HeroVerse
Chapter 4
"Dragons and Super Spies"
A/N: I started working on this chapter only a few hours after finishing/posting Chapter 3. Had ideas that I wanted to start writing down or at least set up to remind myself of later. Anyways, let's begin.
Kim Possible HATED working on her birthday. She was twenty-three years old and hadn't had a birthday off of work since she had graduated. Granted, her line of work was not typical. Officially, she was Kim Possible; Superhero Secret Agent! Unofficially, she was a Freelance Agent for the government. She worked with the government and handled the jobs they couldn't typically handle, or act on. Today, her job took her to an underground bunker in New York City. Her mission briefing was very vague. An "anomaly" had pinged their system. Said system tracked the anomaly to an abandoned secret military base. Kim flew over New York City, wearing a jetpack and helmet. The helmet itself had a visor with a HUD that directed her to her destination. She began to descend, drawing many stares from the patrons of New York.
Her jetpack retracted into a backpack and the helmet collapsed into a headband, which she stored in the bag. Kim wore a purple turtleneck and black pants. A brown belt hung around her waist, and she wore brown leather gloves to protect her hands. She stretched a bit, stiff from holding her flying position. "Wade, I've just touched down." Kim said, holding her hand to an earpiece.
"Good to know the new jetpack model worked well." Wade said. Kim could picture him giving a thumbs up as he spoke.
"Sure did. This new gear is top of the line." Kim nodded, looking around. "So where to, next? Do you have a description of the bunker's front store?'
"One second," Wade said. A series of clacking keys could be heard as Wade brought up the necessary files. "Got it. You're looking for a….Mr. Smoothy? Store 23 to be specific."
"Mr. Smoothy? Never heard of it." Kim said.
"Yeah neither have I." Wade said as more clacking could be heard. "And apparently neither has the rest of the world. I can't find any records of it anywhere. Not even a hint or something close."
"Definitely weird." Kim nodded, searching for the mysterious smoothie place.
"You've got your Battle Suit, right?" Wade asked.
"Yup, got it on under the uniform." Kim nodded as she walked down the street.
"Stay on guard. There's a good chance we'll be flying blind once you find this place." Wade said. "The big wigs didn't even bother to provide schematics."
"Roger that." Kim said. "I'll ring you if anything comes up. Stand by."
"Copy that. Wade out." The line clicked right as Kim found her destination. Mr. Smoothy was a small establishment that was built into a much larger building with multiple floors. Kim couldn't help but wonder what went on on the other floors. Surely they didn't just let any company set up shop right above a super-secret government facility. The sign over the door featured cartoony lettering and a silly looking smoothy cup cup mascot. Mr. Smoothy, she presumed. Kim approached and looked in through the window. Customers lined the counter, waiting on their fruity beverages. It looked completely normal. Kim was about to open the door and walk in when a red shape tackled her and sent her flying through the air. She hit the concrete hard but she was able to fall into a roll and came up on her feet, taking a fighting stance. Her arms and face were a bit scratched up but she was otherwise unharmed.
What she saw, she didn't quite understand at first. It was a humanoid that seemed to be made of some sort of red energy. The energy flowed off its head and joints like flames and two glowing white eyes bore down on her. "Yes, you are the human that Eon directed me towards." It said.
"What are you? And who the hell is Eon?" Kim interrogated, not letting up from her battle stance.
"Do not worry yourself with questions, human." It said. "I, the Alpha Nanite, will deliver you to my allies, and have you destroyed."
"Not going to happen, buddy." Kim said. She pressed a button on the strap of her back pack. Her white and blue Battle Suit seemed to form and light up from under her clothes, covering her arms to her wrists. She crackled with electricity and determination.
"What fascinating technology," Alpha said. "Perhaps you can be of use to draw the OTHER one out."
