Everything was on fire, as a hooded figure gazed at the destruction of New York City. It only felt like yesterday when everything changed and the worlds were introduced to pure evil given a new form to defeat. It all started back in the year 2018, when a young five-year-old girl watched in horror as a purple alien used a glove to overthrow an evil asshole and become the new god of everything. All it took was a handful of snaps to tear the fabric of reality apart. As people died, cities and vast kingdoms among countless worlds had fallen to a man known as the Tyrant!
Only one option was left: go back in time and make sure that son of a bitch never got his purple hands on that glove, the stones, and kill any Xehanort that got in her way. The hooded figure removed their hood, revealing a head of short black hair, as the woman sighed, grabbing a small flip phone from her pocket, dialing up a number, and waiting with bated breath for her partner to respond and hopefully fix this mess. As the phone rang and rang, the longer it took, the woman's minutes were burning away, only for the sounds of footsteps to echo in the distance as the mysterious woman grabbed hold of her pistol, watching the entrance to the small shopping center that her father and mother had taken her to as a child. However, the woman didn't fire her gun at the noises, as she could see a familiar face of the teen who had become her best friend.
"Laputa! Why didn't you answer me when I called? Surely you still had minutes left on your phone, or for fuck's sake, use some of that magic shit, that your mother used before this world went to shit? Look, I think I figured out a way for us to get out of this fucking nightmare; we just grab the stones and smoke the purple butt chin freak once and for all, the only issue trying to time travel." Twilight declared, looking over at her friend, as the young heart pondered for a moment, as her eyes widened at how it could work.
"Well, for starters, Twilight, my phone was almost out of minutes, as if I recall from the last meeting, it was my turn to go scouting for any remaining heroes, and people that could fight that man. As far as the stones, and pulling an Assassin's Creed, I think I only have enough magic to send one person back, so it has to be you, so what plan do you have in mind to get the stones, and defeat Thanos, and his band of villains, and please for the love of Mom, it better be a good one!" Laputa whispered, looking out the window for a second, spotting a shadowy Ultron bot; it was covered in a veil of darkness. Something they'd have to avoid until they could find a flashlight and a way to return the remaining magic to the universe.
"Well, we know where at least half the stones were taken from, so I figured once back in the past, get help, save a few worlds, since it'll take at least a year or more to find all the stones, and once 2018 rolls around, we win! Plus it'll be pretty doable, since we know where the power, mind, and space stones will be located, so it's kind of simple when you think about it." Twilight said, grinning at her place, only to a quick punch in the shoulder from Laputa as the young teen sighed, moving her arms into a cupping motion, grabbing hold of her friend's face.
"You're forgetting who's in possession of those stones and the requirements it takes to get those stones and kill each villain holding that stone." Laputa whispered, hearing the sounds of footsteps outside, knowing that sooner or later they'd be surrounded if they weren't quiet.
"Ok, maybe I'm underestimating this a little, but cut Beneviento a break; it's not like we have any other ideas outside of surveillance, and Dr. Strange's so-called plan of breaking reality even harder by creating his battle world vision and thinking it will stop Thanos. Because from where I'm standing, that plan can't work without the stones, the gauntlet and having all four beings that contributed to the Multiverse being alive to make it doable. So until he gets a new plan, I'm pretty sure my way won't get us all killed again!" Twilight whispered, remembering how, with a snap, half of existence was wiped out, and that was before the mad tyrant got his hands on the X-Blade!
"Maybe, you're right, but how do you know things won't change once you're back in time? I'd hate to lose you too, so please don't destroy all reality when you fix this mess." Laputa whispered, holding her friend's shoulder, as she gazed into the gray eyes of Twilight as the older woman gave out a nervous smile.
"It'll be ok, Laputa; all of our friends and heroes we worshiped will be back in action, and then we'll go out for ice cream or something. After all, it's in my family that things go differently and fate gets a big old middle finger, and how hard can it be to get some of those stones? The power stone is in the mad village, the mind stone is in Remnant, and the reality stone is in Bright falls, so at least I have the start of a plan, and I know where to find two of the three other members to help me get into Beacon, and grab that stone down the line."
