The Fall of Gods: Book I: Chapter II: Act I: Resurgence

[Agadar]

The Fall of Gods 2
Act 1: Resurgence


Tête Blanche, Switzerland, 14 years ago
An icey blizzard raged through the snowy and rocky mountains of the Alps, creating what one could describe as a frozen hell on earth. The noise of the storm was dominant and almost defeaning, though feint sounds which did not belong to the eternal mountains could be heard. They were the sounds of a man, panting, stumbling, running, fleeing. Who was this man and what was he running from? Snow and ice was stuck in his black hair and on his glasses. His white coat, on which the Vatican coat of arms had been patched, had been ripped and cut on several places. The man left behind him a trail of puddles of blood. With his left hand he was covering a severe stomach wound he had suffered only moments prior. The gloves he was wearing carried the seal of the Holy Inquisition. There was no doubt about it: this man was a Roman inquisitor, and not just any: it was the Lord High Inquisitor, one of the supreme commanders of the Roman military, replacing the old commander of the inquisition, cardinal Bardarus Bismarck, who had left this office to assume the position of the Bishop of Rome: the leader of the catholic church and the Roman Federation. This new commander had been a pupil and close friend of Bardarus for many years, having fought alongside him and many others against Omega and his minions six years ago. But those times of brotherhood ceased to be when Bardarus had ordered for the inquisitor's arrest and execution. He had fled Rome and crossed the Italian border, but Bardarus' agents were right behind him, chasing him, hunting him down as if he were a dog. It seemed that today, the hunters would finally get their trophy. "Stop right there!" a deep and booming voice proclaimed from behind the fleeing inquisitor. "Stop struggling! Come with us, and I shall plead with Dacarus to spare your life! Do not be foolish, Max!"

Max Morton looked over his shoulder at the source of the powerful voice. What he saw was the silhouette of a man, or was it? The silhouette was far too big to be that of a normal man. As the silhouette approached Max through the blizzard, two other, cat-like, silhouettes appeared to his left and his right. "Alexander," Max whispered as he grinded his teeth. The silhouettes were now close enough to be identifiable. It was Alexander Theosus, a lion man and close servant of Dacarus, together with his two faithful armored lionesses. His heavy-looking black armor looked similar to what his two companions were wearing: all three armor sets carried the Papal coat of arms as well as the seal of the Crusader Corps. Alexander was wielding a large glaive, of which the blade seemed to be emitting a strange sickly green colored aura. "Will you come with me to see Dacarus?" the lion man asked. Max frowned angrily. "Why, Alexander!? Why have you joined that power-hungry madman in his quest for blood and murder!? Of all people, why you, who has always advocated peace above anything else!?" Max shouted. Alexander's face remained stoic, as he replied: "You know the truth, Max! You know that we have no choice!" Max grinded his teeth and equipped one of his silver-colored handguns with his right hand as his left hand still covered his stomach wound. He aimed the pistol at Alexander. "There's always a choice, damn it!" Max shouted, after which he fired a shot. The lion man held his glaive in front of him and erected some sort of energy shield to block the bullet, however it seemed that the bullet was not heading for him, but for the ground right in front of his feet. Unbeknownst to him, Max had hidden an explosive there moments prior. The bullet struck the explosive, causing it to detonate. The blast pushed Alexander backwards while the falling debris of snow and rocks formed a thick mist between him and Max, who used this oppertunity to run away. "Max!" Alexander shouted through the blizzard, but Max kept on running and running until he had reached the top of Tête Blanche. There he leaned against the wooden cross and looked down on his wound. I need to get this fixed, he thought to himself. The sudden sound of footsteps behind him caught his attention. "Hello, Max," a familiar voice said, but it was not Alexander's.

Max frowned angrily as he realized who it was. It was Ansed Booth, Rome's greatest commander and a former ally of Max. Ansed was one of the superhumans who had fought together with them against Omega and his henchmen. But now, he was a servant of Dacarus and an enemy. "I feel honored!" Max said mockingly, "That Dacarus finds me so big of a threat that he has send the mighty Ansed to slay me!" Ansed remained silent as he slowly unsheathed his sword. Just like Alexander's glaive, Ansed's sword seemed to be emitting a sickly-green colored aura. The winged Roman officer was wearing dark blue armor similar in design to what Alexander was wearing, only instead of the seal of the Crusader Corps, it carried the seal of the Roman armed forces. "Prepare yourself, Lord High Inquisitor," Ansed said as he pointed the tip of his sword at Max. The inquisitor replied nonverbally by aiming his silver-colored handgun at Ansed. "Bring it on, you traitor! Bardarus should never have saved your sorry life!" For several seconds, the two men just stood there in the middle of the blizzard, staring one another down. The tension was rising. Then suddenly, Ansed charged forwards.

Max fired bullet after bullet at Ansed, who used his wings to jump and dodge the bullets left and right, quickly covering the distance between him and Max. When Ansed had reached melee range and Max' pistol made the typical clicking sound of trying to fire an empty pistol, the inquisitor dropped it and went to grab his bayonet. The whole scene happened in slowmotion as Ansed pushed his sword forwards towards Max' heart area and Max swung his bayonet sideways in order to block the incoming attack. A split second later, the battle was over.

