The team regrouped in a small, abandoned diner on the outskirts of the city. The flickering neon sign outside cast eerie shadows inside, and the smell of stale coffee lingered in the air. Harley sat at one of the cracked vinyl booths, still replaying the strange surge of power he had experienced earlier.
Deadpool leaned against the counter, sipping from a chipped coffee mug he'd found. "So, what's the deal, Sparky?" he asked, gesturing toward Harley with the mug. "You gonna light up like a Christmas tree every time we're in danger? Because if so, I'm gonna start calling you Holiday Harley."
"Harley-Day," Logan muttered from his corner, nursing a beer he'd retrieved from the diner's dusty fridge.
Harley rubbed his temples. "I don't know what's happening to me, okay? One minute I'm fine, and the next, I feel like a human glowstick. It's... freaky."
Doctor Strange sat across from him, resting his hands on the table. His expression was unusually serious, his usual cryptic demeanor giving way to a rare moment of directness. "What you experienced wasn't random, Harley. Something latent within you is beginning to manifest, likely triggered by the stress of the situation."
"Stress?" Harley snorted. "We're hopping through universes, fighting genocidal maniacs, and now I'm apparently some kind of ticking time bomb. Yeah, no stress here at all."
Deadpool raised a hand. "Point of order! If you're a ticking time bomb, can we at least time it to explode when Thanos shows up? Because that would be super dramatic."
Ignoring him, Strange continued. "I've seen similar occurrences in individuals who've been exposed to the multiverse's energy, but yours is... different. It feels untethered, as if it doesn't belong to any specific realm."
"Great," Harley muttered. "So, I'm not just weird—I'm multiverse-weird."
"Welcome to the club, bub," Logan said, taking a swig from his bottle.
Suddenly, the diner's door creaked open, and a young woman poked her head inside. Her eyes were wide with curiosity, but she froze when she saw Doctor Strange. "It's you," she whispered. "The wizard from before..."
Strange stood, his presence immediately commanding. "You've seen me?"
The woman nodded, stepping inside cautiously. "Five years ago, after the snap, you appeared in the city. You warned us to stay strong, to have hope. People remembered you, even when half of us were gone."
Deadpool leaned closer to Harley and whispered loudly, "Classic Strange. Always the dramatic entrances. He's like the Beyoncé of wizards."
"Focus," Strange said sharply, shooting Deadpool a glare before turning back to the woman. "What do you want?"
She hesitated, glancing nervously at Harley and the others. "I saw you all come through that portal earlier. People are talking... they think you might be here to fix things."
Harley's stomach sank. "Fix things? We can barely keep ourselves alive."
"Speak for yourself," Deadpool interjected. "I'm doing fabulous, thank you very much."
The woman continued, ignoring Deadpool. "There's a group of survivors nearby. They've been trying to rebuild, but... strange things have been happening lately. Lights in the sky, people disappearing again. We're scared it's starting all over."
Strange exchanged a look with Logan, who gave a small nod. "We'll investigate," Strange said.
Harley groaned. "Of course we will. Because jumping into unknown danger is exactly what we're good at."
As they prepared to leave, Deadpool sidled up to Harley, slinging an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, cheer up, Glowstick! You're a part of the team now. And if you do explode, at least you'll take the bad guys with you. Very heroic."
"Thanks for the pep talk, Wade," Harley replied dryly.
Deadpool grinned behind his mask. "Anytime, kid. Now, let's go save the day—or at least survive long enough to make a decent sequel."
With that, the group followed the woman into the dark streets, the faint hum of Harley's newfound power still tingling beneath his skin. Whatever lay ahead, it seemed the multiverse wasn't done with them yet.