Heroes coming together Chapter 26: A Knightmare in Gotham City, a Flash + Avengers Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize

Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.

Thanks a lot to gussygus26 and Brainstorm Sorcerer for their help with this chapter, hope the end result is enjoyed by all.

Here we go.

TW: Thank you for the review and glad it was fantastic, and glad the fight was masterfully done. Tell me about it on Megatron. Even Thanos and Zod is a 'maybe'. Glad to hear it.

Drew26: Thank you for the review. Bond might come later. You're fine on the typo, and some of them might appear.

Gallifrey 22.3: Thank you for the review and glad it was marvelously done. Thanks a lot and glad it was spot-on and well done. Glad to hear it. There are plans for both of them later in the series.

DCMarvel heroes: Thank you for the review and glad it was spectacularly amazing. Glad it was a treat, and glad you liked that. True that. More like the Injustice League were arrogant enough to try and recruit him. Indeed. Glad to hear it.

Chapter 26- The Dream Master returns

Dream World

A Nightmare on Elm Street theme plays

"Kids. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em", a burnt, disfigured man wearing a red-and-green striped sweater, and a brown fedora with a metal clawed brown leather glove on his right hand said. "Its known to all the fuckers around here who I am. The bastard son of a hundred maniacs. Of course, none of those maniacs are more maniacal than I am."

He let out a long and cruel laugh as he said that, before tapping the clawed glove on his left shoulder. "I killed children, many of them. And the fucking courts had an issue with their filing, so I got let off. But those goddamned parents of those stupid kids took justice into their hands, and then burnt me alive."

He laughed again. "The idiots did not realize that they had created something worse- me! Three Dream Demons approached me, and gave me powers, so I could terrorize the town of Springwood at the one time they're all vulnerable- when they sleep!"

As the man was being burnt to death in a fire set by the vengeful mob of parents outside, three Dream Demons appeared before him, and granted him the ability to enter and kill in dreams, provided that he had ample fear to use as a power source.

The man paced around, grinning evilly. "See, with other killers, you can run from them, you can hide from them, you can move to a different place and never see them again! But you always have to sleep! And that's when I find you…and make you my bitch, because this is my world! Freddy Krueger's world! And you all know it!"

Freddy killed Glen Lantz by dragging him into his bed and drained all of his blood before shooting it into the air.

Freddy took out Ron Grady by slashing his torso through a door.

Freddy killed Nancy Thompson by gutting her with his bladed glove.

Freddy tossed Kristen Parker into a furnace in the Dream World and burnt her alive.

Mark Gray was turned into paper and sliced into pieces by Freddy.

John Doe's parachute was cut by Freddy and he falls into a bed of spikes in the Dream World.

Mark Davis' body was burnt alive and he was finished off by a slash to the face.

He grunted in annoyance. "Of course, those idiots have stopped me so many times now, it has gotten so boring. But I always come back!"

Nancy made Freddy vanish by turning her back on him.

Jesse and Lisa made Freddy stop possessing the former.

Nancy stabbed Freddy with his own glove and he vanished after his skeleton was given a funeral.

Alice made Freddy vanish by showing him his reflection and making him lose the souls of his dream victims.

Alice trapped Freddy's soul inside his mother's ghost.

Maggie/Kathryn gutted Freddy with his glove and slammed a pipe bomb into his heart, which blew him to pieces.

Lori decapitated Freddy with Jason Voorhees' machete.

"Of course, I had to find that stupid dog", Freddy groaned.

Freddy's hand burst out of the ground and dragged Jason's hockey mask to Hell, laughing.

"He worked well for me before, then he had to take my victims from me!"

Freddy was terrorizing Gibb Smith in the Dream World, when in the real world, Jason impaled Gibb, and Frisell, who was trying to rape her unconscious form, with a broken piece of pipe, killing them both, while he hurled Frisell's body away, and because of that, dream Gibb died in front of Freddy, enraging him at the fact that Jason had stolen his kill.

"Then it came down to a one-on-one between us, you know how fun it is…when you're in my world."

Freddy turned Jason into a little kid who was still afraid of drowning in water, and later, Jason started reliving his drowning.

"Then that bitch had to drag us to the real world, it was less fun then."

In the burning cabin, Freddy kicked Jason in the nuts, but it hurt him more, as Jason threw Freddy into a wall, then picking him up, slammed his body through a window, and ran with him, shattering all windows, before breaking the door open and throwing Freddy away.

"After everything is said and done, here we all are, and I'm still kicking. Now I'm gonna return to Springwood, and kill some more fuckers, its so much fun seeing them running around scared of me."

At that moment, a voice spoke. "Freddy Krueger."

"Huh?" Freddy looked around in confusion. "Who is there? This is my world!"

"You can't see me, but I'm here, Freddy. I want you to do something for me."

"In your dreams, bitch! Oh wait, this is the Dream World!"

Suddenly, the entire Dream World started changing shape, before slowly coming apart, as Freddy's eyes widened in horror. "How can this be? I am the Master of the Dream World!"

"And I am beyond that, Krueger." At that moment, the Dream World was fixed again, as if it had never started coming apart. "But I will not destroy this world, because I want to be reasonable."

Realizing there was nothing he could do, Freddy decided to listen to the voice. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to go to Gotham City, and meet a man named Jonathan Crane, a scientist and professor who used to teach in the Gotham City University, but got fired and disgraced because he was conducting unethical experiments on the faculty and students to test some theories about fear."

"Why do you want me to go to Gotham and meet this guy?"

"He is now creating a toxin, that can spread fear throughout the city", the voice revealed, to Freddy's surprise. "And we both know how much you enjoy it when people are scared. You can help him, cause some chaos, and kill some people. I am sure that will be very appealing to you."

"Just one thing- Gotham City isn't aware of me much, not like Springwood."

"With my power behind you, you do not need to be known all that much", the voice told Freddy. "Now go, kill everyone you can, Freddy."

"Oh I will, with a lot of pleasure, mine, not theirs", Freddy said with another grin.

Earth-1, Gotham City

Jonathan Crane was feeling tired, after another day of work to make his fear toxin. Not much was left to do now, it'd take a day or two more maximum, and then the entire city would learn the true meaning of fear.

They had disgraced him over what he'd done to find out the nature of fear, but now they would all experience it first-hand from his toxin, all of their worst fears coming to get them.

He dropped onto his couch, closing his eyes after a yawn, when he suddenly heard a strange noise, and some kind of humming.

A Nightmare on Elm Street theme plays

Groaning, he opened his eyes, finding himself in a place that was all red. It was a boiler room!

Standing up, he looked around, hearing some singing from what sounded like little girls.

"One, two, Freddy's coming for you

Three, four, better lock your door."

As Crane walked around cautiously, he saw three girls in white, two of them holding a rope as the third one was skipping on it, and they looked at him, continuing to sing.

"Five, six, grab your crucifix

Seven, eight, better stay up late."

Suddenly, all of them bled from their eyes, and exploded in a blast of blood that splattered on Crane, frightening him as he jumped.

"Nine, ten, Freddy's back again!"

This was not a little girl, this was a gruff, distorted voice of an old man, and on hearing that, Crane turned around to see a man with a burnt, disfigured face, wearing a red-and-green striped sweater, and a brown fedora with a metal clawed brown leather glove on his right hand.

Freddy started. "You have been diagnosed with a severe case of fear, doctor. Luckily for you, I am in the hou-"

"You're Freddy Krueger, aren't you?" Crane asked, cutting him off, as Freddy stopped.

"You know me?"

"I've heard legends about you, what you can do, what you look like", Crane said, looking Freddy up and down. "The fear you made Springwood feel when they fell asleep….the raw application of it, making them face their worst fears in their dreams….reading about you is what inspired me. Now I am going to use my toxin to spread fear in Gotham City. Its an honor to meet you, Freddy Krueger!"

Freddy chuckled, and even though Crane was clearly enamored with him, he got scared.

"Always pleased to meet a fan", Freddy said with a little smirk, doing a little gesture with his glove. "Now, Doctor Freddy here supports your experiment, doctor. But, what do you say we add a little extra?"

"In what sense?" Crane inquired.

"I will add some of my powers into your toxin. Then, whenever the fuckers hallucinate after you dose them, I will come in and kill them. What do you say?"

Crane couldn't believe. He was going to work with his idol. "Yes, I accept this. I will happily work with you! They say never meet your heroes. But I've met mine, and I couldn't be happier about it."

At that moment, to Crane's shock, Krueger cut open his own chest, revealing a silver light inside, that he pulled out with his other hand, and handed it to Crane. "Use this."

Earth-1, Gotham City

Crane woke up on his couch with a gasp, wondering if he was just dreaming due to how excited he was to finally start his experiment regarding with the whole city.

Then he felt something in his hand, and lifted it up, surprised to see the silver light Freddy had given him was still in his hand, in the real world!

It was a dream, but it had actually happened! Freddy Krueger was real! And he was working with him!

"This is going to be interesting", Crane said with a smirk.

Walking to his formula, Crane dipped the silver light into it. It glowed briefly, and then the glow subsided. It was time for his experiment to begin.

Middle-earth

Strider, Spike, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin had left Bree by way of a concealed gate, with everyone following Strider's lead, including Spike, as he'd no other choice.

They came near a woodland as Frodo inquired. "Where are you taking us?"

"Into the wild", came Strider's response, the group of six walking through the woodland now, Strider in the lead, looking around and walking forth, maneuvering expertly. He observed some moss, smelt the air, and lead them on.

"It's like he makes a living here", Spike whispered to rest. He could smell and observe, but it was due to his Vampire senses rather than training.

Merry walked faster to catch up to Frodo. "How do we know this Strider is a friend of Gandalf?"

"I think an agent of the Enemy would look fairer, but feel fouler."

"He's foul enough," Merry grumbled.

Strider tipped his head a little, clearly having heard him.

"Oh come on, I feel fouler than he ever could!" Spike said to Merry with a smirk. "Look at me! I'm clearly evil!"

"Yeah, evil who has saved us", Merry said, all walking further, Spike looking stunned.

They were not scared of him, and did they…..like him? Did he deserve it?

"But where's he leading us?" Sam asked, leading Bill.

Strider had overheard the whole exchange.

"To Rivendell, Master Gamgee. To the house of Elrond."

Sam's voice was joyous. "Did you hear that? Rivendell! We're going to see the Elves!"

"Elves, eh?" Spike wondered, looking shocked. "Elves are real?"

"You don't know of Elves?" Frodo inquired, confused.

"Not until now!" Spike said.

The walk through the woodland continued, at one point they had to protect themselves from some rain, and eventually they reached the top of the hills where snow covered the ground.

Strider was looking around as the Hobbits were congregated around Bill, unloading pots and pans. Strider then turned around. "Gentlemen, we do not stop until nightfall."

"What about breakfast?!" Pippin inquired.

Strider pointed out. "You've already had it."

Pippin matter-of-factly responded to him. "We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?"

"Wait, how many breakfasts do you lot have?" Spike inquired. "I mean, we only have breakfast, lunch and dinner."

Strider walked off as Merry, who was a bit more serious than Pippin, advised his cousin while putting his bag on his shoulder. "Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip."

Pippin nervously asked Merry. "What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?"

"Right, elevenses is new", Spike muttered. "This world is fun."

