The Dark Gate Opens


Ronin stood before Lucia, Caren, Seira, and Kaito, guarding the Dark Gate generator.

"Dr. Akatsuki, please step aside," Seira said.

"You're not laying one finger on this device," Ronin declared.

"Doctor, snap out of it!" Lucia pleaded.

"Akatsuki!" Iron Man called.

As Ronin stood in silence, the heroes couldn't help but worry.

"How unfortunate, yet positively beautiful, I must say," Manino said as he, Rosetta, Valerie, and Boris came down some stairs.

"I'd tip my hat to you. If I'd got that on video, the ratings would be through the roof," Rosetta said. "Not that ratings matter much anymore."

"Soon, the Dark Gate will open and a new age will begin," Boris said.

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots just thinking about it!" Valerie said.

"We won't let that happen!" Lucia vowed.

In response, Ronin raised his katana. "Not one more step."

Kaito tried to fire on the generator with his Panthalassa beam, but Ronin nullified it with a Dark Aura blast.

"Don't try anything either," Ronin warned.

"Lucia, D-Smash me!" Iron Man said.

"You sure?" Lucia asked.

"We do not wish to fight Dr. Akatsuki. If possible, we wish to avoid it…" Thor said.

"However, there are times when we must push those feelings aside," Vision added.

"I know… I don't want to fight him either, but we have to," Lucia steeled her resolve.

"Everyone, let's go," Caren said.

"Right," Lucia and Seira nodded, and the girls all readied their DISKs.

"Hold it! Not so fast!" Rosetta said, and she and her team readied their DISKs, but Ronin sent an energy slash in their direction to stop them.

"Ronin! What are you doing?!" Boris yelled.

"What's the big idea?!" Valerie asked.

"You four stay out of this!" Ronin demanded.

He then turned back to the heroes.

"Let's go!" Caren said.

"Okay!"

"Iron Man! Mighty Thor! Vision!"

"D-Smash!"

"Suit up! Showdown time!"

"For the glory of Asgard!"

"Behold… the Vision!"

As Ronin raised his sword, the Avengers prepared to fight back.

Ronin imbued his blade with Dark Aura and charged.

"Repulsors!" Iron Man fired Repulsors at Ronin, who blocked them with his sword.

"Vision Beam!" Vision fired his beam at Ronin, but he sent a wave of Dark Aura to counter.

Thor then charged at Ronin with Mjolnir and the two locked blows with their weapons.

Then Ronin noticed Iron Man up in the air and disengaged from Thor to charge at Iron Man, crashing into a wall.

Thor then threw Mjolnir, but Ronin threw his nunchaku to stop it mid-flight.

Then Vision appeared out of the ground from behind Ronin, but he noticed this and blasted Vision with Dark Aura.

Then, the Dark Gate generator started glowing as it drew Dark Aura from the Dark Treasures.

"The time has finally come," Imperious said.

"The Dark Gate generator… it's activating," Thor said.

"It's finally party time!" Rosetta said.

A pillar of dark energy rose into the air, where it started opening the Dark Gate.

"The Dark Gate is opening!" Lucia said.

Outside, the other four Avengers noticed the signs of the Dark Gate opening.

"Whoa! What's that sound?" Wasp asked.

"It's coming from where Lucia and the others were headed!" Rina said.

Tim, Jubei, and Joel all smirked at that.

"Looks like it's about showtime, kids!" Joel laughed.

"Impossible… The Dark Gate generator is active?!" Captain America questioned.

Back at the generator, the Dark Gate slowly grew larger, and Ronin's Dark Aura continued to grow.

"Are we too late?" Seira asked.

"Not yet…" Caren said.

"Caren?" Lucia said.

"It's a long shot, but if we destroy the generator, the Dark Gate might disappear," Caren suggested. "Think about it. You said before that the wormhole disappeared when the generator was destroyed, right?"

"Oh, yeah! Iron Man! Thor! Vision!" Lucia called.

The three turned to see Lucia with a hand behind her back and understood what she was planning.

'The second heroes…' Thor noted.


"Shield Throw!" Captain America threw his shield at Iron Monger.

"Gotta do better than that. Monger Beam!" Iron Monger fired his chest beam to blast the shield back.

"Wasp Sting!" Wasp fired an energy blast at Iron Monger.

