up in her arms, similar to before.
"I'll handle her later. Just keep holding on." Torunn requested.
Torunn promptly flew off with Francis as Ace watched from below. He smiled, but in a way unlike his usual self.
"You really thought I'd give you exactly what you wanted, asshole? Like hell." Ace said to himself, looking down at the black ball.
He looked at Buttercup, whose eyes began to open, still glowing green. Ace threw the ball on the ground as hard as he could in his state and it exploded into a small black cloud. Both he and Buttercup breathed it in and, in that moment, began to feel, for lack of a better word, nice. It was like it washed away everything plaguing them both. It felt like an eternity for them, but it only took just short of two minutes for it to be done. As the black cloud dissipated into the air, the two looked at each other. Both seemed calm, both seemed to be at peace. Before both asked each other the same question at the exact same moment.
"Who are you?"
Townsville Hall
A concerned Bubbles, James, and Azari were trying to figure out what Torunn had been calling about. The police and some emergency response teams had since swarmed the ruins of Townsville Hall. Various officials and personnel were talking to the Mayor and Ms. Bellum, restraining the still sobbing Blackwing, and cleaning up the unsightly remains of the Melter.
"The Gangreen Gang can't be behind this." Bubbles insisted. "Buttercup is stronger than all of them put together! We all are!"
"Something else must be going on then. We have to figure out what." James said.
Azari looked over at Blackwing.
"There's no way they were alone. Melter and Blackwing, I mean. Maybe there were other members of their team, attacking us on all fronts." Azari suggested.
"So the kidnapping, the breakout, and all this was all just a way to split us up?" James asked.
"There's one way to find out; you can call Pym." Azari told James.
James complied and tried to call Pym, who thankfully answered. Though the image showed that the boy wasn't in the best of spirits, James and Azari were both relieved to see he was safe.
"Hi, Pym!" Bubbles waved.
"Pym, can you tell us who kidnapped Morbucks?" James asked. "This is going to sound wild, but we think that the Masters of…"
"Evil." Pym cut him off. "Yeah, I was surprised too, but it's them. Our parents' old enemies are here in Townsville. Don't worry, we won over here. Blossom and I just fought Whirlwind and Egghead."
"Those two were your mom and dad's baddies, right?" Azari asked.
"That's right." Amy answered, popping out from behind Pym.
"Huh. Who the heck are you?" James asked.
"Oh, my apologies. I'm Amy Bong-Cannon. I'm Whirlwind's daughter." Amy answered.
"Don't remind me." Pym grumbled.
Amy looked hurt by the remark, but continued.
"Look, I'm sorry about what my dad and his team have done today. I hope things go well for you all." Amy told them.
She walked away, the hologram returning to just being of Pym.
"Why would you say that, Pym?" Bubbles asked. "She seems nice."
"Pretty cute too." Azari added.
Bubbles, James, and Pym all looked at Azari. He blushed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head before quickly regaining his composure.
"Look, we'll get back to this later." Azari said. "We have a serious matter at hand; Torunn just called from the desert. Something's gone wrong. Way wrong."
"He's right." James nodded. "We just fought the Melter and Blackwing here. We think the Masters of Evil have actively split us up. Get Blossom and tell her we all have to head to the desert now."
"You can count on me. Always." Pym said, before glaring at Azari. "Unlike somebody here."
Pym ended the call and the hologram turned off. James turned to Azari.
"Boy, he's in a bad mood." James commented. "Maybe he's upset that you might like that Amy girl."
Bubbles seemed confused by James' comment but didn't say anything.
"Uh...sure. That's gotta be it." Azari replied, not looking James in the eye. "Um...they seem to have Blackwing handled here. Let's go try to help Torunn and Hawkeye."
Bubbles picked up both James and Azari by their backs and flew off towards the desert.
