In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it has two definitions. The first is "the whole body of things and phenomena observed or postulated: the cosmos." This definition came from the scientific belief that there is only one universe in existence. However, the second definition seems to say otherwise; "a distinct field or province of thought or reality that forms a closed system or self-inclusive and independent organization." This seems to say that universe can be used in the plural tense. As I have seen in my life, that is true. There are many universes out, I'm sure, but I have only seen two. The thing about these two worlds is that they are very similar, yet different in the same ways. They each have their own heroes. And their own villians. They have always been seperated by a "wall", so to say, keeping them from ever mingling. They've always existed apart, never knowing of each other. Except once. And it was all my fault.
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New York City
11:56 PM
Marvel Universe
Man, it feels good to be ME!!!!!!! These were the words that were going through the head of Peter Parker, the super hero known as Spider-Man as he swung across the skyline of the Big Apple on his signature web lines. Web-slinging has to be the greatest feeling on Earth. And OFF of Earth, for that matter. It's disturbing to know that. On the latter account of course. He chuckled to himself as, at the peak of a swing, let go of the web line, did a back flip, and landed on the tip of an empty, horizontal flag pole. Look at me. Having to expalin myself IN MY OWN MIND!!! I'm turning into Deadpool, slowly, yet surely. The webbed hero looked at the street that was nearly fifteen stories below him, searching for any signs of trouble. Well, this is a rare treat. No sirens, no fires, nothing on the police scanner on my phone, not even a running purse snatcher. Spidey looked up at a building ledge, across the street and about ten stories higher than his present vantage point. Maybe I can find something if I go to higher ground. With the flick of a wrist, Spider-Man shot a web line at the ledge and, upon feeling the jolt of connection, jumped and pulled on the line, sending him flying upward towards the ledge until he flew past it and landed on the roof. "The next best feeling in the world is the relief that you get after making a succesful landing from a risky acrobatic move." Spidey murmured to himself as he walked to the corner of the roof to perch on the corner. As he leaned down into position, he stopped half way down. "Great. Now I'm talking to myself!" After being in perched for a few minutes with nothing but the normal sounds of the city meeting his ears, the webslinger started to get uneasy. OK I've had plenty of nights like this, where everything is peaceful and kinda dull. Thing is, it never stays that way.
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Metropolis
11:57 PM
DC Universe
It never stays this peaceful for too long. Clark Kent thought to himself with crossed arms and a vigilant look on his face as he hovered over the rooftop of The Daily Planet, the newspaper that he worked at as a civilian. Right now, however, he was at his other job, the one that he always considered the more important one. Right now, he was the invincible guardian of Metropolis, soaring the skyline and find ways to defend and protect the innocent people of the city. He was the Man of Steel. He was Superman. Oh, look at me. Worrying over something I should be cherishing. Lois would be all over me for that. The thought of his wife made the hero smile and forget about his worries. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back until he was completely horizontal and appearing to lay on the air as he would on a couch. Defying gravity always has its advantages. He chuckled to himself as floated there above the city he loved, letting a soft breeze flow over him. He let his head turn with breeze and opened his eyes to gaze aimlessly in that direction. He saw something in the distance, just west of the city, that caused his smile to slowly fade away. Are those storm clouds? Without any effort, he leaned forward until he was in an upright position and facing the west. That's strange. I know everything that's in every issue of the paper and the weather section today said that we weren't supposed to have any rain for weeks. Out of habit, the Man of Tomorrow used his telescopic vision to examine the clouds more closely. Not seeing anything suspicious that way, he turned on his X-ray vision to search for anything within the cloud, but was just as unsuccessful there. Returning to normal vision but refusing to take his eyes from the dark nimbuses, he contemplated what the answer may be for such a happening. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrong. Deep down, however, the man who stood for truth before anything else, knew that that was a lie.
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New York City
11:58 PM
Marvel Universe
Ororo must be in Jersey for somethin'. Logan thought to himself when he quickly glanced up at strange storm clouds that gathered apparently out of nowhere before going back to smoking his cigar and throwing stones into the Hudson River from a vacant dock. As the X-Man known to the world as Wolverine, Logan was used to strange things happening, be they evil or harmless. Clouds popping into the sky from no where was just as common to his life as the smell of his leather jacket. Having a teammate, by the name of Storm, who could control weather in any way that she wished, strange weather was easily explained to him. 'Ro is always callin' lightning from clear sky, puttin' tornadoes in a fireplace, and throwin' up snow storms in a room during a summer day. If she caused this, I know she has her reasons. Logan was never bothered by much until it became a real problem. He reached into a pouch on his motorcycle and pulled out a bag of beef jerky. He spat his cigar out into the water, pulled a leatherly strip out, and began to knaw on it, trying to forget to reason he and a few other X-Men were back in New York. After the conflict that had risen at what had been their home for so long in San Fransico, several of the X-Men, along with Logan, decided to move back to Manhattan and restart a team there. That was scarring for all of us. I'm just glad to get back to where I first became an X-Man. Logan's thoughts were interrupted by a soft roll of thunder. He looked back up at the clouds and, no matter how much he told himself that was nothing, his instincts told him otherwise.
