Endgame: Ultimate Crisis on Infinite Earths

by CLBONE13

AU. The Snap has just happened. The Infinity War is raging. The Crisis on Infinite Earths is coming. So several Earths, several Universes are cleaved together to save the Multiverse once and for all.

2. Chapter 1: Worlds Apart

Chapter 1: Worlds Apart

August 24, 2017, Merged Earth, Star City

Oliver Queen

It starts out like any other day. I putter around the kitchen. I help Raisa make breakfast and I wait for William to wake up. I pick out my best tie for work. I want to be ready for being mayor. Even though, I'm not sure how ready I am for this. After, Lian Yu, everything has been different. But I want things to be better. I hold a cup of coffee in my hand as I stand beside the Fridge.

And I hear a voice, "Ollie."

Central City

Barry Allan

It's been a week or so since I got back from the Speed Force. And since then, everything's been so perfect. I wake up beside Iris in our apartment and all I can think about is how I want to wake up this way everyday for the rest of my life. I go to the kitchen. Breezing through, I take milk and eggs and mix them together into pancakes. I whistle as I think of the world around me and how incredibly perfect it looks. For the first time in a long time, I'm happy. I'm safe and everything is perfect. Then the report comes in on the TV.

National City

Kara Danvers

I rush to work at Catco, my coffee in one hand. The last thing I need today is to be late. You know how it is, I had a late night. And I'll admit it, I've been sort of missing Mon-El. But let's be honest, ever since Miss Grant went away to be Secretary of State, Catco has been in a kind of a huff. You know they say about a ship without a Captain. So, of course, I put my focus on getting to work. I need to be there. I need to help. And I promised James. Things have been hectic at the DEO too. But after the Daxamite invasion, that's to be expected. In fact, an argument could be made that it would be weird if things weren't chaotic after the second Alien Invasion in as many years. I hold my breath as I reach the Catco building and ride up the elevator. That's when I see the men in black.

New York City

Peter Parker

It started with a deep, feeling of pain in the pit of my stomach, slowly spreading to every part of my body. It was almost like I sensed my own death. And then I was broken down, like into a million teeny tiny pieces. It was almost like I was dying, breaking down in Mr. Stark's arms. And then I was in my bed, in my apartment, waking up like everything was normal.

The Avengers Compound, Upstate New York

Wanda Maximoff

One minute, I was in that field in Wakanda looking down at what was left of Vision's hollowed out skull. Then the pain started, going from deep inside my heart to the very fiber of my being as every part of my body was broken down and scattered to the winds. And it was fine. For a moment. It didn't matter. Not really. When my heart had been torn out twice. Then I was sitting in my room in the Avengers Compound. As though the past two years never happened.

The Xavier Institute, Westchester New York

Daisy Johnson

Quake, Destroyer of Worlds. Ironic isn't it. I go to a bad future where the world ends and get branded the Destroyer of Worlds only for it to turn out that that is actually Talbot the jerky General that Coulson has been frenemies with since SHIELD fell. There was something called Gravitonium involved. Long story. We thought we could help Talbot. We really did. But that stuff gets into you. Talbot thought he was invincible. So, I had to kill him. And Fitz was dead. And Coulson was dying. But we decided for a few square moments to be happy. Then it happened. Everyone started turning to dust around me. May definitely went. Then Mack. Then Yo-Yo. And then I was here. In a bedroom that I didn't recognize. What the hell just happened?

Space

Loki Odinson

There are many rules for effective con-artistry. Maintain eye contact. Flatter the mark. Negotiate with them. Treat them like a person. Always work your hardest to convince them that what you're asking is perfectly reasonable. That it's something worth pursuing. And of course, never under ANY circumstances, haggle with a talking rodent. You think I'm kidding. I assure you that I am quite serious. At this very moment, I am on the vessel of an old friend and her associates. This old friend owes me a favor. So, I hoped to gain that favor by gaining their protection for the refugees of Asgard. Unfortunately, before I could speak to her, I found myself here negotiating prices for what was supposed to a favor from a foul-mouthed, arrogant, disrespectful creature called "Rocket" while my brother and the Beast simply watch. Did I mention that I have been doing this for the past three days?

"One thousand units."

The little rat sits across from me with his arms crossed, "Two thousand."

"Fifteen hundred." For the thousandth time, I do the mathematics in my head. I think there's enough in Asgard's coffers.

"Three thousand." Does the little beast have no shame?

"Fine." I say, "Two thousand."

"Three thousand or nothin'." The raccoon insists, "Come on these are your people looking for refuge after all."

"Twenty-five hundred." It would be draining on the red gold, but what choice do we have.

"Four thousand."

I resist the urge to strangle him, "Are you raising this price simply to annoy me?"

He laughs, "Maybe."

"I am Groot." The adolescent tree that they keep as a mascot (?) leans casually against the wall playing that juvenile Midgard game he seems addicted to.

The raccoon grins, "How about five thousand?"

"Two thousand," I force myself to smile, "Or we take our business elsewhere."

"Alright fine." The Raccoon says, "Twenty-five hundred. We can shake on it."

"I said two thousand or nothing you little….." It is at this exact moment that Thor's legendary patience finally wears thin, "Twenty-five hundred. Splendid, we'll take it."

Gamora's idiot paramour breathes a sigh of relief, then he shakes my brother's hand, "Deal."

I pull Thor aside, "How do you intend to pay for that."

"Hulk still has several thousand units he won on Sakaar. He doesn't have much use for them, mind you." Thor grins.

"And you just chose to enlighten me on this NOW?" I can't believe it, "I was haggling with red gold that was pulling increasingly closer to being more than what he had?"

Thor laughs, "And you were doing so good, brother. It was amusing. Though, I will admit it was getting a little bit boring after three days, but otherwise."

I groan, "I hate you, oh so very much."

"I love you too, brother." I really do hate him sometimes.

I turn to Gamora, "Thank you for your intervention."

She rolls her eyes, "Look, I apologize for Rocket. But if he's going to do that, then he is going to do it. It can't be stopped. Also," She kicks me hard in a vulnerable place, "Favor or not you deserved that after my sister."

"It wasn't my fault." I protest.

The Valkyrie, Brunhilda walks into the cockpit holding an empty bottle, "What the Hel is it with you guys?" She asks, "Your booze fridge is bone dry."

Gamora indignantly grabs the bottle, "That's because A. Enough stupid, irresponsible behavior occurs on this ship when everyone is sober," Her eyes dart back and forth at the others to make her point, "And B. You just drank half of it."

Brunhilda shrugs grabs the bottle and goes to sit down. The Benatar is hooked up to the Statesman and we're off.

Gamora

Is this a stupid idea? Is trusting Loki ever an intelligent idea? Usually, not. But he is a friend. And even if they drive you insane, you don't fail to help friends. I sit beside Quill in the front cockpit.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" I him for the one thousandth time.

Quill turns up his music. It's playing the song about the sailor's lover. The one whose love never comes home. Perhaps, more importantly the one that was always his mother's favorite. I want to grab that dial and skip that song. But Peter has a rule, you do not skip over music on his mixtape. Or his Zune. There have been arguments. That have gotten violent. And this song has a special place in his heart. Which makes it the worst possible song for this conversation.

"Why would I not be okay with it?" Quill looks like he'd rather just sing along, "He's Nebula's ex-boyfriend and it's good money."

"Not that." I say, "I mean you know going to Terra."

Quill shrugs his shoulders, "Gotta do it sometime."

"But you've said multiple times that you don't want to go back to Terra because that's where your mother died." He's silent for a moment.

"Yeah and this galaxy is where Yondu died." He says, "Besides, we've got do it sometime and this is good money and good work."

"So, you're alright with it." I say, Peter Quill is an excellent liar. Especially to himself.

"Hey, we didn't spend three days listening to Rocket haggle with the god of mischief so I could chicken out over my personal demons," He says.

Rocket enters the cockpit, "Okay, are we going or are we going?"

"Full speed ahead." Quill says, "Let's go. It's a three-day flight, but so long as nothing crazy happens things, it should be smooth-sailing."

Time

Zari Tomasz

In my dreams, I'm nine years old again. And those men are converging on our house. The men in suits. The men from ARGUS. Only those aren't those men. They aren't dressed in ARGUS suits. Hell, they don't even look human. They wear black suits. Armored suits. But they connect together. And their faces are gaping, showing ugly needlelike teeth. They look like bugs or aliens. They look like the ones that attacked New York. Why did I think that? Aliens never attacked New York. I would remember if they did, right? Except I was three. I would only know about that from parents talking about it. And watching it. I hear Behrad crying. I see the monsters coming. I see their guns. Their big, scary guns. They don't really look like guns. They fit over the entire arm, and they shine gold and orange and blue. And they pulse. Mom hands me Behrad.

"Zari, run." She says.

"But Mom?" I begin.

Dad squeezes me on the shoulder, "Take your brother and run. You have to get away. It's too dangerous."

"I'm not leaving you guys." I say.

Mom gets down on her knees. She hugs me close and kisses me. Then she kisses Behrad. She takes off her pretty necklace. And puts it around my neck. Then my father gets down on his knees. He hugs and kisses us to.

"Just run." He says, "We'll hold them back."

So, I take my baby brother and I run the back door. I hear an explosion behind. Behrad is screaming now, and I want to scream too. I want to go back to find them. But instead, I run. And then I wake up in the Waverider.

Groaning, I stumble out of bed. I don't look at my clock. It's impossible to tell what time it is around here anyway. Now, the first and most important that you need to know about the Waverider is that rule around here is organized chaos. With the word "organized" taken out. So, it's just chaos. Sure, Ray developed a chore wheel that in theory, we're all supposed to follow. But it's not like we listen. Especially not Rory. For the most part, we instead do whatever we do whenever we do it. Unless we have missions. Otherwise, it's pizza for breakfast, hot fudge sundaes for lunch and Thai food for dinner. Or is that order even right? Significant other staying the night? Don't bother telling anyone beforehand. Or do. We'll probably forget anyway. And if you want to do your laundry or watch TV or call home or use the bathroom? Have to get there first. Oh, wait, I forgot the best part. Three guesses how many bathrooms we have. First two don't count. One. We have one bathroom. One solitary frakking bathroom. And it's torture. Bleary-eyed, I make my way to the aforementioned solitary tiny bathroom. The line is mercifully short. Wally is in the front, then Nate who is still pouting about Amaya being gone, then Rory. In an effort to be friendly, I go to stand behind him.

"Who's in the bathroom?" I ask casually.

"Trench-coat." Rory says scornfully, "He's got a wicked hangover. It's gonna be a while."

"Great," I say, Constantine can be in a bathroom for up to six hours.

"Also, Blondie's fake girlfriend is here." Mick adds, "So is Darhk's daughter. I think they and Haircut and Blondie are still….."

Then Gideon begins broadcasting, "ALL LEGENDS TO THE BRIDGE! ALL LEGENDS TO THE BRIDGE! WE HAVE AN EMERGECY SITUATION!"

Rory speaks for all of us, "What's that about?"

Nate shrugs, "Maybe we have a mission."

Great.

"Great." I say.

"We should go," Wally says, "Race ya."

He wins of course.

Contrary to Rory's belief, when we make it to the Bridge, Sara and Ray are both there as Ava and Nora Darhk. The window is shining blue.

"What's going on?" I ask.

Gideon pipes up, "It seems we have entered a time vortex and are on a collision course with a dangerous, unidentified party that is advancing on us in at an extremely unstable rate that will likely result in a truly devastating crash that will more than likely kill most of us."

"Short version." Sara says, "We're screwed. Where's Constantine?"

"Puking in the bathroom." Wally speeds up to window, "Is there any…..specific thing we should you know…do."

"Hang on for dear life and try your hardest not to panic." Ray smiles cheerfully.

Rory casually straps in, "So we're all gonna die."

Holding my breath, I strap in. Sara grips the controls. Agent Sharpe grips her shoulder.

Ray counts down, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4….."

Nora tries not to look scared.

Wally straps in.

Nate indifferently looks at the floor. Then straps in.

"Brace for impact." Gideon's voice says.

The rushing sound in our ears.

And then we explode.

Just kidding. But the electricity does go off. Completely. For a moment, the Waverider is completely and utterly dark. And then Constantine lights up.

"Where the hell have you been?" Sara asks.

"My apologies, Luv." He holds the cigarette in his hand casually, "I had a bad hangover. It seems I missed a lot."

"Yeah, understatement of the century." Sara throws her hands up, "Gideon status report. Where are we, when are we and just how screwed are we?"

"It appears that all systems save for the function of my artificial intelligence have been completely and utterly shot, Captain Lance." Her voice suddenly starts to sound static-y, "Estimated repair time, six to eight months."

"SIXTY-EIGHT MONTHS?!" Rory tears off his seatbelt and looks like he wants to strangle someone.

Which all things considered is to be expected.

Sara just groans, "What about the Where and the When?"

"New York City," Gideon rasps, "Specifically the middle of Central Park. Thursday, 24th of August 2017 at approximately 0730 hours."

"Okay, then." Sara asks, "And is everyone okay?"

"Roger, captain." Ray pipes up.

"I'm good." I say though my hands are shaking.

"I. Need. Beer." Rory clenches in his hands in a manner that implies he'd settle for just setting something (or someone) on fire.

"We-we need to call the Time Bureau." Ava throws her hands up, "We need a plan."

"I think I threw up a bit in my mouth." Wally puts in randomly.

"That's great." Nate says sarcastically, "That's just perfect!"

"Well, is this not a fine kettle of fish." Constantine tries not to look too pleased.

"I hate all of you." Nora's look could melt ice.

"I have identified the foreign body that caused this." Gideon's raspy voice says like it's the most normal thing in the world, "It appears to be some sort of space craft."

"What are you, assholes doing?" Rory goes to grab his gun, "Let's go kill those bastards."

New York City

Gamora

So, we just crashed. Again. But this time, it wasn't our (mostly Quill and Rocket's) fault. Sort of. We crashed into…..something. That just came out of nowhere. Mid-Jump. Really, it's a miracle that we didn't blow up. And because went down the Statesman went down. There was a lot screaming (mostly Mantis…..and Drax…..and Quill.) and swearing (mostly Rocket and Quill and me and Thor and Loki on the other side of the radio.), not to mention a fair bit of panicking and blaming and the usual apparent body horror that comes with jumping (everyone is probably equally guilty on that level). All that in less than a minute before impact abruptly knocks from the sky and onto the ground in a flash of head-spinning light and a small explosion….somewhere. For a moment there no one speaks. In fact, there's no sound at all aside from Peter's music. It's playing that song about the Yellow Submarine.

Then Groot speaks for all of us, "I am Groot!"

My arm is directly in front of him.

"What the hell just happened?" I repeat.

Drax jumps upholding his knives aloft, "Are we dead?"

Rocket already has the dashboard open, "Damn it! It's shot!"

Quill gets up to join him, "How shot?"

"Completely and utterly." Rocket throws up his hands, "We're probably going to blow half our pay on this job on frakking repairs."

Quill groans, "That's great. That's just perfect."

"How is it perfect?" Drax starts to sit down, "If the ship is beyond repair."

"Not beyond repair." Rocket interjects, "We're just gonna need a shitload of parts to get this boat off the ground again."

I put my arm around Groot, "How bad is it?"

Rocket goes deeper into the dashboard, "Let's see, we've got three dead engines, at least five shorted spark plugs, a busted power converter…."

"We're screwed." Mantis is still hiding under the chair.

"And I'm guessing the ship that's paying us isn't much better shape." Rocket climbs out, "Hey, Quill, any place you know where we can get this shit on Terra?"

Quill throws his hand up, "No, I don't know where we can this shit on Terra. I don't know if we can get this shit on Terra! Last, I checked Earth hadn't even MASTERED space travel yet."

"I am Groot!" Groot doesn't look up from his game.

"Groot makes an excellent point," Drax says, "How do we even know if we're on Terra?"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?!" Rocket throws his hands up.

"Okay, you two." I get up, "I say someone should get up and check on the Asgardians and for that matter where we landed."

Thankfully, the doors are still working. Or at least they still open when you kick them. As Quill and I stumble out of the Benatar we're greeted by the glowing sunlight of early morning shining down on green grass covered in dew. The Statesman is lying nearby, and Thor and Loki stand across from it arguing while Thor's big green friend stands nearby frantically looking back and forth as though in search of somebody to kill. Which he probably is.

"So," Quill asks casually as Groot and Drax follow us to the surface, "What's your guys' status report."

"Everyone's still alive." Loki says calmly.

"Us too." Quill asks, "Anyone have any idea where we are."

Thor and Loki look at each other for a moment, then Thor turns to us sheepishly, "We were hoping you knew."

"I am Groot." Groot gestures towards a gray, granite shrine strewn with roses located about five away from us.

Peter's face lights up, "Oh my God! That's the John Lennon Memorial! In Central Park! I've always wanted to see that!"

The irony is amazing.

"Well," I say, "At least we made it to Terra."

"HULK SMASH PEOPLE IN UGLY SHIP!" That's when we see it. It's not exactly an ugly ship. Or at least it looks no worse than you'd expect a ship that just bumped into another ship at lightspeed to look. It's iron gray, gleaming in the sunlight with what looks like a couple of broken-down engines and thrusters. It's….roughly shaped like the model spaceship Quill keeps in his cabin from the movie, the Millennium Falcon I believe it's called though its thrusters are longer. And the people, the ones, the Hulk wants to kill are slowly advancing from the hull. All Terran. There's a square-jawed Neanderthal who reminds me of Drax, a smiling dark-haired man with a ridiculously perfect haircut, a handsome dark-haired boy with a look of anger on his face, a dark-skinned boy in a red jacket and another lighter-skinned boy in a green shirt and white shoes, a straggly fellow in a trench coat, an olive-skinned girl wearing a red-checked shirt, an angry dark-haired woman, a golden-haired woman in a severe blue suit and another golden-haired woman in white holding two daggers aloft (their leader).

As they approach us, Thor is the first to speak, "I would have words with thee."

The ship-crashers' leader brandishes her daggers, "You want words with us, Leif Erikson. You guys are the ones who crashed our ship."

"That wasn't us!" Loki throws his hands up, "It was THEM!" He gestures at us. He's extremely lucky that I've come to expect this from him.

Peter, however, doesn't know Loki at all, "DUDE!"

"Easy, Quill." Rocket holds his hands up, "We didn't crash anything. You crashed our ships! And now, YOU GOTTA PAY FOR IT!"

"Sure," says the Neanderthal, "I'll pay for it. BY SLOWLY SKINNING YOU ALIVE, YOU LITTLE RAT!"

"Rat?" Rocket grabs his guns, "It is SO ON!"

"I AM GROOT!" Groot agrees.

There's blaster fire, fists are thrown and soon we have Asgardians, humans, and well everything descends into utter chaos. Just another day at the office really.

Zari Tomaz

We brawl for about an hour. Nobody gets killed. But we definitely get roughed up a lot. The talking Racoon bites Rory on the arm. Rory lights the Racoon's tail on fire and gets mauled by a literal walking three. Sara and Ava get into it with this crazy, Green-Skinned chick toting a set of knives about as long as her arm. Some hot blonde-haired dude with an eye patch shoots electricity out of his hands, but Nate goes Steel-mode and takes the blast. Then this big, green rage monster attacks him from behind. Ray tries to be reasonable and winds up with a knife at his throat, courtesy of some murderous gray dude with bright red tattoos which somehow derails into a weird philosophical conversation. Nora and Constantine get into this crazy magical battle with this black-haired pretty boy. Jax goes to sleep after being touched by a spacey Asian girl with bug antenna. Wally sneaks up on this diet-Han Solo guy in a red jacket, grabbing his gun. And me, while I send one burst of air after another towards this crazy lady with an axe who attacks me again and again and again. At point, she nicks me. But I get up. I keep fighting. No matter what happens, I keep fighting. Until we get swarmed by space cops. Not kidding.

New York City, SWORD Facility

Loki

The admittedly gratuitous brawl is broken up by men and women in black SWAT team uniforms who just so happen to be working for….you guessed SHIELD. But not SHIELD, SHIELD. No, these idiots are from a separate SHIELD unit called SWORD or the Sentient World Observation and Response Division which deals with Extraterrestrial affairs or more specifically Extraterrestrials that have taken up residence in Midgard. Which Thor insists was not something that was here the last time he was. The idiots who we were brawling with us of course manage to fade into the woodwork while we are hauled off like criminals to a mysterious facility somewhere under the Empire State Building. Now, in theory, we could escape. I even have a plan to escape. That I am perfectly capable of putting into action. I am simply electing not to enact because I am curious about what SWORD's plans and purpose are. I most certainly am not staying because I'm concerned for the others or because my brother insists we do. That's absurd. Completely and utterly absurd. Anyway, on the elevator we discuss our situation.

"This is a prank isn't it?" Thor throws his hands up, "This entire subgroup of SHIELD that never existed before is all part of an elaborate ruse by Tony Stark in order to welcome Banner and myself back to Earth."

"Did they know we were coming back?" Banner asks for the tenth time, "Did you send them a message or anything?"

"Well, no." Thor admits, "But it is the explanation that makes the most sense."

I can't believe my brother's stupidity, "How long has it been since you were last on Earth?"

"What does that matter?" Thor's face turns red with embarrassment.

"Battle of Sokovia," Banner takes out his glasses to polish them, "May of 2015."

"No!" Thor says, "No! No! No! NO! That's the last time Banner was here. I've been back since. Loads and Loads of times."

"Well, then, Brother," I say, "Would be so kind to name one of those loads and loads time seeing as there are so many?"

Thor holds his finger up.

"And well we're on the subject," I say, "No, a month ago before Ragnarök does not count."

Thor puts his finger down and looks sheepish, "But did you see them then, Brother. Because I didn't see them. They weren't there before."

"I am Groot." The Tree interrupts Thor's tirade.

"Calm down, Groot." The Raccoon is polishing his gun, "They're not gonna vivisect us." He turns to Quill, "Are they?"

"Dude, aliens, regularly come here nowadays," Quill throws up his hands, "Why would they vivisect us?"

"And anyway," The little beast grins, "If they were gonna vivisect us, remember I've gotten us out of 23 prisons. We could break out of this one easy. This security system is so primitive…."

"Rocket," Gamora says sternly, "Remember that talk we had about discussing escape plans when the guards can hear?"

"I'm just saying it would be easy." The Raccoon protests, "That's all."

"The more you talk about it the less easy it's going to be." Points out Quill.

"I'm just saying this tech come straight from the…." The Raccoon begins.

Then the elevator mercifully dings. Never have I felt more grateful to be interrogated.

They send each of us into separate rooms to be interrogated, sorry processed and questioned about our business on Earth. I am paired with a quiet African American man who looks just as confused as I am and just so happens to be better at hiding it.

"Name," He asks me.

"Are you serious?!" I throw up my hands, "I think you know who I am. Do the events of five years ago mean anything to you?"

"I still need a name."

Stupid wretch, "Loki Odinson."

"And your Homeworld Mr. Odinson." He looks unphased.

"Asgard." I say through clenched teeth, "But you know that?"

"And your purpose on Earth."

"I'm not here to invade it again if that's what you're worried about?" This is really getting tedious.

My interrogator is not amused, "Mister Odinson, please I need you take to this seriously. Why have you come to Earth? And please be specific as possible."

In that case this could take a while.

I start with, "Our planet was destroyed…."

Gamora

"Do you have any connections to persons who may pose a threat to Planet Earth?" The young woman with the clipboard looks dubiously at me from the table.

"Define 'connections." If she knows who I am and who my father is, I'd much prefer she admitted it.

"Friends, family members," Her skin is dark brown and her smile is not horrible, "People who might want you dead."

I decide to cut to the chase, "My adoptive father is Thanos of Titan. He is an infamous conqueror who has gone for years from Planet to Planet destroying half their populations." I hold my breath, "I defected from his service three years ago and shortly thereafter my colleagues and I prevented him from receiving an Infinity Stone. But you knew all that, didn't you."

The girl shrugs, "The name has come up in interviews. More than once. So, what do you believe the chances are that your father would attempt to come after you, here on Earth?"

I groan, "He hasn't come after me, us yet, but I suppose that it is a possibility." And this will likely get us deported. Well, so long as we can get off planet…

"And what defenses would you recommend against him."

It took a moment for me to realize what she's asking, "You're…not worried about me endangering your planet."

"Do you have any clue how many people come here seeking protection from infamous Galactic Conquerors."

Interlude 1:

Record of Interviews concerning Passengers of Asgardian Ship, Statesman, by SWORD Agent Monica Rambeau and Director J'Onn J'Onnz

Interview with Thor Odinson by Agent Tyler Hayward:

Q: So, Mister Odinson, what is your purpose here Earth.

A: What's that supposed to mean? I've told you more than once that my planet was destroyed by my sociopathic sister and I'm looking for a new home for my people. And could I PLEASE just see one of the Avengers. I'm sure that will clear everything up. Especially since this is clearly Stark's idea of a sick prank.

Q: What's make you say that Mister Odinson?

A: Because you were not a thing last time I was here.

Q: And you do realize that we've been a thing for over two decades?

A: What? That's impossible?! Stark, where are you? This is not funny! STARK!

Interview with Dr. Bruce Banner by Agent Thomas Blake

Q: So, Doctor Banner, you've been off planet for while?

