#chickenverse

Jax stumbled back, nearly losing his grip on the part. “Sorry, man.”

“It’s okay,” the man across from him smiled easily. “My fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jax replied.

              He now recognized this man to be Finn. Strangely, he felt as if there was something familiar about him. It went beyond recognition of him as the flesh-and-blood version of one of his favorite characters. There was something deeper to it. Jax felt it stirring within him.

“Have we met before?” Finn asked, pointing to him. “You seem familiar.”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Jax chuckled.

“Finn!”

              A young woman with short brown hair walked towards them. Jax immediately recognized her as Rey. Again, the same sensation of familiarity surged through Jax. As she came to a stop beside Finn, the feeling grew even stronger. Something connected the three of them together, but he had no idea how.

“Rose is awake,” Rey told Finn. “Poe’s with her now, but she’s been asking to see you.”

“Got it,” the former stormtrooper nodded. “I was on my way to see her, but I ran into…”

“Jax,” he introduced himself. “I’m with the people with the oversized chicken.”

“The one who saved Han Solo,” Rey smiled warmly at him. “Thank you for that. I can’t imagine what things would be like without him.”

“I wouldn’t try to,” Jax replied. “It’s nice to meet you two. I gotta get this part back to my ship. See ya.”

With that, he started to walk off, but then turned around to walk back to them.

“Sorry, but are you sure we’ve never met before?” Jax asked the pair. “I swear, I feel like I know you two.”

“I’ve got a feeling like that too,” Finn agreed. “But I’ve even seen you before today.”

“You two aren’t the only ones with that feeling,” Rey added. “Even though I’ve never met you, there’s something very familiar about you.”

Jax shrugged. “Maybe I’ve got a doppelganger running around in this universe. Sorry, I just had to ask before I left.”

“It’s fine. Good luck getting back home.”

“May the Force be with you.”

“Thanks. Same to both of you.”

“Wait wait wait,” Felicity held up her hands. “You left the giant chicken in another universe?”

“There were transportation issues,” Ray explained with a weak smile. “We were going to leave, but we ended up helping Leia and the Resistance and-”

“Ray couldn’t shrink the chicken again,” Oliver added, sighing. “There was no way to get Chickenasaurus Rex back on the Waverider. So the Legends suggested that the Resistance could take him to use in battle.”

“That’s kind of sad,” Felicity lamented. “Is Cisco going to be able to create another?”

“I’m not sure if I want to start messing with genetics again,” Cisco shook his head. “That was not the first giant chicken. The others…things didn’t go so well.”

“How bad were they?”

“Most of them ended up losing all their feathers.”

Ray grimaced. “You sure you can’t do anything.”

“I’ll give it one last attempt,” Cisco agreed. “But I’m stopping there. I’ve seen enough of the Jurassic series to know when to call it quits.”

              For months, Jax gave no more thought to the interactions that he’d had with Finn and Rey. As far as he knew, it had just been coincidence. There had been stranger moments he’d gone though as a Legend. That one was near the bottom of the list of weird crap Jax had ever had happen to him.

              Then he wound up on another Earth with Grey after Barry and Iris’s wedding had been invaded by Nazis. Earth-X Snart and his boyfriend had managed to get them to the way home, but between it and them was an army of Nazis. Oliver summoned a poultry army to help provide support in battle, but birds could only stand up so well against bullets. They still needed to get to the handle to power up the breach. However, running to it with the soldiers firing all around was a suicide mission.

The worst part was that he could sense Grey was about to make a break for it.

“Don’t do it,” Jax murmured, wishing they weren’t separated by a walkway so they could fuse into Firestorm.

              However, the old man didn’t hear him. He started to inch out from behind the machine he was hiding behind. Before he could get to far out though, Stein stopped in his path. His eyes were fixed up in the air when his jaw dropped. Jax whipped his head up in the same direction. A similar expression was probably etched on his face.

              Above a group of soldiers was a slowly-forming portal. The Nazis were thankfully oblivious to it, but Sara and Oliver took notice of it too. Moments later, a giant chicken dropped down onto the Earth-X Nazis. There were muffled screams as the bird squashed them beneath its feathered keister. Jax stared at the new sight with shock.

“Chickenasaurus?” he gaped.

Stein looked equally stunned. “What in the-”

Chickenasaurus squawked loudly, drowning out whatever he was about to say. Two large porgs dropped out of the portal as well before it sealed closed. Jax stopped paying attention to the rest of room to stare at the newcomers. Rey dismounted from one of them and Finn from the other. Only then did he notice that there were two people on the back of the big chicken.

“Oh my god,” Jax said. “This isn’t happening.”

“You better believe it,” Leia grinned from where she was perched on Chickenasaurus with Han. “Those two sensed you needed help. So we rounded up the chicken and its offspring and came to help.”

“I can’t believe this,” Stein shook his head. “But we still need to make sure we get home.”

