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

[The Republic of Atria]

"Whatever floats your boat." Naja replied. "Xander told me what they did to you, and you're half as vicious as he implied, you're not going to let this slide. Just find an outlet for your new surplus of time and leftover aggression. Hopefully a constructive one." She was about to leave them alone when Frost suggested food. something she wished Xander would do at least once. "Since he doesn't know the first thing about food, it depends on what you're looking for. I've been all over the galaxy and no place has food as diverse as Earth does. Honestly, it's pretty insane. You look like a meat guy. You know what, have either of you ever had a cheeseburger? Xander, I can't get you to eat food unless I cram it down your throat, so you're coming with so you can eat a burger like a normal persom. I'm buying."

"But I have things I have-" Naja crossed her arms and looked at him for a solid 5 seconds. "-I guess I have time for a break." It was true though, he had never had a cheeseburger. Mostly sandwiches Naja made for him, and she stopped doing that awhile ago. He didn't understand why she made such a big deal out of food. He didn't need to eat, it was just a waste of his time. On the other hand, he hated it more when Naja looked annoyed with him. He loved his wife dearly, and making her upset with him was something he did his damnedest to avoid.

"Alright. Now, you'll find the best burgers in the states, and since Frost is the guest, he can choose. We've got Fuddruckers, Red Robin, Wendy's, Whataburger, Five Guys... and probably a few others I'm missing out on. I would suggest Mcdonalds, but you don't wanna go there. It barely qualifies as food. With edible in large quotation marks. And I would never treat a guest to eating cardboard in between slices of whatever their buns are supposed to be. Probably hair."

[Charmera]

---

---

Before Roy was able to leave the scene, however, he would feel a hand tapping his shoulder. "Wait a moment, Roy." Sarah spoke as the boy turned around, before digging into one of her pockets and pulling out a handful of bills, handing them to Roy. "Here, use this to get back home safely. It's the least I can do after we dragged you into a mess like this one." She said with a sigh, before patting his shoulder. "I'll make good on that promise to train you someday, alright?" The pale woman spoke, attempting a smile. "And I'll be sure to bring Hannah along, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you once we're done with the wizard." She winked, before seeing him off and heading back to her sisters, just in time to hear Kano offer to help them with their issues. Raising an eyebrow, Sarah put a hand on her hip and looked at Kano, trying to see if she was planning something. "We will talk about it later, then, but for the time being, some shelter would be appreciated. Where are you taking us?" The supernatural woman asked.

---

"Oh, I happen to have a home near here. Now we don't have much time at all, so the less chit chat the better" She spoke, before taking out four pieces of paper and stuck it on all three sisters and herself. She then began chanting in Japanese as she seemed to focus her energy for a bit. Just as the police cars seemed to converge onto them, they vanished in a burst of blue light, the papers being consumed in the process. Suddenly they were now in a peaceful setting with green hills and a Japanese style manor. The sceneary was visable for miles, and there was no way they were anywhere near the urban center they were once in. But damn if it wasn't pretty. Rolling rivers and hills, and forrests.

Kano walked towards the manor, gesturing that the sisters should follow her. "Come on, I'll get the kettle on. We can have some nice hot tea."

Vera
Being held up by her puppy, Vera rushed down the stairs, before again being held up by Rin's Scream. She's lucky her helmet acts as some shielding to sound, and she's not right next to Rin so she didn't get the brunt of it. She continues to run down the stairs, only end up face to face with the black clad intruder. Not expecting to run into the intruder so quickly, she quickly kicks flicks out her baton without really planning for the fact that they are in an enclosed stairwell.

The cyborg quickly blocked the kick with a parry with her blade, managing to stop the brunt of the force from the foot. Then the cyborg pushed backwards, hoping to put the other fighter off their balance. She then pushed onward to the tenth floor, where she attempted to get to one of the balconies. It seemed the cyborg was going to hack the easier door to the balcony rather than the harder to hack controls for the building as a whole.

[Tomia]

Kano

Sam was a bit confused when they suddenly arrived in a large field with a Japanese like house in front of them. "Uh, Miss Kano, this doesn't look like Florida." Sam said to the Kitsune. Despite her confusion, she had to admire the beauty around her. The view was amazing and Sam silently thought it'd be somewhere she'd like to live some day."Well tea kind of sounds nice. But shouldn't we be in a hurry? We kind of have to rescue a friend of ours."

Marybeth

Jamie

Cora charged at the male android, who took a quick back step, firing a ki blast for cover. However Cora quickly slashed the blast away, causing a small explosion behind her as she continued to charge. The male cyborg was able to dodge for a little while, but Cora was just too fast for him, landing blow after blow against him. Then suddenly he went rigid and fell the ground as did the other cyborgs running around. Cora smiled, realizing that Jamie had done her job and the cyborgs were deactivated. However she realized that the building was also exploding around her so she quickly flew around the building grabbing all of the unconscious cyborgs on the floor and carrying them out the large hole in the wall as fire spread behind her.

She returned to where the rescued kids were gathered but didn't see Jamie or Marybeth which made her worry. "Final Boss, Marybeth?" She called out, hoping they were nearby.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

IJ4K

---

Hearing the First Officer's comments, Garnet chuckled, her body relaxing as she adopted a more casual position in front of her superior officer, appreciating the effort she was putting in making a good relationship with her subordinates. During her seven years of service, she had been under the command of several people, and not all of them were as interested as Sam was in building bridges, so this was refreshing. Needless to say, she was also glad to be working with someone about her age, though the fact that a superior officer was in fact younger than her was slightly disconcerting for Garnet. It was, as far as she was aware, the first time that it had happened to her, though she supposed it was not too uncommon among older soldiers, and, in any case, she trusted the judgment of the Federation's higher-ups.

When Sam addressed her once again, Garnet remained thoughtful for a moment before responding. "Well, Officer Grimm, first of all, thank you for the compliment. Perhaps I would be in charge of my own ship by now, but it was suggested to me to sign up for duty aboard the Infinite Justice, and after thinking about it for some time, I accepted. This vessel's mission interests me quite a bit, and to be honest, I am grateful to have some duty away from the frontlines for a change." The blonde woman spoke sincerely. While she was proud of everything she had achieved while serving the Federation as a frontline soldier, she was glad to have some respite from the wars that had been waged by the Federation in the past seven years.

Seeking to try to steer the conversation in a lighter direction, Garnet spoke again. "Most of our crew is rather... Young, wouldn't you agree, Officer Grimm?"

---

---

Still observing her two companions, Sarah was able to tell rather easily that something was making Roy uncomfortable, and though she did not feel like it would make him feel better if she asked about it, she made a mental note to look into that some more at a later date. For the time being, she simply smiled at Roy. "The name's Sarah Grimm. I'm the captain's big sister and also the ship's therapist, a pleasure to meet you, Roy." The pale woman said, before her features visibly softened. "If there's ever something that bothers you, feel free to tell me about it, alright? That's what I'm here for, after all." She said, subtly attempting to make Roy feel he was in good company, and then turned back to John.

"You sure know how to make a lady feel flattered, don't you, John? I would make the same offer to you, but you look like you need a good woman instead of a therapist." Sarah winked at him playfully, observing his reaction with curiosity. "As for a drink, I suppose it can't hurt. I'm not terribly tolerant to it, but life isn't fun if you don't take a risk once in a while, don't you think?" She stated, still smiling. In truth, she was lying, as alcohol tended to affect her very little if at all, as a byproduct of her mutant powers, but there was no reason for John to know that just yet.

[The Templar High Council]

---

Nelli led the group towards the war room diligently, completely ignoring the bickering between Salis and Simon and only stopping when Kylie did so as well, since she was the one with Merlin's coin and the only plan they had. She did wish the two men who were acting violently against each other would behave, seeing how they were all stuck together in Camelot, but in the end, she supposed it didn't matter. Kylie seemed to be powerful enough to keep them down on her own, and while she figured that stabbing them would end the issue rather easily, she didn't think it would be very welcome by the other three members of the group. They hadn't seen in a positive light how Salis had dispatched a knight, after all.

When they eventually reached the war room, Nelli saw only a man and two women, and looked around, curious. There were a lot of chairs there, so she supposed whatever meetings they held in this chamber simply weren't scheduled for that moment. Looking up at the man who called himself King Arthur, she wondered what kind of things he must've done to be the ruler of someone like Merlin, but she shook those thoughts aside.

"Can you help us, King? I want to go home." The girl with the butterfly wings asked.

"I don't have the slightest clue how to send you home," Arthur replied, eventually passing Kylie back the coin from the future while waving his hand to Boxer. "As for Perceval, I'm afraid I can't tell you where he is either. He left but a week ago, on his quest for the mythical Holy Grail. And as for his whereabouts... I can tell you where he told us he was going, not where he is."

"That's great!" Kylie interjected, energetically. "I'm pretty sure we can find him if we knew where to look. Will you tell us?"

Arthur stared plainly at Kylie, not expecting the reaction, or even the visitors themselves. "He was headed north, through the Caledonian Forest. But to be fair," Arthur looked the party of strange folk up and down, "I have the suspicion that you would cause a small panic if the people of Camelot saw you."

Kylie sheepishly blushed. "Yeah, we already met a few on the way in. They tried attacking us because someone got them mad..."

Arthur sighed, and ushered a servant girl over. After whispering something into her ear, she bowed and began walking past the party. "Follow Anne, she can provide you with clothing to not be noticed. Odd, I feel strangely calm about this entire situation. By that note, I wish you luck, but I've a kingdom to run." The party bowed, and was ushered out of the room by the servant girl; she led them down twisting hallways to a fitting room, where a dozen servants awaited to dress the royal family. Not the finest outfits in the wardrobe, but nice enough clothes were offered to each of the six strange travelers.

"Wow, things happened fast." Kylie noted, smiling and staring at the clothes offered to her. "I guess this is better than sticking out like a sore thumb, at least. You guys go over there; if you try looking, I'll smash you into the floor." The strangest bit was: Kylie issued the threat with a brilliant smile on her face, as she steered Nelli behind the folding walls to divide the "dressing room."

