I stepped out onto the top floor, heels clicking against polished marble. The secretary at the front desk shot up from her chair the second she saw me, clearly startled.
"Hello, Miss Phoenix. Mr. Trent is already waiting for you," she said quickly.
She hurried ahead and opened the office door for me, almost like she knew exactly why I was here. I thanked her with a nod and walked inside.
Behind a massive oak desk sat a man in his late fifties, well-dressed but looking tired, the kind of man who'd spent too many years trying to keep a sinking ship afloat. He glanced up, already expecting me.
"Hello, Miss Phoenix. Please, take a seat," Mr. Trent said.
I sat down across from him, smoothing the sleeve of my blazer. "Finally nice to meet you face to face, Mr. Trent."
He gave a polite nod. "Nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Phoenix. I'll admit, I was surprised when I heard you were interested in buying my company. Especially considering… it hasn't exactly been thriving."
"I know," I said calmly. "But I still see potential. It's far easier to buy and rebuild than to waste time starting from scratch."
"I see." He leaned back, studying me with a small, resigned smile. "Well, good luck with it. The board members are quite happy with the settlement you offered them. As am I."
"They're welcome," I replied, voice cool. "But let's be honest, I didn't want a board to begin with. I want this company in my hands, and only my hands."
He chuckled, almost bitterly. "That's fair. All that's left is paperwork. Sign a few things, and the company is yours. Congratulations, Miss Phoenix, you're now the owner of Vault-Tec."
"Vault-Tec," I said the name like it left a sour taste in my mouth. "That won't be staying for long. I'm thinking of something… new. Something cleaner."
He tilted his head. "May I ask? What name will you change it to?"
I allowed myself a small smile. "New Dawn Enterprises. A name that represents exactly what I intend this company to be, a new beginning. A new chance. For me… and for this city."
Jack's POV
I cruised through the streets, my hand resting lazy on the wheel, the hum of the Lamborghini echoing off the tall Metropolis buildings. I wasn't headed anywhere specific—just driving for the sake of it. Fresh air, open road, neon signs flashing by. For the first time in a long time, life didn't feel like it was crushing me.
Honestly? Being in this world was already better than the last one. No bills stacking up on the kitchen counter. No crappy job sucking the soul out of me. Just me, my car, and powers that made me feel untouchable. Can't lie, I owed Hope for that.
As for Kai… the whole "hero" thing didn't surprise me at all. In Worlds Collide, he always played the hero. Even when the villain path gave you better loot, darker powers, shortcuts to being overpowered, he refused. He stuck to the role of the guy doing the right thing. Classic Kai.
It was only a matter of time before he tried it here.
And Hope? She hadn't said anything out loud yet, but I could feel it. She had a plan. She always had a plan. Whatever she was building with that company she just bought, I knew it'd be tied to making Kai's whole "superhero career" smoother. Probably mine too, whether I liked it or not.
Not that I minded. Being a hero? Might actually be fun. Who knows.
I pulled up to a small corner store, parked the Lambo, and headed inside. Grabbed what I always did, ten cakes, twenty bags of chips, and a mountain of candy. I eat like a beast, but thanks to my biology, I don't get fat, don't get sick, and diabetes can kiss my ass.
At the register, I dumped my haul on the counter and started pulling out cash.
Click.
The sound of a gun cocking behind my head.
"Give me your keys and your wallet," a voice barked.
I turned slowly. Some punk had a gun leveled at my skull, eyes wide and desperate. My guess? He saw the Lambo parked outside and thought he hit the jackpot.
"I'll give you one chance only one," I said, voice low. "Put the gun down… and walk away."
"The fuck you say?" he snapped. "I'm the one with the gun!"
"And I'm the one who's not afraid of it." I leaned forward slightly, staring him dead in the eye. "You forget a thousand things every day. Make sure this is one of them. Put the gun down… and walk away."
He hesitated, lips twitching like he wasn't sure. Then anger won out. He gritted his teeth, pulled the trigger, and fired point-blank at my head.
My skull snapped back from the impact, then tilted forward again. The bullet was caught between my teeth.
The man's face drained of all color. "What the… what the fuck?!"