The two men stood there motionless, standing so close to one another it almost seemed like they were hugging. Blood was dripping on the ground between their feet. But whose blood was it? Who was victorious? "I'm sorry," Ansed whispered. His sword had penetrated Max' chest, ravaging his heart. The inquisitor's white coat turned red as blood spilled out from the wound. Ansed removed his sword. Max dropped his bayonet. The inquisitor stumbled backwards and dropped down, his back leaning against the great wooden cross behind him. So this is it, huh? he thought. He could feel his soul departing from his body. In his final moment, Max looked up and stared Ansed in his eyes. A grin appeared on the inquisitor's face. "They defeated Omega. They shall also defeat you." These were the last words of Max Morton, Lord High Commander of the Holy Inquisition, former pupil of Pope Bardarus Bismarck, and one of the heroes who had slain Omega. Ansed sheathed his sword and closed his eyes for a few moments. Was he mourning? "Lord Ansed!" a deep voice shouted. It was Alexander Theosus, who had finally caught up with them. "Is he..." Ansed nodded as Alexander looked down upon the dead inquisitor. The lion man was visibly saddened. "Let's return to the Vatican and report to Dacarus," Ansed said. Alexander nodded, after which the two Roman commanders left Max to rest in peace.

[Jedi8246]

New York City, Present Day

A young lad ran through the corners and alleyways, trying to escape. He looked behind him, to see them pursue. He got his second wind, and set off again. The last time I mess with the Blood again, he thought. And yet, he still had their money. They were criminals after all. He ran, until he found brick. Shit. He didn't want to have to fight. He turned around, to see the gang members slowly coming up to him, confident now that they had their prey.

"Well, well. Your luck's up, Lucas. Time to accept your punishment."

The man held out his hand to another gang member. A knife was placed in his hand, which the large black man then brandished. He advanced forward, about to cut Lucas's neck. Or so he thought. Lucas's eyes glowed a blueish color, and his hands sparked. He raised his hand, and blasted the man with a bolt of electricity. The man flew backwards, and the smell of ash filled the air. The three other men shouted, before pulling out their knifes and rushing Lucas. It was an idiotic mistake. Lucas lifted his hand, and an arc of electricity went out, hitting the tips of the knifes. All of the Bloods stopped in their tracks, and began to shake violently. Lucas allowed the stream to flow for several seconds, and then cut it off. The gang members slowly fell over, clothes smoking.

Lucas walked out of their sight, before stumbling to the ground. He was drained. He ran for two miles straight, before using a good deal of power. He needed to recharge. He looked around, trying to find a source. There. He struggled to his feet, walking over to a street lamp. Checking for bystanders, he raised his hand up. After making sure no one was nearby, he drew the power out of the lamp post. A stream of electricity came from the lamp, into his body. After a minute, he ended it. He felt reinvigorated, and small bolts of electricity crawled across his hands. Time to go, before more Bloods show up. He darted off into the more populated parts of the city.

---

High above Lucas, a man was in the window watching. He wore a dark mask, hiding his features. He turned to the other man in the room.

"It is him. Just as Darren suspected."

"Good. Once Dugal is dead, he will be the last of the pure Cain line. We must have him. Only he will be able to wield the sword."

[Earth Sphere Coalition]

Downtown Tokyo, Present Day

Ring, Ring

The cell phone rang throughout the room, waking the mountain of a man named Vladimir. He slowly got up, rubbing his head to waken himself.

“What is it Hiro?! Can't a guy get some sleep?!” he answered, yawning as he spoke.

“You ready for even more limelight? Eh Party boy?” the man on the other line said, his friend and leader of the Greater Japanese Empire, Emperor Hirohito.

“What do you mean Hiro? Wait, that damn reporter leaked out my name didn't she.” he sighed

“Got it in one, she of course didn't mention anything important. Just your name, and that set off a firestorm. You're lucky you have the Black Watchmen as your security.” Hiro said as Vladimir stood up from his bed and open the blinds, overlooking Downtown Tokyo.

“Damn, you owe me you know.” Vlad said, and he received an affirmative.

He couldn't believe the situation he was in right now, his reputation was of a party boy not of a Spec-Ops operative. He shook his head as he remembered the mission he was asked to do for Hiro only the day before.

1 Day Ago

The Pelican 2 flew over the thick forests in Manchurian Province of Mainland Japan, the transporter carried 7 men to what was believed to be a camp for rebels fighting for freedom for the Japanese Empire. The Emperor had personally picked this group of men due to their skills and the need for a quick and clean job. The one oddity was the commander that was placed in charge, not a regular soldier but someone from the private security force “Black Watchmen”. Vladimir Reznov just stood over the them, his massive body looking like it was sculpted from granite in his black armor, a silver and black patch of a tower on his chest marked him as a Merc.

“We are over the drop off point.” the pilot said over the intercom, Vlad just took a deep breath and put on his mask.

“Get ready men, it's time.” was all he said as he strapped on his Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver to his leg and grabbed a MTAR-21 from the gun rack.

“Those damn Jews know how to make guns.” he whispered a quiet praise to the Jews who came to Japan from Europe to escape persecution by Rome.

“Alright! Lets go!” Vlad said as he opened the back and jumped out and deployed this Four-Winged parachute to slow his decent. When his team landed they set off into the dark forest, the team hard pressed to keep up with their commander.

“Shhh, we're here.” Vlad commanded and gave the team a brief moment of respite as they looked over a ledge and saw a group of about 30 men, eating and laughing. The wails of a woman in despair could be heard as a gunshot rang out from inside a tent.

“Sir, what do we do? Do we take them as prisoners if we can?” one of the soldiers asked Vlad.

“If we can. If not then kill them all.” he responded as he readied his rifle and leaped over the ledge, shooting at the first group of men, their blood spraying onto the other men in the group.

“Attack damn it!” he yelled at his group of men and soon the area was alive with gunfire, Vlad ran to a jeep that the rebels used and grabbed it.

“Watch out!” he said as he launched the vehicle into the quickly dwindling group of rebels.

“Ahhhh!” he heard from behind him as a man tried to lop off his head with a machete.

“Oh hell no!” he said as he swayed to the right and grabbed the mans wrist and squeezing, turning his wrist bone to dust. The man yelling in pain as he ripped off the arm of the rebel and striking him in the face. The man was thrown to the ground and tried helplessly to crawl away.

