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

[Finland SSR]

Naja

Atiala Hypenova, ...

---

"Oh, oh! My turn! And err... my name's Atiala. Nice to meet you." That was a really odd conversation. Gives new meaning to the saying "shoot first, ask questions later". Well, kind of. Nomally I wouldn't even try to fight people as strong as these two, but I feel unnaturally strong at this moment, and I should use that to my advantage. I suspect the type of energy that Photon is using is an important part of it. Who knows at this point.

Naja flinged Photon away whle constantly chatting like they're buddies of some sort, and I moved into chase after the body. It didn't move that fast, maybe not even at the speed of light (though close), so I caught up almist immediately and sticked out my right knee for the foe to stop by hittibg it. Almost immediately I charged a trememdous amount of energy in my left hand, then proceeded to blast Photon with it ina volley of close-up energy blasts.

"Likewise. I'm Naja. The weird shiny guy is Photon. He's a Kree, and a huge weirdo." She said helping Atiala bombard him. "He kept calling you a hybrid, of what exactly?"

"She's part Kryptonian, part Saiyan." Photon said from behind the two women. "Has the potential to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe. You too. And you're both women. I wonder if that means something... Not in a cosmic way, I'd know. So far you both are just lucky."

"Would you mind telling me how you know all of this stuff?"

"Cause I'm almost omniscient." He replied and hit Naja across the the face with enough force to send her crashing into one of the many planet sized molecules, which sent it crashing into several others. "She's got a hard jaw. I'll give her that. Ultron would make great use of you both. So let's be civil about this and let him do his thing? Though I sense I'm going to have to knock you out first. Which is fine. Just delaying the inevitable. " He said firing a beam point blank at her.

It certainly is hard to keep your identity secret in the big wide world. Bam, Photon already knows who I am. And that I have the potential to become one of the strongest characters in the universe. Huh. My parents always told me that I should always restrain myself, because my power is so unnaturally large that I could accidentally destroy everything in my path. I never believed them that much, though still followed the orders. And now people are proving their point left and right.

This is certainly ending up as a very interesting journey. Meanwhile, Photon was attacking Nana over and over. I had a really strong feeling that I should help, fight with my new ally, stuff like that. Wha am I, a superheroine or something?

"Hey, you should keep your guard up!" I shouted as I dashed behind Photon and attempted to send him flying to the same planetary molecule he sent Naja to, with a Heat Vision follow-up.

[Osnil]

Cora
Cora frowned when she saw Katie walking back to her room, it was clear that she was crying. Soon Cora went to her room to change as well, wearing a black dress that she had bought for the occasion. They then all drove in Katie's car to the funeral, Roy wearing formal attire that Valancy had bought for him.

The funeral was a very sad occasion. Cora tried to stay strong, but couldn't help but let a few tears fall to her face. She hadn't know Eric very long, but he was so kind and caring. She knew she would have become close friends with him, and he had made Katie so happy. After the procession and Eric was buried, Katie was kneeling at his grave along. Cora and the others stayed back, she needed time alone with him. When Katie came back she seemed different however. She looked distracted, but not as depressed as before. Cora wondered what she could be thinking about.

When they reached the lobby of the JQ tower Katie suddenly shot upstairs at high speeds, Co had never seen her move that fast. "What was that." Roy asked in shock. He had never seen Katie move at high speeds before.

"That's one of Katie's abilities. She can moved at high speeds by speeding up the electrons in her body." Cora told the boy. "I'm going to go look for her. I hope she's okay." She said to Valancy and Roy before heading upstairs.

She looked around the tower for her, wondering where she had gone. Finally she say lights on in the computer center and she heard Katie talking to some one as well. She approached slowly until she was standing behind Katie, leaning against one of the processors. "Hey Katie, you okay?" Cora asked softly, concern in her voice.

Valancy stood through the funeral, her eyes brimming with tears. His death had been preventable, that's the thing that really got her. Once Katie had stepped away from the grave, Val walked forward, raising her hands to create the most beautiful flowers she kneel of to line his grave. She got a few songbirds to come and sing as well, their usually cheerful chirping now sad and mournful.

When they got back, Katie rushed up. That was good, she supposed, as Katie had used her powers once until now. She changed and put on her longcoat and gloves. Next, she collected the antidote, staring at it a moment, before taking a small vial of Jasmine's blood. Going back to the lobby, she spoke to two bloodhounds and they soon burst through, Val putting on their leashes.

"It's high time I hunted that murderer down," Valancy said to Roy, her face having a hateful and grim expression. Tell the girls I won't be back without that demon. No one escapes justice under my watch. We called ourselves the Justice Queens for a reason." she said. Kneeling to the bloodhounds, she let them get a good sniff of Jasmine's blood and a snatch of clothing she had found. The bloodhounds lifted their heads and howled, Valancy smiling grimly, before following them out at a run.

"I found her," Widow said into her com link, "she's not leaving the elevator without me."

"That's what you think," Jenny replied, as she tried to hit Widow with her heat vision. Widow flipped out of the way, then said, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Which is it? We can forcibly drag you back or you can come back of your own free will."

Meanwhile, in the lobby, Hawkeye fired another shot, this time just barely missing Batgirl. "Look, all we want is to keep her from using her powers in the wrong way. You know what she did to a town in Italy? She levelled it because someone called her a filthy mutant. We don't want that repeated."

Elena lifted her hand in a flash, catching the arrow. "A mutant? You said. You want to teach her how to use her powers? Let's compromise then. Take her to Xavier's school. It's always open to mutants, is it not?" Batgirl asked, snapping the arrow in two.

"I'll have Wilde contact Fury about this," Hawkeye replied, then spoke into his com, "Wilde, our Bat has suggested that she go to Xavier's school."

"Sophie, patch me to Fury," Darren said aloud, "and Romanoff, make sure that she doesn't go anywhere." That is a really good idea, he thought. How come Shield doesn't think of that?

"Sure thing," Sophie, Darren's operative, replied.

In the elevator, Natasha watched Jenny. Jenny only stared back, creating the illusion that she wasn't there. "She's not here." Natasha reported, "she's gone."

"Fury's patched," Sophie said.

"Sir, the Bat has requested we send our target to Xavier's school. Is that agreeable?" Darren asked.

"If she agrees to it," Fury replied, "do you even have her?"

"Well we did, until Romanoff lost her," Darren replied.

Romanoff, in the meantime, felt something brush up against her. Jenny had attempted to distract her with an illusion, then tried to scramble out of the elevator. "Found her, Sir." she said, pulling Jenny down. "Don't move, or I'll be forced to take you out." She turned the elevator back on.

Meanwhile, at the lobby, Hawkeye said to Batgirl, "You tell her; it was your idea."

[New Rnclave]

Broly:

This was the third city he'd destroyed, and he'd had no difficulty doing so. Peering through the ruins of a broken building, The Super Saiyan watched with mild interest as weaklings screamed in agony as they burned. Bodies melted as they ran helplessly. Any who found an avenue of escape were wiped away with a flick of his finger, this was an all to simple occasion. Each time one jumped from the burning building, Broly have a chuckle, and the ones that fled from the bottom were given an annoyed glance.

They'd all die by his hand anyway, what was the point in annihilating them all in one go. Broly was no hunter, but it could be fun.

As the building began to collapse and the screams disappeared, Broly's smile turned into one of intense anger. Was this it? He'd been unleashed on planets far more deserving of his attentions. These creatures couldn't even defend themselves, how was he supposed to have any fun if they only entertained him for minutes at a time?

All they had were machines to stop him. They were incredibly frail and relied on projectiles in attempt to stop him. The only fun part of it was when he destroyed them, and the humans burned within them.

turning his eyes downward, he noticed a bearded man standing atop a wrecked piece of highway. He was yelling at him, and shaking his fist. As Broly descended, the pitiful man took a step back, his flamboyant outfit fluttering in the wind. Landing atop a wrecked vehicle, Broly growled as he stared at the man.

"Well, have the Earthlings sent another champion to stop me? your later then the last set they sent." Broly cackled.

Not far behind him, men huddled behind vehicles, metal boxes atop their shoulders. Broly recognized them as recording devices. He'd seen many before, transferring images of the slaughters he caused back to the people. An evil grin filled his features as Broly realized he had an audience.

" You've been terrorizing the wrong planet you... beast!" The bearded man screamed, pointing his finger up at him.

Almost immediately Broly determined he was going to break that finger off first, he was already imagining it.

" Really now? I could have sworn this is exactly where I want to be," Broly responded, taking a step towards the terrified humans. "I am now the ruler of this pitiful rock. I will kill, destroy and do whatever I wish. And when I'm done, I'll destroy this planet and everyone on it."

The man was quaking in his boots, and swallowed hard as he tried to regain his backbone.

" You're just like those Saiyans!" Mister Satan announced.

Well, it seemed this planet had been attacked before. It only seemed likely that Hiroshi and his pathetic allies had defeated them. But now that they were all dead, there was no point in worrying himself of their past adventures. Any that remained would have their time to die soon enough.

To this pathetic human, Broly could only find it to cackle madly back at him.

" I am a Saiyan you little insect." He remarked amidst his laughter" Now let me show you what the rest of this pathetic world can come to expect."

Opening his palm, energy flooded into it, gathering like water in a floodplain. He'd barely scraped the top of his power, why waste his power on these fools? All they needed to know was that their role was to die when he wanted them too.

"My name is Broly." He laughed, letting the full weight of his attack sink into his next victim. " You can die now."

Moving his arm out to release the bolt, something froze for him. It was as if time stood still for a moment. The energy he'd sensed earlier appeared, only more violently this time. Unconsciously, Broly scanned the area for the power. The moment he found it, it was already to late. There was no time to turn as an incredible heat formed around the right side of his face. There was no time to turn when something unbelievably hard collided with his face. His cheek bone pushed in, and the flesh itself was forced harshly against bone . Unable to control his jaw, which snapped open from the hit, his lower jaw being one second behind the rest of his frame a she felt himself become weightless. Blood and saliva trailing his head, Broly's body disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Without being prepared for it, his entire body plunged into the building he'd turned into a giant crematorium. Each floor he ripped through was a raging inferno, finally his body broke through into the elevator shaft. Crashing through the concrete walling around it, is frame impacted the thick cables that held up the metal boxes the humans traveled in. As the elevator car screamed down below, a deep growl escaped him as he looked through the hole he'd been knocked through, seeing a Golden haired warrior.

