Chapter XX – Perfectly balanced

The heroes had left the battlefield behind them, fleeing across the desert dunes before the enemy started their pursuit. Their only chance now was to reach the TARDIS before the enemy caught up, so that Storm’s sacrifice wouldn’t have been in vain.
“Hurry!” the Doctor shouted, “The TARDIS is just over the next dune!”
“What’s that?” Arya shouted, pointing upward.

An imperial shuttle came flying up on them, following an unsteady trajectory with odd bumps and curves and even an occasional spin. Finally the shuttle touched down right in front of them, a remarkable soft landing for such an odd display. The shuttle door opened and the Joker literally jumped out, then turned around to face the shuttle, making a deep bow: “Thank you for flying Space Air Joker, we hope you enjoyed your flight. Welcome at your destination: Mayhem, battle and despair.”
“The Joker!” Edward shouted, “What’s he doing here?”
“Stay sharp, kid,” Thanos warned, “He’s not alone.”

Several others emerged from the shuttle, all villains they had faced before. And with each villain that appeared their hope diminished just a little more, as their chance of escaping diminished with it. First Ganondorf stepped out of the shuttle, followed by a waving Lucifer, then Frieza appeared as well, finally followed by that mysterious time lady known as Missy.
Behind them the enemy forces had caught up as well, led by Prince Lotor this time, who had taken over from Kylo Ren and Darth Vader. “No way forward, and no way back,” Edward said, “Looks like this is where we make our stand after all.”

“We’ve been through this before,” Lotor shouted, “Surrender now, or all of you will die horribly. If you do not resist, I will permit you all to work for the Galra. As slaves in the slave mines, of course.”
“Who would ever accept a choice like that?” Thanos asked defiantly.
“Those who choose to live,” Ganondorf warned, “For life means hope. Although all hope is probably lost to you lot now.”

Just then a portal opened looking just like the ones Rick Sanchez once created with his Portal Gun. Except this one was enormous, at least tens of meters long. A smug looking Rick emerged from the portal, belching as he looked around at the forces gathered: “Am I too late for the party?”
The portal remained open a while longer as the five Voltron Lions emerged from it, scattering in all directions and immediately engaging the enemy forces on the ground and in the sky, causing chaos in all directions. After that the time for negotiations was clearly over as the First Order soldiers attacked. Rita’s generals quickly followed suit and then everything descended into chaos.

Thanos and Ganondorf engaged in a fierce battle while Arya and Edward Elric attempted to fight off Lucifer and  Lotor. Meanwhile the Joker was pretty much running around the fighting in circles laughing while Frieza was fighting the Voltron Lions and holding his own against them.
Then suddenly two of the Lions were caught by an unseen force and hurled up high into the stratosphere. They were undamaged and already rushing back but it would take them a while to rejoin the battle. “Enough of these distractions,” Rita shouted, waving her wand after having dispatched the two Lions, “Two Balls remain, and both are within my grasp! Seize them!”

“Seize the Balls!” Rick shouted and laughed.

But Rita had grown tired with the Heroes that had thwarted her time and time again and emerged across the battlefield to where Thanos had just brought Ganondorf to his knees. “The space witch,” Thanos grinned, as he tossed Ganondorf’s beaten body away, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I will deal with you myself and gain redemption.”
“You are weak now that you are good,” Rita hissed, sending a jolt of energy from her staff which temporally stunned the Titan. She stretched her hand, using telekinesis to retrieve the Infinity Ball that Thanos had claimed from his pocket. She then used the same force she had used on the Voltron Lions to hurl him into the sky, sending him hurling over a distance of several kilometers.

The other heroes noticed the sudden intervention and the impact it had as well. “Quickly, take the Ball,” Edward urged, shoving the Ball into Arya’s hands, “You’re the smallest of us, but also the fastest. Get to the TARDIS and escape! We can’t let her have all seven!”
Arya hesitated, as if to argue, but knew that she had no choice, so she ran as fast she could. But Rita was somehow faster, using a spell to teleport in front of Arya, cutting off her escape. “I loathe children,” she hissed, jolting the young Stark with a burst of electricity. Arya collapsed on the ground, stunned and hurt all over, while Rita claimed the fallen Infinity Ball, lifting it up from the desert sand.
The witch smiled, gloating as she admired the final Infinity Ball. And for a moment she let down her guard. Edward Elric didn’t hesistate, shaping the sword he wielded into a spear and attacking, plunging his weapon in the space witch’ chest.

“He got her!” Rick cheered.

Rita glanced over her shoulder, her eyes wide in shock as she made eye contact with Edward. Then that shock turned into a grin, as she said : “You should’ve gone for the head…!”

A bright flashed engulfed the area, as Rita used the Infinity Ball of Life to restore herself, and the Power Ball and Energy Ball to create a  shockwave and put some distance between them. She then put all seven of them down in a circle, stepping into the middle of them. And as the heroes rushed towards her to stop her she finally made her one true wish.

And then another flash happened and she was gone, and so were the Infinity Balls.

“What has happened?” the Doctor shouted, “She didn’t..!”

But her answer came, as she saw Edward staggering, looking at himself. Then he collapsed to his knees, and as he did, his body turned to dust.
“Doctor…” Arya said, limping towards the Doctor and grabbing her coat with her hand, “I don’t feel so good..!”

And then Arya too turned to dust.

“She did it,” the Doctor whispered, sinking to her knees in disbelief while the First Order troops moved in to detain the heroes that remained, “She really did it…”

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Earth’s Moon, Rita had returned once again to her Moon Palace, this time alone, with her allies still stuck in the past. She looked up at the Earth, which seemed to be so much more quiet and at peace now, and she looked past it, towards the infinite night sky. A smile appeared on her lips as she gazed up at a universe at peace, void of children, as it should be.

She then stepped inside, where her loyal bodyguards Orochimaru and Goldar had just served dinner and were waiting for her to join them. Today’s dinner was pizza. Without pineapple.

Perfectly balanced.

Chapter XIX – Darth Vader needs to DIE.

The TARDIS arrived without any further incidents, and as the group exited the time travel police call box, they found themselves on a barren world, a desert world, in a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

“Welcome to the desert world of Tatooine,” the Doctor said, apparently not even bothered by the scorching hot weather, “Home of the notorious Hutt criminals, of farmers and famous for pretty much nothing and everything!”
“That sounds a bit cryptic,” Edward commented.
“A lot of famous events happened here during the course of several centuries,” the Doctor explained, “But few of the people living now know about those or even remember them. It’s a very special planet.”
“Then why did the TARDIS bring us here?” Arya asked.
“I’m not sure,” the Doctor honestly admitted, “The TARDIS often has a mind of her own. I tracked Rita’s ship to this year in time, but not to this place, yet the TARDIS decided to bring us here.”
“But it’s still the time of the Galactic Empire?” Edward asked, “Or have the Rebels won?”
The Doctor checked her watch before giving an answer, apparently reading more than just the local time. “It’s years after the battle of Yavin,” she said, “The Empire has collapsed and the rebels have established a new Republic.”
“That’s a good thing,” Arya said, “So there’s peace now?”
“There was an uneasy peace for years,” the Doctor said, “But the remnants of the Empire have rebuilt, gain a following, and have launched a devastating first strike as The First Order. War is tearing apart this galaxy once again.”
“How horrible,” Edward said, “Will they never learn?”
“Humans have a tremendous capacity of making the same mistakes,” the Doctor said, “But also a tremendous capacity of learning. This time however is another dark page in the history of this galaxy.”
“Something’s coming,” Thanos warned, “We should take cover.”

Tatooine

Following Thanos’ advice they rushed towards a small hilly area nearby, using a configuration of massive rocks to hide within them, taking cover. Moments later a series of smaller fighter ships passed overhead, accompanying two much larger war ships. One was an unknown type, but looked very similar to the old Star Destroyer warships of the Galactic Empire. The other was obviously a Galra cruiser.
“The Galra,” Edward concluded, “Does that even make sense, Doctor?”
“No,” the Doctor replied, watching the ships disappear into the distance, “The Galra Empire is one which rises centuries into the future, in another galaxy. I presume Rita has brought them here, using her time traveler companion. But to do so, to transport entire ships through time, that is quite a feat.”
“And yet they’ve come to Tatooine,” Thanos said, “The planet you described as significant, yet insignificant. The planet that has played a part in this galaxy’s history more than once. Tell me, Doctor, do you believe that to be a coincidence?”
“Hardly,” the Doctor replied.
“Neither do I,” Thanos smiled, “The Infinity Ball is here, on this planet. I can feel it.”

“It sounds like you need information then,” a hooded stranger called out, standing a sudden distance away. Thanos leapt back in shocked. He had not sensed this person coming. “Do not be alarmed,” came a female voice, “I mean no harm.”
“Who are you?” the Doctor asked, not recognizing the voice.
“A friend,” Arya smiled, as she did recognize the voice, “How did you get here?”
“It is good to see you again,” the woman replied, withdrawing her hood and revealing the familiar face of Storm, “Though I could ask you the same thing.”

They exchanged stories about ending up on Tatooine. The group of heroes explained Storm about their adventures with the Doctor and their escape from the Galra, and Storm in turn shared her story. She had been flung across time when the Delorean had exploded and ended up in the distant past. She went undercover in The First Order, until she joined a small patrol to this planet and managed to sneak away. Figuring something was up, she had decided to lay low and gather more information, counting on help to arrive. And now it had.
“The First Order is currently lead by a warlord named Kylo Ren,” Storm explained, “He’s a big Darth Vader groupie, so his ideals aren’t very original. They haven’t shown much interest in this backwater planet until now.”
“Any idea why?” Thanos asked.
“I’ve been gathering information and listening to rumors,” Storm said, “Apparently a group of Jawa scavengers found an odd object in a distant cave. They couldn’t remove it, something about the cave being haunted, but the object described sounded very much like an Infinity Ball.”
“So the First Order is most likely in league with Rita Repulsa then,” the Doctor guessed, “It would explain the Galra presence as well. We need to hurry then. I doubt ghosts will make much of an impression on these trained elite soldiers.”
“Fortunately we have some advantage,” Storm said, “The First Order will need some time to assess the location of the cave. They’ll need to extract it from the villagers, who have little sentiment to these power-hungry   figures. They’ll probably use violence, but even then it will take some time. But I already know the location of the cave. So follow me.”

They followed Storm through the desert in southern direction, until they finally reached another hilly area after a few hours of travel. Storm guided them through a small crevice, which lay secluded and away from the smugglers and bandits than inhabited the area. It ensured they didn’t run into any trouble until they finally reached the cave.
“Inside,” Storm said, “According to the smugglers, that’s where we should find the Ball.”

They entered the cave and discovered that it had been inhabited once, holding the remnants of simple furniture and sleeping accommodations. But by the state of things it looked like that was many years ago. Thanos’ attention was grasped by a small opening in the wall, seemingly insignificant, yet significant, almost like the planet itself. “I sense power here,” he said softly, “I think this is it.”
He reached out his hand for what is inside, but stopped when a dim blue light filled the cage and a ghost materialized, taking the shape of an old bearded man. “That treasure may be more than you can handle,” he spoke.
“Woah! It really is a ghost!” the Doctor shouted, more excited than scared, pointing her Sonic Screwdriver at it in an attempt to get a scan on it, “Amazing! And are those Midi-Chloreans?”
“We do not speak of the Midi-Chloreans,” the ghost said, ending the subject, “What is your purpose with that item? I sense you are not with the evil ones.”
“We’re here to keep the Infinity Ball from the First Order, and the evil witch that they serve,” Arya explained, “Will you please let us, noble ghost?”
“Your presence… It’s been one I’ve sensed before, though it has been many years, back when I was still alive. You lot… some of you have been aboard the Death Star, have you not?”
“It was a long time ago,” the Doctor said, “For you, at least; for us time travelers it matters little.”
“I see,” the spirit replied, “Such too is the way of The Force, I suppose. Very well then, heroes. I will not delay you. Take the Ball and flee. But hurry, for your enemy is approaching fast.”

The spirit of the old man disappeared and Thanos stuck his hand inside the small crevice, retrieving the Infinity Ball. No more words were exchanged and they hurried to the exit, intending to return to the TARDIS and leave as quickly as possible.

But it was already too late.

When they got outside, the large battleships they had seen before were already overhead and the cave was surrounded by both First Order soldiers and Galra warriors. Accompanying them were Prince Lotor, Rita Repulsa, Darth Vader himself and a mysterious fourth warrior dressed in black, wearing a dark helmet to obscure his face. “Surrender,” Lotor demanded, “And we just might show you leniency.”
“Just watch, Lord Vader,’ the mysterious warlord in black said, almost sounding too eager, too giddy, “We’ll wipe out these insignificant gnats and retrieve what belongs to you! I won’t fail you.”
“Few things are insignificant when dealing with The Force,” Darth Vader replied without even bothering to look at his companion, “Do not underestimate these weaklings, Ren.”
“I won’t, Lord Vader,” Kylo Ren replied, “That’s why we’ve brought this overwhelming amount of soldiers. They can’t possibly hope to resist us.”

“Such overwhelming force,” Thanos said, surveying the enemy forces, “This will be an interesting challenge to be sure. We can fight, but I don’t think all of us will escape from this unscathed. Most likely, only I would survive. Possibly Arya.”
“Then we fight,” Edward said, “The important thing here is to keep the Ball out of Rita’s hands.”
“Not yet,” the Doctor said, “There has to be another way. A way to avoid more people from dying.”
“There is no other, Doctor,” Thanos said, “Just step back and let us do what we do best. We all have our roles to play in this.”
“I can’t allow that,” the Doctor said, “I can’t…”

“Stand back,” Storm said, stepping forward to meet the enemy armies. The enemy soldiers watched and aimed their weapons but didn’t fire yet, waiting for orders. Kylo Ren and Lotor gave no such order yet, intrigued as to what the woman was hoping to achieve. Was she going to opt for surrender perhaps?
“Storm! What are you doing?!” Arya called out.
“Sorry, little one, but Thanos is right,” Storm said, “If we fight now, not all of us are going to survive. Most likely most of us will perish here. I can’t let that happen.”
“Storm!” the Doctor shouted, “There has to be another way!”
“There is none, Doctor,” Storm replied, throwing up a fog all around them, “Use the fog to escape while they’re distracted.”
“A little fog won’t distract them!” the Doctor called out.
“I know,” Storm shouted back, “I’m going to create a distraction. You won’t like it.”
“A distraction?” the Doctor shouted back, not sure what she meant by that.

The next moment a lightning blast pierced the fog and shot out forward, cutting straight through Kylo Ren’s chest, whose body was thrown back a good distance where he landed in the dirt and didn’t get up again. That was the end of the newly crowned leader of the First Order.
“Fool,” Darth Vader said, glancing back at the fallen one’s body, “I did warn you.”
“Attack and surround the perimeter!” Lotor called out, “They’re going to use the fog to escape! Do not let them!”

