Disclaimer: So many distractions lately. I sorry for the long wait because I was practicing 3D art and other things like… work. But I got this next chapter done, so lets get to it.
As always, I own absolutely nothing from Marvel and DC Comics.
Chapter XVII
The Boom Tube was already open and Hawkeye fell through to the other side, landing on his backside with a thud and dropping his bow. Black Widow flew out of the portal afterward and landed on top of Hawkeye. Soon after, Vision floated with relative ease out of the portal and planted his feet to the floor. Captain America was the last to appear from the Boom Tube just before it closed behind him. He instantly brought his shield up in defense against any forthcoming ambush but found nothing out of the ordinary. Black Widow started to stir while she was laid out on top of Hawkeye, who appeared more than a little bit privy about the awkwardness of their situation.
"You know Nat, this would actually seem pretty romantic… if you didn't crash on my nuts." Hawkeye winced.
"What," Black Widow asked before she realized exactly where she landed on Hawkeye and she quickly stood up. "Um, sorry Clint!"
Hawkeye reached for his bow while wincing from having his private part nearly caved in by Widow's tumbled, and he audibly muttered, "Ow!"
"Everyone in one piece?" Captain America asked.
Hawkeye muttered, "I'll let you know when my balls stop hurting."
"I'm okay, Cap. Although, Hawkeye will probably kill me later." Black Widow said.
"I am also fully functional and in one piece, Captain." Vision proclaimed.
Captain America nodded before he noticed that Thor was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Thor?" he asked.
The other three Avengers looked around but none of them could find the Thunder God within their field of view. Black Widow said, "He was the first one to go through the portal."
"Yeah. He probably ended somewhere else just like when we came through from our universe." Hawkeye stated.
"Probability would suggest that Thor should have arrived at this location soon before our initial arrival. Based upon my preliminary reading of our surroundings, we have in fact arrived on what the Justice League call Apokolips." Vision explained.
"Yeah, that really narrows things down. Thanks, Vision." Hawkeye quipped.
"I believe your gesture of thanks is counter to the tone of your voice, Hawkeye." Vision said.
Hawkeye laboriously deadpanned, "I hate you, Vision."
"Alright, shake it off, people. We've got to figure where Thor ended up." Captain America stated.
But then Thor suddenly appeared from the shadows, unscathed and upright as if nothing happened. "I'm here, Captain."
"That was easy." Hawkeye quipped as Captain America approached Thor.
Cap placed a hand on his huge shoulder. "You okay, Thor?"
Thor nodded and replied, "I'm alright. I was the first to arrive here and took the initiative to scout ahead so we weren't discovered. It would appear that we've arrived in the lower depths of Darkseid's citadel. There are no patrols down here, so Darkseid will likely not even be aware of our arrival."
"You took the initiative. That's pretty cool, Thor. I guess hanging around Stark is rubbing off on you." Hawkeye said with a small chuckle.
"Alright Thor, you've been in this place the longest so you take point. Widow and Hawkeye will take up the center and Vision and I will cover the rear. Our priority is to apprehend Doctor Doom." Captain America declared, and the Avengers took their positions.
"Hey Cap, what are the chances that we run into that Darkseid guy?" Hawkeye asked.
"We'll worry about him after we've captured Doom. Lead the way, Thor." Cap said to Thor, and the Asgardian led the way.
None among the group of Avengers noticed Thor subtlety shaking his head, as if he'd experienced a migraine brought on by a feud with a Frost Giant. Nor did the group notice a feint glow on his forehead that resembled an omega symbol. Thor's eyes even briefly shifted their natural blue to red. The Avengers had no idea that the Justice League was right about Thor; Darkseid had taken hold of him. Thor knew it and he was trying to fight it, and he was losing.
Captain Marvel slammed her fist hard onto the table in the conference room while shouting, "Alright, lets hear it! You guys came up with the idea to send us back to our universe without Thor, who you then planned to imprison in some pocket dimension for life. And, you didn't even think to discuss it with us?"
"Captain Marvel, I fully understand that you're very upset about this…" Wonder Woman claimed.
"Upset? You've never seen me upset, sweetheart. Trust me; it can give Hulk a moment of pause." Captain Marvel claimed while pointing at the Hulk who merely grumbled.
Superman brought his hand up slightly to ease the tension, while Iron Man stood close to him and glared at him. "Thor wouldn't have been harmed upon being sent into the Phantom Zone."
"Maybe so, but it doesn't make up for the fact that you lied to use, Superman," Iron Man stated. "All we needed to do was capture Doctor Doom and we would've been out of your hair."
