Champions & Wars Chapter 8: An Underworld overtaken, a Flash + Avengers Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize

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

Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer and Gussygus28 for all their help once more, and also to HRwriter897 for his help with one portion of this.

Rest In Peace Pope Francis. You will be missed.

There was a terrorist attack in my country India a few days ago, in Kashmir, and it was very devastating, but our government is preparing to take action. My condolences to everyone who is affected by the attack.

TW: Thank you for the review and glad it was amazing.

Guest: Frankly, at this point its the fault of the writers themselves for stretching out the Light/Darkseid plot for ages without any resolution. The Light never even suffers a decisive loss in the show. No matter what happens, any defeat the Light suffers is mild inconvenience to them at worst. Like, I know they wanna show the villains as unstoppable, but taken to this degree, it makes everything the Heroes do pointless. Let's see on Supergirl and Black Mary. Good to know on Hulk/Doomsday. And what'd you think of the Skrull reveal?

Chapter 8- An Underworld overtaken

Earth-199999, New York City, Hell's Kitchen, police station

Matt was talking to a client of the firm. "Well, the good news is she's in holding. She's sobering up and back amongst the living. I also wouldn't hold my breath. Her blood alcohol was 0.15 and she has two priors, so..."

"Do you have any idea of how long this will take?" She asked. "Because I was hoping to get to work and I can't miss another shift."

Matt's hearing picked up the sounds of beating coming from within a room, with a cop's voice being heard. "Now here's what's gonna happen, cop killer. You are gonna sign a confession."

There were sounds of punching, as Matt then told his client. "You know what? I... I told a colleague I'd check on a client of theirs. Let me do that. Um, I'll call you later if I have an update, okay?"

"Okay."

"Thank you."

Matt walked off.

A while later, Matt was led into the interrogation room, the door opened for him by a cop. "Thank you."

Matt walked inside, the door closing. Hector was looking the other way, Matt smelling the blood on him.

"Hector Ayala?" Hector listened to him. "Those guys tune you up?"

Hector just asked. "Does it matter?"

Matt chuckled. "Yeah. It does. Matters to me." He walked forwards. "I'm a lawyer. My name is Matthew."

Hector's eyes were downcast. "You're the public defender?"

"No. I'm a defense attorney. I have my own practice with a friend."

Hector was confused. "I didn't call you. How'd you get in here?"

"You know, they're saying you killed a cop?" Matt asked instead.

Hector confessed what he'd actually been doing. "All I was trying to do was help a guy out."

"Well, that's not their story." Matt shook his head. "They're saying you approached two officers on the platform..."

"No, man!" Hector cut him off. "Esos hijos de puta on the platform never said they were cops. They never said nothing. Look, all I was trying to do was break up a beating, okay?"

"So what happened to the officer who..."

"One of them tripped trying to take me out. Look, I didn't push him, I swear. I wasn't trying to kill anybody. That's not me." He sighed, then added. "And I sure as shit didn't know there was a train coming. I mean, one second he's there, and then... he's gone."

Matt had listened to Ayala's heartbeat throughout all of this. It was completely steady. Ayala was telling the truth, the cops' version was a lie.

Then, Matt inquired. "Is there anything you're not telling me?"

"No, man. Nothing."

And now, his heart thumped quite rapidly. Hector wasn't telling Matt something.

"You're still pretty wired, I'm sure. Everything is a little fuzzy. We need to go over it a few more times before the arraignment." Matt then added. "But for now, that's all we need to do."

Hector confessed. "I can't afford you."

"Don't worry about that. I'd still like to represent you", Matt assured him as he walked off. "You're in good hands, Hector."

Matt was near the door when Hector finally looked up, seeing he'd glasses over his eyes, and a cane.

"Wait, hold up." Matt stopped. "You're blind?"

Matt chuckled softly, then walked out.

Earth-92, Sunnydale

Spike seemed better now, as Buffy supported him, back to the Bronze in Sunnydale, where Buffy saw that her friends were still standing, as were Abby and Owen, but with them was another woman, a middle-aged one.

For some reason, Buffy found her familiar, but couldn't place her finger on it yet.

Xander pointed at Spike. "Is he….."

"He is fine now, he is not a threat to us", Buffy assured him and the rest of them, before turning to the new woman. "Who are you?"

"I am Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, from a different world", Buff revealed, to the shock of Buffy. "And I'm guessing you're the Buffy of this world."

For a few seconds, Buffy was just silent, staring at Buff in shock.

"….Yeah", she finally said, looking Buff up and down. "You're…you're really me?"

"I have the exact same reaction", Buff shrugged, then turned to Spike. "Why is this Vampire with you?"

"Relax, he has a soul, he is good", Buffy assured Buff, only confusing her, while the Scoobies looked at Spike in shock, especially Xander.

"Wait, soul?"

"…You don't have a Vampire with a soul in your world."

"I'm not sure they have one."

"Do you know Angel?"

"Who is Angel?"

"A sodding git whose entire personality revolves around brooding, and I'm nothing like him!" Spike said all of a sudden, making the rest do a double-take.

"You sure he has a soul?" Xander asked Buffy, but a look from her shut him up. "Right."

"Hey Spike." Dawn walked up Spike, giving him a smile, that Spike hesitantly returned, when she suddenly threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Its so good to see you again, I missed you."

Letting himself get used to this sensation, Spike hugged her back. "Good to see you too, little bit."

"Good Vampires with souls, this world sure is different. I can only wonder how Pike would react", Buff commented.

"Wait? You know Pike?" Buffy asked Buff, doing a double-take again.

"Know him? I'm married to him!"

If Buffy was a cartoon character, her jaw would have hit the floor by now.

"Wasn't Pike that ex from Hemery High you'd told us about?" Willow asked Buffy, making Buff do a double-take at this point.

"Well, we went to that dance once", Buffy shrugged.

"You're married on another world, to Pike", Dawn commented, finally parting from Spike. "Must be the Multiverse's idea of a joke."

"Hey! He is a nice guy."

"Oh no, not him. Just that a nice guy she'd to leave is her husband on another Earth", Dawn said with a chuckle, Buffy giving her a glare that shut her up, as she turned back to Buff.

"Sisters, am I right?"

"I've no idea, I don't have one."

Buffy's jaw dropped again. "Why are we so different?"

Buff shrugged. "Don't know."

"Bloody Hell!" Spike muttered himself. "Two sodding Buffies, and everything is different!"

"Do you've Giles?"

"Who?"

"Merrick?"

Buff looked down glumly, Buffy realizing she did have Merrick after all, and based on her expression, it was clear that Merrick's fate was constant in their worlds.

"I'm sorry, I know how that feels", Buffy said sadly as Buff looked up, both of them exchanging a nod, before Buffy turned to Abby and Owen.

"Now, you two", she said as she knelt near them. "I'd usually dust Vampires on sight, those with souls are exceptions", she gestured to Spike, as Tara looked at him with a smile that seemed to be of pride. "Or with a chip that prevents them from hurting humans. You two are neither, but…I'm not sure I can kill children, even Vampire children."

"Well, there was the Annoying One, whom I killed", Spike began. "But I believe if it wasn't me, it'd have been-"

"He was a special one", Buffy pointed out, then continued to look at the kids. "You two are not, other than being part of Dracula's bloodline."

"You've Dracula too?" Buff asked, the rest nodding with groans. "Why is this Universe so much more interesting than mine?"

"Trust me, we'd rather have yours, more interesting means more dangerous", Tara told Buff.

"So…now, the two of you are going to stay with us, under our supervision, and drink only pig's blood, and do as we do", Buffy finally told Abby and Owen. "Which means, no killing innocent humans." She grasped them gently by the faces and made them face her. "This is your second chance, and the only one you'll get. What do you say?"

The two Vampire children exchanged a look, then turned to Buffy, a bit frightened, for good reason, but she saw something else in their eyes.

A hint of appreciation.

"We'll do what you say!" Abby finally told Buffy.

"Yes! And we'll drink pig's blood too", Owen added, Buffy sighing as she nodded and stood up.

"Good, because we've a lot of work, and not just with you two. A lot of weird stuff is going on, with these Vampires all having a frenzy, and then my Variant showing up-"

"Hey!"

"Admit it, its weird."

"…It is."

"Well, weirder stuff is about to go down if we don't act quickly."

Everyone turned around and saw Sam and Dean standing before them.

"Sam! Dean!" Buffy greeted happily as she walked to them, hugging each one as they hugged her back with smiles, while the rest smiled too.

"Hey guys", Xander greeted with a wave. "Nice to see ya here."

Seeing their grim expressions, Willow realized. "This is not a social call, is it?"

"Nope." Dean shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"From those faces, I think too much bloody wrong", Spike realized.

"The Vampires going on a feeding frenzy, it was caused by one of the Four Horsemen." Sam's statement stunned everyone present into silence, especially Buff. "Famine."

"Bloody Hell! That's why I was affected too", Spike realized in utter horror, running a hand through his hair as he remembered mauling that poor man apart.

God, what had he done?

"And now, we want you to help us out with a Devil." Dean told the group why they were here.

Earth-199999, New York City, Hell's Kitchen, Nelson and Murdock

Foggy groaned as he glared at Matt. "You go for a DUl, and you come back with a cop killing? With everything going on right now?"

"The cops at the station were beating him senseless", Matt argued for his actions. "What did you want me to do? He probably wouldn't have made it past the weekend." Matt added. "And, for what it's worth, I think he might be innocent."

Foggy knew exactly how Matt knew, but he was worried about other things. "A high-profile case like this-"

"-is not the worst thing in the world."

"It's exactly the opposite of what we need right now with stuff like the SHRA", Foggy argued. "That thing is about upholding the establishment as much as its about dehumanizing superhumans, and we'd be going against the establishment here."

"From what we know, the other cop said there was no victim", Karen noted. "He said that it was an unprovoked attack."

Matt shrugged. "Uh... well, our client says there was."

Karen raised her hands. ""He said, he said"." She added. "Matt, you take on this case, it's gonna look like you're siding against the whole NYPD. And we've one in there."

"Brett", Foggy muttered.

"Foggy, remember why we're doing this?" Matt tried to remind him.

Foggy sighed, knowing what Matt was referring to, and gave in. "Okay, we'll do it."

"Thank you." Matt smiled. "I appreciate it." Foggy walked off as Matt turned to Karen. "Talk to Hector's wife, and we need to find the witness that Hector saved on the platform." He turned away, but realizing Karen hadn't gone, Matt added. "I believe him, Karen."

"Okay", Karen nodded. "So you want me to find the guy on the platform?"

"Yes."

"How much you want me to push?"

"As much as you have to..."

"There's only one way in that case."

Matt sighed, then shrugged. "He cares about the right thing, he'll listen…and do some digging on Hector for me. There's something about his story that doesn't track."

"Wait." Karen was confused. "He's innocent or his story doesn't track?"

Matt chuckled as he turned to her. "Uh... Both."

Later

Matt and Foggy were walking to the courthouse, as reporters surrounded them.

"There they are."

"Mr. Murdock. Mr. Nelson."

"Over here. Why are you representing a cop killer?"

"Are you anti-cop?"

Matt simply replied. "Our client is innocent, and we look forward to his day in court. Thank you very much."

They continued to walk off.

"What does the Ayala family have to say about this?"

"Thank you. That's all for now."

"Are you worried about the reputation of your firm?"

Matt and Foggy walked into the courthouse, Foggy making out Brett Mahoney giving them both a disapproving look, while Matt sniffed something. "Drakkar Noir, the scent of choice for New York's finest."

As they put their things on the table, Foggy reminded him. "NYPD backs its own."

Hector was led inside, Matt hearing the surviving cop from the earlier incident say. "That's the asshole who killed my partner."

As Hector was let go closer to them, Matt patted his back. "How you doing, Hector?"

"Pretty bad, Matt."

"All right. Hang in there", Matt tried to reassure him. "Like I said, the first step in a long process. Is your wife here?"

"No." Hector turned briefly to look at someone else though, and shared a faint smile with her before turning back. "But my sister is."

Foggy looked back, looking at Hector's sister, a young woman in her early 20s, looking young enough to be his daughter rather than his younger sister, but that was when Foggy spotted someone else.

"Oh, shit."

"What?"

"It's the Hawk", Foggy said, deflated.

"Hochberg?"

"Mmm-hmm."

Soon, the arraignment began.

"People of the state of New York versus Hector Ayala Charged with murder in the first degree, second degree, and manslaughter in the first degree."

Hochberg stepped forwards. "Benjamin Hochberg, Your Honor, representing the People of the State of New York."

Matt did the same. "Matt Murdock for the defense, Your Honor. We'll waive the readings, not the rights".

Hochberg argued his case. "Given the serious nature of the charges, People ask that the defendant be remanded without bail."

Matt started his argument. "Your Honor, the defense would ask..."

The judge didn't even let him finish. "The People's motion is granted."

Matt was confused. "Uh... Your Honor, if I could..."

"I said bail is denied."

Matt couldn't believe it, and he gestured to Ayala. "Mr. Ayala is a decorated Army veteran. He has no record. He served as a CPA for 15 years. He's a pillar of his community."

The judge pointed out the issue. "He's also accused of killing a New York City police officer." He signed a file. "Next case, please."

"Thank you, Your Honor", Hochberg said to him, while Matt and Foggy sighed.

"In good hands, huh?" Hector asked Matt pointedly.

"Its gonna be okay", Matt said, not sure who he was trying to reassure, Hector or himself.

Earth-7, Gold Saucer

Tifa sat in her room, hands on her knees, her mind flashing to Cloud constantly, and his story of what had happened at Nibelheim. They'd been chasing Sephiroth in the weeks after the battle against him at Midgar, meeting Yuffie on the way at Junon, plus being transported to a different Earth briefly where they'd helped a kid named Goku beat Mercenary Tao.

After that, they'd returned, and continued on their way, passing many places, and fighting many foes, having so many adventures.

Now, here they were, at the Gold Saucer, for a little reprieve, and she'd to admit, this place was getting to her, making her feel a bit calmer than usual.

Still, she needed to talk to Cloud, so getting up, she began making her way towards his room, when suddenly, a breach opened right up in front of her.

She'd have easily avoided it this time, but she felt a pull upon her, and then, it pulled her in.

Tifa saw various images before her, first seeing someone who looked exactly like her but was dressed differently. She wondered if this was the Tifa that Sora knew.

Then, she saw a red-haired beautiful woman in a black suit.

After that, Tifa saw a beautiful woman in a corset with a tiara on her, before crashing onto the floor, groaning.

Rubbing her head, she straightened herself and looked around, finding herself in a small cell.

"Hey!" She started. "What is-"

Tifa was cut off when gas filled the room, making her cough. She tried to stand up, but it filled her lungs, and eventually, she fell down on her face, losing consciousness.

The door opened, a woman in a red dress with a cleavage window and sunglasses looking down at the unconscious Tifa.

"Hmm, can't say I can see anything special about her. Definitely not as flashy as the last bunch. Although," Roulette kicked Tifa over onto her back, admiring what she saw, "what she lacks in flash, she makes it up in other areas. Should make for some entertainment. Get the machine ready."

"We need it for the new contender, she has a match tonight."

"Urgh, fine. Keep this one down until we can find some use for her."

Few minutes later

Huntress, who'd followed Black Canary to this spiffy arena, was sitting in civilian, clothes, watching in shock, as Ice battled a very beautiful buxom woman in a suit, with Mexican red hair, and a shade of white on them.

People were cheering over the fight.

The woman flew, avoiding Ice's beams that she fired, and then Ice fired spikes but the flying woman managed to dodge those too.

That was when Ice struck the woman with a powerful blast, covering her entirely in ice.

Only, the woman broke out of the ice, and flew towards Ice, who formed an ice wall before herself for protection.

But the woman shattered through the ice wall, and grabbed Ice, and holding her by the cheeks now.

As Huntress watched, the woman leaned in, and kissed Ice right on the lips, with the crowd now going wild, especially the men, and some women too, all hotting and hollering.

Ice tried to pull back, but she was weakening, and eventually, the woman let go, while Ice fell down, knocked out cold (pun intended).

Huntress narrowed her eyes when she saw that cold vapours had started emitting from the woman's hands. Did she absorb people's powers by kissing them?

Before she could ponder upon this, she noticed the woman clutching her head suddenly, seemingly in pain.

Then, the platforms went down, taking both Ice and the new woman with them.

"Give it up for our rising star, Rogue! Her touch is twice as deadly as any woman's."

More cheering, before Roulette's voice came once more.

"A no-holds barred fight between two legendary ladies of the League."

The platforms came up, this time with Black Canary and Fire, Huntress continuing to wonder what exactly was going on.

Middle-earth, Rohan

Erkenbrand's group continued to ride, alongside Sora, Donald, Goofy and Geralt, with Donald behind the Rohirrim rider, and Goofy behind Sora, who was riding the horse, but a bit nervously.

"I'd ask if you've no experience from that face, but you're able to ride it", Geralt noted, riding next to the young boy.

"Its just…..the only horses I've ridden before this could fly, so this is new", Sora admitted, Geralt looking at him with interest.

"Flying horses….that I haven't seen", Geralt admitted, before advising. "Just keep yourself planted on the saddle, and don't give it any sudden jerks, you should be fine."

"Right, right", Sora said with a nod, smiling a bit as he looked ahead. "Thanks Geralt."

"You are really good at this", Goofy had to say to Geralt, who just shrugged.

Suddenly, Sora thought of something, and asked. "Hey, does this horse have a name?"

"His former master knew what he was called", the Rohirrim rider behind whom Donald sat told Sora. "We do not."

"I think I should give him a name", Sora commented, looking down at the horse. "But what can I call you? You know….I've never actually named a horse before!"

"How hard can it be, Sora?" Donald inquired.

"Why don't you name it then?"

Donald tried to say something, but stopped at the last minute, realizing he didn't have anything in mind.

"I always name them Roche", Geralt said with a shrug. "Its not that hard."

"You know…I've something in mind." A grin crossed Sora's face. "Highwind."

"Whoa! Like our Gummi Ship?" Goofy asked, and Sora gave a nod.

"Yes, and the raft that I, Riku and Kairi were making back home before this started."

"Well, nice to meet ya, Highwind", Donald greeted the newly-named horse, Sora and Goofy chuckling.

Earth-199999, New York City

Foggy sat before Hector's wife Soledad, while his younger sister Ava Ayala lingered in the background, Foggy telling Soledad. "Your husband needs you, Soledad. It's important that you're seen in court, like she is." Foggy gestured to Ava.

Soledad instead asked Foggy and standing Karen. "Can I ask you both something?" They nodded. "We've read the papers, seen the news and all that. Can you just be straight? Does my husband have a chance?"

Karen sighed, knowing she couldn't sugarcoat it. "An NYPD cop is dead. And anytime that happens, a big machine gets turned on to try to figure out what went wrong. And to punish whoever killed the cop." She added grimly. "Punish them severely. And unless you were Wilson Fisk, that machine has no off switch. It just goes and goes until somebody pays." She walked forwards. "But Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson here are the two best lawyers I've ever seen, so." She then requested. "Now, if we could just get Hector's suit for court?"

Soledad said. "Okay, it's on the bed. I can get it together."

"No, no, no, no. You three stay and talk." Karen walked up, Ava watching after her, then looking back at Soledad and Foggy, as Foggy took a seat next to Soledad.

"Soledad, whatever is going on between you and Hector, I'm really hoping you can set it aside. He needs you, as much as needs his sister."

Soledad asked. "He needs me, or he needs me to show up in court?"

"Both!" Ava said, making Soledad turn to her.

"Trials are about feelings as much as facts", Foggy added. "The jury is gonna feel a certain way if you're there by his side and another if you're absent."

Soledad got up, taking out a bottle. "Are you married?"

Foggy shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"When you first come together, everything feels wide open." Soledad opened the bottle. "Anything's possible. Little by little, that fades. Things changed." She turned back to Foggy. "Hector... he's not the man I married."

"Doesn't mean my brother, your husband, deserves to be in prison!" Ava snapped, Soledad turning to her with a sigh again. "I know things aren't perfect between you two, I've seen it myself, but my brother is a good man, and he deserves to be here, not in prison!"

Karen was in the room, looking for Hector's suit, as she saw a picture of him with Soledad, and another of him with his parents, and a toddler Ava. He looked to be in his 30s in that image already, so Ava must have been a really late addition to the family.

Finding a suitcase sticking out from underneath the bed, Karen pulled it out, seeing it was unlocked, and opened it up, her eyes widening at what she saw.

A white suit, with an amulet lying over it!

Karen realized who Hector Ayala truly was.

Taking out her phone, Karen called Matt, who picked up.

"Karen, talk to me."

"Guess what I found."

Later, Ryker's Island

Matt held out his phone to Hector, who was on the glass' other side, both holding receivers to their ears, with the phone showing a vigilante in a white suit with amulet fighting off some criminals.

"White Tiger? Really?"

Hector instead asked. "You were investigating me?"

Matt was very displeased. "We talked for hours and you neglect to tell me that you moonlight as a vigilante?"

"I wasn't in the suit or wearing my amulet. I had no extra powers", Hector defended himself. "It's not relevant."

Matt wasn't having it. "It's relevant. You hide your identity and go out to fight. The SHRA does not like these kinds of things. We're trying to position this as a one-off event. I find out you're going out at night looking for trouble. You realize, right, what the SHRA is doing to people like you? Its fascism, and I don't like it, but its happening, and it just made this harder."

"I'm not looking for trouble", Hector defended himself. "Someone's gotta protect the streets, and be a hero. The SHRA has taken many Heroes away already."

Matt pointed out what could happen. "If I can find this out, you better believe the other side can."

Hector was unconcerned. "Let them. The people need a hero. I'm out there every night, putting my life on the line for them. The anti-SHRA sentiment is already out there, and it'd increase with this."

While Matt wanted that, there were other things to be concerned about. "Your wife and sister agree with that choice?" Hector immediately fell silent. "This is a tough case, Hector. A cop is dead. And the only way I can win it is if I know every way I can lose it."

Hector finally admitted Matt's point, and nodded. "You're right. You're right. I'm sorry. I should have told you." He sniffled and rubbed his chest.

"You okay?" Matt asked in concern. "Sound like you're in pain."

"Hmm." Hector muttered. "Ryker's Island is no picnic. It's equal opportunity beatdowns. Guards and inmates alike."

"All right, hang in there, okay?" Matt assured him as he stood up. "I'll make some calls, see what I can do."

Same time, New York City

A breach opened in an alley, and out of it staggered a creature with a dark, bright green skin color, a shell on his back. He basically looked like a very, VERY overgrown turtle.

"Where am I?" Raphael growled as he looked back at the breach closing, then at the front, cracking his knuckles. "Looks like New York, but ain't the same thing."

