by the_indestructible_man, underfahrenheit451, EileenK98 and darkknighttec_007
Los Angeles, antimatter world:
As he drove out of downtown and up into the hills in the Pre-Crisis Super-Dodge, the Indestructible Man fiddled with the MBL communicator Nowhereman dug out for him before they left MBL Headquarters while glancing at the device he took from Law Shark's corpse, now sitting atop the passenger seat.
Pulling to a stop atop the point where the Hollywood sign used to stand before the Meta Syndicate's assaults began, the Indestructible Man stepped out of the car, and, assured that he was above the blanket jamming field over the city, began to speak into the MBL communicator.
"All right, all, I'm hoping you get this message before it's too late. Flintlock and I've done our part out here; now it's up to all of you. One thing to keep in mind, though: each of the members of the Meta Syndicate will be carrying an MSO communicator much like your own MBL devices. You need to make sure to get these communicators from your opponents, because only the inlaid chips in them can broadcast the signal to get us inside Assbury's Capitol once we gather all five. Good luck, and if this world still has a God, may he help you..."
With that, he flipped the communicator closed, pressed the transmitting trigger on it, and took a long look down at the valley. Smoke and the sound of battle rose from where the freed Angelinos fought back against their now-disorganized oppressors.
Content that, with Law Shark's communicator being the only device that Assbury knew could pierce the veil over Los Angeles (and that device safely in the Dodge), Indestructible Man gave a quick thought to the image of a world finally freed, climbed back inside the car and drove off toward the east.
Las Vegas, antimatter world:
As the two heroes faced the evil Whore Babylon, Nowhereman producing his best heroic glare while Smasher alternating between glancing at the scantily clad woman and stuffing the remaining money in his pockets, the supervillainess looked between the two intently.
Whore Babylon pointed to Smasher and said, "That one. He looks to have... potential."
As Nowhereman dived to react, two guards grabbed Smasher, spilling coins from all his pockets, and tossed him up onto the platform, in Babylon's arms. "What the hell are you doing with him, harlot?" demanded Nowhereman.
Smasher began to drool.
Whore Babylon motioned to her men and said, "This other one's too much effort. Have Sodom and Gomorrah deal with him..."
The platform was turned and carried out by the guards as Nowhereman growled and ran after it. However, before he could pass through the door, a set of bars dropped down, trapping him in. As he looked through the gate, he heard the squeak of rubber and leather behind him suddenly, and turned to see two very determined-looking, eight-foot-tall gimps eyeing him.
Nowhereman: "Great... after I deal with Babylon, I think I'm going to kill Smasher..."
He grabbed a torch off the wall as the behemoths approached, twirling whip and chain.
A plane bound for Chicago, antimatter world:
Natsuko and Lady Jenna heard the intercom crackle to life. A voice said, "Hello, this is your captain speaking -- GUN RUNNER!"
Jenna gasped, "Oh no!"
Gun Runner: "This plane is going to land on my private airfield, you are all going to be taken hostage, and there is nothing you can do about it."
As the plane approached the tarmac to land, a number of armed men entered the plane cabin.
When the plane had come to a halt, a man in slate-gray kevlar, decked in ammo and toting a number of guns, entered from the cabin and looked around.
Gun Runner: "All right, folks, welcome to Chicago. It's time to pay your... entry toll to the men I have here. The toll is one-hundred percent of all cash and valuables you're carrying. Now be timely and hand it over so you can all be led to the airport's detention center."
Natsuko, seething, said, "Why, you..."
Jenna whispered to her, "You're gonna get us killed!"
Gun Runner saw the two, observed their get-ups (one of the problems of so few MBLers having secret identities; they had to be in costume all the time), and walked over. "My, my, what have we here? Metaheroes -- and nice-looking ones, at that..."
He turned to his men. "These two could be useful. Have them detained and brought to my chambers as soon as possible." He turned back around. "Ta-ta for now, my dears."
As the scared populace of the plane started handing over their money, Gun Runner's men shackled Jenna and Nuriko and led them out of the plane toward the detention area.
Jenna: "What are we gonna do?"
Natsuko: "You know what to do. You've always known what to do."
Jenna: "What the heck are you talking about?"
Natsuko: "Trust your instincts. They will guide you to the correct path."
Jenna: "Oh, give me a break! Who are you, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Natsuko just sighed.
New York City, antimatter world:
Dragnet Zero and Disco Stave exited the bus at Grand Central. They looked a bit tired, and their costumes were ripped up a bit, but they were okay.
Dragnet Zero: "Well, aside from the baby barf..."
Disco Stave: "Heh."
Dragnet Zero: "...that trip was pretty easy."
Disco Stave: "Yeah, who knew Doc Marten would be such a pushover?"
Suddenly, their alarms went off. Dragnet Zero looked at his pager and said, "Hey, Natsuko and Jenna are in trouble. Since we're back in New York, we can take my jet."
Disco Stave: "But aren't they on a plane?"
Dragnet Zero: "Never stopped me before..."
Sometime later, the two heroes reached the World Trade Center. They took the elevator to the seventieth floor, which was one of Dragnet Zero's secret lairs on his own world.
Disco Stave: "Cool..."
Dragnet Zero: "Yeah, I was working on the idea that this world had a counterpart of me, and I gambled that this world's Dragnet Zero had similar tastes in high-tech gadgetry. Ever since we hit La Guardia, I've been sending pings through my frequencies, trying to trigger a preprogrammed response. Finally, when we were at Grand Central, I got it, and I realized that my counterpart was a lot more like me than what would seem probable. Turns out that he even had the same secret lair in the World Trade tower as I did, not to mention this little baby."
The two entered the hangar on the seventieth floor, and Dragnet Zero said, "The jet is over there. He pointed to a jet-black aircraft that looked like a bat's wing. "Get in."
As the two entered the cockpit of the aircraft, Dragnet Zero said, "Computer: Grant access level one to Disco Stave, authorization Amendola-Breyfogle."
The computer replied with a pleasant female voice, "Access granted. Welcome, Disco Stave."
Disco Stave: "Heh. This'll be cool."
Meanwhile, on the deserted streets of Berkeley, California, an old Dodge pulled off I-80 and parked aside the shattered remains of a comic shop. Amidst the shadows of the setting Californian sun, the driver stepped out, pushed aside the half-unhinged door, and walked in straight toward the prop cabinet in the back. Pushing away the collection of bookends and rings, he reached for a small metal globe in the back, dusting it off to see the image of Kal-El and Kara Zor-el emblazoned on it.
The Indestructible Man muttered to himself, "Good. Just where I thought it was... the ultimate purifier. Bye-bye Assbury..."
Pocketing the device, he climbed back into the Dodge and pulled back onto the eastbound freeway.