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

[Charmera]

the

backyardigans

Go ahead and translate for me, Worldmind. Jamal said in his mind. He watched Aru interrogate the captured pirates, hoping that she would quickly and easily get the necessary information out of them so that they could hunt down the fleet before the trail ran cold. Then, things went sour and a sour expression formed on Jamal's face as he watched the captured pirates began bleeding until they withered into husks and died.

"No." Jamal said, shaking his head in response to Gilbert's suggestion. "Even though they tried to hurt others, I don't think even they deserve that. We respect her wishes to follow their customs and bury them." Truth be told, there might have been a time where he would agreed to that, but he felt that methods such as that were beneath him at this point. There had to be lines that couldn't be crossed, and he wanted to set a standard that would hopefully be a good one for the inevitable reborn Nova Corps to follow by.

"Thank you." Aru spoke. She returned to her professional buiness face as she looked to the bodies. "I apologize, this will only take a short moment." She explained. She took out her drones and they moved under the floating corpses. She looked at them all, sighing. <"Though you die upon another planet, may your souls return to Ran. May your souls find peace among the cosmic equilibrium and may your ancestors forever reveer you."> She spoke. Then frowned. "Now we bury them. And then we find the bastards who wired them up to die."

Still in the hideout that Craig had picked out so that he would be protected during the civil war sparked by the superhuman registration act. All things considered, though, the conflict, while still in force, seemed to have blown over for the most part. Thus, when Craig expressed his wish to go outside and do something that as far as Etla was concerned ammounted to 'techy stuff', she didn't have much of an objection, though she chose not to go with him, in order to spend some time with her sister Ihra. The red-haired Rainborn had arrived to Earth about a year ago, give or take, but even then she didn't seem like she had grown very accustomed to this world, and Etla still hadn't found a way for them to return to the Skyworld, though she was admittedly far less eager to do so now than she had been when she first arrived to Earth. Back then, it was very clear in her mind that she wanted to return, but now that she had Craig, the choice was a lot more confusing, and she tried not to think about it.

Either way, they were more or less alone in the base now, and the golden-haired Rainborn approached her elder sister slowly.

"Hey, Ihra." She said, not quite nervous, but a bit uncertain of what to say exactly. "You don't look like you're enjoying your stay too much." She continued swiftly, never one to dwell on things too much. "Is there anything you want to do? I think you ought to have some fun at some point."

Ihra sighed. A year on this world. A blink in the eye for a Rainborn really, but this was a long time to be away from home. She was still homesick. It was hard not to be in a place so... alien. "I... Have no idea." She spoke. "I keep thinking about home. About how I came here... Why..." She paused. "I came here to be useful. I was warned it was dangerous but I still came. And now I think it may have been a mistake to come." She looked over to Etla. "I'm sorry. I must sound like a depressing broken record." She had picked up some of the slang of earth. She had no idea what a record was though. Never saw one.

"I'm not sure what to suggest." She wasn't at all. Etla was the one who always showed her stuff. Ihra apreciated the effort, and felt sort for her sister. She had shown her a lot and her reactions had been mixed. "Your the one more... aclimated to earth..." She paused. "We could go to the park or... something. I dunno..."

Cora
Cora blushed a little when Katie said she had feelings for her too, but smiled brightly as Katie pulled her hand back to eat. Cora took a sip of water and then heard Katie's question and paused. She knew it was common for couples to sleep in the same room, but still it would be a change and that made Cora a little nervous, but she knew it was necessary to try new things. Also, she could tell that Katie was worried about losing her like she had Eric, and Cora didn't want to make her worry anymore than she already did.

"Well, it does make me a little nervous, but only because all of this is so new to me. I have to start embracing new things, so I think we should do it." Cora said trying to sound confident. She knew her greatest challenge would be adjusting to all the things that changed now that she and Katie were in a relationship.

\
"That's. great!" She spoke. Smiling wide. 'I'm glad your trying to do new things. It's wonderful that your feeling more comfortable with me." She replied. "I know this is your first relationship, so I don't mind if you take it slow. Also I have experience with relationships so I can bring that in." She was glad that Cora was now close to her. She would be able to keep an eye on her for her own safety. "Oh..." She relaised something and nervously scratched the back of her head. "Um... I'm guessing you'll want to know a bit of my romantic past too... I mean you deserve to know..."

Suddenly, the DROW agent apeared out of nowhere."You'll get more than candy if you keep providing victories like this." Remarked Zab, clasping his hands together, he moved slightly out of the way to show their new living space. The arena seemed to disapear as they were now within what seemed to be an earth apartment, one similar to the one that Claudia had at home. In fact exactly the same. Claudia blinked slightly, then looked at Zab. Who only smiled.

"Look, I'm sorry we brought you here against your will, but really we needed to." He remarked. "My company is in dire straits, and here in the Underdark Sector, things that are in dire straits don't tend to get willing aid." He explained. "Especially not aid with as much promise as you."

Claudia frowned. "I still want to go home."

"Annndd you will. But we need you to do something for us first. You see it was expensive getting you here, but when it comes to you... soon money will be no object." He spoke. "All you need do is defeat the other six Corperations, DERRO, ILITHID, ABOLETH, OOZE, WYRM and SHOGGOTH and you'll be home free."

Claudia was still frowning.

Zab chuckled. "I know your not one to take orders or to accept things the way they are, so I'm going to remind you that escape is impossible, and keep aranging your matches. Soon enough you'll see that my way is the best." He remarked, a slight buzz revealing he was just a hologram.


"Huh. So you earthlings have already prepared a welco-" She stopped and squinted slightly as she noticed Hiroshi. Suddenly her eyes widened. "A Saiyan!? What?!" She said to herself, then frowned.

She shouted at him then, floating while she crossed her arms. "You better not be with the PTO. Or else I might have to kill you." She warned.

" So we can't go home?" Tomia whined. Sitting down, her hands quickly found the way to her chin as she leaned on them. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at Claudia.

" I want Daddy! I wanna go home and just go to school and see my friends. I want you and Daddy to be together again and for everyone to be happy!" She sobbed, her golden hair waving in the slight breeze shed created. There was a fire within her, a burning fury yearning to be unleashed, bro she couldn't.

" I just wanna go home." She muttered quietly.

"Tomia. Don't believe a word he says." Spoke Claudia. She knelt down in front of Tomia. She sighed, rubbing her head. "Why do you even want me to be with your dad... I'm not even your real mother." She spoke. "Your Dad is fine without me. And I'm bad for him anyway. I'm..." She paused. "If someting..."

If something like that happened again. I might just snap forever... I might become like bruce. A fractured half wild animal.

"Tomia. I will talk to him. I will get you back to earth. No matter how long it takes or how I do it." She promised. "I can't promise we will get back together, but I will talk to him. Alright?" She spoke. "Now, it's important we keep ourselves together. We can't let these guys win. But we have to play their game for now. Got it?"

[New Rnclave]

Go ahead and translate for me, Worldmind. Jamal said in his mind. He watched Aru interrogate the captured pirates, hoping that she would quickly and easily get the necessary information out of them so that they could hunt down the fleet before the trail ran cold. Then, things went sour and a sour expression formed on Jamal's face as he watched the captured pirates began bleeding until they withered into husks and died.

"No." Jamal said, shaking his head in response to Gilbert's suggestion. "Even though they tried to hurt others, I don't think even they deserve that. We respect her wishes to follow their customs and bury them." Truth be told, there might have been a time where he would agreed to that, but he felt that methods such as that were beneath him at this point. There had to be lines that couldn't be crossed, and he wanted to set a standard that would hopefully be a good one for the inevitable reborn Nova Corps to follow by.

"Thank you." Aru spoke. She returned to her professional buiness face as she looked to the bodies. "I apologize, this will only take a short moment." She explained. She took out her drones and they moved under the floating corpses. She looked at them all, sighing. <"Though you die upon another planet, may your souls return to Ran. May your souls find peace among the cosmic equilibrium and may your ancestors forever reveer you."> She spoke. Then frowned. "Now we bury them. And then we find the bastards who wired them up to die."

Still in the hideout that Craig had picked out so that he would be protected during the civil war sparked by the superhuman registration act. All things considered, though, the conflict, while still in force, seemed to have blown over for the most part. Thus, when Craig expressed his wish to go outside and do something that as far as Etla was concerned ammounted to 'techy stuff', she didn't have much of an objection, though she chose not to go with him, in order to spend some time with her sister Ihra. The red-haired Rainborn had arrived to Earth about a year ago, give or take, but even then she didn't seem like she had grown very accustomed to this world, and Etla still hadn't found a way for them to return to the Skyworld, though she was admittedly far less eager to do so now than she had been when she first arrived to Earth. Back then, it was very clear in her mind that she wanted to return, but now that she had Craig, the choice was a lot more confusing, and she tried not to think about it.

Either way, they were more or less alone in the base now, and the golden-haired Rainborn approached her elder sister slowly.

"Hey, Ihra." She said, not quite nervous, but a bit uncertain of what to say exactly. "You don't look like you're enjoying your stay too much." She continued swiftly, never one to dwell on things too much. "Is there anything you want to do? I think you ought to have some fun at some point."

Ihra sighed. A year on this world. A blink in the eye for a Rainborn really, but this was a long time to be away from home. She was still homesick. It was hard not to be in a place so... alien. "I... Have no idea." She spoke. "I keep thinking about home. About how I came here... Why..." She paused. "I came here to be useful. I was warned it was dangerous but I still came. And now I think it may have been a mistake to come." She looked over to Etla. "I'm sorry. I must sound like a depressing broken record." She had picked up some of the slang of earth. She had no idea what a record was though. Never saw one.

"I'm not sure what to suggest." She wasn't at all. Etla was the one who always showed her stuff. Ihra apreciated the effort, and felt sort for her sister. She had shown her a lot and her reactions had been mixed. "Your the one more... aclimated to earth..." She paused. "We could go to the park or... something. I dunno..."

Cora
Cora blushed a little when Katie said she had feelings for her too, but smiled brightly as Katie pulled her hand back to eat. Cora took a sip of water and then heard Katie's question and paused. She knew it was common for couples to sleep in the same room, but still it would be a change and that made Cora a little nervous, but she knew it was necessary to try new things. Also, she could tell that Katie was worried about losing her like she had Eric, and Cora didn't want to make her worry anymore than she already did.

"Well, it does make me a little nervous, but only because all of this is so new to me. I have to start embracing new things, so I think we should do it." Cora said trying to sound confident. She knew her greatest challenge would be adjusting to all the things that changed now that she and Katie were in a relationship.

\
"That's. great!" She spoke. Smiling wide. 'I'm glad your trying to do new things. It's wonderful that your feeling more comfortable with me." She replied. "I know this is your first relationship, so I don't mind if you take it slow. Also I have experience with relationships so I can bring that in." She was glad that Cora was now close to her. She would be able to keep an eye on her for her own safety. "Oh..." She relaised something and nervously scratched the back of her head. "Um... I'm guessing you'll want to know a bit of my romantic past too... I mean you deserve to know..."

" So we can't go home?" Tomia whined. Sitting down, her hands quickly found the way to her chin as she leaned on them. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at Claudia.

" I want Daddy! I wanna go home and just go to school and see my friends. I want you and Daddy to be together again and for everyone to be happy!" She sobbed, her golden hair waving in the slight breeze shed created. There was a fire within her, a burning fury yearning to be unleashed, bro she couldn't.

" I just wanna go home." She muttered quietly.

"Tomia. Don't believe a word he says." Spoke Claudia. She knelt down in front of Tomia. She sighed, rubbing her head. "Why do you even want me to be with your dad... I'm not even your real mother." She spoke. "Your Dad is fine without me. And I'm bad for him anyway. I'm..." She paused. "If someting..."

If something like that happened again. I might just snap forever... I might become like bruce. A fractured half wild animal.

"Tomia. I will talk to him. I will get you back to earth. No matter how long it takes or how I do it." She promised. "I can't promise we will get back together, but I will talk to him. Alright?" She spoke. "Now, it's important we keep ourselves together. We can't let these guys win. But we have to play their game for now. Got it?"

" O-Okay. I'll try to help you win." Tomia nodded, sniffling a little. This whole place was entirely to much like the scary stories the older kids at her school liked to tell, to scare kids like Tomia. That was until Tomia accidentally broke a kid who stole her balls ribs.

" Daddy would want me to be strong. I wanna be just like him! So I'm gonna be strong too!" Tomia shouted, jumping to her feet and puffing out her chest like her Father did. Screwing her eyes shut, she tried to mimick the determined look Hiroshi always and.

[Charmera]

"Thank you." Aru spoke. She returned to her professional buiness face as she looked to the bodies. "I apologize, this will only take a short moment." She explained. She took out her drones and they moved under the floating corpses. She looked at them all, sighing. <"Though you die upon another planet, may your souls return to Ran. May your souls find peace among the cosmic equilibrium and may your ancestors forever reveer you."> She spoke. Then frowned. "Now we bury them. And then we find the bastards who wired them up to die."


