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

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars made his way to Cat's room and nodded at her problem. "I'll just hack into the file Cat. I'd rather do it on my own... No offense." Mars said, he trusted Cat and thought she was a good friend, but her powers scared him a bit. If they were in the wrong hands, they could do a lot of damage. He sat down in the chair that Cat offered him, pulling out a flash-drive where kept portable decryption programs. It wasn't as effective as his super computer in his lab would be, but it could decrepit a file no problem. He plugged it into the computer and as the program worked to scramble and decode the password Mars spoke to Cat, "So how's the search been going? You've been in your room a long time. Nico's a little worried, so are the rest of us." Mars told Cat until there was a dinging sound from the computer which indicated that the file was now open. "Well, there you go. You want me to leave?" Mars asked his teammate.

Cora
Cora hopped into the front seat of the car and nodded to Marybeth as she talked about trailing the car. After about 45 minutes the tracker showed that the truck had stopped nearly 2 miles in front of them and Cora had Marybeth park the car at a nearby diner. Once she did that she turned to her teammates, "Well, how should we go forward from here? I can fly there, but I won't be able to carry you two without being seen. Jamie, can you make a plane or a car or something? Preferably something stealthy..."

Grimms
Roy frowned a little at Sarah's words and when she patted his head. He was glad she wasn't mad, but didn't like the idea of being left behind. "I can't just leave you three to fight that thing on your own. I want to help you." He insisted, before Sam spoke up who was using a spell to repair the damaged limo so that they could use it to leave.

"Sarah's right Roy. We don't want to risk you getting hurt. This is our task, we can't ask you to fight our fights for us."

[Tomia]

"I've found nothing. Though I think this Nirvana thing is something..." Cat replied then paused. "Actually, you don't mind staying here for a bit? I could use the company..." She then looked at the files she had in front of her. Their titles didn't tell her anything immediately. She was about to double click on one of them when suddenly the files started vanishing. He eyes widened. "Someone's scrubbing the files remotely!" She exclaimed, quickly tossing one of the files onto the hard drive.

Meanwhile, a figure seemed to manifest in the YB server room, pouring herself out of the server machine itself. The figure was clad in black, with a blade in her hand. She proceeded to run out of the room, tripping off a security alarm in her haste. She began to run towards the exit with considerable speed.

Mars nodded to Cat when she asked him to stay, watching her browse through the files when suddenly she shouted about the files being deleted remotely and the tower alarm began blaring. Mars quickly jumped from his seat and pressed a button on his watch, connecting him to ADAM. "ADAM! Shut down the server and initiate emergency lock down!" Mars shouted as soon the doors and windows started to be blocked by large steel bars that would keep people from going in or out. He then turned to Cat, "Come on, we have to find this intruder!" He shouted to her, before then using his mental link with Kiris, Kiris, there's an intruder in the tower. They're most likely coming from the server room. We need to find them.

[Tomia]

IJ 4K
Sam nodded at Garnet's report, it was succinct, sufficient and well prepared. "Thank you Officer, at ease. There's no need to salute. We'll be working together often and I'd rather not have you stiff as a board all the time." Sam said half jokingly. Sam, was dutiful and liked following the rules, but she also needed to build camaraderie with the crew. Besides, it didn't seem like discipline would be a problem with Garnet. Sam thought she would be a fine officer, she was certainly qualified. The Grimm sister also couldn't help but notice that Garnet was quite cute, though those thoughts were nonprofessional so she pushed them from her mind.

"So, how is it you came upon this assignment Officer Greyson? If I may say, your qualification are quite impressive, I would expect you would already be Captain of your own ship." Sam said to Garnet curiously.

---

Roy watched as a woman who appeared to be in her mid 20's sat next to him. She was wearing a lab coat rather an a military uniform so he recognized her as the ship's psychologist. The woman was quite pretty, but the way she smiled at him made him a little uncomfortable. It reminded him of his time on Earth, when he was a poor kid trying to survive and he did... well "favors" for women like her. Still he tried to act calm as she said hello. "It's Roy actually, Damon is my last name. Who are you?" Roy asked her.

Meanwhile John heard Sarah's question as he wiped down the bar. It didn't surprise him, as a bartender he was quite used to flirtatious women. Though this one was certainly pretty, she had almost an unnatural beauty about her. "Name's John, can I get you a drink beautiful?" He said casually to Sarah, resting his hands on the bar-top in front of him.

[Tomia]

---

---

Jamie frowned as she stepped out of the car and listened to Marybeth talk about her plan. "Hey, hold your horses." She said as she walked up to the blonde girl. "It's cool that you want to act as a distraction and all, I'm sure it'll be very helpful, but our priority is to get out the kids remember? That's what our mission is all about." The hooded girl stated. "We're superheroines, not terrorists. Blowing up the whole place is just going to get people killed, maybe even let the government pin the blame on supers or something. God knows they're being all paranoid about people like us nowadays." She concluded. Despite being more or less disconnected from the outside world she did learn a lot about recent happenings, mostly through gossiping through online play and other such methods.

"Just don't lose your cool, okay? We're in this together, and I know I wouldn't give you a time limit before I collapsed a roof on your head." The black-haired girl admonished, before turning to Cora. "As for how we'll get in and out, can't you fly? I could use my powers to follow you, or you could carry me there... Whichever you prefer." She stated, the awkwardness of her suggestion being lost on her for the time being.

---

Cora frowned at Marybeth's words, killing the people inside was not part of the plan. Cora wasn't sure she could trust Marybeth to go in alone anymore. "You know, I think you should stay with us Marybeth. We'll subdue the guards first and then rescue the kids before destroying the equipment. We're not killing anyone though, alright? And Jamie is right, we make sure everyone gets together. We're not destroying the place until we're sure everyone is out." Cora told her teammate firmly, not willing to budge on this.

Cora then turned to Jamie, thinking it would be awkward to carry her across the air, "You should fly on your own, and Marybeth you can follow alone with us as well. The element of surprise shouldn't be necessary as we'll be able to overpower them. But remember what I said, no killing." Cora said, looking specifically at Marybeth for the last part.

[Tomia]

The black clad intruder stopped just before she was crushed by the falling steel. She paused for a moment, seemingly thinking. Then she just stopped, the blade held downwards in one hand. She seemed to be waiting for the three of them to catch up with her. Her one good eye scanning the room.

"What are we waiting for then?! They may have the files or some answers." Cat replied as she grabbed Mar's arm in her gloved hand and moved. She soon let go, as it was mostly to get him moving. She sped towards the elevators, pressing it. She ran down the stairs, not wanting to go to the elevator.

Mars nodded to Cat as he listened to Kiris confirm that she was heading toward the server room as well. He followed behind Cat down the stairs, shocked at how energetic she seemed to be about this, she was usually rather cool and collected. However it made sense, as this was clearly very important to her. They made it downstairs, and strangely enough the intruder was merely waiting there, her weapon drawn as she stood outside the gate. Mars was unarmed so he hand to keep his distance slightly, but that didn't stop him from speaking, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Mars demanded of the strange girl.

[Tomia]

"Right, I get that", said Marybeth off-handedly. She wasn't going to push it, even if these psychos were just likely to escape later. "So can we go? We get the kids, destroy the place, get out. Pretty simple." One thing was bothering her however, and it wasn't the van coming from the prison or even the plan itself. "Cora, out of curiousity, how likely is it that we WILL run into other cyborgs...like yourself. If that DOES happen, I'm not exactly sure how to fight them. If my powers work on them, it may accidentally kill them, especially if they have wiring in their heads and all that. And furthermore..." She paused, trying to figure out how to word the next question. "Will me doing anything hurt YOU."

Cora thought about Marybeth's questions, frowning as they were questions that were difficult for her to answers. If cyborgs were activated they'd be dangerous and impossible to persuade unless the automated controls were disabled. She didn't want to kill, but she couldn't ask Marybeth to sacrifice her life for strangers. "It's possible Marybeth, but I can't know for sure. I will try to find the central controls to disable their programming, but if you're in danger... You should defend yourself. Don't put your life at risk. Don't worry about me either. I'll be fine." Cora said, she wasn't actually sure how Marybeth's attack would effect her, but she didn't want to burden her with those thoughts.

"Anyone its time to go, stay safe and stay close." Cora said before shooting into to the sky and flying with her teammates towards the compound. It was a large series of white building, with a tall fence spanning across it. There were two manned guard towers and those were Cora's first targets. As the alarms blared she grabbed the guns out of the guards hands, the bullets from other guards bouncing off her as she knocked them out with calculated restrain. Other guards began to gather, but their fire was concentrated on Cora which gave Marybeth and Jamie an opportunity to strike.

[Tomia]

Mars
Mars was surprised, but also grateful when Cat stepped in front of the cyborg's blade. He heard the cyborg's warning, but it was clear that neither of the them were impressed. "Who are you?" Mars demanded again. "Who put you up to this and why? You're not going to be able to escape. The exits are closed and our teammates are coming." Mars told the criminal, trying to convince her to surrender.

Cora
Cora continued to push her way through the front of the compound. She grabbed all the guns she could and continued to knock out the guards as Marybeth and Jamie did the same behind her. She then soon led them inside the facility. It was a scary moment for Cora, because though this one was not underground, it reminded her of the facility she had spent most of her early life in. She pushed those thoughts from he head though and turned to Marybeth and Jamie.

