Inside Voices

Three years after Gunner defeated the Dark Order, in the year 2018, Gunner has continued his work. He goes to the Mansfield Jail with Rio Durant, where he tests out his Damascus Gun on an inmate. The inmate sees him inside his Starfighter, which makes Gunner happy. He then gets a call from Pietro to return home, Upon returning to base, Pietro chastises him for his recklessness, and cruelty to an inmate. They argue, but Gunner cuts him off by saying he needs sleep. Pietro tries to get him to talk about his friends, but Gunner turns the door to bubbles, giving him a headache. He says to have the droids replace the door, and leaves. Pietro tells him that the fight he's waiting for isn't coming, leading Gunner to remember his final battle with the Dark Order. He shakes it off and leaves.

The next morning, Gunner is on his way to school when he realizes he left his blaster at home and uses his powers to make another one. His headache increases, causing his friend Ethan to ask if he's alright. That day, he is running on the track when he sees a stormtrooper looking at him, but he blinks, only to find it gone. When he arrives home, he uses his comm to tell his team to send his double to cover for him. He goes to train with Mace Windu, who he saved from his fall at the hands of Palpatine. Mace tells him that he is done training with him after this, as Gunner has more important things to be doing with his life. Mid-duel, Gunner turns the mat to sand to give himself the advantage. As Mace chastises him, he feels another headache and blacks out. When he comes to, Mace is dead.

Gunner calls in Pietro, who runs through the base, but finds no intruders. Gunner realizes the marks are from a lightsaber, leading him to check the recordings. However, they were erased. As they debate who did it, 264 comes to the two and shows them a pile of dust, which he clarifies is an Imperial Sentry Droid, which had been reprogrammed by him. Suddenly, after a minute of silence, Pietro runs Gunner to the prison and locks him in. After demanding an explanation, Pietro says Gunner killed Mace.

Gunner argues this point, but Pietro lays out the evidence but admits that Gunner was an unwilling participant. He suggests a mind trick, but Gunner says nobody but himself and Mace could do that. Gunner wants to talk to Voldemort and proceeds to jimmy the lock to free himself. They talk to Voldemort, who denies involvement, but knew this would happen. He says Ren had sensed his inner conflict. Gunner is shaken, as he is not in complete control of himself. Luke, still a ghost arrives, and Gunner fills him in with Pietro asking why he didn't intervene. Luke explains that he was exploring the Harry Potter universe, before sensing a disturbance in the force. Gunner tells him to go back, and recruit Dumbledore, the Trio, Draco (who is a capable wizard who Gunner plans to help be a better person), and, much to his reluctance, Snape. Pietro argues, but Gunner explains that he is good with "mind-related stuff". He tells Luke that he can't give him a Memory Booster to help them remember him, but Luke clarifies that Dumbledore, who Luke has explained everything to, will do what needs to be done. Luke departs, and Gunner tells Pietro it's time for some reunions.

Gunner and Pietro first go to the Star Wars universe, where they help the Resistance take down a First Order base. They bring Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, the Millennium Falcon, and BB-8 with them. They then go to the world of Ever After High. Upon arrival, Pietro asks why they're recruiting teenage girls, and Gunner explains powers and dragons are helpful. They bring in Raven Queen, Maddie Hatter (who insists on accompanying Raven), Apple White(who insists on accompanying Raven), Briar Beauty (who insists on accompanying Apple), Cerise Hood, and the Charmings, as well as a fleet of dragons.

After traveling to many universes and recruiting many people, Gunner and Pietro arrive in Central City, where they recruit Team Flash and Supergirl (who Gunner is reluctant to bring, as he has not "watched her show) and tells Joe and Iris to stay. He then tells Pietro that this last one will have to be just him. Gunner goes to the Marvel Universe and immediately goes back to 2018 before Thanos attacks Thor's ship. He recruits all the Avengers, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and the version of Coulson's team in Season 4. He also heads to ASOUE, Star Trek, Percy Jackson (where he refuses Nico's help), and a few others. As he's recruiting Megamind, He gets a message from 264 to get back to base immediately.

When he arrives, everything is chaos. Tony and Cap are arguing again over their fight in Civil War. Pietro is trying to explain that he's real to Wanda, who would not initially take the Memory Booster willingly. Caitlin is bonding with Bruce Banner, with Frost and Hulk both trying to come out. Harry and Snape are arguing about Snape's alternate self, with Dumbledore defending Snape. Nevermore the dragon is freaked out and shooting fire everywhere. Nora is asking Barry what's going on, and Thor is asking why his girlfriend, actually Padme, is on the screen. Cisco is mesmerized by the kyber-powered Arc Reactor that powers the base. Gunner gets everyone to stay calm and explains the situation. When asked why he needed a whole army to stop himself, he says he himself has the power to make an army. Some of the people try to take Gunner down, but Pietro stops them all, saying he now knows something *is* coming, and they'll need him.