Merry gently told Pippin. "I wouldn't count on it." An apple flew from over a treetop into Merry's hands. Merry patted Pippin on the shoulder, giving it to him and walking off as another apple flew over but Spike caught it before it could hit Pippin's head, and gave it to him. "Here, mate."

Merry called out, annoyed. "Pippin!"

As they walked off, Spike muttered to himself. "If they don't know about brunch, I'll make sure they never find out! Otherwise, I'd be worse than Angelus!"

They walked through to the edge of the snowy forest, crossing it.

If the Hobbits and Spike had thought the previous leg of the journey was bad, then this was absolute hell.

For some reason, Strider had decided going through a marsh would be the absolute best idea. No one else agreed but he was leading them.

And without him they would be lost so they had no other choice.

There were insects hovering near them too.

"I know what paths look like, and this ain't one!" Spike said, not sounding pleased at all.

"It is indeed a path less-trodden, but it is the safest one", Strider responded calmly as he continued onwards.

"Don't think drowning in the mud is safe", Spike called back, the mud leaking into his clothes, but Strider continued to walk. "I guess I know why they call you Strider- you just keep striding and striding and striding."

"And perhaps 'Spike' means grumbling in a tongue I do not know of?" Strider asked back, Spike sighing.

"Right, I thought you'd no sense of humor", Spike muttered.

Merry commented about the bugs. "What do they eat when they can't get Hobbit?"

"Each other", Spike joked, getting some snickers. "And drink the mud for water."

It was with great relief when they finally staggered out of the marshes, even if they were still dirty.

"Finally, no more striding through the mud, just normal ground", Spike sighed in relief.

"I think I stink", Pippin told the rest, sniffing his sleeve.

"The rest of us do too, you don't hear us telling the rest of the world, do you?" Merry asked him.

"I am just being honest", Pippin retorted.

"Being loud and honest are two different things", Frodo spoke. And everyone's mood was better now due to no marshes to wade through. Frodo tightened his belt. "I've become so thin. If I lose any more weight I think I'll be a Wraith."

"Do not speak of such things!" Strider said quickly, and with surprising earnestness.

"Come on mate, I thought you had a sense of humor." Spike said as they continued walking.

"There is nothing humorous about becoming a Wraith", Strider told him. "And you should hope you never see something like that happen."

Earth-1, Central City

There was an explosion at the bank, and the alarms blared, as the employees and customers all screamed in horror, when a spinning figure came in, looking like a tornado as it snatched the money from various people, and then it stopped, revealing a strangely dressed man, holding a top in his hand, and a bag of money in the other one.

"Now, you must be wondering who I am. You can call me- Top!" The man declared. "Because this robbery won't be topped!"

He spun around again, sending various people flying off as he snatched more money, when police sirens were heard, and he stopped with a chuckle, turning around. "Looks like the donut lovers are here!"

Some cops entered, led by Joe West and Patty Spivot, who aimed his gun at Top. "Freeze!"

"Greetings, Detective West!" Top greeted him mockingly, Joe's eyes widening in recognition. "And thank you…for turning me into this. I am now better than ever."

"Roscoe Dillon?" Joe asked in shock, realizing who this meta-human criminal was, before his eyes narrowed as his grip on his gun tightened while he growled in anger. "You're gonna pay for what you've done."

"You know him?" Patty asked, Joe nodding.

"Make me!" Roscoe Dillon aka Top mocked as he spun, causing Joe and some other cops to shoot at him, but his spinning was so fast it deflected some of the bullets, and a few cops were hit, going down, as one died, causing Joe to stop.

"Hold your fire!" He ordered, causing the other cops to stop, as Top stopped spinning.

"Toodles!" He said, then spun again, breezing past the cops, and getting out of the bank.

Joe just stood there, frozen, looking devastated. He should have taken this bastard out before for the pain he had caused to his friend and his family.

Gotham City

Officer Martinez was in the coffee shop, taking a well-deserved break after another hectic day at the GCPD department.

He was dipping a biscuit into his coffee, and eating it, as Crane walked into the shop, ordering a coffee for himself, before he noticed Martinez, and sat in front of him.

"Morning, officer", Crane greeted him pleasantly.

"Morning", Martinez replied, finishing his biscuit. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, officer, and being around you makes me feel even better", he said, confusing Martinez. "You're one of the GCPD, the police force who fearlessly defend our city. The city should be proud of you."

Martinez was weirded out, but still nodded, as Crane continued. "Our city lives without fear because of people like you….or does it? Are you all truly fearless?"

Martinez started. "Now, if you're done, I have-"

At that moment, Crane sprayed Martinez's face with his toxin, making him close his eyes and cough, gasping for breath.

"What did you do to me?" Martinez asked, looking back up, only to see he was on the street all of a sudden, and other cops were in front of him, their backs to him, all firing at a dark figure together.

"You're under arrest!" One of them was saying to it.

"Stop, or we'll continue to shoot!" Another said, all of them firing at the figure, as it was hit, and staggered back.

Suddenly, it started laughing, to their horror. "Now, now, you're all useless ever since the Bat showed up, and in front of me, you're even more useless! The people don't consider you their protectors, the Bat is their protector!"

As Martinez looked around, various people, common civilians, all appeared, booing at the cops and throwing things at them.

"We don't need you!"

"You're all inefficient!"

"Get lost and leave this city to Batman!"

The cops could do nothing but be booed and pelted, when the figure blurred towards one of them, and ripped through him just by running, and then he swung what looked like a hand with claws, chopping off another's head, before stabbing through the third's chest.

After that, he picked up one more. "I shall break the police! Because fuck da police!"

And then he brought that cop down on his knee, ripping him into two, before breathing fire on the last one, making him scream as he turned to ash.

Only Martinez was left now, and as he took out his gun with a shivering hand, the figure suddenly blurred in front of him, revealing himself to be Freddy.

"Boo."

Martinez screamed in horror, before aiming his gun. "What are you?"

"The Master of this place, and you're in my world, now, bitch!" Freddy taunted him, before raising his hands to either side. "Come on, do it!"

Roaring, Martinez fired, and Freddy was hit in the chest, staggering back, looking like he was dying, before he laughed, horrifying Martinez, and then made sounds with his throat as the bullet lodged in his chest disappeared, and then looking down, he 'vomited' the bullet out, causing it to strike Martinez's leg, as he fell down with a gasp while his leg bled.

In the real world, Martinez, unaware of his surroundings, fell down with a gasp, a bullet wound in his leg too, as others surrounded him in fear.

Freddy laughed as Martinez grunted in pain, while Freddy sped to him, and knelt near his bleeding leg. "Oh, are you hurt? Don't worry, Doctor Freddy will help you."

With that, Freddy's outfit turned into one of a doctor, as he said. "This requires….amputation!" Suddenly, he produced a saw, making Martinez's eyes widen as Freddy ran it over his leg, making him scream in agony while blood spurted out, and then his leg was separated from his body.

In the real world, the people were screaming in horror as they saw Martinez's leg get split from the body, blood gushing everywhere.

"Ah, the pain, Doctor Freddy can help with that too, hear, you won't scream in pain again", Freddy 'assured', then swung his claws as Martinez's head went flying, and fell down.

The people all screamed in horror as Martinez's head flew up by itself and then fell down, the good cop having died, and no one could even tell how.

Central City, STAR Labs

"You wanted to see me, Joe?" Barry asked as he walked up to his foster father.

"Yeah, its about the meta-human that robbed the bank earlier today. Calls himself Top", Joe told him.

"We'll stop him", Barry assured Joe, then noticed his look. "Something personal about this?"

Joe gestured to some seats nearby, as he and Barry sat down. "I've a very good friend, I've known him since high school, he runs a shelter for the homeless of this city. His name's Robert Hawkins."

Barry listened as Joe continued. "This happened back when Wells…Thawne, was about to launch his Particle Accelerator. There were protests all over the city. One protest…well, it got violent. People were injured. Robert's wife, Jean Hawkins, she was a nurse."

A pit of dread formed in Barry's stomach as he noted Joe's use of past tense in regards to Jean. "She worked until late at night because of this, even though her shift was done. And she'd bought a top for one of the kids at the shelter. After she was done, she started going back home, and then-"

3 years ago

Jean Hawkins was walking back home, glad that all the patients that had been brought in had survived.

This protest had gotten ugly. She hoped the rest didn't turn out like that, or more people would be hurt.

She looked at the top she'd bought for one of the kids with a smile, as the kid really liked those, and wanted to play with one.

"Give that to me!"

Jean looked in the front to see Roscoe Dillon aiming a gun at her, and was frightened.

"I said give that to me!"

"My purse? Sure, you can have it", Jean said, reaching for it.

"Not that! The top!" Roscoe snarled. "I want that top!"

"No, please not that!" Jean begged. "Its for a kid at the shelter. He likes playing with them."

"I like them more!" Roscoe sneered. "Give it to me or…"

Jean didn't reply, just staring at Roscoe.

Roscoe pulled the trigger.

Present Day

Joe looked distressed, as Barry put a hand to his shoulder. "I was the cop called to the scene. It was…it was devastating, seeing her like that. I wanted to bring Roscoe to justice. You were in Starling City, so I couldn't use your help. I still managed to track him down, but an explosive he'd placed distracted me. Then he knocked me out and escaped. I never saw him again…until today at the bank, where he'd powers."

"I'm sorry, Joe", Barry said sadly.

"Robert and I….we don't talk as much as we used to since then. Only once a year now", Joe sighed.

"I promise you, Joe, he will be brought down", Barry assured him as the two got up, and then he realized something else. "Did Robert and Jean have any kids?"

"Yeah, they've a daughter. Her name's Sharon. And a son, Virgil", Joe confirmed. "He was the same age as you, Barr."

Barry knew what Joe was speaking of, and nodded. "Can you give me their address?"

Middle-earth

At night, they stopped to rest as Strider carried a deer he had killed over his shoulder, laying it before the Hobbits and Spike for eating.

"I'm not hungry right now", Spike told them all, then turned around, discreetly drinking some of the pig's blood.

Later, at night time, the Hobbits were asleep, and even Spike was lying down to rest himself.

Then he heard the sound of soft singing, and turned to see it was Strider, his back still to them.

"Tin viel elvanui,

Elleth alfirin ethelhael

O hon ring finnil fuinui

A renc gelebrin thiliol."

Strider's voice was giving credibility to his thought that everyone in Middle-earth had natural singing talent.

"Who is she?" Strider whirled his head around to see Frodo, and also knew Spike was awake. "This woman you sing of."

"'Tis the lady of Luthien- the Elf-maiden who gave her love to Beren, a mortal." Strider turned back around.

Frodo asked another question. "What happened to her?"

Strider was solemn. "She died."

Strider turned back around. "Get some sleep, Frodo."

Frodo nodded and closed his eyes as he said to Spike. You as well."

"This story, what's it about?" Spike asked.

"The love between a mortal Man and an immortal Elf-maiden", Strider explained, and Spike felt struck for a second, which said a lot since he was soulless.

"Guess sometimes things just ain't so happy", Spike said with a sigh, thinking of Buffy. She had kissed him, and spent time with him, but he was never sure if she'd truly love him, considering who he was, and what he was.