"Follow me, the holding cells should be nearby." Cora said, heading towards a large room with several floors and long pathways. Both sides of every floor were lined with cells, each containing a young teen prisoner. Cora guessed there had to be at least a hundred of them.

Then suddenly two people burst into the room. A guy and a girl, both looking around 16 years old. They looked like normal humans, but their eyes were an unnatural red. "Cyborgs" Cora said grimly. "You two take care of them, keep them alive if you can, but protect yourself if necessary. I'm getting these kids out of here." She said before quickly flying off and ripping the doors off the many cells before them.

[Tomia]

"You've always had trouble with the law, haven't you girls?" Spoke a feminine voice from nearby. A taller woman with golden locks appeared, walking towards the sisters. She smiled, seemingly familiar with them, though that was less notable than her fox ears, tail and her aura of almost supernatural beauty. She seemed to have a supernatural grace too, her movements too precise. It made almost anyone else seem clumsy by comparison. Her smile widened, containing some warmth.

"Miss Koto!?" Asked Hannah, suddenly transforming back. Feeling a tad dizzy. "What are you doing here? The last time we saw you was in New Orleans!"

"Ah, got tired of pretending to be a Voodo witch. It was fun for a bit, but it's not as entertaining without a few people with fire and pitchforks. That tends to make for a good chase." She shrugged. "Ah well, Not everywhere can be like Salem." She paused. "As for what I'm doing here. I'm here to help you."

Sam turned in surprise when she heard a voice behind them, relaxing when she saw it was someone friendly, but she was still surprised by who it was. Miss Kano was someone that the Grimms' had met along their travels across the country. She was a mysterious and sometimes unnerving character, but she had helped the Grimms before. "Hi Miss Kano, how did you find us?" Sam asked, surprised but keeping her tone even. "You're here to help us? How?"

Meanwhile Roy decided that Sam and Sarah were right and that he would head back home instead of following the Grimms. He would miss Hannah, but she clearly had a lot to deal with, and he missed the Justice Queens. Still, he was hoping he would get a chance to see her again soon.

[Tomia]

Rin Tarla

Well, that didn't work, she's already looking through my trick. And she's even able to locate me, charging straight to my direction, thank god there's doors to prevent her from reaching ... Did she just cut through one of the safety doors?!? When she came closer and closer all I could do was panic, especially when I heard her fighting my teammates, so in a moment of panic I panicked really loudly. I took a deep breath and let out a scream with enough power that the ground, walls, ceiling and even the metal doors around began to break or buckle, it was even loud enough to cause something that resembled a small quake as everything in the tower shook for a moment. As fast as I let out the scream I stopped however, this wasn't hurting just my target, but everyone in the tower, friend or foe alike. The only one who'd be resistant to this attack was Xyri who seemed to be extremely resistant to nearly immune to my sound attacks.

But everyone else was probably getting a terrible headache from this, considering it caused the metal door near me to buckle I can only imagine what it did to everyone else, even if they were a lot further away from me. I didn't really know what to do besides say throughout the tower "Sorry ...".

Mars heard Rin's shout as he was chasing after the criminal, and suddenly fell to his knees. He had experienced this before in Rin's room but this was must worse. The pressure on his eardrums was incredible. It felt as if his head was being ripped apart from the inside. Finally it relented and Mars slowly rose to his feat, nearly falling back down before he leaned himself against the wall to steady himself. "Ugh, my head." He said aimlessly, looking around hoping everyone else was more or less okay.

[Tomia]

Sarah

Roy stopped and turned around when Sarah approached him. He was surprised when she put money in his hand and told him to use it to get home. He wanted to argue that it wasn't necessary but she didn't give him a chance as she continued. He smiled when she promised to train him. He was very much looking forward to that and was glad that she hadn't forgotten. He then blushed when she mentioned Hannah. "Well thanks Sarah, I'm glad you're still willing to train me. I hope everything goes well for you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all again. And uh... Tell Hannah I'll miss her alright?" Roy said, blushing brightly as they parted ways. Roy going to hail a cab to try to catch a flight back to New York City.

Kiris

Mars was still leaning against the wall for support when he heard Kiris' voice and saw the smoke being cleared out of the room. He then saw Kiris rush towards him and place her hands on his shoulders. Normally he might had blushed with how close they were, but he was too worried about the intruder to worry about that now. "I'm fine Kiris, just a headache. We need to stop the intruder." He said, trying to move towards the stairs but stumbling, clearly not fully recovered from the sound attack.

Jamie

[/quote]
"I'm working on it!" Cora shouted as she zoomed past the cell, ripping the doors off each one she past. The prisoner teens came walking out of their cells as Cora shouted for them to follow her. Some looked suspicious but they didn't have much of a choice so they followed her. Cora busted a hole in the first floor wall, leading the teens outside while the cyborgs were distracted. There was a large forest behind the facility and that's where she lead them. She stopped at a small clearing, expalining who she was and telling them to stay there until she could lead them to safety. Some once again looked suspicious, but didn't have much choice but to comply.

Cora then zoomed back to the facility, needing to help Jamie in her fight. She flew through the hole and slammed into the cyborg that Jamie was fighting. Cora knocked the cyborg out cold, only for it to be replaced by two more, one male one female. Cora turned to Jamie, "We'll fight them together." Cora said before charging at the guy on the left.

[Tomia]

Kano

Sam was a bit confused when they suddenly arrived in a large field with a Japanese like house in front of them. "Uh, Miss Kano, this doesn't look like Florida." Sam said to the Kitsune. Despite her confusion, she had to admire the beauty around her. The view was amazing and Sam silently thought it'd be somewhere she'd like to live some day."Well tea kind of sounds nice. But shouldn't we be in a hurry? We kind of have to rescue a friend of ours."

Marybeth

Jamie

Cora charged at the male android, who took a quick back step, firing a ki blast for cover. However Cora quickly slashed the blast away, causing a small explosion behind her as she continued to charge. The male cyborg was able to dodge for a little while, but Cora was just too fast for him, landing blow after blow against him. Then suddenly he went rigid and fell the ground as did the other cyborgs running around. Cora smiled, realizing that Jamie had done her job and the cyborgs were deactivated. However she realized that the building was also exploding around her so she quickly flew around the building grabbing all of the unconscious cyborgs on the floor and carrying them out the large hole in the wall as fire spread behind her.

She returned to where the rescued kids were gathered but didn't see Jamie or Marybeth which made her worry. "Final Boss, Marybeth?" She called out, hoping they were nearby.

[Tomia]

Garnet

Sam looked pleased when Garnet relaxed visibly. The first officer listened intently as Garnet answered her question. "Well I appreciate your decision. It is refreshing to see someone who choices an opportunity to help, over political gain." Sam was aware that Garnet had served in the front-lines, but didn't know much about it, never having served herself. She then heard Garnet's question and smiled, "You mean me Officer Grayson?" Sam asked playfully, raising a hand to stop her from objecting. "It's fine, I understand what you mean. I was surprised myself when my sister and I were chosen to lead. I imagine the reason is that they're trying to give the up and comers a chance to prove themselves, test our mettle as it goes. Also, the commanders probably believe that older veterans wouldn't be willing to serve under someone as young as my sister. I'm happy to see that your not one of them... May I call you Garnet? You can call me Sam if you wish. I would like us to be on a first name basis, since we'll be working together."

Sarah

Roy relaxed a little when Sarah spoke, she seemed nice and had a disarming smile. "A therapist? Well I've never been to one before, but okay, maybe I'll take you up on it. It's nice to meet you Sarah." He told her before she turned to speak to John.

John raised an eyebrow at Sarah at her question, "And how would you know what I need?" He asked her coyly. "Not sure I deserve a good woman either, but can't say I don't like taking a risk now and then." He told her mixing a cocktail before pouring it into a glass and sliding it over to here. "Here you go, not too strong, like you asked. So what brings you to the bar, don't you have doctor work to be doing? Got to be better things to do than chatting up a bartender."

[Tomia]

Marybeth

Jamie

Cora was relieved when both Marybeth and Jamie appeared in the clearing. She had alerted the authorities with her cell phone, though she planned on being gone by the time they arrived. She turned to Marybeth who began asking questions. "The scientists worried me too, but I'm assuming that they cleared out before we got inside. Either way, we don't have time to deal with that now. As for the cyborgs, we'll leave them for the police, hopefully they'll get the care they need."

When Jamie asked if everyone was alright, a boy who looked around 15 stepped forward, a young girl who's stomach was bleeding in his arms. "She was hurt in the explosion! You have to help her!" He said to Jamie.

Cora stepped forward, frowning, "We'll have to move quickly. We can't stay around long. The police will be here in minutes."

[Tomia]

Jamie frowned slightly when a boy slightly younger than her approached her with a bleeding girl. Despite what she said, she had been hoping that nobody would have to step forward, both because she hoped nobody had been hurt during the attack on the facility, and because, ignoring the fact that these children were the people they had come to rescue, they were all strangers and she felt slightly uncomfortable around them, the heroism she'd displayed during the battle wearing off. The fact that the boy told her that the girl was injured during the explosion didn't help matters, as the explosion had been caused by Jamie, from which she could easily infer that this was all her fault. Casting her gaze down, she began rummaging through her jacket's inner pockets once again.

