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

[Mavorpen]

A Tale of Life and Death: Prelude I

Zaros System:
Eighteen Parsecs From the Kree System

"Alright, let's do this." Jamal said, floating in space, still bewildered by the power of the Quantum Bands. They were unlike anything he had ever felt. They felt mystical while also cosmic at the same time.

"I'll be with you every step of the way, Jamal. I wish I had a physical body so that I could be more than a simple ghostly backseat driver..." Wendell Vaughn said, floating next to Jamal as a slightly transparent apparition. Jamal had thought Quasar to have died during Annihilation for good, but a few weeks ago, he had appeared in front of him during one of his visits to Earth. Somehow he had become connected to a rod containing quantum fuel in a science facility. Long story. In any case, Jamal was glad that he was back.

"It's fine, really. You've done more than enough. I... I owe you my life. Now, let's see what we can do about Ego." Jamal and Quasar looked up, watching a large yellow tractor beam emerge out of Ego and touch down upon the planet Zaros. "Looks like Nu-Xandar stopped for another recruiting drive. That's what, 12,000 native Zarosians being taken from their homes? We need to end this. So tell me, backseat driver, since you know the quantum powers better than anyone, how do we approach a living planet without getting immediately spotted and squashed like a bug?"

"Ego's cosmic awareness is greater than my own. He will see us coming. So, I suggest using that to our advantage." Quasar said.

"That so?" Jamal began flying at Ego at light speed. "Then if we're gonna make ourselves a target, let's at least make it hard for him to pick which one to hit first." Jamal said, creating construct duplicates of himself.

---

Nil-Rast

"Combat spread. Clean house." The powerhouse of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard known as Gladiator ordered the rest of the Guard as he flew above, dousing the landscape in his heatvision.

"Halt Shi'ar aggressor! Under the terms of Nova Corps pans-worlds jurisdiction, you must stand down or suffer--" One of the Nova Corps members called out to him, raising a hand as a signal for Gladiator to stop. He did not. Gladiator, instead, flew through the Corpsman, slicing him in half at the waist.

Without missing a beat, Gladiator landed, allowing the rest of the Guard to clean up the rest of the Corpsmen. It was a fairly simple task for them, despite being outnumbered. The Corpsmen were inexperienced. They failed to understand how to wield their individual power effectively nor did they gasp how to make use of their greater numbers. "I want the faciloids secure in the next 60 minutes."

"Yes, Praetor!" One of the Guard explained as he took out a Corpsman with an eyebeam.

Gladiator heard the approach of someone from behind. "I recommend you surrender." He said, turning to face his assailant.

"Never going to happen." Tarcel said, charging Gladiator. He landed a punch on Gladiator's jaw, but as far as he could tell, it didn't even phase him.

Rather, Gladiator simply retaliated with his heatvision. "You're Shi'ar, how could you be on the wrong side!?" Tarcel raised his left arm, an energy shield forming in front of it and barely blocking the attack in time. Unfortunately, he didn't block the next attack, as Gladiator delivered a powerful punch that sent him flying into the ground. "Tell your people to surrender."

"N-never!" Tarcel said as he struggled to get up.

"You cannot win. I am unsure of why you have taken the position of Nova Prime in the place of the previous holder of the rank, but you are certainly no Jamal Hawkins." Gladiator said, before feeling a blast of energy hit him from behind. "Ow." Turning, he looked down to see Jessica Perez.

"Oh... oh God." Was all Jessica manged to mutter in fear before Gladiator released a beam of heatvision at her right leg. Jessica fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

Gladiator then grabbed Tarcel by the throat and lifted him up. "I could have sliced off her leg. Last chance. Tell your people to stand down or you will be accountable for the lives lost. The waste of their lives will be on your hand."

"[Jessica! Can you hear me!?]" Jessica heard from within her helmet. She recognized the voice as being Qubit, the synthetic robot Centurion who had apparently been recruited before her and the other Earthlings were.

"Y-yes." Jessica responded, close to breaking down in tears. She had been gathered an sat down next to the rest of the remaining Corpsmen. "Nova Prime Tarcel has been forced to surrender. They threatened to kill him -- to kill us all. The beat us like children." Suddenly, Jessica saw a purple woman resembling Gladiator approach him from behind.

Gladiator turned, and a scowl formed on his face. "What are you doing here, Strontian?"

"The emperor ordered me and my Praetorians to take command of this theater of operations. He wants you back at the flagship." Strontian replied.

"...Very well. Secure the prisoners. I am taking this one back for interrogation." Gladiator took to the sky, carrying Tarcel with him. Strontian turned to face the Corpsmen. To her left was what appeared to be an 8 foot bipedal insect and to her right was a similarly tall bipedal fish-man.

"What should we do with the prisoners?" The insect asked.

"Prisoners?" Strontian smiled. "I see no prisoners. All I see are practice targets." Jessica could hold back her tears no longer and she began sobbing uncontrollably.

---

Above Nu-Xandar

"Alright, so things are working out pretty well, Wendell. I mean, we haven't died yet, so that's good." Jamal said, flying around and watching his constructs randomly fly around the vicinity, serving as a distraction. "Alright, I think we've got his attention fully. Let's go for the direct approach. Cranial vent, you said?" Jamal entered one of the openings that led directly to Ego's brain. Upon reaching it, a projection of Worldmind floated, facing away from him. The projection began turning around, and Jamal gasped. "Oh, no. Ego!?" The projection was no longer the appearance of an elderly human man dressed in the Nova Prime helmet, and instead, Ego's purple skin and full white beard were visible under the helmet.

Suddenly, the projection fired lasers out of its eyes, indicating that it wasn't a mere holographic projection at all. Jamal barely managed to form an energy shield using the energy of the Quantum Bands in time. "Worldmind!? Can you hear me? Please answer, it's Jamal! Isn't there any part of you that Ego hasn't invaded!?"

"[Your premise is flawed, Jamal Hawkins. There is no Worldmind. There is no Ego. There is only both.]" Jamal's shield broke, sending him flying backwards.

Suddenly however, Jamal started laughing. "I can't believe this, man. I thought you betrayed me! But it was Ego this whole time, huh!?" He again barely managed to put up his shield once more to protect himself from another assault.

"[Ego is Worldmind is Ego. Worldmind sought a home. A protector. And it fond Ego!]" Jamal's shield once again broke under the assault. "[Ego became Worldmind became Ego! Mutual support! Mutual benefit! Mutual security!]"

"Wendell, a little help!?" Jamal shouted as he once again constructed a shield. "I can't manipulate the Quantum Bands like you could. I can barely stop Ego's blasts!"

"Yes, I'm still here." Wendell said, appeared behind Jamal. "Jamal, you're thinking too literally. You're treating the Bands like the Nova Force gravimetrics. Whereas they are a blunt instrument, the Bands require more imagination. Ego's attacks aren't simply concussive or kinetic blasts. They chip away at your confidence and resistance! You need more than a shield to block him out on all levels. You need a sanctuary of some kind."

"So... this?" Jamal said, as suddenly a reconstruction of his apartment bedroom appeared around the two, only, well, entirely yellow.

"Incredible! And you did this entirely from memory!" Wendell marveled, looking around. "So, do have a plan?"

"Kind of. I came here assuming Worldmind was merely crazy, but it's looking like I was wrong. Worldmind was likely unstable and Ego merely took advantage on that and exacerbated the problem. Ego most likely just wants access to the Nova Force and Xandarian knowledge for himself." Jamal said.

"Makes sense. Ego is, well, his name says it all."

"Yeah. So, my thinking is this: When I was infected by the Phalanx virus and almost entirely succumbed to it, Worldmind had locked away a part of my psyche until I was strong enough to resist it and break free. The idea is to do the same... hopefully if I can imagine how Worldmind..." Jamal's eyes glowed and yellow energy surrounded him as he concentrated.

Suddenly, two figures appeared in his room. Sitting on his bed was Ruby, dressed in a Nova Corps Centurion outfit, and standing next tot he bed was D'Vorah dressed in the same uniform. "Yo." Ruby said.

"Hello, Jamal. Have you been eating well?" D'Vorah asked.

"Erm... Worldmind, is that you?"

Ruby and D'Vorah looked at each other. "We're the Worldmind, yeah, but the small part that's not a total dick." Ruby commented.

"What Ruby is trying to say is that Worldmind is using our personality templates to create an interface with you." D'Vorah explained.

"Uh, Jamal?" Quasar interrupted.

"Oh, sorry. Wendell Vaughn, meet Ruby and D'Vorah. They're not actually here. I guess Worldmind just recreated the two strongest personalities in its archive from my memory." Suddenly the room began shaking, and the group looked outside of the window to see Ego trying to force his way in. "Worldmind, quickly, what do I do!? What am I fighting?"

"You're fighting me, Jamal." D'Vorah responded.

"Yeah, I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs." Ruby said. After an awkward silence, Ruby shrugged. "What? I like Cocoa Puffs."

"While she stated it in a silly way, Ruby is right. The Worldmind's sanity is the real issue at hand. Ego is just fanning the flames. From the beginning, when Worldmind uploaded itself in its entirety into you, the risk of you being driven insane was great. It did everything in its power to prevent that, so that you wouldn't follow the same fate as Garthan Saal. As a consequence, it failed to do the same to it." D'Vorah said.

"So... wait. You're the one that was driven insane from the strain of keeping me sane?" Jamal asked in disbelief. "Dammit... and the Phalanx infection must have made things that much worse. I... I'm so sorry."

"There isn't enough time to be sorry. You need to take back the Nova Force and then purge Ego's influence so that Worldmind's higher functions can be repaired and reinstalled." The wall containing the window began spreading outward as Ego pushed his way further and further into the apartment construct. "Go, do it now!" D'Vorah shouted as Jamal flew away to find the repository containing the Nova Force.

"[Attention, to all Centurions located within Systems Operations, it is critical that you pay attention at this time. An attempt is being made to breach my hub sanctum. Defend me! Jamal Hawkins, you will be denied!]" Ego shouted as he chased after him.

"Almost the--" Jamal began before he was hit by gravimetric beams from multiple directions. The bands automatically protected him, thankfully, and he threw concussive blasts at the attacking Centurions powerful enough to get them off of his tail, but not enough to kill them. He then continued. "Wendell, I'm through into the hu-- AGH!" Jamal was hit from behind by more gravimetric beams.

"[You are a threat to me! You will be denied!]" Worldmind's voice exclaimed from his attacker, Irani.

Jamal ignored the pain and with the last of his strength hurled himself into a large sun-like orb at the top of a flight of stairs. An explosion of energy hurled outward and engulfed him. After the lightshow died down, Jamal emerged wearing his Nova Prime outfit once more, with a big grin on his face. "Here you go, these belong to you." Jamal chucked the Quantum Bands at Quasar.

"[You will be denied! You are a thread to me! To ME!]" Ego's projection shouted.

"Oh, shut up already. It's always 'me, me, me,' with you, Ego. You don't have to follow your name, you know." Jamal fired gravimetric beams from both of his hands, destroying the projection.

A few seconds later, a projection of Worldmind appeared where the Nova Force orb was. He was back to his old man looking self.

"So.. how ya feeling?" Jamal asked.

"[Dazed. I am impressed. You lobotomized Ego with such a powerful blast of Nova Force it was off the scale.]"

"Well, not entirely. He should heal himself within a few centuries. Until then, you've got yourself a nice safe place to repair yourself in. No need to thank me." Jamal grinned

"[I will do so anyway. I am grateful, Jamal. So much so that it saddens me greatly to inform you that this is the last time that we will converse.]"

"I... what?" Jamal's grin faded.

"[The instability caused by Ego has significantly affected this personality and it has therefore been irrevocably damaged and compromised. In order to safeguard the integrity of the Worldmind databanks, this personality must be expunged and replaced. It is necessary.]"

"No, you can't." Jamal said with a pained expression. "I... I'll miss you, man."

"[And I will miss you as well. Personality erasure commencing. Goodbye, Jamal.]"

"Dammit, Worldmind!" Jamal shouted.

"[What!?]"

"Worldmind!?" Jamal said, looking around with a confused expression.

"[Stop screaming already. What do you want?]"

"Wait, what just happened?"

"[I removed the old guide personality and installed a new one, like I said I would. Do you pay any attention?]"

Realization dawned upon Jamal as he recognized the voice and his eyes widened. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me. Ruby?"

A projection of Ruby's head wearing a Nova Prime helmet appeared where the previous projection was. "[Well, it was either me in your head 24/7 or D'Vorah.]"

"Uh... can I get D'Vorah?"

"[Well now, I'm going to have to reject you out of sheer spite.]"

"Oh God, this is going to be awful."

---

It was a string of decisions borne from good intentions -- a decision meant to change all life within the universe. The goal was the betterment of all life, and to accomplish this, the first decision was made. The city of Attilan once again took to the stars, though this time it did so from the Kree capital Hala, rather than Earth's moon. Still, this decision was too made, on a fundamental level, in response to the Inhumans being tired of looked down upon. Lately, war seemed to be all that followed in their wake.

Now, however, the Inhumans were tired of war. Faced with two decisions -- to maintain the prolonged war of attrition with the Shi'ar, or use their trump card to end the war quickly -- they chose the latter.

Attilan was upon the Shi'ar Frontier when Ronan the Accuser tore down the door to the Inhuman Royal Family's War Room. Behind him stood Black Bolt's brother, Maximus, and Medusa's sister, Crystal. "Medusa? What's going on?" Ronan asked. "Maximus informs me that Lilandra is dead."

"Yes. We hedged our bets on Lilandra retaking the throne of the Shi'ar empire and ending the reign of Vulcan, thereby ending this war. Clearly, that is no longer a viable option, and therefore we have been forced to switch to our contingency plan." Medusa replied.

"Which is...? Ronan questioned.

"The one I built." Maximus stated proudly.

Crystal frowned. "You did what? What. Did. You. Build. Maximus?"

"I named it the 'Utterance of Destiny,' but they decided upon a less classy name: the T-Bomb. It is essentially weaponized Terrigen--"

"You cannot be serious!" Crystal exclaimed. Terrigen is a secret mutagen that transforms. It is not fit to be used as a weapon!"

"The war must end now, Crystal." Medusa said. "We cannot forge a better future until the Shi'ar are dealt with. This is not only for our sake, but for theirs as well. Think of how many lives are being wasted in this bloody war. Furthermore, it has always been our King's intention to abolish these arbitrary lines that spurs conflicts throughout the cosmos: genetic difference. The uplift of all species throughout the universe due to the spread of the Terrigen process will cause permanent peace."

"With all due respect, my King..." Ronan addressed Black Bolt. "The statement that all species would be uplifted is not true. The Kree are incompatible with your evolutionary process. We will be left behind while the rest of the galaxy passes us by. We will remain the universe's primitives."

"A situation that will be addressed at a later point. Right now, our immediate concern is--" Medusa began.

"Immediate concern? Our immediate concern should be to scrap this disgusting idea in the first place!" Crystal dropped down to her knees before Black Bolt. "My Lord, I beg you to reconsider. The so-called Guardians of the Galaxy revealed to me of the inevitable consequences of this war. Space itself will collapse. The universe will perish."

"Enough." Medusa silenced them. "I speak for Black Bolt, and know that while we understand your concerns, this is for the best. You will see the error in your doubt soon enough." Roughly an hour passed before Attilan finally entered Shi'ar space. Suddenly a thundering sound reverberated throughout the city.

"What was that noise?" Ronan asked.

"Black Bolt has made up his mind." Medusa simply stated. The city split open and the T-Bomb was ejected from within it. "Finally, Black Bolt shall lead us to a future of peace and equality.

"Yep. Shame he won't be here to see it though." Maximus sighed.

Medusa whipped around to face him, her face filled with fear. "What do you mean?"

"The bomb, obviously." Maximus shrugged.

Medusa's hair wrapped around Maximus and slammed him into a nearby pillar, her fear quickly replaced by pure rage. "Explain, Maximus!"

"Didn't we go over this, like, yesterday? The T-Bomb is powered by Black Bolt's voice. How the hell do you expect the Bomb to be activated without him on it? Don't you get it? He's going to sacrifice himself. Duh!" Maximus smiled. "This was his gift to us -- his decision."

"No!" Medusa pulled a level. "Open all channels! Black Bolt! Hear me! Husband, please! Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me the price you had to pay? We were supposed to share this burden together! Black Bolt, I can't lose you! Don't you dare leave me! Say something!"

Black Bolt ignored the cries from his wife as he looked down at a photo of both she and their son, Ahura. He set the photo aside and sat down inside of a chair, bringing down a device designed to capture and harness the power of his voice to power the bomb around his head. He spoke a single word: "Goodbye." The word echoed as the device and the bomb glowed, beginning to power up.

Suddenly, alarms began blaring and the AI of the ship began speaking. "[Attention...Incoming contract detected. Launching defense sentries. Sentry launch!]" After a few seconds, the AI continued. "[Attention...Attention... Sentries no longer responding...]" The casing of the T-Bomb was torn through as a ball of energy flew into the power room. Black Bolt detached himself from the power device to confront the intruder: Vulcan.

"You! Coward! You thought I'd just let YOU decide the end to this war!?" Vulcan shouted. The tuning fork on Black Bolt's forehead glowed, and it fired a beam of energy at Vulcan. Vulcan interrupted it with his own beam of yellow energy. The two clashed to a standstill for a few seconds. " You're as powerful as the rumors suggest. "Transformative electron manpulation. Must be pretty nice against just about everything, huh? Trouble is, I'm an omega level energy manipulator, which means--" Vulcan was cut off by a powerful punch hitting him square in the face, breaking his nose. "GODDAMN MUTE FREAK!" Vulcan screamed, holding his nose with his right hand and firing a blast of energy with his left.

