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

[Charmera]

August Carter/Ranger-13(20ish Years)-Devil's Den

Even with my helmet on, it was hard to contain my nervousness around this girl. This girl has had more girls than I did? How does that work? As she named off a guest list worth the names I simply plopped myself back down as I realized just how out of myself I was. I know what she is talking about...after all, I am 13. But beyond the general theme of behind closed doors, I dont know much about it. I was reaching for my half full glass of milk when she even said that had she liked boys, she would even give me a pass. Or whatever that meant, the comment worked me up so much I dropped the glass all over the counter, spilling the milk everywhere.

The one important thing that I picked up was that she was helping Chorus look for someone. Presumably the one who stole her voice. If I could help Chorus find this person...and get her voice back. She would fall in love with me...right?

Yeah, thats how it works. In my video game RPGs the hero always has to do something BIG to impress the princess. Man I miss playing my Sega Spectrum.

And if it comes to a fight, I sparred with my dad, so I should be fine. It was then that the bartender had responded to Deedee's order to get me something with alcohol in it. I was still wearing my helmet, actually forgetting I had it on. As I just star ed blankly at the substance through my visor.

"My parents dont have alcohol. It's not allowed in our home. And I am not legal age anyways..." I droned on to no one in particular. Also forgetting how old I appear to the two ladies. It was then that I finally noticed through the reflection in the beverage, that I was still wearing the helmet, so I once more removed it. As I slowly picked the drink up.

Well....I suppose one drink wont hurt right? After all...as long as NO ONE tells mom....I will live.

As I brought the drink to my lips, ignoring the strong smell as I slipped a sip in between my lips, and the spurted it in front of me.

Horror then spread across my face as I saw who it was in front of me.

I just spit alcohol all over the crush of my life....

I completely froze, unable to say anything, but silently cursing Deedee in my mind. As I frantically tried to dry Chorus off with the napkins, I realized...that Deedee is the type of girl my mom warned me about.

And mom was right.

Chorus looked at herself and sighed. Seeing she was now soaking wet. She took one of the napkins from Augusts hand and put it to the side. She then wondered if there were any ways to dry herself. Considering her powers there must be some way she felt. Then suddenly her powers responded by forcing the liquid off her and to run down onto the floor telekinetically. Her eyes widened. She looked at once wet arms and legs. Interesting. Gilbert. It seems I have found your power. She thought in the Choir of voices in her head.

She then got back to writing.

Don't worry about it August. I've already had a crappy day. It's not like a bit of alcohol spilled on me is going to make it any worse.

She then passed it to him and grabbed another napkin.

Sorry. I must be rather different from what you were expecting of your Idol. I'm definitely not as glamorous as you might expect. Believe it or not I've never been good at holding that celebrity thing in conversations like this.

[Charmera]

---

"Nah, don't bother using them if you'd rather conserve your energy. I don't really care to know what you can do as long as it doesn't screw us over in a fight or something like that." The blonde woman replied to Masami's words. The two hadn't been traveling together for very long, really, but at this point she was pretty much taking for granted that they would be getting into plenty more fights together. The idea was not unappealing, anyway. To have some help in the upcoming trials she would face was a godsend, more so when the person helping was able to hold her ground this time. Having to offer a little assistance herself in return for said help was a small price to pay; minuscule, in fact. If there was something Garnet was good at doing after all the things that had happened to her, it was fighting.

"That's a big load of bullshit, though, getting smarter by killing monsters. It's not fair at all. We humans have to do boring stuff like studying." She remarked as she rummaged through the inn, eventually finding her old blood-stained clothes and picking up what she had been looking for. Wandering back into whichever room Masami was currently in, she closed the door and lit up a smoke. "Found 'em." She stated. "Now then, you wanted to know about me, right? You've already seen most of the interesting stuff; anything from before isn't nearly as exciting. But ask away if you want."

"Heh. It's one of the many benefits of being Kitsune. Though then again, I am fighting giant monsters which could kill me rather easily. So it's not like I don't earn it." Masami replied. She gently stroked her new tail for emphasis. "'To be fair, I'm also kind of cheating for a Kitsune. We're really supposed to be earning these through living long and contemplating but..." She paused. "I have an enemy I need to defeat. And she is very strong. So the stronger I can get the more likely it is that I will be able to take her." She smiled slightly, moving towards Garnet.

"Now, your turn to share." She spoke, she leaned on a wall. "What got you into the monster hunting business? Though I suppose it's more of a hobby for us since we don't get paid..." She spoke. "Also, where did you get all those cool artefacts?"

---

Hadrimmelis listened to the returned Vokornian with avid curiosity and a fair bit of enthusiasm. Hearing from an old friend was always a nice thing, after all; it was one of the greatest pleasures for creatures such as herself, that lived so long and experienced all that the mortals experienced and cherished several times over in but a fraction of their lifetime. She wondered what the Vokornian could need help with, though.

Then she paused. She wasn't speaking, so what was with that comment?

Soon, Ashyandra continued speaking- thinking, rather- as if nothing had happened, so the World-Dragon opted to simply ignore that comment. "The asteroid belt of the Solar System housing Earth. I do believe you would know where that is, yes? Or would you need some directions first?" The World-Dragon's consciousness asked as if she were discussing something as simple as how to get to the nearest shopping mall rather than how to navigate around the endless universe.

Meanwhile, back on the asteroid belt, Hadrimmelis blinked and turned towards Yamirakkelis. "...Ah, no, it was nothing you said, sister, do not worry about it, though I will say that we may be gaining some company in the following minutes. Again, nothing to worry about." She stated. "Anyway..." she continued, as if to pick up where she had left off. "Like I said, I can not pretend to understand the thoughts of something as vast and primordial as the Dragon Force, even if I am bound to it, but if I was to hazard a guess, I would say that there is no issue with your use of magic. After all, you are able to use it, and I think we can take that as proof that there is no issue with magic itself, but rather with your tampering. I believe that if there was an issue with magic then, quite simply, you would not be able to use it at all." She stated.

"Regardless, I think you should keep pressing on with your research. It is what you have always excelled at, after all." The elder World-Dragon stated. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"No need. I know where that is..."

Yami smiled. "Hmm. Interesting. I shall have some fun guessing who it might be before she comes." She spoke. Then shrugged. "I don't pretend to understand it either, which is why I am endlessly curious about it. Even given the time I've been studying it for I have never been able to understand it fully. It's a great puzzle." She spoke. "Though, then again, it is alive. So I try my best not to delve too deep."

Yami put a finger to her chin in thought at her sisters question. "Well as I said, anything really. How about what you've been doing recently other than meditating. I can't imagine you've been very slothful." She remarked. "Or I could try and guess who might be coming to this asteroid. It can't be another world dragon or you would tell me. It might be a human, since we are on earth-"

Suddenly a flash of light interupted Yami's Avatar. A portal formed near the two sisters which made Yami turn and adjust her glasses. She then saw the person who came out of the portal.

"Sorry I took so long. Portal spells of this distance can take a while to weave." Spoke Ashy. She smiled. "It's really good to see you Hadri." She spoke. Then turned her attention to Yami's Avatar. Who right now had a hard time tearing her eyes away from Ash, though less out of appreciation for her beauty and more out of curiosity. "And who is this? Another world dragon?"

Yami didn't answer. She raised an eyebrow. "What... are you? I'm not sure I recognize your species, though it seems... familiar."

[Charmera]

Katie looked up at Cora. She often had to do this as she was the shorter of the two and prone to hugging. She flash a big smile. Though there were still tears. "Thank you. Thank you so much. You're the best best friend anyone could ask for Cora. I... I l-" The word caught in her throat. "I like you a lot." She spoke. Nodding. She let go of Cora, wiping her tears away. She then smiled again. "I promise, I'll always be there for you too."

Cora tried not to blush again when Katie said she liked her, but Cora couldn't help it. "I like you too Katie. You're my best friend. I don't know where I would be without you." She said when Katie pulled away. Cora couldn't help but notice how beautiful Katie's smile was in that moment, it was almost distracting. "So I was thinking about going on patrol tonight. We haven't done it in a few days. Would you... wanna come with me? I understand if it's too soon Katie, I just thought I'd offer." Cora said, hoping Katie wouldn't get upset by her words. Comforting someone through a lose was not something she was used to, but she hoped that she was doing a good job.

Katie paused for a moment. Then smiled and nodded. "Of course I wouldn't mind coming with you. It's about time I start doing stuff like this again after all." She spoke. She sped off to her locker and grabbed her superhero suit at insane speeds, changing in the blink of an eye like flash and coming back to Cora. Even with her mask on you could tell she was the happiest she had been in days. Though her heart still felt heavy, she no longer felt empty. She heeded the advice of Lula and began focusing outwards once more. "Lets go!" She spoke, giving Cora a thumbs up.

---

"That's because he has reason to be. Every time we encounter him, he is more powerful than the last." Sarah stated factually as she ate a spoonful of cheesecake, taking a moment to close her eyes and enjoy the flavor before continuing to speak. "He never seems to attack us more than once in any given month, which suggests that he needs at least as much time in order to recover after every beating, but it must also mean that he is empowered either by whatever process allows him to regenerate, or by something else." She said, eating a bit more of cheesecake. "Perhaps it has something to do with our powers, too. He seems so obsessed about them, I wouldn't be surprised if his magic had something to do with them."

If the sisters looked at Sarah at the moment, they would find the playful, flirtatious air that was so characteristic of their elder sister gone, replaced by a grim countenance. The topic at hand was a very serious one, after all, and sooner or later they would have to make a decision about it.

"If we don't do something about the wizard, or at the very least try to find out what the connection is, then these battles will only get harder and harder with each passing month, and we can't exactly rely on the full moon to be there when we need it the most." She stated firmly.

But afterwards, she sighed, running a hand over her hair. "Sorry, I got a little carried away there. It's just that he worries me as much as he worries you guys. Didn't mean to get all gloomy." She said softly, and tried to smile. "So let's just have dinner, okay? Before something bad happens. Like this." She said, and promptly snatched a turkey leg from Hanah's personal banquet, munching on it.

Hanah was pretty focused on devouring her food. So she nearly ended up eating Sarah's hand. Instead she simply glowed at it. If it wasn't her sister, it would have been gone. After all anyone who snatched Hanah's food did so at their own risk. "Grrr... Why do you always have to steal the good bits?" Asked Hanah, devouring at a rate that was simply impossible for someone who was a normal human. Even some of the bones were not spared, her cute yet surprisingly powerful teeth tearing them apart with only minor effort. She didn't seem to care that people seem to be noticing her simply consuming everything in her path. She then took a break, as she does, and decided to talk.

"So. What do you all want to do now that we're rich?" Hanah asked, and anyone who knew the little were-everything knew that her own answer wouldn't be 'wisely save and conserve it for our future'.

[Charmera]

August Carter-13 Yrs-Devil's Den

Alissa did not seem to be too upset over me spilling my drink on her. In fact, she did not seemed fazed at all. Oh, great....she does not hate me. Although as I looked at her, calming myself down. I could see she was at her lowest point that she has ever sunk in her life. Sure, she has a cool sword and all, but she has lost her voice. Thats like...if I lost my dad, or big sis....or mom. Maybe my Justice League Action figure collection. But something needs to be done, as Deedee left us both alone.

I call myself a hero, but here I am, with someone desperately needing my help in front of me. I cant call myself my dad's son if I dont help her.

"OK, well I have decided." I said flatly.

"I will help you get your voice back. Whatever it takes." I said, trying to convince myself more than her as I smiled sheepishly.

I then stood up, my helmet layed upon the counter as I stretched. As a flash of light hit me, and forcing me to realize that she was looking taller than I remembered. My eyes then passed my reflection, in the mirror behind the bar. As I was just high enough to see into it, as my eyes widened in shock.

I look 13 again. The armor now gone and replaced with my blue jeans and red Robin hoodie.

As Chorus now saw me as I actually am. I, from some source I could not really explain, presumably from whatever entity revived me. Had given me the power to alter my physical form. To an extent. Although I have no clue as to how I woke up as a 23 year old man, and now reverted to a 13 year old child. Perhaps it runs on a time limit?

But mental flashes appeared in my mind, as I began to remember my own revival process. It was broken, and in pieces so hard to understand. As I began to understand the method of my revival, and the results. I learned from the flashes that I can will myself into a sort of, 'Hero Mode' when I need to. Resulting in my adult and armored persona which I recently named 'Ranger'. But I am still a child, and I revert back to my normal state and age when not in danger.

It's confusing to say the least, and I still cannot remember who resurrected me, and by what means. Still leaving questions. But I suppose they will come in time.

I then scratched the back of my head in a embarrassed manner as I finally came clean about who I actually am. Age and all.

"Sorry for misleading you Alissa. But...I did not mean to, honestly I thought I was stuck looking like I was a grown man just a few minutes ago." I then shoved both hands in my pockets as I tried to brace myself for her reaction.

"I am August, I died a little while ago. Not sure how long...and I dont remember who killed me. I will likely remember in time. But somehow, as a side effect of being revived...I can make myself older and stronger. I guess as a defense against being killed again I suppose." I then smiled at her.