It couldn't be.

"Hiroshi." He seethed, trembling with rage.

The entire building began to shake harshly as his power twisted ad warped the steel around him. Finally, the building collapsed inwards, drawn towards his power. This couldn't be the boy! He'd left him choking on his own blood!

Everyone he killed...Stayed dead.

With his teeth grinding together, Broly lost control. In under a second, green light filled the air, the ruins of the building being thrown outwards when his power exploded around him.

Left floating in the air where the building once stood, Broly tensed as he floated in the air, looking straight towards the black and green colored fighter. Super Saiyan hair reached skywards as electricity sparked around him. There the boy stood, exactly where he'd once been. His pose was so self assured, so defiant. The look he wore was one of determination, in those teal eyes, he saw what he'd seen so many times before, the look of a hero. But this one would fall just like the rest.

Growling, Broly made his first move forward. This was going to be the last mistake the boy made. Anyone and enough to fight him would provide a little entertainment, especially if they could injure him.

" I hope you enjoyed that entrance of yours. It'll be the last thing you do before I send you to hell." Broly seethed. Across from him, the Saiyans posture shifted to a defensive stance, as if it'd matter. There was something about the whole situation that unsettled him, centering in his gut.

" You won't kill me." The man said in response, his eyes blazing with something beyond determination. " No matter what you do, Broly, You can't run from fate forever."

A laugh burst from Broly at the Saiyans little speech. Did he really think he was running from anything? He was the Legendary Super Saiyan.

" fate? You think I run from destiny? I know my destiny boy. and it is to embrace destruction. I'll kill every single peice of garbage liek you in the universe. That is my fate."

The response was a sharpened look from his enemy as his posture tensed, as he leaned forward, ready to attack him. it was all visible in his body language.

" Wrong. My name is Hiroshi Mako, Son of Abaddon Kai and Tomia, Father of Tomia Mako, who you killed today! You want to know your destiny? It's to die here, today."

With that, the Super Saiyan attacked.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Somewhere on the asteroid belt, Hadrimmelis meditated silently, mulling on the many things that she had done during the aftermath of the Time Demon War in order to ensure that Ku would not wreak havoc upon the universe once more. His surviving brothers and sisters, including the elder Kazayannú, had devised a myriad failsafes and countermeasurs to firmly ensure that the fearsome Time Demon would never escape his chains, buried beneath the Great Temple in the Dragon Force Dimension and left there to languish forever and be forgotten by all but its captors. She, however, had done something different. She had devised a way to stop the Time Demon should he ever break free, without having to go through such a massive loss of life. A way to destroy the creature for good. A way to stop it before it had the chance to cause as much destruction as it had caused during the war along with its siblings. And it had only required a single sacrifice. Just one! The bargain of an eternity!

Back then, it had seemed so simple, so easy to accomplish that it would have been nothing less than a sin to refuse to go through with it. Just one sacrifice, that was all it would take to stop Ku if he broke free once again, and this time, for good. It was not just simple, it was not just convenient. It was necessary. Hadrimmelis and everyone else who was alive at the time had experienced firsthand the horrors that the Time Demons were capable of inflicting upon the universe, and that one sacrifice was a small price to pay to spare the universe a second scarring. It was quite simply the right choice, and that was it. But now, so long after the crisis, the scarlet World-Dragon wondered about the truthfulness of that.

Had that really been the right choice? She wondered, as she watched the battle taking place on Earth.

---

---

Gilbert nodded at Aru's words. It was true, even though he could cheat death through Ku's power, pain was not something he could simply ignore, and most things that brought death also brought pain with them. So while it was not exactly as difficult for him to give his life away for a cause as it likely was to other people, it was still not exactly a simple thing. For now, though, it was best not to think about such things and focus on the corrupted Rainborn.

"I'll see what I can do." He said to Aru as she sprayed bubbles all over the battlefield. However, just before he was going to jump down from his spot in the rooftop, the woman's voice, the same one that had led him to the Batcomputer to try to prove his existence and fail in his endeavor, spoke inside his mind once again, as if to guide him. At first, he was reluctant to listen. That voice had caused him a very nasty surprise earlier, and he didn't want to go through that again, not to mention that, being in the middle of a battle as he was, it was not a convenient thing to listen to whatever it was. However, soon he decided to listen, as he realized that the voice was trying to help him and Aru in their battle.

"The chest. The chest houses its Core. Destroy it."

Gilbert quickly turned to Aru.

"It's weak point is in its chest! We need to get it off the ground. If you can do that, then I can try to expose the weak point, and you'll have a clear shot if you fire from the ground. That way, you won't be at risk of destroying Earth if you miss, or if the bullet goes through after you fire." He said, before looking back at Asra, who had currently grown bored of studying one of the bubbles enveloping his arm and was corrupting it to the point that it destroyed itself, releasing him from it. Then, once again, he sent a wave of Absolute Fire with a beat of his wings, incinerating the bubbles surrounding him. Gilbert frowned at seeing this.

"I have no power, not like yours anyway. I can't do much against him, I can't force him off the ground. But if you can do that, then I promise you, I will give you your opening." The young man said.

---

---

Upon hearing her sister's words, Sarah's crimson eyes fluttered open and she let out a big yawn. Up until Samantha had parked the car next to the roadside dinner, Sarah had been sleeping peacefully, recovering all the energy she had spent during the bank robbery, and later during the battle against the wizard. However, just those four hours of rest had been quite wonderfu, and she felt fully refreshed and ready to roll after waking up. Not wanting to let Samantha go off on her own, the elder Grimm tried to move, but she failed to do so, and could only smile when she realized why.

"Come on little flower, it's time to grab something to eat." She said, lightly shaking Hanah in order to stir her. The two had fallen asleep in the back seat, after all, so it was little surprise to Sarah that when she woke up, Hanah was sleeping with her head on Sarah's lap. "You know I'd love to let you sleep some more, but your sister's going to leave us without dinner if we don't hurry and catch up with her." She chuckled lightly.

After Hanah woke up, Sarah too stepped out of the car and followed Sam into the dinner. "Since we have the money, we should order lots of dessert." The elder sister stated, more to herself than to the others, nodding firmly to herself as she walked inside. As was the norm, once she walked inside, most if not all pairs of eyes turned to look at her and found it very difficult to move away, captivated by the pale lady's unnatural beauty, but Sarah, more than used to this kind of attention, simply walked past the other patrons and found a table for herself and her sisters.

---

---

Garnet nodded at Masami with a sheepish grin on her face as she asked about the reference, quite amused that she knew what it was. Once again, she was proven wrong, but she didn't really mind. Traveling with someone so full of surprises only meant that there was little chance of ever being bored, after all. Another nod, a more serious one, came along as the kitsune explained that her bullets would work just fine in destroying the Goryo, and that if they failed, she could always destroy the armor and cause the spiritual energy inside to leak out. The fox lady swiftly demonstrated this by slicing through one of the ghost warriors and destroying him with relative ease, so Garnet figured that there really wasn't much to these things. With that in mind, she pulled out her pistol and fired off an entire clip, managing to destroy three of the Goryo before being forced to block an attack by another one who had gotten a bit too close. Putting away Misery, she materialized Agony and punched the samurai's chestplate, shattering and causing the ghost to disappear.

"No, I don't. You have fox ears, Masami, remember?" Garnet remarked after dispatching the previous enemy, and took a moment to retrieve her mask and don it, feeling the power coursing through her. So long as the mask was on her, her agility was increased greatly, and wounds would heal in time. A powerful artifact, indeed.

"But if you know what it is, by all means, tell me. A warning in advance would be nice." She said as she took her nameless sword and sliced through one of the Goryo.

---

---

Etla's initial plan, to hit the back of Craig's head with her elbow, was quickly dismissed after she noticed the inventor stumble and then sweep his feet at her. That was quite a wrench in the works for her, since he was no longer in the position she wanted him, but she wasn't about to let him get the jump on her and so, she gave a little hop, just enough to avoid being swept off her feet, but not so much that she would be in the air for longer than strictly necessary. Landing swiftly, she was about to try to force Craig back into the ground in order to see if she could subdue him, but much to her chagrin, he was quick to act and used a blast from his glove to send himself away into the air. She barely had time to back away from the blast, and by then Craig was already a great distance away from her. She considered taking the opportunity to make another witty remark, since there was never a bad moment for a witty remark, but before she could think of something, Craig began firing off many more concussive blasts with his hands, and Etla pouted ever so slightly. It wasn't going to be much of a fight if he just tried to snipe her. With that in mind, she used her light manipulation to create a solid screen of light in front of herself to use as a shield, before charging towards him.

However, she halted when she noticed that one of the blasts hit the ground and kicked up some dust, smoke and debris, obscuring her sight ever so slightly. She was able to see Craig approaching with disc in hand, and at that moment, she dropped the light screen, believing that it was better to let him get close than block him and make him get away once again. Seeing him about to slash at her, she reached out and intercepted the disc with her bare hand. It cut through her skin with ease, as it was no more durable than the skin of a regular human, but it was unable to slash through the black stonelike material she was made of underneath the skin, which currently had the durability of human bone. It was painful to hold it like that, but she was keeping him from using one of his weapons against her, so she believed it was worth it.

Grinning as she ignored the pain, she looked at Craig straight in the eye. "Well, we should do vigorous activities together more often, then." She winked.

Then, her free hand clenched into a fist and shot forth into the inventor's gut. Once. Twice. Thrice. She was certainly taking advantage of his proximity, but before she could do anything more, the other disc, which she had completely forgotten about, struck her from behind, making a tear in her red leather jacket and slicing through her skin, though once again it failed to do much else. The unexpected pain, however, caused her to yelp and move away from Craig, releasing her grip on his other disc.

[The Starlight]

Valka awoke, surrounded by her Valkyries. By their calm expressions, nothing had occured during her slumber. "Thank you, sisters. Go and join the feasts, eat to your heart's delight. I shall return in a little while, for now, I go to Midgard." she said, flying down to the planet for which much Asgardian blood had been split. Noticing people congregating a portal, she came in closer, and landed, reading the instructions, frowning. Apparently, this portal led to a Devil's Den. She knew of none who could open portals to Hel itself, and if Midgardians were entertaining devils, this was serious business. She fed the little machine as it requested, putting the bracelet on her arm, before summoning Mjolnir. These devils would learn that Midgard was under the protection of Asgard. So, she leapt through, spinning Mjolnir, a war cry on her lips.