Black Bolt intercepted the energy with his right arm, channeling it around him like a funnel. Then, using it to charge his own attack, blasted Vulcan with a beam of energy of his own from the fork. Vulcan was sent flying back into a wall. "You aren't using that famous voice of yours on me..." Vulcan wiped blood off of the side of his lip. "You scared of damaging something? Or setting something off?" Vulcan charged at Black Bolt and fired a blast of energy. Black Bolt deflected it, but was then met with a punch imbued with Vulcan's energy. "You think I'll let you wipe Shi'ar off the map with whatever superweapon you've housed here? And people tell ME I'm the dangerous genocidal maniac!" Vulcan shouted and he punched the control interface for the bomb.

"[Detonation threshold in four minutes. Warning... Energy instabilities detected...]" The ship's AI said.

"Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic!" Vulcan blasted the left side of Black Bolt's face with energy. "I came here face to face to kill you personally. Single combat. King versus King." Vulcan punched Black Bolt hard in the jaw, sending him down through the bomb to the lower level. "You just HAD to bring this obscenity into Shi'ar space though." Vulcan crashed down hard on Black Bolt, his body supercharged with his energies. "You're beaten! Your weapon is finished!"


"[69 percent. Detonation threshold in two minutes...Warning... Energy instabilities detected...Weapon integrity compromised...]"


Black Bolt delivered an energy imbued backhand in defiance, only for Vulcan to respond by kicking him in the jaw. Vulcan grabbing Black Bolt, who appeared to be unconscious, by the hair. "I said... you're beaten! I WIN!" Vulcan exclaimed with a sadistic smile.

Black Bolt took a single breath and opened his eyes. They glowed blue, brimming with both power and a refusal to submit. "NOOO!" Black Bolt screamed. Vulcan was hit point blank by the power of his voice, reducing him to a pitiful state where his skin and most of his muscle was ripped off of his body and his left eye destroyed, leaving a mere empty socket.

"[Warning...Energy overload...Weapon integrity compromised...Energy overload...]"

"I'm sorry, My Lord." A voice called out. Black Bolt turned to see Crystal, next to the housing chamber for the source of the Terrigen Mist, the Terrigen Crystals. "I had Lockjaw teleport me here. I can't let you do this, despite how noble your cause is. I've rendered the Crystals inert with my elemental powers. The Bomb is still active, so we should leave. Please, there's nothing more you can do." Black Bolt hung his head and then raised it again.

"[Warning...Energy overload...Weapon integrity compromised...Energy overload...]"

"We have to let this weapon detonate harmlessly in the empty Gulf between the Kree and Shi'ar empires. My Lord, this would not have resulted in peace. You must understand. We do not have the right. You are a King, not a God." Lockjaw then began teleporting.

"[Overload imminent... Overload imminent...]"

Suddenly, a primal scream, filled with rage and anger. And Black Bolt was knocked out of the range of Lockjaw's teleport by the maimed body of Vulcan. Black Bolt heard Crystal desperately call out his name as she teleported away to safety.

"[Overload...Overload...]"

"Omega level! OMEGA LEVEL!" Vulcan screamed, bringing Black Bolt to the floor and wrapping his hands around his neck. "You can't kill me! I'll just rebuild myself! Guess what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna turn this bomb right back around and send it right back to Attilan. Imagine this baby going off in your front yard. Imagine the scarred remains of your family and loved ones! Imagine their screams while they cry out for help as they are incinerated! What do you got to say to THAT!?"

"[Overload...Overload...]"

Black Bolt opened his mouth.

"[Overload...Overload...Overl--]"

The bomb went off. A bright flash of light -- brighter than a supernova. It spread across space, engulfing and decimating everything in it's pace. The Shi'ar Imperial fleet scrambled to get their shields up in time. It would have made no difference either way. The fleet was demolished until nothing was left. Planets belonging to local systems were turned to ash, all evidence of their existence forever wiped away. Some contained life. Where there was life, there was prayer. It did not help. Those on Attilan were lucky, though panic, they did.

"Protector grid to full power!" Karnak shouted. "Compensators at maximum threshold! The grid's holding! We're riding it out! But, what is it? By Randac, is it the T-Bomb?"

"Yes..." Maximus answered. "The T-Bomb detonated it. It's... it's blown a hole in time and space itself. The damn hole's parsec's across!" Maximus looked upon the hole in both wonder and horror. It was as though an unsharpened knife had been driven deep within the heart of the universe itself and used to vigorously slice it open. A beautiful mixture of colors, from yellows and reds to blues and purples surged out of the tear like blood.

"It will be alright. Crystal will return with our King, and everything will be okay." Medusa whispered.

Suddenly a lizard-like Inhuman ran up to Medusa. "My Queen, an urgant communication! The Shi'ar have suing for an immediate ceasefire. They have surrendered to us unconditionally."

"Ah... well, good." Medusa said. Then, a blue flash and Lockjaw and Crystal appeared throug his teleportation. Medusa ran over to Crystal with a wide smile. "Thank the stars!" Then, she realized that Crystal and Lockjaw were alone and her smile faded. "Crystal...where is my husband?"

Crystal looked her sister in the eyes for a single second before averting her gaze. She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. Medusa collapsed to her knees in front of Crystal, sobbing in her arms. "Oh Gods. Oh Gods. What have we done?"

"We've won." Crystal replied.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Sarah first heard her youngest sister speak to her in order to comfort her, assuring her that nothing that Anarky's thugs had was able to hurt her. The eldest of the Grimm sisters understood that this was the case, she understood it perfectly, but even then she was worried about Hanah. It was an instinct of sorts, the instinct to worry about the two girls she had cared for during most of her life. However, with Hanah and John both telling her that it was necessary and that her sister would be safe, Sarah had no choice but to agree, even if it was only reluctantly. "...Fine. But if my sister gets hurt, the ammount of good times you won't have will be immense." She said in a half-hearted attempt at a joke.

With that done, she saw them head off to storm Anarky's headquarters and deal with the guards. Sarah turned back to Samantha and Roy, hearing the former tell them that she was already looking for the bomb. The pale woman nodded and then gestured for her sister to lead the way. "I'll take care of anyone we come across, it won't be hard; I've held an entire bank of people in place before, remember?" She stated.

---

---

Kirisvala twiddled her scaly, clawed fingers as she waited for Mars to respond to her question, hopeful in regards to his answer and yet uncertain as to what he would say. However, when she did hear him speak, she felt immensely relieved, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Him telling her that nothing would change between them, that he would still be there for her, it made her happy, and when she felt his hand patting her arm, she placed her other claw over it, forgetting for a moment the great care and thoughtfulness with which she treated Mars and the other humans in the group, always keeping her distance, always making sure to never touch them with her claws, thinking that they were dangerous to the fragile humans. Of course, that didn't mean she was rough in holding her hand over Mars', and she simply held it there as she smiled brightly.

"Mars... thank you." She said very softly, as if she was filled with emotion. This was only made even more evident by the golden liquid that was building up in the corners of her eyes. "That means... so much to me. More than you might realize." She said. "I'm happy that you're here with me, Mars. I'm happy that you're here to help me. I'm..." She continued, before finally trailing off when she realized that she didn't have much else to say to express what she felt.

Suddenly she took her hand off of Mars'. "...I'm such a mess right now, crying over purple clouds and a shiny light." She said with a giggle, shaking her head as she changed the topic. "Oh, and these could've been helpful later on..." She stated as she wiped her tears with the utmost care using her claws, the golden liquid ending up on the black nail. After doing that she simply looked at Mars with a heartfelt smile. She truly didn't know what else to say now.

[Charmera]

A Mind Divided: Part 1
Hannah walked towards the light. It didn't take her long to get to where she needed to go, since space was a vague concept at best here, wherever she was. The Grimm sister still felt the darkness around her, but she no longer feared it\, or if she did, she stubbornly refused to let it show or effect her. She walked through the desert of darkness, until she found the source of the light. It was a small house, a ruined one. One that Hannah was familiar with. She frowned as she looked it over.

"Eh, It will have to do for shelter. Though I'm still not sure where the heck am I." She didn't need to open the door, it was bashed in. She came into a living room, couches overturned and TV smashes. Papers were everywhere, and books too. Old ones. She frowned as she saw blood here and there. She growled slightly. "Blood. I should have smelt that..." She muttered. "Smell, that's one thing this world is lacking. My strongest scent." She sighed. Yawning. Realising she felt tired. She frowned, she had not felt like sleeping a few moments ago, though she supposed whatever it was back in the darkness must have drained her energy. She yawned as she curled up on the couch. "Some shut eye couldn't possibly kill me..."

She slept for some time, her own body heat keeping her warm in this place. She slept for the usual time, peacefully. That was until she heard a noise. Her eyes opened wide as she heard noises from outside. Frowning, she got up and went to the door, only to see an angry mob. A strangely familiar angry mob.

Colorado, Sarah, Sam and me dodged these goons when I was 9 and a half... what are they doing here? She suddenly paused. And why do I remember that...

The question of memory was an interesting one. Hannah could remember some events it seems in perfect details now, but for some reason she couldn't remember much of very recently. The last year or two was a haze for her, a blank.

"Look, I told you morons. My sisters aren't demons. At least I'm fairly sure we're not demons. Now screw off!" She remarked. Then noticed the crowd was giving no sign it was going to retreat. She sighed. "Fine. Want to do this the hard way then?" She concentrated, willing herself to transform. Werebear form. Nothing too deadly, but it would hopefully scare the crap out of them. Though... try as she might, Hannah could not transform.

"Oh... Well that's not good." She remarked, before she was suddenly grabbed by the mob and jostled her, bringing her towards some sort of epicenter.

"Stop! Damn! NO. Dammit!" She shouted, She fought with all her strength, but every time she tried to throw a punch she felt weak. Her fighting spirit was broken or something. She was going to get lynched.

That was, until she heard the call of a wolf. A howl. An alpha's cry. She turned around, seeing from one direction many of the mob were being torn apart. Though instead of blood there was a black ichor as they were being cut down. Soon she could see the culprit,a huge, massive wolf. It tore through the mob without mercy, regret or hesitation, though more important was it's savage power. It was beautiful and terrifying to behold as it tore through everything like paper. Then, it came to her, having killed the entire mob in the time it took one to wipe away a stubborn stain, and seemingly had given it as much reverence as cleaning a stain. It came to her and locked eyes with the Grim sister.

"I am Wolf." Spoke the wolf. "Your first spirit animal."

Hannah paused, seemingly in shock as she took in this giant wolf. And the wolf's look turn to a glare.

"We do not have time for your gaping. Get on my back if you wish to live girl.

There was a pause. But then Hannah scrambled on. And the wolf turned, bounding off into the darkness. Piercing through it it seemed.

"We will need to gather the others. And meet a few new friends too if we are to stand a chance." Spoke Wolf. "A pack is the best way to hunt, and we have dangerous prey to destroy."

"Who are we hunting?"

"Did I ask you to speak? I should tear your throat out for your disrespect."

"Hey! Let me down and I'LL show you disrespect." She growled, trying to assert her position as alpha. "You and me wolfy."

He snarled at her. But kept moving. Hannah sighed, and then simply leaned into his fur.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Gotham City

6:57pm

The Knight along, with Lawbringer following close behind, are quickly moving along the rooftops of Gotham towards the Industrial District. Even though they are Sprinting, and jumping over the Rooftops, THey don't make too much noise as the City's loud Ambient sounds mask their footsteps. The Knight stops at an edge of a large apartment building, taking as knee and looking at anindustrial lot below, Lawbringer stands besides him. "there they are" The Knight says as he gestures toa group of Black Mask Gang members bwlow. "whats the plan, none of them have guns", "Grappel to the metal balconey and stay hidden, I'll glide overhead and release a Distractionary explosive, once it goes off and knock them out of focus, we'll move in. Leave one concious for interrogation". Lawbringer nods as she shoots her grapple hook and glides over and down to the Metal balconey overlooking the group of Black Mask members.

The Knight locks his metal cape together and starts to glide down, The Knight glides until he's only at about 20 feet above the black mask members, who don't seem to realize he's above them. the Knight grabs a distractionary explosive and drops it down, one of the Gang members yells "what the hell is that?!", as the Explosive goe off catchign them offguard and temprarily blinding them. The Knight drops down onto a nearby truck, crushing it's hood, then lunges forward as he begins to go to work, Lawbringer forms her staff and dropps down onto a Black Mask member knocking him out. The Knight grabbs one black mask member and knees him in the stomach, then grabs him and throws him into two of his friends, Lawbringer yells, "heads up!" as she kicks a Black Mask member over to The Knight, who punches him accross the jaw and heaves him over his shoulder, then stomps straight on his chest knocking him out. Lawbringer jabs a Black Mask member in the stomach with her staff, then swings doward knocking the black mask member down. she then swings horizontally hitting a black member upside the head and forcing him to fall back into the truck, as the Black Mask member looks up Lawbringer holds the end of her staff nar his Larynx.

"It's over, Yield", the Black Mask member holds his hands up as The Knight grabs him by the neck.

The Knight throws the Black Mask member to the ground on his back, then puts a boot near his throat and presses down, leavng enough room for the Black Mask member to breath. "Where is Black Mask?", the Black Mask member coughs "Where do you think?", "there are Multiple safehouses around Gotham where he stays". the Black Mask member hacks, "got o hell". "I need to know where he is and you're going to tell me, The Amount of pain you endure before that is your choice" The knight says as he presses against the Black Mask Member's Larynx, "I have my foot up against your Larynx, if you don't want me to crush it like a tin can, I'd say where He's staying at". The Gang member grabs at The Knight's boot, "Okay Okay! I don't know where he is, but he stops in his office near Grande Avenue at around 12 at night. Now will you let me go". The Knight takes his boot off of the Black Mask member, then grabs him by the collar and punches him, sending his head into the truck door and knocking him out cold.

The Knight turns to Lawbringer, "We're heading to grande Avenue" he says as he starts walkign away, "rightio Boss"

[The Fallen Jedi]

Lord Alastir
Soundtrack: An Unquenchable Ambition

As Akor landed loudly onto the surface of Korriban, the planet in which the Dark Purebloods formerly thrived upon, if the Masaki Dynasty hadn't ordered the systematic destruction of the entire species Alastir's plan would have been much easier, but it also meant that Alastir would have never had the chance to meet one of the most powerful magic users in the Masaki Galaxy, a recluse Pureblood known as Lord Antioch, one of the very few Dark Purebloods that survived the great Genocide of Korriban, that was during the time that Alastir fell into seclusion himself, simply watching as the Masaki Galaxy began to spiral out of control, and it also marked one of the very few times that Alastir revealed himself in the aftermath of the battlefield, he saw that Antioch had been in danger of dying, but on that day, Alastir decided to be merciful to the Pureblood and offered him a chance to live, but now was the time for Antioch to repay such a debt, Alastir was after his powers.

Normally Alastir would look through different methods in refreshing his powers once more, but after being de-fused from Satera, and being essentially cut off from his godly powers, not only did it make him weaker than ever before, but his powers were put into instability and he could no longer manipulate his powers properly, he knew it because when he tried to fight against Otis, he could barely make his dark aura visible towards Otis, he knew that if he absorbed the powers of someone who had a darkened heart as he did, his powers would stabilize once more, giving him the chance to defend himself and even put his plan into action, Alastir chuckled inwardly as he approached a large triangular temple that held the reclusive Lord Antioch, he could feel the Dark Lord's energy signature thousands of miles away, it was the sweet scent of revenge and ambition that matched his own dark heart, a perfect host to sustain his powers.

As he stood only feet away from the entrance, he watched as a swirling black portal opened up before him, revealing the great Lord Antioch, who sat in a meditative position, his eyes gently shut closed, and his foul aura wrapping around himself and Alastir, a smile formed around the Dark Lord's face, he could sense that Alastir's Divine Aura had been disrupted from unknown reasons, so the time had finally come for their debt to be settled? Antioch knew that he owed Alastir a life-debt, and he could not avoid this, he had been expecting this for centuries "Ah..." Antioch said as he opened his eyes, revealing a darkened void of nothing but anger and rage, not directed towards Alastir, but towards the Old Masaki Dynasty "So Lord Alastir, I assume that It is time for our debt to be settled?"

To Antioch's shock however, he saw that instead of Alastir's smug smirk, all he saw was a determined expression on his face as Alastir nodded, Antioch knew for a fact that this was something that Alastir was serious about "Don't worry my friend, when my power has been restored, I'll make the Dynasty pay for their attacks on your race, It is the least I can do." Alastir replied, a cold wind brushing past the Fallen God as well as the Dark Pureblood. Alastir's determination was so great that nothing would stop him from paying Earth back, he lost his normally smug demeanor, replaced with a grim determination for bringing his Master Plan into motion. Antioch nodded with realization that Alastir would at least do something about the Masaki Dynasty "I am not going to lie, I saw much potential in your race, my wish is that I could have gone back into time and bring your people back from their extinction."

Antioch chuckled as his body began to glow dark purple, his energy and life force moving itself into Alastir "I know my friend, but I know that you will put my power to greater use than myself..." Antioch let out a cold gasp as he could feel his life force being removed willingly from himself "I grant you the knowledge of my powers to you, make them ALL pay my friend." Antioch smiled, his being fading away, his life force, as well as his own energy being deposited into Alastir, but his consciousness had ceased to exist.

Alastir's eyes shot open, his arms rising up, he could feel the darkness embracing him once more, restoring his power, but he also realized that he wasn't at his previous godly state, something he obviously expected, but it felt good to have the darkness embrace him once more, it was like having gained an old friend once more, Alastir had been born into dark times and was forced to carry the burden of his dark powers, he would not fight against the only affinity that stood by him, the darkness was ALWAYS his ally "It feels good..." Alastir whispered, staring down at his hands, his face devoid of any smirk, he was not satisfied, and he would never be satisfied until he fulfilled his revenge against the Earth, the attack on Sigma Galli Prime was a blasphemous move, and he would never be able to let go of his hatred until the people of Earth endured the same suffering as the Masaki Galaxy "But not yet..." Alastir turned away, looking up to Akor, whose wings were flapping as the dragon waited for his master "I can't let my pride and my arrogance get the best of me, I have to be patient, always waiting and lurking in the shadows for the light to reveal it's flaws..." Alastir reminded himself, walking atop Akor, who flew at full speed to the North Galaxy, his objective being the Black Star Dragon Balls.

