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

[Jorliefstreiken]

Doombringer, Deep Space

Doombringer looked ahead and saw the creatures before him. Like giant flaming snakes the creatures swirled around the gas giant devouring it causing fear for the inhabitants of the planets moons. Bringer had been sent here to stop them. Only he could cause fear in this sector space. Flying forward the punched one of the gas snakes in its flaming snout with an energy construct causing a massive explosion. The snake re absorbed its flaming body near instantaneously and glared at him, as much as a flaming space snake that at Jupiters could glare. It and its three other heads started to circle around Bringer.

Bringer summoned a construct sword and waited for the snakes to fully close him in. He then flew at a wall and began slicing his way out. The snakes hissed in pain as he got outside again. Looking back at the creature, now cut in two, Bringer saw something amazing. The snakes had formed two bodies now. [I]Great[i] Bringer thought as the summoned a torch construct. He flew at it again, this time burning the heads stumps with the torch construct every time he removed one. As he chopped off the final head Bringer relaxed thinking this was another job well done. However what he didn't see was this head didn't dissaperate like the other heads when they were chopped off. Instead it grew back into a full serpent. Bringer saw this only when he was already inside of it's mouth. The flaming jaws closed around him and he fell through them into a pool of molten fire. Everything went black.

When he woke up he was in another pit of fire. Only this one had different versions of him swimming and flying around and it had rock walls enclosing the entire thing. Scientifically this wasn't possible. Then again scientifically he should be dead.

[Jorliefstreiken]

[size=200]Chapter Two, Doombringer, The Pit[/size


Doombringer was playing solitaire with his constructs after waiting for several hours for anything to happen within his new found situation room. Suddenly a deep voice spoke from above "Bryce Tempus of Earth. For your sins you have been sentenced to a punishment in hell, as well as another cycle. When you complete both of these you shall be admitted into eternal peace and rest. Your punishment is to kill all of these clones of you so that only the real you remains. When you do this a portal shall open above you and you shall be free." As the voice faded Doombringer summoned a sniper rifle construct and prepared to kill the clones when a glowing figure appeared. "Doombringer, do not do as the voice tells you, take this bottle" The being held out a crystal bottle, which Bringer grabbed. "merely touch these beings with the bottle and they will turn into liquid and flow into it. When the bottle is full and their are no more clones, the portal will open. Drink the liquid before going through. And do be careful, because the clones and the liquid are your memories." Bringer asked the being before it faded away "Why are you telling me this or helping me?" The Being responded "Some very powerful forces want you dead, while others need you alive. I work for one of the ones that need you alive." And with that he faded away.

And so Bringer set out on the task of collecting his memories one by one. The task took a while because some of the were lanterns like him and could fly at the same speed. Eventually he manger to capture all of them and the bottle appeared full. The portal both things had spoke of opened above him but something was blocking it. It was a beautiful woman, very similar to his wife actually. She spoke to him in the voice that had first greeted him " STOP, YOU HAVE NOT PAYED YOUR PENANCE. SMASH THE BOTTLE AND THEN GO FREE" Bringer responded "No thanks, I'd rather keep my memories." The woman responded "THEN DIE" In her hands swords of fire appeared. Doombringer formed a protective bubble around his memories before creating a sword of his own from light. And so they began to duel. Bringer did not know how long they fought for, only that he was fighting for his existence. Finally he manger to stab the woman through the chest and sent her falling into the pit of fire. Floating up to the portal Bringer imbibed his liquid memories and heard the glowing being speak in his head. Now picture yourself, twenty years before the day of your death. Picture 1995... Bringer did this and walked through the portal.

He found himself in a tunnel. He began to crawl out as he noticed he no longer had is lantern ring. As he crawled he noticed the tunnel become wetter and he felt as though he was getting smaller. He no longer had any clothes. Finally he reached the opening and felt the tunnel contract around him pushing him out. A gloved hand pulled the rest of him out. Looking around in the bright black red and white world he saw where he had just been as a man cut the fleshy rope attached to his stomach. He cried out in disgust. That was for... more private places, not your whole body. No wonder babies cried at birth. Wait a second. Babies... the room did look oddly like a hospital... oh, shit. Ok, so that was birth... while coherent... and having all the memories from your past life... which doesn't end until 20 years from now. He knew he would have to wait twenty years to retake his mantel as Doombringer. The clutz who was now his father now took him from the doctor and- OW. He still has the scalpel in his hand. Slicing his son's arm open the father realized his mistake and quickly dropped the scalpel. To his and Bringer's amazement the wound healed instantly. He had retained his healing factor. The father acted like he had seen nothing. Bringer internally sighed. This was going to be a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong twenty years.

[Empire of the Siberian Flaming Eskimos]

"Good to know." Kylie replied to Del's statement that she didn't think like Hydra. On her lack of clothing, Kylie just snickered at Del's observation. "It's not normal in public maybe. But when I'm alone, what's normal in public just gets so boring. Wear pants, brush your teeth, don't eat most of the pizza before your friends finish their second slice. Eh, I do what I want when I'm alone. Kylie's free-form speech ended with her flopping back on the couch, with her uncovered legs sticking over the top of the couch in Del and Val's direction.

"So what brings you here, Del?" Kylie questioned, not yet turning her attention back to the TV. "Val didn't just up and recruit you, did she?"

Del was somewhat confused by Kylie's answer, still not accustom to casual all the intricacies of human behavior, but she simply shrugged it off with a small laugh and smile. For a bit she seemed genuinely happy, the plastered on smile breaking into a sincere one and the suppressed tears fading to the background. Then the mention of why she was hear brought reality crushing down. The smile faded and the distant, guilty look came back as she fiddled with her hands. "I, uh, had to leave somewhere... and they didn't like that too much," she managed to squeeze out as the scene from earlier played back in her head. She could see it perfectly, the curse of being an A.I. Every gun, every bullet, every scream, and every splatter of blood in crystal clear memory. Tears started to stream down her face as she started to subtly shake. As if on cue, the a news report came on the T.V. telling people that crazed gunmen were roaming the streets. Clips played of the carnage left behind, of the people too far gone for Val to save. Body bags were zipped up behind police barriers, gruesome testaments to what she had caused. It drove Del over the edge and she burst into sobs as she quickly moved from the room, making her way out towards another part of the penthouse. She didn't know where and she didn't care, she just wanted to get away from it all. But she couldn't. The memory kept playing, and the guilt kept clawing away at her.

---

Hydra Base, Unknown
The room was almost pitch black, the only light source a wall of T.V.'s playing various scenes from the past few days. In front of them sat a bald man with a goatee and round spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose. His high backed chair faced away from an oak desk scattered with various blueprints, notes, and writing utensils. The man rested his elbows on his legs, his fingers coming together in front of him as he watched playbacks from Dubai, Spain, and New York. As small shuffling sound came out from the edge of the light as a young man shifted his weight back and forth, pulling on the collar of his uniform as he nervously swallowed. The bearer of bad news usually took the punishment, and this was a particularly bad day. Suddenly a smooth voice with a distinct German accent called out from within the chair.

"She is with the Justice Queens now, yes?" said the soft voice. No mood or opinion could be derived from the man's silky speech, and the young officer continued to shift nervously as he gave his unsteady reply.

"Y-yes sir," he said shakily, "it seems she has at least taken temporary residence there." He strained to find any movement or clue from the seat in front of him, but he searched in vain. No reflection of the T.V. screens of movement of the chair were able to calm his nervous stutter.

"Interesting..." replied the bald man quietly, "it seems our creation has taken a liking to her biological counterparts." The young man perked up slightly, unable to discern what his elder had mumbled to himself. He shrunk back though as the man spoke again, his voice now clear and back to the smooth and indiscernible tone of before. "Your information is very helpful to the cause, you are dismissed." The young officer visibly relaxed at the news, his face falling into a picture of utter relief. Perhaps he wouldn't have reacted so if he could have seen the small blue light start to shine on a peculiar device resting behind the bald man's ear. Suddenly he felt his legs seized by an unknown entity, the look of relief wiped away by pure terror as he was pulled into the darkness by something of inhuman strength. His screams rang out before being cut off to a faint muffle. The thumping of his body convulsing was soon cut off as well as desperate gags for air now sounded, fading into nothing. The remaining man in the room removed his glasses and wiped them on his shirt before placing them back on his face, observing the feed once more as he silently plotted the creation of Del's very own Hell on Earth.

[Siliarba]

Lysia
Unknown Desert town

The tracking took some time, the sandstorms and general changing of the surface makes quick work of tracks. And if you had tracks and a direction, one good storm changed the surroundings to the point you'll even have lost the direction. Good thing then, that time is something I have plenty off, the tracks that vanished can reappear for me, a gaze averted to protect against the flesh ripping winds, I can maintain my gaze, even if I lose my sight I can easily regain it. And most importantly, even if I have nothing to go on, no tracks, no idea, I have all the time in existence to keep looking. All that said and done, no man escaped an Amazon for long, regardless of who they are or where they're hiding. It took several weeks, lots of storms, barely any tracks but I found my target.

It seems the unusual amount of storms was linked to this man, following the storms was in the end all that was needed to be done, just keep walking until you reach the center. Then with the target in sight, a few quick arrows and job's done. Taking the target down barely took any energy, good thing surviving the sandstorms took a lot out of me otherwise that chase would have been a waste and I'd be spending weeks shooting arrows just to get rid of excess energy. "The sandstorms should end, here's your target, seemed he was causing the sandstorms with some amulet empowered by an Egyptian god or something. Regardless the amulet's been destroyed and dead man can't do much either so problem solved on two fronts."

"Wait you destroyed the amulet, it could've been useful or at least extremely valuable. ... This is coming out of your pay!"

"Whatever, I don't do this for the pay, I do this for the exercise, so unless you have another job I'm out of here." He was clearly angry, men, always angry, always greedy, never happy. I'd expect him to try and attack me or send someone to attack me for treating him in such a manner, but then again, who'd fight a mercenary that didn't ask for pay and delivered on a job none of his men could. Then again, men aren't known for their rational thinking. If he sends someone after me, then I guess I'll just have another outlet for this deadly energy. In any case, time to find another job.

[Jorliefstreiken]

Doombringer, Earth

20 years ago: The day Doombringer was brought home from the hospital he knew that this life was going to be better than the last. Instead of a farmhouse in Wisconsin he was living in a mansion in the Hollywood hills. Not too large that he would ever feel its too big, nor too small that it would be a pathetic mansion. It was the perfect size. He was going to like this life. He liked even more when he saw his room. The entire thing was bigger than his old apartment. Which was pretty damn big. Maybe he should live this life normally... nah

15 years ago: At the age of 5 everyone already knew that Samuel Davidson was gifted. What they didn't know is that he planned to change his name Bryce Tempus the moment he turned twenty and his old body died. He was smarter, faster, and better at everything than all he other 5 year olds. He was kind of cheating though. He had done this all before. Oh well. He was popular. This childhood he was going to be that stereotypical Ultra Popular kid. The one that everyone liked.