Ihra sighed. A year on this world. A blink in the eye for a Rainborn really, but this was a long time to be away from home. She was still homesick. It was hard not to be in a place so... alien. "I... Have no idea." She spoke. "I keep thinking about home. About how I came here... Why..." She paused. "I came here to be useful. I was warned it was dangerous but I still came. And now I think it may have been a mistake to come." She looked over to Etla. "I'm sorry. I must sound like a depressing broken record." She had picked up some of the slang of earth. She had no idea what a record was though. Never saw one.

"I'm not sure what to suggest." She wasn't at all. Etla was the one who always showed her stuff. Ihra apreciated the effort, and felt sort for her sister. She had shown her a lot and her reactions had been mixed. "Your the one more... aclimated to earth..." She paused. "We could go to the park or... something. I dunno..."

\
"That's. great!" She spoke. Smiling wide. 'I'm glad your trying to do new things. It's wonderful that your feeling more comfortable with me." She replied. "I know this is your first relationship, so I don't mind if you take it slow. Also I have experience with relationships so I can bring that in." She was glad that Cora was now close to her. She would be able to keep an eye on her for her own safety. "Oh..." She relaised something and nervously scratched the back of her head. "Um... I'm guessing you'll want to know a bit of my romantic past too... I mean you deserve to know..."


"Tomia. Don't believe a word he says." Spoke Claudia. She knelt down in front of Tomia. She sighed, rubbing her head. "Why do you even want me to be with your dad... I'm not even your real mother." She spoke. "Your Dad is fine without me. And I'm bad for him anyway. I'm..." She paused. "If someting..."

If something like that happened again. I might just snap forever... I might become like bruce. A fractured half wild animal.

"Tomia. I will talk to him. I will get you back to earth. No matter how long it takes or how I do it." She promised. "I can't promise we will get back together, but I will talk to him. Alright?" She spoke. "Now, it's important we keep ourselves together. We can't let these guys win. But we have to play their game for now. Got it?"

" O-Okay. I'll try to help you win." Tomia nodded, sniffling a little. This whole place was entirely to much like the scary stories the older kids at her school liked to tell, to scare kids like Tomia. That was until Tomia accidentally broke a kid who stole her balls ribs.

" Daddy would want me to be strong. I wanna be just like him! So I'm gonna be strong too!" Tomia shouted, jumping to her feet and puffing out her chest like her Father did. Screwing her eyes shut, she tried to mimick the determined look Hiroshi always and.

Claudia smiled. She moved towards Tomia once more and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "You've always been strong Tomia." She remarked. "At your age, I would have been so much more scared." She spoke. She looked at Tomia in the eyes, a small smirk on her face. "You're the cutest gladiator ever, you know that?" She spoke. "I bet the whole crowd loved you darling. How could they not love that cute little face." She stroked Tomia's hair.

[New Rnclave]

" O-Okay. I'll try to help you win." Tomia nodded, sniffling a little. This whole place was entirely to much like the scary stories the older kids at her school liked to tell, to scare kids like Tomia. That was until Tomia accidentally broke a kid who stole her balls ribs.

" Daddy would want me to be strong. I wanna be just like him! So I'm gonna be strong too!" Tomia shouted, jumping to her feet and puffing out her chest like her Father did. Screwing her eyes shut, she tried to mimick the determined look Hiroshi always and.

Claudia smiled. She moved towards Tomia once more and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "You've always been strong Tomia." She remarked. "At your age, I would have been so much more scared." She spoke. She looked at Tomia in the eyes, a small smirk on her face. "You're the cutest gladiator ever, you know that?" She spoke. "I bet the whole crowd loved you darling. How could they not love that cute little face." She stroked Tomia's hair.

" You think? The fight with the big grey man made me wish I'd trained with Dddy more. Daddy said not to reveal my power unless I had too, he said " No kid your age should have to fight battles like I did." But I REEEALLLLYYYY wanna train with him! Can you train me? You must've learned something from Daddy! You were with him for so long." Tomia laughed happily, bouncing in Claudia's arms as she thought about training.

" It was weird. The battle thingy, I was really, excited, like I wanted to fight more bad men!" She said, quoting at the last part and looking nervously at Claudia.

[The Starlight]

Craig Thomsen
The Venture Begins

In the bridge, which looked somewhat like this, Craig sat on a chair, surrounded by several holograms as the others entered. "I was just running a final diagnostic, and all systems are operational." The holograms vanished, and he pressed several buttons on the display, after which the other crew members would hear a slight purring. "Engines, check." He pressed another button, which glowed green. "Shields, check." the young inventor tapped a few more buttons, the joystick controls popping out of the ground. "Better sit down, and seatbelt yourselves, folks," Craig pulling up, a hologram by his eye informing him of their current velocity, height, and other systems. "We have lift-off."

Once they had reached a sufficient distance from Earth, Craig, used his technopathy to activate a hyperspace window, tapping in the coordinates for a moment as the AI took control of the joysticks for a moment. "Entering hyperspace...in 3. 2. 1!"

And the starship accelerated into hyperspace, and vanished in a flash.

[The Fallen Jedi]

Lord Alastir & Lord Spera
The Wrath of the Celestials: The Gods of Old Unleashed!
The Masaki Galaxy & General Eiling

Spera's eyes narrowed as he could feel it, the darkness that began to spread unchecked within the Masaki Galaxy, the light that maintained peace was rapidly diminishing, and so were his own powers, but inside the Masaki Galaxy, Spera, along with Alastir were all powerful and entirely unrivaled, so Spera knew that there would be a way to hold off the thirteen gods of darkness while Hernan gathered the fragments of the Phoenix "They certainly are doing something to my realm of Mortis, I can sense a lot of foul energy in that direction..." Spera suddenly looked up, noticing that a surge of dark entities extended themselves towards him, the Leviathan Daemons, the predecessors to the demons that Alastir utilized "I thought that these things were wiped out years ago, but now they're back!?" Spera let out a sigh as he opened his palm "Kami No Shinpan No Ken! (Sword of Divine Judgement)" Said sword manifested back into his hand as he charged blindly into the swarm of Leviathan Daemons, his sword drawn and pointed towards them.

Spera swiped his sword both vertically and horizontally, generating a cross-like shockwave of energy that crashed directly into the swarm of Daemons, sending them flying in all directions, it was said that the Sword of Divine Judgement was one of the few weapons that could effectively slay a Leviathan, but yet again, Spera thought this statement to be an exaggeration, because many old legends have been proven false over the years. As Spera forced himself through the middle of the Daemon spawn, he calmly closed his eyes and then suddenly stopped, a light blue aura around his body beginning to expand "Now perish!" Spera exclaimed, generating a shockwave that reduced the Daemons to nothing more than fine dust, Spera's signature Molecular Manipulation technique.

OOC: Sorry for the short post, I need to get back into the groove of things.

[The Republic of Atria]

"You need to get me into space." Hernan said. "The Phoenix is coming. I can feel it's power building within my body. I will destroy everything in it's path. When we get close enough... Well. Trust me when I say you will not be able to miss it. The creature is almost the size of a planet. If said planet was on fire." He explained waiting on them. "I will become it's host and use the power to reconstitute your world. Though, promise me that in the future you will take better care of your things." He jeered. It wasn't their fault and he knew that. Well. It was a little their fault. But most of the blame went on the psychotic general.

The Builder War

Xander woke up after a short nap when the ship was about to the first bout of combat. Ronan was busying explaining the plan. The Council had put the Builder fleet in a very compromising position. A rock and a hard place didn't even begin to describe it. It was between a singularity and the full might of the Council's fleet and a black hole. Which was quite a plan. "Alright then. We hit them hard and hit them fast. I want everyone who can operate in space unaided to hit them hard. Superman, Thor, Naja, any and all of our powerhouses. I want constant fire on their biggest ships. Everyone else, I want on comms. Changes in the fight or what have you. Hernan. You're the resident telepath. Any changes to the situation, we should know about it first thing. Please do not use that... Thing we discussed unless it is absolutely necessary."

"As you wish." Herana said and opened a telepathic link for everyone. "There. I will be doing my best to wage war on their minds from here. Should they resist. I suppose we will show them what Hell looks and feels like as a first hand experience."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

"You need to get me into space." Hernan said. "The Phoenix is coming. I can feel it's power building within my body. I will destroy everything in it's path. When we get close enough... Well. Trust me when I say you will not be able to miss it. The creature is almost the size of a planet. If said planet was on fire." He explained waiting on them. "I will become it's host and use the power to reconstitute your world. Though, promise me that in the future you will take better care of your things." He jeered. It wasn't their fault and he knew that. Well. It was a little their fault. But most of the blame went on the psychotic general.

The Builder War

Xander woke up after a short nap when the ship was about to the first bout of combat. Ronan was busying explaining the plan. The Council had put the Builder fleet in a very compromising position. A rock and a hard place didn't even begin to describe it. It was between a singularity and the full might of the Council's fleet and a black hole. Which was quite a plan. "Alright then. We hit them hard and hit them fast. I want everyone who can operate in space unaided to hit them hard. Superman, Thor, Naja, any and all of our powerhouses. I want constant fire on their biggest ships. Everyone else, I want on comms. Changes in the fight or what have you. Hernan. You're the resident telepath. Any changes to the situation, we should know about it first thing. Please do not use that... Thing we discussed unless it is absolutely necessary."

"As you wish." Herana said and opened a telepathic link for everyone. "There. I will be doing my best to wage war on their minds from here. Should they resist. I suppose we will show them what Hell looks and feels like as a first hand experience."

Manifest, after the launch, spent most of his time studying blueprints that Pym made for him. When word that the ship was about to reach the Council's fleet reached him, he joined Xander and the others on the Bridge to discuss the plans. Manifest glanced over it. "This won't end this easy." He narrowed his eyes. "What's our plan to get out of here if this thing goes sideways?" He looked up at Ronan and Xander expectantly. "What's the Council's plan?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Etla frowned slightly and then wrapped her arms around her older sister, as she had many times before. Truth be told, she was beginning to wonder if hugging Ihra really had any sort of effect on the girl's demeanor, considering how her general mood didn't seem to get any better despite the countless times she had done this, but even if she were somehow convinced that it didn't work, Etla would likely continue doing it, if only because she was a particularly stubborn Rainborn. Either way, the point was that Etla didn't know many other ways to comfort her elder sister.

"Come on, stop beating yourself up over 'not helping', because I'm really happy to have one of my siblings here with me again. There are many great things in this world, and I met Helen and Craig and other people, but even then I missed you a lot. There's millions of people around here in this planet, billions, even, but none of them are quite like me, or you. None of them are quite like my family. And family's the most important thing, right?" She said, now grinning happily as she held Ihra closer to herself. Her first intention had been to comfort her sister, but she had inadvertently ended up thinking of how nice it felt to have a part of her family close to her again after her accidental exile.

She caught onto this rather quickly and, blinking, broke up the embrace. She looked up at her significantly taller sister with a sheepish smile.

"Um, anyway, the point is it wasn't a mistake for you to come here. We can do lots of fun stuff together. Like, ah..." She continued, and then trailed off and put a fist under her chin as she furrowed her brow, trying to think of something new they could do around here on Earth. In the end, she was persuaded by some strange story about a big red guy and an army of enslaved midgets. "...like explore the North Pole!"

[The Templar High Council]

Valancy: Welcome, now do you want to fix your leg or limp up to the top floor and meet people? What, pain? Nah, you'll be fine.

Del winced slightly as Val dragged her through New York towards the tower. She had kept her pain coding running minimally since it felt strange to not have something work without experiencing something she was used to, but now it seemed like a bad idea. Soon they reached their destination and she stared up with an expression of slight awe. It had great architecture and was quite the sight to behold. Schematics didn't do it justice. She heard Val's question and thought about it for a moment. "I'll get introductions out of the way so I don't freak anyone out by showing up, then I'll go see the vibranium and any equipment you might have." With that, she moved into the building towards the elevators with a limp. Damn this leg is annoying. Soon she made it to the elevators and had Val send them up to the penthouse, where she limped out once more and looked around. "So, this is the place?"

Meanwhile, Kylie was watching TV in the living room. On the screen was an animated version of some of the Justice League's sidekicks having their own super team. Little Liberty, or something like that... Anyway, Kylie was sitting there, now being able to recognize some of the stars of the show, enjoying the story of what she could now call her fellows.

"Superboy, you can choose all the freedom you want." She said, laughing nigh-maniacally as the show continued uninterrupted. Kylie didn't even notice Val and the new girl until she talked. Kylie sat up and looked around, her large blue t-shirt hanging lazily over her frame, hiding the fact that she was, in fact, not wearing pants.

"Oh hi!" Kylie exclaimed, her general friendly personality coming out with a smile. "Val, who's this? Did you pick up another kid like Roy? Just make sure they didn't run away from home this time." Kylie stuck out her tongue at Val in a playful manner.

[Charmera]

Typical Saiyan. If I had an advantage, I would have ended this ages ago. She remarked. I hate loosing after all...

She took the first three blows, but placed a thick sheild of air between her and the Saiyan, lessening the blow and then launching them back from each other. Again, she wiped the blood from her face. Glacia seemed to almost enjoy the blood. She felt some of Hiroshi's. "Red..." She spoke. "Feels nice." She replied, and the used vacuums and air to propel her speed incredibly fast, re-engaging with Hiroshi. "Pull you punches if you want, It's your funeral." She replied. Suddenly attackig witch kicked and punches given more force with air and with a Freezing aura. "Your either going to have to yeild or beat met to get me to stop!" She shouted, far too into this to stop now. She fought like an animal with the skill of a martial artist. She sent out a large wave to finish off, a freezing wave with Ki put in.

