Interlude 1: Short Time for Desperation and Sadness. (S.T.D.S.)
Static’s Universe (Dakota Verse)
Diana of Themyscira: An unshakable warrior, a cheerful woman, a caring person and a brilliant warrior, princess of the amazons now stood at the Dakota city docks near the man known as Batman; she had fallen for the normally stoic and serious man; now he was a mess as he waited for their allies to complete an area scan where hours prior a teenage hero had died.
´Fool´ she scolded herself. ´Bruce needs me and thinking like this won’t help him’ decisively she spoke to the black garbed man. “What are you going to do Bruce?”
The man was startled by the sudden question and even behind his mask she managed to see resignation and pain. “Static… Virgil asked me to tell others to keep on with his legacy, I will call Robin and the Titans to train them and help them for the time being *sigh* then I have to tell his father and sister”
“If you want me to, I could go with you”
The man smiled at the goddess’s kindness. “It would help” he grabbed her hand and squeezed it for reassurance; they both met eyes and leaned forward for a kiss….
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* the sound that came from one of the machines startled them, forcing them to jump aside. “Batman!” Shouted the Martian Man hunter to the hero. “I picked up something”
With a sliver of hope that he had clung to; Batman wished to at least recover the body of the youth. “It seems that the boom tube didn’t open a portal to the sun”
“Where?” he asked, hiding away his feelings.
“I can’t be sure… but unless the sun has developed magical energies then we will never be sure; but just to be safe I will get in contact with Dr. Fate and see what we can find” Batman thanked him and began to work as well, taking Diana with him.
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An hour passed and both heroes now stood inside the Hawkins household (Thanks to a teleportation spell granted by Zatanna) that more than startled the inhabitants of the house: Mr. Robert Hawkins and Sharon Hawkins, the closest family members of Static Shock.
After calming the two; Batman chose to speak carefully. “Mister Hawkins; *sigh* I am here to talk about your son, Virgil”
Mister Hawkins flinched at how the man had given the name so freely. “What about him” Asked the worried father.
“Do you know where he is?”
The father gulped loudly. “This morning I went to his room to wake him up but he was gone; I am ashamed to say I don’t know” his daughter grabbed his shoulder, he didn’t know if to support him or herself at what seemed to be the inevitable explanation. “Did he… do something?”
Before anyone could talk a knock came from the door and Shannon went to open it; outside her doorstep she saw Virgil’s best friend Richie Foley, Maureen Connor and her boyfriend Adam Evans all were present at her doorstep.
Before she could even utter a word, Wonder Woman appeared and instructed the teenagers to enter the house; once inside they all took seats and though surprised at the appearance of two members of the Justice League in the living room they held off the questions.
“What I am about to disclose…” Batman started to say. “Is information that; if it fell in the wrong hands, would result in a great number of innocent people getting hurt; I thrust you to keep this secret to yourselves…?”
And he narrated (to the surprise and displeasure of some of the people in the room) of the secret identity of the once straight A student; his bravery and the times were Batman had required his aid; it all led to the night before, how one of the greatest villain masterminds had used alien technology to activate a portal that would speak doom to the city and the sacrifice the young hero made. When he finished no one but the members of the justice league were in a state if distraught and shock.
In between the tears and sense of hopelessness, Mister Hawkins managed to utter a question. “Is my son dead?”
Batman was prepared for that question. “If you had asked me that question an hour ago I would have said yes; but it seems that a change in development has me thinking that your son could still be alive, and I would like to hold on to that thought”
A big weight was lifted from the older man’s chest. “I hope so…”
At that moment the princess of the amazon placed her hand above her ear. “Yes? *uhum* I understand, yes bring us there”
Before anyone could ask what was going on a disc made out of light appeared at their feet, the magical forces expanded and enveloped the people in the room; the next thing they saw was that their location had changed dramatically from a middle class house to that of a grand library that lead and ended nowhere and at the same time everywhere, staircases that twisted and seemed to melt, walkways that stretched for miles or ended a few feet away; it was madness.