The war cry swiftly died as she beheld people feasting and drinking, with no fear on their faces. Perhaps this place's name was simply that which the Midgardians called an analogy, or figuratively meant. She was no expert on Midgardian tongues. Striding forward to the tables, a bit more relaxed, she observed the menu, her eyes lighting up at seeing "Asgardian Mead." Clearly no devil ran this place, especially with them serving Asgardian drinks! Calling out to the waiter heartily, she ordered some Mead.

Waiting patiently, thumping Mjolnir on the ground when it arrived, she took a long drink of it, her face eager. And then, her expression soured, and she spit it out. "Asgardian Mead, you say?!" she yelled angrily, smashing the cup on the floor. "This is water! WATER! You call this mead? You do insult to Asgard by serving this meager draught. Show me to thy kitchens, waiter! By Odin, I shall teach you how to make real Mead of Asgard!"

The frightened waiter showed the Asgardian to the brewery, where she proceeded to make several barrels of Asgardian mead, writing down the recipe for the brewers.

[Siliarba]

Valka

awoke, surrounded by her Valkyries. By their calm expressions, nothing had occured during her slumber. "Thank you, sisters. Go and join the feasts, eat to your heart's delight. I shall return in a little while, for now, I go to Midgard." she said, flying down to the planet for which much Asgardian blood had been split. Noticing people congregating a portal, she came in closer, and landed, reading the instructions, frowning. Apparently, this portal led to a Devil's Den. She knew of none who could open portals to Hel itself, and if Midgardians were entertaining devils, this was serious business. She fed the little machine as it requested, putting the bracelet on her arm, before summoning Mjolnir. These devils would learn that Midgard was under the protection of Asgard. So, she leapt through, spinning Mjolnir, a war cry on her lips.

The war cry swiftly died as she beheld people feasting and drinking, with no fear on their faces. Perhaps this place's name was simply that which the Midgardians called an analogy, or figuratively meant. She was no expert on Midgardian tongues. Striding forward to the tables, a bit more relaxed, she observed the menu, her eyes lighting up at seeing "Asgardian Mead." Clearly no devil ran this place, especially with them serving Asgardian drinks! Calling out to the waiter heartily, she ordered some Mead.

Waiting patiently, thumping Mjolnir on the ground when it arrived, she took a long drink of it, her face eager. And then, her expression soured, and she spit it out. "Asgardian Mead, you say?!" she yelled angrily, smashing the cup on the floor. "This is water! WATER! You call this mead? You do insult to Asgard by serving this meager draught. Show me to thy kitchens, waiter! By Odin, I shall teach you how to make real Mead of Asgard!"

The frightened waiter showed the Asgardian to the brewery, where she proceeded to make several barrels of Asgardian mead, writing down the recipe for the brewers.

DeeDee
The Devil's Den

DeeDee was wondering whether to laugh or look weird at August. Whoever this guy was it was like he just popped in to existence yesterday and is trying to figure out being Human. Alien in Human disguise maybe? Or the answer could be a lot simpler and he's just an idiot, worlds full with them after all. But before getting the chance to really react, it seemed like my attention was needed by the staff. With CeeCee away I'm the top dog here after all. "Erm Miss DeeDee, there's a weird lady yelling complaints about the Asgardian drinks, she's taking over the room behind the bar." "If you 2 lovebirds will excuse me, seems I'm needed elsewhere. If whoever you're looking for has been spotted, then that information will be relayed to Gary behind the counter." A small point to who Gary was just in case they weren't sure.

"He's a nice guy, weird, really in the playing a character theme, maybe a bit much. But he'll definitely help you. Oh, and if I was in your place." Looking at August "I'd clean up the mess you made on Chorus's face by licking it off, toodles." And with that it was time to check out the brewery. It was a small brewery, in general we imported everything we could, but things like Asgardian Mead aren't that easy to get to begin with, so I did the best I could with recipes I found while studying everything I could from Asgard. Either through earthly sources or some demonic ones. Having entered the brewery "Ok, who's the one complaining about the mead, whoever you are you're scaring the waiting staff."

Surprise took me over, as I felt like I recognized this person "well pin my tail and call me a donkey. If I'm correct and the research is correct then you're someone referred to as an All-Mother or something like that. Well isn't this my lucky day." The research DeeDee had access to was rather limited but she knew enough to know that if she was correct about this person then that would mean she had access to some really high level magical stuff, and upgrading your power was always such a tantalizing idea. "Frankly, I don't mind you being here, any tips you can give on your mead would surely help a lot. I did my best to recreate it but all I had were recipes that missed half the ingredients and importing this stuff from Asgard ain't a picnic. And secondly, I'm DeeDee, Co-Owner of this place and sorceress, I'll jump straight to the point. I'm looking for something and I think you might have it, and I want to make a deal giving me a chance to get it."

This is where it came in handy that she was a genius when it came to magic, and the fact that she had access to a couple of demonic libraries. Because she learned in one of those libraries the last known region of an artifact that really peaked her interests. "I have no way of confirming this, but if my research is correct, then you might have, or at least know the location of, the Darkhold." DeeDee's eyes flared up with desire as she named what she wished for. The book had been an obsession of hers ever since she first learned of it's existence after all.

[The Starlight]

"He's a nice guy, weird, really in the playing a character theme, maybe a bit much. But he'll definitely help you. Oh, and if I was in your place." Looking at August "I'd clean up the mess you made on Chorus's face by licking it off, toodles." And with that it was time to check out the brewery. It was a small brewery, in general we imported everything we could, but things like Asgardian Mead aren't that easy to get to begin with, so I did the best I could with recipes I found while studying everything I could from Asgard. Either through earthly sources or some demonic ones. Having entered the brewery "Ok, who's the one complaining about the mead, whoever you are you're scaring the waiting staff."

Surprise took me over, as I felt like I recognized this person "well pin my tail and call me a donkey. If I'm correct and the research is correct then you're someone referred to as an All-Mother or something like that. Well isn't this my lucky day." The research DeeDee had access to was rather limited but she knew enough to know that if she was correct about this person then that would mean she had access to some really high level magical stuff, and upgrading your power was always such a tantalizing idea. "Frankly, I don't mind you being here, any tips you can give on your mead would surely help a lot. I did my best to recreate it but all I had were recipes that missed half the ingredients and importing this stuff from Asgard ain't a picnic. And secondly, I'm DeeDee, Co-Owner of this place and sorceress, I'll jump straight to the point. I'm looking for something and I think you might have it, and I want to make a deal giving me a chance to get it."

This is where it came in handy that she was a genius when it came to magic, and the fact that she had access to a couple of demonic libraries. Because she learned in one of those libraries the last known region of an artifact that really peaked her interests. "I have no way of confirming this, but if my research is correct, then you might have, or at least know the location of, the Darkhold." DeeDee's eyes flared up with desire as she named what she wished for. The book had been an obsession of hers ever since she first learned of it's existence after all.

"I am the All-Mother of Asgard, its ruler after Odin's death. I have written a detailed recipe with instructions for your brewers, for the mead I tasted in your establishment is letter better than water." Valka said, taking a sip, humming in approval.

Her eyes narrowed when DeeDee spoke of the Darkhold. "Your information is correct. Long ago, perhaps 500 hundred years or so, I came upon a library. It was nearly empty, save for one book. The Darkhold. The inhabitants of the library attacked, and I successfully slew them. But their black blood verified my worries, they had been using black magic, and it had affected their very being and soul. I did them a mercy, in the end. Though I did not have the power I do now, I could sense waves of black magic off it. So I took it, and opened it, wanting to verify my fears. And in that moment, I looked into evil. I am not embellsing my tale here, DeeDee. To continue it, I seized it, and returned to Asgard, for it to be locked up. For in the hands of evil, the Darkhold could wreck havoc upon worlds. It is the darkest magic I have seen today. It lays in the vault I designed myself, for I and Odin attempted to destroy it, but could not. What do you wish with that evil book?" she asked, watching DeeDee's eyes carefully.

[Siliarba]

"I am the All-Mother of Asgard, its ruler after Odin's death. I have written a detailed recipe with instructions for your brewers, for the mead I tasted in your establishment is letter better than water." Valka said, taking a sip, humming in approval.

Her eyes narrowed when DeeDee spoke of the Darkhold. "Your information is correct. Long ago, perhaps 500 hundred years or so, I came upon a library. It was nearly empty, save for one book. The Darkhold. The inhabitants of the library attacked, and I successfully slew them. But their black blood verified my worries, they had been using black magic, and it had affected their very being and soul. I did them a mercy, in the end. Though I did not have the power I do now, I could sense waves of black magic off it. So I took it, and opened it, wanting to verify my fears. And in that moment, I looked into evil. I am not embellsing my tale here, DeeDee. To continue it, I seized it, and returned to Asgard, for it to be locked up. For in the hands of evil, the Darkhold could wreck havoc upon worlds. It is the darkest magic I have seen today. It lays in the vault I designed myself, for I and Odin attempted to destroy it, but could not. What do you wish with that evil book?" she asked, watching DeeDee's eyes carefully.

DeeDee
The Devil's Den

It was important not to come over like the desire for the book was out of evil, not that I had any desire to do evil with it. But coming over to greedy and obsessed might give the wrong idea, so I took a casual pose, leaning against the wall before talking, first responding to the mead seemed a good idea. "Thank you for the information about the Mead, I'm sure it'll help this place. And secondly thank you for confirming you have this book. And the reason I want the Darkhold is fairly simple. It's a book I've only been able to read about, I would like to read the book itself as it has piqued my interest." At this point DeeDee's right hand flared up and what looked like a portal to the demonic realm she got her demons from showed up.

"I can use magic to conjure up demons from the realm this illusion is showing. Controlling demons sounds like evil magic, but it isn't, they can be as harmless as a big kitty cat, or as violent as a rampaging monster. I decide that when I summon them." DeeDee then closed the portal and cut her own hand, and just as it began to bleed with a single word the wound flared up and healed. "I just used magic to heal my hand, seems like what you would call good magic to some. But the way I did it was through advanced use of destruction magic. Does that then make it evil because the magic is labeled as destruction and destruction sounds evil?" A small smirk adorned my face "I don't think any magic is inherently evil or inherently good, it can all do evil, it can all do good. I think the Darkhold is the same, it can be read, it can be learned form and you can do this without being or becoming evil, I'm sure of it. I've been around demons since I was 10 and I don't strike you as corrupted or turned evil by their presence I hope."