10 years ago: He was that kid. At age 10 he was one of the most gifted football stars anyone had ever seen. He was suggested to move up several grades, but denied saying he didn't want to leave his friends. He knew the tick to every video game and could solve almost any problem presented to him. He had everything he had been denied in his first childhood. What a joy it was to live twice. Yolo my ass.

5 years ago: at the age of 15 several of Bringer's papers had been published in major publications. His (Anonymous) political column was a hit and he knew several of the hottest movie stars, not just because of his father job as a director, but also because he had a blossoming acting career. Everyone at school knew his name and he had the hottest girl in school as his queen in popularity. His healing factor allowed him to play hockey and football with a ferocity unknown to modern man. His future seemed bright...

2 years ago: Of course he had orchestrated his dissaperance. He just needed some help. He was on the beach with his senior classmates when the mercenary he had hired strides up to him and fired 4 round of a block 9 millimeter into his stomach. The bullets shot back out of his stomach and the wounds healed over instantly. The gunman was already gone. Everyone was staring at him. One of them yelled "Mutant!!!" Bringer looked around pretending to be scared before running off. He got into his car where he had secretly packed his stuff. His old publicist who happened to be a medium beloved his story of rebirth and had recorded the whole thing. Soon his story would be all over the internet, this identity would be forgotten and he could become Doom bringer once more in 2 years.

Present: Bringer stood over his own memorial in Valhalla Cemetery in Metropolis. It was eerie how similar his new body looked to his old one. Lifting up the glass case the enclosed his original suit he put it in a bag turning around. He then saw the 18 year old behind him crying and crackling with electricity. The boy asked "Who are you and what are you doing stealing from my father's grave?" Bringer responded by taking out a knife and cutting his arm open a wound which healed near instantaneously. This surprised his son because the only other hero or villain who could heal that fast was deadpool and Bringer's skin wasn't covered with tumors. "I was a good, nay, the best friend of your fathers. His powers were given to me from a being who dwells in the stars above. I have come here for the old suit. I figured it would be easier for people to accept me with the old suit on rather than some new one they didn't recognize. Now I must go." Bringer walked away from his son, who was crying, and felt nothing but pride... wait a second. Wouldn't his son be a few days old right now? Some serious time shit was going on. Oh well. He could figure it out later. For now he would retake his place as his true identity, Doombringer

[Tomia]

Darian and Serene Astarious
Brother and Sister made their way toward the large meteor like rock when suddenly a large creature came out from the rock, sending ice particals everywhere as he stepped forward. He bellowed something about being the White King, and Darian and Serene were quite confused, what the hell was this thing and who were those two women that were by the meteor? Darian stepped forward and spoke. "I am Darian, and this is my sister Serene. What are you exactly? And where did you come from?" Darian asked, hoping that they could avoid a fight, but that seemed unlikely.

John Morgan
John noticed Sarah getting sleepy and couldn't help but smile softly when she fell asleep against him. He didn't mind, in fact he thought it was quite cute. He was really happy with how comfortable Sarah seemed around him, and he wondered if maybe there was something real between them. They lived in such different worlds, but maybe John could help her and her sisters,so they didn't have to roam around anymore and break the law. He decided to think about it later and just enjoy the moment that he was in. He wrapped his arms around Sarah gently and held her so she'd be comfortable as he looked out the window at the view the Magic Kingdom had to offer.

[Illica Falki]

Antibios
Stark Tower

Antibios picked up the withered body of Animal, and before it could regenerate, Threw it out the penthouse window. He walked towards Baron Hydra, killing any who stood in his way. He threw an explosive arrow fired at him straight back at Sniper and threw Nick Fury into a nearby wall when he started doing his weird fighting style around him. Grabbing Baron's shield he ripped it off the severely out matched humans arm. "You know Ultron was right... these things do make really good Frisbees" said Antibios before throwing it off with thor level strength. Watching it fly off into the distance, Antibios decided on the best way to kill Baron. Assuming that he was like captain America, his powers were mostly biological and pointless to AB, unlike the adamantine on Animals skeleton. decisions, decisions.

Screaming in agony, the Baron fell to the ground. "Rogers!" Fury barked out, slowly recovering from being thrown. "Damn it!"
At the same time, Sniper leapt to the side, narrowly dodging his own explosive bolt, only to be tackled by two SHIELD agents. "A little help here!"
Sentry and Ultron watched the battle from the side, each grimacing at their allies' failures. Sentry, ever impatient, was the first to act- flying towards Abomination and throwing him into Antibios before attacking Alt Loki. "You have been a pain in the Syndicate's side long enough!"
Scarlet Witch, meanwhile, was engaged in a mystic battle with the Wonderful One (Alt Doom). Doctor Chaos, distracted momentarily by several SHIELD agents, finally noticed his ally having trouble and reinforced her, driving the Wonderful One back. "Chaos will prevail!" He laughed. "Surely you understand this after so long, Victor!"
Quicksilver was eating a stolen doughnut and watching the fight.

Eva decides now is the best time to leave, she rushes into the stairwell, letting the group actually prepared for fighting deal with the Crime syndicate. Moving down a couple stories she finds a wall mounted emergency box, and quickly uses the equipment in the first aid kit to stop her bleeding wound. She now is stuck at a decision, Risk going back up, or escape now, both have risks and benefits. Staying and fighting has obvious risks, but it might help her reputation. Leaving meanwhile wil keep her safe, but odds are she'll be labeled a criminal for stealing Stark-Tech. Despite the pain from the wound, she decides to risk moving back up stairs, just to gauge the situation, and whether she should jump back into the fight or not.

[The Republic of Atria]

The rest of the trip was relatively quiet. Ronan was slightly peeved at Xader's deal, but Xander insisted that it was for the better. He promised to help the Kree Empire and there was no reason in his mind that Xander would go back on the deal. If not for him and the rest of the humans it's not unlikely he wouldn't even be here. Which was the sole reason he agreed. When they got into the orbit of the planet the Kree were developing the serum, it was obvious that something had gone wrong. The planet had the equivalent land mass of the entire North American continent completely razed. "Wow... That's some pretty intense damage. If these scientists are dead..."

"They are alive." Ronan reassured as they flew to what appeared to be a laboratory. "In fact, they have him in containment." Ronan said as the ship landed. Xander looked at the impressive equipment as Ronan lead the both of them through the lab. "I will leave you to your work. Contact me upon the completion of your task." Ronan said but Xander wasn't really paying attention.

"Yeah... Yeah..." He said waving his hand at Ronan who left. He went to examine the formula they used, only to find that it was in Kree. Which meant he just had to cast a simple translation spell. "There. Hmmm... Not going to lie here. This isn't bad. I see what you were going for, but you went just a teeny tiny bit overboard. A few small tweaks and it'll be right as rain. I'll get to work on the antidote, Naja. Why don't you make sure our subject is... Compliant. I don't want any explosions. And you're better with the whole... Being sympathetic to people thing." He said.

Naja wasn't going to complain about that. Xander had a habit of being rather cold and insensitive when it came to people. She looked at the man who looked like he was made of pure energy, curled up in the fetal position on the floor. It was quite a sad sight. "Hey there." She said which startled the scared Kree. "It's okay, I'm a friend. Just focus on me okay? We're going to help you."

"Huh... It seems that it grants some form of... Sixth sense. A form of cosmic awareness." Xander explained as he used his magic to examine the formula in detail. "That's actually very impressive. I mean. That's a ton of information forcing its way into someone's mind. He likely doesn't have the mental fortitude to handle that kind of stress. Not too many people do. What we're looking for is..." He said and used his magic to rearrange the characters in the formula to his specifications. "There. That's what I use. How long will it take to make a dose with this formula?"

"Close to an hour."

"An hour? Damn, you guys are way ahead of us. It takes us a full day." He admitted. "Alright." He said and pulled out one of their syringes and made sure it was sterilized with his magic. "I'm not catching any Kree diseases..." He said and withdrew some of his blood from his arm. "Let's get to work.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

The Nightraven sighed, fiddling with her PDA, of course she's stuck with this small time mercenary job that doesn't pay nearly as much as it should. This is why she hated working for Cobblepot, he'd drop the small jobs for her that his own goons should be able to handle if it wasn't for their incompetence. Guarding a shipment of weapons leaving Bludhaven for Gotham should be something for small nameless goons, not a mercenary with the skills of an assassin. Maybe it's her young age, but barely any of the big names hire her, and whenever they do it's for the small time jobs.
Putting the PDA away, she checks on the progress of the shipment, sooner it's done the sooner she's paid and she can leave. She's rather disappointed to see that the loading isn't going anywhere quickly enough for her liking. Seeing her checking on their progress a goon shouts out at her "This would go Faster if you weren't on your Phone all the time" Hearing their friend several of the other goons turn to see her response. Nightraven looks towards him and retorts "I'm being paid to make sure these weapons get into Gotham, It's your jobs to load it." "Why are you even Needed?!" the Goon shouts back at her "Nightwing's Gone, The Police is paid off, Bludhaven is defen-" The henchman is swiftly silenced by a staff hitting him on the head, followed by a masked figure landing on him and punching him out. The figure is clearly a fan of Nightwing, he's definitely got the look, the only real difference between him and the Actual is that his uniform colours are inverted. "Clearly He didn't get the news" Nightraven retorts as the figure stands up while the rest of the goons start grabbing weapons to take him out.
Not willing to let her only contract for a while slip away by some wannabe 'Nightwing', Nightraven pulls out her sword and quickly starts ordering the goons "Ignore him, I'll take him, get the shipment and leave". Although they grumble as they do so, they start moving the shipment onto a boat and prepare to leave. When the masked figure tries to stop them, Nightraven swiftly moves to bloke his route, to get the weapons he'll need to get though her. "Give up, it's Over" The figure commands, Nightravens only response is to throw two of her knives at him. Though the knives are blocked, he doesn't manage to block her swift slash at his side, working around his staff. Exploiting his vulnerability after getting sliced, Nightraven grabs his staff, and headbutts him, knocking him down against an empty crate. Pulling out her pistol to execute the hero-wannabe, he reacts with throwing a homemade batarang at her mask, stunning her for long enough for him to disarm her of one of her handguns. Without hesitation, Nightraven pulls out another of her knives, and slashes him before he can get his staff back. as he falls back yet again, Nightraven pulls out her other gun. "Not this time" she says before shooting his throwing hand, causing him to scream in pain. With nothing stopping her, she picks up her other gun, and fires three shots into his chest, two into his stomach, the third into his heart.
This is when the goons burst in carrying some of the weapons from the shipment, Seeing her standing over the dead body of the Nightwing copy cat, one of the goons can't help but point out "You know, Penguin probably would have wanted that one for his collection." Picking up her weapons that were left around, and looting his staff and some of his batarangs, she doesn't bother looking at the gang-men to respond "He wasn't paying me to add to his collection, he wants the heroes corpse, feel free to take it to him.
It takes until after most of the fight is cleared up before she decides to check who it was she killed. She runs a search on her PDA, only to learn that the 'wannabe hero' apparently had a successful career as a hero, or he really pissed the wrong person off, as he had a $250 000 bounty on him. Upon checking who put the hit out, it's none other then one Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin that hired her to guard the weapons. Feeling content that not only is she getting paid $5 000 for the initial contract, she's getting a pretty big bonus.

