Our heroes suddenly transported into, well, they didn't exactly know where. It was some kind of campsite with a toasty fire.

Red Guard sighed in relief before turning. "Okay, that was-"

Sasha then pointed a sword at Red Guard's neck, narrowing her pink eyes. Red Guard was silent before swinging his staff against her sword. The two spun around, clashing again.

After a few seconds of staring each other down, they stopped almost immediately. Sasha nodded. "Okay, we can trust you."

Vee blinked. "Wait, what? How does that make him trustworthy?"

Anne just gave a shrug. "Fight language, I guess?"

Luz then walked over to Anne, scratching her head. "Who...who ARE you?"

"Oh!" Anne said, looking over Luz. "I'm, uhh, Heart."

Red Guard chuckled. "No need for secret identities here, Anne Boonchuy. Plus, the whole world kinda knows about you." 

Anne laughed and took off her helmet. "Right, I forgot about that! I'm Anne! Anne Boonchuy!"

Luz smiled and shook Anne's hand. "I'm Luz Clawthorne! Wait...OH! You're the one who stopped that eternal darkness a while ago!!!"

Anne nodded. "Yup! That was me and my friends who stopped it!"

Marcy stepped over, seeming amazed and eager to learn more about Luz and the fact that she was a witch.

Luz watched, giggling. "Who's this?"

Anne smiled, loving how cute her girlfriend was being. "That's my girlfriend, Marcy Wu! She's the smartest person I know!"

Luz smiled. "Hey! My girlfriend's also the smartest person I know! Heh, I remember swooning over her whenever she'd just become a full on scientist with a simple question." She said, recalling the past as Marcy studied her cape.

Anne patted her back with a smile. "I know how you feel, my new best friend."

Sasha's eyes widened and she placed a hand on her chest. "AHEM."

Anne laughed. "Sash, you know you're still my best friend!"

Sasha nodded before looking at Hunter, who was, well, still a little broken. She walked over to him, taking off her helmet. "You...okay?"

Hunter slowly took off his mask. "Well...I'm traumatized. That's for sure."

Red Guard faced his, well, twin. "I...I know how you feel." He took off his own mask to reveal an identical version of Hunter, but he seemed to have a LOT more scars than even Hunter did. Even one over his eye. "Believe me...I know."

Hunter gave a small smile. "Nice to see someone I can relate too, I guess...this is super weird." He laughed.

Red Guard snorted. "You're telling me!"

Sasha looked at both of them and hummed. "Blondes wearing red that are scarred. We're apparently a club now."

Hunter and Red Guard just laughed, standing next to Sasha.

Marcy turned one of her energy arrows into a magnifying glass, looking at Luz's ears. "Fascinating...! And so pointy too! Are all witches born with these?"

Luz smiled. "Yup!"

Marcy squealed. "What gives you your magic? Why does your staff have some kind of animal Palisman? OH! How did you get here?"

"We have this organ called a bile-sac that gives us our magic. That animal Palisman is named Otto! He's what gives my staff its magic cause he quite literally has magic blood! And finally, technological portal built by an evil horned psychopath." Luz said.

Anne laughed. "Man, we have a lot in common! And I LOVE the cape by the way! Marcy and Sasha all had capes, but I never did!"

"Oh, yeah! It can deflect powerful spells! Not all of them though, heh!" Luz smiled. "You would ROCK a cape! I mean, your armor is practically born for it!"

"You think so?" Anne asked. "I could go for like a blue cape or a golden cape. I dunno!"

Marcy giggled. "You'd look good in anything, Anna-Banana." She smiled, kissing Anne's cheek.

Anne nuzzled her. "Awww!"

Luz smiled at the scene, recalling whenever she'd do that with Amity...and that's when her mind wandered to Amity and King in their coma. Her vengeance against Darcy. AND what just happened.

She then cried out a bit. "WAIT, BELOS IS BACK! AND WHATEVER THAT CORE THING IS STILL ON THE LOOSE!"

Red Guard sighed, taking out his staff. "Yeah, it's probably best I explain why they're back and how."

Vee walked over. "Wait, you know what's going on...? A-And why do you look like Hunter?"

Red Guard used a spell that had everyone sit down and walked beside the campfire, like he was teaching a class. "I'm an alternate version of YOUR Hunter, in a universe where I was never brainwashed and did all those things...willingly. I rebelled when Luz was about to be used as a test subject for the portal...or so I thought. Belos actually had different plans for her...he brainwashed her. So, I took my version of King, Vee, and Kiki, running into the portal and escaping to Earth."

"And you took my role as the hero..." Luz sighed. "And the other me is Silver Soldier, right?"

Red Guard nodded. "Right."

Marcy sighed. "Evil alter ego's...I know how that is...but that doesn't exactly explain how all our villains are back from the dead. I mean, your very existence proves there is a multiverse along with me and my friend's abilities to travel to different worlds."

Red Guard smiled. "I was just getting to that. Unlike me and well, other me, Luz did not NEED a staff to do magic. So, Belos gave her an upgraded staff that could allow her to travel to different universes entirely."