“Don't you fucking dare! We're finishing this!” Vlad said as he kicked the man's stomach, flipping him over onto his back. Looking into his eyes Vlad smirked.

“Bye-bye.” he said as he smashed the man's skull with the sole of his boot. Turning towards the tent where the woman's scream came from earlier he entered it while the team finished up outside. What he found was the leader of the rebels hiding behind a half-naked woman.

“Don't come any closer! I'll kill her!” he said as Vlad pulled out his revolver.

“Do it, I came to kill all you guys. Not save a girl.” he told them as he took aim. The man tightened his grip on the pistol and the woman, while she cried endlessly.

“I promise I'll sho-” he never finished as a thunderous crack ripped the air, and the rebel leader fell silent.

“Bloody idiot talked too much.” he told the girl who fell on the ground. “Get up, we're getting out of here. Who are you anyways?” he asked her as he helped her stand.

“I'm a reporter, my crew and I were kidnapped when we came to do an interview with the rebels. Everyone else is dead but me.” she said and he shook his head.

“Stupid girl, you should have known better.” he snapped at her as the stepped out, five of the rebels remained, they were bound and ready for transport.

“Yeah, we're not taking all of them.” he told his men, who looked at him in confusion.

“Then what will we do?” they asked him

“Easy.” he said as he walked up behind them and shot them in the head one by one until he ran out of bullets. In the end a horrified group of soldiers and a frightened reporter watched as the final man's life was spared by an empty gun barrel.

“You lucked out.” he said as he walked away to call in the Pelican. He took off his mask and the reporter saw who it was and gasped, she may have almost died but she had just gotten her story.

Present Time

“So what now?” he asked his friend.

“We show the world that the praise given to you during our academy days were not just hot air. You're getting a medal. For services to the crown.” Hiro said.

“Alright then, I'll call you later then. I'm gonna go eat.” he said as he hung up and got dressed.

CATALINA POV

Catalina was angry as she read the paper.

“How can they paint him in such a favorable light?! He killed those prisoners in cold blood! He's even getting a medal! Damn that Hiro!” she said as she walked into the soup kitchen. As she readied herself she decided to give the children a treat on that hot afternoon and she went into the back and pulled out a bucket of ice cream and a box of waffle cones.

“Hey Cat! We need more rice!” a call from the front came she she jumped to it and went to get a new pot out to the front.

“Her you go Yue, fresh off the stove.” she said with a groan as she put it up on the counter.

“What's wrong Cat? Long night?” Yue smiled at her and Catalina just smiled

“Maybe, that fundraiser went on longer then I expected.” she said as she remembered the night before.

Night Before

While Vladimir was on the mainland fighting rebels, Catalina was at a fundraiser to help not only raise money for the poor, but also awareness. She knew she could bankroll the whole country but that would deplete her families fortune and it would not raise awareness at all.

“Good evening ladies and gentleman. Welcome to this fundraiser and thank you for attending. As you know, in the twenty years since Japan has been rebuilt, the gap between rich and poor has widened. In a nation that is widely regarded as a World Power, this is a shame. It is our duty as the rich and powerful to look over at our fellow people and help them rise from the depths of poverty and lead them into the light of economic independence and self-sufficiency. Now, please enjoy the night” she finished and an applause followed. She went to talk to the crowd of people and mingle, her black dress clinging to her body.

“A beautiful speech Ms. Reznov.” a voice came from behind, she turned and saw Hirohito.

“Hiro, no wonder security was tighter then normal. Even the Black Watchman were here. I'm gonna kill the coordinator for not telling me” she said as she shook her head and laughed.

“Oh please don't, she didn't know I was coming until an hour ago.” he said as he got closer

“I was curious as to what you were cooking up, I mean everyone has hobbies. I have gardening, Vlad has womanizing.” Catalina snorted, “That's an understatement, the man practically runs a bloody brothel.” Hirohito nodded and agreement.

“Yes, and you have a non-profit organization to run. Here this might help.” he said as he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a check for 5 Million American Dollars.

“Thank you Hiro, that is very gracious.” she thanked him as she accepted the check. For the rest of the night she and the young emperor talked and were seen together, which led to rumors being spread. At the end of the night, Catalina was left alone with Hiro.

“I was wondering, and I hope I'm not being to forward. Would you like to come to the palace my dear?” Hiro asked as he took her hand into his. Catalina blushed and nodded.

Present Time

“That rat bastard knew that last night was his last chance to sleep with me! And it worked!” she told Yue as they were in the back making the ice cream cones for the children.

“My mother raised me to be smarter then that Yue! Damn him and his charm!” she said as she let out a frustrated growl. The anger made her lose control of her powers and she began to freeze the table.

“Catalina! Get a hold of yourself.” Yue said and snapped Catalina out of her anger.

“Maybe you should go home.” Yue said as she finished up.

“I think you're right. I'll see you tomorrow.” Catalina said as she walked out of the kitchen and into the afternoon heat. Just as she was about to enter her hybrid, she heard the tell-tale sign of a high end sports car headed her way.

"Oh dear god, it's Vlad." she said as she turned around and sure enough Vladimir was idling right besides her.

"Get in, Mother wants to have a late lunch." he ordered and she regrettably obeyed.

"This 'lunch' have anything to do with the murders you committed?" she snapped at him.

"I don't know, it might have something to do with you getting into Hiro's pants!" Vladimir laughed as his sister became a bright red and sputtered in indignation.

"Why I never in my-" she began but was cut off.

"Oh shut up, we're late enough as it is." he said as she began speeding down the road towards Amalgamation Corps.