Shit.
"This is Detective North, the tip was good." On the other side of the harbour, a stealthy detective listened to the bugs he had planted several days earlier. "We're in it deep this time boss- It's Cobblepot's operation. Unknown merc on site, and one of the local capes is down... Permanently."
"This is Officer King. Get back to base- Now." His colleague's voice came through his radio.
"What happened?"
"Our snitch was just found dead. We can only assume you're compromised as well."
"Oh, son of a-"

---

"That's where the recording ends. Detective North's radio cut out, and his body was found at one of Cobblepot's old dumping grounds seven hours later." Commissioner Gordon scowled. "Here's the deal- We've got North's notes on Cobblepot's operations and as much information as we can on his recent movements in Gotham and Bludhaven alike. The Special Crimes division will be taking the lead on this one. Any questions, ask them." He walked out, rubbing his temples after depositing a nearly empty folder labelled "Cobblepot Investigation 17-9-E."

The Special Crimes division of the GCPD, based out of the revamped GCD base in Gotham Harbour, was led by the GCD's old Commissioner and his lieutenants. It was a combination force made up of some of the most talented survivors from both the original GCPD and the GCD. After the GCD and GCPD integrated, two other divisions were founded- The Runners division and a new SWAT team. The Runners were headed by Boxer, and SWAT was headed by the Reclaimer. Both of these divisions were readily accessible as resources to any other division that required them, and considering it was Gotham, they found themselves consistently busy. For this case, however, both Boxer and Reclaimer were personally called in- Cobblepot was too high risk for them to not bring in the best.

Boxer scanned the investigation files. "We don't have a lot to go on, but we can expect Cobblepot's shipment arrived in the harbour hours ago. We're behind in this- But that doesn't mean we will be for long. Any operation this size leaves behind substantial evidence- I want you to find it, I want you to document it, and I want you to get back alive." He sighed. "Many of you have been a part of police organizations for less than a year, and any other department would call you rookies. But we're in Gotham." He looked up once more. "Every one of you is a veteran. Treat each other like it, and know when to pull out. Don't risk your lives without reason, and if you even think you see a Mask, call it in. Now, I want teams at every legal dock, and undercover teams at every known black market dock. Primary teams, go!" He turned towards his Runners and SWAT teams. "You have a different mission. SWAT, we have whispers of a potential Joker inspired gang taking territory near Ace Chemicals. It's not directly related to our goal, but I absolutely do not want to deal with that right now. Take them in before they become a real threat. Runners, we have confirmed locations of former and active Penguin storehouses- Get in, get out, and don't get seen."

[The Republic of Atria]

Xander and Naja

"Wait." One of the Kree scientists upon noticing that Xander isn't actually using his own serum. "Why are you not using it?"

"It's a long story... Though I suppose it's time for me playing human to come to an end. I had a small personal problem that stemmed from them. The problem being my inability to relate to those I was protecting. I was never weak and defenseless. So I found a way to remove them for the time being until I could. Now that I see that I won't be alone any longer... With Naja." He said and watched as she comforted the poor Kree soldier. "She is the one who helped me move past it. And with the way things are headed, I should return to the way I was. And I will. But I'd rather not have to readjust to the nuances until I've got my mission out of the way." He explained to the Kree. "I can see why you're skeptical, but believe me. I'm not out to hurt anyone. Ronan trusts me. Quick question. Who here knows anything about Kryptonians? Raise your hand."

Every single one of the Kree scientists rose their hands. "Now. You know how their powers work, right? Under a yellow sun, one of them is worth an army. One of the most powerful beings on Earth is the Kryptonian. Each of you will easily be able to compete with him once we're done. And you won't have the side effects of losing your mind. I intend for you to use this power to aid people. More specifically. To help get this galaxy back on it's feet. You will have power that will make you just short of godlike. I fully expect you won't use it for your own ends. That is to say. I expect you will use it to help people... And here's the kicker, outside the Kree. The Shi'ar, the Skrulls. Even Humans. I will also be recruiting from them as well. I won't tolerate racism. You will put aside any and all resentment you've had for them. Am I understood?"

The scientists hesitated, but Xander remained firm, but since they were to be working for him after this, they didn't have much of a choice. They all agreed. "Excellent. I want to, and will. Set an example. We put aside our prejudices to destroy the Builders. We did that in a war. Imagine what we could do in a time of peace. We can fix this galaxy. We just have to want it. I have the knowledge, I just don't have the capacity. Now. With your help. We can not only have a force that will ensure we will no longer be threatened by anyone. But with the power, we can help so many people... Billions. We can bring billions out of the dark ages. Bring them up to standards. That's my goal. And you're going to help me." He said and looked to see that the antidote was just about ready. "And we're going to do it. One person at a time." He said and took the syringe.

Naja stepped out of the way to let Xander do his thing. "That was a great speech. Didn't know you were keen on them. Poor Veral here is doing better."

"Someone has to be a leader. And people love speeches. Veral? Alright buddy. Just hold still." He said and gave him the combination new serum, and antidote for the old one. Which almost immediately took effect and stopped his mind from going all over the place. "You okay?"

"Yeah... Yes... Thank you."

"There we go." Xander said as Naja helped the man up. "One down. Nine more to go."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Screaming in agony, the Baron fell to the ground. "Rogers!" Fury barked out, slowly recovering from being thrown. "Damn it!"
At the same time, Sniper leapt to the side, narrowly dodging his own explosive bolt, only to be tackled by two SHIELD agents. "A little help here!"
Sentry and Ultron watched the battle from the side, each grimacing at their allies' failures. Sentry, ever impatient, was the first to act- flying towards Abomination and throwing him into Antibios before attacking Alt Loki. "You have been a pain in the Syndicate's side long enough!"
Scarlet Witch, meanwhile, was engaged in a mystic battle with the Wonderful One (Alt Doom). Doctor Chaos, distracted momentarily by several SHIELD agents, finally noticed his ally having trouble and reinforced her, driving the Wonderful One back. "Chaos will prevail!" He laughed. "Surely you understand this after so long, Victor!"
Quicksilver was eating a stolen doughnut and watching the fight.

AntiBios grabbed Abomination mid air and used the momentum on it to throw him onto Baron Hydra. "The things some people do... I really don't understand it." Looking at the man who had engaged him AntiBios decided to test his new strength against Evil Thor to take the pressure off of alt Loki. Jumping forward at him AntBios grabbed Thor's staff mid swing as alt Thor swung at alt Loki. Turning to Loki, AntiBios said "You owe me one life" before Thor tackled him out the window. Stabilizing mid air Antibios threw Thor off of him and flew forward attempting to gravity punch him in the gut. Instead Thor just threw a lightening bolt at him so AntiBios absorbed its energy. Activating the small booster jets on his gauntlet AntiBios threw an uppercut at Thor punching him towards orbit. Flying up AntiBios slammed him back towards the ground before deactivating his jets and attempting to stomp on Thor chest.

Screaming in agony, the Baron fell to the ground. "Rogers!" Fury barked out, slowly recovering from being thrown. "Damn it!"
At the same time, Sniper leapt to the side, narrowly dodging his own explosive bolt, only to be tackled by two SHIELD agents. "A little help here!"
Sentry and Ultron watched the battle from the side, each grimacing at their allies' failures. Sentry, ever impatient, was the first to act- flying towards Abomination and throwing him into Antibios before attacking Alt Loki. "You have been a pain in the Syndicate's side long enough!"
Scarlet Witch, meanwhile, was engaged in a mystic battle with the Wonderful One (Alt Doom). Doctor Chaos, distracted momentarily by several SHIELD agents, finally noticed his ally having trouble and reinforced her, driving the Wonderful One back. "Chaos will prevail!" He laughed. "Surely you understand this after so long, Victor!"
Quicksilver was eating a stolen doughnut and watching the fight.

Eva decides now is the best time to leave, she rushes into the stairwell, letting the group actually prepared for fighting deal with the Crime syndicate. Moving down a couple stories she finds a wall mounted emergency box, and quickly uses the equipment in the first aid kit to stop her bleeding wound. She now is stuck at a decision, Risk going back up, or escape now, both have risks and benefits. Staying and fighting has obvious risks, but it might help her reputation. Leaving meanwhile wil keep her safe, but odds are she'll be labeled a criminal for stealing Stark-Tech. Despite the pain from the wound, she decides to risk moving back up stairs, just to gauge the situation, and whether she should jump back into the fight or not.

Thor roared in anger before flying just outside the range of AntiBios' attack. "Now!" He called out towards Sentry, who immediately launched himself towards AntiBios, summoning bolts of pure energy to surround his fists.
"Thor is not yours to kill, outsider!"

---

Ultron narrowed his eyes as he watched Eva attempt to escape. Owlman. You are still in Stark Tower, yes?
"Yes. Why?"
One is trying to escape. Third stairwell.

---

As Eva reached the level she began, she would have an opportunity to notice a shadow rapidly falling on her. "Leaving so soon?" Owlman's stoic expression was surpassed only by his monotonous voice in its cold, unfeeling nature as he fell towards Eva with a kick.

---

Quicksilver yawned for a moment after he finished his doughnut, then stretched and glanced around with a smirk. He rapidly began to knock out every regular human combatant, indiscriminate of whose side they were on. Almost every ARGUS and SHIELD agent fell, along with Alt Fury, Sniper, Alt Waller, Alt Luthor, and Alt Joker.
"I love it when we're in Universes with a Speed Force!" He laughed. Somehow, this version of Quicksilver was far faster than the home variety- And potentially insane to boot.

