Episode 2: Assembling the Guardians

Kousei blinked his eyes as he looked around the well-lit, elegant room. Then he did a double take...it was a large pub!

"I'm only 14!" he thought worriedly.

"Don't fret, young one," the giant bald alien said. "I won't be giving you anything to drink."

As Kousei looked around, he saw there were many other people in the room with him. Including Black Widow and Arnim Zola, there were three people with odd blade-holding gear strapped to their waists, a tall, fair-skinned woman with brown hair and a shield bearing the Union Jack, a dark-skinned man with a devilish smile and high-tech battle gear, a boy not much older than Kousei who wore a yellow and blue suit, an older man with a red cape to match the red "O" on his chest, another middle-aged, bald man with a blue arrow tattooed on his head, and a dark-skinned girl with black hair and an eye symbol tattooed on her forehead.

"Who are all these people?!" Kousei thought. "And why did this guy bring us all here?!"

"I thought of the pub design when I read your biography. I hope you like it." another voice said. Kousei looked to see the man in the royal-looking cloak talking to the woman dressed in the United Kingdom's insignia.

"I like it quite a lot," the woman replied in her formal-sounding British accent. "Thank you."

The giant bald alien stepped forward to the group. "Greetings, warriors, agents, and heroes alike. I am the Watcher, and I have chosen all of you—"

"GET BACK!" the boy in blue and yellow suddenly cried, forcefully punching the man dressed in the red and white. The old man grunted in pain, surprised by the boy's outlash.

"Woah woah, slow down son!" the man implored, blocking the teen's next blow. "What's going on?!"

Kousei, unsure how he could help, just stood and watched as the room erupted into chaos.

"Stay away from me!" the dark-haired woman with the swords shouted at the two men with identical gear. Both of them put their hands up and backed away in fear.

"You...you're Avatar Aang, aren't you?!" the girl with the eye symbol said to the man in the red robe and blue arrow tattoos.

"Well...yes!" the man said in astonishment. "But who are you and how do you even know me?!"

"I'm your successor, Avatar Korra," the girl said smugly, pointing to her eye tattoo. "And well...let's just say I had different mentors than you did."

Kousei didn't know what to do or say, so he just stood and looked on in confusion as the different people argued with each other while simultaneously trying to clarify the situation. Black Widow, Zola, the British woman, and the dark-skinned man stood beside the young pianist, equally bewildered.

"I guess we were chosen...to come here and fight to the death?" the dark-skinned man said in what Kousei guessed to be a West African accent.

"Blimey, it seems we have!" the British woman exclaimed.

"ENOUGH!" the Watcher shouted, silencing the fragile alliance. They all looked toward the ancient being with mixed expressions of surprise, fright, and confusion on their faces.

"You don't understand!" the boy in blue and yellow shouted. "My dad is the biggest threat to Earth right now! He killed the Guardians of the Globe and tried to force me to help him with enslaving Earth under the Viltrum Empire!"

The man in red and white was horrified. "What?! Son, I—!"

"That's cute," the black-haired girl scoffed. "Did he unleash an army of Colossal Titans and align himself with a maniacal man in a green cape and titanium suit?!"

"Mikasa...what are you talking about?!" the boy with short black hair exclaimed.

"I will explain!" The Watcher shouted again, and the twelve fighters took deep breaths to calm themselves down.

"I am the Watcher, guardian of all timelines and universes that there are," he began. "And right now, a grave and terrible threat seeks to conquer all of your worlds."

The Watcher was silent for a moment; he let that information sink in before continuing.

"At first, I scoured all your universes, timelines, and worlds for the one true hero that could avail this crisis. But as I searched, I saw the greater picture. Consequently, you have all been assembled from across different timelines to put an end to this threat and save not just your world, but the entire multiverse."

Kousei and the twelve warriors exchanged a newfound look of understanding, awe, but also terror. A common threat that all their worlds faced?! Who could even obtain that kind of power? Who had obtained that power?

"That being said, I believe introductions are in order," the man with the mysterious cloak standing beside the Watcher said. "Calm introductions."

"Explanations too!" the blond-haired man standing beside his friend added.