"I may be 13, but I am still your biggest fan." I claimed. Before finally asking the big question.

"So, would you still allow me to help you get your voice back?" I asked, still blushing from the prospect on it.

Alissa raised a single eyebrow, somewhat surprised by this development, though not completely shocked. He seemed a tad bit odd after all. A little too eager, and she was not aware of a fanbase of her among the ages 23 too. She put the eyebrow back down when she saw his earnestness. She sighed soundlessly, closing her eyes slowly, then opened her eyes.

She nodded her head slightly. Though she mouthed the word "but" And began writing.

I would be glad to have you along. I could use having someone like you. After all you were trained by someone quite skilled, so I imagine you can hold your own.
Though, keep in mind I may be doing things you might not like on this quest. And it will be dangerous. I will try and keep you safe as much as I can, but I can't promise anything.

She knew the kid might take offense to the protection bit. But he was a kid. And she didn't want to see him get hurt.

The two of them might notice a girl roughly matching Chorus' description walking into the bar.

Cora
Cora was amazed at how much better Katie had seemed. Just this morning she had been devesated and now she didn't stop smiling. Katie had left and came back at such speed that Cora barely had time to react. She smiled brightly at her enthusiastic friend. "Well, I'll need a few minutes Katie, I can't change at the speed of light like you." She teased her friend before heading down to their changing room herself. She came back in her costume as well, and checked the police scanner that she had connected to headset. "Well, there's a fire about 6 blocks from here, and there's also a bank robbery near by. Do you want to split up and handle them both?" Cora asked her friend.

"Sure. I'm not the best at things like fires. I mean electricity isn't very good at putting out those kinds of things." She replied. "Though, really, perhaps it's better if I don't choose. I'm still not used to this as much as I was before." She replied. "I could deal with the robbers quickly though... Just saying."

[Charmera]

---

Garnet looked at Masami from behind the faint wisp of smoke emerging from her cigarette. "Well, regarding the artifacts, you've seen that already. I find them while chasing the shadow people. Sometimes I end up going to another dimension first, or sometimes I find them in seemingly mundane places. Frankly, I have no idea why they just pop up in the places they do, but they've been very helpful so far, so I don't complain." She shrugged, before staring off to the side, as if trying to recall and order her thoughts in her mind. "As for why I started hunting monsters... It's a bit of a long story." She sighed. "It all started when I found this pistol, Misery." She said, taking out the gun for a moment. "I used it to fend off a stalker, and ever since then, the demons have been following me. I kept running, and for a while, I thought they had finally left me alone, but then they came back. Now I hunt them to get rid." She explained.

"It's probably not the most exciting story, but it's all I can tell you. Everything before that is hardly relevant." She explained. "Not the happiest topic to talk about, I suppose. I wish I could share something less gloomy. I didn't want to ruin the mood like this."

"That is interesting. Perhaps someone is providing you with these things somehow, for some reason." She commented. She stretched slightly. She shrugged when she responded and smiled. "No need to worry. I was the one who asked after all." She spoke. "Fighting to ensure future safety is a logical reason to get into this life of killing monsters and saving people from demons. I on the other hand have family tradition and an unfortunate incident to thank for that." She remarked.

"Strange. Two monster hunters finding each other like we did. Almost an act of providenc-" She paused, sniffing the air. Then she drew her blade. Her tails pushing out. "We have company..." She spoke. As she said this about 10 black clad individuals slipped down from the edges of the roof. All of them had Katanas, Kurisigama's or other traditional weaponary and seemed to be female. Another unifying feature was their cat ears and tails. Masami gritted her teeth in anger. She could smell them, and it was overpowering. The stench of cat disgusted her.

"Bakeneko." She spoke. "That must mean your master is close." Masami kept her eyes on each of them.

"Closer than you would think dog." Spoke a voice coming from the entrance. Three more humanoid figures appeared. One could imediatly tell they were similar yet different from the Bakeneko Masami had pointed out. The smaller one was the one who spoke, and she apeared to be the weakest. But even from her once could sense a large well of magical power. The one in robes seemed to be silent, but seemed to have more of a presence than the little one. Finally the more regal, white tailed neko had the largest magical presence of all. Quite an enormous one at that. She seemed to be smiling lightly, yet regally, at the two of them. Her sheer magnetism and beauty almost overpowering. But an observant person might detect a malevolent twinge to that smile. Her eyes alight with amusement at the pain of others. Especially humans.

Masami had to step back, the sheer presence of this being almost overpowering, but she then quickly growled in anger. The little cat woman hissed and the second one merely frowned. While the lead one seemed to merely smile.

"Lady Azami..." She spoke.

The one called Azami responded. "Hello Masami." She spoke. "Hello my Niece..."

[Charmera]

---

Gilbert could hear the alien woman's questions, and, through all of the pain he felt, through all of the suffering, through all of the agony ravaging his body and mind, he managed to let out a small chuckle, even as he clutched his stomach as he writhed on the ground, enduring pain far greater than any human being should be forced to endure. He looked up at Aru, his single eye meeting her gaze, his face betraying regret, and agony, and frustration. He opened his mouth to speak, but clasped it shut immediately, gritting his teeth as the pain flared up momentarily. But once that passed, he opened his mouth again, and spoke.

"...I messed up..." He rasped weakly. "...Sorry..."

Then, yet another wave of suffering washed over him, several times stronger than the last; without actually causing him any damage, it tore apart his body, tortured his soul, poisoned his mind. He screamed once more, but this time, the screaming never died down, never subsided. And if Aru paid attention, she would notice several things that were peculiar and most assuredly unnatural. First of all, the black clock tattoo on Gilbert's chest had begun to glow a bright red as the hand moved frantically, completing several revolutions in mere instants as it raced on and on.

At the same time, something else was happening to Gilbert's body. At first it started in his fingers, in his hair, in his legs. But slowly, it began spreading until it was happening to his whole body. Slowly but surely, parts of the young man became slightly translucent and began fading into a strange, etheral mist that was technically invisible, yet easily perceived not by the eyes, but by the spirit; seen with the eyes of the soul, not the body. Sometimes something similar to numbers would appear on the mist, only to fade away immediately, as though avoiding detection. More and more of the young man's body was turned into this phantom fog, and his very essence was slowly unraveled and destroyed by the entity that dwelled within him, the entity that had been bidding its time, waiting until the time had come for it to achieve its own liberation.

"FINALLY."

---

---

Hadrimmelis chuckled lightly at the younger World-Dragon's reaction towards the arrival of Ashyandra, before observing the newly restored body of her old friend. In all honesty, the scarlet dragon, ancient as she was, did not remember about the times before the Time Demon War very well. Had she been awake at the moment, she would have recalled everything with vivid detail, as if it had been just a solar revolution earlier, an instant in the life of such a long-lived creature. Alas, that was not the case, and the slumbering consciousness of the World-Dragon had trouble recalling such ancient events with much clarity, as her kind would always forget a great deal of what they had lived and learned once they went to sleep to replenish their strength and wait until their service was needed again. It was for this reason that Hadrimmelis was quite surprised upon seeing Ashyandra's body once again: she had forgotten what the Vokornian looked like. Moreover, she had forgotten the supernatural beauty that she once had before the fall of the Vokornians, which was as though some unnatural power had been taken and turned into something that demanded attention from the senses rather than appealing to them. Now, due to her enormous psionic power as well as her ancient nature, the World-Dragon had little trouble resisting the influence of such a thing, but even then, she could notice it; it was impossible not to.

After only a moment, Hadrimmelis turned her gaze towards her younger sister once more. "Yamira, this is Ashyandra, an old friend of mine, and also a Vokornian. This is what they looked like before their fall, before the Time Demon War, before you were born." She said in order to clarify for the younger World-Dragon's sake, before turning towards the returned Vokornian once more. "Shy, this is Yamirakkelis, one of the five World-Dragons who were created by the Dragon Force after the Time Demon War. My younger sister, if you will. She's a scholar first and foremost, and enjoys studying as much as she can about any subject imaginable. I figure you and her could become good friends in time." The scarlet dragon stated.

She would have carried on speaking, would have kept the amicable conversation alive, but she could not. Something stopped her.

If earlier, every avatar of the World-Dragon Hadrimmelis had stopped what they were doing, then this time, every single one of them let out a terrified gasp, an expression of horror drawn across their usually fair features. The reason for this was that the scarlet dragon had felt something, something terrible, something ominous. There was the sensation of something very, very important just shattering like glass, or being torn apart like paper. A disturbance in the Dragon Force, a very powerful one, that would undoubtedly be felt by every World-Dragon in existence. Yamirakkelis would feel it just as much as Hadrimmelis, of course, but it was different. The younger World-Dragon did not know what this meant, did not know the implications of this event. But Hadrimmelis, oh, she knew them well, and it left her pale.

"No, no, no, no no no NO!" The blonde avatar chanted frantically. Simultaneously, every avatar save for the one currently on the asteroid field of the Solar System disappeared, absorbed back into the entity of Hadrimmelis in order to conserve energy for what was to come. A Serpent Hole appeared in front of her, and she jumped through it without blinking or hesitating, without saying anything to Yamira and Ash, though the portal remained open for them to follow through.

---

Hadrimmelis would arrive on Earth not far from Aru, just in time to see the last of Gilbert be unraveled and turned into mist. However, the glowing clock tattoo remained, and seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter, which the World-Dragon could only interpret as a sign of her failure.

"Impossible..." The avatar muttered helplessly as she watched in horror. Suddenly the entire world began to rumble, and out of the clock seal, a figure slowly emerged. It was tall and imposing, bearing a vaguely humanoid shape, and it seemed as if it was made of darkness, but a special kind. In fact, it could not truly be called darkness, for darkness was the absence of light, and that which constituted the entity before Hadrimmelis was no absence, but a presence. Not darkness. Anti-light. The sole action of gazing upon it was painful and difficult to accomplish. The creature's form seemed to morph and shift constantly, but it always came across as imposing, intimidating, and fear-inspiring.

"IMPOSSIBLE?" A voice called, belonging to the creature, though it had no mouth through which it could speak. Rather, the voice echoed within the minds of the interlocutors, a voice that matched whatever the listener found most dreadful. "FOR THOSE WHO ARE LIKE US, THERE IS NO IMPOSSIBILITY. SUCH THINGS ARE CONCEPTS APPLICABLE TO THOSE OF YOU WHO LIVE WITHIN THE UNIVERSE, BUT TO US, WHO HAIL FROM BEYOND, THEY ARE MERE INCONVENIENCES, LAUGHABLE OBSTACLES NOT WORTH A SECOND GLANCE." The creature spoke, having completely pulled itself free of the clock seal and now appearing to hold it in its hand. "YOUR CHAINS COULD NOT HOLD ME, DRAGON, AND NOW, THIS WORLD IS DEAD, AND I AM FREE."

As Hadrimmelis continued to gaze at it against her own most primal instincts, she fell to her knees, shaking her head. "No, no, NO! She shouted again and again, her fists shaking at her sides as she observed the revival of the beast that had slain so many of her siblings once upon a time. "You cannot be alive! IT IS STILL TOO SOON!" She screamed, raising her fists, but doing nothing, completely horrified at the thought of having to fight that dreadful war again.

"ON THE CONTRARY, DRAGON. IT IS TOO LATE." The Demon spoke, and those who heard it would hear mockery in its voice. "KU IS FREE."

And with that, the Time Demon Ku threw the seal away, and it exploded with violence, tearing open a hole in space and time and passing through.

Hadrimmelis began pounding at the ground with her fists in frustration. "NO! NO! NO!" She cried, each impact of her fists causing the ground to crack and rumble violently as a crater slowly formed around her, though she was oblivious to the damage she was causing to the dead world, far too immersed in her despair, dragon tears beginning to slide down the avatar's cheeks as it currently bore all of the World-Dragon's emotions. All those sacrifices that had been required in order to vanquish the two Time Demons accompanying Ku and to seal Ku itself in a boundless prison, had they been for naught? The one sacrifice she had been forced to make in order to ensure that it would not return, had it been in vain?

But she forced herself away from the ground, and steeled herself, attempting to calm down. She had to do something. But she could not fight him alone.

Aru got up, dazed by the sudden turn of events. A human, whom she had some respect for and quite like, had not only died but warped into something alltogether unrecognizable. Could this be the great Uyu who welcomes sinners to the gates of the underworld? Could it be the reaper herself, who comes to claim the souls of the unrepentant sinners, brawlers and barbarians? It was both and neither, Aru stepped back as she felt the feeling she was seeing gods come before her as she saw a portal open. A blonde figure, humanoid, but you could tell she was no human. She was something else. A god perhaps. Gods and demons. Surprisingly romantic and hyperbolic thoughts for the logical and pramatic bounty hunter. She frowned. Did it matter? She could simply turn her back and leave. The planet had died. Gilbert had lied to her...

But something stopped her. She saw Gilberts face in pain in her mind. She frowned. She had liked that human. He seemed to have no-one else. Which evoked Aru's own loneliness. She knew that she was now the only one who remembered Gilbert. Who would either. And while it might make sense to leave to keep that memory alive. A sense of justice she had couldn't let him go unavenged. In that moment Aru frowned. She suddenly popped the disks out and tossed them out, the drones floating. Then armed herself with a Taychon rifle and her annihlation cannon, her two most powerful weapons.