"But instead, you decided to go behind our backs about your plans." Captain Marvel accused.
"Hulk doesn't like liars." The Hulk said.
Batman stood up from his seat to address the three remaining Avengers. "None of you may understand our motives, but you need to consider the consequences. The possibility of an indoctrinated Thor would be catastrophic in either universe. It may not seem like it, but we would've been doing your universe a favor."
"We've dealt with the concept of mind control before, Batman. Some more than others." Iron Man claimed while glancing at the Hulk.
"Either way, you still lied to us. Every one of you lied to us, and now we have five of our friends trapped on Apokolips. For all we know, they could already be dead by now." Captain Marvel angrily stated to Batman.
Batman didn't flinch, and he replied coldly, "If that's the case, then you have no more reason to be in our universe."
"Alright, that's it!" Captain Marvel snapped just as she suddenly stormed toward Batman.
"Carol." Iron Man shouted.
But Captain Marvel didn't stop until she was inches from Batman and close enough to throw a wild strike. Batman instantly and expertly parried the strike and Judo threw Captain Marvel to the floor. She landed with a hard crash, while Batman quickly applied a butterfly grip. The leverage afforded to him meant that he could easily snap her arm… if he wanted to. While Batman had Captain Marvel pinned to the floor, Iron Man raised his gauntlet and readied the repulsar blast that was charging. At the same time, the Hulk growled and stomped forward but Superman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman stood in front of him.
"Let her go, Wayne." Iron Man demanded, and Batman released his grip.
Captain Marvel immediately got to her feet and went to land a straight punch, but Green Lantern erected a field between her and Batman. "Stop it, Carol. It's not worth it."
"Like hell it's not," Captain Marvel snarled at Batman, but her anger was directed at all of the League members. "You know, I thought you people were heroes in this universe. But I guess I was wrong. You're not heroes. You're all nothing but a group of liars and cowards."
The words were loud enough so everyone in the room could hear. Green Lantern was especially stunned by Carol's stinging words and he dropped the field separating her from Batman. Batman still hadn't registered anything as minor as a biting lip. The only time that he reacted was when Carol pushed passed him and stormed out of the room with a fury that many of the Avengers, Iron Man included, knew all too well. Iron Man watched Carol leave and he forgot that he still had Batman, more or less, at gunpoint. He lowered his glove and in response, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman backed away from the Hulk.
"Well, she did say her kind of anger would make the Hulk nervous." Iron Man said.
"She'll have to get over it. As for the fate your friends, there's nothing you can do. They'll have already been taken by Darkseid, so the only option you have is to let them go." Batman claimed.
"You can't be serious." Iron Man accused.
Batman stepped up to Iron Man and said, "Dead serious!"
Iron Man raised the faceplate of his helmet so it was Tony Stark who was addressing Batman. "Maybe Carol's right about the Justice League. Maybe you really are all just a group of cowards."
Still, Batman refused to budge. Tony knew he was wasting his breath before he eventually stormed off. The Hulk pushed aside Superman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. He mumbled something too inaudible to hear, except for Superman. Being the generally nice person that the Kent's raised him to be, Superman didn't repeat it. Once the three remaining Avengers had gone, the League members all exchanged glances with each other. Disgusted with what had gone down, Green Lantern left the room. Wonder Woman looked at Batman. His expression hadn't changed and he too left the room, leaving her, Superman and Aquaman to wonder about their next move.
Carol was in the observation lounge that the Flash had shown her some time ago. She liked it there; the big windows made easy to see the Earth and backdrop of stars. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn't her Earth and that she and her fellow Avengers were more or less visitors from another Earth. Her thoughts drifted back to how they ended up in this universe in the beginning, with Avengers trying to stop Doctor Doom. It ended up turning into quite the mess. Carol resented the League at that moment, but only because they seemed so hell bent on preventing the Avengers from accomplishing their mission.
It didn't take long for Carol to notice Hal approaching her. He walked up to her like a normal human being. It seemed like Hal had at least a little bit more humanity that Batman. Carol didn't try to acknowledge Hal, nor did she need to. Hal was reluctant to speak up right away, possibly fearing an absolute riot act from Carol. Carol wasn't flinching yet, so Hal decided to take the chance of speaking to her.
"You got a minute?" he asked.
Carol barely offered a glance to Hal and replied, "I'm not in the mood, Hal, not after what you and your friends tried to pull."
Hal hung his head slightly. "The Phantom Zone wasn't my idea. In fact I was against it and so were Cyborg and Flash."
"That's not the point, Hal," Carol snapped and spun to face him. "You and your friends lied to us. You went behind our backs without even thinking about discussing it with us. To think I was just starting to like this universe."
