A/N: Sorry about the long gap since I last updated; thanks for sticking with the story through it. Hope you enjoy these next two chapters, and please R&R!
I do not own any of the characters in this fanfic.
Chapter 9: Strike Team X Part 1 – Antiheroes Assemble!
THE CITADEL AT THE END OF TIME – FEBRUARY 10, 2025
Several hours later for me but not even a second later at the Citadel, I returned through the TemPad portal with my half of whatever me and Harley's team would be called in tow. And down the hall, Harley returned with her half. Huntress, Black Canary, and Colleen Wing wearing the Cloak of Levitation. Okay, that one was a bit of a curveball.
What's that? Oh right, didn't outline my part of the team yet. Basically what I mentioned last chapter – Geralt, John Wick, and Cad Bane, along with Todo 360.
Harley pointed to Geralt. "Oh hey, it's that guy who helped us fight Shuma-Gorath! And John Wick…and who's the other guy?"
"Cad Bane," he said. "The most famous bounty hunter in the galaxy."
Well, I'd wager Boba Fett is technically more famous, but that's not really something worth getting into an argument over. Not now, for that matter. Any other time I might, just for #$& and giggles.
"Keep low your tones," I whispered, putting my finger to my lips. "We're on a stealth mission here. There's a bunch of people in this building who don't want us to do what we're about to do, and then I'll be forced to cancel the checks I wrote out to all of you because our mission will not pan out."
Bane held up his check. "Still can't believe this passes for money where you're from."
"If checks baffle you, you'll love crypto. Anyway, Harley, I see you recruited Huntress, Black Canary, and…Colleen Wing, I presume?"
"That's Sorceress Supreme Colleen Wing to you," she replied. She unsheathed her katana, which was slung over her back. The blade glowed bright white. Oh cool, so this variant of her also has the chi sword that Netflix denied us all the chance to see in action.
"Yeah, I was headed for Earth-616 to get Huntress and Canary…only I was a wee bit off first tome around and ended up in Earth-615," Harley said. "And then I ran into her and thought, you know, damn, she looks like she could be useful."
"If these Daleks and Sentinels truly are a threat to the entire multiverse, including my universe, then it is my duty as the Sorceress Supreme to help you fight them," Colleen said.
"Great; it looks like we've got a nice, happy party ready to embark on our inaugural campaign," I said. "First things first: a name. We need a name for this team, and no one better say 'Guardians of the Multiverse.'"
"The Legion of Doom," Bane said.
"That's good, but it's taken."
"The Secret Warriors," Huntress said.
"No, that might confuse readers and make them think this has something to do with Avengers: Secret Wars."
"Better Task Force X," Harley said.
"No…but I like the 'X.' Bit of a link between your Suicide Squad and my X-Force. How about…Strike Team X."
"Hate it," Bane said.
"If I may put my opinion out there, I actually think it has a nice ring to it," Todo said.
"I like it," John said.
Colleen sheathed her katana again. "It'll do. So what's the plan?"
"Let's head into my room," Harley said. "If any of the other Guardians of the Multiverse come out of their bedrooms for a midnight snack or bathroom break, we're all right here for them to see. Also, Huntress, I'll get you that Chitauri tech-upgraded crossbow I promised you."
The nine of us headed into Harley's room and shut the door behind us. Harley slid back her closet doors, revealing the unexpected sight of not clothes but an arsenal filled with futuristic-looking weapons. "Where the #$&% did you get all those?" I asked.
"Oh, these?" Harley asked. "Infiltrated the facility where they took all that alien crap left behind after the Battle of Earth and scrapped some of it together into these."
"I thought all of that stuff got snapped away by Iron Man."
"Seriously? No, all the creatures in the Black Order were. The Sanctuary II and the Q-Ships and Outrider dropships were. But strangely, not the Chitauri weapons or tanks or anything. Even heard rumors that someone on the black market got their hands on Proxima Midnight's spear."
Okay, that's just bizarre. I'll have to see if I can track that down, though. Would certainly be neat to have. Not as neat as the one she has in the comics, but still.