The old campgrounds
Professor Utonium watched as Blossom and Pym flew off to meet up with the others in the desert. He had been listening in on the call from a short distance away. Nearby, Princess was angrily screaming at Whirlwind and Egghead, who were being put in the back of some police cars. Some officers had shown up shortly after Amy had gotten her father and Egghead to surrender. She had explained just a few moments earlier that she had actually called them after she had made her way to the campgrounds, before she had first met Utonium. The site of seeing her father being taken away clearly wasn't bringing her any joy though. Amy was just watching it all happen was a morose expression. The Professor walked up to her.
"Amy, you did the right thing today." Utonium told her.
"I know." Amy sighed. "I just…"
Professor Utonium noticed that the girl was starting to tear up.
"Is there something else?" he asked, trying to sound as comforting as he could.
"He hates me. Pym, I mean. He...he didn't even thank me for helping." Amy wept.
Utonium didn't know what to say.
"My dad could end up locked up forever for this. Should I have not called the cops? I wanted to help keep him from doing something so bad." Amy said. "Doesn't he realize that? Is being my dad's daughter all it takes to mean I'm no good?"
"No, don't even consider that!" Professor Utonium objected to the notion. "Look, I've only known that boy for so long and I've only just met you...but you being your father's daughter is a good thing, Amy! He surrendered because you brought out his humanity. Both of you love each other a way family should. Pym is just thrown off by, well, all of this. When things calm down, I'm sure things will take a turn for the better."
"You really think so?" Amy asked, starting to smile.
"I know so." Professor Utonium smiled.
He didn't really know for sure, but he knew that hope had to be what got his girls to persevere while he and so many others had been turned to dust. If it could help them get through that and not fall to despair, it could work for this situation too.
"At his heart, he's a hero. He just rushed off to help Buttercup." Utonium continued. "He'll realize he was being mean at some point. If he doesn't apologize though, I'll make him!"
Amy giggled a little at that. A policewoman then walked up to the two.
"Ms. Bong-Cannon, is your mother home?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not. She's attending an important conference for her job." Amy informed her. "I am afraid to call her about this though. What'll she think?"
"Well, your father is certainly going to be in trouble. Will have to wait and see how Mr. Morbucks responds to all this. Which may be a while, since no one actually knows where he is at the moment." the policewoman said.
Endsville
"Please, I have a daughter! She's terrible, but still!" Mr. Morbucks begged.
He had since been moved from Billy's home and into a public park, where he had been chained to a large tree. The sack was still pulled over his head, but he was no longer naked, having been put in a French maid costume. Mandy was sitting on the back of a large black horse.
"Quiet, you worm." Mandy dryly snapped as he pulled out a walkie-talkie to speak into. "Grim, go to the mall and get me a guillotine and ten bottles of ranch dressing."
"No, I hate ranch dressing! It reminds me of going to a dude ranch! I hate dude ranches!" Billy shouted over the other end.
Mandy groaned and hung up. She then looked over at Mr. Morbucks.
"Let me go!" Morbucks cried out.
Mandy jumped off of the horse and kicked him in the stomach.
The old campgrounds
"Anyway, we're gonna get going. Would either of you like a ride back home?" the policewoman offered.
Something about that caused Professor Utonium's face to light up.
"Home...home!" he shouted. "That's it! Where else would they keep it but their homes? I think I know how to help the Next Avengers!"
He looked down at Amy.
"Amy, does your father have any address books?" Utonium asked.
The desert
Shortly after arriving in the desert, it didn't take long for Bubbles to spot Blossom and Pym. She called out to the two and they promptly flew up next to her.
"Hey, guys." Pym said.
"Any sign of Buttercup, Bubbles?" Blossom asked.
Bubbles set Azari and James down on the sand. Blossom and Pym dropped down next to them.
"No, we all just got here." Bubbles sadly answered. "I'm worried."
"Yeah, we have no idea what the other Masters may have done." James said.
Blossom floated back up above the others and started looking in various directions.
