Infinite Justice: Beyond (Marvel,DC,DBZ X/Over, IC, Open)

[Charmera]

"You have no idea how to land this thing!" Exclaimed Claudia. Ezika looked behind her at the swarm of fighter planes and sighed. They had escaped the planet, but now they were in for a whole new crock of

"No. I know how to make it go, but landing it has never been taught to me." She remarked. She swerved out of the way of a nearly unfortunate pidgeon. The enginees were on fire and she was having a hard time pulling up.

Claudia frowned, and then grabbed both Ezika and Tomia and held them tight, preparing to use her own body to sheild them from the crash. It would likely be at least a little painful for her, but she could think of any other way to keep them both safe. She looked at the screen, and noted how they were swiftly crashing into someone who looked strangely familiar. Claudia didn't have time to think about it until the starship hit the ground just behind the Saiyan, Slamming the red hulking figure down onto the ground with a painful crack.

Claudia got up, made sure the two girls were okay, before tearing the shuttle apart with her bare hands to get them out. The advanced metal didn't even prove to resist her any more than toilet paper would. She strode out, her clothes ruined as she coughed. Then she saw Hiroshi.

There was a pause as she seemed to freeze in place. Her eyes on the Saiyan.

Hiroshi:

Swallowing hard, Hiroshi met Claudia's eyes, her Amber orbs swirling with as many emotions as he imagined his golden ones were. Taking a few careful steps forward, the Halfling felt as if his limbs were made of lead, each step a mental and physical battle. Stopping a few good meters infront of her, Hiroshi felt two small arms wrap tightly around his waist, a small onyx haired girl burying her head in his side. Not as if the Saiyan-Kaioshin would've noticed, his entire body numb and cold, a chilling sweat developing on his brow.

Hey Claudia." Hiroshi managed, trying to keep his own voice in check, clearing his throat at least twice while he spoke. " Thanks for... I mean, I'm happy you're... Thanks for looking after Tomia."

Twisting his head downwards, he parted the matted locks of his daughter, her eyes looking hopefully up towards him, the golden orbs bloodshot and irritated, stains present on his flannel.

"I missed you... S-So much." She sobbed, her breath coming in ragged, hurried intervals." Miss C-Claudia watched me real closely while we were away."

With haste, his throat tightened again, his arms locking around her as he up, her face turning into the crook of his neck. He couldn't just see pain in her features, he could feel the sadness in her voice. She'd been waiting for him to save her... To take her out of that place.

"Yea, I know." Hiroshi whispered hoarsely, tears threatening to spill out of his own eyes, a whirlwind of emotions ripping through him. " I missed you too kiddo." Swallowing hard, he attempted to rein in his emotions, forcing an smile across his features.

" You kept her save right? She wasn't forced too.." The Hybrid paused, remembering to keep his voice in check when talking to the Red Woman. " She was save right?"

Claudia did not speak, merely keeping her gaze on Hiroshi. She had a frown on her face, but this didn't necessarily indicate anger. In fact it would be near impossible to tell what emotions she was feeling without looking inside her head, and even then, it might be more than a little confusing. She kept her gaze on HIroshi, then moved down to Tomia. Then back to Hiroshi.

She then looked down at nothing. "I should have stayed." She muttered, then turned around and walked away. She didn't know where she was going, but she was moving away, though someone could still catch up with her if they wanted.

[New Rnclave]

Hiroshi:

Swallowing hard, Hiroshi met Claudia's eyes, her Amber orbs swirling with as many emotions as he imagined his golden ones were. Taking a few careful steps forward, the Halfling felt as if his limbs were made of lead, each step a mental and physical battle. Stopping a few good meters infront of her, Hiroshi felt two small arms wrap tightly around his waist, a small onyx haired girl burying her head in his side. Not as if the Saiyan-Kaioshin would've noticed, his entire body numb and cold, a chilling sweat developing on his brow.

Hey Claudia." Hiroshi managed, trying to keep his own voice in check, clearing his throat at least twice while he spoke. " Thanks for... I mean, I'm happy you're... Thanks for looking after Tomia."

Twisting his head downwards, he parted the matted locks of his daughter, her eyes looking hopefully up towards him, the golden orbs bloodshot and irritated, stains present on his flannel.

"I missed you... S-So much." She sobbed, her breath coming in ragged, hurried intervals." Miss C-Claudia watched me real closely while we were away."

With haste, his throat tightened again, his arms locking around her as he up, her face turning into the crook of his neck. He couldn't just see pain in her features, he could feel the sadness in her voice. She'd been waiting for him to save her... To take her out of that place.

"Yea, I know." Hiroshi whispered hoarsely, tears threatening to spill out of his own eyes, a whirlwind of emotions ripping through him. " I missed you too kiddo." Swallowing hard, he attempted to rein in his emotions, forcing an smile across his features.

" You kept her save right? She wasn't forced too.." The Hybrid paused, remembering to keep his voice in check when talking to the Red Woman. " She was save right?"

Claudia did not speak, merely keeping her gaze on Hiroshi. She had a frown on her face, but this didn't necessarily indicate anger. In fact it would be near impossible to tell what emotions she was feeling without looking inside her head, and even then, it might be more than a little confusing. She kept her gaze on HIroshi, then moved down to Tomia. Then back to Hiroshi.

She then looked down at nothing. "I should have stayed." She muttered, then turned around and walked away. She didn't know where she was going, but she was moving away, though someone could still catch up with her if they wanted.

Hiroshi:

His hand was on her shoulder, Hiroshi having turned the taller red woman around to face him in an almost comical comparison of their heights. Something hot was building in his chest, a fire born of guilt and anger, his now furious teal eyes boring into her own. For a second he almost lost it, hot, angry tears threatened to burst over the threshold as he stared at her, his mouth open in a snarl, words attempting to form but would never come.

The only thing stopping him from releasing almost five months of emotional turmoil, his own realization that he was solely responsible for however this turned out. If Claudia ever spoke to him again, it was based on he handeld the situation here and now.

The anger in his chest slowly died as his own furious breathing became slower, his blue-green eyes softening as he gently released her shoulder, his tight features relaxing as his posture softened, his arms falling to his sides.

" I'm s-sorry.." Hiroshi whispered, his chocked voice barely loud enough for even her to hear, his voice rising as he spoke again, his eyes turning up towards her, despair written across his features." These last.. What five months? Ha-have been hell... Everywhere I went... Y-You were there. Tormenting me!" He cried out, his voice breaking as he let his emotions run wild.

" It was like I was a spirit! I did nothing more than fucking slip from town to town, unnoticed and unimportant! Nothing made me happy. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep! My life has been a hell and the created it myself! Fuck, Claudia, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't give you everything you deserved! I'm sorry I'm such an idiot! I'm sorry, I couldn't give you everything you deserved. I betrayed your trust.. but not only that either! I fucking crushed it and threw it into the wind. I spit on it and betrayed your trust. I fucking let you say you loved me and seemingly did this to spite you. I can't say it enough... I'll never forgive myself... I'm a wreck. I suppose it's all justice in the end."

[The Republic of Atria]

"Anime, cartoon... There's no difference save for which country made it. Regardless. It's amazing. Kinda puts getting the tar beaten out of you in perspective. I suppose life would be pretty dull if I could one shot everything in my path." Otis pondered. "But that's enough pondering. I wanna see parody and action! To the Otis-Cave!" He annouced, while channeling the Omega Effect to teleport himself, Hadri and Julie into his now fixed apartment. "Welcome to Casa De Otis. I've got a big-ass TV in the wall. 8k! I've got my laptop rigged wirelessly so that shouldn't be a problem. Assuming Attilan's wifi isn't shit. All those threats I made to AT&T... Now that I can go through with them... I think it's a bad idea. Even though their coverage sucks." He said turning on the TV and his computer to watch the show.

"One last thing! I'll make snacks real quick. I make kick ass fudge. Or so I'm told." And with that, he donned a pink apron with the words "Kiss the Cook" on it. "Make yourselves at home. I know it's probably kinda small compared to where you guys live, but I got kicked off my planet... You know. You were both there. It was mine for like... A day. I lost track playing Fallout 4." He said and sped up the cooking and cooling of his snacks by using the Omega Effect. "Aannnnnnd... Done!" He said presenting them with a large baking pan filled with his fudge, various amounts of soda and chips. "I hope I'm being a good host."

[Charmera]

"Anime, cartoon... There's no difference save for which country made it. Regardless. It's amazing. Kinda puts getting the tar beaten out of you in perspective. I suppose life would be pretty dull if I could one shot everything in my path." Otis pondered. "But that's enough pondering. I wanna see parody and action! To the Otis-Cave!" He annouced, while channeling the Omega Effect to teleport himself, Hadri and Julie into his now fixed apartment. "Welcome to Casa De Otis. I've got a big-ass TV in the wall. 8k! I've got my laptop rigged wirelessly so that shouldn't be a problem. Assuming Attilan's wifi isn't shit. All those threats I made to AT&T... Now that I can go through with them... I think it's a bad idea. Even though their coverage sucks." He said turning on the TV and his computer to watch the show.

"One last thing! I'll make snacks real quick. I make kick ass fudge. Or so I'm told." And with that, he donned a pink apron with the words "Kiss the Cook" on it. "Make yourselves at home. I know it's probably kinda small compared to where you guys live, but I got kicked off my planet... You know. You were both there. It was mine for like... A day. I lost track playing Fallout 4." He said and sped up the cooking and cooling of his snacks by using the Omega Effect. "Aannnnnnd... Done!" He said presenting them with a large baking pan filled with his fudge, various amounts of soda and chips. "I hope I'm being a good host."

"I don't have a home, so yeah, this is pretty sweet." She remarked. She had been living, metaphorically, in a green ring for much of her life, or on Oa or the watchtower. So she had pretty spartan quarters, so anything like this would be quite enough for Julie.

Claudia did not speak, merely keeping her gaze on Hiroshi. She had a frown on her face, but this didn't necessarily indicate anger. In fact it would be near impossible to tell what emotions she was feeling without looking inside her head, and even then, it might be more than a little confusing. She kept her gaze on HIroshi, then moved down to Tomia. Then back to Hiroshi.

She then looked down at nothing. "I should have stayed." She muttered, then turned around and walked away. She didn't know where she was going, but she was moving away, though someone could still catch up with her if they wanted.

Hiroshi:

His hand was on her shoulder, Hiroshi having turned the taller red woman around to face him in an almost comical comparison of their heights. Something hot was building in his chest, a fire born of guilt and anger, his now furious teal eyes boring into her own. For a second he almost lost it, hot, angry tears threatened to burst over the threshold as he stared at her, his mouth open in a snarl, words attempting to form but would never come.

The only thing stopping him from releasing almost five months of emotional turmoil, his own realization that he was solely responsible for however this turned out. If Claudia ever spoke to him again, it was based on he handeld the situation here and now.

The anger in his chest slowly died as his own furious breathing became slower, his blue-green eyes softening as he gently released her shoulder, his tight features relaxing as his posture softened, his arms falling to his sides.

" I'm s-sorry.." Hiroshi whispered, his chocked voice barely loud enough for even her to hear, his voice rising as he spoke again, his eyes turning up towards her, despair written across his features." These last.. What five months? Ha-have been hell... Everywhere I went... Y-You were there. Tormenting me!" He cried out, his voice breaking as he let his emotions run wild.

" It was like I was a spirit! I did nothing more than fucking slip from town to town, unnoticed and unimportant! Nothing made me happy. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep! My life has been a hell and the created it myself! Fuck, Claudia, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't give you everything you deserved! I'm sorry I'm such an idiot! I'm sorry, I couldn't give you everything you deserved. I betrayed your trust.. but not only that either! I fucking crushed it and threw it into the wind. I spit on it and betrayed your trust. I fucking let you say you loved me and seemingly did this to spite you. I can't say it enough... I'll never forgive myself... I'm a wreck. I suppose it's all justice in the end."

Claudia paused. Part of her wanted to say it wasn't enough. Part of her wanted to pummel him into the ground and then continue on her way. Part of her wanted to take him back. Part of her wanted to grab him and hug him and tell him she would never leave.

