by The Eurostar and I'm Not Mister Mxypltk
Mr. Smith was desperate. The situation didn't look good. Watching the fight from afar, he witnessed as five of his allies fell, leaving Ma Kalunga alone against the whole MBL.
K'tl was doing well in his fight against M'xy until Naecken (who found his way to this place through a portal inadvertently left by Aurochs) joined the fight, unbalancing things.
Mr. Smith, cloaked by whirling shadows, summoned Aurochs, who was now lying on the floor. "I am not pleased by the outcome of the battle, mage!" he shouted.
"It's all wrong..." whispered the now-young wizard. "These powers... you gave us... have gotten to our minds... it's not us that should fight the MBL... it was the Castle's duty." His face rose from the ground, dirty and covered in sweat. "But not all is lost..."
"What do you mean?" Smith asked.
"This place..." Aurochs answered weakly, "...the very nature of it can be used against our enemies! We can--"
"Whatever," Smith said. "Just see that they are kept entertained. I know exactly what I must do." With that, Smith closed his eyes and started concentrating. A dark energy started flowing into him. "If you want to do things right, you have to do them yourself," he muttered.
As Dr. Zachary Knell had a moment before, all the other opponents -- Ma Kalunga, the Scorpions, Aurochs, and K'tl -- also vanished, like they had never been there.
"What's happening?" asked Tobias Christopher.
"Just when we were winning!" said Sam Dawson.
"Well, not all of us were winning," noted Danny Hearn, pointing at M'xy, who was slowly regenerating his missing arm.
"I 'adda no chance ta fight," said Pete "the Chimp" Glover, not-so-secretly relieved to have been untouched during the entire battle.
Grimm and Turkish Stringfellow were kneeling on the floor near the vertical Dirk Bell, who seemed to be suffering deeply. Then he stood up, like nothing serious had ever happened to him.
"It seems we're all okay!" exclaimed Lance Lorenzo. "Now what do we do?"
"We go home," said M'xy, smiling. He went to one of the doors in the Castle of Crossed Destinies, opened it, and while using one hand to take off his top hat, with the other, in an ample gesture, he invited his comrades to pass through it.
On the other side of the doorway, they saw La Perdita, the apartment complex, and, on the road, a big crowd of people, all waving their hands to the newly arrived heroes. They saw the city band playing the Spider-Man theme song, baton-twirling majorettes, and fireworks in the evening sky.
"What's... what's all this?" asked Lance.
It was Shirley Francis who came toward them, pushing the crowd away, children smiling and asking for the heroes' signatures, young girls screaming at the sight of Sam, Tobias, Danny, and even Dirk.
"Guys, guys, finally you're back! Follow me to the apartments -- we have to talk!"
"But these people? Why are they here?" asked Danny.
Shirley grinned and said, "They're here for you!"
Inside the complex, the heroes found many familiar faces and old ones, too.
Next to Kit Piper was Dr. Henry Quantos. And next to him was a being that only Turkish, Grimm, and Dirk had never met before. He seemed to be a human being, but was artificial. He was Tempus, the master of time, the original talos (artificial chronalguard) of the Time Trust. And there were also other old, friendly faces as well: Sonja Ljzavet, Marv Velo, Edulcore "the Eurostar" Cicciotto, and even Nowhereman, who waved a hand toward M'xy.
From the heroes came only fragmented phrases, like, "How? When? Are you...?"
It was Dr. Quantos who stepped forward to explain things. "Dear friends, we are so glad you finally returned! Ah, you don't know how long you have been away? Six months. The six months most important for the history of humankind. Your battle in the netherworld has changed the destiny of the world.
"Obviously, what you experienced as a time lapse of mere hours has here passed differently." At these words, Tempus nodded in agreement. "And maybe you have not even understood the true importance of your battle. You see, the being you actually fought channeled the evil of the world into your opponents to give them strength. Keeping them locked in battle for so much time, the mysterious being has siphoned out all the evil of Earth. Thanks to you, the Earth is a heaven now. That's why there are so many people here to honor your return."
It was only then that the heroes noticed figures such as the President of the United States, the European Commissary, the President of the People's Republic of China, and many other heads of state, all stuffed inside the apartment complex's entrance hall.
Dr. Quantos produced several newspapers to prove his words, and the heroes saw headlines such as these:
"Peaceful revolution in Mandelovia restores democracy"
"Dr. Charles Walker proves humans and metahumans equal"
"United States revokes metahuman discriminatory act"
"Unilever, Coca Cola, Philip Morris and Nestlè join effort to stop world famine"
All the heroes were speechless.
Dr. Quantos smiled. "And this is not all. Tempus is here to help some of you like he did with Edulcore. He will grant a new body and life for our undead member, Grimm. And our new friend here, Agent Turner..." He made a sign to a tall, scarred man to come forward. "...has revealed that Rebecca, Tobias' girlfriend, is still alive."
A young brunette stepped from the crowd. A blur, and she was in the arms of Tobias, who wept uncontrollably. Then a child stepped forward, too, tears running down his face. Tobias recognized him and knelt down to hug him. "Dad..." the boy said to Tobias, who answered, "Lucky..."
Quantos added, "And Donna, Lance's girl, is alive as well." The blonde Donna Dover now stepped out and passionately kissed the young Lance Lorenzo.
Tempus of the Time Trust whispered something in the ear of Quantos, who coughed and said, "I forgot one thing! Tempus will return Danny to his future, too!" Danny was amazed, and tears ran down his cheeks.
Without any announcement, Michelle Campbell ran up to Sam and began hugging and kissing him. "I'm so sorry, baby! I'll be with you forever!"
Suddenly, M'xy turned back into Mick Harrison without saying a word. "Yes, I also forgot this: the mysterious being you fought was the menace from the seventh dimension that M'xy had to stop. Mick, you are free now!" exclaimed Henry Quantos.
Everyone had been looking at Dirk Bell. Dr. Quantos seemed to be lost in thought, then made a sad expression. "Dirk, we are sorry, but guns have been outlawed on the whole planet!" Everybody, except Bell, laughed.
Then a tall man in a black suit entered the room. The crowd opened like magic, without any need for the man to push to reach the front line, just near the heroes. There was a creepy silence.
"Before you disband your little group to return to your own lives, gentlemen," said the black-suited man, "I am here to ask you for a favor. I need you for one last mission..."