"Ok, that's a good start, but how do you know where you'll end up? I could send you anywhere! After all, I'm still only a beginner at time magic, and Mr. Strange hasn't been able to teach me as often as needed!" Laputa declared, wondering if this was truly a good idea, or if this was just her friend's attempt at finding hope after all these years in the wasteland that was this universe?
"Well, that's the fun of it, I don't know, and that just means more of an adventure when you think about it!" Twilight said, looking over to the destroyed buildings that were left in the wake of the end, gazing upon the ruin of the Avengers tower and the smaller important buildings like the Baxter building, and the Jones building, wondering what it would be like to see those people again, or see what was left of them in a more positive light.
"You'll never change, will you?" Laputa said, letting out a sigh, as she looked at her friend giving off a dopey smile that her father used to give, back before everything went to shit.
"Nope, although it'll be nice seeing you change a little, no more acting like your grandma, and more like your actual parents." Twilight said, receiving a punch to the stomach.
"Hey, take a joke for once." Twilight yelled, quickly covering her mouth, as the sounds of the bots below quickly looked up, glancing at the duo, starting to climb and run throughout the building towards the pair. Twilight looked in fear, as Laputa started to chant something that Twilight couldn't hear, only to look at her friend in worried eyes.
"Quick, send me back!" Twilight shouted, as the sounds of footsteps echoed throughout the building, as she looked down at Laputa's arms, glowing brightly with light, as the younger girl engulfed her in light, as everything went white, and then at that moment, Twilight closed her eyes, as the last thing she could hear was the sounds of running. The only question that was left on the young woman's mind was how could this day be any more interesting.
"Laputa please be safe, and don't worry, I'll make sure everything will be ok in the end." Twilight whispered, allowing her body to be engulfed by the passage of time and space, hoping that what she was saying was actually possible. Even though she didn't know where she'd land, one thing was certain, this time the heroes would win!
——--
When Twilight awoke, everything was dark, cold and ominous, as the Beneviento woman could only see rows upon rows of abandoned cells in what looked like a rundown prison.
"Ok, somehow I ended up in a different level of hell, great! Better find a way out of this place before the smell gets to me." Twilight whispered, covering her mouth, trying to not breathe in the smell of the building, hoping that the exit was nearby and fast. Unaware of the company she was about to receive, she suddenly heard a banging sound coming from within the prison. Silently she walked through the prison, gazing upon each cell, the floors caked with blood, and broken debris from what must have been an attack or riot. But that didn't make sense, as the place looked so rundown to the point it could have passed as one of the rundown buildings in Texas, not to mention the question of why would someone still be inside this place? However, the silence of the prison would soon fade, as Twilight could hear loud banging and pounding sounds in the distance.
"Hey, asshole, let me the fuck out of this cell. Where the fuck are you? Hey, do you hear me? I can fucking hear your feet, so I know you can hear me!" A voice screamed out, causing Twilight to pull out her pistol, running through the hallway, until she had found the person who was screaming profanities that could have rivaled her mom, and even herself to a degree—it was a sixteen-year-old girl who had some very long hair!
"Ok, this is familiar in the worst way possible. Um, um, what's your name, and why are you locked up in this cell? My name is Twilight Beneviento, so please stop bashing the cell bars like your life depended on it while I figure out how to free you." Twilight shouted, looking at the young teen in the cell. She was wearing a black shirt with a picture of a golden wasp on the front, a green and purple hoodie, black shorts, and black leggings with no shoes or socks to protect her feet!
"Ok, Twilight, let me think for a second while I try not to lose my fucking mind, while being trapped in this fucking shithouse. Look, the last thing I remember is going shopping with my mom during a trip to some foreign country, and the next thing I know, I'm being assaulted by a masked man with a rag, and being taken to a car that smelled of coffee and harsh chemicals. So forgive me if I'm acting like a bitch, but this is really freaking me out, and I just want to get out of this cell as soon as possible! Oh, and my name is Liliana Darkbloom for the record, if that helps you, Ms. Beneviento, wait, is that Italian or something?" Liliana declared, looking at the woman's expression from serious and annoyed to a more cheerful demeanor, looking at the lock that held her in place.
