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

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars looked up curiously when Rin said that she could hear the computers. He decided not to question it, because clearly she was shy about it, but that statement made it more clear to Mars what Rin's abilities were. Between hearing the computers and being able to tell that Mars had broken blood vessels in his neck, it was clear that she had incredible abilities to hear sounds. He hoped he'd be able to learn more about her powers soon.

"Well, we have a lot of computers here. There's an AI that controls the operating system in our team headquarters downstairs and I have my own personal network downstairs. I can show it to you sometime if you want." Mars said, not really sure what to do next so he cleared his throat a little awkwardly and turned to Kiris, "Hey Kiris? You think you could show Rin to one of the free rooms?" Mars asked the Hadrian.

[New Rnclave]

Slavery is Freedom Part Six

Tomia's monthly bleeding had begun a week and a half after her wedding night, but despite herself, and Cassandra's best efforts, she'd found feeling increasingly lonely. With no husband to distract her, and no where to go, she'd found herself indulging Cassandra and her cravings for intercourse more often then she'd like. In fact, Cassandra and her desperate need for attention were the exact reason she'd locked herself in this room, laying on the hard floor staring at the patterns in the cracked ceiling.

She knew she should've felt bad, but she'd found herself repulsed by the clingy attitude the younger girl had seemingly adopted. Like my nights had been spent consoling the girl, somber affairs in which Tomia half listened to the hysterical girl while she wondered about mundane things around the station, such as the draft on the dining hall. Sighing, Tomia coughed loudly, sitting up quickly to catch her breath when the rough wheezing stopped. Drawing her hand across her mouth daintily, she disregarded the Crimson liquid that often accompanied her coughing fits these days. Regaining her composure, she almost missed the faint bumping against the wall. A steady rhythm accompanied by breathless moaning.

"Ouch." A familiar voice said through the wood. " That hurt my dear."

A deep chuckle resonated through the room. Broly's voice. " Stop complaint bitch. We both know you like it rough."

" Of course I do my husband."

Pressing her hands roughly over her ears, Tomia stumbled out of her door, the cold floor sliding beneath her feet as she wobbled down the hall. Her vision became fuzzy the longer she walked, her head pounding loudly, blood rushing through her ears. Tomia wasn't quite sure where she was going until she got there.

The training grounds was a place she wasn't allowed. But with Broly occupied, she coudk freely explore the grounds for at least ten minutes. Breathing in a gulp of freezing air, she could hardly believe how vast these grounds were. Broken drones and shredded bodies littered the ground. She chose to ignore the moans and calls for help from an area to her left. Bwraaping her arms around herself, she continued on her journey towards the center, shivering slightly in the breeze.

The megastructure in the center seemed to revolve around a circular portal looking item. The round almost doorway looking item in question was quite tall in comparison to the Hybrid. It swirled with a corona of colors and pulsed vibrantly. It was weird, an almost foreboding feeling seemed to role off the machine. Approaching, Tomia's hand gently brushed across the control panel, clearing away a layer of dust.

"Get away from that right now."

The cold voice peirced her thoughts, flooring the Hybrid with the intensity they had been spoken with. Scrambling to a half standing position, she locked eyes with her husband, his emerald eyes boring into her, golden fire wavering against his frame. Bowing before him, she stuttered put an apology.

" I'm sorry M-My lord. I didn't know this area was off limits." The slap was just hard enough to send her sprawling, rough fingers wrapping around her throat and bringing her to eye level.

" Drop the sarcasm. Your blatant disrespect has pushed me to my limits, and you're moments away from meeting the same fate your planet and your father shared!" He seethed, dirty nails digging gouges into her throat. " Your father was the last challenge I had, before I conquered your planet. This portal is my way to challenge other opponents, to experience other universes. If you ruin this for me I will make your death more painful then your fathers was ever. But not before I make your existence worse then your mothers could ever be."

Hot tears spilled from her eyes, mixing with the fresh Crimson liquid dripping from her next, spirals of reddish water running down Broly's hands.

" I'm sorry my husband. It was a mistake. I'll never do it again."

" Of course you won't." He grinned wickedly, pulling her close to his chest, cradling her like one would a child. " Now come on. It's time for bed."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

God of Reclamation - Chapter One: The Goblin

Previously, in the Reclamation Cycle: Prequel: Cheap - Dawn

SHIELD Case File: 618-084-3C
SUBJECT 618: Death of Darkseid
SUBSECTION 084: Mortal Gods
SUBSECTION 3C: Activities attributed to so-called "Mortal Gods"
Coulson Notes: Look, we don't have a damn clue what's going on. We have missing agents, missing Heroes, missing villains, missing civilians, and to top it all off, flying cities and galaxies being formed out of nothing. It's all hands on deck. If you're receiving this file, that means you've been chosen to investigate and determine the danger of one of our newest anomalies. We don't know what you'll find out there: Run of the mill Armageddon-bringer, like Ultron or Thanos, or one of the new heavy hitters. We have confirmation of at least three new "Mortal Gods" being created. Here's what we have so far, in the order they turned up.

Alpha - Killed Darkseid.
NAME: Unknown.
ABILITIES: Unknown. [Darkseid+]

We know absolutely nothing about the guy who took out Darkseid. Facial recog. has nothing on the killer, codename Alpha, but our Attilan contact says that he's a member of Medusa's personal guard. This guy was using Mjolnir, Asgardian, and had the firepower to take out Darkseid himself. It's safe to say that an Inhuman of that power would've been brought to our attention earlier, so we don't know who it was or why they were using an Inhuman's form. After killing Darkseid, he was taken through a Boom-Tube. No confirmed sightings since.

Beta - Nothing known.
NAME: Unknown.
ABILITIES: Teleportation [Potentially]

An instant after Darkseid's death, a Gotham-based super within the police disappeared. Not in his power list. Regardless, it's Gotham, anything could've happened. The event has been recorded, but the investigation is closed until we have the more immediate dangers stabilized. Attached is the aforementioned Super's file.

DOWNLOAD: File 387-911-7B

The list goes on.

Norman Osborn tapped his desk impatiently. After his defeat during his Siege, he was driven underground and even had HAMMER bought out from under him. On the run from every organization in the world, he was now residing in a secret headquarters deep below New York, where he was slowly building up his "Goblin Nation."

"So, Darkseid is dead." He muttered, watching the screen with fascination.
"And so were you, once." A voice from the darkness replied.

The Green Goblin immediately whipped around, pulling out a pistol and aiming it around the ill-lit room. "Who's there? Is that you, Spider-Man? Come to gloat?" He scowled.

"I am not Spider-Man." He opened his eyes, their glow revealing his location. He stood at twelve feet tall and entered into the lamplight. "Iron Patriot. Once so high and mighty, now reduced to nothing. Will anybody miss you when you're gone?" The smoke from his wrists was now visible as the twin sickles each pulsated. "You escaped death, but Death comes for us all. Make your peace." He began reaching forward.

The Goblin did not reply, instead shooting at the God of Reclamation several times. The bullets simply bounced off of his skin. "Why will you not die!" He screamed, now aiming for the head. Still nothing.

"Because, Goblin." He grasped the once-mighty villain by the neck, lifting him into the air. "I am a piece of Death." He pulled his free arm back and threw it into the Iron Patriot, ripping out his heart as his hand tore through flesh and bone alike.

Three hours later, one of the Goblin's underlings would find him with an enormous hole in his chest. His heart was missing.

Reclamations
Artemis Crock, the Tigress. Dead.
Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. Dead.

---

You killed him. You just... Killed him.
Didn't you notice me do the same to the Tigress? Oh, wait, I had you subdued then, didn't I? Ah well.
You're a fucking monster.
Well, I'm you, so-
Don't you even begin. Death put you here.
All Death did was give you a portion of Her domain. When your body realized that your mind was too goody-goody to handle such a task, I was created out of the darker side. See, I'm the part of you that always enjoyed the chaos, enjoyed the pain. It's fun- But do you want to know what's even more fun? Causing it.
Get out of my head.
Sorry, mate- Even if Death decides to take away our new power, I'm here to stay.

[The Starlight]

Valancy Stirling
To Save this Earth

Valancy looked down at the earth, where the slimy black phlegm that she had coughed out laid. Already she felt more of the substance piling up in her throat. Her eyes turned upward, and she already knew, there had been another oil spill in the Arctic Ocean. Added to that, the sensation of chopped fingers had returned, as hundreds, if not thousands of trees were chopped in the Amazon Rainforest, American Northeast, and thousands of other locations. For a while, Valancy huddled in Gaea's Heart, calming herself, trying to banish away the pain. But it was futile, and so, she rose, the earth enveloping her, and teleporting her to the Arctic.

Seeing in the distance a freighter already sailing away, she shook her fist at it, and then turned her attention to the animals, turning her skin into wood and then diving into the frigid waters, fishing them out one, maybe two at a time, wiping the oil from their skin and fur, and then transporting them to a cleaner habitat so that they would not die. That alone took almost the rest of the day, and yet, her work was not done. Though the technique of bioremediation remained unperfected, it was still a viable stratagem for cleaning up the Ocean before it was to late. Teleporting into a flower by the shore of Gulf of Mexico, she collected about a gallon of the water, taking it back to the Arctic Ocean and pouring it in. The Gulf of Mexico contained oil-degrading microbes which would be helpful in literally eating up the oil. And that was all she could do. Locating with her mind the multiple flowers in her room, the Earth Primordial arrived back at the JQ Tower, collapsing into bed, not minding how much of oil she smelled.

And that was just a taste of what Valancy did over the course of the few days, but in truth, it was crisis management. One moment, she was in Africa, examining ways to halt the desertification of sub-Saharan Africa without falling into a coma from excessive use of her power. The next moment, she was replanting trees in the Amazon Rainforest. And the next moment, she was in California, attempting to help with their drought crisis and constant forest fires, calling in her fellow heroine and friend(that's a story for another time, of how they met) Storm to make it rain(literally). Valancy Stirling had gone global, and at times she heard snatches of her Even though she was the Goddess of Earth, and the planet Earth was where she was most powerful, she was not the goddess of the planet, and yet, connected to it. However, she didn't consider her domain to simply be the sand, silt, clay and nutrients that make up soil, or earth. But she had little time to wonder at her domain, for there was too much to do, and very, very little reward for it.

Every day she woke up retching forth black, slimy liquid representative of oil, in fact, she had taken to putting a bucket beside her bed so that she would not sully the floor. And that was when she could sleep, for she could never stop the screaming within her head, of flora and fauna. At breakfast, they haunted her, in sleep, they drove her to shame, that she was sleeping, safe, while they were dying. Her new global campaign, had brought new scrutiny upon her, and she was accused of violating the sovereignty of several countries in which she had intervened for their and the planet's ultimate benefit. And all this while, she felt like she was barely making a dent in all the troubles that faced her mission to save the earth.

So there she sat, simply staring at the raindrops rolling down her window, the weather reflecting her mood. Unless something changed, Gaea would come, and she would destroy humanity. For while Valancy was the Goddess of Earth, Gaea was the Earth Primordial, its creator and her mother. And even if she attempted to resist against Gaea's Vengeance, she would have no more chance than that of an ant trying to avoid a boot. It was time for her to try a different approach. Now, she realized, she couldn't completely do it herself.

Pulling a few strings, (because if there was one thing Valancy had right now, it was her connections; being one of if not the world's experts on environmental science, and having temporarily worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., the UN and the EPA), she got herself a speaking role at the UN Environmental Summit taking place in a week. It was high time that the world knew the consequences for continuing their current path.