The battle quickly descended into chaos after that. The bulk of the forces concentrated on the weather witch Storm, who was the only visible target and who had just killed their leader. Some tried to follow Lotor’s  orders and cut off the heroes’ escape, but they were too few in number and the chaos was too great. The heroes, led by a charging Thanos, managed to break through and flee, leaving the battlefield behind.
Meanwhile Storm kept on fighting bravely, buying her companions as much time as possible, yet knowing that she couldn’t stand against this horde forever. Still, utilizing the full extent of her power, she managed to keep the enemy confused, preventing them from hitting her with their laser rifles.

And then Darth Vader appeared before her.

“So destiny arrives at last,” she said, facing the dark lord.
“One shall stand, one shall fall,” Darth Vader proclaimed.
“Why throw away your life so recklessly, Vader?” Storm asked him.
“That’s a question you should be asking yourself,” Darth Vader replied, and raised his energy saber to attack. Storm struck first, firing another lightning blast, but the dark lord used his sword to deflect it, though it took some effort, leaving him unscathed.

Their battle grew more intense, with Storm dodging the blows of his sword while she pelted him with ice bullets, lightning, dust attacks, and even punches. For a while they were evenly matched, but Darth Vader remained unhindered as the battle went on, while Storm gradually grew more exhausted. Finally she made one final mistake, slipping over a pebble and losing her balance for a second. But a second was all Darth Vader needed, stepping forward and plunging his light saber straight through the woman’s chest. “One shall stand,” he repeated as he held her, still embedded on his sword.
“So you said,” Storm said, “But untrue. I won’t let you harm anyone else.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, unsure as to what she could do to him at this point.
He then noticed the lightning flaring in her eyes and sensed the power that was building up inside her. He began to draw out his saber, trying to get away from her, but instead she clutched her arms around him, pulling the sword deeper and him closer to him. “Oh, no you won’t!” she shouted.
“Release me!” Darth Vader demanded.

But it was too late. Dark clouds had gathered above them, a rare sight in the desert lands of Tatooine, and a massive lightning blast surged down, striking both Storm and Darth Vader simultaneously, enveloping them as incredible powers of electricity coursed through them. Both of them remained standing a few seconds longer, then both collapsed. By sacrificing herself, Storm had bought the others time, and taken down the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Hopefully it would be enough.

Chapter XVIII – An Angel descends; let’s form Voltron!

Several days had passed without the group hearing anything from their captors. They weren’t sure what their fate would be, and they weren’t sure what had happened to Green Arrow after he had been taken by Rita Repulsa. Was he still alive? What plans did she have for him? There was only uncertainty.
“Why do we remain here?” Edward Elric asked, “I could bust us out of this cell with little effort.”
“Because we’re not sure yet what happened with the Arrow,” Arya said, “Perhaps this way we can get some information. It’ll give us a direction to search in. If things go south, we can always escape.”
“A risky gamble,” the Doctor said, “But an interesting one.”

Later that day there was a turmoil outside and the door suddenly opened. Two guards stepped inside, followed by Prince Lotor himself, again accompanied by the mysterious space witch Hagar. There was an uneasy atmosphere, with neither waiting what to expect, until Lotor spoke: “My apologies for the meager accommodations. But I’m afraid it was necessary, as this is the only place where we can keep you supervised.”
“It’s the first time someone has apologized to me for keeping me a prisoner,” the Doctor said, “Truly the etiquette of a Galra Prince.”
“History will judge me for my deeds,” Lotor replied, “I will try to unify this broken universe at the best of my ability, but the historians will decide whether or not I did a good job; but at least they won’t question my etiquette.”
“Everything about you is questionable, Lotor,” the Doctor glared.
“I beg to differ, but I did not come here to debate, Doctor,” Lotor replied, “I came here to pick something up.”

Lotor snapped his finger and the witch Hagar uttered her sleeping spell again, knocking out Arya. But before the girl could collapse to the floor, two Galra soldiers moved forward, grabbing her and dragging her out the cell room. “Don’t worry, she won’t be harmed… as long as you behave, of course,”  Lotor smiled, just before the cell door closed behind him.

Arya was taken to Prince Lotor’s personal quarters where she was placed in a chair. Hagar cast a last awakening spell on her before disappearing into the shadows, gone but never far away. “Good morning, milady,” Lotor greeted.
“Lotor,” Arya replied, as she examined the room, getting her bearings and at the same time assessing possibilities for escape, “You’re even abducting prisoners now?”
“I figured you would resist and there would be a scene if I simply removed you from that cell,” Lotor explained, “This seemed like the least violent solution.”

Arya didn’t react to that response. He had a valid point. There most likely would’ve been a struggle.

“Do you know why you’re here?” Lotor finally asked.
“I can guess,” Arya glared, “I’m a woman, and you’re a man with power. Just do what you want to do, but expect no cooperation from me, you swine.”
Lotor laughed. “You misread me, little one. I have no such simple desires. But I do see a certain kind of potential in you. Are you curious to find out what that is?”
“Not at all,” Arya replied with an even more devastating glare.
“All of my generals are women, powerful individuals in their own right,” Lotor began, even though she had told him no, “I find that women have a certain view and overview, a way of handling things, that makes them more adequate in leadership roles. I see potential in you, Arya Stark. You could be a great officer to the Galra Empire someday.”
“I see potential in you as well,” Arya replied, “The potential to get your ass kicked by me someday. Someday very soon.”
“Spunk, I like that,” Lotor grinned, approaching her and leaning in close, his face inches away from hers, “But consider your answer very well, little one. It’s not an offer I make a lot.”
Arya leaned forward as well and proceeded to give him a harsh head butt, followed by a well-placed kick between his legs, sending the tyrannical prince to his knees. “Seems someday soon arrived faster than we both thought,” she spat, jumping up from her chair and rushing towards the door.

Her escape was cut off by two large guards who stood outside and blocked her exit. She tried to sneak past them, using her petite form to her advantage, but the guard responded remarkably quick, grabbing her arm and keeping her in a firm grasp. “Let me go!” she demanded, but the guard of course didn’t listen.
Lotor had recovered from the humiliating kick to his Galrahood and walked up to them with a menacing glare in his eyes. “Insolent girl!” he spat, “I am a generous man, willing to give an outside like you a chance. But you’ll also learn that I can be a harsh ruler as well. Spit in my face, and I will make sure you will suffer for it.”
“I’ll never work for you!” Arya shouted back, “I’ll never be loyal to you!”
“I know,” Lotor sighed, a hint of sadness in his eyes, “That’s why we will part ways today. Take comfort in the fact that I will end your life myself.”
“At least you are no coward then,” Arya spat, watching him draw what appeared to be a small laser hand gun.
“I take pride in that,” Lotor said, aiming the weapon directly at her head, “Farewell, Arya Stark. May the universe be more pleasant to you in your next life.”

Arya didn’t close her eyes, if this was her destiny then she wanted to face it head on, defying the Prince of the Galra Empire one last time. But the end never came. Suddenly the wall exploded and a tall hulky humanoid figure burst through, clad in yellow/white armor, wielding a ridiculously oversized weapon. He fired three times, taking out the robot sentinels and disarming Lotor, who cried out in pain. “Paladin!” Lotor shouted, attempting to retrieve his weapon, but forced to flee the room when the unknown rescuer fired his weapon again, keeping Lotor from reclaiming his gun.

“Thank you,” Arya said to her unknown rescuer, when she was sure that Lotor didn’t return immediately with more soldiers as reinforcements.
“Don’t mention it,” the armored man said, sheathing his weapon. He then reached for his helmet, unfastening it and slowly removing it, revealing a tanned and slightly chubby face underneath: “The name’s Hunk. A pleasure to meet you, though I guess the circumstances could’ve been a bit better.”
“Yes… yes they could have been,” Arya agreed, “That was quite an impressive entry, Mr. Hunk. I haven’t seen many things like it.”
“It’s kind of what we do,” Hunk said, beaming, “We don’t do subtle very well.”
“My friends, my companions,” Arya exclaimed, “They’re being held prisoner. We have to rescue them before Lotor gets to them!”

“Don’t worry, Arya Stark,” Hunk reassured, “My friends are already on that. Your companions are being rescued as we speak by the Paladins of Voltron.”
“Lotor… he called you that too, a Paladin,” Arya realized, “What does that mean? Are you a special order of knights?”
“Something like that,” Hunk said, “It’ll take too long to explain, but we’ll get to that latter. First we’ll have to get you all off this Galra cruiser.”

More soldiers arrived as reinforcements, although Lotor himself was nowhere to be seen. Hunk fired back, keeping them at distance, but eventually he and Arya were forced to withdraw, to avoid the risk of being overwhelmed.
“Hunk, what’s your location?” a voice called out over a built in communicator. The voice was modern and soothing, kind of like a space dad.
“Shiro,” Hunk replied, “I’m at the captain’s quarters, which were being used by Lotor. I’ve rescued the girl and we’re now proceeding to the extraction point.”
“Excellent,” the voice replied, “The others have succeeded in freeing the prisoners and are headed there as well. Get to the designated point; I’ll take it from there.”

They fought hard to escape Lotor’s soldiers and Arya joined in as well, having confiscated one of the enemy sentinel’s weapons. Her skill with a laser rifle was remarkable, especially for a first timer from a medieval world where any sort of gun was nonexistent. Finally they returned to the Hangar Bay where they had first arrived. The TARDIS was still there, still contained inside the mystic barrier. The other heroes arrived as well shortly later, accompanied by three more armored Paladins, all with a different color. “Hunk! You all right?” one of them called out.
“Hi Lance! I’m fine!” Hunk called back, “We seem to have drawn quite a bit of attention here, you know!”
“I know!”  the Paladin called Lance  shouted back, “The only one missing to the party is Lotor himself, isn’t he?”

“Surrender, Paladins,” Lotor called out as he stepped into the cargo bay, accompanied by the witch Hagar and yet another platoon of heavily armored soldiers, “There is no way out for you here, except for the cold embrace of space.”
“You think we’ll just surrender to you, Lotor?” another of the Paladins called out, “We’re not that weak of heart!”
“Don’t provoke him so much, Keith,” Hunk whispered.
“I’m not provoking, Hunk,” Keith answered, “But I’m not going to surrender to this tyrant. Not while we’ve still got a way out.”
“Shiro, we’re going to need an extraction plan very soon now,” the smallest of the Paladins, a young tomboyish lady in green, asked.
“Just a few more seconds, Pidge,” Shiro replied over the radio.

“This is pointless,” Lotor said, “I respect your strength, Paladins of Voltron. But I can’t allow you to stand in my way any longer. Men, aim and fire at will.”

“Shiro! Any minute now!” Hunk shouted, a bit panicked.

Just then the battle cruiser’s outer hull was torn to shreds as a massive robot lion tore through it, creating a vacuum as all the air was sucked outside. The drone  soldiers were thrown in all directions by the sudden invasion, then sucked out into the cold vacuum of space. Lotor and Hagar were sucked out as well, but Hagar cast a spell, enveloping them both in an energy bubble which resisted the sudden air hole, slowly transporting them back to safety.
The Paladins and heroes were sucked outside as well, but the mysterious giant lion moved to intercept, opening its massive jaws and swallowing them all up before the vacuum of space could even affect them.

“That was quite intense,” Edward Elric said, as the found themselves inside the giant lion, which seemed to be a machine of some sort. The space was a bit cramped, but at least they were safe. “What happened?”
“A most unusual rescue,” the Doctor commented, “To who do we have the honor?”
“Introductions will have to wait,” the voice of the one called Shiro resounded through the intercom, “We’ve got several Galra pursuers hot on our tail, and something big is incoming. I’m taking the Lion back down to the planet so we can regroup! Prepare for a bumpy ride!”

That was no lie. They were tossed back and forth thanks to the Lion’s intense movements and its artificial gravity in what was probably an intense space battle on the outside. This lasted for a while but suddenly ended. “I’ve broken away from the main group,” Shiro shared with them, “Taking us down to the surface now! Hang on!”

The landing on the planet surface was remarkably more smooth than the space flight and battle had been, and lasted only a few minutes. Then the lion’s mouth suddenly opened and the Paladin’s rushed outside. The Heroes followed suit, realizing that the Paladins wanted them off board and out of harm’s way.
They watched with amazement as the remaining four Paladins split up, each rushing towards yet another giant lion, boarding it through the mouth. Then the other robots sprang to life as well, roaring a defiant battle cry at the approaching Galra fighter ships above.
“Let’s take cover,” the Doctor suggested, “This seems like an intense battle ahead, we’d best not intervene.”
“You must be joking,” Vegeta replied, giving her an angry glare. He then turned around, looking up at the sky which became more and more cluttered with Galra fighters, then raised a single hand, shooting a series of energy blasts from it. The blasts tore through the enemy ships, either tearing them to pieces (LISA!), or blowing them up completely. “I am a Prince!” Vegeta shouted, “And I refuse to let others fight my battles for me! Bring on your fighters, Lotor! And I shall swat them like flies!”
“Interesting! Allow me to join in on that party, Vegeta!” Thanos laughed. He looked around for something useful, then spotted a boulder the size of a small truck, grabbing hold of it with one hand, digging his fingers into the bedrock for a better grip, then flung it upward into the air, crushing several Galra fighters with it.

Edward Elric, Arya and the Doctor rushed for cover. They had no means of participating in an aerial battle of this scale and so followed the Doctor’s advice of getting out of harm’s way.
The five Lions took to the skies as well, engaging the Galra fighters in aerial combat by either tearing the ships to pieces with their jaws, or by firing energy weapons from the lions’ mouths. The fight was a short but intense one, but then the fighters retreated, still circling the group of heroes, but keeping their distance.
“Something’s coming,” Arya said, “Something big.”
“Yes,” Edward agreed, “I sense an ominous pressure, all the way over here. What is that?!”

Their question was soon answered when an object appeared high in the early evening sky, quickly growing larger as it entered the planet’s atmosphere and descended to the surface. With an enormous earth shaking explosion the object impacted on the planet surface, burying itself several feet into the dirty ground, yet because of its massive size most of it was still visible on the surface. “Get further away!” Hunk’s voice called out of the yellow lion through a speaker, “That’s a Robeast, one of Lotor’s ultimate weapons! This battle is going to get way more intense now!”
“Good!” Vegeta shouted, “I was getting bored with swatting flies!”

The capsule burst open and an enormous creature emerged with a long and thin humanoid body, with disproportionally long arms and an immobile face on its chest which seemed to be primarily made of bone, sort of resembling a bird’s head. The creature looked around itself, then blinked with its eyes in the direction of where Vegeta was standing. There was a brief unseen energy surge, and then a massive energy explosion occurred where Vegeta was standing, enveloping the Saiyan Prince in an incredible blast of energy, reaching several hundreds of feet into the sky and splitting halfway, forming a cross of energy, a symbol of power, and of Vegeta’s grave.
“Oh my god, incredible..!” Edward shouted, “This is what we’re up against?”
“It’s what the Voltron Paladin warned us about,” the Doctor said, “Look. They’re taking action as well.”