She placed a hand on her hip. Exhilaration accelerating her heart. "Alright, I'm curious now, what else is in your bag of tricks?"

" I don't have many tricks to be honest." Hiroshi remarked, crossing his arms. " My fightings just built around my style."

Rocketing forwards, Hiroshi appeared mere milimeters from her, his hands firmly locked around her ankle. Swinging down violently, Hiroshi launched her back towards the Earth, golden energy already cracklings between his palms.

"Gods Judgement!"

It was breathtaking to see. The wave of golden and azure energy shone above all else for a moment, the sun being drowned out by the blinding light. For a moment, Hiroshi could feel a power greater then his own burst from his palms, waves of force pushing him backwards. A trail of gold and blue trailed off into the horizon, before detonating in a magnificent event, light cast across all the Earth for a moment, before dying down.

Glacia groaned as she forced herself to her feet. She felt her middle, several of her ribs were broken and she was quite bruised and battered. The hit had not been as punishing as at the last moment Glacia had summoned several defenses, a sheild of air and ice, and one of her own Ki. It had hurt though, and she wasn't sure if she could continue fighting for long. But at least she was alive. Her regeneration was beginning to renit her wounds.

She looked up at Hiroshi. She had a few more tricks she could use. Though she wasn't completely sure if it would be safe to do. It would likely kill them both. Instead, for now she went on the defensive, waiting for her stamina to return and her wounds to heal.

[Charmera]

Rain of the Dark Queen: Part 1: A Call for Aid

Co Writen with Zarkenis Ultima
Sometime in the future

Ihra sighed, smiling as she looked out at the stars before her, a contented smile on her face as she looked out into the universe. The white milky dots of light that shone through like thousands of pinkpricks into a curtain, behind which was the sun, a large circular object that Ihra was unfamiliar with, yet felt belonged in the ebony tapestry of both infinity and eternity at the same time. Many humans were scared by the dark, but not Ihra. She tended to like the dark. The night sky especially. It reminded her of home even though home did not lie among the blackness. The stars and the inky black void of space reminded her of Father Sky, the comforting voice of her creator almost playing in the back of her head as she looked out. Besides that, it was fascinating. Each light seemed to captivate her attention, drawing it and allowing her to draw patterns and shapes in the sky like a child connecting dots in her colouring book.

"This." She spoke. "This is one of the reasons why earth isn't so bad." She remarked.

Suddenly, she heard something. The voice in the back of her head. It was actually there. Like a whisper in her ear. She frowned. She felt a desire build within her. An overwhelming desire to go out among those stars. To one in particular. A vision of a planet in her mind came to her. A planet called Utan III. She didn't know how she knew the planets name. But she knew there was something there she needed to... safeguard? She wasn't sure. It was faint and pulsating, but she felt it nag at her. It niggled at her for a while. She attempted to ignore it the best she could. But in the end, she was just to curious to let it go.
Ihra got up, then looked for her sister, Etla. "Hey! Etla!" She shouted.

"What?" Asked a muffled voice in response to the redhead's clamouring, originating not too far away from where Ihra currently stood. The voice was one that was undoubtedly very familiar to the Rainborn, and if she were to look in the direction of the voice, she would see, poking out of a nearby tree, the head of the person she had been looking for, her younger sister, Etla. The golden-haired Rainborn then jumped down from the tree with little effort, landing unscathed and finally shown to be holding a half-eaten chocolate donut on her left hand. Though Etla herself had been the one to suggest that they should head out into mother nature's realm and explore the world of the wilderness a little bit, she had stubbbornly insisted in bringing along a box of chocolate donuts for herself.
The one she was holding in her left hand was the last one.

"What is it, Ihra?" The blonde girl asked of her sister, now with a clearer voice, though she promptly took another bite of her donut. "Did you find a constellation that looks like Father Sky's hat again or something?" She inquired.

"Well. Yes. But that's not what..." She paused, looking at the box of donuts. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Her sister knew perfectly well that she liked donuts too, and had refused to share them. "Etla..." She started. Then sighed and buried her frustration as she usually did. "Never-mind, anyway... I heard..." She paused, wondering how to explain this. "I heard a voice in my head. There's a group of people in a far off world who need my help. They're all very sick and they need my healing and medical knowledge to get better." She explained.

"Would you mind taking me to them? You have some very powerful cores so this shouldn't be a problem for you." She spoke. Ihra didn't have nearly as many cores as her sister. She had three, one of which she actually used and the others... she had yet to try...

Etla gave Ihra a bit of a sheepish, apologetic smile when she noticed that her sister was staring at the box of donuts, but didn't say anything, suspecting that anything she could possibly say would likely only make things worse. She worried, however, that Ihra didn't say anything either. That didn't seem very healthy, mentally of course since Rainborn didn't have to worry about physical health. They couldn't get ulcers or anything anyway, but Etla was still concerned about it, slightly.

Hearing her sister's words, the blonde girl was rather curious. In the first place, how did those people from a distant world even contact her? They must've been very powerful telepaths if they could do that. Whatever the case, though, it was evident that Ihra really wanted to help them out, it was an important part of her personality after all, to help out others when they were in times of need, and the least Etla could do was support her in such endeavors. Thus, she nodded.

"I can do that." She stated. "Power Shift: Sentry Core." She said afterwards, uttering the command that allowed her to change Cores instantly. The Sentry Core was the fastest of the Cores she wielded, and arguably the most powerful, though it didn't let her soak up as much damage as the Star Core. However, since the only concern right now was speed, it was the right Core to pick. Walking over to her sister, Etla wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist before lifting off, quickly heading into space and away from Earth.
"You'll have to direct me, because I have no idea where we're going." She pointed out.

Ihra nodded, impressed with the sheer speed of her sisters core. She looked at the stars, noting they were now wizzing past like in those human... What were they? They showed her a box... TV! Star Trek and Star Wars were the ones she saw. Well... after she destroyed the first TV box she saw.

Ihra took advantage of her powers and simply transmitted the location to her sister via telepathy. It would be much easier to get there without her having to direct the sister through stars and such.

You can also keep in touch with me via telepathy. She paused. Even at this kind of distance, with the mental link I forged we should be able to talk.

Etla felt the location of the planet in question be implanted into her mind and then nodded at her sister. "I'll keep that in mind." She responded when informed about the telepathic link. It was certainly relieving, to know that her sister could communicate with her at any moment. It meant that if Ihra was in danger, all that had to be done was give a call, and she would be there in an instant, or at least, that's what the younger one thought.

Eventually, after flying through space at mind-boggling speeds for a while, the two Rainborn arrived at the planet Ihra had seen in her mind, Utan III. It was a cold, icy world, with snowy plains and frozen peaks covering most of the planet, though of course, there were forests and highlands here and there as well. Thanks to Ihra's telepathy, the journey had been a lot more efficient time-wise, and so, rather than being impatient or bored, Etla was curious. Still flying above the planet, she spoke to her sister.

"Alright, we're here. So, where exactly did you need to go?" The golden-haired Rainborn asked.

"Down there." She pointed at a large forest. Feeling herself going down made Ihra a tad bit nervous. Hieght had never bothered her but she had never liked falling when it was beyond her control. She knew Etla would not let her drop, but still.

When they got down. Ihra looked around, but frowned. "I'm not getting anything." They were in a small clearing. "Where do we go now..."

"With us, stranger." Spoke a voice, and a man stepped out of the bush. He was a humanoid, he had somewhat reptilian features, but looked almost human for all intents and purposes. All of them had a grace and dignity to them which was almost supernatural. Also a strange allure, one which was hard to describe. They also looked incredibly weary. Exhausted, even, and perhaps one could even make out the twinge of desperation. "I am Joria. These are Keldor and Dragan, my sons."

"I am Ihra, and this is my sister Etla." Ihra spoke, smiling. She got a good feeling from these people.

Joria nodded. "It is good to meet the two of you." He paused. Then looked to the side briefly. Then nodded at nothing. "I'll take you back to the village now." he spoke. "Sorry if I must cut our introductions short, but we are pressed for time." He spoke, as they all seemed to suddenly be teleported to the village. It seemed to be built around a central tree, and the buildings were surprisingly primitive.
"If you could teleport us... why did you not simply do it beforehand."

Joria shrugged. "We're limited in mass and range." He explained. Then smiled for the first time since their meeting. "In addition, it proved you were willing to take us seriously. Halfway across the galaxy for whispers in your mind..." He remarked. He walked through, and Ihra saw joviality, but sorrow too. She frowned.

"What is wrong with everyone? They seem so sad."

He sighed. "Don't worry about them." He said simply.

Ihra's frown only deepened, but she didn't ask anymore questions. Joria opened a door to a room, in which they were many people who had marks and swirls of dark purple on them, giving off a smell of taint. It was now she noticed that all of the lizard people seemed to have wings, and all had green scales to compliment their regular humanlike complexion. Some of the afflicted ones were up and moving, and some of them seemed to be almost purple. Interestingly, Ihra noted that those with purple on their legs seemed unable to walk around or did so very laboriously. Her initial observation told her that limbs colored in purple couldn't move. She stored this away for later.

"They have been infected with a disease with no cure." He explained. But then pointed to her core. "The cure only lies within here. You have the medical knowledge of a very old star whale within you. You are the only one who can come up with a cure." He explained. "The task of curing them lies on your shoulders."

Ihra nodded. She sat down next to one person and attempted to heal her using her abilities. It seemed to work for a bit, but some of the purple refused to leave. Ihra predicted it would return in a matter of hours, so her healing abilities merely stemmed the tide of disease. She needed to eradicate it. She looked down. This was a lot of pressure for her. She steeled herself, and burried her fear. She knew the consequences were dire if she failed.

"I will need supplies. Where does your doctor work?" She asked.

Joria paused. "Akana is the tribe healer." he explained, surprised by the sudden buisnesslike attitude. "She works-"

"Wrong. She works in this building now. I will have to work with her to help create a cure and make sure these people dont die at the same time." She explained. She hadn't frosted over, she still had a look of concern. But she seemed to be more... focused. "I'm guessing that when their bodies become completely purple they die?"

Keldor blinked. "How did you-?"

"Know?" She paused. Then shrugged. It was here core. She smiled slightly. Sometimes she couldn't tell if it was her talking or it. "Simple deduction. The purple seems to be attacking the nerves. The people with purple on a liimb, can't move that limb because their nervous systems being blocked. Even a little purple can block the signals it seems, so logically when it spreads everywhere, the person goes into a coma... and..." She paused, her emotions harder to hide here. "Well, they slowly die as their bodies can no longer breathe, eat or pump blood to the rest of the body." She continued to explain.

Joria smiled again, for the second time today. He used to smile all the time. But now only when rays of hope like this shone through.

"Do as she says." He ordered. He then turned around. "I will be finding Akana and informing her of her new... location of work." He walked out, and Keldor was left completely shocked, Dragan seemed unphased on the other hand.

"You two. Make sure all of them are comfortable. Tell the ones that are standing up to lie down and get them water..." She paused, realising she had been a bit rude. "...Please?"

They nodded, following her instructions. Ihra turned to Etla. She sheepishly smiled, hiding her inner insecurity and mounting fear of failure. "Well, this seems... interesting..." She commented. "Honestly, I kinda expected that they'd want you rather than me." She commented. It did feel nice to be wanted. Nice, and utterly terrifying. But she couldn't let Etla know that. "Though... I wonder... how did this start? This hardly seems like a natural epidemic..."

Etla shook her head at her sister, seemingly oblivious to her inner insecurity; she had never been very attentive in that regard, and wasn't exceedingly good at reading people. "Of course they want you, Ihra. Not every problem in the universe can be solved by punching it in the face, you know?" She said with a grin, patting the taller girl on the head. Her next comment, however, made her frown. The golden-haired Rainborn was no expert on medicine, unlike her sister, and she didn't know much about the world either, as if to make an educated guess at the source of the disease. So in the end she simply shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea, sis. Those purple things look like splotches of darkness, but I have no idea what it could be. Some sort of curse?" The Rainborn suggested.

"But I won't keep you from your duties anymore. I'm sure you can solve it, sis. Like the old man said, if there's someone who can do it, it's you." She smiled encouragingly to her older sister, and then walked up to one of Joria's children, Keldor, in an attempt to make herself useful. "Is there anything I can do?" She asked. She didn't intend to stay for long, as she figured that Ihra could take care of everything and that if there was something amiss they could always communicate through the mind link that her sister had established, but she figured that she could help out a bit while she was there. Keldor looked up at her and nodded, pointing at a rather large container.

"We'll need quite a bit of water for all the sick here, so if you can help me with that I would be very thankful. Just grab it and follow me." The young native said, before heading outside. Understanding her task, Etla picked up the container and followed suit. Soon they were out of the room and out in the quiet forest village, and Etla too could notice that many of the villagers appeared to be depressed or downtrodden. Some even seemed to be on the border of panic for some reason. "Why is everyone like that?" She asked Keldor, but the boy frowned.