She paused, thinking of something to say. She didn't know the humans name. She settled on a nickname. "For Chrono." She spoke. Her drones popped out weapons too as Aru glared at her foe. Ready to unleash the fire of Rantu's rage against the beast Ku.

---

Gods, Dragons, Hunters and Sheppard will fight that day. They fight against the one who ate time. Over a broken home of the greatest heroes they fight. A fitting test for the Sheppard of Vokor.

"There it is again..." Ash muttered. Yami gave her an odd look as they stood in front of the portal. Ash sighed. "Nevermind."

"Telepathing voices?"

"Not... exactly. Old memories."

"Well, we all get that in a way. Returning to your physical form you should have expected some side effects."

"You'd think that. I've had a lot of time to consider it. But I suppose I never really cared enough to think about that. I was more concerned with having real flesh and blood for once in a... lot of years."

Yami and Ash paused as they looked at it. Ash looked to the dragon. "Why aren't you going through?"

"I was waiting to see if you did."

"Why?"

"I was curious. You want something from us. How far are you willing to go to get it?" She asked. Ash smiled slightly at that.

"You don't trust me do you?"

"I've learned never to trust anything anywhere near as smart or as old as me unless it directly related to me." She replied. She did so with no real ill will. Merely stating a fact. Ash chuckled.

"I'm quite a bit older." She spoke. "As for whoes smarter. Well... we are about to walk into a place where there is a time demon, something that made even your siblings quake in terror."

Yamira paused. Then adjusted her glasses. "Quake would probably be the proper terminology wouldn't it?" She idly said. "And I said we were smart. I never said we were sane."

"True. Done wasting time?"

"Yup." Yamira spoke as she hopped through the portal. Ash sighed as she followed her.

She might be acting chatting and nonchalant. But Ash had faced Ku before. She knew of the time demon. How powerful it was. it was almost as bad as facing the old gods.

Almost. Ku had less tentacles after all.

[Charmera]

Floyd Martin
Martin saw the wooden shield wrap around Valancy and his metal hand smashed into it and it shattered, a number of the pieces cutting into his armor. He was becoming frustrated, she was stronger and more resilant than he had thought, more noticeable was her intelligence in battle.

He smiled however when he landed, and she asked how he knew Roy. "So he hasn't told you? How interesting, he must be embarrassed. Children have no loyalty these days. Now enough games, time to finish this." He told her taking his double ended spear in both hands and he chopped the two spears she had thrown in half, chopping at the branches. He then detattached the two half of the spear and held them in each hand, throwing them both at Valancy with incredible speed.

Katie rushed to the bank. She had gone to the closest bank she knew, and quite luckily (and conveniently) she had found a bank that was being... robbed? Whatever was happening Valancy seemed to be dealing with it, but Katie thought it might be best to help her friend. She saw the spear and smiled as she sped after it. A hand of hers reached out and grabbed it. She tossed it to the side, her eyes set on Martin. "I really have no idea why you villain types think robbing banks is a good idea." She remarked, then gave a nod to Val before turning back.

[Charmera]

---

Still on her knees, but no longer pounding at the ground in despair, the World-Dragon's mind raced in order to find something, to see something. A glimmer of hope, a possible weakness, an exploitable loophole, perhaps. Anything that she could use against the Time Demon. Hadrimmelis knew that she would not be able to stand up against Ku by herself, and she briefly wondered if it would be a good idea to gather the World-Dragons in order to fight against him, but quickly decided against it. To awaken herself, let alone doing the same with all of her brothers and sisters, would take far too long, and time was not on their side. On top of that, to rush the battle and fight against the Time Demon unprepared could spell doom for not only the World-Dragons but the universe at large. And on the other hand, Ku was a threat that could not be left to its own devices. If she did not do something quickly, then the ammount of damage done to the universe would swiftly become catastrophic. If its power was the same as it was during the Time Demon War, then in the time it took for the World-Dragons to assemble, the beast could easily destroy countless superclusters, if not more.

As she pondered the solution to this grim dilemma, however, Hadrimmelis noticed something. For starters, she noticed for the first time that she was not alone. Aside from the Time Demon, there had been someone else present from the start, but the World-Dragon, in her frenzy and despair, had not noticed this figure until Ku had left through the hole in space and time, had not noticed her until she spoke those two words that sought vengeance for the fallen one. At that moment, Hadrimmelis stood up immediately and looked in the direction of the alien woman. Had she been any more focused, any less stricken, then the World-Dragon would likely have realized that this was a Rantu, but at the moment, such details, insignificant in the grand scope of things, escaped her completely. All she saw was a woman with advanced weapons getting ready to go through the black gate and hunt the beast that had opened it, likely to die in the process. Now, the scarlet dragon likely would have paid no attention to a mortal who had by chance found herself swept up in these events, but there was something else. Her words. "For Chrono." She had said, as if she sought vengeance for someone. It was not too difficult to connect the dots, then, and figure out something that was very important to the World-Dragon right now: the woman knew Gilbert.

"Wait!" Hadrimmelis commanded, rushing over to the woman and seizing her by the shoulders. "You knew him, didn't you?" She inquired forcefully, but gave the blue woman no opportunity to answer the question. "Yes, yes you did. You knew Addraku! You knew the vessel!" She said cryptically, before deciding that this method of gathering information was far too slow for the precarious position that she was in along with everything else. Thus, she settled for something a tad more invasive, but far more efficient. The Rantu would undoubtedly feel as an alien presence probed her mind, searching, reading, learning, taking away information from it. Now, of course, it would be a very simple matter to connect this to the strange blonde woman who was currently still holding her by the shoulders, but Hadrimmelis didn't particularly care about that. There were more important things at stake than the privacy of a Rantu, after all. Focusing on the facts and ignoring any feelings that she may have found amusing in a different situation, Hadrimmelis pieced together everything that had happened to Gilbert before the revival of the Time Demon.

And as she released the woman's shoulders, there was an air of triumph around her. The blonde avatar's soft and regal features, marred by the expression of despair that she had held moments earlier, was further twisted by the sudden change to a smile, causing her to come across as a bit of a maniac, to say the least.

"It is weak!" She said triumphantly, clearly referring to the Time Demon with that statement. "It gathered much power when Gilbert drained the world to defeat the destroyer, but all of that was spent in the very same endeavor! He has no energy!" She continued, pacing rapidly around the cracked ground of a dead world, her footsteps taking her around the crater that she herself had created in her frustration not too long ago. Suddenly, her gaze shot upwards once again, and then towards the two beings who had arrived through the portal, the fellow World-Dragon and the Returned Vokornian.

"Yamira! Ash! We have to follow him! Ku is weakened by his awakening, so now is the perfect moment to stop him from becoming as strong as he was a long time ago. If we stop him here, then he will be unable to cause the same havoc and destruction as he did aeons ago. And I don't think I need to warn you of what will happen if we fail to stop him." She said solemnly, before turning towards the blue woman, looking at her straight in the eye. "You. Aru'va Kell. You wish to avenge the human that died here, don't you? Then please, lend us your strength. I don't know how powerful you may be but any asistance we can get is welcome against the creature we are about to face. If we succeed, then I will make sure that my gratitude is well shown." She stated. "I can not force you to fight alongside us, but you seemed eager to hunt down the beast by yourself. Surely if we join forces, we will have a greater chance." She continued, pausing for a moment before finishing. "There are billions of lives at stake. We need your help."

Aru'va gritted her teeth when her quarry had escaped her. The blue individual summoned her drones back, ready to move out and annihilated the monster she had seen before her, but she was suddenly interrupted by not only by the humanoid who had came out of a portal, but this one seemed to have telepathic powers too. The brute force of the invasion of her mind gave her delicate neural systems a mild headache. She heard only incomprehensible gibberish, and was half tempted to destroy the being before her for assaulting her mind. But then she heard the request for strength and suddenly understood.

"My duty is to hunt and destroy things like that. Though I have to admit I have not encountered anything quite like this... Ku." She spoke. "I will assist you. But I will need to learn more about the being itself. Namely why it was inside a human."

Yami frowned. "That is something I too would like to know sister." She spoke. "After all we're going to need to know as much about the time demon if we're going to defeat him, considering what had happened last time."

---

Garnet nodded at Masami. If nothing else, she appreciated that the kitsune didn't mind the shift in mood and didn't feel like prying much further; after all, she could only elaborate so much before delving into things that she judged were best left forgotten. Now, the truth was that she was quite curious about Masami's story herself; what had truly led her to this monster hunting life? What was that unfortunate incident she was talking about? Indeed, she was quite curious, but did not ask. It would not do to reward the woman's discretion by asking her about her past, after all. Even if she was more open about it, the blonde woman still didn't feel like it would be the fair thing to do, and heaven knew life by itself was unfair enough already.

Hearing the fox lady say that they had company, however, Garnet immediately put the mask on and drew the nameless sword and the arcane pistol, holding them at the ready in anticipation for whatever was to come. When she found herself surrounded by several black-clad figures, she had to resist the impulse to just start shooting at once, though, as Masami didn't seem to react immediately either, and so far the enemy hadn't made any move. As she observed, though, she couldn't help but notice that the warriors surrounding her appeared to be... catgirls. Garnet blinked twice beneath the mask.

Then, of course, appeared three of these so-called 'bakaneko' in particular who were not clad in black like the rest. Garnet didn't exactly have the senses required to detect teh great magical presence within them, but even then, she could tell they were special, especially the one at the lead, but then, that was hardly unexpected, considering she was at the lead. Hearing Azami call Masami her niece, though, the blonde woman blinked again.

"So." She interrupted, with little regard for etiquette. "The first thing that happens when I come to Japan is that I end up meeting a foxgirl and get swept up in a family feud that involves fighting catgirls, one of whom is said foxgirl's aunt." She summarized, nodding to herself.

"This is, like, exactly what I expected Japan to be like."

Masami had to stop herself from giggling slightly at that. "Garnet! This is serious!" She said. Using all of her willpower to stop herself from laughing. But then blushed at Azami's gaze of amusement and frowned deeper. Refocusing herself. "Why are you here Azami?"

"You will address her with respect Dog! She is lady Azami of house Nekotan, Head Nekomata of the Japan Region!" Shouted the little Nekomata.

"You haven't changed a bit cousin Uyami." Masami muttered under her breath. The one called Uyami gritted her catlike teeth. "So your lady has been promoted then?"

Azami shrugged. "What can I say? I'm ambitious. A trait I'm glad to see you've picked up in recent years." She spoke, then lazily turned her head to Garnet. "Family fued would be right, yes. Though this is a tad more complicated than just a series of grudges." She snuck a quick gaze at Masami. "Perhaps you should ask her why a group of Nekomata call her kin. But then I wouldn't expect a human to understand any of this, much less care about anything other than yourselves." She said these words casually, but there was venom behind them.

"Stop stalling! Why are you here? Why did you send those undead after us?"

Azami smiled wider. "I didn't send them to fight you." She spoke. "In fact, I had nothing to do with them at all." She sighed. "As for why I'm here... hm. I suppose I thought I'd lay a trap for the person who's been hunting me for so long. Though when I saw the Goryo I was quite surprised. Though I was impressed that you managed to kill a Gashadokuro. Even with a human's assistance..."

"But I think I've dealt with just about enough of your pursuit. Your attempts to challenge me have gone from pathetic to insulting. And I do not tolerate insults." She spoke, her expression going dark. "Kill them." She spoke to the black clad cats. She turned to notice the other Kitsune, suddenly smiling. "And him too. Can't have anyone reporting back to Kitsune elders..." She spoke. Suddenly the number of ninjas doubled. And the two other Nekomata who were with Azami stepped forward, ready to attack. A third of the ninjas attacked Masami, a third went for Garnet and a third attacked the new Kitunse. The two other Nekomata were about to attack when something held them. Azami smirked at them.

"No need to dirty your hands with weak opponents just yet. Let the Bakeneko do their jobs."

And they did. They were all trained assasins, three of them even being a level above the rest, denoted by a different coloured belt and tail. All of them had the equivelent strength of a one tail Kitsune, while the three elites were equivilent in strength to Masami.

Masami knew this already, and slammed her hand down, suddenly sending up a plume of foxfire which would imolate three of the lesser Neko and horribly burn three others, leaving the elite to challenge her. "get rid of the grunts first, or we'll be overwhelmed!" She spoke, suddenly having to parry a strike from the elite Neko.

[Charmera]

August Carter/Ranger-13 Yrs-Devil's Den

So, I can go with her? Thats awesome. I tried to contain my excitement as I looked around nervously, not even sure if I am allowed to be here now that I look like a kid. But then a couple of her responses struck me, and my eyebrows dropped slightly at the mention of her protecting me. "I dont need your protection, I am going to protect you after all! I mean, all celebrities have to have super cool body guards. And I accept the job. We can talk about payment later. I like strawberry milk, and video games." I then stopped myself. Realizing how childish I was sounding right now.

So uncool.