Kim charged, letting out a battle cry as she focused electricity around her fist. She threw a punch at Alpha's head. To her surprise, Alpha's head seemed to change shape so that the punch narrowly missed its face. Then, Alpha melted into a red cloud and started forming itself around Kim. Kim let out a startled cry, as Alpha invaded the inner workings of her Battle Suit.
"Get…OUT!" She cried in surprise as the nanite bonded with the suit. The blue circuitry quickly changed to orange as Alpha assumed control of the suit, and by extension, Kim. Kim could feel Alpha move her arms and legs around, feeling out his new vessel.
"Do not resist, human." Alpha said, its voice emanating from the suit. "I will only need to make use of your body for a short time."
Jake Long, age twenty, strolled down the streets of New York without a care in the world. He wore a sleeveless red vest with yellow stripes on the shoulders over a black t-shirt. Dark blue jeans and red sneakers covered his lower half. He'd grown a lot since he'd imprisoned the Dark Dragon six years ago, though he was still shorter than your typical 20-year old. No major threats to the magical community had surfaced since, and he had refined his abilities by fighting the street-level thugs of New York, magical or otherwise. But right now, he wasn't worried about fighting bad guys or saving the world. Right now, he was on his way to get a smoothie from a new shop he'd seen the other day.
It was then, he'd heard an explosion from around the corner, in the direction of the smoothie shop. "Aww man, figures some monster wacko would get in the way of me and a smoothie." Jake sighed, running his hand through his green-tipped black hair. He leaned against the building closest to the corner and took a look around. What he saw confused him.
It was a red-headed girl, wearing a purple shirt, but under it she seemed to wear some kind of suit with orange lines running across it. She gathered orange electricity in her hands and fired it at a billboard, melting the support beams in the process. With a screech of twisting metal, the billboard began to fall to the streets below…directly to a group of innocent bystanders.
"Oh hell nah, dawg." Jake smacked his fist into his open palm. "Time to short out this electro chick before anyone gets hurt. DRAGON UP!" Jake's voice echoed.
Flames and blue mist swirled around him as his body expanded and changed. His clothes seemed to disappear as he grew up to seven feet tall. His body was covered in red armored scales with a yellow underbelly. His black and green hair morphed into spikes on his head and down his back and wings sprouted from his back. His hands and feet turned into wickedly sharp claws. The fire and mist blew away as lightning crackled across his body and he let out a mighty roar. American Dragon: Jake Long, had arrived.
With a blur of movement, Jake flew into the fray, catching the billboard just in time, hovering over the people who'd almost been crushed. "RUN!" He roared. The people ran, more out of fright at the sight of a giant dragon than anything else. Jake landed, setting down the billboard. "Alright lady, I'm gonna give you one chance to knock it off, otherwise you and me are going to have words." Jake said.
Kim couldn't believe what she was seeing. A seven-foot-tall dragon was threatening to throw down with her, AND her suit was being controlled by some sort of ghost. She'd seen some weird stuff, but this took the cake. "You have to listen to me! I'm Kim Possible! But something's taken control of my Battle Suit! I can't control it!" Kim said as Alpha raised her arms and fired an electric blast at Jake.
"Woah!" Jake hovered off the ground as he dodged the blast. "Watch it lady, I just got the wings dry cleaned."
Jake soared towards and around Kim and let out a belch of fire. The fire ball roared towards Kim, but Alpha was ready. It called up a shield of energy that completely nullified the flames. Alpha then converted the shield into an energy blast and fired at Jake. This time, Alpha hit its mark, blasting Jake in the chest and sent him hurtling into the street. Jake hit the ground hard, digging a trench with his body. He groaned in pain, rubbing his head as he sat up. He got back on his feet and fired a steady stream of flames from his mouth at Kim. Again, Alpha called up a shield of energy, which completely halted Jake's attack.
Alpha dispersed the shield, and the flames with it. It forced Kim to fire an electric blast at Jake, hitting him directly in the chest and sending dangerous amounts of electricity through his body. Jake roared in pain as he collapsed to his hands and knees. Alpha continued to force electricity through Jake's body. Kim could sense its satisfaction.