---

Meanwhile, the Wonderful One was in a losing battle against his two Chaotic foes. "You used to be a Hero, Vincent! We fought together!" He cried out as a bolt of entropy shot passed his head, deflected at the last moment by one of his shields. "I learned from you!"
"And do you want to know what I learned from you, Victor?" Doctor Chaos smirked. "I learned that, no matter how hard I fought against the idea, some men were destined to be nothing- To be less than nothing! To be a burden, to weaken those around them and grind them into dust simply by being their irritating selves!" He began to laugh wildly as the Wonderful One faltered for a moment.
"You- You lie, Pretender!" The Wonderful One suddenly roared, releasing a wave of energy far stronger than ever before, powered by raw emotion, blinding nearly everybody in the room. When the light faded after a second or two, the Wonderful One was standing over kneeling figures of the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Chaos, each of whom was rubbing their eyes and rising, already recovered. "Vincent Strange is dead." He pronounced coldly, raising his fist towards his former friend. "And now, so are you." He released a blast of pure energy just as Doctor Chaos finally recovered. Chaos scowled, coating his other fist in a similar, albeit twisted, energy, punching forward. The two attacks collided with their targets simultaneously, knocking each off of their feet and back several yards. They laid unconscious where they landed. Scarlet Witch was the only of the three magical combatants who remained awake, and she was heavily injured. She limped to the sidelines to heal herself- Though some others may have noticed, they were far too busy with battles of their own.

[Jorliefstreiken]

AntiBios grabbed Abomination mid air and used the momentum on it to throw him onto Baron Hydra. "The things some people do... I really don't understand it." Looking at the man who had engaged him AntiBios decided to test his new strength against Evil Thor to take the pressure off of alt Loki. Jumping forward at him AntBios grabbed Thor's staff mid swing as alt Thor swung at alt Loki. Turning to Loki, AntiBios said "You owe me one life" before Thor tackled him out the window. Stabilizing mid air Antibios threw Thor off of him and flew forward attempting to gravity punch him in the gut. Instead Thor just threw a lightening bolt at him so AntiBios absorbed its energy. Activating the small booster jets on his gauntlet AntiBios threw an uppercut at Thor punching him towards orbit. Flying up AntiBios slammed him back towards the ground before deactivating his jets and attempting to stomp on Thor chest.

Eva decides now is the best time to leave, she rushes into the stairwell, letting the group actually prepared for fighting deal with the Crime syndicate. Moving down a couple stories she finds a wall mounted emergency box, and quickly uses the equipment in the first aid kit to stop her bleeding wound. She now is stuck at a decision, Risk going back up, or escape now, both have risks and benefits. Staying and fighting has obvious risks, but it might help her reputation. Leaving meanwhile wil keep her safe, but odds are she'll be labeled a criminal for stealing Stark-Tech. Despite the pain from the wound, she decides to risk moving back up stairs, just to gauge the situation, and whether she should jump back into the fight or not.

Thor roared in anger before flying just outside the range of AntiBios' attack. "Now!" He called out towards Sentry, who immediately launched himself towards AntiBios, summoning bolts of pure energy to surround his fists.
"Thor is not yours to kill, outsider!"

---

Ultron narrowed his eyes as he watched Eva attempt to escape. Owlman. You are still in Stark Tower, yes?
"Yes. Why?"
One is trying to escape. Third stairwell.

---

As Eva reached the level she began, she would have an opportunity to notice a shadow rapidly falling on her. "Leaving so soon?" Owlman's stoic expression was surpassed only by his monotonous voice in its cold, unfeeling nature as he fell towards Eva with a kick.

---

Quicksilver yawned for a moment after he finished his doughnut, then stretched and glanced around with a smirk. He rapidly began to knock out every regular human combatant, indiscriminate of whose side they were on. Almost every ARGUS and SHIELD agent fell, along with Alt Fury, Sniper, Alt Waller, Alt Luthor, and Alt Joker.
"I love it when we're in Universes with a Speed Force!" He laughed. Somehow, this version of Quicksilver was far faster than the home variety- And potentially insane to boot.

---

Meanwhile, the Wonderful One was in a losing battle against his two Chaotic foes. "You used to be a Hero, Vincent! We fought together!" He cried out as a bolt of entropy shot passed his head, deflected at the last moment by one of his shields. "I learned from you!"
"And do you want to know what I learned from you, Victor?" Doctor Chaos smirked. "I learned that, no matter how hard I fought against the idea, some men were destined to be nothing- To be less than nothing! To be a burden, to weaken those around them and grind them into dust simply by being their irritating selves!" He began to laugh wildly as the Wonderful One faltered for a moment.
"You- You lie, Pretender!" The Wonderful One suddenly roared, releasing a wave of energy far stronger than ever before, powered by raw emotion, blinding nearly everybody in the room. When the light faded after a second or two, the Wonderful One was standing over kneeling figures of the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Chaos, each of whom was rubbing their eyes and rising, already recovered. "Vincent Strange is dead." He pronounced coldly, raising his fist towards his former friend. "And now, so are you." He released a blast of pure energy just as Doctor Chaos finally recovered. Chaos scowled, coating his other fist in a similar, albeit twisted, energy, punching forward. The two attacks collided with their targets simultaneously, knocking each off of their feet and back several yards. They laid unconscious where they landed. Scarlet Witch was the only of the three magical combatants who remained awake, and she was heavily injured. She limped to the sidelines to heal herself- Though some others may have noticed, they were far too busy with battles of their own.

Antibios stuck out his hands and grabbed sentrys hands absorbing the energy off of them. his mouth and eyes now glowing gold instead of the normal red he laughed his cold metallic laugh as he began to absorb sentrys power as well. Speaking directly to the golden man Antibios said "Everytime one of you strikes me with energy, I grow stronger, with every punch I land you grow weaker. for every second I hold onto you..." Antibios fired his left ion beam onto sentrys hand before crushing the right in a gravity grip "... you come one step closer to dying. Tell me about your universe, about it's land. I want to know about the place I just destroyed. not the whole universe of course. Just the version of the sun. so tell me about it." While he said this Antibios charged up one of the blasts Manifest had used on him earlier and aimed it straight at sentry gut, setting it to fire if sentry tried to escape.

[The Republic of Atria]

It took another hour to, in the words of Xander "Jury rig" the machines they were using to make much larger doses in the same amount of time. Of course he used his skills with magic to move the process along as best as he could without tainting the procedure. Within an hour they had made ten doses. Enough for the remainder of the scientists and one for himself. Which he was hesitant to take.

Meanwhile, Naja was helping Veral get the nuances of turning his powers off and on down. The amount of muscle control it would take to prevent cracking the ground with a footstep would take a long time to learn, and until then, it was easier just to turn them off when he didn't plan on using them. Though he was reluctant to actually turn them off. "It feels so... Wrong. I can see, smell, hear things on frequencies that even Kree ears cannot pick up. Like going from being able to see to choosing to be blind and deaf."

"I know. You'll get used to it. You told me about your wife. I'm pretty sure Xander is going to be more than happy to give her the same thing so you don't have to worry about breaking her with a touch. Let me tell you something from experience. I'm sure you're going to want to... Procreate with her. Xander and I have done it several times. Even before he lost his powers. The amount of strength you have, it's just not safe to do it with them on. That is to say. You will literally shake the foundations of the planet." She said and was even blushing a bit. "I'm not going into further detail, but you get it, right? It's not to keep you safe. It's to keep entire cities from crumbling under their foundations."

"I understand." He said. "What do you see in the human? He seems rather... Cold."

"It's not entirely his fault. He was created. Didn't exactly normal parents, and his job was to keep our planet safe which was all he was told to do. He can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him. Yes, he's stubborn. Yes, he has a temper. But all things considered, it's not as bad as it could be..." She didn't want to admit that he was the one who made her feel beautiful despite her appearance. Just as she was about to turn her powers back on, she was interrupted by what sounded like an explosion going off right next to her and out came Orion of the New Gods. He immediately grabbed Naja and pulled her through the Boom Tube.

"Yeah, you're coming with me."

Xander rushed out as soon as he heard the explosion just to see Naja ripped away by Orion. If it were possible see hear someone's mind snap, this was as close as you could get. His face went red and he jammed the syringe into his neck. "You." He said through his teeth to Veral, which he was gritting so hard it was a wonder they didn't shatter. "Get them acquainted. I will be right back..."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

---

The blonde woman clad in crimson simply chuckled at Manifest's surprise, a bit amused at how quickly he had turned from aloof and inquisitive, to respectful and polite. It was something to be expected, she supposed, but she still welcomed the change in his tone. "I am not quite manipulating your mindscape, Charles. It is far simpler than that. I may be a guest in your mind at the moment, but even here I have the capacity to retain my power. I am not manipulating your mind, but rather exerting my own powers. You could consider this iron throne along with myself as alien objects instead of something that belongs here. To further clarify, I could not, for example, will this mountain of corpses away, though I could destroy it if I set my mind to it. Of course, I have no intention to harm you or this place. We are fighting on the same side, after all." She explained affably, not particularly eager to worry or startle the man who stood in front of her.

"Regardless, your apologies are not necessary, though they are welcome. I understand that humans have to prioritize their concerns, as most creatures do, and I don't blame you for it." She said, nodding as if to reinforce the idea that she did not hold him responsible for any sort of fault. "I am a World-Dragon, one of twelve. We are, in short and using terms you can understand quickly, cosmic architects. We create galaxies and fill them with life when awake, and then, we slumber, though we are still able to interact with the world even while we remain asleep." She informed him. "As you can probably guess by our name, this is not my true form, but that is not too important right now. What's important is that you realize that the power you wield should be handled with extreme care. You have proven to be a level-headed wielder of that power thus far, but bear in mind that it can be very dangerous. Do not let it get to your head." She warned sternly.

Then, she stood up, dismissing the throne and looking around at the circuitry sprouting around the planet, frowning at the sight before looking back up at Manifest. "It seems like we will not be here for much longer, but don't be concerned. We will have plenty of chance to continue talking outside, and I have made sure that your body is perfectly safe." She said. "As for my name... I have plenty of those. My subjects know this form that you see as Adrianne, but that is only a title. My true name..." She smiled. "is Hadrimmelis." She stated. The name of the planet the Venture was sent to protect. Adrianne's smile grew wider. "A pleasure to meet you, Charles Crawler."

Manifest nodded slowly when she spoke of how she summoned the throne in his mind, but seemed startled when she mentioned the mountain of the dead they were on, as though he had not noticed it before. Strange- It was his mindscape, wasn't it? He shook his head slightly, as though breaking himself out of a daze, when she spoke of the World-Dragons. He listened in silence and fascination- Nodding slowly but solemnly upon mention of the Manifest Blade's power. He had never begun to guess just how strong the abilities he wielded were before recently- His dream, along with the World-Dragon's warning, only assured him further of its potential.
"The Manifest Blade is a weapon." He replied to her warning. "And I am well aware- Pride held in a weapon leaves one weak. I will not allow the Blade to corrupt me." His tone and eyes were sincere.