It was then that I thought about the other thing she said. I may not like some things she does? I dont get it. Why would I not like what she does? She makes an awesome show. It was then that a girl who seemed to match the description walked into the club, I noticed rather quickly. Dad always taught me to be aware of my surroundings. Thats hard to do sometimes though, but someone Alissa needs to find? I tend to keep an eye out.

I then obliviously pointed the person out in the crowd to Alissa.

"Hey Chorus, that lady seems to resemble the one you are looking for...is that her?"

I never really had a body guard. Never really needed one.

She wrote, before suddenly his voice was heard and Chorus frowed, turning to the red haired Janice. She recognised the woman. She was one of the four she had seen. Chorus got up.

"Chorus... fancy meeting you here." Spoke the woman in a rough british accent. Her pink hoodie clashing with the other parts of her bad arse persona that was evident in everything else she did. It was weird. When Chorus heard Jack describing it, she had almost not believed it. "Don't bother responding. I know why you're here. Though I didn't expect to find you."

She sighed. " I suppose you'll be wanting your voice back too." She spoke. She also got up, walking towards August and Allisa. "How about we take this outside? This bar is suppose to have state of the art systems to block our powers. Not exactly a fair fight if you don't do that."

"Or does a pretty pop princess like you need to cheat to win?"

[Charmera]

---

The solemnity of the expression that Hadrimmelis wore on her face died down quickly after she had heard Aru's inquiry. Instead, it was replaced by something akin to sadness, as though the information requested had made the scarlet dragon think of something terrible, something that was buried in the past. It was not the despair of having to face such a dreadful war once again, no, nor was it the pain of the losses caused by the fearsome Time Demons, which included many of her dear siblings. No, it was something else. Something that seemed to bring her not only sadness, but also, strangely, shame. The scarlet-clad avatar took a step back, and then looked at her younger sister after she reinforced Aru's request for information, likely showing the younger World-Dragon the distress written all over her face. Yamirakkelis had been created by the Dragon Force to replace one of the five dragons that fell before the assault of the Time Demons, after all; as such, she had not been alive during the war or the aftermath, and was not privy to the myriad safety protocols and countermeasures that had been put in place to prevent Ku from escaping his prison in the Dragon Force Dimension, much less the one stratagem she herself had cooked in order to stop the demon's rampage should he ever break free; a stratagem that had evidently failed, she noted with dismay. She wondered what her sister would think of her when she heard the story she was being forced to tell... but then, she realized sourly, she had no choice. To refuse to tell would imply to risk losing potential support, and that was not something she could afford at the moment.

With a sigh, she nodded, and sat down on the shattered earth, taking a moment to collect her thoughts.

"Very well." She said with an air of defeat. "I will tell you."

The World-Dragon had briefly considered just pouring the information into the heads of Aru and Yamira with her psionic powers in order to save some time and go after the Time Demon already, but in the end, she considered that such a course of action could be potentially adverse, filling the alien's mind with too much information to be processed all at once. At the same time, she could only hope that by telling the tale, her actions and the actions of her siblings would be better understood, and thus, not condemned as she feared they would be.

"First things first. Since you don't seem to recognize that creature, I will tell you of his kind, and of the Time Demon War." The dragon began. "It happened aeons ago, long before this solar system was made. Long, long before. Three creatures from beyond the veil of existence invaded this universe, bringing havoc everywhere; these monsters, we dubbed 'Time Demons'. In truth, they are not of a race called the 'Time Demons', and we know very little about their kind, if there are any beyond the three that I mention to begin with, but these three appeared to assimilate the concept of 'time' in order to manifest within our universe, and used it to raise chaos everywhere. We, the World-Dragons, were called to arms in order to halt this invasion, and so, we awakened from our slumber and waged war against these Time Demons alongside our armies. We were not alone in our struggle, for there were allies we were able to call upon: there were the Vokornians, the race that Ashyandra here belongs to," At this point Hadrimmelis paused for just a moment in order to gesture towards Ashyandra. "and there were others, such as one creature, a... Rainborn, I believe. They helped us, and of course, there were all of the creatures born from our power. However, even then, the war was brutal, and though we were able to win in the end, the universe was left in a state of devastation. In total, five of us were lost in the struggle, along with countless armies and worlds." Here, Hadrimmelis made a longer pause, not because she needed to breathe as such things were alien to an avatar, but rather because she was well aware of the magnitude of the tale she was telling, and wished to allow Aru some time to digest everything before continuing.

"Of these Time Demons, the strongest was Ku, the creature you saw being born from Gilbert's body. He was leagues above his own brethren in terms of might, with immeasurable power at his command. While the two other Time Demons were able to fend off armies on their own, it was by the hand of Ku that five of my brothers and sisters died during the war. And while the other Time Demons we were able to slay, Ku was so powerful that he evaded death, even when all of our efforts were concentrated on him alone. We did not seem to be able to kill him, no matter how hard we tried, but we did manage to weaken him, and at that point, we took a decision. Knowing that we could not fight him forever, or leave him to his own devices, we decided to seal him. A special prison was made in our home, and the surviving Time Demon was brought to this prison and sealed there in order to prevent him from bringing ruin to the universe once more. And then, the seven remaining World-Dragons, myself included, held a meeting to decide what else was to be done." She stated.

"Many things were discussed then. A myriad of safety measures were put in place, to ensure that the Time Demon would never break free from its bonds and remain locked up, with no chance of escape. But despite these measures, even the most idealistic among us knew that 'never' was a long time, and so, they sought other solutions. Methods to kill him. Rituals through which they could suppress their power. None of it worked, as you can tell, but that is not the point. The point is that I..." At that point, Hadrimmelis trailed off, taking her gaze off of her interlocutors and pointing it to the side, that expression of sadness and shame returning. "I came up with something that was, in theory, more effective... and more sinister." She admitted at last. "After the devastation of the Time Demon War, we were scared of the idea of having to face such a conflict once again, and the lengths we were willing to reach to prevent such a thing from happening were quite great. I am not proud to admit it, but it is the truth." She said.

"So I concocted a plan. We would create a weapon to fight the Time Demon if it ever broke free, tailored specifically to annihilate him. However, as we knew of no power capable of truly vanquishing Ku, we settled for exploiting a power as strong as his. That is to say, we opted to harness the power of the Time Demon himself in order to fight against him. As you can likely guess, this was far easier said than done, and our experiments on the matter were unsuccessful at first, but I did not give up on the pursuit of this miracle weapon, and eventually, I was able to make a breakthrough, one that to this day still haunts me." She paused for a moment, this time for seemingly no reason other than to consider her words carefully. "We needed a child." She said at last. "We needed a child to be a vessel for the power of the Time Demon, for children are by far the most malleable creatures. We needed to perform a complex ritual with this child in order to prepare him to house the power of the Time Demon so that he would be able to stand up to him when the time was right." Another pause. "As I said, we were willing to do anything to prevent the Time Demon from causing such widespread destruction again, and so, I constantly told myself that everything I did was to protect the universe. To protect the universe, I took a child from among the creatures I myself had created. To protect the universe, I ripped off his eye, I tethered his soul to our essence, and to the prison in which the demon was held. To protect the universe, I mutated his body, and I robbed him of his life." She said, as though the action even now caused her much regret, despite the justification she had for it.

"We did not know when the Time Demon would awaken, but we had to be prepared for it, and so, we sealed away the child, placing him in stasis. As I had created the weapon, I was in charge of it, and it was up to me to make sure he would be ready to fight. We made him older so that he would be able to carry out his duty, and as he was a living weapon, we knew that we would have to bestow upon him the will to fight. Thus, every so often, I would craft false memories to generate within him the will to fight, to be implanted when the weapon manifested, which was to happen only when the Time Demon broke free. With the passing of time, I kept changing the location of the weapon to places where I believed he would be able to enjoy his time after awakening, before he was called to fight against Ku, as a reward of sorts for everything that I did. And eventually, this behavior, coupled with the unmistakable signals that the Time Demon was slowly breaking free of his chains, led me to place the weapon in stasis here, on Earth." She said, before looking meaningfully at the Rantu woman. "My older brother and elder of the World-Dragons, Kazayannú, named the vessel Addraku, 'Demon Slayer', but me, I felt that he needed a different name. A more human name. And so, I decided to give him the name Gilbert, and I gave him memories that would lead him to love and defend this planet, despite understanding the darkness within." She stated, now averting her gaze from Aru, looking at the ground.

"Aru'va Kell, that man you met, he was called Gilbert Graham, and he was the child, the weapon, the vessel. Addraku, the Demon Slayer." She continued. "He was destined to be the host to a part of the Time Demon's consciousness when he inevitably found a crack in its prison and escaped through it, drawn towards the one person whose soul was tethered to the dimension where said prison belonged. He was destined to bear Ku and siphon his power as the Time Demon attempted to gather strength to fully escape. He was destined to use the Time Demon's own power against him and destroy him, ridding the universe of such a massive threat." She explained. "But... something went wrong. The Time Demon became too strong, too soon, and I believe Gilbert was unable to adapt, and was torn apart by the power, instead of absorbing it and using it against him. Everything that we did, everything that I did, it seems it was for naught." The World-Dragon concluded her tale, heaving a tired sigh before standing up.

"I killed a child in vain, and now, we have to fight the one creature that we dragons fear, or see the universe be destroyed."

Aru frowned. So that was why he was so eager to defend earth against impossible odds. She thought back to Gilbert. He hadn't lied to her. He had merely lost control of his abilities, or more accurately he had lost control of the monster within. It was an unfortunate fate for such an individual. Even if he did resort to less than honorable combat. It was forgivable given the circumstances. A shame she would not be able to educate him on his error... Avenging him becoming more important to her.

"So that's what happened after the final battle." Remarked Ashy. She walked over and put a hand on Hadri's avatar. "You had the lives of many others in mind. You could not have predicted this." She spoke, ironic from someone who had precognative abilities, though to be fair they were being... overwhelmed, blocked even. "I have done far worse in the persuit for my body. Things I am not proud of. And that was in aid of... admittedly a much more selfish goal." Ash admitted.

Yami tried to process all of this. She frowned. She took off her glasses and rubbed her face. She couldn't have imagined this had been what had been kept from her. "You shouldn't have kept this from me." She said simply. "From us. Considering how the threat was connected to us." She sighed. "But that is not the problem now. It would not have changed the outcome. We need to stop this. We still have time if what you said about him being weaker is true." She spoke. She placed her glasses back on her eyes. She flashed a smile. "I... This might not be the best time. But I suppose I will get to know what it felt like for you during those times after all." Her smile faded. "It... is worse than I had imagined it would be."

[Charmera]

Roy nodded at Katie's words. He watched her put the USB in the computer and heard her describe what it did. "Really? That's pretty cool." He said with admiration. He thought about her question. He didn't exactly want to go back and sit at a kitchen table alone. "Well what are you working on? You fighting a villain right now aren't you? Maybe I can help." He said to Katie. He really did want to help, to feel useful.

"Well. I'm not sure what you could do exactly..." She replied, then sighed and shrugged. "But I suppose I should keep an eye on you, don't want you sneaking away again. Plus we probably could use all the help we can get on this. It's a real headscratcher." She replied, winking softly as she suddenlt grabbed Roy's hand and jumped towards the computer. Though instead of smashing into it they both were electrically transported back to the lab. "Sorry guys, gonna have to break the rules." She spoke as she appeared before Val and Cora. "But Roy wanted to help us, so i decided to see if he could."

"I was.... It that obvious? But yeah... We would, wouldn't we?" He asked. "Exploring the universe is always fun. That could be something we do. It's not like Earth really needs us... There's at least 2 Kryptonians, Blondie. And a bunch more people who can fight them. I'm sure they don't need us around. I wonder if we could start a Rent-a-Hero thing... I mean Earth ain't the only one with problems." He explained. "Sure it's probably a terrible idea. But come on. People look at Superman and they feel safe and protected. Everyone deserves that feeling." He thought. "We're shapeshifters. That means so much more than just making us look more attractive. It doesn't matter what they look we. We can take their appearance and give people hope."

He grinned at the dinner comment. "I would love to. But you're the one with the money. I mean I could always steal some from the many meth labs. Victimless crime."

"True. Though we don't really need to take payment for that. And I think the idea of instilling people with hope is a good one. It's one I've tried to do myself for so long. Something I hope I can aspire to." She remarked. "It's part of why I have the no killing rule for myself. You kinda have to set an example after all. And if your doing stuff that is kinda like what the baddies are doing, then it gets all muddied." She commented. She then gave him a wide smile and another kiss on the cheek. "Well I wouldn't mind being surprised by something. And there are other ways to earn money with superpowers than stealing. Though meth labs kinda do have it coming..."

Suddenly the Martian got up. She frowned, staring at her ring before a long of annoyance came onto her face. "Stupid ring." She muttered as it glowed, relaying her the information. Her frowned increase. "Well. This is going to be fun. Seems like there is some sort of metahuman trouble nearby. No one's doing anything to stop it, so we probably should step in or something."

[Charmera]

-snip-

Craig yowled in pain as he was kicked in the shin, grabbing his leg with one hand and beginning to hop in pain. That one had definitely hurt, though he supposed that he deserved in a way. Though it technically was a legitimate move to make, it was a dirty play. Then again, Etla had played dirty herself, Craig reminded himself, attempting to find some justification.

