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

[Charmera]

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Kirisvala smiled again, wider than the previous time, when Xyri seemed to accept her apology. She was quite happy with this, believing that they could be friends even after having fought each other, and she couldn't help feeling identified with the other girl, seeing how she was also pretty confused about how stuff worked here on Earth, or more specifically, Jump City. Of course, the reasons for this were very different from her own, and whereas Xyri just seemed confused, Kiris had an attitude of sheer fascination at most things she saw, but even then, she felt that they had some common ground. "I'm glad you're not angry. That means we can be friends, right?" She asked with a warm smile.

However, at the green girl's next comment, the young Hadrian looked up and saw the orange discs that were flying down to surround them. "They're pretty..." She mumbled softly as she saw them descend and begin to glow with blue energy, oblivious to the fact that these were deadly weapons from another alien race. However, the message broadcast by these drones was clear enough for even her to understand, and she wasn't keen on being annihilated, or allowing her newfound friends to be annihilated, for that matter. Now, logic would dictate that she would thus surrender, as she didn't really think much of it anyway, since they were basically asking her not to fight as far as she was concerned, but then Mars turned to her, essentially asking her to help fend off the aliens before flying off and engaging them in combat. That took her a little by surprise, but she didn't want to see her friends annihilated and so, seeing Rikki start fighting the discs too, she quickly decided to do the same.

"Alright, I'll help! I'll show the mean drones what Wynn magic can do!" She proclaimed.

It was an unfortunate thing that she couldn't fly (she had once heard a few tales of special Hadrians who had the gift of wings, which was what prompted her fascination regarding flying people, but so far she was pretty certain that she wasn't one of them, and with good reason), as it prevented her from reaching the drones as easily as the others, but it wasn't quite a decisive handicap, as even though she could not fight hand-to-hand against the drones, she had several more tricks up her sleeve, figuratively speaking of course since her massive claws prevented her from being able to wear sleeves.

Clasping her claws together in front of herself, Kirisvala closed her eyes and recalled one of the many spellsongs she had learned during her training with the rest of the offspring of the Wynn clan of the mountains. Though she had always had a special affinity for the potent magic developed by the Wynn clan, she had never really taken their goals and ambitions seriously, but even then she had learned much, and now was the time to demonstrate it. Focusing, she began singing softly in an ancient alien tongue, unintelligible to any of the heroes present, more akin to a lyrical manifestation of the soul than a simple composition of the mortal mind. The singing voice of a Hadrian was often renowned for being among the most beautiful things in the universe, likely a testament to their creator's more artistic side, and Kirisvala's voice was no exception. Thus, when she began singing, it was a sound that subtly demanded the attention of those present, even if it was not a conscious effort on Kirisvala's part, but rather a natural effect.

What was a conscious effort from Kiris was the weaving of the very specific spellsong that she was now singing. She had no knowledge of these creatures that they were up against, but the Hymn of Ruin, one of the few offensive spellsongs she had learned, felt like a good choice to her. Soon after she had begun singing, the air around her rippled, and suddenly, an aura of white fire manifested around her, like a bright, warm cocoon that allowed others to see inside, but prevented anyone from entering. The spell in fact had many uses, but for now, the young Hadrian decided to settle for one of the more basic ones, and simply sent several bolts of holy flames out towards the drones attacking her friends, all while singing her song. Though several of her white fire missiles missed their targets, several more did hit their marks, the holy flame destroying the drones with little effort.

The Drones put up a valiant effort, but it seemed they didn't have what it takes to deal with the metahumas, their plasma blasters bounced off the tougher skins of the group. Xyri stretched herself, taking two from their positions and crushing them. And then since they all seemed around the same height, she sent out a large whip of slime from her arm which cut through most of the drones which tried to shoot her. She frowned, looking up as suddenly more orange discs came down. Not only that, but two or three orange rectangular drop ships dispensed orange suited blue men. They disgorged battlesuitsof some sort too, all of which seemed intent on destroying the group of heroes.

"These guys really seem to like orange." Observed Xyri, completely seriously. Not even in a joking manner,

---

---

Hadrimmelis sighed as she heard Tarasekannú's questions, leaning back on her own throne. They were difficult questions for her to answer, for several reasons, and so, she stayed silent for several moments before finally responding to her younger brother.

"I went to you, Taras, because I had found myself in a moment of weakness. The others may have been involved in the first Time Demon War just like I had been, but they were not the ones charged with developing a weapon to defeat the Time Demon once and for all, they were not the ones who had to take a child and turn him into a cosmic weapon. They did not have the same burden that I did." She explained, somewhat frowning at the mention of the other dragons. Though she couldn't blame them, and did not think any less of them for it, she still couldn't help remembering that, when she had found a possible solution, all of them had insisted that she was to be the one to develop it by herself. They had left her that burden.

"I was expecting... I was hoping that you wouldn't listen, to be honest. You're not the most attentive, Taras, if I may make that observation, and you seemed rather busy when I went to speak with you. But you did listen, and for that, I am very glad and grateful." She said, for a moment smiling slightly.

"As for why the others did not come to help..." She continued, her smile fading quickly. "I cannot say for certain, and guessing will only worsen our ignorance. You two are, indeed, the only ones to whom I talked about Addraku and the Time Demon before our battle took place, but I am certain that the distortion was felt by all of our siblings. I know for a fact that Kazayannú has very strong reasons for not venturing far from himself, but as for the others, I couldn't say. They might've been preparing to awaken in order to combat the threat, perhaps." She mused. "I cannot say, but what I can do is forgive them. After all, even with all of us there, it was unlikely that we would slay the demon; at most, we would weaken him enough to imprison him again, beginning a new cycle. But I have strong reasons to believe that what happened is a far better alternative." She stated.

"Do you have any other questions, brother and sister? By all means, speak to your hearts' content. After everything you both have done to help me, answering is the least I can do." She offered with another smile.

"I only wish you had confided in me sooner." Yami spoke, a smile smile on her face. But then she pressed her glasses slightly. "It seems this... Ku may have allies though. Ones which may already be among us. Ones who may be worse than he." She spoke. "Do you have any method we could resort to in defeating them?"

[Charmera]

-snip

Darkstar Crisis
Battle of the Nexus
Part One

Max's eyes lit up as he saw the All-Mother grace his presence, and he crooked his knees and touched his hands to the floor, "By any means, All-Mother, welcome to my humble vessel. I am in your debt, as your aid to me is far, far greater than what I had provided when Everything Died." The Mad God said, raising back to his feet and shifting his weight slightly, Mir and Val standing up from their respective bows as well. "I am glad and thankful for your Valkyries, weaponry, and even yourself, Valka. We face impossible odds, but our allies are plentiful and powerful, All-Mother, and no force in the cosmos can withstand your will." He further noted.

"But, our conversation must be cut short, as we've arrived at the Rubicon Sphere." He gravely informed his new allies, motioning for them to go through a set of sliding doors - revealing the modest command center of the rudimentary vessel. Still, it was equipped with a massive screen for communications, and it buzzed to life as a transmission was broadcast. Max gently lowered the helm of his armor over his head, locking it into place with an airtight seal as he readied himself for gun boat diplomacy. A small, blue man was the one who faced the gathered group, a smug expression stuck on it's face - one of the Guardians of the Universe, no doubt.

"Maxwell Morningstar," The Guardian began, ensuring that it thoroughly pronounced every syllable in his name, "Celestial Messiah, you are forbidden to travel any further towards the M'Krann Crystal. Let this be a single warning, and any attempts to challenge that status will result in your untimely demise, young king. I - Valorex, Guardian of the Universe -stand as a messenger for the most powerful assembly in all of the cosmos - beware our power, Mad God."

The silence weighed upon the room, the Guardian baring down upon Max in particular as it searched for weakness in the face of the ultimatum. Instead, Mad Max gave a slight smile behind his mask, and a light, audible chuckle - clearly infuriating the Guardian. "I disregard your order, as I may go wherever I please. You tell me to beware, Valorex, but I'll tell you where to be if you don't stand aside. I've tried to reason with the Guardians, with the New Gods, but you are all so lost in your unwavering arrogance that you refuse to believe that a threat capable of wiping out this universe is coming - it has already destroyed hundreds on it's way toward our own!" Max yelled, stepping forward and balling his fists as he talked to a stubborn old blue man. "It's name is Darkstar - and only I can close the Nexus before he comes."

A sour, uncaring expression was held by the Guardian, who replied simply and without much emotion. "You have decided your own fate, Messiah. An ignoble choice - only death awaits you beyond the Rubicon." With that calm threat, the video feed flicked off and turned to static, fading from view entirely as the Guardian left the group to their own devices. Max turned to look at his compatriots, a smile hiding behind his helmet.

"I think that went better than expected." Mir sarcastically noted, giving Otto and Val a chuckle, Maxwell nodding in agreement. At that moment, a shock rippled across the ship and shook the entire vessel - as if the hull was hit by a canon. The jolt sent no one to the floor, as almost all on board were powerful beings capable of withstanding such force, but it made the entire crew alert and combat ready. "The hell was that?!" Mir demanded, another hit banging throughout the ship. "Motherfu-" He said, charging out of the sliding door and rushing out of the questionable safety of the ship and into the void of space outside of it.

He was followed by Max and Otto, the rest taking point as well. Mir breathed with rage in his huffs, the allies looking on to see the cause of the commotion - finding themselves faced with the Alpha Green Lantern Corps and their Honor Guard brethen, along with scores of other assembled Green Lanterns from nearby Sectors. Their rings glowed an incandescent green, and some had conjured the projection of a large artillery construct - which was launching energy projections at the ship. "You think a show of force will scare us?" Mir demanded, flexing his chest and tightening his overall physique. "I am the Hand of the Mad God, and you are but servants to a lost cause!"

"Force, Mir?" A familiar voice asked, the same voice of the Guardian, Valorex, who had given Max and his allies the ultimatum to turn back. "This is but an exercise in humility...and obedience." The Guardian appeared above his Lantern entourage, halds clasped behind his back and slightly smirking at Max, Mir, Val, Otto, Valka, and her Valkyries. "I say this now because we are not alone. Behold, the combined might of dreaded Apokolips and heavenly New Genesis." Valorex said, waving his hand and gesturing behind the crew - some of which turned to look, and found only their ship.

Until a bright, burning beam tore through it in a massive, unconstrained explosion - spewing the molten wreckage all around and revealing two monolithic powerhouses in it's wake. The originator of the energy beam stood stoic and with burning eyes - the power of the Omega Beams surging within, the truly awesome power of Darkseid. Directly opposite of him was none other than his brother, Highfather, who stood in much the same way, and behind them were but a few of their New God associates. In effect, the forces had Max's allies surrounded, and with the presence of a Guardian, the Green Lanterns would prove to be just as much of a threat as the New Gods themselves.

Max thought quickly, knowing Valka would intercept the mental message, and giving but a firm nod to Mir and Val as he thought to the All-Mother. "Valka - I'm going to rush the Nexus. As long as it closes, we can rest easy. Until then, fight hard, keep them away from me, and I'll be back to help in a few minutes. I'm sorry for the burden I'm placing on your shoulders, but I trust no one else with a feat so mighty." With that, Max simply blinked away, covered by a sudden charge of Mir and Otto against the Green Lanterns, igniting the Battle for the Nexus.

Val might feel a sudden hand on her shoulder before she next moved. A very familiar hand of someone who had punched her recently. Actually one that had [unched her many times repeatedly recently. Then a soft, melodious voice came out of that hands owner, once which complemented its owner very well. "Hello Val." Ashy spoke, before hopping out in front of her once sparring partner. She was looking as radiantly heavenly and insufferably beautiful as always. "I would first like to say congratulations to you all. You managed to get Darkseid to work together with his brother and the GL corps." She joked, a smile on her face. "Mind filling me in on what' happened? I could just extract the information from your mind, but that would be a little rude." She spoke, knowing full well that her slightly arrogant attitude could earn her a slap or a punch. Part of her was enjoying the anticipation of the uncertainty of how Val would react to her reappearance. "Oh, by the way, where is MIr?"

