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

[Jorliefstreiken]

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-

She frowned at Doombringer. "Watch your tone, husband of Astrid. You and your son dwell here only by my lenience. Do not tempt my patience," she warned, looking up at the approaching slime creatures. She had no idea why Odin had allowed the Asgardian Godess of Magic to marry a Midgardian who could regenerate.

She next turned to Katie. "It was not I, nor do I have Mjolnir currently in my possession, though you may ask whatever you wish after this battle, should we prove victorious." Seeing several new arrivals along with Otis, she waved them over, or they traveled to her as the mustering horns were heard. "There is little time to explain, but welcome to Asgard. What you need to know is that today we face a potentially universal threat. They must be stopped here. These slime creatures can absorb most things, including planets and living beings." Valka said, the vanguard of Valkyries joining her as the rest of Asgard mustered themselves. Striding quickly towards the gap in their wall, the All-Mother's Valkyries followed her before Valka led them in a charge, summoning liquid metal and launching it one of the creatures to hopefully envelop it while the Valkyries started a bombardment with high powered energy staffs and cannons.

Making mental notes in his head Bringer looked up following Valka's head and said "Hold that thought. are those giant jello people?" discovering that in fact they were jello people stunned Doombringer. wondering if they were edible Bringer flew out to the front gate to find Otis talking to a jello person. Looking to the Kineceleran who wielded Thors hammer Bringer asked "Need some help there Speedy Gonzalez?"

[The Fallen Jedi]

Dark God Saga
Part Thirteen: Endgame Pt.5: The Great Climax

Asumar's fist connected with VI's own fist, generating a shockwave of such epic proportions that it caused those who were near the epicenter of it to shudder at the sheer output of power that the two opponents were letting out, VI, who had lost his sense of humor and decided to no longer hold back against Asumar, having decided that now was the time to incite some fear within the Demi-God, but to his surprise, Asumar was no longer afraid of the power of darkness, all that was within his eyes was the sheer determination to continue fighting until the Army of Darkness met it's inventible end, he could clearly see that Ryuichi was holding his own, so he no longer had anything to worry about "I honestly don't understand how you can stand against my power, before this Satera character appeared, you were weaker than your Father and Alastir combined, now that irritates me to no end!" VI growled, his black tendrils shooting down into the planet before they shot up into the sky through the ground, which came crashing into Asumar with full force "Now just lay down and die you fool!" VI shouted, bringing his hand up, a swirling void of energy within his hand, which resembled a mini-black hole "DIE!!!" IV cried out, throwing the small black hole towards the swarm of Tendrils that supposedly had Asumar trapped from beneath.

"Die?" The tendrils exploded in a mass of white energy that stemmed from beneath, and out of the energy, Asumar shot out from it, his entire form surrounded by an aura of white energy that began to quite literally set VI aflame "I have no intentions to die today, I've felt the embrace of death once more and I won't allow myself to feel it again." Opening his palm, Asumar grabbed hold of the small black hole and converted it into a center of undying light that caused IV to let out a large roar and shot forward in an attempt to stop Asumar before he could launch it "Now I will cleanse your presence from this world and shower it in a pure light that not even your predecessors have even seen!" Just as IV tried to deliver a critical hit to Asumar, he grabbed hold of VI's fist, jumped above him and then threw it into the face of IV, said orb entered into the deepest pits of IV's body, spreading it's essence of light within it's body and caused IV to explode it a million pieces of light, cursing Asumar to the deepest pits of hell as the entity faded away entirely, leaving not even a trace of it's once darkened spirit intact. Not only did this cause VI's death, but a large portion of the Army of Darkness shattered into pieces of light that scattered across the planet, Asumar suddenly realized, the entire Army of Darkness was irrevocably linked to it's leaders! A smirk formed on Asumar's face, if all the Gods of Darkness were defeated, so would the army of darkness!

With this newfound information, Asumar jumped up over an incoming group of daemons and dropped right next to Kazuko, who was harmlessly cutting his way through countless swarms of the Daemons that stood in his way, Asumar's arrival was not without notice however, as Kazuko also sensed that a large portion of the Army of Darkness faded away with IV's death, and he automatically knew that every portion of the Dark Army was connected to an individual Dark God "Always the late one I presume Asumar?" Kazuko asked, narrowly avoiding a kick from a Demon and sent him flying backwards with only a mere glance, his psionic powers had been boosted by the Primordial Cosmic Force that flowed through his veins "I'm already a few steps ahead of your plan Asumar, we should go off and help Satera with defeating the Unholy Trinity, even though he Is an Omnipotent Force of Nature, a part of him is still our father, and we owe him, do we not?" Kazuko replied, the two brothers standing shoulder.

However, as they stood side-by-side, one more joined their ranks, It was Satera, who had already defeated nearly five of the Lesser Gods of Darkness, and thus, the Army of Darknesses ranks had been drastically reduced "Right you are Kazuko, I may no longer be your father, but a part of him still exists within me, which makes me feel a great desire to protect the both of you, I too have discovered that the Army of Darkness is forever linked to their masters, and if we can sever their link, then the Army of Darkness will cease to exist..." Satera narrowly avoided an attack from X, the final lesser god, and then impaled him with his hand-turned-organic Sword, which he then imbued with the full properties of the Omega Effect, which caused X to dissolve into nothingness alongside VI "However, if we wish to make a major effect on the battle, we must kill two out of the three members of the Unholy Trinity, If One is left alive, his influence on the Demon Army will be absolute..." Satera turned his head to the oncoming power of the Three Members of the Unholy Trinity, their power dwarfing all other Dark Gods and even enough to challenge and even defeat the Masaki Brothers "Now, they come..."

[Turmenista]

Hiroshi:

Blinking, Hiorshi wiped his forearm across his forehead, the entire area suddenly very hot. Stepping forward, he found the second problem. His feet were frozen to the ground. Sighing, he went about Turing to break the ice, until the world became very bright. Covering his eyes, he looked out at the colossal bolt of energy speeding towards him.

Damn it! Myosai, learn to control your damn attacks!

Drawing his arms back to his sides, a savage look warped his features. The golden fire around him burned brighter and brighter every moment he pushed onwards. This was a test, and he wa going to face it as he did any other. His frame almost hunched over as fiery power roared through his veins, the thrumming of his aura almost as loud as the bolt careening toward him.

Howling like a wild animal, the Hybrid drew his power back, his skin glowing gold with the power of Ascended Saiyan. His hair sparked wildly, standing straight before the gale. In a burst of raw power, his aura blasted back outwards, the boltof energy slowing in its path. The burned and ruined land around him shuddered and blasted forwards. Gritting his teeth, Hiroshi felt the orb almost drop into his waiting palms.

Huffing, Hirshi stared into the center of the blinding bolt of ki, pushing all of his strength forward in an effort to shove it off of him. The heat was both scorching, and int he same moment, amazing. The churning mass of power lifted only inches away from him, and then feet, twin bolts of azure ki burrowing into the orb. Sweat poured down his cheeks as he readied himself.

In one swift motion, Hiroshi pulled the bolt towards him, the entire attack shifting dramatically, tension and energy built up in Huroshi exploded outwards with one great heave, Hiroshi throwing the attack towards the heavens, the attack exploding above them.

Glacia might have been impressed by the show of sheer power, had she any time to be. She had to exploit the advantage, and so she did, aiming to slam into Hiroshi with crippling icy punches. With each of them she felt pain as her body protested. Though it got duller and duller the more she fought. She aimed to disengage once more after attacking. Hopping back into the darkness, she prepared a blast of icy energy which she shot towards her advesary. Perhaps she was being too greedy getting that extra strike in, but Glacia was ever a risk taker.

And where the hell was Myosai during all this?

Preparing for an attack, of course. While Hiroshi and Glacia were continuing to battle it out, Myosai was busy channeling her energy into her palms, forming yet another energy based attack for her friend.

This time her plan was to charge a fuckton of energy into this attack and leave it with Glacia, as it detonated on their icy friend.

The sphere, a fuschia color, was the size of a Melon as Myosai instant transmissioned towards Glacia, a sly grin on her face.

Shoving into her arms, Myosai forcefully (and rather invasively) handed Glacia the sphere of energy, begging to be detonated.

"Hey... Can you hold this for a second..? Thanks!"

Myosai Instant Transmissioned out of the somewhat awkward hug of hers, before unsheathing her sword. Her blade lit up the same color of the energy sphere she created, cracking with electricity and energy as she prepared to detonate her attack.

[Tomia]

Asgard
Darian and Serene looked at the woman next to them strangely when she said she was the embodiment of color itself. How was that even possible? They were even more confused when she said that she had been watching them for a while. Darian raised an eyebrow and spoke up, "So you've just been watching us from the background, isn't that weird?" Darian asked, a little creep-ed out by the situation. Serene stiffened when the color woman said that they an angel and a demon. "So you know what we are? Don't tell anyone alright? A lot of people wouldn't be as okay with it as you are." She then offered her hand out in greeting, figuring that this woman didn't seem all that bad. "I'm Serene, and this is Darian. It's nice to meet you." She said with a smile before suddenly they were being called into battle against large slim monsters. "Come on, we should help!" Serene said, before transforming transforming into Lightbringer in a flash of light. Darian transformed into the Sword Demon as a dark aura surrounded him. With his large sword in hand he followed his sister toward the others as they all began to charge into battle.

Mars
Mars listened to Kiris give all of the options she had available and he was quite impressed with the knowledge and confidence she had about her powers. Red Arrow then spoke up, "Well, if you have a way to incapacitate them without drawing their attention, that'll work too. Once you've done that then I'll get into my sniper's nest and I'll able to cover you two when you charge through the main gate." Mars nodded, though clearly reluctant to agree. "He's right, that seems like the best strategy to me." Mars said in agreement with Red Arrow. "Whenever you're ready Dragon Mage."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Ralph the Rat-16 Yrs-Gotham City

It seems I had spoken too soon, as I was about to make a last stand against the arrival of an army, my own reinforcements began to arrive. Although know not of who they are or why they have come, I did not have the luxury of asking nor cared to at the moment. As the Black Arm soldiers descended upon me, a being in armor intervened, seemingly on my own behalf. She fired a series of lightning bolts from her, which struck several of the alien forces and sent them spiraling back and out of the fight, easily defeated by the outset of such fire power. But there are many more. The being appeared as a knight seemingly and wielded weapons which seemed to have a almost mystical quality to them, I was unsure of the warrior, but Max had once told me that his world was home to strange and powerful beings. But I was in for a additional surprise when the being spoke.

She was a woman.

I gave a slight smile at her comment about the walking animals fighting over jewelry. As I stood up and retorted. "We are Mobians, at least the black coyote and myself are. These other beings are aliens from another dimension." My voice then dropped and my eyes narrowed at the enemy. "There goals are not for the benefit of this world." As the woman addressed the Black Arms, I took a few moments to gather myself. Shade did not waste any time as well, as he shifted into the shadows and began to retreat. No doubt planning to allow the Black Arms to defeat us, or at the very least slow us down.

My eyes then acted with surprise as she pointed a single finger at me, and sent some jolt of energy into me. In a way recharging me, as if I was a battery. Whatever she did it worked, and I felt as if I was in top shape again, not even remembering the pain I was in moments ago hardly. When she remarked that it appeared we were on the same side, I did not waste any time in responding to her.

"So it would seem." I confirmed, as I was about to go back into the offensive just as another arrival appeared, asking if either of us spoke English.

"I dont know what that is, but I understand you if that is what you mean. Look, I dont have time to explain everything now, but help me get ground zero under control, and I will fill both of you in on what we are facing here. Although, there are some details I am not even sure about myself to be honest." With that I clenched both of my fists tightly and began to exert a greater effort on the surrounding area. It was subtle at first, but small pieces of garbage began to hover upwards into the sky, followed by heavier objects, finally several unoccupied vehicles and a couple dozen black arms were swiftly pulled upwards into the air as I let out a roar in pain. The effort that I exerted to employ such a powerful wave of psychic energy with me at it's epicenter, it radiated from me like a series of tidal waves.

The result was powerful, but barely contained and I was rather just hoping that my new allies would be able to resist the pressure, as I was not actively targeting them. This combined with Etla spewing lightning from her own sword, was enough to force the Black Arms back, but the numbers were only growing, and with the rifts in the sky still open, there was no telling how long the passage would be clear nor how many of these beings would be unleashed upon this city. But I was rather sure of one detail, that after all of this was done...

There would not be very many of the creatures left in the city.