But she still wasn't at the level of a normal human being despite the loss of her Core, and he had no more tricks to pull out of his bag. He looked at the Core again, leaning down to rub his throbbing shin. It was quite a beauitful object, like a frozen sun, one could say, though that was an oxymoron in everyway possible. He turned it, looking at it from several angles, never having seen something quite like it.

Turning his attention back to the battle, he looked up to see one fist coming straight at his face. With his chocolate eyes widening, he desperately threw his own fist forward at Etla's face, just before he was hit. And then, there was impact. Etla's fist smashed into his cheek, vice-versa happening to Etla, sending him toppling to the ground, Craig somehow managing to keep the Star Core in his hand. Clasping his cheek, he groaned out, "I thought we said no face hits... Though I suppose it's fair after what I did." he said, passing over the Core. "Well, that was quite the fight? What do you want to do next?" he asked, looking over at the Rainborn.

-snip-

She nodded to Alastir, greeting him. "Your services are most welcome, and you are free to join in our assault. Your aid shall not be forgotten."

Valka, supporting Alex's shield to keep him alive, turned her attention to the Void. Floating up so she had a clear shot, she powered up the Valkaforce, firing a blast with both hands. She kept up the onslaught with the other heroes sending waves of swords and arrows made of the Valkaforce, before continuing to slice with the Odinsword, still firing. "Can this thing die?" she muttered audibly, quite amazed that it had lasted so long against all of them.

Bathing herself in the Valkaforce, she flew straight into the middle of Void, hoping to disperse it.

-snip-

"You fools." Batgirl muttered, watching Vannis' body drop to the street. She flew down and stalked down to the Batmobile. They had killed Vannis and now, they thought it was all over. They were wrong. The cycle of Gotham was never-ending, in it's current state. A remnant of Vannis' men would survive, and they would go underground, creating new gangs. And this would happen all over again. "

She stopped as John spoke to her. "No, they are not friends of mine, as you can see," she said, gesturing to Vannis' body. She also murmured in agreement when the GCD's head informed her that she was welcome in North Gotham. It wasn't ideal, but it was good to have some allies she supposed. "I'll make sure to visit," she said, stopping mid sentence as she heard the report about the Gardens. "It seems that your Reclaimer needs some backup. Let his men know that I'll be there in a few minutes, " she said, jumping back into the Batmobile and speeding off.

Floyd Martin
Suddenly Martin saw someone moving at incredible speeds intercept his spear. Things were getting crowded now and the odds weren't in his favor. "I'm not here to rob any bank. I'm here to settle scores." He said to Katie before turning to Valancy. "This isn't over. Not by a Longshot." He said to her, pressing the button of a communicator on his belt and soon the rope of a helicopter dropped down from the hole that Martin HD created in his attacked. He climbed up the rope and half way up he dropped a grenade down to where Valancy and Katie were. He doubted it would kill them, but it would keep them distracted while he escaped.

Cora
Cora made her way through the burning building, blasting apart debris when necessary. She rescued a little girl and her older brother who hadn't been able to make it out and then went back as apparently there was another family still inside. Cora made her way back inside but a beam suddenly fell from the ceiling and fell on Cora. Cora winced as her hands were burned by the flames. She pushed it off of herself quickly however and headed toward the family. She had to move quickly as the building was very dangerous. She found the two people who were trapped and broke down their door before grabbing them and flying out the window just before an explosion sent flames through out the building.

"Thanks," Valancy said to Katie for catching the spear. She turned her attention back to the man, trying to think of something to say. "I see," she said, looking up as he began to climb, preparing another attack. Then, seeing the grenade, she enclosed it in a wooden shield, containing the explosion, Val turning her attention to stop the shards of wood from hitting anyone.

She looked at Katie, "I'm afraid that Jasmine is probably far away now. I'm sorry Katie, I didn't know that one of you guys was going on patrol, or I would have left the robbery to you. And now Eric goes without justice for his murder. " she looked down, sighing. "I'll find her." she promised in a dark tone, before continuing. "And it seems Roy has some history with that man." she said. "It's about time that I talked to him too."

Katie sighed, looking to the side. "There's no problem. Honestly the thing with Janice is a little complex. She's... not exactly 100% acountable for her actions. Still..." Her face darkened. "It's hard to remeber that. Sometimes I just want to pummel the monster she's become for what she did." She sighed. "I think she needs help. But that's for another time."

She paused, putting a hand to her chin. "Roy... we should ask him about that." She remarked. "I wonder what the connection between them was..."

"Also, was it just me or was that guy jacked! Like... really muscly."

[Charmera]

---

Noticing Masami's reaction with amusement, Garnet gave a little shrug and a smirk, though of course the latter was not noticeable due to the mask she wore. Either way, she soon turned her attention back to Azami as well, the distorting effect that the mask had over her view of reality while she wore it allowing her to ignore the effects of the powerful allure of the Nekomata, though she could still tell it was there. Putting away Misery and resting the now free hand on her hip, she frowned as she listened to the conversation that unfolded between Masami, Azami, and the smaller Nekomata, Uyami. If Azami was Masami's aunt, and Uyami was Masami's cousin, the blonde woman reasoned, then it was probable that Uyami was Azami's daughter, or had some relation to her at the very least. She didn't know if that was the case with the other one, for she hadn't spoken at all, but either way, Garnet decided to keep the detail in mind for the time being. Perhaps it wasn't important, but how was she supposed to know? And what would happen if it was important and she just ignored it? She greatly preferred not finding out about that detail.

Hearing Azami address her directly, Garnet listened impassible, rolling her eyes at the arrogance and haughtiness of the words spoken by the Nekomata, if not the tone with which they were spoken. "That is so typical." The masked woman thought to herself. "Whenever there's someone that's not human around us they always have their heads so far up their asses that they think they're superior by default." She shook her head lightly, before glancing at Masami, her frown fading slightly. "Well, I'm not being entirely fair. I have to give her some credit, at least." She said in her head.

When Azami ordered the Bakaneko to attack, though, Garnet was ready. She knew that hostilities would have to initiate at some point, as otherwise the Nekomata wouldn't have brought along these troops, and in all honesty she had been eagerly awaiting the start of the fight. Her metaphorical trigger finger was itchy; metaphorical because she didn't immediately resort to using Misery when the Bakaneko attacked. As all six of the black-clothed ninjas lunged at her, Garnet leaped back, using the increased agility from the mask to make sure that she would be out of their reach. At the same time, the hand with the purple gemstone bracelet reached out and the gemstone glowed, signifying that the power of Despair was being called upon. Suddenly, the purple skeletal hand of ethereal energy shot forward, grabbing one of the six lesser Bakaneko before she was able to react. The blonde woman then made a motion with her hand, and the phantasmagoric appendage holding the ninja was suddenly drawn back and slammed the creature in its grip against the ground with deadly force. There was the crunching sound of bones breaking, or rather, being ground up, and a drowned scream of pain that lasted less than half of a second before dying down. When the hand called forth by Despair faded away, Garnet had no need to look back and analyze her work. She knew that the ninja was dead.

However, that still left her with five other enemies that looked significantly angrier than before. Opting to take advantage of her distance, Garnet pulled out Misery and trained the arcane pistol on the group of Bakaneko before firing away, emptying the whole clip as she fired against the ninjas. They were very nimble, of course, as was to be expected from supernatural creatures like these, who were similar to cats and were supposedly trained assassins. However, they still didn't quite manage to be faster than a bullet, and so, though most of the projectiles were deftly avoided by the enemy, some did manage to hit their marks. One struck a Bakaneko in the chest, while other two struck the right arm and grazed the thigh of another, but in the end, both proved to be equally lethal, for the damage inflicted by Misery was not only physical, but also spiritual, and the ammount of spiritual damage that a simple tooth-like bullet from the arcane pistol could inflict was quite simply massive.

And yet, she was out of bullets and the enemy was too close now. It would be several seconds until the soul-destroying pistol would reload itself; in practice, that meant that the weapon would not be of use for the rest of the fight. She quickly put it away and used her nameless sword to block the katana of one of the Bakaneko. The other two that remained quickly attempted to seize the opportunity in order to flank her and attack from different angles, but Garnet wasn't going to have any of that. Suddenly, Agony manifested in her free hand, the cursed gauntlet glowing with red light, even as she continued to block the first Bakaneko's katana. Bending her knees in order to reach the ground, she slammed her armored fist against the ground, causing a tremor that knocked her three remaining opponents off balance. She took the oportunity to slice cleanly through the first one, before turning to the second, which was only just recovering and about to make an attempt to attack her when the crystalline sword impaled her.

The third one was a bit luckier, but only very slightly. Having had more time than the others, she rushed sword-fist towards Garnet, whose back was turned towards her, and attempted to impale her on the katana. She was about to succeed, when she stopped suddenly, her eyes going wide as plates. Her blade was stained with blood alright, but it was not Garnet's, and as the ninja looked down, she saw the sharp end of her own katana protruding from her chest, while the other half seemed to disappear into a blue portal in front of her. The creature looked back at Garnet, whose back was still turned on her, and saw that the blonde woman casually raised the hand with which she held the crystalline sword. There was a bracelet with an orange and blue gemstone on it, and the gemstone was glowing, signifying that the powers of Longing were active, and were what had caused the Bakaneko to fall on her own sword.

The last ninja tumbled to the ground, lifeless, and Garnet turned back to Azami. "Now, I believe there was one stronger than the rest?" She asked. As if on cue, a black blur sped towards her, but then, all of the sudden, Shadow manifested in front of her, its black mane billowing in ethereal winds. The Phantom Horse, it seemed, was successful in scaring away the elite Bakaneko, who vanished without ever becoming more than a black blur. Through the mask's enhancements, Garnet was able to detect and react to an attack from behind, noting that this new opponent was incredibly fast, far surpassing the speed of her peers. The blonde woman frowned beneath the mask, knowing that this was going to be difficult. The crystalline nameless sword clashed with the elite ninja's katana for just a moment, but afterwards, the black blur vanished once again, seemingly waiting to attack from an unseen direction.

"So, we're going to be playing cat and mouse here, is that it?" Garnet called out. "How ironic, then, that I'm playing the cat here."

---

Azami smiled in amusement as the kitsune and human fought against the Bakeneko. She had not intefeered, and neither had her children, the two Nekomata merely looking on. Uyami snarled at her foes, while the other one remained silent and just a bit apathetic. Masami on the other hand was fighting for her life. Her foe was at least equal to her in fighting skill alone. The two clashed and disengaged, Masami knowing any of her ninjalike tricks would be immediately seen through and countered by her foe, though her foe also seemed to believe the same. Eyeing each other up, the Neko struck, masami parying her blow to the side and going for a punch to the face, only to be blocked and nearly cut.

Masami began her own attack, drawing upon recently learned skill she infused her weapon with foxfire, sending out a beam of foxfire energy in a slash. The Neko grunted, falling back from the attack, which allowed Masami to press the advantage with a downwards swing. The Neko barely countered it, and struggled to counter the flurry of blows that came after. Until using her flash step, she moved behind masami and attacked, forcing the kitsune to quickly readjust and return to the defensive, dodging and blocking a flurry of attacks.

Masami knew she wouldn't get anywhere if she didn't use her advantage of strength. So she feigned a strike the Ninja was able to easily dodge, but did not count on the fact she had actually moved closer to the fox. Who grabbed her foe by the neck and lifted her with one arm. The Cat dropped her katana in shock and found her body suddnely slammed to the floor. She tried to escape, but she found her throat was quickly crushed, so she struggled to even breath. Masami growled, Suddenly tightening her grasp and cracking her neck with incredible force. Then letting the ninja go limp.

Masami looked to Azami, who still had a cocky smile on her face. "What are you smiling about?" The Kitsune drowned, drunk on adrenalin.

"You remind me of your mother. Funny... I always thought you were more Nekomata than Kitsune." Masami's frown deepened as even Uyami went completely silent. "You're developed refinement, your poise, your grace... so... very much like us. Yet so far from us too..."

Azami took a step forward. "But there was always that savagery we never fully bred out. That connection with the inner beast which you always seemed to keep, despite our best efforts to teach you. It's a shame really. Yusa should have raised you better."

Masami seemed to go beserk at this. Suddenly launching into an attack against Azami. The blade raised high as she went at supersonic speeds towards her foe. Her blade came down with the force of more than a thousand hands.

And it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. Azami had caught it with contemptible ease between two fingers. The sharp blade not even piercing her hand. "She was the strongest of our clan. I honestly expected better from her. Especially in your training. So very, very sloppy... But that's what comes of impatience."

"You killed her..."

"No. I didn't." Azami replied simply. A simple turning of her wrist snapped the blade. It didn't even look like it took any effort. She then lightly pushed Masami and sent her into the ground. "So that was your plan. Get rapidly stronger so you could avenge your adopted mother... How... Interesting... That was why you were tracking me. You thought I did it." The cat smiled. It seemed like she had a plan. "It would be cute if it weren't so horribly cliche."