And in the center of that madness walked the man known as Dr. Fate; the man used a golden mask and a cape that flowed with unseen energies. “Greetings my friends… and guests; I am truly sorry for the urgency but I supposed you would want to hear my conclusions”
The sorcerer walked through a pathway leading the rest of the people in his fortress. “Please don’t fall back; I don’t want to spend the next two days finding out where you have wandered off” the teenaged meta-humans and the older man ran to catch up to the heroes that were already leaving the room.
“When John said that the boom tube had remains of magical energies I didn’t doubt him; I had felt a strange twist in the fabric of reality and it came from a magical source, similar to the one I felt in Dakota city”
“Any idea what it was?” asked Wonder Woman.
“Not sure; I have been trying to locate it again but it seemed to have retrieved itself… whatever it was I am sure that it interfered with the portal that the boom tube opened, whoever it was that opened it must have young Static Shock of that I am sure”
“Then, my brother is alive!” young Sharon yelled with excitement.
“Of that I am sure… but many questions remain”
“Where does it lead, for starters?”
“You are correct Batman, but more intriguingly than where does it go is; who created it?” the man said as they reached a room with a circular gate at one end. “This is a door that can lead everywhere, my predecessors often used it to go to other realms instead of using their own energies; handy when you need a pizza from Central Park right before the Super bowl”
“Luigi’s Pizzeria?”
“As if you need to guess”
“Besides misusing ancient equipment, what is your plan?”
“The plan is to use the portal to scan the energies and see if we can pinpoint the signal’s origin; after that… we’ll eventually get to that”
“Us?” asked Princess Diana.
“I can’t be here all day long, I need food, and rest; comparing the remnants of the signal with each and every plane of existence and every planet is going to take months, scratch that, years to compare them if it was only me”
A second set of steps came from the hallway. “That is why I called for him”
A human like figure seemingly made out of gold stepped into the room. “Batman, Wonder Woman, Gear, Permafrost, Rubber Band, Mister and Miss Hawkins” the android greeted.
“Ladies and Gentlemen: I present you A.M.A.Z.O.”
“Thank you Dr. Fate” the android said being completely polite. “I analyzed the energy remnants and I can assure you that this kind of energy and spell weaving is nothing like I have seen in this reality. I will try and keep my senses open; if the magic energies appear once more then I will make sure to follow it to its origin”
Finally Virgil’s father spoke. “Please sir, I beg you; bring my son back”
A.M.A.Z.O. looked at the distraught parent with no expression and then he seemed to stand straighter. “Worry not, I will find him”
The three heroes took a step back and decided to carry on with their little tour. “I am surprised he agreed to do this” said Batman to the mystical man
“I told him that it was a challenge, and I was able to convince him” he opened a door that was a few staircases below the portal room. “And here is the other room you asked for”
Once inside Batman talked to the teenagers in the group. “Since Static will be out of the picture for now I have arranged for you all to be trained by the best team of teens this side of the world; the Teen Titans will be lending you help to work as a team and to protect the city, while I go off to chase Rah’s Al Ghul before he can implement his plan” after calming the teens and asserting his authority he crafted a plan to cover up Virgil’s absence. With all plans laid bare, the young heroes waiting to be trained and the search well under way… all that was left to do was wait.
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Tsuna’s Universe (Mafia Verse)
Verde was hard at work overlooking his computer for several signs and figures that his scanners had gotten; in a matter of hours the Ninth Vongola and every other important figure of the Mafia would appear and he needed to have all facts and explanations for this transgression. “Why did I force him to do this?”
It was then that his main computer beeped and showed him the last analysis made at the moment of the Tenth’s disappearance; they had to be wrong, those calculations had to be wrong, it was a mathematical impossibility… but at the same time they made so much sense, he just hoped Reborn would be able to understand.
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The members of the world regarded organization known as the Vongola stood before the Arco-baleno of Rain and Thunder. “Tell me Verde” The Ninth said with the utmost patience a distraught grandparent could muster. “Why shouldn’t we” he signaled to the men and women in the room “end your live right this instant? When you have clearly ended the life of my beloved grandson”
“Because his life hasn’t been ended in any fashion Ninth” Verde said with utmost calm and certainty with that insufferable cheeky all-knowing smile only he could pull off.
“Explain yourself!”
A screen appeared behind the baby filled to the brim with advanced mathemathics. “For the few of you that understand this figures, the implications of an equation seen here would most likely contradict all of your years of knowledge; for those not in the know let me tell you what this is: the equation here presented is that of a teleportation, not a simple transportation mind you, Inter-dimensional transportation!”
