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

[Charmera]

Sam
Sam was eating her salad when suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she jumped a bit in surprise before she heard DeeDee's voice and knew who it was. Sam flushed bright red at DeeDee's words and her licking Sam's ear. DeeDee want to embarrass Sam and it was working quite well. "Uh... Hi DeeDee, what are you doing here?" She asked, stuttering a little bit before quickly adding, "Not that it isn't nice to see you or anything. I just wasn't expecting it is all." In all honesty, what Sam was really curious about was how DeeDee seemed to be able to know where she was all the tkme. Was that some kind of spell? Either way, Sam would have to worry about that later. Right now she had to do her best to not die from embarrassment.

Roy raised an eyebrow as some strange woman appeared from a ball of fire and hugged Sam. He had no idea who this woman was or what she was doing there, but she seemed to be making Sam uncomfortable me so Roy spoke up. "Hey, leave her alone." Roy said to DeeDee, looking straight at her. Sam heard him and spoke up, "It's okay Roy. DeeDee's a friend. She doesn't mean any harm. But thanks for looking out for me." Sam told Roy, not wanting to start a fight between him and DeeDee.

Hannah paused, taking a break from her food. "Oh. The lady from Gotham is back... Neat." She decided now was as good a time as any to talk to Roy. "Yeah, she tends to do stuff like that. It is a little uncomfortable, especially as that is my sister, but Sam can handle herself." She spoke, and then tore into a steak. "Mmmmh... This is gooood."

[Charmera]

Xyri paused. "Well... The scientist said I was made of something called primordial Ooze... Or Primordial Jelly. It's very rare from what I've heard, but I grow bigger by turning other things into more of me." She explained. "I'd rather not get experimented on... though I could always fine a way to absorb something and then regurgitate a bit for you or something." She explained. "As for the hug... Of course!" The nine foot Xyrixma completely encircled Rin in a warm and gentle embrace. Of course the situation was a little pecarious, because now Rin my be able to leave the hug completely dry, but if the warmth went on for too long, the Xyrixma could start to secrete liquidy slime.

Rin Tarla

The hug was nice, bit weird, like, like, well I don't know what to compare it to, but it was still nice. "Oh don't worry, I was never planning to experiment on you, it would've been on a piece not related to you, if that exists. I'm not that in to experimenting on living beings, at least not that kind of experimenting. Social experiments however might be fun sometimes." I giggled, a bit, I guess I started to learn how to talk to people I'm curious about without falling in to disarray. "You can stop hugging now by the way. It's fun but hugs are usually shorter to avoid the feeling of constriction." I smiled a bit, it was weird for me to be giving tips on social interaction when I barely know how to talk to people myself. Maybe I'm learning.

"Yeah. I'm not sure if that does exist. I've never seen anything like myself, like I said." She remarked, then let go of Rin reluctantly, "I know. Sorry. I just tend to get over excited with hugs." Xyri replied, she was still smiling though despite the fact that she was no longer hugging Rin. "So you must be smart like Mars if you're doing experiments and stuff. I mean I'm not really smart like that, so I wouldn't know though." She spoke. "Still, I can see if I can provide some jelly if I happen to find it. You could always go back to the Lab in which I was born. You might be able to find something there, either in their inventory or notes or something."

[Charmera]

"Good. I was worried you'd have me running around calling everyone and their mother." She spoke. "Though, I expect I'll be less pleased about that when we actual fight Khan... So I'll see if I can send a message to the magic slime woman, the android and the pop singer who hates you. Oh! Did you know that? Chorus is actually on the charts as we speak." She spoke telepathically. "Anyway, enough rambling. I should be with you shortly."

It didn't take too long for Julie to come down, moving near Manifest. She recognised Xander's mind of course, but she didn't have time to talk to him. "Alright. Got some extra backup. Zaki and Chorus are going to get the android and come here. Hopefully she'll have a spell to help take out gods. "

"Wait..." Otis said when Hadri asked if he said Saitama. "You mean to tell me. That you. A goddess who lives in the middle of God-knows-where in the universe, watches One Punch Man?" He asked. "Awesome! I can't believe I actually know someone else who watches it! Okay, how far are you, and what did you think of the fight scene with Genos and Saitama? Because that was freaking awesome, in my honest opinion." He said gushing about the show. Was he a god in the presence of other equally superior beings? Yes. Was that going to stop him from gushing about his favorite anime? No. Made even better with the fact that she was a goddess. As he was talking, the ground began to shake.

"Wow... He opened a boom tube!" Naja said as the portal opened in the room above where they were all standing.

Out stepped Yuga Khan. Towering over the tiny gods as he thundered with the mere step. "Little boy, this is the dirty collection you've allied yourself with? They will watch as I burn your flesh off and return the Omega Effect to it's proper place. Then I will raze this planet as I have all that opposed me. What have we here? An Asgardian? Pitiful. A World Dragon? You could prove a small nuisance. At best. And... What have we here?" He said and looked at Manifest. "A human with a cosmic trinket? I am not certain how you insects are responsible for the death of my son. The fact that you were only proves how worthless and weak he was. Something I am not." The first person to strike was Naja.

"You forgot about me-" She was cut off and promptly was fed a face full of Kryptonian crystal by Khan simply swatting her away.

"I did not forget. You were simply not worth mentioning." Khan said as she moaned. "But, you were the first to strike. So your death shall be the quickest-" Otis blasted the Omega Beams at him only form Khan to put his other hand up, absorb the beams and spray them back at Otis. "You could have actually been a threat, boy. All that power and not the slightest bit of imagination."

"I forgot how much those hurt... And why does everyone keep calling me that?"

"Shit." Manifest watched Yuga Khan exit the Boom Tube. "I've never.." His eyes opened in awe. "I've never seen this kind of power."
His awe turned to a scowl as Yuga Khan began insulting the entourage in front of him. His scowl turned to pure rage as he simply swatted away Naja. He began rising into the air, the Manifest Blade and the flaming Infinite simply appearing in his hands. His eyes began glowing crimson so brightly that it shone through his midnight helm, and raw power began exuding from his form- The merged power of the Manifest Blade, among the most potent weapons in the Universe, and the power of the God of the Fragmented. "You dare?" His voice was twentyfold and layered with power the average being cannot even comprehend. "I am no mere 'mortal with a cosmic trinket."

"The Manifest Blade was forged in the fires of Infinite, and sharpened in the skeletons of a Herald of Galactus, and polished in the blood of trillions before you began as a thought in the minds of your mortal parents." Manifest intoned. "For once, you were mortal, before the Second World began. The Blade, nay, was never weak- Not like you. While you were flesh and blood, the Blade began as a power Omniversal. You present yourself as a superior to a might that not even the Living Tribunal itself can challenge? Folly on you! For though the Blade is but a shadow of the Cosmic Sphere of power eternal, you cannot even begin to comprehend it. Kneel, Father of Evil- Kneel before your superior."

Manifest suddenly opened his arms wide, and behind him formed a host of weapons. Some were simple- Perhaps even simple bullets or blades. Others, however, were annihilators on the scale of Stars. Even one going off would result in the complete and utter destruction of the Earth and the surrounding systems. "I said..." His mask disappeared. From his blank red eyes, crimson lines expanded across his face as if they were scars. His hair was fluctuating between midnight black and stark white continuously. His scowl was powerful and aggressive. "Kneel."

For a brief moment, there was silence. Then, Yuga Khan laughed. "The Manifest Blade?" His tone was mocking. "Your weapon is a mockery of what it once was. And the way you use it." He laughed again, harshly. "And here I thought the boy was unimaginative. You are not my superior, mortal." He extended his hand and at once, every weapon that Manifest had summoned simply vanished. All that remained was the Manifest Blade itself and the Infinite. "You are not my equal." He clenched his fist, and Manifest lowered, the colour draining from his eyes. Soon, they were simply pale white. He touched the ground and began to kneel. "You not even my slave." The Manifest Blade and the Infinite fell from his grip, flying in both directions and impaling themselves in the ground dozens of yards away. "You are a bug to be squashed beneath my boot." Yuga Khan lowered his arm. Manifest tried to speak, but it came out as a chocked gasp. He fell to the ground, unconscious. The Infinite's eternal Asgardian fire vanished, and the Manifest Blade went dark, inactive for the first time in twenty years.

The God of Fragments was defeated.

Another pause. Yuga Khan scanned the assembled Gods and Heroes. "Who would like to fall next?"

Seeing Manifest, a powerful individual with abilities that rivaled gods, fall was a shock for Julie. She wasn't sure what to do in that moment, and was reminded of memories of when she had fought nightmare. The overwhelming imbalance. But once again Julie forced herself to compose herself, reminding herself of times fear had crippled her. Instead, she decided to act.

She moved towards the blade that had been dropped by Manifest. Grabbing it. She felt an incredible rush of power as she held it, feeling an insane rush of godly power. She felt incredible and every part of her body was tingling, sort of like the sensation she got from her first time using the GL ring. She could do this. Julie felt stronger than ever. She could do anything. She could-

Her thoughts found themselves cut off by a backhand to the face, sending her sliding into the ground. She groaned. Yuga didn't even look back to see what happened to her as he moved back to looking towards the rest once more. It was only her Martian physiology that kept her from loosing consciousness.

Yuga is not fucking around... She thought, finding it vaguely ironic she fell in the same pitfall as manifest, as she got back up.

[Charmera]

---

"Well, I guess that's not so nice, then." Garnet commented after hearing Masami claim that there was blood inside the hoodie and that someone had probably died shortly after removing it. She shook her head. "Way to fuck up a compliment, random dead stranger number six. You just pranked me through space and time." She chuckled again, before pausing momentarily as she heard Akari's voice behind her. Immediately, Garnet took out Misery and pulled back the hammer of the revolver, striking a pose. It did absolutely nothing to the arcane pistol, but it looked fairly cool.

"We're going to kill the president." The blonde woman deadpanned.

She then looked around. "Anyway, didn't you invite the boy? You were getting along fairly well from the looks of it. After getting along horribly, too."

"Six? Have you been inconveienced by dead strangers before?" Replied Masami tongue similarly in cheek, though before she could get an answer guns were drawn. Akari had appeared right behind her new friend, a smile on her face. Masami felt she probably should have drawn her sword, after all that would look cool.

"We don't have a president in Japan." Akari replied, seemingly unphased by the gun. Though she did move it gently from her face.

"I believe she meant the American President..." Masami clarified, then smiled whistfully. "Remember when we met Kennedy? That was fun." It could be hard sometimes to remember Masami was about ninety.

"True. But I'm guessing our mission will be more fun." She paused. "I didn't bring Akihiko along... Perhaps I should pick him up." She replied, creating a portal to the house she just left.

She stuck her head through politely. "Excuse me, Akihiko, would you mind coming with us? We could use extra swords on this one."

