Tales of the Multiverse
Chapter 11
Hot pursuit, Unexpected Acquaintance
A few minutes earlier, Venus, Mars, Jade, Uncle and Tohru were huddled around Hannah as the others were focused on dealing with Volcana.
"Come on Hannah, wake up!" Venus pleaded as she shook her a bit, but Hannah didn't stir or anything.
"Whatever that Volcano woman did to her has knocked clean out, we can't get her up!" Jade protested.
"We just have to keep Hannah safe until this is over, she should wake up eventually," Mars said.
"Hmm," Jade looked around briefly before eyeing a rooftop and a fire escape, and quickly darted off.
"Jade wait!" Venus called.
"She always has some sort of plan to act upon," Tohru remarked as Jade made a few quick leaps and was rapidly scaling upward. Volcana's eyes opened after having the wind knocked out of her, both when those heeled boots bounced off her chest, and when she landed at the bottom of the dirt hole. She slowly got up to her feet, shaking her head a bit as she was thrown for a bit of a loop from the whole experience.
"Whew...I let my guard down for a second and Sailor Moon nails me," she berated herself again, rubbing her head slightly before noticing the area covered in an unusual fog to where the walls and floor disappeared. She recognized this to be Sailor Mercury's bubble camouflage ability. "Oh come now Mercury, do you really think a cloud cover will work? You're only going to force me to...to...f...force...aiy...AIYAIY!" she ended up stuttering and yelping as she felt a very cold bitter sting in the air, more so around her feet, prompting her to look down in alarm to see ice having formed and slowly climbing up her feet, going past her ankles. Her eyes widened in horror as she turned a bit forcibly to try and get her legs to move but they were already stuck fast as they merely trembled from refusing to budge an inch.
"OH NOO! HAHUHHHAAAAAHHHH! HWAAAHHH!" she shrieked in a shivered panic, firmly grasping one thigh and gave a few solid firm tugs and yanks to try and get free, the absolute sting of the ice slowly climbing up her boots sent all sorts of nasty shivers up and down her spine and body, acting as a real shock to her system. She grasped her other thigh and tugged just as vigorously but was getting nowhere as the ice simply kept going higher and higher.
"It's working! Mercury you got her!" Sailor Moon exclaimed as they had managed to get to the other sides of the pit.
"I recommend we hurry, we don't know how much this has disabled her abilities," Jackie said, well away this might just make her furious.
"I would've frozen her solid if she was a monster. But I don't want to kill her, I have to go slow or else I might screw this up," Mercury said, but was well aware of the risk.
"NNNNOOOOOOO!" Volcana bellowed as she soared out of the pit in a fiery eruption, breaking free of the ice and knocking everyone back a bit. She glared down at them as she curled up, having her fists in the air as her body trembled, hard to say if it was from utter rage or cold shivers, but was possibly a mixture of both. "Ohhhhhhhohoooo...I may like a cool dip on my own terms...but being turned into a sub zero cube? N. O. NO!" and as she spoke she started hurling fireballs at them as she spelled and uttered no.
"BWAH!" Jackie yelped as the other girls screamed while they jumped and sprinted away from the fire balls, and leaped up and clung to nearby scaffolding and construction bars as a sea of flame roared beneath them. "I think the ice just made her madder."
"No kiddin!" Jupiter protested a bit.
"AAHHH! Fire shouldn't linger or spread like this on dirt!" Sailor Moon shakily screamed as she and Mercury pulled themselves higher and tucked their legs in a bit as the flames tried and claw at them.
"I told you, I'm a master of fire pyrokenesis, I control any and all flames, how I wish, where I want," Volcana stated, and about then Venus and Mars were coming down the alleyway before stopping a few feet from the pit since it was still a raging inferno. She looked in their direction before a wall of fire rose up behind them, essentially pinning them, and more over the sea of flames trapping the others had what could only be described as fire monsters rise up near them. "I didn't want to cause anyone any real harm, but you've really forced my hand." the wall of fire behind Venus and Mars began moving in closer, starting to force them to inch towards the fire pit as they were now essentially all trapped.
"We got to do something!" Jupiter exclaimed.
"But what!? We're not in a position to do anything!" Mars protested.
"I'll make this all stop if you simply allow me to walk away with Hannah. You're really making this more difficult than it needs to be," Volcana replied before her eyes widened upon hearing a loud metallic wrenching sound behind her and up above a bit. Looking over her shoulder she saw Jade ant Tuxedo Kamen having just busted two supports of a large water tank on a roof above. The tank tilted forward and was rapidly coming open as the water began pouring out.
"How about this deal!" he called, as Volcana gasped in horror and tried to fly out of the way but the water came crashing down upon her, forcing her back into the hole, as the fire both died out from lack of concentration, and getting firmly dowsed. Thankfully Mars and Venus didn't get knocked over as they then jumped the corner around the pit to approach the others as they were getting down, Tuxedo Kamen leaping down with Jade and setting her down.
"Is everyone alright?" Mars asked.
"About as fine as we can be really, all things considered," Mercury replied.
"And you?" Tuxedo Kamen asked as he approached Sailor Moon, whom then hugged him with a soft sigh.
"I'm always fine when you're around. Thighs were admittedly touch and go for a bit though," she replied. About then though their attention turned to the water filled hole as one of Volcana's arms burst from the water before firmly planting on the ground, her head and other arm bursting out soon after as she took a deep gasp of air while hoisting herself up and grabbing the soil ahead. As she coughed a bit she glanced up at Jade who approached with a cocky smirk on her face.
"Not so hot now are ya?" she quipped.