"My desire is to learn, no knowledge, regardless of how evil or good, safe or dangerous it may be thought to be, should be locked up forever. When you start locking up knowledge, regardless the topic, you let fear take a hold over you."

[The Templar High Council]

The Fight.

[Empire of the Siberian Flaming Eskimos]

Salis threw open the doors of the Iceberg Lounge, a trail of bodies killed and maimed in various ways behind him. Stepping into the main room he was met with considerable gunfire. Opening a portal across the doorway, he redirected the bullets into his assailents. Closing the portal, he found that the entirety of the room had been taken care of. Moving forward, Salis went over to the bar to find it's tender cowering below it. He quickly grabbed the sniveling man and broke his arm.

"I won't ask again, where's Two-Face?" He said coldly.

"He's in the back room," sobbed the man, "he went there when he heard you coming. There's a back door."

"Thank you for being so cooperative," replied Salis as he put a bullet in the man's head. The bartender had forefit his life when he had thrown his lot in with Two-Face. He ignores the bodies and moved to a pair of doors in the back. Opening them, he found two men with machine guns waiting for him. Salis quickly grabbed one man's gun and shoved it towards the ceiling as he stabbed his knife through the man's ribs. The other gangster quickly unloaded a magazine only to have the bullets riddle his back from a portal. Salis moved through several more sets of doors, dispatching more men in similar fashions, until he found Two-Face. After killing off several men, Salis moved through what appeared to be the back entrance. As he pushed the door open, Two-Face pressed a pistol to the back of his head.

"So, do you live or die today?" he said as he pulled his coin. Mid flip, Salis quickly grabbed Two-Face's arm and flipped him I've his head. Catching the coin, he found it had landed heads.

"I guess you're dead," said Salis. Pulling his knife, he decapitated Two-Face without a second thought. Grabbing the head by it's hair, he moves back to the entrance. News crews and police cruisers had pulled up to the entrance of the lounge. The GCPD had set up a perimiter based on an anonymous tip made by Salis. He wanted to world to know what he had done, to send a message. As he came out the entrance, several cops who had been surveying the carnage he had left behind looked up and pulled their guns. Behind a barrier, several news stations had vans and camera's trained on him as well. Salis stood at the gaping doorway and held up Two-Face's head.

"This is a sign," he said, "This is a sign to everyone in Gothem that would get in my way. This is what happens to those who prey on the weak. What happens to those who would take the lives of others, who would force them to the streets. No one deserves to be under your thumb, and by putting them there you deserve nothing but a long and painful death. I will hunt down the filth of this city and others, and I will end them. And anyone who gets in my way, hero or villian, gangster or civilian, will face the same treatment." With that, he threw Two-Faces head into the air and shot it as it fell, landing in front of the reporters.

"Pick your side wisely," said Salis, "for the wrong choice will kill you."

[The Starlight]

It was important not to come over like the desire for the book was out of evil, not that I had any desire to do evil with it. But coming over to greedy and obsessed might give the wrong idea, so I took a casual pose, leaning against the wall before talking, first responding to the mead seemed a good idea. "Thank you for the information about the Mead, I'm sure it'll help this place. And secondly thank you for confirming you have this book. And the reason I want the Darkhold is fairly simple. It's a book I've only been able to read about, I would like to read the book itself as it has piqued my interest." At this point DeeDee's right hand flared up and what looked like a portal to the demonic realm she got her demons from showed up.

"I can use magic to conjure up demons from the realm this illusion is showing. Controlling demons sounds like evil magic, but it isn't, they can be as harmless as a big kitty cat, or as violent as a rampaging monster. I decide that when I summon them." DeeDee then closed the portal and cut her own hand, and just as it began to bleed with a single word the wound flared up and healed. "I just used magic to heal my hand, seems like what you would call good magic to some. But the way I did it was through advanced use of destruction magic. Does that then make it evil because the magic is labeled as destruction and destruction sounds evil?" A small smirk adorned my face "I don't think any magic is inherently evil or inherently good, it can all do evil, it can all do good. I think the Darkhold is the same, it can be read, it can be learned form and you can do this without being or becoming evil, I'm sure of it. I've been around demons since I was 10 and I don't strike you as corrupted or turned evil by their presence I hope."

"My desire is to learn, no knowledge, regardless of how evil or good, safe or dangerous it may be thought to be, should be locked up forever. When you start locking up knowledge, regardless the topic, you let fear take a hold over you."

"As I'm sure you know, the Darkhold contains all the spells Chthon, of the Elder Gods. The Book of Sins, the Book of the Damned it is called. These spells were his life, and he did little with them to heal with them. The spells I read had no good applications, they were specific and malicious in their every word. Spells to twist the natural nature of things, spells to twist the hearts of all, spells with no good intent. Much magic is ambiguous and could be used for good nor ill. You say that you desire knowledge. Would you be satisfied by simply reading the book and closing it? Nay, you would use the spells. Conjuring up demons is one thing, examining and using the spells of a demonic Elder God is another thing entirely. Let us pray that you have no notion of summoning Chthon. Some things do need to be locked up, forever. This is not out of fear, but out of knowledge of what the wrong or unknowing hands will do with an powerful object if it is not secured. Let me use the example that you may be familiar with, if you have read of Asgard: Ragnarok. Many Ragnaroks have come upon us of Asgard, and for all our might, we always fall, so it is written. The cycle of Ragnaroks was broken when Odin locked up the Eternal Flame, the flame which Surtur, King of Muspelheim uses to light his sword. Sometimes, locking things up is necessary. There are many things locked in my vaults, for good reason."

"I have lived nigh 3,000 years, DeeDee. And in those many years I have learned, among other things, to trust my instincts, and be cautious in all things. I know what felt when I opened the book, and Odin agreed with me. This is like no magic that you've seen before. You Midgardians have a saying. Knowledge is power.
And the power of a demonic Elder God should be in the hands of none. This is not a book you will read and close, putting it on a shelf? You will hear quiet voices, urging you to just try one spell, after all what harm could it be? I felt it myself. Do you truly know what you wish?" Valka said seriously.

"

[The Starlight]

Etla's initial plan, to hit the back of Craig's head with her elbow, was quickly dismissed after she noticed the inventor stumble and then sweep his feet at her. That was quite a wrench in the works for her, since he was no longer in the position she wanted him, but she wasn't about to let him get the jump on her and so, she gave a little hop, just enough to avoid being swept off her feet, but not so much that she would be in the air for longer than strictly necessary. Landing swiftly, she was about to try to force Craig back into the ground in order to see if she could subdue him, but much to her chagrin, he was quick to act and used a blast from his glove to send himself away into the air. She barely had time to back away from the blast, and by then Craig was already a great distance away from her. She considered taking the opportunity to make another witty remark, since there was never a bad moment for a witty remark, but before she could think of something, Craig began firing off many more concussive blasts with his hands, and Etla pouted ever so slightly. It wasn't going to be much of a fight if he just tried to snipe her. With that in mind, she used her light manipulation to create a solid screen of light in front of herself to use as a shield, before charging towards him.

However, she halted when she noticed that one of the blasts hit the ground and kicked up some dust, smoke and debris, obscuring her sight ever so slightly. She was able to see Craig approaching with disc in hand, and at that moment, she dropped the light screen, believing that it was better to let him get close than block him and make him get away once again. Seeing him about to slash at her, she reached out and intercepted the disc with her bare hand. It cut through her skin with ease, as it was no more durable than the skin of a regular human, but it was unable to slash through the black stonelike material she was made of underneath the skin, which currently had the durability of human bone. It was painful to hold it like that, but she was keeping him from using one of his weapons against her, so she believed it was worth it.

Grinning as she ignored the pain, she looked at Craig straight in the eye. "Well, we should do vigorous activities together more often, then." She winked.

Then, her free hand clenched into a fist and shot forth into the inventor's gut. Once. Twice. Thrice. She was certainly taking advantage of his proximity, but before she could do anything more, the other disc, which she had completely forgotten about, struck her from behind, making a tear in her red leather jacket and slicing through her skin, though once again it failed to do much else. The unexpected pain, however, caused her to yelp and move away from Craig, releasing her grip on his other disc.

He struggled to free his disc as Etla gripped it, the two quite close to each other once again. Her flirtatious comment, however, knocked the wind out of him figuratively, and he blinked once, before dropping his mouth in shock, absolutely flabbergasted. And she had looked him straight in the eye as she said. His mind struggled to determine the veracity of her statement before he had the literal wind knocked out of him, Etla punching him in the stomach three times. "No...fair" he managed to wheeze out as he dropped to the ground, his mind still reeling, quite distracted now.

Rather reluctantly tearing his mind away from what had popped into his head, he recovered his breath and slowly stood up, glad to see he had partially succeeded in distracting her from his other disc's approach. He reached out his hands, the discs flying to his grip, Craig fusing them back together. He would need a free hand. "If you want to play dirty, Etla, I'll play dirty. Vigorous activity sounds quite nice. Things might get heated though," Craig said, creating some of his nanites, creating a car out of them which he sent rolling towards Etla, Craig close behind it, disc already in the air flying towards her. If none of those attacks worked, he would be in close proximity yet again, where he might get some good punches in. And he admitted to himself he liked being in very close proximity to the Rainborn, so that was a bonus.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Salis threw open the doors of the Iceberg Lounge, a trail of bodies killed and maimed in various ways behind him. Stepping into the main room he was met with considerable gunfire. Opening a portal across the doorway, he redirected the bullets into his assailents. Closing the portal, he found that the entirety of the room had been taken care of. Moving forward, Salis went over to the bar to find it's tender cowering below it. He quickly grabbed the sniveling man and broke his arm.

"I won't ask again, where's Two-Face?" He said coldly.

"He's in the back room," sobbed the man, "he went there when he heard you coming. There's a back door."

"Thank you for being so cooperative," replied Salis as he put a bullet in the man's head. The bartender had forefit his life when he had thrown his lot in with Two-Face. He ignores the bodies and moved to a pair of doors in the back. Opening them, he found two men with machine guns waiting for him. Salis quickly grabbed one man's gun and shoved it towards the ceiling as he stabbed his knife through the man's ribs. The other gangster quickly unloaded a magazine only to have the bullets riddle his back from a portal. Salis moved through several more sets of doors, dispatching more men in similar fashions, until he found Two-Face. After killing off several men, Salis moved through what appeared to be the back entrance. As he pushed the door open, Two-Face pressed a pistol to the back of his head.

