AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I stated before, it wouldn't be long after Act 1's finale that Act 2 would get started, and I had managed to get this one fully edited and ready to go. I am currently at work with the one-shot which will serve as sort of a tie-in that delves into the aftermath from one specific aspect of the IV, then I'll get started on the second chapter of Act 2, so be on the lookout for those fairly soon.
DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely none of the properties you will see here. All rights go to their respective owners.
The Dark Phoenix
Act 2 - Chapter 1
It was a total disaster.
Skyward Tower, though still managing to stay in orbit, was hanging on by a thread at this point. After the two-pronged attack from both the Phoenix and the Society of the Supervillains, the Infinity League's orbital base was left in shambles. It wasn't just the base that was broken, but the team itself as well. The team of heroes was still reeling from the dark revelation that Mason, one of their own teammates, was really the Red Talon and that he and Wendy had betrayed the League. Though Blake managed to land a devastating blow, they along with the Baroness escaped via the teleporters to some unknown locations. The League had attacked to track them, but the pair of traitors had erased any way of tracking them, allowing them to flee into the wind.
It wasn't just treason that the League was trying to grapple with but with the loss of a teammate as well. While none of the heroes were killed, there was one among them that was missing. Peridot, who had been teleported away by Starscream when she tried to stop him from stealing Washu's multi-universal device, had been thrown into the wilds of the Multiverse with no way of being tracked or a way to be brought back. Those who had fought in the battle for the Tower were left wounded, and the team itself was in a state of total disarray. With the other heroes returning from Earth after the war had ended for the time being, the first two priorities were to repair the base and regroup for their next move, but the question remained among the League: What was to be done about Sailor Mars?
After she had been bonded with the Phoenix, Rei remained in her comatose state. The Sailor Guardian was moved into the medical bay, where she was watched over closely by Dr. Possible and Doc. Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Senshi refused to leave their friend's side. As Rei lay in her medical bed with the other Guardians around her, they were soon approached by the leaders of the League.
"How is she?" Kim inquired to the medics.
"We don't know," Doc admitted. "Your mother and I ran several tests on her. So far, everything's come back inconclusive."
"We've run several brain scans, and all of them show major activity," Kim's mother added.
"But that's not right," Ami refuted.
"What do you mean, Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Normally, when someone's in a coma, their brain activity is functioning like when you're sleeping," the Guardian of Intelligence explained. "I caught a glance of Mars' brain scans. They were off the charts."
"It's the Phoenix," Washu suddenly answered as she approached the group. "It's making a home in Mars' noggin. I bet it's making itself all comfy in there right now."
"But when we faced the Phoenix last time, it merged with Rose Quartz without putting her in a coma," Optimus addressed.
"That's because Rose wasn't human," the living goddess explained. "Sailor Mars may be powerful, but she's still human. Her body was more than likely overwhelmed by the rush of power when the Phoenix possessed her."
"Can't you pull it out of her or something?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"Oh yeah, let me just rip a God older than the universe out of a teeny, tiny human. That totally won't go wrong at all," the carb-haired woman sarcastically pointed out.
"Well, how the hell did you and the rest of the Illuminati get it out of Rose and shoot it into another universe?" Kim demanded.
"Rose had to choose to reject the Phoenix's power," Optimus answered. "That is the only way to exorcise the Phoenix from its host."
"Okay, so when Mars wakes up, she can just tell it to leave her body, and then we can destroy it once and for all!" Usagi declared.
It was then that both the Sailor Senshi and the Leaders heard the sound of Washu laughing like she had been told a joke.
"I'm sorry, 'destroy the Phoenix?' Oh, that's a good one, Moony!" Washu mocked. "The Phoenix can't be destroyed. Don't you think me, Prime, and the rest of our little club tried that as a first option? You could blow that thing to atoms, but it'll just resurrect itself. You know, like a Phoenix."
Usagi didn't know what to do. She felt sick at the idea of being unable to help Rei. She had managed to rescue everyone, even her friend at first, from the Phoenix's influence, only for Rei to willingly hand herself over to its power. Granted, she did it to keep it out of Wendy and the Society's grasp, but it still meant that now she had been overshadowed by a god-like being.
"Wait a minute. Maybe the Silver Crystal could drive the Phoenix out of Mars' body," Chibi Moon suggested.
"Yeah, I mean, if it can break its control over the others, maybe it can break its hold over Sailor Mars too," Minako agreed.
"Uh, did any of you even listen to what I said?" Washu cut in. "The only way to get the Phoenix out of your friend's body is if she willingly rejects it from her body."
"Sailor Mars will refuse the Phoenix," Sailor Mercury stated.
"Yeah, if anyone can stop themselves from being that bird-brain's puppet, it's her!" Chibiusa agreed.
"You guys sure about that?" the immortal genius inquired. "If there's anything I've learned about you humans over the centuries, it's that you're tempted by power so easily. I mean, that's what got your kind kicked out of Eden in the first place."
"Shut up!" Sailor Moon suddenly shouted. "You don't know Sailor Mars! She's stronger thank you'll ever know, and she'll beat this thing!"
Shouting felt like the only thing Usagi could do at the moment. She had no control of the situation, and it tore her up inside that she, the all-powerful Princess of the Moon, could do nothing to help her friend. It was then that Kim got a message from someone over her COMM.
"Yes... You did? Good. Send them to the council chamber," she said into her COMM before speaking to her fellow leaders. "That was Slash. He says he found Mabel and Ford. He's told them to go to the meeting chamber." [*]
"Then we'll deal with that problem first," Danny answered. "We'll be back in a bit, Sailor Moon. You guys can stay with your friend for as long as you'd like."
"Though we may need Sailor Mercury to help oversee the Tower's repairs," Jenny mentioned. "With Peridot missing, we're going to need every scientist we can get to be on deck."
"I'll do what I can, Jenny," Ami answered.
"I'll go with you," Mako spoke up before looking over to Usagi. "Call us the second Mars wakes up."
Usagi nodded in response. As her friends left to help with repairs, Sailor Moon looked back down at her still-sleeping friend, all the while wondering what was happening in her head.
