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

[Charmera]

Xander nodded as pretty much everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to form a team. "Alright. Excellent. Now we just need a base of operation. We have several skilled telepaths here, if the need arises, we'll use telepathy to communicate. It's easier than carrying around communicators. We can use my fortress as our meeting place." He said and tried to think of anything else that they would need to get the team started and couldn't think of anything else. "Alright. I suppose we should split up and just go about our business until something comes up."

"Wait!" Otis interjected. "We need a team name! The Avengers and Justice League have one! We need one too." It wouldn't be a true superhero team unless they had a cool superhero team name after all. At least in his mind that's how it worked. "Something cool... Like... Since we're dealing with cosmic crap... Which has so many levels of infinite this and that... Infinite Justice? Yes? No? Maybe? You're brilliant Otis?" He said and finally his brain made the connection that Julie was there. He remembered her from such places as: Xander and Naja's wedding, and, Some Random Place Shortly After He Killed Darkseid. "Hey Julie!" He said and since flying was overrated, teleported beside her. "It's been like... What? A week since we last spoke?" He snickered. "Maybe this time we should actually exchange more than a sentence or two before running off."

"Yeah. That would be good. I mean I've been busy as heck will all the GL stuff I had to do... the time I ran off I had to negotiate a peace between two warring star empires... Then I had to fight some space ninjas... it's just been pretty darn hectic. Plus I'm now Manifest's assistant or whatever with his pet project and-" She paused, giving an exhausted sigh. "Sorry, I'm rambling about work. You don't want to hear that. We should talk about you instead or something." She found she was being oddly nervous. She paused. "So... what's it like being... the sorta new Darkseid. I mean I know you just got his powers and stuff, and you're not evil like him, but I can imagine this hasn't been the most fun week for you either."

[The Fallen Jedi]

Demon God Alastir

Alastir watched through a massive portal made of negative energy, he could feel a smile creep up on his face, he expected this to happen, but he knew that it would have only happened if the threat of his presence had disappeared, forcing Mira to take on the full wrath of the Saiyan, his plan for Mira had come to pass, Towa was presumed deceased, leaving no other influence upon Mira, he was a powerhouse with a newfound wrath for Hiroshi, and All Saiyans, he would use this anger to control Mira and make him Alastir's personal herald, a second Demon King to serve him, as Dabura pledged loyalty to the new Demon God, knowing for a fact that Alastir was nearly powerful enough to contest the God of Destruction's power. Alastir intertwined his fingers in front of him, devious intentions hidden behind his blood red eyes "To put it blatantly, Mira is a highly prideful, arrogant, fool, his pride orders him to kill the Saiyan in order to satisfy himself, his arrogance makes him oblivious to the true well of people's power, he took the orders of his fiancé who was far more weaker than him, he may think that he is in control, but he allows people to manipulate him..."

Alastir rose up, the Staff of former Demon God Demigra in his hand as he began levitating towards the swirling portal of darkness, a smile still plasters on his face "Excellent." The Makaioshin replied to himself openly, entering the black portal at a casual pace, and as soon as he emerged from the portal, he was introduced to the site of pure devastation that inflicted Arcos, this damage was on a level that even seemed profound to him, it was widespread! Almost instantly, Alastir felt a minor pang of guilt hit his chest, it was a burning reminder that Arcos was not even a target, it was an unfortunate victim of an epic battle "Seems that Lord Ouranos' Primordial knowledge will serve me well here." Alastir said, a contemplative expression on his face, he was thrown out of his thoughts the moment he heard Mira's agonizing scream, now that scream was music to Alastir's ears, the sound of undying rage and bloodlust, it gave him assurances that his punishing of Earth would be very soon, he could use Mira's wrath to inflict a great amount of damage, kneeling down to Mira, Alastir stared him dead in the face "So I assume that this is the full extent of the power of my Successor?" Alastir taunted.

And just as predicted, through the sheer burning pain that he felt, Mira's eyes connected with Alastir's, his searing rage towards Hiroshi had just been transferred to the Demon God, how dare the would-be successor of Demigra confront him with such words! This was an unforgiveable offense, and with the very little amount of energy that he had left, beams of energy shot out of his eyes and aimed for Alastir's very face. But to his shock, with a mere hand, Alastir morphed the eye beams into a very small orb of energy that he held in his hand, causing Mira's eyes to widen. "Oh stop, even if you were at full power, you would only give me minor scrapes, so stop flailing around like a three year old who was angry because he didn't get what he wanted..." Alastir harshly grabbed hold of the would-be Demon King's throat "And listen to me, before I make you regret what you just did." Alastir replied with a burning fire within his eyes, it was controlled anger, he wanted to show Mira that he meant business, and his threatening tone worked, as Mira's muscles lost their tension "Good." Alastir spat, carefully moving Mira away from the river of lava.

"I can feel your anger at the Saiyan-Kaioshin Hybrid, desiring to kill him and redeem your pride, but the problem is that you are limiting yourself to low standards, even Kilian Roth would die laughing, you think that you are a force to be reckoned with? I'm not even a threat to the High-Tiers of Gods, and I'm the new Demon God, but what you do not know is that before I became this, Demon God, I was an Omnipotent force of nature in my home realm, to put it blatantly, Galactus could exhale air and throw you to the end of the Universe and back, you are WEAK!" Alastir practically snarled, earning Mira's anger once more "But before you attempt to blast me, forcing me to kill you, I want to offer you something..." Alastir brought his hand out to Mira, a serious expression on his face "Work for me, as my underling, and I will show you powers beyond your imagination, and if you prove to be a useful servant, I will reward you with powers that could tear all who you despise, into tiny, molecule sized pieces, all you have to do is shake my hand, and you will be given a taste of this raw power." Alastir offered, staring down at Mira with a blank face.

When Alastir offered Mira a second chance at life, he was profoundly shocked to say the least, at his current state, Mira couldn't even harm a fly, he was badly burnt, rendered unable to speak, and the majority of his limbs were missing, he was a charred corpse to put it blatantly, but he could feel that Alastir could see some potential within him, locked away, even though he was reluctant to do such a thing, his thoughts flashed back to the very moment that he was defeated by Hiroshi, the moment that he was rendered helpless to the forces of nature, burnt alive, it only took this thought for Mira to instinctively extend and grab hold of Alastir's hand, causing the Makaioshin's grin to expand greatly, and to the point that he appeared to have gone insane "Good, you finally see..." With these words spoken, a ghastly demonic aura surrounded Alastir's body, warping the damaged area around him into machinations that resembled the deepest darkest fears of the Universe itself, a hellish display of the Demon Realm on the planet and with an instant, it was gone, the demonic energy shooting directly into Mira, bestowing him with powers so great that his eyes widened and he was enveloped in utter darkness.

Alastir moved back slightly, feeling the pure rage that burnt deep within the echelons of Mira's heart, the sheer power of Mira's anger, and it was bringing his power level up to ungodly heights, morphing his body back to it's original state, but something was very much different, his hair began to stand up, his body buffing up greatly, his eyes changing blood red, with blue irises in the center of them, and he let out a growl that was so animalistic that a smile of glee formed on Alastir's face, it seemed that Mira was going to be a great asset for the plans he had for Earth, it was at this moment that the veil of darkened energy subsided, revealing the revitalized Mira, an expression of pure bloodlust plastered on his face, but instead of going wild, he controlled his unbridled rage, taking a knee and bowing his head in recognition to Alastir "You, Mira, my apostle of darkness, avatar of retribution, and the very embodiment of wrath itself, are to be the second Demon King, serving alongside Dabura." With a mere nod, Mira accepted this fact, he was now subservient to Alastir, and Alastir alone.

[Altito Asmoro]

"I'll show you true power, I'll show you the real one," said Len.

He went up to the sky even more, until at a level where the gap between him and this guy is as far as a length of 4 adult humans stacked up together and lined up, his eyes glowingly colored with red and shines through as he shot the guy who had turned into creature with his heat vision. Naturally he had clenched his fists as well to prepare for the fight that will come...if he's able to survive the vision.

Damian writhed on the ground for a few seconds as his bones crunched more, his flesh spitting ungodly amount of strange liquids. His entire right shoulder and both limbs were burned away in an instant. His bones crunched more so as they began to protrude from his remaining muscle, the flesh soon following behind, with in seconds both limbs and shoulders had repaired. "Kryptonian I see." Damain said as he rested on his back, still sore from the blast, "I know a very particular cellular fomation capable of more than surviving your powers."

He smiled for a moment as a green tint showed in his eyes for a moment. "I'm glad I had caffeine today, or I wouldn't have nearly enough energy for this." The green shade began to spread across his body, the muscles under his flesh began to bulge even more so. "Have you ever studied Biology? Its quite an amazing subject, the amount of power nature can provide." Damian said smugly, the sharp blades on his secondary limbs beginning to change into crab like claws. "Ever hear of the alpheid shrimp? " He raised one of the claws towards his enemy, "It has an amazing ability, its claw is so powerful it can actually launch a sonic wave." The claw clicked shut.

I think we should talk about how the battle will proceed together so we can prevent over action. list out our moves step by step, I have no intention of winning, i just don't want to die.

"Wow, you can survive that. I take it you're not some experimented humans? Or maybe you are a mutant? Well, in any case this proves that my first attack is futile, I see." said Len. Of course, he's not smiling but this experience made him regarded his enemy as not a normal enemy he fought months ago in Gotham and NY. Or at least at the part of NY he lived to.

Alpheid shrimp? He explained that it's quite an amazing subject, with a claw so powerful it generates sonic wave. Great. Before he could reacted, the sonic wave was generated, sending him down to the ground. It must be heard to the neighbors around, "Hey, can we move somewhere else? We don't want unnecessary casualties, right? Your attack is powerful, but I know I'll win."

[The Greater Gambia]

Ling groaned as she recovered from the punch, righting herself before she hit the ground. She felt her jaw click, and she was fairly sure she had bruises. Her nose might even be bleeding. She then looked at Zhao, and frowned as she stood up strait. "One. I am not a god. Never claimed to be." She replied, before grabbing a street light and using it to slam into her target. "Two, I'm not trying to kill you. I don't care what the government says. I won't ever do that. That's what separates me from you and from that bird. It's my rule." She spoke, using the lamppost to slam down onto her target as a follow up. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to hurt you. You brought this beating on yourself." She spoke with confidence. Though she was still wary. He seemed to have a lot of tricks.

Zhao simply blocked the lamp post, causing it t break in half.

"All you had to do was stay out of the way. Now, you're going to pay the price." Zhao started to fire two red beams from his eyes, something went wrong, however. Instead of hitting Ling square in the face, he coughed up a massive amount of blood.

He soon lost control of his heat vision, sending the beams off into a nearby building, burning right through the middle of it. As soon as the heat vision stopped, he fell to the ground, writhing in agony. From his upper torso to his head, Zhao began to change into a variety of animal parts in rapid succession before the right side of the afflicted area turned into a dark grey color. Zhao soon passed out from the pain. The strain of turning into a complex alien creature heavily damaged him, causing him to be unable to finish the fight

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

Xander nodded as pretty much everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to form a team. "Alright. Excellent. Now we just need a base of operation. We have several skilled telepaths here, if the need arises, we'll use telepathy to communicate. It's easier than carrying around communicators. We can use my fortress as our meeting place." He said and tried to think of anything else that they would need to get the team started and couldn't think of anything else. "Alright. I suppose we should split up and just go about our business until something comes up."

"Wait!" Otis interjected. "We need a team name! The Avengers and Justice League have one! We need one too." It wouldn't be a true superhero team unless they had a cool superhero team name after all. At least in his mind that's how it worked. "Something cool... Like... Since we're dealing with cosmic crap... Which has so many levels of infinite this and that... Infinite Justice? Yes? No? Maybe? You're brilliant Otis?" He said and finally his brain made the connection that Julie was there. He remembered her from such places as: Xander and Naja's wedding, and, Some Random Place Shortly After He Killed Darkseid. "Hey Julie!" He said and since flying was overrated, teleported beside her. "It's been like... What? A week since we last spoke?" He snickered. "Maybe this time we should actually exchange more than a sentence or two before running off."

Xander rolled his eyes at Otis' suggestion. He didn't see much of a point of giving a name to the group. It was unlikely that most people on Earth would be aware of their existence. On top of that, it would probably be best to keep the team's conception relatively secret. People are uncomfortable enough with people like Superman. As powerful as he was, this team was there to deal with things beyond even him. Many of the members were capable of at least holding their own against him. With several more than able to kill him quite easily. The thought of people that powerful running around with free reign would not be a good thing for the average human to know.

Naja, however. Loved the idea. "I like it. Don't be a party pooper, Xander." She teased having seen him roll his eyes. "It'll be fun. Maybe we can do some fun stuff with it. Like surprise kids at their birthday party. I wonder which one of us would be the most popular on the internet... I mean there's already p-" She said and Xander covered her mouth, red as a tamato.

"We are never going to talk about that again. That never happened. It does not exist." Naja had a grin and Xander was embarrassed.

"Yeah. That would be good. I mean I've been busy as heck will all the GL stuff I had to do... the time I ran off I had to negotiate a peace between two warring star empires... Then I had to fight some space ninjas... it's just been pretty darn hectic. Plus I'm now Manifest's assistant or whatever with his pet project and-" She paused, giving an exhausted sigh. "Sorry, I'm rambling about work. You don't want to hear that. We should talk about you instead or something." She found she was being oddly nervous. She paused. "So... what's it like being... the sorta new Darkseid. I mean I know you just got his powers and stuff, and you're not evil like him, but I can imagine this hasn't been the most fun week for you either."