The few scientist and math doctorates in the room began to correlate the data and a few of them began to speak in loud enough voices how those calculations had to be wrong; but they weren’t.
“If you so gracefully allow me; I will gather the top scientists and researchers in the field of theoretical teleportation, and in a period of two years, I will give you results”
“Six months; and if you fail to yield any results then, be sure that I will personally carry out your execution” said the Ninth with the utmost seriousness, that was what Verde was counting on, time necessary to either bring back the boy or device a plan to escape. “You better not disappoint me”
And with that Verde started to work.
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Steven’s Universe (Gem Verse)
Mister Universe was having an awful day; first his son was involved in a magic accident, after it he had taken over on comforting young Connie Maheswaran over the loss while the gems started to fight between themselves, finally before it had devolved into more he finally put a stop to their bickering and pointed out that if they couldn’t find a way to get the portal working again then none of them would see Steven again; that had sufficed.
Now after dropping the inconsolable little girl at her home he had managed to add explain what he called ‘the whole gem thing’ to her parents; he gladly told the family about his time as a musician, how he and rose fell for each other, the video Rose Quartz had created for Steven (Glad that Steven had given him a copy) , the music video he made with rose, how he had tried fusion and failed and ultimately he told the parents of the girl why she was inconsolable (he was glad he had taken video of the fusion and the portal)
“So… let me get this straight” said Mr. Maheswaran. “That is the fusion of both your son and my daughter?” he said pointing at the screen where the recording of the past few hours played leading to the part where Steven separated forcefully from Connie leaving a screaming and crying little girl. “I will have to talk to Connie after this; I can’t believe she would hide so many things from us”
“Just like my Steven, she probably said nothing so you wouldn’t worry; Just like my Steven would… I really should have done more to stop Steven from messing with that magic stuff; but he is a gem, I always knew he would get into dangerous situations but now…” Greg Universe broke down in his seat into a mass of tears. “He is gone… gone and the only thing that I can do is wait here and hope for the best. What would Rose say if she were here? What if he is captured or worse?” the balding man fell to his knees clutching his eyes to stop the tears from escaping to no avail.
The Maheswarans tried calming him the best they could; while upset about many of the things said that past hour they at the very least understood as parents what it would feel like to lose your own child. “Worry not Greg” Officer Maheswaran said. “He will come back”
At that very moment Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl entered the homestead breaking down the door. “Greg!” yelled the lean one. “Do you have the recording here?”
Not taking into consideration the fact that it would have to be him who had to pay for the door he pointed at the T.V. in the room. “What is it?”
“Play it, please” Garnet said a little bit more composed than her partner.
In no time the video was rewound, a disheveled Connie and a sad Lion accompanied the group seemingly taking solace in one another; the video played and the parents turned to see their daughter with a frowning expression that lessened as they saw the state their daughter laid, finally the moment of the accident was displayed to the watchers…
Amethyst clutched her ears as the young boy was absorbed into the ether and nothing was left of him. “I knew it” the short gem said. “There was a horrible sound that came at the same time that stupid portal opened”
“What does that mean?” Asked Connie worried to no end by the loss of Steven.
“Many things Connie…” Garnet said. “But now we have something to begin the search for Steven”
Connie hugged the fused gem and thanked her for giving her hope; her father and mother smiled at her exuberance and understood that their daughter would be impossible to separate from this quest… they hoped to be able to give their daughter all the support she needed.
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Spiderman’s Universe (Ultimate Verse) 1)
“Give me more details about that portal; get me all the recordings my suit gave and the ones you have in your cameras” The inside of Stark tower was pure Chaos as Tony Stark had begun his research on the inter-dimensional device that had taken young Miles Morales away from their dimension. “Bring me Dr. Curt Connors, Sue Storm, T’challa, Reed Richards, Bruce Banner… ANYONE WITH EXPERIENCE IN INTER-DIMENSIONAL TRANSPORTATION, NOW!”
None could believe the state he was in, angered, focused, generally frustrated and they all knew why that was so and the only thing they could do was obey. “I can give you Sue Storm” said the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury to the man. “I can’t answer for the rest; maybe Banner but you know his expertise is not on this field of science”
“No but he can help me check some energy readings that I caught in the scanners; did you created a way to excuse Miles disappearance?”
