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

[Charmera]

As the dust cleared, one might think that Liberty would be done. That she couldn't possibly have taken a blow like that.
But she did. Still standing, the girl had half her face blown off, parts of her torn and riped. She looked scary, like some sort of winged female terminator. An angel and a andriod. She stood still, her body regenerating, face repairing itself and peices of skin now showing metal began to put themselves back together. Interestingly you could note her underskin looked very human if it wasn't a silvery colour. She defintely was quite the sophisticated work of art. Almost like a metal human. She smiled, walking towards him. Staggered and battered from taking the strike head on. Tipsy too, though a blast like that to the face had sobered her up a good deal. Her hand was kinda crewed up, but it seemed to have repaired itself to usability. "That it?" She asked.

She then walked. Towards her opponent. Cool, calm, terminator style. Not breaking stride as an aura of lighting and white fire surrounded her. "I have a feeling that might have been meant to kill me." She spoke. "And here I was thinking this was a friendly match..."

"You know, it's kind of a problem of mine..." I spoke without even the slightest notion of fear, confusion or frustration on my face, just a very faint, barely noticeable smirk. "Every time I try to fight for fun, I end up killing the person I was supposed to spar with. Well, not exactly, but at least harm it. And are we really that much of a friend to each other anyway?" As I said that, I drew out the dark-colored sword, though not really a sword, from the handle on my back, quite professionally, in fact. The regeneration is going to be a big problem, though I presumed if I could completely separate a piece of the body from the main core, it wouldn't regenerate. And that's exactly what the Heat Blade was built for.

I pressed a dark red button on the handle, and the entire weapon started shining in a very faint blue color. It's blades had heated up to over 10,000 degrees Celsius - even hotter than the Sun. At least it's surface. "I have to say, your destructive power is staggering. It's defnitely somewhere in the top tier of this planet. However, the battle is still not over." I lifted up my left hand, and it opened up and showed a barrel of a gun inside. Though definitely no ordinary one. It was the Warp Gun - a super-railgun, which fired bullets at 10 times the speed of light. I did not let Liberty run, and opened fire at a rate of 3 bullets every second. Slow, but powerful.

She saw the gun, then the bullet fired. Between the first projectile hitting her and the second almost being fired she quickly whipped up a sheild of white fire, which would vaporize the bullet before it got to her. The bullet that hit her cracked her skin once more, even managed to get inside and break her shoulder. She pulled it out quickly and allowed the wound to heal. And with her other arm, she quickly gathered a massive amount of head and lightning. Then she began unleashing massive balls of fire and white lighting while she recovered, using this chance to bombard her enemy into submission. They'd explode with considerable force, though it would be concentrated enough so it didn't hurt any innocents.

[Charmera]

Tina winced as she felt the pain of earth so connected to her destroyed. She grunted. Then reshaped the earth around her, carving herself a smaller body, her arms repaired, if much smaller, and leapted from the massive earthen body, which she then forced to rejoin the earth from whence it came. She walked next to Magnus, then dispersed the dust, sending it flying away. Then she exhaled. "Are you okay? The blast didn't hurt you right?" She asked, concerned, she put a hand on his chest, looking for injuries. She had to act as a shield for her friends and family, as earth should. Defending others. It was only right. "Our pink friend should be more careful." She commented absently, not as interested in the cause of the blast as making sure Magnus was alright. She felt a kindred spirit with him, perhaps that two rocky beings could understand one another.

"I'm fine. Perfectly fine." Magnus said. "Hey, that was no big deal, right?" He tried to smile. "Now, can I get up now? I can't really feel my legs." Looking to his left, he saw the sand and Odysseus crawling out, and looking to his right, he saw his leg next to his ear. "Well. Um. Shit."

Tina frowned, then picked Magnus up out of the earth, using her considerable strength to do so. She lay him down on the sand, then used geokenisis to bring his leg to her. She then placed his leg back onto his body and used her powers to fuse it back on. "I'm sorry... I should have protected you better... maybe had I used my body to block the attack or something..." She muttered. She paused. "I don't like seeing you hurt. It makes me upset." She admitted. Another short silence. "I like you Magnus. I think..." She spoke.

[Charmera]

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."

You know, I feel like we should have gone with the less violent option Remarked Ash to all present and concious. She mentally frowned. "Though. I have to say, it would have taken even me a while to get through to him. Asgardian minds are so stubborn sometimes..." She sighed mentally, it would have taken far too long she supposed. Plus she did find the two of them fighting somewhat amusing and... arousing. She missed the times she was able to do things like that, as barbaric as such things were sometimes they did have a certain thrill to them. Though she supposed it wouldn't be long till she could brawl again. "Ready when you two are."

[Charmera]

Hiroshi:

" Claudia, I know your angry but our best hope of beating this guy is if we work together and take him on together." Hiroshi offered, steeling himself as he stared into the inky black smoke where the Giant had been smashed.

As Claudia began to respond, the ground before them shattered, concrete scattering amidst a horribly loud wave of green energy. Floating there in the center of the smoke, the source of power was gathering his strength.

Looking up at them, his eyes blazing with barely held rage and hatred, the Saiyan sneered.

" Did you really think you could harm me? He roared. " Do you really think because there are two of you, that you can challenge the power I have in only my finger tip!"

There was another rumble from the Giant as a wave of force rolled off his body. It was hard to understand how quickly his power was rising and how quickly he was approaching a level Hiroshi couldn't keep up with. A chill ran up Hiroshi's spine as a maddened cackle echoed through the valley.

" I can't wait to strip everything you two care about away." Broly cackled " For everything you've done to me, for believing you could injure the Legend himself, I will make you suffer as no one before. I will hunt down everything you care about and rip them limb from limb! Just like I will do to you!"

The energy swirling around Broly exploded as he rocketed off at the two, the world warping around him from pure speed. Moving with all his available speed to intercept, Claudia in tow, Hiroshi threw a jab into Broly's traps, the impact echoing across the almost abandoned city scape, as loud as any explosion so far. The flesh hardly gave way, barely moving against the force exerted against it. There was no visible pain on the Saiyan's face, only a flash of fury as he roared at them. Even when he smashed his knee against Broly's ribs, the skin barely dented, unmarked by the force of the blow, as the Giant continued on his path.

Grabbing Claudia's arm then Hiroshi's, the Saiyan roughly dragged them up, cackling madly the entire time.

' What's wrong? Surprised that you pathetic excuses for Warriors are outmatched!" the Super Saiyan grinned, before dragging them at break neck speeds back towards the concrete below them.

Grabbing desperately at the hand locked like steel around his forearm, Hiroshi desperately attempted to yank his arm free. Flailing desperately, Hiroshi slammed his booted foot into the Monsters side and cracked him across the jaw with his palm, all to no avail. before the lock could be broken, the hand released his arm, Hiroshi knowing exactly what that meant. Within a second of the grip releasing, Hiroshi and Claudia slammed into the ground, their bodies cracking the asphalt and burying them beneath a wave of jagged rock.

Rolling in time, Hiroshi avoided a vicious boot coming down to break his ribcage. Bounding backwards out of the roll, Hiroshi raised a sloppy guard as a massive fist swung towards him, the strike jarring him down to the bones, as another arced up into his stomach, swinging him up into the air. before he could even begin to recover, the air shifted around him, just in time for the hulking Saiyan to move forward, twisting violently in the air, pulling his arm back from Hiroshi's gut. Seemingly within the same instance, the meaty fist came swinging back around again, battering Hiroshi's face like a hammer. With his head jerked violently to the side, Hiroshi lost what little control of his body he had left, his body rocketing away in a blur of speed. Skidding across the asphalt, his frame skipped violently across the surface, before he bounced off a car and through the glass window of a shop. Tile gave way to reveal mud, which made room for his frame.

it was only two hits, and it felt like he'd fought an entire sparring match with Pikkon all over again. Slowly, he began to pull himself up, ignoring the screaming and protesting from his muscles as he dislodged himself from the jagged tile. Clearing the worst of the mud from his eyes and neck, he heard several cracks and booms in the distance.