[Finland SSR]

Hiroshi:

-long ass post-

Lucien Gediminid

Every single word that this Tomia person muttered out shocked me more and more. The information about the monster's origin didn't interest me all that much, but the fact that former villains rose up to roam the planet was surprising, to say the least. And, according to her, we are the ones responsible! We killed those enemies and sent them through the Cleansing Machine! Tomia's description of Janemba's rampage kept intimidating me - if those people couldn't fight him and beat him, how can we even stand a chance?

But no, we shouldn't give up. That is not the spirit of a Saiyan. According to Tomia, we have anywhere from a few minutes to a few months before the monster comes to this universe. But that's too little time!

Wait... Soon after we beat Buu, Atiala told me that she found a way to train many times more intensely and quickly - and she really did look and feel thousands of times stronger when we both were freed from the pink blob's insides. Maybe she knows a way how to do it.

"Oh, Tomia?" I suddenly spoke up. "You know me from the future, right? What was I like?"

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

There once was a man, born to a simple family. He had a brother, elder by two years, and a sister, younger by three. At the age of three, he said his first word. "Mama." At the age of four, he entered into Pleasant Hill elementary, where he attended until the age of 12, when he entered George Washington Middle School.

In short, this man was born a simple, ordinary boy, to a simple, ordinary family. There was no history of Heroism in his family, nor even the vaguest taste of villainy. There was no grand destiny laid out before him, predestined generations before. There was no forces beyond the comprehension of man conspiring to bring this about. Instead, it was simple, random, god-forsaken chance that brought a strength into the hands of this mere child at the age of 19. Before that day, he had illusions of grandeur, the likes of which every child knows. He would eventually be a President. An astronaut. A secret agent. A Superhero.

And then that day came. The boy laid his hands on an object not meant for mortal hands, nor even immortal ones. In that object, a curse of darkness and madness was imbued to its every wielder, and as he became stronger with time, so too did the darkness in his soul.

That boy was Charley Crawler, and he died that day, so many years ago. On that day, blood tainted his hands for the first time. In any other world, any other time, he would have paled at the sight of it, and fell away from it in terror. Instead, he reveled in it. He adored the crimson. Only chance, only pure and incomprehensible chance, allowed him to not stray from the path of light while he became one with the darkness inside. Nicholas Fury saved the world that day, but never knew. He saved the world, and he damned two people to hell. One dark, and one light.

This is not to say that Director Fury was responsible for the eventual death of the White Lantern. No, that was Charles- That was Manifest. The God of Fragments, the Broken God. The Broken Man. It is only by the grace of a Goddess that he was repaired, and by the grace of that Goddess, he believed he had the opportunity to set things right, to appease the guilt that racked his conscious, and perhaps give those who he had harmed through his actions some small amount of closure.

---

Charles Crawler breathed in deeply, standing in a small chamber in the outer reaches of the Universal Fortress. Designed based off of the Section-19 Bifrost Bridge replica of SWORD, it would allow him transportation after he finished the process.

When he had wondered about the possibility of being human again, the Manifest Blade had responded, had given him the answers that he needed. A friend of his, gained through coincidence, had given him the ability to understand. He summoned and gripped the ancient blade, focusing on it. He felt his essence drawn out of his body, a blue glow surrounding his body, and at the same time, he saw the power of the Manifest Blade surrounding it in a crimson brightness. The two slowly lifted into the air, leaving Charles... Hollow. Without spirit and without soul. He did not feel afraid. He did not feel upset. He felt... Nothing. Emptiness. No powers, no strength.

Above him, the two forces, blue and red, began to merge. A deep violet. It floated back down, entering the Blade. He felt a portion of his essence own re-enter him, giving him his soul once more, but without his strength, without the power of the Blade. He took the Blade into his hands and sheathed it across his back, along with the Infinite. He was a man again. Yes, an immortal, super-strong man, but still a man.

He stepped into the machine and it activated. He vanished.

---

He re-appeared with a blast of light aboard the Watchtower. In an instant, the Flash had him pinned to the wall. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The Flash growled. Moments later, several other League members arrived.

Charles Crawler looked at each of them in turn. He closed his eyes and breathed. "My name is Manifest. I killed Julie, the White Lantern. I transported her body to Mars, where the League will find it soon, along with her ring. I am here to turn myself in."

---

The conditions that Manifest was arrested under were withheld from the general public, along with SHIELD and any other organization, until after her funeral. After they heard Charles' story, they allowed him to attend the funeral under heavy League guard. He wore a formal suit, along with a hat and glasses. Standing at the back of the crowd, he was disguised, and without his powers, the flavor of his essence was changed.

I'm sorry, Julie. By all the Gods that are, I am so sorry.

[Charmera]

There once was a man, born to a simple family. He had a brother, elder by two years, and a sister, younger by three. At the age of three, he said his first word. "Mama." At the age of four, he entered into Pleasant Hill elementary, where he attended until the age of 12, when he entered George Washington Middle School.

In short, this man was born a simple, ordinary boy, to a simple, ordinary family. There was no history of Heroism in his family, nor even the vaguest taste of villainy. There was no grand destiny laid out before him, predestined generations before. There was no forces beyond the comprehension of man conspiring to bring this about. Instead, it was simple, random, god-forsaken chance that brought a strength into the hands of this mere child at the age of 19. Before that day, he had illusions of grandeur, the likes of which every child knows. He would eventually be a President. An astronaut. A secret agent. A Superhero.

And then that day came. The boy laid his hands on an object not meant for mortal hands, nor even immortal ones. In that object, a curse of darkness and madness was imbued to its every wielder, and as he became stronger with time, so too did the darkness in his soul.

That boy was Charley Crawler, and he died that day, so many years ago. On that day, blood tainted his hands for the first time. In any other world, any other time, he would have paled at the sight of it, and fell away from it in terror. Instead, he reveled in it. He adored the crimson. Only chance, only pure and incomprehensible chance, allowed him to not stray from the path of light while he became one with the darkness inside. Nicholas Fury saved the world that day, but never knew. He saved the world, and he damned two people to hell. One dark, and one light.

This is not to say that Director Fury was responsible for the eventual death of the White Lantern. No, that was Charles- That was Manifest. The God of Fragments, the Broken God. The Broken Man. It is only by the grace of a Goddess that he was repaired, and by the grace of that Goddess, he believed he had the opportunity to set things right, to appease the guilt that racked his conscious, and perhaps give those who he had harmed through his actions some small amount of closure.

---

Charles Crawler breathed in deeply, standing in a small chamber in the outer reaches of the Universal Fortress. Designed based off of the Section-19 Bifrost Bridge replica of SWORD, it would allow him transportation after he finished the process.

When he had wondered about the possibility of being human again, the Manifest Blade had responded, had given him the answers that he needed. A friend of his, gained through coincidence, had given him the ability to understand. He summoned and gripped the ancient blade, focusing on it. He felt his essence drawn out of his body, a blue glow surrounding his body, and at the same time, he saw the power of the Manifest Blade surrounding it in a crimson brightness. The two slowly lifted into the air, leaving Charles... Hollow. Without spirit and without soul. He did not feel afraid. He did not feel upset. He felt... Nothing. Emptiness. No powers, no strength.

Above him, the two forces, blue and red, began to merge. A deep violet. It floated back down, entering the Blade. He felt a portion of his essence own re-enter him, giving him his soul once more, but without his strength, without the power of the Blade. He took the Blade into his hands and sheathed it across his back, along with the Infinite. He was a man again. Yes, an immortal, super-strong man, but still a man.

He stepped into the machine and it activated. He vanished.

---

He re-appeared with a blast of light aboard the Watchtower. In an instant, the Flash had him pinned to the wall. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The Flash growled. Moments later, several other League members arrived.

Charles Crawler looked at each of them in turn. He closed his eyes and breathed. "My name is Manifest. I killed Julie, the White Lantern. I transported her body to Mars, where the League will find it soon, along with her ring. I am here to turn myself in."

---

The conditions that Manifest was arrested under were withheld from the general public, along with SHIELD and any other organization, until after her funeral. After they heard Charles' story, they allowed him to attend the funeral under heavy League guard. He wore a formal suit, along with a hat and glasses. Standing at the back of the crowd, he was disguised, and without his powers, the flavor of his essence was changed.

I'm sorry, Julie. By all the Gods that are, I am so sorry.

Some of the funeralgoers might have been suspicous about the appearance of a strange man in glasses, or by the strange mishmash of people. Though those that knew her knew that she had many friends who might not know each other nessecarily, which came with being a planet hopping Lantern. However there was one man whom others might be more suspicious about. Coat, sunglasses and hat, and what seemed to be a briefcase. What was even more suspicious, was when the man raised his briefcase, and then tossed it to the ground. It opened up, to reveal what seemed to be machinery.

Flash went to quickly aprehend the man, grabbing his arms, but the damage was already done. Suddenly blue energy swirled from the briefcase, and nine figures seemed to coaless into the world. Flash looked in confusion, before the man he was holding suddenly exploded, sending him backwards as the blast knocked him out, ironically the mans body managed to sheild him from most of the damage. His leg was broken however by the blast.

The rest of the league moved to encircle these figures. As the blue energy faded, it was revealed they were all women, eyes glowing with various colours. One of them ripped open the casket, and then was surprised to find nothing.

"She's not here." Spoke one.

The other nodded. "Go with plan B. Search everywhere."

"We may have some... resistance first." whispered another, indicating the league.

"Oh. Fun. I always like it when we get new toys..."

"Calm yourself Anarchy, our primary goal is to find the Martian."

"You aren't going anywhere>" Declared superman.

"That, mortal, is where you are mistaken." Spoke the original speaker, seeming to be the leader.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Some of the funeralgoers might have been suspicous about the appearance of a strange man in glasses, or by the strange mishmash of people. Though those that knew her knew that she had many friends who might not know each other nessecarily, which came with being a planet hopping Lantern. However there was one man whom others might be more suspicious about. Coat, sunglasses and hat, and what seemed to be a briefcase. What was even more suspicious, was when the man raised his briefcase, and then tossed it to the ground. It opened up, to reveal what seemed to be machinery.

Flash went to quickly aprehend the man, grabbing his arms, but the damage was already done. Suddenly blue energy swirled from the briefcase, and nine figures seemed to coaless into the world. Flash looked in confusion, before the man he was holding suddenly exploded, sending him backwards as the blast knocked him out, ironically the mans body managed to sheild him from most of the damage. His leg was broken however by the blast.

