Author's notes: The first two scenes here are pretty much just downtime on the characters in them after what they have been through. Some of it can been seen as your usual anime/manga tropes. I don't know what else to say about this chapter that wouldn't spoil it from this point.

Replies to reviews:

-Sailor Dragonball 87: copy and past of my PM response to you in case anyone else asks: "Correction. That Superman recognizes Ash as Bruce and realizes he is not, but scanning his DNA saw that he is partly Bruce. The Nightmare Supermen can see this as well, but they have been told by their Master AKA Barbatos, that Ash is a close enough version of the Batman they need to use as their Wagon. Remember Dawn's Piplup with Bruce? He saw that Bruce was a version of Ash, but saw that he was not the Ash he knew. The difference lies in knowing the difference and understanding why the difference is there.

For your possible follow-up questions:

The Batman Who Laughs referred to these Nightmare Supermen in the previous chapter as ''Black Sun'' which is their team name in contrast to the Dark Knights. Barbatos chose the Nightmare Batmen as His first line assault team, but He has other corrupted Nightmare versions of other heroes stashed and waiting to be used at the bottom of the Dark Multiverse for them to open the door to the true multiverse above. The zombie earth Superman could have been one of them as well, but he still has his morals and would rather protect Ash than join them.

And he is immune to the virus. In the fan-made summary I found, Superman spent, I don't recall, a week maybe, in the Sun charging his solar powered cells to burn the virus away from his body. Then he returned to find Earth overrun by the zombies and as an act of mercy, flew through the planet and destroyed it. Here, however, he found Ash alive down there before he could do that." And to your final question, we get a small glimpse of Barbatos' forces in this chapter.

-Guest: Keep your creative criticism coming, my friend.

Chapter 13: Burning Library

Team Rocket Airship floating over Cinnabar Island

In the lower decks, the Pokémon trainers from different regions dismissed by Thomas Jr had settled to their cabins. Most of these cabins were executive level hotel rooms with working desks and sofas along with beds, not to mention a bar with expensive drinks and quality beverages.

In one of those cabins, May and Dawn helped Serena to sit on the bed while they sat down on the sofa next to and tired to see if they could help her in processing what had happened to her. Ash's death was a huge hit on all of them as he had been a good and reliable friend to all of them, but Serena seemed to be dealing with it harder than May and Dawn due to what the Batman Who Laughs had done to her mother Grace. That made them also think back on their mothers and families on their home regions on Hoenn and Sinnoh. And what would become of them if the Batman Who Laughs managed to convert their world into being a part of the Dark Multiverse.

''Serena, just sit down there,'' May said when Serena was trying to get up and do something. ''Who wants to drink something? I want to drink something.''

''I'm not legally old enough to-'' Dawn was about to say when May pulled a bottle and three glass cups.

''Dawn, no one is going stop you, except your own state of denial,'' May said putting the cups on the round desk between the bed and the sofa, before starting to pour the alcohol into the cups. ''Between now and us meeting up in Mauville, we have been almost been shot, blinded and drowned, learned that our common friend is the cause of all that and his home town had been destroyed, unknowingly been accompanied by the monster that destroyed his hometown, seen one of his friend killed and her body defiled and OH MY ARCEUS, that could have happened to any of us! Then we were thrown into watching murder play where one man was pushed into KILLING AN ENTIRE WORLD and learn that there are seven to eight versions of that same man and that ASH IS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE and now he is dead.''

May paused her rant by pouring her cup of expensive Team Rocket Bollinger, that's what it said in the label of the bottle, down her throat on one go. Serena took a sip and was completely numb to it while Dawn just looked at it with her nose.

''And if that wasn't all,'' May continued pouring herself another drink, ''we were now told that our world could be on the line to be destroyed next, while the people who are supposed to stop that from happening, apparently just killed himself.''

''And the Batman Who Laughs turned my mom into his bitch,'' Serena said in sour voice before taking a bigger sip of her cup. ''If Ash was really another version of Bruce and if the Batman Who Laughs also counts as another Ash, I don't know if I can kiss him a fourth time.''

''YOU AND ASH DID WHAT!?'' May and Dawn screamed astoundished as Serena took another glung to empy her cup.

''I kissed him when we departed in Kalos and then before the Drowned attacked us,'' Serena answered in a deadpan while refilling her cup in front of May's and Dawn's dropped down jaws. ''Those two were surprises from me and short ones, but the last one was long and mutual.''

All three emptied their cups when she had said that.

''Ugh, this tastes way too sour,'' Dawn holding onto her throat and looked at her glass.

''It's the taste of quality and expense,'' May said quickly ready to refill their cups. ''Serena, what else did you and Ash do? And how did you two start-''

''I don't want to think about it right now,'' Serena said with a grim voice. ''I can't… think back to Ash right now, because… I think about him and I'm immediately reminded that he is a version of Bruce and the Batman Who Laughs is, as a version of Ash, doing who knows what to my mom and-''

The cabin they were in was lit with a dim lighting, but suddenly it had turned darker so slowly that they had not realized it until it was so dark that they might as well have been sitting in a dark void.

''WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!? DID THEY FIND US!?'' were May and Dawn's reactions to their sudden relocation to the dark void while Serena reacted quietly by just lifting her head. ''ARE WE GOING TO DIE!?''

