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

[New Neros]

The Fault of Fate
Max the Wanderer

The clothes looked and smelled like something that crawled out of a sewer on the lower east side of Gotham on a bad day, but it was all that could be found in the hustle and bustle of Valentine City, except, that wasn't really it's name. No, no, it's real name was Morningstar City, but it seemed like the residents either didn't care or didn't know, the raggedly clothed man made no insight on which was the appropriate case. The bum walked with an intense pace and a firm look, throwing a glance behind his shoulder now and again, before finally ducking into a public restroom in the middle of a smog-ridden park.

He flipped on the tap and found the murky water running smoothly, and even though it's cleanliness was questionable, the water washed away the dirt and grime on the bum's hands as well as any five star bath would. He went as far as to splash it back in his own face, rubbing it relentlessly as he tried his best to look somewhat presentable. He stopped for a moment, though, as he looked deep into the mirror for a moment, his pupils wildly dilating. He took in all of his facial features, though, a firm look, dirty blonde hair, cold blue eyes, a square jaw, among others, but the reflection he saw in his own eyes troubled him to end...

"You there yet?"

The voice almost startled him, but the bum whipped around and took a look around his area, only to find no one. That was strange, as he was positive he heard someone else talk just a second ago, clear as day. "Oh, it doesn't look like you're all the way there yet." The crusty man realized that the voice was coming from inside of his own mind, and a subtle panic set in as he grabbed onto his temples and dropped to his knees. "No, no, no, calm down, I'm fixing it. Little by little, you should start feeling a little...tingle sensation." Just as the voice described, muscle spasms overtook the bum's body as he entered into what appeared to be a seizure of some sort. His lungs seized up as well, but suddenly, his violent shaking stopped, and he took a massive intake of air like someone who was underwater for way too long.

He breathed in and out rapidly, clutching his chest with one hand as he stared at the floor. "There...Now you should remember." The voice in his head stated, "What all do you remember?" It further asked, the bum unleashing a devastating smirk as it appeared like his entire character shifted radically from one down-on-his-luck hood rat to a nobleman playing dress up. Piece by piece, the madman began to remove articles of soggy, moldy clothing from his body, the voice awaiting her answer.

"Simply put," The man said, reaching his worn and past due undergarments, "I remember my life as this man, and the life I lived before it." Slowly, he slid off the undershirt and threw it into the pile of rotten clothes he was formerly wearing. "My life was rather plain and dry, fairly hard, but riddled with moments designed to return me back to this state. Certain protocols, what have you, but it seems like the only failsafe that worked was you, Ash." He continued, rolling down his last piece of underwear and revealing his nude body to the public restroom's mirror. A man reborn - he held out his palms to the mirror and observed his entire muscle-clad body.

"In one life, I was a street urchin, in another, a King. A God. I'll say this right now, though, I will choose my former life any day of the week compared to this false existence. One that was created to eliminate me from an equation, to inhibit my growth. Fools, the lot of them, the Secret Wars ended only a few days ago and they want to convince me that I'm just a blabbering, street-walking hooligan? They will get what's coming to them." The man saud as he narrowed his eyes and barely focused, his skin melting away as plates of armor rose to the surface. The same armor he wore as the Mad God, the same that would fix this grave mistake in the reshaping of reality. "Because..."

"...Mad Max is back."

[New Neros]

-The Voice

Mad Max Morningstar
Beginning of the Crusade

The Mad King took a moment to relax his body and feel the ambient energy as it swirled around him, engulfing him, passing through himself and everything within the universe as an unseen yet powerful force beyond measure, beyond nature itself. He could see things his eyes wouldn't allow him to see, past and future events, occurrences that happened light years away in the present. He was re-aquainting himself with the universe after the Secret Wars, almost surprised that his mind survived the restart relatively intact, and that he kept his prized Cosmic Cube absorbed within him as well. "I have plans within plans." He thought in response to his voice, "But I feel that some of my old allies have taken up new positions in my absence. They may be vital to my immediate course of action."

He began to walk out of the restroom and took a deep breath of the air outside. Fresh, vibrant, full of life. He narrowed his eyes behind his mask quickly, thinking to Ash in his head. "This is a ghetto...it should be naesauting - the odor..." Max took another deep inhale, filling his lungs with the sweet, young air. "Ahh..." He said as he exhaled, but went back to his mind to speak. "That Archon has followed me back. Zephy. How long has she been surrounding me? Regardless, I've noticed that my right eye is restored to it's original flesh. Odin's eye stayed with his body...wherever that is...and that I still have your own eye at the Ark."

As he thought for a moment, finding exactly where the Ark was on Madworld, he was there in a flash. The damn thing survived one collapsing Multiverse, it could survive it's rebirth, Max reckoned. It's massive door was dirty and full of grit, but a gentle touch by the Mad God awoke the internal machines that ripped the door open with a deafening squeaking noise. Max didn't flinch, but whatever was inside the Ark sure as hell did. It caught the Mad God by surprise, but that was the least of his worries, a black blur sped right at his form almost too quickly to react. He felt his throat become trapped in a human-sized hand, and came face to helmet with the Son of Daxam: Czar Mir.

The Daxamite narrowed his eyes at the faceless helm. He'd been in there for days, and wasn't sure what world he was coming into. Days on end, the loss of socialization must have been incredibly detrimental, even to a superhuman like Mir. But Max had to establish the pecking order, even while being choked. He spoke clearly, as if Mir's hands weren't around his throat, "Tell me, Mir, do you feel powerful? Or do you simply feel lucky?" Mir relaxed a bit, lowering his guard against Max, "Because you must be stupid to att-"

His insult was interrupted by a headbutt that cracked Max's helmet from Mir, who had brought Max's neck into his own forehead. A hit that would knock out any man, even a superhuman, it only served to piss off Mad Max, who grabbed Mir's face and delivered a massive, surging red energy blast. Mir recoiled back and released Max at once, the Mad God giving him no quarter as he grabbed onto Mir's upper arm and threw him over Max's own shoulder, slamming Mir on the ground. In that same motion, Max removed his power source - the Yellow Sun Ring he had previously given Mir - right from his hand. Depowered and quaking from the throw, Mir lay helpless as Max stood over him. Slowly, the Mad God removed his helmet in a hsss.

Mir's eyes were barely open, but he saw all he needed to see, smirking a bit as he did so. Max raised his chin slightly, but the small smile evident on his face as well. The Mad God dropped the Sun Ring on Mir's chest with a tiny thud, offer out his hand to help up the Daxamite up to his feet. Mir grabbed the power device and slipped it onto his right middle finger, taking Max's outstretched hand and being pulled up. "You almost had me." Max said, patting him on the shoulder. "You need to store up your energy, though. Don't keep it in the ring. Your cells can hold vast amounts of them, don't be limited." He lectured, Mir nodding along.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Where have you been?" Mir asked, dusting himself off.

"Just as lost as you were. Doom restarted the Multiverse, but it looks like our side managed to get screwed up in the process. Warworld is orbiting Madworld, and Madworld's people are just as real as you and I." Max explained, "But before you ask, I do have a plan to get everything back to normal." He continued, walking past Mir to the Ark. The place where Max had kept the Mobius Chair was still intact, surprising him a bit. No matter, though, he was after something below the seat. "Sadly Mir, I didn't know you were in here. I'm glad I found you, though. I'm after this." Max said, producing a medium sized cylinder full of fluid...and a detached eye ball. Max reached over and pressed another button on the Mobius Chair, a spiral staircase collapsing all around the Chair and leading to a compartment below.

Motioning to follow, Max lead Mir down the stairs some ways, but the circular hall gave way to an open room with walls lined with little windows, and at the room's center, some large stasis pods. Mir curiously peered into one of the windows, though, seeing more vials with them. "What is all of this, Max?" He asked, the Mad God instead approaching one of the stasis chambers and placing a hand on it - clearing away the fogginess that developed onto of it. Mir looked over and reaffirmed his question with a "Hm?"

"Those are stores of DNA." Max said flatly. "The Ark was designed to carry over the potential to start new alien, both human and alien, on where it ended up. My systems could have adapted the stores to whatever environment it could thrive in." He looked Mir right in the eyes and told him the truth. "This the real Ark. The rest was only a secondary objective - saving anyone at all was not my highest priority. These were." He said, gesturing to all of the windows. Mir had his mouth opened wide in shock, but he shook his head, understanding the situation at the time. "It's a harsh reality, but we all made it. That's what matters."

"And what about that?" Mir spat, gesturing toward the stasis pod Max was touching. "That your highest priority, too?"

"C'mon, Mir, you have to see that I was doing what was best for our descendants. I didn't want to just abandoned all of us, so I made it work anyways, you know? The End was so...so bleak. I saw it with my own eyes, Mir, I was scared." Max admitted freely, but turned back to the stasis pod. The pod itself contained a beautiful, feminine form - long brown hair. He wondered how Ashy was handling seeing this sight, yet continued his explanation to Mir. "But this...this is something just as important. That eye you saw up there was the depleted genetic material for this body. This is one of the oldest beings in our universe reborn - the source of my All-Seeing Eyes, the eyes were actually the last physical remains of that long extinct race..."

"...The Vokornians."

[New Neros]

-snip

The Mad God sighed within his mind, rubbing his hand across the pod sensually. "She is almost ready, Ashy. Just a few more small things, and you will be home again." He smiled a bit, but continued, "Looks like you're stuck with me for just a little bit longer. I have some things I need to take care of here at Madworld, but after that, our next location is somewhere close...but in reality, very far away. We'll be back for your body, and hopefully, everything will be how it should be." He continued in his mind, Mir giving him a strange look as Max made facial expressions while just looking at the girl's body.

"You're creeping me out..." Mir said, the Mad God not paying attention, so continuing on a different topic. "...So, about these Vokornians?" Mir said with upward inflection, catching Max's attention.

"Oh, I suppose I'll have Ash explain when she awakens." Max said flatly, "They are an incredibly old race, though, and suffered a catastrophe were all of them lost their bodies and were forced to take on energy forms instead. They had many powers, mental in nature, one of which was precognition. The same power granted by the All-Seeing Eyes. See, I put two and two together and found out that those eyes are the very last remnants of a Vokornian's physical body." Max replied, leaving out the specific part where he had one trapped within his mind at the moment. "But, that's enough studying. We have to go fix our Madworld."

"Right." Mir answered. "Any idea on what the current state of affairs is?"