Baxter Building

Hearing a beep, Reed turned to his monitor, as Ben's voice came. "What is that sound, eh?"

"Something for when we get a breacher", Reed explained as the other three walked into the room. "And knowing our luck, no breacher would be a normal person."

"But what's the chance that its some monster…or a good guy?" Susan inquired, the rest considering that.

"I mean, what will happen if it is?" Johnny wondered with a shrug.

"If it is, then Tony has a detector like this too, and I fear the SHRA taskforce will grab whoever it is", Reed explained what exactly would happen, before sighing, rubbing his head. "We can't let that happen."

"Really?" Johnny asked. "I mean, I thought we were done-"

"Ever since the island, I can't sleep without seeing their faces!" Reed snapped angrily as he turned to face the rest, barely controlling his emotions. "We can't let someone else suffer, not now!"

"I agree with ya, Reed", Ben assured him immediately. "But, what do ya think we should do?"

"Sue, can you bring him here?" Reed asked her, his eyes almost, begging.

Susan nodded without hesitation. Like him, she was tormented by what she'd done on Krakoa too. Every time she looked at her hands, she wanted to cut them off.

"All right, bring him here, and we'll make a new IDIOT device quickly, to send him back", Reed finally made the plan.

"Why do we need a new one?" Johnny asked in confusion.

"Do ya sleep all the time, dummy?" Ben asked Johnny. "After we signed, they made us destroy all but one."

"Why?"

"Security reasons", Reed said with a scoff, before standing up. "Time to get to work."

"I'll be back soon", Susan assured them, before walking towards the elevator building, Johnny watching after her with an unreadable expression.

Earth-192, Blüdhaven

Roulette stood at the control room after having told the imprisoned Black Canary and Huntress that she was an entrepreneur.

Sonar came in behind her, Roulette saying. "Tell me."

"Those brainwashed foreign fighters, not exactly very easy to keep them under control", Sonar informed her.

"It is important to keep Rogue under thrall, she is too popular, can even have a shot at the title", Roulette pointed out why they couldn't let Rogue go. "You know how a crowd loves an underdog."

Huntress and Black Canary were in their cell, when they heard a groaning sound from the cell right next to theirs.

"Where the hell am I?" Tifa's voice came.

"Imprisoned by an entrepreneur who earns by having women like us fight", Huntress said with a scoff, and a gasp could be heard from Tifa.

"That is not what I'd in mind for tonight", Tifa's voice groaned.

"Trust me, I get the feeling", Huntress replied.

"Who are you, exactly?" Black Canary inquired.

"I'm Tifa, you?"

"Call me Black Canary."

"Huntress."

"Did you fall through breaches too?" Tifa's voice inquired, confusing the two women as they shared a look.

"What do you mean?" Huntress asked.

"I was walking, then a breach opened and pulled me in here", Tifa's voice explained what had happened to her. "Then I was here."

"Oh boy, this again", Black Canary groaned, Huntress turning to her.

"What does that mean?" Huntress inquired.

"Remember the Avengers from other worlds, including Hulk who showed up again sometime ago?" Black Canary asked, Huntress nodding. "Breaches are how people travel between worlds, and looks like Tifa here was pulled through one."

"Pulled", Huntress noted. "Does the breach do the pulling?"

"Not my first experience with one, and this is the first time it has actually pulled me", Tifa's voice revealed, Black Canary realizing what that meant.

"Roulette must have a way of directing breachers to this place", Black Canary explained her theory.

"That explains that new woman, Rogue, who fought Ice!" Huntress realized, snapping her fingers. "We never saw her before, and no way someone like that can stay hidden for long."

Tifa's voice was heard groaning. "I've travelled through breaches twice, and this is the worst experience so far!"

Earth-199999, New York City, Hell's Kitchen, Fogwell's Gym

Steve sat on a bed (they'd set those up for each of them in different rooms after having refurnished parts of the gym), looking ahead with a far look in his eyes, as Natasha entered the room, closing the door, sitting down next to him.

"What's going on in your head?" Natasha asked, Steve finally fully registering her presence, as he shook his head, sighing sadly.

"Its just….I should have seen this", Steve said guiltily, running a hand across his hair. "We didn't see eye to eye on a lot of stuff, but the Tony I know, he'd never have done any of this, yet, I did not realize he'd been replaced. Even back during our argument, I should have realized, I knew he didn't sound like himself, but I didn't look into it."

"That's not only on you, Steve", Natasha tried to say. "I was there too, and I didn't see it either, because I let his little crack about my past get to me."

"Wherever he is, and wherever the rest of them are, I hope they're all right", Steve finally told her. "Because we'll save them from this, and we will not let the Skrulls destroy what they've stood for."

"Now that sounds like you", Natasha said, making Steve smile as he turned to her. "Look, we've all been backed into a corner, but we'll do our best."

"When did you get so optimistic?" Steve wondered, and she gave him a very knowing smile.

"Spent too much time with you", Natasha shrugged, making Steve turn away with a little blush, that actually made her heart flutter.

He was so cute when he got tongue-tied over how to talk to her.

Then, Steve remembered something, and turned back to Natasha. "About Bucky, there's something I wanted to ask."

"Sure", Natasha told him, though she'd a feeling she knew what he was about to ask her.

"When he said he wanted to apologize for something before, I assume its before even the time he shot you", Steve finally told her what was on his mind. "Do you two know each other?"

Natasha looked away, closing her eyes briefly as she recalled those times, and Steve started. "If its too much, I won-"

"No, its fine." Natasha opened her eyes, then looked back at Steve. "The Red Room."

"He was there?" Steve realized he probably shouldn't be that shocked, Hydra could easily have had its claws there too.

"He trained me", Natasha confessed, to Steve's shock. "Or, to be more accurate, the Winter Soldier did. And well, in that line of work, a dangerous guy who looks nice, you can imagine what that'd do to a girl's heart."

While it was a joke to lighten the mood, Steve could not bring himself to chuckle. Almost the entirety of that part of life was traumatic to Natasha, and even if she was making light of it, just to make the telling of this easier, he wouldn't.

"So, I tried it…..with him", Natasha finally confessed, looking down. "And, I think he turned into a different person when I was around him, nicer, not as cold, almost as if-"

"Bucky returned", Steve realized what she was trying to say.

"Yeah…because I don't think the Soldier would ever want a relationship, he was a programmed assassin", Natasha agreed, so it was Bucky with whom she'd been. "All we had were moments, just moments, where we'd be with each other, without anyone telling us what to do. And then….we were found out."

Steve looked down sadly, knowing where this would go.

"He was taken away, I didn't see him again until the day he shot through me to get to his target, while I….I was told to go through the graduation ceremony." She said in a monotone. "I did"

For a few seconds, Steve was just silent, processing everything Natasha had told him. Bucky was there, having trained her, they'd been together, and then….they were both punished for it.

"Natasha, I'm…" Steve had a pained expression just imagining what she and Bucky had been through. "I'm so sorry, for that-"

"Hey, you don't need to apologize", Natasha assured Steve, putting her hand on his cheek. "Its not your fault."

"But because of me, you'd to relive it", Steve sighed, only for Natasha to shake her head.

"You've got to stop acting like every bad thing is your fault, its not, besides, I told you because I trust you", Natasha said, not taking her gaze off of Steve, but there was something else unsaid.

Then, she looked away, Steve doing the same, feeling his heart hammer in his chest, while Natasha ran a hand across her hair.

Oh damn it! It was now or never!

She turned back to Steve, and grasped his face, making him face her. "I didn't think I'd have anyone again, sometimes, I still don't think so, but….." She took a deep breath. "Do I have you?"

A strained smile crossed Steve's face as he gently grasped her wrist. "You do, Nat, its just…I, I'm not sure how to-"

"Do you care about me?"

"With everything I have", Steve said without hesitation.

"Then that is enough." Natasha's face moved closer to his. "We've danced around each other too much, ever since Hydra was after us. And there's always the next threat."

Their lips met as they crashed into each other, both of them kissing lovingly as they finally let out all the feelings for each other that had been pent up for over a year now, with the two dancing around each other, wondering what to do, what to say, how to proceed.

But now, they just didn't care about any of that. All that mattered was that they were there, and they both wanted it.

They parted for a bit, panting, as Steve asked. "Better?"

"You were good the last time too", Natasha shrugged, before kissing him once more, Steve returning it as he put his arms around her, Natasha climbing over him as they continued to kiss, and then Steve lay on the bed, on his back.

As they stopped again, Steve asked, sounding almost nervous. "Do we really need to-"

"Its now or never, Steve", Natasha said, leaning down as they kissed once more, then parted briefly. "Don't be nervous, you've me."

That caused both of them to chuckle again, before Natasha kissed Steve on the lips once more, Steve returning it gladly, and she grasped his shirt, pulling it up, as Steve sat up and raised his hands, allowing her to take it off of him, while she kissed his chest and he kissed her neck, getting a slight moan out of her, before Steve lay down once more, while she was on top of him, and then, straightening, Natasha grasped her tank top, before pulling it over her head, and threw it off, now only in her black bra.

Looking down at Steve, Natasha unclasped her bra and threw it off, letting Steve see her fully, after which, she leaned in, and with that, Steve and Natasha finally started letting out the passion they'd felt for so long.

Raphael was walking around, looking at the nearly desolate street. "Okay, it ain't this empty, where is this?!"

Suddenly, he heard something, and turned around to see various cars stopping, as out of them came MRD agents, aiming their guns at Raphael.

"MRD, get down on your knees!"

"What?" Raphael asked in a growl.

"Down on your knees!"

Raphael scoffed, smirking. "Try it!"

The agents were about to fire when suddenly, Raph leapt over their heads and landed between them, before spinning and kicking three away by many feet instantly, to the shock of the rest, while he brandished his sais.

As they tried to do anything, Raphael sliced one's wrist, making him gasp, and kicked him away, before slicing another across the chest with a spin, and leaping, kicked another away.

"That all ya got?" Raphael mocked, jumping to avoid gunfire by another before slicing him away as he landed. "Even the Foot Ninja grunts fight better than you clowns!"

He spun and sliced two more down effortlessly, while kicking another away by many feet, and laughed.

Only, he heard something else, and looked up, his eyes widening on seeing they were bringing a giant robot of all things, which marched at him.

"No freakin' way-"

He growled, taking a fighting stance, as the robot just stood there, and then some sort of unseen force struck the robot, expanding upon it and completely destroying it, to the shock of the three remaining MRD people.

Raphael rushed at them and quickly kicked them all away too.

"Over here!"

Raphael turned, seeing a blonde woman in a blue suit with a '4' on it, beckoning him towards an alley.

Theorizing that she'd destroyed the robot, Raphael sheathed his sais and ran towards her, the two now in the alley.

"Are you….." Susan trailed off, looking him up and down in shock.

"WHAT?!" He snapped, scaring her a bit.

"Its just…..never seen a giant turtle before." Sue raised a hand quickly. "Sorry, no offense."

Raphael shrugged, understanding her confusion, then asked her. "You are?"

"I'm Susan Storm, and I'm here to help you", Susan assured him, Raphael narrowing his eyes.

"Why should I believe ya?"

"I did destroy the robot thing they were about to use on you", Susan pointed out, and Ralph, after a few moments of consideration, nodded, seeing her point.

"That's true. Where am I?"

"You're in New York City…..on a different world."

"Right," Raphael muttered, knockin' a knuckle on his temple. "Guess that checks out."

Susan tilted her head. "This doesn't shock you or anything?"

"Listen, when ya see aliens, everything else becomes possible I tell ya", Raphael told her, as Susan watched him in shock.

She'd seen a lot and done a lot, but a giant, mutated turtle with ninja moves who'd also fought aliens and had a Brooklyn accent?

…Could she be an actress again? Preferably playing Barbie if a live-action adaptation came out, since she was a huge fan of the dolls as a kid.

Oh well, time to snap back to reality….which was her talking to a mutated ninja turtle from a different world, with a Brooklyn accent.

"Right", Susan finally said.

"We just gonna stand here starin' at each other, or we movin'?" Raphael asked, snapping Susan back to her senses fully.

"Oh, oh, right, sorry about that", Susan finally said, and then she turned to the other side of the alley. "Let's get you to the Baxter Building, Reed will send you back to your world from there, but we need to be quick."

"Because of those pricks?" Raphael inquired, gesturing to the downed MRD agents.

"Yes, they'll come after you."

"Let 'em!"

"You cannot fight all of them by yourself!"

"I can try!"

"Look, do you want to go home or not?" Susan finally asked, and that made Raphael pause, as he looked down, considering.

He did want to go home, and be with everyone again- Leonardo, Donatello, even that Mikey, Casey Jones, April, and of course, Master Splinter.

So, sighing, Raphael finally nodded. "Let's go!"

Susan turned invisible, to Raphael's surprise, and a second later, Raphael himself turned invisible too.

Then, a platform was conjured underneath them, which was made invisible too, and Susan flew them both towards Baxter Building, unseen.

Same time

Matt sat before Judge Jerry, as did Hochberg, with Matt saying. "Hector's history as the White Tiger has no bearing on this case. The defense moves to suppress."

"This is next level, Murdock", Hochberg argued. "That guy's an unregistered vigilante."

"Who wasn't in possession of his mystical amulet." Hochberg and Jerry shared a 'seriously?' look at that, wondering what kind of world they lived in where the words 'mystical amulet' could be used in a court case with a straight face. "Or in the White Tiger outfit at the time of the incident. Allowing this type of totally inflammatory information will unfairly bias the jurors. It perfectly meets the standard of more prejudicial than probative. And not to mention, we believe in the law here, a fair trial, once this gets out, Hector won't get that, and he'll be thrown into prison with no due process, like everyone else."

"Cut the crap", Hochberg argued. "It speaks straight to the heart of the case. It suggests a pattern of behavior that drove Hector Ayala..."

"Please..."

"…to kill Officer Shanahan on that subway platform."

"Your Honor, the jury will be deliberating about the tragic events of a single evening. The proceedings must rest not on my client's clothing, but what happened on the platform that night", Matt argued. "Besides, while the SHRA is in effect, we all know how many human rights they violate, do we really want to follow that instead of what we know is the actual law? What we followed not too long ago?" With a dry chuckle, he added. "Look... I get... I get it. I do. I get the instinct to allow everything but the kitchen sink in as evidence. But it's not right, and with respect, it's not what you're up there to do."

Jerry just chuckled, looking between Matt and Hochberg.

"Okay."

Hochberg groaned. "Oh, my God."

"I'm granting the motion in limine. The People are directed not to discuss or introduce any evidence of Hector Ayala's life as White Tiger or any acts of vigilantism."

Hochberg groaned. "This is some bullshit, Jerry."

Matt had the opposite reaction. "Thank you, Your Honor."

Middle-earth, Rohan

Erkenbrand's group finally found themselves before a fortress, made of rock, situated on a great spur of rock extending from the gorge's northern cliff.

"Helm's Deep", Erkenbrand said its name to the rest of them, with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Geralt looking at the fortress, finding its structure quite impressive.

Soon, they rode into the fortress as some Rohan sentries stationed there opened the doors for them. They could see many refugees already there, as well as some soldiers walking around, more than usual.

All of them shot Sora, Donald and Goofy strange looks. Sora due to his attire, the other two due to both attire and how they looked.

"Still don't like the attention", Donald groaned.

"The King has arrived", Erkenbrand noted on seeing the number of soldiers, as they all started dismounting slowly.

"Hail Lord Erkenbrand of the Westfold", one soldier said as he walked up to them and did a bow, glancing at Sora, Donald and Goofy for just a brief second. "The King awaits you."

"Tell King Théoden I shall join his Council soon, and have brought more Men with me", Erkenbrand said, the soldier nodding, while Erkenbrand gestured to the four newcomers with him. "And also tell him that I've made new allies, with great power, who shall be of great aid to us in this battle."

The soldier nodded, and moved off, while Erkenbrand's Men started moving around the fortress, to help clearly, as Erkenbrand looked at the four. "I hope you will be staying to aid us in this battle."

"Oh we will!" Sora said immediately, Donald and Goofy nodding in agreement too, while Erkenbrand turned to Geralt.

After a few moments, Geralt nodded.

Erkenbrand then moved off to meet the King, as the Trio and the Witcher moved around the fortress, before coming across Gimli, who was walking ahead, not having his helmet on him.

"I recognize you!" He looked at Sora, Donald and Goofy. "Weren't you at the Mines?"

"We were, we've been trying to catch up with you since then", Sora admitted to him. "And now we have." He held out his hand. "I'm Sora, nice to meet you."

"Gimli, at your service." Gimli shook Sora's hand, adding. "The three of you could battle the Demons the Balrog gave rise to, you have great power at your disposal."

"And we're here to help with it", Sora said, while Gimli turned to Donald and Goofy, looking baffled.

"Name's Donald!"

"Goofy!"

"Ah…..forgive me, haven't witnessed anything like you two before", Gimli apologized them, then turned to Geralt. "And you are?"

"Geralt", the Witcher shrugged, Gimli nodding as he looked between them.

"'Tis a good thing you are all here, we need all the aid we can get, especially after how many we lost in the attack on the way", Gimli noted, his voice now weighed down by grief. "Including our friend."

"Who?" Sora asked, his heart dropping as he realized there was another in the Fellowship that he'd failed to save.

Only, before Gimli could reply, voices were heard crying out.

"He's alive!"

"He has returned!"

Immediately, Gimli ran ahead, pushing through the crowd, with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Geralt all following him.

"Where is he? Where is he?" Gimli said as he pushed through the crowd, "Get out of the way! I'm going to kill him!"

He reached in front of the crowd to see Aragorn getting off his horse. He looked half-dead but he was alive.

Gimli couldn't contain his joy as he said, "You are the luckiest, the canniest...and the most reckless man I ever knew."

Gimli hugged him happily, "Bless you, laddie."

Aragorn hugged him too before pulling back and brought the focus to what was important, "Gimli, where is the king?"

Aragorn patted Gimli's shoulder, then looked ahead to see the Trio and the Witcher, a smile crossing his face as he recognized the Trio.

"It is my honor to meet you at last", Aragorn said as he walked to them. "You are from different worlds, are you not?"

"How do you know?" Goofy inquired.

"I have been to one, in fact, all of our Fellowship but one has", Aragorn confirmed to the Trio, before introducing himself. "I am Aragorn, Son of Arathorn."

"Do we need to say the whole 'son of' thing too?" Sora asked in confusion, Aragorn chuckling as he shook his head.

"Not if you do not wish to, I have seen people in different worlds do not greet each other in this manner", Aragorn assured him.

"Right, I am Sora. And its good to see you alive."

Aragorn nodded in appreciation, before turning to the rest.

"I'm Donald."

"Goofy."

Aragorn turned to look at Geralt.

"Call me Geralt."

Aragorn nodded, looking between them all, his gaze lingering at Donald and Goofy slightly longer, for good reason, before he said. "I thank you all for being here to aid us." He turned to the Trio once more. "I have seen how great your power is, with how many are marching here, we will need your help."

With that, Aragorn walked to where the King was, only to see Legolas in his way.

"Le ab-dollen." Legolas said with a smile.

"You look terrible." Legolas added as he looked at Aragorn's condition. The two smiled as Aragorn and Legolas grasped each other's shoulders.

The King's niece, Éowyn looked up from what she was doing and seeing Aragorn, smiled happily.

Legolas handed Aragorn the Evenstar. Aragorn took it and thanked him, "Hannon le."

Aragorn then walked up to the hall doors and creaked them open with Legolas, Gimli, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Geralt behind him.

Théoden, who had been discussing war plans with Erkenbrand, Gamling and his other Men, looked up in shock and surprise, not just because of Aragorn, but because of Donald and Goofy.

"Am I within another dream?"

"No." Geralt shook his head. "No, you're not."

"A great host, you say?" Théoden asked after Aragorn had finished telling everyone what he had seen while returning.

"All Isengard is emptied." Aragorn said.

"How many?"

"Ten thousand strong at least." Aragorn said as Théoden turned to face him. His expression indicated he had not heard Aragorn correctly.

"Ten thousand?" He asked in worried disbelief.

Aragorn gave his assessment of the army's objective. "It is an army bred for a single purpose: To destroy the world of Men. And it is not just them- with them are creatures of darkness, of shadow, with a mark upon them." He turned to the Trio. "The same mark that was upon the Demons the Balrog conjured."

"Heartless!" Sora realized in horror, sharing looks with the other three. "Saruman is controlling them too due to the great Darkness within him."

"When will they get here?" Geralt asked grimly.

"They will be here by nightfall." Aragorn said even more grimly. Sora and Geralt exchanged a look. Everyone had to be ready for this fight as soon as possible.

"We fought an Unversed Dragon on the way here", Sora added, making everyone even grimmer, as Erkenbrand nodded at the King, Geralt tilting his head.

"A Dragon you say?" Gimli inquired in utter horror. "And you slayed it?"

"We did, but it was not an easy task", Geralt replied, everyone still silent for a bit.

After a few seconds, Théoden walked out and defiantly said. "Let them come!"

"I think he is still in denial." Sora whispered to Geralt who nodded in agreement.

They all followed Théoden as he walked out with Erkenbrand and Gamling. They reached the ramp that led down to the main gates. Théoden stopped at the inner entrance and putting a hand on Gamling's shoulder said. "I want all of us to be ready for battle by nightfall. We are not many, but we will do what can be done."

Gamling bowed stiffly before leaving to carry out his orders.

They walked past the main gate and stopped on the causeway in front of the Gatehouse.

"We will cover the causeway and the gate from above." Théoden said before stating confidently, "No army has ever breached the Deeping Wall...or set foot inside the Hornburg!"

"There is a first time for everything." Geralt said as everyone turned to him.

"This is no rabble of mindless Orcs." Gimli said in Geralt's support, "These are Uruk-hai. Their armor is thick and their shields broad. And it is not just them attacking, but also these creatures that the lad Sora here called as Heartless! Those are fearful Demons of Darkness. And what if they have another Dragon?"

Théoden walked up to them and stated firmly. "Master Geralt, Master Dwarf, I have fought many wars. I know how to defend my own keep."

Aragorn patted Gimli's shoulder as he, Legolas and the Trio walked past Gimli and Geralt. The Dwarf and Witcher followed them.

Théoden now lead them along the top of the Inner Wall as Théoden detailed what he thought of how the battle would play out. "They will break upon this fortress like water on rock. Saruman's hordes will pillage and burn. We've seen it before. Crops can be resown...homes rebuilt. Within these walls…...we will outlast them."

At this point, everyone knew Théoden was in denial and was being arrogant as well.

"They do not come to destroy Rohan's crops or villages! They come to destroy its people…...down to the last child!" Aragorn said in exasperation.

"And people like that will not be satisfied until they've achieved their goals!" Geralt added in support, thinking of Vilgefortz. "I remember someone who committed many atrocities in pursuit of world domination with himself as a god-like being. From all that I hear, Saruman is not very different, and he seems much more powerful."