"U-um... S-sure thing, just give me moment..." She said a bit awkwardly as she finally managed to pull yet another red flask. Approaching the girl, the heroine warily poured the liquid into the girl's mouth. "I-it might not taste great, b-but it's for your good..." She mumbled as the girl drank the red fluid, the gaping wound in her stomach magically patching itself up as a result. A part of her mind mused with disgust about how similar she sounded to a dentist or a doctor, but she ignored that part and simply discarded the now empty flask before stepping back, nodding at the boy and the girl before walking up to Cora.

"Can we go now?" She asked quietly.

"Thank you" The boy said, clearly relieved as the girl's wound began to recede and the bleeding stopped. The girl herself nodded weakly, speaking very slowly, clearly exhausted and nearly asleep. "Th...ank you"

Cora heard Jamie's question, and nodded, they needed to get out of there and fast. Before she could reply however, the whiring of helicopters could be heard above them, as well as the blaring sirens of police cars. Soon the heroes were surrounded. From above two helicopters circled them, machine guns aimed down towards the heroes. On the ground, four police cars surrounded the group, officers using the vehicles as cover as they aimed their weapons at the Justice Queens, one of them speaking out through a megaphone. "Freeze! You are under arrest! Put your hands in the air!" He shouted at them.

Cora sighed, this was exactly what she had been trying to avoid. They had to save the girl though, they couldn't have just left her to die. Still, how the hell were they going to explain their way out of this one, and what would their teammates think? What would Katie think?

They could easily resist, but Cora didn't want that. If they fought now, they'd be just as bad as the people they try to stop. She turned to the Jamie and Marybeth. "Stand down, don't fight." She told them as she raised her hands above her head in surrender.

"Oh, we're still in florida, in fact we've only moved about 400 feet away from where we once were in terms of direction. What I did was... take us to another plane." She paused, leading all of them to a small table within the giant house as she put on the kettle not far from all of them. She then frowned as she turned to the group, a face of seriousness on her as she walked towards them. "Time moves more slowly here. And the Wizard intends to use John as bait. He wants all of you, why exactly I'm not entirely sure, but he wants you to recklessly charge in so he can ensure you wont escape." She spoke.

"What I want to do is to arm you. I can give you training, spells and weapons which should keep you alive. His power has increased dramatically so you will need every bit of help you can get." She spoke. "Of course, if you wish I can put you back in the mortal world if you do not wish to take up this offer. But that might not be the wisest choice. Especially considering how easily he defeated you before."

Sam frowned at those words as she took a cup of tea for herself, the heating warming her hands. "It wasn't our fault. Something was different about him this time. He was so strong. We couldn't even hurt him." Sam told the Kitsune.

"We need to stop him though, to save John. And for that we need to get stronger. So yes, you can train me." Sam said, speaking for herself but hoping that her sisters would join her.

[Tomia]

Roy
Roy was able to get a flight relatively easily, but it was delayed multiple times because of a brewing storm in the gulf. Finally, late in the evening he was able to get a flight out to New York. He was a little worried as he stepped on the plane. The sky did not look very friendly at all. He pushed those thoughts aside though. He was probably being ridiculous. Planes didn't just crash like that.

He placed his small bag in the overhead above his seat, and sat down next to the window. The dark stormy sky stared down at him as he looked out, a calm but serious look on his face. The mood of the flight was anxious. It was deadly quite, no one talking or chatting as the cabin shook with turbulence.

About 20 minutes into the flight the plane began to shake violently, the seat-belt sign flashing as the small air bags dropped down from the ceiling. The cabin was filled with screaming and the loud howling of wind as the plane began to nose dive. Roy began to panic, what was he supposed to do? He was supposed to be hero, shouldn't he be able to help? Roy chided himself for panicking and focused. Taking advantage of the lights going out in the cabin to create a large sphere of dark energy. Roy hoped it would protect as many people as possible.

Unfortunately, that was soon put to the test as the vessel began to nose dive into the water, landing in a huge crash. The strain on Roy to maintain the shield was incredible, and as the vessel began to sink into the water he was forced to abandon it in order to try to escape to higher ground. He crawled through the plane, seeing injured people and dead bodies scattered all around. He managed to get on top of the plane, realizing they were in the middle of the water. And island was insight, but was too far to swim to.

Roy knew he needed to find a way to shore, but he was exhausted, and slowly collapsed in exhaustion, laying on top of the floating ruins of the plane. He awoke some time later; he didn’t know how long it had been. He was laying on a beach, and the sun in his eyes told him it was daytime. He started to come to his senses and looked around almost frantically. Seeing a woman with long black hair standing nearby, tending to the wounds of other people. “Who… Who are you?” Roy said to her, in a weak and hoarse voice.

The woman turned to him, as if surprised to hear him speak. Roy started to move but he was held down. “No, stay still. You need to rest” The woman told him as she coaxed him back to the ground. “My name is Elena, I’m not your enemy.”

Elena sat down next Roy, who was watching her cautiously but did not object. “I was on the plane when it crashed. I saw this island, and got everyone who survived that I could find here. I’ve already alerted help. Hopefully they will be here soon.”

Roy studied Elena carefully, coming to the conclusion that she was indeed telling the truth. He nodded, “I’m Roy, it’s nice to meet you.” He said, offering his hand to shake. He was starting to get some of his strength back, and moving was easier. Elena shock his hand and Roy asked another question, “So, how did you get us out of there? We were at least a mile away from shore.”

Elena looked away slightly, “I have gifts. Let’s just leave it at that. Now if you’re feeling better, how about helping me here? The rest are much worse off than you are, and we’re going to need resources to last the night.”

Roy nodded, a little taken a back at the change of topic. Elena certainly didn’t mess around. They spent the next few hours working together, doing their best to tend wounds with make shift supplies and find water, food, and fire wood that would last them the night.

While Roy was working on building a fire, he suddenly heard a roar coming from the woods. Roy froze, turning around slowly to see a bear staring at him. Roy knew he was in trouble. He had never fought a bear before personally but he knew they were tough as nails and deadly.
Roy was at a disadvantage. He didn’t have his staff, and the direct sunlight made using his powers nearly impossible. He gripped the sharp stick in his hand tightly, it was the only weapon he had against the beast.

The bear began to charge, Roy bracing himself for the worst, waiting until just the right moment to roll away from the beast’s charge.
The beast turned slowly but recovered, rearing its paws in a threatening pose. Roy took this opportunity to charge, jumping at the creature, trying to thrust his spear into the heart of the predator. The bear throws him off however and just when it was about to pounce, a glowing light stepped before them. Roy had to squint to see, but realized that it was in fact Elena. She was holding up some kind of energy shield, shouting at the bear to leave.

The creature seemed just as shocked as Roy, and quickly ran off back into the forest. Elena then turned around, moving towards Roy and offering her hand to help him up. “You shouldn’t have charged that bear, that was stupid.” She told him as she helped him to his feet.
Roy frowned at this, “What was I supposed to do? Let it kill me?”

“You have to think more tactically. You clearly have skill, but you lack finesse.”

Roy was a little taken aback by this. Elena was clearly more than she had let on earlier. “Well, thank you for saving me.” He told her as he went back to making his fire. “Well, saving me again that is. You’re pretty good at that huh? Saving people?” He asked, fishing for information.
Elena shrugged, “It’s not exactly something I can turn down.” She said plainly as she started skinning a deer she had caught.

“So, what was it you did back there exactly?” Roy asked, deciding the direct approach would probably be best. However, Elena never answered, acting as if she didn’t hear the question.

Roy sighed, deciding to just go for broke. “Look, we both clearly have secrets we’re trying to hide. But, I don’t think there’s any reason for that. We’re stuck on an island together, at least for the day. We might as well do something to pass the time. So how about I tell you my story, and you tell me yours?” He asked her, hoping she’d accept his proposition.

Elena was silent for a few moments, which made Roy a little nervous that she would refuse, but finally she spoke up. “Alright, let’s hear what you have to say.”

They spent the rest of their day going about necessary tasks, but also talking constantly. Roy told Elena about his childhood in South America, his abilities, and how he met the Justice Queens. He left out some personal details, but the story was pretty much complete.

Elena held up her end of the bargain as well. She talked in detail about her powers, her time as Batgirl, and her work with the star-gate. Roy was needless to say impressive. Elena was incredible in his eyes. She had done all of the things he had dreamed of doing, and she didn’t need to kill anyone to do it.

By the end of the night they were sitting together silently around a fire, the wounded resting for the night. Roy say drawing shapes in the sand, trying to build up the courage to ask a question he had been thinking about for hours.

“What’s on your mind. You’re not the chatter box you were a few hours ago.” Elena said, with a playful tone.

Roy blushed, looking down before speaking, “Well, I was just wishing I had the experience you have. Sometimes I feel like a burden more than a hero. I want to be able to protect the people I care about. You think… You think you could train me?” He asked her, feeling self-conscious.

Elena was a little surprised by the request, raising her eyebrow curiously. “You want me to train you? Well Roy, we live very different lives. Where would we even do it?”