Rei had no idea how long she had been walking, nor did she know where she was going. The Sailor Guardian couldn't even remember how she got her, or anything before that, for that matter. All she could remember was fire. And not ones that she had created. It was strange for Rei to feel this way, to have her mind so foggy as her surroundings. The fog she had been walking in was so dense that she could hardly see her hand in front of her face. None of this made any sense to Rei. One moment she was on Skyward Tower, and the next, she was walking through a dense fog.
Soon enough, Rei found herself approaching a familiar sight. It was her grandfather's Shinto shrine. But what was strange was that the shrine, which was housed among several other buildings, was now all by itself. As dense as the fog was, Rei should've at least seen the outlines of the neighboring buildings.
"Hello?" she called out as she walked toward the shrine. "Is anyone in there?"
Within one of the shrine's temples, Sailor Mars could see the hint of a faint light emitting from it. Curious yet still unsure of what was going on, Rei walked toward the temple. Once she had entered it, she saw that the lanterns had been lit. But not only that, an occupant was sitting at the altar. It was a Caucasian woman with long red hair who was dressed in a green and yellow Kimono with golden images of a Phoenix on it. Seeing the firebird seemed to stir some faint unwelcome memory as if she had seen and feared that image before. The woman, who was drawing something on a large parchment, looked up to greet the Sailor Senshi with a smile.
"Welcome, Rei Hino," she began. "I've been eagerly looking forward to meeting you."
After Danny and Kim had gone their separate ways after their near fight, [*] the remaining leaders split up to help carry out various tasks to help repair the damage to their orbital base. However, while SheZow, the Ninja, and the Dragon went about handling various tasks and Jenny went to speak with Danny, Optimus returned to the medical bay to visit with the wounded as a way to keep up their spirits. However, the moment the mass of wounded heroes laid eyes on Prime, they only greeted him with glares, silently blaming him for the hell that they had just been through. Optimus didn't blame them. All he could feel was shame for letting those he was meant to lead down.
There was another reason why Optimus had come to the medical bay. Not only had he wanted to visit the wounded, but he also had unfinished business regarding a member of his Illuminati. After helping to drive out the Society, Ozpin had been left with his new host, Jazz Fenton, whom he had overshadowed after Black Hat had ripped him out of Oscar. Currently, Jazz/Ozpin had been quarantined to a medical bed with the curtains drawn around it. Through Jazz was unharmed from the fight, she was moved here by order of the others. Mostly because Ozpin was going to be allowed to roam freely in Jazz's body, especially after everything he had done. When Optimus pulled back the curtain, he saw that his ally was standing beside his bed, watching the Earth below from a window.
"I didn't notice it up until now, but the Earth is quite beautiful," the huntsman noted, still looking out the window. "I can see why you've risked so much to protect it."
"Those risks turned out to be mistakes," Optimus answered. "Ones I regret making."
"You shouldn't, Prime," the overshadowed Jazz countered as she turned to face him. "It's what kept your world safe."
"Safe?" Optimus repeated with anger in his voice. "Does any of this look safe to you?!"
"If you're expecting me to apologize for my actions Optimus, I'm not," Ozpin refuted. "I was only trying to save my world."
"By putting the one I've grown to call home at risk!" the Autobot leader countered. "After all this time, you've never changed, Ozpin. Always manipulating others into accomplishing your objectives."
"I wouldn't be so quick to point the finger if I were you, Prime," the Huntsman teacher sneered. "After all, all of this could've been avoided years ago when you had the chance to kill Phoenix instead of banishing it!"
Optimus looked away for a moment, his forlorn expression once again overtaking his face.
"You haven't told the others yet, have you?" Ozpin surmised with a small smirk. "You didn't tell them how to kill the Phoenix?"
"It will not come to that," Prime refuted. "Sailor Mars will reject its power and-"
"That's not going to happen, Optimus," the huntsman cut off. "We both know that there's only one way to end this madness once and for all."
Optimus said nothing in response to that. Instead, he turned and began to depart.
"Washu says she has a way to merge you and Oscar back together," he mentioned. "You don't know how lucky you are to have that boy to protect you. Moon wants your head after what you've done, and honestly, if you still had your old body... I would've let her kill you."
With those final words, Prime departed from the medical bed, not wanting to spend another second around his former ally. Looking to soothe his rage, the Autobot leader went back to walking among the wounded League members, hoping to at least cheer some of them up in these dark times. It was then that he heard the sound of an all too familiar voice.
"Hey, Prime!" the voice called out in an anger-laced tone. "You and me are gonna have a talk!"
Optimus turned around to face the one calling out to him, seeing Grimlock now standing before him. But unlike before, the Autobot leader could tell that something was different with the Dinobot. No longer was he the low-talking brute. He now seemed to speak like he did back in the days of the war on Cybertron. Of course, Grimlock's sudden personality change did not go unnoticed by the others within the infirmary.
"Uh, he's not all 'Me, Grimlock' right now," Penn noted to his girlfriend.
"Grimlock, how are you-?" Prime attempted to ask.
"What? Not an idiot?" the Dinobot leader quickly answered before he could finish. "Your friend Washu repaired mine and the rest of the Dinobots CPU's. You know, the thing you and the rest of the Autobots said were impossible to fix!"
Optimus looked over to Washu with a grimace, who only smiled proudly back at the Prime as she held up a pair of peace symbols with her fingers. With an annoyed groan, Prime looked back at the Dinobot.
"Washu is a genius who is beyond the likes of us, Grimlock," he explained to him. "We told you the truth that we lacked the resources to restore what Shockwave took from you."
"Somehow, I doubt that," Grimlock sneered with clenched fists.
"Grimlock, I am in no mood for this," his leader warned him. "I am glad that you and the Dinobots' minds have been fully restored. But if you try to raise a hand against me again, then I will throw you back into space."
Grimlock stood in tense silence for several seconds before finally answering the last Prime.
"Now that's the leader we need right now," the former gladiator said. "And here I thought you'd be a coward."
With those last few words Grimlock left the medical bay, letting Prime take in what the Dinobot had said. Just then, Sheila appeared before the Autobot leader.