"Hmm." Max thought, recalling the energy he felt, reading it like a blind man would braille. "I know you haven't particularly met, but Val is in command of Madworld. Their Mad Goddess, Mad Queen, whichever she has adopted for herself, and the citizens are real instead of being robotic in nature. Val's noble steward and lawgiver is Otto, unsurprisingly. That bastard is up on Warworld and commands it like a mobile battle station in orbit like a moon. Godblessed is a lawgiver and a warlord here, by the looks of it. But, my question is, how did you end up back on the Ark? You were in the room when Doom restarted the Multiverse."

"Not a damn clue." Mir said, pointing to his golden ring. "Maybe this thing teleported me back to it? Only thing I can think of."

"Entirely possible - but I never intended for it to have some homing teleportation device. Good to know, though." Max replied, "Let's get going. We need to go see Otto and then Val. Maybe we can job some memories."

[New Neros]

The battle seemed to be won, and it was brief to boot, but the question of trusting Lisa was almost entirely answered. Until, however, that it seemed like she was prepared to kill the Yellow Lantern. Magneto stood idly by, awaiting for the final blow to be struck, not to judge, but to know that Lisa had what it takes to go past the edge - because unlike his daughter, Val, Magneto was ready to murder immediate threats. It was in his blood, his very being, a cutthroat personality with no nonsense. Val, however, did not stand by, rather, she ran to Lisa's side.

"Lisa!" Val said, holding her hands out in front of her in order to reason with the android, "Lisa...you don't have to kill her." She explained, using her hands to talk as well, "Maybe...maybe you can...I don't know, teleport her ring somewhere else? She can't do much without it, and if it gets too much, you can just teleport her into a prison or something." Val tried to say, hoping to describe alternative scenarios to end the fight without major bloodshed. Her father seemed to scoff, however, walking closer to where Val stood while looking at Lisa.

"Let her do what she must, Val. Lisa must decide on her own. Neither path is truly correct, because if she imprisons, then she is a torturer and no better than the Regent in that regard yet has no blood on her hands, and if she kills, then she gives the girl a short mercy but is forever doomed to the life of a murderer, and still, no better than the Regent. It is a lose-lose situation, but, it's her reasoning on the matter than makes the absolute difference, Val. She can do either for the sake of herself, or for others, and that's what will make her far above her counterpart here." Magneto explained, crossing his arms and observing which way the android was willing to go, already assured that she is on their side either way.

Listen to the Mutant. Kill her and you won't have to worry about her threatening the safety of your friends.

What about this martian? Does she not deserve safety too? What gives us the right to kill her?

She attacked YOU. She started it...

...But we need not end it that way. Let her go.

Lisa paused slightly. Her eyes glowing an ever deeper red as her blade swung towards the martians neck. Blood was drawn,

But then she stopped.

No.

"No. I wont kill her. I won't lock her up either."

"It's not loose-loose. There's always a third option." Spoke the android. In a show of lateral thinking, she flipped the prisoner over. She saw the loyalty chip scar in her neck and pressed her hand to it. She quickly tried interfacing her system with it, but it rejected her immediately. She frowned, reasoning the regent must have updated her security protocols, but was willing to bet she didn't update the chips themselves, since she had little time to adapt them and would have had to dig out the chip. She pressed a finger to the scar. The chip dispeared, teleported into the ground as it's atoms fused with that of the concrete. The systems designed to make it explode were rendered inert.

"We don't have to kill anyone!" Lisa smiled as she got up. The Loyalty chip had been teleported out.

Suddenly, the backup monitor in the base flashed on and the voice of the Question rang through "Is everyone all right in there?"

He paused, sighing. "Well. Even if you are dying, you may want to hear this." he explained. "I have bad news and I have good news.... and I have very bad news."

The crooked old face of Magneto twisted into a genuine smirk. The girl figured out something even he couldn't think of as a possibility. Not only that, but her ability to teleport the Loyalty Chips will be quite usual. Glancing toward Spider-Man as he struggled to free himself, Magneto realized he had an army waiting for him if Lisa could keep this up. But, the sudden interruption of the Question drew the old man's attention. "Bad news?" Eisenhart responded, "My entire day has been filled with bad news."

Val kept an eye on the Question, but quickly moved next to Lisa with a grin on her face. "You...really did it." She said with a smile, but then looked down at the ground, shame stabled across her face as Val's cheeks burned a rosy red. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you. You can understand, though, right? In this world, in her world, we can't trust anyone. But you're not her. You're the Lisa I always knew existed." Val said, grabbing onto the android's hands in a friendly manner, the smile returning to her face.

[New Neros]

The Emerald Crusade
Enter: Otto Godblessed, Ruler of Battleworld

Maxwell Morningstar and Czar-Mir stood side by side, taking the appearance of two roided up meatheads, their looks of determination apparently not working against the stone wall of a man they appeared before. He was a man Mir and Max knew well, but ever since the Secret Wars, that man hadn't a damned clue who either of the two warriors were. Otto rolled his head slightly, cracking it loudly as he went, wondering why they still stood before him. "You speak of nonsense and I have asked you to leave, yet, you still remain." The Asgardian said in a dry, monotonous manner. "I ask you once more - leave Battleworld and never return. I must protect the Goddess at all costs."

He rose from the control seat of Battleworld, his muscle-bound physique able to stand up next to Mir and Max easily, and looked from one to another. "At all costs." Max sighed loudly, dropping his tension and relaxing his body.

"Otto, I want to be reasonable, but you can't remember." Maxwell spat.

"Your face is familiar, that is all, nothing more than that." Otto replied back quickly, "Now, will you leave on your own accord, or on mine?" He further threatened, Mir now sighing, but in a exhaustive, obnoxious way.

"Lord, Otto, you always had a stick in your ass, you know that?" Mir protested, stepping forward and staring the Asgardian down heavily - Otto returning the glare as the men were only centimeters apart. Mir dropped to a whisper, still loud enough for Max to hear, but low due to his closeness to Otto. "I don't care what life you got placed in, this isn't the right thing to do and this isn't the real you." Mir said, "You know how I know that?" He continued, dropping his voice even lower until it barely graced Otto's ear. "You don't scare me."

Otto's eyes narrowed for a moment, but that hateful energy was transferred into a rapid, devastating punch to Mir's midsection. Doubling over, Mir smirked as he launched his forehead forward and collided with Otto at close range - the Asgardian tanking the blow with some apparent effort put forward. "Feel...that...Otto?!" Mir demanded, the two pushing against the other by the forehead, a trickle of blood forming where each had been struck. "Is it...Fear...Or...Pain?!" Mir yelled, breaking the struggle by moving his head back quickly while at the same time throwing up his knee cap.

Colliding with Otto's abdomen, the Asgardian's eyes widened for a moment, but he prepared to counter - had it not been for Mir grabbing the blades of his shoulders and hurling the Asgardian across the room. Slamming into a metallic wall and denting it severely, Otto let out a yelp of pain, yet quickly returned to his senses. Mir was barreling right towards him - so Godblessed thought quickly. Rather simple, though, Otto threw a fist at the correct moment and smacked Mir dead in the face, the Daxamite's body continuing forward as his face came to a sudden stop. The strikes were powerful enough to send ripples through the air - and Otto followed the first punch up with a series of alternating body and face shots.

"You dare speak to me -" Otto said, tearing into Mir with a flurry of fists, grabs, throws, and the like. "Of fear-" He said, driving a headbutt deep into Mir's nose and sending a waterfall of blood across the room. "And - " Otto yelled, sliding his arm around Mir's neck and yanking it hard in one direction while putting downward force on it - planting the Daxamite's body hard on the ground. "Pain!?" Otto breathed deeply, with nostrils flared and mouth bloody from the exchange of blows. He stood over Mir as he laid back against the burning hot metal - heated by the sheer force of the impact.

A sly smile grew on the Daxamite's face, though, as he quickly pulled his legs close to him and touched his knees to his own chest - explosively extending his legs and aiming with the balls of his heels right into Otto's sternum. Unprepared for the brutal attack, Otto took it full force and launched high in the air - colliding with the room's ceiling and slamming back down on the floor in a heap. The Asgardian wheezed for air - the strike shattering the majority of his rib cage and the further impacts serving only to pierce his lungs. Mir calmly stood up from his position, Max walking over to the Daxamite as Mir wipe off the blood from his mouth and nose.

"Impressive, Mir, but you really didn't need to -"

"But it felt so right." Mir retorted back instantly, smiling with blood-stained teeth. "Shut his pompous ass up for a while." Max shrugged at the reasoning.

"Well, I suppose Otto isn't going to be going with us, then." Mad Max implied, glancing at the Asgardian struggle to find air. "Next stop is at my - Val's - Castle. I can get the portals rigged and ready to go in no time." Max said calmly, donating a small portion of his energy to Otto's body in order to accelerate his healing.

"So, uh, where are going?"

"A place called Mobius." Max said quickly.

"Oh, like that chair you stole from Metron?"

"They're unrelated."

"Oh. What're we getting in Mobius, then?"

"It's a little hard to explain right here, but for now, I'll just say that they have the power to fix our universe to how it should be." Max said quietly, walking away from Otto and forming a portal large enough for himself and Mir to fit through. "These objects are much like Infinity Gems, they're actually related and made at roughly the same time, but they haven't fully evolved yet. You see, Mobius is actually in the future." The two began to walk through the portal, but not before Max's final words rang out. "These objects are known as Chaos Emeralds."

[New Neros]

-snip

Emerald Crusade
The God and his Goddess

The pump and the flare of testosterone begin to subside for Mir, who casually discussed with Ash on the parameters of the fight. "It's not the greatest of options, but in my time knowing Otto, he's still an Asgardian at heart. He puts up that front of being a good boy, justice, and all of that jazz, but deep down, he really does want to start throwing punches now and again. I found that out whenever we sparred." Mir thought towards Ash, a smile on his face. "I felt like the punching bag for his issues. Oh well, it comes with being a friend." Max nodded idly, knowing he had no place in Mir and Otto's scuffle - the two wanted to fight, so he let them. But still, it was good to see that Mir and Otto developed into a great friendship in such a short amount of time.

"We're here." Max said aloud, the two men escaping from the teleportation tube and entering a massive, cathedral-like chamber that was dimly lit and smelt fondly of flowers, for some reason. While Mir reacted to it by looking around, Max stared his eyes directly forward, eyeing the person who sat upon the throne meant only for him, but holding no anger or disdain in his glare - as he had intended to share his throne with her regardless. The returning stare of the girl was uncharacteristic of her, according to what Max knew, but their exchange was tense.