"Hiroshi... You idiot... You complete moron. You thick headed numb skulled bone headed bastard." She muttered. Suddenly the Saiyan would feel himself lifted into the air as red hands wrapped around him. So tight he might have trouble breathing. But this was not a threatening grab, this was an embrace. Claudia's eyes were in tears. "You didn't have to torture yourself... You stupid meathead." Despite what she might say, she cared about Hiroshi, and seeing him destroy himself over guilt was not what she wanted. "All I wanted was for you to say sorry..."

It had been hard to not see him for so long for her too.

[New Rnclave]

"Anime, cartoon... There's no difference save for which country made it. Regardless. It's amazing. Kinda puts getting the tar beaten out of you in perspective. I suppose life would be pretty dull if I could one shot everything in my path." Otis pondered. "But that's enough pondering. I wanna see parody and action! To the Otis-Cave!" He annouced, while channeling the Omega Effect to teleport himself, Hadri and Julie into his now fixed apartment. "Welcome to Casa De Otis. I've got a big-ass TV in the wall. 8k! I've got my laptop rigged wirelessly so that shouldn't be a problem. Assuming Attilan's wifi isn't shit. All those threats I made to AT&T... Now that I can go through with them... I think it's a bad idea. Even though their coverage sucks." He said turning on the TV and his computer to watch the show.

"One last thing! I'll make snacks real quick. I make kick ass fudge. Or so I'm told." And with that, he donned a pink apron with the words "Kiss the Cook" on it. "Make yourselves at home. I know it's probably kinda small compared to where you guys live, but I got kicked off my planet... You know. You were both there. It was mine for like... A day. I lost track playing Fallout 4." He said and sped up the cooking and cooling of his snacks by using the Omega Effect. "Aannnnnnd... Done!" He said presenting them with a large baking pan filled with his fudge, various amounts of soda and chips. "I hope I'm being a good host."

"I don't have a home, so yeah, this is pretty sweet." She remarked. She had been living, metaphorically, in a green ring for much of her life, or on Oa or the watchtower. So she had pretty spartan quarters, so anything like this would be quite enough for Julie.

Hiroshi:

His hand was on her shoulder, Hiroshi having turned the taller red woman around to face him in an almost comical comparison of their heights. Something hot was building in his chest, a fire born of guilt and anger, his now furious teal eyes boring into her own. For a second he almost lost it, hot, angry tears threatened to burst over the threshold as he stared at her, his mouth open in a snarl, words attempting to form but would never come.

The only thing stopping him from releasing almost five months of emotional turmoil, his own realization that he was solely responsible for however this turned out. If Claudia ever spoke to him again, it was based on he handeld the situation here and now.

The anger in his chest slowly died as his own furious breathing became slower, his blue-green eyes softening as he gently released her shoulder, his tight features relaxing as his posture softened, his arms falling to his sides.

" I'm s-sorry.." Hiroshi whispered, his chocked voice barely loud enough for even her to hear, his voice rising as he spoke again, his eyes turning up towards her, despair written across his features." These last.. What five months? Ha-have been hell... Everywhere I went... Y-You were there. Tormenting me!" He cried out, his voice breaking as he let his emotions run wild.

" It was like I was a spirit! I did nothing more than fucking slip from town to town, unnoticed and unimportant! Nothing made me happy. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep! My life has been a hell and the created it myself! Fuck, Claudia, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't give you everything you deserved! I'm sorry I'm such an idiot! I'm sorry, I couldn't give you everything you deserved. I betrayed your trust.. but not only that either! I fucking crushed it and threw it into the wind. I spit on it and betrayed your trust. I fucking let you say you loved me and seemingly did this to spite you. I can't say it enough... I'll never forgive myself... I'm a wreck. I suppose it's all justice in the end."

Claudia paused. Part of her wanted to say it wasn't enough. Part of her wanted to pummel him into the ground and then continue on her way. Part of her wanted to take him back. Part of her wanted to grab him and hug him and tell him she would never leave.

"Hiroshi... You idiot... You complete moron. You thick headed numb skulled bone headed bastard." She muttered. Suddenly the Saiyan would feel himself lifted into the air as red hands wrapped around him. So tight he might have trouble breathing. But this was not a threatening grab, this was an embrace. Claudia's eyes were in tears. "You didn't have to torture yourself... You stupid meathead." Despite what she might say, she cared about Hiroshi, and seeing him destroy himself over guilt was not what she wanted. "All I wanted was for you to say sorry..."

It had been hard to not see him for so long for her too.

Hiroshi:

When his feet left the ground, and Claudia forgave him, Hiroshi felt inexplainable guilt swell in his chest. It was obvious she forgave him, and that she still cared. But he didn't feel like he'd earned any forgiveness. Tilting his head up, his blue-green eyes scanned her features, quizzically looking over her.

"Y-you did?" Hiroshi almost whispered, clearing his throat as he reined in the last of his emotions, his impassive disposition returning. " But I hurt you... More than I've ever hurt anyone in a fight. I attacked you with words. I purposefully struck at you, lashing out at weaknesses you'd confided in me..."

Shakily raising his arm, Hiroshi unconsciously felt his fingers cup her cheek, his rough hands softly tracing patterns on her skin. It was almost surreal to be here. For him to not only be near her, but being able to talk to her, it was something he'd never imagined accomplishing in the same day.

" The last few weeks taught me a lot." Hiroshi remarked. " I achieved a power far beyond my own. The pinnacle of Saiyan ability. And..." Pausing, the Hybrid met her eyes. " It was accepting failure that allowed me to ascend. My uncle described it as the failure of the Saiyan race as a total, and the failures he and I had and would expirence throughout our lives. I thought at first that he meant overcoming them. But now... No, then. I realized it was accepting these failures and moving past them was the key. It also allowed me to accept the blame I'd pushed away from myself. I've... I've grown more in the last few weeks then I've ever before."

Closing his eyes, Hiroshi felt the pit of despair he'd built around himself almost evaporate as a weight disappeared from his shoulders. He was hardly out of the woods yet, but he could finally feel an almost happiness, an acceptance bubbling in his chest. Opening his eyes once more, Hiroshi felt as if control of his life had been returned to him, turning them upwards, he felt his hair fall to onyx once more as he parted his lips, finally ready to accept Claudia's decision.

" I've changed as a person too. I'm not the same Hybrid Saiyan-Kaioshin you left almost five months ago. And... I think I'm ready to accept your judgement so to speak. I knew you said you missed me too, but like I said, I'm not the same man, and as much as it pains me, if you don't think you can love the new me like you did the old, I accept your decision."

[Finland SSR]

A Heart of Darkness - Finale

Frank Mayhem

---

Yeah, I was correct that last time. Something was going on with Itaku.

As I set my strained eyes towards the supposedly dead girl, I noticed that she had changed dramatically since the last time I looked at her back in the Aistii Cathedral. Well, first of all, the body was glowing. And not as faintly as you might think. Before my very own eyes, the snow around her meltdown, forming a wide circle of greenery in what Earthlings might even consider the Arctic. Even though the permafrosted ground should have been basically dead and lifeless, but it immediately sprung to life and greenery as if this was late spring. Shaytan was just as confused by all of this as me, especially when the injuries on his body started to fix up and get better in accelerating speeds.

What can I say, all of this was truly a surprise. If it's what should have happened down below, then... well, I pretty much sentenced the people who unlocked it to death by alerting the Celestial Army of their presence. Ouch. I hope they didn't curse me or something before they lost their lives in the most brutal way imaginable.

Itaku's hair, that flushy, disorganized and wild collection on her head, started to rapidly radiate light and fluctuate in color, as if it were trying to make a light show - changing from red to orange to green to blue to whatever, rinse and repeat - but soon it calmed down and settled down on a bright aquatic blue. Huh. That's not a color you'd associate with the Herans - almost a complete opposite of the standard orange-red. Though, it blended quite nicely with the now bright, barely noticeably green-ish skin, so I suppose it checks out. Though still, it's a really odd look for someone of her race...

But the weirdness train had just begun rolling down on us, as it seems, as merely a few moments layers the supposedly dead Itaku slowly opened her shut eyes, first slowly, then suddenly starting to blink, as if having regained awareness of being in a storm with the last Herans being executed a dozen miles below her. As I watched the miracle unfold, still speechless, the First Angel, as they called it, started to move, using her hands to lift herself up from the ground, then standing up, until she was finally back on track. Her expression... was impossible to define. She wasn't angry or furious, that's for sure. Nor confused, or even really happy, to be honest. The best I could say, with my knowledge of "being alive" being limited enough as it is, would be "blissfully innocent".

"...Why are you looking at me like that?" The transformed Itaku asked us. We were certainly staring at her, that's for sure, but definitely not with creepy thoughts. I desperately searched my database for anything even remotely similar to this form. Nope. No info. Like most Heran lore and legends, this one's a mystery to me.

"You... feeling any different?" I barely managed to mutter out.

"Eh?.." Is she even aware of what just happened? "Say, was the transformation successful?-"

Itaku leaped back and charged towards something behind my back. Huh? What's happening? I turned around to see the threat, but I was too late - way too late. There was only the girl, covered in a multi-colored aura, smoke and ash covering everything up to the horizon and chips of graphite alkaline raining from the sky. Did she just...

"What was that?" I exclaimed. Itaku smiled, landed in front of me, ...Something. She touched my forehead... and then I saw everything. It was a huge cluster of Androids seeping from the ground, which she immediately took down by charging into the center and using something. Looked like a spell, or a ki attack.

Obviously, this raised even more questions. What? How? Where did she learn this from? How can she be so powerful? I decided to just shelve them all, though - no point in asking all this stuff.

"The First Angel was prophecized to be able to master a form of Divine Magic," Shaytan decided to drop exposition for some reason. "It looks like you didn't take long to make that prediction correct, Itaku."

Divine Magic, you say?

"So, how do you feel like now?" I asked the First Angel again.

"I feel like I know everything. Feel everything. Control everything."

"That's what the First Angel transformation is - it's everything."

Sounds like a formidable opponent.

"Mind if I test something out, Itaku?" I spoke.

"Uh, sure?" That was a yes to me. I did a quick backflip, clenched my fists, flared up the aura, transformed into Influx and charged forward, sending my right punch to strike her. Let's see if everything is enough to beat me-

BOOM!

I didn't even get to move even a few feet before I noticed Itaku's eyes suddenly flash. A few milliseconds later, I stopped moving against my own will. I was just... floating. With no sense of up or down. Any signal to flight modules to move was met with an encrypted block message. What in the love of God is going on?

"Itaku, let him down. Let him actually reach you."

With these Shaytan's words, I immediately dropped to the ground like a rock, but quickly propelled myself forward, head first. She's just standing there, unyielding, moveless... I crashed into her, sending my right fist towards her face, but all that happened was... nothing. Actually nothing. It just stopped right at her cheek with no damage. What. So. Ever. A few attempts at kicks and punches followed, but the result was nonetheless the same.

How about less games and more actual damage. As such, I slided a meter back, clenched my fists once again, opened up even more Influx energy and... up a notch. Influx Level 2. Haven't used this one in a while. I immediately opened up with a powerful star-busting energy wave...

She. She just freaking caught it. As the dust settled down, I saw the entire energy of my attack not equaling damage on Itaku's body, but rather all being held in her palm. And she just threw it back at me! I barely managed to leap over it, turning around to watch it shoot up towards the sky, exploding in a miraculous fashion in the upper atmosphere. The explosion's tough winds licked the surface of the planet, blowing past us violently. I-how? I went back into my base form, but the shock stood.

Keep it together. No Heat Blade. Keep it together. Calm down.

...

BASTARD!

"I can't believe it..." I spoke out as calm as I could, which still wasn't calm. "To think that there could exist such a power between mortals..."

"It's great, isn't it, Frank?" Yes, yes it is, Itaku. I pulled out my teleporter capsule out of my pocket and threw it at the ground. It blew up and formed my escape pod. Itaku's facial expression immediately soured. "Wait, you're leaving? Now?"

"What's the point of staying? I'll just be a nuisance."

Itaku ran towards me and pulled onto my arm. She could've easily thrown me to the other side of the galaxy if she wanted to, but that obviously wasn't the aim.