Hal felt much lower about himself now as he watched Carol brush her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, Carol. I never wanted things to down like this."
"We only wanted to get one friend back, and now five of them are trapped in a place we can't go because your team won't allow it. You know, I'm an Air Force brat and I learned the importance of trusting the members of my team. I trusted them to have my back when I needed them, and had I theirs in return. My friends are trapped on Apokolips and I standing here totally helpless to do anything even remotely useful."
Hal listened and he understood Carol's meaning. He replied, "I never told you about the whole story about Carol, my Carol. Carol Ferris, I mean."
Carol (Danvers) looked at Hal and said, "You claimed she was away on business, which I assume was light B.S."
Hal huffed out a trouble sigh. "It was about a year before I even joined the League. I told Carol what happened to me when Abin-Sur died. She took it pretty well. We had this sort of on again/off again thing going on before she…
"Before she what…?" Carol asked.
"She got turned into a being called Star Sapphire, and the aliens that turned her set her up against me." Hal explained with regret in his tone.
"Did you… did you kill her?"
"No, but I did hurt her. Our relationship never recovered after that. So yeah, I know the feeling of helplessness." Hal concluded.
Carol shook her head in disbelief and said, "I'm sorry, Hal. I have to ask; how do you cope with something like that?"
"Well, when I'm in doubt, I just speak the Oath." Hal stated.
"The Oath?"
"Yeah! Every Green Lantern knows to speak the Oath whenever there's exceptional danger or they just need to recharge their power ring. Me? I recite to remind myself what I'm fighting for. It goes like this:" Hal held his ring up as Carol looked on.
"In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light"
The power ring suddenly glowed green and lit the lounge before dimming just as quickly, and Carol said, "Wow. That was actually a very weird kind of romantic."
"I guess I have that effect on people," Hal quipped and made Carol smile. Then he placed a hand on her shoulder and their eyes met. He said to her, "We're going to get your friends back, Carol."
Carol heard Hal's words and she believed them letter for letter. There was something else as she looked his eyes, and she felt drawn to him. Hal seemed to feel the same. He started lean in closer to Carol, and Carol did the same. Then Hal cupped Carol's cheek in one hand, while Carol closed her eyes. Their faces drew ever closer and Hal eventually shut his eyes. Then just as their lips were about to connect, a red streak zipped in on them and the Flash suddenly appeared. Hal and Carol were started and broke away as the Flash started talking.
"Hey, Superman needs us in the command center ASAP." he said so quickly that Hal and Carol barely managed to catch it.
"Right, Barry. We'll be right there." Hal said, gritting his teeth as he did.
The Flash then asked, "Uh, am I interrupting something?"
Hal and Carol both replied and at the exact same time, "No!" – "Yes!"
"Uh… okay then." The Flash muttered before running out of sight.
Hal and Carol tried to shake off the somewhat embarrassing moment before Carol said, "Well, that was awkward."
"Yeah! Sometimes, I just want to disembowel Barry." Hal replied while he still gritted his teeth.
"When this is all over, I'll help." Carol said.
The Justice League was gathered in the command center with Iron Man and the Hulk when the Flash returned. Captain Marvel and Green Lantern arrived soon after. Marvel arrived at Iron Man's side while Lantern came up between Flash and Aquaman. Lantern gazed at Marvel, and she returned it briefly before she looked away. He was almost sure he caught a blush. Lantern cracked a light grin that the Flash seemed to notice, and the Scarlet Speedster gave his emerald ally a playful nudge on his arm much to Lantern's embarrassment.
Marvel refocused on the matter and hand and asked Superman, "So, what's this all about?"
Superman exchanged brief glances with Batman and Wonder Woman before he said, "We've all come to a decision, this time with Raven being included. We've decided that in light of present situation, we're going to help you rescue your from Darkseid."
The Hulk narrowed his eyes, as did Captain Marvel before Iron Man asked, "Just like that? Why the sudden change of heart all of a sudden?"
"It 's because of Captain Marvel's assessment of our previous inaction, and she was right. We did lie to you about initial plans, which bordered on cowardice and injustice. That's not the way of the Justice League." Wonder Woman explained.
"What's the catch?" the Hulk asked.
"The three of you alone won't be enough survive the armies on Apokolips, let alone a confrontation with Darkseid. That's why the Justice League is going as well." Batman stated.
"We're not asking you to come with us." Marvel claimed.
"And we're not giving you a choice. If you want to rescue your friends, then this is the only way. Or, we can send you all back to your universe." Batman retorted.