"What brings you...'here'?" The woman said, sliding a finger from her chin towards her lip, stopping at the corner as she looked down the bridge of her nose at her uninvited guests. "To my court..." She said, a slight tremor being felt in the distance, Max not daring to break his line of sight. "To my world..." The earthquake shook even mightier, Mir glancing backwards and then towards the woman again with a concerned face. "To the realm of the Mad Goddess...Valarie Valentine?" Mad Max began walking towards her, Val's face hardly changing as he did so.

A swath of gravitation began to assault the true Mad God, each step suddenly shattering the places on the floor where he walked, but it did not so much as break his stride. Now, concern grew on Val's face. She sat upright and pressed even harder, Mir having to dig himself onto the floor - the gravity assaulting Max drawing Mir into his very orbit. Objects around the room tore themselves from the walls and attempted to slam into him, but he offered only a hand - the shields, swords, and spears stopping their motion instantly. "Don't come any closer." Val commanded, to which, surprisingly, Max complied.

"Who are you, then?" She demanded, earning her full and undivided attention.

"Maxwell Morningstar." He spat, Val's face contorting as if she had seen a ghost, yet not one in real, everyday life. More like one in her dreams, a name she hears, a face she sees, now manifested before her here and now. Maxwell stood tall and muscle-bound, as Val had seen him, his blonde hair rather unkempt and dark, and his blue eyes striking and piercing deep into anything he looks at. Those same eyes she would see staring into her in her deepest of dreams. Yet, she didn't feel fear then, or here, but a sense of curiosity and ease. She would see those baby blues in the middle of a nightmare and watch as the storm clouds ripped away from the skies of her mind.

"And I'm Czar-Mir!" The Daxamite called, Val ignoring him and having no clue who he was.

"What brings you to my domain then, Maxwell?...And Mir."

"I require the use of the teleportation arrays."

"How do you -'"

"I designed and built them myself. In a world not unfamiliar to this one, actually. A cataclysm occurred, and things were put back together. However, they were not put back together correctly, and I intend to fix it. I came to ask permission from you, Val, but I was going to use them anyways." He said flatly, Val turning her nose up at the suggestion, but lowering her head down and concealing the upper part of her face.

"You may use them...but I need you to tell me something." She began, her face and head unmoving as Max picked his own up a bit to hear her better. "Where do I know you from? Why do I see you whenever I close my eyes? The way you talk excites my heart, your eyes set my heart on fire. They make me sweat and feel nervous, scared and excited all at once. Why do I feel like this, Maxwell? Who are you?"

Max felt a tug in his deepest emotions, a distant longing to embrace Val, but was overall ecstatic yet concerned. When Doom recreated the Multiverse, he fixed a lot of things incorrectly, it's fine, he's human, but one thing he got right was Val and her love for Mad Max. He dropped his eyes and smiled, walking over to Val as she cupped her hands around her eyes and face. For a moment, Maxwell thought of just keeping the world as it was, because Val still loved him, and they could still be together. But...something tugged at him to continue on his own crusade regardless, a human drive to not take the easy way out. He stood before the Mad Goddess, who lifted her face from her hands to reveal it's tear stained cheeks.

Bending down quickly and surprising Val, Max laid a light kiss upon her forehead, placing his hand on the side of her hand to balance it as well. She took a steep inhale of breath, her eyes widening and her pupils dilating incredibly as her mind tried desperately to remember the past. Maxwell tore himself away from Val, keeping his hand on her face for a moment. More tears from in her eyes as Val reached up and placed her own small hand on his large one, pressing it harder against her head. She understood who he was, what he was, and what he will be, but that was just something basic. She whimpered, muttering to Max, "Please...fix everything, okay?"

He gave her a stern nod, and broke his hand away from Val, the girl reaching out for it to hold on just a little bit longer. He had to, or else he would keep going and stall even longer. He wanted things how it used to be, and so did Val, so he hadn't the time to waste. Not another moment without her. Max looked at Mir as he walked, "C'mon." He said quickly, walking briskly down a carpeted hall towards the teleportation chambers. "Mobius awaits."

[New Neros]

-snip

-snip

Emerald Crusade
Enter: Mobius

Max's face burned a shade of red as Ash referred to Val as his girlfriend. She wasn't wrong, but something just felt so strange about it since Val lacked much of their memories together. The Mad God didn't turn to see the confusion on Val's face, he pressed on to the teleportation chambers. "She...she wouldn't do very well where we're going." Max said, talking to Mir and Ash instead of thinking it. "Not only that - but I feel there are things wrong with Val that even I don't know about that will be fixed by our actions. Her past, for example, even the one I know, seems to be 'wrong' and plagued with meddling."

"Soo...what you're telling us," Mir said, placing a hand on a large metal construct as he looked around Max's old teleportation room - the circular pad ushering back a memory of Mir's mission with Otto to gain Odin's Eye prior to the Secret Wars. "Is that the 'correct' version of Val may not be the one you knew originally?"

"Perhaps. When the time comes to fix the universe, I think Val will be able to choose her own path. If it involves me at all, then well, that's her choice to make."

"You shouldn't be such a downer, damn." Mir said, Max narrowing his eyes and looking at his compatriot. "What? She likes you, loves you, all that jazz. You were ready to punch Doom's metal face off just for her - even if she doesn't remember, it looked like her love for you didn't change. You know she's going to stay with you through hell itself, right?" Mir asked, Max turning his head to the side as if he didn't know the answer. "For someone with super intelligence, you're not that bright when it comes to ladies." He said with a gracious smirk.

"Yeah, yeah." Max said, placing his hands on a control station, punching in coordinates, typing various things and numbers into a number of fields. "Mobius will seem familiar - to me, at least. It is Earth many, many years in the future. I'm not sure if you - Mir - or Ash have been to that world or remember it as fondly as I. Regardless, I didn't choose it for that reason, that's just where the Chaos Emeralds are." Max had been carrying around his helmet for some time now, but finally found the appropriate moment to put it back on as he set foot on the teleportation circle. "Let's be off. I get the feeling that just getting the Emeralds will not be as easy as it sounds."

"Right." Mir said, jumping onto the platform and crossing his arms, looking at Max as he placed his helmet over his head and face - the faceless helm clicking and locking onto his armor. He snickered a bit, Max glancing at him as if he asked 'what's so funny', "Oh, c'mon, you don't have to try and look so bad ass for me. Or Ash..." Max shook his head as Mir smiled on, their bodies seemingly evaporate in little flashes of light as the duo and their mental friend left this world and very timeline, advancing years and years into the future, their destination not simply Earth, but Mobius.

---

The air stung with an unfamiliar taste and fragrance unknown to both Mir and Max, their body's unaccustomed to the different nature and biosphere that instantly surrounded them. It was a deep jungle that they managed to appear in. It was calm and serene, save for the appearance of an ancient monolith surrounding by trees, vines, and vegetation as mother Mobius attempted to reclaim the structure. Life existed here, as far as Max knew, but he was not sure where. Mir too looked upon it's brevity, a certain sense of wonder captivating Max and Mir as the new world firmly took them into it's grasp with such a simple, yet unknown sight.

A distant boom alerted the duo to a more pressing concern, or at least, the possibility of encountering someone, or something, from this lush world. The two jogged a slight distance into a clearing, finding that they were on the side of a large mountain face. Max and Mir floated onto a rocky outcrop that peered over the trees and gave them a breath-taking view over the forested valley, as it was consumed by both large trees and vegetation yet dotted with stones and complexes like they had just seen. It was clear, this was an ancient city of some sort, but their stares were not directed at the historical wonders, but the monster that terrorized the natural wealth. A form unseen by either of the two, but Max could feel it's energetic presence.

Mir noticed that Max tightened his fist and body in response to the laying eyes on the monster, and quizzed, "Well? What is it, Max?"

"Whatever that thing is, it holds the power of the Chaos Emeralds." Max narrowed his eyes behind his mask, scanning the surroundings and finding that the beast was not alone, but at war with other creatures humanoid in form, but different from what Max had ever encountered. Mir too focused with his telescopic vision, watching as the small group tried valiantly, time after time, to attack this rampaging juggernaut to little if any effect. "Mir, I can feel different energies that resonate with the Chaos Emeralds. A light side and a dark side, if you will." At that moment, Max and Mir watched as one of the anthropomorphic humanoids was consumed by an energy blast from the being known as Perfect Chaos, their faces remaining rather stoic, but their emotions conflicted on intervening.

As a golden aura'd hero began to enter into the next phase of the battle, Max raised his hand at Mir. "Fight this beast, make an ally. Gain whatever information you can on him, that rodent, and this planet." He said, but gesturing toward where the rat had come from. "I feel a powerful source of energy where that Mobian had come from. I'll go investigate and then join you, hopefully. Ensure our rat-like ally does not succumb to this chaotic beast like his friend did." Max finally ordered, Mir nodding his consent at the directive, and surrounded himself with a faint hum of yellow solar energy to empower his Daxamite physiology even further. Blasting off towards Perfect Chaos like a bullet, Maz leisurely floated down towards the remaining Chaos Emeralds, wearily watching the fight as it progressed.

Dodging one of those mouth-blasted that toasted Scourge, Mir delivered a solid, beautifully laid punch to the side jaw of the creature. A sly confident smirk on the Daxamite's face quickly became one of concern as the strike did nothing more than create a ripple through Perfect Chaos' watery body. The creature's gigantic eye swiveled and stared directly at Mir - the green hue almost drowning out Mir's yellow aura. He grit his teeth in response, rearing back to punch Chaos even harder, but was slapped from the side by a gigantic tentacle - sending the Daxamite hard against the ground, but surprisingly, still on his feet. "Man..." He said with an exhale, "Not too bad for a big monster, huh?" He yelled at his would-be companion.

Hollering to the Ralph the Rat in his Super State, Mir introduced himself. "My name's Mir, Czar-Mir. Why I'm here isn't too important, but just know that right now, I'm on your side, little man." Mir assumed a modified combat stance and flexed his muscles to warm them up. "Just tell me where I need to be or where I need to hit, and I'll hit it with everything I have."

[New Neros]

-snip

Emerald Crusade
Perfect Chaos

The tides of battle were one Mir had to watch with his superhuman vision, or else they would be lost on the naked eye. This Ralph was no joke, despite his small size, he was quick and cunning, so Mir graciously awaited his opening to strike the watery beast. Hit the brain... He thought, scanning the monster's body and locating the small nexus as Ralph and Chaos clashed against one another. Physical impact would only dissipate on Chaos' body - but Mir held two powers in his arsenal to damage the monster's watery protection. Small crystals began to form at the corners of Mir's mouth as his breath became visible as a white trail. Mir found his opening as Ralph created a wall of water to hold back Chaos, and with a deep, cooling inhale...