[Charmera]

-snip

Van Zant

While the drones were easily dealt with by the other youngsters, Van Zant kept his eyes glued on the ships floating precariously above them, naturally worried and expecting something far worse than propaganda discs. "Shit..." He mumbled, watching as some vessels broke formation and dropped low towards the ground - pouring out actual soldiers and armored walkers, not to mention more drones. Van tightened his fist as one of the battlesuits locked onto him with it's weird light fixtures where it's face should be. Quickly, the damn thing launched at Van - prompting him to dodge out of the way at the last second.

"Close!" He yelled, pivoting on his ankle and hoping to turn and blow right into the Rantu battlesuit's back - but found a charged shot of plasma hurling right at him from the same unit. He hadn't the time to yelp as the supercharged shot slammed into Van's body and rocketed him back several feet. He was back on his feet in no time, the tactile telekinetic shield reducing the heat and force by several magnitudes as it impacted. Still, Van couldn't help but feel a bit outclassed technologically here. What he lacked in smarts, though, Van hoped to make up for in bravery and durability. Zant then leapt forward in a flash - faster than what the Rantu pilot could physically track and respond to - and jammed his fist right into the battlesuit's midsection.

Effortlessly, Van lifted his arm and the battlesuit with it, flipping it over his back and slamming it back down onto the hard ground below in a fearsome CLACK! - cracking it at the suit's joints and disorienting the pilot. Standing over the suit, Van lifted both of his fists up and slammed them down quickly, smashing the body of the battlesuit with both and shattering the crystalline material that made up the suit - specifically designed to take incredible amounts of shock - until it appeared collapsed inward where the pilot was. Van would have continued, but a sudden blast to the shoulder from a plasma rifle tossed him forward and skidding along the ground. He turned to face his next opponent, and found them to be actual soldiers - Fire Warriors of the Rantu - with their rifles trained on Zant and surrounded by hovering drones. "Surrender. Now." One demanded in a computerized voice, a translation.

Van stood himself back up and stared down at the Fire Warriors, three in all, and began to think his way through this situation. Everything else around him seemed to just fade away as his vision tunneled, and a familiar sensation flowed through his veins as adrenaline pumped it's way throughout his body - amplifying his powers in the process. "I know you don't know who I am," He said quietly, almost as if he was nervous, "But you must know what planet you're on. Earth, ever hear of it? We kick alien asses every other day." He said, running forward at the three Warriors, the soldiers firing their plasma weaponry in rapid succession. To their shock, Van Zant tanked the plasma slag and did not slow down - his telekinetic shield powered up to absurd levels.

The superhuman slammed into one of the Fire Warriors with a clothesline, dropping him to the concrete where his entire body bounced off the hard surface and skidded back. Van, right after the impact, pivoted and stopped his momentum - extending both his fist and his foot, his balled hand colliding with the Warriors' helmet in front of him and his foot connecting with the chest of the one behind him - sending both flying in the opposite direction with enough force to be fatal, had they not been wearing such protective suits. As Van dealt with those immediate threats, a series of drones began to surround him and hover quickly, Zant dropping low into another combat stance, taking a quick swing at one drone and completely missing.

The drones began to pelt him with bullets in rapid succession - Van's barrier giving him the appearance of incredible durability, but it wasn't a situation he could keep up forever. He began to think, wonder what he could do to drop the drones. Like a lightbulb, Van's eyes lit up as he figured out what he could do, though, it was a gamble. He hadn't done it before, but the idea seemed plausible enough. Zant concentrated hard, straining his muscles and mental capacity as he focused on pushing his telekinetic shield outwards violently. Right before Van passed out from hardly even breathing, he felt a sudden surge travel down his spine, and in a primal yell, he exploded his tactile telekinetic shield out and away from his body with such vigor that it simply shredded the drones circling him.

The shield snapped back to Van like a rubber band, but the effort exhausted the youngster. "A few down...a few hundred more to go." He said, trying to catch his breath, watching the others handle the Rantu for a moment before rejoining the battle.

The 30 foot Xyri saw they were being outnumbered, so reasoned this could be more efficient if she split herself. Xyri just stopped and her body split down the middle. Suddenly Xyri was now two slime girls, each 15 feet tall.

Each Xyri did different things. The first one ran into a group of firewarriors she dwarfed, taking their plasma shots like they were small stings. The small arms were really not nearly enough to deal with her. She suddenly reached out with her hand, and it split at least six times into six completely different hands, each of which grabbed a Rantu helment and then tore it off their face. Next she grabbed the six Rantu and simply absorbed them, instantly increasing by about 36 feet of height. She then gathered the other group in her hands and shoved them in her mouth. They were absorbed as slime seeped through into their armour.

15 foot Xyri took on a battlesuit. Moving towards it, the Battlesuit saw her and sprayed her with plasma. This didn't work well, as she still continued her march towards it. The Rantu suit then switched to a misslelaucher, which tore into Xyri, quickly blasting her and sending slime blasting off her. She groaned in pain, but took the blast, her arm now gone. She did not want that to happen again, so she charged the suit, slamming into it. The force knocked in back, damaging the mech. It reloaded it's missles and began to back away from it's foe, blasting her again, this time Xyri lost another arm. Regeneration couldn't take place since the biomass had been blown off her, but even as that was the case the slime which had dropped was now coming back to her.

Her foe seemed to pause. Almost afraid of this thing before her. More alien than the pink humans, this thing was scaring him. He was about to turn tail when suddenly his path was blocked by an even bigger slime girl, with an unimpressed look on her face. It backed awa from the giant green girl, only to find itself grabbed in her hand and then flicked it's mechanical head off, revealing the Rantu within. That rantu within was spared, only to be tossed to the smaller Xyri so he could be absorbed. The 20 foot Xyri then quickly absorbed a nearby firewarrior after ripping of his helmet and grabbed the Rantu mech, intent on using it as a club. The other Xyri turned to a group of fire warriors, grunting as thirty of them shot her. It hurt, but it wouldn't kill her. Still, they seemed to be occupying her, while a cloud of drones circled her. One drone in particular had a red marking and seemed to be armed with a missile launcher.

[Charmera]

Katie looked down, stifling her own tears. She felt that now was not the time for her tears. She had time to mourn before, but now was time time to help Kylie. Katie walked slowly towards Kylie, not too fast, and did not yet make physical contact. "I'm sorry... before I... I really couldn't. It was hard to say. But... then you..." She gritted her teeth, this was difficult. Trying to help her... now she knew what it was like for the others. She paused again, giving her more time. "Jasmine went crazy. Came into his room. I was there but..." A tear rolled down her cheek. "I couldn't stop her Kylie... I couldn't..." She spoke.

She then paused again. "Eric... left something for you.... for all of us actually." She spoke. "It helped when... when I saw it."

Katie might not have wanted to touch Kylie while she was like this, but Kylie certainly needed someone to lean on. She lurched out for Katie, crying into her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I... I don't even know anymore. What to say, what to do. Right now... I just wanna go home." She could taste her tears as she tried to speak. They had finished the mission, so they actually should have been home by now. If it weren't for all this...

Kylie just couldn't stop crying. She just wanted to go home, take off her rings, and cry. It was late, and there would be time to deal with her feelings as she slept.

Katie nodded. She placed a hand on her friends head and then suddenly the two of them were zipping through the electrical system. Eventually she ended up in Katies room, coming in from the light socket. She took her hand and led her to her bed.

"We can talk later if you want... talking helps." She spoke. "Whenever your ready... I have something to show you."

[Charmera]

-snip

Darkstar Crisis
Battle of the Nexus
Part Two

Valentine

The young human turned with a sour face, Val's eyes narrowed and her nose flared as Ashy's voice filled her ears. But, that expression turned into relief, and a welcoming smile. Val waited as Ashy asked her questions, responding with, "That's nice." To her comment about reading minds - thoroughly unimpressed as they were about to fight literal Gods who can such feats in their sleep. "If you're looking for Mir, well, just sorta glance behind me and see for yourself." She said casually, moving aside and turning her head back for a moment, revealing an absolutely chaotic, and incredible brutal scene as Mir and Otto were tearing through Green Lanterns and shattering their energy constructs casually, the overwhelming amount of testosterone and bromance between the two almost sickening. "Show offs..." Val said callously, "Shit!" She then yelled, barely dodging a sharp, red-hot blade from a female New God.

"Pitiful that you let an ally distract you," The woman said, "So burn for it." The crazed Apokoliptian then swung her volatile blade towards Val's midsection, but the girls' inhuman reactions were able to save her from the blow by catching her opponent's fist - and in the same motion - slammed her own emotionally-charged fist into her would be attacker's face, impacting the woman's upper lip and nose area, sending her flying back. Val tightened her fists and cracked her knuckles in the process, a burning cascade of anger flooding her body and empowering her further.

"Bernadeth!" Another woman called out, "How dare you lay so much as a finger on a member of the Female Furies! I shall present your head to the Dark God myself, you uncultured swine." The field leader of the Furies, Lashina, called out, accompanied by three other members of the notorious all-girl group under the heel of Darkseid. "Stompa, Artemis, Mad Harriet! Tear that wretch to shreds!" Lashina commanded, throwing a pair of metal strips towards Val as the other three ladies launched forward to begin their assault in unison - Val ready to take on the team on her own, but remembering that she had an unlikely ally, Ashy, along side her.

Val raised her fists in front of her face and breathed steadily, managing the emotions brewing within her and channeling the empathetic energy throughout the battle - focusing on directing that power into her strikes, speed, and durability. The first to get their face smashed in was Stompa, who tried to swing at Val first, but the human consort of the Mad God bobbed and weaved away from the attack effortlessly, like clockwork, and delivered two solid punches to Stompa's facial area, staggering the girl with the first and knocking her back with the second. Blood pouring from the New Goddess' nose, Stompa wiped it away, "Skinny bitch packs a little punch, huh?" She commented, rushing back in to support the Furies.

Val dodged left and right to avoid the metal bands Lashina controlled, backing up in space in order to round out the Furies, but suddenly discovered more sources of emotional energy. Giving quick pause, Val looked beyond her opponents for a moment and saw another group of New Gods standing before them - next to Lashina - who seemed to be cautious about the entire situation. "Do we...do we join them?" One asked skiddishly, looking for support among his peers. "Just pile up on the girls?"

"Yes, you attack them !" Lashina yelled with mild amounts of fury, "Highfather and Darkseid have forged a truce in order to stop Morningstar's advance to the M'Kraan Crystal - and these two witches have decided to help the Mad God destroy this universe and rule the Multiverse. We are temporary allies, and our enemies are one in the same." Lashina further informed the young group, "Now, Forever People," She said with much disdain, "Attack the gorgeous one."

"Oh come on - I already have enough on my plate!" Val yelled, blocking a punch by Stompa but being sliced by Mad Harriet's claws. "...C'mon, it's a joke." She said, still being pushed back, but the sudden and almost unexpected arrival of several Asgardian Valkyries tore away Mad Harriet and Artmeis from attacking Val, pouncing upon them and leaving only Stompa to deal with Valentine. Two other Valkyries appeared next to Ashyandra, giving the Vokornian a silent nod of respect. "Looks like we have some company. They're lacking in dangle-y parts, but hey - us gals need to stick together. Right?" Val quipped, punching Stompa right in the nose, almost ignoring the fact that Stompa, and the Female Furies, were all ladies as well.

---

Ashy smiled at Val's joke. Then put a hand through her hair. "Of course. Us girls do have to stick together. Especially where there is ass to be kicked and fools to be schooled." She replied, chuckling at her joke. She had said it in the aloof and condescending manner to which she was accustomed. She the turned her head towards her opponents. The Forever People. A group of new gods she knew of, but didn't really know well. "So, I'm guessing you're not exactly going to see reason and the fact we're not actually your enemy?"

A bolt of glowing energy from Mark Moonrider seemed to answer for them. Ashy simply created a personal force field which deflected the bolt. She sighed. "I'm guessing that's a no." She nodded to the Valkyries and gave them telepathic orders.