"You-you'll be great help, don't lower yourself! You... uh... could give us information about their anatomy!"

"Strike them hard, preferably in the chest. That's all the information you need."

"Well, then you'll be great help in the battlefield!"

"You're as powerful as your race needs you to be - that's not a concern."

"Oh, come on! I'm not that strong! You will still be useful!"

I placed my hand on the fresh First Angel's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but this is no longer my fight. It's yours now, and I'm sure you can do it."

The fact that I'm still furious about being beaten and overshadowed so easily was to be left untold.

"So you're really going back? You going to return sometime later, right?"

"Who knows... I should be going, though. So, goodbye, Itaku..."

Suddenly, something... unexpected happened. Instead of simply walking away and waving her hand like the usual, she grabbed by arm, pulled me up and tightly hugged me. And so tight as if she never wanted to let go. Stop... please... this is getting weird... why are you not letting go... I don't understand...

Finally! She moved her hands back, then walked back.

"So, I suppose that's it then," Shaytan, already fully healed, spoke from the side and extended his hand for a handshake. "I can finally see it - you truly are a warrior of noble blood, even while still being a machine without a soul."

"Uh, thanks." I didn't keep the shake up for long, and quickly walked back. They said their last goodbyes with their eyes, following me to the teleporter, until...

Finally. Alone for a moment. Coordinates 1FF6789.

Earth.

[Charmera]

---

As soon as she landed, Garnet got up and rubbed her rear a little. The enchanted petals had broken her fall, thankfully, and none of her artifacts had fallen off when she jumped, which was quite fortunate, but even so the simple fact that she had fallen from great heights caused her to feel a bit of discomfort, though whether it was physical or psychological, she couldn't tell. Either way, she listened attentively to the story that Masami told her about her family and her suspicions, frowning a little as she heard about the murder of her mother. It seemed like they had that in common. Of course, Garnet's family had no connection whatsoever to the kind of supernatural conspiracy web that Masami's family seemed to be involved in, but that hardly meant that she didn't know what it was like to lose a parent like that. She remained silent, however.

"I knew what I was getting into, Masami. I'm already prepared for a fight." She commented after hearing the Kitsune's words, looking out at the enormous manor that spread out before her. There was definitely something wrong about it, though she couldn't tell what it was. Glancing at Masami as she transformed, she noticed that the Kitsune seemed a lot more attractive when her tails were out, though it was surprisingly not affecting her too much. Unbeknownst to her, it was that the mask, and in general the many artifacts that she wielded, filtered out part of the supernatural influence.

Far less protected from such things was Akihiko, who caught himself staring at the four-tailed fox woman and immediately looked away, feeling somewhat embarrassed. He gripped Kusanagi's hilt and took it out from the magnetic scabbard. "I'm ready too." He said, sounding a bit half-hearted. Garnet noticed what was distracting him, however, and she frowned a little, feeling somewhat annoyed by it. She smacked him lightly on the head.

"Focus." The blonde woman told him, prompting the young half-Oni to blush brightly.

"Y-yeah, sorry." He mumbled.

There was a pause as Masami saw everyone get out their weapons, Akari even pulled out her twin pistols and nodded. She moved towards the house, manifesting a blade in her hand as she moved forward. She pushed forward on the door, opening it to reveal a large forward room, leading to the other rooms in the house. There were skeletons everywhere, which made Masami frown.

"If this is suppose to be Aunt Azami's summer home or something, she doesn't seem to clean up after herself much..." She paused, then her eyes narrowed for a moment.

"Masami..." Akari spoke. Just recognising the area. "This isn't a summer home... This is our original estate. The one we grew up on."

Masami frowned, then nodded. "I remember now... but what happened? Why are there... skeletons?"

"I suppose it might have something to do with that." Akari pointed towards an ethereal woman. A Nekomata. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her.

"Aunt Kira? What... What happened to you?"

The spirit's frown turned into a scowl. "Child and Ward of Yusa." It spoke. "I had long expected this day would come..."

The skeletons got up of their own accord suddenly, grabbing weapons. They were filled with an animus. Some animating necromancy of some sort. But not the regular kind. Masami could clearly smell, there were dark spirits animating these skeletons. And perhaps darker spirits deeper within the house.

Kira seemed to disapear, leaving the living at the hands of the undead.

[The Starlight]

The Princess and the Hulk
Hey, don't judge the name. Could you come up with a better one? --Val

A story, is a strange thing, isn't it? A phenomenal thing, some might say. They allow us to share our experiences. Bards convert them into ballads, they become legends and epics and myths. Everyone has a story. Even boring old Bob, who works seven days a week, at minimum wage. And that's the beauty of them. Not all stories have to be of two epic female warriors on a quest for glory(though this one is), or of the mightiest of heroes. A story can be of a Mexican dude who likes to eat tacos, and whose online friends call him 'Nick Furry'. A story can be of any old experience or puffed up tale to impress your friends. You have a story, I have a story, and there is a bond between us, even if we haven't met, or ever will. Stories link us across computer screens, across nations and across universes. Now I won't start with my "stories never end" stuff, as that's for epic battles, plus, you've heard it from me enough. But understand this, friends, stories are everywhere, everything and everyone has one. You just have to go and find it.

And how do I know all this?

My name is Valveig Silverhand and I am the Asgardian Goddess of Stories and Runes.

Well, that's my spiel, Erza, it's your turn.

---

Valveig's right. There are stories everywhere. Everything we have done is our story. And everything we have ever thought or dreamt is part of our stories too.
But, I'd be lying if I were to say that all stories are equal. Some stories stand above the rest. Some are told everywhere and sung through the ages. Some stories are part of our blood, running through our bodies like the wine of poetry itself. Some stories define entire cultures, entire worlds. Some stories, some great stories, earn the title "legend".

Now it's not the one who makes the story who chooses what becomes a legend. Nor is it the one who tells the story. Though they might try, men and women who have tried to cement their status as legends have failed. It is the choice of the people. They must determine what becomes immortalized, and why.
For all my life, I've been telling tales. Stories, songs, poems, epics and occasionally my lips have been honoured to tell a true legend. But really, I've told so many that I soon felt the need to make my own. I wanted to be part of the annals of history, as the names Thor, Odin, Valka, Kal-El, Batman and many others had.

I may yet earn such a place. I do not know. Only time will tell.

I am Erza, Goddess of Song, Poetry and Tales. This is our Adventure.

...

Asgard
The All-Mother stood, down from the dais upon which her golden throne sat. Before her, were two goddesses, and one looked a wee bit annoyed, and weary of the long speech she had been listening to for the last 20 minutes. "And know this, Valveig, you have made me proud. You and Erza may go with my blessing. But know, if you should ever need my--"

"Aye, mother, I shall call upon you if I am in life-threatening danger. May we go?" Valveig asked, a hint of frustration in her voice.

Valka frowned, searching Valveig's face for insolence, the young Asgardian mentally gulping as she calmed her outward appearance to appear respectful. "Very well. Go, goddesses, and make the universe know your names." she finished, clasping both of them on the shoulder, the two Asgardians bowing their heads in response.

A short time later, Erza and Valveig found themselves in Heimdall's observatory, with nothing save their clothes, their swords and their horses. It was time to forge their own paths. "And where do you wish to go, my ladies?" Heimdal asked, his voice rumbling as it always did.

"Midgard?" Valveig questioned Erza.

"Nay, too many tales start with Midgard. Let us go some place where our swords are needed. Somewhere we have not been before. Somewhere fantastic," Erza finished, smiling, as the daughter of Valka nodded in agreement.

"Very well," said the All-Seer. "May the All-Mother watch over you." And he twisted his sword, the two Asgardians disappearing in a rainbow light.

And so the story began.

---

A collaboration of The Starlight and Charmera.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

"Well... I, ah, I wouldn't really mind, what did you call it? Registering and stuff? But... I don't really do this, all of this." Jamie explained as she made an all-encompassing gesture, referring to everything around her and the tower itself, trying to convey that she didn't do a lot of superheroics on her own. "I mean, I wouldn't even know what alias thingy to register. I don't go out and save people unless I see the danger in front of me; I just stay indoors and play videogames." She admitted. It was probably not the kind of thing that the Justice Queens wanted to hear about any potential new members, but she figured that it was better to be honest now. It would save her trouble later on, and if it didn't sit well with the Justice Queens, then she would just move on. Of course, she knew that she had to be willing to change if she wanted to join them, and she was, but her life so far hadn't been exactly heroic.

---

---

After Jamal had begun explaining himself, Seriskira raised an eyebrow. Knowing every planet in the universe that contained sentient life? She did not know much about the universe, she had to admit, but even then, that seemed like quite the bold claim. Nonetheless, she accepted it as the truth, or at least gave the human the benefit of doubt. After all, even if he was not exaggerating in his claim, there was still no way of knowing how updated his information was. Putting that aside, she continued listening. She did not know much about earthlings, as she had not had as much contact with them as other members of her race had, but even so, from what she had heard of them, the normal ones did not often have the ability to outrun a Bone Panther for so long, nor produce flames from their hands, so she took his statement with a grain of salt. The part of the story that was about Cypher struck her as far more believable, if only because she had no idea what Cypher actually was; his armor, in any case, seemed to support the claim that he was a bounty hunter.

At his question, the Champion of Adai blinked and then tilted her head slightly. "Third Generation computers?" She asked, before taking a sip of tea. "I don't know what any of that means, I'm afraid. However, if what you need is a way to get out of here, we have scientists looking at the design of some pirate ships to replicate them. But you probably don't want to stay around here for that long. I can either fly you to your destination, or get some of our magicians to create a portal or find some other way to send you there, depending on where you want to go." The Hadrian explained, drinking some more tea before setting down her cup and placing her claws on her knees, looking at Jamal. "As for why you might not know about this planet, the entire Adaian System was created only several months ago, so do not be surprised." She explained. "Now then, what will it be?"

---

---

"Mars! Um, I wanted to tell you something. You remember what happened this evening?" Kirisvala stated as she shyly walked into Mars' laboratory, not noticing the blush on his face and in fact more or less trying to avoid eye contact with him. She figured that he would remember, and she certainly remembered as well, still feeling a little bit embarrassed about the kiss she had given him, though she was happy about doing that anyway, for some reason she couldn't quite explain. "After leaving, I wanted to see if the purple energy thing had given me any other powers but... I could feel all that power inside me, and I was scared, Mars. Scared that I'd accidentally hurt someone with it, or that it would force me to go away." The pink-haired girl explained, twiddling her thumbs. "I... I'm sure you've already noticed that I try not to touch you guys, because I'm afraid. With those powers, it all got worse." She said.

But then, for some reason, she seemed to brighten up afterwards. "Oh, but you'll never guess who I met when I went back to the rooftop. Hadrimmelis was there!" Kiris said excitedly. Mars probably knew who that was from the news, as the World-Dragon's deeds had gained quite a bit of publicity in the past months, but even if that was not the case, he had likely heard the Hadrian girl during one of the many times she had begun rambling about how awesome the Black Dragon was. "She said she'd help me, and she did. She saw that I was scared of those powers and she sealed them." She said, before slowing down a little.

"That's what I wanted to tell you." She told the genius. "I know it was a bit selfish of me to let her do that. I know I could've helped a lot of people if I kept those powers, but I... I was very scared." The singer chuckled nervously. "I know it's silly, and I don't really have a better reason for it." She said, sounding somewhat disappointed in herself, before looking up at Mars. "I'm telling you all of this because you're the person I trust the most, Mars. I know we didn't get along well at first, but you've always been honest and kind with me, you've been there for me." She said with a smile, blushing brightly as she recalled not the kiss she had given him, but the moments they spent together on a jet months ago, which had made her very happy. "That's why I trust you. You said you'd never leave me alone."

---

"They'll be here soon." The Hybrid remarked offhandedly to his companions. " Sorry for dragging you along, your sister probably needs to rest up. This is... It's just really important to me."