---

---

Sarah smiled to herself as she listened to John's comment, and then simply pretended to stretch a little as she yawned, before giving him a sleepy look, though no less charming than any other. "Oh, well, I don't know John. To be honest, I still feel a tad tired from running around the park all day." She apologized, though it was evident that she didn't really mean it and was just toying with John. Turning to look at him, she brought her hand up to caress his cheek. "You wouldn't want a tired teacher, now would you?" She told him, her voice soft and sweet.

After messing with John some more, the eldest of the Grimm sisters glanced in Samantha's direction to see what she and DeeDee were up to, and couldn't help giggling at the witch's antics and how they were affecting her younger sister. At times, she felt that DeeDee might be going a bit too far with her teasing, but afterwards, Sarah reasoned that she often acted like that towards people who were not in her family, though she hadn't done so during the relatively short time that had passed since she met John. Either way, she was amused, and seeing Samantha's rather loud reaction to DeeDee's last few words, she simply started laughing out loud.

"Sam, calm down!" She told her sister inbetween bouts of laughter. "She's lying you know? You don't have a birthmark. I would know if you did. i've had to take care of you since you were like three, remember?" She said.

---

"Yeah Sam. DeeDee is just screwing with you." She spoke in between picking plates clean. She stacked them up high, having finished her food already. "Now that the starter is finished I should go onto the second course..." She remarked, smiling. "Ah, more money more problems my ass. Being rich is awesome!" She announced. Then she turned to roy. She wondered if she was neglecting him for food. "Um, so... Your powers. Were you born with them or did you get them somehow?"

---

Nelli nodded at Nico's question, mouthing a quick "you're welcome" before biting into the apple once again, enjoying the taste of the otherworldly fruit and making sure to remember what it looked like in case she happened to crave more of them in the future. After finishing her bite, she looked back at Nico. "All of us Star Demons are intuitively well-versed in the ways of magic, though in my case I had to be taught far more than in the case of the others, as I am half-human as well." She explained. "In any case, yes, that is where I learned the translation spells. I know several other useful spells that use blood as a catalyst, if you would like to see them some day. It may seem like the cost is a bit steep for using too many of these spells, but fortunately, Star Demons heal quickly." She said, and then held up her thumb for him to see that it was completely healed.

---

---

---

Kirisvala noticed how the puppy was happily interacting with her, and nearly squeed at how pretty it was. "Aww you're so cute!" She said to the doggy, not yet realizing that she had inadvertently assimilated the small creature's method of communication, just like she had assimilated what she dubbed 'thoughtspeak' after conversing with Professor X, or how she had learned the English language minutes after arriving at Jump City and Earth in general for the first time. She was, however, beginning to understand some of the dog's intention, even if it was far simpler than that of another human or Hadrian, and more instinctive and impulsive. She desperately wanted to pet the little creature, but refrained from doing so; the dog was soft and squishy, and though she was perfectly capable of performing delicate tasks with her claws, she preferred to keep them away from others.

"Hi, Vera." The Hadrian spoke as she heard the white-haired girl's greeting, smiling at her. "You're going to keep him? That's wonderful! I'm sure he'll be very happy here because we're going to take good care of him, right?" She said to Vera, before turning back to Mars and listening to his words, nodding at him when he was finished. What he said made a lot of sense, and she had no issue with going back down to talk to those three some more, though in all honesty she would've been inclined to cooperate even if the request didn't make much sense, simply because it was Mars who was asking. "Okay, I'll go back and talk to them, and if I hear something interesting I'll let you know via, um, you know, thoughtspeak." She said, before turning back to the others. "I'll see you guys later." She said, and then crouched next to the puppy, barking something that ammounte to "Bye puppy!" before finally leaving.

Heading downstairs, she found all three of the newcomers seated in the waiting room and walked up to them, sitting down in front of them. "My friend is working on the phone, he'll let you know what he can find when he's done. While we wait why don't you guys tell me about yourselves?" She asked with a smile.

"Sure." Cat spoke. She wondered where to start. She sighed as she rubbed her temple. "Ummm... well... I..." She sighed, inhaling and calming herself. "Sorry, this is just a little overwhelming. A few weeks ago I discover I'm some sort of super strong human sponge. Then I find out my brother is made of sand during lunch. Next we see a bunch of people robbing a bank and then for some reason we.... stop them. I'm not even sure why I agreed to do it anymore... oh and we meet Nelli... Who is... a magic alien." She paused. Then she looked at her hands. She swiftly put her gloves on and extended a hand, smiling a little at least. "I'm Cat. My brothers name is Nico." She couldn't remember if they had already been introduced, she was all nerves after all.

[Charmera]

Mind Divided: Part 3 Test of Bear

Hannah walked through the cave, frowning as she went. Realistically, she had no idea why she was going through with all this. She didn't even have a weapon, she couldn't transform, she was a decent fighter, but demons? They sounded bad. If they had defeated her once, the real her, the fully realised her. Then what hope did this little fragment which was her now have? She had to fight even for her identity here. She had to claw for a name and shape. Meanwhile whatever she was up against knew everything about her. Her dreams. Her hopes. Her worst nightmares...

How did this happen?

She remembered a face. A male. Odd considering most of the people in her life were female. She remembered something about Disney, and nothing after that. She remembered meeting DeeDee and John... and... nothing. Blank. Try as hard as she might, she couldn't find more than that.

Suddenly she found her thoughts disturbed by something. She saw before her a massive black, huge bear. It's eyes were alight with a grim fury. It took one look at Hannah, and Hannah looked at it. . She could see it was a threat, and so she made herself seem smaller as to not aggrivated, avoiding looking it in the eyes.

"So, a little thing has come into my cave then." It spoke. "This is where little things come to die girl. Best turn back now before you do."

"I can't."

"Oh, why is that?"

"I need to get past. To the challenge."

"Oh, and what makes you think your worthy?" Spoke the bear.

"Worthy? What does being worthy matter? I thought that was the point of the test."

The Bear roared in her face. Hannah stepped back again. The bear looked at this, then shook his head.

"Not worthy. Not ready. Leave now before you get hurt."

Hannah's eyes widened. Just like that. She was told she wasn't worthy. Just like that? What!?

She didn't have a choice. She had to do these stupid tests to get back to the stupid world with her stupid sisters. She didn't care what this bear thought.

She picked up a stone and tossed it at him. Then her turned around and snarled. Once again Hannah was Startled.

"You expect to be able to conquer your mind, yet you flinch when I show rage. You do not hold your ground. You are weaker than before. Too weak."

She tossed another stone. The bear snarled again, this time she did not flinch.

"That's it. I've had enough of you."

The bear got up fully, then moved towards Hannah, Massive paw above it's head.

"Tell Mother Bear that she can send another shard. They are all the same. They are all weak!

He slammed down his paw. Hannah dodged out of the way. Another paw slammed down. She dodged once more. She grabbed another rock to chuck, and then threw it, but it seems to stick to the air. Not hitting it's target. Then Hannah was cornered when she realised the bear was now closing in, and the bear closed in.

Others would have panicked. Hannah didn't. She was afraid, but her anger outweighed her fear. As she saw the bear rear upwards, she waited until it had begun it's swing, and then she punched it in the nose.

The bear snarled once more, but Hannah punched it again. It whimpered as it felt another punch. While Hannah might not look too strong, she was striking the bear at peak human strength. It groaned as it's nose was near broken. Then, Hannah groaned as she lifted the bear. It was almost too much for her, but she dragged it to a wall. She looked into it's eyes.

"Listen. I get that you don't think I'm worthy. But I need to do this. I have come too far to turn back now, especially because of the standards of some grumpy bear." She felt it. Her old fire. Her driving force. She had stood up to a massive bear.

The bear paused, the chuckled. "I was very wrong... You are worthy it seems." Admitted the bear. "You just needed to be backed into a corner. Seems like fear is a driving force for you, hmm? If you use it correctly, fear can be a great ally. But also a great enemy. To be be a bear is to be brave, but to be brave is to overcome fear."

Hannah paused, and then realised. "This was the test."

"Part. Part of the test. Though we didn't anticipate such a... vigorous response. You are something special. Not like the other shards. They're-" He paused. "Well, you'll find out about shards soon... In any case. You're not done yet."

"You've proven you can stand up for yourself against me. But can you stand up to your worst fears?"

[Charmera]

A Mind Divided: Bears Test part 2

"So, what are these fears that I'm supposed to be facing?"

"If I told you, then you wouldn't be properly tested." Spoke the bear. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway. Look for the underground waterfall. There you will find your challenge. "

"Right... Well, thanks Paddington."

"Paddington?

"You know, like the bear... I don't know. You never told me your name."

"I... don't have one." Spoke the Bear, and then he nodded. "Paddington. Sounds nice. Better than no name."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She spoke, both of them understanding the pain of having no identity. "There are going to be a lot of changes around here... And not just the demons."

---

And so her journey continued, walking through the damp cave in the dark in the company of glowing bright fireflies. Oddly enough the fireflies around her seemed to light up the area around her. She supposed that was quite convenient, but then again, she was in her head. She was surprised things weren't more convenient. Another thing was the path. It was almost mazelike, but for some reason Hannah could navigate it perfectly. Like she had been here before.

Honestly being in her own mind was a little odd, she had never been too introspective a person. She tended not to look within so much. She looked outwards more often. She was surprised by what she had discovered, and then things she hadn't yet found out. Like what were the spirit animals really? What were the demons? And what were the other worlds that they had spoken of? And the shards Paddington had ominously mentioned. And she was a shard... what did that mean?

Suddenly she came to a chamber different from the constant hallways of this cave. She thought she heard something, and so looked around, seeing a small figure at the end of the cave room, a small round being. A bear cub, and she was crying. Hannah knelt down next to the bear.

"Hey... What's wrong?" She asked the bear, placing a hand on the sobbing bear cub. She looked up at Hannah. She seemed a little nervous about her.

"It's okay, you can tell me."

The bear nodded. "I got lost... Mama told me not to leave, but I wanted to explore the cave. Then I saw a big scary bear and I ran. Now I don't know where I am."

Hannah paused, then smiled. "Your in luck. I can lead you out of her. Though first I gotta do something before then, okay?"

The Cub nodded. "Okay."

Hannah got back up and waited for the cub to move. She was a little slow, but it was worth slowing down for her. It seems all the Grimm sisters have a soft spot for children.

"Do you have a name?" She asked.

"No..." spoke the cub.

"How about Banjo then? That sound good?"

The little bear laughed. "That's a boys name."

Hannah gave that thought. "True." She spoke. "It's just what I thought to name you at first. Though I suppose it doesn't work that well..."

"Yeah. Sounds silly."

"It does yeah..." Hannah replied.

The bear paused. 'What's you're name?"

"Hannah" Spoke Hannah, now sure of that. Though she wasn't sure she was fully the hannah that was.

"How did you get that name...?"

Hannah stopped. Then paused. "Well..."