Earth-1, Central City, Hawkins House

Robert Hawkins and his daughter Sharon Hawkins were making family dinner together, as Virgil Hawkins and his best friend Richie Foley sat at the table, waiting for it.

"We're gonna like it, right?" Richie asked Virgil quietly.

"My dad's stuff, yeah. Sharon's…not so much", Virgil confessed. "Still, let's eat it all."

"I can agree to that", Richie said, then noticed Virgil's look. "You all right?"

"The guy that did it…he's back", Virgil said in a growl. "And a meta-human now. Why does he get to be here with these powers, and not her?"

"I'm sorry, man", Richie said sadly.

In the kitchen, Sharon panted, feeling a little tired, as Robert suggested. "Maybe you can take a backseat?"

Sharon started. "No daddy, I think I'm-"

"Overworked", Robert said in no uncertain terms, then his expression softened as he put a hand to her shoulder. "I know what you're trying to do."

"What?" Sharon asked, pretending like she didn't know.

"Ever since yours and Virgil's mom died…you've been trying to be the woman of the house", Robert noted, then assured her. "You don't need to be, Sharon. Not if you're gonna overwork yourself with everything, all right?"

Sharon sighed, then nodded. "All right, daddy." She looked up at him. "I just miss her so much."

"I know, sweetheart. I miss her too", Robert said, hugging her, when there was a knock on the door.

The two walked towards it, and opened the door, and were shocked to see the Flash standing there.

"F…Flash?" Sharon asked in shock.

"Hi", Flash greeted her, then looked at Robert. "Hello, Mr. Hawkins. I'm the Flash."

"Hello…" Robert greeted him, the two shaking his hands. "Why are you here?"

"We've a mutual friend- Joe West", Flash said, as Robert put the pieces together.

"This about Roscoe?" Robert inquired.

"I promise you, I will stop him, but this is about something else", Flash confessed, then asked. "Is your son home? I wanted to speak with him privately."

Robert was confused, but this was the Flash. No harm done.

"Sure." Robert and Sharon stepped aside, allowing the superhero to enter, as Sharon quipped. "Virgil, you're famous!"

"What?" Virgil asked from the dining room.

"Someone wants to talk to you, son", Robert said, causing Virgil and Richie to come out, and their jaws dropped on seeing the Flash there.

"Oh my God! It's the Flash!" Richie said in awe. "The Flash is here!"

"You want to talk to me?" Virgil asked in surprise, Flash nodding.

"Could you sign my notebook?" Richie asked suddenly, producing his notebook.

"Sure thing, buddy", Flash said, kneeling down as he took Richie's pen and gave him his autograph. "Here."

"Hooray!" Richie said happily, then looked between Flash and Virgil. "Ah right, go ahead, have your talk."

"Come", Virgil said, leading Flash to his room, as Flash gave the other three a nod, then followed him, with Virgil opening the door to his room upstairs, allowing Flash to enter first, while he entered next and shut the door.

"This about Roscoe?" Virgil then asked.

"I will stop him, I promise", Flash said to him. "I know about….what happened." That's what he was here about.

"It's been so hard without her", Virgil confessed, sitting down, Flash noting the open wound the kid still carried. He could relate. Every action he'd taken since that night was about his mom, in one way or the other.

And until recently, when he'd finally let Patty in, the hurt hadn't really gone away.

"But I've tried to be strong, be the best kid she wanted me to be", Virgil noted. "I don't know if I can do it without her, but I try. My father, Sharon, Richie, they all help. But…"

"You feel like you're still alone, and don't really feel comforted by much", Flash said, Virgil looking up at him. "Don't you?"

"….Yes", Virgil confirmed.

"I lost my mom too, Virgil, at the same age as you. She was taken from me", Flash confessed.

"Really?" Virgil asked in shock.

"Really", Flash nodded. "They thought my father had done it, and put him in prison for a murder he did not commit. I was adopted by a good man. He raised me the best he could…but on some level, I never really got past losing my mom. Everything I've done since then until recently, it was all about her in one way or the other, and about my dad. I put my life on hold."

"Why are you telling me this?" Virgil asked.

"I know what it feels like, Virgil. I know how much it hurts, how alone you feel even with people around you", Flash assured him it was normal to feel this way. "But you have your dad and your sister. Don't push them away, let them in. Don't put your life on hold."

Virgil looked like he was about to cry, as Flash got up with a smile and gave the young boy a comforting hug, that he returned.

"I admire Green Arrow and Batman, but you've always been my favorite", Virgil confessed as they parted.

"Thanks, I appreciate it", Flash told him.

"No, I appreciate this", Virgil said, giving him a watery smile as Flash nodded, and then sped off, causing Virgil's hair and clothes to flutter.

Gotham City

Bruce watched the news, his face grim. "Officer Martinez was enjoying a coffee on his usual break, before he seemed to snap into a daze. Then, injuries appeared on him out of nowhere, and he died via decapitation. None of the witnesses can tell us how it happened."

Bruce sighed, shutting the TV off, Alfred behind him. "What do you think?"

"Martinez was a good man, he did not deserve this", Bruce said, getting up. "As for what happened….I'm sure it was not normal."

"What do you mean by that?" Alfred inquired.

"There are many things in this world and other worlds that are not normal", Bruce noted, when they looked up at the sky and saw the Bat-Signal's sign there.

"I need to go."

Gordon shut off the Bat-Signal, then turned around to see Batman standing there. "You know why I called?"

"Yes. I'm sorry about Martinez, he was a good man", Batman told Gordon. He was one of the few cops in Gotham who was not corrupt.

He'd make sure his murderer was brought to justice.

Gordon simply nodded, then sighed. "We're not sure what it is, he was just there, having his coffee and biscuits, then he went into a daze, a bullet appeared in his leg, then his leg was gone, and then his head."

Gordon looked distressed just thinking about it. "Who could have done this?"

"No one normal", Batman said grimly, turning around. "Anything else you have for me?"

"One witness did say they saw him talking to some man before it went down, and the guy was gone by the time it happened, but they didn't get a look at his face", Gordon confessed. "That's all I can tell."

"I'll find who did this", Batman promised, thinking about the Chucky mess from Star City he'd heard about, and then Vandal Savage, an immortal who was trying to kill reincarnated lovers.

This was not up his alley, but someone else had experience in this area.

Using his grapple gun, he swung away from Gordon, and got onto another building, some distance away, then tapped one of his 'ears', using the communication device inside as a call was placed to one of the special phones he'd given to only two people so far.

As the person on the other end picked up, Batman said. "I need your help..."

Middle-earth

Amon Sul had probably been a great structure once. However, all its glory had been stripped away by time and the weather. All that was left now was its foundations, sticking out of the bleak landscape like a crown of jagged stone.

The sun was setting behind them. It was the first time that day that they'd actually seen it. Now, it cast faint golden rays across the clouds, staining them in delicate hues of orange and pink.

Strider looked up at it and told the others some minor history. "This was the great watchtower of Amon Sûl." He turned to them all. "We shall rest here tonight."

"At least we get to rest somewhere", Spike muttered.

After the climb was done, the Hobbits dropped their bags and sat down, weary, as Strider looked down, Spike behind him.

"I would give you swords, but you have the Daggers of Westerness", Strider noted, as the Hobbits unsheathed their swords.

"I've one too", Spike said, lifting it up with the sheath.

"I'm going to have a look around", Strider ordered. "Stay here."

He left, but Spike had a look in his eye. He looked at the Hobbits again, and heard a sound. It told him once more, about how Buffy would love him, and both could live together forever, all he had to do was take it.

Not realizing it, Spike was already walking towards the Hobbits.

At the last moment, Spike gasped while holding his head.

"Are you all right, Spike?" Frodo inquired.

"Stay away from me!" Spike said. "Bloody Hell! I am better than this!" A little ring could not control him! He was the Big Bad! "I'm gonna join our striding friend."

With that, he walked off.

Strider walked down, then stood still. "You need not follow me like a robber. Walk with me if you want to have a look around."

Spike sighed, walking next to him as he asked. "How do you do that?"

"Do what, Spike?" Strider started collecting some firewood.

"Sense me, and not tire and all that", Spike clarified, joining him in the firewood collection.

"I am a Ranger, I have lived in forests for a long time, we learn to hone our senses for tracking", Strider told him, but didn't elaborate, before surprising Spike with his next question. "You are of a different world, are you not?"

Spike was dumbstruck. "How did you know?"

"The way you speak, the way you dress", Strider simply said. "I have been to a different world myself, and it was nothing like this one. You do not resemble any of the Men from Middle-earth I've seen."

"Huh? You're a smart one, aren't you, huh?" Spike asked with a smirk. "Could you get me home?"

"As long as you help me safeguard the Hobbits, I will help you", Strider assured him. "Once we get to Rivendell."

"I'll do that", Spike shrugged. "They're a merry little lot, don't want them hurt now, do we?"

"No, we do not", Strider agreed.

Frodo was asleep, then he woke up at the sound of the others cooking food.

Pippin's voice asked. "Can I have some more?"

Merry's voice was saying. "Want some tomatoes Sam? Great tomatoes."

Frodo got up and rolled over to see the Hobbits sitting around a fire, eating. "What are you doing?!"

Merry told the younger Baggins. "Tomatoes, sausages, nice crispy bacon."

Sam held out some. "We saved some for you Mr. Frodo."

Frodo rushed to the fire, stomping on it. "Put it out you fools! Put it out!"

Pippin groaned. "Oh that's nice! Ash on my tomatoes!"

A Nazgúl's screech was heard through the darkness, and the Hobbits were alarmed.

They rushed to the edge and saw the Nazgul arriving on horses.

Panicking, the Hobbits rushed up the steps to the top, slowly coming to the center.

Frodo whirled around as one Nazgul stepped up, its footstep thumping loudly while it drew its sword.

4 more Nazgul then appeared, swords drawn, and all marched to them in coordination, the whole thing looking like a macabre horror.

They were shaking a little as the most powerful of the Nazgul reached further.

Sam charged. "Back you Devils!"

He struck the Nazgul's sword twice but couldn't even phase it as he was thrown aside to a corner, hitting a stone as he lay in a huddle on the ground.

Merry and Pippin realized that the Nazgúl were after Frodo and the Ring, and stood in front of him, trying to guard him. One Nazgúl grabbed them and threw them in each direction.

Frodo backed off, dropping his sword, and then fell backwards. He heard the Ring whisper, and took it out of his pocket, looking at it as the whispers got louder. The urge to put it on was getting stronger each second, overriding his common sense.

The most powerful Nazgul "saw" this, and drawing his dagger walked towards him. Frodo tried to crawl backwards, but the wall stopped him.

Trapped in a corner, the Nazgul leader came closer, and raised his dagger, when Frodo gave in to his urges put on the Ring.

His world changed to a whirling mist, and he saw the Nazgúl for what they were. They were not in black hooded cloaks but rather in white robes, their bodies a blinding white, but their old and wise faces seemed torn by torment.

They were great Kings of Old, now slaves to Sauron.

The Nazgul leader reached for Frodo's hand, but after a minor struggle Frodo drew it back, and so the Nazgul leader stabbed him in his left shoulder with his dagger.