"Is something wrong, Sheila?" he asked.
"Yellow Diamond is requesting your presence on her ship at once," the AI informed him. "And that you come alone."
"Did she say why?" Optimus inquired.
"No, she did not," Sheila answered simply. "And judging by her tone, she sounded impatient."
Optimus already had an inkling as to what Yellow Diamond wanted to speak with him in private about. But despite already having a feeling of what was to come next, he decided to comply with the Diamond's request.
"Sheila, inform the other leaders that I will be meeting with Yellow Diamond," he said to the AI. "I will return as soon as possible."
Optimus, though knowing that Yellow was an ally, still could not shake this feeling of uneasiness that was welling up in his spark concerning this coming meeting. As Prime left, Washu couldn't help but be curious as to what this meeting was about, so wanting to learn more about what Prime was about to walk into, she flicked a small COMM link at Optimus that attached itself to his leg. With her link set up, the living goddess returned her attention back to the task at hand: Putting Oscar and Ozpin back together. It was true that she couldn't remove the Phoenix from Sailor Mars due to the sheer overwhelming power that the cosmic being had, but putting back into Ozpin within Oscar was a far easier task.
As Washu gathered up her equipment, the huntsmen of Remnant entered the infirmary, save for Yang, who still felt guilty for putting many of them in there in the first place. Standing in front of the group was Oscar, who had a forlorn work on his face.
"So, kiddo, you ready to be put back together with your worse half?" she greeted.
"Yeah, about that..." Qrow spoke up. "We've been talking. And we decided that we don't want Oz back in Oscar's body."
"Uh... come again?" the living goddess questioned, obviously confused.
"Ozpin has made it clear that he can't be trusted," Ruby stated "Everything he's done to both our worlds is unforgivable. We can't keep defending his actions."
"Well, he ain't staying in Jazz's body," Penn, who could overhear the conversation, refuted.
"And we don't want him to," Blake answered before turning back to Washu. "Once you remove him from Jazz, just leave him out."
"I don't think you guys fully understand what that'll mean if I do that," the genius began. "If I pull Ozpin outta Jazz and not put him back in Oscar, his spiritual form will fade away into nothingness. You'll be essentially killing him."
"The way I see it, Ozpin died a while ago," Qrow replied coldly.
"We'll just have to figure out a way to stop Salem without him," Jaune added. "At least this way, nobody else will have to die for nothing."
The former leader of Team JNPR looked away, the painful memories of the day he lost Pyrrha flooding back to him.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that if Ozpin dies, the boy does too?" Washu added in a matter-of-fact tone. "Silly me, must have slipped my mind."
The heroes of Remnant were shocked to learn this. They were ready to finally close the book on the man who had manipulated all their lives for so many years, but now it seemed that their former headmaster still had one card to play. It was then that Ozpin/Jazz walked out from behind the curtains of the medical bed they were staying at. The second that he saw his former teacher, Qrow stormed up to the overshadowed therapist, now fully overcome with blinding rage from everything that happened and what he had done to his niece. But before he could lay a single finger on their person, Qrow felt something pulling something back. He turned around to see that it was Ruby.
"Don't say he's not worth it, kid," he told her. "We both know that this was a long time coming."
"No, it's not that," Ruby answered. "You're not the only one who wants to punch Ozpin, but don't take it out on him while he's still in Jazz's body. She's got nothing to do with this."
Qrow relented, knowing that his niece was right. Not only that, but the huntsman had also noticed that several members of the wounded Infinity League within the room were starting to reach for their weapons or charge up their powers. And though they were wounded, they still outnumbered the heroes of Remnant. While they also had no love for Ozpin, they would defend the person whom he was using as his vessel.
"Ah, fuck it..." he growled, backing off before looking over to Jazz. "This isn't over, Oz."
"Alright, well, if your little drama moment is over, then I think it's time to-" Washu tried to save.
Suddenly, a stream of water shot out seemingly out of nowhere before grabbing Washu by the throat as it pinned her up against the wall. Everyone turned to see who had summoned the water: a very angry Lapis Lazuli.
"Where. Is. Peridot?" she demanded to the genius.
The word 'angry' wasn't quite the right word Danny would use to describe what he was feeling right now. Maybe 'livid' would be the better choice for this situation. He couldn't quite pinpoint an exact source of his anger, for there were so many different elements feeding into his feelings at the moment. Between the Phoniex overtaking Sailor Mars, Dipper and Wendy's betrayal, and his constant fighting with Kim, he didn't know where to place all this rage welling up within his body. But above all else, most of all, he was angry at himself. It was his fault all those months ago when he voted to allow the heroes to be benched, leading up to the events that they were now in. It was his actions that had led the League to this point.
As the half-ghost paced back and forth in his room, he heard a knock at his door. His first reaction was to tell whoever it was to leave him be, but he suppressed those words for now, thinking that it might be someone giving him an update on the Tower's repairs. After quickly calming himself down enough to at least speak to someone, he called out through the door.
"Who is it?" he asked in the calmest voice he could muster at the moment.
"It's Jenny," the person on the other end answered. "Can I come in?"
Danny wasn't sure how to answer that. He wanted to send the android away as payback for her silence on the argument between himself and Kim after the reveal of Task Force M, but he knew that he couldn't let his own pettiness and anger get in the way of his fellow leaders, even if they pissed him off.
"Yeah," he finally said.
The door slid open to allow XJ-9 entrance into her fellow leader's room. The second she laid her optics on Danny, she could already see that teammate was still enraged from that fight between him and Kim over Mabel as well as everything else that had happened in the last 24 hours.
"What's up?" Danny asked, trying his best not to let his irritation seep into his already stress-filled voice.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Jenny said. "I think that's the fifth time you've stormed out of a room in less than a day."
"Oh, so now you want to say something?" the half-ghost noted in a snide voice. "You seemed pretty silent back there."
Jenny narrowed her eyes back at her friend as she gave him a glower, making Danny instantly relent from his tone.
"I'm sorry, Jen," he apologized. "I'm just angry at... well, everything, right now."
"You wanna talk about it?" the android inquired gently.