---

"Did you get our sister?" Sam asked Sarah as they ran from the place they once called home. Hannah was too young to remember why, and never asked either. She didn't want to know. Afraid what she might hear.

"Yeah. I got her." She spoke softly, as the two of them came to a bench. They paused, and looked at her, not sure what to do with her. They were both younger than ten, and the had no idea how to take care of a baby.

"What... What are we going to do?" Sam asked, always surprisingly intelligent for her age. "Mom and dad are... gone..."

Sarah looked at her sister with concern, and then at the baby in her arms. She didn't know what they'd do either, but saying those words would only worry her sister. She was the oldest, and she needed to take care of Sam. "We'll be fine sis. We just need to find food and stuff. We'll figure things out." She said. Then smiled as she looked at her youngest sister. For a moment, things didn't seem so bad, looking into the face of the little baby, she saw some semblance of hope. A little ray of light.

"Well, we should go see about getting some food. And maybe some nappies. I'm fairly sure our little sister needs a changing."

Sam chuckled, "Yeah, she stinks!" She paused. "But where are we going to get that stuff. We don't have money."

Sarah frowned, but then saw a large store to her left. She then turned to Sam. "Hypothetically, if we were to break in there, take the cash, some diapers and some crisps, how would we do that?"

Sam paused, thinking. "There's the cameras, but the shop seems mostly closed. We can just smother the Cameras in darkness and then break in. Stuff the things in our backpack. Then leave." She paused. 'but wouldn't that be illegal."

Sarah frowned, nodding, then smiled and shrugged. "Only if we get caught."

---

"Sarah, are you sure about this, we could get in a lot of trouble."

"Eh. I hear they have nicer food in prison then they sell here, so I wouldn't be too worried." She looked to Sam. "Camera's are out. Ready?"

Sam nodded, and then fired a ball of fire at the lock. It broke it, then Sarah rushed in, grabbing what she could from the shelves. Sam did the same, breaking open the register and grabbing the cash. The two of them were out of there.

---

"Not gonna lie, this was a pretty sweet haul." Commented Sam as the sat in a motel room. Squatting it. They were ready to hide in case anyone came up. She unpacked her bag and after a few failed ties and gagging, she managed to change the babies diapers.

Sam frowned, then looked to the baby. "Do you... do you remember what mom and dad called her?"

Sarah paused. Then shook her head. "No... they didn't tell us.. before... before..." She paused. "She needs a name."

"A name? Why?"

Sarah sighed. "Well we can't keep calling her baby, or little sister. That's just silly."

"True. And besides, if we have names, it's only fair she have one too." Sam pointed out. Then thought. "What about... Sabrina?"

Sarah shook her head. "They'll think she's some sort of witch."

Sam frowned. "What's wrong with that?"

"No offense. Plus three S names for sisters seems a little corny."

Sam tried again. "Abigail?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Bambi?"

"What is she a deer?"

"Uhhh... Virginia?"

"Too much potential teasing. Let's not be too cruel."

Sam shrugged and then sighed. She spotted something in an opened drawer. She saw an drivers license. She picked it up and read it.

"What about... Hannah?" She paused.

'You want to name her after the person who's room we're in and we're likely going to steal from?"

Sam shrugged. "It's the least we could do."

Sarah sighed, then shrugged. "Hannah sounds like a good name for her I guess. So yeah." She looked down at Hannah. "You're names Hannah. Did you know that?"

The little Hannah giggled as she grabbed onto Sarah's finger. Her grip surprisingly strong...

---

Eventually they got to the waterfalls, a strange anomaly as the water didn't really seem like it should be there, and the falls were almost silent, It was almost like a mirror. Hannah could see her reflection clearly in the water. She frowned, and then turned, seeing the fireflies around her seem to double. It was water after all, and life seems to congregate around water, even here where the rules are only followed half the time. She was only half sure they were fireflies anyway, since all she saw of them were dancing lights.

She frowned. "I don't get it. How is this supposed to work?" She asked out loud.

Then she saw her reflection... move. Without her having to move. It fell to the floor, then suddenly expanded, increasing in size. It's hair came to cover it's entire body and it's face turned into a wolves snout. It's eyes were a balefull red, rage pilled pits which were hard to look directly at, lest you fall in. Unlike Hannah's regular wolf form, this one had jet black fur, and the eyes. The eyes full of hate. None of the humanity Hannah has.

She found herself stepping back. She wasn't afraid of wolves, she wasn't afraid of werewolves. She wasn't afraid of near anything... except herself. She was afraid of the side of her which this thing represented.

The werewolf charged Hannah, slapping her into a wall. She got back up. Gritting her teeth as she tried to do the same she did for the bear, punching it. Instead she merely annoyed the werewolf, which tossed her into another wall. it could have killed her by now, so all it was doing was toying with prey. It was enjoying this.

Hannah got up, groaning as she looked wide eyed at the monster before her. No pity. No sympathy. Only rage and animal instinct. She saw it's red eyes which saw Hannah as merely a prison, and once it was set free, it would wreck havok upon all she loved. And there was not one single solitary thing she could do to stop it. She dodged it's strikes out of an instinct for survival, rolling here and then to avoid hungry swipes with claws. But she seemed too scared to fight this thing.

But then she saw the cub. The cub she had brought with her. And she saw the cub cry for help. And the wolf turn to face her. The wolf saw prey too slow to move out of the way and too weak the fight back. Easy meat.

That pissed Hannah off. Picking on someone weaker than you was inexcusable in her eyes. She suddenly felt renewed strength in her as she jumped onto the back of the wolf.

The thing howled as it threw her off, sending her into a wall. But this time she was not afraid. She reached out for something. Something she had not had for a long time. And found it. Suddenly Hannah's found she had a sheild in her hand, and in the other was a hammer, though at the very end it looked like a metalic bear claw. She grunted as she slammed into the wolf, hitting it back into the waterfall.

It howled as i banged against the edge of the waterfall like a cage. And then it shrank, slowly, back down into human form. A hannah which looked at her counterpart, and then walked away.

"Hannah..." Spoke the cub. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me. You were in trouble. And I helped. And I think you helped too." She spoke, kneeling down next to the beat and gently stroking her. The bear smiled.

"I think I have a name for you now."

"How does... Courage sound?"

---

When walking out of the cave with courage, Hannah thought she head something.

Hannah, can you hear me Hannah?

"Sam!" She shouted. Then paused.

Sam! Where are you? I'm sorry I left you and Sarah and Roy, but I'm going to fix it. I promise.

She paused, then thought to herself. Wait... Roy...Who was...

Then she remembered.

[Charmera]

A Calming Storm.

Slow internet.....slow internet never changes. I've been clicking the damn refresh button for what feels like ages now, a quick look at the clock confirms its only been ten minutes. Sighing I closed the lid before leaning back in my chair,"I could maybe restart the router or actually do something productive with myself." I said idly spinning the chair before stopping and looking at the living room table. There it was, the book. Getting up I sauntered over to the table, taking a seat on my couch before staring more intently at the book.

"Good morning Ms. Kitty. How are you?"

Idle, it remained idle. I guess it was time to have a little fun with the thing, I poked at it with a pen sliding it over the glass service before it fell over onto the carpet floor, that was a bad mistake.

jfakljfalkjafadBeafhoiafoiCarefulaoijfoidoiaFool

Damn it. The goddamned voices again."Shit alright fine, it won't happen again." And just like that they subsided, I picked up the book before looking at it again,"Y'know it was just some harmless fun, no reason to scratch my brains out." I said before this time setting it more politely down on the couch. I got up rubbing my temples before going to the kitchen sighing softly, I hated when that book spoke; it felt as if someone got a drill and just decided to stab it into my brain. I got a glass of water, drinking it slowly to relieve the headache before going back into the living room. I looked at the book again and picked it up before reading some of its contents. It was kinda funny here I was a programmer, had a degree in computer science and a minor in coding, I designed cheap games for a living, and here I was getting put in place by a book and more so a book on the dark arts. Life was great indeed. I closed the book before going and putting on my jacket and messenger bag before picking up the book again and placing it in. It was a have a life day, so no reason spending it indoors especially when their was no good shows on at the moment and I had slow internet. Turning around I took one good last look at my apartment, it was clean except around the table stand where I got my TV and games at, a quick spell should rectify that. "aihrfoahcleanfjaoija" I uttered before the stand straightened out and my accumulated good reorganized themselves.

"Good now time to start the d-"

ajfkajkjUseaof;kajMagicaoijfoaiBetter

I made a soft sigh this time, her voice wasn't that overbearing, defiantly not sliding my mind through a cheese grater bad. "Calm down. A good clean house is reason enough." I said before stepping out and closing the door. The setting was depressing, but that''s Washington. I didn't know what the plan was today, most likely go speak to my mom at the metaphysical store be good to help out maybe find some new books on dark magic. I breathed out and began my stroll into the Seattle weather, maybe mom was right, I should invest in a heavy coat make these walks on those cold and rainy days more manageable, that or just get a umbrella.

"Hey Jessica." Spoke a voice from nearby. Ren, her face cleaner than usual, framed by black hair. Despite her petite body, she had engineers hands, and her physique was far from weedy, in fact she was in amazing shape for a nerdy physics type. After all she had a dream to accomplish, and she always took great care of her health. Exercise, clean environments and sun helped one stay healthy and not germ ridden, Ren being a major germophobe. She insisted on not shaking hands when meeting someone. Right now she was jogging and sweating, though had slowed down next to her friend, standing next to her on the same side that Ren's eyepatch covered her eye. "Going anywhere interesting?' She asked, curious about her friend.

[Charmera]

"I! AM NOT! ALONE!"

And as she bellowed, a psionic roar echoed within the minds of all those present, and every single hero who had stood or was yet to stand against Yuga Khan was suddenly filled with a mystic, divine energy, the power of the Dragon Force that was now coursing through them, thanks to the mediation of the Black Dragon. She had bought so much time, but she knew that she could not fight against Yuga Khan alone. But then, she didn't have to. She had many friends, many allies who were willing to put their lives on the line to protect their world, and the least she could do was help them fight.

Darkness. This is... Not a pleasant feeling for one who has long basked themselves in the light. Charles Crawler knew, all too well, what being unconscious was like- He was, after all, a SHIELD agent. However, he was one of the best- He hadn't been KO'd in years, had a better track record than Romanov.

That was why realizing he was unconscious was even more unpleasant than normal. Over the years at SHIELD, he had his psychic defences strengthened beyond the norm for a human- An unintentional side effect of this was that he was fully cognizant while unconscious. All of the mind, none of the energy or senses. Essentially a blackout of the body. Of course, it was different now that he was a God- He had all the energy, but the senses were still unavailable. So, he had all the time in the world to simply think and ponder.