As soon as he looked up, a blue and gold blur was came rocketing towards him. Blinking several times, he recognized the frame of his daughter and the Saiyan from earlier, Moori told him his name was Hazzel. it took a moment for Hiroshi to release the young girl from the embrace.

" Kid, I know your glad to see me, but you need to go. this thing is hellbent on destroying us and I cant fight him without worryign about you, okay?" The sad nod told him everything.

" Hey, umm Hazzel, you got any fighting experience?" Hiroshi said easily, wiping more mud from the front of his Gi. turning his head, Hiroshi's eyes widened at the Giant, who was now casually and confidently striding towards them.

" Listen to me, in order to beat this thing, we have to work together. " Hiroshi shouted, his aura bursting around him as lightening scattered off his form. " Follow my lead and we can win this."

There was a moment where Hiroshi swore the Saiyan bristled at the remark. it was true though, even if Hiroshi didn't like teamwork as much as the next guy, this thing was to strong.

" I'll distract him," Hiroshi said quietly. " When I use my Sparking Meteor attack, I need you and Clauida to strike form opposite sides, if we hit him on three sides, there's no way he can keep them all at bay!"

Hear that Claudia? When I throw the Sparking meteor attack, you and this Saiyan we just met need to throw an attack too, overwhelm him.

Claudia grunted, pulling herself upwards. Rage filling her. Though not yet fast enough to compete with the Saiyan. She wasn't angry enough to take him on her own, and she wondered if she would ever be angry enough to do that. She was still not angry enough to reason and be logical, so she listened to Hiroshi, nodding mentally as she took in his words. She then focused on her rage, allowing it to build. Wondering if the giant would notice the sharp increase of heat and fire in the area as Claudia's blue aura of fire started glassing the floor and melting steel like marshmallows being hit by napalm.

Let's fuck this guy up.

Hiroshi:

Cracking his neck, Hiroshi stood, sliding his foot back and facing his palm outwards his opponent.

"Hey you! What's your name anyways?" He called out.

The big figure froze, his head craning to look at Hiroshi with dangerous blue-green eyes. A wicked grin spreading across his features, he chuckled.

" Dead men don't talk boy." He cackled. " And I remember you all to well, you sniveling brat. Your nothing more than a useless child!"

Steeling himself, Hiroshi sneered as he flared his aura, the air sparking erratically as their auras interacted.

" Your awful cocky you pitiful child! Thats all you are, a pathetic crying brat with a grudge match. If you'd valued your life, you would have left before I arrived, I am the only Ascended Saiyan in existence, if you want a challenge, HERE! HAVE IT!"

As the gap between them, Hiroshi folded over as he clenched his fists. Golden fire and lightening washed over his frame as he felt his muscles become unbearably tight. Electricity sparked around him, scattering off his frame and reappearing as the ground cracked around him. Fissures exploded in the concrete, dust bursting out of them like geysers. The power he tapped in was the same he'd used against Garlic, yet larger. It had grown dramatically since that battle, and now this sick fuck would experience it for all it was. Shaking violently, Hiroshi slowly forced his head upwards against the fiery power flooding his veins, staring into Broly's eyes as he screamed louder.

First there was a sneer.

" Well I can't say I'm impressed boy."

Howling like an animal, Hiroshi ramped up his power even further. Dust was blown away from hm in waves, wave after wave washing over the Saiyan before him. Clouds swirled above him, rain coming in time to cool the rapidly heating asphalt around him. This was the power he felt within himself, and it was nigh limitless, it just kept coming. Screaming like an animal, golden fire rolled off of him, as thr world shook violently.

Finally, his energy peaked, Golden fire swept outwards one final time, becoming a massive golden beacon, illuminating the city. The flames around him blasted away, evaporating into the air, electricity rolling over the ground, danced around him. Standing upright, Hiroshi spit a wad of saliva and mucus at Broly.

Smirking, Hiroshi smiled as a rage filled cry escaped the beast, Hiroshi sliding back into his stance as he charged. The ground between them burst, water spraying out in a geyser before Broly burst through it. The wave of pure energy that washed over him almost overwhelmed him, almost staggering the Saiyan, and Hiroshi could still feel it grow. The power was not entirely dissimilar to a cup, and it threatened to overflow again, and Hiroshi was unsure what would happen this time.

Forcing his aura forward, the world before him shattered as he dove through his portal, disappearing in under a second, Hiroshi flashed from existence, before appearing again atop a skyscraper, his wild aura singing the steel. Flaring up his energy, Hiroshi let the monster know where he was.

Clasping his hands together before him, Hiroshi began to crimson energy between his palms, his hands being forcibly separated with the power coursing between them. Turning his head downwards, Hiroshi watched the city crumble and warp by the sheer movement of the beast they faced. A twisted swirling mass of destruction was making it's way towards him.

It didn't take long for the moving fissure to make it's way towards him, A huge cloud of inky black smoke rising from the once great city. The city seemed to be crumbling inwards towards the chasm near it's center.

"Spark...-"

In the midst of the traveling disaster, Hiroshi could make out a dull green glow.

"-ing...."

Another violent rumble rocked the city, before the vibrant green figure burst from the cloud, leading the destruction from the front row, a sneer of hatred spread across his features.

The terrifying eyes in Broly's head slowly began to fade to nothingness, his eyes entirely white and blank, yet so full of hatred. His mouth opened in a howl of fury, the distance between them closed, the creature pulling back it's arm, preparing to strike Hiroshi, the entire Earth pulling back with him.

That was Hiroshi's cue, just as his own energy peaked violently. Growling, Hiroshi flung both hands outward, his fingers spread outward, just as the ground splintered and warped from the sheer power being exerted against it. The immediate ground beneath him collapsed, the roof almost caving in before his attack could even be released, yet somehow it held, as though some external force was helping him. It was as if humanity was helping him stop the leviathan.

"METEOR!"

The golden and crimson wave exploded forward, the light drowning out the world around them as it consumed the larger Saiyan, who looked shocked at the last minute. Keeping his energy and hands focused, Hirosho glanced through the wave to see a furious monster, both his hands pressed against the wave, trying to take control,.

It was behind the Saiyan however, that Hiroshi felt to large powers spike as planned.[/quote]
Focusing her rage, Claudia practically vomited forth heat in a blue searing blaze of fire and burning death as soon as Hiroshi unleashed his attack. It was like a beam of pure concentrated fire and anger and rage aimed at the giant of a Saiyan. She continued to pour more and more into it even as she fired it, rage increasing largerly as she saw the tidal wave of blue crash into her opponent.

[Charmera]

Tina frowned, then picked Magnus up out of the earth, using her considerable strength to do so. She lay him down on the sand, then used geokenisis to bring his leg to her. She then placed his leg back onto his body and used her powers to fuse it back on. "I'm sorry... I should have protected you better... maybe had I used my body to block the attack or something..." She muttered. She paused. "I don't like seeing you hurt. It makes me upset." She admitted. Another short silence. "I like you Magnus. I think..." She spoke.

"You think?" Odysseus said. "It's obvious you two are total lovebirds."

Luckily, Magnus was lucky enough to be far away enough to not hear the shit that just spouted from Odysseus's mouth.

