DC/Marvel: Access Denied

Chapter 15

By Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: [email protected]

DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by either DC Comics Inc. or Marvel Entertainment Group and are used without permission for fan-related, non-profit entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole without the express permission of the author.

Earth-T …

"I can only theorize exactly what happened," Nightwing said as he looked upon the membership of the Wardens. Many of them were pretty banged up such as Hawkman and Super-Woman. Kid Flash was agitated. Flying Fox was embarrassed. Aquagirl seemed relieved to be home.

None of their comrades from the earth of the psuedo Captain America had made it back with them. None from the so-called Crossover Earth or from the Prime Universe. The Huntress had attested to the final fate of the Human Torch.

The meeting had been called so that Nightwing could tell them what he knew based upon remote temporal video feeds that Super-Woman and Kid Flash had planted just before they had left the doomed world.

"We now know that the world of Captain America had been infiltrated by a race of shape-shifters called the Skrulls. They had managed to murder or remove many of the heroes of that world and then had taken their place. The purpose was to join with Darkseid in finally conquering the planet. Darkseid hoped to gain resources and manpower while the Skrulls wanted a base of operations for conquest."

He took a sip of water before continuing. It was hard to keep their attention because he could see on their faces that they all had some sort of concerns. He needed to keep his team together though. "Because so many heroes had been replaced by sub-standard duplicates, it was relatively easy for Holocaust to cause the mayhem that he did."

"Cut the crap, what the hell happened to the bugger?" Hawkman asked. He got a stern look from Kid Flash and held up his blood-encrusted mace in reply.

Earth-CA…

Wonder Woman felt her clothes being torn and then the cold nails digging into the flesh of her thighs, spreading them open. She called upon her magically enhanced strength to prevent that from happening. To her horror as she opened her eyes, Holocaust was over top of her doing his best to prosecute his rape of her.

"Diana! Diana!" Darkseid cried out from across the room. He was bleeding badly and she was dismayed to see that his eyes had been ripped out. Despite all of the pain he was obviously in, he was still aware enough to shout out a warning to her. His strength became her strength and she reached down deep to find the strength to lash out.

Her blow dislocated the jaw of Holocaust and sent him stumbling back. He would have tripped over Darkseid had he not caught him self in time. Unable to speak, dark dagger-like teeth dropping from his mouth, Holocaust came at Wonder Woman as she was getting up. A well-placed boot caught him in the gut and then a foot sweep brought him down.

It was obvious y the look in his eyes that the would-be conqueror of Earth was surprised and shocked by the level of ferocity that Wonder Woman was displaying. He could not know that her heart was breaking as she realized that perhaps the only person in her universe that ever loved her for whom she was and for the inner strength she possessed was now dying before her. Darkseid's gray pallor became a sickening blue as his lifeblood poured from several wounds.

She need to get to him and pulled out her magic lasso to bind Holocaust. Like a greased pig, the monster tried to get away and Wonder Woman finally summoned all of her magical strength to land one devastating blow to Holocaust's back. His spine snapped and he found himself paralyzed from the waist down.

It would not last for long as his jaw was already mending and it would only be a few minutes before his back was corrected. She quickly tied him and then rushed over to Darkseid. "My love," she said, trying to find the words to convey her emotions. What tragedy, she thought, that only she could see the real being beneath his exterior. Maybe, she thought, the world and the universe could have been better off under Darkseid's more conservative rule.

She was kidding herself and she knew it. Darkseid was evil, but that did not mean he could not love. "Diana," he choked. "You are well?"

She wiped a tear away. "Yes, your warning saved me and my honor is intact."

Darkseid smiled and she noticed that several of his teeth had been punched into his throat. "I knew you could do it…I knew…"

She felt him stiffen and then die and she pulled him close so she could bury her face. The madness the world had suffered was simply too much and she knew that now was the time she had to strike. She would not let Darkseid or any of the others die in vain.

"Yo! Wonder Jugs!" Bullseye called from down the hall.

Wonder Woman carefully laid Darkseid down and stood up. "Now is not the time, assassin. Do yourself a favor and run away."