"And people like that, they stop on nothing to get everything the way they want it!" Sora agreed as he thought of Master Xehanort. "Your plan won't work!"

Théoden felt the three of them were undermining his authority in front of his soldiers so he angrily walked closer to them.

"What would you have me do?" He growled quietly. "Look at my men. Their courage hangs by a thread."

They realized Théoden understood the real situation after all and he was just trying to keep up the morale. But then his next words proved to dash any hopes they had.

"If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end...as to be worthy of remembrance."

"So you're going to sentence all your Men to death instead of trying?" Geralt asked incredulously.

"Send out riders, my lord." Aragorn suggested before Théoden could react to Geralt's question. "You must call for aid."

"And who will come?" Théoden asked in a cynical tone before gesturing to Legolas, Gimli, Donald and Goofy with his chin. "Elves? Dwarves? Animals who speak and walk like humans? We are not so lucky in our friends as you. The old alliances are dead."

"Gondor will answer." Aragorn said finally.

"Gondor?!" Théoden's temper flared again, "Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell?! Where was Gondor when our enemies closed in around us?! Where was Gon-?" Théoden stopped and composed himself, "No, my Lord Aragorn...we are alone."

Théoden then walked off with Erkenbrand as the rest just watched in stunned silence.

"Gawrsh, this doesn't look good!" Goofy said.

"No, we're going to have a huge fight on our hands", Donald commented.

Théoden and Erkenbrand walked to the Main Hall as Gamling and his soldiers followed them. "Get the women and children into the caves."

Gamling started. "We need more time to lay provisions—"

"There is no time. War is upon us." Théoden said as they all walked inside. "Secure the gate."

No one noticed the crebain overhead due to the tense atmosphere.

Earth-192, Blüdhaven

"Ladies and gentlemen, Black Canary had so much fun she has come back for more." The platform rose, with Black Canary and Huntress on it, back-to-back, hands restrained, the spotlight on Black Canary, everyone cheering.

"And she has brought the Huntress with her." The spotlight shone on Huntress, people cheering again as the cuffs restraining the two deactivated and fell.

Then, another platform came up, the spotlight now shining down on Tifa. "With them, making her debut, a newcomer with a lot of spunk, but will she survive the night? Let's find out."

The cheering was even louder now, Tifa tilting her head. "Why are they cheering this much?"

"Are you blind to how beautiful you are, especially with what you're wearing?" Huntress asked with a raised eyebrow, both her and Black Canary having to admit….she was something else!

"…What?" Tifa seemed genuinely confused, with Black Canary and Huntress sharing a look, then shrugging.

"But they won't fight each other."

The crowd booed now.

"They'll be fighting together. Huntress, Black Canary and the big beauty, versus three new contenders."

The platforms came up.

"Vixen. The beauty with the beast powers." An animal spirit was seen coming out of Vixen's amulet when the spotlight shone on her. "The Thanagar thrasher, Hawkgirl." The spotlight shone on Hawkgirl, who gritted her teeth and slightly unfurled her wings, the crowd cheering.

"And the cosmic controlling starlet, Stargirl!"

The spotlight shone on Stargirl, with Black Canary and Huntress sharing a surprised look.

"She looks different", Black Canary noted, Huntress nodding.

"How is that possible?"

The crowd cheered while Roulette announced. "Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets."

Huntress, Black Canary and Tifa stood together, Huntress saying. "Looks like we're in this together."

Black Canary snarled. "If you call me girlfriend, I'm gonna drop-kick you into the next county."

Huntress smirked. "Now don't go all sentimental on me."

"Am I interrupting something between you two?" Tifa asked, annoyed.

Vixen leapt at Huntress, who ducked to avoid as Vixen got Black Canary, throwing her down. Hawkgirl flew at the other two, with Tifa spinning and kicking, striking Hawkgirl's chest as she went down.

Getting up, Hawkgirl swung her mace, Tifa ducking to avoid, while Huntress fired her bolts at Stargirl, who used her staff to deflect them all, shattering them easily.

Huntress made to fire again but with another blast, Stargirl disarmed her, then twirling her staff, struck at Huntress' face, sending her down, and then tried to strike her face again, Huntress rolling away to avoid while producing her retractable bo-staff, which she used to strike Stargirl's side, making her double down, before Huntress kicked her away and flipped up.

Black Canary was pinned down by Vixen, and unleashed a Canary Cry, striking her face, but to her shock, Vixen resisted it, then grinned.

Black Canary headbutted Vixen away while standing up. Meanwhile, Tifa was hit by Hawkgirl's mace, but resisted it, gritting her teeth.

"Whoa! You're stronger than I thought", Huntress noted, barely avoiding a strike by Stargirl, before trying to strike her with the baton, but Stargirl blocked.

"Thanks", Tifa said, leaping to avoid the next strike and kicking Hawkgirl's face, sending her flying off.

Stargirl struck Huntress' bo-staff with her Cosmic Staff, breaking it, to Huntress' horror, and then, she swept Huntress' feet from underneath her, throwing her down, before striking at her abdomen as Huntress grunted in pain.

Seeing that, Tifa took out some Materia. "Heal!" A light briefly shone over Huntress, and she felt healed, just as Stargirl tried to strike again but Huntress trapped her head between her feet and flipped her away.

Meanwhile, Hawkgirl flew back in, striking Tifa's face with her mace, as Tifa gritted her teeth, turning back to Hawkgirl.

"All right, that does it."

As Hawkgirl swung again, Tifa grabbed her wrist, with Hawkgirl trying to punch with her other one, Tifa grabbing that wrist too, grappling with Hawkgirl, their chests pressed against each other, causing many to holler, before Tifa headbutted Hawkgirl, sending her back, and snatched the mace from her.

Hawkgirl looked in shock and was about to try and take it back, only to get struck in the face, then the abdomen, before Tifa upper-cutted her with her own mace, sending her flying off and falling down.

Black Canary's shoulder was cut by Vixen, before she dodged the next attack and flipped Vixen to the ground, slamming her face, only to be kicked away, and Tifa saw Black Canary crawling to a commlink, grabbing it and calling out. "Watchtower." Vixen leapt at Black Canary, who rolled to avoid, the commlink and being crushed by Vixen's feet.

Only, Vixen came to her senses. "What?"

Black Canary looked at her. "Let me give you the short version."

Realizing what was going on, Tifa turned to see Hawkgirl flying at her again, and she leapt to the side to avoid, and struck Hawkgirl's abdomen, making her double down, before ripping out the commlink from her ear and destroying it in her fist.

That was when Hawkgirl's eyes widened too. "Huh?" She looked around, before seeing Tifa holding out her mace to her.

Taking it back, she commented. "I don't think I wanna know."

"We're all in a cage match fighting to the death", Vixen said, walking up to her.

"Yeah, see?" Hawkgirl looked up.

Meanwhile, Huntress was blasted back by Stargirl, only for Tifa to grab her from behind, but she saw there was no commlink there.

"Right." Tifa punched Stargirl on the head with moderate strength, letting go as Stargirl fell to her knees. "Sorry!"

Now back to her senses, Stargirl looked up in horror. "What's going on?"

"You're in another world and being controlled into fighting in a death match", Tifa explained, having realized Stargirl was from a different world due to no commlink in her ear, like herself.

The crowd wasn't pleased to see there was no fighting anymore.

Huntress looked up. "That all you got?!"

"Oh, no. I've saved the very best for last."

And with that, two more platforms rose up, with Wonder Woman on one, and Rogue on the other, Tifa recognizing the former due to having seen her before falling in this world.

"Yes, those really Wonder Woman and Rogue, ladies and gentlemen. It is on! Can even these six beautiful bruisers stand up to the Amazon powerhouse and soul-sucking Southern Belle themselves?"

"Falling to different worlds is beginning to suck", Stargirl commented, twirling her staff as she looked at the Wonder Woman Variant.

"Anybody got a plan?" Vixen inquired.

"Yeah." Hawkgirl lifted her mace. "Try to stay alive."

"Anybody got a good plan?" Huntress fired a crossbow bolt, that Wonder Woman deflected with her bracelet.

Wonder Woman leapt, the other six jumping away to avoid as the ground was smashed, smoke rising, with Hawkgirl trying to attack Wonder Woman from behind, only for Wonder Woman to slam her to the ground.

Meanwhile, Rogue grabbed Stargirl's hands as she tried to aim her staff, and threw her to the other side, only for Tifa to grab Rogue's foot and slam her to the ground.

Huntress was trying to fight Wonder Woman, only to be thrown off, before Black Canary jumped in, but Wonder Woman threw her off too, avoiding Vixen, who landed and accessed a donkey's spirit, trying to kick with her hind legs that Wonder Woman dodged too.

Rogue kicked Tifa off, Tifa flipping and landing on the ground, as Rogue flew in to punch, Tifa dodging, before grabbing Rogue's wrist to block another punch, and then she kneed Rogue's gut, making her double down, before headbutting her back, the skin contact minimal.

Rogue flew back in, throwing two punches that Tifa blocked, before leaping to avoid her feet being swept from underneath her, and then, she kicked Rogue's face with both feet, sending her back into the cage wall.

Hawkgirl, Black Canary, Huntress and Vixen were all thrown off by Wonder Woman, who turned around, only to receive a kick to the face from Tifa, sending her back.

"All right, looks like we've a chance", Hawkgirl noted, as Wonder Woman tried to spin kick Tifa, who barely avoided, then blocked an elbow, before trying to kick high as Wonder Woman leaned back to avoid, then grabbing Tifa's foot, flipped her down, Tifa rolling over quickly as Wonder Woman tried to slam down on her, and kicking Wonder Woman's chest with both feet, sending her off as the other women jumped away to avoid the impact, Wonder Woman crashing on the ground and breaking it.

Tifa flipped back up as Wonder Woman got up, with Tifa leaping at Wonder Woman with a kick that she blocked with her bracelet, while Tifa spun and tried to elbow, Wonder Woman barely avoided before trying to kick as Tifa flipped into the air and behind Wonder Woman to avoid that, and kicked her back, sending her falling forwards.

Suddenly, Tifa's hand was grabbed, and she turned to see it was Rogue, without a glove now, and Tifa gasped, feeling herself weaken as she went down on one knee, Tifa realizing Rogue was absorbing some of her power via skin contact to get stronger.

That was when Rogue was blasted on the face by a returned Stargirl, sending her off, as Tifa nodded in 'thanks', before casting 'Cure' on herself, being healed.

Vixen leapt at Rogue but was grabbed and hurled into the ceiling, before Tifa leapt, tackling Rogue as both rolled on the ground, then leapt up, Rogue throwing a punch that Tifa barely avoided, before being kicked on the face, and it sent her staggering back, Tifa realizing her strength had been absorbed by Rogue to make her stronger.

Rogue threw three more rapid punches that Tifa barely blocked, before spinning to kick Rogue but she grabbed her foot with her gloved hand, only for Tifa to leap and kick her face with the other one, staggering her back.

At the same time, Black Canary destroyed the cage with her scream, Stargirl's Cosmic Staff helping with a blast as the two and Huntress ran ahead, with Hawkgirl and Vixen trying to fight Wonder Woman.

Rogue threw more punches at Tifa, who barely dodged due to Rogue's increased speed, before throwing some of her own that Rogue dodged, and Tifa tried to elbow, Rogue blocking and pushing her off, Tifa flipping before sweeping towards Rogue, who blocked the kick with her hand, then elbowed Tifa's side, sending her down as Tifa groaned.

Rogue tried to slam at her face but Tifa rolled away to avoid, and flipped up, clutching her fists.

Using the 'Meteor Strike' limit break, Tifa rushed at Rogue, and grabbing her by the chest, lifted Rogue into the air with a single arm, and leapt into the air, spinning Rogue in the air over her head, and then throwing her down, causing an explosion that shattered the rest of the cage, actually making some of the audience get up and run off in fear.

Tifa leapt back down, watching the smoke clear, and now, Rogue lay in a crater. Groaning, she opened her eyes, seeing Tifa above her, giving her a hand.

"Thanks, sugar", Rogue said, taking Tifa's hand and letting Tifa help her up. "Where are we?"

"In a different world, being controlled to fight in a death match for women", Tifa explained.

"Different world?" Tifa nodded. Rogue blinked, her brow furrowin'. "Well, ain't that just a peach pie full'a bad news…" She dusted off her gloves, then looked around warily, seeing the fighting. "So lemme get this straight, we got yanked from our own worlds just to play gladiator Barbie for someone's sick entertainment?"

Tifa nodded grimly. "Pretty much."

Rogue let out a low whistle. "Shoot, Ah've had some bad days, sugar, but this one's shootin' right for the top." She turned her head sharply, her white-streaked hair bouncing. "Whoever's behind this better hope Ah don't get my hands on 'em. Ain't nothin' polite 'bout what I'm plannin'."

She cracked her knuckles and gave Tifa a sideways grin. "Guess it's you 'n me now, huh? Let's show 'em Southern steel and big muscle don't break easy."

Tifa grinned, gesturing to the others around them. "Not just us."

Meanwhile, Vixen had been thrown to the audience by Wonder Woman, before Tifa kicked her head from behind, sending her staggering forwards, and Rogue flew before her.

"Sorry, sugah, but you're about to get real familiar with the floor," Rogue said, spinning mid-air and slamming both feet into Wonder Woman's chest, knocking her back as Tifa leapt to the side to avoid.

The Amazon didn't falter for long. She surged forward like a freight train, fists swinging. Tifa ducked one blow, blocked another, and landed a clean punch to Diana's ribs.

"She's tough!" Tifa grunted, leaping back.

"Ah know, but she ain't invincible," Rogue called out.

Wonder Woman lunged again—no words, just pure force, eyes burning with mind-controlled fury. She backhanded Rogue into a column, sending marble and dust flying. Rogue groaned, slumped briefly against the rubble.

Wonder Woman spun toward Tifa, golden lasso crackling as it whipped toward her. Tifa ducked under it and dashed in close, launching a barrage of punches to Wonder Woman's side, chest, and shoulder—each blow thudding like a war drum, sending her back, before the Amazon recovered and punched Tifa's face twice, then her chest, before punching her back.

They grasped each other's wrists, gritting their teeth as they struggled, before smashing their chests against each other's, which made them both stagger back.

Tifa then ducked a swing from the lasso.

Rogue pushed herself up, blood on her chin, eyes blazing.

"She don't go down easy… but Ah got me an idea."

Wonder Woman turned to charge Rogue again—but this time, Rogue didn't dodge. She threw off one glove and grabbed Diana's bare leg.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Rogue grunted, eyes glowing as Wonder Woman jolted in place, feeling Rogue take some power.

"Just need a taste of that mojo."

Wonder Woman screamed, as Rogue absorbed just a sliver of her strength before shoving off and flipping back.

Her feet hit the ground hard, and when she rose, her muscles gleamed with borrowed might.

"Whew… now that's a power boost."

Tifa ran to her side, breathing hard.

"You good?"

"Better'n ever." Rogue winked.

Wonder Woman charged again, this time meeting two equally fierce warriors. Rogue blocked her punch with one arm—and held it. Tifa jumped in with a spinning kick to Wonder Woman's gut, and Rogue followed with an uppercut that staggered her.

Wonder Woman swayed, dazed but still standing.

"Rogue! Now!" Tifa yelled, backing up.

Rogue nodded, taking to the air, the stolen power still buzzing in her veins.

"Let's knock some sense into her, darlin'!"

"Together!" Tifa shouted, leaping into the air.

They jumped from both sides, fists drawn back.

CRACK!

Their punches collided with Wonder Woman's face in perfect unison.

The Amazon spun midair from the impact and crashed to the ground, motionless.

Rogue landed with a grin, sparks still flickering from her fingertips.

"Remind me to steal a bit more of that next time."

Tifa smiled, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Only if I get the next punch."

Looking up on seeing the smashed glass, Rogue grasped Tifa and flew towards it, seeing Huntress holding Roulette in a hold while Sonar was pressing a button, Black Canary groaning on the ground, only for Stargirl to blast the remote, shattering it.

"Okay! I give up!"

Tifa leapt in and punched him, knocking him out, while Rogue took off a glove and walked to the restrained Roulette.

"You messed with my head, sugar," Rogue said, her voice low and dangerous. "Had me fightin' people Ah'd rather be sharin' a drink with."

Roulette squirmed in Huntress's grip, eyes wide.

"So here's a little Southern hospitality... with interest."

She pressed her bare hand to Roulette's cheek.

Roulette gasped, her eyes fluttering as Rogue absorbed just enough to knock her unconscious—her body going limp in Huntress's arms.

Rogue exhaled, slipping her glove back on.

"Hope she dreams about all the butt-kickin' she paid for."

Earth-8096, New York City, Avengers Mansion

Captain America had his arms folded as he looked at Iron Fist and Luke Cage on the screen, the two looking quite injured, both of them in Iron Fist's private jet that was flying to the USA, as the job they'd been on as Heroes for Hire had taken them outside of US borders this time.

"Its happened again", Iron Fist said with gritted teeth, Cap sighing.

"Is everyone alright?" Cap inquired.

"Much better than we should be", Iron Fist confessed.

"Why don't you walk me through it?" Cap finally asked.

"Sure", Iron Fist began. "We were on the way back after dealing with a rogue Hydra remnant nest we'd found ourselves up against, in Helsinki, when someone alerted a dormant NATO alert beacon in the Baltics. Turns out those things are powered by a high-yield dynamo." Iron Fist sighed. "We found out Megawatt had nested there. We'd no idea what we were walking into, Cap, he was stronger than ever."

"Yeah, his powers were too much", Luke Cage added. "And I thought he'd beat us, until-"

"The Phoenix Five showed up", Cap realized.

"Just one, actually", Iron Fist revealed. "Bishop. He appeared, and saved us."

"Right, he defeated Megawatt", Cap realized. "Were you able to get an idea on his power's upper limits? Is there any sort of weak-"

"My hands started burning up as soon as they showed up, Cap, but you don't understand", Iron Fist said, to his confusion. "There was no fight!"

"Excuse me?"

"They….talked it out", Luke revealed, to his shock.

"What'd they say, Luke?"

"Not sure, but whatever it was, at the end, Megawatt agreed to use his powers to jumpstart electricity in a poor village nearby, and power it all up", Luke told him. "Guess this one worked out."

"All right." Cap nodded. "Be careful as you get back, we'll talk more then."

The screen shut off as Cap walked away. "This one worked out, huh?" He walked out to where the others were, seeing Beast reading a notepad while he stood near the unconscious Jean, who'd still not woken up.

"How is she?" Cap asked Beast.

"Vitals are stable, but her mind is not registering anything", Beast said sadly. "Because of that, I'm not sure when she'll ever wake up."

"It happened again", Wolverine growled sadly too.

"We'd another Phoenix encounter", Cap then informed everyone. "Danny and Luke had a run-in with Bishop in Estonia."

"Oh no!" Ant-Man said in horror, taking off his helmet, his eyes showing how concerned he was for his former teammates, as he'd joined the Heroes for Hire, for a short while, before joining the Avengers. "Are they alright?"

"Everyone's fine", Cap assured Ant-Man, who sighed in relief, adding. "And the cheapest energy source on the planet is a supervillain, who knew?"

Yellowjacket started. "Actually, I did think of that ag-"

"Not the point, Hank." Cap looked at them. "Do we've anything?"

"Given our current position, do we know if doing anything is better than doing nothing?" Black Panther inquired of them. "Until now, they haven't done anything wrong."

"I agree", Storm nodded, thinking of Cyclops. "Perhaps Cyclops is keeping them in line, but even then-"

"Magneto, Quicksilver and Juggernaut are not Paragons", Wolverine pointed out. "And the Phoenix Force is not something that can be easily controlled. We've seen it."

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions", Beast sighed. "I guess it's a fool's hope to think the best-case scenario."

"As much as I want to, it would be", Storm noted herself.

Getting a transmission, Iron Man groaned. "It's the President."

He activated it, the President looking at them all, very displeased. "You did not tell me that Mutants were involved in this mission too."

"We did what we thought was best", Cap simply said.

"Not all Mutants might be threats, but its still a point of contention!" The President told them. "You should have told us, now it's all a mess."

"Oh yeah?" Wolverine walked forwards. "And what makes you think telling you would have changed the outcome?"

"Doesn't matter, because this action has cost a lot of goodwill, especially since one of the Mutants who went with you is part of this group of five with that energy too", the President simply said. "Alongside not telling us that this cosmic energy was the same thing that attacked the city not too long ago."

"That wouldn't have changed anything either, and considering your very justified reaction right now, can you blame us for not telling you the full thing, Mr. President?" Iron Man asked, but he simply scoffed.

"Well, hope you're happy, because they just denuclearized Russia!"

Eyes went wide, especially Colossus', considering that was his country of origin.

Black Panther turned on a monitor, and they could all see it on the news, with various missiles having been lifted up by Magneto, who hovered in the air, after which they were all dismantled, with the Russian army watching in horror.

They all watched in shock, Colossus included.

Then, a news reported spoke in Russian, which was translated to English. "This was the scene that occurred earlier at the Russian army base-"

X-Mansion

Rogue, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Iceman and Forge watched in shock.

"-where the notoriously wanted Mutant terrorist, Magneto, used his powers-"

Baxter Building

Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing were surprised by this too.

"-to dismantle all missiles of Russia easily."

Nick Fury and Black Widow watched, then shared a concerned look.

Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson looked at the entire thing on the news, MJ commenting. "This is either ending all wars, or preparing for their own."

"Knowing Magneto, probably preparing", Peter noted grimly, having been kept in the loop by the Avengers about this. "This is going to be messy."

"All we can hope is the Avengers and others stop him and those other four", Gwen sighed.

Colossus sighed, Storm patting his shoulder, while they all turned to the President.

"Well…..that happened", Wasp commented, before flying forwards. "But Mr. President, while you're not pleased with us, arguing is not going to solve anything. This Phoenix Force is making things worse, and like it or not, everyone needs to work together to stop it. Us, Fantastic Four, Mutants, we need to come together and get this done."

"Indeed, so even if we failed before, the only thing that can be done is letting us handle it", Cap told him. "There is no other way, Mr. President. We will not apologize for involving our friends, the Mutants, but we apologize for not being able to stop it. But I assure you, we will not fail again."

The President just snarled. "Stop them, before they do the same thing to USA. Except Latveria, they seem to be doing this to everyone"

With that, the call was cut, Iron Man shrugging. "See ya…I guess." He looked at the rest. "Hill ain't gonna like this."

"When does she like anything?" Yellowjacket inquired.

"Good point." Iron Man added. "Anyone surprised the five can't enter Latveria?"

"Not really", Black Panther replied.

"Me neither."

"Thanks for the backup", Cap said gratefully to Wasp, who just smiled.