[LoL island]

Near the Headquarters of The Red Hand, Central Germany, 7 hours ago

*7 hours ago*

“Red Streak… I am beginning to like the sound of it” mused David, as he walked around Central German, trying to be un-assuming amongst the dense crowd, though he only has a deep read spandex body suit on. He was trying to get the “headquarters” of The Red Hand, so named though it was only a vacant brick hotel, long sense abandoned by the owners. David remembered stories that The Red Hand drove them and the people living there out, but he didn’t care in the slightest.

The Hotel has been converted over the years into a more or less urban fortress, it looked dead from the outside, but to go in was a different matter entirely. The windows were one way bullet resistant glass, each one of the 9 stores had been re-enforced with concrete, plus the estimated 150 members in the building at the time made it a nightmare for any agency, bound by code at least, to enter.

But David was only interested in the main man, one Lou “Long Arm” Evans, leader of the Red Hand. He was discussing something with a paper pusher when he turned to David.

“David, how nice it is to see you… sit down.” Lou ordered, an order David followed. “As you are very well ware, thanks to the continuous shock and awe campaign and your escapades, The Red Hand has become one of the strongest gangs in this dear nation of Londim, we run the drugs, crocked cops turn their eyes, and day after day more people flood at our gates, looking for protection. Now with this power, whose influence has steadily gained over these 13 years, now going to the farthest reaches of this region… we need more. We must show everyone the glory of The Red Hand. Which is why I am sending you to New York, to steal from the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Bank, one of the largest in the world, to show them that the Red Hand’s reach is never ending. I have charted you a flight out of the nation to land in JFK in 3 hours. This plane leaves in 30 minutes… so go.”

“do you have a change of clothes in the plane o-“ David began to ask, before Lou plugged in “39 minutes…”

He had to say nothing more, David went into speed mode and bolted out of Headquarters, ready to for his date with destiny, if this goes well, perhaps he will run the America branch of the Red Hand, only time will tell.

[Rupudska]

Helsinki, Present Day

Eila Jaakola leaned back in the captain's chair of her private ship as she pulled out of harbor. She, the Gambit, had been the first ship she bought when she reformed her fishing company, twenty years ago. Now, like her owner, the Gambit had retired from fishing as a profession. It had been updated with state-of-the art guidance computers, lightning-fast internet access and HDTV. Turning the ship south, she headed towards the open Baltic Sea. From there, she would sail around Europe and head for Corsica for a vacation.

[The Alice in Wondeland]

Present day Paris


The sun beat down on the small cafe, making it almost painful for anyone who would think to sit outside. It didn't really bother the strange patron, his aviators shielding his eyes, his leather trench coat shielding his body. He raised his cup to his mouth. Parisian coffee is very bitter, why did I order this? Cain thought as he set down the cup. He was about to call the waiter over to ask for his check, when he heard a pleading thought. It was coming from just down an alley.
Stay calm, don't scream, let them take whatever they want.
Oh God protect me.
Cain rose up out of his chair, and began a purposeful stride toward the alley.
"Monsieur Roseblood, your bill!"the waiter called after him.
"Put it on my tab" Cain shouted in reply.
Cain, stop yourself. You can't keep doing this, someone will eventually talk Cain said to himself. But he couldn't stop. Too long had justice been kept from those who sought it. The will of Hell is justice, no more.
As he neared the alley, the scene came into full view. A woman, no older than 20, was surrounded by three large men, each holding a knife. She was emptying her purse of all it's valuables, a wallet, a forgotten watch, and lastly they demanded the diamond ring on her finger.
"I can't! Please anything but that! It's my wedding ring!" she pleaded.
Cain approached, not unnoticed.
"Leave, unless you want to spend the next 3 years as a vegetable." One of the muggers demanded.
Cain smirked. "You keep saying things like that, and people might mistake you for a threat."
At these words, the other two muggers abandoned the woman, who simply cowered in her place.
The first mugger launched himself at Cain... And then staggered back as fighting staff that had literally spun itself into existence collided with his stomach. Determined to do better than his predecessor, another mugger ran at Cain. Cain spun his staff, knocking the knife out of the muggers hand. He then proceeded to strike the the mugger in the chest. Three blood drops fell to the ground. The mugger fell to the ground, possibly dead, possibly unconscious. Cains eyes glowing behind his glasses, he turned to the last mugger, and simply threw the staff at him. In midair the staff manifested into the form of a dagger, finding it's place in mugger's chest. The mugger dropped, surely dead.
Cain turned to the woman
Leave here. She heard echo in her head.

Cain watched as the woman fled the scene.Cain promptly turned around,willed the staff back into him, and returned to the coffee shop to pay his bill.

The Next Evening

"I'll have a danish today, Francis." Cain told the waiter.
He lifted the coffee cup once again to his mouth. Once again he wondered why he bought it. It was the same thing, day in and day out, but he loved it. He smiled, and put on his sunglasses, to watch the sunset.

[Albertasby]

London, England. Present day

*BEEP* The sound of alarms echoed through the house, signalling the start of a new day for the Booth household. Snowflake stretched and sleepily hit the snooze button but up she got and began to get dressed.

On her bedside table stood a picture of her and her husband, Ansed. He was, however, long gone. Although she could understand why he had to go, she would never forgive him for making her raise their child all alone. 'Melody! You better be awake!' she shouted, waking up her teenage daughter. Within moments, the house was alive with the sound of rock music as her daughter awoke to the world.

All was going pretty normally, until all of London's electricity went out. The television stopped dead and the lightbulbs that were turned on exploded and shattered into millions of peices. The lampposts outside their home began to spark and pretty soon, the whole city was producing small, persistent sparks.