"Jade don't antagonize her!" Jackie protested as Volcana gave Jade an intense glare that didn't phase the child as she then started to pulling herself up more and rise out of the water.
"Come on Jackie she's soaked!" Jade retorted as she turned around while Volcana rose to full height behind her. "Sure she can't..." her eyes widened when she heard a distinctive hissing around, prompting her to turn around to see the once completely drenched woman drying off as the water on her body and clothing were evaporating off due to intense heat, soon being dry again save for her hair.
"Jade get back!" Venus called as she started to run, but Volcana whipped her head side to side, her hair wildly wishing about, as a circle of flame formed around her and Jade with both shakes, her hair then being as it was before upon the second shake. Jade was now left horrified as Volcana had the most intense glare in her eyes as she slowly raised a hand up and over Jade as a flame formed in her palm.
"If I didn't have some sense of morality like I do now, I'd be seriously tempted to give into the desire to fry boil a little know it all twerp like you on the spot!" she proclaimed, at first starting somewhat calm and collected, but quickly and steadily grew from downright angry to full blown furious. There was an uneasy silence for a moment until her eyes gazed to the left down the alleyway, soon finally smiling again as she then firmly grabbed Jade by the front of her jacket, and then flung her through the flames, an opening forming as she went through and everyone managed to catch her as the hole instantly closed up, but then the fire circle shifted and closed around them. "However, my job is actually now done. Don't worry, the Ambassador will be perfectly safe and well taken care of. But, I do strongly suspect we'll meet again, as well as you seeing her again. Just, don't go getting yourselves killed in this little war." she began walking towards the alleyway, before blowing a kiss their way, causing the flames to blow in their direction momentarily before she then leaped and soared off in a fiery streak, the fire then dying out as they heard some type of loud humming. They quickly went back to the street to see some sort of large futuristic vessel in the air, very sleek and dark in design as Volcana's fiery streak vanished into it before the ship then zoomed off in a flash.
"What type of ship was that?" Jupiter asked in shock.
"It was high tech, that was for sure!" Jade said.
"Uncle!" Jackie exclaimed as they found the unconscious bodies of Uncle and Tohru laying unconscious, with darts in their necks.
"What happened?" Sailor Moon asked as they all started to examine them.
"It was a silver haired woman!" Luna exclaimed as she and Artemis came bound out of a bush.
"Wha...silver haired woman?" Jackie asked, a bit stunned.
"Yeah, some sort of military lady, she came with armed robot guards in a mini hover car and just well, shot them, picked up Hannah, and took off for that ship that then appeared in the sky!" Artemis quickly exclaimed.
"They were fast and efficient. Not a second was wasted. They took off just before Volcana soared off after them," Luna added.
"And with us focused on Volcana we didn't have anyone who could've stood up to them," Mars said, feeling a bit at fault for this.
"This maybe a bad time but...how are we going to get home now?" Jade asked as she realized Hannah had that bracelet with her still.
-New York-
The mini jet Jennifer and Jubilee took, now with Helen with them, garbed in a red business suit and black heels were flying back in New York, and soon touched down back inside the X-Mansion, but had one extra guest with them. They went through the corridors while Helen was left rather stunned, feeling like as if she had walked onto a real life science fiction set. But as they made their way into the man portion of the mansion, Mega Man was there to greet them.
"So there you two are. Rogue had informed us of your little trip. You, actually found Helen I see," he commented.
"Yes. Jennifer had informed me a bit of what happened and honestly, you have my thanks for keeping her safe," Helen replied.
"It was no problem. I..." Mega Man tried to say until his face went bright red when another woman stepped into view. She was a tall slender woman, well built with a slim, narrow face that just exuded sheer beauty. Her hair was long and brown, and very curly, as she wore a shiny red head piece of sorts that framed her face, acting almost like a crown. It was very pointed looking and while simple, the shine it had was just dazzling. Her blue eyes had an elegant gaze to them, as she wore apparently a pinkish suit under an ornate red one piece, gloves and boots combination. The gloves came to her elbows and the boots to her knees, while she also had on a massive red cape. Needless to say, there was just this majestic beauty about this woman and it was very difficult to not notice.
"You must be Mega Man. I was informed of you via my fellow Avengers from your past visits," she spoke politely.
"I'm...afraid you have me at a disadvantage," he eventually said.
"Hm, so I do it seems. I'm Wanda, the Scarlet Witch of the Avengers." She put a hand to her chest while holding out her cape to one side slightly and bowed. "I came her at the behest of Jubilee. I believe I have some information that is rather pertinent to our situation."
"Well, let me go and gather the others," Mega Man said as he hurried off with a bit of a quickened pace.
"He's apparently never seen this many beautiful women before, from what I can gather," Jennifer commented, making Helen raise a curious brow, although she had to admit, Wanda just had this exceptional beauty that she almost found herself a tad jealous but she kept her mind on business.
-Elsewhere-
Psylocke was presently combing the countryside as her mind was depicted as a pink energy butterfly of sorts, only visible to a select few or when she wanted to be visible. Before much longer she finally started to feel a collection of unusual presence's nearby, and while it may not have meant anything she went to investigate anyway to just have a look. But upon closer inspection she found a van parked off the road within a thicket of trees, and spotted several ladies having made camp for the time being. But what truly got her attention out of all of them, even beside the apparent elf, was the woman they were looking for, Annet. As she started to head upwards to get a bit of a fix on their position, Annet, Deedlit, Shanoa, Lila, and Fernandez looked up in surprise, having felt something nearby for a moment, while Carrie looked up at them from what she was studying.
"What's wrong, girls?" she asked, a bit surprised, and then tried to follow their gaze.
"I just felt something, like a spirit watching us, but it went away almost instantly," Deedlit replied.
