The Equivalents

16. Back to business.

As soon as F.R.I.D.A.Y. told Bucky that Steve could have visitors, he went in to see him immediately. Steve was his best friend since he was a kid. The closest thing he had left to a family. He knew Steve would pull through and be fine. It was Steve! Of course he would. But Bucky still got nervous anytime something like this happened. He was scared. Scared of being alone again. Like he was with the Soviets.

"Hey, Steve." He said upon entering the room. "Glad you're not dead again. Again."

"You're one to talk." Steve laughed. He regretted it. His lungs burned.

"You alright?" Bucky asked.

"Lungs are on fire. Probably should've expected that though." Steve explained. "I would be just fine not laughing again for a week."

"I don't believe you." Bucky smirked. "You laugh easily." He paused for a moment. "You enjoy it. That's good. It's important to do things you enjoy."

"I enjoy working lungs too." Steve laughed. "Dang it! You were right."

Tony and both Bruces had been monitoring Steve. He was doing good so far. No problems. His heightened immune system was really helping out here. The worse thing he had was sore lungs. Which considering that the worst side effect was death, was pretty dang good.

"At the rate his body is adapting, he should be completely healed within a few days." Bruce W explained. "His healing system is working overdrive though, which means he can't be overwhelming it."

"Alright, so we bench Cap for a little while. He's not gonna be happy, which is why I'll make someone else tell him." Tony joked.

"We need to find the people responsible for this. This Joker guy is a threat to a lot of people." Bruce B said. "Do we have any leads?"

"A few from some people on the streets. Some aren't as reliable as the others, but with the extra people we'll be able to cover all possibilities." Bruce W explained. "Tim is already finding out which of my leads are the strongest."

"While on the subject, what is your relation to the army of kids you brought with you?" Tony asked.

"Dick was my ward. He later became my legal son. Jason and Tim are my adopted sons. Cassandra is my adopted daughter." Bruce W explained.

"That's nice. Most people collect stamps or stuff. Children are cool too." Tony joked.

"And yet, three of them have equivalents." Bruce W comebacked.

"One. Natasha and Barnes both happen to be older then me and you. Two. Peter..." Tony couldn't come up with anything. "Yeah, I got nothing."

"Back to the point." Bruce W batglared. A shiver went down Tony's spine. It freaked him out. "We have five locations. We split up into five teams. Each one will be assigned a different location. Recon only. If necessary, we can question whoever's is there. We don't engage until we have the correct location. Then we all go in and attack."

"Sounds good to me." Tony said. He grabbed a bag of chips and popped some in his mouth. "How long will it take to narrow everything down?"

"Tim works fast. Depending on the scenario, he could be done by the end of the day, or within the hour." Bruce W said.

"Good. F.R.I.D.A.Y.! Tell Clint to tell Steve he's on the bench." Tony exclaimed.

"On it, boss." F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied.

"While we wait on Tim, we should go over who all we are up against." Bruce W. said. "I know some of your world's villains were at the gala. They must be working together."

"Sure. We can give you guys an update and then run a refresher course on psycho clown." Tony nodded. "So I guess we call everybody together and go over everything. After that, I'm gonna call it a night. Monopoly can really take it out of a person."

Both Bruces just stared at Tony.

"What?"

After everyone but Steve had gathered in the lab, Tony put up some slides of the villains.

"Just a recap on not our worlds bad guys." Tony began. A slide of the Joker came up.

"You all should know now the danger that the Joker is. He's unstable. He adapts in bad situations to turn the tables in his favor. Don't underestimate him." Bruce W. began. Then a picture of Scarecrow came up. "Scarecrow. His fear gas will make you see your worst nightmare, the darkest parts about you, your worst fears." Then a picture of Black Mask. "Black Mask is a crime lord. He has several weapons and lackies. He'll always have the numbers in his favor." Then Count Vertigo. "Count Vertigo. His powers leave the effects of vertigo. A severe headache and nausea may not seem like the worst thing, but during a fight with him, you can't have any distractions. He will win if you do."

Tony then put up a picture of Green Goblin. "Kid, this is more of your thing." Peter came up to the screen. "This guy is Norman Osborne. He was like a scientist, but he's crazy. He flies around on a hoverboard and if you see a small blinking ball, run." Peter stepped aside and Tony came back in front.
The next picture to come up was of Zemo. "I'd call Cap up, but since he's not here I'll tell you for him. This is Baron Zemo. Don't let the stupid purple mask fool you. This guy's trouble. He takes after his father, who just so happens to be the reason why Cap went into the ice. For those of you who don't understand, Steve fought in world war 2 and then became a capsicle. Barnes too." Tony waited for the slide to change to Red Skull. "And then of course there's this guy. Also fought in world war 2, just on the wrong side. One hundred percent still a nazi."

"He looks like Black Mask." Tim pointed out. "I mean he's red, but still."

"Didn't you say that Zemo was a Baron?" Oliver asked. "Like he's the last in a line of a rich family? Cause that sounds an awful lot like Vertigo."

"So the villains have equivalents too." Clark stated.

Everyone already put together the fact that Green Goblin was Joker's equivalent. So now that they knew why they were teaming up, they just needed to know where.