Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Exams are over and I'm back!
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer and gussygus28 for their help once more.
So, HRwriter897 changed the name of his sandbox fic to 'Transformers Prime: Multiversal Incursions', as that name fits better.
FanficHazza/FictionWriterHaz18 has two more sandbox fics, one titled 'Bird's the Word' which is a small crossover between Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth, and even 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia', and another titled 'Final Fantasy XIII: When Steel Meets Fate', which is a crossover between Final Fantasy XIII-Trilogy and Sonic the Hedgehog games.
While BrutalRaynor has posted 'Company man, Con artist and Siren' on A03, again taking place in the 'Borderlands' Universe, and is a sequel to the previous fic he did that is 'Guardians and Hunters'.
King_Of_The_Multiverse has posted 'Shattered Worlds & Rising Legends' on AO3, sequel to his other sandbox fics, again crossing ASOIAF, Arcane/League of Legends, Crescent City Series and Drenai Saga.
Feel free to check them all out.
I also saw 'Daredevil: Born Again'. First episode was rough but 2nd got better, and 3rd was even better. 4th was amazing, 5th was really good and 6th was a masterpiece, and 7th was really great too for the most part. Even the rough stuff earlier, its due to the older version of this show that they scrapped later, but had to keep some stuff from it, so there's some inconsistency and choppy placement of scenes.
There's one bit in Episode 1, which may upset a lot of people, but while it saddened me, I didn't mind as much, though it could have been executed better. But overall, I think this show keeps getting better and better.
I do have two issues though, one related to Vanessa's and Wilson's relationship. Plus another being certain new characters who IMO were unneeded because 2 recurring characters from the old show perfectly fit in those roles.
But those issues aside, its a really great show and continuation in general, and definitely the Season 4 we were robbed of nearly 7 years ago, or at least the closest we'll get to it.
I'm so glad they scrapped the original version which was more like a reboot, and would have been much lighter, because what they're giving us now, is what we truly wanted, for the most part.
Most of the MCU post-Endgame has been disappointing, but this show is one of the exceptions.
I made a playlist for all the songs and soundtracks that play in the background during various scenes, here, remove the spaces- : / / www . youtube watch ? v = OxNeZiOr _ zs & list = PL5IPAwjkS5uJkFtM6X1Yj _ KHJVhl5wYX9
Add a slash between youtube and watch, plus hypertext before the start.
Rest In Peace Val Kilmer, I loved you as Iceman in the 'Top Gun' movies, you will be missed.
Guest 1: Thank you for the review. Ah, got it, sounds like an interesting show from what I read. Yeah, the curses in those movies are SCARY! I'll see when I can watch it, thanks for the rec. You'll see on all. Also, regarding your request, while I'm not doing what the show did, can you not spoil things so quickly? I myself hadn't seen the episode at that point, and your comment spoilt this for me, which annoyed me that day, as I'd even requested a friend to not talk to me about the show till I saw the 2 episodes, and he'd obliged, only for you to spoil it. You should not have assumed I saw the episode just because you saw it at the time. At least wait 2 days before mentioning spoilers from next time onwards. That's all I ask. Regarding the issue with FF, I think its less severe now, perhaps you can check it out now, thanks.
TW: Thank you for the review, and glad it was nicely written. It won't be enough, but at least Barry realizes his shortcomings, unlike the canonical version post-Season 2.
Chapter 5- Alien friend
Middle-earth
A Corridor of Darkness opened up in the middle of the fields, and out of it came Xigbar, alongside a figure in a red and black bodysuit, a silver helmet covered with dark glass hiding his face.
Vanitas!
Xigbar chuckled as he gestured around. "You feel that? This world has some real potential!"
"It feels like...home." Vanitas said, almost wistfully.
"As if, you expect me to believe you came from a place as good-looking as this?" Xigbar joked.
"It just feels familiar, even though its different", Vanitas said seriously. "And it's like you said. This world has potential."
"Good, we agree on something. The Darkness here seems too dormant, why don't we give it a wakeup call?"
Vanitas nodded as the two walked off their separate ways, going into different Corridors of Darkness conjured by them, as they both had their own plans to invite the Darkness over here.
Earth-199999, New York City, Baxter Building
Reed Richards stared at the camera before himself, taking a deep breath, then breathing out, looking at the government official sitting in front of him, waiting to take his interview.
"State your name and powers for the record."
"My name is Reed Richards. My powers are extreme elasticity."
"So, tell us, how did you get these powers?"
"Dimensional-"
"-experiments", Susan Storm told the government official who was interviewing herself. "I didn't get the science part, but the idea seemed quite interesting, that there is another dimension beyond ours."
"And you all were trying to visit it?"
"Oh yeah!" Johnny Storm said in his usual laid-back manner. "Thought it was the coolest thing ever, but then we went there and it was….." Johnny lit up on flames for a second, then quickly cooled them, chuckling. "Well, hot, I guess." He laughed, the government official groaning.
"I thought this was a curse", Ben was saying to the official while looking at himself. "Then I saved someone, and I guess I realized it wasn't the worst thing ever."
"And you signed because…."
"Because I don't want others to be afraid of me, which means I need to prove that with my actions", Ben said, hiding what he truly felt about this, because internally, saying all this made him want to vomit. "By signing, I'm showing that I care about the people, as I'm willing to play ball and make sure I don't do anything to scare the people."
"How much do you think is the limit of your powers?"
"Haven't really tried it yet, last I checked, I could wrap around half this building", Reed confessed to them.
"Those force-fields can go quite far", Susan had to say.
"Definitely not beyond the atmosphere for now, so Space won't see my hotness!" Johnny boasted.
"Well, haven't competed with Hulk all that much, though I do want to", Ben confessed to the guy.
"Do you accept that you will be monitored?"
They were quite arrogant to think they could monitor the Fantastic Four, when Reed's intellect surpassed theirs, but Reed decided to accept it, since he could easily tinker with the monitors for all of them.
"I do."
"I do", Susan said with a sigh.
"Oh yeah!" Johnny said, before doing a double-take. "Even in the bathroom?"
"Guess so", Ben shrugged.
Later
Reed, Susan, Johnny and Ben sat together, the government official and the crew leaving the floor via elevator, as Reed rubbed his head sadly. "They're going to monitor us with tracking bracelets soon."
"Guess we should congratulate ourselves for turnin' our place into our jail", Ben commented with a scoff. "Why did we sign this nonsense?"
Reed started. "To protect our-"
"Well, bein' tracked at all times ain't my idea of protection!" Ben snapped angrily, Reed looking down in shame as Susan grasped his shoulder.
"I wanna go out and have fun!" Johnny snapped. "Now I guess all of my fun will be monitored by these jerks too, huh? Goddamnit!"
"And we did this to save our butts while others out there are bein' hunted like animals!" Ben snarled as he got up, growling. "What does that say?"
Reed started. "Ben look, I was thinking about keeping the four of us safe, and we can-"
"Look like sellouts!" Ben roared as he pointed at Reed, who looked down sadly, not able to deny it. "Because that's what all of us became the moment we signed these! Sellouts! Just like Stark and Rhodes!"
"And what do you think they would have done to us if we didn't sign?" Reed asked finally. "You've heard about their secret prison thing, right? We'd be there right now instead of here."
"Or we'd be with Captain America and his team, trying to fight against this."
"Ya know, that'd be cool, I get to show off how much of a rebel I am, instead of being a pro-establishment bootlicker", Johnny said himself with a scoff. "I've really ruined my image."
"Stop it, all of you!" Susan finally said, causing the three guys to look at her. "Look, we know this SHRA sucks, and we had to sign to play ball with the government and look like stooges, and save our own asses, so we've to deal with everything that comes from it!" Then, looking each guy in the eye, she added. "But, when the time comes to do the right thing…..we'll have to do the right thing."
"And how do you think we will know of such a time, sis?" Johnny asked with folded arms, Susan turning to him.
"I don't know that right now, but we know we can't live like this forever like government slaves", Susan pointed out. "And Cap is not gonna stay silent. He will lead a charge against all of this. When he does, we will join him."
"Assuming they accept sellouts like us", Reed said, his self-loathing evident, but Susan grasped his hand, making him look into her eyes.
"Reed, you're not perfect, none of us are, but you're the smartest guy I know", Susan assured him with a smile. "And I know, that while we all got into this mess together, you can get us out of it too, only you can."
The two continued looking into each other's eyes for a moment, then he smiled, nodding. "Thank you, Sue."
They let go of each other's hands, Susan adding as she looked at the rest. "Besides, regardless of what he has done- remember, Victor overthrew his country's government overnight."
The rest groaned at his mention, Ben saying. "That was a third world country though. And he'd power beyond them."
"Still, we know governments can be overthrown", Susan pointed out. "And Cap is not going to stop. This SHRA will be overthrown, I know it."
The other three seemed to calm down, seeing her points, while Susan looked between Reed and Ben, who sighed.
"Sorry Reed, ya know how I get sometimes", Ben said, holding out his hand.
"I'm sorry too", Reed said, stretching his hand to shake Ben's rocky one.
Middle-earth
A bright and fair figure was walking near the shore, when he saw a figure in darkness at a distance, the figure's back to him, while the person looked down into the water.
The fair figure felt the darkness from inside the other figure, sensing this was an outsider…..yes, an outsider to Arda.
He had lived for a long, long time, yet, for once, even he was shocked.
As he watched, the dark figure then jumped into the water, while the fair figure stood at the same spot for a few seconds.
Then, he began to walk off once more, singing about his sorrows and regrets, and the Age of the world long gone.
Universe-8096
The Loki of this Universe was imprisoned in the Dimension where the Midgard Serpent dripped her venom on his face, torturing him as he screamed in agony, the torture and pain destined to last for all of eternity.
Or not.
For a golden light appeared in the area, then faded, revealing a blonde woman in a helmet, looking at Loki with affection in her eyes, a magical barrier around herself, and the Midgard Serpent seemed to not notice her.
"My love", she said to Loki, kneeling near him and stroking his face lovingly, the barrier changing shape to accommodate her. "I am deeply sorry it took me this long to come for you, but I am here now."
"It doesn't matter if you were late, my love Sigyn", Loki said to her, his voice having an equal amount of affection for her. "It just matters that you came for me." Some venom dripped on his face, making him scream, Sigyn's heart breaking at the sight, while he barely recovered. "And for that, I am eternally grateful, my love."
"This magic protecting me from being seen by the Midgard Serpent won't last for long", Sigyn warned Loki. "But I know what to do, my love."
Venom dripped on Loki's face again, and he grunted, before smiling at her. "You do not need to do this for me, lovely Sigyn. I know of your devotion already."
"But let me prove it to you, my beloved Loki. Let me show you how deep my love for you truly is."
"Oh Sigyn", Loki muttered, letting a tear roll down his cheek as more venom dripped on his face, making him scream. "What are you going to do?"
"I have been working on this since the day you were imprisoned here."
And then, she began to glow, waving her hands in the air, with Nordic Runes appearing all around them, after which she began to chant.
"ᚠᚱᛖᛖ ᛏᚺᛁᛋ ᛒᛖᛚᛟᚡᛖᛞ ᛟᚠ ᛗᛁᚾᛖ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᛏᚺᛁᛋ ᚡᛖᚾᛟᛗᛟᚢᛋ ᛈᚱᛁᛋᛟᚾ, ᚨᚾᛞ ᛚᛖᛏ ᚺᛁᛋ ᛒᛖᛚᛟᚡᛖᛞ ᛏᚨᚴᛖ ᚺᛁᛋ ᛈᛚᚨᚲᛖ ᚨᛋ ᚨ ᛏᛟᚴᛖᚾ ᛟᚠ ᛟᚢᚱ ᛚᛟᚡᛖ ᚠᛟᚱ ᛖᚨᚲᚺ ᛟᛏᚺᛖᚱ"
And then, both she and Loki glowed brightly, the light expanding as it covered everything.
When it faded, Loki was now standing inside Sigyn's magical barrier, sighing in relief, while Sigyn was the captive of the Midgard Serpent, the venom dripping on her face as she screamed in agony.
"Oh Sigyn", Loki said sorrowfully as he knelt near her, cupping her face. "Your sacrifice shall never be forgotten by your beloved. You truly are….the Goddess of Fidelity."
"I will wait for the day you can free me, my beloved. And then we can happily live together."
The barrier around Loki started fading, as she warned him. "You need to go, now." The venom dripped on her face once more as she screamed in agony.
"I will come back for you soon, beloved Sigyn."
They shared one last smile, and just as the barrier around Loki faded, he disappeared from this dimension in a green glow, while more venom dripped on Sigyn's face, Sigyn screaming in utter agony, being the captive of the Midgard Serpent now.
Loki reappeared in a different dimension, very close to the one with the Midgard Serpent, and then, the affection he had on his face evaporated in less than a second, replaced by a smirk of glee instead, after which he began to laugh hysterically.
"You fool!" He said about Sigyn. "Now you can rot in imprisonment while I can continue my plans and have my revenge against those buffoons, the Enchantress, my brother, and the Avengers!" Still, her blind devotion to him was much appreciated, considering how useful it made her.
Now, because of her, he could have his revenge. First, that traitorous harlot Amora the Enchantress, the only woman who'd played with his heart a long time ago, then his buffoonish brother Thor, and then, the even more buffoonish Avengers!
Loki sat down, sensing something around the Universe, and chanted, glowing green once more, chanting a spell.
"ᛏᚺᛖ ᚱᛖᚨᛚᛗᛋ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᚹᛖᚱᛖ ᛋᚺᛁᚠᛏᛖᛞ, ᚱᛖᚡᛖᚨᛚ ᛏᚺᛖᛗ ᛏᛟ ᛗᛖ, ᚨᚾᛞ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᛖᛟᛈᛚᛖ ᛏᚺᚨᛏ ᚹᛖᚱᛖ ᛋᚺᛁᚠᛏᛖᛞ, ᛋᚺᛟᚹ ᛗᛖ ᛏᚺᛖᛁᚱ ᚡᛁᛋᚨᚷᛖᛋ"
In front of him appeared projections of the breaches that had been opened all over the Multiverse due to the Singularity, which he'd sensed before his imprisonment here.
"The Realms have been shifted in my absence."
He saw a projection of the alternate X-Men appearing through a breach to help the X-Men of this Universe, after which he saw a projection of Spider-Man fighting a monster made of fire and shadow, before an young electric superhero came to his aid.
After that, he saw a projection of Ultron going through a breach, then a projection of all of the Avengers going through one.
That was followed by a projection of his Enchantress going through a wormhole in Asgard itself, followed by Thor, who was chasing her.
He smirked, this one getting his interest, but then he saw the next one, and that caught his interest too.
This one was of Doctor Bruce Banner, the human form of that beast the Hulk, disappearing after being struck by a blast from a device.
Disappearing…..right into another Universe!
Universe-199999, Asgard
In the dungeon, Loki heard the commotion above, before flames spewed into the block, and then Fire Demons arrived there too, fighting and killing the guards.
Loki just chuckled, before tapping the barrier of his cell. A green glow emanated from him, going over the entire surface, and then, a second later, the barrier started fading, until it was completely gone, nothing standing between Loki and his freedom now.
His previous experience here, and his time as the All-Father, it had made him more than ready for a second prison sentence, or well, what little of it he planned to serve.
One Fire Demon hurled a fireball at him, but it passed through an intangible Loki, who glowed green and faded just as the real Loki stabbed the Fire Demon through the throat from behind, and twisted his knife, killing it before ripping his knife out, and turning around, he strode forwards, swinging his knife and swiftly slicing down two more Fire Demons before they could start attacking him.
And then, he walked off, leaving the guards to face off against the Fire Demons, while the other prisoners all cowered.
Loki found the way that led up into the palace, and rushed on it, throwing a knife at the throat of another Fire Demon in his way, making it topple down the stairs, while Loki saw the door between the palace and dungeons had been reduced to splinters.
So, he strode back to the palace, seeing various Einherjar all fighting the Fire Demons. Fortunately for him, very few knew that he'd been Odin in disguise, and there had been no time to tell the entirety of the people in the royal palace, never mind the entirety of Asgard.
Loki continued to walk, getting behind a pillar. Then, there was a green glow, and a second later, Odin walked out the other side of the pillar, having Gungnir on him.
"Fight, Einherjar!" "Odin" cried out, the Einherjar continuing to battle the Fire Demons, as one was reduced to ashes by powerful flames by a Fire Demon, but another chopped off the Fire Demon he was battling. "For Asgard!"
"FOR ASGARD!" The Einherjar cried out, continuing to clash against the Fire Demons, as "Odin" walked towards his throne room, one Fire Demon trying to attack him, but "Odin" punched it away, sending it flying into a corner.
Opening the doors to the throne room, "Odin" saw that Gungnir was still there, kept next to the throne. The illusory Gungnir in his hand disappeared as he walked to the real one, and picked it up once more.
But as he turned around, Enchantress appeared before him in a burst of flames, sitting on the Fire Dragon, while Surtur burst into the throne room too, destroying the doorway and reducing that, alongside the wall, to debris.
"Odin" started saying. "I, Odin All-Father, says unto you-"
"Spare us the grand speeches, we know that you are not Odin", Surtur immediately said, causing Loki to freeze mid-sentence.
"I am not sure what-"
Both Surtur and Enchantress fired a combined blast of flames at Loki, but it passed through him, the illusion fading away in a green light, while the real Loki appeared on the other side, still holding Gungnir, now in his true form.
"You're not the Enchantress I know", Loki noted as the fire around the Enchantress flared up.
And then, she fired a powerful blast of fire at Loki, who used Gungnir to deflect it, while she turned to Surtur. "Go to the Vault, and be one with the Eternal Flame, Lord Surtur!"
"Asgard shall be no more! I can feel the Eternal Flame's warmth!" Surtur declared, as he moved out of the throne room, and Loki made to rush after him, but Enchantress blocked his way with a blast of flames that formed a giant line of enchanted fire before him.
"It seems you forget who I am", Loki said with a smirk, and then, a powerful blast of ice shot out of his hand, freezing the flames, after which Loki spun Gungnir and shattered the frozen flames into nothingness, Enchantress grinning at the sight.