Naturally, he spent this entire time thinking of how many ways he was going to hurt Yuga Khan. Suddenly, a white flash overtook his mind, and his eyes darted open. He was in a crater in the ground of Praetoria, neither the Infinite nor the Manifest Blade in his hand. He felt.. weaker. And then he felt stronger. He had no idea what this power was, but it was strong- Incredibly so. He reached his arm out. "To me, Blades." His crimson eyes glowed as the damage on him repaired itself and the Infinite dislodged itself from the ground and returned to his hand. At the same time, the Manifest Blade came from slightly farther away.

The moment it made contact with his hand, he felt a rush of power unlike anything he had felt before. Before, Manifest had been a God, elevated among Gods. Now, Charles Crawler had become Might made Manifest.

In one hand, he held a power primordial. In his body flowed the power of a God. In his heart beat the borrowed strength of the Dragon Force. In his mind, he felt rage.

He rose into the sky once more, his midnight black armour transforming into a blood crimson and red lightning surrounding him. The Infinite lit aflame once more- This time, however, the fire was silver. "Get away from my friend." Manifest ordered, flying towards the Father of Evil with incredible speed, his body engulfed in a devastating aura- the Dragon Force. Yuga Khan was thrown backwards, unprepared for this and confused. He stared after him. "That felt damn good." Manifest's form disappeared and, half an instant later, reappeared beside Hadri. "We don't have much time before he gets back. I'm guessing this is your strength? Thank you." He nodded towards his friend solemnly. "Now- I've learned my lesson about hitting this idiot one on one, no matter how strong I am. This time, we strike together." His blades were ready as he stood beside his friend. He glanced nervously at the facility with Thanos and Xander. He wasn't sure how much longer they could hold off Yuga Khan- At least, not without destroying the Earth. There were several people here, himself included, that could do that pretty easily.

Suddenly from nearby a voice could be heard, A familar voice, though with a tone and quality that it didn't normally have. "Yuga Khan. You are charged with crimes against the universe. In the name of earth, Mars, the Green Lantern core and Justice itself, you will be stopped." Julie announced, an aura surounding her, not merely the dragon force, but some other power as well, creeping to the surface. her eyes gimering green to match her skin as she took her place beside Hadri. "Your plead is irrelevant." Before Khan could work out what the heck was going on, Julie created a green construct, a criminal stockade, like what might be used in the middle ages, fueled by the dragon force, the green light of willpower and the concept of justice itself. They would at least hold him for enough time for those arrayed against him to stand together, and it could be further strengthened by the willpower of the others. "You're sentence is permanent exile. Breach of your sentence and resistance of these terms will earn a combined ass kicking from the heroes of this universe."

[Charmera]

"Hey Jessica." Spoke a voice from nearby. Ren, her face cleaner than usual, framed by black hair. Despite her petite body, she had engineers hands, and her physique was far from weedy, in fact she was in amazing shape for a nerdy physics type. After all she had a dream to accomplish, and she always took great care of her health. Exercise, clean environments and sun helped one stay healthy and not germ ridden, Ren being a major germophobe. She insisted on not shaking hands when meeting someone. Right now she was jogging and sweating, though had slowed down next to her friend, standing next to her on the same side that Ren's eyepatch covered her eye. "Going anywhere interesting?' She asked, curious about her friend.

Huh, oh it was Ren. I was concentrated on walking to other sidewalk I barely noticed her. I stopped and looked at her and smiled faintly. I knew all too well of her no touch policy and stayed clear of doing so instead turning to face her. "Just going to go down to the metaphysical shop, help my mom's out. My internet is basically debating the finer points of ending it, so I decided to take the moment and go out. I don't know what I'll do afterwards maybe buy a donut. That's always good, or go see if there are any listing for quick buck magician. What's up with you?" I asked looking at her intently. This could be an opportune time to focus on something else and keep this book from gnawing on my head.

"Oh, just on a jog. Gotta keep fit and healthy after all." She remarked. It was true, she hadn't really planned for anything more other than to jog her usual routes. Though now she decided to follow Jessica to see what she might be up to. "Just worked on a few things for my... projects. Engineering stuff. Perfecting my nano bots and their assembly time." She spoke. She didn't tell her about the suit though, the nanobots were something everyone knew about, while the suit was a secret. "Wasn't getting anywhere so I thought I'd clear my head too... I guess I could come with you. Be you magicians assistant or whatever. Or maybe just watch."

Cora
Cora's blast slammed Apocalypse into a crater and the android soon followed up her attack to make sure that the mutant was knocked out. Luckily he was, and soon the police and special government agents had arrived, to take Apocalypse in custody, and hopefully they had a prison that could hold him. Cora then flew over toward Katie. "Hey sweetie, we took care of Apocalypse. What should we do with metal head here?" She asked, gesturing toward Magneto.

"He can go with big and grey. They'll be great together." She remarked with a smile, looking to Valancy. "Thanks for the help Val. You were great with the nature stuff. I didn't get to see much though since I was focused on Maggie over here." She remarked, then moved to Cora, putting a hand in hers. "You were great too Cora. You saved my life. I really didn't want to die by asphyxiation. And I suppose I really didn't want you to die either. That must have been what triggered some of my power..."

[Charmera]

Valka arrived next on Apokolips, looking down on herself and at the others. "Interesting. I think it is high time that this pitiful Asgardian joined the fight. Previously, one of us alone could not have taken thee, Father of Darkseid. Together, before the Starbrand, we would have perhaps been enough. But now, on a planet whose destruction has been coming for thousands of years, with infinite cosmic power divided between ourselves, there will naught be a speck left of thee, for we will erase thee from the face of the universe, and all history. So, Yuga Khan, quake before us, and then, die."

And then, Valka lifted Gungnir to the sky, and then hurled the spear of Odin at the Old God, and then she disappeared, moving so fast that she was only a streak of light, catching the spear she had thrown and plunging it into the God's foot, before she ripped it out, continuing her attack until her form seemed to flicker as she attacked him from all sides.

Despite her increased power, Khan was still mighty and soon he caught on, smashing his fists into the ground where Valka was, but to no avail, as she leaped aside, Gungnir flashing, removing one of Khan's fingers. "That, was for Hadrimmelis." she said, pausing. Khan, after he had recovered, slammed both fists down upon the All-Mother. But instead of leaping aside, she cast Gungnir aside, and lifted up her own arms, and then, suddenly, she changed, growing in height and in power until she was nearly as tall as Yuga. This, was her true God form,or, in Valka's case, her Skymother form. She blazed with a light nearly blinding to all the others, and with one hand she held back the father of Darkseid, turning to Manifest and the rest, her voice thundering. "Every God possesses a true God form, much like Hadrimmelis' awakened form, Manifest, and all thee New Gods. You will be able to change into it at will, though the first time it may be difficult. In any case, whether you choose to change into it or not, join me, for I, Valka, cannot do this alone."

Manifest's crimson eyes glowed golden as he watched his enemy be thrown into Apokolips. "You think anyone would mind me destroying this planet-sized waste of space?" He spread his arms, both of his swords glowing with the power of the Starbrand as well as the aura of the Dragonforce. He imbued them with the strength of a New God and charged. He arrived on Apokolips just in time to see Valka spear Khan's foot. "God form, huh?" He considered for a moment. "Nah, don't think I want to." He smirked. "Don't think I need to." He leapt forward in front of Valka, slicing the Manifest Blade across the Father of Evil's chest. "My turn." His voice was suddenly deadly serious. The moment the blade connected with Yuga Khan's chest, the raw energy output of the weapon and the God of Fragmentation caused an explosion, leaving a crater in the ground several meters wide and throwing Khan backwards.
"You insolent-!" Yuga Khan, who was attempting to rise, was cut off by Manifest charging once more, this time with the Infinite.

"Shut up." He slashed at him again, throwing him backwards even further. He did this again and again, each time leaving a larger crater. Eventually, he flashed to Khan's other side and summoned an enormous moon-killer rocket. "By now, I would've killed Mogul, Superman, and Blue Marvel. You're pretty damn durable, aren't you?" He launched it, causing an explosion that- Did nothing!?

"You did not let me finish." Khan scowled. He was floating in the moon-sized crater on the surface of the galaxy-sized planet, unharmed by the explosion. "You are a foolish-" Manifest rapidly returned to his allies.

"Turns out, explosion don't do jack to him." Manifest sighed. Time to tag-team. Who beats on Khan next?"

"My turn." Spoke Julie as she suddenly rocketed forth to punch Yuga Khan, aided by telekinetic force and her martian strength, all now magnified by the duel power ups they had been given, she slammed into him like some sort of turbocharged train. And then she let loose with a blast of green energy, drilling him into the planet itself. She gritted her teeth as she powered the energy blast, but then Yuga jumped out of his hole.

"You think some power boost has given you any sort of edge in this fight?" He questioned. "You're a insect among rats, all deserving an exterminat-"

Julie did not waste time in letting another green lantern blast rock her enemy, sending him backwards. She then turned to the side to see something and then smiled. Looks like the Reinforcements are here. And they got the power boosts too."

Before Yuga could say anything more a Beam of magical energy vomited forth from the mouth of a slime being, now oozing with magical energy. The ground and air around her warping and changing. In the path of the beam things seemed to twist and form strange things. Like butterflies and other such oddities. The warping power of magic. The beam was a high power transmutation spell which Khan would hopefully have a hard time resisting.

Next was a blast of sound, like a wall bearing down upon it's target it hit the Khan, and was followed by a barrage of spacial cuts.

"Feel free to chip in guys!" Shouted a voice, likely Zaki's.

[Charmera]

---

Suddenly, a robotic rabbit hopped into the forest clearing where Darian and Serene were fighting against Zeritin... or rather, where they had just been incapacitated by the demon sorcerer. The bunny hopped along freely, evidently ignorant to its surroundings, but soon enough, a young blonde woman entered the clearing as well, running towards the mechanical creature and picking it up. "What's the big idea, Cloudy? I've been chasing you for days!" Etla said angrily, chiding the robot bunny, though the creature evidently didn't understand a thing of what she had said and simply acted nonchalant about the whole thing. Etla smiled at this. "Aw, I can't get angry at you, Cloudy." She said, hugging the robot bunny.

It was then, and only then, that she noticed the two strangers bound to the ground by dark magic, along with the weird guy who was cosplaying as a character from Lord of the Rings or something like that. He had a strange dark cloud around him, so she figured he was up to no good. With that in mind, she turned to the Astarious brothers. "Oh, hello there. Are you guys in trouble or something?" She asked as she shoved Cloudy into the Cloud, to be retrieved at a later date, when it didn't seem like there was danger nearby.

"They are indeed in quite the pickle, my hopefully soon to be new friend." Spoke a voice as a being suddenly appeared as if from thing air, having bent the colour around her so that she was invisible. This was Auia, who was currently next to Etla. This being seemed to radiate pure colour now, seeming to be almost overexposed. Like someone had turned up the itensity of all the colour around her by a factor of 100%. She had a smile, though it soon morphed into a concerned expression as she turned to the siblings. She quickly moved to free the twins, severing the darkness with blades of solid colour at insane speeds.