The rest of the league moved to encircle these figures. As the blue energy faded, it was revealed they were all women, eyes glowing with various colours. One of them ripped open the casket, and then was surprised to find nothing.

"She's not here." Spoke one.

The other nodded. "Go with plan B. Search everywhere."

"We may have some... resistance first." whispered another, indicating the league.

"Oh. Fun. I always like it when we get new toys..."

"Calm yourself Anarchy, our primary goal is to find the Martian."

"You aren't going anywhere>" Declared superman.

"That, mortal, is where you are mistaken." Spoke the original speaker, seeming to be the leader.

When the man exploded, Manifest was thrown backwards, slamming into a large gravestone and knocking through it. In an instant, he was up, reaching downwards out of instinct and attempting to summon a weapon to his hands. Thanks to his distinct lack of powers, however, nothing happened. With a scowl, he adjusted his disguise, watching the fight. He put two left fingers to his ear, activating a communicator. "Charles to League. What the Hell just happened? Get me my Blade and I will end these idiots in an instant." He growled. "They had no right to crash a god damn funeral, especially Julie's." He lowered his hand and used it to roll up his right sleeve to the elbow, tearing off a small film. Beneath it, a layer of microscopic blocks covered his arm and giving it the appearance of him wearing some sort of long black armband, a hypothetical design designed by Kree science fiction writers. With but a tap of his palm against the surface of the band, the particles lifted into the air and coalesced, forming a small, handheld gun, designed to shoot anti-matter.

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

-snip-

Gregory Lancer. That was his name. The name he was born with anyway. Prototype stood on the bridge of The Traveler, looking out of the window at the stars that were flying past them. He decided back on Namek that he couldn't really be Gregory anymore, not while he was an android anyway.

And so he proclaimed that Gregory was dead, and that Prototype was all that remained of him. He said nothing as Conundrum happily began to answer Black Sun's questions. "Oh I don't know... Maybe about 2000 Light years every two hours? She was built by my people, and they knew how to build things believe me!" The Half-blood said, pressing buttons on his command chair.

"And thank you! AI makes sure that the ship is in Tip-Top shape!" -It's just my job sir- A disembodied female voice said from seemingly everywhere. Conundrum sighed. "Give yourself some credit AI, you're amazing!" He said. -Thank you sir- AI replied, her voice sounding almost pleased with being praised.

Conundrum then looked back to Black Sun. "And as to where we're going; I though I would take you to a place I find interesting. I think you'll-" -Sorry to interrupt Sir, but I'm detecting a distress beacon coming from a nearby planetary system- AI interjected. Conundrum sighed. "Alright then. Take us there. Sorry you two, the visit will have to wait. As self-proclaimed Guardian of the Multiverse I've got to check this out." He said as the ship changed course.

[Siliarba]

Prelude to Civil War
The Mad King and the Arrow of Time

The soft boots of Otto Godblessed walked out of the meeting room where Maxwell and Daniel had made their agreement, eliminating the threat of a mad assassin or a Golden God in a single handshake. The next threat to be dealt with, however, came from within - And to that end, few if any represented that threat better than Lysia. Since her arrival and subsequent brawls on Madworld, the Mad King took an interest in her abilities and what she stood for. Had Lysia proved to be more inline with Maxwell's philosophies, she would be invited to join his elite, yet her rallying of the disenfranchised refugee population marks her as a threat to the current order in the Kingdom. Walking back into the waiting room, Otto stood before Lysia with a neutral expression. "His majesty will see you now."

"Majesty?" Lysia asked for a moment. "Killswitch mentioned someone by the name of Daud." She gave a quick snort as she rose though, Otto eyeing her without much regard. "What, does he call himself majestic or does he seem himself as a King?" He asked further, very interested in this Daud fellow and the strange mannerisms he must have. "Surely King Morningstar is pleased to know someone else parades around Madworld with king attached to their name."

The two walked, with Lysia at Otto's side and slightly behind, as he answered her question. "He isn't pleased, because I will call no one else majesty."

"...No one?" Lyisa said, her eyes going wide as she thought back to when she had seen Otto a few moments before. She wasn't paying too much attention, and really, the duo seemed like some workers or members of the Ultra Corps. But she stopped for a moment, realizing who exactly she was following, and who she was meeting with. "You are... Otto Godblessed. The right hand man for Max." She said, tightening her fist, "We're not meeting with Daud, but with Maxwell."

"I am the Hand of the King, that's true." Otto said, opening a door and holding it open. "We have finished our business with Killswitch, and now we're ready to discuss a business arrangement with yourself, Lysia. After you." Lysia nodded sternly, walking into the lavish meeting room, perhaps one reserved for higher-up clients like Mad Max and his Godbreakers. She took the scenery in with her perphials, as she stared on ahead at the table in the middle of the large room. Seated in front of her, helmet resting to the side of the table, was the most powerful man in Madworld.

"A pleasure to meet you, Lysia. Surely we've met before, or later." Maxwell said, rising and gesturing for the Amazon to sit, making a sly reference to her ability to bend time at her disposal. "I am Maxwell Morningstar, King of the Parahumans, and I call you before me to discuss grave matters." Lysia nodded, and introduced herself as well.

"I suppose you already I'm Lysia. Of the Amazons." She said cautiously, knowing that they didn't call Max a "mad king" for no reason. "If it's about those Forever Knight patrols, then well, they had it coming and well -" She began, but Maxwell put up a hand and interrupted her.

"It's not about the patrols or the legions you put out of commission." Maxwell said quickly, "Rather, it's about the people you protect and represent. The refugees, mutants and man alike, all of whom have come to Madworld to seek refuge and protection from the Registration Movement outside of our island. I realize now that I made a mistake by taking in all of these people, but I do not regret my decision. It was one made with the best intentions, but Madworld did not have the infrastructure to take in so many in such a short time. You have done what I could not, Lysia." Maxwell continued, "So thank you."

"I - Er, you're welcome?" Lysia said, a bit unnerved at the Mad King's praise. As if it were hidden behind something, or a means to an end rather than a real compliment.

"Tell me, have you heard of a person by the name of Katrina Hex?" He asked, leaning forward on the table.

"Not that I recall, no." Lysia answered, "The name sounds a bit familiar, but I can't be too sure." With that answer, the Mad King smiled slightly, leaning off the table and returning to his normal position, Lysia studied his movements carefully, flashing a look to Otto Godblessed at times as he stood at Maxwell's side, overseeing the conversation. Everything just seemed so strange about how Max was dealing with her, Lysia just couldn't put her finger on it exactly. "Not to be rude, but can I ask what you wanted to speak with me about? You know, the refugees..."

"Oh yes, I apologize." Maxwell said, rubbing his palm across his mouth, a hint of nervousness, but nothing changing about his voice. "You see Lysia, you can unite and inspire the refugees in ways I and my advisers could not. You see, I am a man who likes to get things done, and if I can't do it, I want someone who can. I want to give you a position within my government to support and aid the refugees, as they will follow you and do as you say. In regards to the refugees, I do not deal with them, so I have relegated that issue to Otto Godblessed and Czar-Mir. In essence, you will not answer to me, but to them."

"You're offering me... A job?" Lysia asked, blinking a few times. "King Morningstar, I have a... condition, if you will, where I need to release myself now and then or bad things happen." Lysia explained, "I can't just take a government desk job and kick my feet up, I need to keep my body in motion and burning energy or else..."

"Or else you will explode." Maxwell completed, surprising Lysia, as he knew a bit too much about her, an uncomfortable amount for the Amazon. "I can provide several outlets for this energy. I could absorb it myself, but there's little use in that when your abilities could prove useful in battle." Maxwell explained, "These refugees are fleeing from an impending war of global proportions, a civil war between superhumans, as you can probably guess. I will need every ounce of strength to defend this land from the tyranny of Registration forces, and I want you to help."

"So, you're telling me, that you'd like for me to fight alongside you in this... Civil War, as you put it?" Lysia asked, "While also being the protector of the refugees?"

"More or less." Maxwell confirmed, "The pay is exceptionally well, the benefits are many - Mostly to avoid corruption in my bureaucracy."

Lysia narrowed her eyes, "And what's in it for you?" She asked, Maxwell's mouth curving down slightly in a grimace. Giving her a straight answer seemed like the best option, so he did just that.

"Victory in the upcoming war, and security from a refugee uprising until victory can be assured."

"I won't stand for promises of better treatment for the refugees after the war." Lysia said sternly, dictating her terms, "If I accept your offer, I will immediately work on bettering their situation and move towards permanent settlement. My plans may be ambitious, but what else can you offer these people with such little hope? If you and your government cannot aid me, then I will find those who can." For a moment, Lysia and Maxwell stared intently at each other, the Mad King considering the unruly threat Lysia could be should she and Hex combine their forces and ideologies.

"Understood." Maxwell quietly agreed, "You can assume the office of Governor-General of Asylum, which will be awarded at my palace. Do you fully accept the position and all that it includes? This is your last chance to back out, and may be your last opportunity to advance the refugee cause all the way toward Cathedral Terra." Maxwell explained, leaning back and watching Lysia intently, seeing what her final answer shall be, having put everything on the table for her to see and even being straightforward with his reasoning.

Lysia

"You can tell me as much as you want that this is my only chance to back out but when I chose to leave I leave, if you want to stop me from doing so at the time then fine, but no man, not even those calling themselves kings and gods can chain me down." I looked this Madman straight in the eyes, with a look of steel that showed no sign of weakness. His was rather similar, a millennium ago he might've shaken my confidence. "And you have made your terms, let me make a couple more for me, I don't negotiate so you take those terms or I walk. Or better said I will never even have been here. No need to explain how considering how well known you are of my skills. I'm rather curious as to how, sure I left a trace over the world but some things you said should only be known by my sisters and the Gods of Olympus."

I looked away for a moment, this didn't really matter and I should make my statement without more pause. "Regardless, my extra terms. Firstly, I have no intention of staying forever, the only place I'd considering settling would be themyscera, so you'll need someone else to do what I do when I leave, you're going to train a man named John Sinkley, and you'll train him in both ways of combat, strength and leadership. He's still a boy right now, a boy with a lot of potential, he'll be a fast learner, one better suited for this job than I am in only a few years I'm sure. Secondly ..."