I spat the bullet onto the floor with a plink.
"Look, man, I'm sorry," he stammered, shaking now. "I just… I just wanted the car!"
"Too late for sorry." I grabbed his shoulder, jammed my other hand into his ribcage, and pressed down hard. Crack. He screamed as the bone snapped, then I flicked my hand against his chest like swatting a fly. His body flew backward, crashing into a shelf, and he slumped to the floor unconscious.
I turned back to the counter like nothing happened. The cashier's hands were trembling, but he said nothing as I slid cash across the counter. "No cameras?" I asked.
He shook his head quickly. "N-No cameras. And I won't tell anyone."
"Good man."
I scooped up my bags, walked out, and got back in the Lambo. The engine roared to life, and I pulled away, chewing on a piece of candy like it was just another day.
A couple of hours later…
"You seriously did that out in the open without anything protecting your identity?" Hope's voice had that sharp edge, the one she used when she was seconds away from throttling someone.
"Yes," I said, shrugging. "What'd you want me to do? Hand the guy our car?"
"Yes," she snapped. "I have plenty more Lamborghinis in my garage. Even more stashed in warehouses. One car is not worth putting your identity at risk."
"Okay, okay, my bad," I said, raising my hands. "I didn't think about it. And honestly, there was nobody else in the store except the clerk. He had no cameras."
Hope pinched the bridge of her nose. "Maybe he didn't. But what about the other stores? Or traffic cams? Or skyscraper security feeds that could've picked up your plate and traced it back here? Did you think about that?"
"…No."
"Exactly. Which means now I have to waste time hacking into Metropolis surveillance terminals and scrubbing you from every angle just to keep your face off the news." She sighed, sitting down at her laptop. "Congratulations, Jack. Only a month in the new world, and you're already giving me gray hairs."
I leaned on the couch arm. "Sorry. Didn't mean to stress you out. Won't happen again."
"Better not," Hope muttered, typing furiously. "I just bought that company today, and it's going to take time to whip it into shape. I don't have the political leverage yet to protect you if someone decides you're a threat."
"Ohhh," I said with a grin. "So that's why you bought the company. Not just to 'make the world a better place'—but to give yourself some pull in politics. To help us."
Hope smirked. "Exactly. Kai's sweet idea of being a hero? Noble, sure. But politics run the whole world, and he sucks at that game. You suck even worse."
"Facts," I admitted. "I'm more of a punch-stuff-and-eat-food type of guy."
"Don't forget sleep," she said dryly. "You spend half your life snoring."
"Hey," I said, grinning, "a berserker's gotta recharge somehow."
All of a sudden, Kai appeared in the front room. Me and Hope both turned to him—looked like he was finally back from his multiverse trouble. He was wearing his armor, a hammer strapped to his side, a small bag hanging from his hip, and a large one slung across his back. He looked exhausted.
Kai's POV
"Hey guys, I'm back," I said, dropping the bag with a heavy thud. "And you won't believe what I've been through."
"Whatever it was, it must've been rough, you look like hell. You okay?" Hope asked.
"Define okay." I rubbed my eyes. "Because I went to the Marvel Universe… but ended up in the zombie one. Those things are insanely deadly, especially the superhero zombies. For some reason, they still knew how to use all their powers and skills. That's how I got this." I tapped the hammer on my side. "Had to kill a zombie Thor to take Mjolnir. And trust me, he was not weak."
I pointed at the smaller satchel. "Also managed to stop by Dragon Ball. Grabbed some senzu beans and wrote down the knowledge I need to grow them myself."
"That's good, right?" Jack asked.
"It would've been," I sighed, "but Goku showed up and wanted to spar. Guy already had Ultra Instinct unlocked. He handed me my ass. I had to tap out before he accidentally killed me."
I shook my head. "After that, I went to The Boys universe."
Jack frowned. "Why the hell would you go there?"
"Compound V," I said simply. "Figured Hope could learn how to recreate it here. And let me tell you—they did not want me taking it. I had to beat down a lot of people just to grab a couple of vials. Still, easiest world I've hit so far… and I won't lie, kicking Homelander's ass was fun."