"Repulsor Strike!" Iron Monger fired a Repulsor beam to counter Wasp's attack.

Meanwhile, Hulk was trading blows with Bi-Beast.

"You're a persistent one, aren't ya?!" Bi-Beast said. "Come on! Just throw in the towel already!"

"Back at ya!" Hulk said.

"In yer dreams! I'll enjoy pounding you into the ground! I'm gonna sock you all the way to the moon!"

"You ain't doin' neither!"

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Hippo continued to fight Kraven.

"Hunter Chain!" Kraven threw a chain toward Hippo, but his target was actually Hippo's staff. As the chain wrapped around the staff, Kraven gave the chain a strong tug, yanking the staff out of Hippo's hands.

"Impressive weapon. Perhaps I can make good use of it," Kraven said.

"Marvel Blast!" Captain Marvel fired light spheres at Kraven, but he was able to use Hippo's staff to deflect them.

Meanwhile, Coco checked the time. "Guys, our activation time's almost up."

"I wonder how much time we can buy with these Evolution Biocodes?" Noel wondered.


Meanwhile, Ronin faced off against Iron Man, Vision, and Thor at the same time.

"Do we do it now?" Lucia asked.

"Not yet," Caren replied.

"Almost there! Now get him away!" Iron Man instructed.

"Understood!" Thor and Vision responded.

The three Avengers then used their attacks to drive Ronin further away from the Dark Gate generator.

"Now, it's time!" Caren said, readying her second DISK.

"War Machine, D-Smash!"

"Coming in hot!"

"Wonder Man, D-Smash!"

"Time to get energized!"

"Ms. Marvel, D-Smash!"

"Let's do this!"

"War Machine, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel! Go for it!" Seira cheered.

"Smash that Dark Gate generator!" Lucia instructed.

"Got it!" War Machine said.

"Leave it to us!" Wonder Man said.

"I'll do everything I can!" Ms. Marvel vowed.

Ronin wanted to stop the second heroes, but the Avengers were making that difficult.

"We are your opponents, Ronin!" Thor said.

"Go!" Iron Man said to the second heroes.

"I've got this!" War Machine prepared to fire on the device.

"No, you don't!" Ronin threw his nunchaku toward War Machine. However, it was stopped by Ms. Marvel, who had enlarged her hand to grab the nunchaku right out of the air.

"We're running out of time!" Wonder Man rushed toward the generator.

"Wonder Beam!" Wonder Man prepared to attack the generator, but a beam came out of the Dark Gate to stop him.

"Wonder Man. No!" Caren said.

"It can't be…" Thor said.

Then from the Dark Gate, their old enemy, Imperious, emerged.

"Wonder Man, D-Secure!" Caren recalled Wonder Man, who was down for the count.

"Imperious!" Thor tried to charge at Imperious, but Ronin got in his way.


Iron Monger fired his Monger Beam again, forcing Captain America to defend himself with his shield.

Then, the Avengers' bodies were enveloped in the DISK's recall light.

"Oh no! Our time limit is almost up!" Captain America said.

"Already?!" Wasp asked

"Looks like even your Evolved Biocodes have their limits," Tim smugly noted.

"You can't go save your friends who went ahead. You've failed," Jubei taunted.

"Just give it up already," Joel said with a laugh.

"Yeah, whatever. Keep dreaming!" Hanon dismissed.

"Our friends wouldn't give up!" Coco said.

"They'd stand their ground and fight with everything they've got!" Rina said.

"That's why there's no way we can give up either!" Noel said.

"Lucia, Caren, Seira, Iron Man, Thor, and Vision depend on us!" Coco said.

"We'll settle this right here!" Rina declared.

Then, their Biocodes lit up, allowing the Avengers to remain active for a bit longer.

"Whoa, hey! How stubborn can ya be?!" Joel demanded.

"This is the power we Avengers…" Captain America declared.

"And our partners…" Wasp continued.

"Share together!" Hulk concluded.

"There's no way you can beat us!" Captain Marvel added.

"Everyone, all together!" Noel shouted.

"Iron Fist, D-Smash!"

"Warrior for justice, fists forged in K'un-Lun!"

"Black Panther, D-Smash!"

"For the glory of the kingdom of Wakanda!"

"Power Man, D-Smash!"