As I simply said ,secondly, I took a different look in my eyes. Before this was just a stern look to show I wasn't backing down, now it's the look of a warrior that has its pray in sight. I took an aggressive stance breaking the tiles beneath my feet as I took the stance and spawning a spear in my hands, one aimed at Max. "I don't work for people I don't respect, and I can't respect people until they proof themselves in combat." The spear began glowing radiant with energy "You're a bit different, you see yourself higher than anyone else, it's as clear as day that you look down on me, perhaps this has become second nature to you and you do this without thinking, or perhaps you are fully aware of it and that's how you chose to live. Regardless, considering you look down on me, proof that you are above me. I am charging this spear with all the energy I have and once it's at its peak it will fly straight at your heart."

Temporal energy was leaking outside of my body and the spear, influencing the items inside the room, causing some to age rapidly, others to rejuvenate to their original state. I made sure wherever the energy arced to it avoided anything living in the room though. "The second term is simple, if you dodge this attack I walk, if your friend intervenes I walk, and naturally, if you die from this attack, I walk!" And without another word, I let out a scream as I threw the spear at full force, which on it's own would do a tremendous amount of damage. But the temporal energy I had it charging caused the spear to be moved up in time in a 1000 different ways. So between the moment I let go, and the next moment, the same spear would hit a thousand times at speeds far surpassing light speed. It took everything I had to do this attack, which was apparent because the moment I let the spear go I basically collapsed, exhausted. I can't recall the last time I felt exhausted.

But that didn't matter, all what mattered was what would happen tot he mad king in this one moment.

[Illica Falki]

Vera
Being held up by her puppy, Vera rushed down the stairs, before again being held up by Rin's Scream. She's lucky her helmet acts as some shielding to sound, and she's not right next to Rin so she didn't get the brunt of it. She continues to run down the stairs, only end up face to face with the black clad intruder. Not expecting to run into the intruder so quickly, she quickly kicks flicks out her baton without really planning for the fact that they are in an enclosed stairwell.

The cyborg quickly blocked the kick with a parry with her blade, managing to stop the brunt of the force from the foot. Then the cyborg pushed backwards, hoping to put the other fighter off their balance. She then pushed onward to the tenth floor, where she attempted to get to one of the balconies. It seemed the cyborg was going to hack the easier door to the balcony rather than the harder to hack controls for the building as a whole.

Vera, not expecting to be blocked, was put slightly off balance, but recovered as the attack pushed passed her and up the stairs. She looks down the stairs to see her friends just recovering the Cyborgs attack, and she quickly uses her grappling hook to close the distance, getting to the tenth floor just in time to catch the door before it closes.
Quickly rushing into the room, she takes out her folding staff and spins it around to unfold it, making sure to make the sound noticeable, as she rushes after the attacker. As soon as she gets the chance, she swings her staff for the attackers legs, aiming knock her over quickly.

[Tomia]

Garnet

Sam looked pleased when Garnet relaxed visibly. The first officer listened intently as Garnet answered her question. "Well I appreciate your decision. It is refreshing to see someone who choices an opportunity to help, over political gain." Sam was aware that Garnet had served in the front-lines, but didn't know much about it, never having served herself. She then heard Garnet's question and smiled, "You mean me Officer Grayson?" Sam asked playfully, raising a hand to stop her from objecting. "It's fine, I understand what you mean. I was surprised myself when my sister and I were chosen to lead. I imagine the reason is that they're trying to give the up and comers a chance to prove themselves, test our mettle as it goes. Also, the commanders probably believe that older veterans wouldn't be willing to serve under someone as young as my sister. I'm happy to see that your not one of them... May I call you Garnet? You can call me Sam if you wish. I would like us to be on a first name basis, since we'll be working together."

Sarah

Roy relaxed a little when Sarah spoke, she seemed nice and had a disarming smile. "A therapist? Well I've never been to one before, but okay, maybe I'll take you up on it. It's nice to meet you Sarah." He told her before she turned to speak to John.

John raised an eyebrow at Sarah at her question, "And how would you know what I need?" He asked her coyly. "Not sure I deserve a good woman either, but can't say I don't like taking a risk now and then." He told her mixing a cocktail before pouring it into a glass and sliding it over to here. "Here you go, not too strong, like you asked. So what brings you to the bar, don't you have doctor work to be doing? Got to be better things to do than chatting up a bartender."

[Confederation of imperial states]

Dark Knight 3

Chicago refinery plant

The Destroyer quickly drove down the road, veering off onto the rough driveway leading to the refinery. The Destroyer easily smashed through the chain link gate, quickly moving into the refinery, ["Sanza, give me a read out of where the emergency is"], [Burglary alarm tripped all around the southeastern section sir]. Dark Knight quickly hit the breaks of the Destroyer, strafe turning before continuing on towards the target. ["Sanza, any camera readout of the refinery? Any signs of the criminals?"], [No sir, all cameras were destroyed once the alarm was tripped]. Dark Knight halted The Destroyer in a courtyard area in front of a metal car door, climbing out and approaching the tripped alarm. Stopping in front of the garage door, the bottom was severely mangled, as if someone with super strength grabbed it and lifted it up forcefully. Dark Knight looked up to the alarm above the sliding door, pressing a button on his gauntlet, it hacked into it's frequency, shutting it down automatically.

Dark Knight quickly turned back to The Destroyer, accessing his earpiece "Sanza, give me a readout inside of where the perpetrator went once the door was open", [Sir, the cameras and alarms are showing no one entered the building once the door was forced open]. "then why would they-" Dark Knight was interrupted when he saw a figure hovering above him in the dark night sky. Dark Knight paused, as the figure jetted off to another part of the Refinery, Dark Knight ran back to the Destroyer. "Sanza track where the target went", [Yes sir], Dark Knight hopped into the Destroyer, making a 180 tire burn before driving off towards where the figure went. [Sir, the figure is flying too fast for normal sensors to track, it's tricky, "keep trying, use satellite if you have to".

Just as Dark Knight strafed around another corner, the lights of The Destroyer illuminated Guardian, standing and staring at him in The Destroyer's path. Dark Knight quickly hit the brakes on The Destroyer, though too late as the Destroyer continued to strafe at Guardian. The Destroyer's left side smashed into Guardian, causing The Destroyer to then bounce off of Guardian after the impact, spinning 180 degrees, sliding back into a maintenance station. The impact of The Destroyer, smashed halfway through backwards into the maintenance station, detonating a nearby propane tank causing it to explode. Guardian watched as The Destroyer made it's impact, turning and walking towards the behemoth of a vehicle. Inside, Dark Knight continuously flipped switches, attempting to bring The Destroyer online as he knew the God hero was walking towards his car right now. Dark Knight looked up, as through the window of The Destroyer, covered by dust and burn marks, was the silhouette of a person, standing on The Destroyer's hood.

Guardian tore off the driver cover of The Destroyer, tossing it aside like a trashcan lid, as Dark Knight stood up from his seat.

"when your city calls upon you next Knight, don't answer it", Guardian said shaking his head, "The Dark Knight is dead, bury it, forget about it". Dark Knight stared down Guardian, scowling all the while, "This is my City", Guardian stepped towards Dark Knight, having about a foot between them. "You rule as a Vigilante through fear and Violence", "And how has San Andres doing, '7th highest meta human crime rate' ", "all of which I've stopped. Dark Knight pointed his right index finger at Guardian, "You bring Metahuman super criminals to your city, fighting and causing millions of dollars in collateral damage and lives, and you say I'm a Menace". Guardian took a step away from Dark Knight, "If you ever come out again, Dark Knight. I'll find you, and stop you....." as Guardian turned and prepared to jet off, he heard Dark Knight speak from behind him.

"Then may the Best Man Win....."

Guardian peered behind him at Dark Knight, facing forward again and jetting off, up and then out of Chicago. Dark Knight looked around at the battered Destroyer, and at the destruction in the lot of the refinery, simply sighing, and facing the dented hood stop where Guardian stood.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

War

16 Hours Before Registration Deadline

"Some people said it was a long time coming. It was an inevitability. Others, that it was just random, rotten, accursed luck, and nobody could've known it was going to happen." On the stage, Tony Stark was speaking into a microphone, with Bruce Banner behind him to his left and Reed Richards behind him to his right. "I don't agree with any of that. I say that it was a tragedy, and a damn avoidable one at that." He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, calming himself. Stark had seen much in his time as Iron Man, but nothing prepares you for the kinds of things that he had seen.

"Stamford, Connecticut was our wake-up call. Myself and my allies will enforce the HERO act to the fullest extent of the law. No more games. No more vigilantes. No more secret identities for madmen and criminals like Frank Castle and Selina Kyle to hide behind." Tony tilted his head upwards. "I hereby establish the Avengers Infinity Initiative, working on behalf of the United Nations and SHEILD. It will be lead by the three of us here today, along with Hank Pym, the Ant-Man, who unfortunately could not make it today. We will bring in the criminals who use our masks and traditions to justify their crimes. For any superhumans who wish to do the right thing, contact your local Registration office. They have a private line to Avengers Tower, formerly Stark Tower, which will be used as our base of operations. Any further questions may be directed towards General Talbot of the US Military." He nodded towards a uniformed man who glared at him, but walked forward to replace him at the podium.

---

12 Hours before Registration Deadline

"Bruce." Selina Kyle panted as Alfred opened the door to Wayne Manor. "I need to see Bruce. Now."

"Miss Kyle?" He blinked as she collapsed in his arms. Her clothes were in tatters and her body was bloodied. "Oh dear... I'll bring you to Master Bruce immediately." He half carried, half dragged, the Catwoman to one of Wayne Manor's many secret entrances to the Batcave. As the elevator travelled down, he felt her pulse, sighing in relief when he still felt her heart beating.

"Master Bruce-" He paused, staring in shock. His eyes scanned the room. The entire Bat Family was there- Everybody from Damian Wayne, the newest incarnation of the Robin, to the Black Bat, to the Batman himself. "Well, I see there was a party I wasn't invited to."