Before the protector of Amity Park could say anything, Jenny had already gone over to his bed and sat on it, gesturing for him to join her. With a sigh, Danny sat next to his robotic friend.
"Do you think we made the right call?" he asked. "About benching Wendy and the others, I mean. You think all of this could've been avoided if we just tried harder?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Jenny admitted. "I mean, yeah, they're our teammates, and we don't trade lives, but after seeing what that thing did to us before it merged with Sailor Mars, I'm scared of what comes next."
"Kim doesn't seem to care," her friend chided coldly. "And to think that there was a time that I would've taken a bullet for that woman."
"I think you still would," XJ-9 noted. "Kim's just trying to be pragmatic. She's under the same amount of stress as you, me, and the other leaders are."
"But that's no excuse for how she's been acting," Danny replied "This whole time, she's been acting more like Dr. Director than she'd like to admit."
"I'll be the first to say that Km has been difficult to be around lately, but this is how she's dealing with the stress," the android commented. "But I think that deep down, she's on the same page you are. You both want to protect the Earth, but she's seen a lot in her time, just as much as you have. Only for her, it's made her grow colder."
That was true. Like Danny, Kim was among the first wave of heroes that appeared shortly after the Powerpuff Girls were born. In that time, she had faced madmen, monsters, aliens, time travelers, and the end of the world on a daily basis. Over the years, the daily strains of being a superhero had affected Kim's outlook on the world and how to protect it. But Jenny was right. He knew that, deep down, she was just trying to defend the planet like he was.
"I know, but at the same time, I also know that Kim isn't the only problem," he answered. "I'm angry at myself too. If I hadn't voted to bench Wendy and the others, maybe we could've stopped this sooner. Now look at us. Mars is in a coma with that thing inside her, the Tower is a mess, Mason and Wendy betrayed us, Peridot's missing, and honestly, this all feels like the tip of the iceberg for something much worse!"
"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, there were a lot of things that we could've done better," XJ-9 reasoned. "You can't beat yourself up over past mistakes. We made our bed now we have to lie in it. But I believe that we can fix this, but that only happens if you and Kim agree to work together. The League's morale is low, and you two fighting is only going to make things worse. So, first off: You're going to take at least a three-hour nap. I know you haven't slept in two days. Then, second: When you're calm enough, you're going to patch things up with Kim, and the two of you are going to act like leaders and not children."
Danny was in total awe of Jenny's wisdom. He knew that she was smart, thanks to her computer brain, but to hear her speak in such a fashion made the half-ghost filled with something he hadn't had since this nightmare began: Hope. He always admired that about Jenny. Even in the most dire of situations, she could still be the heart of the seven leaders.
"Heh, you looking to take Jazz's job?" he asked with a small laugh.
"Hey, I can be deep when I wanna be," Jenny answered with a chuckle.
She then reached out and took hold of Danny in her arms for a deep, caring embrace. Danny was caught off guard by that, but it was welcome nonetheless. It almost reminded him of the way he and Sam held one another when they were still together. Sadly, those days were gone since Sam's transformation into the new avatar of the Green. With a smile, Danny returned the hug to his friend. After several silent moments, the two heroes let go of each other.
"I should go and help manage things with the other leaders while you're in here," Jenny said as she got up from the bed. "When you feel ready, go and talk to Kim."
As Jenny prepared to leave, she suddenly felt Danny's hand on her wrist. She turned around to see Danny looking up at her with a sort of pleading look in his eyes.
"Do you... want to sleep with me?" he meekly asked.
"Uh, excuse you?" Jenny questioned, clearly confused by his request.
Danny's eyes widened in embarrassment when he realized what she thought he was implying.
"Oh, God, no! No! That's not what I meant at all!" Danny quickly clarified. "I meant, like, do you want to get some rest too? I know you don't really need to sleep, but you have been active for as long as I have and haven't had time to recharge yet."
While it was true that Jenny didn't need to sleep, she did require to recharge her power cells every few days. As it stood, she was currently running on 71% power, though she wanted to fully recharge when she had the chance to do so. To save power, Jenny's mother installed a sort of 'sleep mode' in her system that allowed her to conserve power. Still, it was a surprising thing for Danny to offer her his room to rest in.
"Oh... okay," Jenny understood. "Yeah, I could go a quick rest mode. But wait, where am I going to sleep?"
"Well, these beds are queen-sized," Danny mentioned. "There's plenty of room for the both of us."
Beds were not unknown to Jenny, but this would be the first time that she would sleep on one with another person. The android was well aware that humans slept together in beds when they were married or were engaging in acts of reproduction, both of which were not the case here. Danny was a friend and co-worker who held no romantic feelings toward her. This was simply a kind gesture from one friend to another. So, why did she feel as though this felt more than just a simple gesture on Danny's behalf? As she mulled over this thought in mind, Danny had already climbed into bed, already preparing to get some rest.
"Hey, you coming or what?" he asked.
Jenny snapped back to reality when she heard her friend's voice. The android walked over to the opposite side of the bed. Once she was there, she climbed atop the blankets while Danny slipped under them. Danny was lying on his side so that he wasn't facing her, though if he was, then she'd be able to see him blushing. Why was he blushing though? Jenny was just a friend, right?
Right?
Kim was lying on her bed, trying her best to get in a quick nap, but her mind was too full of angered thoughts to do so. Most of that anger was pointed at Danny, whom she was tired of fighting with him verbally and wanted nothing more than to just crack him right in the mouth just to shut him up. But even with all the anger that was aimed at her teammate, there was still some anger toward herself as well. All she could think about was the fight with Shego and the fury she felt. The rage was unlike she had ever felt before. Kim could still remember every punch she landed on her archenemy's face as if she was beating her right now. The sound of Shego's arm breaking repeated in her brain seemingly on a mental loop. The image of her rival's blood on her shaking hands was burned into her brain. The bruises on her knuckles were a cold reminder that everything she had felt was, in fact, real. And all done of her own choice.
Shego was no saint, but in every fight they had, it was never taken to that level of brutality, at least not on her behalf. But what she did to Shego was something savage, something she had once thought that she was incapable of. Kim tried to rationalize that her actions were done in the heat of battle, but try as she might, she couldn't rid her thoughts of the shame she had felt.