"Wonderful!" the dark-skinned man standing to the right of Kousei said. "I'll go first! My name is T'Challa. Star-Lord T'Challa that is. I was originally born and raised in Wakanda, but after a mishap resulting in me being abducted by the Ravagers, I became a space pirate captain that, well...saved the galaxy many times!"

Star-Lord T'Challa smiled charmingly at the others. "Pleasure to meet all of you!"

"Very well then, I suppose I'm next," the British woman said, stepping forward. "I am Captain Peggy Carter, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent presently, originally a super soldier for the British Air Service in World War Two before a scuffle with an interdimensional HYDRA monster dragged me sixty years into the future."

From there, the introductions went counterclockwise around the room. It was difficult for the young Arima to keep track of them all. Avatar Aang introduced himself as the master of all elements and the bridge between the spirit and human worlds. The girl with the eye symbol, who Kousei heard was Avatar Korra, laughed as she introduced herself as the next incarnation of her more docile self.

But there was one slight problem...

"So you're telling me, in my universe, after I die, this is who replaces me?" Aang asked The Watcher.

"Not exactly," the celestial alien said. "She is from an alternate timeline within your universe."

The man with the red "O" on his chest introduced himself as Omni Man (hence, the "O") while his son dressed in blue and yellow introduced himself as Invincible.

"Son, what was with the fighting me earlier?" Omni Man asked.

Invincible looked grim, not wanting to recount the horrific things his dad had done to him in his own timeline. Upon seeing this, the Watcher stepped in and revealed the evil deeds committed by Omni Man's evil alternate. The Viltrumite hero's heart filled with grief as he looked at his son.

"Oh, son..." he said. "I'm so sorry."

The three sword-wielders with the odd gear on their waists were Reiner Braun, Eren Yeager, and Mikasa Ackerman. Eren and Reiner looked friendly enough at least, but Kousei gulped when he made eye contact with Mikasa. She looked way more ferocious than Kaori did when he'd accidentally snapped a picture of the violinist as a gust of wind blew her skirt up.

"So what?" Mikasa spat at Eren and Reiner. "I'm guessing in your timeline the war between Paradis and Marley hasn't happened yet?"

Reiner was taken aback. "No," he said. "In our timeline...the Warriors and I betrayed Marley and helped Commander Erwin capture Zeke and Pieck. We got Willy Tybur to come to Paradis under the threat of the Rumbling and after negotiations, he delivered a message of peace on our behalf to Marley."

"It didn't smooth everything over, but it was something!" Eren added. 

"I see," Mikasa said, and looked away bitterly.

"I'm Black Widow," Widow interjected. "Ex-KGB agent and last member of the Avengers. In my timeline at least."

"Dr. Arnim Zola, former HYDRA scientist and currently in control of an Ultron body," he said in his robotic German accent. "Made possible by a virus developed by Black Widow and her late colleague Clint Barton."

"Dr. Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme," the man with the elegant cloak said, waving his hand. "And current assistant to The Watcher and his plan."

Kousei was still processing all the names and facts about all these new faces he'd never seen before, then suddenly he felt all eyes in the room shift to him.

"Um, kid?" Omni Man smiled. "We'd like to know your name too ya know."

"Oh, right!" Kousei said. "Um...I'm Kousei Arima! I play the piano, and...I had just finished up my eighth-grade year!"

"A shame your year had to end in such destruction," Zola scoffed.

The others in the room were somewhat befuddled as to what a pianist was doing among such a mighty assortment of fighters. Star-Lord T'Challa, sensing this, put an encouraging hand on the young man's shoulder and smiled.

"Ah, wonderful! A piano player!" he rejoiced, playfully punching Arima's shoulder. "I've always wanted to learn! Apparently, Earth is the only planet in the entire galaxy that has such an amazing instrument!"

"Who are your favorite composers?" Captain Carter asked, her interest piqued. "Stravinsky? Bach? Do you know how to play any swing or jazz?"

Kousei was overwhelmed by the sudden friendliness of the titans of battle and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, mostly classical stuff like Mozart and Beethoven," he said shyly. "I'm not sure I'm familiar with those other genres you mentioned."