A: Two years.

Q: And what were you doing in those two years?

A: I was fighting in a Gladiatorial Ring on a Hedonistic Trash Planet under the control of an all-powerful Manchild. But I barely remember most of it.

Q: And that's because for most of it your…other half was in control.

A: Yes. Um, if it's not too much trouble could we maybe…contact the Avengers?

Q: We will as soon as possible, but first you need to understand that first we need to understand your situation.

A: Of Course.

Q: And Doctor Banner….

A: Yes.

Q: Could you please explain that to Mister Odinson

Interview with Peter Quill by Agent Omar Malik

Q: So, Mister Quill we understand you were born on Earth.

A: Brandywine, Missouri. October 10th. 1980. Now, can we please skip to the part where we're either arrested or deported or whatever.

Q: So, that will make you, Peter Jason Quill of Brandywine Missouri, reported missing in August of 1988 by his Grandfather, Jason Quill just after his mother Meredith died.

A: Yeah, I guess I am.

Q: And can you tell us why that is Mister Quill.

A: Well, that's actually a really, funny weird story. I guess you could say that I'm the first person in the world you actually got abducted by aliens.

Q: No, Mister Quill. You aren't. Not by a longshot.

A: Oh.

Q: Can tell us why you were abducted?

A: Well, that's a…long story.

Q: We have time.

A: Well, the thing is…..I'm not entirely human. Now, it might say in your files that my mom had a brain tumor, and she was always going on about how my dad was an angel.

Q: Yes.

A: Well, he was…..from the sky. But he was a jackass. In fact, he was so much of a jackass that….get this…..the pirates he paid to capture me decided they wanted to keep me. So, they did, and the rest is history.

Q: Your grandfather wants to see you, Mister Quill.

A: Really?

Interview Drax the Destroyer by Agent Philip Kwan

Q: So, how exactly did you come about the nickname 'Drax the destroyer'?

A: My wife, Ovette and my daughter, Kamaria were murdered in cold blood by the Kree Extremist, Ronan the Accuser. So, I massacred several thousand of his forces.

Q: Did it help?

A: No.

Q: And how did you join Peter Quill's crew.

A: We were incarcerated together. They offered me a chance to kill Ronan. I did not hesitate to take and together we formed an unbreakable bond of friendship and destroyed Ronan in a dance-off to save the universe. But I soon learned that my revenge is not complete. To truly avenge my family's death and to protect my new family, I must kill Thanos the Mad Titan.

Q: How does Gamora feel about that?

A: She wishes Thanos dead too. We all do. She said if there's ever a chance, we'll let the magic coin decide.

Interview with Subject 89P13 AKA Rocket by Agent Maria Ramirez

Q: When you were first brought here, our agents confiscated three guns, four blasters, a hand-cannon, six knives and what looks suspiciously like a homemade bomb from you.

A: Have to be prepared. Speaking of which when can I get those back?

Q: So, what is your planet of origin?

A: What is my what?

Q: Where are you from? Originally?

A: Don't know. Don't care. Can I leave now?

Q: Will you please take this seriously.

A: I am taking this seriously.

Q: Then why are you winking?

A: You noticed that. I must have used my wrong eye. Look, are you going to vivisect me or is this is the only torture you use?

Q: Now, listen here you little rodent.

A: RODENT?!

Interview with the Valkyrie Brunhilda by Agent Nina Rosario

Q: When first brought in you were underwent a drug and alcohol test do to the….activities you were taking part.

A: What of it?

Q: Your Blood Alcohol level was 15.0. Ten times the legal limit.

A: If that's the legal limit, then that's stupid. I didn't even have enough to booze in me to let me think straight.

Interview with Mantis by Agent Simon Klein

Q: So, can you please explain why you are here?

A: I have the ability to put people to sleep with my hands, but Gamora says that I can only it use if you try to vivisect us. You are annoyed.

Q: Please don't touch me and explain why you're on Earth.

A: Our ship broke.

Q: And how did that happen.

A: It smashed into an ugly ship. Filled with idiots. We fought them. You are still annoyed. And you think the information that I'm giving is completely useless. And I am stupid

Q: Oh, is it that obvious.

Interview with Korg by Agent Ian Huntley

Q: So, how are you acquainted with Thor.

A: I was going to start a revolution, but I didn't print enough pamphlets….

Q: Okay, could we please skip ahead to the part where you meet Thor.

A: Sure, mate whatever you want but this information it's like…..real important to this story like you have to listen to the entire story for you to really understand. Now, the only people who showed up are my mum and her boyfriend who I hate…..

Interview with creature calling itself "Groot" by Agent Samirah Radhavi

Q: So, what exactly is your species?

A: I am Groot

Q: Is that your species or your name.

A: I am Groot.

Q: Do you currently consider yourself a prisoner of war.

A: I am Groot?

Q: Does your species consider themselves to be at war with Earth and/or humanity.

A: I AM GROOT!

Q: Do you wish us to have a translator in here.

A: I am Groot.

Interlude 2: The Endless

The Dreaming

In a Forest dark as night, ringed by glimmering blue rivers, emerald green gardens and trees, snowy mountains, wild oceans, sandy beaches and even a desert, there stands a Castle. Tall and bone-white, it stands thousands of feet tall and is constructed in a manner so that it rambles in multiple directions that causes it to not appear differently depending on what angle you are observing it from. Here it appears Victorian. From there Tudor. Perhaps from there it looks more medieval. And from it could legitimately have come straight from a fairy tale. Its walls are spiraled, and it is topped by seven rambling towers. Surrounding it is a misty graveyard, overlooked by two large Gargoyles, a Gryphon, a Dragon and a Manticore, not of Stone but flesh and blood. Nearby, a young man with a grinning orange Jack-O-Lantern in place of a head whistles while he works contentedly on a bed of rainbow-striped roses. Inside the Castle, there is a library so vast it is said that it contains every story ever written. At a long table in this library stands a man, tall and gaunt and pale as the moon with an angular sharp-featured face, a head of tangled, untidy black hair and shining black eyes. He wears a black denim jacket unbuttoned over a black button-down shirt, black jeans and black sneakers with a black cloak covering his shoulders. Around his neck is a bloodred ruby on a golden chain. With the obsessive care of one who is preparing for an unpleasant task, he arranges the chairs at the table for what seems to be the thousandth time. In his task, he is aided by an earnest young man in a suit jacket with red hair that sticks up in tufts on head and round, wire-rimmed glasses. The pale man is Morpheus, the Lord of the Dreaming, thirdborn of the Endless the Seven Children of Mother Night and Father Time. More commonly known as Dream. The young man with him is Lucien, his butler, librarian and former Raven. As Lucien and Dream continue on their task, a window opens and a Raven flies in. This is Dream's current Raven, Matthew. In life, he was Matthew Cable, and he was killed in a Drunk Driving accident. Flying into the "Hey, boss." The Raven says, "They're here."

Dream nods, "Thank you, Matthew. Lucien, show them in."

"Yes, My lord." Lucien exits and soon returns with the new arrivals. The first to enter with him is a young woman who appears to be no older than her early twenties when in fact, she is far older. She is shorter than Dream and shares his pale skin and untidy black hair thought her eyes are not so black but a very dark gray. She wears a black leather jacket, a black tube top, black jeans, black high-heeled boots and a silver necklace shaped like an Ankh. This is the second eldest of the Endless, Death and is angry.

"The nerve of him!" She hollers, "The nerve of both of them! THOSE EVIL PSYCHOPATHIC ASSHOLES. They think that take that power, JUST TAKE IT. When it's not. Even. Thiers. And just use it to do….OF ALL THINGS! I HATE THEM! I HATE THEM SO MUCH! Especially Thanos, but Mobius too. They think they can do THAT. WHAT GIVES THEM THE RIGHT?! WHAT GIVING THEM THE FUCKING RIGHT TO DECIDE FOR THE ENTIRE FUCKING MULTIVERSE."

Dream simply nods, "I know, Sister. I know."

The individual that follows Death is neither male nor female. By modern standards, they are what's considered to be either "Gender Fluid" or "Non-binary". They are impossibly beautiful with sharp, symmetrical features, ivory skin, glossy, flowing black hair that is tied at the back of their head in a ponytail, red, full lips and bright golden eyes. They wear a snappy red pantsuit with a red heart-shaped necklace around their neck, snappy red loafers and nothing else.

"Calm down, sister." They say in a board voice.

Death slams her hands on the table "DO. NOT. TELL. ME. TO. CALM. DOWN!"

Following Desire, is their twin, Despair. Or rather, the Second Despair. The first Despair died so long ago that her own twin barely remembers her. The current Despair is short and squat with pale fleshy skin that hangs off of her body. Her hair is black like that of her siblings, but it is limp and stringy put together in a greasy bun. Her teeth are filed and pointed, her face plain. She wears a rusty ring pointed up like a fishhook which she uses to dig, deep into her skin when she is stressed. Under normal circumstances, she wears nothing else. Today, she wears a dun brown bathrobe that looks as though it has not been washed in at least a week and orange Aquaman-themed underwear.

"Why are we meeting." Despair grumbles, "We all know it is hopeless."

Dream shakes his head, "Do not underestimate mortals, Despair. They are stronger than you think. Especially if we lend our aid."

"But we will not lend our aid." Destiny of the Endless is the next to enter. He is the eldest sibling, taller and gaunter than even Dream. He wears a long, flowing ash gray robe that covers his head in cowl. Chained to his arm is an iron book bond in the Hide of a beast that never existed. This is the Book of Destiny which tells of the Fates of all creatures living and dead.

"For that is our law. We watch. We observe. We understand. We influence. But we do not interfere."

"BULLSHIT!" snarls Death.

"This is a different matter." Says Dream at the same time.

"But we DO interfere," The next to arrive is Delirium the youngest of the Endless. She prances barefoot into Dream's library accompanied by a mangy mongrel dog. She is darker than her siblings with slight tan, her hair is naturally golden, but it is tangled and curly and dyed multiple bright colors ranging from lime green to fiery red to dark indigo. The hooded sweatshirt and loose t-shirt with the straps of her bra hanging on her shoulders are also brightly rainbow-colored and form together in a wildly divide spiral. Below that, Delirium wears a bright purple skirt and a pair of fishnet stockings. Her ears are studded with rainbow-colored earrings shaped like tropical fish and around her neck is a ridiculously gaudy necklace also rainbow-colored with beads also shaped like tropical fish. The dog accompanying her is Barnabas and he was a gift from her brother, Destruction who walked away from his duties. Once upon a time, Delirium was Delight. But that was before. Before the bad things happened.

"Every time a mortal bothers us," Delirium says, "We interfere. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots." She slides down to the floor and curls her fingers into Barnabas' fur as they tussle as if the others are not present.

"Some of us do," Destiny says with all the self-righteous superiority of an eldest sibling, "But we are not meant to. Especially with things such as this. The Mortals must solve these issues on their own. We must allow the natural course of things….."

Death throws her hands up, "'The natural course of things?' Really, Destiny, 'the natural course of things'. Letting half of the multiverse, of all LIFE, turn to dust is THE NATURAL COURSE OF THINGS?! LETTING THE MULTIVERSE DIE IS 'THE NATURAL COURSE OF THINGS'?! In just EIGHT MONTHS, so many people of ALL SPECIES are going to be suffering, are going to be DYING! And we just have to let happen because it's THE. BLOODY. NATURAL. WAY. OF. THINGS?!" Glaring at Destiny, she stands up to face her siblings, "While I say, FUCK THAT! FUCK THE NATURAL WAY OF THINGS! Sure, I know that at the end of the Universe, I'll puts the chairs on the tables, lock the doors and lock the Universe behind when I leave. But NOT TODAY. And SURE, AS HELL not in eight months. We all know what Thanos, and the Anti-Monitor are doing. We all know that the Watchers and the One-Above-All and the Monitor have requested our aid. Well, I say we give it. I say should we take a stand. Find the heroes and champions we need."

But Destiny is unmoved, "If it's meant to happen then we cannot prevent it."

"IS it meant to happen?" Death throws her hands up again, "Do you REALLY believe that? Or do you just want to because you don't have the BALLS to stop it from happening?!"

Dream is calmer, though he shifts his hands from side to side in the bag of sand he carries with him, "Death is right. The Evil that Thanos and the Anti-Monitor will bring is insurmountable. And although some of us may believe that mortals exist for our benefit, it is the other way around. We exist by their will. And it is their creativity. Their understanding. And above all, their courage and need to believe in things that sustains us and ours. Do we not owe to them our aid? Especially against the likes of our enemies now."

Desire waves a hand dismissively, "That was impressive, Big Brother. But it is also folly. We owe nothing to the mortals. They are weak and inferior while we are Endless. What do these matters have to do with us."

"You SELF-CENTERED… ." Death begins.

But Dream holds up his hand, "You say it has naught to with us, Desire. But is this not Thanos the Mad Titan? Is it not Mobius the Anti-Monitor? Do you really believe that because of our abilities we will spared from Thanos' plot after all that has occurred between us? Do you truly believe that when the Multiverse is swept away, we will not go with it? And when he has the power, lest you forget Thanos has managed to harm us before. Look at Delirium. Have you forgotten what the Mad Titan has done to her? Do you not remember her screams, sibling? Do you remember how she used to laugh when she was Delight? I do. Do you still her scream? I hear them. I hear them. Every time Thanos' actions cause a nightmare, I hear them. The nightmares that he and Mobius create are some of the most horrible and I have naught to do with them. And our littlest sister's dreams of him are among the worst, but not the worst of all. It was only due to my zealousness that we started that fight with the Mad Titan all those centuries ago. And for my pride and anger, Thanos smote the light from Delirium's eyes. It was for what he thought was love of Death, that the Mad Titan defiled our sister. Do you not wish that he and the Anti-Monitor be stripped of the power to do that anyone ever again? Have you forgotten, Desire? Need I say anything of the first Despair?"

Delirium has spent most of the conversation, pretending not to take of it. But when Thanos is mentioned enough times she looks up. Dream emphasizes the point by putting a protective hand on her shoulder.

For a moment, Desire looks as though Dream's words may have an impact on them.

Then they shrug and scoff, "Don't talk to me about the first Despair, Big Brother. She was my twin and I liked her far more than I like the rest of you. But I like the Despair we have now just as much, and it's been so many centuries that I don't even remember what she looks like. And besides, were she here and our places reversed, she most assuredly would not be risking her immortality for the sake of avenging me and the paltry lives of mortals." And Desire grins and sits down very much of the belief that they have won the argument.

For a moment, there is silence and Destiny speaks, "If anything what happened to Delirium is why we should not interfere."

"It's a losing war." Says Despair, "The mortals will not win whether we take part or not. It is not worth the effort. We should not waste our time on this."

"So," Dream notes sardonically, "I guess this means that all of us have who have spoken have made our positions clear. Delirium, what say you?"

Delirium is still seated on floor, her dog, Barnabas seated neatly on her lap.

Tensely, she sits up. Then Delirium grins a puckish grin that doesn't reach her eyes.

"I don't really what you're talking about," She lies, "But I surely like Dream and Death far more than I like the rest of you, so I'll vote with them."

"So," Destiny says, "We are tied then." This has been the case since Destruction left.

"Delirium wasn't even paying attention." Desire scoffs, "Her vote doesn't count. So, the nay-sayers win, and we will do nothing."

Death hits the table again hard enough to shake it, "You and Despair voted to do nothing because as FUCKING usual, you assholes DON'T GIVE A BLOODY SHIT! That means that your votes don't count…"

"Everyone's vote counts." Affirms Destiny with all the authority every eldest sibling believes themselves to have even though their younger siblings never indulge them. And with that this already tense debate devolves into a truly childish argument between the Endless that one would likely not expect between beings so ancient.

The argument ends when Dream yells out, "Cain, Abel, please leave."

Two relatively young men of Middle Eastern descent with high Neanderthal foreheads, one tall and handsome with horn-rimmed glasses and the other smaller and chubbier scurry out of the library frantically. Then the door opens, and a young man enters. He is tall and handsome and built like a Viking Lord. Or a lumberjack. He has long tangled red hair and long red beard that goes all the way down to his shoulders. He wears a yellow and green plaid flannel shirt over a white t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. He carries bindle stick over his left shoulder which sheathes a sword.

Delirium leaps up from the floor and runs to her brother, "DESTRUCTION!"

Destruction laughs and sweeps his younger sister up into his arms into a warm hug. Slowly, but surely Dream then makes his way to him. They too share a hug though it is briefer and slightly more awkward.

"I did not think you would come." Dream says.

"This was too important," Destruction turns to the others, "Am I allowed a vote?"

"Everyone has a vote." Destiny says simply.

"Then," Destruction responds, "I believe that we should aid Mar Novu, the One-Above-All and the Watchers in their quest. I believe we should save the multi-verse.

New York City, SWORD Facility

Loki

In a few hours, someone finally comes to our rescue. That is the good news. The bad news is that the person coming to our rescue just so happens to be the Wizard who once threw down an interdimensional portal for thirty straight minutes. Am I happy to see him? Of course not. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that he doesn't even bother to do the job himself. He sends his manservant. I know this because in the midst of my terrible interrogation, a tall, squat Asian individual with buzzcut hair and a ceremonial robe arrives in the interrogation room.

"I'm here for the prisoners." He says.

Showing no hint of surprise, my interrogator gets up and says, "Mister Wong, they are not technically prisoners."

"I know that." Wong says, "But Strange insisted I say that. The point is, he would like to assist on negotiating placement for the displaced Aliens."

"Then why doesn't we come himself?" I ask.

"He's busy." Wong explains, "You, Prince Loki and your fellow travelers are not the only…strange visitors we have. Now, come with me, I would like to be present when I help your brother negotiate a placement for the civilians with you."

How long Wong is expecting this to take, it doesn't take that long. In fact, as soon as Thor starts talking to the idiot that was interrogating me (who just so happens to be the director), they have it all figured out. You see, we already had a place planned for our people. Tonsberg, Norway. Former place of residence of the Tesseract. Also, the place where our father died. Because it was home. Once, that is taken care of, Thor, myself, Gamora, her associates, Banner, Valkyrie and for some reason the Krogan and his pet bug are herded into a portal to see Mister Wong's employer.

The Portal leads to spacious library in Greenwich Village which the Sorcerers apparently refer to as their "Sanctum Santorum." I recognized right it away. That happens when you freefall into somewhere from an endless portal.

Quill is tactful as ever, "Okay this is some sort of magical Wizard's lair. It's a freaking library."

Wong shrugs, "Appearances can be deceiving Mister Quill. Strange! Strange, are you here?"

A startled Strange is standing on the stairwell frantically looking for…something. He jumps for a moment, "Wong, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"My apologies, Strange," Wong says sarcastically, "But I did bring the Princes of Asgard, the Guardians of the Galaxy and their companions."

Strange groans, "I can see that, Wong. But for the love of God, the Empire State Building is barely ten blocks away."

"Your point." Wong asks.

"You didn't need to use the Sling Rings." Strange throws his shaking hands up, "You could have taken the subway."

"The portals are faster." Wong says simply, "This is a matter of importance after all."

"I know, I know." Strange levitates down from the staircase, "I know." He turns to us, "I also know that right now you all may have some questions." His gaze lingers briefly on the Raccoon and the Tree, then the Krogan and the Bug, "I know that I do. But I'm sure the most important question here is…."

"I AM GROOT!" The Tree demands.

"Yeah, Magic Man," Rocket agrees, "What the hell is going on here?!"

Still puzzling through his confusion Strange responds, "Come to the reading room and I'll explain."

Unsurprisingly, the reading room appears to be the same neat, plush library room I fell into when Strange pushed me down that chasm. I despise it on sight.

"These are nice digs." Quill says absently.

"This is a small room." Grumbles Drax, "Why are dealing with these matters in a small room."

"It's not that small, Drax." Gamora points out.

"It's quite small." Drax insists.

"We have smaller rooms on the Benatar." Rocket interjects.

"I am just saying," The brute throws his hands up, "That this room is quite small. Like the rooms we were questioned in. If the green monster was here….."

"The Other Guy is not here!" Banner says, "And if he was we probably wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Enough," Strange sits down on a chair near the fire, "Now, I don't suppose anyone has had breakfast yet."

"No." Thor says, "Breakfast would be nice."

I can't believe this, "We don't have time for breakfast."

"After the morning we've had, brother," He insists, "Food would be quite refreshing."

"I could eat." Quill says.

"I am Groot." Says the Tree.

"Gods, yes." Valkyrie says, "I haven't eaten since Ragnarok. I'm starving."

"We can eat, after we learn what's going on." I try to appeal to sanity.

"I don't know, mate." The Krogan says, "I could definitely go for some grub."

"What have you got?" The Raccoon asks.

"If it is food, you're offering." Drax forgets his complaints about the room, "Then I wish to partake in it. Now."

"Everyone is hungry." Announces Mantis.

What is wrong with you people?

"Thank you for your custom." Gamora offers a smile to Strange

"Hulk does get pretty testy when he's hungry." Notes Banner.

"Well, that settles it then." Strange snaps his fingers reveal a large breakfast spread then he turns to a nearby staircase, "You can come out now."

The moment he says that a lull falls over the atmosphere of the room. Everything stands still. And when the people Strange is calling enter the room, it becomes plain why this is the case. The taller of the two has dark brown skin and large brown eyes. He wears a suit of gleaming blue and gold armor with a high medal color shaped like a dome, a long flowing cape and tall, metal boots. His head is bald and domed and ringed with salt-and-pepper sideburns. The top of his head is ringed by black veins jutting over his scalp to his forehead and ringing his large ears on either side. The other has similar dark skin and a large domed head, but he is smaller. He wears a bright blue caped cloak over a snow-white toga, a bright golden medallion and tall blue boots. His eyes glow bright yellow. I know who they are, but it's impossible.

Then the taller speaks, "I am the Monitor, Mar Novu. This is Uatu, the Watcher. We are here to tell you what has happened in your world."

In the silence, I find myself saying, "But that's impossible."

Because it is. The Watchers and the Monitors are myths, they are beings that see everything and everyone in the Multiverse. They are all powerful, but they don't interfere. And they won't interfere, because…..

"Is it really, Prince Loki." The Watcher asks, "You've heard stories of us all your life."

"Yes, stories." I say, "Stories that you cannot interfere."

"We have special permission." The Monitor claims.

"You see," The Watcher explains, "My organization the Watchers, watches over your little Quadrant of the Multiverse. The Monitors, look after a separate Quadrant not far from yours."

"Or to be more precise," The Monitor cuts in, "Uatu watches over your universe and ever world in its immediate vicinity. I watch over every universe of another Quadrant. And because of what will happen, what has happened, we have made our decision interfere by bringing your worlds together."

"Wait, wait just a minute," My brother stands up, "Could slow down, there are people who might not understand." I can't help but look at him.

"Not me." Thor insists, "I get it."

"So,' The Watcher says, "We went against our Masters and sought help from the One-Above-All and so…"

"A substantial amount of the Multiverse has been forced together," Strange says, "Could you please explain the two very good reasons why."

"Thanos is coming." The Monitor's voice is grave.

Gamora

That's it. I can't stay here. I don't care what they say. I'm not staying here. We have to get off planet. Nothing else matters. If my father finds us…..I get to my feet and I move towards the door. My mind is reeling.

"Lady Gamora." The Watcher is front of me, "Where are you going?"

"If my father is coming…." I say.

"It's not just your father," The wizard, Strange says.

"You are needed, here." The Monitor's voice is cold as ice, "You all are."

"If I leave now," I try to explain, "Then my father will likely leave this planet in peace….."

"If only it was that simple." Strange holds up the bauble around his neck. It takes me a moment to realize why.

"Is that…"

"The Time Stone."

"But again," The Monitor says, "It's not just your father. It's also my brother. The Anti-Monitor."

"Okay, okay," Quill asks, "The Who now?"

"A being of the Netherverse," Strange explains, "Similar to Dormammu and bent on swallowing the entire Multiverse in a wave of Anti-Matter. Which would be bad enough on its own."

Wong adds, "Even without the fact we only have eight months."

"But it just so happens that on that exact same day that your father snaps his fingers." Strange goes on, "And wipes out half of all life in the Multiverse."

"Which will make stopping either decidedly harder," The Watcher goes on

"And we," The Monitor says, "Couldn't simply sit by to allow this to happen."

"So," The Watcher says, "We made the decision to bring the Multiverse together and to find the right heroes to stop what's going to happen."

"And what do you want us to do." Quill asks.

"We were just getting to that," says the Monitor.

So, I sit down again.

And Mar Novu tells us his story, "I was one of many Monitors born into our society. It was a bustling society with homes and families, and it was perfect. Efficient. Prosperous. And all of based around keeping the Multiverse working like a well-oiled machine. But I was young. And I wanted….more. I wanted to see the Multiverse not from a distance but up close. I wanted touch it, feel it. I wanted to be a part of it. So, with help from my wife, Xneen, I….."

"He built a device." The Watcher finishes, "That would allow him to travel all the way across the Multiverse to the beginning of time. On Maltus."

"So, what happened?" Quill asks, "I mean aside from the fact that it all went to hell."

"Contrary to your belief." The Monitor asserts, "It was very much a success. But one that came at a price."