“We could stay here, for a while at least. It’s quite, isolated, no one will bother us. Please Elena, I could really use your help.”
Elena thought about it again. Roy seemed like a genuine kid, and it couldn’t hurt to spend some time away from her responsibilities. Besides, taking on a mentee could be fun.

“Alright kid, you’ve got a deal. The survivors will get picked up tomorrow, but we’ll stay here and then we’ll get started.”

Roy smiled brightly in relief, “Thank you Elena, I really appreciate it.”

Elena returned his smile, “Don’t worry about it kid. Now get some sleep. You’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”

[Tomia]

---

Roy wasn't sure about attacking Elena with all he had. She was clearly strong, but he also didn't want to risk hurting her. Needless to say, Roy was not very confident about his abilities. He never had been, it was one of his greatest problems. He took a deep breath as he prepared to attack Elena. He was thinking over her shield abilities, and trying to decide what would be the best method of attacking her. He finally made a decision and started gathering shadow energy before running in circles at top speed to build up momentum. He then cut towards Elena at high speeds, throwing a punch at her face, hoping it would land.

[Tomia]

---

Cora merely gave a grim smile as Marybeth's words, noticing that Jamie somehow managed to escape arrest, as she was not being forced into the police car along with her and Marybeth. This made Cora feel a little better at least. She had brought Jamie into this, and didn't feel like the mutant should be punished for it. Cora was silent as they were driven to the police station, ignoring the questions of the officers in the front of the car. After a little while of a drive the car stopped outside a local police station. It was a small place, much different than the NYPD buildings. They were then led inside the building, small crowds were gathered around staring at them.

Cora ignored the staring the best she could, but it made her feel like a freak. She was glad once they were finally inside and a police officer approached them. "Alright, we're going to need your names, fingerprint scan, and mug shots. But first, we'd like to talk to you about what exactly went on over there." The officer said. Cora merely shrugged, "Fine, if you want to talk then we can, I don't regret what we did and won't hide from it."

---

Sam smiled at Hannah's reaction to what her training would be. It did indeed seem like it would be very interesting. Sam was surprised however when Kano brought up DeeDee. Her explanation made some sense Sam supposed, but it still seemed a bit creepy. "Well, it would be nice to see DeeDee again and she'd be useful for training. So... You say you know DeeDee? Have you talked to her about our training?" Sam asked with a mix of shyness and slyness. Her motive was to try to find out what DeeDee might have said about her in private.

---

Roy listened to Elena's feedback, realizing his attack had not been very difficult for her to respond to. He noted what she said about the tree line and re-examined his surrondings before attacking once more. He darted at top speed for the tree line before turning towards Elena, closing his fists together and using a hammer like strike, once he landed he attempted a leg sweep against Elena, before finally concentrating a ball of dark energy around his fist before striking at Elena's stomach.

[Tomia]

Cora
Cora was led into an interrogation room in the police station by a male officer, who looked almost uncomfortable around her. He clearly knew what she was capable of, and was possibly wondering why she hadn't just escaped already. Cora had thought of that option herself. That would certainly be easier, but it would be wrong. She had to take responsibility for the actions and choices she made, and couldn't let herself just use her powers to avoid the consequences.

Still, she was clearly not happy about being under arrest and sat down at the table, staring at the officer who sat down across from her. "So, who exactly are you? I mean, you're not just some average terrorist. No normal human could have done that to a government facility."

"I'm not a terrorist. That place was a living hell, I did everyone a favor by getting rid of it." Cora said, in a icy, angry, tone. "As for who I am, I prefer not to say. Just someone who cares about justice and decency, more than the government it seems."

The officer stared at her, "So you're admitting to the crime? And you think that was justice, destroying a government facility? What gives you the right to decide that?"

This made Cora incredibly angry, standing up so quickly that the chair shot back against the wall. "I WENT THROUGH THAT HELL! THAT'S WHAT GIVES ME THE RIGHT!" She shouted, nearly flipping the table in anger before catching herself. She spoke again to the clearly frightened man, trying to calm her anger.

"I won't answer anymore question. Leave me alone." She said, much more of a demand than a request. The man left, and soon as the door closed behind him Cora let out a scream of frustration and smashed the table in front of her, sending her fist into the outer wall as well. She hoped this would subdue her anger and make her feel better, it didn't.

[Tomia]

The Dark Damned Heart

Chapter 8

Alpha Squad
Night Wing had been in a number of strange fights before, but joining forces with a bunch of prisoners to fight a giant crocodile in the sewers definitely stood out. Most of the prisoners they had freed were unarmed, and not exactly stable after all this time in jail, however that didn’t stop them from shouting furiously as they charged the enemy demons clearly wanting revenge on their master.

Kylie was flying through the crowd of enemies, blasting apart demons with lantern ring, as Harley Quinn was dancing around, doing backflips to avoid enemy strikes. Nightwing witnessed her kicking a demon square in the face. Even though he hated the insane criminal, he had to admit that her skills were impressive.

They were dealing with the minions fairly well, but Killer Croc was proving to be another story. He was casually swatting away prisoners with his massive claws, moving and striking with devastating speed. Dick realized he needed to do something about that if they had any hope of escaping. He looked around for someone who could help him fight the scaly meta-human. He saw Henry standing nearby, looking quite nonchalant and disinterested in the fight around them. Grayson took a step towards him, “Henry what are you doing? We have to fight!” He shouted incredulously. The older man merely shrugged apathetically.

“I just want out of this hellhole, and I’ll accomplish that regardless now. I have no reason to step in here.” Henry said causally before suddenly he was grabbed around the collar of his ragged shirt by a visibly angry Nightwing.

“What the fuck do you mean no reason? I let you out to help us, and you’re just going to stand back and watch while people are being killed?” Grayson asked furiously.

Henry pushed Nightwing back, forcing the younger vigilante to release him. “Don’t act so high and mighty. You and your friends let me rot in that prison for years. I don’t owe you a damn thing.”

“Maybe you don’t.” Nightwing replied, “But I think this whole ‘I don’t give a shit’ thing is just an act. Sure, maybe this hell killed whatever kind of faith in humanity you have had before had. But I think you still care, I think you still want to make a difference. So go ahead, sit here and do nothing. I’m going to try to make things better.” Grayson said angrily before charging off towards Killer Croc, his electric batons whirling in his hands.

Croc gave a throaty chuckle when he saw Nightwing charging at him, turning away from a prisoner who he was currently crushing under his foot. “The bat-wanna be comes to play! Time for dinner!” Croc shouted, before pouncing towards the hero with lightning speed.

Nightwing quickly barrel rolled out of the way to avoid the attack, rising back to his feet and rushing back towards the meta-human. He slid under Croc’s legs, slamming his batons into the creature’s stomach. Croc recoiled from the attack but soon recovered, slashing his razor sharp claws in anger.

Dick managed to roll away once more, but it was dangerously close this time. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for ever. He needed a new strategy, but Croc’s scales were like armor, it would be impossible for Grayson to knock him out on his own. He had no chose but to try however so he took a deep breath and got back to work.

He got back into a fighting stance and tossed the baton in his right hand directly at Croc’s face before charging at him to follow up with a flurry of punches. Croc growled in pain as the electricity from the baton crackled against his reptilian skin. He stumbled backwards against the flurry of strikes being delivered to his torso.

“Enough! Die puny man!” Croc shouted, slashing his left claw right towards Grayson, who was too slow to react this time. Nightwing tried to get out of the grip, but it was impossible with how strong the enemy meta-human was. “Now you’re mine hero! Time to die!” Croc shouted, baring his teeth as he prepared to sink them into the chest of his victim.

“Dick!” Someone shouted from across the sewer. It was Wonder Girl who was trying to make her way through a line of demons to get to him. However, Nightwing could tell she would arrive too late and was preparing himself for death, knowing that Croc’s horrible looking face would probably be the last thing he ever saw.

Suddenly however, Croc’s grip loosened around Nightwing’s throat. Dick looked surprised as he fell to the ground until he realized that someone was now standing in front of him. It was Henry, his fist deep into the stomach of the human crocodile.

Wonder Girl finally arrived at this moment, and she smashed her own fist into Killer Croc’s nose, you could hear a sharp crunch as blood splattered to the nearby wall. The meta-human staggered backwards and Nightwing saw his opportunity to end it. He grabbed his batons and flipped into the air, jumping behind Croc and landing four consecutive blows to his ribs.

Croc was flailing his arms aggressively, trying to fend off his multiple attackers but he was clearly dazed. Grayson spun past one of Croc waving arms, centering himself in front of the monster, giving a smug smile.

“See you later you ugly crocodile.”

With that Nightwing flipped in the air, kicking Croc square in the chin, knocking the massive villain out cold. His body making a huge splash as it fell to the ground.

Nightwing fell to his knees to catch his breath, as the remaining demons were overwhelmed and defeated around him. Nightwing was exhausted and not sure he could stand when suddenly a hand was offered before him, pulling him up to his feet so that he was standing eye to eye with Henry.

“So, what made you change your mind?” Nightwing asked, his eyebrow raised curiously.

Henry merely shrugged, “Was bored, thought it would be fun to kick Croc’s ass.” Henry said, before frowning and adding, “Don’t read too much into it. I still don’t give a damn about any of you.”

Dick managed a small smile as Wonder Girl, Miss Martian, and Lady Lantern gathered around him.