"So, do you live or die today?" he said as he pulled his coin. Mid flip, Salis quickly grabbed Two-Face's arm and flipped him I've his head. Catching the coin, he found it had landed heads.

"I guess you're dead," said Salis. Pulling his knife, he decapitated Two-Face without a second thought. Grabbing the head by it's hair, he moves back to the entrance. News crews and police cruisers had pulled up to the entrance of the lounge. The GCPD had set up a perimiter based on an anonymous tip made by Salis. He wanted to world to know what he had done, to send a message. As he came out the entrance, several cops who had been surveying the carnage he had left behind looked up and pulled their guns. Behind a barrier, several news stations had vans and camera's trained on him as well. Salis stood at the gaping doorway and held up Two-Face's head.

"This is a sign," he said, "This is a sign to everyone in Gothem that would get in my way. This is what happens to those who prey on the weak. What happens to those who would take the lives of others, who would force them to the streets. No one deserves to be under your thumb, and by putting them there you deserve nothing but a long and painful death. I will hunt down the filth of this city and others, and I will end them. And anyone who gets in my way, hero or villian, gangster or civilian, will face the same treatment." With that, he threw Two-Faces head into the air and shot it as it fell, landing in front of the reporters.

"Pick your side wisely," said Salis, "for the wrong choice will kill you."

"T-This is the Iceberg runner. Two-Face... He's dead. A Mask cut his damn head off. The Iceberg appears to be under the control of the Mask and a small remnant of the GCPD. I... The Mask seems to be threatening both the Heroes and Villains. Even Civilians."
"Get back to base. The Lounge isn't the important thing right now. When the Bat arrives, we'll inform her about that situation. In the meantime, we'll initiate the dual pronged assault as soon as she gives us the go ahead. With Two-Face gone, we've only got Vannis to deal with, but it's one thing to piss of a Mask, it's another to piss off a Bat. Boxer, when you get back to HQ, you'll be leading a tertiary team scout ahead of the assault forces and ensure we don't have anyone we can't handle coming. Once we take at least North Gotham, the Runners' job will be intel gathering on Masks and rival gangs. Reclaimer, I need you back at base."
"I'll be there in five."
"Boxer, I-"
"Give me a damn minute. I'll be there soon."

[Siliarba]

"As I'm sure you know, the Darkhold contains all the spells Chthon, of the Elder Gods. The Book of Sins, the Book of the Damned it is called. These spells were his life, and he did little with them to heal with them. The spells I read had no good applications, they were specific and malicious in their every word. Spells to twist the natural nature of things, spells to twist the hearts of all, spells with no good intent. Much magic is ambiguous and could be used for good nor ill. You say that you desire knowledge. Would you be satisfied by simply reading the book and closing it? Nay, you would use the spells. Conjuring up demons is one thing, examining and using the spells of a demonic Elder God is another thing entirely. Let us pray that you have no notion of summoning Chthon. Some things do need to be locked up, forever. This is not out of fear, but out of knowledge of what the wrong or unknowing hands will do with an powerful object if it is not secured. Let me use the example that you may be familiar with, if you have read of Asgard: Ragnarok. Many Ragnaroks have come upon us of Asgard, and for all our might, we always fall, so it is written. The cycle of Ragnaroks was broken when Odin locked up the Eternal Flame, the flame which Surtur, King of Muspelheim uses to light his sword. Sometimes, locking things up is necessary. There are many things locked in my vaults, for good reason."

"I have lived nigh 3,000 years, DeeDee. And in those many years I have learned, among other things, to trust my instincts, and be cautious in all things. I know what felt when I opened the book, and Odin agreed with me. This is like no magic that you've seen before. You Midgardians have a saying. Knowledge is power.
And the power of a demonic Elder God should be in the hands of none. This is not a book you will read and close, putting it on a shelf? You will hear quiet voices, urging you to just try one spell, after all what harm could it be? I felt it myself. Do you truly know what you wish?" Valka said seriously.

DeeDee
The Devil's Den

"Knowledge is power, be careful what you wish for as you just might get it, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, curiosity killed the cat, ... We Midgardians have tons of those sayings that warn you about such things. And I wish I could tell you I'll think about it for a millennium and get back to you, but we Midgardians have lives that go away in the blink of an eye compared to you Asgardians. We have to live in the moment and seize every opportunity we can get before we run out of time." DeeDee sighed before she continued to talk, convincing an Asgardian to hand over what might as well be considered a book heralding an apocalypse of some kind wasn't an easy thing.

"I need to find out for myself what this books influence is, just like you felt it before realizing it was to dangerous. One day, I want to make a deal where you lend it to me for one day. The book nor I will ever leave this place, this place has a dampening field lowering the power of everything both magical as technological as biological. The only thing it doesn't affect is power anchored beings like celestials. After a day you can have the book back and if I've been corrupted by it enough that I do not wish to return it then you can beat me up and take it for yourself. And if you want extra assurance, it takes both me and the real owner of this club to bypass the bracelet and the power limiter. For the day I have the book you can have access to your full powers wile inside of here so regardless of what happens you can easily overpower me."

"All you need to tell me is what you wish in return for that one day of lending me the Darkhold, and I'll do what I can to fulfill that request or answer that question."

[Turmenista]

Empty City, near UAE

Magnus needed a break.

Ever since he became friends with these guys, it was non-stop fighting for them. Whether it was internal or fighting super villains like an hour ago, it was non stop. He definitely needed a break.

He couldn't technically get tired, but keep in mind that he hadn't had a proper rest since the Ark, or whatever that was..

Magnus slowly got up, grunting as he stretched a bit. "Alright, peeps. I'm tired and Tina likely is too. So are you, Myosai, and you, Odysseus. We need some rest."

"No shit. Matter of fact- I need a hospital." he grumbled. "We all need some rest.."

"We're in the middle of nowhere. Where are we going to go?" Myosai asked.

Odysseus facepalmed. "We are literally next to the best fucking location for resting. Probably a mile away. Who wants to go?"

Myosai floated up into the air. "I'm checking this out." She declared, powering up and taking off, away from the group and literally leaving them in the dust.

---

Meanwhile, in Dubai..

"You think he's going to be down by now? It's getting dark.." The short Z Fighter in the Orange Gi asked the taller one.

"I'm pretty sure he'll be down soon, Krillin. He's probably cooling off after I schooled him in that fight, heh."

"Yamcha, I can hear you." The lone figure called. He stood at the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in Dubai, meditating. "You better keep your mouth shut, before you get ‘Yamcha’d’ through several expensive buildings…. which you will pay for with your Zeni.."
Yamcha tensed up. "You serious, Nanashi?!"

The dark-skinned figure began to chuckle. “Of course not! That’d be hilarious, though..” He sighed, floating away from the top of the tower. “Did you hear about what happened while you guys were gone? I found some thug and punched him so hard, he soiled his pants!” Nanashi cackled, laughing at the experience. “Oh, man. I literally punched the shit out of him, he didn’t know what was coming..”

“That guy must’ve been a turd, right?” Yamcha asked.

“No. Just, no.” Nanashi shook his head. “You should be ashamed of yourself for saying a joke like that-“

All three of them suddenly tensed up. Nanashi looked off into the direction of the desert, feeling an intense power force closing in on their location.

“D-do you feel that..?” Krillin stuttered. “I haven’t sensed a power this powerful since Bojack.. and Cell..” Krillin put a hand to his chin. “Come to think of it,” he thought. “This power level does remind me a bit of Cell…”

“You think it’s trouble?” Yamcha asked. “I really don’t want my vacation to be messed up by some insanely powerful freak…”

“Only one way to find out.” Nanashi powered up. “You two take lead, I’ll be behind you the whole time.."

[Charmera]

---

---

Gilbert nodded at Aru's words. It was true, even though he could cheat death through Ku's power, pain was not something he could simply ignore, and most things that brought death also brought pain with them. So while it was not exactly as difficult for him to give his life away for a cause as it likely was to other people, it was still not exactly a simple thing. For now, though, it was best not to think about such things and focus on the corrupted Rainborn.

"I'll see what I can do." He said to Aru as she sprayed bubbles all over the battlefield. However, just before he was going to jump down from his spot in the rooftop, the woman's voice, the same one that had led him to the Batcomputer to try to prove his existence and fail in his endeavor, spoke inside his mind once again, as if to guide him. At first, he was reluctant to listen. That voice had caused him a very nasty surprise earlier, and he didn't want to go through that again, not to mention that, being in the middle of a battle as he was, it was not a convenient thing to listen to whatever it was. However, soon he decided to listen, as he realized that the voice was trying to help him and Aru in their battle.

"The chest. The chest houses its Core. Destroy it."

Gilbert quickly turned to Aru.

"It's weak point is in its chest! We need to get it off the ground. If you can do that, then I can try to expose the weak point, and you'll have a clear shot if you fire from the ground. That way, you won't be at risk of destroying Earth if you miss, or if the bullet goes through after you fire." He said, before looking back at Asra, who had currently grown bored of studying one of the bubbles enveloping his arm and was corrupting it to the point that it destroyed itself, releasing him from it. Then, once again, he sent a wave of Absolute Fire with a beat of his wings, incinerating the bubbles surrounding him. Gilbert frowned at seeing this.

"I have no power, not like yours anyway. I can't do much against him, I can't force him off the ground. But if you can do that, then I promise you, I will give you your opening." The young man said.

Aru paused, and then nodded slightly. There was a suddenly "ding" as if something in the oven had finished cooking and Aru suddenly pulled out several flat disks from her suit. She quickly pressed a few buttons and tossed them, the drones popping out and floating before they hit the ground, suddenly splashing her foe with plasma fire, Railgun fire and a few more bubbles blasted out at him. Another distraction. And then Aru grabbed Gilberts hand.

"Try not to be sick." She spoke, as suddenly they were teleported behind Asra, the teleporting would make most non Rantu nauseous. Aru frowned at being so close to her enemy, but sometimes being close to yoru enemy was a nessecity. Not to strike them in melee of course, thats why shotguns were invented after all. "Do what you need to do. You have roughly ten seconds before he kills us." She gave Gilbert a little time to make preparations and such. Suddenly, Aru slid forward from her hiding spot and in front of Asra so her rifle would point up at him. She then blasted upwards with the large Tachyon rifle into his chest. She dearly hoped he had managed to create her opening.