"They've always been like that." He said. Before Etla could ask anything more, he continued. "We're here." He stated.

They had arrived at a well on the outskirts of the village, far from the enormous tree in the middle. Etla used the well to refill the large container with water, and quickly understood why the boy had asked her for her assistance: it was quite heavy when full. Having a spontaneous thought, the blonde girl turned to the child.

"Could it be that it's the water which makes you all like that?" She asked, but the boy shrugged.

"I don't think it is. If it was, then we would all be like that, right?" Keldor replied, and Etla was unable to say anything against that kind of logic. Thus, the two of them traveled back in silence, eventually reaching the room where the sick were resting once again.

"Thank you, you can put it down here." The boy said, pointing again, and Etla nodded, putting down the container. Perhaps she would simply stay until Ihra found their miracle cure.

---

"Curse..." Ihra muttered as Etla left. She wasn't too sure. Curse implied someone else had casted it.

This was all very concerning. Ihra suddenly turned as she felt the presence of a female.... she actually wasn't quite sure what these people were called. She had glasses and a pained, annoyed look. She slung her bag down.

"So you're the new healer they called in." She spoke. Then looked to the bag. "There's all my equipment. If you want anything else just ask."

Ihra nodded. Then looked to the side. "Nice to meet you too." She spoke passive agressively. She somewhat regretted saying that. She too had been a bit rude earlier. She quickly looked throuh the bag and found what she wanted. A needle. It seemed they at least had some basic medical tech.

She quickly took blood from one of the nearby patients. An elderly man, who seemed hardly effected. She extracted the blood into a vial and swirled it. It was red with a purple twinge. "Some of it's in the blood too... Interesting."

She looked at all of them patients. Then frowned slightly. "It also seems to avoid the head, especially the eyes..." She commented. She looked at the blood, and noticed something strange. She placed the blood into the shade, and noticed the purple seemed to grow thicker quickly. She pulled it to the light and it seemed to slow in it's spread. In fact it began to retreat. She rubbed her chin.

"It doesn't like light..." Akana commented. She saw what Ihra was thinking. The Rainborn smiled. She quickly moved to the curtains of the room, throwing them open. People moaned and griped as the sunlight poured in. But some of them noticed they were feeling much better now.

Ihra turned to Akana. "We need to get the light within them somehow to eradicate the disease. Or perhaps a different type of light. Ultraviolet or Xray's..." She commented. She saw Akana's blank stare. Ihra paused. "Like... the sun. We need more sunlight somehow."

Akana's eyes widened. "We have sunstones!" She commented. "They charge in the sun and when they're full they emmit a bright light, almost like a second sun. We use them for the catacombs!"
Ihra smiled widely. "Bring as many as you can. We may be able to cure this disease with sunlight." She explained. Akana nodded.

When the healer left, Ihra looked around. "Of course.. it may take a while to be completely eradicated... three days?" She paused. "Three or four days," She said to herself. When she saw Etla she rushed towards her, tackle hugging her.

"I did it sister! The answer is sunlight!" She said. She was joyously happy. She had cracked the code, and it had only taken her a short while. She had done what might have taken other doctors much longer in a fraction of the time.

Etla was very surprised when all of the sudden she found herself pinned down to the ground by a very happy redhead. She would have been quite flustered had she not immediately recognized said redhead as her sister, Ihra. Truth be told, seeing her so excited and satisfied after having been so daunted by the task she had been given was something very refreshing, and the golden-haired Rainborn could not avoid being contagiated with her enthusiasm breaking into a wide smile herself even before being told the news, and so, when she heard Ihra saying that she had cracked the mystery, and that all she had to do was expose the infected people to sunlight, Etla was very impressed. The younger sister hadn't expected her elder to find the cure so quickly, but it was a great thing to hear.

With her superior strength, she stood up effortlessly and hoisted her sister into the air from her arms like one would lift a baby. "You did it! In no time, too!" She shouted happily, before drawing her sister into a tight hug, though obviously not tight enough to hurt her. "I'm so proud of you sis, you're a great person. You're these people's savior!" She said, before pulling away, still smiling widely.
"So, since you've already solved everything, do you need me to stay here?" She asked.

Ihra paused at the question. She was somewhat taken aback by it, and wasn't sure how to respond at first. "Well, it will take a little while to make sure everyone is back to good health. I need to make sure conditions don't worsen and that there aren't any idiots not taking their medicine... or wearing their sun crystal rather." She explained. "There is also the possibility of secondary infection, mutation and other maladies which I would need to make sure don't happen." She remarked. Then realized that some of it might be over her sisters head. "Basically. I have to stay."

"But...."

She paused. "I think I can do this myself. You'd probably get bored pretty darn quick, since this seems to be a pretty remote and peaceful town from the looks of things." She paused. "Plus if I have any problems I can contact you if need be." She remarked.

"Plus, If i can't sort this out myself, then what good I am?" She remarked, a smile-mask covering up her insecurities.

Etla listened with all of the attentiveness she was able to show her sister, even if quite a large part of what she said went completely over her head, just like the other Rainborn suspected. After all, Etla had never been very knowledgeable in medicine or the healing arts, and had little interest in the matter. However, she still loved her sister, so she wanted her to believe she was at least paying attention, though the truth was that she did understand that Ihra had to stay some more time at that place to make sure that the disease was cured properly, even before she had explained it.

Now, up until then the golden-haired Rainborn had taken it for granted that she would be staying there for as long as Ihra had to stay, in order to help her out and make sure that she was alright, so she was surprised when her sister said that she could finish the job here by herself. She was right that Etla didn't find it particularly exciting to stay around tending to sick people. She understood that it was the humane thing to do, but that humanitarian dimension of the task at hand didn't particularly affect her, as Rainborn didn't get sick to begin with, and neither she nor these people were human.

Walking up to her sister, Etla gently put her hands on Ihra's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't say things like that, you're great, Ihra, and I'm sure you'll be able to solve everything easily." The Rainborn said with a kind smile, letting go. "But if you're tired or something, or need a bit of company, just give me a call and I'll be here in an instant." She stated, nodding, before turning and heading out of the room, and into the village. Turning around to look at her sister one last time, Etla waved through the open door, before blasting off into the sky in a burst of light, so fast that the only proof that she had ever left was the luminous trail that lingered in the air for several moments.

As Ihra continued to tend to the sick, however, something began echoing all throughout the village. The sound of drums.

Ihra gently smiled. This was all wrong. She had been thrown into a world she wasn't familiar with. She wasn't ready-

She calmed herself, and mentally cleared her throat. She could do this. No more relying on her sister like a little child. She had to do this for herself as much as she did for these people. She turned back to the makeshift hospital walking towards it and opened the door, smiling. She had nothing to worry about. This was her time to shine. And there wasn't a raincloud in sight to darken her day.
Speaking of Darken, she noticed a child in the shade. She frowned, walking over to her, kneeling down to eye level with her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked. "You're not supposed to be in the shade you know." She explained.

The child nodded. Then frowned. "Right... Sorry miss healer lady." She spoke, walking into the light. She looked quite misrable.

"What's wrong? You seem quite down." Asked Ihra. She looked at the patient list that was on the table. Aura was her name. Little Aura. It was kinda cute.

She paused. "They took my sister. Lara"

Ihra frowned slightly. "Who took your sister?"

Tears started to apear. "The Queen..."

"What queen?"

She looked back to the shade, then whispered. "One day... I was playing Ptac with my big sister at home... and we heard the sound of drums. And she ran out to check what happened. And..."

"And what Aura?"

"Healer!" Ihra frowned as she got up. The girl looked close to tears. Ihra turned to see Joria.

"You've been hiding something haven't you?" She spoke.

Joria paused. Then opened his mouth as if to speak. But before he could say anything, the pounding noise of drums reached the Rainborn's ears.

Ihra looked up suddenly. Joria's eyes were wide with undisguised fear. Ihra looked to him, then to the door. Everyone in the hospital had frozen in terror. She walked through it, though before she could go much further, Joria spoke up.

"Don't!" He spoke. But Ihra ignored him, she stormed to the gates. Several villagers attempted to stop her, but they were quite a bit weaker than her, even though she was only at peak human strength. She got to the top and looked out at the roving green hills beyond the village... and saw something that made her understand what the child was talking about, understand the warning Joria gave her, understand why the villagers tried to stop her and why everyone seemed so depressed at that small village. Most of all, it made her understand the noise that had begun echoing throughout the village. The sound of drums.

[Charmera]

Rain of the Dark Queen: Part 2: Cruelty of the Dark Queen
Co Written with Zarkenis Ultima

Descending from those grand emerald hills were waves of pure darkness, or at least, that is what it seemed like at first. However, after observing the spreading shadow for a while, she realized that this was not the case. These were not waves, these were troops, an incalculable number of troops all clad in pitch black armor, barely distinguishable as something more than somber metallic husks animated by some malefic curse. They all marched in unison, their grim footsteps causing a rumble beneath their feet to shake the earth, with the front row bearing enormous drums made of condensed shadow on which they beat constantly and violently, the sound becoming more akin to a roar than a rhytm as the troops marched closer and closer to the small village where the natives of Utan III lived. But what the villagers looked at in fear was not the army, not exactly. They feared something else, and it soon became obvious what it was. There, at the front of the armies of darkness were two giants, two titans, two shadowborn colossi that carried on their shoulders a large platform, with a golden throne laid out on top of that platform. And sitting on that golden throne was none other than the person that Aura had mentioned. The Black Queen.

Really, perhaps if she had not arrived accompanied with hordes upon hordes of dark creatures, the Black Queen http://data.whicdn.com/images/15360094/large.jpg would not have seemed so terrifying. She was just a girl, quite a bit younger-looking than Ihra herself, not to mention her long, flowing white hair and her bright blue eyes, which undoubtedly made her seem quite pretty, but also fairly harmless. There was a small crown sitting atop her head, golden like the throne on which she sat, giving her the appearance of a princess, more than a queen. However, her attire was as dark as her entourage, as if she was trying to look menacing - too hard, some might say.

Whether it was due to her presence or because of something that Ihra had not yet experienced, though, the fact was that everyone in the village seemed to regard the approaching monarch with fearful reverence and depressed resignation. The armies of darkness surrounded the village completely, ceasing their marching and their drumming alike, as the two giants came to a stop in front of the gates and kneeled, before taking hold of the platform where the Black Queen's throne rested and taking it off of their shoulders, depositing it right by the gates of the village, bringing the tyrant down to the ground, though she never actually bothered to get off her throne, instead casually scanning her surroundings with her gaze, all the villagers getting on their knees in a sign of reverence as she looked at them. She smiled to herself as she finished her scan, clearly with malicious intent despite her relatively innocent appearance.

"I'm glad to see my subjects are behaving well! I think they'll be happy to know that the last one I took has been having a lot of fun with me in my castle!" She spoke with a deceptively soft voice. "And I'm sure they have readied the tribute like I asked them!" She said, before looking at Ihra, tilting her head. "Oh, I hadn't seen you around here before. You don't look like one of my subjects." She stated, smiling again and pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, resting her head on her hand. "What brings you to my lovely planet, stranger?" She asked with apparent kindness, though that kindness belied the beast beneath the surface, the beast that hungered for another's pain.

Ihra frowned. She knew what this all meant, she could feel the wrongness the child projected. She didn't like the idea of having to fight, but it might be necessary. Quickly she swapped out to her Density Core, she then morphed into her armour, grabbing her blade she faced the Black Queen.

Joria frowned. But he remained diplomatic. "Our apologies for not preparing a proper welcome. We had thought the deadline would come a week from now." Explained Joria. "Nevertheless, we were able to gather much of what you.... 'requested' last time you were here." The elderly lizardman spoke. As he did several crates of dark suncrystals were brought forward. They seemed to almost suck the light from the immediate area. "Will this be enough to satisfy... her... majesty." She spoke those last two words with some effort. Rage was in his eyes now. "We don't want any trouble."

Ihra looked from him to the Black Queen. She ignored her question. "You're the one who infected the villagers, didn't you?" She remarked, sniffing slightly. She could smell the same smell of taint. "You took Aura's sister too. You took Lara." She accused. "Why? What have these people ever done to you?"

The Black Queen observed Ihra keenly with her deceitful blue eyes, measuring her every movement, her smile only growing wider as she watched the Rainborn ready herself for battle. Obviously, the monarch of darkness did not know what kind of creatures the Rainborn were, did not know about how their Cores worked, but even then it was painfully evident that she was expecting a conflict to begin, what with the redhead summoning a sword and a suit of metal armor, for all the good such things could do against a Shattar. Inwardly, the girl with the crown sported an ugly grin, savoring what was to come. She was never one to disappoint, after all, and Ihra clearly wanted to fight. However, before any hostilities began, there were several points that she had to make perfectly clear.