When she frowned and began looking around, he raised his eyebrow slightly. Upon doing so himself, the same confused expression from before appeared. Once more, however, he shook himself from it when she began speaking of her name. He chuckled slightly. "It is a pleasure, Hadrimmelis." He pronounced her name almost effortlessly, as though he had much experience in foreign tongues. Which, of course, he did. "It never even occurred to me that your planet was anything beyond that. As they say, appearances are deceiving, no?" He suddenly, grimaced, summoning the Manifest Blade as the mountain began to destabilize. "What the-!?" The vision of both occupants of his mindscape began to blur slightly, and a slight blue tint was the last thing they saw before their minds returned to the real world.

---

Manifest shot up, his arm falling to his side and the Manifest Blade being dispelled from his form. "Damn. I hate that." He growled, glancing around.

[New Rnclave]

Ordo: King Kai's Planet

So my son is the only being available to defeat our little problem? As much as I'd want to defeat Oniyo myself, I am no longer in a position to challenge him. But I can play off the boy to destroy him. Regardless, problems for another time.

Of course the Kai's had been discussing a string of problems relating to the revolt in Hell. As surprising as Pikkon's defeat was, it was bound to happen. The warrior had neglected his training so he could be the police man of hell, and his current residence showed how that turned out.

So now they were here planning to solve the problem by bringing in more warriors? Especially one with a connection to a higher up in their group. Despite Hiroshi's current power, which was growing at a worrying rate, Oniyo was his superior, and Dabura was a well crafted speed bump, not much change there.

"Thank you King Kai." He spoke finally, clearing his throat. " But I prefer my informal name, Ordo. It's a phrase I've found to fit me better. In regards to your plan, if I may, I don't believe it the best idea to call in the Otherworld warriors. The Saiyan Hybrid known as Hiroshi's has attained a incredible power, and with some help, could annihilate our little problem now."

The worried expressions he received in turn did nothing to chill his annoyance. These Kai's knew next to nothing about dealing with problems, especially Supreme Kai, who for some reason wanted to dirty his hands with mortal battles.

" I'm not sure." Supreme Kai remarked. " Calling in a living mortal to deal with Otherworld business? Despite how strong he may be, it's unheard of."

Ordo could feel the blood pounding in his ears. This fool was ever mined wasn't he? How did he not see that sending in Otherworld warriors would only end in the same fashion as Pikkon's intervention had. As well, none of the remaining warriors were as strong as Pikkon.

" I assure you Supreme Kai." The lie rolled of his tongue easily, a charming smile filling his features. " Hiroshi Mako will solve our little issue."

" He will need training of course, to gain the boost necessary to easily overcome these beasts." He added. " But I suppose you could take the burden Supreme Kai, you're training will be invaluable to him."

Supreme Kai nodded slowly, sighing deeply as he got bending Ordo's idea. Once here, Hiroshi could attain whatever form he yearned after, and defeat the rebellious cowards rampaging across Heaven.

" I'll contact him." The portly blue deity to his left volunteered, making a grin spread across Ordo's features.

Hiroshi:

Floating silently, Hiroshi grinned slightly when the two woman before him began speaking. If nothing else, it took the focus off of him for a moment. This whole week had been more stressful then he'd admit. His hallucinations and nightly visits by that apparition were becoming worse, and plagued him even more when he trained, his mind taunting his body for nit breaking the barrier.

Oniyo said this form isn't just an emotional barrier, and it can't just be achieved by training. It's more than that, it's a way of... Shit, it's on the tip of my tongue. What am I supposed to see in Ascended Saiyan? Look at my reflection? Feel my power and the barrier for what it truly is.

His finger found his way to his chin, drumming against it rapidly as he floated in thought, his golden hair standing tall in the rough wind cutting through his thin dogi, chilling him to the bone.

" Hello? Hiroshi Mako? The Supreme Kai requests your presence on my planet as soon as possible. We have a task we need you to achieve.

Blinking rapidly, Hiroshi froze in the air.

Um... Can I at least train on this trip? I've hit a wall in my training and need some help.

The deity on the other end coughed slightly , confusing the Saiyan. He was deity? Could deities get sick?

" Sure. That was how we aimed to get you up here. Just don't run out of gas getting here, you have a tough day of training... Haha don't run out of gas."

Rolling his eyes, Hiroshi flared his aura, tendrils of golden energy snapping wildly around him.

" Soooo." He began, c,earring his throat. " Who's up for a training trip?"

"Me! Me! Me!"

So Long as it wasn't anything boring, Myosai was in. She hadn't Really been doing anything productive or fun for the past few days, but, a training trip would fix that likely. She quickly sheathed her sword and floated over to the Saiyan, impatiently waiting as she waited for Glacia's response.

"Can we go, like, now?" She asked. "I need something to do!"

Hiroshi:

"Okay, even if you don't wanna come Glacia, we're forcing you." Hiroshi remarked, smirking evilly as he grabbed her wrist and Myosai's in a blur, before the world before him shattered like glass, Hiroshi divan through the portal in a single motion, a swirling whirl of colors meeting them, before Hirosh felt his boots make contact with soft grass.

Smiling as he arrived, his black pupils scanned over the small planet, counting King Kai, Kibito and Supreme Kai in a single go, all there's standing in a tight circle that instantly made his intuition guess something was more wrong then they'd let on.

" Well hello." Supreme Kai said, half bowing to the Saiyan and his two other companions as he turned to them. " While King Kai promised training, it's a sad truth that you all may be to strong for my teachings to make any real difference."

King Kai nodded from the side as he approached the trio. " They're both beyond Olibu, Pikkon may be a challenge for them but he'd be squished when they turn the heat up."

Shoulders sagging, Hiroshi frowned at the Kai's as he stood int he gentle breeze. " But this is other World? The best fighters in history love here, surely I can learn something from the Supreme Kai and them, I know I coudo solve any problem you guys ahev after that."

Immedietly a apprehensive frown covered Supreme Kai's features, the Kai shifting on his feet, sighing, he ran a hand through his silver hair, before giving a tired smile. Walking over to Hiroshi, he sized up the Saiyan and his companions.

" I suppose I could put in a good word with Grand Kai and maybe convince him to let you all come and train under him. You all must stay here though, perhaps you all coudo get a warm up here. I woudktn want your charm to... Convince him to make the wrong decision." Supreme Kai commented, King Lai nodding Ina greenest behind them.

" Looks like we're in guys." Hiroshi remarked, spinning on his comrades and flashing a bright smile.

[Illica Falki]

*snip*

Eva reacts just quick enough to roll away from the kick, stopping safely on the landing below them. She unsheathes her sword, and holds it up towards Owlman, "You guy's haven't exactly given me a good reason to stay", She tries to sound confident and strong, but she is clearly startled at the figure. Further supporting that, she quickly looks around for a way out of this fight. She knows she can't win a one on one against Owlman. "In fact, I'll be going now" She says, before jumping down to the next landing, activating her energy shield and holding it up to block whatever his response is. Before he can jump down to her level, she rushes through the door on the landing, into the offices just below the penthouse. She quickly closes the door behind her, and starts loading her crossbow to attack him when her breaks through the door, stopping so she can quickly run away again should this plan not work.

[Empire of the Siberian Flaming Eskimos]

-Snip-

Salis' cocky smile faded as he heard CeeCee's voice call out form beyond the protective portal. His plan hadn't worked, nothing had. He had only managed to scratch the woman, scratch. The fact that he'd underestimated his opponent by such a large margin was more than a wake up call, it was a freight train bulldozing him. He had called SHIELD out and they had answered loud and clear that he was not up there with the big boys and girls. Ra's had tried to humble him, and in many way's had, but that was the one lesson that never fully stuck. Salis was still too impulsive, and still to cocky. Despite how many years he'd spent facing the world, Ra's had many more and had taken far more from them then he had. His head hung in defeat, he exited his sphere and faced his opponent.

"So, it seems I've underestimated you more than I thought," he mused dejectedly, "a shame. You'll find the hostages about a block away in the basement of an apartment complex. Do with them what you will, there's not traps. While I still haven't figured some things out I at least know when I'm beaten. Don't take that as me turning in though, I'm not coming with you. Follow if you will, I can run as far as I have too." The man turned and raised his hand to open a portal, and then moved to step through. Only it didn't work. His face skewed in confusion as he concentrated with all his might to form the dimensional doorway's he had used all his life, only to find that they wouldn't work. He was turning back to CeeCee with a mix of anger and confusion when suddenly several dark forms came out form the darkness, assault rifle's leveled at him as their flashlights ignited the scene with a bright glare. A woman sauntered out with a smug smile on her face.

"Check and mate," said Amanda Waller as she came into the scene, "Show's over, so put the sword down and come with me."

"What the hell is going on? How is this possible?" yelled Salis as he pulled his sword with a dangerous glint in his eye.

Amanda raised an eyebrow, the smug looks till fixed in place. "What's happening is that you've been caught. While Miss Red over here was keeping you busy ARGUS was brought in to grab the hostages and take you into custody before she melted your face off. SHIELD had a bit of fit when we came in, but the higher ups decided that they had screwed up enough for one Op. And yes, I have full authority to do this Commander, you're dismissed," she said as she turned to CeeCee, "As for the how, while we didn't get anything out of Mr. Thomsen, we still developed a few devices of our own." She gestured to a device about half her height and about as far around as an oil barrel set up and humming steadily behind her. "Eventually our techies were able to make a device to negate a variety of superpowers. It's still in prototype, but it works on you and that's all that really matters right now. If you would be so kind, set down the sword. You're armor might be strong, but I doubt it can withstand several assault rifle's at once."

Salis' astonishment quickly turned to quiet analysis as his eye's narrowed and he gauged the distance between him and everyone present. It soon became clear that Waller was right. While he might take a few people with him, he would quickly be mowed down without his powers. The entire operation had been extremely well planned and the only clear course of action would be to give up for now. With a small sigh, Salis dropped his fighting stance and threw his sword to the ground.

"Let's get this over with," he said as the men approached him with cuffs out.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Alas, the monkey man was much too swift even for such a surprise attack, and so, even though Asra was swift to exit the pillar of magma and rush blade-first towards his primitive enemy, it was not enough. The dimensional beast turned just in time and clapped its hands together around the Ashbringer's blade, less than a second before it pierced its heart. Its strength was enough to shatter the sword in a million tiny shards of black metal, but just in case it would prove to be insufficient, the monkey man had poured the might of his own life force into it, and the blue kinetic energy crackling around his open palms pulverized all the shards of Asra's sword, turning them all into fine dark dust. The shockwave pushed the corrupted Rainborn back into the pillar of lava as it was coming back down, and though at first he had been protected from it, now he had been unexpectedly thrown into it, and was not ready. He felt the searing touch of the burning core of that broken world, felt its vengeful embrace surround him and burn away his skin for having shattered its already dead crust with such disdain. A wail of pain was heard from within the pillar, and then silence.