[Anowa]

-snip-

The Eternal Wanderer
My two new associates understanding me was a cosmic impossibility, but it was welcome, no matter how unlikely. Unsheathing my sickle I prepped to make contact with the encroaching horde, but it was then the Rat-Man -I should ask his name- decided to push them away instead, giving us a sizable amount of breathing room. "Just so I don't get thrown into a stockade for accidentally offending either of you, my I ask your names? You can call me Wanderer." As I waited for their replies I visually scanned the area, we were in the middle of a street, flanked on both sides by a myriad of buildings. Not the best place to be when encountering a mass amount of anything with claws. "I'd suggest moving to the high-ground before we get swamped."

[Anowa]

Harvester
Orion Arm of the Milky Way
The garden-world which had been teeming with life, natural resources, water, and had just started it's industrial revolution, the green and purple ball of beauty was now rendered a misshapen ball of dust and ash. It's genetic crop had been archived, and it's resources harvested to maintain my own systems. I had done the same to the system's first two planets, and would do so to the next seven, including it's only gas giant. The process would only take three weeks, at which point the capacitors for my FTL drive would contain enough charge to get to the next solar system, and the cycle would continue until this whole galaxy would be archived, and then I would travel to the next galaxy and continue the cycle.

I picked up a radio transmission, most likely from a long dead civilization, that's what always happened. In a last act of desperation a civilization would send out a message, though most times they did not like my answer. The message mentioned something about the planet's name being 'Krypton'. It may be worth traveling there at some point, I archived the radio transmission and it's origin. Then I began harvesting the next planet, a motley grey-blue ball of tungsten and osmium, two common elements of this solar system. This harvest would only last a few days, accounting on the lack of life.

I started receiving more radio transmissions, it was common place for this to happen, radio waves and light waves would travel endlessly through space until they came into contact with a singularity, the difference between the call for help and a few of these new ones were that they were for entertainment. These stocks were quite rare on the cosmic scale, most species were blinded by logic, like my creators had been. The ones who held life in esteem would not be entirely harvested. I ensured this so that they may grow, and perhaps evolve more drastically than the more restrictive species. The species seemed to call itself 'Humans' interesting. Their location was quite close, although it would take some time to get there, and this 'Krypton was on the path there. It seemed I could take two birds with a single stone.

Meanwhile a Swarm of harvester bots settled onto the dense planet below, mining away. Their fission cores would need to be replaced soon, hopefully by a material similar to uranium or plutonium. Until then I'd settle for the much less efficient fossil fuels if a sufficient amount of dense radio-isotopes could not be found.

[New Neros]

-Ashy

The Mad City Saga
Recruitment Drive
Part Two

Over the Bay of Bengal

The large aircraft flew quickly across the sky - steady in it's course and flight, to the point that her inhabitants could freely walk about their cabins without turbulence. Some realized quickly, though, that the plane was perhaps one of the most powerful on Earth due to her cargo - nothing but superpowered beings of all walks of life. Some from Earth, some not, mutants and superhumans all clustered together thirty-thousand feet above the ground. Many of them gave each other suspicious looks, a sense of competition and rivalry fueling the tense situation. Mir watched from a video feed, wondering what actions will be taken by the inhabitants.

"What is all this?" Van asked, watching next to Mir, the Daxamite explaining.

"A test, of sorts. I need the best of the best in this organization. I need to know if these people have what it takes to be Mad Gods." Mir casually said to Van, folding his fingers together in front of his face. "I'm looking for people with empathy and the ability to form a team, work together, and be willing to sacrifice their own lives for their allies." Mir watched the monitors carefully, judging each one of the potential candidates. "Because I shall."

Van nodded, but had some reservations of his own. "So, I suppose I passed the tests you had for me?"

"Some." Mir said calmly, causing Van Zant to stare at Mir, confused by this man and his motives, but accepting that Mir wasn't much of a threat, Van held his tongue and said nothing. "It's your powers and what I've seen of you personally, Van." Mir said finally, breaking the tension between them. "Your powers rely on how confident you are in your own abilities. You're a good person at heart, I feel it, and you may disagree because I don't know you entirely. But...it's how you carry yourself. You didn't run from danger, you went right in and defended everyone."

"Yeah..." Van Zant said, trailing off, sinking in his seat as Mir started digging into his psyche. Mir smiled at something on the screen, a development and a situation forming before his very eyes. Van leaned forward to look as well, their situation far more tense than the one Mir and Van had just had. Two burly men were standing close to each other, sizing the other up, looking one another up and down. "What's going on?"

"A lady tripped and fell. One guy accused the other of tripping her, and here we are now. No one wants to back down, one guy says he didn't and the other said he did. There we go..." Mir said, switching to another view, finding a third man helping the girl up too her feet. She muttered a quick thank you to him by the looks of it, and was just...gone. The camera switched once more and that same girl - a small, petite blonde - mounting one of the men and pounding her fists into his head repeatedly. "Interesting. It seems like that one accusing the other was the perpetrator after all."

"And the guy who helped her?"

"Alan Gabriel. A mutant magician. He's powerful, empathetic, caring, but I'm not sure where his loyalties lie. Perhaps he's made enemies from afar, or the kind act is a front. I don't particularly trust magicians." Mir said bluntly, Van nodding at the observation. "Nothing against them, but they literally have tricks up their sleeves." Mir said with a smile, cracking a joke at even such a serious moment.

"Hahaha! I didn't think you had a quip in you, Mir." Zant said with laughter. "So, we got this Alan guy. And the girl? She thanked him but putting the beatdown on that guy."

"Right. She's Bree Jok-Bal, a Kryptonian from Kandor. Descends from the House of Bal, warriors and fighters, but is mostly an outcast from her tomboyish personality. Doesn't hold back, though, so that's good." Mir leaned closely to the monitors, trying to find anyone else who caught his eye. "Right, so, I'm only feeling these two. The others don't have the chops, I'm dropping them from the stratosphere."

"You serious?" Van said with some concern.

"Joking, damn." Mir hissed, "They're being routed at Delhi Airport. The rest get rides home, these two get to come with us." With that, Mir kicked back and relaxed for a while, the flight coming to a close soon, the two being on the airplane with the passengers but right behind the cockpit the entire time. "That's you and I, now Alan and Bree." Mir counted off quickly, "There's four more spots to fill. Two men, two women, I have my sights on both of sets already. I'll be in contact with them momentarily, but right now, I want to get back home." Van Zant nodded in agreement, closing his eyes, resting his head against his shoulder and dozing off.

---

Mad City

There was nothing quite like having the Himalayas scenery gently broken apart by the gray dome that protected Mir's home - a gray dot in comparison to the Roof of the World. Mir opted not to fly there on his own, but with a personal aircraft Max had designed. It flew on it's own, with himself, Van Zant, Alan Gabriel, and Bree Jok-Bal inside, staring at each other, the quarters a bit cramped for their liking. Van, in his outgoing personality, decided to break the ice. "So...Where exactly is it that you're taking us?"

"The locals call it Mad City, so I do too." Mir answered swiftly. "It comes from another planet. One that perished sometime ago."

"Alien cities? On Earth?" The younger, newer man said. He was leaner than both Mir and Van, but his white hair and cold-cut eyes were nothing to mess around with. His small frame held physical power to wrestle with the likes of superhumans and his magical prowess put him above even that. He was Alan Gabriel - A wizard and a warrior rolled into one, a mutant and a magician, powerful on both ends. "Sounds a bit weird if you ask me."

"Technically," Mir began, "You're sitting with two full-blooded aliens and a half-blooded alien."

"And you do magic tricks." Van Zant said, adding on a bit for comedic effect.

"Fine, fine. It's just that...It's not everyday something like this happens." Alan explained, "Usually, when people like you come up to me, you have a death warrant or something. Some sinister intent in mind, wanting me dead or alive. Mutant or magician, it's a pain in the ass either way. Both sides don't want me so both sides want me dead. It's not the best for me meeting new people." He continued, stoic in his delivery, genuine as well.

Mir glanced at the young man a bit, knowing the pain he feels. "A lot of us have been there, Alan, but you...You've had it all of your life. I'm here to say that it's not going to be that way anymore. You're going to be with a family now, one that helps and understands each other."

"Yeah...I read the brochure." Alan said with some snark, "I'll believe it when I see it." With that, the flight grew quiet, the passengers all having their reservations about this endeavor and the sacrifices everyone had to make to bring it to life. They all had to trust Mir with words alone, and Mir recognized this, so he needed authenticity. The next four would be easier, but these first had to go on without a hitch. Van was already onboard, but Alan seems to have built a tough aversion to receiving help or belonging to a community. Still, he has a desire to help others, and working with him will bring it out. The girl on the other hand...

"Wow, I can't even see the ground!" She exclaimed, happily looking outside of one of the windows. "So pretty!"

"Uh..." Van began, looking at Mir with a confused glance, Alan sighing and closing his eyes, responding softly.

"That's because we're above the clouds, Bree."

"Oooh!" Bree said, still looking wonderfully outside. "They're all so....Gray and dark down there!"

"Have you never seen clouds before?" Alan asked, the girl sobering up, turning back around and sitting on her seat.

"...N-not really. Kandor didn't have a lot of weather. I just...Get excited over these kinda things." Bree said sadly, making the males immediately feel bad and desire to comfort the poor thing. "Sorry." Gah, it was nearly too much, even Alan was breaking apart. "But I'm glad to be out and about! I get to see the world and all she has to offer! I can't wait." Bree said with a kind, genuine smile. "Heeey, while on Kandor, me and my brothers always wrestled to pass the time." She then said with narrowed, conniving eyes.

"Not a good idea a few thousand feet in the air!" Mir said quickly, putting his hands out in front of him defensively. "We'll spar...er, wrestle, when we land. Sometime. Not immediately." Just then, the dome of Mad City came into view. "Oh thank god, we're here." Mir said quickly, "Lady and gentlemen, welcome to Mad City."

"...It looks like a big dome." Van Zant noted as he looked out the window, unimpressed.

"Gah...." Mir began, at a loss for words. "Well, it's a whole damn city inside. And stuff." As the aircraft flew overhead, the city opened just enough to allow it within, closing up as the entire plane made it inside. The lights and expanse of the city was incredible in such a small space from the outside, within, it was like landing in the heart of New York. It was home to millions of residents from Madworld, and it took the breath away from Mir's passengers. An alert sounded on Mir's phone, a small buzz, causing him to pick it up and mutter, "Company...Well, I will show you three to where we will be staying for a while until the other four arrive. I have someone to see right after, so I can't stay long."

With that, Mir went and dropped his new guests off at his central palace, leaving them to their guest rooms and such in a hurried fashion, giving them an hour to rest and relax until he came back for them. Once that was finished, he headed out from the sleeping quarters and into the main entrance to his palace, just in time to hear his doors open slowly, creaking shut as well. He smiled a bit, knowing a familiar face had come to visit him. "It's been too long, I'm glad to see you again." He began, walking towards his visitor, "Make yourself at home, Ashyandra."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

I was in a desolate planet, hunting for a man with a hefty bounty on his head in order to keep my tribe afloat and away from misery for just one more day. Once upon a time, we had been a thriving civilization, conquering the lands around us and living off of our own strength, a people as mighty as we were glorious. But that did not last. There was a grand exodus, and we were forced to abandon the planet or be annihilated by a force far beyond our control. Our Goddess was hailed as a heroine throughout the universe by those who had never before heard of her, renowned as a powerful guardian, a beacon of light and hope for the weak. But, us? The ones who had served her faithfully for millenia? The ones who had achieved countless deeds in her name? Forgotten. All forgotten. And even when the War that had begotten our exile was over, we were not allowed to return, we were denied our homecoming, denied the right to reclaim the land upon which our ancestors had bled. We were left adrift, and the others, they would not have any of us, would not help us. We were too violent, they claimed. Too stubborn, too volatile. Not fit for becoming a part of their 'new' civilizations. We had become outcasts, when we once were champions. These were the thoughts that ran through my mind as I sought my target, soon dominating my mind. I was angry, very angry. So angry, in fact, that unfettered wrath clouded my every thought, and the moment I set my eyes upon a man that was my prey and no longer my target, everything became a blur. The moments seemed to blend together, and even after the fact I was unable to remember any meaningful details, the very attempt nearly driving me into unconsciousness. There was, however, something clear, some sort of sadistic ecstasy that filled me. I knew that my colossal thirst for blood was being quenched, and though I did not know how at that moment, later I was able to give myself an accurate notion. It is not correct to say that I woke up, for I had never truly fallen asleep or unconscious, but there was a point where my head began clearing up and I was able to think again. The entire landscape was painted a deep crimson, or perhaps it was my own sight, though I had no way of knowing, and I became vaguely aware of my own grin and of the fleshy heart clutched in my claw. It was then that I saw him. It was a distant blot of black in the sky at first, difficult to notice through my red-tinted gaze, but it became clearer and clearer until I saw him in all of his macabre glory. A giant maw surrounded by a mass of barbed tentacles and jagged, leathery wings that served no practical purpose. His black scales had a twisted glint to them under the weary sunlight, and his eyes burned a path to my soul. It was the greatest monstruosity I had ever laid my eyes upon in my short life, and yet, I was not scared. It seemed as if he could tell, and soon, he shrank, slowly morphing, until eventually shadow engulfed his entire form, compacting itself before floating down to the ground, forming into the shape of a black haired boy who looked at me with curiosity. He was amused, I could tell, and I knew that his purpose was that of destruction, for it was written all over his existence, but even so, I did not back off. I thought back to my tribe, to my race, to my Goddess. What did I owe them? The Goddess had exiled us only to disappear and leave us alone, never to return. My race had abandoned me to my luck, and my own tribe did nothing to help me, instead opting to live off of the strength of their champion, having forgotten the glory that our people once had. I owed them nothing. I had nothing to lose. Yet, I stood to gain the only thing that I wished for: retribution. A way to quench my thirst. A way to feed the monster growing inside of me. Without even thinking anymore, I offered the crushed heart in my palm to the black God that stood in front of me, and when I saw his smile, I knew that I would be the first of his paladins. I knew that my wish would be granted.