“Well, we’re work on that later.” Grayson said, turning toward the faint light at the end of the tunnel.

“Right now, our friends need our help, and we have a battle to fight.”

Beta Squad
Rin had made her way to the broadcasting room of the radio station with Nia in tow. Rin stood still for a moment, her eyes staring at the large and complicated equipment. “Wow, so much noise.” Rin said as she stepped forward to the controls and put the headphones over her head. She turned to Nia, realizing she was still there. “Uh, you should probably step outside. This might get loud and I don’t want to hurt you.” Rin said, sounding genuinely concerned. Nia nodded, quietly making her way out of the room, standing guard at the door.

Once Nia was outside, Rin took a deep breath and concentrated. The sound was almost overwhelming; she could hear everything. It was like a picture of the entire city was painted into her mind. She knew where everyone was, the whole battle was in front of her. She narrowed on to the frequency that Sam had told her to use to contact her. Rin spoke into the microphone in front her, using extreme restraint over her voice to ensure that she didn’t destroy the radio or Sam’s eardrums.

“Sam, it’s Rin. I’m in control of the radio. Wow, so much going on. Alright, well here’s what I know…”

---

“Stop struggling Roy” John said smugly as the teenager was trying to get out from under the older man’s foot.
“I’ll kill you, you fucking traitor!” Roy shouted, his anger brazenly clear.

“I didn’t betray a damn thing Roy. Your little cause was doomed from the start. This world is the Demon’s now; you just refuse to admit it. You hate her because you don’t understand. If you just submitted, things would be so much easier.”
“Never!” Roy, shouted, spitting in John’s face hatefully.

John growled at this, wiping his face off before applying more pressure to Roy’s neck. “I could snap your neck right here kid. It’d be so damn easy.” Roy was struggling to breath under the pressure, his fingers desperately trying to pry John’s foot off of his neck.

Craig was trying to pull himself back up to his feet to help Roy, but was struggling to find the strength. As he reached for his shield in an attempt to help Roy, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A woman, perched high up on one of the building’s support beams. Craig raised his eyebrow, wondering who it could be and who’s side she might be on.

Suddenly the woman dropped down with incredible speed, jumping toward John and aiming a steel toed kick right at John’s face. John’s reflexes were quick though and he raised his hands to block the attack. He jumped back, taking his foot off of Roy’s neck as he prepared himself for another fight.

Roy rolled away, catching his breath as he tried to process what had happened. He looked around to see who had come to his aid. He was shocked to see that it was Garnet. What was she doing here? She wasn’t on this mission, she was supposed to be with Sam and the main army.
Garnet didn’t even acknowledge him however; she was clearly focused on the fight in front of her. Agony materialized around her wrist as it began to glow red with energy. John saw this and responded in kind, concentrating his own stored energy to increase his strength.

The two launched at each other, their fists meeting in consecutive blows, as energy exploded around them. They continued to land strike after strike, neither backing down. John jumped back, taking a second to catch his breath.

“You have some nice tricks up your sleeves, but so do I.” John said, pressing the center of the watch on his wrist as it expanded quickly into a full set of metal armor, the same armor that he had once wore as the guardian, but now it was pitch black. “Let’s see what you got now.” John said in the mechanical voice of his suit as he charged at Garnet with heightened speed.

Garnet grunted as John landed multiple punches to her stomach, but she managed to withstand it and used her enhanced speed to dodge the last one. She quickly pulled out her gun Misery, firing a bullet straight into John’s chest. The former Guardian flew back from the impact, slamming hard into the wall, a loud cracking sound could be heard and the concrete behind him broke.

Garnet took a deep breath, thinking that the fight was now won. She slowly approached the defeated enemy, wanting to check whether or not he was dead. Suddenly as she bent down, a mechanical hand grabbed her by the throat, chocking her violently. John was awake, and on his feet. “Nice try” He told her smugly.

Garnet looked, shocked and chocked out a response, “But how? Your soul… It should have killed it.”

John chuckled grimly as he tightened his grip around Garnet’s neck. “Sorry, I haven’t had a soul for years.”

Suddenly then a metal shield slammed into John’s head, it was Craig’s as the Silverwing was standing nearby definitely as Garnet fell to the ground. “You may not have a soul, but you still have an ass we can kick.” John growled and charged at Craig who readied himself for the attack. He blocked a punch, and responded with an energy blast at John’s chest. John merely absorbed that however, taking a deep breath as he was recharged.

Garnet then rejoined the fight, brandishing her sword that she brought down on John’s back. John was now being relentlessly attacked on two sides until he shouted in anger, “ENOUGH!!” He shouted before releasing a large blast of energy, knocking both Garnet and Craig to the ground.
John advanced on them, until he heard a voice behind him. “Stop!” It was Roy, standing with his staff, his whole body glowing with dark energy.

“This is between you and me, let’s finish this!”

John turned around, looking at him. “Fine, if you want to get your ass kicked again before I drag you off in chains, that’s fine with me.”

Roy snarled before charging at John with incredible speed, punching him over and over again with incredible power. John was barely fast enough to block any of them, his armor starting to break down under the pressure of the attacks. Then Roy began running around John in circles, so fast he was basically a blur.

“Fight me you coward!” The frustrated Guardian shouted, firing blasts of energy, but never being able to hit Roy.

Roy then suddenly turned and launched his fist towards John’s face. The punch shattered John’s helmet caving it in as the warrior fell to his knees, finally defeated.

Roy fell to his knees, clearly tired as Garnet to her feet and approached him. “You okay?” She asked as Craig ran off to check on Etla and the others, relieved to see that they were still alive. Roy turned to Garnet, looking at her skeptically.

“What are you doing here?” He asked her, not willing to admit that Garnet had clearly saved him.

“Grimm’s orders, Beta was behind schedule, she needed to know what was happening. The better question is what are you doing here. The Commander gave you direct orders to stay at base.”

Before Roy could respond and start the inevitable argument, he saw a strange shadow like figure begin to appear in the corner. He scrambled to his feet, staff in hand as Garnet cocked her pistol, ready to fire at any intruders. The shadow began to move closer to them before it suddenly began to take human form. Garnet raised her gun to shoot, while Roy merely stood there shocked.

“…Hannah?” He asked in total shock. Indeed, the body of Hannah Grimm was standing before him. However, her eyes were no longer red, but now pitch black.

“Hello Roy” She said in a deeper, less emotional voice than before, it was the Demon, not Hannah. “I’ve been longing to see you again.”
Roy gritted his teeth at this, “Let her go you monster! Let her go!”

Garnet fired her pistol at the Demon but it merely flew right through. It was not actually the Demon, merely an image of it.

“You misunderstand Roy. I am Hannah. She let me inside, we are one. I know you miss the Hannah you knew, but I can make it better. Join me, and we can live in peace together.”

Roy slammed his staff through the image, knowing it wouldn’t do anything but in the moment he didn’t care.

“You are not Hannah! I will NEVER join you. You’re a freak. And I swear that I will find a way to kill you.”

The Demon didn’t seem concerned with the threat, as if Roy was a pet that was misbehaving. “You are angry, I understand. But your submission is inevitable. You will be mine Roy. It is merely a matter of time. You can resist as long as you like, but your destiny is tied to mine. Goodbye for now Roy. We will meet again soon.”

With that the image of the Demon disintegrated into shadows, leaving Roy to stir in his anger. Garnet turned to him, not one to dwell on tense moments. “Come on, we need to get the wounded out of here.” She said, heading over to help Craig.

Roy didn’t follow, staying still, staring at the spot where Hannah was just standing. “I swear Hannah; I will find a way to get you back. I promised to keep you safe, and I’ll die trying to keep that promise. I love you.” He said quietly to himself before slowly following along with Garnet out of the abandoned theater.

Delta Squad
Xyri had gone flying from the top of Wayne tower, like a small gelatin meteor. She landed on the ground with a loud cracking sound as the pavement beneath her strained under the pressure. The noise got the attention of a large number of dark heart foot soldiers that were patrolling the streets of Gotham. They started encircling Xyri, who was getting incredibly worried, shaking excessively in fear until an obvious realization finally came to her mind.

“Wait, I can just nom them.” She said to herself, breaking in to a slimy smile as she quickly expanded and swarmed into a wave of enemies. She smothered them and absorbed them into matter which made Xyri grow larger and be able to stretch farther.

Soon, Xyri had absorbed dozens in not hundreds of soldiers, and was now 6 stories tall and still growing. The enemy soldiers realized what was going on and began to flee in terror from the giant Jell-O monster. Xyri was starting to enjoy this letting out a playful roar as she chased down the bad guys.

Suddenly however, she heard another giant roar, making her pause and turn around toward the noise. A giant monster came charging toward her, a flaming blade drawn as it approached his new foe. Xyri began jiggling in fear once more, beginning to regret her childish antics earlier.

The demon gave another primal roar and threw a large fire ball at Xyri. The alien’s eyes widened in horror as she just barely managed to dodge the fire, but not without it scorching her a bit and melting some of her matter. That made Xyri mad, her fear getting replaced with anger.

“Meanie! Fire Bad!”

She shouted her massive arms shifting into huge hammers as she advanced on the enemy demon. She swung her right hammer right into its chest, throwing the demon backwards. It slowly rose to its feet, slashing its sword at Xyri, who continued to dodge and morph away from the sword before it finally caught her right arm, slicing it clean off.