In another cabin, the Unovian couple of Hilda and Hilbert took a look a round it before settling down on the sofa.

''You think we should have gone back Unova after you were discharged, Prez?'' Hilbert asked sitting on the sofa and threw his hat on the bed.

''Umm,'' Hilda hummed uncertain as she sat on the bed across the sofa and held her hand on the side of her body that had been operated at Goldenrod. ''I don't think there would have been a bigger difference.''

''Uh, yeah, besides knowing that our world might be pulled into a dark place and be used as cannon fodder to breakthrough into another collection of worlds, we could be home right now,'' Hilbert said in a kind of impatient tone, before burying his face in his hands and then leaned back. ''Sorry, it's just that I have been stuck inside that stone with Reshiram for 2 years and I remember having a couple of things left undone. I would have also liked to have seen Cheren and Bianca again, not to mention my mom, before the end of the world happened. And then there's my dept paying you back for that equipment I broke-''

''Actually,'' Hilda said removing her and sleeveless jacket, carefully while holding onto her side, ''I tried to tell you before the Light Stone closed in on you. You did pay it all back.''

Hilbert's head swung up quickly like a weight had been lifted.

''Oh, well, that's… one thing off the list,'' Hilbert said dumbfondedly.

''Also, during the last two years I managed to expand BW Agency to the Pokéstar Studios in Virbank City,'' Hilda continued, removing her shoes. ''The Pokémon represented by the company get to work more frequently in movies filmed there. What you owed has been paid back more time than I can remember right now.''

''Nice… I think,'' Hilbert said in thought imagining what Hilda had just described. ''Um, Prez, if Bruce's nightmares won't get to destroy our world, do I still have a job working for you?''

''Umm, no you don't,'' Hilda said semi-apologently. ''It's a common company policy to terminate any employment when the employee fails to show up at work for two years.''

''Are you telling me I'm fired?'' Hilbert asked mildly betrayed.

''Yes, but the fact that we are no longer an employer and an employee, and the fact that we have this room to each other right now,'' Hilda said standing up from the bed and walked to stand in front of Hilbert, ''means there is nothing stopping me from doing this.''

''Prez, what are you-''

Hilda let her entire body weight fall down on to Hilbert and did the best of her ability to land on him in the way that they would both stay comfortable as Hilbert reactively caught her, but

''Ow ow ow ow,'' Hilda complained with her left hand quickly reaching to her side. ''It's okay, the stiches are still closed.''

''Prez-''

''I'm fine, I'm fine,'' Hilda said cutting him off. ''Stupid wounds, I have been waiting for this over two years and they have make harder-''

''Wait what?'' Hilbert asked caught off guard. ''Over two years?!''

''Oh, yeaaah,'' Hilda said, realizing what she had said. ''I was planning to do this to congratulate when you won against the Elite 4 at the Pokémon League, but then Team Plasma attacked and…''

''Yeah, thanks a lot, N and Ghetsis,'' Hilbert said disgruntedly thinking back to when N's Castle had risen from the ground at Pokémon League and Team Plasma had attacked the Pokémon Trainers participating. ''Hey, what? 'When I won'? You were expecting me to win againt the entire Elite 4?''

''Well, if not won, then at the very least after you had managed to get your chance at battling them,'' Hilda said sucking up her pain and moved her hands to open the zipper on Hilbert's jacket to reveal the banner-vest he was still wearing under there. ''And after you were going to advertise the company at the League, you more than deserve to have this.''

''Umm,'' Hilbert said in thought processing what was happening. ''Okay, between this and the world probably ending-''

She silenced him by doing what the impatient do when they can't wait anymore. He waited two seconds before going along with it. Not long after that, he took a better hold of her to lift them both off the sofa and carefully placed her to lay on the bed. Before joining her on the bed, he took of his jacket and the banner vest sporting her company's old logo. Seeing him do that, she reached to loosen her short jeanshorts, that had her white t-shirt tugged into the legs. She did it carefully do to her healing woulds, so he waited before coming to lay down on the bed with her, or actually, on her as she had her arms stretched towards him to pull his body next to hers, while also focused on removing his shirt.

What followed next was them holding onto each other with such passion, that they had closed their eyes enjoy it with their other four senses as they did. And that is what kept them oblivious to the fact how their surrounding areas begun to dim and become dark so much that they might as that they might as well had been in void. But they didn't realize that until-

''WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!? DID THEY FIND US!? ARE WE GOING TO DIE!?''

Upper deck

''Who is that?'' Brock asked from the doorway leading out of the bridge.

The albino man appearing before Thomas Jr looked calm and neutral in his posture. He stood straight with his hands together in front, so that his white robe would appear to be floating in a wind temporarily created by the Flash backing away. His hair hung down to his shoulders and his black eyes hid any emotion that would have tied him down to the urgency of the danger posed by the Dark Knights in the current absence of both Batman and Ash Ketchum. It seemed like he did feel important in the grand scheme of things either and that his existence had been brought up only in some kind of service to a power greater than what could be describe by words.

''IT'S A GHOST!'' Jessie, James and Meowth screamed cowardly at sight of the mist surrounding the albino.