With that, Loki hurled a telekinetic wave at her but she countered with one of her own that overpowered Loki's, staggering him back, and before he could recover, she hurled another powerful blast of fire.
Loki tried to block with Gungnir, but he was not its true owner, and the Enchantress' power, enhanced by the Surtur of her Universe, was ultimately greater than his, making him gasp as he was thrown off and crashed to the ground, losing grip of Gungnir.
Enchantress hurled another blast of flames at his fallen form but it passed through him and broke the ground, the illusory Loki fading away in a green glow, while the real one stabbed her in the back of the neck from behind, causing her to gasp.
"You clearly don't know me."
The fire around her flared up again, making Loki gasp while she moved her head backwards, crashing it into Loki's face, sending him falling to the ground, and reaching back, she pulled the knife out of her neck, before turning around to face him.
"As a matter of fact- I do. And the Loki of my Universe, while he is a pathetic fool, compared to him, you're just a child playing pretend."
That made Loki glare at her as she hurled his knife back at him, now coated in a layer of fire, but Loki used another knife of his to deflect it, before flipping up, and she held out her hands, causing the debris all around to rise.
She hurled the debris at Loki telekinetically, and he tried to stop it with his own telekinesis, but the debris was coated with fire, and continued making its way towards him.
At the last moment, Loki used his magical power to crush all the debris, but couldn't avoid some of the fire, which signed his shoulder, making him gasp in pain, while Enchantress held out her hand, Loki gasping as he was held up telekinetically.
Then, Enchantress tilted her head, as a knife was hurled at her from the side, and she barely stopped it with her telekinesis, the illusory Loki in her telekinetic grip fading away in a green glow, while she turned to face the real Loki, ready with another knife.
Enchantress held up more debris telekinetically, and transformed it all into fiery vines, that made their way towards Loki to bind him, but Loki took out another knife and spun very fast, using the knives to cut apart the vines as they made their way towards him.
At Heimdall's Observatory, a portal opened as Odinson flew out, having used his Mjolnir to open it when Heimdall did not answer them, and behind him, Thor flew it, and then, they were joined by Hercules, Sif and the Warriors Three.
That was when Heimdall finally managed to climb back up, and Thor rushed forth, giving him a hand that Heimdall grasped, letting Thor help him up to the Observatory again.
"Surtur is here, with another Enchantress-"
"We know", Odinson told the all-seer. "The attack on Vanaheim was a distraction by them."
"They're already at the palace", Heimdall warned, pointing in the direction, as the Thors shared a look, then flew forth while holding out Mjolnir, with Hercules, Sif and the Warriors Three rushing past Heimdall into the city to battle the Fire Demons.
Sif stabbed a Fire Demon through the throat, Fandral slicing another's throat, as Hogun struck one hard, sending it down, and Volstagg chopped off one's head.
A Fire Dragon looked down at Hercules and was about to breathe fire, but Hercules leapt into the air and struck its chin hard with his Adamantine mace, sending it flying out of Asgard's atmosphere with a screech.
Thor and Odinson continued to fly ahead, twirling their Mjolnirs, deflecting any flames fired at them, and striking the Fire Dragons in the air.
Loki hurled his own green energy blasts at Enchantress, who used a fiery force field to block those, before blasting the roof above Loki, bringing it down upon him.
With a smirk, she turned around, holding up her hand to block the knife thrown by Loki, and hurled it back at him, the knife striking his chest as he gasped, falling to the floor, dead.
Enchantress laughed, moving towards the body, only for it to fade away in a green glow, alongside the knife, to her shock.
"What?" She muttered. She'd great power, how could Loki's illusions fool her still?
Enchantress roared, her fire flaring up and destroying more of the throne room.
Meanwhile, Surtur was at the Vault finally, looking at the Teserract first and scoffing, then seeing the Infinity Gauntlet, but he shrugged, not caring about it, and finally saw the Eternal Flame, holding out his hand.
"At long last, we are one once more."
KRTHOOOM!
Surtur turned around to see both Thor and Odinson standing there, as Thor cried out. "Surtur, your assault ends here!"
"For Odin! For Asgard!" Odinson roared, both of them lifting up their Mjolnirs.
"You are too late."
Just as Surtur's hand grasped the Eternal Flame, another, smaller hand, grasped his larger one, causing him to spin around to see an old man in golden armor with just one eye, the other covered in an eyepatch.
"Odin!" Surtur growled in anger as he glared at the All-Father, a smile breaking out on Thor's face as he realized it truly was Odin before him.
"Father!"
Odin gave Thor and Odinson both a nod, as the fire around Surtur flared up, due to him absorbing the Eternal Flame into his body, though Odin didn't let go still, while Surtur began to grow in size alongside his Twilight Sword.
Grunting, Odin held out his other hand, and the Bifrost shot down through the roof of the Vault, breaking it, and covering both himself and the growing Surtur, just as Loki burst into the Vault too.
"I will handle Surtur!" Odin cried out to them all, the Bifrost trying to teleport them both away, but it was struggling with Surtur's Eternal Flame, which was flaring up the fire around his body as he grew large enough to break through the roof of the Vault with his head, laughing maniacally.
And then, there was a shockwave explosion, causing the Thors and Loki to fall down, and that was when a wormhole opened upon them.
"Not again!" Odinson groaned, as its power managed to suck them all in, and then, just as Enchantress entered the room, there was an even larger explosion, the Bifrost fading away, no sign of Odin or Surtur, while the Vault was blown apart, its contents scattered here and then, the wormhole shutting down as Enchantress fell to the ground, unconscious, the flames around her fading away.
Hercules, Sif, the Warriors Three, and Tyr, who'd just joined them, looked towards the palace as it was rocked by the huge explosion, causing portions of it to crumble, and the rest of Asgard shook from the blast too.
Thor was falling, unable to use Mjolnir to steady himself, and then, he saw a flash of a World Tree, followed by the sight of an old, blonde man in armor.
Then, Thor saw another World Tree flash, and then a vision of a blonde man in brown robes.
After that, there was the flash of another World Tree, and then Thor saw a vision of a warrior with red hair and beard, wearing armor and a helmet, holding up a large hammer from which lightning cracked, and Thor knew this was a Variant of himself!
Then, Thor saw the flash of another World Tree, followed by a vision of another version of himself, this one clean-shaven, and holding a Mjolnir that had a larger handle, and looked more like an ax.
After that, Thor saw another World Tree flash, followed by a vision of another version of himself, this one bearded with his red cape around his neck, and his Mjolnir looked just like his own.
Then, Thor saw one more World Tree flash, followed by a vision of a man with one eye, the other covered in an eyepatch, his hair and beard dark and long, with a scary grin on his face, and Thor knew this was a Variant of his father.
That was followed by another World Tree flashing, and then a vision of a red-haired Variant of himself with long beard, holding up Mjolnir.
Then, Thor saw another World Tree flash, seeing a bare-chested version of himself with large red hair and beard, holding up Mjolnir as lightning cracked in the sky.
And finally, Thor saw one last World Tree flash, and then saw a vision of a young boy carrying a bow with a quiver of arrows.
After that, Thor crashed onto snowy ground, breaking it, and losing consciousness.
Earth-1, Keystone City
Barry, now holding the tachyon device in his hand, stood near a board for Keystone City. "Okay, you guys. I'm here. You got my location?"
"You're good? You don't need to, like, stretch or something?" Cisco's voice asked via comms.
"No, no, no, I'm good, I'm good", Barry assured him.
"Let's take this tachyon enhancer out for a test drive."
"All right." Barry put it to his chest, and then it glowed blue with lightning, enhancing him as Barry smirked. "Hoo, yeah. I feel that."
"That is the tachyon device powering up the Speed Force in your cells like a quick charge battery", Caitlin's voice spoke. "How do you feel?"
"Different."
"Let's see how long it takes you to get back here. On my count."
Barry crouched, ready to run.
"Good luck, Barry", Patty's voice said.
"Thank you."
"Three, two, one. Go!"
With that, Barry ran forwards so fast the board nearby fell down, and he continued to run, faster than ever, a lot of locations passing by him in less than a second.
And he loved the feel of the speed on his face.
"Guys, I can go faster."
"Do it." Cisco said.
Barry ran even faster, only to see a breach in his way, and ran into that instead. And as he ran through there, he first saw another Flash suited just like him, but seemingly animated, who was running around his Central City.
Then, he saw one more Flash, though there was something different about him, Barry had to say.
After that, he saw a blonde speedster in glasses and a suit who was running really fast.
And then, he looked at another speedster wearing glasses and listening to music, who was really fast too.
Finally, Barry saw what looked like a tall man in a mostly blue suit, with a 'S' symbol on his chest, his cape flowing behind him, and then, Barry found himself running on the ground again.
He saw a woman falling off a building and running up the building, he caught her, then ran her out into the fields outside the city.
Barry then let the woman go, her shirt on fire now.
"You're on fire!" Barry said to her as he pointed at her shirt which was on fire and moved his hands towards it to try to put it out before realizing where the fire was, and remembered a certain incident with Felicity. "I…..Nope….I'm….."
Thinking of her made him freeze briefly in sadness, when the woman effortlessly put out the fire as the shocked Barry commented. "You don't seem that bothered by the fact that you're on fire."
"I didn't need you to save me", she told him.
Barry chuckled. "You just fell from a skyscraper. So, if I hadn't been there, you would have gone splat."
"I have to get back to the city", she said before flying up into the sky, shocking Barry as her clothes fell on top of him a second later due to her changing into her suit.
"Okay. What the….what….." he trailed off. "That's a new one."
Throwing down the clothes, he muttered. "I thought I was the impossible. Now we got a fake Devil, a real Devil, a medieval world, a Vampire, plus a Wizard from what Oliver said, and now this."
And with that, he started running too. Then, the woman landed just as he stopped near her, Barry seeing her suit, seeing the 'S' he'd seen on the guy was on her too, while she'd a red cape as well, plus a skirt.
He remembered Cisco telling him of going to Earth-21 and meeting Lois and Lana, plus two others named Steve and Natasha from Hawkeye's world. Earth-21 had another Green Arrow, plus this guy called Superman, whom Oliver had met too, and Superman's appearance had been described to Barry.
Maybe he was in a world with another Superman and…..someone related to him?
"How did you do that?" Barry finally asked her, still in awe of her abilities, as hearing and seeing were different.
"I'm Supergirl", she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"You're who now?" Barry asked in confusion. Now he hadn't been told of a Supergirl.
"Sorry, I was just a little disoriented from the scream", she said before asking. "How did you save me?"
"Well, I….You fell out a window and I caught you and ran you all the way out here", Barry said before adding. "Which I did not mean to do but I've been working on my speed and guess I'm faster than I thought."
"Yes, but I…" she exhaled. "Who are you?"
"I'm The Flash", he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"The who now?"
"So, you don't know who I am", Barry commented, realizing he didn't have a Variant here.
"Should I?"
"What about the Green Arrow?" She shook her head. "Black Canary? White Canary?"
More shakes.
"Firestorm?"
She shook her head again.
"Atom?"
She shook her head once more.
"The Question?"
She shook her head again.
"Zoom?"
"Sorry", she said.
"Batman?"
"Oh! Him I've heard of", she confirmed with a smile.
"And Black Lightning?"
"Him too, he started doing his thing again about a year ago", she told Barry at that point.
"Oh, boy", Barry said as he took off his cowl, revealing his face to her, and introduced himself with a sigh. "Hey, I'm Barry Allen. I'm the fastest man alive on my world. Also think I am on the wrong Earth. I'm gonna need your help."
She regarded Barry as he looked around and at her.
Earth-8096, Hydro-Base
Bishop was pacing around in his cell angrily, wondering how he could get out of here, and make the Avengers pay for what they'd be doing in the future.
Suddenly, the entire place started tilting all of a sudden, making Bishop tilt to the corner of his cell too, while the SHIELD agents all ran here and there, alarms beeping, with the agents trying to get ready for this situation.
Up in the air, Magneto hovered, and held out his hands, breaking apart some of the Hydro-Base with his powers, pulling the part that contained the prison towards him, while sending the rest of it floating away in the water.
Putting the prison portion of the Hydro-Base on land nearby, Magneto used his powers to open it up, and then, Quicksilver rushed inside, breaking certain cells with his speed, and that included Bishop's cell as well.
With that, Quicksilver ran back out as Bishop walked out of the Hydro-Base prison, and so did some other Mutants- Arclight, Vertigo, Multiple Man, Harpoon, Mesmero, Blockbuster and Riptide. And Juggernaut as well.
"Good to see ya", Juggernaut told Magneto with a smirk, Magneto smirking back.
"You too."
"Magneto", Bishop said his name as he looked up at the Master of Magnetism, who landed on the ground, smirking.
"Bishop, I've been told about you", Magneto told Bishop. "And where you come from, or I believe the term to use is- when."
"What is it to you?" Bishop inquired.
"I believe we can help each other", Magneto assured Bishop, his words carefully chosen. "You know that I want what is best for the Mutants, and I will do anything to make sure we are not the oppressed race in this world."
There were records of Magneto's actions in his time, though not all of those, and Magneto had been around for a while. Bishop knew he was telling the truth.
"I agree", Bishop finally said, Magneto smirking. "So, will you help me in killing the Avengers?"
"I've a better plan in mind", Magneto revealed, looking at the other Mutants that had been freed too. "Some of you worked for that coward Mr. Sinister, but I offer you a chance to be part of something greater than that lowly fellow's cohorts in his experiments."
"And what is this 'something greater'?" Arclight inquired.
Magneto rose into the sky, Quicksilver looking up at him with a smirk as Magneto raised his hands to either side of himself, giving his speech.
"A great and powerful entity approaches this world- the Phoenix Force. I believe that we can get to that power, and use it to make sure that Mutants are never oppressed by the humans ever again. We have been here for a long time, yet they hate us, and fear us. People like us, we unite all of humanity in their fear and hatred of us, because they don't understand us. Liberal or conservative, black or white, it doesn't matter- the humans will all turn their backs on us, either due to hatred, or due to fear of consequences. We are alone, my friends, and only by striking first can we establish why we are superior. Are you with me?"
After a moment, Mesmero stepped forwards. "I am with you, Magneto."
"So am I", Riptide said himself.
The former Marauders shared a look, deciding they'd be better off being with Magneto than being hunted and oppressed (not for being Mutants, for their crimes), and then they looked up as Vertigo said. "We're with you too."
"You know what my answer is", Juggernaut shrugged.
"And you can count of me too", Bishop finally said as Magneto landed again. "Unlike our future, this time we will get to the Phoenix Force."
"Enlighten me, what exactly happened in your future?" Magneto asked, putting his arm around Bishop as they walked to a side.
"Sentinels were created to hunt us, after the Avengers tried to take action against people like you for rising against the injustice done to us!" Bishop told Magneto what had happened sadly. "From what I've seen, and read up- You tried to unite us all to rise against the oppression, and in return, they created many more prisons like the Big Four right now, except those were to contain people like us."
"Sadly, typical of humanity", Magneto said with a scoff.
"The Avengers, instead of doing the right thing, decided to oppress us too", Bishop snarled angrily. "And then, one day- a mob of Mutant haters broke into Xavier's Mansion while he was away with some of the X-Men, trying to negotiate for peace with the governments. And the mob….." Bishop trailed off, but Magneto knew what he was trying to say, "…..they killed many of the Mutants in the place, even children." Magneto clutched his fists angrily as Bishop continued. "Wolverine went into a rage and went after the mob, slaughtering every one of them, and then did the same to any other human he saw who tried to instigate anti-Mutant sentiments. But Cyclops went even farther." Magneto raised an eyebrow as Bishop revealed what Cyclops had done. "He joined with you."
'Quite interesting', Magneto noted to himself.
"Eventually, during our conflict with humanity, Captain America was killed", Bishop revealed to Magneto. "The Phoenix Force was coming to Earth, and the Avengers tried to stop us Mutants from reaching it, so it bonded with Jean Grey, and killed many all over the world until it was stopped finally at heavy cost, including Jean's life." And then he growled. "Then Stark made the Sentinels to come after us, and we are still hunted, they think we're the enemy, but they're the ones oppressing us. I lost everyone, and they kept hunting me, until I found a way to come to this time, and take out the Avengers, as without their support, we would never be this oppressed, and there would be no Sentinels in sight."
"I am truly sorry to hear everything that happened to you, and Mutants, in your time, Bishop", Magneto told him with sympathy as he put a hand to his shoulder. "But I promise you- we will get to the Phoenix Force, and we will rise up now."
Bishop nodded, a fire in his eyes, as they walked off to join the rest, only for a voice to call out to them from the air.
"Surrender now or we'll resort to using violence", Iron Man cried out, hovering alongside Ms. Marvel, while Hawkeye stood down below in front of them, Wasp hovering near him.
"You Avengers, trying to come after us already!" Bishop snarled as he pointed a finger at them. "We did nothing to you people, but you decided hunting us, and making Sentinels to do it, was the best course of action! Because of you lot, humanity still fears us!"
"Now, now", Iron Man raised his hands. "How can we be so sure that you're telling the truth? Plus, even if it is true, it hasn't happened yet."
"Knowing people like you, Iron Man, its just a matter of time", Bishop snarled, while Magneto glared at them, Iron Man focusing on him instead.
"Before you try to use your powers on me, this suit is not made of metal, Magneto", Iron Man added, only for Magneto to smirk.
"It is not, but something else is", Magneto said, before holding out his hand as suddenly, the shrunken Ant-Man came back to normal size and was hurled at Iron Man, both of them falling to the ground.
And with that, Hawkeye attempted to fire an arrow but Quicksilver sped forth, tripping him while dodging a blast from Ms. Marvel.
Falcon tried to fly at them from above but Riptide generated calcium growth from his bones that protruded through his skin, and it took the form of shurikens, as he hurled both of them at Falcon, the shurikens striking his wings as they became useless, making him gasp as he fell down, Redwing flying after him, though Ms. Marvel caught him at the last moment, and put him down, Redwing hovering nearby, when Juggernaut rammed into Ms. Marvel, sending her flying off and crashing down with a groan.
