Infinite Justice 4 (IC)

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Amber Winters

"Well: it looks like we weren't needed here." Amber stated as she twirled her guns; before shoving them into her pockets. She hadn't even gotten a single hit in when the guys was assaulted on all side by the other superpowers; she was quite disappointed by how easily he fell and the sheer number of other powerful individuals in the area. In recent years America had become jammed packed with superhero wannabes and it was really grating on her nerves, sighing, she glanced back at William and gave him a wink.

"See you around love!" She told him as she magically sprouted wings and took to the skies.

"See you around! Try hard to not dream with me!"

And so, William turned around and started walking, without any particular destiny in mind. The one being known as Darkseid just lost to another group of heroes. It was incredible how that even in the middle of such disasters, their phones were untouched. And, as every modern city, people took off their phones and cameras and devices: They needed to fill their needs of telling and showing the world what happened.

Walls of flashes were erected by the modern, new type of junkie that craved attention, likes, shares and retweets. Photos of the disaster were probably storming the internet now, and William was happy: In the middle of the flying, dashing charismatic heroes, he was just another civilian. Obviously, he didn't show any magical spells or curses that called attention besides from the church and from the roof. Such was the nature of his work: Subtle, unnoticed.

And he was filled with the most pleasant feeling for him: The one of doing absolutely nothing to stop the threat. Others did it for him next time, and he was pleased by it. At very few times, he could grasp the feeling of being the one that didn't solve the problem. It gave him a small, internal laugh: He was impressed by his comfort by his laziness even in such situations.

And wanting to lose his time a little bit, he returned to the waitress's apartment. His phone was restless with jobs and calls, but he needed a place to rest his tired body. And so he knocked back on her door, finding the same smile sculpted in that feminine block of solid world.

"Sorry lady. I was saving the world down there."

[Confederation of imperial states]

Dark Knight 5
"Knight Vigilante"

Chicago Projects
9:30pm

["Dispatch to Car 59, We've got a report of gunfire coming from a large house, 1286 Mason street..], The Police car's Radio crackled to life, the two Officers quickly finishing up their food. The Older officer quickly grabbed the Radio, "Car 59 to Dispatch, we're on it", he said, starting up the car and driving off. The Younger officer quickly prepared his firearm as the drove down the street, quickly nearing their destination, the roads of the projects almost empty at nighttime. "Sir" the Younger officer asked, the Older officer sighed, "Jimmy you don't need to call me Sir anymore", "Alright, Chuck, do you think the reports of 'Dark Knight' are true?". The Older officer remained silent, continuing to concentrate on the road, "It's just....after the whole Alien thing, many people thought they'd seen him, and then there's the rumors and sightings from the past 15 Years-" The Older officer sighed. "Look Jimmy..." Chuck stopped the car infront of the house, "I've been on the force for 10 years, and I've seen alot of things, this Knight-". He was interrupted when the sound of an Automatic rifle came from the old house, the flashing of it visible in the second story windows, quickly cut off and stopping with the sound of a large, non firearm, "BANG".

The Older Officer paused for a second, "Kid, Get the Shotgun".

The Two Officers quickly hurried up to the house, The younger one wielding the pump shotgun while the Older one held onto his pistol. They took stance on either side of the door, "breach" Chuck said as Jimmy kicked in the door, aiming his Shotgun forward. the light attached illuminating the dark, damp hallway, they proceeded in, Jimmy stopped and pointed the light at a Knightdart sticking out of the wall. "Something tells me this isn't Prometheus..." Jimmy muttered, Chuck moved up ahead while Jimmy took aim at the Basement door, Chuck kicked it in, heading down with Jimmy following. As they hurried downstairs, Chuck aimed his flashlight and gun at a large set of bars, lowering his gun when he saw a horrific sight. Young Boys and Girls, Young Women, Older Women, and some men, all packed into a large cell built into the basement. Jimmy hurried down, aiming the gun's light at the door, it was visually broke, with the lock ripped out. "Jesus, what is this?" jimmy asked, Chuck looked at the numerous men unconscious on the floor. "Sex Slaves, a smuggling hut if I've eevr seen it" chuck said grimly, as he approached the cell door, the people within began to become frightened. "Woah, we're not here to help you" jimmy said trying to console them as chuck stopped.

"The Armored Man..." one of them said shakingly, "The Armor man saved us, beat down the men" she said pointing to the numerous beaten men on the ground. Jimmy looked to Chuck, unverbally asking him about the "Armored Man" line. Chuck reached for the Door knob of the cell, pulling it open "Don't worry you're safe-". Chuck was cut off when about 5 of them grabbed the cell door and pulled it closed. "He's still here" an Older Man said, pointing up to the Ceiling above. As Jimmy held his Shotgun at the ready, A large pounding noise came from above, followed by a scream, the old roof shook off dust after it. "PLEASE, PLEASE I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT!" a Fearful voice said, partly muffled through the floor, Another sound of a large smash, followed bu the man's scream came from above. "Kid, go check it out" Chuck said to Jimmy, the young officer hesitant at first, then nodded heading up stairs. Jimmy quickly made it to the ground floor, a sound of a large pound from upstairs, the male voice quaking and screaming all the while. He aimed his Shotgun up the stairs, the light illuminating the staircase as he walked up. "No, NO PLEASE, NO-" The Voice was cut off by a sickening punch sound, and then the sound of a large sizzling burn, The Voice screamed in agony, echoing throughout the house.

Jimmy carefully climbed the stairs, reaching the lone doorway, as he entered he aimed his gun forward, seeing a man tied to a large set of pipes in the corner. The Man was drenched in sweat, in obvious agony, with a large part of his left side neck red, and some blood visible. Jimmy stopped in the miffle of the room, the man looked at him pleading for mercy, Jimmy stopped cold as he felt he was being watched. Jimmy slowly turned around, keeping his shotgun at the ready, he turned around to illuminate the Vigilante Dark Knight, his Darkened armor, sitting high in the rafters looking down at the cop. Jimmy promptly fired his Shotgun at the Vigilante, Dark Knight jumped to another rafter next to him, Jimmy fired another shot, then another, then another, Dark Knight moving from Rafter - to - Rafter, hurrying along the Ceiling. Dark Knight quickly hurried up into a large hole already made in the roof, Jimmy attempting to fire a shot, though no use as The Vigilante was already gone. Jimmy was stunned, shocked, and scared as he stood there, as he heard some footsteps coming from the door he fired a shot, hitting the door frame and nearly missing Chuck.

"Jesus! Nearly blew my face off!" Chuck said, walking towards the man tied up to the Pipes. Jimmy stuttered, "I saw him! I saw him Sir!", Chuck ignored Jimmy as he approached the man, inspecting the obvious red mark on his neck. "What is it?" jimmy asked, "Jesus....he branded him" Chuck said showing Jimmy the large Shield like Brand on his neck.

Chicago WGN News

"In a shocking turn of events tonight, a large Sex Slave holding center was found in an old Abandoned house in the Chicago Projects. The officers who'd investigated the place, said there was about 60 or so people being held against their will, adults, children, and elderly. The Leader of the holding center, a man named 'Laster Lobe', was found brutally beaten, like the rest of his men, however he had the same Shield Brand burned onto his skin. The Brand was also found in Chester malik, a Child Molester who'd violated around 13 children, and Marcus Tanner, a Gang Lord who'd been rsponsible for the Chicago Elderly Massacrem where he and a few others broke into the Chicago VMW and killed 17 Elderly Veterans"

"More news after this..."

---

Twitter Feed: @ChaseWithMace: It's totally the #DarkKnightofChicago / @Tammy_Smith: You're all Morons, the #DarkKnightofChicago doesn't exist! / @MariaObel: Everyone's saying #DarkKnightofChicago is evil for branding, but this guy forced 50 people, even CHILDREN to be sex slaves

[Jorliefstreiken]

Sam Darion was relaxing on top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, enjoying the fresh air. He always enjoyed being up this high, as it gave him a chance to clear his mind before the day began. He had tracked a villain known as Ka Bume to the Windy City and was psyching himself up for their next confrontation. Ka was particularly notorius for using a variety of grenades, some of which contained his greatest weakness, Lead. Sam had to be ready for anything in the fight to make sure he was not hit by anything lethal. Taking one last breath of fresh air, Sam pulled on his mask, putting on his persona as Legend. He then extended his arms and leaned back, falling of the tower.

