That's when we heard several people coming down to the basement.
"Paradox!"
It was TVA executive 'B-15', real name Verity Willis, coming down with armed TVA agents to find Paradox. B-15 saw us and asked where Paradox was.
"What's the situation here? And where's Paradox?"
I stepped forward and said,
"You look like a TVA executive. Did you know Paradox was sending heroes who might interfere to the Void because their universes were dying, and that he installed a Time Ripper to forcibly erase dying universes?"
"We just found out. The TVA no longer erases universes recklessly. This was Paradox acting alone."
"So that's it if it was done alone? Then who compensates the people dragged to the Void without explanation and trapped here for years? And what about the people whose worlds are already gone?"
I pointed at the resistance members behind me.
"You'd better choose your words carefully. The Sacred Timeline and the heroes of the entire multiverse will turn against the TVA."
One by one, the resistance began drawing their weapons. The TVA agents raised their batons. B-15 hurriedly stepped between us, arms spread wide, stopping the clash.
"Okay! I get it. This is entirely on the TVA. Paradox will be severely punished for leading this, and we'll compensate everyone wrongfully trapped in the Void. From now on, we'll monitor things thoroughly so this never happens again."
"You'd better keep your word."
After I finished speaking, everyone lowered their weapons. B-15 pointed at Paradox and instructed the agent next to her.
"Take him."
The agents opened a portal and dragged the beaten, unconscious Paradox away by his arms. Elektra sighed and said,
"That won't bring the dead back."
That's when we heard Deadpool's voice from the stairs leading down to where the Time Ripper was installed. We all turned toward the stairs.
"He is risen!"
"How!?"
Elektra said in shock. Deadpool and Wolverine, his shirt torn apart, were walking toward us confidently. His shirt must have been ripped while short-circuiting the Time Ripper.
"We stopped the Time Ripper."
"And we're fine."
Seeing Wolverine's impressive six-pack, the TVA female employees couldn't look away. Deadpool noticed and picked up a TVA jacket nearby, handing it to Wolverine.
"Stop being an attention whore and cover up those greasy pecs."
Wolverine took the jacket and put it on immediately. Then Laura ran over and hugged Wolverine. He was surprised at first, but patted her back and gently hugged her back.
Elektra asked Deadpool,
"How are you back alive? Paradox said you'd die for sure."
"It would've killed one person for sure. But when two people hold hands, we're invincible."
B-15 looked at Deadpool, mistook him for a variant from another multiverse, and said,
"Send this Deadpool variant back to the Void."
"Wait, what?"
That's when Peter Wisdom, wearing a Deadpool costume, rushed down into the basement.
"No! This guy's native, just like me. This is our Deadpool."
B-15 looked at me, silently asking if it was true.
"That's right. This is the local Deadpool. And he's the Deadpool who cleaned up the mess the TVA made."
"Then who's this person?"
Peter introduced himself.
"I'm Peterpool. Call me Peter. I'd like that."
Peter was wearing Deadpool's suit even though it didn't fit—his stomach looked ready to burst, and his bulge was extremely pronounced. It was unpleasant. Eyesore material. Yet B-15 was giving Peter a sultry look. I truly couldn't understand it, but tastes vary, so... I guess I should respect that?
Anyway, B-15 felt our eyes on her, coughed once, and looked at her Tempad.
Ahem... "There's something huge I need to show you."
Deadpool perked up at those words.
"Chief Kevin Scout used to say that all the time."
B-15 showed the Tempad to everyone. On it was a video of this world's timeline.
"See this? Your universe is regenerating."
Just like B-15 said, the timeline wasn't disappearing anymore—it was extending forward again.
"Whatever you did, you didn't just save your world. You stopped the end of your timeline."
I was glad it worked out. I'd been worried things might go differently from the original because I got involved. This place was connected to the MCU through the multiverse, so I'd been concerned.
"Looks like you'll have a lot of work ahead of you now?"
Hearing that, Deadpool said to Wolverine,
"Guess we'll be working for Marvel until we're 90."
B-15 came over to me and said,
"You shouldn't be here, but we're also responsible for this, so once things here are wrapped up, go back to your original world quickly. TVA agents will be cleaning up here for a while, so find one anytime if you need to talk."
"Got it."
B-15 said to the resistance members behind me as well,
"And you'll all be returned to your original worlds too. We'll try our best to grant any compensation we can."
Once she finished, B-15 left, leaving a few staff behind. Deadpool then said to all of us,
"How about Shawarma, everyone?"
"Sounds good."
We moved to a Shawarma shop and ordered. I got chicken again this time. Thankfully, this place wasn't bad.
So Tony just picked a bad shop.
Deadpool ate Shawarma and said,
"This is the food the Avengers discovered, right? And look, we've got an Avenger here."
"Truth is, we ate it too and couldn't finish it because it tasted bad. But this place is decent."
Wolverine seemed to have worked through some of his past, because he joined the conversation.
"You should've joined the Avengers too."
"Don't worry. The readers want it, so I'll join soon enough."