Seeing the half-Saiyan take off to the skies in order to reach his destination, Black Sun took a moment to make sure that her sister wasn't likely to fall off, and then followed the man. She had expected to have to exert herself more to keep up with him, but she was able to do so easily, without even tapping into the power of her higher forms in order to keep up, which was simultaneously relieving and disappointing. Either way, the Artisan cyborg simply followed him wordlessly until, eventually, he landed once again, not too far from where they had been standing on earlier. She wondered why he couldn't simply have walked or run, but she figured that his species was better accustomed to air travel. That begged the question of why most of them seemed to be on the ground though, but Black Sun at this point just stopped thinking about it. It was pointless use of her vast processing capacities, and so she simply landed on the ground, laying down Black Nova on the ground in a resting position as she listened to Hiroshi explain that whatever was to happen would be happening soon enough.

What came afterwards, well... she simply didn't expect it. She had seen much more impressive stuff during her journeys through the universe as she sought to grow stronger, but she still didn't think that Hiroshi would be waiting for a crashing spaceship. Of course, everything made sense later, as she noticed that some people were stepping out of the flaming wreck that was the spaceship, but it had confused her quite a bit at first. Standing off to the side, the girl with the mechanical arm watched as the kid and the red woman spoke to Hiroshi, with the red woman walking away and then Hiroshi running off after her. There was an absurd amount of drama currently unfolding in front of her, and Black Sun hoonestly wasn't sure what to do, simply standing next to the the unconscious body of her sister as she blinked confusedly and analyzed the scene.

But eventually, she decided to move, walking up to Tomia who had at this point been left unwatched by her parents. "Hello there." She said to the little girl, crouching a little to be closer to her height. "You're such a cute kid! I'm Black Sun. And you?" Asked the girl with the mechanical arm.

---

---

---

"It's quite alright, Otis. To begin with, I don't really live anywhere per se. I am a planet, after all, usually it's other people who live on me. So, as far as I'm concerned, this place is rather cozy." The Black Dragon explained as she heard the Inhuman claim that his house was probably not as large as they were used to. It was true, but a house for a World-Dragon would have to be of absurd proportions anyway, so Hadrimmelis was not concerned with the size. Her avatar disguise shrank her to human proportions either way, so she simply set herself to the task of making herself comfortable in Otis' house, plopping down on the couch and sighing in relief, pleased by having the opportrunity to relax among friends after preventing the Father of Evil from annihilating Earth. She recalled with annoyance that she had left her red cape floating around somewhere on Praetoria, but she simply ignored the thought; she could always create another out of thin air later, after all.

When Otis came back with plenty of snacks and drinks, Hadrimmelis took a couple from him and smiled. "You are being a wonderful host, Otis. Certainly better than my older brother, even when he's on a good mood." She commented, before drinking from her soda and leaning back.

Then, she looked at Otis and Julie. They seemed to get along quite well, and the World-Dragon had an amusing idea, though she knew that it was neither fair nor a good idea to directly mess with their minds. Still, she figured that a bit of nudging wouldn't hurt. Suddenly, Otis would likely feel that it would be a good idea to tell Julie the same thing she had said about his home.

---

---

"I know I've made my opinion more than evident several times, Masami, but you have a very weird family." Garnet said as she calmly selected her weapons, opting not to use Misery this time because it was probably going to be pretty difficult to make sure that her bullets hit the skeletons' bones instead of slipping right past their ribs or something like that. "I know you're hot, but I wouldn't want to be one of your suitors if I had to deal with them." She commented, settling on simply using her gauntlet to break them before they had the chance to do anything to her or any of the other members of the party. They were likely not even that durable, anyway.

Akihiko, meanwhile, very nearly snarled at the dark spirits around the house, holding Kusangi in a white-knuckled grip. All of his distraction was gone now, and he was focused on the enemy. The dark spirits that were animating the skeletons, and the ones which were lurking further inside the mansion, seemed to be calling out to his corrupted blood, and though he, along with the help of his special talisman, was able to hold such a call at bay without any noticeable adverse effects, he still wanted to get this done as soon as possible. He was starting to regret coming along, again, but he reminded himself that he still owed the three women for saving him, and in any case, there was no time to worry about such things at the moment.

"Kusanagi! Waking World!" The young half-Oni called, and immediately, the sword elongated and was surrounded by fire and lightning. With the blade's transformation complete, he charged head-first into the skeleton mob, furiously swinging Kusanagi left and right with the strength of an Oni.

Garnet, meanwhile, had entered the fray too, using her cursed gauntlet and one of her rings to draw the skeletons closer and then shatter them, doing all of this as she hummed a suspiciously appropriate tune.

"Spooky scary skeletons send shivers down your spine~"

[Mavorpen]

snip

"Months ago? Huh, I guessed a timespan of years." Jamal then raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what computers are, but you have scientists trying to reverse engineer space-faring ships?" He asked. "Ah well, it doesn't matter. The important part is that you have ships in the first place. I've always planned on getting my hands on a ship eventually, and now I'm presented with an opportunity to get one without having to do something silly like stealing one. Tell you what..." Jamal took another sip of his tea and stood up and began walking over to Cypher. "I'll just reverse engineer the ship for you guys and build it myself. You get an in-person demonstration on how to build them, and I get a ship. It's a win-win."

Jamal knelt down next to Cypher and poured the rest of the tea on his face. Cypher's eyes shot open as the hot liquid forced him awake. Before he could scream out, Jamal covered his mouth with his hand. "I'm going to ask you for some information, and I'm going to ask only once. I want to know everything. Who funds you? Who is your leader? Where is your headquarters? How many of you are there? If you don't answer, that's fine. I can find the information elsewhere. However, for inconveniencing me by forcing me to exert extra time and energy, you get the luxury of staying here, with the lovely dragonness over there--" Jamal pointed at Seriskira. "--and her people. I'm sure they can maybe work you to death as a slave or something, or maybe use you as bait for hunting. Your choice."

Jamal moved his hand away from Cypher's mouth, and Cypher began talking. Jamal brought his ear closer and listened to all of the information Cypher gave up in a desperate bid to protect his life. After all, he had the option of choosing to stay on Adai or going to a intergalactic prison. At least with the prison, he would definitely live--even if it was in a prison cell. When he was finished, Jamal pulled his head away and placed his hands under Cypher's torso. He raised it up until Cypher was sitting up. Jamal then placed a hand on Cypher's temple. "Thank you." He then quickly grabbed his chin and twisted his neck, snapping his neck and severing his brain stem. The corresponding CRACK! appeared to echo on long after Cypher had died and his lifeless body slumped to the ground. Jamal then grabbed the body and hoisted it over his shoulder, grunting as it took a lot more effort than usual due to his body still being considerably exhausted. "Shall we?" Jamal said as he looked at Seriskira.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

While Manifest is away in space, acting as the God of Fragmentation, SWORD doesn't stay still. What has Brand been up to?

Sentient World Observation and Response Department

"Also known as SWORD. What does that mean to you, Agent?" Commander Brand leaned down on the desk, scowling at her agent.
"It means that someone really wanted our initials to spell SWORD." Grant Ward deadpanned. Brand rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses, then stood up and removed them. She glared at him for a moment before he sighed. "It means we are the line between our world and the much more dangerous worlds. We protect Earth from threats its not ready to face. And when we can't do that..." He chuckled. "We send an anonymous tip to the Avengers."
Brand slammed her hand down onto the table. "Is this all a game to you, Agent Ward? You've known about SWORD for three weeks. You've been a member two. Do you honestly think you're any more qualified than anyone else in this operation? We recruited you because you're the best of the best. Here's an interesting fact: Up here, so is everyone else. You want to be respected? Prove yourself in a one man suicide assault against a Chitauri invasion force, like Agent Paulletz. You want to be the Hero SHIELD thought you were? Tough. The only Heroes up here are Me, Agent Crawler, and the men and women on the Wall of Valor." She stared him in the eye for a moment, sizing him up.

"SHIELD has ten levels. Everyone in SWORD is level eight or above. We have seven internal levels. Up until today, you've been level two. Level one is our prisoners." She leaned against the wall. "Hill wants to promote you. Fury doesn't think it's a bad idea. I do." She watched him expectantly.

Ward nodded slowly. "Ah, I get it. You want me to ask how I can get your approval." He replied sarcastically.

"On the money, Agent, nice to see you're not the useless bucket of bolts most SHIELD agents are." Brand replied. "You'll be leading a four man infiltration team into the abandoned Kree embassy in the UN. After the Builders' War, they retracted their men, saying they had to rebuild more than play diplomat. We have reason to suspect that rogue Kree elements are selling alien tech to both sides in Syria. Get in there, shut it down. Capture the ringleader, kill the rest. Don't get caught by SHIELD. Read the full briefing on the way there. Your plane leaves in five. Dock seven."

Ward rose without another word, arriving at dock seven four minutes later. He glanced at his men. "Who do I have?"

"I'm Agent Deems. Brand trusts me and I'm good with a gun. I'm her eyes and ears on this op." A bald black man, sitting on a barrel. "I'm a Specialist. Over there is Agents Tommy and Zarna. Also Specialists. We'll be accompanying you into the Embassy. Our pilot is Agent Maver- One of the best I've ever ridden with."

"Good to know." Ward replied nonchalantly, walking into the Quinjet. Less than a minute later, he and his team were in the air.

---

Outside the Former UN Kree Embassy...

[[ <Indicates whispering/low voice> ]]

<Mother Hen's intel says that the targets are in the west wing of the building.> Deems' voice came through the comms. <Ward, you know the layout. What's our move?>

Ward scowled for a moment. This embassy was several times larger than any normal one- Intel said it was a re-purposed Kree ship. <Tommy, Deems, I want eyes on the targets. Enter upper floor from the East, all optics on. Find them before they find you. Zarna, keep an eye and ear out for third parties. Recon only until further notice. Radio silence until either you find our targets or Zarna spots a variable. I'll be joining you shortly. Go.> He proceeded softly, climbing up the building to its roof. It took a couple minutes, but from above with his optics on, he could see the "cold spots" of the building, where not even ambient temperature was present. <I found the weapons stashes.>

<And I have our targets.> Tommy's voice came through. <West wing, ground floor. Appears to be an office. Five- Species unconfirmed.>

<There could be some in the weapons rooms, so be careful. Five, you said? Alright. Deems, head to the corresponding room on the west side and make a lot of noise, then get out of there. I'll be there to reinforce if you don't make it out in time. Odds are, they'll split up, and we'll take out the smaller group. If they don't, Tommy, I want you to rifle through the office, see what you can find that's relevant. Go.>

He quickly moved to the roof outside the room that Deems was supposed to 'make a lot of noise' in. He didn't know how he'd do this, but he figured that a SWORD agent (one of the 'best of the best') could handle it. He made sure his optics were working properly and watched Deems' signature, albeit warped and slightly hidden by their camo tech, enter the room and look around. He grabbed a metal pot and wooden spoon. Seriously? Ward raised an eyebrow- And then the other one when Deems attached a special EMP device, a connected pressure sensor, and a siren to the pot. Well, damn.

<I'm about to use a Model-13. Everyone deactivate suits on my mark for about 10 seconds.> All the other agents sounded off that this was confirmed. <And... Go.> He waited a quarter of a second and began to pound on the pot, activating the siren and setting off multiple EMPs. Five seconds later, he ditched the device and exited through the window, leaping up to the second floor and then climbing to the roof, next to Ward. The two counted off the seconds and then reactivated their suits.

<Sound off.> Ward immediately said, listening to each of his agents one by one.

<The whole group went to investigate. I've already moved into the office. I've got... a bunch of Kree and Arabic writing. Each form in one language has one in the other. Documenting as much as I can for the lab techs. Wait- I have a map of the building. One Arabic, one Kree. Sending it to everyone now.> Tommy said as he went through the files in the room.

<Get out of there, Tommy. They're all coming back your way at full speed. You've got three seconds.> Ward warned, keeping pace with the individuals below him using his optics.

<I'm already out. You have the map?>

<Yes.> Ward replied. <Three of the five marked rooms correspond to the cold spots I saw in my scan. One is the office. The last one isn't on the blueprints for the building.>

<Uh... Ward...> Zarna's hesitated. <I... I think I know what room it is. They've reactivated the damn engine. The embassy is a ship... And I think they're turning it on!>

Just as he spoke, the entire building shook and began to slowly rise into the air.