"The highfather says we have to stop you. So we will." Spoke Big Bear as he banged his first against the forcefield, cracking it. Though Ashy showed no signs of distress. She had her hands folded and a smile on her face. When the forcefield broke and Bear trampled through, her found himself hitting nothing but air. When he turned around Ashy was on the other side of the bubble and had sealed the exit, keeping the New god within the shield. A mischievous smile was on her face. "This one might be a tad harder to crack." Spoke Ashy. And she was right. This was a mental construct now rather than a physical one, and would take mental concentration to break. So with their bruiser taken out of the game she turned to the others.

The Valkyries had been occupying and dividing her enemy as they had been told. And now Ashy merely had to deal with each in turn. Unfortunately unless she took out their telepath quickly the measures put in place to stop bear would be worth nothing. Luckily she was occupied with the telepathic Jam she had imposed on her and the Valkyries. She paused as she thought back to Val and their spar. This wasn't at all like the fight with her. This was not a mere fight or a battle for her. It was surgery. Precise, logical and effective. She had put anesthetics in place and was now keeping her subject unconscious. Now to take out the areas she needed to.

She teleported behind Serafina, who had just gotten away from her Vakyrie foe. The two warriors were putting up a wondrous fight as she had expected of them. But Ashy couldn't let them have all the fun. She telekineticaly launched Serafina into the air, tossing her so she landed away from her. The girl responded well to the Vokornians attack, rolling with the force and shooting at her. Ashy was able to dodge the fire from her guns with little trouble. She was about to attack herself when suddenly something unexpected happened. Mark Moonrider was now attacking her in concert with Serafina. Ashy's eyes narrowed slightly as shse adjusted, quickly the dodging became more difficult. She was going to have to re evaluate her plan. The other two were occupied for now, and the worst thing would be for all of them to focus on her. She would have to seal with these two quickly or she might be back at square one.

[Charmera]

Katie nodded. She placed a hand on her friends head and then suddenly the two of them were zipping through the electrical system. Eventually she ended up in Katie's room, coming in from the light socket. She took her hand and led her to her bed.

"We can talk later if you want... talking helps." She spoke. "Whenever your ready... I have something to show you."

Kylie nodded, before closing the door behind her. She sat down on her bed, staring at both of her rings. If I didn't have to go help Jamal, maybe Eric would still... She shook her head. No, thinking like that won't get me anywhere. Kylie moved over to the corner of the room, adjacent to the window. This was where she kept her power batteries for her rings. She placed the yellow ring within the battery, not quite feeling like chanting an oath that involved instilling people with fear. And taking her green ring, she began to recite the oath she learned from Ion.

"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern's Light."

The emerald glow illuminated the room, helping Kylie feel better, at least a bit. With that done, and the green ring placed inside the correct battery, Kylie laid down to sleep. Still in her day clothes, but feeling too content with her green light to worry about it.

---

The next morning was fairly standard. A shower, brushed teeth and hair, and Kylie dressed in some loose clothes that were made for a lazy day at home. She met Katie in the dining room after breakfast. "What did you want to show me? From... what you said last night."

Katie was about to bite through a toasted cheese samwidge when she paused. Then she nodded. She got up and pushed her chair in. "Follow me." She spoke, indicating with her head to move with her. She then led Kylie to a computer which she opened up and then inputed the password, and then she started up the security program, and the message popped up once again. She hadn't the heart yet to press the X next to "Don't show this again." as this message meant a lot to her. It helped to see every so often.

For the most awesome team of Superheroes ever to bring Justice to planet Earth.
I'm probably not going to be around when you guys get this installed and see this message, but I thought I'd put something up to let you know how much you all mean to me in case of my absence during the presentation of the gift.

Naja, though I've not known you for long I still think your awesome. You're probably the most sensible and level headed person I know, as well as the strongest. Try to keep the others from hitting each other too hard.
Kylie, this may not help you get into space and see the galaxy, but it should at least keep unwanted intruders out of your room. Heck, maybe you get to space before you see this. I honestly wouldn't be surprised.
Valency, Without you, this software wouldn't be even remotely possible. I've always wanted to design this kind of stuff, and you've gone a long way to helping my dreams come true. Thank you.
Cora, I've also not known you long, but this is also designed for you. In fact some of your systems inspired this particular brand of software and helped instrumentally in it's designing, though you may not realize it.
Katie, not to single you out. But you are the love of my life. You know that right? You are smart, and funny, and wonderful. I love you so much, and want to see you happy more than anything in the world. I know this JQ stuff has been stressing you out, but keep in mind I've never seen you happier. So I'll keep helping you wherever I can.

To the others. Make sure my girlfriend doesn't die from exhaustion or anything. Drag her out by her hair and get her to relax. It's one of the hardest things for her.

Anyway. Without any further ado, this is my (rather late) founding gift to you. Hope you all enjoy playing around with it. I added a few more things other than security so you should all have fun.

Activate and go to Menu Deactivate

[Charmera]

---

Seeing Craig's reaction to her request, Etla smiled weakly, happy that he seemed to have caught on to her train of thought so quickly, and also happy that she had figured out how she could start helping him. She realized that for someone as weakened as he was, asking for blood like that might have been a bit too much, but she hoped that it would allow her to help him fix his heart. After all, a single drop would likely have been enough for her Core to be able to synthesize a mutant's powers, and it was precisely his genes which gave Craig his powers. Thus, she didn't expect him to run off somewhere and then return with a syringe full of blood, though she could at least be certain now that it would work. After all, a syringe with the Sentry Serum had become the Sentry Core and allowed her to gain all the powers of Alex and Naja. So why wouldn't a syringe of Craig's blood give her his powers?

It was with this in mind that she, ignoring the donuts, pressed the syringe against her chest, which seemed to shine softly with a glow that engulfed the syringe and part of her hand. She pulled out her now empty hand afterwards, and suddenly, she felt completely different from before. She felt a connection to all the technology nearby, and though there was no change in her Core's prodigious information processing power, she now had a bounty of information inside her head which she could draw from in order to come up with a solution to her lover's problem. Furthermore, since the Core in her center was technology in some sense of the word, she could understand it now, far better than she had ever been able to in the past, and so, she now had nearly all of the information she needed in order to save Craig. Now she just needed to put her mind to work and build what she needed, and it would all be alright.

"Craig, it worked! I can solve everything!" She said excitedly, ignoring the fact that there were visits now as she gave him a fugacious kiss and then ran downstairs, munching on her chocolate donut as she went, until she was where she needed to be. Some of the employees present looked at her oddly, but many more simply neglected to pay her attention up until she spoke.

"Alright, everyone! I'm going to need the smallest generator you can get your hands on, some vibranium and a lot of microprocessors. Oh, and a few books about anatomy and medicine." She stated. Most of the employees simply stared at her confusedly, save for a few who recognized her and immediately set to fulfilling her requests, knowing better than to disobey such a close friend of their boss, though they didn't have such a good idea of how close a friend she was. Etla stared at those who weren't moving, and one of them spoke up.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" He asked meekly.

"I'm the lover and savior of your boss, so if you want him to continue being your boss for the foreseeable future, you'll start moving." She stated.

She had to say nothing more, and simply munched on her chocolate donut as the employees brought her everything that she needed.

"Hi Etla..." Came a weak voice from a familiar source. It was Ihra, and even though there wasn't a scratch on her she looked like she had just got a lesson in getting her face smashed into the curb. She paused, looking away from her sister in shame.

---

Ihra had been following her sister, though it was somewhat hard as it involved following someone quite a bit faster than her. Soon she came across the bleeding body of a Red Bulk of muscle. She had not seen the fight, and even if she did, it would not change what she saw: A being who needed her help. She wouldn't care if it had been fighting her, Ihra would not let a being die if she could help it. She ran towards him, her eyes focused on him as she seemed almost faster now with urgency. She knelt down next to the Red hulk, a hand on his wound. "Don't worry. I can heal this." She spoke. She quickly swiped a bit of his blood in a tube, observing it and analyzing it. She frowned. Would her healing work on whatever this was? It seemed human enough.

Red Hulk lifted his arm, but Ihra, put it back down. "Shhh. Don't worry. It's going to be okay." She spoke, smiling as she held his big hand. With her other hand she focused on the wound, and sure enough the would began to nit itself together. She sighed, standing back. "Alright. You should be fine. Get up slowly though, you might have other wounds that need healing."

Ross got up, grunting. He had a frown on his face. Ihra had a smile. He seemed a little grumpy, but Ihra only found it kinda cute. She walked towards him, circling him. "So any other wounds? We wouldn't want any of those getting infect-" She was silenced by the back of a hulkish hand.

She was sent flying into the building. If she had been human, she would have died, though as it stood she was merely heavily wounded. She gritted her teeth in anger, angry at him. But she supressed it and sighed, a look of concern on her face. "Did... Did I do something-?"

"Fuck. You're more stupid than I realized." Spoke the Red giant, he walked towards her. She began healing herself as he did. "You're just like Banner. Suppress your rage until it explodes. Be the "nice guy". It'd be really fucking cute if it weren't so disgustingly weak." He paused. Seeing Ihra attempt to move he simply put his leg down on hers, applying pressure. "Don't bother getting up. You'd be too weak to fight me even if I held back. Running is pointless becuase I'm faster than you and you're just too plain dumb to think of anything clever to beat me."

Rulk leaned down in front of her. A look of anger on his face. "I'm going to keep you alive so you don't do this dumb shit again. So listen well redhead." He spoke. "This is my world. The metahuman world. This is not a world for nice people. This is not a world for weak people. This is not a world for stupid sacks of shit. You just so happen to have the shit luck to be all fucking three." He then grabbed her by the head. "So either you fix one or all of those things, or you go back to whatever pansyville you came from and don't come out of your little gumdrop house. Understand?"

She was then suddenly tossed into a lampost with enough force to bend it. "Don't let me see you ever again. Or I will kill you." Ihra healed herself and got up. She inhaled, exhaled. Her hands closed around her blade and she turned around. But when he wasn't there, she sheathed it. Then she screamed in frustration.

---

She Glanced at the blood vial in her hands. The only reward she had gotten from that whole stupid episode. "Sorry. You said to stay in the devils den but I didn't want to leave you alone."

[Charmera]

---

---

"You taste terrible, by the way." Kirisvala mumbled quietly as she wiped some blood off her mouth with her large clawed hand, having spit the rest of the blood that ended up on her mouth beforehand, the Rantu whose shoulder she had dug into having fainted due to blood loss after comically flailing around and shouting for a while. Making a mental note not to bite another Rantu if she could help it, the young Hadrian looked around the battlefield. There were still a bunch of drones and orange soldiers, even though she had done her best to trim down their numbers with her white fire, in order to keep her new friends from being... what was that word that the orange disc used? "Annihilated"? Yeah, that was it. She didn't want them to be that.

Fortunately, most of her new friends seemed to be holding up just fine. Mars and Rocket were doing well, as was the cool-looking lady, Elena, as well as Zant and Rikki. But as she looked around, she noticed Xyri being surrounded by several of the flying orange discs, including one that looked slightly reddish or something. The Hadrian frowned, not liking the idea of Xyri being annihilated. She looked like a nice girl after all, even if her color was weird, and she had even apologized. Kirisvala was looking forward to being friends with her, and if she got killed by these ugly discs, that would be ruined. With this in mind, once again she did a little hop, then a handstand, and then hand-jumped high into the air.

All of the sudden, before the drones surrounding Xyri fired, Kiris landed in front of the slime girl. Just as the machines let loose their weapons, Kirisvala sank her claws into the ground and let out an earth-shaking roar whose sheer force caused everything around her to vibrate, deflecting or outright destroying all of the projectiles that were headed towards Xyri before they were able to cause her any harm.

With that done, she turned towards the slime girl. "I've got your back! She smiled, and then pounced onto a drone. She wondered what they tasted like.