"No problem, Cap, always happy to help", she told him.

"My country…." Colossus sighed, rubbing his head. "I wonder if its even possible to stop them now."

"You got Juggernaut's power, bub. Its difficult, but it can be done", Wolverine assured.

"Yeah, but all five of them have the power of a God-like being to back them up now", Hawkeye commented. "While we're down a God and a Hulk. Just great, eh?"

"And there is no improvement in the conditions of Adam Warlock or Jean Grey yet", Vision noted. "There are many scenarios I can calculate, but they end with our failure."

"That's just great", Falcon sighed.

"Looks like there are no good plans for now", War Machine commented, looking at Iron Man. "Not even in that big brain of yours."

X-Mansion

Warren Worthington III aka Angel, who'd recovered from what Apocalypse had done to him very recently, walked out of his room, having seen the news. "Are we doing anything about that?"

"Not yet, Warren", Rogue said while shaking her head, Warren groaning.

"I come back to normal…and things somehow get worse!" Warren said in utter frustration, gritting his teeth.

"Blaming ourselves and feeling helpless won't do anything", Nightcrawler pointed out to him. "We need to be ready for more is all I can say."

"I should have been there", Forge noted. "Maybe I could have made that device bet-"

"Listen to Kurt", Shadowcat told Forge. "No point in playing any blame games, they don't help."

"And Warren, take it easy", Iceman said, walking up to him and grasping his shoulder. "You've just recovered; we don't want you straining yourself."

"Its just….." Warren shook his head. "I've done so many bad things for Apocalypse, and now I want to-"

"Don't talk like that", Shadowcat told him. "You were not yourself, and we don't blame you, got it?"

After some hesitation, Warren sighed, then nodded.

Avengers Mansion

Cap and Yellowjacket made their way to the room where Warlock was, inside his cocoon still, while Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot and Quasar sat nearby, here and there, still recovering themselves, talking to Ms. Marvel.

"How are you all doing?" Cap asked the Guardians.

"Well, we got beaten badly", Star-Lord simply said, then looked at Warlock's cocoon. "I wish we could give him some good news when he recovered, but sadly, we can't."

"Don't blame yourself", Cap simply said. "The Phoenix Force is powerful, and at the end, none of us could stop it. Now all we can do is regroup, and take on it again, when the time comes."

"Yes, haven't gotten anything yet, have we?" Ms. Marvel asked.

"Other than Magneto denuclearizing Russia? Nope", Yellowjacket shrugged, horrifying her as the implications sank in.

"Which means he can do the same to USA, and many others", Ms. Marvel muttered to herself, then saw Cap's look. "And has already done it to some more."

"Things just got even worse", Rocket sighed, while Groot said 'I am Groot', Rocket nodding at that. "I know, worst thing we've faced."

"How do we plan to beat it?" Quasar inquired, Cap simply looking at them all firmly.

"Together."

Earth-199999, New York City

The air was crisp, the distant hum of the city a low murmur beneath the lapping waves. Karen stood at the edge of a dock, arms crossed, eyes scanning the quiet waterfront.

Footsteps echoed behind her. She didn't turn—she already knew who it was.

"You've got some nerve calling me," came the familiar voice of Brett Mahoney, his tone edged with frustration.

Karen exhaled, then turned to face him. He was in plain clothes, jacket zipped up, hands in his pockets, but his disapproving stare carried the weight of the badge he wore every day.

"I appreciate you coming."

Brett scoffed. "Don't thank me yet. You know, I had to make sure no one saw me coming here. The last thing I need is the department thinking I'm cozying up with someone defending a cop-killer."

Karen didn't flinch. "That's not what happened."

Brett shook his head, letting out a humorless chuckle. "That so? Because from where I'm standing, Nelson and Murdock are breaking their backs trying to get a guy off the hook for killing an officer. I don't know what you thought this meeting was gonna be, but if you're here to spin me some story, I'm not interested."

Karen took a step forward. "I'm here because there's a missing witness."

Brett's brows furrowed slightly, but his skepticism didn't fade.

"A witness?"

"The night Hector Ayala was arrested," Karen explained, "he saw two men beating up another guy. He stepped in to stop it. There was a fight. One of the men got knocked into the path of an oncoming train. The other man then identified himself as a cop and arrested Hector."

Brett exhaled, rubbing his temple. "Jesus."

"But here's the thing," Karen continued, "the guy they were beating up? He ran off. And now, that cop is claiming Hector just attacked them out of nowhere and killed his partner. There's no mention of the guy they were beating on."

Brett let out a low groan, looking away for a moment, processing. "So what? You think this mystery guy—if he even exists—clears Ayala?"

Karen didn't hesitate. "I think he tells the truth. And I think the truth isn't what the department is pushing."

Brett shook his head, frustration in his voice. "Do you hear yourself? You're asking me to put my neck on the line to dig up a guy that, for all I know, ran because he had a reason to run. I can't go making noise about this, Karen. My job—"

Karen stepped closer, her voice quieter but more intense.

"I know what your job is, Brett. And I know you take it seriously. But don't pretend you don't know how deep the rot goes."

Brett's jaw tightened, but he didn't interrupt.

"Not too long ago," Karen said, "most of the city was either on Fisk's payroll or under his thumb, including the police department. We both know it, we've seen it, haven't we?"

A muscle in Brett's cheek twitched. She hit the nerve she was aiming for.

Karen softened slightly, letting her words settle. "I'm not asking you to blow the case open, Brett. I just need you to look. If there's even a chance that Hector's telling the truth, doesn't he deserve that chance?"

Brett exhaled heavily, hands on his hips, staring at the ground. Seconds passed. The distant horns of passing cars fill the silence.

Then, finally—he looked up.

"Damn it." He rubbed his face, muttering something under his breath before sighing. "Alright. I'll look into it."

Karen's relief was immediate. "Thank you."

"But listen," Brett warned, "this stays under the radar. I start asking around too loud, I'll lose my badge—maybe worse. And like hell am I letting the dirty ones push me out. Guys like me are needed in that department, whether they like it or not."

Karen nodded, understanding. "I know. And you are."

Brett didn't reply, just gave her a final hard look before turning and walking back toward the city.

Karen lingered for a moment, staring out at the water, then pulled out her phone, exhaling.

One step closer.

Universe-208, Florrum

Hondo Ohnaka's escape ship, the Slave I, was flying away from Florrum, having just escaped from General Grievous, as Hondo pressed a button. "We're about to hit Hyperspace in…" That was when something popped up on the screen. "Uh-oh."

""Uh-oh?" What'd you mean "uh-oh"?" Ahsoka asked in shock, just as the ship entered a breach before them at very high-speed, and being in the breach, that caused the ship to start malfunctioning, with sparks visible everywhere, the entire group screaming, too busy panicking to notice any visions or images they saw on the way.

And then, the ship seemed to come out of the other end, but it crashed to the ground, tearing in places each time it hit the ground, causing those inside it to be thrown here and there in different parts of the ship.

Finally, the torn ship skidded to a halt, smoke emanating from it.

Some army people nearby, who were trying to catch the Mutants, turned to see the ship in shock, as one of them said. "What is that?"

"It looks really advanced!" Another one said, all of them looking at it.

"Let's check it out."

In the front part of the ship- Hondo, his pirates, Katooni, Ganodi and Zatt lay unconscious, while Huyang also lay, disabled.

Some of the army people came upon them, watching the sight in shock, one of them saying. "These…..Mutants, they look so alien!"

"Must be really advanced Mutants", the other one told him. "Let's bag them!"

And with that, the army people started carrying the people they thought were Mutants away from the ship.

Unbeknownst to them, Gungi was awake, having seen all this from a distance, while Ahsoka, Petro and Byph lay unconscious near him, and there was R2-D2, who was making no sound for now.

Gungi wanted to save his friends, but there were too many people, and then there was this unconscious lot he needed to take care of.

"We need to take this ship too, its some advanced material!"

Hearing that, Gungi spoke to R2 in Shyriiwook in concern, R2 replying with techno-babble, before Gungi, using his Wookie strength, put Ahsoka, Petro and Byph, all three, over his shoulders, and grunted, before moving off, R2 moving with him, all of them getting out from the back of the ship.

They continued to move, getting into some bushes and hiding as they saw some machines with hooks and ropes trying to lift the ship up.

Gungi then sensed something, as he looked around, seeing men in blue uniforms or the army people chasing people in colorful dresses, a black woman with white hair thrusting her hands at two helicopters as the wind threw those back, while a red-haired woman thrust out her hands, throwing two people down before two people in blue grabbed her and threw her into a car, only for a blue-skinned boy with a tail to appear in the front seat, and drive away with her.

Gungi used The Force, sensing something from within that woman, and the blue boy, as well as the black woman, who soon flew and grabbed a boy wearing a torn shirt and a device over his eyes, and then flew off with him.

The young Padawan closed his eyes, letting the Force guide him, and then, he rushed to the direction he believed they'd gone in, still carrying the unconscious Ahsoka, Petro and Byph, while R2 followed him, engaging in techno-babble.

Universe-92, Realm of the Powers That Be

Katerina was pacing around in her room, thinking of what to do next. Specifically, what to do regarding Willow Rosenberg. Lucifer was a threat for now, yes, but Willow Rosenberg was a long-term threat to Buffy Summers, the great Slayer.

Katerina had no doubt that it was actually Willow who was Sweet's true summoner all along, and if she could, she'd even be the true power behind the First Evil if it ever returned, because Willow was just that evil!

She would punish Willow, and make sure Buffy gets the title of world's greatest Champion like she truly deserved. Willow was such a horrible friend to that Slayer! Especially due to being an alcoholic for magic, and such a selfish person, like, how dare she be so selfish that she restore the sanity of the love of her life, huh?!

And she was still the same, she'd not changed, her remorse must be fake. She was still using magic, so it was like an alcoholic having a key to a bar!

Willow was such a horrible friend that she'd ungracefully brought Buffy back to life due to the assumption that she was in Hell! Only fools who were also horrible and fake friends would think something like that of someone they called a friend!

Magic was demonic and immoral anyways, especially the kind that Willow used.

However, all this thinking was tiring Katerina out. You see, while the Powers had some great power at their disposal, things like insanity did not go well with such power.

Because of which, Katerina could not stay awake for too long, her obsessive hatred of Willow actually tiring her out, for something like that went against the purity the Powers were supposed to have.

While the others had their own flaws, no one was as obsessed with hating a specific person as much as Katerina was, other than Garfanni who'd his odd hatred of Tara and Dawn. Even Dushan just hated everyone other than Xander equally, while Katerina was fixated on Willow for some odd reason.

Sighing, Katerina sat back on her bed, then lay down, shutting her eyes, falling asleep soon.

Suddenly, feeling the cold wind of night on her face, and hard ground underneath herself, Katerina opened her eyes, sitting up, as she saw she was in the Sunnydale graveyard now, and lying on its ground instead.

"How did I get here?" Katerina wondered as she picked herself up, before smirking due to realizing something.

Now she could punish that immoral whore Willow!

Getting excited at that prospect, Katerina walked around the graveyard for a few minutes, looking for the Witch.

Suddenly a voice called from behind her.

"Looking for me?"

Katerina turned around and saw… Willow! Standing in front of her!

"Oh, Great Power, give me all of the punishment I deserve! I've been such a bad girl…" Willow moaned.

The Power formed a sinister smirk and then walked to Willow, raising her hand, a hammer appearing.

"Yes, you immoral whore! I shall punish you!"

And with that, she brought her hammer down upon Willow, hitting her head hard as Willow bled, and then Katerina hit her again, and again, and again, smashing the whore's face in.

Each strike was punctuated by a sentence.

"Give your respect to the Slayer! Respect her! You are the worst friend ever! You worthless acholic!"

Katerina screamed, beating Willow on the head over and over again, reshaping her skull as Willow went down on her knees, bleeding all over the face, close to death now, before she fell down, her eyes about to droop forever.

Katerina stared at Willow's dying body for a good 5 seconds… and then prepared to land the final blow…

Until Willow suddenly shot up grabbed Katerina by the throat, her injuries suddenly all healed.

Willow formed a sinister smirk of her own. "I have to admit, you are impressive…"

Her voice suddenly changed into something… demonic while she added, "If this was still your world…"

All of a sudden, the graveyard morphed itself into… a boiler room? A very haunting boiler room at that.

There was something about it that unsettled Katerina to her core… Wait, what? Someone like herself was being unsettled? No, that can't be possible! She was never going to be scared again, she'd promised herself that on her darkest day!

"Willow" suddenly morphed into a burnt man with a fedora hat, a green and red striped sweater, and knives for fingers.

Oh no… Katerina recognized who this was…

Freddy Krueger!

Freddy then brought Katerina close up to his face and sneered. "You know… after Lucifer gave me this much power, I was hoping to test it out on somebody such as yourself… looks like it really paid off."

Katerina widened her eyes as she stared at Freddy and started to… literally piss on herself…

Oh no… the thing she was hoping wouldn't happen had come true after all…

She was scared. No… mortified! She'd broken her promise to herself! She was truly terrified now, more terrified than she'd been during her life's darkest day, which said a lot.

Krueger grinned even harder.

"Power That Be… not very powerful now, are you?"

And with that…

Freddy sliced Katerina's arm off with his bladed fingers, before doing the same to her other arm, Katerina screaming her heart out as blood splattered from the stumps!

Then, Freddy sliced her across the face, cutting off a huge chunk of skin, before laughing as he moved his other hand closer, and pressing, plucked out both her eyeballs!

Katerina continued to scream while Freddy stabbed into her cheeks, and cut her mouth off her face!

Real World

Adila burst into Katerina's chamber, having heard screaming and then…

To her horror, she saw Katerina being ripped apart by some… unseen entity? Was it invisible or…

But then, a realization came to her face… Freddy Krueger was killing her!

Which meant…that Lucifer posed a major threat to all Powers.

With that, Adila ran back to the main room to warn the other Powers.

Dream World

Freddy had torn most of Katerina up, but now… it was time for the final touch…

With a swing, he sliced her chest open… and then plucked her heart out, Katerina's eyes finally slumping as she died on the spot!

Freddy brought Katerina's heart closer to his face, and gave it a lick.

"Mm… now that is quite powerful."

Freddy then tossed Katerina's heart on the ground, before looking at her dead body for a good 15 seconds, a smirk on his face, Freddy feeling very satisfied by the work of art he'd just created.

With that, Freddy walked away from the body, and was now ready to get back to his comrades and make those goody-two shoes fools suffer at their hands.

Earth-8096, K'un-Lun

"Anything?" Lei Kung asked the two guards at the doorway.

"Tears, Lei Kung…then laughter", one guard told him. "When questioned, he said the same thing over and over- "Something burns.""

"Unlock it."

The guards did, Lei Kung walking inside while holding up a flaming torch. "Old man."

An old man sat at a table, a red cloth with an eye on it covering where his eyes would be, while books were scattered all around in piles, some huge papers on the table.

"I smell your fear, Thunderer, I smell you", the old man said to the Iron Fist's mentor. "Its been years since I beat you for sneaking into my study. Did you come to pilfer more secrets, against the hidden lore? Or has something tickled your memory, stealing your sleep like it did mine? Tell me, do you smell the cinder and ash, Lei Kung?"

As Lei Kung stood silently, the old man asked. "Or are you afraid of something you've seen before?"

"There was a flaming bird in the sky", Lei Kung admitted, knowing what it was. "I need the Book of the Fallen."

The old man got up, walking off. "Yes, yes, a fiery bird, the burning cycle. Very old, that. Very bad. Come to cleanse the field, extinguish the old, make way for the new. Heh, Fongji the Silent had other ideas, do you remember?"

They walked to the Book of the Fallen, which was in a dark room infested with cobwebs, the old man continuing. "Two equally charged souls repelling one another. The Crimson Heart understood the cost and paid it." He held out his hand before the book, revealing there was an eye in his palm. "Yes, yes, here it is. This has all happened before."

Lei Kung read it, recalling all details.

'Fongji Wu (FY 1596)- Fongji the Silent, the Crimson Heart, the Dragon's Fist. Repelled the Phoenix of Life and Death. Preventing the Celestial rebirth of Earth and the collapse of the Seven Cities."

The old man told Lei Kung. "You need the Iron Fist."

Avengers Mansion

There was suddenly a loud beeping sound all over, the alert having been sent here, as Wolverine asked. "Where are they going?"

Black Panther's eyes were wide. "This is not good."

Earth-199999, New York City

Matt stood outside the place of Officer Powell, the cop whose partnered had died, listening in, hoping he could find the witness, to silence him, because then, Matt would find him too, and save him.

He heard Powell pick up a call.

"What?"

"Found him."

"All right, I'll meet you there."

"We doing this now?"

"Yeah."

"He's at 950 West 185th Street, Apartment 30. Meet you out front."

Matt was alarmed as he walked off, calling someone.

"Matt?" Brett picked up from the other end.

"Brett, I need you to drive to Fort Tryon Park, please. Quickly. Its urgent! But no cop cars!" Matt begged him.

Later

Matt knocked on the apartment door, as the guy inside asked. "Who is it?"

"My name is Matthew Murdock. I'm a lawyer. I represent Hector Ayala, the man who saved you on the subway platform." Matt immediately got down to business, considering how urgent this was. On getting no response, he continued. ""Look, I know you know who I am, and I know you're scared. But I'm here to help. You can trust me."

The man opened the door, Matt walking in. "Thank you. Thank you. Shut the door. What's your name?"

The man shut the door. "Nicky Torres."

"Nicky." Matt finally said his name. "You are the key witness in my defense of Hector Ayala. To be blunt, you're the only person standing between him and consecutive life sentences."

Nicky shook his head. "I can't, man. If I go against the cops, it's gonna be really bad for me."

Matt pointed out. "It is already bad for you. They have located you. They're coming to kill you. You need to come with me now." Hearing hurried footsteps in the building, Matt muttered. "Shit, they're already here. Nicky, you have about 20 seconds before-"

"Look, man, I don't even know who you are."

Matt grasped his shoulder. "Ten seconds. They're coming-"

"How do I know you're not..."

Matt pushed him behind. "Go out the fire escape. Go."

"NYPD. Open up."

"Nicky. There is one good cop I know, who I trust with everything, in Fort Tryon Park. He's gonna find you. He's gonna get you safe."

Nicky looked hesitant, due to it being a cop, but hearing the knocking, he ran out the fire escape, figuring if that one tried to kill him, it'd just be one, and it'd be easier to escape.

"NYPD. Open up."

Matt walked up to the door, and unlocked it, then backed off, as Powell and another officer entered, Powell looking at Matt in surprise. "You're the lawyer."

Matt smirked, standing at the room's center. "If you're looking for the man Hector Ayala saved on the subway platform, sadly, he's no longer here."

The other cop shut the door as Powell tried to move ahead, but Matt stood in his way, shoving his shoulder against Powell, while the other cop searched around the place.

"Move."

Matt remained standing.

Powell angrily grabbed Matt's collar and shoved him into the wall, his cane dropping. "I said move!"

The other guy came back out as Powell asked. "Where is he?"

"He's not here."

Powell turned back to the smirking Matt angrily, forcefully taking off his glasses and throwing them down, the glasses falling with a clatter.

Then, Powell grabbed Matt's collar and shoved him into the wall again.

"Where'd he go?"

Matt shrugged. "Listen, man, I'm visually impaired. I'd love to help."

Angrily, Powell punched Matt's stomach, then threw him down, after which the other one kicked him, then Powell did, and the other one struck him down.

Both of them continued kicking and beating on Matt, and as he tried to sit up, Powell punched him hard, sending him down, Matt hearing drops of his own blood splatter on the ground, while he touched his cheek, feeling the warmth of the blood.

Groaning, he sat back up, as the other guy said to Powell. "Go ahead."

"He's a lawyer."

"I'll do it."

Matt shook his head. "No, don't do this. Don't do this. You don't want to do this." The other cop held his gun to Matt's head.

Matt closed his blind eyes. Until now, he was trying to fight this legally, the way Foggy would want, in the court, the same way he'd want them to beat the SHRA.

Even when he was out there as Daredevil, he defended himself, or others, such as Trish Walker, from becoming victims of this dystopian society their country had become.

But in this moment, Matt made his decision. It wasn't just about defending anymore. It was about truly fighting against the SHRA, and corruption, as himself, and as Daredevil.

"No, you move."

Just as the gun cocked, Matt acted, shoving away the cop's wrist as he stood up and grabbed him, making him ram into Powell, who fell down, while Matt grasped the cop's gun hand as he turned around, and then-

CRACK!

The cop screamed in pain due to his entire arm being twisted while he dropped the gun, and then turning around, Matt slammed him into some wooden bars, breaking those, before he spun around, grasping the cop's wrist and flipping him over, right onto the table, where he hit his head, and was knocked out.

Powell got up, grabbing Matt as they spun, and then Matt hurled Powell away into the fridge, shoving it a bit while Powell's blood was drawn.

Roaring, Matt grabbed Powell by the collar and slammed him into the fridge again, drawing more blood while the fridge shook. Grabbing Powell again, Matt threw him down with a roar, his head hitting the ground as some more blood was drawn, and Powell was knocked out.

Standing up, Matt panted, and walked up to his fallen glasses, which were cracked, and picked them up, putting them back on, while he continued to pant, deciding to let out his anger over the SHRA and what it was doing to innocent people all over the country just because they'd superpowers.

Matt Murdock let out a primal scream of catharsis.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGHH!"

Baxter Building

Reed turned around from his work as the elevator opened, Susan walking out with Raphael, as Johnny and Ben arrived on the scene too.

"Are you a…?" Johnny trailed off, chuckling a bit, making Raphael glare at him.

"What?!"

"Sorry! Its just…" He chuckled again, Raphael looking like he wanted to deck him, and Ben just shrugged.

"Fascinating", Reed simply muttered on seeing Raphael.

"Eh, don't mind him. He's always runnin' his mouth."", Ben told Raphael, who tilted his head, recognizing that Ben spoke the same accent as him.

"Invisible", Raphael noted as he looked at Susan, then turned to Ben. "Rock." He looked at the other two. "What kinda powers yous got?"

"Flame on!" Johnny turned to fire briefly, as Reed stretched his hand, grabbing a toolkit before keeping it near him, Raphael nodding, looking impressed.

"Right." Raphael smirked. "So, what's the deal around here?"

"Some jerks up top passed an act makin' superhumans illegal," Ben grumbled. "Unless ya sign the thing."

"Sounds like a load o' nonsense," Raphael muttered, foldin' his arms. "Well, we did sign it, but we were forced to", Johnny added quickly, Raphael looking between all of them in suspicion.

"This ain't a trap, is it?" Raphael asked, but Reed shook his head vigorously.

"No, its not", Reed assured him. "We're doing this off-the-grid, no one knows you're here…..yet."

