Disclaimer: I'll keep it short and sweet and say that I don't own the Marvel or DC rights.

Happy Birthday, America.

Chapter VI

Doctor Doom had to tilt his masked face back to get a full view of Darkseid, who in turn stared straight down at the green caped interloper. Neither of them flinched at the sight of the other, but they took every single bit of account into each other. Darkseid narrowed his fiery red eyes, a favored tactic of his to instill fear in his followers and his enemies. Doctor Doom appeared unafraid, hardly even backing away except to get a better look at Darkseid. At the same time, Kalibak backed away in fear of his sovereign master and hadn't noticed that Thor was stirring. Thor opened one eye enough to spy Doom and Darkseid standing against each other.

"Darkseid, I presume." Doctor Doom said.

"Be silent in presence of Darkseid, interloper." Kalibak snapped, only to back down when Darkseid stared at him.

"You do not have the authority to speak for me, Kalibak. Once more, and I will send what remains of you to the arena where my Furies will deal with you." Darkseid said with a cool and commanding tone.

"Forgive me, Father." Kalibak said knelt down.

Turning his attention back to Doom, Darkseid stated, "I have no recollection of one such as you roaming Apokolips, nor would I recollect encountering you on Earth. This leads me to believe that you are not of Earth. Nevertheless, all whom walk on Apokolips eventually kneel to Darkseid."

"As I told your… son… Victor Von Doom kneels to no one. Furthermore, you are partly correct but mostly wrong, for I hail from another Earth in another universe." Doom stated arrogantly.

"Intriguing, and I assume the same could be said of your associate here." Darkseid said as he addressed Thor.

Doctor Doom glared briefly at Thor and huffed, "This one is no associate of mine. Rather, he and the rest of his ilk have been thorns in my side for too long."

Darkseid sauntered passed Doctor Doom and went straight to Thor. His giant hands were clasped behind his back as he approached the seemingly immobile interloper. Darkseid scowled at the red cape, a reminder of his various encounters with his arch nemesis Superman. He gazed at the jar containing Mjolnir and moved to examine it further, and he missed Thor glance up at him. Standing over the jar and hardly giving Kalibak any thought, Darkseid moved to touch the jar. He then noticed a symbol appear on the head of the hammer. He was unprepared for what happened next.

In rapid succession, the hammer seemed to come to life and break through the jar. Darkseid didn't even flinch as the hammer flew passed him. At the same time, Thor broke his bounds and reached his freed hand out. Mjolnir returned to its master and as it did, a bolt of lightning broke through the ceiling and struck Thor with full force. Kalibak backed away from the lightning strike while both Darkseid and Doctor Doom remained standing stoically. Mjolnir suddenly flew out of the lightning and straight Darkseid, striking him in the face and sending him flying back up the stairs to his throne. Mjolnir then returned to the lightning, which disappeared and left Thor standing in triumph.

Darkseid stirred as Thor sauntered forward. Kalibak charged forward with reckless abandon, battle club in hand. He closed in on Thor fast and hard, and Thor responded by back-hammering Kalibak up and into the ceiling where he became embedded into the stone. Thor continued his saunter as he looked up at Darkseid, but he also glared angrily at Doctor Doom whom appeared nonchalant. Thor would've gotten to him soon enough. He wanted to greet Darkseid in person.

"So, you must be Darkseid." Thor bellowed while Kalibak fell from the ceiling and crashed behind him.

Darkseid rose up from his throne and wiped a trickle of blood from his stone lips. He started back down the steps towards Thor. "You are an interesting one, and your talents are very impressive."

By the time Darkseid reached the bottom, Thor suddenly had to look up just to meet his gaze. He chuckled, "Well, you're a big one. But I've fought much bigger."