''What bad have I done to- no, wait I'm smarter than that,'' Thomas Jr said from his low station on the floor and rubbed his eyes after facepalming. ''What good have I neglegted to do, that causes me to be stuck with idiots like you, who are scared of ghosts while also having a Ghost/Fairy Type in your team of Pokémon?''

''What?'' Jessie asked from the middle of a Jame and Meowth in their supportive group hug.

''You have a damn Mimikyui!'' Thomas Jr spat out as he got back up on his feet and approach the albino with regretful acceptance in his body language. ''It's happened, hasn't it? Lost to the dark and no more, you said you'd appear to me when that happened to both Ash and Batman. They are both-''

''I know what I said, but that has not come to pass in the literal sense,'' the Dream spoke over Thomas Jr, while also presenting him his previously removed gauntlets. ''While Ash Ketchum as the Bruce Wayne of Earth-3 is lost in the Dark Multiverse, he has not succumbed to Darkness.''

''Wait, does that mean that… Ash is still alive?'' Brock asked from the doorway. ''After what we saw happen at the Saffron City Gym… we all saw Ash sink into that blood Barbatos rouse out of and-''

The albino raised his hand and waved it across the bridge. By this act, the light which made the surroundings visible begun to fade into a darkness where only things visible were the people standing around and the people also on the ship as the Pokémon trainers who had gone to the lower decks also appeared in the darkness, with their vocal announcements as they did.

''WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!? DID THEY FIND US!?'' were May and Dawn's reactions to their sudden relocation to the dark void brought by the albino while Serena reacted quietly by just lifting her head. ''THIS WAS JUST ABOUT TO GET GOOD!''

''No,'' the albino passively replied to Dawn's and May's reactions. ''You have not lost yet.''

As for the two Unovians-

''HEY, PERVERTS!'' undressed to just her white thig-long shirt and undies Hilda, on top of shirtless Hilbert, yelled at the others as their attention was turned to them. ''THIS IS OUR CABIN! GET OUT!''

''And the call me the Fastest Man Alive,'' Barry said Brock, Jessie, James and Meowth while looking at the two groups. ''Already we have underaged drinking and assuming those two are over 20-''

''Pretty sure they are, two perfectly healthy human beings, a male and female, in breeding age,'' Thomas Jr said unsurprised as he pulled his gauntlets back on his hands. ''I should have acknowledged that something like that would happen if you sent them down to hotel suite level cabins down there, but I had other things on my mind at the moment.''

''Whooooo's that!?'' May asked, in a high voice and her body twirling, pointing at the albino man.

''Dream of the Endless,'' Thomas Jr said with hands crossed. ''That who said when he first appeard to me and where did you find the bottle, young lady?''

''What the hell SERIOUSLY!?'' Hilda yelled outraged and embrarressed at Thomas Jr and the Dream, while pulling her shirt down to cover her indecent areas. ''Did you send us off to have some pervert come play peeping to-''

''Prez, we're in a black void and not at the cabin anymore,'' Hilbert spoke reaching to pull Hilda away and tell her to calm down. ''Not to mention that guy doesn't look like he cares-''

''Clearly, I can see who's wearing the pants in that relationship,'' Thomas Jr said turning his head away from Hilda and turned to look at the Dream. ''Move this along, now please, and if you would-''

''DO NOT PRESUME YOU KNOW WHAT I DO OR DO NOT CARE ABOUT,'' the Dream said rising his voice to an intimidating tone to silence them both.

Then he looked around at everyone else present as if to either make sure they were all there or to see who all were there, before turning his hand call something from the darkness.

''I am Daniel, called the Lord Shaper, the Dreamweaver, the King of the Riddle Realms,'' the Dream spoke as a storm of books appeared from the dark appeared and took everyone to be absorbed to the pages of the biggest of the books in the vortex. ''Some of your kind have called me the Sandman. Others the Prince of Stories. And this story is far more personal to me than you understand.''

The pages in the book kept waving and waving on like they were blown in the wind. And they flew through the pages in the dark for a short while, until a faint light dropped them all to the floor of a deep hall with bookshelfs.

''Where did he… what..?'' Hilbert asked the first as they all begun to help themselves get back up on their feet from their landing. ''What is this place?''

''It looks alien, but feels familiar,'' Thomas Jr said looking up at the walls filled with bookshelves and looking past them saw that they were inside a large open labyrinth mostly composed of bookshelves. ''Dream?''

''Daniel?'' Dawn asked standing up next to Thomas Jr. ''He did say his name was Daniel?''

''He also said he is called the Sandman,'' James said looking at the bookshelves and examined the dust. ''THE Sandman? The same Sandman who flies over our beds when we sleep and sprinkles magical sand into our eyes to see dreams?''

''WHERE THE HELL ARE WE!?'' Hilda screamed out impatiently still keeping her shirt to keep covering her what was below her hips.

''All of you have been here many times before,'' the Dream of the Endless, spoke appearing to them above on a large book. ''Every night, when you sleep, you walk through my domain, The Dreaming. This is my home.''

''We are literally in a dream world,'' Jessie commented looking around. ''What are these books?''