"I'm not the bad guy..." she whispered to herself. "I'm not the bad guy..."
It was then that she heard the sound of a knock on her door. With an irritated growl, Kim got back on her feet and stormed over to the door, thinking that it was Danny looking for round two.
"Danny, I swear to God-" Kim began as she opened her room's door.
However, rather than see the half-ghost standing before her, it was her boyfriend, Ron. Kim was almost in a state of disbelief seeing him here, considering there had been quite a lot of space between them ever since this whole thing had started. Ron and Kim, though distant from one another from time to time, remained in love. However, Kim's growing aggression and coldness were starting to take their toll on those around here, and it was high time that came to an end.
"R-Ron," Kim began obviously caught off-guard. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know, wanted to check up on my girlfriend after she mercilessly beat someone to near death," Ron answered. "Oh, and Jenny asked me to stop by to talk to you."
"Of course, she did..." his lover sighed. "But I'm glad you came Ron. Come in."
Ron followed his girlfriend into her room. The couple then sat on her bed, allowing her boyfriend to see the bruises on her knuckles.
"How's your hand?" he asked.
"It's fine," Kim answered simply.
"I don't know, KP, maybe you should see Doc-" Ron attempted to suggest.
"I said it's fine!" the League Leader snapped back as she glared daggers back at him.
As Kim glowered at Ron, all she could see was the shock in his eyes. She had seen that look in the eyes of so many people before her whenever she gave orders to others, but when she saw that very same look in the man she loved's eyes, it was a breaking point for her. Kim burst into tears with her head in her hands. It all flooded in her head. Every cold command, every dark tactic, every argument with those she once viewed as friends. All came out like a storm of her own making.
"Oh my God, Ron!" she wept. "What have I become?"
"KP, I don't think-" Ron attempted to reason.
"You know exactly what I mean!" Kim cut him off with tears. "You're not an idiot Ron. You know what the rest of the League says about me!"
Sadly, this was quite true. It was no secret among the rest of the Infinity League that Kim wasn't exactly well-liked by the rest of the team. From her fierce tactics to her often cold and almost villainous orders, such as when she tried to kill Sam while she underwent her change into the new avatar of the Green. Ron had tried to stand up to his lover, but even he was starting to see the cracks in his girlfriend's logic and feared that if she brought to her senses now, then it wouldn't be too long before she became no better than Drakken, and pummeling Shego to near death today as proof of that.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" she said in almost a whisper. "When we started this team, I wanted to protect the world no matter what, and I was excited to fight alongside everyone else. But here I am, becoming the goddamn villain."
Ron didn't answer right away, making Kim look at him.
"Well, aren't you going to tell me that I'm wrong?" she insisted.
"Well, the thing is, you're really not," Ron admitted. "I mean, I understand your actions. But the problem is that when you try to control something you kinda go overboard. And remember, this is the Infinity League, not 'Kim Possible and her Amazing Friends.'"
Kim was about to argue but stopped herself from saying anything, already knowing that he was right. This wasn't the first time this had happened either. Ever since she started her career as a superhero, Kim tended to let her competitive nature as well as her desire for control cloud her judgment. It was said that Kim Possible had no weaknesses, but that wasn't true. For, in fact, she had several, all of which were of her own doing. In the past, she let her soberness and desire for control of any situation usually lead her to fail by her own hand. Kim assumed that she could resist these flaws now that she was part of a team, but instead it only expanded her vices to new levels.
"It's my fault we've gotten here, Ron," Kim confessed. "I didn't trust my own team by kicking them out, and because of that, I brought on... all of this."
"No one could have seen this coming," her lover reminded her.
"I should've..." Kim muttered sadly.
"Listen, KP, none of that matters right now," Ron stated. "What does matter is that the League is a straight-up mess, and you trying to deck Danny at the drop of the hat isn't helping anyone."
This was true. All Kim was feeling was anger, and it was anger she was misplacing toward her teammate and fellow leader rather than trying to direct it at what really mattered: Leading this team that she had helped to form. If she didn't stop her actions now, then the Phoenix would be the one who would be victorious in the end. So, with that in mind, she knew her next course of action.
"Thanks, Ron," she told him warmly before giving him a quick hug and kiss.
"No prob, babe," her lover answered. "But for right now, I'd suggest that you stay here until you're calm enough to talk to Danny. Maybe get some sleep while you're at it."
"I think I'll take your advice on that," Kim agreed with a yawn.
"I'll keep everyone off your back while you do that," Ron said as he made his way toward the door. "Get some rest, KP."
When Ron turned around to see her, Kim had already laid down on her bed and had fallen asleep. Ron gave his girlfriend a quick kiss before departing from the room, letting Kim get the rest she was in desperate need of.
With the rest of the leaders wanting some space from one another or being needed for important reasons in SheZow's case, the Ninja and the Dragon were left to oversee the repairs of Skyward Tower. As the two League leaders walked down the hall, heading toward the elevators so that they could descend to the lower levels that took the worst of the assault, they talked about what was team's next move.
"So, do we even have a plan?" the Ninja inquired.
"I think the plan right now is keeping the base from falling out of orbit," Dragon reasoned.
"Yeah, I get that, but what do we do AFTER that?" the hero of Norrisville persisted. "Mars has the Phoenix inside of her, Peridot's missing, Dipper and Wendy have gone rouge, and I don't think we can keep Danny and Kim from killing each other for much longer."
"I think SheZow's gonna screw their heads off if they do try anything at this point," the American Dragon half-joked.
"Oh, I have no doubt about that, bro," the Ninja agreed with a small laugh. "Having gone a few rounds with her before the League was even formed, I can confirm that she can knock some sense into both Danny and Kim with no problem."
"Wait, you knew SheZow before the Infinity League was created?" the fire breather questioned, taken aback by that statement. "How did that happen?"
"It's a long story, Dragon. I'll tell you about it some time," the Ninja replied.
Randy was about to say something else, but his words were cut off when he began to violently cough. This, of course, concerned his teammate.
