Crossover: The Reality Bomb

[Tsukiyumi]

The man in black was gone; only his bones remained, his robes had long turned to dust. Years chasing the wizard had left Roland tired, worn, and cold. He rubbed his temples, newly gray from the strange, long sleep the man in black had put him in after their palaver. After Jake's death.

His mind shuddered away from that thought as he hefted his bag and checked his guns. Two massive revolvers jutted from his weathered belt; their worn sandalwood grips, smoothed by centuries of use, felt glassy beneath his fingers. He had thirty-two rounds left, and had been low on supplies well before his trip under the mountain with the boy...

Again, his guilt overwhelmed him as he thought of Jake's last words, "Go then. There are other worlds than these." Then the child fell into the darkness. Roland's duty to reach the Dark Tower had cost the life of yet another friend.

How many more? He wondered, knowing that no matter the answer, he would never stop until he reached the Tower, the hub of all realities.

Grabbing the man in black's jawbone from the pile of bones, he stuffed it in his pocket, and turned to face the nearby Western Sea. He took two steps, and vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

***

"WHERE IS THE BOMB?" Jack Bauer shrieked into the man's terrified face. He struggled against his makeshift bonds for a moment before Jack drove his palm into the man's nose. It shattered in a spray of blood and bone; the man screamed in pain, then began to sob as he looked back at Jack's face. The look in Jack's eyes made it clear that this was only step one of the process, and the rest would be much less pleasant.

Jack took a step back, adjusting his satchel, and the rifle slung over his shoulder. He knew this scum and his partners planned to detonate an explosive within the hour, on one of the city's commuter trains. If he didn't get the location soon, dozens or hundreds of people were going to die, all so these lunatics could strike back against the 'oppressors of animals'. His eye twitched, and his lips pulled back in a terrifying sneer as he pulled his folding knife from his front pocket.

" I'll ask you one more time, and then I'm going to cut out your left eye. Then I'll take the right. Then your nose... Answer me now: WHERE. IS. THE. BOMB!?"

He lunged forward with the blade, and the man squealed, " OKAY!" Jack stopped the knife a few inches from the man's face, " The target is the 6:50 express. Please don't kill me!"

It seemed like he just couldn't escape this. He'd come halfway around the globe, and scum like this still got in his way. The other man in the room, a thin, pale fellow in a uniform bearing the insignia of the SAS, nodded to Jack and stepped forward.

" Well, Jack, we're even now. That business in Bosnia never happened, so far as I'm concerned." The man shook Jack's hand as Jack turned to leave the room.

"No problem, Charlie. Now, if you could just get me out of the country, I'd really appreciate it."

Charlie turned around as the bound man's face lit up, and his eyes widened in fear. Jack was nowhere to be seen.

***

As soon as Roland's dusty boots hit the deck plating, he crouched, and drew his revolvers so fast human eyes couldn't catch the movement. Even the more powerful in the crowd showed surprise at the man's speed.

He whirled, counting targets in this strange metal storehouse as he strafed to one side. Several of the other humans pointed strange weapons in his direction, but the massive metal beast and the cluster of other creatures near it seemed to only stare at him curiously.

As his nerves calmed somewhat, he shifted his gaze to a curiously dressed man who had his hands held high. The man took a step forward, and Roland trained one of the huge guns on the iris of his left eye. The man stopped in mid-stride.

" Whoa, okay! Everyone, please calm down! I know this is disorienting, but this will all be explained shortly, I assure you!"

A bright flash to Roland's left signaled the appearance of another man, dressed in black, who tumbled to the floor. Roland shifted his aim to this newcomer, who quickly drew a weapon of his own, aiming at Roland.

He's got the reflexes of a gunslinger. But his clothes... Is he another incarnation of Walter? Roland thought, as the man took in the odd surroundings.

" I am Roland of Gilead, son of Stephen. What sort of magic has brought me here? One of the Wizard's Rainbow? Or am I dead?"

The other man shook his head, " What the hell are you talking about?" he paused, lowering his gun, " I must've been gassed. Dammit, Charlie, you said we were even..."

[Mikey]

The one called Zanitav clambered up to the catwalk even more awkwardly than the mon-keigh warriors and said something in is own tongue. "You wish to be friends... comrades in our minority?" Arawden asked mockingly, his musical voice muted by his helmet. He removed the helm in a quick graceful move and turned his pale, impossibly regular and delicate features toward the Protoss. "I am Arawden, called Aghenfilir - hunter of beasts. I am a ranger of the once-mighty craftworld of Iyanden. And you... you are nothing. You buid empires? You conquer others? The Eldar stood to change the tides of the wars among the gods themselves." The Eldar turned back to the scene below.

