“I’m not going to waste time on how you intercepted Megumi’s call,” said Arsha as Khan’s image appeared in the Gateway, “nor will I waste time humoring you with this!”
“Oh? Humoring?” asked Khan innocently.
“You tried to get the Sources of Flourishment!” snapped Optimus. “You failed miserably!”
“I think not, Optimus Prime!” retorted Khan. “Because I have some things…and some people that Megumi may know!” He stepped back to reveal several people, five of them from what we consider fiction, and five crystal spheres, colored dark-blue, orange, sickly-green, yellow, and dark purple.
“…The Sources of the Apocalypse,” whispered Megumi.
“And their guardians,” remarked Arsha.
“And unless you surrender your 3V2R prizes and the Sources of Flourishment to me,” threatened Khan, “your friends end up as BORG Drones instead of Lord Drones!”
“DON’T GIVE IN!” called Mickey Mouse. “MEGUMI, DON’T LISTEN TO HIM!”
“Megumi, please!” begged a Korean woman, Duchess Deung Moon-kyung. “Our lives-!”
“Will belong to me permanently!” interrupted Khan. “Consider my proposal, you three! You have 24 hours, your time scale!” The call ended.
“…Impromptu meeting,” said Megumi. “We gotta discuss this now.”
“So, what is the plan, Brother?” asked Megatron once everyone was brought into the loop.
“That’s why we’re here,” replied Optimus. “We need ideas.”
“What we need,” remarked Thundercracker, “is someone that was in the enemy’s counsel.”
“We have Batman and the others,” said Farmee.
“We weren’t that deep in Khan’s inner circle,” replied Batman.
“But there was one who was,” said Gandalf as he smoked a pipe. “One Boulton.”
“I am NOT putting Boulton through that again!” snapped Richard.
“That ain’t your call, Richard,” called a voice. A deassimilated Boulton then approached the group. He was accompanied by Tom and a few police officers. No guns, given that he was more than cooperative. “I was deep in Khan’s head,” continued Boulton. “I know how he thinks.”
“Then you have the coordinates for his base universe?” asked Megumi.
“You can’t go there,” said Boulton. “I helped him reverse-engineer abandoned Vortonian scattering technology.”
“Ooh, nasty!” shuddered Rosadera.
“What does this scattering technology scatter, exactly?” asked Megatron.
“The atoms of any beings that may try to invade whatever universe you’re in,” explained Rosadera.
“…How quickly did the Vortonians abandon that tech?” asked Liam.
“Not until their final days, sadly,” said Death.
“So how do we get in?” asked Brittney.
“There’s a universe Khan didn’t think to use,” said Boulton. “It has a direct path leading straight past the scattering technology.”
“What’s the universe?” asked Megumi
“The identifier string calls it 1-N-J-U-5-T-1-C-3.”
“Injustice,” remarked Richard. “In that universe, the Joker made Superman think he was fighting Doomsday, but it was really Lois pregnant with their son. He went so far as to kill her and her heartbeat was tied to a nuke in Metropolis. Superman then killed the Joker and formed the One Earth Regime with other heroes that thought like him, as well as a few villains. That universe’s Batman led a resistance group with Lex Luthor.”
“That version of me hasn’t contacted me, so I’m assuming they’re still all right,” said Batman.
“Well, it splintered into two timelines after their Brainiac attacked. One is where Superman used Brainiac’s skull ship to mind control unwilling superhumans to form a new Legion, the other is where you sent Superman to the Phantom Zone after he talked about killing Brainiac.”
“It’s through the latter branch,” said Boulton. “The best bet will be in the new Batcave in the Gotham Underground through the now defunct Arkham Asylum.”
“That still leaves the hostages,” remarked Optimus. “How do we free them?”
“…We give Khan what he wants,” suggested Arsha. Everyone goggled at her. “And we got some advice from Anansi to help with that.”
“…Ooooohhhh!” recalled Optimus as a grin appeared on his face.
“You two spoke with Anansi?” asked Death.
“Here’s what I have in mind…” Arsha began outlining the plan.
Khan was in his throne room, pondering how to construct the New Multiverse. “…Maybe I should spare Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan. …No, those two goofs had their time. …Wait, is there someone I can resurrect?”
“You know, with the way you abused those two lately,” remarked a Guard Drone, “Sonavok and Ziddet will betray you.”
“…What? Betray me?” asked Khan. He then hammed up his “surprise” at the suggestion. “A Romulan and a Cardassian, two of the most sly and power-hungry races, plotting to betray me?! I tell you, I’m shocked! Shocked and dismayed! I had no idea! You just can’t trust ANYONE these days!”
“I think I saw them write something in the Tome,” said the guard. Khan arched an eyebrow, then opened the Tome to find that, yes, someone DID write in it.