"He created a Doppleganger." The Watcher explains, "Mobius. And Mobius has one desire. As a being of Antimatter, he wishes to consume everything from the tallest, strongest tree to the lowliest insect. In the Multiverse."

"And when he and Thanos attack together." The Monitor concludes, "The results will be…catastrophic."

"For everyone living thing in existence." Strange adds, "And the only thing stopping it is basically every Hero from the various Earths they've brought together. And it's not going to be easy. Especially not with whose helping us."

"You mean the One-Above-All." Loki says.

"We mean," Strange says, "The Endless."

Loki

I take a moment to catch my breath. The Endless…..Watchers, Monitors, the One-Above-All, yes them being real was unimaginable, unbelievable. But still, I could believe it, mad as it was. But the Endless….of all my mother's stories were what I loved best.

And then Quill's stupidity breaks me from my reverie, "The Who now?"

"The Endless!" I find myself saying, "Seven siblings all connected to a different aspect of the universe. Our mother used to tell us stories about them."

Thor grins absently, "Death, Destiny, Destruction, Dream, Despair, Desire and Delight,"

My brother is such an idiot sometimes.

"Destiny is the oldest, Thor." I say.

"No," Thor insists, "I'm quite sure it's Death."

"Then you've forgotten the rhyme," I say, "'Destiny holds the Book of Fate' comes before 'Death is not to be feared' if I'm not mistaken."

"It does," Thor's voice makes it evident he doesn't believe me.

"Yes," I say, "And Dream is older than Destruction if you remembered the rhyme…."

"What does the rhyme have to do with anything," Thor throws his hands up, "I'm you're also going to tell me that Desire is older than Despair too."

"Desire and Despair are twins," I say, "And but yes, it's generally excepted that Desire was born first. And for the record, the youngest of the Endless is called Delirium,"

"No," Thor says, "I'm quite sure it's Delight."

"Well," I say, "I am positive that Delirium."

"It's Delight!" Thor insists.

"It's Delirium."

"Delight."

"Delirium."

"Delight."

"It is DELIRIUM!"

And we would probably have spent the entire day arguing about it, but Strange has other plans.

"ENOUGH!" A crash of thunder stops our arguing, "The youngest of the Endless was called Delight." The Sorcerer yells, "But….something happened years ago. Now she is called Delirium. Otherwise, Loki was right. About all of it. Can we move on now?"

I look at Thor, Thor looks at me. Gamora throws a hand against her forehead in annoyance. Banner looks at his plate. The creature Mantis sways awkwardly in her chair. The raccoon polishes his gun. Quill fidgets at the table. The one they call Drax loudly chews on his toast.

"I am Groot." Supplies the Tree.

"Yes, we can move on." I say.

Strange nods to Wong, who gets up and heads into the Library. He soon returns clutching in his hand an elaborately carved wooden box which he places on the table. Strange waves his hand. Slowly, but sure the box unfolds. Into a map. Not just any map either. An incredibly elaborately carved and conditioned map painted in bright greens, blues and yellows and blacks and purples and almost any color you can imagine. It shows a sky, vast, and blue and dotted with stars and planets. It shows oceans with white lapping waves and rolling, rambling mountains. It shows buildings as tall as the sky and castles as old as the stone they are carved. It shows cities and towns and forests and deserts. It shows islands and rivers and waterfalls. It shows the sun and the moon and the rain. It seems to be a map of the entire Universe. It opens six ways. And each way it opens contains a slot with a symbol on each side and another above it. I recognize the symbols of the slots. A Book, a large Ruby the size of a small apple, a Flaming Sword, a Heart, a Ring with a jagged fishhook, a colorful mass of Swirling Lines. The Sigils of Destiny, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium. This gives me a theory. I look. There it is, right in the middle of the map is a large black Ankh. Death's Sigil.

"This," The Watcher explains, "Is the Herald's Map. Created by the Endless for the specific purpose of aiding you in your quest."

"Aiding?" Rocket asks, "This thing could practically do for our Quest for us. That's gotta be the entire Universe on there."

"Actually," Mar Novu corrects, "It contains the entire Multiverse." He points to the far right which has been swarmed by darkish purple mist, "This is where my brother currently is. This," He points to a darkened planet that looks disturbingly like Earth's Moon, "Is where Thanos is."

"Okay, then." Quill says, "Magic Map for tracking the Bad Guys. Cool. But what are the slot….thingies for?"

"The 'slot thingies'," Wong sounds decidedly unamused, "Are for the Infinity Stones, at least in theory."

"Okay….." Banner says, "I don't know about anyone else here, but I don't follow."

"This is basically the Endless' insane idea of stopping Thanos," Strange explains, "Each of them has chosen two champions. Two chosen by Destiny," He gestures to the Book, "To each receive half the Power of the Time Stone. Two chosen by Dream," He points to the Ruby, "To each receive half the Power of the Mind Stone. Two Chosen by Destruction" He waves hand towards the Sword, "To each receive half the Power of the Power Stone. Two chosen by Desire," He gestures to the Heart, "To each receive half the Power of the Space Stone. Two chosen by Despair," He points to the Ring, "To each receive half the power of the Soul Stone. Two Chosen by Delirium," He turns to the Swirl, "To each receive half the Power of the Reality Stone. And two chose by Death." He points out the Ankh, "To be the Anchors."

"The Fourteen Paragons," The Watcher explains, "Of Destiny, Choice, Dreams, Honor, Protection, Courage, Love, Kindness, Hope, Duty, Clarity, Innocence, Truth and Humanity."

"AKA the only ones who can defeat both Thanos and the Anti-Monitor." Strange says, "But only if we can find all of them in time."

Gamora examines the map, "Who are they?"

For a moment, there is silence and then Wong says, "We don't know."

Gamora throws her hands up, "You're kidding."

"The Endless are…." The Watcher says, "They think in complicated terms."

"Then how the hell are we supposed to find them?" Quill asks.

I can't believe this, "That's what the map is for, you idiot," I turn to Strange, "Isn't it?"

"Believe or not yes it is." Strange agrees.

The Raccoon leans over to examine the Map more, "How does it work?"

The Monitor touches the Map lightly, "In the prescience of a Paragon." He traces his finger to the symbol on the right of the Ruby, "The symbol to whom they belong will change places and glow before their power increases tenfold and their Stone or the Anchor reacts."

Quill immediately gets an idea, "Let me see that." Eagerly he grabs the map, examines it. None of the symbols move have moved an inch.

With a sympathetic smile, Gamora takes the map from him, "Sorry, Peter"

"Why we would he be a Paragon?" I try and fail to keep the incredulity of my voice.

"Quill once held an Infinity Stone," Drax explains, "Without dying."

"An amazing feat," Uatu says, "But if you were a Paragon, Mister Quill, we would know."

"However," Mar Novu says, "All of you, have been chosen to find the Paragons and bring them along with all of six of the Infinity Stones to the Vanishing Point eight months from now, to face both my Brother and Thanos. You have been chosen as Heralds."

"Well in that case," My brother grins, "I think I know where we find some of these Paragons."

The Avengers Compound, Upstate New York

Wanda Maximoff

I can't breathe. I remember Vision, lying before me in that field. I remember Thanos looming over me, pulling the Mind Stone from Vision's head. And I remember, the light leaving those, beautiful, beautiful eyes.

"You could never hurt me. I just feel you."

And he asked me to do it. Me. But he was right. There was no other way. But there was supposed another way. Shuri had it planned out. We could have done it. We could have saved him and the world, the universe even. But then they came. So suddenly. And we couldn't. So, I had to do it. I had to let him die. But he asked me to. How could I say no? I love him. And he was there for me. But still, after losing my brother, to lose someone else…..to have them break away from me….

It was too much. Too much. I can't breathe. Can't breathe. I sit in my room in the compound and in the silence, everything is so loud. So loud. I can't breathe!

And then, "Wanda."

And there he is, standing in front of me dressed awkwardly in one of those white-collared shirts he always wears when he's trying to be human, his red Vibranium skin shining in the morning light and those eyes. Those bright blue eyes are looking at me with light in them again. Those eyes that could make everything better than it is. I can't help it. I get up and I hug him even though my bedroom door is closed. That rule's always been more of a formality anyway. And anyway, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter anymore than Thanos matters. Or that I just saw him die. It doesn't matter that the Sokovia Accords had torn us apart. Or that, I'm not supposed to be here. All that matters is that Vision is here and he's alive and for a moment….one moment everything is as close as it can be to perfect.

"Wanda," He looks at me, incredulous, "Are you alright?"

I hold my breath, "I'm fine, Vis. It's just….it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." He fidgets awkwardly, "We should go."

"Go?" Suddenly, I'm having trouble breathing again, "Where?"

"To breakfast," He says, "I know that I don't eat food, but you do and it is the most important meal of the day."

"Breakfast?" Yesterday, we were attacked by murderous aliens looking for the Mind Stone. Yesterday, I was forced to kill the man I love to stop an intergalactic conqueror from killing half of all life in the universe. And now, here we are talking about breakfast.

"Of-" I find myself saying, "Of course. We should go."

Vision smiles, "Come along then."

I follow him to the kitchen.

The last time I was in this kitchen, I sank Vision through the floor. It looks the same. Same table, same chairs, same fridge. But it feels…..different. I can't put my finger on it, but something isn't the way it was. Not just in the kitchen, but there's some nagging feeling like that things are different. Not wrong. Just different. Unfamiliar. I lived in this compound for just barely over a year. But since my parents died, it was the first place that really felt like home. The orphanage that Pietro and I were taken to after the bombing wasn't home. Neither were the many homeless shelters and abandoned apartments that we squatted in after we ran away. The cells where we were kept in after being experimented on by HYDRA certainly weren't. This was where we had found a new home. A new family. And Pietro never got to know it. I hold my breath and try to swallow down the grief that that thought always brings. But then it feels….wrong. Because this wasn't our first home after we lost Mama and Papa. There was…somewhere else. But no, that's what's wrong. Isn't it? Then the noise jars me out of my reverie.

"I'm just saying." Sam Wilson aggressively pours cereal into a bowl, "I get that you have trouble sleeping and all. It's normal for most veterans. But of all things, if you really have to watch the History Channel in the middle of the night could you at least turn it down."

Bucky Barnes stands across the table from him, slicing a pear, "It's not my fault that the Bullshit calms me down. It helps me sleep."

"Yeah, you can sleep." Sam says, "But I can't."

"That's not my problem." Bucky bites into his pear, "Especially considering your penchant for stepping on my face when you get up to go to the bathroom."

"You sleep in the middle of the foyer." Sam throws his hands up, "The bathroom is on the other side. How am I supposed to….

"Will you guys knock it off?" Steve gets between them, "Bucky, if you have to watch TV in the middle of the night turn it down. Sam, now that Bucky is living with us, you have to show a least little bit of courtesy when you get up at night."

A part of my mind is reeling. Bucky never lived here with us. Right?

"But, Cap!" They say together.

"No buts," Natasha drops a bowl of granola on the table, "You boys heard Cap. So, knock it off or I'll ground you."

It's all so normal. But it's not. This isn't right. It's not right. So, why it does feel that way?

"Would you guys stop." Rhodey enters the kitchen bleary-eyed, "You're both shitty roomies. And speaking of which, there's a dirty towel on the bathroom floor that's been there for three days. I don't suppose either one of you would be willing to pick it up."

"What makes you think it was one of us?" Sam asks.

"Well, it's not my dirty towel." Rhodey insists, "And Cap usually folds his towel three times over. And Vision doesn't shower, so by process of elimination…."

"You can't prove anything." Bucky just barely looks up from his food.

"Oh really," Rhodey puts both hands on the table, "What if I told you that Tony puts cameras everywhere."

"Not in the bathroom."

"Especially the bathroom." Rhodey grins like he's convinced he'll win this argument.

Tony Stark enters the kitchen dressed in one of his three-piece suits, a strong contrast to the pajamas the rest of us are wearing, "Don't tease the Terminator, Rhodey. He's bluffing." Stark takes out an I-pad and checks it, "Okay, now that everyone's assembled, we can get down to business. In her infinite wisdom, Pepper has seen fit to Email me the Avengers busy schedule for the day along with a long-winded message about how she's not my secretary anymore and I might add without a bit of irony that I did not in fact ask her to do so. Sorry, she's doing this, because she's stressed out about planning the wedding. Okay, Cap, you've got that interview on Catco Tonight, tonight at 7:00 with the Kryptonian. The bad news is that despite my best efforts, Vought is still also sending in you-know-who."

Cap groans, "Tony, you can't be serious."

Stark shrugs, "As a heart attack. The good news is that while you're struggling to not strangle him, I'll be spending a stimulating evening rubbing elbows with the actual bloodsuckers and Pepper says I have to be nice to them and not passive aggressively gloat about no sane government official is going to blow tens of thousands if not millions of dollars so that asshole in the butt ugly flag cape can fuck up what you or the big blue Boy Scout will do right for free."

What the fuck is he talking about?

"Which," Tony goes on, "Would be Norman Osborn's charity gala in the city at 8:00. Don't ask me why I got invited. He hates my guts. But apparently every big corporation in the US will be there from LexCorp to Wayne Enterprises and Pepper unfortunately said yes before I could say no. I can only hope the booze will be flowing freely." He looks up for a moment, "And speaking of which, Rhodey, you're enduring it with me."

"You're kidding, right?" Rhodey asks.

"No." Stark sets the I-pad down, "Osborn wants to show off and make good press for his cause and has thus insisted that at least two Avengers be in attendance."

Rhodey groans.

"If it's any consolation." Stark repeats, "The Booze will almost certainly be flowing. Now, Nat, your…thing got rescheduled for tonight at 9:00 PM, top of the Empire State Building. We don't need to know any more about it."

"Yeah," Natasha says, "I already knew that Stark."

"Roger," Tony scrolls further through the list, "In that case, Sam, your support group meeting at that church in the Bronx is at exactly 6:45 and if you take the A-Train you probably won't be late."

"Got it." Sam says softly.

"Barnes, you have a….community service thing at 3:35. It doesn't say when you'll be back and I've learned to not question it."

Bucky simply nods.

"And Wanda," He turns at last to me and he says the words that I know can't be right, "You've got that family dinner at 7:30. The Uber's already been arranged. Café Du Soleil."

A family dinner, but all my family is dead.

"You're joking." I hope he doesn't hear my voice shake.

"No," Stark says, "It is really happening. Trust me, after everything Pepper went through to get that reservation, she is not going let it be cancelled at the last minute. Again." He turns to Vision, " Which if I'm not mistaken puts you on Compound Duty."

The Xavier Institute, Westchester New York

Daisy Johnson

It's a kid's room. Not a little girl's. But a kid's room. Video games, posters, comic books. A stuffed Dragon with a missing eye and his horde of origami look-alikes. Photos of three girls one of them is almost certainly me with my parents that I never took. Photos of what is definitely me as a teenager for school, graduation and most of all with friends I had dressed up as superheroes not for fun but for real on days I don't remember. Posters of not just the Avengers but superheroes I've never heard of. A poster from a computer camp I never went to. A blue ribbon from a science fair and a black belt and trophy from a Karate tournament that I never won. Another trophy for a soccer team I never played one (Nationals, not bad). And there, just above my bed are two diplomas. One for high school that I never earned (I dropped out). One for a college, I never attended. But then I take a closer look And there are those impossible words:

SHIELD Academy of Operations

Class of 2013

Daisy Lian Johnson.

There's also another name below it. I think it's my name Chinese name. No, it definitely is. And I can read Cantonese now. Neat. It even has Director Fury's signature. This has got to be the Framework. But still this room feels familiar. Especially when I take a good look at the other diploma. The High School one. There's an X with a circle on its top and it reads as such:

The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters

Class of 2007

Daisy Lian Johnson

That one features a signature by one Professor Charles Francis Xavier in loopy, British cursive like Simmons uses. For some reason, when I look at that and I look at the rest of this room, this room feels…..grown up in. Like I grew up in it.

"Honey!" A voice calls.

Is that…my Dad's voice?

Right now, the sane reaction would be to quake something. The last time I saw my parents, Cal didn't know who I was and Jiaying was trying to kill me. What is this anyway? The Framework? That would make the most sense, wouldn't it? Or maybe, when we went back in time it reset the entire timeline so my parents…

And then a dog lopes in and I decide to follow it because I have absolutely no better strategy for dealing with the current situation.

The dog is one of those wrinkly-faced Chinese ones, a Shar-Pei. It, she is wearing a collar that I manage to get a glimpse of. Her name's Khutulun, after Kublai Khan's niece. She would wrestle guys on the promise, she'd marry them (or at least sleep with them) if they won and they'd give her a substantial amount of horses. She won a lot of horses. So, yeah whoever picked that name has my respect. The room around me is a kitchen. Not fancy or anything. Just the typical 90s linoleum kitchen. But it feels…too normal for my parents. And yet, there they are. Jiaying making tea. Cal looking over papers. There's a little girl sitting at the table, no older than eight or nine. Khutulun goes right up to her.

And then she sees me, "Hi, Aunt Daisy."

I force a smile and try to act like all this is normal, "Morning, kid." Mimi. Her name is Mimi. She just turned eight. And her parents…

Wait a minute, I have a niece. And if I have a niece then that means…

"Hey, stranger when did you get here?" An attractive Asian woman in her mid-forties drops a kiss on my cheek. Kora. Her name is Kora. She's Jiaying's daughter from a previous…well it wasn't a marriage. Okay, this is getting weird. Everything about this situation is getting weird. Kora is married to….and in comes Gordon, Jiaying's right hand teleporter from Afterlife. That explains so much.

"Last night," I say.

"Your little sister," Jiaying, Mom, places a plate of eggs in front of me, "Is here to talk to Charles about a very important SHIELD investigation. And speaking of which" She turns to me, "Daisy, honey you need to keep track of the papers you bring home," She hands me a manila folder.

"Sorry," I say incredulously.

"It's okay," She says, "It's just the last thing we need is your father mistaking a classified SHIELD file for his syllabus and showing it to a room full of high schoolers. Again."

"Honey," Cal looks up from his papers, "Have you seen my glasses," They're right there on his head. Good old Dad.

And then it hits me. I just thought of the man who introduced himself to me as "Doctor Winslow" last time we met as "Dad". At feels good.

"Cal," Jiaying gestures to her forehead.

Incredulously, Cal reaches up and grabs them.

"Oh," He mutters, "I knew that."

I don't need the weird sixth sense that told me Mimi is my niece to guess this is a regular thing.

"You okay, Pumpkin?" Dad drops a kiss on my cheek.

"Y-yeah." I say.

"So, where's Raina?" I find myself asking. And yes, the Girl in the Flower Dress is my foster sister. And I have another foster sister. Clarice Fong.

"She's sleeping at her boyfriend's house," Mimi feeds a piece of bread to Khutulun.

"Mimi," Her dad gets down to her level.

"What?" She says, "I hear things."

I decide to just go along with this. It's nice. I like what I have here. I like my family. I love my family. I do, however, decide to look at the SHIELD file, I've brought along. And then I hear the voice.

Daisy, it's time. It's so sudden. I almost drop my fork. Undignified, I know. But how would you react when you hear a voice randomly talk in your head. Even the voice of someone that you normally trust. Especially when this person you normally trust just so happens to be a complete stranger who you've never met and is telepathically communicating with you out of the blue. And then I see flashes. Small things. A wedding. Kora and Gordon's wedding. Mom teaching me to meditate when I first got my powers. Dad helping me with my homework.

You're not going mad, Daisy. The voice is British. More Upper Class than Simmons. I know somewhat instinctively that this is the man who signed my high school diploma. The man with the loopy British handwriting, Come to my office.

"I have to go." I find myself saying. Thankfully, I'm done with breakfast.

"Of course, Honey." Mom drops a kiss on my cheek. I grab my jacket and mess up Mimi's hair before leaving. The house I step out of is a small one-story cottage and now that I think about it not that different from the one Jiaying was living in Afterlife. The only difference here that this one rather being in the center of a small village, it's on a rather expansive campus. Not college level expansive. But expansive enough for some of the staff to have their own on-sight houses. The main house looms above. It's Neo-Classical. Tall and Victorian like a Castle with a million little buildings connected together complete with a beautiful surrounding forest, an expansive Hedge Maze, a Fountain, a Gazebo, a set of stone steps leading up to the main house with bright green ivy and…..

A flaming soccer ball nearly hits me in the head. A group of kids is playing on the field nearby.

"Hey, be careful." I Quake it back at the kids. Some of them look normal enough. One of them looks like he's made of stone. Another has wings. I played on that field. I remember playing soccer here. I was on the team. I also played Fullback. It was Co-ed. Most of the teams here are. The Xavier Wolverines. Third place in Nationals, my senior year. I was team captain then. I make my way up the stairs and other memories come back. All of the kids and most of the staff have superpowers. Some of the classes are even specifically tailored to help us control them and use them for good. My mom teaches one. Meditation and Control. It's basically yoga. With superpowers. She also acts as the Power Counselor for the newer kids. My Dad teaches Freshman High School Science and is one of the only normal humans here. As I climb those stairs, I remember other things. Bits and pieces. Riding my Dirt Bike on the forests' trails. Playing hide and seek in the Hedge Maze with my sisters. Climbing these stairs everyday to go to school. Holding my breath, I knock on the door.

"Daisy," I think for a moment that the big, furry blue guy is Lash, May's ex-husband. But then I remember him giving me physicals. Dr. Hank McCoy. Beast. My Dad's mentor.

"Hi, Hank." I say trying to sound casual, "I've got to see the Professor. SHIELD Business."

Hank nods, "He's expecting you."

For a moment, I'm worried that I don't know where to go.

Then the voice steps in, You'll remember.

It's small encouragement. But I do. And not just the way. I remember going to school here every Monday through Friday. Ever since I was in Kindergarten. I was one of the few kids who could say that. Today, kids of all ages rush by me on their way to classes or breakfast. Some are normal looking. Some have scaly skin or fish-shaped eyes. I smile at them and laugh. I recognize faces. The Blue-skinned lady who yells at a couple of kids for running in the hall is Raven Darkholme, the Professor's Foster Sister. Teaches Combat. And she's a Drill Sargent. The grizzled-looking guy who's fixing the Pool Table in the Rec Room is Logan. The history teacher. His lectures are the best. The white-haired black lady ushering the younger kids to class is Ororo Munroe, one of Kora's classmates. She manages the younger kids. The Old Jewish guy saying the Kaddish is his room is Erik Lensherr. He was experimented on by HYDRA at the same time as Jiaying. So, he's kind of like my uncle. I also remember this place. Little things. Playing video games in the Rec Room until late at night. Long hours spent studying the library. Rooting through closets and bedrooms looking for portals to Narnia. Having sleepovers with my friends on the floors of their Dorm rooms. Getting up with them at night to comb every forbidden area. I remember all the cool classes we take in controlling our powers and understanding them. I remember Terragenesis Ceremonies in the Auditorium and preforming Shakespeare plays in that same Auditorium the next weekend. This was the coolest place in the world to grow up. When I reach the Professor's study on the second floor, I feel like I'm coming home.

But I'm not coming home. I try to remind myself, This isn't REAL!

Problem is, I don't think I believe that. Why would I? This place is essentially Superhero Hogwarts. I have a family. I went to SHIELD Academy. SHIELD's still standing. My parents are married and happy. I have sisters and a dog and a brother-in-law and a niece and an entire extended family right next door. And an extra one at work. I had an awesome childhood. In the real world, I grew up in an assortment of foster homes most of whom treated me like a damn meal ticket. And I didn't have a family until Team Coulson. My mother is dead. My father is good as dead. Here, I have three families and….

This office is filled with photos. Generation after generation of the Superheroes trained here. All in bright yellow and dark blue uniforms. We call ourselves the X-men. And then I see. One of me at seventeen or eighteen, surrounded by kids my own age. My fellow X-men. My friends. They called us the "Xavier Freak Squad." Not when we were a team. But before. Here was the first place anyone called me "Quake." I reach out to touch the photo, but no this isn't real. This isn't….

"But it is real, Daisy." And then I hear the voice. This time out loud.

I look. And then I see him. He's an old guy, hell, he looks to be in his seventies or so. He's hot…for an old dude. He's bald with big blue eyes and one of those winning, grandpa smiles. He sits in a wheelchair, drumming his fingers against the arms. He's been in that chair for longer than I've been alive. This is Professor Charles Xavier. Our headmaster.

"I-I" I say, "I want to believe that, but….There are so many….."

The Professor laughs, "You aren't back in the Framework, Daisy. This isn't a bizarre dream, and you aren't having a psychotic break."

"And you can read my mind." Why couldn't I have gotten that bit of information sooner.

"Frankly, I thought I was being entirely obvious about it." Professor X shuffles through papers on his desk.

"Okay," I say, "And how do I know…."

"That I'm not a HYDRA agent messing with your mind," The Professor grins, "Tell me, Daisy. If I was a HYDRA Agent and I was behind all this wouldn't it be in my best interest to convince you that there was no Framework? No Agent Coulson? Wouldn't it be in my best interest to convince you and here and now that your old life never existed and that this is the only life you've ever known."

"Okay," I say aloud, "Sound logic there. So, if this isn't the Framework and it isn't me having a psychotic break, then what is it?"

Professor X grins, "My dear girl, what do you think?"