The people of Chicago were greeted to a sonic boom as he got up to speed flying. His ears rushed with the howling of air past his face and his hair flowed through the wind. Finally he detected the telltale radiation leak of Ka's nuclear grenades. Following the trail, Legend found himself in an old abandoned warehouse by the docks. He muttered to himself "Couldn't they be original for once" before diving to his right, avoiding the easily expected grenade. There, up on the cat walk in typical supervillain style was Ka Bume, juggling a set of grenades and taunting legend. Suddenly he tossed 3 grenades. However, Legend saw it was clear that Ka didn't actually know too much about him, as the grenades were all nuclear grenades. He grabbed each of them and absorbed the power from them. Ka saw what happened and began to run. Legend easily caught him and slammed him to the ground. Ka then began to laugh manically. Legend asked him "Why are you laughing?"

Ka simply replied "Because my friends are here."

Legend then turned around to see two people, one appearing to be made of rough stone, almost like a pokemon gone horribly wrong, while the other was a suprisingly attractive woman. The Stone one stepped forward and said "Hands off the associate, or your going to have to deal with more than those pathetic explosions."

Ka yelled out "THEY ARE NOT PATH-" before Legend cold clocked him.

Legend looked up and said to the rock-man "Okay there Stoney the bear... Heh, good name... You are picking a fight with the wrong dude here. I just want to put this guy away and return to my peacefu-" Stoney charged at Legend. Legend sighed and lashed forward, bearhugging the monster. The thing struggled for a few moments before breaking apart into pebbles. The woman behind him screamed in rage. Legend looked at her and said "Oh come on, whats a good lookin gal like you doin with a-" He was shut up by the fact that the Woman had suddenly grown 100 stories taller. "Well then" Jumping into the air Legend landed on her shoulder. He whsipered in her ear "Goodnight sweet princess" before punching the side of her face in a fury of blows. She withstood the first brrage of weaker ones, but then Legnd picked up his speed and strength. She fell like a ton of bricks into the waters of Lake Michigan. Legend floated down to the ground where a street vendor was selling some food. Legend gave the guy a 50$, took a soda and a hotdog and left with the note of "Buy yourself something nice".

[Charmera]

Opal Vincent

Opal sat on the couch with her sister, watching a cartoon. She wasn't exactly paying attention though. In fact she had been rather disconnected from reality ever since she met Yellow. She had been playing with her newfound abilities, experimenting with her creative flair that she had. As flashing colours played out in front of her, she slipped into her own mind. She blankly stared at the TV, seemingly in a daze to anyone who could see her. However her mind was more active than anyone likely realized, except it was far from here. Far, far away...

Fifteen years ago. Such a long time.

She remembered the crash like it was yesterday. She wasn't in it of course. Opal had volunteered to stay home, going out just wasn't for her. Still she had reconstructed it in her head from the information she had accumulated. She remembered it in striking detail, and the scene manifested itself in her world. She floated downwards, touching the ground with her black shoes with more elegance than she possessed in real life. She was dressed differently in her mind, in what Yellow said was her Warden suit. She frowned as she looked at the scene before her, a broken car in a lonely street.

"Why do I keep coming back to this?" She muttered. She snapped her fingers and the car was gone, then she moved the sun so it was lighting up the street. She looked around.

"This won't do at all. Too boring..." She paused, then twisted her hand around, the scenery fading into colours and shapes, geometrically changing. She put a hand on her chin and supported her arm with her other arm. "Let's see... we already did space invasion... what about pirates?" She asked and then grinned. Opal watched as the ground in front of her split to reveal a wooden mast coming out of the dirt itself next a wooden deck where she was standing and finally a navigation wheel materialized in front of her. The landscape changed, now a sea of water. Almost as suddenly as that change, she saw a sail appear on the mast.

"Shiver me timbers!" She shouted, grabbing a cutlass from the air and swishing it about. On her long yet strangely not unkempt hair, she felt a captains hat fall. She looked onto the main deck, seeing a scurvy crew. No longer was she Opal Vincent, she was Captain Barbarosa Cannonblast! Captain of the Royal Dutchman and scourge of the seven-

"DING DONG"

What?

"DING DONG"

Oh. The doorbell. The doorbell...

Opal hurtled back to reality and slammed back into her own body with a painful crash. Reality was back. Reality, the bloody tyrant of Opal's life. How many dreams cut short because she had "homework" and "study" and a little sister with a voice as big as her wide eyes. Or maybe it was only big because this infernal house was so quiet. Like a tomb. Like a Tomb.

Like a car on the side of the road.

Now she was interrupted, she was curious. She had to know who could be at that door. So she got up and walked towards it. Then she opened it. If she had tried from the other side, it would require a pass-code, a fingerprint scanner and a whole body scan to make sure you didn't bring any "foreign beverages".

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

New York
Abigail simply sighed at Michael's response, and the mysterious man named CyberCore walked up to him. "Thanks. Yours is nice too. Online? Or fancy store?" He asked him. Finally the battle with the one known as Darksied was over, and the two androids were watching the heroes that had defeated him closely. "Inquiry: Shall we question them?" The Codex asked. The Patron nodded, and the two androids flew to meet the heroes.

They landed next to the kneeling and weakened hero and looked down at him. "Inquiry: Do you need assistance?" The Codex asked. Meanwhile Abigail noticed the massive form of Pessima roaring on top of a building, and she looked up at him in awe. "What on Earth is that?" She asked aloud. CyberCore responded. "Trouble."

Hiroshima-Japan-Cave
Amber was not alone. As she walked she would feel as though she was being watched from all sides at all times. When she arrived at the bottom of the staircase, she would be presented with a long corridor, leading into a large stone room with a single throne which towered over her on a stone pedestal. She would feel as though something was behind her, and if she turned she would see nothing.

Suddenly a voice resonated from somewhere in the room. "What have we here? A visitor after all of this time?" She would feel something brush against her back, only there was still nothing there. "And so young. So pretty. Tell me, who are you?" The voice inquired, still not revealing it's location.

[The Glenn Nation]

New York City

Spyro Tower

Max was currently in his lab working on trying to reverse engineer the Apokaliptian armor in order to fit humans. The armor was pretty sturdy and if he achieved his goal, which he always did eventually, the armor would be very valuable. He had been working on it since the Apokolips invasion and had made considerable progress so far.

“Lucy,” He yelled out and though no one was in his lab, his android Lucy’s “mind” monitored every inch of his building 24/7, “make sure you update my progress on the armor.”

“Of course Mr. Spyro,” a female voice responded through the speakers within his lab.

Max left his lab and went to get dressed in a simple, yet expensive, black suit. As he was getting dressed, he was watching the news as he usually does. Of course, the news cycle was still dominated by the heroes fighting Darkseid and his parademons. It infuriated him on how high the popularity of the heroes had gotten over the last few weeks. But, saving the world can do that for you I guess. Though, Max had his own plan to exploit the invasion. He had been in talks with the New York Governor and New York City Mayor since the invasion ended, and they had come to an agreement for his company to partner with the city to rebuild it. The damage to the city was extensive and costly, but as long as he was considered the face of the recovery, the popularity he would receive would be worth the expense.

Max walked out of his room and his assistant was there waiting for him. She updated him on his company, giving him details about profits, different projects, and other normal business talk. She also gave him his outline for what he was going to say at the press conference today. This was the day he and the Mayor are going to announce the partnership to rebuild New York City, and everything had to be perfect, of course.

“Where’s Allen? I can’t be late waiting for him.”

“He’s already in the car waiting for you Mr. Spyro.”

When they reached the town car, Lucy sat in front with the driver, and Max in the back with his adopted son.

“Hello, Allen.”

“Hello, Father.” And, that was as far as the conversation went for the entirety of the ride. Allen was a quiet kid, and Max rarely had any conversations with him. Since he was adopted, Allen learned not to bother Max, and he rarely did. But, he served his purpose for Max. He helped increased his likability and his telepathic abilities helped Max tremendously. However, even when they were next to each other, Allen focused on reading the book he had in his hand and Max focused on rehearsing his speech.

New York City Hall

“Please give a warm welcome to Mr. Maxwell Spyro Jr.”