"Shame. You have wasted enough of my time and killed several of my clan." She seemed to draw her own sword, a wicked black and purple blade, from seemingly nowhere. "I am sorry for this. Apologise to Yusa for-"

"Stop!"

Azami's smile dropped when she turned around. "Akari? You were to stay in the carriage..."

"I could sense my sister. I won't let you kill her." Spoke the woman named Akari. She had a frown on her face and fingers on both the triggers of her pistols. They weren't yet pointed at anyone.

Uyami spoke up again. "You're defending this dog?"

"Will you all stop calling her that? And yes. I am."

Azami paused, then looked at the two of them. Then sheathed her blade. "Fine." Spoke Azami. Then her smiled returned. "In fact. I may have a deal for you and your comrades."

Masami paused. She saw no other way for all of them to get out alive. She groaned, her little crater getting uncomfortable so she got up. Rubbing her head she sighed. Then nodded. "I'm listening..." She briefly looked towards Garnet and the new Kitsune to see how they were getting on. Azami had not called off her ninja yet. Perhaps because she found their fight amusing.

---

Noticing her fist collide solidly with Craig's cheek, even as his own struck her squarely in the same area of the face, Etla couldn't help but feel a satisfaction of sorts, her characteristic grin returning to her face, the anger at the inventor's dirty trick of pulling out her Star Core quickly dying down and being forgotten as her mind was once again flooded with the adrenaline of the battle, the thrill of testing her strength against another, and of course, there was also the simple joy that being with Craig had begun to inspire within her for some reason, the excitement of doing this together, even if they were currently against each other. In no time she had all but forgotten his dirty move, and her Core was so immersed in feeding her emotions that she couldn't make sense of that it did not seem to bother registering the pain of the fist that slammed against her face.

Through sheer stubbornness and hard-headedness, the blonde girl managed to keep herself on her feet after the impact, resisting the same attack that had thrown Craig to the ground, but she didn't even pay much attention to the fact that it technically made her win the sparring match, though some of the patrons of the Devil's Den did cheer or jeer depending on which of the two they had placed their bets on; naturally, they were not many, as neither Craig nor herself were famous fighters, but there were of course a few who took enough interest. Either way, Etla paid no mind to any of these things. For one, she was slightly dazed after taking a direct blow to the head. Not because the impact affected her brain, naturally, as the functions that the brain performed in a human were handled by her Core; rather, it was simply her vision that was affected slightly, but it only lasted a moment.

Looking at Craig after he stood up, she ignored his comment about face hits for the most part, simply taking the Star Core from his hands and snapping her fingers, sending the frozen heart of a star back to her Dimensional Storage to keep it safe from any prying hands bearing intentions any less innocent than Craig's. Afterwards, she looked up at him, her unnaturally bright green eyes staring right into his own. She felt a strange warmth building up inside her, and when Craig asked her if there was anything she wanted to do now that the fight was over, she smiled.

"Well, I would like to take you up on your offer about vigorous activity, for one."

And then, without warning, the Rainborn threw her arms around Craig, standing on the balls of her feet and pulling him down slightly at the same time so that she would be able to reach him more easily, as he was taller than her. Before the young inventor had any opportunity to react to what was happening, Etla pressed her lips against his own, her tongue invading his mouth, slowly and playfully at first, though her kiss rapidly grew in intensity as she stopped thinking and simply gave in to her passions.

As Rainborn did not need to breathe, she didn't plan on pulling away anytime soon.

Ihra had been calling for a bit before sighing and leaning on something. She watched the battle, somewhat impressed by the level of fighting on display. Her sister had improved, probably. Ihra was not the best judge. She herself admitted she was not the best fighter. Neither did she wear power well. She was always afraid of her power rather than thrilled with it. It just felt... like she could hurt people. It was why the Star Whale core was perfect. But she was acutely aware that if she used that core against any other rainborn or rainborn level foe, she'd be stomped into paste.

Then Ihra's eyes widened as Etla's face met that of the human. Was this some sort of move? Wait no! They're kissing! I know that one. OH wait they're kissing! Honestly Ihra was impressed with her little sister. Ihra was no love guru herself, but she never knew Etla had it in her. Ihra found her mouth moving on its own. "Way to go sis!" She shouted. But then realized she might be interrupting their moment. Again.

[Charmera]

Cora smiled brightly at Kylie's hug. The Green Lantern hugged more than anyone human she had met before. She listened to Kylie speak in her usual cheery voice. Cora had certainly missed that around here. "Well I sounds really exciting Kylie. I'm just glad you're back. We really missed you around here. Things have been pretty wild around here too." She said and then saw the two people standing behind Kylie.

Cora was surprised when Kylie said that she had invited them into their team. They hadn't really discussed adding members, o even how they would go about it. But Kylie seemed to trust them and that was good enough for Cora. Cora smiled at both of them, "Hi Ruby," she said shaking her hand and then turning to Atiala, "Hi Atiala, it's great to meet both of you. I'm glad to hear that Kylie had friends out there. We certainly have plenty of room here, and you're welcome to stay." Cora said in a friendly voice.

Katie sighed, "We really should be getting back. Cora's probably done with the fire after all." She remarked. She gave a short weak smile. "Last one back is a rotten egg" She exclaimed childishly with a giggle, suddenly jumping into the electrical system of New York. Riding through electrical currents like a surfer. It took barely any time at all to get back to the JQ building.

From a lightbulb near to the familiar electrical impulse of Cora Katie emerged. "Hey Cora. Val will be coming soon. We're going to need to talk to-" She paused, turning to see Kylie and then smiling brightly. "Kylie! Your back from space!" She exclaimed, excited a smile on her face as she saw her friend.

[Charmera]

Cora smiled brightly at Kylie's hug. The Green Lantern hugged more than anyone human she had met before. She listened to Kylie speak in her usual cheery voice. Cora had certainly missed that around here. "Well I sounds really exciting Kylie. I'm just glad you're back. We really missed you around here. Things have been pretty wild around here too." She said and then saw the two people standing behind Kylie..

"Pretty wild? Without me? I gotta know what went down! Tell. Me. Everything." Kylie was excited to know what her friends did in the... while she was gone. For that matter, how long was she gone? It only felt like a day or two, but then again Kylie was knocked out right after they got there...

No matter. The part that's important is that she got home safe, brought new friends, and it looks like the tower still exists. Good enough for her!

Katie sighed, "We really should be getting back. Cora's probably done with the fire after all." She remarked. She gave a short weak smile. "Last one back is a rotten egg" She exclaimed childishly with a giggle, suddenly jumping into the electrical system of New York. Riding through electrical currents like a surfer. It took barely any time at all to get back to the JQ building.

From a lightbulb near to the familiar electrical impulse of Cora Katie emerged. "Hey Cora. Val will be coming soon. We're going to need to talk to-" She paused, turning to see Kylie and then smiling brightly. "Kylie! Your back from space!" She exclaimed, excited a smile on her face as she saw her friend.

"KATIE!" Kylie flashed over to her best friend as soon as she had human form, nearly tackling her to the ground. "I am back, yes I am! How ya been? What's been going on? Cora said stuff's been pretty wild, and I need the deets."

Releasing Katie from the attack hug she put her in, Kylie pointed again to Ruby and Atiala. "This is Ruby, and Atiala. I invited them to join the Justice Queens. That's alright, right? I just realized I probably shoulda asked." Kylie chuckled and knocked her own head. "Little busy not thinking about permission in space, ya know?"

"What's been going on?" Echoed Katie, pausing. Her smile turned to a frown. A sad look was on her face. A pause happened as she opened her mouth to explain, but then she sighed. "A lot of things have happened. I don't want to talk about it now." She replied simply, evading the question. She then forced a smile on her face. "New members? That's good. We really should expand our roster. We have the resources and room to do that after all." Katie waved to Ruby and Atiala. "Welcome to the JQ guys!"

[Charmera]

---

Hadrimmelis looked at Yamira, an apologetic look on her face as she spoke. "I am sorry that you will have to fight this monster. I had hoped that none of us would have to do this, be it for the first time or the second." She said to her younger sister. "But my efforts in that direction did not yield any results, it seems." She thought with some repentance, but kept those thoughts to herself. She had already told her story, and so, gone was the time for regrets and lamentations. The fate of the universe could very well be at stake after all. But, first things first. "And... I also apologize for not telling you, any of you, about this. I was not at all proud of what I was doing, and Kazayannú ordered me and the others to keep it secret from you and the rest of the second generation." She admitted, her apologetic tone even more noticeable as she spoke those words. She knew that Yamirakkelis felt separated from the other World-Dragons who were born before her, knew about the "gap" that she felt between them. Hadrimmelis didn't want her to feel like that, and so, it pained her to admit that there were secrets kept from them by the first generation. That, she reasoned grimly, could only contribute to the gap.

Turning to Ashyandra, the World-Dragon managed to show a faint smile. "No offense, Shy, but hearing you say that you're far worse than me does not exactly help me feel better. Perhaps I could not have foreseen this... but does that excuse me? Would it excuse others if they were in my position?" She asked.

But then, she began walking towards the black gate, that hole in time and space through which the Time Demon had gone.

"Enough of that, however. With each passing moment, our foe grows stronger! We can not afford to remain here any longer. We must face the Time Demon, Ku, and we must face him now." The scarlet dragon proclaimed. Suddenly, her form began to shimmer, and, in an instant, she grew massively in size. Now no longer a simple blonde woman, that avatar of Hadrimmelis was now, truly, a dragon, her black scales and somber wings contrasting greatly with her bright, pulsing veins of magma. She was taller than the tallest mountain now, hovering above the ground of the hollow, dead world, casting an enormous shadow over her companions. Swiftly the giant black and crimson dragon flew up to the black gate, with space and dimensions seeming to distort around it in order to be able to envelop the massive creature that was demanding entry, until eventually, Hadrimmelis disappeared from sight, having gone through the portal.

What was on the other side was quite a strange environment. Everything was dark, and there was no light to be seen anywhere, yet those inside could see perfectly. The notions of space and dimensions did not seem to have much of a grip on that place at all, seeing how on occasion the great dragon that was Hadrimmelis could look more or less similar in size to some of her companions, despite the fact that she was quite obviously hundreds of times larger. Reality seemed distorted in that place, as if they were on the very edge of existence and the conceptual solidity of its rules began to fluctuate.

"WHAT TOOK YOU THIS LONG, DRAGON?" Came the same ethereal voice from before. There, standing in front of everyone, was the Time Demon, Ku. His form was still made of darkness, but somehow, it contrasted with the darkness of the lightless space around them, allowing everyone to see Ku perfectly despite the glaring contradiction. His form seemed clearer and more defined than before, too, though as with everyone else, his dimensions seemed to fluctuate when observed.

Hadrimmelis did not respond to him.

"My allies in battle, receive a part of my power to face this threat." Hadrimmelis said, and with a roar, Aru'va and Ashyandra would feel as the World-Dragon bestowed a fraction of the power of the Dragon Force to them, enhancing their abilities and giving them new ones to use during the battle.

Then, the black and crimson dragon flew up high and reared back her head. Suddenly, she released an incredibly powerful beam of elemental breath. It was not only a stream of burning flames, but also a thundering blast of lightning and a ray of searing light, all delivered simultaneously. The attack seemed to very nearly obliterate the Time Demon, but afterwards, it simply reformed itself, with significantly more ease than even Gilbert had been able to do so. Ku then punched Hadrimmelis away, appearing just as tall as the World-Dragon despite being the size of her companions moments ago.

"IS THAT ALL, DRAGON?" The demon questioned with mockery in his voice.

It was then that a hail of death was fired upon him from above. The drones of Aru'va and Aru'va herself pummeled their target with shot after shot of atom annihilating blasts and tachyon accelerated rounds. Each of the beautiful weapons warped the space around them as they travel, pretty yet deadly. Enough firepower to atomize a star easily. The disparity between looks and apocalyptic payload was almost comical. Bright flashy lights which heralded stellar bursting forces. Aru's eye's herself glared at her target, anger evident within.

"Close combat... you just get more deplorable the more time passes Ku." She spoke. She was backed up by both Ash and Yami. Though neither were quite able to match her payload. Ash having just recovered her body and Yami being merely a dragon formed avatar of herself. But they both contributed. Ash laid down bolts of twilight and divine energy. While Yami moved towards Hadri, floating next to the other world dragon. She offered a hand to her... Or claw.

"As impressive as their display is, I'm not sure it will do much." She remarked. "Do you have any sort of plan for this engagement?

[Charmera]

---

---

Etla was simply enraptured by the kiss, having difficulty to perceive anything that was not the act of love she and Craig were performing. Of course, this included the sensation of her blonde hair being played with, and the sensation of Craig's body pressing against her and vice-versa, both of which she enjoyed greatly. Distantly, she thought she could hear something, a distant sound that seemed very, very familiar, as if it was something from her past that she was supposed to recognize, something... dear, something dear to her, apparently. But she only noticed it subliminally, focused as she was on the man in front of her, and only realized she had in fact heard after the fact, through hindsight. At the moment, none of it seemed to reach her.