"We shouldn't split up again." Azari said.
Pym glared at him and was clearly holding back a snide comment. This was not hard for Azari to notice.
"They might still be around, is all I mean." Azari added on.
"We won't have to split up to find them here." Blossom announced, not even bothering to look down. "They aren't here. I'm focusing all my power into looking great distances as we speak."
"Really? Then where is everybody?" James asked.
"I don't know. I saw signs of some sort of battle up ahead, but no peo...oh...oh my god!" Blossom gasped.
Blossom flew forward towards where she had been looking. The others pursued her as fast as they could. All of them were shocked by what they saw; it was the bloody corpses of Lil' Arturo, Snake, Big Billy, and Grubber.
"The Gangreen Gang." Bubbles said. "Who…?"
"It had to have been some of these Masters of Evil." Blossom insisted.
Blossom looked at the bodies and felt to begin queasy. Bubbles tried not to look. The guys were clearly put off by the sight as well. Azari hugged Pym.
"It'll be okay, Pym." Azari told him.
Pym stayed silent, but accepted the hug. Seeing something like this had put a lot into perspective for the kid, even if he didn't realize it in the moment.
"We have to find Torunn and Francis. They could explain everything." James stated.
James' wrist device started beeping. He was receiving a transmission. He pressed the button, causing it to generate a hologram of Torunn.
"Torunn!" a surprised, but relieved James smiled.
"Hello, James." Torunn greeted. "My communicator was broken in the fight, but I'm using Francis' now."
"Torunn, where are you? What happened?" Bubbles asked.
"Francis and I are back at your home, Bubbles. As for what happened? The Gangreen Gang were bait for an old foe of my father's called Radioactive Man and an old foe of Hawkeye's called Oddball. Somehow, enemies of our parents are on this Earth." Torunn began to elucidate.
"We know. They attacked all of us." Pym told her.
"Wait, so they did all this?" Blossom asked. "What about my sister?"
"Well, Radioactive Man...he...took over Buttercup's mind, Blossom. She killed the gang members and hurt Francis too." Torunn sadly informed them.
"I can't believe this." Blossom said.
"I'm sorry, but it's true." Torunn sullenly responded. "I flew us back here to get Francis somewhere safer. I was going to head back there, but it sounds like I'd be too late."
"Yeah, she's not here." Azari said.
"Neither are the Masters of Evil." James added.
"Or Ace." Bubbles added as well. "He would've been with the gang, but he's not here either."
Bubbles glanced over at the bodies again and flinched away. James noticed this.
"Good for him then. I wouldn't wish that on anyone." James said.
"You said Radioactive Man took over her mind, right?" Pym asked Torunn.
Torunn nodded yes.
"Maybe Buttercup is with them still." Pym suggested.
"Then that settles it; we have to find these creeps and get Buttercup back! Who's with me?" Blossom asked.
The others looked at her with perplexed looks.
"Ummm…yeah, Blossom, all of us are with you." Pym answered.
"Was that even in question?" Azari asked. "We're obviously still going to help."
The Utonium residence, a short time later
After arriving at the house, Blossom, Bubbles, James, Azari, and Pym joined Torunn and Francis in the living room. Francis laid on the couch with a number of bandages applied to his body. Torunn held a wet washcloth to his forehead.
"Hawkeye, how are you holding up?" Pym asked before taking a seat on a nearby chair.
"I got off easy compared to those green guys." Francis answered.
"Buttercup was so fast, so wild…" Torunn said. "We were totally caught off guard. It was horrible, watching her do what Radioactive Man had commanded."
"They were anything but our friends, but I never wished a fate like that for them. Not for anyone, I think." Blossom solemnly frowned.
James punched the wall in frustration.
"This doesn't make any sense!" he shouted.
James turned to others and sighed, slumping down against the wall.
"It really doesn't, James." Azari nodded. "Isn't it awfully strange that this team of our parents' old foes are all here? In this universe, in this city?"