"You alright, bro?" Dragon questioned.
"Yeah, I'm good," the Ninja assured. "My lungs are still roughed up from whatever Storm Shadow did to me. I patched myself up with my Art of Healing, but my chest isn't 100%. I'll be good in a few days."
"Using the art of healing so often can't be good for you, Ninja," the Dragon addressed. "I mean, what if you overwork your body doing it one too many times?"
"I had that same fear, but the Nomicon taught me to use the healing energy in sort bursts," his fellow League leader explained. "I'd go see Dr. Possible or someone from the infirmary to treat me, but we're short staffed as it is, and there are so many other people who need more help than I do right now that I'll just grin and bear it for now."
"And what does Rena think about that?" his teammate questioned.
"She's not happy about it," Randy admitted. "In fact, I had to keep her from dragging me to the medical bay before we had that meeting with Mabel. I convinced her to let everyone else get treated first. Then I swore that I'd get myself checked out."
"Smart man," Dragon noted. "And your right, it's getting whack that we have so many wounded and not enough people to help them or enough big brains to help speed up repairs."
"I might have a solution to that, gentlemen," Dr. Wakeman called out from behind them.
The two League leaders turned to see Dr. Wakeman standing in the hallway, but she was not alone. Standing alongside her were four newcomers, two of whom were known to the heroes and two who were not. The first was a man whom Jenny's mother had a repour with by the name of Isaac Sumdac. Like Dr. Wakeman, Dr. Sumdac was a master of robotics. But the difference between them was that Sumdac became a wealthy businessman in Detroit by selling his robotics to both the city and the world. When the Autobots first revealed themselves to the human race, they worked closely with Professor Sumdac to share technology and better understand the Cybertronians themselves. However, despite his success, the professor's busy life made it impossible to have the one thing he truly wanted: A family.
The second was a man who had ties to two of the League's members. This was Professor Membrane. Someone who, although was a genius, was... unstable, to say the least. Granted, no one questioned his brilliance. It was his random bursts of insanity that everyone did have concerns about, hence why he was never offered a place within the League's science division.
The new newcomers, however, were a strange sight. The first was a young woman dressed in a pink schoolgirl outfit with a pair of goggles on her head as well as a strange metal backpack strapped to her back. The second was a tall man with white and black hair dressed in an attire that made Randy and Jake think of the legend of the infamous Phantom of the Opera, who haunted the halls of the Paris Opera House back in 1870. But the biggest part that drew their attention was that a part of the man's face had skin of different colors stitched to it. It was like a mask in the vain of the aforementioned Phantom.
"Uh, doc, what did you do?" Randy questioned.
"Why, call in for reinforcements, of course," Dr. Wakeman answered. "I had Pegasus bring them up to help us."
"Yeah, and without running it by any of us while you did," the Dragon added. "Seriously, you didn't even ask for our approval before doing it."
"Well, considering that you were in the midst of breaking up an argument between Daniel and Kimberly, I thought that it'd be prudent to get help by myself," Nora defended. "The science division is overworked with repairs, and we're down an extra brain with Peridot missing, not to mention the exhausted medical staff.
Both the Ninja and the Dragon relented when they heard that.
"Just... tell us next time, okay?" the hero of Norrisville finally said.
With that Randy and Jake walked over to greet their new staff members.
"It's an honor to meet you in person, Dr. Sumdac," the Ninja began with a handshake. "We could sure use your help on deck 11."
"I'll see what I do," the robotics expert answered.
"And Professor Membrane, we'd appreciate your help in building a better cyber defense for our computer system," the Dragon added.
"Your computers will become silicon Gods after I have fingered them!" Dib and Gaz's father declared.
"...Right" was all Jake could say to that.
"Hey, what about us?" the girl stated. "You gonna talk to us, or am I just gonna keep standing here and imagine you two double-stuffing me?"
"Uh, come again?" the Ninja asked, shocked by what the girl had said.
"Oh, I wanna 'come again' and again and again and again!" the girl replied. "The name's Miu Iruma: The Ultimate Inventor!"
"Is that right?" the Dragon inquired. "And what exactly have you 'invented?'"
"Enough stuff to get noticed by Mr. Sumdac here," Miu answered. "By the way, I gotta know: How big is your junk? 'Cause I may have a Bad Dragon at home, but I wanna be railed by the real thing!"
Jake didn't know how to even answer that remark.
"Please excuse Ms. Imura's... colorful language," Professor Sumdac. "Despite her behavior she has a brilliant mind. I personally requested that she join us. She can be a great asset to the team."
"And I do stress ASS," Miu snickered as she smacked her butt.
"Okay, fine, whatever, just keep her away from Odd," the hero of Norrisville requested before looking over to the final person. "That just leaves him."
"Allow me to introduce myself, gentleman," the fourth stranger began. "I am called Black Jack."
"And what exactly do you do? I mean, aside from haunting opera houses," the Ninja asked.
"Black Jack is one of the world's finest physicians in the world" Dr. Wakeman explained. "Although he prefers to work incognito most of the time."
"Meaning he's not licensed," Jake surmised with a sigh. "This day just keeps getting better."
"I know that how I work is unorthodox, but I believe I can be a great help to your team," the mysterious medic offered. "I've been studying metahuman physiology ever since the superhuman boom back in 2013."
"Well, if Dr. Wakeman came to you, then that means we can trust you," the Dragon said as he shook his hand. "Welcome to the Infinity League. To all of you."
"Enough talk! I wanna get to work!" Miu demanded.
"Okay, try it now," Ami said.
Makoto nodded in understanding before gripping the two cables. After the attack on the base, there were still parts of Skyward Tower without power, so it was the two Sailor Scouts' job to restore power to those areas. As one would expect, Mako wasn't exactly an engineer, but she did have the muscle to at least help Ami with the heavy lifting. Channeling her powers, Sailor Jupiter charged the cables up with her electrical abilities. As her power flowed through the cables, the lights in their section of the orbital base began to flicker. For a moment, it seemed as though it was going to work. That was, until the lights went out again.
"Damnit!" Mako swore. "I thought it would work this time!"