"No.. Tina, I'm fine.." Magnus insisted, wincing slightly as his leg was re-attached. "You shouldn't have done that- What you just did was fine. For gods sakes, you saved us all.." His voice trailed off. "I.. I don't like seeing you hurt, either.. I'm getting into some weird hippie shit right now but, Maybe it's 'cause we're two beings of Earth, linked together or something.."

Looking around, the sand was slowly raising into the air on its own in pillar formations that for some reason made Odysseus shout out "STONER!"

Once Tina admitted her feelings for Magnus, the rocky Golem's temperature began rapidly rising. He wasn't just volcanic rock and lava on the inside. He had a warm [no pun intended] heart, or, whatever emotional shit a heart would be, and a kind, loyal soul.

"Tina.. I think I like you too.."

Odysseus materialized a camera that looked like it would've been used to film some XXX-Rated film. "Right here, right now. Gotta get these in the records..."

-----

Several miles away in another part of the Desert, M1 Abrams tanks and T-14 Armata Tanks, all upgraded fully with futuristic equipment to combat their targets, rolled over the dunes as escorts for a much, much, MUCH larger wheeled vehicle.

With all-terrain wheels the size of a building and a gun the size of an ICBM, it was the big and bad mother of all ridiculous super vehicles: A Bolo. Made by none other than the two most nefarious groups to exist: HYDRA, and The Red Ribbon Army.

Using technology from one of Odysseus's rivals's personal BFG weapon, owned Gregory "The Giant" Henderson, AKA Agent Zeus, it could fire, from it's Big Fucking Gun 9000, things ranging from entire vehicles to nuclear artillery payloads and, Zeus's personal favorite, the "Continental Cracker", which did exactly as you think it would do.

"Stop here!" An agent in a Power suit ordered. He, actually, was Agent Zeus himself, and he had just found Poseidon.

"Finally, we found that fucker." Zeus said, smiling under his helmet. On his back was a BFG-Minigun, capable of firing Beer bottle-sized shells from a printer, just like Poseidon's pistol, which had the payload to level a building, at max power. Next to him was a scrawny, pale man in a straightjacket, with his mouth sewn shut. He spoke through Telepathy, and was named agent Hades, another one of Poseidon/Odysseus's rivals.

"He's probably with that Thing looking thing and the rock bitch." He summarized. "Load the continental cracker, I want to test fire it."

As ordered, a shell the size of a Main battle tank was loaded into the cannon. After deploying its drill-stabilizers into the ground and precisely aiming its gigantic cannon, it fired with enough decibels and force to shatter glass and eardrums, and also sent an outwards shockwave, kicking up sand.

The three on the receiving end would only see a flash and a clap in the distance, before the realization came in that they were fucked.

It was then that Tina turned around and frowned. Seeing as she was one of the designated tanks of this group she reasoned she might as well find a way to stop it. She grabbed much of the sand and earth around her geokenetically, then forced it to form a massive shield of earth which would act as a bunker for them with incredibly thick walls, enough to stand considerable tons of force, and then transmuted it to a hard Obsidian. She gritted her teeth, feeling the pain of the earth as the she hit it. She was going to pay them back for that, that was sure.

[Charmera]

She saw the gun, then the bullet fired. Between the first projectile hitting her and the second almost being fired she quickly whipped up a sheild of white fire, which would vaporize the bullet before it got to her. The bullet that hit her cracked her skin once more, even managed to get inside and break her shoulder. She pulled it out quickly and allowed the wound to heal. And with her other arm, she quickly gathered a massive amount of head and lightning. Then she began unleashing massive balls of fire and white lighting while she recovered, using this chance to bombard her enemy into submission. They'd explode with considerable force, though it would be concentrated enough so it didn't hurt any innocents.

Oh, wow.

I crossed my arms and blocked the first ball fairly handily, though not without some damage, then dashed away from my position and into the surrounding area to avoid the others. I had no time to waste. Influx energy was running out fast, and without it I don't know how long I would hold. You know, I didn't try much close combat in this fight... how about that? While the last of the balls his my supposed position, I dashed behind Liberty at near-light speeds and proceeded to barrage her with dozens of strikes. In less than a second, I managed to send over 30 punches and kicks, mostly aimed to the chest and head areas. All of them at full strength.

Liberty wethered the strikes. Able to take them handily, though not without damage, her back begining to give her pain and show dents. However this was not a good place for the other android to be, for around her she created a massive discharge of electric energy, as well as an aura to damage her opponent. She followed this up with a huge explosion of white fire. Then made a move to try and grab her opponent and slam his face into her knee as hard as she could. After which, she slumped slightly. Taking a break. She wasn't tired, but she was being damaged and needed to repair.

[Charmera]

Liberty wethered the strikes. Able to take them handily, though not without damage, her back begining to give her pain and show dents. However this was not a good place for the other android to be, for around her she created a massive discharge of electric energy, as well as an aura to damage her opponent. She followed this up with a huge explosion of white fire. Then made a move to try and grab her opponent and slam his face into her knee as hard as she could. After which, she slumped slightly. Taking a break. She wasn't tired, but she was being damaged and needed to repair.

The combination of electricity, explosions, white fire and a hard strike to the face were certainly something, and I was blown away fairly handily. The electric shocks were especially painful, but I managed to take them, though not without wearing down my energy supply even more. The situation was surprisingly critical - I needed to preserve some power for fightng. However, I knew that there was still a lot of energy outside, and I can manipulate it. I lifted my hand up and stretched out the palm, in it gathering the dispersed energy leftovers from the fighting. It condensed into a small, around a foot wide energy sphere, which I immediately threw at Liberty.

There was no time to waste.

Liberty frowned, sidestepping the blast. She frowned as she hopped back and began bombarding her foe again with fire and lightning. The ground was practically glassed by the heat and so it might be a little more slippery. She was fairly sure as long as she foiled any last minute gambits she should be able to grind Frank into dust eventually. She didn't like having to fight a battle of attrition, but in fights like these she had to play to her strengths.

[Charmera]

Liberty frowned, sidestepping the blast. She frowned as she hopped back and began bombarding her foe again with fire and lightning. The ground was practically glassed by the heat and so it might be a little more slippery. She was fairly sure as long as she foiled any last minute gambits she should be able to grind Frank into dust eventually. She didn't like having to fight a battle of attrition, but in fights like these she had to play to her strengths.

Well, the blast failed. Damn. And Liberty proceeded to carpet bomb the ground. That's even worse. I looked at my right hand. It was still holding onto the Heat Blade with a firm grip. If I am going to b beaten, then I'll take at least a part of my opponent with me. And as such, I dashed to the front in near-light speeds, moving around the incoming blasts and dodging them with the best of my ability. Luckily, non of them hit and stopped me. Even a single mistake can cost the entire moment. I landed right in front of Liberty, with my face almost radiating with fiery determination and silent fury. It almost immediately changed to a smile, as I used my free left hand to try and grab her hand, and the right one to cut the grabbed arm off with the Heat Blade.

And with that Liberies arm went off. She screamed. Clutching the stump for a moment before rage entered her face. She made a move to grab her opponent by the face and toss it into the ground with her free arm. "You asshole! That was my fucking arm! It hurt!" She shouted. Then her arm began to repair, cooling the white hot stump and then making and effort to come back. It would return given time, though likely not before the battle was over. The pain had sobered her up entirely. "You're lucky my healing systems are so advanced! Fuck me..." She muttered.