[Monroe]

"Us Protoss have been around for countless generations. We were made by the gods. The Khala is our path. Do not think your craft world greater than the primordial jungles of Aiur where my people came from." Zanitav then turned to the woman who asked him the question, "I am Praelet Zanitav. Commander of the Protoss carrier Adun's Mercy." Zanitav told the woman who asked him quite annoyed. "It seems the Conclave is horribly under represented here."

"You aren't the only one under represented." The Eldar replied.


Xan meanwhile slowly walked around the two new comers. Gauging that a well placed shock combo between the two of them would kill them both instantly. Turning to the Federation Xan asked, "How many more are there?"

"I think maybe only a handful." The Federation officer on deck who had the luckless job of maintaining some resemblance of order.

A chrip on the man's commbadge and Janeway's voice came through, "This is Admiral Janeway, please inform them I will be down there shortly. If Q is planning on bringing anymore who haven't arrived yet they can play catch up." The officer replied affirmative.

"Finally some answers." One of the space marines said behind Xan.

Xan turned and nodded, "Good. We need someone who knows what's going on and what they're doing."

The Federation officer grimaced and muttered, "Don't we all."

[Deepcrush]

"By your command Brother-Librarian", Phebes addressed via inter-suit vox. Turning to the Dreadnought he switched through his vox frequencies until he found Huron-Fel's, "you appear damaged Brother, do you require assistance?" Raising his arm and indicating his Narthecium, "I have some small experience in these matters, though as time goes on you may have to accept help from our smaller companions here", though Phebes visor remained expressionless those gathered with him in the bay could swear they sensed a small smile behind the blank eyepieces as he nodded toward the armoured female that had just arrived.

"My armor is missing its power core. I am running off of reserve power. 48 hours Terra until total shutdown. I am ilconcerned with their troubles. The Emperor must be warned of the treason of Horus!"

[Mikey]

Ashok glanced at Phebes and Cain, paused, and addressed Huron-Fel. "It appears that the... ting which brought us here transcends time as well as space, brother dreadnought. In our present time," he indicated the apothecary and the commissar, "the Horus Heresy has been over for ten millenia. Thanks to the sacrifice of Sanguinius, the Emperor was able to defeat the traitorous Horus." Ashok went on to detail the fall of the traitor legions to Chaos, the defeat of Horus, and the division of the legions into chapters. He then stood silent for a moment, gauging the veteran's mind. "I'm sorry to tell you, brother... the Death Guard turned to Chaos. They are the servants of Nurgle now."

[Tsukiyumi]

This is the strongest hallucinogen I've ever been exposed to, Jack thought, as he lowered his pistol. The guy next to him was dressed like a genuine Old West gunfighter; his weathered features, and his cold eyes told Jack this man was serious business. His gear even looked real, including the big revolvers he was slowly lowering as well. Jack adjusted his satchel as the man holstered the revolvers low on his hips, then adjusted his own old, dusty satchel. He turned to face Jack, pushing back his low-brimmed hat as he slowly approached. He held his hands palms out; Jack relaxed, and finally put his own weapon away. It's just a vivid hallucination, anyways, he thought, looking at the massive robot combat suits and the various aliens in the hangar. Even the planes looked like some science-fiction space shuttles.

The man came a bit closer, then executed a strange bow. Jack awkwardly returned the gesture before the man spoke, " I am Roland of Gilead, and I am on a quest of great importance. I must resume my journey to the Dark Tower in End-World. How far off the Path of the Beam are we?"

Jack chuckled, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, " Okay. My name's Jack Bauer. I'd say we're pretty far off the path right now. What do you want me to do about it?" He gestured at the massive hangar, and the collection of aliens and robots.

" I saw you appear in a flash of light. Are you a wizard? What do you know of the Tower? The others seem preoccupied, even the Guardian, so I believe this is the best time for us to talk." Roland was right about that; other than the robot with a weapon trained in their direction, the others here had given them little notice.