"I'm sorry," The Black Queen began, not having moved from her position on the throne, though her free hand was tracing figures on the armrest, causing the shadows to stir beneath Ihra's feet. "I really would hate to interrupt a conversation, especially one as pleasant as the one we're having now," She continued, her soft voice perfectly calm, giving no sign whatsoever of what was about to happen. Suddenly, she clenched her free hand into a fist, and the shadows moving beneath Ihra formed into a series of tendrils that shot up and wrapped around the Rainborn. "But it looks like nobody taught you that this isn't how you should speak to a queen!" She shouted, still smiling, and started giggling as she saw Ihra struggle against the chains of darkness before being inevitably forced to fall to her knees.

"Now, allow me to answer your questions, filthy peasant." The dark tyrant said, her voice not having changed whatsoever, despite the acid words that she now spat. "I took Lara because she was being nosy and I thought she was pretty enough to be in my castle and amuse me, but most importantly, I took her because I'm in my right to do as I please. I'm a queen! As for the infection these dirtbags are going through, how can you blame me for it? It's not my fault that the idiots get themselves sick when making the dark crystals for their queen. They should learn to work better instead of complaining to me or calling some stuck-up superhero with ridiculous clothes to try to protect them. It's not like their lives are worth a damn, anyway, and I'm inclined to believe they think so too. Otherwise they wouldn't have brought someone as incompetent as you. I just might turn a blind eye if you hurry up and stop polluting my sight, so I would start leaving if I were you." She said to the Rainborn as she snapped her fingers. Several of her shadow warriors moved towards the crates full of dark suncrystals and began carrying them away, out of the village. While this happened, the Black Queen continued to observe Ihra, a smile always present on her face.

Ihra frowned as she looked up at the Dark Queen, a glare on her face, masked by her armour. For some reason she didn't like being forced to kneel. "They actually called me to fix the stupid plague your crystals caused." She suddenly manipulated her own density, making herself completely intangible. The chains fell through her. She faced the queen, finding it a little hard to hold her gaze. She was afraid, but she remembered back to the red one's words. She couldn't be weak. "I'm protecting them because someone has to. And because, quite honestly, I don't really like you." She said honestly. She considered contacting her sister, but she decided not to. She needed to do this herself.

She looked to the suncrystals. "What are those crystals for?" She asked. She looked to the queen. She seemed to have no guards between them. So she took her opportunity. She manipulatd her density so she was light enough to simply hop upwards in an arcing super jump, then increased her density so when she fell on top of the girl with her blade, it would be a far greater impact.
[i]What am I doing? This is insane...[i]

---

Meanwhile Joria shook his head, one of his sons, the elder one, coming up to him. "We should do something. She'll be crushed!"

Joria frowned, looking down solemnly. "We all made oaths Dragan." He spoke. "Besides. Do you think any of us could fight her? Even if we gave into the beast within?"

"We should at least try! She saved our peoples lives."

Joria sighed. Dragan gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

---

"Oh, you don't like me? That's quite a shame. I was just thinking that such a pretty girl would fit in perfectly in my castle. Perhaps I would have needed to give you a bit of discipline, but aside from that, you would have been a welcome addition. A pity that you don't seem to get along well with me." The Black Queen falsely lamented with a smile still on her face, watching but doing nothing as Ihra used the powers of her newest Core to become intangible and phase through the chains of darkness, which tumbled to the ground, simply fading back into the shadows. The tyrant could easily have used her powers to make the chains rise immediately to bind the Rainborn once again, but for the time being, she did no such thing, merely watching. She was content to observe the fear in Ihra's eyes.

"The crystals, you ask? Why, that is very simple. I am going to use them to amplify my magic and conquer more worlds full of playthings for me, and there is not a damn thing you or anyone else in this planet can do about it." She said with utmost confidence in her words. However, she regarded Ihra with surprise when she leaped high into the air with plenty of ease, and simply continued observing her, even as she descended blade-first, closer and closer with each passing moment. Finally, gravity did its duty and brought the red-haired Rainborn down on top of the Black Queen, the blade piercing her chest and facing absolutely zero resistance from flesh or bones or any such thing until it clashed with the golden metal of the throne beneath the tyrant, which finally stopped the blade.

The white-haired monarch let out a gasp when the blade pierced through her, and then looked down at her chest with eyes wide open. "Ah..." She mumbled very softly. "Ah... Ah..." She continued, as if she couldn't find words anymore, her face a living image of surprise.

And then she promptly burst out laughing.

"AHAHAHAHAH! You really thought that would do something!" The Black Queen cried out in utter disbelief, her petite frame still rocked by violent laughter, her constant movement causing the blade still lodged inside her to cut a bit more here and there, though she did not seem to take notice of such things anymore. In fact, if Ihra looked closely, she would notice that the monarch of darkness did not even bleed, her black clothes and her golden throne still unmarred by red blood.

Suddenly, from the hole in the tyrant's chest, darkness began to pour out, forming into several tendrils that seized Ihra, lifting her into the air before hurling her away and into the ground, hard. At that moment, the Black Queen stood up from her golden throne, darkness flowing into her gaping chest wound and then seemingly solidifying, reforming the part of her body that had been harmed and seemingly the cloth above it as well. Smiling, the girl outstretched her arms.

"Do you understand now what I can do? What I [i]am[i]? Do you still want to fight me when you can't even harm me?" The Black Queen asked, a malicious grin on her face.

Ihra fell back, practically flipping over before she recovered, her hand on the ground as she stood on one knee. She would have been hyperventilating, if she could. The Black Queen was right? How could she fight someone like that? How could she fight someone she couldn't hurt? She pushed herself upwards, stumbling slightly as she did. Her helmeted head did not betray the fear she felt now. She had not idea what the individual in front of her was capable of.

Still. She couldn't give up. Not with what was on the line. She had to try something else till she exhausted all her options.

"I can't." Spoke Ihra. She couldn't stop. Not when she had people to protect. "And I won't stop fighting..." She took steps forward, running towards the Queen. She put her sword back and increased her density greatly, increasing the pressure her fists would produce, intending to crush the Queen into submission.

The Black Queen continued laughing as Ihra stood on her knee, watching her hesitate to stand up to her, and noticing that even when she got back to her feet, her step was uneasy. The tyrant had already seen the fear in the Rainborn's eyes earlier, before the redhead had futilely tried to attack her. Now, with Ihra's helmet obscuring her face, the tyrant could only imagine the delicious fear that Ihra must have been experiencing, after seeing that she was unable to harm her.

Thus, it was a bit of a surprise that the armored girl eventually decided to continue fighting. It was an unexpected turn of events, but one that amused her greatly, and so, the Black Queen once again allowed the Rainborn to close the distance between them, a twisted smile on her face as she watched passively. Then, just before Ihra's crushing blow would connect with her, she faded into a cloud of black mist that soon disappeared, leaving nothing in the place where the crowned girl had been mere moments ago.

Then laughter was heard from far above the Rainborn.

"Wow, whatever species you belong to, I can't imagine how they feel about having someone as dumb as you among them. How many tries is it going to take for you to realize that you're far too weak and pathetic to ever hurt me? I'd think that if you had even an ounce of intelligence in that ugly head of yours, you'd have figured it out by now." The monarch of darkness taunted before laughing at Ihra some more, relishing the Rainborn's helplessness against her.

"However, if you really want to fight, I'll be more than happy to provide you with entertainment. After all, it's a queen's duty to entertain her guests, is it not?" The girl with white hair said mischievously as she stood up, revealing herself to be on the shoulder of one of the two giants that had carried her all the way towards the village. Throughout Ihra's struggle against the tyrant, the armies of darkness that surrounded the village had not made a single movement, with the exception of the soldiers who had retrieved the sunstones, as if they were automatons designed not to act without the commands of their shadow sovereign, and indeed, they had not acted, as if the queen was intent on taunting Ihra in this manner as well.

"Oh, but, if I just have one of my giants crush you, then the whole village could be destroyed, and that would be such a tragedy, no? After all, the subjects in here are still of some value to me, however little." She said, a false thoughtful expression on her face, before it suddenly lit up, with similarly false realization.

"I know! I can show you some of my magic! I haven't showed you yet, right? I'm sure you'll find it fascinating!" She said, before beginning a chant in a much more serious voice, less soft and more somber, though the smile ridden with mischief never left her face.

"In the darkness of the abyss, I can hear their haunting call,
They howl and they clamour as their hatred burns it all,
Their souls cry and wander as they brave the dark storm,
Eternally torn apart as they wait to be reborn,
Bearing within them the fires of untold hate,
Seeking others to subject to their own miserable fate,
The souls of the cursed and the damned have spoken,
And the walls of their realm and my realm have been broken,
Come! You who have burned all your hopes of absolution,
And plunge my enemy into everlasting desolation!"

And as the girl's incantation was spoken, the earth beneath the village began to rumble violently, something that was perceived by all and yet strangely seemed to cause no physical effects whatsoever. No damage was brought to the village or to those who dwelled within, but they all could still feel the ground roaring under their feet; this was no shaking of the earth that they were feeling, but rather, the protests of reality itself as it felt itself being rewritten. Suddenly, there was a great light that emerged from the bowels of the earth and reached the heavens themselves, drawing a circle around the gates of the village which engulfed both the Black Queen and her two giants, as well as Ihra herself, along with the gates and part of the village's walls. The cylinder of light was completely invulnerable to any sort of attack, and could not be crossed, even with intangibility, unless one had the ability to teleport.

Then suddenly, the cylinder was gone, as was everything that had been trapped inside. The ground itself remained untouched, but neither Ihra, nor the Black Queen, nor the gates of the village were seen anywhere. Now there were only the dark armies of the Black Queen, surrounding the village completely, allowing no one to enter or leave, never moving and never budging.

But, of course, Ihra couldn't see any of that. The reason she couldn't was because she had been whisked away to a completely different place. But it was not a place that existed in the physical world, not at all. Rather, the red-haired Rainborn had been brought into a place that existed only within the mind of the Black Queen, brought into existence through the powerful magic of the people of Shamra. And among the Shamran, there were nine magicians who were myths in their own rights, living legends with unparalleled mastery over the magic of Shamra, and the Black Queen, much to Ihra's misfortune, was one of them.

"How do you like your new playground? It looks very nice, doesn't it?" The voice of the monarch of darkness came from above once again, and if Ihra looked around, she would see the place that she was caught inside http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/sou ... 0721044530 . A wasted world, with dead trees and ruined encampments all around, and a twisted moon floating in the barren, starless sky. The Black Queen herself was sitting on a completely reformed golden throne, which was now hovering in mid-air, allowing the girl to look down at Ihra.

"I hope you like it." She said with a smile.

Then the rumbling began once again. But this time, it was very different, very real, or as real as something could be considered to be while inside a localized mindscape, a marble of overwritten reality. The trees began to fall to the ground, already dead and now also uprooted, and the air was filled with stirred dust, before the source of the rumbling finally showed itself. From beneath the ground, enormous horned skeletal creatures rose, each one of them about twice as large as Ihra and each of them bearing four arms, holding a weapon in every single one of their hands. They rose by the dozen, and began closing in on the Rainborn.
"I did spend some effort into it, after all." The Black Queen added absent-mindedly. Certainly, with such powerful spells there was always the constant pressure exerted by reality in order to right itself, but for the moment, it was something she could ignore. She could hold this pocket existence for long enough.

Ihra was surprised by the level of power on display. She seemed to have replaced the village with her own construct, a horrible and scarred world. One wasted of all life. Even the trees were dead now. Ihra was unsure of how to deal with the Black Queen, the level of power on display was something she was not used to. She looked around, trying to find an exist or some way out. She then frowned when skeletons were summoned. They were large, but... she could deal with them at least.

Her mind quickly reduced their bone density to that of a calcium deficient gerbil. Then she made their weapons so dense that their arms, hands or fingers would simply snap off from the weight and their own lack of strength. Then it was a simple enough matter to smash the skeletons with her fists. Despite their size she was managing to deal with them quite easily, crushing ribs and smashing skulls with punches and kicks. She did wince slightly at the breaking sound of more than a few cracks. Their numbers didn't really matter now that they had no means to hurt her.

When that was done, she turned to the Black Queen. But this time she did nothing, simply stood there. She was beginning to choke. She wasn't sure if she could fight her. If she could even be hurt. Especially not here...
She cleared her throat. "What exactly are you?" She asked. "Your not from this planet, definitely not."

The Black Queen watched with mild amusement as the Rainborn fought against the giant skeletons that now prowled through the barren wasteland that was her materialized mindscape. With her powers, she seemed to be able to take care of the skeletal menace with relative ease, making them weak and frail and causing them to be unable to use their weapons against her before proceeding to smash them into pieces. Truth be told, the monarch of darkness could not help but feel a little irked this time. The truth was that she had been hoping that the warped, tormented skeletons she had brought forth by rewriting the laws of reality within her mindscape would provide more of a challenge for Ihra, but it seemed that they were no good against her, something that made the crowned girl frown.

However, her smile quickly returned when the Rainborn asked about her true nature. "Oh, me? Why, that's quite the story, if you have the time." She laughed once again, fully aware that Ihra was effectively trapped within this realm until she saw it fit to release her. She also knew that if she became unable to sustain the spell it would undo itself and reestablish reality, but she ignored that for the time being.