[Charmera]

And with that Liberies arm went off. She screamed. Clutching the stump for a moment before rage entered her face. She made a move to grab her opponent by the face and toss it into the ground with her free arm. "You asshole! That was my fucking arm! It hurt!" She shouted. Then her arm began to repair, cooling the white hot stump and then making and effort to come back. It would return given time, though likely not before the battle was over. The pain had sobered her up entirely. "You're lucky my healing systems are so advanced! Fuck me..." She muttered.

I smirked. With just a simple move, I'm back on track! Bless you, Heat Blade! "Hah. Well, at least figuratively, sure." I walked up to my opponent, after commentining on her last line. Even though I was still in one piece, my condition was not much better. Bruises, cuts and burns all over the body, some damage to internal systems as well. I was ready to finish the fight off, when...

Wait, what? NO!

My body stopped glowing, my hair went back to normal, and from the loss of power and energy I moved away a bit, almost falling off balance. Influx is over. I am back in my base form, and it will take me a long time before I can get back in it again.

"Well... we can call this a truce for now, okay?" I said and tossed the Heat Blade into the air above. "You're disarmed, I'm back at base form..." The weapon started falling down, and I moved my torso a bit, making it fall straight into the handle on my back. Afterwards, I sat down for a moment, catching my breath and waiting for a response.

"Disarming isn't too much of a problem for me." She spoke, narrowing her eyes as she seemed to be rearing up for a strike with her other hand, but then just before she hit her target she stopped. "But... eh... fuck it. I'm sick of this shit. Truce." She spoke. She extended her good hand forward, her other one now looking like something out of terminator. She smiled. "I'd offer to buy you a drink for a decent fight, but it seems our fight destroyed the bar." She remarked, looking at the destruction. "And... you don't drink, apparently..."

[Charmera]

Cora smiled at Kylie's words and then saw Valancy come back in to the room after changing. That reminded Cora, she'd probably have to but some clothes, now that she didn't have to steal to get by anymore. She'd need money though, she figured she could make a decent amount selling some of the things in the lab that she had just asked the government for. They were to return everything from it so it would all be there. Cora just wondered if she would be able to face going back there again, she had once promised herself she never would. Valancy's words brought her out of her thoughts, and she nodded at her words, "Alright let's go." She said, heading out the door again with the group. She couldn't believe she was going to get coffee with friends, the idea was still unbelievable to her. Hopeful they wouldn't be stopped by a killer android this time.

Katie walked out the door too, though turned back before she did, smiling at her new snake friend. She liked her. She was quite level headed, and she seemed powerful, though surprisingly down to earth. She also wanted to try out that thing which she did with Cora on Naja. "Hey Naja! You coming?" She asked. A smile on her face as she looked at her. "I know you probably don't need to drink anything, but getting a cup with us wouldn't kill ya. Plus, we need to talk about teams stuff and stuff."

[Charmera]

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.

Lisa quickly decided to port all the loyalty chips out while Mags was distracted by Question, but suddenly she heard Val's voice and looked up. "It's okay Val. I was... confused... scared at first." She paused. "When I met her. She... she tricked me. She tried to Jam me into this chair and... she said she was going to disect me so she could make more of herself... or just make me a brainless robot. I..." She paused. Looked to Val. "I was scared Val. I think that's what you felt too... when you saw me... or maybe hate. I think." She paused. "I felt that afterwards." She stumbled through conveying emotion, then looked down and stopped talking when she felt she wasn't making any sense. She felt better when her hand was grabbed by Val.

"Well. In that case you shouldn't mind an extra big steaming pile of it. Bad news first. All this was just a distraction. Lisa's gone into hiding, and we're no longer able to pinpoint her movements. They seem to have attacked our tracking machine while you lot were busy fighting."

"Next. The good news. If the regent didn't account for the new Lisa in this plan, we could have her detect any area's where there have been recent spacial distortions or dimensional ones. Lisa should be able to do this."

The Question paused. The very bad news, though, is that we may not have much time. I've just discovered part of what project Martyr is. She intends to copy her brain to every brain with a Loyalty chip inside. So every being in security custody and within the city will become her. As smart as her and as evil. And I've only just uncovered phase 1. The next steps could be even worse. She seems to have retreated so she could process the data. But you probably don't have long.

"About three hours and seventeen minutes, give or take three seconds." Spoke Virgil, turning to Magneto. "That's how long it would take to download a file the size of Lisa's brain with her advance computers and intelligence. Roughly estimated."

"I'd suggest making a plan. Though I am still... suspicious of "our" Lisa." He looked over to her. "No offense. It's my job to be suspicious. You may have proven yourself... but your appearance is... too convenient."

"No offense taken." Lisa replied. Then paused. It was awfully convenient wasn't it?

[Charmera]

Naja

"That is a good idea." She said and followed Katie. "I haven't had anything to drink in days. It's weird how easy it is to forget stuff like that. I've been trying to get Alex to eat something every once in awhile. I love the guy, but he's stubborn as a rock... Maybe even more." She chuckled. "So which out of the 300 Starbucks within the ten block radius are we going to?"

"Starbucks? Heck no. Val's choosing the place, so hopefully it should be better than Starbuck...." Katie spoke, hands in her pocket. She smiled slightly. "Alex... sounds a lot like my boyfriend Eric." She explained. "I've been trying to get him to do more adventurous stuff. Like... go outside for more than just lectures." She explained. "He's a little awkward and a bit of a shut in, but he's a total genius! Real smart. I think he has a lot of potential and I love him to bits." She spoke, the turned back to her, changing the subject. She wasn't sure Naja would appreciate her gushing about Eric for hours. "So. What's it like being in the big leagues. Superhero wise. I mean defending the galaxy and all with Alex." She asked, her eyes wide and excited to hear the juicy details. "I mean... I'm a superhero, but I've just been facing crooks and some superpowered goons. Not anything like... Darkseid or Galactus! That... must be like... crazy right?"

[Charmera]

Naja

"Starbucks isn't bad. It's just stupidly overpriced. It's crazy expensive. Something like eight bucks a gallon. Coffee isn't worth that much to me anyways." She said and laughed. "I have the opposite problem with Alex. He won't stop going out and trying to stop a bad guy. He's always so wound up. As for the being in the big leagues. It's not all it's cracked up to be. Would it surprise you if I said Darkseid is a huge jerk? I've never met Galactus and I certainly hope I never do. I did meet Darkseid's daughter. Yes he has a daughter apparently. No. She is is not any fun to be around. Both of them hit really hard."

"Yeah, considering I'm a college student with loans and a job at starbucks, price is a big factor for me." She explained. Then chuckled. "Perhaps they could both learn something from each other." She commented, before Naja mentioned Grail. "Darkseid has a daughter?" Katie asked, frowning slightly. "Did not see that coming. Though I'm hardly a Darkseid expert." She commented and shrugged. "Well, it's probably better than what I've been doing. Up until this team thing. Which is going to be so freaking sweet!" She spoke, doing a little fist-pump. "Damn I'm so excited. Finally I'm going to be part of a team. And we're going to save the world and it's going to be awesome!" She said.

[Charmera]

Cora nodded to Kylie, surprised to hear that she happened to work there. She was glad that her new friends didn't seem to lack total knowledge about small simple things. She looked over the menu again, trying to figure out what everything was. Come on, your mind is literally part computer. You can figure this out. She chided herself, waiting for the others to order. She was probably going to copy whatever Naja or Katie ordered.

"Can I have a doughnut too?" She asked Leon with a smile. "Plus an Espresso." She spoke, already grabbing a handful of packs of sugar. She wouldn't use all of them, but she had a bit of a sweet tooth. Plus she could really eat whatever she pleased since she burned off carbs, sugar and fats using her electricity powers due to the unique makeup of her body. She smiled as she looked to Cora. "And get her a Hot Chocolate too." She wasn't sure if she liked coffee, but EVERYONE liked hot chocolate. She had yet to meet someone who did. "And ... Cora do you want a muffin or a Donut?"