Bruce, whose mask was down, turned and nodded. "Alfred. This wasn't planned, I assure you." He narrowed his eyes when he looked into the elevator and saw Catwoman laying unconscious. "What happened to Selina?"

"Selina?" Red Hood scoffed. "You're on first name terms with the Catwoman now?"

Alfred rolled his eyes. "I do not know. I presume that after Tony Stark revealed Miss Kyle's identity on live television to the world, she was assaulted in her civilian outfit. She arrived here in this state. She is still breathing, and none of her injuries appear to be fatal."

"Good. Notify me of any change and get her to the medbay." Bruce nodded. He turned to Damian and several others. "This is what I meant. Stark's plan? It's going to get people killed. Good people."

"Selina isn't 'good people,' Bruce." Oracle scowled, crossing her arms. "My father put out an APB on her less than a week ago for grand larceny."

The arguing continued.

---

8 Hours until Registration Deadline

"Wilson Fisk."

"Ra's Al Ghul. I thought we had an agreement. You stay out of Hell's Kitchen, and I stay out of your affairs."

"Things have changed, Fisk. I come on behalf of the Society. A new Society."

"...I'm listening."

---

4 Hours until Registration Deadline

"Take me to Travenios." Captain America scowled, standing alone in the center of a retired quinjet.

"Not planning on talking to Craig alone, Cap?" Luke Cage smirked behind him, stepping onto the entrance of the quinjet. Beside him, Iron Fist, the Patriot, and the Wolverine waited. "Let's get going. We don't have much time."

---

0 Hours until Registration Deadline

"Welcome to the Avengers Infinity Initiative. Are you sure your other team won't interfere in your presence here?" Stark poured himself some tea, not bothering to for his companion.

"No, I don't think it will." Overmind smiled broadly. "In fact, I think my team will be very willing to help the Avengers."

[New Neros]

-Lysia

The Mad King sat idle and nodded as Lysia listed off her next demand for John Sinkley to replace her, and her ramblings about the nature of her powers. Max simply operated on what he knew and made leaps of faith and assumptions, confirmation was only a byproduct, but it mattered little when he knew that Lysia could influence time, but controlling it could wind up in explosive situations. Regardless, Max's eyes perked up as Lysia stood and got into a combat stance, readying a spear in her hand. Otto took a step forward and put a hand on his swords' hilt, but Maxwell stopped him. Rising from the table, Max walked until he was in front of Lysia, with some distance between them.

"Prove..." Maxwell parroted, "My ego and arrogance are very much earned. Surely you've realized that there is no dynasty on Madworld. No royal family. Any man or woman can become the Parahuman Monarch, as the only way for succession of the royal title is by combat. In other words, the strongest Parahuman rules. I earned my title by destroying Sovereign in single handed combat, just as he earned his right to rule by killing his predecessor, and so on and so forth." Maxwell flared his energy around his body, flooding each cell with an energetic boost to take him above normal Parahuman physical conditions. Shocks of bio-electricity arced from his body to the floor and ceiling in brilliant blue colors. "Darwinist Autocracy, they call it."

Suddenly, the power-up ceased, and a bubble-like field expanded in front of Mad Max, covering himself and a meter around him on all sides. "My power is simple, Lysia. I can absorb energy. All forms of it, and then project and manipulate it at my will. My own natural abilities aided by a fearsome mathematical proof of the universes' heat death: The Morningstar Equation, gives me my divine right." Mad Max tightened his fists as the spear left Lysia's hand, and time seemed to grind to a halt. Maxwell was flooding his perception with energy to operate faster and faster, mimicking an adrenaline rush from hell, watching as the temporal energy spear bent time and space around it as it transversed lightspeed. The next instance, the spear made contact with the shield that Max stood behind, dispelling a tremendous force of energy against it, but the spear head pushing on through - Operating on an instance before Maxwell unleashed his Equation.

Reaching up, Maxwell grabbed the spear in slow motion as it's tip came to tap against his metal plate, spreading thousands of years' worth of aging directly against it. The Mad King tightened his hand and grounded the spear in time, absorbing the very temporal energy that kept it in flux, and transferred it all to the Mad King. Closing his fist completely and erasing the time spear, time returned to normal, amidst a cloud of dust kicked up by the spear, Maxwell emerged form his absorption shield with a mark on his armor, walking briskly toward a collapsed Lysia. "Had I not readied myself, I would not be standing here." Max calmly explained as he stood over Lysia. "When people talk about Gods, I'm one of the few mortals they mention."

However, instead of lording over Lysia, Max knelt down on one of his knees, placing a hand on the girls' shoulder. "I am arrogant and egotistical. At times, I believe what they say, but I am reminded time and time again that I am just a man." He began to transfer some of the energy she had put into her attack, enough to end her exhaustion. "A man with fearsome power, a man who became King and a King who became a God... Is still a man at the end of the day. I hope this proved enough to you, Lysia, because if not, I'm sure you will see me in action very, very soon." He said, in reference to the upcoming Civil War, and Max's potential brawl with the Praetorian Emperor should Killswitch fail his mission and connect the dots back to the Mad King. "Otto, send for John Sinkley. We'll figure out the best way to train him." He hollered back at his Hand, turning with a genuine smile to Lysia, fulfilling part of her bargain.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

---

"This is definitely not Florida, Sam, but I don't see why you're so surprised. This is Kano we're talking about, remember?" The eldest of the Grimm sisters told Samantha, before looking at the landscape surrounding her. Whereas they had previously been in a partially ruined urban landscape, with a limousine wreckage not far from them and rows of tall buildings all around them, the three sisters now found themselves surrounded by nature on all sides, the greenery in the landscape present everywhere except for the large japanese manor next to them. The beauty of nature was worthy of admiration despite being beneath her own, but at the moment, the pale woman was in no mood to sightsee, and so, she merely walked after the nine-tailed kitsune, figuring that listening to her couldn't hurt. "And you may be right, Sam, but... Kano said that she might help us. If she really has a way to do so, then the least we can do is play along." Sarah spoke, evidently less than enthusiastic about stopping for some tea time when the wizard and his captive were still missing.

---

---

Weaving her way through the burning wreckage that had become of the android building facility, Jamie hurried to the outside, dodging explosions here and there, wincing when the occasional piece of shrapnel shot towards her, though it thankfully caused very little damage thanks to her Archetype's natural strength. Eventually, she reached the exit, which is to say she arrived at the large hole that Cora had blasted on one of the facility's walls to facilitate the escape of the captives held there. Stepping through, she headed to the forest, not knowing where Cora had led the children but assuming that the large forest behind the facility was a fairly intuitive choice, based on her previous experience, much of which involved sloppily thrown-together videogame plots. Regardless, as she used her magic to zip across the woods, she was swiftly able to find the clearing where most of the children were. Coming to a halt next to the redhead, Jamie took a moment to catch her breath.

"Found you!" She cheered, before digging into her jacket, pulling out a flask with a red liquid and drinking its contents in one go. What bruises and cuts she had sustained were swiftly healed after she drunk the potion, and though a large part of her purple jacket and her red shirt had been burned away by the ki blast that hit her, she was not injured by it. The burned away parts didn't expose anything important either, thankfully, or she would be utterly embarrassed, if she had even bothered to go to the forest in the first place.

After healing up, the black-haired girl looked at the teenagers that were freed during the battle. "Hello there. Don't worry, we're gonna get you all to a better place. Is anyone hurt?" She asked kindly, preparing to heal any of the captives if they needed it.

---

---

Nelli was disappointed that the King didn't seem to know any way to get them back, though she had suspected that things wouldn't be so easy, and so, she said nothing as Arthur's servant led them out of the war room and towards a different chamber, with the winged girl looking all around during the trip there, curious about her surroundings, unfamiliar as they were. When they eventually arrived at the dressing room and were handed fancy outfits appropriate for the era they were in, Nelli spent quite a bit of time simply observing the dress she was handed, admiring it even, before Kylie pulled her towards the back of the folding walls so that they could change with some privacy.

The changing process was rather difficult for her, for various reasons, among them the fact that she was not at all familiar with this type of clothing, though the most prominent issue was a rather obvious one: these dresses were not made for people with large butterfly wings, such as hers. After an eventful couple of minutes full of "Where does this go?" and "I think it doesn't fit", however, Nelli emerged from behind the folding walls, clad in a dress that would be normally worn by a lesser noble's scion, which served to accentuate her fairytale appearance, large holes cut on the back in order to allow for her wings to go through.

"...I am not looking forward to a repeat of this experience." She commented.

---

---

"Nice!" Black Sun exclaimed when Conundrum mentioned the Traveler's flying speed, impressed that a species so closely ressembling humans was at the same time so advanced. At the same time, she listened to Conundrum's short dialogue with the ship's AI, smiling to herself for a moment before glancing at Prototype. He hadn't seemed so bright since his wish had been granted and he had found out about his identity--not that he hadn't been rather grumpy before, the cyborg recalled as she thought back to the moment when they'd met, with him shouting at her a few times for reasons she didn't really understand. Either way, he seemed rather gloomy.

Before she could say anything to him, Conundrum answered her other question, the question of their destination. He was apparently going to take them to a nice place, but the AI interrupted, and the Half-Blood ended up taking a different course. "So... We're going to play space police now?" The female cyborg asked, tilting her head, before shrugging. "Well, I don't mind. Maybe it'll at least be fun." She commented, before standing up from her seat and then floating over to Prototype, lightly jabbing him on the shoulder, barely perceivable given the cyborg's lack of physical strength.

"Are you alright, Proto? You don't look so hot." She told him, wondering if it was because of the whole 'Gregory is dead' thing.

[Galnius]

---

Weaving her way through the burning wreckage that had become of the android building facility, Jamie hurried to the outside, dodging explosions here and there, wincing when the occasional piece of shrapnel shot towards her, though it thankfully caused very little damage thanks to her Archetype's natural strength. Eventually, she reached the exit, which is to say she arrived at the large hole that Cora had blasted on one of the facility's walls to facilitate the escape of the captives held there. Stepping through, she headed to the forest, not knowing where Cora had led the children but assuming that the large forest behind the facility was a fairly intuitive choice, based on her previous experience, much of which involved sloppily thrown-together videogame plots. Regardless, as she used her magic to zip across the woods, she was swiftly able to find the clearing where most of the children were. Coming to a halt next to the redhead, Jamie took a moment to catch her breath.