"YEAHH! Let's go!"

"Nova, D-Smash!"

"Green, lean, and on the scene!"

The team of eight heroes stared down the villains.

"This ain't good… this ain't good at all!" Joel said before turning to tail.

"Wait up!" Tim said as he and Jubei also ran.

"Tch. Cowards. I guess we got no choice. We'll take you all at once!" Bi-Beast said.

"There's more for us to hunt," Kraven said.

"Come on," Iron Monger dared.

"Are you sure? Alright, if you insist…" Black Panther said.

"You guys are going down hard and fast," Iron Fist said.

"You clowns actually think you got the muscle to take me on? Huh?" Power Man asked.


War Machine and Ms. Marvel engaged Imperious while Thor, Vision, and Iron Man fought Ronin.

"Imperious, just what are you plotting with Dormammu?!" Thor demanded.

"Surely you can guess… to destroy the Avengers. Then we can rule this world together!" Imperious answered.

"You fool!" Thor said.

"You just never learn, do you?" Iron Man said.

"I question what makes him think this time will be different," Vision said.

"Say whatever you wish, fools. All I hear is the whining of a bunch of sore losers."

Then, he turned to fire energy beams at War Machine and Ms. Marvel.

"Ms. Marvel!" She turned to see Captain Marvel calling out to her atop a support beam.

"Captain Marvel? What are you doing here?!" Ms. Marvel asked as she reached up to the ceiling to reach Captain Marvel.

"As those guys would be enough to keep me down!" Captain Marvel said. "And word of advice: Don't let your guard down, Imperious could be anywhere."

"Right!" Ms. Marvel said and turned to head back down.

"Ms. Marvel, look out!" War Machine said as he came flying in and pushed Ms. Marvel away, taking an attack that came from Captain Marvel.

"War Machine!" Lucia shouted.

"Captain Marvel… why?" Ms. Marvel asked, but her question was answered when "Captain Marvel" turned back into Imperious. "Imperious?!"

"A noble sacrifice, I commend you, even if it was utterly pointless," Imperious mocked War Machine.

"What a dirty trick…" War Machine said, falling towards the ground.

"War Machine, D-Secure!" Lucia recalled War Machine before he hit the ground.

Then Ms. Marvel's time expired and she, too, was recalled.

"Imperious!" Thor shouted as he flew up toward Imperious. "Is there no end to your cowardice?!"

"Cowardice? I call it strategy. Now I just wait for your time to run out and you, too, will disappear!"

Meanwhile, Iron Man and Vision dodged a sword strike from Ronin.

"Dr. Akatsuki!" Lucia called out. "Remember that day when we first met?! You showed faith in me and Kaito, even though we were just some random kids you just met! Well, we have faith in you too! Faith that you won't give into that dark power!"

Ronin seemingly ignored Lucia's words and walked closer to his foes.

"WE BELIEVE IN YOU!" Lucia and Kaito shouted, and Ronin suddenly stopped.

"Akatsuki?" Iron Man asked.

"What… why? I…" Ronin then turned toward Lucia and Kaito.

"Lucia, Kaito! Akatsuki's heart is still in there!" Iron Man said. "Keep it up! Reach out to him! Like back with me in the Dark Dimension!"

"That might work, but unfortunately we don't have time to find out!" Imperious said as a giant hand started emerging from the Dark Gate.

"What is that?" Lucia asked.

Then, Jubei, Joel, and Tim arrived at the warehouse to see the hand.

"What in the world?!" Joel asked.

"Don't tell me that's the hand of Dormammu?!" Tim said.

"Precisely," Imperious replied, and the rest of his minions watched in awe.

Then Dormammu's hand released a Dark Aura that drew everyone toward the Dark Gate.

"No! He's trying to pull us through the Dark Gate!"

"Grab onto something!" Iron Man shouted as he, Vision, and Thor grabbed onto a pillar.

Seira started being dragged in, but fortunately, Caren caught her while holding onto a pillar.

"Seira!"

The same happened with Lucia with Kaito helping to keep her from being pulled in.

Meanwhile, Ronin, who was being dragged in, noticed the two. "Who… am I…?"

Meanwhile, Rosetta and Valerie were being dragged in with Manino and Boris attempting to help them.

"Nooo! Imperious, why?!" Valerie shouted.