Up in the sky the lions were gathering together after the appearance of the Robeast, flying in formation, yet away from the enemy instead of towards it. Then something incredible happened as they started to transform and come together. It took only seconds, but then the five lions had merged together as one, forming a massive super robot that stood equally tall as the enemy monster. “Incredible,” was all Thanos could say.

The two titans engaged into battle, storming towards each other  and crashing fiercely, exchanging blows and kicks. They seemed equally matched, but neither did much more other than physical attacks, as if they were testing each other’s strengths.
Then the Robeast used its deadly attack again, but Voltron managed to dodge it, leaping away from an enormous explosion which erupted after the robot. Then something in the Voltron robot seemed to transform, and a huge shield materialized. Another attack by the Robeast was executed, but this time deflected by the shield, instead destroying part of a nearby mountain range.

“Incredible,” Edward gasped, “I’ve seen golems of alchemy before, but this is far beyond that.”

The Robeast launched another attack, more intense this time, and part of Voltron’s shield was melted. But the robot warrior persisted, flying into the air, powered by powerful jet engines, and again a new weapon formed, a massive sword this time. The Robeast fired an energy blast from its eyes, which Voltron deflected with its sword. The massive robot warrior then dove down, raising its sword as it descended and striking, cleaving the monstrous Robots into two, which stood motionless for a second, then exploded in an overly dramatic fashion.

Voltron in flight

The enemy had been vanquished. The Galra fighters remained in the area a while longer, then retreated as well, realizing that the battle had been lost and that they had no chance of winning now.
The Voltron robot came apart again and transformed back into the five individual lions, which landed on the planet surface, while the heroes emerged from their hiding place again. “Everyone all right?” a tall young fellow asked, his hair raven black, except for a notable white patch. The one referred to earlier as Shiro.
“Almost everyone,” Arya said, staring at the small impact crater where Vegeta had stood before. She had some hope that the proud warrior had survived, but all that hope was gone now, “He died fighting.”
“A warrior’s death is probably what he desired,” Edward said, “Though I doubt he would’ve wanted it like this, so sudden, so… overpowering.”
“We need to get out of here,” Pidge said, “Lotor’s cruiser is in the planet’s orbit. And I’m sure more reinforcements will be arriving soon.”
“Agreed,” Shiro said, “Will you be coming with us? We can give you a ride to the next habitable planet if you want.”
“No thanks, the Doctor said, “We’ve got our own transport!” and she raised her Sonic Screwdriver up high, activating it. Apparently, besides a door opener, a scanner, a health checker, a remote control, an actual screw driver, and so much more it was also a remote control for her TARDIS, which burst out of the damaged hangar bay of Lotor’s cruiser and swiftly descended towards the surface, landing directly in front of her.
“Ok, that’s awesome,” Hunk commented.
“So this is where we part ways?” Shiro asked.
“For now,” the Doctor said, “We have our own mission, just as you have yours. I pray for both our successes.”
“As do I,” Shiro replied.
“But what about the Infinity Ball?” Edward asked, “Lotor took ours when he imprisoned it. Don’t we need to get it back?”
“Already way ahead of you,” Arya grinned, retrieving the Ball from one of her pockets, “While Lotor was busy with boasting and intimidating, I gave him a little painful kick; and I took something back from him as a reward while he was distracted.”
“Smooth,” Hunk grinned.

They really parted ways after that. The Paladins of Voltron took off into space, returning to their base of operations to plan their next move, while the Heroes entered the TARDIS, following the trail left behind by Rita’s transport ship, tracing it past planets and star systems, until it finally vanished. The Doctor was able to trace it to a different time period however, the time of the Galactic Empire, and so she activated the TARDIS’ time travel once again to journey deep into the past, to where destiny was waiting for them.

 

 

Chapter XVII – Sacrifice

Rita Repulsa and Green Arrow were seated opposite of each other, neither of them speaking a word. They were in the passenger area of a small  interstellar shuttle, which was piloted by a single and very unique pilot. “Thank you for flying Air Joker,” the Joker, their pilot, called through the intercom, “Or should I say: Space Joker. We’re approaching our destination and will be landing, one way or another, in fifteen minutes.”
“Part of me regrets this decision,” Rita Repulsa said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“The decision to abduct me or this whole mad scheme?” the Arrow asked bitterly.
“The decision to have The Joker be our pilot,” Rita groaned, “He’s giving me a headache.”
“And no word about what transpired back on the Galra battle cruiser?” Green Arrow asked, “That’s a subject you’re going to avoid?”
“There is nothing to talk about,” Rita Repulsa replied.
“What do you mean, nothing to talk about?” the Arrow shouted back, offended, “You called me your son! That’s a pretty big thing to talk about!”
“It’s nothing!” she snapped, “You were an unwanted child, so I discarded you at birth, arranged new parents for you; I messed with their memories so they believed they were your real parents. And that was it.”

There was a moment of silence as the Green Arrow let those words sink in. Not only was the space with his true mother, but she had abandoned him at birth too. His life was a lie, and he was unwanted. Quite some blows to process. But then he realized something else altogether: “I’m alive,” he said.
“Yes, you are,” Rita replied, “So what?”
“So, you could’ve killed me at birth, be done with it,” the Arrow went on, “Yet instead you went through all this trouble, expending your magic, giving me a new home, a place to grow up in. If you didn’t love me at all, you wouldn’t have done all those things.”
“A young mother’s crazy sentiment,” Rita said, “I never looked back since. Our lives are separate, boy. And remember that well.”

The inconvenient silence returned again, apart from the occasional laughter or weird remark from their pilot, the Joker. Then the Arrow suddenly spoke again, asking a question: “Who was my father?”
“Jackzordon,” Rita replied after some hesitation, “It was a long time ago.”

“Jackzordon,” Green Arrow repeated, “The being who recruited us. The one who is your mortal enemy and who locked you away in a space dumpster.”

The Joker laughed. He found that situation and type of imprisonment very amusing.

“It was a different time,” the witch said, “We weren’t enemies then, but things changed shortly after our… union. Jackzordon didn’t agree with my vision of the future, of a strong and united galaxy. Things escalated after your birth, it is the moment that opened my eyes, that made me realize what a blight on the universe children truly are.”
“What a twisted and insane individual you are,” the Arrow replied.

Those were the last words they spoke for the remainder of the trip. They arrived at a small and desolate rock planet that was found in space near the proximity of a black hole. Despite his promises of a fiery landing the Joker put the shuttle down lightly, then activated the airbags on purposes, giggling as the cushions slowly suffocated him.

They stepped outside of the shuttlecraft. Even though the world was a desolate one, it was beautiful at the same light, bathing in the light of a nearby star and at the same time obscured by the darkness caused by the black hole. It gave the landscape an odd shadowy effect. “Lovely,” the Joker grinned, “I hereby dub this planet: Bat Planet.”
“This planet has a name,” Rita glared, “And it is not Bat Planet. Joker, you will remain here with the shuttle until I return. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”
“And what if it does take a few hours?” the Joker asked.
“If I’m not back by dawn, you can leave and do whatever you wish,” the witch replied, “Leave before that, and you will know torment beyond any pain you’ve ever experienced.”
“An interesting and tempting prospect,” the Joker grinned, “But very well.”

Rita and the Green Arrow left the Joker alone after that, departing towards the east, where the black hole was slowly setting. The witch had restrained the Arrow’s movements somewhat and tied his arms together as to demotivate him from escaping. Green Arrow himself had no intention of trying to escape just yet. He had no idea where he was and if there was such a thing as a safe place within this hostile Galra Empire, and he was curious why Rita had taken him here. Curious about his true mother.
They walked for several miles, and eventually the terrain got less smooth, more rocky and rugged, as they started ascending, climbing higher. Little was spoken between them, there was little to talk about.
“Why now?” the Green Arrow finally asked, “Why after all this time now?”
“I need you,” she replied, “This is something I can’t do alone.”
“And you honestly believe I’ll help you because we’re family?” the Arrow shouted back, “I’ll never help you with your wicked ambition! Never!”

Rita didn’t reply to that, and they again continued on in silence.

Finally they arrived at a large opening, about halfway up the mountain range. Before them lay a vast abyss, with at the bottom a shallow lake and sharp rocks. “Welcome, travelers,” a man in pale robes said, waiting for them, “Your journey has been a difficult one, and you have sacrificed a lot. But I fear your suffering is not yet over.”
“Who are you?” Rita asked the stranger.
“I am one such as yourself,” the stranger replied, “I too once sought the power of the Infinity Balls, but possessing just one of them drove me to this state, to this place.”

The man drew back his hood, revealing an elderly man, his hair and long beard a beautiful snow white color, but his face an aged one, his eyes tired after a long life full of burdens. “In a past life I was called Saruman the White,” he said, “But now I am just a watcher, a guide for poor souls seeking the power of the Infinity Balls, seeking the Infinity Ball of Sacrifice.”
“A price must be paid,” Rita spoke to him. It was more an announcement than a question.
“A price must be paid,” Saruman confirmed, “The Infinity Ball of Sacrifice is no mere prize to be claimed. One must prove oneself worthy of possessing it, by sacrificing something dear to them, something close.”

“HA!” the Green Arrow laughed, “Then it’s all over! We won, and Rita lost!”

There was a moment of silence, and neither Saruman nor Rita Repulsa did respond to his laughter. Green Arrow turned sideways, a burden falling off his shoulders as he realized their mission to save the universe, to save all of reality had not been in vain. “You lose!” he shouted, laughing at the space witch, “We went through so much to stop you from getting all Infinity Balls, from exacting your terrible wish!  And in the end it is you yourself who proves to be your own undoing!”

Another moment of silence, and Saruman the White stared at the Green Arrow with a puzzled expression, wondering what this masked hero meant. “You see,” the Arrow continued, “Rita Repulsa doesn’t love anyone, there is none close to her! That’s why she’ll never be able to fulfill the agreement!”
“There is one,” Rita admitted, after another short silence.

The Green Arrow considered the meaning of those words. Then his eyes widened as he understood their full meaning. “No…” he whispered, “No, you can’t be serious…”
“I’m sorry, my son,” she whispered, not even able to look him in the eye, “It has to be this way.”

The witch slowly turned to face him again, ready to do something. The Green Arrow realized he had only one chance and didn’t hesitate, pulling a knife from his utility belt (which was nothing like Batman’s utility belt!)  and thrusting it to his neck, intending to kill himself. But Rita had anticipated it and was faster, making a waving gesture with her hand, jerking the knife from his grasp by some unseen mystic force. “No..!” the Arrow shouted again, seeing his last chance to thwart Rita go up in smoke.

“I’m sorry, my son,” the repeated again, as she slowly raised her staff, gripping it in both hands for what had to be done, “But this needs to happen.”

The Green Arrow stepped back but never tried to run, knowing it would be futile. Rita swung her staff in a sideway motion, and the Arrow could feel her magic enveloping him, lifting him up and tossing his helpless body through the air, over the edge and into the abyss below. The impact on the ground below was a deadly one.

“The Ball recognizes your sacrifice,” Saruman spoke breaking the painful silence, “You shall now receive your prize.”

Tears flushed down Rita Repulsa’s face as she extended her hand. Her only son, or at least the only one born of a union of love, and now he was gone forever, by her hand. She closed her eyes briefly, remembering the fallen and considering her loss. Then, when she opened her eyes again, her hand was no longer empty, and within it lay the Infinity Ball of Sacrifice, bringing her one step closer to her ultimate goal.
“Was it worth it..?” Saruman softly asked.
“It will be,” Rita replied, “When I’ve collected all seven and have made my wish come true. When I wake up the next morning I will finally rest, and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe.”

Saruman said nothing, and Rita left in silence, using the journey back to the shuttle to mourn as well as to strengthen her resolve. Only two Balls remained, one in the possession of her enemies, and one hidden in the distant past. She would leave nothing to chance; soon she would possess all seven, and the universe would at last be forever changed.

Chapter XVI – You can argue about whether or not pineapple belongs on a pizza, but you can’t argue about Prince Lotor’s good looks

The TARDIS materialized in the depths of space, taking shape with that same whizzing sounds that was so familiar to it. After it had stabilized it floated there silently, waiting for what its occupants would do next. There was chaos inside, the people inside were relieved that they had survived the destruction of the Death Star and escaped on time, but at the same time coming so close to their demise had certainly taken its toll. It took a while before normality was restored.

“Everybody all right?” the Doctor asked.
“I think so,” the Green Arrow replied, looking at the condition of his team mates, “But that escape really was by the skin of our teeth.”
“Where are we now?” Vegeta asked, “Or should I ask when are we now?”
“I’ll check,” the Doctor said, rushing over to one of the consoles, “Give me a minute and I’ll get our bearings.”

The Doctor worked the console feverishly to get their bearings when suddenly a light tremor shook the ship. “What was that?” Vegeta called out, “Did you crash us into something?”
“It’s not me,” the Doctor said, “The TARDIS is not moving, it’s stationary. Something could’ve crashed into us, in theory, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. This feels… different.”

There was another shock, more intense this time, followed by a short rumbling sound. “It’s another ship,” the Doctor said, getting new readings, “They’ve caught us in some sort of energy beam, a tractor beam! They’re trying to haul is into their ship!”
“Who dares?” Thanos demanded, “Is it the Galactic Empire again?”
“Not possible, we’ve been hurled far into the future; the Empire no longer exists,” the Doctor said, “The ship’s configuration matches that of a battle cruiser of the Galra Empire, a race of aggressive beings who once set out to conquer the known galaxy, and very nearly succeeded.”
“Doesn’t sound like a good kind of people to get captured by,” Arya said.
“Definitely not,”  the doctor agreed, pulling levers and pressing switches, “But they haven’t gotten us yet. I’ll see if I can wrest us free.”

But the Doctor’s struggled proved to no avail. For some reason the TARDIS refused to cooperate and go to full power. The Galra battle cruiser had a firm hold of the alien time ship, pulling it inside its cargo hold. “They’ve got us,” the Doctor admitted.
“That will be their problem,” Vegeta said, taking off his shirt so that he was suddenly naked at the top except for a tank top. For no specific reason. “No weakling talks this time; I’m going out to do some negotiations.”

The TARDIS doors opened and they could see the inside of a massive hangar bay, which was filled with what seemed to be mostly metallic soldiers, armed and keeping their guns pointed at the TARDIS, waiting for what would come out.

Vegeta came out.