"Well, never too late to learn!" Reiner said. "Maybe you can teach me something later!"

"Now is not the time for that," Dr. Strange said sternly, steering the conversation back to its course. "Mikasa, care to explain to the others what threat we're up against?"

Mikasa was silent for a moment. Then, she looked at Eren with a look of sorrow yet mighty bitterness.

"In my timeline...you've started the Rumbling," she told Eren. "And aligned yourself with this psychopath in a green cloak who calls himself Dr. Doom."

Eren and Reiner were silent. They were stunned.

"I believe it is now time for me to explain how that happened," The Watcher interjected.

"Yeah, no kidding," Invincible muttered under his breath.

Moving his giant hands, The Watcher formed what looked like a "bubble" that floated in the center of the pub. In actuality, this bubble was a window into time. As Kousei watched the events of his former homeworld begin to play out, The Watcher explained their significance to the hastily assembled alliance.

"In the timeline of Arima, Widow, and Zola, their first menace was a robot powered by artificial intelligence, created by the ambitious mind of Tony Stark," the Watcher began. "Stark hoped his new creation would bring about peace in his time. Unfortunately, his dreams were dashed as this AI, Ultron, saw only one path to peace."

"The destruction of the entire world," Widow finished.

"As if that wasn't enough, Ultron gained an organic body of vibranium containing the Mind Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones that manipulates key aspects of our reality," Doctor Strange continued. 

"With his new nigh indestructible body, and the power of the Mind Stone," the Watcher said. "Ultron laid waste to not just the Avengers but their entire world."

"So THAT'S who took away my home and friends without a second thought," Kousei thought with a festering bitterness.

"Where does Victor von Doom come into this?" Zola interrupted. "Last I remember, Latveria was of no significance to HYDRA, let alone S.H.I.E.L.D"

"I'm getting there," the Watcher said. As the others continued to watch, they saw Ultron basking in the silence he'd created on that world via the deaths of billions. Then suddenly, a portal opened up behind him, and a giant, purple humanoid figure with muscular arms and a golden gauntlet stepped forward. Ultron wasted no time in cutting his would-be challenger in half with a beam from the Mind Stone.

That was when Dr. Doom appeared.

Kousei gasped as he saw the man, armed with nothing but his armor, a green cloak, and what looked like a medieval glaive, stab Ultron in the head before twisting a handle on his staff. Green lightning bolts crackled from the Android's head, and before long, Ultron's once mighty vibranium body was nothing more than a lifeless automaton sprawled out on the ground.

"You said this Ultron body of mine is one you found at an older battle site following Barton's demise, correct?" Zola asked Widow.

"Yes," she answered. "I wasn't having any luck infecting any of those weird Doom bots with the virus, so I went with the next best thing."

The group continued to watch as Dr. Doom, victorious, performed some spells that attached all six stones to his armor's chest plate. The madman screamed in triumph and rage as the power of the stones surged through him, granting him power over reality, time, space, power, mind, and soul. As Dr. Doom began to hover in the air with his armor's rocket boots, he outstretched his hands and suddenly formed legions upon legions of deadly Doom Bots with the reality stone.

 Kousei was speechless.

"So, let me get this straight," Omni Man piped up. "The AI Android that ended the world of Kousei and Black Widow, was destroyed by someone more powerful who was waiting for an opportunity to obtain these near infinitely powerful gems the entire time. And now, he seeks to conquer another world via the use of this so-called Rumbling?"

The Watcher moved his hand again, changing the window so that it looked into Mikasa's timeline. Kousei's knees nearly buckled under him when he saw the same man perched atop the right shoulder of a terrifying, eighty-meter-tall giant with gargoyle-looking teeth, black hair, and green eyes that glowed with demonic ferocity. Below the eighty-meter-tall monster was a gigantic army of burning red, sixty-meter titans that stretched for miles and miles.

"Your assertion is correct, hero of Viltrum," the Watcher said. "The events in this window have not yet taken place, but they will soon. And if Dr. Doom gains the power of Eren Yeager's Founding Titan plus the army of Colossal Titans that you see..."