[The Starlight]

-snip-

-snip-

"The honor is mine, Manifest, and it gladdens me to see thee, and you too, Simon. I fare much better than I fared beforehand." she said, waiting for a moment as more heroes arrived before beginning her tale. "After the Slime War, the event known as Ragnarok, the death and rebirth of our cycle, came upon Asgard once again, and I sensed something amiss, for it was far too soon for a Ragnarok. Nevertheless, we fought, for as you know, that is what Asgardians do. But this time, I was slain, and instead of heading to the blessed halls of Valhalla, I found myself on Asgard, with everything in pristine condition, with no one remembering the Ragnarok save for myself."

"I thought it to be a dream, but Ragnaroks kept occuring, and I continued to die, over and over again, most annoyingly," Valka said, grumbling to herself. "Eventually, I had had enough, and, joining forces with a younger version of myself, drove the mysterious figure away from Asgard, and then chased her for about a week before we lost her. After that we spent a month searching the universe when I realized that she, the mysterious figure, obviously endowed with some mighty power, would be on Earth. And so, across the godly realms, I fought alongside the rest of Earth's pantheons. To cut a long story short, the mysterious woman was my, is my daughter. From the future." From anyone else, this would have seemed like a joke, but Valka's dead serious expression let her listeners know that this was the truth. "In the previous future, she slew Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, but when she did so, it was revealed to be a trap, and they took her as host, making an agreement with Hel, the Goddess of Death, to secure my daughter's soul. I would be reluctant to reveal to you who exactly Those Who Sit Above in Shadow are, but, considering that they are not long for this world," Valka said darkly, stroking Oathbringer, "I shall reveal them to you. They hold power of the Ragnarok cycle of Asgard, being Gods of Gods, one could say, controlling the eternal cycle of rebirth. Their aim is to establish power over the very life cycles of the gods, and perhaps even Midgardians, and with the life cycles of a few more pantheons, they would become cosmic, or even greater in power. Already, I have battled them once, and I was forced to retreat," Valka said, stressing the word retreat, her glare letting the audience know that it was a sore topic.

"But back to the tale. After battling them, I had to free my daughter's soul, and there was only one way to do so, as one of the dead. And so, I killed myself, and then, I traveled the underworld, nay, the underworlds, all the hells of every single MIdgardian pantheon, looking for my daughter's soul. And I fought many, many battles, battles beyond number. I spent perhaps a year in those fiery hells. But those tales should be told at merrier occasions, when the danger is past."

"I called upon War, and for the heroes of this Earth to assemble, aye, Manifest, for all this time, Asgard has been under siege by the forces of Those Who Sit Above in Shadow and those the gods and goddesses of death. Beings of shade and shadow, The Gods of Rebirth Themselves, the undead and gods of death and hell, they are what we face. That is, those of the latter whom I did not slay in the past year and have not already risen. And mighty Asgard is, it cannot stand forever. But there is one more group that must be gathered," said Valka. And then, in the common God's tongue, she shouted once again, crying out, "Gods, to me!" firing up a beam of the Valkaforce into the air. And the gods of Earth came, one by one, the Olympians and the Egyptians, the Mayans and the Japanese, all of the Godheads and their armies, all issuing collective nods to the All-Mother as they arrived.

"Asgard must be relieved before the golden city falls. And yes, Simon, you may blow up as many of the enemy as you please. Any questions?" she asked.

[Charmera]

God of the Fragmented - Intruder

In the centre of the vast complex, Manifest, God of the Fragmented, meditated in the centre of a vast, empty, spherical room and tried to determine the upward limit of his power as a God. In front of him, the Manifest Blade floated, temporarily separated from him superficially. After all, with such a vast cosmic force at his disposal, how could he find his God-power?

So he was when he sensed a discharge of energy inside his fortress. His eyes shot open, the pupils glowing red, and his hand reached out to grasp the Blade. As he clutched it, it began to dissolve, turning blue and then transforming into blue lines of pure energy trailing along his arms back into his body. When the energy finished reabsorbing into him, he breathed deeply and closed his eyes, allowing his full power to return.

His eyes slowly opened once more, now entirely scarlet. He held out his hand and opened a large hatch on the wall, shooting through and allowing it to close behind him. An instant later, he appeared in front Zaki. "Who are you to intrude upon my domain? He scowled. His voice was double, and dripping with power no mortal should ever hold. He was wearing his midnight black armour, sans the helmet, revealing his malevolent eyes. In his left hand was the Infinite, in his right was Laughter, both glowing with Godly power.

Zaki frowned. "I'm Zakixia. Do you not remember?" Asked the slime being, or rather part of the slime being, having to bend over and squint to see the little midnight covered being. "We fought together in Asgard against Queen Xyrix's army. I was the one who warned you of their menace in the first place." She remarked. "I came here because I sensed this... And I wondered if an intervention was necessary. Considering I need everyone I can get to fight Xyrix."

Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the complex
Four humanoids teleported in the same place Zaki #1 had before. Zaki #2 turned to her group, a Martian with a Green ring, an android with the ability to manipulate space and a strangely silent person with a glowing blue blade. Zaki nodded to each.

"I have to meet up with the rest of my body. But I'll leave a trail for you to follow." She remarked, suddenly turning into a large planet sized ball of slime and hurtling down the corridors, squeezing through when needed, leaving behind a trail of slime liquid.

Julie looked at this trail, and then felt a little nauseous. "Well, I guess she did say she'd leave a trail."

Lisa nodded. "Indeed." She looked around. "I'm not sure what organics would call this place. But unsettling works for me."

Chorus said nothing, for fear she might hurt someone.

The three of them stood there for a bit, and then suddenly moved forward, following the trail of slime by means of teleportation, flight and... sound?

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

-snip-

-snip-

"The honor is mine, Manifest, and it gladdens me to see thee, and you too, Simon. I fare much better than I fared beforehand." she said, waiting for a moment as more heroes arrived before beginning her tale. "After the Slime War, the event known as Ragnarok, the death and rebirth of our cycle, came upon Asgard once again, and I sensed something amiss, for it was far too soon for a Ragnarok. Nevertheless, we fought, for as you know, that is what Asgardians do. But this time, I was slain, and instead of heading to the blessed halls of Valhalla, I found myself on Asgard, with everything in pristine condition, with no one remembering the Ragnarok save for myself."

"I thought it to be a dream, but Ragnaroks kept occuring, and I continued to die, over and over again, most annoyingly," Valka said, grumbling to herself. "Eventually, I had had enough, and, joining forces with a younger version of myself, drove the mysterious figure away from Asgard, and then chased her for about a week before we lost her. After that we spent a month searching the universe when I realized that she, the mysterious figure, obviously endowed with some mighty power, would be on Earth. And so, across the godly realms, I fought alongside the rest of Earth's pantheons. To cut a long story short, the mysterious woman was my, is my daughter. From the future." From anyone else, this would have seemed like a joke, but Valka's dead serious expression let her listeners know that this was the truth. "In the previous future, she slew Those Who Sit Above in Shadow, but when she did so, it was revealed to be a trap, and they took her as host, making an agreement with Hel, the Goddess of Death, to secure my daughter's soul. I would be reluctant to reveal to you who exactly Those Who Sit Above in Shadow are, but, considering that they are not long for this world," Valka said darkly, stroking Oathbringer, "I shall reveal them to you. They hold power of the Ragnarok cycle of Asgard, being Gods of Gods, one could say, controlling the eternal cycle of rebirth. Their aim is to establish power over the very life cycles of the gods, and perhaps even Midgardians, and with the life cycles of a few more pantheons, they would become cosmic, or even greater in power. Already, I have battled them once, and I was forced to retreat," Valka said, stressing the word retreat, her glare letting the audience know that it was a sore topic.

"But back to the tale. After battling them, I had to free my daughter's soul, and there was only one way to do so, as one of the dead. And so, I killed myself, and then, I traveled the underworld, nay, the underworlds, all the hells of every single Midgardian pantheon, looking for my daughter's soul. And I fought many, many battles, battles beyond number. I spent perhaps a year in those fiery hells. But those tales should be told at merrier occasions, when the danger is past."

"I called upon War, and for the heroes of this Earth to assemble, aye, Manifest, for all this time, Asgard has been under siege by the forces of Those Who Sit Above in Shadow and those the gods and goddesses of death. Beings of shade and shadow, The Gods of Rebirth Themselves, the undead and gods of death and hell, they are what we face. That is, those of the latter whom I did not slay in the past year and have not already risen. And mighty Asgard is, it cannot stand forever. But there is one more group that must be gathered," said Valka. And then, in the common God's tongue, she shouted once again, crying out, "Gods, to me!" firing up a beam of the Valkaforce into the air. And the gods of Earth came, one by one, the Olympians and the Egyptians, the Mayans and the Japanese, all of the Godheads and their armies, all issuing collective nods to the All-Mother as they arrived.

"Asgard must be relieved before the golden city falls. And yes, Simon, you may blow up as many of the enemy as you please. Any questions?" she asked.

Manifest whistled in awe. "Quite a story, Valka. You'll have to give me the full version sometime. As for your army- Damn if it isn't impressive as all hell. I'm honoured to be included." After this, he noticed the Olympians were there, and he started glaring at Hermes. "Seriously? That idiot is a God? Damn if that doesn't explain a lot."

God of the Fragmented - Intruder

In the centre of the vast complex, Manifest, God of the Fragmented, meditated in the centre of a vast, empty, spherical room and tried to determine the upward limit of his power as a God. In front of him, the Manifest Blade floated, temporarily separated from him superficially. After all, with such a vast cosmic force at his disposal, how could he find his God-power?

So he was when he sensed a discharge of energy inside his fortress. His eyes shot open, the pupils glowing red, and his hand reached out to grasp the Blade. As he clutched it, it began to dissolve, turning blue and then transforming into blue lines of pure energy trailing along his arms back into his body. When the energy finished reabsorbing into him, he breathed deeply and closed his eyes, allowing his full power to return.

His eyes slowly opened once more, now entirely scarlet. He held out his hand and opened a large hatch on the wall, shooting through and allowing it to close behind him. An instant later, he appeared in front Zaki. "Who are you to intrude upon my domain? He scowled. His voice was double, and dripping with power no mortal should ever hold. He was wearing his midnight black armour, sans the helmet, revealing his malevolent eyes. In his left hand was the Infinite, in his right was Laughter, both glowing with Godly power.

Zaki frowned. "I'm Zakixia. Do you not remember?" Asked the slime being, or rather part of the slime being, having to bend over and squint to see the little midnight covered being. "We fought together in Asgard against Queen Xyrix's army. I was the one who warned you of their menace in the first place." She remarked. "I came here because I sensed this... And I wondered if an intervention was necessary. Considering I need everyone I can get to fight Xyrix."

Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the complex
Four humanoids teleported in the same place Zaki #1 had before. Zaki #2 turned to her group, a Martian with a Green ring, an android with the ability to manipulate space and a strangely silent person with a glowing blue blade. Zaki nodded to each.

"I have to meet up with the rest of my body. But I'll leave a trail for you to follow." She remarked, suddenly turning into a large planet sized ball of slime and hurtling down the corridors, squeezing through when needed, leaving behind a trail of slime liquid.

Julie looked at this trail, and then felt a little nauseous. "Well, I guess she did say she'd leave a trail."

Lisa nodded. "Indeed." She looked around. "I'm not sure what organics would call this place. But unsettling works for me."

Chorus said nothing, for fear she might hurt someone.

The three of them stood there for a bit, and then suddenly moved forward, following the trail of slime by means of teleportation, flight and... sound?

The God of the Fragmented scoffed. "Intervention? Even if such a thing was necessary, one as weak as you wouldn't be able to even begin to think of facing me. Before, I could have killed you in an instant. Now? I could blink, and you would die. Leave my presence." He turned and sped away, metal from the walls closing in behind him and blocking off the path forward. There was, however, another path to the left, which (if followed) would lead to a perfect replica of the Tamaranian homeworld.