''Are they the dreams you give us to see at night?'' James asked taking on book from the shelves, just as if caught on fire. ''Hhhhrrrr.''

''They are not mine. This is Lucien's Library and this section is reserved for stories that should never be told as they are made from the horrors of the human heart,'' the Dream answered as he descended to their level and the book he had stood on caught on fire like the book James had reach for. ''But now they are becoming reality by the doings of Barbatos, the Destroyer. And now the Library has started to burn. Should this continue, all the Dreaming will be consumed and with it, all the stories, forever.''

''But… aren't they just stories, right?'' Dawn asked glaring at the burning books. ''If they are stories-''

''Everyone of you, all of your lifes are stories that exist in the Dreaming,'' the Dream said cutting Dawn's question. ''Every person, every world, everything that lives, is a story on their own or in the case of this Barry Allen standing with you, a part of someone else's story.''

''It's true, and it also means that I don't really exist,'' Barry said in a depressed tone in his voice. ''Like these books, I should have burned away along with my world and the Bruce who became Red Death. But if this fire spreads to the important books and the darkness sucks in the original multiverse, that's the end of everything.''

''Point taken,'' Dawn said, sorry for her ignorance, at both Dream and Barry.

''To let you know their importance, let me tell you a story as an example,'' the Dream said turning around and blew dust or sand from his palm at his visitors, which made them see stars with constalations. ''From the dark came a spark of molten potential. The spark created two opposing existances, Matter and Anti-Matter.''

As the Dream spoke, the star constellations took forms of beings in the night sky. A being that looked like a civilized scholar and a being that looked like a brute in an armor.

''With them came the brothers set to monitor all that had been created and a third being, tasked to watch over what was yet to come,'' The Dream continued as a third, fourth and fifth constellations also took their forms before them in the night sky. ''This being resided at the World Forge, deep in the rolling cauldron of possibility you call the Dark Multiverse. For eons, it hammered out universes from hopes and fears of all living beings.''

''Meaning there is a world where I actually got to become a nurse?'' Jessie commented, quite somberly like she had gained and lost something.

''A world where Team Plasma didn't interfere with the Pokémon League in Unova?'' Hilbert commented slowly processing it in his head while Hilda hummed a happy sigh, seemingly having calmed down.

''A world where I'm still the Boss' number one top cat?'' Meowth said hopefully.

''A world where I have all the bottlecaps in my collection and never lost any of them?'' James said with tears in his eyes.

''Yep, and just like my world, they are probably gone now,'' Barry said, reminding them again that he was from one of those dream worlds. ''Dreams shouldn't be made into existence from themselves for 'just because' reasons. People should really work to fulfill their dreams to make them happen, not make them be created like this. My existence is a proof of that, because I'm from a dream that shouldn't come true.''

''Truth and Ideals,'' Hilbert muttered with his head down. ''Dreams meant to come true should always be balanced with the truth of the world we live in and the ideals we strive to go forwards with.''

''Correct on both cases,'' the Dream agreed before continuing the story as the third, fourth and fifth constellations took their forms as a large winged being with a hammer, it's anvil and another winged creature. ''Only the most stable worlds rose into the Orrery, for the twisted and unstable worlds, the Forger had a Great Dragon to destroy them and return their energies to the Forge.''

''Barbatos,'' Serena spoke, in a deep hostile whisper, as she looked at the constellation of the Dragon.

''Yes, but the dragon, a being who only knew destruction, killed it's master and thus, worlds that should have been dissolved lived on and the Forge begun to darken,'' the Dream spoke raising his arm and pointed down below the night sky, at what looked like a large kiln with a fire fading from it. ''If there is any hope left, it lies at the World Forge, with the the last pure, bright metal of possibility, before the fires go dark forever.''

''That is what you told me when you first appeared to me,'' Thomas Jr said with his hands crossed, ''but you never said anything about metals… beyond Batman's Mantling into their Wagon.''

''The Nth Metal is but a strain, nearly pure, Ninth Metal,'' the Dream said as the scenery changed again to show the Dark Knights before them, particularly the Batman Who Laughs grinning at them, but also more beings behind them in the shadows. ''Gods of the 52 Multiverse use a lesser, Eighth Metal and down from there. That is why it harms the dragon and its armies.''

''What do we do if Barbatos has already turned the Forge dark?'' Thomas Jr asked as Brock and Serena turned away from listening to the Dream.

''If it is fully dark… all is lost.''

''It doesn't have to be,'' Brock's voice said as turning to his direction they could see him and Serena going through the still unburned books as if to look for something. ''Earlier you said that Ash is lost in the Dark Multiverse and that these stories represent the untold stories that materialize in there.''

''So, if Ash is in there we should be able to find him in one these books!'' Serena yelled quickly browsing the books and throwing them away when she was done with them. ''If we can find the book he is in, we should be able to pull him out, right? RIGHT!?''

''I can create a passage for him if you can find him, but no further than this place alone,'' the Dream said sitting down on a white chair with Sphinx armseats. ''If you find him, he has to eventually go back to the Dark Multiverse and into the Forge for the Metal. He is at the best position to get it.''

''That's better than nothing,'' Thomas Jr said looking at the books, the fire and at Barry. ''Flash, speed this up by looking up the words 'Ash', 'Ketchum' and 'Pokémon' on these books.''