I knew that the monster inside me smiled as well.
-The First Banshee, Hand of The Tyrant

Where Dragons Rule

Enforcer Headquarters, Ark

The plastic bag flew forward into the room and smacked the very surprised inhabitant of the room, before falling to the ground with a small clank, the metallic cylinder rolling for a moment within the boundaries of the plastic bag, though none of the contents were spilled onto the ground, thankfully, and the plastic bag was soon picked up by the one whose face had been smacked. The other inhabitant of the room was a young man, only twenty years old, with a short mess of ebony locks for hair, and melancholic azure eyes that betrayed the wariness with which he picked up the plastic bag, setting the cylinder, the box and the paper-wrapped object on the ground in front of him, next to an assortment of tools with which he had been tinkering with several machines scattered on the back of the room and the table in the corner, which also hosted a number of handmade blueprints. The tools and machines had been slightly difficult to procure, and it was most definitely illegal to keep such thing inside one's room, but those laws had been designed by the Dragon Lords, and the Dragon Lords were above policing their own police force, believing that the indoctrination that the Enforcers had gone through would ensure their loyalty. And in that regard, they were not wrong: there were many laws that were regularly broken by the vast majority of the population of Ark, but this did not mean that the Muses and Banshees did not perform their duties with brutal efficiency when they were called upon; if anything, these broken vows, these 'luxuries' that the Enforcers procured for themselves ensured that they remained loyal to the greater cause. In addition to that, even if there were those who sought to expose their peers, who would ever think of suspecting of a Muse leader? No one in their right mind, for sure.

The Muse leader carelessly tossed her own plastic bag onto the nearby bed, before walking over and sitting down on the edge. The room was quite spacious, more so than the rooms of the other Muses, able to house a bed, a table and a large trunk and still allow for ample space. Of course, most of that space was still occupied with items that were not actually meant to be there: for starters, there was an improvised bed on the ground, made of an assortment of identical bedsheets hoarded through the course of several weeks. There was a smaller trunk, hand-made, about half the size of the larger one, but still spacious enough to fit the belongings of the second inhabitant of the Muse leader's room. There were the previously mentioned machines, tools and assorted items. In the end, though there was enough space to move around, the room had more than half of its empty space used up. Yet, the Muse leader did not seem to mind. To her, this was perfectly normal, and so, she simply stared at the human, curious.

The human stared back for a moment, before looking at the three objects in front of him, the cylinder in particular. He flicked it with one of his fingers in order to hear the sound from within, he knocked on it, shook it and even brought a measuring tool of sorts to use upon it, but nothing seemed to satisfy him, and he continued acting in this manner until finally, the Muse leader, tired of his antics, leaned forward and nabbed the cylinder from the human's hands. She tapped one of its ends lightly, and part of it seemed to slide into the rest, leaving a small opening which exposed the contents of the hollow piece of metal. Filling the cylinder was a black liquid that did not seem very healthy to consume, and yet, the Muse leader put the cylinder's opening to her lips without a second thought, taking a good drink before finally moving the object away from herself, letting a sigh of satisfaction at the sweet taste of the liquid and then placing the cylinder on the ground next to the human.

Still a bit suspicious, the young man took a quick sip. Then, he took a huge gulp before finally pausing for breath.

"It has been three years, Mars. I had been hoping that you would stop checking for bombs." The Muse leader spoke, her voice soft and perhaps even caring, though it was still lacking in emotion, as if emotion was something hard to feel. Regardless, she shook her head at the human and then set about removing her black scale armor and placing it within the larger trunk, along with her helmet and the rest of her equipment, keeping only her simple clothes on.

"...Old habits die hard, Kiris." The young man replied. Indeed, it had been three years since the Muse had found him, spared him and taken him to what was arguably one of the safest places to be in an universe in turmoil. By now he was quite aware that she was not her enemy, and had admitted it several times, but before, he had been cautious to an absurd degree, a mess of paranoia. It had taken several months for him to even bother to speak a word to her, and if he had ever decided to eat the food that she brought him regularly, it was because, despite his immense willpower, he was not quite capable of starving himself to death. With time, he had opened up, realizing that, bizarrely enough, the Muse leader did not seem to have any purpose with him other than keeping him alive. Why he had been shown this kind of mercy, though, was something that nobody knew, not even Kirisvala herself. But if there was a habit of his that prevailed, even after all of that time, it was that he always checked the food.

"I can't argue with you there." The Muse leader replied, shrugging. She then sat down on the floor, next to him, and took out the contents of her own plastic bag, setting the cylinder aside and removing the paper wrappings from the round object. She bit into the burger, and devoured it with a ravenousness that betrayed the level of exhaustion that she had so masterfully kept hidden away. She was clearly very tired from her campaign in Shamra, having been the one who had spent the most energy while casting the spells that had turned the city of Mireshar into ash, and so, she quickly ate the deceptively nutritious burger and then moved on to the fries contained in the small cardboard box, though she took her time with these.

Mars nibbled on his fries as he observed her intently, watching her as her carefully constructed guise fell apart, revealing her true nature. He knew very well that she was a Muse, a Muse leader no less, and he knew what that entailed, having witnessed the destruction wrought by those creatures upon any and all who opposed the Dragon Lords. He knew it very well, and he also knew why she had been absent, he knew that she had marched off to siege the capital of a distant world that had dared to defy the Dragon Lords. By her presence, he could also deduce with some reliability the ultimate fate of the inhabitants of that planet. He knew all of this, and yet, when he looked towards her, he did not see a monster; in fact, it was impossible for him to see a monster in her. Sometimes, what she saw was a tool, an unfortunate person who had been forced into a heinous task by a cruel destiny. In most instances, though, all he could see was a young woman, and a beautiful one to boot. He did not often say it, but he was scared, scared to death that, one day, she would march off to a campaign and never return. And it was not his own safety that made him afraid, not quite.

The two of them ate in silence, and even after the wrappings and the boxes and the cylinders were emptied and thrown into a recycling tract, they remained silent for a long while. Three years had passed, and even after all that time, they had not yet grown entirely used to each other, they found each other's presence strange, alien. Alien, and yet somehow fascinating.

"If the Dragon Lords had never come, do you think we would have met?" Kirisvala finally asked, surprising Mars, who mulled over the question. It was unlikely, he decided. He knew that the Enforcers were the orphaned children of the Black Dragon that had saved the universe from the Builders before disappearing, but they were scattered throughout the stars, and he, on the other hand, had never left Earth, staying in his homeland, the lonely defender of Jump City until it was invaded and he wound up saved and sheltered by the Muse leader. They were from radically different backgrounds, and though there were coincidences in the universe, the odds that they would have met without this crisis were very small, laughable.

But as all of these thoughts ran through his head, he merely shook his head.

He was quite surprised to notice her scooting closer to him, her white-coated claw reaching up and gently tracing a scar present on the young man's cheek, something that was ever so slightly uncomfortable, though Mars did not move. "Then... I suppose that means I am glad that all of this happened, in a way." She admitted, looking down, as though disappointed, before meeting his gaze once again. "Does that make me a monster, Mars?" She asked sincerely.

Without really thinking, Mars reached up, cupping the Muse leader's cheek and caressing it gently as he looked into her red eyes. "No, Kiris, of course not." He replied.

She smiled and then leaned forward, their lips touching like many times before, their kiss the mark of a love that could only bloom in shadow.

---

---

Gotham City, Earth

---

The general had walked in without fear, and had waited patiently to be received. Of course, he hadn't been expecting holograms, naturally, but he had expected some kind of trick to be keeping the presence of an armed resistance cell within the building masked and hidden, some sort of measure that guarded them from possible intervention by the Enforcers. In that regard, there had been no surprise for him when the walls of the building suddenly flickered and then vanished, revealing the armed surprise that awaited behind them, several armed soldiers with their weapons trained on him. He stared down the barrels of death with little care, knowing that they would not touch him, as they had been the ones to invite him to that place, the ones who had requested his assistance in their time of need. In any case, he had to applaud their measures. If they still bothered with ballistic weapons at this point it meant that these soldiers were well trained in identifying the seams and other weak points of the armors of the Banshees and Muses.

Staring on at the soldiers and at the two members of the Bat family that stood in front of him, he simply waited, ignoring the snide comment of the male one and focusing his attention on the female one, who seemed like the more serious of the two. He was soon proven correct in his assumption, as she motioned for him to follow her, to which he complied immediately, trailing behind her and entering the elevator, ignoring all the chatter outside, as it was none of his business. He was not here to listen in on their security protocols, he was here to speak to the heads of the Gotham City Defenders, he was here to speak to The Runner, and nothing more.

Feeling the elevator begin ascending, General Graham became abstracted in his thoughts, going over the myriad of information that his brain had to process in order to keep the Rebellion afloat. Being the mastermind behind an insurrection spanning the entire world was taking its toll on him, clearly.

---

---

Asgard

The golden city of Asgard did not shine. The glorious Enclosure of the Gods was still in mourning, even now, five years after the irreversible destruction of the child of the late Odin Borson at the hands of the Dragon Lords. The Asgardians that walked to and fro did not seem to have that joyous fire within them that had driven them at every moment before the arrival of The Tyrant. Indeed, their faces were somber and stern and they spoke nary a word, be it to each other or to themselves. If an outside observer were to watch them now, in this state, they would undoubtedly assume that the spirit of Asgard had been broken by the tragedy that had occurred five years ago on Earth, but this observer would be wrong, oh so terribly wrong. The Asgardians had been touched by the death of the brave Thor, that was true, and they had changed, for the tragedy had made them cold, calming their inner fire, but the mistake was in assuming that this somehow made them any less dangerous. Like a blade newly forged that must be allowed to cool before it will be able to stab deep into the heart of an enemy, the Asgardians had needed to let go of their bloodlust and their passion before they could become a threat to the Dragon Lords, the threat that they needed to be.

However, aside from the differences in the demeanor of the Asgardians, there was something else that was amiss in the city, something that was there, but should not have been, something that did not belong. Not too far from where the glorious halls of Valhalla stood solemn, there was an open space, cleared precisely for the purpose of hosting that anomaly within the landscape. It was an assortment of large green containment cells that had been brought to Asgard by the All-Mother herself after a particularly risky incursion into the territories controlled by the Dragon Lords. Many had feared that the All-Mother had finally gone mad in her quest, or that her suicidal endeavor was a way to die a honorable death in order to make up for failing to protect Thor, but they were wrong, they were all wrong. Not long after she had left, the All-Mother had returned, carrying with her an enormous shard of land that was held aloft by the Valkaforce. The earth itself was swiftly stripped away and the green cells located and placed in a location where they could be easily accessed, not because of their functions, but because of something that they may have been housing within.

