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

[Osnil]

Devil's Den
Jenny sat in a corner, sipping her coffee. Half-listening to the conversation about Killer Croc, she heard something about killing everyone in Arkham. She rose up ran over to the one who said it, then demanded, "What did you say? Did you kill the Riddler? Because if you did, it's a life for a life."

[Tomia]

Cora continued crying heavily on the floor. She felt Katie embrace her tightly from behind and Cora couldn't help but pull her closer for comfort. She listened to Katie but couldn't respond, she just had to get her emotions out. After a few more minutes of crying Cora began to calm down. She wiped her eyes, which her red and irritated. She got to her feet and hugged Katie tightly, resting her head on her shoulder. "Thank you so much Katie, I needed you here. Maybe God did answer me after all, he sent me you." She said softly, her voice a little hoarse from crying. "I'll look after you too, no matter what. We might as well get what we came here for, come on." Cora said, taking Katie's hand and leading her down a hallway toward a large room in the corner, "This is the control room. They kept all their computers and cameras here." She told Katie. The room was filled with military grade computers and cameras. They were all surrounding a large TV screen in the center of the room. Cora went to work carefully piling the computers into a large that she found near by, making sure they all still worked. She decided to come back for the tv, since they had a lot of those at the headquaters. Cora jumped up and broke the roof enough to make an opening for her to fly through, making sure that none of the debris hit the computers. "Come on Katie, get inside. I'll bring us home." She said to her friend, looming forward to getting out of that place.

[Siliarba]

Anger welled up inside Salis when the woman, who's name appeared to be CeeCee, asked why she should reveal Two-Face's location. He was a monster controlling the streets of Gothem through pain and death. He was forcing people through the very hell he had experienced. Salis opened his mouth to go on the same rant he'd given Batgirl, but stopped. She clearly already knew who Two-Face was and if that didn't make her give up his location an angry rant wouldn't either. So, Salis simply listened as the two women conversed. The one that knew Vannis seemed familiar though. He was trying to place it, but he could swear he had seen that color scheme somewhere. Dismissing it, he turned his attention to the talk of Arkham Asylum and Killer Croc. A grim smile of satisfaction overcame his face as he broke into the conversation.

"Oh he won't be going anywhere," said Salis, "I made sure of that when I killed him and every othe inmate of that wretched Asylum when I destroyed it."

CeeCee
The Devil's Den

"You know, I've killed before in my life, but when I did it was out of necessity and I'd only kill those that were my target. You're sounding like you will simple kill anyone in your way and to hell with whomever just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." CeeCee didn't feel bad for the victims at Arkham, or any remorse for those she has killed. But this man sounded more like a madman than a hero, just because his target was another madman didn't mean she'd send this madman on his path. "I'm not going to help someone find anyone, not even a monster like Two Face if he's going to leave a trail of blood behind not caring whomse blood it is he spills. Besides, Two face still has Harvey somewhere in there, I'm not sure if I'm ready to give up on Harvey just because he got stuck with a monster."

Now that she had finished talking CeeCee grabbed Mia's arm and guided her towards the Devil's Den "Let's continue our conversation somewhere else Mia, I don't feel like talking about men like Two Face or whoever that guy is that asked about Two Face. Considering it's the first day there aren't really any VIP's yet so the VIP lounge is empty. If you want we can talk more there. Otherwise we can stay in the public lounge of the Devil's Den if you're rather not completely alone with me."

[Empire of the Siberian Flaming Eskimos]

Salis scowled at CeeCee's reply. "So that's it then?" he said, "I keep hundreds of madmen from escape an Asylum that has failed to keep it's inmates contained time and time again, and now you're just going to let Two-Face continue with what he's doing? He's forcing hundreds, if not thousands into poverty and starvation! His men shoot people for their own amusement! I've lived through that hell once, and I can tell you now that no one who forces people to go through what I did deserves a second chance. Harvey has been given a pass by Batman more times than I can count anyway. The fact that he still hasn't changed is proof that he's long gone or turned. If you're not willing to see that and help bring him down for good then your as bad as him."