There was a silence of no Speed Force activating from Barry doing anything.

''Flash?'' Thomas Jr asked turning to look at Barry. ''Now please!''

''Don't take this the wrong way, but you're asking me to look through all of these books here, that are made from the worst nightmares everyone, in the history of man, has ever had and read through them to find this one guy mentioned in maybe one of them?'' Barry asked looking the bookshelves, the fire and the at others. ''The worst kind of creepy pasta ever created to-''

''Yes, now, BEFORE IT'S ALL BURNED AWAY!'' Thomas Jr said not pleased with the delayed obedience.

Barry put his hands together, closed his eyes and rook a deep breath. While he was doing that, sparks of lightining begun to appear here and there on him before-

TSHOOOOOOOOM!

Barry moved faster than anyone would see, with the only thing leaving a trail behind him was the red and yellow aura from his connection to the Speed Force. The pile of books Ash wasn't in kept larger before it started to burn, with other books that didn't have him either got thrown into it. Then he stopped.

''This makes creepy pasta seem like bedtime stories, but I think I may have found him,'' Barry said showing the book in his hands and read its final scene from it's pages to them. ''It says here 'After a week had passed, Superman emerged from the Sun, completely immunized from the plague. But returning to Earth, he found the humanity completely consumed by it. Once again, the Man of Steel had become the last survivor of a dead planet… or so he thought as when he had allowed the guilt and sorrow take over, Clark could hear a familiar heartbeat among the walking corpses'. And this last part here is currently writing itself in red font.''

''Is it-'' Serena was about to ask.

''Yeah, I'm getting to that,'' Barry nodded while paring his finger up as he read. '''Superman flew down to the remains of Daily Planet building, he saw a survivor there with some unknown creatures he couldn't recognize and asked if the survivor was who he thought, but he wasn't. Having trained his hearing to focus on the most important people in his life, this young man was not his friend but a version of him from another world…'''

Barry smacked the page with the palm of his hand.

''…named Ash Ketchum!'' Barry proclaimed as he turned the book around and showed Ash's name being mentioned in the page. ''He is this book, along with zombies and evil Supermen.''

''Dream,'' Thomas Jr said grabbing the book and smacked it on the lap of the Dream of the Endless sitting in his chair. ''That portal, NOW!''

Dark Multiverse, a dying world

As Superman charged his first attack against the Nightmare Supermen, Ash took his chance to jump onto Lycanroc's back and make as much distance between him and two fighting parties. With heat visions clashing and the undead roaming the streets, Ash had Lycanroc jumping on the rooftops in getting further to a safer distance while Pidgeot flew ahead as a scout. And that just left him going a straight line towards a no destination in the middle of nowhere filled with zombies and no clear idea what would happen next once he ran out of buildings or how long the Supermen would be fighting each other.

All he would need to do was to keep away from the zombies and maybe when this world would begun to collapse-

''Just fly on Pidgeot to another one and do it as many times a possible, until…'' Ash said acknowledging the reality of his situation and briefly glanced behind himself at the battling Supermen. ''Lycanroc, Pidgeot, stop!''

Lycanroc and Pidgeot obayed in a delay until they landed on a roof of one of the shorter buildings in, Ash saw a decaying billboard, Metropolis near the waterfront where Ash once again released his Pokémon from their Pokéballs.

''Everyone, listen up! We don't exactly have anywhere to run and I don't know how long we have before this place will fall. We can't get anywhere from here without help from Superman!''

Ash pointed up at the three Men of Steel fighting above them and then at the zombies on the streets. The two that had been carrying Ash before were trying to get to close in on the native one from this world, who seemed to be mostly focused on keeping himself between them and Ash's position.

''And I don't which one of those 3 it's going to be, so you need all to be in ready and prepared to fight everything coming at us, from the evil Supermen to zombies,'' Ash continued preparing his Pokémon for a last stand. ''Pidgeot and Rowlet stay in the air as scouts-''

''PidgeOOOOOOT!'' the two Flying Types howled as they got up in the air. ''Ko-kowl!''

-Squirtle, Lycanroc and Torracat, keep a 180 degree perimeter and use ranged attacks on everything that comes for us-''

''Squirtle!'' the blue turtle Pokémon with sunglasses said taking his place in the right.

''RUFF!'' the dusk formed Rock Type wolf growled taking his place in the middle.

''Nyaarr!'' the middle-evolved Fire Type feline purred taking his place in the left.

''And Snorlax,'' Ash said turning to his large Normal Type Pokémon, ''you're our heavy hitter covering our back. If this world's Superman doesn't take out those evil ones, you need to hit them back when they come for us.''

''Snor,'' the large Pokémon nodded loyally to his master.

''Until that happens, keep covering our backs for any more zombies,'' Ash said as building fell on the other side of the city and the undead begun to climb up the building they were on. ''DON'T LET THEM GET US ALIVE!''

''FLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!''

The zombies, men and women, most of them wearing tarnished hero costumes, charged at Ash and his Pokémon as they reached the roof area. And the author once again curses the fact that we can't see it happen. They didn't come at waves, they came all at once as one huge wave of rapid decaying cannibals that were now nothing but shadows of their former selves.

