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

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Manifest frowned and raised his arm, summoning an island sized ball of steel and stone to block the attack. He flew above it, instantly releasing a volley of missiles towards him. Knowing it would do little more than distract the God for a moment, he took this opportunity to speak. "Otis Steredenn. Bolt. Please, listen to me. Everything about this... None of this was supposed to happen."

On the walls of the room, large guns were charged, ready to fire the moment Otis moved forward past the missile barrage.

"Well... You know." Otis said, placing a barrier around himself as the missiles hit them. "You really should've thought about that BEFORE you killed my girlfriend, Captain Hindsight." When the smoke cleared, he heard someone say his Inhuman name. Bolt. He knew the voice sounded familiar, but now it was coming back to him. Manifest. The man he met at Xander's wedding a few months back. The man who was responsible for his Inhuman name. "Manifest? Is that you?" Otis didn't recognize him with all the armor and through the fact that he never actually got a good look at his face until now. "You're the one who killed Julie?! What the hell man?! I thought we were friends!" Now he was conflicted. Manifest wasn't a bad person from what he remembered, in fact he seemed like a really cool guy. It was one thing to beat up a random strange who just so happened to be a dick. It was another when that stranger turned out to be a friend.

Manifest floated down, dispelling the steel and stone sphere beneath him. "Julie's death... It wasn't supposed to happen." Now that he was closer, Otis could see the scar crossing his completely crimson eye. He was unshaven, and his hair was unkempt. "Please, let me explain everything." In one hand, the flaming Infinite gleamed, drawing Otis' eye towards it. For a brief moment, he could almost see the blood dripping down it. For a brief moment, he could see it impaling Julie in his mind's eye, severing her arm and ending her life. For that moment, Manifest's face seemed to... Shift. The pleading desperation there now became a look of raw, emotionless calculation. The scar that crossed his eye spread across his face, even into the other eye, and seemed to pulse with malevolent energy. And then it was gone, like it was never there. Back once more was the guilt-ridden self-hatred he now displayed. Back again was the sadness and the clean blade. But gone was any supposed innocence.

"Please."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Daniel Carter/Killswitch-24-Mad City, Madworld

Turns out, a certain Amazon has run off one of my targets. The Forever Knight, will have to be put on hold until I deal with Lysia. This situation is tricky, I know enough to see that she usually sticks to the refugee slums. She seems as if she has claimed the increasingly large area as her own playground. That being said, she sees herself as their guardian. If I attempt to draw her out by causing trouble, negotiation will be difficult at best. Although I have heard of a possible lead, a young man named Sinkley, a refugee who was formerly a gang enforcer but now seems to be a sort of protoge. To lure her out quickly, I could target him, but that violates a few rules. First, he was not marked by the contract. I don't spill blood unnecessarily. Secondly as previously pointed out, I don't desire to make things any more difficult with Lysia.

So, which brings me to my current strategy. Simply show up in the slums. If she watches over the place, she will soon take note of a trail of bread crumbs leading to an assassin armed to the teeth. Eventually, she will find me, as I have heard of some of her exploits, surely she must have heard rumors of various people being eliminated throughout Mad City. However, I was curious about this Sinkley. Perhaps a simple chat could be enlightening. From the impressions I got in Baravia, I did not take Lysia as the mentor sort.

I wondered around a bit, despite not knowing what Sinkley looked like, I guessed, correctly it seemed, that he would approach me. "Stop right there." He called from behibd me. I turned to see a very large statue of a man, in fact his frame would make most people a adult. But he had a very childish face, I assumed he was no older than seventeen. We stood several paces apart as I watched him flex his arms slightly, not to appear intimidating but rather in anticipation. "You should leave here Mr...whoever you are." I decided to play along.

"So, your worried about the refugees here aren't you?" His answer was unexpected but very amusing.

"Not at all, I am worried about you. Tough guys don't last long when Lysia decides to step in. So, I thought I would do the sensible thing and ask you nicely." I chuckled, I was right, this was enlightening. Despite what he said though, I could see the tables turning in his head though. Considering his options. I made it easy for him.

"I know what you are thinking. Can I take this guy? The anser is 'no'. Regardless you don't need to. Neither you or any of the hiding refugees here are in any danger. Lysia is the only one I have business with." At the mention of the refugee's, Sinkley looked around himself. And indeed most were hiding or at the very least keeping distance from the two of us. Then still clenching his fists he asked me a question.

"Are you going to kill Lysia?" The question was simple, I decided to make the answer so as well.

"Yes." I could see anger flare in his eyes as he continued to tighten his fists, but remained in place. But the tension showed in his voice.

"Why?" The question was always the same. But considering the boy's youth I decided to mentor the boy in the Amazon's absence.

"Why' is the wrong question. Asking 'why' I or any other sentient being fights is as if asking 'Why fire burns'. It is in our nature. A more important question, Sinkley, is to ask 'What is worth fighting for?'" The titan youth grunted.

"Like killing for money?" He spat, I shrugged in response.

"For me, that is more or less correct. I use my skills for my own benefit, by being an assassin I make a living for myself the best way I know how. Not so unlike a carpenter, who provides for himself with his own trade. The difference between myself and a carpenter is we simply have different skills. Trust me, I would never turn a dime in woodworking." I joked, almost getting a smile from Sinkley until he realized I was the 'bad guy'. But I decided to inject some critical thinking into the conversation.

"Lets talk about you now. You fight to help these people, am I correct? At least that is what Lysia is teaching you. But are you really helping them? By solving their problems for them, they become dependent on whoever calls themselves their savior. But what if that savior was removed? Then the 'progress' that was made is erased. And things regress back to how they used to be. People like Xander, Superman, Lysia and even you tell yourselves you are helping mankind. Guiding us. But this is the truth they do not want to face."

After a momentary pause I continued. "They are not needed. Humanity needs no protector, no guardian or no savior. For thousands of years mankind progressed at our own rate. Physically, we are weak, we should habe been extinct for ages. But we possess a power no other creature on this rock had, adaptation. We could hunt mammoths and saber tooth tigers in the ice age tgrough use of spears and teamwork. We progressed further until we became dominant, and eventually even touched space. But now, humanity is growing weaker, when trouble arises we now just wait for a cape to save us, and sometimes...they never come. Why is it so hard for beings like Xander, Superman and other heroes to accept this truth? Because doing so would mean admitting they are irrelevant. That with all of their power, they are meaningless to mankind." Closing the lesson for today, I took another look around. Scanning for Lysia.

"Well, I suppose your mentor should be arriving any moment now. Just think over what I said until she gets here."

My weapons still sheathed and holstered my anticipation rose drastically, as the rematch I had secretly craved fast approached. First I would try to negotiate with her, as I know I cannot permanently kill her. But even so, I had a desire for her to fight, as I did have a score to settle with the Amazon.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Rebecca Carter-21-Atlanta, GA-NPC
I listened intently to the man's story, only realizing his cybernetic arm when he mentioned being hurt. That aside, the fact that he somehow wanted to 'help' Daniel actually shocked me. If they were on opposing sides, chances are Daniel shot at him. And to consider helping someone after that, well it spoke to the stranger's naive, but sweet character. But as he finished I placed my jow empty coffee cup on the table and crossed my legs as I leaned back in my chair. "Listen...Callum? I...appreciate you taking all of this effort to tell me about Daniel. I truly do. But that means you now know more about him then I do. We don't exactly...meet at family reunions." I explained as I crossed my arms.

"You have managed to ease my mind that he is still alive however. Before you came in tiday, I had begun to think that he was killed in action, but now I am certain that he is alive. Missing in Action possibly, but If I know him. He is completely off the charts right now, and the only way you can find him at this point is if he wants you to. He is good at disappearing." But then my voice began to show concern.

"If you really want to help. Just forget you met him. The only thing that is certain is if you find him, the two of you will just end up fighting again. And this time one of you may not get back up." I then stood up and collected the empty coffee cups, continuing. "And I don't wish to see either of ya'll hurt. You cannot save everyone Callum, Daniel is going to have to save himself in time. If his own sis cannot reach him...what could you do?" I asked sincerely, amazed by his desire to change someone he owes nothing to.

[Krytonus]

Rebecca Carter-21-Atlanta, GA-NPC
I listened intently to the man's story, only realizing his cybernetic arm when he mentioned being hurt. That aside, the fact that he somehow wanted to 'help' Daniel actually shocked me. If they were on opposing sides, chances are Daniel shot at him. And to consider helping someone after that, well it spoke to the stranger's naive, but sweet character. But as he finished I placed my jow empty coffee cup on the table and crossed my legs as I leaned back in my chair. "Listen...Callum? I...appreciate you taking all of this effort to tell me about Daniel. I truly do. But that means you now know more about him then I do. We don't exactly...meet at family reunions." I explained as I crossed my arms.

"You have managed to ease my mind that he is still alive however. Before you came in tiday, I had begun to think that he was killed in action, but now I am certain that he is alive. Missing in Action possibly, but If I know him. He is completely off the charts right now, and the only way you can find him at this point is if he wants you to. He is good at disappearing." But then my voice began to show concern.

"If you really want to help. Just forget you met him. The only thing that is certain is if you find him, the two of you will just end up fighting again. And this time one of you may not get back up." I then stood up and collected the empty coffee cups, continuing. "And I don't wish to see either of ya'll hurt. You cannot save everyone Callum, Daniel is going to have to save himself in time. If his own sis cannot reach him...what could you do?" I asked sincerely, amazed by his desire to change someone he owes nothing to.

It was good to know that this girl was on my side. She obviously cared about her brother. I realised I was picking at my cybernetics, and quickly stopped.
"I don't know how to save him, and I don't pretend to. I was hoping you'd have an idea where he was, but it doesn't matter. I'll just pick up another lead. And when I find him, yeah, I may have to fight him. But I can guarantee, nobody will die. I don't know why I want to find Daniel so much, but I know I can. And if I can find him, maybe I can save him. He almost felt like somebody who couldv'e been a friend. I promise to you, I will find Daniel Carter, and I will save him. Do you know anything about who he was working for? A codename, or anything? Please." She was my last chance. If she had no other leads, I wouldn't be able to find Daniel Carter until he struck again.

[The Republic of Atria]

Otis thought for a moment. He was really torn on what he should do. On one hand, he was still very upset about Julie's death. But on the other hand, he kinda knew Manifest. The man he knew wasn't a murdering bastard, but he flat out admitted that he killed Julie. "I really don't know what to do. I'm obviously upset with you. And for a very understandable reason." It was confusing. Why would he kill Julie? Julie was always so kind and caring. "Why is that that every person I get emotionally attached to dies? I don't know what to do. I used to read about you in the news every now and again. You were one of them who helped fix up that ship that crashed long ago and far away. You were a hero." He spoke quietly. "I learned the hard way that the universe doesn't care about any of us. We die, it will go on as if nothing happened. So, I blame myself for letting it happen. I was a coward and too afraid of my own power to actually use it."

"I could have. I could have easily went along with her when she did her Green Lantern stuff. But I didn't. And now someone I loved, is dead again because I was afraid. I came here wanting revenge for what you did. I realize that I'm just as much at fault as you are. I'm leaving. You win. But don't ever let me see you again." Otis spat. "We both know that the next time we see eachother... One of us isn't walking away." And with that he left the Universal Fortress out the same way he came, albeit much slower."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

"Did you guys hear? There was a breakout at Rhykers earlier today." Speedball smirked, walking into his team's meeting room. "From what our producers gathered, they got help from the outside- Those Belle Reve escapees from a month back."