And now, the All-Mother herself was in the process of inspecting the cells, one by one. From what the Asgardians knew, these were but a fraction of the cells that had once existed, though most of them had been destroyed by The Tyrant, along with everything inside them. However, these were to be searched, in the off chance that they contained something that might be useful to Asgard's looming war against the Dragon Lords, and so, Valka searched diligently, inspecting the current cell and then flying off and entering the next one in line if nothing useful was found. More often than not, the cells would be completely empty, as if they had never been occupied in the first place, though sometimes the All-Mother would find a corpse, or the remnants of something that indicated that the cell had once been inhabited. In more than one occasion, broken artifacts had been found within the cells, but Asgard had no use for such worthless trinkets and so, they were discarded at once when it was determined that they lacked any value.

As this happened, the Valkyries awaited outside patiently, the Fairest of the Fair standing among them. Ever the faithful servant to the All-Mother, she had also been one of the most affected by the news of Thor's death, and now, she was one of the most determined to bring the Dragon Lords to their knees. Yet, she too understood that Asgard needed to wait, to move slowly and thoughtfully, lest they make a fatal mistake and wind up like their fallen brother, unable to avenge him as they too would have fallen prey to the greed and the desolation brought by the servants of The Tyrant. Instead of charging head first into battle, they bid their time, preparing for the inevitable war, preparing their victory, a victory that would be the first of many.

The curiosity of all those present was piqued when the All-Mother entered the very last cell and remained within for far longer than she had bothered to remain in any of the other ones. Some, who represented the vast majority of those observing the All-Mother's search, believed that she was staying inside the cell in order to think of how she would break the news that her dangerous venture, which had greatly concerned all of Asgard and caused much discontent, had been all for naught. Some others suspected that the All-Mother, after having found nothing, instead of plotting, was attempting to suppress her rage and frustration, for she too had been quite affected by the death of a dear friend and a brave warrior. And then, there were those who, despite the crushing evidence to the contrary and all of the indications that the holding cells as a group were empty and devoid of anything useful, believed that the All-Mother was lingering inside that place because she had found something of worth, contrary to the opinions of the others.

In the end, it was these last ones who would be proven correct, as the All-Mother emerged from the sciencell. She was not empty-handed, but the object that she bore in her hand was nothing impressive, at least at first glance. However, there was a strange power that radiated from the object, and if one paid much attention to the All-Mother, one would be able to notice that, despite the stern expression that was on her face as she looked at it, there was some sort of satisfaction coming from her. She was content to have found something; what the others did not seem to realize, however, was that Valka had found exactly what she had been looking for, an ancient power locked away in one of these sciencells in the planet of Oa by the children of Maltus so that it would not be able to harm the universe, an ancient power that had been sealed and transformed into a small black sphere.

The eyes of all of the Asgardians present were set on the All-Mother, but she did not seem to have eyes for anything that was not the dark ball.

"So the rumors surrounding your existence spoke with the truth, creature." The All-Mother spoke, clearly addressing the black sphere, something that made the other Asgardians wonder once more if Valka had finally gone mad. However, she did not seem to care. "But I remain astonished. From one such as thee, I had expected a more deign and glorious appearance." She stated. "But I will not complain, for you will assist us in our vengeance..."

As she trailed off, she raised the black orb into the air in order to observe it more carefully.

"...T:D:H:D."

[The Republic of Atria]

Irredeemable: Part 5 Godfall

Xander was seemingly dead. His black bones laying in a small pile in what used to be Wakanda. Blasted with an anti-matter based weapon. "It's over." Fury said into his radio. He and Manifest started to make their way back into the helicarrier when Manifest just exploded. The blade dropping like a stone. Fury made a dash for the weapon only to be blown in half by Xander who looked like little more than a bag of bones. "Yeah..." He said. "Turns out I'm not quite THAT easy to kill. I'll give you an A for effort." He said. As he spoke, the burns healed and his muscle definition returned and by the time he made his way over to Fury who was still trying to claw his way to the Manifest blade. "So close..." Xander said, picked up the weapon, and snapped it in half. "And yet so far. Good try. But it's all or nothing from this point on. Later tater." And with a small blast from his hand, the helicarrier exploded and was reduced to a pile of molten concrete and metal. Xander took to the skies to look for his next target.

Meanwhile the deities of Earth had decided to convene with one of Earth most formidable mortals: Maxwell Mourningstar. Valka Silverhand being the first one to speak up. "The mortal has lost what little remained of his mind. The heroes of this world have fallen by his hand. He will destroy all life on this world. We cannot allow him to succeed. I have sent The Destroyer to end this madness once and for all." She said fully confident that the massive hulking armor was more than capable of taking Xander out. At least until the clanging of Uru metal was heard and it's head bounced inside the room. It appeared to have been melted clean off. "Madness!" She exclaimed and readied her spear.

"Really?" Xander's voice called from seemingly all directions. "You honestly thought that little tinker toy was gonna take me out? I'm going to be completely honest with all of you. I'm a bit disappointed." And with that, the entire roof of Valka's cast was ripped off and tossed into the city of Asgard like an old rag. "If you wanted to talk to me, all you had to do was ask." He said. Valka's speech only including chucking Oathbringer at Xander only for it to be disintegrated. "And here I thought you had evolved past spear chucking and metal dollies." Xander sneered whilst landing gently. "Besides. It's rude to treat guests like that. So you'll have to be punished." He sand and with a wave of his hand...

Asgard fell out of the sky, upside down. killing nearly single Asgardian in the city while Xander flew through the base of the city and split it in half. This of course was not anywhere near enough to cause any real damage to the gods that were in the city at the time. Zeus, Valka, and Maxwell. Xander waited for them to emerge. Valka being the first, powered by her hate and fury for Xander annihilating her city. "How DARE you?! Those people were no threat to you! You slaughtered them like a coward!"

"To be fair, it's not like they would've fared any batter had I given them the chance to fight back. Think of it as an act of mercy."

"Of which I will show thee NONE!" Valka screamed and jumped at the monstrous golden man.

[Charmera]

-snip-

She looked upon the woman who had arrived, and yet had not given her name. But this was no time for introductions, and she allowed a brief nod and smile. "Indeed, Asgard has been ruled by one-eyed Odin Borson for millenia. But in the Last Great Ragnarok, before the End of All Things, Odin fell in battle. I, Valka Silverhand, by Odin's commandment, became All-Mother. So it has been since." she said.

Valka, right about to raise a shield before Eternal Night took care of it, nodded her thanks, as the Valkyries considered their assault as the Einherjar and other warriors began to converge upon their area. "Indeed they are," she said in agreement, looking at Oathbringer which was around 5 or 6 feet in length. Looking at the size of the slime warriors, she shook her head, holding out a hand, the giant Odinsword which was at least 9 feet in length appearing, all the Valkyries behind her backing up a bit. Bending her knees, she jumped in a powerful bound, slashing at the other Xyrixma at the speed of light, zipping around it as the Valkyries focused most of their energy cannons upon it.

The Xyrixma grunted in pain as they were slashed a few falling before the blows and a few regenerating. Though one, larger than the rest, prepared for something such as this. As she was cut, she suddenly forced her skin to become far stickier, and then enveloped the sword as it went through her body, not absorbing it, but pulling it into the slimey mass of her body to hopefully crush the blades wielder. Though before she could do that, a blast of magic sent her flying back. It seemed that Zaki had joined the fray. The Xyrixma reformed however, and a few of the ones previously thought down were doing the same.

"At least the largest one hasn't joined the fray..." Remarked the turncoat Xyrixma. "Thats one of Xyrix's six generals. They're supposed to be some of the biggest and baddest of our kind." She spoke. "She seems to devour inorganic matter, she can't eat the magic of the city which is why she's not simply devoured it."

It was then that the largest Xyrixma suddenly began moving towards the city. She extended a hand, and then from out of that hand came boulders fired at absurd speeds for a railgun effect sent forward to bombard the city.

Glacia might have been impressed by the show of sheer power, had she any time to be. She had to exploit the advantage, and so she did, aiming to slam into Hiroshi with crippling icy punches. With each of them she felt pain as her body protested. Though it got duller and duller the more she fought. She aimed to disengage once more after attacking. Hopping back into the darkness, she prepared a blast of icy energy which she shot towards her advesary. Perhaps she was being too greedy getting that extra strike in, but Glacia was ever a risk taker.

And where the hell was Myosai during all this?

Preparing for an attack, of course. While Hiroshi and Glacia were continuing to battle it out, Myosai was busy channeling her energy into her palms, forming yet another energy based attack for her friend.

This time her plan was to charge a fuckton of energy into this attack and leave it with Glacia, as it detonated on their icy friend.

The sphere, a fuschia color, was the size of a Melon as Myosai instant transmissioned towards Glacia, a sly grin on her face.

Shoving into her arms, Myosai forcefully (and rather invasively) handed Glacia the sphere of energy, begging to be detonated.

"Hey... Can you hold this for a second..? Thanks!"

Myosai Instant Transmissioned out of the somewhat awkward hug of hers, before unsheathing her sword. Her blade lit up the same color of the energy sphere she created, cracking with electricity and energy as she prepared to detonate her attack.

Glacia grunted as she acted fast, passing the ball back to the Demon, she stuck it to her with Vacuum powers so that she couldn't pass it back to Glacia, and then in another risky move, she used her powers to try to guide the sword into the ball of Ki. She then tried to get away, scrambling as fast as she could. Whether this went off as planned or somehow Myosai had gotten out of trouble she did not know, for she was hurtled into the side of the dojo at painful speeds. Bones cracked, organs bled and her body moaned in pain as it hit the wall, and then painfully she slid down the thing.

Glacia nearly blacked out, she was seeing stars and her vision was blurred. She could tell that even in the dark, having the two energy sources as a light source too. She bit on her tongue, drawing blood in her attempt to stop from crying out. She tried to get up, though her body protested. With her healing factor, she could afford to lick her wounds. But she had predicted it might end like this. The two of them needed only to follow up a strong attack with another strong attack and all her pain and effort would have been for naught.

D-Dammit. I'm half broken and I still haven't drawn blood. How the heck did I think I could win? She was beginning to feel the demoralizing effect of fighting two people much stronger than herself. They're going to kill me. It'd take only a good shot to the head and I'm gone. What the heck am I going to do?

"Pull yourself together Glacia..." She whispered beneath whisper, and then forced herself to gain a second wind. She grunted as she moved. Staying in one place was dangerous. On the move, in the dark her energy was near impossible to accurately track. You can still do this. Exploit weaknesses. They're hardly great teammates, so I have but to fight two single battles simultaneously.

[The Republic of Atria]

Otis listened as the girl he never met came up with a plan to increase his speed so he could create a larger vortex. "At this point, I'm willing to try anything. I already tried asking them to stop and then hitting them when they wouldn't. Turns out kicking slime isn't very effective." He said and turned to Katie. "So. How do we go about making me faster? Oh, by the way, my name is Otis. Probably should have opened with that." What surprised him was that the girl jumped at the chance to help him despite his rather jarring appearance. Not that he was complaining. He just found it slightly odd.

Xander and Naja: Empire

It took several hours of paper work and lawyers, but they managed to get Praetoria legally recognized as a country. The only reason that they got through so fast was that many of the other countries wanted to open trade. None of the other countries on Earth that had access to advanced technology was willing to open trade. Namely Wakanda. The entire event was televised. The whole world now knew that a country was pretty much going to carry them into the space age. "Just one last thing. We're not opening our borders right away. Relax, we're not going to put it off for a long time. Give us about a week. And then we'll be taking in anyone who wants in. We need to make more housing available, and we have some more private things we need to work out first." Naja said. "Expect Praetoria's borders to be open within a week. If you want to enter our country. We'll have ships coming to every major city. We can take everyone. No violence or we're not going to let you in." She explained. "So umm... I really didn't know how to end this. So... See you all very soon." She said and the entire world watched as both of them flew into the sky and over the ocean.

"I think that went well." Xander said. "I liked your speech by the way. I think you really sold it to them, and now I have a surprise for you. Namely. Our wedding." He said and took her hand. "I've already planned out the entire thing! All you have to do is... Well..." He turned red a bit. "You know... Anyways! You're going to love it! I promise! I've been watching wedding planner videos on the internet. It turns out there is much more than just terrible pictures on it. Unfortunately, neither of us has much in the way of family, so I got us the next best thing! All I have to do now is send out the invites. Which I already know how to go about."

"What about my dress?"

"Well... That is more up to you than anything I say. I don't care what you wear. You're already beautiful. An overpriced dress isn't going to change much. Surprise me." He said as they landed. "I have to go send out the invites. Which I am going to do, with magic. So I'm going to need a few minutes. Love you!" He said and flew away to go do just that.