Gripping the hand strap of the hammer's hilt, Thor spun Mjolnir at a rapid pace. Darkseid appeared unconcerned, but Thor merely interpreted his expression as cowardice masked behind courage. One hit from Mjolnir would've easily changed the titanic brute's mind. Having gained the momentum needed and with sparks of lightning jolting from the hammer, Thor brought the weapon straight up toward the face of Darkseid. He wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Darkseid caught Thor's forearm as it brought the hammer up, and the hammer stopped spinning. Thor was stunned at the sight, even looking completely dumbfounded at his arm being gripped by Darkseid. He glanced over Doctor Doom, who merely stood by to observe the proceedings as they happened. Without warning, Darkseid slammed the palm of his hand across Thor's face. Thor went flying across the pathway and into a wall, causing the entire citadel to shudder from the impact. He dropped to the floor when he was down on his hands and knees, and Mjolnir was a few feet away from him. Darkseid was approaching with a steady gait. Thor reached out to summon the hammer, which flew away from Darkseid as he neared it. Catching the hammer, Thor rose up and charged forward toward Darkseid. He swung the hammer and struck Darkseid in the face, managing to stagger his massive foe. Thor pressed his advantage, striking Darkseid several times in the face and forcing him back step by step. Darkseid found an opening when he blocked a strike, responding with a giant head-butt to Thor's face. He then followed with a heavy blow of his fist striking the back of Thor's head, dropping the Asgardian to the floor again.

Thor tried to get back up as Darkseid pounded him down, and he still tried to rise. "Stay down." Darkseid said.

Thor chuckled and looked up at Darkseid with a wry grin. "Is... is that all you can muster?"

Unimpressed with Thor's resolve, Darkseid slammed his fist down into Thor's face. Thor fell to the floor unconscious, releasing his grip on Mjolnir as Doctor Doom looked on with veiled contempt. Darkseid put his hands behind his back as he looked at the fallen Asgardian while Kalibak stirred and staggered back to his feet. Angered at being humiliated again, Kalibak stormed toward Thor with his battle club in hand and ready to attack. Darkseid extended his hand to halt Kalibak before he could get any closer to Thor.

"Take him to confinement, Kalibak." Darkseid ordered, and Kalibak wasn't going to argue.

Taking the fallen Thor over his shoulders was a chore for Kalibak as he hoisted him up off the floor. Darkseid hardly gave Thor a second thought, or Kalibak for that matter. Mjolnir rested on the floor near where Doctor Doom stood, who hadn't made a move throughout the entire scuffle between Thor and Darkseid. Darkseid approached the hammer where it rested. He went to pick it up, gripping the handle with his huge hand. As it had been with Kalibak, Darkseid couldn't lift the mighty hammer. He hardly ever found difficulty with anything, but his attempts at lifting the hammer proved that even Darkseid had limits. It didn't stop him from trying, but Doctor Doom did.

"You're wasting you time. None who are deemed unworthy can wield Mjolnir, regardless of their title." Doom explained.

"So it would seem. Very well; the hammer hardly matters," Darkseid walked passed Doctor Doom and up the step to his throne. "You and I have much to discuss."

"I'm certain that we do, indeed." Doctor Doom replied.

Darkseid sat down on his throne and clasped his fingers together. "Yes. Now tell me, Victor Von Doom, how did you come to arrive here?"

The Baxter Building was the home base of the Fantastic Four and within its walls, Reed Richards and Tony Stark were hard at work with the device that Doom had taken earlier. Bruce Banner was at Tony's side to help any way he could. If it kept him from turning green and picking a fight with Ben Grimm, then he was all the better for it. Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers busied themselves in various ways. Reed welcomed the aid, given the close friendship he had with both Avengers. As the trio worked out the properties of the device, Steve Rogers approached with Carol Danvers close behind him.

"Any progress on the device, Reed?" he asked.

"It's unlikely to be anything we don't already know, Cpt. Rogers. The technology is beyond anything close to what the Kree or the Skrulls would have." Reed stated.

"Victor did mention that this thing wasn't of our universe, and Jocasta determined its interdimensional properties to confirm it. So now, we've got to figure where it sent our friends so we can bring them home." Tony stated.

"While we're at it, can we leave Von Doom in whatever Hell he was sent?" Carol asked.

"Much as I'd personally like to, Doom is effectively a fugitive and we have to bring him back too." Steve stated, and Carol shirked at the statement.

"Steve, he's got diplomatic immunity. We couldn't prosecute him if we asked Matt Murdock to do it." Carol pointed out.