Manifest raised an eyebrow. "Infinite Justice? Interesting." He considered for a moment, then chuckled. "The League might be upset though."

He paused, glancing significantly at Xander. "Question. If we do decide to go quiet- Who do we let in on the secret? Imagine if the League, or the Avengers, hell, imagine if SHIELD found out about us years after the fact. Would we be permitted to step foot on Earth ever again? Not to mention how the team will work. Leadership? How do we choose what mission to take? Hell, even while we were fighting Yuga Khan, my Fragments in the Kree Empire are finding out that there was a god damn invasion by a Universe of immortals monstrosities." He sighed. "The logistics of this are going to be a pain in the ass to figure out, aren't they?

[New Rob Halfordia]

"Radar's picking up signatures, sir."

These whispered words had were ones that Xylan learned to fear. They meant that soon, he and his men would be in embroiled in a battle in which they were vastly outnumbered and unprepared for. But, this time, it was a little different. Despite having small numbers at that moment, things would quickly change. Xylan nodded in response to his subordinate, and gave a series of hand gestures, and his men all scattered out of the broken down and war torn building they sat in, leaping from the windows, into other buildings for a vantage on the street below. The city in which the men were operating was broken down and in ruins. Most of the building were half collapsed or more, and there was little to no civilian life.

But, the quiet was quickly broken, as VTOLs shot through the sky, leaving the roaring sound of jets in their wake. Hundreds of enemy soldiers and vehicles began making their way through the street below. The Anti Battery forces believed this city to be abandoned, and would likely try use it as a staging for a larger city directly to the North. This convoy likely made of the bulk of this force. As they passed Xylan and his squad, who were hidden by the building, Xylan gave a faint nod to his men, who were all within line of sight. They raised their energy rifles, pointing them at the street below. Xylan looked to the floor, picking up a small scrap of metal which had come from the deteriorating building's supports. In the hand, the shard of scrap metal began to form into a ball, and he revealed himself in the window of the building. Bringing his arm back he prepared to throw the ball, searching for a target. He knew that these convoys generally kept the explosives in the middle of them, in a specially designed transport vehicle, impervious to both small arms fire, and most rocketry.

Xylan took aim, swinging his arm in a throwing motion, and just as the ball rolled off of his finger he turbo charged it with his magnetism, causing it to fly at near sub-relativistic speeds, slamming through the ammo truck, and into the ground below. The truck immediately burst into flames, filling the street with fire, while the impact of the ball sent a shock wave through the city block which not only knocked over a majority of the enemy constructs, but even flipped over many of the heavier vehicles. But, the rest of the enemy convoy quickly took aim at his position, unleashing a barrage of heavy energy blasts and small arms fire. In no time, the building which Xylan was hiding in had been reduced to rubble. But, from another building, one of Xylan's squadmates revealed himself in his own window, sticking out his hands, both pointed at the back of the enemy convoy. Squeezing his hands shut, it quickly became apparent why he had been put on Xylan's squad. His designation was 107G, and he was a manipulator of gravity.

The vehicles at the back of the convoy were drawn into the air by two unseen powers, gravity wells created by 107G. The hunks of metal were momentarily held in the air, before being dropped in a stack, creating a wall, and sealing the enemy in the corridor like street. Suddenly, the rest of the squad began firing down at the convoy below, using their immensely powerful energy weaponry to rain fire on the enemies. As friendly VTOLs began flying through the sky, engaging the enemy ones, the operation went from a small ambush to an all out warzone. However, the objective of this battle was not to cripple a convoy. That would do little to halt the Anti Battery's war machine. The objective was to draw out the Dark One himself, the leader of the Anti Battery horde.

As friendly troop carrier ships began to drop reinforcements for the Battery's forces, the battle began in earnest, with both enemy forces starting to use the buildings for cover as well, while their armor began pushing down the street, only to come face to face with allied armor. What the Anti Battery forces believed to be a few elite soldiers staging an ambush turned out to be an entire attack force.

One of the enemy squads pushed into the ruins of the building which contained Xylan, and began sifting through the rubble in an attempt to secure and destroy the remains. One of the soldiers sifting through the rubble lifted a chunk of metal to find a robotic hand pointed straight at him. Before he could even vocalize his findings, however, he suddenly found himself being slammed in the chest by a bolt of lightning, vaporizing a majority of his torso. From the outside of the building, the crack of thunder could be heard, several more times, as the other soldiers searching for the lone soldier suffered a similar fate. And as Xylan exited the building, having finished off the last of the enemies who were searching for him, he found himself in the middle of a massive battle. Everything was going exactly as planned. He and his squad had crippled the enemy force early on in the battle, which made it hard for them to fight the well prepared force that had been set up in the city. A large battalion of friendly infantry and armor began to push the enemy forces back down the street, towards the wall of metal that 107G had created. Xylan's squad and various enemy soldiers volleyed shots back and forth from the buildings above, but, all around, the Anti Battery forces were losing the battle.

Xylan stepped out in front of the allied battalion as they suddenly came to a stop, as did the enemy. A figure had appeared in front of them, and to Xylan, despite the mission objective being completed at that very moment, he wasn't sure if it was the best case scenario, or the worst case scenario.

The Dark One arrived.

[Mavorpen]

A Tale of Life and Death: Chapter II
Endless: Part III

I don't remember my death. Well, I remember everything leading up to it. I remember choosing to trap myself in the Cancerverse, along with my friend Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, who had a Cosmic Cube at the time. I remember patting myself on the back for being a hotshot. I remember how proud of myself I was to stay behind and sacrifice my life in order to prevent Thanos, the Mad Titan, from going to my universe and taking his rage out on it.

I remember gaining confidence upon the appearance of another ally, Drax. I remember having that hope stripped away upon the realization that we couldn't die. I remember trying to convince myself that we had accomplished our goal. I remember Star-Lord correcting me and bringing me back to the reality of the situation: we had stayed behind for nothing. We had sacrificed our lives for nothing. We would live an eternity in the Cancerverse, unable to die.

I remember things only getting worse from there. I remember the appearance of the Revengers--nightmarish analogues to the Avengers of my universe. I remember fighting nonstop for hours. I remember worrying about Star-Lord. I had the Nova Force to sustain me and render the need for nourishment null and void, at least for a certain period of time. Peter, however, had at the very most three days before he would die of thirst. Could he even die of thirst? And would he come back to life only to immediately die of thirst again?

I remember the sinking feeling in my stomach when the Revengers obtained the Cosmic Cube. I remember feeling an immeasurable amount of guilt. The Cube had been in my possession and I dropped it. I remember watching from afar as the Revengers and Thanos fought, knowing full well that no matter who came out on top, we were doomed. However, by far, the result was the greater of two evils. Thanos had the Cube. Somehow, we got the Cube away from him, and I picked it up. I made a decision. I sacrificed myself to save Drax and Peter and to destroy Thanos. I turned myself into a door and allowed them to pass through me and into our native universe. I thought I was doing something that meant something. I thought I was ridding the world of a great evil. I couldn't even do the latter right.

I remember all of this. I don't remember actually dying, though. I don't remember if it was actually painless or not. I don't remember what went through my mind after I transported Drax and Peter back to our universe. There are bits and pieces that sometime come to me here and there, but they're all fuzzy and hard to make out. I do, however, vividly remember what happened after I died.

Jamal felt a warmth that he wished would last for an eternity. He was asleep, and somehow, he knew that he was sleeping. However, his mind was blank. He couldn't see anything--just the pitch blackness everyone sees when their eyes are closed. He could, however, feel the things interacting with his body in the real world. He could, as mentioned before, feel the warmth of the sun. As he lay on his back, he could feel the contrasting coldness of what was most likely some sort of stone.

Suddenly, the warmth of the sun on his face disappeared. Something had obviously blocked the sun. Jamal felt his body stir slightly as he wished for the warmth to return. He felt a strong desire to wake and see what was disturbing his blissful sleep. At the same time, he was afraid of what he would wake up to. He wanted to stay asleep forever. However, his body refused to listen and his eyes slowly opened. The outline of a person's face appeared as his sight began to focus.

Jamal's body jerked upright, and the other person fell backwards and yelped. Jamal quickly turned to see a woman sitting behind him. "Sorry, you startled me there for a second." Jamal looked around at his surroundings. Behind the mysterious woman was a huge cliff. Then, he turned around to see a lush rainforest.

Looking back at the woman, he frowned. "W...where am I?"

The woman looked to the right and then to the left before looking back at him. Then she shrugged. "I'm not the one you should be asking that question to." Suddenly, she stood up, closed her umbrella, and began patting her jeans. "Let's go for a walk." She smiled and began walking to the forest.

Jamal sat, staring at her from behind for a few seconds before getting up himself and chasing her into the forest. "Hey, wait!" He quickly caught up with her and began walking next to her. "I... I'm sorry, but I'm confused. What is this supposed to be?"

She looked up at him and cocked her head to the side. "You don't remember?" She asked.

"I... wait." He grabbed his head with a pained expression. "I remember. I... I died, didn't I?" Jamal asked in disbelief.

"Yup!" She exclaimed with an oddly excited tone.

"And... am I supposed to assume you're Death?" Jamal asked, looking her up and down. "You don't really look like it."

She chuckled. "What, are you looking for a scythe? Or maybe a pair of skis?" She then shrugged. "Sorry, it's just little ol' me. But, you're right about my job. I'm Death. Nice to meet you." Death looked up at him and smiled.

"How do I know you're not bsing me?"

Death suddenly stopped and turned to face Jamal, prompting him to stop as well. She looked up at him, put up her index finger in front of her face, and beckoned him closer by moving her finger repeatedly towards herself. Jamal turned to face her and leaned forward. She then reached up and tapped his nose. Immediately the color drained from it and it became discolored and grew cold as the life was sucked away from it. Jamal instinctively pulled away as this occurred and his eyes widened in horror. However, after a second, the color began returning to normal and the warmth of life returned. Death grinned and turned, continuing to walk forward in the direction she was previously. "Yup. It's really me."

Jamal stood motionless due to the shock for a few moments before snapping out of it and turning his head to Death's. He once again ran after her. She abruptly stopped again and leaned down, holding out her hand. "So, there's this thing I can do." She said as a butterfly landed on her hand. "It's a thing that usually clarifies the situation for people. I call it the Life review. It's sort of like the whole thing about your life flashing before your eyes as you're dying. It's like that, only, later."

"I--wait, I don't--!"

"Calm down." She said with a smile. "Don't be scared. Who knows, you might even have fun." She stood upright and waved her hand in front of her. A bright light began to appear. "Hmm, wow, there's a ton of stuff to pick from. You've been through quite a bit in recent years."

"No, I don't want to see--" Jamal began before he saw numerous images of events that had transpired over his life--particularly the last few years. He saw the destruction of Xandar and the complete extermination of the Nova Corps. He saw the countless worlds ravaged by the Annihilation Wave and the death of Quasar at the hands of Annihilus. He saw the slaughtering of the Kree who weren't assimilated by the Phalanx. He saw the Cancerverse invade his universe and cause the death of countless innocent soldiers and the death of several Abstracts at the hand of the Galactus Engine. He also saw images of his younger days as well. He saw the death of his childhood friend during a gang war. He watched another friend be dragged away into an orphanage due to the deaths of his parents. "--My life..."

"Yup. There it is. Lots of fighting. Lots of heartbreak. Lots of death." Death said as another image of Jamal shooting a man lying on the ground in cold blood.

"Stop!" Jamal shouted. "Look, I had to do what I did to survive."

Death held up her hands in front of her. "Hey. Not judging. Seriously."

"Look. I'm still confused. If you're Death, then why are you here? And, also, why did you have to reject Thanos like that? Do you know how upset he was?"

"Erm... Oh, you mean the Cancerverse stuff. Yeah, I saw that. You know, people do come back to life. Universes are threatened all the time. It's not that big of a deal. I am kind of busy." Death shrugged. "And besides, that Death wasn't me. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with that Thanos creep."

"Seriously?! Thousands of people were killed!"

"And?"

"And, that's not something to joke about! The Nova Corps--my allies for years. Countless soldiers at the Fault from various races across the universe. My own people--humans!" Jamal pointed at her. "But you wouldn't understand that."

"Hey now, I understand just fine, Jamal. I'm really good at understanding things. Look, I know it's counter-intuitive, but this would go a lot faster if you'd be patient. Like I said, I'm a busy person myself. Hundreds of thousands of humans dying on Earth alone every day. And of course, the number's even higher if you count dogs, cats, fish, etc." Death pointed the tip of her umbrella to the ground and leaned on it. "Look, people die. People come back to life. People get killed by all sorts of things. Sometimes they get killed by the things that came back to life. Mostly you don't."

"Yeah, but this time that actually did happen!"

"It happens! In the end though, they all come back to me." Death smirked.

Jamal threw up his hands. He was getting nowhere, and as far as he was concerned, she was just talking in circles. "Okay, how do I fix...this?" He said, gesturing to their surroundings. "What is it that you want, exactly?"

"A pony. A magic pony. A magic pony who sings." Death said with a smile.

Jamal raised an eyebrow and made a confused expression. "D...do you mean like, literally? Is that some sort of creature I can just fin--"

"Sorry. I was joking." Death said, scratching the back of her head. "I've actually met lots of magic ponies. Yes, including singing ones. I've met everybody. Sorry, but the bargaining stage is always the least effective because, well, there's nothing I really want or need."