[Charmera]

"Whew... Well, that should do it."

Gilbert stood in the entrance to the Batcave, fully restored after its collapse at the hands of Salis. It had taken him a while, gathering the power necessary for the deed, but finally, it was done. He'd done his good deed for the month, seeing how this base was vital for the restoration of Gotham City. If he owed anything to the Batgirl (and that debt could only ammount to his breakfast, at most) then it was more than paid for now.

However, not everything was well. The young man was utterly exhausted, drained of energy, and as he looked down, he noticed that the arm he'd used displayed signs of rot, which meant that, for all of his preparation, he had overdone it. He felt his consciousness begin to numb even as he stumbled towards the exit, and at some point, he stopped being able to distinguish one moment from the next, with everything blurring together.

Without quite realizing how, he found himself out in the streets. Around him was an aura that slowly ground everything around him to dust, stealing its time in order to replenish his own power, or more accurately, the power of the Time Demon lurking inside of him. He was constantly moving, so the damage to his surroundings wasn't as great as it could have been, but even so, it was something noticeable. Moreover, he had restored his power by now, yes, but the damage to himself had been done. In exhausting himself to such point earlier, Gilbert had awakened a monstruous part of his psyche that was created when he was possessed by the Time Demon. He had lost control, and was now little more than a beast.

Even through all of this, his consciousness was half-awake, but there was little it could do. It was now a passenger to something far darker.

And so it was that the time beast in a man's guise found itself tearing through the streets, rushing through the buildings and leaving large gaps in them as a result of draining part of their very existence in his mindless rampage. He continued in this fashion until, eventually, he found himself stopped by something. Chains of darkness bound him to the place where he stood, and in front of him was a man in an elegant suit. He was old, gray hair on his head, but he seemed to be in a relatively good shape despite this. Had Gilbert been truly conscious, he might have noticed that the building he was currently in was a rather lavish one, belonging to a rich person no doubt. But none of that mattered now.

"I do not know who you are, but you should have thought better before breaking into the abode of Tobias Crowe." The old man stated factually, without boast or pride, as he held up his hand, clearly the one controlling the darkness that chained the young man to the ground.

Suddenly, a dozen armed men entered the room and trained their weapons at Gilbert, before firing. The bullets shred through him with ease, turning him into a mangled, bloody mess. By all means, he was dead, dead before he even hit the ground. He was dead.

Then the next instant, he wasn't.

Roaring, he arced both of his arms towards himself, as if harshly pulling something towards him via strings or chains. When he did this, all of the soldiers in the room screamed in unison. After a moment, the only thing that remained were their bones, and some slices of rotting flesh.

Tobias, however, stood impassible in front of Gilbert, still maintaining the chains, even though it was by now apparent that more would be needed to restrain the demon. "Well, well, it looks like you're going to be a difficult one, hmm? Let's see how you deal with this." He said calmly, and brought up his other hand, making a motion that was as if he was pulling something from the air in front of him. And then, in front of Gilbert, something manifested. It was a beast of darkness, its shape constantly shifting, though the one constant, its single glowing yellow eye, vaguely reminded of the young man it now faced.

The beast pounced on Gilbert, tackling him to the ground and rearing back its monstruous fist before sending it crashing towards his head. It was crushed instantly, his brains unceremoniously splattering across the floor and walls of the room. But death could not hold him, and so, in a moment, he was whole again, howling and struggling against the dark beast. He kneed it in the chest with strength a hundred times his own, sending it flying into the ceiling as he swiftly mended his leg, which fractured under the stress of the impact, causing him to howl once again in mindless pain and rage. As the beast came crashing down, he prepared to attack it once again, but this one time, it appeared that the beast was swifter, lifting him by the neck and repeatedly slamming its fist into his stomach, causing him to cough blood and even coming right out the other side, though his body was restored quickly after every single one of those instances. Finally, tired of the pain, he sent his fist barreling through the creature's chest with a force even greater than that of his previous attack, but the beast had no heart, and seemed unfazed as it simply continued pounding the man with all of its dark might.

It seemed like a stalemate, though a very unorthodox one: the beast could not truly kill Gilbert, but in turn, he could do nothing against the beast, all of his attacks being futile as they crashed against the mass of darkness that was his enemy.

But then, Gilbert took hold of the creature's glowing eye. It roared and roared, but he did not let go, clawing at it with an ever growing strength until finally, he tore it off. With a bloodcurdling scream, the creature collapsed into a pool of darkness that quickly scurried away into the shadows of the room.

"No... impossible... what kind of monster are you?" Tobias said, eyes going wide with terror as he faced the true beast in the room.

Gilbert roared once again, suddenly clutching himself as if he was in great pain, but then, he advanced towards the old man and placed a hand on his head. Tobias felt himself age in instants, his senses and his organs all failing one by one until he was well and truly dead. But it did not stop there, for even after death he was drained, his very bones turning to dust.

He was still wildly out of control, but the enemy was gone and so, for now at least, the beast in the guise of a man fell to one knee, resting for a moment.

Chorus walked in on the scene, a frown on her face as she looked upon the dead man and the other man standing over him. She unsheathed Verse, glaring at the man who killed Tobias.

Is that? Tobias?

Too young. No unfortnately the man he is kneeling over is Tobias Crowe. Poor bastard. Though... he looks older than I remember him being.

Wait so. What do we do now then? I mean our link to the Five is now gone.

Yup. Unless of course you have a time machine we're not getting him back. We're not going to get to Janice, and the trail will grow cold like a piece of ham left in the fridge too long. All our effort will have been in vain...

The grip tightened on the sword in rage. She had worked hard. No one who knew her could deny she had worked hard for everything for the life she had before she lost her voice. Sure there were people saying she was an overrated hack who got to the top of the charts with connections rather than actual talent, but in reality she worked her ass off at every performance and put her all into every song. And now all that work was going to be ruined.

Verse sensed her growing anger, and told jack to silence himself. He did not.

...You'll loose all the fame and love...

Sword gripped tight enough to strangle someone to death, her eyes were not squarely on Gilbert.

...And you'll never be able to sing again.

That was the last straw. Chorus screamed in rage, but nothing came out. A wire shot out and wrapped around gilberts neck, tightening. Bring him back! Bring my fucking voice back you asshole! She mentally shouted, putting all the blame for the shitty past few days on this one guy. Not often she resorted to attacking someone not attacking her, but she was tired and angry and cold and more than a little fed up at this point.

"A few minutes? You don't have that long." Nightmare said popping up all over the planet, covering it in a literal blanket of darkness. "You can't kill me. Run away and I'm sure there'll be plenty of other planets I can break." He said. Alex was attacking the monsters Nightmare spawned. But for every 2 he cut down 4 more popped up to take their place. "Problem of the Hydra Goldilocks. I'm not holding back anymore. And besides, why are you helping them? How many times have they attacked or threatened our world? You should be helping me. I'm doing the rest of the universe a favor! They're hypocritical, violent and stupid. They're better off dead! You have no chance at beating me. You would have to use your full power. But you're afraid. You're afraid of your powers. Because you might hurt someone with them. Grow up!"