'What did you do?'
'Nothing mum, I swear!'
'You need to master your power sweetie. At this rate you'll just short circuit any place you walk into. You know that, right?' Melody blushed and nodded. It was true, she needed to gain more control over her power, but what could she do? She needed help on how to do it. 'Melody, I know it seems hard, but concentrate. Will all your energy into your hands. Focus! Thats all you need, focus!'

All of a sudden, the television whirred into action and the repetitive, dull tone of the newsreader had returned. Snowflake smiled at her daughter and kissed her on the head. 'Come on, school!'

Once Melody had been dropped off at school, Snowflake took a trip to a phonebox, a place where the Vatican wouldn't be able to place her as living there. She dialled the number and waited to be connected. 'This is Snowflake Booth, give me back my husband!' Once she had muttered those words done the phone, she put it down and went on with her day, hoping they'd get the message...

[Zarkenis Ultima]

USNA, New York City - Present Day

Through the busy streets of New York walked a caucasic man, wearing a black suit and a large trench coat, his short black hair completely concealed by a regular hat. The man walked forward, trying to find his destination in the great city he was regrettably stuck in. The sun shone brightly in the clear sky, something he hated. He often wished that the sun would have a remote controller, so that he could change the temperature .

Shrugging off these useless thoughts, the man finally arrived where he was meant to. He looked up, his olive green and his light brown eyes both fixed into a huge sign that stood on the face of a large building.

"Bank" It said. "Finally." He muttered to himself as he entered the building. Inside, the atmosphere was cool, in contrast to the awful temperature that befell the rest of the city. The man stood in line for a good while, until finally, it was his turn to make a transaction. He wished to deposit a certain ammount of cash. The woman that was attending him asked him for an ID, which the man gladly handed over.

"Mr. Milus, is it? Your transaction is in progress." The woman said.

Just then, several men barged into the bank, armed with firearms of all kinds, their heads covered by red masks that allowed none of their facial features to be seen by anyone else. The masked men started shouting commands. It was now evident that they had no intention of leaving unless they were a couple million dollars richer.

Milus pondered what to do. He had to think quickly.

[Jedi8246]

Lucas had arrived into the business part of New York. Full of high end prats, Lucas didn't particularly like this part of town. Though he supposed it was nicer than the slums of the Bronx. He walked down the street, ignoring everyone, as per usual for a New Yorker. He walked past a bank, when an alarm went off. He looked over to see men in black masks, holding the place up. He couldn't let that happen.

Lucas darted forward, pushing the door open. He shouted at the robbers:

"STOP!! RIGHT NOW!!"

[LoL island]

*Present time*

David’s fellow compatriots kicked the door in and begin to shout orders at the people, David knew none of it as he was cruising at a very good 1/8 time ratio, and was making his way through the bank stealing guns, watches, and whatever else could be used as a weapon/nailed on the ground

[Warhaven]

Outside the boundaries of Earth, in the Andromeda Galaxy, precise location unknown...

Eight men in matching grey business suits sat in what appeared to be an ordinary board room. A ninth man, in a black labcoat, sporting black gloves, and black slacks sat in the middle of them all. They all looked identical to each other in physical features, which was easy to understand, as they were all the same man.

It was The Board of Directors, and Zeta, leaders of The Collective.

"Phi Solaris, give your report concerning the activities of Earth." Zeta asked.

"As this board knows, twenty years ago, Omega 3598721-5 was destroyed in The Void. Since then, chaos has continued to spread across The Earth. Rome has gone on a conquest to take over The Earth from all outward appearences. The truth has already been made known to Director Zeta in a classified transmission. Our inside man is keeping an eye on things, and will report as time goes on.

As for the supers who opposed The Collective, The Cardinal appears to have been promoted. The others have spread out to the locations indicated on Map 3, if you'll each turn to your dossier. Hunt Assets have been located in Japan, and we have been watching them closely. Arina Reznov's children are growing quite healthy, and thus Arina herself is a success. Part of that may be due to King Dimitri Reznov himself, as he was a very physically fit specimen. Prince Vladimer appears to be following in his father's footsteps.

The Ministry's efforts have not gone unnoticed, but niether have they been the largest concern in the world. It is unknown what their plans are, and what they are up to." The Phi furthest to the right said.

"The question before The Board of Directors is thus: Experiment 9, should it be carried out on Earth?" Zeta asked.

The Board of directors looked at each other uncertain.

"An Omega class was already defeated. Why should we waste our time and resources tackling Earth?"

"Indeed, could they even withstand the final stages of Experiment 9? Is there enough Planetary surface to carry out experiment 9?"

"Is there enough variety to obtain suitable results?"

Zeta silenced the room with a look.

"Then it seems, if these are your concerns, that we shall all go to Earth, ourselves, and carry out Experiment 9, directly." Zeta said.

In the depths of space, a tremendous warship began moving...

........

Underneath what most thought of as Reality, was a place known as The Cosmic Shadow. It was where the Material and the Immaterial blurred into a single thing. It was there that seven shadows lurked, waiting for their time.

"Twenty years, since we started our venture here." One shadow said.

"The Nightmares have been seeded, the psychiatrists scattered. Soon the time to act, shall come. Does anyone think She's ready yet?" Another asked.

"No. Not yet. But close though." The first shadow answered.

"And what of our true goal?" A third shadow asked.

"That man is working on it for us. We have waited this long to achieve it, we can wait awhile longer. Meanwhile, I believe I have located both Pride, and Envy. Pride will be difficult to secure, but the power brought by joining sides cannot be ignored." The first shadow said.

"Wrath might have been found as well. His son." the fourth shadow said.

"Lust will like him." The Fifth commented.

"Indeed, but she is not Lust yet. She is close." The sixth reminded them.

"The vibrations have changed. Their coming to carry out another experiment. This will work to our advantage. Hell is but a child's nightmare. With their experiment, and our assistance, the musings of childish minds will become real. The Path will be established sooner than expected." The seventh said.