Jamal took a few steps backwards until his back was to a tree. "Oh, gosh. Kübler-Ross..." Jamal muttered as he slid down the tree until he was sitting at its base. "No wonder. You've seen this all before, so many times. I... This is really happening. I... I can't believe it. I feel helpless." Jamal buried his face into his hands. "I don't think I've ever been this scared in my life. And I've gone through some fucked up shit." Jamal felt Death's hand on his shoulder.

Jamal looked up and Death took one of his hands. "Shh. It's alright." She said with a smile.

"Help me. Please." Jamal pleaded.

"Look, not to brag, but I've been doing this a long time." Death said, placing her right hand on her chest. "I've gotten all sort of reactions. Tons of people have tried to appeal to my sympathy. Logically, therefore, you're not the first."

"...Does it ever work?" Jamal asked as he stood up.

"Oh, every time." Death grinned. "It still makes no difference. You should just accept your fate Naturally, that's the next sta--."

Jamal reached down and grabbed her arms. "No! Why should I accept this?! He shouted at her. "There has to be some way out of this!"

"Woah, simmer down there." Death said. Suddenly she disappeared from in front of him. "You know, you're a pretty interesting character." Death's voice said from behind. Jamal turned to see her continuing to walk in the same direction she initially led him. Naturally, he chased after her until he was walking beside her. "I have to ask... what do you think about the afterlife, exactly?"

Jamal frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Do you believe that when all of this is said and done, you'll go where you're meant to go?"

Jamal scowled. "'Meant to go?' According to who? Who determines where I'm 'meant' to go? If not you, then who is this being you imply has the right to judge me?"

"Who, indeed?" Death chuckled.

Jamal began scratching the back of his head. "That being would have to have some sort of 'objective' point of view on the universe. Frankly, there really is no such point of view." The two stumbled upon a river, and they stopped. Death looked up at him and held out her hand above her head. Jamal raised and eyebrow and Death simply smiled. Rolling his eyes and releasing an exasperated sigh, he picked her up and allowed her to ride on his shoulder as he crossed the river.

"When I was young, my parents made me go to Church." Jamal continued. "I never paid attention. I'd always just fall asleep. Eventually, we moved and because of my parents accepting new jobs, we never went to Church anymore. My parents justified it by telling me that you don't need a Church to be a good Christian. I never did have the heart to just tell them that I didn't believe in God. To me, believers always came off as a bit...hypocritical. They never really put their money where their mouth is. I'm sure you have your own point of view about this."

"Sure." Death said from atop his shoulder. "Kind of. Not really. Well, not in the way that you're thinking."

"This was a firm stance of mine until I entered the Nova Corps and became involved with this whole cosmic shebang." Jamal reached the other side of the river and Death jumped off of his shoulders and continued walking forward, with him walking next to her. "Eventually, I realized that the existence of God was very...likely. But, to be honest, that doesn't really change anything. If I accept the whole 'creation' side of things, that only makes atheism no longer the 'logical' choice. Rather, it makes it the 'ethical' one. So the real question isn't really whether there is a God or not--it's whether I get to put forth my case. Do I get to argue? Because, I've seen it. I know it's real. I've been to Hell."

"Hmm. What if you just apologized?" Death asked him.

"Apologize for what?!" Jamal spat. "For putting bread on the table in the only way I knew how to support my parents? For not wanting to put my 'faith' in something that hasn't done a damn thing for me other than put me to a metaphorical Hell? Do I need to present an in depth exposé about my motivations in life? Do I need to grovel before--" Suddenly, a bright light surrounded them.

"You know, normally I don't deal in hypotheticals. I mean, I'm when you find out. But, for a second, let's go through a few of your options. What would you think of your own hedonistic paradise?" Various images of definitely of a NSFW nature appeared in the light around them. "Wow, those are some interesting fetishes. And she's quite pretty." Death said, pointing to the left.

"They're also not real."

"That's sort of the point, isn't it?" Death grinned.

"No. That's not what I lived for. Things like this...they're just diversions."

Death seemed to be somewhat taken aback as her jaw dropped a little. Then her smile returned. "Is that so? In that case, how about brilliant, lovely bliss forever?" The images on the light changed and they became surrounded by pure white pillars and clouds--the obvious implication being that they were in his own personal Heave. "A continual, best-ever warm bath of awesomeness. With a perpetual side order of familial, romantic, and even pet love and acceptance. A summer's day in a meadow with an everlasting cup of tea and every book. No worries, no tension just truckloads of joy! Not just for you, but for everyone?" The images shifted and everyone he had ever loved or cared about appeared, with big smiles on their faces and waving at him. "Is that not why you became a superhero?"

Jamal opened his mouth to say yes, however, he found himself unable to do so. Why? Why couldn't he state that he wanted happiness for everyone? That he wanted everyone to live without a single worry in their life? "...I'd say no." Jamal simply said, and the light disappeared, thrusting them back into the dense forest. "For the simple fact that there'd have to be a catch. And, even if there weren't one, I wouldn't accept that. I'd spend eternity looking for one. Look, you're wasting your time. I'm not interested in this 'process' of yours. I refuse to bow my head to anyone out of sheer virtue of their nature as being a supposed 'higher' being in comparison to me. If they're so great, they can stand up to me face to face and convince me with their own arguments."

Jamal stopped and pointed at her, causing her to stop for the first time due to him rather than out of her own personal decision. "So listen here. If my position--my point of view--doesn't matter a single bit, then just get it over with." Jamal said with a scowl while Death simple looked at him with one hand on her hip as she grinned. "Just send me where you're going to send me. I'll spend the rest of eternity finding something to do. I'll find something that will engage me and make me happy. Even when I'm dead."

Death snickered. "Jamal, this isn't that kind of conversation. Really, it's not. This is more of a preliminary check on something. Besides, I never said that you were dead."

"Wait, what?!" Jamal said, obviously confused. "If I'm not dead, then... where am I?" Death smiled as she pointed ahead of them and began walking. Jamal saw an opening in the forest roughly 100 feet away, and he saw bright yellow sunlight and the blue sky. The two had reached the end of the forest and found themselves in a meadow filled with a wide assortment of various flowers.

"You're in-between life and death. See, your death has been...appealed." Death reached down and picked a flower, then turned around and held it up to him. Jamal took the flower and stared at it for a few seconds before looking back at her.

"So then... what now?" Jamal asked.

"Now, you choose. Life, or death?"

"Is... is this really okay?" Jamal's expression grew softer and more unsure.

"Of course! Frankly, part of me is doing this for selfish reasons. I'm quite grateful for your assistance in restoring Death in the Cancerverse--for the most part." Death said with a smile. "Besides, like I said, people coming back to life happens. It's nothing special. It ultimately doesn't matter. They all come back to me."

Jamal took a deep breath and reached down, presenting the flower to her. "Then, I choose life."

...

Jamal awoke inside of the bed of a rather large bedroom. He gripped his head, struggling to recall what he was doing there. Then it all came rushing back to him. He had been found by D'Vorah and Ruby, and so he came to his friend Jessica to crash at her place until he could find somewhere else to stay. He got out of bed and put on a t-shirt and some jeans. He then walked out of the bedroom and walked through the enormous mansion until he found the stairs leading downstairs.

Jamal walked down the stairs and entered the living room. "Morning!" A voice called out. Jamal looked at the sofa closest to the fireplace to see Jessica's boyfriend drinking coffee on the sofa and with an iPad in his lap. Jamal glanced around the room in confusion before responding.

"Morning?" Jamal said, and he felt a hand slap him on the back and turned to his left to see Jessica walk past in a mostly see-through nightgown.

"You had a good sleep?" Jessica asked as she walked over to her boyfriend and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Jamal then heard her voice in his head. It's okay, he thinks you're my adopted brother who's down on his luck and staying with us for a while.

Jamal nodded. "The bed was very...comfortable." Jamal then pointed to the hallway that led to the front door. "I'm going to go out for a walk."

"Alright. Make sure you're back in time to eat breakfast fresh!" Jessica's boyfriend said, holding up his coffee cup. "Jessica makes an avocado egg flax foccacia that's to die for."

Jamal turned and went to the front door of the mansion, continuing until he reached the security gates, which he simply jumped over. He took a left and walked down the sidewalk, with his hands in his pockets. He glanced up and looked at the Hollywood sign in the distance. All of a sudden, he had a chilling feeling, and a blue circle of light encompassed him. He looked up and squinted his eyes to see a space ship. "Oh, fu--" He said before he was teleported onto the ship.

Jamal found himself in the center of a large on the ship. It was completely empty with the exception of the 30 or so bounty hunters that surrounded him, each wearing fairly generic armor. "Well, well, well!" A voice called out. The individual whom the voice belonged to stepped out of the crowd in front of Jamal. "We finally meet face to face again, Nova. It took us quite a while to track you back down."

Jamal stared at the man for a couple of seconds before saying, "Who are you?"

One of the bounty hunters in the crowd snickered, and the man in front of Jamal shouted out, "WHO LAUGHED?! Whoever it was, I'm going to throw you out into the void of space when we take off!" He then cleared his throat and spoke to Jamal again. "My name is Cypher. You arrested me a few weeks after Annihilation. We had a good fight, but you got the upper hand in that confrontation. Thankfully, I escaped and now I'm here to enact my revenge!"

Jamal once again stared at the man for a couple of seconds. "Sorry, not ringing a bell."

"You--flarkin'!" Cypher shouted and pointed at Jamal. "How DARE you act that way towards me! You think I don't know?! You think I'm not aware that you're powerless right now?! I'd think long and hard about what words you choose next!"

"Or not." Jamal said and jumped into the air. The bounty hunters collectively reacted and began firing upon him, but Jamal twisted in the air and avoided all of the fire. He landed, rolled on the ground, and dashed for the exit to the room. The door opened and closed behind him as the bounty hunters chased after him. Once fifteen or so of the bounty hunters exited the room through the door, Jamal crashed down to the floor, having been hiding in the vents above. He then kicked the bounty hunter in front of him, knocking him back into the room. Jamal pressed the button locking the door and then smashed it with his fist, shorting it out and essentially forcing it permanently shut.

In the hallway, the bounty hunter at the very back of the group turned to see Jamal, but he couldn't react in time as Jamal charged at him and grabbed his helmet in his hand and pushed him hard. He barreled through the hallway, knocking down all of the bounty hunters. Jamal held up his hands and they became encased in yellow energy.

"GET THIS DOOR OPEN, NOW!" Cypher shouted, being one of the people trapped in the room by Jamal. As he watched two of the bounty hunters attempt to bypass the systems of the door, he heard screams over their communication's system. "Ciegl, come in! What's going on?!"

"Told--no--powers!" Was all Cypher could make out through the background noise and screams.

The door then opened. "Move, move!" Cypher shouted and the group rushed through the door. They turned right and saw the seemingly lifeless bodies of the rest of the bounty hunters at the end of the hallway. "Go check their lifesigns!" Cypher said, pointing at three of the bounty hunters in his group. "The rest of you, with me!" Cypher led his group down the hallway and took a right while the three designated bounty hunters stayed behind to check to see if any of the initial group was still alive. Suddenly, the suit of one of the lifeless bodies began beeping. Before any of the three could react, the body exploded, killing them instantly.

"D'ast, where is he?!" Cypher shouted, as he and the group had followed the tracking system's directions to the bridge. Currently, however, it showed that he was right on top of them. "Wait... of course!" He rushed over to the computer and entered some information into the teleportation system. The group were then teleported on the top of the ship in front of Jamal. "Nova! This is the en--" Cypher looked to his left and right, realizing that he was so preoccupied with finding Jamal that he hadn't realized that the ship was now over the north Pacific Ocean--about 50 miles off of the west coast of the United States. He then looked forward at Jamal just as he raised his right fist into the air, gathered energy around it, and brought it down onto the ship. The ship violently jerked forward and began nosediving to the Ocean below.

The bounty hunters were unable to maintain their balance and they were flung forward as the front of the ship dipped. Jamal quickly and fluidly incapacitated all of them as they slid down the ship. Finally, Jamal grabbed Cypher, who was the last to reach him, and reeled back his right fist to punch him. Suddenly, the ship beneath them jerked upwards as the front of the ship somehow began rising, causing Jamal to punch through his abdomen rather than his chest and lose his grip on Cypher. The ship was still falling, but it landed safely on the Ocean without actually crashing and potentially causing a tidal wave. Jamal looked up into the sky and watched as a Nova Corps member descended down and landed in front of him. Jamal realized that the Nova must have caught the ship and landed it safely onto the Ocean.

A wide smile suddenly formed on the Nova Corps member's face. "Oh my God!" He exclaimed, with a voice of someone who was obviously at most a teenager. "Are you a superhero too?!" He asked, looking at Jamal's glowing right fist.

Jamal frowned. "Go away, kid." Jamal said as he stood up and began walking over to Cypher. He grabbed Cypher once again and reeled back to deliver the finishing blow.

"Stop!" The Nova said as he rushed behind Jamal, grabbed his arm, and threw him a couple of feet away. Jamal flipped in the air and landed on his feet with a frown. "You can't just kill someone who can't fight back!"

"They're bounty hunters. Furthermore, if they manage to get away, he'll just bring more here after me. I can't allow that." Jamal said as he took a step towards them.

"No!" The Nova said, stretching his arms out to the side.

Jamal rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Can I at least check to see if he has any hidden weapons on him?"

The Nova glanced back at Cypher, who was groaning in pain. Then he looked back at Jamal. "Okay... but I'll be watching you!"

"Fine by me. Truce?" Jamal said as he walked up to the Nova with his hand outstretched.