“I told their parents that he was unfortunately taken by a supervillain when walking by, how the man known as Mysterio shoved him into a portal right before we caught him and how he is failing to cooperate; they took it hard but when they knew you were working your hardest to bring him back they gave me their eternal gratitude”
“Don’t take it, I need to find him first; bring here as many energy drinks and coffee you can consume without it giving you a heart attack! We will be here all year if necessary!”
Nicholas Fury stepped outside the room as to let the nerds work in their research, he understood nothing of it but he was sure Tony would be able to get some results; stepping outside he wondered how long it would take them to get results.
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Leonardo’s universe (TMNT Verse)
Walking through the alleyways of Manhattan was dangerous especially with the cover of the night; not for the four mutated animals that traversed it with the greatest haste, not caring if any living being saw them. “MASTER SPLINTER!” yelled the technical wiz named Donatello. “Where are you leading us?”
The father of the mutated turtles following him barely heard the question directed at him. “To see someone that can help us find your brother; now hurry, I don’t want to hear any more questions!”
The three turtles acknowledged their father’s words, they were in a hurry; with their brother gone to who knows what realm of existence or planet in the universe, and the room he had disappeared into working no more, there was no other choice but to ask for help... and it seemed that it was their father the only one who knew who to call.
Finally their master led them to a dead end in the middle of the city; once in front of the wall that abruptly ended the passage the master drew a few calming breaths; he took a piece of chalk from his robes and drew an strange symbol on the brick wall, once done with that he spilled some water to the floor and began chanting a mysterious tune, no more than a few seconds later the water rose and gathered above the symbols drawn on the wall, energy mixed with the liquid and finally a doorway the color of the aurora boreal opened for the mutants. “Quick, my sons!”
The mutants entered the portal and soon they found themselves in a grand city that was alien and familiar alike, with structures that resembled feudal Japan, but the few inhabitants that lived there all were from different makes, aliens and animals, machines and what appeared to be humans.
Wasting no time the four presented themselves to the Daimyo and begged for his help; since Splinter had been 2 times a former champion and an old friend it was not out of the question. “We will have to investigate the place where he vanished from; in the meantime we shall keep one of our judges with you as a means of communication”
Once back to their lair, the turtles began petering their master with questions about the place they had been and he gladly though reluctantly gave them the tale of the Battle Nexus.
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Midoriya’s Universe (Quirk Verse)
A distressed mother and a disheveled girl hung to each other’s arms looking for comfort while the authorities and heroes alike took their declaration. “I suppose this is all the police can do now, I will be coordinating the search for the boy from the office and I shall put up the word with other agencies across the world in case he was transported far away… if he is found I will make sure to contact you at Yuuei”
“I hope your research brings results; we don’t have the means to track the portal with the heroes we have, and since Black Mist disappeared we have no other choice but to look for his base of operations”
With that both officer and the hero named ‘All Might’ parted ways… “I hope you are safe Midoriya my boy… else I will be forced to take another apprentice and that is not an option now” he looked at the evening sky and traveled back to his home, hoping a few days rest would allow him to gain back some strength.
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Planet Versel. (Main Verse)
In the dead of night two princesses enjoyed the night sky. “It seems that the familiars are either more powerful or skilled than otherwise expected sister” said the taller alabaster princess.
“This we shalt see mine sister; we plan on meet them in a month’s time at the celebration thou nameth Nightmare Night” the younger said. “I thou could excuseth we, my form is still weeks into recovering itself” with that the younger disappeared into the shadows.
The eldest released a sigh at her sister’s sudden disappearance, she stayed for a few moments until she felt a presence above her; looking up she saw the Turtle familiar sneaking up in the shadows of her tower. “Impressive Leonardo, I could count with my hooves the amount of times someone has sneaked so closely to me and still have enough to count more”
From the shadows the familiar dropped and bowed. “I shall take that as a compliment” the princess motioned him to rise. “I apologize for eavesdropping; I needed to check the layout of the outside of the castle”
“Drop all pretenses with me please; you were checking defenses and possible threats, just like with my Elite Guard” she said in a non-nonsense tone. “That attitude needs to change soon; building thrust will be a must if you all are to work at your best”
“That I don’t doubt, but thrust must be built, not given freely”
“Young Steven would say otherwise” the ruler of the Sun said cracking a sincere smile.