[Mavorpen]

A Tale of Life and Death: Prelude II

For Jamal, it felt as though the Kree/Shi'ar War lasted only a few minutes. This was understandable seeing as he didn't even know about the war until he regained his status as Nova Prime and Worldmind uploaded the information about the war into his mind. The immediate issue to decide what to do with the new Centurion recruits. Jamal was initially adamant on taking every single recruit back to their home world, especially those from Earth. Most agreed, however, some insisted on staying and helping in any way that they could, at least for the moment.

The next order of business was to address Nil-Rast. Based on what he had been told, reports had come in of a Shi'ar atrocity. Tarcel had surrendered, and yet apparently certain Imperial Guard elements initiated a massacre of the surrendered Corpsmen. Jamal led a small team consisting of him, Morrow, and Irani. They initially met some resistance from the Inhumans defending the planetoid. Thankfully one of the Inhuman Royal Family, Triton, was there to vouch for him.

Jamal, Morrow, and Irani did a sweep of the area and failing to come up with anything until Jamal received a transmission from Triton. "Nova Prime, I think you should see this." They followed the coordinates sent to them.

"Oh, no..." Morrow muttered, gazing upon a mountain of hundreds of Nova Corps helmets. Even Irani, who was usually entirely emotionally vacant couldn't help but place her hands over her mouth and look away. Jamal, however, appeared to be strangely stable. He walked up to the pile, knelt down, and picked up one of the helmets.

"[Jamal...Jamal...JAMAL!]"

Jamal snapped back to reality. "What is it, Worldmind?"

"[I know that this is important for you, and I understand your pain, but something big has gone down. The Kree have apparently majorly fucked up and left a big mess behind as a result of their methods of ending their war with the Shi'ar. They're calling it 'The Fault.']"

Jamal closed his eyes and took a moment to gather himself. After releasing a sigh, he placed the helmet back into the pile. "Alright. Let's go check it out. Let's also take these helmets back to Nu-Xandar." Jamal, Irani, and Morrow formed a large gravitational field around the mountain of helmets and carried it off back with them to Nu-Xandar.

"[By the way, my systems are detecting signs that Ego is self-repairing faster than I initially thought he would. It's nothing to be concerned about now, but we should probably start looking for a new base soon.]"

"I have absolutely no problems with that at all. Never was a fan of being housed inside of a giant head in the first place." Jamal said, entering the primary Corpsman meeting room with that rest of the remaining Centurions who stuck around. Then, Worldmind opened a Stargate and Nu-Xandar entered it.

---

The Fault
Attilan

"Okay, so, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings... but, this situation is officially dreadful. The space-time fissure is spreading exponentially. Despite our attempts to flee the fault, based on current velocity, Attilan will be engulfed within roughly 20 minutes. Oh, and the gravity chambers are already at full compression, so we can't go any faster. At all."

"Sister?" Crystal glanced at Medusa.

"I... I do not know. I have nothing to say."

"Yeah, well I do." A voice said. The Guardians of the Galaxy, consisting of Groot, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Phyla-Vell, and Major Victory teleported into the room. "It starts off with, 'Are you Inhumans completely out of your gourds?' And it ends with 'We told you so, told you so, told you so!'" Rocket taunted.

The Inhumans present in the room immediately stood on guard, though they didn't make any sudden moves that could be seen as hostile. The same held true for the Guardians. "So yeah, we're the Guardians of the Galaxy. You might remember us. My buddy Star-Lord brought a bunch of us here recently."

"We remember." Crystal said.

"Yeah, do you also remember that we warned you? We warned you that the fabric of the galaxy could NOT take this war, and yet, you went ahead with it anyway, pretending to be Gods and deciding the fate of people who you have no right deciding the fate of." Phyla said.

"Get out!" Medusa shouted. "I have no desire to listen to the your patronizing, self-righteous sermons. My husband is dead."

"Yeah, well boohoo, but--" Phyla began before being lifted off the ground by Medusa's hair and slammed into a wall.

"How dare you! HOW DARE YOU!" Medusa screamed, absolutely fuming.

Suddenly, the room shook. "Uh, did the room just shake?" Rocket Raccoon asked.

"No. The whole city did." Maximus said, looking up at a monitor. Apparently dozens of tentacles emerged out of the Fault, a couple of which wrapped itself around Attilan, and was dragging the city backwards into the Fault. As if that wasn't bad enough, they started to "hatch." Pustules on the tentacles popped open, spawning biological organisms.

"Mobilize the city guard and the New Inhuman Elite! Defend the city at all costs!" Medusa ordered the soldiers in the room as well as Ronan.

"Well, shall we?" Drax grinned at Karnak. Karnak hesitated for a second and then nodded, leading Drax along with Major Victory and Phyla out of the room.

"So then..." Rocket turned to Maxiumus. "You're like Mister Brainbox of the bunch, ain't ya, genius? Tell us, how do we get a 50 billion zillion ton tentacle creature from another dimension to let go of a self-propelled inter dimensional city?"

"This is indeedy a tricky situation! I very well may have something housed away in my Chamber of Secrets that can assist us." Maximus proclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he led Rocket, Crystal, and Groot to his laboratory. "It shall be a difficult task. Perhaps I--"

"I am Groot." Groot said, walking next to Maximus and looking down at him.

"Oh, of course, my Liege. What an extraordinarily outstanding idea!" Maximus responded.

"Huh? What is?" Rocket said from behind the two.

"I am Groot."

"Of course! And therefore we initiate a form of relativistic feedback!"

"I am Groot!"

"Quantum inhibitors, too? Oh, Sire, you are nothing short of sheer genius!"

"Uh, that tree is just saying 'I am Groot' over and over, right? I mean, I'm not insane.... right?" Crystal looked down to her left and asked Rocket.

"How dare you!" Maximus exclaimed, turning to face Crystal. "I'll have you know that his highness King Groot is royalty that comes from an ancient and ennobled sap-line. As benefits the Scion of an elite Royal House, he has received the finest education from the most gifted tutors. His grasp of quasi-dimensional superpositional engineering alone is breathtaking!"

"...What?" Rocket said.

"But he's just saying 'I am Groot.'" Crystal protested.

"Oh, poor naive Crystal." Maximus shook his head with a condescending grin. "The mature dendritic form of King Groot's people is robust and heavyweight. The organs of acoustic generation become stiff and inflexible. It may sound as though he's simply repeating his name, but it is simply due to the hardened formation of his larynx. It requires a properly trained ear to find the nuance behind his speech." Maximus continued walking and leading the group. "Now, you were saying, my Lord?"

"I am Groot!"

"Fantastic! I have the necessary socket set and a piece of string long enough for just that!"

They reached Maximus' Chamber of Devices, and promptly went to work constructing a device. It took them roughly about 10 minutes to do so, which was just in time as those protecting the outerwalls of Attilan, including Medusa, Major Victory, Drax, and Karnak, were slowly being overrun as more and more organisms emerged from the tentacles. They then activated the device and energy surged around the city like electricity. However, only the creatures were effected, as they began decaying and dissolving along with the tentacles.

"The city is pulling free!" Major Victory exlaimed.

"Damn right they did. Our feedback loop unmade the creatures. It uncreated their reality and reimposed ours." Maximus said, giving Groot a high five.

"Uhh...guys, we shouldn't celebrate yet." Rocket said, watching a screen displaying the approach of numerous ships heading towards the fault. "D'ast! It's a fleet of Templeships from the Universal Church of Truth!"

"Rocket, I'm going to scope this out!" Phyla said, flying out of Attilan and towards the leading ship in the fleet. "I can see people, Rocket. I see a host of their Cardinals, including the big man Raiker himself. Wait, is that... Adam!?" Phyla descended down, hovering above Adam Warlock, who was standing on the edge of the front of the ship. "Adam, what the heck is this?"

"I'm afraid he's too preoccupied right now to answer you." Phyla turned to see Gamora standing behind Warlock. "I don't even think he can even hear you." Phyla turned back to Adam Warlock and realized that she was right. Warlock, in deep concentration, had his eyes closed and his teeth gritted as he held up his hands above him, yellow mystical energy gathering around him

"He's... he's encased in a spell bubble?" Phyla asked, landing next to Gamora.

"Adam Warlock is deigning the most complex and large scale enchantment of his whole career. He's juggling over 15 million individually and skillfully conjureneered psi-llables. Naturally, it needs to be sufficiently charged. The faith generators of the Teleships are powered by millions of believers."

"What!? Need I remind you that the faith generators consume living souls!" Phyla protested.

"There is a phrase from Earth that is very apt in this situation: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' The Church may be bad, but the fault is even worse. This is the only way. Space and time have been literally torn loose, and our present timeline is like an unanchored ship caught in the middle of a viscous ocean current. The plan is to graft it onto an inert timestream and attach our present to a stable future. The fault should then stop its expansion."

"So, what, he's just going to pluck out an unused future? Where the hell do you find something like that?" Phyla asked.

"Adam assured me that he knew of one. He also said it was a dangerous and desperate gamble, but that it should work. I trust he knows what he's doing."

Suddenly, the energy around Adam began to flare up. He opened his eyes, and raised his arms even higher. "I BELIEVE!" Adam shouted as energy exploded outwards with him as the epicenter. The energy encompassed the ship and spread outwards, connecting the other ships. The energy was then released as a massive beam that fired upon the Fault.

"Talk to me, Max." Crystal said, watching the events from Maximus' lab on Attilan.

"The Fault's expansion has been halted. I... I think I might cry."

"Adam, buddy, this is Rocket." Rocket said into his transmitter. "You did a damn good job. We're grateful, and I'd say I speak for the whole universe when I say that."

"T...thank you, Rocket." Adam said, struggling to stand up from a kneeling position. "That was close. I... I wish I could have gotten rid of the Fault, but at least I've locked it in place and stopped it's expansion. We need to find a way to seal it now, before something else comes thr--" Adam felt something go through his chest, and he looked down to see a sword.

"Adam!" Gamora shouted. "What have you done, Phyla!?" Phyla removed the sword from Warlock's chest and turned to face Gamora.

"I did what I had to do. I made a deal with Oblivion. It was the only way to get my life back. I had to kill the Avatar of Life. I... I'm sorry, Adam was my friend as well."

"Can it." Gamora said, drawing her sword and charging Phyla, bringing down her sword aimed at her head. Phyla blocked it and then twisted her own sword, bringing the tips of their swords facing the ground. Phyla then brought her sword back and swung it diagonally to the sky. Gamora leaned backwards and avoided the attack. She then brought the hilt of her sword up and hit Phyla's hands hard, causing her to release her grip on her sword. Weaponless, Phyla was unable to defend herself against Gamora's next attack, in which Gamora drove her sword through Phyla's chest.

Phyla fell to the ground, and Gamora immediately rushed over to Adam's body. "Adam!" She knelt down, gently picking up his torso slightly off of the ground. "Adam, stay with me! I can get you help!"

Adam's head suddenly jerked up. He was clearly different however, as his hair had turned white and his skin turned purple. "Thanks darling, but I don't need any." He said, his eyes glowing red and a sinister grin plastered on his face.

"Adam? Oh my Go--" Adam grabbed Gamora by the neck far too quickly for her to react to.

"You remember me even though I haven't even happened yet. How fascinating!" Adam said.

"This was the timeline you chose? Warlock, you idiot, you chose the timeline that could save the universe but doom you! This is the future where you became the Ma-" Crack! Adam snapped Gamora's neck, with an annoyed scowl.

"Hush." Adam then threw Gamora's lifeless body over the edge of the ship. He turned to face the Universal Church of Truth Believers who had observed the events unravel before them. Adam's sinister smile returned, wider than ever. "There is always a price to pay. For everything." He threw his arms up into the air, and the Believers threw themselves at his feet in prayer and worship. "My Believers, let us usher in the AGE OF LIFE!"

---

The Kree-Shi'ar Frontier
Nu-Xandar

"[Stargate transfer complete.]" Worldmind said, after Nu-Xandar exited the Stargate. "[Nu-Xandar is now 16 light years from the Kree Frontier.]"

"Alright, show us this so-called 'Fault,' Worldmind." Jamal said.

"[On Screen.]"

"By the eternal seeds of Rigel!" Irani exclaimed.

"Wow, that's not right!" Morrow said.

"THAT'S the fault? That's a giant friggin' hole in space!"

"[It's a hole in space and time, to be specific. It's also several parsecs acro-- Wait. I'm picking up a distress signal. And... it's Xandarian! The source is the Fault line nine light months to spinward. It's... it's a Nova Corps Starship!]"

"And an older model at that. I haven't seen one like that since I was recruited years ago." Jamal noted.

Tractor beams emerged outside of the eyes of Ego. "[Tractor Ray attached. I am bringing the vessel in. I can confirm that it is an upholder class Nova Corps patrol cruiser and is broadcasting a distress signal. Also, according to the archives, this ship was reported missing and presumed lost forever 35 years ago. Though it is crippled, I am detecting life signs aboard it.]"

"We don't have time to wait for the tractor ray to bring it into one of our docking bays. If they're sending a distress signal, every second counts. I'm taking Fraktur, Morrow, and Irani with me to scout ahead." Jamal said.

"[Be careful.]"

"Aren't I always?"

"[Good one.]"

"Lotta scarring on the hull."

"Fraktur's right, Nova Prime. This ship has very clearly seen better days." Morrow said.

"Speaking of me being right, I vote we get our Centurion ranks back." Fraktur said. Jamal had decided to institute a change before taking off for the stranded ship: he demoted all of the recruits from Centurions to a rank lower, Denarian. This change was characterized by the blue in their costumes being changed to red and the number of lights on their chest-plates being reduced from three to two.

"We already had this discussion." Jamal said as they reached the ship. "The power -- and the responsibility that comes with it -- of a Centurion is too great for you guys now. Until you guys get more experience under your belt, you can either take the rank Denarian rank or leave. Or, alternatively, I can bring you down even further to a simple Corpsman. Besides, you have an advantage. You're basically a hulking bipedal dragon."

"Fine." Fraktur grumbled.

Jamal led the group into the docking bay of the ship and they split up. "Worldmind, we're in. I hope you don't mind us not staying together. This thing is like three miles long, and we don't have the time to waste sticking together."

"[Fair enough.]"

"This is Irani. I've located the hydroponics gallery, and while it's untended, it appears that it could be of viable use if fueled by more than just the reserve power."

"Fraktur here. Nothing on the bridge."

"Morrow. Lower decks are clear too. But, I've found evidence that someone is definitely alive. I see a lot of damage and wear and tear that looks like it's been repaired and patched up repeatedly."

"Thoughts?" Jamal asked Worldmind.

"[Not sure. It's impossible to tell who has been operating or repairing the ship. From an empirical standpoint, the odds are low that any of the original crew would have-- Wait. I just detected an anomaly. Something is interfering with my scanni--]"

"Worldmind? Worldmind, respond."

"Our connection's lost. What are your orders, Nova Prime?" Irani asked through their communications system.

"Well, we first--" Jamal was suddenly hit from behind, knocking him forward. He quickly regained his balance however, flipped forward, and landed on his feet in a crouching position. He immediately raised up his right arm, ready to fire a gravimetric beam. Instead, he saw another Nova Centurion. While he was relieved, he didn't drop his guard, as it could have easily been some sort of trick. "Identify yourself!"

"Damn the Stars, have a crossed back? I thought you were an intruder, but that uniform...." The Centurion said.

"I'm Jamal Hawkins, Nova Prime."

"Centurion Zan Philo, 2617-8355. I apologize for striking you from behind, I... I'm a little on edge."

Jamal lowered his arm and approached Philo. "It's fine. How long have you been adrift?"

"About 35 years, I suppose. Unfortunately I'm the only remaining Centurion here. It's been just me and some my droids." Philo gestured to some droids in the background, most likely to help with maintaining the ship, Jamal figured. "I'm guessing you probably want to know what happened." Jamal nodded. "An accident with a stargate. I just woke up and suddenly the ship was an ultra-long way off original course. I've been here just keeping things together. My original mission was to keep a group of beings called the Mindless Ones locked up in the prison section of the ward. Initially I tried getting back, but, well, that clearly didn't work. Then all of a sudden something seems to have punched a hole in space."

"We call it the Fault. We came here expecting it to be nothing more than a pain in the butt, but I don't think anyone expected something positive to come out of it. It's become a way to get you home. Welcome back. Let's get you to safety on Nu-Xandar." Jamal pat Philo on the back and began leading walking.

"Nu-Xandar?" Philo asked, following Jamal. "I've clearly missed quite a bit. I'm glad you came back when you did though. That Fault of yours knocked out the Resolute's power. Eventually I'd have just... died slowly."

Eventually, Philo and Jamal ended up in the bridge, regrouping with the rest of the team. Everyone, this is Centurion Zan Philo. Philo, this is Morrow, Fraktur, and Irani. By the way... if you don't mind me asking--"

"The arms?" Philo raised the upper prosthetic arm made of flesh. "The droids immediately repair the ship whenever it gets damaged. About five years ago, I got damaged pretty bad in a firefight. Next thing I know, I'm in the sick bay and find out the droids repaired me. They just used whatever they had which included the limbs of one of the Grogox Weaponriders I killed."

"[Jamal! It... is critical and all...that jazz!]" Worldmind appeared as a projection next to Jamal, with her voice and the projection sporadically fritzing out and then coming back.

"Worldmind, you okay?"

