All-Out Brawl
Disclaimer: I own nothing (unfortunately). All rights and characters in this fic belong to their respective owners and creators. I gain no profit from this. It's purely for fun. I only own my OC's.
Note: The following is a rough outline of what was to happen in this chapter. I apologise for not being able to write the full chapter as intended, however, life has proven hectic and along with my plans to start writing original stories, I don't have the time needed to finish all my stories. I didn't want to leave them abandoned, so I decided to give a rough outline of the story's events so that you could see how it would have progressed and ended. I hope that you understand. Maybe one day I might come back and fully finish them as intended, but as that's up in the air, I thought that I'd end things this way rather than leave unfinished. Thank you for your time.
Chapter 7 (Rough Outline)
Thanoseid stared down at the group of heroes as he lifted himself into the sky. They were nothing more than insects to him. Overwhelming power surged throughout his body, pulsing faster like a racing heart. The heavens above began to tear open. The fabric of reality bent to his whim. Through the cracks, he could see trillions of other worlds and realities, waiting to be conquered by his iron fist.
With her magic, Willow created a faint circle around her, Neo, Kratos and the Hulk. The ring of blue light tremored around them, doing little to inspire their confidence. Willow acted quickly, making sure that her spell held all of them inside. Though there was so trouble keeping a frustrated Hulk in place, Willow completed the ring before asking each of them to sit down and hold out their hands. Neo was the first act, glancing over his shoulder and up at the sky to see Thanoseid ascend higher, almost disappearing from their sight. Time was not on their side.
After Hulk and Kratos begrudgingly completed the circle by holding hands, Willow joined them, crossing her legs and closing her eyes. She took slow deep breathes, shutting out all the chaos going on around her. Within her mind, she envisioned the heroes sitting before her. She saw their auras burning brighter than anything she'd seen before, but she knew that they needed more. An astral projection of herself sprouted from her physical body like an awakened butterfly. Willow's spiritual figure reached out and called to their auras, pushing past the walls and giving them the freedom to become limitless.
Kratos felt a sheet of armour form around his body. Fire and steel swallowed him whole. He hadn't felt power like this since his brief time as the new God of War. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, the fire threatened to consume him. Lost in the flames, he saw something faint in the distance. Two silhouettes walked through the fire towards him, coming to his aid. His wife and daughter. They came to him. With no fear or hesitation, they each took his hand and lifted him to his feet, helping him to rise above the fire and become something more.
Hulk looked around to find himself standing in an empty void. He roared furiously and tried to run to freedom, but he soon found that he could go nowhere. There was nothing. The Hulk was alone. The anger disappeared from his body, replaced with something else…sadness. A noise made the Hulk turn, and he was shocked to see Bruce Banner standing before him, extending his hand towards the best.
''I can't do this without you,'' Bruce said softly, stepping closer to the other half of himself. ''And you can't do this without me. So, how about we stop trying to push each other way, and be angry together.''
Hulk stared at Bruce for a long time. His body fidgeted to the side as if he wanted to run away again like they always did. But, he couldn't run away from Bruce. Compelled to see what happens, Hulk reached out for Bruce's hand. The two of them came together in a blinding light of green.
Willow's astral form gazed upon the empowered Kratos and Hulk, feeling like the proud mother of her two grouchy teenage sons. She turned to Neo and saw that he was already swimming with incredible power. His aura flowed from his body with a series of digits and numbers, causing the surroundings behind him to glitch.
''Whoa,'' Willow's voice boomed out of her projection. ''Your potential was easy to unlock.''
''I've already worked through my issues.'' He stated, ignoring the glares coming from Hulk and Kratos.
They looked to Thanoseid. The titan was no longer focused on them as he reached towards the dimensional cracks.
Neo turned to Willow. ''Can you find a way to close it?''
''I can try,'' she said. ''Just keep him distracted. But, don't do anything reckless. You're all stronger, but we're still twenty-thousand leagues beneath him. I just hope whatever Goku and Superman are planning will be our bingo moment.''
With their new plan set, Neo exploded from the ground and flew towards Thanoseid. He intercepted the titan's path, distracting him long enough for Kratos to ensnare their enemy with his bladed chains. Thanoseid grunted, surprised that he was being pulled back. Hulk leapt up and grabbed the chain, and together, he and Kratos yanked the titan back down to the ground. Back on an even playing field, the three heroes attacked him together. Though Thanoseid's power still dwarfed their own, they were able to keep him at bay while Willow focused on mending the fractured sky. In her struggle, she glanced to the side to catch what Goku and Superman were doing.