And for a moment, I don't know what to say. Then I remember an argument I had back on the Lighthouse with my two best friends' future grandson. An argument about the Multiverse.

"You mean….." I begin, "You mean that this is a frakkin' Alternate Universe."

The Professor shrugs, "Yes."

As amazing as all this is, I can only really think of one thing, "I can't believe Deke was right."

The Professor chuckles, "From what I understand Mister Shaw was decidedly unclear about exactly how the concept worked, but given his genetics, him having at least some understanding of the concept mathematically is not fundamentally impossible."

"Right," I say, "So if this is an Alternate Universe then, how am I here?"

He frowns then, "I have my theories, but nothing fully concrete. You see, Daisy, this is an alternate universe for me as well."

To say, that that catches me off-guard would the understatement of the millennium, "Then how….."

"I know," Professor X pushes his wheelchair out from under his desk and wheels it around like he's pacing, "That last night was April 24th, 2018, and that that on that day something occurred on your world and something else began to begin on another. I don't know what it is and I don't know why. But it brought your world and my world and God alone knows how many others together in an effort to preserve the Multiverse and everyone in it. I do not how it happened or what has caused or if it occurred naturally or by design. All I know is that it has occurred and my school which used to just house Mutants or children with the X-Gene now caters to every gifted child imaginable though it mainly serves Mutants and their somewhat distant cousins, Inhumans. I have twice as many students and staff this morning as I had when I went to sleep last night and I remember them. I remember all of them. And I remember events that I know never occurred on my Earth. I know things are not as they were and I know that that does not necessarily mean that there are not as they should be. And I know that you, Daisy Johnson, are one of my students. I know that I will do anything for my students. I know that you are the third person I have spoken to who remembers both timelines. And I know that this world is every bit as real as the one I came from. And I know that if nothing else, you need to understand that too, if only so we can resolve everything that has happened to cause this."

For a moment, I have absolutely no idea how to reply to that and then I ask, "You think you can help me with that?"

"Yes," He says simply, "Or at least I can help you remember. In fact, I may already have. As you traveled through the Institute, did you remember certain things, Daisy."

"Little stuff." I say, "The soccer team. Riding my Dirtbike on the trails. Looking for portals to Narnia. All sorts of nice stuff about growing up here."

"Small things," The Professor smiles his Grandpa smile, "Daisy, as a Telepath, I've perfected a practice that I like to call 'reminding'."

"Okay," I say, "What exactly is….?"

"It's the ability to awaken memories that are hidden beneath." He places a hand on my shoulder, "If you so wish it, I can awaken your memories of this timeline to a level that goes beyond simple little recollections or the simple instinct to know something is true."

"Okay," I say, "Let's do it."

Professor X touches me lightly on the forehead. The first full memory that comes back to me is when my powers first manifested. I was eight. We were on vacation at Yosemite National Park. Nothing big, just me, my parents, Kora, Gordon and Raina. We'd just started fostering Raina then, so she and I were still getting used to each other. We had an argument. A stupid one. She wanted to use my new binoculars. I didn't want to share. There was a scuffle. They broke. Typical kids stuff. Mom and Dad sort of took Raina's side and like most eight-year-olds I ran. I don't know for how long or how. But I wound up hiding out in a cave near El Capitan feeling sorry for myself. But once I was ready to swallow my pride, I couldn't find my way back at first. Then the Earthquake started. It wasn't the right time for quakes. That's what the ranger said when he brought me back to my parents. It was a small quake, only over a couple of miles. I was scared out of my mind and crying my eyes out. And the earth was still quaking.

Then I was in my mother's arms and she was telling, "It's okay, Beautiful. It's okay."

Once the other memories come back, the realization hits me, "I'm not an inhuman here."

"No," The Professor says, "You are a Mutant. Possessing an X-Gene which comes about from Human and Inhuman interbreeding."

"So, my parents…." I begin trying not to fully think about the implications.

"It's not rare." Is all he'll say, "Now come show me this file of yours and then I'll introduce you to the others I've talked to."

"Got it." I grab the SHIELD file that I forgot which was stupid because I have absolutely no idea what this file is about let alone, why I'm seeking out my former high school principal to help decipher it.

About an hour later, I sit beside the Professor's chair with my SHIELD file spread out in front of us. Turns out, SHIELD never fell in this world. Why? Long story, but the short version is that when we were on the train I got shot on my team and I encountered the Winter Soldier and I quaked him against the wall. Of course, we still know that HYDRA has people within SHIELD. We don't know how many, but we do know that the two organizations are trapped in a seemingly endless shadow war. Even Director Fury only knows a handful of who is who. Not that it matters. HYDRA is evidently everywhere. Take the file we're working on. It pertains to Vought American, a multimedia conglomerate of the variety that knows everyone and everything and may or may not be currently plotting world domination and mass-produces literally everything in existence. SHIELD has been trying to nail them pretty much for decades. And no question why, they take part in some really shady shit. We'd probably be obligated to take them down even if we hadn't figured out that they were probably HYDRA. The problem is proving it. The investigation has been on and off since Coulson and May were in the Academy. The Agents that look too deep into it have a nasty habit of disappearing. And dying. Under mysterious circumstances. But now, Team Coulson's on the case. That's the good news. The bad news is that we're still literal years away from having enough evidence to make anything stick legally.

Just as we've talked our way through the annoying simplicity of the American Legal System's love for Red Tape, the door to the office opens. We both look. Standing in the doorway is an attractive redheaded woman who looks to be about Kora's age and a little boy who can't be more than ten years old.

The Professor smiles, "Daisy, I'd like to introduce you to….."

"Dr. Jean Grey Summers," The name comes to me almost immediately, "The school counselor and your personal protégé."

Jean holds her hand out to me, "It's great to see you. The Professor told me there was someone else who remembered as soon as he knew. We were just going to talk about who we were going to Remind."

"Are you guys the only ones?" I find myself asking.

"The only ones here that we know of," Jean grips the little boy's shoulders.

"But," Professor X adds, "There are almost certainly others and as soon as we learn who they are, we can figure out what caused this."

She doesn't fit. I almost jump. The voice comes more or less out of nowhere.

"Nathan," Jean gets down to eye-level with the boy, "What did we say about talking just with our thoughts?"

"We're not supposed to do it with people who aren't telepaths." Nathan recites.

"And what do you say to Daisy?" Jean asks.

The kid turns to me, but doesn't meet my eyes, "I'm sorry, Daisy. But it's true. You don't fit. You weren't here when I went to sleep."

And I'm not sure what to say to that.

"But I think you're supposed to." Nathan adds, "You fit, but you don't fit. Your family fits but they don't fit." He turns to Jean, "Why don't they fit, Mom?"

Jean tousles his hair, "I don't know, sweetie." She smiles apologetically at me, "Nate's autistic. He doesn't always understand the things around him perfectly. And due to the fact that he's an incredibly powerful telepath, this situation hasn't exactly been easy for him."

"It's okay," I get down to eye level with Nate, "Hey, kid. I'm gonna go talk to some of the smartest people in the world maybe some of them do understand. I'll let you know."

He smiles, "I'll let you know if I learn anything too."

"You do that, big guy." I tousle his hair. He's friends with Mimi, my niece. In fact, she's his best friend. There's another knock.

"Come in, Katya." Professor X says calmly.

A skinny teenage girl slowly enters.

"Doctor Grey," She says fingering the purple gloves that go all the way up to her shoulder, "I'm here for my appointment."

"Of course," Jean turns to Nathan, "Natty, I have to go to work now. You know your way to class."

"Yes, Mom." Nathan says, "Bye, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too." Jean says as she leaves with Katya.

"Bye, Professor," Nathan adds as he leaves, "Bye, Daisy."

The Professor laughs as he leaves, "Charming boy, that one. All his father's courage, all his mother's heart and mind, both parents' gifts."

"And even more sensory overload issues then most Autistic kids." I finish, "Yet surprisingly well-adjusted despite." Then I realize, "Was that…."

"Katya Belyakov," Professor X doesn't smile for the first time, "From Bahrain."

"May didn't kill her." It feels like less of a relief that it should be.

"No," The Professor says, "And your mother and I were able to bring her mostly back to herself. But the damage to Katya was…significant both mentally and physically and Agent May was forced to kill her mother and injure her badly enough that Bahrain's effect was…not much lesser."

"So, May still gets to beat herself up about it." I say, "I have to ask about another Inhuman kid…"

"Robyn Hinton." Professor X shakes his head, "Her powers were still activated…..prematurely. And I'm sad to say the results were the same. Which reminds me," He checks his watch, "I'm meeting with her mother in a few minutes and it shouldn't be long before."

My phone dings.

"Speak of the devil," I mutter, "May."

Hurry up! The text message says, We're going to be late.

Groaning, I text her back, With the Professor. I'll be out in a few…

Just be out SOON! And May has already resorted to all-caps. For one word but I get the gist, So, help me, Agent Johnson if I have to go to your parents' house and open the door to YOUR FATHER wearing a Hazmat suit and NOTHING ELSE again…..

Okay, okay. I'm coming. I text her back.

"I've got to go," I say, "Duty calls." I check the text message again, "Do I want to know the exact context of that situation."

"In the immediate aftermath you begged me to permanently erase it from your mind." The Professor responds.

"Then you kept your promise." I say as I grab my file and rush to the main door to meet with May.

Oliver Queen's Apartment, Star City California

Oliver Queen

My sister Thea stands across from me. Barely able to breathe, I go to her. She's supposed to be comatose in the middle of hospital. Now, here she is. Up and walking. I thought that she was knocked up after Lian Yu. This can't be real. That's what my head is telling me. But in my heart, all I can do is reach out and pull her into a hug. Thea drives me crazy, but she's still my little sister. And I love her. More than anything in the world.

"Good morning to you too." Thea pulls away, "It's okay." She adds, "Lian Yu has us all shook up. Especially with Prometheus still out there."

"Prometheus?" Prometheus killed himself. I saw him kill himself.

"Yeah." Thea says, "SHIELD's still looking for him. That was a blowout. If it weren't for your son, I'd probably be dead now."

None of this makes sense. I try to be calm.

"SHIELD," I say, "You mean ARGUS."

"Yeah, Argus," Thea nods, "They are the Homeland Security unit and John and Lyla's unit. But really, Ollie it's all SHIELD. I get it messed up sometimes."

I am losing it. I. Am. Losing. It. Then I remember. Diaz. Did we make sure about Diaz? I think we did. God, I'm losing it. Wait a minute what did Thea say about William? But then my son enters the kitchen and it all comes back.
Chase still trapped us on Lian Yu. He still held my son hostage and he still threatened to snap William's neck. I still stood between them, forced to choose between saving my friends and saving my son. Chase still blew up the Island. Samantha Clayton, William's mother still died. But something else happened. When Chase was holding William hostage, my son fought back. He didn't even realize what was he was doing, or at least he didn't seem to. Electricity just crackled from William's fingers leading up from the static on his jacket. Chase was thrown back from the shock as he fell.

"Freak." Chase stumbled to his feet, "It'll be hard growing up without Mom, without Felicity." He reached into his pocket and took out a communication device, "Maybe you can comfort each other. After everything. Detonate it!" He called and then before William and I could blink he was jumping from the boat. I tried to save Chase but….there was a helicopter the size of a plane. It's called a "Helicarrier". And he was standing on it. Painted on the Helicarrier's side was a mass of tentacles with a skull at the center. I remember that we raced on to the beach and we found Thea unconscious. I remember that Samantha was already dying. And I remember my son standing over my sister letting electricity go into her body. I remember John's arm was still injured and he still had nerve damage.

And then I go to hug my son. For a moment, William looks confused. Then he hugs me back. It actually feels good. Tearfully, he pulls away.

"You okay, buddy?" I hope don't sound as awkward to him as I do to myself.

"Yeah," He says softly, "I'm just kind of…..you know freaking out."

I smile, "Well, new schools are scary enough even when you haven't been through what you've been through and you don't…"

"Have creepy powers?" William asks.

"Your powers aren't creepy, Will." Thea says.

"I almost killed someone with them," he says.

"Yeah," Thea puts a hand on his shoulder, "But your powers are cool. You saved my life."

"Then why do I feel like some sort of freak." He asks.

I get down on my knees, so I'm eye-level with him, "Everyone feels like that sometimes. Trust me when I say you get over it."

"I hope so," He says, "Do you think they're going to find him?"

It takes a moment to realize who he means.

"Prometheus?" I look to Thea, she shrugs, "John and the others have people looking for him all over they'll find him. Eventually."

"Yeah," William grins, "They'll find him."

And then I see it.

I'm on the roof of Diaz's hideout with my team. Diaz is holding Black Siren hostage; he's threatening to blow up the city. Quentin is there. He's there and Diaz is telling him that he'll kill Black Siren if he doesn't call off the FBI. Black Siren, Laurel, she opens her mouth. She's about to scream. But before she can it happens. John, Rene, Dinah, Quentin, even Diaz himself. Before I can even blink everyone around me is disappearing in clouds of dark brown dust.

I hold my breath. I come back to reality.

"You okay, Ollie?" Thea asks.

"Yeah," I say. I'm okay, but I don't know if anyone else is going to be. Because I know that in eight months, everything is going to go to hell. Eight months and half of everyone in the universe, the Multiverse is going to turn to dust.

In theory, this revelation should keep me outside of work. In practice, I am living in what is possibly an alternate reality where my son has powers and Prometheus is involved in some sort of shadow government organization. Also, no one could possibly believe me because what I saw is completely insane. And there's only one person I can think of who could possibly be responsible. Unfortunately, Barry Allen isn't picking up. After leaving the sixteenth or so voicemail on my way to work, I stow my phone in my glove compartment and park in front of City Hall. I hold my breath. Last chance to turn back. Last chance to open up. Last chance to start praying, I'll wake up. My phone rings. Finally.

"Seriously, Barry," I hold it a few inches from my ear, "What the hell did you….."

"Hoss." Rene's voice comes out the other end.

"Sorry, Rene." I hold my breath again.

"Yeah, you're about ten minutes from being late and the press is breathing down my neck." He sounds like he's exaggerating. I decide not to take chances.

The reporters crowd me. They all have similar questions.

"Mister Queen, is it true that Adrian Chase was involved with the terrorist organization HYDRA?"

"Mister Queen, are the SCPD any closer to apprehending Chase?"

"Mister Queen, will you seek help from….?"

I groan as I meet Rene, "It's a circus out there."

Rene shrugs, "Yeah, I tried to warn you, Hoss."

I sit down at the desk, "How did things get this messed up?"

"We got captured by Nazis," Rene says matter-of-factly, "Nazis working for a serial killer. Or was it a serial killer working for Nazis. I don't know anymore. Far as I'm concerned, this world's always been messed up. It's only a matter of time before the next alien invasion."

"You seem," I find myself saying, "Oddly okay with that."

"I got insurance," Rene says, "We've got the firepower. I can make sure my kid's safe which is more than can be said for all the street crime in these parts. And who are you to tell me I'm too blasé about alien invasions. Didn't you take a detour to New York on your way back from the Island."

I want to say that didn't happen. But then I remember in this world there was an invasion in New York in 2012 and I did take part in it. I wasn't one of the big heroes in it like Superman or Batman or Iron Man or Captain America. And I don't know who they are. But I do. But yes, I did fight in the Chitahuri invasion in New York City in 2012. Then I remember who HYDRA are. And I remember their ties to the League of Assassins.

"Where's John?" I find myself asking.

"On the way," Rene looks at the door, "He says he's getting a little miffed with playing Peacekeeper between you and Felicity."

I file that away for later, "And Quentin."

"He and Laurel had to run out to DC." Rene shakes his head, "Some sorta weird emergency."

The Legends. Okay, maybe this isn't Barry's fault.

"What did Sara and the others do this time?" But I remember Laurel. Is it my Laurel? Or is it Black Siren?

"All I know is she called right outta the blue ten minutes ago and then the old man just rushed out to meet Laurel, Hoss." Rene shakes his head again, "It's the kind of shitshow you don't see coming." And speaking of shitshows you don't see coming, that's when the bomb goes off.

Tear gas fills my eyes until it feels like they're about to bleed. My throat is choked with mucus and saliva and then…..

I see them. My father. My mother. Samantha. Yao Fei. Shado. Tommy. My Laurel. They all stand before me. Their clothes torn; their features blank.

"You couldn't save us, Oliver." My father says.

"You didn't even try," says my Mother.

"You were selfish." Tommy sneers, "He couldn't even be bothered."

"No," I try to say, "I tried to save you."

Laurel laughs bitterly, "Why try if you always fail."

"You can't even protect our son." Samantha's voice is darkest, most bitter, "Oliver Queen….You Have and You Will Always FAIL THIS CITY AND THIS MULTIVERSE!"

"NO! NO!" I find myself shouting, "NO! NO! NO!"

And then Chase is there, sneering, "Oh come on, Oliver. You know it's true."

And then they start marching out, John, Felicity, Sara, Barry, Kara, Lyla, Roy, Thea, Dinah, Rene, Curtis, William. And one by one they all disappear into clouds of brown dust. And as I'm lying on the floor defeated, someone slaps a gas mask onto my face.

I stumble to my feet in a haze, blinking my eyes as I hold the gas mask to my face. Standing across from is Rene in similar condition, his eyes look bloodshot. In the darkness, someone is attacking from all sides. Shadowy figures in black. Then from behind someone tackles the one closest to me. With all my strength, I struggle against my attackers, kicking and punching where I can. Rene decks one hard despite his injuries. And two other figures are there, fighting with us until the last of the Ninjas are down. Once the dust has settled, the man in the hood removes his mask.

"Slade?" I ask looking Slade Wilson straight in the face.

"Yeah." He says, "I was hoping to catch up to you, Ollie. I was really hoping you could look after her."

Slade's partner removes her mask, revealing a teenage girl who is missing an eye.

"Looks like you'll need some help." Slade notes, "Especially with the Hand about. You remember, my daughter, Rose?"

Barry Allen and Iris West-Allen's Apartment, Central City California

Barry Allen

"Following the disappearance of famed history Professor Clifford DeVoe and his wife, Marlize from their apartment, authorities have discovered evidence that the reportedly brilliant couple have ties to the infamous terrorist organization known as HYDRA." I hold my breath. This isn't right. None of this is right. And the moment I think that, I remember who Clifford DeVoe is. I remember that he calls himself the Thinker. And I remember that he is in fact a history professor. One who believes that technology is corrupting the modern world. And he is a metahuman with telepathy and increased intelligence planning to reset everyone's intelligence through twelve Bus Metas that he's also using to become physically strong again. But that shouldn't be happening yet. Should I even be back from the Speed Force. Something isn't right. I don't know how I know that something isn't right. But I do. I also know that DeVoe is working alone. Or does he have his wife helping him. I don't remember. And then…..

"Barry." I look and there she is. Iris standing in the kitchen looking more beautiful than ever.

"Are you okay?" I hear the concern in her voice. That makes sense. I just got back from the Speed Force. That makes sense.

I go to her and I hold her close, embracing the gentle feeling of her lips touching mine.

"Well," She says, "This is a nice surprise. Are you okay, Barry? You know after the Speed Force thing."

"I'm fine Iris." I say. But as look into her dark brown eyes, I see that I'm not because I remember….

I'm running. I'm running after DeVoe's Satellite. I'm going to bring it down. I'm going to stop the Enlightenment. I'm going to stop DeVoe. Like I always do. The wind is roaring in my ears and I can hear the Speed Force sing. It's leading me to a place where I can win this fight. It's leading to defeat my foe. And it's leading me to rescue Ralph Dibney. As I reach, the Satellite, I feel like I have to slow down. Then I see a purple and yellow blur of Lightning. And together we guide the Satellite to the ground and suddenly…My entire body is breaking down. I feel it from my stomach to the tip of my fingers. It doesn't matter how fast I'm going. Because my body is breaking down, dispersing into dust. I hold my hand to my face as I see dissolve in the wind and then…..

"Barry," Iris jars me out of my reverie, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I say though I realize that I have tears in my eyes, "Yeah, Iris. I'm okay."

"And you're sure, you don't want to stay home?" I can see the concern on her face. And she should be concerned. In just six months, half of the entire Multiverse is going to turn to dust. And I'm going to leave her alone. Alone and…pregnant? But that's not right. It can't be.

"No," I say before I can think of it, "I should go in."

"You just got back," Iris gently takes me by the shoulders, "You can take it easy if want."

"I know." I say, "But I still think I should I go. Though I do think we should go to couple's counseling later." I hold my breath and I hope I've suggested it before.

Iris hugs me, "You're the best. You know that." She has. Good.

"And the wedding plans." I realize, "We shouldn't forget."

Iris laughs, "Slow down, Barry. You should eat your breakfast. You do have that thing at STAR Labs later."

"Of course." I say. Wait, what thing?

Despite the fact that I have absolutely no idea what Iris was referring to back at home, I still run to STAR Labs. Whatever "that thing" is, it feels important enough not to skip. Even if I don't know what it is. As I arrive, I hold my breath and step through the door. I don't really know what I'm expecting. Cisco making me a new suit. Cisco and Harry arguing about Multiversal theory. Caitlin being back. But no, Caitlin never left. No, that's not right. Maybe it's about DeVoe. That's probably it. Yeah, that makes the most sense. Maybe with one of the Bus Metas. Or with someone else. Someone dangerous that we need to stop. I keep telling myself that as I enter the Lab. But then I see who's waiting there.

"Are you seriously agreeing to this?" Harry pushes out of the lab followed by…..Professor Martin Stein. He's supposed to be dead. No, he's supposed to be with the Legends. I think.

"Look it's a friendly wager," Professor Stein says, his daughter, Lily follows him, heavily pregnant, "We were drunk. I meant it as a joke. I didn't think he would actually take it seriously."

"The one time you decide to get drunk….." Harry throws his hands up.

"I tried to talk Dad out of it," Lily points out, "But Uncle Hank has a point, the security here….really doesn't have the best track record."

"I could upgrade it." Cisco joins them on the floor.

"Look as much I respect Dr. Pym," Harry says, "It's as a physicist, an entomologist and an expert in changing states of matter…."

"Come on, Harry" Cisco says, "Well I could upgrade security, I looked into these guys and they're legit."

"They're idiots." Harry says flatly.

"Henry thinks they're idiots too." Professor Stein notes, "But he also thinks they could protect STAR Labs and…"

"You really plan to put our security at risk based ON A BET!" Harry protests.

"I think we should do it." I find myself saying. They all turn.

Harry groans, "Too you long enough, Allen."

"Thank you, Barry." Professor Stein says simply, "I'm grateful for your support."

"How are you doing, Buddy?" Cisco asks.

"I'm fine." I say, even though I'm not, "I'm ready to do this."

Jessie speeds in.

"Great," She says, "Because Caitlin's on the way with them right now. And I am not going to be the only Speedster in this."

A part of me wants to comment on Jessie's presence. Another part of me knows that she's here because Harry is our Wells and that Eobard Thawne, the man I knew as my Well was a false partner of Harry's. No, that's not right. That's not RIGHT!

I can't think straight. I feel like an idiot. I have absolutely no idea what's going on and I know I can't say anything. It will freak them out. But I also, can't just go along with this. Lily pours us coffee and smiles. I feel like I'm going insane. If I say anything, they'll all think I'm still delirious from the Speed Force. I might as well be. Because, I have no idea what's going on. Then Caitlin arrives with our visitors.

I want to hug her. I want to ask how long she's been back. But I know how weird that would look. Accompanying Caitlin are a short man with thick glasses, a thick mustache and untidy white hair, a tall, pretty black-haired woman, a short, squared-jawed Hispanic man with a wide smile, a tall black guy with a beanie, a tall dark-haired man and a smiling man with dark brown hair. Professor Stein gets up and holds out his hand for the old man to shake.

"It's good to see you, Hank." He says smiling.

The Old man, Professor Stein's college roommate, Dr. Hank Pym stiffly takes Stein's hand and shakes it, "Marty."

"You know my daughter, Lily, Of course." Stein says, "And Clarissa wanted to come but she had a history lecture. And I would like you to meet…."

"Dr. Harrison Wells," Harry holds out his hand but Dr. Pym doesn't shake it.

"Yes," He says calmly, "Martin's told me about you." He nods to Jessie, "Your daughter, I assume."

"Yes sir." Jessie says.

"You're the Ant-Man," Cisco jumps up and immediately pumps Dr. Pym's hand, "Dude, you're a legend. I mean literally everyone's heard of you…."

"Just a….." Dr. Pym begins.

The young woman smiles, "No use denying it, Dad."

"I've already told them." Professor Stein protests.

"Of course, you did." Dr. Pym groans. Lily and his daughter exchange a private laugh.

"But it doesn't matter." He turns to Cisco, "You're Doctor Ramon, aren't you?"

Cisco grins, "I sure am."

"Well, your engineering work is," Dr. Pym says, "Exemplary. And you," He turns to me, "You're the famous Flash." Suddenly, I remember hearing stories about a soldier the size of an insect. And I remember studying Hank Pym in high school.

"Y-Yes sir." I find myself stammering.