Xyri yelled out in pain, fearing for her life. She was terrified of this demon, and didn’t know what to do. However, then she remembered Mars and Kiris, and all of her friends. She couldn’t let them down, she couldn’t die.

“No! You won’t win!”

Soon Xyri’s right arm began to regrow in the shape of a massive longsword. “You’re not the only one with a sword!” She said, before attacking like a mad-slime woman. She slashed at him with the sword and swung the hammer overhead. The demon tried to fight back, but was clearly being overwhelmed. His fire began to dim as he took multiple hammer fists to the ribs. The Demon roared in frustration and raised his sword in the air and swung straight down. Xyri predicted it this time however and was ready for it. Shebroke down her form and slide under his legs, reforming behind him. The monster looked around confused, with Xyri smiling behind him.

“Boo”

Xyri reformed both her hands into hammers and slammed them together with the demon’s head in the middle, squashing it like a watermelon as it disintegrated into the dark energy it was made out of.

Xyri barley had time to celebrate her victory as Cybrog came running down the street, looking ready for a fight before seeing the giant demon disintegrating in front of him. “Uh… What happened here?” He asked the giant Xyri.

“I killed a baddie” Xyri said simply, “Where are the others?”

“Don’t know,” Cyborg responded, “Was going to ask you that.”

Xyri frowned, “Well we were together and then an android attacked… Cora! We need to help her!”

---

The whole of Wayne Tower began to shack as the battle between Cora and Android 22 raged on. Cora had beaten the Android before, but that with her team around her, and Katie giving her the help she needed. She was alone now, no one was there to help her.

The two flew against each other at supersonic speed, each delivering heavy blows but neither gaining an advantage. 22 instantly flew over across the room, picking up a desk and tossing it at Cora. “Give up, you’re in over your head.”

Cora dodged the desk, putting her hands together and charging a ki blast, “Infinite Blaster!” She shouted as a red blast of energy came from her hands. It hit 22, slamming him through the office wall, as books and paper flew everywhere. 22 was not gone for long forever, flying back through the chaos and slamming into Cora with incredible speed as visibility was low.

Cora cursed herself for making such a silly mistake and getting distracted, as she tried to keep her hands up to protect herself from the oncoming blows. 22 was too fast though, and he slammed his fist into Cora’s stomach. Cora recoiled at this crying out in pain as she was caught off guard.
Android 22 gave a cruel smile, planning to exploit his opening. He followed up with two brutal uppercuts to her chin, before teleporting behind Cora and kicking her square in the back knocking her through three floors.

Cora landed hard on the ground struggling to get up. She was so angry and frustrated with herself she was having trouble concentrating on the fight. Damn it Cora, get up! What the hell are you doing? What would Katie say?

Cora thought in her mind as she forced herself to her feet. Unfortunately, Android 22 was waiting for her, sending a swift kick to her head sending her backwards.

“You’ve grown weak! See, this is what emotions get you. This is your reward for kindness! You’ve grown soft, you’re no match for me.”
Cora couldn’t help but feel that 22 was right. She was weak. She was laying here beaten and broken, sure to be killed by her sworn enemy.
22 advanced on her, showing no mercy as he grabbed her by the throat, delivering blow after blow to Cora’s gut. The female cyborg began to violently cough up blood as the relentless assault continued.

Cora prepared herself to die, and as she did so her mind filled with regret. She would never see her daughter grow up, she would never grow old with Katie. She would never see the light again.

Suddenly the roof was ripped right off the building, Android 22 looked up wondering what could possibly could be happening. Towering above him was a giant woman shaped slime monster, and she didn’t look happy. “LEAVE HER ALONE!!” Xyri shouted, as Cyborg dropped down from her shoulder, slamming into Android 22. “Let’s see how you deal with this bot!” Cyborg shouted, as he caught Android 22’s fist that was flying toward his face.

Cyborg raised his energy cannon, firing it at Android 22, hitting the villain straight in the face and shooting him out of the tower. 22 stabilized in the air, however he didn’t charge back into the fight. He realized he was now outnumbered, and he was satisfied with pummeling his rival.
“Fine congrats, she gets to live today. But you’re better off just putting her out of her misery. She’ll never survive in this world. Weakness will not be tolerated anymore. You’ll all be dead soon enough.” He said before flying off into the sky.

Cyborg turned his attention Cora was barely conscious, and blubbering hysterically. Cyborg was able to make out words like “Katie, and Sorry”. Cyborg turned to Xyri who had shrunk down to regular size, “Come on, we need to get out of here and find the others. Cora will be okay, but we need to get her to safety so she can rest.”

Cora laid limp in Cyborg’s arms, crying softly as she was carried away down the stairs of the building. She was embarrassed by how badly she was beaten and bloodied. A part of her wished that 22 might have just killed her right there, it might have been better than living with the shame of defeat.

---

For Mars, carrying the sedated Kiris through the halls of Wayne Tower was kind of like carrying a sleeping panther, trying not to wake it up. That was terribly difficult for Mars, as his heart was racing and he was silently freaking out after having pushed his ex-girlfriend into darkness. It was something that he didn’t know if she could ever come back from.

How could he ever live with himself? Only now did he realize how much Kiris had loved him, and how horrible he had been to her. He now knew what he had to do. He had to cure the darkness that he set forth onto Kiris, and he wouldn’t rest until he had. First thing was first though, he had to get back alive first.

Mars rushed toward a nearby stairwell, trying to find a way back to the lobby. He had almost completely forgotten about the others and was solely focused on the Hadrian on his back. Speaking of the Hadrian, Kiris began to stir behind him. Panic flashed in Mars’ mind. If she woke up in the middle of the stairwell, she may very well get her revenge on Mars right there and then.

Mars pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he made his way down the stairs, finally reaching the ground floor. Mars was getting exhausted however, and he began to stumble, falling to the ground as Kiris fell of the ground onto the worn carpet. That was all that was needed to draw the darkheart from her sleep. Her black eyes jumped open, and she quickly let out a snarl and began to rail against her restraints. Mars was now panicking, he didn’t have another sedative, and there was no way to bring her back without it.

For the first time in a long time, Mars felt lost. He almost just wanted to break down and cry. He was filled with feelings of guilt, despair, and regret. He did the only thing he could think of doing it that moment, turning to Kiris who was currently struggling to gain freedom.

“Kiris” He said, his voice hoarse, tears filling his eyes. “This is my fault. I pushed you to this. You were so kind and so optimistic, and I crushed that. I don’t know why, but I hated you for being so happy when I was so miserable. I know you don’t understand any of this right now. But I don’t believe what I said to you. I want you to be alive, I need you to be alive. You’re my best friend, and I can’t lose you, I just can’t.” Mars said, dropping to his knees as he silently cried.

Mars suddenly heard footsteps coming from the lobby and he jumped to his feet, pulling his pistol from his side and aiming at the door. He had no idea whether it was friend or foe. A woman then came into view, a surprisingly friendly face considering the circumstances.

“Mars? Is that you?” Valancy asked, her eyes turning quickly to the snarling Kiris. “What is wrong with her… Is she… Is she a dark heart?”

All Mars could manage was a nod, and Valancy’s expression turned to one of morning sadness. “I’m so sorry Mars. I can give her a painless death. She won’t feel a thing.”

Mars jumped at this, “No, I’m taking her back to New York. I’m going to find a way to cure her. I have to.”

Valancy looked very unsure but it didn’t seem like Mars would take no for an answer and nodded, “Okay, then let me help you.” She closed her eyes and focused and plants began to breach the carpet, blooming beautiful purple flowers. The flowers opened up around Kiris and released spores into the air that landed around the dark heart. Soon Kiris stopped struggling and her body went still. Valancy spoke before Mars could object. “She’s just asleep don’t worry. It’s a very positive natural sedative. She’ll be out for a while.”

Mars nodded to Valancy in thanks before carefully picking Kiris up once more, holding her in his arms as the two rebels walked out to the lobby. They barely made it towards the door when Xyri and Cyborg came running toward them.

“There you are! We have a situation!” Cyborg said, motioning to Cora in his arms. Valancy tensed up immediately, fury in her eyes. “What happened to her? Who dare hurt her?” Valancy asked, her voice almost shouting.

“It was Android 22, he beat her pretty bad. She’ll be alright but we need to get her to safety.”

Valancy carefully took the beaten and crying Cora into her arms, making a calming shushing sound as she stroked the cyborg’s “There there Cora, you’re safe now.” Cora curled up in Valancy’s arms, feeling small and weak but in enjoying the comfort of her close friend’s arms.

Cyborg then say Kiris in Mars’ arms and raised an eyebrow, Xyri jiggled in concern. “What’s wrong with Kiris?” Xyri said frantically.

“She’s fine.” Mars said probably a little too quickly. “She got hurt, but she’ll be okay. She’s just resting now.” He lied, making sure to hide her face from view.

Cyborg looked like he wanted to question that story but luckily Valancy spoke up before he could. “We should go, getting back to camp is our top priority. The battle will be starting soon.”

“For better or worse, this city is about to be a very dangerous place to be.”

