My new Snippets Thread

[AntonioCC]

The old one had too much clutter from old stuff, so I decided to create a new one. Link to the Old Thread

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2008
Ryu Dojo, Brockton Bay​

The man known as Tatsuma Ryu ended the karate class with a respectful bow.

The kids scattered toward the locker room to shower, change, and gather their things—but one lingered.

"Sophia?" he asked, his English steady, though still touched by a Japanese accent. "Is something wrong?"

Sophia Hess, a dark skinned tween, crossed her arms.

"What isn't wrong? Steven wants to pull me out of your class. Says he doesn't trust you—with Lung around. And Mom is... well."

"I understand," he said, voice even. "The ABB makes life hard for people like me—those trying to live honestly."

Sophia looked away, scowling.

"Why don't you tell Steven to call me?" he added gently. "We can talk. I don't want you to feel unsafe."

"Okay," she said after a pause, and left.

Tatsuma watched her go. The dojo fell silent.

When did I get so soft? Once, he would have taken the fight to ABB thugs without hesitation. Once, he had stood face-to-face with monsters.

But that man—the one known as Ryoma Nagare—had died in Japan. Had died with Musashi, during the last stand against Leviathan.

Brockton Bay had no room for ghosts.

A café on the Boardwalk​

In the end, Steven and Tatsuma agreed to talk face to face in neutral ground.

"I don't appreciate your insinuations," Tatsuma said flatly. "I've never had ties to the ABB."

The other man didn't back down. "You live in their territory…"

"Barely," Tatsuma interrupted. "And I was there before that bastard who calls himself a dragon ever showed his face. And my dojo is well outside the ABB territory."

Steven narrowed his eyes. "Even then, you're a man with a past. We don't know you. You fight well, too well. And Sophia—she's... impressionable."

Tatsuma's expression didn't change, but there was weight behind his next words.

"I teach discipline. Control. Not violence. And I protect my students—every one of them. Even if it means stepping into the fire again."

For a moment, the air between them was tense, brittle.

Steven finally leaned back, arms crossed. "You're not what I expected."

"No one ever is," Tatsuma said, finishing his tea. "But I'm exactly what she needs."

Ryu Dojo. The next lessons​

Classes resumed. Sophia thanked him before one session, more sincere than usual. Things began to feel normal again.

Until the attack.

The news came fast and brutal: Empire 88. Steven and Sophia had been ambushed. Sophia escaped. Steven didn't.

The dojo felt colder when she returned. She didn't cry. She didn't speak much at all.

But Tatsuma noticed immediately—something had changed.

She moved faster. Hit harder. Too hard.

Sophia had always flirted with aggression, but he had helped her rein it in. Now, she was back to square one—worse, even. Her technique was sharper. Her control? Gone.

And worst of all, she had stopped listening.

"Focus, Sophia," he said after correcting her form for the third time.

She didn't even look at him. "I am focused."

"No. You're angry. That is not the same."

She struck the pad again, harder than before. "Maybe anger is what I need now."

Tatsuma's hands tightened around the pads. Not in fear. In sorrow.

I know that path, he thought. It never leads where you think it will.

 

[AntonioCC]

A Café on the Boardwalk — Evening​

"It's been a while, Annette," Tatsuma said softly, taking a seat across from her.

Annette Hebert smiled, tired but kind. "We can use our original names. For old times' sake."

"Michiru…"

She nodded. A flicker of shared history passed between them.

"I have a problem with one of my students," Tatsuma continued. "She's about Taylor's age. Lost her stepfather to the Empire Eighty-Eight. And now… she's lost in her rage."

He looked down at his tea. "I fear she's going to do something reckless. Something irreversible."

"That doesn't sound like the Ryoma Nagare I knew," Annette said, a touch of gentle sarcasm in her voice. "You used to be all fists and fury. Charge in, damn the consequences."

"Maybe I finally grew up." Tatsuma said.

He looked out the window, where neon lights shimmered on the rain-wet boardwalk.

"I was useless in the battle against Leviathan thanks to my recklessness in the battle against the Hiakki, when their bioengineered horrors tore through Kanto, and Musashi had to pay the price. If me, Hayato and Musashi, all three of us, had been available to pilot, things would have been different."

Annette's fingers curled slightly around her mug. The memories came unbidden to her mind, of another life, the hum of power, metal glistening under emergency lighting, and the sheer intensity of her father, Professor Saotome. It was no wonder that she had fled all of that, and ended as a Literature Professor in the States under an assumed name.

"Or maybe not. But that's it, you see yourself in that girl, do you? That rage, that aggressivity you had, she has it now."

"Yes." Tatsuma said, without elaborating.

"She's not the first girl to mistake anger for strength. Medea, Electra, Antigone—they all burned bright. Some brighter than others." Annette said.

"That's what I fear, Michiru." Tatsuma said, "I've seen what happens when that rage finds power. When the world answers back with fire. She won't just hurt others, Michiru. She'll lose herself."