“Thank you Mayor, and thank you all for coming out today. Just a few weeks ago, the world faced an attack like no other. And, it was here in New York City where the brunt of the invasion was felt. Aliens tried to destroy this city, this country, this world, but they were stopped. So I would like to give my thanks to the true heroes of that day that will live in infamy: the first responders who risked their lives and went out into the frontline of the battle to help save as many lives as possible. Although their efforts were great, we still have lost a great amount. Many have lost their homes, their businesses, and most painfully, their lives. And while we can mourn for the dead and remember their legacies, we cannot bring them back. But, what we can do it bring back this city and rebuild it into something even greater than it was before.

That is why I am announcing SpyroTech’s partnership with New York City to help rebuild it. And, SpyroTech is pledging at least $1 billion to help rebuild mostly lost homes and small businesses. While this is only the beginning of our reconstruction, it is the mark of us building to a better era for everyone. Thank you!"

[The Starlight]

Danny: I...am afraid.

Anya, being the more cynical of the pair, raised an eyebrow at the paradox, about to quip something sarcastic when Ashkira gave her a warning look and a light punch. As the man stumbled away, the Blue Aviatrix did not restrain herself, muttering, "How is a drunk supposed to save her from all those Parademons?"

"Consider," Ashkira rebutted, "that no one is born a drunkard. This man was likely something before he fell to liquor. Perhaps we may assist him in raising him back up to the man he used to be, the man he was meant to be." The Essence looked up, only to see the man gone, however, even a normal human could follow the stench that the man left in his wake.

And so, they followed, into his home, Anya's eyes scanning over the various objects and the lone, clear photo that depicted his family. And it was there that Anya gained empathy for him, seeing all that he had lost. And then, he stumbled over to box of crates, revealing a hero's costume. And thus it was revealed who this man had been. A hero. Despair and ruin had crumbled him, dragged him down to the abyss. But he had stumbled, not fallen, not yet.

Not really knowing how to respond to Aqueduct's emotional plea, Anya turned to Ashkira, who stepped forward. "I am Ashkira, Essence of Der. And this is Anya, the Blue Aviatrix. I am sorry for all of your losses. Fear...can be the best motivator. Yet, do not let it control you, nor guide you into rashness. This city needs heroes, not just your cousin. And in her capture, yes, we shall rise with you to the occasion. Your request is...partially selfish, and make no mistake, I do not blame nor judge. But, the Demons seem to have congregated around her, and I believe the city shall endure. So yes, Aqueduct, we will come with you, to save your niece."

"Any chance you could take a shower before we head out?" Anya joked.

[United Seasonal Osnilian Districts]

-snip-

Darksied was officially down for the count. As Natalie turned back, she saw the remains of a building. And among the rubble, were two figures. Natalie turned around, ignoring the high-fiving, back patting, and congratulating going on where Darksied had been shoved into the Boom Tube.

Flying over the building, she lowered her altitude to get a better look. Some kind of lab was obviously destroyed. The first figure was a black-haired, scantily dressed woman with a lock of hair braided. The second was also a female with raven black hair, except it was shorter. The second female was shaking violently, as if she were having a seizure.

Natalie quickly assessed the situation and landed nearby. Her mind echoed back to her cousin Oliver's words when she wanted to help a lost child near where she and Oliver were busting a gang, "We're here to fight crime, not Lost and Found Services."
She fired back, "I'm here to help the people. And this little girl is one of them."

Her mind returned to the present, as she viewed the situation. The emergency services were most likely getting calls like this already, so she would do what she could. Stepping forward, she said, "Is there anything I can help with?"

[Confederation of imperial states]

Dark Knight 6

Knight's Domain

Marcus sat at the Knightcomputer, in his basic armor suit, the Armor's cape and it's helmet taken off and set on the metal table nearby. On the Knightcomputer, Gifs, Videos, and Pictures of San Andres' hero, "Guardian" were displayed on the terminals. Marcus rubbed his chin, his Facial hair much thicker than it'd been in past years. Marcus quickly peered over to a looping Gif of Guardian, slamming into the Metahuman Villain that was known as "Thunder". Guardian could be seen slamming into him, smashing through a building corner, the rubble falling onto the chaotic streets below of Detroit. Marcus remembered that day, he'd been heading to Michigan to visit one of his main Installations, when the Black Zero event occurred.

"Never again" Marcus muttered as he closed up the file full of Information on Guardian, [Sir you've received a notification from "Malanor Rex"]. Marcus raised an eyebrow, sliding his chair over to the far end of the Knightcomputer and opening the declassified Email he uses for Business. "Sanza gather up all od the information you have on Mr Rex". [of course sir] the AI said, beginning to scour any Databases she could get her hands on for any Information. [Billionaire Philanthropist Rex Malanor, Based in New York with his family having grown up in Chicago. He's a large Humanitarian, with a large part of his Nationwide Science Division working on Metahuman research]. Marcus paused, peering to his right slightly, "Metahuman Research?", [Yes sir]. Marcus sat there, pondering on it, the peered to the email at the Message Malanor Rex had sent him.

To: CEO of Cryotech, and Billionaire Philanthropist Marcus Branston
From: Billionaire Philanthropist Malanor Rex
"Mr Branston, it is with upmost pleasure, and respect that I'd like to send you an invitation to attend to attend the 34th Annual Malanor family Gala, hosted by 'Rex Malanor' at the Chicago Estate Theater"

Marcus sat back in his chair for a second, thinking and coming up with a solution, "Sanza gather what you can on Malanor Rex's Gala Theater, Who's it owned by, Is there anyway I can gain access to Rex's mainframe systems". [Of Course] Sanza said as she went to work, quickly working to find an entrance way, Marcus stood up from his chair, walking over to a large metal cabinet system near a workshop area. As Sanza continued to work, Marcus quickly pieced together a data toring box, hooking up an AV cable, plug in port, and quickly made the device. [Sir, I've found an access point, Lower floor of the Gala theater, leads to Malanor's systems. "Thank you Sanza". Marcus quickly walked over to a large panel of the Knight's domain, placing a hand it, a scanner built in made the wall panel pull back, and a selection of dress clothes took it's place sliding from the sides on metal hangars, shelves, and drawers.


As Marcus put on a fashionable dress coat, finishing off his suit, he reached up and took out his Old Trenchcoat. The coat wasn't one of the old beat up Canvas ones, it was fine leather, with a slick design, passed down by Marcus' Father. As Marcus put on the coat, Sanza chimed in, [Sir would you like me to arrange to have a Transport to come to the house to take you there?]. Marcus Straightened out his Collar and exhaled, "No Sanza, I think I'll go alone on this one".

---

Marcus walked outside of his Secluded home in the Branston Estate woods, walking over to a vehicle covered by a Weather resistant tarp. Grabbing one of the ends, Marcus quickly pulled the tarp off, To reveal His Father's old 1941 Cadillac. Still in Pristine condition, even after all the years. Marcus promptly climbed in the car, pulling in the tail of his coat, and started up the car. It roared like the day it was made, and drove off, down the old road, past the trees. Marcus peered at the tree line, a thick, large amount of woodland areas, as it passed, he saw it give away to the end of the Forest Reserve, the old decrepit husk that was Branston estate Manor passed by his right side window, in the distance, past the long field of tall grass, it stood there. a 3 Floor Testament to the dying breed that was The Branston Family.

Marcus shook it off, he left it behind when everything fell apart, and he speed up, towards the bright, shining skyline ahead that was Chicago.

[The Klausians]

Pessima Tenebris

After killing a few more Parademons, Pessima looked down at Abigail and her small group. He scaled down the building just as someone began to scream something about returning something. His large form began to shrink as he squeezed into the dark alley in between the building and the next. A few moments past by before he came out, walking toward the group. However, instead of a beast lurking toward them, a human would be. He popped his knuckles, his neck, and his back as he slowly walked. "Now Abigail," he said with a very slight British accent, "what the hell did I say?" He stopped walking when he was about five feet away from the group. "Surely it was something about me being pissed off if I had to wait.. Does that sound accurate to you?" He gave a slight smirk as he stared at her in the eyes. "It sounds accurate to me.." His smirk faded into a stern look.