Wasp attempted to fire at them but Arclight used seismic energy from his hands, striking her directly as she was sent flying off and fell down with a groan.
Iron Man got back up but Harpoon hurled a metal spear charged with his bio-energy just as Iron Man took flight, and he was a second too late to dodge as it struck his reactor, making him fall down to the ground, electricity crackling across his suit.
"I can't move!" He cried out, as Ms. Marvel staggered up and tried to blast at them again, but Magneto used his powers to rip apart more of the prison and put it in the way, blocking her blasts, which destroyed the portions of the prison.
That was when the Javelin appeared in the air, and smirking, Magneto aimed his palm at it, causing it to break, as Captain America and Black Panther both fell down, Ms. Marvel spinning around as Vision flew down, catching Captain America, but during that time, Quicksilver managed to speed Magneto, Bishop and everyone else away, with Juggernaut running off at his top speed too, and Black Panther landed on the ground with a flip, protected due to his suit.
Vision landed too, letting Captain America go, as Ms. Marvel rushed to Iron Man, lifting him up. "Are you all right?"
"Need to get out of this suit, but I will be", Iron Man told her as Ms. Marvel ripped the visor off, allowing his face to be seen as he breathed finally.
"We went to Destiny", Captain America informed them as Hawkeye, Wasp and Ant-Man picked themselves back up. "Didn't get any new information from her, though she confirmed that Magneto plans to make a move for the Phoenix Force."
"He beat us easily", Iron Man said with a groan. "We'll have to be better prepared next time, because they won't listen to us."
"And why is that?" Black Panther asked.
"Bishop said we helped humanity oppress Mutants in the future", Ms. Marvel told them, horrifying them all, especially Cap. "And that we built these things called Sentinels to hunt them."
"How could any of us do this?" Captain America wondered in horror.
"I mean…there are two sides to all stories", Wasp pointed out as she hovered near Cap. "And we only know Bishop's."
"Even then, things have to be bad if anyone perceives us as oppressors", Cap pointed out.
"Yeah, we didn't do something right if it went this far", Falcon agreed.
"Well then, what's next?" Hawkeye asked with a sigh.
"We will have to do our best to stop the Phoenix Force", Cap told them the next course of action, turning to Iron Man and Black Panther. "Work with Hank, Reed, anyone else, track where the Phoenix Force is, make a weapon we can use it. If there's any person who can do it, its you two, Hank and Reed, I know it."
Iron Man groaned in pain, then nodded with a smile. "On it, Cap." Black Panther nodded too.
Earth-216, Metropolis
Bruce Banner of Earth-199999 groaned as he fell onto the street, his body hitting the road as he groaned in pain, then sighed.
Then, he lifted his head up, seeing a car heading straight for him, and with a yelp, he rolled away, the car passing by him, as he scrambled up to his feet, seeing another car heading in his direction, and he barely staggered forwards to avoid that.
"Don't walk on the road, idiot!"
One more car made its way towards him, and Banner stepped back to avoid that one, before sprinting and diving for the sidewalk.
"Ow!" Banner groaned, then pushed himself up to his knees, looking around as he saw the people looking at him oddly. "What?"
They all started walking off, which was when Banner realized something strange.
This entire place was animated! He looked down at his hands, and realized he was too.
"First, I get the freakshow in my head, then get guns pointed at my head, before a fricking cat man blows a hole in my roof, and now I nearly get run over after landing in another Earth where everyone, including me, are animated." Banner spoke irritably as he made it to his feet and dusted himself off, his eyes gaining a slight greenish tinge before he looked to the sky. "Is there anything else you want to throw at me?!" He shouted to Heaven and tested fate because really, what else could God throw at him?
Breathing in and out, Banner tried to get his heartrate down, because turning was the last thing he, and this new world, needed. Man, he wished he still had his watch to monitor his heart.
Banner groaned when he realized his efforts were for naught, for the very next second, what seemed like thunder boomed across the city.
"Thor?" Banner wondered, before he saw a dark dot in the sky getting closer and closer, with people screaming as they started running away, fast.
The very next second, the dark shape crashed and ploughed through the road that Banner had occupied just a few seconds ago.
Banner watched as the smoke cleared, the shape getting up, with Banner now seeing him properly. It was a kid in his teens, wearing a black t-shirt with the same symbol as Superman!
Then, a big and bulky blonde young guy crashed down next to the black t-shirt kid, causing a small shockwave, and he punched the black t-shirt kid, sending him staggering back by a few feet, but the black t-shirt kid planted his feet into the ground, steadying himself.
The blonde then charged the black t-shirt kid, who kicked the blonde hard, sending him flying off into the air, before leaping after him.
Banner took a second to look at the spot where the two stood just a few seconds ago, then looked up into the sky.
"I wasn't serious!" He snapped. What is it with the Multiverse going against him lately?
Turning around, Banner made to walk off, only for two figures to land before him, causing another shockwave, plus some smoke, and when it cleared, Banner saw a young woman with long dark hair in ancient Greek clothes with a lasso battling a blonde girl who resembled the blonde kid from earlier.
Twins!
The dark-haired woman hurled her lasso at the blonde one, who dodged while diving forwards, grabbing the dark-haired one and pinning her to the ground.
She was about to punch the dark-haired woman, when the dark-haired one kicked the blonde away into the air, before she crashed onto the ground in the distance.
Turning around, Banner made to walk off again, only to see the black t-shirt boy and the blonde guy fighting, with the black t-shirt boy ducking to avoid a punch by the blonde one, before grabbing him by the waist and running.
Groaning, Banner now turned to the other side of the road instead, and was about to walk off, when the blonde girl crashed there, with the dark-haired woman leaping at her, only for the blonde one to roll away, the dark-haired one's landing causing a little shockwave that staggered Banner back, and he grunted, trying to calm himself down.
Nearby, the black t-shirt guy was given an uppercut as he crashed near Banner, the impact making him stagger again, as he fell to his knees, with the black t-shirt kid getting up and rushing to fight the blonde one.
Meanwhile, the dark-haired girl dodged two punches from the blonde one, then leapt to her other side, hurling the lasso and wrapping the blonde, trying to restrain her, before the blonde grabbed the lasso and hurled the dark-haired one onto the other side, making her crash near Banner as the impact made him fall fully.
Getting back up to his knees, Banner let out a roar, going partially green now, and the roar was loud enough to be heard by all four of the combatants nearby, as they did a double-take on seeing his large, green face, which turned back into a normal human face the very next second.
"Now that's really scary!" The blonde guy commented, when a figure was seen flying in the sky, causing all of them, Banner included, to look up.
And then, Superman of Earth-216 landed on the ground, glaring at the blonde guy with folded arms. Before he could react, the black t-shirt guy grabbed him by the collar and hurled him at Superman, who punched him hard on the face, knocking the blonde guy out.
The blonde girl charged at the dark-haired one, who instead grabbed her lasso, then hurled it again, getting the blonde girl's feet, and tripping her, which was when Superman hovered near her, and kneeling, punched her out too.
Sighing in relief, Banner felt himself calm down, and got up with a groan, staggering, as the black t-shirt kid walked towards Superman alongside the dark-haired girl.
"Thanks for coming, Superman", the black t-shirt kid thanked him.
"Rescue mission took a while, but you two held the fort well, Superboy, Wonder Girl", Superman assured the two.
Deciding he'd no other choice, Banner walked up to the group of three. "Hey, Superman!"
Superman turned to look at Banner. "Yes?"
"How did you turn green?" Superboy asked Banner, Superman looking confused at that.
"Green?"
"Yes, he got caught up in the middle of our battle with the Terror Twins, and then his face turned green and monstrous, before turning back to his usual form", Wonder Girl explained to Superman, who looked Banner up and down.
"Who are you?"
"I am Doctor Bruce Banner", Banner gave the three superheroes his name. "Also, I'm not from this Universe, got thrown in here by accident, and I've also met another version of you, Superman. And now I need help to get back."
All three of them shared looks of utter confusion, before looking back at Banner.
"Another Universe?" Superboy asked, struggling to believe it.
"And another version of me?" Superman inquired, pointing at himself, Banner nodding with a shrug.
"I mean, how hard is to believe? You're an alien from Krypton, aren't you….." He whispered. "Clark?"
The looks of surprise on the faces of all three of them made it clear that they'd no idea how Banner knew Superman's real name.
"Yes, it was the name of that other version of you I met", Banner finally explained to them. "So, you got a base or something?"
"You can understand our skepticism", Superman pointed out with a raised hand, Banner nodding.
"I can, but I'm in mood for it, I wanna go back home, just away from my cabin, because of some nonsense that went down there."
The three shared looks again, Superboy nodding. "Well, we did see him go green, so he is not normal either."
"But there is no way of knowing if he is a threat or not", Wonder Girl pointed out.
Superman sighed, making a decision. "Either way, I think its best to take him with us. If he is a threat, he won't be one to others if he is with us."
Superboy and Wonder Girl nodded, seeing his point, as Superman looked at Banner, while sirens blared, police cars arriving to arrest the Terror Twins. "You can come with us, Dr. Banner."
Banner smirked. "That's what I'm talking about."
Earth-1
Andy, Kyle, Alice and Nica were eating were in Andy's cabin, all eating big stacks of cereal.
"These are very nice, uncle Andy", Alice said happily before putting some more in her mouth.
"Chew too, Alice", Nica told her, making the other two chuckle as Alice started chewing, then gulped everything down finally.
Andy looked at the table, a fond smile on his face, as Kyle stroked his shoulder. "What is it?"
"Reminds me of the good ol' times", Andy confessed to her, and the other two as well, his face falling a bit. "Before the dark times."
"I wonder what he is doing now", Kyle wondered. "Assuming he is still out there."
"Green Arrow blew him up and the head here also became just a normal doll head but knowing him, he'll probably pull another trick", Andy said grimly, sharing looks with the rest of them.
"While I hate that he is out there, I'm just happy to have Auntie Nica back", Alice confessed, sharing a smile with Nica as they held hands, and then she looked between Andy and Nica. "I'm sure uncle Andy is too."
That caused both Andy and Nica to blush, Kyle covering her mouth to muffle her laughter, as Nica called out. "Alice!"
Alice chuckled, and that was when there was a shimmer in the room, after which Constantine and Carrie appeared before the four of them, startling Nica.
"John", Andy greeted, getting up and shaking hands with him. "Good to see you."
"Same here, mate." Constantine gestured to Carrie. "Meet Carrie White."
That caused their jaws to drop as Kyle started. "Carrie White as in…"
"That same one", Carrie confessed immediately. "Yes, I'm alive, and I was in a trance when the destruction happened, still my fault, and I'm making up for it."
Alice sighed, relating in a way, since it was Chucky who did the murders, but it was her body. "I can understand."
"This is Nica, Alice's aunt", Andy told Constantine as he gestured to Nica. "You already know about Alice."
"Yes, I do, mate. So I'll cut to the chase- an Apocalypse is coming, and its gonna threaten more than just this world, the cause for it being a fake Devil of all things….and Chucky is part of it!"
That caused all four of them to share looks of horror and dread, as they realized Chucky was back in their lives the moment they brought him up.
"Shit!" Andy cursed in frustration, Nica scoffing as Kyle shook her head, Alice clutching her fists too.
"I understand your reactions, which is why ask- would you lot join us to take on this bloody faker?" Constantine then added. "This way, you can destroy that bloody doll for good."
That caused them to face Constantine with determined looks, Andy saying. "You know I'm in."
"And if he is going, I'm coming too", Kyle added with a smile.
"So am I." Nica turned to Alice in concern, but Alice assured her while holding her shoulders. "Auntie Nica, I'm not the naïve little girl I used to be, uncle Andy and auntie Kyle have taught me a lot of stuff, plus my friends from other worlds….."
"Still feels weird to hear that."
"I know, but I fought some bad guys alongside them too, I can handle myself."
Nica didn't look okay with it, but she knew Alice wouldn't budge, so she sighed. "Fine, go. And I'm coming too."
"But you can't walk, auntie Nica", Alice pointed out sadly and gently both.
Nica started. "I can-"
"She is right, luv. You can't walk, and in such a mission, it'd make you a liability."
Nica did not like hearing that, but unfortunately, she could not deny Constantine's logic.
"Fine."
"My mom and her husband, Detective Mike Norris, will come here to keep you company", Andy assured Nica, causing the two of them to exchange smiles, which Alice and Kyle noticed, and covered their mouths to hide their smirks again.
Recovering, Kyle said. "Sounds like a good idea." She gave Nica a hug. "You take care, huh?"
"You all too", Nica said, returning the hug, and they parted as Andy hugged her next.
"I'll be waiting for all of you to return and tell me Chucky is no more."
As they parted, Andy assured her. "I will give you that news."
Then, Alice hugged Nica, who hugged back. "Take care and stay safe here, Auntie Nica."
"You stay safe out there too, Alice", Nica told her, kissing Alice's forehead, and they parted, sharing a smile, before Alice walked to the other four, and they waved to Nica, who waved back, after which the group of five walked out of the cabin, leaving Nica behind, Andy already calling his mom to call her and Norris to the cabin.
Earth-199999, Bella Coola, British Columbia
Steve, Natasha, Clint, Sam and Scott looked around at Banner's cabin, with Scott staring up at the roof that had burst open.
"We sure Hulk didn't do that when they came for him?" Scott asked the rest of the group.
"No, the hole does not match Hulk's outline", Clint shrugged, Scott staring at him as he smirked. "I can tell."
"Because of those archer eyes?"
"You can say that."
"This was made by the people who came to capture him", Natasha added her own two cents. "Most likely came down from helicopters."
"Did they get him?" Scott wondered.
"There is one bullet I can find here", Steve said, the rest turning to see him holding a bullet that had been fired. "Not sure at what though."
"Guy really was trying to keep some peace", Sam said, noting all that was kept around the cabin, like the Buddha statue, lavender candles and, "…puppy pictures!"
"Awww!" Scott said, rushing to the calendar as he turned it to look at all the puppies. "These guys are such cutie pies, I wanna scoop them up and hug them all day!"
"Tic-tac, focus."
"Ah, right." Scott stood at attention, turning away from the adorable puppy calendar.
"I wonder what he'd think of Tony now", Natasha said sadly as she looked at the picture of the six original Avengers, herself included, standing together, back when things were simpler for them, and saving lives was actually something they could get done without politics and red tape getting in the way.
"Nothing good, 'cause the guy and Rhodey became a sellout", Clint said with a scoff, looking at the other pictures, then all around the place. "Frankly, it's difficult to tell what happened here."
"Doesn't look like Bruce transformed", Steve had to say what he'd figured out. "But I'm not sure if he was captured or not, there's just one bullet fired, and there are no agents here, or Bruce." He noted firmly. "So, unless we get more evidence, I'm gonna pretend they did capture him."
"How'd they even do that?" Sam wondered.
"Maybe they got something to keep the green down", Natasha said. "Either way, we need to think based on the worst-case scenario."
"Damn it!" Clint said in frustration. "Should have gotten here sooner."
"Nothing we can do about it now", Steve told the rest of them. "But when we find out where exactly this secret prison where they're keeping the imprisoned people, we'll free them all, including Bruce."
Everyone nodded, ready to whatever it took to save innocents from the injustice of the SHRA.
Middle-earth
The water was cold. Not just ordinary cold, but the kind that seeped into the bones, an ancient chill that didn't just whisper of death—it promised it.
Xigbar moved through the submerged ruins of what used to be Beleriand with slow, deliberate motions, his body weightless in the vast, lightless depths. He didn't need to breathe, not in the same way a normal person did. One of the perks of what he was—whatever he was. A Nobody had its advantages.
He could still feel, though. And here, deep beneath the waves, there was plenty to feel, just like the powerful and great, yet bogged down light that he'd felt right before jumping into the water.
The pressure bore down on him, the abyss stretching endlessly below, the remnants of a drowned land spread out before him like a broken history book, the pages torn and scattered. Even with his sharp eye, the dark swallowed most of his vision. He wasn't alone here. Something ancient clung to these waters, watching, waiting.
As if.
He let himself drift, his coat billowing in the current as he reached for a jagged rock formation, steadying himself. His boots scraped against stone—once mountains, now sunken husks of their former glory. Ered Gorgoroth, the Mountains of Terror. The terror was long gone, but its shadow remained, thicker than the water surrounding him.
A ruinous chasm yawned beneath him, deeper than any ocean trench he'd ever seen. His eye narrowed. There it was—the feeling that had drawn him here in the first place. Darkness. The kind that didn't just grow. It lingered, festering, bleeding into the world even after its source was long dead.
He did not know that Ungoliant had lived here once. The mother of all darkness, the devourer of light. Even now, he could feel the scars she left behind, though he did not know it was because of Ungoliant. The water itself felt heavier, as if it carried the memory of her hunger, of the void she had once been.
And yet, this world wasn't just darkness. That was the interesting part. The scales here were constantly tipping, balanced between an ancient light and a shadow just as ancient. No wonder the kid and his pals are running around this place. Bet they don't even realize what they've stumbled into.
He adjusted his position, pushing himself further along the ruins, past shattered statues and sunken towers. This world had more to it than he first thought. When he'd followed Sora, Donald, and Goofy here, he figured it'd be just another job—watch, wait, maybe stir up a little trouble for kicks. But Middle-earth was something else. Vast. Old. Alive.
There was power here, buried beneath its legends and songs, deeper than the struggles of Men, Elves and Dwarves against Dark Lords. A power almost primordial, echoing from the days before the Sun and Moon, back when Light and Darkness warred without any of these little heroes getting in the way. That's the kinda story I wanna dig into.
Something shifted in the water below.
Xigbar stilled, his fingers twitching before reminding himself that firing arrows underwater wasn't exactly effective. He narrowed his eye, scanning the trench beneath him, where the darkness was thickest.
Nothing.
Just the ruins. Just the void.
Right.
He let himself drift up, twisting in the water and kicking off a crumbling ledge. There was more to see. More to learn. If the kind of power he felt here had any use to the Organization—or just to himself—he needed to understand it first. And that meant research.
He smirked.
Guess I've got some searching and reading to do.
Earth-38, National City, CatCo
"So you mean you're from another Earth too?" Danvers asked Barry as he typed on the computer.