"[Barely. Looks like some nano-cloud technology hitched a ride on the Resolute and they went after me. I had to go dormant for this whole time to fight it off enough to repair my transmission links.]"

"That's strange. The ship has been fine; I thought I would have noticed something like that getting picked up." Philo said.

"[Who the hell is-- Nevermind. Jamal, it gets worse. I may still be in one piece, but I had to shut down a LOT of secondary systems to retrench and fight him. Ego's back. And, well, he's trying to take control. We're currently undergoing evacuation. We need that ship's data engines and main computational substrate ready to upload me now.]"

Philo rushed over to the main computer system for the ship and began pressing on the numerous popup screens. "I'm having the droids prioritize getting the power back online."

"[Hurry! I can't hold him back much longer. Wait, what do you want a Stargate for?]"

"[Jamal, we're coming!]" Qubit's voice rang out in his helmet. "[We made it to the emergency ship!]"

"Done!" Philo called out. "The Resolute's power is back up."

"[I'm transferring now. Good work, Centurion Philo. Just in time, as well.]"

Ego's eyes began glowing a fiery red. "You have wronged Ego! You have thwarted Ego! You have committed gross invasions of his being and mind! There will be RETRIBUTION!"

"Wow, he's very angry." Morrow said.

"Don't worry about it." Jamal said, entering the bridge, to the rest of the groups surprise, as they hadn't even realized that he had left.

"But, he's going to obliterate us!" Fraktur said.

"Not when he finds out what I just Stargated into his prefrontal cortex." Jamal grinned.

"You didn't." Philo said, grinning as well.

Ego started howling in pain as the Mindless Ones attacked Ego's brain. "Mind if I give him something else to chew on, Nova Prime?" Philo said.

"Be my guest." Jamal responded.

"Understood. Systems up, Fire control to my station. Main batteries to full yield. A 25 second or so sustained bombardment should do the trick." The group watched from the bridge as the Resolute's guns fired upon Ego, causing a blinding light to shine. Once the bombardment was through, Ego was nowhere to be found.

"[Quantum traces show that Ego Stargated away at the last second. Guess he couldn't handle the heat from the combined assault of a massive headache and the bombardment.]"

"Sorry for putting you through this mess." Jamal said to Philo.

"It's an honor for this old man and this old ship to be able to serve the corps. After all this time, to be the receptacle of the Worldmind..."

"[Ooh, I like him. He understands how to display proper respect.]"

"Shut up, Worldmind."

"[Exactly.]"

---

The New Darkseid
The Beginning

News of the Fault spread rapidly throughout the universe. It quickly supplanted even the news that the Kree-Shi'ar War was ended by the Shi'ar's unconditional surrender. How could one therefore blame the universe for not noticing the trail of destruction headed towards Earth? The first to suffer were the inhabitants of a planet by the name of Velos.

A planet like Velos was uncommon. Entirely surrounded by an energy shield, the planet was no only protected from outside forces, but it was also isolated and essentially forgotten by the rest of the universe. No extraterrestrial invader had ever penetrated the barrier of Velos. The frivolous wants and wars of other planets had never affected the planet -- except for the Kree-Shi'ar War.

A lone individual approached the planet Valos via simply taking step after step. Without missing a beat, he strolled through the energy field that had protected the planet for as long as anyone could remember. No alarms went off. No one noticed. It was as though the shield had never existed in the first place.

And then, the being blinked. The energy released from such a simple action razed the surface of the planet. There was no warning. Life was simply no more in the blink of an eye. The being reached the planet itself and took a single step. The planet shattered and exploded outward. The planet's shield simply dissipated. The remains of the planet then began moving. It raced around in the shape of a disk, heating up until it became pure energy. It was as though a new solar system was forming.

The debris then rapidly imploded to the epicenter, where the invader stood, absorbing the energy of the planet. Once he finished consuming the energy of the planet, he continued walking towards Earth. With every step taken, he crossed several light years. Whenever he happened upon a planet during his trek, the distance crossed with each step decreased. He approached said planet, and then simply walked through it. The planets were instantly crushed like anthills and then consumed.

While the universe was ignorant to the presence and threat of this being, his path of annihilation was had not gone unnoticed by everyone. A lone woman appeared in front of the being as he walked through the remains of the 20th planet destroyed by his trek. Without stopping, he spoke for the first time since his appearance. "Karnilla."

"Yuga Khan. You're free." Karnilla said, a blank expression on her face hiding her intentions and thoughts. The planet's remains were absorbed and the next step took the being several light years away. Karnilla however, appeared with him. She walked next to him, keeping up with his pace.

"An acute observation."

"Apologies. It's just... one does not simply leave the Source Wall. Though, admittedly, it isn't everyday when a giant rip in time and space appears." Karnilla said.

Yuga Khan looked out of the corner of his eyes down to his left at Karnilla. "Enough beating around the bush. What is it that you want?"

"Just a confirmation of what I already suspect to be true. You seek Earth, do you not?"

"Correct." Yuga Khan said, looking forward again as he walked through and destroyed another planet.

"Also, I'm going to guess that it has to do with the high number of mortals who obtained the powers of New Gods concentrated on that particular planet. And..." Karnilla frowned. "Apokolips has been moved there."

Yuga Khan scowled. "This is an affront to the New Gods. Mortals have no place possessing our power. They will squander it. They will waste it." The two came upon another planet.

"And then there's the Otis fell--" Karnilla began. Yuga Khan's energy flared up slightly like the flickering of a flame, and the star system along with three neighboring systems were immediately obliterated. For the split second, during the spread of the wave of energy, a shield glimmered, protecting Karnilla from the outburst. "An affront to my lineage. Of course, my son's death is his own fault. It matters not if he failed to assert his power. It is merely the result of his own weakness. However, I will not have a mortal frolicking about with the Omega Effect. The New Gods represent strength. I will not allow a moral to make a mockery of me."

"No, of course not." Karnilla sighed.

"My turn."

"Hm?"

"Tell me... will you go against me? I would not recommend this, as time has seemingly not treated you well. You seem to be a mere shell of your former self, while I have already recovered most of my stren-- Ah... I see." Yuga Khan lifted his head, realization evidently dawning upon him. "I can feel it. Locked away."

"You have nothing to worry about." Karnilla said. "The Source seems to support this change, and I therefore have no reason to get involved. Whether you kill these newly risen gods or whether you fail and are defeated is up to Destiny."

"Bah. Why the Source chooses to converse with you -- and yet refuses to do so with I -- still baffles me." Yuga Khan spat.

"Oh, Zonuz ." Karnilla grinned. "If you want to know the secrets of the Source, you need only ask." With that, she disappeared while Yuga Khan merely continued his trek to Earth, bringing destruction with him.

[New Rnclave]

Hiroshi: Hell

The sky broke with a thundering crash, as if crying out.

Laying on the ground several meters away, Hiroshi charged his uncle. Their last exchanged had barely lasted ten seconds. But in those moments, hundreds of punches had been exchanged at speeds beyond light, forcing both Saiyans to rely on their ki sensing abilities more so than their eyes.

In instant golden blur, Hiroshi appeared above his uncle, his leg snapping out, only to find air. Fingers locked around his ankle as Oniyo heaved him over his head, his shoulders making contact with a rocky outcropping before the rest of his frame bulldozed through it. Within moments of his impact, thunder resumed across the sky.

Oniyo:

Both of Oniyo's forearms locked together as he blocked an incoming kick from Hiroshi, a thunderous boom echoed across the sky once more from the sheer power of the impact. First he'd joined a group of failures hellbent on recovering lost pride, then he'd helped destroy the Check-in station. Now, he tangled with the only thing he cared about that was still alive. It was a strange irony that this fight took place in Hell he supposed.

Breaking apart his locked arms, Oniyo cast away Hiroshi's leg before retaliating with a vicious knee, the boy's head snapping back, blood and spittle trailing him. Rocketing through the air with pure speed, Hiroshi disappeared, Oniyo following suit as they exchanged blows, plummeting towards the destroyed wastes below.

Landing in the center of the ruins where they'd begun their battle, the two broke apart, sweat pouring off their frames as they breathed roughly.

" Y-You've improved uncle." He called out, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly, blood dripping from a particularly rough gash on Hiroshi's forehead. " You certainly haven't been slacking since you died."

Oniyo couldn't keep the sad laugh in, glancing at the child he'd raised as he raised his defenses again. " Neither have you. But I'd be lying if I said this was purely power from my Ascended Saiyan state. Unlike you, I can draw on that well of power beyond the barrier."

Grin falling away, the Hybrid blitzed Oniyo, landing a dangerous swipe across his jaw, while Oniyo folded the Golden warrior over on his boot. While both were hardly more than glancing blows, they opened up options for the Halfbreed, while eliminating options for Oniyo. Plunging back into combat, Hiroshi landed a strike to Oniyo's gut with his left, while back handing the Mature Saiyan with his other, leaning in to fire off another volley of punishing strikes, each one causing Oniyo to shout out in pain while his body contorted from each strike.

Rocketing backwards, Oniyo crumpled when his body impacted the ground, breathing roughly as he struggled to his feet. " Even if I'm losing, I'm loving every second of this kid." Oniyo laughed, blood dribbling past his lips. " But you need to listen to me now. Babadi and Dabura plan to open the gates of hell and-"

Speech interrupted, Oniyo's body bent backwards violently, a azure blast searing into his shoulder as the Hybrids boot snapped across his jaw. Rough fingers dug into his throat as he was dragged to his feet.

" Don't lie to me. You may have been able to convince children to do your bidding, but I know better now! You're nothing but a selfish bastard who would do anything to escape a fate he brought on himself!"

If the initial tremor that followed was any indicator of what was to come , Oniyo feared what was coming. Hiroshi had mere milliseconds to respond before the earth swallowed him, casting Oniyo away from him as he burst upwards, curving sky was as he escaped what destruction was coming. Oniyo was only struggling to his feet when the sky shattered like glass and a massive wave if force rolled across the land.

'Told you.' Oniyo called out, mentally reaching out to his nephew.

'Shut it.'

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars felt Kiris press her hand against his as she spoke to him and he kept his hand perfectly still so she didn't accidentally cut him. It was more for Kiris' sake than his, because he knew she would be terribly upset if she had. Mars was a little concerned when Kiris began to cry and was worried that she was upset or sad, but started to soon realize that they were tears of joy. There was then an awkward silence that began to grow as they sat with each other and it was becoming clear that neither of them really knew what to say. Mars cleared his throat a bit to try to break up the silence and then spoke. "Um... Maybe you should try to get some rest Kiris, or at least try to do something relaxing. You've had a pretty stressful day after all." He said, trying not to sound too terribly awkward.

Disney
John managed a bit of a grin at Sarah's threat, and gave Sarah a kiss on the cheek in goodbye before he and Hannah headed off to charge the front of the castle.

Meanwhile Sam nodded at her sister's words as the two of them and Roy headed around the castle to try to find another way in. Soon they found a back entrance that was covered by two guards. "The bombs are near here. This is the door we need to go through." She then turned toward her sister, "Sarah? You think you could take those two guys out so we can get in without alerting the others?" Sam asked, knowing the answer was most definitely yes.

[The Fallen Jedi]

- Snip -

Lord Alastir

Alastir could feel it, the Demon Realm had just been opened up, and along with it, a powerful demonic presence that even caused Akor to stop in mid flight in awe of such a powerful demon-like presence. Alastir leaned down and pet the mighty dragon's head, speaking to it through his telepathic link "You need not worry Akor, I have expected this, It is a necessary step in our plan." Alastir stated, soothing the Great Dragon's suspicions. Alastir looked on through the snow-filled wasteland, having located the fabled Cold Clan's Shrine, the place where the Black Star Dragon Balls had been gathered together, left utterly defenseless and for Alastir's picking, Demon God Demigra. The one who attempted to wrestle control of the Time Nest and become an actual god himself, was Alastir's prime objective, as the Demon God was the only Makaioshin to exist, and thus was his key to becoming god once more, Alastir found it to be a necessary part of his plan to resurrect the Demon God and regain his lost powers...

---

It only took Alastir mere moments to make his way to the center of the Cold Clan Shrine, where there stood two statues, one a ice sculpture of Lord Frost, one of the very few people who handed a can of whup-ass to the God of Destruction Beerus, Alastir could not simply ignore the statue itself, as Frost was supposedly the very person who defeated both Kid Buu and Dabra millions of years ago, a true hero to the people of Arcos "You're legend spans all the way towards your son Lord Frost, you have left a respectable legacy behind, and I will not dishonor this great shrine with my presence, so I will only be brief..." Alastir stated subconsciously, approaching the Stone Dragon, which had all seven Black Star Dragon Balls in differing bowl-like incisions that kept the Dragon Balls safely protected. "Now It is time, to awaken the dragon!"

"Ultimate Shenron, Dragon of the Great Black Star Dragon Balls!" Alastir called out, raising his arms up into the sky "I summon your presence to the material realm to grant my wish!" In response to Alastir's words, all seven of the Black Star Dragon Balls began to glow once more, the skies darkening to the point as if it appeared that night had washed over the entire planet of Arcos, catching even Arctico's Elite Guard by surprize, after Arctico departed, the Elite Guard returned to the Arcosian Palace to defend the countless treasures that remained through the aftermath of the Civil War.

As the Eternal Ultimate Shenron made it's appearance, much larger than both Porunga and even the Earth's own Shenron "I am The Eternal Ultimate Shenron, speak your wish and I shall grant it..."

OOC: Could not piece together a very large post, after this, Alastir and Demigra shall make their appearance, just have Hiroshi detect the dark presence approaching Rnclave.

[Charmera]

-Snip-

Cora
Cora was standing with Katie at their tower when suddenly a group of strange men in colorful costumes came toward the tower out of no where. Cora saw that Katie was frowning when she say them, and knew that this "Brotherhood of Mutants" was clearly not friends of theirs. She heard the large man in the overalls make a derogatory comment about Katie not being a mutant, and Cora clenched her fists in anger and called out,
"Hey!" "Don't talk to Katie like that!" Cora said in a strong defensive tone.

She was then shocked when the man named Magneto said that they had tried to recruit Katie to their group before. Cora would definitely have to ask Katie about that later. Katie had been quite about her past, so Cora didn't really know much about what had happened in Katie's life before they had met. Cora then turned back to Magneto, "What do you want Katie to do anyway? What is this 'Brotherhood' of yours?" Cora asked the man in the metal helmet suspiciously.

“The brotherhood of mutants is a mutant supremacist group.” Katie replied, “They think mutants should rule the world and other humans should be dead or slaves.”

“You may not have joined Charles and his Xmen, but you repeat his lies about us rather well.” Magneto spoke, frowning now. Then he turned to Cora. “I have no interest in you, android, and we will get what we came here for, with or without your teamates help.”

Suddenly Magneto lifted his hand, and Katie frowned, placing herself between Cora and Magneto. “I won’t let you hurt her.” Magneto’s attempt to use his powers on the android seemed to meet resistance.

“You’ve picked up new tricks I see Miss Prince.”

Very new one’s Thought Katie.

“Try to hurt Cora again, and you’ll regret it.” She spoke. She quickly grabbed her JQ communicator and flipped the distress switch.

Katie could sense someone else then, someone else coming towards the tower. The feeling was confirmed when someone smashed through the window.

“So, this is the headquarters of the so called… Justice Queens…” Remarked a voice, bellonging to a very big humanoid. One that rivalled the blob in size. His name was Apocalypse. “You have something I want.” He seems to turn to Cora in particular.

Both of them are here for something it seems… What do we have that they could want?

Nico
Nico was worried when he saw the robber's bullets head toward Cat but then they suddenly bounced off of her as Cat grabbed the enemy and he suddenly collapsed on the ground, while Cat made a comment about how great it felt. Nico was starting to become more clear about Cat's powers. She seemed to be absorbing the energy of the robber as she touched him. That must have been why she did not want him to touch her recently. "Great job Cat, come on lets get the others." He said to her, glad to see she was becoming more comfortable with her powers. They continued to move along and suddenly they were face to face with two gunmen. Nico quickly threw his arm at one of them as it burst into a wall of sand, knocking of the men away, however the other was pointing his gun at nico and was ready to fire at the boy while he was distracted.

That gun was suddenly wrenched from the mans hands and then Cat proceeded to break it, slamming the gun onto her knee as she brought it up, tossing the two haves away as she then grabbed the man and used her power to knock him out. It certainly made things easier, though she had to be careful not to do any permanent damage. The girl then quickly ran to grab another burger, grabbing him by his collar and tossing him outside.

[Charmera]

---

Akihiko nodded idly at the catwoman's remark. "At least it looks like she'll stop bothering me now." He thought to himself as he waited for the female Kitsune's response. However, instead of that, Akari spoke again, and he found himself agreeing with her. It would just cause a lot of trouble if that annoying Taro were to find the kids first and scare them off with his demonic appearance. He was shaken off this train of thought when he noticed Masami begin following a trail with her nose. He observed the direction in which she was going, so that he would not get lost if she moved out of sight, and then, instead of walking behind her, he picked up the black scabbard that Akari had thrown at his forehead and attached it to his belt, a soft click sounding once the artifact was securely in its place. With that done, he took Kusanagi and placed it on the scabbard, the blade sliding down and clicking again once it reached the bottom. It was now impossible to remove from the magnetic scabbard unless one could get past the special mechanism Akihiko had designed so that only he would have the ability to do so.

With that done, the half-Oni trailed after the Yokai sisters, soon seeing the children trapped in the cages, and the dark blade on the ground as well. It sickened him a little, too, much like it did with Masami, and he made sure to stay away from it, as he did not want it to mess with his impure blood and cause it to give away his lineage or something, even if such a thing was not likely to happen just from the proximity to a cursed artifact like that one.