About a week later, Gunner has set up Sleep Squads to make he doesn't do anything under the mysterious influence again. Gunner comes to Pietro a week later to say he's going to need a better system (and an MRI) because everyone's solution is to knock him unconscious. He says school is something he hasn't gone to since Mace's death, as he could "snap" at a real person. He misses the camaraderie, but he's glad he doesn't have to deal with the other kids. He goes to Snape to help with his control but hates him too much to listen to him. He has sent his copy, an alternate version of himself without powers, to school and with his family. He still goes to church himself, because he feels guilty for what he's been doing, and the people there are all friendly faces. Upon returning, he goes to his lab and plays Harley's music, which makes him sad, but he does it as a tribute. Gunner is working on the Deus Ex Machina machine, which he believes is the FORM machine given to him in the future. He doesn't remember starting it, or the blueprints accompanying it, but he considers it his usual forgetfulness. However, he uses his powers to fix a tool, and blacks out again. When he comes to, he realizes that the machine is missing. He then realizes that the thing controlling him is Leah, the AI inside the FORM machine. Just then, the alarm sounds and the base shakes.

Gunner runs upstairs and tries to ask what is going on. However, he gets no replies. As he runs to the Barracks Level, the lights go out, except red emergency lights. Carol of the Bells (Mannheim Steamroller) starts playing slowly, which creeps Gunner out. Suddenly, an army of Sentry Droids, with Orange lights, attack him. He, as well as Snape, Kara, Ant-Man, Loki, Finn, and Nora, fend them off, and 264 deactivates them. Leah herself arrives, in a body, wielding an Inquisitor Lightsaber. When Nora asks who she is, Leah responds by creating electricity, which she sends at Finn, killing him. Gunner tells Nora and Scott to go fix the power, and they rush off. She explains to Gunner that his blackouts were her taking over, as he just guessed. At first, she tested the ropes of her abilities but soon realized that Gunner using his powers increasingly woke her up. She says that the machine he'd been building was for her sentient, fleshly body. She is the god and the machine, the real Deus Ex Machina. Gunner asks how an AI can have a body, but Leah says Vision is an AI in a body, so she's a better version of him. She says that she has all the powers Gunner has and more and that she wants to create the world he is too afraid to, and his use of his power is too small. Gunner says she's 1's and 0's on a screen, to which she replies that all human setbacks are not hers. He summons his saber, and Loki and Kara help him overpower her. She says she will see him soon and leaves.

The next day, while going through supplies, Gunner learns Leah has downloaded all his information over time. He tries to use footage of the final part of the skirmish to learn where she went. However, she had formed Thawne's time sphere and left. Gunner researches forms and methods of time travel to find her. He learns that the turner only allows a fixed timeline: meaning she can't change anything. He figures she knows that, which confuses him, as she's limiting her capabilities. He theorizes that she'll be going to historical events that are unsolved. He tells the team to make a satellite to scan for her and send it to the year 0, and they'll scan for her throughout time. He also begins working on a way to capture her, and perhaps study her.

The team in charge of the weakness is out of ideas, so Gunner needs someone who has "out there" ideas. Luke tells him to bring in his sister, Suzi. He protests, saying she can't solve this and she can't keep a secret, recalling how she told on him to his crush in 2014. Pietro points out that Gunner holds petty grudges, and Gunner tells Luke about all his friends leaving him earlier this year. Luke tells him he needs to go and be there for others, not just himself. Gunner reluctantly goes to Suzi, uses the Damascus Gun on her, and informs her of his situation. After seeing the base and meeting many heroes, the siblings argue about their relationship, as well as Gunner's double life. After nearly being kicked out of the base, Suzi reminds Gunner of AIDA, who became a human, and couldn't deal with all her feelings, and that Leah may not be able to control herself if pressured. Gunner says that is a long-term solution, but they have to get to her first. Suzi says the satellite is a start, but that Leah is still partly machine, and if they can pick her out in a crowd, they can take her. Gunner mentions scans of Leah's brain taken in her initial attack, which showed two brainwaves, and Suzi says that she may have a coded brain and a physical brain, and to figure out how to shut the coded brain down. Gunner, surprised, tells her that could work.