Jack shook his head. This was getting stranger by the minute. He'd never experienced a hallucination this detailed and realistic, even under heavy torture, or strong drugs. He could smell plastics and metal, and the grease from the larger machine. The deck hummed faintly under his feet, and some of the various consoles were beeping. The smell of gunpowder and tobacco from the gunslinger was the final straw: it was too close, too real.

"Okay, I'll play along." Jack laughed, "Where are we, and why?"

[Deepcrush]

Ashok glanced at Phebes and Cain, paused, and addressed Huron-Fel. "It appears that the... ting which brought us here transcends time as well as space, brother dreadnought. In our present time," he indicated the apothecary and the commissar, "the Horus Heresy has been over for ten millenia. Thanks to the sacrifice of Sanguinius, the Emperor was able to defeat the traitorous Horus." Ashok went on to detail the fall of the traitor legions to Chaos, the defeat of Horus, and the division of the legions into chapters. He then stood silent for a moment, gauging the veteran's mind. "I'm sorry to tell you, brother... the Death Guard turned to Chaos. They are the servants of Nurgle now."

"I know of the Death Guard's fall. I was there to see it. Though you should know brother, that many of us are still loyal. I purged a full squad of Death Gaurd on my own. That is before I joined up with others still loyal to the Emperor. I promise you brother, they paid a dear cost for their feeble hearts."

Huron-Fel lowered his weapons and stood down. Then he uploaded his combat recorder to Ashok.

{-Confirmed traitor kills.
Emperor's Children = Eleven
World Eaters = Six
Death Guard = Twenty four-}

"What you say then, is that the Emperor was the victor. The traitor defeated. At great cost, but the crusade still lives on in you. Praise be the Emperor."

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

"Us Protoss have been around for countless generations. We were made by the gods. The Khala is our path. Do not think your craft world greater than the primordial jungles of Aiur where my people came from." Zanitav then turned to the woman who asked him the question, "I am Praelet Zanitav. Commander of the Protoss carrier Adun's Mercy." Zanitav told the woman who asked him quite annoyed. "It seems the Conclave is horribly under represented here."

"You aren't the only one under represented." The Eldar replied.

"Wait...you're aliens or something?" Kallen blinked in confusion.

[Deepcrush]

"Wait...you're aliens or something?" Kallen blinked in confusion.

The Dreadnought heard this and let out a deep sound... much like, laughter.

[Monroe]

The doors to the hangerbay opened and Admiral Janeway walked in. She carried herself upright of a woman full of self importance. The Federation in the hangerbay stood at attention. "I know you all have a lot of questions. And I see not everyone is here yet. But I think its time we fill everyone in on all the details." She scanned over the diverse group. "I have here a datapad detailing everyone of you and a little bit about your universes. Jack Bauer you're from the 21st century. We're several hundred years past you so it might take some getting used to. Everyone else.. your bios submitted by Q get stranger. I know its not easy to fit into a new world. When I was evolved into a salamander and mated with my helms man I too had to cope with new things."

Several of the people in the hangerbay blinked in surprise and Xan lost all respect for this rambling woman. Janeway continued, "A being named Dravos in a different universe has created what's called a Reality Bomb. It breaks apart the bond holding subatomic particles together so that matter cancels itself out. He is using a ship called the Tardis to spread that destruction throughout all the universes. Every one of our realities is in jeopardy."

Zanitav leaped down from the hanger. "If this being is so powerful why doesn't he return us and do it himself?"

Q spoke up from behind Janeway wearing a Federation commander's uniform. "Because Zanitav my power is fading. The longer this reality bomb has an effect on this universe the weaker I am. And I cannot get you to the Dalek Crucible to stop it or stop it myself."

"Daleks?" Bauer asked. He couldn't help but smirk at the horribly looking uniforms.

"Ugly pepper shakers that wiped out the closes thing to the Continuum that universe has." Q replied, "Now I know what you're all thinking so I've prepared a show for you." Q motioned with his hand. Behind the Dreadnought a projector screen was setup, though the projector's source was unknown a count down shown on the screen. The lights dimmed on their own accord.

From five the scratchy black and white screen showed then a beep and a voice that reminded Bauer of something he was forced to watch in elementary school about nuclear bombs spoke up. "Greetings travelers from other dimensions." The voice put an emphasis on 'other dimensions' and a whirley sound followed. A cartoon image of a Dreadnought, a transformer, a protoss, and someone who looked like a giant ice ball who hadn't appeared in person yet, appeared on the screen all with tiny question marks above their heads. "You might be wondering, where am I?"