Gotham City
11:59 PM
DC Universe
Ummmm... None of my scanners seem to be able to pinpoint the cause of this strange storm. Bruce Wayne tried to figure out what means he could use to explain the strange clouds that had formed to the east of Gotham. As the Batman, Bruce was known among other super heros to be a detective who could figure out any problem with quick investigation and even quicker results. This time, however, he was sure that he would not live up to his reputation. The Dark Knight lowered his high-tech binoculars from his masked eyes and pondered what was happening. Think, Bruce. What possibilities have you eliminated here? Weather mapping? Check; these clouds don't even register on a weather RADAR. Artifical causes? None; no planes have gone near that air space and even the JLA systems can't pick up any ship within the clouds. Super powered controller? Any person with the abilites to cause something like this is either in jail, dead, or out of country. Maybe I should call Fate to see if he senses any magic in the area and connect to the Watchtower to see what the cosmic scanners say about this. Batman put down his binoculars and was about to pull his pocket computer from his utility belt when he noticed the small rolls of thunder had turned into successive peals. He looked at the clouds and saw that they were not only growing very quickly, but they were also starting to flash with the thunder. Why do I feel like it's too la....
12:00 AM
Then it happened.
All four heroes watched as, all of a sudden, a bolt of yellow lightning erupted from both the top and the bottom of the gathered clouds, strecthing down to the ground below and up to the starry sky above. As it reached each point, the bolt flashed with blinding light and resounded with a crackling THOOM!!!!!!!
Spider-Man fell back, gripping his head, and screamed from the pain caused by the largest and most powerful wave of Spider-Sense he had ever felt.
Superman gritted his teeth and covered his ears, trying to keep out the peal from the strike that his super hearing was amplifying.
Wolverine squinted against the light caused by the bolt striking the river a couple hundred feet in front of him.
Batman was struck by a small shockwave that came from the direction of the lightning, fell of the gargoyle he was standing on and landed on the roof top behind and below it with a thud.
Then, just as quickly as it started, the near-world-ending event ended. But the real change had only begun.
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Panting heavily and holding his slightly throbbing head, Peter pulled himself up into a sitting position. Well, let's hope THAT never happens again. He then stopped rubbing his head and cringed. Wait, a flash that big and loud ahd to have caused damage. He jolted his up and looked off int the direction that he saw the lightning hit before he collapsed. Instead of seeing fires and a possible crater, like he was expecting, the Web Head looked over that area from his vantage point and saw that everything was almost exactly as it was before. Almost. He noticed, in the places where the Hudson River and the East River met the ocean, he saw city lights instead of the darkness of open sea. "That wasn't there before." he said in a sarcastic manner.
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Realizing that his ears weren't ringing anymore, Superman slowly brought his massive hands away from his ears. Hearing nothing but the wind, he opened his eyes slowly, only for them to pop completely open when he saw what was east of Metropolis. In the place of the small ghettos across the river from the city's east docks, he saw an entire city that stretched for miles to the north and south. Is that the Chrysler building over there? That's impossible. New York is a 2-day road trip from here. Isn't it? The only answer to his shocked thought was the wind and the city noises below.
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Logan's eyes took a few minutes to heal, thanks to his mutant healing factor. That was like lookin' straight at a nuke goin' off in front of me. Well, I'm not on fire, so that can't be what happened. Anyone else stupid enough to see that from this distance would be blind. What the blazes happened? Slowly, vision came back to Logan's eyes. After they were fully healed, Wolverine looked around. He saw nothing wrong with the dock, but when he gazed downriver, he saw city lights where he should only see the moon shining on the sea water. What the flamin' ...? Then the realization hit him so hard, his mouth actually dropped. How is there a friggin' city where river water used to be?
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Batman groaned as he stood back up from is five foot drop. Damn, that knocked the wind right out of me. What could have caused a shockwave of that size? Was the lightning some kind of laser bla..? His thoughts stopped right there when he saw that the strom clouds were gone but, right below where they were, city lights now shone in the distance. Immediately, his right hand went from rubbing the back of his neck to his utility belt to take out his binoculars. He put them to his eyes and looked at the far city the best he could through the smog of Gotham. As he scanned the rooftops of the new city, the Dark Detective tought to himself, So that lightning transported this city next to Gotham. Is it alien, mystical or is it terrestial? He saw something through the lenses that made him stop scanning the rooftops. He zoomed in on one particular skyscraper top and when the image cleared, what he saw actually shocked him. "That's the Empire State Building." he whispered to himself.
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At that moment, all four super heroes said the exact same thing:
"This cannot be good."
To be continued in Chapter 1: Collision
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