What she did notice, however, was how Craig suddenly didn't seem so invested in it anymore, and was in fact trying to pull away from her. She opened her eyes in surprise, not remembering when exactly she had closed them, and noticed his look of apprehension, just before he wheezed out that he needed to breathe. She released her hold over him, for the first time realizing just how strongly she had embraced him without intending to. Pulling back, she watched him attempt to catch his breath, and was worried for just a second, but then began giggling at him.

"Sorry, Craig, I forget just how fragile you meat things can be. So much for your vigor." She teased him.

However, after that, she focused on something else. She had the vague notion of having heard something while kissing him, but what was it? Ah, yes, the sound. What sound was it? She tried to remember, but it was difficult. She had been busy, damn it. But then, she had it. A voice! A voice, a very familiar voice. She didn't know many people from here, though, and it wasn't Helen's voice, nor Naja's, though on the other hand it was definitely a female voice.

Curious, she looked around, until finally, she spotted the owner of said voice. Her unnaturally bright emerald eyes went wide as plates and seemed to glimmer for a moment as an expression of joyful surprise overtook her face, her mouth opening into a bright smile.

"IHRA!" She shouted, practically jumping out of the arena and rushing over to hug the sister she hadn't seen in... a long time (Etla still didn't have a very developed sense of the passing on time on Earth and time simply wasn't a thing in the Skyworld), lifting the girl off the ground.

"Ihra! I'm so happy to see you!"

"I... can tell that." Ihra replied, she returned her sisters hug, smiling in relief. Then she squirmed a little to get out of the constricting grasp of her sister. She didn't usually feel comfortable with people hugging her or touching her, being the wallflower she was, but Etla and Asra were exceptions. "I'm even happier to see you though." She inhaled. Then unleashed a panicked torrent of words. "Oh Etla, it was scary! I just came in from Skyworld (Father Sky let me look for the two of you), and when I came out of the portal I saw this large beast thing! And It had four short legs but could go really fast! It had a window into it's stomach and I saw someone in it! And he didn't seem to care that he was being eaten! And then a bunch of humans came and I thought they wanted to play baseball but instead they just hit my with sticks! Then I came across this place and saw you fighting a human..." She inhaled. If she could, she would be crying by now. Now it was her turn to hug Etla. She was so scared and so homesick and so confused. "I was so scared!"

[Charmera]

Taro
Taro felt his power being sapped by the shadow magic he was sustaining. One of the bakeneko had already been shredded by the tumultuous, seething morass of shadowy tendrils that had sprung up in one poor neko's shadow. This left only 2 neko for Taro to deal with, which meant he didn't need to sustain the control anymore. He relinquished his control over the shadows at much the same time as Masami's sword was engulfed in fox-fire. The released control brought a feeling of relief, not so much energy regained as the absence of its usage. Taro, noticing Masami's magic in his peripherals, took note. He had indeed found an genuine Kitsune, despite how human she looked. He focused his mind on the task at hand his breaths, regulating his air intake to avoid exhausting his power too quickly. The neko charged him simultaneously, one leaping onto the wall with far more grace than the large kitsune had. He braced himself with his blade at the ready and took the brunt of one charge, the blade colliding with the silver katana in an angry clash of metal. The second attack Taro had been expecting never came, not until a second later when the Neko that had faked out leapt over its comrade, sword ready to decapitate the pre-occupied kitsune. Taro's muscles bulged threateningly as he applied an overwhelming amount of strength into his push, knocking the first neko back before barely managing to deflect the airborne katana, his own blade held one handed once more. He turned to the first Neko, plunging his blade into its chest. He left the blade in the falling corpse and rounded on the second neko, dropping to all fours with a savage snarl as he ran. The neko saw the past demon-hunter charging and brought its blade up to challenge him. Mere moments before the collision Taro switched direction, leaping up onto the wall and pouncing on the neko before crushing its throat in his jaws. He stood up, casting the corpse aside and removed his sword from the first neko in time to hear the smaller nekomata ask the new arrival if she was defending the 'dog'. Taro had only just noticed the gun-wielding sister of Masami, his attentions being occupied by other things but now the other small neko had annoyed the demon hunter with her brattiness.
"Nanda yo! She is no dog you impudent little gaki! Ii kagen ni shinasai!!*"
He shot back at the little nekomata, his kitsune youth not changing the fact that his voice sounded remarkably like an upset father. Taro cleaned the blood from his blade with a wipe or two. He gave Akari a questioning look, wondering exactly how she was related to the other kitsune and exactly what happened here. He walked towards Masami and Azami, sheathing his blade to show Akari she would not need the guns for him. The proposal of a deal made him raise his eyebrow curiously, wondering what exactly Azami could possibly want from them.
"I believe you are intelligent enough to realise how ridiculous that sounds."
He muttered as he drew near, directing the remark to Azami and shooting a glare at Uyami. He did not feel like regaling Azami with all sorts of rants and rages about how she literally just tried to kill them. No doubt she was aware of this. She had been the one to give the order.
"Okugata-sama, this is your family. So I shall not interfere. But should you require assistance my blade will be available."
He said seriously, speaking this time to Masami as he stood nearby the group, trying to ponder exactly how he felt about this offer of work.
He hoped that if Masami heard the offer out and made her decision it might sway his. On the other hand he knew he would likely tag along with the kitsune and the human anyway. They were going places where he would be useful. Places unlike bakeries, and fashion stores.

*Scolding phrase used on children which effectively means "Don't behave that way"

"What did you say you fox tailed cree-" Uyami was silenced by her sisters mouth. Who turned to Uyami and shook her head. The Nekomata frowned and crossed her arms. The Silent sister turned to the Kitsune.

Azami cocked her head at the new Kistune with an amused smile. "And you're inteligent enough to know that I don't have to care." She remarked. "Hear me out. This is a preferable deal on all accounts. At least to me killing you all." She remarked.

Then, with a nonchalant air despite the blood dripping from her gauntlet, she walked back to the group, slowing down to a halt next to Masami and looking around. "So, what did I miss?" She asked casually, before throwing a glance in Akari's direction. "Another Nekomata?" She complained.

Akari meanwhile looked towards Garnet. "Yes. Another Nekomata." She remarked. Then a smile came to her face. "Akari Kazumo. At your service."

Azami turned back to Masami, who was rubbing her head at the moment. "I will tell you what direction to look. On two conditions that must be fulfilled." She said. "One, you must eliminate a harmful coalition of Yokai who seek to undermine me and the Yokai community." She grabbed Masami and hauled her to her feet. "You must then defeat a dark spirit which has been haunting some of my property for a long time."

"If you fulfill these conditions, I will not only reveal what I know about Yusa's killer to you, but I will also assist you in your quest to avenge her death as best I can." Azami replied. "Sound like a fair deal?"

Masami glared into her eyes. She could be lying and this could be merely some trick. But then again, she wasn't really strong enough to face her. None of them really were yet. Well perhaps Garnet. And she wasn't sure about the other Kitsune's strength. But this would provide opertunity to grow in power and perhaps get a clearer idea of who might have killed her mother. After all she wasn't all that sure it was Azami when she set out on this quest.

She looked to the other two. Seeing if they would agree to that deal.

[Charmera]

-snip

Paras crouched down like a loaded spring as Okarot charged his attack, his visuals quickly making out the power readings from them and determining them all to be low level, blockable, and such. The Saiyan Cyborg opted to use the barrage attempt to close the gap between himself and Okarot and hopefully unleash his last, fight-ending attack here and now. As soon as the Saiyan elite unleashed his assault, Paras sprung forward and began to slap the attacks out of his way as he charged Okarot - knowing his Super Saiyan 3 transformation was nearing it's absolute limit with Okarot "letting loose" when he could barely hold it outside of the Time Chamber.

But Paras soon came to one and made the slapping motion to toss it out of the way, but his eyes focused on it just too late as the energy attack arced onto his hand, and then engulfing his entire arm in an electric shock of unimaginable caliber. The pulse worked much the same as a regular person would and caused Paras' synthetic muscles to contract against his own will, launching the cyborg backwards at great speed and power, slamming into the side of a mountain some miles away. Paras saw a blue screen with alien writing flash before him, and then darkness - which itself was suddenly replaced by a green bar that quickly raced across the screen. "System reboot failed - Biological back-up initializing." A voice said in Paras' head, the man's eyelids sliding back and revealing his yellow pupils, the side of his face burnt away by the electrical discharge and showing his metal plating below.

The real Paras awoke from years of slumber following his ill-fated mission before the fall of Planet Vegeta, and his first sight was a golden haired Saiyan rushing towards him. He hardly knew anything other than to fight and fight to win, so his technical abilities were almost lost on him, had it not been for his cybermind subtly influencing his primal flight or fight instinct. Paras clutched his hand together in a tight fight, raising it up to the charging, elite warrior. A memory flashed before his eyes briefly, before being taken back to the fight by a warning from his cybernetics. "Power supply low - Draining quickly. Caution is advised."

"What the fuck is caution?" Paras muttered to himself, clenching his teeth and he reared his head and chest back - his fist launching off of his wrist like a hyper-relativistic missile, the Saiyan cyborg screaming, "ROCKET PUUUNCH!" on instinct, his power systems draining from that last and final attack - his biological components slipping back into unconsciousness, the stress of awaking after so long already taking it's toll. Whether he lived or died in this fight, Paras reckoned he would deal with it when h awoke - either in this life or the next.

It was at that moment when a being pierced the dimensional view between another universe and this pocket dimension. She too had been fighting, as evidence by her condition. Though her form was glorious to behold, she had burn marks and damaged pieces everywhere. The portal behind her slowly shrank as she walked out, her armour crumbling around her as she looked towards the fight before her. Revealing the android herself, who noted that she had changed considerably since her journey to an alternate universe. Not just in experience and mind, but her whole body had changed. Become more human for some reason. Lisa frowned, wondering why this change had taken place.

At least I still have my wings... though is looking more human so bad?

She then noticed the fight before her, two.. saiyans? That was what they were. Though they were both different. One radiated a power she was not familiar with, and another was metal like herself, though also biological. She could tell by reading ambient energy in space and the spaces between atoms in their structure. It was simple enough for her to do so now.

Lisa frowned, wanting to get involved in the fight. Break it up. This seemed like a death match rather than a mere sparring match. But... Apathy encircled her for once in her existance, not having enough energy to perform this task. She sighed. Hoping this would not end badly...

[Charmera]

Okarot was surprised by Paras' move to say the least. As the rocket punch was launched at him, he barely had a chance to yell in surprise before being comically slammed into a plateau. It was incredibly painful, as he had let his guard down for but a moment, but, a moment was all it took. However, as the dust cleared from what used to be a rock formation, Okarot remained intact, along with his Super Saiyan 3 form. But, his power was quickly waning. He had to finish it quick.

His clothes torn, and blood dripping down his face, all of the tired Saiyan's injuries and fatigue hit him at once. The Super Saiyan 3 transformation was like a shot of adrenaline, making injuries and fatigue temporarily fade away from feeling while at it's peak. However, as the form began to wear off, one of the biggest detriments of it became apparent. The adrenaline like sensation would fade, and an entire battle's worth of fatigue and pain would rush into the Saiyan's senses all at once.

The pain was incredible, yet Okarot pushed forward, preparing to finish off the unconscious cyborg once and for all. He began gathering his energy in his hand, to deliver this final blow, and end the battle. It was nearly the last of his energy, so when he released it, he knew he would surely go unconscious, but, in the Time Chamber he was safe. However, the Saiyan suddenly sensed another energy in the chamber with them, and looked over to see what it was.

It was at that moment, that Okarot was distracted from his attack, accidentally, releasing the dormant energy charged in his hand, causing him to begin to fade out of consciousness. He snapped out of Super Saiyan 3 and collapsed to the ground, going unconscious.

Lisa was... surprised by the result of the attack. Both of the fighters appeared to be incapacitated by the attack. Lisa wondered if they were dead or not, but it was merely a matter of reading space once more. The blood was still traveling through the space in their bodies. Hearts were beating... or in the android case hearts were thought to be beating. She wasn't sure. In fact she wasn't quite sure of his status at all after the attack. Lisa reasoned the sensible thing to do would be to clean up. She was somewhat aware of the fact that she could be doing other things, but she had no idea where her evil double would be. Looking for her would be hard considering all the places she could possibly be. In fact, Lisa consider the fact that she might not be in her own dimension at all.

Either way it didn't matter all that much now. Lisa decided, for efficencies sake, to attempt a trick she had never tried before. She focused on the space she occupied. She took a step to the side, and like magic a double of her apeared next to her. Although it was merely her occupying two spaces at the same time, it might as well have been a clone or copy to others, since Lisa would be able to process two different actions from both of them at the same time (Though three or four doubles would start to get taxing). So with that she headed towards them both. Acertaining their condition and then observing and waiting for a response to their presence one they woke up.

[Charmera]

August Carter/Ranger-13 Yrs-Devil's Den

As the red haired woman approached us, I quickly noticed she was pretty cute too. I mean, whats going on here? Why are all the women prettier than the ones I go to school with? However, as she spoke to Chorus, her tone seemed one more threatening. As she explained something about Chorus wanting her voice back, which I already knew. But then began to explain things like how our powers were limited here, and then insulted chorus by accusing that she may need to cheat to win.