"Yeah, it's Italian, my grandma's family was born around those parts before migrating to some snowy hellhole in a corner of Romania. What about you, kid? You seem American, and also it's your lucky day, I happen to have a few extra bullets I can spare to break this lock! Well, unless you want to do things the hard way and find your own way to break this cell, either way we're in this mess together." Twilight said, looking at what was inside the girls' cell, knowing that she definitely wouldn't want to move too much, as the floor was a sickening black color, and appeared like it had been caked in mildew and grime for decades.
"So while you figure out how to break out of your five to ten, care to tell me what your life was like before all this madness?" Twilight whispered, watching the blond girl rub the back of her neck, as Twilight wondered how in the world this teenager was still standing with the hair that was attached to her scalp. It must have been around seventy feet at best. Most of it was blonde, outside the parts that looked like they had black highlights, meaning she must have had a good enough life to afford all that hair coloring or had some crazy genetics beyond the crazy hair?
"Hmm, I don't have anything too major, like a photo, or a weapon on my body. So I can't really show you anything about me, but I can answer a few questions of yours. I grew up in New York, and was an only child. My parents and I moved to the big city after a nasty incident destroyed our block in San Francisco. After that day, I had a simple life. You see, one of my Mom was big into fashion and hero stuff, so she managed to get a job working under Janet Van Dyne, you know the Wasp. Although I love the sight of her being the Giant wasp, it's a spectacular sight watching her from my apartment. My other mom, and I loved watching her fight, even though she could easily get more attention when heroes like Captain Marvel and her two sidekicks come in to deal with some of the villains, even though, as my mom keeps telling me, she'd take them easily." Liliana declared, proudly, looking back down at the bars that were containing her from freedom.
Liliana decided the best option was to kick the bars with all her might. She stopped only momentarily to look around and deal with the pain in her legs, wishing she had shoes. The only thing of note was finding only an ungodly-looking toilet and an old spare bed frame that was nowhere near sleep-able, knowing damn well this psychopath wouldn't have tossed in a mattress.
"Come on, Liliana, you are a sixteen-year-old girl trapped in a cell, and it's about fucking time to get out of this fucking cell, and fucking, beat the shit out of that asshole." Liliana wailed as she grabbed the worthless bed frame and bashed it against the bars until a snap could be heard. Quickly she looked at the bars, seeing one of them was broken, and the others were damaged, probably being rundown from time. But at least she didn't need to force her new friend to waste a few bullets trying to break out of prison. She just had to think like her favorite hero, and not view life within a box, but understand everything beyond the box.
Liliana gave the bars a few more swings of the frame, letting out a few swear words, looking down at her feet, dreading the idea of having to clean them off later once they escaped this place. Suddenly a loud snapping sound echoed throughout the prison as Liliana finally broke through the bars, quickly tossing the frame against the toilet, breaking the porcelain shitter, causing death to her living conditions, deciding it would be better to explore, as she stepped over the reminding bits of metal still pointing upwards. Quickly grabbing hold of her hair, watching to make sure that it wouldn't get trapped in the wreckage, she dragged it across the floor.
"Ok, now that I'm free and that toilet is dead, it's time to figure out just where the hell we are, and how to get the fuck out of this place before my hair smells like utter shit and my parents have a fucking cow!" Liliana declared, as the teen walked down the
down the long, dark hallway, walking slowly, her fist ready to punch anything in sight with the might of her hair. Twilight stayed behind the teen, pistol in hand, ready to protect the teen from harm, wondering if this hallway would ever end, as each cell started to bleed into one another like a cruel magic trick. Thankfully, the next couple of minutes were uneventful—just more empty cells, a few lanterns on the walls, and more hallways—that made the two feel more annoying.