"You ever think about working on your people skills, Batman?" Captain Marvel asked as she came face to face with Batman.
Superman stepped in before the pain came to blows. "We're not asking anyone to play nice, but the fact of the matter is we need to work together. We all need to put our egos if we're going to get this done."
"Carol," Iron Man said to Captain Marvel, drawing her attention. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we need all the help we can get at this point."
Captain Marvel glanced at Iron Man briefly before looking directly at Green Lantern. He gave her nod and she remember what he told before they came inches from… She shook that memory away and focused on the bigger picture, which was finding a way to rescue Captain America and the rest of her friends. Looking back at Iron Man, Captain Marvel started to pull away from Batman and swallow her ever-present sense of pride.
"Fine, we'll do it your way." she finally said.
Iron Man nodded approvingly before looking to the Hulk. "What about you, big guy?"
The Hulk shrugged and replied, "Hulk doesn't care, long as there's lot of smashing."
"I'm sure you'll get plenty of it, buddy." Iron Man said.
Cyborg approached the group with something in his hands and whatever he had, it was sparking and mangled. "Getting to Apokolips might not be so easy anymore."
Superman managed to get a good look at the object that Cyborg was holding. "Is that the Mother Box?"
"What's left of it. It must've gotten smashed in that last skirmish between Superman and Hulk." Cyborg explained.
"Can you repair it, Cyborg?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Already tried without making a lot of headway." Cyborg claimed.
"Vision mentioned that your cybernetic body is made up of the same tech as a Mother Box. Couldn't you just open a portal yourself?" Captain Marvel asked.
"I couldn't if I wanted to. My tech is limited to short jumps on Earth. I can get to Titan's Tower easy, but Apokolips is whole different ballgame." Cyborg explained.
"So there's no way we can do to get to Apokolips without a working Mother Box." Captain Marvel concluded.
"Big Barda would have one, but I doubt she'd be in a giving mood." Wonder Woman said.
"What about Raven? She should be able to teleport us to Apokolips." Aquaman suggested, but Raven shook her head in response.
"I'm afraid not, Arthur. It'd be too much strain on me and I'd be sending everyone to my father's domain instead. That's not a place I'd want to visit anytime soon." Raven said.
Then Flash asked, "Hey Cyborg, you think you teleport us to Central City?"
"Probably. Why?"
The Flash replied, "I think I know someone who can help."
Thor led his fellow Avengers up the first few levels of the citadel. Black Widow and Hawkeye kept their eyes open and their weapons trained for movement, while Captain America and Vision maintained the rear to prevent ambushes. As they went along, Thor stopped for a brief to shake his head. He snapped his eyes shut to try to dull the sensation, and the Omega symbol reappeared on his forehead. He shook it off, but Black Widow noticed Thor's behavior and approached him.
"Thor, you okay?" she asked.
"I'm… alright. I'm merely experiencing a slight headache." Thor replied, but he was lying.
Then Widow saw something glow very briefly on Thor's forehead. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
"I'm said I'm alright," Thor suddenly snapped, pushing Widow aside. "I'm sorry, Natasha. I'm just… overwhelmed being here again. We should continue." Then Thor went on.
Hawkeye approached Widow and asked her, "What was that about, Nat?"
But Widow shook her head slightly and replied, "Something's wrong."
Thor could only continue to fight the influence as he led the four Avengers further through the citadel. Then he saw movement up ahead. The flowing fabric of a green cloak and the metallic body structure was indicative of Doctor Doom. Thor cut loose and bolted forward, failing to heed Captain America's muddled reply to halt. Doctor Doom seemed to disappear from sight by rounding a corner, and Thor followed around that same corner.
Captain America immediately took the lead with Vision, Hawkeye and Black Widow following closely. They rounded the corner one by one… only to be suddenly ambushed by a contingent of Parademons. The ambush came with such intensity that the Avengers were caught completely off guard. Still, Captain America rallied his team and they fought off some of the creatures. Black Widow and Hawkeye shot out a series of stingers and arrows and managed to take down a few Parademons quickly, while Vision blasted a couple more and Captain America bashed another pair with his shield.
But the Parademons managed to overwhelm them and eventually subdue them, taking their weapons away. The Avengers were dropped to their knees and held down by their captors, and then Doctor Doom approached them. He picked up Captain America's shield before approaching the leader of the Avengers.
"It appears somewhat foolish to have fallen into such a simple trap. Could it be that you are loosing your touch, Captain?" Doom mockingly asked.
"It has been kind of long day, Doom. Maybe you can cut us some slack." Captain America replied.