"So did I. Although it was more of a presence, as I know what an actual spirit feels like," Fernandez said.
"You don't suppose we're being tracked?" Lila asked.
"I don't think so, but we should probably get moving," Annet said.
"Well, I do have one thing we should do that I didn't think of doing before, but, would you mind if I take some of your measurements?" Carrie asked.
"Measurements?" Deedlit asked, rather puzzled.
"So we can maybe buy you some new clothes," Carrie replied.
"New clothes? But isn't Lila technically in uniform?" Fernandez asked as she looked over, and Lila was presently wearing a green button up shirt, a red jacket with it's sleeves rolled up, a short snug white skirt, and blue knee high boots.
"Well this is my old uniform, but it's what I figured I should wear. Plus despite the coloring it is the most discrete thing I could think of, while providing me the means to conceal my weapons," Lila replied.
"But this is my preferred outfit," Deedlit remarked.
-Back at the X-Mansion-
Everyone had gathered into the war room just a few minutes before Psylocke and Jean entered in a bit of a hurry.
"Ah, we weren't sure if you were done with Cerebro or not," Link commented.
"We found them!" Psylocke said.
"Them?" Selina asked with a raised brow.
"Sorry, well, Annet and her companions," Psylocke corrected.
"Really? You actually found her?" Lucia asked, a bit amazed and relieved.
"Yes. And with a very minor probing they're headed for Chicago. So we can intercept them. Although why they're headed there is...unusual," Jean replied.
"Unusual how?" Batman asked.
"Well, again we didn't want to pry and linger and alarm them since they're sensitive but...well, the phrase "Biker Mice" and "Last Chance Garage" was what was ringing a bit," Jean replied. This did warrant a bit of a blank silence from everyone before Spider-Man threw his hands in the air.
"At this point nothing is phasing me," he proclaimed, which was rewarded by a "Oh Really?" type look from Gwen. "Mostly."
"Frankly that sounds marginally more pleasant than several tons of killer fangs, but to be honest I'm still not even remotely sure what to expect from that," Regina said.
"Well, as we contemplate our plan of attack, I should go over why I'm here," Wanda said, getting everyone's attention. "As you know, with my powers being connected to the very fabric of reality and dimensions themselves, I am very attune to the goings on of the powers cosmic to put it very simply. And as some of you know or may not have felt things being a bit, off kilter to put it mildly."
"Would this have anything to do with the dreams we've been having?" Jennifer asked.
"Very much likely. Sometimes dreams act as a view gate to other worlds, and sometimes act as a means of future or past events. But regardless, what is going on with the realms of the Multiverse, we're experiencing a convergence," Wanda replied.
"You mean like things are combining into one?" Jill asked.
"Precisely. Let me demonstrate," Wanda said as she made a few hand gestures as energy formed into her hands and she made several miniature earths appear. "As you know, our world has essentially become linked with others, but more over, something far grander is occurring. Typically when realities converge it causes damage and problems like no other. Realities not meant to become one sometimes try and mix. However in this case..." she slowly began pushing the earths together and they slowly began phasing together and aligning as she gave one final little twist and things technically clicked into place.
"Things are falling precisely into place, fitting together, like they were always meant to be."
"Meant to be? As in..." Batgirl's eyes widened as the information hit.
"Our worlds were once one, but somehow, they're returning, coming back into place. Although changing things are still identical in a lot of respects," Batman said.
"This, is why we haven't found these gateways, and so on until recently. They've returned to existence," Wanda stated.
"Then...that might explain how and why that Blue Spire appeared. It's not that it was hidden, it literally returned into existence!" Felicia said.
"There are many realms that will remain essentially separate still in their own worlds. Since I doubt Hyurle will merge with this one or any others but, the worlds are now becoming linked again. These aren't new connections, they've always been there, just, locked off," Wanda said.
"This feels a bit more welcoming and yet overwhelming than our last case," Helen remarked.
"Honestly I prefer it," Jennifer said. "I...feel safer."
-Elsewhere-
"Ohhhh...ah...h...huh?" Hannah slowly woke up while her eyes opened, and her vision was severely blurred, and her senses severely off. She moved her hands and arms about, trying to get a feel for where they were at before she managed to find she was laying on her side, and slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, managing to move her legs to where she was dangling them off of something. Putting her hands to her head she took a few breaths to try and clear it as her vision finally started to slowly come into focus.
"You awake, Dundee?" a mature woman's voice spoke, one she didn't recognize.
"Wha...UHWOW!" Hannah yelped after she quickly shot to her feet, but her feet simply slipped forward out from under her and she managed to lean back enough to catch herself on the bed she had just gotten off of. She let out a huff of exasperation as she felt rather dizzy, she looked down at her legs, one was most straight while the other went off to the side a bit, and her vision was blurring a fair bit, going in an out of focus before she finally saw clearly. The light headed feeling finally went away as she shook her head more vigorously, but her coordination was real off. "My legs feel so unsteady..." she gasped a little.
"Steady there Hannah, the drug may have just worn off but there are still side effects," a woman spoke as Hannah heard a door sliding open after a click, prompting her to look up to see a tall woman opening a cell door. She was tall yet athletically slim. She was garbed in a dark off black colored military jacket that hugged her figure a bit, and the lower portion of the jacket almost acted like a skirt as it was secured around her waist by a belt. She had on grey pants, and jet black boots. However the striking details Hannah got drawn to was on the jacket above the woman's left breast was an unusual symbol, it looked like a three pronged star, and in between each prong was a small diamond of sorts. But then what took her aback a bit wasn't her dark skin, but her beautiful long silver hair. It was stylized, full, and neatly kept. There was also a different mark upon her right sleeve but she couldn't make it out from her angle.