A week later, the satellite is finished. Flash runs fast enough to time-travel, and grabs onto the satellite, sending them both back. Immediately, they get a notice that they've found her in the year 1589. Gunner is excited as he actually knows why, the Roanoke Colony, which has always fascinated him. He still needs a plan to defeat her, and he needs a device. A USB sword is made for him, and he goes to 1589 with Barry, Vision, Annabeth Chase, and Ginny Weasley. When they arrive, Gunner goes to meet the colonists and uses the Damascus Gunto make them all see the characters. Leah arrives and realizes that she's been tracked. She tries to kill the colonists and Gunner's team, but Gunner saves them all by breaching them to the present. Leah tries to send the satellite down on them, but Gunner catches it with the Force, but Leah destroys it. Barry speeds them onto a nearby ship and runs to the present to check on settlers. Vision tries to reason with Leah, but she attacks him after he compares her to Ultron. She says she knows how to fix a world of pain, and tries to destroy Vision's body. Ginny and Gunner both attack her simultaneously, as Barry is with the settlers, and Annabeth is out of commission. Leah and Gunner have a sword fight, and Ginny repairs Vision, who forces Leah to flee.

Gunner returns to base and is defeated. With the satellite down, he can't find her. However, Barry shows him a part of her suit that was damaged in the fight. They have Cisco vibe it, and Gunner sees Leah in Wembley Stadium, 1992. Upon researching, Gunner learns that was where *Enter Sandman* was first performed live. He recalls his last conversation with Harley, the morning of her apparent death. They discussed rock music, with Gunner saying he likes AC/DC, and Harley saying she sometimes fell asleep to Enter Sandman because Ethan was into Rock music. Gunner realizes Harley and Leah merged in the explosion, and she's trapped in her mind. The two brainwaves were Leah's and Harley's. Gunner also realizes that she sent Leah, subconsciously, to 1589, as she knew Gunner had learned that story. She sent Leah again to 1992, to give the team an advantage. Gunner says to prepare to infiltrate a Metallica concert.

Gunner goes over the plan with the team. He will knock out the lead singer and take his place via Polyjuice. Guards for him will be watching for Leah. Then, with the guitar built as a replica of the lead's guitar. He will sing Enter Sandman with the band. It will knock Leah out, and they will take her. However, when they arrive, they find Darth Vader and his stormtroopers, Magneto, Frank Sanchez (Bond villain with sharks), Predator, and T-1000 waiting. Tony points out that all these movies came out before 1992, and Leah must need a security detail. Everything else goes fine, and they knock out Leah, with no villain interference.

When they arrive at the base, Gunner has extra security put up around the base. They cuff Leah (after she smacks Falcon, turning him into a pigeon), and put her in a meta-cell. Gunner and Pietro go to interrogate her, but she is not responsive. They send in Wanda (who tries to break her physically and mentally), Natasha (who tries to get her to slip up), Jake Peralta (who tries to put pieces together), H.R. Wells (who lays out the evidence, and what's going to happen to her), Obi-Wan (who tells her that no one she's working with will be loyal to her in the long run), Snape (who tries to enter her mind), and Klaus Baudelaire (who is the last resort). Throughout this, they learn Leah is not planning on staying, and her forces are bigger than they think. Gunner says they need a big blow, to get her to crack enough to break through to her. Gunner remembers Suzi telling him to appeal to Leah's emotions. He runs into the cell and throws Leah into a wall. He tells her that she's locked up, guarded by countless powerful heroes, and she has b-list villains at best. He says he knows why she picked her times, revealing Harley inside of her. He tells her about the methods he's used to track her, and how he'll always have more. He says that he has a family to protect, and a Christmas to get to. He says he's more desperate than her. He says he's had friends to help him, and she doesn't. She finally counters that he doesn't, either. She thanks him for the opening, and says it's her turn.

She tells him the team is not loyal to him. She says she knew about Harley after Croatoan, and she let herself be tracked. She is one brain, not two. She's both machine and human, having taken the best of both. She destroyed her Time-turner and created branched timelines by taking villains with her. She says she figured using the Metallica concert as her refuge was a trap, but she has contingencies. She tells him about other villains she has at her disposal. She says that if she is killed or destroyed, the stability of space, time, and reality will crumble, creating tears in reality. Gunner's family, as well as the rest of the world, will be thrust into a new world, created by a boy who played hero. She says that she let herself be captured because she wanted to be inside the heart of his team, to burn it inside out. Gunner exits, and tells his droid team to have passwords reset, doors locked, weapons shut down, shields up, and exits ready. He says to suit up, as a fight is coming. He goes to the house and tells Suzi about recent events. She's glad her plans worked but worried about what will happen to her, and the world. Gunner says that no matter what happens to him and the team, his world won't get a scratch. He says he won't be gone long, and sends in his duplicate. He tells Suzi that if things go south, she is to open her present under her bed, which is programmed to only open if Gunner's "signal" is gone. As he's entering the base, he's summoned by Leah. She says she has one crucial bit of information for him: any destruction of fictional people and things give her power. She says she planned on waiting longer, but he was right, she has already lost. She pulls off the cuffs, explaining that she depowered them when she smacked Falcon. She ties Gunner to the wall, creates a giant sling portal above the base, and teleports the base.

