Maeve had actually joined the Multiverse Defenders much earlier.
While Annie, Hughie, and the others were still returning from the quiz game and having to spar with both the authorities and Vought, Maeve had already made arrangements for the people she cared about, cut ties with her past, and begun embracing a brand-new life.
Compared to her time at Vought—where every move had to be for show and she was constantly under Homelander's threat and cold-blooded intimidation—Maeve was beyond satisfied with the Multiverse Defenders.
That's not to say the Defenders didn't have their own share of issues.
For one thing, the management was rather chaotic. Unlike Vought's rigid hierarchy, here all heroes were treated as equals—no ranking based on public approval, personal ability, or "popularity tiers."
In fact, there was a period when Batman, Iron Man, and a few of the veteran members discussed several times whether they should introduce a tiered ranking system to better manage and assign missions and jurisdictions.
But after several debates—where the number of supporters and opponents were about evenly matched—the idea was shelved.
Heroes like Captain America and Tony, who had witnessed the future of the Avengers' Civil War, instinctively disliked that sort of rigid rule-making and wanted no part of repeating history.
And once the quiz game revealed the grim future of The Boys universe, Vought became a perfect cautionary tale. The example hit home for the Defenders, and no one brought up the idea of "tier systems" or "stricter management" again—at least not openly.
This equality had both pros and cons.
On the plus side, there was no pecking order. Regardless of differences in power, status, or personality, no one was above anyone else, which made the atmosphere remarkably harmonious. It might be a massive organization, but in practice it felt more like an enormous club.
On the downside, the lack of formal rules meant the management could get disorganized.
The heroes came from different worlds, and assigning missions could be a logistical nightmare. Fortunately, most of this grunt work could be handed over to AI systems; otherwise, someone like Bruce—who had a strong need for control—would spend at least a third of his day just figuring out how to delegate missions.
Another quirk: everyone here was essentially a vigilante. Whether fighting crime or saving worlds, it was all voluntary—done for neither fame nor fortune. That meant conventional "performance incentives" like KPIs didn't really apply, and efficiency wasn't always high.
Many heroes also operated in obscurity. They had to be content with anonymity—no one on the street would recognize them, and the outside world might never know what they had accomplished. Agents like Coulson or archers like Hawkeye, for example, could appear on the quiz game's big screen, even have heroic sacrifices remembered for a moment—only to be forgotten again almost immediately.
There were simply too many flashier, stronger, or more controversial heroes to compete for the public's attention.
Within the Multiverse Defenders, unless the quiz game spotlighted you, you'd have no public exposure at all. The celebrity aura vanished entirely.
To Queen Maeve, though, these were all minor details. She was done with rules, KPIs, staged heroics, and hollow fame.
Now she wanted nothing more than to return to her original purpose—to be a real hero.
So, when she received her first mission after joining, she agreed without hesitation. She already knew the team roster and wasn't the least bit surprised to see Annie on it.
The two hit it off immediately, their conversation flowing effortlessly.
Then Wanda gestured sharply. "Found him."
"Alright, ladies," Tony Stark interrupted with a grin. "You'll have plenty of time to catch up later. Right now, it's action time. So listen up for a few ground rules, okay?"
"Wanda will lock onto Billy Butcher's location,"
Tony explained. "Banner will open the dimensional gate. Then we go in, find him, and bring him out. I don't care what kind of world's on the other side—just follow instructions, and don't go wandering off on your own!"
Annie and Maeve both nodded. Banner wasted no time; the portal flared open, and the team linked hands as they stepped through one by one.
In the blink of an eye, they emerged on the other side.
The scene before them was strangely familiar. They stood on a grassy lawn, gazing up at a tall skyscraper in the distance.
Annie's eyes widened. "Vought Tower? We're back?!"
Banner frowned, scanning their surroundings. He shook his head. "No… this isn't your world. To be precise—this is a parallel version of it."
Years of working with interdimensional travel had made Banner something of an expert in the field, with his own methods of identifying the nature of new worlds.
Tony tapped his earpiece. "Good news, people—I love a modern world with strong Wi-Fi. Check your devices. All the intel's been sent to your terminals. Banner's right—this is a textbook parallel universe."
All four of them wore the same standard-issue gear: Stark Industries design, a blend of exoskeleton and nanotech. On the surface, it looked like a simple jacket, but inside it housed an array of advanced tools and could switch into combat mode when needed.
Their communication devices were wrist-mounted, capable of projecting holographic displays and providing limited AI support from Jarvis.
Annie marveled as she scrolled through the interface. "This outfit… this watch… I've never seen anything like it. Honestly, it's way better than my old suit!"
Tony smirked. "Stick around—you'll see plenty more cool toys."
His tech knowledge and capabilities were now far beyond what they were in the original timeline. Even without the so-called "Because I Said So" miracles of comic book science, he had harvested a staggering wealth of technology and resources from countless worlds. If he stayed in the lab, there'd be a new invention almost every day.
After reviewing the data, Annie and Maeve exchanged glances. "There's… another us here?"
Banner shrugged. "That's how parallel worlds work. Honestly, a lot of it defies current scientific laws—but I'd guess quantum entanglement plays a role."
Annie frowned. "If I'm remembering right, this should be around the time Butcher is about to go after Homelander. Can we pinpoint his location?"
Tony nodded. "Coordinates sent. Let's keep it low-profile—how about we just grab a taxi?"
_____
T/N:
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