"Wh...who are you? And...where am I?" Hannah asked as she tried to pull herself back onto the bed and it was a bit of a struggle as she really had to push to raise herself before the woman gripped her upper arms and raised her back onto the bed.
"Sophie N'dram, at your service, Ambassador Hannah Dundee. And you're aboard a ship of our mistress' fleet," the woman replied.
"M...mistress!?" Hannah yelped as she leaned back in shock but then fell completely over. "Wh...what do you want with me?"
"Calm yourself Hannah, there's no need to be alarmed. You have no enemies here," Sophie replied. "But to answer your question, it's not that we want anything from you, it's what we can do for you."
"...do for me? What do you mean?" Hannah asked as she slowly sat herself back up.
"My dear Hannah. My mistress has built a foundation, a civilization helping unfortunate individuals, poor souls that have lost everything and their way, among other things. But most importantly, we help them reestablish themselves, and of course, help wayward souls that have lost their way," Sophie replied. "Like you, Hannah." she held her hand out in an inviting manner, and a pleasant smile on her face. Hannah seemed hesitant and a bit unsure of herself and this offer.
"I...I'm not sure I...how do you know so much?" Hannah asked.
"Our mistress Neifirst has been observing and, doing things within the Multiverse for quite some time and has been aware of you and the Old Blood Mechanics, the mutants, X-Men, the Avengers, Batman, S.T.A.R.S., the history of Hyrule, among many many other realms, kingdoms and the like. We have an extensive library of history and in the end, we could use another scholar of sorts," Sophie replied. "I've already sent a scan of your personal artifact to our home base as it were, the script on it is quite fascinating. I'm sure our library might actually have some information on your home, and who you really are. Although, I have my suspicions." she cupped Hannah's chin slightly, but Hannah quickly pushed it away, but it didn't remove that intense gaze Sophie's dark eyes were giving her, she clearly saw something.
"N'dram," a male voice spoke, deep, young, but cool and precise.
"Coming, Fox," Sophie replied as she walked back, and gave Hannah a slightly bow before turning and heading out. As Hannah looked forward she saw this tall man with short smooth white hair, with a red bandana around his head. He had a face that looked young, but clearly battle hardened and sharp, his eyes practically had a piercing quality to them as he gazed back, causing Hannah to real back slightly and raise a hand in technical defense. He was wearing a black muscle shirt, a beige coat, green army style pants and combat boots. Sophie then put a hand on the doorway as she looked back. "I had this cell closed mostly in case you woke up before we could interact. But, I'll leave it open since I believe we may have an understanding of not you having any foolish ideas." she then walked off.
"Just don't do anything and there won't be trouble, Ambassador," Fox said as he then started walking off. "Also I wouldn't risk escaping while we attempt a dimensional jump." and with that he was gone, leaving Hannah rather stunned, although she almost swore she spotted a fox logo on his sleeve but, that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She tried to stand up again but her feet slid out from under her again, although not nearly as harshly as before. She sat there in heavy contemplation and trying to figure out what to do with herself at the moment. She began to recall her talk with Luna before they were interrupted.
'You were trying to tell me not to get tempted by some information technically important to me weren't you...? As much as I want to know who I am...I can't just betray everyone...although maybe I can...no...I mustn't risk acting as an agent...I don't have that kind of mind set...they'd see right through my bluff...but I can't stay here and do nothing...' she contemplated to herself on the course of action to take.
-The Avenger's Mansion-
"We have a few Quinjets to spare, so this is the team heading out?" Wanda asked as she looked at the present onsomble of Mega Man, Spider-Man, Link, Jack, Batman, Catwoman, Batgirl, Jill, Jennifer, Helen, Gwen, Lucia, Felicia and Regina.
"We more or less decided we should try and keep the group somewhat small to try and not attract attention, but have enough people together to keep things from getting too hairy in a sense," Link replied.
"And since I've worked with the Avengers a few times, I know how to pilot one of these. Plus it has plenty of storage to fit the caddy and the Batmobile," Spider-Man said. "Least with the model we're taking."
"Well, then it won't be long till we depart since once those are loaded up we can be on our...huh?" Batgirl paused as she saw Wanda flinch and stagger a bit. "Wanda what's wrong!?"
"Are alright?" Jack asked as a few of them gathered around her to keep her steady.
"A...a...powerful force is ripping through reality! Heading straight for...here!" Wanda exclaimed.
"Here?" Lucia looked around before suddenly a white beam pierced from the air above, a pillar of light slamming down into the ground, creating a wind current that nearly blew everyone away. Everyone was rather stunned, unable to really speak before the light died down as did the wind and dust kicked up. Much to their amazement, they saw five interestingly dressed girls in a circle, around four other individuals. The girls collapsed on their hands and knees in exhaustion while the others looked around in equal amazement.
"Well I don't know where we are but it worked!" Jade said.
"W...who are you people?" Felicia asked in bewilderment. Meanwhile Jupiter looked up and managed to lock eyes with a number of the group, Jack in particular.
"Y...you must be Jack and...Hannah's friends," she said as she slowly staggered to her feet, clearly fighting just to rise. Those that recognized her voice were rather stunned.
"You...you know Hannah?" Jack asked as he rushed to help her stand as the others went to help up the other girls.
"She...came to us to find out about her family...her people but...she didn't learn anything and she...got captured by Volcana...for her sister I...I failed to protect her..." Jupiter berated herself.
"Sister?" Mega Man asked.
"What about the woman who attacked the store? Well not attacked attacked," Jade said.