Simultaneously, a mechanical construct suddenly began forming in front of Julie, Lisa, and Chorus. The construct formed into the shape of a man, though any features were indeterminate and the face was simply blank metal, presumably steel. "Identify yourselves." Though it held no obvious weapons, its voice was threatening.

[Charmera]

Zaki frowned. "I'm Zakixia. Do you not remember?" Asked the slime being, or rather part of the slime being, having to bend over and squint to see the little midnight covered being. "We fought together in Asgard against Queen Xyrix's army. I was the one who warned you of their menace in the first place." She remarked. "I came here because I sensed this... And I wondered if an intervention was necessary. Considering I need everyone I can get to fight Xyrix."

Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the complex
Four humanoids teleported in the same place Zaki #1 had before. Zaki #2 turned to her group, a Martian with a Green ring, an android with the ability to manipulate space and a strangely silent person with a glowing blue blade. Zaki nodded to each.

"I have to meet up with the rest of my body. But I'll leave a trail for you to follow." She remarked, suddenly turning into a large planet sized ball of slime and hurtling down the corridors, squeezing through when needed, leaving behind a trail of slime liquid.

Julie looked at this trail, and then felt a little nauseous. "Well, I guess she did say she'd leave a trail."

Lisa nodded. "Indeed." She looked around. "I'm not sure what organics would call this place. But unsettling works for me."

Chorus said nothing, for fear she might hurt someone.

The three of them stood there for a bit, and then suddenly moved forward, following the trail of slime by means of teleportation, flight and... sound?

The God of the Fragmented scoffed. "Intervention? Even if such a thing was necessary, one as weak as you wouldn't be able to even begin to think of facing me. Before, I could have killed you in an instant. Now? I could blink, and you would die. Leave my presence." He turned and sped away, metal from the walls closing in behind him and blocking off the path forward. There was, however, another path to the left, which (if followed) would lead to a perfect replica of the Tamaranian homeworld.

Simultaneously, a mechanical construct suddenly began forming in front of Julie, Lisa, and Chorus. The construct formed into the shape of a man, though any features were indeterminate and the face was simply blank metal, presumably steel. "Identify yourselves." Though it held no obvious weapons, its voice was threatening.

Her frown intensified. "Well. That was certainly unfriendly." She remarked. She was not afraid. Killing this copy of her would do nothing to the rest of her anyway. Then sighed as she looked over to the path on the left, walking towards the replica. "Replica's of planets and systems, but with no people on them... not exactly remaking the universe are we?" She asked. "So... what's the point of this?"

Meanwhile
The three spoke one after another.
"Lisa"
"Julie"
"..."

Julie and Lisa looked at Chorus. Who simply frowned as she looked at the metal humanoid. I thought one of the perks of being famous was that questions like these didn't need to be answered...

"So sorry to intrude. We're here to meet Manifest." Spoke Lisa. "Is he home?"

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Xyri paused before absorbing Grodd. "Whatever I do, promise not to freak out. Please?" She spoke. And then suddenly grodd was not Grodd, but had suddenly turned into more green slime mass as he was then absorbed into Xyri. Then the slime girl paused, her eyes wide as she felt a change. She felt... different, smarter somehow. Suddenly green slime like glasses formed around her eyes. "Facinating. It seems I have also taken on the inteligence of the primate, not merely adding his mass onto my own. Perhaps a new evolution of my skill set. This shall be most useful." She spoke. "My vernacular has improved too. Most intriguing." She turned to vera. The slime woman was now at least 18 feet tall. "There is no need to fret Vera. The process of absorption is easily reversible, though it can be mildly unpleasant for myself. Like coughing." She spoke. "In any case, I believe we may be finished here. The only thing that remains is to deposit this criminal ape with the proper authorities, correct? I believe that is the typical procedure."

Vera honestly doesn't quite know how to respond to the absorption.... "Um, Yes we need to hand him off to someone suited for handling him." she thinks for a moment on who to send Grodd to, "Local Law enforcement is probably best, they'll pass him off to the properly authority." Before they go, it does occur to Vera to ask, "Um...he's going to be alright...right?"

Just before the punch connected, Cassandra clutched her hand to her throat, activating a hidden clasp that detached the cape. She leapt backwards, dragging the cape with her and on top of Nightraven, trying to cover her, and then quickly attacking her adversary through the durable material.

Nightraven quickly let go of the cape, Rolling forward to get out from under it. She turns around, and sees Cain trying to attack where she was. "No Need to wreck your own cape, Bat. I'm right here" Nightraven taunts, quickly swinging another punch with her shock gauntlet at Cain just after her missed attack.

The Black Bat narrowed her eyes, leaping backwards and away from the punch. "Shocker Gauntlets." She suddenly said aloud. "And no, I'm not talking to you." She followed this with a flurry of kicks and punches at her opponent. Cain had the training of the League, the Bat, and her father- But that didn't mean she didn't also have allies. "Assuming you're recording this, Oracle?" She muttered under her breath in the middle of her attacks. "Good."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

The God of the Fragmented scoffed. "Intervention? Even if such a thing was necessary, one as weak as you wouldn't be able to even begin to think of facing me. Before, I could have killed you in an instant. Now? I could blink, and you would die. Leave my presence." He turned and sped away, metal from the walls closing in behind him and blocking off the path forward. There was, however, another path to the left, which (if followed) would lead to a perfect replica of the Tamaranian homeworld.

Simultaneously, a mechanical construct suddenly began forming in front of Julie, Lisa, and Chorus. The construct formed into the shape of a man, though any features were indeterminate and the face was simply blank metal, presumably steel. "Identify yourselves." Though it held no obvious weapons, its voice was threatening.

Her frown intensified. "Well. That was certainly unfriendly." She remarked. She was not afraid. Killing this copy of her would do nothing to the rest of her anyway. Then sighed as she looked over to the path on the left, walking towards the replica. "Replica's of planets and systems, but with no people on them... not exactly remaking the universe are we?" She asked. "So... what's the point of this?"

Meanwhile
The three spoke one after another.
"Lisa"
"Julie"
"..."

Julie and Lisa looked at Chorus. Who simply frowned as she looked at the metal humanoid. I thought one of the perks of being famous was that questions like these didn't need to be answered...

"So sorry to intrude. We're here to meet Manifest." Spoke Lisa. "Is he home?"

Tamaran, home of one of the most passionate species in existence. Fierce in combat, Loyal in politics, and an incredibly powerful empire besides, the planet was home to lush wildlife and plentiful species. This version of it, however, was entirely devoid of life. The vast forests and plains were gone, but strangely enough, the cities remained- Devoid of light and life. At the Northern revolutionary pole of the planet, a large obelisk stuck into the sky that was not there in the original. A plaque at the bottom read, "Tamaran. Threat level: Negligible."

The metal man looked at each of the three in turn. "Is the third of your party not going to introduce herself? Hmph. It matters not. I am a mental fragment of the one you call Manifest. Speak to me, and Manifest shall hear. Answer me this: Why do you intrude upon the domain of a God?" It pointed at the three of them, and the lights of the facility dimmed slightly. The tip of the metal man's finger began to spark slightly.

[Charmera]

Her frown intensified. "Well. That was certainly unfriendly." She remarked. She was not afraid. Killing this copy of her would do nothing to the rest of her anyway. Then sighed as she looked over to the path on the left, walking towards the replica. "Replica's of planets and systems, but with no people on them... not exactly remaking the universe are we?" She asked. "So... what's the point of this?"

Meanwhile
The three spoke one after another.
"Lisa"
"Julie"
"..."

Julie and Lisa looked at Chorus. Who simply frowned as she looked at the metal humanoid. I thought one of the perks of being famous was that questions like these didn't need to be answered...

"So sorry to intrude. We're here to meet Manifest." Spoke Lisa. "Is he home?"

Tamaran, home of one of the most passionate species in existence. Fierce in combat, Loyal in politics, and an incredibly powerful empire besides, the planet was home to lush wildlife and plentiful species. This version of it, however, was entirely devoid of life. The vast forests and plains were gone, but strangely enough, the cities remained- Devoid of light and life. At the Northern revolutionary pole of the planet, a large obelisk stuck into the sky that was not there in the original. A plaque at the bottom read, "Tamaran. Threat level: Negligible."

The metal man looked at each of the three in turn. "Is the third of your party not going to introduce herself? Hmph. It matters not. I am a mental fragment of the one you call Manifest. Speak to me, and Manifest shall hear. Answer me this: Why do you intrude upon the domain of a God?" It pointed at the three of them, and the lights of the facility dimmed slightly. The tip of the metal man's finger began to spark slightly.

"Well that isn't sinister at all..." Zaki remarked sarcastically. She spent a small while inspecting the planet. Frowning as she found no life signs whatsoever. Then she continued to proceed towards the center of the facility, frowning all the way. Manifest has a few questions to answer. And nothing I have seen has convinced me that an intervention is any less needed.

"My wielder would be more than happy to talk, however she also does not wish to cause damage to the facility. So she will stay silent." Verse spoke. And then Chorus nodded.

"We were asked here by a living slime to-" Lisa started.

Julie put a hand on Lisa's mouth. "We're here to talk. What is all this? What is it in aid of?" She asked.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"Alright, I'll try that again." Kirisvala said as she stood up after taking a few minutes to rest and recover some of the spent energy. She was currently located on one of the two rooftops of the tower of the Young Bloods, practicing with her magic in order to become stronger and be able to better help out her teammates. It wasn't that they had gone through a botched mission or anything of the sort (yet, at least), but she still felt that she could do more for Mars the rest of the team. A few months had passed since their first successful missions (plural, as they had split into teams of two), though she still remembered that day pretty well: in addition to the moments spent on the jet, that day she had gotten an amplifier necklace and the team had gained a new member. However she'd also realized that she was prone to running out of energy rather quickly if she used too much of her magic for too long. Concerned by this she had begun training daily in order to overcome this limitation, and though she hadn't exactly been tried since then, she had still become a lot more adept at using magic. She had more power, more control, more precision, and more energy. She didn't know how much she'd improved, but she didn't doubt she had.

Standing up once more, she resumed her training. She took a deep breath, and then let out a loud roar. The air around her vibrated, and it likely would cause some minor inconvenience for whoever lived on the uppermost floors, but likely not too much, as the others had soundproofed the ceiling around the first week after she had started her training regime. The noise caused the ground around her to shake, but not much else. However, the intended effect soon became apparent, as out of the reverberating air around her emerged shimmering spears made out of pure magic. Unlike in previous occasions, though, this time the magic was much more... organized. More controlled. Instead of the spells randomly shooting out, a dozen of spears appeared, spinning above the ground for a moment and then converging on the same point in mid-air, exploding with incredible force.

Afterwards, Kirisvala let out another roar, the pitch varying ever so slightly, and this time the spears of light emerged from the ground around her instead, in a circle, rising into the air before exploding. The next time, the dozen spears of light appeared in a circle, but this time, they descended in a spiral that moved further and further from the center, though instead of exploding, this time they simply dissipated, as the Hadrian had no intention of causing structural damage to the Tower of Youth. Regardless, she continued practicing, cycling through different methods of using her magic bullet projection. Rapid-fire, shotgun spread, spiral shield and other types. Eventually, she finished her training session by letting out another roar, one that was lower-pitched and much more abrupt than the others. Just as it started, it stopped, and an enormous beam shot forrth from behind her and went up into the air, the force from the ensuing shockwave being such that it knocked her flat on her back as she looked at what appeared to be a fireworks display.

Thankfully, it was commonplace enough in the Jump City skyline that nobody worried about it anymore, and in any case, the magic energy that Kirisvala utilized was eco-friendly and caused no damage to the environment surrounding the city, so there was no reason for the authorities to be concerned, either. Lying on the ground, the pink-haired girl sighed, for no reason in particular. She simply stayed there, resting some more after the arduous exercise which was no less physically demanding than any sort of bodybuilder training, though it was also very demanding mentally, resulting in a double exhaustion which was bothersome to recover from. Sometimes she felt like skipping out on it for a day, but she stayed determined, not just because of her friends and the people that she protected, but also because of a desire to improve herself and prove that she was not worthless as her family had once claimed she was.