"You met someone else from a different Earth?"
"Yeah, a different version of my cousin who…helped me with some stuff."
"I don't understand." Barry shook his head. "What... You guys have Central City but you don't have S.T.A.R. Labs. No Cisco Ramon, no Harrison Wells, no Caitlin Snow. Nobody who's gonna be able to help me get back home. Well, there's another me but he seems to just be a CSI as there is no Flash on this Earth." He face-palmed. "Should keep my extrapolator with me at all times now, you never know when you run into another Universe!"
"Hey!" The door opened, two young and handsome men walking in, one short, the other black and muscular.
"Are you all right?" The short one asked Danvers.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine", Danvers assured him. "What happened to Siobhan?"
He informed her. "Oh, well, after she went all Mariah Carey on you, she just split."
Barry stood up. "Oh, so we both have Mariah Carey. That's something."
"Who are you?" The muscular one asked Barry, pointing at him.
"Hey, sorry, I'm Barry Allen." Barry held out his hand, that the man shook.
"James Olsen."
Danvers pointed at the other guy. "And this is Winn."
Winn waved at Barry.
"Uh, you guys..." Danvers chuckled. "Remember that other Superman from a few weeks ago?"
"You said he is from a different Universe, meaning the Multiverse is real, right?" Winn asked her, sounding excited again about the concept of the Multiverse.
"Still crazy", Olsen muttered.
"Well, Barry is also from another Universe", Danvers said, gesturing to him.
"Cool!" Winn laughed. "Hearing it is one thing, seeing someone from a different Universe is another!"
"It's still hard to believe, and I'm from another planet", Danvers muttered.
"What?" Barry turned to face her. Oliver hadn't told them Superman was an alien!
Winn pointed at her. "Oh, yeah. She's an alien."
"You're an alien?"
"Yeah."
"Superman must be too then", Barry muttered. "So, do you have, like, other aliens on this Earth?"
"Can you explain this entire thing to me? Didn't even get it last time", Olsen requested Barry.
"Uh….Ah, hold on", Barry said before picking up a marker and drawing circles on a white board behind him. "All right, so, imagine there are multiple versions of Earth."
He started listing scenarios. "Um, one where the Nazis won World War II. One where Kennedy was never assassinated."
"Oh, yeah", Winn raised his hand. "One where all of us are evil."
"Been there. It sucks", Barry groaned. "Well, I wasn't there, but some others were, they told me all about it." Then he continued. "So all of these Earths occupy the same place in space, but they vibrate at a different frequency so they can't see one another", Barry said as he finished his drawing.
"Yeah, but it's like if you can go fast enough, then it's possible to open, like, a breach", Winn added as he walked to Barry.
"Yeah", Barry said.
"But how could you travel that fast?" Olsen asked Barry.
"Uh, well, um…." Barry trailed off before he sped out and sped in within a second and all three of them had ice cream cones in their hands.
"Yes!" Danvers cheered happily as she saw the ice cream.
As Olsen and Winn watched in stunned shock, Barry explained. "Yeah, so, um, I was struck by lightning the same night a particle accelerator exploded. And I became a superhero. I am the Flash."
Danvers chuckled as Olsen stammered and asked. "So you're a superhero? That's….cool then."
"Okay", Winn asked. "So you can just like, just bop back and forth between Universes?"
"Uh, no actually. This happened by accident", Barry told them. "I have travelled through time before by accident."
"That's cool", Winn said excitedly.
Barry told them all. "I've never jumped parallel dimensions without meaning to. These breaches make things so hard. So, until I can figure this out, I'm stuck here."
"Well, don't worry", Danvers assured as she moved next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry at all because we're gonna help you."
"I'm sorry", Danvers apologized on seeing Barry's expression as she realized she had used slightly more strength than normal to grasp his shoulder, and removed it.
"Um, it's okay", Barry assured.
"First things first, food", Barry then told her as he winced. "I have to consume about 10,000 calories a day."
"Oh, yeah", Winn pointed at him. "You've definitely met the right girl."
"Do you like donuts?" Kara asked Barry.
"Who doesn't like donuts?" He said.
"I know a place", she said.
"All right", Barry said, as both walked out.
Danvers was saying. "Just one more thing I've got to get and then we can-"
"Ker-rah, you're alive."
They turned to see Cat Grant looking at them.
Danvers smiled and said. "Ms. Grant, don't worry, I was rescued-"
"Stop stating the obvious", Cat cut her off. "You're in the middle of breaking news and I want you to act like it."
As James and Winn arrived, she said. "And yes, yes, another one of my ex-employees went all revengey. But there's a new superhero in National City."
She turned her laptop towards them and there was a picture of Barry speeding up the building to catch Kara.
"This is huge", she said. "Direct competition for Supergirl."
"He doesn't have to be competition", Danvers said.
"Would you prefer a sidekick?" Cat asked.
"No, not a sidekick", Barry said, trying his best not to look offended, and failing. "More like an equal. Or an ally. Even a partner, maybe."
Seeing Cat's expression, Barry realized. "Speaking was the wrong choice. I see that now."
Cat looked at them and commented. "All four of you standing there doing nothing, you look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show."
She looked at Barry and asked. "Who are you?"
"Um, he's my cousin", Danvers said.
"My cousin", Olsen said at the exact same time.
"My cousin", Winn said too, with all three saying it at the same time.
Cat looked at them calmly as a flustered Barry said. "No. My name's Barry Allen. I'm not actually anybody's cousin. Uh, we're just such good friends."
"Yeah", Danvers said as she gestured between both of them. "It feels like we're family sometimes."
"Uh-huh", Cat said as all laughed nervously.
"Well, I need a clear picture of this speedster", she said. "James, that's on you."
She turned to Kara. "And Ker-rah, there are a lot of people who wanna know what happened. Speak to no one. You're mine. I will let you know when you should reveal this exclusive information."
She then said. "Now, I have to name this hero. I was thinking about "The Whoosh" or "The Red Streak" or "The Blur.""
"What about The Flash?" Barry asked as all looked at him. "I'm just saying, I think that's a pretty cool superhero name. Right?"
"The Flash? It sounds like someone whose only superpower is jumping out of an alley in a trench coat", Cat said. "No, I want mystery, I want intrigue, I want The Blur."
Earth-192
Bruce Banner of Earth-8096 found himself stranded on a road, as he groaned, remembering what had happened to him back in his home Universe.
"Ah great, Banner, where did you end up now?" He muttered to himself, before looking around, seeing a city in the distance, which seemed familiar to him for some reason, so he started walking towards it.
The dart he'd been shot with, he could still feel its effects, as it made him a bit light-headed, causing him to grasp his head and rub at it. It might affect his ability to transform, most likely.
But frankly, even if he could transform properly, Bruce decided that the idea of transforming into an eight-foot green mountain of muscle in an unknown was not the best idea.
Never mind best, it wasn't a good idea from any angle.
Hearing something, Bruce turned around to see a car driving in the same direction where he was walking, towards the city.
"Why not?" Bruce shrugged, and waved his hand at the car. To his relief, the car stopped, as Bruce saw a young couple, a man and a woman, inside it, in the front.
The guy had the windows go down, as Bruce walked to his side. "You going towards the city?"
"Yeah, you wanna go there too?" The guy inquired.
"Yep, got lost, so I need to get to the closest city as soon as possible", Bruce told them, and it was a version of the truth either way.
The guy and girl shared a look, before the girl said. "With that parade float going on in Metropolis, I think we can show some goodwill, right?"
Metropolis? Now that sounded familiar.
"Well buddy, come in." The guy pressed a button on the car, unlocking the back doors.
Bruce walked to the back door, opening it and sitting inside, before shutting it, with the guy pressing the button, closing the back doors now, as he drove forth towards the city.
"Thank you for this."
"Oh its no problem", the guy assured Bruce.
"So, this parade float, what exactly is that?"
The couple shared a strange look, the girl asking. "Have you been living under a rock or something?"
"Close enough", Bruce said with a chuckle. "Just humor me."
"It's basically paying tribute to Metropolis' greatest heroes- the police and fire departments", the guy told Bruce, the car getting closer to the city. "Superman should be there, but we called a friend who is in the city already. He said Superman couldn't make it but other Justice League members are there."
"I guess it could be the big ones", Bruce noted, then decided to test a theory. "Or one of those new ones." He added with a smirk. "Like that big green guy?"
"That big green guy and the others with him haven't been seen after the Justice League decided to not disband", the girl informed Bruce, who sighed in relief, realizing this was the same world the Avengers had found themselves in not too long ago, having helped the Justice League here defeat Brainiac-Lex and Ultron.
"Well then, I thank you two for the lift again."
Earth-199999, New York City
Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee and Hellion climbed down, reaching the sewers, having some food supplies with them, very irritated by the bad smell, as Hellion asked. "Why did I have to come again?"
"Storm asked us to!" Jubilee pointed out as if it was obvious, making him scoff and shake his head.
"Come on, we got better things to do that put our ass on the line", Hellion shrugged, walking forwards alongside the rest.
"You want to be one of the X-Men?" Kitty asked Hellion.
"Yeah?"
"Then you've to do this."
"Right…"
They found Caliban sleeping, and Hellion muttered. "He looks friendly." Rogue rolled her eyes, then shook Caliban gently, waking him up.
"Oh, hello."
"Is everyone else still here?"
"Yeah, why?"
"We brought food supplies", Rogue said with a smile, holding them up. "Storm asked us."
"Oh, oh that's good, very nice of you all."
"Yep, very nice, remember it", Hellion told him, only for Jubilee to elbow him. "Ow!"
"Go, I'll join in a bit", Caliban said, Rogue nodding as the four Mutants walked off, eventually reaching the decrepit area, the Morlocks all looking up at them, including Spyke.
"Rogue", he said with wide eyes, looking at her, then the rest. "Kitty, Jubilee", his eyes narrowed a bit on seeing the last guy, "Keller. Been a long while. Why are you all here?"
"Storm asked us to bring food to you all", Kitty said, lifting up the supplies, causing the other Morlocks' faces to light up, with Kitty putting the supplies down, the other four doing the same.
"See? All good here", Keller commented, the little boy holding up some food and eating happily alongside his mom, the others beginning to eat too.
"Thank you", the mom said gratefully to the four Mutants, who smiled at the sight, while noting the boy's color had changed to match the sewers.
His powers were camouflage-related!
"Thank you", Spyke said to them as well. "And say thanks to aunt Storm too."
"You know, you could do that yourself", Jubilee pointed out, but Spyke shook his head.
"I know you all want me to come back, but right now, I'm really not sure what benefit going up there will have for any of us", Spyke pointed out to them.
"Well, living down here ain't gonna do anything either", Keller shrugged, causing the other three to shoot him looks, as Spyke glared, so he sighed and raised his hands. "Sorry."
"Either way, you have our thanks for doing this", Spyke said with genuine fondness.
Caliban got up, beginning to walk towards where the rest were himself, when he thought he felt something. Not Mutants, no, his powers could sense those, this was a different sort of feeling.
He turned around, and saw a gun being aimed right at his face by a MRD agent, while others were also rappelling down.
"What are you doing?" Caliban cried out.
"Where are the others?" The agent asked.
"I'm not going to tell you."
"Well then", the agent snarled, about to pull the trigger, when Caliban suddenly grasped his hands, absorbing and turning the psionic energy of fear against the agent, making him scream in utter terror, while Caliban did the same to the rest in the vicinity, all of them dropping their guns as they screamed, afraid of things within their mind.
The rest heard that, as Spyke got up. "What the hell?"
"Looks like someone is here", Rogue noted grimly, staring at her gloved hands, then ahead.
One agent, who'd just rappelled down, saw the others were down on their knees, screaming, but seeing that he hadn't been seen just yet, he aimed at Caliban, and fired.
The dart hit Caliban's neck, making him stagger, then fall to the ground, losing consciousness, while the rest of the agents recovered, still rubbing their heads, before exchanging looks.
"Grab him."
Two agents started carrying Caliban away as they put enhanced cuffs on his hands while the rest picked up their guns and continued to rush in.
"I'm gonna take them down!" Spyke snarled as he prepared to fight, but Kitty stepped in his way.
"There are people here who need protection", she pointed out to him, gesturing to the boy and his mom. "You all need to go."
"But-"
"What's more important? Fighting these people, or protecting yours?" Kitty asked, and Spyke didn't talk further, realizing she was right.
"Let's go!" He called out to the rest. "Come on!" They all began to walk off when the agents arrived in the area.
"On your knees! Don't move!"
"Really guys?" Keller asked with a smirk as he stepped forth, holding out his hands. "Come and get me!"
They were about to fire at him when he glowed green and a telekinetic force emerged from his body, throwing them all down, making them groan in pain.
"Run!" Spyke cried out, as the Morlocks and the four Mutants began to rush off, with other MRD agents emerging from another tunnel to the side, ready to fire.
One of them fired at the kid but Kitty touched him, the dart going through him due to that, as the kid looked at her with a smile.
"Cool."
They continued to run, when the kid's mom was hit by a dart, dropping her.
"Mom!" The kid cried out, but Kitty had to hold him back.
As the agent rushed towards the mom, Rogue suddenly grabbed him by the wrist from the side with her bare hand, making him scream as he started shriveling up, while Rogue grunted, draining him via physical contact.
"Get the kid's mom and go!" Rogue said to Kitty, who nodded, quickly running towards the fallen mom, picking her up, carrying her over her shoulder, then rushing off with the kid.
The agent fell down, Rogue gasping, before she put her gloves back on, only for another dart to hit her on the neck, making her gasp before she pulled it out, and took off her gloves, seeing more agents before her.
Only, her vision became drowsy, and she staggered, dropping to the ground.
One agent lifted her up, putting enhanced cuffs on her hands, before carrying her off, the rest rushing forth.
The Morlocks were continuing to run ahead, towards a network from where they could climb up near the X-Mansion, with Keller, Jubilee and Kitty right behind them.
"FREEZE!"
They all turned to see the MRD agents had caught up, aiming their guns at them all. "Or we will shoot!"
"I know how to shoot!" Jubilee quipped, then hurled out energy from her hands, causing it to explode all around the MRD agents, who covered their eyes, blinded.
And then, a huge muscular Morlock named Sunder punched the nearby wall, breaking parts of it as it came crashing down, forming a barrier between themselves and the recovering MRD agents.
"Come on!" Keller pointed ahead, and they continued to run. "Wait! Where's Rogue?"
Kitty's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no! I thought she was right behind us! They got her."
"DAMN IT!" Spyke said in anger, then realized something else. "They got Caliban too. I'm going to-"
"We will deal with them when the time comes, right now, we need to get to the X-Mansion", Kitty pointed out, and Spyke glared, but then sighed, knowing she was right, and nodded.
"Let's go everyone", Keller said, and they continued to rush ahead towards the tunnels.
By the time the MRD agents blasted their way through the debris using the grenades, the Morlocks as well Kitty, Jubilee and Keller were long gone.
"Report back to base, we got two of them still."
Earth-8096, New York City, Avengers Mansion
"Well, what's the new information, Cap?" Wolverine asked as he, Cyclops, Storm, Beast and Jean walked into the Mansion, where Cap and Hawkeye both stood to wait for them.
"Its not good", Cap said sadly. "Bishop finally told us some details."
"And those are?" Cyclops inquired.
"According to him, the Avengers helped oppress the Mutants in the future", Cap said, and the self-loathing in his voice could be sensed by all. "And also built these Sentinels."
"Those things are dangerous!" Wolverine snapped angrily. "We already got over one future devastated by them, now-"
"Bishop's side is just one side of the story though", Hawkeye pointed out, stopping Wolverine.
"Even then, us being seen as oppressors means we did something wrong", Cap said sadly with a shake of the head, looking at the five Mutants. "I do not know the exact details of the future, but I apologize to you for what happened in Bishop's future. And I promise you all now- I won't let it happen this time, bigotry of no kind should be tolerated against anyone. People shouldn't be judged by what they can do, but rather what they've actually done."
The five X-Men exchanged looks, still hesitant, but could see where Cap was coming from, as Storm said. "I won't lie, the idea that the Avengers would be against us in the future doesn't sit well with me, but….." she sighed. "The Professor taught us compassion, and acceptance. And here you're saying you'll try to make sure that this future does not happen now, so I'll trust you."
"Thank you", Cap said with a nod.
"But keep your word", Cyclops added with a raised finger.
"I will."
"Good. Otherwise…." Cyclops trailed off, not finishing the sentence, before grasping his head, and shaking it, looking at himself strangely. "Never mind."
"What they said", Wolverine shrugged. "Besides, I do trust you, Cap. I believe there is another side to this we don't know yet."
"Anyways, what can we do to help?" Jean now inquired.
"We're working on tracking the Phoenix Force", Captain America told her, then turned to Beast. "Tony, T'Challa, Hank and Reed are working on a way to take it down. I'm sure you can help them."
"With pleasure, Captain", Beast said as Hawkeye gestured inside, and led Beast to where the other geniuses were working.
"Ya know, we've a kid with us who can help with whatever you're making to take the Phoenix Force down", Wolverine told Cap. "Though I guess this lot should be enough too." Cap nodded.
"Magneto has attacked the Hydro-Base and freed some other Mutants alongside Bishop already", Cap said about Magneto. "The government is scared, and Hill called us to tell us to focus too, or they'd try to become our superiors."
"SHIELD is always sticking its nose everywhere, especially that Fury", Wolverine said with a scoff, remembering their last meeting. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but we need Hulk."
"We do need him and Thor both, but we'll have to do this without them."
Moon
The Guardians of the Galaxy of this Universe- Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Quasar and Groot, stood on the moon, looking ahead, with their ship behind them.
"Adam Warlock crashed to Earth", Star-Lord noted. "And based on how we tracked it, the Phoenix Force is heading to Earth too, so this is where we can intercept it."
"Look, I respect you and all, but Warlock couldn't beat it, what can we do?" Rocket inquired.
"I imagine he would have weakened it enough", Quasar spoke from her end. "And it's the four of us, we can defeat it together."
"I am Groot", Groot said.
"Yes, its going to be our hardest fight ever", Rocket agreed with Groot.