Night Thrasher glanced up. "Seriously? I thought you agreed to give up on this, Speedball. They're ghosts, and not only that, if they can break into Rhykers, then they're the real deal. Way above our pay grade."

Speedball chuckled. "Yeah? They don't have to be. Look, if we take these guys down, it could put the New Warriors on the map. Who could call us laughingstocks with names like these in our resume?" He tapped a touchscreen on the table, and an image displayed on the screen in front of them. "Cobalt Man. Ripoff Iron Man, but a fight with the Hulk has him on the FBI's most wanted list." He tapped it again. "Coldheart. Death wish for all Heroes, has swords that shoot ice. I mean, come on, how lame can you get?"

He put the tablet down and smiled broadly. "All of them are idiots like this. Come on, guys, it'll be a cakewalk! Look, latest intel says they're hanging out in a town called Stamford, Connecticut."

"There's no way anything could go wrong."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Rebecca Carter-21-Atlanta, GA-NPC
This guy...was out of his mind. In a good way I suppose. He has no idea where Daniel is, how to find him, if he can somehow change him and yet here he is, standing in front of me promising the world. I almost wanted to tell him he was being an idiot. I don't understand, why put out so much effort to save someone he has no ties to? I want to believe he will actually do it, I want to believe he is not just full of shit. I could actually start to feel tears form in my eyes as I quickly dried them up. I pressed a hand to my forehead and clised my eyes trying to focus. "He had a nickname in his unit....kill...something..." just as it seemed as if it was lost to me I suddenly remembered it. "Killswitch...thats what his squad mates called him." Before Callum could take that information and leave, I called after him. "Wait, there is something you should know about Daniel...let me tell you a story..."

Our dad was a cop. A good man wuth many problems. He brought his work home with him and he eventually became an alcoholic. Dad had anger issues that he managed to deal with sober. But drunk he often became violent. It was bad, he often lashed out against mom, and when Daniel stood up to him dad hit him. He swore it would never happen again. Bought us some ice cream. But it always did." I explained as the memories came flooding back.

"Six days before Daniel's ninth birthday, there was a bad thunderstorm and dad came home late. An argument broke out and momma grabbed a kitchen knife. I saw everything, in a struggle momma was stabbed and Daddy, covered in her blood was practically crawling to me. Thats when Daniel arrived, just eight years old to see his mother dead and his abusive dad getting closer to me. And he shot him, killed dad with his own service pistol." My eyes then flashed as I finished the story.

"Daniel believed he had to do it, to save my life. To protect me from the man who killed momma. But Daniel did not see everything, he did not know. Daddy never killed momma. Daddy was sober for nearly a month, and even seeking counciling secretly. But momma had an undiagnosed case of PTSD. She panicked when the argument broke out, and stabbed herself when daddy tried to disarm her. The man was begging for forgiveness." I then warned Callum.

"Daniel doesn't know the truth. You can never tell him, it would destroy him. I only told you because I thought you should know what made him the way he is. Please Callum, you need to understand what that does to a man. To kill your own father when you are only eight, and believe you have no choice. So, if you still think there is any way you can get through to him..." I began to choke up, as I have never told this story before. Revisiting all of the old wounds to do so now was just...more than I expected.

[Krytonus]

Rebecca Carter-21-Atlanta, GA-NPC
This guy...was out of his mind. In a good way I suppose. He has no idea where Daniel is, how to find him, if he can somehow change him and yet here he is, standing in front of me promising the world. I almost wanted to tell him he was being an idiot. I don't understand, why put out so much effort to save someone he has no ties to? I want to believe he will actually do it, I want to believe he is not just full of shit. I could actually start to feel tears form in my eyes as I quickly dried them up. I pressed a hand to my forehead and clised my eyes trying to focus. "He had a nickname in his unit....kill...something..." just as it seemed as if it was lost to me I suddenly remembered it. "Killswitch...thats what his squad mates called him." Before Callum could take that information and leave, I called after him. "Wait, there is something you should know about Daniel...let me tell you a story..."

Our dad was a cop. A good man wuth many problems. He brought his work home with him and he eventually became an alcoholic. Dad had anger issues that he managed to deal with sober. But drunk he often became violent. It was bad, he often lashed out against mom, and when Daniel stood up to him dad hit him. He swore it would never happen again. Bought us some ice cream. But it always did." I explained as the memories came flooding back.

"Six days before Daniel's ninth birthday, there was a bad thunderstorm and dad came home late. An argument broke out and momma grabbed a kitchen knife. I saw everything, in a struggle momma was stabbed and Daddy, covered in her blood was practically crawling to me. Thats when Daniel arrived, just eight years old to see his mother dead and his abusive dad getting closer to me. And he shot him, killed dad with his own service pistol." My eyes then flashed as I finished the story.

"Daniel believed he had to do it, to save my life. To protect me from the man who killed momma. But Daniel did not see everything, he did not know. Daddy never killed momma. Daddy was sober for nearly a month, and even seeking counciling secretly. But momma had an undiagnosed case of PTSD. She panicked when the argument broke out, and stabbed herself when daddy tried to disarm her. The man was begging for forgiveness." I then warned Callum.

"Daniel doesn't know the truth. You can never tell him, it would destroy him. I only told you because I thought you should know what made him the way he is. Please Callum, you need to understand what that does to a man. To kill your own father when you are only eight, and believe you have no choice. So, if you still think there is any way you can get through to him..." I began to choke up, as I have never told this story before. Revisiting all of the old wounds to do so now was just...more than I expected.

"I promise you, I'll find him. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'll find him. I'll get through to him somehow. Killswitch... This'll help. Thank you so much. Here." I handed her a slip of paper. "That's my number and email. Don't hesitate to call me for any reason at all. Thank you, so much. You didn't have to be so welcoming to a stranger." I stood up, reaching over to shake her hand, smiling. "Pleasure meeting you. See you, and thanks again so much." I finished, walking back to the door. With a wave, I opened the door and started walking.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Glenmore High School, North lobby

"Look out!"
A Swat officer yelled as he ducked behind a desk, 2 Swat members being hit with an RPG blast, causing them to be killed and thrown back. The Swat members were pinned down near the front of the lobby, behind desks, concrete columns, and other solid cover as they slowly were working their way through to a hole in the Gang's defenses. The Gang members had the high ground, barricading the top of the stairs leading to several halls to the southern wing, and the stairs just in front of the Swat's position leading down to a large cafeteria, the doorways to said cafeteria were also controlled by the gang. The Stalemate was locked, however both sides chipping away at each other, A Gang member ducked to his friend after receiving a Radio call, "Here's the plan, we hold the Swat in the lobby, if we can't Boss says we murder the hostages", his friend nodded.

["......We Murder the Hostages"], The Knight was able to hear through the Radio's circuitry, as he took his position on a beam high above the lobby, looking down at the fight ensuing below. Opening up the Holographic HUD on his Gauntlet, The Knight began to go to work, "Sanza what are some advantages that we can gain here", [We can use the Lighting system, the loud speakers, aswell as a ventilation shaft system that leads around the lobby]. The Knight quickly closed his HUD and shuffled over to a Ventilation grate near the beam he was on, quickly grappeling over to the tiny ledge he grabbed the sides of the grate, ripping it off and placing it aside. on the thin ledge as he climbed in and dropped down. Hitting the Bottom The Knight used the ventilation system to get under the large team of SWAT members, The Knight quickly pulled out a thick explosive gel paste, spraying it all along the ventilation shaft below the Swat members, "Sanza, when the Gel goes off, cut the lights", [Yes sir].

The Knight then quickly shuffled down and out of the Ventilation system, as the fighting continued, then, took out the small detonator and pressed it, detonating the gel. The Gel was explosive, but it's compound was enough to break through the concrete of the floor below the swat members, causing them to fall into the ditch now made by the former ventilation shaft. The Knight quickly shot 2 of the Swat members with Tranquilizer darts, hitting them just between the gaps in their uniform. The Knight dropped down into the ditch, disarming one and knocking him unconscious with the stock of his gun, then kneeing another and flipping him over, then punching through the visor of his helmet knocking him out. The Knight quickly turned around to see 2 swat members pointing their rifles at him, "Freeze!", The Knight shot his grappel, grabbing a steel rod attached to a chunk of concrete, pulling git back between their legs it tripped them, The Knight jumping over it stomping down on one Swat knocking him out, then quickly punching the other knocking her out.

The Knight stood up, but as he did, Several of the Gang Members knew what was happening and were now moving from their Barricades to get to the now downed Swat members. The Knight quickly used his commlink, "Sanza, Strobe the Lights and activate high pitched White noise in this entire room", [Yes sir]. Just as The Knight ordered it, the lighting systems began to strobe at a fast rate, and if that didn't disorient the Gang members, then the ensuing white noise caused many of them to drop to their knees in pain. The Knight quickly ran and jumped off of the Swat's former cover, dropping down onto two of them smacking them against the concrete, The Knight then shot his grappel grabbing one gang member, pulling him back towards him he used his left arm to knock him down mid flight, then stomped down on his knocking him out. The Knight then grabbed downed gang member, throwing him at 2 others knocking them over, continuing to fight them in the lobby.

---

Glenmore High School, Northwestern wing

Viktor Krukov quickly ran through the Storage halls of the Northwestern wing, using the lock breaker The Knight gave him to break each of the storage locks. Even though the students were in the Storage compartment, he was continuously opening up storage rooms which were either empty, or just filled with equipment. "Dammit!" Krukov said, slamming his fist into a wooden door, cracking it. A few seconds after Krukov yelled, he heard the yell of a coach, echoing from one of the Storage containers. Krukov quickly hurried to the Storage Container, inserting the device it quickly broke the lock, as he entered he saw the entire basket ball team, however one of them was holding a bloody towel to her head. "Barney what the hell happened?" he asked, The Coach quickly picked up Anna, carrying her in her arms, "She was beaten by a larger Gangbanger, he looked like he was on steroids, We gotta get out of here", Krukov quickly gestured for the students to leave the Storage room, keeping a pistol he took from one of the Gang members at the ready.

"Barney do you know if there are any other students here?", The Coach shook his head, "No, they only talked about us, if they did they're probably in the eastwing". Krukov quickly ran with the Girls basketball team, the Coach still carrying an unconscious Anna Lawson as they hurried through the halls, stopping at the end of one hall, Krukov placed his hand up causing them all to stop, "What is it?" one of the girls asked. Krukov sniffed the air, "I smell smoke", Krukov made a fist with the same hand as he went down the hall, telling them to stay where they were, as Krukov entered a commons area of the school, he looked in shock as the entire commons area was on fire, cutting off their route out. Running back to them he quickly shouted, "Barney we're cut off, we need a way out", "I know a way, follow me", The Coach said hurrying to a hall leading away from the fire. "Why are the commons on fire?" one of them asked nervously, The Coach shrugged but Krukov chimed in, 'When an enemy force occupying land was losing, they burnt the farmlands and resources, so that the men invading wouldn't have anything to gain from their conquest".