Frodo screamed in agony, feeling the blade's dark power coursing through him, when a roar was heard as the leader pulled his dagger out and looked up to see Strider leaping down, a sword in his right hand and a flaming torch in his left, while Spike leapt down behind him, his sword drawn too, with another torch.

Frodo managed to take off the Ring and appeared back in the "real" world, screaming in pain. "Aaaahhhh!"

"Frodo!" Sam ran over to Frodo.

"Oh Sam!" Frodo gasped in pain.

Strider was doing the best against the Nazgul because for whatever reason, their aura of fear was not affecting him at all. Spike was affected, and stopped in front of one, and saw there was no face inside the hood, just an abyss of darkness.

Strider waved the torch to make one Nazgul back off and ducking to avoid another's swing, set it on fire as it screeched in pain.

"Blimey! I am the Big Bad!" Spike screamed and before the Nazgul could get him, he struck its face with the torch, making it back off with a screech, as Strider got one more in that time.

Spike rushed at another one and as it turned, he struck it with the torch too, causing it to be set on fire.

Strider stood, a Nazgul trying to sneak away behind him, but he turned around and threw the torch at it, setting it on fire too as it screeched and ran off.

"How didn't those things affect you?" Spike asked Strider, who was prevented from answering.

"Strider!" Sam called out, the Hobbits now around the wounded and gasping Frodo. "Help him Strider."

Strider lifted the dagger. "He's been stabbed by a Morgul blade." The blade vanished as they looked at it. "This is beyond my skill to heal. He needs elvish medicine."

Strider carried Frodo away from Weathertop down. "Hurry!"

The rest followed him as Spike asked. "What's a Morgul Blade?"

"It will make him like one of them", Strider revealed, Frodo gasping in horror as Spike looked horrified too.

"No!" He said firmly. "That won't happen."

Sam said. "We are six days from Rivendell. He'll never make it!"

"Give him to me!" Spike said, walking forth as he took Frodo from Strider. "I am going to help out!"

"What are you doing?" Strider asked, but was ignored as Spike put Frodo on the ground, then turned to Strider.

"If I do not stop, cut off my head", Spike said, confusing everyone, before he took his Vamp face, now horrifying the Hobbits.

"What are you?" Sam inquired.

"Is that why Ferny was scared of you?" Merry asked as well.

Spike looked at Frodo. "I am going to suck some of the blood out, reduce the poison inside." Frodo looked scared on seeing him, and Strider wanted to stop him, but something inside him told him to not stop Spike, just let him do it.

Slowly, Spike lifted Frodo's shirt, kneeling near the wound, as Sam called out to Strider. "Stop him!"

Spike saw the Ring at that moment, the dreaded Ring, the cause of everything going on right now. He felt drawn to it, reaching out his hand. If he took it, he'd have everything he wanted, especially Buffy.

A pained gasp from Frodo brought him back to his senses, and he closed his eyes, shaking his hand, shoving the chain holding the Ring away from his view. "Leave me alone!"

The rest were shocked by his outburst, as he held his head. "Damn it! Bad boy!" He punched his own face hard, then kneeled nearer to Frodo's wound.

Spike sank his teeth, making Frodo gasp, while Spike felt the chip affect him, making him grunt in pain, but he ignored it, and drank some of Frodo's blood through the wound, the blood having a foul taste due to the poison, but he wasn't going to let it affect him.

Continuing to suck it out, he lifted his head up, then spat the poisoned blood away, then drank some more of it, spitting it out once more, as slowly, Frodo's pained gasps slowed down.

Spike was thankful this wasn't normal blood, or he wouldn't have been able to stop. Poisoned blood gave him more incentive to stop drinking it.

He took his normal face again, grasping his head, still recovering from the pain, as he lifted Frodo up, and handed him back to Strider.

"You helped him", Pippin noted. "Thank you."

"Its all fine, mate", Spike assured.

"You are not a Man", Sam had to say. "You are a Demon, yet you did good. I can't believe it." He looked at Spike gratefully. "You have my thanks."

"And mine", Merry added.

Spike had no words. The Hobbits had been scared of him on seeing his face, yet after seeing him do good, they had moved past it, and thanked him.

But he was evil, he didn't deserve it.

"You are like a Vampire of the First Age, in a human form", Strider noted, before smiling. "Yet you did good. You have all our thanks."

Spike still didn't respond, processing this, someone else's feelings of gratitude because he'd done good for them, and the someone wasn't Buffy, Dawn, Willow or Tara.

Strider walked ahead. "Hold on, Frodo."

A voice in Spike's head told him he could have all the thanks from everyone and deserve it too, if he just held out his hand, and took it in this moment.

But, the feeling he got from the thanks of everyone, it was stronger than this, for he'd not felt like this in a long time.

"No, I don't need it", Spike snarled, resisting it for now, wondering how much longer he could do it.

"Why did you hit yourself?" Pippin then asked Spike innocently.

Spike looked ahead. "Because I'm a bad man."

Earth-1, Central City

Top was near a top store, preparing to rob it, when he heard the clicks of guns, and turned to see Flash, Joe and Patty standing there, the latter two aiming their guns as Patty snarled. "Don't move!"

"Then how will I get my tops?" Top mocked, only for Barry to rush towards him and give him a hard punch that sent him flying towards Central City Park, making him land there as Barry stopped near him.

"Give up now", Barry ordered.

"No", Top snarled as he stood up and started spinning, rushing towards Barry and striking him, sending him flying off and falling down, before he grunted and stood up.

"Don't say I didn't warn you", Barry said as Top stopped and aimed a gun at him.

"See ya, Flash", he mocked, and fired, only for Barry to catch the bullet easily.

He smirked at Top, and threw the bullet off, before running and snatching the gun, throwing it away, then was about to punch him again when Top started spinning. The punch struck him but he took it in this state, as Barry sped and struck at him, Top striking back while spinning too as both clashed.

Virgil was playing basketball alone when he heard the gunshot. "Huh? What's that about?" Curiosity got the better of him as he ran towards the direction he'd heard it from, reaching Central City Park as he saw Flash and Top duking it out.

"Its him", Virgil realized, and then saw the gun on the ground, while Top stopped spinning.

"Getting tired, Flash?" Top taunted.

"Not really, are you?" Flash asked, as Virgil remembered his mom's funeral, and how lonely he'd been since then.

Rage overtook him as he picked up the gun, about to aim it at the meta-human who'd taken his mom from him.

But then, he remembered what had taken her life. A gun. This same gun in fact. His hand started shaking as he looked at it.

If he used this thing to shoot that guy, wouldn't he be just as bad as him? Wouldn't he dishonor his mom? Wouldn't he no longer be the best boy she always said he was?

What was he even thinking? He was angry, very angry. But he couldn't disappoint his mom, or his dad. Or the Flash.

He'd been told not to put his life on hold, and he wasn't going to do that, or ruin it, just for revenge.

This gun was nothing but abhorrent. And so, Virgil threw it away, as he saw Top spinning, while Flash ran around him in circles, and with a roar, hurled a lightning bolt at him.

Only, the spinning Top managed to deflect the lightning bolt. Virgil's jaw dropped as he didn't have time to react.

The lightning bolt hit him, sending him flying off and falling down.

"VIRGIL!" Barry cried out in horror on seeing he was hit, and sped towards the unconscious boy. "Virgil! No!" Why did he have to come here? He felt for a pulse and to his relief, it was still there.

"You're such a sad excuse for a hero", Top mocked as he stopped spinning. "Instead of hitting me, you hit a little kid."

"Shut up! You don't get to talk about this kid!" Barry roared, knowing just how much Top had taken from this poor boy, and before Top could react, Barry ran at him and decked his face hard, dazing him as he fell down again.

Joe and Patty arrived at that very moment as Joe quickly cuffed the meta-human. "Roscoe Dillon, you're under arrest for the murder of Jean Hawkins, robbery, and attempted robbery."

Top groaned as Joe forcefully made him stand up, and shoved him forwards. "You have the right to remain silent…."

Patty saw the unconscious Virgil, and then Joe did too, their eyes widening, as Barry assured them. "He's alive."

Patty rushed next to him and shook him. "Kid?" With a groan, Virgil woke up.

"What happened?" He asked, as the superhero and cops sighed in relief.

"Your mom's murderer has been arrested, and you're alive", Barry told him, as Virgil saw Dillon in cuffs, then looked at Barry, Patty and Joe.

"Thank you", he said with a smile, walking up to Barry and hugging him. "Thank you."

Barry hugged him back. "You're welcome."

He nodded at Joe. "Pops would love to see you."

"I'll be by in a bit", Joe told him.

"You know, why don't I take Dillon to jail, and you two take Virgil home?" Patty asked, putting her gun away as she walked to the cuffed Dillon, shoving him forwards as she continued reading his right. "You have the right to an attorney…"

Later, Hawkins House

There was a knock on the door as Robert opened it to see Virgil on the other side, with Flash and Joe.

"Joe?" He asked in surprise.

"We got Dillon, Robert", Joe said as he walked in. "He is behind bars. And he won't be getting out."

Sharon appeared, having heard that too as she asked. "Really?"

"Yeah, really", Flash said with a nod as Virgil walked in and hugged his father, Robert hugging him back.

"You two did it", Robert realized, smiling at Joe who smiled back. "Finally."

He and Joe dapped each other like brothers, as Joe said. "Sorry it took me so long."

Robert shook his head. "Its fine, Joe. You did it, that's all that matters."

"Thank you, uncle Joe", Sharon thanked him as well, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek that he returned, as she then nodded at Flash. "And thank you, Flash."

Flash just gave them a nod, as he and Joe began walking out, while Robert said. "I'd love it if you two could come by the shelter sometime."

"We'll come for sure", Joe said, sharing another smile with his friend as he and Barry walked out, closing the door behind them.

"How are you feeling?" Barry asked.

"I feel like I've got some closure", Joe confessed, Barry smiling as he grasped Joe and ran back to STAR Labs, where Cisco, Caitlin and Henry waited for them.

"So, another meta-human down then?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah, just like he deserved", Barry told him.

"Good job", Caitlin said with a smile that Barry returned, as he looked at his father, who smiled.

"What you did for that kid, son…that was really good", Henry said with pride in his voice as he and Barry shared a hug.

"Your mom would be proud of you", Henry told him.

"I know, dad", Barry agreed with him.

Gotham City, Wayne Tower

Batman had snuck into the morgue, and taken a little blood sample from Martinez, and he'd just analyzed it alongside Alfred, finding out some kind of drug in it.

"What manner of drug is this?" Alfred inquired.

"Not seen any kind of it before", Batman told him. "Let's see if its on the market."

He looked up its components on his computer, and found something interesting.

"Huh?" Alfred looked at it. "So, this paper by-"

"Dr. Jonathan Crane", Batman noted. "Apparently, a combination of these chemicals can make a toxin that can cause people to experience their own worst fears. He wrote a paper on it." Batman researched more. "Then he was fired and disgraced for trying to carry out these experiments on the University faculty and students."

"I believe we've found the culprit then?" Alfred inquired.

"Yes, but there is something else in the drugs, that none of the analysis tools are able to recognize", Batman told him. "And this drug would only make someone hallucinate their fear, it does not explain his wounds or how he died. There is more to this."

Batman stood up. "Time to pay the doctor a visit."