[Charmera]

Darian and Serene
Zeritin snarled as Etla blasted away his dark energy with a beam of light. "This is an insult to the Demon! Die!" Zeritin shouted before disappearing and reappearing nearby, the cloud above him firing sparks of lightening at Etla in retaliation. The Sword Demon soon sprung into action, sending a huge wave of fire from his blade and obliterating half the minataur creatures that were still around. Serene ran towards Etla's side and began firing arrows to block some of the blasts of lightening that Zeritin was sending Etla's way. "Come on, we can take him out together!" Serene shouted to Etla as she continued to fire light arrows at the enemy.

Auia saw what Serene was doing, and so followed suit, firing her own beams of color and light to confuse, disorient and also hurt. These were magic colour, made to sear and hurt, not just useless fireworks. Anyone hit by the rays would also have a very hard time telling the wound from anything else, as they would find their colours messed with.

Also, behind the demon itself was a figure, impossible to see seeing as she had an illusion around her, but anyone with Auia’s powers might be able to spot her, or anyone listening might be able to hear footsteps. This was Ihra, who had found people fighting and thought she should help, using her new Rainbow Blade to attack.

Young Blood Tower
Nico wondered what Kiris was smiling about, no one had said anything particularly amusing. Then she suddenly told the that her friend was waiting for them downstairs and he wondered how she had even communicated with him. Was she speaking to him with his mind or something? However he decided not to question it, especially since he was too preoccupied with the idea of finally having answers. "Alright, let's go." Nico said as he followed Kris down stairs to Mars' lab.

Mars was sitting at his computer desk when they arrived, a very large monitor sitting in front of him with a number of desktops and other hardware surrounding him. "Good you're here." Mars said as he turned to see them. "Well, I've definitely found something on the phome. Whoever it belonged to went through a lot of effort to hide it, but well... let's just say I'm better." He said with a bit of a smile.

"You see, breaking into the phone wasn't too tough. I just ran a reverse encryption program through the phone's software and it was cracked in a few minutes, the files inside though were much better protected. Most of them were diagrams or coded texts with written instructions, but there was something else too, an audio file. All the texts were from untraceable numbers and probably from burner phones so those are dead ends. The audio file however, well that's where I hit jackpot."
"The voice in the file was scrambled." Mars told them, playing the original file as the sound of a very robotic voice filled the air, giving further instructions about the robbery and what to do with the money. "I managed to unscramble it, but that wasn't enough. You see, the audio file was scrambled three separate times, someone really wanted to keep their voice a secret. But... I managed to recreate what is almost assuredly the original file. Here, take a listen."

Mars played the audio file again and the room was once again filled with a voice. This time it was the clear sound of a human woman's voice, and Nico stood there in absolute shock, his mouth hanging wide open. Filling his ears, with crystal clear likeness, was the sound of his mother's voice, giving instructions to a robbery. Mars saw his reaction and raised an eyebrow, looking a little confused. "You know this woman?"

Cat looked at Nico, and then at the phone. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry, so instead she just stared in shock. “No… No way.” She paused. “That’s mom. That’s our mom… how… why?’ He was right. Her brother was always right. Why? Couldn’t he have been wrong just this once? Cause, if this was her mother… then she must have done other robberies. Or even other stuff. And then… Dad must know. “You… You were right Nico.”

Sam let out a soft yawn. "Well, goodnight everyone." She said before heading up to her own room. Roy turned to Hannah, "Well I guess I'll head up to. Unless maybe you want to hang out for a little while?" Roy asked blushing a bit. "If you're tired I understand. It's just... well its been nice talking to you. I've never really had someone my age I could hang out with." Roy told the youngest Grimm sincerly.

“Sure, Hanging out sounds sweet. As for being, tired. I’m a creature of the night Roy, so I’m perfectly fine with talking.” She paused. “My powers manifested when I was four… or six. Though I always had these.” She pointed at her ears. “And I was always tougher than anyone else my age.” She paused. “So. Anything you want to tell me about yourself? Now’s a decent time for that.”

[Charmera]

I clear my mind. With perfect precision I see my place in the vast Universe and bask in its glory, the Awesome powers of the Omniverse clear and present in my thoughts. Here, on this primal plane of the mortal psyche, all is clear to the patient, watchful eye, and-

-And someone just broke into my damn office while I was meditating. Again.

A Tale of Loss - The Professor

I open my eyes slowly- I don't know if this is a couple students on a harmless dare, or this so-called HYDRA that has been menacing the world, or anyone between. After all, who wouldn't want to get their hands on the arcane knowledge of the Sorcerer Immortal? To be fair, for now, most of it was just that- Arcane knowledge, not actually skill. I had memorized the incantations, perfected the summoning rituals, Hell, I even improved some of the alchemical recipes- But no matter how hard I tried, magic just refused to cooperate with me. Make no mistake, I could pull off most spells in the book... They would just be pale reflections of their true power. The only exceptions were the spells that I had spent all one hundred and fifteen years of my magical training perfecting- Levitation, for example. I only ever meditate while levitating.

Ah, getting distracted. I closed my eyes for a moment to shake out the cobwebs. Even a hundred years later, I'm still too used to the monotony of being trapped inside the Earth. I breath in slowly, deeply, and open them once more. "Sediv agret." I whispered softly, and for a moment, nothing happened. Slowly, my vision began to fade, and it was replaced by a similar scene- I was looking out the back of my head. I love this spell. I smirked, watching two of my students meander around my study. My smirk vanished when one began to reach for a particularly dangerous book, and I willed myself to whip around, rising from my sitting position and extending my arm. "Oeprot!" I called, freezing him where he stood. The other student paled and attempted to run. I rolled my eyes. "Suspal." He fell.

I lowered myself to the ground, using my levitation to bring both of them in front of me. "Why are the two of you in my office, exactly?" I cross my arms. "I don't give lessons on Thursdays. See me in class tomorrow. Now leave." I dispelled my petrification charm and sighed. Damn students. On the bright side, at least I have tenure. I set my wards back up and returned to my meditations. Teaching at the Oxford University of Charms and Spells wasn't the most rewarding job, but hell if it didn't pay well. Ever since the supernatural became mundane, Oxford had even started letting him teach his classes in actual classrooms instead of in the sublevel!

“Are you going to throw me out too?” Spoke a voice from within the room, a Russian accent still vaguely detectible, but the individual seemed to have developed a British one, though she could revert back to her old accent if she chose. It seemed to come from the darkness in the room, confirmed as a light came from that part of the room, a lighter lighting a cigarette. The same lighter she had for years. She guessed the professor knew she was there all along, or maybe he didn’t, who knew?

“Memories… I remember when I was like them. So young and eager to learn.” She remarked. “We’re you ever like that?” She inhaled smoke and then inhaled it as the cigarette was moved from her mouth.

“We may be able to get funding for our little project.” She said, as if that was her reason for coming her. There was something else too. But it was always good to get the good news out first.

[Charmera]

Hong Kong

Zhao sat at the back of the bar, watching his target, having a drink with two of his co workers. David Chan was the new Police Commissioner of Hong Kong. Ever since he took office, crime had dropped to incredibly low levels within a few short months. Obviously, he was a threat to the many triads that operated within the city, which is why the 14K Triad had payed a lot of money to hire Zhao Ming-Hua to take him out. Zhao stood up and walked up towards the Commissioner.

As Commissioner Chan and the two other officers turned around to see who was coming, Zhao spat cobra venom into one of the police officer's eyes. The man fell to the ground, rolling around in agony as he covered his eyes. Commissioner Chan and the other police officer reached for their guns, only to be stopped by Zhao. Zhao's arms turned into octopus tentacles and lunged out towards the two men. One arm grabbed Chan, throwing him into the wall and knocking him out. The second police officer pulled out his gun and fired a shot. People became fully aware of what was happening and began to run out of the bar. The bullet grazed his arm, but nothing serious. Zhao smirked as he wrapped his tentacle around the officer.

"Congratulations. Your the first person in 5 years that's managed to hit me. Recently, many haven't been able to get that far." Zhao's smirk changed to a more neutral expression.The officer screamed in fear as he was thrown up in the air He bowed his back as hundreds of quills grew out of his back. The officer's screaming ceased as he was impaled on Zhao's quills. Zhao retracted the quills, dropping the man onto the ground. Zhao stood up right again and stretched his back. Its cracking echoing through the room.

Zhao noticed that he had some blood on his face and grabbed a napkin to wipe it off. He then reached for his phone and put on the military anthem of the People's Liberation Army. He turned up the volume on his phone but was having difficulty hearing it. He looked down to see that it was because of the screaming man at his feet that he spat at earlier. The man was probably blind by now. Zhao proceeded to stomp right on top of the man's throat, silencing him. He turned up the volume again, much to his satisfaction. Commissioner Chan regained consciousness to the sight of his two friends, both lying dead and mutilated at the feet of their killer who was just lighting a cigarette. His face had a look of horror.

Zhao looked over and saw the Commissioner stricken with fear. He paused the music and took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Ah good, dear Commissioner. You're awake, at least this means you don't have a concussion.Anyway, the Triad didn't say you had to die in any particular way. Just that I had to deliver your head to them by the week. Soooo, the means of your death are up to me. Well, I'm going to let you get a.... 2 minute 49 second head start before I hunt you down." Zhao put the music back on. The Commissioner snapped out of his gaze and booked it through the door. Zhao just stood their leaning back against the bar counter smoking his cigarette.

"He killed them." Ling spoke with shock as she saw the man slaughter those two men. She gritted her teeth. They didn't ask for trouble, all they were doing was protecting their Co worker, and they died for that. It was horrible. She had to resist the urge to vomit. She wasn't use to the blood and guts stuff honestly. She suppose she was going to have to get over it. She stood at the other side of the street, using her xray vision and super hearing to tell what was going on.

"Do not engage Red Fist. Remember the mission," Said a voice in Mandarin.

'The mission? Did you go deaf? He killed them! And he's going to kill the commissioner."

"We are well aware Red Fist, but you cannot take such a heavy handed aproach, otherwise we'll never find the triads he's working for."

'So we let someone die because he might show us whom he's working for?"

"Yes. To save more."

Red Fist shook her head, and then tuned her comm link out as she stood. She couldn't let someone die, not even if it meant they loose track of the triad. She sped forward, crossing the street and grabbing and opening the door, ripping it off it's hinges in the process. She then tossed it away, though she meant only to open it, she reasoned this was good enough. She walked forward, looking to Zhou. "Zhao Ming-Hua. I am agent Red Fist. You are coming with me to be held accountable for your actions."

[Charmera]

“Are you going to throw me out too?” Spoke a voice from within the room, a Russian accent still vaguely detectible, but the individual seemed to have developed a British one, though she could revert back to her old accent if she chose. It seemed to come from the darkness in the room, confirmed as a light came from that part of the room, a lighter lighting a cigarette. The same lighter she had for years. She guessed the professor knew she was there all along, or maybe he didn’t, who knew?