"Well," Doctor Pym says, "Thank you for not being as ridiculously starstruck. But I'm not the Ant-Man currently that's…"

The scruffy man immediately extends his hand to me, "Wait a minute, YOU'RE the Flash. Wow! You're like JUST A KID! But don't take that the wrong way. You're like my daughter's tenth favorite Superhero. Could I get an autograph, Hank? I mean do we need to win the bet for me to get…..?"

"Scott, not now!" Both Doctor Pym and his daughter say at the same time.

"I can give you an autograph." I say in the same breath, "I mean I can give your daughter an Autograph."

"Thank you!" Scott says, "Thank you! THANK YOU! You won't regret this."

"This is Scott Lang." Dr. Pym says, "He's the current Ant-Man."

"Him?" Stein asks incredulously.

"He's smarter than he seems, Professor," Doctor Pym's daughter says.

"He's actually the guy who help me steal the Yellowjacket suit." Doctor Pym adds, "For those of you who don't know this is my daughter and partner, Hope."

Hope smiles, "Good to meet everyone."

"And these are….." But before Doctor Pym can finish, the Hispanic speaks up.

"This is a really nice lab." He says, "It reminds of this place my Cousin Jaime works at as a summer job. And Hank says that if he wins this bet, we'll be getting like a huge amount of cheddar. It sucks that the security here is so bad."

"I could upgrade it." Cisco complains, "We don't need a full-on security team."

"Oh, but now you got one." The black says, "You're welcome."

"Easy, Dave." Hope says, "You don't have the job yet."

"I'm not sure I have the money to pay you." Harry throws his hands up. "Even if Pym wins this moronic bet, I have to put Jessie through college."

"No, you don't." Jessie says, "I have a full scholarship. Dad just doesn't want to go along with this."

"And frankly," Harry adds, "I'd expect Professor Stein to have more sense."

"We. Were. Drunk." Stein throws his hands up.

"Besides," Doctor Pym says, "Marty and I had a contract.

Cisco grins, "Really?"

Lily smiles, "Mom even signed it as a witness."

"Can I review this document?" Cisco asks.

"And maybe," Professor Stein adds, "I have been spending a bit too much time with the Legends."

"Yeah," Caitlin nods sympathetically.

"Are we testing security or not?" The man who hasn't spoken yet asks.

"Yes," Scott says, "We're testing the security here, Kurt." He turns to us, "This is Kurt." He points to Dave, "That's Dave and that's Luis."

"Again, don't get me wrong." Luis begins again, "It sucks that your security sucks."

"Our security does not suck," Cisco protests.

"But I promise you won't regret this." Luis goes on like he hasn't heard him, "If you lose the bet I mean."

"Luis," Doctor Pym says, "Please go get ready."

"Okay," Luis leaves as fast he can, followed slowly by Kurt, Dave and finally Scott.

"Okay, Marty." Doctor Pym takes a timer out, "You know the bet, if the Wombats manage to successfully break in here, you're convincing them." He gestures to us, "To hire them as your private security."

"And if they don't." Professor Stein says, "And Team Flash successfully foils them. Then we have free access to your lab and technology."

"Don't forget the bonus." Hope reminds Doctor Pym.

"Of course not." He says.

"Never." Says Professor Stein.

"Okay," Lily turns to the rest of us, "Those of you who have suits, get them on. You have Wombats to catch."

So, we suit up. Harry divides Cisco, Jessie and me to different entrances at STAR Labs as Doctor Pym and Professor Stein explain the rules. I briefly consider asking about Caitlin, but I don't.

"Okay," Doctor Pym says, "You each have two hours to try to catch each of our Wombats before they break into this place."

"The so-called 'Wombats'," Professor Stein adds, "Have two hours to break into STAR successfully without being detected."

"Okay," Harry groans, "Let's go."

Almost immediately the lights go out. Then they turn on again. Then K-Pop starts randomly playing.

Over the loudspeakers, Dr. Pym's voice sounds suspiciously like Donald Duck, "Step one. Your Cyber security. Mr. Goreshter happens to be a very capable Hacker. He's installed himself somewhere inside these labs and is currently on shutting down whatever security you do have. "

Even though, I can't see Cisco or Jessie, I nod to them. Almost subconsciously. Then I start running. Checking every room, I speed to. Every crevice. Even the air ducts. All while cat videos show up on the computer screens, K-Pop and Anime theme songs play on the speakers and we occasionally get order from Harry, Stein and Pym in Russian or sounding like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Darth Vader. At point, I even turn to reach the Pipeline.

"DON'T!" Harry's oddly Vader-like voice comes in my ear, "Whatever YOU DO, Allen, DO NOT….!"

Doctor Pym's Donald Duck voice comes back, calmer, "Mister Allen, don't worry about your Metahuman Prison. It's the one place in this bird's nest of a lab, that has actually decent security. It's irrelevant to this bet. I've made sure the Wombats know not do anything to compromise security there."

As I turn to leave, the wall directly in front of me caves in and a ridiculously ugly van speeds right through. Harry's Vader voice blares over the loudspeakers, blurting profanities in Latin and random-seeming Russian. Dave tips his hat to me from the van and speeds off, while I race after it.

Over Harry's swearing, Doctor Pym calmly explains, "Mister Roland's role is as a getaway driver/physical security expert. My apologies for any damages made to your lab. This manner was…..his idea."

La Cucaracha blares from the Van to add to the random Anime theme songs and K-Pop as I race as fast I can after it, reaching out to…..

I bump into Jessie causing us both to fall to the ground losing sight of the van.

We're in one of the security rooms and despite the….garish colors we can still make out Cisco struggling with a man in a security uniform. Luis.

"Mister Mendoza," Doctor Pym's Duck voice breaks the weird reverie, "Is surprisingly good at Undercover work. Actually, he's surprisingly good at a number of things. Including being the de facto leader of this merry band of misfits."

"I'll get the Van." Jessie says, "It shouldn't take long for me to find it. You go find Kurt. You know this place better than I do."

I nod, "What about Luis."

Cisco opens a breach and tries to pull Luis in with him.

"I think Cisco can handle him." Jessie says.

So, I start running again. Desperately tossing rooms to find Kurt. Disappearing as I much I can into the Speed Force. And then I get electrocuted from behind and the next thing I know I'm getting Gulliver's Travels-style hogtied. By Ants. All led by a guy in a red-and-silver suit riding on a flying ant.

"Sorry about this, Mister Flash. Sir." Scott's voice says in my ear.

"And, of course." Doctor Pym concludes, "You don't appear to be terribly prepared for the Ant-Man. Your two hours are up."

The K-Pop and anime theme songs stop. The lights stop flickering and Scott slowly sends the ants away before bringing himself back to full size and helping me to my feet still apologizing.

"I'm still getting that Autograph right?" He asks.

"Yeah." I say, "And I think you guys got the job too."

Scott grins and throws up his hands in triumph, "YES! Hey, Hope, you hear that. We did it!"

Hope, along with her father, Caitlin, an annoyed Professor Stein, an amused Lily and an irate Harry steps out of the observation booth.

"We didn't just hear it, Scott." She says, "We saw all of it." She turns to me, "You guys did well, all things considered."

A breach opens and a still grabbling Cisco and Luis fall out.

"DUDE!" Cisco pushes Luis off him, "What was that?"

"Sorry, man." Luis says, "But I'm a better fighter than people give credit for. Back in prison, I was the only one to knock out Peachy."

"And he never lets us here the end of it." Scott says, "Hey, Luis. We got the job." Luis grins and gives him a high five.

Jessie arrives pulling Dave by the collar, "Sorry, Dad. I had to turn back to clean up some of the damage he was causing. And he caused a lot."

Harry groans, "Stein, however much money you promised these guys, the repairs for those damages are coming out of it. Also, where's the hacker?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kurt walks in from the direction of the Pipeline, "Old man say we don't shut down security in scary-Meta-Prison, because scary-Metas are in Scary-Meta-Prison and Scary-Meta-Prison-security actually good. So, I hide in Scary-Meta-Prison."

"You cheated." Stein seethes.

"No," Dr. Pym says, "I only said they didn't need to worry about the security of the Pipeline being compromised. I never said Kurt wasn't hiding in it."

"HOW?" Harry sputters, "HOW? DID? HE?"

"Marty gave me security clearance." Doctor Pym says simply, "I gave it to him."

"It's for your most frequent security problem." Hope explains, "The inside job."

Cisco holds up finger to argue, but then, "That's fair."

"Good work everyone." Doctor Pym says and then he turns to Hope, "Honestly, I was worried Scott would fumble it. He was so ridiculously star struck."

Hope grins, "I told him about the Bonus."

"Oh," Hank nods, "Yes, I forgot about the bonus. Marty?"

Before Professor Stein can respond, Scott hugs him, "Thank you, Professor. So much. I can't wait to tell Cassie!"

"Honestly, Hank." Professor Stein throws his hands up, "She's not even your granddaughter."

"And your grandkid's not even born yet." Doctor Pym says in response, "So, technically speaking we both cheated. Besides there are some great art schools that Cassie could excel at. Which is more than can said for your unborn Grandson just yet."

"I gave eighteen years." Stein complains, "You're giving me eight."

Scott simply turns to me and shakes my hand, "I look forward to working with you."

"You too," I say. Then the alarm goes off.

"We better suit up." I say.

Catco Headquarters, National City Washington

Kara Danvers

I don't notice them right away, of course. After all, I'm in a rush. And sometimes, even with super senses, you don't notice things. Like three big guys wearing black suits, white earpieces and dark glasses. I have to do a double take for a moment. I have absolutely no idea who these guys are. Except for the fact that I'm quite sure they aren't DEO. Not sure what else to do, I do what seems to me to be the most obvious thing ever.

I smile and I say, "Hi. Nice to meet you."

The men in black don't respond.

"I'm Kara." It seems like the best thing to do.

They say nothing.

Awkward. Who the hell are these guys? It's almost a relief when I get to my floor.

I rush out and thankfully, the Men in Black stay on the elevator. Eve Tessmacher runs past me to it.

"Hi, Kara." She says almost casually.

It takes me a moment to realize who's following her.

"Miss Grant?" Miss Grant walks more slowly to her private elevator. This doesn't make sense. She's supposed to be in Washington.

"Not now, Keira." She says, "I have a plane to New York City to catch. That wretched interview is tonight."

"What interview?" I find myself asking.

"Don't be obtuse, Keira." Mrs. Grant says, "I need you to show the new girl the ropes."

"What…?" I begin.

"Um, hi." I turn. There's a girl there. She's small and unobtrusive with olive skin and dark brown hair.

"I'm Nia." She says.

"I'm Kara." I say, "I think I'm supposed to show you the ropes."

"O-of course." She says, "I'm a new reporter." Nia laughs awkwardly.

"Yeah," I say, "I figure. But I have to talk to someone real quick."

I run to James' office. Thankfully, he's there.

"James!" I say, "There's something wrong."

He is simply shuffling through photos as though he didn't hear me, "What's up?"

"Why is Mrs. Grant here?" I find myself asking.

"From what I saw she's leaving." He says casually.

"No," I say, "I mean shouldn't she be Washington?"

"Washington?" James asks.

"You know" I say, "As Press Secretary."

"Oh that," James says, "President Marsdin did want her for the position, but she needed someone that…..certain people wouldn't object to. Especially after what happened with Carter."

Carter? Miss Grant's son? I want to ask him what he means but…..

"Is it bad enough she needs a security escort?" I find myself asking.

"Oh, those guys." James groans, "Try to ignore them. SWORD is working on making sure we don't have to deal with them anymore."

"SWORD," I want to say, "You mean the DEO."

James laughs, "No, Kara. I mean SWORD. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I say, "I think so. I'm gonna show the new girl, Nia, the ropes."

My legs wobble as I leave and then the memories come flooding back.

I remember Cat's son, Carter, the day of the Daxamite invasion. I remember how he arrived shortly after everything went to hell with his grandmother. And I remember Lillian Luthor trying to hold him hostage, when we were against her plan to attack the Daxamites. And I remember how Carter's eyes had glowed blue and how that gust of wind had come and knocked Lillian aside. The wind that Carter was controlling. And the resulting media circus after Invasion that in addition to everything else, the son of Cat Grant was also a Mutant, born with the despised X-gene. But Carter's not a mutant. And there's no such thing as the X-gene. Then more memories come. Nick Fury, a friend J'Onn's accompanying Hank Henshaw to our house the day the DEO recruited my adoptive father, Jeremiah Danvers. Only it's not the DEO, it's SWORD, one of many satellite organizations to the organization SHIELD. But that's not right. I remember my Aunt Carol. But I don't have an Aunt Carol. Yet I remember her coming back from missions, inspiring me as much as Clark did. And I remember Krypton and the war and the ships. I remember him. And then I can't breathe. I can't think. I want to scream. I want to scream even louder than I did when Psi was reminding me of Mon El and how he flew into space. Every part of me is shaking like Kryptonite is clogging up my lungs and then I hear J'onn's voice.

Kara, he says softly, calm down.

But it hurts. I think.

Breathe. He tells me sternly, Deep breaths.

I take a deep breath in. I let it. I count to ten. Rinse. Repeat.

Now, go. J'onn tells me, You'll be alright.

What's happening? I find myself asking him.

I'll tell you later. He says in my head, Right now, you have a new reporter to train.

I hold my breath and I follow J'onn's advice. I show Nia the ropes. I explain how to work the printers. I let her know when not to bother Miss Grant and why. I show her which editors to go to for what type of story and where to pick up lunch in the cafeteria. I let her know all Miss Grant's weird idiosyncrasies and rules (namely about using her private elevator). And I even show how to use the coffee machine that's always breaking down. And then I get a call for an interview with Lena Luthor.

My phone dings so suddenly that I almost jump before I can pick up.

"Lena," I find myself saying.

"Kara," Lena sounds worried about something, "You remember about the interview, right?"

"Oh, right," I say. And now, I'm freaking out again. But it's not as bad as it could be. I'm not thinking about horrible things, I don't remember happening. I'm just not sure what the interviews about. And I then I remember. I'm supposed to be interviewing Lena over a contract she's negotiating with SWORD/the DEO and its big uber-agency that shouldn't exist, SHIELD.

"Oh, right," I say, "The interview. The very important lunch interview. I'm on my way to L-Corp now."

James is giving me the understandable side-eye from his office.

"Take your time," Lena says, "I mean there's nothing insane going on right now. And you are on work time."

"Don't worry," I say, "I'll be there. Bye, Lena. See you then."

I rush to the elevator so fast, that I somehow miss Nia following me into it.

"Nia!" I find myself saying, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," Nia says, "I thought you were going to see Lena Luthor."

"I am." I say, "But you don't need to come."

"P-please," Nia says, "I….really want to go with you. I can help. Get the story."

"But Lena and I are friends." I say, "I don't exactly need…."

"Please," Nia repeats, "Just let me have a shot. Let me help you. I can interview other sources, look for information. Please let me try."

"Okay," I find myself saying.

Because Nia is with me, I can't fly. Instead, I call a taxi and I pay the guy to go fast.

"Just let me do the talking," I tell Nia as we arrive at L-Corp. She nods eagerly as we take an elevator up to Lena's office on the 12th floor. Just as we're arriving I see Samantha Arias, Reign, walking out of Lena's office and looking stressed she smiles when she sees us. I smile at her too. I know Sam. She's a nice person. A Good Person. Reign non-withstanding. And then I remember. Reign. I want to tell Sam about Reign. About the person that she really is. But she's rushing out. Maybe, to meet Ruby. Maybe for something related to work. Maybe for some other reason. I don't get the chance to ask because we're at the front desk and Lena's assistant is waving us in. And the other memory comes.

I'm on a field in an African Country. Wakanda. Kal is there. So many other superheroes. By my side is Sam. As Reign, but not as my enemy. We are surrounded gross, bug-like aliens with weird gray armor. A Spaceship lands on the field and we fight. I see three aliens. One big and hulking. One slim, female and dressed in black. One dressed in shiny, black, armor. I see some clearly monstrous creatures. Aliens and alien gorillas. Other creatures. The battle is a bloodbath. People are dying all around me. I'm struggling against my foes. From every direction they come. The sky is eye achingly blue. And then I see him. Tall and purple and dressed in gold. And he snaps his fingers. I see Alex clutching her gun. I see her disappear in a cloud of dust. And then…

Kara, focus. J'onn's voice says again.

"Kara?" Nia asks, "Are you okay?"

"Kara?" And Lena is there, I see the concern in her eyes.

"Yeah," I say, "I'm okay." Even though I'm not.

We walk into her office.

"Hi, Lena." I say, "This is Nia."

"Hi!" Nia smiles and holds her out her hand, "It's great to meet you, Miss Luthor."

"Thanks," Lena says, "It's not everyday someone admits to wanting to meet a Luthor."

"Well," Nia says, "I've read all about all the things you've done. You making this a…not evil company again."

"That's nice." Lena says, "If only I could know I could make it stick once Lex comes back from prison."

"Wait a minute," I say before I can stop myself, "Lex is getting out of prison."

Lena grabs her coffee cup and drinks from like a scotch bottle, "Oh, yeah I was going to tell you in private." She shoots a look of good-natured annoyance at Nia, "After Carter Grant blew my mother into the middle of a Daxamite invasion and she unjustly sicked SUPER on the family and then your friend, J'onn got the charges dropped, Lex's friends in high places came through. Again. So, now he's getting out of prison. Early. Again. And even though she attempted to murder multiple people and held a child hostage, my mother is getting out of prison soon too."

"H-how?" I find myself asking.

"Their 'friends'," Lena laughs bitterly, "Their friends who in a perfect world would all be in prison themselves. Their friends who have connections literally everywhere. So, not even SHIELD can keep my family behind bars. Speaking of which, is SUPER still watching Catco, Kara?"

SUPER. It takes a moment to come to me. It's the SHIELD organization that deals with….enhanced affairs. They're also one of SHIELD's most corrupt units. So, corrupt Director Fury is just waiting for an excuse to shut them down.

"I-" I begin, "I think they're leaving today."

"Good," Lena says, "I think they would…..after the Gotham Incident. I hear Fury is just waiting for the World Security Council to give him permission to shut them down."

"So…." Nia tries to join the subject, "Do you think this will you know…..keep you from getting the contract."

Lena grins, "As if. Director Fury is the one who called me to warn me ahead of time. He told me that if anything he needed my tech more than before. He wants me to," She lowers her voice dramatically, "Spy on them for him. But I can't talk to the press about that, you guys want to see the tech, I'm making for them before SHIELD or SWORD gets to see it."

"Sure," We say together.

So, we spend the next few hours discussing Lena's upcoming contract with SHIELD and SWORD. And I get used to thinking SWORD instead of the DEO. Lena explains how Director Fury and J'onn have agreed that even though Lex is getting out they're only going to be dealing with her rather than him and she shows us all of the things she's making for them. Sonic guns, trackers, image inducers to help aliens look human. And all sorts of gadgets that Lena has been given by scientists in SHIELD and SWORD to approve. In no time, Nia and I have a full article between us. Then Lena sends Nia away.

"Nia?" She says, "I think you should talk to Sam and some of the others about the contract."

"Okay," Nia says.

Once we're alone, Lena grabs me by the hand, "Kara, come with me. You've got to see this."

She leads me to a suit. Not like one of her brother's weird suits, but a dark blue and red suit, slick and shining and made up with my Family crest painted on the chest.

"Is that…." I begin.

"Something I'm working on with SHIELD, Wayne Enterprises and Stark Industries of all things," Lena says.

Stark Industries. Tony Stark. Iron Man. A genius billionaire, playboy philanthropist/superhero who Lena has idolized her entire life and who fought with Kal and his vigilante friend Batman and his Amazon friend Wonder Woman at the Battle of New York. An alien invasion that didn't happen. Mister Stark and his friends, the Avengers are one of Earth's premiere superhero teams. Kal's team, the Justice League is together.

"And yes," Lena says, "That is an Anti-Kryptonite Suit." And then I realize something else. Lena knows that I'm Supergirl here. She knows because she has a secret of her own.

"But not just any Anti-Kryptonite Suit," Lena goes on, "When I got the contract, I had this…..insane epiphany after the Daxamite Invasion. Lead holds Kryptonite off, but it's poisonous to Daxamites and it can be poisonous to humans to. So, I figured if someone pulls Operation Medusa again and trust someone will try, I thought it be best you're prepared."

"And h-how is this one different," I ask.

"Rather than lead," Lena says, "This one is lined with the other two most potent cosmic metals in the known universe. Adamantium and Vibranium."

"Vibranium." I find myself saying. You can only get Vibranium in Wakanda, this super secretive super futuristic country that shouldn't exist and neither should Vibranium for that matter.

"I got it delivered special," Lena says, "Right after they opened. Lex couldn't get them to let him in to Wakanda. Which means even if my brother suspects something when he comes home he can't force me out. Not that I'm going to be telling him how I got the Vibranium. Or that I'm letting him touch it. Ever. But first….I need a test."

"You want me to wear that," I ask.

"No," Lena says, "It's for emergencies and I have other ways to test how these metals cancel out Kryptonite. I want you to see if you can see through it."

I take a good look at Lena's suit. I can focus. I can't see through. I try again. I still can't see through it.

"I can't see through it." I say.

Lena grins, "YES! Make sure you tell J'onn, have him send Winn over. I'm going to be testing it later. With Lex coming home, I could really use some good news."

"Thanks, Lena," I say, "The suit looks incredible. I really like it, but…."

Lena seems to understand, "I'm guessing this isn't about the suit."

"No," I say.

"Is it about Clark's interview tonight," She asks, "And….what happened on Krypton."

The way she asks reminds me of Lena's secret.

"Yeah," I say, "So, did you use your…."

"Powers?" Lena asks, "I have to admit they helped in making it. But I'm still trying not to use them too much. Especially with Lex and Mother coming back. After my mother's incident with Carter Grant, the last thing anyone needs is for them reminded that I'm a Mutant too."

And then I see the scar on Lena's arm. I remember her showing it to me. The scar from the surgery that Lillian used to try to take Lena's gift away. The scar from the surgery that never would have worked. But none of that happened. At least I don't think….

Kara, J'onn's voice says, calm down. When the time comes, we need to talk.

Yes sir. I say in my mind.

And then I tell Lena, "You shouldn't let them get to you. You have an amazing power."

"Try telling my family that," Lena laughs bitterly again, "Mother was livid when she first found out, the idea of a Luthor even one she didn't really consider part of the family being anything other than normal….You can imagine."

We talk more and I remember more. We talk about Mon-El and Rhea. We talk about the Daxamite invasion and the contract. I watch Lena's hand. I remember seeing her put a ray together with her mind. I remember her telling me about how Tony Stark was her first celebrity crush. And I remember telling her that I was Supergirl. And I meet with Nia and go back to Catco. I finish out the day, then I head to SWORD. I need to talk to J'onn.

As I arrive at SWORD, I still can't help but think of it as the same old DEO. It's the same building, the same people. Well, except for one. In one corner, there's a smiling black woman with long curly hair talking to Alex. It takes me a moment to remember her.

"Hi, Kara." She says. Her name is Monica Rambeau. She's a few years older than us. She's a family friend. Her mom is best friends with…..Aunt Carol. Jeremiah's sister who Alex looked up to when we were kids. I can't think straight.

"Hi, Monica." I say. Then I make my way to Alex and I hug her. I can't help myself. All I can think about is what I saw in the future. Alex disappearing on the wind.

"Kara!" Alex says, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I say, "I'm just so glad to see you."

"Oh my God!" Alex hugs me back, "I totally forgot I'm sorry."

"About….?" I ask, but then I remember.

"I know it's been hard with what happened with Mon El." Alex says, "And with today being the anniversary."

The anniversary, my heart is pounding. I forgot the anniversary.

"Speaking of which," Alex adds, "You should probably go meet J'onn."

I stumble into J'onn's office.

"Hi, J'onn," I say, "I think I'm here for some sort of therapy."

"Yes, you are." J'onn says, "I'm going to tell about what I know about the situation. I'm sorry, Kara."

"Sorry?" I ask, "Why?"

"Because," He says, "I'm going to tell you about the Krypton War."

Parker Family Apartment, Queens New York

Peter Parker

I can smell Aunt May's Pancakes. Is this Heaven? No, it's not heaven. I'm sure whether or not I died. But somehow, I know that I'm home. Home. But a part of me can still feel my body breaking down and turning to dust. I can still see Thanos' face. I can still hear Mister Stark crying. I can't breathe. I CAN'T BREATHE! I can't think straight. It feels like all the walls are closing in around me. I want to scream. I want to run.

And then I hear Aunt May's voice, "Peter."

I can't help myself, I get up and I hug as close as I can. I've never been so happy to see her (or anyone else) in my entire life.

"Peter?" Aunt May asks, "Is everything okay?"

I realize that I'm crying, "Yeah, May. I'm great."

"Good." Aunt May says, "Come into the kitchen. You're going to be late for school."

Most of May's cooking isn't the best, but her pancakes are great. Especially the chocolate chip ones, that are soft and gooey and too good to defile with syrup. Maybe it's because of yesterday, was it yesterday, but they taste better than I remember. It's a great start to the day. After breakfast, I take the subway to school like always. I give ten bucks to a homeless man, I see at the station and I tell him to go to FEAST, Aunt May's homeless shelter. I find a salvageable DVD player on the curb outside Delmar's and I make a point of getting it later. I smile at people I know. I wave. I feel….good. By the time, I get to school it feels like things can't get much better today.