---

Xyri smiled at her comrade. When Kiris had roared the smile girl too had vibrated slightly, which was wierd, but then she saw it had stopped all the projectiles. She might have been hurt had she not done that. "Thank you." Spoke the giant smile girl, looking down at the girl who was about a foot in height when compared to her. Seeing the opportunity she was given, Xyri was careful not to waste it. She used her hand to slap a whole bunch of drones around her, downing all of them including the red one. And then taking an opertunity, she grabbed more Rantu soilders to absorb. She mentally bemoaned the fact they were all so small. They didn't add nearly enough to Xyri's height for what she had planned.

Xyri didn't usually plan things, but this time she had an idea. And like all of her ideas it revolved around growing bigger. She was going to absorb a lot of things and grow really big, then get large enough to destroy those big orange things in the sky. Though she wasn't sure which orange things to hit, but most if not all of them seemed like valid targets.

She turned to the rest of the group. "Can I absorb the whales now? Cause... then I can get bigger. And when I get bigger I get stronger. Plus I can hit those big orange thingies easy." She explained. Meanwhile the other Xyri was actively bashing battle-suits with her battlesuit club.

---

Supervising the work of her minions the Thomsen Tech employees, Etla paused as she suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her. Turning around, the golden-haired Rainborn saw her older sister Ihra standing there, looking rather downtrodden despite looking pretty much unscathed. Etla wondered what exactly had caused her to look like that. Had she watched the broadcast too? Was that it? The blonde girl reasoned that it was possibly that; after all, she knew for a fact that the video of Craig's torture was rather graphic and disturbing, more so to her, though she definitely understood that it would leave others scarred as well. However, something told her that this wasn't the case.

Hearing Ihra's comment, Etla simply shook her head, smiling for her sister. "It's alright, Ihra, I understand. I don't blame you or anything like that." She said gently, but then, something clicked in her head. Had Ihra been following her? Since when? And that vial of blood on her hands, where had she gotten it from? It seemed oddly familiar, and as her Core swiftly processed all of this information, she frowned slightly, not angry, but rather thoughtful.

"Wait, did you follow me to... to the place where Craig was?"

Ihra paused and looked at herself, the vial of blood and the disheveled look.... not to mention her hands were covered in blood. She placed the Vial of blood away in her dimensional "Locker" of sorts. Then she looked back at Etla. Then she nodded. "Yeah... Um... I followed you..." She explained. "And... there was this red guy... I healed him because he looked hurt and then he... hit me and told me I was weak." She seemed to be struggling to tell this story and was on the verge of crying. "He was right. It was stupid of me to try and come here..."

[Charmera]

Cora
Cora had been checking on Roy occasionally, making sure that he was okay. Once he was sound asleep Cora decided to head downstairs to her training facility, she needed to clear her mind. She changed into her training gear and entered the gravity chamber before starting the program with AI opponents that was set and 20 times the gravity of Earth. Cora's mind was swirling with emotions that she didn't know how to deal with. The thing she wanted to do more than anything was talk to Katie, but that was also the thing that she was scared to do the most.

Cora knew that her feelings for Katie were quite strong, and while she didn't know much about relationships, she knew somehow that she wanted one with Katie more than anything. However she was afraid that Katie would reject her, it was so soon after Eric's death after all. Core feared that that would lead to her worst nightmare, losing Katie's friendship. She wouldn't be able to stand losing Katie, it would be horrible.

Cora's mind still wasn't clear when she finished training, but she didn't want to do anymore. She was distracted and it wasn't helping her relax. She went upstairs to take a shower and after a half an hour or so she emerged wearing causal sweat pants and a t-shirt. She sat down on the couch in the living room, looking quite confused and distracted, like she was lost somehow.

Katie sat down on the couch next to Cora, turning to face her friend, but then suddenly looking away as if she could bare to look at her, when in fact it was quite the opposite. "Sooooooooooooooooo....." She said, awkwardly. This was a really weird, strange, screwed up situation. Cora was a Co-Worker, her own boyfriend had just died and yet she still couldn't deny how much she cared about her. How much she was attracted to her, and she was smart enough to know these feelings were reciprocated. "We need to talk about what happened..."

---

Etla listened patiently to her older sister as she told her the story of how she followed her to the facility where they were keeping Craig. She had found Red Hulk and bothered to heal him, something that the golden-haired Rainborn couldn't particularly agree with, though she understood that this was her sister she was talking to, and that it was in her nature to help others. However, that only made her feel very, very angry as she listened to the next part of the story. Red Hulk had, apparently, hit Ihra even after she had healed him. Seeing the pain on her sister's face, a scowl formed on Etla's own face, her fists clenching. She had half a mind to just take off towards the facility and end that red bastard for good, not before giving him a nice set of scars much larger than the one she had inflicted on her previously, but she held back those violent thoughts. Even though Red Hulk had hit her lover and now her sister as well, Etla was well aware that there were more important things to do than look for revenge.

Walking forward, she took her sister into her embrace. "Ihra, don't cry, please." She asked her. "Whatever that big red idiot told you isn't true. You've been a big help coming here, and it made me very happy to see you again! So don't cry. Your kindness doesn't make you useless." She said softly.

"I really haven't... even when I try to do something right I end up doing something wrong." She spoke, then sighed. She hugged her sister back. "I don't get it sister. Why are they so cruel? Why do they love hurting each other? Why do they hate so much?" She paused, inhaling, cathcing her breath. She didn't want to cry, her sister had told her not to. She knew it wouldn't help and would only prove the red mans point. But it was hard. "I tried to help and he just... hurt me." She paused. "I don't understand them..."

"He said I was stupid for helping him..." She paused. "Then he just kept hitting me..."

-Ashy

-Valka

Darkstar Crisis
Battle of the Nexus
Part Three

Valentine

Val pushed her fist as far as it could physically go into Stompa's midsection, the New Goddess doubling over and spitting up blood as the force ruptured organs, Val holding her up with her fist and looking down on her, eyes brazen with passion and emotion, mainly anger, as she tossed the Goddess aside. "You're outclassed, girly. Gravely so." Val taunted, Stompa trying to stand back up in space, but Val was already smacking her face with a straight punch - Val's gloves gaining spots of blood as Stompa's jaw threatened to tear away from it's hinges.

Her opponent spun quickly, and endlessly, as the blow knocked Stompa out cold and her motion couldn't be stopped without gravity. Val wasn't ready to celebrate victory just yet, as two metal strips slapped onto her wrists tightly, yanking her toned frame away from the fight with Stompa and right into Lashina's waiting fist. Val's eyes grew dizzy for a moment, but she snapped back to attention in the middle of the punch, throwing her leg over her opponent's outstretched arm and locking it at the elbow with her knee. Val then crunched forward, bringing her forehead right onto the eyes and nose bridge of Lashina with a horrific, sloppy SMACK! Lashina recoiled from the attack, blood shooting from his nostrils, releasing Val in the process as the New Goddess held her eyes tightly shut.

The Mad Girl had no qualms hitting a downed opponent - honor having meaning only outside of a fight in her worldview. Val flew forward and gained incredible momentum, rearing her left kneecap back and flying just slightly past Lashina, flexing her kneecap out at the last second and connecting with Lashina's face in a brutal, lethal blow. The New Goddess' body tried to fly backwards from the assault, but Val grabbed the girl's hair before it could so, whipping her head around a full turn, giving Lashina's head momentum as Val crooked her hand towards her armpit and extended her elbow. Val's elbow struck with even more brutality than the knee above and to the side of Lashina's left eye, Val finally letting her go as Lashina's neck snapped backwards from the blow.

Standing with the blood of New Gods coating her gloves and upper body, Val remained stoic and transfixed at the level she had just attacked Lashina - ending the fight quickly and without a single shred of mercy. The Mad Girl looked at her gloved hands, her palms bleeding from holding her fists so tightly, yet she didn't notice that one of the Valkyries had fallen, and another New Goddess, Artemis, was loading an arrow in her bow. Bruised and bloodied from her own fight with the lady Asgardian, Artemis callously insulted Val as she readied a killing strike. "Die, slut, for Darkseid." Val's eyes grew wide as she turned, barely catching sight of the woman as her fingers let go of the string.

In a sudden explosion of orange light, Artemis and her arrow burned in a terrible glow of fierce power and deadly accuracy. She didn't scream out or question the wrath of Gods, or rather, she had no time to do so as the Omega Beams singed her soft tissues the instant they made contact. Val watched in horror, shielding her eyes for a moment, but turning to the source of the attack - finding only a fading, Asgardian portal. "Valka..." Val said with concern, wondering if she was battling Darkseid and Highfather to any effect. "I'm going to help Valka!" She yelled to Ashy, sizing up how the Vokornian was handling her own situation. Two on one, but Val reckoned Ashy might just be playing with them. "Don't let the New Gods get the better of you, or I'm telling Mir." Val taunted, making light of Ashy's predicament with the Daxamite.

The superpowered human girl took off from the scene of her battle, dodging the carnage and bloodshed across the rest of the battle between Valkyries and Green Lanterns or New Gods, easily finding the All-Mother's fight with the leaders of the New Gods patriarchs by the intense, world-breaking impacts of their two on one duel, but Val had come too late. She arrived in time to see - and hear - Darkseid's mighty roar, and Valka's battle cry as she hammered her own spear into the New God's eye. She stood motionless, and in awe of the sight, the would-be death of a God, yet knowing the resiliency of the Dark God. "She had them on the ropes this whole time..." Val muttered, clenching her fists together, but Valka's battlecry echoing in her mind. "...Max." She said to herself quietly, looking around, and seeing the battles winding down, but not knowing anything at how Max's own battle was going. She gasped, remembering exactly who he had to fight.

"MAX!" She yelled, recalling the words 'Galactus' and 'Celestials', and racing at lightspeeds toward where the Celestial Messiah had headed.

Ashy

Val's right. This isn't exactly impressive. How embarasing to have an earthling finish a fight before I. She mentally joked to herself. "Well then. I had better start taking this a tad more seriously." Ashy quipped. She smiled, before suddenly slamming her fist into the ground, sending both the new gods flying. The female one managed to recover with a dodge roll, but couldn't see Ashy in the smoke that the strike had blow up. She had little time to think before someone sped out of the dust at high speeds. Ashy, however, did not slam her fist into Serafina, Instead she put her hand over her head. A battle of wills ensued, but though the girl was a telepathy Ashy was far too old, powerful and experienced to be defended against. She broke in, and then put her enemy to sleep.

As soon as Mark got up and found his way through the dust, he found himself telekinetically flung towards Ashy. She didn't have time to put him to sleep, so she simply created a construct of energy to keep him held. Then, she sped towards the Valkries.

"Three down, two more to deal with..." She sighed.

Ashy hopped between a Valkyrie and her opponent. Vykin was using the warrior womans metal against her. An admirable strategem, but Ashy had no time to admire it. She jumped towards her foe, pulling off a kick with surprising accuracy, sending him flying. She held back of course, but he would wake up bruised and pained.

"You're all quite lucky. We could have killed you had we wished to." She commented. "Honestly, this was a horrible waste of time." She explained. While talking, she was accosted by a woman attacking her. Buetiful dreamer. Unfortunately for the dreamer, her attacks were doing nothing to Ashy. Who sighed.

"Nothing? You still want to fight?" She sighed. "Fine." She replied, she grabbed her by the shirt and looked into her eyes, telepathically commanding her to fall asleep. Ashy's will was too much for her. She then laid her down.

"Welp. That's all of them." She spoke, then turned to the Valkyries. "Your help was appreciated." The Valkyries nodded, Ashy chuckled at their stoic nature.

"Not ones of many words you two. That's okay." She spoke. But then felt something. She had to stop herself from vomiting. It was a sickening feeling, like a million corpses were rotting around her. The Valkyries felt it too. In fact everyone on the battlefield should be able to feel something terribly in error with the universe. One of them began to feel her hands began to shake slightly, Ashy looked to see that her hands too were shaking. There was something terribly wrong. Something that just shouldn't... be. Ashy couldn't help but feel nervous by whatever this was. It was clearly effecting her.