“Memories… I remember when I was like them. So young and eager to learn.” She remarked. “We’re you ever like that?” She inhaled smoke and then inhaled it as the cigarette was moved from her mouth.

“We may be able to get funding for our little project.” She said, as if that was her reason for coming her. There was something else too. But it was always good to get the good news out first.

"I was quieter than them." He replied flippantly. "And more bloody respectful." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Odnetso." He called out, waving his hand vaguely in Checkov's direction. He had known she was there, but she had a habit of slinking around like that, and he figured he wouldn't ruin her fun- Besides, so long as she was quiet, what did he care? When she continued, he smiled broadly. "Wonderful. How did the board take it?"

He floated upwards in his (rather tall) study, browsing the shelves that lined every wall. "Onievni murbil supturroc!" He opened his palm and the tome that the student had attempted to read before flew to his hand. He returned it to his place. "Hmm. I need to renew the wards. Looks like some of the sentient books are making mischief again." He shook his head, then turned to Alex for her answer.

Spells used
Odnetso - Reveal.
Onievni murbil supturroc - Locate the corrupted book.

"Decently. Honestly a lot of them still have the same irrational fear their ancestors had for my own forebearers, and likely only voted to allow us the land out of fear we'd turn them into toads. Though perhaps that's what you wanted. After all you did send me." Alex joked. Then sighed as she looked at the books. Hearing Loss' remark. "You know, some of the dark tomes aren't that bad, just... as cliche as it sounds, misunderstood." she remarked. She was used to reffering to any and all magical books as people. It was more common that they were than weren't. Words had power, and magic words had exponentially more. It only makes sense that would breed sentience. "Then again. There's tomes even I won't play with. Far too bitter and hateful." She remarked.

"There is... some bad news." She remarked. "Some of the board members don't wish the project to continue. There's talk of taking us to legal court." She paused.

Nico
Nico was standing in shocked silence when his sister finally spoke up. He looked over at her, seeing that she was quite upset herself now that she knew the truth. He had been right all along, but that didn't even cross his mind at the moment. He took a step closer to Cat and held her two gloved hands, making sure not to touch her actually skin so that he didn't get hurt. "I didn't want to be Cat, really I didn't. It's been killing me inside since that night I found out. But we still have each other alright? We have to stick together now, and figure out the truth of all this." Nico said to his sister. Mars sat back a bit awkwardly. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he was pretty sure that Cat had said that her mother was the voice on the recording. That meant that one of their parents was some kind of thief at a minimum. He was quite curious to figure out what exactly what was going but knew that brother and sister needed a moment here so he merely sat by in silence next to Kiris.

Roy
Roy gave a small smile when Hannah said she wanted to hangout. He listened to her speak as they headed upstairs toward his room. As they walked he saw Hannah point to her ears, saying that she had been born with them. "I'm sure that must have made it hard to fit in." Roy said, knowing how cruel children could be. When they got inside and turned on the light Roy was shocked at what he saw. It was a large room with two Queen sized beds and a walk in closet. Not to mention the huge flat screen TV hanging off the wall. This might not have seemed too incredible to others, but to Roy it was. It was the first time he had ever stayed in a hotel before.

As he sat down on the bed in a curious manner he heard Hannah's question about him. He pauses a bit, not sure what to say. He didn't want to scare Hannah away with his very troubled past and show all of the emotional and psychological trauma he had endured. Still, he knew she was genuine in her interest in him, and part of being friends was being able to open up to each other so he had to try. He decided to focus on the newer, more happy parts of his life for now.

"Well, right now I'm living in New York. With a group of friends, who are well... Kind of superheroes. They're called the Justice Queens. They took me in a few months ago, and they were really nice to me. They understand what its like to be different, so I've been with them ever since." He told her, pausing a bit before deciding to break the silence with a question of his own. "So what about you and your sisters? Have you three been traveling together for a while?" He asked his new friend. The three of them certainly seemed close, and even though Roy didn't want to pry, he couldn't help but wonder where they're parents were. Though you could easily say the same thing about him in turn.

Cat
Cat nodded, inhaling. She had a darker look now, one of anger. She held her brothers hands a little tighter than she perhaps intended. "I want answers... maybe they did this to us! Who knows?!" She exclaimed, the anger felt odd, talking about her parents. Her kind and patient father, her warm and strong mother. She needed to know why they'd do this. She turned to the Young Bloods. 'We're not alone though." She turned to Nelli. "At least. I hope we're not. Look. I know I was perhaps not as friendly as I could have been. For that I'm sorry. My life has been tearing apart at the seams." She explained. "I may be making a leap, but I assume you don't like it when people are hurt. But it seems that's what our parents do. Hurt people. We need your help if we're going to stop them from doing that. Because... we may not be able to fight them when the time comes. It may be too hard."

Hannah
"Psh. Fitting in is overrated." She paused. Her animal ears drooping. '"The problem is when people think you're a freak. When they're scared of you. My sisters were lucky. Sarah is enchantingly beautiful and charismatic, Sam is smart and pretty. Me? I'm the freak who turns into a werewolf." She paused. "But, fuck it, there are benefits to being scary. For one, if I flash my lovely rows of teeth people tend to give me what I want. Plus I'm the toughest out of the three of us, and I pride myself on being so."

She then cocked her head as Roy spoke. "Well, I did ask about what happened to you before. Like. Your childhood and stuff." She spoke. "I mean, you got to see part of my inner self, my Dragon self. So it's only fair you reveal something within."

"As for your other question. We've been traveling for as long as I can remember. Dunno what happened to my parents, but Sam and Sarah took good care of me."

[Charmera]

"He killed them." Ling spoke with shock as she saw the man slaughter those two men. She gritted her teeth. They didn't ask for trouble, all they were doing was protecting their Co worker, and they died for that. It was horrible. She had to resist the urge to vomit. She wasn't use to the blood and guts stuff honestly. She suppose she was going to have to get over it. She stood at the other side of the street, using her xray vision and super hearing to tell what was going on.

"Do not engage Red Fist. Remember the mission," Said a voice in Mandarin.

'The mission? Did you go deaf? He killed them! And he's going to kill the commissioner."

"We are well aware Red Fist, but you cannot take such a heavy handed aproach, otherwise we'll never find the triads he's working for."

'So we let someone die because he might show us whom he's working for?"

"Yes. To save more."

Red Fist shook her head, and then tuned her comm link out as she stood. She couldn't let someone die, not even if it meant they loose track of the triad. She sped forward, crossing the street and grabbing and opening the door, ripping it off it's hinges in the process. She then tossed it away, though she meant only to open it, she reasoned this was good enough. She walked forward, looking to Zhou. "Zhao Ming-Hua. I am agent Red Fist. You are coming with me to be held accountable for your actions."

Zhao turned to see who had entered and shrugged.

"Ah, it's one of you hero-types. You do realize that you've now done more damage to this bar than I have, right? I mean, sure. He isn't going to get that many tourists here now because there's been two, almost three murders here. But hey, in this part of town, it was only a matter of time." The song ended, Zhao took one more whiff of his cigarette before stomping it out next to the two dead bodies. He then attempted to walk past her to get to his target.

"Oh, by the way, that costume looks ridiculous. I'll never understand why you hero-types insist on wearing such dumb attire."

Ling moved in front of him, her body blocking his path. She wasn't in the mood for being ignored."Doors can be replaced." She remarked. "Lives can't. I don't like it when people kill innocents for money." The Kryptonian tightened her hands into fists. "Also, ripping on my outfit? Really? I didn't realize I had to dress fashionably when punching aliens and criminals." She remarked, making an attempt to grab him by the shirt, reaching out to the man and putting a hand on his shirt. "One more chance. Either come with me willingly or I'll drag you back to the Mainland."

[Charmera]

Ling moved in front of him, her body blocking his path. She wasn't in the mood for being ignored."Doors can be replaced." She remarked. "Lives can't. I don't like it when people kill innocents for money." The Kryptonian tightened her hands into fists. "Also, ripping on my outfit? Really? I didn't realize I had to dress fashionably when punching aliens and criminals." She remarked, making an attempt to grab him by the shirt, reaching out to the man and putting a hand on his shirt. "One more chance. Either come with me willingly or I'll drag you back to the Mainland."

Zhao backed away a few steps. His arrogant smirk turning into a scowl.

"Mainland? Well, I guess they would find a replacement, eventually. So, let's see what you've got!" Zhao spat venom into her eyes, hoping to blind her. He then jumped back across the room, putting some distance between them. While the venom would usually be a winning blow during a regular fight, he somehow doubted it would be here. He took a crouched stance, turning his arms into tentacles. He began to make wave motions with his tentacles, trying to provoke her into attacking first.

"Bring it on, xiǎojiě!"

“Gah!’ She shouted, suddenly firing beams of red light from her eyes which fried the poison, clearing it from her eyes. Though they still stung a little. She then gritted her teeth and turned to him, looking at the agent. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way.” She replied, grabbing a table from nearby and tossing it at her foe at high speeds before closing in with him, attempting to use the distraction of the table to close the distance for a punishing strike.

[Charmera]

Nico
Nico was a bit surprised at how tight Cat was holding his hands, but he didn't step away or anything. Cat's anger at him finally seemed to be melting away, and it seemed to now be focused on their parents. "We'll bring them to justice sis, I promise. I know it won't be easy, but we can't just let them keep on hurting people and breaking the law."

Mars listened to Cat's words and nodded, "Of course we'll help in any way we can. It's our job to protect this city, and we'll always do that when we can. We should probably alert the while team about this. If you're parents are running some kind of criminal empire, we'll need all hands on deck for this one." Mars said before hitting a button on his computer that sent an alert to each of the Young Bloods, telling them to meet in the command center for a meeting. Mars had given each one of them a private phone that he had specially made to serve as their communicators.

"Come on, let's head upstairs. The others should already be there, hanging out with Vera's new dog." He told them as he led the group up the stairs out of the lab before turning to Cat and Nico, "So, I'd there anything you know about your parents that might give us a place to start in the investigation?" Mars asked Nico and Cat.

Nico thought for a moment. "Well, they work in a really large office building, that they well... kind of own. It's a pharmaceuticals company, one of the biggest in the country actually. Maybe they have some secrets in their office there." Nico said before turning to Cat, "You have any ideas sis? Maybe if you touched Mom or Dad, or one of their associates, we could get some evidence to turn in to the police."

Roy
Roy stiffened a little when Hannah asked about his childhood. He started to panic a little as he thought about it. He hadn't shared his pst with anyone, not completely, not even Valancy. Was he ready to show someone else the scars of his past? In many cases they were actual literal scars. Under Roy's shirt were a number of cuts and wounds that were remnants of his early youth, when he literally had to fight for survival on a daily basis. Still, Hannah made a good point. She had shared a secret with him, he supposed he owed her the trust to do the same. And when Hannah said that she never met her parents, he realized that maybe they had a connection and could understand each other. He was silent for a little while until he finally spoken up.