"I only saw a glimpse of her. Not much of a description to go off of," Jackie replied.
"At least try a description?" Jill asked.
"Well, she had long black hair, sort of styled like hers," Jackie replied as he pointed at Selina as she had her mask down at the moment.
"Brown eyes, black tie, white shirt, red jacket, skirt, and heels?" Batman asked, causing Jackie to blink for a moment.
"Yes! Exactly!" he said after he paused to reflect the details.
"Candace?!" Batgirl asked in astonishment. "But...but I thought she was dead!"
"Presumed dead. There was never a body," Batman stated.
-Years earlier, Gotham bridge-
"It hadn't been incredibly long after Batman had bested Bane and delivered him and information to Rupert Thorn on Candace's insubordination attempt to take control of his business. Needless to say he hadn't taken very kindly to that. His men had tied, gagged and blindfolded her and secured her feet to a chain and a heavy metal object. Simply put, they went with the typical method of disposing a body and doing away with a victim as they hurled her over the side."
After feeling the intense gust of wind the next thing Candace felt and heard was splashing into water, and rapidly plunging downwards still being dragged by her ankles. She thrashed about violently, unable to see and the lack of air was already an issue as she tried to free something to save herself before she sank too deep but with each second she realized she was going down way too fast to save herself. But she felt something, something at the chain binding her ankles. It was like as if something had taken hold of it, and before much longer, there was an unusual sound and the chain broke, she felt her ankles released. Her lungs burning at this point she frantically began to kick to propel herself upwards but someone put and arm around her waist and they zoomed upward, a lot faster than normal. Candace assumed it had to be due to a grapple line to go this fast before they burst out of the water and touched upon dry land.
She felt herself being laid upon the ground, and the gag around her move quickly removed as she started gasping and coughing a bit before she could talk.
"A bit...a bit late ain't it, Batman? Just now realized that information would get me..." Candace was protesting as the blindfold was removed, a quick glance revealed she was on one of the support bases that was above the water under the bridge, but what made her stop was when she looked at her savior, and saw a pale blue outline of a face, pointed ears pointed upwards, dark blue hair, but the most horrific part combined with the pale skin was the glowing red eyes gazing right at her. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! UWAH EH HAH! AIEH! GYUAH HAWH! AHH!" total utter and horrific panic ran through her being as she shrieked loudly while also attempting to sit and stand up, although her legs and feet slipped and slid all over the place as she basically scrambled backwards, still tied up before stopping, realizing she'd plunge right back into the drink if she kept it up. Glancing over her shoulder at the ledge at the dark water behind her she then looked up in absolute fright as the figure before her stood up, towering over her, the shoulder pads it wore glistening and it's hair and cape billowing in the wind.
"You're lucky everyone was in a hurry and that traffic is nothing at this hour. Or else that banshee shriek would've brought unwanted attention," the woman said. Despite sounding like a normal human female Candace was trembling in absolute fright, having no idea who or what this woman was before her.
"Wh...wha...hah...what do you want with me?" Candace managed to finally speak.
"Like you, although it may not seem like it, I'm a woman of business," this unusual woman replied as what could only be described as a futuristic sleek black limo pulled up behind Candace, and the passenger doors opened up. "Mercy, if you'd be so kind?" and out climbed a woman with a tall, fit slender build and a narrow face, sharp, pale green eyes, and darkish long blond hair. It was silky smooth while it was semi parted via the bangs tucked back by her left ear, while the hair remained loose and down on her right. Mercy was presently wearing a black driver's hat of sorts, with a shiny visor, and was garbed in a black fold button up jacket, secured by three buttons on her right. The hemline of the jacket made it act like a skirt on her as she also had on a pair of pale bright grey leggings of sorts, while on her hands were black leather gloves, and a pair of knee high black boots. Candace looked back at her in surprise as Mercy picked her up and walked her into the back area of the limo, untying her fully, before then handing her a large white towel. The other woman then get in as Mercy went back to the front and proceeded to drive them off.
The woman sat in front of Candace and elegantly grossed her bare legs as she was wearing a unique one piece and boot attire, while Candace simply knelt there still very much bewildered.
"...Mercy...wait...not Mercy Graves from Metropolis?" Candace asked as she looked over her shoulder to the driver area.
"The same," Mercy replied casually.
"But...aren't you in charge of your own corporation? Why are you suddenly acting chauffeur for this...ummm..." Candace was very much at a loss for words on how to describe this being before her who just had this coy smile on her face, the glow in her eyes having subsided but still apparent.
"Neifirst is my boss, and my mistress. I wouldn't be in the position I am now if not for her. It took time but it was worth it and I'm indebted to her," Mercy replied. This prompted Candace to look at Neifirst a bit wide eyed.
"I saw Mercy's potential at a young age, and basically helped her. And to this end Candace, I see a potential in you," Neifirst replied.
"You do realize why I got thrown into the water, right?" Candace asked rather hesitantly.
"Indeed I do. You're a woman of vision and have always had a sharp cunning wit to you, wanting things to play out to your advantage and technically play suckers to your whim. Hmhmhmhmmm...do you remember that night when that boy saved you?" Neifirst asked as she crossed her fingers and had a bit of a sinister expression on her face.
"Boy? Saved me...?" Candace asked as she seemed to try and recall but her eyes began to widen as she did start to remember.
"Your eyes were blue that night, and while your hair and technical looks had changed, I saw that glint in your eye, that cunning coy look when things went your way. A satisfaction of power. Having things go your way. I still see that potential today," Neifirst replied.
"You've been watching me and Gotham?" Candace asked rather curiously.