Just as they were nearing what could be an exist, Coach handed Krukov Anna so that he'd be able to open the door, just as he opened the door, a Backdraft blew open both of the doors, causing everyone to get thrown back. The force of the backdraft caused a portion of the ceiling to collapse, smoldering with fire and embers, cutting off Krukov and Anna from the rest of them. Krukov looked around nervously, still holding the unconcious girl, "Barney, Go! I'll find a way to get her out!" Krukov yelled, the coach hesitant, but ran with the rest of the team down the hall. Krukov kept his gun readied as he ran, trying to find a way out through the hopelessness of the situation. The Coach and the team were stuck at a dead end when they reached a doorway closed and burning, Just as they were ready to give up, The back end of The Destroyer smashed through the concrete, opening up revealing the seating inside it. ["Get In, Now!"] The Knight's voice commanded through the radio, they all huddling in the Destroyer, quickly climbing in from the advancing flames.

The Knight drove back out and away from the burning complex, driving around towards the Police, paramedics, and firemen, serving and opening The Destroyer's trunk towards them. As The Basket ball team climbed out, The Knight ejected from the Driver seat, landing by them and standing up, noticing a missing member. "You're missing one of your teammates" The Knight said, some of the girls on the verge of tears, "Knight, you've got to help us, The Security Guard we were with was cut off from us with a team member, Anna Lawson, please get them out!". The Knight nodded as he turned and pulling his grappling gun out, shooting and hoking onto the roof and being pulled off. The Knight stood on the roof, looking around he saw the smoke and embers on one portion, The Knight quickly ran and jumped, crashing through a weak portion of the roof.

Viktor Krukov continued to try to run through the now half burning halls of the North Western half of the school, shooting his pistol trying to clear some of the burning wooden slats blocking his way. Eventually seeing as he was trapped from 2 sides he stared down at Anna Lawson who he was carrying, she'd now just started to wake from her unconsciousness. "w...what's..happening" she said through her disorientation, "we're trapped, Sorry I couldn't save you child" Krukov said, looking around at the fire grimly. Before any of them could say anything else, The Knight crashed through the weak ceiling down infront of them, "Krukov", "'Bout damn time you get here, Knight boy" Krukov said jokingly. The Knight quickly took Anna from krukov, exchanging a hookshot device as he grappeled up. Krukov took a few seconds to inspect it, before shooting up and grappeling out of the burning building. The Knight looked around at the edge, trying to find a way to get the three of them down safely, Krukov also looked, seeing an open dumpster he saluted to The Knight, before stepping off and crashing down into the dumpster, the black plastic bags breaking his fall.

The Knight dropped down, using his cape he broke the fall majorly, settling down he headed back to the emergency workers with Krukov, The Coach immediately ran over to The Knight. "is she-?", "She's fine, for now, I'll need her to get to a Hospital", The Coach gave a slighty sigh as The Knight placed Anna down onto the stretcher. Both of them giving a quick nod to each other before the Paramedics loaded Lawson up into the Ambulance and drove off, The Knight stood next to The Destroyer, Krukov walking up and gazing at the Western wing which was now being doused by Firemen.

"Thanks for the help, comrade",
The Knight nodded in return "Just doing my Job Krukov",
Krukov took out the Hookshot "You have a fine skill at craftsmanship",
Krukov tried to hand the Hookshot back, but The Knight waved him off, "Keep it,call it a parting gift".
The Knight climbed back in The Destroyer, before he was able to drive off, Krukov walked up and said, "if you ever need my help, you've got it my friend". The Knight nodded, before The Destroyer's compartment door closed and drove off, away into The Night.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

The Empty Cold AU - Part 2

For a brief moment, Charles Crawler stared at the blade in Valka's hands. "Is..." He looked up at her, awestruck. "Is that the..?"

She nodded slowly. "Over the aeons, I have collected a great many ancient artifacts from throughout the Universe, trying to find a way to safeguard it from the fate that befell Asgard. The Infinity Gauntlet is powerless. The last cosmic cube has long faded from existence. I cannot even count the number of Lantern rings lying dead in the ship's hold, and the helm of Nabu is silent for any who wield it. The Blade is the only thing that has, thus far, kept its potency in our dying universe, but it has responded to nobody's touch." She looked at him for a moment. "Perhaps it was awaiting a return to its rightful master."

Manifest held out his hand for a moment, hesitant, and grasped its hilt. In an instant, a power older than the Universe flowed through his body. Blue sparks began to burst out of the blade, striking Valka and throwing her back. Manifest did not notice as he began to slowly lift into the air, primordial energy sparking around him. The Manifest Blade, in his hand, began to shimmer, transforming into raw energy. Red waves of power flowed from the disintegrating blade into his body, lighting him up as it entered. Manifest began to laugh, but no sound came from the broad, manic smile on his face. His irises began to pulse red, shining brightly in the darkness of the dead world. Manifest's ancient midnight black armour slowly formed around him, replacing the ragged cloak and clothing he had on before, with exception to his helm. The same blue sparks continued to form around him.

As the last of the energy from the Blade entered his body, a bright silver flash overtook the area, blinding Valka's allies. When it cleared, Manifest was kneeling in the centre of a small crater, breathing heavily. His white hair covered his face, concealing him, though it could not fully conceal the consistent bright flashes of crimson from his eyes. Valka laid sprawled several meters away, half of her honour guard kneeling over her and the other half with their weapons drawn towards Manifest.

"Valka?" One of them frowned, laying her hand on the Asgardian's shoulder. Valka stirred, gasping for breath.

Valka rose to her feet hesitantly. "That energy..." She narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "My guard, you must retreat. Should this devolve into battle, thy lives may be forfeit." She drew Oathbringer and Dragonheart, the twin blades that the All-Mother had used since the dawn of her reign. They began to glow in ethereal flame, with the once mighty Valkaforce flowing through them. Once, it had been among the most powerful energies in the Universe. Now, though weakened, it was nevertheless formidable. Valka's guard paled, retreating quickly and vanishing in a burst of brilliant light. Valka stalked forward slowly, unsure of what to expect from he who was once among her closest allies.

Manifest slowly rose, the blue sparks surrounding his body slowly ceasing. "Oh, my. Thank you, Valka Silverhand." Manifest's voice was... Malformed. It was almost echoed by nothing. "It has been so long..." His head shot upwards. Half of his face was obscured, revealing a bright crimson eye, leaving a trail of blood behind him and down his face, with a smile too broad for his body. "It appears that this form was not ready for such an influx of power. It will take some time to get used to." The being once known as Charles Crawler began to laugh, softly at first, and then suddenly maniacally. At last, he was fully risen. "What are you staring at, old friend?" It tilted its head. "I think we have a Universe to save, don't we?" It suddenly turned, speeding off, but leaving a trail of its own blood for Valka to follow.

Valka stared for a moment, astonished by what she just saw. Her expression quickly sombred, and she sheathed her blades and brought her wrist up. "Stay in the ship. Track mobile energy source Alpha-Zero-Six. Prepare primary arsenal." She lowered her wrist and looked down the trail of blood, rising into the air for a brief moment and shooting forward, following it. For a very long time, there was nothing. Eventually, however, she reached Manifest.

"You are a lot slower than I remember you, All-Mother of the Nine Realms." Manifest acknowledged her. "We're on the borders of Madworld. Maxwell Morningstar stil resides here, stuck in the past, drowning himself in the sorrows of loss, death, and regret. A pitiful display for a once proud man. It will not take him long to sense the energies coming off of us, and if I am correct, he should be absolutely desperate to get his hands on some." His smile did not falter for even a moment.

Valka did not have a moment to react before she heard a scream of rage and hunger behind her. She flew upwards, the form of the Mad King passed beneath her as he lunged for her. Even meters away, Valka could still feel the debilitating effects of his abilities. She was weakened by his mere presence, and knew she could not fight him for long. She breathed deeply, glancing at Manifest, who was silently laughing and staring at her with unblinking eyes. She grimaced, shaking her head, and drew her blades once more. "I knew thee as a proud, but honourable man, Morningstar." The Valkaforce flowed through them as she held them before her. Max turned towards her, madness in his eyes as the sheer amount of energy around him overwhelmed him. "I do this in hopes that thy sanity may return. Forgive me." Her eyes flashed for a moment. "If energy is what you desire..." The Valkaforce began to coalesce around the tips of the blades as she slowly crossed them. "Feast!"

In that instant, Maxwell leapt forward, propelled by bursts of explosive energy, only for a wave of raw power to flow around him. A brief instant later, it began to circle, and finally enter him. He fell to the ground, breathing heavily, but his weathered features were at last no longer tinged with insanity. He looked around. "...Manifest? Valka? How?" He blinked, and his expression hardened. "You returned to Earth with the Manifest Blade, and he found you first. Of course." The Mad King sighed. "Why did you return for me, Charles? The last we met, you had a deathwish for me, and I the same to you. It is only with respect to Valka that I do not rip you limb from limb." He scowled, rising to his feet. Energy coalesced around him, returning his clothing to his typical outfit from before the Supernova.

Manifest's smile did not fade. "Valka is here to have us save the Universe, Maxwell Morningstar. I couldn't very well leave the self-proclaimed Mad God out of such an endeavour, could I? Especially when your abilities are so useful for us."

The Mad God narrowed his eyes. "You are different, Charles, and not in a good way." He looked him up and down, before closing his eyes and opening his palm, sensing the energies within Manifest. His eyes darted open and he stared at Valka. "What did you do, Silverhand?" He scowled.

She raised an eyebrow. "All I did was return the Blade to its rightful owner, Max."

He sighed and gestured towards their ally, who simply floated in place and watched them. "When you gave him the Blade, his body was so energy deprived that it partially absorbed the Blade's essence. He fused with it. He and his weapon are now intertwined, even more so than before, and whatever mind-altering effects were locked away in its hidden depths, like he himself warned us about so long ago? They've all been fundamentally altered and applied to him. There is no telling what could happen to him now."

"How... Fascinating." Manifest tilted its head slightly. "Meet at Silverwing's location." He vanished, once more leaving a trail of blood. Max and Valka glanced at each other before flying off after him.

---

"We left the Earth to track down Kalibak after he escaped Asgardian confinement less than three months after Apokolips' sudden, unexpected downfall. As my team and I wandered the universe for months, we were cut off from contact from the various civilizations by necessity. Eventually, however, we stumbled upon an ancient New God relic. To this day, I know not what that artifact was or what it was supposed to do. The moment I touched it, it exploded outward. To my shame, I fell unconscious immediately. If forced to conjecture, I would say that it had some sort of mechanism designed to reproach Gods. When I awoke, I was adrift in space. The deceased bodies of my honour guard floated nearby." Valka sighed for a moment as she and Max sped along. "I do not know for how long I was unconscious, but the universe I returned to was a different place from what I once knew. The Earth was, for all intents and purposes, gone. The Kree were dead. The Skrulls were dead. I attempted to contact Asgard... But there was no response. Eventually, I found my way back to my home, but it was empty. I called out for Heimdall, but the All-Seer was silent. I called out for the Warriors Three, but naught but dust was roused by my cries. I made my way to the centre of the city. What I found... Two figures kneeling before a shattered throne. The branches of the World Tree were hewn. The two figures were the rotting bones of Thor and Loki."