              Suddenly, Chickenasaurus screeched and scampered back onto her feet. She started to charge towards the halves of Firestorm. Jax quickly pulled Grey away from the oncoming fowl so he wouldn’t be run over. Han was clinging to Leia as the bird grabbed a Nazi soldier in its beck and tossed the scum far away. Jax was still staring when Sara, Alex, and Leo came running in with Barry and Oliver in tow. Barry and Terrill weren’t far behind them.

“What is that?” Alex asked, her brows knitting.

“Chickenasaurus?” Sara uttered.

Leo’s eyes were as wide as his doppelganger’s had been when he first laid eyes on the enormous chicken. “I can’t believe I’m seeing this right now.”

              None of them, save for Jax, noticed a group of the Nazi scumbags had gotten over the shock of seeing an enormous chicken. He glanced up in time to see the rifles being aimed at their group, including the newcomers. There was a round of gunfire as something reared up inside of him. Jax felt a power like he’d never known and thrust out his hand.

The bullets stopped in their path.

              Jax stared at the bits of metal staying in midair a few feet from their group. Everyone had turned around and was now noticing what was happening. The Nazis looked puzzled as they ran out of ammunition when all they had shot would not hit their target. Jax’s friends were equally confused by the display before them. Rey and Leia were both regarding him with a peculiar look though.

“Push back.”

              The voice whispered the two words into Jax’s ear, but he had a feeling that no one else could hear them except him. Bringing his hand back slightly, he pushed forward with the power he felt in him. The bullets hurtled back towards the Nazis, mostly striking the equipment around them. However, there were some rounds that struck them. Confused, Jax lowered his hand.

Everyone was silent until Sara cleared her throat.

“So I’m going to be the first to ask it,” she said. “What the hell was that?”

“And how long have you been able to do that?” Stein asked.

Jax shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“I do,” Leia said, smiling.

“How about we get home first?” Alex suggested. “I don’t want to stay on this Earth a second longer. No offense.”

“None taken,” Leo said.

“We need to get going while we have the chance,” Terrill agreed. “So let’s do this. And bring the chicken and these…”

“Porgs,” Finn answered, whistling to summon the one that he had ridden in on.

“Porgs,” Terrill repeated. “Okay then. Let’s move.”

Oliver clucked a few times, and Chickenasaurus followed after him with the porgs as they flipped the switch and walked into the breach.

              In the end, they won the fight against the invaders from Earth-X. Leonard had been somewhat stunned to meet his doppelganger, as had Mick. Barry and Iris got married in the park with all of their family and super-friends watching, along with some visitors from alternate worlds and enormous fowl. Everything was happy and good, despite the lingering questions about Jax’s newly-discovered ability. Fortunately, Leia had a part of the answer.

“You have the Force,” she said to him when he talked to her about it at the hastily put together reception for Barry and Iris. “I sensed it in you the last time we met. I suspect Rey and Finn did too. It was buried, but it was there.”

“I know Rey has the Force, but I didn’t know Finn had it too,” Jax replied, glancing over at them and feeling that same strange connection again.

Leia followed his gaze. “He has it. He just doesn’t know it yet. It’s buried for him too, but soon I think he’ll figure it out.”

“So I have the Force?” Jax grinned. “That’s kinda cool. Ray’s going to be jealous of me.”

“The tall one who shrinks?” Leia asked, getting a nod from Jax. “He did seem excitable about meeting me.”

“Can’t say I blame him. You’re a legend, after all.”

“Glad to hear someone holds me in high regard.”

Jax looked back to Finn and Rey again. “So how come I feel something connecting me to them? I know you have the Force, but I don’t feel that same kind of connection.”

Leia thought about it for a minute. “I don’t know for certain. That’s something you might have to find out on your own as you learn more about the power inside you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find my other half.”

“Thank you,” Jax told her as she left him to make her way towards Han.

              He thought about going over to Rey and Finn to talk to them about the connection some more, but then he spotted Stein finishing up a chat with Barry and Iris. As the couple walked away, Jax took his chance at the opening. He navigated around Alex, Kara, and both versions of Leonard Snart to make his way over to the older man. It was time to finally say goodbye.

“Grey,” Jax said, drawing the older man’s attention to him.

Stein looked over at him. “Jefferson. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Jax nodded. “I was just talking with Leia about what happened back on Earth Nazi.”

“Ah yes. It appears I owe my life to the enormous chicken, and also to you.”

“About that,” Jax swallowed. “You should take the serum and neutralize the matrix.”

Stein frowned. “Are you sure? Earlier you weren’t sure-”

“That was different,” Jax cut him off. “That was before I discovered I have this power inside me. It’s always been there, and I never knew until now. I don’t need to become Spider-Man with that other formula. You can retire, and I can stay on the Waverider and still be helpful to the team.”

For a long moment, Stein was silent.

“Gray, I’m gonna be fine. Just make sure you don’t leave me out of the stories when you tell them to Ronnie.”