"And many other places. I have a plan I wish to enact but, I need companions. Allies. A lone wolf can only do so much as it were, and I paid that price already. I won't repeat my mistakes," Neifirst replied.
"And...what sort of position is on offer here?" Candace asked.
"One much like my own. Although you won't have the exact same duties as mine, you'll still have your own business to run, while still having to report and perform tasks for my mistress," Mercy replied. "That's better than simply being a right hand fiddle that does a lot of good work with little recognition."
"So I'd be in charge of my own branch of sorts, and am working with you, and not for you?" Candace asked as she turned her head and raised a brow.
"Precisely. I prefer to think of you as joining and helping a family. Which you will be. You're not the first wayward soul, not by a long shot but you won't be the last," Neifirst replied.
"Hmmm...well, in my present situation how can I refuse? And after this, I promise you, I will behave," Candace said honestly.
"I know you will. Now if you'd kindly dry yourself? You're soaking the floor still," Neifirst chuckled.
-Present day, Dimensional vessel-
Hannah had exited her cell, having a very cautious walk around the corridors and rooms, she had mainly not seen anyone around but she what looked like very intimidating patrol robots armed with very heavy weaponry. Regardless though Hannah was constantly on edge due to not knowing what maybe around the next corner or through the next automatic door. However after approaching one doorway she heard Sophie's voice, prompting her to pause and listen.
"We have Hannah, my mistress, and have sent the text from her bracelet for Tala to help her conduct a search through the library," Sophie said.
"Excellent. And I am presently heading inbound to intercept Annet Myer," Neifirst replied, sounding like she was coming through a speaker of some sort.
"How will you persuade her to come along? I had a rough time getting Hannah due to the Sailor Senshi," Volcana commented, also in the room with Sophie.
"A fair point. But I believe she maybe more, receptive once I offer to take her to her dear sister," Neifirst replied.
"Has the process been completed already?" Sophie asked in a bit of surprise.
"Nearly. But I imagine it'll be enough to illustrate I'm not lying to her once I bring her," Neifirst replied. "But in the meantime, I'll be sending Birkin in to check on the progress and keep tabs for any changes. Last thing we want for her to do is go rogue while no one is looking, her power is vast." before Hannah could hear much more she heard a clacking noise ahead of herself, prompting her to look forward and see a wolf approaching her. She gasped in a bit of fright as she began walking backwards in a slow yet brisk pace, and yet it kept approaching her in a trot before she backed into a wall. Her arms were straight down as her shoulders tensed, eyes wide as her thighs timidly pressed together in a timid fright as the wolf just kept approaching.
"S...steady boy...g...girl...boy steady...easy please..." she fearfully spoke, not wanting to get mauled, but wound up staring blankly when the wolf just sat in front of her, looking rather happy and made some sort of happy sound. At least, Hannah assumed it was happy, as she hadn't really had much interaction with dogs. Or any form of canine.
"Come now, don't bother her," a woman voice spoke with a bit of an accent, and Hannah looked to her left to see a delicate hand gesturing from a doorway, prompting the wolf to enter and then the door shut. Hannah went over to said door rather curiously and tried to open it but found it was locked.
"A bit of a snoop are we?" Volcana spoke from behind, prompting Hannah to whirl to see her and Sophie before her. "But then according to what my sister had technically documented on you, that's to be expected."
"Well...why are you letting me run loose anyway?" Hannah asked.
"It's our way of establishing trust, Hannah. You can trust us, and in return, we can trust you," Sophie replied. "In addition, we're keeping ourselves several miles high, so if you were to jump without a parachute, you wouldn't survive the fall. And I wouldn't risk taking a leap out via a dimensional jump. Who knows where you'd end up, let alone even survive the vortex."
"So really if I want to have a comfortable trip I just have to behave?" Hannah asked.
"That, and don't go prowling around, too much. And whatever you do, don't try sabotage. It won't end well, trust me," Sophie replied before giving Hannah a unique look over. "Hmmm...interesting..."
"Wh...what is?" Hannah asked, feeling a bit unnerved and not really able to go anywhere.
"Your skin. I distinctly remember it being a lot more tanned. But then again, you haven't been under the sun nearly as often as you typically were so now your skin is turning pale. Not sickly pale, but still a bit more normal in a sense," Sophie replied.
"Anyway, Sophie, you have some stuff to organize, I believe I'll have a little chat with Hannah personally," Volcana said as she gently took Hannah by the hand and began to lead her off as Sophie nodded and quickly went in her own direction. Hannah was a bit at a massive loss for her situation and how to get out of it but she knew she needed to do something.
"So...how are you related you Neifirst? I can't say I see a family resemblance," Hannah remarked.
"Adoptive sister. Neifirst came to my rescue when I needed her most. You see, once my powers started to manifest, my parents sent me off to best learn how to control them, less I burn something or anyone by accident. I certainly understood the concern and respected it. It was fairly unique, a nice place. But, due to my powers having military applications basically, the government where I'm from "erased" my past as they then came for me," Volcana replied.
"E...erased? But how could they erase...?" Hannah paused as the way Volcana said erased dawned on her a bit horrifically.
"Precisely. They didn't see a human, they saw a weapon. But, that's when she appeared and her special squad. They were the best tactical military group I had ever seen, and they were the first I had ever really seen. Needless to say, every other I've seen since pale in comparison. But regardless, despite her unusual appearance, to someone like me, she was like a divine angel, whom took me under her wing and gave me a new home," Volcana said.
"And yet you have combat control over your abilities," Hannah quipped.
"It's more of an art form. Besides, my sister gave me far better motivation and tutoring than what was intended for me," Volcana retorted as she recalled sitting in a woman as a bit of a younger woman, with a circle of candles between her and Neifirst.