“‘The instant Khan asked the Collective for clarification, the Tome burned his hand and was forever severed from his use.’ A bit ham-fisted of them, don’t you think?” The door then opened to reveal the Dalek Supreme, Sonavok, and Ziddet. “It IS polite to knock, you three,” admonished Khan.
“We require your presence in Grid 9, Subjunction 12!” barked the Dalek Supreme.
“I’m busy, you over-sized saltshaker!” dismissed Khan. “Get out!”
“We require a Rift Controller to better integrate with the Time Controller!”
“You have my sympathy, now go away!”
“Your multiversal expertise would make you an ideal candidate,” remarked Sonavok.
“I doubt it,” replied Khan. “I know how our tech works, but to any others…how did that Learman woman put it…my mind is a very opal.”
“The Rift Controller is slaved to its Gateway-styled casing,” said Ziddet.
“So, the Rift Controller is a Dalek, huh?” scoffed Khan. “Well, in case it’s escaped your notice, I am NOT a Dalek.”
“You WILL be,” came the voice of the Lord Collective.
“…What?” The instant Khan asked the Collective for clarification, the Tome burned his hand and was forever severed from his use.
“Take him!” ordered the Dalek Supreme. Sonavok and Ziddet then grabbed Khan and removed the neural transceiver connecting him to the Lord Collective.
“GET OFF ME!” demanded Khan. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS! LET GO OF ME, YOU HAM-FISTED-! YOU TWO ARE FROM RACES KNOWN FOR THEIR CUNNING, NOT THEIR-!”
“While this isn’t the more subtle of our plans…” began Sonavok.
“There’s something to be said for occasionally indulging in…ham-fisted tactics,” finished Ziddet.
“You will be transported through a nuclear reactor area via a transient time corridor!” said the Dalek Supreme. “We have temporarily lowered the reactor’s safety measures!”
“The radiation will kill me, you idiot!” argued Khan.
“Mutagenic drugs will be administered into your system! They will accelerate the mutation of your body!”
“What about our agreement?! The New Multiverse I offered your leader?!”
“Metaltron, Intrag, and Nemesis Prime have advised that our terms remain unchanged! Retrieval of the Apocalypse Sources and the 3V2R prizes are of top priority!”
“But the godhood I promised you all! The power! You all promised! You said that I would lead you through a new era!”
“As the new Rift Controller, you will be able to advise us in matters of Multiversal Conquest to better lead us to victory! You will still…pull our strings, as it were!” The group then arrived at an area with a time corridor active. Metaltron, Intrag, Nemesis Prime, Dr. Borg, and Hiro were all watching. Khan was held in place as Hiro stuck a syringe into his neck. He then administered the contents, the mutagenic drugs Khan was told about. After a few seconds, Hiro pulled the syringe out as Khan was feeling a little…unwell.
“Throw him in,” ordered Metaltron. The Dalek Supreme put his manipulator arm onto Khan’s back and used suction power to hold him. It then pushed Khan towards the time corridor. Khan tried to resist, but the Dalek Supreme had a strong grip on him and maintained its manipulator arm’s position.
“No! Please! Stop!” begged Khan. “You can’t do this! I’LL BE REVENGED ON THE LOT OF YOU!” The Dalek Supreme quickly extended its manipulator arm and thrust Khan into the time corridor, releasing its grip on him. Khan tumbled through the time corridor, screaming all the while.
“Khan’s now in transit,” reported Nemesis Prime.
“The casing is completed as well,” said Dr. Borg. She pulled a cloth off of a special Dalek casing. It looked like it had a small gateway tilted at an angle behind the speech indicators, had intersecting rings on its neck like the Time Controller, and in place of the standard Dalek manipulator arm was a multi-dexterous, three digited, jointed claw. It was sky-blue with purple sense globes and a purple bumper.
“Mutation of Khan organism is complete!” reported the Dalek Operator manning the time corridor. “Retrieving now!” The time corridor brought back its passenger. In place of Khan, the Author…was a Dalek mutant. “Mutation stable!” reported the Operator.
“Let’s stuff this thing in there, then,” said Nemesis Prime as he picked up the mutant and put it into the new casing. Metaltron then integrated it into the casing’s systems. The small gateway on its dome then opened a rift.
“…Integration…complete…” croaked the new Dalek. Like a normal Dalek, the speech indicators flashed on every syllable.
“Seal your casing,” ordered Metaltron.
“I…obey.” The casing then closed on the Dalek mutant. The eyestalk then glowed purple.
“Report systems status!” barked the Dalek Supreme.
“All systems…fully operational!” reported the Rift Controller. “…Onboard Gateway Computer: activated! …I see you!”
“Quotation identified!” called the Dalek Supreme. “Sauron! Universe M-1-D-D-L-3-3-4-R-T-H! Late Third Age!”
“Victory is assured!” cheered Metaltron.