"Hey, man." Ned grins as he comes towards me.

"Hi, Ned!" I say. We do our handshake. Ned is wearing a wide-brimmed cowboy hat.

"New hat?" I ask even though I know I've seen it before.

"Yeah," Ned says, "For the new school year."

That catches me off-guard. We just finished Finals.

"New school year?" I say before I can stop myself.

"Yeah," Ned says, "Junior Year."

Junior Year? The panic hits me again. I must be dreaming. Or that Thanos guy killed me. Then I see the calendar in the hall. My double take couldn't be faster. August 24th. 2017. Didn't that guy Dr. Strange say that one of the Infinity Stones was for Time. Maybe I was sent back in time.

"Pete?" I hear Ned saying bringing me back to reality, "Are you okay?"

I laugh awkwardly, "I'm fine. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." I didn't even realize MJ was there. She looks so beautiful with her long chocolate brown curls and her big brown eyes and her oh-so rare smile. She's holding a book. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

"Well, I am." I say.

"Right," MJ says, "Well, I've looking for you guys. I am currently in sore need of someone to be sarcastic with. Literally everyone is fawning over the new kids. It's annoying."

"New kids?" God, I'm going to be feeling stupid all day aren't I? Because I'm ninety percent sure that there weren't any new kids on the first day of school last year. Except for Freshman. And no one was fawning over any of the Freshman.

"So, it's true?" Ned asks, "Is it really him?"

"Unfortunately," MJ groans, "Not you too."

"What's going on?" I ask still feeling stupid.

MJ points. There's an entire group of kids from my class gathered around two people talking excitedly. I see Betty Brant. Jason Ionello. And Flash Thompson who's talking in an especially animated manner.

"You should see it," He's saying, "I've got like ten million followers. You should really check it out, man."

A boy's voice laughs, "I will."

I know that voice, even though it's cracked.

And sure enough standing between the other kids is a boy about my age dressed in a green-and-white striped collared shirt with a green sweater over it, gray pants and brown loafers. His hair is sandy-brown and tousled casually like he wants to look like he's not a snob. He has big green eyes and big ears that somehow don't spoil his carelessly handsome face and confident smile.

"I'll make sure to," Harry Osborn says.

And he then grins that stupid, smug grin at me, "Hi, Peter."

He comes right to me, grabs my hand and shakes it. I try not to gag.

Ned is beside me in a moment, "DUDE! You know HARRY OSBORN?! As the Harry Osborn?!"

"Well, Peter," Harry says, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Our dads used to work together." I tell Ned then I turn to Osborn, "What are you doing here, Harry?"

Harry laughs, "Come now, Peter, is that any way to greet an old friend."

"We're not friends," I say, "Our dads worked together before we were born! And you, being nice to me to impress your Dad and so you could copy off my homework does not count."

Not to mention, I'd never call Harry Osborn a "friend" after what his dad did to Aunt May. At Uncle Ben's funeral no less.

"Oh come on, Peter." Harry says as though he missed what I said, "We're best friends."

"Mister Osborn," Ned says, "I'm Ned Leeds it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, you too." Harry says as though it's really not, "Can I borrow Peter for a moment?"

Before I can say "no", he's pulled me halfway across the hallway.

And he's still laughing, then he stops.

"You would never believe the money, my father had to spend to get me in here." He says.

Not to mention the projects he had to do for you.

"And the kids here…." Osborn sneers, "Such losers. That boy you were with, you are his family even in the country legally? It's frankly embarrassing the rabble, I've had to compete with here. But it's good business for Oscorp and I can ask you all about your incredible opportunities."

"Say what now?" I ask.

"Don't be modest," Harry folds his hands, a habit he got from his dad, "I'm referring to your internship with Tony Stark."

"Oh, that," I say casually, "Yeah, it's great. He hates your dad's guts."

"Well," Harry says as though he didn't hear me "That's wonderful. Father and I can't wait to hear all about…."

"I've actually heard Mister Stark call your dad, a 'sadistic bloodsucker'," I say, "Oh and by the way that 'boy I was with' is Ned Leeds. He was born here. His grandmother came here from the Philippines on a work visa and he's possibly the best engineer and computer scientist in our class."

"Him!" Osborn seems to find this the funniest thing ever, "He looks like he still plays with Legos. Frankly, I'm embarrassed for you. Stuck making friends with the wrong sort when you're going so many places…."

"I think I know what the wrong sort is," I say, "And it's not Ned. Screw off, Osborn." And then I storm off.

"What was that about?" I almost jump as I bump into MJ.

"Oh, nothing." I lie.

"Yeah, you have issues with the guy who's dad is like the king of Big Pharma in the US," MJ grins and laughs bitterly, "Totally nothing."

Realizing I won't get out of it, I turn to Harry who has gone back to his fans, "His Dad used to work with my Dad."

"Is that how you know him?" MJ asked, "Because didn't your dad die in like 9/11?"

"Yeah," I say, "And I went to live with Aunt May. But Norman Osborn was my Godfather and he and Harry used to be around like all the time when we were kids. Osborn had a crush on my mom like a million years ago and I think he used to carry a torch for Aunt May. Until the second grade when she married Uncle Ben."

"That must have been awkward." MJ says.

"Yeah," I say, "And it gets worse. Norman used to go out of his way to try to force Harry and me to be friends when we were younger and because Harry worships the ground that his old man walks on, he went along with it. Even though we have nothing in common and he's been a spoiled brat and a jerk. Especially to me."

"Really?" MJ looks at me as though she's seeing me for the first.

"Yeah," I say, "Harry would make me do his homework. He'd get in trouble and he'd go out of his way to humiliate me in public. Not to mention whenever he got the chance to hang out with the popular crowd, he'd go for it. Dude's manipulated everyone he's ever befriended and his Dad just lets him get away with it. He probably just wants to rekindle any so called 'friendship' we had a million years ago because of the Stark Internship."

"I'd say maybe he's outgrown if I was an adult." MJ says, "But I'm an inherently cynical person, so I won't lie to you."

"Thanks," I say, "I just want to know what he's doing here. Last I heard he and his Dad were living in…..I think it was Portugal this year." I didn't say that was where I'd last seen them in the tabloids because that hasn't happened yet.

"They got called here at the last minute," says a voice.

We both turn. A pretty dark-haired sophomore girl dressed in a purple with a blue jacket is standing there.

"Sorry," She says, "Kate Bishop. I wasn't spying. But yeah, Harry and I got kicked out of Prep School together in England. For very different offenses. But his dad and my mom work together. And because they were both suddenly called back to the States at the last minute, they decided that it would be cute if we went to school together. But we're not friends." She adds, "Let alone more than that. No matter what anyone tells you. And no, I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm not good at Science. Or Math. Or this tech stuff. I'm an athlete. And don't take this the wrong way, but I read your records. With the exception of baseball, you guys kinda suck in every actual sport. That you know requires….movement. And I'm shutting up now."

"It's fine." I say, "Peter Parker." I turn to MJ, "I assume this is the other 'new kid' everyone is fawning over."

"Not to the same level," MJ says, "But yeah, she's one of those Bishops."

It's only then, I realize what she's saying.

"As in the Bishops that like built half of New York?" I ask.

"Yeah," Kate says, "It's kind embarrassing when it gets you lumped in with Harry Osborn. I don't know why my mom is so desperate to get me to be friends with him. I don't know if it's because our parents work together or they had sex that one time in college…"

"So did Norman Osborn sleep with the mothers of all his sons friends," MJ asked, "Or just the fake ones."

"Norman Osborn never slept with my mother!" I say.

"Wow, sorry." MJ says looking genuinely remorseful.

"No, it's fine." I say, not wanting to offend her. It's not her fault.

"And Aunt May never slept with him either." I say to both of them.

"Nobody implied…." MJ begins.

"Norman Osborn is a pig," I say before I can stop myself, "Aunt May hates him. And she would never sleep with him. He's a jerk. Mister Stark's right, he's a sadistic bloodsucker. Heck, if anything Mister Stark is too nice about him. And my aunt would certainly never sleep with him, under any circumstances. Especially days after losing the love of her life. I'm going to be late for class." I'm not but I still leave as quickly as possible.

But of course, the moment I get into Mister Harrison's class, there's Harry Osborn sitting at the front of the class. The seat next to him is empty. He gestures to it. I ignore and go to the back of the class. Flash immediately comes in and takes that seat. But it's not just Flash. Everyone from the hall from Betty to Jason is crowding around him along with a lot of other kids. Even Ned seems to be right there talking to him. MJ, however, comes and sits beside me.

"Hey," She says.

"Hey," I say.

"I'm sorry about what happened in the hallway." MJ adds.

"It's not your fault," I say.

Mister Harrison is late. As usual. Especially since his wife has been cheating on him.

Ned comes to sit beside me, "How cool is Harry Osborn?"

I don't say anything. Neither does MJ.

"You know," Ned says, "Harry is throwing like this big party at his Dad's townhouse tonight and he's invited all of us."

Then he seems to see my face, "But we don't have to go. Even though everyone in class is."

We still don't say anything.

Mister Harrison fumbles for his syllabus before sitting down, "Okay, everyone. Welcome to another new school year. Junior year, of course. So, it's time for college applications and of course, I want you all to meet our new student, Harry Osborn."

Harry gets up, bows and grins that stupid, smug grin of his.

"Good to be here, sir." He grins at the class, "I hear that you are one of the top science teachers in New York City."

"Why, th-thank you," Mister Harrison stammers.

"But of course, only the best for this school," Harry says, "After all, it is the best STEM school in New York City."

Aunt May once called Harry Osborn, a "regular Eddie Haskell." Eddie Haskell is this kid on this old TV show called Leave it to Beaver. He's the main character's big brother's best friend and his entire thing is that he's always nice and polite around adults but tends to act like a full-on jerk around other kids. But it's actually not that accurate because Harry is like to other kids to. If he wants something from them. He's always been a jerk. But a lot of people don't see it. Harry's good at playing a crowd. He gets that from his dad. When Mister Harrison suggests Harry tells us about himself, I tune it all out. I already know all about him anyway.

Most of the day goes on as usual. We have science. History. English. Math. Lunch. Gym. Art. Chemistry. It's normal mostly. Except the whole time, Harry is there. Sucking up to teachers, giving out fake compliments to everyone. All the girls fall to pieces with him around. And every teacher seems to be impressed with his work. And being Harry Osborn, he naturally goes out of his way to brag.

"Did you really get a private tour of Voughtland?" Betty asks him about an amusement park in Science.

"Of course," Osborn grins, "My dad is like best friends with Stan Edgar. He hooks me up with awesome stuff all the time."

"Wow! That's an awesome ride!" Flash tells him in English Class as Harry shows him a cell phone photo of a car.

"1974 Red Ferrari!" Harry boasts.

"And your dad actually lets you drive it?" Seymour O'Reilly asks.

"He lets me drive all of his cars." Osborn says as though it should be obvious. Never mind that he's in a school where most of the kids' parents don't own one car. In Math, he brags to Abe Brown about all the girls he's slept with. At lunch, he tells anyone who will about that trip to Paris, he and his dad went on. In History, he brags to Tiny McKeever about his Dad is working on this totally important Cancer cure. In art, he tells Cindy Moon about all the celebrities he's met. Much like the Amusement Park, I'm pretty sure some of them don't actually exist. But then, in both cases, I think they do. Which means that in addition to being eight months in the past, having apparently just died in a decidedly messed up manner and having the jerk who used to pretend to be my friend in elementary school now attending my high school, I also appear to be in the throes of a full-on psychotic break. And then Mister Dell asks me to be his lab partner.

Could I have said no? Yes. Should I have said no? YES!. Do I say no? Hell, no. Instead, I go along with it. I don't know why. Especially since I've worked with Harry Osborn before. Not by choice. And like with all things, Harry's first priority with projects to get his dad to do it for him. Which is harder with group projects. So, instead Harry Osborn is the guy who makes you do all the work yet still gets credit for the project. So, yeah, I spend my last school period working on testing and sorting elements while Osborn just watches.

"You know you could help," I say.

"Why would I?" Osborn asks, "You're way better at science than I am, Pete. You wouldn't want me messing it up."

"Just grow up and actually try." I say.

The moment I say it, I regret it. Because then Osborn does grab some of the melted metal and almost purposely spills it across the desk and our worksheet.

"Fine, I'll do it." I say mopping the liquid metal off of our worksheet, "You haven't changed a bit, Osborn."

"Thank you," he says grinning.

"Not a compliment," I say.

"So, Pete." Harry goes on as though I didn't just admit to insulting him, "My father has an important charity gala tonight."

"So that party you were talking about isn't happening?" I try not to sound too hopeful.

"Oh, no," He says, "I have the house to myself. Oh, and Kate Bishop. I'm babysitting you might say. And my Father has given me permission to have a little get together. Most of the sophomore and junior classes are going."

"Don't take this the wrong way," I say, "But I would rather chew off my own foot. Besides I have the Stark Internship and after that I'm working with Aunt May at FEAST. I also have this little thing called homework."

"Really?" He says, "Well, that's a shame that your aunt is still forcing to waste time like that. Is she still hot?"

I really want to punch him in the nose right then.

But then Harry says, "Besides, your friend Ned said you'd come. It would be a pity to humiliate him without you there."

I manage not to punch Harry Osborn in the nose. Instead, I decide that Ned and I need to talk.

"You seriously said we go to Harry Osborn's party," I ask him as we walk his younger brother, Ethan to Kung Fu Practice in Chinatown.

"Well, you'll done with your…thing by then." Ned says, "And besides when was the last time you just cut loose and went to a party."

"First of all," I say, "I have to help Aunt May after I do my Spiderman thing."

"From five to seven." Ned glances at Ethan who is thankfully buried in his phone, "The party starts at 7:30."

"Second," I say, "We have homework. It's a school night."

"Yeah, homework that we can finish in an hour once we get home and before you do your Spiderman thing." Ned looks at me pleadingly, "Look, Pete, I know you don't like Harry."

"Understatement of the millennium." I mutter.

"And I know you guys weren't great friends when you were kids." He tries not to role his eyes, "But it's been five years since you saw him last. Maybe he's changed."

"Yeah," I say, "And maybe Flash will actually win a chess game."

"Hey, Ethan." Ned ignores my sarcasm and taps his brother on the shoulder, "We're here."

Ethan pulls out his earbuds and runs to the Dojo where Colleen Wing, the pretty Asian girl who runs the place and her handsome dark-haired boyfriend, Danny Rand stands at the entrance letting him in. Ned grins and waves. So do I. A bus comes in from Harlem.

"I've never seen that bus before." I find myself saying.

"That's Luke Cage," Ned says, "He brings kids from Harlem here."

And as though heeding Ned's words several kids flood out of that bus led by a big black guy in a yellow shirt. Then I realize that Luke Cage. He's the Hero of Harlem. The Bulletproof black man. I try to go over and meet him, but Luke is meeting with and shaking hands with Danny. And I realize I've never seen the bus before. Actually, I don't think I've been here before. Then a pretty, disheveled woman in a leather jacket arrives with a little Hispanic boy. I know her too. Detective Jessica Jones. Meeting these people is almost like meeting the Avengers. I want to go over and meet her. But then, my tingle goes off.

"You okay, man?" Ned is asking me.

But I barely hear him. My attention is on the street. Specifically on the man traveling down it to the Dojo. He tall and thin with a beaky nose, neatly combed dark brown hair, a trimmed black beard and brown, wild-looking eyes. He's wearing a suit, specifically a dark purple designer suit. A distinctive suit. I know who this man is to. Kilgrave. The Manhattan Mind Rapist (yes, seriously.). A part of me is horrified and confused out of my mind. After all, Kilgrave is dead. He died over two years ago. But I then I see in my mind's eye a news bulletin. A trial. Kilgrave smugly walking away. But didn't Jessica Jones kill him. Then I can't think about anything else. I duck behind a pillar to change into my costume. But the time I get out there, Colleen has Kilgrave on the ground and is smacking him with a bow staff. Despite this, I still climb up and shoot him in the mouth with my web-shooters, allowing Danny to jump out with…..no kidding, a glowing fist and he punches Kilgrave in the face. Again, and again. And then, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones step in.

"What are doing here?!" Jessica Jones asks, "WHAT. THE. FUCK. ARE. YOU. DOING. HERE.?"

Spitting my webs out of his mouth, Kilgrave says, "Hello, Jessica."

And then the sirens come.

TEMPS Headquarters, Washington DC

Zari Tomaz

It's a long drive from New York to DC, especially when Gary is the one driving. In fact, it has been a very long day. After finding ourselves and the Waverider stranded in New York City in August of 2017 (almost eight months before the last time we were in the present) and getting into a fight with a bunch of aliens, we had no way of getting out of New York. We had to wait to see if the Time Bureau had received any sort of signal. The good news is they did. The bad news is that the person they sent to pick us up was Gary. So, we wind up spending four hours and seven minutes all smashing into his standard issue Time Bureau with the Waverider towed behind us with Weird Al blaring on the radio (because being Gary he of course has no taste) and Ava and Gary argue about what the Time Bureau is called and who they work for.

"It's called TEMPS!" Gary says, "And you know this. It's a Division of SHIELD."

"WHAT?" When Ava is pissed it can break the sound barrier, "Gary, it's the Time Bureau and please just get Rip Hunter on the phone."

"He retired." Gary says, "Like three years ago. And I don't get it, I thought you were glad we finally got an Acronym."

"Why would I be glad we got an Acronym, Gary?" Ava is gripping the arm of her front passenger seat, "We don't need an Acronym."

"Technically, that's true." Gary says as though he doesn't know what else to say, "But once you get an Acronym as in your own Acronym then it's proof you're like really part of SHIELD. I can contact Director Fury and…"

"That's NOT a thing, Gary!" Ava throws her hands.

"Actually…." Gary begins.

"THAT. IS. NOT. A. THING.!" Ava insists, "I don't know where THE HELL you're getting this, but none of what you're talking about are THINGS!"

"It is so a thing!" Gary insists.

"No, it's not." Ava says for the thousandth time.

"Yes, it is." Gary says like a little kid trying to be proven right.

"It's not."

"It is."

"Is not."

"Is."

"Is not."

"Is."

Again, they go on like for four hours. Rory falls asleep and snores loudly. The captain occasionally cuts into Ava and Gary's bickering. Constantine goes through three or four packs of a cigarettes. Ray ropes us into the occasional childish car game. Nate puts on his ear buds and disappears into a podcast on his phone. Wally shakes his leg nervously and occasionally asks if we're there yet. Nora shifts back and forth in her seat. Jax plays a game on his phone. I think it's going to be the longest four hours of my life. Turns out I'm wrong about that. Because once we get back to DC, Gary brings us into the TEMPS building and we have to spend the next four filling out paperwork. Which they have preprepared. Because, of course, they were expecting a typical Legends screw up. Fair enough.

Rory groans, "This. Is. Bullshit."

"This was not a thing last time I checked." Ava complains, "There's just no way this was a thing."

"And yet it's here." Sara says.

"What do you think the chances are we screwed up this situation into existence?" Nate asks.

"I'd say fifty-fifty." Ray says cheerfully.

"At least," Sara agrees.

"Okay, as someone who's not been with you guys a super long time," Wally asks, "How often does this happen?"

"Too often." Jax complains.

"Way too often," agrees Rory, "What wouldn't kill for a beer."

"How you think these stuffed shirts are gonna keep us here?" Constantine is shifting back and forth; someone took his cigarettes from him when we got here.

"It's a government building," Sara points out, "They exist to inconvenience people."

"Words really can't do justice to express how much I hate all of you right now," Nora mutters.

"Hey, Z?" Sara asks, "Are you okay?"

But I just barely hear her, the memories are coming in. I remember growing up in New York even though I'm not from New York. I'm from DC. I remember Friday dinners in Jersey City with the Khans. I remember sitting in the middle of the Mosque at Friday prayers. All in New York City. Not Seattle. Not DC. New York. I vaguely remember watching an alien invasion on TV in 2012, though not well. I was only three then. I remember Behrad's birth and sitting in the hospital waiting room with the Aunties and the love I felt when I got to hold him for the first time. I remember Iftar and Ramadan and the Eid. But in the wrong places. I remember idolizing Supergirl, the Flash, Green Arrow and Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and…the Avengers and the X-men. Even though, I know they shouldn't be real. But they feel real. Just like the Battle in New York feels real and then the worst memory of them all comes back.

It's eight months from now. And the monsters are attacking my house and Mama and Baba have sent me away while I carry Behrad from the house. The monsters are swarming. And I'm running. I'm running faster than I ever have. I'm running as fast as it is for a nine-year-old to run. My brother is crying. Then the aliens surround us. And with them is a man, an alien with wrinkled gray skin and long white hair and no nose. An alien that looks like Lord Voldemort.

"Come to me, children." He says.

"NO!" I shout then winds come out of the Totem and I throw them off. And then I keep running. Eventually, we find our way to a shelter. It's a full of nice people. The lady in charge makes us a meal and she smiles. We stay there for a couple of days. And then one day, I wake up in the shelter and I hear Behrad crying. I hold him close; I try to calm him down. And, then I see what he's crying about. We're surrounded by people. Grown-ups. Kids. Moms and Dads and babies. Even dogs and cats. And suddenly they all start turning to dust around me. I can't breathe.

I can't breathe. I'm drowning in panic. I can't breathe. I don't know where I am or how old I am. I don't what's real and what's fake. People are around, moving talking. But I can't see them. I can't hear them. I can't breathe. I want to go home. But where is home. Home is the Waverider. No, that's not right. Home is DC. Or is it New York? I don't know. I. CAN'T. BREATHE. I can't even stay upright. I feel my hands against the floor. There is wind roaring in my ear.

And then I hear Sara say, "ZARI!"

Then I find myself back in the TEMPS building. In the middle of windstorm. Papers and pencils are blowing around us.

"Zari, breathe." Sara is gripping me by the shoulders.

I breathe in, I breathe out. And then everything settles down in the chaotic office.

"Goddamn it, Nathaniel," says a voice, "What the hell did you get yourselves into this time." We turn, a tall white-haired guy in a blue suit is standing before us.

"Hi, Dad." Nate mutters.

Gary jumps up dutifully, "Director Heywood."

"At ease, soldier." Nate's dad rolls his eyes like he has just about as much as idea about Gary as any of us, "Assistant Director Sharpe, Captain Lance, could either of you please explain the bruhaha in Central Park."

"It was an accident, sir," Ava begins dutifully even though it's clear she has no idea who he is, "We'll attempt to correct the damage."

"The damage also isn't our fault," Sara says, "At least not entirely. Which for us, kind of counts as a win."

"It's really nowhere near as bad as it sounds," Ray says.

"Yet, you're travelling with a fugitive," notes Heywood.

"Technically speaking I haven't done any of it, yet." Nora protests.

"It's not your fault, we got rear-ended by aliens!" Rory throws his hands up, "Can we go already?"

Heywood groans, "You're all extremely lucky that everyone's come to expect this sort of thing from you. Your ship needs heavy repairs."

"Yeah," Sara says, "We kinda knew that already."

"Then I suppose you also know that all of you will staying in the present until further notice?" Nate's dad asks.

"Wait what." Sara asks.

"Your Timeship needs heavy repairs," Heywood repeats, "And your little fight with the Aliens in Central Park has produced an ungodly amount of paperwork. Even for you. Which Deputy Director Sharpe is going to have to fill out." He hands a ridiculously thick file to Ava, "So until further notice, she's on desk duty."

"Yes, sir." Ava says even though this guy has been her boss for less than an hour and we may have Legends-ed this arrangement into existence. Somehow.

"Furthermore." Heywood goes on, "All of our Agents are being kept on the ground until further due to similar, albeit less public incidents. Add that to the fact that there's a very strong possibility that at least one of you is somehow the cause…"

"We get it, Hank," Nate says, "We're all benched."

"And your mother expects you home." Hank says.

"Of course, she does." Nate groans.

"Mister Rory," Heywood goes on as though he didn't hear his son, "I've spoken to your parole officer."

"Let me guess," Rory says, "He's never heard of me."

"No, he has." Heywood goes on, "Believe or not, you're not in violation, but the bad news is that he was unable to locate Lisa Snart who I believe is listed as your next-of-kin."

"She had nothing to do with any of this!" Rory stands up, notices the rest of us and sheepishly sits down, "Sorry, force of habit."

"So, finding a place for you will left in the hands of your…..teammates." Heywood turns to Jax, "You, young man, by contrast are very popular. Your mother has been asking about you, as are the entire Stein family."

"Wait, really?" Jax looks incredulous.

"Mister West," Heywood acts as though he hasn't heard Jax, "Your family, of course, wants very much to see you."

"Okay," Wally says, not sure what to do with that.

"Mister Palmer," Heywood says, "Your company's finances have not been….great recently."

"I figured as much," Ray says sheepishly.

"And Mister Constantine, we spoke to your sister," Heywood goes on.

"Oh, really," Constantine groans, "And what did Johanna say exactly?"

"That you can and I'm quoting 'rot in bloody hell'." Heywood says.

"Tell her I love her too," Constantine shrugs.

Shaking his head, Heywood turns to Nora and me, "As for you two, you have the unfortunate issue of being extra versions of yourselves which is always fun for paperwork, even when one of you is a fugitive."