"The absolute shall be ours then." The First said with restrained glee.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Milus was pondering what to do, when a strange gust started to hit him. He saw lots of people starting to lose their things. "Strange." He thought. He quickly secured his ID and his wallet and put them in his pant's pocket. HOPEFULLY, they would be safe there. He then saw a young man with brown hair barge in and yell at the armed men.

Milus was complying with the orders the armed men shouted out before, so they didn't suspect a thing about him. Thus, Milus concentrated on one of the thugs that entered the building, and began dealing several kinetic blasts to him. The thug started apparently convulsing. Soon enough he fell to the ground, being hit by an invisible force.

Milus, not having mastered his powers yet, was steadily getting mentally tired, but at least it would provide a decent distraction for the brown haired lad to spring to action, or so he thought. Milus only hoped that the man would have a way of fixing this mess.

[Agadar]

Vatican City, Rome
The central meeting room of the headquarters of the Roman armed forces had changed ever since Rome's annexation of Spain and Portugal. It had become much more luxurious: the floor had been freshened up with a dark red colored carpet, the walls had been painted white, and the old simple leather seats had been replaced by beautiful hand-made wooden chairs. The only thing that hadn't changed was the great sturdy wooden table in the middle of the room, around which the commanders of all of Rome's different military and paramilitary branches would formulate their strategies under the supervision of the Chief Military Coordinator and the Secretary of Defense. Today however, there was only one commander sitting at the table. It was Ansed, the Lord High Marshal of the Roman armed forces, going through intelligence reports on a laptop sitting in front of him. He wasn't wearing his usual battle armor: instead, he was wearing his standard black uniform with shouldermarks and other such decorations indicating his high military position.

The silence in the room was broken by someone knocking on the door. "Come on in," Ansed said as he closed his laptop. An aide opened the door and saluted, after which he remained standing in the doorway. "Lord Ansed, the Cardinal Secretary of State would like to hold a final meeting with the entire military staff regarding Operation Winerack at twelve o'clock tomorrow." the officer said. Ansed nodded as he casually rested his head on his right hand. "Anything else?" he asked. The aide thought for a moment, then hesitantly said: "Mrs. Booth called for you again, my Lord. She... demanded her husband back." Ansed tried his best to surpress the inevitable smirk on his face. Oh, Snowflake. You're as cute as you were back then. When Ansed had made sure that he had surpressed his smirk, he replied: "Thank you. You're dismissed." The aide saluted and then silently closed the door. Ansed turned his chair to face his laptop again, opened it, and doubleclicked on a picture he had saved in a password-protected map. It was a photo of him and Snowflake in a hospital. Snowflake was laying in a bed, holding the newborn Melody in her arms. Ansed and Snowflake were both smiling while Melody was crying her eyes out. She had always been a crybaby. Ansed smiled as he looked at the picture and relived the memories. I'm almost done here, just wait for me a little longer...

[Bastinia]

*1 Day Earlier*

A prideful German man in a bar was challenged to go to New York for a Billiard's tournament. This man unfortunatly was Kasimir who couldn't back off from any challenge so he accepted and quickly bought two plane tickets for New York. That same day he left with his daughter, Jolenta. Later that night they arived in New York it would of been morning but they went down time zones. Kasimir then quickly got a two bed hotel room and they slept.

*30 minutes Earlier*

After getting breakfest for him and his daughter it was time to go to the tournament not wanting Jolenta to be kidnapped or harmed during the tournament. Kasimir made her stay at the hotel and wait for him to finish the tournament. So, he left her with a multitude of videogames, some dolls, the TV, and room service and locked all of the room's entrences.

Kasimir was wearing a pair of faded jeans with a red T-shirt and a jacket. He had brought his own biliard's stick and a knife just in case he needed to use his power. He started to walk on foot to his destination.

*Present Time*

Kasimir had unfortunatly walked past a bank robbing on his route to the tournament and his vigilante nature came in. He pushed past a man in the doorway and swung his Billiard's Stick at the closest bank robber's legs with enough force to break the robber's legs and the Biliard Stick with it.
"You guys picked the worst day to rob something along this route!" Roared Kasimir his German accent flarring It was lucky he actually spoke English in this situation.

[Jedi8246]

Lucas rolled his eyes when the bank robbers failed to comply. Obviously they didn't know who they were messin with. Nor did Lucas. For two others sprung into action. One who seemed to have powers. Robbers were getting blasted by unseen forces. Lucas was not one to sit around and do nothing. He looked around, and found the lights above. This should be fun.

Lucas raised his hand and drained the electricity from the bulbs overhead. The bulbs cracked into pieces, sending glass into the bystanders below. Lucas took this new burst of energy, and blasted multiple robbers with it, sending them flying about. This robbery was about broken up. A few robbers remained standing, and Lucas raised his hand in a pretend gun shape. His hand sparked with electricity.

"Ready to give up yet?" he said snickering.

[LoL island]

Something was wrong...

This was the only reaction in David’s mind, David turned towards the entrance only for a moment, but saw chaos ensuing. One of the Red Hand was convulsing on the ground, as if he was having a heart attack. Two new men were in front, one breaking a walking stick over the robber’s thigh, breaking it by the looks of it. The second was far more dangerous, he was shooting lightning out of his hands.
The men were dumb founded, they probably never seen anything like this before. One of them begins to fettle with his gun, probably to shoot… the one with the cane…

“This is going to be a pain in the ass…” sighed David, Germany did have their share of super vigilantes, but David did not recall them ever being this many, nor this varied, or that liberal with power... lightning? this one will be tricky.