Then, she saw her. Ashy's eyes widened as she saw her. Just looking at her was causing Ashy pain. It was like reality itself had a walking, breathing, terrifying tumour. Everyone breath, movement and ever part of her reeked of corruption. Ashy wouldn't even touch her mind, she didn't need tleepthaty to know it was host to a trillion upon a trillion cruelties, perversions and horrors. Her presence was.... simply vile.

"Ashyandra."

And lo the darkness stood, coated in armour of lies and cruelty it will stand before the prophet. Her mere presence rebukes reality for corruption.

"The Sheppard must fall. And then freedom will follow." It spoke. She was no longer appropriate. It didn't deserve a gender.

The Sheppard will stand against the sickness, the one unleashed by the Dark Star. Her will will be tested against a soul of disgusting snakes. For she is not merely a snake, but she is all of them. She is the festering of sanity. The rot of the soul and the truth and the lie at the same time. She is...

"Your prophecies will not save you daughter of Vokor." It spoke.

"You are...."

"You're the Snake...."

[Charmera]

Cora
Cora saw Katie sit down on the couch next to her, and her cheeks quickly flushed red. Cora felt totally different when Katie was in the room. As if she had trouble concentrating on anything other than her.

Cora felt deeply ashamed and upset when Katie didn't even seem able to look her. Unlike Katie, Cora wasn't very good at reading body language or actions at all. Cora felt that Katie was angry with her, and couldn't even bear to look at her.

A tear started to creep out of each of Cora's eyes. She was afraid that she had just lost her best friend. "I'm sorry Katie. I shouldn't have kissed you after you pulled away. That wasn't right of me." Cora said sincerely, not realizing that Katie might have enjoyed the kiss just as much as she did. "Maybe I should just go." She added softly, in a sad tone. "I understand if you don't want to be around me right now." Cora said, more sadness creeping into her voice as she slowly starred to stand up to walk away.

Katies hand then shot up, grabbing Cora by the arm. "Wait! Please don't go!" She spoke. There was concern in her voice. She sighed. She maneuvered in front of Cora, holding both her hands now and she squeezed them lightly. "I'm... sorry if I seem... distant. Or upset. This... is rather confusing for me too." She explained. "It's just... That kiss we shared. We both... can't deny we have something. And... maybe this is what I need to some extent. Maybe you can help me." She found herself rambling.

"Can we... give this a try? Please?" She asked. She drew Cora closer to herself. "I want someone to be... intimate with. I need someone like that in my life. It's just how I am." She brought Cora's hands together, bringing them between their two bodies, now pressed closer. "I need someone..." She spoke. "I need you. I like you."

[Charmera]

Cora
Cora was surprised when Katie jumped up and grabbed her arm, telling her not to go. Cora stopped in her tracks and stood there in shock and relief as Katie took her hands and told her how she really felt. "So... You don't hate me?" Cora asked, a little nervously but there was a lot of hope and relief in her voice too. It may have seemed like a ridiculous question, but Cora had actually been afraid that it had been true.

Cora felt her heart skip a beat when Katie asked her to be in a relationship with her, and pressed the android's hands against her. Cora felt like a giant weight had been lifted of her shoulders, and she even smiled. "I'd like that very much Katie. You've been my best friend since I've met you and you've been amazing to me. That kiss... well it was the best moment of my life." Cora said honestly, sharing her feelings on a level that she rarely did. She then puller Katie into a warm hug and held her close to let her know she'd always be there for her from now on.

"Of course I don't hate you Cora!" She paused, smiling as she embraced her friend as she had been embraced. A warm and tight hug. She smiled up at Cora, being the shorter of the two. "I really, really, really like you Cora. From the day I met you and when I stopped you from being arrested I liked you." She spoke, then sighed. "I... I didn't even realize how much I liked you until.... well... you kissed me." She chuckled. Then a small tear trickled down her face. "I really want this to work Cora... You... mean a whole lot to me. More than I ever could have realized." She spoke. She wiped the tear and then moved back a bit, only so that she could look into Cora's eyes. Her wondrous eyes. She didn't care that she was an android, just like Cora didn't care she was a Mutant. Those thing just didn't seem to matter compared to their feelings for one another.

[Charmera]

August Carter-13 Yrs-Gotham City

As Chorus punched this...not girl in the face, I was somewhat taken by surprise. As I attempted to catch up with the events. Before realizing a very important fact. I am the bodyguard here! With that I decided rather than steal the show from Chorus, I would instead cooperate with her, after all, me and my dad had practiced coordinated fighting for when working with a partner a couple years ago. While Chorus slugged the girl across the face, I attempted to use a speed blitz and attack her exposed back. As I positioned myself several yards behind her, I did what I normally dont do, I threw a ki blast of moderate power at her, its not that I dislike ki combat, I just prefer to use it to enhance my own physical qualities rather than as attacks of themselves. It's just easier that way, of course mom says that better ki control comes in time.

The attack, did not have the desired outcome. Janice seemed to effortlessly disrupt the attack on some basic level, making it ineffective. Her arrogant smirk then found it's way to me.

"You really are a slow learner are ya brat? Energy attacks cannot hurt me, now, next lesson." She then used my own tactic against me, using speed to catch me off guard and slam her knee into my chin, as my smaller frame did not really require her to lift her leg very high. And I was sent careening into a brick wall, honestly doing a lot more damage to it than me, but the display was a learning experience.

Picking myself up I rubbed my chin.

"Lessons? Hey, I study hard in school! My mom really did not give me a choice..." I mumbled, as I took to the air, flying just over her head. As I adopted a new tactic. I began to assault her with punches and kicks, but from a aerial position. Giving me the height advantage, and allowing me far greater freedom to avoid her counter strikes.

It is a tactic my father taught me for dealing with larger and stronger enemies. Fight them while flying, and they will have to strike upward, weakening their blows and opening their lower sides to counter strikes. This also works ideally with a partner, because it is next to impossible to defend against attack from above and below at the same time.

Keeping my attacks fast and brief, instead of aiming for real damage, I aimed for simply keeping Janice occupied, so that Chorus can take advantage of the openings

Janice's eyes widened as she was suddenly met with fierce resistance. But she was still smiling. In fact she seemed to be enjoying this sudden twist, reacting to the attacks with lightning speed. She seemed to thrive off adversity and challenge. Although, she seemed to be put on the defensive by this, blocking attacks with her drumsticks, reinforced with sound they didn't snap like they would have before, and countering them with her arms.

Suddenly, Chorus took advantage of the opening presented by charging her opponent. Verse was sheathed, so she seemed to have gotten the fact this was now a fistfight. She didn't like having to fight like this, but she had been force. She aimed a punch at Janice's face again, managing to connect. Janice stumbled back, but then suddenly used sound to bost herself up, leaping on her groundbound foe, kicking off Chorus and sending her flying. Then with that force she hurtled and spun towards August, her two drumsticks, charged with sound energy, aimed at his face.

Meanwhile, Chorus recovered. She rubbed her head. She wasn't sure how many more like that she could take. Her body ached badly. How the heck do I beat her-

Wait... why did she put on her headphones before the battle? If it was cockiness, why didn't she take them off when she was fighting August and on the defensive? She paused, then narrowed her eyes. Once she saw another opportunity, she would take it...

---

Etla frowned as she heard her sister's words, still holding her in her embrace, though if ne didn't know better one would probably get the impression that Ihra was the one comforting her. The redhead was quite a bit taller than her, after all, and older as well, though such things held very little importance among Rainborn, since they were beings who never aged or decayed, raised in a place where time was an alien concept with no meaning or power.

As she listened, her anger continued flaring up, though she did her best to hold it back, knowing that what she had to do right now was comfort her sister and make sure that she'd be able to fix Craig's problem while he talked with... whoever it was he was talking with. She hadn't bothered to pay much attention to the visits he received when she left, but she likely wouldn't have recognized them even if she had paid them any mind. She had more important things to worry about than Craig's visits, after all, though she hadn't expected her sister to be one of them.

"I don't understand either, Ihra. Some humans can be really mean or stupid, or both. They can be really ungrateful and arrogant, and I don't know why they're like that. But you don't need to worry about them, or care about what they say." She said, breaking up the hug and then clasped her sister's shoulders to make her turn to face the room, looking at all the employees diligently working for the sake of their boss. "But there are some who can be really nice and attentive and kind, too. Those are the people you should care about, Ihra. The rest of them aren't worth a second glance." She said, smiling faintly as she thought of Craig. Hopefully, Ihra would be able to find someone like that out here as well.

"So don't bother thinking about what the red man told you. Once I'm done here, I'll go kick his ass again, and you won't need to worry about him." She sentenced.

Ihra paused, then absently nodded. "It's... hard to tell them apart sometimes." She replied. "I really wish I was as strong as you..." She added, then sighed. She shrugged. "You were always the one helping me back home, you and... Asra... And now your doing it here when I was supposed to help you." She chuckled. It was kinda ironic. She paused, then offered a weak smile. 'Thanks... You're the best sister a Rainborn could ask for." She remarked. "I... I think I might get used to this world yet Etla." She spoke, with a mild amount of confidence and optemism.

---

Sarah noticed, very entertained, how Samantha's face turned red at her comment, but she said nothing more and simply listened. From her words, it seemed like that woman she had been talking to earlier, DeeDee, was the co-owner of the club, which she found rather amusing, considering it was also the woman that had somehow made Samantha take off her shirt and had embarrassed her quite a bit. Much to her surprise, though, it turned out that this DeeDee was also a magic user, and Samantha's new teacher apparently. She wasn't quite sure where that would lead, but she figured it couldn't hurt. She'd always thought that her sister would do well to live a little after all, though she'd still keep an eye on her. It was her duty as the eldest, after all.

"That's great, Sam. Maybe if you learn from her you can cast a spell that'll make Hanah stop being hungry all the time." She joked with a playful expression on her face, before flashing her sister a genuine smile. "I'm glad you're happy about it. You're a great mage and I'm sure you'll learn quickly."

Not a moment after, a waiter stopped by, carrying the sisters' orders, bringing Samantha's blueberry waffles, Hanah's bacon and sausage with eggs, and Sarah's bounty of desserts. The pale woman thanked the waiter and then turned to her food, not quite as ravenous as her youngest sister but still quite eager to eat already. However, she paused first and turned to John. "Since you didn't order anything, you can have some of this if you want. I can always order more." She offered with a polite smile, before turning back to her meal and taking a bite of cheesecake, her taste buds pleased with the input. Flirting could wait until she was done, she decided.

As she ate, however, she noticed something. The news were on in one of the TVs around the Superhero Cafe, and as Sarah happened to glance in that direction, she saw Craig's press statement, which spoke about the plans of the government, as well as the Registration Act and the torture that the inventor had been subjected to. Sarah shook her head, clearly displeased. "Stupid tyrants." She muttered before resuming her meal, her mood soured.

---

---

The enemies knocked around by Mars and Rocket didn't seem to be damaged too badly by his fists, or at all, in fact, as they seemed unscathed by the robot's attack, though they were indeed unable to retaliate at all for as long as they were inside the spherical attack nullifying area that was created by Kirisvala's Anthem of the Sanctum. Their projectiles were all absorbed by the magical sphere shield that seemed to costantly move so that Mars was always at its center, and even though they could go in and out of the bubble indiscriminately and would've been able to knock around Mars just like he had done with them if they had wanted to, they did not. Rantu hated melee combat, after all, seeing it as dishonorable. For the time being, Mars might as well have been invincible, though the drawback was that he himself was unable to attack while inside the bubble; he could still be useful depending on how he moved around, since he could use the bubble following him to protect others.

Meanwhile, back down on the ground, Kirisvala continued to sing with her siren voice, her pinkish red hair gently fluttering in the breeze, eyes still closed shut and massive claws still clasped in front of her as though she was meditating, giving her an air of absolute serenity as she sang her mystical anthem. The closed eyes and clasped hands served to increase her concentration and improve the energy efficiency with which the spellsong ran, allowing her to keep it up for a longer period of time and thus continue protecting Mars while he told the others what to do. The young Hadrian could feel the spellsong begin to wear out her energy reserves a bit, but she was unconcerned about this. It was only natural for her to feel it, as she had already kept another spellsong up for a while earlier, and she had vast reserves of energy anyway, so she could keep going easily.