He unleashed his freeze breath, targeting the flooded floor and the base of the creature itself, the ice climbing up it's body as Chaos squirmed and roared with primal aggression. The landscape was beginning to freeze around Chaos as well, Mir's mouth taking on a blue color as the low temperature assaulted his lips and turned the liquid chaos into an orderly solid, but was limited only by Mir's lung capacity. Before he could freeze the creature entirely, Mir's air ran out, and in a last ditch effort, he slammed one of his fists against the creature's titanic, partially frozen body, cracking and shattering it like glass. Mir took deep and controlled inhales as the massive shards of ice fell from where the beast once stood, and for a moment, he felt victorious.

Only for a moment, though, as a tentacle of water shot upward to impale Mir - the Daxamite dodging only by a few nanoseconds at most, but was blindsided as the watery tentacle turned and slammed into him from behind, bringing Mir down to the frozen ice in a jarring impact - the heat of which melted much of the surrounding area. The Daxamite shot forth from under the churning waves below the ice cap with eye, glowing eyes of fury. "Alright you bastard..." He said quickly through clenched teeth, "If I can't freeze you, then I'll just make sure you evaporate." With that, he unleashed his deadly heat vision against an incoming tentacle, turning the water into steam upon contact.

Chaos' body was still more or less intact, and Mir stood before it with a perturbed look on his face, his eyes leaving a trail of red as he moved back and forth. Chaos roared, it's mouth opening to reveal that it was charging a massive energy wave - point blank at Mir. He saw this and quickly fired his optical blast, tearing it's way through Chaos' moist body and just barely reaching his brain as the energy wave fired. Chaos turned at the last second due to Mir's attack, giving him another prime opening to end the battle. His eyes glowed with fervor, but a sudden telepathic message brought him to a halt.

"Mir. Forget the beast, we have a much bigger issue to worry about." It was the voice of Mad Max, Mir almost upset that he was interrupting him right when he had Chaos in his sights.

"Which is?!"

"See for yourself."

Mir tore his eyes away from Chaos and looked behind him - close to the temple where Max was, where he was supposed to be studying the Chaos Emeralds. His jaw opened in shock, but quickly closed as he bit his teeth together. A massive, orange portal that spun erratically and without a true tempo had emerged in the sky - bleeding it's color into the surroundings and bathing the area in an yellow-red hue. Max stood firm in his own resolve, Mir twisting the rest of his body to fully face this emerging threat, two clawed hands grabbing each side of the literal rip in space-time. Confusingly, two identical clawed hands grabbed the portal at a slightly lower position, a pair of horns and a clawed foot sticking through the churning whirlpool.

The monster pulled himself entirely from the teleportation rip, revealing his truly demonic and almost absurd form. "Jesus Christ, I couldn't teleport First Class?" It demanded, stretching it's wings and single pair of it's arms in a yawn. "Can you believe the waiting list for these Emeralds of mine, though?" He asked no one in particular, lazily leaping down from his rip in space-time and standing right before Mad Max - towering over the man with a few feet to spare. "Oh. You're in the middle of something. I see, I see, well, you should pay attention to me anyways!" He roared, lifting two of his four arms in the air. "If you value your life and collective shit, you would be wise to pay attention to..."

"...MAELSTROM CLAUS!"

---

[New Neros]

-snip

At the end of the Emerald Crusade, Mad Max sat wildly splayed upon his throne. Through the portal to Madworld, which provided a direct connect between Earth and the other planet, Max could hold and host visitors of his home planet with ease - not to mention continue his efforts to ruthlessly spy and catalogue everything that suited or tickled his fancy. Something he hadn't planned for, however, was the arrival of Victor and and the Golden Guardian to his own court. He skipped formalities and cordial gestures, knowing neither would come for a little tea and to say hello - so he got right to the matter at hand.

"Welcome, von Doom and Alexander, to my Madworld. Here, I am both God and King. That's about it for the pride and arrogance, though, tell me, what brings you here to my throne's seat?" Mad Max wore his armor, but neglected to wear his helmet, as it provided no real importance outside of combat. "Though I'm just sitting here, I am a rather busy man. No rush, though."

"Be warned, Morningstar, you are nothing to the King of Lat-"

"Yes, now, what do you want, Victor?" Maxwell said quickly, cutting off Doom in the most eloquent way possible.

"Insolence..." Dr. Doom murmured, but continued on. "Morningstar, I am here at the behest of my greatest creation, the Golden Guardian!" Doom said, waving his hand at Alex, who seemed to simply glance back and forth between Max and Doom. "His powers have gone haywire, and they must be contained at all costs. So, I have brought him to you in order to leech his powers until he is more containable, malleable, even. A reset, if you will."

"Right, I understand, I felt the energetic tremor from Asgard. But, tell me Vic, what does Alex have to say about this?" Max said, the two men glancing towards the Golden God, awaiting his statement on the whole situation.

[New Neros]

Alex was busy struggling to keep the immense amount of power he possessed from going off. "I say that the both of you need to shut your damn traps and help me help you. I go off, and I'm probably taking this quadrant of the universe with me. It's not like we and by extension I, have any other choice. It's taking every last bit of my mental strength to keep this from getting worse. I have limits. So how about we get this done before we all get atomized." Alex said with a considerable amount of strain on his face and in his words. He didn't have the patience or time to deal with the two biggest egos on Earth. "Every second we waste, the blast diameter gets bigger and the less control I have. So I would appreciate hurrying this along. You know. So we don't all die."

As it seemed both Doom and Max prepared to present their arguments as to why they would, somehow and inexplicably, survive such a catastrophic explosion, Max leapt forth from his throne and descended the steps leading up to it - standing before Dr. Doom and Alex as an equal instead of as a reigning overlord. "You're very much correct, Alex, I can feel the explosive force that boils within you. There is no simple or eloquent way to put this, but it will hurt. Perhaps you've felt pain before, perhaps you haven't, but you will feel this." Max said, offering out both of his palms.

The Mad God's hands flashed a blinding, pulsating light. "I am the end all of energy in this universe and beyond." Max said simply, not a boast, but a fact. "I can feel your energy as it once existed and shall exist until it is eroded away by Entropy. Take my hands, and your energy shall become mine, the explosive force of nature that you are will become but a faded memory. Slowly, it shall return to you, not at my pace, but at your own. The power of a million exploding suns and then some, Ponyboy." Max explained, "When you're ready, take my hands." He said finally, the light suddenly collapsing away as Max began to absorb the ambient energy in preparation for the massive charge Alex was about to expel.

[New Neros]

-snip

Max hadn't the time to make a snippy, witty comeback or even speak as the torrential waves of energy cascaded across his very being in nearly infinite quantities. However, it was only nearly, as Mad Max was the sole testament to a universe, and indeed a multiverse, bounded by limits despite the grand power that many possess. His hands acted like black holes for the energy Alex unleashed upon their union, a lightning rod for the largest explosion the universe had ever seen after the Big Bang. Under a normal circumstance, it would have leveled Max's palace, but he managed to contain the blast and most of the light by drawing it further and further into himself.

As quickly as it began, it ceased. The power of the Golden Guardian transferred to Mad Max with bated breath - Dr. Doom refusing to look away as he witnessed the Mad God climb even higher in the celestial hierarchy. Max and Alex were thrown from each other violently as the siphon ended, the steaming and shaking body of Mad Max struggling to contain the vast powers it now possessed. "Hold..." Doom said, grabbing a hold of Max's shoulder as he reared up and threw his hands over his head. He glowed with fierce rays of yellow light, every orifice streaming forth with energetic photons until, literally at the drop of a hat, it cut off. Maxwell maintained control - the power of the Golden Guardian was now his to shape as he choose.

"Beyond a Cosmic Cube..." Max muttered, "Beyond the Power Cosmic." He said further, describing the force he felt. "You could have taken this power for yourself, Victor." Maxwell said, looking into the metal face of his old teacher, the man who Max shadowed early in his life. "But I know why you chose not to."

"Indeed, Maxwell." Doom said, "I found such power beneath me."

Max smiled, Victor giving the Doom-iest answer to just about anything. "But, here." Max continued, shoving a small piece of jewelry into Doom's metal hands. Grasping it and holding it up to the light in order to get a better look, Victor found that he was holding a simple, golden ring.

"What's the meaning of this, Morningstar?" Victor replied, preparing to throw the ring on the floor in a fit of rage.

"It holds Alex's powers. Only he can access it." Max explained, "Back when the rest of us were getting back from Namek, you and Alex had a discussion, and you unlocked his powers even further. Rightfully so, then, you should be the one to do it next time."

"Next time..." Doom repeated, looking at the ring once more, but then stashing it away in one of his pockets. "Some time." Doom corrected, "But now, Alex must learn to use his own wits and abilities to survive. Abilities not derived from science and celestial beings, Morningstar. Knowledge of the arcane is where he must be directed!" Doom proclaimed, holding his index finger up, as if he knew what was best. "But for now, know that you have my thanks for this endeavor." He finished, swinging his green cloak behind him, approaching Alex instead.

Max shook his head, muttering to himself, "The closest I've ever gotten to a thank you from him..."

[New Neros]

Ashy

Balance

Max slowly turned his body around at the sudden, unfamiliar voice calling out to him. Though, he felt the tremors of something fairly powerful - though he chaulked it up to either Mir training or Otto doing whatever business he was up to at the moment - not the return of the Vokornians. How could he miss such a pivotal moment in the universe? Well, the person behind him would be the reason. She had short-cut black hair and a firm, toned build with large breasts, and upon looking at Ash, a dirty look on her face. "And who might you be?" The girl asked, looking from Ash and then to Max, Ashy's nude form the immediate topic.

"Uhh..." Max said, tearing his eyes away from the Vokornian's physical form and directly into the girl's eyes. "You see Val...this is Ash. That voice in my mind..."

Val crinkled her nose at this reveal, looking from Max's face back to Ash, then quickly twisting her head away in a huff. "Fine - have fun with your naked ladies." She said, walking out of the room with some stomps, sending equally powerful tremors throughout the palace. Max sighed, but quickly remembered that Ash had asked him a question.

"My friends owe me no debts, Ash." He said, avoiding eye contact with the revived Vokornian. "But, Mir is training on the second floor. Third door down, you can't miss it - big double doors. You can go see him there, I have something else I have to take care of real quick." He said, walking past Ash and heading for his large doors, leaving the nude woman behind and entering the beautiful, crisp air of the reborn Madworld. He felt the powers of the Chaos Emeralds drone within him, but what was chaos to order, and above all, Balance?