<Shit.> Ward sighed. <Zarna, get inside ASAP. Tommy, meet him at the engine room and destroy it. Take out everyone you see- Stealth is no longer an option. ICERs only, though- We don't know who's the leader. If it's Kree, bullets on. They regenerate. Deems, you're with me- Activate predator mode on your suit, take them out one by one.>

Deems suddenly grunted. <Well, shit. You were right, Ward. Update target number- Five to twenty. They had a hell of a lot of people hidden away in their gun stashes.>

<Twenty, seriously?> Ward growled. <Shit.>

<Don't worry. We got this.> Tommy's voice suddenly came through. <They won't know what hit them.>

---

"So, let me get this straight. You not only managed to destroy the entire former Kree embassy, as well as a portion of the main United Nations grounds, but you killed three Krees and fourteen Syrians in the process?" Brand asked calmly.

"And captured two Kree and a Syrian, disrupting a deal in progress and completing the mission."

"Tommy-"

"Will be out of the medbay in three days, tops." Ward interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me." Brand suddenly leaned in menacingly. "You finished your mission. Congrats. But you've got a lot to do before I'm willing to trust you with anything. Report to Fitz-Simmons for debrief."

[Charmera]

Oxford, England, Nearby University of Oxford.
Alex smiled proudly at what was just recently merely an old mansion. The little known Darwitch manor was said to be haunted, which was specifically why Alex chose it. Placed said to be haunted were often closer to magic, and she felt it was true with this place. Owned by the Darwitch family before it finally came into college hands after all the living relatives died, the manor had been rotting for years before Alex finally worked with Loss to try and convert it into a place of study. The renovations weren’t easy, and Alex had to call in a few favors with spacial mages to make sure that it was bigger on the inside than it’s already large exterior would indicate.

“Well Professor. I think we have out school.” She spoke, a wide smile on her face. “Classes start at 1pm today, since that’s when renovations end. And so far… we’re the only teachers… Though it should be fine. Our cohort is rather small at the moment."

"It's perfect." He smiled broadly. "I have a few advertisements out on the magical side of things. We should get quite a few applicants soon. It's not everyday you find out you're perfectly qualified to teach at Oxford." He opened a folder in his hands. "Darwitch, hmm? I remember the family that built the place. Rich folk, pleasant, if a bit irritable. They weren't fond of the college." A sly smile came to the Professor's face. "Might've been my fault. As it turns out, a magician with two years experience, a faulty explosion spell, and a crop field don't go together very well." He closed the folder, walking forward. "Regardless. Do you know if the paperwork has gone through to transfer our resident students to live here at the Manor? Oh, and I believe I am teaching the first class- Introduction to Magick 101, correct?" He opened the door, holding it for Alex. "Ladies first."

Alex smiled, then walked through. "The paperwork is pretty much done. We also have compeleted the renovations on the dorms so those new transfers should be able to come in and make themselves at home." She remarked. The witch placed some papers on a desk, she would deal with those later. "You are indeed. I'll be in the room if you need me." She remarked. "Otherwise my class schedule is lighter. Not so many "dark wizards" in this group." She remarked jokingly.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

"It's perfect." He smiled broadly. "I have a few advertisements out on the magical side of things. We should get quite a few applicants soon. It's not everyday you find out you're perfectly qualified to teach at Oxford." He opened a folder in his hands. "Darwitch, hmm? I remember the family that built the place. Rich folk, pleasant, if a bit irritable. They weren't fond of the college." A sly smile came to the Professor's face. "Might've been my fault. As it turns out, a magician with two years experience, a faulty explosion spell, and a crop field don't go together very well." He closed the folder, walking forward. "Regardless. Do you know if the paperwork has gone through to transfer our resident students to live here at the Manor? Oh, and I believe I am teaching the first class- Introduction to Magick 101, correct?" He opened the door, holding it for Alex. "Ladies first."

Alex smiled, then walked through. "The paperwork is pretty much done. We also have compeleted the renovations on the dorms so those new transfers should be able to come in and make themselves at home." She remarked. The witch placed some papers on a desk, she would deal with those later. "You are indeed. I'll be in the room if you need me." She remarked. "Otherwise my class schedule is lighter. Not so many "dark wizards" in this group." She remarked jokingly.

Loss rolled his eyes. "The only thing 'dark' about you, Alex, is your humour. If you'll excuse me, I'll be setting up some rather special runes in my new office. If they are disrupted, it is highly likely that Oxford College could cease to exist." He walked into a room specially retrofitted to his specifications- A 13x13x13 solid mahogany room. He began summoning numerous sigils and markings throughout the room, humming to himself.

---

About an hour later, he was finished. All that remained was the Cost. Every excessively complicated charm had one- Typically, Loss designed his to keep it low. All this one required was a single quart of purified Troll ichor which, while somewhat expensive, wasn't all that rare if you knew where to look. "Ellot Sitsicebja mamictiv meam, te tireurepa ihim muania!" The ichor began to float into the air into the exact center of the room and then burned, disappearing. The inside of the room began to shake, not affecting the outside, and then a bright flash temporarily blinded Loss. When he regained his vision, he found himself in his office below Oxford once more. He glanced around, noting that there was a new door on the wall, this one marked with the symbol of the Raven. The one he used to primarily use had the original seal of Oxford University, and the small trapdoor at the top of the vast room had a seven pointed star.

He walked through the Raven door, finding himself once more at the manor. "Wonderful." He smiled.

[[Charm, reply to this one or not, your choice. My next post will be the class.]]
[[Spells used:
Ellot Sitsicebja mamictiv meam, te tireurepa ihim muania - "Take away my sacrifice, and open to me the door"
]]

[Tomia]

Darian and Serene
Serene paused a bit when Etla asked her to tell the story of why the demon was attacking them. Serene wasn't sure what to say, it wasn't like she could just advertise how her brother was possessed by an ancient spirit that if released would kill the entire world. "Well... I mean, its a long story. That guy was a demon, who serves an evil master who is also confusingly referred to as 'The Demon' he is a capital D demon though so that's the distinction. His followers are trying to free him, and they think we're the key to doing that." Serene explained. It was key that that wasn't the whole story but she was trying to keep her older brother out of it.

Mars
Mars sat down and listened intently as Kiris discussed what had happened to her. He sat quietly, and let her finish completely before speaking. He was quite surprised to hear that Hadrimmelis had appeared before her. He had heard of the world dragon both through the news and the many stories and tales that Kiris had told him and the rest of the team about her. He then blushed a little as Kiris began talking about their friendship, and how he was the one she trusted the most. His mind had also drifted back to that time on the jet, when they had fallen asleep in each other's arms after promising to be there for one another. "Mars reached out and took Kiris' hand, though he was more holding her wrist than her hand as to avoid her sharp claws. "Kiris, I trust you too. More than anyone I've ever met. Ever since... Ever since my parents were killed I've had a hard time trusting anyone, but for some reason its easier with you. I know it must be a burden, being afraid of hurting the people you care about. You weren't being selfish at all, in fact you were worried about the people around you. You know... The last thing I'd ever call you Kiris, is selfish."

The Next Morning for the Grimms
Sam managed to make it DeeDee's room, take a shower and get into bed. She was still fast asleep when most others would probably be waking up. Her magically abilities made it so she didn't need to sleep as much as an average human, but she was exhausted from escaping DeeDee's dimension and definitely needed a few hours to recover.

Meanwhile John was slowly awaking from his sleep. He laid in bed with arms wrapped around Sarah, their blankets covering his otherwise naked body, which was now dotted by a number of bite marks. He looked quite tired, but there was a satisfied smile on his face as he leaned down and gently kissed Sarah's neck, almost in greeting. The night had been incredibly unusual for John, and still wasn't sure how to feel about it, but he also knew it was incredibly satisfying and that he enjoyed it, even if he wasn't quite used to the new experience. He wasn't really sure where he and Sarah would go from there. He had never thought of it as a one night stand, but he wasn't sure if Sarah felt the same.

[Charmera]

Fall of Kandar: Part 1: The Four Day War.

The Empire of Kandar stands on the outer rim of the universe. The largest power in it's galaxy, Kandar is based upon stringent honour and a very rigorous caste system. The people are humanoid, though on average quite a bit taller and they have a wider variety of hair colours, which determine one's place in society. The empire managed to spread so fast due to a disciplined military and very durable and destructive spacecraft, as well as elite superhumans. Their fair treatment of other species also helped, meaning cultural rebellions within the empire are rare. Perhaps the most defining trait of the Kandarites is their obsession with blood, literal and metaphorical. Blood cleanses the soul, and bloodlines determine your status and place in society.

By all rights, Kandar should have stood for a thousand centuries, perhaps collapses under the weight or bureaucracy, or changed over time as so many other star empires do. Kandar should have had a dignified end at the heght of a long reign on the Tur Sigma cluster.

But destiny was changed. Kandar will not last through the week.

Four days ago the systems governors were reporting disappearing colonies, planets and stars now completely gone. the Emperess did attempt to look into the matter, though anyone she sent would disappear. The rim colonials and many of the mid hives were concerned with the disappearance of so many colonies in such a short space of time. Not only that, but it seemed like communications among the outer colonies were being disrupted. Light wave communication was useless, and any attempts to resort to psychic telepathy were met with agonizing visions and an exploding head.

Three days prior, things began to heat up. All over the empire reports were coming in of attacks, even deep in imperial territory. Reports of varying types, beings of prodigeous size and endless hungers. Communication was still halted, and the communication that was let through only increased panic and hysteria. Many tried to escape the galaxy, though few actually succeeded, and those that would attempt later would not succeed.

Two days previously definite reports of slime beings came in. Strange female creatures, almost all much larger than a Kandar being. Almost all the mid worlds and outer worlds had fallen, picked off brutally. Some slimes seemed to carry swarms of smaller slimes in what could pass for a gut, spilling them out onto worlds and watching the ones they set free devour it. Reports of slimes the size of solar systems devouring suns like candy. Fleets smashed with greedy hands and devoured into the massive beings. Fights were comically one sided. A few of the slime things could be felled, but even then engagements with more than one bigger than a planet never ended well. The core worlds had been relatively untouched. Some wondered why.

It was simple. They were saving the best parts of the meal for last.

The slimes had chosen their target well. The Tur Sigma cluster had more riches than in knew what to do with, blessed with so many fertile planets for food, metal, crystals, fuel. Anything you could possibly want trickled into the core worlds. They were the most heavily guarded, with good reason, but they were wonders. Entire planets where the streets are literally paved with gold. Floating cities, artificial planets larger than stars.

But this was a golden egg that was supposedly impossible to crack. Forcefields came up as soon as the slimes reached the borders of the crown systems, ones that encompased the entire core, resistant to outside spacial and matter transportation. No one could get in or out. Besides that, a large percent of the core worlders had military training of some description. They were called into the militia, all of them. They had stockpiled for a time like this. The mid may fall. The Outer rim may fall. But the crown will forever be protected.

So, how do you crack a golden egg?

From the inside.

The invasion had not started four days ago. It had been prepared weeks in advance. Infiltrators were sent in, able to absorb and disguise themselves and those they devoured, or simply hide within the cracks of the gilded cities. They learned, discovered, and reported back. Then, when the swarm came, they struck.

First the generals were killed. Absorbed or simply assassinated. Next the sheilds were deactivated, codes for the deactivation were entered, and the sheild was down. Generators were destroyed so that they could never come back up.

The first system to fall was Tyranus. Crushed mercifully quickly by a devision of star sized slimes. Next was Urbaxis, which was simply overrun by sheer number. Later was Unadine, the greedy slimes sucking in all the air on the planets, leaving everyone to suffocate. Kathedie was gnawed from the inside out. The armies couldn't even get to the worlds before they were devoured and the slimes responsible were gone. But there were always more to come and devour the fleets. They had gorged themselves on a galaxy, and were nigh on unstoppable once they sampled some of the delicacies of the core.

Many more fell, before the Empress knew all was lost. She knew it was only a matter of time. She called for help from another galaxy nearby. Not to help end the threat, but to buy time so her daughter, the next empress, could be saved.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

California is a fascinating place. It is, at once, the forefront and the anchor of the future. It is the the epicenter of the world's imagination, and the last place you should ever look for a fresh idea.