[Charmera]

With that, Mir went and dropped his new guests off at his central palace, leaving them to their guest rooms and such in a hurried fashion, giving them an hour to rest and relax until he came back for them. Once that was finished, he headed out from the sleeping quarters and into the main entrance to his palace, just in time to hear his doors open slowly, creaking shut as well. He smiled a bit, knowing a familiar face had come to visit him. "It's been too long, I'm glad to see you again." He began, walking towards his visitor, "Make yourself at home, Ashyandra."

"Mir. It has been far, far too long." Ashy smiled as she approached Mir. She kissed him then, quickly yet passionately. She smiled, using the next few moments to explain. "A traditional Vokornian greeting for friends who have not seen each other in a while. Though it was not so long for me, it felt like an eternity." She casually flirted, her smile growing wryer and wryer by the moment. She liked to tease the friends of other species she met with this sort of thing, and of course some Vokornians. Though with Mir it was different... somewhat very different. In ways she couldn't quite explain.

"I heard about Max." She spoke. Her smile now gone. "It... is a shame what happened. I was hoping i could repay the debt I owed him. He brought me back from a terrible and dull existence... I..." She paused, reasoning the subject was not the best at all.

"You're... assembling a team I see..."

[New Rnclave]

She looked upon the woman who had arrived, and yet had not given her name. But this was no time for introductions, and she allowed a brief nod and smile. "Indeed, Asgard has been ruled by one-eyed Odin Borson for millenia. But in the Last Great Ragnarok, before the End of All Things, Odin fell in battle. I, Valka Silverhand, by Odin's commandment, became All-Mother. So it has been since." she said.

Valka, right about to raise a shield before Eternal Night took care of it, nodded her thanks, as the Valkyries considered their assault as the Einherjar and other warriors began to converge upon their area. "Indeed they are," she said in agreement, looking at Oathbringer which was around 5 or 6 feet in length. Looking at the size of the slime warriors, she shook her head, holding out a hand, the giant Odinsword which was at least 9 feet in length appearing, all the Valkyries behind her backing up a bit. Bending her knees, she jumped in a powerful bound, slashing at the other Xyrixma at the speed of light, zipping around it as the Valkyries focused most of their energy cannons upon it.

The Xyrixma grunted in pain as they were slashed a few falling before the blows and a few regenerating. Though one, larger than the rest, prepared for something such as this. As she was cut, she suddenly forced her skin to become far stickier, and then enveloped the sword as it went through her body, not absorbing it, but pulling it into the slimey mass of her body to hopefully crush the blades wielder. Though before she could do that, a blast of magic sent her flying back. It seemed that Zaki had joined the fray. The Xyrixma reformed however, and a few of the ones previously thought down were doing the same.

"At least the largest one hasn't joined the fray..." Remarked the turncoat Xyrixma. "Thats one of Xyrix's six generals. They're supposed to be some of the biggest and baddest of our kind." She spoke. "She seems to devour inorganic matter, she can't eat the magic of the city which is why she's not simply devoured it."

It was then that the largest Xyrixma suddenly began moving towards the city. She extended a hand, and then from out of that hand came boulders fired at absurd speeds for a railgun effect sent forward to bombard the city.

And where the hell was Myosai during all this?

Preparing for an attack, of course. While Hiroshi and Glacia were continuing to battle it out, Myosai was busy channeling her energy into her palms, forming yet another energy based attack for her friend.

This time her plan was to charge a fuckton of energy into this attack and leave it with Glacia, as it detonated on their icy friend.

The sphere, a fuschia color, was the size of a Melon as Myosai instant transmissioned towards Glacia, a sly grin on her face.

Shoving into her arms, Myosai forcefully (and rather invasively) handed Glacia the sphere of energy, begging to be detonated.

"Hey... Can you hold this for a second..? Thanks!"

Myosai Instant Transmissioned out of the somewhat awkward hug of hers, before unsheathing her sword. Her blade lit up the same color of the energy sphere she created, cracking with electricity and energy as she prepared to detonate her attack.

Glacia grunted as she acted fast, passing the ball back to the Demon, she stuck it to her with Vacuum powers so that she couldn't pass it back to Glacia, and then in another risky move, she used her powers to try to guide the sword into the ball of Ki. She then tried to get away, scrambling as fast as she could. Whether this went off as planned or somehow Myosai had gotten out of trouble she did not know, for she was hurtled into the side of the dojo at painful speeds. Bones cracked, organs bled and her body moaned in pain as it hit the wall, and then painfully she slid down the thing.

Glacia nearly blacked out, she was seeing stars and her vision was blurred. She could tell that even in the dark, having the two energy sources as a light source too. She bit on her tongue, drawing blood in her attempt to stop from crying out. She tried to get up, though her body protested. With her healing factor, she could afford to lick her wounds. But she had predicted it might end like this. The two of them needed only to follow up a strong attack with another strong attack and all her pain and effort would have been for naught.

D-Dammit. I'm half broken and I still haven't drawn blood. How the heck did I think I could win? She was beginning to feel the demoralizing effect of fighting two people much stronger than herself. They're going to kill me. It'd take only a good shot to the head and I'm gone. What the heck am I going to do?

"Pull yourself together Glacia..." She whispered beneath whisper, and then forced herself to gain a second wind. She grunted as she moved. Staying in one place was dangerous. On the move, in the dark her energy was near impossible to accurately track. You can still do this. Exploit weaknesses. They're hardly great teammates, so I have but to fight two single battles simultaneously.

Hiroshi:

Blasting forward, the Ascended Saiyan blitzed the Acrosain, darting between gaps in the falling debris. Striking out, Hiroshi drove his heel across Glacia's jaw, summersaulting through the air with twin azure orbs charging in his palms. Sliding to a stop, Hiroshi was milliseconds from releasing the bolts before an unknown force stopped him.

" The battle is over everyone." A smooth voice spoke, the lights snapping back on when he finished, revealing the war torn and burning landscape. Large pillars of obsidian dotted their battleground, magma flows having mixed with water when bolts of ki exploded and sticks rattled the planet.

The relatively lean Kai made himself know, striding proudly into the battlefield. Supreme Kai suppressed a sigh as he looked at the participants of the battle. " First things first. Excellent job Glacia, you not only held off your opponents, but you also inflicted a few wounds. The goal of your training will be to increase your power and harness your skill with ki." He said simply, turning to Myosai.

" The aim of your training will to be to bring you up to level with Hiroshi, as well as improve your ki sensing ability, which needs some work, seeing as you almost killed our Saiyan friend." The Kai remarked, half smiling at the demon before setting his gaze in the Saiyan. " Your training will be focused on honing your techniques and reaching this Super Saiyan III you spoke to me about. Ascending will be your main focus. Do you understand?"

Frowning, Hiroshi gave a nod. By the way the Kai said it, he meant abusive training regiments until the Hybrid overcame the barrier. " Supreme Kai, if I may, I was told that Super Saiyan III is more than just training, it's a way of... I'm not entirely sure, but abusing myself day in and day out with certainly not help!" Hiroshi commented, wincing at the tone he'd used. He knew he should've been more thankful, but he and to reach the next level, and to do that, he had to continue training as he had been.

" Fine. You will work with your companions to develop the proper training regiment to ascend. But you will ascend here."

[Anowa]

The Harvester
After the previous star-system was stripped clean I moved onward to the next on my list: Krypton. But when I arrived in the star system the radio call originated, I found a distinct lack of a garden-world. I felt slightly disappointed that I was lead on a wild chase, however the trip did not bear fruit, the system's asteroid belt held a unidentified substance, that was atomically similar to plutonium. I could utilize this substance to fuel every miner bot, as well as the suppression units. and from preliminary testing it was about as efficient as previous fuels. I felt giddy at this discovery, considering that over 80% of the system's belt was composed of this material.

Collecting from the asteroid belt was my top priority, so for the first time in a very long time, I set upon harvesting the belt first, before any planets. The process would take longer than a planet due to the belt's spread out form, but in the end it would be worth it. The ice covering the various balls of fuel could also be utilized by myself to fuel my fusion reactor. This trip was a fruitful one, it seemed I had gotten lucky in where I warped into this galaxy, less than two months and already I found a viable new fuel source and an artistic species.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

Eternal Night listened to Valka's tale with interest. She supposed that this was one of the many differences between their universes: while in Valka's Odin had perished and never reincarnated, in her own he continued to rule over the Enclosure of the Gods. In the end, however, though such things were quite interesting, they held little value beyond that possessed by the things that satisfied her curiosity, as she had no practical use for such information. Thus, the Nameless One merely nodded towards the All-Mother once the tale was over, and returned her focus to the battle, nodding again when she was thanked for protecting the Valkyries from the attack of the large red Xyrixma who had the ability to absorb energy and send it back.

However, seeing that her attacks were not even being acknowledged, Eternal Night frowned under the mask. "Why, it's almost as if you were ignoring me, even though this clearly should, if not hurt you, then at least feed you. Pay some attention, would you?" She complained at the Xyrixma.

Noticing the railgun cannonballs that the leader of the Xyrixma present sent towards Asgard, the masked woman frowned. She raised her hand, and all of the sudden, from the shadows beneath her blue robe, chains shot out, first dozens, then hundreds and then thousands, all of them reaching up into the sky to form a net of chains that was more akin to a wall of metal links, all of this in hopes that it would stop the attacks from reaching Asgard.

---

---

---

Etla finally stopped blasting lightning bolts from her sword when she noticed that the black creatures surrounding them had backed away, though there were still plenty of them flying around and causing a mess, which just wouldn't do; she had been running around and doing some crime-fighting so that Craig could focus on his techy save-the-world stuff after all, so, failing to protect Gotham City from this whole mess wouldn't make her appear as very successful in her endeavor. That said, she was confident that if they worked together they could force them back, and in fact, she was rather impressed with the power that a small rat-like creature could muster, what with Ralph unleashing those telekinetic tidal waves of his. They had nearly sent her flying off, but she had resisted, both thanks to her own strength and thanks to the fact that she was nearly bursting with energy, the thurisaz rune on her Core causing her to be able to wield lightning with startling efficiency. Once the Black Arms had backed off, she turned to Ralph and the stranger.

"Alright, now that we have some room to breathe, care to explain what's going on, mister Mobian?" Etla asked, looking at him with curious eyes. She then turned to the other person present, acknowledging him. "I'm Etla. I'm a Rainborn." She stated, as if it was painfully obvious what those were supposed to be, and then shook her head, a cocky smile appearing on her face. "That's silly. Where's the fun in a fight if it's not challenging? Let them come, I say!" She boasted, raising, before chuckling and turning back to Ralph. "...But I am really curious. Mind telling us what happened here?"

---

Kirisvala nodded and smiled at Mars, before looking towards the guards stationed outside of the warehouse. She took a deep breath and then focused, pausing for just a moment in order to recall the syllabes and the configuration of the spell that she was about to cast, all the information surging to her mind for a moment. Then, she finally began singing, her soft and soothing voice streaming forth from her lips, the words flowing one after the other, blending together, the changes so subtle that they were almost impossible to perceive if one tried to isolate them, though it was impossible to deny that the Hadrian was singing a beautiful and diverse song, rather than a simple monotonous composition. The soundwaves emitted by her vocal chords were received by the prized necklace that Mars had gifted to her, and subsequently amplified by the mechanism within the silver coin, though thankfully they were far enough from the guards that they did not hear the song of the forest. The amulet that Mars had given her acted just as it was meant to, empowering her spell, though in this instance instead of increasing the intensity, it enhanced the efficiency with which the spell worked, causing the effects to begin manifesting earlier.

What these effects were, soon became obvious. The guards were so surprised by it at first that they did not say a word, muted by their shock, and by the time they were able to react, it was already too late. Crystals had suddenly begun to form around the bodies of the guards, quickly enveloping them, preventing them from moving or speaking and thus stripping them of the ability to warn anyone of the presence of the heroes.

After a moment, the song came to an end and Kirisvala took another deep breath before turning towards Mars and Red Arrow. "It's done." She informed.

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars and Red Arrow stood by silently as Kiris began to sing her song and preform they task that they had put before her. Mars listened to Kiris sing, and he seemed to just realize how beautiful beautiful her voice was. He had heard her singing voice a number of times already over the last week, but he seemed to really be hearing it for the first time now. Her voice had a soothing effect on him, and was almost hypnotizing to him. However when the soldiers in front of them began to crystallize and soon they were completely encased in them and were unable to speak or move in any way. Mars was quite impressed, it was an elegant spell and proved quite effective. He was also glad to see that his amplifier seemed to be working quite well for her.

