Doctor C'thulhu covered his head with three tentacles. With his other tentacles, he pulled himself behind the heavy bank counter. Splinters and debris fell onto him as a large wooden desk flew overhead and crashed into the far side of the large room. No sooner had he found cover behind the counter than that counter was also ripped out of the floor and thrown. The entire bank lobby was alive with flying objects (including bullets). Although the doctor knew that he wasn't the intended target of any of these projectiles, he didn't entirely trust the aim of the combatants to not hit him.

Dame Morgan le Fay squatted next to the doctor low on the floor, but she did not show his signs of worry. The sorceress laughed. Doctor C'thulhu tried not to stereotype the woman, but to his ears, that laugh did sound much like cackling. She said, “I like this world! The peasants seem healthy and lively.”

The doctor glanced around him again. It was true that these humans did look very healthy to a strange degree. They had statuesque and muscular physiques, both males and females. Their skintight costumes left little doubt of that. He had not seen humans so chiseled with muscle since the Classic Olympian Form had become fashionable among Trumen of his home Earth, and that was over a century earlier. These humans, however, carried shocking quantities of muscle to the point that their mass was slowing them down in combat. The doctor added, “They do look exceedingly healthy, but I would have rather observed from a safe distance.”

Isis hopped between the two of them. She said, “This planet is a lot of fun. Every time I visit a bank here, a robbery happens.”

Morgan le Fay said, “Robbing hoods! I was wondering why they all wear masks.”

A woman in a domino mask rolled across the floor, pulled a pistol from her garter belt, and fired a shot. The loud .45 caliber weapon hurt Doctor Cthulhu's ears, but the bullet merely bounced off the torso of a massive desk-throwing figure. A man in a black cape and a skull and crossbone symbol on his chest punched a woman with fire for hair. The flaming woman crashed through a pair of glass doors and landed in bushes there – which also caught on fire.

“Huzzah!” cheered Morgan.

The doctor said, “Lady Isis, I should remind you that we are not as resistant to bullets and flames as these native humans appear to be. May we please pull back?”

Isis told him, “Okay Doctor Worry Wart, I'm moving us now.” A shaft of light dropped from the sky, through the shattered ceiling of the bank lobby, and lifted the trio out of the building. Within the blink of an eye, they were pulled far above the battle. Instead of drawing them all of the way into the ship, however, the beam of white light shifted its angle and placed them back onto the ground a few hundred paces from where they started. They found themselves being gently placed onto some grass in a nearby park from where they could observe the fight in comfortable shade.

Isis said, “Here we are. We can still watch the events across the street in relative safety. The biggest danger from here is smoke inhalation – and a slight three percent chance of stray bullets.”

The octopus ran his suckers through the grass. “...and ants. Oh, I know that I must sound like a complainer, but you two are not dragging your naked stomachs across a lawn.”

Morgan lifted her dress slightly and sat on a park bench. She said, “Doctor, no one told you that you must be naked.”

The battle continued in front of them. The flaming woman took off flying into the air and left behind a spreading blaze. Down the street, a giant robot as large as a building lumbered towards the bank. The robot was met by a gout of flame from the woman on fire, but it acted unaffected. Then a gust of ice-cold wind blew through the neighborhood, and in a snow flurry a woman appeared. She wore a blue dress with fur trim and rode on a large flying wolf. At her command, lightning shot across the sky and struck the robot. The robot jerked, shook, and collapsed onto the blacktop road with crash.

“The battle spreads,” observed Morgan.

The doctor agreed, “Agreed, at this rate, the entire city will be a war zone in minutes.”

Isis told them, “That is why we landed nearby. My drones observed several factions moving into this area. A cascading conflict could be set off with a simple crime like a bank robbery. We should be able to observe lots of heroes in the inevitable battle. Then we will pick out the one that suits our purpose best to join us on our adventure.”

Morgan asked, “Which warriors are the heroes?”

Isis told her, “I have to admit, I'm having trouble telling the heroes from the villains myself.”

Doctor C'thulhu said, “They all seem to act without regard to public safety and collateral damage.”

At the other end of the park, a figure in a full body two-color costume threw a boomerang at a shirtless (but masked) man with broad shoulders. The shirtless man threw a tomahawk at the two-tone man.

Isis said, “Well, hero or villain will serve our purposes just as well.”

The trio watched these super-powered combatants and more continue to slug it out for several minutes.

Soon enough, a shadow fell over the park. A robbed figure stood above the tree tops and continued to grow taller with every passing second. Its skin was green, and its face was a fanged demon-like visage. All of the other fighters paused, and alarms blared from their wrist watches. All eyes turned towards the giant.

A masked woman with long red hair drove towards the trio on a motorcycle. She kicked up grass and dirt as she slid her bike to a quick stop near them. She said, “Hey you no-masks! You need to get out of here now. That alarm is a Level Two Crisis Alert.” The woman on the motorcycle seems entirely unconcerned that she was talking to a rabbit and an octopus (and a normal-looking human woman).

Isis asked, “We're from out of town. You're going to have to tell us what that means, Red.”

The masked woman said, “A Level Two Crisis means that large scale destruction is inevitable. Earthquakes and hurricanes and HIM can trigger a level two crisis.” The woman pointed to the giant. “Half the city could get leveled. If you're not a mask, get as far away from the damage as you can or get into a storm cellar.”

Morgan asked, “Dost thou know yonder monster?”

The masked woman sighed before answering, “Yes, I do. My codename is the Black Cat. That monster is called the Claw. He runs a world-wide criminal network among other skullduggery. I've been tracking his spies, and they were behind the bank robbery which just got foiled. I was afraid that if things escalated too much, he might get involved himself, but the boys never listen to me.”

Isis said, “Ooooh the Claw, he sounds bad.”

The Black Cat said, “He is! Not content to rule his own little nation, he's always plotting to take others by force. He knows potent magic, he owns his own army, and he can also change into – well, that. Nearly every mask in the city, both the vigilantes and the criminals, are converging here right now to fight him.”

The two combatants from the park threw their weapons at the gigantic figure with futility. The caped man with the skull and crossbones flew through the air with his fists pointed towards the Claw's face. The Claw, now taller than any building in the city, grabbed the flying man in the air and held him in a green clawed hand. Lightning from the woman on the wolf crashed into the Claw. The villain reeled but remained on his feet. Multiple thunderbolts struck up and down his arm until his grip on the superhero relaxed and the caped man broke free.

The Black Cat turned her attention back to the trio of strangers. She said, “Honestly, we are probably going to lose this fight. That's why you need to get far away – now!” Around them, other non-combatants were following this advice. Civilians were emerging from shops and offices to shelter in storm shelters or simply run away from the battle. The Claw stomped the ground with great force and sent several masked figures up and tumbling through the air.