''LYCANROC, USE ROCK THROW!'' Ash yelled out a command pointing at the zombies free falling at them from the above. ''PIDGEOT, USE GUST TO KEEP THOSE ROCKS IN THE AIR!''

The rocks flew around in the vortex created by Pidgeot and because of the decaying state of the undead bodies, they were just about enough to damage the zombies.

Then

BRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!

The ground begun to shake, which Ash in a mild delay recognized from what the Batman Who Laughs had shown to him and his friends earlier at Saffron City Gym. This world was going to crumble away into cosmic nothing with everything and everyone on it would cease from existing. Including Ash and his Pokémon if they were to just fight the hordes of the undead. They needed to hit hard and finish this quickly.

''NEW PLAN! ROWLET, SQUIRTLE, TORRACAT, PIDGEOT RETURN!'' Ash yelled with the new plan while recalling his Pokémon and switching Z-Crystals on his Z-Ring. ''SNORLAX, LIFT ME UP AND LYCANROC, BE READY FOR A Z-MOVE!''

''Snor,'' Snorlax grumbled obidiently lifting Ash up to stand on his shoulders as Ash's Z-Ring begun to shine orange light.

''READY, LYCANROC!'' Ash yelled crossing his hands as the glow got stronger and Lycanroc howled. ''THIS IS OUR FULL POWERED Z-MOVE!''

''RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRR!'' Lycanroc growled and howled, then jumped up in the air as it radiated with orange light with Ash.

''SPLINTERED STORMSHARDS!'' Ash yelled doing the finish pose of the Z-Move, clapped his hands together sideways, and the already shaking ground begun to deteriorate even faster and the terrain was pulled up to the air surrounding Lycanroc, who was deadset ready to throw it all down at the undead superheroes.

With this world's destruction powering up the Z-Move, the attack was much stronger than usual and was able to attack multiple targets at once. The dust settled slowly and the glowing radiation of the Z-Crystal begun to fade.

''Snor-laax,'' Snorlax said pointing at their surroundings to Ash and Lycanroc drawing their breaths.

The Z-move had torn the terrain already deteriorating and fastened it's destruction so much that the ground they were standing on was almost separate from all the other rocks floating in space, with pillars of fire shooting out here and there.

''Impressive, I was going to do something like this before I heard your heartbeat down here.''

Ash turned to that direction as soon as he heard that voice.

''Relax, I'm not either of those two,'' Superman said landing next to Ash and showed him the bitemark scars he had shown earlier. ''Once you started to draw the undead to one place, all I had to do was get them thrown at the horde and get them infected.''

''Where are they now?'' Ash asked looking up at the sky.

''Looking for the closest yellow sun and assuming they find one, they won't be a problem for at least a week,'' Superman answered looking at Lycanroc and Snorlax. ''That stunt you just pulled..?''

''Z-Move called Splintered Stormshards,'' Ash said showing his Z-Ring, ''a move exclusive only to a Dusk Form Lycanroc, like the one I have.''

''Grrrrrr,'' Lycanroc growled at the Man of Steel.

''Does it usually do this much damage?'' Superman said asked as the world was crumbling away.

''I… have never used in a situation like this,'' Ash said recalling Lycanroc and Snorlax to their Pokéballs. ''Last time I used it, it was to weaken two Ultra Beasts, so they could be captured and returned to Ultra Space.''

''I see,'' Superman answered in deadpan with his arms crossed, before turning to Ash with changed attitude. ''So, 'Ash'? That was your name, right?''

''Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town,'' Ash answered nodding and looked at Superman who had extended his hand to him.

''Clark Kent from Smallville,'' Superman said shaking hands with Ash and giving him a friendly smile. ''Now, Ash, what made me and those other Supermen recognize you as Bruce Wayne and why are you-''

POOOOF!

The Dreaming, Lucien's Library

The pages in the book flipped in the hands of the Dream of the Endless and they were beginning to catch fire.

''This world will be gone soon,'' the Dream spoke holding his hands above the book. ''Everyone in there are are already dead, but the Batman Who Never Was should still be found alive in there.''

''Don't call him that,'' Thomas Jr said. ''He was never Batman and has spent more of his life as Ash Ketchum than as Bruce Wayne.''

''That is what 'Who Never Was' usually means,'' Barry said correcting him.

''That book is almost an effigy already,'' Thomas Jr said voicing the concerns of everyone around them. ''What is taking so lo-''

POOOOF!

''I give you Bruce Wayne of Earth-3,'' the Dream spoke as the book turned to ashes in a tiny explosion and from the confetti of it's remains two people appeared on it's place, ''and Superman of Earth -51.''

''What just happ-''

''Ash!''

Seeing him again after having seen him sink into the blood in Barbatos' arrival, May, Dawn and Brock lunged at Ash in a combined group hug, followed by

''Twerp!''

Team Rocket who were also happy to see him alive, no matter how much enmity there was between them. Only ones who didn't join the reunion were Thomas Jr, Hilda, Hilbert and Barry as they were not as close to Ash the other people were. Serena, however, she took one step forward, but then stopped and gasped in a deep breath. This was noticed by the four other people not greeting Ash in a welcoming embrace.