"Great job, it worked perfectly." Mars said softly but sincerely Kiris. "No time to talk, let's do this. Give me 2 minutes then charge in." Red Arrow said before jumping down from the small ledge and firing an arrow toward the factory. The arrow was attached to a rope that pulled the archer toward the building and into a small hole in the factory window before disappearing from their view.

Mars frowned at Red Arrow giving him orders, but set a sort of mental clock as he subconsciously kept track of when two minutes would be up. As he was doing this he stepped forward to Rocket and climbed inside of the large robot as the cockpit opened up and allowed for Mars' entry. Soon the time was up and Mars turned to Kiris, his voice slightly mechanical because of Rocket's processors. "Stay close Kiris, they'll have guns so be careful." He said, concern clearly in his voice. Despite his insistence a week ago that he didn't want to get attached to anyone, that had clearly happened with Kiris. "We'll be charging in, and Arrow will be covering us from above. You ready? Let's go." He said before he and Rocket began charging down toward the factory, ripping the large doors off and using them as shields, occasionally swiping at nearby enemies.

There was about three dozen of Black Mask's troops and most of them had automatic rifles and bullet proof vests, but some of them had weapons that looked like large grenade launchers that they began to fire at Rocket. Arrows began to fly from the air and small explosions or electrical charges indicated when they hit their mark. Rocket and Mars were doing well until suddenly the enemy produced a mounted machine gun that they had set up in a nest in one of the maintenance rooms of the factory. The high caliber rounds fired away at Rocket and Mars, who raised up their shields to block the attack but were clearly pinned down and unable to move. The nest was out of range from Red Arrow as well which meant that they wouldn't have support from above to solve this problem. "Dragon Mage! You need to sing something to stop that machine gunner! These doors won't hold for ever!" Mars called, distress clear in his voice as he struggled to keep his make shift shield together under the strain of the heavy fire.

[The Republic of Atria]

Irredeemable: Part 6, Godfall

"Oh yeah... This is gonna be fun!" He laughed as he and Valka slammed into eachother. "I've always had a divided opinion on gods..." He sneered and Valka and he locked hands in an attempt to overpower the other. "On one hand. You're all a bunch of arrogant hoity toity, all powerful, judgmental jackasses-" Before he could finish, Valka slammed her head into his with enough force the it dented not just her helmet, but made a noticeable dent in Xander's as well as knocking him across the ground. She immediately jumped on him and began slamming her knuckles into Xander's skull until it was little more than an unrecognizable paste. As she was about to throw another one. Xander caught her fist and his head flashed a bright golden color, leaving no trace of injury. "On the other hand... I can hit you all... LIKE. THIS." He said and kicked Valka in her gut with substantial force to break a few of her ribs and send her from the Midwestern US, to northern Yucatan.

She looked up to see the angry golden man floating above her. "What has possessed you mortal?!"

"Dunno. I'm pretty sure the snap in my brain was audible. The disrespect for doing a thankless job. Sure I killed the Joker. But come on. Who the hell is gonna miss that bastard? Maybe ole' Brucy. Well. Not anymore. I'm pretty sure I blew him to pieces. That... And being looked down upon and criticized for every little mistake... Of course, you've never had that. You've had everything handed to you on a... Wait for it... Silver platter. HA! Get it?" He said and fell over laughing at his own pun. Valka was certain that the man was downright insane. While he was laughing, Valka changed her silver hand into a blade, with the intent to cut his head off. But as soon as she swung, Xander caught her arm at the base of the blade. "Ya know... You'd look a lot more like Odin if you..." He said, using his Molecular powers to help him rip the entirety of her forearm off and then he thrust the blade into one of her eyes.

Despite the obvious agonizing pain. Valka fell to one knee as she looked at the man soaked in her blood. All with a crazed smile on his face. "See? Missing an eye. Just like Odin! Though let's be honest here. Odin would have done a better job." He said and started laughing again. With every last bit of her remaining Valka Force, she charged a God Blast with her remaining arm and prayed that her ancestors would forgive her for what she was about to do. She threw the massive energy blast at Xander. She tried to make the blast as concentrated as possible to minimize the damage she was about to do. It wiped out almost the entire western coast of both Canada and the US. Xander was obviously caught in the blast. Seemingly killed along with dozens of millions of people. Valka fell into the icy watery grave. She was forced into the Valka sleep and bled to death shortly after.

Xander however, wasn't quite so dead. Despite the fact that even he thought he wasn't going to survive that, but he did. The crazed look in his eyes. the sadistic grin on his face. "One god down... Two to go..."

[New Neros]

-snip

The Mad City Saga
Friends; Old and New

Mad City

The shock of the kiss startled Mir heavily, the gravity of such an action very different in Daxamite society than Vokornian, apparently. It was shared only between man and wife, not even casual lovers like on Earth, but, Daxamite society was far more rigid and strict than most worlds and Mir knew this, so he relaxed as Ashy explained. He was about to say something, but the mention of Max steered the conversation elsewhere. "Yes...Maxwell left me with a vision, not really a mission or order, though, something he wanted me to do. Then again, I would have wanted this as well." Mir explained, the current members of his team casually resting in their rooms elsewhere.

"I want to keep his legacy alive. The bonds that I had with Max, Otto, and Val were the first real connections I made when I left Daxam, and they were the strongest. We weren't just a team, we were a family and we took care of each other, and I'm going to pick myself up and try again." Mir clenched his fists closed, casting his glance away from Ashy, "Because...I wondered if I could have done something else to help Max. Or Otto. Or Val. I can't change the past, but I can build my own future. Wherever my friends rest, I know they'd want me to pick up the pieces and carry on."

He walked forward and grabbed Ashy by the hands, looking into her eyes with sincerity and passion, seeing her not for her good looks and appeal but as an ally, friend, and foundation in such a trying time in Mir's own life. "Ashy, I'd love to have you here with me on this team. I decided to name it after Max, too. We're the Mad Gods, and I want you to be with us through thick and thin, because we'll be there for you." Mir said softly, his words cooing at Ashy, "I know there's trouble with the Vokornians, I won't pretend like I know anything more than that, but I want you to know that we'll help in anyway we can."

To interrupt that sweet moment, a beeping sound went off on Mir's arm guard, the Daxamite pressing a button on it and causing a holographic display to pop up. "...Good, they should be arriving soon." He said to himself, but quickly realized that he was being rude to Ashy. "Oh, sorry, it was an alert that more people were en-route to the City. Two more that will join our ranks, associates that Maxwell had connections with, so they came without hesitation." Mir explained, "That leaves me with two spots left, and they're both going to be a pain in the ass to wrangle in."

"I don't think you wouldn't mind helping me convince one of those two to join, would you?" Mir asked Ashy, a kind smile on his face, seeming like he'd rather just spend time with the girl instead of hunting after members for his team.

---

Somewhere in the Midwest

The lone man stood above the wheat and cereals that blew casually in the wind, ignoring their odor in order to focus on finding his target, scanning the farmland as he did so. "Damnit. Nothing." He commented, pressing a button below his ear to rely the information to his colleague. "No sign of him - Did your computer track him down to this location specifically?" He asked, a bit annoyed at the situation, but continuing his duty regardless. Before he got a proper answer, a blur simply tackled him around the waist and brought him to the ground, sliding along it and bringing up mounds of dirt. "Scratch that, he found me instead." The man relayed weakly, jumping to his feet, whatever attacked him out of sight.

"You can run but you can't..." He said casually, concentrating, small pulses being sent out from the soles of his feet into the ground. He opened his eyes wide and extended his arm out, a green blur attempting to zip past him, but coming to a complete stop as it impacted this man's arm. "Hide." He said, finishing his sentence. "Victor here," He said into his microphone, "I got our little visitor now." Victor began to have a conversation with the person on the other end, relaying all vital information. "Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a Skrull. Fast one, too, genetically enhanced no doubt. Managed to slip through SWORD, so that's not good. Haven't located his landing site, either."

"Hm?" Victor said, kneeling down and making sure the Skrull was still alive at least from running into his arm. "No, no, I don't think the Skrulls want a war this soon after the Builders nearly wiped us out. He was probably a scout or a spy - Nations do it all the time, us included. Nothing we can do but lock him." Victor nodded, receiving his orders, gently lifting the Skrull up and throwing him over his shoulder. "Understood. I'll drop him off at the meeting point. Victor Vaughn, over and out." Muscle mountain easily carried the Skrull on his back, but casually flew over the farmlands somewhere in Iowa as his mind wondered. He was a free agent working with SHIELD, nothing fancy, just someone with superpowers who worked to catch otherworldly threats for his own pay. It wasn't bad, but Victor wanted something more. He wanted to feel like a hero, not get paid like one.

The exchange went over as boring as can be, normal and without a hitch, that is. Handing over an unconscious Skrull to a bunch of guys in black suits couldn't be very complicated at all, but Victor was still dissatisfied with the ways things have turned out. As he flew back to his small home in the Northeast, he wondered what he would have for dinner, pushing those other thoughts out of his head for a while, deciding on spaghetti with his fancy garlic bread in lieu of Thai food takeout. But, as he stepped into his apartment at some undisclosed location in New Hampshire, he felt the buzzing of a nearly silent alarm going off.

Curious, Victor went to investigate, immediately finding the source of the noise as belonging to a small grey sphere he had stashed away in his closet. He looked at it and thought back, wondering where it came from. It dawned on him after a while, remembering that this was a gift from Maxwell Morningstar, a man he had met a few times and really shouldn't have been friends with, since Victor had to continuously serve him warrants for operating stolen alien technology from time to time. But, Max had saved Victor when Victor was captured by the Kree on one of his first off-world operations, and gave him this communicator, saying that Victor could return the favor some day. Apparently, that day was now.

Victor struggled to turn off the device, but pressing it's center seemed to do the trick, and brought up a holographic display of Maxwell instead of just turning it off. "Victor, there's not a lot of time to explain, but I passed away." That came as a shock, since Victor Vaughn had both heard of and seen the exploits of the Mad King in action - he was no easy combatant for anyone. Regardless, he listened. "But, one of my allies remains alive, and he needs you to honor my memory by joining him. He's assembling a team. the details I'm not sure of, but it's imperative that you meet with him soon. The coordinates are here, now, meet with my successor and go from there. Thank you."

The hologram closed out after showing Victor the coordinates to some mountain valley in India, the young man still rather shocked to hear about the death of Morningstar. Victor wasn't sure if he'd consider him a friend, but still, it's one of those things that just sits heavily with you, since Victor knew him personally. Either way, it sounded like an opportunity he had been waiting for, a chance to break out of his normal routine and shake things up a bit. Victor threw what few belongings and clothes he wanted to bring in a dufflebag, slinging it over his shoulder, and walking out of his apartment for the last time, flying off toward the horizon, ready to meet the man Maxwell entrusted with his legacy.

[Charmera]

Otis listened as the girl he never met came up with a plan to increase his speed so he could create a larger vortex. "At this point, I'm willing to try anything. I already tried asking them to stop and then hitting them when they wouldn't. Turns out kicking slime isn't very effective." He said and turned to Katie. "So. How do we go about making me faster? Oh, by the way, my name is Otis. Probably should have opened with that." What surprised him was that the girl jumped at the chance to help him despite his rather jarring appearance. Not that he was complaining. He just found it slightly odd.

"Katie." Spoke Katie, extending a hand. "You're an inhuman right? I met someone else like you, Naja. She's one of my best friends." She remarked. Now that the obligatory plesantries were over, she got down to business. "Well there's a lot of complex science and stuff behind it, but the crash course version is that I grant you boosted speed once I merge with you, which i do by becoming a group of electrons and going inside you. It's pretty sweet." She smiled. "Cora, my girlfriend, can guard you and ward off any slimes who want to glomp your ass while you do your thing."

The Xyrixma grunted in pain as they were slashed a few falling before the blows and a few regenerating. Though one, larger than the rest, prepared for something such as this. As she was cut, she suddenly forced her skin to become far stickier, and then enveloped the sword as it went through her body, not absorbing it, but pulling it into the slimey mass of her body to hopefully crush the blades wielder. Though before she could do that, a blast of magic sent her flying back. It seemed that Zaki had joined the fray. The Xyrixma reformed however, and a few of the ones previously thought down were doing the same.

"At least the largest one hasn't joined the fray..." Remarked the turncoat Xyrixma. "Thats one of Xyrix's six generals. They're supposed to be some of the biggest and baddest of our kind." She spoke. "She seems to devour inorganic matter, she can't eat the magic of the city which is why she's not simply devoured it."