Suddenly both he and Masami felt a hand on their shoulders, though the one clasping his was the one that bore the cursed gauntlet Agony, so it was significantly less comfortable than the gentle squeeze she gave to Masami. Either way Garnet soon walked past them, heading for the cells, ignoring the sword.

"You guys ought to remember that we're a team, you know. What's the big idea, leaving me behind like that?" She remarked as she proceeded to tear off the bars of the children's jail cells with her gauntlet, before smiling at them. "Now run along, little ones. You're free." She said to them.

Akihiko's mouth was slightly agape. He was amazed of how she had approached the blade just like that, and was completely unaffected.

Masami looked at the blade, completely fixed on it's horror. Her heart beating as she felt it radiate anguish and suffering. She looked at the black blade, and couldn't help but feel as if it was looking back at her. She felt her warriors courage drain from her as she looked at it.

The hand of Garnet awoke her from her waking nightmare, and she turned her head to the woman, seeing her completely unefected. She blushed a little in that moment, feeling ashamed she had let fear paralyze her when others were completely fine. Was it because she was weak that it effected her so? She didn't think she was weak before now. She had spent a good deal of her life making sure she wouldn't be. She then steeled herself, watching as Garnet freed the children. She wouldn't let herself be beaten by a sword. She walked towards the blade, and then wrapped a hand around the hilt. Frowning, she looked at it, then found a scabbard and quickly put it into it's sheath. Then she held it, not comfortable enough to wrap it around herself. "We should give this to Azami. This was likely what she was looking for, and honestly I don't want to hold onto it for much longer... although I'm somewhat reluctant to give it to her..."

Akari paused, then noted a portal in the side of the room. "She must know we're done... I never figured out how she managed to know things like that..." She paused. "Well, I guess we better meet her and then get on with the second part of out mission."

MAsami nodded. Then turned to Garnet. "Sorry I dragged you into this whole family politics thing... We'll do something you want to do after we deal with the spirit. I promise."

[Confederation of imperial states]

"Gotham City"

7:30pm

The Knight and Lawbringer make it safely to Grande avenue, To avoid detection they remain on the top of a large Skyscraper along the Grande Avenue intersection. Lawbringer looks at the large amount of Skyscrapers, "alot of Skyscrapers around here Knight, Any idea as to know which one Black Mask will be in?". The Knight also scans his eyes along the skyscraers nearby, before contacting Sanza, "Sanza, I need you to scan and read all of the Skyscrapers along Grande Avenue for any Connection to Black Mask", [of Course Sir, Give me a moment]. The Knight waits while his AI companion scans the Skyscrapers, Sanza reports in, [The Markcaster Skyscraper, on the Northern end of the Grande Avenue, Black Mask's schedules report that he's stoping in earlier today because of an incident with a Vigilante known as "red Hood"]. The Knight nods, "thank you Sanza", "who's Red Hood?", "Affiliate of the Batman who died, came back, tried to kill batman, then went back to beign an affiliate. I'll give you a debrief after this". Lawbringer nods as The Knight glides over to the Markcaster skyscraper with Lawbringer following behind him. The Knight grapples and on the egde of one of the building's outcroppings, Lawbringer g swings with her grapple and lands on it. "what now?", "use the Ducks and get an overhead view of his office, I'll go in through the window". The Knight carefully opens the Office window as Lawbringer carefully entered the grate, The Knight closes the window and enters the pitch black Office. The Knight remains in the dark corner left of the entrance door as Lawbringer stays overhead and peers through a grate.

"what now?", "we wait".

2 Hours Later....

Black Mask walked into his office, 2 Black mask Gang Body Guards following him. Black Mask's light switch was at his desk, walkign into his office he had no fear and proudly talked to his body guards. "you see boys, the Red Hood is nothing but a zombie freak..." Black Mask heard no response from his guards as he sat down, "putting a bullet in his Stupid Red Head will be easier than- Oh" Black Mask said, partly cut off when he saw his two bodyguards unconcious at The Knight's feet, The Knight staring Black Mask down. Black Mask stared coldy at the Knight, "I was Expecting The Red Hood, or atleast the Batgirl, or someone from gotham, "You Should'e expected Harder when you sent your worthless scum to Try and Purge Chicago of Heroes". Black Mask simply sat back in his chair, "you must be The Knight, I've heard about you". The Knight stayed silent, "Crushing Crime In Chicago from 75% down to 23%. in what? 8 - 9 years?-" "5, Plus the extra 5 I've been watching Over as It's guardian". Black Mask whistled, "boy It must be fun in Chicago, even with the Army of Groupies the Bat can't stop Crime in Gotham, only quarantine it at a certain level. You however, You're something more". "I'm Here to Bring you in Black Mask", Black Mask chuckles, "And Here is where we reach a fork in ther road, I'm not going to Jail but you think you can take me. Tell me, big man in a suit, take that away and what are you? Knighty boy". "Master of more thasn Half of the Fighting Styles on Earth, COmbat Expert, Engineer, Right now I know 9 different ways i Can easily break your spinal cord and put you on a feeding tube for the rest of your life". The Knight saw Black Mask's eyes widen ever so slightley, "Don't mistake me, Sionis, I'm not the Batman, And I don't kill. But I know Ways to put you out of Criminal activity for the rest of your life". Black Mask quickly reached into his Desk Drawer and pulled out a 500. Revolver and pointed it straight at The Knight's head.

"Let's put it this way, I put one right through your eyes, No armor wil protect-" The Knight grabbed Black Masks' collar with one hand, pulling him over onto his desk, the other hand grabbed the barrel of his Revolver. with a slight grasp, The Knight bent the Revolver's barrel beyond use, then stared Straight at Black Mask, "The Lenses are Bulletproof by the way". The Knight tossed Black Mask over behind him and turned to the crimelord on the floor. Black Mask stood up, "Do You even comprehend Who I am whelp, I am ROMAN SIONI-" Black Mask was cut off when Lawbringer dropped infrom the Ventilation shaft above knocking him to the floor on his back, Lawbringer took out one of her batons and cracked Black Mask on the side of the head, Knocking him out. Lawbringer stood up and stepped off Black Mask, "Looks like the Job is Done Boss", The Knight nodded, "One more thing".

A few Minutes after the Knight and Lawbringer's departure from the Skyscraper, The GCPD wehere called to a call about the Criminal known as Black Mask. Police arrived to see Black Mask tied up against a Lamppost, with a Shield Insignia in permanent Ink on Black Mask's Forhead. on a Rooftop Above a Gotham protector notices this and Decides to Approach the Duo about it before they Depart Gotham.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

The construct flew down to Julie, examining her closely. "What could you provide? I am a God, empowered by a Universal force as I utilize an Omniversal force. What could a simple Lantern bring to the table? No offence meant, of course- The Lanterns have long been a force for peace, if a bit..." It tilted its head slightly, still watching Julie closely. "Ineffective. Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Sinestro, and Sodam Yat are the few Lanterns I know of that went above and beyond this. Sinestro is now a universal criminal, Gardner and Jordan are dead every other Tuesday and almost dead the rest of the time, Yat, as far as I know, is simply dead. I am sure there have been others, but Destiny has always seemed to lay its hand against the Lanterns." It glanced upwards. "Perhaps I should ask him about that." Suddenly, it collapsed in on itself, liquid steel pooling in mid-air for a brief moment before the construct reformed. It did not address this.

---

The construct nodded at Zaki's concerns. "I am well aware of the war to come. In my old, mortal form, my strongest attack, along with Valka's Godblast, fell to naught before her. Now, however, I am stronger than before. Combined with Valka, and perhaps the other new Gods that have been created by Darkseid's death, our foe should be nothing to worry about. If we still fail, I know for certain Galactus can be convinced by someone powerful enough that the Universe is in danger- And he will recognize the Blade's power, and at the very least acknowledge me. Of the Xyrixma, there is only one that worries me. And even she will die." The construct duplicated itself, one of them holding the plaque and flying to return it to its place, as though it were unaffected by the black hole at the centre of the room. Suddenly, both constructs paused for a moment, temporarily becoming amorphous blobs of metal before returning to normal. Neither seemed to acknowledge it.

---

"Investigate... I suppose you could say that, yes." Hadrimmelis spoke after hearing out Manifest's words, not entirely convinced of the goodwill with which he expressed himself. While it was true that for the most part she had little reason to distrust the man who had helped defend her people from the Builders during the Builder War, but she felt a sinister intent behind the creation of the Universal Fortress that simply had to be explained before she agreed to accept that this was still the same Manifest she had befriended. Much as she would have preferred to just let him be, she couldd not quite discern what he was thinking... and thanks to that she realized the barriers in place; whereas he had some time ago promised, despite the great value that humans placed on their privacy, that his mind would always be open for her, now it was completely surrounded by mental blocks that were also stronger than the ones that had been in place before, likely owing to Manifest's apparent new nature as a God. Slightly annoyed by this turn of events, she smashed through his barriers out of spite, like a cannonball smashing through a sheet of glass. She refrained from doing anything else, though, not even bothering to probe his mind any further, and so her actions would likely only stun Manifest momentarily.

Manifest fell to his knees in mid-air without a sound, clutching his skull. For a brief moment, he made no move nor sound. "... That was not... Necessary, Hadrimmelis." He dispelled his helmet, clearly showing not only his crimson eyes but also his scowl as he rose once more. "I was not even aware those barriers existed. Had you simply thought to ask for a moment, I would have unlocked them just as easily as I unlocked the others. I may be the God of Fragments, my friend, but that does not mean I wish for my own defences to be shattered." He shook his head, grunting. "I have already given this speech to another through my constructs." His eyes flashed for a moment, and Hadrimmelis received a mental equivalent of a voicemail- A small piece of auditory memory from one of Manifest's constructs.

"Imagine, if you will, an entire Universe with no War. An entire Universe without Murder. An entire Universe where Heroes have become redundant, Gods respect their worshippers, and Villains are a thing of the past. Manifest has the power, and the obligation, to bring this about. Give me any justification at all that says that Manifest should not do that. One good reason that he shouldn't stop someone from being murdered. One rationalization of allowing the murder, the unnecessary death, the horrendous torturing, the malevolent killing to go on when he has it entirely in his ability to stop it."

"It is the natural inclination of Heroes to write off those who present such speeches as I have as madmen, as either impossibly naive, incredibly misguided, or simply evil. I am none of these. I will not take any freedoms from the people of our Universe. I will not impose irrational laws on those who would live without them. I would only stop the killings. Stop the scarring of children by the deaths of their parents to thugs in alleyways. Stop the irrational and unnecessary destruction of planets and lives. Imagine a world where this is true. A world where the Annihilation Wave could not have even begun to spread, because the people of the Universe were so intertwined that they were pushed back in an instant. A world where the only conflict between Kree and Skrull involves trade agreements, not the lives of innocent bystanders."

"A world of Peace."

"Before you ask about how I am sure I myself will fall to the corruption of my power..."

"I am not arrogant, visitors. I am well aware that there are countless beings more powerful than I. The World Dragons, for example. I count several of these beings as my friends. If you want assurance that I will not abuse my position, speak to my allies. I will be asking for their blessing in my endeavour, as well as asking them to take me down if I ever attempt to go farther than I have thus far proclaimed to you. As for being spread too thin- He is the God of Fragments, visitors. He can fragment his own presence to better do his job. I, for instance, am one such fragment."

"You now know what I ask- Your blessing in my oversight of the Universe."


[[This takes place before Apokolips is brought into the world. I guess it could happen with the next person to post at the Throne (Charm/Zark) ]]

[New Rnclave]

Hiroshi: Hell

Something caught in Hiroshi as he stared at the swirling mass of hellish energy before him. This was how the damned could escape hell, this portal was how the dead would ravage the universe if any being found it. The fact that this thing existed confused him more than anything else, why would the Kai's create a portal where the damned could escape through and nit be found?

'Shit, guys!' The Golden Warrior called out to his allies. 'Hell's open now and-'

Ignoring the odd energy signature permeating the portal, Hiroshi reached beyond the portal, and froze in place. The world seemed to freeze as an enormous, black power made itself known. Besides Garlic, this was the darkest power he'd felt in awhile, and it was far beyond any power he was capable of right now. Staring into the swirling mass, Hiroshi steeled his features as he tensed.

Without realizing it, the Hybrids power burst back to life, the familiar pulse of a Super Saiyan burning around him as he dove through the portal, determined to reach this power before it could disappear from his senses.

[The Fallen Jedi]

- Snip -

Lord Alastir & Demon God Demigra

Alastir stood behind Demon God Demigra, the Makaioshin of the Demon Realm, Alastir made it appear as if he was subordinate to Demigra's darkened powers, but he was simply suppressing his latent dark powers to make it appear as if he were nothing but a mere servant "I thank you." Demigra chuckled, holding his staff in his right hand, staring down into the Red Orb, he saw that Hiroshi was approaching the both of them, Demigra expected this to happen, even if it was sudden, his power was too much to be ignored "Come along now, Alastir, we have to make ourselves known." Demigra smiled darkly, flying towards the energy signature that was Hiroshi, he could simply sense that Hiroshi would be the first of many examples to his Demon Powers.

Inwardly, Alastir was smirking to himself, the plan was beginning to shape itself exactly to his own design, very soon, oh so very soon, he would become a God beyond his wildest desires, the power to control the Demon Realm? Alastir could not let this opportunity avoid him in the slightest, this was a necessary step in order to assure that he would regain his old Immortal Powers once more, and if he could absorb the powers of a Makaioshin? The possibilities were essentially endless! "I have not gathered much data on the Saiyan-Kaioshin Hybrid, but I know one person who would be a great threat to your future plans, Lord Demigra, an Arcosian by the name of Lord Arctico, he has the powers of the cosmos behind him, I could keep him distracted while you take out the Saiyan?" Alastir asked.

Demigra turned to look at Alastir for a brief second before he saw the energy signature of both Arctico and Hiroshi over the skyline, it was true, Arctico's presence was overbearing even for him, and he had just been revived once more, Demigra had no plans to die once more, so he nodded to Alastir, allowing the Fallen God to speed off forward, his dark energy crashing against Arctico's unique godly signature "Alastir?!" Arctico exclaimed in surprize, only to be sent crashing down into the ground, with Alastir glaring at Arctico with murderous eyes "What the hell are you doing here?" Arctico practically hissed towards Alastir, who leaned into Arctico's ear and whispered to him.

"You'd best leave now before one of us ends up dying here today, and it is not going to be me..."

[Mavorpen]

A Tale of Life and Death: Prelude III

"Adam, buddy, this is Rocket." Rocket said into his transmitter. "You did a damn good job. We're grateful, and I'd say I speak for the whole universe when I say that."

"T...thank you, Rocket." Adam said, struggling to stand up from a kneeling position. "That was close. I... I wish I could have gotten rid of the Fault, but at least I've locked it in place and stopped it's expansion. We need to find a way to seal it now, before something else comes thr--"

"Stop! Phyla, what the hell were you going to do?" Adam turned to see Star-Lord grabbing Phyla-Vell's arm just as she was about to stab him. Somehow, Star-Lord seemed to be materializing from nothing, along with Mantis, Cosmo, and Bug.

"Quill!? Where did you come from?" Gamora asked.

"No time to explain, Gamora." Star-Lord said. "Mantis?"

"It's all there, in her mind. Phyla made a pact with Oblivion to get Moondragon back. She had to kill the Avatar of Life when the moment presented itself." Mantis said.

"Get out of my head!" Pyla jerked her arm out of Star-Lord's grasp. "You have no idea what you're doing. I have to do this, or else Adam is going to doom us all!"

"You're insane!" Gamora shouted, raising her sword at Phyla, which prompted her to raise her own sword as well.

"Ladies, chill out!" Star-Lord said, approaching Adam. "Adam, Phyla's right, isn't she? We know what's going to happen. We... we took a little trip through time and learned some nasty things."

"That right?" Rocket's voice said from behind the group as he, along with Major Victory, Groot, and Drax teleported to the ship. "Well, do you feel like sharing them with us, Pete? I'm in the mood for a little story time."

"Rocky, we're down to the wire here. After this, we get no more second chances." Star-Lord took something out of his pocket: a Cosmic Cube. "This little cube here is suspending us in time. We have a couple of minutes to put everything right. Adam, it's not too late. You just saved the whole universe. Don't let that go to waste."

Adam grabbed his head. "I... I can't, Peter. I'm so tired, and I can't hold back the black tide swirling around in my head."

"Adam, fight it! You can fight off the Magus, I know you can. Kang the Conqueror himself told me that you have the chance to change destiny." Peter said.

"Peter... Kang didn't tell you everything. I didn't displace the timestreams, I've overlapped them. They've literally fused into one. It's inevitable for me to become the Magus. In fact, I've essentially been the Magus for several months now.

"Shut up, that's not true! Don't do this." Star-Lord pleaded. "Don't make me--"

"What, Kill me?" Adam looked up, his appearance changed to that of Magus, sporting a familiar sadistic grin. "You couldn't kill me if you tried." With a wave of his hand, the group was flung backwards. Star-Lord landed hard, and the Cosmic Cube being released from his grip and landing a few feet away.

"Cosmo, reinforce my mind, quickly! We need to block his thoughts and prevent--" Mantis called out to the dog, before the two suddenly collapsed to the ground with anther wave of Magus' hand. Bug rushed over to the two of them.

"Holy-- they're dead! They just... died!"

"Alright, you sunova--" Rocket said, aiming his gun at Magus and firing.

"Oh, please." Magus said, covering his mouth with his right hand and fake yawning. He raised his right hand and stopped the bullets fired by Rocket in their tracks. "Did you really think I would let two telepaths enter my mind for even a second? And bullets? Really?" With another wave of his hand, he knocked back the group again.

Groot then reached out with his large arm and grabbed Magus' whole upper body. "I am Groot!"