Batman kicked open the door to Crane's house, only to find it empty. Grunting, he realized the man might have fled.

At that moment, his special phone rang, and he picked up. "Hello?...Right, I'll meet you there."

Universe-208, Coruscant, Shrine in the Depths

Blade walked further into the darkened hall, surrounded by black walls with no effigies or decorations. It was a far cry from the Jedi Temple above, and apparently that was the point. The hall began to curve, and there was nowhere else for Blade to go but forward. He hated this, it felt like walking into a trap with no idea what's on the other end. All he could do was rely on his senses to warn him, but even a half-Vampire could only do so much against the Force magic these Jedi had, and this shrine was made by the Sith.

"My way home, something I've been craving for a month, is beneath the temple?" It seemed so simple that it was too good to be true.

Based on Windu's expression, Blade was right. "It's not that simple. The Jedi Temple was built upon a Sith Shrine, to purge the Force vergence below of the Dark Side."

"Though the Temple has been rid of the Dark Side, it does not mean it is a safe journey for anyone, Jedi or not." Kit warned Blade. For many years, only a few bar the Council knew of the existence of Sith Shrine, a secret they intended to keep. However, they had to inform Blade, and in this instance, Master Vos. The disturbance, Blade, Captain Rogers, and now a gateway to outside the galaxy beneath the Temple, beside a vergence. Signs of great unrest that the Jedi could not ignore.

"The risk is too great." Master Mundi stroked his beard. "He has not been trained in our ways. I say we wait for another vision."

"Motherfucker, I choose my own risks!" Blade growled at the Cerean Jedi. "This is my way home, if you want to get in my way, I fucking dare you to try."

"Ease it back, buddy. Ease it back." Vos whispered beside him, pleading more like, as soon as he saw the looks of disapproval on Mundi's face, same with Windu, and a few others.

"This is our Temple." The Master of the Order stated to their guest.

"And I'm not your prisoner, I believe we agreed on that." The Daywalker countered.

Both men once more engaged in a stare down that made Vos nervous. If he was a gambler, he'd bet on Windu in the fight, but that didn't mean he wanted a fight in the first place!

It was Master Fisto that broke the tension. "Blade, we do not intend to stop you, merely to caution you."

"Dangerous to the mind, a Force vergence can be." Yoda added.

Blade finally broke away from Windu, to look at the little green alien. "It's a risk I'm willing to take."

A hum escaped the elder Jedi. He shut his eyes and focused. There was more to this than even they could understand, if they were meant to understand at all. "Answered, the Force has. Blade's way home, this is."

"But Master-"

"If this is the will of the Force, we have little choice but to follow." Master Tiin interrupted Mundi.

A sense of unease resonated within the Jedi, including Quinlan. However, Yoda had a point. A portal has opened below them, and Blade was within the temple, it was too much of a coincidence to ignore. They had little choice.

"Show you the path, we will."

The entrance to the shrine below the Temple had to remain secret, which meant Quinlan had to remain behind.

"So, this is it." The Kiffar Jedi started awkwardly. It didn't help that Blade was only staring at him behind those glareshades. Part of him didn't think the hybrid knew the concept of emotions if he hadn't seen it himself. "You gonna say something or will I have to say goodbye for the both of us?"

"You talk a lot anyway." Blade quipped, making Quinlan snort in surprise as he remembered their conversation on the ship. It did not seem that long ago, and at the same time, it did. Strange how time flies.

"And you barely talk as it is." Vos shot back. He got a slight tug on the Daywalker's lip. He counted that as a victory. Chuckling slightly, Quinlan offered his arm. "Take care of yourself, Blade."

Eyeing the arm, Blade waited a moment before clasping it with his own. "You too...Quinlan."

He gasped. "You said my name." Blade groaned and quickly walked away. "You finally said my name!" Blade couldn't walk any faster to the amused Yoda, before that voice that always grated on his nerves the moment he'd heard it spoke up again. "Keep up the practice, buddy!"

"We're not buddies."

Now

Maybe he should have shot the bastard before he left. Damn what the Jedi think.

After that, the little green dwarf led him to a plain meditation room where he raised his hand, and the floor opened, revealing a spiral staircase going down. "May the Force be with you," was the last thing the Grandmaster said before Blade descended, and the floor closed behind him.

Now, he was stuck walking through the dark until he found some mystical hole in the Universe that would bring him home.

Blade will never complain about his old life ever again when he gets back.

It was a long walk, that's all Blade could think about as he passed through a threshold and into a large, wide chamber. There were statues of hooded individuals in the four corners of the room, and there small dots of blue light in the room, like fireflies. However, what kept his attention was the glowing blue orb at the very center of the room.

There was no possible idea in the Daywalker's mind of what it could be, his only assumption is, this is the portal back to Earth. It was the only guess he had. He hoped he was right.

Blade walked forward, cautiously holding his hand out to the orb. The light coming from the orb seemed to get brighter the closer he got. The very moment Blade's gloved handed was about to make contact, something stopped him.

That something being a pale, clawed hand that gripped his arm like a vice. Blade sought out the owner, with a gun in hand, but stopped when he laid eyes on the monster in front of him.

Pale skin, like a Reaper, bald, with dark veins exposed on the head. Soulless, yellow eyes piercing through Blade's own while a grin exposing two fangs was aimed at him.

All breath escaped Blade. He was staring at...himself.

The monster's other hand grabbed at Blade's throat and threw him through the orb, the light shattering like glass, along with the floor as the Daywalker found himself falling twenty feet before crashing into another platform. Groaning and getting to his feet, Blade immediately grabbed the Darksaber in one hand, and a gun in the other.

"What the fuck?!" He whispered to himself as he looked around at the new space. There was a light coming from above, shining down to reveal this lone platform with cracks throughout, and shattered columns floating at each corner, and the faces belonging to the statues from before staring down at him.

Hearing a dark chuckle, Blade whipped around and fired, half a dozen bullets shot through a red mist into the silhouette within. Yet it did not stop the creature from emerging unharmed from the smoke.

Pressing the activation stud, Blade let the Darksaber come to life while holstering his now redundant pistol. "What are you?" Blade growled with every ounce of hate he could muster.

The monster did not answer, but he knew what it was. The body was pale, sickeningly so, and though the hair and tattoos were gone, Blade knew this was the monster inside that he fought for so long.

His monster. His Vampire.

His vampiric self held out his hand, and the mist gathered in his palm before it crafted a hilt identical to his original sword, but the blade was like a lightsaber. Unlike the red lightsaber of Dooku, which was a solid beam of light, this blade was unstable, volatile, dangerous.

He didn't get to ponder it more before it, and its wielder, disappeared in a puff of smoke. Blade whipped his head around, grasping the Darksaber with both hands, steadily moving his feet across the platform until he reached the center, his eyes focused in front of him, all his senses alert.

A slight shake in his breathing was the only sign of his trepidation.

The smell of Sulphur hit his nose, and Blade turned in time for his black blade to meet and create a screech that echoed in the chamber.

With that, they clashed, Blade blocking the vampiric Blade's lightsaber, the two ending up in a deadlock as the dark one pinned the Darksaber down and elbowed him away.

Blade blocked another blow and pushed it back, then leapt and spun to its other side, the two clashing again. Blade ducked and rolled to avoid his dark self's swing, then blocked another before rolling again, then rolled back as his dark self rolled after him, the two standing up and clashing, before Blade managed to elbow it away.

Then, Blade charged the dark one as both clashed, Blade pushing back and slashing his Vampire self's face, down the eye, only for it to heal in seconds, to his horror.

The Vampire Blade spun and swung as Blade leapt to the other side, avoiding, only for Vampire Blade to explode with lightning, destroying the platform and sending Blade falling onto another one, but he flipped and landed.

Blade quickly looked around for his darker half to reemerge. When he found it, the hunter could not stop himself from gaping at the sight of the Vampire hovering above the edge of the platform, or the broken pieces of columns levitating in his invisible grip

"Motherfucker."

The Vampire threw his hands forward, and the debris launched at Blade. He dodged, rolled, and jumped out of the way, but the last one was too close for him to dodge. Blade mustered his strength, his rage, and with a roar, shattered the stone hurled at him. There was no reprieve before his darker self teleported in front of him and launched a barrage of lightning. Like with Dooku, Blade was sent hurtling towards the ground, the pain unlike anything he felt until that moment on Tatooine. He could not stop his cries of pain, only ending when the electrocution ended. That pain gave way for more anger, and he focused that on his enemy.

Himself.

It teleported back over the platform, more debris seemingly appearing and launched forwards at him. But Blade did not avoid it.

Sliding under the first column, Blade jumped at the second and propelled himself at the monster he locked inside himself, grabbing it by the face as they fell into a void and landing punch after punch, giving it all his hate, before it turned them around and kicked Blade downwards, and crashed on yet another platform.

It teleported onto the other side, facing Blade, and the Daywalker roared in challenge before they blurred to the middle and met in a clash of sabers.

Blade slowly pushed the dark one back, then kneed it before throwing it up and to the other side. Blade slashed at its midriff, only for the Darksaber to pass through smoke, the dark one avoiding it and reappearing a few feet away.

Blade rushed his Vampiric self and leapt up, clashing against it thrice and pushing it back as it fell over the edge, only to grasp his leg and throw him down, as he fell to the edge of a rock, the dark one leaping on it too as Blade leapt and got behind it, throwing it down now.

He looked up to see it reappear on the platform, and it summoned pieces of various pillars to itself, then launched them at Blade as he leapt and ran up their lengths, then leapt over the platform, getting behind the dark one, before swinging his Darksaber.

Its head went flying off, Blade watching as it and the body fell off the edge, landing on the rock he'd occupied, before both exploded in a blinding light that sent Blade flying.

Blade opened his eyes with a gasp, drawing his gun and pointing forwards.

All he saw were trees.

Panting, the Daywalker rubbed his face and stood up, gun still held out before noticing something. He remembered those trees. Turning around, Blade looked down, and found the same cliff he fell off from before he reached Tatooine.

He was back at Mt. Wungadore.

After weeks of being surrounded by aliens, lasers, robots, and space wizards, Blade collapsed to his knees and let the exhaustion finally creep in.

He was home.

Sokovia, Hydra base

A tall, blonde-haired man held hands with a woman who'd long, red hair. They were clearly twins. The man's name was Pietro Maximoff while his sister was called Wanda Maximoff.

An announcement was being made.

"Report to your stations immediately. This is not a drill. We are under attack. We are under attack."

Outside, Natasha kicked a Hydra thug away from his truck and drove it as Clint fired his arrows around from the backseat. One of the thugs jumped at him from behind but Clint stabbed him with a taser arrow while Tony flew above in his suit, firing at thugs. One of them tried to fire at them from behind with a tank but Thor hit him with Mjolnir, throwing him off and with a roar, flew up to another platform and deflecting an attack, threw Mjolnir away while punching and kicking 3 soldiers away. He kicked away two who flew at him before grabbing the third and throwing him down. He then picked up a piece of wood and knocked two more out while Steve rode on his bike and grabbing a thug, dragged him on the ground, knocking him out. He then threw his shield and it ricocheted off the trees, hitting some more thugs and returning to his hands as he drove the bike into some thugs. One tank was firing around when Thor smashed it with Mjolnir and Hulk lifted it up and threw it at some of them before throwing some of them around.