"I come from Shamra, a world far away from here, made by the Dragon God Kazandor, who came after thousands of years to give power to the nine strongest magicians of Shamra." She said, grinning from ear to ear afterwards. "Naturally, yours truly was among them, thanks to my wonderful magical prowess, which I proved by slaying [i]hundreds[i] of other contestants. It was quite a fun time." She looked straight into Ihra's eyes when she said this, looking for any hints of fear. "And of course, as befitting someone as grand as I, the Dragon God gave me the aspect of Darkness and made me one of the nine monarchs. And after that, I decided to venture far from Shamra to find more playgrounds to visit. That's my story!" She smiled like a little girl this time, even though it was by now firmly established that she was anything but.

"Anyway, we've wasted enough time, haven't we? There's still more I want to show you!" The Black Queen spoke, and suddenly, from the broken carcasses that the Rainborn had fought off earlier, shadow specters rose, as tall as the skeletons, and with similar shapes, but all made of ethereal darkness instead of reanimated bones. They picked up the weapons that their previous forms had dropped, and began converging on Ihra once again, intent on destroying her.

Ihra would have shouted "Oh come on!" Had she not been in the process of being slashed and sliced by weapons, she grunted as she began to get cut. Forced back she focused. They're just constructs. They're just constructs. They're-

Think! What would Etla do? The truth was Etla probably would have handled this much better than Ihra did if Ihra was being honest. All things considered, the smart thing to do would have been to pass on the Bone core to Etla, and let her deal with the problem. But a small voice within Ihra told her that she couldn't do that. Ihra wondered if that was selfish or not, though she supposed it was far too late now. She had to sleep in the bed she made, reap what she had sown and grow some self confidence.

Then she began to think of the things that might happen if she failed.

She tightened her grip aroiund her sword. She wasn't that good at fighting, not anything compared to her siblings, but she was by no means dumb. She phased through the strike of a four armed giant, returning with her own strike, cleaving it in two. Next she blocked a swing from another and simply grabbed him, lifting him like he was nothing but a styrafoam giant and tossed him into the air. Then jumped after him, using her weight to crush him like a certain plumber she remembered being told about. She took a swing from another, but shrugged it off, instead she focused on making him as light as possible, and then sent a kick to when his groin would be, sending him flying into the air by increasing the pressure from her kick. She then used this trick while cleaving another in half.

Suddenly two of them grabbed her and then another started simply beating on her with his clubs. She grunted, but lifted her legs from the ground, kicked the giant with enough force to take his head off and then increased her own weight to down the other two, smashing their skulls in the process. She grabbed her sword and got up. She was on a spree, a roll as the humans said. She noted just how many there were. Survival instincts, or whatever the Rainborn had as an equivalent kept her from stopping. Ironically, for a surprisingly peaceful and timid individual, Ihra would more often fight than run when faced with a bad situation. She tore into the giants once more, showing no stopping in her combo. She ran towards one and kicked it into the Queen's throne, aiming for the little girl.

"That all you got Princess?" She taunted. She could scarely believe the words coming out of her mouth. Had her pretending to be her sister really worked? She wasn't sure. That sounded like something she would say.
Suddenly, a dozen hands of darkness manifested from thin air and tore the shadow skeleton apart before it could touch the Black Queen.

"Hardly." Came the girl's bored reply.

Then, all of the sudden, the entire ground was torn apart, shatered by the pressure of a million giant skeletal hands rising from the depths and reaching the surface. The sound of thousands of wailing voices filled the air of that artificial reality where tormented souls were allowed to exist. The hands that rose, they were clearly alive, seemingly driven not by the will of the Black Queen, but by a deep-seeded hatred of all things alive. Moving in a chaotic, discordant choreography, they reached out towards Ihra, seeking to destroy her, and there was nowhere to escape, as they were everywhere and the Rainborn, unable to fly, was subject to the uncaring force of gravity, which bound her to the depths from where the skeletal hands were born. There was no way to stay away from them for long, and so, despite her attempts to evade them, they eventually caught her and began clawing at her, pulling, squeezing and tossing her around carelessly. Their malicious attacks were incessant, even if they were not immediately cause much damage to the Rainborn, and she of course fought valiantly against them, but even though her powers and her fighting ability allowed her to take out countless hands, there were quite simply too many of them, and more and more rose from the ineffable abyss beneath whenever one of them faltered. This torture continued for what seemed like a long time, though it was impossible to measure it, as the sky was eternally dark and the devil moon never left the skies.
Throughout all of this, the Black Queen watched, seated on her floating golden throne and with a malicius smile on her face as she observed the struggling Rainborn below. She waited until she judged that Ihra had been knocked around enough, and then, she extended one of her arms in the redhead's direction, her hand turned into black mist and a dozen tendrils of darkness shooting out from it, wrapping around Ihra and bringing her up, away from the skeletal hands. Then, everything began to dissolve. For one unused to this kind of magic, it looked as though reality itself was disintegrating into a million tiny white flakes that swiftly disappeared completely, letting one see the real world that they had left when the magician's mindscape fully materialized, as if a massive curtain had been lifted, revealing a completely different stage.

The stage in question was exactly the same one they had been in before the Black Queen used her magic: Joria's village. Everything was exactly as they had left it, as if no time at all had passed. The armies of darkness still surrounded the place completely, and the villagers were still looking on in fear, though they were evidently confused now as well. The only change was that the gates of the village and the portion of the walls that had been taken by the tyrant's spell, as they were gone, destroyed after the rising of the skeletal hands.

The white-haired girl seated on the throne then brought Ihra closer so that they were face to face, her sadistic smile still present. "I hope you learned your lesson, dear. Now, know your place and don't challenge me again!" She commanded, before using the dark tendrils to throw the Rainborn away.

Ihra smashed into a crate, splinters going everwhere as she felt the impact with the crate. She slumped to the ground, suddenly dizzy and inclinded to believe this was some bad dream as humans experienced. The sureal nature of the way she had come back to the natural world, she half expected to see the vilagers around her. wondering why she had some fallen asleep after curing them, or perhaps she would wake up even earlier, where Etla and Craig would tell her to wake up. She groaned, pushing herself upwards. Looking up confirmed this was not a dream.

She blinked, looking at the queen, she looked at her with some fear in her eyes. How was she going to beat her? She seemed to have control over reality itself. Though... she had to, this village could not survive being this Queen's toys for long. Especially not if she got more dark Crystals. She looked around herself, at the villagers. She had failed them. She should have just contacted her sister. Though then again, she got the feeling that she couldn't even if she really wanted to. She noticed the link to her sister had been blocked by... something. But what? She doubted the Queen had psychic abilities, otherwise she would know more about her than she claimed to. No. It was someone or something else. But what?

She looked around her once more, and then looking down her eyes widened. She noticed that within the crate of mundane crystals she had been smashed into (Gems and diamonds and the like) there was just one light crystal that had separated from the bunch, it's glow unmistakable. She saw the light and reached out towards it, attempting to grab onto it and then jam it into her hollow core. Perhaps she could fight Darkness with Light...

...Or, she would have been able to do so, had she succeeded in reaching the suncrystal. Alas, such a thing did not happen, as soon, from the shadow of her own hand, a tendril of darkness emerged, binding Ihra's hand just an inch away from reaching the tiny glowing shard of light. Much to her horror, the tendril was too strong for her to overcome, and similar chains of darkness emerged from beneath her, trapping her, leaving her completely unable to move.

"My, my, you still have a fire inside of you, even after that beating you just took! Why, I would be quite simply moved by your tenacity, if I didn't find a creature such as you to be absolutely revolting. You come to my playground in order to play messiah to these wretched scaly creatures, you have the gall to stand up to the sovereign of this realm, and you even fight against me just to protect these pathetic little lizardmen, and all of that for what? For naught! You couldn't even touch me once, except when I let you! You are such a great failure, I'm honestly afraid that talking to you like this might be threatening my perfection." The Black Queen said, intent on adding a fair bit of insults to the myriad of injuries she had inflicted on the Rainborn by now, her petite frame being rocked by gigling fits at seemingly random intervals, making it clear that the girl with white hair was enjoying this much more than anyone else present.

"But if you still want to defy me, even after all of that..." The tyrant spoke, the malicious grin on her face never leaving her as she snapped her fingers, the tendrils that were wrapped around Ihra's form reacting to the commands of their mistress and rising high into the air, away from the lonely light crystal, away from the Rainborn's last hope. A black pillar suddenly burst forth from the ground in the middle of where the gates of the village had been once, and the chains of darkness brought Ihra up to it, before transforming into a black cell that hung from the pillar, high in the air. The red-haired Rainborn's Density Core had no effect on them, and brute strength, which she lacked after being defeated within the dark monarch's realm, did no good against the black bars. "...you'll have to learn your place." The Black Queen finished. Ihra was trapped, and there was no one else in the village to stand up to the tyrant.

"Very well." She said after sealing Ihra, with a voice that had suddenly turned mellifluous. "I did not intend to stay here for too long, so I will be taking my leave now. But I will return in three days, and I want all of the village's crystals to be gathered for me by the time I come back. Until then..." She spoke, snapping her fingers once again. The two giants that had been carrying the platform with her throne on it picked her up again, placing her on their shoulders and then turning around to head away. At the same time, the armies of darkness surrounding the village finally backed away, returning to where they had come from, along with their mistress, the Black Queen. They all went away, leaving Ihra alone, alone with her failures.

---

Ihra struggled against the bonds as much as she could, grunting and groaning as she tried to break the bars of her cell, to no avail. She swapped to her bone core, attempting to use her teleknisis on it. An illogical solution, and it didn't work. Ihra sighed, and then collapsed onto the black floor of the cell. She sat cross legged, with a hand on her head. She put her hand through her red hair. brushing it.
Would she be here forever? Likely not. The Black Queen would come back and then... Kill her? She wasn't sure. Probably that. Not that it mattered. The Black Queen had wanted all of the villages crystals. She could only assume that meant all the light crystals around the villagers necks too. Which would mean the disease would go back to killing them. But what could she do? She couldn't get out of this cell. She couldn't even get out of this cell.

She wished she had Etla's strength, her skill, her confidence. She wished she was Etla. Then she might be able to save the villagers. Then she might be able to actually do some good. Otherwise, she was Ihra. Ihra the shy, weak, meek, feeble and pathetic. Ihra who could never even activate her will.

It was true. It was her one greatest shame. Not once in all her life has she been able to do what other Rainborn could and find the green will to empower themselves to do incredible things, to go beyond their cores. And now, even when she needed it the most, she faltered. She had been broken and battered and hung to dry. She hadn't been beaten this hard since the run in with the Red Hulk. But it was worse now. Now her failure didn't mean just she was hurt. Now the whole village would be enslaved forever because she couldn't fight the Black Queen, and many of them would die in mines because of her inability to fight her enemy.
Dragan came and left her some food. Ihra didn't say anything. Neither did Dragan. He looked back at her before he left. Seeing the Rainborn now lying on her side, attempting to see the sun now setting and the stars now coming back.

He opened his mouth as if to speak. But then bowed his head. In truth, he was too ashamed to say anything. So was Ihra.

Day turned to night, and Ihra looked out to the sky. She had moved to the other side of the cell to see the stars better. A hand was on the bar of the cell.

"Father... why did you make me?" She asked. "I'm... so weak. If Etla had been here she would have dealt with the Queen in a second..." She paused and looked away, seeing judging eyes now in place of stars. Not those of Father, but she couldn't help but see the Queen's haughty smile in a constellation, or in a tree, or in the simple void of space. "I'm sorry Father..." She muttered.

But then, she heard a voice right behind her.

"Hello there, Ihra."

To be continued.

[Empire of the Siberian Flaming Eskimos]

Kylie: I'm not wearing pants, and Val likes to take home underage children.

Del was somewhat surprised to find a woman lounging on a couch with a show on. Much like with Val, she immediately did an analysis using the HYDRA files she had saved. "Name: Kylie Percival. Alias: Lady Lantern. Age: 20. Synopsis: Kylie shows traits that exemplify companionship. She is largely empathetic, kind, and caring towards the masses, traits that do not make a good solider in our march onward. While she is powerful and would make a great asset, our ability to turn her to our cause would most likely hinge on blackmail and threats, not making her reliable or trustworthy. Suggestion: Termination." She soon came back to a more natural manner, looking somewhat apologetic. "Sorry, it's habit. Who's Roy?" As she said this part of her system started hacking into the tower's security system, testing it and looking for vulnerabilities. Del liked Val, and Kylie seemed nice, but she was new to trust and wanted to make sure people wouldn't be hurt by her being here. "Also, there's several weak spots in your security. I've found about three places of entry that a HYDRA agent could infiltrate on his own, and five that I could use. That's pretty good actually, usually there's closer to twelve on a building of this size."

[Mavorpen]

"Thank you." Aru spoke. She returned to her professional buiness face as she looked to the bodies. "I apologize, this will only take a short moment." She explained. She took out her drones and they moved under the floating corpses. She looked at them all, sighing. <"Though you die upon another planet, may your souls return to Ran. May your souls find peace among the cosmic equilibrium and may your ancestors forever reveer you."> She spoke. Then frowned. "Now we bury them. And then we find the bastards who wired them up to die."