Bullseye shook his head. "No, you stupid bitch…I've got someplace we can shove that ball of evil," he said pointing at Holocaust. "Me and Darkseid worked out a deal. I'm on your side, stupid."

Wonder Woman looked down at the corpse of Darkseid and decided to make a judgment call and trust Bullseye. She nodded and he ran over to where Holocaust was tied up. "You will both die very slowly," Holocaust warned as he struggled against his bonds.

"Kiss my butt," Bullseye replied as he grabbed a hold of the lasso and started pulling. Wonder Woman was next to him and added her strength. They dragged Holocaust through the room and towards the lab where Bullseye had been.

The villain shook his head as he took a good look at Wonder Woman. She was nude except for her boots, bracelets and tiara. "Just my damn luck," he said as he kept yanking on Holocaust's leash. The monster promised more doom and damnation as he did so. "I finally get to see you naked and I got to save the world."

"You'll feel better for doing it," Wonder Woman said dryly.

"Yeah, but I'm still horny," he lamented and as they finally reached the lab, the entire scope of how drastically his life had turned around hit him like a ton of bricks and he sat down in a chair. "I'm not sure how I feel, really."

Wonder Woman slammed Holocaust against the wall even as she used her strength to open the Negative Zone door. On the other side was a field generator that created a portal into the other dimension. It would not be enough to throw Holocaust in because eventually he might find a way out. No, somebody who was immortal would have to go with him and make sure he never threatened the Earth ever again.

Once the Negative Zone had been full of life but that was no longer, not since the great Millennium Secret War a few years back. Now it was a dimension of dead planets and cold suns.

"No! I am Holocaust! I am…"

He never finished the sentence.

Outside the Baxter Building, Godzilla was slowly dying. Many creatures and many men had tried to bring about the death of the giant monster over the decades but none had been able to do so. The ultimate survivor, Godzilla had managed to escape the cold hand of fate more times than anyone could imagine.

Then the monster had encountered the Hulk and he was the doom of Godzilla. Deep inside the beast, the Hulk, crazed with an anger he could not control, was squeezing a giant piece of Kryptonite. That alien mineral had been what powered the atomic furnace inside the creature as it had been placed there by a paranoid government that felt it needed a weapon against Superman.

How wrong they had been!

The Hulk's last thought had been one of joy at breaking the rock. The force of the implosion of radioactive mineral had started a chain reaction and before the Hulk could realize it, he was consumed in a Kryptonite/nuclear explosion that instantly vaporized both him and Godzilla.

The Baxter Building was gone as well. Wonder Woman had just started to push Holocaust in when the blast struck them and threw them into the portal. Bullseye was nothing more than dust as the radiation cooked him just before the shock wave tore him to pieces. The equipment that held the doorway open collapsed on itself, sealing the way forever as Holocaust tumbled through the Negative zone.

Melted to his back was the clay body of Wonder Woman and it was her magical corpse that oozed into the spaces between Holocaust's wrists and legs and the magic lasso that held them. In seconds, he was motionless, trapped in a magical prison that he could not hope to escape from.

Batgirl's recall activated just as the blast was about to strike her. She was too close and the electromagnetic pulse associated with the explosion damaged the recall circuits in her device and she was tossed into the stream of Hypertime.

Earth-T…

"As near as I can tell, Holocaust, Wonder Woman and Batgirl were all consumed by the nuclear explosion," Nightwing offered. The Flying Fox got up and excused himself.

"I'll go check on him," the Huntress said. She was, after all, the closest thing to a mother he had and right now it seemed that Bruce Wayne had to deal with another tragedy.

She exited the room and followed him outside. He stood there, picking at his mask. He would not cry in front of her, she knew that, and she was really surprised how much like her father he was. "Want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. They were silent for a few moments and then he turned to her. "I wasn't in love with her…"

The Huntress nodded. "I know, but it doesn't change the fact that you will miss her."

"I liked her…"

"And she obviously liked you." She remembered the Batman in the Prime Universe and could understand how a young girl could become infatuated with such a presence. "Just don't forget her."