"Back to business, what the hell is our plan?" Colleen asked.
"We head back to Earth-119 and hook up a TemPad to Cad Bane's ship, the Justifier. That'll allow it to jump across the multiverse, and we'll fly it to Earth-9466," I said. "Then…still working on that."
"Stop calling me Cad Bane," the bounty hunter said. "Just call me Bane."
"Sorry. Pulling a bit of a Yelena there."
"And if we're using my ship for this mission, I want 25,000 more credits. Plus the cost to repair any damage it sustains."
"Well, aren't you a #$& gold digger." I pulled my checkbook from my ammo bag and started writing out another check. Yes, I keep a checkbook in my ammo bag. It also holds my wallet, a change of underpants in case the pair I'm wearing becomes a surrender flag, and more of the cure for blindness.
"Maybe Bane can use the Justifier draw off some of the Sentinels while the rest of us infiltrate the Machine City and destroy the planegate," Harley said, still sorting through the various arms in her closet. "Oh, and I know how we'll do that. Canary thinks she should be able to destroy it with one of her screams, if we can get her close enough to it."
"You think you can blow it out with just a scream?" I asked. "I mean, I've seen what you can do, but that was taking out a bunch of nameless goons, and this is…this."
"I've been practicing," Canary said. "Honing the shriek. If I can concentrate it at a certain point on the machine, it should be powerful enough to pierce all the machinery around the brain and take it down."
"Do we have a plan for what to do with this half of Shuma-Gorath's brain once we're done so some other nutjob doesn't do making another portal across the multiverse with it?" John asked. "Assuming I get even half of the crazy #$&% that's going on here."
"My working plan is to feed it to Sylvie's pet Reapers," I said. "Okay Bane, here's your money, you greedy nerf herder."
"Much obliged," he said. He took the check and tucked it into one of his pockets.
"Okay, got it." Harley grabbed a bulky crossbow and handed it to Huntress. Damn, it looked like the entire center of the crossbow had just been straight-up replaced with a Chitauri blaster.
Huntress tested out a few different shooting angles with it. "Feels good. Looking forward to blowing up some metal octopi with this thing."
"So, to review," John said, "we take the blue guy's ship to this alternate universe and use the ship as a distraction while the rest of us sneak into this Machine City place. Black Canary does her scream thing to destroy the portal linking these universes, and that's it?"
"Well, not entirely," I said. "These Sentinels can still hop across the multiverse at will, so we've gotta make sure we take out all of them in our attack on the city. Then, of course, there's Earth-328767, which is home to a bunch of universe-hopping Daleks that we still have to form a plan to fight. I'll get back to you all if we'll require your assistance for that mission too."
"Who'll fly the Justifier?" Harley asked, grabbing a modified weapon of her own. "Never seen it but it sounds badass. Can it be-?"
"It's not gonna be any of you," Bane said. "But it won't be me either. Todo'll fly it. I'm going in with the rest of you. I'm a better aim with these things that with any spaceship." He patted his pair of holsters.
"So it sounds like we have a plan then," I said. "Just a matter of heading back to Earth-119 and equipping the Justifier for multiversal travel, then heading to the machine City and blowing those #$%&ers to kingdom come. Uh…."
"What?" Colleen asked.
"Trying to figure out what our rallying call should be. The Avengers have 'Avengers Assemble,' the Guardians of the Galaxy have…okay, come to think of it, maybe there aren't really that many teams that have one. Well, either way, we should have one."
"How about 'Antiheroes Assemble'?" Harley suggested.
"It's a bit derivative, but Domino isn't here, so as long as none of the rest of you give a #$&% about that, we're good to go."
"I just want to start blowing #$&% up with this thing," Huntress said, brandishing her crossbow.
"Well then, in that case, let's get back to Earth-119 and get going." I pulled my TemPad from my pocket, calibrated it to take us to the Star Wars universe, and activated it. The orange portal opened before us, and we all stepped into it.