Alex stopped for a second thinking about what Nightmare said. The Masakis had threatened Earth many times in the past. And even recently they've done it. Not everything that Nightmare said was nonsense. Alex looked at the Masakis slightly conflicted. There were no civilians on the planet so there was no chance of that convincing him. Nightmare's plan was more to stall Alex than anything. "That's right Goldilocks. Now you're seeing the light. Funny how it took me to show it to you. You're the one with light powers. Look at how arrogant they are. Their gods don't even hold a candle to us. And they think they're some sort of big shots." Nightmare said. "How many times have we forgiven and forgot all their threats and attempts on Earth? This is just pest control. You hear me you little men?"

"Well look and who's back. I thought you absorbed this joker or something." The thought came into Alex's head. Appearing next to the Golden Guardian was a green lady, covered in green with a green ring and a smile on her face despite the fact she one the same planet as a nightmare beast whom she was once afraid of. But fear didn't effect her. Not anymore. "Hey Alex, long time no see." She spoke. "Thought I'd see what you're up to. Probably came at a bad time but whatever." She shrugged. Then looked over to nightmare. "And I see you're here too... Still eating planets asshole?" She was perfectly aware of what she was doing, what nightmare could do and so forth, but she wasn't going to cower in fear of him every again.

[Charmera]

"Julie! Hey. Long time no see. I did. But clearly that wasn't enough. He has some crazy hatred towards these guys for some odd reason. Like he's even more spiteful and manipulative than usual." Alex explained. Julie was certainly a welcome sight. An old friend. "Unfortunately I'm at a loss for how to beat him. I could go all out, but there's a good chance I fry half the planet in doing so. What I'm saying is that I'm open to suggestions." He said and burned away several blocks worth of Nightmare's darkness only for it to grow back. "Did I mention I finally got a girlfriend?"

"Where to begin with taking apart you fleshlings. The Martian. Someone has a ton of emotional baggage don't they? Let's play with that for a little bit." Nightmare said and created perfect replicas of some Martians. "Oooh. Alright Lantern. If you wanna trash talk. I'll teach you some manners." Nightmare said and sicced his constructs on Julie.

"Well you could always take him off world. Nightmare is empowered by emotion. So taking away the object of his hatred might help." She commented. Then frowned. "Wait you have what-?" She asked, suddenly interrupted by Nightmare. She gritted her teeth in anger as she saw him summon the martians. "You DARE defile my people like that!" She snapped. A will to fight coursing through her as she blasted several of them. She knew they weren't real. But it still pissed her off, got to her as she blasted through them. It hurt her to do it, but she needed to destroy these mockeries of what her people were. Some tears stained her eyes as she tore through them, leaving nothing to regenerate. But she still had the will to do it. They're not real. She thought to herself. They're not real.

[Charmera]

---

Garnet frowned when the Tengu leader dodged, but she did not particularly expect him to just go down without an issue. Every enemy that decided to get in her way had been rather stubborn thus far, so she doubted that would change anytime soon. The shadow beasts, Garlic, and now this bird scum, they were all little more than eyesores to her. The previous ones had all received their punishment, soon this one would as well.

First, though, she had to deal with all the underlings attacking her. As soon as the arrows were loosed against her, Shadow began galloping across the battlefield, dodging every arrow for its mistress while she fought against the hordes of Tengu with gun and blade, brandishing the crystalline sword with supernatural expertise as she released volley after volley of Misery's soul-destroying bullets upon the fiends attacking her. Much like Misery, the sword had endowed her with an ability to use it which she most certainly didn't possess before acquiring it. This, coupled with the rest of her armament and her powerful mount, allowed her to fight off the Tengu swarm with relative ease, picking off the archers with the gun while fighting off the melee assailants with her sword, though by the time she was done with the underlings, she was covered in their blood. Shadow, curiously enough, was completely unstained.

Seeing the Tengu leader attack her directly, Garnet grinned. This was what she had been waiting for. Quickly putting away Misery, she instead materialized Agony and met the Youkai's blade with her gauntleted fist, an explosion of red light following the impact as the sword shattered. She was about to follow up and stab the leader to death, but then, she heard Masami's warning. A distraction? What were they even distracting her for?

She soon realized, as Shadow abruptly moved to dodge a ball of fire sent towards her from beyond a nearby gate. Standing there was what could only be described as an enormous chicken with a beak engulfed in fire. Unlike Masami, Garnet did laugh at the sight.

"That's your trump card? That's what you were waiting for?" She mocked the unarmed Tengu leader as she leveled Misery at the Basan and fired.

---

The Chicken was surprisingly able to take the shot and resist the damage. The animal barely needed a soul to function, as it was little more than just instinct and fire. It would need more soul and physical damage to put this bird down. Though, considering the look of mad hunger on this things face, she might have to pump that damage in quickly. The bird vomited forth flame like a mad flamethrower, and the Tengu hopped on it's back. Smiling as the trained bird ignored it's kin and fought the mammal before it. "Yes! The Basan. Loyal to a fault and too brainless to die. Able to cook humans like the pigs they are."

Speaking of Mammals, Masami was dodging great big flaming balls of fire. Blue ghostfire signed the grass of the temple as the massive chicken charged. Thinking fast Masami charged the chicken, blasting it with her own fox fire. As she closed the distance between it she stabbed into it's birdlike flesh. She smirked, only to be suddenly tossed away. She rolled with the impact. Drawing another Katana that she generated, she charged the beast again, as it spun around breathing fire she looked for an opening desperately, some of her black clothing was being singed.

The Chicken decided to make it's charge, and the Kitsune barely dodged a sudden downwards peck as the chicken Made it's assault. Though that would prove to be it's undoing, for while pecking the Kitsune plunged her blade deep within the chickens neck. The beast stopped. Looked up.

Then started pecking again.

Crap! How tough is this thing? it was entirely possible it might be dying, the giant monster simply didn't realise it yet. It then got tired of pecking and breathed fire upon it's target, though the flame was considerably weakened. The Kitsune ran under the flame, towards the chicken as she jumped onto it. Summoning another blade she began sawing through it's neck. After a bit of this, where the chicken couldn't reach her, she finally managed to kill it, the chicken falling down. She sighed, blood covering her.

Suddenly she felt a slight glow, around her an aura of white apeared, the blood evaporating into red mist around her as she glowed. She felt it, a surge of power as a second tail came in next to the first. A smile of joy came to her face as she grabed it with a soft squee. "Finally! My second tail!" No longer would she be Masami the one tail in her Clan. She held the tail, inspecting it. Smiling for a moment. Then she turned to Garnet as the other Basan, wondering how they were doing.

[Charmera]

---

The string swiftly became so tight as to sever the young man's head from his body, causing it to roll onto the ground, his face contorted into a monstruous expression as his body turned around with erratic steps before finally failing to move properly and tumbling to the ground miserably.

But then, the ground around him seemed to slowly turn to dust, as did his severed head. His body, though, his body remained. Slowly it rose from the ground in an unnatural manner, his chest being the first thing to ascend, followed by flailing arms, with the legs lazily following the rest of the body. The head, of course, was absent, but as his body rose to a standing position, slightly hunched forward, his head began reforming on top of his bleeding neck, materializing and falling in place in mere instants, all of this right in front of Chorus. The expression that this new head wore, however, was the same monstruous, enraged visage worn by the rolling severed head that had been on the ground until moments ago.

The reformed beast in the guise of a man let loose a roar with what appeared to be the last shreds of humanity in his voice, and then charged towards Chorus with speed ten times faster than he should have been. He reared up his fist and prepared to deliver a fist to her face with a dozen times his own strength. He was enraged, which made him powerful and very dangerous, but in that state, he was also not very intelligent.

Either way, inside Chorus' head, she would hear something.

Woah woah. What the hell just happened? Why am I acting like an animal over there? And why is it so crowded in here?

---

And he got back up...
After she had killed him...Huh.