"I never knew my parents either. I don't know where I came from or who any of my family are. I was dropped off in a small South American village, at an orphanage. Things weren't east there though. They called me 'demonio' which means demon in Spanish. You see when I was younger I couldn't control my powers, so my body often let off this dark aura that I couldn't control. The other children in the village..." He paused, his breath a little shaky. "Well they were cruel. They would take turns beating me up, and every day I had to scrap by for food." Roy started to shake a little at this point, the memories flooding back to him. "I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. And sometimes, sometimes I wonder if they were right. If I am really a monster." Roy said, a small tear falling down his cheek but he quickly wiped it away, hoping Hannah didn't see it.

Nico
"That could work. Though I can't really control what I find, I might be able to discover something we can use by sifting through their memories or something. Though I don't think I could actually just present the memories to the judge or anything." She replied, sighing. She wondered how they would be able to get into a position to do that too. It might be dangerous, but then again she doubted they knew that Nico and Cat knew of them.

Hannah
Hannah smiled comfortingly as she suddenly gave Roy a hug. "It's okay. I'm sorry I asked, I probably shouldn't have." She spoke kindly. "But... we're pretty similar you and I, I think. Like... I never knew my parents. I was too you before we left. I did a few things that I'm not proud of either." She released him and looked him in the eyes. "You're not a monster. Trust me. I've seen monsters."

[Charmera]

“Gah!’ She shouted, suddenly firing beams of red light from her eyes which fried the poison, clearing it from her eyes. Though they still stung a little. She then gritted her teeth and turned to him, looking at the agent. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way.” She replied, grabbing a table from nearby and tossing it at her foe at high speeds before closing in with him, attempting to use the distraction of the table to close the distance for a punishing strike.

Zhao hit the table out of the way with his left tentacle, smashing it against the wall.

"Nice try, but it's going to take more than a table too-" As he hit the table out of the way, he noticed the Superwoman coming straight for him. With how fast she was coming at him, he realized there wasn't a way to counter it.

"Aw shit" Zhao turned his skin into a rhino-like armor. His tentacles returned back into their human self as he moved them to block the upcoming strike. This was going to hurt. As he braced himself, Zhao began to rethink letting the Commissioner get that head start. While he probably would still have to fight this woman, at least he would be out in the street, able to better take advantage of his surroundings.

"Give him a head start, I said. It will be fun, I said."

Ling continued punching her target, hoping to slam into him until he was knocked out. Obviously he was a tougher cookie that she would have thought, the animal abilities giving him a lot of versatility. Luckily Ling seemed to have raw power and speed on her side as she moved to pick him up after she unleashed a barage of strikes, aiming to toss him around. She had to be careful, and not let him gain the advantage or slip away, but she wouldn't be able to stop everything...

"Yeah. That was probably a mistake. A very big one."

[Charmera]

Christmas Shopping: Part One

Xyri smiled as she walked through the massive mall, strolling casually through it’s expanse. She had been careful, stealthy, silent. Hopefully not even Rin would be able to tell she had gone out. Especially not Rin actually, she wanted this to be especially special for her. She wanted to make a good impression with the sound manipulator after all. She seemed really nice, and the best way to make friends in her opinion was to make a good impression. That was always done best with a well chosen gift, sensitive to her friends tastes or personalities. And what better time to do so than Christmas! In truth she knew little of the holiday, but she knew that this was the day to get gifts. the giant girl paid little heed to the stares of the civilians. Instead she simply moved through the mall at her usual giants stride.

First, Elena. She had not seen much of the woman since the beginning of the group, but she hoped dearly she would come for christmas. It was Xyri’s favorite holiday, one for generosity and kindness. It gave her a nice warm, fuzzy feeling inside. So she had decided to get what money she had managed to collect over the years. (Her secret stash in her drawer) And buy something for everyone.

Her search for Elena’s gift found her in a bookshop, the sime girl frowned as she looked for the one word she had remembered to memorize. She found it, and smiled. She picked up a box set of books and then placed it on the counter with another box set. It was expensive, but she had saved a decent amount.

Now it was Vera’s turn. She looked through the shops until she got to a stuffed animals store, where she got a toy Gorilla. She then picked up a few things, including a book on dog training, dog care and such. She thought of getting Vera’s canine friend a present, and so she got a bone.

Afterwards she got gifts for Mars. The latest digital device, though she had to be helped by a very nervous shop attendant. She tried to calm her, though she didn’t seem to adjust well, to which Xyri sighed a resigned sigh and just didn’t address it. She also picked up some video games for him.

Nelli was next. She was quite mysterious, but Xyri reasoned she might want to know more about our planet, so she grabbed several documentaries on subjects from history to geography. She found them better for learning than books.

Cat, she reasoned, would like something artsy, after all she was always going into her room and painting, so she got her all sorts of art utensils, paints, rulers, pencils and the like.

Nico was getting a new device too, though this one was different from mars. It was a small communications device almost the size of a grain of sand, which would be useful considering his powers. He might even be able to control it if she could get Mars to work on it, though with secrecy in mind.

Kris she wondered about, she was probably already getting a lot of singing aids from everyone else. Like the microphone she had gotten from mars, so Xyri thought she’d introduce her to something she had recently discovered herself. Musical instrumentation and written lessons and music sheets. Hopefully she would appreciate the gift of getting her something to accompany her wonderful singing. She just hoped what she chose would allow her to play it with her claws….

Finally, there was Rin. She paused before going into the shop for her, bags already hanging from each arm. She sighed, frowning. She needed to get something special, really special. She liked Rin, and wanted to impress her. Would one huge present or lots of little presents be better? She wasn’t sure. She considered her remaining funds, and nodded. She had an idea. She would get her lots of little things and then one big massive epic present. Then it would be perfect. She wished it was christmas already so she could see the delight on Rin’s face.

The first gift was simple enough, she got a few musical albums on CD, various things that she hoped Rin would like. One person called Chorus stood out, and a few other bands she thought Rin might have expressed interest in.

Another one would be a device which was fairly new, which supposedly was about to take sound, and then apply fitting music to it. She also got several sound recording and analysis softwares.

Before she could get the biggest gift, she swiftly went back to the tower to deposit all her gifts in her room. She wasn’t worried about space since she could compress herself. Instead, she made sure the door was locked. Then she oozed out once more and back to the store.

On the way she noticed a nice notebook, At first she frowned at it, but then decided to buy it for Rin. Perhaps she could note things down or something. She wasn’t really sure why she bought it, but she decided to follow her gut.

Then finally, she went to the audio store and got the biggest sound amplifiers she could buy. With some favors from mars or Nico she could boost the power of these even further for Rin. When the store person asked about delivery for the six foot things, Xyri shook her head and smiled.

“I’ll take it myself.” She remarked, lifting it casually like a pillow. The storeperson stood back a bit and his eyes widened. “Thanks though.” Xyri spoke before leaving, lifting two amplifiers under her arms easily the size of people. It had taken almost the rest of her savings, but it was worth it.

As she was walking past she noticed a man in red clothing sitting in the middle of the mall, with a short line towards him. She frowned, then shrugged as she got in line. She placed the amplifiers down, not thinking about if someone would steal it. She was curious after all.

As she got to the front of the line, she sat the red man more clearly, he seemed to be overweight, and had a white beard, red cheeks and an infinitely calming smile.

“What can I do for you dear?” He spoke.

“I... wanted to know what was going on. There were children lining up.” She asked.

The man nodded nodded. “Not from around here right?” He smiled. “I’m Santa. And this line is for children asking me what gift I should get them.”

“Yes. I know people get gifts for each other. That’s why I’m here.”

“Well, did you know I get gifts for everyone.” Replied Santa. “All the children at least. I try my best to get them all presents.”

“Really?! That’s really nice. It’s it really hard though.”

“Oh it’s not so hard if you have a list… and a sleigh.” He spoke. The slime girl nodded, and then moved towards him, standing next to him. Sitting on his lap would probably be painful for the poor man.

“A sleigh?”

“Oh yes, driven by reindeer. Rudolf, Vixen, Dasher…”

“But what about the sea…?”

“Oh, it’s not a problem if your sleigh flies. “ He winked at Xyri with a magical twinkle. Then he noticed a small kid coming up to his lap. The line was gone.

“And who are you my dear boy?”

“Jeremy” He spoke, then sniggered. He hopped onto Santa’s lap.

“Well Jeremy, what do you want for Christma-“ Suddenly the boy pulled on the mans beard and it came away, revealing it to be fake.

“He’s not Santa! You see!” He exclaimed, taking a picture of him and Santa and then running off. Xyri looked in confusion. Then Santa sighed and got off his seat.

“Let me explain.”

“I’m confused… is Santa really a person or did you-.”

“No! He’s- Look.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I’m an actor. I pretend to be Santa Claus to bring joy to children… I do get paid for it, but I don’t do this for the money…”

Xyri frowned, “So you lied to me.”

“Yes.” He spoke. “But… that’s sort of the point. It’s about the spirit of Christmas.”

Xyri looked around, she wasn’t sure what to think. She frowned. It seemed like this magic she had led to believe in was now crushed. She sighed.

Fake Santa shook his head. “These kids… They don’t believe. They don’t believe because they don’t get it.” He spoke, “Back when I was a kid this line used to be long! Ages long. And you wound never think of tugging santa’s beard. You stood in line for ages and ages, so you could tell Santa what you wanted.”

“But now… with thor and doctor strange. They’re much more interested in superheroes and cool flashy powers. They don’t believe in these kinds of miracles anymore. They’ve seen flying supermen, yet when asked to believe in a man so kind he could make presents for the whole world… they don’t. Because… that’s the way the world is now… I guess. You’re not a hero unless you can beat up darkseid or lift a galaxy. Ordinary heroes aren’t as special anymore...”

He paused. “Sorry to ruin your first christmas.”

Xyri nodded. “It’s… okay…” She managed weakly. She picked up the amplifiers and then turned back to the man. “Do you think… Santa is real.”

The man paused. He didn’t know how to respond.

Xyri nodded. “Okay…” Was all she could manage, before slinking back home. Had she made a mistake? This holiday was bleaker than she remembered. She remembered a time which the man was describing, and she had never been allowed into christmas before due to what she was, but now she was here… it seemed so much less. Did people really not believe? Was that man right?

Did Superman kill Santa Claus?