Where better for the leader of the world's most vile organization to become one of its most beloved Heroes?

The Secret Society - A Dark Dawn

“Welcome to the first meeting of the New Society. Everybody at this table brings a certain something to the field. Connections that cannot be reproduced. Skills that cannot be replaced. Names that cannot be ignored. Here, Gods and Thieves sit together with many goals, many ambitions, and many plans. As you know, every iteration of the Society has brought us together with the goal of allowing us to pool our resources and bring our collective abilities to a crux. Previous iterations of the Society challenged the likes of the League, the Avengers, and SHIELD on a daily basis.”
Overmind smiled, looking at the people before her. “Loki. Ra’s Al Ghul. Magneto. Rogue Agent. Equation. Luthor. You are the Inner Council of the new Secret Society. In the files you have before you are a list of names. This is the potential membership.”
Luthor raised an eyebrow. “There are a lot of names here, Caroline. For that matter, I don’t even recognize some of the people in this so-called Inner Council. Rogue Agent? Equation?”
Equation chuckled. “The name’s Henry Pym.”
“Charles Crawler.” Rogue Agent supplemented.
Luthor narrowed his eyes. “Ant-Man and Manifest... Yet not. I don’t like dealing with other Universes, Caroline.”
“No worries, Luthor.” Overmind replied. “Neither of them will be dealing with their home dimension in the future, for one reason or the other. That is unimportant.”
He sighed. “Fine. Take the Clown off the list, though. I’m not dealing with him again.”
There were mumbles of agreement through the table.
Overmind shrugged. “Sure. Other than that though, we’re agreed.”

“This is the beginning of the end for the Heroes.” She smirked.

---

"Each person here will be in charge of one subset of the Society. Extraterrestrial and Extradimensional activities will be handled by Loki. Magneto will deal with anything involving mutants or Inhumans. Rogue Agent is our liason to HYDRA and tasked with dealing with SHIELD and all associated organizations. Luthor, the League. Equation, the Avengers. Ra's will deal with the mystical." Overmind listed off. "You'll have access to a Master List of active Society resources and personnel to draw from in your operations and activities.

"And you, Caroline?" Luthor questioned. "Where does that leave you?"

"Oh, quite simple." Overmind smiled. "I run HAMMER. I run the Initiative. I'm the public front."

Luthor narrowed his eyes. "We'll discuss this more in depth soon, I hope."

"Of course." She smiled. "After all- What is a Society without communication?

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Seriskira nodded at Jamal's question. She did not know what a computer was, so, naturally, she did not know what its importance was or why it seemed counter-intuitive to reverse-engineer spaceships without that particular piece of technology. She didn't care about it, either; if it was somehow necessary, then surely the elders would decipher its purpose and how to create it, they likely already had to begin with. Hearing Jamal's proposal, she had to admit that she was intrigued, but it was not her decision to accept or decline his offer, it was up to the elders of Tarashkar, where the ships were being picked apart and reproduced at the moment. She was not even certain if they would need the assistance of the foreigner, but, again, that was up to them to determine, and with that in mind, she set her doubts apart and got up on her feet, observing Jamal as he stood up and headed over to Cypher after making his offer.

Seeing what Jamal did afterwards, though, the Goddess of the Hunt scowled, glaring at Jamal as he interrogated the newly awakened bounty hunter. How dare he do that with her precious beverage? After she had treated him remarkably well, to boot! She could've left him to the Bone Panthers, she could've let them devour him and his partner before she drove them away, but instead she had gone through the trouble of taking him to safety and give him something to drink, and needless to say she was not pleased at all by how he was repaying the favor. She thought of interrupting his interrogation of the bounty hunter, but decided against it, standing back and crossing her arms in front of herself as she watched the scene unfold. The way the human used his people as a threat did not please her either, they were not the savages that he made them out to be, though many foreigners tended to make that assumption based on a few minor details of their culture, which angered her.

Once the human had disposed of the bounty hunter and picked up his dead body, Seriskira nodded and walked up to Jamal. Instead of lifting him, however, she smacked him on the head. It was not too strong a blow, as she had to keep her strength in check since she had no intention of taking care of two dead alien bodies, but she was quite annoyed and not yet too used to her strength as a New Goddess, so the strike likely hurt anyway. "That's for the tea." She stated plainly, before promptly smacking him again. "And that's for making us look bad, nevermind that he's dead now." She said, before taking Cypher's body and wrapping her tail around it once more. Then, she hoisted Jamal as though he were a princess, and took to the skies, heading back to Tarashkar.

---

---

Etla listened attentively to the explanation that Serene gave her about the demon attacks, occasionally looking away to make sure that Cloudy was still safe nearby and was not heading off into the forest to get lost and make her go look for him again. That had been a very annoying few days of searching for the robotic bunny, who could travel unexpectedly quickly from one country to another despite all logic. Either way, after hearing Serene's tale about the demons and the Demon, the golden-haired Rainborn felt that not much had been explained, but she didn't exactly feel like questioning the siblings any longer, so she figured she'd have to learn more on the way there.

If one could read the last line of her thoughts as a narrative, one would see that she had already decided that she was going to tag along with them.

"Well, in that case, we can help you beat up those demons so they stop going after you!" Etla suggested, wrapping an arm around Ihra's shoulder. "We're pretty good fighters and we don't mind going up against some silly demons. Right, sis?" She said with a smile, glancing at Ihra.

---

---

Still blushing, and very much aware of it, Kirisvala had the impulse to turn away to hide it, but she kept her eyes on Mars, driven both by her curiosity and slight anxiety about what he would say in regards to what she had told him, and also simply because she enjoyed looking at him, though the thought of it turned the red tinting her cheeks into an even brighter shade. However, as she noticed that he was blushing too, and as she felt him grab her claw despite the fact that it might be dangerous for him, she felt at ease, she felt happy and a smile spread across her features once again. Said smile only grew wider as she listened to him tell her that the trust was mutual and that he felt comfortable with her as well. It meant a lot to her, and she felt her heart beating faster due to all that had happened and due to her own bliss.

However, her smile faded away when she heard him say that his parents had been killed. She was shocked to hear about it; he had not mentioned it before, not even during the time they spent together in the jet, when they had confided in each other, but it explained many things. Now with a saddened expression, the Hadrian girl walked closer to Mars, casting away her fears for a moment and wrapping her arms around the genius, pulling him into a hug, making sure that her claws did not touch him, but still embracing him, sharing her warmth with him. "So that's why you were so angry when we met." She said with a hint of sorrow in her voice, recalling their short-lived fight. "That's why you were lonely." She spoke softly. "But you don't have to be lonely again, because I promised to be there for you." She continued, before smiling.

"Your words mean a lot to me, Mars. I'm happy to know that you think I did the right thing. And I'm glad to know that you trust me too." She said, hugging Mars more tightly for a moment, carried away by the emotion she felt at the moment. "I'm just happy I can count on someone as smart and kind and, u-umm, as handsome as you." She said, before pulling away and kissing Mars' cheek again. She was still blushing brightly, just like before, but this time, she did not hurry away or avert her face, she simply continued looking at Mars with a slightly embarrassed smile, waiting.

---

---

Sarah was still fast asleep as she lay on her boyfriend's arms, a playful smile present on her face even as she slumbered, her exposed flesh tucked in under the blankets. The last night had been quite tiring for her, but it had been very pleasant and satisfying as well. It was always amusing to see how her partners reacted to her very particular behavior, and this time had been no exception, though in John's defence he had been a good boy and hadn't freaked out. Feeling the kiss on her neck awakened, drawing her back from whatever dreamland she had drifted off to during the previous night and causing her to open her scarlet eyes, her smile widening as she saw John next to her. Sleepily, she sat up on the bed, the blanket falling off her body, and stretched her arms, yawning. Then, she suddenly leaned towards John and kissed him passionately, not letting him go until she found herself short of breath.

"Well?" She said after catching her breath somewhat, though she was still panting a little. "What do you think?" She asked. "Can you pay the price of being with someone like me?" She inquired, a mischievous smile still present on her face.

[Tomia]

Sarah was still fast asleep as she lay on her boyfriend's arms, a playful smile present on her face even as she slumbered, her exposed flesh tucked in under the blankets. The last night had been quite tiring for her, but it had been very pleasant and satisfying as well. It was always amusing to see how her partners reacted to her very particular behavior, and this time had been no exception, though in John's defence he had been a good boy and hadn't freaked out. Feeling the kiss on her neck awakened, drawing her back from whatever dreamland she had drifted off to during the previous night and causing her to open her scarlet eyes, her smile widening as she saw John next to her. Sleepily, she sat up on the bed, the blanket falling off her body, and stretched her arms, yawning. Then, she suddenly leaned towards John and kissed him passionately, not letting him go until she found herself short of breath.

"Well?" She said after catching her breath somewhat, though she was still panting a little. "What do you think?" She asked. "Can you pay the price of being with someone like me?" She inquired, a mischievous smile still present on her face.

John was caught off guard a bit by Sarah's passionate kiss, but he certainly didn't mind it. When Sarah finally pulled away he was breathless but smiling. He heard Sarah's question and was glad that it seemed like she wanted to see him again. "Well, I've certainly made stupider decisions before." John replied playfully, before sitting up and pulling Sarah into a soft embrace. "Last night was great, I've never experienced anything like it. It was strange... But I'd like to get used to it." John told Sarah sincerely, excited to have someone so adventurous in his life.

Still blushing, and very much aware of it, Kirisvala had the impulse to turn away to hide it, but she kept her eyes on Mars, driven both by her curiosity and slight anxiety about what he would say in regards to what she had told him, and also simply because she enjoyed looking at him, though the thought of it turned the red tinting her cheeks into an even brighter shade. However, as she noticed that he was blushing too, and as she felt him grab her claw despite the fact that it might be dangerous for him, she felt at ease, she felt happy and a smile spread across her features once again. Said smile only grew wider as she listened to him tell her that the trust was mutual and that he felt comfortable with her as well. It meant a lot to her, and she felt her heart beating faster due to all that had happened and due to her own bliss.

However, her smile faded away when she heard him say that his parents had been killed. She was shocked to hear about it; he had not mentioned it before, not even during the time they spent together in the jet, when they had confided in each other, but it explained many things. Now with a saddened expression, the Hadrian girl walked closer to Mars, casting away her fears for a moment and wrapping her arms around the genius, pulling him into a hug, making sure that her claws did not touch him, but still embracing him, sharing her warmth with him. "So that's why you were so angry when we met." She said with a hint of sorrow in her voice, recalling their short-lived fight. "That's why you were lonely." She spoke softly. "But you don't have to be lonely again, because I promised to be there for you." She continued, before smiling.

"Your words mean a lot to me, Mars. I'm happy to know that you think I did the right thing. And I'm glad to know that you trust me too." She said, hugging Mars more tightly for a moment, carried away by the emotion she felt at the moment. "I'm just happy I can count on someone as smart and kind and, u-umm, as handsome as you." She said, before pulling away and kissing Mars' cheek again. She was still blushing brightly, just like before, but this time, she did not hurry away or avert her face, she simply continued looking at Mars with a slightly embarrassed smile, waiting.

Mars hadn't even noticed that he had mentioned his parents. He had never even told Kiris about that before. He welcomed Kiris' embrace and didn't even really notice when she tightened the hug, because he would have done the same. He felt and comfortable in her arms. He blushed brightly though when she called him handsome. No girl had ever said that to him before and just when he didn't think he could blush anymore Kiris kissed him on the cheek again.

Mars was almost frozen for a few moments, before he finally spoke up, "Thanks Kiris, You're... uh you're really pretty too. I never thought I'd have a friend like you." He told Kiris before bravely leaning in and softly kissing her cheek as well. When he pulled away he cleared his throat, feeling that the awkwardness was becoming nearly unbearable. "Well, I've got some stuff to do to prepare for the mission tonight. You can stay if you want. But if you want to get ready yourself, I understand."

