Batman felt it was time to leave. The longer they stayed, the more trouble they'd invite.
But Becca was still hesitant. She hadn't made up her mind yet. Her life now wasn't great—no freedom to speak of—but at least it was a life, a place she could call home. She could raise her child here.
The truth was, after all these years, she'd grown used to this soft imprisonment. Now, a group of strangers suddenly showed up, claiming they wanted to take her and her child away to start over in some unfamiliar place. Naturally, she was unsure.
Bruce saw right through her hesitation and pushed harder.
"Ms. Butcher, whatever deal you made with Vought ends right now!. You don't want your child thrown into a lab and treated like some experiment, do you? Think about it—once we're gone, what do you think they'll do to you and your son?"
His words hit her like a knife to the heart.
From the moment her child was born, Becca had poured everything she had into him. He was her entire world. No one could take him from her.
But she also knew deep down that her son's bloodline wasn't ordinary—sooner or later, he was going to be caught in a storm far beyond her control.
She had just been clinging to the peace of recent years, deceiving herself that things could stay quiet forever. But with these strangers now at her door, that illusion had shattered.
She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and nodded.
"Alright. I'll go with you. But you have to promise—you won't hurt me or my son."
"Becca, look into my eyes," Charles said gently. "Trust me. I swear on my life—we won't harm either of you. Just like I said, I run a school for gifted children. Ryan needs to be in school. He needs a proper education…
You're a great mother, Becca. But I have to say—you haven't given Ryan a healthy childhood. Right now, he's living a distorted version of it."
He had been working on persuading Becca for some time already, focusing on her biggest weakness—her child's education. He was finally starting to win her trust.
Becca shook her head slowly. "This is all insane… What a crazy day."
Then she took Ryan's hand and went upstairs to pack.
Only now did the others notice the prisoner Batman had brought back. Charles stepped up and asked, "Bruce, are we taking her with us?"
Storm, bruised and swollen, still tried to speak, though her words were slurred: "You won't get away… None of you are getting away!"
Bruce narrowed his eyes, then punched her hard in the head. She cried out in pain and took a few more hits before finally passing out.
"No," Bruce said, only responding to Charles once Storm was out cold. "We don't know enough about this world yet. No need to meddle too much."
Charles frowned at the scene and said, "You could've gone easier. I thought you were going to kill her."
Bruce shrugged. "Relax, Professor. I know exactly how much force won't kill someone."
Then he turned to Spider-Man One.
"Get outside and keep watch. Vought will send more people. Stay sharp."
"On it!" Spider-man One replied, and vaulted out the window.
Charles frowned in thought. "There's something off about Vought. Their so-called superheroes are… strange. Not like anything we're used to."
Bruce crossed his arms. "The world's a big place. You never know what'll happen. I have a feeling this world is going to get dragged into the quiz game too."
"But this world wasn't affected by it before we came," Charles pointed out. "If it was, they'd recognize us."
Bruce nodded. "Exactly. So maybe we'll meet people from this world in the game later."
As he spoke, he gave orders to the AI to keep gathering intel about this world—for future use.
Meanwhile, things were getting even more bizarre on the other team's side. Bruce Banner, Spider-Man Three, and Tony Stark were in the middle of their own chaotic mission.
"Seriously," Tony said, staring at himself in a mirror. "I never imagined the day would come when I'd turn into a cartoon. Wow. The multiverse is crazy!"
He wasn't literally a paper-thin character, but his form was undeniably animated.
Bruce, Spider-man Three, and Pietro—who had arrived in this animated world earlier—were all sporting cartoon versions of themselves.
Spider-Man Three rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Feels like we've dropped from a 3D world into a 2D one."
"Nah, buddy, this is 3D animation," Tony said, clapping him on the shoulder and grinning. "The great thing about cartoon characters is they never really die. You get burned, chopped in half—next second, you're fine. Wanna test it?"
Bruce rolled his eyes. "That's slapstick animation you're talking about. Tom and Jerry stuff."
Pietro looked like he had a headache.
"Guys, I hate to interrupt your vacation, but are you actually going to help?
Peggy—I mean, Captain Carter—is about to move out. I'm guessing she's already got all the gear from Howard by now."
"Relax, Pietro…" Tony stretched his arms and drawled, "We haven't exactly decided if we're taking this mission yet.
There's no punishment for failure, but if we really do take the Tesseract, it's going to change this whole world."
Pietro gave him an annoyed look. "Please. This world's already a mess."
"Yeah…" Bruce murmured. "It's wild. The one who got the super soldier serum wasn't Steve—it was his girlfriend."
The fact that they'd ended up in an animated universe was bizarre enough, but what really pushed things into surreal territory was how closely this world mirrored the mainstream timeline.
It was set during World War II. Nazi Germany had taken over Europe, and Hydra—led by the Red Skull—was wreaking havoc across the continent.
Normally, Steve Rogers would have received the super soldier serum, led the Howling Commandos into battle, and sacrificed himself to stop the Red Skull.
But in this world, due to an unexpected twist, Steve never got the serum. Instead, it was Peggy Carter who became the super soldier.
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