However, what she didn't know, on account of her closed eyes, was that one of the few Rantu soldiers who were still on the ground and in fighting condition had noticed that her singing was the source of the magical shield surrounding Mars, who had been trying to attack and destroy the command ship. Knowing that this could not be allowed to go on, the Rantu trained his weapon on the unsuspecting Hadrian singer.

Hanah
'What the resister people?" Hanah spoke, then she snorted derisively. "Those idiots don't know Telekinesis from Telepathy. Any person who reads comic books can tell you that trying to tell a bunch of people with superpowers what to do and they'll do the exact opposite. Heck. Same happens with regular people." To offset this suprising wisdom, she let out and epic belch. "It's why I like my transformations. Everything is much simpler when you become a werewolf, or a giant bear, or a panther girl, or a dragon." She explained, eating while talking.

She paused. then looked at John. Then cocked her head. Her wolf ears wobbled slightly. "And... I feel like I missed something. Who is this guy?"

---

Xyrixia
Xyri noticed the Rantu and frowned. She quickly reached out and grabbed him, popping off his helmet and then absorbing him like some sort of weird drink. She then smiled down at Kiris. "I got your back too." She explained, then looked at the whales. She was now fairly confident no one would yell at her or start hitting her if she absorbed them. As a result, she sprinted towards the huge tank, and then jumped in.

The water splashed outwards, though some of it was drunk by Xyri. She swam, grabbing each of the whales and drinking them into herself. She then stood in the middle of the tank, sucking in all the water like some sort of sponge. Soon she was in a tank with no water or whales, and then she exploded forth with size. There had been three whales, which had given her about 300 feet in size. Then a whole lot of water, which further boosted her to rediculous sizes. It gave her more than enough mass that she was about arm level with the ships that were left.

The only problem was, now they were all turning to her. Well.... all but one. The one Mars had decided to attack. That one released two figures. One white armoured figureand another in red with a sword.Both of them headed towards Mars at high speeds.

[Charmera]

-snip-

Valancy smiled back, "Strong shake," she joked, before listening to the woman. "New members are always welcome," she said, "and it'll be good to have another heavy hitter on the team. I'll go round up the founding members, and we can reach a final verdict, but know that you have my vote." Leading Sabrina to the elevator, they went to the living room, Valancy poking her head through, her eyes widening at seeing Katie and Cora kissing. Stepping fully through, she cleared her throat loudly, "Uh, believe me guys, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a potential new member," she said, motioning towards Sabrina.

Katie reluctantly broke off the kiss and sighed. "It's like every time we kiss we get interrupted." She remarked, rubbing her head with a sigh. She walked over to Sabrina, Cora in tow with her other hand. She smiled. 'Sorry. I heard you knock but... I was... distracted. Anyhow. Welcome aboard! I'm Katie! This is Cora! And You've already met Val." She paused. "You'll get to meet the rest soon."

[Charmera]

"I heard you're a killer."

Virgillooked up at the youth who spoke, her hat naturally tipping up as she looked up. Her hands slowly went to her pistol in her holster. She left it there. She had no reason to kill her. And it would only draw attention to herself when she was mostly just trying to scoot on by. How this girl knew anything about her was... uncertain. She didn't have a reputation here unlike other planets. Seeing as this place was rather backwater.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Despite being backwater, this was a pretty nice bar. The place was futuristic, having a pretty neon look to it. Outside the floating cars gave it a busy look without being too overwhelming, and the windows were nice and big, letting all the street light in. It was dark, and it looked more seedy than suave, but it brewed decent drinks and the bartender was good enough. Of course Virgil did not apreciate any of this in the slightest. She looked back to the person on the other side of the table. A young, adventurous character by the name of Dixia. Or that's what she called herself. She had a frown of someone who had something to prove on her face. Someone who wanted to impress the world.

Virgil wasn't impressed. But then again she rarely ever was.

She leaned back, tipping her hat forward to cover her face as if it might ward off this fool. "You must be confused. I'm just a simple farmer, trying to have a drin-"

"You're the one who burned Shinar aren't you? And Ulek?"

Virgil paused, then said nothing.

Dixia smiled. The lack of any response validation in her eyes. She leaned forward and tipped Virgils hat back so she could see her face. Virgil frowned at this.

"I've heard stories. One's about a single figure burning entire worlds, leaving nothing but ash in her wake." She spoke, in awe of the woman before her. She was already leaned across the table, so she propped her head up with her hands. Her frown turned to a childishly validated smile. Dixia was now in Virgil's full view.

Virgil looked into Dixia's eyes. "That was some time ago." She spoke. She leaned back. "Look for someone else. I don't burn any worlds anymore, and I wouldn't even if I could?" She remarked. She slapped Dixia's hand away and pushed her hat back down. She was telling the truth. She had given up on the killing. Too many setbacks. Too many worlds. Now she just wanted to think about things.

There was a pause. And Dixia turned around. But before Virgil could once again go back to sleep, Dixia spoke once more.

"Fine then. I won't tell you about the job and the money."

Virgil paused. Normally she would not care for something like money. But if she got enough she could make upgrades to her system, make the necessary adjustments to get out of this pisshole and... Somewhere. Somewhere she's been wanting to go for a while. And meet someone. Someone she wanted to meet.

"How much does it pay?' She asked.

"Five hundred Thousand Ceni."

The hat tipped upward again.

"Who am I suppose to kill?"

"We." Stressed Dixia. "We are supposed to kill two men." She spoke, getting off the table and sitting on a chair next to Virgil. "They hurt a whore pretty bad, nearly fried her with their wierd ass powers." She explained. "County sheriff didn't do shit, so her buddies are offering 50 thousand for anyone who can kill them."

"Interested?"

Virgil paused. Her calculations told her it was more than enough, even if split five ways, to get what she wanted. She drummed her fingers against the table. She didn't really want to do this. She still hated life with a passion. Life was nothing but verminous scum to her. But... She could sleep. She could dream. And when she did, she saw the faces of the freshly dead.

She didn't want to add to her nightmares. She didn't like them.

But... She needed the money.

"Fine." She replied. "But we're going to need someone for something like this."

---

Frank Mayhem

---

Sometimes, I'm good at predictions. Sometimes, I feel like an astrologist. Well, what do you expect from someone whose brain can process things hundreds of times faster than an elite supercomputer and can give off the likely results of an event in near-perfect percentages. It helps in battle, and it also helps in politics. Four months ago, the government of this planet decided to issue the Registration Act - a bill which makes it mandatory for all metahumans and superpowered beings on the planet to register, reveal their secret identities, while at the same time betraying them by trying to build weapons against them. Back then, I predicted that the planet will go to hell and no meta with at least the slightest sense of honor and self-reliance would even consider following this law. Riots. Chaos. Fighting. Darn. I was so right this time...

I went through these thoughts as I flew across the skylines of Washington D.C., the supposed capital of the United States of America. If you are wondering if I registered - come on. Really? That's a stupid question, and you either don't know me or are joking. Or both - that too is an option. Really, I am a Celestial Android, one of the two strongest members of my race (and with my training and .ew abilities, probably even stronger) - do you think someone like me would listen to Earthling chatter and commands? You're lucky I don't bother with destroying planets, Earth.

Obviously, I didn't come here, to DC, for no other reason than to rant and talk about life. No, though hat is certainly somewhere at the top. While I was landing on one of the taller buildings, I searched for any signs of noise. Yes, that is what I am talking about, noise. There is supposed to be an anti-Registration demostration, and an important person is within the group... I looked to the busy street below. Not much besides cars and pedestrians. I quickly leaped over to the next building, then flew across the spiky and boring mass that is an ordinary city block in this country. Sometimes Earthlings have no style of originality. Or making things interesting.

The massive white house in a park caught my attention. The scanners detected it, too. It was... The White House. Told you. And in the streets nearby - perfect - lots of demonstrators. The person in question is nearby. I took off into the sky and started scanning the landscape from a mile above. You must be somewhere...

"Motherfucker!" Someone shouted, looking strait at frank. A white protest sign was in her hand saying "Registration is the Enemy!" in red. She dropped it, a look of anger on her face. "Bastard! He must have come here for me... another fight?" She spoke out loud to herself. She had come here as soon as she had heard that the "motherfuckers in washington" had not only put a compulsory registration act into effect, but had also tortured another hero. Librety could not let shit like this fly. She had let the US government exist mainly because it wasn't too bad (And because it was protected by more metahumans than even have the right to exist, but that wasn't important) but this shit was inexcusable. And now her shit samwidge had just got a dressing of piss. "Well if he wants a rematch, why should I complain?" She said to herself, flying into the air near him.

"Hey Asshole!" She spoke. "Remember me?"

[Charmera]

"Motherfucker!" Someone shouted, looking strait at frank. A white protest sign was in her hand saying "Registration is the Enemy!" in red. She dropped it, a look of anger on her face. "Bastard! He must have come here for me... another fight?" She spoke out loud to herself. She had come here as soon as she had heard that the "motherfuckers in washington" had not only put a compulsory registration act into effect, but had also tortured another hero. Librety could not let shit like this fly. She had let the US government exist mainly because it wasn't too bad (And because it was protected by more metahumans than even have the right to exist, but that wasn't important) but this shit was inexcusable. And now her shit samwidge had just got a dressing of piss. "Well if he wants a rematch, why should I complain?" She said to herself, flying into the air near him.

"Hey Asshole!" She spoke. "Remember me?"

Frank Mayhem

---

"How polite of you, Liberty!" I exclaimed, obviously in a sarcastic demeanor. Jackpot. That's what I was looking for. Liberty, the android... and the first person in my life that I had to strive to surpass, and not the other way. Knowing her, and her desire for freedom, liberty, and overall a more left-leaning perspective, I thought I would find her here. And, once again, my intuition did not fail me.

"We both know why I'm here, and just to be clear, you're the ass in a more literal sense." Hah. "What else can I say? My rival should be strong enough to keep me sharp, and with massive fighting happening like, 50 kilometers from here, I don't want to get surpassed." I held my knuckles in a cracking position. That's what humans usually do to show readyness for battle. I can't crack knuckles myself, though - I need bones for that. "Technically, we're on the same side of the barricade, but since 95% of metas are too, it's just not fun."

"Cute..." She muttered in response to the Ass comment. She face-palmed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. This guy really doesn't know when to quit, but Liberty supposed that was something they sorta had in common. "You really chose a piss poor time... but fuck it. Not like I was getting shit done down there." She remarked. Sighing. She noticed her rival cracking her knuckles and raising her eyebrow. "Do you even have bones? What's the point of doing that if you can't feel it." She asked. Then folded her arms. "Alright then. Where do you want to do this? Cause here is a bad place."

[Charmera]

---

---

Garnet, too, ran along the rooftops of Tokyo with the rest of the group, having to admit to herself that there really was something exhilarating about the experience. Their little squad was growing, and she had to say that she was rather fond of them... well, she wasn't actually all that happy with Akari's snobbery and she had known Taro for less than a day considering he had randomly popped in during their fight with Azami's goons, so she supposed that pretty much left only Masami, but either way, it was a nice group to be in. She felt that she belonged, in that silly group of complete misfits.

Coming to a halt behind the others, she couldn't help chuckling at Masami's reaction to Akari's comment, and then glanced at Taro.

"The same plan we always use, newcomer. Go in and shoot, stab, or set all the bad guys ablaze until the problem's solved." She nodded, grabbing Misery and nearly checking the ammunition before remembering that the thing reloaded itself.

"So, this is the spot, the place where the Onis are? Is the sixth one here too?" She asked Masami, knowing that she was the one who could track them.