Suddenly, she noticed something strange. The sky above her was turning a bright shade of purple, despite it being mid-day (here, the Hadrian forgot to consider that at no point of the day does the sky actually become bright purple), and the clouds were swirling ominously above her. She was just about to stand up and move away from the center of that strange cloud formation, when a beam came from the heavens. The bright light was the last thing she saw.

...

"Arise, Goddess of Names." Spoke a mysterious voice within her head, and Kirisvala opened her eyes slowly. Hours had passed since she had blacked out, and she sat up, feeling a little dizzy, wondering what the hell had happened, and what was that voice that had spoken to her.

---

---

Kirisvala had only woken up once Mars and Rin were already stepping out of the jet, and had been sleepily trailing behind them ever since, not really paying any particular attention to her surroundings as she was still with one foot in this world and the other in dreamland. As such, she didn't really notice the dialogue taking place until Mars addressed her. She had been mid-yawn at the moment, and quickly slammed her mouth shut before looking at Mars and nodding. She then turned towards Rin and smiled softly. "Come with me, I'll show you the rooms." She said politely, about to reach out and take the girl's hand to lead her around, before remembering that it was probably not a good idea considering her claws and simply turning around and heading in the direction of the stairwell. Soon they descended to an empty floor, and on the wall there was a door that opened up to a hallway that connected the two upper halves of the Y that was the tower.

"The other part of the tower is the one we use the most, so I figured you might want to pick a room in that one. There's lots of empty rooms, so you can pick any one you want." She said as she led the blonde girl through the hallway and reached the other side of the tower. "There's not a whole lot of stuff on them though, just the basics, but I'm pretty sure we can get you anything else you want like clothes and all that stuff, so feel free to ask if you need something." She continued, wishing to make sure that Rin would be as comfortable as possible in her new home.

---

---

Sarah chuckled. "Come on, guys, why do you have to make it sound like I have to sleep with someone to get information from them? No offense, John, but you're giving your gender a lot more credit than it deserves." She said, not missing an opportunity to tease her new boyfriend, before looking in the direction of the tied up thugs and shrugging as she began walking towards them. Coming to a stop next to one of them, she crouched slightly so that she was closer to him, and then grabbed him by the hair, forcing him to look at her straight in the eye. Thanks to this, her supernatural influence was triggered, and the thug simply looked at her as though hypnotized. The second anarchist protested to her witchcraft, but Sarah ignored him and spoke.

"Tell me everything you know about the bombs here in Disneyland. Now." She said, in a voice that was neither threatening nor persuasive, but neutral.

---

---

The Black Dragon was soaring through the carbon tides and solar winds of the universe, traveling throughout the galaxies. Even now, she worked to undo all the damage that the Builders had caused during their war. It was ironic, that another was to rebuild what the Builders had destroyed, but it was, nonetheless, a task that the World-Dragon accepted in good faith. It was, after all, merely an extension of the duty that the World-Dragons had been tasked with since the dawn of the universe, and so, the black-scaled creator of worlds flew from one part of existence to another, forming planets with her claws as though she was molding them with clay, her breath alone creating myriad stars. In minutes she could rebuild what the Builders took weeks to destroy, further displaying how sorely misguided they were in daring to threaten the children of one of the twelve cosmic architects that populated the universe.

However, amidst her task, Hadrimmelis noticed something strange. Immediately, she flew into a serpent hole, using the Dragon Force Dimension to travel from one part of the universe to another in an instant, popping out not far from the complex that Manifest had built for himself upon becoming a God.

Floating outside of it, she probed its confines. She could feel its intent, and it was not pleasant, to say the least. However, even though she could erase something the size of a tiny galaxy with ease, she refrained from doing so. Though she could feel a sinister intent coming from the complex, she could also sense a familiar presence within. A presence that ressembled that of a mortal she had come to call friend. Thus, instead of jumping to conclusions, the Black Dragon shrank into her far less threatening human form and entered the premises, delving into the labyrinth of lifeless worlds.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Tamaran, home of one of the most passionate species in existence. Fierce in combat, Loyal in politics, and an incredibly powerful empire besides, the planet was home to lush wildlife and plentiful species. This version of it, however, was entirely devoid of life. The vast forests and plains were gone, but strangely enough, the cities remained- Devoid of light and life. At the Northern revolutionary pole of the planet, a large obelisk stuck into the sky that was not there in the original. A plaque at the bottom read, "Tamaran. Threat level: Negligible."

The metal man looked at each of the three in turn. "Is the third of your party not going to introduce herself? Hmph. It matters not. I am a mental fragment of the one you call Manifest. Speak to me, and Manifest shall hear. Answer me this: Why do you intrude upon the domain of a God?" It pointed at the three of them, and the lights of the facility dimmed slightly. The tip of the metal man's finger began to spark slightly.

"Well that isn't sinister at all..." Zaki remarked sarcastically. She spent a small while inspecting the planet. Frowning as she found no life signs whatsoever. Then she continued to proceed towards the center of the facility, frowning all the way. Manifest has a few questions to answer. And nothing I have seen has convinced me that an intervention is any less needed.

"My wielder would be more than happy to talk, however she also does not wish to cause damage to the facility. So she will stay silent." Verse spoke. And then Chorus nodded.

"We were asked here by a living slime to-" Lisa started.

Julie put a hand on Lisa's mouth. "We're here to talk. What is all this? What is it in aid of?" She asked.

As Zaki continued through the tunnels, the next space she came across was completely empty- With the exception of a black hole at the centre. Despite the incredible gravitational force throughout the entirety of the room, a platform with an obelisk on it floated near the ceiling, directly above the black hole. Should Zaki choose to go to the top of the room, the plaque would read "Experiment 03- How dense can I make my summoned materials? Resultant Black Hole was previously made entirely of a hypderdense form of what was once stainless steel. Potential use as a weapon: Highly limited. Too many side effects on my person. Too much potential for damage to myself or innocents. Keeping Experiment 03 as a trash bin.
Addendum- Disposed of Experiment 04 in Exp-03. As it turns out, I cannot, in fact, create life. I can, however, create rather disturbing amalgamations of AI and mindless destruction."

The metal fragment of Manifest did not reply for a moment. "You have not answered my question. Nevertheless, I shall answer yours. Count yourselves lucky." It lowered its hand, dispelling the sparks, and the lights returned to full power. "This," the metal man raised his arms as a man sized replica of the facility appeared above him. "Is the Universal Fortress. From here, the God can see all that occurs in the Universe, and be there a moment later."

He turned to them once more. "Imagine, if you will, an entire Universe with no War. An entire Universe without Murder. An entire Universe where Heroes have become redundant, Gods respect their worshippers, and Villains are a thing of the past. Manifest has the power, and the obligation, to bring this about. Give me any justification at all that says that Manifest should not do that. One good reason that he shouldn't stop someone from being murdered. One rationalization of allowing the murder, the unnecessary death, the horrendous torturing, the malevolent killing to go on when he has it entirely in his ability to stop it."

He paused for a moment. "It is the natural inclination of Heroes to write off those who present such speeches as I have as madmen, as either impossibly naive, incredibly misguided, or simply evil. I am none of these. I will not take any freedoms from the people of our Universe. I will not impose irrational laws on those who would live without them. I would only stop the killings. Stop the scarring of children by the deaths of their parents to thugs in alleyways. Stop the irrational and unnecessary destruction of planets and lives. Imagine a world where this is true. A world where the Annihilation Wave could not have even begun to spread, because the people of the Universe were so intertwined that they were pushed back in an instant. A world where the only conflict between Kree and Skrull involves trade agreements, not the lives of innocent bystanders."

"A world of Peace."

Across the facility

Half an instant after the Black Dragon entered the Universal Fortress, the God of Fragments himself arrived to meet her. "Hadrimmelis. Welcome, my old friend." His helmet was on, and thus, she could not see his face- Indeed, should she attempt to probe his mind without him noticing, she would find it sealed by the power of a God and the unlocked power of the Manifest Blade itself. "I presume you are here to investigate my new domain?"

[The Republic of Atria]

"Not much of a talker are you?" He asked and created a new shirt and pants for himself. Black Bolt shook his head no. "Huh. You don't look very... Inhuman. No offense. I mean. You look pretty normal human. That's not improper to ask is it?" He asked. Black Bolt made a motion to his throat which, under normal circumstance, would mean something about vomiting. "Oh... Your power only works when you talk... And... You can't control it?" He guessed. Black Bolt shook his head yes. "Damn. That blows. Wanna see a magic trick?" He asked as some Skrulls took pot shots at them. Otis dismissed them by melting their weapons. "Not the magic trick I wanted to show you. This one was." He said and blasted Black Bolt with the Omega Beams, changing the way his power worked. As in, he could choose when to use it rather than having to keep his mouth shut or risk massive damage. "There. Try talking. Though... Please aim away from me in the event I messed up. I've already been hit by you once today. And my head is still shaking."

He gave Otis an annoyed look. It probably would have been nice to let him know that he was going to be blasted point blank. To get back at him, Black Bolt opened his mouth and Otis flinched. But nothing happened. "How... How did you do that?" He asked.

"Was that payback for blasting you a second ago? And you may or may not have have heard being a captive and all, but Darkseid got killed by yours truly. That is a whole other story though. And apparently his powers come from something called the Omega something-or-other. I had it forced upon me and that was after Darkseid had pretty much beaten me within an inch of my life. Twice. Not a fun experience by the way. Dude hits like a ton of bricks. So I've been trying to figure out everything he can do. Which is quite a lot. I can change the way superhuman abilities work. Like for you. I changed it so that you can speak and use your death scream thing whenever you want. Easier on everyone else involved. Anyways-" He was interrupted by a pinging coming from his motherbox which had attached itself to the console of the computer the Skrulls were using. "Oh yeah. This little gizmo is pretty cool too. I'll tell you more about it when we get home." He said and opened a boom tube.

He walked through with Black Bolt following him. They popped up in the throne room, and as Black Bolt and Medusa reunited, Otis' motherbox showed him something. The Skrulls had received an encrypted message detailing where Attilan was going to attack and when. It had already decrypted the message and revealed who was the one who sent it: Medusa. It didn't make any sense at first, but as he let the information set in, it slowly began to make sense. Medusa lied to him and manipulated him into doing what she wanted. "Excuse me..." Otis said. "I just got some... Very interesting information. Medusa... Did you tell the Skrulls that we were coming?" He asked.

Her face went pale when he asked that. How Otis found out was beyond her, but there was no point in lying now. "...Yes."

"Do you mind telling me why you let a bunch of people get killed?"

"They were never killed. They never left. The people you saw get killed were an illusion." Otis just looked at her. It was easy to tell that he was hurt by the whole set up. "I had no choice. I lied to you to save lives."

"You made me believe that I had screwed up so badly that I had blood on my hands because I refused to use my powers to assert myself like you wanted. You lied to me. You manipulated my emotions. You wound me up like... Like a tin soldier and set me loose against them."

"You failed to see the bigger picture. I was doing what I must-"

"Don't give me that! I am a GOD. What BIGGER picture is there than THAT? I don't want to use my powers to hurt people! I've explained this like 50 times to you! I don't want to go down that slippery slope and wind up Darkseid two-point-oh! I understand what you were trying to do. I get it. You're right. The universe is a cold and screwed up place. Trust me. I know that first hand. I know you're trying to get Attilan back on it's feet." He said and got quiet for a moment. "I'm not angry Medusa. I'm... Just disappointed. I-I... I don't want to be here right now. I saved Black Bolt." He said quietly with his eyes welling up. "I just want to be alone for a little while." Opening a Boom Tube Otis left back to Apokolips. No one there would pester him or try to use him. At least he hoped so.