---

Upon hearing her sister's words, Sarah's crimson eyes fluttered open and she let out a big yawn. Up until Samantha had parked the car next to the roadside dinner, Sarah had been sleeping peacefully, recovering all the energy she had spent during the bank robbery, and later during the battle against the wizard. However, just those four hours of rest had been quite wonderfu, and she felt fully refreshed and ready to roll after waking up. Not wanting to let Samantha go off on her own, the elder Grimm tried to move, but she failed to do so, and could only smile when she realized why.

"Come on little flower, it's time to grab something to eat." She said, lightly shaking Hanah in order to stir her. The two had fallen asleep in the back seat, after all, so it was little surprise to Sarah that when she woke up, Hanah was sleeping with her head on Sarah's lap. "You know I'd love to let you sleep some more, but your sister's going to leave us without dinner if we don't hurry and catch up with her." She chuckled lightly.

After Hanah woke up, Sarah too stepped out of the car and followed Sam into the dinner. "Since we have the money, we should order lots of dessert." The elder sister stated, more to herself than to the others, nodding firmly to herself as she walked inside. As was the norm, once she walked inside, most if not all pairs of eyes turned to look at her and found it very difficult to move away, captivated by the pale lady's unnatural beauty, but Sarah, more than used to this kind of attention, simply walked past the other patrons and found a table for herself and her sisters.

---

She growled softly. "Just five more minutes..." She muttered happily. But then her eyes shot open with almost frightening speed when dinner was mentioned. She pounced up. "Egh! I'm up! I'm up! Let's go." She suddenly spoke.

As she entered the room she noticed how all the eyes went to Sarah once more and sighed, rolling her eyes and folding her arms slightly. She had come to expect this really, but it was a tad annoying how she never seemed to get any attention when next to her sister. It was like she was invisible... She snapped out of her thoughts of anything but food quickly however when she saw the menu, at which see oogled more than the people in the restaurant oogled at Sarah. Meat! Meat! Glorious Meat! Pork! Beef! Stake! Sausages! Chicken! Come to mama. She paused and snapped out of her trance as soon as she realized she was drooling. She coughed awkwardly. "I'll have... the meat." She pointed at the meat section. All of it.

---

Garnet nodded at Masami with a sheepish grin on her face as she asked about the reference, quite amused that she knew what it was. Once again, she was proven wrong, but she didn't really mind. Traveling with someone so full of surprises only meant that there was little chance of ever being bored, after all. Another nod, a more serious one, came along as the kitsune explained that her bullets would work just fine in destroying the Goryo, and that if they failed, she could always destroy the armor and cause the spiritual energy inside to leak out. The fox lady swiftly demonstrated this by slicing through one of the ghost warriors and destroying him with relative ease, so Garnet figured that there really wasn't much to these things. With that in mind, she pulled out her pistol and fired off an entire clip, managing to destroy three of the Goryo before being forced to block an attack by another one who had gotten a bit too close. Putting away Misery, she materialized Agony and punched the samurai's chestplate, shattering and causing the ghost to disappear.

"No, I don't. You have fox ears, Masami, remember?" Garnet remarked after dispatching the previous enemy, and took a moment to retrieve her mask and don it, feeling the power coursing through her. So long as the mask was on her, her agility was increased greatly, and wounds would heal in time. A powerful artifact, indeed.

"But if you know what it is, by all means, tell me. A warning in advance would be nice." She said as she took her nameless sword and sliced through one of the Goryo.

Masami wade through quite handily herself as the two of them cut through the Goryo ranks like a sword. Though they were all trained Samurai, their skills were rusty after a long death. Not so for the two women who seemed to be handily dealing with the Horde. "It's big. I know that for certain. Though that doesn't really narrow it down." She then paused and looked around. Most of the Goryo were dead or... re dead. They were all dead technically. Or undead. Whichever. Though she didn't see any giant monster that would cause these footsteps. She frowned. But then she realized what was wrong. She grabbed Garnet and pushed them both through the door of the inn.

Just in time too. A second later a massive boney, fleshless foot slammed down where they once were, destroying all the remaining Goryo. Masami got up and drew her sword. And then the room of the Inn was suddenly burst open to reveal a massive white skeleton. "Gashadokuro. A giant skeleton made of the bones of the starving... But this was always a plentiful area. No records of famine or drou-" She suddenly dodged a massive bone fist. "Someone must have imported this thing." She commented. "But who would have the resources to command one of these..."

She faced the giant skeleton. Blade drawn. "Be careful. This thing is tough and strong." She spoke. suddenly hurling a ball of fox fire into it's face. It flinched, though didn't seem too fazed.

[Tomia]

Samantha Grimm
Samantha rolled her eyes as everyone in the restaurant looked at Sarah. She knew it annoyed Hannah, but Samantha didn't mind. She didn't want their attention, and was glad that Sarah was keeping it off her. When they sat down and the waiter came by, she tried hard not to laugh at Hannah's order and the astonished look on the waiter's face. He didn't seem to write it down at first until Samantha looked at him, "You heard her, she wants everything in the meat section." She said seriously. He finally wrote that down and then she made her order. "I'll have honey glazed turkey sandwich please, and a glass of iced tea." The waiter seemed relieved to have a more normal order and turned to Sarah,
"What would you like ma'am?" He asked her, he wasn't as mesmerized by Sarah's looks now that he was concentrating, but the effects of her supernatural beauty were still there.

[Charmera]

Somewhere on the asteroid belt, Hadrimmelis meditated silently, mulling on the many things that she had done during the aftermath of the Time Demon War in order to ensure that Ku would not wreak havoc upon the universe once more. His surviving brothers and sisters, including the elder Kazayannú, had devised a myriad failsafes and countermeasurs to firmly ensure that the fearsome Time Demon would never escape his chains, buried beneath the Great Temple in the Dragon Force Dimension and left there to languish forever and be forgotten by all but its captors. She, however, had done something different. She had devised a way to stop the Time Demon should he ever break free, without having to go through such a massive loss of life. A way to destroy the creature for good. A way to stop it before it had the chance to cause as much destruction as it had caused during the war along with its siblings. And it had only required a single sacrifice. Just one! The bargain of an eternity!

Back then, it had seemed so simple, so easy to accomplish that it would have been nothing less than a sin to refuse to go through with it. Just one sacrifice, that was all it would take to stop Ku if he broke free once again, and this time, for good. It was not just simple, it was not just convenient. It was necessary. Hadrimmelis and everyone else who was alive at the time had experienced firsthand the horrors that the Time Demons were capable of inflicting upon the universe, and that one sacrifice was a small price to pay to spare the universe a second scarring. It was quite simply the right choice, and that was it. But now, so long after the crisis, the scarlet World-Dragon wondered about the truthfulness of that.

Had that really been the right choice? She wondered, as she watched the battle taking place on Earth.

"Greetings sister." Spoke a voice from behind the world dragon. Another World Dragon apparently, with a smile on her face. "Apologies if I interrupted your meditation, Kazayannu told me that you were here, and we haven't conversed in a while. I've been rather busy lately after all." She spoke. Yamirakkelis (Or Yama as she was more often known, or Yammy, her rather embarrassing nickname) sat next to her sister. She had purple hair, odd for a human form and it often was a little conspicuous, but she liked it. She also had blue, knowledgeable eyes, framed by her ever present glasses. She seemed to always wear them without fail. She didn't need them to see, but she wore them for reasons only she knew. Then there were her wizarding robes, again, unneeded, but part of the image she was associated with.

"Your thinking about something aren't you?" She asked. "If I were to hazard a guess... it would be Ku and the Time Demon War wouldn't it?" She paused. Waiting for her sister to confirm or deny her assertion. Her guess was based on what could reasonably put a first generation World Dragon like her on edge.

[Pygmalionia]

Lazarus Hope

Their group thesis was a success. The panel was incredibly impressed with their study. Lass convinced his groupmates to create a study on Dr. Crane's infamous fear toxin - How it's made and how it works. What sold the thesis however, was the inclusion of a controversial topic - how it can benefit society. While the mention of that would be incredibly taboo in Gotham, especially with the mass amount of people who have suffered under the Scarecrow; this was Metropolis. People were able to view such topics without bias. The professors commended the study, and some even went as far as to say that Lass, the leader, would go far in the field of chemistry.

“Hey, we did great. What do you say we splurge a little? Have a few drinks, relax? We earned it!” said one of his blockmates. “I’ll pass. I have some errands to run in Gotham. It’ll be better if I leave early. Traffic’s a bitch, you know?” Lass replies, chuckling to himself. “Aww come on, really! You always skip out on hangouts. Oh well, whatever. Next time I see you though, you’ll owe us all dinner.” says his friend, disappointed. “Of course, Brad.” Lass barks back smirking, before heading off to his apartment.

While it was true that Lazarus was to go to Gotham, it wasn’t because of his errands. He’s heard of the current situation of the different gangs in the city keeping authorities occupied, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get the chance to butcher some of those goons down; regardless if it gets him caught. Placing his gear in a duffel bag, he sits on his motorcycle and drives off.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Etla watched Craig recover from her attack and back off once again. Hearing his comments, however, she could only tilt her head in confusion.

"Play dirty?" She asked, before smiling once again. "I wasn't lying, you know. It's just not my fault that you get distracted that easily." She teased him yet again, before readying herself to face his attacks once again. She was unpleasantly surprised when once again Craig opted to take indirect means in attacking her instead of rushing in close and fighting hand to hand against her once again. She frowned ever so slightly, annoyed not quite because he was using attacks that were harder for her to counter and rather because he didn't approach her again. Much like him, Etla also enjoyed being very close to her opponent, and so, it annoyed her that he didn't seem to want to spend some more time like that, even if it made sense from a logical point of view. Being in close proximity so far had gotten him hit, after all. But then, Etla was hardly a logical person.

She was forced to snap out of her distraction once again as she noticed Craig's latest attack: a speeding vehicle that was headed towards her, and his disc which was flying through the air in an attempt to hit her. Clearly, he wanted to try to hit her from multiple directions so that at least one attack would succeed, but unfortunately for him, she had received some pretty excellent training from a certain dragon, so she was prepared for this sort of tactic. Tapping into the unlimited energy inside of her and harnessing the power of the Star Core, she created a blast of solid light that slammed the car aside, and at the same time sent a much smaller blast to collide with the disc, sending it back to Craig.