She paused. "I have faced countless Ragnaroks in my time. I have felt blades pierce my heart, and I have endured torture that no man could ever imagine. On that day, though, none of this was any preparation. Asgard was dead, fully and finally. This was no mere Ragnarok, nor some shadow of a scheme. This was the end, and on that day, I knew fear." Max glanced over at her, and noticed a slow trickle of tears from her eyes. She said nothing, nor did he. "I was discovered by a scavenger group who had come to Asgard to pick its bones. At first, I attempted to destroy them, but as they explained the situation to me, I eventually relented. Entropy embodiment had set foot on this ground, and it was doomed to an early death. They were simply taking what could be saved. In the end, I assisted them in preserving what little of Asgard would not be dust by the end of the year." She chuckled softly. "I asked them what their group's name was, and they called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. Can you imagine, Maxwell? Long after the Avengers are dead, and the Justice League has met its end, the pitiful little group that called itself Guardian yet remains. They were always the most persistent, weren't they? I have been travelling with this new generation of Guardians ever since, attempting to gather what we could to fix this universe. In the process, we stumbled upon the Manifest Blade. I was the only one among us who recognized it, and almost immediately I asked that I be given leave to come to Earth and bury it. They allowed this."

She glanced at her travel companion. "What about you? How did you fare after I left?"

Max shook his head. "Not now. We're here."

---

The two slowed as they approached Manifest. "Unfortunately, it won't be nearly as easy to locate Silverwing as it was for you, Morningstar. He does not have the ability to sense energy as you do." He turned in place, his disturbed smile now facing the duo. "Maxwell. This is why I gathered you first. Use your energy sensing abilities to locate him. He's the only living thing on this planet other than us."

The Mad King frowned at Manifest's tone, but nevertheless closed his eyes and reached out his hand. "Follow me." He opened his eyes and began moving forward.

Eventually, the trio found themselves outside a cave. Maxwell glanced at Valka. "Ladies first." She rolled her eyes and landed on the ground, walking forward. Her armour began to glow a dull blue to light up the cave. As Manifest entered, a flickering, dull red light grew into being around him. Maxwell, on the other hand, erupted into golden light, reminiscent of the long deceased Saiyan race. A figure deeper in the cave, now illuminated by the combined glow, quickly turned around.

"Hello, Craig Thomsen." Valka tilted her head upwards in greeting. "It has been some time." To her right, Maxwell floated above, glowing brilliantly. He had a scowl on his face matched only in intensity by the broad, demented grin on Manifest's tilted head to her left.

For a brief moment, Craig simply stared. "Well..." He mumbled. "You certainly recall how to make an entrance."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Etla grinned slightly as Serene expressed her happiness. It was certainly nice to see that her presence was appreciated by the blonde girl, especially when their meeting had been pretty much due to random chance. Of course, she had helped them out quite a bit upon meeting them, so the siblings owed her some politeness at the very least, but even then it was nice to see that Serene was glad to have her company. It cheered her up to see how easy it was to make new friends. The Rainborn soon turned away from the other girl, though, to look at the girl's brother instead as he walked out of the cave where they had found the guru. She frowned slightly, not answering his awkward greeting as she looked at him, still somewhat irked at how he had caused his own sister to burst into tears, though her gaze softened considerably as she saw him apologize to Serene. Not that the two would've noticed anyway, given how emotive a moment it was for the siblings, but to the somewhat self-centered Rainborn, that simply didn't register properly.

"Something better to do? No, not really." The golden-haired girl replied to Darian upon hearing his question. "I guess I could be home with Craig, or making more bunnies maybe, but it's okay. This is exciting." She stated, flashing a wide smile. Indeed, despite the drama she had been forced to witness, everything from the fight against the evil demon person to the rock golems had been pretty fun, even if the walk to the guru's place had been somewhat dull. She could only imagine what awaited them in Egypt, seeing how she had never been there. She had only ever seen pictures of the pyramids and such, and while it would've been remarkably easy to just fly over there, she never really felt like it until now.

"Besides, I have to help you now, right?" The Rainborn nodded. "We're friends, after all."

She vaguely wondered if she had gotten that part of human culture right.

---

---

Jamie continued listening to her friend's words, tilting her head slightly as Cora explained why she hadn't told Katie or any of the others about the burden she was placing upon herself. On one hand, she was happy to see that one of her teammates trusted her enough to share a concern like this with her, even if it interrupted one of her gaming binges. But on the other hand, learning that Cora trusted her just enough to ask her out on a suicide mission... it just didn't feel particularly satisfying. Regardless, the black-haired girl still understood why Cora was doing all of this, or was at least able to empathize with the cyborg's concerns and feelings on the matter.

Hearing the end of Cora's explanation, Jamie let out a small sigh and then stood up, noticeably shorter than the redhead even at her full height. Crossing her arms and deliberately not looking up, she spoke. "Alright then. I will help you. I can't just overlook the distress of a friend of mine, after all." She said, her egotistical side showing through in what she thought was a display of magnanimity. One way or the other, though, she had agreed to help Cora out, and she wasn't going to back out on her word, especially not now that she belonged to a supposedly prestigious superhero group.

With her mind made up, the black-haired girl pulled up her hood and put on her mystical shades. No longer just Jamie, others would now find it impossible to identify her as anything other than her superhero persona, Final Boss. Nevermind that she wore the exact same clothes and looked the same except for said shades.

"Let's get ready, eh, Infinity?" The girl said, lightly nudging Cora as she called her by her superhero name.

---

---

In the blink of an eye, what was supposed to be a fairly prestigious but otherwise completely mundane videogame tournament closing ceremony instead turned into the battlefield for a vicious fight between some sort of hostile alien creature and none other than her fellow finalist in the tournament, Luna. Everything happened so quickly that Jamie did not react until she had been pushed out of the way of the falling ceiling, though in her defence, she was quite distracted and unprepared to run into trouble in a place like that. Falling on her butt after being pushed away by Luna, the black-haired girl quickly stood back up and dusted herself off, looking at the battle currently going on between the strange woman and the Gentarian creature. For a moment, she frowned. She was supposed to be a superheroine, part of the Justice Queens, and there she was, watching someone else take the fight to the bad guys. Now, it wasn't that she was particularly attached to the heroic lifestyle just yet, but she still felt like she should do something, and so, glancing around to make sure no one was looking, she reached into the inner pockets of her jacket, retrieving from her inventory a pair of shades and quickly putting them on.

The second the shades were on her, she became someone else entirely, as far as the world was concerned. Though she looked pretty much the same and wore the exact same clothes, anyone looking at her would not be able to tell that they were looking at a teenage girl named Jamie Mason. Rather, they would only be able to see the fledgling heroine known as Final Boss. Even those who knew of her identity already, such as her fellow Justice Queens or Luna, were affected by the identity-concealing effect whenever it was activated, though they could still put two and two together and see it was her.

Now ready to do heroic stuff, Jamie looked at where the opponent stood and quickly decided on what to do, her gray ring softly glowing as she tapped into its power. The black-haired girl momentarily reached into the inside of her jacket with her arm, and when she pulled it back out, it had been covered by some sort of power armor, her hand turned into an advanced grey-green arm cannon. Pointing it at Jylt, she fired a volley of missiles from it while backing away, towards Luna, offering her a hand. "Let's take that thing down together." She said, intentionally trying to make her voice a little deeper than usual to keep up the facade, even though it wasn't necessary. She wasn't very good at it, either.

---

---

After having hidden away from Mars' sight and left her fellow Young Bloods to pursue the Álvarez on their own, Kirisvala had felt quite terrible. After all, she had taken up the mantle of a heroine, the Dragon Mage, precisely because she wanted to help out those who needed it. Yet, during a very important mission, she had let her feelings cloud her mind completely, and had wound up running away from the place once the other Young Bloods had turned their back to her. However, many of those feelings had cooled off by now, and so, rather than be embarrassed at her little blunder, which she was certain Mars would have no problem forgiving, she was terribly ashamed of her massive overreaction. Back then, she was utterly mortified at having ruined what she thought was a very important moment for her, the chance to show Mars how she felt about him, even if she herself wasn't entirely aware of just how much she wanted to be with him yet. But, even though she was not wrong about its importance, in her fear-induced frenzy she had forgotten to consider that there would be many other moments like those. It was thoughts like these that had helped calm her tempestuous heart after her mind had taken some minutes to cool down.

All in all, though, could they really blame her? She would've loved to have been better prepare to face an embarrassing situation like that one, but her father had never really talked to her about how to handle feelings like the ones she had for Mars, and after a certain point in her life she had pretty much lacked any sort of mentor figure that she could talk to, being more or less isolated from her whole clan due to her reluctance about conspiring against the Eternal Queen of Hadrimmelis, who was later revealed to be none other than the planet itself. She quite simply didn't know better, but that, she reasoned with some sadness, wasn't really an excuse. She should've stuck with her team rather than running off in a frenzy, and it was this thought, rather than her episode in front of Mars, which currently plagued her mind.

It did not take her long to reach the tower, even on foot, as she had learned the layout of Jump City quite well during her time living there. Carefully opening the door, so as to avoid scratching it, she walked in and headed straight to the elevator, which took her to the Command Room. There, she was met with a sight she did not expect: there was a tiny girl with wings talking very fast in one of the corners of the room. Kiris, still with tear stains in the corners of her eyes, smiled softly as she approached the fairy.

"You're so pretty!" She giggled, staying some distance away from Ava in order to avoid scaring her, her claws harmlessly hanging to her sides while her tail slowly circled behind her. "What are you doing here? What's your name?" She asked.

[Siliarba]

Daniel Carter/Killswitch-24-Mad City, Madworld

Turns out, a certain Amazon has run off one of my targets. The Forever Knight, will have to be put on hold until I deal with Lysia. This situation is tricky, I know enough to see that she usually sticks to the refugee slums. She seems as if she has claimed the increasingly large area as her own playground. That being said, she sees herself as their guardian. If I attempt to draw her out by causing trouble, negotiation will be difficult at best. Although I have heard of a possible lead, a young man named Sinkley, a refugee who was formerly a gang enforcer but now seems to be a sort of protoge. To lure her out quickly, I could target him, but that violates a few rules. First, he was not marked by the contract. I don't spill blood unnecessarily. Secondly as previously pointed out, I don't desire to make things any more difficult with Lysia.

So, which brings me to my current strategy. Simply show up in the slums. If she watches over the place, she will soon take note of a trail of bread crumbs leading to an assassin armed to the teeth. Eventually, she will find me, as I have heard of some of her exploits, surely she must have heard rumors of various people being eliminated throughout Mad City. However, I was curious about this Sinkley. Perhaps a simple chat could be enlightening. From the impressions I got in Baravia, I did not take Lysia as the mentor sort.

I wondered around a bit, despite not knowing what Sinkley looked like, I guessed, correctly it seemed, that he would approach me. "Stop right there." He called from behibd me. I turned to see a very large statue of a man, in fact his frame would make most people a adult. But he had a very childish face, I assumed he was no older than seventeen. We stood several paces apart as I watched him flex his arms slightly, not to appear intimidating but rather in anticipation. "You should leave here Mr...whoever you are." I decided to play along.

"So, your worried about the refugees here aren't you?" His answer was unexpected but very amusing.

"Not at all, I am worried about you. Tough guys don't last long when Lysia decides to step in. So, I thought I would do the sensible thing and ask you nicely." I chuckled, I was right, this was enlightening. Despite what he said though, I could see the tables turning in his head though. Considering his options. I made it easy for him.

