Medical Center. Emergency Room Entrance.
Avengers vs. the Women's League!
But let's be real—the Women's League is clearly dominating. 😏
On one side, you've got bride-to-be Brooke, who's got no filter, plus Sex and the City's Carrie, who can talk your ear off, and high-powered lawyer Miranda. Oh, and don't forget Samantha, the elite PR queen whose trash talk is straight-up legendary. Their firepower? Off the charts.
Then there's the Avengers' side.
Aside from maid-of-honor Rachel pitching in and Joey grinning like an idiot while cheering for no reason, it's all on bride-to-be Phoebe to carry the team with her shouting.
"Ant-Man" Mike's just standing next to Phoebe, looking awkward and totally green.
And Ross? He's lurking in the back, practically radiating "I'm just here to fill space and might bolt any second" energy. Total wimp vibes. 😅
But honestly, no one's shocked. This kind of chaos, with Phoebe in the mix, is basically Ross's worst nightmare.
"Enough!"
Adam yells, cutting through the madness. "Do none of you care about money or what?"
"Nope!" x2
Phoebe and Brooke shout in perfect sync.
"Alright then," Adam says, turning to Brooke. "I know Phoebe doesn't care about cash—she's legit fine skipping a fancy wedding. She donated her whole budget to the New York Children's Charity Fund and was just gonna hit up City Hall for a quick 'I do.' What about you?"
Mike hears this and immediately drops his head, avoiding eye contact. His face is burning.
He'd been with Phoebe when she made that donation, and oh man, that scene…
"I don't care about the money either!" Brooke snaps with a smirk. "My fiancé's loaded!"
"Exactly!" Samantha chimes in. "That kind of cash wouldn't even get you a decent band—just some mediocre one, tops!"
"Fine!" Adam grins. "Since you're all so chill about it, why not donate the money to the Children's Charity Fund? No objections, right?"
"Nope, I'm good!"
"Doesn't bother me!"
Phoebe and Brooke lock eyes and shout it out.
Okay, saying they don't care at all is a stretch.
Phoebe did donate her wedding budget to the charity—true story. But then she tried on a veil, felt like a total goddess, and ran back to get the money. She wanted that big, dreamy wedding after all.
Then she regretted it, went back to donate again, changed her mind mid-handover… rinse and repeat. She kept waffling—handing over the cash, snatching it back before they could take it—until the charity staff got so fed up they straight-up refused her donation. 😂
She and Mike scraped together their wedding fund themselves. Mike's a rich kid, sure, but he's not into mooching off his parents. His gig as a pianist is freelance and spotty, so their savings? Not exactly overflowing. Probably less than 50 grand, tops.
Meanwhile, 100 grand? That's tempting as heck.
Only Phoebe could brush it off like that. If this were Monica back in the day, she'd have fought tooth and nail for that 100K to level up her wedding.
In the original timeline, when Monica and Chandler tied the knot, her parents had already blown her wedding fund. It was all on Chandler's savings—which, thanks to his smart money habits, were pretty solid. Monica was thrilled and ready to burn through it all.
Chandler wasn't thrilled at first. Blow years of hard-earned cash on one day? No way—he wanted a future too. But Monica wore him down, and he caved.
Like, fully caved. He even made a budget list to save a little, and she ripped it up and told him to drop dead. 😬
In this timeline, though, Adam's butterfly effect (and his deep pockets) spared Monica that drama.
But now Phoebe's facing the same dilemma.
No way she doesn't care about 100 grand. But with everyone watching, she's not about to admit it and lose face.
Brooke's in the same boat. She might not need the 100K, but an extra 100K for a fancier wedding? That's a no-brainer. Still, she's already said it's not about the money—she can't backtrack now.
A bride-to-be's pride is worth more than 100 grand!
"Alright, since the prize money's settled," Adam says, "can you let go of the dress now? Without the cash on the line, there's no point in this tug-of-war. If you keep going, it's just personal grudges.
Settle that whenever! Wait 'til you're healed up, then duke it out one-on-one. Or, heck, after the weddings, bring your husbands and have a couples' showdown!
But right now? You're both banged up. Drag this out, and those fractures or face bruises won't heal quick. You really wanna walk down the aisle looking like that?"
Phoebe and Brooke glance at each other, hesitating.
Adam catches it and shoots a look at Carrie and Rachel, signaling them to step in and talk some sense into the brides.
"I'll let go," Brooke says, still salty, "but the charity donation's gotta be in my name! I won this thing! I stood in that cabinet for two whole days—otherwise I'm just a clown!"
"No way! It's gotta be my name!" Phoebe fires back, hyped up. "I'm the real winner here!"
"…"
Adam's lip twitches.
Welp, all that convincing? Down the drain.
He gets it now—they both still want that 100K! Whoever's name's on the donation can just go reclaim it later. Sneaky!
As the argument heats up, Adam's eyes narrow. He steps over to Phoebe, checks her dislocated shoulder, and—without warning—snaps it back into place.
"Ow!"
Phoebe yelps, instinctively letting go of the dress.
"She let go! She let go! I win!" Brooke cheers, practically bouncing.
"Noooo!!!"
Phoebe realizes what happened and shrieks louder, glaring at Adam in disbelief.
"Congrats, you won!" Adam says to Brooke, his face turning serious as he checks her over. "But you need surgery—now."
"Huh?" Brooke freezes.
"You've got signs of internal bleeding. We need to check it out ASAP. If it's cranial and severe, you'll need surgery immediately!"
He shoots a look at Phoebe (who's still glaring) and turns to the usually invisible chief resident, Carrie. "Dr. Torres, Phoebe's all yours."
Carrie's an ortho doc—perfect for Phoebe's freshly reset shoulder.
With that, Adam grabs a gurney, ignoring Phoebe's protests, and wheels Brooke into the hospital.
Phoebe's got a mean hand! Brooke's already a mess on the outside, but internal injuries too? If Adam hadn't caught it, a delay could've been fatal.
Phoebe wouldn't have to worry about her stepdad—who stabbed someone in prison right before her wedding and couldn't get bail—anymore. She'd be the one behind bars.
The news hits both Phoebe and Brooke hard.
They had no clue it was that bad. Both are shaken.
And Ross, way in the back, hears this and shivers—like he's a kid again.
Outside St. Mark's Comic Shop, little Ross was busy checking out Wonder Woman's latest skimpy-outfit drama, planning to "help her out" later. Then, out of nowhere, a "buff guy" jumped him, grabbed his ear with a pipe, and barked, "Give me your money, dummy!"
Phoebe did confess to Ross ages ago that she was that "buff guy." But only now, in his mind, do those two figures finally merge.
It's her!
It's her!
So scary! 😱
(End of Chapter)