Leonardo countered with a shrug and an amused chuckle. “That I don’t doubt; but he is still a child, I don’t think he is capable of mistrusting; which leaves me to another point, how will the public react to your student bringing 6 off world, underage creatures to your midst? Surely you have a contingency plan for that”
The smile faltered on Celestia’s face. “I suppose letting you know now won’t make much of a difference; you won’t be shown to the public, it is illegal to do so with your applications now in my possession and put into the system”
“What system?”
The princess drew a breath and told him of the plan her student and she had started, free to do so because she had cut off the sound from any unwanted listeners. “I hope that is not much of a problem Leonardo”
He whistled. “You sure know how to cover your bases”
“The fact that you all are underage helped, though I had hoped for older creatures to aid the ‘Elements’ after you showing me your skills I can rest a little better; they truly are in good hooves… or hands if you will”
Leonardo smiled and then jumped from the rail to the roof above. “I will be teaching Miles, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Tsuna how to fight barehanded… but if you could show me a good blacksmith, I would like to give directions on how to create the weapons we might be using in the future”
“You already know what to give them?”
“Looking at their skills I realized what would best suit them; Steven doesn’t need one, obviously, but my swords will need replacing”
“I will bring the best there is, worry not young Leonardo”
“By your leave” with that he blended into the shadows once again; something that amazed the princess because of his odd coloring and his belts being the color of the sky. “You know that he sensed you as soon as you approached? Silent Edge?”
From below the balcony a Pegasus with bat-like wings climbed. “Not only that, he managed to loose me when getting out the room, I swear I haven’t seen skills like those in a long time”
“He is trained in several martial arts, specifically the ones that utilize stealth heavily… I think he called it being a quote ninja end quote”
“I would like it so if we could study with him, his technique is outstanding”
The princesses’ stare hardened. “I won’t allow that”
The guard looked at her abashed. “But princess”
Her gaze and voice became even sterner to the point of being ruthless. “Even if I allowed it, he won’t teach you; he is set in his mission and that mission is protecting the Elements at all costs, you and every guard or military assets are to leave them alone as they train. I don’t think he will be able to train the others fully until he is left alone; one of the rules of war is to not let the enemy know what you are capable off”
The soldier understood the reasoning behind his liege’s words, and the underlying message. ‘I can’t trust my guard completely’ he cursed the traitors under his breath. “So it shall be done princess! By your leave”
She dismissed the soldier and went back to her private quarters; days like these always took out the best in her.
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Somewhere…
The dark remnants of what was once a great evil lurked in the shadows of an accursed land, floating seemingly aimlessly, the energy once known as ‘The Nightmare’ squirmed as it tried to locate a new host. Ever since its defeat at the mercy of the light, it had learned that a jealous little princess that loved her kingdom was not a suitable vessel.
Now it starved for a decent body, one that could be easily corrupted; possessing small animals and taking their life force barely allowed it to survive; it could not be helped though, once upon a time it had been a complete entity, a destroyer of worlds, a devastator, ‘the endgame’; those names meant nothing now.
Ever since arriving into this accursed dimension the once terrible creature weakened at the heavy amount of positive and magical quintessence in the atmosphere, such a disgusting place NEEDED to be terminated with the utmost ruthlessness.
What it had never counted on was the fact that a creature of different yet threatening power also lurked inside the planet’s own core, being weakened the Nightmare stood little chance against the prankster god and he in turn separated the once formidable entity into pieces; pieces that he carefully scattered throughout many realities.
It was glad to have left the princess just in time before it ended up being completely obliterated.
After what seemed to be an hour into its thoughts the entity finally saw a creature, what seemed to be a hyena with the complexion of a diamond dog… a creature of the wild lands if the creature recalled correctly. It seemed to be talking to a small group of creatures from many different races.
From what the abomination could gather they seemed intent on destroying the very same force that recently defeated it, and the way the hyena moved, talked, gazed… he was power hungry and the Nightmare could relate to that… yes, he was going to be a perfect host.