"Which is how she got here the first time!" Luz realized.

Red Guard nodded. "Yup. She used that again during one of our fights and we ended up at the very center of time, multiverse, and space itself."

Marcy's eyes went starry, and Sasha felt a bit freaked out from taking all of this in. Hunter spoke up. "What was it like?"

"Strange. And confusing." Red Guard said. "One minute you're breathing air, next? You're choking ON air. Think you ate a sandwich? IT'S A PLANET. YOU JUST ATE A PLANET."

The heroes were left silent, backing up a bit from Red Guard, their eyes still wide. Marcy then wrote down something in her notebook. "Multiverse tips: Don't eat anything..."

Red Guard then cleared his throat. "Anyway, me and Silver battled for a little while before we both shot energy blasts at each other. The blast exploded and caused multiple energy bullets to go into the timeline circling us. It then brought out six villains from the past right before they met their death."

He then waved his staff around, using a bit of Oracle Magic. He showed how Grom died, by being blasted into oblivion by Luz. "Grom? He was about to be completely obliterated."

He then showed the other villains. "My other self? He was about to fight Luz to the death before being broken out the brainwashing and then saved and raised by Raine. Andrias? About to be tortured to death. Cloaker? About to be punched through the chest by Anne. Belos? About to be blasted into dust by Luz as The Titan was crushed by King Malos. And finally...The Core."

Marcy went silent a bit, but Sasha spoke up. "Anne and Marcy breaking out of its hivemind, right?"

Red Guard nodded again. "Correct. Even now, past Marcy and Anne are fighting The Core inside the hivemind. Which is why she didn't obliterate us all right there."

Vee's eyes widened. "So...The Core's weaker?"

"MUCH weaker." Red Guard replied. "And considering it's only weakness is The Three Stars? Well, we have an advantage."

Anne gasped. "Wait...yeah! We actually have all three of us! We have a chance!"

Hunter spoke up. "I think you are forgetting a crucial part though. Darcy seemed AWARE she lost. She's gonna play smarter, AND she has all our strongest enemies on her side. We gotta prepare."

Red Guard nodded. "It's why I teleported us all here. To train. Cause I know for a fact Silver is in this universe too...it's likely she's gonna be working with the villains."

"Typical evil me." Luz said before blinking. "Wait...Hunter, what did you say?"

"We gotta prepare?" Hunter asked.

Sasha shook her head. "No, before that. You called The Core 'Darcy'."

"Yeah! The Marcy girl said it was her evil alter ego. So, Darcy. Dark Marcy." Hunter said with a smile.

The group was silent before Vee gave a clap. "I like it! It's kinda catchy."

"I'm totally mocking her with that." Anne said with a light smirk, holding her girlfriend close since she knew the subject of The Core made her uncomfortable.

Luz then stood up. "Then we haven't a moment to waste!"

Red Guard put on his mask and hood. "Read my mind, Luz."

Meanwhile...

The villains were all transported into some kind of campsite, all of them except Belos and Darcy growling and groaning.

Grom roared. "WHO DARES?!?!"

Cloaker looked at Grom. "Oh, quit acting like you are high and mighty. You are no king."

Grom stepped closer to the Frobot, narrowing his blue eyes. "Say that again, robot. You are no king either. I have terrorized thousands!"

Golden Guard chuckled. "Terrorizing and killing are two different things, Grom."

"WHAT?" Grom boomed. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Why? You were never on ours." Golden Guard chuckled.

Belos watched his minions argue and rolled his eyes before facing Darcy. "...what did you mean back there? The past?"

Darcy chuckled, looking at Belos. "We are from the past. This is the future, Belos...they won. Both of our plans failed."

Belos was silent before he hummed. "...but it won't again."

Then, a voice spoke up. "Indeed, my lord!"

The villains turned and saw HER walk in. The Silver Soldier. She stepped towards the villains, looking at Belos and Darcy specifically. "I'm the one who brought you here. Not just to this area, but to this timeline."

"Why?" Belos asked.

Silver Soldier chuckled. "It was a freak accident...but now? I see this as a chance to return this world to your mercy...my master." She said, bowing before Belos.

Belos stepped forward, ready to attack if need be...before he saw the Emperor's Coven badge on her cloak. He then smirked. "You are my servant in another world, aren't you?"

Silver Soldier looked up at her master. "I am, my lord. In any world, I'll take out your every command."

Darcy then stepped forward. "Hmmm, a new member to our little team couldn't hurt."

The other villains looked at each other, clearly not wanting to work together. But Darcy just gave them a glare and they quickly stood front and center.

Belos then looked at Darcy and chuckled. "You understand quite a lot about how to control people, Core."

Darcy cackled. "I AM darkness, Emperor." She then held out her hand for a handshake. "And this could be the start of a beautiful alliance."

Belos shook her hand. The two were powerful enough to just betray the other or kill each other right now. But that wasn't what they were going to do.

Silver Soldier then smirked. "Your alliance will work lovely then! Cause I have a plan as to how to WIN against our foes this time."