The next battle was brutal and very one sided. Vegeta charged into the soldiers, who fired advanced laser weapons. They probably were enough to injure even Vegeta, but the Saiyan warrior was too fast and easily dodged any attack they fired at him. Meanwhile Vegeta tore into the enemy lines, crushing weapons and punching and kicking soldiers in all directions, tearing every single robot soldier in his path to pieces.
One soldier actually managed to hit him, though it was more of a lucky shot, and his reward was a punch by Vegeta which shattered its robotic head completely to pieces. Nevertheless the soldiers didn’t break rank and continued to fight back, even though it all seemed hopeless.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”  a voice boomed through the cargo bay. The soldiers immediately froze and Vegeta too stopped his onslaught, curious who had called out in such a way.

An odd duo had entered the hangar and was slowly approaching the battle scene. One was a woman, but her entire body except the lower part of her face was obscured by strange robes. The other was a handsome young man, although his skin was an alien lavender  color, with long silky white hair brushed back behind his shoulders. Upon seeing the duo all the soldiers present sank to one knee, awaiting further orders. “We did not bring you aboard our vessel to fight,” the young man proclaimed.
“And yet you brought us aboard against our will, with guns armed!” Vegeta shouted, charging at the duo, “If you weren’t ready for a fight, you should’ve stayed in diapers, boy!”
“This is pointless,” the man sighed, “Hagar. Put him to sleep.”
“As you wish, Prince Lotor,” the woman said, raising her hand and uttering a word of power, of magic. Vegeta’s eyes widened as he felt the unseen power overtake him, then collapsed on the floor as he was running, suddenly deep asleep. “He won’t bother us anymore,” the witch said proudly.
“Please exit your space ship,” the one named Lotor called out, “We mean you no harm, but for our own safety, we’d like to have you all where we can see you. I will order my men to stand down.”

Prince Lotor

The soldiers looked at him hesitantly, but when he nodded, they did as he had asked and lowered their weapons again, waiting to see how the situation would develop.

“You’re not exactly off with a good start,” Green Arrow called back, as he stepped out of the TARDIS, followed by the others, “One of our men is down, and you dragged us aboard! Can you guarantee our safety?”
“I am Lotor, Prince of the Galra Empire,” the man replied, “By my authority, I can guarantee your safety. You will not be harmed.”
“Prince Lotor?” the Doctor repeated, recognizing the voice, “Are you really Prince Lotor?”
“This I am,” the man replied with a warm smile, “Surely you’ve heard of me. Nothing but good tales, I do hope.”
“I’ve read tales of the Prince of the Galra back at home, on Gallifrey,” the Doctor said, placing herself between her companions and the prince, “The only child of the despot Prince Zarkon, Lotor was said to strife for unity of the Galra Empire, bringing together a shattered people after a power vacuum arose.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Arya said, “Although an imperial rule isn’t that great either.”
“It’s a ruse,” the Doctor said, “Lotor plays nice for the public eye, until he gets what he wants: one of the galaxy’s mightiest weapons of war. He then shows his true colors and, drunk with power, becomes an enemy of the universe. He’s a monster who…”
“Curses! They have a time traveler,” Lotor spat, “Hagar! Disable their ship! Soldiers! Take them alive!”

Things happened really fast then. The witch Hagar cast another spell, which erected an impenetrable barrier around the TARDIS, preventing the heroes from escaping back inside, even if they wanted to. The soldiers moved in too, bare handed this time, attempting to overtake them. They underestimated Thanos who fought back hard, but eventually he was taken down as well, when Hagar cast another sleep spell. The Doctor, the last person standing, and the only one who hadn’t fought back, then surrendered as well. “This won’t end well for you, Lotor,” she warned.
“I’ve heard those words before,” Lotor smiled, “But I always find a way. Who do I have the pleasure of dealing with, Miss…?”
“The Doctor will do,” the Doctor replied.
“Ah, very well, then you may call me The Prince,” Lotor jested, “But fine, The Doctor is fine with me. And how nice of you all to drop by.”
“We didn’t drop by, you captured us,” the Doctor corrected.
“But you did drop by in Galra territory,” Lotor corrected, “But that doesn’t matter much now. What matters is that I have a friend who is dying to meet you.”
“A friend of yours can’t be too promising,” the Doctor bit back.
“So cruel,” Lotor grinned, “Don’t worry though, you won’t need to wait long. A shuttlecraft is already approaching this battle cruiser. You’ll meet our other guests soon.”

True to what he said, a long distance shuttlecraft arrived slightly later, entering the cargo bay through a protective energy shield that made sure the bay wasn’t directly exposed to the vacuum of space. It landed on a designated space next to the TARDIS. The hatch opened and Rita Repulsa exited the craft, alone. “Rita!” Edward Elric exclaimed.
“So Prince Lotor is another one of your allies,” the Green Arrow replied, “Greed truly knows no bounds, not by place and not by time either.”
“Prince Lotor and I have struck a temporary alliance of sorts,” Rita Repulsa explained as she approached the prince, “I have given his majesty some… assistance in unifying his broken Empire, and in return the prince will deliver upon me something I want.”
“The Infinity Ball no doubt,” Edward guessed.
“That seems like the obvious guess, but no,” Rita corrected, “The Infinity Ball of Sacrifice can’t be found by normal means. That’s why I’ve traveled myself to this timeline. No, I’m here to claim something different.”
“And what’s that?” the Doctor asked, “What else could you possibly want.
“My son,” Rita replied.

The silence that followed was as intense as it was deafening. Jackzordon never once had spoken about a song belonging to Rita Repulsa, who hated children, so none of them had even considered such a notion. And here she was, in a distant galaxy in the future, amidst an evil Empire, claiming that she had come for just such a thing.
“You’ve upheld your part of the bargain, so it only makes sense I do the same,” Lotor smiled, “Your son is here, ready to go with you.”
“That pleases me,” Rita smirked, “Bring him to me.”
“Do it,” Lotor commanded.

Two soldiers looked and nodded at each other, then one of them shoved Green Arrow hard in the back, pushing him forward and away from his friends. “What is the meaning of this?!” the vigilante demanded.
“My son,” Rita smiled, “How you’ve grown.”

“WHAT?!” everybody exclaimed.

“How life is full of surprises sometimes,” Lotor smiled, “Isn’t it the duty of nobility to unite lost souls back together?”
“Nobility should remember that there are more pressing obligations,” Hagar said, with an obvious undertone of disapproval. It didn’t seem like she was a big fan of an alliance with Rita Repulsa; maybe it was a space witch competition thing.
“Now, now, Hagar,” Lotar smiled without taking his eyes off the reunion scene, “Sometimes we must go beyond our duties, for the greater good. And this will certainly benefit the Galra.”
“Of course,” Hagar replied, and decided not to further pursue the issue.

The Green Arrow was restrained by the Galra soldiers and brought aboard the transport shuttle. Rita moved back to the shuttle as well, but addressed Lotor again before she boarded: “Thank you again, Prince Lotor. Consider the Zanax Region yours by tomorrow.”
“Your assistance is much appreciated,” Lotor said with a small bow.

Rita smiled and then boarded the shuttle, which immediately took off, taking the evil space with and her prisoner to some unknown destination. All the remaining heroes could do is stare in disbelief, distressed at losing a comrade and confused that she turned out to be related to Green Arrow.

“Take them to the prison cells,” Lotor commanded, “They shall be dealt with later. We have a rebel region of space to annex!”

Hagar watched as Lotor departed and as the group of prisoners was taken away. She didn’t like the arrangement with Rita Repulsa, but at least the rest of her intentions were moving forward as planned.

Yes, everything was still going according to keikaku. (*)

(*) ‘Keikaku’ means ‘plan’.

Chapter XV – It’s not nice to mess with somebody else’s property so we’re not going to blow up the Death Star

The situation had turned dire in only a matter of hours. The group of Heroes had been captured, with some of them still missing, and Darth Vader was no doubt about to present the sixth Infinity Ball to Rita Repulsa, along with the one he’d taken from them. With that, Rita needed to collect only one more to fulfill her wish of a universe without children and pineapple on pizza.
The group of heroes that had infiltrated the Death Star had been separated, to prevent them from making  a plan together and escaping. The Doctor had been locked away with Arya Stark, both of them chained to a wall, as Darth Vader feared that simply locking them up in a cell wouldn’t be enough to keep them there.

More than a day had passed when the cell door opened and Darth Vader entered. He ordered the soldiers that accompanied him to stand guard outside while he addressed the Doctor: “We’ve found your time ship, Doctor. Quite an impressive device, although odd in shape. We’ve been unable to open it so far.”
“Nothing your Empire has will be able to open that police box,” the Doctor replied, glaring at the dark lord, “And nothing you have will persuade me to help you.”
“Not even the death or torture of one of your team mates?” Darth Vader hinted, glancing sideways at Arya for a moment, who glared back at him, but said nothing.
“Nothing,” the Doctor said, “While I do cherish them, the price would be too high.”
“You are a cold one, Doctor,” Darth Vader complimented, “But don’t worry, I’m not going to test your resolve. Time travel might be an interesting thing, but I’ve got other matters to attend to.”
“Such as delivering the Infinity Ball to Rita?” Arya spat.
“The space witch will have to wait before I deliver the prize I took from you to her,” Darth Vader replied, “She has caused discord in the Empire by killing my master, the Emperor. I can’t leave things as they are, so I will restore order first before returning. That’s the beauty of time travel, you have all the time in the world.”
“You were sent here to find the Infinity Ball in this timeline,” the Doctor guessed, “But you don’t have it, do you? You don’t even know where it is.”
“We never did,” Darth Vader said, “But the Empire’s intelligence network is fast. As soon as order has been restored, I will dedicate them to the task. The Ball will be found within days after that.”
“Such confidence,” Arya commented, “It’s the downfall of many tyrants.”
“Perhaps,” Darth Vader said as he left the room, “But it shall not be mine, nor from this Empire.”

Then the cell door closed and the two of them were alone again.

“What do we do now, Doctor?” Arya asked, “Can we escape?”

“Not easily,” the Doctor replied, “But I’m working on a plan. But at least we got some information today. Darth Vader is still looking for the Infinity Ball. That means we have some time left.”

The door opened a second time, and the guards posted outside were flung inside, landing on the floor, both unconscious. “Looks like a plan is no longer needed,” the Doctor concluded, focusing her eyes on the cell door.
“You lot are difficult to find,” Thanos said, stepping into the cell, “Especially when you go and hide in a completely different time period.”
“Thanos!” Arya exclaimed, relieved to see her companion again, “How did you find us?”
“I read the previous few chapters,” Thanos replied, “No, that would be a silly response. No, after Frieza attacked the time traveling car, we were separated. I’m not sure what happened to the others, but I got displaced in distance to a small village in Europe. It was really awkward.”
“And then what happened?” the Doctor asked.
“Who are you?” Thanos asked, distracted.
“She’s the Doctor,” Arya explained, “She helped us travel through time, she’s an ally.”
“Ah, all right,” Thanos said, “After I left that village, I traveled back here but found no one of course, except for Rita’s henchmen investigating the scene, including that lady with the time travel device. I snuck on board as they left, and eventually they traveled here. When I caught word of a ploy to capture intruders on board, I figured it could be some of you guys, so I bided my time… and here I am.”
“And here you are,” Arya repeated.

Thanos made short work of the restraints, using his super strength to literally tear the iron cuffs from the wall, freeing both The Doctor and Arya. “The others, are they here too?” he asked.
“They should be in the cells next to ours,” Arya replied, “I’ve seen Edward and the Green Arrow being locked in the cell next to ours, but I’m not sure where they put Vegeta; but it should be close by too.”

Thanos nodded and they left their cell and went to the next one. Thanos put his full weight against it, and the metal door was pushed open easily under the force put behind it. A surprised Edward Elric and Green Arrow looked up to see them, both chained to the wall as well. It took Thanos just as little effort to free them as well. “Thank you,” the Arrow replied, “So we’re only missing Vegeta now?”
“Probably in the cell next to this one,” Thanos guessed, “These space Nazi villains are very orderly but not very original. Shall I kick the door down?”
“No, allow me,” Edward said, slapping his hands together, then placing them against the wall, which began to melt and distort, creating a hole to the next cell. There they indeed found Vegeta, strapped to a table and deep asleep, with a machine constantly administrating some kind of sedative.
“Looks like they’re keeping him asleep,” the Doctor said, “It makes sense; with that power he wielded before, he could easily break out of any imperial prison. Must be a powerful sedative too.”
“And now it’s turned off,” the Arrow replied, switching off the machine before he started removing the tube that administered the liquid from Vegeta’s body, “How long until he wakes up?”
“Unsure,” the Doctor said, “I don’t know what kind of sedative they used. Could be anything from four hours to…”
“WHAT YEAR IS IT?!” Vegeta shouted, suddenly sitting upright, “I’LL KILL YOU, CLOWN!”

“…or up to ten seconds,” the Doctor added.

The group was complete again and given that the prison block wasn’t swarming with soldiers yet probably meant that their escape had gone undetected until now, offering an opportunity to strike back before Darth Vader found out. “What’s the plan?” Vegeta asked, itching for a fight.
“Darth Vader has our Infinity Ball,” Green Arrow replied, “We need to know if he’s taken it to Rita Repulsa yet; he sounded like he was in no hurry, but we need to make sure. If it’s still here, we need to get it back soon. As soon as he learns that we’ve broken out of our imprisonment, he’ll waste no further time and will get the Ball to Rita immediately.”
“That’s one thing,” Edward added, “Plus he hasn’t found the Infinity Ball hidden in this timeline yet. If we can find that one too, we’ll be two steps ahead of them.”
“So we infiltrate their network again,” the Arrow replied, “But this time they won’t be counting on it, so there shouldn’t be any traps along the way. Can you do it, Doctor?”
“The prison block is linked to several other important sections,” the Doctor said, “If we gain control of the prison control room, we should be able to find out what we need to know.”
“But the moment we do that, the risk of getting discovered increases exponentially,” the Arrow warned, “So we need to move quickly after that.”

No one was opposed to the plan so they moved forward, sneaking up to the room next to the control room. Then Edward melted the wall, allowing them to take the troops stationed there by complete surprise, subduing them before they could sound any alert. For now they were still undetected, but sooner or later someone would try to contact the control room or relief troops would arrive. And then the game was up.
“Hurry, Doctor,” Edward advised, “We’ll keep watch for any intruders, but we’ll only have a short time.”
“Already working,” the Doctor said, “For now it seems Darth Vader has assumed control of this battle station. They’ve resumed course to what appears to be a hideout staging rebels that oppose the Empire. And… oh my.”
“What is it?” Edward asked.
“The Death Star is set to arrive in four hours from now; but according to the intelligence they’ve gathered the rebel base will need at least six hours to prepare. At this rate they’ll be overrun.”
“That’s terrible,” the Arrow said, “At this rate they’ll never be able to mount a real resistance; the Empire’s rule will be absolute.”
“So we smash this  machine,” Vegeta said, “No harm in causing a bit of trouble, is there?”
“We can’t do that,” the Doctor said, “The clash between the Death Star and the rebel forces is a fixed point in history. It needs to happen; but it needs to happen a few hours later. Darth Vader probably moved up the time table because of our arrival here, and because he wants to get a hold of the empire again. We’re the cause of this!”
“Can we make things right again then?” the Arrow asked.
“We can,” the Doctor said, “I’m uploading a virus into the network while simultaneously searching. The virus will cripple the command structure without appearing as a virus. It’ll look like sloppy bureaucracy. Even if the Death Star does arrive ahead of schedule, this should slow down the command structure enough so that the rebels have enough time to prepare.”
“Won’t it increase our chances of being detected?” the Arrow asked.
“Nope,” the Doctor replied, giving him a wide smirk, “That’s the beauty of it. The virus is disguised as protocols. All blame will go directly to bureaucracy and the slow administration of the Death Star. They’ll never trace it back to a virus, let alone to us. It was a practice that was very commonly employed by Russia in the early twenty-first century on Earth.”