"It's almost like someone wanted this to happen." Bubbles commented.
"We don't have time for this!" Blossom snapped. "Your concerns are valid, Azari, but our sister is missing! The only hope I have of getting her back is to find the rest of these Masters of Evil…"
"Blossom, we lack any knowledge of where Oddball and Radioactive Man could be taking refuge." Torunn reminded her.
"We don't even know if Buttercup would still be with them at this point." Francis added.
"We are in the dark." Azari stated sadly. "What matters now is to try to find a light out of it."
"Wow, that was a good way of putting that." Pym complimented him. "Hey, I'm sorry about before."
"Thank you, Pym." Azari smiled. "Does this mean you're not cross with me about...well, you know?"
"That? I'm sorry. I was just really thrown off by Whirlwind's daughter." Pym sighed.
"Why's that?" Bubbles asked.
"She's his sister." Blossom answered bluntly.
Everyone but Blossom and Pym gasped at that.
"No, Amy is not my sister!" Pym rapidly insisted. "It turns out this world has a version of my mom and Whirlwind married her!"
"What?! This is insane!" James yelled.
"Verily." Torunn agreed.
Just then, the door slammed open. All of the young heroes look to see Professor Utonium rushing inside frantically. He ran up to Bubbles and hugged her, then pulled Blossom into it too.
"You're here!" the Professor happily proclaimed.
"Professor, I'm sorry about Buttercup. I wish…" Francis started to apologize.
"No, this isn't your fault." Professor Utonium interrupted.
Another figure entered through the wide open door. It was Amy.
"The blame falls on my 'uncles', sorry to say." Amy tacked onto Utonium's statement.
She walked over to the others and glanced at Pym. Everyone looked at her as she set a small journal down on the table in the middle of the room.
"I think this may help you all; It's my father's not so secret diary." Amy told them.
"Amy…thank you." Pym said.
He shyly extended his hand forward. Amy accepted the gesture and they each shook the other's hand. After they were done, Azari took her other hand.
"You have no idea how perfect your timing is." Azari said to her. "We are very grateful for your help...Amy, was it?"
"Y...y...yes, you got it right." Amy blushed.
"I am Azari, it's nice to meet you." Azari grinned.
"N...nice to meet you too, handso...shake. We're shaking hands." Amy awkwardly responded.
She blushed even harder before taking her hand back. Francis smirked, amused by their interaction. Blossom picked up the small book. She flipped through it, reading it at super speed.
"This is perfect!" Blossom cheered. "The group has a hidden base just outside of town! This says that it's where they're keeping the technology that they used to come to our universe."
"That must be where they'd be!" Pym smiled.
"Yeah, three of their number are in custody and another is dead. It's the perfect place to try and think of a new course of action." James affirmed.
"Plus, the perfect place to possibly take Buttercup." Torunn added.
"We have to go there now." Francis said, getting up from the couch. "Don't even try to stop me from coming along. I've walked off worse injuries than this."
"That's my man." Torunn smiled. "Not that I minded playing nurse."
James punched the wall again.
The Secret Base of the Masters of Evil
Radioactive Man, now no longer glowing green, sat at the table he and his fellow Masters of Evil had been meeting at not so long ago. He had a laptop out and was clearly displeased by the online article he was reading.
"Blast it!" he growled.
Oddball, now with his mask off, walked into the room through a nearby door. He was carrying an oily rag in his right hand.
"What is it, Chen Lu?" Oddball asked.
"It's worse than we thought, Elton; the Melter is dead." Chen Lu answered.
Oddball's jaw dropped and he stumbled into the chair next to his ally. He looked at the article and became very sad.
"My god. Bruno's really gone. Joseph has been captured too? This is...this is not good for us." Elton said.
"Indeed." Chen Lu concurred with a nod. "It's even worse still though; there's this as well."