[Saint Morning]

New York

Hiroshima-Japan-Cave
Amber was not alone. As she walked she would feel as though she was being watched from all sides at all times. When she arrived at the bottom of the staircase, she would be presented with a long corridor, leading into a large stone room with a single throne which towered over her on a stone pedestal. She would feel as though something was behind her, and if she turned she would see nothing.

Suddenly a voice resonated from somewhere in the room. "What have we here? A visitor after all of this time?" She would feel something brush against her back, only there was still nothing there. "And so young. So pretty. Tell me, who are you?" The voice inquired, still not revealing it's location.

Amber stayed completely composed as she assessed the situation at hand. While she was capable of sensing him, for some reason she couldn't pinpoint his exact location, he had her at a disadvantage in case he decided he wanted to attack her; though she was quite confident that she could handle anything he threw her way, after all she was use to fighting the supernatural. She pulled her twin guns out of her pockets and began to playfully twirled them around; a bored expression on her face as she glanced around the room, though not the search for the source of the voice but to take in the décor of the place.

She snorted before speaking. "My my, well aren't you forward, as a gentleman shouldn't you give your name first before asking for mine?" She quipped as she continued to twirl her guns. " But the name's Amber Winters; probably never heard of me, I prefer to work in the shadows." She shrugged, which wasn't entirely true there were times where she had no choice but to confront her targets out in public.

"For a hidden lair it's quite easily accessible; though I wonder if that was done on purpose?" She mused as she continued to eyed the décor of the room. "So love are you going to introduce yourself or are we going to contined to play this little game of cat and mouse?"

[The Republic of Atria]

It was over. The glowing around Tygan's hands had stopped as he slumped over, leaning against a ruined car for support. He was fresh out of magic. Zeke ran over, looking just as exhausted as Tygan was. "That was an unexpected turn of events." Tygan said. "My magic is gone for the moment. So you will probably-"

"Be feeling a shooting pain in my right arm? Yeah. Hurts like three motherfuckers. Legs are on fire. I've got like 60 paper cuts from the shrapnel from punching the parademons. My costume is tore to ribbons. And I'm starving. So, the best Friday night I've had in a long time." Zeke replied with a half hearted laugh. "I am in so much pain right now. It hurts to laugh. For the record, I blame you." Zeke was sore and tired. There was no way around it, but he survived an encounter with Darkseid. A few broken bones, cuts, and some bruising was the best he could've hoped for. "I can check, punch a god in the face, off my bucket list."

"How is this my fault?" Tygan replied with a small snicker. "You are still buying the pizza."

"Oh sure. Make the cripple pay for everything." He tried to take a few steps, and almost tripped, but Tygan caught his good arm and held him up. "Not gonna lie. I've never ran that fast for that long."

"You will live. You always do. Come on. Let us go get that pizza. If your arm is not healed by then, I will make certain that it is."

Cyrus wanted excitement. And life found a way. Alien power armor that attached itself to his spine, and then an invasion by an evil god from another dimension. Which he helped put a stop to. Yeah. That was excitement. "Woooo..." He muttered as he landed. "Okay you. We just survived something that you said was impossible to survive. So, you're not allowed to- Luck had nothing to do with it. Okay, fine. Maybe a little. Okay, fine. A lot. But that's besides the point. We survived and my hands are still shaking. Make sure I don't pass out when the adrenaline wears off. Especially if we're flying." It would never look normal for Cyrus to be talking to himself. Even if the explanation was completely reasonable. "Holy crap, no need to be an ass about it. Okay, fine. Crap we just won this fight. Chill out a little."

The Scarab was insisting that Cyrus go speak to the three New Gods that warned them about Darkseid. "Hey. Scarab is being an asshole-yes. Yes, you are-and keeps telling me to talk to you. So at the very least. We're alive. City is still... Mostly intact. Hopefully not too many people died. And the big evil bad guy just got shoved through a hole. It could've gone worse. And I take it Rockface is going to come back at some point. I just asked them! Sorry... We're still figuring out our relationship." He admitted. "Hopefully one where you are less of a jerk. Not you guys. Scarab. You guys are totally okay in my book."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

New York

---

Marcus listened attentively as Rebecca opened up a little and told him about her family. Really, there was no need to do so, considering that nobody could really tell whether he was paying attention or not as long as he wore the mask, but either way it would have been rather rude of him not to pay attention considering he had been the one to ask the girl about it. He soon noticed, much to his chagrin, that while musing about whether or not it would be polite not to listen, he had inadvertently stopped listening, and immediately sought to pay attention again, not wanting to be branded as impolite. But before anything else happened, the young man was surprised by Rebecca's sudden outburst, and admittedly a tad startled, though he would only reluctantly admit it. Swiftly, he jumped up before the shockwave from Rebecca's fists reached him, an open door appearing beneath him, allowing him to exit through another door, far from the shockwave.

Now, normally, he wouldn't have tried to approach Rebecca again for any reason whatsoever after she had scared him away like that, but seeing how she was bound in a mirror prison by Alice--something that left him fairly impressed--, he decided to walk up to the two girls once more.

"Well, uh, I don't think we should turn her in to the police, for one. Sure she's being kind of aggressive and kinda tried to kill me, but that last thing was on accident and she's clearly been through a lot of distress. Plus, the orphanage lady taught me that women tend to be more aggressive at some point every month for some reason. She never explained why though." The young man spoke, scratching his head, before looking into the glass prison. "Hey, bank robber girl. Please calm down and listen, this isn't really the way to go you know? What with a bunch of superheroes and vigilantes running around, you could get into some serious trouble, and I can tell you're not a bad person, so that would really suck. I can't really help you since I'm kinda sorta homeless, but I'm sure you can find a place to stay and something to do, especially with those powers you have."

---

East City

---

As she fought the Parademons, Leah heard the rude woman's comment and couldn't help looking back with an expression of mild shock on her face. The remark had struck her as fairly creepy, to say the least. But soon enough, the redhead was reminded that in the battlefield one couldn't afford to pay attention to such distractions, as suddenly one of the monsters she was fighting against slammed into her full-force, ramming her through the walls of several buildings. Had she not been currently in a powered up state and shielding herself with her own energy, the impact would have undoubtedly killed her, but as it was, she was merely in pain and rather upset. After the momentary surprise of a sneak attack was gone, Leah forced the Parademon to stop in its tracks and then grabbed it by the leg, hurling into a group of approaching Parademons and knocking them all aside.

"Where do you all keep coming from?!" The girl questioned, clearly frustrated with having to fight so many of these things when she had planned to simply chill out with her schoolmates. Alas, now was hardly the time to complain and she knew it. Thus, she turned around, seeing the approaching Parademons. Avis was taking on many of them, but just as many were marching towards her, so she wasn't going to keep them waiting any longer. Focusing, she brought out her latent energy and coated her body in a very concentrated aura of it, which became visible as a strange light of sorts. Then, she flew straight towards the Parademons, shouting at the top of her lungs.

"RED ROCKET LAUNCHER!"

The girl, much like the name of her attack implied, rocketed through the Parademons, barreling through them, the sheer concentrated energy of her aura harming them and brushing them aside as they tried to jump on her. Once she was nearing the edge of the Parademon gathering, she suddenly shot downwards, landing on one knee while simultaneously striking the ground with her fist. The sheer energy with which she punched the earth caused everything around her to rumble violently. At the same time, the concentrated ki that surrounded her in the form of a weaponized aura suddenly exploded outwards. Both of these factors caused many Parademons to be sent flying away from her, many of them incapacitated by the volume of their wounds, and a handful more simply knocked out.

Many of them were still standing, though, and were just getting back up or advancing towards her, but all of that was irrelevant. She was just in the position she wanted, and so, she concentrated once more, this time focusing her inner energy in two spheres, each of them hovering in front of her palms, neither of them larger than a peach. She crossed her arms in such way that the left arm was outstretched towards the right and vice-versa, and then took a deep breath, the energy spheres appearing to swell and then shrink in response. Then, Leah shouted.

"Double Red Katanas!"

Immediately, her attack made itself known. Needle-thin continuous beams shot out from the spheres, and immediately, Leah swung her arms outwards, so that the left arm would be outstretched towards the left now, as was natural. The end result was that all of the Parademons surrounding her were neatly chopped up into three pieces each, and all of them fell to the ground, defeated, dead. The redhead then looked around, and, seeing that no Parademons were left, let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know it yet, but their overlord had just been defeated and so, there invasion had been halted. "Is... is it over?" She wondered out loud. After several seconds of inaction confirmed it, she immediately powered down and then plopped down on the ground, looking up at the sky and taking a deep breath. "Ugh... My everything hurts..." She complained.