Masami paused as Garnet asked her question. It was a simple one, but it seemed to have Masami stumped. She opened her mouth to answer, but then found herself closing it. She took in a few sniffs, and then shrugged. "Yes... No... Perhaps?" She gave a sheepish look. "To be honest, now it's sorta hard to tell, but the five are definitely there." She remarked. Nodding. She looked to all of them, and they all seemed ready to go, so Masami leaped very high, and then landed down in front of the building quite gracefully.

She looked at the building, then behind her to see Akari simply stepping through a portal. Masami was about to question why she did not offer to do this before but reasoned it wasn't worth asking. The sophisticated cat lady imediatly began walking toward the building.

"I won't lie, this is quite magnificent." She remarked. "It almost makes you feel small."

Masami walked through the door, having followed her sister, coming to a white reception room. She looked around. This looked surprisingly legitimate for an evil organisation. She sniff again, then looked down. "We're going to the basement." She spoke, walking towards the elevator when someone grabbed her hand. Masami's eyes widdened when her skin peeled off to reveal blood red skin.

"No one but the masters go to the basement." Spoke the Oni. Masami simply brushed her off and drew her blade, severing her opponents head. This was a half oni, but not with a human. Some other unfortunate Yokai, the name of which eluded Masami, sired this spawn, and it was weaker as a result, yet more vicious and ready to follow orders from their red skinned parents.

She saw a mutlitude of this Oni spawn begin to draw blades and guns in the lobby. She sighed, supposing they would have to deal with this lot quickly before going downstairs.

---

Though the mention of her dear wayward brother, Asra, was like the stab of a needle through her metaphorical heart, Etla forced herself to smile warmly for her older sister's sake, brushing past the pain of the tragedy she herself had caused. Idly, she wondered where in the vast universe her brother could possibly be, but once again, she had to dismiss these thoughts, even if it was sadness which drove them this time and not anger. After all, regardless of whatever thoughts crossed through her mind, she was well aware that what she had to do now was comfort her sister and mend her lover.

Placing a hand on Ihra's shoulder, the shorter Rainborn nodded at her. "I hope you do, Ihra. There's too many wonderful things in this world for you to let the words of a big red meanie sour you. There's no reason that you should listen to him more than to your cool sister, right?" She said cheerfully. She didn't want her sister to get bitter so soon after all, to give up on the world that to her had been so full of wonder, despite being so full of terror as well. A year ago, she and Craig had spent some time showing Ihra around, and yet, she felt that there was still so much more to explore, not just for Ihra, but for herself as well. She had seen it in her arrival and even throughout the Secret Wars, and she wanted Ihra to see it too.

Alas, now was not the time for that, and a mellow voice soon brought this fact to the front of Etla's thoughts.

"We have everything you asked for, ma'am." The female employee stated without much emotion, adjusting her glasses. "We brought you some tools as well."

Noticing that, indeed, all her demands had been properly satisfied, Etla nodded at them and dismissed them, before turning to Ihra. "I have some work to do now, but you're free to stay here with me if you want, Ihra. Just... feel free to talk but don't interfere, alright? I'll be completely fine, I promise, so don't worry even if it looks like I'm not." She said softly, her ominous words likely making the redhead begin worrying already, though the blonde Rainborn felt that, despite that, it was a necessary statement.

Now done speaking, Etla walked towards the table where all of the components had been laid out, in order to begin working on the Core that would encase her beloved's frail heart. It did not seem, at first, that she would have any use for the tools provided, as Craig's blood, which she now used as a Core, granted her technopathic capabilities, allowing her to assemble all of the raw components provided into more complicated forms with ease, without having to move a finger. However, this was only a small part of the process, as it had been evident to her from the start that human technology, while indeed very sophisticated and helpful, was entirely incapable of replicating the abstract technological miracle that was a Core. For that, certain components would be needed, components that had no equivalent in terms of human technology, and indeed, no equivalent whatsoever in the whole of the universe, as they were created beyond.

It was thus that Etla reached into her own chest with one of the tools laid out on the table and retrieved a small black piece, and then another, and another. If her dear Craig needed pieces of a Core in order to survive, then so be it. She would give him pieces of her Core.

Ihra stood with a look of horror and fear. She wanted to help. but she heeded Etla's warning. She stepped forward, but didn't do anything. She lifted a hand and then put it down. "Etla...?" She asked. Her voice full of concern. She didn't understand, and her medical knowledge told her that while what Etla was removing was not necessarily life threatening, if she were to screw up she could seriously hurt herself. But she stayed put, trusting in her sister.

[Charmera]

"Cute..." She muttered in response to the Ass comment. She face-palmed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. This guy really doesn't know when to quit, but Liberty supposed that was something they sorta had in common. "You really chose a piss poor time... but fuck it. Not like I was getting shit done down there." She remarked. Sighing. She noticed her rival cracking her knuckles and raising her eyebrow. "Do you even have bones? What's the point of doing that if you can't feel it." She asked. Then folded her arms. "Alright then. Where do you want to do this? Cause here is a bad place."

Frank Mayhem

"Fighting with me - a certainly good decision. Still better than standing there holding a sign all day. If you want, after the match we'll be able to raze down the White House together to show our discontent." Now then, where to fight it out? I already had the minimap up for the possible locations. Let's see... Canada, South America, Sahara, Siberia... How about the last one? No pedestrians to get in the way, quite a few natural structures to throw... Distance doesn't matter much - I'm faster than light, I can move wherever I want in a milisecond.

"I already have the place determined. This will be a nice time!" I then grabbed Liberty's hand with my iwn and flew east through the Earth's skies at maximum speeds. Not gently or carefully, though - quite in a crude way, as if moving the other person with a chain. Obviously, the flight took not that much - maybe a few seconds, and that's because I was still at my base form, and as soon as I stopped a mile above Western Siberia, I let go of the female Android and chugged her towards the snowy forests below as hard as I could. Why did I hold her like that...

Liberty hit a bunch of trees, creating some sort of path one could potentially follow to her. A fire blazed in her eyes as she faced him. A sword manifested in her hand, constructed with her new powers. "I've changed since last we met. I had a little meeting with my creator and he gave me a few upgrades, revamped my powers." Suddenly a transparent force field created itself around Frank in the shape of a ball. Liberty sped towards the ball and grabbed it, then shook it wildly and with considerable speed. She then kicked downwards, sending the ball hurtling towards the ground as fast a she could.

[Charmera]

Taro
Taro chuckled at Garnet's explanation of the plan,
"Simple, effective, easy to remember. What gifted strategist thought of that one?"
He replied as he was about to take off down the side of the building but then he noticed the portal Garnet had left open and stepped through joining Garnet, Akari and Masami rapidly. He turned to the former and bowed his head slightly, "Thank you kindly." He said and paused at the door, noting the others weren't attempting to hide their magical nature. He stepped through the door, bending down slightly to avoid hitting his head. He walked behind the two, hanging back slightly as he inspected the room. His white glyph was glowing still, and when the strange, red skinned oni appeared, his blade had immediately been unsheathed. As others closed in on them he couldn't help but smile slightly as he charged the creatures. His blade moved rapidly as his senses faded back into the real world. Kiba-tsune sliced into one oni on the downstroke which Taro rapidly kicked out of the way. Next two horizontal slashed dissected an oncoming brute before the curved blade was imbedded in the chest of a third. Taro removed it and tore into the group even more, shredding with sword, tooth and claw. Not even bothering with his magic for the time being. He had already drained himself slightly when he fought the bakeneko, so long as the oni we're reasonably un challenging he could handle them with his enchanted blade. He chuckled at Garnet's remark and shouted out,
"Now where's the fun in that Garnet-sama?"
He asked before he sank his teeth into the throat of a charging oni, snapping their fragile spine easily. He snarled angrily as an oni struck him on the back, causing him to lash out with his many tails, confusing the oni briefly before Kiba-tsune severed the creatures neck.
"Although, if we fight towards the elevator we might not be here until the turn of next century executing ashigaru."
Taro said above the furor of combat.

“True.” Akari spoke. She had not yet begun to fight, her guns holstered. She looked around at the spawn, not lifting a finger to help. “Really, we should go strait down and cut off the head of the snake. Stop wasting time here.” She remarked.

“If you want to get out of here so bad, you should help us kill these guys.” Remarked Masami, when Akari made a noise of disgust. “Come on. We’re going to have to fight them anyway if their bosses call for help.”

“These are just grunts. Sent here to keep us busy. Slaughtering them seems like a waste of time to be honest.” She remarked. But then sighed when she saw the others were going to insist on staying. She drew her guns with supernatural speed and found her targets with her eyes. With exceeding quickness, she took out the rest of them with considerable ease, gunning them down before they knew what hit them.

Masami looked over to Akari, who sighed, holstering her pistols. “See? If you don’t mess around, it’s much quicker dealing with these guys.” She explained, and then she opened a portal to the basement. Though in her hurry she didn’t teleport them to the five storms. Instead they were teleported into a basement dungeon, with a figure chained up. Akari raised an eyebrow, and walked over to him.

“Hello?” She asked. “Are… you alive?"

[Charmera]

Liberty hit a bunch of trees, creating some sort of path one could potentially follow to her. A fire blazed in her eyes as she faced him. A sword manifested in her hand, constructed with her new powers. "I've changed since last we met. I had a little meeting with my creator and he gave me a few upgrades, revamped my powers." Suddenly a transparent force field created itself around Frank in the shape of a ball. Liberty sped towards the ball and grabbed it, then shook it wildly and with considerable speed. She then kicked downwards, sending the ball hurtling towards the ground as fast a she could.

Frank Mayhem

Battle! Vs. Liberty!

---

Heh. That should be a good way to teach her what's uuu- Wait, what? Why is this force field around me? I didn't put it here... Then Liberty's words reached my sound sensors. Oh, crap... I thought I had her fighting style and power set cracked down, and now an upgrade? I sighed as I was being constantly slammed all over the ball. Back to square one. In a few seconds, I found myself crashing into the forest below. The force from the attack was strong enough to rip and blow away trees in almost a kilometer radius.

Well then. As soon as I found myself no longer inside a force field, I flew back up to where I was. "And here I thought this was going to be simple." Thankfully, I did a lot of Power Influx training, and Level 1 is already pretty much mastered. All I had to do is to clench my fists and think about transforming, and voila! With a fiery white aura and whiter, more standing up hair to spare! I didn't go further than that. It's nice to go in slow at first - do some scouting, let them know of what is next, see what they are capable of. She had a sword in her hand, I made one myself out of pure energy.

And then... In a matter of nanoseconds, I moved from my position and unleashed a fury of slashes towards Liberty. Come on! There is no need to block or dodge! Simply getting hit is good enough!

Liberty had smiled when she had kicked Frank. It was satisfying, though she strangely felt almost guilty for doing it. She wasn't quite sure why she felt that way, but she did. She set about burying that feeling now, for her enemy had all of a sudden her enemy came after her with a vengeance. She smiled at his simply comment. "Nope. You're going to have to work your ass off if you want to beat me Frank. There was a twinge of concern, for her enemy had powered up quicker than she remembered. Could this be a herald for more changes and power? She wasn't sure. Liberty too has a few tricks up her sleve, but she was determined to save them until they were absolutely necessary... Hopefully she wouldn't even need them.

When she was suddenly attacked by Frank, Liberties reactions were fast, though Frank was a tad bit faster, so predicting where he would strike and being there before him was key. She earned a few scratches, but she managed to heal them. Suddenly Liberty blasted out an omindirectoinal forcefield which acted as a steamroller, ideally slamming into her target and dealing damage, but otherwise earning her some breathing room would be good too. She followed this up with her own vicious strikes with her sword, counterattacking so she was no longer on the defensive.

[Charmera]

Liberty had smiled when she had kicked Frank. It was satisfying, though she strangely felt almost guilty for doing it. She wasn't quite sure why she felt that way, but she did. She set about burying that feeling now, for her enemy had all of a sudden her enemy came after her with a vengeance. She smiled at his simply comment. "Nope. You're going to have to work your ass off if you want to beat me Frank. There was a twinge of concern, for her enemy had powered up quicker than she remembered. Could this be a herald for more changes and power? She wasn't sure. Liberty too has a few tricks up her sleve, but she was determined to save them until they were absolutely necessary... Hopefully she wouldn't even need them.