"What do ya mean, yet?" Raphael inquired.

"There is one guy who can find out", Reed said sadly, before quickly saying. "But, we'll finish this up before they come! I promise you!"

""If I find out yous ain't tellin' the truth, I'll take every one o' ya down. Capisce?"", Raphael threatened immediately, Johnny on edge.

"Now listen up! Our fabulous, fantastic selves, have put ourselves on the line for you! Better show some appreciation!" Johnny said, only to get smacked on the head. "OW!"

"Johnny, he is lost in this world, he has every right to be suspicious, especially considering what we're into", Susan said, glaring at Johnny, and after a few seconds, he backed down, seemingly cowed.

"Right." He walked off.

Raphael looked between the two, reminded of Mikey by Johnny, and of both April and Leonardo in Susan, especially the former, as she seemed to be the one who kept the rest in line, such as Johnny here.

"So, what's yar name?" Ben finally asked Raphael, who looked up at him.

"Raphael."

"I'm Ben", Ben said with a grin, Raphael grinning back.

Unseen to them all, Johnny watched them with narrowed eyes, before walking off into his room.

Earth-1, Star City, Mayor's office

Oliver, Adrian, and Quentin Lance sat in the Mayor's office, reviewing budget reports.

Lance was saying. "Mayor Queen, if we don't get additional funding, we're looking at officer layoffs and station closures."

Oliver scanned the documents. "That's not an option. We need a fully staffed force. But we also need to be smart about the budget. Where's the shortfall coming from?"

Adrian tapped on a table. "It's a combination of factors. Increased operational costs, outdated infrastructure, and—", he glanced at Quentin, "a few contracts that might be… worth a second look."

Oliver's voice was sharp. "What kind of contracts?"

Lance sighed. "Some long-term procurement deals from the previous administration. We're locked into overpriced supply contracts for everything from uniforms to patrol cars."

Adrian explained. "Case in point: SCPD is paying nearly twice the market rate for basic equipment because of these legacy contracts."

Oliver frowned. "Why weren't these renegotiated?"

Lance told them. "The previous Mayor signed them as multi-year agreements. We'd have to pay termination fees to get out of them early."

Oliver got to thinking. "And if we eat those termination fees, would we still save money in the long run?"

Adrian nodded. "I ran the numbers. If we break the worst contracts now and switch to standard competitive bids, we'd take a hit this year but save millions over the next five years."

Oliver leaned back. "Short-term pain, long-term stability. Do it."

Lance was a bit relieved. "That would help. But we still need immediate relief. The budget gap for this year is too big to cover just by fixing contracts."

Oliver had just the thing in mind. "What about civilian partnerships? Private funding?"

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting we privatize the police?"

Oliver shook his head. "No. But corporate sponsors already help fund public projects—why not let them contribute to community policing initiatives? Not for equipment or weapons, but for things like outreach programs, neighborhood patrols, and officer training."

Lance nodded slowly. "That could actually work. We've been trying to implement more community-based policing, but we never had the budget for it."

Oliver shrugged. "It can be done. While I don't hold my CEO position at the Queen-Palmer Industries as long as I'm Mayor, I'll talk to Ray, he'd love to get in on this."

Lance nodded as Thea entered the office, tossing a file onto Oliver's desk.

"You might want to look at this too. SCPD has been paying for storage space they don't even use anymore. We're talking thousands of square feet of empty warehouses."

Oliver flipped through it. "We're paying rent on vacant property?"

Lance frowned, looking at it, then sighed. "That… might've been overlooked."

Oliver shook his head. "Cut the leases on anything we're not actively using. That alone could free up a decent chunk of the budget."

Adrian nodded. "Between canceling bad contracts, freeing up wasted funds, and bringing in outside sponsorships, we can fill most of the gap without touching essential services."

Oliver stood up. "Then let's do it. The SCPD needs to be strong, but we're not going to burn the budget on waste. We do this right, and we'll have a department that's better funded, better trained, and actually connected to the people it serves."

Lance smiled, standing as well. "You're a tough man to argue with, Mayor Queen."

Oliver smirked slightly.

"I get that a lot."

They shook hands.

Earth-8096, Genosha

Scarlet Witch looked up with wide eyes, Polaris and Blink next to her, as the Phoenix Five hovered in the air before them.

"Wanda", Magneto began, his voice gentle. "I believe we can talk this out."

"What'd you want to do?" Scarlet Witch inquired.

"Turn this place into the utopia, for everyone", Magneto replied to her as he gestured all around them. "The utopia we've dreamt of."

"And after this, soon, there will be peace, and no wars anymore", Bishop added. "No oppression either."

"Other than yours", Scarlet Witch pointed out.

"You'd rather have a world full of conflict than what we offer?" Cyclops asked in utter rage, the symbol of the Phoenix Force flaring up as Scarlet Witch held her head with a gasp, Polaris grasping her shoulder for support.

"Its not exactly a free world if its based on you want", Blink pointed out, causing all five to glare towards her.

"Look, no matter, I cannot let you take this island, its supposed to be a sanctuary, not a base for your plans", Scarlet Witch replied.

"We will not ask again", Magneto warned, but Scarlet Witch and Polaris didn't move.

"So be it."

With that, Bishop fired a powerful blast of energy, Scarlet Witch blocking with her shield, her teeth gritted, but the power was too much, as there was an explosion, all three being sent flying off, while the five landed.

As they started getting up, Blink was about to open a portal, only for Quicksilver to speed in and knock her out easily, Scarlet Witch barely raising her shield to defend herself and Polaris, with Quicksilver throwing speed punches at it.

"Pietro, don't do this!" Scarlet Witch begged him, but he wasn't listening.

"Don't deny us, sister", Quicksilver snarled, before gasping in pain, backing off, due to the shield hurting him, which was when a Quinjet appeared in the air, with Iron Man, War Machine, Vision and Ms. Marvel flying next to it.

The Quinjet opened as out of it jumped Captain America, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Yellowjacket, Ant-Man, Wolverine, Beast and Colossus, with Wasp, Storm and Falcon with Redwing all flying out, standing to the sides of Scarlet Witch and Polaris.

"Get back", Cap warned the Phoenix Five, only for Quicksilver to speed forwards, as Ms. Marvel fired at him while flying, but he easily dodged all the blows, and ran so fast he was in the air, from where he rammed into Ms. Marvel, the Phoenix Force hurting her as she fell down, groaning in pain, while he stood near her.

"I am beyond you now, your blasts can't hurt me", he quipped, dodging blasts by Iron Man and War Machine too, while the sky darkened, Storm hovering in the air.

Juggernaut and Colossus charged at each other, both clashing, sending out a shockwave that made everything shake, as other Mutants arrived too, due to the commotion.

"How dare you steal my power?" Juggernaut growled, lifting Colossus up by the waist and slamming him down hard, the entire island shaking from the impact, before he punched down on Colossus twice, Colossus blocking the third punch.

"You gave it up when you accepted the Phoenix Force", Colossus snarled before kicking Juggernaut hard, sending him rolling away as he himself got up, glowing red due to Cyttorak's power.

Juggernaut got up, only to receive another hard punch from Colossus which drew blood, causing him to smirk, before he gave Colossus a hard uppercut that sent him flying into the air, also smashing into a hill.

Iron Man and War Machine were flying at Magneto, who suddenly held out his hand, the Phoenix Force flaring up, and then, their suits tearing apart, to their horror.

"Oh boy!" Iron Man muttered as they fell down, with Cap leaping up as he caught Iron Man, Falcon flying in to catch War Machine, putting him down, Redwing next to them.

"He is even more powerful than before", Iron Man noted grimly. "Now he can destroy our suits even when there's no metal involved."

"Few can weather the storm", Storm declared before lightning struck out, hitting Magneto, Bishop, and Cyclops, who gritted their teeth but were mostly unaffected.

She then called out to Cyclops. "Scott, fight it, remember who you are!"

"Oh I know who I am", Cyclops declared with a sneer as he looked between them all. "In fact, it has never been clearer. I am the one who must make this world better, for everyone, just like the Professor wanted."

"Not like this, the Professor doesn't want this!" Wolverine snapped, but Cyclops just gave him a glare.

"You're nothing but an animal who thinks he is better than he is", Cyclops scoffed, not that Wolverine was affected by that. "You don't know a thing!"

"I know this…." Wolverine unsheathed his claws. "We will not let you do this anymore."

Chuckling, Cyclops fired a powerful beam, which struck Wolverine hard, sending him flying off by many feet, burning him up too, and Storm had to use her winds to slow him down.

"I don't think we're winning this, Cap", Wasp told him, seeing how badly it was going, as Magneto rose into the air, addressing the Mutants.

"Mutants of Genosha, I have returned for you." He gestured all around, also pointing to the other four with him. "We have come for you, to make this land into the utopia it was always meant to be."

"And now", Cyclops added himself. "There will be no more oppression, no more hiding, no more being hunted. From here, we shall begin an age of peace soon. And you…you can help us."

The Mutants shared looks, conflicted, which was when all the Phoenix Five except Quicksilver, who dodged, were hit by a red blast of energy, which actually made them stagger back, while Scarlet Witch stepped forwards, Polaris with her, and using her powers, Scarlet Witch pulled the unconscious Blink towards herself too.

"Chaos…" Quicksilver groaned, grasping his head.

"This must stop", Scarlet Witch declared. "We all know this will lead nowhere."

"We are doing what's best, Wanda", Cyclops argued, while Storm helped Wolverine up, with Colossus being helped up by Cap, and Vision doing the same for Ms. Marvel.

"In that case, I will leave", Scarlet Witch said, to his surprise. "With Polaris, Blink, and everyone else who wants to come with me."

"Absolutely not!" Cyclops argued.

"They want to use you against us", Magneto added, gesturing to the Avengers and X-Men. "Don't do this."

"I'm leaving", Scarlet Witch simply replied, turning around, as Quicksilver sped forth and grasped her hand, only for red energy to flare up for a bit, making him back off, holding his hand in pain.

"AH!" He cried out. "I…I felt that."

Iron Man, Black Panther, Yellowjacket and Beast shared looks at that, coming to the same conclusion, while Scarlet Witch began to glow, the glow spreading to Polaris, Blink, the Avengers and X-Men, as well as the Mutants who were coming to her side, though she watched sadly as some stood at the side of the Phoenix Five too.

"This is what needs to be", Scarlet Witch told them. "Until next time."

With that, everyone who'd been covered in her glow disappeared, while Juggernaut asked. "What do we do?"

"Every time we they push us into a corner", Bishop sneered. "They'll never stop coming." He looked at Magneto. "We have been feared and hunted, become endangered, with so few left, and still, they come after us."

Magneto and Cyclops lowered their heads sadly as Bishop spoke of his future again. "Now, even at our most powerful, as we remake Earth into a better and more livable place, they still come after us."

Magneto clutched his fists. "We will not tolerate them next time."

Earth-216, Mount Justice

Dinah looked at the news for Metropolis, where Lois was saying. "It was a battle hard-fought, and it seemed for a while that the Justice League and the others couldn't stop the monster. But just when we'd lost hope…a green giant, as large as the attacking monster, jumped in, and fought back against it."

Some footage was shown of Hulk and Doomsday fighting, before the fight had been taken out of the city.

"He may look as scary as the monster he stopped, but this city, the Justice League, and the other heroes, all owe him a debt. Meanwhile, repair and reconstruction is already underway, showing this city's resilience, and our Heroes are already helping."

Then there was footage shown of Superman helping construction workers, before three green blurs flew into the frame, and stopped, revealing Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Guy Gardner.

"Sorry about the lateness", Hal apologized, looking between Superman and the camera, while pointing upwards. "Had stuff to deal with up there."

"But we'll help in rebuilding this city to the best of our ability", Stewart assured everyone as he looked into the camera, before Hal and John both started using their Rings to help.

"Sorry for not being here, I know I'd have beaten this thing if I was, but I will- HEY!"

Guy was cut off as Hal and John wrapped him in green chains they conjured, and flew off with him. "Come on, guys! I'm not done yet!" But they were already off.

Dinah chuckled and rolled her eyes at Guy's antics, as well as Hal's and John's way of getting rid of the guy, not that she could blame them.

Lois reappeared on-screen. "Devastating this attack was, but we will rebuild, and our Heroes will be there for us."

Smiling, Dinah turned the TV off, seeing the other members of The Team talking amongst themselves.

"Man! That guy is something else!" Captain Marvel was saying about Hulk.

"If he didn't have to go to his world, we'd all be asking him to join the Justice League", Nightwing said in agreement. "I mean, his normal self and his other self, both have skills. I bet that other big guy was feeling the aster. The face-change is weird, but he is something else."

"He is clearly a scientist, as he could tinker with the Zeta-Tube to come to Metropolis, and we all saw what his green self, Hulk did", Rocket agreed, looking very impressed, speaking for everyone present.

Dinah rolled her eyes good-naturedly at their banter, then walked off, into the therapy room, where her patient was waiting for her.

Bruce Banner.

"Thank you for what you did", Dinah said first as she sat before him. "And now…what'd you want to talk about, Bruce? You've my word, that everything you say, will remain between the two of us."

She'd a notepad ready, as Bruce sighed. "When I grew up, I had this", he pointed to his head, "inside me, it was always thinking of something or the other, beyond what a kid my age would think of."

Dinah nodded, simply listening, as Banner continued. "Dad didn't like that."

Dinah's face showed no reaction, but she already knew what was coming.

"So, when he called me a monster, and hit me, I got angry, but I didn't want to be angry, I just wanted to be calm, and free, so I could think more, understand more, find out the secrets of the Universe. So, I just decided, I don't need to be angry. If I'm feeling angry, I can just stop thinking about it. You know what I mean?"

"You mean repress it, right?" Dinah asked, just to be sure, and Banner nodded.

She was a therapist, so giving a definitive statement from her side could make her look judgmental, even if that was not the intent. Which is why, she'd asked Banner if he'd term it as 'repressing' rather than saying it from her end.

"I repressed all of this, and continued doing what I did. Only, I did not display anger at all. I repressed it all…..and it became a different part of me, a different identity entirely."

"What kind of identity?" Dinah inquired.

"Hulk." Banner spoke the name, Dinah listening. Hulk had not been born with the Gamma accident. That had just given the Hulk a tangible shape for the rest of the world to see.

Hulk had existed long before that.

"He was just an imaginary friend I'd made, because dad hit me, and mom, she took most of the beatings, but because of that, she couldn't do anything else." He couldn't bring himself to hate his mom, she was as much a victim of his dad as he himself. He was just angry at the situation. Because of his dad, she couldn't be there for him either. "I didn't realize it then, that Hulk became more than just an imaginary friend. He was a part of me, a different identity, but part of me, all the repressed rage and other negative emotions, constantly telling me to cause harm and be violent, and it nearly escalated after dad went too far with mom." He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down, Dinah knowing what'd happened. "I don't even remember what happened, but dad was in prison after that, seeming scared of me, because I guess I listened to the voice."

"All of us have such a voice inside us", Dinah admitted to Bruce. "Telling us to give in to our worst impulses." She noted something down, then looked at Bruce. "But in your case, it was more than just a voice."

"That's right." Banner leaned back in his chair. "I thought the Gamma accident that gave me powers made me into the Hulk. I thought that was why I was stuck with him. Turns out I was not, he was always there, for a long time, trying to be there for me, in his own way, when no one else was."

Dinah simply listened, zero judgment inside of her, just glad he was finally talking about his problems. Though after being a bit stand-offish last time, she'd to wonder why.

"Why are you telling me all this now?"

"Part of my problem was I never accepted my problem, if that makes sense. I never acknowledged what the Hulk is, and what he means to me, in here." Banner tapped his head. "No one really knows what they are."

"They?"

"I don't understand it, but, everything that I repressed growing up, manifested as another Hulk, because I was never that emotion. If I don't understand what they are, then I'll never find a way to live my life...even if it's a life that'll make me pull out my hair before I reach my fifties."

"The price of a hero."

"Yeah." Banner nodded. "I always thought he was a monster, but he is a hero. And I need him, just like he needs me." He leaned back. "For the face-change, for a while, I was able to retain control on Hulk, but….he started affecting my appearance too, changing my look to a mix of his and mine." Banner sighed. "That was tough, I started treating him like a curse again…..until an alien invasion made us work together once more. However", he rubbed his face, "issues had clearly not been sorted out. I didn't contact people I used to know, because I was afraid how they'd react to the new face." He smiled. "But now….I believe we've reached an understanding."

"That is good", Dinah said with a smile.

"And now that we agree that we are two separate beings sharing a mind, we can live in a better way", Banner finished. "I can meet the ones I care about again."

With that, Banner stood up, Dinah doing the same. "Thank you, for listening, I know it couldn't have been easy."

Suddenly hearing cheering sounds by The Team, Dinah winced. "You see what I deal with all the time?"

Banner chuckled. "Trust me, Tony and Thor are worse."

"I don't even wanna know."

"You don't." Getting serious again, Banner said. "But what you said, it helped, and you were right, a new perspective never hurts."

"They see you, all of you, as a hero here", Dinah assured Banner. "And if you keep this up, I believe you'll all find the balance you want."

Banner nodded, walking off, Dinah adding. "We'll start finding a way to get you back, and we will, trust me."

"I do."

Earth-192, Blüdhaven

The other League women had been freed, with Roulette and Sonar arrested. The group had found the machine that had been used to pull Tifa, Rogue and Stargirl here.

And there was another device created by Sonar for the mind control, which managed to tune itself with Stargirl's and Rogue's frequencies, but there hadn't been time to tune it with Tifa's frequency as well, plus the machine to pull people from other worlds had fluctuated a short while after pulling in Tifa, with Roulette and Sonar having planned to repair it afterwards, not that they could anymore.

Now, Wonder Woman looked at Tifa and Rogue standing before her.

"You two," she said, voice steady but grateful, "fought with honor. And strength worthy of any Amazon."

Tifa gave a small, respectful nod. "Glad we didn't have to keep testing that theory."

Rogue grinned and offered a gloved hand. "No hard feelin's, sugar. You hit like a freight train dipped in myth."

Wonder Woman shook it.

Just then, Black Canary, Hawkgirl, Vixen, Stargirl, and Huntress came in.

"It's working again!" Huntress said. "Roulette's interdimensional snatcher. Now we can use it to send everyone back."

"Bout time," Vixen added, cracking her neck. "I need a nap."

Tifa and Rogue exchanged a glance.

Few minutes later

The team stood once more in the arena, having brought in Roulette's device.

"Different Stargirl from a different world, that's new", Black Canary commented, looking Stargirl up and down. "And you're part of the Teen Titans?"

"You can say that", Stargirl shrugged. "Been to a different world before, met other Teen Titans. Now another Justice League. Nice to meet you."

"You too", Hawkgirl replied, Stargirl sighing sadly as she thought of Carter, Hawkgirl noting the pain on her face, and decided not to pry.

As the device beeped, Stargirl gave Rogue a big thumbs-up.

"You're awesome, by the way," she grinned.

Rogue winked. "Ah know, sugar."

Tifa gave a polite nod to the team. "Thanks for the help. And for not holding the whole… punching thing against me."

Black Canary smirked. "Comes with the job."

"Also, when Ah touched her, Ah got some memory flashes," Rogue told the girl group, crossing her arms. "Not much—just a bald fella and bits of a conversation between him and her. Ain't got a clue what it was about."

"Lex", Wonder Woman said in a growl, as the League women and Stargirl exchanged looks.

"He is trouble here too, huh?" Stargirl asked, and got nods. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Looks like that's constant across worlds", Huntress noted while shrugging her shoulders.

Rogue stretched and slung her jacket over her shoulder.

"Y'know, for a deathmatch in a twisted alternate dimension, Ah had a pretty decent time." She looked around at the group with a playful smile.

"Maybe next time, we skip the violence and just have a girls' night out. Drinks, maybe some karaoke?"

The group collectively gave her a look.

"Hard pass," Huntress muttered.

"No way," Vixen added.

"I'm still sore," Canary groaned.

"I like breathing, so… no thanks," Stargirl said with a laugh.

"Well, I make drinks myself, but not in the mood right now", Tifa replied, wondering how Aerith would have reacted in this situation.

Accepted happily for sure.

Rogue pouted dramatically, then shrugged.

"Your loss, sugars."

With a wink and a wave, she turned and stepped through the portal, vanishing into her world.

Stargirl followed after, turning to wave once more before disappearing.

Tifa lingered for a moment, looking back at the others.

"Take care."

"You too," Wonder Woman nodded.

With a flash, Tifa stepped into the light—and was gone.

"And that's that", Huntress shrugged, speaking for everyone. "Variants of us, now that's a weird thought."

"Tell me about it", Black Canary commented.

Earth-199999, New York City, Baxter Building

Johnny was on the phone, which got picked up from the other end. "Johnny! Didn't expect to get a call from you! Is this about-"

"Yes, the breacher", Johnny confirmed to him. "He is here! Wash our hands off of this shellhead, and this entire nonsense!"

"With pleasure."

The call was cut, as Johnny put his phone down, and looking up, smirked.

"This act sounds like a whole mess," Raphael said to Ben, the two sittin' side by side. "Gotta be some power-hungry egomaniac behind this kinda garbage."

"Oh, ya got no idea," Ben replied with a shake of his head, thinkin' about Ross, and even Tony. "They say they wanna protect the regular folks, but really? They just wanna control us, hunt us down like we're the bad guys."

Raphael scoffed, noddin'.

"Ya ever had somethin' like this before?"

"Kinda reminds me o' somethin'," Raphael muttered, thoughts driftin' to John Bishop and the Earth Protection Force. The SHRA felt way more public and organized—but just as shady. Still, Bishop at least thought he was protectin' the world. From what he was hearin', Ross was just a grade-A control freak.

"But it ain't this bad," Raphael finally muttered, when Reed's stretchy hand suddenly reached toward him. "Whoa—what the hell?!" Raphael jerked back slightly.

"Sorry, just need to scan your frequency before we get to the final step." Reed pressed the device, and Raphael was scanned, making him grunt a little, before Reed's hand went back into place. "All right, this is gonna be fun to do, with this new kind of device."

"Ya care more 'bout the gizmo or about gettin' the guy back home?" Ben shot at Reed, who didn't even look up—lost in the work.

"All right, now it'll go up here", Reed muttered, trying to adjust the size of the device a bit as he examined it closely with one eye.

"Sorry, he is big on science, world's smartest man and all", Susan told Raphael, who was watching Reed intently. "Gets lost in the science of it." She added with a fond smile. "Only time I find it interesting is when he explains it to me."

Raphael just shrugged, looking at Reed, and seeing Donny in his place for a few seconds, because that's just how much he was reminded of Donny by Reed, considering Donny himself used to get lost in the experiments and inventions.