"Only a few moments longer and I will have all the data I need." Alpha said in Kim's head.
"Stop it!" Kim yelled out. "You're killing him!"
"That is the objective." Alpha replied.
Jake struggled to stand, but he knew if he did nothing, he was done for. Jake let out a defiant roar and sent a volley of fire balls at Kim. This time, Jake hit HIS mark. The fire balls hit home and Kim stumbled. She cried out in pain as the fireballs left burns on her skin. But she wasn't the only one feeling the pain. She could feel Alpha's own pain and frustration.
"Insolent creature." Alpha growled so that Jake could hear. "I have the data I need…now I will eliminate you for good." Alpha began charging up a large amount of energy in Kim's hands, preparing a final blast.
Jake, still stunned and weak from the electricity that had ravaged his body, could only look on as Alpha prepared the killing blow. Then, Jake and Kim heard the sound of a bell ringing as a door opened. They both looked in the direction of the noise. Someone had come out of Mr. Smoothy. There stood a boy who couldn't have been much older than Jake. He wore a black and green hoody and a glove on his left hand. The glove covered half his forearm and his thumb, index finger, and middle finger. White and glowing green circuitry decorated the glove, centering around what Jake thought was a watch face.
"Found you, Alpha." Hoodie boy said. "Why don't you come out of that poor girl's suit and fight me fair and square."
"Tennyson!" Alpha roared. Kim could sense Alpha's frustration growing into anger and hatred. "I'll have you destroyed this time!" Alpha redirected the beam meant for Jake and fired it straight at Tennyson.
The boy named Tennyson raised his left arm, pressing a button his glove. A dial raised up, displaying a hologram. Tennyson then slammed the dial down and was cloaked in a green light just as Alpha's attack struck.
Kim and Jake both the thought the boy was done for. He'd been hit head on for a blast that would surely have destroyed Jake. But instead, the boy had changed. He'd been replaced with a six-foot tall creature with one big green eye. His body was adorned with several battery-like bolts on his body. His two long antennae had plug-like appendages attached at the tip. His tail also had a similar plug. A green hourglass symbol shown on his chest. He was holding out his hands in front of him, and the bolts on his fingers seemed to be absorbing the blast.
"Feedback!" The Conductoid cried out triumphantly. "Sorry Alpha, but this alien is all about absorbing energy!"
Alpha roared in anger, releasing the blast as it jumped out of Kim's suit and charged at Feedback. Feedback narrowly dodged Alpha's tackle and fired a blast of electricity from his hands at Alpha. He hit Alpha in the back and sent agonizing pain through the nanite's body.
"It matters not…" Alpha wheezed. "I have obtained the data I need." Alpha held out its hand in front of it and a swirling purple portal opened up. Alpha formed itself into a cloud and leaped through the portal, closing it as it flew through.
"Dang, lost him." Feedback sighed. Feedback placed a hand to the glowing hourglass on his chest, and in a green flash, the boy known as Tennyson reappeared.
Kim dusted herself off as she took inventory of herself. Besides a few scrapes and general soreness, she'd come out unscathed. With a flash of fire and blue mist, Jake assumed his human form again. All three of them walked towards each other, meeting halfway in the street.
Kim first looked at Jake. "I'm not sure what's going on here or how you're an actual dragon, but I hope that weird ghost thing didn't hurt you too bad."
"It's okay girl," Jake nodded. "My dragon form is pretty tough. I had that thing on the ropes."
Kim chuckled. "Sure, kid. Anyways, my name's Kim, Kim Possible." She held out her hand.
Jake answered it with his own, gripping her hand and shaking. "Jake Long, I'm the American Dragon."
Kim let go of Jake's hand and turned towards Tennyson. "That just leaves you, what's your name?"