Once that was done, she smiled to herself and got into position, noticing that, behind the nanite car, Craig was barreling straight towards her. Rather than attack him from afar, she was going to let him get closer so that she could enjoy fighting with him some more, but naturally, she wasn't going to let him get the advantage, and braced for the incoming attack.

"But anyway," She said, picking up from her earlier comment. "I don't mind if things get heated. The hotter it gets, the better."

---

---

Garnet simply rolled her eyes at Masami when she said that whatever was coming, it was something big. That much was painfully obvious and didn't really help Garnet figure out what kind of monster was approaching. She softly mumbled something about a military officer named "Obvious" as she faced off against yet another Goryo, briefly wondering if there was something in her arsenal she hadn't yet used. Suddenly, her mind thought of Despair, and so, thrusting forth the arm that bore the bracelet with the purple gemstone, she willed the skeletal purple hand into existence, and it manifested soon enough, reaching out towards the undead samurai. But instead of pulling it towards her or pulling her towards it like it often did, it constricted the Goryo, eventually crushing it inside the ethereal fist.

Garnet was fairly content with the outcome of her little experiment, btu she didn't have much time to think about it, as Masami suddenly tackled her, pushing her into the inn just before a giant bone foot stomped them and ground them into a fine crimson-tinted paste.

Getting up just a moment after Masami, she hastily adjusted her clothes, which for a moment there showed a tad more cleavage than she was comfortable with, and listened to the kitsune explain what they were going to face off against. The giant skeleton, she said, had apparently been taken here from somewhere else.

"Well, that only confirms that this whole thing was a trap, Ackbar." Garnet remarked, before looking up at the skeleton. It was pretty huge, but nothing she couldn't take. She had been fighting giant monsters since... a handful of days ago, but she felt like she had it down to a science already. Plus, Masami had been at it for far longer, likely, so she was confident they'd be fine. "Now then, time to take this one down too." She said. And with that, she began charging up Agony, the gauntlet glowing with red energy. Reaching out with the hand bearing the purple bracelet once again, and the skeletal purple hand reached out, latching onto the skeleton's leg. Garnet used this to launch herself at high speeds towards the skeleton.

"Femuuur..." She said as she flew towards the skeleton, ready to punch its leg and look awesome while doing it. "KILLER!"

---

---

---

Sarah was very amused at Hanah's order, as well as the waiter's reaction, and much like with Samantha it took a good chunk of her willpower to keep her from giggling, let alone flat out laughing at the waiter after seeing his face. She knew it would be needlessly rude, after all. Taking one of the paper napkins on the table, she reached out and wiped Hanah's face with it, not wanting her to keep that drool on her face for longer than necessary.

"There we go." She said softly and smiled at her little sister as she crumpled the napkin and set it aside. She was well aware that Hanah was likely to get her face dirty once again as soon as all the meat she'd ordered arrived, but she didn't mind. She'd simply have to make sure she was clean after that, too.

When the waiter turned towards her to ask her about her order, Sarah realized that she hadn't really thought about it. Flipping through the menu, she went straight to the dessert section, and began reading everything that was there. "Hmm... I'd like the banana split... and a slice of cheesecake- actually, make that two. What else? Oh! The jello sounds nice... and some of this... and a bit of this too..." She went, ordering a fair bit of desserts. She knew it wasn't very healthy, but she didn't particularly care. Her metabolism ensured that she never got out of shape, so she could eat sweets and junk food to her heart's content, something she was quite happy with.

"...And I wouldn't mind having your number too." She finished, winking at the waiter, grinning as she noticed him going red as a tomato, feeling his heart begin racing. He hastily nodded and turned around, wandering back to continue doing his job, and once he was out of earshot, Sarah began giggling softly.

---

---

Noticing that there were more drones on the battlefield now, Asra decided that he'd had enough. Gripping his sword, he moved at the speed of light and sliced through them effortlessly, before flying high into the air. Holding out his free hand above him, he began generating massive waves of Absolute Flame, just waiting to be released, unleashed upon the ripe world that was Earth, to feed on its inhabitants and devour it whole, leaving nothing behind, erasing Earth forever. Aru's words rang true: ten seconds were all the time that they had left before Asra killed them. Ten seconds were all the time anyone had left before Asra killed them, for not life nor sound nor light could escape from that fire.

Yet, getting him to fly was exactly what they wanted.

Gilbert, truth be told, did feel a little bit sick after being teleported with Aru, but he quickly overcame the nauseating sensation through sheer willpower, also aiding himself by sending himself back to an earlier state. However, time was running short, and so, immediately, he tapped into the enormous power of the dreaded Time Demon, using that forbidden might once more and absorbing the life of Earth itself in order to fuel his attack. He drained and drained, enough so that he would be able to create Aru an opening for her attack, without knowing the consequences that his actions would bring in due time. He charged himself, just as Asra charged his flames.

And then, he jumped. He jumped like never before in his life. His legs painfully shattered from the sheer force of the leap, which was far greater than the force he should've had as a human. However, he ignored the pain, clenching his teeth and pushing on. His jump had taken him all the way to where Asra hovered above Earth, and for just one moment, the two were right next to each other. At that moment, Gilbert's fist shot forward, impacting Asra's chestplate with several million times his own strength, the temporal overlap fueled by the drain performed earlier allowing him to have enough strength to break a star.

At this, Asra's eyes widened. His chestplate burst open, shattering miserably, and even his chest split apart where it had been struck, the black stonelike material parting away to reveal a glimpse of the Corrupted Core sleeping beneath.

The next instant, Aru's Tachyon Arrow skewered him mercilessly, destroying the Core. Asra stopped functioning, just like that. His flames went out of control, and devoured him before fading from existence, the will of the Ashbringer no longer sustaining them.

Afterwards, Gilbert's broken body landed on the drained Earth. The impact had completely destroyed him, erased him, the sheer magnitude of the impact joining forces with Newton's laws to annihilate him. And yet, already his body was slowly reforming, though it would take a bit further before it happened. In the mean time, Aru would be able to appreciate the price of their victory. The drain that Gilbert had performed earlier had come with a great cost. In order to grant him the power required to expose Asra's core, all life on Earth had to be drained, its time stolen by the thief with noble intentions, never to be given back. No more creatures walked the surface of the planet, no more.

They had saved the Earth, but now the Earth was hollow.

---

---

Amidst her meditation, Hadrimmelis felt a presence appear somewhere behind her. However, a fraction of a second after detecting it, she dismissed the thought of taking preemptive action. She recognized this presence, after all. It was the presence of one of her siblings, another of the World-Dragons. She felt this with ease, her vast psionic capabilities granting her absolute knowledge of everything that surrounded her, even in her human avatar form, though these abilities were obviously diminished. They would have a much greater range, if she was awake, but there was no reason for her to be awake at the present moment. To awaken would cause the destruction of her people, after all, and the laws of the Dragon Force forbid her from causing such a loss of life.

Either way, she didn't pay much attention to the other presence until she spoke.

"Yamirakkelis." Called the blonde avatar, nodding without turning. "Yes, I was thinking about the Time Demon War. I was... wondering if one of the decisions I made back then was the right one." She stated. Between World-Dragons, consensual communication was necessary, as their psionic abilities ensured that they would not be able to breach each other's minds.

"But that is not a topic I would like to discuss, frankly. It was merely the solitude of this place that led me to think of it." She stated. "Now, what brings you to me, Yami? I presume it is not a call for help or anything urgent like that, as you would appear far more agitated if that was the case."

[Charmera]

Gotham city
Ihra walked out of the blue glow of the energy she had ridden to earth and into the streets of Gotham. She looked around, her eyes widening. Around her were dark boxes of grey, a few beings who looked like Rainborn, but with looks of apathy or sorrow on their faces were scattered across the street, metal poles holding lights or holding more metal. She frowned slightly, pausing as she looked around in confusion. She turned around, about to explore a little, when suddenly she felt a force slam into her sending her sliding back. As she looked up, she saw it was a short beast with glowing red eyes and what appeared to be a window into it's camel like hump of a stomach. Some sort of translucent material. Inside was a man with a look of terror. At first she thought the man might be in trouble. But then his expression became angry.

"Get off the road!" He shouted.

Ihra cocked her head. "Road?" She paused.

"Yes! Road! You dumb broad!"

She shook her head. This was too much. "But... don't you want to get out of the beasts stomach?"

The man shook his head and pressed the middle of a strange wheel. Suddenly the beast roared. The Rainborn jumped back, keeping an eye on the beast as she moved to a slightly more elevated part of the... road? That must be what this is called.

"I don't like it here already..." She whined. She was out of her element. Usaully she liked reading the many books Father Sky let them peruse or playing or talking with her brothers or sisters. This sort of exploration was quite jarring a shift.

"Oh dear..." She mutter. But then she saw a group of men in front of her. Her eyes widened. Then she smiled. "Perhaps they can tell me more about where I am!" She spoke. She ran up to the group, all carrying various items. Though they did look quite physically large and a little scary, but she knew better than tp judge solely on appearance. "Greetings humans!" She spoke. Then shyly asked one of them, a slightly embarased look on her face. "You wouldn't mind telling me where I am and showing me around this... place? Would you?"

The man smiled. "Yeah darlin' we'll show you around all right." He spoke, then made a neck movement to the others. They took out their items, that now Ihra was now close she was able to see. They looked like sticks of metal and wood.

"Oh!" She spoke. Remembering the one thing she had heard about earth. Baseball. "Are you going to play-" She was cut off when suddenly she was whacked across the skull with a metal stick. She frowned. She wasn't hurt or phased by this. "Um... Is this some form of greeting?"

The men fell back a bit. "What the hell?" One of them darted forward and poked Ihra with something. She did know what this was. She was going to retaliate when she realized it was completely harmless. The man repeated the action.

"What... are you doing?" She asked. Then it dawned on her. Her durability had been elevated by the new core. So if she was at normal durability she could have been damaged...

Her expression hardened slightly. She reached out her hand, and used telekinisis to snatch all the weapons away. Then she threw them all into the street. But then that made them mad.

One pulled out a tiny thing of metal and pulled something. Then a light and a sound was made. Startled, Ihra ran. She quickly escaped the group, who didn't seem to persue her. Perhaps they were as confused as she. She frowned. Disapointed with herself. If she were Asra or Etla, she would have fought them and stopped them from potentially hurting more humans or rainborn. But Ihra had no idea what that thing was doing. She had felt something... Was she poisoned? Infected? She quickly ran through her now ecycolpedic medical mind and concluded that she wasn't, if she even could have those ailments she had only heard of in theory.