The image on the projector pulled back to a picture of a Galaxy with a giant arrow pointing to one of the arms of the spiral. "You are here. But more importantly you are in a different universe. Our universe, like yours is feeling the disturbances of Z-neutrinos detonating through space and time which will engulf all of reality." The picture changed to show a picture of the Galaxy with the Federation's symbol and then many other Galaxies next to it with the Imperium standard on one, the United States Flag on a couple, and several other symbols. "As the shockwave destroys this universe it will progress to the next one." The Galaxy showing the Federation's symbol had a cartoon explosion sign move over it followed by lines which led to three others which in turn had the explosion sign moved over them.

"The only way to stop this is to build a device to cancel the Z-neutrinos in a gate." The picture showed a 1930s style ray gun shooting at a large wooden door which splinters and a lit hallway to infinity shown behind the door. "Once we break into Dravos' crucible we will then have to change the timeline so we all live."

The image went black for a split second before a picture of the Golden Throne began falling, followed by Aiur from space, followed by a Crafter's World, then Jack's daughter, etc all on golden coins falling into a blackness background. "To save those we love we must work together."

The projector then went quiet and the lights turned back to their full strength.

Q clapped his hands together. "I've got the list of things needed right here and I have upgraded the ship to be able to take you there. Janeway you have the bridge." He said in a mocking tone and gave a salute and winked before disappearing.

The Admiral's hands held a datapad which was not there a moment ago. "Ah this is the list. Now I will not force anyone not to be here who doesn't want to. But I think this is important to all of us to work together."

[Aaron]

Phebes took in the hag in the strange uniform, "truly the Emperor has a strange sense of humour" he thought to himself. Stepping forward until he was looking down at the Admirals slight form, he addressed her "first things first, Admiral. My friend here" at this he indicated Huron-Fel "is not in the best of shape. We're going to need your...tech-priest to examine him and I will require access to your facilities in order to assist." Silently he offered a short prayer to the Emperor that they had what they needed. "Will this be a problem?".

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Rhinox walked up to Huron-Fel, scanner in hand. "Phebes, do you have a schematic of Huron-Fel, here? With the technology here I might be able to help him out."

[Aaron]

Phebes reached into a belt pouch and pulled out an old and battered data slate, "here is what I have on Dreadnoughts of his era, there isn't much to go on, they are rare in the 41st Millennium." Taking a long look at the door to the bay he turned back to Rhinox, "He won't fit through the door, so we'll have to bring the parts to him."

"Best to slumber a while Brother Fel, conserve your strength while we find something to replace your core. I will wake you when it is complete or we need you."

[Lt. Staplic]

This was it. They had finally reached the final fight against Doom. The fate of their universe would be decided right here. As the other members of Fury's team charged forward to engage Doom head on, Iceman jumped onto an ice slide and circled around him. As the two forces clashed, Iceman, and the few others that had circled around began attacking Doom's rear defenses, slowly knocking them down. Just as Iceman thought he might get through, Doom turned and smacked him, sending him flying across the room. Standing back up...He jumped on his ice slide and began moving back towards Doom, he was just about to reengage him when he was enveloped in a bright flash. The next thing he knew he was in what appeared to be a large hanger room, about half way up. the laws of physics took a second to assert themselves before Iceman went crashing down to the floor.

Iceman quickly stood ready to fight any Doom bots that might be around. "Where am I. Where is Doom?"

Looking around Iceman saw several strange beings, if it hadn't been for his recent adventures they might have frozen him in his tracks, but he was used to the shock by now and simply stood their hands up, waiting for someone to answer him.

[Deepcrush]

Phebes reached into a belt pouch and pulled out an old and battered data slate, "here is what I have on Dreadnoughts of his era, there isn't much to go on, they are rare in the 41st Millennium." Taking a long look at the door to the bay he turned back to Rhinox, "He won't fit through the door, so we'll have to bring the parts to him."

"Best to slumber a while Brother Fel, conserve your strength while we find something to replace your core. I will wake you when it is complete or we need you."

"I have a full STC of my build Brother Phebes."

A service panel opened to revel a STC that looks as if it had just been made.

"I, shall slumber."

The Dreadnought's body went to stone still. His arms to his side. Legs lock in place. The sound of its systems now ran quit. Only a slight humm which was beyond human hearing.

{-30 days of hybernation stasis power remaining.-}