Jamal nodded. He couldn't quite relate to Aru's feelings exactly and he figured that he would if he was Rantu, but he definitely agreed that what the pirates had did was unacceptable. What got him was the initial victim's pleads for Aru to stop questioning him in order for his life to be spared. Rantu or not, Jamal understood when someone clearly didn't want to die. It might have been different had they not clearly been afraid of death. It was obvious that they weren't necessarily prepared to die for their cause, which didn't sit right with him and made him get the feeling that they were being taken advantage of. "Is there a specific type of area they should be buried in?" He asked Aru.

[New Rnclave]

" I don't have many tricks to be honest." Hiroshi remarked, crossing his arms. " My fightings just built around my style."

Rocketing forwards, Hiroshi appeared mere milimeters from her, his hands firmly locked around her ankle. Swinging down violently, Hiroshi launched her back towards the Earth, golden energy already cracklings between his palms.

"Gods Judgement!"

It was breathtaking to see. The wave of golden and azure energy shone above all else for a moment, the sun being drowned out by the blinding light. For a moment, Hiroshi could feel a power greater then his own burst from his palms, waves of force pushing him backwards. A trail of gold and blue trailed off into the horizon, before detonating in a magnificent event, light cast across all the Earth for a moment, before dying down.

Glacia groaned as she forced herself to her feet. She felt her middle, several of her ribs were broken and she was quite bruised and battered. The hit had not been as punishing as at the last moment Glacia had summoned several defenses, a sheild of air and ice, and one of her own Ki. It had hurt though, and she wasn't sure if she could continue fighting for long. But at least she was alive. Her regeneration was beginning to renit her wounds.

She looked up at Hiroshi. She had a few more tricks she could use. Though she wasn't completely sure if it would be safe to do. It would likely kill them both. Instead, for now she went on the defensive, waiting for her stamina to return and her wounds to heal.

Appearing behind her, back to back, Hiroshi gently rapped his knuckles against her shoulder, alerting her to the fact that he was there.

" Super Saiyan is funny really. It could be legendary power born of need, or it could be some mutated gene that causes our power to multiply and so on." Hiroshi commented. " Woudk you believe me if I said I could double the power I'm putting off now?"

Golden energies swirled around Hiroshi as he tensed himself. Gritting his teeth, he felt his muscles expand before tightening against his frame. The air around him seemed to catch fire, the flames burning in the grasslands around them being smothered before dying out.

Finally, lightening rolled off his frame, his eyes swirling with fire as his his sharpened upwards, pointing skywards. The familiar hum of his Super Saiyan aura filled the air as he turned, locking eyes with the Acrosian ex-criminal.

" Whatcah think? Pretty cool huh?"

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Nothing, Part 2 - Red Sea
"Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor take warning." John Pike opened the old door to the balcony, joining his son to watch the sunset.
"Saying I shouldn't go fishing today, Pa?" Henry glanced back. "You know I gotta. We won't make rent otherwise."
John shrugged. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't of gotten into the business. Too much happens down there that you can and will kill you in a second."
Henry rolled his eyes. It was an old debate of theirs. "Pa, if the fish people were gonna make another tidal wave, staying here in our coast-side home wouldn't exactly be much safer than being out at sea."
"Look, Henry, what I'm trying to say is-" He paused, staring intently at the calm water before them. "You see that, kid?"
"Don't call me kid." Henry replied automatically. "And I didn't see nothin', Pa. You're seein' things."
"...Meet me down at the boat, kid." John turned around, going back through the door and grabbing his coat.
"Don't call me kid!"

---

Henry pulled on his coat as he opened the back door, muttering. "Crazy, senile old man.."
John, leaning at the coast, was staring intently into the water. "C'mere, Henry. Tell me, does this water look right to you?"
Henry joined his father, looking at the water, then at his dad. "If you're talking about it bein' red, it's just reflecting the sun. We've seen this a thousand times, Pa."
"Not like this, son." John picked up a small rock and threw it into the tide. Just before it hit the red water, however, a stream of it shot up and encircled the rock, pulling it down. "Never like this."
Henry was speechless- And he wasn't the only one.

All over the world, reports were coming in about the ocean turning red and consuming whatever tied to enter it. Nothing could be contacted- No fishing boats, no oil rigs, no transport ships- They were all offline, all dead in the water. News broadcasts were going wild with theory and speculation- Was this some new war machine by the Atlanteans? Did the Red Skull survive his assassination? Had some new, powerful mutant come to kill them all?

And most importantly... How could they survive without the ocean?

---

Seven Months Ago
"Are you sure this will work?" Namor paced behind the scientist. "Carnage is.. A force of nature. He cannot be controlled."
"I am sure. After you introduce the C-2-H formula into the sample of the Carnage symbiote, it will be able to spread through salt water as though it were its host. When you introduce the C-5-R formula into the Atlantean food supply, it will provide our people with immunization to the Carnage symbiote's mental processes. While we will, technically, all be hosts, we will retain all individuality, including personality, body, and individual prowess, while being endowed with the symbiote's unique physiology and abilities." The scientist continued to work during this, adding samples of several strange formulas to samples of the Carnage symbiote to observe their effects.
"Good." Namor sighed. "And you say you can clean the ocean of the symbiote some arbitrary point after the infection?"
"Indeed."


Today



....
Where am I?
Oh yes. Aquaman stabbed me through the chest. Then I dropped the-
...
Ah. So that's where I am.
Deep beneath the crimson ocean's surface, a small portion of the symbiote slowly began to condense into the shape of the King of Atlantis, Namor. After it reformed, it looked down on itself, shaking its head. Now, this won't do. It closed its eyes and willed itself to return to its original color, as opposed to the bright red of its current form. After succeeding, Namor smiled and laughed, his voice rousing his guards from confused slumber. They slowly reformed, and stared at their King with questioning eyes.
"I will explain at the Palace. Come now, rouse the Atlanteans from their slumber." He swam with even greater speed than he had before towards his palace, leaving behind the ruins of the meeting hall. When arriving in the now-empty city of Atlantis, he frowned. "Awaken, people of Atlantis!" He called out, amplifying his voice through the symbiote. All throughout the city, forms slowly condensed into the shapes of the citizens of Atlantis. "Gather at the Palace! Your King will explain!"
The crimson citizens slowly arrived at the Palace, their entire world stained with red, their murmurs tinged with rage.
"People of Atlantis!" Namor called out, silencing the crowd. "The hatred you feel is not your own! It is a byproduct of being bonded with the Symbiote known as Carnage. Do not be afraid- Do not despair, and above all- Do not give in to the hatred! I, Namor, King of this new Atlantis, will lead our people to survival and prosperity beyond any we have ever known, for in bonding with the Symbiote, we have become more than Men! We have become Gods! We will live for eternity, no longer bound by the strings of hunger, or thirst, or mortality. We will rule.. Everything."

Deep beneath the palace, in a sealed vault, the still mortal scientist that had designed the alternative Carnage strains smiled. She was successful in her manipulations of the symbiote. From now on, the Atlanteans, along with an inhibited version of the rage inherent in the symbiote, would feel a drive to conquer. Her people would wear the crowns of the kings of the world, as they rightfully should. she would die silently and alone, her legacy not up for debate, and the Atlanteans would never doubt their drive for war.

Namora, cousin of Namor, smiled as the Atlanteans, with the ability to control the Carnage symbiote that made up the oceans of Earth, attacked the land once more.

[Charmera]

Glacia groaned as she forced herself to her feet. She felt her middle, several of her ribs were broken and she was quite bruised and battered. The hit had not been as punishing as at the last moment Glacia had summoned several defenses, a sheild of air and ice, and one of her own Ki. It had hurt though, and she wasn't sure if she could continue fighting for long. But at least she was alive. Her regeneration was beginning to renit her wounds.

She looked up at Hiroshi. She had a few more tricks she could use. Though she wasn't completely sure if it would be safe to do. It would likely kill them both. Instead, for now she went on the defensive, waiting for her stamina to return and her wounds to heal.

Appearing behind her, back to back, Hiroshi gently rapped his knuckles against her shoulder, alerting her to the fact that he was there.

" Super Saiyan is funny really. It could be legendary power born of need, or it could be some mutated gene that causes our power to multiply and so on." Hiroshi commented. " Woudk you believe me if I said I could double the power I'm putting off now?"

Golden energies swirled around Hiroshi as he tensed himself. Gritting his teeth, he felt his muscles expand before tightening against his frame. The air around him seemed to catch fire, the flames burning in the grasslands around them being smothered before dying out.

Finally, lightening rolled off his frame, his eyes swirling with fire as his his sharpened upwards, pointing skywards. The familiar hum of his Super Saiyan aura filled the air as he turned, locking eyes with the Acrosian ex-criminal.

" Whatcah think? Pretty cool huh?"

Glacia frowned. She was in pain, hurting. She couldn't continue fighting. But that had never stopped her before. Nor had a strong opponent. She remembered, She...

"Stupid no-Clan!"
Glacia looked around at the gang before her. She cowered, she had never had to fight before.
"Aren't you going to say something weakling? Aren't ya?"
Glacia could feel pain as she was kicked. She slammed into the wall of the star ship. Her eyes were full of tears.
"You're just a little shit aren't you. Never earned anything and now your shit out of luck. How's it feel to be one of us?"
She felt another kick.
"You're parents we're cowards."

Glacia, at that moment, snapped.
She got up, then pointed at all the gang. Just pointing with an open hand. They backed off, but then laughed.
Then her hand into a fist. And suddenly the laughing stopped.
Each and every one of them compressed themselves, their flesh weak and easily crumbled into balls as an interior vacuum pulled them inward. Imploding them.
No. the Laughing stopped. But then came screams. Then tears.
She had been ten at the time. Ten and covered in blood.
Glacia snapped out of her flashback. Not quite sure what reality was anymore. What was real? What was memory?
She suppoosed this saiyan was the former. And it seemed like she was going to loose. She hated loosing. It made her parents unhappy.
She pointed at the Saiyan, and then stopped. She didn't want to do that again. Not to someone who didn't deserve it at least. It seemed she was going to have to upset her parents after all.
"It's too real." She spoke. Then grabbed herself. "Fine. You got me. I hurt people. It's all I've ever done." She paused. "I'm good at it. Very good. But I pride myself on knowing the right people to hurt." She explained. "And if we continue. I might just hurt you more than can be repaired. Or you might have to kill me. Either way it's unpleasant."

[Tomia]

Cora
Cora was glad to see Katie smiling so brightly. She was glad she had made her happy. She also felt less nervous when Katie said she had more experience and could help her adjust to being in a relationship. She didn't see the underlined motive behind Katie's actions and was quite oblivious to it. "Thanks for being so understanding Katie, and of course I'm comfortable with you. You've been so great to me since we met." Cora said sincerely to her girlfriend. She then heard Katie ask if Cora wanted to know about her relationship past. Katie seemed to hesitate a bit when she asked, though Cora wasn't sure why. "Well, I'm curious. But if you're not comfortable enough it's okay. I won't judge you or think any less of you whatever you tell me though." Cora said sincerely. In her mind there wasn't much that Katie could say to change the way Cora thought about her.

[Charmera]

---

Etla frowned slightly and then wrapped her arms around her older sister, as she had many times before. Truth be told, she was beginning to wonder if hugging Ihra really had any sort of effect on the girl's demeanor, considering how her general mood didn't seem to get any better despite the countless times she had done this, but even if she were somehow convinced that it didn't work, Etla would likely continue doing it, if only because she was a particularly stubborn Rainborn. Either way, the point was that Etla didn't know many other ways to comfort her elder sister.

"Come on, stop beating yourself up over 'not helping', because I'm really happy to have one of my siblings here with me again. There are many great things in this world, and I met Helen and Craig and other people, but even then I missed you a lot. There's millions of people around here in this planet, billions, even, but none of them are quite like me, or you. None of them are quite like my family. And family's the most important thing, right?" She said, now grinning happily as she held Ihra closer to herself. Her first intention had been to comfort her sister, but she had inadvertently ended up thinking of how nice it felt to have a part of her family close to her again after her accidental exile.

She caught onto this rather quickly and, blinking, broke up the embrace. She looked up at her significantly taller sister with a sheepish smile.

"Um, anyway, the point is it wasn't a mistake for you to come here. We can do lots of fun stuff together. Like, ah..." She continued, and then trailed off and put a fist under her chin as she furrowed her brow, trying to think of something new they could do around here on Earth. In the end, she was persuaded by some strange story about a big red guy and an army of enslaved midgets. "...like explore the North Pole!"

She smiled slightly. Then sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just not as confident in myself as you... I mean... Even back on Skyworld I wasn't that..." She paused, coughing. She was making her sister upset. That was bad. It was important to her that other people be happy. She decided that she should lead by example on that front. "But, yeah! family is the most important thing. Perhaps we could make this a... "road trip" as earthlings call it." She replied. 'North pole. Where have I heard that." Suddenly her eyes widened and she Squeed with excitedment as she wrapped her arms around Etla.

'That's where SANTA lives!" She excitedly declared. One of her idols in the dark period that was her exodus to earth. A man so kind he dedicated his life to entertaining children by making toys for them. Someone who's Compassion and goodness was legendary, whoes love was near infinite. Ihra had been collecting stories of these kinds of people. People defined by their kindness. Ever since she got to earth it had been a thing for her to collect information, books and other things about these people, and Santa Claus was at the top of her list. Not once had it crossed her mind even the possibility that this might not be real. She was far too wrapped up in the legend. "Oh ETLA! He's amazing! His smile twinkles and his belly jiggles like jello when he laughs!" She ranted. "Can we meet him? Can we? Can we? Can we please?" She begged.