Sophia Hess bedroom. Night. A couple weeks later.​

It was time. She had spent all her money on a crossbow, bolts, and some protection for herself. She held the mask in her hands for a long moment. No more tears. No more waiting. No more fear. Just the hunt.,

Tatsuma would say this was reckless. He'd be right. But this city wasn't made for people who played fair.

Shadow Stalker would start making herself a name tonight.

She went out the window and started to walk toward gang territory. It was time they would feel fear, instead of inflicting it.

It took hours to find something. Movies made it look easy, but in real life, she had to trail an ABB gangster for blocks before he finally led her somewhere worth hitting. A warehouse, she infiltrated through a back window that was open. This deep into the ABB territory, the security was sloppy.

The gangsters were talking in heavily accented English, the lingua franca of the ABB. A shipment of drugs. A perfect way to…

"What is that?" one of the guards said.

"Cape!" another said, producing his weapon.

She fired, missed, and phased through the wall before they could react.l. No use remaining here if the alarm had been given.

She ran away as the bullets started to fly. She didn't stop even as she felt a grazing shot carve a line of fire on the side of her abdomen.

She lost them quickly, thankfully. But she wasn't going to appear at home bleeding.

She slumped by a dumpster, blood slick on her fingers. Not fatal—probably.

But it stung in a way that went deeper than the wound. The gangsters had laughed as they fired. She hadn't made them afraid. Not yet.

The mask felt heavier in her pocket. The dream of justice, of vengeance, had teeth—but they were her own. And they'd bitten back.

She needed somewhere to bandage herself… the Dojo. Tatsuma tended to forget to close the windows of the locker rooms.

Ryu Dojo​

Tatsuma had decided to stay the night at the dojo, cleaning and practicing. Sophia hadn't come last week. Somehow he doubted she was going to come anymore. She has chosen her path, and there was no room in it for her old sensei anymore.

Then suddenly, he heard noise coming from the locker rooms, and he ran towards there, fearing a burglar.

As he turned on the light, he saw her, dressed in black. unmasked. Sophia.

She stood pale under the flickering fluorescents, hunched over the sink, a blood-soaked towel pressed to her side. Tatsuma said nothing at first. Then:

"This is what anger gave you?" He peeled the towel away, gaze level. "It always takes more than it gives, Sophia."

Sophia looked up. "I made them scared."

"And what did it cost you?" Tatsuma replied, voice level, "You think they were scared? You were the one bleeding in the street."

Sophia didn't answer, just grimaced as Tatsuma was disinfecting the wound.

"A grazing shot. It'll hurt like hell, but it's not really serious, let me bandage you." Tatsuma said, his expression clinical, "I have suffered worse."

This called Sophia attention. SHe was dimly aware that sensei had a past, but to hear him talk about it was new.

"What happened?" she asked despite herself.

Tatsuma sighed, and said.

"Not here, not now. Come here tomorrow after class, and we'll talk."

 

[AntonioCC]

Earth 199999. Avengers Compound. Shortly after the Snap. ​

The survivors huddled the center table, barely illuminated by the emergency lights. Cap, Banner, Nat, Rhodey, Rocket, Thor. Their silence, their postures, speaks volumes. They have failed. Thanos has won.

Half of life in the Universe has become dust in the wind… including many friends.

The worst part? Not knowing. What had become of Stark and Spider-Man? Of Nebula? Of the rest of the Guardians?

Suddenly, Rhodey noticed something. A light beeping in a control panel.

"Fury managed to activate something before being snapped, some kind of beacon." he said, "Calling for someone."

"Calling for whom?" Cap asked.

Rhodey fought with the controls until a symbol appeared on the screen, a gold four pointed star over a red and blue background.

"Her." Rocket muttered.

"Who?" Rhodey asked.

"Captain Marvel." Rocket said without looking up.

And for the first time, hope flickered up.

When Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, arrived, she wasn't alone. She apparently had managed to find the Guardian's ship, the Benatar, where Nebula and Tony had been stranded, but they had bad news.

Spider-man and the Guardians had been snapped, too. As they digested the personal tragedies, and tried how to deal with it, they didn't realize that Thanos' snap had reached beyond what he wanted, into the multiverse.

Earth-1 (Arrowverse). Hall of Justice. Shortly after the Crisis.​

One would think that after the Crisis there would be some time to breathe , but suddenly, roughly half of the population of Earth had been turned into dust. The newborn League was having their hands full trying to deal with the fallout.

Despite their personal losses. Iris, Joe, and others, they were there to give their best in this dark hour.

"I think that I located the origin of the energy wave." Cisco said in a video conference from STAR Labs, "It comes from outside our reality."

"How can It be? After the Crisis, I thought that…?" Barry, the Flash, said.

"The multiverse is again under threat, this time because of a Mad Titan interference." A voice said, a voice they knew well.

"Oliver?." Barry said, looking around, but the former Green Arrow, now the Spectre was nowhere to be seen.

"Barry, I can't tell you much. But I can tell you, that the point of origin of this is on Earth-199999." Oliver's disembodied voice said.

"Earth-199999. Got it." Barry said, "Thank you, Oliver."

Silence was the only answer.

Barry sighed, and went to Kara.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I'll put Brainy in contact with Cisco to see if they can devise a way to travel through the multiverse after the Crisis."