Nora groans. I can't think. All I can think about is how screwed up this situation is.

"But the good news is," He turns to Sara, "Your family, Captain Lance is already here. And they have agreed to put any errant….teammates." The door opens and a skinny fidgeting bald guy steps in. Behind him is a blonde chick.

Sara immediately gets up to greet her, "Laurel."

The Avengers Compound, Upstate New York

Gamora

"This plan is completely stupid." Since we were sent from the Sorcerer's New York Sanctum to the Avengers Compound by Strange and Wong, we have been sitting in a bush across from the Compound. Waiting for the exact right moment to enact this completely hairbrained scheme.

"It's not stupid." Loki insists, "It's a brilliant plan."

Even by Guardian Standards…..

"It's psychotic," I say.

"Well, then." Thor is disturbingly every as eager as his brother to take part in the farce of a plan, "Do you have an idea what to do instead."

"I do." Banner says, "Let's do the sane thing and tell them the truth."

"Oh, yes," Loki says sarcastically, "Let's be honest with the Avengers, that's brilliant. Why didn't think about it? It's not as though they all haven't attempted to murder me in the past."

"In all fairness, brother." Thor points, "You did attempt to take control of their minds."

"Point taken," Loki admits, "But my point is, this plan will likely bear more fruit in recovering a Paragon."

"Why would fruit help us in finding a Paragon?" Drax asks.

"It's an expression, Drax." Peter is cleaning his gun, "Though Gamora and the Jolly Green Giant have a point, this plan is kind of…..you know…..."

"Insane." I say calmly.

"Batshit." Quill agrees.

"Stupid?" Banner adds in.

"It's also the only plan we have more than 12% of," Rocket grins, "And it's adding to our pay. I say we do it."

"I am Groot." Groot agrees.

"You realize we don't have that stellar a record with our own harebrained plans," I point out.

"And I still think, we should tell them everyone from the Get-Go." Banner fidgets with his glasses, "It will save us a lot of trouble."

"And where is the challenge in a lack of trouble, Banner?" Thor asks, "We are on an important and holy quest. Should we not take risks?"

"These are our friends," Banner points out, "This could result in the end of the Multiverse. From where I'm standing, this is not a game, Thor. I think being honest with them would be beneficial to all of us."

"So, we will not begin this quest with a great fight to the death," Drax is honing his knives and he looks disappointed.

"No, we are." Loki says.

"Minus the to-the-death," Thor adds looking pointedly at his brother, "We need our Paragons alive."

"And what if these so-called 'Paragons' wipe the floor with us?" asks Quill.

"Then it's a very good thing that we don't need to win this little scrimmage," Thor grins, "We just need to get the Map of Heroes into the hands of one of the Avengers."

"What happens if your friends aren't Paragons?" The Valkyrie, Brunhilda is nursing the bottle of Russian alcohol she stole from the Sorcerer's Sanctum.

"Well, they are Paragons," Thor says, "Or at least a few of them are, so that's a non-issue."

"Really, Thor?" Korg asks, "Because it kinda seems like an issue. I mean if your friends do beat us up and none of them are Paragons, then we'd just have gotten beaten up…"

"It doesn't matter, Korg." Thor repeats, "Because the Avengers are Paragons."

"But if they're not," Korg insists, "And your brother's plan fails."

"This will not fail." Loki says insistently.

"He is unsure," Mantis pines in.

"No one asked." Loki snarls at her, "And I am sure."

"Actually," I say, "I'm more inclined to believe Mantis."

"I am Groot." Groot cuts in.

"Yeah?" Rocket asks, "Can we stop yapping and start doing the plan already? I mean seriously people. I don't know about you, but I need to blow something up. So, are we doing the stupid plan? Or are we DOING THE STUPID?"

"The plan is NOT STUPID, you insufferable little beast!" Loki throws his hands up, "And of course, we're doing."

Perfect. If this blows up in our face, I will never let him hear the end of it.

Thor grins, "Excellent. On my signal."

Loki Odinson

In my defense, this is a worlds better idea than "Get Help" would have been. Which of course, was Thor's first idea. "Get Help" is almost always Thor's first and last idea. After I reminded my brother that the Avengers are not terribly fond of me and convinced Gamora's juvenile compatriots that it most certainly is not the clever idea Thor has long since deluded himself into believing it is. I slowly devise my brilliant if I'll admit somewhat ill-advised plan to convince the Avengers to touch the Herald's Map. Or rather, trick them into touching the Herald's Map. And although I understand Gamora's reservations, I must insist that the plan is near foolproof. It's so foolproof in fact, that Gamora's lack of faith in my plan is almost insulting. But luckily, I am quite sure that I'll be proving her wrong. After all, if I've learned anything from the Battle of New York, it's that the Avengers can be insufferably gullible at times. And if I've learned anything else it's how to provoke them.

"Say, Thor?" Korg asks, "What exactly is your signal again."

My brother grins and then he rockets forward to the Compound, smashing through Stark's obscenely expensive security system in a burst of wind. There is a moment of silence. Groaning, Banner gets up to follow him. I

have to cast a shield to hold him in place, "Not yet."

"If I was just allowed to talk to the other Avengers…." Banner begins.

"Contrary to your belief, Doctor," I say, "This plan will work. We just need to wait for my brother's signal."

"And what exactly is this signal?" Korg repeats.

"And anyway," I ignore, "Dr. Bruce Banner is not needed for this plan."

"You're not serious?" Banner throws his hands up.

"With all you respect, Doctor," I say, "This is an endeavor far better suited for your…..other half."

"Well, guess." Banner says, "I don't agree with this endeavor and whatever pull I have with the Hulk, which is NOT a lot, will not be enough to convince him to help you."

"I suppose that makes sense." I throw my hands up as though in defeat.

"So, the monster will not aid us?" Drax asks. I ignore him.

"It does." Banner asks.

"Yes," I say, "It's perfectly understandable that you fear what you are."

"This has nothing to do with…" Banner begins.

"I daresay," I go on, "It makes especially good sense that you despise. After all, it proves that everything your father said about you was correct."

"Loki, what are you doing?" Gamora asks.

"That all you are," I continue, "That all you will ever be is a freak. A lost cause. A monster."

Banner's eyes start to glow green and then we hear….

"My friends! My friends! Banner and I require your aid!"I

Like I said before, I know how to provoke the Avengers. So naturally, I hold my breath as the Beast's fist launches me as the Compound through, hopefully the glass window of the main building.

I struggle to my feet, clutching the Herald's Map in my satchel.

"Puny God." I hear the Hulk snarl. The good news is that my plan appears to be going off without a hitch. So, far. The bad news is that because I've provoked Banner, he may forget that we're here for a reason. But you win some, you lose some. More breaking glass in the distance. Good. The Guardians appear to be doing their part. And I very clear hear that my brother is playing his part to perfection.

"We were entrusted with a powerful magical artifact," He says, "And my brother….."

I look around. I see them. Rogers, Romanoff, Stark's lapdog James Rhodes and Rogers' two lapdogs, James Barnes and Samuel Wilson.

"I decided to borrow it." I say, "It could be quite useful for…many things. Conquering this planet for one. But first, I think revenge."

Wanda Maximoff

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Vision stands across from me in my room, as I pace. My mind is reeling. Not only do I feel like I'm going completely insane. Not only have I found myself in a surprisingly better reality than the one I turned to dust in. Not only did I just see the man I love die twice. But I'm having dinner with my family tonight and my family are dead. Also, maybe I just got Vision back and I've spent the last few hours freaking out about this dinner and I don't want to be separated from him again.

"Wanda, I appreciate the invitation." He says slowly, "I honestly do. But it would only make the situation even more awkward if I was sitting with you in the middle of that Resteraunt not eating." He says it like it's something I've told him. Fair enough.

"Besides," Vision adds sheepishly, "Your grandfather terrifies me."

My mother's parents and my father's mother died before Pietro and I were born. My father's father was a Holocaust survivor, he wasn't married to my grandmother. My father never knew him.

"In that case, I appreciate your honesty." I say. I have no idea if Vision has just cause to be afraid of my grandfather.

"You know you shouldn't be this nervous," Vision places a hand on my shoulder, "I know it's a…delicate situation." A delicate situation that I know absolutely nothing about.

"But you and your family love each other dearly," he goes on. Yeah, my family that's supposed to dead.

"And I'm sure you will get through this," Vision concludes, "Together. And I am there for you. Through all of it. We all are."

"I wish had your confidence about this," I say. I also wish I had his context.

"Well," Vision smiles retrieving a necklace from my dresser, "Maybe this will help your confidence."

The necklace is made out of bloodred ruby and shaped into a Star of David. I've never seen it before, but I can't help but take it when he offers it. And when I clip it around my neck, I feel like I've had it all my life. It gives me safety. Happiness, even. For a moment, I even wonder why I wasn't wearing it in the first place. Then we hear the explosion.

"Vision?" I find myself asking, "What was that?"

"I'm not sure," he muses, "Under normal circumstances, I'd chalk it up to Mister Stark experimenting recklessly. Again. But….."

"That was way too close," I say, "And way too loud. And that sounds less like a chemical explosion…."

"And more of the aggressively-dangerous-on-purpose variety," Vision concludes, "We should probably go investigate that."

Cautiously, we both slowly approach my bedroom door. Vision reaches out and opens it slowly. Neither of us is really ready for what is waiting on the other side.

What is waiting on the other side just so happens to be the Hulk, Thor (minus an eye and sporting a new haircut), Thor's brother, Loki, and what looks to be a small-scale alien invasion. In the living room. Loki is holding what looks like a map in a case.

"I decided to borrow it," He's saying, "It could be quite useful for…many things. Conquering this planet for one. But first, I think revenge."

"Not if we retrieve the artifact from you, brother." Lightning bursts from Thor's hands.

"Thor," Steve interrupts almost nonchalantly, "What the hell is going on?"

Loki grins evilly, "Come and get it. But first, try and defeat my army."

Gamora

"We're not your Fricking Army, Hornhead!" Rocket shouts as he lands beside Loki, "And there better be money in this job."

"You'll get your reward," Loki snaps.

"Okay," The tall handsome blonde man repeats, "I'm serious Thor, what is going on here?"

Korg bursts through one of the walls with Meik on his arm, "What's going on is we really need to get that map back from Loki and his mates because it's like really important."

"Yeah that's a perfect explanation," says the short, but attractive redhead in black, "It definitely explains the prescience of the talking raccoon."

"And Loki still being alive," adds the man with the metal arm.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Rocket launches at the woman only to be knocked back by a beam of electricity from her bracelet.

"I am Groot!" Groot charges forward only to be knocked back by the blonde man's shield.

"Okay," The blonde man says, "Somebody better explain what's going on, right now."

"Yeah," Peter removes his mask, "I'll explain it to you. EAT SHIT, A-HOLES!" He cocks his plasma gun, shoots.

Thor yells, "GET THE MAP! THE UNIVERSE DEPENDS ON IT!"

"You're sure the map's important." The Blonde man asks Thor.

"YES!" Thor repeats.

The Hulk stumbles to his feet, "HULK SMASH!"

"Banner….." The woman steps forward, "Are you okay?"

But in the moment, she ask, two things happen. One is that the Hulk reaches Loki, possessed by the single-minded urge to hurt him again. And the other is the young golden light that lifts the Map from Loki's hand. And then I see it's source. An Android that looks oddly human. And inside its head the Mind Stone.

Loki Odinson

It takes me a moment to recognize the Android. Thor told me (when he thought he was telling our father of course) of the creature that they wound up creating via the Mind Stone and Stark's mad attempt to protect his world. But seeing it, is another thing. Especially when it just so happens to have stolen the Herald's Map from me. The Mind Stone is glowing pure gold. My brother's idiotic plan was correct. There is a Paragon here. But the Machine is not the Paragon. The Mind Stone would be glowing stronger if they were. Beside the machine is the girl. Thor told me of her too. Around her neck is a star shaped Ruby. I do the most logical thing (for me) in this situation.

"You?" I shout in mock outrage, "You should be loyal to me, Machine. And you too, Wench. It was I who brought the Mind Stone to earth. Your abilities, your strengths, your very lives. You owe those to me."

"Technically speaking," The Android says, "I was created via Ultron's desire for a body and well the Mind Stone does grant me most of my life, my personality is more tied to Mister Stark's original AI, JARVIS. Not to mention the fact that the Mind Stone had been out of your possession for three years at the time of my awakening….."

The girl by contrast is having naught of my insistences. She throws me against the nearest wall. There's something about her power…it's familiar.

Before, I can leave my revelry, the Raccoon drops through the Machine's Light just managing to grab the Herald's Map back.

Just as quickly Romanoff shocks him and grabs the Map. It doesn't react. Not surprising. All that so-called "Red-in-her-Ledger", it would be ironic for her to be the Paragon of anything.

"Okay," She says, "Could someone please explain the significance of…." The Tree wraps its roots around her leg. The Hulk jumps in banging at the Tree.

"I will rescue you, Groot!" Drax jumps on the Hulk's back while the Raccoon attacks his leg. It's hard to tell which is less effectual. Romanoff still has the Map and is making for the door. But Gamora is just as fast grabbing the Map from her in a flash as they struggle on the ground. Romanoff manages to take it back, throwing it into the arms of waiting Wilson. If the Map senses his touch, it is not reacting. Clumsily, Mantis grabs for his leg. But Wilson is faster, tossing the Map to Barnes (the lack of reaction almost goes without saying) who is tackled from behind by Quill and Gamora. Barnes tosses the Map towards Rogers, the unexpected arrival of Stark right in the middle of our battle….complicates things.

Holding the still, not reacting Map, the idiot asks, "Do I want to know what this is about?"

Though, I can tell Thor is annoyed by our lack of progress as I am, he is not to be deterred, "It is an epic tale of unspeakable danger…"

"I'm kidding." Stark passes the Map to Rhodes. It does not react.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd care." He goes on, "But right now, I really don't have time. And speaking of which, Buck, your ride's here."

Barnes nods stiffly and exits through the impressive hole the Hulk has left in the window.

"And Rhodey," He adds, "Come on. Pepper wants us to try on the….other type of suit before…..that thing tonight. Thor, Banner, it's good to have you back. Please whatever the hell this it, clean it up."

He leaves.

Groaning, Rhodes tosses the Map to Rogers as he leaves. Rogers catches it and for a moment, it glitters. But that's not enough. Rogers isn't a Paragon either. The Raccoon and The Tree tackle him while I go for the Map.

"NO!" Thor cries out, "My brother can NOT get the Map. It could be…."

But the map is lifted from my hands by a beam of scarlet energy before I can retrieve.

The girl. The Mind Stone is glowing more golden than ever and the room has been engulfed in endless, scarlet light.

Wanda Maximoff

From the moment, I grab Loki's Map from the air the light engulfs me. It comes up from the Star of David necklace around my neck and covers my body. From the light and shadows, I see Vision and the Mind Stone. But that's all I see. The Mind Stone is glowing blinding gold like it did in HYDRA's chamber. And then the golden light turns to red. The light shifts around my body and I hear a voice.

"Wanda Maximoff," It's barely more than a whisper and I've never heard it before, but at the same time it's familiar somehow.

"Fate has not been kind to you. Ever since you were a child, there was so much you've lost. But you have been given a great gift, even if you are inclined to think of it as a burden. And it is a burden, make no mistake. Every great talent or power is a burden, but that does not change the fact your burden is singular. You are a being capable of Spontaneous Creation, Magic on an almost subconscious level. Chaos Magic, the greatest and oldest and most powerful of all the Mystic Arts. You have the ability to enter the minds of others, the ability to make dreams reality. To warp the World around you. To bridge the gap between the Dreaming and the Waking World. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to save those you love with these gifts. But I can guarantee that you will be able to use them to save the Multiverse and I will do all in my power to ensure that you can save your loved ones as well. So, arise my Harbinger of Chaos, my Child of the Nexus, my Scarlet Witch. Though your gifts may be used for great evil, great destruction, you have the capacity to use them for great good, great creation. You just need to believe in that. So, believe and arise my PARAGON OF DREAMS!!"

The nimbus of crimson energy forms around me and dissipates. In the place of the jeans and hoodie I was wearing, is an intricately designed scarlet chest plate with an angular collar divided into many diamond shaped sections, an ankle length red cape and skirt, elbow-length finger-less gloves, long black trousers and knee-high black and red boots. The Star of David necklace is still around my neck and on my head is a striking red tiara shaped like a stylized M and topped by the same Star of David that's around my neck. One thought is racing through my mind. It's a thought that seems to come to me from a place that I didn't know existed. And it's directed at my friends.

Please, remember…

Bits and pieces, they come. And then entire shared memories. Steve's memories, Sam's, Nat's…..Vision's. They play out in front of me. Their entire lives. Their real lives. And I give them back. All of them. I Remind them of Sokovia, Leipzig, the Accords, Lagos, the Fall of SHIELD….Wakanda. But there's more. I Remind Nat about reuniting with her family. I Remind Steve about his fury towards Project Insight. I Remind Nat how she taught me to hide my accent. I Remind Sam how his parents died. And I remind Vision of that last….perfect night in Edinburgh. And their lives and mine as well, in this new, world. By the time the light dissipates, I've even started to remind myself. It's both an exhilarating and horrifying feeling. And when it's over and I float to the ground, my head is spinning.

When I get down to the floor, I can't breathe. Every part of my body is shaking. What just happened. Was any of that…..real?

Vision floats down in front of me, gripping my shoulders.

"Wanda," He asks, "Are you alright?" The Mind Stone is still glowing red. It's all still real.

"W-what just happened?" I find myself asking.

"We were kind of hoping you could tell us." Steve is beside us in a moment. He and Vision each gently grab one of my arms pulling me up.

"Loki," Thor is asking, "Does this mean what we think it does?"

"We have a Paragon." Loki breathes.

"WE HAVE A PARAGON!" Thor bellows. Before, I'm even sure what the hell is happening both brothers are whooping and hollering in joy, even some of the aliens with them are joining in. Thor actually grabs me in a sudden and unwarranted hug. Natasha and Steve exchange unamused looks.

"Okay, you two." Nat crosses the room to us and wraps an arm around my shoulders, "Start talking."

Nearly, an hour later, we all sit in the briefing room as Thor, Loki and their friends all take turns explaining the situation. The Converging of the Multiverse. The collapse of the Multiverse, Thanos, how we only have eight months to stop it. And how only a very specific fourteen people can use the power of Infinity Stones to use it. And that I am one of those people. Once, they're done, we're all quiet for a moment. My mind is racing and its filled with memories from this new life. I scan the faces of the others and I wonder if they feel as confused as they do from remembering their other lives. Lives, I made them remember more or less by accident. And this power raging inside me, it feels like it's always been there. I could have used it to defeat Thanos. Why didn't I? It's Vis who breaks the silence.

"Well, all that is…..fascinating." He says, "But I must ask why didn't you just tell us the truth from the beginning."

"That's what I was telling them," Banner comes in, freshly turned back from the Hulk. He looks around at the destroyed briefing room.

"H-how much of this….did the other guy…." He stammers.

"Believe or not," Steve says, "You were one of our tidier house guests." He turns to Thor, "It says so much about our lives that I actually believe every word of this story."

"Ditto," Nat says, "But I repeat Vision's question was the elaborate fake attack, really necessary."

"We-we didn't think you'd believe…." Thor begins.

The green-skinned woman, Gamora speaks up, "What he means is we didn't think."

"Actually," The talking Raccoon says, "We did think. We thought we could kick your asses."

"Actually," The human with them, Peter Quill amends, "Thor and Loki thought that you guys would kick our asses because one of you was a Paragon."

"It was a stupid plan," The Tattooed, gray-skinned man, Drax says, "But they were somehow successful." He raises his glass to me.

"Everyone thought the plan was stupid," The woman with the Antennae, Mantis says, "Except for Thor and Loki."

"Alright! Alright!" Loki throws his hands up, "It wasn't my best plan. I acknowledge that. But it doesn't matter…..we have a Paragon."

"And what exactly does that mean?" I ask.

"We don't know yet." Loki admits.

"And now that you know that Wanda is one of these so-called Paragons," Nat asks calmly, "What exactly do you plan on doing in regards to her?"

"We don't know that either." Thor admits.

"And how exactly do you plan on finding the other Paragons?" Vision asks.

"Alright, alright," Loki sits down at the table, "I guess you could say we don't know a lot about the situation."

"We know next to nothing about the situation," The rock-like man, Korg says casually, "Aside from the fact that the Magic Map comes from these super-powerful magical gods that are like older than the Multiverse."

"This is all….a lot to take in," Sam says.

His phone dings, "I've got to catch the A-Train. I've got to make that support group meeting." He nods and starts to rush, but Thor stops him.

"Wilson, what are you doing?" He asks.

"I have a commitment," Sam explains like he's talking to a child.

"You do realize that the Multiverse is about to end," Gamora points out.

"Yeah in eight months," Sam throws his hands up, "We can't just bail on things. We need a game plan. Otherwise, we'll be dealing with a little thing called 'Mass Panic'."

And with that he leaves.

"The Multiverse is about to end," Drax says, "Why shouldn't the masses be panicking."

"Because it doesn't get anything done," Cap says, "And Sam's right. Nobody knows about this until we tell Stark. Of course given the circumstances…..I should probably cancel that interview."

"Oh no, you don't." Natasha crosses her arms, "You already said that Sam's right which means that we need to keep things as normal as possible. So, hit the showers, Soldier."

Steve gets up and leaves the room muttering.

Nat then turns to Thor, "One more question, how exactly do we know we can trust your brother. How do we, he isn't working with Thanos again and this Anti-Monitor to get us all killed."

"Because," Thor stands up reverently, "Loki has changed, he has aided us. He helped us to save my people isn't that right, Banner?"

Bruce groans, "Please, leave me out of this."

"Besides," Thor adds, "I will be watching him like a Hawk."

"Riiiiiight," Natasha doesn't attempt to hide her skepticism.

"And I'll make sure that," Thor goes, "And everyone else doesn't cause any trouble. Whatsoever. My eyes will be on all of them. At all times!"

At that exact moment, a black woman wearing half-rusted armor comes out holding a bottle.

"I was just expecting better than the Guardians," She slurs drunkenly, "But you. You guys have everything. Vodka, bourbon, standard beer and….this wine. It's Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. Finest on the Midgard Market. Your Booze Fridge is Valhalla!"

"Is she with you?" Vision asks.

"Was she in the kitchen this whole time?" Nat asks.

"Starting now." Thor grins awkwardly.

"I don't understand the point of this, can you trust me, exercise." Loki says, "But if you really want proof I can be trusted. Then trust that I will not betray you when the Multiverse is about to crumble. Trust that I have only the best of intentions for me in regards to all of this. Because the alternative is almost certainly DYING MYSELF!" And then he turns to me, "Trust I can and will help you understand the gift you have been given. Trust that I can help you unlock every gift and every power, you have. Trust, that I can help you defeat Thanos and the Anti-Monitor."

"I…." I begin, but then I see something that shouldn't be there. My brother and I on a SHIELD Helicarrier. A glass box, Loki inside it grinning.

"WANDA!" I'm one my knees on the floor, Vision is holding my shoulders, "Are you alright?"

"I-" I begin, "I'm fine. This power, it's just raging through me. I can't explain it."

"Breathe," Natasha nods to Vision and her lets her take me instead, "Just breathe." My mind is racing.

"Come on, kid." Nat repeats, "Like I told you. In through your nose."

I do. I let it in.

"And out through your mouth," I focus on Nat's face. I blow out.

"Are you okay?" She asks me.

My mind is still racing, but I still say, "Yes. I think so."

"Good," She says, "You should go get ready. That Uber's going to be here before you know it." I want to say that maybe I shouldn't go. But then I remember what Sam said. So, I do go.

Loki Odinson

"Should we be letting her leave?" I ask, "I mean considering the danger she could be in….."

Romanoff crosses her arms, "From where I'm standing, you still look like part of the danger she could be in."

Rogers comes out dressed in a slightly more presentable fashion, "Ditto. That is if you were talking about what I think you were talking about." Checking his watch, he groans, "I've gotta go. Banner, it's good to have you back. Tony already has a bedroom for you. First door on the left. Thor, keep an eye on your….guests and your brother is until further notice not to be alone with either Wanda or Vision. Under any circumstances. That's an order from your commanding officer." And with that the Good Captain leaves.

"He's kidding," Thor turns to Korg and Meik, "That mortal does not give me orders."

"Right!" Valkyrie snorts, "I'm gonna get more booze."

Romanoff almost immediately gets up rushing after her, "Oh no, you DON'T! Not again." She only stops briefly to make an "I-am-watching-you" gesture at me.

"He doesn't," Thor repeats somewhat desperately, "He doesn't give me commands. The Captain is just joking. He means nothing by it."

Korg smile sympathetically, "Keep telling yourself that, Mate. Come on, Meik." He picks up the bug and they head into the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Thor asks.

"Meik and I are gonna watch the Assassin Lady and Scrapper 142 fight over the Booze." He says.

"Wait…." Thor begins before giving up, "Fine."

The machine turns to Doctor Banner, "You know Mister Stark upgraded the Gamma Lab. I could show you."

Banner nods, "Okay. That would be great."