"We will take it down", Star-Lord assured them. "Then go to Earth and take Adam's cocoon with us."
Either way, the Guardians were prepared to intercept and battle the Phoenix Force.
Middle-earth, Lake-town
The ruins of Lake-town were silent, save for the whispering wind that rattled old, broken beams and made the water ripple along the edges of the rotting wooden stilts. Vanitas stood at the edge of what was once the great pier, the remains of the town stretching out around him like the ribs of a decayed beast.
He had lingered in Dale for some time, unseen, listening. The Men spoke of a shadow growing in the East, of things stirring beyond their understanding. Fear was in their voices. Of what seemed like the Dark Lord of this world. But what intrigued him more were their hushed whispers of this place.
A cursed town. Left to rot, abandoned. Even the most desperate looters dared not tread here. They spoke of Smaug, the Dragon that had once ruled these lands with fire and death. Even in death, his presence remained, an unseen malevolence that turned men's spines cold and their steps cautious.
But Vanitas could feel it. Even now. A darkness that had not faded, lingering like a scar upon the world.
His head tilted as he stepped forward and let himself fall into the Long Lake, piercing through its surface without hesitation.
The water was black beneath the moon, cold and motionless, thick with centuries of silt. He descended further, past the remnants of Lake-town's charred ruins that had long since sunk, past broken beams and shattered boats that would never rise again. And then, he saw it.
Smaug.
Or what was left of him.
The Dragon's colossal body rested at the bottom of the lake, half-buried in the mud. His scales, once gleaming like molten gold, were dulled by time, his wings stretched and torn, weighed down by decay and the weight of water. His bones had begun to show in places where the flesh had withered away, but despite it all, the presence of darkness was overwhelming.
Vanitas floated there for a moment, staring at the husk of the greatest terror this land had known.
Power. It was still here. A remnant of something ancient, something… angry.
He raised a hand, and darkness wreathed his fingers like a coiling serpent, drawn to the long-dead beast. Slowly, he reached forward and pressed his palm against what was once Smaug's head, where its massive, empty eye socket stared back at him.
The moment he touched it, the lake around him trembled.
Darkness seeped into the corpse, creeping into its very remains like ink spreading through water. A pulse—slow at first, then steady. Something stirred. The shadows thickened.
And then—an eye opened.
Not the Dragon's original eye, but something twisted, something unnatural. A single, glowing mark of crimson and black, taking shape within the hollow of its skull.
Vanitas smirked.
Above the lake, the surface rippled outward. A low, distant tremor spread through the Earth, subtle at first.
In Dale, men paused mid-conversation, looking toward the dark waters with unease.
In The Lonely Mountain, above the Gates of Erebor, Gloin stood, his old warrior's instincts stirring. He felt it—a shift, a presence that should not be. And then, as he lifted his gaze toward the lake in the distance, he saw something move.
A shadow against the night.
Something massive, rising from the ruins of Esgaroth, its form obscured by mist and darkness. It climbed into the sky, wings unfurling with unnatural motion, its silhouette familiar and yet… wrong.
Gloin's heart dropped.
It looked like a Dragon.
But it was too far, too obscured, too—impossible.
And yet, the ground beneath his feet trembled.
The Men of Dale turned their eyes skyward in horror. Some fell to their knees. Others whispered.
Vanitas, far beneath the surface, simply let go and began his ascent. His work was done.
Earth-38, National City, CatCo
The elevator opened and Danvers walked out to where Barry, Olsen and Winn were.
"I need your help", she said as she came in.
"Anything you need", Olsen said.
"Yeah, of course", Winn agreed.
"I was actually talking to Barry", Danvers said.
"Yeah", Barry inquired as he got up. "Yeah, what can I do?"
"Well, I have this villain. Her name is Livewire", Danvers started.
"Uh-huh", Barry nodded.
"And she's basically like living electricity", Danvers told him.
"Cool", Barry said, geeking out. "We have a rogue like that. We call him Blackout."
Looking at everyone's faces, he said. "Doesn't feel relevant, all of a sudden."
"Right", Danvers said before explaining. "So she just broke out of this prison and all she wants out of life is to kill Ms. Grant. And with Siobhan still out there, I don't think that I can protect her by myself."
"Okay", Barry nodded.
"National City needs The Flash", Danvers said and Barry's eyes lit up.
"And once they're both back in custody, I promise that we will do everything in our power to get you back home", Kara said and Barry nodded.
"What do you say?" Kara asked as she held out her hand. "Partners?"
"Partners", Barry said as he shook her hand.
Later, DEO
Barry sped around the entire area and stopped in front of Danvers and Winn.
"Yo, this place is amazing, all right?" He said as the two laughed when he spotted the spaceship in which Danvers had arrived on Earth. "Is this a spaceship?"
"That's actually my spaceship", Danvers said as she pointed at it.
"I love this Earth", Barry said. "Aliens."
He then walked to the ship and asked. "Hey, Winn, can I get a picture with this bad boy?"
"Oh, yeah", Winn said as he held up his camera. "Sure."
"Awesome", Barry said.
"Winn", Danvers said on hearing agents walk up behind them. "Winn."
"That's probably not a good idea, dude", Winn said as he lowered his camera, getting the hint.
"All right", Barry sighed.
"Agreed", Lucy Lane said as she stopped while the other agents raised their guns. "Who is this masked man? Alien?"
"Metahuman", Danvers corrected.
"Well, we have protocol for visitors at the DEO, Supergirl", Lucy reminded.
"Guys, it's fine", Danvers said, gesturing them to lower their weapons, Barry doing the same. "He's here to help us find Livewire."
"We do need all the help we can get", Lucy said as the agents lowered their guns, before turning to Barry. "So what do I call you? Speedy?"
Barry took off his mask. "Barry Allen."
"Lucy Lane." Lucy folded her arms. "I hope you're bringing more to the table than just quick reflexes."
"As it just so happens, catching criminals is both my night and day job", Barry informed them. "I'm a CSI. By the way, do you guys have a crime lab here?"
"Yeah", Danvers said as she gestured to a lab in the corner. "My sister's lab's right over there."
"Wait, you have a sister?" Barry asked as they walked to the lab. "Where's she at?"
"I wish I knew!"
Earth-1, Elk Grove
In the store, Ash Williams and Pablo were working like usual, with Constantine, Carrie, Andy, Alice and Kyle amongst the crowd, with Ash saying to Pablo. "If this is about a raise..."
"Actually, you don't pay me at all right now, but..."
"Son of a bitch!" A middle-aged woman cut through the line, causing Ash to turn to her.
"Hey, whoa! Lady! There's a line!"
"Wha...? You don't even remember me?" She asked in exasperation.
"Well, the old steel trap never forgets a rack, but faces are a little fuzzy." Ash leaned forwards. "Give me a hint."
In response, she punched his face, making some of the drink fall off, Constantine actually chuckling at that.
"You sure this guy can help?" Kyle asked Constantine, looking very unsure.
"He has fought worse things than Chucky", Constantine shrugged. "Even if he doesn't look like it."
"I said a hint."
"I'm your fucking wife!"
Pablo looked shocked, and even Constantine tilted his head. "Bloody Hell!"
"My what?"
"We need to talk." The lady pulled Ash away into the store and a few seconds later, Pablo followed too.
"Should we go?" Alice asked Constantine. "Because with this wife of his, feels inap-"
"Let's go!" With that, Constantine walked into the store, followed by the rest, causing Ash to do a double take on seeing him, before smirking.
"What up, Johnny! I take it you've heard of my new store! And no, before you ask, I don't got anything having to do with-"
"Oh for fuck's sake, this isn't a social call, dumbass!" Constantine said, Ash shutting up. "Long story short, a fake Devil wants to cause an Apocalypse over different worlds, and has recruited a bunch of people thought to be Urban Legends to work for him. Wanna come?"
"Different worlds?" The middle-aged woman said in shock while shaking her head.
"Goddammit! Can the Universe ever let me have some peace?!" Ash asked in annoyance, Pablo looking between him and Constantine, before Ash sighed and shrugged.
"Fuck it! Why not?!" Ash turned to Pablo. "Call up Kelly, see if she wants to get in on this."
"Sure thing, Jefe."
"What about our daughter?" The woman inquired at that point, causing Ash to groan.
"Yes, her too! We'll check it out!" Ash said, gesturing to himself and Constantine, then the others with him. "Don't know you all, but nice of you to meet me."
They all shared strange looks, as Constantine commented. "Only you could have a daughter and forget about it."
"Hey, I didn't know until now!"
"Point still stands, mate."
Earth-199999, X-Mansion
Storm got up from her chair on hearing the commotion downstairs, and walked out of her room, looking down as she saw Kitty, Jubilee and Keller were back, but with them was also Spyke, alongside all his Morlocks. While Rogue wasn't with them, and even Caliban was missing amongst the Morlocks.
Bobby, Colossus, Sunspot, Blink and some other students arrived too, looking at the Morlocks, as Storm came down, asking. "What happened?"
"The MRD", Kitty revealed, horrifying Storm as well as the others present.
"Are you people all right?" Blink asked, but they couldn't say anything due to who they'd lost.
"Where's Rogue?" Bobby asked in concern, but the eyes of Kitty, Jubilee, Keller and the Morlocks were all the answer he needed. "No…"
"They took Caliban too", Spyke said sadly, Storm angrily clutching her fists as lightning was heard cracking in the distance, but she took a deep breath, calming herself down.
As much as she wanted to go and unleash all manner of weather disasters upon the government for this, the kids here needed her, including Spyke and his Morlocks.
"What are we gonna do?" Jubilee asked Storm.
"I'd say hunt those jerks down like they do to us", Keller said with a scoff. "The MRD, that is, not all humans."
"No!" Storm said, causing them to turn to her. "As much as we all want payback for this, right now, I have one responsibility." She looked at each and everyone in the room. "All of you. And I don't want anything to happen to any of you now, so right now, we stay here, take care of each other. Got it?"
She looked at them, and while Keller and Spyke seemed like they wanted to protest, they could all get the logic behind her actions.
As much as rescuing Rogue, Caliban, and other Mutants, was necessary, they needed to look after each other too in tumultuous times like this one.
"I'll take care of all the newbies", Colossus offered, causing Storm to smile.
That was when suddenly, a blue-skinned Mutant appeared amongst them, and with him was another one with wings.
"Kurt!" Storm said happily, hugging Kurt Wagner, who hugged her back.
"Good to see you", Kurt said to her as well, before they parted, and he shared hugs with Kitty, Colossus and Bobby as well. "Where is Rogue?"
"She was taken", Storm said with a growl, Kurt's face falling at that, before he recovered, gesturing to the Mutant with him.
"This is Jay Guthrie", Kurt told all of them, as Jay raised his hand.
"Hi", he said with a little wave.
"The people in Boston let the Devil drive them, nearly lynched this poor man when his wings sprouted", Kurt told the Mutants, who felt their sympathies go out to Jay on hearing all this. "I saved him, and brought him here after telling him of this place. It is still safe, right?"
"It is, and you're welcome to stay, Jay Guthrie", Storm assured with a kind smile, as he nodded.
"Thank you very much."
"I will be staying here too for the time being, the SHRA, it has made things harder for us all", Kurt told the group, and none could disagree.
"Tell us about it, the MRD are going around like the Gestapo and rounding us all up", Keller said with a scoff. "And its not just Mutants! The SHRA taskforce are rounding up any supers who refuse to sign."
"It's worse now than it has ever been", Bobby noted himself.
"Including when Stryker had attacked this place", Colossus added.
"I'd say I'm glad I wasn't here then, but what we have now is much worse than then", Sunspot sighed.
"These are hard times. He is testing us all", Kurt said as he pointed up, then looked at them. "Those who gave in to hate, they are failing. But I believe- that sometimes darkness can show you the light."
The others appreciated hearing his words, as the camouflage kid's mom looked at the group. "I know I'm not like you all but-"
"You're his mother and you accept him, so no one minds you being here", Storm assured her, then said. "Right now, all of us will stay here, and look after one another. Anyone who tries to make a move at this school- we know they'll pay." Everyone nodded at that. "But we won't give up. Captain America is out there with his Avengers, they did not sign the SHRA, and they will go up against the people enforcing it. And we will join him when the time comes. Rogue, Caliban, everyone else they took- we will save them!"
While no one cheered, the fire of determination was lit in their eyes. They would all oppose the SHRA and everyone enforcing it when push came to shove!
Earth-38, National City, DEO
"We found Livewire", Danvers said.
"That's great news", Olsen said happily.
"Actually, it was Barry", Danvers told him.
"Of course it was", Olsen sighed.
"Do you've a problem with me?" Barry asked Olsen, suddenly reminded of how Iris had behaved a few times, like when he was with Linda, and she'd seemed distant during her last days in Central City too, when he and Patty had made it official.
Danvers looked between the two in a bit of surprise as Olsen walked closer to Barry while stammering. "Uhhh…well…."
"I'm not here to star in a rom-com or whatever, so don't bring any drama around me, plus I already have a loving girlfriend whom I love back just as much", Barry told Olsen in a firm voice. "Are we clear?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
Then he turned to the rest. "Livewire's ability to absorb the electrical energy in the air surrounding her gave me an idea. So, I wrote an algorithm to monitor variations in meter usage around the city, and it all leads to that warehouse."
Turning to Danvers he said. "I see bad guys love their abandoned warehouses on your Earth, too, huh?"
"Shall I authorize a drop team?" Lucy asked.
"No. No, no", Danvers said. "She's too dangerous." She turned to Barry. "Let's go."
"All right, yeah", Barry said before asking. "What's the plan?"
"Catch the bad girl, bring her back here so she can't hurt anyone", Danvers said. "85% chance of punching."
"Okay. That I get", Barry said before asking. "But like, what's the plan? Maybe we can overload her somehow."
"Yeah, what about the Industrial Capacitator you were gonna trap her in last time?" Winn asked.
"No, no. It went busto", Danvers vetoed the idea.
"Well, Dynamic Duo will build you a good one", Winn said as he and Barry high-fived.
"No. If we wait, we lose her. If we lose her, God knows what kind of damage she could do, or who she could hurt", Danvers said, not listening to them. "I can defeat her."
Barry raised a brow. "Well that's...really arrogant." At Danvers' hurt look, he explained. "Oh come on, how many times have you rushed in to fight someone without thinking and gotten your ass kicked?" Barry rubbed his shoulder as he thought back to Oliver's training. "It still hurts when it rains."
"He has your M.O. sussed out", Lucy snorted to Danvers.
Danvers spluttered, trying not to admit the truth of what they'd just said. "We can't just-"
"Back in a Flash." Barry smirked proudly at himself and blurred away. Seconds later, he ran back in. "I have a plan."
Winn smiled giddily as he looked over at the jealous James and whispered. "I love this guy."
Earth-1, Elk Grove
Constantine, Ash, Carrie, Andy, Alice, Kyle, Pablo, and the middle-aged woman named Candace Barr were walking through the school hallway now, Pablo asking Ash. "You actually went to school?"
"Yeah, these halls have some sweet memories." Ash gestured to a cabinet with trophies. "Met my first Linda here." He noticed something and walked to the cabinet. "Hey, give me a second."
"What are you doing?" Candace asked, but Ash started inspecting them.
"He is not fully all right up there", Constantine muttered while gesturing to his head.
"I can see that", Carrie commented, and when she said that, it said a lot.
Candace walked to Pablo. "I'm sorry, I don't even know you, but did I make a mistake coming to Ash for help?"
"Ever since I hooked up with El Jefe, I've seen a lot of weird shit go down. But he's always had my back", Pablo assured her, before adding. "Well, almost always. There was this one time I got cut in half."
"What?!" Kyle cried out in horror.
"Yeah, but Ash went back in time to save me. It was so cool, but also really weird, because when we got back, nothing seemed to have changed."
"Time travel! John, I think we wanna go back to the cabin", Andy muttered.
"Too late", Constantine shrugged.
"Well, I've seen worse", Carrie told them all.
Ash laughed. "Maui Wowie." He put it into his pocket, the rest turning to him. "It's my emergency stash. I'll just put this bad boy away for the appropriate time."
"Brandy?" Candace called out, which was when they heard some eerie groaning.
They turned, and walked into one direction, with Pablo holding an ax, while Andy and Kyle held out guns, Alice having a knife, while Constantine, Ash, Carrie and Candace were in the front.
Eventually, they reached the music room, as a female voice cried out. "Whoever's out there, fuck off!"
Ash turned on the lights as Candace called out. "Brandy?"
A blonde girl with some pink dye popped out from her hiding place behind the piano, Ash looking at her. "Wow."
Candace groaned. "She's not yours, dumbass!"
Another girl, this one dark-haired, popped out from behind the piano, running to Candace. "Mom!"
"Honey!" They hugged. "Thank God!"
Ash pulled them apart. "Back off, Mama Bear!"
"Hey! What are you doing?" Candace asked angrily.
Ash pointed to Pablo. "The ink on my buddy went nuclear, that means evil is just around the corner. So your little peach could be a bowel-sucking hell beast."
Brandy glared at Ash. "Mom, what's the chainsaw geek doing here?"
Candace tried to tell Brandy. "Oh, honey, uh, I don't know how to tell you this, but Ash, he's-he's ah-he's your..."
Ash cut in. "What she's trying to say is... I'm your pop." Brandy looked at Ash in shock. "Father dearest. The old sperm shooter."
"What?" Brandy asked.
"But you can call me Dad, unless you're a Deadite, then you can go fuck yourself."
Constantine actually face-palmed. "Bloody Hell, already the worst dad of the fucking year within five seconds of meeting your daughter. Ash, that's a record, even for you!"
Before Ash could do anything else though, Constantine's eyes widened as he pointed at the blonde girl. "You're it!"
"What?" Brandy asked in horror.
Carrie suddenly aimed her hand at the blonde girl, Rachel, with Constantine's eyes glowing as he began to chant, and because of Carrie's power, Rachel felt herself frozen in one place, soon turning into what looked like a decaying corpse due to Constantine's chanting!
A Deadite!
Brandy and Candace screamed in horror as Ash, Andy and Kyle aimed their guns, but Constantine held up his hand, shaking his head.