The other half of Firestorm smiled. “With everything you’ve done for me, there’s no way you could be left out.”

“Great,” Jax shuffled a little. “I’ll miss you.”

“Me too,” Stein agreed. “But you are welcome to visit me any time. After all, you are part of my family.”

“You believe this is going to tell us why we have a connection to each other?” Rey asked as Jax lead her and Finn down the hall so the Waverider.

“Hopefully,” Jax brought them into the bridge. “Gideon has data from the timeline of this universe and yours since we visited it too. Maybe there’s something she can find that we can’t.”

Finn took his eyes away from the study to look back at Jax. “I hope so. It’s beyond just you and Rey having the Force.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, not telling Finn he had the Force too. Leia hadn’t explicitly said it, but her tone when they had talked about it implied that Finn needed to find it out on his own. “Gideon?”

“Mr. Jackson?” the AI answered. “Happy to see you alive.”

“Glad to be alive,” Jax told her. “Grey told me to pass along a goodbye to you. But right now I need you to tell me if there’s something that I share with Finn and Rey.”

Gideon didn’t say anything for a few moments. “Mr. Jackson, I should caution the three of you about knowing too much of your future.”

“No,” Rey snapped. “We need to know. Tell us.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed. “Whatever it is, we can handle it.”

Jax nodded. “You heard ‘em, Gideon.”

“It’s fortunate I have data from both of your universes,” Gideon said sharply. “But with what I found, Mr. Jackson is your descendent.”

              Jax froze before slowly turning to stare at the other two people on the bridge. Finn was frozen in place, his eyes wide. Rey was bracing herself against the console. The three of them were family. That’s why they all felt connected.

“How?” Finn shook his head. “We’re from different universes, you said so yourself.”

“Over one hundred years after the fall of the First Order, your great-great-grandson will go missing in your universe,” Gideon told him. “He shows up in this universe on a record in the seventeenth century. Mr. Jackson is his direct descendant, and thus yours.”

Rey gazed at Jax. “You’re our descendant.”

“Yeah,” Jax nodded. “A lot of greats-grandson of two heroes.”

“We’re the ancestors of a hero here,” Finn smiled over at Rey. “Wow.”

Rey still looked shaken, so Jax walked over to her. “Are you okay?”

To his surprise, she released her grip on the console and hugged him. It startled Jax at first, but he then returned the action.

“I never thought I’d have family,” she told him. “Now I know for certain I will.”

Jax smiled. “So are you okay if I don’t call you Grandma?”

Rey laughed.

“Ray.”

              Ray turned around on his workbench with the parts of his anti-magic gun resting in front of him. Jax was standing in the entryway of the lab. It was good to have him around on the ship still even after Stein left. Rey and Finn asked if he wanted to come back to their universe with them and learn how to control the Force, but he had declined. Jax was now training on his own to control it and use it whenever he was called upon to.

“Have you got a minute?” Jax asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Ray nodded. “What’s up?”

“Remember when you constructed that lightsaber?”

He did. After all, he had tested it with Mick against Kylo Ren and it worked great. However, he’d given it to the Resistance before they left the Star Wars universe. “What about it?”

Jax took a piece of paper from his pocket and passed it to Ray. “I was wondering if you could do it again.”

Ray looked down at the drawing and grinned. “I can make it work.”

              Mallus landed in Salvation with a roar. The destruction of this town would just be the beginning. Soon it would get larger and larger. His terror would spread until it consumed the whole of this universe. Then he would move onto the next one, and the one after that to slowly convert all of reality to a hellscape for the lesser ones of his kind.

“Yo, Big Ugly!”

Mallus turned around. Standing in the middle of the road was the young man from earlier, the one Legend who had chosen not to wear a totem. In his hand was a small rod.

“You’re going to have to kill us before you destroy the town!” Jefferson Jackson shouted.

Mallus chuckled. “Who are you to stop me?”

Jax grinned and thrust his hand out. Something invisible slammed into Mallus, pushing him back quite a bit. The human then held up the rod. Pressing a finger to the side, a long blade of orange emerged and burned with light.

“Such a puny weapon,” Mallus laughed.

“It’s not puny,” Jax said. “I can take you with it. And it’s not all I have.”

              A clucking began to fill the air. It steadily grew louder and louder. Mallus’s forces began to shout and scream as the noise became even louder. When he finally turned, a wave of chickens was flocking towards him. Mallus roared at them, but they wouldn’t stop.

“Force-called some chickens!” Jax shouted. “A trick from Oliver Queen to distract you.”

Mallus growled and swiped at the chickens as the ground began to rumble. A moment later, the roof of the saloon burst open and something enormous and blue launched out of it. Both time demon and human watched as it fell back down to Earth. Once it did, Mallus regarded the large, fuzzy, and blue creature that was standing beside the mortal as he continued to bat the chickens out of his way. Jax stared at it for a minute before thrusting his hand out towards Mallus again and sending him flying back harder.