He clicked to move to another window he had opened on his laptop's web browser. Elton was once again floored by the headline of the article.
"Princess Morbucks' Kidnappers Surrender Themselves to Police." Oddball read. "Seriously?! Why would they do that?! Egghead…"
"Enough, Elton." Chen Lu sighed. "Don't you see what has happened? We're compromised. It's time to leave."
Elton frowned and shook his head. He set his oily rag on the table.
"Alright…I understand, boss." Elton replied. "So, where do we go? Somewhere smaller like Beach City or Aberdale? A big city like Atlanta?"
"You misunderstand me, my friend; I mean we have to go to another Earth, another universe." Radioactive Man answered.
Oddball got up from the table and, to the shock of both of them, struck Chen Lu's face.
"Chen Lu...are you insane?! We have lives here in Townsville! We're old men now! We can't just run off to some alternate reality where things could be as stupid and poorly thought out as chickens doing kung fu and karate in a giant shopping mall owned by a fish!" Oddball shouted at him.
"Oddly specific thing to suggest, but I'll concede that would be a terrible world not worth visiting." Radioactive Man said, getting up from the table as well. "On the other hand…"
He formed a fist and smashed it into Oddball's stomach. Oddball fell to the group in pain.
"...don't you dare thwack me!" the villain completed, regaining his green glow. "Who are you to defy me?! You're a juggler, you idiot! You're lucky I don't kill you right here!"
Oddball stared up at Chen Lu and glared at him with utter contempt.
"After all these years...I finally understand it; You never really cared about any of us! I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you've only ever seen us all as expendable!" Elton shouted at him. "I'm glad my brother never lived to be used up and spat out by a creep like you!"
"Ha, you think I would want more than one of you useless Healey brothers on my team? That's hilarious!" Radioactive Man laughed. "He would've just been dead weight, not even fit to clean the balls at your dinky little bowling alley."
Oddball got up and spat on Radioactive Man's foot.
"You think you're so great? It was Elihas who knew Von Doom had the ship and how to make it work! It was Joseph who got us there with his giant mutant bats! It was David who destroyed all his robot guards! Hell, I'm the one who bashed that arrogant prick's head in!" Elton snarled.
"I'm the one who disabled his armor! I held back Ultron's drone army as they laid waste to the palace!" Radioactive Man shouted back.
"No, Bruno melted them as they came, just long enough for us to hop inside the ship!" Oddball corrected him.
Radioactive Man angrily grabbed Oddball by his neck and lifted him up.
"I've changed my mind. We're not going to flee this universe." the green glowing villain grinned. "I'm leaving it myself! After scouring the multiverse of you, Elton!"
Oddball grabbed a ball from his waist and crushed it in his hands, releasing a blue slime that began to grow and start covering Radioactive Man. He let go of Oddball as the slime began to cling and expand all over his body. Oddball bolted towards the door he had entered through earlier.
"You're a foolish fool if you think this gunk will stop me!" Radioactive Man yelled after him.
"That's a strangely redundant statement, Chen Lu." Oddball chuckled.
Oddball closed the door to the room and looked upon what he had been tinkering with only so much earlier; the reality hopping ship. It looked worn and beaten, but that was not the most unappealing feature of the ship. That would be the design of it. Even after all these years, all of the Masters of Evil considered it an eyesore.
"Welp, time to enter your fat mouth, Victor." Oddball quipped.
He leapt forward through the entrance to the ship, which indeed looked like the mouth of the late Doctor Doom's mask. Which wasn't all that strange once a person recognized that the ship was, rather ridiculously, shaped like a giant model of Doom's head, but with rockets on the sides. Oddball quickly pressed various buttons inside and strapped into the pilot's seat. The roof above opened up and the ugly ship blasted right out. Oddball breathed a sigh of relief as he began to fly away from the bunker that had served as the Masters of Evil's hideout. This relief would be short-lived when the just arriving Blossom, Bubbles, Pym, and Torunn all flew up right in front of the ship.