---

Gotham City

---

"Oh..." Lancer mumbled before looking to the side in embarrassment, now slightly upset with herself for misinterpreting her Master like that, though she didn't show it. Instead, she listened as her Master more or less chided her while explaining the situation. Most of the expressions she used were only helpful to further convince the Heroic Spirit, though. During her entire life as a human being, she had never heard of anything like iPods or... Jeans? Did her Master mean that she would be seen as strange if she showed up with servants? It would certainly be odd if they were all females of the same name, though that kind of thing could not be told at a glance. Further confusing her was the mention of 'larping', an action she was not at all acquainted with, and Renaissance Fairs. Thankfully, the concept of sore thumbs, she was familiar with.

"Uh... sleep?" She piped up when she noticed that the topic of conversation had finally shifted to something she could understand. "Oh, I have no need to sleep, Master. As long as you keep sustaining me with magical energy I can easily stay awake the entire day with no issue. That way I can watch over you while you rest and make sure that nothing bad happens to you." The Servant explained as she continued following her Master.

[Altito Asmoro]

Darkseid

snip

"I WILL RETU-"

Less than a moment after the God of Apokolips vanished through the portal, Damocles closed the Boom Tube rapidly, leaving a soft, eerie silence in the air. It was the sound of victory, despite the utter destruction of several neighborhoods, the damage was minimal compared to what Darkseid was capable of - This world experienced nothing short of a miracle. Titan collapsed to his knees, his power eroding away, his body aching all over from the final hit. "All of their Mother Boxes are fried." Damocles declared, "They won't be coming back for a while." Turning to look at the allies that played a part in the final defeat of Darkseid, Damocles offered a grin through his mask. "It's over."

"We won."

Len-El

Flying around like a crazy bitch and screaming things and words that would make people around him turned at him weirdly. Len was happy, happy as fuck. He didn't literally enjoyed the battle but on second though he was after all, just crashed down to Earth and found himself fought off Darkseid's forces.

"Woo hoo! Get there you Darkseid! Yash!" all of the things that he said as he flew around crazily. After it was done, he landed safely but still kind of excited over the end of the battle. Anyway, he approached one of the man, who looks like having a scarab or something insect-like on his back..."Thanks for the assistances, as well, humans." said Len, not noticing how weird it sounded like.

[Sichem]

David Akhavan

Mamazand, Islamic Republic of Iran

---

Mamazand. Just southeast of the capital Tehran, this city isn't a big one - with only a few dozen thousand Iranians living here - and yet it is bustling with activity today. Farmers driving to the local market with carts of their produces, from lemons to grain. Local townspeople walking around the town square, visiting shops and checking out the numerous stalls. A few bored out police officers overseeing the events. Children running around the streets, playing with imported footballs - there aren't many cars to threaten them here. It was already early afternoon, and the scorching Persian sun was shining brightly above the settlement.

A bit further away from the action, on a wooden bench in the shade, sat a tanned man with a soccer cap and a long, puffy coat, holding the local newspaper in his arms and reading the news, or at least pretending to do so. Every once in a while, he would raise his eyes and look towards the bustling street in front of him, as if he was waiting for someone. A dozen or so meters to the left, behind a stall chock full of watermelons, stood a bearded farmer-esque figure, with a dirty white jacket and a large mysterious bag next to him. He was quite nervous, too, and would check up on the man with the newspaper, too.

Suddenly, the wooden door of a local bar at the other side of the street opened, and a woman with a black hijab and a long dress walked out, immediately taking out a cigarette and lighting it up.

That was the signal.

The man on the bench waited for a few seconds, then folded his newspaper, put it in his pocket and walked through the door of the bar, passing the smoking woman without even a single glance. The farmer collapsed the wooden watermelon stall into a cart, placed it in a nearby alleyway and entered the building, too. A minute after he walked in, the woman put the cigarette in a nearby recycle bin and walked back inside. The three people all settled down in different parts of the bar - the newspaper man sat down at one of the open tables, the farmer walked up to the bar and asked for a light beer for take-out, while the woman stood near the corridor leading towards the toilets and the apartments on the above floors. Some time later, the two men walked through the corridor, and the woman followed them. Not a single word muttered.

It was only after the three people reached the second floor and the woman unlocked one of the apartments with a skeleton key, revealing an empty room with two naked Iranians, a man and a woman, knocked out and tied to chairs with duct tape on their mouths, that the newspaper man finally spoke:

"That was unnecessarily long, Chavi." The woman, full name of hers being Chaviva, replied with:

"Dov, this town is two or three kilometers next to the site. We cannot be too careful." Chavi then took off the hijab and tossed it on the floor, revealing the long dark curly hair underneath. She then pointed towards two piles of clothes, placed on one of the empty beds. "We'll use the clothes of this poor couple to sneak into the target more easily. There's clothes only for me and David, though, so Em will have to sit in the back and avoid detection." The bearded man, known as Emmanuel, frowned for a second. Chavi took off the long dress, revealing a jumpsuit underneath with dual pistols attacked to the sides.

"So, what did those two tell you before... passing out?" Emmanuel asked.

"Everything that we need. These are wage workers, they'll give you any information you want just to keep their miserable lives intact." Chaviva responded, then put on the female driver's hat and jacket. "These two are driving a truck of refined rare earth minerals and vials of plutonium right to the Parchin nuclear complex, apparently for a project distinct from the current nuclear program. They didn't know what it actually was, but it's okay. We were planning to go commit surveillance there anyway, so a visit to check up on it wouldn't hurt. Oh, and I also got this." Chaviva then revealed a folded paper with the map of the Parchin complex - most of it was blank with the Persian word 'classified'.

"Well, obviously, they wouldn't want to show some important stuff to ordinary drivers." Emmanuel continued, then turned to David, the leader of the group. "So, what's the plan now, Dov?"

"Pretty much the same as originally planned." David replied, putting on the male driver's clothes. "We use the disguises to safely sneak into Parchin, then everyone takes on the mission we planned. Em sets the bomb somewhere safe, Chavi takes down any guards trying to inform the higher-ups while I infiltrate the main facility and gather any suspicious information. Simple as tha-"

David was interrupted by loud steps in the hallway behind them. Someone was coming, and coming towards them.

"Ahmad, Fasha, where are you two? The facility is at hand's reach, why aren't you coming?" It was the third one of the drivers, apparently, and he was coming towards the room. David nodded, informing that he'll get rid of the opponent, then opened the door and walked out to the hallway, avoiding direct eye contact with the person to avoid having his cover being blown. The driver fastened his pace upon seeing his 'friend'. "Ahmad! Hey, Ahmad! Where have you gone?" David did not raise his eyes, and only waited for the target to approach him just a bit more. As soon as the man arrived at arm's length, the agent instantly launched his right fist to his ribs. A cracking sound followed, as well as the man moving back and collapsing on his legs from the impact - this move was quickly followed by David grabbing the man's neck with his hand, lifting him up and quickly pressing on the trachea and the main artery, dropping the knocked out man back on the floor and then pulling him into the room by the legs.

"There, I brought you your clothes, Em." David commented. Emmanuel gave a thumbs-up.

"At least you got some normal clothing this time - remember last time? When you had to wear an imam's clothes for the whole mission?" Chaviva grinned.

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

New York
Abigail looked at the new arrival with confusion, but as he began to speak she just sighed. "Oh boo-hoo, I'm so sad for you. Can I get you a tissue?" She asked sarcastically, clearly not intimidated by the man. "Listen freak show, I didn't want you with me in the first place. And then when you suggested I should kill someone I got even more suspicious of you. Now I can see that you're some kind of shadow creature, and that makes me trust you even less now."

She got right up to the man, sticking her face right up to his so that they were almost touching. "Now I don't care if you're some kind of Eldritch Abomination or not, but nobody controls my actions without my permission. Got it freak?" She demanded. Meanwhile CyberCore whistled and chuckled. "She's a spitfire huh?" He asked Michael.