Constantine continued to chant, and the Deadite screeched, before there was a bright flash of light, and suddenly, Rachel came back to normal, staggering forwards.
"What just happened?" Rachel asked no one in particular, before covering herself in fear. "Oh my God! This is…..all of this is fucking freaky!" And with that, she ran off. Brandy tried to run to her but Candace stopped her.
"She is freaked out, let her process it."
Suddenly, the glass burst as a Deadite in a teddy bear costume rushed in and pushed Ash down.
Seeing how it looked, Ash staggered up. "Oh, Cougie! They got you too!"
Before Constantine or Carrie could do anything, Ash tried to fight it with his chainsaw, the bear blocking with its arms, before Pablo rushed at it from behind and struck its back with the ax, blood pouring out, before it screeched, and kicked Ash away while spinning, knocking Pablo off too.
Only, Alice then leapt at it, stabbing it through the throat with her knife, making it screech as she pulled her knife out, about to stab again, but it threw her off, only for Andy and Kyle to shoot at it, blood spurting as it staggered back.
The bear made to charge but Carrie stopped it with her power, then hurled it into a corner, before it started staggering back up.
Constantine aimed at it and chanted, the bear suddenly lighting up on fire, the Deadite screeching.
And at that moment, a grenade suddenly came out of nowhere, ending up in the bear's mouth.
"Howdy fuckin' ho, boys…..and girls." They all turned around to see Kelly standing there with a handsome guy they didn't know, both holding guns. "Miss me?" Ash, Pablo and Constantine chuckled, as Kelly fired her rifle at the bear, making the grenade explode, ripping the bear apart.
Kelly lowered her gun with a smirk, all of them walking to each other as Ash commented to Kelly. "Well, looky who's back, and seriously rocking the leather."
She winked at Pablo, who smiled at her, while Ash asked about the guy with Kelly. "Who's the boy toy?"
"Kelly was right. You are the prophesied one." He knelt down before Ash.
"Met another dumbass", Constantine whispered as Andy, Kyle and Alice again shared shocked looks.
Kelly told Ash about the guy. "This is Dalton. He's with the Knights of Sumeria."
Ash was confused. "The who with the huh?"
"It's an honor to meet you. I've been waiting for the chance to battle this ancient evil my entire life."
"Yeah, he's kind of a fan." Kelly looked at Carrie, Andy, Kyle and Alice. "Who're those?"
"Carrie White, and people who fought a murderer possessing a doll", Constantine spoke up, Kelly shrugging at that.
"That Carrie?"
"Yeah, that one."
"Welcome aboard!" Kelly looked to the other three.
"Name's Andy."
"Kyle."
"Alice."
"Nice to meet you lot", Kelly commented with a smirk that Kyle returned, as she looked at the other two. "Who's the woman and kid?"
"The woman's Candy, and", Ash shrugged. "Believe it or not, that's my daughter." He chuckled. "Sandy." Constantine face-palmed. "Ah, Mandy."
"Brandy!" Brandy cried out.
"And fuck you!" Candace added.
Ash shrugged. "We're still getting to know each other." Constantine walked up next to him as they shared a look, with Dalton getting up. "Okay, team, it looks like evil's back, and ground zero is everywhere."
"Yes, a fake Devil is unleashing an Apocalypse across many worlds, and has recruited some notorious Urban Legends. I believe this evil is connected too this time."
"Other worlds?" Dalton asked in shock.
"Yeah, mate."
Ash asked them. "Kelly, Pablo. Other guy, you up for this?"
Dalton held up his gun. "One for all, and all for one."
"Uh, cute, but no. Pablo? Say it like you mean it."
Pablo put his fist out. "Ghost Beaters are back!"
Ash put his fist out too. "Fucking A, right we are!" Kelly added her fist to the mix.
Ash then shared a look with a smirking Kelly, adding. "And evil... oh, we're coming for you." They lowered their fists as Ash took out the Maui Wowie from earlier. "I think now is the appropriate time. Pablo." He put it in his mouth as Pablo lit it up. Ash inhaled, then taking it out, turned around, holding it up in front of Brandy, asking in a strained voice. "Sandy?"
"Brandy, you idiot!" Alice cried out, exasperated, Carrie groaning.
"No!" Brandy shook her head.
"Right…..well Brandy, wanna join your pop in this mission? Some father-daughter bonding ti-"
"No, you're not getting her fucking involved in this!" Candace snarled as she stepped in the way protectively. "Thank you for saving her, but she ain't going with you! What we already saw was enough, and what this Constantine guy is saying is even worse! So NO!"
Ash sighed. "Fair enough." He smiled at them both, looking a little disappointed as he did want to get to know his daughter better, then he turned around to the rest. "Well then, let's go!"
Earth-192
As the car drove further into the city, the three heard the sound of an explosion in the distance, seeing some rise up.
"What's going on?" The guy wondered, as then, the ground suddenly shook, Bruce having a feeling of what was going on.
Next moment, they heard a sound which Bruce knew was cars shattering. Something was up here! A fight!
"Thanks for the lift", Bruce said to the couple, and then unlocked the backdoor, getting out.
"What do you think you're-"
Bruce shut the door and ran forwards, feeling his adrenaline rise, and also hearing a guttural voice that reminded him of Hulk's shouting. "Superman, you coward. All your men are down and you won't even show your face!"
Finally reaching the area, Bruce saw it was a large, monstrous figure, with two large lower canines, his skin greyish in color, and he was about the same size as Hulk.
The road was broken, and various other superheroes were lying here and there, wounded. Bruce could make out Green Arrow and another guy with bow and arrows lying on smashed cars, a guy in a cowboy type suit lying near a car, another person in an armor lying on the road, and one more guy in a red suit, hat included, was also lying on the road, plus a young, blonde girl.
Some people were there too, watching the fight in horror and fear from a distance.
Then, Bruce saw a man in medieval armor, with an eagle symbol on the chest, carrying a sword, walking out of the smoke, ready to face off against the large monster.
"He cannot hear even your bellowing, monster", Shining Knight said to the large monster, the mutated Wade Eiling. "As we speak, Superman rescues an entire star system a Universe away." He prepared to face off against Eiling. "Do your worst. I'll not let you harm another."
Eiling marched towards Shining Knight. "I do what I do in service to my country."
Service to his country? Bruce was reminded of a certain someone, which made him clutch his fists angrily.
Shining Knight spoke to Eiling as they circled each other. "Once, at the word of my lord, King Arthur, I was ordered to lay waste to an entire village. I knew my king's heart could not be so unjust, so I spared them all."
"Then you're a lousy soldier." Eiling punched Shining Knight, making him stagger away, but he kept standing, Bruce reminded even more of Ross, as Hulk once had to protect civilians from his army while on the run.
Shining Knight massaged his jaw. "There it is, the creeping moral decay of the past thousand years." He charged at Eiling with a swing, but Eiling dodged, as Shining Knight went past him, then turned back to face him. "Arthur thanked me, oaf. Had I been wrong, I would have handed over my sword and left the court in shame."
Shining Knight made to attack again but Eiling grabbed the sword and slammed him the ground, sending him crashing away, the sword falling out of his grip.
Bruce willed himself to change, trying to get past the sedative's effects.
Shining Knight tried to get up as Eiling marched towards him. "Save yourself a hospital stay and stand down. That magic armor won't help you."
Even with his outfit damaged, and with him not having his weapon in hand, Shining Knight was not going to give up.
"Have at thee." Bruce was reminded of Thor, and he saw Shining Knight charge at Eiling, who slammed him into the ground with both fists.
"You're a relic. In this world, power is the only thing that matters. You and those other no-name heroes, you're just people." Shining Knight picked himself back up barely. "In the great scheme of things, nothing you do has the least bit of significance."
Eiling punched Shining Knight hard, sending him rolling onto the ground, his helmet falling away, revealing his blonde hair.
"I'll waste you and a billion like you before I let any power rival America's. It's my duty."
Bruce was growling now, willing himself fully to change.
Shining Knight tried to support himself up. "You don't know what the word means."
"You can't win."
Shining Knight picked himself back up, his stance wobbly, but his will firm. "I'll die as befits a knight, defending the weak."
He fell down on his knees again, as Eiling asked. "Why don't you give up?"
"Why don't you?" Shining Knight shot back.
Eiling kicked Shining Knight, sending him rolling away, and he tried to get up, but fell back down.
Eiling then walked towards a car. "Superman and your Justice League are a threat to a safe and stable world." He picked it up and turned around, only to see the people having crowded around Shining Knight, a black old woman with glasses in the lead, with some of them kneeling near Shining Knight, trying to help him, as Bruce looked at the sight too.
"Drop the act. You think killing Superman would make the world safe?" The black old lady asked Eiling, then gestured to a kid nearby. "Or killing this boy?" Shining Knight looked up at her from where he lay. "Or us? Tell me, how many of us do you have to kill to keep us safe?"
"They're the ones I'm after, not you." Eiling marched towards them. "I'm not the menace. Metahumans are. Superpowered beings."
One boy kneeling near Shining Knight stood up, glaring at him alongside an older girl. "You're the only one around here with superpowers."
That caused Eiling to stop, and for a moment, it looked like he was going to throw the car at the people, who were all glaring at him.
Only, he threw the car down, and looked at them again. "All right. I've become what I hate, I'll give you that. But in the long run, you'll see I was right. You'll see you need the likes of me to protect you from them."
"The last thing we need is anyone like you."
The people, and Eiling, turned to see Bruce calmly walking up to the monster, but his fists were clenched so tightly it looked like his knuckles would pop out. Even if Hulk wasn't able to come out, Bruce had enough of this self-righteous "patriot", and was gonna tell him exactly what he thought about him.
Ross had used him, turned his life into Hell, and only tried to make it worse when he'd gone on the run. Bruce and Hulk had become better people, and Ross had then become the monster.
Now he was dealing with another Ross, so high on his self-righteousness and hypocrisy, it was making him angry.
"I've known a lot of men like you. You say you're trying to protect the country from what you see as the monsters. Maybe, you're the monster we need to be saved from! You don't care about people; you only want power! To be in charge! You're nothing but a selfish, greedy, arrogant son of a-"
"SHUT UP!" Eiling cut Bruce off with a backhand, sending him crashing through a wall, the people gasping and screaming in terror.
"I AM NOTHING LIKE THAT!" Eiling screamed, looking at the Bruce-shaped hole in the wall.
"The world needs someone strong to protect it!"
Some of the people stared at Eiling in both anger and fear, as a few of them rushed towards the wall, about to cross it to help Bruce.
Only, a low rumbling went through the area, coming through the hole Bruce had been sent through, causing the people who were rushing towards the wall to back away in fear.
Green eyes shone through the dark, and then, a large green hand gripped the sides of the wall, just as the Jade Giant leapt onto the other side, glaring and growling at Eiling, the people now pointing at Hulk in awe, remembering him from when Thor had deflected the beam of the fusion canon.
"Its one of those Avengers!"
Shining Knight barely lifted his head to look at Hulk, having seen footage of him, and a tiny smile crossed his face.
Eiling stared back at Hulk in shock and even slight fear at the sheer HATE he could feel coming from the only one there who matched his size, and Eiling remembered seeing footage of him and the other Avengers alongside the Justice League a few months ago.
"HULK IS STRONGEST THERE IS!"
After a few seconds of hesitation, Eiling charged at Hulk, who just walked towards Eiling at a steady, slow pace.
The mutated general roared before thrusting his fist towards the green behemoth.
'Stupify' by Disturbed begins to play
Only for Eiling's fist to be stopped on contact with Hulk's palm. Shocked, Eiling threw another punch, only for Hulk to catch that fist too.
The muscles beneath Eiling's grey flesh flexed and tensed, struggling to rip out of the grip as Hulk's growling only got louder.
"WEAK!"
Hulk headbutted Eiling hard on the face, making him stumble back, after which Eiling blindly swung at Hulk, who ducked to avoid the attack and tackled the mutated general, pushing with the legs as both charged through a building and onto the other side, Hulk continuing to push Eiling.
Green Arrow groaned, having finally gotten up, and gave a hand to Speedy, who took it, standing up too, as both stared at the fight.
"The jolly green giant come to save us", Green Arrow commented, both of them nearly tripping due to the ground shaking and the glass shattering roar. "I hope", Green Arrow added weakly.
"AAAAAAH!"
Eiling was launched back, his body skidding across the road until he came to a painful halt.
"What…the hell are you?" He rubbed his head with a groan.
"Someone whose been hunted down and treated like a monster because of people like you!" Hulk snapped, his feet creating imprints in the ground as he leapt up with a flying punch into Eiling's face, snapping the newly turned mutate's body to the side, before hunching over as Hulk buried his fist into the abdomen. "Hulk was only ever a weapon! A threat! All Hulk ever did was exist!" Hulk raised both fists up, "Men like you made the Hulk!" He slammed down on Eiling's back, the crash into the ground causing a shockwave sending anyone unfortunate enough to be close off their feet.
Hulk glared down at Eiling, who groaned, and slowly pushed himself up. "Then they made a mistake." His legs lashed out, Eiling kicking the Green Goliath's chest, throwing him back as he fell to the ground.
Eiling then got to his feet as Hulk did the same, Eiling swinging and getting Hulk on the cheek. With another strike, he made Hulk reel, but as he went for a third, Hulk's green arm blocked the haymaker.
The last thing that Eiling heard before his head started ringing was the enraged roar of the Hulk as an uppercut to his chin created such an impact that a sonic boom emanated, tearing through the ground and shattering every window within five blocks.
Eiling's own body was thrown upwards with the force of a rocket, shooting past the skyscrapers of Metropolis.
By now- Vigilante, Stargirl, STRIPE and Crimson Avenger had managed to stagger up too, with STRIPE supporting Stargirl, and Green Arrow cried out to the people. "Clear the area!" He pointed upwards, and they could see Eiling's figure descending towards them.
They all started making their way here and there, with Green Arrow and Speedy supporting Shining Knight, and STRIPE supporting Stargirl, just as Eiling crashed into the construction site nearby.
He barrelled through every complete and incomplete floor of the building in construction, until he reached the bottom, breaking the ground when he fell on it.
Eiling groaned in pain as he picked himself up, rubbing his dislocated jaw, when he felt blood in his mouth, and pain. He felt his mouth, and could make out a gap where one of his oversized canines used to be.
His blood boiled, but then, the very next moment, he heard a sound that made his blood chill instead.
"RAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Eiling looked up and found the Jade Giant speeding towards him with fists raised.
Hulk slammed his fists down upon Eiling, causing a powerful shockwave that made the remainder of the site collapse upon them both, with nothing but dust and debris left.
As the Justice League Unlimited members and civilians watched, they heard a roar, and then the sound of a punch, with Eiling smashing through the debris, having been punched out of it, the JLU members and civilians clearing the way as Eiling crashed to the ground near a truck, breaking some of the ground.
Then, Hulk pushed his way out of the debris, walking towards Eiling.
"You can dish it out but can't take it, can you?"
Eiling used the truck to support himself, and pushed his body up, glaring angrily at the Hulk, in spite of how badly beaten up he looked by now.
"I'll take on whatever I must to protect this country!" Eiling grabbed the truck, and hurled it. To Hulk's horror, the truck was not thrown at him.
It was thrown at the JLU members and the civilians.
"OUT OF THE WAY!" Green Arrow cried out as the people began to run, with him and Speedy supporting Shining Knight again, but the old woman tripped and fell down onto the ground, looking up in horror as the truck came closer to her.
Only, it was caught by Hulk, who dropped the truck, then looked at her, the old lady getting up and smiling at him. "Thank you." She then walked off quickly, as Hulk looked at her, the other people, and the JLU members.
That was when Eiling wrapped his hands around Hulk's chest and did a Supplex, burying Hulk's head into the concrete.
"I've dedicated my life to fighting monsters like you, it's my duty, and by any means necessary, I will accomplish it."
As Hulk tried to pick himself up, Eiling lifted his head up by the hair, and delivered punch after punch to his face, before delivering a knee onto the face, sending Hulk falling on his back, and then he picked Hulk up again.
"You're right about one thing." Hulk's fist pummeled Eiling's face, making him release the green tinted hair before the Avenger grabbed the limb and twisted it. "I AM a monster!" The mutated general yelped before Hulk's elbow slammed down.
"ARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!" Eiling screamed as the gamma powered man broke the bones beneath the hardened grey skin. He scrambled away and Hulk let him go.
"Where's that power now?!" Hulk reared his fist back and in one final punch, poured all his hate and anger into his arm, and thrust forth.
The screaming Eiling's head was forced down into the concrete, shaking the ground and the surrounding buildings, dust kicking up from the impact and blinding the onlookers brave or dumb enough to stick around.
When the dust started to settle, Green Arrow lowered his arm and bore witness to the sight, along with everyone else, of Hulk's foot on Eiling's chest. Only the minute movement of the chest indicated the general was still alive.
It was Hulk who Green Arrow focused on though, because instead of more rage and possibly homicidal thoughts toward Eiling, the big green guy looked down in contempt and…pity?
"I am a monster...but I learned that's not all I can be. I changed, something people like you can never understand. Power doesn't define a hero, their character does, and Hulk knows the best. You, you're nothing but a hypocrite." Hulk nodded toward the citizens who protected Shining Knight and the heroes who were now standing. "If more people were like them, there wouldn't be a need for men like you."
And then, the people began to clap and cheer as Hulk let out a roar, Eiling finally losing consciousness, with Green Arrow stepping forwards, a smile on his face.
"Green to green, real glad you came when you did."
Hulk grinned back in response.
Universe-8096
Loki watched the projection of Banner disappearing, having used his magic to locate the world that he'd fallen into, and then he saw the sight of Banner transforming into Hulk before fighting the mutated Eiling.
After a short but brutal fight, Hulk came out the victor, with the people cheering for him, and later, as the wounded Stargirl and Shining Knight were wheeled away into an ambulance, the civilians were seen cheering for Hulk, with kids playing nearby, posing as Hulk and the JLU members who were in the area.
Hulk was seen talking to Green Arrow.
Loki smirked as a plan formed in his head.
"You may have broken out of the Enchantress's thrall, but none shall escape the wrath of Loki."