His rant over with, Salis stormed off to find his information a different way. There where plenty of thugs in this city to interrogate and right now he needed to blow off some steam.

[Bentus]

Mia Aveline – Devil’s Den

---

The unlikelihood of a possible future Croc-CeeCee rematch was a bit of a disappointment to Mia, and she pouted slightly – feeling slightly deflated. However, the sensation quickly passed as CeeCee offered her admirer some personal fighting tips. Mia grinned, nodding attentively as she remained hooked on every word that the accomplished warrior provided. Although the somewhat cryptic statements confused her at first, there was a certain thrill to being recognised as having an individual potential. And of course, the last thing Mia would ever want to do would be to cheat CeeCee of her unique fighting style – it would be such a rude thing to do! Mia promised herself that she’d find her the ‘style of her own’ and one day show it to CeeCee, then she’d really be impressed with her. The young woman felt a thrill at the thought. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down – I’ll become stronger than everyone and prove it to you.

“Sentinel? He’s the one who actually wanted to come here,” Mia paused, glancing left and right as if watching out for any prying eyes, before leaning in to whisper. “said something about trying to find information.” She giggled, enjoying the whole vigilante-mission-of-justice-outside-the-law trope already. “We’re on a mission.” And then the man interrupted them.

Mia looked over at the tall individual, as if appraising him for the first time with a look of mild irritation on her face. For the briefest of moments she wondered if she’d seen him somewhere before, but tossed aside the concern almost immediately – after all, commoners tended to blur together in her eyes: they all tended to be so scruffy, no sense of la dernière mode. She was surprised to learn that the whole Asylum had been destroyed, wondering for a moment what had happened to Jester and Silver Queen. Perhaps they’d both perished tragically in each other’s arms? Mia almost swooned at the romantic image, hoping that it was true. Still, she was relieved when the teenage girl stormed over with an air of violence towards the still unnamed man. While it was really important that she make Mr. Kyle suffer for being such a big meanie, but that was still no reason to interrupt her conversation with CeeCee!

Suddenly, Mia felt a firm grip on her arm and a determined tug. She looked wide-eyed to see CeeCee guiding her through the Devil’s Den, towards the private, empty, VIP section. Mia was glad that the taller woman was looking ahead rather than in her direction, so that she didn’t see her face turn entirely pink. The girl felt her heart miss a beat before return with a vengeance, pounding so hard that she could feel the blood pulsing past her ears.

“The VIP lounge sounds great.” No, stupid! Be a bit more seductive! “It would be nice to get away some place more quiet, just the two of us.” Mia stumbled almost immediately, however – her nerves still frayed. “Although, if you wanted to meet Sentinel still –“ The words spurred forth before she could stop them.

[The Republic of Atria]

Nightmare

"We'll find a way... Okay. The more thought I put into this I see it as a good idea. Blondie was as powerful as he thought he was. He never really grasped that and considered himself an equal with Superman. It's a really good thing what he wanted. What he could do, is lie. Tell them a few things that make people limit themselves until they're ready for the truth. Because, like you said. People will glass planets. But the nearest alien races are lightyears away. And from my personal experience, space is kinda big. I also have this really cool trick I can do. Or was going to do. But since doing it is crazy, I'll just explain. See, you know how there's a ton of nothing in space but darkness right? Dead space. Well. I can manipulate darkness. I could become all of that darkness and become the universe. In theory. Was going to tried it, but had a change of heart."

He looked at the sunset and sat on Julie's construct bench. "Yeah... It's hard to help people who are scared. And the sunset isn't bad. I've grown to like it." Julie was grabbing his hand. "And well..." It was time for him to use all those TV shows he watched. "...It's the second mos beautiful thing at the moment."

[Mavorpen]

Previously...

Jamal opened his eyes and found himself lying on his back in the middle of a desert, with Phyla, Ruby, and Karnilla standing around him.

"Finally. You were the most difficult to get into REM sleep for some reason." Karnilla said.

"Where are we?" Jamal asked, standing up. He looked around only to find that the desert appeared to have no end in sight, nor were there any identifying objects they could use as markers.