"Found you!" She cheered, before digging into her jacket, pulling out a flask with a red liquid and drinking its contents in one go. What bruises and cuts she had sustained were swiftly healed after she drunk the potion, and though a large part of her purple jacket and her red shirt had been burned away by the ki blast that hit her, she was not injured by it. The burned away parts didn't expose anything important either, thankfully, or she would be utterly embarrassed, if she had even bothered to go to the forest in the first place.

After healing up, the black-haired girl looked at the teenagers that were freed during the battle. "Hello there. Don't worry, we're gonna get you all to a better place. Is anyone hurt?" She asked kindly, preparing to heal any of the captives if they needed it.

---

---

Marybeth, seeing both of them join the congregation of the teens, floated down from a tree. Using her sonic abilities, she agitated the air to slow her descent massively, allowing her to glide at a small pace. "Alright, so....what do we do with the cybogs on the other side?" She asked, gesturing to where she came from, ignoring the teens completely. "Also...I'm not sure about you...but there seemed to be a lot less scientists than expected." She sighed, looking around. "I guess the authorities will figure that one out, right?" She inquired. She figured that's how Cora and Jamie would follow it up, regardless of how wrong she thought it was to trust anyone else to do it.

[The Starlight]

Valancy Stirling
To Save This Earth

It was the dead of night, and there was barely a sound save for crickets. And then, there they were. Earth’s mightiest heroines had gathered there, in Nigeria, at the behest of Valancy. Their gathering had occurred with fanfare, to limit attention, and provide no warning to those they sought. Nature’s Voice nodded to the last arrivals, and began, looking around at those assembled. The Justice Queens were there, each member’s visage shining with determination, along with the on and off leader of the X-men, Ororo Munroe.

Valancy drew up a dome of earth around them, so that they could not be heard, while Kylie provided a green light from her ring, illuminating their faces in veridian. “Thank you all for coming. So, you all know why we’re here, and I’m no good at speeches so here’s the plan,” said the embodiment of Earth. “Kylie and Marybeth, you are Distraction #1. Lots of noise, lots of light, draw them out and then pick them off. Ororo, Naja, you’re Distraction #2. Wait for Kylie and Marybeth to start their distraction, and then begin yours. “Everyone else is with me, Katie, you’re for transport. As soon as you see a girl, nab them, and place them inside this dome, the door will open in and out for you. So...let’s go save these girls.”

Doors of earth opened up, as the distraction forces flew out, the rest of the team stepping out as well. Valancy looked towards the treeline, beginning to hear vibrations as Marybeth let loose her shouts, and lights as Kylie created illusions of fighter jets and heroes swooping in. That continued on, and as she heard shouts Valancy began to slowly inch forward towards the camp which was now growing visible, using her power to muffle her already faint footsteps, being made so by her lack of shoes. Ever since she had traveled to Africa, where there were much fewer sidewalks and concrete, she had gone barefoot. There was a boom of lightning as Ororo began her distraction from the west, Valancy now hearing shouts of confusion as she winced at the lightning, a wince that was caught by Katie, who scooted closer to her. “What happened to you, Val?” Asked Katie in a whisper, Valancy looking at her in some confusion., Katie extrapolating. “Ever since you left Xander and Naja’s wedding early, you’ve...weathered. New lines have appeared on your face,” Katie said, tracing a line, “and you seem to be sicker. Plus, you’re never in New York City anymore. What’s going on?”

“Should’ve figured that someone would’ve noticed…” the half-Primordial muttered to herself, before she responded softly. “I will explain, Katie...but not right now. But thank you for your concern.” Valancy said, before she peeped her head above the ledge where they were, seeing that most of the terrorists had been drawn away, while some still remained above the entrances to caves and tents, where, through the earth, all 219 missing female students were accounted for. Motioning to Katie, their own attack began. Katie blitzed them, her form turning electric as she leaped off the ledge and zipped around, knocking out terrorists as Valancy, Cora and Jamie rushed them, Cora taking over for Katie as Voltra rushed into one of the tents, zipping out at the speed of electricity, two girls in her hands.

Valancy simply snapped her fingers, the grass blades twisting and then lashing out, the trees joining in to attack as Valancy leapt inside one of the tunnels, running through as she clotheslined one terrorist, kicked another in the balls, and simply opened up a sinkhole underneath the third, Nature’s Voice leaping over it as she sprinted through, coming to a halt as she beheld a large group of girls. Switching to their language, she said, “I am here to rescue you.” Some cheered, while others simply nodded, exhausted from their ordeal. And so, slowly, Valancy led them out, two toddlers in her arms as they followed behind, another group joining them, Valancy counting 189 girls in total. As they reached the ladder that led back to the surface, she climbed it first and peeped her head out in all direction, seeing Katie, Cora, and Jamie leading other groups out. And so, cautiously, Valancy climbed the rest of the way, beckoning them up. She counted softly, Katie finishing with her group and beginning the transportation to the dome,when, all of a sudden, she heard a crack of gunfire. A wounded terrorist had recovered, and, seeing that the girls were escaping, he determined to kill as many of them as possible. Several of the girls screamed as they threw themselves to the floor, bullets missing them by inches. But one little girl did not realize and kept walking, Valancy shouting out her in terror, her legs bursting into action as they pumped faster than her blood, racing towards that little girl, as Jamie and Cora rushed the terrorist.

But she was not faster than a bullet, and her heart withered like a rose in winter as she saw the shot travel through that girl’s chest, the terrorist being taken down seconds later, Valancy’s speed being so that she was able to catch the girl. She gazed at the girl’s terrified and pain filed face, before her heartbeat stopped. “No.” she whispered, her hands glowing with green as she pumped her healing power into the girl, attempting to snatch a life back from Death itself. When the girl did not revive, she redoubled her efforts, drawing energy from the Earth’s life-force, her own life-force, until she heard a tiny heartbeat and ceased, laying the girl into Marybeth’s arms, before she stumbled for a little while, her entire body dry and wrinkled, dessicate and deprived. And then, she collapsed, her eyes dull and vacant, Katie catching her and calling her name, “Val? Val!”

But there was no answer…

Some time later

She awoke on a small cot, her eyes fluttering slowly open to behold the silvery-white hair of Ororo. “Welcome back from the dead, Valancy.” Said the mutant, pushing Valancy down as she attempted to rise.

“The dead, you say?” Asked Valancy with a quirked eyebrow.

“You’ve been in a coma for 3 months, Val. You were far too close to that ledge for my liking. The JQ cleaned up the whole thing, and you’re a hero, here in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. Apparently they’re so inspired that they’re going to take care of some things for themselves for once, and are creating a special meeting to try and decide action on the Darfur genocide. They’ve invited you to speak, there, by the way, in a month or two. The rest of the world is undecided aboutyour actions, though you may have helped to fan the flames of the tensions.”

“I should’ve gone to Darfur first, instead of last,” Valancy said, shaking her head. “That HERO Act actually passed, along with the SHRA?”

“Yup.”

“Sounds absolutely fantastic. Where to next?” Asked Valancy as she leapt up, Storm rising up in protest before Valancy explained, “I used some of my own healing power to speed up the process.”

“Uhuh. As for the next and final location, it’s the one place I’m not going with you.”

Valancy’s eyes widened with understanding. “Ah. Wakanda, the pride of Africa.”

Ororo shook her head in both agreement and disagreement.“Yes. Wakanda, where pride goes to feast.”

Valancy soon set off, using a wooden branch borrowed from a tree as a walking stick. And taking a breath, she turned and waved to Ororo, who stood watching. And then she was gone, transporting herself through the Earth, arriving at the gates of Central Wakanda, the guards standing to attention, their spears held ready. “Who goes there?”

Valancy hailed them with a hand, brushing some hair from her face in an attempt to look more presentable. “Valancy.”

The speaking guard gained a look of comprehension, and waved her through, telling her that “the King awaited her in the palace.”

She shook her head in wonderment as to how T’Challa had known, but nodded, the gates opening for her. And so, she walked past the two lying black panthers which guarded the gate, and marveled, as she entered Wakanda, the kingdom that had never fallen. It was mythological in the West---she corrected herself there, ---it was legend, in the Western world. The rest of Africa either looked upon Wakanda with respect, fear, or envy. She looked upon its paved streets, and its glass-enclosed domes, and all the prosperity that the Great Mound had brought to this kingdom. Yet despite Wakanda seeming to be a utopia, it had its problems. Valancy stopped to play with some children , before proceeding on to the palace, shaking her head as her footsteps echoed upon the floors, the palace seemingly empty, until she reached the throne room, T’Challa standing as he greeted her. “Valancy! Welcome to Wakanda. You remember Shuri, I hope?” He said, gesturing to his sister who wore the Black Panther suit, a furred cape trailing before her. Shuri offered her a rare, warm smile, and Valancy reciprocated, making small talk with the brother and sister over dinner, along with the rest of the assembled dignitaries. It was a night of story-telling, and so they shared stories until the moon climbed higher in the sky.

T’Challa bid Valancy walk with him, and so, the two of them strode the balconies, silent for a while, before T’Challa spoke. “What are your thoughts on what’s going on in the world?”

“The two acts? Well, I don’t know all the details, but what happened to Stamford required action. However, the world will go to hell over this. I can already hear the drums of war. This is one fight where there is no good, no bad, and this is one fight I do not see Craig backing out of. I will remain neutral, I think, though I’ll have to talk with the rest of the Queens, as to our official response. What about you?”

T’Challa was silent, as if deliberating, before responding. “Anti-Registration.”

“Uhuh. You know, T’Challa, when I asked Storm if she still flies naked thinking of you, she blushed.” Valancy said, lifting her eyebrows a bit, T’Challa reddening in response as it suddenly began to hail and thunder, Valancy grinning in response.

“As she told me to tell you,” T’Challa responded with a vindictive smile, “Let’s talk about your love life.”