Barry looked toward the stars.

Because somewhere out there, a battle had begun.

And this time, it was more than just their world on the line.

Earth-199999. The Garden​

Thanos was considering destroying the Infinity Stones, so that it couldn't be undone, when he received a visit.

"Who are you?"

"I have many names, Thanos of Titan, son of A'lars, brother of Eros." the entity said, "But you can call me Mr. Gray."

"What do you want from me?."

"Oh, just to warn you. Even now, the Avengers move to try to undo your great work, and even with the Stones destroyed they may find a way."

"Then, they'll know my wrath, again." Thanos said, "But why would you warn me, Mr. Gray?"

"Because I agree with your objectives, Thanos. Universal balance must be reached, whatever the cost." Gray said, though Thanos missed the sardonic smirk, and the glow on his eyes, as he said that.

"I can revive my sons, with the Stones, while the Avengers are diminished." Thanos said, "I really hoped my days of war were behind me, but it seems that I have a final battle still in me."

Earth-1 (Arrowverse). Hall of Justice

"We have refurbished the Cosmic Treadmill." Brainy said, "It should work now."

"So, who comes with me?" Flash said

"I'll go with Barry to Earth-199999, the rest of th League will remain behind manning the fort." Kara said.

For a moment it seemed like Superman was going to protest, but he thought it better.

So Barry and Kara started to run on the Treadmill, and soon the effect of the Speed Force was surrounding them, and they disappeared from Earth-1…

…And found themselves on Earth-199999.

"This Earth's falling apart too," Kara said, eyes narrowing as she picked up frantic radio chatter. "The local counterpart of the League seems to be called the Avengers."

Barry looked ahead, toward a broken skyline.

"Then let's find them."

Earth-199999. Avengers Compound​

Tony was still too weak and traumatized to be of any help, so it fell to Bruce to analyze the data they had on the Stones. At least he had left F.R.I.D.A.Y. with them to help them, and it was the AI who warned them of the anomaly that was approaching the Compound.

"What it is?" Cap asked.

F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice rang out, still calm despite the circumstances.

"Unidentified quantum and multiversal energy signatures converging on the perimeter. Two lifeforms. Approaching at high velocity."

The team tensed. Rocket raised a blaster. Rhodey activated his suit. Cap gripped his shield. Only Thor stayed seated, still lost in his grief—but even his fingers curled slightly around Stormbreaker.

A streak of red lightning shot through the sky, cracking like thunder through the haze. A blur of gold and red followed, descending from the heavens.

And then—

Barry Allen and Kara Zor-El stood in the courtyard.

For a moment, no one moved.

"Are we... in the right place?" Barry whispered to Kara.

"You are," Steve Rogers said cautiously, stepping forward. "Who are you?"

Kara looked at Barry, and they nodded in unison.

"My name is Kara Zor-El. You may know me as Supergirl."
"And I'm Barry Allen, the Flash. We come from another universe. Earth-1. We're here because your universe just affected ours."

Rocket looked up. "Oh great, now time-travel and multiverse drama. Just what we needed."

Bruce stepped forward, visibly fascinated despite his haggard appearance. "Wait. You said 'another universe'? You mean the Snap… spread?"

Barry nodded. "Half of our Earth's population vanished. Just like yours. And the energy signature that caused it? We traced it to here."

Kara continued, "And we've already had a… let's call it a 'Crisis.' It broke the multiverse. Rebuilding it took everything. We weren't expecting this."

Bruce rubbed his forehead. "Thanos' Snap was powerful, but if it punched through the multiverse, the ripple effects could be catastrophic."

Carol stepped in from the shadows, her voice sharp. "We need to figure out where he is—before this gets worse."

Barry added, "We were sent by someone… well, something. The Spectre. He said the key lies on this Earth."

At the name, Bruce's brow furrowed. "Spectre?"

Rocket rolled his eyes. "You people and your mysterious mentors…"

Earth-12005 (Fox Marvel Heroes Universe). The X-Mansion ​

"Are you certain?" Charles Xavier asked, his voice low but steady.

"As certain as I can be," replied Hank McCoy—the Beast—adjusting his glasses with a troubled expression. "And I'm not the only one. I consulted Reed Richards at the Baxter Building. He analyzed the energy signature. His conclusion matches mine: this event—this Snap—originated from another universe."

Charles closed his eyes, as if trying to shut out the weight of the loss.

"So many… Scott, Rogue, Jubilee. Children I raised. Friends I fought beside. All gone—in an instant."

"The Fantastic Four suffered as well," Hank continued gently. "Sue. Johnny. Vanished. And from what Reed tells me, Matt Murdock—Daredevil—has lost people close to him."

Charles looked out through the shattered window, past the broken remnants of the school grounds. "A tragedy… and the world is holding by a thread."

"Reed said—and I quote—'This wasn't a natural multiversal fracture. This was a forced puncture. A cosmic intrusion.'" Hank's tone darkened. "But he believes he can trace it back to the source."

Charles' voice steadied. "When he does… the X-Men will stand with him. Whatever universe this came from—we will find it. And we will fight."