Johnny ate Shawarma and said,
"I like any food. In the Void I ate nothing but weird stuff. If there was canned food with seasoning, I was lucky. But eating strange roots was impossible."
Elektra heard that and said,
"Yeah, eating was really hard."
After the meal, I used the cash left over from buying vehicles to book a hotel and let everyone rest. Then I exchanged more gold bars for cash and bought a three-story building. Living in New York so long made this easy.
The X-Men helped too. Deadpool wasn't in great shape financially, and Wolverine wasn't even from this world, so he had no money. That's why I prepared the building.
"This is it?"
"Yeah, I arranged it in a hurry. You have a daughter now, so you need a house."
Hearing that, Laura got embarrassed and rushed into the building.
"There's still a lot to fix up, so it'll cost money. But the basics are there."
I split the leftover money in half—half for Laura, half for Wolverine. I also handed over a few gold bars.
"And this is the bike I promised."
I tossed Wolverine the bike key. He caught it and checked the bike covered with a cloth. It was a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy 114.
"Oh! I like it."
"It made me think of you the second I saw it. Just don't drink and ride. The X-Men said they'll help with your identity issues, so be careful with the police for now."
"Got it."
"And tomorrow the resistance is heading home, so come if you want."
"Yeah, you sound like a mom."
"You were as much trouble as Wade."
"That's... fair."
"See you tomorrow, then."
The next day, we saw off the resistance members one by one as they left for their worlds. First was Elektra.
"I'll never forget the time I spent with you guys. Thank you."
Elektra hugged each of us. Laura was especially sad. From what I heard, Elektra had looked after her a lot because they were both women. Next was Johnny.
"When I get home, I want to open an ice cream shop. The ice cream Jin gave me was amazing."
That was such a Johnny thing to say. Johnny shook hands with each of us and left. Next was Blade.
"I guess it's back to war with vampires. Thanks, anyway."
Blade shook hands once each and left for his world.
Gambit's world was gone, so he took cash compensation from the TVA and decided to head to the American South. I gave him the Wrangler as a gift.
"We'll meet again sometime."
With that, everyone was gone, and I got ready to leave too. Deadpool had been dragged to the TVA and missed his birthday, so he wanted to throw a birthday-slash-farewell party for me. We went to Deadpool's house and partied.
The X-Men, Wolverine, Laura, Peter, the taxi driver Dopinder, Deadpool's rent-paying blind roommate Blind Al, and even his ex-girlfriend Vanessa all came and enjoyed the party.
Deadpool kept glancing at Vanessa, timing when to talk to her. Wolverine, annoyed, said to him,
"Talk to her before it's too late."
Hearing that, Deadpool went up to Vanessa and greeted her.
"Hey."
Vanessa smiled at Deadpool and greeted him back.
"Hey. Been busy?"
Deadpool paused for a moment, then said,
"I did it for you. Even if you didn't want me, I worked hard for you."
Vanessa smiled and took Deadpool's hand. I walked over to Deadpool and said,
"Ah! I almost forgot. Birthday present."
I placed my hand on Deadpool's back and used [Formless Shift] to restore his avocado-peel face and body back to normal. Of course, his [Healing Factor] stayed the same. Vanessa was shocked seeing Deadpool's face return to normal.
"Wade, your face..."
"Huh? What about my face?"
Colossus hurriedly handed Deadpool a mirror. Deadpool took it and stared at his face, touching it in disbelief.
"My face... this isn't a dream, right?"
"Happy birthday, Wade."
"Jin, if you could fix it, you should've done it sooner."
"Then it wouldn't be as touching. And I had fun. I'm heading back to my world now."
"Leaving now?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks for everything. I mean it. If it weren't for you, I couldn't have found this happiness again. And thanks for the face."
Wolverine said a word too.
"If you ever need help, say the word. This time it's on the house."
"Got it. See you."
I waved my hand.
'End Play'
[Deadpool: Deadpool & Wolverine world ending.]
[Calculating rewards.]
[Wade Wilson (Deadpool) Affinity Level 7]
[Logan (Wolverine) Affinity Level 5]
[Johnny Storm Affinity Level 5]
[X-23 (Laura) Affinity Level 5]
[Elektra Natchios Affinity Level 4]
[Eric Brooks (Blade) Affinity Level 4]
[Remy LeBeau (Gambit) Affinity Level 4]
[Paradox Affinity Level 2]
[...]
[Deadpool: Deadpool & Wolverine progress reward: 17,315 points acquired.]
[Story can no longer be continued. View the ending?]
"Yes."
Wolverine made money doing carpentry and occasionally worked as a hero with the X-Men to save the world. X-23 (Laura) finally started school with Wolverine's help and made friends.
The resistance members each returned to their worlds and began hero work, and Remy LeBeau (Gambit) cleaned out casinos. The TVA conducted an internal audit over the Paradox incident.
Deadpool and Vanessa rebuilt a good relationship, and Deadpool stole a TVA agent's Tempad, crossed into the Sacred Timeline, and became an Avenger.
"Huh?"