Then Bruce added, "Well technically, Victor has diplomatic immunity in our universe. Wherever the device sent him, he's fair game."

"Reed, you think you can sent all of the Avengers through the portal to wherever Thor, Widow and Doom were sent?" Steve asked.

"Theoretically, yes. The problem is sending that many people through one portal at any given time could lead to unforeseen complications." Reed explained.

"Such as?" Carol asked.

"Such as, one of us could wind up in the mouth of an volcano, and another could end up stranded in space." Tony said with a shrug. "Just throwing it out there."

Carol arched both her eyebrows and replied, "You are aware that I'm technically half-Kree, right? Space wouldn't exactly be a huge deal for me."

"Maybe not you, Carol. I can't say the same for Clint." Tony quipped.

"Would we physical survive the trip, Reed?" Steve asked.

"The chances of survival during traversal through the portal are adequate, but I would strongly suggest that you all go through one at a time to limit the risk of… you know, being stranded in space." Reed suggested with a slight air of trepidation in his tone.

Steve thought long about Reed's proposal and the risks involved before he turned to Carol. "Carol, bring Vision and Clint. We've got a lot to talk about."

"So let me see if I can actually get a firm grasp on the concept here: Stark, you're basically going with Stretch Armstrong's idea of us traveling through a portal to another universe one at a time to minimize the risk of being chucked into outer space or a volcano or a black hole?" Clint stated with his eyebrows raised.

Steve, Tony, Bruce, Carol and Vision were all eyeing the skeptical archer and Tony replied, "Pretty much, yeah."

Steve stepped forward so he was standing in the center of the team. He said, "The coordinates remain unchanged from when Thor and Romanoff went through the portal with Von Doom, but even so, there's no guarantee that we'll all end in the exact same place. So if we do this, it has to be a unanimous decision. You all already know my vote, so what say everyone else."

Bruce was the first to speak. "Given my past experience on Sakaar once upon a time, I'd probably so no. But we need to bring our friends home so, I'm in."

Carol said, "Traveling to another universe? I'd rather not be the only woman on the team, so I'm game."

"I am intrigued by the opportunity provided by traveling between universes." Vision replied, indicating his agreement to the plan.

"Tony, what about you?" Steve asked.

Tony shrugged and replied, "Sure, why not? Should be fun."

Satisfied, Steve looked to Clint for the deciding vote. "The floor's yours, Clint. What do you say?"

Clint thought about it for a few minutes before he said, "You're talking about traveling to an alternate universe where everything and everyone is completely different from us. We have no real idea if we're actually going to find Natasha and Thor or even if they're alive at all. Looking at it from a more grounded perspective, I'd say we'd be walking into a suicide mission."

"I suppose we are, Clint." Steve admitted.

Clint then said, "It wouldn't be the first time, though. So, count me in."

"Alright, Avengers! Let's bring our people home." Steve declared.

Reed made each and every possible calculation just before he activated the device, while the Avengers readied themselves for the mission ahead. Checking the readout for the power levels, Reed wanted to make doubly sure that all went well. The Avengers double-checked every once of equipment that that had at their disposal; Clint made sure he had plenty of trick arrows while Vision tested his density powers and Carol focused balls of energy around her fists. Tony powered his armor to full capacity and Steve locked his shield behind his back for immediate use.

After being given a nod from Steve, Reed activated the device. A portal came into existence identical to the previous one that took Doctor Doom, Thor and Natasha through. Once it was stable, Captain America took a few steps forward. He could feel a slight gravitational pull but managed to retain his footing enough to turn and visually address the Avengers. He gave a nod to them and they all approached the portal one at a time.

Iron Man was the first to go through, launching into the proverbial rabbit hole and disappearing from sight. Vision went next and soon followed by Captain Marvel. Hawkeye followed them through soon after, leaving Captain America and Bruce Banner behind. Bruce hadn't transformed into the Hulk and he looked to Captain America.

"Cap, you mind doing me a very important favor?" Bruce asked.

"What is it, Bruce?" Cap asked.

"Punch me in the face really hard."