[Charmera]

"Well that isn't sinister at all..." Zaki remarked sarcastically. She spent a small while inspecting the planet. Frowning as she found no life signs whatsoever. Then she continued to proceed towards the center of the facility, frowning all the way. Manifest has a few questions to answer. And nothing I have seen has convinced me that an intervention is any less needed.

"My wielder would be more than happy to talk, however she also does not wish to cause damage to the facility. So she will stay silent." Verse spoke. And then Chorus nodded.

"We were asked here by a living slime to-" Lisa started.

Julie put a hand on Lisa's mouth. "We're here to talk. What is all this? What is it in aid of?" She asked.

As Zaki continued through the tunnels, the next space she came across was completely empty- With the exception of a black hole at the centre. Despite the incredible gravitational force throughout the entirety of the room, a platform with an obelisk on it floated near the ceiling, directly above the black hole. Should Zaki choose to go to the top of the room, the plaque would read "Experiment 03- How dense can I make my summoned materials? Resultant Black Hole was previously made entirely of a hypderdense form of what was once stainless steel. Potential use as a weapon: Highly limited. Too many side effects on my person. Too much potential for damage to myself or innocents. Keeping Experiment 03 as a trash bin.
Addendum- Disposed of Experiment 04 in Exp-03. As it turns out, I cannot, in fact, create life. I can, however, create rather disturbing amalgamations of AI and mindless destruction."

The metal fragment of Manifest did not reply for a moment. "You have not answered my question. Nevertheless, I shall answer yours. Count yourselves lucky." It lowered its hand, dispelling the sparks, and the lights returned to full power. "This," the metal man raised his arms as a man sized replica of the facility appeared above him. "Is the Universal Fortress. From here, the God can see all that occurs in the Universe, and be there a moment later."

He turned to them once more. "Imagine, if you will, an entire Universe with no War. An entire Universe without Murder. An entire Universe where Heroes have become redundant, Gods respect their worshippers, and Villains are a thing of the past. Manifest has the power, and the obligation, to bring this about. Give me any justification at all that says that Manifest should not do that. One good reason that he shouldn't stop someone from being murdered. One rationalization of allowing the murder, the unnecessary death, the horrendous torturing, the malevolent killing to go on when he has it entirely in his ability to stop it."

He paused for a moment. "It is the natural inclination of Heroes to write off those who present such speeches as I have as madmen, as either impossibly naive, incredibly misguided, or simply evil. I am none of these. I will not take any freedoms from the people of our Universe. I will not impose irrational laws on those who would live without them. I would only stop the killings. Stop the scarring of children by the deaths of their parents to thugs in alleyways. Stop the irrational and unnecessary destruction of planets and lives. Imagine a world where this is true. A world where the Annihilation Wave could not have even begun to spread, because the people of the Universe were so intertwined that they were pushed back in an instant. A world where the only conflict between Kree and Skrull involves trade agreements, not the lives of innocent bystanders."

"A world of Peace."

There was a pause from all of the beings there, as they considered his words. Julie was a crusader for peace, a hero, a Green Lantern. Of course she would want a world of peace. Lisa also had wanted such things too, as it was part of her very being.

Chorus was, on the other hand, convinced this man was insane and likely dangerous, as well as annoyingly arrogant. As a grandstander herself, when she met someone claiming to be god, it annoyed her. But since she could not voice such opinions without catastrophic results, she had to keep her mouth shut.

After the long silence, Lisa spoke. "As utopian as that all sounds... There must be a... catch" She spoke, having found a use for her new word 'utopian', and was quite proud of herself for doing so. "I can understand the desire for ending the deaths of other beings. But... I feel like there's something you haven't considered, or something you're not telling us. How exactly do you plan to bring about this peace?"

"You mentioned something about being... connected... intertwined." Spoke Julie. "Does that have something to do with your plan?"

Meanwhile
Zaki frowned. Another teleportation spell brought the plaque to her, so much for using those conservatively. She had about six left before she would have to go find another spell book to stock up again. The last time she had done that was when she sucked some ancient library dry of spells. She reflected on other spells she might have. She wasn't quite sure what level Manifest had reached.

Black Holes? Threat level? This is not good.

Back in asgard
"Oh no... All Mother... This is not good." Spoke the third Zaki in the forge room. "I can understand if your busy, but you may want to come see this. In the mean time, I'll gather the other veterans of the Asgard raid." She spoke, quickly grabbing Katie. "Meet me where Manifest is. It shouldn't be hard to find."

"Wait. Wait. What the heck are you doing-?" Suddenly she was teleported into a place which was massive, with a creepy replica of a solar system.

"Not enough time to explain. I'll fecth Cora and anyone else who can come. But I feel like we'll need a few people on this." She spoke, suddenly teleporting back to Asgard to search for Cora.

Four left Zaki. And you don't want to be trapped in that creepy galaxy place...

[New Rnclave]

Hiroshi: Two days later in Hell

"Damn it." Hiroshi muttered under his breath, the shattered ridge line trembling slightly. They'd been playing cat and mouse with Dabura for hours now. The ridge that had stretched on for hundreds of miles, was destroyed, the action mocking the Hybrid.

Even now, Hiroshi could feel doubt gnawing at him. They'd been sear high for hours now, and every time they 'caught' him, he was long gone, a barely visible group of strong ki's kilometers away from him and growing. They'd embaressed him more than once. This whole experience was an embarrassment for all he cared.

Levitating into the air, blindingly white fire burst to life around him, opening and closing his fist as he looked off towards the demons they'd been hunting. He was barely stronger then he was when he'd first arrived, and was no closer to achieving Super Saiyan III then when he'd come.

It didn't help that he couldn't find Oniyo. He'd tried contacting his uncle multiple times now, and had only been met with silence. In fact, barring the throughs of destruction around them, it was oddly silent. Sure he and Glacia had missed the group they were after every time, but they'd seen a few of hells denizens so far. Yet here, he could see, or sense, anything for several hundred miles.

Sighing in frustration, Hiroshi turned to begin his flight to the next destination the demons and chosen, when he was met with something else.

Slowly descending from the air, the warrior who had been following them for miles made himself known.

" So you're the worms nephew." The hulking blue brute commented. Orange hair danced in the wind, the breeze picking up across the hostile wasteland. " I've been waiting for you."

In a blur of motion, four figures took their positions around the giant. From what Hiroshi could grasp, they were all the same species.

" My crew has been waiting for a proper opponent to come here. You're our first one so far."

It wasn't difficult to harden his features. These idiots wanted to fight him here if all places? They were all weaker then Garlic has been, and yet they wanted to challenge a clearly superior opponent? Turning his head, he nodded to Glacia, signaling her to power up. Flicking his eyes upward, he saw other figures make themselves known.

" Now, now Bojack, I do believe I've been waiting longer then you have for this moment, it's only fair I get to fight our new visitors before your gang has their way." The strange creature remarked casually, crossing his arms to stare at Hiroshi, looking last him to lock eyes with Glacia. " Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cell. I am perfect. All though I will be the one to exact the lions share of vengeance upon you. Although I must ask..." Cell spoke, his smirk becoming even more obnoxious. " Why bring an Acrosain with you? Aren't they much weaker than you Saiyans now?"

" The monkey must be desperate for companionship." A new harsher voice laughed.

The cold Crimson eyes he met were one he'd seen more fitness then he'd ever wanted too. Growing up he'd been on the receiving end of the glare a few times, and seen the madness of this tyrant demonstrated on Namek.

" F-Freiza?" Hiroshi muttered, taking a half step back before composing himself, gritting his teeth before locking eyes with the tyrant.

" He seems quite scared of you Freiza." King Cold uttered, quietly laughing before smiling st his son. " It is amusing though, fear of our power trascends even the power of a Suoer Saiyan."

Five figures made themselves known as they imaocted the ground around them. Had it been 3 years ago now, Hiroshi might've been shaking in his boots, but now, he was confident he could defeat Freiza, his father and the Ginyu force all at once without breaking a sweat. It was the others gathering around that worried him.

" This was the Saiyan I 'lightened up' on Namek. He was a upstart if I'd ever seen one. He tried to hold me off while they used the Dragon Balls and failed quite miserably." Freiza cackled. Growling, Hiroshi clenched his fist, barely able to restrain himself.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

As Zaki continued through the tunnels, the next space she came across was completely empty- With the exception of a black hole at the centre. Despite the incredible gravitational force throughout the entirety of the room, a platform with an obelisk on it floated near the ceiling, directly above the black hole. Should Zaki choose to go to the top of the room, the plaque would read "Experiment 03- How dense can I make my summoned materials? Resultant Black Hole was previously made entirely of a hypderdense form of what was once stainless steel. Potential use as a weapon: Highly limited. Too many side effects on my person. Too much potential for damage to myself or innocents. Keeping Experiment 03 as a trash bin.
Addendum- Disposed of Experiment 04 in Exp-03. As it turns out, I cannot, in fact, create life. I can, however, create rather disturbing amalgamations of AI and mindless destruction."

The metal fragment of Manifest did not reply for a moment. "You have not answered my question. Nevertheless, I shall answer yours. Count yourselves lucky." It lowered its hand, dispelling the sparks, and the lights returned to full power. "This," the metal man raised his arms as a man sized replica of the facility appeared above him. "Is the Universal Fortress. From here, the God can see all that occurs in the Universe, and be there a moment later."

He turned to them once more. "Imagine, if you will, an entire Universe with no War. An entire Universe without Murder. An entire Universe where Heroes have become redundant, Gods respect their worshippers, and Villains are a thing of the past. Manifest has the power, and the obligation, to bring this about. Give me any justification at all that says that Manifest should not do that. One good reason that he shouldn't stop someone from being murdered. One rationalization of allowing the murder, the unnecessary death, the horrendous torturing, the malevolent killing to go on when he has it entirely in his ability to stop it."

He paused for a moment. "It is the natural inclination of Heroes to write off those who present such speeches as I have as madmen, as either impossibly naive, incredibly misguided, or simply evil. I am none of these. I will not take any freedoms from the people of our Universe. I will not impose irrational laws on those who would live without them. I would only stop the killings. Stop the scarring of children by the deaths of their parents to thugs in alleyways. Stop the irrational and unnecessary destruction of planets and lives. Imagine a world where this is true. A world where the Annihilation Wave could not have even begun to spread, because the people of the Universe were so intertwined that they were pushed back in an instant. A world where the only conflict between Kree and Skrull involves trade agreements, not the lives of innocent bystanders."

"A world of Peace."

There was a pause from all of the beings there, as they considered his words. Julie was a crusader for peace, a hero, a Green Lantern. Of course she would want a world of peace. Lisa also had wanted such things too, as it was part of her very being.

Chorus was, on the other hand, convinced this man was insane and likely dangerous, as well as annoyingly arrogant. As a grandstander herself, when she met someone claiming to be god, it annoyed her. But since she could not voice such opinions without catastrophic results, she had to keep her mouth shut.

After the long silence, Lisa spoke. "As utopian as that all sounds... There must be a... catch" She spoke, having found a use for her new word 'utopian', and was quite proud of herself for doing so. "I can understand the desire for ending the deaths of other beings. But... I feel like there's something you haven't considered, or something you're not telling us. How exactly do you plan to bring about this peace?"

"You mentioned something about being... connected... intertwined." Spoke Julie. "Does that have something to do with your plan?"

Meanwhile
Zaki frowned. Another teleportation spell brought the plaque to her, so much for using those conservatively. She had about six left before she would have to go find another spell book to stock up again. The last time she had done that was when she sucked some ancient library dry of spells. She reflected on other spells she might have. She wasn't quite sure what level Manifest had reached.

Black Holes? Threat level? This is not good.