The Nova took his hand and shook it. "Truce." Suddenly, Jamal violently pulled the Nova close to him and with his other hand, pulled off his helmet, revealing his face. The Nova's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Wha--how did--who are you?!" He stammered as his Nova Corps costume disappeared. "That's not supposed to be even possible!"

Jamal simply placed the helmet on the top of his head, and it automatically adjusted its size to fit him. After a few seconds, he took it off. "Huh, so your name is Sam Alexander. I appreciate what you've been doing. And I'm sorry."

"Wha--" Sam began to say, but he was cut off as Jamal grabbed his arm and then hit a pressure point in the side of his neck, knocking him unconscious. Jamal caught Sam, gently set him down on the ground, and placed his helmet on his chest. Jamal turned and began walking over to Cypher whose suit was now crackling with electricity and began beeping.

"What's going on?" Jamal asked as he knelt down.

"T--the suit has a built in teleportation system that links to the ship's mainframe! It's going haywire!" Before Jamal could react, the two disappeared. The next moment, the two found themselves in what seemed to be a desert. "W-where are we?!" Jamal stood and scanned the landscape.

"Not sure. We're definitely not on Earth, though." Jamal said, looking up at the sky. He frowned and kicked the sand at his feet in frustration. Just when he had found a place to settle for at least a couple of weeks, he now found himself on an unknown planet. He glared at Cypher, rightfully blaming the bounty hunter for their predicament. However, Cypher all of a sudden raised his arm and pointed at something to the left of Jamal. Jamal turned to see an animal native to the planet standing atop a rock formation roughly 20 feet high. It stood at least 7 feet tall and was obviously a predator.

Jamal readied himself, honestly anxious to just hit something and take out his frustration on. He was fairly sure he could handle one of them. Then, Jamal's eyes widened in horror as five more of the creatures walked to the top of the rock formation and stared down at him. The creatures collectively jumped down from the rock formation, and Jamal quickly turned around, grabbed Cypher, and began hauling ass. He had no idea where running in that direction would lead him, but he figured that it was worth the risk if it meant getting away from those creatures chasing after them.

Jamal ran for 30 whole minutes before he began getting tired. Under normal circumstances, he would have been able to go for several hours longer, but he was being drained quickly due to the combined variables of having to carry Cypher as well as running at top speed the whole time. Thankfully, a ray of hope appeared in the form of a rain forest off in the distance. Jamal figured that there were two major possibilities. The one he hoped for the most was that the creatures would simply give up, as he assumed that their natural habitat was the desert and therefore they may be weary to enter the forest. The second possibility wasn't as good, but it would still help him: the creatures would most likely continue to chase him, but it would be easier to lose them in the thick lush of the forest.

Jamal pushed himself even further, increasing his speed until he reached the forest. He slowed down slightly upon entering the forest, as he no longer had the luxury of having a ground mostly free of debris. He didn't look back to check, but he knew the creatures were still following him. He could barely hear them through the pounding of his own heartbeat that filled his ears. Jumping over the roots of a large tree, he could only hope that the creatures would get stuck on something, give up, or something to appear to challenge and/or distract them.

[The Templar High Council]

Jamie nodded at Cora and then headed into the building alongside her, curiously looking around. The building was quite modern and well-furnished, not the kind of thing you'd expect a group of six or so young women to own, though she supposed this was different, since these were superheroes. Superheroines. Whatever, she wasn't an expert and she doubted someone was going to complain about her thoughts. Regardless, when she noticed other people in the lobby and saw Cora walking up to them and greeting them, Jamie immediately paused, and then approached slowly, staying behind Cora. One of the girls she had greeted was dressed in a Green Lantern outfit, which she'd seen on TV sometimes, and the other looked pretty normal.

"Um, hey." Jamie greeted them a bit awkwardly as she reached out to shake Kylie's hand, almost reluctantly. "I can, uhh, change between powersets I guess."

"That makes about no sense at all." Kylie replied, smiling the whole time. She reached for her mask, which dissolved as her gloved fingers touched it. "But it's still nice to meet you. So who'd you beat up outside? Somebody who matters? Or just like some thug or mugger? Not that those people don't matter at all, but... yeah. Criminals aren't the same as villains, or supervillains. Everybody knows that."

"Welcome newbies!" Spoke a voice all of a sudden, Katie had traveled through the building electrically, zipping up the structure to where cora and Kylie were. She had a smile so wide it could have made the comedy mask look subtle. She felt energize, fantastic, wonderful. "Hi Cora... Kylie." She hugged Cora from behind, wrapping her arms around the android lovingly as she addressed the others. "So sorry, I was just wrapping up a bit down there. Talking to SHIELD contacts... avoiding mindy... she scares me." She remarked, then sighed. "She's awesome though, badass and awesome. She'd eat a grenade and think it was too small. Anywho, I'm guessing you two want to join the illustrious ranks of the JQ, am I right?"

"Katie!" Kylie lunged at her best friend, despite the fact that she was already hugging Cora. "It's been forever since we hung out! You're busy doing things, I'm busy being in space, we just need to chill one of these days!"

"I'm still here you know, Ms. Prince." Mindy replied, still sitting behind her desk. "But, as it stands, I don't have anything for you to do. As of right now. And I'd rather not eat a grenade; I said it wasn't big enough for the building, not for me." She smiled, but only the trio of veteran JQ members knew what hid behind that kindness.

"Let's all go upstairs then! We can show them around 'n stuff. Find some empty rooms. Better than waiting down here." Kylie depowered and headed for the elevator, turning back to continue listening in on the conversation.

"Joined", says Marybeth. "Just got the acceptance speech from the green chick. So, I'm guessing super speed? Cool, I guess." She looked around the group of girls, thinking to herself. I wonder how NYC is still in one piece if THIS is who is protecting them. They look about as hard-working as me. She snickered, rather amused. "So what do you guys do on your time off?"

" 'The green chick,' she says, Kylie replied, laughing nonchalantly. "Look out, blondie. One of these days you might just wake up with a gag over your mouth and some big green alien nasty dripping on your face. THEN you'll know why you don't call me 'the green chick,' OK?" Kylie smiled, similar to what Mindy did just minutes ago. I've been practicing my Mindy smile, hope it looks at least half as scary as she does.

Jamie nearly twitched when she heard a voice coming from out of nowhere and then saw a girl with black hair pop up behind Cora and hug her in a very affective manner which sursprised her, though she said nothing about it, simply listening as the new girl rambled on about doing stuff and some very scary person named Mindy whom she hoped she wouldn't have to meet anytime soon. Cora then introduced the new girl as Katie, her girlfriend, which explained a lot, though she still wasn't entirely comfortable with having the attention of yet another person. She was never good at handling crowds, after all.

When the question to join came all of the sudden, Jamie blinked and opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it, then opened it again. "No, um... I... I just came here because the redhead invited me in..." She said softly, evidently not feeling very comfortable. Truth be told, it wasn't even that she was adverse to the act of joining, but she was nervous about having to get to know and work with all of these people, out of the blue. "I mean, I didn't... I don't... um..." She trailed off, tripping over her words slightly, shoving her hands into her pockets. "I... it really wasn't that impressive, you know? I just, like, jumped on his head and he went down... Nothing very heroic, see...?" She stated, shuffling from side to side awkwardly.

"The Blob? Big guy, Brotherhood of Mutants? He's no lightweight, I'll tell you that." Kylie laughed, for real, as she returned to the group to pat Jamie on the shoulder. "That takes something, Jamie. Not anyone would go out of their way to fix something they could easily ignore by going down a different street. How about: you come upstairs and look around? Then give some more thought about sticking around, eh?"

[Charmera]

Jamie nodded at Cora and then headed into the building alongside her, curiously looking around. The building was quite modern and well-furnished, not the kind of thing you'd expect a group of six or so young women to own, though she supposed this was different, since these were superheroes. Superheroines. Whatever, she wasn't an expert and she doubted someone was going to complain about her thoughts. Regardless, when she noticed other people in the lobby and saw Cora walking up to them and greeting them, Jamie immediately paused, and then approached slowly, staying behind Cora. One of the girls she had greeted was dressed in a Green Lantern outfit, which she'd seen on TV sometimes, and the other looked pretty normal.

"Um, hey." Jamie greeted them a bit awkwardly as she reached out to shake Kylie's hand, almost reluctantly. "I can, uhh, change between powersets I guess."

"That makes about no sense at all." Kylie replied, smiling the whole time. She reached for her mask, which dissolved as her gloved fingers touched it. "But it's still nice to meet you. So who'd you beat up outside? Somebody who matters? Or just like some thug or mugger? Not that those people don't matter at all, but... yeah. Criminals aren't the same as villains, or supervillains. Everybody knows that."

"Welcome newbies!" Spoke a voice all of a sudden, Katie had traveled through the building electrically, zipping up the structure to where cora and Kylie were. She had a smile so wide it could have made the comedy mask look subtle. She felt energize, fantastic, wonderful. "Hi Cora... Kylie." She hugged Cora from behind, wrapping her arms around the android lovingly as she addressed the others. "So sorry, I was just wrapping up a bit down there. Talking to SHIELD contacts... avoiding mindy... she scares me." She remarked, then sighed. "She's awesome though, badass and awesome. She'd eat a grenade and think it was too small. Anywho, I'm guessing you two want to join the illustrious ranks of the JQ, am I right?"

"Katie!" Kylie lunged at her best friend, despite the fact that she was already hugging Cora. "It's been forever since we hung out! You're busy doing things, I'm busy being in space, we just need to chill one of these days!"

"I'm still here you know, Ms. Prince." Mindy replied, still sitting behind her desk. "But, as it stands, I don't have anything for you to do. As of right now. And I'd rather not eat a grenade; I said it wasn't big enough for the building, not for me." She smiled, but only the trio of veteran JQ members knew what hid behind that kindness.

"Let's all go upstairs then! We can show them around 'n stuff. Find some empty rooms. Better than waiting down here." Kylie depowered and headed for the elevator, turning back to continue listening in on the conversation.

She regarded Jamie. her face full of surprise. "What do you mean! That was the blob!" She exclaimed. "You took him out real nicely, that's what I'd call impress and heroic. You really have a tallent with this." She remarked. Then paused. "And... well. We could use you on the team. And I don't say that to everyone."

Then she was attack hugged by Kylie."Yeah! It's been ages. And time to chill would be awesome. I'd love a chance to marathon something or play some games.... or just chat." She remarked with a smile. 'In fact, something we could all do together would be nice."

Mindy spoke. Katie nearly cringed. She turned, an awkward smile on her face. "Heh... you heard that? I did say you were badass... So... Please don't kill me in my sleep."

She turned back to Kylie. Then moved to holding Cora's hand. "Sure. Sounds great." She turned to Cora, concern on her face. 'You sure your alright? Magneto could have fried some of your systems or something... we should probably get you an appointment with JQ's medic... we have a medic right?"

[Charmera]

Darian and Serene
Zeritin shouted in exertion as he raised a dark energy shield to block Etla's attack but he was clearly using a lot of energy. Lightbringer began firing arrows at rapid speed adding her own light energy to the attack. She turned to Auia and Ihra, "Come on! If all four of hit him at the same time can beat him for sure!" She shouted at them as she continued to fire arrows.

Ihra nodded, even though no one could see her and she suddenly attacked her target with loads of slash projections, bombarding him with them. Auia on the other hand decided to opt for the less traditional route. She inhaled, and then sent fourth a beam of colour.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Chicago Russian Cartel Base of operations, Underground facility
5:00pm


The Leading party Members of the Russian Cartel in Chicago, the Chicago Street gang "Southside hitters", and the dying Chicago Drug funnelers, meet at a large table. Their meeting room was fairly unglamorous, compared to their estates and set ups in past years, they've been forced to go underground. The Russian Cartel leader, "Ivan sturnof", peers at the other 2 parties attending. "gentlemen" Ivan said in a thick russian accent, "I believe we need to press our efforts", The southside hitters leader looked shocked. "Press our efforts, Da f*ck?!", he said standing up, "Me and my Boys HAVE been, you russian chooch". Ivan scowled at the Gang Member, "you and your pathetic gang scum are a weak backbone, the only reason we asked you to attend this meeting instead of letting you surccumb to.....Him, is because we can use your mincemeat gang members". The southside leader sat down, "now onto the pressing matter at ha-" Ivan was cut off when the large metal door to the meeting room was open, and a sinister laugh came from the man entering.

The Architect walked forward into the room, "good evening, gentlemen" The Architect said, stepping forward to the unoccupied end of he table. the Southside hitters leader looked at the Architect, "give me one reason I shouldn't have my boy here rip your head off". The Architect smiled at the man, "How about a Magic trick", Thne Architect said, stabbing a sharpened pencil into the weak wood of the table. "I'm going to make this pencil, DISSAPEAR". Ivan nodded, strangely following along with the Architects show. oen of the Southside Hitters gang members stood up and walked over to The Architect, Architect simply Caught the thug's swing, then grabbing the back of his head and slamming it down onto the end of the pencil. The Body collapsed onto the floor, with the pencil jabbed in 5he Thug's eye. "TADA", The Architect leaned forward to the place the pencil was at, "it's gone". Ivan nodded, not having his previous scowl, The Southside hitter leader stood up, "YOU MOTHA-", Ivan slammed one of his hands on the table, pointing ath the Architect with his other hand. "I want to hear what he has to say". The Southside hitters Leader sat down, The Architect continued, "I remember a Time, when The Crooks and Criminals could squeeze the profit from Chicago, and The Police would turn a Blind Eye, like Clockwork".