Sailor Jupiter turned to face Ami, who had remained silent after their third attempt to restore power. Her fellow Sailor Guardian had a distant and forlorn expression on her face. A clear sign that her mind was elsewhere, and Makoto knew exactly where her thoughts were.
"You're thinking about Rei, aren't you?" she surmised.
"Is it that obvious?" Ami replied. "I'm sorry. I know that I should be focused on what's in front of us, but I just can't-"
"No, it's okay," her friend assured. "You want to talk about it?"
Sailor Mercury let out a sigh before speaking her mind.
"I've been thinking a lot about what Washu said earlier," she began. "I know Rei is one of the strongest people that we know, but there's a part of me who's afraid that she'll be tempted by the Phoenix!"
"Come on, Ami, we both know that's not going to happen," Makoto answered. "The only reason that monster got in Rei's head the first time was because she was mind controlled by it, and Usagi managed to free her from it. And remember, she willingly merged with the Phoenix to save us all. So, it stands to reason that she'll willingly give it up too."
Ami smiled at that, but on the inside, both she and even Makoto had their inner doubts that they dared not admit out loud. While it was true that Rei had a strong will, the Phoenix was unlike any foe that had ever faced in the past. It had already altered her mind, so who's to say that it wasn't already doing so again while she was in her coma right now? It scared them to no end that their friend may become a threat to the entire world. As Sailor Jupiter tried to steel her nerves, she felt her fellow guardian's hand on hers.
"Makoto..." she began. "I know things are pretty crazy right now, but there's something I've wanted to tell you for a while now, and I don't know if I'll get another chance to say it again."
"Say what to me?" Mako asked curiously.
Ami opened her mouth to say words but stopped short of saying anything. She blushed profusely as she backed away from her friend before turning away from her completely.
"Uh, n-never mind," she stammered. "Let's just get back to work, okay?"
"Are you sure, Ami?" Sailor Jupiter inquired. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"Y-Yeah," her friend answered. "But let's just focus on getting power to the station for right now."
Makoto wanted to press the issue further but decided not to out of respect for Ami. As the two Sailor Guardians returned to the task at hand, Ami couldn't help but kick herself for not saying what she had been dying to tell her friend that she had longed to say to her for some time now.
That she was in love with her.
It would be an absolute understatement to say that the air in the medical bay was tense. Washu appeared to keep her cool as Lapis held her against the wall with her water, but everyone in the room had a sense that if the living goddess wanted to get out of this little predicament, she could do so with great ease. But for now, she stayed here. However, the same could not be said for someone who had come to the genius's aid. Ryoko may not like the idea of acknowledging the woman as her mother, but she refused to let anyone in her little messed up group that she called her family be harmed.
"So, here's the deal, bluey," the space pirate began as she activated her energy sword and held it to Lapis' throat. "You're gonna let my mom go by the count of the five, or they'll scraping up your Gem in a dustpan."
"Afraid I can't let you do that, lady," Qrow spoke up as he pointed his scythe at Lapis. "Washu's the gotta put Oz back in the kid to keep him alive."
"And pull him out of Jazz," Augger added as he drew his sidearm. "And I don't like you threatening one of our own."
The standoff went silent as if one party was waiting for the other to make the first move. The other heroes stood in awe and horror, knowing that this was the last thing the Infinity League needed right now.
"That's enough!" Sailor Moon's voice cut through the tension.
All eyes fell upon Usagi as she approached the standoff with strength and vigor in her eyes.
"Is this what you all really want to do right now? Kill each other?!" she chastised. "We're supposed to be heroes! But all you want to do is take your anger out on each other after the losses we've taken!"
She then turned to Lapis.
"I swear that we'll find a way to get Peridot back, but you can't blame Washu for what happened, Lapis," she stated. "You know that this isn't the way."
Lapis let out a growl in frustration before finally relenting and releasing her hold on Washu. Once she had done so, the other heroes in the room backed off, letting everyone else breathe a sigh of relief in the process.
"We can't give into this loss," Usagi continued. "Yes, the pain we're all feeling is great, but it is our job to rise above it and stand tall against the evils that are out there right now, waiting to strike us down!"
The other heroes were in total silent awe of Usagi's words as they reminded them of their duties. As everyone began to back down from the all-out brawl, Sailor Moon returned to Rei and the rest of her friends' side.
"That was amazing, Usagi," Sailor Venus. "I didn't know you had it in you!"
"Neither did I," Usagi admitted. "I just wanted the fighting to stop."
"Well, it looks like it worked," Chibi Moon noted. "You did great!"
Usagi smiled and nodded at that, but inwardly, there were still doubts, especially about Rei's condition. Like the other Sailor Guardians, their leader was also worried that Rei would be tempted by the Phoenix's power as she had before. As she looked back down at a still comatose Rei, she began to wonder what was going on in her mind.
Rei was still in a haze about everything that was going on. Who was this woman in front of her, and why was she in her family shrine while she continued to draw on her parchment? Drawn in by curiosity, the Sailor Guardian approached the woman before sitting down in front of her.
"Who... Who are you?" she asked.
"Now, that is an interesting question," the stranger replied. "In my time, I have been called many things. Savior, Destroyer, God, Devil, but most would call me-"
"The Phoenix," Rei suddenly said as her memory slowly returned to her. "You're the Phoenix!"
"Indeed. Or at least, a manifestation of its power," the woman explained. "A power that you now have within you."
Like an atom bomb, the memories of what had happened to Rei exploded in her thoughts. She remembered the race she had with Wendy to reach the cosmic power before she could merge with it. She remembered the flames as they danced across her skin, along with the pain she felt when she took in the enormous amount of power. In an instant, Rei jumped back to her feet and prepared to do battle with the creature, but the figurehead for its power merely looked up at her with mild amusement in her eyes.
"How bold," the woman noted. "You're going to attack your guest."
"You are not my guest!" Rei denied. "If anything, this is all a trap you set for me."
"Dear child, this place is not of my making... but of yours," the Phoenix corrected. "We are within your mindscape."
"Mindscape?" the Sailor Guardian repeated. "You mean... this is all in my head?"