"Oh crud." Oddball groaned.
Blossom pointed to the ground.
"Land. This. Ship. Now." the redheaded Powerpuff Girl demanded.
Oddball nervously did as he had been told. He landed the ship in front of Azari, James, and Hawkeye, who were waiting on the ground below. Oddball exited the ship, but was clearly still panicked.
"Okay, okay, I surrender!" Oddball said with his hands raised.
Azari leapt onto Oddball and pinned him to the ground. Blossom, Bubbles, Torunn, and Pym all flew down and the young heroes all grouped up around them.
"Where's Buttercup?" Bubbles angrily asked. "Where is she?!"
"I don't know! I don't know!" Oddball shouted. "Look, we have to hurry! Radioactive Man is…"
"You're lying!" Francis shouted.
"No, we just left her in the desert fighting her!" Oddball cried out, pointing at Torunn. "If she wasn't still there, I don't know where she is! Or that Ace fella!"
"Is this ugly thing what you used to flee our universe?" James asked.
"Yes, we stole it and got away as Ultron razed Latveria!" Oddball answered. "You can have it! Just don't let Radioactive Man get me!"
"Oddbaaaall!" Radioactive Man roared in the distance.
The assembled young heroes and Oddball all looked towards the direction the noise had come from. Radioactive Man was flying straight towards them at breakneck speed.
"Wait, he's after him?" a perplexed Pym questioned. "Did we miss something?"
A barrage of green energy beams came down from above, hitting everyone and throwing them in all directions. Radioactive Man landed next to the ship and placed his hand on its side.
"That was too easy." Radioactive Man chuckled.
Blossom flew up with a determined expression on her face.
"It's not over yet!" she stated.
Blossom used her freezing breath to coat Radioactive Man in ice. Within moments, it formed into a huge block with the villain seemingly trapped inside. Blossom smiled to herself, but Radioactive Man glowed a brighter green and the ice melted into water within seconds. This, however, gave the others time to gather back together around Blossom.
"Nice try, gingersnap, but I can handle a little cold weather." the evil man sneered.
Pym and Azari both began zapping Radioactive Man, knocking him back a little. Francis shot an arrow into his leg, but it burned away into nothing. This proved distracting enough to Radioactive Man, who failed to dodge a punch to his face from Bubbles, followed by a slash from Torunn's sword. James then ran forward at him with his energy shield. Radioactive Man fell to the ground. Surprisingly, it was Oddball who then attacked him, tossing another blue ball at him. It broke and covered Radioactive Man in more of the same slime as before. Blossom took this opportunity to use her freezing breath again. This caused the slime to harden, trapping Radioactive Man inside of it, only his mouth exposed.
"No! I don't want to be beaten by children!" Radioactive Man yelled out in defiance.
"Nobody cares what you want, Radioactive Man!" Torunn countered. "Now where is Buttercup?"
Radioactive Man laughed.
"I wouldn't tell you anything even if I did know!" he spoke, smugly smiling.
"Oddball." Francis said.
Francis pointed at Oddball, whose nervousness was clear to see. All the others looked at him.
"You know something. Don't even try to hide it." Francis said.
Oddball fell to his knees before the young collection of superheroes and sighed.
"I...I think I know what happened." Oddball admitted. "I'll tell you everything…"
The Utonium residence, two hours later
Professor Utonium sat in his bed. He was holding a picture he had been given relatively recently, long after he and all the others who had vanished had returned. It was of all three Powerpuff Girls, standing on top of the body of the giant squid that had stopped from destroying Cardiff.
"We should be there now. Together. As a family." Utonium sadly told himself.
"I know." Pym said.
Professor Utonium turned around to see Pym standing just outside his open door. He entered the room.
"I'm sorry about Buttercup." Pym said to him.
"She's a strong girl. She's out there somewhere." Utonium stated. "She'll be spotted eventually."
