The Fixer slowed down to get his bearings. Where the hell was he? Why were there small towns that all looked like the set from Gunsmoke scattered around?

He noticed a lone rider cantering his horse. That didn't look like a cowboy on that horse! Maybe it was an Indian. He flew closer to get a better look.

Wait! Was that? No it couldn't be! Wasn't he dead? How could he be here?

Kraven the Hunter?

The Fixer flew down to hail Kraven, startling his horse.

Kraven fought to regain control of his animal for a second.

Finally Kraven demanded, "Who are you, tovarisch?"

"Easy Kraven! Sorry about the horse. I'm the Fixer. We met once years ago. I'm glad to see you. I thought I might be going crazy. I'm surprised to find you out here. I thought you were dead."

"The Fixer, the Fixer, ----- Da, I remember you, now. How have you come to be here?"

The Fixer landed and the two compared notes.

Day 31: mid morning; near a replicated Star City, on an alternate Earth, in an alternate Universe.

Jacques Duquesne; alias the Swordsman, was astonished to see that he once again lived.

He looked himself over, and then looked around. He saw the Stilt-Man doing much the same thing he was doing.

He looked some more and saw signs saying "Welcome to Star City".

Wilbur Day; alias the Stilt-Man, also could not believe he was alive. His last memory was getting shot point blank by the Punisher.

He looked over and saw the Swordsman looking as bewildered as he was.

He wasn't sure what to do. He looked around and saw the Star City sign. He'd never heard of any Star City!

He looked back at the Swordsman. They'd met once; when the Swordsman was still a criminal, at the bar with no name.

Wilbur walked over to talk to him.

The Swordsman saw Stilt-Man approaching him and stood back guardedly.

"Hold on Jacques. I only want to talk. I'm supposed to be dead. At least I thought I was. I don't know how I can be alive. The last thing I remember is the Punisher shooting me in the face."

"I thought I was supposed to be dead too, but evidently not. Where the hell is Star City?"

"You've got me. I've never heard of it. Maybe we are dead and this is some kind of strange afterlife."

"Well, let's go take a look."

Stilt-Man considered but thought too long. Just long enough for the Midnight Rambler to slip up behind him and whisk him away, to the Swordsman's amazement.

Kraven and the Fixer had just gotten done explaining to each other what had happened to them during the day, but neither could make heads or tails out of why the area seemed like the old West away from that Star City.

They were considering trying to enter Star City to get some answers when Starfire and Beast Boy caught up with them.

The two Titans ordered the Fixer to surrender.

Kraven and the Fixer stood defiantly.

"Nyet! No vun vill be arrested." The Fixer flew up to fight aerially.

Starfire naturally engaged the Fixer while Beast Boy approached Kraven.

The Swordsman was astonished to see the Stilt-Man abducted before his very eyes. What just happened?

"Halt and identify yourself."

Jacques turned to see some oddly garbed enforcers that seemed to come from Star City challenging him.

Not wanting trouble until he knew more, Jacques threw up his hands to signify he didn't want trouble.

The Checkmate agents frisked him and tried to confiscate his sword. This got them a severe electric shock.

"Heh; sorry, I should have warned you. Anybody that touches that sword besides me is gonna regret it."

"So I see. Come with us please."

Suddenly Quicksilver appeared. "Swordsman?" he inquired with incredulous shock.

The Stilt-Man was nervous and scared. Who are you? Why did you grab me like that?"

"Calm down, I'm taking you to a place where you'll fit in."

"I don't need to be taken to a place like that. Who are you?"

"I'm the Midnight Rambler and it's my task to bring those of your ilk together."

"My ilk? You mean criminals? But I was trying to go straight! I didn't want to be a criminal any more!"

"And look where that got you. Dead at the hands of the Punisher."

"So I did die."

"Yes you did, but now you live again."

"How? How is that possible?"

"Never mind that. There are somethings that aren't meant to be known. Ahh! Here we are."

With that, the Stilt-Man was delivereed to Justin Hammer.

Starfire and the Fixer began fighting in the air. Beast Boy approached Kraven and suggested that Kraven surrender and make things easy on himself.

Kraven scoffed, "You? A mere wisp of a boy? Overcome Kraven the Hunter? It is to laugh."

Smirking, Beast Boy turned into a great green silverback and lunged at Kraven.

To his surprise, Kraven easily evaded his attack. Only Deathstroke had ever done that before. Before Garth knew it, his gorilla form was placed in a submission hold by Kraven.

Aerially, Starfire was faring little better. The Fixer was causing her to see holographic images of him so that Starfire wasn't sure which Fixer was the right one.

When she tried to take one of them out, the Fixer would blast Starfire with an energy blast. Her own blasts were absorbed as energy to feed the Fixer's power supply.

The Fixer was slowly wearing her down.

To escape the submission hold, Beast Boy turned into a Python, but Kraven knew how to defeat pythons as well. Garth shifted to a rhino to break Kraven's hold and then became a bull elephant to intimidate Kraven and back him off.

Kraven had defeated bull elephants with his bare hands before too and put Garth to sleep with a special hold Kraven developed to subdue bull elephants.

Beast Boy was out of the fight.

Starfire was resilient but the Fixer was wearing her down by frustrating her at every turn.

Finally he drove her down close to Kraven and Kraven got a sleeper hold on her and put her out.


They barely had time to gloat over their victory when they were interupted by a dark clad figure.

"Never mind who I am. Wonder Man and the Vision will soon be upon you. Do you care to wait and challenge them or would you prefer to fight on your own terms?"

Kraven was flush with victory and was ready to take on anybody but the Fixer knew better. Wonder Man and the Vision eh? That was interesting.

The Fixer tried to calm Kraven and begged him to flee with this stranger. Kraven eyed the stranger and was tempted to say no, but capitulated.

The Swordsman greeted Quicksilver. "You're alive? How?" Quicksilver asked.

"I - I don't know. I just suddenly found myself outside this city, along with the Stilt-Man who also seemed to have been resurrected."

"Really? The Stilt-Man too? Interesting. Let me get you to the other Avengers. They'll be happy to see you."

Quicksilver whisked the Swordsman to meet with the Scarlet Witch and Tigra, along with Hellcat and the Hulk. He was then introduced to Cyborg, Raven and Hawk and Dove.

The Stilt-Man looked at Justin Hammer and his force of supervillains. He was remembering something else the Midnight Rambler told him before he was left with Hammer. "Stop trying to be the big wheel. You're not cut out for it. Learn to take orders."

So the Stilt-Man agreed to be an underling for Justin Hammer.

The Fixer and Kraven found themselves in a warehouse fronted by a fix it shop. The sign out front said "We fix anything."

It was a hideout Abner Jenkins used in the South Bronx during his days as the Beetle. The Fixer recognized it for what it was.

The Midnight Rambler had deposited them there. There were comfortable living quarters in the back in a loft above the warehouse. The Fixer was sure Abner wouldn't mind.