The Doctor continued her efforts in finding out more information about the Infinity Ball’s location, but the Empire’s security protocols were more advanced than she had anticipated and had been upgraded since her last hacking attempt. It took a few hours for her to gather the necessary information.
The Green Arrow was getting more nervous with every passing moment, as it increased the chances of detection, but finally the Doctor uttered those words that relieved his spirit: “I think I’ve got it.”
“You found the Ball?” Edward Elric asked, “Where is it?”
The Doctor paused a moment, verifying the results before she shared them with her companions. It wasn’t the best of news: “On the command bridge of the Death Star,” she said, “Darth Vader is there, personally supervising it, along with the operation of the attack on Yavin IV and the rebel base.”
“That certainly complicates things,” Arya said, “I’ve seen Darth Vader in combat several times before. Even together I’m not sure if we’re a match for him. He is incredibly strong.”
“But do we have a choice?” Thanos asked.
“There’s more,” the Doctor said, “Perhaps we’ll have an opportunity, but it’s going to be very, very risky.”
“What’s the plan, Doctor?”
“According to Death Star sensor scans we’ve arrived at Yavin IV, exactly according to schedule as history foretells,” she said, “The rebel attack on the Death Star has already commenced, with ships underway to intercept.”
“You sounds like you already know the outcome, Doctor,” Arya caught on.
The Doctor nodded. “The rise and fall of the Intergalactic Empire is a historical well known to the Time Lords of Gallifrey, my ancestral home. It was a dark time for the universe, but also one that passed. And while today is not the day the Empire will fall, the battle outcome today will have a significant impact on its future.”
“But who will win?” Vegeta asked.
“The Empire’s battle station is immune to attacks by large battle ships,” the Doctor said, “But it has a massive design flaw which can be exploited by a smaller fighters. A small thermal exhaust port, leading directly to the station’s internal core. A torpedo impact there can set off a chain reaction that will obliterate the entire station. That’s the tactic the rebels will use, and with it they will triumph.”
“That’s quite a design flaw,” Vegeta commented.
“Then how do we benefit from this?” the Arrow asked, “I’m sure the command structure will be disarray, but I can’t imagine we have more than a few minutes before the station completely obliterates. Hardly enough to take the bridge, even by surprise, and get away.”
“There is another significant fact to this battle,” the Doctor said, “Darth Vader will lead a few fighters outside personally to defend the station. It is how he survives this battle, as the explosion will hurl him into the depths of space.”
“So assuming that remains unchanged, we can assume he’ll leave the control room any moment now,” the Arrow concluded, nodding, “That’s quite an opportunity. Most likely the only one we’ll get.”
“Let’s get going then1” Vegeta smirked, “I’ve been itching to get some payback on that dark armored fool! I’d prefer a real fight, but this works fine by me!”

It was exactly as the Doctor had predicted: a small fleet of small rebel fighter ships attacked and was met in battle by several squadrons of fighters that launched from the Death Star. Amidst the battle several fighters broke off and attacked the Death Star surface, taking out several artillery cannons so the next batch of fighters could begin the final attack run against the station’s most vulnerable spot.
The Doctor was unsure whether history would take the same course, given the minor changes that had occurred earlier, but was relieved when they did and when Darth Vader left the bridge to join the battle outside. They waited until his fighter squadron had launched and then made their move.

Rebel attack on the Death Star

There was no further need for secrecy, but thankfully the chaos of battle was on their side, and the Imperial troops were unable to mount a decent defense. They quickly broke through several small squadrons of guards and finally made it to the Death Star’s main control room, where Vegeta blasted the entrance doors to pieces with a small energy blast. “Knock, knock,” he grinned.
The occupants of the control room were completely taken by surprise, but managed to mount a defense nonetheless, keeping the intruders at bay with suppressive laser fire. But they were no match to fighting monsters such as Thanos, Edward Elric and Vegeta and quickly the battle turned into a losing one for them. “Enough,” the commander finally said, standing up and raising his hand, “Lay down your weapons. We surrender.”

The troops obeyed and threw away their weapons, then put their hands in the air. Although the battle outside was still raging on, the battle inside had been lost. “A wise choice,” Green Arrow commented, “I am Green Arrow.”
“Commander Needa,” Needa replied, “Enjoy your victory while it lasts, rebels. The fire control of the main weapon has been transferred directly to the weapon control center. You may have taken the bridge, but you won’t stop the weapon from firing.”
“We have no intention of doing so,” Green Arrow said, “This rebellion does not concern us.”
“Then this is more foolish than I thought,” Needa said, “What are you then? Bounty hunters? You can take me, but I doubt my masters will pay you for my release.”
“You can keep your freedom too,” Thanos said, “All we want is the item your Lord Vader has left here for safekeeping. Then we’re on our way.”
“So you’re the group of troublemakers he warned about,” Commander Needa realized, “He told us to fight if you somehow escaped your cells and showed up, to defend the item to the last man. But I’m not in favor of sacrificing my men like that. Take the item. I’ll face Lord Vader and offer my apologies later, should he return from the battle outside.”
“I’m sure he’ll accept it, Commander Needa,” Thanos said.

Commander Needa resigned in his defeat and opened a hidden cabinet, retrieving the Infinity Ball from its hidden location, handing it over to Thanos. “Thank you very much for your donation,” Thanos thanked.
“You won’t leave here alive,” Commander Needa warned, “Even if you manage to escape that war zone outside, we’ll hunt you down and destroy you.”

They didn’t answer his threats, instead the Doctor used some sort of neck pinch to sedate all soldiers present, to prevent the people inside the command room from immediately sounding the alarm and calling for reinforcements.
The group then fled, following the Doctor, who was leading them back to the TARDIS, which they would use to make their escape, not into space, but into another time period. The other Stone that was still hidden somewhere within the Galactic Empire would have to wait for another opportunity, one with less fighting and less danger of imminent destruction.
Outside the Rebels had already begun their final attack run, as reinforcements arrived, driving off Darth Vader’s forces. The dark lord himself lost control of his ship and was flung into the depths of space, while the rebel fighters approached their target, ready to strike. A torpedo was fired, but missed. A second one hit its target, disappearing into the exhaust shaft and traveling towards its deadly destination. Seconds later an explosion could be heard and a tremor shook the entire battle station, indicating that the energy projectile had found its target. “Hurry now,” the Doctor said, “Once the core begins to self-destruct, we have only seconds before the chain reaction becomes critical and tears apart this star base!”

Luckily they were already close to the TARDIS at that point. The soldiers placed outside to guard it had fled the moment they realized that the star base was coming apart, leaving the way clear for the Doctor and his companions to board the time ship without further hindrance. As soon as the last person was inside the Doctor flipped two switches and the TARDIS sprung to life, whizzing and groaning, as it disappeared into the time stream and away from this time and place.

Seconds later the Death Star exploded, marking a major victory for the rebel alliance and perhaps one of the greatest defeats the Galactic Empire would ever suffer. It was a feat our heroes only heard about later from the Doctor, but which would shape the destiny of the galaxy for ages to come.

Chapter XIV – A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away; a galaxy without Jar Jar Binks

The Death Star was perhaps the deadliest weapon The Galactic Empire had employed, since the galactic tour of pop artist Jar Jar Binks. The battle station had the size of a small moon and was capable of interstellar travel. Its hull was reinforced with the strongest metal alloys and incredibly thick, so that it could easily withstand an assault by a fleet of warships. But perhaps the most deadly of the whole construction was its main weapon, a giant laser capable of wiping out entire planets if fired at full strength.
This fully operational battle station had been completed in uttermost secrecy, as it was still vulnerable during the construction phase, so those who rebelled against the Empire should under no circumstances be made aware of it. And they had learned of it, but not until it was too late and construction had been in the final stages.

The sinister weapon of mass destruction had already destroyed two rebel planets since its first test run several weeks ago and was now in deep space, approaching its next destination: the rebel base in the Yavin system. As soon as that base was destroyed, a crippling blow would be dealt to the Rebel Alliance which opposed the Galactic Empire.
Inside the Death Star control room Admiral Needa was watching the dark space in front of them.  Even though the was only blackness and not much change during their journey he kept on watching. It gave him a sense of peace. As a young man Needa had made a particular fast promotion, following the assassination on the Emperor by an unknown force and the disappearance of Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader shortly after the completion of the Death Star. The Empire had been in disarray and Needa had made good use of that, scoring a few quick victories and climbing the ranks to that position he figured would be most important: that of commander of the Death Star.

The Death Star

“Commander Needa,” one of the operators in the control room suddenly called out, breaking the perfect silence, “There’s something you need to see, sir.”

“What is it?” Needa asked, walking up to the operator to have a look on his console.

“An object up ahead directly in our path and slowly moving towards us,” the operator said, “It appears to resemble some type of blue box, with windows and writing on it. At first I figured it was debris, but then it changed course slightly, but not by natural causes, sir.”

Admiral Needa pondered the discovery for a few seconds, but then swiftly reached a conclusion: “Power up the main weapon,” he ordered, “And target that device; 10% of maximum capacity should suffice.”
“Powering up main weapon,” another operator confirmed, “Requested capacity will be reached in twenty seconds,” and twenty seconds later he added: “Ready to fire.”
“Then fire,” Needa ordered calmly.

For a moment the darkness flared up as a thin, bright green beam erupted from the Imperial battle station, piercing the night sky and impacting directly on the blue box, enveloping it in a massive explosion. Then the light dimmed and the darkness returned again. “Status report?” Admiral Needa asked.
“Sensors show no change,” the operator read, “The object is undamaged and slowly approaching the Death Star.”
“Incredible,” Admiral Needa said, “Very well. Power up the main weapon to 100%. Evaporate that object with everything we’ve got.”
“Sir, my apologies for questioning you,” another operator said, “But isn’t that a bit overkill? The full power of the Death Star…”
“That thing withstood the deadliest weapon in existence, even at 10% of its maximum output,” Needa interrupted, “If it can do that, there’s a good chance that it can withstand more, perhaps it was even designed as a weapon against this very battle station. I’m taking no chance, while it’s still at a safe distance.”

Nobody protested against that and the Death Star’s main laser was powered up a second time, this time to full power, the power capable of eradicating entire planets. “Fire,” Needa ordered again, and the laser pierced the night once more, this time at full intensity. It impacted on the mysterious blue box and the impact was enormous.

When the smoke cleared, the object was no more. The operator confirmed is: “Object has been destroyed. There is no trace of it, not even debris.”
“Looks like we completely evaporated it then,” Needa guessed, “I guess 100% was a bit overkill after all. Good job everyone, resume course to the Yavin system.”

* * *

Deep inside the Death Star, in a remote storage room that was hardly ever used as it was too far from any of the battle station’s vital systems, the TARDIS began to materialize and took solid shape again, completely undamaged despite just having been attacked by a planet killer weapon.
The door opened and the group of heroes and the Doctor left the mysterious time ship, as the Doctor closed the TARDIS door behind him. “What was that thing?” the Arrow asked, “It was enormous.”
“A weapon of the Galactic Empire,” the Doctor said, “And perhaps their deadliest creation. A weapon capable of evaporating entire planets, snuffing out billions of lives with a single attack.”

Vegeta said nothing at this point. It was probably unwise to mention now that he was capable of doing the same thing with just a simple energy attack. And had done so in the distant past, when he was a different person.

“That’s incredible,” Edward Elric commented, “Not even the army of Amestris was capable of that, and perhaps it’s good that they aren’t. And yet your TARDIS took a full hit of that?”
“It takes a lot more than a planet killer weapon to damage the TARDIS,” the Doctor explained, “Still, remaining in front of that weapons main weapon for a prolonged amount of time would be unwise. So I moved us a little further…”
“Where are we now?” Bakugo asked, “An enemy base?”
“Inside the Death Star, the Empire’s planet killer weapon,” the Doctor explained casually.
“Sounds a lot safer,” Vegeta commented.
“Well, at least that laser weapon can’t hit us from here,” Edward replied, “Where do we go next? Do we have a lead on the Infinity Ball?”
“None yet,” the Green Arrow replied, “We know that it’s somewhere within the Galactic Empire, but not where exactly. And it’s, as the name implies, a domain which spans an entire galaxy.”
“Not exactly a narrowed down search area then,” Vegeta commented, “What next? Can we get more detailed information?”
“Since this object is so powerful, I’m sure the Empire will know that it’s important as well and they’ll try to hide any information about its whereabouts, whether the Ball is in their possession or not,” the Doctor deducted, “But no information network is perfect; if they know their location, I’ll be able to find out, even if they’ve hidden it completely. I like a good challenge!”
“So where do we go then?” Arya asked, “Can you get this information from here, Doctor?”

The Doctor surveyed their surroundings and pondered the answer to that question. This was just a simple storage room, with no advanced consoles of any kind. “Not from here,” she said, “We need to find a control room of some sort. I should be able to access the Death Star’s computer network from there, and that in turn should give me access to the Galactic Empire’s entire network.”
“So we rough up a few guards then?” Vegeta proposed, flexing his knuckled, “Make them tell us the location of the nearest place?”
“That wouldn’t work,” the Doctor said, “I’m not a big fan of violence if we can avoid it; and this battle station is massive, the size of a small planet. Finding a console room will be difficult, and most of the guards here probably won’t know the details about the station’s layout. No, we need to look for it ourselves. Less risk, and a higher chance of succeeding.”
“We’ll split up then,” the Green Arrow proposed, “The Doctor, Bakugo and Arya form one team, while Vegeta and Edward come with me. We’ll cover more ground that way.”
“And how do we inform each other when we’ve found our target?” Arya asked.
“Each team member will get a miniature communicator,” the Doctor said, “They were created by the TARDIS and can’t be traced by Imperial technology. We can talk to each other over long distances with that, so we can inform each other when we’ve found something.”