As her new body guard, I could not let that slide. I stood up on my toes and stuck my chest out to make myself appear taller, but it did not help very much.

"HEY! Chorus does not need to cheat! She would not to that! She does all of her own shows and writes her own songs! She has far more talent than a girl like you!" I then crossed my arms in my attempt to act tough forgetting I was wearing a Robin hoodie which only added to my already childish appearance. Despite the fact the symbol was the design my mother used when she was robin.

They call me a mama's boy.

"Besides, I am her body guard. So, if you threaten her, you have to deal with me. And if this place limits our abilities, then we can take this...." I trailed off as I had no idea where to go. I just kinda woke up here. I then looked confused and turned to Chorus.

"Ummmm....where do we go?"

Janice rolled her eyes. "That's just precious kid." She responded mockingly. "As for talent. Sure Songbird here can sing. But that's all she is. A pretty bird in a gilded cage who happened to find a neat sword." She got up. Cracking her neck as Chorus turned back to August.

Chorus paused for a second. Then she got out her pen and napkin. She wrote quickly, then slammed her note down on Janice's table. Then looked up and the hoodie girl with a look of challenge. Janice raised an eyebrow and took a look at the napkin. '

"'Gotham Park. In two hours.'" She smiled. "Well. I suppose Songbird has a warcry." She then walked up to Chorus and put her face close to hers. "But do you have any claws?" She asked. Then walked away.

[Charmera]

---

Idly taking off the stern, demonic-looking cursed mask now that she believed the danger had passed, Garnet looked towards Akari in surprise, her eyes growing wide as she heard the Nekomata introduce herself. The same last name? That could only mean one thing. The blonde woman scratched her head. Was everyone related there or something? She'd thought that was Iceland, not Japan. Though it probably had something to do with them being Youkai.

"Kazumo? Then you must be Masami's sister." The sole human in the field reasoned. They looked about the same age after all, though then again, she figured that she didn't really have much of an idea of how Youkai aged. They both could be far older than her for all she knew, though of course, she hadn't bothered to ask Masami about her age. She knew better than that. It would be rude, to say the least, and she wasn't sure she cared enough anyway.

Afterwards, hearing Azami speak about the deal, Garnet listened quietly. Noticing Masami looking at her, however, she sighed.

"What the hell are you looking at, fox lady?" The blonde woman said somewhat aggressively, frowning. "I have no reason to bother weighing in on this. You're the one who would be interested in the deal, not me. I have my own goals and they have nothing to do with Japan, or Youkai, or your family." She stated bluntly.

"I will follow you because I owe you, not because I care about any of these things. So choose already."

---

Akari cocked her head. Confused at Garnets confusion. "Yes. I am actually." She remarked, then her eyes widened. "Oh right." She remarked, remembering the obvious racial differences between her and the Kitsune. She shrugged. "It's... a long story. I'll let Masami explain." She remarked.

Meanwhile the Kitsune nodded to Oni, and then smirked at Garnet's response. "I knew all that. It's simply considerate to ask a friend their opinion at times like these. Don't you agree?" She asked, then shrugged, her face becoming more serious. "Glad to know you're on board though. Your companionship and support has been immeasurably invaluable to me."

Azami spoke then, after yawning. "This would be cute if you weren't wasting my time." She remarked. "Do we have a deal or not fox?"

Masami turned back to Azami, nodding.

"Good. Akari. I assume you're going to be accompanying them?"

Akari nodded too. "Yes Aunt Azami. I will be." She had a look of determination.

"Very well. Your target is a group in Tokyo known as the Red Fang. We're not yet sure of their purpose. But they have been kidnapping many humans and innocent Yokai. Between the four of you, this shouldn't be too difficult. Considering Masami's tracking skills, finding them shouldn't be too hard."

"Any questions?"

---

---

Etla put some resistance as Ihra tried to pull away from her, not wanting to break up the hug and quite frankly caring little about the other girl's preferences. Her elder sister had always been uneasy with physical contact, even among other Rainborn, but Etla didn't really pay that fact much attention, she would hug her as much as she damn pleased. But then, it was true that she hadn't seen her sister in a long time, so she figured that letting her go early just this once wouldn't hurt anyone, so, a bit reluctantly, she released her sister from the hug and backed off a bit, listening to her.

However, listening to Ihra speak all terrified, Etla couldn't help it and started giggling at the redhead's words. Judging from the description, she had seen a car and come across some thugs. All those things that were so mundane in this world had confused her to no end at first, too, but whereas Ihra had reacted with terror, she had been fascinated. They were mostly harmless things, anyway! Normal humans were no match to a Rainborn even without a powerful Core available, so Ihra really didn't have any reason to be afraid, but Etla supposed that her reaction wasn't all that strange considering her personality. Either way, she found the tale, as well as the way in which it was told, very humorous, and took a moment to calm down before replying.

"Oh, Ihra, I can understand the rest, more or less, but I don't see why you'd be scared to see me sparring with someone. It's no different from all the times that we..." She spoke, but as she trailed off, her smile died down, and she paused for a moment. "...All the times that we sparred in the Skyworld."

Craig's arrival served to cheer her up a bit, though. "Craig's very smart and he's shown me a lot of things." She said with a happy grin on her face.

Ihra looked very embarrassed when she was laughed at by her own sister, shame at the things that had scared her seemed to be laughed off by her sister. What was I thinking? How could I help Etla? She's doing fine and the first thing I do when I get to a new world is panic. I should have just stayed home... She awkwardly shuffled, looking down in shame.

"Well... I... I was just scared alright. I don't know. Humans seem very different from us... they..." She struggled. "Don't laugh at me... please..."

She sighed in relief when the topic of conversation was changed. She looked to Craig. "He..." She paused, staring at the human for a bit. "He seems nice." She remarked. She remembered back to when the humans had attacked her. So much anger. It wasn't like sparring. Suddenly she frowned at Craig. "Be nice to my sister. Alright?" She said bluntly. There was an edge to her words that wasn't there before.

[Charmera]

As Okarot slowly came to, sat up on the ground, rubbing the side of his head due to the pain he felt throughout it. He had known that there would be quite the hangover afterwards, but this All the damage he had sustained during combat really hit him now, and he could feel it throughout his body. It became clear that Super Saiyan 3 was not a perfect transformation, but instead, was an incomplete form. It had to be, as neither Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan 2 caused this much damage upon initial transformation. This was the Super Saiyan tree of transformations pushed to it's maximum, as his body now struggled to keep up with the power. And, that meant that to improve, he not only needed to ascend, he needed to progress to a whole new tree of transformations.

As he dwelled on this subject, he suddenly looked up to observe his surroundings, and upon seeing the female android standing over him, he quickly jumped to his feet, assuming a combat stance, but quickly calming himself as he sensed her power level, and relaxed demeanor. He spoke in a somewhat confused tone, unaware how this android got into the time chamber, "How did you get in here?", he asked, looking around for any kind of entrance door, "I was under the impression that this dimension had no entrance built. Did you open a portal?"

The android looked upon the Saiyan as he overreacted to her presence. She tensed slightly. But then relaxed when he did. She looked upon him for a little longer, observing him for a little while. She had never seen a Saiyan this close up, though her curiosity lessened when she realized how similar to human he was in looks. She mentally shrugged and then came back to his question. Not realizing she had left a somewhat awkward pause. '

"I can travel between dimensions." She replied. "I was just coming back from an alternate universe recently. I wanted to go to my home dimension, but it seems this one seems to have been... in my way." She explained. Trying to convey the intricacies of traveling between dimensions as she did would be hard enough, but she was also an android, who found communication difficult at the best of times. "I came in time to see both of you fighting..." She remarked. "Are you injured? Why were you fighting that other Saiyan? Why was your hair glowing golden?" She asked in quick succession.

[Charmera]

Samantha Grimm
Sam couldn't help but give a sleepy grin at her older sister's words as she snuggled into Sarah's embrace, resting her head on the older girl's shoulder. Samantha never had real parents in her life, but Sarah had always been her parental figure. Sarah had raised both her and Hannah, and Samantha had always felt that Sarah was her mother, older sister, and best friend wrapped up into one person.

"I slept well sis, I was exhausted last night. I still can't believe we got away with all that money. I'll have to cast a spell to see how much it is." She said to her, before yawning against Sarah's shoulder. She then heard her speak about Hannah and going out on the town. "I'd like to explore the city too, there's sure to be plenty of interesting stuff. We should let Hannah sleep though. Her wolf form always tires her out, and we don't want her to be cranky." Samantha said to her older sister with a smile. She was only half joking as Hannah was not a pleasent person without her sleep.

"Morning guys." Spoke Hannah as she walked in. Much more chipper and upbeat than usual. In her arms, though she didn't really realize it at the moment, was her teddy. Very well taken care of, though it's age was somewhat obvious. She held it to her body as she walked in. Her hair was somewhat disheveled and her ears were somewhat floppy. She looked well rested however, better rested than she had been since... well... maybe forever.

"Being rich is sweet... don't you guys think?" She spoke, sighing as she sat next to her sisters, her arm around the teddy bear. "I don't think I've ever slept that good before. Like... ever!"

[Charmera]

---

---

Sarah chuckled lightly at Samantha's comment about the money, simply nodding, sharing in her sister's disbelief. "Yeah, that was the biggest hit we've ever orchestrated, Sam. I'm very confident in myself and in you girls, but even I didn't expect it to go off without a hitch." She stated, before smiling widely. "Yet here we are." She remarked with evident glee. Of course, it wasn't actually true that they had managed to get off without any sort of trouble, as they had run into the wizard not a moment after teleporting out of the bank and to the runaway van, but even then, they had managed to fend off the wizard yet again, take the money and run for it, so all in all, given the odds they were up against, the operation was outrageously successful.

Afterwards, hearing the door of Hanah's room open, the eldest Grimm smiled once again, looking at her little sister as she walked out of the room, clutching her teddy bear. Sarah thought it was truly heartwarming how Hanah seemed to take such great care with her favorite toy, even if she had no idea where it had come from. Noticing how the teenage girl sat down next to her, the pale woman produced a hairbrush from the shadows of the room and began using it to gently brush Hanah's hair with her free hand, as her other arm was still cuddling Samantha.

"Being rich is rather enjoyable, my little puppy." Sarah said with her soft voice. "Say, we were planning to go outside. Do you want to come?" She asked, hoping the girl would say yes. She didn't think she could bring herself to leave her alone in the suite after all; it was not only dangerous to her, it was dangerous to other people. But then her smile turned mischievous as she figured out what to say in order to convince her. Really, her little sister was predictable.

"We might just find something tasty for breakfast~"

---

Hannah's belly growled in response to that. Interrupting her contented smile as she was having her hair brushed. She thought for a moment, then made a cute little yawning growl as she got up. "Sure. I could use some food. We might have some fun or something too..." She remarked. She then stretched her limbs slightly. "Let me just pack the backpack." Hannah reffered to her pack as "The Backpack" as it had many things that benefited the group as a whole. Of course she packed teddy in there always. Carefully so he wouldn't get hurt. She then placed the medical kit and several other things they might need. After all you never know what you might need on the road.

---

Ku howled in agony, his ever-changing voice causing even this howl to be cast in the voice that the listener would fear the most. The stone spikes protruding from Tarasekannú's back ran through the Time Demon's ever-changing body, causing him a great deal of pain. Even then, however, he would have continued attempting to tear the volcanic dragon avatar's wings right off of his back, had it not been for the stream of lava that shot out from his back, which burned away most of Ku's body, forcing him to fade away and reform elsewhere, rewinding the damage that had been caused to him.

Not one to miss a beat, the Time Demon was about to attack again, but this time, he was intercepted by an invisible force: telekinesis. The psionic force constricted the dark formless creature and raised him high into the air before slamming him repeatedly against the ground.

"Leave my brother alone, monster!" Hadrimmelis roared in fury. However, the physical abuse that Ku was suffering as a result of the psionic attack wound up destroying most of its body once again, and so, the Time Demon reformed next to the scarlet dragon this time, taking her head and slamming it into the ground as payback for the previous attack, before grabbing her by the neck, hoisting her into the air and slamming her down once again.

'
Yami frowned, then pointed a scaled hand at Ku, who happened to be slamming her sister into the floor. Her dragon eyes turned yellow as she access her Manipura aura, the Aura which dealt with self Energy and willpower, a yellow energy eveloping her. Empowering her magical attack as she sent it forth from her clawed arm, the attack designed to force Ku to drop her sister.

"His regeneration is troublesome..." She muttered. "If I had full knowledge of my auras, i might be able to do something about it..."

Ashy and Aru managed to dodge their own attacks, Aru with contemptible ease. Computer systems in her suit helped her navigate her own attacks. Her drones weren't so lucky however, and had been annhilated in the blast. Ash too didn't have to worry about her own attacks either.

Aru turned to the time demon. With considerable speed she went towards him. With a thought she got out two of her warp grenade launcher and her bubble gun and aimed at her target. The bubble itself might hold for a while perhaps, and the warp nades might actually do some damage, considering their physics warping nature. But really she wasn't sure. But there was no time for doubt as she bombarded her target with precise accuracy.