[The Fallen Jedi]

Demon God Alastir

Alastir stared at the Waterfall of Darkness, his eyes layered with blood red eyes that were as cold as the tundra, there was no satisfaction, no excitement, and no overconfidence in them, it was just fierce determination as well as stone cold hatred within these eyes, the people who he hated more than the earthlings were the Gods of Darkness themselves, they brought upon such devastation to his home that he would have rather gathered his own energy essence and attacked Earth outright, but he knew better than that, if he wanted to really hurt Earth, he needed as much power as possible, new abilities, more everything, and even if he had the powers of a Demon God, Thirteen Gods of Darkness, and even his own energy essence, Alastir was not sure that he would stand much of a chance against the fierce wall of heroes that guarded the planet, but he would not falter against such threats, he would continue on as long as a single cell remained in his body...

As he predicted, the darkened waterfall began to bubble like acid, thirteen different avatars rising out of the waterfall and shooting forward, enveloping Alastir in a pool of darkness so thick that he couldn't even see through the eternal darkness, but as soon as he tried to speak, a malevolent voice was the first to respond with disgust "After all you've done, siding with the God of Light, you dare to rear your wretched face on Mortis once more..." One spoke out, audibly spitting at the presence of Alastir's energy signature, it was foreign, ungodly, as a matter of fact, his unique energy signature wasn't even present! Causing One to roar in absolute rage "You even rear your head here when you no longer are connected to this realm, I should kill you right where you stand you blasted rejec-" As soon as One caught the cold glare from Alastir's now blood red eyes, he felt his liquid body being forcibly dethatched from his body, as well as the other Thirteen Dark Gods "What?"

"No..." Alastir cut in darkly, his red eyes burning with such fury and hatred that even One shuddered to "You aren't going to kill me, nor are you going to call me a reject from this point on." Alastir began to walk towards the liquid body of One, who attempted to move with all his might, but found that Alastir's demonic energy signature latched onto him and prevented himself as well as the other Thirteen to move "You've caused such pain to this Galaxy that it isn't even worth screaming about, I'm not the Alastir you used to know, the one who screamed his angers away, but now..." As his eyes flashed, the thirteen bodies of water began to condense into small orbs that began to revolve around Alastir like he was a planetary body "I am the Supreme Demonic God of Darkness, the one who embodies all evil intent of this Universe and beyond, now merge with me my brothers, become one with my essence!"

At those words, the small orbs of black water latched onto Alastir's body and began to absorb themselves into his body, a very brief but sudden spike of power, Alastir's already demonic aura began to turn dark grey, it was an amazing feeling that Alastir endured, but instead of laughing to himself about it or commenting on it, Alastir closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh "Almost..." Alastir muttered. Alastir then looked up ominously, a frown on his face as he could feel it... He could feel his former divine signature, it was within the waterfall of darkness somewhere, but it would not yet come to him, even though with the power of all Thirteen Dark Gods of his Galaxy, the Fourteenth signature remained defiant, it appeared that Alastir had to dive into the waterfall, and by extension, he would have to feel every evil deed that his Galaxy and those that bordered his realm ever committed, normally anyone who dived within the seemingly acidic black water would fall to the darkness and discord of the waterfall, but without any relent, Alastir calmly walked into the waterfall, submerging him completely.

It only took a second for Alastir to open his eyes to the sheer insanity of the Waterfall of Darkness, screams of anguish, rage, sorrow, and even the sound of maniacal laughs began to echo all around him, but it didn't even seem to phase him in the slightest, but then he heard whispers of curses towards his own race, cursing them for not even helping the Galaxy at their darkest time, but this only caused Alastir to chuckle darkly, concurring with these whispers, the Immortal Race was pathetic in their methods of maintaining balance, Alastir even scolded his own 'natural order' creed, he disowned this, as he believed that the natural order died away long ago. It was at this point that Alastir witnessed thousands of battles between darkness and darkness, light vs darkness, he witnessed every battle that took place in the Masaki Galaxy, and most importantly of all, the battle on Rhen Var between Asumar and Kazuko, a titanic battle of greed and hatred versus the light and hopeful avatar that represented Asumar and Kazuko thousands of years ago "The battle was truly an amazing one, was it not?" a voice cut in, matching Alastir's very own, but to his mild surprise, it wasn't his own, it was the representation of his former self, the smug and impulsive Alastir "To think that those Halflings would fight for power, we should have stopped that little experiment before it began, just simply kill them and move onto the planet Earth with no haste in between."

At this, Alastir simply closed his eyes, it was in restrained anger, to think that he would be so stupid so recently, overconfident, impulsive, smug, and cocky, it enraged him to no end, but he knew if he even unleashed his emotions in a fit of rage, he would lose himself and forever be trapped within the waterfall of darkness, so In order to avoid such a thing, Alastir simply allowed his anger to flow through his aura, the darkened aura wrapping around him like a deathly coat of darkness "You... truly are stupid to think that even at the height of our independent power that we could ever stand a chance against Earth, the void even cut through us like tissue paper." Alastir stared up at his former self with a dark grimace on his face "Your power alone is useless, you are the very tool of darkness, you even think yourself to be it's master, that is practically pathetic." the minute that Alastir walked forward, his past self instantly pulled away and then transformed into the form of The Void, it's four red eyes baring directly into Alastir's soul, causing the Demonic Dark God to come to a halt instantly.

"You remember me, godling?" Past-Alastir!Void stated with a smug sound in it's voice, apparently gaining glare from the real Alastir "That's right you fool, you actually thought that you could confront and defeat me, the real incarnate of darkness!?" At this, Past-Alastir!Void began to laugh evilly "If you really thought that you were able to do such a thing, you are as pathetic as your entire group taking Kilian Roth on, you are NOTH-" Suddenly, the real Alastir's hand reached out and dug into the chest of Past-Alastir!Void, causing the entities eyes to widen suddenly, feeling it's essence being slowly pulled out by the real Alastir, whose red eyes were practically dancing with murderous intent.

"And you are stupid enough to think that I would fall for such a cheap trick." Alastir replied gruffly and darkly, his hand slowly pulling out his past self's soul, and along with it was his original energy signature "You made the fatal mistake of confronting me with that form, you truly have no idea how embarrassed I felt when the Void was able to rip, me, in, half." With each word said, Alastir pulled out the soul of his past self "Now you, like my pathetic predecessors shall submit to myself, and so shall the power of this entire pool!" And finally, with one, swift tug, Alastir completely removed his Past Self's soul, the soul itself seemingly absorbing itself into Alastir's skin "Ahh..." Alastir muttered to himself, feeling his godly presence returning to him at long last "It has been far too long, now I feel complete once more..." Alastir replied, the entire waterfall beginning to condense around him as the darkened water began to absorb itself into Alastir's body...

From the waterfall itself, the entire fall exploded in all directions and caused even the chambers itself to melt under the acidic water, it was as if the waterfall of darkness no longer recognized the realm of Mortis as it's sealing container, but recognized a new entity as it's master and lord, the darkened desires of his entire Galaxy now at his command. It was at this moment that a demonic entity emerged from the now silent waterfall, it's eyes burning with purple fire as it's form suddenly began to seemingly return to normal, revealing the Demonic Dark God Alastir himself, his eyes still burning with purple fire like before. Like before, Alastir's eyes were still cold and devoid, but a new feeling burned behind the veil, it was downright evil intent, it was eyes that promised torment and torture rather than outright death "Finally..." Alastir replied to seemingly no one "I feel whole again..." with these words, Alastir form flickered away from the realm of Mortis, his next objective being the Earth itself.

[Illica Falki]

After the South American Mission
Nightraven sighed, walking into her safehouse, which at this point was the basement of her parents former vacation home on Black Nest Isle, still carrying that canister of Venom she got from South America. She did have a contract to steal some and hand it over to some Rebels in Kasnia, but they betrayed her before she handed over the canister, heck she was barely out of south America when they let slip they didn't have any intention on paying her. It was their mistake, Now they don't have a Mercenary to help them, or a Canister of Venom for their war. She decides better safe than sorry with the Canister and she locks it in a safe hidden in the corner. While the Police on Black Nest were pretty much a joke, being unable to handle issues such as parking tickets due to lack of Funds, There was the occasional good officer that actually did some working, and the abandoned and mostly collapsed vacation home was looking less and less abandoned every day. Luckily she had a plan on how to deal with that, but for now, she needed to sleep, she had a long day. Dropping onto the bed she set up in the basement, she fell asleep quickly, she'll have another long day tomorrow, only for once a day without violence.
Next Day
Nightraven, or right now Amanda Wilson, Finally finished clearing the main floor of the mess that came from a decade of neglect. She's decided to make it known that someone is living on this property, just as an excuse for someone using both the home and the airport. People shouldn't remember her, the last time she was actually on the island when it was a vacation home was when she was 8 years old, and needless to say, she changed a lot from then, so she's not exactly worried. She sighs, taking off her gloves as she heads back inside While a day off from violence is nice in the way that she's not going to get killed, it's a little boring to her. She knows however that she won't have to worry about boring life for long, she'll have to find something to do with that canister before to long.

[Mavorpen]

snip

Jamal didn't see the smack coming until the second she launched the strike. After she struck him, his head was forced to lean to the side a little from the power of the blow. It hurt quite a bit, but he couldn't complain much given that she could have easily killed him had she used her actual claws. "Okay, I probably deserved that." He said as he raised his head back to its normal position. Then she suddenly hit him once more. Again, he raised his head back to normal and sighed. "Yeah, probably deserved that one too."

Jamal allowed Seriskira to grab Cypher with her tail. He was a little surprised when she picked him up and carried him in such an odd manner, but he got over it pretty quickly. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, the tea was delicious." Jamal was then silent for about a minute. "Also, I don't really believe you guys are like what I described when I threatened Cypher. I understand what it's like when an entire group of people is lumped together and associated with something negative as a result of superficial misrepresentations. I mean, I can already tell that there are plenty of great things about you guys from you alone. Like, your scales are really... pretty." Jamal watched as Tarashkar came into view, his stomach growling as he suddenly began thinking about finally getting something to eat.

[Charmera]

"I know I've made my opinion more than evident several times, Masami, but you have a very weird family." Garnet said as she calmly selected her weapons, opting not to use Misery this time because it was probably going to be pretty difficult to make sure that her bullets hit the skeletons' bones instead of slipping right past their ribs or something like that. "I know you're hot, but I wouldn't want to be one of your suitors if I had to deal with them." She commented, settling on simply using her gauntlet to break them before they had the chance to do anything to her or any of the other members of the party. They were likely not even that durable, anyway.

Akihiko, meanwhile, very nearly snarled at the dark spirits around the house, holding Kusangi in a white-knuckled grip. All of his distraction was gone now, and he was focused on the enemy. The dark spirits that were animating the skeletons, and the ones which were lurking further inside the mansion, seemed to be calling out to his corrupted blood, and though he, along with the help of his special talisman, was able to hold such a call at bay without any noticeable adverse effects, he still wanted to get this done as soon as possible. He was starting to regret coming along, again, but he reminded himself that he still owed the three women for saving him, and in any case, there was no time to worry about such things at the moment.

"Kusanagi! Waking World!" The young half-Oni called, and immediately, the sword elongated and was surrounded by fire and lightning. With the blade's transformation complete, he charged head-first into the skeleton mob, furiously swinging Kusanagi left and right with the strength of an Oni.

Garnet, meanwhile, had entered the fray too, using her cursed gauntlet and one of her rings to draw the skeletons closer and then shatter them, doing all of this as she hummed a suspiciously appropriate tune.

"Spooky scary skeletons send shivers down your spine~"

"Thank you for the compliment. I do have to credit my tails for most of my attractiveness however." Masami remarked with a smile, using her foxfire to incinerate the skeletons she could not reach with her sword. "And yes, I realise I didn't have the most normal relatives living with the Neko. But on the bright side things would never be dull with me."

Akari blew skeletons apart with artfull flourishes of her guns, blasting through as many as she could, Aiming for torso and pelvis to dismantle them. She dodged the occasional hit and used her catlike reflexes to cover for Akhiko, whom she sticked around. Not that he needed her help, she just felt like it.

Soon the skeletons were nothing but a heap of bones. And Masami looked around. "is that it?"

"Oh you'll find plenty of surprises in this house young Fox. You may even find the truth if you live long enough."

Masami frowned. "What truth? What?" She gritted her teeth at the lack of an answer, then looked at the doorways.