"Where I'm from they call me Ben Tennyson." Ben said. "Kim, Jake, your universe just got a whole lot bigger."
Ben began to explain to them everything that had happened thus far. The universe hopping, Eon, Dark, Alpha, as well as the other heroes Ben had met.
"So you're saying this Eon guy is gathering a group of bad guys for some kind of multiverse-spanning plan?" Kim asked.
"Yeah, and for some reason, he had Alpha invade your universe." Ben nodded.
"It kept saying that it was here for data." Kim said. "I think it had something to do with Jake's dragon abilities."
"Jake, any idea why someone would want information on your powers?" Ben asked him.
"I mean, BESIDES the fact that I'm a super cool, super powerful dragon?" Jake said, with a hint of ego in his words.
Ben and Kim both lifted an eyebrow.
"I'm kidding." Jake reassured. "But unless they're trying to replicate my powers or something, I'm not sure what they'd need that kind of info for." He shrugged.
Ben touched his chin in thought. "I guess for now, all I can do is wait for Eon's next move." He began heading back into the Mr. Smoothy. "Anyways, good work you two. I'll see you later."
"Wait a sec, dawg!" Jake called for Ben. "You think you're just gonna tell me all that and NOT expect me to want to come along?!"
"Sorry guys, but I've already dragged more people into this than I would've liked." Ben shook his head. "I can't have you guys in danger too."
"Like we were asking." Kim tossed her hair back, crossing her arms. "That Alpha thing picked a fight and was clearly here for a reason. Jake and I have every reason to want to come along and figure out what's going along."
Ben sighed, but nodded. "Fair enough, fine then. Follow me inside."
The two, a bit confused, followed Ben into the smoothie shop. Ben walked back behind the counter and into the back room. In the back room, two small frog-like aliens were fiddling with some sort of machine that was hooked up to the shop with several wires.
"Blukic, Driba, it's time to go." Ben said. "And I'm bringing some friends."
Blukic wore overalls and a cap on his head. His green eyes were slightly cross-eyed. "Alright Ben, Store 23 is ready to return home."
Driba was slightly pudgy and seemed to wear some sort of armor. Jake and Kim would later learn that he was wearing a Plumbers uniform. "Whenever you're ready, Mr. Tennyson."
"What the heck are these guys?" Jake asked Ben.
"Blukic and Driba are Galvan scientists who work for the police force I work with." Ben explained. "They're pretty smart…most of the time."
"We resemble that remark." Blukic said in a slight country drawl.
"It's we RESENT that remark you moron." Driba hit Blukic over the head with a wrench.
"Alright enough of this." Ben sighed. He walked over to the machine and began pressing buttons on the console.
Time and space began to shift around them as the machine dragged Store 23 back to Ben's home dimension. In a few moments, Ben and the Galvan were back home.
"Come on you two, it's time to get to base and have you meet the rest of the gang." Ben gestured for Jake and Kim to follow.
They stepped out of Mr. Smoothy and Ben invited them to ride in his car back to his base.
"This is definitely not what I had in mind for birthday number twenty-four." Kim said, looking around at the universe she'd stepped into. Only a moment ago, she'd been in the streets of New York. Now she was in a completely different city, on a completely different Earth.
"Oh, happy birthday, girl." Jake said. "Sorry if I roughed you up too much." Jake scratched the back of his head.
"Please, if Alpha hadn't been controlling my suit, I totally would've won that fight." Kim smiled.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Jake replied. "No way! I was kicking that thing's butt too!"
"Kids kids, point is, I'm the one who won that fight." Ben said, thumb to his chest.
"Pretty sure I'm older than you, kid." Kim smirked.
"Not the point." Ben laughed.
In the Plumber's Base, a room about six levels below the main command room was the gym, or the training area. There were several barriers placed tactically to use defensively in training simulations. However, these barriers didn't do much against someone like Danny Phantom. Rex sat hidden behind one of these walls, catching his breath after a brief skirmish with Danny. His reprieve wouldn't last long. Danny popped his head out of the wall to Rex's left.