Back in asgard
"Oh no... All Mother... This is not good." Spoke the third Zaki in the forge room. "I can understand if your busy, but you may want to come see this. In the mean time, I'll gather the other veterans of the Asgard raid." She spoke, quickly grabbing Katie. "Meet me where Manifest is. It shouldn't be hard to find."

"Wait. Wait. What the heck are you doing-?" Suddenly she was teleported into a place which was massive, with a creepy replica of a solar system.

"Not enough time to explain. I'll fecth Cora and anyone else who can come. But I feel like we'll need a few people on this." She spoke, suddenly teleporting back to Asgard to search for Cora.

Four left Zaki. And you don't want to be trapped in that creepy galaxy place...

The construct did not hesitate before replying. "There is no catch. I stop wars, I stop murders, and besides that, I leave everybody alone. I do not punish those who are responsible- I leave that to their own legal system. I do not win the war for one side- I leave that to the politicians at the debate table. Here in the Universal Fortress, Fragments of the God are constructing mechanisms to allow us to see the entire Universe simultaneously. As for being intertwined- A Universe at peace is, by its simple nature, one that is united. There would, of course, be petty differences and discourse, but in the end the nations would be standing on peaceful ground, intertwined by commerce, immigration and emigration, and alliances."

The construct turned its featureless face towards Chorus. "Your expression indicates a certain... distaste for my plan. It appears that your blade can speak for you. Perhaps it can explain your hesitations?"

Experiment-03 Holding Area
Suddenly, a bright green light began shining on her. Before her, a rather small drone stood. "ATTENTION VISITOR: PLEASE RETURN THE PLAQUE. SHOULD YOU NOT, THE GOD OF FRAGMENTS SHALL BE SUMMONED AND ALERTED TO A POTENTIALLY HOSTILE FIGURE." It narrowed the light to point at her forehead. "THE GOD OF FRAGMENTS BEING UPSET WITH YOU IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO YOUR LONG TERM HEALTH."

In the Earth-replica room

Like every significantly inhabited planet in the Universal Fortress, the Earth and Mars each had an obelisk at their northern pole.

The Martian one was simple. "Mars. Threat level: Medium. Green and White Martian physiology suggests common ancestry, and their innate fear of fire seems to be more psychological than physiological. Further investigation indicates beings similar to the Oans were involved in the split. Must be researched."

The Earth one, however, was far longer. "Earth. Threat level: Supreme. It does not matter how powerful one is, nor how weak the simple human may seem- For a King to set his sights on Earth is for a King to be dethroned. Fortunately, I do not fashion myself a King, merely a protector. Regardless, Praetoria, Attilan, Metropolis, and New York in particular are and will be sources of major, potentially Universal threats in both the near and far future alike. It is a simple rule: If one has two eyes trained on ever inhabited planet, ensure that Earth gets eight. It will save more lives than I can begin to count."

[Charmera]

There was a pause from all of the beings there, as they considered his words. Julie was a crusader for peace, a hero, a Green Lantern. Of course she would want a world of peace. Lisa also had wanted such things too, as it was part of her very being.

Chorus was, on the other hand, convinced this man was insane and likely dangerous, as well as annoyingly arrogant. As a grandstander herself, when she met someone claiming to be god, it annoyed her. But since she could not voice such opinions without catastrophic results, she had to keep her mouth shut.

After the long silence, Lisa spoke. "As utopian as that all sounds... There must be a... catch" She spoke, having found a use for her new word 'utopian', and was quite proud of herself for doing so. "I can understand the desire for ending the deaths of other beings. But... I feel like there's something you haven't considered, or something you're not telling us. How exactly do you plan to bring about this peace?"

"You mentioned something about being... connected... intertwined." Spoke Julie. "Does that have something to do with your plan?"

Meanwhile
Zaki frowned. Another teleportation spell brought the plaque to her, so much for using those conservatively. She had about six left before she would have to go find another spell book to stock up again. The last time she had done that was when she sucked some ancient library dry of spells. She reflected on other spells she might have. She wasn't quite sure what level Manifest had reached.

Black Holes? Threat level? This is not good.

Back in asgard
"Oh no... All Mother... This is not good." Spoke the third Zaki in the forge room. "I can understand if your busy, but you may want to come see this. In the mean time, I'll gather the other veterans of the Asgard raid." She spoke, quickly grabbing Katie. "Meet me where Manifest is. It shouldn't be hard to find."

"Wait. Wait. What the heck are you doing-?" Suddenly she was teleported into a place which was massive, with a creepy replica of a solar system.

"Not enough time to explain. I'll fecth Cora and anyone else who can come. But I feel like we'll need a few people on this." She spoke, suddenly teleporting back to Asgard to search for Cora.

Four left Zaki. And you don't want to be trapped in that creepy galaxy place...

The construct did not hesitate before replying. "There is no catch. I stop wars, I stop murders, and besides that, I leave everybody alone. I do not punish those who are responsible- I leave that to their own legal system. I do not win the war for one side- I leave that to the politicians at the debate table. Here in the Universal Fortress, Fragments of the God are constructing mechanisms to allow us to see the entire Universe simultaneously. As for being intertwined- A Universe at peace is, by its simple nature, one that is united. There would, of course, be petty differences and discourse, but in the end the nations would be standing on peaceful ground, intertwined by commerce, immigration and emigration, and alliances."

The construct turned its featureless face towards Chorus. "Your expression indicates a certain... distaste for my plan. It appears that your blade can speak for you. Perhaps it can explain your hesitations?"

Experiment-03 Holding Area
Suddenly, a bright green light began shining on her. Before her, a rather small drone stood. "ATTENTION VISITOR: PLEASE RETURN THE PLAQUE. SHOULD YOU NOT, THE GOD OF FRAGMENTS SHALL BE SUMMONED AND ALERTED TO A POTENTIALLY HOSTILE FIGURE." It narrowed the light to point at her forehead. "THE GOD OF FRAGMENTS BEING UPSET WITH YOU IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO YOUR LONG TERM HEALTH."

In the Earth-replica room

Like every significantly inhabited planet in the Universal Fortress, the Earth and Mars each had an obelisk at their northern pole.

The Martian one was simple. "Mars. Threat level: Medium. Green and White Martian physiology suggests common ancestry, and their innate fear of fire seems to be more psychological than physiological. Further investigation indicates beings similar to the Oans were involved in the split. Must be researched."

The Earth one, however, was far longer. "Earth. Threat level: Supreme. It does not matter how powerful one is, nor how weak the simple human may seem- For a King to set his sights on Earth is for a King to be dethroned. Fortunately, I do not fashion myself a King, merely a protector. Regardless, Praetoria, Attilan, Metropolis, and New York in particular are and will be sources of major, potentially Universal threats in both the near and far future alike. It is a simple rule: If one has two eyes trained on ever inhabited planet, ensure that Earth gets eight. It will save more lives than I can begin to count."

"Chorus and I are of one mind in this. A forced peace is not a lasting peace." Spoke the blade, speaking from years of experience his voice didn't seem to indicate with it's youth, but one could tell this was a being which had been through much. "You seem to talk on how to keep everyone under control. But what of you? You have already shown yourself to be, no offense, monstrously arrogant and incredibly cocksure of your own plan and abilities to manage the entire universe."

"And Since I am being quite frank, I can tell you that I have seen many try to take over the world, the galaxy, the universe perhaps. And It's far too complex and big for one being to manage. No matter what status he or she might claim. And so what happens when you fail? When you break down? Who do we turn to then?"

You know, I think it might have been better to be quiet.

I have not lived all these years in a sword to shut up when I think someone is going to screw up the universe and declare himself god.

Didn't you call me a god or something too at some point?

Immaterial. Suffice to say that if this self proclaimed god cannot take harsh criticism, he doesn't deserve to run anything bigger than a latrine, much less a universe.
Zaki
The slime smiled as she looked at the little robot. "Good. Tell your Manifest if he wants his plaque back, he's going to have to come and ask me for it, and only after we have a polite and civil conversation. Namely about the horde of slimes outside the universe and an explanation of this facility." She spoke, patting the robot on the head affectionately. "Also, unless he starts using the words "Please" and "Thank you". I'm going to be stealing a whole lot more than plaques." She remarked. Walking into the earth room. She looked at them with a frown. I can't decide whether it's going to be good or bad when the invasion comes around that there are so many powerful beings who get on each others nerves on earth...

[Charmera]

Hiroshi: Two days later in Hell

"Damn it." Hiroshi muttered under his breath, the shattered ridge line trembling slightly. They'd been playing cat and mouse with Dabura for hours now. The ridge that had stretched on for hundreds of miles, was destroyed, the action mocking the Hybrid.

Even now, Hiroshi could feel doubt gnawing at him. They'd been sear high for hours now, and every time they 'caught' him, he was long gone, a barely visible group of strong ki's kilometers away from him and growing. They'd embaressed him more than once. This whole experience was an embarrassment for all he cared.

Levitating into the air, blindingly white fire burst to life around him, opening and closing his fist as he looked off towards the demons they'd been hunting. He was barely stronger then he was when he'd first arrived, and was no closer to achieving Super Saiyan III then when he'd come.

It didn't help that he couldn't find Oniyo. He'd tried contacting his uncle multiple times now, and had only been met with silence. In fact, barring the throughs of destruction around them, it was oddly silent. Sure he and Glacia had missed the group they were after every time, but they'd seen a few of hells denizens so far. Yet here, he could see, or sense, anything for several hundred miles.

Sighing in frustration, Hiroshi turned to begin his flight to the next destination the demons and chosen, when he was met with something else.

Slowly descending from the air, the warrior who had been following them for miles made himself known.

" So you're the worms nephew." The hulking blue brute commented. Orange hair danced in the wind, the breeze picking up across the hostile wasteland. " I've been waiting for you."

In a blur of motion, four figures took their positions around the giant. From what Hiroshi could grasp, they were all the same species.

" My crew has been waiting for a proper opponent to come here. You're our first one so far."

It wasn't difficult to harden his features. These idiots wanted to fight him here if all places? They were all weaker then Garlic has been, and yet they wanted to challenge a clearly superior opponent? Turning his head, he nodded to Glacia, signaling her to power up. Flicking his eyes upward, he saw other figures make themselves known.

" Now, now Bojack, I do believe I've been waiting longer then you have for this moment, it's only fair I get to fight our new visitors before your gang has their way." The strange creature remarked casually, crossing his arms to stare at Hiroshi, looking last him to lock eyes with Glacia. " Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cell. I am perfect. All though I will be the one to exact the lions share of vengeance upon you. Although I must ask..." Cell spoke, his smirk becoming even more obnoxious. " Why bring an Acrosain with you? Aren't they much weaker than you Saiyans now?"

" The monkey must be desperate for companionship." A new harsher voice laughed.

The cold Crimson eyes he met were one he'd seen more fitness then he'd ever wanted too. Growing up he'd been on the receiving end of the glare a few times, and seen the madness of this tyrant demonstrated on Namek.

" F-Freiza?" Hiroshi muttered, taking a half step back before composing himself, gritting his teeth before locking eyes with the tyrant.

" He seems quite scared of you Freiza." King Cold uttered, quietly laughing before smiling st his son. " It is amusing though, fear of our power trascends even the power of a Suoer Saiyan."

Five figures made themselves known as they imaocted the ground around them. Had it been 3 years ago now, Hiroshi might've been shaking in his boots, but now, he was confident he could defeat Freiza, his father and the Ginyu force all at once without breaking a sweat. It was the others gathering around that worried him.

" This was the Saiyan I 'lightened up' on Namek. He was a upstart if I'd ever seen one. He tried to hold me off while they used the Dragon Balls and failed quite miserably." Freiza cackled. Growling, Hiroshi clenched his fist, barely able to restrain himself.