"Let me tell you a secret; When we get back home, Azari is leaving the team." Pym stated.
"Why is that?" the Professor asked, getting up from his bed.
"He needs to lead his father's people." Pym explained. "I hated the idea first, and even started to think I could stop him…but now I realize how selfish that'd be. Azari won't be out of my life forever or anything. Buttercup will be part of your life again too, once you find her. I'm sure of it."
Professor Utonium smiled at the boy.
"Thank you." he said to Pym.
The two walked out of the room.
"I wish we could stay and help with it." Pym sighed.
"I don't want to ask that of you kids." Utonium told him. "After all, it isn't like this is your fault and you need to get home. I'm sure this Tony fellow you've told me about is very worried about you."
"Oh he definitely is." Pym smiled. "You know, I didn't realize this before, but you sort of sound like Tony."
"I do? Good for him then." Professor Utonium joked.
The two walked out to the backyard,where the hideous head shaped ship stood. All of the others were there, with the other Next Avengers saying their goodbyes to Bubbles and Blossom. Amy was there as well. Bubbles hugged Torunn so tight that it actually made the latter feel weak for a moment. Azari was talking to Amy while James and Francis talked to Blossom.
"I wish we could end things on a better note." James frowned.
"We'll find our sister, James." Blossom said to him. "From what you've told us of your reality, you are needed more there than here."
"It's still strange how this all worked out." Francis stated. "I mean, we still don't even know how we were transported to this universe."
"I guess that's going to remain a mystery." Torunn said, walking over to them. "We shall journey into that mystery another day though."
"Sounds like a plan, beautiful." Francis winked.
James gagged a bit. Pym and the Professor asked past them and up to the ship.
"There's something I wanted to give you." Pym said.
Pym flew inside the ship very quickly and came back out just as quickly. He was holding a stack of papers in a folder. He handed them to Professor Utonium.
"It turns out that there were blueprints to the machine inside of it." Pym explained. "The bad guys weren't smart enough to make more ships like this, but you totally are."
"Wow!" Professor Utonium gasped as he looked through the papers. "This is advanced stuff! I'm definitely going to have to call Dexter about this…"
Pym smiled and then flew over to Amy to say goodbye, only for his face to go blue when he saw her jump up and give Azari a big wet kiss on his cheek. Azari seemed just as surprised as Pym. Amy waved goodbye to Azari as he skipped over to Pym.
"What can I say? Your brother's my type." Amy giggled. "Besides, I don't know when you'll be coming again."
"Again?" Pym asked.
"Well, I assumed you would eventually come back to see Buttercup when she gets back home." Amy answered. "Now that you have the ship that brought my father here."
"Oh yeah, of course!" Pym nodded approvingly. "That makes a lot of sense. Umm...about your dad…"
"Look, my dad did a bad thing, but I still love him. My mom does too. We are going to be there for him when he gets out of jail, whenever that is." Amy told him. "He was hardly the worst guy out of his team."
"Hmmm, I guess you're right." Pym replied.
The two hugged each other.
"Don't be gone too long, 'bro'." Amy whispered. "...and make sure Azari's still single."
"Aren't you a bit young to be worried about that?" Pym whispered back.
Amy pulled out of the hug and shrugged. She joined Blossom, Bubbles and the Professor as the Next Avengers all entered the ship. All four waved goodbye to them as the ship lifted into the air and then vanished in a bright flash of light.
"We'll see them again, right?" Bubbles wondered.
"Don't worry, sweetie." Professor Utonium smiled as he held up the paper in his hand. "I have big plans for these… After we find your sister."
"Once I find her, I'm going to apologize for what I said." Blossom announced.
Blossom looked up at the sky, determination shining in her eyes.
"I am going to make this right." she said to herself. "I promise you, Buttercup. Wherever you are, I hope you're happy and safe."
Hundreds of miles away, in a mall in another city
Ace was admiring a bass guitar in the window of a music shop.