"Peek-a-boo!" Danny said confidently. His hand appeared and he fired a blast of ecto-energy right in Rex's face.
Luckily the EVO was half-expecting the surprise attack. His left hand came up and formed a small blue metal gauntlet, known as the Block Party. The gauntlet produced a shield of blue energy that deflected the ecto-blast. Rex somersaulted away, keeping the shield in between him and the blast. Once Danny's attack ceased, Rex dropped the shield and simultaneously formed the Punk Busters around his legs and a Smack Hand on his right arm. He used the Punk Busters to launch himself at the now tangible Danny and swung the Smack Hand at his head. Rex caught Danny off guard and hit him hard, sending him hurtling through the air.
Danny caught himself in midair as mist began to flow off his right arm. He fired a beam of ice towards Rex, freezing his right Smack Hand. Rex started up the drill mechanism within the smack hand, spinning the mechanical fist rapidly and completely shattering the ice. "Not bad, Danny Phantom." Rex said.
"You're not too bad yourself, Generator Rex." Danny chuckled before firing another blast at Rex.
Rex formed Block Party with his left hand to deflect the blast. He charged forward, shield raised and giant mecha fist at the ready. Rex got within striking distance and swung his fist. Danny raised his arm, mimicking Rex and formed an ecto-shield to block the fist. The shield flashed upon colliding with the fist. Rex's attack recoiled and sent both boys back a few inches. Rex collapsed his machines, and then his right arm morphed into a sword, the Big Fat Sword, to be specific. The sword was as long as Rex was tall and definitely leaned into the intimidation factor.
"Compensating for something?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rex gritted his teeth in a slightly annoyed smile. He lunged at Danny, swinging the B.F.S. in a wide arc at Danny. Danny became intangible, letting the sword harmlessly pass through him. Danny flew at Rex, charging his fists with ecto energy and landed a hard right hook on Rex's face. Rex stumbled back and prepared to counter with his sword. But Danny was too fast. He charged ecto-energy in his hands and fired a blast point-blank range at Rex. The blast roared towards Rex, hitting him hard and sending him flying across the room. He hit one of the cushioned walls hard and slumped, stunned and beaten. Rex's sword collapsed as Danny walked over.
"Good fight, Rex." Danny offered his hand to the EVO youth.
Rex accepted it and with Danny's help, stood up. "No kidding, your powers are pretty cool."
"Hey, building machines out of your body is nothing to sneeze at, either." Danny smiled. A ring of blue light appeared around Danny and washed over him, returning him to his human form.
The two heard the distant sound of slow clapping, and turned to see Ben in the viewing window. He was accompanied by two others, an Asian boy and a red-headed girl. Danny and Rex dusted themselves off and headed towards the viewing room.
The five heroes found themselves in the command room of Plumbers HQ. Max Tennyson stood before them in front of the giant monitors. Gentlemen…and lady," Max began. "Through a series of unexpected events, our universes have crossed over more than once." Max clicked a button on a remote. On the screen, three mugshot-esque images blipped on. "The Alpha Nanite, Ben and Rex have fought this being before. It's a biomechanical AI that can absorb nanites and copy or take control of machines. It's advanced enough to copy Ben's Omnitrix, an incredibly complex machine that was foreign to Alpha's home universe."
The screen depicted found footage of Ben and Rex's fight against the Alpha Nanite. Another click of Max's remote switched footage to Dark Danny. "Dan Phantom, otherwise known as Dark, an ecto-being from an alternate future of Danny's. He exists outside of time and is working to re-establish his place in the timeline. And he's allied himself with just the man to do it."
Max clicked the remote one more time to focus on the third individual. "Eon. A Chronian from an alternate universe. His goal is to find whatever it is he needs in order to bring balance back to his homeworld and save his people. He has time powers, time rays, time travel, time portals, etcetera. These abilities are what's allowing him to travel through time and space to cause all the trouble he has so far."