It was then that the largest Xyrixma suddenly began moving towards the city. She extended a hand, and then from out of that hand came boulders fired at absurd speeds for a railgun effect sent forward to bombard the city.


Glacia grunted as she acted fast, passing the ball back to the Demon, she stuck it to her with Vacuum powers so that she couldn't pass it back to Glacia, and then in another risky move, she used her powers to try to guide the sword into the ball of Ki. She then tried to get away, scrambling as fast as she could. Whether this went off as planned or somehow Myosai had gotten out of trouble she did not know, for she was hurtled into the side of the dojo at painful speeds. Bones cracked, organs bled and her body moaned in pain as it hit the wall, and then painfully she slid down the thing.

Glacia nearly blacked out, she was seeing stars and her vision was blurred. She could tell that even in the dark, having the two energy sources as a light source too. She bit on her tongue, drawing blood in her attempt to stop from crying out. She tried to get up, though her body protested. With her healing factor, she could afford to lick her wounds. But she had predicted it might end like this. The two of them needed only to follow up a strong attack with another strong attack and all her pain and effort would have been for naught.

D-Dammit. I'm half broken and I still haven't drawn blood. How the heck did I think I could win? She was beginning to feel the demoralizing effect of fighting two people much stronger than herself. They're going to kill me. It'd take only a good shot to the head and I'm gone. What the heck am I going to do?

"Pull yourself together Glacia..." She whispered beneath whisper, and then forced herself to gain a second wind. She grunted as she moved. Staying in one place was dangerous. On the move, in the dark her energy was near impossible to accurately track. You can still do this. Exploit weaknesses. They're hardly great teammates, so I have but to fight two single battles simultaneously.

Hiroshi:

Blasting forward, the Ascended Saiyan blitzed the Acrosain, darting between gaps in the falling debris. Striking out, Hiroshi drove his heel across Glacia's jaw, summersaulting through the air with twin azure orbs charging in his palms. Sliding to a stop, Hiroshi was milliseconds from releasing the bolts before an unknown force stopped him.

" The battle is over everyone." A smooth voice spoke, the lights snapping back on when he finished, revealing the war torn and burning landscape. Large pillars of obsidian dotted their battleground, magma flows having mixed with water when bolts of ki exploded and sticks rattled the planet.

The relatively lean Kai made himself know, striding proudly into the battlefield. Supreme Kai suppressed a sigh as he looked at the participants of the battle. " First things first. Excellent job Glacia, you not only held off your opponents, but you also inflicted a few wounds. The goal of your training will be to increase your power and harness your skill with ki." He said simply, turning to Myosai.

" The aim of your training will to be to bring you up to level with Hiroshi, as well as improve your ki sensing ability, which needs some work, seeing as you almost killed our Saiyan friend." The Kai remarked, half smiling at the demon before setting his gaze in the Saiyan. " Your training will be focused on honing your techniques and reaching this Super Saiyan III you spoke to me about. Ascending will be your main focus. Do you understand?"

Frowning, Hiroshi gave a nod. By the way the Kai said it, he meant abusive training regiments until the Hybrid overcame the barrier. " Supreme Kai, if I may, I was told that Super Saiyan III is more than just training, it's a way of... I'm not entirely sure, but abusing myself day in and day out with certainly not help!" Hiroshi commented, wincing at the tone he'd used. He knew he should've been more thankful, but he and to reach the next level, and to do that, he had to continue training as he had been.

" Fine. You will work with your companions to develop the proper training regiment to ascend. But you will ascend here."

"Ow... Ow... Ow... Everything is ow." Mutter Glacia, then grunted. "Thank you Kai, this just about makes up for what you said earlier. Though I'm not sure the pain was worth it..." She then smiled. "To be honest, right now I wouldn't be too upset if Hiroshi got a mildly abusive training program." She joked. She stood, not wanting to seem weak, though it hurt like a bitch to do that. "I am partially serious Hiro. You want the gain, your going to have to do the pain. It's just how the world works. It sucks I know, but you should be well used to it by now." Strangely she felt.... stronger than before. Must have been her natural abilities kicking in or some crap.

---

---

Eternal Night listened to Valka's tale with interest. She supposed that this was one of the many differences between their universes: while in Valka's Odin had perished and never reincarnated, in her own he continued to rule over the Enclosure of the Gods. In the end, however, though such things were quite interesting, they held little value beyond that possessed by the things that satisfied her curiosity, as she had no practical use for such information. Thus, the Nameless One merely nodded towards the All-Mother once the tale was over, and returned her focus to the battle, nodding again when she was thanked for protecting the Valkyries from the attack of the large red Xyrixma who had the ability to absorb energy and send it back.

However, seeing that her attacks were not even being acknowledged, Eternal Night frowned under the mask. "Why, it's almost as if you were ignoring me, even though this clearly should, if not hurt you, then at least feed you. Pay some attention, would you?" She complained at the Xyrixma.

Noticing the railgun cannonballs that the leader of the Xyrixma present sent towards Asgard, the masked woman frowned. She raised her hand, and all of the sudden, from the shadows beneath her blue robe, chains shot out, first dozens, then hundreds and then thousands, all of them reaching up into the sky to form a net of chains that was more akin to a wall of metal links, all of this in hopes that it would stop the attacks from reaching Asgard.

The Boulders were stopped. Though this served to annoy the Xyyrixma. She suddenly grew in size until the asgardian wall was ankle height, absorbing material from the world around her. Green hills joined her and earth was consumed by her body. And then suddenly she slammed her foot down onto the city, hitting the metal chains with incredible force. She aimed roughly for where Eternal Night and Valka were.

-snip

The Mad City Saga
Friends; Old and New

Mad City

The shock of the kiss startled Mir heavily, the gravity of such an action very different in Daxamite society than Vokornian, apparently. It was shared only between man and wife, not even casual lovers like on Earth, but, Daxamite society was far more rigid and strict than most worlds and Mir knew this, so he relaxed as Ashy explained. He was about to say something, but the mention of Max steered the conversation elsewhere. "Yes...Maxwell left me with a vision, not really a mission or order, though, something he wanted me to do. Then again, I would have wanted this as well." Mir explained, the current members of his team casually resting in their rooms elsewhere.

"I want to keep his legacy alive. The bonds that I had with Max, Otto, and Val were the first real connections I made when I left Daxam, and they were the strongest. We weren't just a team, we were a family and we took care of each other, and I'm going to pick myself up and try again." Mir clenched his fists closed, casting his glance away from Ashy, "Because...I wondered if I could have done something else to help Max. Or Otto. Or Val. I can't change the past, but I can build my own future. Wherever my friends rest, I know they'd want me to pick up the pieces and carry on."

He walked forward and grabbed Ashy by the hands, looking into her eyes with sincerity and passion, seeing her not for her good looks and appeal but as an ally, friend, and foundation in such a trying time in Mir's own life. "Ashy, I'd love to have you here with me on this team. I decided to name it after Max, too. We're the Mad Gods, and I want you to be with us through thick and thin, because we'll be there for you." Mir said softly, his words cooing at Ashy, "I know there's trouble with the Vokornians, I won't pretend like I know anything more than that, but I want you to know that we'll help in anyway we can."

To interrupt that sweet moment, a beeping sound went off on Mir's arm guard, the Daxamite pressing a button on it and causing a holographic display to pop up. "...Good, they should be arriving soon." He said to himself, but quickly realized that he was being rude to Ashy. "Oh, sorry, it was an alert that more people were en-route to the City. Two more that will join our ranks, associates that Maxwell had connections with, so they came without hesitation." Mir explained, "That leaves me with two spots left, and they're both going to be a pain in the ass to wrangle in."

"I don't think you wouldn't mind helping me convince one of those two to join, would you?" Mir asked Ashy, a kind smile on his face, seeming like he'd rather just spend time with the girl instead of hunting after members for his team.

---

Ashy was surprised when the Daxamite grabbed her hands. For a species so seemingly conservative, this was a strange gesture. Not bad strange, in fact very good strange. She always liked it when she could break down and set fire to those boundaries. But she thought less of it when she saw his eyes. She felt... something. She didn't dare wander into his mind, it was not the act of a friend to breach privacy. Though she suspected this was partly in her own mind as well. Something more than mere animal lust. A connection. Though Ashy hesitated to give it a name just yet. "I..." She composed herself. "I do need help. Which is part of why I came here." She paused. "I'll speak on it later. But suffice it to say, we're in trouble."

"And I wouldn't mind at all helping you to convince these teamates. After all I can be quite the people person when I want to be." She boasted,

[The Republic of Atria]

He shook Katie's hand as she explained, kind of, how she was going to speed him up. "Yeah. I'm an Inhuman. It's really cool. Naja... Where have I heard that name before? Oh yeah, isn't she that one lady who hangs around that one guy with a fondness for the color yellow? Oh! Now I remember. She's in the Justice Queens, of which you are a member... I'm sorry. These last few days have been nothing short of hectic." He explained. "After this, I'm just gonna go home and sleep for the next month. Hop on and do your electron thingy and let's save Asgard! I never thought I would utter that sentence in my life." Katie was a superhero. By default, they couldn't be racist or judge based on appearance. That's how you commit PR suicide. And it helped that she had met another Inhuman beforehand.

Xander and Naja: Empire

Xander flew to what was his room. Made for a couple. It was rare to see him with such a grin on his face. More often than not he had a stern, but fair expression. One that had authority, but wouldn't abuse it. Now he was as giddy as a child on Christmas morning. He was getting married to the woman of his dreams, and hopefully all of friends and everyone he knew would be there. It would have to make up for the fact that neither of them had that much in the way of family to invite to the wedding. He began to use his magic to create customized invitations for every person he was going to invite. He wasn't going to let this fail. He was stubborn. Everyone who knew the slightest thing about him knew that. If he wants to give a wedding big enough that the leaders of several galactic empires were going to show up, there wasn't much that could stop him.

[The Starlight]

The Boulders were stopped. Though this served to annoy the Xyyrixma. She suddenly grew in size until the asgardian wall was ankle height, absorbing material from the world around her. Green hills joined her and earth was consumed by her body. And then suddenly she slammed her foot down onto the city, hitting the metal chains with incredible force. She aimed roughly for where Eternal Night and Valka were.

Throwing up a hand, Valka filled the gaps between the metal chains for a second, hoping to prevent the giant's foot from breaking through. It was a futile attempt though, and Valka's eyes widened as the foot came down upon them. Shoving away Eternal Night, she gathered the broken metal into a huge, thick pillar which she held between herself and the foot. It felt as if she was carrying the sky as the Titan Atlas had done, and her arms shook, perspiration running down her face, holding the weight of a world. Turning her face to Eternal Night and the rest, she beckoned for them to attack with whatever attacks they had left while the Xyrixima was temporarily distracted.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Once, long ago, the Annihilation Wave wrought havoc in the Universe, bringing despair throughout. Men and Gods alike bowed to the onslaught as it destroyed without differentiating between Hero and Villain, without care for newborn politics or age old hatreds. At the time, it was regarded as the ultimate enemy- Its defeat as the ultimate triumph.

Then came the Builders. In numbers that dwarfed even the Wave, with power and might unlike any other, the Builders did more than make Man and God bow- They slaughtered them. They say that the guts of the Heroes of dead worlds still lie on the shattered skulls of those they vowed to protect. In the face of such overwhelming odds, Hero and Villain meant nothing. Politics fell to the wayside, and old hatred birthed fast friends and stronger allies. In the end, a primordial force of creation turned chaos fell to an idea.

The idea that said Hope.
The idea that said Freedom.
The idea that proclaimed peace eternal and honour untouchable.
The Avengers.

Of course, as it always does, things inevitably went to hell once more. Imagine, if you will, that the Annihilation Wave was a rifle. Powerful, but not unbeatable. The Builders, then, would be a cannon. The new armour forged in light of the rifle was no longer sufficient, and so a new armour, the Universal Avengers, was forged.

The Dragons, then, would be an orbital bombardment. Naught but dust was left in the wake of the Dragons. Asgard the gleaming, gem of the Universe and renown to all, has been reduced to but a shade of its former glory. Earth the glorious, harbinger of new days and the centre of change throughout all of the Universe, is a broiling ocean of rage kept under lock and key by its masters. Oa has ceased to thrive, and Ego breathes its mighty breaths no more. The New Gods do not yet kneel, but their day of reckoning will come soon.

Very soon.