The mighty goddess hung and floated through the air, but Max did not know her personally. As old as our galaxy, he only knew of her and what she did. "Mighty Goddess," He called out, "I welcome you to my home. What is it that you desire?" He asked, throwing in a small quip on her nature. In truth, the only longing Max felt in his heart was to go and be with Val, calm her down, make sure she isn't upset over the whole Ashy business, but, that played second fiddle to a Celestial wish-maker, sadly.

[New Neros]

Balance

Mad Max dropped his courteous smile and lowered his jaw as he looked directly at the Goddess as she came from her lofty position and stood on the ground. He listened intently to her words, feeling the tremendous power that flowed through her. Enough to create and destroy galaxies, but it felt...different, than normal energy, even divine energy. Balance truly had a taste that was unique to herself, but Max didn't fret upon it, rather, he was searching through his own inner self and weighing odds against making a deal with this Goddess. The sight was enough to break him in two, a chance to get away from it all and just be happy. He breathed deeply, but calmly gave his reply.

"I have nothing to offer against such wonder, Balance." Max said softly, though it pained him, even his tremendous willpower was on the verge of giving through. "I want to build my own ending with Val. Our love..." He said, petering off for a moment, "Our love will build our own future." He said firmly, reassuring himself that this was indeed the right decision. No matter if his mind desperately attacked him with doubt, he would remain calm and strong - resisting the temptation of Balance.

"Th-thank you, though, for showing me what I can create...If I so desire it enough."

[New Neros]

-Ashy

Daxam's native son cleared his mind and focused on his goals with stunning accuracy and brutal effectiveness when he trained - Mir not the type of person to hold himself back or be weak. Though, it was for more for himself than for others, as the only real person Mir had to surpass in his own mind was himself. Even with his exceptional physiology, he could only get stronger, even more so than a regular Daxamite or Kryptonian under a yellow sun. Mir prided himself on being above and beyond for his own sake rather than the admiration and flattery of others, but attention never hurt.

The tremendous gravitational strain would make a normal person slam their face to the floor and cry to cut the machine off, but to those with supernatural condition, it was like taking a trip into a normal person's physique. Despite that, his endurance and power was incredible to behold as he clutched two sides of an adamantium-laced pull-up bar and heaved himself up and partially over it in a wide grip - every muscle on his arms and back on full display while his casual gym shorts seemed a bit strange compared to his normal wear, but hey, whatever worked.

He didn't break motion or concentration as Ashy walked in, his mind set in stone on his training, but the sweet rhythm and melody in her voice was like nectar to Mir's ears, shattering his steadfast attention. With a smile, he continued on, answering her as he went. "I don't count. I go until I can't anymore." He said quietly, a soft grunt escaping his throat as he pulled himself up once more, down, and then again in a slow, steady, controlled form of precision. Signs of weakness were taking hold, though, his muscles quaked and his movements became slow, and Mir's repetitions became fewer and fewer until, finally, he pulled himself upward, but could no go no further.

He dropped down from the bar and breathed heavily, sweat coating his muscular form and sticking to it like a thin sheet, highlighting every toned and sculpted curve on his body. He grabbed a near-by towel and started at his face to wipe off the sweat, slowly working his way down his chest, finally back towards his visitor - who he found suspiciously close...and more suspiciously, nude. "I - uh..." He stammered, quickly glowing red, "I'm sorry!" He shouted, turning back around as if he committed some taboo by seeing a beautiful, naked woman in the flesh.

"Th-there's an extra pair of women's workout clothes...Other there..." He said, motioning to a series of lockers without name or number. "They're clean..." He said, fumbling with his words as his face grew even redder.

---

-Balance

The words of the Goddess echoed across the immediate area and over Maxwell, who held firm in the face of the blindfolded woman. He extended his arms to the side in a show of dominance, yet also as a sign to say he had nothing to hide. "Madworld helped save the Multiverse from certain death." He said casually, unafraid of Balance, or at least appearing to be, "This is a world were people are content and their ruler is fair."

"Not only is he fair, Goddess, but he is also divine." He said, a deeper tone taking over his voice as he spoke both normally and on multiple waves of energy. "For what better to lead a mad world than a Mad God?" Max poised, knowing that his divinity was not on Balance's level, but it was still godly nonetheless. "Judge as you feel fit - all you want and need, look into my soul and see that this world is a flash point of universal tension, but also a haven for stability and purpose of her people. My people." He finally said, awaiting what call Balance chose to make.

It was not arrogance or pride that drove Max, but a common feat of staring down Gods themselves - it was a mixture of bravery and foolishness that paraded his insane, mad gambits into fruition. Though, it did help that he had the firepower to back it up, considering that Balance had felt the amount of energy Max could handle in a single sitting - he was not ready to fight nor did he desire to do so - it was but a struggle of wills, one celestial in nature, and the other terrestrial, but both as strong as brazen bulls.

[New Neros]

Darkstar
Prelude to Crisis

"My presence alone should be cause for concern."

The voice that spoke was cold, distant, as if he were not talking to another being but to an inanimate object. A brick wall, nothing more, rehearsed and lacking the emotive spirit that a normal man could spew forth. To the omnipotent overseers, though, it was if an ant were speaking to an elephant. It was laughable, comical even, to think such hubris could be bred in any life form, much less a human being. They silently scoffed at him, but some held their suspicions. No one would be foolish enough to challenge the Monitors in such a way, in their own space, their own pocket that sits at the focal point to govern the Multiverse. "Your presence is duly noted." One responded in a dry, monotone manner.

It did not affect the other man in the least. In fact, he seemed leisured. Relaxed, unaffected by being stiffed by the watchmen of every reality. In place of a space ship or vessel of any kind, he sat on a rather luxurious chair in the middle of open space, one of his legs thrown lazily over the side of the other and his jaw resting on one of his fists. To his right was a beautiful woman, staring blankly on at the Headquarters with a quaint, dead smile. "That is good to hear, then. I do not seek fame and I'm not fishing for a compliment, but I believe you have heard of me at some point in your watching of the Multiverse, no?"

A response came quickly this time from the Monitors, though. "Yes, we have quite the file on you, Darkstar. Tell us - why do you come directly to our home when you were perfectly content with hopping universes and dispatching whatever Guardian we set after you?" A more emotional, confrontational Monitor said, eliciting a small smile from the man's lips. He shook his head back and forth, cursing the stubborn Monitors and their games.

"It is because you have sicced your worthless Guardians on me." Darkstar declared with rising inflection, "You have crossed a being that does know the fleeting hand of mercy, but you Monitors laugh at that notion. You have dealt with similar threats, I'm sure. I'm not going to tell you that I'm different than them, no. You have faced threats that have torn the Multiverse in twine. You are the beings who faced the Beyonders." He said quietly, the eyes of the Monitor's widening and a small gasp escaping from one of them. Hushed whispers and hisses of this knowledge spread through their group, but Darkstar cared not.

"But, even you failed in that regard. Many of us did, do not hold shame in that." He said quietly, but growing louder as he went. "It showed me, though, that even the strongest, wisest, most powerful beings in all of omniversal creation can be defeated. Not just you, but the Beyonders as well. It is natural, a bigger fish comes along and devours the smaller one. I'm not here to tell you that I'm the bigger fish -" Darkstar continued, uncrossing his legs and pulling himself from his chair, standing idly in the complete void.

Darkstar through out his arms and legs and channeled an ominous, violently black aura around himself. It was as if he was pulling it directly from space itself rather than coming from his body. He did it with little to no effort as well, like he was casually stretching or warming up for something larger. He deeply inhaled despite being in a vacuum, and exhaled just as deep - a murky black cloud bleeding from his mouth as well. As he spoke, the dark clouds permeated each syllable, "I'm going to show you."

As his hands extended completely, he opened his palms and had them face the Monitor's headquarters. An alarm sounded, and in small slipstream flashes, a growing number of Eternal Guardians appeared between Darkstar and their Headquarters, their races and aliens numerous, but their numbers in the low hundreds at best. Their armor was sleek, upgraded, new, and powerful, but this development did not even phase Darkstar in the slightest. One yelled out to him, some random gibberish that he didn't even listen to, but it caused him to bend his middle finger and thumb together, taking the other two fingers with it on both hands. One of the Eternal Guardians yelled out a battle cry of sorts, and like a flood unleashed, the Guardians charged forward in a spear to attack him.

Snap

One of his fingers clicked against his palm and sounded even through the vacuum, the Eternal Guardians slowing down quickly with a look and feel of absolute terror. Many had even managed to surround Darkstar with their teleportation abilities, but it was futile. All it took was a single Guardian to look back for the others to follow suite - their terror made reality as their masters, the Monitors, and their home was ripped apart by waves and splashes of pure black destruction. They knew this was real, because their communications with the Monitors were dead silent. A moment ago, alive with information and a constant stream, now, deafening silence.

The Eternal Guardians wearily looked back to Darkstar, however, and his position had changed. Now, he held that used hand behind his back and his feet pressed together at the ankles - his hand ready and aimed with his next snap waiting to happen right at the Guardians. There was a single beat between the look, realization, and event, but for some, it was hardly even a blink when they listened to the last sound that they'll ever hear, even in the void, vacuum of space, of flesh striking flesh so casually and callously.

Snap

---

"A wonderful window into the numerous universes in our local group, wouldn't you say, Rose?" Darkstar asked, his comfy chair sitting on a floating piece of on the Monitor's transcendent, and now obliterated, headquarters. His lady companion merely grasped and massaged his shoulder intimately, making Darkstar smile. "Though, there is still time. I need to recuperate from the battle. I expelled most of my Anti-Energy in those two blasts, enough to level a universe on both accounts."

"But, I doubt I'll even need a fourth of that power to eliminate him in any and all universes. He took you from me once, Rose, and it won't happen again. I'll find him, even if it means the Multiverse burns from my righteous quest." Darkstar said passionately, gripping the edge of his armrest and growing a crooked, crazed grin, "Because he did this to me. It's his fault, no one else's. He's been bad and I'll punish him." He said quickly and erratically, wheezing between breaths, but calmly quieting down and resuming his relaxed demeanor.