"Mister Tennyson, that Alpha Nanite creature came to Jake and I's universe looking for something." Kim said. "Once it had scanned Jake and gathered certain data, it seemed satisfied to leave."
"I have a theory that Eon is looking for another ally in your universe, probably related to Jake in some way." Max said, scratching his chin.
"But any baddies big enough of a problem are long gone, by now, Gramps." Jake responded.
"Remember, Eon is a time traveler, death isn't an obstacle." Danny said.
"Right, my bad." Jake said.
"Nevertheless, his gathering of allies isn't my biggest concern." Max continued. "My biggest worry, is that we have no idea what Eon's plan is this time."
"We haven't seen him since our fight in Danny's universe." Ben said. "He's been acting through others, Dark and Alpha."
"That's right, Ben." Max said. "History shows that he has to use his time abilities sparingly, as using these abilities drains his body. So that may be part of the reason he's been recruiting others. But I don't think that's the only reason. It's a little too simple for my taste."
"Whatever they're up to, there's no doubt they aren't going to win!" Rex said triumphantly. "I mean come on abuelo, we got me, the superpowered robo-EVO. Ben 10, the Hero of Heroes. Danny Phantom, the half-man, half-ghost superhero. Jake Long, the American Dragon. And Kim Possible, who can do anything."
"Can you really do anything?" Jake asked.
"It was a catchy tagline for my babysitting website." Kim sighed.
"You had a babysitting website?" Jake asked again.
"Believe it or not, it's how all of this started." She replied.
"Rex, even with the five of you, I wouldn't underestimate these three monsters." Max continued. He rubbed his chin, looking back at the screen, which displayed various footage of the three villains. "Whatever it is Eon's up to, I think it's going to be the biggest threat we've all ever faced."
Alpha stepped through the time portal into the mysterious pocket dimension where Eon resided. Eon stood with Dark and a new addition, Doctor Animo. "Welcome back, nanite." Eon said in his filtered voice.
"The mission was a success, Timewalker." Alpha stated. "I have the data you seek. Jake Long is a worthy adversary, but there is most definitely someone in his past perfect to dispose of him."
"Perfect." Eon took the data band from Alpha, who had tossed it to him. His purple chrono energy flowed around the band. "I see, it seems I'll have to make another jump in time in order to retrieve this asset."
"What is even the point of gathering this ragtag group of Saturday morning villains, Eon?" Animo asked.
"Well you see, Dark wasn't only there to break you out of confinement." Eon explained. "He was also retrieving something for me."
Dark held up a small, disc-like device. The face of the device was red with a silver-tooth like design. It bore a striking resemblance to something both Animo and Alpha were very familiar with.
"Is that an Omnitrix?" Alpha asked, stepping towards it, arm outstretched.
A blast of purple energy intercepted Alpha, cutting him off and forcing him to step back. Eon stood with his arm outstretched, hand still smoking from the blast. "Keep away, you vampiric machine." He threatened. "The Nemetrix is too valuable for me to allow you to soil it with your incomplete makeup."
"The Nemetrix, what does it do?" Animo asked.
"It contains the DNA of ten different alien predatory species." Eon explained. "It was designed as an answer to the Omnitrix. But its creators' vision for it was flawed and incomplete. I hope to finish their work to create a weapon against our enemies."
"With the data Alpha retrieved, we hope to obtain a subject to use the device." Dark added.
"As for you, Animo," Eon began. "Due to your expertise in alien zoology, I want you to help me gather more DNA samples to add to the Nemetrix, in order to make it even more versatile than it is."
"I see, this should be a fun little expedition." Animo laughed. "Though I need to get access to my other bodies. This gorilla form doesn't do me much good in a lab setting."
"Don't worry yourself, Animo." Eon assured. "I will make sure you have everything you need to do your work. But first, I require a hunter."