Reckoning, Part 1 - A Tale 'Where Dragons Rule'
Commander Gideon of the New Gods, General of New Genesis, scowled down at the battle plan in front of him. His once brilliant blue armour was now black with the ash of Apokolips and cracked from wear. "This is madness, Desaad! You will kill New Genesis and the New Gods on it!" His once calmer demeanour had completely evaporated since the Dragons took reign. The forced alliance with Darkseid only made things worse. Now, Gideon, along with the Apokolips representative Desaad, was the cruel taskmaster of the Army of the New Gods, which had designs on killing the Dragons- Through any means necessary.
Desaad, growling, began to reply when he was cut off by Teledar, the head scientist of New Genesis. "Highfather, the Apokoliptians refuse any attempt to work with us, I must again reiterate my request that-"
"Silence, Teledar." At the North end of the long table, shrouded by darkness and shadow, the form of the Highfather leaned backwards, contemplative. Known as Izaya to those closest to him and Highfather to the rest, he was an imposing figure with an even more imposing history. His might was great, if inconsequential in the face of the Dragons. During the initial resistance, he lead the charge against the Muses and Banshees. Some would even argue that with his assistance, they began to defeat the Muses. Unfortunately, it the tide of battle quickly changed when Highfather was speared through the stomach by a particularly defiant Muse. The forces of New Genesis retreated to lick their wounds and count the dead. Orion, Son of Darkseid had fallen. Lonar, Hero and Explorer, was found without a head. Madam Nature, Infinite Man, the entire host of the Forever People- The list went on. Worst of all, Highfather was captured. In a desperate plea for survival, Commander Gideon reached out to Apokolips and Darkseid, revealing the death of his son and the capture of his mortal enemy, bidding him retrieve his ancient foe and ally with him to ensure the survival of the New Gods. Darkseid lead the charge, mirroring Highfather's actions. This time, however, with a goal other than indiscriminate destruction, he was able to escape unscathed with Izaya. Highfather was paralysed from the waist down, and though this would be easy enough for the doctors of New Genesis to fix, he chose to not do so until the forces of the Dragons had been driven from his home. He and Darkseid shook hands that day, cementing a desperate alliance of desperate Gods. "Be silent, and let me think."
On the other side of the table from Highfather, Darkseid suddenly turned his massive head out the window. "Incoming. Desaad-"
"Going." Desaad was already up, launching himself through a Boom-Tube to the Apokoliptian war room. "No Dragon signals. I read... Negative Zone? What..?"
Highfather raised an eyebrow. "Mister Miracle, meet the Annihilation Wave and question their motives for being here." He glanced at Darkseid, who gave him a small nod. Highfather continued, "Amazing Grace, accompany him."

The two New Gods- One of New Genesis and one of Apokolips- went out to meet the Annihilation Wave. "Annihilus of the Negative Zone, slaughterer of billions. Halt and state your purpose!" Mister Miracle proclaimed loudly. The leading scout ship of the Wave slowed to a stop near him, its upper hatch opening to reveal Ravenous, General Supreme of the Annihilation Wave.
"Lord Annihilus has no need for your petty demands, God-Pretenders." He flew upwards. Ravenous of the Negative Zone, sole remaining user of the Opposing Force, and master of it. Even Galactus would be hard pressed to defeat the General Supreme. "Surrender now, and perhaps you may be given mercy." His smirk was easy but calculating.

Mister Miracle, incensed, was about to reply when Amazing Grace interrupted him. "Annihilus does not give mercy, General Ravenous, nor does he warn those he conquers of the impending attack." She glanced about, her eyes going wide for a moment before falling into their practised nonchalance once more. "Miracle." She spoke quietly and urgently. "We need to leave. Now."
"What? It's the Annihilation Wave, Grace. Ravenous may prove a small challenge, but surely-"
"The Manifest Blade rides with them."

Ravenous laughed, shrugging off his armour to reveal bright blue implants all over him. "Yes, it does. And as it turns out, when you augment the Opposing Force with the Power Cosmic, you become even stronger." He suddenly raised his arms, blasting spiral beams of orange and blue energy towards the two New Gods. "Die!"
The two were killed instantly. Almost immediately, Kalibak of Apokolips and Magnar of New Genesis launched themselves towards the attackers. They were dispatched with the same ease. It was clear that Ravenous had elevated himself far beyond the power of the average New God.

So it was that Darkseid himself stood and exited the meeting chamber, his eyes glowing red with naught but the fate of Ravenous on his mind.

And so it was that the meeting house was unprotected as Manifest arrived at its roof.

And so it was that Darkseid could only turn in horror as it, and everyone inside, was destroyed.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Kirisvala smiled at Mars as he complimented her on a job well done, but quickly turned to Red Arrow once he started speaking, listening to him explain the plan. It wasn't a very complex plan, not too intrincate or elegant, but it sounded like it'd work and in any case, she was more trusting of Red Arrow than Mars seemed to be, so she simply nodded at him and then watched him fly off, before turning back to Mars, watching him climb into Rocket, something that made her feel a little more relaxed. She knew for a fact that humans were more fragile than Hadrians (or, at least, than Hadrian arms, since she knew that the rest of her body was more or less as resistant as a human's), and Mars was no exception, so seeing him enter Rocket and use the robot as an armor of sorts made her feel less worried about his safety, since she thought that he would be safer in there, less exposed to danger.

Hearing him tell her to stay close and take care, she giggled a little at the irony and then nodded at him, smiling. "I'm not worried. I know you'll protect me." She said sincerely, before nodding at him once again when he asked if she was ready. Then, seeing him take the lead, she trailed after him, using her claws to move much faster than she would if she used her feet, though even then it seemed that Rocket was able to move about ten times faster, meaning that he arrived much earlier, beginning the fight before she was able to catch up with him. She did, however, arrive just in time to see him being forced to protect himself with the doors of the factory while some sort of powerful weapon fired at him. Hearing his call for aid, the Hadrian frowned.

"No time for songs!" She shouted as she used her claws to leap over Mars and Rocket, landing in front of them and then slamming her claws into the ground, falling in position. Then, she let out a loud, ferocious roar that, in such an enclosed space, would undoubtedly deafen at least some of the thugs present. The roar was even stronger than it had been back when she had used it in Jump City against Xyri, on the day they had met, and the sheer force of the sound caused the entire place to begin shaking; inwardly, Kirisvala hoped that she wouldn't end up harming Mars with that, but she shook off those thoughts, she had no time to worry about that and she had done this precisely to protect him, since a bullet would likely be far more damaging to him. Speaking of which, another effect of the roar was that the force being put out formed a bubble of sorts around the two Young Bloods, a circular sound barrier that deflected every projectile sent their way, causing the bullets and grenades to veer off course, sometimes hitting other thugs instead. The power of the roar was tremendous, and normally, the Dragon Mage wouldn't have been able to pull off something of this caliber by herself, but, though it wasn't its intended function, the necklace Mars had given her was picking up her soundwaves and amplifying them, making her attack even more powerful.

Regardless, as useful as the above effects were, they were not the one intended. The true purpose of this attack became evident when, suddenly, enormous magical spears of light appeared in the air around her, being flung forward at bullet speeds by an unseen force, the magical projectiles headed straight towards where the machine-gunner was stationed, the amplification of the necklace making them powerful enough to cause small explosions on impact.

---

---

Eternal Night smiled beneath the mask as she saw the boulders of slime being successfully caught in her net of chains, feeling content that she was once again able to foil the plans of the Xyrixma. Although her smile faded ever so slightly when she saw the Xyrixma begin growing to absurd heights. Now that was something she hadn't been expecting, and as she saw the foot coming down towards her chains, she frowned at the creature, cursing.

"I knew I should've used a stronger material." She chided herself. She could, naturally, control the materials that the chains were made of, but only before they were spawned, and in any case she often refrained from doing so as it was not very fun to just use Adamantium chains on everything. This time, it seemed, her refusal to do so was a mistake instead of a hit, but either way, she was not too worried by this new development. It was no threat to her.

What did surprise her was when Valka attempted to shove her away, passing harmlessly and uselessly through her incorporeal form instead, which prompted her to glance amusedly at the All-Mother, even as she carried the weight of the massive slime woman on her shoulders. "I can become intangible at will, you know. Would have been helpful to ask." She teased the ruler of Asgard and of all the Aesir, before deciding that it was probably not the time for that kind of bullshit. Paying attention to the situation at hand now, she nodded at Valka as she asked for her to unleash everything she had on the Xyrixma. Focusing, the azure eyes that sat behind the mask she wore seemed to glow brighter than ever, and after a moment, the power that she summoned became evident. Crossbows, bazookas, machine guns and cannons appeared in the air, each of them larger than a house, each of them made of a bright azure light, all of them spiritual weapons that Eternal Night had summoned in order to combat the Xyrixma threat.

"I've been wondering if these things have souls." The Nameless One remarked. "It looks like I'm about to find out." And then, all the weapons fired.

---

---

Hadrimmelis was in her human form, resting on some abandoned planet as she mused over the past events. The Builder War and the invasion of the Xyrixma had taken quite a bit out of her, that was true, not to mention that she had been tending to her duties as a World-Dragon and rebuilding everything that the Builders and the Xyrixma had been doing, on a cosmic scale: all the planets and star systems that were devoured or otherwise destroyed in the aformentioned conflicts were reconstructed by the cosmic force of creation that was the Black Dragon, and with her assistance, many races were able to return to their natural habitats after being refugees in alien lands, though it was still up to them to rebuild the civilizations that they used to have. In any case, the point was that she had been busy, and was currently taking a break, staying in her human form in order to conserve more energy. She still had quite a bit of it in her, of course, and it would take a long while for her to require to slumber once again, but it didn't hurt to save some energy.

As she rested, though, something peculiar happened. Outer space was easily visible through the night sky of that planet, and so, Hadrimmelis was able to see quite clearly as something enormous enough to be observed in full detail from the planet's surface appeared out of the blue. The World-Dragon frowned slightly at the strange occurence, but then observed the object with more detail. It appeared to be a letter, and she could see some writing on it:

From: Xander
To: Hadri

It was only hours later, when the Black Dragon stopped laughing, that she read the invitation to Xander and Naja's wedding, smiling.

[Jorliefstreiken]

Chaos Reigns, Part One
The Universe, 13.82 billion years ago

In the beginning there was nothing, only blackness in an empty spot in the multiverse. And then there was light, which spread across the universe in 7 different color, and for 800 years all there was was light. Then blackness crept in again and splintered the light. And in the blackness, beings emerged. The forces of chaos, Arakfel the Inducer, C'Zoth the Harbinger, N'Tun the Invoked, Gaialotha the Final, and Sergun the King. And for years these beings warred, in large forms, and in small. And the universe continued to expand and grow around them. Each of the five staked out a home planet, where each of them felt they should rule from. Arakfel chose her home to be a planet with the potential to create the greatest fighters ever know, great mortals with golden hair that would become among the galaxy greatest warriors. C'Zoth found his home upon a lonely asteroid, a rock whose destiny was to destroy the most advance planet in the universe. N'Tun chose his home to be on the planet where green light was the strongest, where he could whisper for years and years. Gaialotha chose her home to be a distant world, which would one day create nigh immortal beings, with the greatest of them being considered a god amongst mortals of a far off world. But cunning Sergun searched for years until he found the spot where the universe had started, and there he made his home. And for years the universe was but one great war, every species being slave to the Dark Ones.

And so it came to be, within the domain of Gaialotha, that a new species was born of the combined efforts of every species. These new beings were smarter than any other that had come before, could destroy planets without great effort and had souls and minds of fire that burned the Dark Ones. These new beings, who would become known as the Novarian or Gods of Light, where created with one purpose, to destroy the Dark Ones. Of the Original Novarian there were 50, with only 25 being born since. Ten Novarian for every Dark One. And so the war of the Dark Ones became focused on these new beings of light. But it was too late. The Novarian trapped the Dark Ones within their homeworlds and then found a suitable place to make their home, a planet with gold for dirt and a fountain of youth in every dwelling. And though the Novarian continued to build up their own race, they made other races to guard the Dark Ones. Of these races only the ones designed to guard Arakfel, N'Tun and Gailotha survived, each hanging on only by a few individuals. Sergun's guardians were replaced by filthy apes, and C'Zoths guardians gained thoughts beyond guarding their prisoner on a filthy asteroid and left. And so the Dark Ones sat in waiting, waiting for someone to free them.

And in time two became free, 5 became 3, 3 came to rest, before humans found the portal in the west.