Japan-Hiroshima-Cave
The voice chuckled. "You're right, I don't know you. But I'm sure you know me." It said. "And as for my humble abode, I assure you it's discovery was completely... Accidental. The tunnel just recently collapsed and people found their way down here. Needless to say, it was rather unpleasant for all of us."

Amber felt something touching her shoulder, but again nothing was there when she looked. Suddenly when she faced forward she was greeted with the sight of a helmeted face. "But anyways that is beyond the point. You wish to know my name?" The figure asked, suddenly it vanished, only to reappear high above Amber on the throne.

"My name is Hades, Lord of the Dead, keeper of the Underworld, and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. And I am charmed to make your acquaintance Amber Winters." Hades said as a smile formed under his helmet.

[The Klausians]

Pessima Tenebris

Pessima listened with a straight face as Abigail let out her rant. After she was done, he thought to himself for a moment. He let out a smile, then a laugh. "You know what? I like you Abigail. So spirited and the like.. You don't meet very many humans that can go face to face with a God and tell them what's what. Now, this may be this body's emotions talking, but I respect that!" His overall attitude had shifted into a very positive one. "It is going be very fun.. Erm.. Working with you! That's what you people say in these situtions, yes?" He nodded his head, then let out a chuckle. "I don't believe we have given each other the proper introductions. I am Pessima Tenebris, and it is my pleasure to meet you." He let out a hand in expectancy of a hand shake.

[Confederation of imperial states]

Guardian - Dark Knight 1

Malanor Estate Theater, Downtown Chicago

9:30pm

Connor Morales looked out the Vehicle of his taxi as they neared the Theater, the large, old style building sat in the heart of Chicago's downtown. As the Taxi stopped by the curb, Connor paid him from the back and then climbed out of the taxi. Assaulted by an array of flashes, and yelling "Mr Morales", "Mr Morales is your buisness here with The Knight Vigilante?", "Secretary Connor Why have you accepted Malanor's Gala invitation?". Connor shrugged off the questions of the press as he walked down the carpet towards the Theater, give a simple wave to the groups who had their cameras trained on him. As Connor reached the building, He shook hands with the doorman "You must be me Connor Morales". Connor turned his head back to the cord still trying to catch his attention, "What tipped you off?". The Doorman chuckled as Connor handed him his invitational, As he did, a lone, Black, 1941 Cadillac turned up on the curb. Stopping one press member asked "Who's that?", As Marcus Branston exited, handing the keys to the Vallet man in exchange for his ticket, the Press Member was in shock, "Wait that's Marcus Branston". As he caught the Press Member's attention, they then turned their attention to bombarding the Inclusive will questions.

"Mr Branston! Can you tell us why you've gone into seclusion in recent years?", "Mr Branston what do you think of all. The Metahumans in Chicago?". Marcus simply brushed off the questions, walking down the carpet he waved to many of the people in the crowd, unknowingly passing by Connor Morales on his way in. As Marcus entered the Gala hall, he took in awe of the brightly lit, brightly decorated decore. A waiter stopped by Branston, offering him a Martini which he gladly accepted, taking a sip. Marcus silently pressed a buton build into his suit's shirt collar, "Alright Sanza where am I going?" " Marcus asked silently. As Connor walked around the main floor, his Superhearing caught the sound of a robotic voice, turning to it he saw Marcus Branston walking towards a back stairwell. [Down the stairs, and go through two of the doors to your left sir]. As Marcus walked down the stairs, passing many waiters, Connor followed close behind.

Marcus reached the bottom of the stairwell, nonschalauntley, and casually, walking to the door on his right. Connor kept a few paces behind, following Marcus through the floor just as he went through. As Marcus entered through the second door, he found a large computer system in the room, a large mainframe on the left side of the room. Marcus quickly, and quietly, took out the databox he'd gotten from the Domain. Marcus opened the black plastic case to the mainframe, and plugged e databox in. Closing the case, Marcus muttered. "Alright Sanz, you're in-" Marcus was caught offguard when the sound of an opening door and a male voice came from behind him. "'Mr Branston, Didn't xpect to see you down here", Marcus quickly changed his persona, "Sorry, thought The lavatorium was down here. You're that guy from San Andres right?" Marcus said in his usually half cockey Playboy tone.

"Yeah I'm a bit lost too, Connor Morales, San Andres City Hall" Connor shook Marcus' hand. "What's a Californian boy doing all the way out here? Got tired of the sun and decided to come to a, Rainy, cold enviornment" Marcus joked getting a slight chuckle out of Connor as qthey exited the room and headed back up the stairs. "It was actually Malanor who invited me", "So was I, it's no coincidence Malanor invited you, he likes having refined, hardworking people amongst these glamorous bragging rights Galas he hosted". As they rached the top floor, the Musician Band who'd been playing stopped, their strumming of their guitars went quiet as a Woman in a white dress walked on stage. Marcus took a champagne glass from one of the waiters, Connor placed his hands in his suit pocket as she woman began to speak, Marcus standing next to him as he took a sip from his glass, listening.

"Thank you to the Chicago Muscial Arts group for pdoviding us music, It's with great pleasure that I'm here to announce the Man of the Hour, Rex Malanor!". As the woman announced, a Young Man, in his late 20s was being praised by the people attending. "Me? oh you shouldn't have!" Rex joked as he walked up to the stage, past the crowd and took the microphone from the woman as she walked off. "Oh thank you Shelby, such a pretty woman she is, anyways, Thank you all for coming" Rex said to the crowd. "You know they call me a Billionaire, they call me a Philanthropist, such big words when all they really mean is I'm a rich guy, who's nice to people, basically the Opposite of wall street". Many laughed at the comment, "But in all seriousness, I've spent my time here at my company, researching Technological wonders, to not only benefit the health of humans, but the now very populous Metahumans". "We've all seen Metahumans, 2 weeks ago a team of the, defended us against a God", "But what does that term mean, 'God' ".

"He sure can talk" Commor muttered to Marcus, Marcus took another drink out of his glass "Young kid, In his 20s, crap ton of money. You would too if you were in his position".

"We live in an age, where people who can, life cars, fly through the sky, shoot fire from their hands exist. The kind of thing we've Marveled and wondered for centuries, if we could ever commit the feats that they now daily do every day. Many say they're freaks, when I reality I believe they are like the great Deities of the old Mythologies".

"Gods Among Us....."

,

"Titans amongst men, The most powerful people in the world. Where they have great power, after they defeat an alien god, stop a speeding train, or simply pluck a lost kitty from a tree", A few people laughed at the statment, "they dissapear". "Now I've recently commited to studying not only Metas, but other marvelous discoveries of Aliens, Spritis, and other strange anomolies". "Where these Titans can be helpful, to ensure our saftey, Not every act is as wonderous and marbel cut as that. Detroit, 5 years ago, A team of metahuman villains placed a dirty bomb in detroit. With no real time to act, The Military, and a Metahuman hero called 'Guardian', attacked the metahumans, attempting to prevent them from detonating the nuke". Malanor paused, breathing calmly, in an attempt to stave off emotions, "I was there, I had see the destruction that happened". Connor attempted to stave off the memories from what happened, As did Maecus, both me unknowingly looking somber.

"From the villanous Metas ripping through jets, the wreckage smashing onto the people of the streets below, to ones firing lasers which toppled skyscrapers". Rex paused, "To the derailed train, which collided with the buolsing my father as in, toppeling it". The crowd of people was noticbly somber, "We all must do our part, to protect, and to ensure our survival. Thank you all". The crowd clapped as Rex left the stage, Connor and Marcus standing near the back looking noticbly uncomfortable. "That day was a hell....", Connor looked over to Marcus, "From, the 2 Godlike men fiighting, to the skyscrapers falling and collapsing on the streets below, causing numerous dust clouds to blanke the street. It was a mistake to act so rashly". Connor raised his eyebrow, "And what would tou have done? Mr branston", Marcus felt the cold discontent in Connor's voice as he turned to him. "Located the Dirty Bomb, lured th Metas out to a less populated area, done something, rather than fighting them in the downtown and causing the deaths of 6,000 people". Marcus and Connor coldly stared at each other.