"The rest of the Cull shall be arriving soon, Rose. A pity it is that the Monitor's technology did not survive - I could have found him in a heart beat." Darkstar informed Rose, his so-far mute assistant nodding in response. "But where is the fun in that? After all, it's his fault I'm doing this, it's his fault I'm this way. He's only aged a few weeks at most, but I've been through hell for eight years already." Darkstar grinded his teeth and spat as he said that man's name, ashamed that he once called it his own, now branded by a demon. "Some of us didn't get to ride safely to Battleworld in a Life Raft, did we...Maxwell Morningstar?"

[New Neros]

-Ashy

Mir found himself suddenly comfortable, and smiling at Ash. "Don't worry about it, Ashy." He said casually, "It doesn't help that I'm from Daxam, whose xenophobia and misogynist courting practices were off the charts." He scanned Ashy over with wide, expectant, and longing eyes as the tight fitting exercise wear clung to every curve of her body like second skin. He shook his head, trying to dispel his primal thoughts. "So, uh, tell me about how it feels in this new body." He smiled, remembering how he came to Madworld. "You know, I was reborn once, too. Not to take away what you're feeling!" He said quickly, blushing slightly.

"Just trying to find some more common ground, I guess."

At that moment, the double doors of the gym flew open and almost off of their hinges as a a powerful, angry force rushed into the room. It was Val, whose eyes were held tightly shut with a scowl on her face, her mouth muttering some incoherent strings of curses and insults as her head bobbed up and down to mimic the motion of talking. She opened her eyes and had them glued to the floor, walking briskly into the workout area and grabbing a pair of training gloves. She hadn't noticed Mir or Ashy there, but the Daxamite turned his head to look at the enraged mistress of Max, looking back at Ashy to see her reaction.

Val began to pummel a dense, weighted bag designed to tank earth-busting blows, her grunts and heaves striking the bag with precision and skill. "Stupid...ugly...bitch..." She muttered, slamming her fists into the bag, adding in a few kicks to the equation and just bleeding off all of her issues into training for a little while. Mir had a look of concern, so he walked over to Val and motioned for Ashy to follow. Standing a sizable distance behind her, he let out a short, audible cough to get her attention.

"Ah, hey, Val," He said quietly, "Something bothering you?"

She whipped around with a dirty look on her face, preparing to properly inform Mir, but her eyes instantly went to Ashy. With toxin and venom, she asked, "What is she doing here?"

---

-Balance

Max agreed, he had misunderstood her initial intentions. However, none of that mattered as the Goddess of Balance herself dropped to the ground with blood spilling her eyes before him. He rushed over to her, ignoring the vibrant energies of her cosmic items. He realized that she was right - too many things happen here on Madworld, but his first concern was helping Balance. Lifting her head up gently, asking quickly, "Balance, are you there? Listen to me - I'll help you, don't worry." He said over her unconscious form, scooping the Goddess up in his arms and rushing back to his palace.

"Get the medical team, prep for diagnostic." He ordered to a passing servant, who then ran to get help. "Someone find Otto, he knows more about Gods than I do." For a moment, Max found a long, soft chair to place Balance on as he watched over her, wondering what event could have happened to set off enough power to knock the Goddess out cold. He waved his hand over her forehead, channeling his own divine energy into hers - feeling if the wounds were physical, but found them to be something else entirely. Something even he couldn't understand. "...What did I do?" Max said to himself, wondering what Balance meant by that before collapsing.

A voice caressed the nape of his neck, sending him chills instantly. "You haven't done anything yet, but you will soon enough."

Max whipped around and formed a fist, not recognizing the voice at all, unknowing if it was friend or foe. He saw a middle-aged, yet finely built man leaning against the wall opposite of Max and Balance. He snapped back, but was quiet about it, "Who the hell are you?" He demanded, the old man smirking with a smug face. This only served to piss Max off even more, growing more irate, he repeated himself. "Well, who are you? What are doing in my palace?"

Continuing with the smile, the old man politely answered, "I'm just the man you need to see right now. I am Fatherstar, and I represent the Star Clan."

"Star Clan?" Max repeated in a mocking tone.

"Yes, Morningstar." Fatherstar said, his implication very apparent, "The only reason you're seeing me now is because our prophecy is becoming reality. We much to tell you in so little time, but what must be said will decide the fate of the universe and all of existence." He said calmly, sharply, with full purpose and honesty. Max had no reason to distrust him yet, and perhaps he was related to what happened to Balance. "I know what you're thinking - And yes, it does have something to do with the Goddess of Balance. I don't read minds, but I can see it on your face."

Max looked at Balance for a moment and back to Fatherstar. "Fine. Tell me what I need to know."

"Oh, you see, I can't do it here. I have the rest of the Star Clan to inform as well."

Maxwell sighed, "Ugh, alright. Let me make sure Balance is getting the proper help, and we'll be off." He said, a team of medical professionals racing down the corridor just as he spoke.

[New Neros]

-snip

Though the battle with one Chaos entity raged the world over, another one roared with fury and illogic driving it. The great chaos daemon was enthralled in a massive, earth-shaking bare knuckle brawl against the Mir and Max - the two of them attacking in sync and landing their blows with precision one after another. Maelstrom shrugged them off with a laugh, man-handling the both of them of them with his four arms, driving a heel into each of their muscle-packed abdomens to extreme effect - sending both bodies slamming into the sloppy, muddy ground below. Mir tore forth through the mud first, though, his eyes blazing red and the wet dirt flying off of him as he shot forward.

He swung twice and ducked, dodging a clean swing from Maelstrom and unleashing his heat vision against Maelstrom Claus' chest. It smoked and burned, Maelstrom howling for a moment in pain, but twisting his face into a deviant smile regardless. "Oh Mir, I've been such a bad, bad boy. Time for my punishment!" He yelled and taunted, Mir not giving in to his distraction. But still, Mir could hardly prepare for a sudden upper cut the chest, the feeling of his absurdly durable rib cage cracking so easily drew every ounce of breath from his body. To make matters even worse, Maelstrom's mouth burned with the soft licks of a mystical flame. "Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Why punch me in the solar plexus - Oops, I mean Xiphoid process - and then burn the ever-loving shit out of me?' Well, the answer is simple."

"Because fuck you, that's why." Maelstrom said violently, a storm of fire spewing from his mouth and slapping onto Mir's face and upper body with a raging intensity. Where he did not have air, he found room to scream in the most horrific pain he had ever felt in his life - even dying and lead poisoning didn't come close to the surge of hellfire. All of a sudden, it came to an immediate halt, Mir barely cracking his eyes open to see what could have made the embodiment of Chaos suddenly change his mind. Instead of mercy, he saw help from Max, the Mad God slamming his hand over the daemon's mouth - smoke still escaping from under his gloved hand.

Though it was unseen, Maelstrom's facial features contorted into a smile as he removed his fist from Mir's broken chest in order to focus on Max - but the man moved first, pulling the giant monster forward and then straight down. Max accompanied him with his hand still on Maelstrom's mouth as the daemon's skull smacked against the mud, spraying it in all directions. Max removed his hand quickly though, jumping back and clenching his teeth, holding his wrist in his other hand - the burns scorching through his armor and all the way to his skin. "Tell me, Maxwell," Maelstrom began, easily hopping upward from his position - the attack having done close to nothing. "Beings like me, you, hell, even Mir over there. We can bust planets and solar systems with our bare-damned-hands, so why do we just slug it out like Neanderthals in this swamp?"

Maelstrom smiled his sick, twisted grin, showing that every one of his teeth was a razor sharp canine of vicious length, "Because it feels good." The chaotic entity answered, "But despite the fun I'm having, I really want those things I came to get. Ultimate power, blah, blah, rule the cosmos. No, I don't want 'em for that. I want them because they're shiny and I don't have them! Now, give me my MacGuffins." Maelstrom demanded, Max standing there, confused at the reference.

"...Your what?"

"EMERALDS, BITCH!" Like a lightning strike, Maelstrom was already driving his fist into Max's center mass and lifting the man from the ground and sending him flying backwards, slapping the ground and tumbling a myriad of times before Max righted himself, digging his heels into the ground to slow his momentum. Max looked up to assess the situation and counter-attack, but all that met him was the bottom of two abnormally large feet. Diving feet first into Max's face, Maelstrom skidded along while driving the Mad God's entire head and upper body through the mud hard enough to bring up rocks and sediments from below.

"Oh Max-kun, you're so tsundere." Maelstrom proclaimed, stepping off of the Mad God's head and grabbing him by the hair with one of his clawed hands. "You suck at this, give up, you fucking casul." He further yelled, Max's eyes tearing open and glowing a bright orange - Max baring his teeth as he released a primal growl. "Ohh! So scary, what're you going to -" Just then, a pebble slammed through Maelstrom's bicep. Not really slammed, but simply obliterated - the daemon's arm from a three-fourths above his elbow just de-attaching from the rest of his body.

Max took the opportunity and spun around, pouring an entire planet's worth of energy into a single strike on Maelstrom's kidney region, the force echoing past the daemon's soft tissues as it tore them apart upon impact - Maelstrom's crimson blood exploding from both sides. He roared with absolute torture at the two blows in quick succession, another hit registering as Mir dragged himself from wherever he fell previously and used his heat vision to burn his back deeply - to the bone itself. The two beings looked at each other in exhaustion, knowing that this was only the tipping point of the battle, but as a pair looked to their new ally.

The small rat creature was an unlikely choice for an alliance, but Max smiled nonetheless at his arrival. "I watched your battle with Perfect Chaos with my energy sense, young warrior." Max said calmly, "Your bravery and ability is one I'm willing to trust. You met my friend, Mir, but you've yet to meet me. I'm Maxwell Morningstar, but let's skip the other nitty gritty, because I'm going to need a power boost to get my energy levels back up." Max said, implying the Chaos Emeralds, "Because if I'm not mistaken...It looks like Maelstrom Claus is coming back."

Sure enough, the now three-armed daemon wore of a look of extreme displeasure as he walked casually back to where the trio were, the vegetation behind him suddenly bursting into a ball of flame miles and miles behind him. The sky turned into a burnt orange color, clouds formed with poisoned acid as the Chaotic entity strove to render the world inhabitable by his sheer presence and discomfort. "You're damn right I'm coming back...And I'm fuckin' pissed."

[New Neros]

-Ralph

Max nodded with appreciation as Ralph and his friends placed the Chaos Emeralds in front of him. Such trust was admirable, even towards one he had just met, making the Mad King hold an even higher opinion of this, for lack of a better turn, rat. "I will not fail you, or Mobius, Ralph." He said, Ralph the Rat and his ally, Solar, charging forward to hold Maelstrom at bay. Max focused, though, transferring his mind from the battle at hand to the power gems that lay at his feet, causing the objects to orbit around Max at a steady velocity. Reaching deep within them, Max felt their vibrant, unorderly energies collide around within their small confines, and began to draw that energy towards himself.