"The Dreaming. Though, I haven't ever seen it so...barren. I suppose we should begin exploring." Karnilla floated away, seemingly picking a random direction to head in. The rest of the group looked at each other and then followed her.

About an hour passed before Jamal became frustrated. It wasn't because of typical things one would expect to become annoyed with walking in a desert though. In fact, even though they were walking in a desert, it certainly didn't feel like one. The temperature wasn't any higher than your average room temperature. "Karnilla, do you know where you're going? You know we're on a tight schedule."

"We seem to be lost." Karnilla simply replied.

"No shit. Of course we are!" Jamal spread his arms out. "We've been wandering for close to an hour now, and we haven't seen a single thing we can use to get our bearings. Even our footprints have been disappearing almost immediately."

"Calm down. Time isn't an issue. Time moves differently here. The problem is not that we're lost, but that we've been allowed to get lost." Karnilla frowned. "I know you can hear me. After all, you're everywhere." She called out to no one in particular. No response came. Of course not, Jamal thought. He was pretty sure that she was simply going insane. Then, her book appeared in her hands and the pages began flipping. Once it stopped on the page she wanted, she read a few lines. "I see..." She muttered. The book closed and then she once again called out. "You don't need to remain here. You're free."

A few seconds of silence passed before a voice from a seemingly incorporeal source replied, "I know."

Karnilla sighed and motion to the others to follower her. "Come on, we should be fine now." The group followed her for a few minutes and suddenly the sandy desert landscape became grassy and a forest came into view. Karnilla then floated higher into the air and picked up speed. The group followed behind her and quickly crossed the forest. As they flew over the forest, the forest transitioned to one vibrant and full of life, to that of lifeless decay. The ground was black as though the forest had been burned down and the trees were barren. They then found themselves at the base of a hill. At the top of the hill was a castle.

A path leading to said slithered down the hill like a snake. The group began to follow the path when suddenly they heard a voice. "You can't go that way." The group collectively, save Karnilla, turned to the direction from where the voice came from. A crow sat atop a branch of one of the dead trees that littered the surrounding landscape. "Turn around, now! Caw!"

"Oh, be quiet Matthew." Karnilla said and continued forward, not paying any further mind to the crow. Ruby immediately followed her while Jamal and Phyla hesitated for a second before also following her lead. The group followed the path until they came upon the castle's front entrance. The doors creaked open and the group entered, finding themselves in a massive room that was dimly lit by a few sparse candles lining the walls. Two large staircases were positioned on the sides of a tunnel-like entrance to a hallway that lied in the center of the room. Two more hallway entrances

"What are you doing here, Karnilla?" A voice said. A figure emerged from the center hallway, obscured by the shadows cast by the candlelight and the natural darkness of the room. The crow from earlier flew threw the opened doorway behind the group and landed on the outstretched arm of the man.

"It's been a while, Morpheus." Karnilla said, smiling.

"Do not waste my time. I asked you what you are doing here." Morpheus simply responded.

"You're the only one wasting time here. You know why I'm here. There are very little things you don't see or hear -- that you don't know."

Morpheus suddenly turned around, the crow jumping off of his arm and onto his shoulder, and began walking down the hallway from whence he came. Karnilla immediately began floating behind him, gesturing the others to follow. "You misunderstand, Karnilla," Morpheus said, glancing back at her. "I have not perused dreams for centuries now. Even now, when I feel some semblance of joy over being free, I cannot bring myself to do so."

"Now now, lying is unbecoming for you. Especially since you aren't very good at it." Karnilla flashed an icy smile at him and her eyes were piercing.

Morpheus turned back around and faced forward. "It is not a lie. I simply found it... difficult to resist touching such potent minds to catch a glimpse of their dreams. It was quite disappointing, if I may say so. None of your dreams were particularly interesting." The crow flapped his wings and flew to Ruby, landing on her shoulder, and cawed. "Well, save for one, I suppose." Jamal found himself glancing at Ruby, wondering what exactly he meant by that, but he was forced to abandon these thoughts for the moment as they entered a new room filled with sand.