Hope leaned forward, arms crossed. "Anything else?"
I smirked. "Plenty."
"One Punch Man universe, I collected monster cells. One Piece, I hunted down some devil fruits. Pain in the ass to find, by the way.Doctor Who universe, I got lucky and ran into the Tenth Doctor himself. Stole his sonic screwdriver and bolted. Marvel again, this time not zombies. Managed to grab an Arc Reactor and a shard of Vibranium. That was brutal, Wakanda does not play around. Tried to get some heart-shaped herbs too, but couldn't locate the stash. The Dora Milaje were everywhere, and it was getting ugly, so I pulled out.
"Then I went to Star Wars, snatched a couple lightsabers. The Jedi Council didn't take it well. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, picked up some mutagen. Not sure what we'll use it for, but it might come in handy. Power Rangers universe, didn't steal anything, just wanted to see them in real life. Worth it. Transformers universe, grabbed some Energon."
By the time I stopped, Hope's jaw had dropped. "Jesus Christ. You've only been gone five hours here. How the hell did you steal all that?"
"Time works differently between worlds," I shrugged. "For me, it was like two days, maybe a little more."
"Oh, and before I forget, I also hit the He-Man universe. The whole place was a wasteland. Nothing alive. So I picked up the Power Sword. Nobody's gonna miss it."
Jack's hand shot up immediately. "Dibs on He-Man's sword."
The Next Day
We were all in the living room, surrounded by the loot I'd dragged back from my multiverse run. Jack had already grabbed a lightsaber, thumbed it on, and was swinging it around like a kid in a candy store.
"Stop playing with that," Hope snapped.
"Oh, come on!" Jack grinned, twirling the blade dangerously close to the couch. "This is crazy cool. How can I not play with it? Also, when can I use the sword?"
"You are not using that sword yet," Hope said flatly. "I want to run tests on it first, see how connected it is to magic."
Jack groaned and clicked the lightsaber off. "Fine. But make it quick. I really want to shout the magic words and transform into He-Man."
"You're already stronger than everyone in this room," I said. "You really need more power?"
Jack smirked. "It's not about power. It's about how badass I'll look in that armor."
I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever," Hope said, already moving past him. "I'm more interested in these devil fruits."
"Yeah," I nodded. "I only managed to bring back two worth keeping. The rest already had users."
Jack leaned over. "So… what do these ones do?"
I pointed. "That one's the Poki Poki no Mi. It has Infinite storage, gives you body pockets where you can stash basically anything. And that one's the Calm Calm Fruit. Creates a soundproof barrier. Nobody can hear in, nobody can hear out."
They both stared at me.
"What?" I asked.
Jack raised a brow. "Why the hell would you bring back those fruits? They're kinda… useless."
"What'd you expect me to do, fight Whitebeard or Kaido for the OP fruits?" I shot back. "I like living, thanks."
"…Fair point," Jack admitted.
"I'm guessing the curses are still on them?" Hope asked.
"Nope," I said. "I stripped them last night. Easy work."
Jack's eyes widened. "So if I ate one, I wouldn't sink like a rock in water?"
"Correct."
"Still not eating that," Jack said immediately, shoving it away.
"Same," Hope said. "But I will run tests on them. If I can replicate the structure, maybe I can synthesize something new."
Jack stretched. "While you're down in your workshop, mind making me a suit? I'm gonna need one if I'm supposed to play hero."
"Sure," Hope said, already scribbling notes. "But for now, no hero work. Not yet. I want things set up first."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Stability." Her tone went sharp. "I just bought this company, and I need to make it solid before we stick our necks out. Step one, I'll release products that actually help the city, gain recognition. Step two, I'll start selling weapons to the military. That's how we get political power."
"Does it have to be weapons?" I asked cautiously. "You can't build… anything else?"
Jack muttered, "Yeah, not exactly thrilled about the military packing Hope's toys."
"Yes, it has to be weapons," Hope said firmly. "That's what makes me valuable to them. Don't worry, I'm not building city-killers. Nothing apocalyptic. Just enough to put us in their good graces."
"…Okay," I said finally.