No one protested against that action and the Heroes split up again. The Green Arrow and his team quickly disappeared from the room and around the corner, while the Doctor took her team in another direction where they felt they would have more luck in finding a usable console. “This structure is quite massive,” Arya commented after a while, breaking the silence, “I’ve never been in anything like it.”
“You’ve never been on a space station before?” Bakugo asked, “It’s not that big a deal, is it?”
“Arya comes from a world entirely different than your own, young Bakugo,” the Doctor explained, “A medieval world where the main means of transportation is still horseback or cart and wagon. Can you even imagine how alien this concept must be to her? To travel through space?”
“It’s not that strange a concept,” Arya shrugged, “When I was in training with the Faceless Men to become an assassin, we explored the concept of this world being one of many others. It’s a theory I never paid much attention though, and certainly not one I expected to be proven true at some point in my life. It really puts some things into perspective.”
“Wait, you’re an assassin?” Bakugo gasped, catching on and changing the subject.
“Technically, I left the Faceless Men without finishing my training,” Arya shrugged, “Though to call them assassins would be to do them short. They’re world changers, the unseen force that moves events forward. Although, I guess, assassination is a big part of that.”
“Nothing new there,”  the Doctor interrupted, “Also an universal thing, I believe.”
“What about you, Bakugo?” Arya asked, “You’re a hero yourself, aren’t you? Doesn’t that make you a world changer yourself, in a way?”

Bakugo was silent for a moment, pondering her words. No one had ever described what he did like that, and he let his thoughts wander a moment, trying to put into perspective. “I guess that’s a nice way of describing it,” he finally said, his voice remarkably calm and mild, “Though technically I’m not a hero yet, but a trainee, a student. But I do hope to change the world someday; that’s why I want to be the number one hero!”
“That’s a very noble goal,” Arya replied, “But you don’t need to be the number one hero to make a difference, right? As long as you have the power to back up your beliefs and the will to do what’s right, isn’t that all that matters? All that you need?”

Again Bakugo fell silent, weighing her words. “Perhaps,” he finally said, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced just yet.

“A hero?!” a voice called out in front of them, “Don’t make me laugh!”

In front of them a man in a purple suit was waiting, with a milky white skin and audacious green hair. They had not met him before, but Bakugo recognized him from the description the Batman had given before: “Joker.”
“It’s good to be recognized,” the clown prince laughed, posing dramatically, “I joined Darth Vader on a little mission here, but I quickly got bored from his grumpy attitude. Who would’ve thought I’d run into a bunch of wannabe heroes along the way? I would’ve brought my autograph book!”
“Get out of the way or I’ll kick your ass!” Bakugo shouted, shaking his fist.
“Whoa, don’t throw all those hormones in my face, kiddo!” the Joker replied, waving his hands in front of him as if to fend off Bakugo’s threats, “I’m not here to tangle with brats. Tell me where the Batman is.”
“That’s a cruel joke, even for you,” Arya replied, “You know very well that Batman gave up his life when your buddies attacked the Command Center. He’s dead.”

The Joker’s smile vanished for a moment. “Dead..?” he repeated. Apparently he didn’t  know after all. “I know we trashed your place, but I didn’t care much about the outcome, there was a Family Guy marathon on TV. So you said… Batsie’s dead?”
“He gave up his life to protect us, to allow us to escape,” Bakugo explained, “Now that’s a real hero.”
“That’s so typical of him,” the Joker said, “What will I do without him? He was the sunrise to my dusk, the hot summer breeze to my cold winter night, my opposite, and yet the one who always understood me. I feel empty inside. I feel so very Ed Sheeran.”
“You really are a complicated soul,” the Doctor commented. “But if you are intent on fighting, you’ll be getting more than you bargained for. These two are under my protection.”
“That’s cute,” the Joker said, slowly turning around, “But I’m not in the mood for fighting anymore. I’m going to get some hot chocolate and a lot, and I do mean a lot, of whipped cream. And maybe kick a puppy or two. But there probably aren’t any puppies in this damned forsaken space station. FML.”

They waited for the Joker to disappear but remained on edge; the clown prince was known for fooling his enemies and for his pranks, so all this could’ve been an act; but when he didn’t return they figured he had been sincere after all. “Okay, that was totally weird,” Bakugo said.
“We all have our own motivations and ways of thinking,” the Doctor said, “Though that man is particularly disturbed, he respected Batman in his own way. Nevertheless, I’m sure we’ll see him again, up to his old tricks.”

They ventured on and ran into not much trouble after that. They could avoid most imperial patrols and the patrols that they couldn’t avoid were quickly taken care of by Bakugo. Still, searching for a suitable console was going slowly, as they had to search the station section by section. But finally they were lucky, as Arya cornered a cowardly officer who had some knowledge of the layout and was able to guide them to a small coordination room, which provided network access.
Bakugo contacted the other team, informing them of their find and their location, while the Doctor already went to work, accessing the system and hacking into the imperial network, in search of any information about the Infinity Ball’s location.
“Found something?” the Green Arrow asked, when the other team arrived and rejoined their companions.
“Perhaps,” the Doctor said, “Nothing about this Infinity Balls. But we did encounter some familiar faces here.”
“The Joker showed up,” Arya explained, “And he told us Darth Vader was here too; apparently they’re on some sort of mission together.”
“The Infinity Ball, no doubt,” the Green Arrow concluded.
“Exactly,” the Doctor said, “I’ve had no luck so far finding any clues about this Ball’s location, but if these two are here, perhaps we might learn something from that, right?”

The group waited in the room for the Doctor to finish her investigation. It took a while, longer than she’d initially promised, but then a clever smile crossed her face as she uttered an “Aha!”
“You found something?” Edward asked.
“Darth Vader has gone to the bridge, but the Joker is nowhere to be found,” the Doctor said, “Apparently that frustrates Darth Vader, because he doesn’t like an insane person running around on his battle station.”
“And how will that benefit us?” Vegeta asked, unsure why this was relevant.
“There was a brief communication between Darth Vader and the Death Star commander in the central control room,” the Doctor said, “The commander was told to prepare the item for immediate retrieval.”
“Sounds like he’s retrieving something important,” Arya said, “That can only mean the Empire has found the Infinity Ball already. And it’s here, on this space station.”
“What do we do now?” Edward Elric asked, “If Darth Vader gets that item, it will be incredibly tough reclaiming it from him. We have to get that Ball before they deliver it to him!”
“I’m already checking out troop movements, looking for anything suspicious,” the Doctor said, still working on the console, “And I think I have something here. A small group of the Emperor’s elite, travelling at a rather quick pace. Given the direction they’re walking in, they could either be headed for one of the hangar’s, or to the Death Star command room.”
“Sounds like our best bet,” the Green Arrow agreed, “How far are they from here?”

The Doctor checked the console again, pressing a few buttons but quickly reached a conclusion: “Not far. If we leave now and rush south, we should encounter them just around the corner. How lucky!”
“Perhaps,” the Green Arrow agreed, though reluctantly, “All right, let’s go! You heard the Doctor! We need to move fast!”

The group of heroes left the console room and rushed through the hallway with the Green Arrow in the lead. They found the enemy group exactly where the Doctor had predicted. They were soldiers dressed in a bright red armor, their heads completely obscured by large helmets of the same red color. One of them was carrying a small dark gray casket. “They really have it!” Arya shouted.
The soldiers of course immediately realized something was up. These weren’t imperial soldiers, and they were eyeing the thing they were ordered to protect. They drew weapons immediately and attacked.
Vegeta wanted to charge too, but the Arrow urged him to hold back, fearing that one of Vegeta’s stronger attacks would tear a hole in the battle station’s hull. Instead Arya, Edward Elric and Bakugo charged, meeting the enemy soldiers in battle and intercepting their attack. The fight was intense but not very long and ended with the red armored soldiers defeated and Arya in possession of the small casket. She tried to open it, but the casket was locked. “Here, let a man do that!” Bakugo taunted and grabbed the small box out of her hands, attempting to open it as well. He had little success either but persisted, continuing to pull until he finally felt it starting to budge a little. “Just a little… more…  he grunted as he pressed on.
“Something’s not right,” the Green Arrow pondered, unable to put his mind to it, “I don’t know what, but something is not right here…”
The Doctor also grew suspicious it seemed. She pulled out an odd pencil shaped device, except slightly larger, pointing it at Bakugo and the casket. A buzzing sound came from it, as it acted as some sort of scanner. “It’s empty,” she concluded.

“I’ve got it,” Bakugo exclaimed, slowly pulling the lid away, “It’s open..!”

Everything happened really fast at that moment. Bakugo pulled the lid open and Green Arrow realized what was really going on, that it was all a lie. “Bakugo, don’t…!” he shouted. But it was already too late. Bakugo opened the casket, which produced a clicking sound, then exploded in the young hero’s face. As it did, Bakugo seemed to notice what was up, stretching his hand and pushing Arya away from him. The blast hurled Arya, who had still been standing close to Bakugo, a good deal back across the hallway, but she was otherwise uninjured.
The same couldn’t be said for Bakugo, who lay on the floor, severely injured. “Damn it! Stupid asshole casket..!” he coughed.
“Bakugo!” Arya shouted, and was beside him almost immediately, kneeling and grabbing his hand, “Bakugo! Don’t die!”
“In the end… I never got to be a real hero after all…” Bakugo gasped, struggling to keep on breathing, to keep on living.
“What are you talking about?!” Arya cried out, as tears welled up in her eyes, “You pushed me away from that explosion at the last second! You saved me! That’s what a hero does!”
Bakugo groaned, then looked up at the ceiling above them, not making eye contact with her anymore: “You know… I really, really… like you…”
“BAKUGO!” Arya called out.
“Of all the things…” Bakugo laughed, “To be done in… by an explosion…” and those were the last words he uttered, as his body stopped moving, stopped breathing.

And Arya cried.

The Doctor stared at the scene unfolding in disbelief. This young boy had died in front of them and she had been unable to prevent it, unable to save him. It brought back all sorts of memories from previous companions on her  journeys that she’d been unable to save, that were the reason for her to travel alone from time to time. Yet she knew that wasn’t the answer, not this time. She didn’t even notice the enemy soldiers arriving from both sides until it was too late, because she was lost in thought.

“It seems your little ploy worked,” Darth Vader said, arriving on one side with a group of white armored soldiers, “A pity it took out only one of them. But it’s one hero less to worry about nonetheless.”
“I take what I can get in life,” the Joker grinned, arriving on the other side with another battalion of the same soldiers, “And in return I love giving presents.”
“Oh you do?” Vegeta asked, gritting his teeth with anger at the maniac’s words, “Then allow me to present you with a present of my own…”
“Vegeta, don’t…!” Green Arrow called, sensing what the warrior was up to. But it was already too late and Vegeta didn’t listen. He turned around towards the Joker’s soldiers and brought his hands together, firing a massive blast of energy from them which filled the entire hallway. The Joker ducked into a small crevice for safety, but the soldiers were less lucky and were instantly blown away by the energy blast.
“A ruthless attack,” Darth Vader judged, and there was perhaps something of a compliment in his voice, “But futile against me. Surrender yourselves now, or you will meet the same fate as your young companion.”
“Do as he says,” the Green Arrow ordered, “We’re not going to win this one. Not without losing more people at least. And I don’t want to lose more people.”
“Agreed,” the Doctor said, “Lord Vader, we surrender to your mercy.”
“Then you are a fool to expect any,” Darth Vader replied, “But I have more urgent matters to attend to, so I accept your offer. Lock them up, and make sure they can’t use any of those powers you’ve just witnessed.”

The soldiers moved in and began arresting the heroes, who didn’t resist. Even Vegeta cooperated, though he did punch a few soldiers before he allowed them to restrain him. “Mark my words, Lord Vader,” the Doctor glared, “This is not the end of things. The evil you’re doing here, I will not let you get away with it all.”

Darth Vader was about to walk away, but stopped, amused at the Doctor’s words and turned around again. “And what evil might that be, Doctor? My life is stained with them. Are you talking with the slaughter of the younglings? Or how I helped give rise to this absolute Empire? Or perhaps you mean this planet killer weapon?”

“Jar Jar Binks,” the Doctor called out, “I’m talking about Jar Jar Binks on Tour.”

Darth Vader was silent for a moment. Then walked away: “Jar Jar Binks was a mistake.”

Chapter XIII – A gathering of villains; where new plans are set in motion

High above the Earth, on the dark side of the moon, a palace had appeared, surrounded by a dome of air, protected by magic. It was the lair of Rita Repulsa the space witch, her ancient headquarters now resurrected for the same sinister purposes. Rita herself was standing on the palace’s balcony, gazing at the blue Earth that shone brightly in the sky, observing it with both longing and contempt. Even from that distance she could hear them, sense them: the billions of children that populated that world, defiled it with their noise and whining. And that was only one planet. Not the mention the billions of pineapple pieces that had been united with pizza’s all over the universe. Blasphemy.
“Frieza has returned from the attack on the Command Center and wishes to report,” the female time traveler called Missy said, “He’s quite excited. It’s cute, really.”
“I’ve already seen how the battle went,” Rita replied, “But I’ll listen to him I suppose.”

She entered the throne room of the palace, where several of the villains she had employed were already waiting. Some of them had engaged in conversation, making plans or small talk, but most were quite antisocial, and simply waiting for her to arrive.

Frieza was there too, giving off that smug smirk that he always showed. Rita disliked it, but he was a strong warrior, far more powerful than her weak clay soldiers, the Putty Patrollers. And that made him useful. “I have returned,” Frieza said, as soon as she had arrived.
“So I see,” Rita replied, “You did quite a number on the Command Center. Their defenses didn’t stand a chance.”
“I blow up planets with a fingertip,” Frieza smirked, “Such a little base is nothing before me.”
“It was a perfect distraction,” Missy said, “Pelting the base from outside, while others infiltrate the command center. Predictable, but still very effective.”
“And yet despite that perfect plan, the execution still failed!” Rita shouted, “Those heroes managed to escape and even find a time travel device, and the Infinity Ball still isn’t in my hands now!”
“Don’t worry, dear lady, we’ll get that little trinket yet,” Lucifer reassured with a confident smile, “We know it can’t be destroyed, not by normal means, and whatever happened out there isn’t nearly enough to do the job. It’s out there, and we’ll find it again soon.”
“And how can you be so certain, Lucifer?” Rita continued on, “Space time was torn asunder because of this mess. That Ball could be anywhere, anytime now!”
“Trust me,” Lucifer smiled, “If you don’t find their body, there’s a good chance the hero isn’t dead. Hell, even if you do find their body, there’s still a chance that they turn up alive at some point. And when they do show up, then so will the Infinity Ball. Wait and see.”