"If I may, what's your Opinion on the Vigilante, Dark Knight, in chicago", Marcus stared at Connor, giving a small smirk, "As far As I'm concerned, He's a man trying to Pull Chicago from being a Crime Cesspool ". "You can't be serious Mr Branston, the broken bones, the beating, hell the Branding on it's own is a violation of Human Rights". "the people he beats down are the lowest of scum, criminals, who'd murder, bribe, and steal for money. The men he's branded was a Human Sex Trafficker, and a Pedophile. Scum who Guardian doesn't fight, because he's too busy saving cats out of trees". "He's taken the law into his own hands, He believes he's above it". Macus raised his eyebrows at Connor, "San Andres, blaming people for taking rhe law into their own hands is a bit, hypocritical, wouldn't you think. Since every time Guardian helps a grandmother across the street, and atops a jewerly store robbery by bending a metal pipe around the robbers, you praise him like the next coming of christ. About a metahuman, with the power to tear the entire country down".

Connor exhaled, "Not every person in the world shares your opinion, Mr Branston". "it's probably just some of that Chicago blood within me, we're known to have disliked these, powerful chaotic maniacs, dressed like fools". Marcus said the last line, peering up slightly at the Chicago newspaper clipping of "The Architect". Connor simply stared at Marcus, a hate stare powerful enough to burn through his head. Marcus kept the same casual grin as he stared at Connor, their stare off was broken when Rex Malanor approach the men, standing just between them on their right and left side. "Billionaire Marcus Branston, meets Secretary Connor Morales, at my Gala. It's nice knowing I help powerful men meet. Rex shook Marcus' hand, then shaking Connor's "I believe you've been introduced to each other?"."Yes, we have, Mr Morales is a very, estatic person". "Good, Good, now I'm sure you'll love the food. Just before Marcus could respond, Sanza chimed in on his earpiece.

[Marcus, sir, I've located The next Sionis weapons convoy heading through the Chicago Industrial wharfs]. Connor listened in with his Superhearing, "Sorry Rex, but that last Martini was a bit too much, I've gotta head home". Rex nodded, "awww, well the party is going on all night ao if you feel like dropping in, just do so". Marcus headed out through the front door, Connor following behind, Rex peered at the two men,both attempting to hide their personas. One obviously going on some sort of operation, the other attempting to hide himself as he followed. "Perfect..." Rex said with a devilish smile.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Gotham City

Somewhere in Gotham City, there was a really nice neighborhood, and in that neighborhood, there was a really nice, really big manor with a large garden full of tall trees and colorful flowerbeds. The door was tall and imposing, with an ornate black knocker, and large windows with curtains of various patterns could be seen. There were many rooms in that manor, but one in particular was decorated in a rather childlike manner. Various posters of Disney movies adorned the walls, alongside a few figures drawn directly over the walls and carefully painted. The floor was of pristine marble, and on it were a pair of white kitty slippers, next to a large bed with a flower-patterned blanket covering the mattress and a bunch of pillows of a similar pattern piled up by the headboard. On said bed was a girl, carelessly lying on her stomach as she swung her feet up and down near the pillow mound, looking at a flat television embedded on the wall across from her bed. The television was showing nothing in particular, however, as the girl was constantly flipping through the channels without anything in mind.

"Ugh... Why aren't there cartoons at this hour...?" The girl mumbled in a very soft voice as she continued to search for something to watch. She had teal hair that reached down to her chest, past her shoulders, and eyes of the same color. She was clad in a yellow shirt with a dark green collar, long sleeves and dark green cuffs, and a skirt of a lighter shade of green, with a dark green hemline and a bright flower pattern, which left some of the girl's tastes more than clear. Perhaps the most striking thing about her, however, were her heart-shaped pupils, which she did not have before that day, though this failed to worry her, as she was not aware that they were not a normal thing. Continuing to flip through the channels, the girl suddenly stopped once she saw something familiar.

"Huh...? What's this...?" She wondered as she turned up the volume a little. She saw footage of a jet that seemed strangely familiar, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why. The channel in question was a news station, and it was apparently remembering an accident that had happened a year ago. Though she usually did not pay much mind to the news, this time the girl was curious, and so, she left it on. That was, at least, until she heard a loud thumping sound outside her room. Startled, the girl ignored the news and quickly hopped off her bed, putting on the kitty slippers and then rushing out of her room, only to find an old man, the manor's steward, lying on the ground and attempting to get up. Alarmed, the girl ran up to him and tried to help him.

"Mr. Hall!" She cried out as she grabbed his arm and tugged, not the most effective way of helping someone, clearly, though the intention was evident. "Are you alright?" She asked. The steward soon managed to rise from the ground, putting a hand against the wall for balance.

"I'm alright, miss Aquamarine. I sincerely apologize for causing you concern. I was tending to my duties and overseeing the servants, and I accidentally tripped, but I assure you, it is of no consequence." The man insisted, though Aquamarine continued looking up at him with concern. It was as he looked back for a moment that he noticed something rather odd. Her eyes seemed much different.

"A-ah, miss, your eyes..." The steward began, causing the girl to blink and put her hands to her face.

"My eyes? What about them?" She asked, curious and a bit confused. Mr. Hall simply shook his head.

"It's... it's nothing." He assured her. Then, hearing the sound of the news report coming from within the room, he quickly spoke once more. "But I am quite grateful for your help, miss. Why don't you go ahead and have some ice cream? I promise I won't tell your father." He suggested, smiling down at the girl, who practically beamed up at him.

"Really?! Thanks, Mr. Hall!" Aquamarine cried out, doing a gracious curtsey in front of the steward and then leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek before running off towards the kitchen. The steward smiled faintly, but then, a frown came over his face, and once Aquamarine was out of sight, he stepped into her room and changed the channel before turning off the TV, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Meanwhile, Aquamarine quickly reached the kitchen, opening the fridge and scooping herself some chocolate ice cream. She was about to leave, but paused for a moment and then, with a smile, scooped some more on another glass and then left, taking both ice creams and heading towards the living room.

"Opal~!" The girl called out in a sweet, somewhat childish voice, looking for her sister. She soon found Opal, but she was at the door, and at this, Aquamarine tilted her head. "Oh... Do we have visits?" She asked.

[Siliarba]

-snip-

Darksied was officially down for the count. As Natalie turned back, she saw the remains of a building. And among the rubble, were two figures. Natalie turned around, ignoring the high-fiving, back patting, and congratulating going on where Darksied had been shoved into the Boom Tube.

Flying over the building, she lowered her altitude to get a better look. Some kind of lab was obviously destroyed. The first figure was a black-haired, scantily dressed woman with a lock of hair braided. The second was also a female with raven black hair, except it was shorter. The second female was shaking violently, as if she were having a seizure.

Natalie quickly assessed the situation and landed nearby. Her mind echoed back to her cousin Oliver's words when she wanted to help a lost child near where she and Oliver were busting a gang, "We're here to fight crime, not Lost and Found Services."
She fired back, "I'm here to help the people. And this little girl is one of them."

Her mind returned to the present, as she viewed the situation. The emergency services were most likely getting calls like this already, so she would do what she could. Stepping forward, she said, "Is there anything I can help with?"

DeeDee

Just as I planned to go shopping for materials some hero shows up, hopefully this one'll be more helpful than the one that caused the building to blow up. Guess I can't be to mad at that one, he died in the explosion after all. Whatever, I guess I should just be glad someone's asking if they can help even though I doubt they can. "I doubt you can, miss, ..., you got a metal suit and you use bows, first guess, Iron Arrow, but that would be to obvious of a name. You have an overall green theme so maybe, Beryl Bow, whatever, I doubt you can help, unless you got some spare vials of venom in that suit of yours. Or any of the other items required, to be fair those are more easy to come by but still darn expensive so I doubt you'd have those lying around. On the other hand a suit like that and I'm assuming some sort of trick arrows probably cost money so maybe you are loaded. If so you might get some Cochineal powder from one of New York's mystic and magic shops."

I might've seemed overly carefree to this person, especially with CeeCee in the state she was in, but I know her situation good enough that she's at no risk of dying or serious injury for a couple more days, and I also know she's strong enough to maintain herself for so long with the exception of her shivering off course. "If you can't then either I need to do some Bane raiding or take a trip to Australia where Cochineal powder is a lot cheaper."