Earth-38, National City
Danvers flew into the warehouse and landed while Barry sped in a second later and stopped.
"For the record, I got here first", Danvers told him.
"Yeah, for the record, I went around the block to check the perimeter. So, technically, I let you get here first", Barry said and both chuckled.
"You sure this is the right place?" Danvers asked.
"Hope so", Barry said.
Then electricity crackled as Leslie came out of a light bulb. "Long time, cape and skirt. Didn't think you could fight me solo, so you brought a date? How sweet."
Barry countered. "So men and women can't just be friends and hang out in a platonic manner? Very progressive thinking, zappy."
Barry ran around Livewire before appearing behind her, leaning back with his arms crossed, before smiling and pointing down. Livewire did, and saw a grenade, just as it released gas.
Livewire flexed her hands, but found only sparks emitting before even they died.
"What the-" Livewire questioned, only for her voice to get deeper, "what's wrong with my voice?!"
"Someone failed physics." Barry quipped before Danvers stepped up and lightly punched the woman once known as Leslie Willis, dropping her like a bag of bricks, before the Kryptonian looked at the speedster with astonishment.
"Sulfur hexafluoride, cancels out electrical currents. Pays to be a nerd."
"Good wor-oh my Rao, that is disturbing." Danvers said in shock as the gas made her own voice deeper.
Then a high-pitched screech was heard. Danvers groaned in pain as she held her ears and realized that they actually bleeding.
And then out walked Siobhan Smythe aka Silver Banshee, now having put on make-up that made her resemble and actual banshee from mythological stories.
She leapt down. "All my life I thought I was cursed. But now I see I was cursed for the better."
"You don't have to do this", Danvers tried to reason. "I wanna help you."
"I do have to do this, even with my partner down, I'll take you both out", Siobhan said before screeching again, sending Kara flying off and crashing to the ground.
"Once you two are dead, I can finally give that little blonde moppet, Kara Danvers, the death she deserves", Siobhan sneered.
Barry ran away and disappeared, Siobhan scoffing. "Your cowardly date left you to face me alone."
Suddenly, Barry ran back in and started running in circles around Siobhan, and as she tried to scream, she realized she couldn't, with no voice coming out of her mouth as she began to choke due to the lack of oxygen, grasping at her throat.
Soon enough, she fell down, as Barry stopped, Siobhan now knocked out.
Walking to Danvers, he gave her a hand that she grasped, Barry helping her up, noting her bleeding ears.
Putting his hands on his hips, Barry looked at the downed supervillains. "You know, I actually thought this would be harder."
Danvers just looked at Barry in awe at how easily he'd done this.
Earth-92, Sunnydale
Two little children, one girl and one boy, were crying next to a wall, both holding their knees up to their chest, when a couple walked by them, and looked at the children in concern.
"Hey, are you two okay?" The man asked the children.
"We hurt our knees!" The girl said in between sobs. "It hurts so badly!"
"Will you help us?!" The boy asked as well while crying.
"Sure", the woman assured them, kneeling near the girl, as the man kneeled near the boy. "Should we pick you up?"
"Yes."
The couple picked the two kids up, and then-
The two kids lashed at the couple, with the boy biting the man's neck, and the girl biting the woman's neck, making them both gasp in pain, while they also beat the two on the heads, their fangs sinking deep into the couple's necks, the two gasping as they felt themselves being drained.
With that, the girl ripped apart the neck of the woman, and the boy did the same to the man, the couple falling dead as the girl and boy landed on the ground, showing their bloodied fangs.
Vampires!
Only, their eyes were blue for some reason, while their eyebrows remained intact.
Abby and Owen shared a look, and both growled together.
Los Angeles
A blonde woman named Allison was returning home from work, when suddenly, she heard a roar from behind, and then, something grabbed her, pinning her to the wall.
"So soft…..and delicious. Snack…frightened….but snack."
Allison could make out the voice of a woman, speaking in a creepy monotone, as the woman licked her neck, making a chill run down her spine.
And then, her neck was bitten as she gasped in pain, the fangs sinking deep into her, and the Vamp woman ripped her neck, out, making blood pour out of the woman's mouth.
But it was not the end, as the Vamp woman then bit off a portion of her shoulder, then her back, until, by the end of it, the woman's body lay on the ground, a complete mess, all her limbs ripped apart!
Drusilla stood above the body, or what was left of it, licking the blood off of her lips, though there was still much more all over her face.
She slipped into a trance.
"I am coming for you…..little grandchild."
Earth-1, Florida
In a motel, Mia Allen was sitting on a couch, drinking coke from a can, her mind once more drifting to the terrible incident at the cabin 3 years ago, where she'd turned into a Deadite and gotten her friends and brother killed.
Sure, she'd gotten better since then, but the tragedy would never stop haunting her, and no matter what she did, her mind always thought of that dreadful day, every single day.
That was when she heard a knock on the door. Throwing the empty can into the dustbin, Mia got up, and walked to the door, opening it to reveal Constantine.
"John?"
"Hello, Mia."
She looked behind him to see a bunch of people she didn't know at all.
"Why are you here?" Mia then asked Constantine.
"Need your help with something", he said, then with a sigh said. "We got a fake Devil, he is causing an Apocalypse in different worlds, and has recruited a bunch of folks from over here, and I think the evil as well."
"….Well, fuck me!" Mia grumbled.
"I'm with ya there, luv."
That was when Mia noticed Ash, and how he was missing one hand, having a chainsaw in its place. "How'd that happen?"
"Deadite fuckers! How about you?" Ash looked at her missing hand.
"Same….."
"In a cabin?"
"Yeah, you too?"
"Unfortunately, yes!"
"How do you two know each other?" Kyle asked Constantine, gesturing between him and Mia.
"After the incident at the cabin, I bumped into Constantine at one point", Mia explained to them. "And…..he helped me with a very extreme situation."
"Which is…" Pablo trailed off.
Mia sighed. "I think it's best if I just… show you."
At that moment… Mia's eyes turned yellow and her skin turned pale white!
"Whoa!" Alice cried out.
"Deadite!" Ash aimed his Boomstick at the Deadite Mia, only for Constantine to annoyingly snatch the Boomstick out of his hand.
"And I thought I was soddin' reckless."
At that moment, Mia's human features returned as she turned back to normal.
"Constantine helped me control it", Mia explained to them finally. "So that I didn't risk killing anyone while using this Deadite form."
"Ya know…I can relate", Ash said, thinking of the time when he'd fought off his own Deadite possession at the cabin. "Well, damn!"
"Looks like you two have been through a lot of the same things", Carrie commented with folded arms, as she never had anything like that. Even Tina, a fellow psychic, didn't really have a life as bad as hers.
Good, she did not want others to suffer abuse and mockery the way she had.
"Anyways, Mia, you wanna join us?"
Mia looked at the entire group, then shrugged. "Eh, fuck it. I have nothin else to do."
Constantine smirked, while Kelly quipped, "I like her."
"Me too", Kyle said with a smirk.
Andy asked Constantine. "Well then, who is next?"
Earth-38, National City, DEO
Willis and Siobhan had been locked up in a meta-human prison, Barry having given instruction on how to make it, due to having the experience in his own world.
After that, he turned to see Danvers still staring at him in awe, stunned that he'd beaten Livewire and Silver Banshee single-handedly. "Livewire nearly killed me the first time around, and you beat her and Siobhan in seconds! How did you get so..." Danvers struggled to find the words, and just gestured to all of Barry.
"Work smarter, not harder." Barry joked before frowning. "Though seriously, what is with the monologuing? I know bad guys are meant to be arrogant, but they are basically giving time to rest and lash back while they're distracted talking. Feels kinda like lazy writing on some crappy network."
"I'm sorry I asked you to come with me without a plan", Danvers finally apologized to Barry. "I didn't know she'd have Siobhan with her."
"That's the thing about being a superhero", Barry said gently. "You have to somehow be prepared for the unexpected, I was taught the same, and my teacher was much stricter than I'm right now."
"It's just…. something happened to me a few weeks ago", Danvers admitted. "I was exposed to this substance that made me crazy. I did a lot of horrible things. Said horrible stuff to Hank and my sister."
"That's rough", Barry said, sympathizing with her.
"And when I was helping people as Supergirl, I was….I was so happy. And now that the people don't want me to help them, I feel lost", Danvers admitted. "And I'm in such a hurry to prove myself again, I'm making stupid mistakes. Like today."
"This is gonna sound ironic coming from me but, um, you need to slow down", Barry advised with a smile as she looked at him. "Just keep doing your good work. Don't worry about the rest. The public will forgive you, I promise."
"How can you be so sure?" Kara asked.
"'Cause the same thing happened to me", Barry admitted, remembering the time Roy Bivolo's powers had made him go crazy.
"Really?" Kara asked.
"Mmm-hmm."
"So what finally fixed things?" Kara then asked him.
"Time", Barry said before sighing and telling her. "When you're used to fixing things with brute strength, or in my case, amazing speed, it's hard to accept that there are things out of our control. When you can't accept that, you make mistakes, and you have to accept the consequences." He thought about the time Batman had told him the breaches were his fault, meaning all the chaos happening on this Earth and others in the Multiverse was on him, including them losing Felicity and now this fake Lucifer recruiting these Urban Legends. The shame and guilt had eaten up at him, and it still did, but he'd accepted it, and could only try his best to correct his mistake, and make sure it didn't happen again. "It's humbling. Right?"
"Yep", Danvers told him.
Barry added. "And believe me, when you stop trying to force the solution, it'll happen on its own."
"I'm really sorry you're locked out of your world", Danvers said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "But I'm really glad you're here."
"Me too", Barry smiled.
Earth-199999, Krakoa
Magneto watched the news as they showed the MRD carrying away two unconscious Mutants.
"It was found out that these Mutants have been living underneath us this entire time", the reporter was saying. "The spiked Mutant who went viral a while ago apparently lived underground in the sewers too. The MRD team struck their base. While most of them escaped, two are in custody."
Magneto's eyes narrowed as he saw the ones captured. While he did not know the pale one, he easily recognized the other one.
He shared a look with Juggernaut, then another with Esme, the look of rage on his face visible to both of them.
Suddenly, the TV monitor was crushed once more- the second time this had occurred after Sage had fixed it the first time, not that anyone could blame Magneto.
Looking at Juggernaut and Esme, he declared. "It is time."
The Raft
Ross was walking through the prison with two guards behind him, looking to his left to see Jessica Jones in her cell. "Hope our accommodations are comfortable, Miss Jones."
Jessica flipped the bird. "Fuck you, asshole."
Ross chuckled in amusement, then walked off with his guards, sparing one glance at Rogue, who glared at him, but he bypassed that cell, and eventually, he stood in front of Caliban's cell.
"I believe you know who I am", Ross said, kneeling before Caliban, who looked at him in a mix of rage and fear. "I know who you are…and what you can do."
"What do you want?" Caliban asked, backing up against the wall of his cell.
"I just want you to locate a large group of Mutants for me", Ross said with a smirk. "Can you do that?"
"What if I say no?"
Ross shook his head, then gestured to the guards, before pressing a button, opening the cell up. Caliban backed off fearfully as the guards revealed taser-rods, and walked inside, Caliban's screams of agony being heard by all.
Middle-earth
The deep waters of the sea stretched endlessly before him, dark and silent, yet not empty. Xigbar drifted downward, his body weightless, swallowed by the abyss as he followed a sensation unlike anything he had felt before.
A light. Not just any light. Something ancient. Something pure. Something… powerful.
The darkness here was immense—remnants of the past still lingering, wounds carved into the world itself. But this light cut through it, untamed, untouched. Even submerged in the endless depths, it had not dimmed. It was waiting.
He smirked to himself as he kicked off the currents, gliding deeper through the still ocean, his single eye scanning the void ahead.
Then, he saw it.
Resting upon a bed of blackened sand, half-buried by time and the weight of the world, was the source of that great light.
The Silmaril!
A jewel so radiant that even the crushing depths of the sea could not smother its brilliance. The currents shifted around it, as though the ocean itself hesitated to touch it.
He let himself hover for a moment, taking it in.
Maglor's despair. Thrown away, cast into the sea by hands that had long since turned to dust. And yet, here it was, untouched, untarnished, as if waiting for someone who could truly claim it.
Not for the Organization. No, this was for him.
For Luxu.
Because Luxu had seen things. Knew things. Knew that even a light this pure could be shaped into something greater.
After all, this wasn't the first time he had seen light and darkness dance together. The Keyblade War, the fall of Daybreak Town, the Foretellers… it had all led to something. New worlds, and new purposes.
And here, buried beneath the weight of ages, was another thing that could be the key to it all.
With a flick of his wrist, darkness coiled around his fingers, pushing away the currents as he reached forward. The moment his fingers brushed against the Silmaril's surface, a surge pulsed through him. The light burnt him as he recoiled his hand in pain.
And then, the darkness from around his fingers coiled around the Silmaril, sending it into a pocket of darkness, for Luxu to keep, for when he wanted to use it.
And the sea trembled.
The abyss around him seemed to recoil, as though the ocean itself knew something had changed. Then, without another moment's hesitation, he pushed off the seafloor, rising, letting the deep release him back toward the surface.
The waves broke around him as he emerged, water cascading off his coat in rivulets. He stepped onto the rocky shore, summoning the Silmaril again, now gleaming in the air, its light undiminished despite all it had endured.
He turned it over in the air, watching its radiance reflect in his single eye.
Then, with a knowing smirk, he chuckled under his breath.
"Now, this is gonna be interesting."
Universe-199999, Asgard
In the ruins of Odin's Vault, Enchantress awoke with a groan, looking at the smoke still emanating in the area, with various artefacts lying scattered, here and there.
Enchantress remembered the wormhole, and the explosion, after which, everything had gone black.
As she started trying to stand up, her throat was suddenly grabbed, and then the grey hand grabbing her lifted her up, Enchantress now staring at a figure wearing a helmet shaped like a skull over his head, red eyes glinting in the darkness.
Then, another figure stepped out of the shadows. She was dressed in the manner that Enchantress used to dress in before Surtur had gotten to her, her attire being green.
She stood behind the man who'd lifted Enchantress up by the throat.
"Sorry, my dear, but there's only room for ONE Enchantress."
Enchantress' eyes widened, as she realized she was staring at her Variant from Universe-199999.
Amora of Universe-199999 held up her hands, and glowed green, chanting a spell as runes appeared all around her.
"ᛏᚺᛁᛋ ᛟᛏᚺᛖᚱ ᛟᚾᛖ ᛟᚠ ᛗᛖ, ᚢᛋᛖ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᛟᚹᛖᚱ, ᛏᚱᚨᛈ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛟᚱᛒ."
Enchantress screamed as she glowed green too, the runes covering around her, and then, all of it transformed into a green light, with Amora producing an orb the size of her hand, holding it up in her palm, and the green light was pulled into it.
When it was done, the Enchantress banged at the insides of the orb, trapped there, but not even her voice could be heard outside.
"Now, I could free my fool of a sister, but then what kind of sister would I be?" Amora commented with a scoff as she thought of Lorelei, walking forth with the helmeted man behind her, and she looked around at the contents that were scattered everywhere, as well as the shattered roof.
"I can tell what went down here."
She'd used some very powerful magic to sneak in, so not even Heimdall would be able to see her, or her helmeted warrior.
With a smirk, she walked out of the Vault, the warrior following her, as they came up the stairs, seeing that many portions of the golden palace lay here and there, having been destroyed by the explosion.
"Where are the Thors?" She saw Hercules asking Sif, only for Sif to shake her head.
"We don't know. Loki is missing from his cell too."
Hercules groaned in frustration, as Amora's smirk grew wider while she looked at the imprisoned Enchantress, then at her warrior.
"Well, let us find them, shall we?"
New York City, Harlem
Luke Cage was walking back to his apartment, listening to Trish Talk on his phone.
"These SHRA taskforce agents, and this MRD, they're all lapdogs of our government, which has become a dictatorship now!" Trish Walker was saying angrily, and Luke couldn't blame her, considering they'd taken Jessica, her adopted sister.
He wished he could do something about that, but he wasn't sure what, he didn't even where this so-called secret prison was.
"Miss Walker, our government is doing this for our prot-"
The guest talking didn't get a chance to finish, because Trish wasn't gonna let anyone have it.
"Protection from what exactly? If anything, we need protection from a government as bad as this one. Our country is doing the same thing the Nazis were, only instead of Jews, this time, its people with powers. They took my adopted sister away for putting down a monster!"
Same monster who was also responsible for the death of his wife Reva Connors. Luke had been unable to look at Jessice the same way after having found out she'd killed Reva.
But after she'd put that monster who'd made her do it down, and avenged everyone that Kilgrave had ever hurt, including he himself.
Opening the door to his apartment, Luke Cage shut it, took the earphones out of his ear, and turned on the lights, only to see a black man in an eyepatch, wearing a trench-coat, seated there.
"Sweet Christmas!" Luke muttered as the man stood up. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"I imagine you've heard of SHIELD, Mr. Lucas?" The man asked, Luke immediately on guard as he realized this man knew who he truly was.
"The government agency?" Luke asked, the man nodding. "Thought it was gone after Hydra took over. You here to take me in?"
"If I wanted to do anything to you, Mr. Lucas, you wouldn't even see me coming", the man said in a tone which made it clear he wasn't bluffing. "My name is Nick Fury; I'm the former Director of SHIELD. And I'm here to make you an offer."
"What? To sign the SHRA and be a government lapdog?" Luke inquired with clutched fists. "Because I would be in this secret prison rather than doing that!"
"I do want you to be in this secret prison Mr. Lucas, just not imprisoned there", Fury revealed, Luke looking confused. "I'm arranging a breakout."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously, and to do that, I need a team. I figured you'd be one of the people to reach out to", Fury said as he seemed to examine Luke with his one eye.
"Can't you find anyone else?" Luke inquired.
"I could…..but I believe you want to save Ms. Jones", Fury commented, making Luke do a double take. "Yes, I know a lot about you. And tell me- are you really the kind of guy who'll sit by while injustice like this happens all around him?"
Luke opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out, and then the image of Reva flashed in his mind, followed by Jessica, and Pop.
Would he sit by and let injustice happen?