"I know what you are thinking. Can I take this guy? The anser is 'no'. Regardless you don't need to. Neither you or any of the hiding refugees here are in any danger. Lysia is the only one I have business with." At the mention of the refugee's, Sinkley looked around himself. And indeed most were hiding or at the very least keeping distance from the two of us. Then still clenching his fists he asked me a question.

"Are you going to kill Lysia?" The question was simple, I decided to make the answer so as well.

"Yes." I could see anger flare in his eyes as he continued to tighten his fists, but remained in place. But the tension showed in his voice.

"Why?" The question was always the same. But considering the boy's youth I decided to mentor the boy in the Amazon's absence.

"Why' is the wrong question. Asking 'why' I or any other sentient being fights is as if asking 'Why fire burns'. It is in our nature. A more important question, Sinkley, is to ask 'What is worth fighting for?'" The titan youth grunted.

"Like killing for money?" He spat, I shrugged in response.

"For me, that is more or less correct. I use my skills for my own benefit, by being an assassin I make a living for myself the best way I know how. Not so unlike a carpenter, who provides for himself with his own trade. The difference between myself and a carpenter is we simply have different skills. Trust me, I would never turn a dime in woodworking." I joked, almost getting a smile from Sinkley until he realized I was the 'bad guy'. But I decided to inject some critical thinking into the conversation.

"Lets talk about you now. You fight to help these people, am I correct? At least that is what Lysia is teaching you. But are you really helping them? By solving their problems for them, they become dependent on whoever calls themselves their savior. But what if that savior was removed? Then the 'progress' that was made is erased. And things regress back to how they used to be. People like Xander, Superman, Lysia and even you tell yourselves you are helping mankind. Guiding us. But this is the truth they do not want to face."

After a momentary pause I continued. "They are not needed. Humanity needs no protector, no guardian or no savior. For thousands of years mankind progressed at our own rate. Physically, we are weak, we should habe been extinct for ages. But we possess a power no other creature on this rock had, adaptation. We could hunt mammoths and saber tooth tigers in the ice age tgrough use of spears and teamwork. We progressed further until we became dominant, and eventually even touched space. But now, humanity is growing weaker, when trouble arises we now just wait for a cape to save us, and sometimes...they never come. Why is it so hard for beings like Xander, Superman and other heroes to accept this truth? Because doing so would mean admitting they are irrelevant. That with all of their power, they are meaningless to mankind." Closing the lesson for today, I took another look around. Scanning for Lysia.

"Well, I suppose your mentor should be arriving any moment now. Just think over what I said until she gets here."

My weapons still sheathed and holstered my anticipation rose drastically, as the rematch I had secretly craved fast approached. First I would try to negotiate with her, as I know I cannot permanently kill her. But even so, I had a desire for her to fight, as I did have a score to settle with the Amazon.

Lysia
Madworld, the refugee slums

The tower in the center of the refugee slums is the place I took as my perch from where I watched over the terrain I chose to protect. The advantage of it being the slums is that the tower didn't have anyone living inside of it and it was dilapidated enough people wouldn't assume anyone would be in there and then there being the third advantage that from here you could see almost every place in the slums. At least if you had the eyesight I posses. Since I started protecting these slums I have found myself sleeping several hours every day, for regenerative purposes. It's a good sign, it means it's challenging enough for me to have to expend my energy and a luxury because the place is manageable enough it will allow for sleep between my nightly patrols. The day was usually quiet, criminals aren't that active and the ones that are easily handled by Sinkley. And the forever Knights have already chosen to avoid this terrain, they already know that an Amazonian is out of their league so they do not even attempt.

Today seemed like the first retaliation was sent however. A man, clearly trained from the way he moved and the armor he wore, not to mention the arsenal he had with him, was sent in to the slums. He came in daylight so either he's extremely cocky, which is always a possibility, especially when it comes to men, give them a toy and they think themselves strong. The more likely situation however was that he was hired by the law, maybe not by choice but they felt it to be a necessity. The man has more the looks of an assassin than an enforcer after all. He doesn't seem to be planning to harm Sinkley, he hasn't made any moves that seem aggressive so let's assume he's indeed contracted by the lawful side. And if his objective is my assassination I wish him the best of luck, not even I know how I could die. Besides perhaps going critical and destroying time itself, not that I'm planning to ever let that happen.

Normally I'd make a show, some temporal arrows to call back the thunder from last night localized to exactly where he was standing. Or warping through time to suddenly stand behind him to instantly grapple him before he could even know I was there. Or simply throw a spear with enough speed that even if it would miss it would break open the street. But that last one wouldn't be to nice to Sinkley, he just fixed the street. Let's go with a simple approach and simply, approach. I used my powers to warp closer, still out off sight but close enough it was only a small walk. Turning the last corner I addressed Sinkley, "Get the people off the street Sinkley, and I'm sorry if this is going to end with a broken street." "No problem Lysia, I'll leave mister this place doesn't need heroes to you" Sinkley turned to the masked stranger for a final rebuttal "I was a criminal until a few days ago, if it wasn't for Lysia I'd still be one terrorizing these people. You say people like her are not needed but she changed my life and the lives of everyone here for the better. And if people really don't need others as you say, then they also don't need you. You say capes are meaningless, well you're at best a paid off cape, So think to yourself, how meaningless that makes you."

Sinkley walked off guiding people on the street to a safe place that he would stand guard at, he's a smart kid, or at least one with strong believes, good kid, glad I got him out of the crime thing, it would've killed him sooner rather than later and nobody would've cared. Back to focusing on why I'm here, the man who's here for me "So, I can guess why you're here, want to hold a speech or should we go straight to the point where I break your neck?"

[Siliarba]

Ava jumped at the sudden voice that came from nowhere, falling right off the Door Frame, shouting "Wah!" as she fell. She falls half way down the height of the door before she's able to stabilize and unfurl her wings, letting herself just glide to the floor. Once she's on solid ground, she turns in a circle, hoping to see a person she just didn't notice while she was up higher. When she notices she can't see anything, the only thing she can do is reply to what the voice asked. "WhatsGoingOn?WhoAreYou?WhereAreYou?HowDidYouKnowWhereIAm?WhatDoYouMeanRoomThatNeedsPainting?" It doesn't occur to her in the slightest to slow down so she can actually be understood.

After having hidden away from Mars' sight and left her fellow Young Bloods to pursue the Álvarez on their own, Kirisvala had felt quite terrible. After all, she had taken up the mantle of a heroine, the Dragon Mage, precisely because she wanted to help out those who needed it. Yet, during a very important mission, she had let her feelings cloud her mind completely, and had wound up running away from the place once the other Young Bloods had turned their back to her. However, many of those feelings had cooled off by now, and so, rather than be embarrassed at her little blunder, which she was certain Mars would have no problem forgiving, she was terribly ashamed of her massive overreaction. Back then, she was utterly mortified at having ruined what she thought was a very important moment for her, the chance to show Mars how she felt about him, even if she herself wasn't entirely aware of just how much she wanted to be with him yet. But, even though she was not wrong about its importance, in her fear-induced frenzy she had forgotten to consider that there would be many other moments like those. It was thoughts like these that had helped calm her tempestuous heart after her mind had taken some minutes to cool down.

All in all, though, could they really blame her? She would've loved to have been better prepare to face an embarrassing situation like that one, but her father had never really talked to her about how to handle feelings like the ones she had for Mars, and after a certain point in her life she had pretty much lacked any sort of mentor figure that she could talk to, being more or less isolated from her whole clan due to her reluctance about conspiring against the Eternal Queen of Hadrimmelis, who was later revealed to be none other than the planet itself. She quite simply didn't know better, but that, she reasoned with some sadness, wasn't really an excuse. She should've stuck with her team rather than running off in a frenzy, and it was this thought, rather than her episode in front of Mars, which currently plagued her mind.

It did not take her long to reach the tower, even on foot, as she had learned the layout of Jump City quite well during her time living there. Carefully opening the door, so as to avoid scratching it, she walked in and headed straight to the elevator, which took her to the Command Room. There, she was met with a sight she did not expect: there was a tiny girl with wings talking very fast in one of the corners of the room. Kiris, still with tear stains in the corners of her eyes, smiled softly as she approached the fairy.

"You're so pretty!" She giggled, staying some distance away from Ava in order to avoid scaring her, her claws harmlessly hanging to her sides while her tail slowly circled behind her. "What are you doing here? What's your name?" She asked.

Rin Tarla

I planned to talk back but Kiris just walked in, she can help me figure out if this person is a member. I rushed over to the location of the fairy and now also Kiris, maybe I should've warned her before she got to the fairy, but no harm done, I think. "Hey Kiris, I'm so happy you're back, I got something." Wait I need to keep that a secret for them to find out, surprises are the most fun when they're surprising, don't say a word, let them discover the surprise themselves. "Never mind, in any case the little humanoid there flew inside not to long ago, she's not a member right? I don't remember her being a member. Also her heartbeat jumped up since I talked to her, blood rushing, pupils dilating, heavier breathing, I think I accidentally scared her earlier by talking to her from the other side of the tower."

I turned to the little fairy creature "Hi, I'm Rin, I talked to you earlier, I can hear your body signals screaming that you're not all right so I won't ask if you're all right but would it be all right to ask if how to make things all right? I'm sure I can make things all right, right?".

[The Rebel Alliances]

Daniel Carter/Killswitch-24-Mad City, Madworld

As Sinkley gave his final word on myself being meaningless by my own logic, I tried to think back to a moment where I made a claim of my own importance. But upon realizing no such claim was made, I turned to face the recently arrived Lysia. The woman I intended to make a target. Well now, time has certainly been kind to you. I thought to myself as she did not seem to age, scar or show any other signs of time passing or battles waged. But that stands to reason, her manipulation over time is responsible for her excellent condition combined with her Amazonian heritage. I flexed my Nth Metal gloves, wondering to myself If her powers were based in magic. I assumed they had to be, if so...hopefully the Nth Metal will grant some personnel resistance from her powers. No difference either way, but it should make things less....dicey. When she issued her threat for breaking my neck, I knew she meant it. But that does not mean that she will deliver. My voice disguised by my mask, I spoke to the Amazonian warrior.

"Just a short one. Some terms should be established." I clarified as I began to assemble the assault rifle kit on my weapon.

"You cannot be permanently killed, at least not in any known way. As an assassin, this presents a problem to me. So, I suggest a pact among warriors. This will be very simple. If I defeat you today, then you leave Madworld...forever. But unlike you, I can die..." I explained. "If you defeat me however, then I die, end of story." Finishing assembly of the weapon I loaded incendiary rounds and faced her.

"Sound fair? Of course it does, after all, you may hate me. But I have no ill will for you. This is a business transaction. I like to keep my business transactions civil." I then readied the weapon at her, speaking in a now much darker tone.

"Now Lysia, let's see if our rematch ends differently then our first encounter!" Squeezing off a blast of the incendiary bullets, I had no expectation they would kill her. But their burning adhesive will surely hurt. After the initial start of the battle, I dropped the line about us knowing each other intentionally. Attempting to get inside her head, distract her from the battle by having her try to solve this riddle in vain.

After all, I have been instructed that in war, the battle for the mind is as important as the struggle of the body.

Seizing every early advantage I could, I used the anti gravity properties of the Nth Metal to take to the skies, firing off many more deadly accurate shots while keeping a moving target until finally I stopped mid flight, as I redied my grenade launcher to the warrior below. Firing an explosive which would easily blast a large crater in it's target area, and I did my best to ensure that Lysia was at the center of it.