"Wish Thor was here," Ben sighed. "Woulda made this a whole lot easier. We fought this robot a while ago, and our Thunder God learned how to whip up portals like nothin'!"

"Wait—Thor's real in this world?" Raphael asked, wide-eyed. The others nodded, and he blinked.

"Now that... that's shockin'." "Literally!" Johnny quipped as he came out of his room, causing the rest to chuckle a bit.

Raphael stood up, glancin' at them all.

"Look, you guys are stickin' your necks out for me, and I ain't gonna forget that. I mean it—thanks."

"Its no problem", Susan assured him, which was when Reed's phone rang.

Stretching one hand, he took it, and brought it closer to himself, accepting the call.

"Secretary Ross!" Reed greeted him, causing the rest to look over in his direction in complete shock. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"We know you've the superhuman breacher", Ross' voice said, and Reed could practically hear him sneering. "Hand them over to us!"

"Look, Secretary, there is no need, we can send him back to where he came from, in fact, we're about to", Reed tried to reason with him. "There's no point arresting him and applying our world's laws when he isn't from here."

"He attacked our agents, Richards, and you don't seem to understand- this isn't a request, this is an order!"

Reed raised an eyebrow, the others tensing as they wondered what he'd say.

"And if we refuse?"

"Then you're not as smart as I thought you were."

With that, the call was cut, as Reed sighed, putting the phone away, and taking a deep breath, he exhaled, before continuing to work on the IDIOT.

"Reed, what was it?" Johnny asked, and on not getting a response, he insisted. "What was it?"

"I think the SHRA taskforce is coming here to arrest us, so I better finish this quickly!" Reed said with a shrug, Raphael's face falling at that.

"Damn!" Johnny muttered, before shrugging. "Well, I guess I will have to fire them up if they come here."

"Didn't think you'd do it, Stretch."", Ben said to Reed, and the respect in his voice was clear.

"After Krakoa, I can't even look myself in the mirror! And Cap was right, if we're sorry, we need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves!" Reed finally said, and in his eyes, Susan could see the man with principles she'd known for so many years, not the one broken down by the SHRA. "We need to do something to make this right instead of just letting Ross walk over us, to make us do things we shouldn't do! And well…..sending Raphael back is the right thing to do!"

"And I'm in", Susan assured Reed, walking up to him as she grasped his hand, giving him a smile that he returned. "Reed Richards, you're the smartest man I know. And today, you've shown me….that after everything, you're a good man as well."

The two continued looking into each other's eyes for a few moments, before Ben coughed, making them part, blushing a bit, while Reed started working on the IDIOT again.

"Well then—screw the Act. And screw Ross!" Ben declared, clappin' Raphael on the back. "We got your back, all the way."

"Look... ya don't gotta do this for me," Raphael said, brows furrowed. "I ain't lettin' any o' you wind up behind bars on my account. I'll turn myself in if I gotta—" "No you won't!" Susan immediately told him with a shake of her head. "We won't let you, we took you in, its our job to protect you, and send you back!"

"I don't need protectin'!"

"But you need to go home, and that's something we'll do", Susan shot back, not backing down from him. "If there's anything good we can do, after all the bad that we did, just so the bad things will not happen to us…..we will."

That was when an alert beeped again, as Johnny asked. "Now who is it?"

Reed sighed. "Tony."

Tony rocketed towards the Baxter Building, with some drones by his side.

Down below, SHRA taskforce agents moved towards the building as well with precision, starting to surround it, forming a perimeter.

Their leader tapped his comms. "We have visual. Baxter Building is holding the unregistered superhuman breacher. Proceeding with forced entry."

Reed continued to tinker with the IDIOT while looking out via the cameras, as Raphael clenched his fists.

"This ain't sittin' right with me," he muttered. "Yous are all riskin' jail 'cause o' me."

Susan stood near the door, and told Raphael. "Then let that happen, its better than being forced to bag you and others like you who did nothing wrong."

Before Raphael could argue more, the alarms in the building started blaring all over.

"They're here", Johnny muttered, his eyes igniting.

Down below, the SHRA taskforce had moved into the building, splitting off into groups and moving in tight formation, their weapons all drawn.

Reed smirked while adding his finishing touches to the IDIOT with one hand, and stretching out his hand as his fingers tapped a holographic interface.

As the agents advanced, the floor itself suddenly started shifting, making them teeter here and there, and one part of the floor tilted, sending one little squad tumbling into a pit that wasn't there a second ago.

The other agents tried to run off and scatter when the magnetized walls activated, pulling the agents' weapons out of their hands and sticking them high up, out of reach.

"Tsk tsk," Reed muttered, still working. "Didn't think I'd let you waltz in, did you?"

Some agents were on the stairwell, trying to move up, when suddenly, they rammed into invisible force-fields generated by Reed's machines using Susan's power as a blueprint (the two had made this together with Sue's consent), sending them tumbling down.

Some security cameras looked down at another group of SHRA agents, and suddenly, they turned into drones, flying around, startling the agents who tried to fire, but the drones were too small and too fast.

Then, they emitted high-frequency sonic pulses that made the SHRA taskforce agents only hear static on their comms, the signals all scrambled.

One more squad opened up the door to the emergency exit, hoping to climb up via those stairs, only for the taser-wired ground itself to zap them, knocking them all unconscious the moment they stepped there.

Tony was scanning into the building using his HUD, seeing the chaos unfolding upon the SHRA taskforce agents due to Reed's scientific traps.

"Nice try", Tony muttered, before the drones flew towards the building via the entrance.

The drones made their way to the stairwell, and split off into tiny EMP pulses, which attached towards the sources of the barriers, and fried them, the force-fields flickering and failing.

The agents staggered up with groans, realizing they could move forwards now.

Then, Tony started using his device to hack into the Baxter Building, attempting to override Reed's control of the building itself.

The magnetic walls were rebooted, the guns all falling down as the taskforce agents quickly picked them back up.

"Nice tricks, Stretch", Tony quipped from where he was. "But you can't out-code me."

Reed's systems had already detected Tony breaching the system, and typed in a hidden feedback loop into his system, that he was connecting to Tony's armor, made possible by the fact that Tony had hacked into the Baxter Building.

Junk data appeared all around Tony's HUD, making it lag, as Tony faltered around mid-air.

"I've known you for a long time, Tony", Reed commented with a smirk. "Your arrogance is your weakness."

"Manual reboot!" Tony cried out, causing the HUD to shut down briefly, causing it go dark for him, but in the very next second, it rebooted, coming back up, and activating a counter-algorithm that purged all junk data.

"I always plan for countermeasures."

He then continued his hacking.

The security cameras that were actually drones now shut down, falling to the ground.

"We don't have much time", Reed said, finally finishing up the IDIOT, and stretching out his hand, held it out to Raphael, who took it quickly.

The agents were all running up the building, as Tony flew past them.

Raphael started. "Look, I-"

"If you wanna thank us, do it by getting out, quickly!" Susan finally said to him.

"And don't worry about us!" Ben added with a grin.

"But-"

"No buts", Sue cut him off. "Go home!"

With a reluctant nod, Raphael put the new IDIOT around his arm, this one synchronizing with the unique signature of its wearer, and the Universe they came from.

"Just a little more", Reed said, and then the device beeped. "Go!"

Raphael activated the device, a portal opening.

BANG!

The door burst open as Tony flew in. "Gotta say, disappointed in how you're doing things that are clearly NOT fantastic!"

"Flame on!"

Johnny fired a weak blast of flames at Tony, slightly sending him back, just as Raphael ran into the portal.

And then, he jumped into the portal, Tony firing a repulsor at it. Only, the portal closed, and the blast hit the wall instead.

That was when the SHRA taskforce agents burst in too, and Johnny flew at Tony, giving the slightest nod that Tony returned, with Johnny sending a torrent of flames in Tony's way.

The agents fired at the others, only for Susan to erect a force-field, blocking the shots from hitting herself, and even Reed and Ben.

Only problem was that Tony was on their side, still fighting Johnny. Or at least, that was what they thought their problem was.

It was worse!

Tony fired a blast at Johnny that he flew up to avoid. Then, Johnny hurled a massive fireball at Tony, only for Tony to hold up his gauntlet, an energy-redirection panel activating.

The blast rebound, weakened, but still strong enough…..and Susan turned towards it a second too late, being struck as it knocked her out.

"SUE!" Reed rushed to her side, as Johnny let out a roar, and flew right at Tony.

Meanwhile, Ben rushed towards the taskforce agents, sending three of them flying off with a punch, then slamming his foot on the ground as everything shook, the ground underneath agents breaking as they fell down.

"IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

Tony ducked to avoid a blast of flames by Johnny and flying towards him, held out his palm upon Johnny's chest, firing a well-timed stun pulse that made Johnny's fire go out, and he crashed onto the floor, unconscious.

Reed stretched his arm in desperation towards a device, but Tony fired an EMP-restraint net quickly, and it opened up around Reed, tangling him in an electrified mesh as he gasped in pain on being shocked, his stretched arm falling down uselessly.

Ben picked up another agent, and hurled him into many more, downing them all, and was about to take on the remaining ones.

"Uh-huh, won't try that if I were you, Rocky."

He turned around with gritted teeth, showing Tony aiming his repulsors at the heads of both Johnny and Sue, the repulsors fully powered.

Ben growled, everyone wondering what he'd do.

And then, he slumped his shoulders, angrily growling. "Damn you, Stark!"

"No, damn all of you!" Tony turned to Reed. "I thought you lot had some common sense! Clearly, you don't!"

"Look who's talking", Reed said with a sardonic chuckle, as SHRA agents cuffed Ben with their specialized cuffs, these ones large, having been made for people of his size.

Tony moved onto Reed, the EMP-restraint net deactivating just as Tony fired the cuffs at him, getting him too, with agents cuffing Susan and Johnny in the meantime, the two groaning as they started coming to barely, and were forced up, being marched forwards, while Reed and Ben walked with them.

"Enjoy prison, guys", Tony said with a smirk. "This is what you get!"

"You've lost yourself, Tony", Reed said sadly. "You're not the same guy I've known all these years."

"No! You've lost yourself!" Tony countered, pointing at Reed. "You know the law, you read it, and you broke it!"

"If these laws are gonna turn our country into North Korea or Nazi Germany, we're fine breaking 'em", Ben said with a smirk. "If ya wanna be pals with Hitler, just be prepared when they knock at your doors."

"Who?" Tony asked.

"Everyone", Reed said to him with a smile. "Because Captain America and everyone else will stop you! It might take some time, but one day, they will stop you, and turn this all around."

Tony just chuckled. "I thought you were smart, you're clearly not that smart. Can't believe we ever argued about that."

"Me neither", Reed shrugged, as the taskforce led them out of the room, Susan and Johnny slowly opening their eyes fully.

"What happened?" Johnny said with a groan.

"Think…we're arrested", Susan muttered.

"But at least Raphael got away", Reed told them with a smile.

"The last thing we did while free," Ben reflected to the group, before nodding to himself, "it was worth it."

"All this over a turtle", Talos scoffed as he prepared to fly out. The Skrull who'd replaced Johnny really had to play his cards right to get all of them captured.

Unfortunately, because of that, they couldn't get the breacher, but at least they'd gotten the entire Fantastic Four now.

The Skrull would be separated from the rest when they reached the containment area, and then he'd be let go, while the other three would then be imprisoned.

He laughed at the idea that the Skrulls had outsmarted the smartest man on Earth.

If only he knew…

Earth-11052, Area 51

Katooni, Ganodi and Zatt woke up with groans, then saw Hondo and his pirates standing nearby, all of them locked up somewhere dark.

"Where are we?" Katooni asked, looking frightened as her eyes flickered here and there, observing their dark confinement.

"Why are we getting captured so much today?" Zatt asked, even shuddering a little bit, before realizing some of them were missing. "Byph is not here, or Petro, and Gungi!"

"R2 too!" Ganodi noted grimly. "And Ahsoka as well! They're not here with us!"

"What are we going to do?" Katooni wondered, panicking, Zatt and Ganodi not looking much better either, because while they were Jedi Padawans in training, they were still young children, now lost and captured in an unknown world.

"You do not need to fear", Hondo of all people assured the younglings, causing them to turn to him and his pirates. "I have talked my way out of tougher scraps than this, and if there's one thing Hondo Ohnaka is famous for, it his talking."

"More like he can't stop talking", Ganodi quipped, suddenly feeling relaxed, as did the other two.

That was when they heard something, and turned around, seeing a man in a uniform and cap, flanked by two soldiers, step inside.

"What is that robot with you? Its hard to discern", he snarled, observing all of them in disgust, and what looked like some fear. "Also, what even are you?"

The soldiers pointed their guns, causing the three younglings to shiver, while the commander asked. "Are you Mutants with even stronger mutations? What are you even doing here?!"

The younglings hid behind a suddenly very protective Hondo, who leaned forwards, until his face was inches away from the commander, not caring about the guns aimed at him.

"Now that is no way to speak to such little ones."

The commander held Hondo's gaze for a few seconds, then looked away, suddenly scared, before he walked out, the soldiers lowering their guns and following him.

"We'll ask again later, and we won't be so nice", the commander warned them, one soldier locking the door, to which Hondo just gave a smirk that said 'bring it on'.

"I am not so nice myself."

Gungi reached a forest, still carrying his three unconscious companions, R2 next to him. It was night-time by now, and they hid in a corner as they saw a man with an eyepatch walking off with many people in uniforms.

As they went off, Gungi heard some arguing from a distance, and moved ahead, lightning suddenly cracking in the sky, making Gungi look up in shock, while R2 said something too.

Storm of Earth-11052 was glaring at Mystique, when Jean Grey stepped up to them. "Storm! No! Remember the Professor!"

Storm's eyes stopped glowing as she backed off, Mystique commenting. "Wise council." Before she could say anymore, they heard something, and turned to see something move in the bushes.

Everyone tensed up, prepared for what was coming.

Only, when it did come, they realized they weren't actually prepared at all.

Because they were all dumbfounded by the sight of a small, hairy person, carrying three "people" (one kid, and two very inhuman looking beings), and with him was a weird robot-creature of all things!

Gungi stopped, then roared, asking for help, R2 beeping too, while the X-Men and Brotherhood just stared in shock for a few seconds.

"Did anyone get that?" Toad finally asked.

Gungi then lay down his friends onto the ground, all next to each other, before he looked at the rest and spoke in growls, barks, moans, and roars, R2 beeping too, everyone just looking at each other.

"What is even going on?" Lance asked no one in particular.

"I'm not really sure", Wanda noted.

Gungi seemed to focus on the two blue people- Mystique, and Nightcrawler, whom he'd seen earlier, as Gungi could tell they were not normal. The Force told him the same.

"You know, he looks really cute", Kitty Pryde said all of a sudden about Gungi, making the rest groan.

"I mean….is that important?" Bobby asked her, and she shrugged.

"Perhaps he is trying to tell us something", Nightcrawler suggested, seeing how Gungi seemed to be fixated on him and Mystique a bit.

"Those three look like they need help", Storm noted, gesturing to the three unconscious people.

"Jean, can you do something?" Cyclops finally asked her, and Jean nodded.

"I can try." She walked up to Gungi, kneeling to him, holding her hands on either side. Seeming to understand what that meant, Gungi lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Jean touched either side of his head gently, the two connecting mentally, while the rest watched in awe.

Suddenly, Jean fell back with a gasp due to the overload of info, the X-Men looking concerned.

"Jean, you okay?" Cyclops asked as he moved forwards, but she held up a hand to indicate she was fine, while picking herself up.

"Guys, we may have a problem."

Few minutes later

Jean put her hands around the unconscious Ahsoka, and then, Ahsoka sat up with a gasp, grasping her head, before her eyes fell to her front, seeing Gungi, Petro, Byph and R2 standing there, while she turned to her side and saw Jean, giving her a kind smile, after which her eyes fell to the others nearby.

"Where are we? And where are the rest?" Ahsoka asked frantically, before Gungi spoke in his tongue, Ahsoka looking horrified. "Oh no!"

"Uhhh…what exactly is going on?" Lance asked no one in particular.

"They're aliens, from a different galaxy, from an entirely different Universe", Jean revealed, shocking everyone present, as jaws dropped. Even Storm and Mystique had that exact reaction.

"….Aliens….?" Mystique trailed off, struggling to process it.

"And different Universe?" Storm inquired too.

"Who are you people exactly?" Petro then asked the two different groups of Mutants before them.

"We're Mutants", Nightcrawler finally said excitedly. "We all have special and different kinds of powers amongst us. But its not as cool as being aliens!"

"I know! Seeing their looks, that's the only thing that makes sense", Bobby shrugged as he gestured to Gungi and Byph, making Petro give him a glare, and even Storm looked at him, shaking her head, displeased.

"What'd you say?" Petro asked, a rough edge to his voice, while Bobby turned from him to Storm.

"Uhhh…sorry?"

Storm looked back at Ahsoka, telling her. "I believe the same people who took our friends must have taken yours too, since they might believe you to be Mutants as well."

"I'm still struggling to process aliens are real", Cyclops muttered, running his hand through his hair. "Its…kinda cool, isn't it?"

"It is!" Lance of all people agreed, as they shared a chuckle, before realizing they'd agreed on something, and looked away with 'hmphs', Kitty giggling at that.

"Well, what do we do?" Toad finally asked. "I mean, aliens are something else, but what do we do?"

"My thoughts exactly", Wanda added.

"Your friends are taken by the same ones who took our people", Mystique suggested to the Jedi and droid. "Why don't we work together to save everyone?"

Storm groaned, hating the idea of working with Mystique, but she knew there was no other choice. "Yes….I believe we should do that."

Ahsoka stood up, looking between the two women, sensing the enmity between them, but also the sincerity in the offer (well, Storm's offer more), and finally nodded.

"I think we should do that. I do want our friends and droid back, as well as the ship." She offhandedly mentioned. "I suppose the pirates too."

"Pirates? Space pirates?" Cyclops asked, and at Ahsoka's exasperated nod (more at what Hondo is like than anything else), he muttered. "How did our day end with alien pirates?"

Earth-98, San Francisco, Halliwell Manor

"What should we do about this?" Piper Halliwell asked her husband Leo Wyatt, with whom she'd recently reconciled, as she picked up their baby Wyatt Halliwell, while the younger baby Chris Halliwell slept nearby, his aunts Paige Matthews and Phoebe Halliwell on either side of him as they coddled the baby.

"Gideon might have acted alone, but I know most of the Elders are most likely of the same mind as him", Leo said with an angry snarl. He'd done so much for the Elders, even given up his happy family life, and in return, he got one of them trying to murder his and Piper's eldest son?

Not to mention, he already had murdered the future version of their young son Chris before Leo had made him pay!

He knew this matter was not over just yet.

Suddenly, Leo grasped his head, sensing something, causing Piper to look at him in concern. "Leo? What's wrong?"

Leo shook his head while rubbing it, not fully sure, when suddenly, Paige and Phoebe started coughing vigorously nearby, to the horror of both Piper and Leo, the two women coughing harder and harder each second.

Somewhere else in the city, a man hopped into a car, with flies buzzing around his body.

Pestilence!

Middle-earth, Rohan, Helm's Deep

"Move back! Move to the caves! Come on, people! Quickly, now!"

The entire fortress was a flurry of activity as women and children were moved into the Glittering Caves.

Aragorn, Legolas, Sora and Geralt walked together as the former looked up and said. "We'll place some along the wall. They can support the archers from above the gate."

"Aragorn, you must rest." Legolas said to the Ranger in concern. "You're no use to us half alive."

"Aragorn!"

They all turned to see Éowyn walking towards them, looking angry.

"I'm to be sent with the women into the caves!" She said incredulously.

"That is an honorable charge." Aragorn said soothingly, trying to comfort her without offending her.

"To mind the children, to find food and bedding when the men return." Éowyn said. "What renown is there in that?"

"War is not a joke!" Geralt said, his mind flashing to Ciri once more as he walked to Éowyn, looking down at her. "It is not romantic, and there is no renown." He closed his eyes sadly, thinking of Ciri before her trauma, and of Ciri after her trauma. "All you will have…..are bad memories."

Just seeing the way he looked at her, Éowyn felt her heart stop briefly, the words he said being processed by her.

"My lady, a time may come for valor without renown." Aragorn agreed with Geralt. "Who then will your people look to in the last defense?"

"Let me stand at your side." Éowyn insisted.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Geralt asked.

"I did, and I wish to fight to defend our people", Éowyn immediately responded, but Geralt was unconvinced.

"Is that true?" He inquired.

"It is not in my power to command it." Aragorn pointed out to her.

"You do not command the others to stay!" Éowyn snapped. "They fight beside you because they would not be parted from you! Because they love you!"

That made Geralt and Sora exchange a look, Geralt now sighing before giving Sora a look that said- 'I'm not getting into that'.

Sora seemed to agree.

Aragorn looked at the ground and then back at Éowyn.

"I'm sorry." She huffed before leaving abruptly.

"Aragorn." Geralt said as the Ranger turned to him. "Take Legolas' advise and go rest for a bit."

"Do you truly believe I should?" Aragorn asked.

Geralt scoffed and walked up closer to Aragorn, almost seeming to size him up. "I would suggest you listen to me?"

Sora stepped in between. "Guys, let's not act like idiots, right?" He looked at Geralt, who shrugged and backed off, before turning to Aragorn. "Please, go rest, then help us!"

Aragorn sighed. "If you say so."

He then walked off to follow what Legolas, Geralt and Sora had said.

"Have to say, looks like Elves are not discriminated against in this world", Geralt noted as he looked at Legolas. "Or Dwarves for the matter?"

"You have Elves in your world too then, I take it", Legolas commented, Geralt nodding as they all walked together. "How are they?"

"How they are treated…..makes me think of myself", Geralt admitted.

"You're not….amongst the Race of Men, are you?" Legolas inquired, Geralt just giving a cold smile in response to that.

"We are taken in at a young age, subjected to Alchemy, and training, both physical and magical, and we consume certain compounds", Geralt explained the process. "We can do things that the Race of Men cannot, such as not succumbing to disease, and we can constrict our pupils to see in the dark. We do not age quickly either."

"Like the Men of Númenor", Legolas noted, but he and Sora were also shaken by the procedure described to them. "Yet, the way you are created, it seems to be dark."

"It is, but that is how we defeat monsters", Geralt declared finally. "I am a Witcher, and tonight, I shall be killing a lot of monsters!"

"We are glad to have you by our side", Legolas said with a smile, Geralt just nodding.

"You're much better than the Elves I've met. I feel sympathy for them, but many of them are too arrogant", Geralt finally said.

"So were we once", Legolas admitted, a faraway look in his eyes, as the tales of the First Age he'd been told rang inside his head. "We have learnt from the mistakes that our kin made in the past."

"If only everyone could", Geralt said as the three looked ahead.