"King Cold and Frieza... it must be my birthday." Glacia laughed at that moment, not even caring enough to rebute Cell's remark. The two of them were much more important to her. "Sorry Hiro. These two are mine." She pushed Hiroshi out of the way. "You know, when I heard you were dead, I was disapointed. I had rotted in your hell of a prison for so long... One of the things I was looking forward to when I got out was to tear your tyranical heads off and use them as footrests. But now..." She had a murderous glint in her eye as she looked at the two of them. "I'll see if I can come up with something a little more... creative for you two. After all I want to make the most of such a special occasion." She remarked.

[Charmera]

At the Wedding
Cora felt Katie lean closer to her as the mutant spoke. Cora noticed that her girlfriend was feeling quite affectionate today, though that was usually just the type of person Katie was. Still, Cora felt like something was different, and she could almost feel powerful thoughts working in her mind. Cora really cared about Katie a lot, and even though they hadn't said it to each other yet, Cora was sure that she loved her.

Cora continued to hold her girlfriend close as Katie spoke. "Ya, we are a cool couple." Cora said simply, before adding, "I wouldn't want to be part of any other one."

Nico
Nico was a little surprised when Cat started talking about how their parents and how they would often sit alone when they went out for dinner. He was wondering if maybe she was coming around to what he was trying to tell her. "Ya, I remember that." He said softly. "You know, Mom and Dad care about us a lot. And I'm sure there's a lot they don't tell us to protect us. But... what if some of that stuff is bad Cat? Like really bad? I don't want to believe it either, but I can't just ignore it either." He said sincerely to her, hoping she'd believe him this time.

"I..." She paused, then shook her head and frowned deeper. "It can't be true Nico. It can't. They're... our parents! Dad and mom are ceos in meat packaging not... crime bosses! They couldn't hurt a fly." She searched her memory for something to support her denial. She could surprisingly find very little. Still, she didn't want to believe it. "And you want me to believe they're some sort of criminal duo rulling like kingpins over Jump city crime? Just because your a progidy doesn't mean your always right!" She remarked bitterly, folding her arms.

[The Republic of Atria]

Otis was hurt. Not so much physically as he was mentally. He looked up to Medusa. She gave him a place to live and something to do that made him feel that he was worth something. He was one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse and he felt more worthless than ever. Normally he just brushes off things like this, but it hurt far too much for him to just make a joke and laugh it off. Desaad noticed something was amiss when Otis was, not only back when he said he likely wouldn't come back, but he was sitting on Darkseid's throne with a very disturbed look. He went about his day and Otis for the most part ignored him. At least for a bit. "Hey." He said and Desaad stopped. "What did Darkseid do when he was feeling under the weather?"

"He killed Kalibak."

"What else did he do?"

"Sometimes he killed me instead."

Otis rubbed his hands against his head. "Is there anything that he did when he wasn't feeling up to something to make himself feel better?"

"He enslaved entire planets, killed Kryptonians for sport, took over universes and sat on his throne for the entirety of his existence. Though he did bed many women." He explained. Obviously Otis was on the same path Darkseid was. The next step was anger. And someone with as much power as Otis had being angry was a terrible thing. Otis was very young even by human standards. He could wind up being worse than Darkseid should things get worse for him. "Nothing you would do to pass the time."

"Goddammit. Doesn't he do anything reasonable to kill time? You know what, don't even answer that. You'll probably tell me that he was working on a way to literally kill time." He said and went quiet for a moment. "THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!" He shouted and ripped the throne off of the floor and threw it against the wall. "I'm a little upset."

"Yes... I can see that." It was actually illegal to show compassion on Apokolips. Desaad was hired wired enough where he couldn't feel sympathy for Otis, but he still felt the fear that he would wind up a worse Darkseid. And that was something that no one wanted. Otis was a child, and he knew first hand that children could be worse than adults. So he decided to jet let Otis burn himself out. One way or another he'd show the child that he was useful to him.

"Alright... I'm going out. Again." He said and opened a boom tube after angrily pacing Darkseid's fortress for about 10 minutes. He wasn't going to go back home. Not for awhile at least. He had a universe out there to explore. Maybe something out there would make him feel better.

Xander and Naja

It had been a few days since their wedding. They heard about the Death of Darkseid celebrated it. Xander even made it an official holiday celebrating that he was dead. But they were married and now phase two of his master plan was coming into play. Earth was viewed as a primitive mud ball by pretty much the entire galaxy. That has since changed to Primitive mud ball that can fight really well. Xander planned on changing it to be one of the technological capitals of the galaxy. And he was making headway. Praetoria's borders were opened and millions of people were flooding in. He had manpower. He had the technology. And he had the actually power.

The only thing stopping him was the fact that he was a biologist. Adapting Kryptonian technology for human use was not his skill set. Fortunately, he knew a man who knew how to do that: Craig Thomsen. So he created a personal message to send to him via Kryptonian crystal technology. The message being a holographic video of him talking. "Hey Craig. It's Xander. We're wrapping up the celebrations from our Darkseid is Dead festival and now I actually have to start working on the stuff I wanted to get done since I started this whole thing. Namely, finally fixing Earth's problems and getting our asses into space. By our asses I mean everyone's asses. I have all the Kryptonian tech in existence at my fingertips, the problem is that I'm not an engineer. I'm a biologist. Completely different field. Come on over some time and we can talk about how we're gonna get this show rolling."

[The Starlight]

-snip-

Craig, who had been working on a matter converter to permanently solve the problem of landfills, turned to Xander, chuckling at the notion of a festival. "They have had their honeymoon, right?" he asked himself, knowing that it had been only a few days since the wedding. But his eyes quickly snapped up when he heard Xander's next statement, the artificer rubbing his hands in literal delight. He had been thinking about space for the last few days, and he believed that he had a plan, not only to sustain Earth, but to expand it. Packing a few inventions he had been working on alongside the matter converter, he felt the symbiotic metal meld around him, forming his Silverwing armor. And then, he was off, flying through the doors of Thomsen Tech HQ and blasting off towards Praetoria.

It took him about 20 minutes to travel to Xander and Naja's floating island, Craig landing softly in front of the palace, the metal around his face disappearing to reveal himself as he hailed the guards. "Hey there. Here to see Xander, he's expecting me."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

The construct did not hesitate before replying. "There is no catch. I stop wars, I stop murders, and besides that, I leave everybody alone. I do not punish those who are responsible- I leave that to their own legal system. I do not win the war for one side- I leave that to the politicians at the debate table. Here in the Universal Fortress, Fragments of the God are constructing mechanisms to allow us to see the entire Universe simultaneously. As for being intertwined- A Universe at peace is, by its simple nature, one that is united. There would, of course, be petty differences and discourse, but in the end the nations would be standing on peaceful ground, intertwined by commerce, immigration and emigration, and alliances."

The construct turned its featureless face towards Chorus. "Your expression indicates a certain... distaste for my plan. It appears that your blade can speak for you. Perhaps it can explain your hesitations?"

Experiment-03 Holding Area
Suddenly, a bright green light began shining on her. Before her, a rather small drone stood. "ATTENTION VISITOR: PLEASE RETURN THE PLAQUE. SHOULD YOU NOT, THE GOD OF FRAGMENTS SHALL BE SUMMONED AND ALERTED TO A POTENTIALLY HOSTILE FIGURE." It narrowed the light to point at her forehead. "THE GOD OF FRAGMENTS BEING UPSET WITH YOU IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO YOUR LONG TERM HEALTH."

In the Earth-replica room

Like every significantly inhabited planet in the Universal Fortress, the Earth and Mars each had an obelisk at their northern pole.

The Martian one was simple. "Mars. Threat level: Medium. Green and White Martian physiology suggests common ancestry, and their innate fear of fire seems to be more psychological than physiological. Further investigation indicates beings similar to the Oans were involved in the split. Must be researched."

The Earth one, however, was far longer. "Earth. Threat level: Supreme. It does not matter how powerful one is, nor how weak the simple human may seem- For a King to set his sights on Earth is for a King to be dethroned. Fortunately, I do not fashion myself a King, merely a protector. Regardless, Praetoria, Attilan, Metropolis, and New York in particular are and will be sources of major, potentially Universal threats in both the near and far future alike. It is a simple rule: If one has two eyes trained on ever inhabited planet, ensure that Earth gets eight. It will save more lives than I can begin to count."

"Chorus and I are of one mind in this. A forced peace is not a lasting peace." Spoke the blade, speaking from years of experience his voice didn't seem to indicate with it's youth, but one could tell this was a being which had been through much. "You seem to talk on how to keep everyone under control. But what of you? You have already shown yourself to be, no offense, monstrously arrogant and incredibly cocksure of your own plan and abilities to manage the entire universe."

"And Since I am being quite frank, I can tell you that I have seen many try to take over the world, the galaxy, the universe perhaps. And It's far too complex and big for one being to manage. No matter what status he or she might claim. And so what happens when you fail? When you break down? Who do we turn to then?"

You know, I think it might have been better to be quiet.

I have not lived all these years in a sword to shut up when I think someone is going to screw up the universe and declare himself god.

Didn't you call me a god or something too at some point?

Immaterial. Suffice to say that if this self proclaimed god cannot take harsh criticism, he doesn't deserve to run anything bigger than a latrine, much less a universe.

Zaki
The slime smiled as she looked at the little robot. "Good. Tell your Manifest if he wants his plaque back, he's going to have to come and ask me for it, and only after we have a polite and civil conversation. Namely about the horde of slimes outside the universe and an explanation of this facility." She spoke, patting the robot on the head affectionately. "Also, unless he starts using the words "Please" and "Thank you". I'm going to be stealing a whole lot more than plaques." She remarked. Walking into the earth room. She looked at them with a frown. I can't decide whether it's going to be good or bad when the invasion comes around that there are so many powerful beings who get on each others nerves on earth...

The construct nodded slowly. "I see now. Before I go on, let me explain what I mean when I refer to Manifest as a God." The construct raised his arm and a large screen lowered behind him. On it, Otis and Darkseid's fight appeared, just before Darkseid's death. "As you are no doubt aware, the New God known as Darkseid is dead. In his death, the cosmic balance was obliterated- A Multiversal constant simply ceased to be. Naturally, the Universe found a way to rectify this." He turned once more towards them, the scene on the screen changing instead to himself just before he became a God. Manifest was lucky there had been a camera focused on him when it happened. He said nothing as the Manifest on the screen simply stood still as black electricity gathered around him and then slammed into him from the sky. "I do not claim that Manifest is a God, visitors. I state it. Manifest is the God of Fragments, and one of the most powerful beings in the Universe at the moment." It allowed a pause for them to absorb this information before continuing. "I am not arrogant, visitors. I am well aware that there are countless beings more powerful than I. The World Dragons, for example. I count several of these beings as my friends. If you want assurance that I will not abuse my position, speak to my allies. I will be asking for their blessing in my endeavour, as well as asking them to take me down if I ever attempt to go farther than I have thus far proclaimed to you." Despite having no facial features, it seemed to smile calmly. "As for being spread too thin- He is the God of Fragments, visitors. He can fragment his own presence to better do his job. I, for instance, am one such fragment."

The Earth room
As she left, the small drone's light turned amber. Shortly thereafter, a metal construct, similar to the one speaking to the other party, arrived. "I apologize, Manifest himself is currently speaking to a World-Dragon, and as such, cannot spare himself to speak. I am a Fragment of Manifest, and thus have his full authority. What did you wish to speak about, visitor? Beyond that, please return the plaque for Experiment-3."