[The Republic of Atria]

Otis left the Universal Fortress and slowly, relatively speaking, flew back towards Earth. He was at a lost on what to do. Should he have beaten up Manifest? He was doing his best to try and actually be a man rather than just hoping things would resolve themselves. He had the power, and now it was time that he actually used it for something other than amusing himself. Then he began to remember the argument he had with Medusa. For the second time. That was probably something he should do first. As soon as he started to make his way down to Earth, something caught his eye. A ship was just floating there in orbit. A Kree looking ship. It was probably something for Xander, but he couldn't help his natural curiosity and floated beside it to get a better look of the inside.

Whether it was a Kree ship or not soon became irrelevant when he saw that there was an Arcosian on board. He had never actually met one, but his motherbox filled him in on the species. Usually a planet conquering species, and that one just so happened to be one of the strongest members of their species. So, of course Otis let himself in via teleporting. "Hi! I'm Otis. I couldn't help but notice that you've got this big ship floating in orbit. I kinda live there. Okay, not there. I live on the moon, long story, and I'm just here to make sure you're not gonna try to blow it up. Cause if you are, I'm gonna have to bop you. If you just like staring at stuff, that's cool too, as long as you're not blowing anything up. Cause that's not cool."

[Confederation of imperial states]

Black Hand - Anarcho

Iron Mountain Security Facility, Los Angeles
8:39pm

Black Hand woke up, groggily he looked up, the bright white lights of the cell he was in were glaringly painful. Black Hand looked around, the cell he was in was white, the metal making up the walls were tightly packed and built together, the door being made of gray metal with reinforced glass. Black Hand was half asleep, however a voice from a man in a black armored suit standing over him woke him up fully. "helloooooo, Buddy, you awake?", Black Hand shook his head as he sat up, picking himself up he turned to face the man, his height was much larger than he was, "Where are we?".

Anarcho held his arms out, "welcome to the first class, AMAZING Iron Mountain Security cell, in the Sub-basement of their security facility!". Black Hand looked around, checking his belt and pockets he was stripped of his weapons, but most of his tools were still with him. "What are you here for?" Black Hand asked as he crouched, inspecting for some sort of exposed line in the door's metal. "Well.... Iron Mountain screwed me over in the past, so I crashed an incredibly armored car into their roof, shot up atleast 67 guys with the mounted gun, until they got some ogre straight out of Lord of the Rings to rip it open, and threw me in here".

Black Hand paused as he ripped a metal panel off the metal door, "So you're the guy who crashed that truck through the roof, you're a crazy b*stard you know that?". Anarcho shrugged as Black Hand took out a pair of wire cutters, cutting 2 electrical wires on the door and reattaching them to the ends of others. The Metal door opened to the cold and empty hallway, "Anarcho is it?" Black Hand stood up and looked over to him, "You wanna team up and get the hell out of here?", Anarcho made 2 "Skull and bones" gestures with his hands, "Hellz yeah, let's get out of here!". Anarcho and Black Hand exited the cell, approaching 2 guards from behind, Black Hand knocked out one by putting him in a sleeper hold, and Anarcho used the other one's own knife to slit his throat.

Black Hand and Anarcho rushed through the armory, Black Hand quickly looking at the signs above each door and Anarcho pretending to shoot imaginary soldiers with a rifle he took from one of the guards. They continued to hurry until an alarm on the loud speaker sounded out; [There has been a Prison breach on the sublevel, all Iron Mountain security forces converge and subdue the prisoners, Kill Order initiated]. [It's probably best to head to the Armory], [They're gonna Kill us!] the voices in Anarcho's head freaked out as they reached the armory door. Black Hand used a keycard from one of the guards to open the door, as soon as they entered they closed it, pushing a heavy cabinet infront of the doors. "Alright Anarcho get some weapons, we'll hold out in this room and attempt to run their forces dry", "That Sony guy is bulletproof man", Black Hand thought back and remembered there was a collar on Sony's neck. "The guy had a collar on his neck, possibly for control, break it and that Tyrannt guy looses his Ogre".

Anarcho nodded, grabbing 2 very large Light Machine guns, he turned to the door as the sound of around 50 pairs of footsteps marched over to the door. The iron Mountain security opened the sliding dors, only to see a large metal cabinet in their way, as the pushed it down, they came face to face with Anarcho, aiming 2 Light machine guns at them. "RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA" Anarcho yelled as he fired both machine guns at the crowd of Security. The bullet fire cut through them, killing many who were close to the door, and continuing to cut down others as they tried to duck for cover. "THAT"S RIGHT, You guys Better Ru-" Anarcho was cut off when a large metal crate came through the door, smashing into him and crashing into the back wall of the armory. 'I'm Okay!" Anarcho yelled from behind the box, Black Hand finished gathering his weaponry, just as Sony came crashing through the door, "Bad Man!" Sony screamed as he looked at Black Hand. Sony slammed a Fist down, Black Hand rolled to the right, climinb up Sony's left arm he got onto Sony's back.

Sony continued flail and yell, Black Hand took out his crowbar, wedging it in the lock of Sony's control collar, he wedged and ripped it off. The collar fell to the floor with a hard clank, Black Hand dropped of, circling to the Sony as he rubbed his head. "Sony....feel better", he said, the mean look he had before fading away, "Sony thanks you" Sony said dipping his head, y now Anarcho pushed the metal crate off of him, climbing from the crater in the wall, cracking his back. "Don't worry boys, I got me some Regenerative abilities" Anarcho said, cocking both his thumbs at him, Black Hand looked up at Sony, "hey big guy, we're getting out of here, what do you say?", Sony roared in response, giving Black Hand the answer he wanted. Just then, they heard the sounds of even more Iron Mountain security, Black Hand took out his pistol, pulling back the slide, "Get ready boys, it's time to go to war".

[New Rob Halfordia]

A lone space pod entered the solar system, it's inhabitant one of the few remaining pure blooded Saiyans, and the first Super Saiyan. The last in the line of Saiyan royalty, and son to the King. And perhaps most impressively, the killer of the mighty tyrant, Frieza. His name was Okarot, Prince of the Saiyan race. And despite his last trip to planet Earth being malevolent in nature, this particular trip had somewhat good intentions. He searched for fellow Saiyans, to recruit for a special mission.

There yet remained one Arcosian in the universe who, despite being in hiding, posed a threat to all Saiyans. While most of the race had repented for their way of life and wished to change, he simply wished to see the galactic superiority of the Planet Trade Organization return. And even Okarot, prideful as he was, knew that the power of a Super Saiyan alone was not enough to defeat Lord Frost.

Reportedly, he had briefly showed up on Earth after Frieza was killed, and was mortally wounded, but as most Arcosians do, survived his injuries. And the fact that Frost was in hiding told Okarot that he probably hasn't yet fully recovered. Either way, moving with haste would be the best option for striking Frost, given that if he truly was in a weakened state, it could only improve their chances.

------

Deep in space, in an asteroid belt near the outer rim of the Galaxy. A planet was being laid under siege. Thousands of alien soldiers brandishing the mark of the PTO battled with the indigenous people of the planet. High up in the atmosphere of the planet a mothership floated, massive in size, but almost empty. The only place in the ship that showed signs of inhabitants was the gravity chamber, where a lone Arcosian stood, his tail tapping the ground in frustration.

A peon spoke into a microphone in the control room to this Arcosian, "Lord Frost, are you ready?", he asked, nervously.

The Arcosian cracked his neck, "Yes, bring it up to 100 this time.", he said, stretching.

The henchman turned a knob on the control panel until the screen read 1×10^11. The room suddenly took on a red hue, darkening as the machine it's work. Frost looked down at his hands, and slowly moved his fingers, each of which felt like a building under the extreme conditions. Suddenly, turrets emerged the walls, made of extremely durable material capable of withstanding the gravity. Frost's eyes darted around, seeking each turret's location, as they constantly shifted.

As one fired, Frost jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding the beam, which ricocheted off the floor and began bouncing around. Frost landing back on the ground like a feather, counteracting the gravity with his own strength as he continued to seek out other attacks. Two more turrets simultaneously fired at him from the bottom of the room's walls, the beams moving at speeds approaching light. Frost once more jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding the beams, only for another to be fired at him in the air. The Arcosian quickly dropped down, swinging his open palm towards the beam and deflecting it, causing it to strike one of the ricocheting attacks, neutralizing both of them.

Suddenly, the room returned to its normal color, and the gravity began to lower. Once it returned to normal, a peon rushed into the gravity chamber, and saluted Lord Frost before reporting, "Sir, the planet's forces have been successfully destroyed, we have the elders gathered up and ready for interrogation on the planet's surface."

Frost smiled as his face mask receded, "And the teams have been deployed I assume?", he asked, as he began walking out of the chamber.

The soldier closely followed as Frost began walking, "Yes sir, they are searching to see if this colony has Dragon Balls as we speak."

"Most excellent. Go prepare my hover throne in the hangar bay.", Frost said, as he entered the ship's elevator, "I have something to attend to."

As the elevator brought him to the top of the ship, Frost stared out into the infinite of space, knowing the targets of his vengeance were out there. Since his humiliation on Earth three years ago, he had been forced to train in hiding. He had never before in his entire life, but, in three years time, incredible leaps in power had been made. Even in his prime, when he defeated Dabra and Buu, his power couldn't even approach where it currently rested.

Frost smiled as he lifted his hand, pointing it out into space. A pulse of invisible energy fired into space, one that only those with fine tuned Ki abilities would be able to sense. The Arcosian race would be well aware now, with certainty, that their God King has returned.

[The Fallen Jedi]

- Snip -

- Snip -

Master Shimura

"Shimura, are you alright Shimura?" The old master heard Alastir call out to him, and although he could barely hear the voice of his old friend, Master Shimura slowly opened his eyes and saw Alastir, Arctico, Asumar, Ryuichi, and Kazuko looking over at him with worried expressions on their faces, this was the first time that someone such as the likes of Shimura passed out, and it would have taken the combined might of a star going Supernova to knock him out. Managing a weak smile, Shimura carefully brought his hand out to Alastir, who gently grabbed hold of his palm and grasped it, knowing that he was lying down in a comforting bed that the Dark God brought into existence "We're here Master Shimura, anything you need and It will be done, just ask of me to do anything that will comfort you and it shall be done." Alastir asked in a hushed tone, his focus on no one else but the old man, the one who Alastir had forged a true bond with thousands of years ago, and he felt it as his obligation to care for the only friend he had while he lied on his deathbed.

Shimura nodded as he opened his mouth and spoke weakly "Put my hand on your forehead Alastir, I have something that must be shared with you, and you alone my friend, It is a vision of the future that I am certain will come to pass." The aged master saw the expression on Alastir's face and frowned slightly "Please my friend, this information is important for you to know, for I trust you alone with this information..." Shimura gave a reassuring smile to the Dark God, who nodded and placed the God of Peace's hand upon his forehead, the outline of these two individuals glowing with a jade coloration as Shimura led the two into a future that his vision foretold...