"Well, what are we gonna do tonight?" Sora finally asked them both.

"We fight….and we kill", Geralt snarled.

"What about any Dragons?" Legolas wondered.

"If there are any, we'll have to be ready", Sora sighed.

Earth-447

At Kratos' house, both Thor and Odinson had their eyes wide in horror at everything they were hearing.

"He went on a killing spree against the Giants?" Odinson asked, his voice conveying just how chilled he felt at the prospect, and he could see that Thor's expression at this was even worse than his.

For Thor realized he'd come close to being this kind of person himself, when he'd snuck into Jotunheim with his friends.

"Yes, any Giant he could find, he slaughtered", Mimir told them both. "I wonder if he was compensating for something."

"All because this Odin was forced to flee Jötunheim because he was trying to steal their secret knowledge of the future?" Thor inquired, Kratos nodding at that.

"I have met many Gods in my lifetime." He looked at the two with slight wariness. "Almost all of them are the same. Vain, petty, cruel."

"We are not like that", Odinson assured him, but Kratos did not look fully convinced.

"Odin is a selfish, cruel and deceitful man, but also patient, devious, and almost as clever as he thinks", Mimir added with a little smirk. "He is obsessed, with controlling everything, especially his own fate. And he does not care what happens to others in his journey."

"Even his murder of Ymir was done so he could be Supreme Ruler", Thor noted in utter disgust. Even he, at his most arrogant, never wanted to be like that. "And what he did to his own wife….." Thor sighed, knowing Freya was a Variant of his mother, just from her name. His mother too had been a Vanir, and raised by Witches, before she and Odin had fallen in love and gotten married.

While they had their arguments, he couldn't imagine anything like this between them.

"All because she did not give him the same protection spell she gave to her son", Odinson muttered. "Baldur…..and he was", he looked between Kratos and Atreus, "slain by you after the spell was undone, and signalling the start of Ragnarök."

"With the aid of the World Serpent", Thor noted with a shudder. "This world is strange, with its alignment flipped." He sighed. "I am…truly afraid now, of meeting the Aesir here."

"And then there is Tyr", Mimir muttered, making the Thors share a look.

"Tyr is not my father's son where I'm from", Thor commented to them all.

"I would find these differences fascinating, had the Aesir in this world not been such cruel and petty tyrants", Odinson muttered, thinking of Baldur. "I have a Balder too, he is my half-brother, as fast as the light he is the God of, and he too is invulnerable to all but mistletoe, but he can will himself to be vulnerable, and it does not deprive him of his senses."

"I...remember a warrior named Balder who fell in battle, but I never knew him", Thor had to say, though he felt there was something coming up in his mind, only, when he tried to think on it, it was a blank. What did that mean? "Perhaps that is another difference between us."

"I am truly sorry for what the Aesir have put you all through", Odinson finally said, especially to Mimir, before turning to Kratos and Atreus. "And I do hope Freya forgives you, I believe she will ."

Kratos nodded in appreciation, which was when the door burst open, and two Dwarves ran in.

Brok and Sindri!

"Listen up, fuckers, we got-oooooh. Hello….." Brok trailed off as he looked at the two other Mjolnirs, admiring what they looked like, and Sindri started doing the same.

"What did you come here to say?" Kratos asked forcefully, snapping them both out of their daze.

"Ah, right", Sindri then began. "Well, we were gathering materials in the Primordial Realms, and then, we saw Thor tearing Musphelheim apart, looking for Surtr. A strange woman clad in dark was with him, using strange swords she conjured."

All of them exchanged looks of concern, Brok continuing. "Meanwhile, Odin is Niflheim with two strangers. If the Aesir are this active in Realms like these, something must be occurring. And not anything good."

"Why'd they be doing this?" Atreus wondered.

"Perhaps these strangers know something that could prevent Surtr's role in Ragnarök", Mimir guessed it. "But what could it be? And why Niflheim?"

"We must not delay", Thor said as he stood up, Odinson standing too. "Whatever purpose they have, it cannot be for the benefit of the Nine Realms here."

"We cannot risk a war with Asgard", Kratos cautioned.

"The war might happen regardless. You remember Jötunheim." Atreus pointed out, Kratos realizing he'd a point there too.

"The two of us shall confront our counterpart and this woman", Odinson finally declared as he gestured to Thor and himself.

"Your counterpart?" Sindri wondered.

"Lads, its some intriguing information, but we're short on time", Mimir told the Dwarves.

"And you can go to Niflheim, try to seek out and discover what purpose Odin has, from afar", Odinson said while gesturing to Kratos, the two looking at each other.

After about half a minute of consideration, Kratos finally nodded. "I will go."

Brok started. "All right, let us unlock the mystic gateway-"

"I have my own way", Odinson cut him off as he held up Mjolnir, then closed his eyes, concentrating, his mind finding the World Tree of this Universe, and forming a bond with it.

Just as Odinson opened his eyes, a portal opened before them.

"Though this Universe is not my own, every Realm is connected to Yggdrasil, as am I."

"I gotta get my hands on that beauty", Brok said, looking at the Mjolnirs as the two Thors disappeared through the glowing portal.

As they flew through the portal, Thor commented. "How strange is it that we are going to protect Surtr the Fire Demon, considering the history between him and Asgard in both our Universes?"

"The Multiverse is stranger than we thought", Odinson simply replied, both of them continuing to fly.

Universe-98, The Underworld

Many Demons were lying dead, their corpses, or pieces of their corpses, strewn here and there on the ground, with blood covering pretty much everything.

Lucifer sat on the throne of the Underworld, watching the carnage unfold before himself in pure satisfaction.

Michael Myers slashed a Demon across the face, staggering it back, before stabbing one through the chin, the knife visible in its mouth, and retracting it, grabbed another Demon's arm, twisting hard before slicing another one's throat, blood spilling.

One Demon was about to punch Jason Voorhees, only for Jason to grab its head and twist it at a 180 degrees angle, horrifying another Demon behind it, as this Demon fell down when Jason poked it with his finger.

The other Demon hurled a fireball at Jason, lighting him on fire. "BURN!"

To his horror, Jason seemed to not care, as he unsheathed his flaming machete, causing the Demon to scream in horror as it turned around and ran, only for Jason to throw the machete.

It went through the Demon's chest, the Demon falling to its knees as Jason pulled the flaming machete out, the Demon falling dead.

Jason walked ahead, slicing three more Demons in quick succession.

Candyman had covered another Demon with his bees, and it was being stung to death, while Helen brutalized another one with her hook.

One running Demon tripped on something and fell down, and before he could get up, Chucky jumped on top of him, laughing.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! Watch where you step!" And then he stabbed that Demon through the brain.

Meanwhile, Tiffany stabbed another one in the spine from behind, killing that one too.

Klarion laughed as five Demons were held by shadowy hands. "You all have horns? That style went out in the 20th century!"

One running Demon bumped past him, Teekl hissing at the Demon, while Klarion was angered. "Dang it!"

He chanted as another shadowy hand lifted that one up too, and then, all six of the Demons were drained by the shadowy hands, their bodies reduced to nothingness.

Meanwhile, Teekl leapt at another Demon and scratched his eyes out, making him scream in pain.

Ruby Knowby walked forwards, the dead Demons transforming into Deadites, while she held the Necronomicon in her hand, smirking while looking at other Demons, who looked utterly terrified.

"Kill them!"

The Deadite Demons lunged at the other Demons, ripping them all apart.

Felix Faust held up another Demon telekinetically, and hurled it into another one, both of them lighting up on fire instantly as they screamed and were reduced to ashes.

Dracula, in his bat form, ripped off the throat of a Demon, killing it while Dracula drank the Demon blood, empowering himself, before turning to normal, and as two more Demons tried to fight, Dracula effortlessly punched their heads off.

Drusilla stood in front of a Demon, having hypnotized it as she swayed, while it swayed with her. "Rock…back, forth, back forth." Suddenly, she used her really long fingernails to slice its throat, killing that one too.

And with them was also one more person Lucifer had recruited before leaving Earth-92- Amy Madison! Still bitter over the humiliation she'd faced at the hands of Daphne Frost after trying to force Willow into magic addiction, she'd agreed to join Lucifer in return for revenge against Willow, and the other Scoobies.

She hurled a ball of magic, electrocuting a Demon, and two more when they bumped against that one while running, all three of them being reduced to skeletons.

Pennywise was forcing a smaller Demon into his mouth, chomping on it with his teeth, blood spurting everywhere.

Then there was Leatherface, his chainsaw whirring as he stabbed it into a Demon and lifted it up, chopping into its insides while the Demon convulsed violently upon the chainsaw.

Ivy morphed into vines, and went inside a Demon's body via its mouth, making it gasp and bleed as she burrowed into its insides, before the Demon bled from all over, dying of internal bleeding.

Floronic Man held up one Demon with his plant powers, and forcefully ripped him apart.

And then, with them was also Malthus, the Demon who used to possess the doll named Annabelle, and it laughed maniacally, scaring some Demons with the amount of evil his presence exuded.

"Tremble….." He muttered, before suddenly turning into mist and going inside one Demon, possessing it, while the others backed off in terror.

"No-"

It was cut off when that Demon punched through its abdomen, killing it, while Malthus ripped the hand out, then made the Demon he was possessing snap its own neck.

Not to mention, there was the newest member of their group.

One Demon suddenly saw The Source of All Evil before it, and trembled in fear as the Source roared. "You are a failure, nothing more and nothing less!"

Unbeknownst to the Demon, an astral projection of a figure was whispering into its ear.

Barbas!

As the Demon trembled before the Source, it suddenly lunged forwards, turning into Freddy Krueger at the last moment, and stabbed the Demon in the gut, lifting it up while laughing maniacally, killing it, as Barbas turned tangible next to Freddy, smirking himself.

The Seer aka Kyra watched the scene from a distance, groaning in annoyance, her attitude clear.

"Ugh! So much for sabotaging my plans for a vacation from this dump!"

Only, before she could do anything, Lucifer appeared before Kyra, and lifted her up by the throat, while her mouth hung open due to the pain she was in.

A sinister smile formed on his face while she looked utterly terrified. "And to think you showed a little promise….."

Right before he could snap her neck though, a blast of magic shot towards Lucifer, making him throw Kyra off as he turned to the blast, easily deflecting it.

Kyra quickly shimmered away as Lucifer stared at Zankou, who'd been released by the remaining Demons to fight off Lucifer.

"So you're the person who believes he can rule the Underworld", Zankou snarled coldly. "However, only I have that right now!"

Lucifer chuckled. "Ask, and you shall receive!"

Zankou fired multiple blasts of fire at Lucifer, who easily deflected them with his telekinesis.

Roaring, Zankou rushed at Lucifer, throwing two punches and a kick. To his horror, they did nothing!

Lucifer punched Zankou hard in the stomach, making him fall on his knees, coughing out blood, before Lucifer swatted him to the ground.

Groaning in pain, Zankou rolled away and got up, firing his particle stream at Lucifer, continuing to do so, not letting up even one bit, as Lucifer was completely covered.

Zankou smirked, believing Lucifer had been incinerated.

Only, when the particle stream faded, he saw Lucifer still standing there, only his clothes having been incinerated, and he regenerated them, while tilting his head and chuckling.

"If this is really what one of the most fearsome Demons on this Earth is truly capable of… then that's just sad."

With that, Lucifer snapped his fingers…

And Zankou's body exploded in a shower of blood!

Zankou was dead!

Lucifer looked at Zankou's splattered and just did a "tsk tsk tsk."

"To think he believed he was the next in line." Lucifer muttered. "Oh well… boys and girls, let's pack it up, and move to the next world!"

With that, Lucifer created a portal to another world.

Earth-98, San Francisco, Halliwell Manor

Piper was frantically flipping through the pages of the Book of Shadows in the attic, while in the room nearby, Leo was caring for Paige and Phoebe, as well as looking after Wyatt and Chris.

Even with his Elder powers, he was unable to heal the two for whatever reason.

"What is it?" Piper muttered. "What is it? Come on!"

To her horror, she reached the end of the book, and found nothing. "Damn it!"

Suddenly, she heard something, and turned around, her jaw dropping on seeing Constantine, Sam, Dean, Angel, Spike, Buffy, Willow, Tara, Ash, Alice, Andy, and the entire group of Heroes, right in her attic.

"Who the hell are you all?" Piper asked in shock.

Smirking, Constantine stepped forwards. "Possibly the best asshole you'll ever have the chance of knowing."

Piper rolled her eyes at that, as Angel gestured to Spike. "He is worse!"

"Oh knock it off, Captain Forehead! You ain't nothing!" Spike said to him with folded arms.

"Hey, you're copying me!"

"Now there-"

"I got a soul before it was cool!"

"Both of you, knock it off, otherwise I'll glow in your faces!" Cordelia threatened them both, making them shut up, though they still shot each other dirty looks.

"Idjits!" Bobby said.

"Well, we're working with people we didn't think we'd work with", Buffy simply said, looking at Faith, who shrugged.

"Come on, B, things change."

"Yeah…."

"I believe we should explain everything to the young woman here", Giles said while gesturing to Piper, bringing everyone's focus to her.

"Well, we sensed our enemy here", Constantine finally told Piper. "That being Lucifer."

Piper's eyes widened in horror.

"You mean…the Devil?"

"Okay, I'm not doing this bollocks." Constantine groaned. "Fake Devil, Apocalypse across the Multiverse, we're forming a team to stop him, blah, blah, blah. Caught up now, luv?"

Piper's eyes were wide. "We just dealt with a mess regarding another world, now all worlds are in trouble?"

Everyone nodded as one.

"You're a Witch, huh?" Willow asked Piper as she stepped forwards with Tara. "We're too."

"I'm Tara Maclay, this is Willow Rosenberg", Tara introduced herself and her girlfriend.

"My name is Piper Halliwell", Piper finally gave her name. "And these are….oh no!" Piper was horrified again. "My sisters, they…..they're sick, coughing violently suddenly, and I'm not sure how to fix it!"

"Think we might know", Dean said as he, Sam and Bobby stepped forwards. "This is Pestilence."

"What's Pestilence?" Piper inquired.

"One of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse?" Sam half-asked, half-said. "You know- War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death?"

"Uh, no, the Four Horsemen are War, Famine, Strife and Death", Piper said, confusing the Winchesters now.

"Different Horsemen, weird", Dean commented.

"Doesn't matter, I got this covered", Constantine finally told Piper. "Where are they?"

"Come." She walked off, the others walking after her as she led them to the room where Leo was, with the rest, and fortunately, the babies were asleep, while Paige and Phoebe lay on beds, still coughing.

"Whoa! Who are all of these?" Leo asked, looking at the huge group with wide eyes.

"Just here to help", Alice told him, while Constantine walked to Paige and Phoebe, touching their foreheads before chanting, his eyes glowing, while everything shook, and it even went dark for a few seconds, making everyone look here and there in fear.

Then, it all stopped, as Constantine panted, retracting his hands, while Paige and Phoebe gasped, before shooting up, sitting straight.

"Its…..its gone", Paige muttered, running a hand across her chest, as Piper let out a sound that was a mix between a laugh and a sob, and she hugged both of them tightly.

"Oh, you two are all right!" She said emotionally, while looking at Constantine. "Oh thank you! Thank you!"

Constantine shrugged as she let them both go, while Leo asked. "What exactly is going on?"

"There's a fake Devil who is causing an Apocalypse across the Multiverse, and your world was just targeted", B told him, before randomly pointing to Lexy. "Plus, I'm her doppelganger, and not twins."

"Just in case you were wondering", Lexy added.

"But they are different versions of me", B said, gesturing to Buffy and Buff.

"One is older than me, the other is younger, yada-yada", Buffy said with a shrug.

"I knew the Multiverse would be headache-inducing, but not this much", Andy said to no one in particular.

"So, are we gonna go after this fake Devil together?" Phoebe finally asked Constantine.

"Are you with us?" Carrie inquired.

"Oh yeah, we are!" Piper declared firmly, her sisters and husband nodding too, while she looked at Leo. "Let's prepare, and drop our kids with dad."

"Will do", Leo assured her.

That was when Ash commented. "There's too many damn people here!"

Constantine looked around, seeing how many people there were in this group. "Huh. For once, the dumbass has a point."

"In that case, what should we do?" Faith asked everyone present.

"Split up", Angel declared, everyone turning to him. "Lucifer is going from Earth to Earth, and if we all go to one Earth together, we might miss him. But if we split up into groups, we can come across his people, and try to stem the tide."

"He…has a point." Giles couldn't believe he was agreeing with Angel.

"Think that's a good idea", Constantine agreed as he knelt down, and poured some powder on the ground, before chanting, causing everything to shake again while the powder glowed, and then, many different portals opened all around the room, Constantine standing up.

"I researched some worlds recently in my free time, so before we make teams and jump in, let's talk about these worlds and who you'll meet, after which some of us will scout them out, and then we can split up, eh?"

Earth-8096, Utopia

Cyclops looked down from above, the Phoenix Five already having turned the island into a magnificent city with their powers, the utopia they'd talked of, with the younger Mutants playing happily.

He smiled, happy that the goals of the Professor were close to being achieved.

Yet, something was bothering him, the surprise that came with the Phoenix Force. He was still wondering why the other four hadn't reacted yet.

He could hear everyone's thoughts!

Cyclops grasped his head, all of this getting too much, before he flew off, to a certain spot.

Few minutes later

Cyclops stood at the spot where Emma Frost had died, while trying to stop the Phoenix Force.

He wondered how she or Jean had been able to handle telepathy at the start without their heads exploding, because even with the Phoenix Force, he was struggling.

Emma. Emma Frost. Who'd died right here. That was the other surprise of the Phoenix Force.

It made her memory….the loss of her, raw and fresh once more. Every day. Every hour. As if each step he took led him right back to…..

"Oh!" He muttered, looking around at the area once more. He hadn't even meant to come here.

Cyclops was surprised, as he usually didn't let his mind wander. He thought about the messy, chaotic battle that had been fought here, to stop the Phoenix Force itself.

And Emma…..she'd committed the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, for all of them.

Yet…..why didn't he feel anything?

"I need to talk to someone", he said, holding out his hand. "The one who can know this best."

The dust around the area rose, coalescing at one spot, slowly taking shape in front of Cyclops, womanly features showing on the figure, including long hair.

The woman, briefly recreated by dust, opened her eyes.

"Hello Scott", Emma Frost greeted him. "How have you been?"

She walked closer to him, seeing how different his costume looked, due to the Phoenix Force. "I like the new costume. Is it supposed to represent your new power? Or to remind yourself of me?"

"I don't need reminders, Emma", Cyclops told her.

"Love tends to stick that way, doesn't it?"

Cyclops lowered his head, wanting to deny it, but…he just couldn't. While he loved Jean, during that time, when Emma was there, his heart had found her.

She'd been there for him, in a way. And his heart had felt love, somewhere, deep down.

"Even if you're not as sentimental as before", Emma Frost added. "You've used the Phoenix Force very logically….so far."

"So far?" Cyclops asked in shock.

"Even I don't know the full workings of the Phoenix Force", Emma pointed out. "It bonds with you, but I believe it amplifies you."

She held her hands to her chest. "When it killed me, just for a brief second, I felt my feelings stretch across the whole Universe, and I glimpsed infinity." Emma looked back at Cyclops. "When that happened, outside of me, everything felt so tiny." She sighed. "And then I was gone."

"That was your experience", Cyclops replied after a few seconds. "While I lost it back then, I'm usually much more controlled. I am not too. If anyone can hold the Phoenix Force in, its-"

"Come on, Scott, its not about losing control, its about losing perspective", Emma Frost pointed out to him. "Losing yourself."

As he listened intently, she continued. "In your case, the emotional memory of all the struggles and injustices you've suffered. Remember, even the Hellfire Club lost their perspective about the Phoenix Force, and they hadn't even been empowered by it then." She explained to him. "That's why you came here, Scott. To test yourself. To see if your soul could still connect to this traumatic moment."

She looked at him sadly.

"It can't."

"…."

After a minute, Cyclops finally spoke.

"You're right. Self-sacrifice, nobility, grief, even love, they all look so small, like memories of a dream." The image of Emma's last stand flashed through his mind again. "Whenever I try to remember what happened here, I tell myself your sacrifice was profound, but in truth, it feels petty." He looked desperate. "What does it mean? Should I worry? Despite this power….this omnipotence…..am I losing my humanity?"

"If you did…." Emma held his gaze. "Would you've recreated a corpse out of dust."

In front of Cyclops gaze, Emma Frost became dust once more, dissipating into the air.

Cyclops watched for a few seconds, then flew off.

He knew now, he could not let the Phoenix Force change him. Inside all this power, he'd to preserve the man he was, and remember why he was fighting.

For everyone he loved, for the Professor's dream.

And for Emma.

For Emma.

If he lost sight of this….what will it all be for?

Middle-earth, Rohan, Helm's Deep

About an hour later- Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Geralt stood in the armory, Aragorn well-rested now.

The soldiers were preparing, holding up swords, and trying on armors, Aragorn noting. "All of them have seen war, yet even they seem shaken due to what is coming. Because we have never witnessed anything like this." They knew part of it was due to hearing of the Dragon that had been fought on the way here, and they were frightened in case one was part of the attack on Helm's Deep.

Legolas looked bitter as he gestured to them all. "Look at them. They're frightened. I can see it in their eyes."

The room went quiet as everyone stared at Legolas. What he had said had touched a nerve among the Rohirrim because it was true.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Legolas switched to Sindarin. "Boe a hûn: neled herain dan caer menig."

"Si beriathar hýn. Amar nâ ned Edoras." Aragorn argued calmly as everyone wondered what they were talking about.

"Aragorn!" Legolas snapped. "Men i ndagor. Hýn ú-... ortheri. Natha daged aen."

"Then I shall die as one of them!" Aragorn snapped. That was when everyone realized what these two had been arguing about.

Legolas flinched as Aragorn turned and stormed out. Legolas made to follow him to make peace but Gimli put a hand on his shoulder, "Let him go, lad. Let him be."

"Look, what you said may be right", Geralt told Legolas. "But we do one thing- we fight, and we kill them. And everyone on our side has to do that, your talk is not gonna help them."

Théoden stood still as Gamling arrived behind him, holding his armor.

"Every villager able to wield a sword has been sent to the armory." Gamling said but got no response, "My lord?"

"Who am I, Gamling?" Théoden asked introspectively.

"You are our King, sire." Gamling assured him.

"And do you trust your King?" Théoden asked.

"Your Men, my lord will follow you to whatever end." Gamling said in an assuring tone as he started strapping Théoden 's armor onto him.

"To whatever end." Théoden muttered. Deep down, he knew he was wrong. He wondered if his people would follow him to their deaths.

"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?" Théoden asked, lost in thought and memory, "They have passed like rain on the mountains. Like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West...behind the hills...Into Shadow."