"At least I won't die of boredom!" Liliana said to herself, trying to figure out more about all this and herself. It was just odd; she probably did nothing to warrant some sick bastard taking her, outside of making a foul mouth and getting on Captain Stacy's nerves a few too many times with her attempts at watching the Avengers and other heroes a little too often rather than making friends. Although it did make her wonder if Mayday counted as a friend or friendly meetup? So, Twilight, where did you come from? What is your city like, because surely you must have been noticeable to be taken here as well, or somehow find me in this shit hole?" Liliana said, wondering more about her partner, as they walked through the halls, spotting a white light coming from the farthest point in the hall. She knew that the older woman had a foul mouth, like her, so the idea of swearing was clearly natural to Twilight, so either her childhood was growing up in a dysfunctional halfway house forced to be cursed in the poorest part of a neighborhood, and she ran away, or she just loved to say fuck, shit, bitch, and other copious amounts of curse words like they were going out of style?
"Hey Liliana, do you happen to know what year it is? I thought it would be good to refresh your memory, since I don't know how long you've been locked up in here." Twilight whispered, glancing at the blonde from the side, as she figured this would probably be a good time to get information about this time period if she had ended up in the wrong year. Plus Liliana was probably needing answers as well, or at the very least, thinking of those questions in the back of her mind. However, three things are for certain, the foul-mouthed blond basically confirmed that heroes like Captain Marvel, and her sidekicks, Ms. Marvel and Marvelous, were still around the same as the Wasp, so that meant the year was between 2013 and 2017 at best. The second was that her parents were still alive and well, probably raising her in their small home in San Francisco, alongside the other members of the group. Lastly, Liliana was definitely the first of her party to save the future! The next one would definitely be harder, though, as she'd either deal with the sea or something more evil.
—--
The hallway was starting to take a toll on Twilight and Liliana; each cell was repetitive, and becoming a boring nightmare. They had only been walking for an hour, and the only thing on their minds was what asshole built this place and how the hell did a hallway be built to feel like they were walking on a multimile journey. The only thing to draw them from the suffering was Liliana's occasional searches of the cells, attempting to find a weapon, even though her hair was a freaking weapon that was scary to think about, but at least she was breaking more toilet seats, muttering about revenge. Twilight could only chuckle at the fan girl; she was interesting, something that felt like her attempts at making Laputa's laugh and open up back at home.
"Hey Liliana, I see the door! It's about fucking time; let's get the hell out of here; I'll go first, got it?" Twilight whispered as the woman, silently, opened the door, mentally swearing at the creaking sound of the door, hoping that nobody was on the other side, turning to make sure that Liliana was still behind her and not taken while she was forced to see what was up ahead.
As the pair walked through the door, quickly the sight of tubes, beakers, and surgical tools was on a table that was caked in blood and filth. Liliana let out a couple of fucks, as the blonde tried to not vomit into her hair, as Twilight walked through the lab, as the dirty white floors and the smell of rotten meat assaulted her nose. It was like any other raid mission that she was sent on; the only difference was the bastard wasn't in the center, getting gunned down for destroying humanity.
Liliana quickly held back her vile and grabbed a hacksaw, figuring like hell was she going to be someone's meat puppet for their science class. She wasn't going to let some psycho have his way with her, even if it meant being something closer to the Vigilante, or, in her words, villain, Punisher, than her idol.
"Ok! Twilight, I got a weapon, and we have made some progress; now can we get the fuck out of here before that psychopath returns?" Liliana uttered as she watched Twilight start combing through notes and old books, which felt mostly gibberish to the teen. The books were just some madman's ramblings about the human heart, shit like transplants, and more medical shit. All those books did was put her more on edge; the fruitcake was probably going to stuff her into someone else, or vice versa. Oh, like, hell was Liliana going to let that happen, tossing the hacksaw to the side and grabbing a handful of knives off of a surgical table, hoping the knives would be more useful than a hacksaw? She even gave out a few jabs, like the hero, Captain America, hoping that this nightmare would be over and her back in the arms of her parents.
