The "Nexus Buffet" was no longer a place of joy. It was a gravitational anomaly. On one side, Kirby was unhinging his jaw, creating a pink vortex that was currently pulling in the entire "Panda Express" section—including the pandas.
On the other side, Saitama was using Serious Series: Serious Vacuum. He wasn't even inhaling; he was just opening his mouth and letting the laws of physics do the work. The air was thick with the scent of kung pao chicken and existential dread.
"Stop it, you two!" Deadpool screamed, clinging to a support pillar while his legs flailed in the wind. "You're going to suck the 'Madness' right out of the 'Multiverse'! Soum, if they keep this up, this story is going to turn into a blank Google Doc, and I'm not ready to be unemployed again!"
The Corporate Overlord
SNAP.
The vortex didn't just stop; it froze. The flying dumplings stayed mid-air. The screaming Minions were suspended in the sky like yellow, pill-shaped stars.
A high-pitched, cheerful giggle echoed through the mall.
"Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog!"
A small, black-eared silhouette stood at the top of the escalator. It was Mickey Mouse. He wasn't wearing his usual red shorts; he was wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, and it was glowing with the power of a thousand billion dollars in box office revenue.
"Gosh," Mickey said, his voice sweet but his eyes cold as a December morning in Anaheim. "I don't remember authorizing this crossover. This looks like a lot of 'unlicensed fun,' and we don't do that here at the Mouse House."
The Legal Gauntlet
"Is that... a mouse?" Thor asked, raising Stormbreaker. "It is tiny. I shall smite it."
"No, Thor, don't!" Iron Man yelled, frantically checking his HUD. "That mouse owns your hammer, your lightning, and your secret identity! If he snaps his fingers, you'll be rebooted into a 2D cartoon with no budget!"
Mickey raised the Gauntlet. The Copyright Stone glowed a vibrant, corporate green.
"I'm here to collect the licensing fees," Mickey chirped. He pointed the gauntlet at Batman. "You! You're from the 'Distinguished Competition.' That'll be fifty billion dollars or your soul."
"I'm Batman," Batman growled.
"I'm a trillion-dollar conglomerate," Mickey countered. "Checkmate, pal."
The Villain's Potluck (In the Corner)
While the heroes were being shaken down for lunch money, the villains were having a great time. The Joker, Frieza, and Bill Cipher were sitting at a small table, sharing a bucket of "Hades' Hot Wings."
"I like this mouse," Frieza chuckled, sipping a soda. "He's got that 'I-will-annihilate-your-entire-bloodline-for-a-nickel' energy. Very relatable."
"I tried to prank him once," The Joker cackled, wiping sauce off his chin. "I put a joy buzzer on his hand. He sued me for my own likeness. Now I have to pay him every time I laugh. It's hilarious!"
Deadpool's Counter-Attack
"Okay, Soum, we need to fix this," Deadpool whispered, crouching behind a trash can. "Mickey is the Final Boss of Reality. If he shuts us down, Chapter 12 is just going to be a legal disclaimer."
Deadpool reached into his "Bag of Plot Devices" and pulled out a small, blue hedgehog.
"Hey, Sonic! Do that thing where you run so fast the lawyers can't serve the papers!"
Sonic the Hedgehog took one look at the Infinity Gauntlet and zoomed. He didn't just run; he ran in circles around Mickey, creating a static field of Sega energy that started glitching out Mickey's corporate aura.
"Gosh!" Mickey stumbled. "I feel... affordable! I feel... accessible! My profit margins are shrinking!"
"Now, Saitama!" Deadpool yelled. "Punch the lawsuit!"
Saitama looked up from his now-empty plate. "Does this mean I don't have to pay for the cabbage?"
"YES!"
Saitama stood up. He didn't even use a Serious Punch. He just gave Mickey a Normal Firm Handshake.
The impact of "Bored Sincerity" hitting "Corporate Greed" created a shockwave that sent the Marvel characters back into their comics, the DC characters into their dark alleys, and SpongeBob back to his pineapple.
But the mall was still standing. And Deadpool was still there.
"Whew," Deadpool wiped his brow. "That was close. We almost became a Disney+ exclusive. Thanks, Soum, for believing in us."