Finally, he asked, "How did it come to this?"

Earth-199999

The Fantastic Four were in a jet, surrounded by agents, the jet being flown to a containment facility, where they'd be held for now, as the Raft was still being repaired after the recent break-in.

"Well", Susan sighed. "I guess this was always how it was going to end once we made our choice."

"Would you do anything differently?" Reed asked her, and Susan shook her head, smiling.

"No."

"Me neither."

Suddenly, the flight seemed to freeze in midair, confusing everyone, the agents looking around, alert, while Ben muttered. "Now what's that?"

The flight then started shaking as Johnny muttered. "Don't think this was supposed to happen."

And then, all of a sudden, the ramp of the flight was pulled off, and the only reason no one was pulled out was because the flight had been frozen.

At that moment, an armored figure wearing a green hood with cape flowing behind him hovered inside, the agents all aiming their guns at him.

Doctor Victor von Doom!

Before the agents could even fire, Doom raised his hands and green beams shot out of his fingers, striking each agent and turning them to stone, while the pilot was struck too, and turned to stone as well.

Then, the jet started crashing, with Reed, Ben and especially Johnny looking at Doom in suspicion, though Johnny's eyes also had something else in them.

Fear.

Susan also looked at Doom, but her look was more neutral than anything.

A green dome of energy then surrounded Doom as well as the Fantastic Four, while a mist of green energy enveloped the cuffs around them, disintegrating those.

With that, all five of them disappeared alongside the dome, just as the jet crashed on the ground.

Latveria

Doom and the Fantastic Four appeared in a desolate area of the country Doom ruled, with the dome disappearing, as Reed immediately got down to business. "What game are you playing, Doom?"

"Doom does not play."

Suddenly, Doom grabbed Johnny by the throat and lifted him up, Susan covering her mouth in horror, while Reed and Ben prepared to fight.

"FLAME ON!"

Johnny lit up on fire as the other three were just about to attack Doom, but they were a second too late.

Victor punched his fist right through the chest of "Johnny", his hand protruding from the other end, crushing his heart in his fist, Susan falling to her knees in shock, horror, disbelief and grief, while Doom pulled out his fist and hurled the bleeding corpse onto the ground.

Reed and Ben were too shocked to do anything, simply looking between the body, and then Doom, while tears flowed down Susan's cheeks, as her mind just wondered one thing.

Why?

Just before they could finally feel the weight of what had just happened, the red blood flowing from the corpse turned green.

That caused them to narrow their eyes in confusion, when the body itself started shifting, the ears becoming more protruded, until it wasn't Johnny lying dead before them, but a green-skinned alien instead.

"What the….?" Ben trailed off, as Susan wiped her tears, all three looking at Doom once more.

"Fury's theory was right. Earth has been invaded."

"What theory?" Reed finally asked. "And what is this? Invaded by whom?"

"Ah, that secret meeting you all got yourself kicked out of, because of what you did in Krakoa." The three looked down in shame again briefly, staring at what they all thought was Johnny, while Doom continued. "Nick Fury said he'd an encounter with a group of aliens called the Skrulls in the 90s, who could shapeshift, and had infiltrated his team. He believed they'd replaced people, and were causing all this, while having abducted those they replaced to access their memories. Seems that he was right."

Reed was shocked that Victor even knew about the secret meeting, before he finally asked Doom one question, that he considered important.

"How did you know?"

"You are blinded by affection and comradery; things that Doom has no need for."

With that, Doom began to hover into the air, sharing one look with Susan, that lasted barely a second, as he then told them. "Doom shall leave you now."

"Hey, ya just blow the case open, and then ya leave us here in this place?" Ben asked as he gestured at the desolate area around them.

Doom pointed out. "Surely the Fantastic Four….or three, can walk four kilometers before reaching the nearest town."

With that, Doom disappeared in a green mist, as Susan finally spoke. "Come on, I'll get us there."

"Yeah, now I know what to do", Reed said himself, the only problem for him being that it was because of Doom that he knew.

Susan conjured up a platform for the three of them, and it hovered in the air, while she conjured another for the Skrull corpse, and then the platforms started floating away to the town, Susan making them all invisible.

"I wonder how many more are replaced beyond what we know", Susan had to say, Reed and Ben agreeing.

Earth-92131, Xavier Mansion

Rogue flew back in via a portal, spotting Gambit down below. She grinned as she descended.

"Hey there, sugah."

Gambit looked up, brow raised."Where you been, chère?"

Rogue touched down lightly beside him, brushing some hair from her face.

"Long story, baby. Real long. Interestin' too. Let's talk."

Earth-21, San Francisco Bay, Teen Titans HQ

Courtney stepped back in through a portal, Conner and Mia walking up to her, the former asking. "Where have you been, Courtney?"

"Different world."

"Again?"

"Yeah. Met some Variants too, let's talk."

Earth-7, Gold Saucer

Tifa walked through the portal, and that was when there was a knock on the door. "Tifa!"

Tifa walked to the door, opening it to see Cloud. "Hey Cloud."

"I heard something, everything all right?"

"Yeah…" Tifa groaned. "About that…let's talk."

Earth-199999, New York City, Hell's Kitchen, Fogwell's Gym

Steve lay on the bed, stroking Natasha's hair gently, watching her sleeping naked form, on his chest, glad to see at least sleep seemed to give her some peace, and hopefully, his presence too.

That was when his phone rang, and he saw it was an unknown number, then accepted the call. "Hello?"

Latveria

"Cap", Reed said into a long-range phone he'd managed to make by mashing up some phones, as well as some other gadgets, the three in an old, dusty building. "Its Reed."

"This better be important", Steve said to Reed, slight disdain in his voice. "Because if this is only to apologize, Reed, then I'm not-"

"Cap, we know what's going on!"

That caused Steve to almost jump up, but the motion awoke Natasha, who lifted her body up, Steve looking at her apologetically, while she noticed he was on the phone with someone, and so, he put it on speaker phone.

"What do you mean?" Steve inquired.

Susan looked out the window of the place they were at, and saw Doom at a distance, seeming to look at them, especially her.

"Johnny, he was not Johnny", Reed said into the phone as Susan turned back to him, then looked at the Skrull corpse, near which Ben was standing. "He was replaced by an alien, they're called Skrulls."

Steve's and Natasha's eyes widened, as they realized now Fury's theory had been 100% confirmed, Reed continuing. "Look, you were right, we can't go around feeling sorry for ourselves after what we did, and we wanna make it right. Please, tell us where we can meet, we've the Skrull's body with us, if we run some tests on it, we can figure out how to expose everyone else who is actually a Skrull in disguise."

Susan turned back to where Doom had been, but saw that he was gone now, causing her to sigh.

Steve looked at Natasha, who seemed unsure, but Steve shrugged. While he wasn't pleased with what the Fantastic Four had done, he did always put his faith in the people.

If they wanted a chance to make things right, they deserved it.

Natasha picked up her phone, then typed something on it, and showed it to Steve. It said- "The Dam."

Steve instantly knew what that meant, and said to Reed. "There is one place we can meet at-"

Reed kept the phone down, and turned to the rest, Ben asking. "What do we do now?"

"Time to hack the Latverian International Transports Network", Reed muttered, wincing a bit, wondering if Doom would know. Who was he kidding? Of course Doom would know.

But perhaps he won't care this one time, right?

"We'll see which cargo flight is heading to New York, and you can sneak us into it", Reed said, gesturing to Susan, who simply nodded.

It was time to really make things right.

Earth-2003, New York City

A breach opened as Raphael walked out of it, finding himself in an alley. Raphael watched as the breach closed, and he noted this was his own New York, sighing in relief, after which he quickly found a manhole to get back into the sewers.

Finally reaching the lair, Raphael saw that Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Splinter, April and Casey were all gathered around, Splinter saying. "Let us now set out to find him."

"No need."

They all turned, and did a double-take, shocked to see that Raphael was back.

"Raph!"

Casey rushed to Raph, giving him a bone-crushing hug, catching him off-guard, and was soon joined by Mikey, Raphael groaning, but liking it deep-down.

"Good ta see ya too, but get off," Raphael muttered, turnin' to Mikey. "'Specially you."

His voice carried no real heat though, and both chuckled as they let Raphael go, after which April gave him a hug, that he was glad to receive too.

As they parted, Leonardo put a hand to Raphael's shoulder, the two sharing a smile as Donatello nodded in Raphael's direction.

"We are glad to see you are back, Raphael", Splinter said, speaking for everyone. "But where were you? And what happened?"

Raphael sighed, showing them the device on his wrist, as April asked. "What's that?"

"A device that zaps me between worlds", Raphael revealed, and now they were all shocked.

"Between worlds?" Casey inquired.

"Yeah," Raphael nodded, lowerin' his hand. "I fell through some freaky portal that tossed me into another universe. Whole different world—lotta superheroes, kinda like us."

"Really?" Mikey asked, excited.

"Really I met this crew called the Fantastic Four—one guy could stretch like freakin' taffy, the woman could turn invisible and throw up force fields like it was nothin'. Her brother? Walkin' bonfire, flyin' around blastin' flames. And then there was the guy I really hit it off with—looked like he was made of rock, tough as nails. And they ain't even the only Heroes there, even the God of Thunder is in that world."

"Whoa!" April had to say, everyone listening in awe.

"But get this," Raphael continued, his voice turnin' bitter. "Some dumbass law got passed in that world. Makes it illegal to be a superhero without signin' some registration. Hell, just havin' powers makes ya a criminal. So now the heroes are at each other's throats. The guy runnin' the whole thing? Some control freak named Ross who straight-up hates superpowered folks. And yeah, the Fantastic Four signed the damn thing at first, but they were sick of it. When Ross came for me, they stuck their necks out and helped me get home…"

He looked down. "Even though it got 'em in a lotta trouble. All 'cause of me."

Everyone was on edge, finding the SHRA abhorrent, before Mikey said. "I'd love to meet these people, especially humans that won't judge us for what we look like."

"Unfortunately, that will not be a for a while, given the strife this world faces due to the SHRA", Splinter commented, the rest nodding.

Leo noted. "Ross' tactics and hatred for superpowered beings…they remind me of Bishop and how he hates anything not human."

"That's true," Raphael said, voice thick with disgust. "But Ross? That guy's a power-hungry dick. I'll NEVER agree with Bishop's methods, but at least Bishop thinks he's protectin' the planet. Ross? He just wants control. Nothin' noble about it."None could disagree with that, as April hoped. "I just wish the Fantastic Four are fine, as well as their world, once this is all over."

Earth-8096, Utopia

Magneto and Quicksilver turned to see Cyclops walk up to them, with Bishop and Juggernaut behind him.

"Where had you gone?" Magneto inquired.

"To remind myself of why I fight", Cyclops said without any emotion in his voice.

"Did you?"

"I did. And for that, I am prepared to do anything", Cyclops declared firmly. "We must make sure no one can stop us, from doing what's right."

"Yes, I'm itching to fight more people who stand in our way, and end them", Juggernaut said, almost excitedly, wanting to get into a fight with their enemies.

"For the cause", Bishop declared.

"After this, even family won't be spared if they challenge us", Quicksilver added, Magneto nodding.

"For the cause!" They all declared together, before Cyclops lowered his head.

"For you…..Emma."

Middle-earth, Rohan, Helm's Deep

"Move! Move to the outer wall."

The fortress was a flurry of activity again. And this time, it was happening ever faster than before as the defenders were placed on their posts.

Aragorn was brooding on the stairs, looking ahead.

Sora stood nearby, gripping his Keyblade tightly. The air was thick with tension, the weight of the coming battle pressing down on him like a heavy stone.

He had fought countless battles before. He had stood against Heartless, Nobodies, even titanic monsters of darkness that threatened entire worlds. He had seen destruction, seen people fade into darkness—but this…

This was different.

It wasn't just that he was standing in a world where Heartless were not the only big enemies, where the enemies weren't just creatures of shadow but real, living beings. It was the sheer inevitability of what was about to happen.

People were going to die tonight.

The thought sent a chill through him.

He had never seen anyone actually die. Not like this. Not in a way that left behind a body.

The closest he had come to feeling like this was back in that nightmare world, facing Freddy Krueger, where battle felt like it carried something…permanent. Back then, it was the fear that if he failed, he and his friends wouldn't wake up, and Princess Aurora would die.

But this? This was worse.

His gaze drifted toward Aragorn, who was about to stand up.

Sora swallowed hard and stepped forward.

"Aragorn..." His voice was quieter than he meant. "How do you do it?"

Aragorn turned, regarding him with those sharp yet kind eyes.

"I've fought battles before, a lot of them," Sora admitted. "But this... This is different. Back in the worlds I've been to, people don't really..." He hesitated, struggling to even say the word. "Die."

Aragorn's expression remained steady, but he listened intently.

"I know we'd lost people before. I mean, I thought Gandalf was gone when he fell. I thought you were too, after that cliff. And Boromir…" He trailed off, eyes lowering. "He's actually gone. And now, looking at this battle, knowing what's coming… I know more will die if we fail." His grip tightened on his Keyblade. "I don't know how to handle that."

There was a long pause.

Then Aragorn placed a firm hand on Sora's shoulder.

"You do not have to carry this burden alone."

Sora blinked and looked up at him.

"Fear before battle is not a weakness," Aragorn continued. "It is a sign that you understand what is at stake. That you fight not for glory, but for those beside you." His voice was strong, but it was not just for Sora—it carried the weight of a leader rallying his people. "We do not know what awaits us when the enemy comes. We do not know who will stand and who will fall. But we fight regardless. Not because we are without fear, but because there are those who need us to stand." He added gently. "Remember Sora, there is always hope."

Donald and Goofy had approached from behind, catching the tail-end of Aragorn's words. They exchanged a look, the same fear in their eyes, but also determination.

Geralt, who had been standing a short distance away, let out a quiet huff and crossed his arms. "Not bad."

Aragorn gave him a look, half-curious, half-amused.

The Witcher shook his head. "You keep hope alive. That's a rare thing." His golden eyes flickered toward Sora. "And kid, I won't give you some grand speech about courage and destiny, but I'll say this—sometimes, the only way through is forward. You fight because you have to. Because stopping means someone else falls instead. That's not a choice. That's just the world."

Sora took in their words.

A Leader of Men, a Witcher, an Elf, a Dwarf, and his own friends, all standing beside him.

The weight in his chest didn't disappear, but… it felt lighter. Manageable.

He breathed out, then gave a nod. "Alright. No matter what, we stand together."

Aragorn nodded. "Then prepare yourself, Sora. The night will be long, but dawn will come."

Sora nodded firmly.

Dawn would come.

And they would stand.

Aragorn had rallied his first defenders for the night.

Aragorn dressed up in the armory, fitting himself on a chainmail vest across his tunic. He strapped his dagger and was about to pick up his sword when he saw a hand holding it out to him. It was Legolas.

"We have trusted you this far. You have not led us astray." Legolas said in repentance, "Forgive me. I was wrong to despair."

As Sora, Donald, Goofy and Geralt arrived, Aragorn smiled, "Ú-moe edhored, Legolas."

The two friends grasped each other's shoulder firmly as the Trio watched with smiles.

That was when Gimli arrived, struggling to fit the chainmail he had been issued.

"We had time, I'd get this adjusted." Gimli grumbled as he released it from his grasp, letting the entirety of it fall on the floor below, "It's a little tight across the chest."

"Think there's more than that", Geralt noted.

That was when a high-pitched but melodious horn was heard by everyone in Helm's Deep.

"That is no Orc horn." Legolas said. Gimli quickly discarded the chainmail as he, Aragorn, Legolas, Geralt and the Trio ran out of the armory.

The two sentries watched from outside as one of them said to the other, "Send for the King."

He ran to do as told as the sentry commanded loudly, "Open the gate!"

"Open up the gate!"

A company of 200 blue-cloaked Galadhrim marched into Helm's Deep with precision. Some of them carried banners with a familiar tree on them. All of them were finely armored and along with their longbows, they carried long-handled two-handed sabres. The Rohirrim felt their spirits rise at the sight of these legendary warriors.

And at their forefront was none other than Haldir himself, wearing a red cape. He wore no helmet as his silver-blonde hair glowed in the night. Approaching King Théoden on the steps, Haldir bowed to him. Théoden was shocked but not displeased.

"How is this possible?" He said aloud.

"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell and Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien." Haldir announced, "An alliance once existed between Elves and Men. Long ago we fought and died together. We come to honor that allegiance."

That was when the Three Hunters, the Trio and Geralt arrived, and all but Geralt were overjoyed on seeing Haldir and the Galadhrim.

"Mae govannen, Haldir."Aragorn said as the two gripped forearms. Aragorn then suddenly hugged Haldir. Haldir was surprised but returned the hug.

As they parted, Aragorn said with a smile, "You are most welcome!"

Legolas gripped forearms with Haldir too as Sora said. "Its so good to see you all here!"

Haldir gave a signal to the Galadhrim under his command and they all faced left before pivoting to face that direction followed by a single loud clatter as they stood at ease.

"We are proud to fight alongside Men once more." Haldir declared as Legolas broke into a smile.

Geralt noted. "Well, this one might just be for the ages."

Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for all his help with the Civil War, Universe-8096, Banner/YJ, SW/Evo, GOW/EMH/MCU Asgardians and DCAU plots, and to Gussygus28 for all his help with the SPN Lucifer plot, and to HRwriter897 for his help with the TMNT bit, and to Cer1992 for the 'Grudge Match' idea.

For MCU Civil War, we got a little crossover, as Raphael ended up in MCU, and the F4, to redeem themselves, decided to protect him and send him back to his world, but in a twist, Johnny was a Skrull all along and sold them out, though Raphael got sent back at least. Hope the little IQ battle between Reed and "Tony" was enjoyed.

The F4 lost easily because of "Johnny" sabotaging the fight from his end. But then, Doctor Doom attacked their prison convoy, freed them, killed the Skrull posing as Johnny, and revealed the truth to the other three, while boasting about how much smarter than Reed he is.

Steve/Natasha finally become a proper couple, and if it seems strange they decided to do it right after confessing, remember, they've been dancing around each other since TWS, throughout all of the last fic, and some of this one, and they'd a realization that since there's always the next threat, its 'now or never', so they did it, but they're gonna be in a proper relationship from now on. Hope it was worth it.

The Hector Ayala case is running into complications, but Matt shows why he is to be feared, and for Ava Ayala, imagine popular fan-cast Jenna Ortega in the role. Imagine Jeremy Bobb as Judge Jerry, thank you to BrutalRaynor for the casting. Changed the actor as the other was also Bennett in Punisher Season 1, plus I'm not doing Jessica Jones Seasons 2 and 3.

Raphael would be from the 2003 TMNT show.

On Earth-8096, Phoenix Five denuclearized Russia, while the President doesn't trust the Avengers anymore. Also hope Wasp trying to talk him down was enjoyed, because she is like the team's glue, and her empathy is something else, so I tried to display that here.

Genosha was taken over and made Utopia, while Cyclops tries to talk to Emma Frost's "ghost" to remind himself of why he is doing this, but his twisted mind came to the wrong conclusion.

Meanwhile, we meet Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Guy Gardner of 'Young Justice', and yes, they're the Green Lantern: The Animated Series versions, as Season 4 made the series canon-adjacent to YJ with Razer, but seeing things from only show-perspective, the entire GL:TAS being fully canon to YJ doesn't contradict a thing, so yes, its fully canon here, and GL:TAS has already happened, confirmed by John being around. This is also why I kept them out of the Doomsday fight, as Hal could transport an ENTIRE world through Universes using his Ring, so imagine how broken they are.

Plus MCU Banner finally has therapy with YJ Dinah, and tells her about his life. Hope the comics backstory was enjoyed, because MCU did Banner/Hulk dirty! And hope the explanation for Ruffalo/Norton made sense, Ruffalo's face does look like a mix between Norton's features and Hulk's big face, so I think this works.

I did this because looking back, I dislike the direction taken with Hulk/Banner, and while I liked Ruffalo in 'The Avengers' and Age of Ultron, after that, he has only been playing himself, and his performance isn't as good as before.

While I know Norton was hard to work with, he was much more passionate about the character than Ruffalo and the other writers.

And frankly, Norton's performance was better than Ruffalo's IMO, even in his first 2 films.

I imagine after his face change, Ruffalo-Banner got a new ID made to use, and SHIELD saw the change from a distance but didn't comment on it, and the Avengers met him with his new face only so they'd nothing to say.

We got FFVII once more, during Gold Saucer, and Tifa got pulled into DCAU, alongside Smallville Stargirl and X-Men: TAS/'97 Rogue. For the X-Men cartoon, its during the time gap between the old and new shows.

Hope their inclusion into Grudge Match was enjoyed. The suggestion was by Cer1992, to add other fandoms' women into this episode, mainly Buffyverse and Arrowverse, but I ultimately decided on these three. Thanks a lot to Cer1992 for the idea and to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help.

Tifa is much stronger than DCAU Wonder Woman, but the 'Fatal Five' film did raise the DCAU Justice League's power level, so imagine the DCAU here as that much power level, though Tifa was still winning.

The fight wasn't the hardest part, Rogue's accent was, I suck with accents.

Breach cameos for Tifa were KH Tifa, EMH Black Widow and DCAU Wonder Woman.

In Middle-earth, our group has reached Helm's Deep, and now preparations are going on for the big battle. Hope Aragorn and Geralt talking to Sora was enjoyed, since we never actually see a realistic, family-unfriendly, permanent death in 'Kingdom Hearts' (Xion and Axel came closest but that was also undone), figured this would be needed, and hope it made sense. At least Théoden didn't conscript children and old men here.

Meanwhile, right after the Younglings arc in TCW- Ahsoka, the Younglings, R2, Huyang and Hondo and his pirates crash into the 'X-Men: Evolution' Universe right at the start of Season 3, so things are gonna be intense.

GOW Thor and MCU Hela attack Muspelheim while GOW Odin, MCU Amora and Executioner have gone to Niflheim, and now, the Thors, Kratos and Atreus will follow.

Then, 'Charmed 1998' is finally here! Right after Season 6! And with SPN Lucifer taking over their Underworld and killing Zankou, no Season 7 either, and because of this, the Avatars have decided the characters aren't ready yet, so they're not in this either. Hope the Kyra cameo was enjoyed.

Then, Charmed Ones and Leo meet the HUGE group Constantine has assembled, and they split up. Meanwhile, we see Malthus from 'Annabelle' (also from Earth-1) and Barbas from 'Charmed' have joined SPN Lucifer's group too.

While interactions for that plotline might feel a little rushed due to too many characters, they're splitting up now, so we get more personalized interactions.

Also, the PTB Katerina was brutally murdered by Freddy Krueger, that was fun to write, the Willow-hater got hers.

On Earth-1, Oliver did some Mayor work again.

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