“Um...let’s not. Considering that it’s nonexistent…”

“Well, let’s talk about you anyway. I’ve had my people watching you…”

“Do you know how creepy that sounds?” Valancy quipped, interrupting him, T’Challa rubbing his neck sheepishly. “Anyway, “ the King of the Dead continued, “Your power has increased exponentially, ever since a couple of months ago. I assume it has something to do with Darkseid’s death.”

“How did you---but yes. My mother shoved her goddess title on me and disappeared. Ever since, I have had a greater connection to plants and the very Earth itself...as if I was it.”

“And you would be right in that. But you’re no goddess, Valancy….” He extrapolated, pulling up a holographic file of Valancy from his databases.

Valancy quirked an eyebrow. “Then please do explain, T’Challa, if not a goddess, what am I?”

“Something more than a goddess. You can’t control the elements, showing that you are not as powerful as Gaia, in that regard, and so, you are not Mother Nature herself. You are...Mother Earth. And you might found that you have access to new powers. For example, with your personification of the Earth, you might attempt to access the morphogenetic field and imitate the powers of animals, and different organisms.”

Valancy pondered on that, then stored it away to try when she had some time. “Now, shall we talk Wakanda, and Storm? The thing is, Wakanda’s isolationism is a detriment to Africa. I’ve basically stopped Chinese influence from spreading, for the moment, but someone has to take the void. You are either envied or respected in Africa, but all fear you. Expand Wakanda’s influence and her warm arms. Africa should not be the poorest continent when one of the world’s greatest nations dwells among it. That is partially why Storm left you, in my opinion. Take the lead in solving Africa’s problems, and show the world what giants can do.”

T’Challa offered a nod, which Valancy would take as a victory. But it was time to return to New York, for a little bit. Her mission to save herself was not done, but this crisis would engulf it. Stamford called for justice, the world, called for justice, but also calmness, and so, she and the Queens would answer.

[Tomia]

Marybeth

Jamie

Cora was relieved when both Marybeth and Jamie appeared in the clearing. She had alerted the authorities with her cell phone, though she planned on being gone by the time they arrived. She turned to Marybeth who began asking questions. "The scientists worried me too, but I'm assuming that they cleared out before we got inside. Either way, we don't have time to deal with that now. As for the cyborgs, we'll leave them for the police, hopefully they'll get the care they need."

When Jamie asked if everyone was alright, a boy who looked around 15 stepped forward, a young girl who's stomach was bleeding in his arms. "She was hurt in the explosion! You have to help her!" He said to Jamie.

Cora stepped forward, frowning, "We'll have to move quickly. We can't stay around long. The police will be here in minutes."

[Charmera]

Despite thoughts to the contrary, the Xyrix horde is not a slumbering giant. It is not waiting. Instead it is a hungry million headed hydra, devouring isolated worlds and securing resources. The bulk of the beast yet lies restrained, though it's other heads are well at work. The Horde is not slumbering, it is not attacking recklessly either. Xyrix is setting up her domino's carefully. This universe is stronger than most, and despite the fall of the Kandar Galaxy she knows the heroes of earth are powerful indeed. They might pose a threat if united. But... if locked in civil war... They become vulnerable. When enemies are divided it becomes much easier to pick them off. The Parahumans and the Asgardians too. They must fall. But she should wait until both or one of them is busy with this civil war. A counterattack on her invasion force by one is managable, but both could be,.. problematic.

"Queen, why do we sit here when their worlds are ripe for the taking?"

Xyrix frowned, adjusting her posture on her throne of broken waships, each she destroyed herself to fashion the chair. She looked to the slime with a withering glare. Normally enough to silence dissent. But this came from one of her generals.

"I told you already. Must I repeat myself child?" She asked. "Besides, we are taking worlds."

"The ones they wont miss." Muttered another.

"We should smash them, and their puny heros."

"Earth should fall today!"

A chorus of dissenting voices. Broke out, drowning out all other sound. The Queen frowned deeper. She could not allow this.

She simply stood from her throne and the world eating general slimes were silent. They were second in power to the Queen, but it was not a close second at all, which was further indicated by size. Xyrix was not even at her largest, and the whole room quaked at her standing. The Generals looked at her with some fear, her sheer size now standing in the War room was simply nerve wracking. The room was designed with the massive Xyrixma in mind, and even then her head was scraping the ceiling, in a room build to contain solar systems. In Xyrixma society, hierachy was not determined by birth, by titles, by wealth or by noble standing. It was determined by size and power. Xyrixma rule is by force.

Once they were all silent, she spoke. Calm, yet stern. Level, yet with considerable threat.

"We will work according to the plan we have set out." She Decreed. "There will be no more discussion on the matter."

She spoke, then sat down. "Any who question this again will be diciplined accordingly." She did not like having to do so to her children, but it was nessecary sometimes.

Suddenly a slimey figure came into the room. Xyrix slimed. "Tell me you have some good news Uxira."

"We have located her Xyrix."

Xyrix smiled wider.

"Your daughter is on earth in a place called Jump city."

"Her name is Xyri."

Xyrix nodded, then got up. "Looks like the invasion will be sooner than even I anticipated..."

"Soon... we will all feast."

[Krytonus]

G R A V I T Y

New York

"Looks like there may have been a mistake," I gasped as I switched the gravity again. What had been our up was now down, and although this Deathstroke guy was fast, being tossed around by gravity itself can surprise anybody. I continued to quickly switch the direction and intensity of the gravitational field he was in, keeping him occupied long enough to rip out the grappling hook in my shoulder, and the assassin's sword. The grappling hook wasn't too bad, but the sword was a whole different playing field. With each inch the pain intensified and and when I finally got it out, it was slick and red, and dark blood was seeping out of my torso.

Something to look forward to later.

Deathstroke was getting more accustomed to being tossed around like a ragdoll, as I launched him through the air towards the Empire State building, he fired another two grappling wires. The latched themselves on the inner indent of the building, and he quickly steadied himself, unstrapping a rather mean looking sniper rifle from his back. I started zigzagging again, once more bringing up the gravity barrier. With a loud crack, the first shot was fired, missing me by a few hairs. The second hit me in the leg and I grunted, but it had been slowed down enough to act as nothing more than a nuisance. I intensified the barrier and a third shot just got through the barrier, pinging against my helmet. It cracked a little.

I suddenly sped up, launching myself forwards at a dizzying speed and hitting the assassin like a freight train. He was fast, but he had reduced mobility in the air, and wasn't prepared for my speed. He smashed through a window and the following wall, crumping into a heap. I landed, walking towards him slowly, hands raised out.

"I don't want to fight you. This is all just a big understanding. You won't even get paid for this, you know. It was me who placed the hit," I reasoned. "Just go home."

Deathstroke chuckled, a deep-throated chuckle that reverberated through the room. His helmet was slightly cracked too, and crimson streaked out from under the mask. He was walking with a noticable limp. He dropped the rifle and pulled out another sword; more modern, somewhat like a katana. It seemed to be retractable. In his other hand he help up a large, imposing pistol.

"I don't care, kid. This is personal now."

Deathstroke didn't give me much time to think. He sprinted at me at inhuman speed, the katana held out behind him, ready to strike while his pistol fired a continuous stream of high-caliber bullets. I tried to slow them down as I usually did, but these bullets were faster than I expected, and one hit me in the shoulder. Switching tactics, I started ripping up the walls, tossing debris at my foe, and thankfully disrupting the stream of bullets. On first inspection the various chunks of glass and wall barely fazed him, but as he got dangerously close to me, I could see he was clearly injured. He snarled behind his mask and dove towards me, but I managed to fire myself out of the way with a well-placed gravity burst which also threw him off and through a few office cubicles.

I retreated into a larger, open room full of cubicles, and started walking backwards. I gasped, relieved for the short period of rest. Blood still seeped from my stomach, and my shoulder was also bleeding now. I coughed up some blood. It spattered on the inside of my helmet. If I kept going like this, I'd die from blood loss. At the other end of the room, Deathstroke burst through, tossing a grenade at me. I pushed it away easily. He charged again, but I started ripping up more office and tossing it at him. I had to admit, it was satisfying to watch Deathstroke take a PC to the face. I was getting more confident as I continued launching computers at him, and with one powerful push I launched him to the back of the room. He was a talented assassin, but in these circumstances he was seriously outmatched.

"Oh, come on man! Are you getting tired already?!" I called out to him. "You could just go, buddy! Just, leave!" I shouted over my shoulder. Behind me, I heard a sudden roar and the sound of Deathstroke sprinting towards me. As he got closer, I clicked my fingers and suddenly all of the loose wires from my escapades shot upwards, catching the assassin a few feet away from me. I turned, and waved my hands around, using gravity to tie him up in the wiring. When he was fairly restrained, I reached up and grabbed his gun, tossing it away. I used my powers to bend his katana into a pretzel.

"You need to start thinking in 3D when you're dealing with a guy who can literally fuck with gravity," I said as I picked up one of the few still-functioning phones and calling 9-1-1. "Hey, I have an assassin tied up here. Come get him."

With a click, I put down the phone and staggered away from the tied up assassin.

"Don't suppose you know where I can find Killswitch?" I asked, limping away. I tried to hide how injured I was from him as I walked.

"Fucking kid." he spat.

I nodded and waved.

"Figures."

[Finland SSR]

Divine Winds

Part 2

Xicor

---

Alright now... After a few minutes of searching for the coordinates of planet Fierro in the virtual map of the ship, I found the information I needed and dialed it into the primary control module. 15 lightyears - no sweat. I would be able to get there in a few minutes by myself, and this ship is even faster, too. A little bit more tinkering with the controls... and here we go, it's turning towards the right direction. I think that, even with this much damage due to my "knocking", this Heran piece of junk will be able to get to Fierro before the engines overheat and erupt.

Now, Fierro. A few weeks ago, those guys - a pretty casual spacefaring civilization, mostly made up of insectoids - were attacked by a large Celestial Android contingent more than twice the size of their population, and things were looking bad for those guys. Luckily, I was in the area, and I joined in soon enough that there was still a species to save. Since then, the Fierrians been extremely grateful for my help, and they'll likely help us with our little ship problem. They're amazing engineers - they even fixed my left arm, the same one that was broken and ripped apart by Majin Frank - as well as really honest and cheerful people. I think we can trust them.