His voice trailed off as he let the information sink in. By now, he didn't need to finish the sentence. The group was more than aware of what was at stake.

"Okay, great," Avatar Korra said determinedly. "We know what we're up against. Now how do we stop this guy?"

"Believe it or not...that's the easy part," The Watcher warned, and began waving his hands again. He looked forebodingly at Eren and Reiner.

"Gentlemen, in your timeline, the betrayal of the Warriors prevented much unnecessary bloodshed on Paradis," he said. "But in this timeline..."

.....................................

Atop the roof of a quaint house, Armin's eyes grew wide with terrified disbelief as he witnessed the mindless carnage wrought by the man he once called a friend. The ground shook without ceasing as all three walls on Paradis revealed the legions of Colossal Titans trapped inside. Armin and Mikasa had been lucky enough to get away from Pieck with their ODM gear when the wall began to crumble, but Mikasa had vanished by the time Armin had landed! Where had she gone?! And who was this megalomanic Eren had aligned himself with that somehow was more diabolical and villainous than Eren himself?! Armin wanted to weep, but his eyes refused to allow the tears to fall. 

The global military alliance was understandable, but this?! This was madness!

Just then, Armin heard a weird crackling sound behind him and turned to see twelve people step out of the blazing orange circle onto the roof. He gasped; among them were Mikasa, Reiner, and Eren!

"Mikasa!" Armin shouted. "Where have you been?! And how are Eren and Reiner with you?! Who are all these people?!"

"Settle down, lad!" Captain Carter implored. "We are here to help you! Now please tell us, what's going on?"

Armin couldn't take it anymore, and the tears he'd been refusing to let fall ran down his face as he revealed all he had seen to Mikasa.

"Eren's going to destroy the entire world!" he wailed.

Mikasa was stunned.

"The man in the green cape is named Dr. Doom!" Armin continued to scream. "I have no idea where he came from or what interest he has in this conflict, but it's like Eren is a completely different person with that guy at his back! He stomped on the Armored and Cart titans, Mikasa! While they were defenseless! Just so he could have revenge for the past! He doesn't care about anyone anymore! He just wants revenge on the world!"

The twelve fighters looked somber as Armin's sorrowful words rang even louder than the rumbling of the Colossal Titans. Just then, Jean and Connie zipped onto the roof with their ODM gear, equally astounded and stunned by what they had seen.

"Armin, are you okay?!" Jean said. "Mikasa, who are all these people?!"

"Introductions will have to wait!" Mikasa shouted. She turned to Dr. Strange. "Doctor Strange, can you take us to Captain Levi and Hange?"

"Yes!" the sorcerer replied and began circling his hands to open another portal.

Meanwhile, Dr. Doom had a wondrous view from his perch on the Founding Titan's right shoulder. As usual, his excellent plan was working better than a well-oiled machine. Underneath his mask, Doom's face was lit up by a vile, evil grin. In retrospect, gaining access to the grand power of the Founding Titan had been child's play. Now, after the success of this Rumbling, he only had a few steps left in his grand scheme.

Build his army. Subjugate the multiverse. And become the unrivaled ruler of all realities.

Nothing could stop the scheming, mighty Dr. Doom.

Nothing.

.....................................................

"It reminds you of her, doesn't it?" the Watcher asked Kousei empathetically.

Kousei stared down blankly at the udon noodles and sushi. Those two dishes? Not so much.

But the chocolate canelés?

"Yes, they do," Kousei said. Then he smiled politely and looked up at the Watcher. "It's okay though. I'll gladly eat it after having to eat all those disgusting MREs. So thank you. Or, well, thanks to Dr. Strange that is."

The Watcher smiled. He'd been right to bring the boy along for this mission. His kindness and empathy would fit perfectly into the next part of the plan.

"Of course, young Arima," the celestial said. "Eat and rest up. I believe Strange also put a piano room somewhere around here. You may want to practice after eating...you'll need it."

Kousei was confused. "Where exactly does my playing the piano factor into defeating two megalomaniacs hell-bent on conquering the multiverse?"

"You'll see soon enough," the Watcher promised. "Trust me."