That leaves Thor and me alone with the Guardians. I smile and lean back on the table.

"Well," I say, "I think we could call that whole exercise a success if I do say so myself."

"A success?" Gamora repeats, "A SUCCESS?"

"We found a Paragon," I say, "Didn't we?"

"And your idea of doing so nearly got us all killed!" Gamora throws her hands up.

"My plan was brilliant." I insist.

"Actually, Loki." Thor says, "It really wasn't."

"WHAT?" Et tu, Brother?

"Like not at all." Quill agrees.

"It was fundamentally stupid." Drax confirms.

"The fact we found a Paragon was essentially dumb luck," The Racoon crosses his arms.

"I am Groot." Says the Tree.

"You have scared that poor girl beyond belief," Mantis says.

Gamora grins, "I rest my case

"Fine," I say, "Point taken."

"Which is why," Gamora grabs the Herald's Map from me, "We'll be heading to Peter's Grandfather's house and taking the Map. Loki, you look after the one Paragon your harebrained scheme drummed up. And the Mind Stone. We are going to find the Paragons in a sane and sensible way….."

"Actually," Quill points out, "We're just as likely to do stupid shit with it."

"We almost certainly will do equally stupid shit with it." Rocket grins.

"We will surely create great destruction in finding Paragons," Drax agrees like it's some sort of achievement.

"Sane and sensible is not how we do things," Mantis adds.

"I am Groot." Says the Tree.

"I am going to find Paragons in a sane and sensible way," Gamora amends, "You stay here. Do. Not. Do. Anything. STUPID!"

I don't even have time to protest before the Guardians leave.

"You're my witness, Brother," Thor says, "Does Cap have the authority to give me orders?"

I decide not to give him the dignity of an answer.

Wanda Maximoff

Intellectually speaking, I know I probably shouldn't be going to this dinner. With all of this new, inexplicable power surging through me and this equally complex destiny I've stuck with, a fancy Resteraunt is probably the last place I should be. Especially when I'll be eating with my family. A family that I haven't met yet. And that's without the looming Specter of Thanos and the equally looming specter of the degrading Multiverse. And without the still fresh memory of watching Vision die. I can just barely think straight and I have this weird, tingling-feeling all over. But at the same time, I want to go to this dinner. I want to be with my family. Even if they are strangers. Because with everything that's happening well…..Sam's right. We need to pretend things are normal. This has happened too suddenly for us just cancel things and worry people. We need a plan first. And perhaps, we need allies. So, I hold my breath and I try to keep this raging storm inside me. I shower. I change. I kiss Vision goodbye. I meet my Uber. For the entire time, I'm in a fog. I can still see Thanos winning. I can still Vision's dead body. And I can still hear the voice that told me I'm the only one who can stop. But I can see other things. I can see myself and Pietro at the Battle of New York where I know we weren't. I can see a school I never went to and friends I never met. I can see myself taking lessons in using my powers that I never learned and playing in a forest I've never seen. An entire childhood, I never had and a million happy memories I didn't make. I know none of it's real, but at the same time I know that all of it is. I hold my breath. By the time, I get to the Resteraunt I want to turn back. But instead, I go in. I hold my breath as I prepare to brave the bright lights and the bustling crowds. And they're there. But all I see is him. A man in his eighties sitting at a corner table, holds up his left hand. He wears a plain white suit and a red and purple yarmulke. He has winged white hair and bright blue eyes. And in my mind's eye, I see him again. But he's younger, his hair not as white, his face not as lined with worry. He is standing in the rubble of our apartment just after the bombing, He reaches out his hand, I reach out mine. I see him again. A river in Upstate New York. Forging three lumps of metal into Stars of David. Ruby. Sapphire. Emerald. For us. One of them is around my neck. I go to him.

He holds out his hand, "Wanda,"

I take it, "Hi, Zayde." For the first time, I feel safe in this new world.

My name is Wanda Maximoff.

Peter Parker

My name is Peter Parker

Daisy Johnson

My name is Daisy Johnson, but it used to be Skye.

Gamora

My name is Gamora.

Loki Odinson

My name is Loki, son of Odin

Oliver Queen

My name is Oliver Queen.

Barry Allen

My name is Barry Allen.

Kara Danvers

My name is Kara Danvers, but I was born Kara Zor-El

Zari Tomaz

My name is Zari Tomaz, and I was born on August, 15th 2009 at 9:45 am in Mercy hospital in New York City.

Kara Danvers

I was born on March 10th, 1966, in Earth at 4:00 am in Earth Time on the Kryptonian city of Kandor.

Barry Allan

I was born on March 14th, 1989, at 5:45 am in St. John's hospital in Central City.

Oliver Queen

I was born on May 16th, 1985, at 3:15 PM on my parents' Yacht in in the Cayman Islands.

Loki Odinson

I was born on March 21st of the Earth year 965 AD, the Vernal equinox one minute after midnight on the field of the Battle of Jotunheim.

Gamora

In Earth time, I was born on February 19th, 1985, at 7:27 AM on my parents' farm on the planet Zen-Whoberi.

Daisy Johnson

I was born on July 2, 1989, in a car in less than tradition on the way to the hospital in the small village in the Hunan Province in China where my mother grew up at 6:00 PM.

Peter Parker

I was born on August 10, 2001, at All Saints Hospital in New York City at 8:45.

Wanda Maximoff

I was born on September 21, 1989, the Autumnal Equinox at twelve minutes after Midnight and twelve minutes after my brother Pietro at Wundagore Charity Hospital in Novi Grad, Sokovia. On October 10th, 1999, my parents, my brother and I were watching The Dick Van Dyke Show while eating dinner when the bombs fell. Our parents were killed, and Pietro and I were trapped under the rubble with a second shell waiting to go off for two days. There was a word across the missile when it fell. The word was "Stark". Eight years later, we attended a protest against the American Occupation where we met a man who offered us power, a chance to defeat our enemies. For some reason, we listened. We were experimented on, treated like lab rats. But in the end, we got gifts. We thought we would use them to defeat the Avengers. But at the same time, we hated HYDRA and we didn't hesitate to turn on them to join Ultron. And then we learned the truth of what he wanted to do. So, we turned on him and we joined up with the Avengers. We worked together to defeat Ultron, but my brother was killed. As for me, I found a new home with the Avengers, a new family, love. And then I screwed it all up in an explosion in Lagos. And then we were split up, forced to go on the run. But in the end, we still had each other. I still had love and I still had my family. Or at least that's one version of my story.

Daisy Johnson

On January 16th 1990 when I was six months old, my mom's village was attacked by the psychopathic HYDRA agent that had experimented on her during WWII. Long story short, the man who tortured my mother, Whitehall took her and vivisected her while my dad took me to their friends. Then both my parents went crazy and my Dad killed the HYDRA agents who took my mom and eventually the SHIELD Agents that found me and I was taken to into Foster Care and bounced around from one foster family to another until I dropped out and ran away. I wound joining a conspiracy theory group called Rising Tide and made a series of Bad Decisions before I found my way to Team Coulson. I found SHIELD. I found a family. I found my powers and eventually I found my name. Through thick and thin, my SHIELD family and I survived. We survived the Fall of SHIELD and finding my parents. We survived the Monster HIVE and the Sokovia Accords and the Framework. We even survived being sent into space, learning about a Bad Future and stopping the end of the world. Or at least, that's one version of my story.

Zari Tomaz

In one version of my life, the world went to hell on December 10th, 2021. There was some kind of terrorist attack on the government, and it led to all use of superpowers and all religions being banned. My family was Muslim. My brother, Behrad and I joined up with the resistance to fight them. It was a dumb mistake. On August 19th, 2042, ARGUS found out about our Family's Air Totem and attacked our house. Behrad was killed and my parents and I were forced to flee. After months of hiding away in an encampment, I broke out to the Totem back. I was caught. The transport that was I on was attacked by this crazy chick, Kuasa and I was able to escape. One thing led to another, and I wound up with these equally crazy guys, the Legends. But that's just one version of my story.

Peter Parker

My mom and dad both worked. They loved me, but they also loved their jobs. So much in fact that as soon as I was a month old and my Aunt May was able to look after me, my Mom ended her maternity leave and went back to work. At the World Trade Center. Yeah, I think you can guess where this is going. I was raised by my Aunt May and her boyfriend, Ben Reilly. On April 5th, 2010, when I was eight years old, I begged Aunt May to take me to the Stark Expo. It got attacked by Hammer Drones, but I wasn't scared. I tried to get between them. But Mister Stark came in as Iron Man. He saved my life. Two years later, on May 4, 2012, there was an alien invasion in New York. We were let of school early, but I heard that Iron Man and Captain America were out there, so I didn't go home right away. Instead, I climbed a building to watch. May had married Ben by then. He was a firefighter. I actually saw his fire engine from my fire escape. There was a Leviathan from out of nowhere. Uncle Ben didn't make it. On March 18th, 2015, my high school Freshman class on a field trip to Horizon Labs. I got bitten by a spider. And so, I got powers. I wanted more than anything to be a superhero. I even made a costume. A couple weeks later, on April 4th, I was sort of patrolling Central Park when I saw a couple of guys with guns. I knew they were up to no good. I knew they were dangerous. But I froze. Then I heard the gunshots. My Aunt May's best friend and her kids were killed, though I didn't learn that till later. That's where I learned, when you do the things I can do but you don't, bad things happen and it's your fault.

Loki

My Father threw away. I was found on the Battle by Odin and I was raised as one of his sons alongside Thor. I was an outcast on Asgard, desperate to be understood. To fit in. My brother was favored. So, desperately I yearned to be Thor's equal that when my brother was going to be crowned King of Asgard, I let in a group of Frost Giants so they could steal the Casket of Ancient Winters. This led to my brother's banishment, my learning of my adoption and my first attempt to take over Asgard. Which led to me killing my biological father, which led to me betraying my family, which led to my being thrown from the Bifrost and teaming up with Thanos which led to me leading an army to New York City to steal the Tesseract which led to my capture and the forming of the Avengers. Which led to my being imprisoned in Asgard, which led to me being indirectly responsible for the death of my mother when the Dark Elves came looking for the Aether which led to me faking my death, avenging my mother and replacing my father. Which led to us not knowing our father was dying which led to our sociopathic sister invading Asgard, which led to our being sent to Sakaar and Asgard's destruction. And now, here we are.

Gamora

On April 24th, 1995, my home planet was invaded by Thanos the Mad Titan. When Thanos sent everyone into two lines. I didn't want to be separated from my parents and I didn't know that they were sent to the bad line. Thanos was…..impressed by my courage. He adopted me as his daughter. He tortured me. He treated me like a weapon. And he claimed he loved me. He pitted me and my brothers and sisters against each other and of them I only grew to sympathize with Nebula. And that was because she was the youngest and because Thanos was especially cruel to her. On August 7th, 2014, Thanos lent Nebula and me out to Ronan the Accuser so we could find the Power Stone. But I betrayed them both. I took advantage of Peter Quill's stupidity and tried to steal the Stone from him to sell to the Collector….it didn't go as planned. I was trapped in in the Kyln with the biggest idiots in the Galaxy. And together, we worked together to defeat Ronan and we became a family. An unconventional family, but a family. But there's evidently more to the story than that.

Oliver Queen

I was a wild kid. I partied, got into scrapes, I even got a girl pregnant. On June 24th 2007, my girlfriend, Laurel Lance asked to move in with me. So, I took advantage of her sister Sara's crush on me and invited her on a three-week journey with my Dad on our Yacht, The Queen's Gambit. The Gambit was sabotaged. Sara was swept away. My father shot our captain and then himself in front of me. And I spent five years in Hell on the Island of Lian Yu. I learned to fight and I learned to survive. When I got home, all I had was a mission and a list of people that my Father deemed responsible for ruining our city. I teamed up with my friends to fight this fight. I told myself my Crusade was noble, but in truth I was a killer. That changed after I learned that Malcolm Merlyn, my father's best friend was responsible for the bombing and I stopped him and my mother from killing all of the poor people in Starling City. I built a team of other superheroes. I reunited with people I thought were dead. And I fought a man, I thought of as a brother. And then I fought with him again. Now, my crusade is to save this city. Even if my life went differently than I expected in this new, complicated world.

Barry Allen

On March 18th, 2000, when I was eleven years old my Mother was murdered by a mysterious man who was framed in red and yellow Lightning. My father was blamed and sent to jail so I was taken by Joe West, the father of my best friend, Iris. On October, 7th 2014, Dr. Harrison Wells of STAR Labs did a demonstration of the world's first Particle Accelerator. But I couldn't go, I was working on a case. While I was in my Crime Lab, the Particle Accelerator exploded and I was stuck by Lightning. Through that I became the Flash, the fastest man alive. I built a team with the scientists at STAR Labs and my friends and family. I protect the city I love and I find others like me. I have avenged the Death of my Mother and buried my father. I have crossed the Multiverse and defeated aliens. I have even defeated the darkest part of myself. But there's more to my story than that.

Kara Danvers

On January 18th, 1980, when I was thirteen years old, our planet Krypton was dying. So, my parents put me in a rocket so I could protect my baby cousin, Kal El on our new home planet. But my rocket was knocked of course by the Kryptonian Prison, Fort Rozz and I was trapped in the Phantom Zone for twenty-four years. When I finally got to earth in 2004, my Cousin had already grown up and become Superman. He helped me find the Danverses, my adoptive family and I was raised by them and my foster sister, Alex. But a year later, my foster father, Jeremiah disappeared. Years later, on October, 26, 2015, my sister, Alex traveled to Geneva on what I thought was a conference. Her plane went down and I flew forward to save it. I revealed myself as a Superhero as Supergirl and I learned that all this time Alex had been working for the DEO to track aliens that would serve as a threat to humanity. Now, I work with her and the last Martian J'onn J'Onnz at the DEO along with my friends to fight dangerous aliens, stop crime and protect humanity. But that's just one version of my story. In another, Krypton was destroyed in a supernova. It was destroyed in a war. And that war has something to do with why my word has changed. In that version of my story, I wasn't just inspired to be a hero by my cousin, Kal or rather Clark Kent but my adoptive father's sister, Carol Danvers who also inspired my adoptive sister, Alex to join SWORD. In that version of my story, my boss's son, Carter Grant and my best friend, Lena Luthor are both humans empowered by a condition called the "X-Gene" making them what's called "Mutants". And Lena knows that I'm Supergirl.

Barry Allan

In another version of my story, the man who killed my mother also killed the wife of my mentor and earned his trust by posing as a friend. In this version, he was godfather to Harry's daughter, Jessie and they became business partners. Until we discovered the truth. In this version, my friend, Caitlin already had control of her powers so she never had to leave. Because she'd had them for years. In this version, Zoom managed to blind side all of us even more than he did before. Because he was our only way of understanding the Multiverse.

Oliver Queen

In another version of my story, my son has powers and he saved my sister on Lian Yu. But he saved her at the cost of his mother's life and the capture of the man who had put him through all of his trauma. In this version, the man who brought us to Lian Yu abducted my friend's daughter and cut out her eye. In this version, I am not speaking to the woman that in my version I'm going to marry and the first woman I loved is still alive.

Gamora

In another version of my story, my father waged war on planets I don't remember conquering. And killed people, made me kill people that I don't remember killing.

Loki Odinson

In another version of my story, I different heroes at the Battle of New York. Well, the same heroes. But there were more of them.

Peter Parker

In another version of my story, Tony Stark recruited me after seeing the videos of me as Spider-Man. In fact, that happened in the same version I was telling you about. But it was for a different reason. In the first version, it was get to me for his side because the Avengers were fighting. In the other version, it was because they needed an entry man for a Russian spy problem they were having. In this version, the Avengers never broke. In this version, SHIELD never fell. In this version, my chaotic life is a little bit less insane.

Zari Tomaz

In another version of my life, the first version really, I was born in DC. In the newer, second version, aliens invaded New York when I was three. And again when I was nine. In this version, the invading aliens may or may not have killed my parents. And my little brother, Behrad and I were left on our own.

Daisy Johnson

In another version of my story, my mom and half-sister were approached by a young my mother protected in the camps all grown up. He wound up bringing them to a school his best friend had started Upstate New York for kids with powers. Here, she met a socially awkward young graduate student who was working for the school's top scientist. That man was my father. They still wound up going to her village in the Wuhan Province. And she still wound up captured by the man who once tortured her. But in this version, the boy she protected and my sister rescued her. And we got to go home. In this version, I grew up at a school for gifted kids. I had an awesome childhood. In this version, I have a half-sister and foster sister and a niece. In this version, I've had my power since I was eight years old and I learned to control it from a young age. In this version, I attended the SHIELD Academy of Operations and I graduated with honors. In this version, I was on Team Coulson from the start. In this version, my team captured the Winter Soldier and derailed Project Insight before it could get off the ground. In this version, SHIELD never fell and instead we live in a Shadow War between SHIELD and HYDRA. But at the same time, we can still be heroes. Which just may be worth it.

Wanda Maximoff

In another version of my story, my brother and I were rescued by our grandfather who brought us to the US. To a school run by his best friend. A school for children like us. In this version, Pietro and I had our powers from the time we were children due to something called the X-Gene. In this version, we had a charmed childhood even if it wasn't free of trauma. We had friends that we could count on. We had a family that we never had before. In this version, I graduated from NYU with a degree in English Literature. In this version, Pietro and I were among the first chosen for the Avengers Initiative. In this version, SHIELD never fell. In this version, Bucky Barnes was brought to Avengers Tower and I helped to give him back his memories. In this version, the Avengers never broke up. In this version, my family is still complete. But it won't be like that for long.

Eight months from now on April 24th 2018, I am going to have to kill the man I love by destroying the Infinity Stone inside his head. But it's going to amount to nothing because the monster that we were trying to protect the Mind Stones, Thanos is going to step and revive him only to kill again. And then I and half of all sentient life in the Multiverse is going to turn to dust.

Peter Parker

On April 24th 2018, I'm going to turn to dust in my mentor's arms on a planet called Titan after we fail to stop an evil named Thanos from stealing a necklace from a Wizard.

Loki Odinson

On April 24th 2018, my neck is going to be snapped by the Mad Titan Thanos on the Asgardian Spacecraft, the Statesman so he can claim the Tesseract. And I'm going to die.

Gamora

On April 24th 2018, I am going to be murdered by adoptive father, Thanos on the planet Vormir so he can claim the Soul Stone.

Daisy Johnson

On April 24th 2018, my friends and I are going to save the world from being destroyed by a maniacal general. And then I'm going to lose half of them in a cloud of dust.

Oliver Queen

On April 24th 2018, my team and I will confront our latest enemy, only for everyone to start turning to dust around me.

Barry Allan

On April 24th 2018, I'm going to run as fast as I can to stop Clifford DeVoe from brainwashing everyone via a process he calls the Enlightenment. And then I'm going to turn to dust.

Kara Danvers

On April 24th 2018, I'm going to be called alongside my cousin Clark and my foster sister, Alex to Wakanda to face the Mad Titan in battle and I'm going to lose so many people in a cloud of dust.

Zari Tomaz

On April 24th 2018, aliens are going to attack my house and my baby brother are going to left on our own as the Multiverse turns to dust around us.

Loki Odinson

And then the Multiverse will end.

Gamora

My friends and I have been tasked with finding fourteen Paragons that are key in defeating both my father and the Anti-Monitor.

Loki Odinson

On April 24th 2018, we are take to them and the six Infinity Stones to the Vanishing Point so they can fulfill their destiny. But right now, we only have one.

Wanda Maximoff

I am one of the Fourteen Paragons destined to save the Multiverse from Thanos and the Anti-Monitor, the Paragon of Dreams. I don't know where this new power came from. And I don't know how to control it.

Peter Parker

I don't know how we can stop Thanos when we couldn't before.

Daisy Johnson

I don't know what caused these worlds to come together.

Oliver Queen

I don't know what caused the Dusting.

Barry Allan

And I don't know how to prevent it.

Zari Tomaz

I don't know how me being here will change my past.

Kara Danvers

But I know that we'll never give up.

Barry Allan

I know we can't let it happen. We will save our families.

Oliver Queen

We will not fail this city or this universe.

Zari Tomaz

Whatever it takes, we won't allow the Titan to win.

Gamora

And we won't let the Multiverse to collapse inside itself.

Daisy Johnson

We may have lost last time, but we're coming back for more.

Peter Parker

We may not win, but we're gonna try.

Loki Odinson

Together, we will face our enemies and they will be given no quarter.

Wanda Maximoff

Whatever it takes. Because what we're fighting for is worth dying for. I may not understand these powers or this world. But I'm going to try to. Because it may be the only chance we have to win. The only chance we have to save all the people who will die otherwise. Both the ones we had from the Old World and the ones who we gained in this new one. And that's a chance, you don't pass up.

The Moon, Attilan

Thanos

My name is Thanos of Titan. Son of A'Lars and Sui-San. Brother to Eros. I was born on the Earth date of April 25th, 1013 at the Earth Time of Midnight in the royal palace of Titan. My father was the oldest and greatest of the Titanian Sages and Lord of Titan. My Mother was an Eternal. But I was born resembling the hereditary enemies of Eternals known as the Deviants. The day I was born my mother attempted to kill me. My planet rejected me. My people viewed as an outcast. But still I loved my planet and I loved my people. But there was one who was my friend and protector. There was one who understood. I was later to understand that this person was Death of the Endless and I fell in love with her. When I was a young man, I learned my Planet was dying from too many mouths and not enough to go around. I proposed a solution. It was rejected. So, I sought out my beloved to aid me. She refused to help and her brothers and sisters sought to separate us. I retaliated, but my Planet was lost. Only my brother, Eros and I survived. Eros went out to gallivant in the stars while I sought out a means of gaining my beloved. But in my travels, I realized that every planet in the universe had the same troubles as Titan. Too mouths, not enough to go around. I sought the aid of my mother's master, Arishem the Judge. Arishem told me that the only way to get everything I wanted was to gain the six Infinity Stones. And so, I went about my plans. As I did so, I gave many planets the help mine refused by force and I adopted six children to be my greatest soldiers. But two of daughters, including my favorite Gamora betrayed me in 2014. But despite this, many other setbacks and a group of unruly wretches determined to thwart me, I will get my wish on April 24th, 2018 at the cost of the life of the child I love best. Or rather I have gotten my wish. And fate appears to have to taken it from me.

I ponder this as I stand over the bleeding and broken bodies of the Inhuman Royal Guard. I have been denied the Stones, but my still it was easy for the Black Order to defeat them. When one has power, they are not used to yielding.

"Sire," Ebony Maw is by my side in a moment as Cull Obsidian attacks what is left of their warriors behind us, "Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight have located the Royal Family."

"Good" I say. If any society is worthy of my cleansing, it is the Inhuman Royals. They are run on an especially cruel caste system. When they come of age, they are put through the process of Terragenesis which gives them special. It varies from individual to individual. Those who are given gifts that the Royals deem acceptable, enter a life of royalty and prestige. If one's gifts are deemed insufficient, they are sent to the mines. It's a cruel system and one that must be rooted out and destroyed. Glaive and Midnight have the Royals lined up in front of me.

"They've been mining for Terrigen Crystals, Master." Glaive says as though it's a great new discovery that he has just made, "They don't have many other resources."

"As usual." I say calmly, "Too many mouths not enough to go around."

"You will NEVER win!" Queen Medusa shouts spitting in my face. She's little more than an insect to me.

"I already have won," I say, "And tonight the House of Agon will fall." I slap her to get the point across. I then turn to the crowd.

"Inhumans," I say, "Your leaders have taken much from you. I will give it back, but only on one condition. Give me half of your people and I will make your city….."

But before I can finish a shimmering light appears before me. And from that light, a man. He wears gleaming black armor, his skin is white as bone and shriveled, his eyes icy blue. He carries a gleaming staff. He turns to me.

"Thanos of Titan?" He asks.

"Yes," I say.

"I am Mobius the Anti-Monitor." The Stranger says, "And I would like to offer an alliance."

"I've heard stories of you," I say because I have. None of them good.

"Why would I aid you?" I ask.

"Because," Morbius says, "I can give you all six Infinity Stones. And the love of Death of the Endless.

I think for a minute, I look to the Black Order.

And the Anti-Monitor shows me the truth. How even when my dream is achieved, the Avengers will attempt to thwart me and kill me in the process. And they will eventually succeed. But he also shows me how not only to stop them but give my gift to all of the Multiverse. The Fourteen Paragons. I cannot help but agree. The last piece is a child. Now unborn. An heir. My son. The son of an Inhuman mother. He will rule after my new partner and I are done.

I turn to King Blackagar, "I spare your people if you give me one thing. A woman."

"Don't, brother," Prince Maximus says.

But Blackagar holds up his hand. And he nods.

A/N: I own absolutely nothing. Just in case anyone's wondering in addition to the Arrowverse (which whatever people think they'd heard in the recent season finale, Superman and Lois is STILL a part of), the MCU and the Fox X-men movie, it will also include elements from the DCEU, the Titans, Doom Patrol, and Swamp Thing universes, The Gifted universe, The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Lucifer and the sort of upcoming Sandman series. Try to keep up. Can't guarantee a too regular update schedule. I dedicate this story to the world's Golden Retriever, my Probie, my Bubbie, my Big Guy, may he live forever in my heart.