Within this vision lied the last stand of a species that had been in danger of annihilation from the very beginning of it's lifespan... The battlefield of Sigma Island being reduced to nothing more than a blazing red wasteland topped with the embers of what forestry remained within it's massive reach. The blood of the fallen warriors that tried their best to defend the place that they called home, their newfound livelihoods torn from their hands and devastated by a yet to be seen enemy "Uncle Kazuko!!!" a youthful voice called out as the red-headed son to the now deceased Asumar Masaki rushed to the aide of his now downed and bloodied Uncle, who put all of his power into protecting the new home that they once had "Uncle, please, I can help you, just please hang on!!!" Ryuichi shouted desperately as he tried to heal the mortally wounded Kazuko Masaki, the founder of the great Masaki Dynasty, the architect to the continued prosperity of the Masaki name.

"I-I'm sorry little Ryu..." Kazuko smiled weakly as he held on to the cheek of his beloved nephew, his vision slowly fading away as he surrendered his soul to the oncoming grip of death, it's cold and yet welcoming embrace closing itself around him "It looks like your Uncle is not going to make it out of this battle alive." Kazuko replied as he stared at the tearful face of his young nephew, a frown forming on his face as he gently wiped the tears from Ryuichi's eyes "Do not cry for me, young Ryuichi, for I do not deserve such kindness from such a sweet child who has done nothing wrong, I am just sorry for what you've had to see on this day, your parents and relatives being torn from you at such a young age..." Kazuko coughed up a small amount of blood that splashed against the charred wasteland "I want you to remember us and keep the memories of us in your heart, never forget that myself and Asumar, will always be watching over you. For even if you think that we are out of your grasp, we will always stand by your side in spirit, cheering you on until the very end, I'm just sorry that I could never see you grow up with my own two eyes..." and with those few but influential words, Kazuko Masaki, the one who orchestrated the rise of the legendary Masaki Dynasty, and brought peace to his entire Galaxy, passed away with a soft sigh.

With tears covering his face, Ryuichi buried his face into his deceased Uncle's chest, quietly sobbing as one of the last people that he loved and cherished passed away in his arms. However, over time, this tearful sorrow was replaced with something far more latent, the rising anger that he kept suppressed finally began to bubble once more "Wh-why!?!" Ryuichi cried out in anguish as he rose his head up to the heavens, the tears continuing to gather and fall down along his face "Why did you take the only two people I love away from me, why!" Ryuichi demanded. Standing a few feet away from him was Emperor Xander Smith, the murderer of Asumar Masaki, the young child's father "I gave them more chances then I've given anyone else." The Praetorian Emperor simply replied, before the earth around Sigma Island began to violently shake, large boulders beginning to rise up into the air and dissolve like it had been dipped in acid, before Ryuichi's ear piercing scream shattered the veil of the heavens, causing the vision to fade away into nothing but white...

---

Lord Shiveron

Prior to the arrival of the new God of Omega, Lord Shiveron could feel the pulse of a massive burst of energy that resonated throughout the cosmos, a familiar energy that the Ancient Arcosian could sense, it was directly descended from the line of the Frost and Cold Clans, a power that could only be fit for the title of a godly being of ancient Arcosian status "Is that..." Shiveron automatically stepped up from his throne in surprize and stared off into the direction of the epicenter of this invisible energy "Is that my son, is that Frost?!" he said to himself in both surprize and withheld excitement. It had been years since Shiveron could sense the unique energy of his kin, one of the crown jewels of his lifetime, and now it was very much obvious that his son was alive! "I knew he would survive, many of my children are said to survive even the most grievous of injuries." Shiveron remarked proudly, knowing that his species was always susceptible to make it appear as if they've died and yet come back from the brink.

However, as soon as he felt the divine energy of the Omega Sanction approaching him, Shiveron turned his attention to where Otis would appear, staring down at the inhuman with a neutral expression on his face, neither welcoming or hostile, but just staring at the inhuman with a curious expression on his face. Calmly taking a seat, Lord Shiveron introduced him "Oh yes, I expected a welcoming party to grace my vessel, but I thought it would be an army instead of a single person. Allow me to introduce myself as Lord Shiveron, one of the last living Ancient Arcosians, as well as the true founder of the Frost and Cold Clans, I have come to this world in order to seek one of my children, but before I give you anymore information, may I ask for your name and why you have such immense power within you?" Shiveron casually asked, his fingers intertwined between on another, awaiting a response from Otis, while quietly sending off a pulse of his own energy across the cosmos, as if in reply to Frost's own God Wave.

[The Starlight]

Valka floated behind the creature, her arms crossed. Her blue cloak flapped in the wind behind er, the sun illuminating her figure. "I know not who you are, creature, nor do I care to but know that today is your end. Make your peace with whatever Gods you have, and then prepare to meet the blade.

Oathbringer, gleaming, drew itself out its sheath, Valka pointing the Sword at Buu, sending a storm of metal blades at Buu, slicing , slashing at Buu. And then, she slashed her sword in the air, sending a wave at the Valka-force at Buu, waiting to see its effect.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Black Hand - Anarcho - Sony
"The Great Escape

Black Hand pulled back the slide on his pistol, "Get ready boys, it's time to go to war".

Sony Roared as he crashed back out into the hallway, the front hallway 20 Iron Mountain security took aim and fired at him, the side hallways of 15 each both tried to rush into the Armory. Sony roared as the Iron Mountain security men's bullets bounced off his skin, doing nothing, Sony slammed both his fists down and rammed forward, riddling and killing most of the security. Black hand and Anarcho rushed out, now in their gear, Anarcho took the left hallway with his Dual Vektors, while Black Hand took to the right hallway. Anarcho slid out of the door, firing his sub machine guns he cut down 6 of the security at once, he then jumped up as a bulky guard charged him, Anarcho front flipped over the guard, kicking him and firing one vektor into his back, while using the other one to take down the rest of the Guards. Black Hand firing his pistol at one of the guards killing him, he then smacked another across the face with his crowbar, Black Hand then used the crowbar to use another guard as a human shield. Black Hand fired at the guards, taking down 3 simultaneously, Black Hand then holstered his pistol as he pushed the half dead guard into another one, knocking them both over. Black Hand rolled as he took out his crossbow, firing an explosive dart, it detonated at the feet at the rest of the security men, killing the rest.

The 3 of them meet outside of the door, looking around at the carnage around them, "Damn, we do some fine a** work together", "Agreed, but we really need to get the hell out of here". Black Hand turned around to a guard, still alive, he grabbed guard by the collar of his uniform and held him up, "where the hell is the exit". The guard coughed up some blood, "you'll never escape here, Tyrannt will kill yah", "That's debatable, mince meat, not tell use where's the exit", The Guard pointed to a set of staircases down the hallway to Sony's back. Black Hand turned his head to the guard, "Thanks", throwing the guard back down they walked to the staircase, the guard attempted to reach a nearby pistol, but Black Hand shot hi straight in the head without looking back, dropping him.

Black Hand, Sony, Anarcho rushed up the stairs, they reached a sliding garage door leading to the main room where Anarcho previously crashed down into. Anarcho put away his 2 Vektors, and instead took out 2 light machine guns, loading them with fresh ammunition clips. Black Hand loaded his Crossbow with several Explosive Darts, reloading his pistol, and readying his crowbar, "Everyone ready", "Hellz yeah", "Sony Ready to be free". Black Hand pressed the button, slowly raising the door, Sony instead plowed through the door, ripping it off, Black Hand looked to Anarcho, shrugging they both followed. The Iron Mountain Security Guards began to fire at them Black hand ducking behind a concrete barrier and firing off an Explosive Dart, Anarcho began to spray and pray with both his machine guns, and Sony simply began to knock around the Guards, sending them flying against the walls, crates, and other equipment.

Sony grabbed a large shipping container, swinging it around he knocked atleast 20 guards off their feet, killing some and injuring others. Sony then saw the large command room high above on the far side of the wall, lifting the shipping container he threw it, it impacted, destroying the command room entirely. Black Hand began to quickly run to the large garage door leading to the back lot, quickly executing any security who survived with his pistol, Anarcho climbed onto the shipping container, he fired into a ground of Security as they rushed down a hallway. "Welp, I think we killed all of him", Anarcho said looking around, scratching his head with the corner of one of his LMGs, he dropped down and meet Sony and Black Hand at the garage door to the back lot. "Alright, once we get out there, there's going to be a crap ton of security, we need to get to a Vehicle and split", "but....Can't we just murder all of them?", Black Hand turned to Anarcho, "Some of us aren't batsh*t insane guys who can wield 2 machine guns at once. No, We'll take down iron Mountain, but right now we need to split".

Black Hand reloaded his pistol as Anarcho exchanged for his vektors, Black Hand nodded to Sony who then smashed through the Garage door, with Black Hand and Anarcho following. In the back lot, 4 Choppers with gunners mounted began circling around the now smashed garage door, 35 Security Guards began to converge and assault the three as they rushed out. Black Hand and Anarcho ducked behind a concrete barrier, Anarcho flipped out of cover, running up a gerdur he jumped up onto a shipping Container hanging from a chain. Anarcho shot the chain, causing the Shipping container to fall, killing a group of Security Guards, "Sony, Take out the Chopper!", Sony looked to one of the choppers, he then grabbed a sizable truck, spinning once he tossed the truck at the chopper, clipping the tail end of the chopper and causing it to spin out. Black Hand quickly ran alongside Anarcho as they rushed to a Semi-Truck, Sony covering them by tossing large objects at the nearby enemies, the spinning chopper crashing down into a group of gasoline tanks, causing a massive explosion.

Black Hand and Anarcho climbed into the front cabin, Black Hand hit the ignition as Sony crashed into the side of the Truck's back end, ripping a hole in it but climbing into a concealed part non the less. "Why can't I drive?", "If I'm correct, the last Truck you drove was an armored truck, and you crashed it through a roof" Black hand responded, driving the truck forward, running over a group of Security guards before driving out onto a fairly empty road. Black Hand sighed as he sat back in his chair, Anarcho looked into a side mirror, "Uh, Dude, I think there are Hummers coming after us" , Black Hand looked back as 2 Hummers with mounted machine guns started to tail the vehicles, firing their machine guns which began to riddle the cabin. Black Hand ducked his head, Anarcho started to put together something in his Duffel Bag, "What are you doing?", "Making something fun" Anarcho said, aiming his "Betsy" Quad Rocket Launcher out the right side of the cabin, destroying one of the Humvees. Sony grabbed a large crate from the back of the truck, tossing it at one of the Humvees, it crushed the driver's compartment, causing it to spin out and crash.

Black hand sat back with a sigh, parking the truck in an empty lot in the Ghetto, "get out", "Why?", "They're boudn to trace the truck. Sony, get out aswell". All three of them began to climb out and walk down the street of the Los Angeles Ghetto, Anarcho peered over at Black Hand, "Hit it". Anarcho flipped forward, while in mid spin he fired a shot from one of his pistols, hitting a gas tank on the semi truck, causing it to blow up. As they walked away from the explosion, Anarcho rested one of his Machine guns on his shoulder, "What now chief?", "We're now at war with Iron Mountain, We're gonna head to my base and get a game plan going", "Sony Hungry", "Yeah, can we stop at Burger King first?", Black Hand turned to look at both of them, under his mask he had a look that said "really?". Black Hand sighed.

"Fine, Burger King, then War".

[Tomia]

Grimms
Soon the Grimms, Roy, and John arrived at the airport. Sam suddenly tensed up when they arrived though. Something felt wrong. She couldn't explain what it was, she just had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"What's wrong Sam? You look troubled?" John asked with concern. Sam tried to smile and respond, but the smile felt forced even to her.