No. It had happened to him, and he'd been in prison for something he hadn't even done.
These people did not deserve that either.
"If we're doing this", Luke finally said, looking into Fury's one eye with both of his. "Call me Luke."
"Welcome aboard, Luke Cage."
"Who else is part of this team?" Luke inquired, Fury walking past Luke.
"You're gonna meet them soon enough."
Earth-199999, New York City
Trish Walker got out of her car, and locked it, talking to her mom on phone.
"All this anti-government propaganda will just put you in danger, my dear."
"They took Jess, mother!"
"She is trouble, and you know it!"
"Not as much trouble as government is."
"Look, trying to find out about what happened to her after the accident is one thing, this is another."
"The super-community need people to raise their voices for them. I'm doing just that, we need to talk about real problems, mother, and I'll do what I can."
With that, she cut the call, about to go into her apartment, when she heard someone call out. "Trish Walker!"
She turned around to see five men in SHRA taskforce suits walking up to her, as she asked. "Yes?"
"We're arresting you for your anti-government propaganda", one of the agents said, Trish letting out a humorless chuckle at that.
"Seriously? You realize, right, that I've the right to free speech?"
"There are consequences to it too", the main agent shrugged, taking out cuffs. "Besides, any Enhanced, Inhumans and Mutants, they're threats, we can't do the usual with them."
"I'm none of those things."
"You're a supporter of them, which makes you a threat."
"Our fallen government at work, everyone", Trish scoffed, the agent about to move behind her, when suddenly, a figure burst in, punching one agent away, and then grabbing him by the throat, slamming him into Trish's car, while grabbing the hand which had the cuffs and twisting it.
"What smells like crank and screams like a girl?" Eliot Spencer asked, before twisting his hand further, making him scream in pain exactly like a little girl. "Right answer."
The other three agents made to take out their guns but a Billy Club struck Trish's car and ricocheted off of it, striking one of them in face, downing him, while Matt in his Daredevil suit flipped down, catching the Billy Club on return, and as one more agent aimed at him, Matt hurled the Billy Club, wrapping his legs, then tripping him as he groaned in pain.
Eliot knocked down the agent he'd grabbed with a punch, and as the last one tried to aim at him, Trish sprayed his face with pepper spray, making him scream before Eliot punched him down too.
Then, he took that agent's gun and emptied it, before doing it to the guns of the other two who'd taken those out as well, while Matt pulled out the guns of the other two, having sensed where they were, and emptied those himself.
"Get out of here!" Matt snarled, and when they struggled to get up, Matt slammed his fist on Trish's car. "GO!"
The five agents picked themselves up, supporting each other, and staggered away from the area.
Trish's doorman ran to the area, having seen all of it too late. "Miss Walker, are you all right?"
"Yeah, thanks to these two", Trish said, turning to Matt and Eliot, but focusing on Matt first. "Daredevil, thank you. Pleasure to meet you."
"I think you should hide out, Miss Walker", Matt told Trish, as she tilted her head.
"But I can't stop talking against the SHRA when the government is acting like the Nazis."
"Yeah, well, they'll arrest if you stick out your neck too much", Eliot pointed out to her. "You won't help anyone that way."
"Who're you exactly?"
"We'd be the cavalry, Miss Walker", Eliot said with a shrug. "But yeah, you should hide out for a bit, anywhere."
"Guess you two do have a point", Trish said with a sigh, hating that she couldn't do more. "Thank you for saving me."
"No problem", Matt said as he ran off and then used his Billy Club to swing away, while Eliot shared a nod with her, Trish briefly checking him out, finding him quite attractive, and he smirked before walking off.
Trish turned to her doorman. "I'm gonna be gone here from tomorrow onwards, someone asks where I went, say you don't know."
"Yes ma'am."
Unknown location
The jet landed on the desolate road, and opened up, with a man in a yellow and blue spandex suit stepping out.
Wolverine!
He looked down, seeing the various Demons all lying dead, chopped apart here and there, and amongst them lay Wade Winston Wilson aka Deadpool, the blood not fully visible on his suit due to it being red.
Logan stood over him, as Wade looked up, seeing Logan was in the yellow and blue iconic suit of his.
"Oh, hey Logan, didn't expect to be called, or to see you in the iconic suit in 2015 instead of 2024, but no one's complaining."
Logan groaned. "Didn't expect to call you, bub. But…." He groaned. "I need your help."
"Not the "Origins" kind, is it?"
"Come again, bub?"
"Ya know, when they shut me up, the movie was hated, killed off all the origins-related spin-offs, plus your girlfriend at the time."
That made Wolverine growl, as Wade's eyes widened, realizing what he'd just said.
"Well, don't just stand there, you ape. Give me a hand up."
SNNIKKT!
Wade's eyes widened even more as he realized Logan's claws had Adamantium on them once more. His swords were made of those too. Don't ask how.
"Nope, I'm actually okay. Thank you very much."
Grunting, Logan buried both claws into Wade's chest and wrenched him up into the air.
"Why did you say that?"
"Good thing you didn't say "name" at the end there, otherwise DC would be suing right about now."
"Fucking jokes."
Logan stabbed Wade in the perineum, making him yelp in pain, while Logan then lifted Wade above his head, and slammed him down upon his knee, Wade groaning as he rolled to the ground, writhing in pain, clutching at his back.
"Fuck, fuck!" Wade staggered back up. "Surprised you wanna go back now, after all this time."
Logan tilted his head. "What the fuck do you mean?"
"Yeah, I know all about the reasons for you leaving now", Wade shrugged as he turned around. "How you were forced to kill the woman you loved after she went more nutso than Uncle Wade here, and then you couldn't handle it so you left to the land where we come from, before the whole mess with not-Silver Samurai, but now, after not caring for so long, you decide to go back to the bed you shit in-"
SNIKT!
Logan's claws stabbed into Wade's back and protruded from his chest, Wade looking down at the claws.
"You backstabbing son of a bitch."
Logan lifted Wade up over his head with a roar, Wade splayed up towards the sky.
An instant later, Wade flipped up and over backwards, hooking his legs around Logan's hips and stomach, then landed hard on the ground with Logan on top of him.
Wade unholstered his guns and emptied them both into Logan's ribs, but the son of a bitch took his medicine strong.
"Are you ready to be calm now?"
Logan slammed his head back, crushing Wade's nose as he groaned, letting go, before Logan got up, grabbed Wade's feet, dragged him, then flung him away, Wade crashing through a tree, before he rolled and slammed to a stop against a half-buried piece of stone.
It was the ancient Lucasfilm logo!
"Rest in pieces, Lucasfilm. Logo's just here to show how far Lucasfilm has fallen, which is a lot!"
'Hell's Bells' by AC/DC begins to play, with the bells intro being heard
With a grunt, Wade stood up, Logan walking up to him as they faced off, cowboy style, glaring at each other. Wade watched as all the bullets fell down from Logan's body onto the ground.
"Look, I'm just curious about the situation is all."
Logan exhaled gun-smoke from his nose, opening his mouth to reveal one bullet caught in his teeth.
"Fucking shut up."
He spat the bullet to the ground.
"Oh! Uh-oh."
Logan crouched down, the claws slowly popping out of his knuckles.
"Fuck, this is going to hurt." Wade looked at his empty pistols, then saw the mags lying nearby on a branch, so he turned back to Logan. "Alright, fuck it. Let's give the people what they came for."
'Hell's Bells' by AC/DC stops playing
Logan was totally in agreement with that.
"Let's fucking go."
Wade turned towards the camera. "Get your special sock out, nerds. It's going to get good. I mean, the only reason Aragorn is making me antagonize the guy is so that our fight from 'Deadpool & Wolverine' can happen here with Hell's Bells by AC/DC playing without Logan looking like the asshole."
Wade turned back to Logan waved his pistols, ejecting the empty mags, before slamming his foot on the branch, making the mags fly up, while he spun with a pistol, managing to attach it to a mag, and in a twirl, held the other gun upside down, the mag falling on it at the correct angle and getting attached.
'Hell's Bells' by AC/DC resumes playing
Then, getting into position, Wade began firing at Logan, who grunted, taking the shots, and with a growl, started rushing towards Wade on all fours like an actual wolverine, tanking all the shots fired at him.
As he got closer to Wade, he spun around and using his claws, sliced apart the barrels of Wade's guns clean off, Wade looking at the chopped off barrels, then throwing them off as Logan steadied himself on his knee on Wade's other side.
Wade threw the remainder of the barrels off and produced his sword as Logan spun in the air, clashing with Wade, while Wade spun, his other sword flying out, and he grabbed it, before spinning and clashing it against Logan's claws.
Swords and claws clashed for a few seconds, before Logan tried to stab with the claws of his left hand, but Wade trapped those claws between both of his swords, then twisted, Logan groaning, before retracting his claws, freeing himself, before he punched Wade, staggering him back, and unleashing his claws again, Logan stabbed those into Wade's throat, but Wade stabbed his sword into Logan's side, only for Logan to continuously stab his other hand's claws into Wade's chest for a bit, until Wade put his other arm in the way, getting stabbed there.
With that, Wade spun Logan onto the side, getting them both "un-stabbed", before he sliced at Logan from behind, and Logan screamed, before spinning around and slicing at Wade, who dodged, then stabbed through Logan's throat.
Logan grabbed at the sword as Wade tried to stab with his other but Logan used his claws to hold it back. Then, he pushed that sword back, and stabbed at Wade's other arm, making him pull it back alongside his sword.
Then, Logan swung his claws, Wade dodging the strikes, and he also stepped back when Logan tried to slice at his feet, before Wade flipped into the air, clashing his swords with Logan's claws.
The fight continued for a few seconds, swords and claws clashing, with Wade flipping back while clashing again at one point. Wade then flipped and kicked Logan, making him turn around, and stabbed his sword through Logan's back, and it protruded from his chest.
'Hell's Bells' by AC/DC stops playing
"Ew."
Logan spun around, trying to slice at Wade, who dodged, before stabbing his other sword into Logan as well.
"Gotcha."
Logan trying to grab at Wade's throat, struggling against him.
'Hell's Bells' by AC/DC resumes playing
Logan then sliced at the side of Wade's face, sending him down, while Wade flipped up, trying to strike, as Logan blocked, the swords still stuck into his body.
Wade flipped and kicked Logan on the face, staggering him back. Then, producing and twirling a little knife, Wade dodged Logan's strikes, and then stabbed it onto his shoulder.
"Baby knife!"
Logan then head-butted Wade, making him fall down and roll away, after which he steadied himself, but as he tried to get up, Logan stabbed into his chest, making him gasp in pain, Logan holding up his other hand, claws out.
"Got anything else to say?"
"No, no, no! Except…how do you've the Adamantium again? Really hard to keep track of the timelines, especially with all of this being in the MCU now! My swords are Adamantium too, by the way!"
"Fury, he'd some connections, got the claws coated with Adamantium again a while ago", Logan said with a shrug. "So, you ready to come while shutting the fuck up?"
Wade started. "How will I reply-"
"Just nod, asshole."
Wade nodded, and Logan pulled his claws out, Wade gasping as he picked himself up. Then, Wade pulled out one sword from Logan, before getting behind him and pulling the other out, followed by the knife.
"Baby knife."
Logan pointed at the jet. "We're gonna get in that, and then go to a place where we need to get another guy."
"Oooh, how many are there?"
"Enough for a prison break."
"Isn't that Wentworth Miller's and Dominic Purcell's thing though?" Wade asked, both of them walking towards the jet.
"Fury has gotten the location of this secret prison; we've been planning this for quite a while. But those fucks just made it personal."
"Really? You took it perso-"
"They took Rogue."
"Yeah, that's personal. Oh well, buddy cop comedy, you and me, going at it together, getting over our differences, annoying the others-"
"Shut the fuck up!"
"Or not."
They got inside the jet, Logan closing it up with a button, as Wade asked. "Where'd you get this baby, though?"
"From someone I hope never to see again."
"That bad, huh? I'm guessing it's the In-"
"Stop talking!"
"Sure." Logan started up the jet, as Wade took off his mask, breathing in, then out, Logan doing a double take on seeing strands of fake hair. "What the fuck are those?"
"Oh yeah, the staples of glory." Wade pointed to the strands. "Back in civilian life, I wear a toupee, but no one knows."
Logan laughed out loud. "Everybody knows."
Wade started. "You wanna talk about what you did in last fic or should we wait for a third-act flashback or confession?"
"Go fuck yourself."
"Right, well, at least I'm with THE X-Man! This thing have a radio?"
Logan started flying the jet through the air. "Yeah." Logan gestured to it, and Wade started pressing buttons on it as he put his mask back on.
And then, "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne began to play.
'I'm With You' by Avril Lavigne starts playing
As the jet flew, Wade said. "Ya know, Aragorn doesn't think either of me or you are the best thing to come out of Canada."
"Then who? The Alpha Morons?"
"Ah, you met them in this fanfic already? Off-screen I guess? How'd that go?"
"Tell me the answer or shut the fuck up, regardless of who this fucker Aragorn is!"
Wade pointed at the radio. "Aragorn thinks Avril Lavigne is the best thing to come out of Canada. Of course, his favorite is that second album that she herself thought was too bleak. Maybe he'll play a song from that one in this fic-"
"All right, all right, I got it."
This was gonna be really hard on him, but he knew the kind of skills Wade had, and if he needed to bear with the jabbering butt-plug to save Rogue, he'd do it, no matter how many stupid fucking jokes he'd to hear.
Like Avril said in the song, he'd say to Rogue, and the other kids, and the X-Men- "I'm with you."
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help with outlines for the Civil War, Earth-8096, Asgardians, YJ, DCAU and Earth-38 plots, and some suggestions for the Middle-earth, and thanks a lot to gussygus28 for the SPN Lucifer outline again.
Imagine Harris Dickinson as Hellion, Jamie Chung as Jubilee (they wanted her as Jubilee in DOFP before deciding against it), Nathan Jones as Sunder and KJ Apa as Jay Guthrie.
In MCU, now Rogue has been captured, plus Caliban too, you can guess what Ross wants from him. But well, capturing Rogue was their mistake, as Wolverine is here for the rescue, and has even recruited Deadpool. And yes, I'll recreate more D&W scenes because that film rocks!
While Fury has recruited Luke Cage, and you'll meet their other recruits soon.
Meanwhile, on Earth-8096, Magneto has recruited Bishop, former Marauders, and other Mutants for his goal, while we get to know more about Bishop's future (thank you to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the help there). Regarding Avengers being oppressors, like this chapter said, we only know Bishop's side of the story.
For how the Avengers lost easily, even with Iron Man's suit not being pure metal, Magneto has his advantages, and you've Quicksilver's speed, Juggernaut's powers, plus the Mutants acting quickly, including disabling the suit. Then Magneto distracted Ms. Marvel by destroying the Javelin and they escaped anyways, as I do believe Iron Man (with suit at full power), Ms. Marvel and Vision would have given a huge fight, probably even won, if things hadn't gone like this.
Plus no Thor and Hulk.
While the EMH Guardians of the Galaxy (the Guardians used to be so different before MCU, and this cartoon is the only time we saw their comics-accurate selves) are preparing to fight the Phoenix Force.
Meanwhile, Earth-1 Barry is finally on Earth-38, and as you can see, he is better than Danvers at this, due to his greater experience now, and has already caught Siobhan and Leslie, though there will be one more part to this Earth-38 plot to show something new.
MCU Banner is in the 'Young Justice' Universe, between Seasons 1 and 2, and let's just say his stay will be interesting.
While EMH Banner ended up in DCAU during 'Patriot Act', and had a brutal fight with the mutated Eiling. Made sure to have it happen after Shining Knight's stand though, as that moment was powerful. Hope the beatdown of Eiling was enjoyed, but the freed EMH Loki has his sights on Hulk.
Speaking of, EMH Loki is a sicko, escaping by using the blind devotion of the unwitting Sigyn. While EMH Enchantress with Surtur's power would be more powerful than MCU Loki, he has tricks up his sleeve.
So now MCU Thor and Loki, and EMH Odinson, have been thrown somewhere else, while MCU Odin and Surtur have gone too. And MCU Amora has made her debut, capturing the weakened EMH Enchantress. But since Skurge is with Asgard right now, who is her Executioner?
For differentiation, MCU is Amora and EMH is Enchantress. Imagine Bar Paly as Amora, thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for the casting.
The cameos when MCU Thor fell through the wormhole were- Odin from 'Xena: Warrior Princess', Thorfinn Thorsson from 'Vinland Saga' (which is heavily influenced by Norse Mythology), a version of the DC Comics Thor, the Thor from the 'Ultimate Avengers' movies, the Thor from the 'Marvel's Avengers' 2020 video game, the Odin from 'Record of Ragnarok', the Thor from 'Assassin's Creed Valhalla', the actual Thor from Norse Mythology, and finally, Atreus from 'God of War'.
And the cameos during Earth-1 Barry's run were- Barry Allen/Flash from DCAMU, Wally West/Flash from DCAU, Bart Allen/Impulse from 'Smallville', Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver from the later 'X-Men' movies, and finally Earth-38 Clark Kent/Superman before he ended up there.
So, Xigbar/Luxu and Vanitas are also investigating Arda, the latter finding the ruins of Ered Gorgoroth where Ungoliant used to be, and then the Silmaril that Maglor threw! While the latter has revived Smaug as an Unversed!
Well, Luxu will definitely use the Silmaril later, much later, and what for….we'll see then!
Meanwhile, Constantine and Carrie have now recruited Andy, Kyle, Alice, Ash, Kelly, Pablo, Dalton and Mia (not to be confused with Oliver's daughter in 'Arrow', this character is from Evil Dead 2013) for hunting SPN Lucifer. 3x1 of 'Ash vs. Evil Dead' happened, as Ruby did her thing before leaving with SPN Lucifer, but because of the added people, Candace Barr and Rachel lived. Hope the Ash/Mia talk was enjoyed, and how Constantine knew her.
While Buffyverse is back! And Drusilla has returned to LA, while in Sunnydale, we meet Abby and Owen from 'Let Me In', meaning that film is canon to Buffyverse here.
Anyways, things are about to get even more intense. Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.