Amerigold Bridge
The smell of blood and rotting flesh was almost overwhelming, even to the senses of a battle tested commander like Samantha Grimm. She had seen the human body mutilated in the most unimaginable ways, been in the most repulsive environments from swamps to sewers, and even had to once use magic lace to reattach her own leg. However, she had never experienced anything like the medical tents outside of Gotham.

Sam was walking along with Elena Galadera, once the famous hero known as Stormlight now one of Sam’s highest ranking officers. Sam had wanted DeeDee to be with her, mostly for more support, but her demon mentor had runoff behind enemy lines to hunt down other demons for sport. Sam knew she should have expected that, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

Sam walked through the entrance of the large tent and was immediately met with sounds of screaming, moaning, and other cringe worthy bodily noises. The only thing more distracting than the sounds were the smells, mud, blood, flesh, and pus. It was like the most disgusting air freshener you could imagine. She passed by the wounded, looking into each one of their eyes as she did, stopping by some of them and talking to them. It was important that the troops knew that they had a leader worth fighting for.

After making her rounds through the rows of wounded Sam made her way back to her command tent alone. Sam’s temporary living quarters were very modest as most of the members of the invading army were. She could have used her magic to quite easily make the place a paradise, Sam refused to live in luxury when most of her troops couldn’t. Her tent had no rug or carpeting, merely the dirt beneath her feet. There was a large stove in the center of the tented room, steam and smoke emanating from it as it subtly filled the room with heat. The soft crackling of the fire could be heard and the flames sparked on.

Sam sighed heavily as she took off her armor, laying her helmet and her chest piece down on the bed, leaving her in her leggings and a simple T-shirt. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically. Her bones ached, and her eyelids felt heavy over her eyes.

They had fought hard for over 7 hours, the minutes had seemed to blur together as wave after wave of demonic charged before them. The Free Earth Army had managed to push the demon army back to very edge of the Amerigold Bridge, but it was with heavy costs. They lost so many soldiers. Wives, husbands, sons and daughters, dead. There were even significant casualties among their hero cores. Van Zant was killed by a demon lord, and Raven was killed by Klarion right before Sam’s eyes. She had been in Commander Grimm’s vanguard during the battle. Raven died in Sam’s arms, her blood spilling onto the young leader’s uniform. The young half demon’s face still burned into her eyes.

Sam sat silently on her bed, tears beginning to stream down her face. She was a failure, and her people were dying because of it. She failed Raven, she failed her sisters, and she failed her army. The blood of the fallen stained her silky white hands, and she had no idea how to wash it off. She couldn’t even defeat Klarion the Witch Boy. She felt so alone, and so abandoned, like she was drifting in an roaring sea with no end in sight.

“Sam?”

The voice broke her out of her voice, and the witch jumped visibly, scurrying to wipe the tears from her eyes as she turned to see who was at the door. It was Elena, her black hair flowing past her shoulders as she looked intently at Sam.

“I’m sorry if I disturb you. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Are you… alright?” Elena asked softly, her voice gentle, but edged slightly with worry.

Sam looked away, embarrassed by her tears and not wanting Elena to see her as weak. “I’m fine Elena. I just need to rest. Thank you…” She took a deep breath. “Thank you for checking up on me.” She said, her tone as firm as she could manage at the moment, hoping that Elena would leave.

However, Sam soon felt the mattress under her shift as it adjusted to the newly added weight. Elena had sat down, taking the witch’s hand in hers. “It’s alright to cry Sam. We’re at war. We need to be able to deal with our emotions, and not hide from them. That doesn’t make us weak, it makes us strong.” Elena told her commander.

Sam was a little shocked by Elena’s words, but her expression softened and she gripped her friend’s hand a bit. Elena was so strong and confident; Sam didn’t know how she did it. Sam secretly looked up to Elena, and well her smile… Sam pushed those thoughts aside though, her throat tightening from embarrassment.

“How are we supposed to keep going Elena? So many people lost… We’re not making enough progress, and Raven.”

Elena’s expression tightened, “No Sam, stop that right now.” She said, in a strong authoritarian tone. Sam might have reprimanded her for speaking like that if she wasn’t so shocked.

“We can’t think like that. Raven died for us, for our cause. Everyone we lost died because they believed in what we were doing, they believed in the light. We owe it to them to keep fighting. We owe it to them to survive.” She then turned and looked right into Sam’s eyes.
“You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. You’re the only person who can lead us, because you’re the only person people are willing to die for. You will beat Klarion, and you will lead us to victory today, and I won’t let you think otherwise.”

Sam sat silently for a few moments before finally speaking up softly. “Thank you Elena, I needed that.” She said almost breathlessly, looking into Elena’s eyes, their faces mere inches from each other. They sat there silently until Sam started slowly moving closer to Elena, as if almost in a trance.

The moment was broken however when CeeCee entered the tent flap, “Commander Grimm, it is time for leadership meeting.” CeeCee said dutifully as Sam and Elena abruptly broke apart from each other, both flush in the face.

“Thank you CeeCee, we’ll be there in a moment.” Sam said, gaining her composure back as best as she could. She and Elena got up from the bed and headed out of the tent, a few steps apart from each other as they walked.

Sam turned to CeeCee as they walked, “Can I ask you to refrain from mentioning what you saw to DeeDee?” The commander asked her lieutenant.

CeeCee turned to her, “We share each-others experiences Ma’am, I’m afraid she already knows.”

The three of them soon arrived at the command tent, walking through the flap, as the people inside came to attention and saluted. Among them were Katie, Naja, Xander, and Jamie, dressed oddly as a U.S. military general. They stood around a large war table that looked like it was from the 20th century. It was incredibly meticulous and had little figures for each major force on the field.

“The enemy is concentrated at the base of the bridge.” Jamie said, pointing her long stick at the bridge. “They are building fortifications and have stationed siege weapons across the nearby roof tops. Demon artillery as it were.” Jamie said, pausing, looking at Sam. Sam was listening, but she was also staring intently at one piece in particular. It depicted a young boy with spikey black hair and a devilish smile.

Everyone was now watching her and she picked up the piece slowly and rolling it through her fingers, before looking toward the map. “The bridge will be a death trap for us. We’ve lost too may troops already. I won’t risk an all-out assault. I’ll draw Klarion out with a small force, and we’ll split our troops up and force our way through the water, and flank the enemy. We’ll use the bridge against them and box them it.”

One by one the generals nodded, including General Jamie, the tassels of her medals waving a bit as she did. Sam looked down at the piece in her hand one more time, before her fingers sparked with flames and the face of the figure began to melt away. She dropped it on the ground and looked to her lieutenants as the figure burned beneath her.

“Come on, we have a battle to win.”

[Tomia]

Young Bloods: One Day Later
The Cyborg had finally been dealt with and taken off to prison, and the Young Bloods were able to return to their normal lives. Well as normal as they ever got. Nico had gone to school that afternoon and it was around 5 o'clock when he returned. Cat caught him up to speed on what happened with the Cyborg, and it seemed to Nico that she might be a little upset that he wasn't there. Still Nico put that thought aside as he worked on the homework he had been putting off.

Mars meanwhile was sitting on the living room couch, reading a book Isaac Asimov. He was staying out in the common spaces more often than before, he still often sat in silence, but he was much more comfortable with the presence of others. Soon, he got a message on his phone, which led him to jump up off the couch and head to the computer in the living room.

His security network was finally paying off, and the robberies he was tracking were finally being traced. A large pharmaceutical company in Jump City was being robbed and they had a chance to stop it. Mars tripped the alarm on the computer that would alert every team member to come to commander center. Mars was excited about this one. He had been tracking whoever this was for weeks, and now he finally had a chance to catch them.

[Tomia]

The Song of Venus and Mars

“From the sky, fire shall rain. A demon shall appear from the flames to bring Rome to her knees. Pray to the Gods, they are our only hope.”

The year was 120 AD, and the Roman Empire holds dominion over most of the known world. It is the third year into the young reign of Emperor Hadrian, a wise and experienced military general. Under his rule the empire has prospered under an unusual era of peace. The people of the Empire are experiencing an era of prosperity and luxury. However, both Roman and Christian priests across the empire have begun to warn of omens in the sky. Signs of the coming of a great evil approaching, that would threaten to destroy Rome itself. Most believe this to be superstition and nonsense, after all what could threaten Rome? Little did they know that the world would soon be changed forever. Fire would rain from the sky, and bloodshed would follow it.

A young boy stands at the base of a river, the sun shining brightly down on his head as he filled a large basin with water. His name was Fulco, and he was a member of the small Germanic tribe that referred to themselves as the Sarogins. They were a weak and little known tribe, that was merely trying to survive in the harsh terrain north of the Danube River. Fulco was about 12 years old, his body lean due to a hard life of labor. Even at the age of 12 he has been a major provider for his family and his tribe. The Sarogins needed every person in their tribe able to contribute, if they were going to be able to sustain themselves.

Fulco filled up the basin with as much water as it could hold, before strapping it to his back, shifting under the weight as he made his way towards the dirt path that would start the long journey back to his village. The wind howled a bit as he walked. It was early fall and therefore not unbearably cold, but the fall was notoriously cold in Germany. Fulco didn’t know much about the world beyond the territory of his small tribe. He had never left the territory and only heard the occasional story about the outside when a wandering traveler stumbled upon their village. From those people Fulco had heard stories of massive cities filled with banquets of food and flowing water. Fulco couldn’t even imagine what those cities must be like, what kind of people must live there.