"No, you are flammable." Magus said, surrounding himself with a mystical shield that extended outwards and caused Groot's arm to explode and setting it on fire. "Bullets and now wood? Absolutely pathetic."

"You MONSTER!" Phyla shouted as she ran her sword across Magus' abdomen, slicing it open. It wasn't a deep cut however, and therefore it didn't put him down.

"Ow! That... that sword actually cut me!"

"It's a death-magic blade. Forged in Oblivion's Realm. More than capable of taking down a being li-- Huh!?" Suddenly Phyla's hand were encased in a purple mystical bubble, and her sword disappeared out of her hands. She then looked up at Magus and saw her own sword in his hand.

"I agree! Too bad you can't keep hold of it, though." Magus stabbed Phyla through the chest. "I must say, slaying you via my own hands as opposed to in the previous timeline where Gamora did the deed herself feels absolutely gratifying!"

"Warlock! Stop this!" Gamora shouted as she charged at Magus. Magus easily blocked the attack.

"Oh, Gamora, you should know by know that there are some things that simply can't be stopped." Magus smiled as he easily blocked and parried all of Gamora's strikes. After the third attempt, he even put his free hand behind his back just to mock her as she uselessly swung at him, looking for some sort of opening.

Major Victory took the opportunity to throw his shield at Magus' head from behind. Magus, without even turning around and continuing to easily make a fool of Gamora's swordplay, raised his free arm behind him and caught the shield. Using the shield to block Gamora's next strike, he then deflected her arm away and used the opening to slice her head clean off. "Bye bye, Gammy." Magus said, his eyes glowing bright yellow and wearing a wide smile. Suddenly, he turned around and threw the shield at Major Victory. "Catch!"

The shield came at him far too fast to catch or dodge outright. The shield whizzed past him, but it cut open his suit. "No, my containment suit!" He shouted before beginning to shrivel up.

"Next?" Magus grinned as Bug and Drax charged at him. He deflected Bug with a simple handwave, but Drax punched him straight through the chest. Magus coughed up blood, but his grin didn't disappear. "Oh, the ol' 'rip out the heart' trick you used to kill Thanos! A tactic with a perfect track record against murdering psychos. Unfortunately for you..." Magus released mystical energy out of his chest, knocking Drax back. "I'm a magical, murdering psycho. A heart? Who needs it!" Magus said as the wound closed up. "There, all bett--"

"That's enough!" Star-Lord stood up, holding the Cosmic Cube in his hands. It emanated power, and Magus screamed out in pain as he was hit by the energy from the Cube.

Magus fell to his knees. "P-Peter... The cube's holding him at bay, but not for long! Please, kill me. Do it now, before he comes back!" Adam said, his yellow skin and hair back to normal.

"Adam... I... I never wanted it to go down this way. Dear God..." Star-Lord raised his gun and aimed it at Adam, on the verge of breaking down. "I'm sorry." He fired the gun, and the bullet went straight through his forehead. Adam's lifeless body crumpled to the ground. Star-Lord turned and looked at the corpses of several of his friends. Tears began streaming down his face. "Damn it, Adam."

---

I remember the moment of my death. Not the pain, but so much as the huge rush of disappointment that flew throughout me. I'd made a pact with the Devil. Or, perhaps something even worse. He calls himself Oblivion. Aptly names, he's an Abstract that represents the absence of space. He told me he could give me back Moondragon -- my one true love -- if I became the Avatar of Death. All I'd have to do was kill the Avatar of Life when the moment arose, and somehow end up saving the universe doing so. Win-Win.

But, well, I failed. I managed to hurt him, but I merely grazed him. I had the opportunity to slice him straight in half. I hesitated. The Avatar of Life turned out to be Adam Warlock. Adam was one of my closest friends. I worshiped him. He was so strong. How could I NOT hesitate when the moment came? And that hesitation unleashed Magus -- Adam's evil half. Ended up getting a broadsword through a heart that was already broken. As I lay on the ground, bleeding out, I watched Magus viciously and gleefully massacre my teammates.

Then, I felt myself lifting off of the ground. However, when I looked down, I saw my own body. Baffled, I came to the conclusion that my soul had left my body, leaving me as a mere ghost. I watched as Gamora's soul floated up next to me. Then Major Victory. I screamed out to no one in particular for help. I pleaded for someone to help them -- for someone to hear me.

A familiar voice spoke to me, however, telling me to calm myself. It was Mantis, who was next to Cosmo. We could hear each other just fine. Mantis theorized that though were were ghosts, we weren't actually dead yet. Apparently, Magus was warping reality, trying to hide the fact that we had yet to die. But, why would he do that? The only answer we could come up with was that Magus was afraid. Of what? The only possible answer was the Cosmic Cube that Peter wielded against him. Magus was powerful, however, he didn't have the strength to go up against a Cosmic Cube. So he altered the perception of the remaining Guardians, especially Peter, into believing that they had him on the ropes. Peter was fooled into believing he had won and had to make the decision to kill his close friend and teammate.

Naturally, after Magus' "death," he appeared next to the rest of us as his own ghostly form. Sporting a sadistic smile -- I REALLY hate that smile of his -- he greeted us, and used the stored belief font that powered the Templeships of the Universal Church of Truth. He caused the ships to explode, creating a distraction that forced the team to retreat and fail to notice our bodies having their life breathed into them once more and transported elsewhere, to the catacombs of the Universal Church of Truth's homeworld: Sacrosanct. I remember the moment of my death. But it was nowhere as bad as this...

Phyla coughed up blood and looked up at her torturer. "Phyla-Vell, my love, will you do Magus a favor and stop blacking out?" Magus grinned. "Where's the fun in torturing someone if they just black out? I need you to scream for me, darling. If you're going to die, do so of excruciating pain. Heh, kidding. I just want to convert you. It would give me quite a bit of satisfaction for the Avatar of Death to follow me."

Magus began pacing back and forth in front of her. "As I was saying before you rudely interrupted my by fainting... I admire you guys. Respect you, even. I mean, you guys are the bargain bin of the galaxy's protectors. You don't have any powerhouses like the Odinson or the Surfer on your team, but you still fought me to a stand-still." Magus stopped in front of her and leaned down, anticipating her response. Phyla merely responded by spitting blood into his face.

"Well now you've gone and ruined the moment. And here I was being nice to you." Phyla screamed as her shackles sent a powerful voltage throughout her body. Magus turned to an individual covered in a purple cloak. "Flensse, I was told that you are the best tort--interrogator in the Church. Why have they failed to be converted?"

"Worshipful master, my acolytes have tried almost every technique known to our ancient order. Some form of psychic shield must be protecting them. However, I assure you that I will break them."

"Good. I want this one broken first, as I said previously." Magus said, gesturing to Phyla. "As the Avatar of Death, in a cosmic sense she is my arch-adversary." He knelt down in front of her. "Man, recruitment that day must have been down. You're filling shoes previously worn by the likes of the Phoenix, by Sundersuns... by Thanos." Magus made a sarcastic frown. "Poor Phyla-Vell, such a disappointment. But then again, you always were. I can see why you'd accept this power for the attention."

"Shut up! I just wanted Moondragon back..." Phyla said, looking down.

"Rubbish!" Magus grabbed her chin and forced her to look in him in the face. "You took the power because you were sick of people ignoring them. You are selfish. Allow me to show you something." Purple energy emerged out of Magus' hand and surrounded Phyla's head. Phyla screamed out as visions of the future flooded her mind. "Death is so last season. The Fault will bring about a Revolution -- a new Age that matches that of another universe where Life has won. Death shall be no more, and the eternal struggle shall be settled. You have backed the wrong team, girly!"

Magus released Phyla, exhausted, and her head slumped downwards. Magus turned and began walking to the exit. "Flensse, I want their very souls shredded until they convert. I want them to be at my feet begging to be my most devoted followers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go greet the new masters of eternity at the Fault."

Flenssee picked up what appeared to be the hilt of a sword from a table filled with torture instruments. From it emerged an energy whip. "Unfortunately, you have left me no choice but to use the Minemonic Flail on you. It strips away memories one by one. I am told the sensation is unbearable." He lashed out at her head, and Phyla howled in pain and everything went black.

"Female? My master told you not to black out. Wake up, or I'll take away another precious memory from you. Phyla then found herself floating behind the torturer. "Perhaps one involving someone precious to you?"

"No! Don't you dare!"

"Phyla, he can't hear you." A voice said. Phyla turned to see the ghosts of Major Victory, Cosmo, and Mantis.

"You're unconscious again, and your spirit is once again outside of your body, Phyla. Listen, there is very little time left. Cosmo, Major Victory and myself have significant psionic reserves. However, in order to overcome the psi-shielding of this prison, we need you."

"Me?" Phyla asked, confused.

"You gave yourself to Death." Mantis said. "He said it himself, you are his arch-adversary. He has a degree of difficulty dealing with you that dwarfs our own. Furthermore, your love for Moondragon and your experience in the realm of Oblivion together has created a psionic bond that is ever-present."

"I... I'll try. I guess I'll just call out to her. Wait if we're all here, where is Gamora?"

"We think that Gamora has already turned. As I said, we have very little time left." Mantis said.

"You try for us, eh, Phyla-Vell? You go back into body now, make good try?" Cosmo said in a thick Russian accent and nuzzled her.

"Okay, okay!" Phyla smiled. "I'll see what I can do." Phyla floated down to her body and entered it. Back in her body, she opened her eyes.

"Awake again? Good." Flensee said. "The Flail smells strong memories in you, ground from the emotional bond of love. It will enjoy ripping those out of you, and you will be broken!" Flensee raised his arm and once again struck her head with the whip.

Suddenly, Phyla began shouting at the top of her lungs, and concentrating hard on her psychic connection with Moondragon. "Heather! He's alive! Magus is alive! He's coming, and you've got to be ready for him!"

Flensee turned to the exit. "Guards! To me!" The guards rushed to his side, but Phyla had already reached Moondragon.

"Heather, tell Peter that Magus tricked him. You guys need to get ready or everything will be destroyed."

"Guards, restrain her!"

With a roar, Phyla stood up and broke out of her bonds. "Please. I would love to see you try." Phyla raised her hand and her sword appeared in her hand. "I am the chosen Avatar of Death. Allow me to teach you what that means." Phyla rushed at the guards and easily decapitated them. She walked to Flensee slowly. He backed away quickly and tripped over his cloak. The last thing out of his mouth was a single terror-filled scream as she cut him down. Phyla turned to the rest of the team and cut the chains of their restraints. "Now..." Phyla turned to the exit as her teammates stood up behind her. "Let's go save the universe."

---

The Outworld Shard
The Resolute

"This is unacceptable! I was a Nova Centurion! Then, I was demoted to Denarian, and now this!" Fraktur complained to the rest of the Nova Corps members in the ship's training room

"Cool it, Fraktur." Morrow said. "We all agreed to help the Nova Prime rebuild the Corps from the ground up. That means we all become Probationers again. So, new uniforms, training equipment, etc. At least we get to be Millennians. The human newbies only earned the Corpsman crescent."

"Shut up, Morrow." Fraktur growled. "Our powers are cropped, and we've been given these stupid toys." Fraktur looked down at the cylindrical metal rod in her hand.

"It's a fightstick. Basic Xandarian training tool." Philo corrected her, floating down to the group. "And your access to the Nova Force has been cut back until you've learned how to use it."

"I know how to use it."

"No, you think you know. Here." Philo pointed a finger at himself. "Hit me. Land one punch and I'll promote you straight back up to a Centurion again."

Fraktur scowled and looked up above at Jamal, who was standing on the balcony in front of the entrance to the training room and watching over them without his helmet on. "Nova Prime, please! I appeal to you to end this charade! Why does this old fool get to keep his status while we get a downgrade? It's an insult!"

"It's because Centurion Philo is... 'old' that I gave him the right to make the decision. I may formally outrank him, but in terms of the amount of experience, he outranks me. He has a wealth of training and knowledge. That's why he's your new drill sergeant." Jamal shrugged. "Besides, he's given you an opportunity to get your rank back. I'd say he's being fair."

Fraktur looked back down at Philo. Philo held up a finger. "Just one punch."

...

"[Well, that was thoroughly enjoyable.]"

"Yeah." Jamal said, looking through the windows of the ship's bridge. "Poor Fraktur never stood a chance. She's still fuming about not getting her Centurion rank back. But, well, I think she learned her lesson though."

"[Indeed. Ah, the Resolute Duty is now entering the Shard System. Due to the massive Fault disruption, the planet itself is collapsing into the Fault rift in just a matter of hours. The Kree archaeological team previously on it evacuated a week ago, thankfully.]"

"And you're sure that this is where the Shi'ar advisory says Darkhawk is hiding?"

"[Confirmed. However, are you sure that this Christopher Powell person is incapable of the crimes he's accused of?]"

"Absolutely." Jamal put his helmet on. "Tell everyone that Philo is in charge until I get back." With that, Jamal left the ship and flew off to the planet. The name Christopher Powell echoed in his head ever since he had heard the news. Just after the Nova group had settled into the Resolute, they'd received a psychic notice generated and circulated by the Shi'ar Imperium. Apparently, they were in the vicinity of a fugitive wanted for the crimes of regicide and treason due to the assassination of Lilandra. Jamal was flabbergasted when the image of the fugitive was that of Darkhawk.

Darkhawk was an old friend and partner he'd fought alongside back when Jamal was still primarily an Earth based hero. The characterizing feature of the planet was both a blessing and a curse in his search for Darkhawk. The surface of the planet was blanketed by large crystalline structures. Naturally this made searching difficult, however, once he did find Darkhawk, the guy stood out like a sore thumb, making detecting him easier. Jamal kicked it up once he saw Darkhawk and chased him. He called out to him multiple times, but Darkhawk either didn't notice him, or was ignoring him. Furthermore, Darkhawk was leading him through a canyon, restricting his movements and making maneuvering difficult.

"[Jamal, it is critical that you pay attention. The natural crystal-composite nature of this landscape is not stable. The backwash of your Nova Force is causing vibrational damage and is leading to progressive structural dam--]" The warning came too late however, as the structures collapsed around Jamal from all sides, completely burying him.

It was at this point that Darkhawk turned around. "Oh crap. Jamal?" Jamal rocketed from the debris and straight into Darkhawk, pushing him into a nearby crystal pillar.

"Now you acknowledge me? Come on, Chris, stop running. I'm here to help you!" Jamal said, getting Darkhawk in a headlock from behind. Darkhawk flew backwards and slammed Jamal into a pillar.

"Get off me! You don't know what I've done, Jamal!" Darkhawk said, attempting to flee.

Jamal fired a gravimetric pulse, slamming him into a pillar and increasing his weight to the point where he couldn't escape. "Chris, just talk to me. Please. Running won't help."

"Do you honestly think I could have killed Lilandra, Jamal? And be honest, would I be running if the truth was anything anyone would actually take seriously and believe?"

"Try me. Just, let me help you. Not to brag, but I'm on fairly good standing with Gladiator. I'm sure we can work something out and come to an understanding." Jamal reached down at him.

Darkhawk hesitated for a second before reaching up and taking Jamal's hand. "I.. okay, what happe-- Look out!" Darkhawk knocked Jamal aside and was hit by a green energy beam. Jamal turned to see someone looking virtually identical to Darkhawk, save for a green visor and jewel in the center of his chest as opposed to Darkhawk's red.

"What the hell? Another Darkhawk?" Jamal said, firing at the enemy.

"[Jamal, it is critical that you pay attention! The planet's core is becoming unstable for some reason. You need to evacuate n--]"

Suddenly, the planet exploded without warning.

"Worldmind, what happened!?" Philo said, rushing to the bridge.

"[Nova Prime's lifesigns have disappeared. The planet has disintegrated. Nova Prime is...gone.]"

---

Sacrosanct
Homeworld of The Universal Church of Truth

"Come on! Who's next!?" Phyla shouted as she cut down another enemy before her. Blood flung into the air as she swung her drenched sword. At this point, every damn black knight and cardinal and acolyte of the Church's home world had turned out to stop the team. Nothing less than the survival of the universe depended, in part, upon her.

"Phyla, look out!" Major Victory shouted, throwing his shield at an opponent trying to get her from behind. The shield rebounded off of several other enemies before returning to his hand. Major Victory was the last remaining survivor of a displaced timeline where everything was destroyed, and where very few humans existed. Being a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy of the future, he felt right at home every time the team went out on a mission. Sporting the shield of Captain America himself, Major Victory proved himself worthy of the shield countless times. Major Victory was, for all intents and purposes, born to guard the Galaxy.

"Cosmo see into minds of attackers! They want to keep us from level 68 of this complex!" Cosmo the dog was having a joyous time. Wherever he went, his enemies merely dropped, clutching their heads as Cosmo attacked them psychically. He was unsure of where he had gotten his own powers, but it didn't matter to him. He was happy to finally get the chance to let loose.

"Agreed. They're trying to mask their thoughts, but level 68 seems to be the location of a teleparture terminal." Mantis said as she kicked an enemy in the abdomen. Mantis was also quite happy, but for different reasons. While also a telepath, and a formidable one at that, her preferred method of attack was a more hands on approach. The combination of her exceptional martial arts skills and her mental powers made her a lethal foe.

Gamora? "Who can stop me? WHO!?" She screamed as the blood of her foes covered her from head to toe." Well, she wasn't called the "deadliest woman in the galaxy" for nothing. "I can feel you prodding my mind, Mantis! Don't worry, I'm your side. But Phyla, you and I are going to have a full and frank exchange of ideas. You betrayed us to Oblivion and you couldn't even do that right!"

Phyla was too preoccupied wondering whether Moondragon heard her warning to make a retort to Gamora. Suddenly the room grew black to her. "Yes, did she hear? Your pitiful cry?" A voice said. She turned to see a figure familiar to her standing beside her. "I wonder. Chances are, she didn't. You just can't seem to do anything right, can you?" The figure taunted with a smile.