Cap looked flabbergasted at Bruce's request. "You want me to punch in the face."

"You're going to need the Hulk for this mission, Cap." Bruce pointed out.

"That's a good point, but I'm not punching you." Cap claimed.

Then a moment later, Cap grabbed Bruce by his shirt and tossed him into the portal. Bruce disappeared, screaming all the way in. Soon after that, Bruce could barely catch Captain America jumping into the portal behind him. Inside a swirling vortex of light, Bruce tried to keep his eyes closed completely shut. He covered his ears to block out the intense noise and vibrations, but he could feel it growing inside of him. Bruce knew what was coming, what was about to happen. It wasn't long before another portal opened and Bruce fell through the hole.

Bruce was airborne and apparently well above a city that was far below him. He opened his eyes to see a sea of lights far straight down, and only then realized he was in free fall. Even worse, there was no sign of Iron Man or Captain Marvel to catch him. So Bruce dropped straight down to an Earth that wasn't his own. The urge was getting stronger. The anger was growing. The rage was intensifying. Bruce curled into a ball as he dropped like a stone toward the lights below. His eyes shot wide open and they had a glowing green shade to them. Then, there was a blood-curdling roar. Bruce Banner was about to take a backseat to the Hulk.

Cyborg studied the console and even with his technology could barely follow the readouts. They were all coming exceedingly fast for him to keep up but he still managed to do so. He brought up the giant video screen so the rest of the Justice League could get a view of what was happening. The results spoke for themselves; several breaches had formed at various points around the East Coast of the United States. Two of them appeared to be just along the Earth's atmosphere, one above Gotham City and the other above Metropolis.

"Cyborg, can you tell who or what are coming through those portals?" Superman asked.

"I might be part man and part machine but I'm no clairvoyant." Cyborg stated.

"I am," said Raven, who was levitating off the floor, legs crossed and focusing the portal nearest to Earth's atmosphere. Her eyes widen with a white glow. "It's a man, but he's different."

"Different? How?" Wonder Woman asked.

Raven suddenly doubled over and dropped her knees, breathing heavily. "Anger, rage… whoever just came through that portal is not a happy person."

"Hold up, there's a newsfeed coming in from Metropolis." Cyborg said.

The screen fizzled and turned briefly to static before stabilizing to a mostly clear picture. A Daily Planet newscaster voice was heard. "The authorities have yet to comment on the series occurrences happing in and around the area surrounding both Metropolis and Gotham. In addition, an object fell from one of these phenomena and crashed-landed in Metropolis. The Daily Planet's Lois Lane has the exclusive."

A moment later, Lois Lane appeared on screen near the crash site. "This is Lois Lane reporting live from downtown Metropolis. I've just arrived with the United States military where an unidentified object has just crash landed. Preliminary reports suggest that this incident is connected to the string of unexplained phenomena across Metropolis and Gotham City. As you can see, the US Military behind me is cautiously approaching the crater. As soon as they can identify the…"

Lois couldn't finish when the camera veered up at a partly destroyed vehicle went flying out of the crater. Then the screen went dark, and Superman whispered, "Lois…"

After Superman bolted out of the control room, Batman was heard through the comm. "Batman to Watchtower. Cyborg, are you there?"

"Batman, I'm guessing you spotted the phenomena too. These portals are popping up over Metropolis and Gotham. Superman's already on his way to Metropolis."

Batman was in the Batmobile and racing through the streets of Gotham. "This may have something to do with the woman that I encountered earlier."

"Bruce, what's happening out there? Is it Darkseid?" Wonder Woman said.

"Unlikely but not something I'm going to rule out. Once I've located the woman, I'll…" Batman couldn't finish before something strange happened.

A portal opened right in the path of the Batmobile, forcing Batman to slam on the brakes. The Batmobile swerved to its left just as a humanoid object flew out of the portal. It slammed into the head of the car and bounced off, and Batman was certain that he'd heard a scream beforehand. Bringing his car to a halt, Batman launched out of the driver's seat and dropped to the street where he moved to approach the humanoid object. He immediately noticed that the humanoid appeared a robotic being with a red and gold color scheme. It moved to fluidly to being a robot, so Batman determined that it a man in a metal suit.