Gunner uses 264 to realize that they have landed inside a volcano. Leah says the base will flood in 5 minutes, and he can't stop it. He laughs at her, saying she's been human too long and tells her he has portals too, and she'd die with him. He uses the force to tell Cisco to breach them away, and they are teleported to Antarctica. Gunner says that's extreme, but he frees himself. He throws her through the ceiling, and into the snow, She laughs, saying Suzi would say "the cold never bothered me anyway." Gunner realizes that she meant to distract him. His family is in danger. Gunner creates a giant wave to help the base, which puts out the fire but also short-circuits the base. Leah waves and breaches away. Gunner runs to the base and fixes the comms with his powers. He says to the base that an army is attacking his home. If anyone wants to help, they can. Anyone wanting to stay and help find survivors can and should. If anyone wants to go home, he says they know how, and admits he hopes it hurts them. He creates a sling ring and goes home.

Gunner arrives to find 3 Star Destroyers in the sky. An army of T-1000's, mutants, a Predator, Thanos, and the Black Order, and Zoom. Leah says she was right, and Gunner says he will still bring her down with him. He ignites his lightsaber and charges. He cuts through the Black Order and some mutants. The T-1000's attack, but he turns the nearest one into a giant aquarium, and the others fall in. Magneto then takes his lightsaber (formerly Mace's) and destroys it. Leah credits him with his effort but says it's over. The T-1000's try to crawl out of the aquarium, but a nearby Thor tells Gunner he forgot electricity, as he shoots lightning into the water, destroying the army. Gunner turns around to see The Avengers, Luke, the Golden Trio, Snape, Team Flash, Kara, and the Seven Half-Bloods. Gunner thanks Pietro, who meets him at the front. The Army charges. Gunner says over comms not to destroy Leah, as he still hopes to get Harley out. Gunner says she needs a distraction, so he uses the Damascus Gunon his sheep, who randomly attack people. Wizards place protection spells on them, as he can't justify sheep dropping dead. Then, the Star Destroyers rain fire on the base, killing both sides. Gunner tells Cisco to breach him on top of one.

Gunner lands on top and concentrates. Troopers in Iron Man suits attack, but various flying heroes arrive to defend him. Gunner focuses hard, and after a while, the destroyer turns into a Seismic Charge, which Gunner throws at the middle Destroyer as he falls. Frank Zhang the dragon catches him as the charge hits, destroying the ship, and Gunner throws the rubble at the third ship, but it still fires. Zhang throws Gunner at the debris, and Gunner turns a big piece into a Radio Tower, which Gunner climbs onto. He calls on Strange, who teleports the tower, and it flies through the bridge of the ship. Gunner tells Tony to disable it, and he jumps down toward Leah. He catches himself a few feet short of the ground and throws a piece of debris at her. She says nothing, but points at his front yard, where the Sicilian Mafia is marching toward his house. Leah explains she used the Damascus Gunon them, and Sanchez leads them, and they're attacking his family. Desperate to save his family, Gunner meets them in his yard, activates a cone of silence, and engages them. He defeats them all, and Thor uses the Bifrost to send them to New York, but Gunner captures Sanchez. He sees Suzi through the window and nods at her.

Gunner rushes toward Leah again and is met with a combination of multiple elemental attacks. He deflects them all on her and turns a fallen stormtrooper's gun into Ezra Bridger's lightsaber, which he ignites. Leah ignites her saber and the two duel. They fight for a while, but Gunner is unable to harm her much, as he could hurt his friend. Leah then throws his saber at Thanos, killing him. He takes and harnesses the gauntlet, and attacks Gunner. He hears Strange's voice in his head, telling him how to Astral Project someone. He creates a Sling Ring, and astral projects Harley out of Leah. Gunner then makes Harley a body, which Strange puts her in. Leah says Gunner still can't risk the collapse of space and time. Tony tells him over comms that he's got the ship mostly under control, but it's falling toward them. Gunner orders his team to evacuate to their base, where they can find ships. Pietro and Harley both try to stay, but Gunner says he has to do this alone. Leah says that with this battle, she has enough energy to kill them both. Harley says that there has to be a solution that doesn't end in death, but both Gunner and Leah tell her there isn't. She tells him not to do this, but he says they're even now, as she did a similar thing in 2016. He force pushes her and Pietro to Cisco, who sends them away. Gunner, after another brief duel, stabs Leah, killing her for good. He feels a shift in the world, and Leah glows orange. As his team thanks him over comms, with promises to fix this and wishes of good luck, Leah explodes, and Gunner is gone.

Later, Suzi opens her box, which was unlocked. Inside, she finds a suit, and her favorite heroes tell her it's her turn to fulfill her brother's legacy. She accepts, and says she'll bring him back.

## Events

* Leah's Campaign:
	+ Duel in Ashford Bunker
	+ Escape from Ashford Bunker
	+ Battle of Roanoke Island
	+ Infiltration into Metallica
	+ Battle of Ashford