Ivan nodded, "well, what happened? I'll tell you what Happened, The Knight did". "The Knight, and his little Buddy buddies at The Police Department, are absolutely beating the tar into you, But I know how to beat them, I know how to unrravel the seams of their Status Quo, and tear their order into Chaos". Ivan looked at The Architect, "How?", "it's Simple, we Kill The Knight", The Men in the room laughed, some shuckled, Ivan slammed his fist on the table. "If it were so Simple, why haven't you done it yet?", The Architect leaned forward, "if you're good at Something, Never do it for free". The Architect placed down a post card wit5h the Eiffel tower, a load of wirit5ng written on the back. "if, and when, you and you're little....uh..." The Architect pointed at The Southside hitters, making a gesture that seemed to be trying to find the right word. "Vermin, want to get things started, there's my Card". The Architect said, humming while walking out.

---

Rooftop of The Chicago Police Headquarters

The Mayor; Daniel Storm, and Chicago Police Detective John Brakenbrook stand ontop of the Police Headquarters.The Detective lit up a Cigarette, the cold air of December pouring in made his breath visible, The Mayor was in a wool and leather coat, Te Mayor looked around at the cold, dark, night sky. "when is he going to get here?" The Mayor asked, "Now" The Knight said, seemignly appearing out of nowheer from the dark corner of the Building. The Mayor slightly jumped, The Detctive nodded, stepping over to shake The Knight's Hand. afterwards, The Detective turned to the Mayor. "Daniel, I'd like you to meet our Mysterious Partner in Justice, the Knight". The Mayor walked over to the Knight shaking his hand, "Nice to have someone who helps more than common Vigilante rabble". The Knight nodded, the 3 men stood at the center of the rooftop, "Have you foudn anything?" John asked The Knight, "The Mysterious funder for The Russian Mafia is Xi Kento, A CCP Federal treasurer based in Hong Kong". The Detective turned to the Knight, "Hong Kong? THey're outsourcing their fundign that far?", The Mayor placed his hands on his hips, shakign his head. "the Chinese'll never Extrodite one of their own, We're going to need to take anohter approach". "What if I can bring Kento here". The Mayor and The Detective turned to The Knight, "what?" The Mayor asked.

"If I Get him from Hong Kong, to Chicago, Would we be able to charge him for his crimes?", The Detective nodded rubbing his chin, "He'll technically be on American Soil, so, yes". The Mayor turned aroudn to Asked The Knight, "But How will you...." The Mayor trailed off, as The Knight seemigly disspaeared. The Mayor looked over to the detective, brakenbrook took a puff of his cigarette, "He does that".

[The Fallen Jedi]

Demon God Alastir

Alastir sat atop the darkened throne that allowed him virtual Omnipresence within his realm, he could see that his demonic army was growing stronger and stronger with each passing moment, the Demon Realm was quickly gathering momentum and expanding it's presence with each passing second, and with each expansion, the more power Alastir was gathering, but it was not enough, his realm was only the size of a solar system, and that much power would not be enough, he needed more power as soon as possible and then he would be able to launch his invasion, and the next Gods he had to absorb were the members of the Unholy Trinity, as well as the other Ten Dark Immortal Gods, he knew they weren't completely destroyed, as they represented the concept of Universal Darkness, and until their very concept was destroyed, they would continue to live on, they were Alastir's next target, and he now had the ability to break the Mortis Monolith Seal, but in order to further weaken it, darkness had to be spread.

Alastir, with a simple wave of his hand called upon his draconic servant, Akor took a bow to his owner and said nothing, allowing Alastir to speak "Akor, the time to enact Phase Three has finally come..." Alastir stated, rising out of his throne, with Demon Kings Dabura and Mira sitting on the thrones that were next to Alastir's very own obsidian throne "The time has finally come to bring the fight to Satera and those who have betrayed their home, it is time to spread our influence to the very end of the Universe." Without turning to the Demon King Duo, Alastir addressed the both of them "Scatter the legions of our Demon Army, unleash our very wrath upon the innocents of the Universe." Alastir stated, the two Demon King's merely nodding as they walked towards the exit of the great Citadel, leaving both Alastir and Akor "While this is happening, Akor, you will come with me into our former home and infiltrate the very realm of Mortis, the Dark Gods shall soon be mine..." Alastir suddenly looked up to the heavens, a frown on his face "And nothing shall stop my vision from coming true once more." Alastir darkly contemplated.

---

Lord Satera/The Highfather of Mortis

Satera sat silently on the moon, meditating and connecting himself with the cosmic forces and the very life force of the Universe itself, he could feel it, something was very much wrong, there was something dark coming upon the horizon, and it's intent for the Sol System was no good in the slightest, both Spera and Ouranos knew who it was "Alastir..." The Fusion confirmed, Satera knew that Alastir would be back to wreak his horrible vengeance upon the Earth, and to make things worse, Alastir wasn't simply going to destroy the Earth, but he was going to shed the same amount of blood, the same amount of deaths that the Masaki Galaxy suffered and unleash it upon the Earth, he was going to show the people of Earth such wrath that even Galactus' desire to devour the Earth a mere blip on the radar. "What are you doing Alastir..." Satera pondered "What is your next plan of action?" Satera, even in all of his wisdom found it difficult to track Alastir, because his Godly Powers were removed, Alastir's unique energy signature also disappeared, making it significantly harder to try and find Alastir.

"Your comrade is expanding fast Spera, and if something isn't done about Alastir soon, we may be too late to stop him." Ouranos said to Spera, who acknowledged this with a simple nod on his face "He sure knows how to keep himself hidden, he's using the rapid expansion of darkness to cover his tracks, it's making it significantly difficult to keep track of him, not even I can properly pinpoint him." Now it was Spera's turn to speak up "Alastir is changing his strategy entirely, he usually strikes with not a single care in the world, wanting to outright destroy his enemies, now he is waiting for the right time to strike, assuring that all of his avenues are planned out, he has become a dangerously calculating individual who will stop at nothing until he gathers enough power to make his vision a reality, if he is left to continue on this path, I fear that he will be powerful enough to turn Earth into a hellish wasteland of Death and destruction."

Ouranos put his hand up at his chin, closing his eyes and began to think, Alastir needed power, and lots of it in order to enact his revenge against the Earth, from what he already knew, Alastir absorbed the power of Demon God Demigra, becoming a Demon God himself in the process, but with much more knowledge of his own abilities in the dark arts, but the power of a Demon God and an Arcane Dark Arts Master was not good enough, he had to acquire the power of a God in order to become a threat, and even though Demigra had the title of Demon God, he was a very weak one to say the least, and at his current level, Alastir couldn't dream to contend with any of them, then it suddenly came to him, the Unholy Trintiy and the Ten Lesser Dark Gods, they were powerful in their own respective ways, and what made it even more convincing was the fact that Alastir's Godly Essence was moved to Mortis, where it was contained in the Waterfall of Darkness, where the essence of the Dark Gods, and even all of the dark deeds of the Masaki Galaxy lied, it was an immense presence on Mortis, and If a single person was able to grab hold of such power... It would not end up good for anyone involved "Alastir, you can't really be thinking of doing that..." Ouranos said inwardly.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Hong Kong, Mainland China

Xi Kento's office, Nationalized Skyscraper

Xi Kento sat in his office, the very clean and pristine office the CCP had provided for him allowed him to complete his work very well. Kento turned to one of the men sitting infront of his desk, "The Architect ios troubling to say the least, He unnerves me". The men nodded, "has the Party found out about our efforts with the Mafia?", the men shook their heads. Kento took a small, but powerful breath, "good, then no one can stop our efforts". Kento sat at his desk, not knowing of the Hunter who stalked the rooftops a few buildings down.

5 Skyscrapers away, Rooftop

The Knight stood ontop of a Tall Skyscraper rooftop, overlooking the floor and office he needed to get to fast. The Knight took a breath, hooking up a device to the back of his belt and fastening it. The Knight then ran and jumped off the Rooftop, opening his cape to allow him to glide. The Knight soared through the Cold and crisp air, The Knight readied himself to impact into the building. The Knight started to decrease elevation, 'Aim for the center of the window' The kngith thought to himself. The Knight aimed for a window, an area not far from the office he needed to hit. The Knight closed his cape, zippign down straight at the window, The knight crashed through the window, rolling and standing up. 2 if the guards attacked the Knight, the Knight kneed one of themgrabbing their arm and flipping them over his shoulder onto the other guards, then Stompong on the guard's Head nocking them out.

The Knight crept through the office, until Xi Kento and the two men hurried out of the office, taking out their pistols and firing at The knight. The Knight dodged and rolled to his left, the 3 men fired, sending papers and materials flying all over. They stopped, noticing The Knight seemingly dissapeared. Xi Kento rasied an eyebrow, "scan the area, NOW", the two men nodded searching the area. The Knight quickly grabbed one of the men around the neck, heaving them over the table while Kento and the other bodyguard wasn't looking, then putting him in a sleeper hold knocking him out. The knight took out his tranquilizer dart shooter, shooting the other bodyguard in the head knocking him out. before Xi could react, The Knight quickluy knocked the gun out of his hand, then punched him sending him onto his back. The Knight cuffed Kentos Hands, grabbing him by the leg and pulling him over to a corner of the building. The Knight placed a sticky explosive, then picking up XI and holding him infront of him, as 7 armed guards hurried up the stairs, all yelling at The Knight to surrender.

The Knight simply activated the explosive, blowing a large hole in the corner, the Knight took a few steps back, still holding onto Kento. The Knight activated the Device, sending a large line and parachute out of the hole in the building. The Knight looked at the leader of the men, "SURRENDER", "Not Today..". a Cryotech Cargo Plane flerw by, hooking onto the parachute line, pulling both The Knight and Kento out of the building. Kento screamed as The Knight pulled them up, reeling in the cord, The Knight finally reached the bottom of the plane, The Knight heaved Kento up into the plane, climbing up in and closing the hatch. The Knight then grabbed Kento by the Collar of his shirt, Administering a hard punch, knocking him out cold.

The Knight then put his hand up to his commlink, calling Brakenbrook.

conversation established....
["Knight? That you? Have you captured Xi Kento?]
["yes, I'm looking at him now, I'm heading back to Chicago John"]\
["Alright, I'll meet up with Daniel, see you soon Knight"]
Conversation ended.....

[The Starlight]

Elena Galadera/Stormlight
Defended

In Gotham, she had proudly proclaimed the Oncoming Storm. She had been right, the storm had come, and it had also gone, leaving Elena in its wake somewhat changed. The nature of her powers had changed, so that Stormlight formed as an enhancement to her own body, and with the more of it that she infused, the stronger, faster and more powerful she was. Her ability of light manipulation seemed to have gone, but something had replaced it, the ability to create force fields, an ability she was still experimenting with.

But after the ordeals she had gone through in Gotham, those long nights of battling villain after villain, Elena had tired of heroics. She had hoped to restart, in Jump City, with the Young Bloods, but that had not quite been right for her, and so, she had left them, going to go find herself, or at least, that's what all the movies and books called it. She hoped that she would be able to come back to them, and she planned to do so, but it had just not been the right time. She was proud of what they had accomplished, and she hoped to see them soon.

And so, for a time, she traveled, scaling Mount Everest and exploring subterranean depths, visiting various nations using different names, hiring herself and her powers every once in a while until she was a millionaire, at least. And she learned so very much, thanks to her eidetic memory. She learned how to tell when a storm was coming, she learned to how to slow her heart rate until it appeared that she was dead. She had extended her knowledge and now knew how to incapacitate a grown man with her pinky and most of the world's obscure languages, and a few alien tongues too. She had even created her own martial arts style, one that she simply named, Guard, adapted from those of the world, and augmented to include her new powers.

But it was time for a different experience, she felt, one other than what could be found on Earth. After all, the stars beckoned, she only had to get up there. But as for that, she had no idea of how to do that, and she was disinclined towards convincing the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' or so those heroes proudly called themselves, to take her offworld. No, she would do it alone.

And so, that had been her dilemma for several months, and, still being bewildered, she had decided to go some place to cool her head: literally. That place was Antarctica, and as these thoughts raced through her head she was trudging through the snow, alone, the feeling in her toes quickly receding. Some would call her crazy, actually, Elena thought to herself, most people would call her crazy, but she had always loved risks and that feeling of desperation to survive. But, perhaps, she pondered, looking up at the unceasing blizzard, she had met her match here. Of course, she could always fly out, but that was cheating, though she had been sorely tempted several times now. But, as she had become distracted, she had failed to watch where she stepped, and the young woman groaned mentally as she felt that sensation of falling down a crevasse.

She could have flown out, but she decided to test her force fields, creating a bubble around herself just in time, as she landed hard. But Elena remained intact with no bones broken, and she looked around in the cavern, deciding to spend the day, or the night, as she couldn't tell, here. Judging her first step as being to start a fire, she headed over to the nearest rock, and began. Starting a fire in these conditions by conventional means was nigh in impossible, but this was just one of the tricks she had developed on her travels, and so, she started, creating two force fields and rubbing them against each other for several minutes until they sparked, catching fire on the paper she had dug out of her pack.

Breathing a sigh, she sat by it, rubbing her hands there to warm them, eventually falling asleep beside it and the fire. And in the morning, when she had awoken and eaten some now hard bread, Elena created a pickaxe out of a force field. Again, she could have easily flown out using a force field, but it was one of the ideals that Bruce had instilled in her; a desire to make herself the best she could be, a drive to push herself to the maximum human levels, and beyond. And so, she removed her thick gloves, coating them on force fields to ensure that frostbite was impossible, before swinging at the frozen wall in order to start climbing. To her surprise, the pickaxe rebounded right off the wall. So she swung again, but to no avail, hitting something underneath the ice which was harder than water frozen for thousands of years. Curious, she pulled out a glowing orb, a sphere, as she called them, letting the Stormlight within the sphere slowly melt the ice off the object.