Iron Man rose to a knee and shook his head. In his helmet, the HUD was reactivating and Jocasta chimed in on him. "Tony, can you hear me?"

"Yep, I can hear you and the slight ringing in my ears," Iron Man said just as he saw a creature approaching him. "Well, that's a new one."

Batman approached the new arrival with a set of Baterangs in one hand while Iron Man stood upright to face down what he assumed was a literal creature of the night. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Iron Man lifted his faceplate to meet the creature directly. "That's a very interesting outfit. There's not much in the way of armor, the cape's nice but I'm not digging the pointy ears. Anyway, where's Natasha Romanoff?"

It didn't take long for Batman to figure it out. "You mean the woman I encountered earlier. She called herself Natalie Rushman."

"Yeah, that'd be one of her aliases. Where is she?" Iron Man asked again.

"I'm the one asking the questions." Batman said.

"Alright, if you won't help me, I guess I'll find her myself." Iron Man replied and gunned his boot thrusters to rise into the air. Something seemed to wrap around his ankles and then he was pulled straight down.

Batman had secured a line around Iron Man's legs and pulled him down hard. "I didn't say you could leave."

"I didn't ask," Iron Man quickly fired off a blast, forcing Batman to dodge out of the way. Iron Man fired more shots forced Batman to take cover behind a parked vehicle. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if you test me."

Iron Man wasn't lying…

The military moved closer toward crater with their guns trained on it, and Lois Lane was with them to get the exclusive. Always intrepid and heedless of danger, Lois was ever determined to get the scoop. Although this time around, she was extra cautious after a car went flying through the air and crashed on top of a troop transport. She and the rest of the military soldier could hear a monstrous roar in the crater. Suddenly, another destroyed car was airborne. Several soldiers scattered and others opened fire on a huge green monster that rumbled out of the crater. It sent yet another vehicle, this time a tank, into the air, and Lois was right in the trajectory.

Just as the tank was about to crush her, Superman arrived literally in the knick of time to catch the tank as if it was hardly an issue. Lois breathed a sigh of relief as Superman set the tank down and approached her.

"You alright?" Superman asked.

"Fine, now that you're here." Lois replied.

"Get somewhere safe while I deal with that… thing." Superman requested of Lois.

Lois replied, "Be careful, Superman. That thing might not be Doomsday but that won't make it any less dangerous."

"Story of my life." Superman quipped and flew toward the chaos in progress.

The Hulk was being assaulted with gunfire from the soldiers, and he was responding by knocking tanks and APC's off their treads. Soldiers scurried out of the way of the rampaging green giant as he crashed through anything in his way. He let out a roar of both anger and protest just as a red and blue streak hit him in the chest. The Hulk went flying backwards across the street passed the crater his approach made, while Superman waved the soldiers away from the scene. Several yards away amid a trail of upturned asphalt, the Hulk stirred in the rubble and saw the Man of Steel approaching from afar. The Hulk was far from happy at being hurt.

"I don't know who you are, but you picked the wrong town to make a first impression." Superman said.

The Hulk didn't exactly trade banter and rushed. Superman readied himself but still wasn't prepared for the massive punch that landed. He was sent flying backwards down the street, skipping across the asphalt and leaving smaller craters in his own wake. An APC that was parked not far from the scene was the only thing stopping Superman's momentum, but it was totaled in doing so and Superman slumped to the ground. Superman shook the cobwebs out of his head and recovered to see the Hulk rushing forward, roaring all the way.

"Okay…" Superman said and flew forward toward the Hulk. The quickly closed the distance and each threw a huge right cross. Then came the shockwave…

Author's Note: Teasing is fun. The Avengers have arrived in the DC universe and we've got a small taste of what's to come. Superman vs. Hulk was pretty obvious, but Batman vs. Iron Man should be interesting. Fret not, for the rest of the Avengers are on the way.

Meanwhile, Thor may be in some trouble with Darkseid, and where's Black Widow and when will Aquaman appear? We'll find out soon enough, so don't forget to review. Peace out and Happy 4th of July.