The monkey man leapt away from his current earthborn platform, as it had already shattered from the stress it had been put under after the shockwave from its thunderclap attack struck it. As it landed on another platform, it heard Asra's scream, and thought that its enemy had been finally put to rest, but nothing was farther from the truth, it seemed.

Once again the Blazeborn rose from the boiling magma, but this time, he was not the same. Skin and hair had been burned away completely, and now what remained was only the black stone-like material that all of the Rainborn were made of underneath their human-like appearance. The intrincate mechanisms that gave the parts of his body movement were now visible, if unintelligible for the mindless destroyer primate and most likely for all but the most talented mechanics and engineers as well, and the luminous circle in his chest betrayed the location of the hollow cavity where his Corrupted Core sat idle, giving the Blazeborn his power and governing the all-consuming flames of darkness that he commanded. However, there was something that Asra conserved, even after his trip to the pool of lava. His eyes. His emerald eyes still sat on his face, but this time, they were ablaze with the dark will of the fallen Rainborn, completely alight with viridian flames. His soul's dark wish was heard, and his Core complied.

The monkey man saw him and roared, smashing his fists into his chest before clapping once again, sending a shockwave of azure kinetic energy towards the Ashbringer. However, he simply walked over the magma towards the rock platform where the transdimensional primate stood, his burning wings beating once and creating an omnidirectional wave of almighty flames that consumed the wave of energy before being snuffed out of existence. Several such attacks were attempted by the monkey man, with entire pillars of stone and even half-molten platforms full of magma being tossed at him, and yet, at every such attack, the Blazeborn simply used his wings to destroy the menace before he was even touched by it. Soon, the destruction wrought by the combatants was such that there was nearly no earth left on that half of the planet, and finally, Asra arrived at a circular rock platform in the center of the enormous sea of hissing magma, in order to confront the monkey man.

The beast charged towards him with its fist ready, as it knew itself to be stronger than the feeble Rainborn, but its surprise was great when, once again, just like at the beginning of the battle, Asra responded in kind, charging towards it and sending his fist forward as well. This time, however, there was an indomitable will behind the Ashbringer's fist, and the monkey man screamed in pain as the fists collided, its own hand and its entire arm broken by the impact. Asra took advantage of this and took a step forward as the monkey man recoiled, sending his fist into the monkey man's gut. The monkey man doubled over in pain, but replied after a moment by using its good hand to punch Asra in the face, causing him to be knocked back momentarily. The primate followed up by grabbing the Rainborn's head and smashing it into the ground, causing the large stone platform to begin cracking.

Enraged, Asra slowly began to rise, despite all the weight and pressure placed upon his head by the giant monkey man. Slowly but surely overcoming the creature's strength, the Ashbringer grabbed the monkey man's arm, and, with a vicious howl, tore it off cleanly, using it to backhand the monkey man and then tossing it into the lava, to be swallowed by the hungering earth. Now with an arm absent and another broken, there was little that the ninth-dimensional destroyer could do against the fury of the Rainborn, and Asra was merciless in his punishment, striking his enemy in the face over and over again, until the creature was so dazed it couldn't even react anymore, merely standing still, bleeding from its arm stump, from its other arm, and from its own head, which was rendered into a gory mess already, nearly unrecognizable as a primate.

Gathering almighty fire in his hand, Asra waved it towards his foe, and a half-moon blade of fire surged forward, cleanly cutting off the creature's head from its neck. There was silence in the battlefield as the Ashbringer waited, but finally, the lifeless, headless corpse fell, landing on its back. Not content with simply letting it die, however, Asra walked up to the corpse and, with a vicious, apathetic movement, dug into its chest with his hand, tearing out the creature's heart. He focused, and tiny tendrils of light emerged from the heart and began flowing into his chest, right where the luminous circle was. Slowly, the heart disappeared from this world, its last vestige being the last wisp of light that was absorbed by the beast's slayer.

Suddenly, Asra was enveloped by fire, but in a more metaphysical sense. The damage that had been caused to him by the magma was located, and then turned to ashes and erased from time, negating all the injuries that the Blazeborn had suffered during the battle. When he stood, his skin, his hair and his black clothes were intact, and his eyes had faded to a dull green once again, no longer ablaze with light. All around him, however, lightning crackled, azure bioelectricity that was now generated by his body much like the monkey man had done earlier. It was his power, taken from him as a trophy.

The fallen Rainborn flew high into the air, and from there, watched as the last stone platform sank into the hungering magma below, with the monkey man's corpse on top of it. After watching it be consumed by the dying world, Asra left, never to return to that wretched place.

---

---

"...Your very voice is in my heartbeats, sweeter than my dreams. We were there, in everlasting bloom~"

Kirisvala's beautiful singing voice echoed throughout the Command Room of the Tower of Youth, the tower that Bruce Wayne had built for the group that had been formed a week earlier after the Rantu attack on Jump City, the Young Bloods. At least, Tower of Youth was the name that the enthusiastic Hadrian had proposed for their fancy little hideout, a suggestion put forward because it fit the themes that their group seemed to be adhering to. She had no idea if they had picked her suggestion (in fact, she wasn't quite certain if they were looking for suggestions in the first place), but she was pretty happy with it nonetheless and would continue calling it the Tower of Youth as long as nobody else had a problem with it.

The tower, itself, was an enormous building in the shape of a Y (another of the reasons that Kirisvala had suggested 'Tower of Youth' for its name), so as to make it clear that it belonged to the Young Bloods. The upper floors, the ones above the disjunction, were the places where the bedrooms were located, along with assorted entertainment rooms that were not actually entertainment rooms, as they were yet to be furnished with arcade machines or whatever the Young Bloods wanted to place in them. Each bedroom was quite spacious, enough to fit most anything that their occupants wanted to place inside; Kiris was reasonably certain that Mars had put a lot of his weird machines inside his room. Down below, where the two lines merged to form the main body of the Y shape, the uppermost floor was entirely dedicated to the Command Room, which had lots of computers and a giant screen for the use of the Young Bloods, to receive information and missions and whatnot. There were also several bean bag chairs. Further below were a kitchen, an empty pantry, an empty hangar, and a whole assortment of other places that the group either hadn't been able to furnish or didn't really need so far. They had the funds, thanks to Bruce, but they hadn't yet had the chance to use them.

All in all, though, Kiris really liked the tower. It was quite the change from the crystal spires of the Wynn, and she felt at home there.

She was currently sitting in a revolving chair, the only revolving chair in the entire Command Room, destined for the user of the computers present there, though of course, there was no one in the Command Room at the moment, not even Mars or Elena, so there was no one to tell her to get off of it. And a good thing, too, because she absolutely loved the revolving chair! She could just sit there and spin and spin and spin to her heart's content, all while she sang some human songs she had incidentally come across during the several days she had already spent on Jump City.

That day, the Hadrian was clad in a bit of a peculiar outfit. Her top was a red dress with a white diamond pattern that circled around her chest, surrounding the letters 'DM', which were proudly stamped on it, woven into the dress with golden thread. Down below, she had a skirt that was also a bright red, with a similar diamond pattern and a hemline that reached slightly above her knees at the front, but was longer the further it was from the front, nearly reaching down to her ankles at the back. On her feet, she wore a simple yellow pair of boots, and on her back she wore a yellow cape, with the symbol of a claw occupying the center of the cape, surrounded by a circle, both figures woven into the yellow cloth with silver thread. Finally, and perhaps most peculiarly, a red wizard hat sat on her head, with a circle of white diamonds visible near the brim; it had holes in it to allow her four horns to poke out of it without damaging it.

With the exception of the hat and the boots, which she had bought off of e-bay with some help, she had knit everything by herself (with needles and threads also bought off of e-bay), despite her large claws, and she was incredibly proud of her work; in fact, she had only finished that morning, and so, she was feeling especially giddy, finally able to don her entire costume for the first time in her life. It was for that reason that she was happily spinning on the revolving chair and singing to her heart's content in the currently empty Command Room, her pink braid trailing after her.

"Joys of the daylight, shadows of the starlight-" She continued, before being interrupted by a mechanical voice.

"MISS RANWYNN, NEW INFORMATION." The voice intoned in a monotone.

Kirisvala smiled and pointed a clawed hand at the giant screen that dominated one of the walls of the room. "That's Dragon Mage to you!" She said proudly, her excitement practically tangible. Evidently, she had taken to this whole superhero business like a fish takes to the water. However, after a moment, she simply lowered her hand and rolled herself closer to the screen. "Also, it's 'Az Ranwynn', not 'Miz Ranwynn'." She stated. If the mechanical voice had been able to sigh, it would undoubtedly had done so by now. It had been trying to explain to her the social custom of calling people 'mister' and 'miss', but so far it had been futile, because she just wouldn't get it, no matter how many times it explained everything.

"So, what did you want, ADAM?" She asked.

A.D.A.M. stood for Autonomous Database Actualization Manager, which was actually a pretty shitty name, but having an artificial intelligence with a normal human name that gathered information and found missions for the team was in vogue these days for superhero organizations, so Mr. Wayne had generously donated them one, along with everything else that they had in their tower. So far, ADAM had been pretty helpful, at least to Kirisvala. In fact, he had been the one to order stuff from e-bay on her behalf, which she appreciated greatly. She hadn't yet managed to catch on to the fact that ADAM wasn't actually alive and was in fact just doing what his programming told him to do, though, which led to some amusing situations sometimes.

"THERE ARE MISSIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE YOUNG BLOODS, MISS RANWYNN." ADAM spoke.

Though she was irked at ADAM's reluctance to heed her correction, Kirisvala could feel herself practically boiling with giddyness. "Perfect!" She exclaimed, doing a pair of clawed fist pumps in the air as she practically jumped from her seat and rushed to the screen. She had been dying for an excuse to get the group together to show them her new costume, after all. "Can you call everyone over, then, ADAM?" She asked the AI.

"CERTAINLY, MISS RANWYNN." The AI stated. Then, its voice began blaring throughout the whole tower.

"SUMMONING ALL YOUNG BLOODS TO THE COMMAND ROOM. REPEAT. SUMMONING ALL YOUNG BLOODS TO THE COMMAND ROOM."

Kirisvala heard the message and smiled, plopping down on the revolving chair. Now all she had to do was wait, and she'd know what everyone thought of her costume.

[Arngeir]

New York City

Darkness fell over New York, the sunset beautiful as it lit the sky in an array of colors against the New York skyline. Daylight was fading, the world's heroes were off saving the planet, and the people in the ghettos of New York City were fearing for their lives against gangs, criminals and other miscreants. People were heading into their homes, locking doors and windows, waiting for loved ones and hoping they made it home safely that night. Just your typical night in the slums of the Big Apple.

