Just as Bruce was about to activate the nanite-formed phone in his hand, the building began to shake violently.
RUMMMMBLLLE...
The entire building groaned, steel and concrete trembling like twigs in a storm. A low, thunderous rumble followed, and then, without warning, a blinding column of blue-white light crashed down from the sky, piercing the rooftop, straight down to the base of the building.
KRRAAK-BOOOM!
The shockwave shattered every window. Alarms wailed. Dust and debris rained down around them. Bruce reacted instantly. His instincts took over.
A pulse of red energy, surged from his body, rippling outward. In a blink, both he and Sue were fully dressed, their bodies armored in high-density nanoweave suits. The sweet haze of their earlier intimacy was gone, replaced by a cold, strategic readiness.
A burst of dark matter folded space beside them... shoom!
The Fallen One appeared in a crackle of silver energy, his feet hovering inches above the ruined marble floor. "I felt that surge across the dimensional layers," he said in a low voice. "This... was not random."
As the light slowly faded, the beam left behind a smoking, glowing hole through the building's roof and down into the floor beneath them. And from that light...
A figure collapsed onto the ground, bloodied and broken.
Bruce narrowed his eyes, stepping forward slowly.
"…Thor?" he was confused.
According to what he uncovered so far, Thor and a couple of other heroes disappeared after the war with Thanos. And now one of them was before his eyes. So where had he been all this time? Why was he injured and covered in blood? What the heck was going on there?
The God of Thunder groaned, his once-mighty form charred, armor cracked, golden hair matted with blood. He pushed himself up on one arm, coughing, lightning crackling weakly over his skin.
Thor rasped, barely able to lift his head. "We are out of time..."
"What do you mean by that?" Bruce crouched down, eyes already scanning the Asgardian's wounds.
"Darkseid... We must stop him..." With that, he lost his consciousness.
Suddenly...
FWOOOM
A shockwave of pink, violet, and starlight energy burst into the room. Ami Han, aka White Fox, stepped out of a swirling vortex, her nine tails flickering ethereally around her. She looked stunning and also very confused. She was expecting sex and nude Bruce fucking Sue, but well... A girl can dream.
She landed softly on the cracked floor, her eyes sweeping over the scene: shattered glass, smoking rubble, Bruce armored head-to-toe, and a bloodied Thor unconscious in his arms.
"…Well, this is not the kind of 'energy burst' I was hoping for," she said dryly, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I got your message. Was this foreplay or forewarning?"
Bruce didn't even smirk. His voice was serious. "No time, Ami. The entire Universe is at stake... Well, I should say reality."
...
15 Minutes Later – S.H.I.E.L.D. Main Base, Strategy Room
The atmosphere was heavy inside the strategy room. Thor lay in the medical bay nearby, unconscious but alive. Asgardian physiology was working its magic and he was healing slowly, but not even the gods could bounce back instantly from whatever he had faced. Bruce tried to use his infinity power to heal him, but the dimensional energy in his body was too thick. It'd take time to heal.
Around the long table, the room was Natasha Romanoff. Clint Barton. Susan Storm. Harley Quinn. Selina Kyle. Ami Han. The Fallen One. Bruce Wayne.
On the massive holographic display, the faces of Hazmat, Tigra, and Elsa Bloodstone flickered in from remote locations, attending the meeting virtually. Everyone looked tense.
Bruce stood at the head of the room. He didn't waste time.
"I know you're all wondering the same thing. What hit us? Why is Thor here? What the hell is going on?" He tapped a control panel and brought up a rotating image of a powerful figure... dark armor, glowing red eyes, and a presence that screamed dread. It was the recorded part of when he fought Darkseid before arriving in Marvel Reality.
"His name is Darkseid."
The room fell into a deep silence.
"He's not from our universe," Bruce continued. "He comes from a reality outside the known multiverse. He was from my past universe. And he's not just powerful. He is power. Brutal. Ancient. Ruthless." He played the recording.
Everyone held their breath and watched the battle unfold where, Bruce, Selina, and Harley faced Darkseid and barely escaped with their lives.
Bruce closed the tape after it finished playing.
"Arg! Harl, don't want to fight him again. He was freaky," Harley shivered a bit, remembering the intense moment.
"Darkseid's ultimate goal is something called the Anti-Life Equation. In his reality, it gives him control over all sentient life. Free will vanishes. Everyone becomes his puppet."
Hazmat frowned on the screen. "But this isn't his reality. So, that thing doesn't exist here, right?"
"Correct," Bruce nodded. "At least… not the version he knows. But if he's here, he's not empty-handed. He's searching for something just as dangerous. Something equal to the Anti-Life Equation in power."
Sue folded her arms. "Any idea what that might be?"
Bruce sighed, the weight of uncertainty on his face. "No. Not yet. Thor might know, but until he wakes up, all I have are guesses."
Harley leaned forward. "Okay, Bats. Let's say Big Ugly is hunting something big and spooky. What's our move?"
Bruce turned to the screen, pulling up scans from Thor's sudden arrival. Energy readings. Dimensional signatures. Warped gravitational fields.
"We prepare. We gather everyone we trust. Everyone who can help. And we try to find out what he's really after—before he finds it first. But we can't do anything until Thor wakes up."
Natasha glanced toward the med bay's glass window, where Thor still lay motionless. "If he's hurt this badly just trying to warn us… we're in serious trouble."
Ami's tails flicked behind her as she narrowed her eyes. "What about the source of that beam that dropped him here? Can't you just track it?" She looked at The Fallen One.
Bruce pointed at the data. "That wasn't just a beam. That was a hole torn through the barriers between multiple realities. Not by Thor... but by something else."
"That was Odin's power," The Fallen One finally spoke. "I can open a portal there, but I doubt we are ready to go there and face this Darkseid. We need more information."
Clint ran a hand through his hair. "Great. So, this is going to be the biggest war we are gonna face... Bigger than Apocalypse, Sublime, Ultron, Loki, Thanos, and Magneto and we don't even know what game we're playing yet. And as usual, Earth might get blown up if we fail. Well, just another day at work."
Bruce couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Exactly. Just another day at work with the usual stake."
...
[30 minutes later] [Mars]
Bruce didn't waste any time. A fight with Darkseid... Well, he was going to need every single trick he had to kill that freak of nature. And to do so, he needs to further train and master his powers.
He clenched his fists, and the Ten Rings on his fingers hummed with life. Bruce had unlocked their power, but not fully. Not yet.
He closed his eyes.
"Come," he said quietly. "It's time."
A ripple of golden light spread from the rings. One by one, ghostly figures appeared around him. There were nine warriors, each different in form, armor, and spirit. Their eyes glowed faintly, locked onto Bruce. (Skylar the lighting ring's spirit is in DC)
"You summoned us," said one, the frozen spirit of the Zero Ring. "Why now?"
"Because it's time I stop holding back," Bruce replied. "There's a war coming. Bigger than anything this universe has ever seen. I need to control your power. All of it."
Another spirit stepped forward. This was the spirit of the Remaker Ring. "You think you can handle it? Even a Kryptonian hybrid like you could burn from the inside out."
Bruce didn't flinch. "I don't plan to handle it. I plan to master it. And in return, I keep my promise. New bodies. Freedom."
The nine spirits exchanged glances.
"Very well," the Zero Ring's spirit said. "Then let us begin."