Seemed she didn't need to worry about killing this guy. More likely she would need to worry about being killed by this guy. She managed to use her swordmaster reflexes to flip verse into a position where he could bock her foe. They both mentally grunted as they slid back from the strike, it's strength surprising Chorus. She whirled the blade back into a position where she could use it on the offensive and at least attempt to attack back. Which she did, a quick upwards swing of her massive sword, followed by a doward swing, finishing the combo with a spiral spin. With each attack she put her body's weight behind it, stepping forward to corner her foe.

You died.

So why isn't he dead?

Beat's me. I may have helped make this thing but I'm fairly sure this scenario wasn't taken into consideration.

Really? I would have considered it.

Yes, but you have analytical powers.

True. Alright. we're getting off track... She paused, as if reading a name. Gilbert. The short story is that you died.

That's not really enough.

I think it works. Let him work out the rest himself.

Shut up Jack. Verse spoke. Anyway, your a copy... of a soul. Like us, your an identical copy of the essence that makes up a person, stored within a blade wielded by out friend Chorus. As for your bodies current state...

It may have something to do with the other being within your soul, which I can sense. Perhaps. Just a guess.

Huh. You're actually not worthless Jack.

Yes. Perhaps that's what I should change my middle name to.

---

Garnet frowned. She had expected that the bullet wouldn't actually put the beast down due to its nature, but this little damage? She hadn't foreseen that. Misery would do her little good in this battle, then. At least she figured that early on, so it wouldn't haunt her later. She put Misery away once again as Shadow galloped away, out of the range of the blue flames of the Basan, shadow mist lingering in the air over the path that the Phantom Horse crossed.

Finding herself at a relatively safe distance for the time being, she had Shadow stop and turn around to assess the situation, casually using the power from Longing to redirect a sphere of ghostfire to a hapless Tengu who had survived her swordbearing rampage. Getting in melee range with that thing would be an utter pain in the ass, and very dangerous to boot, considering it spewed fire at every moment. A glance at Masami trying to avoid being pecked to death by the other Basan only served to reinforce this notion, and so, the bloody blonde woman decided that it wasn't a good idea to get in melee range. But then, how was she supposed to kill that thing? Bullets wouldn't do the trick, and whatever was inside of the beast was likely on fire, so none of that would work. She briefly considered sending its own fire back at it, but that might backfire horribly.

So, naturally, she decided to go with the most unnecessarily elaborate, irredeemably risky and possibly messy plan, because it was the only one that seemed like it would work in her mind.

Turning back to the Basan, she rode towards it at full speed, seemingly uncaring about her own safety. However, just before meeting its fire, she vanished, disappearing into a portal at the last moment. She was out of sight now, at the very top of the temple. Without wasting a moment, the duo rode forth and jumped off the roof towards the Basan. By now, Agony was out and fully charged, housing enough power to level a skyscraper if allowed. Now in mid-air, she jumped off of Shadow's back in order to reach her target, while the Phantom Horse disappeared in thin air, leaving only a cloud of shadows behind.

Then, with a loud crashing noise and a burst of red light, Garnet slammed gauntlet-first into the Basan's side, releasing all of Agony's might.

When the dust cleared, where there had once been a fire-breathing chicken, there was now a gory crater, and blood raining from the sky.

"Is that all you have in store for me?" Garnet growled menacingly from the middle of the crater. But her scowl quickly turned into a grin as she saw something. The Tengu leader she was glaring at would hear a snort behind him, and feel his wings poked by Shadow's horn.

The Tengu gulped as he turned to see shadow. A Darkness that was once in his eyes was now gone, and now was fear. "Look. Don't kill! Please. I won't fight!" He spoke. Then he saw the Kitsune heading towards them and ran towards her, getting on her knees. "<Please! Tell this crazy Gaijin woman not to kill me!>" He begged. the Kitsune frowned. Then picked him up and sniffed him. Then snarled.

"<You're masters stench. It's all over you.>" She spoke. "<Tell me where Lady Azami is, and I may consider sparing your worthless life.>" The Tengu gulped.

"<She's in that building!>" The Tengu pointed. The Kitsune frowned, looked over. Then sniffed. "No..."

"<She's gone. Or you've lied. Either way you're of no use to me. And you've killed many innocent humans and Yokai.>" She spoke. Then tossed him away, towards shadow. The Tengu began begging again, much to the Kitsune's disgust.

"You may kill him if you want. It seems what I was looking for is not here." She remarked. She sighed. Then moved towards Garnet and bowed. "Thank you for your assistance here. Thanks to you I have finally got my second tail." She smiled as she stood back up. "I am Masami Kazumo. I am a Kitsune."

[Charmera]

-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."

"We're not bringing your girlfriend along?" Ash asked out loud, even Val would be able to hear her. "Voice in Maxes head. Will explain when I return." She spoke to Val as Max left her behind. She then thought on Mobius. Mobius... Mobius... sounds familiar, though I've never been there myself and know nothing about it besides what you've told me." She explained. "Should be a fun adventure I suppose."

[Charmera]

"Oh Martian... I say it's easy to press the Masaki's buttons, but it's even easier for you. Jumped from one group of slavers to another. You just wear a green collar willingly. Funny how things work. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I have a question for you, why bother defending these idiots? All they do is try to win a nonexistent competition for who can build the biggest gun. Only to realize they've always been outgunned. They'll happily kill billions if it means saving their outdated toys. Kazuko just threatened to blow up the earth over those... Things. Whatever they are. Doesn't matter. They're junk. Doomed to be outdated since their creation."

"Slavers?" The green lantern gave a mockign short laugh at Nightmare. Wiping the tears away. She still foughts off "her people", her ring allowing her to outclass them severly "Have you ever been a slave Nightmare? Demeaned to nothing and forced to toil against your will. Treated like mere property and not like a living being? If anything, this Ring empowers me. It freed me from that life." She then noticed something. "Actually. You were a slave. Long ago you were little experiment Zero, earths plan to blow up everything they didn't like. You were going to be a weapon. You were going to do whatever uncle fury and aunt walker told you to do." She frowned. "As soon as I got out, I never wanted anyone to feel like that again, yet all you've been doing is devaluing and destroying life wherever you go. Why is that? You think that because you got control you get to put people through the same shit? Turn them and their planets into weapons like you did the Kree?"

"I'm helping protect these guys because life, all life, is sacred." She explained. "if they come over to earth, I'll be in line to kick their ass. But as soon as someone like you try to kill them, I have to defend them."

[Charmera]

However, with Julie, he made an actual personal appearance. "You'd be surprised Martian. I was designed to protect the earth. Used as nothing more than a weapon. They bribed me with small animals, kept me happy. Then they killed them. So I killed them. And everyone around me. They wanted me to be the deadliest weapon ever designed. Well... They succeeded. So now, I'm free to be the weapon they wanted me to be. That, and these Masakis are the most half baked imbeciles I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. It's like they all got 1 collective brain cell and are forced to share it."

"Can't you be more than a weapon though?" Asked Julie. Cocking her head slightly as she examined Nightmare up close for perhaps the first time. She wondered about him. "You're still doing the same things you would do when under their control. Don't you want to do more than destroy?" She asked. "Surely if the Masaki's are as dumb as you claim, wouldn't they destroy themselves in time?" She tried to reason with him, attempt to get him to stop on his own. It seemed just about the only thing she could do.