Ihra looked down in despair. "I have no idea what I'm doing. How did I expect to be of any help?" She asked herself. But then saw something. The wall behind her actually gave way slightly. She turned around and saw a small orb like device and the wall slightly...Ajar? OH!

It's on hinges? Thats... actually quite clever. She walked backward, seeing the box she had leaned on in full. "Devils... Den?" She asked. Then frowned. "What's a devil?" She did know what a den was. A place when you went to hide from your siblings who were playing hide and seek. Something like that? Was this a hiding place? Did she need a hiding place? She did have 5 humans and a metal beast upset with her, so all in all it might be good to find somewhere to lay low. She noticed this was actually a somewhat larger yet shorter box. She shrugged. She couldn't make sense of human architecture... Buildings! That's what the box's are!

Ihra walked in, finding it rather loud for a hiding spot. Lots of humans. She frowned. Why would someone want to hide here. In fact. This was a rather stupid hiding spot considering the sign said it was a hiding spot. Still. She had made the most progress here. She seemed to be figuring things out a little more. She was making progress, but the more she unveiled about this... place the more she...

Wait. Humans. That's what these beings who looked like Rainborn are? But how do i know that? Perhaps my core's abilities told me. I did get a lot of new information I;m still trying to process.

She still wandered. This still doesn't make any sense. Even if I do work out how human society works. How am I going to work out where to find Asra and Etla? Why did I think this was a good idea? The beast is going to catch up with me again and eat me like he did that man! Then it'll spit me out and the other men will use their metal weapons to... I don't know! What do those things do! She worried and wandered, and would have snapped had she not heard a familiar voice.

"But anyway," She said, picking up from her earlier comment. "I don't mind if things get heated. The hotter it gets, the better."

"ETLA!" She shouted. She saw crowds and a room. Her telepathic powers reached out and found a mind confirming it was Etla the small crowd was watching. She smiled, walking through the crowd, but when she started to get angry looks. She got guilty. "So sorry!" "Excuse me please." "I need to get through please." She spoke. Until she was nearby the area Etla was. She seemed to be sparing with someone. "ETLA!" She shouted. "ETLA!" She shouted again, waving. She then paused. What if I'm interupting her sparring? Won't she be mad...?

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

"Commissioner, HQ is ready for the Bat's arrival, as are the Armory, the Storage Crate, and Training. The Reclaimer's men are ready for him, and yours are ready for you." A GCD officer reported as the Commissioner put on his Kevlar. "The GCPD remnants just got an anonymous tip as to several of the Two-Face gang's hideouts, and a couple of our guys got an emergency line for civilians in our territory up." He tossed the Commissioner a small bag of cell phones. "These are connected to the emergency line. There's six of them, so distribute as needed."
"Me, Reclaimer, Boxer, the Bat. Two spares until we decide what to do with them." The Commissioner said simply. "It's time to up recruitment. We can't keep running off of the original gangs we formed from. We're taking too many casualties for that. I want the Northeast building set up as a recruitment center. When it's ready, tell me and I'll give you a go to start giving the civilians Kevlar and gunpowder. Congrats- I don't know your name, but you're now in charge of the recruitment center."
"What do I do if a Mask tries to sign up?" The officer asked, nervousness evident.
"...We'll deal with that on a case by case basis. Dismissed."



[[ Map of the GCD - Warehouse district ]]
----------------City Road--------------------
==========Reinforced Gate===========
[-----Armory----] || [Recruitment Center]
[-Headquarters-] || [The Storage Unit]
[---Abandoned--] || [Training Center]
==========Reinforced Gate===========
[-----Abandoned portion of the Docks-----]

[Pygmalionia]

Again, pretty brutal.
________

Gotham City
One pulled out a tiny thing of metal and pulled something. Then a light and a sound was made. Startled, Ihra ran.

Lazarus Hope

“What the hell just happened!?” said one of the goons, incredibly confused as to how the woman who had approached them was able to disarm them quickly. “Damn, we really couldn’t take out a little red head? Shame, could’ve been nice dinner!” said the other, complete with a perverse grin as he said it. The gang all laugh in unison like a bunch of alcoholics. “Since when has such sick behavior become a laughing matter?” says an unexpected voice, coming from the other side of the road. The men all look to the source of the voice, and they see a tall man in a gray trench coat donning a white mask. “Who the fuck are you?” barks one of them, clearly annoyed at the uninvited intrusion. “Does it matter? I’m giving you all chances to explain yourselves.” replies the man in the mask as he begins walking towards them. The delinquents begin to feel anxious as they begin to realize the stature of the man approaching them. One of them pulls out a handgun, aiming for the man. “Fuck off!” he threatens. “It’s a good thing that that lady had some…witchcraft, I guess? Who knows what you would’ve done to her; or more accurately, what I would do to you all after.” says the man in the mask, now within a meter’s reach of the goons. Suddenly, two forearm length butcher’s cleavers emerge from the man’s sleeves. The men immediately pull out their guns and start shooting at the man. This continues on as they empty their clips, with each shot staggering the man; eventually knocking him down. “Heh, all talk.” one of the goons exclaims, as they all begin to walk away. This proves to be a big mistake, as Lazarus sits up and gets to his feet behind them. “My turn.” he whispers to himself, audible enough for them to look back.

As soon as the five men look back, it’s too late for one of them as a cleaver goes through the gut of the man in the middle. The four begin to draw their guns once more while the Butcher dislodges his cleaver by swinging it upwards, effectively killing one of the men by reducing him to a makeshift Venus Fly Trap. Lazarus lets go of the cleaver as he swings upward, the blade spinning in the air and lodging itself into the ground behind him. The goons become petrified with fear upon seeing the mutilation of their mates endured. This gives the mad ripper time to swing his blade to his left, effectively cleaving flesh and bone as he decapitates the man to his left. As soon as the headless man’s body drops, Lazarus grabs the wrist of the next man; gripping it with such strength that it breaks the criminal’s wrist, forcing the thug to drop his firearm. Not even giving the last two thugs to his right a chance to open fire, he throws the man he’s grabbing overhead then slams them into the two goons to his right in an impressive feat of strength. With all three mean knocked down and stacked together, Lazarus lifts his arm and drives his cleaver into the three crooks; effectively turning them into kebab.

Miraculously, all three are still breathing, and this simply won’t do for Lazarus. He walks towards his other cleaver, dislodging it from the ground. He walks back to the three bodies, takes a moment to catch his breath, then starts maniacally hacking at them. A few swings later, he’s disposed of the scum he despises so much. He steps on the top carcass and pulls out his other cleaver.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Again, pretty brutal.
________

Gotham City
One pulled out a tiny thing of metal and pulled something. Then a light and a sound was made. Startled, Ihra ran.

Lazarus Hope

“What the hell just happened!?” said one of the goons, incredibly confused as to how the woman who had approached them was able to disarm them quickly. “Damn, we really couldn’t take out a little red head? Shame, could’ve been nice dinner!” said the other, complete with a perverse grin as he said it. The gang all laugh in unison like a bunch of alcoholics. “Since when has such sick behavior become a laughing matter?” says an unexpected voice, coming from the other side of the road. The men all look to the source of the voice, and they see a tall man in a gray trench coat donning a white mask. “Who the fuck are you?” barks one of them, clearly annoyed at the uninvited intrusion. “Does it matter? I’m giving you all chances to explain yourselves.” replies the man in the mask as he begins walking towards them. The delinquents begin to feel anxious as they begin to realize the stature of the man approaching them. One of them pulls out a handgun, aiming for the man. “Fuck off!” he threatens. “It’s a good thing that that lady had some…witchcraft, I guess? Who knows what you would’ve done to her; or more accurately, what I would do to you all after.” says the man in the mask, now within a meter’s reach of the goons. Suddenly, two forearm length butcher’s cleavers emerge from the man’s sleeves. The men immediately pull out their guns and start shooting at the man. This continues on as they empty their clips, with each shot staggering the man; eventually knocking him down. “Heh, all talk.” one of the goons exclaims, as they all begin to walk away. This proves to be a big mistake, as Lazarus sits up and gets to his feet behind them. “My turn.” he whispers to himself, audible enough for them to look back.

As soon as the five men look back, it’s too late for one of them as a cleaver goes through the gut of the man in the middle. The four begin to draw their guns once more while the Butcher dislodges his cleaver by swinging it upwards, effectively killing one of the men by reducing him to a makeshift Venus Fly Trap. Lazarus lets go of the cleaver as he swings upward, the blade spinning in the air and lodging itself into the ground behind him. The goons become petrified with fear upon seeing the mutilation of their mates endured. This gives the mad ripper time to swing his blade to his left, effectively cleaving flesh and bone as he decapitates the man to his left. As soon as the headless man’s body drops, Lazarus grabs the wrist of the next man; gripping it with such strength that it breaks the criminal’s wrist, forcing the thug to drop his firearm. Not even giving the last two thugs to his right a chance to open fire, he throws the man he’s grabbing overhead then slams them into the two goons to his right in an impressive feat of strength. With all three mean knocked down and stacked together, Lazarus lifts his arm and drives his cleaver into the three crooks; effectively turning them into kebab.

Miraculously, all three are still breathing, and this simply won’t do for Lazarus. He walks towards his other cleaver, dislodging it from the ground. He walks back to the three bodies, takes a moment to catch his breath, then starts maniacally hacking at them. A few swings later, he’s disposed of the scum he despises so much. He steps on the top carcass and pulls out his other cleaver.

"Sir, this is the Iceberg runner, I'm en route to HQ, but I just saw a new Mask take out a couple of goons. Cleaver, white mask, and a trench coat, stood up after being filled with lead." The runner spoke into his radio. "Going to stay on observation for a minute or two before resuming primary objective."

[Pygmalionia]

-snip-

"Sir, this is the Iceberg runner, I'm en route to HQ, but I just saw a new Mask take out a couple of goons. Cleaver, white mask, and a trench coat, stood up after being filled with lead." The runner spoke into his radio. "Going to stay on observation for a minute or two before resuming primary objective."

As Lazarus was about to leave, he noticed a man observing him. Now, the man didn't seem like a goon; but it was better to be safe than sorry. The Mad Butcher charged at his observer, rearing one of his cleavers to the right and attempting to hit the man with the flat side of his blade as a makeshift cricket bat in hopes of sending the man towards the wall to the left to disarm him.