[Tomia]

The Dark Damned Heart

So I guess it’s my turn to write and stuff. I’ll be honest, I find this pretty boring. I mean, why should I care that people are able to read about our lives? But, Sam promised me a favor if I did it and it wasn’t like I was going to pass that up. I really like her “favors”.
Anyway, I suppose I’m supposed to pick up where sweet cheeks left off? Well, after Hannah delivered that ominous line about there being some kind of demon in her, things got really tense. Roy had pulled her into a hug like she was going to fly away if he didn’t hold on tight enough, and John and Sarah were questioning Hannah about what had happened to her. Sam was off in the corner, sitting alone in silence and staring out the window like she was oblivious to everything else around her.
Now I’m not great with feelings, and stuff like that, but I knew Sam was upset so I went over to her. Sam and I had known each other for a while at that point, two years or so I guess. She wanted me to teach her how to become a better magic user, and well, she was really fun to mess with so I decided to say yes. Turns out that was a very good idea on my part. Not only is Sam now leading a rebellion to save the world, she’s really good in bed too.
Anyway, I should probably get back to the story. I sat down next to Sam and took her hand gently. “Hey, you okay sweet cheeks?” I ask her, leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Sam didn’t even blush like she usually did when I used her pet name, she merely continued to look on out the window.
“I’m… I’m fine.” Sam said softly. “I’m just worried about Hannah is all.”
I frowned a bit, I wasn’t satisfied with Sam’s answer so I put my hands on her shoulders and gently pulled her toward me so that she was looking into my eyes. “Come on sweet cheeks, you know I can tell when you’re lying, and I don’t like it when you do.”
Sam sighed in that cute way she did when she reluctantly obeyed a command. “Well, I heard a voice too DeeDee.” Sam said in a shaky voice. “Hannah said this Demon or whatever was speaking to her, and I heard its voice too. It told me to free it.”
I didn’t really understand what Sam was saying at that time, but I knew she I told her was upset so I put my arms around her and I held her. “It’s okay Sam. We’ll figure things out.” I told her, not necessarily believing it but knowing she wanted to hear that at the moment.
Sam and I sat together for a little while as the plane flew into the sky. I overheard a bit of what going on with the others. Roy and John were arguing about something while Sarah was trying to get them to stop acting like idiots. So, it didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary to me.
Poor Hannah though, she was a sweet girl, even if her boyfriend could be a blockhead sometimes. I wasn’t there the day everything went bad, but Sam told me about it. It was pretty ugly. Anyway, that’s probably not my story to tell and I’m bored. I’m going to go find something fun to do.
DeeDee, Whatever I Want to Be

Chapter 3

About two dozen people began to pile into what served FEA’s Council Chamber. It was a large room, filled with memorabilia from the past, and small statues honoring the dead. Eventually they just stopped with those however, they lost too many of their friends to keep up with it. The council itself was made up of 24 of the highest ranking members of the resistance, who would coordinate and lead missions. Who was in the council didn’t have as much to do with skill or power, as it did with who Sam could trust. Controlling information and secrets was vital in this war, because if the Demon discovered their plans or location, their cause would certainly be doomed.

The room was structured in a large circle with a small stage in the middle. Mars and Craig had done a lot of tinkering with design, so that holographic imaging of the current speaking could be displayed in the middle of the stage. Currently Sam was sitting alone at the far end of the table, looking through a stack of papers and charts as people began to trickle in and take their seats.

Nightwing and Aquaman came walking into the room and taking their seats on Sam’s left. They were both two of Sam’s top generals and strategist and some of the few remaining members of the Justice League. The league had been all but eradicated early into the regime of the Demon, as most were sent off on a fake mission in space, and were cut off completely from Earth when the Demon encased the Earth in its dark aura, cutting it off from the rest of the galaxy, and the other planes of existence such as Asgard. They had been working on serving the barrier so that they could bring in reinforcements, but so far they had had no luck. Most of the other Justice Leaguers were hunted down and exterminated, even the whereabouts of Batman were unknown. The few that managed to survive went underground with the resistance, and provided vital aid to the FAE.

The rest of the council began to take their seats as well. Cora and Katie took their seats near Sam, accompanied by Valancy and Kylie. Cora and Katie had given Lizzy off to Xyri to baby sit during the meeting, as Xyri was Lizzy’s favorite babysitter. Apparently a giant woman made of slime was ideal entertainment for a six year old.

Mars had entered the room too, sitting with his usual group science and magic experts that he worked with. Craig, Cyborg, and CeeCee sat with him, all discussing and debating about some technological issue the facility was having. Mars glanced over at the other end of the table where Kiris was sitting with Chorus and Verse. The three of them had spent a lot of time together since they had met and had become quite close. It wasn’t very surprising, since they all had a great love for music in common. Rin was also part of that friend group, however she was not a member of the council. Sam believed that would be dangerous, due to the real possibility that Rin could be manipulated enemy. Both Mars and Kiris had tried to argue against the decision but Sam wouldn’t budge. Commander Grimm never played favorites or let personal feelings influence her decisions. That was why DeeDee was not a member of the council either.

The Hadrian and the Mutant’s eyes briefly met, and they stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. They could each feel a sense of unsureness and unease coming from the other, like they didn’t know how to feel about each other. Their break up had been quite messy, but they both had a secret longing to be back in the other’s arms that neither of them were willing to admit.

Their gazes broke from each other as Sam cleared her throat and her holographic image appeared on the center stage. “Hello everyone, you all know why we’re here today. Tomorrow, we begin Operation: Free Gotham. Now, before the plan of action for tomorrow is announced, I want to share with all of you what our recon team had discovered, so that you know exactly what you’re up against.” She then turned towards Cora, “Cora was the leader of the recon mission, so I’ll let her give you the debriefing.”

Cora took a deep breath as her image was displayed on the holographic stage. “Thank you Commander Grimm. My team, consisting of DeeDee, Black Canary, Wonder Girl and Garnet did a full sweep of the city to discover the enemy’s defenses, as well as checking to ensure our mission objectives were still intact. And well, the good news is all of our objectives remain uncompromised. Stormlight has ensured us that the Wayne archives are still intact, and our mole within Blackgate prison is ready to instigate the riot as planned once the attack begins.”

She then paused before continuing, “But, things aren’t all that simple. There’s a large enemy force concentrated around Gotham. Hundreds of demons are gathered in their main encampment, and squads of dark hearts are patrolling the streets routinely. But that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is, they’ve brought in a Death Squad.”

The room began to fill with quite mummers and the grim shaking of heads. Death Squads were the name given to the Demon’s elite enforcer units. They had become feared across the Earth for their brutality and ruthlessness. Sam then cleared her throat and the room soon fell silent as Sam gestured to Cora to continue.

“The Death Squad consists of Klarion the Lord of Chaos, Killer Croc, Android 22, and Killer Frost.” Cora’s voice clearly caught a bit when she mentioned Android 22. He had been designed by the government to kill her, but he escaped their custody and went on a rampage. The Justice Queens had stopped him and put him in jail, but when the Demon took over he was released with the other incarcerated villains.

Cora sat down now her report was finished and Sam then spoke up again, her holographic image returning to the center stage. “Thank you Cora, that information will be quite important for us. Now look everyone, I understand that this mission will not be easy, and that we’ll have sacrificed much before it is over. But we must cast aside those fears and doubts now. Too long have we lived in fear of the Demon and his minions. Tomorrow we change things, tomorrow we go on the offensive and we free Gotham from the darkness!” Sam said and she was met with applause and cheers from around the table. When the noise died down, she began to speak again. “Now, I’ll announce the assignments for tomorrow. I will be leading the main assault against the city. My lieutenants will be Katie, Naja, and Xander. DeeDee will also accompany me, as I suspect we will be Klarion’s main target, and I’ll need all the magic users at my side that I can get.” “Now for the team assignments. Nightwing will be in charge of Alpha Squad, and will be accompanied by Wonder Girl, Miss Martian, and Kylie. Your mission is to meet up with our contacts in Gotham and facilitate the overtaking of Blackgate prison.”

Roy, who had been sitting with Valancy instead of his usual place next to Sam, stood in anger and stormed out of the room when Sam announced the alpha squad. That was supposed to his mission before Sam had taken him off it this morning. Everyone was staring at Roy’s empty chair, but Sam continued on as if nothing had happened. “Beta Squad will be led by Craig, and will be made up of Elta, Chorus, Verse and Rin. Your mission is to compromise the enemy’s communication’s center, so that they cannot call out for help. And the final squad will be Delta Squad. That is yours Kiris. You’ll be leading Cyborg, Cora, Mars, and Xyri into the remnants of Wayne Tower. We need the information that is supposedly in the archives. Your job is to access its main servers and download as much information as you can before the enemy is alerted. That’s all the special assignments for now. Everyone should rest and get ready for tomorrow. Also enjoy the party tonight, spend time with your friends, and your families while you can.” With that the meeting was concluded and the council began to disband. Mars began to walk out of the room when he felt the familiar sensation of a claw resting softly on his shoulder.

“Hey Mars, can we talk?” Kiris asked him softly, by the look on both of their faces it was clear they weren’t exactly excited to be paired up on the same squad for the mission. “Ya sure” Mars said with an unsure look on his face as they walked over to the corner of the room. Mars had to admit, Kiris looked very beautiful that morning, even though it was clear she hadn’t been trying to. Her hair was a bit messy and she was wearing basic Hadrian armor, but she looked amazing in Mars’ eyes. After a few awkward moments of silence Kiris spoke. “Look Mars, I just want to make sure we’re okay for tomorrow. I know it’s the first mission we’ve had together since…”

“Since what Kiris? Since you dumped me?” Mars said, anger creeping into his voice. Kiris looked at him, frustration and sadness in her eyes. “Mars, you know it wasn’t like that. I didn’t want our relationship to end, but the person you were becoming… I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
“So the answer was just to abandon me? Just toss me away like a toy that doesn’t work anymore?”

That made Kiris quite mad. “Hey, our break up was hard on me too Mars. I tried to help you but you just pushed me away! You weren’t the only one going through hard times, and you weren’t the only person who lost friends to the darkness. You can be mad all you want, but don’t pretend like I didn’t love you.” Kiris said before storming off in anger, leaving Mars behind. Mars stood there stunned, taking one of the empty council seats and looking down at the ground absently as he thought of better times. When Rocket was alive and he and Kiris were together. Those memories were just absent dreams now though, and only the future was ahead.

[Baxten]

Daniel Cruise/Genesis

Daniel woke up from his nap to go and get something to eat. He looked in his fridge, and saw nothing ready to eat. He sighed, went down to his car, and told his GPS "Set a route to the closest store". Fortunately, the closest store was only a mile or two down the road, and he drove towards it. Daniel passed up a sign about house construction. "Call us to build your dream house" it said, and Daniel was interested. He had always wanted to build a new house; a huge mansion that was secluded in the countryside or the beach. He wrote down the number of the contractors and put it in his phone notes. Daniel got to the store soon after, and grabbed some frozen meals for the next week. He went to the cashier, checked out, and loaded the groceries in his car. While he was in line, there was this really annoying girl who kept begging her mom to buy her candy. She decided to throw a temper tantrum on the ground, and it took several minutes to get her up and calm her down. Daniel got into his car, but in his mirror, he saw a thug trying to steal a woman's purse. He got out of his car and ran towards the criminal. He uppercutted him in his jaw, making him fly up into the air and displacing it. The police soon arrested him, and Daniel drove back home.

Daniel got his groceries and placed them on the counter. He prepared frozen spaghetti, and sat at the counter to eat. He dialed up the number for the contractor, and called. The person on the company's end said "Good morning, sir, how may I help you?" Daniel responded, asking "Yes, I need to know about your company's house-building service". The lady explained that Daniel would need to send a house plan and land to build it on, and they would start building the house. Daniel had already drew up plans and found a cliff on the beach on the outskirts of town. The lady said "Whenever you send in your blueprints, we can start building". Daniel sent them in through an e-mail, and the lady told Daniel they would start construction soon. Daniel waited, as they told him the house would take a few months, and they would call him every week to give him a progress report on the house. Daniel was very excited for this new house.