Morpheus reached down and grabbed a handful of sand, then stood up and turned to Karnilla. "Tell me, did your book inform you of why I was imprisoned?"

"Nope. Absolutely not." Karnilla responded with a comedic amount of sarcasm behind her words.

"Okay then." Morpheus said, accepting her answer. With a wave of his hand, he threw the sand at the group and then everything once again went black.

---

"But... home invaders! Burglars! Pervert exhibitionists!" Kylie recounted all the things the thought when she saw Jamal's crew. "Can you really blame me for reacting to my home being broken into?" Kylie sighed, then stood up. If this was actually a problem, then it'd be for the best that she go help.

"How about we introduce ourselves. Then... I guess I'll go with you..." Kylie seemed a bit hesitant as she spoke, but then Katie said something to her.

Kylie laughed at this bit. "Yeah, I guess you should, since I won't be around. I should let Leon know I'm leaving too, maybe that an aunt died or something?" As she pondered how she was going to get out of work, Kylie remembered she said to introduce themselves.

"I'm Kylie Perceval, nice to meet you." She offered her hand to Jamal to shake; he was the one talking the most.

"I suppose you also have a point." Jamal stood up and shook Kylie's hand. "I'm Jamal. That's Ruby, Adam Warlock, and Phyla-Vell." He said, gesturing to each respective individual as he introduced them. "Again, I'm sorry that all of this has been kind of pushed on you all at once. I wish I could tell you why we need you, but some of us aren't as cooperative as others." He said, flashing a look at Ruby. "In any case, we should get going soon. Every second we waste increases the risk of the Phalanx corrupting other systems and spreading."

[Siliarba]

Mia Aveline – Devil’s Den

---

Suddenly, Mia felt a firm grip on her arm and a determined tug. She looked wide-eyed to see CeeCee guiding her through the Devil’s Den, towards the private, empty, VIP section. Mia was glad that the taller woman was looking ahead rather than in her direction, so that she didn’t see her face turn entirely pink. The girl felt her heart miss a beat before return with a vengeance, pounding so hard that she could feel the blood pulsing past her ears.

“The VIP lounge sounds great.” No, stupid! Be a bit more seductive! “It would be nice to get away some place more quiet, just the two of us.” Mia stumbled almost immediately, however – her nerves still frayed.

CeeCee
The Devil's Den

CeeCee was never one for conversation, it was something she was trying to change. The only times she really spoke were mission reports, mission objectives, supply requests, all very military, all lacking of anything even remotely close to a real conversation. The only person she tended to talk to outside of her military career was DeeDee and she was accustomed to CeeCee's weird way of talking. CeeCee wasn't aware of how her own words must've come over to Mia, nor did she realize that Mia was flirting with her. "Ye, it's the disadvantage of a club and being the owner, not many private places for casual conversation. I don't mind but it draws a lot of attention to yourself being the owner."

“Although, if you wanted to meet Sentinel still –“

CeeCee stopped moving just before the entrance to the VIP area wile holding the only key that could open it ready in her hand as she heard Mia talk about Sentinel. "Oh right, I completely forgot about Sentinel for a moment, I was only thinking about you." Again CeeCee wasn't aware how that might have come over. "We should find Sentinel before he wonders where you are assuming you came in together and I don't want to miss my chance on meeting him." CeeCee put the key back in her pocket and turned around to face Mia who was blushing, ..., pink? She also seemed like she was about to enter a catatonic state which surprised CeeCee as she seemed completely fine at the time she grabbed her arm.

"Are you all right? You're as pink as a cherry blossom, and you look like you're about to faint. If you need to lie down a bit there's long seats in the ViP lounge, if Sentinel's as smart as the Batman of this universe he'll find you no problem any way. Unless you feel it's better to go find him."

[Osnil]

Devil's Den
Jenny's anger was fuming, especially since the stranger, Salis ignored her question. She thought of killing him to avenge the Riddler. He wasn't her father, but she still had his DNA. However, killing him wasn't very advantageous, considering that she wouldn't prove anything. He'd just be another one dead. But to challenge him in the arena here would be interesting. Challenging him and beating him. Now that would do it. Humiliation would be how she would avenge the Riddler. A cruel smile crossed her face.