"Imperious, help us!" Boris pleaded.

"You're about to become part of the darkness. Consider it a reward for your gracious service," Imperious said.

"What?!" Manino said.

"Huh, it would seem the attraction is that much greater when you've already sold your souls to the darkness," Imperious noted.

"Imperious, how could you?!" Tim demanded, right before he and all the Celebrity Seven were sucked into the Dark Dimension.

Meanwhile, Ronin was almost pulled in.

"Akatsuki!" Iron Man shouted.

Seeing this, Lucia broke Kaito's grip on her to try and save Dr. Akatsuki.

"Lucia!"

Lucia ran ahead and grabbed a cable on the ground with one hand and grabbed Ronin's hand with the other.

"What a foolish act… Trying to save your enemy?" Imperious asked.

"He's not our enemy! He's the kindhearted Dr. Akatsuki!" Lucia declared.

**Flashback**

Dr. Akatsuki lost his grip and was nearly sucked in but Lucia managed to grab him.

"Lucia, hang on!" Kaito said.

"Yeah, I'm not letting go!" Lucia said.

Knowing that Lucia would eventually slip if she were to keep holding onto him, Dr. Akatsuki made his choice. "I'm sorry."

Dr. Akatsuki then freed himself from Lucia's hands, smiling at her. "Thank you."

**End Flashback**

"This time… This time, I won't let go!" Lucia declared.

"Hang in there, Lucia!" Kaito cheered.

"Dr. Akatsuki!" Lucia called.

"Time to end this, once and for all," Imperious fired a beam at the cable Lucia was holding onto, causing both her and Ronin to be pulled in toward the Dark Gate.

"Lucia! Dr. Akatsuki!" Kaito shouted.

"Lucia!" Iron Man yelled.

"Imperious! How dare you?!" Thor cursed.

"So sad to see you go. Goodbye, I hope you have a wonderful trip," Imperious mocked.

But then, Ronin let go of Lucia's hand and threw his katana at the Dark Gate generator, causing it to start crackling with electricity.

"What's this?!" Imperious asked.

"Ronin just-" Thor said.

"No, it's Akatsuki!" Iron Man corrected.

Dr. Akatsuki then fell on the generator, causing it to go unstable.

"Oh no!" Lucia shouted as she was saved by Vision.

Then, Iron Man flew in to save Dr. Akatsuki.

"Tony…"

"You can tell me how much you appreciate me later."

"You! What have you done to the gateway?!" Imperious raged.

"It's over… Your plans lie in tatters again," Thor said.

"Lucia! Caren! Seira!" Iron Man called out.

"Okay!"

The three then got the Build Up Plates ready.

"Build Up Smash!"

"Target… Lock-On!"

"Final Repulsor! Lightning Star! Vision Glare!"

Imperious shrouded himself in Dark Aura as the three ultimate attacks struck him, blasting a hole in the roof.

Then, the three Avengers returned to their DISKs.

"Thank you… you saved me," Dr. Akatsuki to Lucia and her friends said in gratitude.

"Lucia! Everyone!" Coco called out as she and her friends all arrived at the warehouse.

"Dr. Akatsuki!" Noel noted.

"Looks like he's finally back to normal," Rina said.

"Thank goodness!" Hanon said.

"It appears you guys took care of the Dark Gate generator," Captain America said.

"Yeah. Blasted it to smithereens!" Iron Man confirmed. "And the others?"

Rina and Hanon revealed the DISKs of Iron Monger, Bi-Beast, and Kraven in their hands.

"Then it really is over," Vision said.

But then Imperious's laugh broke the celebratory mood. "Don't be so sure."

From the remains of the Dark Gate generator,

"Imperious!" Lucia said.

"Impossible!" Thor shouted.

"The Dark Dimension is more powerful than the likes of you puny insects!"

"But the Dark Gate is history! You've lost, Imperious! Face it!" Captain Marvel said.

"The Dark Gate is history, you say?" Imperious laughed. "You're all fools! With the amount of dark power manifested in your world, Dormammu can now open the gate HIMSELF!"

Then, a pillar of dark power rose into the sky once again, opening the Dark Gate once more.

The heroes all watched in shock as the Dark Gate increased in size.

"The time has come! Let the gate to the Dark Dimension open! The gate to the world of despair!"

To be continued…