David made a split decision and rocketed at the electric man, delivering a solid kick to his chest, and then using his panted foot to launch himself away, landing a few feet away, planning to attack the man with the walking stick next
“3 minutes 59 seconds remaining… need to make this quick… 1/8 timescale ratio holding…”

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Milus watched the events unfold before him. Despite acting like he was scared out of his mind, the truth is that Milus was perfectly calm as everything happened. He saw a man come in and beat one of the thugs with a pool stick. Milus noticed quite a bit of martial arts involved in that. He then noticed another man, Lucas, strike down several of the bank robbers with his lightning powers. "Hmm... Interesting." Milus thought.

And then, the one with powers of lightning was apparently kicked through the chest. Milus caught a glimpse of the culprit, but it was too quick. "That rules out invisibility. So, this fellow is a super as well. A fast one." He thought to himself. He pondered on how to deal with this fellow, as he was obviously involved with the red-masked thugs that had been trying to rob the bank. Finally, he made a decision.

Milus kept acting like he was in shock due to all that was happening around him. However, he put his powers to action once again. He only hoped that his idea would work, even if all it accomplished was stunning the culprit for a second or two. It would indeed be of great help. Thus, Milus sent a blast of kinetic force slightly ahead of the runner, where he thought the runner would be directed.

After this was done, Milus decided to help even out the playing field a bit more. Or rather, incline it further in favour of the two vigilantes that were trying to save the bank. He started beating up yet another thug with kinetic blasts. The thug started apparently convulsing, just as the one before him, and fell to the ground as well.

"Ugh... This is... Tiring..." Milus thought to himself. His mind was growing weary. He wasn't exactly used to employing such ammounts of energy all at once.

[Bastinia]

After hitting the thug with the his pool stick and breaking his right leg the stick shattered leaving only a sharp chunk left in his hand and splinters all over the ground. Kasimir quickly used the remainder of his Billiard's Stick to stab the thug in the sholder causing him not only to fall unsconcious but start bleeding. Then the lightbulbs exploded above him and glass rained down on him giving him slight scratches.
"Danke!" Yelled Kasimir as he started bleeding. He then, placed his hand on the thugs new stab wound and took 1 liter of blood out of of his body quickly. Then bullets went off a thug started shooting at him two bullets hit though luckily the thug was a bad shot the both bullets only grazed his left arm.

His blood poured out of his veins in streams and combined with the unsconcious robber's blood to form a bo. He charged the man that had fired at him and hooked the blood bo behind the thug's head brought it down and then slammed it into his knee. The thug fell and then the lighting user seemed to be kicked in the chest. Kasimir knew someone had to be moving superfast for him not to notice it, so he touched the blood coming from the thug's broken teeth and ripped out a liter of blood from him as well. He let the blood deform from the bo and then shot it at the ground making multiple puddles that could easily be slipped in on the floor around him and the lightning user.

[Warhaven]

The massive Warship belonging to The Board of Directors, and Director Zeta hurtled through space. At the speeds they were traveling, it'd take a few days to reach Earth. But that didn't stop them from starting Experiment 9.

On The Observatory near Earth....

"Who ordered the course change?" the Alpha in charge asked.

"I did. Do you have a problem with that?" Zeta asked via communications screens, calmly.

"Uh, no sir." The Alpha responded.

"Good. Target Earth, and initiate Experiment 9. I expect preliminary results, by the time The Board of Directors and I arrive." Zeta said, then the communications screens turned off.

Silence and Chagrin filled the room. No one in The Collective liked facing The Board of Directors, or Director Zeta.

...

At the Bank Robbery in New York....

There were more eyes watching the robbery being foiled. From The Cosmic Shadow, The Ministry watched too. It was the single most interesting thing going on in the entire world at the moment. The Ministry was tempted to assist the would-be robbers, just to make things interesting. But no. For now, they would only watch.

[Laneige]

Present day Kyoto

The Kiyomizu-dera, where one finds its holiness matches the Vatican in Rome, in the context of Buddhism, is a temple of which had found itself established in or around one thousand six hundred years ago, clinging off a hillside in the eastern Kyoto. It is also known as the Ottawa-san for its grand atriums situated outside on the balcony, which it scene lays upon all of Kyoto. It is where most Kiyomizu monks spent their day, meditating. It is where Akira spent most of his day, meditating.

To make it the prefect setting to find internal peace, the balcony was matched with the blossoming sakuras, which grew bright pinkish at this season of the year. Together with its colors, the blossoming cherries release its aromatic scent every morning. This we can now know why Akira likes to meditate on the Ottawa.

Today, like any others, Akira finds himself resting in the Buddhist stance at the Ottawa again. With his palms rested on another and his thumbs pressing on each other. The Buddhist stance would require the practitioner to inhale and exhale deeply and at a ever declining rate, a method that would help one to find that place of peace. For Akira, he is in dire need of that peace, for what had happened to him in the past decades.

There he sat silently with both his eyes shut, he imagined inner peace. In his glimpse he finds waterfalls, a small pond, a koi, and electricity?! Akira quickly gasped as he saw the scene. The scene of a waterfalling koi pond had begun to fade. The scene had been quickly diminished into a scene of a man, being convulsed by electricity.

Shocked and disturbed by the sudden change of events, Akira quickly reopened his eyes. Returning him to reality. Quickly enough, he was panting. Alerting his fellow monks beside him.

[Jedi8246]

Lucas was kicked in the chest, before he could even see who did it. He flew back, into the stone walls. He crumpled on the floor, seething. Luckily, his father had trained him how to land, so as not to break bones. But it still hurt. Whoever attacked him, was very fast. Lucas knew he wasn't going to get them directly.

