The chilly wind swept through the grim manor, ghostly lights strewn across the sky like rolling waves of cloud, or like twinkling stars obscured by dark clouds.
A piercing cry cut through the darkness, and an elegant, long-necked stork took flight into the clouds. It swooped down like a loosed arrow, nimbly folding its wings just before landing, tossing two large boxes in its talons amidst a crowd of spectral skulls.
The sound of the crates smashing open drew the attention of the skulls. One skull, the closest to the scene, wobbled its creaking jawbone, brandishing a sword and swaggering over. It looked at the scattered crate, bewilderment creeping onto its skeletal face.
Suddenly, a green figure burst through the obstructions, shooting out of the ground like a newborn shoot. The skull remained rooted to the spot, dumbfounded.
The next second, a green fist hammered into the skull's nasal cavity. With a howl, the skull collapsed onto its bottom, its sword and shield sent flying.
A chorus of rustling noises echoed as several vibrant green figures shot up into the sky. Instantly, the center of the garden transformed into a verdant painting, cascading like a spilled palette of green paint. Throngs of bright green cabbage warriors charged into the sea of skulls, fists raised in anticipation.
Amid a cacophony of sounds, a brawling cabbage attacked left and right, followed by another performing an uppercut and mid-air kick. Then came a cabbage martial artist who sent twelve skulls into the air. The resulting skeleton remains were so battered that even a dog would refuse them.
Yells of exertion echoed through the garden. Though the skulls maintained the advantage in terms of mobility, the cabbage warriors were no slouches. The hardier, battle-configured cabbages even demonstrated ability to coordinate their movements.
If they found themselves unable to reach their target, they would voluntarily position themselves before an ordinary cabbage. With a swift punch, they'd launch themselves towards their opponent to deliver a flying kick, toppling the skull.
The Marvel squad collectively swallowed, all eyes on the scene. Stark turned to Strange, his expression suggesting a stunned, "What the hell are you guys experiencing?"
Strange himself appeared a tad lost. During his time as a guest lecturer at the DC Magic Academy, he had been constantly busy, dealing with the countless issues that came with the territory in the DC magical realm. He hadn't had the leisure to tour Gotham outside of his professional engagements.
"I bet you have many brave warriors, right?" Natasha turned to Pamela, a brow arched in challenge. "After all, if you have to defeat cabbages to earn a salad, humanity should have evolved enough to leap onto the moon already, no?"
Bruce had been engrossed in analyzing the upcoming battle situation on his map, but as Gotham's tourism ambassador, he immediately piped in to refute the slander thrown at his city.
"These vegetables are completely under our control in our world, and besides, not all cabbages..."
"Yes, I've also heard that a section of Gotham has already flown into outer space." Clark quickly nodded, cutting in: "You know, Gothamites. It isn't enough to defeat the cabbages in your salad, you also have to be prepared for the sparrows trying to steal your food. And if you dine by the beach, be wary of the house-sized seagulls swooping in to snatch your fries..."
Stark and Strange exchanged a look of deep respect.
Bruce glared at Clark.
"Let's not exaggerate," Wonder Woman said, ever the realist. "Most of these terrifying stories about Gotham are based on falsehoods...."
Bruce barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief when Diana continued: "However, during my last business trip there, I did help a restaurant deal with a rogue cabbage. And the sparrow monsters and seagull monsters are real as well, but I suppose these are only isolated incidents. Not all animals in Gotham turn into monsters."
"That's right." Pamela snapped back, rolling her eyes. "It was only last summer that the mutant mosquitoes committed over six hundred murders in Gotham."
Bruce rubbed his forehead and retorted, "I'll definitely let Roy know how you're all slandering Gotham's environment. But we've made great improvements already – it's been ten years since we last saw a stray cat bigger than a house."
"Gotham is an incredibly tolerant city. Killer Croc found employment on a construction site, and Man-Bat went to rehearse for an upcoming music festival at a circus."
Stark was about to interject when Strange stopped him, whispering, "Forget about the others. Can you even imagine how he'd feel if he saw three hundred Spider-Men running amuck in New York?"
Stark's mouth fell open. He eventually closed it and said to Strange, "At least our Peter isn't here. If trouble strikes, it will be another Spider-Man causing it. Nick won't blame us for ruining New York's tourism image, will he?"
"Don't even mention Nick," scolded Strange. "Shiller's comment on macroeconomics alone could cause more trouble than a thousand Spider-Men."
Both of them sighed in unison.
In the meantime, Black Panther had tiptoed towards the fountain in the center of the front yard, concealed by the darkness. He glanced around sneakily, relieved that nobody was paying him any attention.
The battlefield was in chaos. The skulls were busy chopping up the savage cabbages for salad. Zombie reinforcements and Tree Men were held back by the sheer number of skulls, so much so, that a pitch-black figure was able to slip unnoticed into the fountain pool.