"Oh, in the name of Kay, why couldn't I have found a chainsaw or a shotgun?" Twilight muttered, proceeding to look at a pair of bloody metal tables in the center of the room, not liking the feeling in her chest as she continued to look at the aftermath of something probably violent and fucked up, gazing over at the center of the room, as on a table lay the remains of a victim who was dismembered and looked more like a steak at a butcher's shop. It was sickening; the cruel sight was almost as vile as the Cannibal's murders in Hell's kitchen in one of her mother's stories. However, before Twilight could dwell on the grizzly table and shield Liliana from seeing more fucking violence, a set of speakers in the corner of the room started to turn on, blasting a loud noise throughout the room.
"I see the two of you found my laboratory; you were quite creative to use the bed as a means to escape your cell; I will admit, you're quite resilient for being the first of my experiments. Although the woman besides you, Liliana, is just as interesting, one who arrived without my knowledge!" A voice declared, making Liliana jerk at the thought of being called an experiment, like she was nothing more than a plaything for this creepy sick amusement. Twilight walked over to Liliana, grabbing hold of the teen, pulling her away from the middle of the room, as she suddenly noticed a sickening black substance was glued to the ceiling. It was haunting and only left more questions than answers, as Liliana grew angrier in Twilight's arms.
"Who are you? What the fuck do you want with me, and Twilight, you sick, twisted fuck?" Liliana yelled as she broke free of her friend's grasp, quickly raising her arms towards a nearby wooden door to the next room, knives held in between her fingers to make her strikes hurt the mysterious figure.
"My name is of no importance to you, Liliana Darkbloom! All you need to know is that you are one of many keys to opening the door to the darkness, so know that you may run, you can hide, you may fight me, but I will open the door, and when I do, Kingdom Hearts shall cleanse this world and every other world into darkness. So enjoy your freedom while you can; after all, you won't live long enough to enjoy it." The voice said, making Liliana drop her knives and quickly grab at the doorknobs and violently turn the handle. Quickly she ran out of the room, Twilight following behind, her mind racing at the thought of the mysterious figure knowing about Kingdom Hearts and the Door to the Darkness. Their hearts were beating in their chests like her fucking life was on the line, as the next room only had an odd device that looked like it had a ray of light in the red center.
"Fuck it!" Liliana screamed as she ran into the portal of light. Twilight jumped in right behind her, thinking of how she was going to deal with a monster alongside her attempts at saving the world. But that was something to save for later; right now she had to keep Liliana safe. Although they'd first have to survive jumping blindly into a portal of light, as the first thing that entered their minds was the burning sensation of the light against their skin.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, oh, you've got to be shitting me!" Twilight cursed as she felt herself moving faster through the light until she was sent flying out of the beam of light and landed on something hard, quickly passing out from the pain, as her body felt like it had hit very hot, hard metal, followed by the thud of Liliana and her fucking hair falling on top of her like a ton of bricks.
—--
"Hey, are you both ok? You have to wake up now." A voice called out to Liliana, as she was the first to open her eyes closely, noticing people were in front of her. Causing her eyes to dart open, she attempted to send a right hook at the first unknown person in front of her. Only for her fist to be caught as she jolted up onto her feet. Quickly, she looked around her, wondering where that portal of light had sent her and Twilight. The air was warm, the sky was sunny and blue, and Twilight was already awake, getting treated by a woman in the trunk of their car. She was silent and had a nervous look on her face, but that was probably due to landing on their car.
"Hey, easy. I'm just making sure you're okay. Do you know where you are? Are you hurt? What's your name? You're pretty lucky that we found you both in the streets before a semi truck would've come running through this area. My wife is looking over your friend, so let's calm down and relax, ok?" The man whispered to Liliana; his tone was worried, and he didn't sound like her crackhead psycho, making Liliana take a breath and look at the man. He was wearing a white button-up shirt, black pants, and a pair of sneakers. He had blond hair and brown eyes. Liliana quickly patted herself down as she watched the man nod to his wife, grabbing something out of his car; so far, she had a bad case of sunburn from this world's heat and an empty stomach. So outside of that, she was safe for now; the question was, for how long?