A cry was heard in the distance, and young teenage girl was being cornered by two older boys. They had followed her for blocks, stalking and waiting for the right moment. They had examined her long legs, her slim figure and knew what they were going to do. As they reached an alley they knew well, they charged and pulled her into it. They had forced her to the back of the dark alley, a dead end with no escape and no view from the street. Just your typical night in the slums of the Big Apple.

These two boys were about to commit a crime so terrible that it would traumatize this girl the rest of her life, assuming she survived the night. They reached for the girl, but stopped when they realized their hands were being pulled away. They felt no hands grabbing their wrists, just a strange breeze, which felt like it was circling around them.

"Leave her alone." a voice behind them said.

They turned around to see a shadowy figure staring at them. He was dressed in a long robe, a mask concealing his face. They looked at the man, then at each other. They felt the breeze dissipate, and thinking it was just a breeze they decided to take care of freak in the mask before finishing with the girl. They ran towards him, knives brandished. A flick of the finger towards the wall and a wall of air flew into one of the boys, sending him flying into the wall. The other boy continued charge, and the man raised a hand.

A bit of earth rose in front of the boy, causing him to stumble. This kid was good, as he soon had his footing and was slicing and the shadowed man. The man backed away, dodging the blade and countering with practiced movements. Soon, his hand was directly next to the boys face, parrying the arm that held the knife. A jet of flames shot from his fist, shooting past the head of the boy who watched in fear as he was nearly scorched. The man delivered a sharp kick to the gut of the boy, sending him flying over the bit of ground that had risen and landing firmly on his rear

"I'll say it one last time." the man said, daggers of fire forming in his hands, "Leave. Her. Alone."

The fire daggers flared into long blades of flame as the two boys slowly got up. Fearing for their lives, they ran. The fire extinguished in his palms and he walked over to the young girl, helping her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked, waving his hand through the air, pulling moisture out of it to give her some water to drink.
"I-i think so." she replied, drinking the water from his hand, "Thank you."
"Hurry home, and be careful." he said, smiling under the mask, not that she could see the smile.

The girl nodded and ran off. The man smirked, air swirling around his legs and lifting him into the air, setting him on top of a roof.

Just your typical night in the slums of the Big Apple.

[The Republic of Atria]

After getting something to eat, Otis decided to go for a run. Just to see how far he could make it before he ran out of energy and had to eat more. It wasn't hard, all he had to do was get on the highway and keep running west. Due to his body not creating any friction, it alleviated any damage a sonic boom would cause. He was nearing his top speed of mach 2, but decided to take a nice easy pace of mach 1.5. Which was about one thousand miles per hour. He zipped through traffic at incredible speeds. It almost felt like he was swimming through the air. He ran for close to an hour and a half before he had to stop all the way in Louisiana.

He got a bunch of weird looks when he stopped at the nearest McDonalds to buy something to eat. Though a handful of the kids recognized him, their parents were not too pleased with letting them go near "the alien" despite the fact that he had told them he wasn't an alien and was born there and that Superman was one. Though he had the advantage of looking just like a human. So there was that. It didn't bother him much, as he was just there to get lunch before heading out. "I forgot how horrid this food was... Milkshake's not bad though." He said to himself after finishing his meal and just as he was about to start heading back to New Attilan, a woman in a bright red outfit, with what appeared to be blood dripping from her teeth flew in front of his path.

"Mom?!"

2 hours earlier

It took a few hours, but Maria finally managed to get the basics of the ring down. Flight was one of the first things she figured out, and was probably one of the easiest things to learn. Constructs took some time, but eventually she got the hang of it thanks to her ring running simulations for her. "Alright you piece of junk. Where is my son? Otis Steredenn."

"Your offspring is on the planet Earth. I have pinpointed his location. Though at the speed he is moving, it is likely he is in an airplane."

"Don't care. I'll wreck the damn plane." She hissed, flying through space with a crazy grin as her ring took her back to Earth. She was powerful now, and all that mattered to her was getting back at her son. "Louisiana?" She muttered as she flew above the state. "Still as much as a shit hole as I remember. What the hell is he doing here? You said he stopped moving, right?"

"Yes. He is not far." After another minute or so, she wasn't sure if what she saw was real. What made it even stranger was that her ring insisted that the alien eating at a Mcdonalds was her son. She waited on the roof of the building for Otis to finish eating. When she dropped down to attack him, the ring seemed to be correct in assuming that the alien was her son, as the first words out of his mouth confirmed that he knew who she was.

"Mom?!"

[Tomia]

Mars
Sparks were flying softly in the large basement of the Young Blood's tower. Mars had claimed it as his workshop and it was working quite nicely. He had spent a lot of time there the past week, working on a number of upgrades for Rocket, as well as upgrades for his team members. Mars wouldn't admit it, but they were starting to grow on him.

Suddenly an alarm started blaring and the building's AI system began calling out about an incoming mission. Mars turned off his sodering iron and listened. If this was an actual mission, it would be their first one together since the Rantu attack. "Come on Rocket, let's get going." Mars said as the two of them took the elevator that took them to the main floor. Mars had given Rocket a paint job and the machine was now solid red with lightening strips across his arms and legs.

Mars got to the command center, basically what they were calling their living room and saw Kiris twirling around in the command chair, singing a pop song. He had to admit, she had a very beautiful voice. It was melodic and soothing. She was wearing a very strange outfit, and Mars was quite confused about it. He knew nothing about fashion, but he knew that wasn't normal. "Hi" He said to her, giving her a short wave before sitting down on the coach. Rocket stopped in front of her, "Hello Kiris, good afternoon." Rocket said to her in his typical robotic voice.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Through the empty space that permeated the space between the countless universes that constituted the all-encompassing omniverse, a lone figure emerged, riding through the void. If one were to compare it to tridimensional space, one could understand it as a body emerging from a sphere and beginnig to cover the distance that separated it from another, but that entire analogy fell apart and was no longer appropiate when one located the scenario outside of any given universe, where the very concept of 'dimension' was unapplicable and devoid of all significance. Perhaps the best analogy, or at least the most applicable, was that of a vast, ineffable black ocean, where a small drop of something that was not quite black emerged, tracing an adimensional path through the emptiness. A lonely figure of pure, ethereal darkness, riding through the ever-present void.

The woman looked up, 'up' being understood here as the direction opposite to the steed which she sat on, and for a moment, for just a moment in that atemporal place, she thought she had seen someone, a person she recognized very well, the one who had blessed and cursed her at the same time.

Then, just as quickly as she had arrived in that empty ocean, she left. The drop of light left, and once again, there was only blackness, as it should always have been.

...

The figure emerged from out of nowhere, as if she had suddenly appeared in the empty space between stars, not too distant from a sun, and a very familiar one, at that. The star of the Solar System she knew all too well was at her back, and in front of her were the worlds blanketed by its gentle light and warmth. There was the red planet, and the small messenger of the sun, and the bejeweled ring world, and the serene aether giant, but most important of all, she saw the blue planet, Earth, the world of her youth. The last time she had seen it, when she had spared one last glance at it before turning her back to never return, it had been twisted, corrupted, poisoned by the sick light left behind by the nether beast that she had sacrificed her own name to defeat. Despite her efforts, she had been unable to save her home, and so, she had left. But now, seeing it again, this planet was pristine, healthy, young. It was not sick like the one she had left behind, this one was still kicking, still full of precious life. At that moment, she decided she would keep it so.

"So this is where you meant to take me, huh, Horizon." The woman said softly, patting her horse affectionately. She was clad in a simple blue robe underneath a black armor with golden trimming, purely ornamental as she had never had the necessity to wear any sort of armor ever since she had given away her name in exchange for the power to defeat the beast of light. Her long blonde hair was arranged in a single long braid that reached down to the middle of her back, and on her face, she wore a white mask with purple around her right eye and red around her left, with golden ornaments covering the mask as well, and especially the red and purple patches. Underneath the mask, twin eyes of bright azure seemed to glow softly in the dark, projecting a feeling of coldness, even though the woman herself had no reason to act cold towards the world that she now gazed upon. Quite the contrary, in fact.

The response of the steed upon which the woman rode was quite simple, and yet quite meaningful, as the simple action of doing nothing and allowing itself to be caressed left clear the kind of relationship that these two kindred spirits shared. The creature was, after all, a Phantom Horse, bound by its own volition to the masked woman, and sharing a special link with her. It was completely black, but its mane was bright like the sun, and its skin was spotted with a tapestry of stars, giving it the appearance of the nocturnal, starlit sky personified. A fitting companion, for the one known only as Eternal Night.

The two rode through the darkness of space towards the moon, reaching it in no time after a few minutes of a gentle trot. There, she sat down, and simply observed the world as it continued spinning on its endless cycle, so full of life. She wondered if they appreciated it. Did they know how lucky they were?

---

---

The White King looked down at Darian with glowing eyes that betrayed plenty of disdain for the young man. He was still deeply affected by the centuries of isolation and the shame he had suffered from his defeat at the hands of the betrayer, the Red King, and so, his heart was full of rage that was now directed at the one who wielded the Demon Sword. The floating elemental pointed his seven-pronged staff at him. "What authority do you think you possess, boy, that you would question the White King?" The Shattar roared, the sapphirine jewel at the tip of his staff glowing brightly with a cold azure hue, as his form seemed to become slightly obscured by white mists that rose all around him, the snow beneath him shifting and forming eldritch patterns as a result of his very presence. "Are you truly so ignorant that you would not recognize the presence of a mage king when you see one?" The creature bellowed.

Around the same time, Etla decided to chime in. She had been pretty confused when the White King had first burst out of the meteorite, and had instinctively hidden behind Ihra, before realizing that it was supposed to be the other way around and shoving the redhead behind her instead, making for a bit of a funny sight, as the blonde girl was a fair bit shorter. She was also fairly surprised when she noticed the presence of the other two people, who introduced themselves to the white creature as Darian and Serene. She had not noticed them nearby before, but it seemed like they had been following them for a while, or something like that. The golden Rainborn frowned, wondering why they had been followed, but decided to simply ignore that matter for now and focus on the creature with the funny staff. He kept yammering on about being all high and mighty, and so, she raised her hand as if to request the opportunity to interject. The White King looked at her, and would have raised an eyebrow, if it were at all possible. As it was, however, he simply crossed his arms in front of his chest, his staff floating behind him and drawing circles in the air.

"What is it, maiden?" The White King demanded, though his tone was noticeably softer, his demeanor decidedly less agressive towards women.

Etla didn't seem to notice and simply said. "This place is Earth and I'm pretty sure that nobody's ever heard of you in this place, old man. Stop acting like you're better than everyone else. You sound like you have your head up your ass." She stated factually.

There was a tense pause, before the White King raised his hand and pointed it at Etla. His staff flew off towards her and impacted the ground, freezing everything solid in a wide radius. Thankfully, Etla was no longer there when the staff impacted the ground. In a split second, she had switched to her Star Core, grabbed Ihra by her waist, and zoomed away from the frozen radius, placing her sister on the ground safely before turning back.