Goku reluctantly rushed through the explanation of how to perform the fusion dance. He knew that if they mistimed it by even an inch, the fusion would either not work…or they could fuse into something that would full cement their doom.
''And once we've fused into one fighter, we should be strong enough to beat Thanoseid,'' Goku said.
Superman nodded. The fusion dance wasn't quite what he expected it to be, but all that mattered to him was prevailing in this fight. ''Alright, I think I understand. I do wish that I followed my mother's advice and took those dancing classes back in Smallville now.''
''There's something else you should know. Even if we get this right, we might not have much time. Usually, we'd stay fused for thirty minutes. But, I've found that the more power we use, the more time it eats away. With how strong we already are, we might not be able to keep the fusion held together for very long.''
''Then we'll make every second count.''
Back with the fight, Thanoseid's frustration threatened to boil over as the heroes persistently prevented him from ascending back into the sky. No matter how many times he knocked them down, they would always get back up, refusing to surrender. He then noticed the portals shrinking. Panicked at watching everything he worked for slowly die in front of him, his gaze shifted towards Willow's astral projection. His attempts to stop it are ineffective as his energy blasts phase through the projection. He changes his target…aiming a blast towards Willow's physical body.
Kratos latches onto Thanoseid's intentions and rushes towards the witch's immobile body. Before the Omega Effect can strike Willow, Kratos jumps in the way and takes the full blast for her. His armour is shredded and his body is left a broken mess on the floor.
Suddenly, the voices of Goku and Superman chanting echo over the horizon. Thanoseid looks down just in time to see the two heroes perform the fusion dance perfectly. A tornado of blue and red fire shakes the stars. The heroes watch on as one figure emerges from the surge of power.
Kal-Ku is born.
Thanoseid dismisses the new fighter. He begins to ascend once again. A silver blur cuts him off, and the titan is slammed into the ground with a tremendous punch. By the time Thanoseid has even realised he's been hit again, he is launched into the air with an uppercut. Kal-Ku soars after him, unleashing a flurry of attacks that overpower the titan. Thanoseid stares into the fused fighter's silver eyes and feels something akin to fear for the first time.
As they brawl, Willow is close to fixing the tears in reality. However, blood starts to pour from her nose as her sweat-drenched physical body shakes. The astral projection flickers, almost disappearing a few times. The strain is too great for her. Despite encouragement from Neo and Hulk, Willow feels her muscles tear. She collapses forward.
Someone catches her. A familiar smell of tea and apples fills her nose and causes tears to well up in her eyes. She tilts her head up and is met with a kind smile from a person she thought about every day.
''Tara?''
Tara kissed Willow's forehead. White light poured over the witch's body. Feeling rejuvenated, the spirit of Willow's soulmate worked alongside her to finish closing the portals.
Thanoseid looked up to the sky to see the other worlds disappearing. In one last desperate bid to escape, he flies towards the final remaining tear. Kal-Ku watches on. Even if he prevented his enemy from escaping, his time was almost at an end. He had to end this fight. Looking through the cracks of time and space, Kal-Ku gazed upon an infinite number of stars. Absorbing their power, he cupped his hands together, creating a small blue ball of energy in his palm. The energy ball expanded before Kal-Ku teleported in front of the oncoming Thanoseid.
''Solar Kamehameha!'' Kal-Ku roared, firing his ultimate attack. The titan was powerless to stop the blast. He disappeared into the light.
With Thanoseid gone, the world around them returns to normal. Goku and Superman defuse. They quickly join the others, crowding around Kratos's bloody and motionless body.
Goku gives the last two Senzu beans to Willow and Kratos. While the witch's injuries heal instantly, Kratos is unresponsive. Just as they fear the worst, Kratos coughed and rolled to his side, growling unsavoury remarks under his breath.
''Did we win?'' Hulk asked, searching the area.
Superman smiled. ''Yes, we did. Together.''
There is a collective sigh of relief amongst the heroes as they sit back and rest. Neo approaches Willow. ''Who was the other woman helping you?''
A faint smile appears on Willow's face. She glanced around, hoping to still see Tara with her, but she is nowhere to be found. Before she could respond, Kratos answers Neo's question for her. ''Someone who gives her strength!''
Goku called for everyone's attention. When their eyes found him, they saw his body slowly becoming transparent like a fading mist. ''I guess this is the part where we go home.''
One by one, their bodies started to disappear. While there was plenty of relief to be shared, they couldn't help but notice a hint of sadness in their eyes. There was no telling if they would ever see each other again, but they liked to hold onto the hope that they would. One thing that was guaranteed, was that they would never forget each other.
The End!