The witch considered his words for a moment, weighing them, then smiled, accepting his conclusion. “Very well,” she said, “We will wait then. First we’ll focus ourselves on the other two Infinity Balls.”
“One in the past, one in the future,” Missy replied, “I believe my expertise will be needed again, right?”
“That goes without saying,” Rita replied, “We’re going after the one in the past first. Darth Vader shall be leading that mission, since it’s the time period and galaxy he came from.”
“I assume there will be chaos, since you killed our Emperor,” Darth Vader commented.
“Then take the Joker with you,” Rita said, making a dismissive waving gesture with her hand at him, “He’ll fit right in; and he’s giving me a headache with his presence here.”
“I do have quite a presence,” the Joker grinned.
“Just go,” Rita sighed, rolling her eyes.

The two villains left, accompanied by Missy who brought them to her time machine to send them into the past. The others remained, but none spoke until the three had left the room. “I do not trust the Joker,” Ganondorf said, “He’s too unpredictable.”
“But that’s what makes him dangerous in battle,” Rita Repulsa interjected, “Don’t worry, Ganondorf. I don’t trust the Joker all that much; but he does have his part to play.”
“You plan on using him?” Ganondorf asked.
“I certainly don’t think he’ll be around until the endgame,” the witch replied.
“Careful, Rita,” Lucifer said, flicking his finger, “Betray a maniac, and you might just get burnt.”
“I know how to deal with loose cannons, Lucifer,” Rita glared back, “And don’t be so casual with me. Don’t forget who’s in charge here.”
Lucifer made a mock bow for her: “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said.

Rita didn’t bother answering his taunt with an answer and left the room again to return to the balcony. She had spoken out about The Joker, but in truth she didn’t trust any of her temporary associates very much, least of all Lucifer.
She waited for a moment, observing the Earth in the cold sky, glancing sideways several times. Then she spoke: “You can show yourself now.”

“A gentleman doesn’t show himself unless invited,” a pale man with long, raven black hair said as he appeared out of the shadows, where previously no one had been before.
“You are hardly a gentleman, Orochimaru,” Rita said, “More like a snake, slithering into places uninvited.”
“Oh, but you did invite me here,” Orochimaru smirked, “After all, am  I not one of your weapons to use to obtain the Infinity Balls, just like the others back there?”
“Oh, don’t compare yourselves to them, Orochimaru,” Rita said, giving a sly smile, “You’re not like them at all. They’re the soldiers for the Infinity Ball. You’re here as my soldier against them, should any of them decide to do something foolish. My own little ninja.”

Orochimaru chuckled. “You’re a sly one, space witch, to prepare for betrayal as such. But why me?”
“You’re the only one not interested in the Infinity Balls,” Rita said, “While I never trust anyone completely, it does put you above the others.”
“It’s true, I’m more interested in your spell casting capability, as it’s a skill I have yet to master,” Orochimaru agreed,  “And Missy’s time travel capabilities offers some interesting options for my own world, afterwards.”
“And you shall have it all,” Rita promised, “As soon as I have it all.”

The pale-faced snake ninja bowed and disappeared into the shadows of the palace again, vanishing from sight until such a time that he was needed. Rita turned her gaze towards the Earth once more, observing it with both longing and contempt.  Samuel L. Jackzordon was gone now, that was the first step. And the moment when she would process all Infinity Balls was quickly coming nearer. Soon she would have it all. Soon.

Chapter XII – She’s a Doctor

The Green Arrow looked around, taking in his new surroundings. The place was unlike anything he’d seen before, obviously he was inside a construct of some sort, but part of the structure seemed weird, organic. Almost alien. He tried to recall the last moments before he lost consciousness. The escape in the Delorean. Frieza appearing. And then an explosion.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“It’s not exactly a matter of where, but perhaps also more a matter of when,” a woman with medium long hair in the oddest of outfits replied, “You awake now, boy?”
“I am hardly fit to be called a boy anymore,” the Arrow replied as he sat upright, rubbing the back of his neck, which was still a bit sore from the crash.
“In my case, there are few people who I can’t address as ‘boy’,” the woman replied.
The Arrow was puzzled, but didn’t bother to pursue the issue; circumstances were odd enough as they were. “But you didn’t answer my question,” he pressed.
“You’re aboard my TARDIS,” the woman replied, “I’m the Doctor. I picked you up when you were drifting through time, stablized you again. Very tricky situation you were in, it was quite the challenge.”
“You are not making very much sense,” the Arrow said.
“I get that a lot,” the Doctor replied, “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“We were fleeing,” the Arrow replied, “A time traveling car… then we were attacked, the car exploded, and there was a flash of light…”
“Ah, the time traveling Delorean,” the Doctor smiled, appparantly recognizing the device, “Very impressive piece of technology. A bit crude, but the fact that it’s a car more than makes up for that.”

The Doctor seemed distracted in her own thoughts for a moment, then realized again that she was not alone. “Oh, sorry,” she said, “Anyway. The car was attacked, you said? It  looks like the explosion ruptured a small hole in the space time continuum, just large enough to suck you in. You were being hurled backwards through time. Lucky I picked that up, or you would’ve stranded at the big bang. Not a fun thing to happen, I can assure you.”
“It does sound like a very difficult and very unique situation,” the Green Arrow replied, somewhat skeptical.
“Oh, you’re right, very difficult indeed,” the Doctor agreed, “But I found you and pulled you out, and now your body has been stabilized again. You’re not missing any body parts, are you?”
“I… don’t believe I am…” the Arrow replied, though a bit hesitant.
“Good, good,” the Doctor said, “I’m pretty sure I did a good job, but you never know, can you?”

The Doctor

The Green Arrow did not even know how to answer that one.

“So you want me to drop you off somewhere?” the Doctor asked, “All of space and time at your disposal now, don’t waste that chance.”

The Green Arrow considered his options, but there was not anywhere in particular that he wanted to travel, especially not with all of existence at stake. He then thought back of his quest, and how the ability to travel through time was an essential factor here. And so he explained The Doctor about what had happened and what was happening, although that sounded less extreme since they were aboard a time vessel. The Arrow explained everything he had experienced, up to the point where they had fled the Command Center. And the Doctor listened to his tale with great interest. “You say you have nowhere in particular to go, but it sounds to me like your destination is crystal clear,” the Doctor concluded.
“I suppose so,” the Arrow agreed, “But I still don’t know where to go, where exactly in the past we need to search.”
“First, we should see what happened to your friends perhaps,” the Doctor suggested, “It’s possible they were flung through time, just like you, or maybe they’re still stuck in the same time period. It would be difficult to go after the Infinity Ball yourself, but perhaps with some help…” he didn’t finish that sentence, the intent of his suggestion was obvious.
“How do we find them?” the Arrow asked.
“Let’s start with the place where you left,” the Doctor suggested, “2018, just outside of Hill Valley it seems, judging from the tracing of your time travel signature. Not a bad year, except for Americans perhaps. Let’s get going, shall we?”

The Doctor flipped a lever and the room they were in started groaning, as some of the parts came  alive and started moving. “Don’t worry,”  the Doctor said, even though Green Arrow’s face was calm and without emotion, “That sound is perfectly normal.”
“Of course it is,” the Green Arrow said dryly.

The travel time took a few minutes for them, though of course that too mattered little with time travel. Then the noise stopped and a set of doors on the far side of the room opened. “We’ve arrived,” the Doctor said, “I believe some of your friends are waiting outside too.”

The Arrow left the time ship through the open door and was relieved to indeed find part of the group waiting for him. Bakugo, Arya, Vegeta and Edward Elric were there. “It’s good to see you again, my friends,” he greeted them.

They said nothing, but stared back in disbelief. “What?” the Arrow finally asked, “I’m all right.”
“We know that,” Arya asked, pointing behind him, “But what is that?”

The Arrow looked around, expecting some sort of space ship looking thing. But he was just as perplexed when all he saw was a blue phone booth, of the British kind. Hardly a time travel ship, by the looks of it. And yet it was what he had just stepped out of. “Hello,” the Doctor smiled, appearing in the door opening.
“I don’t believe it!” the Arrow gasped, “It’s smaller on the outside!”
“Isn’t  it?” the Doctor smiled.
“When a man and a woman get inside a small confined space, things usually happen,” Vegeta said, creating an awkward atmosphere.
“It’s nothing like that!” the Arrow defended, trying to quell a nasty rumor, “I was inside there, but it’s not like a public call box. It’s a time ship, it’s completely different on the inside!”
“Bigger, one might even say,” the Doctor grinned.
“Another time travel device?” Edward asked, “That’s a rather big coincidence, isn’t it?”
“Time And Relative Dimensions In Space,” the Doctor explained, even though nobody had asked for an explanation, “This fine lady will allow you to travel anywhere in the universe, in any time period you desire. Can I offer you a ride?”
“Can we trust her?” Arya asked, cautious of something which seemed almost too good to be true.
“I trust her,” the Arrow replied, “She rescued me, and apparently putting things right is what she does in life. She’s called the Doctor, after all.”
“Good enough for me,” Edward smiled, “Let’s get on board!”

They boarded the time ship, marveling themselves at how the TARDIS was indeed much, much bigger on the inside, with a control room that was at least several times the size of the police call box, and which even allowed access to adjourning rooms. “So why is your ship shaped like a 20^th century police call box?” the Green Arrow asked, wondering.

“Budgetary reasons,” the Doctor explained.

“I’m still baffled at the concept of time travel being real,” Edward said, admiring the structure around them, “You’re not from Earth, are you?”
“Correct,” the Doctor answered, “And don’t be too baffled. It’s not all that complicated once you know how it works.”
‘Like riding a bike,” the Arrow commented.
“Well, perhaps a bit complicated after all,” the Doctor corrected herself, “Shall we get going?”
“You’re the captain of this ship,” Vegeta grumbled.
“No,” the Doctor corrected, “I’m the Doctor.”

The Doctor flipped the lever again, and pressed a few extra switched, though with the randomness she did it the group wondered if this had any actual effect at all or whether it was just for show. Outside the phone box began to vibrate lightly as it became transparent and faded away, disappearing into the time stream.
“What made you decide to start traveling like this?” Edward Elric asked as they traveled, breaking the silence that had emerged since their departure from Earth.
“I was bored,” the Doctor replied, “Me people are a bit… well, it’s a very stale society. And yet we have such a beautiful universe out there, with more wonders than you can count or experience in a lifetime, even one as long as mine. I wanted to experience the universe.”
“It must be a real experience to observe some of the things that are going on out there,” Edward assumed.
“Everything is, as long as you take the time to watch,” the Doctor said, “And as I began to do so, I saw more than that – I also saw the people, so many individuals, billions upon billions in all of time and space, and yet all of them unique. And I also saw the struggles some of them had, and so I helped. And I helped. And here we are today.”
“So where were you when Frieza woke up one day and decided to destroy my home planet?” Vegeta asked, glaring, “Or can we still travel there and fix things?”
“We can’t,” the Doctor answered, shaking her head sadly, “Some things can’t be changed, fixed points in time that have to happen as they do because they are a crucial turning point in the universe. The destruction of Planet Vegeta will give rise to a brighter future for all Saiyans, although it will take many years to reach that point.”
“Planet Vegeta?” Edward Elric repeated, then stared at Vegeta with wide eyes: “They named a planet after you?!”
“They named it after my father,” Vegeta said, still bitter.
“Your father’s name was Vegeta too?” Edward said, a bit less impressed, but still impressed, “So… you’re Vegeta and you lived on Vegeta with your father, Vegeta?”
“Our dog was named Vegeta too,” Vegeta said, “And can we change the subject now?”
“I think we can,” the Doctor said, watching a monitor scream, “We’re about to land at our first destination in the distant past. We just materialized, but we’re still in space.”
“There’s no planets nearby?” the Arrow asked.

The Doctor peered at the console again, using the TARDIS’ scanners to check their surroundings. “Yes, there is,” she finally said, “Up ahead the TARDIS is detecting something. It seems to be a small moon.”
Then she hesitated, observing the readings of the console and checking them again: “Or… wait a moment…”

“What is it, Doctor?” Edward asked.

“That is no moon. It’s a space station.”

Chapter XI – I hope you paid your insurance bill on time! Attack on the Command Center!

After everybody had returned safely the group gathered around the massive pillar that housed the essence of Samuel L. Jackzordon, the interdimensional entity that was guiding them in their battle against the space witch Rita Repulsa. The loss of the Infinity Ball of Card Games came as hard blow, and the idea that the remaining two Balls were hidden in different periods in time made the situation even more dire.

“The fact that the enemy was able to travel through time at least proves that such a feat is possible,” Batman said, “That gives hope that we will be able to do the same.”
“But how?” Edward asked, “Even in alchemy travelling through time has never successfully been attempted. It sounds impossible. And what about consequences?”
“I’ve encountered situations of time travel before during my time with the X-Men,” Storm said, “Sometimes travellers from the future would come visit us, sometimes with good intentions, sometimes with bad; sometimes with good intentions that turned out bad.”
“So what do we do, L?” Edward Elric asked to Jackzordon, “The old man told Storm that you might find a way. But is there a way to travel through time?”
“There might be,” Jackzordon replied, “But is no easy feat. But there is a man who has found out the secret behind time travel, and who might just be able to help you.”
“And who is this weirdo?” Vegeta asked, “He can’t possibly be any smarter than my Bulma.”
“A scientist living in a small town in the United States of America,” Jackzordon replied, “He goes by the name of Doc Brown.”

Just then a rumbling sound could be heard in the distance, and a trembling went through the entire Command Center, shaking its very foundations. “What was that?” Storm asked.
“Oh my, oh dear,” C3PO said, “I’m afraid it’s Rita Repulsa, madam. She’s launched an offensive against this Command Center.”
“Ha! Foolishness!” Vegeta laughed, “She’ll die in the attempt and save us the trouble. I can easily deal with her.”
“She’ll never make it through this Command Center’s defenses,” Thanos agreed, “It is indeed a foolish action.”
“No,” Jackzordon disagreed, “She’s using the power of the Infinity Balls in her assault. That, combined with her awesome magical powers and formidable henchmen gives her a good chance of succeeding. This Command Center is in danger, Heroes!”
“Then we fight,” Vegeta said, shaking his fist, “If she’s brave enough to attack us in our stronghold, then we’ll reward that bravery with kicks and punches!”
“No,” Jackzordon disagreed again, “You are no match, and your mission comes first. This command center can be replaced, but you Heroes cannot.”
“What about you?” Storm asked.
“My physical form has ceased to be ages ago,” he replied, “All she can do is destroy the means to communicate with you. But I have faith in you, Heroes. Faith that you will ultimately defeat her and save the universe.”

Another explosion rocked the Command Center, louder and more intense this time. “Oh dear,” C3PO said, “It certainly looks like she brought a lot of firepower.”
“Observe the Viewing Icosahedron,” Jackzordon said, where the image of Frieza materialized, “It looks like Rita has brought more than her armies to this fight.”