He looked at the ground, to find it was metal. He quickly looked about. There were a few pedestrians here and there, but not too many. Lucas decided to risk it. He placed his hand on the ground, sending electricity into it. The whole ground became an electrical field, shocking everyone in the room. He allowed the electricty to flow for a few seconds, before cutting it off. The final non-super bank robbers crumpled to the ground, clothes smoking. The pedestrians fell to the ground as well. Lucas wondered how it hurt the supers.

[Agadar]

Dungeons beneath Vatican City, Rome
Few were aware of the existance of the terrifying and sinister dungeons beneath Vatican City. There were horrible things down there, horrible enough to drive even the sanest man to madness. There were rooms, dozens of rooms, filled with ancient books and scrolls containing secrets so secret not even the leaders of the Vatican Secret Archives and the Holy Inquisition knew of them. There were also prison cells, hundreds of prison cells, most of them completely empty, but some harboring criminals, serial killers, superhumans so horrifying and so powerful, that introducing just one of these characters would fuel an entire roleplay on its own.

In one of the most deepest dungeons, one of the dungeon keepers was making his way towards the prison cell of prisoner number 2476. He held a lantern up high near his face with his left hand, illuminating the dark path in front of him. His right hand was clenched around the hilt of a shortsword. He was shaking. Of course he was. Even for the most experienced dungeon keepers, these parts of the Vatican dungeons were horrifying, and not without a reason. It had happened many times before that prisoners had managed to escape their confinements and had begun to wander around the labyrinths of rooms, hallways and corridors, searching for a way out, or searching for the blood of their captivators. Some of these wandering prisoners had been found and killed by the dungeon keepers, but many of them still roamed the neverending dungeons, their insanity fuelled even more by the eternal search for freedom and vengeance. If there existed a hell on earth, then it was right here beneath Vatican City.

The dungeon keeper was now walking past a row of doors with numbers on them. 2474. 2475. There it was: prison cell number 2476. The dungeon keeper anxiously looked to his left and his right, concluded that there was no danger near, sheathed his sword and took a metal ring with dozens of rusty keys out of one of his pockets. He searched for the key on which the number 2476 had been imprinted and unlocked the prison door. He swallowed nervously as he slowly opened it and peeked inside. "Hello?" he said softly, almost whispered. There was no reply. The dungeon keeper opened the door a little bit more and illuminated the prison cell with his lantern. There was no one there. Should he be happy or fearful about this revelation? Suddenly, the sound of a metal tool dropping came from the prison cell next door. For a few moments the dungeon keeper stood there completely motionless and quiet. Was it a rat? Or was there someone there? A prisoner? He waited anxiously for several minutes, drops of sweat travelling from his forehead down to his chin. He had enough of it. If he stayed here any longer he would begin to lose his mind, if it hadn't begun already. The dungeon keeper slowly turned around and closed the prison cell. He had to report the missing prisoner to his superiors. He equipped his shortsword with his right hand and began to make his way back up to the exit. As he reached the upper levels of the dungeons he began to feel relieved. He had survived once again. What he failed to realize however was that he had been followed for quite a while now. A shadow had been stalking him ever since he had left prison cell 2476. Two small, glowing yellow eyes observed the dungeon keeper's every move. It smelled freedom. Freedom and vengeance.

[LoL island]

Shit was going poor quickly, and David knew it. In a matter of 2 minutes the 12 gang members were in various stages of disrepair, all were wounded, others appeared to be dying.

David was bolting toward the German man, when he ripped blood from one of the members and sprayed it around, this shocked David for a moment, in all his time he had never seen such a brutal power… “BLOOD?” were the only statement he could conceive. Suddenly the blood sprayed around the room, David assumed it was an attack and leaped, no sooner had he leaped that a surge of force hit his foot, flipping him through the air and onto a desk 5 feet away

“Fuck!” he screamed out, looking around for the possible culprit, and he found him, a man in a trench coat, he appeared that he was getting tired… in all this violence? He must have done something… David decided that he must be adept in some kind of kinesis.

But Lady Luck decided to smile on David; for no sooner did he land on the wooden table did the electric man shoot his lightning into the metal floor, frying all those around him, to an unknown range.

3 minutes, 27 seconds, ratio still holding...

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Milus noticed that there was what would be best described as a 'Blood bender' of sorts. He was quite surprised at this. "Interesting." He thought to himself as he saw the blood bender beat up some of the thugs that were still in the bank. He then noticed the super-quick man had been indeed struck by his kinetic blast, much to his relief. However, this victory was short lived, for as soon as the man hit the desk, a strong current of electricity started flowing through the ground and right into Milus.

Milus groaned in pain as the electricity flowed into his body, shocking him torturously for a long while before the culprit, Lucas, cut off the electricity from the ground. Milus was still squirming on the ground. However, soon enough, he got a hold of himself. He stood up, very angrily, and looked around. Thugs and innocents alike were fried, laying on the ground. He glared at Lucas.

"You IDIOT!" Milus shouted at Lucas as he concentrated and released a blast of kinetic energy about the size of a fist towards him, headed to Lucas' chest. Being a rather small blast, the energy was concentrated, and thus would likely cause more damage than the blast he sent towards the quick man, David.

[Jedi8246]

Lucas was in the middle of getting up when a the black haired man shot a blast of, well energy. He was tougher than the others. Lucas felt it hit his chest with the force of a thrown baseball. He went flipping backwards, out the doors of the bank. He rolled down the steps, developing several bruises. He stumbled back to his feet, as he heard police coming. Shit. The police were equipped to deal with supers here in America. Lucas would have to make this quick.

He ran back up the steps into the bank. The gang members laid on the ground, clearly defeated. All that were left were three supers, all in different parts of the room. Lucas turned towards the black haired man.

"What the bloody hell was that for? I was saving you dolts!!!"

Lucas's hands crackled with electricity, ready to blast the man if necessary.