It was a dark grey ring of some sort, with symbols that she could not read inscribed upon it, at least 20 of them. She wondered how long it had been here, and what its purpose was, but from what she could tell, it was very, very old, and not just a structure. And so, sighing to herself, she drew back her cloak, a dozen Stormlight spheres flying out, beginning to melt the surrounding area.

Perhaps she would find some purpose in this.

[Tomia]

Young Bloods
Mars nodded at Kiris' words when she spoke up to the group. "You're right Kiris, Nico and Cat shouldn't blow their cover just yet, it might be useful for them to try to do some spying on their own. Still I think trying to get into their corporate office could be helpful, there's got to be something that proves their guilt there." Mars then frowned a bit at Nelli's words about sacrificing animals. Even though Mars was scientifically minded, he didn't believe in killing animals like that. "Well, thank you for the offer Nelli, we'll... think about that." He said to her, deciding it'd be best to not openly reject her offer, since she seemed liked she wanted to help.

Cora
Cora followed the others upstairs, smiling and nodding at the others when they encouraged Jamie to join the team, or at least hang out with them for a little while. She had already said her piece so she didn't add more, but she was glad to see the others supporting her as well. Then she felt Katie take her hand and say that she should see a medic. Cora frowned, this was the third straight time that Katie had done something like this after a fight. "Katie, I'm fine and no we don't really have a medic. You don't have to worry about me so much sweetie, I'm always careful and I would never let myself get hurt because I know how much that would hurt you. I mean, you were hurt worse than I was. Magneto almost chocked you to death." Cora told her girlfriend, wondering why Katie was so worried.

Darian and Serene
Zeritin tried to hold off the attacks, but soon it became clear that the massive amount of light energy was beginning to overwhelm him. He shouted out in pain as the light began to touch his skin and gave off a severe burning sensation. He was eventually overwhelmed and fell to the ground, reverting to his original human as he collapsed from exhaustion. However, his form suddenly disappeared and dissolved into dark energy before disappearing entirely. Serene sighed as Darian rose to his feet and began to join the others. "They always disappear when we defeat them, and they get stronger all the time." She said, weariness in her voice before she turned to the others. "Anyway, thank you all for your help. I'm not sure we could have survived if we didn't have your help." Serene told them sincerely.

[Deminis]

-snip-

"Wow, you can survive that. I take it you're not some experimented humans? Or maybe you are a mutant? Well, in any case this proves that my first attack is futile, I see." said Len. Of course, he's not smiling but this experience made him regarded his enemy as not a normal enemy he fought months ago in Gotham and NY. Or at least at the part of NY he lived to.

Alpheid shrimp? He explained that it's quite an amazing subject, with a claw so powerful it generates sonic wave. Great. Before he could reacted, the sonic wave was generated, sending him down to the ground. It must be heard to the neighbors around, "Hey, can we move somewhere else? We don't want unnecessary casualties, right? Your attack is powerful, but I know I'll win."

Damian color change stopped as it suddenly as it had started, already beginning to revert. "Of course. The civilian population can not be put at risk." Damian said as his bodies shape returned to normal, making just as many grotesque sights and sounds. "Lets walk shall we, your choice." Damian put pulled his phone from his pocket and began to text, "Do you mind if I bring a friend to watch? They wont interfere, they know how I am."

[New Neros]

Life After Death
Part II

Xala felt the chilling winds of the infinite void of space shake through her body straight to the core, her eyes growing wide with a primal fear as this being stood before her. His presence felt repulsive, like he was everything she was against, and for the first time, she felt as if she were prey in front of an apex predator rather than the other way around. This Maxwell, she couldn't figure him out, but Xala had no time to think about it. She had to get rid of him, not capture him, something instinctive within her being shouted at her to kill Maxwell.

Another instinct scream to turn and run far away, though.

So, Xala stood there, floating along the solar wind but otherwise motionless. She flinched heavily as Mad Max began to move his arms outward from the cross he made out of them over his chest. He extended them with his palms out and his fingers flared outward, Xala watching closely at every movement he made, seeing it's fluidity and noting that despite her fears of him, Maxwell moved gracefully. "You feed on stars, no?" He called out, Xala gritting her teeth as his butchering of her language was more apparent, but she let him speak. "I do as well."

Xala's eyes grew wide and her mouth became slack as she realized what Max's movement was for. The thousands upon thousands of bright lights in the sky each faded back into the grim darkness of space, one by one, falling to whatever it was Maxwell could do. She stood aback, her instinct to flee overpowering the one that told her to fight, but she was now almost paralyzed with fear. Now, though, she realized that she wasn't afraid of Maxwell, but afraid of what he could do. He can make her hungry.

As the star burned fiercely behind him, not a single joule of energy made it past Maxwell to enrich Xala, and he smothered the other stars in a grandoise display of sheer power. Xala understood what his first words meant, now, he was the inevitable hunger that drives the Xyrixma. She dropped to her knees as she recognized who he was, that he was a Xyrixma God. Or rather, a Goddess, so she called out by name. "Goddess Annihilixia...I..." Xala began, trying to find the correct way to grovel before the Eternal Hunger. "I offer myself...As your Avatar."

Maxwell seemed to cock his head to the side ever so slightly, studying the slime being before him. He pondered for a moment if she was saying a prayer to give her strength, but slowly, he pieced together exactly what she was doing. Behind his armor, Maxwell smirked, having been mistaken for one of her races' gods. He politely informed her of her mistake, though, "I told you who I am, I am not this Annihilixia you pray to." Maxwell gently turned his palms to face upward, curling his fingers softly as he did so. "I told you exactly what I am, and a God was not one of them."

Xala's eyes shot open at the revelation, jumping up from her kneeling position. A twinge of embarrassment and the hope of striking first drove her to attack Morningstar, but a severe and pulsating pain ravished every inch of her body as she got closer to Maxwell. Shooting out a single, slimy tentacle to strike Maxwell's helmet like a spear, Xala was forced back down on her knees and watched with torture as her attack stalled a single inch before touching the man's head. "It seems like you've made your decision, then. Release my comrades and I will consider your survival." Xala shrunk into humanoid form, grabbing her stomach as the pain became too much. Maxwell seemed to wait, watching Xala intently, waiting for the slime prison that held Otto and Val to fall as well. "Fine then, starve." Maxwell declared, closing his fist harshly, causing Xala to scream out in even greater pain than before - multiplied tenfold each second.

"That's enough, Max." That beautiful, masculine voice said, Xala's eyes barely opening through the torturous Ragnarok Sanction, seeing the powerful form of Otto Godblessed standing between her and that demon Maxwell. She breathed deeply and rapidly, noticing Max did indeed stop, but his hands were still raised. A stare down was taking place, but Xala was much too focused on her internal pain than their power struggle. "She's not trying to kill us. She just wants to eat." Otto said defensively, "Rather than kicking a dog when it's down, let's talk this out." He then commanded, Maxwell lifting his chin to look down on Otto.

"A fruitful endeavor, hopefully." Morningstar said angrily as he lowered his arms. In an instant, Max appeared mere inches away from Otto's side, grabbing onto his left shoulder a bit forcibly. He whispered so that only Otto would hear, surprising the Asgardian. "Thank you...For stopping me." Otto turned to look at Maxwell, remembering their agreement when Max became a Mad God - that Otto will be the one to keep him in check. Otto hadn't thought much of it since Morningstar was no longer a God, but Otto nodded at Maxwell, the two of then turning to look at Xala. She barely opened one eye to look back, watching as Maxwell raised his palm towards her. She flinched, fearing the worst of whatever was said between Maxwell and Otto.

To her surprise, her hunger was slowly eroding, enough for her to open her eyes and process what was going on. She looked towards Morningstar and Otto, watching as solar energy poured from Max's hand and directly into her body. She gasped and searched for words to say, "I..." She began, but lowered her head softly, "Thank you..."

Otto smiled and floated over to her, kneeling down next to the Xyrixma, the girl blushing vividly across her slimy body - shades of red, orange, and yellow flickering across her body as Otto grew closer. "It's no problem." He said with a smile, grabbing hold of his helmet and removing it from his armor, letting Xala see his face and the smile he had. She could have fainted right there, it was almost too much. "My name is Otto Godblessed. It's nice to meet you, what's your name?" He cooed softly, unintentionally though, extending a hand for her to shake.

"Mmm..." She said instinctively, her head floating around as Otto spoke. She shook her head quickly though, registering what he had said and blushing in embarrassment. "Oh! I, um..." She started, looking at his hand, and slowly extending her own to encase it. "I'm Xala...Of the Xyrixma." She said quietly, and had a question of her own. "Um...If you don't mind me asking, uh, how are you speaking my language?"

Otto blinked for a moment, then said, "Ah!", Fully explaining the weird occurrence to the Xyrixma. "My language is known as Allspeak. Maxwell and Val use it as well, it's a primordial tongue that can be understood across all species and in their own native language. To me, you're speaking Allspeak, and I can understand you through that, and to you, I'm speaking your own language." Otto said with a sweet smirk. Xala returned the grin in a more sly manner subconsciously, Otto standing up and causing her to do the same. "You've already met Maxwell..." Otto said, Morningstar raising his hand in a short wave, Xala nodding quickly and looking at him through the side of her eyes, suspiciously. "But this is Valerie Valentine, or Val for short." He went on, gesturing toward the slender being next to Maxwell, who removed her helmet as well.

Xala recognized her feminine facial features immediately, not noticing that she wasn't a male under that armor, but offered a brief hello and hand wave. "N-nice to meet you, Val..."

"You fight well. Nice to meet you as well, but if you'd excuse us, we have some work to do." She said, nodding at Max a secret signal to move out, the two casting that same gaze at Otto. "Right, Otto?" The Asgardian stood his ground, though, staring at the couple with his soft yet defined features.

"Yes, and that's why I'm inviting Xala to tag along as well." He passionately said, turning to look at the Xyrixma with a sly eye movement. This shot Xala's heart-rate, if she had one, through the roof. "Let's watch a universe be born together." He further said, Xala standing there with her mouth hanging open slightly, nodding in acceptance, though. "Good. Max, Val, is that fine with you two?" He continued, Val rolling her eyes heavily and throwing her hands up.

"Yeah, sure, fine, whatever." Val said with hostility, turning around and walking away from the conversation. One down, one to go.

Maxwell, on the other hand, stood stoic and firm as he looking Xala up and down. She grew self-conscious at his gaze, and moved closer to Otto for protection from what she considered was a demon. "Her stay is welcomed. See to her, then, Otto." Maxwell ordered, Otto's smile diminishing a bit but remaining nonetheless. "Do not let her distract you from your duties, then. I expect your arrival at the Anvil within the hour." With that, the Mad King departed in the same direction as Val, leaving Otto and Xala alone together, the Asgardian turning to his new-found interest.

"Well, I think they like you." He said with some sarcasm.

"Heh, yeah..." Xala replied, picking up on the joke.

"Anyways, let me show you around..."

[New Rob Halfordia]

A battle raged on the planet known as Foundry, one that would decide the fate of the planet, and its inhabitants. Storm clouds loomed over the battle, red lightning horizontally streaking across the sky above the Dark One, while blue lighting streaked across the sky above Xylan and his squad. For a moment they simply locked each other in their respective visions, not moving. Graav, Xylan's squad mate with the ability to manipulate gravity, motioned towards what the Dark One held. "Is that the sword that he used to massacre the Conduits?" he asked, with some apprehension in his voice.

Xylan remained unshaken as the turbulent battle raged around them, and the most powerful being on the planet stood before them. "Yes. That would be the blade he used to kill some of our most powerful commanders." he said to his men in a stoic manner, "The fact that he's using it means that we just need to be more careful not to allow him to land his attacks. No amount of regeneration will be able to heal the wounds that blade will inflict, should it, or its energy touch you. Maintain your distance."

The Dark One suddenly began walking forward, indenting the street below with each step. He stood at a hulking eleven feet tall, about 3 feet taller than most Constructs. Xylan raised his hand, firing a bolt of lightning at the Dark One, in an attempt to gauge his durability. However, in an instant, the lumbering behemoth's sword went from idle by his side, to being pointed at the sky, and the parallel buildings directly behind the Dark One suddenly exploded, sending soldiers who were hunkered down in the buildings flying.

The clap of thunder caused by the lightning coupled with the explosions created a deafening sound, almost comparable to a small nuclear weapon. But, that was the least of Xylan's worries. Somehow, the Dark One was able to move faster than lightning, swinging his sword faster than the attack could strike him, and cutting the bolt in half. And, it seemed as though he wasn't even trying, despite performing a feat that even Conduits would have trouble pulling off. It was evident that this Dark One had honed his skills, unlike the others, who were too savage and violent to focus their abilities.

Xylan turned to his squad mate, 129C, also known as Phoon. Despite being one of Xylan's subordinates, he was actually a Conduit, one capable of moving at light speed through manipulation of a fundamental force known as Weak Force. But, it was anything but weak. The Dark One would likely have to ability to do the same, but, Phoon had a method in which he could go slightly faster than light.