''Guys… I can't breath…'' Ash tried to get out from the middle of his friends and old enemies.

''Aren't you going to-'' Hilbert was about to ask Serena.

''She has her reasons,'' Hilda told him, with Barry nodding his head in agreement.

''I'm okay, I just-'' Serena tried to say when her breathing suddenly got challenging like she was having a panic attack. ''It's just- I look at him, knowing he is another version of… them and what THAT version could be doing right now…''

''Are you alright, you lady?'' a new voice spoke.

Seeing Ash again had caught everyone attention from the other person being pulled out from the book with him. And now that that person spoke, drawing attention to himself, everyone saw who he was and that made the sight of him mixed from awe to confused and overall surprised.

''Superman?'' Thomas Jr said astoundished.

''That is is Superman?'' Dawn asked from the group hug holding onto Ash.

''Clark?'' Barry said happy and surprised.

''Why is that guy wearing underwear on the outside?'' Hilbert asked pointing his finger at the Man of Steel standing among them.

''My mother made this costume for me and they are not underwear,'' Superman said looking at Hilbert to address his question before looking at the rest of the group. ''Barry, it's good to see a familiar face, and everyone else, Ash's friends, it is a pleasure to meet you all.''

''And I suggest you handle this quickly,'' the Dream spoke passively but with authority from his chair. ''With each moment wasted here, the Forge will go darker and any chances to oppose Barbatos will die away.''

''Hey, guys,'' Ash said given time to breath again, ''where exactly are we?''

''My home, the Dreaming,'' the Dream answered quickly and passively from his chair. ''I have brought you all here to arm you with knowledge to go against Barbatos' forces.''

''It's a neutral space, from which we all need to go and do something if everyone here wants to live older than I am,'' Thomas Jr answered, causing Ash to slowly turn around to look at him. ''And for what little it's barely worth, Ash, I am sorry for ruining your life and everyone else's life here, by turning you into a reborn version of my brother Bruce, whose soul is apparently now merged with yours as one soul and I think I now realize why I'm stuck those three idi-''

SMACK!

POW!

Even though Thomas Jr's mask had been broken, it still had it's chin-guard intact, so the only place Ash could reach to punch him was to the side of the head and elbow at his face. Not very good attacks to the weak spot of his body as Thomas Jr was noticeably taller than Ash was. Thomas Jr flinched from being caught off guard, but otherwise he was stood up unfazed.

''Feel better now?'' Thomas Jr asked, not doing any resistance but still standing.

''MY HOME IS GONE, MY MOM IS DEAD, MY FRIENDS HAVE MADE IT BARELY ALIVE THIS FAR AND ONE OF THEM IS DEAD!'' Ash yelled at Thomas Jr, who stood before him knowing he was guilty of all that. ''HOW COULD I FEEL BETTER!?''

''You couldn't,'' Thomas Jr said with his head going down. Then he sighed and muttered while looking up, ''Ultraman, why didn't you just kill me?''

''What kind of timetable or hurry do we have?'' Superman asked breaking down the situation between Ash and Thomas Jr. ''What was that about some forge?''

CLAP!

The Dream quickly clapped his hands together, then

WOOOOOOOOOF!

threw more dust around and showed a vision of the World Forge, the Forger and Dragon to Ash and Superman.

''The ancient dragon of the Dark Multiverse cannot be defeated without a pure strain of Nth Metal located deep in the Forge of Worlds,'' the Dream spoke summarizing what he had told everyone else before. ''If the fire fades, the metal will be gone and Barbatos' forces will go on unopposed.''

''And then there are the metal cards held at those six locations in your world that can converte it into Dark Matter,'' Barry said telling Ash about what he had told everyone else earlier. ''How much time has gone while we have been here?''

''The Dreaming works as dreams do,'' the Dream answered. ''Less than you think, but that luxury doesn't help you for long.''

''So, cards and metal?'' Superman said summarizing. ''How are we doing this?''

''Bruce Wayne of Earth-3 is already in the Dark Multiverse, so he will be going to the Forge,'' the Dream said looking at Ash, ''with all the assistance he can get.''

''I am NOT A-'' Ash tried to protest.

''Just call him by his real name that he has lived with during his life,'' Thomas Jr told the Dream with his hand extended between him and Ash. ''I know what I have done but let him be freed of of the consequences of my actions.''

''He still has to be the one to go the Forge,'' the Dream said pointing his hand at Ash. ''His nature of being from the 52 Multiverse as well as being born in the Hypertime is also imperative in retrieving the Nth Metal. It should call out to him at the Forge.''

''Then I'll go with him and make sure he will make it back,'' Superman told the Dream and Thomas Jr as he stepped in between them. ''You handle those cards and make sure what happened to my world won't happen to his.''

''Yeah, that does sound like a job for Superman,'' Thomas Jr said turning to Team Rocket, Barry and the other Pokémon trainers in the Dreaming. ''Everyone, once we're sent back, we're splitting into teams to go after those cards. If we are lucky, they will be back with the Nth Metal by the time Barbatos has sent his Dark Knights after us and we can fight them fair.''

''Where's Pikachu?'' Ash asked looking at the people Thomas Jr was talking to.