"I'm fine its just..."

Suddenly the limo they were sitting in suddenly flipped over in the air as it was it with a ball of dark energy. Sam knew that could only mean one thing and it filled her heart with dread. The wizard had found them. She grunted as the vehicle hit the ground hard, she managed to put a shield around them to protect from shattered glass, but the impact would still hurt.

Sam struggled to crawl outside, seeing Roy hurt on the ground outside the limo and John trying to get out to help him. "Come on Hannah, Sarah, we need to get out. He's here." She said to them. She then saw him. He was much larger than he usually was, at least 8 feet tall. His robes were a deadly shade of black and he looked down towards them with a horrible grin.

"Hello children of the moon, I have returned for you once more!" He said to them raising up his arms to cast another shot of black magic.

Young Bloods
Cat and Nico were clearly upset about their parents escaping justice, so needless to say it was not a very enjoyable trip home. Mars was also getting increasingly worried about Kiris. He wasn't upset about her leaving, not after how upset she was. Still, he was mad that he had let the Alvarezs slip past him, after he had promised Nico and Cat that he would stop them. He had failed to keep that promise and that ate at him.

He was glad to arrive home and turned to Cat and Nico, "I'm sorry this couldn't have gone better, but you two did well. We could really use your help on the team? You could help a lot of people. What do you say?" Both Cat and Nico shared an unsure look.

"You don't have to decide right now. Stick around for a few days, see what its like. Then you can decide." Mars continued. The two nodded before Mars smiled and headed upstairs to the living room. He was looking for Kiris and he found her but she wasn't alone. Rin was there, along with a strange small woman who almost looked like a fairy from children stories. Mars turned to meet Kiris' eyes before forcing himself to turn away. "So uh, what's going on here?" Mars asked, clearly confused.

[Finland SSR]

Valka floated behind the creature, her arms crossed. Her blue cloak flapped in the wind behind er, the sun illuminating her figure. "I know not who you are, creature, nor do I care to but know that today is your end. Make your peace with whatever Gods you have, and then prepare to meet the blade.

Oathbringer, gleaming, drew itself out its sheath, Valka pointing the Sword at Buu, sending a storm of metal blades at Buu, slicing , slashing at Buu. And then, she slashed her sword in the air, sending a wave at the Valka-force at Buu, waiting to see its effect.

Majin Buu (Sigma Island)

Oh, at last, she decided to make a move. I swiftly turned around to see myself being endlessly bombarded with metal blades. Come on, it's just metal, I can take it! My right foot stepped forward as thousands of shards and blades charged at me and kept bouncing off, with only a few going as far as to make an instantly regenerated stab wound. It doesn't seem to be doing so well.

And then she swung her sword again. In an instant, I saw and felt the power emitted by her and the weapon to skyrocket, as the... force, or whatever it was, struck me with considerable force, blowing me away for a hundred meters or so and sending me crashing into a mountain. Well, that happened. I guess she is not nearly as mediocre and useless in this universe. I could even go so far as to put her in Xander levels of strength. Maybe a little higher. Maybe a little lower.

I cracked my neck a little, then teleported back in front of Valka and started clapping, speaking:

"Bravo! What kind of exercises have you been doing to get this much stronger?" I extended my hand forward and materialized a complete replica of the Asgardian's Oathbringer, made of the same material and everything. Valka's memories + Lucien's powers + my enhancements = success. "Last time, you couldn't even tag my fat form. Let's see if you can get a higher score this time."

As soon as I finished the phrase "this time", I vanished from view, slamming towards Valka from the side and proceeding to send a barrage of sword strikes at the Asgardian. The borders between the helmet and the body and between armor chips should be the weak points - let's target those.

[Siliarba]

Daniel Carter/Killswitch-24-Mad City, Madworld

As Sinkley gave his final word on myself being meaningless by my own logic, I tried to think back to a moment where I made a claim of my own importance. But upon realizing no such claim was made, I turned to face the recently arrived Lysia. The woman I intended to make a target. Well now, time has certainly been kind to you. I thought to myself as she did not seem to age, scar or show any other signs of time passing or battles waged. But that stands to reason, her manipulation over time is responsible for her excellent condition combined with her Amazonian heritage. I flexed my Nth Metal gloves, wondering to myself If her powers were based in magic. I assumed they had to be, if so...hopefully the Nth Metal will grant some personnel resistance from her powers. No difference either way, but it should make things less....dicey. When she issued her threat for breaking my neck, I knew she meant it. But that does not mean that she will deliver. My voice disguised by my mask, I spoke to the Amazonian warrior.

"Just a short one. Some terms should be established." I clarified as I began to assemble the assault rifle kit on my weapon.

"You cannot be permanently killed, at least not in any known way. As an assassin, this presents a problem to me. So, I suggest a pact among warriors. This will be very simple. If I defeat you today, then you leave Madworld...forever. But unlike you, I can die..." I explained. "If you defeat me however, then I die, end of story." Finishing assembly of the weapon I loaded incendiary rounds and faced her.

"Sound fair? Of course it does, after all, you may hate me. But I have no ill will for you. This is a business transaction. I like to keep my business transactions civil." I then readied the weapon at her, speaking in a now much darker tone.

"Now Lysia, let's see if our rematch ends differently then our first encounter!" Squeezing off a blast of the incendiary bullets, I had no expectation they would kill her. But their burning adhesive will surely hurt. After the initial start of the battle, I dropped the line about us knowing each other intentionally. Attempting to get inside her head, distract her from the battle by having her try to solve this riddle in vain.

After all, I have been instructed that in war, the battle for the mind is as important as the struggle of the body.

Seizing every early advantage I could, I used the anti gravity properties of the Nth Metal to take to the skies, firing off many more deadly accurate shots while keeping a moving target until finally I stopped mid flight, as I redied my grenade launcher to the warrior below. Firing an explosive which would easily blast a large crater in it's target area, and I did my best to ensure that Lysia was at the center of it.

Lysia
Madworld, the refugee slums

The man didn't really leave much time between making an offer and attacking, not even enough time to respond. He also mentioned something about a rematch, I guess he wants me to remember him so he can feel proud when he'd supposedly beat me. Like it matters to me who he is, the moment he aimed his weapon I created a shield to take cover behind which took the force of the bullets. As the man took to the skies he kept firing bullets at me, I just had to keep my shield moving to cover myself and no bullet would hit me. I suppose he believes himself to be at an advantage by flying, staying out of range and keeping me in a defensive position, let's show him the error of his ways.

As soon as the bullets stopped I grabbed my shield by the side preparing to throw it as I noticed him preparing something bigger, what I've learned from modern weapons so far, big weapons usually means explosive projectiles. I adjusted the direction I wanted to throw my shield at slightly to catch this projectile mid flight. As he fired his weapon, I threw my shield and midway between us the shield cut the projectile in half causing it to explode. The explosion superheated the shield that was at the center of the explosion at the time making it a much more dangerous projectile still headed for the flying assassin. He would dodge it, no chance he wouldn't, or he has a shield of his own that I'm not aware off and he'll deflect my shield with his own shield.

Regardless it was time to move on to the next part of my attack, now he would have to dodge or defend so I spawned my bow and arrows, preparing to fire in his direction. I took aim directly at him with an arrow that would fling my target back in time to the state of last night. He wasn't my real target however, the sky above him was. And for that reason I kept firing arrows at blinding speed in every upward direction. Once they'd reach a high enough altitude they'd explode on their own and the sky itself would return to what it was last night. In other words, a heavy thundering storm with strong winds. Hopefully that would dissuade him from staying in flight while carrying so many metal items.

And if he would chose not to dodge the Arrow, he wouldn't change location, but his body would change to the position his body was in and any gear he would be wearing at the time. While I don't know what state he was in yesterday around this time, simply reverting to that state even if it was a similar or even if it was a beneficial state it would cause disorientation, most people don't have the mind to comprehend something like that happening to them on the spot.

I suppose as I was firing arrows I had some time to retort, "Why would I leave? Even if you can kill me then I will have found exactly what I was searching for here, a place that could drain as much energy from me as possible over and over while keeping me in a state of combat. I've traveled the world for a place like that. And about who you are, frankly I don't care, but I can make the assumption you're human so that would most likely only leave up to the last 20 years open. You survived so that limits the number off possibilities a lot and you are trained and seemingly for hire so I can assume first time I met you, you were also a mercenary. And you have the flaw of being male. As the combat continues I'll be able to analyze your moves, I'll figure out who you are by the end of the fight."

As I was expecting a storm I quickly took cover in an abandoned building behind me, not that I cared about being in the rain or wind, it would just give me another advantage.

[Altito Asmoro]

Len stood up atop the rooftop of a school in NY. He had missed so much time he forgot what happened from the time he went out from GCPD until now. He knew he had killed people, and when he arrived in NY he lost consciousness and fell to the sea, where he lied on for weeks, and maybe months, until he woke up again, and dried himself first before moving to NY again.

Apparently, some kind of Kryptonian genetics problem prompted him to fell down. After all, he's the product of cloning, just like the rest of Kryptonians. Except for Kal-El, apparently. Of course, it means he needs to does something to fix the problem, and he wishes he has the means...

[New Rnclave]

Tomia:

For some reason, Tomia felt profoundly lonely. Well, more so then usual.

Laying in the remnant of a road outside of her home, blood oozing from her ears, Tomia knew she needed to get up. Laying still meant dying, like before. Everytime her Daddy had found the strength to defy the odds, to throw himself back into battle, Buu had utterly humiliated him. And now her Daddy was dead.

Worst of all, she didn't feel bad about him being gone. Sniffling, she pulled herself loose of the rubble, every muscle in her body crying out at her, begging her to lay still. Coughing, she nearly gave up when another spatter of blood hit the rock. But she couldn't give up yet.

His ears twitched. He could hear her.
His body jolted forward as it semi-floated and he rushed towards the sounds. All around him, the city, everything was destroyed. How many people died that didn't ask for this? It was mostly silent, so not much did survive. He eventually found the girl standing. Jolting forward to move to her he instinctively kneeled down before her as the arms above his shoulders formed and held lightly onto the tops of her shoulders . "Girl. Are you okay? Can you hear me?" One of his normal hands rose up and snapped infront of her. He wasn't sure if she was deaf or not because during the battle he was guessing his rage protected his ears from the head breakingly loud explosions and what not.
Then again she was still alive so probably fine.

Tomia:

In her left eye, she could tell she was going blind from the last impact. With her vision, blurry, hazy and now filling with blood, all she could do was stare up at her 'savior'. It wasn't the fear of failing anymore, it was a fear of being alone.

When the man grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up, she could feel her throat begin to close up. She struggled desperately to breath, panic and fear settling on her chest like weights. Kicking out, Tomia felt her legs make contact with his chest as she flailed, her one good arm impotently trying to shove him away.

The man was replaced by a hulking beast in her minds eye, ragged clothes being replaced by a figure with tanned skin and no eyes. Super Saiyan hair and an evil cackle.

" Look how pathetic you are, just a waste of Saiyan blood!"

Suddenly Tomia couldn't think anymore, she couldn't hold on any longer. She couldn't breath, and Tomia couldn't see the world around her. Shewas in complete darkness and she was all alone. Opening her mouth, Tomia screamed desperately.