A flood of chaotic energy washed over his body in a torrential downpour, but more like waves crashing into one another with such ferocity and fervor that it made the man shake where he stood, but those tremors never came, it was all contained within Max's body as the Chaos Energy merged with his own personal energy, as well as his reserves. He looked down at the palms of his hands, watching carefully as the Chaos Emeralds became almost transparent, spinning and merging into his body as a blinding light began to shine forth from his body.

The ground around Max began to fissure and throw forth steam from the inner mantle of Mobius, it's epicenter being Max, who tightened his fists and began to lower himself. He was unaware of it, but he was also screaming in a primal rage to unleash a power embedded within him. Flashes of yellow light obscured Max at certain points, massive bolts of blue lightning arcing across and slapping Max's body from the ground as the electrical smacks were heard now and again. The static in the air caused Max's hair to stand on end, the electrical impulses flowing through his scalp and indeed all around his body.

The pulsating nature of the Chaos Emeralds eventually reached a traumatic, and triumphant climax as Max stood up with all of the pent up energy of the emeralds flowing through every inch of his body, a strong yell of dominance unleashing a blast wave of yellow light. The daemon horror, Maelstrom Claus, shielded his eyes briefly, mere feet from Mad Max, the man having not noticed the fine details of the fight with Ralph and Solar, but seeing the aftermath. Max held his ground as a yellow aura flashed around him, vibrating and energetic, contained and in control, Maelstrom giving him a rather brutish look.

"Ripping off a certain series, much?" Maelstrom asked, "How about I rip your balls off and force feed them to you through your anus instead?" To which, Mad Max simply looked at Maelstrom Claus without so much as a changing emotion, drawing more of the chaos beasts' ire. "The silent treatment, huh? That's okay, I like the quiet ones the best. They're the ones you gotta watch out for, especially in bed. I'll give your rat friend props, though, even though shooting my fucking arm off was a fruitless effort," The daemon said, his stump suddenly twitching and spewing forth a brand new, able-bodied arm almost instantly, "If it's any consolation at all,"

"That hurt like hell."

A sudden clack reverberated throughout the swampy battlefield, Maelstrom swaying one way and almost falling over to the ground. Above him was Mad Max in his transformed state, a Super State of the Chaos Emeralds, a perfectly formed and thrown punch standing perfectly still where Maelstrom Claus' jawline once was. Maelstrom grabbed his jaw, only to find that it swayed unevenly, one side completely dropping down as it tore off of it's hinge. Maelstrom looked up at Max for a moment, who mouthed just four simple, easy to grasp words for the prince of chaos.

"Shut the hell up."

[New Neros]

-Ashy

Mir could already sense, see, and hear the general animosity between the two girls almost instantly, with Val scoffing at Ashy's notion of 'getting with' her boyfriend, "Like you'd have a chance with Max." She spat back at Ashy, "So sorry that I don't give you the center of attention like every other testosterone junkie in this place." She further said, shooting her eyes at Mir, who simply shrugged, almost in agreement.

"Ladies, ladies..." Mir said calmly, "Look, we seem to be dealing with some...tensions, right? Some anger, too?" Mir nodded his head over to a medium sized cage, an octagon, designed to be similar to a mixed martial arts ring, "I know you don't like each other right now, but why not settle it on the mat? That's one thing that calms anyone down, hitting the person you dislike. And hey! A lot of times, you leave having a new found respect for the other person."

He looked from Ashy to Val, though stayed his eyes on Ashy for a bit longer than the other girl, causing Val to roll her eyes. She stomped over a small shelf on the wall next to the cage, throwing on a pair of fighting gloves - the tips of her fingers slightly poking out and giving her enough mobility in the hand to effectively grapple. She nodded, turning back to Mir and Ash, her attitude changing a bit for the better, "I'm game, if you're up for it." She said, finally talking to Ashy as if she was a regular person instead of some vile demon offspring.

[New Neros]

Emerald Crusade
At Crusades' End

The vicious toxins of the daemon prince poisoned the planet of Mobius without regard, Maelstrom's presence turning the earth barren, making it's air unbreathable, and evaporating it's oceans away completely. But now, just the sight of him lying firmly on his ass with a dislocated jaw was enough to inspire hope. The waves of energy Mad Max gave off began to fade, however, as the Mad God reigned in his excess waste in order to manage his stamina and strength easier. He didn't wait for Maelstrom to reply to his comment before, either, and simply grabbed the daemon by the neck and lifted him over Max's own body in a fluid, arcing motion, slamming him neck-first into the mud hard enough to create a crater.

At such close spaces, Mad Max excelled at hand to hand combat, but felt that skill alone would not give victory in the face of Maelstrom Claus. Still holding the giant's neck, a bright band of orange glowed under Max's palm, rapidly expanding and engulfing the rest of the daemon's head. Moments after the energy attack appeared, it exploded with incredible, earth-shaking ferocity and destructive power as the plasma reached critical mass and expelled it's energy outward. Before Max was a mile long, several meters wide trench carved from the attack, the body body of Maelstrom Claus lying at the very end of the trail of destruction. Slumped against a sturdy rock, the daemon's head was singed, scorched, and bloody from the attack, but he opened a single eye, and gave the most defiant smirk he could manage.

Maxwell walked through the still-smoking scene toward Maelstrom, his super state clearing the way of dust and other particles thrown into the air by the swift move. A soft click signaled the return of Maelstrom Claus' infamous mouth healing back into place, "That it, Maxie?" Maelstrom said, throwing himself onto his feet, "Was that you're ultimate, honest to God, best shot at beating me?" Maelstrom asked, "Because it sucked. Just like your wife." He further taunted, Maxwell stopping several meters from the Daemon. "Oh, whoops, hit a nerve? How about I just hit you?" Maelstrom hollered, rushing at Mad Max quickly and landing a serious blow to his abdomen, the Mad God barely budging, but beginning to fall forward from the force regardless.

Maelstrom held a look of glee at the action, but that face was wiped away as Max landed a solid blow to the side of his head. Not only that, but the Mad God followed up and slugged the daemon prince with his other hand, combined with the force from the first hit and this new one, Maelstrom felt every bone in his face yearn to shatter and splinter. His regeneration was too great, though, and he was able to just shrug off the blows and throw both of his hands out in front of him, a small sphere forming in front of his palms. The sphere grew exponentially and shot out at Maxwell, almost dwarfing him, and holding enough power to take half of the planet with it whenever it explodes. Mad Max dug his feet into the ground and leaned forward with his own hands out, the energy ball slapping into his palms readily. His feet dug into the ground further, but slowly, the ball diminished in size, until finally disappearing.

Max didn't have a moment to rest though, as Maelstrom's fist was waiting right behind the energy attack. The beastly fist struck with incredible weight and power, Maxwell trying to move his hand up to block a follow up, but found his arm being held down and to the side by one of Maelstrom's other hands. Max moved his other hand to strike Maelstrom, but the demon caught that one as well, and held both arms out and away from Max's body, leaving him defenseless. "Allow me to sing you the song of my people." Maelstrom declared, using one of his hands to hit Max's face, doing the same with the other hand, back and forth in close, highly powerful swings.

"A Beast am I!" Maelstrom sang with course, screeching vocals, "So vicious and grim, they fear my mean, grinning teeth!" Against the backdrop of Maelstrom's lovely ballad, the wet smacks of his fists raining upon Max could be heard like thunderous cracks as the Mad God struggled to break free from his constraints, "I bide my time...My sweet revenge!" Maelstrom continued, "Soon my ties will fall...And I will finally be free!" Before he could finish the last syllable, Max screamed in primal rage and twisted his wrists, breaking from Maelstrom's claws and grabbing them instead.

Jumping upward and bringing his legs high up, Max shot his lower limbs forward against the chest of Maelstrom in a dull thud, pulling back the daemon's arms as he did so, and effectively tearing Maelstrom's lower arms out of their sockets...and after a brutal, agonizing second, tore them completely from his body in a spray of acidic blood and putrid, hellish fire erupting from the daemon princes' mouth in response. Max tossed the arms to the side and let Maelstrom have no quarter to rest, launching himself forward head-first into the daemon, connecting his forehead to Maelstrom's nose in spite of the endless stream of hell fire.

Broken, bruised, and bloody, the face of Maxwell Morningstar was not the sight to behold, but his intent was clear: He intended to win this fight one way or another, and to that end, waved his hand drastically, opening a fissure in space-time with the sheer weight of his power behind Maelstrom Claus as he flew back, disoriented, from the previous hit to the nose. The daemon disappeared from view, leaving the fissure, but Max feeling the effects of the Chaos Emeralds begin to wear away, his increased power dropping back to normal levels, and his body returning to normal. He gave a content sigh, knowing the fight was over, but his work was to begin.

"LIKE HELL!" The booming voice of Maelstrom called out, a sickening clawed hand grabbing ahold of the portal's edge, "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Morningstar! Mad God! The only thing you're mad about is cocks!" Maelstrom further declared, pulling forward with heavy strain to bring his head into view, "Since I can't have the Emeralds, I will simply have this world and everyone in it! Those furry-looking things better learn to clean daemon shit, because my ass is a delicate rosebud!"

"God damn it..." Max muttered, tightening his fists and getting ready to face Maelstrom head on without the aid of the Chaos Emeralds, but a sudden flash of red light zapping one of Maelstrom's fingers, causing it to disappear back into the fissure in space time. He whipped around quickly to see who came to support him at a time like this, and found not one, but two allies to aid him, both as torn apart as Max was, but ready to stand together even in the end. Mir and Ralph, the former unleashing a steady stream of optical blasts to ruin Maelstrom's hold, and the rat steadying a rock between his thumb and middle finger. Maelstrom saw this as well, his eyes widening.

"Wait, no, let's be civil about this!" Maelstrom pleaded.

"There's nothing civil about you, Maelstrom. Now, get the fuck out of my dimension." Max answered, Ralph flicking the small pebble at incredible speed like before, Maelstrom not having even a nanosecond to react as it slammed into his face, which disappeared behind the swirling vortex, taking the brutal aftermath and carnage with it. Mir unleashed his most powerful blast yet, and began to seal the fissure in space-time with his own eye energy, collapsing to his knees in order to do so. As the portal closed, so too did the fight for Mobius and the Chaos Emeralds, but what else was left but ruin? A calm silence took hold of the trio, with Max walking over to join his companions.