"So you want a fight, then! I'll give you what you want!" Etla shouted back, summoning her sword as her shoulder armor suddenly shifted and formed a horned helmet around her head. Then, she leaped towards the White King, slashing at him... only to notice that he simply turned into white mist the moment her sword made contact with him. The White King reformed several feet away from there.

"You will pay for your insolence." He stated.

---

---

The human avatar of Hadrimmelis smiled and nodded at Manifest. "Yes, indeed, appearances can be quite deceiving. Be sure to pay attention, or you might miss important details in the future." She said, before looking around once more, noticing that everything was going blurry. "In any case, I am glad to hear that you will not let the power of the Manifest Blade corrupt you, Charles Crawler. I will see you... in a moment." She said, before completely vanishing from his mindscape, leaving him alone for just a moment before he was returned to the real world.

Once outside, one of the first things that Manifest would see would be the very same woman, looking over him. She had been active this whole time, as her avatars were each independant from one another and only dependant on her true consciousness, which still slumbered, though it would not remain so for much longer. The ground beneath them both, which was made entirely of the black skyscraper-sized worldscales of the dragon avatar, shook all of the sudden, and moments afterwards, several ships from the Builder fleet were destroyed by another concentrated beam of light.

"You are currently talking to me while standing on me as your allies attempt to defend me. Try not to get too confused by it." The blonde scarlet-clad woman said with amusement, before looking back towards the planet. "Now, it is almost time for me to wake up. Once that happens, this black dragon you stand on will cease to be, and that would be a very unfortunate thing if it happened while you are still here, so, it would be best if you leave now. I will see you again, very soon I imagine, but for now, please, go through this portal, it will lead you back to your ship." She stated as she waved her hand. Below her, on one of her black scales, a serpent hole appeared, ethereal red framework swirling around the white vortex. It would lead Manifest directly back to the Infinite Venture, where he would be safe from the Builder fleet.

Away from them, the planet began rumbling. It was almost time.

[The Starlight]

-snip-

-snip-

The Builder War
Death

Craig whistled at Manifest's awesome onslaught, the ship providing a filter so that he was not blinded. The universe would be once again shown the might of humanity. They would fight for infinity, if need be, and Craig glanced at the screen which notified him that the Weapon was fully loaded. His path was clear, and he began to steer the Earthern vessel towards the behemoth that was the command ship for the Builders. Craig, being an ultimate multitasker, had also been attempting to hack into the Builder fleet. Their virtual firewalls were beyond anything that he had seen but he had engineered a small crack to their PA system, and hooked it to the Infinite Venture, so that he could speak with them clearly. Everyone who had a communications device would also hear it. And so, the Artificer Absolute stood with his hands behind his back, the sole person on the bridge, looking out into the expanse of space. And then, as he liked to do, he talked.

"Hello, Builders. My name is Craig Thomsen of Earth, Navigator of the Infinite Venture. I thought it was about time that we had a little chat. Even now, you'll be wondering how I hacked into your ship. Don't bother, it's a waste of your time. Besides, you've got other things to worry about. You claim to be the universe's oldest race and you seem to think that that gives you to the right to destroy it. I'm here to tell you that you're dead wrong, Builders. We all hold a right to this universe. We were born in it, we will die in it. And though we humans may not have watched stars die and mountains rise, as you have, this universe belongs to us. It belongs to the Kree. It belongs to the Sh'iar. It belongs to the Skrulls. It belongs to the Inhumans, to the Mutants. It belongs to the Asgardians, to the Celestials, to the Spartoi, to the Watchers, to the Olympians. It belongs to every plant and every planet, every animal and every tree, every being that has ever looked up and seen the stars." Craig said firmly, unflinching as the Builders renewed their assault on the Venture, only to be thwarted by its shields. And if the fall of this universe is inevitable, which it isn't, but if it is, you better be sure that we will avenge it. You started this, Builders, and so, we will finish it. What comes next, not just here, but across the universe, is on you." he said, as a port began to open on top of the Infinite Venture.

"Is that a threat, human?" asked the Builder commander, sneering.

"No. It's a promise." Craig said firmly, pressing a button to terminate the link between the ships. He turned back to the controls, running some calculations and adjusting the trajectory in order to ensure a hit. Then, a blinking, blue button appeared in the air, Craig, smiling, pressed it. Above the ship, the port opened slowly, the Weapon slowly rising out of it. It was completely silver, appearing to be a nuke, but infinitely more powerful. Behind it, three lights glowed, first red, then yellow, and finally green. And at the speed of light, it launched towards the Builder mothership, shields activating around it when the Builders fired upon the missile. And when it hit, moments later, the whole universe seemed to explode. Fiery explosions rose from the ship as one part of it was completely obliterated, the other half soon to follow. A ship that was nearby caught on fire and was quickly incinerated. The silvery material on the Weapon turned out to be Craig's nanites, the inventor clenching his fist, the nanites instanteously following his command and covering the ship, before reducing it to ash. But it wasn't done yet, and from the remains of the ship there was a green light, and then three huge beams fired in all directions, targeting every Builder ship surrounding Hadrimmelis, and destroying them.

Huge cheers erupted out of the coms channel as Craig was congratulated by the heroes. He shook his head and turned from the sight, muttering to himself sadly. "In the words of Oppenheimer, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I warned them. You want to now why I don't build weapons Stark?" Craig referencing a question the billionaire had asked him in the making of the ship. "That's why." he said, throwing a finger towards the broken Builder fleet.

However, this War was not over yet, nor even the battle. The ship's AI spoke, "Warning. Warning. Builder fleet exiting hyperspace." And sure enough, a whole new fleet emerged, just, if not more numerous than the last. Craig turned, a frustrated look on his face. "Damn."
Over the channel, he heard groans, before Captain Marvel spoke. "I suppose we don't have another one of that," she said.

"It takes seven hours to recharge," replied Craig.

"Damn."

The young inventor swirled in his chair, tapping a button to talk to Valka. "Valka, we need you."

"I and the Valkyries are on our way, Craig." And indeed they were, the Hadrians also having gone. It had been interesting to see how they had done so so quickly, but this was war, and sacrifices had to be made. In flight, it was an easy thing to detect the mind of Adrianne, and send a message. "Everyone is off, including ourselves. You are free to do whatever you wished, but be cautioned that a new fleet has arrived. Now is the moment."

[Illica Falki]

*snip*

Vera was a little busy setting up herself up a little hideaway away from everyone else, just for when she needs to some time for herself. She's set it up so she'll pretty much be the only one actually able to get into in, as it requires the ability to climb through an opening into a bit of negative space between the walls. In the time at the tower, shes replaced her missing dagger and the broken brace on her leg, as well as any other bit of damage on her armor. She also decided to add a bit to her arsenal, adding two more daggers, and a Shotgun, with pouches loaded with Beanbag rounds, taser rounds and a few rubbers rounds, all less-than-lethal rounds.
When the announcement came through, She leaves the little hideaway, and rather calmly heads down to the command room, nodding to Kiris and Mars as she enters, she does note that Kiris is wearing a new outfit, but she doesn't say anything about it. Cutting straight to the chase, She doesn't even bother sitting down, "What's the situation?" She asks, holding her helmet under her arm, ready for the next mission.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

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Kirisvala had resumed her previous routine of spinning on the revolving chair and singing her little love song after ADAM had called the rest of the Young Bloods to the Command Room, waiting for them to arrive for the mission debriefing- and to see the costume she had spent so much effort on, of course. She was distracted from her hopeful thoughts when she heard Mars greet her; she had been so immersed in her speculation of how much admiration they might show, that she hadn't even noticed one of the elevators that led up to the Command Room suddenly open up and let both Mars and Rocket inside, much less the echo of their footsteps as they walked towards her. However, at the sound of Mars' voice, she stopped in multiple senses, halting her song, ceasing to spin and just generally pausing for a moment, before practically jumping to her feet at last, smiling brightly at both Mars and Rocket and waving at them with quite a bit of enthusiasm.

"Hello Mars! Hello Rocket!" She greeted them back, before looking at Rocket a bit more closely. He was now almost completely red, with a bit of yellolw in the form of lightning bolts on his arms and legs. He had been more colorful before, she thought, but the color change suited him. Besides, now his color scheme matched hers, more or less; she had a lot of white in her outfit and he didn't, but that wasn't important, and she thought it was quite a pleasant surprise either way.

"Oh." She mused suddenly. "If Mars uses Rocket as armor, does that mean his color scheme matches mine?" She wondered, the thought making her feel excited.

"You look great today, Rocket." She said sincerely, using her claw to pat the robot on the shoulder. She had learned by now that, while others would shy away from the touch of her large claws, Rocket did not seem to mind at all, and did not suffer pain or injury from her touch, which she was quite happy about.

"GREETINGS, FRIEND ROCKET." ADAM chimed in. Technically it wasn't his job to greet the Young Bloods whenever they entered the Command Room, and he didn't, but he acted differently when around his fellow AI.

Just then, Kirisvala saw Vera walk into the Command Room as well, having arrived from somewhere on the upper floors, unlike Mars and Rocket. She walked in quite briskly and, noticing her nod, the Hadrian girl immediately responded to her gesture with a wave and a couple of friendly words. The girl they had found crawling around their ceiling a week ago sure wasn't very talkative and didn't open up easily, but the singing magician didn't mind at all. It looked like they could still be friends, even despite that, and, as far as she was concerned, that was enough. She did, however, note with certain disappointment that neither she nor Mars nor even Rocket seemed to comment anything on her new outfit. Her smile faded away a little bit. She had spent quite a lot of effort on it so that she'd be able to fit well inside the superhero business, and she had been hoping they'd at least notice. Alas, she had no such luck.

"THERE ARE TWO MISSIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE YOUNG BLOODS, MISS VERA." ADAM said in response to the white-haired armored girl's inquiry, not knowing her last name as said information hadn't been fed to it. "I WILL DISCLOSE FURTHER DETAILS ONCE YOU ARE ALL ASSEMBLED." It stated mechanically.

"Um, so," Kirisvala began, taking advantage of the silence that permeated the room after ADAM had spoken. "what do you guys think?" She asked, and then, as if to make it abundantly clear what she was talking about, she did a little twirl on her feet, proudly displaying her cape to them as her braid, her bony tail and the tail end of her scarlet skirt trailed behind her in a hurry, attempting to regain their rightful positions behind her. "I spent all night finishing it." She said, and indeed, she had spent a good part of the previous night putting the finishing touches, such as weaving the white diamonds into her hat. "It's a good superhero costume, right?" She asked her two fellow companions, and then fell silent, waiting their responses expectantly.