"Tell me Claire, haven't you ever gazed at the dancing flames of a candle for several minutes at a time, just simply mesmerized by how each individual flame never does the exact same dance?" Neifirst asked.
"Well, maybe a little," Claire replied.
"Flames themselves are a unique form art among themselves. Much like how no two snow flakes are the same, no two flames burn the same way. But this is an ability you have to make the most beautiful art imaginable, all that it's limited by, is your imagination," Neifirst stated.
"Really?" Claire asked, a bit wide eyed and curious.
"Indeed. Where as most artists have to draw very meticulously, and have to be precise, especially sculpting, you can craft a living being in the flames with your mind. Try and picture the most majestic creature and manipulate the flames to depict exactly what you're imagining. Focus it into the center of the circle," Neifirst urged, and Claire was real eager to try with this new mindset, and while it took a few seconds as the candle flames wildly flickered and waved, soon they shot out pillars of fire that then focused into the middle of the ring, and before long the flames transformed into a large horse. Although presently it was standing still it was still an incredible sight. "That's very good, but take it a step further. Picture it in motion, give it life." and with that after a few seconds the horse began to trot and quickly went into a full on gallop, before leaping and then spinning, spiraling into a majestic long tailed bird, and after that into a roaring lion.
"I didn't think I could make fire so beautiful!" Claire exclaimed.
"You've come far already. But there is still much you can do to truly become a master of your abilities, to even outshine those with ones similar to your own. To both defend yourself and protect those close to you. I can help mold your abilities to perfection if you so desire."
-Avengers Mansion-
"That dimensional hop took a lot out of them. The fact they were able to essentially hit the mark on the first go is incredible," Wanda said as they had the senshi laying in several beds to recover.
"And it's a good thing they came to us first, otherwise if they attempted to go after Hannah, they'd be too burnt out to fight," Spider-Man said.
"I'm so sorry...I tried so hard to take Volcana out I...I should've just stayed by Hannah's side..." Jupiter said.
"Listen, it's alright. The fact that they wanted Hannah alive means she is safe. We'll get her back. I'll make sure of it," Jack said.
"So...you come from a Moon Kingdom?" Lucia asked as she and Mega Man stood by Sailor Moon's bed.
"Yes...I'm actually the princess of a now long lost kingdom. Reborn as a regular human girl. Well, as regular as a magical girl can be," Sailor Moon replied. "And you're the goddess Lucia? Apparently Luna knows of you. But then again, given how long lived as our kingdom was we apparently had information dating back several long centuries. Documenting the Multiverse itself. But...well...that information is now long gone and I never had the chance to look into it myself."
"Well we weren't exactly looking for that information at the moment anyway but, we have been discovering evidence of various aspects of the Multiverse and have been coming to understand why things are happening the way they are," Mega Man said. As they conversed, Luna was perched in a rafter as she looked down intently at him.
"It can't be...he's the one?" she whispered to herself in astonishment.
"One what?" Artemis asked as he came up to her.
"Look at the back of his right hand. You see that outline?" Luna motioned a little.
"That triangle pattern?" Artemis asked. It was pretty much invisible, but due to the special nature they posses they're able to see it.
"It's the same pattern on the back of Link's left hand. As you know, the three upright triangles are wisdom, courage and power. But you see where the faint yellow glow is on his hand?" Luna asked very intensely.
"Say that can't be right! There were only three!...weren't there?" Artemis asked, now a bit perplexed.
"There had always been rumors and speculation of a fourth one. One that was never recovered when the "Tetra Force" scattered the first time years ago. In the end, there was a fourth goddess that had birthed Hyrule with the other three. There was a myth she had chosen someone before finally passing," Luna explained.
"But that doesn't make sense, Mega Man isn't nearly old enough for it to make sense!" Artemis said.
"Not if the final piece went to his soul and had been waiting in dormant for his spirit to finally reincarnate," Luna retorted. "He's no mere machine."
-A bit of time later-
After having decided on an additional team member, Jackie Chan to accompany them as they went off to go and retrieve Annet Myer and her companions. The idea was to intercept her on her way to Chicago and go from there. Needless to say they were all anxious to finally meet this woman and maybe get some answers since she seems to be the center of attention at the moment, save for the Emeralds as well. Eventually they arrived at a town that was on the way in the middle of the night and went to touch down in a field so they could disembark their vehicles.
"So the plan of attack is we want to fan out and search for Annet. She's bound to enter and pass through this town," Spider-Man said as he jumped out onto a large rock.
"And we don't want to frighten her. Or draw too much attention to ourselves. After all with being as important as she is, we can already bet people are after her and she knows it. Last thing we want is to cause a panic by just swarming her," Mega Man said.
"It'll be easier for some of us to be discrete than others," Jennifer remarked. And with that they set off into the city. Passengers in Jack's cadillac were Felicia, Mega Man, Lucia and Jackie, while Regina was riding her own bike now alongside Batgirl, and Catwoman road passenger with Batman in the batmobile. Helen drove a regular sports car with Jennifer, Jill, Link and Gwen as her passengers. They stayed together for a bit as they went through the town before finding a spot to split up, however as they were about to reach an intersection, four bikers ended up pulling out in front of them.
"AH!" Batgirl yelped as she swerved and skidded her bike to a halt as everyone else stopped, while Spidey had to do a quick spinning turn to swing back around and then perched on a lamp post.
"Hey! Looks like we ain't the only interesting individuals on the road tonight. Not some bad looking ones either," one of the bikers commented.