As the Dark One began lumbering forwards once more, Phoon prepared to blitz him with an attack that the squad regularly used on manipulators of light. Right before jumping, Graav created a massive gravity well around the Dark One. Chunks of stone and metal began being drawn towards him, and even soldiers had a difficult time maintaining their footing as the force appeared out of nowhere. At the same time as this, Xylan pushed Phoon towards the Dark One with his magnetism, accelerating him forward at an astounding speed. And, when Phoon utilized his maximum speed, the combination of gravitational pull and magnetic acceleration stacked on his own speed, causing him to go faster than light, and send out a shockwave which shot throughout the city, razing several buildings.

As Xylan looked on, expecting to see his squad mate triumphant in his attack on the Dark One, he was shocked to see the reality of the situation. For the first time since the war began, he felt true fear, as he looked on to see his friend's head being gripped by the Dark One. As Phoon struggled to break free, the hulking monster spoke in a mechanical, and deep tone, "You insolent pests know not the things with which you mettle." he said, his sword suddenly thrusting forward, and Phoon's body going limp. As the bright blue blood of the construct dripped to the ground, the Dark One removed his blade from the Construct's chest, tossing the corpse aside. "My power extends to limits you can't even begin to imagine. Some call me a god, but, I take that as an insult. A god is nothing compared to he who wields this blade."

"All-Red the Technosword."

[Galnius]

Jamie nodded at Cora and then headed into the building alongside her, curiously looking around. The building was quite modern and well-furnished, not the kind of thing you'd expect a group of six or so young women to own, though she supposed this was different, since these were superheroes. Superheroines. Whatever, she wasn't an expert and she doubted someone was going to complain about her thoughts. Regardless, when she noticed other people in the lobby and saw Cora walking up to them and greeting them, Jamie immediately paused, and then approached slowly, staying behind Cora. One of the girls she had greeted was dressed in a Green Lantern outfit, which she'd seen on TV sometimes, and the other looked pretty normal.

"Um, hey." Jamie greeted them a bit awkwardly as she reached out to shake Kylie's hand, almost reluctantly. "I can, uhh, change between powersets I guess."

"That makes about no sense at all." Kylie replied, smiling the whole time. She reached for her mask, which dissolved as her gloved fingers touched it. "But it's still nice to meet you. So who'd you beat up outside? Somebody who matters? Or just like some thug or mugger? Not that those people don't matter at all, but... yeah. Criminals aren't the same as villains, or supervillains. Everybody knows that."

"Welcome newbies!" Spoke a voice all of a sudden, Katie had traveled through the building electrically, zipping up the structure to where cora and Kylie were. She had a smile so wide it could have made the comedy mask look subtle. She felt energize, fantastic, wonderful. "Hi Cora... Kylie." She hugged Cora from behind, wrapping her arms around the android lovingly as she addressed the others. "So sorry, I was just wrapping up a bit down there. Talking to SHIELD contacts... avoiding mindy... she scares me." She remarked, then sighed. "She's awesome though, badass and awesome. She'd eat a grenade and think it was too small. Anywho, I'm guessing you two want to join the illustrious ranks of the JQ, am I right?"

"Katie!" Kylie lunged at her best friend, despite the fact that she was already hugging Cora. "It's been forever since we hung out! You're busy doing things, I'm busy being in space, we just need to chill one of these days!"

"I'm still here you know, Ms. Prince." Mindy replied, still sitting behind her desk. "But, as it stands, I don't have anything for you to do. As of right now. And I'd rather not eat a grenade; I said it wasn't big enough for the building, not for me." She smiled, but only the trio of veteran JQ members knew what hid behind that kindness.

"Let's all go upstairs then! We can show them around 'n stuff. Find some empty rooms. Better than waiting down here." Kylie depowered and headed for the elevator, turning back to continue listening in on the conversation.

"Joined", says Marybeth. "Just got the acceptance speech from the green chick. So, I'm guessing super speed? Cool, I guess." She looked around the group of girls, thinking to herself. I wonder how NYC is still in one piece if THIS is who is protecting them. They look about as hard-working as me. She snickered, rather amused. "So what do you guys do on your time off?"

" 'The green chick,' she says, Kylie replied, laughing nonchalantly. "Look out, blondie. One of these days you might just wake up with a gag over your mouth and some big green alien nasty dripping on your face. THEN you'll know why you don't call me 'the green chick,' OK?" Kylie smiled, similar to what Mindy did just minutes ago. I've been practicing my Mindy smile, hope it looks at least half as scary as she does.

Jamie nearly twitched when she heard a voice coming from out of nowhere and then saw a girl with black hair pop up behind Cora and hug her in a very affective manner which sursprised her, though she said nothing about it, simply listening as the new girl rambled on about doing stuff and some very scary person named Mindy whom she hoped she wouldn't have to meet anytime soon. Cora then introduced the new girl as Katie, her girlfriend, which explained a lot, though she still wasn't entirely comfortable with having the attention of yet another person. She was never good at handling crowds, after all.

When the question to join came all of the sudden, Jamie blinked and opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it, then opened it again. "No, um... I... I just came here because the redhead invited me in..." She said softly, evidently not feeling very comfortable. Truth be told, it wasn't even that she was adverse to the act of joining, but she was nervous about having to get to know and work with all of these people, out of the blue. "I mean, I didn't... I don't... um..." She trailed off, tripping over her words slightly, shoving her hands into her pockets. "I... it really wasn't that impressive, you know? I just, like, jumped on his head and he went down... Nothing very heroic, see...?" She stated, shuffling from side to side awkwardly.

"The Blob? Big guy, Brotherhood of Mutants? He's no lightweight, I'll tell you that." Kylie laughed, for real, as she returned to the group to pat Jamie on the shoulder. "That takes something, Jamie. Not anyone would go out of their way to fix something they could easily ignore by going down a different street. How about: you come upstairs and look around? Then give some more thought about sticking around, eh?"

Following everyone upstairs, staying midly behind the pack, Marybeth continued scoping out the area, unphased by the 'Mindy Smile'. When you see a bunch of sadistic psychopathic nazi scientists as your daily life, not much seems to get to you. Admittedly, it was fun to make them curse in German when they failed. Hearing Katie and Cora speak, however, brought her focus back to the real word, almost making her gag. She fought it down, of course. Dear God, I didn't know people could be so......REVOLTING with their emotions. She shook her head. "So, what does this joint have? Any sweet tech, a car or two? Soundproofing? My room will definitely need soundproofing."

[The Republic of Atria]

Otis

"Being the new Darkseid has... Well I can't say it's been perfect. I mean the guy has like everyone as an enemy. People are terrified of me because they think I'm worse than him because I killed him. Which is obviously not true. At least I hope that it's not true." He said. "Minus getting the tar kicked out of me every other day, it's not so bad. The powers are pretty sweet. Track doom beams that do whatever you want are a pretty big plus. And I haven't had to take a poop in weeks!" He said having to switch to his other hand because of the fact that he only had three fingers on each hand. "I just remembered... My PS4 was on Apokolips... Oh well. I'll buy another one later." He said after Julie rattled off all the stuff she had to do. "Busy few weeks? I need a vacation. No more weird cosmic bullcrap for at least a week. I need some Otis time. Why don't you take some time off too? You probably need it more than I do. I'd cover for you, but I'm not great with the whole Lantern thing."

Naja and Xander

A few hours after the fight with Khan, they were both planning to take some time to themselves. Their honeymoon to be exact. They took the truck Hadri gave them as their wedding gift as sort of a suitcase. To store any souvenirs they came across for the most part. As well as extra clothing in the event the ones they normally wear were damaged. "Ready to go, Naja?" He asked.

"I've been waiting on you, dummy." She snickered and floated a few feet above the ground. "Let's go already. I'm sure Praetoria can handle a week without us. And I want to see that star you kept on talking about."

"Alright. That'll be our first stop." Xander said, ensuring that the truck was secured to his back. And with that, the couple took off into space and entered Hyperspace for their faster than light travel. "It shouldn't take longer than half an hour at this speed... I think. It's kind of hard to measure when you're in hyperspace."

"I'm sure we'll be fine." She said and kept flying alongside her husband. After the time had passed and they phased back into normal space, they had arrived near a white dwarf star. "Is... That it? Wow..." She said. "It's... A lot smaller than I thought."

"Well. It is a White Dwarf. So it's supposed to be kind of small. Relatively speaking." He explained. "Were we normal. Our retinas would have been burned out a looooong time ago... Along with our... Everything else. Fortunately, we're not. And besides. It's only the second prettiest thing in the sky..."

"You're such a goof, you know that?" She replied and kissed him. "You try so hard. And you do a great job." She said and as the couple made out close to the star, they were approached by two beings. Seemingly a man and a woman who waited for them to stop, or notice them. Which happened after a second much to their embarrassment.

"Excuse me! We are trying to have a private moment here." Xander exclaimed.

"Please. Forgive us." The woman said. "This... It's difficult to explain. We had no intention of disturbing you. You just happened to be doing that with your lover." She explained and went quiet for a moment. "How do we put this?"

"Simple. Xander, we are your true parents." It was nice, simple, and directly to the point. Or at least he thought so. Xander had a very confused expression. "You were sent to Earth as an infant. We wanted to see what you would accomplish before we came to explain what happened. Come with us and we can answer all of the questions you likely have."

Xander didn't know how to react. He was more in a state of shock than anything else. This two were his mother and father? They couldn't be...

[Charmera]

Ling groaned as she recovered from the punch, righting herself before she hit the ground. She felt her jaw click, and she was fairly sure she had bruises. Her nose might even be bleeding. She then looked at Zhao, and frowned as she stood up strait. "One. I am not a god. Never claimed to be." She replied, before grabbing a street light and using it to slam into her target. "Two, I'm not trying to kill you. I don't care what the government says. I won't ever do that. That's what separates me from you and from that bird. It's my rule." She spoke, using the lamppost to slam down onto her target as a follow up. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to hurt you. You brought this beating on yourself." She spoke with confidence. Though she was still wary. He seemed to have a lot of tricks.

Zhao simply blocked the lamp post, causing it t break in half.

"All you had to do was stay out of the way. Now, you're going to pay the price." Zhao started to fire two red beams from his eyes, something went wrong, however. Instead of hitting Ling square in the face, he coughed up a massive amount of blood.

He soon lost control of his heat vision, sending the beams off into a nearby building, burning right through the middle of it. As soon as the heat vision stopped, he fell to the ground, writhing in agony. From his upper torso to his head, Zhao began to change into a variety of animal parts in rapid succession before the right side of the afflicted area turned into a dark grey color. Zhao soon passed out from the pain. The strain of turning into a complex alien creature heavily damaged him, causing him to be unable to finish the fight

"Finally." Ling muttered, grabbing her target, she moved swiftly back to her comms. She picked it back up, hoping her handlers wouldn't take it too personally. Besides now she could interogate the suspect and get him to reveal those he's working with. "Sorry there Base. I needed to grab him. I'll be meeting you at the drop off location."

"Change of plans Red Fist. We're not taking Zhao in."

"We're not? Why?"

"The situation has changed... drastically."

"I don't understand."

"A bomb was just set off in a convention. A terrorist group appeared calling themselves "PPT", hijacked local news. They're claiming responsibility and say more deaths will come... unless we follow their demands."

"Demands?"

"They involve you and Zhao. You both need to report back to the drop off site."

"He won't help us out of the goodness of his heart!"

"We'll offer money or whatever he wants. Doesn't matter what we do, we just need him concious in the next five hours. And if you can, explain the situation and get him to co-operate."

'There's something you're not telling me..."

"There's always something you're not being told, you just have to live with that."

Ling sighed as she placed Zhao down and then slid down too on the wall. She attempted to shake him out of his unconsciousness.

Otis

"Being the new Darkseid has... Well I can't say it's been perfect. I mean the guy has like everyone as an enemy. People are terrified of me because they think I'm worse than him because I killed him. Which is obviously not true. At least I hope that it's not true." He said. "Minus getting the tar kicked out of me every other day, it's not so bad. The powers are pretty sweet. Track doom beams that do whatever you want are a pretty big plus. And I haven't had to take a poop in weeks!" He said having to switch to his other hand because of the fact that he only had three fingers on each hand. "I just remembered... My PS4 was on Apokolips... Oh well. I'll buy another one later." He said after Julie rattled off all the stuff she had to do. "Busy few weeks? I need a vacation. No more weird cosmic bullcrap for at least a week. I need some Otis time. Why don't you take some time off too? You probably need it more than I do. I'd cover for you, but I'm not great with the whole Lantern thing."

"Sounds cool. Though I don't envy you." She chuckled. "Would be nice if I didn't have to poop though." She then paused at the vacation question. "I think I might be able to get some rest time. The Gaurdians due owe me my holiday time after all, since i skipped it last year." She remarked. "Hopefully manifest won't need too much help, and if he does things can be sorted quickly if it comes to that. Plus I could always use that whole double feature I never use. No one seems to use it in fact..." She continued. "So... tell me more about yourself. Like, about your life before you became a fully fledged superhero and stuff."

[Deminis]

Jaxon pulled out his phone, as a new text arrived. Hey, its Damian, I got a fight, wanna watch? Jaxon smiled for a moment or two before rapidly pressing in his reply, when and where yo? He put his phone away and started outside, a number of disgruntled sighs sounded behind him as he opened the door, "Fear not my friends, I shall return!" he call out to them, a few more girls faint.

[The Greater Gambia]

Zhao simply blocked the lamp post, causing it t break in half.

"All you had to do was stay out of the way. Now, you're going to pay the price." Zhao started to fire two red beams from his eyes, something went wrong, however. Instead of hitting Ling square in the face, he coughed up a massive amount of blood.