"Maelstrom. What do you want?" Phyla said, scowling.

"I just want to watch you make a total flark-up of being the Avatar of Death. It is really quite enjoyable watching you fail time and time again. You couldn't even kill Adam Warlock when he had his back to you and weakened!"

"Get away from me!"

"There's nothing you can do, Phyla." Maelstrom said, approaching her closer until his face was mere inches from hers. "However, you can make amends for this mess."

"Uh... anyone wanna tell me why Phyla is talking to herself." Major Victory said.

"She is conversing with one of the abstract cosmic powers, I believe.I think she's engaging in dialogue on a higher plane." Mantis answered.

"Oh, well isn't that nice?" Gamora said, blocking an attack from an enemy attempting to take advantage of Phyla's frozen state. "Why don't I just kill her and get things over with, just to be on the safe side?" Suddenly, the group was hit with a shockwave.

"This insurrection ends NOW!" A woman said as she descended down. The woman in question was the Matriarch of the Universal Church of Truth, powered by a source of energy known as "Belief Energy." It was, well, powered by the souls of "believers." "You heretics, I will expunge your souls and incinerate your bones!" The Matriarch shouted as she attacked them with energy bolt after energy bolt. While Cosmo put up a telekinetic field, it was quickly being chipped away with each attack.

"I wield Belief Energy, limited only by my will. And I can assure you that I believe!" She said, releasing a stronger blast and breaking the telekinetic shield. "I believe!" She said as she knocked Gamora away with a blast. "I believe!" She called out as she attempted the same with Major Victory, who jumped out of the way just in time.

"Lady, I am sick and tired of listening to you!" Major Victory said as he threw his shield at the wall behind her. It rebounded and then hit her square in the back of the head, knocking her out.

"Finally. Her thoughts were awful. She was psychotic and deranged." Mantis said with a scowl.

"Uh... speaking of which, where did Phyla go?" Gamora said, looking around.

Phyla had snuck away after the initial attack by the Matriarch. She looked around as she approached a doorless entrance to a brightly lit room. "Hurry up, now's your chance to make up to Master Oblivion." Maelstrom said.

Phyla looked back. "Wait, where are the others? I lost sight of them when the Matriarch attacked."

"Forget about them." Maelstrom said, as they entered the room. "What we're looking for is right in here." Phyla's jaw dropped as she saw a large cocoon, much like the one she saw when she initially met Adam Warlock when the Phalanx attacked. "Now, you see? We can level things up a little. The cosmic balance between life and death will be put back in equilibrium. The imbalance caused by the creation of Magus will be set right, by your hand."

"Adam Warlock is in there?"

"Correct, and just waiting to come out!"

"And the Church has been hiding this here? So that he can't interfere with the Magus's plans?" Phyla asked, a smile forming, happy to find that her friend was still alive. "So I've just got to release Warlock? And that should cancel out the Magus!"

"Warlock?" Maelstrom said, raising an eyebrow. "Why, whatever you say."

"Why didn't you just say so sooner!?" Phyla said, slicing open the cocoon. Immediately her face was filled with horror as a purple arm emerged. "Oh no. No, no, NOO!"

"Oh, that's right, that Avatar of Death job we gave you?" A large, hulking being emerged from the cocoon and from it's eyes came a powerful blast of energy that engulfed Phyla. "You're fired!" The being roared, making the presence of Thanos the Titan known.

[The Republic of Atria]

Otis went back to Apokolips for some R&R. Which meant Fallout 4 and junk food. His motherbox was going crazy with something about something that he didn't give enough of a damn about to deal with. After about an hour, he heard loud slamming and smashing. "What the... Kalibak? Is that you? I swear, if you think I was kidding about the spider webs..." He muttered and put the game down only to have the door to his room smashed open with him blasting the debris. Yuga Kahn. Of course Otis had no idea of who he was. "Alright Mister Fanservice. I'm busy. Hit the road. I told Desaad no visitors. Now I have to fix the wall and think of a bizzare punishment for you." After finishing his rant, Kahn grabbed the Inhuman and threw him. Hard.

Hard enough that Otis smashed through what would have been half of the continental US. "Ouch..." When he finally shook off the shock of what happen only for the pain to set in. This began to get on his nerves. "Alright. Big mistake. Go be an asshole on the other side of the universe!" He said and blasted with Omega beams intending to teleport Kahn as far away as he could. As soon as the bright red beams came close to him, Kahn redirected them into a sphere above his hand. Which he then threw at Otis who was slightly in shock from Kahn just doing that. And then got blasted. He held his ground, but it hurt. "Alright... I would like an explanation for this massive amount of bullshit."

Khn stepped down. "You are the little child responsible for the death of my son?"

"Hey! I'm an adult! Legally. And no offense, but your son is, excuse me, was a huge asshole. Had it coming. And considering how much of an asshole you are, I can see that he takes after you. And now, I'm gonna have to kick your ass. Pecking order and all that jazz. I know how this planet works. What's your name?"

"I am Yuga Kahn you worm! My son's death means nothing to me! I will rip the Omega Effect from your flesh, and then I will destroy that mudball you call home!" Otis charged at him only for Kahn to clothesline him and lift him off his feet. "I find it difficult to believe that you are the one who killed my son." Otis tried to fire the Omega beams once again only for Kahn to grip his face, making Otis blast himself. Kahn dropped him and Otis groaned, rubbing his face.

"Ya know..." He coughed. "Yogi Bear wants his name back..." This lead to Kahn stomping on his head. Again, and again, and again until he was bleeding quite badly. "That... All?" Otis was still defiant. Kahn grabbed him and Otis forced his eyes open and let out his stupid grin. With more blood dripping from his body than would be healthy. "Ya... Got me. One last thing before you finish me off... ROSHAMBO!" He shouted and with every last remaining bit of his strength, kicked Yuga Kahn in the testicles. The blow was strong enough to be heard from several miles away. Kahn dropped Otis hand fell to a knee as he squirmed away. "Sorry Yogi... Not today." He said and teleported to Earth while Khan recovered. The only place he thought he could go was Praetoria, so he dropped right in front of Xander. "Hi... I'm Otis. You may remember me from your wedding, and getting blood on your carpet."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Otis went back to Apokolips for some R&R. Which meant Fallout 4 and junk food. His motherbox was going crazy with something about something that he didn't give enough of a damn about to deal with. After about an hour, he heard loud slamming and smashing. "What the... Kalibak? Is that you? I swear, if you think I was kidding about the spider webs..." He muttered and put the game down only to have the door to his room smashed open with him blasting the debris. Yuga Kahn. Of course Otis had no idea of who he was. "Alright Mister Fanservice. I'm busy. Hit the road. I told Desaad no visitors. Now I have to fix the wall and think of a bizzare punishment for you." After finishing his rant, Kahn grabbed the Inhuman and threw him. Hard.

Hard enough that Otis smashed through what would have been half of the continental US. "Ouch..." When he finally shook off the shock of what happen only for the pain to set in. This began to get on his nerves. "Alright. Big mistake. Go be an asshole on the other side of the universe!" He said and blasted with Omega beams intending to teleport Kahn as far away as he could. As soon as the bright red beams came close to him, Kahn redirected them into a sphere above his hand. Which he then threw at Otis who was slightly in shock from Kahn just doing that. And then got blasted. He held his ground, but it hurt. "Alright... I would like an explanation for this massive amount of bullshit."

Khn stepped down. "You are the little child responsible for the death of my son?"

"Hey! I'm an adult! Legally. And no offense, but your son is, excuse me, was a huge asshole. Had it coming. And considering how much of an asshole you are, I can see that he takes after you. And now, I'm gonna have to kick your ass. Pecking order and all that jazz. I know how this planet works. What's your name?"

"I am Yuga Kahn you worm! My son's death means nothing to me! I will rip the Omega Effect from your flesh, and then I will destroy that mudball you call home!" Otis charged at him only for Kahn to clothesline him and lift him off his feet. "I find it difficult to believe that you are the one who killed my son." Otis tried to fire the Omega beams once again only for Kahn to grip his face, making Otis blast himself. Kahn dropped him and Otis groaned, rubbing his face.

"Ya know..." He coughed. "Yogi Bear wants his name back..." This lead to Kahn stomping on his head. Again, and again, and again until he was bleeding quite badly. "That... All?" Otis was still defiant. Kahn grabbed him and Otis forced his eyes open and let out his stupid grin. With more blood dripping from his body than would be healthy. "Ya... Got me. One last thing before you finish me off... ROSHAMBO!" He shouted and with every last remaining bit of his strength, kicked Yuga Kahn in the testicles. The blow was strong enough to be heard from several miles away. Kahn dropped Otis hand fell to a knee as he squirmed away. "Sorry Yogi... Not today." He said and teleported to Earth while Khan recovered. The only place he thought he could go was Praetoria, so he dropped right in front of Xander. "Hi... I'm Otis. You may remember me from your wedding, and getting blood on your carpet."

At some point after Hadrimmelis left...
Manifest was meditating in the centre of the Throne when he felt it. His eyes opened wide and flashed crimson. "Shit." He reached out, grasping the Manifest Blade and activated the Orb of Cognition. "Call Valka," he muttered with a scowl. "Tell her that I feel a presence similar to Darkseid's on Apokolips. I don't know how this is possible, but I am going to find out."

An instant later, he reached the edge of the Throne. He held his hand out towards where Apokolips brought itself into the Universe, and clenched his fist, breaking apart his own essence and reforming it just outside of Apokolips' atmosphere. He had the Orb scan the planet as he summoned his armour and helmet. When it came up with a composite image of his foe, he narrowed his eyes. That isn't Darkseid. So why does he feel so- His thoughts were cut off as he watched Yuga Kahn divert the power of the Omega Beams in his fight with Otis. That... That's impossible..! Otis fled, and Manifest quickly followed the rapidly fading path of Otis' energy to Earth, more specifically Praetoria. He appeared with a flash on board the command deck of the Peak at the South Pole.

"Brand, it's me." He called out, ignoring the half dozen Hulk grade weapons aimed at his skull. "We've got a situation."

"Weapons down." Commander Brand ordered, narrowing her eyes. "Where the hell have you been, Crawler, and why are you leaking more energy than Captain Atom?"

"Long story short Boss, I'm a God now. Don't ask, we don't have time. Get Fury on the line and tell him that we have an angry God on the way to Earth with a bloodlust for Otis, and strong enough to pull it off. This guy can redirect the damn Omega Beams. We need to pull out all the stops- Every Leaguer, every Avenger, hell, if he can pull it off, bring the god damn Society in on this. This is a Prime threat, Brand."

About to ask questions, Brand's voice stopped in her throat when she heard that last sentence. She turned around and tapped on her communicator. "Fury. Prime threat, heading to Earth. Contact the League and the Avengers. Manifest is transferring us the details now. Right, Manifest?" She glared at him. He was already directing the Orb to do just that- Relay all the information its scan had picked up. Most of the data was quite literally off the charts. He promptly vanished, reappearing in front of the Praetorian border guards.

"Tell Xander and Naja it's Manifest. We need to talk, now." He glanced upward, nervously. "Apocalyptic scenario."

[Baxten]

Jacob Avery/Polarice

Jacob was taking a nap on his bed when he woke up extremely hungry. He thought to himself Man, I'm starving right now there's nothing in the fridge, though, and I've gotta get some groceries". He let out a sigh and dressed in some civilian clothes. Jacob flew towards the city, but unkwowingly missed it completely. When Jacob landed, he said "This does not look like Vancouver; where am I?" He looked for some sort of sign, but couldn't find anything. Jacob had to find someone for directions, and he found a lady walking down the street. Jacob said "Hi, ma'am. I'm new here, and I was wondering the name of this city; can you tell me?" The lady looked at him like he was crazy, and said "Get the hell away from me, creep". She then ran away from Jacob. He was confused, and said "OK...I guess I'll just have to get directions from somewhere else". He looked around for more signs, and finally found a billboard that read "It Always Sunny in Coast City". Jacob commented "Coast City? Jesus, how far did I go? I'm still starving right now. Maybe there's a restaurant close by". He ran across a pizza parlor named Zippy's Pizza. "Mmm...pizza" he said, and he walked into the restaurant. Jacob ordered two slices of meat lovers pizza, and devoured the slices. When Jacob walked out, he said "This city is awesome! I should take a break and stay here for the day. Yea, that sounds nice". So he walked to the park and sat on a wooden bench, looking out on the lake.

Jacob had bought some bird seeds to give to the pigeons that were landing at his feet. He was really enjoying himself in this lovely city, and he was thinking "Maybe I should stay here for the weekend. It's so nice here, and it seems like there is no crime, either. This place is just so cool". Jacob watched as Canadian geese flew by, and he watched as dogs ran around the dog park area playing with the other dogs in the park. Jacob got some water from the vendor in the park, and walked towards the fountain. He walked past the fountain, past a really large tree, and walked out of the park. He heared birds chirping and people talking as he walked out of the park to take a walk around the whole city. "This place is just beautiful. I could stay here for a while". He knew, however, that he had obligations, and he couldn't linger here forever. He just decided to enjoy what time he had in the city.

Daniel Cruise/Genesis
Daniel abrubtly woke up from his nap when he heard a noise outside. It sounded like someone was staring to drag something. Sure enough, when he walked outside, he saw a man try to drag a body out into the ocean. The body looked to be that of a twenty-something year old male, and Daniel flew down as quick as possible. He confronted the man and said "What are you doing? And what are you dragging?" The man said "Uh...I'm...uh...bringing this...uh...this bag into the ocean". Daniel looked at him and said "You liar. I can't stand scum like you". Daniel shot a beam at him, but he didn't want to make it so powerful that it would kill him. He blinded the man with the beam of light, and grabbed him by the wrist, taking him to the police station. Daniel dropped him off, and told the police what happened. He walked out of the station, saying "I was hoping today would be a peaceful day. Whatever, I can just go back home and sleep". But something was alerting Daniel's mind. He knew automatically that he was sensing some strong being close by.

He tracked him down outside the park, and confronted him saying "Who the hell are you? I can sense your powerfullness. Are you some meta-human?" The man said "My name is Jacob Avery. How were you able to tell I have powers?" Jacob looked at Daniel a little closer, and he though he looked very familiar. "Have we met before?" Daniel looked at him weirdly, wondering where they could've met. Then it snapped "Wait a minute. Are...are you cousin Jacob. We haven't seen each other in years! It's so nice to see you!" Jacob remembered too, saying "It's been so long, cousin. How are your parents doing? Good, I hope". They went strolling down the park, telling each other of everything that had been happening in each other's life. Jacob told of what had happened in Canada, how he got his powers, and all the battles he had against others. He talked about meeting the likes of Killian and Daniel Carter, both idols to Daniel Cruise. Daniel told Jacob about his battle with the demon Vega and his new home. "We should go to my house. I think you'll like it there". They both jogged to Daniel's house, and got back to reconnecting outside near the pool over two glasses of whiskey. They were both excited and very happy to be meeting each other once more. They could become a superhero duo, fighting crime alongside each other. Daniel proposed the idea to Jacob, and he agreed. "We shall call ourselves...Blood Brothers. I know we're cousins, but whatever. We can be just like brothers. I'm so glad we got to meet". Both Daniel and Jacob kept talking until night time came, and they went to bed.

[The Starlight]

Mars had been exercising when suddenly the hologram of Craig appeared before him. He was quite surprised, since Craig Thomsen was a very famous inventor and had been in the news recently after having escape government custody and exposing a plot to target superheroes. Mars was even more surprised when Craig invited him to the summit. "Really? You want me to come?" Mars asked in shock, adults had never really taken him seriously before and never treated him like an equal as Craig was. He hadn't heard of Praetoria before, but he was eager to be at a conference with brilliant minds from across the world.

"Of course, I mean I'm very interested in attending. I have duties with the team, but I can take some time off to come. I want to do my part to help." Mars told Craig, trying and probably failing to hide his excitement at the prospect of this conference.

Craig Thomsen
The Convention - War

Craig chuckled at Mars' excitement, his holographic head nodding before he continued. "Of course! You built a sentient robot at age 13, was it? That simply shows the potential that you have. Oh, you should definitely come along to Thomsen Tech HQ sometime after this. I'd love to show you around. I'll see you at this conference then. Oh, and feel free to keep the Orb. I call it the Orb of Cognition. It has massive amounts of storage, can be coded to your DNA, and all sorts of other fun things that I'll let you find out for yourself. Craig said," before dissolving the connection.

A few hours later, the contingent of about 15 scientists, engineers, and inventors stood in the workshop which was the size of a large warehouse. Craig stood at the front, with the rolling chalkboard to the side. "Alright, everyone, welcome. As you know from my holographic messages, we're here to evaluate our collective tech and this Kryptonian tech Xander has given us free reign with, in order to advance our technological capital. No thinking small here, think big. Also, we'll be ignoring many boxes or laws of science that we have created, due to our limited knowledge of the universe. So let's begin. There are several major problems on this Earth that prevent further development. For each one, we'll have to decide if we can create a solution, and whether we have the right," he said, beginning to draw a web.

"And here is what I've come up with. Firstly, war. Of the past 3,400 years, we have only been at peace for 268 of these years, or a meager 7.88%. With the rise of super-powered beings, it's surprising that we haven't got into a full WWIII, though I suppose, the Civil War," Craig said, and if one was paying close attention, one could see a grimace of pain on his face, the inventor rubbing his shoulder once before continuing, "could count, but that was mainly between supers, not nations. And as every nation begins to get super-powered beings of their own, its a new arms race, one could say. If international tensions rise too much, and nation-states begin to appeal to nationalism again to get their supers to fight for them for whatever reason, it will not end well. As Einstein said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Preventing a world war is key to the growth of our technological capital. A major nuclear war, or dare I say, superpower war, would result in widespread destruction, and depending on the circumstances, could send us back to anywhere from the Industrial Age, or the Paleolithic Age."