And then, Natasha and Clint leapt from the truck, guns and bow at the ready, while Steve charged with his bike, Thor and Tony flew, the latter having raised Mjolnir, and Hulk simply rushed in with a roar.

One soldier fired at Thor but he was unaffected and killed him while Hulk also killed one and Tony flew around, throwing them or firing at them and Steve rode his bike.

Tony flew towards the castle, avoiding some shots but a barrier made him back off. "Shit!"

Steve exclaimed. "Language!" He then spoke to Tony's AI. "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."

Thor flew down at a Hydra thug, taking him down before throwing Mjolnir as he took some down with single punches. "Loki's Scepter must be here. Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." He called Mjolnir back but got out of the way, making it hit someone behind him as he caught it and continued fighting. "At long last."

Natasha threw a grenade at a truck firing around with a machine gun, taking down the men and punched a thug down before rolling and wrapping her feet around two of them, flipping them down. She then shot some down. ""At long last" is lasting a little long, boys."

Clint fired an arrow at a truck, taking it down. "Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise."

Tony asked from the air. "Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said "language?""

"I know!" Steve flipped, throwing his bike on a truck and taking it down. "It just slipped."

Inside the facility, Baron Strucker asked. "Who gave the order to attack?"

"Herr Strucker, it's the Avengers."

"They landed in the far woods, the perimeter guard panicked."

Strucker whispered to Doctor List. "They have to be after the Scepter." He asked the soldier. "Can we hold them?"

"They're the Avengers!"

"Deploy the rest of the tanks."

"Yes, sir."

Strucker ordered. "Concentrate fire on the weak ones. A hit can make them close ranks." He told List. "Everything we've accomplished... But we're on the verge of our greatest breakthrough."

List suggested. "Then let's show them what we've accomplished. Send out the twins."

"It's too soon."

"It's what they signed up for."

"My men can hold them."

Tony avoided some more shots and JARVIS informed him. "Sir, the city is taking fire."

"Well, we know Strucker's not going to worry about civilian casualties. Send in the Iron Legion."

Novi Grad

The Iron Legion flew in; to the civilians. "This quadrant is unsafe. Please back away. We are here to help. This quadrant is unsafe. Please back away. Please back away. We wish to avoid collateral damage and will inform you when this current conflict is resolved. We are here to help."

The civilians weren't in the mood though and some chanted "Avengers go home," while a man threw a bottle of acid at the Iron Legion, and it hit one of the bots in the head.

"We are here to help."

Strucker declared to his soldiers. "We will not yield. The Americans sent their circus freaks to test us. We will send them back in bags. No surrender!"

"No surrender!"

Then he whispered to List. "I am going to surrender. You will delete everything. If we give the Avengers the weapons, they may not look too far into what we've been—"

"The twins."

"They are not ready to take on—"

"No, no. I mean..." he pointed to where Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were standing, but are now gone, "…Twins."

Pietro sped out, holding Wanda while Clint fired around but a blur deflected his arrow. He tried to fire again but the blur tripped him and as he looked up, Pietro asked mockingly, "You didn't see that coming?" He then sped off.

Clint was about to fire again when a blast from behind hit him and he was down.

Natasha saw it and rushed him. "Clint!"

During that time, Steve was hit by Pietro but flipped to avoid falling. "We have an enhanced in the field."

"Clint's hit!" Natasha went over to where he lay, a bunker firing around. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" She saw the Hulk coming in, and he barreled through the bunker and destroyed it. "Thank you."

Steve threw his shield, taking down a few men before catching it and taking down some more. "Stark, we really need to get inside."

"I'm closing in. JARVIS, am I...closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?"

"There's a particle wave below the north tower."

"Great, I wanna poke it with something." Tony killed some men and destroyed a truck, taking a missile and threw it at the shield. The explosion destroyed it. "Drawbridge is down, people."

Steve called his shield back with the magnets Tony had made while Thor flew next to him. "The Enhanced?"

Steve explained. "He's a blur. Like Bart and Clark, though not as fast. Never thought Hydra would have something like this."

Natasha said from her end. "Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac."

Thor told Steve. "I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. You and Stark secure the Scepter."

"Copy that."

Several soldiers and tanks surrounded them as Thor said, "Looks like they're lining up." Steve put his shield in the way and said, "Well, they're excited." Thor hit the shield with Mjolnir and the resulting shockwave killed all the men and destroyed the tanks as Thor flew off. "Find the Scepter."

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony added.

Steve sighed. "That's not going away anytime soon."

Tony burst into the facility through a window and the men fired at him, though he was unaffected. "Guys, stop. We gotta talk this through." He then fired mini-missiles at them, taking them down and said, "It was a good talk."

One of the men groaned in pain, "No, it wasn't."

List was deleting the files when Tony blasted him out and walked out of his suit. "Sentry mode." He walked to the computers. "Okay, JARVIS. You know I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ."

Outside, the remaining thugs surrendered as Natasha told Steve. "We're locked down out here."

Steve replied. "I'll talk to Banner when I go out."

Tony was on the computers. "I know you're hiding more than files. Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room, real quick."

"The wall to your left...I'm reading steel reinforcement... and an air current."

Tony muttered to himself as he walked to the wall. "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door..." he pushed and the wall opened up. "Yay!" He entered through to a secret passageway, walking down the stairs.

Strucker was running when a thug fell in front of him and Steve arrived. "Baron Strucker, Hydra's number one thug."

They circled each other as Strucker said. "Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD."

"Well then technically, you're unemployed. Where's Loki's Scepter?"

"Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."

"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation." Wanda crept up behind Steve. "How many are there?" Wanda knocked Steve down with a blast, then disappeared behind a door.

Steve stood up, tapping his comms. "We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage."

He turned to Strucker. "You'll have to be faster than—" He's cut off mid-sentence when Steve kicked up his shield and used it to knocked him out. "Guys, I got Strucker."

"Yeah, I got... something bigger." Tony was in a secret room where he saw a dead Chitauri Leviathan. He looked around, finding remains of a suit and a lot of other technology. He then saw electricity sparkling. "Thor, I got eyes on the prize."

He walked up to Loki's Scepeter when Wanda crept up behind him and waved her hands.

Tony looked back and gasped as the Leviathan came alive and roared at him. The Leviathan then seemed to float out of a portal along with Chitauri hovercrafts. He turned around to see Hulk groaning, Natasha dead, Clint and Thor knocked unconscious and brutally beaten, and Steve's shield broken, with him lying on the ground.

He went over to Steve's body to check his pulse when Steve suddenly grabbed him. "You could've saved us." Steve died but Stark continued to hear Steve's voice in his head. "Why didn't you do more?"

Tony watched in horror while several Leviathans floated through a portal until he snapped back to reality.

Wanda watched as Tony looked around in horror, then summoned his suit gauntlet, while Pietro sped up next to her.

"We're just gonna let them take it?"

Wanda gave an insane smirk as Tony took the Scepter.

Outside, Steve walked to where Hulk was, roaring angrily before Steve called out. "Hulk."

Hulk turned around to face Steve, Natasha watching from a distance near the Quinjet, while Steve held up his hand. "The job's done, big guy. You can rest now. Thank you."

Hulk seemed to give a grin, and then he staggered away before he slowly transformed back into Banner, groaning.

Natasha walked into the Quinjet and came out with some spare clothes, walking over to Banner and handing them over to him. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem", Banner groaned as Natasha stood up, smiling at Steve.

"Nice work there."

"Thanks."

As Banner wore the spare clothes, they all walked to the Quinjet.

Earth-1, Gotham City

Batman swung onto a rooftop, finding Oliver Queen as Green Arrow standing there.

"So, what did you need my help with?" Oliver inquired.

"A cop, a good cop, he died a while ago", Batman told Oliver. "From what I've found out, a crazy doctor obsessed with fear sprayed him with a gas that made him hallucinate his worst fears, but, during the hallucination, a bullet appeared in his leg out of nowhere, and then his leg and head were cut off by themselves. No one knows how."

"So, you think something supernatural is involved?" Oliver inquired.

"That's the only here that'd make sense", Batman confirmed to Oliver. "I visited the guy's house, but he is not there."

"Well, if he is a doctor…" Oliver started. "That'd mean…"

"There is one place he can blend in", Batman realized. "Let's go."

In the city hospital, a patient, a teenage girl, was on a bed, coughing repeatedly due to her illness, when she saw a man in a doctor's coat standing above her.

"You're sick, right?" He asked her.

"Yes…" the girl trailed off. "Been here for a while."

"Well, I've a medicine that could help you out", he said, revealing his toxin to her, and before she could respond, he sprayed it on her face.

The girl coughed a little due to that, closing her eyes, then opened them, and saw that he was gone.

She breathed in, and then breathed out, feeling much better all of a sudden. Getting off her bed, she walked out of the room, not feeling even a little bit of fatigue, when before sitting up was becoming a pain for her.

The doctors and nurses were all moving around, none of them paying any attention to her, which was strange considering she was a patient out of her bed.

That moment, a doctor, who'd been looking at his notes, suddenly turned to look at her, and she gasped in horror on seeing his burnt and disfigured face.

"Let me check if you're feeling all right", he said to her, and took out a stethoscope, checking her heartbeat, while she was frozen in shock. "Heartbeat is fine, but you clearly have a sore throat. Doctor Freddy has a fix for that."

Suddenly, Freddy slashed her throat open with his knives.

In the real world, the girl's throat was slashed too, blood pouring out as the machine beeped, and a doctor and various nurses rushed in, all looking at the dying girl in horror and concern.

Crane had just run out of the hospital, when a Batarang flew past him, and hit the wall behind him, causing him to look up as Batman and Oliver jumped down.

"Its over, Crane!" Batman declared in anger. "You're done!"

"You can stop me, but you can't stop him!" Crane said, then let out a laugh.

"Who?" Oliver asked. "Who is killing those people?"

"Freddy Krueger!" Crane revealed, laughing even more.

"The Springwood Slasher?" Batman inquired. "He is real?"

"Considering everything we've seen, he might as well be", Oliver pointed out. "How is he doing it?"

"He added something to my toxin, when I spray people, they see their worst fears, and they see him, and he gets you!" Crane told them both.

"Spray me!" Oliver roared at Crane, to Batman's surprise. "Do it now!"

"What are you doing?" Batman asked Oliver.

"I've a plan, don't worry", Oliver told Batman. "I've read a little about the legend of Freddy Krueger after I found out about the supernatural. Just don't let him get away."

Batman nodded, and yes, Oliver was right. While he himself knew a lot of things, he usually did not look into the supernatural, up until finding out how real it was, and it was recent compared to Oliver.

"Time to see what the Emerald Archer fears", Crane said with a laugh, then sprayed Oliver on the face, making him gasp and back off.

He shook his head and looked ahead, only to see a ruined and desolate Star City in front of him. A Star City he'd failed to save.

Looking horrified, he fell to his knees. "No…" This couldn't be! This couldn't happen!

"Oliver Queen, you have failed this city."

Oliver stood up and turned around, only to see Deathstroke appearing out of nowhere, brandishing his sword with a flourish, which he brought down on Oliver, but Oliver used his bow to block, before leaping back to avoid another swing.

"Slade…" Oliver said in a whisper.