She calmed herself and inhaled through her foxlike nose. Then pointed. "That way is the place where the most spirity smell is."

"So we're just going to go to the least pleasant areas of this house."

"Well you know well that these sorts of places have wierd exits. Our aunt is probably guarding it." She replied. "She wants us to know something..." She moved towards the direction in which she had pointed, Akari following.

---

Etla listened attentively to the explanation that Serene gave her about the demon attacks, occasionally looking away to make sure that Cloudy was still safe nearby and was not heading off into the forest to get lost and make her go look for him again. That had been a very annoying few days of searching for the robotic bunny, who could travel unexpectedly quickly from one country to another despite all logic. Either way, after hearing Serene's tale about the demons and the Demon, the golden-haired Rainborn felt that not much had been explained, but she didn't exactly feel like questioning the siblings any longer, so she figured she'd have to learn more on the way there.

If one could read the last line of her thoughts as a narrative, one would see that she had already decided that she was going to tag along with them.

"Well, in that case, we can help you beat up those demons so they stop going after you!" Etla suggested, wrapping an arm around Ihra's shoulder. "We're pretty good fighters and we don't mind going up against some silly demons. Right, sis?" She said with a smile, glancing at Ihra.

Ihra sighed. "You always get me into trouble, don't you sis?" She remarked, half jokingly. She was quite flattered that her sister thought of her as a good fighter. "I fought a queen of Darkness. So I suppose Demons can't be much worse." She spoke. She nodded to the two of them. "Plus, we don't want to leave you two alone against waves of demons."

Auia smiled. "So it's decided! We'll be the Fellowship of the Spectrum." She spoke, which earned an odd look from Ihra, if not the others. "Spectrum? Lights. Colours. We got me, living embodiment of what makes the world so lovely, hue, shade, tone and contrast!" She sped towards the two brother and sister and wrapped arms around their shoulders. "We got the contrasting duo! Light and Dark." She slid towards the two sisters, moving so smoothly she seemed like some sort of skater. "We got the one with the rainbow sword," Auia then pointed at Etla, pausing. "Um..." She thought. Then she shrugged and smiled. "Okay. I haven't got a thing for you. Maybe the name needs work. But I think we'd make an awesome team to... do whatever we're doing? Something about demons right?"

"We're fighting demons so they'll stop harasing Serene and Darian."

"Yes! That!" She spoke excitedly.

"I don't have a home, so yeah, this is pretty sweet." She remarked. She had been living, metaphorically, in a green ring for much of her life, or on Oa or the watchtower. So she had pretty spartan quarters, so anything like this would be quite enough for Julie.


Claudia paused. Part of her wanted to say it wasn't enough. Part of her wanted to pummel him into the ground and then continue on her way. Part of her wanted to take him back. Part of her wanted to grab him and hug him and tell him she would never leave.

"Hiroshi... You idiot... You complete moron. You thick headed numb skulled bone headed bastard." She muttered. Suddenly the Saiyan would feel himself lifted into the air as red hands wrapped around him. So tight he might have trouble breathing. But this was not a threatening grab, this was an embrace. Claudia's eyes were in tears. "You didn't have to torture yourself... You stupid meathead." Despite what she might say, she cared about Hiroshi, and seeing him destroy himself over guilt was not what she wanted. "All I wanted was for you to say sorry..."

It had been hard to not see him for so long for her too.

Hiroshi:

When his feet left the ground, and Claudia forgave him, Hiroshi felt inexplainable guilt swell in his chest. It was obvious she forgave him, and that she still cared. But he didn't feel like he'd earned any forgiveness. Tilting his head up, his blue-green eyes scanned her features, quizzically looking over her.

"Y-you did?" Hiroshi almost whispered, clearing his throat as he reined in the last of his emotions, his impassive disposition returning. " But I hurt you... More than I've ever hurt anyone in a fight. I attacked you with words. I purposefully struck at you, lashing out at weaknesses you'd confided in me..."

Shakily raising his arm, Hiroshi unconsciously felt his fingers cup her cheek, his rough hands softly tracing patterns on her skin. It was almost surreal to be here. For him to not only be near her, but being able to talk to her, it was something he'd never imagined accomplishing in the same day.

" The last few weeks taught me a lot." Hiroshi remarked. " I achieved a power far beyond my own. The pinnacle of Saiyan ability. And..." Pausing, the Hybrid met her eyes. " It was accepting failure that allowed me to ascend. My uncle described it as the failure of the Saiyan race as a total, and the failures he and I had and would expirence throughout our lives. I thought at first that he meant overcoming them. But now... No, then. I realized it was accepting these failures and moving past them was the key. It also allowed me to accept the blame I'd pushed away from myself. I've... I've grown more in the last few weeks then I've ever before."

Closing his eyes, Hiroshi felt the pit of despair he'd built around himself almost evaporate as a weight disappeared from his shoulders. He was hardly out of the woods yet, but he could finally feel an almost happiness, an acceptance bubbling in his chest. Opening his eyes once more, Hiroshi felt as if control of his life had been returned to him, turning them upwards, he felt his hair fall to onyx once more as he parted his lips, finally ready to accept Claudia's decision.

" I've changed as a person too. I'm not the same Hybrid Saiyan-Kaioshin you left almost five months ago. And... I think I'm ready to accept your judgement so to speak. I knew you said you missed me too, but like I said, I'm not the same man, and as much as it pains me, if you don't think you can love the new me like you did the old, I accept your decision."

"Hiro. That's the point of love. If a person changes, you're suppose to still love them." Claudia explained. She sighed. "The problem I had was when you betrayed my trust. That's what made me upset. I hated feeling so... disrespected by the one I loved. "

She paused. "But. Though I can love you, and I think we should be together, I think we need to talk about our relationship. Work things out a little." Claudia had surprisingly thought about this. She had considered these things. It was why she was so ready to accept his apology. "Firstly, we're going to live together. Mostly for Tomia's sake. Two parents are better than one, even if one is more of a giant red nanny." She explained. "We also need to be more honest and open with one another. Tell each other everything. Got it?"

[TriStates]

Kismet / Interdictor of Fate

---

The essence of being, is that one does not seek perfection.

A ordinary man said something worth saying, in his Atomic-age hovel, billions of years after I was. Was what, though? Made? No, that doesn't sound right. Born... But thats not right either. After all, how does one describe a force's state of being, her beginnings, when she has always been aware of them? Could Gravity count its birthdays? Could you ask Time to count back to the first second? Probably not. But I have to admit, these thoughts are two among two trillion that fly through my mind in the blink of an eye. And still they return, but never are they answered. But theres still time yet to wait for one. And when I find it, I'll tell a tale, and say something worth saying. Maybe write a book.

Ha~

---

A One Among Zeros

A glimpse of what was is needed; before what is, can be appreciated. For lack of a better term, we'll say it. And it, was a Reaper. An intelligent, artificial construct, made as much of brawn and blood as mind and metal. Whose origin belied a singular purpose. To seek out, observe, and prepare the species of the galaxy for Ascension. This was its duty, its meaning in life, as an Interdictor. In a macabre sort of way, you could say this was it's life's work.

Cold...

This thought echoed lengthy as the space leviathan slipped slowly through dark nothingness. In its mind of minds, the word and its meaning were shared between collective intellects within its psyche. A part of her, yet apart. Their own physical platforms were stretched far out across the expanse of the void. Perhaps they might as well have not been there. But they were. Their company was an always present awareness at the back of her being, so that she was never truly alone. Had it been capable of empathy, it might have felt happy. Comforted by the warm, pulsating presences that existed within her. She hummed along to the pulses, a deep, thrumming WHHHUUUUUMMMM!

Then Flashes...

Like the first, it knew the word and its meaning. But not its feeling. The rapid, almost hypnotic flames licked over its deep purple carapace, the armor absorbing whatever its kinetic barriers did not neutralize. These beams came from a multitude of sources; all machines of destruction. Triggered by impotent little beings. Mere ants of emotion beneath these giants of reason, resorting to resistance by force, because they couldn't comprehend the grand enlightenment that awaited them through Ascension.

And because they couldn't understand, the Interdictor had to respond in kind. In one, large, overwhelming flash. Perhaps for a second, the cries of the ants voices as they shouted out their terror, actually reached the Old Machine. But then were gone, as soon as they had come. And all that was left to echo, was that baritone hum.

---

Discovery

It was on one of these voyages, that the Old Machine found something it did not expect. Nor intend to encounter. This was a first for the Interdictor. No where in its vast repository of knowledge, information cataloged over billions of years, could it find an phenomenon similar. This was truly, an freak anomaly. You could even say, this apathetic machine, became curious. A fatal error in programming, on its part.

---

Arrival Unforeseen

Little of what occurred between discovering the natural aberration, and her transit-- somewhere --was recorded fully by its sensors. What was, came in a cacophony of sounds, interspersed between a barrage of images that an organic may describe as grotesque or bizarre. A rip in space-time is no mean feat, even for a Reaper. For the Interdictor, the most disorienting stimuli was time. Or the lack of it. As a organism whose existence was this expansive continuation of being, no real beginning and no real end, the sudden feeling of past, present and future stretched, shrunk, then colliding was feeling... Feeling...

Feel

It knew the word. It knew what it defined. And maybe, in that uncountable tract of experience, right before its processors overloaded with the raw data of information stimulation, this creatures mind of ones and zeros had actually felt?

[Galnius]

The Marianas Corps. turned abruptly to view a quadraped roughly their size land in a ship and turn the sand to glass. "Hey, uh...who you must have received my message? Alright, I am Cuňero Teles Din Harutichi, 13th prince of the Veserano. May I know your name?"

"He might not speak our language Kono yarou." reprimanded Freefall.

"Well I understood you....and that wasn't very polite."

"Kusoe kurae."

"Again..not nice. So, strange alien lifeform..."

"You're one to talk," Kitty whispers under her breath, getting a glare from the prince.

"May we know your name?" asked Star dancer, one final time.

"Correction, One is not a life form, as such a term implies the condition of living cells. My Identification number is XK-I59 but you may call me Skarion. Secondary correction, I understand all languages. And yes, I have received your message." Skarion waved his device over the sand in front of him towards the other solidifying the sand allowing him to transcend across it. "Please forgive my disturbance of the natural ground texture, however my weight make traversing such ground formations impossible." Skarions voice sound shocking like that of a young boy, though there are still traces of his robot ism left in his words.

Mumbling under his breathe, Forge silently mocked the first claim. "I know quite a lot of androids who would most certainly disagree with you, and one of them tries to take over the world ever so often." Cunero jabbed his side, lightly in response.

"C'mon Forge, don't try destroying a sentient beings beliefs, and he is TECHNICALLY right, if going by the scientific definition....So, Skarion, are you going to be accompanying us within the sub or coming along on the side? I am sure there is room for you within if you'd like." QAs he said this, people were milling in, to the humongous watercraft, some awed, others looking rather bored. Kitty poked out her head.

"Hey, guys, are we gonna leave in the next century!"

[Deminis]

"Correction, One is not a life form, as such a term implies the condition of living cells. My Identification number is XK-I59 but you may call me Skarion. Secondary correction, I understand all languages. And yes, I have received your message." Skarion waved his device over the sand in front of him towards the other solidifying the sand allowing him to transcend across it. "Please forgive my disturbance of the natural ground texture, however my weight make traversing such ground formations impossible." Skarions voice sound shocking like that of a young boy, though there are still traces of his robot ism left in his words.

Mumbling under his breathe, Forge silently mocked the first claim. "I know quite a lot of androids who would most certainly disagree with you, and one of them tries to take over the world ever so often." Cunero jabbed his side, lightly in response.

"C'mon Forge, don't try destroying a sentient beings beliefs, and he is TECHNICALLY right, if going by the scientific definition....So, Skarion, are you going to be accompanying us within the sub or coming along on the side? I am sure there is room for you within if you'd like." QAs he said this, people were milling in, to the humongous watercraft, some awed, others looking rather bored. Kitty poked out her head.

"Hey, guys, are we gonna leave in the next century!"

Skarion let out a mechanical chuckle as he began to move forwards again, still solidifying the sand across the beach. "If you so wished, I could arrange a century gap between now and departure." his optical ring glowed a slightly greenish tint.