His eyes watered slightly and something seemed to change in him at that moment. It was almost as if an invisible cape and cowl had been placed on his shoulders and she would have sworn that he was the Batman when he spoke next. "I will never forget," he said.

Several days later Nightwing called another meeting.

"It has been brought to my attention that some of the actions of our team on Earth-CA have been called into question," he started. Hawkman shifted in his seat, as did Kid Flash. The two had been avoiding each other since their return and had been spending most of their time with their girlfriends.

For his part, Kid Flash was happy to be with Aquagirl. When he had gone to Florida to get her, she had been all alone. Aqualad, sensing that she would never join him, had returned to the sea. Her waiting for him only made Kid Flash fall in love with her more.

"We never have had an official charter," Nightwing said, "and that was because most of us are new at this team concept and I think we had a lot of trust in each other. Regardless, I have, with Shyla's help, put together a charter that this team will be expected to adhere to. There will be guidelines, policies and disciplinary measures." Hawkman coughed and everyone was quiet, expecting him to say something, but he simply smiled. "Past offenses are in the past, and unless someone has definite proof of wrongdoing by a member, then that is where they shall remain. From this day forward, however, things will be different.'

He paused and looked around the table. "Any questions?"

"It wasn't self-defense, was it?" Shyla asked. As part of the new charter, members who were suspected of having crossed a line of acceptable behavior had to go to a sit-down session with her. Her training in psychology made her the most obvious choice.

Hawkman, dressed in civilian clothes, stretched in the chair. "What do you think?"

"I think that you come from a particularly bloody Hypertime reality," she said offhandedly. "I think you are a lot different than any other Hawkmen we have encountered."

He smiled. "I'm a warrior."

"And you saw this creature as a challenge?"

"No, I saw a chance for revenge. He killed a good hero." Hawkman rubbed his face. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"No," she agreed and crossed her long legs, "but you realize that regardless of how you handled things in the past, you can't do it that way now."

"Why?"

"Because you aren't on your Thanagar anymore, Katar," she said, leaning forward. "You have to live by our rules now. If you don't like it, I can arrange for you to return to Limbo."

"You've killed," he reminded her.

"It was an accident," she reminded him.

Hawkman stood up. "So was my incident," he told her. "I wasn't done with him yet." He turned and left the room and Shyla could have sworn she felt a cold chill in the air after he left.

Hypertime Reality XSD-897 (450,000,452 Allens from the Prime Universe)…

The nuns were busy running around for it was time for a most unique event. For nine months they had waited, ever since the lady had appeared from the bright light and fell onto the floor of their small kitchen.

The convent was located in a remote area, far from civilization. It was here that the nuns worshipped God and tried to understand their place in the universe. Nothing exciting ever happened except the one time the cute young man had gotten lost and had spent the night. How the prayers against temptation had gone up then!

Sister Mary held the Blessed Lady's hand, for that was what they called her. She did not wish to be called that, but hey all felt Cassandra was too plain for a woman who came to them directly from Heaven!

At first, they did not know what to make of her but when she had discovered she was pregnant, they took it to be a sign. The girl had no idea of where she had come from, only that she had been part of a group that had been fighting a devil. Surely she was some sort of blessed being come to Earth to deliver a champion. The nuns knew that the world was full of evil and any help from the Almighty was appreciated.

Cassandra had stated that the father was Bruce, and the nuns were beside themselves trying to figure out the significance of the name. It wasn't the name of any saints. Perhaps that was what the Asian people called God, one sister had announced. They had inquired of Sister Francis Osaka and she had shaken her head. "Bruce is Bruce," she had replied.

It didn't matter, though, for they were convinced that it was the child that was special, even if the mother was a little flawed. Dare they hope he was the child foretold to return to Earth and lead mankind into splendor and paradise?

After several hours of screaming and panting, Cassandra finally gave birth to a healthy young boy; a boy the nuns held up to the Heavens and proclaimed that they would ensure he understood his destiny.

As Cassandra drifted off into sleep, her child suckling silently, the nuns were busying themselves for their new messiah.

End