"Its so much fun to test my martial arts skills against you, kid", Slade said in a tone that sounded totally not like him, as he swung again but Oliver ducked before rushing him and grabbing his body, pushing him back, before Slade decked his abdomen and he was thrown away, falling on his back.

He looked up to see Slade bringing his sword down on him, and rolled away to avoid, before kicking his side, staggering him.

"You little bitch! I'm going to gut you!" Slade roared, and Oliver knew this definitely was not Slade.

Oliver tried to take out an arrow, only for it to turn into a snake, making him throw it away in shock, as he heard hissing behind him, and quickly threw off his quiver, all of his arrows becoming snakes now that were crawling towards him.

He turned to Slade, and before Slade could do anything else, Oliver swung his bow, and it hit the mask, sending it flying off, revealing his face.

It wasn't Slade, it was Freddy.

"So you figured it out, eh? You're smarter than I thought", Freddy said, as Oliver's bow suddenly started burning, and he dropped it with a gasp.

"You're done, Freddy", Oliver snarled, Freddy's normal look appearing.

"No, you are", Freddy quipped, pointing behind Oliver as he saw the snakes were really close, and two of them started wrapping around his legs, restraining him as he grunted, while he looked back at Freddy.

"You're in my world now, not your city. Goodbye."

With that, he struck forth with his glove-

Only for Oliver to grasp Freddy's arm, and twist, as he screamed in pain. "Aaaah! My arm!"

Oliver's eyes opened as he realized he was in the real world again, and he felt his quiver still strapped to him, the arrows all there, while his bow was on the ground, but it was just fine, and he still had Freddy's arm in his grasp, while there were no snakes either.

"How?" Crane asked in horror, Batman having pinned him to the ground.

"You're not dealing with normal people anymore", Oliver said with a smirk, looking at Freddy. "They can't control when they fall asleep or wake up. But we can!"

Oliver then flipped Freddy away to the ground, making him fall down while rolling, but he got up quickly. "I'm going to gut you both."

Batman stepped off of Crane, and walked forth, glaring at Freddy. "You will pay for what you did to Martinez, and the girl in there."

"Oh, so you think you can fight me?" Freddy mocked as both circled each other. "You just adopted fear, I am the Master of it."

"In your world, but now you're in ours!" Batman said, as Freddy struck out at him, but Batman side-stepped to avoid, then grabbing Freddy's arm, flipped him to the ground, before kicking him as he rolled away.

Crane had just gotten up, and was about to run, only for Oliver whack his face with his bow, making him stagger back as he gasped in pain.

Freddy stood up, and tried spin kick Batman, but he ducked to avoid, then kicked his abdomen instead, sending him down once more.

He walked towards Freddy, only for Freddy to kick his feet as he fell down, and Freddy tried to stab down on him, but Batman blocked with his gauntlets.

Crane tried to spray in Oliver's direction, but Oliver fired an arrow, cutting the strap that had attached the device to Crane's wrist, making it drop and shatter, as Crane yelled in horror. "NOOO!"

He was cut off when Oliver fired another arrow at him that turned into cords and wrapped around him, restraining him.

Batman pushed Freddy's glove back, then head-butted him, making him stagger back, before he stood up, and decked Freddy, then threw a Batarang that Freddy tried to slice but it exploded on his face, throwing him off and wounding him badly.

He tried to get up but Batman did a spin and kicked his knee, sending him down, before stomping on his chest as he gasped in pain.

"You….." Freddy trailed off.

Batman then grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. "You're done now." With that, he punched Freddy on the face, knocking him out, before standing up and walking to the restrained Crane. "As are you. I know just the place to put you both."

"Both?" Crane asked with a grin, and they turned around to see Freddy was gone.

"What the…?" Oliver trailed off.

"No…" Batman whispered in horror, as they realized Freddy would return to fight them another day.

Sighing, Batman turned to Oliver. "He may be gone, but thank you for your help. At least we got Crane."

"We'll fight Freddy whenever he returns", Oliver said, then revealed. "I've been thinking…recently, there have been a lot of bad guys against whom we've needed to team up."

"Savage, those droids in your city, Jason, now Freddy", Batman noted, realizing where this was going, as he'd been having similar thoughts too.

"Maybe we should try and establish a proper team", Oliver finally said. "In case there's a huge threat…"

"We can coordinate amongst ourselves", Batman agreed with a nod. He was a lone wolf for the most part, and wasn't even sure he'd be fully part of this 'League' thing, but the idea was sound. And sometimes, there were enemies that couldn't be beaten solo. "I'll get started on working up a base for us and this…League we want to make."

"Thank you", Oliver said, before firing an arrow as he used it to swing away.

Next day, Central City, Hawkins House

Virgil was sleeping, when electricity crackled around him, causing him to wake up, though he didn't realize why. "Huh?" He then remembered the last day. "Right."

He got out of bed, only for his blanket to start wrapping around his foot, to his shock, as the sound of electricity crackling was heard.

Virgil gasped, freeing his foot. "Thanks, static electricity."

As he walked forth, the blanket wrapped around him. He threw it off. "Down boy!" It wrapped around him again, electricity crackling. He struggled against it, ending up near the door, as it opened, and he threw the blanket off while slamming the door shut, sighing in relief.

Robert walked by in a bathrobe, reading the news of Dillon's arrest. "Don't slam the doors."

"Yes, sir", Virgil said as he walked off, Virgil walking to the bathroom and going inside, the lights flickering by themselves as his dad's razor started whirring.

Virgil lifted it up, and gasped on seeing its wire wasn't attached, and he dropped it. "Dad's razor is possessed!"

Then he looked at himself in the mirror, and saw that he was crackling with electricity.

"I'm a human fuse box!"

But how? The Particle Accelerator Explosion…..oh wait! He'd been out the night it had happened, and it had struck him, but he'd simply gotten back up and walked off. Nothing had happened.

Or had it?

Maybe it had affected him, and the Flash's lightning hitting him the last day had activated his powers finally.

Foley House

Richie was getting ready for the day, when his phone rang, and he picked up. "Hello? Virgil? What happened? By the way, heard Roscoe was caught. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks man", Virgil said from the other end.

Hawkins House

"You're gonna trip", Virgil then added, holding a bulb that was lit up simply by the electricity coursing through his body. "Meet me at the Central City Junkyard ASAP. Bye."

With that, the call was cut, and Virgil knew something was about to happen.

Earth-199999, Sokovia, Novi Grad

With the base taken, the twins settled in one of the few places they could find sanctuary. The old church at the center of Novi Grad.

"What was that?" Pietro demanded from his sister as he paced in front of her, his powers made standing still difficult, but so did frustration. Something he was feeling plenty of.

"Stark will destroy himself, and everyone around him." Wanda reasoned with her brother. What she saw in his mind, more fractured than she ever believed, was a growing fear. Fear of the unknown, of powers beyond their understanding. He should be afraid, and now that fear will drive him to ruin. His own mind cannot stop thinking, nor can he stop his paranoia.

"How many years, Wanda?" Pietro stopped in front of his twin, kneeling in front of her place on the steps. "How many more years must we wait? How much more pain?"

"As long as it takes!" Wanda snapped back at him with her eyes turning crimson. Her brother did not flinch. Even when they gained their powers, he was never afraid of her. She felt herself calm down. "We gave ourselves to Strucker for this very reason. It will not be in vain."

A loud exhale left her older twin, followed by a groan as he sat himself next to her. "I hate it when you are right."

"I'm always right." Wanda gloated while bumping his shoulder with her own as a smile started to sneak across her lips. It became infectious as Pietro soon joined her. They were interrupted by the sound of a stomach growling. Before she could say anything, she felt her hair blown by a strong wind, and in the next second, an apple was offered to her. "Thank you."

"Can't let my little sister go hungry." Pietro playfully patted her head, making her shove his arm off to his amusement. "After this, I might find us some of those Turkish delights those rich people eat, or some chocolates, or even-"

"Must you think with your stomach?"

Pietro deadpanned his sister. "Unlike you, I must actually do something for my powers, I cannot just wiggle my fingers and make a man dance." Wanda could not stop herself from snorting, nor could her twin stop from grinning.

"My, that is quite the talent, young man."

The powered twins turned their heads as a man in a black trench coat walked through the decrepit church. Both stood as he got closer, tense while he was revealed to be an old man, white haired, but still standing straight and walking, no sign of his age besides his appearance. He was smiling oddly at them, almost wistfully. Upon noticing a glow in the young lady's eyes, he stopped and raised his hands in surrender.

"I am not here as an enemy."

"Then what do you want?" Wanda growled lowly while twisting her wrist, red wisps flowing from her hand towards the man, straight for his head. However, to her shock, the man merely chuckled.

"I am afraid you are much too young to look into my mind, my dear." The old man tapped his head before looking around the church. "You know, I have been alive a long time and seen much of the world, and yet, I do not believe I have ever seen Novi Grad for myself."

Not one for patience, Pietro walked over and grabbed the old man by the labels and pushed him against a wall. "Pietro!"

"You never answered her question." Ignoring his sister, the older twin grilled the stranger. What was unexpected though, was the old man starting to laugh.

"No, I suppose I did not. Forgive me, I have had much on my mind as of late. If you would kindly..." He gestured to Pietro to release him. The speedster narrowed his eyes, he did not understand this man. Why was he here? Reluctantly, Pietro stepped back, letting go as he took a place between the stranger and his twin. "Now," he began while brushing his coat, "What is it I want? To be honest, I want a great many things. Peace, justice, revenge...my best friend." The old man said after a pause, Wanda could feel his emotions even if she couldn't read his mind, and he was telling the truth.

"If you are going to waste our time-"

"And freedom for Mutantkind."

Pietro stopped mid-sentence as he shared a look of confusion with Wanda. She looked back at the old man. "We are not Mutants."

"Well, my dear, that is where you are wrong." The old man stepped forth until he was in arms reach of them both. "True, your powers were activated much later in life, but that does not mean you did not possess the X-gene. Latent, though they were."

"I don't understand."

"The experiments you were subjected to by that neanderthal Strucker," venom oozed out of his voice at the name, at the thought of them, "brought to life the powers you would have gained, perhaps if your circumstances were different." A deep regret formed on his face as he looked at the confused twins. "None of this is right. You deserve so much better than this," the old man looked around in disgust, "hovel."

"This is our home." Wanda told him in a warning tone.

"And look what it has brought upon you." He countered smoothly. "But I am not here to speak of unpleasant upbringings, least of all my own."

"Then why are you here?"

Looking upon the younger twin by twelve minutes, the old man smiled before removing from his inside pocket three metal orbs, and before their eyes, they began to levitate, and rotate around the three of them. "I had wasted many opportunities of Mutant supremacy, one in particular. Humans were not worthy to become one of us, nor, as it turns out, was it worth the effort. Instead, my efforts should have turned to awakening the latent powers of the rest of our brothers and sisters. What a shame it is, that it was those monstrous curs that revealed your gifts…and not me."

Realization struck the speedster in spite of his confusion. "You are Magneto."

A strange smile was on his face as he recalled the orbs to his pocket, without even gesturing his hands, Wanda noted. "That is my name, but I hope to be so much more. You may call me Erik, if you prefer, though I would rather you call me something else."