Liliana could only watch as the blond man signaled to a woman with short brown hair to get something from their car, which looked like a small cooler, as the woman smiled pulling out a few bottles of water, handing them out to her, and Twilight, the older woman, flashed them a nervous smile, realizing that her cloak was burnt away, and now she was in the open. Liliana could see that she had a black and red jacket, black shirt, shorts, and a holster for her pistol. She didn't seem to have much that was noticeable except for a crown necklace that looked so familiar.
The woman grabbed hold of Twilight, rubbing her arms and face with some kind of cream, gazing at the woman with a look of familiarity, as she tossed the cream over to her husband. As he quickly applied the half-used bottle of cream on her face,
This made Liliana look at the couple silently; they looked ok, even if this was way out of her comfort zone, if she even had one. Liliana quickly grabbed the water and a meat snack from his pocket and consumed them like it was her last meal, probably in her opinion of the past few hours, as the blond man rubbed some more of the cream against her skin, making Liliana goan momentarily from the stinging feeling.
"Hey, it'll be ok, just some cream with aloe vera to help with your sunburns since we sadly didn't bring any first aids or herbs. You girls look like you've been out here all day; my name's Ethan, by the way, Ethan Winters, and the woman next to me is my wife, Rebecca Chambers! Are you able to stand? You've given us quite the scare." Ethan said, making Liliana feel a little more comfortable about being around the unknown strangers, even though she knew it was a stupid idea. She could just hear her parents nagging at her to not go with strangers. But then again, it felt like she knew of the name Winters or Chambers somewhere, but wasn't sure where.
But for now, willing to ignore her stupidity, getting off the ground, looking over her clothes and hair, feeling a burst of rage trying to escape, seeing what must have been layers of dirt, leaves, and god knows what lurking inside of her hair. Quickly, the blonde began to pick through her hair, desperately trying to get any mess out of the nightmare that spilled all over the ground.
"Hello Ethan, Rebecca, I'm sorry to ask, but do you happen to know where we are, and sorry if I've been out of it a little, it feels like my back got hit with a fucking sledgehammer. My name's Twilight, and my craziest hair friend here is Liliana Darkbloom. Thank you both for the cream and water. It was definitely needed, and somehow I'll find a way to relay you for your kindness." Twilight declared, biting her lip for a second, feeling the dryness in her mouth, and for the fact that she had lied a little. Oh! Of course, they had to be in a hot ass state with the fucking Ethan Winters and Rebecca Chambers, two of the survivors of the famous Raccoon City incident of 1998, and the parents of Captain Sora Chambers and Lieutenant Rapunzel Chambers! Not to mention the fact that this was the year 2017, and they were on their way to the Baker Estate in search of the villain Mia.
Twilight could feel her heart skip a beat, as she watched as Rebecca dug through the car, pulling out a half-melted popsicle with two sticks from a large cooler that looked like it was used as a weapon, breaking it in half, and handing the sweet treat to Liliana, flashing the blond teen a smile in the process. Although, she was more in thought about Twilight's statement.
"Twilight, it's perfectly ok; it's just a little food; we'll get more after we're done here. Now the reason for your back aching is that you fell from the sky in a portal of light from the looks of things, and hit the ground. The only thing that saved Liliana was all that hair to cushion her fall. But thankfully the pain will be gone soon, but if it gets worse, I have more things in the car. I used to be a medic back in the day, so you'll be in good hands on this quick adventure. Now, then, let's move on. The sooner we find the Baker Estate, the sooner we can go home!" Rebecca said, pointing over to a sign that showed the exit from the small town of Dulvey Louisiana, causing Twilight's eyes to widen, as Liliana jumped in the air in excitement. They were really going into the house where people had been dying for three years, although then again, outside probably scarring Liliana, it was more exciting than dealing with the future.
"Oh, this is going to be fun. Can this day get any better?" Twilight let out, sarcastically, as the group entered the family car, ready to drive into the upcoming horrors that would soon decide whether they'd be heroes, soldiers, or the next victim of evil. Twilight smiled for a moment, gazing up into the sky, as she tried to look up at the world's above, knowing that soon the next two members of her group would be tossed into the madness that was this universe.