''He should be back on the… ship…?'' Thomas Jr said passively answering before his attention was pulled to the halfnaked Hilda and Hilbert as well as Serena, Dawn and May slightly tipsy from drinking. ''Wait a minute, Dream? Why did you bring them with us afrer I sent them to rest?''

''I brought everyone on board your vessel here to listen to my help,'' the Dream answered.

''But not Pikachu or Batman or-'' Thomas Jr shut up suddenly as if he had noticed something. ''Send me ahead back to the airship. Everyone else after you have sent Ash and Superman to the Forge.''

Top of Mount Silver

''So, Bulbasaur,'' Bruce said kneeling in front of Bulbasaur and the other Pokémon in a traditional Japanese style with Pikachu next to him. ''I can imagine that you and your friends have had rough couple of days.''

''True,'' the Grass Type Pokémon replied. ''I have been leading them around this region after the armored warrior sporting that symbol attacked our habitat.''

''Surviving,'' Bruce said understanding. ''Did Ho-oh and Lugia come to you or did you stuble upon them?''

''Lugia first came to us and directed us to come here,'' Bulbasaur answered looking at the silver feathered Psychic and Flying Legendary Pokémon. ''Ash and we had crossed paths with Him at the Sewii Islands 8 years ago and He told us come here and be ready for your coming.''

''My coming?'' Bruce asked.

''You are what the armored warrior and the monster that came with him used to be and Lugia sensed that you are connected to Ash as well,'' Bulbasaur answered sincerely. ''We can all see some of the resablance, but you don't strike to us as Ash very much.''

''Batman,'' Pikachu said presenting Bruce with Ash's hat, which he had been carrying with him since Saffron. ''Put this on.''

Bruce looked at Pikachu holding the hat. Then he turned to look at Bulbasaur and the other Pokémon standing behind him. They didn't look happy to be watching him as he took the hat but didn't put it on yet.

''We can both agree, that I am not your trainer and master,'' Bruce said looking at Bulbasaur and the other Pokémon as he held the hat in his hands. ''I'm nothing compared to him than a next best thing, from what I have learned of him. He is a man who has gained more than I have at a younger age than when I started to wear this costume.''

Bruce rose up on his feet as he continued.

''Alone I cannot fight the battle against my nightmares and you have powers that I know only metahumans in my world could have. I had friends with those kind of powers in my world and I worked with them to fight against monsters like the ones that attacked you. And I have learned that the Pokémon trainers in this world are allowed to carry only 6 Pokémon with them, so…''

Bruce looked at the hat, as if not sure if he was allowed to wear it.

''If Ho-oh and Lugia want me to lead in fighting against my nightmares, I am ready to do that with the risks included but I won't be doing it as your master or trainer,'' Bruce said giving the hat back to Pikachu. ''I won't take Ash's place. If I am to fight with you, I will do that as an equal to you all. I won't give you orders, I will strategize plans and tell you how to proceed in battle.''

Bruce pulled his cowl back on and let the Pokémon see him as Batman.

''Six of you come with me to protect this world from my nightmares as the Justice League,'' Batman said as Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. ''The rest will prioritize in assisting Ash's friends as the last thing you can do in his memory. Can we work like that?''

There was a silence as the Pokémon looked at Batman as if they were processing his words. Then a few of them begun to take steps forwards. Green gecko on two legs with a twig on it's mouth stepped forward, followed by a red, black and grey scaled bipedal crocodile wearing sunglasses.

''That makes two,'' Batman said, before noticing Pikachu on his shoulder. ''Sorry, three.''

''No, four,'' orange scaled lizard with wings spoke flapping it's wings to fly in front of Batman with the other Pokémon and breathed fire at Batman. ''I won't burn you, but I will burn them.''

''Grass Type, Ground/Dark Type, Electric Type and a Fire/Flying type,'' Batman said counting the team that had stepped forward to fight with him. ''I still have an opening two more.''

''Here!'' a beetle Pokémon flew in to volunteer itself. ''I'm a Bug/Fighting Type.''

Batman raised his left hand and used the device in his hand to identify the Pokémon that had agreed to fight with him. Besides Pikachu, there was a Sceptile, Krookodile, Charizard and a Heracross. A diverse and balanced team. There was still need for one more-

''Are you supposed to be him!?''

''Batman! Lookout!'' Pikachu yelled warning Batman of on incoming attack.

Batman dodged it and saw it looked like a shuriken made of water. With reaction, he pointed at Sceptile to intercept it, who did so with the Leafblade attack.

''Trainers choose Pokémon, but I chose Ash to be my trainer,'' the attacker spoke it's hiding place before jumping down to show itself. ''Why should we trust you to command or tell us what to do, besides just those pretty words you gave us?''

Batman raised his left hand at the attacking Pokémon as it approached. It was mostly blue and white, with nimble body and a long red tongue tied around it's neck like a scarf. The device identified this Pokémon as a Water/Dark Type, but Pikachu was the one to first speak out it's name.

''Greninja?!''

Author's notes: You think this team will work? Charizard, Sceptile, Pikachu, Krookodile, Heracross and Greninja?

Also, I will probably open the next chapter with the Dark Knights and Barbatos to show what they have been doing after the events in Saffron City Gym.