"A typical American trait to make light a unenviable situation. It does not surprise me at all that you stoop to such veiled assessments, amusing as they are." Doom stated.
Kalibak arrived on the scene and kicked up Hawkeye's bow. "These our the so-called Avengers of your universe, Doom? They carry worthless little sticks into battle. Pathetic!"
"Hey, careful with my bow, ugly ass." Hawkeye shouted and angered Kalibak.
As Kalibak stormed forward, a booming voice shouted, "Hold, Kalibak."
Darkseid arrived and the Parademons and Kalibak knelt down. Doom remained on his feet as Darkseid studied the group of heroes. "So you are the mighty Avengers to which Doctor Doom refers."
"You must be Darkseid. Superman talks a lot about how you manipulated him." Captain America stated.
"My reputation clearly precedes me it seems." Darkseid replied nonchalantly.
"Funny how Superman never mentioned that you were one ugly son of a bitch." Hawkeye mockingly joked.
"Not helping, Clint." Widow muttered.
"We have no quarrel with you, Darkseid. We've come to your domain simply to apprehend Doctor Doom. Afterwards, we will leave peacefully and without incident." Captain America explained in an attempt to be diplomatic.
"Your talk of diplomacy will do nothing to save you. In fact, your mere presence in my citadel is an act of aggression upon which punishment will be passed." Darkseid stated.
"What about Thor? Where is he?" Widow asked.
Darkseid stepped aside and Thor appeared with his head down. He approached the Avengers and stopped right beside Darkseid and Doom before revealing a fully realized Omega symbol on his forehead. He opened his eyes and displayed a blood red shade as an emotionless expression permeated his face. The Avengers were stunned by the sight of own of their standing next to Darkseid and it was now clear that Justice League was right all along.
"Thor, what the hell are you doing?" Hawkeye shouted, but Thor didn't reply.
"What've you done to him?" Black Widow demanded.
"I merely freed Thor of his base constraints and his doubts. I opened his mind to the truest form of freedom." Darkseid claimed while placing a hand on Thor's shoulder. Thor didn't react.
"You brainwashed him, enslaved him. You're no better than the villains we've battled in our universe. And you, Von Doom… I guess you've chosen to be some lackey to a literal god." Captain America snapped.
In response, Doom brutally backhanded Captain America before grasping his throat. "Victor Von Doom is a lackey to no one."
Then Doom released Captain America. "That's not what it looks like to me, Victor."
"I merely came to universe to be rid of you and your ilk. I merely wish to be the rightful ruler of a world without the meddling interference of so-called superheroes such as the Avengers. But I see now that will never happen as long as you oppose me. So, I formulated plan with Darkseid to lure you here to Apokolips." Doom explained.
"Thor! You brainwashed and deliberately allowed him to escape so that he could bring us here." Widow concluded.
"Indeed, and just as freed Thor of his inhibitions, the same shall be done to all of you." Darkseid said just before he suddenly blasted by a beam of energy.
The beam came from Vision, who had managed to free himself from his captors. His aimed his beam directly at Darkseid, but the brainwashed Thor still in front of Darkseid and deflected the beam with his hammer. The beam cut through room, shredding through a couple of Parademons and even striking Kalibak. Then Darkseid stepped forward and he fired his Omega Beam. Vision flew around the room to avoid the Omega Beam as it followed before he was trapped in front of wall. The beam struck him and an explosion followed.
"VISION!" Widow shouted.
"NO!" Hawkeye shouted, and the smoke cleared. Vision was gone.
Captain America was in complete shock and he bellowed at Darkseid, "MURDERER!"
"Be thankful that you do not follow the same fate. Parademons, take them away. Soon enough, they shall also be free." Darkseid said, and the Parademons took the three remaining Avengers.
"A pity. I rather like the android." Doctor Doom mockingly said out loud so Captain America could her him.
Darkseid approached Thor, who knelt down before him. "Well done, my knight."
Thor raised his head to face Darkseid and gave an emotionless gaze. "I live to serve you, Lord Darkseid."
Author's Note: OH MY GOD! I KILLED VISION! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I bet you didn't see that coming. Yes, Thor is confirmed to be brainwashed by Darkseid. That bastard.
Meanwhile, it appears that the Justice League is finally ready to help the Avengers. Although, there is a little snag with the Mother Box being busted. But Flash has a friend… and I think we all know who it is.
Also, some of my earlier reviews hinted at a possible romance between Hal Jordon and Carol Danvers. I finally decided to roll with it… with Flash humorously interrupting the moment. Damn you, Barry!
So, hit me those reviews and tell me what you think so far (no flames) and I'll be back ASAP. Peace out.