[Charmera]

"I could. But I'm destroying things because... Well, it's fun." He replied watching the madness unfold. "But I can sympathize with your past. I know what it's like to be used as nothing more than a means to an end. Idiots with massive amounts of resources and technology? Nah. I wouldn't leave weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a madman. Which is what they are. So it's best to cut them off now before they do something that gets lots of people killed. Blondie is a bit more difficult to deal with, but he's just here to give them a little hope. He'll live. They won't. Besides. I'm pretty much hardwired to kill stuff. It's instinct. Kazuko threatened to blow up the Earth after I damaged one of his little toys. Which attacked me because I made fun of it. Him. Whatever." He said and went quiet for a moment. "In another time. Blondie and I may have been allies, friends even."

Julie paused, thinking. She wasn't sure what to do or to make of Nightmare honestly. He surprised her... he seemed... surprisingly reasonable. She couldn't imagine having this conversation before. "Being used... sucks. I think we can agree on that." She spoke. Then another pause. "You said you'd kill the Masakis, and leave Alex alive... I may be being a liottle selfish here... but what about me?" She asked. "In fact, why are you here in person? I can sense your mind. Your avatars are hollow and... more puppetlike. You're the real deal." She frowned. "Also, why do you hate the Masaki's so much?"

[Charmera]

Julie paused, thinking. She wasn't sure what to do or to make of Nightmare honestly. He surprised her... he seemed... surprisingly reasonable. She couldn't imagine having this

Julie smiled. "Regeneration. It's a bitch to deal with." She remarked, chuckling. "You do look like a bad guy. And using images of my own people against me was a bit of a dick movie. Plus the first time we kinda met you made a clone of me which nearly fed me a molotov cocktail. Not cool at all." She frowned, then her expression softened. "But. You seem at least reasonable. And not a complete asshole. If I were to be cheesy, I'd say 'I sense good in you.' or some other shit." She joked. "Plus, I'm still alive, so I see no reason to hold a grudge that would stop me from being reasonable."

"As for the Masaki's, as much as they sound like assholes, I don't think you should kill them." She replied. "It... wouldn't be right." She explained. "Though, ultimately, it's your choice."

[Charmera]

---

Oh so I'm dead and that thing made a copy of my soul, is that it? That's what I am? That explains why I didn't just come back to life as usual. Well, I did, but- Wait a minute did you say Chorus?

Gilbert's arm was sliced off by the rising slash, causing him to howl in pain. The second slash, he managed to dodge.

I know I'm probably not making a very good impression but I just want to say I'm a fan of your work.

The third slash cleaved him in half, ending his life. For a moment. The next moment he was up once again, but he seemed... mellower, as if he was confused, or dazed. This only lasted for a bit, and then he roared before leaping high into the air, through the roof of a building whose walls and ceiling had already begun to degrade from all the time he was stealing in order to fight.

Ugh, I get a headache when you kill him, apparently... And I don't even have a head. But anyway, if you want to beat me, that's going to be pretty hard. First thing you should do is stay away from me at all costs, because if I get my hands on you, you're toast. You'd be toast by now if I had my brain right now, to be honest. But anyway, I seem to be calming down, so if you kill me a couple more times maybe I'll stop being a brute.

At around the same moment, Gilbert came crashing down behind Chorus, sending a punch with twenty times his strength aimed towards her back.

And that is a sentence I never thought I'd speak.

She wou;d have been toast considering how sloppy she's been. Have I always said not to let your emotions rule you?

Chorus grunted as she managed to mitigate the damage of the strike with wires, which bent from the assault, sending her backwards. She spun upwards, gathering the wires towards her. Thinking back to the battle with jack, she suddenly began to create a spider like web around herself. One with sharp wires which Gilberts dulled mind shouldn't be able to notice.

Whatever. She them mentally smiled, realising she had bought some time and finally had a fan in her head. Oh! You're a fan! Awesome! She thought. it's always great to meet a fan...

She paused as attention returned to her foe, quickly sending two beams of energy towards him. Any other tips on how to beat hi- you?

---

With a vague gesture towards the Phantom Horse, Garnet conveyed to it what was to be the fate of the Tengu leader. In an instant, the bird was skewered by a crimson horn, though the horn and the rest of Shadow seemed to reject the blood seeping from the Tengu, which instead dropped to the ground, phasing right through the eldritch beast in the guise of a horse as if he wasn't there, despite having just killed the bird Youkai.

Garnet didn't pay this event any mind at all.

"I hadn't really planned to drop by this place, like I said, but you're welcome for the help anyway." The blonde woman said as she tried to clean the blood on her crystalline sword. The blood all over her clothes and her head, though, that would take far longer to get rid of, she suspected.

"They asked for it, anyway." She remarked, before standing up and facing the woman with fox ears. "My name's Garnet, Garnet Greyson, and that is Shadow." She stated, pointing towards the Phantom Horse who responded with a simple neigh. "I just acquired it, but it's made a good job so far." She said, heading back to Shadow and climbing up onto his back. The pair then casually moved next to Masami.

"I'm in a bit of a mission hunting alien demons and looking for artifacts, or something like that, so if you don't need more help, I should get going."

Masami paused. Then had an idea. "Hey, do you mind if I go with you?" Asked Masami. "If there are alien demons, then more than likely dark Yokai will follow like the ones we just fought. Evil Yokai tend to be attracted to negative emotions too." She explained. "Plus I may be able to earn an extra tail or two. I mean I have no idea if fighting alien demons will do that for me or not, but I don't really have anything better to do until I pick up the scent of the one I am tracking... and even then I'm not sure I'm ready to face her..."

[Charmera]

"A Green Lantern who hasn't left Earth. Well. I can't say too much. Farthest I've been is the asteroid belt. Where Grail decided to attack me... We should make a space base. Not only does it rhyme, but you could get some space practice and we can get the raw materials we need for our fort... Or better yet, we can grabs ones filled with Vibranium and sell them to... Hopefully someone good. Like Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. And use that money to get started on our base of operations." She suggested. "Unless someone has another quick cash that doesn't involve a petting zoo."

"If we have a space base, how can we expect Val and Katie to get there easily? We have no spacecraft."Kylie drank down another gulp of milk before continuing. "I think the best idea for staying local would be either: some type of penthouse suite, or maybe a personal island base. The island could be artificial, for all I care! But going to space for New York, I don't like the sound of it."

The other patrons had slowly edged away from the reptilian woman and her friends talking about space travel. Leave the crazies as they are, they seemed to be thinking to themselves. Thankfully, Leon wasn't listening to their crazy talk; he was getting swamped by customers getting through traffic.

Cora was listening to the others talk as the group sat down at a table together. She took a sip of her hot chocolate. She was amazed at how good it tasted, and sipped it more. She had never tasted anything that good. She heard Kylie and Naja talking about how they could build their base. "Well, I was able to get the place where I used to live back from the government when we talked to that agent. I haven't been there in years, but there are a number of advanced computers and machines there. We can use the ones we need, and sell the ones we don't." Cora said, trying to keep the bad memories from surfacing but it wasn't easy.

"YES. THAT'S AWESOME." Kylie said in a semi-loud voice, but without sounding too excited. "Get the government to build us a base of our choosing, SHIELD to set us up with the furnishings, and Cora's fancy computers to fill the place. Now we just need to decide on what base to ask for. I think a high-rise with a view of Lady Liberty would be a-ma-zing!" Kylie put her hand on the table as she continued. "That's my vote. Any other ideas?"

"Yeah... I think a space station may be a little out of our budget. Though we might get there at some point if we get more members and support." She spoke. "I woulodn't mind a base near the city power. Or some other power source I can use. At least have it near NYC for both me and Kylie." She spoke. "Though the question is how are we going to get the funds. I mean I know Val is rich but we can't rely on her too much. We may need to hold fundraisers and extra events."

"I wouldn't mind acting as the admin person. I'm very good with numbers and science."