Chapter 14: War on All Fronts

Across the multiverse, the heroes faced battles they never could have anticipated. Lord Nexus may have been sealed away, but his creations—his dark echoes—had begun their rise. Each team now found themselves locked in combat against terrifying new threats, each more dangerous than the last.

The Astral Plane – Battle Against Voidborn

Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Wong, and Thor stood before Voidborn, a monstrous fusion of energy and darkness. His form constantly shifted, flickering between reality and nothingness. His voice was an unearthly growl.

"You think you've won? Nexus's power lives through me. I am the harbinger of his return."

Doctor Strange conjured golden runes in the air. "If you're a fragment of Nexus, then we'll erase you just like we did him."

Voidborn lashed out with a wave of dark energy, sending the heroes flying backward. Thor slammed Mjolnir into the ground, summoning a surge of lightning that crackled through the Astral Plane. Wong reinforced their defenses with mystical barriers, while Scarlet Witch countered Voidborn's attacks with pure chaos magic.

Scarlet Witch's eyes glowed red. "If you're the harbinger, let's see what happens when we tear you apart!"

She sent a blast of crimson energy straight into Voidborn's chest, causing him to scream in agony. His form flickered violently, but he wasn't finished. He conjured shadowy duplicates of himself, surrounding the heroes in an endless army.

Thor twirled Mjolnir and grinned. "Then let us make sport of this battle."

Lightning, magic, and raw power clashed as the fight for the Astral Plane continued.

The Kree Outpost – Iron Man, Shuri, and Ben 10 vs. Sentinel Prime

Deep underground, the corrupted Kree outpost was alive with energy. Sentinel Prime, the massive mechanical warrior infused with Nexus's power, towered over Iron Man, Shuri, and Ben 10. His glowing red eyes scanned them like an executioner deciding their fate.

"Your resistance is futile. The resurrection of Lord Nexus is inevitable."

Ben 10 slammed his hand onto the Omnitrix, shifting into Diamondhead. "Yeah? Well, I've fought bigger, uglier robots before."

Sentinel Prime's arm transformed into a massive energy cannon, firing a devastating blast. Iron Man barely dodged, his nanotech forming an extra layer of shielding.

"Okay, yeah, that was close," Tony muttered. "Shuri, tell me you've got something."

Shuri, analyzing the Sentinel's energy signature, smirked. "He's running on unstable dark energy. If we can disrupt his core, we can overload him from the inside."

Iron Man nodded. "Alright. Ben, I need you to keep this big guy busy while we work on a shutdown plan."

Ben 10 grinned. "Got it."

He transformed into XLR8, zipping around Sentinel Prime at supersonic speeds, delivering sharp crystal spikes from all directions. The massive machine roared in frustration, swiping at the hero but missing every time.

Meanwhile, Iron Man and Shuri hacked into the outpost's controls.

Shuri's fingers flew across the interface. "Almost there… just a few more seconds!"

Iron Man deployed his EMP charge, aiming directly for Sentinel Prime's exposed circuitry. "Time's up."

He fired the charge, and Sentinel Prime let out a mechanical shriek as his systems overloaded. His massive body twitched violently before collapsing into a heap of sparking debris.

Ben 10 reverted to his human form and let out a relieved breath. "So, uh… does that count as a win?"

Shuri smirked. "For now."

But something on her scanner caught her attention—another energy signature, far worse than Sentinel Prime. And it was still active.

"We're not done yet," she whispered.

Captain America's Team – The Hidden Lieutenants

Captain America, Black Widow, and Winter Soldier had tracked rumors of Nexus's lieutenants to an abandoned Hydra facility. But what they found was far worse.

Inside the facility, they discovered a council of dark warlords, each bearing a fragment of Nexus's power. They were gathering forces, preparing for something huge.

One of them, a masked figure with glowing red eyes, stepped forward.

"You are too late, Avengers," he hissed. "We have seen the future, and it belongs to us."

Cap gritted his teeth. "Yeah? We've rewritten the future before."

The battle erupted.

Winter Soldier's cybernetic arm blocked a dagger strike as he countered with a brutal punch. Black Widow flipped over an enemy, delivering a precise shot to his head. Cap threw his shield, knocking two warlords off their feet before catching it mid-air.

But something wasn't right.

As the heroes fought, the warlords began chanting in unison, their hands glowing with dark energy. The room shook violently as a portal began to open.

"They're summoning something!" Cap shouted.

Before they could stop it, the portal flared open, revealing a monstrous being stepping through—Nexus's chosen heir, the Doombringer.

The battle had just become far deadlier.

Messi and Ronaldo – Defending Earth

While the others fought across dimensions, Messi and Ronaldo, the two superpowered football legends, patrolled Earth alongside Falcon.

The skies over New York City were unusually quiet. Too quiet.

Messi's enhanced Nebula-sense tingled. "Something's coming."

Ronaldo, hanging from a skyscraper with his Spider-Man abilities, nodded. "Yeah, I feel it too."

And then, the sky split open.

Hundreds of shadowy creatures rained down, their monstrous forms spreading chaos across the city. The invasion had begun.

Falcon took to the skies, blasting down enemies with his wings. "Looks like we've got company!"

Messi engaged with swift strikes, his cybernetic limbs tearing through enemies with deadly precision. Ronaldo swung between buildings, webbing creatures before delivering powerful aerial kicks.

But the swarm didn't stop. It only grew.

And then, high above, a new figure appeared—The Dark Herald, Nexus's final messenger.

Ronaldo clenched his fists. "This guy doesn't look friendly."

The Dark Herald raised a hand, and the city trembled.

"This world belongs to Lord Nexus. You cannot stop the inevitable."

Messi and Ronaldo exchanged a glance.

"Yeah?" Messi smirked. "Let's see about that."

And with that, they charged into battle.