He soon lost control of his heat vision, sending the beams off into a nearby building, burning right through the middle of it. As soon as the heat vision stopped, he fell to the ground, writhing in agony. From his upper torso to his head, Zhao began to change into a variety of animal parts in rapid succession before the right side of the afflicted area turned into a dark grey color. Zhao soon passed out from the pain. The strain of turning into a complex alien creature heavily damaged him, causing him to be unable to finish the fight

"Finally." Ling muttered, grabbing her target, she moved swiftly back to her comms. She picked it back up, hoping her handlers wouldn't take it too personally. Besides now she could interogate the suspect and get him to reveal those he's working with. "Sorry there Base. I needed to grab him. I'll be meeting you at the drop off location."

"Change of plans Red Fist. We're not taking Zhao in."

"We're not? Why?"

"The situation has changed... drastically."

"I don't understand."

"A bomb was just set off in a convention. A terrorist group appeared calling themselves "PPT", hijacked local news. They're claiming responsibility and say more deaths will come... unless we follow their demands."

"Demands?"

"They involve you and Zhao. You both need to report back to the drop off site."

"He won't help us out of the goodness of his heart!"

"We'll offer money or whatever he wants. Doesn't matter what we do, we just need him concious in the next five hours. And if you can, explain the situation and get him to co-operate."

'There's something you're not telling me..."

"There's always something you're not being told, you just have to live with that."

Ling sighed as she placed Zhao down and then slid down too on the wall. She attempted to shake him out of his unconsciousness.

63 years in the past
Somewhere in Korea.


Zhao ran across the snowy field along with his fellow soldiers. Artillery shells and bullets flew threw the air, killing many and strewing their bodies throughout the field. Zhao kept running, soon taking the lead. a American machine gunner noticed him and began to focus on him. Zhao quickly turned into a cheetah and dodged the bullets, now too fast for the machine gunner. Zhao continued running until he made it to the trench, leaping at the machine gunner. As he fell on top of the man, Zhao bit down on the man's throat. Blood splattered across the white snow as the man struggled to get Zhao off of him to no avail. As the man ceased to struggle, Zhao returned to his human form. Three American soldiers turned from firing on the assaulting Chinese soldiers to see their comrade and friend mutilated and Zhao standing over him, blood still covering his face. The three stood where they were, their weapons shaking with fear as Zhao slowly approached them, menacingly.

One of them shot a round of his M-1 Carbine at Zhao, although only grazing him on his left cheek. Zhao smirked before having his head turn into that of a cobra. His neck extended to extrordinary lengths, allowing him to bite the leg of the soldier in the front. The man fell to the ground, holding the bitten area of his leg. Zhao jumped into the air, landing on the man's face and killing him instantly. Zhao quickly turned his arm into a large pincer, cutting another one of the soldiers in half. The moment seemed to be in the blink of an eye to the last soldier, he began fumbling with his gun, only to have Zhao grab him with a tentacle and throw him to his death. Suddenly, a bullet impacted Zhao's back, waking him up and bringing him back to the present.

Present day,
Hong Kong

Zhao woke up to see Ling shaking him.

"Yes, yes, let's repeatedly shake the unconscious man. Don't get him to a hospital or anything." He said groggily, noticing the left side of his body was a dark grey color.

"What the hell did you do to me? Am I going to need to get checked for whatever freak STD you gave me?" He said with a smirk.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Chicago Industrial Section

The Architect meet with Ivan, in the snowy Industrial Lot of one of the Many Industrial Plants in chicago. the Architect walked into the lot, taking a large sniff of the cold, brisk air of December. Ivan looked confused, as he was in a wool and leather coat, his hands in his pockets. Ivan and The Architect approached each other, "Nice of you to call, So You've accepted my Offer", Ivan nodded, "what will you need?". The architect gave otu a "Hmmmm", scratching his chin. "I'll Need......a Big Truck, and Some men to back me up, Oh, and We'll need some side vehicles to back up the truck", Ivan nodded, "anything else?". "Nah, I can work with this. We'll break The Knight down and Turn his city into a Chaotic Paradise". The Architect chuckled, skipping away with 2 of his men following him.

Chicago grand Avenue

The Mayor's Daughter, Suzana, Was being driven in a Black SUV, escorted by 3 Police officers. The Increase in attacks on Affiliates of the Chicago Political officials forced the Police to put Suzana under Protection. The Black SUV was being escorted by 2 Patrol cars. The small convoy drove down the grand avenue, infront of them the drivers spotted a burning fire truck, "What the hell is that?" One of the asked, "Take the Under route" The Leade police sergant radioed to the men. one of the officers raised an eyebrow, "under route? we'll be sitting ducks" he said, following the Patrol car and SUV down onto the undferground route beneath the main road. The Patrol cars drove, quickly taking the quickest route to get to their destination. The peaceful drive was interrupted, when a Large Semi truck came from seeingly out of nowheer, ramming into the side of the back patrol car, sending it crashing off into the Chicago River.

"Jesus!" the Driver of the SUV muttered as the Semi truck drove up and started to ram the back of the SUV. Suzana looked around scared, The officer sitting next to her calmly out a hand on her shoulder, then looked up to the sergant, "we gotta get out of here!". The Sergant nodded, The Semi truck swerved to the lane to the left, smashing through the cement and concrete. The Semitruck's door on the side of the trailer slid opened, The Architect aimed his SMG at the SUV and began to fire. The officer forced Suzana to duck down, takign out his pistol and firing back. The Patrol car at the front attempted to drive forward with the SUV following. out of the lane on the right, a truck and 3 jeeps pulled alongside the two vehidles. the Delivery truck's door opened, and a Masked Man holding an RPG-7 aimed it at the Front patrol car. "JESUS" The Sergant watched from the SUV, as the masked man fired at the front patrol car, blowing it up and forcing the SUV to swevre out of the way of the wreckage. The Sergant grabbed his Radio, "All units, All Units, we need back up, NOW".

The Architect laughed as he continued to fire at The SUV, then, he heard a Monsterous Engine rumble from behind. The officer in the back of the SUV with Suzana looked back, as The Destroyed came racing foward towards them. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" The officer asked, The Sergant, looking back, felt a bit of hope return to him. "That Son, is the Calvary". The Destroyer quickly raced forward to the jeep behind the SUV, out of the top the Vulcan gatteling Gun popped up. "Riot Suppressors" The Knight Said, as The Gun aimed towards the Open door of the Semi truck's trailer and fired. The Architect ducked as hard rubber bullets fired at the truck, taking down a few of his me. the Architect ducked from behind the cover of the trailer and fired at The Destroyer, the bullets doing nothing but bouncing off.

The Destroyer swerved slightly to the right, then Rammed into the back of the Jeep infrotn of him, causing it to spin out and smash into a concrete barrier. The Destroyer raced forward, staying behind the SUV, The Vulcan Gattelign Gun began to fire on the jeep directly to the right of it, the rubber bulets smashing throguh the glass. The Jeep attempted to ram it's side into The Destroyer, but was suprised when it didn't even move The Destroyer an inch. The Destroyer swerved hard to the right, causing The Jeep to jump a ramp and smash into a Garbage Container. The Masked Man in the Delivery truck loaded his RPG witha new round and fired at the Destroyer, He, and The Police, were shocked when the blast barely scratched the armor of The Destroyer. The Architect laughed, "Oh, I'm ALREADY Liking this guy". The Vulcan Gatteling Tuurret on The Destroyer locked onto the Rear back tire of the Delivery truck, It fired, piercing the tire and causing The Delivery truck to slid out and crash into the concrete wall.

The Semi-truck turned off onto a ramp and drove back onto the top main streets, The Destroyer followed The Semi-truck as 3 back up police cars followed and secured the SUV. The Knight contacted the Sergant, ['Continue to the CPDHQ, I'm going to stop The Architect"], ["Will do Knight"]. The Destroyer followed The Semi Truck, The Destroyer loaded a Cable wire shot into the Gatteling Turret, and it drove past the Semi truck, firing the Cable shot at two lamp posts behind it. "Hah, he missed" the Driver of the Semi truck cackled to his friend. The Semi-truck then hit the cable shot which was now accross the road, cuasing The Semi-truck to flip, sending it crashing upside down. The Destroyer turned around, and drove, stopping 20 ft from the Semi-truck. The Architect kicked the bent and broken door of the Semi-truck, Stumbling out and accidently firing a few bullets. The Architect cracked his back and walked towards The Destroyer, The Destroyer's driver compartment opened and The Knight stepped out, walkign towards The architect.

"so, You're the wonderful, Marvelous Knight",
The Knight continued to walk, stopping 5ft from The Architect, "and you're the Psycopathic Murderer also Known as The architect",
The Architect aimed his SMG at the knight "I've only known about you for a few weeks now, but Oh, You're so Delightfully entertaining".
The Knight continued to stare at The Architect, keeping his Scowl, "from Taking down entire groups of 50 men, to driving a Tank and freeing a Convoy".
The Architect cotninued to aim at The Knight, "Now It's just you, and me", "Not Exactly" The Knight said.
Detective John Brakenbrook, Disguised in the gear of one of The Architect's men, Smacked The Architect over the head with an assault rifle, placing his foot over The Architect's chest and aiming it at him.
"we've got him!" John siad, slightly out of breath, He peered at the knight, "we've done it".

[Charmera]

---

Garnet simply stared at Masami with her eyes narrowed after hearing that she and Akari had met Kennedy, saying nothing else. She had, in fact, been inconvenienced with dead strangers before, and more than five, though that wasn't the reason she had picked the number six and in any case, she didn't feel like explaining that it was only a joke, since that would probably take far more time than it was worth.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Akihiko was, apparently, halfway through the task of disassembling his magnetic scabbard with naught but a screwdiver and a pair of tweezers, when all of the sudden, Akari poked her head through a portal that had suddenly appeared next to him, and asked him to come along. The half-Oni blinked in surprise, and then sighed. "Mom, I'm going out." He called out before getting to the task of reassembling his scabbard.

"If you don't come back for dinner, you're grounded." She replied from another room. The young man sighed again and then stood up, placing his sword inside the scabbard and fastening the scabbard to his belt before nodding at Akari and going through the portal as well.

"Hey girls." He said awkwardly to the other two.

“Hello.” Spoke Masami, she looked at the man for a second, regarding him. There was something odd about him, something she couldn’t quite explain or quite put her tail on. She frowned, then shook her head as she returned to the riddle.

“Above my brothers
My head rises high beyond
Look down, you will see”

“Tokyo skytree.” Akari spoke

“How did you know?”

“My mother is not as clever as she thinks.” Remarked the cat woman, she then opened a portal to the skytree. The top of it specifically.

“What do we do now?” Masami asked.

“Jump.” Spoke Akari, a smile on her face, which got an odd look from the Kitsune.

“It’s the only way to activate the portal to my mothers realm.”

Roy
Roy was a bit surprised when he felt Hannah embrace him, but he certainly welcomed it. It felt different than when she had hugged him in dragon form. Now she was soft and warm, and he couldn't help but blush a bit as he returned her embrace. He felt almost relieved after having told Hannah about that. "It's okay Hannah. You shouldn't apologize. It actually felt kind of good. I've kept that bottled in for so long, it was nice to be able to get that off my chest." Roy smiled brightly when Hannah pulled away and said he wasn't a monster. "That means a lot to me Hannah, thanks." He told her sincerely looking back into her eyes. "You know... I don't think you're a freak Hannah." He said, referencing what she had said earlier. "And well... I think you're really pretty." He told her softly, before blushing furiously and turning his head in embarrassment.

Hannah blushed at that comment, she had not often been told that she was pretty, much less really pretty. Her sisters said it a few times, but it had never been said by a member of the opposite sex. Most boys were far too distracted with Sarah to notice her with anything other than confusion. She was after all odd looking. Her ears stood out for miles.

“Really…?” she asked, surprisingly shyly now.

"Finally." Ling muttered, grabbing her target, she moved swiftly back to her comms. She picked it back up, hoping her handlers wouldn't take it too personally. Besides now she could interogate the suspect and get him to reveal those he's working with. "Sorry there Base. I needed to grab him. I'll be meeting you at the drop off location."

"Change of plans Red Fist. We're not taking Zhao in."

"We're not? Why?"

"The situation has changed... drastically."

"I don't understand."

"A bomb was just set off in a convention. A terrorist group appeared calling themselves "PPT", hijacked local news. They're claiming responsibility and say more deaths will come... unless we follow their demands."

"Demands?"

"They involve you and Zhao. You both need to report back to the drop off site."

"He won't help us out of the goodness of his heart!"

"We'll offer money or whatever he wants. Doesn't matter what we do, we just need him concious in the next five hours. And if you can, explain the situation and get him to co-operate."

'There's something you're not telling me..."

"There's always something you're not being told, you just have to live with that."

Ling sighed as she placed Zhao down and then slid down too on the wall. She attempted to shake him out of his unconsciousness.

Present day,
Hong Kong

Zhao woke up to see Ling shaking him.

"Yes, yes, let's repeatedly shake the unconscious man. Don't get him to a hospital or anything." He said groggily, noticing the left side of his body was a dark grey color.

"What the hell did you do to me? Am I going to need to get checked for whatever freak STD you gave me?" He said with a smirk.

“We don’t have time for a hospital. Plus I’m fairly sure they couldn’t fix whatever the hell is wrong with you.” She remarked, picking him up in her arms with surprising ease. Some might find the scene tender if she didn’t have a frown on her face. “We need you, so we’re not going to put you in jail. And we plan to compensate you or whatever.” She spoke. “We need your help delaying a terrorist group, so that they don’t blow up more of Hong Kong.”