"What?" Wanda and Pietro could only stare as the man raised his hands towards their faces. Neither knew how to react as his shaking hands cupped their cheeks.

"Truly, I never thought I would see the day." The old man, Erik, croaked as he looked between them. "My beautiful children."

Pietro slapped away Magneto's hand. The elder Mutant stepped back and awaited the inevitable.

"This is some sick game? How you recruit?"

"My boy, I swear to you, what I say is the truth."

Wanda watched as her brother and the Mutant leader argued while her hand twisted, and again, she twisted her fingers as her powers let her look into Magneto's mind. At least, he seemed to let her. While he could block his mind from her powers, it did not mean he could change what she saw. She looked deep into his memories, many of them blurred, to her, except for the images of man in a wheelchair, a camp of people herded together like cattle, and a woman. Wanda watched the image of the woman and a younger Magneto, his hair going grey but still had its coloring, and looked handsome for a man his age. What alarmed Wanda though was how the woman's green eyes turned red.

It was then that Wanda stepped back and nearly tripped over the steps, had Pietro abandoned his yelling to catch her. "Wanda?" Erik tried to come to her side but one warning look from her brother stopped him.

"Who was she?" Wanda whispered to herself before looking up at Magneto. "Who was she?" She repeated, demanding to know.

A sigh left the leader of the Brotherhood, memories of another life flashing in his mind as he took a seat on the steps, a small distance from the twins. "Another sign of the superiority of Mutants, we age slower than humans, retain our good looks. I once joked with a friend of mine that it meant we evolved to the point that we would be appealing enough to cause others to "hook up", as they say nowadays, and reproduce more Mutants." A chuckle left him. "I was in Europe, trying to find more to join my cause, when I met this remarkable woman. Magda. She had gifts of her own, and introduced me to a world even I was skeptical of." He turned his head to find the twins giving him looks he knew meant disbelief. "To make a long story short, we spent a night together and parted ways. Never to see each other again. It was not until recently when I paid a visit to a very old and very gifted friend that I learned of your existence."

"You expect us to believe that our parents were not our parents?" Pietro scoffed at the thought, until he saw Wanda's face.

"Your sister knows." Erik pointed out, he let her in after all. "They share the same eyes."

"I saw a...a woman, with green eyes that glowed red." Wanda looked at her brother and together, they felt their world shatter once again. "Like me."

The man that helped create the X-Men, and later fought them, shifted closer to the twins and kneeled before them. He saw their doubt, their anger, they were lost. "I swear to you, my children-"

"You are NOT our father!" Pietro roared at the man as he returned to pacing, this time, the white/blue currents that flowed off his body when running radiating around him, the young man literally vibrating with rage. "Where were you when we spent days hiding under our house's rubble, waiting to die? Or when we spent years on the streets, trying to survive?!"

"I have no excuse. None." Erik looked down in shame. "There is no apology or gesture good enough to make up for time lost and wasted." Standing up, Magneto seemed to stand taller than before and his eyes were alight with passion. "But I swear to you now, I will never abandon you. To my last day, I will do everything as a father should, protect and care for his children. Our battles will become one, your enemies are my enemies, and together, we will rise." He offered out his hand to both brother and sister. "Come with me, and that promise will be fulfilled."

Pietro finally stopped vibrating. Conflict raged inside him. He hated to admit it, but part of him was beginning to believe the Mutant, and if they were Mutants themselves, well, the older twin would kill everyone in his path if they dared try to harm his sister like he had heard and seen before. The Mutant "problem" never faded, it was just hard to see, and in places like Sokovia, one could move more freely with their illicit affairs, including Mutant slave soldiers and underground fights.

They never had power, that's why he and Wanda joined Strucker, to take it for themselves. Now though, with how his mind was whirling, he found it difficult to think straight. Turning to his younger twin, he found Wanda deep in thought as well, before her head snapped up, standing to her full height, locking eyes with the Mutant leader.

"Our mother's name was Iryna, and our father was Olek. They were our parents." Wanda stated before slowly raising her hand into Magneto's awaiting one. "But….we will come with you."

A relieved smile reached Erik's lips before he turned to his oldest child. Pietro looked between the hand, then Wanda. She gave her brother a confidant nod. They could not wait here, and he certainly did not have the patience for it. Sokovia may have been their home, but to achieve their plan, they needed to leave, and this man, who may be their father, was offering a chance to help.

Hesitantly, Pietro took the hand, and felt the surprising strength in the old man's grip as he let a wide grin take over his face. That was when Magneto's eyes, from the whites to the pupils, glowed red for a brief moment, and the surroundings began to rise. Pietro and Wanda looked around in confusion, until they found their feet rising from the ground, yet they felt nothing, as if they were still on solid ground.

"Pietro, Wanda, it is time to for you to join the rest of our kind amongst the Brotherhood."

Dream World

Freddy was back, having been saved at the last moment.

"You and Crane have done well", the voice complimented both of them. "I am quite close to my goal now. When its done, you shall join me, and I will give you powers to do what you do in the real world as well."

That made Freddy happy as he said. "So they're gonna be my bitches in the real world too." He laughed cruelly, ready to work for this being another day.

And that's one more done, with lots of shocking stuff.

Freddy Krueger from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is back at long last, and went to Gotham City to slaughter people alongside Jonathan Crane at the voice's request.

Thanks a lot to Raptorcloak for letting me use scenes from his 'Freddy vs. Jason vs. Michael: Slashdown' at the start.

RIP Officer Martinez. Imagine Jamie Campbell Bower as Reevesverse Scarecrow and Erin Kellyman as the teenager Freddy killed.

But Oliver and Batman stopped them, even if Freddy has escaped for now. And they talked of setting up a 'League' in case future threats are too big for any of them solo. What could that mean? *Winks*

Thanks a lot to gussygus28 for the entire outline of this plot and the castings, couldn't have done it without him.

Meanwhile, the Earth-1 version of Static Shock is here at last. I'm rewatching the DCAU right now, and the only things left to finish up are 'Batman Beyond', 'The Zeta Project' (Never seen that one before, how is it?), 'Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker' and 'Epilogue' of JLU.

'Static Shock' is an amazing and underrated show, that deserves more attention, as does its main character.

Imagine Caleb McLaughlin as Virgil Hawkins/Static Shock, Regina King as Jean Hawkins, Idris Elba as Robert Hawkins, Coco Jones as Sharon Hawkins, Jacob Hopkins as Richie Foley and Jake Gyllenhaal as Roscoe Dillon/Top.

The original story had some elements I did not want to fully take out. In the show, Jean was shot during some riots in the line of duty, showing her selflessness.

So here, even with Top killing her over a top, I wanted to keep some of it intact, and the Particle Accelerator Explosion gave me the perfect idea. There was a scene in Arrow Season 2 or Flash Season 1 of people protesting the Accelerator's launch, so I just had one protest turn a bit violent, and so Jean worked overtime on her own accord to help the wounded people, showing her selflessness, and then went home late at night, only for Top to murder her.

Plus, Virgil having a gun and throwing it away is a big moment. In the comics he bought one himself but realized what he was doing and threw it away (to my memory), while in the show a gang leader who was his classmate gave it to him for a gang war against the gang of Francis Stone (who'd become Hotstreak) but holding the gun made Virgil realize how bad this is, as he'd betray his mom's memory by using it, so he threw it away.

So, I put in the gun moment too, with Top this time, and he threw it away.

Now he will become Static Shock and hope the explanations made sense.

For how Barry didn't know of the Robert and his family, he did move in with Joe very late, and while Joe and Robert were still friends, they just didn't meet up as much as before.

Thanks a lot to gussygus28 for the plot outline and castings of this one too, couldn't have done it without him.

Meanwhile, Strider, Spike and the Hobbits continue their journey through Middle-earth and reached Weathertop, where Frodo got stabbed. But I hope Spike's contribution with the blood drinking later was appreciated.

Blade fought his evil self, a manifestation of himself as a pure Vampire, and is now back home. That bit was inspired by 'The Force Unleashed' video game, and thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the entire scene. Hope the goodbye with Quinlan was enjoyed too.

Meanwhile, 'Age of Ultron' has begun. I actually like this movie a lot for the most part, but some things in it I absolutely despise. And one of them is the Bruce/Natasha "romance" (if one can even call it that).

Good Gods, this was frankly the WORST decision in the MCU pre-Phase 4 (outside of the 'Inhumans' show). The entire thing was forced, random, came out of nowhere and just plain cringe-worthy. Any references to it in the future films (which were very few, thank the Gods) were cringe-worthy as well.

I've no idea what Joss Whedon was thinking when he wrote this pairing. But then again, considering what we now know about Joss, not a surprise.

Bruce/Natasha is just….*vomits my breakfast, lunch and dinner all out in utter disgust*

I'd have preferred a Bucky/Natasha romance in the MCU, they're an amazing pairing in the comics and it wasn't hard to give them the same backstory in the MCU.

Or, they could have done Steve/Natasha. Unlike the garbage in this film, Steve/Natasha actually had some development in 'The Winter Soldier'. I do think they should not have been a pairing in that film, but something could easily have been built off from there. Basically, they've such a dynamic from that film that you can make them lovers or just very close and intimate friends without either scenario feeling out of place. Plus, Chris and Scarlett actually had some amazing chemistry, unlike Mark and Scarlett.

Like, I get it, Joss, you wanna pair the only female Avenger with a male one, but at least have the pairing MAKE SENSE! Steve would have made the most sense, and that's a fact. Clint too, if he didn't have a family, but that's a totally different conversation. I did like Clint and his family though, so no complaints on that front.

In fact, I don't think there's a word created yet to describe how bad Bruce/Natasha is, or CW WestAllen for the matter.

Which is why it was fun to have Steve talk Hulk down into becoming Banner again.

The best part about setting this fic's start before 'Age of Ultron' is that I could completely erase the Bruce/Natasha garbage, which was easy since there's zero on-screen hints to it before this film.

Bruce should have ended up with Betty. Not sure if Mark and Liv would have the same chemistry as Edward and Liv, but they were an amazing pairing, even if they were in just one film, and Bruce clearly loves Betty, and Betty loves him back too.

My headcanon is Banner didn't go to visit Betty again after 'The Avengers' because he was afraid Ross would start something up if he did, and then he created Professor Hulk and 'killed' Hulk like a moron *rolls eyes*

Anyways, to sum it all up- Steve/Natasha, Bucky/Natasha and Bruce/Betty are amazing, while Bruce/Natasha is...there is no word bad enough to describe it.

And don't even get me started on the toxicity of Steve/Peggy, though I plan to cover that later.

Also, Natasha still has her TWS hairstyle here because her hairstyle in the first 2 Avengers films were just 'eh'. She will get her CW hairstyle later, regardless of how that film goes here.

And now the big one- Wanda and Pietro are Magneto's children! Just like in the comics. Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the entire scene once more. This has been thought up by me since before the story began, and Magneto did appear in Chapter 2, as did Juggernaut.

Now Magneto has met and recruited his children too, so you already know 'Age of Ultron' will happen differently here. Imagine Demi Moore as Wanda's and Pietro's mom, thank you to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the casting.

Anyways, this is chapter's end. Thanks a lot to gussygus28 and Brainstorm Sorcerer once more.

Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.