DC Heroes in Marvel

Connors' excitement wasn't just about participating in the battle as Dr. Lizard.

It was also because he knew exactly what Batman was planning.

The former was his way of making amends to the city. The latter? A message to the universe—to aliens everywhere—that humanity was not to be underestimated. That Earth was not to be trifled with.

"Give it to me."

As Batman spoke, Dr. Lizard retrieved a special device from the satchel slung over his shoulder.

Most of the people around them looked on in confusion, unsure of what it was.

But the moment the special forces operatives caught sight of it, their eyes widened in recognition.

"Nano warhead!"

Their pupils shrank as they turned toward Batman.

"What are you planning to do?"

Hawkeye clenched his fist, his face mirroring Dr. Lizard's excitement—but with a tinge of shock.

"You're going to drop a nano warhead on them?"

"That's right."

Batman's voice was calm, almost indifferent.

"There's always a price to pay for doing the wrong thing."

He paused, his gaze steely beneath the mask.

"This is the price."

With that, he took the nano warhead, activated his jet boosters, and soared into the sky.

Meanwhile…

On the other side of the battlefield, Tony Stark—still clad in his Iron Man armor—had just broken through the protective force field around the Tesseract using Loki's Mind Scepter.

When the conflicting energies canceled each other out, the lingering influence of Loki's mind control was shattered.

Tony's eyes flickered with confusion for a brief moment as he processed what had happened. Memories rushed back, and a wave of guilt washed over him. 

His face turned pale as he realized the things he'd done while under Loki's control.

Hovering a short distance away, Cyborg observed him in silence.

From across tens of meters, the faintest hint of a smile tugged at Cyborg's mechanical faceplate.

"Looks like you're back to your senses…"

His tone was calm, but to Tony, it dripped with sarcasm.

"That means I don't have to waste time explaining everything to you, Tony."

Cyborg's mechanical eye glinted as he continued:

"I've got more important things to do. You just stay put. Someone will be along shortly to escort you to your trial. Be cooperative."

He leaned in slightly, his voice lowering.

"With your status and power, you'll face public backlash at worst. No one's coming to rescue you."

And with that—

Whoosh!

Cyborg shot into the sky like a streak of light, racing after Batman.

As the space portal continued to shrink, they rendezvoused at the narrowing gateway. Batman passed the nano warhead to Cyborg without a word.

Without hesitation, Cyborg blasted through the portal, crossing into the alien universe just as the gateway snapped shut behind him.

But Cyborg wasn't trapped.

Thanks to his advanced teleportation technology, he could return to Earth from the Chitauri galaxy with ease.

The real reason Cyborg took the mission was simple:

Batman's batman beyond Armor wasn't designed for space combat.

Exposed to the vacuum of space, the armor would freeze rapidly, its systems shutting down. The jet boosters would fail, and without oxygen, Anton's fate would've been sealed.

Cyborg, however, was different.

As a cybernetic organism, he no longer needed to breathe. His biological functions were powered by the Mother Box, eliminating the need for food—or even sleep.

(Though in the original timeline, Cyborg still seemed to eat, probably more for the social experience than necessity. When asked how he handled… well… waste, Cyborg always dodged the question.)

But back to the story.

Just before the space portal closed, the Chitauri soldiers launched a furious counterattack.

Hovering in mid-air, Batman unleashed a barrage of laser blasts, systematically eliminating the remaining Chitauri soldiers from a distance. 

His relentless cover fire bought Cyborg the crucial seconds needed to pass through the shrinking portal, entering the galaxy where the Chitauri originated.

Once Cyborg crossed over, Green Arrow and the others on the lower levels of the Stark Tower reacted swiftly, seizing the opportunity to wipe out the remaining Chitauri forces still scattered across Manhattan.

"What have I done?"

Tony Stark landed heavily on the rooftop of a tall building, his armored suit battered and scorched. Beneath the helmet, his face was a mask of guilt and disbelief.

He couldn't fathom how, under Loki's mind control, he'd become a pawn—nearly dooming the entire planet.

Nearby, Black Widow and Hawkeye, who had also fallen under Loki's influence, stood silently, their expressions grim and haunted by the same sense of shame.

But the person most shaken wasn't Tony.

It was Harry Osborn.

His shock didn't come from the mind control. It came from something—or rather, someone—else entirely.

"Father!"

As his mind cleared, Harry froze mid-air on his Goblin Glider. The sleek helmet retracted seamlessly into his biological armor, revealing a stunned, vulnerable face.

There, standing in front of him, clad in sinister green armor with glowing red eyes—was Norman Osborn, alive.

"You're finally back!"

Harry's voice trembled with emotion. His fists clenched, his whole body shaking—not with fear, but with overwhelming relief and disbelief.

Even after Norman's disappearance, Harry had clawed his way back to power, reclaiming Oscorp with Green Arrow's help. But none of that compared to this moment.

"Son, I'm back!"

Norman's cold, calculating demeanor softened as he saw his son. Without hesitation, he leaped onto his own glider, closing the distance. They embraced tightly in mid-air, the past melting away for just a heartbeat.

"I'm back," Norman whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "And I've got good news—our genetic disease has been cured."

Harry exhaled a shaky breath, his heart finally settling.

"That's… that's incredible news. Thank you, Batman."

With a newfound sense of purpose, Harry wiped the moisture from his eyes, his expression hardening as he glanced at the remaining Chitauri forces below.

"Dad, it's time for us to fight—together."

Norman grinned, the familiar gleam returning to his eyes.

"Let's do it."

Anton fought side by side with his allies.

At this point, Manhattan was no longer divided by factions or teams.

The Justice League, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Special Forces, the Avengers, and even the NYPD had united as one formidable force. Their combined might swept through the city, crushing the last pockets of Chitauri resistance.

But Anton knew this wasn't the end.

In the comics, the Chitauri—known as the Zetaru—were a race of shapeshifters. They'd arrived on Earth as early as the 18th century, infiltrating governments and stirring conflicts. Some theories even suggested they had a hand in major historical events, including the rise of Nazi Germany during World War II.

What made it even stranger was that, in other universes, the Chitauri were known by another name:

The Skrulls.

The events unfolding now were nothing like the stories from the comics. The Chitauri's portrayal in this world was vastly different—almost as if the entire narrative had been rewritten.

And Anton couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning.

The Zetarians and Skrulls no longer have any connection.

The Zetarian army has become a force under Thanos' command, transforming into semi-mechanical, semi-organic soldiers. All combat units are controlled by the core system of their mothership.

In Anton's view, while these soldiers are indeed manipulated by the Zetarian mothership—now sealed off behind the closed space portal—it doesn't mean they lack all autonomy.

They function like mindless drones, conditioned to follow orders without question. Their indifference to life and death is striking. They don't actively seek death, but they don't avoid it either.

Especially on the battlefield, their sense of autonomy is almost non-existent. They operate purely under the directives issued by the commanders aboard the mothership, with little to no independent thought regarding the flow of battle.

Additionally, as cyborgs, their consciousness is directly linked to the mothership's core. Once the mothership is destroyed, they die instantly—regardless of their condition on the battlefield.

This likely explains why, in the original timeline of the Battle of New York, Tony Stark sent the nuclear missile straight into the mothership. 

When it exploded, every Zetarian soldier—along with their bio-warships—collapsed lifelessly. The destruction was immediate and absolute.

….

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