[The Dark Brotherhood of Deros]

New York City
Abigail wasn't impressed by Pessima's words. She wasn't flattered that he respected her, as she didn't trust him at all. Then he held his hand out and she simply looked at it. "What? You expecting me to shake that or something?" She asked him with a annoyed look on her face. "If you want to work with me, then lets get something straight; I don't trust you now, and I never will. Of course you already know that, but I'm saying it again because I don't think you heard me the first time." She continued.

Meanwhile CyberCore laughed again. "She's not having any of that guys crap huh?" He said, grinning in amusement.

[Saint Morning]

Japan-Hiroshima-Cave
The voice chuckled. "You're right, I don't know you. But I'm sure you know me." It said. "And as for my humble abode, I assure you it's discovery was completely... Accidental. The tunnel just recently collapsed and people found their way down here. Needless to say, it was rather unpleasant for all of us."

Amber felt something touching her shoulder, but again nothing was there when she looked. Suddenly when she faced forward she was greeted with the sight of a helmeted face. "But anyways that is beyond the point. You wish to know my name?" The figure asked, suddenly it vanished, only to reappear high above Amber on the throne.

"My name is Hades, Lord of the Dead, keeper of the Underworld, and brother of Zeus and Poseidon. And I am charmed to make your acquaintance Amber Winters." Hades said as a smile formed under his helmet.

Amber, guns still in hand, placed her hands on her hips as she inspected the god who sat perched on his little throne. Most people would have argued that the man before them obviously was lying, afterall the greek gods were myths, but she had seen many things in her life to be inclined to believe such a ridiculous notion; she was allied with an all powerful arch demon." Well aren't you charming." Amber said as Hades finished introducing himself; though from what she remembers most of the Greek gods were... which lead to a lot of demi god children.

"Well it's just my luck to find myself in the presence of the God of the underworld." She mused her eyes running over the form of the god, before moving away as she began to pace slightly. " So Lord of the dead care to explain what happened to the others that happened to end up down here?" She didn't particularly care for her fellow humans, it was more out of curiosity than anything else, she was no hero and she sure as hell wasn't going to start being one anytime soon.

[The Klausians]

Pessima Tenebris

Pessima scoffed, then retracted his hand. "You humans are no fun," he said with an eye roll. "I mean, here's the thing: I don't need you to trust me, I don't need your permission to follow you around or use your spacious shadow, and if I wanted you dead, I would have killed you by now. You will learn to trust me, or you will die eventually. I don't want you dead. I need you alive and healthy if I want to get where I need to be without the need of this disgusting, tiring body.. Now, if you could stop being a colossal bitch, that would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure your mate needs you to go somewhere with him, and it would be rude to keep him waiting. We should go now."

[Kingdom of Irhk]

William Brookes

After his meeting with the girl he insisted to call a "solid block of luck", William had to return to his normal routine. By normal, it could be understood the routine of seeing people calling him with their apparently unsolvable problems.

It was in the middle of this boring routine that a memory struck him out of his chair like a train: His niece was making 13 years old. And like every train, it had carts behind him: His family was bound to be there, his brother included: The white, glorious sheep of the family, along with the other three sisters and another brother. Unfortunately for them, "Uncle Will" was the favorite one.

While all of the others were "boring", following the family tradition, Uncle Will was out there, traveling, meeting interesting people, every day different than the previous. He was mixed with every crowd: The epitome of the 21st century globalized man. It could be seen in his posture: While every other one of them walked with their hands in front of them, heads down, Uncle Will always appeared with his hands inside his pockets, like he was ready to pull some trick.

The family always told her: "Keep away from him. He's what God told us not to be." And she tried. But all she could see was the welcoming smile, that didn't judge her for anything that she thought or did. She liked him: He wasn't like the rest of his family. There was no hypocrisy when he answered what he did for a living.

William knew that he had to go. But before or after, never during the party. He would appear without any gift: He was without the time to buy any of them. Well, he only hoped that his charming presence would suffice. In an ironic effort, he was invited every year to her birthday, but he never made it in time. But this year he would.

The trip in the cab was his torture. How would they look at him? With the same look in their eyes, staring at him like he was a demon in a church? With the same eyes of prejudice that wished from their hearts that William burnt away from their sights? It all struck him while he was making his way.

And finally, he reached the house. Perfectly painted. If someone looked at the contrast between the mage and the house, the last thing that they would imagine is that they are so closely related. The deep breath gave away William's hesitation on entering the place. And so he did it.

The small party was at the back of the house. Members of the church all gathered up, holding their Bibles like shields against the blowing wind. And in the middle of them, the girl: Unhappy, with a long dress that certainly was his brother's idea. Soon as she looked up and saw William, her expression changed. It was one filled with happiness: William was the closest that she reached to the real world: A world where the so called "sinners" walked shoulder to shoulder with the "clean" ones.

She ran, jumping at him in a hug. The hug, so simple to the any outsider, revealed a conflict behind them: The rest of the family that wanted to see the young, pure girl separated from the seed of the family's corruption. William talked with her about her school, her grades, her friends and her problems: He was one of the few that actually heard her in a contemplative look, without any judgment. Hell, who was William to judge anyone? He was messed in places that even shouldn't be named. In the eyes of the children, he found the admiration that nobody else in the world had for him: It was a relationship where both of them felt good. They found in each other what they couldn't find anywhere in the world.

The looks from the other people didn't bother him at all: Only these black eyes looking him mattered at the moment. The other ones? They were just a bunch of modern fossils who thought that they had the reason about all things. And in the middle of that, her mother called William. She was a young woman that had her when she was very young, right after marrying William's brother. The fact that she called him for a particular conversation already raised a small commotion at the party: A righteous woman doesn't call a man for a private conversation, right?

And so, he entered the kitchen. She offered him a coffee, which he reluctantly accepted.
"- William. It's been a long time.

- Yes.

- Listen, Mary... She's happy when you are around. And I know that despite our differences, I wish that you could be more frequent in this house.

- Then answer me: Why did he spanked her this time?

- He didn't do it. From where you get such an idea?

- I'll put it simply. Part of my job is investigating. Her posture isn't straight and he didn't correct her for that, meaning that it is his fault. When she sat by my side, she made an expression of pain. She was spanked with his belt.

- It was a boy from the school! She... Started talking with him. Your brother lost patience and...

- That's alright."

William took off his trench coat, leaving it in the top of the table. His fist was clenched, ready for the punch. As he walked outside the house, his sights were set on his brother: Slightly shorter than him, with the "good citizen" posture, talking about morality and thousands of other topics. His presence intimidated the other ones, who simply agreed with their heads with every word he said.

In a clear move, William pulled him by the shoulder, landing a punch right at his nose. The man fell, holding his nose while William grabbed him by the shirt and straightening him up.

"- I'll only tell you once! There's no father or mother to stop this fight right now! You touch her again, you touch her again in the middle of your sanctity craziness and I'll send you to a place where no prayer will save you! You think that my punch hurt? I can do a lot worse! I dare you! BEAT HER AGAIN!"

He went back, grabbing his coat and drinking the whole cup of coffee. His niece was loving the scene: Uncle Will was revenge impersonated, human will at its apex against the walls that they built against him. Under his example, she knew: There's nothing to stop her. She was the owner of her future and of her will.

Unknowingly to him, William created a future mage. Or simply a future black sheep. But now, he had to return to his normal routine. He was lucky: Ghosts were easier than humans.

[Tomia]

Alice and Rebecca
Alice raised her eyebrow at Marcus' fairly ridiculous theory. "Uh, I'm pretty sure that's not what it is Marcus." Alice said, starting to wonder about him a bit. He was clearly very strange, but at least he seemed good-hearted. "Alright, well you can try talking to her again. Just... Don't get yourself hurt alright?" Alice asked, watching warily as he approached the glass container.

Rebecca was starting to tire herself out as she banged on the mirrors. Then she fell to the ground, looking up at Marcus as he spoke to her. She sat there silently for a little while, making it seem doubtful that she would actually speak at all. Then however, she finally spoke, "What I'm I supposed to do? I lost everything, I'm a...freak. There's nothing left for me." Rebecca said grimly.

Then surprisingly, Alice spoke up as well. "You know, I lost my parents too. I felt the same way you do. But then I realized that they loved me, and they wouldn't want me to give up just because they were gone." Alice said softly. "Look, i'm telling you its easy, or fun. But its possible to come back from loss like that."