At this, Amadeus Cho raised his hand, Craig chuckling. "We're not in school, here, we are all colleagues here, Amadeus. No need to raise your hand, but go ahead."

The Asian-American blushed, before continuing, "Isn't that estimate a bit melodramatic? I myself estimate the chance of a WWIII happening with supers and sending us back several decades at 37.56%, with 1.2% for error."

Craig was silent, for a moment, running the calculations in his own head, nodding. "Yes, 37.56% is correct. But the problem with that estimate is that it doesn't account for the widespread trauma, hysteria and fear. Superpowered beings, after the fallout of this war, would be killed, or too afraid to use that power. All government would be destroyed, literature, music, all of those things. The people who do survive will be too afraid of technological progress, as they would believe that technology was what caused the war, and they wouldn't be completely wrong. But that's enough about the potential of war, now, in order to fix it, and this is going to be a hard one, war; we have to understand why it happens. And for that, Reed, if you will, can elaborate on that."

"Sure, Craig," said Mister Fantastic, getting up from his chair, and beginning, a pondering look on his face. "The reason war is so hard to solve is because we can't simply build a machine. It's we, humanity, who need to be fixed. Wars are predominantly begin because of want. This can be a want for land, a want for resources due to scarcity, a want for self-determination. It can be argued that all those can be filed under needs as well. Every war happens because of some particular details. But that's not solely why war occurs, or all we would have to do was make sure everyone had enough land, resources, and freedom."

"But war also arises because of something dark and terrible inside of us, the ability, the willingness to kill. For some reason, we are drawn to violence in different ways, but it all comes back to that willingness to kill, that devaluation of human life because there's 7 billion of us now. When life becomes a statistic, a secondary factor, that is when war is its most terrible. Unless we can change the way we think, war will continue, and the worst thing, is that no matter what historians tell you, there are no true victors in a war, only losers. Some lose limbs, others lose lands, many lose their lives, or some part of their humanity. That's what we face, ladies and gentlemen. Many have tried to create world peace by attempting to create utopias, and it seems that very word is cursed. But perhaps, if we can make war an impossibility, save for pure evil, then, we might be able to find a solution. Let's also not forget about that there can be necessary wars. Terrible, but necessary wars. There has been evil in this world's history, undisputed evil that had to be fought." the scientist said, nodding to Craig before sitting back down, Craig walking back up.

"So we've determined that there is little we can do technologically about war. As some of you may know, I recently created a revolutionary type of shield, one that can absorb the types of energy used against it to strengthen it. I like to see the best in people, in humanity, and what I have aimed to do is make technology accessible, and usable to all. But I was recently shown the worst in humanity at the hands of the organization known as ARGUS, and that...experience has changed me, left me unsure, doubting. Can I trust the world with these shields? Can I keep them out of the wrong hands? Are there any right hands? Thus, I've been distributing them very, very carefully, individually, to cities, not nations."

Black Panther next spoke up, for once not in his Vibranium black armor. "We cannot change the blowing of the wind, but we can direct it, harness it. Such it is as war. Unless every single person on this Earth is satisfied, war will remain an unfortunate constant. I remember that one, Stark suggested an international organization of superpowered beings. I dismissed it at the time, for Wakanda has always been isolated. Now I wonder if some form of that should be considered, being able to immediately respond to crisises that occur, or conflicts."

"But then we get into the big question," piped up Peter Parker. "Do we have the right? And if we do, what safeguards do we put in place to make sure we do not abuse our power. As the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. And if we, all the heroes of this world decided to go rogue, do we really think that anyone could stop us? We would become despots, tyrants."

"But what is the other option? To let thousands more die?" Black Panther argued.

"There must be some middle ground, perhaps we should take a second look at the technology we know of. Peter, your Parker Industries has created a handheld device that allows everyone to have Internet. Combining your and Craig's tech, could we not come up with a handheld, individual shield device?" Bruce Banner proposed.

Adam Brashear got into the conversation, stroking his chin. "That is something worth experimenting, Dr. Banner. However, the problem of distribution; how we ensure that it does not fall into the wrong hands also applies."

And that is how the Convention began in truth, the most brilliant minds of Earth coming together, arguing, sharing data and technology, and beginning to look through the room full of Kryptonian tech. Craig and Reed stood side by side, both in lab coats, looking on with slight smiles. "We might just actually figure this out," Reed mused, Craig nodding.

"Rise!"

"Did you hear that, Reed?" asked Craig, looking about.

"No, what?"

"Rise!"

"I'm sure I heard something!" Craig said, looking around again. All of a sudden, a blue and silver light shone in front of the artificer, entering him. The young inventor collapsed, Reed quickly extending his arms to catch him, while a voice sounded in the mutant's head.

Rise, God of Innovation!

[New Rob Halfordia]

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This basic principle governs all of existence. For every life, there must be a death, for every light, a shadow must be cast. Generally, these forces exist in harmony, working together to keep existence stable. But, should two massive forces of nature designed to coexist, clash, and threaten to tear apart such meticulously crafted harmony, there is another principle of existence that must act to keep existence tied together. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed. This is true of the Cosmic Forces, the Power Eventuality, the Power Eternal, the Power Cosmic, the Power Infinite and the Power Obliteration. Each one needs a vessel, and each one is but a piece of a larger force. A power that does not simply govern an aspect of one universe, but instead, all of existence.

----------

On a New York street during a dark, stormy day, two beings stood, a scene of carnage and destruction surrounding them. One was a young hero, imbued with the power of a New God, a direct reaction of the death of Darkseid. The other, a humanoid figure in machine like armor, stood on the opposite side of the street, tossing his hooded cloak away, his fiery gaze never shifting away from his target. He spoke in a tone that resembled his appearance, more machine than man, a deep bass with a technical undertone. "Continuum." Extinction said, his eyes glowing in a color similar to a roaring inferno, "Do not let your strike against my being disillusion you, I will defeat you, New God or not. My first step towards obtaining the Power Judgment will be achieved with your defeat."

Suddenly, Extinction's eyes fired two black beams, dark as space itself, and seemingly annihilating the air in their way, leaving a strange vacuum in their wake. Continuum, with his new found speed, quickly attempted to dodge the beam. But, they were fast, too fast for him to avoid, and they could cause untold destruction on the city if he let them pass him. As the beams struck, he felt a strange, and incredibly painful sensation. It felt as though he was being torn apart at a sub atomic level, being erased from all of existence. In no time, his entire being was seemingly wiped from reality, and he was gone.

However, despite this, Extinction seemed to keep his guard up. But, little could prepare Extinction for a massive uppercut, delivered from seemingly out of nowhere. The armored god was sent flying through several buildings, and up into the sky. He struggled as the sensation of pain filled his body, a feeling that he was not used to. He brought himself to a stop in the mesosphere, halting his incredibly fast tumbling motion for but a moment, before yet another strike hit him, faster than he could even see it happen. The pain he felt quickly transformed into anger as he was suddenly overpowered by the human who, just moments ago, was almost dead. It was a foolish move going into a fight hungry. He had exerted too much energy showing off, and it had been weeks since his last feeding. The strike had sent him barreling into space, and as Extinction slammed into the moon's surface, he realized that normal human death wouldn't be enough. He'd need the death of something powerful. And, as it just so happened, such a death had just occurred, on the small blue ball called Earth.

However, as Continuum appeared before him throwing another punch while well eclipsing the speed of light, Extinction stuck out his hands, catching the punch, dulling it's still devastating power. Everett recoiled back for a moment, flying backwards, away from Extinction, obscured by the dust of the heavily damaged moon. He looked down at his fist, finding it hard to believe what he had just done, with little effort to boot. But, despite the power in his hands, he remembered that he wasn't just fighting for himself, he was fighting for the people on the planet beneath. He became a hero to protect people who couldn't protect themselves, not recklessly fight foes he hardly even knew. If he wasn't careful, he could cause a lot of damage, something he didn't want to do. And, aside from his physical power, he had somehow brought himself back from the results of Extinction's initial beam attack. As the dust and debris began to clear around Extinction, however, it became evident to Everett that this fight was far from over.

A smoke like black energy flowed out of the dust cloud around Extinction, before a sudden pulse of invisible energy shot through space causing Everett to shield his eyes. The pulse dissipated the cloud of dust around Extinction, revealing that the black energy was coming from his eyes and hands, through holes in his suit. He lifted his hand to Everett, the energy billowing out of it, and speaking in a deep and angry tone "So, you survived my first Antimatter Wave by placing yourself at a previous point in your personal timeline? A useful trick. It would seem Darkseid's death has disturbed the Power Eternal within you, giving you some ability to use it unconsciously." he said, somewhat annoyed by the increasing difficulty of his job, before returning to a more even temper and tone, "Darkseid has helped you quite a lot today, but, you're not the only one. The Dark God's death was a monumental one, throwing off the balance of the universe, and creating chaos throughout the cosmos. In other words..."

"I'm full."

[Charmera]

---

Manifest whistled in awe. "Quite a story, Valka. You'll have to give me the full version sometime. As for your army- Damn if it isn't impressive as all hell. I'm honoured to be included." After this, he noticed the Olympians were there, and he started glaring at Hermes. "Seriously? That idiot is a God? Damn if that doesn't explain a lot."

Valka laid a hand on his shoulder, to calm him. "Peace, Thor. He has due cause to be angry," and then, she raised her voice so that all could hear her, and began, Valveig smiling to herself, recognizing what would come next. "You all have cause to be angry. I was thy All-Mother, I was thy shepherd, and I left you. And for that, I am sorry. Our realm is naught but ashes now, and we are all that remain. But in truth, we all are Asgard, and so, it lives in us all and in Yggdrasil. But for all the hopeful things I may say, there is one thing Asgard have been taught to fear and obey, save myself, and that is fate. For too long we have been slaves to our fates. In the old myths, most of our deaths are written, fated. How we will die, and what glory we shall achieve. And there is glory in death, my friends, glory in fighting for a righteous cause, glory in defending one's realm and family, glory, in fighting for those who cannot. But there is no glory in fate. Today, I say this to fate: nay. The winds of fate shall toss and turn us no longer! We write our own stories, now, for we are the stories." she said, glancing at the Goddess of Song she suspected her future daughter would become fast friends with.

"This should be a story to remember. Whatever happens. I wouldn't miss this for the world." Remarked the Goddess of song in question, a small smile on her features as she looked to the two of them. She hadn't given up hope on the all mother at all during this whole ordeal. After all she was always on the side of the protagonist, as most story tellers tended to be. After all after knowing thousands upon thousands of stories, she thought she was very good at telling protagonist from antagonist.

She readyed her weapons and prepared for battle.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

An Unexplained Story Nobody Cared About
Why does Manifest dislike Hermes?

12 Years ago
"It's been eight years since Fury brought you into the fold, Crawler." Manifest's SO smiled broadly. "First round's on me."
Manifest rolled his eyes and laughed. "You just want to check out the girls at the club again?"
His SO punched him in the shoulder. "Shut it, Crawler." The laughing glint in his eye told Manifest that yes, he was exactly correct. And it's not like he would complain, would he?

---

"Good booze, good food, good women. Damn I love Greece." Manifest leaned back in his chair. "I wish every job could be like this."
His SO chuckled. "Don't we all. You know we're only here because of the occasion, right?"
Manifest sighed, closing his eyes and taking a drink. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy it while it lasts. Still can't believe peg leg sent me into a Fishing hut with no rod." Fury, Hydra base, evac.
"He knew you didn't need one, Crawler." His SO replied easily. Mechanically.
"Bullshit." He grumbled quietly. "Doesn't matter now anyway. Let's just drink quietly and watch the girls."
The two continued in an uncomfortable silence, each not actually watching, but rather mentally glaring at each other.

Thankfully for them, this was cut off by a stranger sitting next to them. "Hey, bartender! I'd like to be a drink for me, and two bottles of hard whiskey for the two fine SHIELD agents here."

Instantly, all eyes went to Manifest and his SO. Manifest sighed and took another drink. "Shit."

As it happens, the two SHIELD agents in question were involved in a stakeout operation. Recently, an all female group of Hydra agents had branched off from the main organization, citing its "patriarchal roots and obsessive indoctrination mechanisms" as the reason they left. They were so unimportant to Hydra, however, that they quite simply tipped SHIELD off about their whereabouts and plans when they realized what happened. As it happens, females in Hydra aren't exactly hard on the eyes, and the fact that they decided to set up shop next door to a bar and club didn't hurt things either.

Almost every single person in the club was one of SHIELD's marks, and they had just been made. Manifest's Superior Officer cracked his neck. "Ready to get hairy, Charley?"
"Always. Then we question this joker."

Two minutes later, it was over. "Before you call Fury for the arrest, let's talk to this idiot." Manifest turned to the stranger that made them. "Care to explain yourself before we bring you in, mate?"

"Sure. If you can catch me." He smirked, suddenly rushing past them to the other side of the room. Their guns were unloaded and they were suddenly handcuffed together. "I just wanted to see what the Blade could do. I knew they were no match for you. Sorry, the big boss really wanted to know. Gotta run!" He laughed as he vanished again, this time leaving the two handcuffed to one of the Hydra agents.

"What the hell just happened." Manifest wondered aloud, reaching into a secret pocket in his belt for his spare key to his handcuffs.

"Don't know." His SO sighed, turning on his radio. "This is SHIELD 90317, there is a Speedster on the loose, potentially hostile. Limits unknown. Made our cover, watched us beat up a Hydra split cell, and then beat it. Wanted to watch Special Agent Crawler fight."

[Charmera]

The construct flew down to Julie, examining her closely. "What could you provide? I am a God, empowered by a Universal force as I utilize an Omniversal force. What could a simple Lantern bring to the table? No offence meant, of course- The Lanterns have long been a force for peace, if a bit..." It tilted its head slightly, still watching Julie closely. "Ineffective. Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Sinestro, and Sodam Yat are the few Lanterns I know of that went above and beyond this. Sinestro is now a universal criminal, Gardner and Jordan are dead every other Tuesday and almost dead the rest of the time, Yat, as far as I know, is simply dead. I am sure there have been others, but Destiny has always seemed to lay its hand against the Lanterns." It glanced upwards. "Perhaps I should ask him about that." Suddenly, it collapsed in on itself, liquid steel pooling in mid-air for a brief moment before the construct reformed. It did not address this.

Julie
“Considering you’re about to set up a system which is very similar to that of the Green Lanterns, except without the experience of the guardians, or with any sort of galactic experience which would be key to the sort of judgement calls you’ll need to make, I’d say a ten year and running green lantern would be the bare minimum help you need. Heck I’d be asking for more help if I were in your position...” Replied Julie. She folded her arms, “Secondly, no offence, but you aren’t the most diplomatic person from what I’ve seen, so you really could use a PR person for all this.”

“Lastly, you need someone who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth. And I have a good track record with telling it how it is.” She then paused for a moment. “Also, considering our jobs and the fact that many of our identities are not secret, it’s a wonder that more of us aren't dead.”

Zaki
"Funny. A veteran of the builder war talks of how he's more concerned with the leader of a universe munching force rather than the hordes... Ironic don't you think?" Zaki remarked. Then sighed. "I am not worried without reason. I have seen far too many universes fall before the hordes of my people. I am trying to make a stand here, but if we don't stop them they will be no one left to fight back. And you are a key part of the defence."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

The construct flew down to Julie, examining her closely. "What could you provide? I am a God, empowered by a Universal force as I utilize an Omniversal force. What could a simple Lantern bring to the table? No offence meant, of course- The Lanterns have long been a force for peace, if a bit..." It tilted its head slightly, still watching Julie closely. "Ineffective. Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Sinestro, and Sodam Yat are the few Lanterns I know of that went above and beyond this. Sinestro is now a universal criminal, Gardner and Jordan are dead every other Tuesday and almost dead the rest of the time, Yat, as far as I know, is simply dead. I am sure there have been others, but Destiny has always seemed to lay its hand against the Lanterns." It glanced upwards. "Perhaps I should ask him about that." Suddenly, it collapsed in on itself, liquid steel pooling in mid-air for a brief moment before the construct reformed. It did not address this.

Julie
“Considering you’re about to set up a system which is very similar to that of the Green Lanterns, except without the experience of the guardians, or with any sort of galactic experience which would be key to the sort of judgement calls you’ll need to make, I’d say a ten year and running green lantern would be the bare minimum help you need. Heck I’d be asking for more help if I were in your position...” Replied Julie. She folded her arms, “Secondly, no offence, but you aren’t the most diplomatic person from what I’ve seen, so you really could use a PR person for all this.”

“Lastly, you need someone who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth. And I have a good track record with telling it how it is.” She then paused for a moment. “Also, considering our jobs and the fact that many of our identities are not secret, it’s a wonder that more of us aren't dead.”

Zaki
"Funny. A veteran of the builder war talks of how he's more concerned with the leader of a universe munching force rather than the hordes... Ironic don't you think?" Zaki remarked. Then sighed. "I am not worried without reason. I have seen far too many universes fall before the hordes of my people. I am trying to make a stand here, but if we don't stop them they will be no one left to fight back. And you are a key part of the defence."

The construct nodded slowly at Julie. "You're intelligent and not too prideful. Would you be willing to go through a series of trials to determine if you are truly as skilled as you claim? Should you pass, you will be introduced to the way the Throne works and added to its mechanisms as an authorized user."

---

"I see your point." The construct replied simply. "But the comparison to the War is flawed. Even then, I could destroy approximately three quarters of a standard Builder fleet in half an instant, and I had a fraction of the power I now wield. You are, indeed, not worried without reason- But I assure you, I will stand with the others in the Universe's defence when the time comes, and I will fight with all my might. Should I yet fail, I know of a way for me to increase my power even further- Your former Queen will fall, if not to my strike, then to Valka's, or Otis', or another's."