Shortly after, Black Panther emerged from the water and leaped back to the grand hall. Baring his teeth at the superheroes, a sense of human satisfaction registered on his face.
Soon, the garden seemed like it was genuinely haunted. Skeletons that happened to pass by were occasionally dragged away by vines spreading along the edge of the fountain pool, whooshing off out of sight.
A few of the quicker-responding skeletons barely had time to scramble across the ground with their arms. Their actions attracted the attention of their comrades, resulting in an even larger wave of skeletons, who once again diligently crafted seaweed salad and mashed seaweed.
Now that skeletons were being eliminated, the zombies from behind could finally push their way into the mansion. Unlike their representation in animated films, these zombies were less terrifying. Waving their hands and stumbling forward, they were even kinda cute in their foolishness.
Although the zombies moved much slower than the skeletons, they were tougher, and because their lower limbs were more robust and their center of gravity lower, the cabbages, which were too light, couldn't do much with a punch. The zombies just wobbled slightly.
Even if several cabbage fighters piled up on one another and hit the zombies with their bodies, they could only slow down their pace slightly without causing any real damage.
Zombies also didn't seem very intelligent and didn't have the agile response of the skeletons. They didn't know to head straight for the center and probably didn't even know where their target was; they just blindly moved forward and were therefore somewhat dispersed.
So according to the plan, it was time for the Cloak to take the stage again.
Under a deep blue night sky, a red figure sketched a smooth arc. The Cloak paused in the air for a while as if checking the situation, and then flew towards the side of the entrance.
Once it landed, the Cloak spun into a tornado on the ground, swiftly shaping a square with its body.
A lion, mouth filled with a large bunch of frost wheat, gave a soft roar, leaped high into the air, and upon landing, it wove in and out amongst the zombies. Using its high speed to its advantage, it climbed agilely over to the Cloak's side, tossing the wheat into it.
The moment the frost wheat got activated, the Cloak shivered, freezing almost instantly into a deep blue.
Strange took a step forward and the Cloak defrosted with a stretch of his arms, whooshing back onto his backside.
They repeated the same on the other side of the wall. The ice walls turned the mansion's big entrance into a less than two-meter-wide door, and the not-so-smart zombies just clustered around the entrance.
Pamela took advantage of the moment: "Now! Now's the time! Bomb them!"
Strong Vulture's claws clutched bales of explosive wheat, while Dung Beetle, now almost the same height as a human, pushed piles of earth with its own body. It rolled them into a huge ball, brushing aside all the zombies in its path.
The ball of earth crumbled at the door and turned into a large mound of soil. Vulture threw the wheat on it, with Dung Beetle adjusting their position.
Soon, wheat that had been bending at the waist gradually straightened up. The two Animal Gods quickly retreated from the battlefield, and then they saw golden wheat opening up its spikes. The dense grains on its branches began to rotate rapidly, like a machine-gun magazine.
Countless grains were flung out, causing small-scale explosions the moment they came into contact with anything. A combined explosion of a dozen spikes was equivalent to the power of a hand-grenade.
Bang bang bang!
A mushroom cloud rose directly from the Ghost Mansion's door. Even the zombies which had moved to the front were affected by the blast and flew out. They hit the mansion's wall and dizzyingly dropped down in front of the hall, right before everyone's eyes.
"I don't think the giant seagull and sparrow monster are much of a problem." Stark looked at the pitch-black ground in front of him and exclaimed, "Indeed, human creativity is limitless."
From the very edge, Shiller observed that after the zombies and skeletons were eliminated, they produced sparkling lights from their bodies, all of which were converging in one direction.
Following Shiller's point, everyone turned to look passed the wall at the statue, where they discovered diffused light was condensing in the empty space to construct a statue. From its vague features, it was evidently Walt Disney.
"It appears that as long as we eliminate enough creatures, that statue will give us some sort of reward." Bruce narrowed his eyes, "But I have a feeling it isn't going to be that simple. The Magic Kingdom is just one area of this amusement park."
Natasha covered her eyes, sounding exasperated, "Please don't tell me that each area has a statue, and we must collect all the statue rewards to meet the true Walt Disney."
"I'm afraid that's exactly the case." Diana lightly stroked the cuff on her other wrist, "There're four areas, four statues. Only when all the statues are lit can we gain the clues to move forward."
"So what are we waiting for? Let's deal with the problem here quickly. Rest tonight and set off for Hollywood Park tomorrow."
Stark's battle armor roared to life, Strange's hands were encircled with magic light, and the Animal Gods cried out and roared. As the zombies fell, the towering tree men entered the battlefield from the side.
A huge shadow attacked from behind the crowd. The towering God Tree Broccoli moved towards the battlefield with steady, strong strides.