Nova looked around wildly, panic and confusion mixing like bad soup. "Where the fuck am I, and what the fuck has been going on? Everything is batshit insane," he said, already annoyed at the universe.
"You swear a lot," Green blurted out, confused.
"Who the fuck are you guys?" Nova asked, ignoring Green entirely, as if he had not heard a single syllable.
"I'm meant to ask you guys that," Swiss said.
Pink dropped into a dynamic crouch, her left arm bracing the floor and her right arm outstretched, debating whether she should pull her sword out or just let the chaos take her.
"What's up your ass?" Nova asked, pointing at Pink like she was the unreasonable one.
"You really like swearing, don't you?" Green muttered to himself.
Grandpa Saidai and Damian rushed into the lab.
"I'm glad you guys are finally awake," Grandpa said.
Pink pointed accusingly. "Old man, did you drug me? I thought you were meant to send me back!"
"I didn't drug any of you. You all just collapsed the moment you got into the helicarrier, so we took the next logical step and ran tests on you guys without permission," Grandpa Saidai said, smiling way too proudly about it.
Nova threw his hands in the air. "Wait, who the fuck are you guys, why the fuck am I here, and what the hell is all this about tests?"
"Are you intentionally trying to sound edgy?" Green asked.
Grandpa continued, "All of you are from different Earths. We brought you here because our Earth is in danger of being destroyed by a menace called Overlord. We need your help to stop him. Thank you all for your cooperation."
Silence followed—then everyone bursted into laughter except Pink, although her guard lowered a little.
"Are you serious, old man? Yeah, and I'm a wizard who can manipulate fire and ice, and that little girl can manipulate the wind," Nova giggled, pointing at Swiss.
"I can, and I'm a boy," Swiss replied, offended.
"Sure you can, buddy," Nova said.
Swiss's expression shifted from offended to mischievous, but before he could act on whatever chaos he was planning, Pink rested a hand on his shoulder. He deflated instantly.
Nova went back to ranting. "Cut the shit, old man, I was just fighting a war and you expect me to believe some bullshit like—"
He stopped. His breath caught.
"I'm meant to be dead… how am I here," he asked quietly, the humor disappearing from his voice.
"Are you okay?" Cody asked.
Nova shook his head slightly. "I'm meant to be dead. How am I here."
Grandpa sighed. "We used a device to lock onto random targets to bring them here. It only had enough energy to bring four people, I don't know the specifics but Dr Bepeh has all the answers."
Pink glared. "So where is the machine then?"
"Overlord and his forces have it. They also took the only scientist who can operate it."
"How convenient," she muttered.
"How many of you want to go back?" Grandpa asked.
"Me!" everyone yelled—except Swiss and Cody.
Cody raised his hand. "I'm ready to fight Overlord and his forces."
"Okay, since all of you want to go back, I'll see what we can do. I'll have to introduce you guys to someone who'll protect you until we can get you all back."
They walked down a long hallway with a high ceiling as Green stared at everything like a time-traveling tourist.
Swiss looked up at Nova. "So, Nova, did you dye your hair red and blue, or were you born like that?"
Nova blinked dramatically. "Blue and red hair? I have brown hair you strange girl."
Green smirked. "Wow, you finally stopped swearing."
"I'm a boy," Swiss said, offended.
Cody added, "Your hair actually is red and blue. I thought you dyed it to match your eye colors."
"I have hazel eyes," Nova said, now looking genuinely concerned for his own existence.
He began spiraling mentally, questioning his life, his biology, and whether the multiverse had personally targeted him. Before he could overthink himself, they reached a massive door.
Grandpa Saidai pushed it lightly, and it slowly creaked open.
Inside was a huge hall, empty except for one figure standing in the center.
She was a striking, athletic woman with deep brown skin and silver-white dreadlocks that brushed her shoulders, with blue eyes that seemed to pierce the very air.
She wore a black, strapless tunic that clung to a sculpted torso. Black clothing wrapped her forearms, while a flowing black cape starting from her waist, split at the thigh and cinched with scarlet bands.
"Can you hear me, Mother?" she asked.
"Who?" Nova whispered, already confused again.
"Everyone, meet Ebele, she'll be the one pro—" Grandpa couldn't complete his sentence.
In an instant, Ebele appeared behind him. She drove her hand through his back and impaled him.