"Wait a minute!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he had a real good look at them. One biker that looked like he was riding a regular looking Davidson type bike, wearing a grey and black helmet, a black leather pants, studded blue biker pants and black biker boots, with brown fingerless gloves. He appeared to have regular skin tone but the striking detail was the long thing tail, and that the helmet was a bit on the wide side. In fact so were the other two helmets as there appeared to be one regular human female with them.
But the one who had spoken, had a red helmet on, and his skin appeared to be white as was his tail. He was dressed similarly to the former except he only had on some sort of green straps around his chest in an X shape. His bike was more like a racing type bike, a sleek red design that had the driver more hunched forward with the handles on the sides. His tail was also white. And the third one, had on a unique purple helmet, had grey skin, or as finally realizing, fur, two shoulder pads, his right arm looked mechanical and he had on darker pants, a unique chest piece and had his own unique knee pads while the other two had similar grey ones. "Guys, bikers!"
"...with long tails!" Batgirl said.
"Are these the Biker Mice?" Mega Man asked as he stood up in his seat to get a better look.
"Hehhey! We're famous!" the white one cheered.
"I wouldn't get too excited pal, we might not be among adoring fans," the tan one remarked.
"Hey, we're not looking for a fight," Jack said.
"Please! We're trying to find Annet Myer!" Lucia called as she quickly stood up.
"Hey, we're trying to find her too! She just disappeared!" the female biker with them said.
"Well that explains why you're not in Chicago at the moment. You're on the right track, she's headed this way. However, I do hope you don't take offense to this, but are you by any chance mutants?" Spider-Man asked.
"Mutants? Heck no!" the grey one protested.
"Yeah these studly good looks are from mars!" the white one quipped.
"Studly?" Gwen chuckled with a bit of a smirk.
"Mars?! You're martians?" Jill asked, a bit stunned. And with that they removed their helmets, revealing their large mouse ears, and and shockingly good looking faces. As well as two little red antenna on their heads. The tan one had on a unique set of glasses, the white one had a metal plate on the side of his face and the grey one had an eye patch over his left eye.
"Yeah, what were you expecting, green slugs bent on world domination?" the grey one asked.
"Well at this point I've seen just about everything," Link remarked.
"And yet I still get the feeling that still ain't all," Mega Man added.
"I will say this is a surprisingly pleasant change of pace," Jackie quipped.
"Frankly I wasn't sure what I was expecting and I'm still a bit blown away," Helen remarked.
"I can't help but find them a bit cute, in an unusual handsome sorta way," Jennifer blushed a bit although she tried to hide it.
"So ummm, how do we start introductions with this?" Gwen asked.
"We might as well since we seem to be the ones with the simpler explanation. We're freedom fighters from Mars, I'm Throttle." the tan one said.
"And I'm Vinnie, but you ladies can all me Vincent," the white one said a bit seductively, and flashed a cheeky grin their way.
"Very well, Vincent," Lucia said, prompting everyone to look in surprise a bit, before Batgirl simply covered her face.
"Ohhhhmmmnnnn..." she groaned in frustration, while Regina, Gwen, and Jill collectively facepalmed, Helen's forehead thunked against her the top of the steering wheel.
"Oivey..." Felicia sighed as she leaned to the side a bit.
"Did I do something wrong?" Lucia asked, now confused.
"Not exactly but I'll explain later," Mega Man replied as he patted her shoulder.
"And I'm Modo. You can consider me the muscle of the group," the grey one said.
"And with a heart of gold if I had to guess," Batgirl remarked. Before they could do much else through, suddenly there was a flash of light from a nearby alleyway, followed by a lot of clanging and clattering.
"The heck was that?" Gwen asked as she pulled herself out of the window and held onto the roof of the car a bit.
"Not sure but I think that was a bomb explosion. At least that's what I heard," Jill replied. Everyone piled out of their vehicles before heading to said alleyway, finding some flaming debris around, and things scattered about, but to their collective surprise they found a woman laying on her side upon the pavement. She had very short, bright blond hair and a slim face, and had on a red turtle neck nit sweater under a very dark grey trench coat. On her forearms were black straps, and the coat had six buttons on the front, secured around her waist by a black belt. The edge of the coat went to around her thighs as she had on a dark transparent pair of leggings, had on a pair of brown leather gloves, and a unique pair of brown heeled boots.
There appeared to be a black sock or something sticking out of the top, and had a strap and buckle just below the top of the boot, and had a similar setup around the ankles. She moaned a bit as she began rolling slowly onto her back before Vinnie got to her first and helped her also sit up.
"Hey, you're ok, and everything's gonna be fine," he said, taking a number of the team by surprise by how actually tender he was being, before the woman opened her eyes, revealing their bright blue color. She blinked a few times before starring at Vinnie. "So, you feelin alright darlin?" he asked cheekily, and the illusion was a bit broken, but more so when the woman firmly smooshed his face with a firm double smack from both sides. As he recoiled in shock from his, she quickly scrambled to her feet and looked at everyone, although she wasn't quite seeing them all as her vision was hazy and she put her hands to her ears in a bit of pain.
"L...look I don't know who you people are but I don't want any trouble...just stay away..." she said as she slowly backed up, trying to collect herself before Batman got behind her and put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. She did gasp as she pulled her hands away and went a bit stiff.
"It'll be alright miss, you're safe. No one will harm you," he said, and with that the woman's eyes widened with a bit of recognition, and very slowly turned around to face him, not even appearing to get alarmed when she saw him in full.
"...Bruce...?" she asked faintly and softly, taking everyone by surprise. "You're...alive?" that put everyone into a massive state of shock, surprise and confusion, unable to really fathom this at the moment.
"Who are you?" was all he could eventually ask.
"D...don't you remember me? I'm Vicki Vale!"
Chapter End.