They watched the 20-sided viewing orb, which displayed an image of the outside area, which was now swarming with groups of clay soldiers and vehicles. Among them was Frieza, who was laughing as he hurled balls of energy at the command center. “He’s toying with us,” Vegeta grumbled, “If Frieza wanted it, he could evaporate this place in an instant. But he’s going easy on us.”
“Probably because we have one of the Infinity Balls here,” Batman explained, “They can’t risk destroying it, no matter what.”
“You are right,” the Green Arrow said, stepping into the room. He still had difficulty moving because of his earlier injuries, but at least he was walking again. “They have a different goal in mind.”
“Arrow!” Edward called out, “Are you sure you should be walking?”
“A different goal?” Storm asked.
“A distraction,” Batman realized. And the Arrow nodded. “Frieza is not the real attack. They’re hoping to get our attention, and in the meantime they’ll infiltrate the base from a different side.”

he attack. he no snack.

The room flared up with bright light as an energy blast hurled through the room, striking Batman in the chest and piercing his body. The Dark Knight gasped loudly, then collapsed to the floor. “Correction,” an ash blonde man with an rough unshaven chin replied, “We’ve already done so.”
“Batman!” Storm shouted out.
“You dare sneak up on the prince of all Saiyans?!” Vegeta shouted, hurling an energy blast. The mysterious intruder raised his hand and the energy attack curved, striking a massive hole in the wall next to him.
“Let’s not waste too much time on introductions, Lucifer,” Darth Vader said, also entering the room with a group of his white armored soldiers and Rita’s clay soldiers, “We have two very clear goals, so let’s achieve them and be done with it.”
“Darth Vader as well,” Thanos said, “We have a score to settle, dark lord.”
“Another time,” Darth Vader replied, “We’re here for the Infinity Ball. And to make sure this Jackzordon never interferes with our business ever again.”
“That is not something we’re going to let happen,” Thanos said, flexing his muscles as he took a step towards the dark lord, “I’d say we’re going to bring some balance to this room by eliminating at least half of all the villains here.”

Before he could take another step a force field barrier activated, surrounding the group of heroes and trapping them within. “What the..?” Thanos explained, “What is the meaning of this?!”
“Terribly sorry, good sirs and madams,” C3PO said, “But I can’t let you do that. Master Vader desires the Infinity Ball, so be so kind as to give it to him.”
“C3PO! What is this? Why do you betray us?” Jackzordon demanded to know.
“I do regret this action after our long cooperation together, Sir,” C3PO replied, “But I’m afraid I have little other choice in the matter. This is where our time together comes to an end.”

“BASTARD!” Vegeta shouted, hurling an energy blast at the traitorous gold colored robot. But the blast simply evaporated against the force field barrier and was absorbed by it.

“I like your spunk,” the one called Lucifer said, “But nothing’s coming through that force field, unless it’s us. We want the Infinity Ball, and you’re either going to give it to us, or you’re all going to die, one by one, and it will be very, very painful deaths.”
“Do your best, Sir Shatalot!” Bakugo shouted, “You’ll need to open this barrier to get to us, and as soon as you do so, I’ll kick your ass to the moon and back!”
“A little bit of a wrong assumption,” Lucifer replied, raising his hand and clutching it in a choking gesture. As the stranger’s fingers began to close, so could Bakugo feel an unknown grasp around his neck, squeezing and slowly choking him, “I don’t need to open this barrier to hurt you, you see.”

Then all of a sudden he stopped, releasing his hold, smiling as Bakugo gasped for breath again. “But we’ll have time for that later,” Lucifer smiled, “First we’re going to remodel this place a bit, to make sure this Jackzordon fellow is history.”
“You can’t do that,” Storm shouted, “He’ll be lost, trapped between dimensions forever!”
“That’s the general idea, dear,” Lucifer grinned.
“I’m not going to let you do that,” Storm said, “You’re not the only ones who aren’t powerless, just because you’re inside a barrier!”
“What in blazes do you mean?” Lucifer asked aloud.

Outside dark clouds had gathered, as Storm had begun to use her powers over nature to conjure up a lightning storm. To answer Lucifer’s question, a powerful lightning bolt stuck through an opening one of Frieza’s earlier blasts had created, striking him directly. Lucifer screamed, the pain was almost unbearable, and he sank to his knees, alive but needing to recover.
“What have you done?” Darth Vader asked angrily  as he approached the force field barrier, “You’ll pay for that, weather witch. No more games, I’m going to end your life right now. You are too dangerous!”

He raised his hand to strike, but just then a Batarang struck him in the shoulder, piercing the armor plate. Darth Vader hardly sensed pain anymore, so the piercing feeling hardly phased him, but the resulting blast –It was an explosive Batarang, after all- did far more than that, sending the dark lord flying against the wall. Seconds later the force barrier disappeared. The group looked at the controls, where a heavily injured Batman stood leaning over them, grinning: “One point for us heroes.”  He said.
“You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that,” Lucifer said, struggling to remain standing, yet quickly recovering from the earlier attack, “Thank you for removing that barrier. I’m going to tear you to pieces, limb by limb. Slowly!”
“Batman!” Jackzordon shouted, “You know what has to be done, right?”

Batman nodded. He knew. He had known ever since he had gotten up. “The teleporter,” he replied.
“Yes,” Jackzordon confirmed, giving an incorporeal nod with his head, “I’ve already set the coordinates for Doc Brown’s town.”
“All right,” Batman said, and made eye contact with Green Arrow one last time before he moved back to the console.

The Green Arrow looked back at the caped crusader, realizing what he was going to do and called out: “No, Batman! Don’t…!” – but then it was already too late. Batman pressed the final button, activating the teleportation sequence and transporting the Heroes away from the Command Center, to a different destination, leaving him alone with the villains and Jackzordon. “What have you done?!” Lucifer called out, but Batman gave no response, instead smiling one last time as he sank to his knees and the world around him went dark for the last time.

Darth Vader, C3PO and Lucifer retreated after that, with no reason left to stay. Shortly after Frieza unleashed an even stronger attack, evaporating the Command Center completely and leaving no trace of it behind.

* * *

Hill Valley was a small town at the United States west coast. Not much happened here, and if you told someone that one of the greatest minds of all time lived here, they probably wouldn’t believe you. And yet it was all true.
The group materialized just outside of town, next to a large billboard which read ‘Welcome to Hill Valley’, a direct and clear confirmation that they were at the right place. But finding this Doc Brown wasn’t the first thing on their mind, no, the comrades left behind were.
“We need to go back,” Storm called out, “We can’t leave Batman there to die! And Jackzordon…”
“It’s already too late, woman,” Vegeta replied, “I can sense Frieza’s power signature perfectly, even from here. There was a massive buildup a few moments ago, and now he’s moving away, leaving the planet.”
“What does that mean, leaving the planet?” Bakugo asked, “Is he a damn alien?!”
“Of course he’s an alien,” Vegeta said, “Have you ever seen people walking around who look like that?”
“Yes,” Bakugo replied with a shrug.

There was a brief moment of silence after that.

Green Arrow was the one to break the silence: “We can’t go back. Batman sacrificed himself so that we could escape. If we go back, his sacrifice would be in vain. And chances that he survived are…” he didn’t finish his sentence, but it was obvious what he meant.
“So we move on,” Edward Elric said, “Jackzordon sent us to this place, to find this Doc Brown and gain his help, so we can travel through time for the remaining stones. I’m sure Rita Repulsa knows that as well, so let’s get going, before she sends her cronies here too.”

They entered the city and split up again in two groups to obtain more information. Finding out about the whereabouts of Doc Brown didn’t take long at all. Apparently the scientist was quite famous, or perhaps notorious, in town and a lot of people knew about him, though by the looks on their faces they weren’t all good experiences. The group met up again and set out for the scientist’s home, which was only a ten minute walk away.
It was a remarkably normal suburban home, although the yard was a bit messy, but nothing about it screamed ‘mad scientist lives here’, or something like that. Storm rang the bell.

Angels sang out in an immaculate chorus.

“Okay, that was weird,” Rick Sanchez commented. Then he belched.

After a short moment the door opened and a man in a lab coat appeared in the door opening, his hair white and poofy, going in all directions. In a way he resembled Rick Sanchez, only not drunk, and with much lighter hair. “All right, that was weirder,” Rick commented.

The man in the door opening looked them over one by one. You’d think he’d be surprised seeing someone who looked a lot like him, a white haired African woman, a boy in crimson robes, a vigilante archer, a angry looking boy in a superhero outfit, a tomboyish girl with a sword, an angry looking dude with steep hair and a purple skinned alien that towered above them all. But he remained rather calm, as if he’d seen and experienced things before: “Can I help you lot?” he asked.
“We hope you can,” Edward Elric replied, “Are you Doc Brown?”
“I am Doctor Emmett Brown, Ph.D.” the man replied and corrected, “And I am also a bit busy at the moment. Can you come back later? Next month perhaps?”

The scientist didn’t bother waiting for an answer and began to close the front door, when Vegeta answered: “Not unless we’d have a time machine.”
That stopped him and slowly he pushed the door open a little more again. “Why would you say that?” he asked carefully.
“We know you’ve found a way to travel through time,” the Green Arrow explained, “That’s why we’ve come here. Because we need your help.”

“Get lost!” Doc Brown shouted, suddenly turning angry. Then he slammed the door shut.

“Enough of this!” Vegeta spat, stretching his arm and getting ready to unleash a powerful energy blast on Doc Brown’s front door: “I’m going to blow this house away and we’ll take that time machine for ourselves!”
“No, don’t, Vegeta!” Storm shouted, “That’s not how we do things!”
“It is how I do things!” Vegeta shouted back.
“Just stop, Vegeta!” the Arrow warned, “Think of it: there’s a chance you’ll destroy the time travel device; and even if you don’t, we don’t know what it looks like, or how to use it. We need the doctor’s cooperation on this!”
“Very well then,” Vegeta grumbled, lowering his arm and waiting, “You think of a way then.”

The Arrow rang the doorbell again. Angels sang out in an immaculate chorus.

After he’d rang a third time, the door opened again, showing a grumpy looking Emmett Brown: “I’m not going to help you, so you might as well leave!”
“Without your help, billions all over the universe will die,” Arya tried, “Their lives will be extinguished at the snap of a finger! We need the means to travel through time!”
“Then they are destined to die,” Doc Brown replied bitterly, “My condolences to the rest of the universe.”
“You can’t be that heartless!” Storm shouted, “Will you really let billions of children die?”

The Doc tried to close the door again, but stopped when he heard Storm talk. “Children..?” he repeated.
“A terrible evil will befall all the children of the world if we don’t succeed in our quest,” Arya Stark replied, “I understand your confusion and doubt, but we really need your help.”
Doc Brown was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh. “There’s a boy who lives here. He’s my apprentice. He called me  cool once,” the scientist said, “I don’t suppose he’ll find it cool if I allow it to happen that he disappears from this world, will he?”

The group didn’t answer. They couldn’t answer.

“Come inside,” Doc Brown said, opening the door wide, “Come inside and tell me everything. But be quick about it, as this chapter is becoming quite lengthy.”

They got inside and explained everything to the scientist, who listened with great interest to their story. He was skeptical at first, but the undeniable proof of this strange troop of all manner of worlds was enough to convince him of the truth of their tale, and that his help was needed. “Very well,” he said, “I’ll help you. Follow me!”

The Doc got up from his seat and rushed out the room, empowered by a new motivation and energy, and they followed him throughout the house and into the garage, where a car stood. Not any car, but a Delorean, ugly yet very expensive. “There we go,” he said, “This is your ticket to the past, or the future!”
“A car?” Vegeta asked, “I dislike cars. Getting your driver’s license is a bitch; and completely irrelevant when you can fly.”
“It used to run on plutonium,” the Doc said, as he turned on the engine and slowly drove the car out of the garage, “But then I improved it, since plutonium is expensive. Now it runs on pretty much everything, but the best fuel are pizza leftovers, plastic bags, or tears!”
“Convenient,” Rick Sanchez commented, “I have a lot to spare; of all of those.”

Doc Brown parked the Delorean on the street, then gestured the others closer as he explained how the device worked: “All you need to do is activate the flux capacitor, the heart of the time device, by entering your destination day, month and year here on this screen. After that you just drive, drive faster, until you reach the critical speed needed to break the space time threshold!”
“What speed is that?” Rick asked.
“88 miles per hour!” Doc Brown exclaimed excitedly.

Just then an energy beam was flung across the street, piercing Doc Brown’s arm. The scientist screamed and struggled backwards against his car. “88 miles per hour is quite fast, but not as fast as I’m going to put you all in the grave,” Frieza said as he stepped closer.
“Frieza!” Vegeta shouted, immediately firing an energy blast, which their alien opponent easily deflected with the slap of a hand, “Today I’m taking you down!”
“An idle threat,” Frieza smirked, not impressed. His gaze then moved away from Vegeta, and onto the Delorean. His smirk only widened when he realized what it really was.
“He’s going to destroy the Delorean!” Green Arrow shouted, realizing what that smirk meant.

Frieza raised his hand to fire another energy blast, intent on destroy the car, when a sticky ooze was sprayed over him. The alien cursed while Doc Brown stepped closer, on his back a tank with a tube which lead to a nozzle, which the mad scientist was using to cover Frieza with. The goo was sticky and grew more tough as soon as air was exposed to it, limiting Frieza’s moments until he couldn’t even raise his arm anymore. “What have you done?!” the alien demanded, screaming.
“A quick drying plastic, tough as steel yet far more flexible!” the Doc shouted back, “No ordinary being can escape from that!”
“I am not ordinary!” Frieza shouted and began to force himself to move. The plastic had hardened but began to stretch again, and slowly but surely the evil tyrant was beginning to break free.
“Get inside the car!” Doc Brown shouted as he sprayed more of the compound, trying to delay Frieza’s escape, “Hurry!”
“You need to come with us, doctor!” Edward Elric shouted.
“If I stop, this monster is going to break free in seconds!” the Doc shouted, “Just go, travel to another time period! Any other time period! And don’t worry about me, I have a contingency plan to escape from here!”

They all got in the car, which was an incredibly tight fit. The Arrow was driving and punched in a destination, ten years into the past. “You’re a poor liar, Doc Brown,” he said, as he turned on the engine.
“But a great scientist,” the doctor replied with a gentle smile.

Then the Delorean drove off as the Arrow pressed the pedal down, driving out of the street and onto a main road, which was free of traffic, allowing them to gain speed fast. “75 miles per hour!” the Arrow shouted, “Hold on tight! If what he said is true, we’re going to cross that critical threshold very soon!”
The car continued to accelerate and they all eyes the speed indicator with intensity as it approached the critical point of 88 mph. “There we go!” Arya shouted as they reached that point, bracing herself for what was to come.

Then Frieza was suddenly there on the road in front of them, appearing out of nowhere as he moved with incredible speed. It was too late to break and there was no way to avoid him. Frieza glared at them, then stretched out both arms simultaneously, firing an energy blast from both of his hands which impacted directly on the Delorean, tearing it asunder. The car shook and trembled as it tried to continue driving.

And then it exploded.