Cora
Cora was glad to see Katie smiling so brightly. She was glad she had made her happy. She also felt less nervous when Katie said she had more experience and could help her adjust to being in a relationship. She didn't see the underlined motive behind Katie's actions and was quite oblivious to it. "Thanks for being so understanding Katie, and of course I'm comfortable with you. You've been so great to me since we met." Cora said sincerely to her girlfriend. She then heard Katie ask if Cora wanted to know about her relationship past. Katie seemed to hesitate a bit when she asked, though Cora wasn't sure why. "Well, I'm curious. But if you're not comfortable enough it's okay. I won't judge you or think any less of you whatever you tell me though." Cora said sincerely. In her mind there wasn't much that Katie could say to change the way Cora thought about her.

Katie put her fingers together. She should know. Keeping secrets in a relationship was bad. Very bad. "Well.... You know about Eric and Jasmine... there were a few others. Quite a few... Perhaps too many." She blushed red and awkwardly laughed. "You know what. Let's just leave it there." She spoke. Then smiled nervously. "Anyway, not to change the subject, but we should also talk about what we're doing after this dinner." She winked, pulling out two tickets. 'Two tickets! To a movie!" She declared. "We can watch one together! It'll be awesome!"

[New Rnclave]

Appearing behind her, back to back, Hiroshi gently rapped his knuckles against her shoulder, alerting her to the fact that he was there.

" Super Saiyan is funny really. It could be legendary power born of need, or it could be some mutated gene that causes our power to multiply and so on." Hiroshi commented. " Woudk you believe me if I said I could double the power I'm putting off now?"

Golden energies swirled around Hiroshi as he tensed himself. Gritting his teeth, he felt his muscles expand before tightening against his frame. The air around him seemed to catch fire, the flames burning in the grasslands around them being smothered before dying out.

Finally, lightening rolled off his frame, his eyes swirling with fire as his his sharpened upwards, pointing skywards. The familiar hum of his Super Saiyan aura filled the air as he turned, locking eyes with the Acrosian ex-criminal.

" Whatcah think? Pretty cool huh?"

Glacia frowned. She was in pain, hurting. She couldn't continue fighting. But that had never stopped her before. Nor had a strong opponent. She remembered, She...

"Stupid no-Clan!"
Glacia looked around at the gang before her. She cowered, she had never had to fight before.
"Aren't you going to say something weakling? Aren't ya?"
Glacia could feel pain as she was kicked. She slammed into the wall of the star ship. Her eyes were full of tears.
"You're just a little shit aren't you. Never earned anything and now your shit out of luck. How's it feel to be one of us?"
She felt another kick.
"You're parents we're cowards."

Glacia, at that moment, snapped.
She got up, then pointed at all the gang. Just pointing with an open hand. They backed off, but then laughed.
Then her hand into a fist. And suddenly the laughing stopped.
Each and every one of them compressed themselves, their flesh weak and easily crumbled into balls as an interior vacuum pulled them inward. Imploding them.
No. the Laughing stopped. But then came screams. Then tears.
She had been ten at the time. Ten and covered in blood.
Glacia snapped out of her flashback. Not quite sure what reality was anymore. What was real? What was memory?
She suppoosed this saiyan was the former. And it seemed like she was going to loose. She hated loosing. It made her parents unhappy.
She pointed at the Saiyan, and then stopped. She didn't want to do that again. Not to someone who didn't deserve it at least. It seemed she was going to have to upset her parents after all.
"It's too real." She spoke. Then grabbed herself. "Fine. You got me. I hurt people. It's all I've ever done." She paused. "I'm good at it. Very good. But I pride myself on knowing the right people to hurt." She explained. "And if we continue. I might just hurt you more than can be repaired. Or you might have to kill me. Either way it's unpleasant."

" Then stop." Hiroshi remarked, crossing his arms. " Yoive clearly got something wrong, be it PTSD or you're just having a bad day. I didn't come here looking to kill you, and I won't if I don't have too. But attack me and I'll have no choice but to put you down, I've seen your tricks so far, you can use vacuums to effect and can freeze shit."

Pausing, Hiroshi extended a palm to her, his fingers splayed out, golden sparks of energy surrounding his hand. Sighing, he locked eyes with her, steeling his features.

" Don't make me put you down, I'd really rather not."

[The Republic of Atria]

"You need to get me into space." Hernan said. "The Phoenix is coming. I can feel it's power building within my body. I will destroy everything in it's path. When we get close enough... Well. Trust me when I say you will not be able to miss it. The creature is almost the size of a planet. If said planet was on fire." He explained waiting on them. "I will become it's host and use the power to reconstitute your world. Though, promise me that in the future you will take better care of your things." He jeered. It wasn't their fault and he knew that. Well. It was a little their fault. But most of the blame went on the psychotic general.

The Builder War

Xander woke up after a short nap when the ship was about to the first bout of combat. Ronan was busying explaining the plan. The Council had put the Builder fleet in a very compromising position. A rock and a hard place didn't even begin to describe it. It was between a singularity and the full might of the Council's fleet and a black hole. Which was quite a plan. "Alright then. We hit them hard and hit them fast. I want everyone who can operate in space unaided to hit them hard. Superman, Thor, Naja, any and all of our powerhouses. I want constant fire on their biggest ships. Everyone else, I want on comms. Changes in the fight or what have you. Hernan. You're the resident telepath. Any changes to the situation, we should know about it first thing. Please do not use that... Thing we discussed unless it is absolutely necessary."

"As you wish." Herana said and opened a telepathic link for everyone. "There. I will be doing my best to wage war on their minds from here. Should they resist. I suppose we will show them what Hell looks and feels like as a first hand experience."

Manifest, after the launch, spent most of his time studying blueprints that Pym made for him. When word that the ship was about to reach the Council's fleet reached him, he joined Xander and the others on the Bridge to discuss the plans. Manifest glanced over it. "This won't end this easy." He narrowed his eyes. "What's our plan to get out of here if this thing goes sideways?" He looked up at Ronan and Xander expectantly. "What's the Council's plan?"

"Probably not. Escape plan? Well, if things go haywire I'll 'port everyone on the ship and we'll fall back to the nearest planet to regroup and plan. Then we go with whatever plan we've come up with. Hopefully it doesn't involve Hernan and the Phoenix." Xander explained, and Ronan gave him an unhappy look when Xander mentioned that Hernan is a host for the Phoenix. "What's that look supposed to mean? Everyone knows the Phoenix will fuck up literally anything and everything around it, but if someone can manage to point the fuckening towards the Builders... Well I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Dealing with one target is much easier than dealing with a billion."

"Each day I spend with you humans. The more I wonder how you made it this far in your development. Never has there been a race so... Insane."

"And that's why you're gonna lose every time the Kree and Humans get into a scuffle. Us humans aren't as big and strong as everyone else. So we make up for it by making sure there's one thing we're good at. Being batshit insane and doing the most stupid shit that no one would expect. We need a big weapon? Yeah, we'll use the Phoenix. We have to take risks. You won't."

[Charmera]

Glacia frowned. She was in pain, hurting. She couldn't continue fighting. But that had never stopped her before. Nor had a strong opponent. She remembered, She...

"Stupid no-Clan!"
Glacia looked around at the gang before her. She cowered, she had never had to fight before.
"Aren't you going to say something weakling? Aren't ya?"
Glacia could feel pain as she was kicked. She slammed into the wall of the star ship. Her eyes were full of tears.
"You're just a little shit aren't you. Never earned anything and now your shit out of luck. How's it feel to be one of us?"
She felt another kick.
"You're parents we're cowards."

Glacia, at that moment, snapped.
She got up, then pointed at all the gang. Just pointing with an open hand. They backed off, but then laughed.
Then her hand into a fist. And suddenly the laughing stopped.
Each and every one of them compressed themselves, their flesh weak and easily crumbled into balls as an interior vacuum pulled them inward. Imploding them.
No. the Laughing stopped. But then came screams. Then tears.
She had been ten at the time. Ten and covered in blood.
Glacia snapped out of her flashback. Not quite sure what reality was anymore. What was real? What was memory?
She suppoosed this saiyan was the former. And it seemed like she was going to loose. She hated loosing. It made her parents unhappy.
She pointed at the Saiyan, and then stopped. She didn't want to do that again. Not to someone who didn't deserve it at least. It seemed she was going to have to upset her parents after all.
"It's too real." She spoke. Then grabbed herself. "Fine. You got me. I hurt people. It's all I've ever done." She paused. "I'm good at it. Very good. But I pride myself on knowing the right people to hurt." She explained. "And if we continue. I might just hurt you more than can be repaired. Or you might have to kill me. Either way it's unpleasant."

" Then stop." Hiroshi remarked, crossing his arms. " Yoive clearly got something wrong, be it PTSD or you're just having a bad day. I didn't come here looking to kill you, and I won't if I don't have too. But attack me and I'll have no choice but to put you down, I've seen your tricks so far, you can use vacuums to effect and can freeze shit."

Pausing, Hiroshi extended a palm to her, his fingers splayed out, golden sparks of energy surrounding his hand. Sighing, he locked eyes with her, steeling his features.

" Don't make me put you down, I'd really rather not."

"Don't threaten me. Or I just might take you up on your offer..." Glacia frowned, so she reached out and pulled Hiroshi's hand down and... stared into his eyes for a moment. Then shook her head. "Darling, I have more tricks then that." She spoke. "You may have noticed that my stance was hardly full of weaknesses, did you not?" She smiled. "You know. I could teach you a thing or two. Some methods you may not be familiar with.' She then shrugged. "Won't be as good as my teacher was, but I think I could help. After all no school is quite as good as the school of hard knocks. It's next to Getting the shit kicked out of you High." A joke. A joke was good. Less tension. She never responded well to tension. Or threats.

[New Rnclave]

" Then stop." Hiroshi remarked, crossing his arms. " Yoive clearly got something wrong, be it PTSD or you're just having a bad day. I didn't come here looking to kill you, and I won't if I don't have too. But attack me and I'll have no choice but to put you down, I've seen your tricks so far, you can use vacuums to effect and can freeze shit."

Pausing, Hiroshi extended a palm to her, his fingers splayed out, golden sparks of energy surrounding his hand. Sighing, he locked eyes with her, steeling his features.

" Don't make me put you down, I'd really rather not."

"Don't threaten me. Or I just might take you up on your offer..." Glacia frowned, so she reached out and pulled Hiroshi's hand down and... stared into his eyes for a moment. Then shook her head. "Darling, I have more tricks then that." She spoke. "You may have noticed that my stance was hardly full of weaknesses, did you not?" She smiled. "You know. I could teach you a thing or two. Some methods you may not be familiar with.' She then shrugged. "Won't be as good as my teacher was, but I think I could help. After all no school is quite as good as the school of hard knocks. It's next to Getting the shit kicked out of you High." A joke. A joke was good. Less tension. She never responded well to tension. Or threats.

Hiroshi sighed as his hair fell, shifting back to his natural onyx color.

" I've killed enough people to know that you don't turn your back. I guess I could take you up on that offer." Hiroshi laughed, his golden eyes warm. It was hard to believe that an Acrosian of all people would agree to stop fighting a Saiyan, but he supposed you saw something new everyday.

Swallowing, Hiroshi noticed she was holding his hand, and gently squeezed hers as he smiled at her.

[Tomia]

Cora
Cora could tell that Katie was quite embarrassed by the fact that she had had a lot of relationships. Cora didn't really understand, not being too aware of cultural standards and norms. She reached for Katie's hand when she laughed nervously. "Katie, I really don't mind. You're a loving and caring person, so I can understand why you would have felt that way for a lot of people." Cora told her understandingly.

She then saw Katie wink and her and pull two thin pieces of paper out of her purse. She was surprised when she said that they had tickets to go to a movie theatre. Cora had only really started to live a (somewhat)normal life just a few weeks ago so she hadn't actuy been to a movie theatre yet, though she had watched movies with her friends at their tower. "That sounds great Katie, you know I haven't been to a movie theater yet, but I'd really like to go with you." Cora said with a bright smile, looking forward to spending time alone with Katie.

Samantha Grimm and John Morgan
After around two hours or so the plane arrived at a small landing pad in Florida. John led Sarah and her sisters off the plane and they walked out from the airfield and headed toward Disney World which was nearby. Soon they arrived at the gates of the large amusement park. There were sounds of happy crowds and a large number of costumed characters walking around and greeting people. John had his pilot bring his luggage to the hotel that he had reserved rooms in as John had reserved a room for him too. "So, where do you all want to go first? There's a bunch of different parks. Magic Kingdom has a bunch of Disney characters and rides, and the Animal Kingdom has this cool Safari too." He told the sisters, knowing more about disney world then most men his age usually might. He of course was looking forward to spending time alone with Sarah, but he felt it'd be rude to just take her away from her sisters so quickly. They had as much time as they liked their anyway so there wasn't any rush.