[Charmera]

It was over. Khan and Apokolips were both gone from this dimension. "Well then." Xander spoke up. "It was a little rough around the edges, but despite that, we got the job done." He said. and thought for a moment. "Alright. This is the second time we've all had to work together. Now... This is just a suggestion, but maybe we should form some sort of team. Similar to the Avengers or the Justice League. And though they have my utmost respect, some of these things are out of their hands. They're both great domestic teams, but they can't leave the planet every ten minutes to go deal with a cosmic threat. Which should fall in our laps." He explained. Forming a team? First it was the Builders, and they got force fed their own ships. Then came Yuga Khan who was more or less treated with the same regard one would for an ant. The threats were getting bigger and three of the most powerful beings in the universe were just sitting there. It would be stupid not to start a team.

"Be apart of a superhero team?" Otis asked. "Ummm... Yeah. That sounds totally kick ass. I'm in." He had always wanted to be a member of an actual superhero team. He probably could've easily joined any team he wanted. With his powers, it was pretty much a guarantee. Who would turn him down? "It's awesome. See, we got an Asgardian." He pointed to Valka. "A World Dragon. A Martian. A dude with a cosmic sword. And for color..." He said and teleported next to Naja. "Us!" This led Naja to snicker a bit. Otis was probably the youngest minded person there. Which was actually a good thing.

"I suppose I already volunteered to work with Manifest." Remarked Julie, the new god energies around her fading as she exhaled. It had felt wierd, but she had tapped into some energy she didn't know she had. "Even though I wasn't here for the Builder war, I'd like to join."

Lisa and Chorus stood together. Lisa speaking for both of them, "We'd also like to join if at all possible." Chorus gave her an odd look, as if she hadn't wanted to join but the android volunteered her. "Chorus and I are agreed on this. I think we've developed quite a rapport together." Lisa wrapped an arm around Chorus, who had a annoyed look on her face as she soundlessly sighed.

Don't be that way. Joining a group will be good for you. it'll be charecter building and you'll make new friends.

What are you, my father?

Just shut up and join.

Zaki also came forward, though she had been busy upchucking what looked like a rainbow liquid. A whole lake's worthy of pureified magic she vomited out. Now with rainbow on her lips and a much more thin, less imposing frame she stepped forward. "I'd like to join too-" She was interupted by nausea and then ran back to her lake, vomiting out a little more magic and shrinking to 5 foot 3. It was quite pathetic for someone who had once towered over everyone else on the team (In humanoid form at least)

[Charmera]

---

---

Jamie nodded at Cora and then headed into the building alongside her, curiously looking around. The building was quite modern and well-furnished, not the kind of thing you'd expect a group of six or so young women to own, though she supposed this was different, since these were superheroes. Superheroines. Whatever, she wasn't an expert and she doubted someone was going to complain about her thoughts. Regardless, when she noticed other people in the lobby and saw Cora walking up to them and greeting them, Jamie immediately paused, and then approached slowly, staying behind Cora. One of the girls she had greeted was dressed in a Green Lantern outfit, which she'd seen on TV sometimes, and the other looked pretty normal.

"Um, hey." Jamie greeted them a bit awkwardly as she reached out to shake Kylie's hand, almost reluctantly. "I can, uhh, change between powersets I guess."

"Welcome newbies!" Spoke a voice all of a sudden, Katie had traveled through the building electrically, zipping up the structure to where cora and Kylie were. She had a smile so wide it could have made the comedy mask look subtle. She felt energize, fantastic, wonderful. "Hi Cora... Kylie." She hugged Cora from behind, wrapping her arms around the android lovingly as she addressed the others. "So sorry, I was just wrapping up a bit down there. Talking to sheild contacts... avoiding mindy... she scares me." She remarked, then sighed. "She's awesome though, badass and awesome. She'd eat a grenade and think it was too small. Anywho, I'm guessing you two want to join the illustrious ranks of the JQ, am I right?"

[Charmera]

Ling continued punching her target, hoping to slam into him until he was knocked out. Obviously he was a tougher cookie that she would have thought, the animal abilities giving him a lot of versatility. Luckily Ling seemed to have raw power and speed on her side as she moved to pick him up after she unleashed a barage of strikes, aiming to toss him around. She had to be careful, and not let him gain the advantage or slip away, but she wouldn't be able to stop everything...

"Yeah. That was probably a mistake. A very big one."

Zhao was able to block the hits, but eventually, he gave way. His rhino armor was able to soak up most of the damage, but it could only do so much. Zhao took two more punches to the face and one to the gut before being thrown towards the wall. He was launched through the wall, landing in the next door building, a small diner. He staggered back up as people screamed in terror and ran out of the building. Police sirens could be heard coming down the streets. Despite all this, Zhao smirked.

"Thank you sir. Can I have anot-" Zhao suddenly coughed up some blood. A sight that hadn't happened in years, decades even. Zhao decided to do the unthinkable, something that if he didn't end the fight soon, it could kill him. He looked over to a small bird that had flown in from the door Ling had busted open.

"You might think think you Kryptonians something special. That you're a God amongst men, but you're not. At the end of the day, we're all the same. You, me, that bird over there. We're all just animals stumbling around this ball of dirt we call home." Suddenly his whole body began to bulge. His heart rate began to rise at dangerously high levels. With lightning speed, he flew towards Ling, launching a barrage of his own.

"The Japanese, the Nationalists, the Americans, the Soviets, Even the Vietnamese. They have all tried killing me, yet failed! What makes you think you'll succeed where they didn't!?" Zhao gave three more punches before punching her in the face with enough force to knock her back outside

Ling groaned as she recovered from the punch, righting herself before she hit the ground. She felt her jaw click, and she was fairly sure she had bruises. Her nose might even be bleeding. She then looked at Zhao, and frowned as she stood up strait. "One. I am not a god. Never claimed to be." She replied, before grabbing a street light and using it to slam into her target. "Two, I'm not trying to kill you. I don't care what the government says. I won't ever do that. That's what seperates me from you and from that bird. It's my rule." She spoke, using the lamppost to slam down onto her target as a follow up. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to hurt you. You brought this beating on yourself." She spoke with confidence. Though she was still wary. He seemed to have a lot of tricks.

[Charmera]

Xander nodded as pretty much everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to form a team. "Alright. Excellent. Now we just need a base of operation. We have several skilled telepaths here, if the need arises, we'll use telepathy to communicate. It's easier than carrying around communicators. We can use my fortress as our meeting place." He said and tried to think of anything else that they would need to get the team started and couldn't think of anything else. "Alright. I suppose we should split up and just go about our business until something comes up."

"Wait!" Otis interjected. "We need a team name! The Avengers and Justice League have one! We need one too." It wouldn't be a true superhero team unless they had a cool superhero team name after all. At least in his mind that's how it worked. "Something cool... Like... Since we're dealing with cosmic crap... Which has so many levels of infinite this and that... Infinite Justice? Yes? No? Maybe? You're brilliant Otis?" He said and finally his brain made the connection that Julie was there. He remembered her from such places as: Xander and Naja's wedding, and, Some Random Place Shortly After He Killed Darkseid. "Hey Julie!" He said and since flying was overrated, teleported beside her. "It's been like... What? A week since we last spoke?" He snickered. "Maybe this time we should actually exchange more than a sentence or two before running off."

"Yeah. That would be good. I mean I've been busy as heck will all the GL stuff I had to do... the time I ran off I had to negotiate a peace between two warring star empires... Then I had to fight some space ninjas... it's just been pretty darn hectic. Plus I'm now Manifest's assistant or whatever with his pet project and-" She paused, giving an exhausted sigh. "Sorry, I'm rambling about work. You don't want to hear that. We should talk about you instead or something." She found she was being oddly nervous. She paused. "So... what's it like being... the sorta new Darkseid. I mean I know you just got his powers and stuff, and you're not evil like him, but I can imagine this hasn't been the most fun week for you either."

[Charmera]

Jamie nodded at Cora and then headed into the building alongside her, curiously looking around. The building was quite modern and well-furnished, not the kind of thing you'd expect a group of six or so young women to own, though she supposed this was different, since these were superheroes. Superheroines. Whatever, she wasn't an expert and she doubted someone was going to complain about her thoughts. Regardless, when she noticed other people in the lobby and saw Cora walking up to them and greeting them, Jamie immediately paused, and then approached slowly, staying behind Cora. One of the girls she had greeted was dressed in a Green Lantern outfit, which she'd seen on TV sometimes, and the other looked pretty normal.

"Um, hey." Jamie greeted them a bit awkwardly as she reached out to shake Kylie's hand, almost reluctantly. "I can, uhh, change between powersets I guess."

"That makes about no sense at all." Kylie replied, smiling the whole time. She reached for her mask, which dissolved as her gloved fingers touched it. "But it's still nice to meet you. So who'd you beat up outside? Somebody who matters? Or just like some thug or mugger? Not that those people don't matter at all, but... yeah. Criminals aren't the same as villains, or supervillains. Everybody knows that."

"Welcome newbies!" Spoke a voice all of a sudden, Katie had traveled through the building electrically, zipping up the structure to where cora and Kylie were. She had a smile so wide it could have made the comedy mask look subtle. She felt energize, fantastic, wonderful. "Hi Cora... Kylie." She hugged Cora from behind, wrapping her arms around the android lovingly as she addressed the others. "So sorry, I was just wrapping up a bit down there. Talking to SHIELD contacts... avoiding mindy... she scares me." She remarked, then sighed. "She's awesome though, badass and awesome. She'd eat a grenade and think it was too small. Anywho, I'm guessing you two want to join the illustrious ranks of the JQ, am I right?"

"Katie!" Kylie lunged at her best friend, despite the fact that she was already hugging Cora. "It's been forever since we hung out! You're busy doing things, I'm busy being in space, we just need to chill one of these days!"

"I'm still here you know, Ms. Prince." Mindy replied, still sitting behind her desk. "But, as it stands, I don't have anything for you to do. As of right now. And I'd rather not eat a grenade; I said it wasn't big enough for the building, not for me." She smiled, but only the trio of veteran JQ members knew what hid behind that kindness.

"Let's all go upstairs then! We can show them around 'n stuff. Find some empty rooms. Better than waiting down here." Kylie depowered and headed for the elevator, turning back to continue listening in on the conversation.

She regarded Jamie. her face full of surprise. "What do you mean! That was the blob!" She exclaimed. "You took him out real nicely, that's what I'd call impress and heroic. You really have a tallent with this." She remarked. Then paused. "And... well. We could use you on the team. And I don't say that to everyone."

Then she was attack hugged by Kylie."Yeah! It's been ages. And time to chill would be awesome. I'd love a chance to marathon something or play some games.... or just chat." She remarked with a smile. 'In fact, something we could all do together would be nice."

Mindy spoke. Katie nearly cringed. She turned, an awkward smile on her face. "Heh... you heard that? I did say you were badass... So... Please don't kill me in my sleep."

She turned back to Kylie. Then moved to holding Cora's hand. "Sure. Sounds great." She turned to Cora, concern on her face. 'You sure your alright? Magneto could have fried some of your systems or something... we should probably get you an appointment with JQ's medic... we have a medic right?"