---

"Ralph," Max began, lowering his face down to look at his feet, "You may have stopped Perfect Chaos and I might have stopped Maelstrom, but Mobius is left in devastation." He said, looking at the still burnt-orange sky and raging fires occurring globally, the lush vegetation being consumed by the mystic fires of the daemon prince still, even after his departure from this planet and plane of existence. "I'm sorry." He said solemnly, unable to assess how Ralph felt about the battle's outcome.

"But one thing I need you to know, though, is that I came to Mobius for the Chaos Emeralds, too." He admitted, "But I never intended for this to happen, never to meet Maelstrom Claus or destroy a biosphere. I came for them, but I intended to ask to use them. You see, my own world is in disarray, a state of perpetual confusion and disorder caused by a Multiverse reborn, but reborn wrong. I heard of the Emeralds and their powers to re-write reality, and I intended to use them to correct my own world, but now, it seems like two worlds need to be set right."

"This place is not safe anymore if Maelstrom knows where it is, so I have a solution to our woes. Using the Chaos Emeralds, let's both make a new world for the Mobians in my universe, put all of the Mobians from here onto this New Mobius, and then fix what is broken in my universe. It may be hard to trust me after hearing that I came for the Emeralds, too, but my cause is noble, and I can't do this alone." Max further said, his hair blowing graciously in the wind, opening up his clenched hand and presenting it to Ralph, "So let's do it together, then."

[New Neros]

-snip

Val's lips curled into a sweet, yet vicious smile at Ashy's acceptance of the offer, nodding to Mir to see if he was alright with this development as well. "Well, I think this ring keeps our powers to a limit. Something Max copied from some sleazy bar in Gotham. We can shut it off if we need to, but why don't we go just based on skill for now?" She asked Ashy, Mir stepping into the ring as well, taking a spot between the two ladies. Looking from one to another, he nodded in confirmation.

"I'll referee this fight, I suppose. No cheap shots, hair pulling, things like that. Strikes, grabs, throws, all are acceptable. Understood?"

Val nodded quickly, "I don't doubt your power right now, Ash, but I do think your skills might be rusty since you last used your body." Mir looked at Val with some confusion, wondering how the girl knew about this, to which, she responded readily. "What? I can eavesdrop if I want to." She sneered, sliding a mouthpiece into her jawline and clenching her gloves together, bouncing up and down to warm up before lowering her upper body and bringing her hands up to protect her face - swaying her shoulders side to side as well.

Mir sounded in his most official voice possible, "Alright then, begin!" Val launched forward with aggressive offense, stepping into a powerful straight punch with her right hand, but it served only as a diversion, executing a by-the-book one-two punch except reversed, with her right hand being the lead while the left was the main attack, bringing it full-force with the added momentum of the first blow, her aim at Ash's head despite her foreign fighting stance.

[New Neros]

-snip

Maxwell felt the overwhelming sense of responsibility thrust upon his shoulders as the Goddess, Aurora, blessed him as the guardian of the Chaos Emeralds. The Goddess was an intangible, formless cloud of plasma to Max's eyes - who perceived and saw things differently than Ralph - rather than just pure electromagnetic spectrum and visible light, Max's vision was based on forms of energy and how they interacted with the surrounding matter. Regardless of how she was to be seen, Max graciously accepted the responsibility for the Emeralds, and turning to Ralph, responded to his question.

"There's powerful beings on my world and beyond. My home world, for example, is chock full of powerhouses. My universe is not for the faint or weak of heart, but surprisingly, many of those with power have good intentions. You are welcome to my home any time, as is any New Mobian who wishes to come. My borders are open to all." He said graciously, describing only a small, minuscule bit of Madworld, "I can sense the latent energy brewing inside of you, Ralph, you will get stronger and more powerful. Enough to defend New Mobius, and maybe even beyond."

With that, Max looked down at the Chaos Emeralds as they swirled and darted around his body, leaving a light trail of their colors as they went. He had felt their powers before, the ones that can influence the fabric of reality itself, and it took a monumental amount of concentration to simply comprehend such power. A universe reborn, on his whim. Before, he had made an entire planet with a Cosmic Cube, now, he was re-making a universe with the Chaos Emeralds, so he was experienced in a sense, like giving a child who plays with legos the means to build an entire house. Still, never one to shy away from a challenge, and with the fate of Mobius hanging in the balance, Max drew their chaotic energies into himself once more.

The Emeralds themselves embedded into Mad Max as he began to glow a blinding, unearthly white light. He extended his arms up under great stress, throwing his head back as well, spreading his body out to unleash a power unused for millennia: The power to rewrite reality. The white light did not explode out violently, but peacefully expanded from Max to engulf his allies, Ralph, Mir, and friends, and the rest of Mobius, the expansion accelerating considerably at that stage, to the point that it stretched across the universe in less than a minute. All one had to do was blink, and it was over in a flash, the Super Genesis Wave completed.

Max opened his eyes to a familiar sight - that of his royal court from on high - seated on his throne. He stood from it instantly, casually walking down the steps to the ground level as he observed every last detail of the correct version of the universe. He smiled gracefully, nodding his head as the voice of Ashy was put in her own body, but felt the conversation of Aurora explaining a shortcoming of the Super Genesis Wave, that Val had changed drastically. A flood of memories came forward, though, those that he immediately recognized as being the "true" version of events. Val Valentine was not an victim of child trafficking, a meek girl with too small of a voice, or even one with silvery-white hair.

She was fire incarnate, a bombastic personality paired with a deep sense of affection and strong passions, whose emotions were worn on the surface. Developed and fully mature, she wore her black hair short in a pixie cut, preferred skimpy tops and black jeans to show off her assets, and the memory of whatever Val was before was replaced - the power of the Super Genesis Wave penetrating even the mind of the Mad God, but left the heart-felt love and affection for one another perfectly intact. The soft drone of footsteps approaching the God-King's throne room signaled her arrival, and in full view of her, Max fell in love once again.

Val casually strolled up to him, still dwarfed in physical stature and height, but not as noticeable as before. She was exactly as Max had described, a small, confident smirk taped onto her lips, but her eyes full and sparkling with life, love, and affection as she gazed upon Max's own stern, calm face. She spoke softly, but noticeably more brash than her original voice, "I've been waiting for you."

Max swallowed hard, asking, "How long?"

"My whole life." She said, raising herself by her tippy-toes and landing a kiss directly on Max's lips, a sense of shock taking over him, but relaxation prevailing, closing his own eyes as he wrapped his arms around Val and lifted her into the air - pressing her body against his own. A soft smack separated their faces for a moment, allowing them to stare back into each other's eyes for one more second. "I missed you." She said, going in for another, the signs of a portal opening in Max's throne room, the familiar shapes of Victor von Doom and the Golden Guardian coming through unexpectedly, setting down Val and returning to his throne, seating himself at a relaxed angle, and greeting his guests, "Welcome, von Doom and Alexander, to my Madworld..."

[New Neros]

-snip

Val tucked down briefly as the punch hit her stomach, but she was a fighter first and foremost, and never had her eyes off of Ashy as she backed away from the moment of impact. Val ignored whatever mantra Ashy decided to chant, some prayer or something, maybe, and instead went in for another series of strikes - each one well-aimed and driven with pure power and intent, aiming for head, body, and arm shots - the girl delivering a brutal side kick to finish off her barrage of attacks. Val realized this early in the fight, though, that Ashy was more logical in her approach whereas Val had training and instinct on her side. Experience be damned.

She danced around her opponent with sharp eyes, watching every move Ashy made to defend against it or counter it, whatever the situation called for at the time. Her steady breathing meant that Val still had a lot of fight left in her, even after a decent flurry of punches and kicks, not being based purely on emotion, but the intent to win.

[New Neros]

-snip

A cascade of steam and gasses poured from the containment pod as the button was pressed by the Prince of All Saiyans. This door was not designed to be opened, it's placement here in one of the far flung, useless outposts of the Planetary Trade Organization was intentional to ensure it would never, ever become activated. Perhaps it was vanity on the behalf of the Acrosians, Freeza himself, that a creation could become stronger than him. But still, the purpose of whatever lied in the pod was about to be fulfilled, it's sole mission to be a genocidal, world-breaking cyborg.

The gasses cleared away and gave forth to the sight of what would appear to be a man, but to the eyes of Okarot, it was definitely the look of a Saiyan. His hair, however, was a golden tint of perfection unlike the normal, dark colors of Saiyan - signaling some birth defect or something more sinister. Clothed and all, the Saiyan looked to be still in stasis, but slowly, his eyelids rolled open as a flash of red engulfed his entire eyes, the flash dimming and settling on a yellow-tinted iris, and black sclera instead of the usual whiteness.

Suddenly, a gust of wind, and the pod was empty. Slamming down in a tri-point stance, the Saiyan slowly brought his head up to get a full view of Okarot - utilizing his faster speed to manage his escape. His eyes flashed as if lines of programming and code were scrolled before them - the newcomer literally scanning Okarot. A small band of metal snapped around his jawline to reinforce it in preparation for an upcoming brawl - the truth of his origin reveal. He was no longer simply a Saiyan, but a Saiyan Cyborg. "Full-blooded Saiyan detected." He spoke in a normal, unhindered voice.

"Termination in effect." He called, rushing forward at blinding speed with a single punch aimed at Okarot's center mass.

[New Neros]

-snip

"Fun kicking your ass?" Val said, a fist connecting with her face and throwing her off, her legs being swept from under her immediately after. At that point, training and instinct kicked it, her hands shooting out and grabbing onto Ashy's thin, skin-tight workout clothes to pull the girl down as Val fell - all happening in a split second, the Vokornian on top of Val, but Val delivering a kick to the abdomen as it all happening during the fall, rearing back, and delivering another kick to get the girl off of the dominant position. "You betcha."

Val jumped back up and made some distance between herself and Ashy, her eyes still narrow and watching every move, intent to not lose focus.

Mir was watching it all unfold, nodding after each successful combo or strike Ashy or Val would land, impressed at the feminine form and how much power it could produce. Perhaps it was his own upbringing that saw women as the weaker sex, but steadily, he was proven wrong in just this one bout. Though he had power and some skills on his side, Mir knew he was outclassed in technique and pure skill by both of the ladies as they fought, resolving to get better as well. "What was the point of training constantly if a skilled throw can put you firmly on your ass?" He wondered, his eyes trailing to Ashy as his mind subconsciously ogling her firm, toned body in the skimpy clothes.