"Precisely," the woman confirmed. "All of this is of your own making. Even the form I've taken to speak with you was of your own doing."
Rei was in a state of total disbelief. Not only was she trying to grasp the thought of being inside her own head, but she was struggling to understand why the Phoenix was trying to speak to her at all.
"If this is all my doing, then I order you to leave," she demanded.
The Phoenix's projected form looked at her for several moments before speaking.
"You could do that, child," she confirmed before adding "But think of the danger you'd be putting the world in if you reject me now."
"What are you talking about?" her host questioned.
Rather than answer the question, the parchment that the cosmic being was drawing on began to glow brightly. Suddenly an array of images shot out of it as they began to fill the made-up shrine. All around Rei were projections of costumed beings, more than likely superheroes, all of whom were connected to one thing: The Phoenix.
"After my exile by Prime and the others, I existed instead to watch the birth of another universe," the woman explained. "Like this world, the universe that I was sentenced to was filled with great heroes and villains."
Then the images changed. This time the heroes that Rei had seen were now fighting each other for dominance.
"Then, a war broke out between that Earth's two greatest teams of heroes. One whose heroes were born with their powers, protecting those who hated and feared them, and the other whose team swore to avenge their world from evil," she continued. "In the end, two heroines united their power and cast me out of that universe forever."
"No more Phoenix..." a Scarlet Witch and a Mutant Messiah said as they cast the Phoenix away.
"But instead of killing me, they had inadvertently returned me to my home," the Phoenix furthered.
"It sounds like they made the right choice," Rei sneered.
"Did they?" the Phoenix posed. "Since my absence, that universe was fallen into a second Civil War, betrayed by their greatest Avenger, and even recently stood at the non-existent mercy of the King in Black and faced their Judgment Day. In fact, as you and I speak, they now confront a dark future brought about by the Sins of a Sinister being. All things I could have been able to stop if they had accepted me."
"But you bring only destruction!" Sailor Mars snapped back. "What kind of peace could you give anyone?!"
"Child, do you not know what a Phoenix is?" the cosmic being posed. "True, I am being of great destruction. But also of rebirth. I am the ultimate scale of the cosmos. Through me, all things are perfectly balanced, as all things should be."
"If you wanted balance, then why did you make me and the others you took control of try to kill each other?" Rei pointed out sharply.
"I had to find the perfect host among you," the woman answered. "I had hoped Wendy was the one to be that host. But you, Rei, you, who willingly returned to me, is the true bearer of my power!"
"I will not be your puppet!" Rei refused. "I will cast you out!"
"And by all means, you have the power to do so..." her mental intruder pointed out before adding "But you will need my power sooner than you think."
"What are you talking about?" Sailor Mars questioned
"Dear child, you have no idea what's coming next..." the woman replied.
Back on Earth, a woman with long, red hair, tanned skin, and wearing a GJN uniform approached an abandoned building that once belonged to a now-defunct television station, Galaxy TV. Upon ensuring that she wasn't followed, the woman used a hole in the decaying fence to advance towards the rust-coated doors, opening them to step inside the emptied building. No longer needing her disguise, she tore the GJN uniform she was wearing off, revealing a brown one-piece bikini with a black corseted front, thigh-high boots that were the same shade, and a pair of black, crow-like wings that sprouted out once they were freed.
Once she was in the center of the hollowed-out structure, she grabbed a small device holstered on her hip and tossed it into the center of the room, allowing a holographic projection to activate and form the shape of Sailor Galaxia before this woman. Seeing her superior before her, the woman wasted no time bending down to one knee.
"Lady Galaxia," she greeted.
"Lead Crow," the Golden Destroyer responded. "I trust that your infiltration of this 'Global Justice Network' was a success?"
"Yes, your grace," Sailor Lead Crow answered. "I was able to catch a glimpse of what happened through a feed from one of their satellites. Your assumption was correct. The reason we had lost the Phoenix's signature was because it had chosen its new host."
"And?" Sailor Galaxia inquired.
"It chose a Sailor Senshi," Lead Crow informed. "One who hails from this solar system."
"Interesting," Galaxia responded, a hand placed on her chin. "Did you find anything about this Senshi?"
"The GJN's files stated that she is named after the fourth planet from this system's sun, Mars," Lead Crow stated. "She's a pyrokinetic who specializes in spiritual matters. She also seems to be just a teenager judging by the photos they had of her."
A sinister smirk overtook the leader of the Shadow Galactica's face.
"Excellent," she said.
Hearing this caused a look of bewilderment to overtake her servant's face.
"My lady, forgive me, but I assumed our goal was to capture the Phoenix before it chose its host," she pointed out.
"It was... But this may prove to be an even easier way to acquire its power," Sailor Galaxia replied. "This 'Sailor Mars' is young. Inexperienced. She likely hasn't the faintest clue how to control the Phoenix's might. All the more easy for me to tear it out of her corpse. And once it's done, I will bask in the fires of the Phoenix as it finds itself a new host in me, and soon, this galaxy, no, the entire universe... will be mine."
Upon hearing her superior's vile ambitions, a similar smirk formed on Lead Crow's face as she rose back to her feet.
"Then what are your orders?" she questioned.
"You and the rest of the Animamates will return to the Galactica Palace," Galaxia commanded. "We will re-position it onto Earth's moon. I doubt Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa will be too thrilled to find out about their new 'tenants,' but it isn't like they can do anything to stop me."
"And how are we to acquire Sailor Mars?" Sailor Lead Crow asked.
"We'll make the people of Earth surrender her," Sailor Galaxia answered. "...We will use the swarm."
Back on Minas...
"It shall be so, my lady," Lead Crow replied with a bow.
Galaxia shut off her own holographic projection of Lead Crow, ready to begin her plan. Suddenly, she noticed something from afar. From a distance, she saw four figures flying towards her. But rather than act even the slightest bit concerned at these potential interlopers, she let out a devious chuckle.
"So, the Princess of Kinmoku has arrived at last," she said. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show."
With that, her bracelets began to glow radiantly as the Golden Destroyer readied herself for these challengers.
* - These events will be shown in the upcoming oneshot.