When she was suddenly attacked by Frank, Liberties reactions were fast, though Frank was a tad bit faster, so predicting where he would strike and being there before him was key. She earned a few scratches, but she managed to heal them. Suddenly Liberty blasted out an omindirectoinal forcefield which acted as a steamroller, ideally slamming into her target and dealing damage, but otherwise earning her some breathing room would be good too. She followed this up with her own vicious strikes with her sword, counterattacking so she was no longer on the defensive.

Frank Mayhem

Battle! Vs. Liberty!

---

I sighed. Breathe in, Frank. Then out. Feel better? Neither am I.

This fight was not going the way I wanted it - my attacks did not do much besides a few recovered scratches, while her force field certainly pushed me away. The following physical attacks were fast. Quite. But I did not give up. With my energy blade, I proceeded to try and counter Liberty's attacks. A few blocks here and there - ooh, one good strike to my shoulder. I would applaud her if I didn't completely abhore her.

Now, time for an attack of my own. Doesn't look like fighting close range will get anything worthwile to tip the scales for a side. I could just draw out the Heat Blade and end the battle here and now, but... It-it just doesn't feel right. The sword in my hand changed shape and forged into a spear, and then I threw it forward. It was merely a distraction, though. If she can use force fields, I can fo something similar. Bending my upper body down, I gathered up energy right above my skin, then unleashed it in a burst of energy, while stretching my arms and legs out to use up all the extracted energy. Similarly to an Explosive Wave!

Liberty batted the spear away, already slightly suspicious by this development. Why go for such an easily deflected attack? it was then that Liberty saw the reasoning for it, it was a mere distraction so that he could prepare his real attack. She cursed herself for falling for it and quickly drew up a forcefield barrier. The barrier managed to crack and explode, sending her flying back. It seems it had absorbed the energy, but was overloaded by the amount. But it managed to save her from damage at least. Liberty frowned and decided to send her own projectiles.

She created balls of force, aiming at her target and hurling them as fast a she could, accelerating them using her powers too. She knew these were unlikely to have any effect, but they were merely a distraction for when Liberty quickly sped round to his side, attacking his flank as she rushed towards him, unleashing a flurry of blows with her blade. Close combat was where she had the edge after all.

[Charmera]

-snip-

The Vile Snake
There was a silence in the air. The atmosphere was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Ashy's question hung in the air, as it required no answer, yet still she waited for the abomination as if she was likely to give one. In reality, fear had made it's home in the heart of the Vokornian, the snakes poison beginning to fester in her mind and soul. She could feel her eyes stinging, as if they looked at something too bright, when in reality they were looking at quite to opposite. Something so dark and grimm it made her sick to the very bottom of her spirit. She couldn't help but hate what was in front of her, yet fear it for how it mimicked humanoid form so accurately. How it seemed to represent all she strived to be and all she wished to avoid in one.

It moved towards Ashy, though the Valkyries stepped in front of her.

"Children of Asgard, you do not see even your all mother flees before us? Lapdogs are not welcome here." With no response. she sighed. "Very well. Extermination it is."

She took a step towards them.

And then another.

Baleful step by step she moved. She was in no hurry. She had no reason to be.

The Valkyries attacked, but their weapons failed them, merely jabbing air. Next their feet failed them, as with a telekinetic snap of her fingers, they were on their knees. Not even using her blade, the snake cut off one's head with a stroke of her arm, the corps falling forward as it's head was liberated. The other she slowly turned to the other Valkyrie. She forced her neck to bend downwards as she lifted her hand once more, then let it go down. It never reached it's target.

Ashy had enough by this point. She had been quaking before this snake for too long. But even in this lazy strike she could feel force. Her shield being cracked. She disengaged her forcefield and her opponent stepped back, cocking her head.

"You put yourself at risk for a single life. You put our superior flesh in front of those Asgardian dogs." She spat. "Have you no pride in our race?"

Ashy snapped, attacking with her own generated sword. The Snake had lazily parried, the strike had been predictable. "You are not a Vokornian." She spoke,

"But I am." She responded. She pushed Ashy off herself and counter attacked. The Vokornian parried, then countered. She was punished for her recklessness, her blade was caught by a disarming strike, and then she was wide open for a slash. It was only a last minute field of force which saved her. "I am everything that makes us strong. Mother Skin has given me many blessings." Ashy heard that before. Mother skin....

She quickly expanded her forcefield to hit the Snake, managing to break her hold. Then a faster than lightning display of swordsmanship came to the fore. Ashy attacks, Snake counters, Ashy parries and repeat. Ashy attempts to break the stalemate with a calculated strike. First slamming the ground to create a smoke screen, and then rushing her opponent from behind. her mind had been shadowed against psychic detection, so she was able to sneak past. Or so she thought. She wasn't able to lay a strike on her foe.

Her blade was grabbed mid air by two fingers, then pushed back to Ashy. "You call on darkness as if it serves you. What idiocy." She simply and nonchalantly battered her opponent away with a single slap. "In other universes you were stronger by now. Yet managed to kill you then."

Suddenly darkness gathered around her hands, and she pointed one at Ash. Seemingly tired of toying with her. She blasted her with a beam of dark, and Ash shuddered and screamed in pain, falling to her knees. Then she was blasted again.

'Funny. I thought you liked pain."

Ashy's mind registered the comment, and she would have questioned how the Snake knew about that had she not been in total agony. The dark armoured walking Tumour of reality simply chuckled. Laughing for the first time in their battle.

The next blast sent Ashy to the ground. She continued screaming.

The Sheppard must conquer pain.
Or she will fall.

[Charmera]

Liberty batted the spear away, already slightly suspicious by this development. Why go for such an easily deflected attack? it was then that Liberty saw the reasoning for it, it was a mere distraction so that he could prepare his real attack. She cursed herself for falling for it and quickly drew up a forcefield barrier. The barrier managed to crack and explode, sending her flying back. It seems it had absorbed the energy, but was overloaded by the amount. But it managed to save her from damage at least. Liberty frowned and decided to send her own projectiles.

She created balls of force, aiming at her target and hurling them as fast a she could, accelerating them using her powers too. She knew these were unlikely to have any effect, but they were merely a distraction for when Liberty quickly sped round to his side, attacking his flank as she rushed towards him, unleashing a flurry of blows with her blade. Close combat was where she had the edge after all.

Frank Mayhem

Battle! Vs. Liberty!

---

I created a simple energy shield to block the balls of force that were heading my way, and did it rather cleanly. Liberty's moveset is certainly different, I surely agree, but I haven't seem any surprises with it yet... Force fields, weapons - that is cool, but I still have a counter in the form of energy constructs. Wait... Where did she go? While I was rambling about it, I lost track... Then someone behind me broke through the shield and sent a blade swinging at my right arm. Oh, crap! I was too distracted!

Unfortunately, with the surprise hit, I didn't have enough time to counter Liberty's moves, and ended up taking a few slashes before I moved back to avoid anything else thrown at me. I need to get rid of those weapons. And maybe slow her down a bit... With this, I raised my right hand and pointed the index finger. It's tip flashed for a second, before firing a dozen of energy strings, some targeted at the blades, others at the body. While thin and barely visible, each one was incredibly strong, and their purpose was to either bind and break the weapons or incapacitate their user.

Liberty groaned and found the binds, but found it hard as her weapon was tangled. She also found her feet and legs tangled, and groaned in frustration. Again she squirmed, but it only served to frustrate her. But then she had an idea. Suddenly a multitude of small knives popped out of nowhere and began to cut the wires, severing them completely. Of course she didn't have time to free the blade, so she just made two new ones. Using dual wield to her advantage, she pressed the attack. With sudden ferocity, she charged forward, attacking her foe. Though at the last minute she also created a Buckler of force, so she could block in close combat.

[Charmera]

---

Sarah glanced at her youngest sister when she chimed in, chuckling at her comments and then actually laughing out loud when she was finished speaking, though she calmed herself quickly. Hanah's table manners were terrible, but the eldest Grimm would be lying through her teeth if she dared say that she didn't find them amusing. Either way, once the wolf girl was done talking, Sarah took another bite of cheesecake before replying.

"I suppose you're right. You know, for a little girl you're pretty smart." The pale woman smiled at her sister, before glancing towards Morgan. "This man? Hanah, you really should start paying more attention." She said, shaking her head before continuing. "This is John Morgan, he's from Washington DC, but he's got a company here in Gotham, so he's visiting." She explained, before resuming her meal.

Hanah groaned. "I'm sixteen!" She spoke. "I may look younger because I'm short, but I'm defintely not a little girl." She folded her arms. "You two are the ones who think I'm a little girl..." She muttered. Then looked at Morgan. She frowned ever so slightly, but then extended a hand and smiled. "I'm Hanah!" She said. Suddenly, and violently she said it. "And Sorry, I was busy eating." She then paused for a second. She felt something funny at her back. But then it was gone again swiftly afterwards. She slowly slid her backpack off and then looked inside. She did a double take, then frowned and gnashed her teeth together. "Those,.." She muttered. She sniffed, then tossed her rucksack in the air and ran outside. Her sisters might wonder what this wierd behavoir was about... until they looked in the bag.

For there was no longer a push yet old teddy in the bag. Someone had stolen Teddy.

There was an enraged howl from outside.

[Charmera]

Xyri smiled as she saw the ships. They were now pretty tiny. They all seemed focused on her, which was a mild concern, but she felt an outside well of strength be tapped into as she heard the voice of the Hadrian, though she didn't know what a Hadrian was. She looked towards one of the ships, and peeled the hull off like it was made of paper. She exposed the inside of it and then like some sort of goblet she tipped it back and absorbed all the Rantu greedily. She felt a small boost in size, but it was inconsiquetial to how huge she already was. She shrugged, then lumbered along, knocking a few buildings over like bowling pins as she reached othr ships. She grunted uncomfortably as she was hit by lazers and the ships began to backpedal like a giant slime girl was chasing them... But Xyri didn't seem to be hampered by any of these things as she grabbed a ship and tore it open again like a pinata, and then balled the rest after absorbing the crew, creating a ball out of the advanced metal as if it were tin foil, and she tossed it into another rantu ship. So she was doing quite well. She just had to hppe that they all wouldn't fire at once. A concern which surfaced when three of them began charging their lazers while facing her, all intent on hurting the green giant.

[Charmera]

Unfortunately for Okarot, his pleas had fallen on deaf ears. It didn't matter how strong ones will was when it came to his programming. When the words were spoke, he was made to follow blindly without any regard of who it was he was going after. Be it friend or foe. "Submit for registration and you will not be subjected to further injury." And when Okarot continued to try and goad his free will. Alex simply fired powerful beams from his eyes. "Unsatisfactory reply. You have been warned. If you continue to resist, you will die. It brings me no pleasure. I am simply doing what I have to do. You reside on our world, you must follow the laws of our world."

Naja was not taking it well, she walked into the tower, took one step into the elevator, which caused it to snap and smash into the basement. Due to her forgetting to turn off her powers. She walked back outside and flew up her room trying to figure out what to do next. Stark had a point though. Even when she was angry, she simply didn't have the strength of character to follow through with any of her threats. Which in most cases was a good thing. But there were a few times when she wished that people would take her more seriously when she got angry. The Elite only got scared of her when she made it look like she was brutally killing them. She could never actually do something like that.

Katie quickly excused herself as soon as she saw Naja storming off in a huff. She needed to talk to her. That and find out what might be upsetting her. After all she had heard the elevator's untimely demise. With a slower speed, she walked into Naja's room, putting on her best smile for her friend. "So... hey there." She spoke. "You okay? I don't think I've ever seen you this angry." She commented. her rage seemed somehow familiar though. "Did... something happen with Alex?" Katie being the clever cookie she was, could guess this kind of anger was most likely to do with that relationship. That or it could be Snake woman prejudice. That would have been her next guess.