Hours later as the sun was setting in the sky, Fulco reached his village. He entered through the tall and narrow wooden gate. Village might be a generous term for the circumstances in which the Sarogins lived. It was more like a large collection of huts and small cabins, structured in circles around large square fires. In the center of the village was a large wooden cabin, with multiple floors. There lived their chief, the richest and most powerful man in the tribe, Gerulf. Gerulf was nearly a living legend within their tribe, having killed a wolf when he was only 5 years old. He was a man of great determination and ambition. He would not be satisfied with being the ruler of a few tents and fires for long.

Fulco returned to his family tent, placing the water jug carefully on the ground before heading over to his family’s fire to join them and their neighbors for dinner. Fulco had just sat down and began to dig into his smoked meat when suddenly the sky exploded. A bright red light streaked across the sky, it was almost blinding with how bright it was. Everyone in the village immediately stopped what they were doing, staring up at the bright light in awe. Some began shouting about how it was the end of the world, others shouting that it was god falling to Earth.

Soon the entire village was on their feet, running out of their gated community and headed to the forest where it seemed that the sky rock had landed. Smoke filled the air in the forest as hundreds of trees were flattened by the impact and hundreds more were set ablaze, causing a sanguine light not unlike that of twilight to permeate the space beneath the forest canopy. The villagers were scared, but Chief Gerulf urged them on and inspired them to continue alongside him.

They soon arrived by the rock that had landed in the midst of the forest, making a new clearing under its own power. The flames were not as present there as they were elsewhere, and so, without fear, the villagers could observe the rock. It was smooth and seemed to reflect the light of the sun and the forest fires. The tribe surrounded the rock, and Chief Gerulf boldly stepped forward until he was in front of the strange object, waiting, knowing something was bound to happen.

His expectations were fulfilled in a way he could have never expected. A part of the giant rock soon exploded outwards, narrowly missing Gerulf. Most of the villagers were frightened, but the chief stood his ground, and the others did the same. From within the rock, something rose. A large, vicious claw covered in scales gripped the side of the hole in the rock, and then another. A figure soon pulled itself out from within, but when the villagers saw it… they were surprised. The creature that had emerged from within the burning stone was not a demon as they had expected. It looked like a person, like a girl in fact, with long hair the color of roses. She looked like a woman, but at the same time demonic, for along with her claws there were a pair of horns on her head and a long white tail that was a meter long.

The villagers stared in awe at the not quite human creature in front of them, some in wonder, some in terror, but all of them in reverence. The girl stood tall despite her small size, and let out a roar that would not be heard from the fiercest beasts of all. The ground shook, and the fires were put out, and the clouds parted before that girl, and the villagers fell to their knees, clutching their heads. When the noise subsided, they rose their heads up to stare at the creature before them, before once again lowering them and bowing in awe.

Gerulf however rose to his feet, taking a step toward the strange woman, a bright look of determination in his eyes. The power before him was incredible, it was the power of a god, and he planned to harness it. “What is your name, O great Goddess of the Sky?” He asked her in Gaelic. The so-called goddess looked down at the elder, and spoke with a voice that was soft and melodic, nothing like the powerful roar from before.

“Kirisvala.”

[Tomia]

Kylie to the Rescue

Cora was still sulking in her interrogation room when suddenly the door opened and an officer came inside. "You're free to go." The officer said to him. Cora looked at him in shock.

"Really?" She asked, not sure what was going on.

"Ya, one of your teammates came to bail you out." He said leaving the door open before walking away.

Cora tensed up, she didn't know which teammate it was but hoped it wasn't Katie. That would be bad. Either way, it wouldn't be good. Any of them would certainly be furious at her, Cora knew that going into the mission. Now that she was about to face it though, she felt like she'd rather just stay in jail.

Cora made her way to the front of the police station, where she saw Kylie waiting for her in her lantern costume, she remembered to be careful not to say Kylie true name. "Ms. Lantern, thanks for coming to get me. Things didn't go exactly as planned." Cora said meekly, not really sure what else to say, preparing for the tongue lashing she would certainly receive.

[Tomia]

Cora felt it was kind ominous the way that Kylie ignored her and Marybeth and merely led them outside, that's when Kylie started talking. Cora gulped slightly when Katie was brought up, her girlfriend was not going to be happy. Cora sighed, and took a deep breath before speaking. "Look Kylie, I'm sorry that I never told you, but I was trying to protect you. I knew you and others might try to stop me, and if it went bad I didn't want to compromise the team. But, I won't apologize for what I did. I know I never told you really, but the place where I was created was horrible. It was a hell, where I was tortured constantly. Now they were trying to put a bunch of kids through that same thing. I just couldn't let that happen Kylie I refused. " Cora said, getting visibly angry again, not at Kylie but the memories of her time in the lab. She took a deep breath and continued. "I didn't mean to put the team in danger, but I won't regret what I did, I just can't."

[Tomia]

---

Kirisvala was currently in her room, practicing her magic. After both the mission against Nico's parents and the incident with the cyborg intruder, she felt that she hadn't been very useful in combat as of late, so she was trying to remedy that. Alongside the combat training she had recently taken up, which had sadly not gone very far just yet, she was also attempting to learn how to make her magic both more efficient and more powerful. She wasn't quite sure how to do that, but she wasn't going to give up at it. So far, she was just repeating the spells she knew to see if she could perfect them throug practice. Her melodic voice echoed through her room as she sang one of her spellsongs, before abruptly switching, and then doing so once again. In a short span of time, the dummy in front of her was crystallized, set on fire, and then shielded from damage.

Before she continued on, however, she felt something odd on her head. She blinked, and then listened as a familiar voice spoke to her, the voice of the cute fairy she had met a while ago. Smiling, she looked into her mirror, seeing that Ava was indeed on her head, resting inbetween pink locks of hair. "Oh, hi Ava." The Hadrian said cheerfully, before sitting down on the side of her bed, opting to stop training for now. "I was just practicing my magic a little. I don't really want to be a burden next time we have a mission..." She said, sounding a little down, though she cheered back up quite quickly. "Anyways, how about you? Did you come here just to see me?" The girl asked.

A moment later, however, she, like the rest of the Young Bloods, received Mars' call, and stood up to head down to the Command Room. "I wonder what it is... Oh, well. We'll find out soon enough, right?" She conversed with Ava as she left her room and walked into the elevator.

Mars waited a little impatiently as everyone made their way to the command room. It was clear that he was excited and invested in whatever was going on. Nico arrived just as Kiris and Ava got there as well. "Hey guys, good to see you." He said to the fairy and the Hadrian, waving to them since a handshake would probably not work out too well with either of them.

Once the whole team was assembled, Mars spoke, showing a map on the screen that displayed the recent robberies. "So I've been tracking reports of robberies happening once a week in this general location." He said pointing to the map. "I've been tracking police reports for banks, and other targets for robbery in the area and a hit came tonight, exactly a week since the last one. I'm sure its the same person or group, and this is our opportunity to catch them. We have no idea really who this is, because they always escape the cameras, but I know as a team we can handle it. Who's in?"

Nico nodded, "I'm in, sounds like whoever this is deserves to get taken out. Besides, I've been dying for a little more action lately." He said with a smile. Mars nodded, looking to the others to see how they would respond.

[Tomia]

Cora
Cora hung her head a bit as Kylie spoke, she felt guilty when Kylie said she would have helped if Cora had asked. Saying that Cora should be able to trust them. "I'm sorry Kylie. I just wasn't thinking. I do trust you, all of you. You're my friends, and I care about you all so much." Cora said, hoping that Kylie knew that. The last thing she wanted was to lose her friends. She suddenly stepped forward and pulled Kylie into a hug. "Thank you for being my friend." She said softly, holding her for a little while before pulling away. "Come on, we should get back home." Cora said, as the group flew away back toward the city. Cora was not at all looking forward to facing Katie, but Kylie was right. Katie deserved to hear it from Cora.

Mars
Mars was glad to hear that everyone seemed to be on board. He heard Kiris trying to comfort Rin, hoping she would be able to convince her to come along with them. He then blushed a bit at Ava's scolding tone. Nico was smiling a bit as the small fairy rested on his head.

"Sorry Ava" Mars said. "Don't worry though, I'll get that fixed. I'll add in an emergency backdoor for you on the roof soon." Mars promised, nodding to Vera when she said she'd join. Nico smiled and waved to Vera when she came in.

"Alright its settled then. Let's get going. Get your equipment and suits and everything. I want to leave in 10 minutes. Mars said, marching off to his workshop to get his own suit and Rocket. He was really pumped for this mission and he was confident that they could win. Mars was finally starting to really feel like a leader. Leading his team to victory was thrilling for him and he was determined to do that tonight.

Nico went off to get his suit as well, it was a regular cloth based suit, that was the color of sand. Nico was a fan out, Kiris had made it for him and she did a good job at it. Nelli had enchanted it too, so that he could store sand within it. He went to his room and grabbed his suit before quickly heading up to the northern roof where they kept their plane. Mars certainly seemed to be in a rush about this whole thing, Nico wondered if there was something up with him.