"I need that." Ace said to himself.
He felt around in his pockets for money and frowned when all he could find was a couple of dollars and a dime.
"Aw man." Ace groaned. "Not enough, and it isn't like I can just steal it."
"Why not, bud?" Buttercup asked.
Ace turned around to see the girl who, earlier that day, he would've recognized as Buttercup. Now though, he only knew her as the girl he met in the desert. Even then, she looked much different now; She wore a black leather biker jacket over a black top and a darker green skirt. Her hair was now wilder and spikier as well, with a dyed green streak.
"I hit up a couple stores." she explained.
"You look great!" Ace complimented.
"Yeah yeah, I know." she casually agreed. "But...I was thinking something."
"What is it?" he asked.
"I think we need names if we're going to be finding our way in the world together." she answered. "I was thinking you could start calling me...Belladonna."
Earth-555326
Yet-To-Be-Named, New York
A burst of bright light appeared above the developing city, catching the attention of many of the former refugees standing in the makeshift street. At first, some panicked at the sight of the strange, ugly ship descending down from above, but all that stopped when the Next Avengers came out from it.
"Hey, it's them!" a man called out.
"They're back!" a woman exclaimed.
A crowd began to gather around them, with many of the people asking where they had been and what had occurred. Things fell silent when Tony appeared. The crowd stepped back, allowing him to walk up to the five.
"What happened? Are you all okay?" Tony asked.
"We are fine, Tony." Torunn answered, hugging him.
"Yeah, but we have a lot to tell you about!" James said.
"That can wait." Tony said. "Come on, I want to show you kids something."
Tony led the group to a large, old building. Several people were there, giving it a fresh coat of paint. Above the entrance was a large white tarp that appeared to be covering a sign.
"Hey, guys! Let's show them the name!" Tony called out.
A few people on the roof nodded and pulled the tarp off, revealing a series of metal letters which spelt out 'The Museum of Heroes Past'. Tony turned to the Next Avengers and smiled proudly.
"I started this while you were away; it's going to honor all the heroes Ultron killed. All of them." Tony explained.
"Tony, that's great." Azari said, smiling warmly.
"Yeah, but we really do have a lot to tell you about." Francis said.
"Heh, alright, kid." Tony said. "Come inside. I'm all ears."
With that, the Next Avengers and Tony Stark entered the in-progress museum. No matter what was to come, no matter what happened, they were all just happy to still be together, both as a team and as a family. As long as they could make that work, they knew they'd be alright. No matter the distances that kept them apart.
So that's that for now. I know that I left some things dangling, but that was intentional. There's more I want to do with these characters. I'm even working on a one-shot about the characters, as well as some epilogues for this story that I'll be adding at some point that'll tease those tales. Anyway...
Some notes:
- Buttercup's new "identity" is based on her Belladonna persona from the game FusionFall. I never played it back in the day, but I thought it'd be a neat way to go.
- Ace's desire for a bass guitar is a reference to his character briefly replacing Murdoc in The Gorillaz.
- You probably noticed the references to Steven Universe, Mike, Lu & Og, and Clarence, (plus Dexter being referred to again as well) but the mention of Atlanta was actually meant to be a nod to Class of 3000.
- I was originally going to have the reveal of the museum be Tony revealing a massive mural of heroes, including the Avengers, that would've been revealed to have been made by an alternate version of real life artist Alex Ross who was a survivor in the city. I decided against it because of the story's time scale.
- The alternate version of Earth-555326's Janet van Dyne is actually a doctor. So she's also, from a certain point of view, also Doctor Bong! Just thought I'd explain the joke.
- I know other stories have said that characters shouldn't hop universes much, but...these characters don't know that. Bet that'll lead to some shenanigans.
- As for the mystery woman? Well, she's actually shown up in Tales of the Beyond. I'm not going to spoil who she was though. That's a story for another time.