Frank was busy with something downstairs. I'm not going to bother to check what he is up to over there. I was just standing in the control room, watching the scene in the front window with my arms folded as we passed through multiple binary star systems. This ship's autopilot isn't too bad - it managed to pretty safely avoid anything larger than my head on the way. Still, compared to some more advanced designs, Heran ships are lackluster, if not completely useless. They can only carry a few soldiers at a time and are really slow compared to what the Celestial Army or more advanced empires, like Skrulls or the Kree, can offer. They can't even be mass-produced! I don't even know where Frank got this thing from - Earth has far better models to offer. But maybe he couldn't afford anything that wasn't already in the junkyard - he was never a person willing to spend time to acquire money.

I stood in the center of the control room, motionless, like an anchor, even though we were moving many, many times faster than light and making complex movements and turns to dodge incoming chunks of rock in the process. My sound sensors could pick up stuff being punched and energy blasts being fired right under me. Oh, so he's training. I wonder what's up with him. Usually,he wasn't so centered about growing stronger - his cockyness and arrogance would prevent him, he already saw himself as the strongest in the Universe. And now... he's pushing himself to his limit, constantly. That must be why he accepted to join me in this endeavor in the first place - for the experience. Is it him trying to surpass me? No, that can't be right. Last time he saw me, he was a whole Influx level higher than me. He shouldn't know yet...

Oh!

"Frank, we've arrived!" I exclaimed. I was right - the planet of Fierro with his orange surface and purple clouds was calmly spinning in front of the hovering ship. We're preparing for touchdown. My "brother" soon leaped into the control room, still in his Third Grade Influx, with white hair reminiscent of that of a Super Saiyan.

"It has been ten minutes..." he noted.

"You are correct," I replied and pressed on a large green button in the center. The ship started to automatically descend down, towards the planet's upper atmosphere. "We're lucky Fierro was close - this ship would've broken down if we were to fly anywhere farther than that."

"Really? You brought us into this backwater?"

"Says the person who has been living on Earth for the last forty years... Logic.csp does not compute."

"Oh, shut up."

The ship stretched out the landing gear - a few wheels and stabilizers - and started approaching a desert village. The front window showed us the gathering masses: women and children, injured and the few still healthy. This planet has not recovered fully since the last assault. Some of the people I saw were praying for their lives, some were running back to their homes, but most stood still in confusion and terror.

"Okay, Frank," I turned to my brother, who had just went to his base black-haired form. "Try to avoid any kind of intimidating actions - although, considering you're at least half a feet shorter than me or something, it shouldn't be hard."

"Xicor, I think we have a problem..." Frank was looking through the rear window. What is he up to?

"Don't sorry, it's not like these people will harm their savior. And the savior's lackey."

"That is not what I me-"

The ship landed on the arid ground, raising and picking up a cloud of dust that was blown outwards. The front door then opened, and I quickly approached it to ensure the Fierrians that the people coming are friendly. Placing my arms on my waist, I waited until I could see the gathered insectoid masses, then waved my hand and started walking down the stairs. The terror and shock quickly changed to cheer and happiness, as the sapients realized that no threat was on the ship. Frank walked behind me, but he didn't get any attention. Everyone's eyes were focused on me and on me only. The oldest and most well dressed of the gathered spectators - military and spiritual leaders, of course - ran up to me and shook their frail and scrawny hands with me. I guess this is how they say "hello" to a savior these days.

"Welcome back, sir Xicor!" they spoke. I just nodded in approval.

"Mister Xicor!" a scream from the side reached my ears. Soon enough, a female Fierrian, followed by a dozen others, ran up to me and hugged my arm. Oh... well, that's nice. Though not uncommon. With so many planets, civilizations and women I've had to save through these years, there have been so many who have shown affection or even confessed their love to me. I always try to resist their advances, though - there's no reason to get involved in such useless endeavors. They're mortal, they will eventually age and die, while I endure and live an eternal life. No need to break both my and her heart like that. I smiled, and gently tapped the Fierrian's head, then turned back to the more useful figures while she moved back, even happier than before.

"I came to you with a big problem," I spoke to the Fierrian leadership, who turned at me and started listening to every word of mine. "Me and my second fiddle are on a big mission to finally end the Celestial Army, once and for all, but our ship is broken, and won't be able to fly for a long time. I know your people are good engineers - can you help us?"

"Why didn't you ask earlier?" the oldest Fierrian exclaimed, then turned towards one of his subordinates. "Tchak, call in Kovsky and his crew!"

"Nice." They're the guys who fixed my arm up in just a few minutes, so they can be trusted with the ship.

"Hey, 'senpai', check this out." Frank suddenly grabbed my shoulder and pointed towards a bright light in the horizon. Huh? I zoomed in a little to make out what it was. Oh...

...shit. They're back.

"I saw the Celestial forces a few minutes ago - you didn't listen. Who's the moron now, huh?"

He then instantly transformed into his strongest form, the Transcendent form, blowing everyone but me away on a few dozen meter radius, then shot forward to the skies, towards the target. Alrighty guess we gotta follow him, too. I clenched my fists and immediately turned on the Level 2 Influx module, changing my hair to become spiky and golden and surrounding me with an electric aura. No, not enough. Here is something for you to scream and rip your hair off at, Frankie. I started powering up again, to a form I have only used once before today. My hair started growing at an ever-increasing rate and I grew just a little bit more bulky. The electric aura still stood, though. My power increased by the standard fifty times, and when the hair reached my waist, the transformation was finalized, showing a transcendent me. Hey, the hair is long - that looks really cool on me, to be honest.

Frank has a head start, I must catch up before he does something completely reckless. And thus, I leaped to the skies and shot after my crazed brother. The flight took about four seconds, until I found him vaporizing a Class X android without a sweat.

"Thank you, I need it more than you." he spoke as he took the victim's Heat Blade for himself and sheathed it. Wait, so he didn't have it this whole time? What happened? It couldn't have been broken by someone - I wouldn't really think anyone could pass it's heat defenses... I shelved that thought for later and attacked a wandering Class A, decapitating it with a chop, which was followed by a blast to an incoming android group, destroying hundreds upon impact.

"So uh, Xicor, you have any idea why- oh." He noticed. He noticed my new form! Hehe!

"Whatcha think? No longer the first o-"

"YES!"

"Eh?"

"You have long hair in Transcendent form! I knew it!"

"Yeah. Your point?"

"Long transformation hair sucks. You look like an edgy emo blonde woman now." I grumbled. A transport carrier landed in the desert below us while we were talking, releasing thousands of Celestial Androids upon touchdown. "Anyway, you have any idea why they're here?"

"Second shot at conquering this planet, duh. No problem, there's only a million of them here or something."

"I would have more trouble with a million ants. At least they're disgusting and hard to hit."

"Same."

Me and Frank landed in front of the carrier and charged forward, at the invading robot army. They all took out their Heat Blades in sync and shot at us, while we both put up energy shields barely above our skin to avoid direct contact and thus melting down. The first few to try their chances against me were a few bulky and massive T Class androids - I took them down fairly easily with strategically placed energy beams - immediately destroying their cores. A dozen of A and B class followed them, only to be blown back my a burst of energy. Alright, we should retaliate, too - and thus, I fired a barrage of energy blasts at the largest formations. Some of them were destroyed fairly easily, but the others managed to separate in time and only gained minimal losses. Those darn cooperating mindless twins of mine. Speaking of twins, an X Class Saiyan build android, in Level 1 Influx, charged at me from the back. Better than the rest, that's for sure, but, compared to a Transcendent, he is still swatting material. I caught his blade with an energy shield, then kicked him right in the neck - instant decapitation.

Oh, some of the A class are moving towards the Fierrian village! Nope. Not today. I blitzed confront of them and sent a massive energy blast barrage to fling them back to the massacre. The Android forces are seemingly taking heavy losses. From this position a little further away, I fired even more energy blasts - then a beam at the carrier, resulting in a massive explosion that engulfed the were a and the entire battle. Victory.

I win.

No sweat. I mean, I can't sweat, but whatever.

"This is starting to get more and more easy by the second." I commented as I caught and snapped the survivors in half.

"I know, but did you catch their transmissions?" Frank exclaimed. I breezed through the database. The last entries were 30 years ago. Huh. What does he even mean? "They're plans for a final push on the Milky Way."

"So, the galaxy we're in right now?"

"Yes. Ismodeus is tired of waiting, it seems. The Celestial Command Carrier is already in the center of the galaxy, and they're planning to divert their forces to the holdouts. Earth, which is still unfortunately unaware of the Army, is at the top list of the targets, and why wouldn't it be when it's the center of the whole god damn Universe."

"And what does that tell us?"

"It tells us that whatever you have planned for beating Ismodeus, I hope it works."

Sweet! He's on the plan. Now all we need is to actually get on the Carrier and end this crusade, the crusade that started fifty years ago, once and for all.

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

Traveler
"Why thank you!" Conundrum said, giving Black Sun a small bow. Conundrum sighed when asked if they were being "Space Police". "Yeah... Sorry to drag you two into this, but I have to check this out. People could be in very big trouble." He said. Meanwhile, Prototype was lost in thought as he stood in front of the window, when he then felt a small tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Black Sun staring at him, and asking whether he was fine or not.

He sighed. "Yes. I'm fine." He said quietly. "I'm just thinking is all, don't worry." He gave the cyborg girl a small smile, trying to reassure her.

[New Rob Halfordia]

"Cheeseburgers?", Frost asked, totally unsure of what exactly a cheeseburger was, "I've never even heard of that, but it does sound good. I don't really care where we go to eat, given I have no experience with Earth foods."

Despite not having to do so, Frost did enjoy eating, and loved a decent meal. He turned to Xander specifically as Naja began to lead them out, "So, I was thinking of changing my name, given that, in the galactic circuit, the name Lord Frost can elicit some bad reactions. I was thinking, Polaris. He was the Arcosian King that came before my brother, King Cold." he said, before stretching his arms, still sore from the transformation and battle before, "Oh yeah, and I figured out what I'm gonna do with my life, and more specifically, a constructive way to channel my more... erm... 'destructive' tendencies. I'm going to speak with Lord Whis, and see about becoming a sort of part time God of Destruction during Beerus' sleep cycles."