As Salis left, she stood up and said, "I challenge the Riddler's killer to a battle in the arena. If he wins, I will help him locate Two-face. If he loses, he will provide protection for me. Is the killer too afraid of me? He should be, if he was smart. If not, well, he'll learn a lesson."

[The Fallen Jedi]

"I guess imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Then why are no aliens wearing costumes that look like me!? I'm awesome! I think.... Yeah." He said sitting in a chair. "So. How soon till we get there? I've got shit to do at home. Those new recruits are going to beat themselves up! Actually they probably will... Nevermind then. I'm sure Kallark will understand. Needs of the many and all that" He said now sitting in a chair upside down. His feet sitting by the headrest and the top half of his body hanging off.

Arctico stared into the void that was hyperspace itself, anticipating the moment that when his fleet would jump out of hyperspace, they would attack the traditionalist fleet without any quarter, when he had heard that the traditionalists were going to end the war on their own terms, Arctico knew that they could not afford to wait whatsoever "The Navigational Computer indicates that we will be there in approximately ten to fifteen minutes, I have the FTL Device on overdrive at the moment, so the time we get there may become much more shorter than anticipated, but I wish to let you know that when we reach the orbit of Arcos and engage the enemy fleet, I'm not being merciful to those who've supported King Cold's, his regime has killed millions upon billions of lives, and that is only counting Frieza, I'm uncertain of how many deaths both Cooler and King Cold have caused."

[Turmenista]

"End of the line, Super 13!
Myosai's full power Vaporizer Cannon awaits you!"

-snip-

Tina frowned. Ever since she met Magnus and Pinkie she had been fighting things cockier than Ember if she was fighting on a sun. Again she summoned the earth to her. Increasing her size exponentially, till her chest was equal in height to the elevation of the android. "We'll see about that tin man." She replied. Then grabbed her opponent with her increased size, intending to exert incredible ammounts of force in crushing her foe. She also focused on the metal of the android, mentally forcing the metal to crunch inwards as well.

Super 17 knew he was screwed. Judging by this new female fighter's power and Earth abilities, her powers had to be related to the golem on the ground's. Eartly-based, and, seemingly, she could control metal.

This could be a problem. Parts of the android's internals were made of metal.

Slowly, and painfully inching his palm forth, the Android pressed on the giant rock lady's chest, without hesitation. "You are a big problem to me, rock lady." He said. "I can't allow you or your friends to live. You're just.. obstacles that need to be removed. You're hindering the process of my main goal."

"Hey, ugly android!" Magnus called. Odysseus raised an Anti-Materiel rifle round, firing straight into the android's neck. He then looked in shock as the Android held up the bullet. "This yours?" He asked, plucking the round at an even faster speed at the Super Soldier's direction. Odysseus, luckily, rolled out of the way, the bullet only grazing his shoulder.

Magnus clenched his fist. "Hey, ugly! You have right to treat my team members like shit, like you just did! That's my job when they fuck up!" He growled. "You better get your robotic hands off of Tina right now, or that hands going all the way up your shiny metal ass!"

17 glared at Magnus, extending one of his arms, and fired off a precise, thin energy wave right into Magnus's chest. The golem fell over, in pain, screaming his lungs out. "God fuck! That hurts!"

"Can't you regenerate or something?" Odysseus asked. Magnus slowly shook his head. "These types of moves- they fuck with my regeneration.. Badly.." He said, wincing in pain.

Super 17 chuckled at the sight of the idiot Odysseus, trying to Drag Magnus out of this. "Fools." He turned to the ladies. "As I was saying.."

His hand suddenly clenched itself around Myosai's neck, as Super 17 kept his palm over the Gigantic Tina, still. "You feel that, you two? That's the feeling of your energy being sucked up by me. Once I'm through with you two, I'm going to obliterate your entire half-ass team. Nothing's going to stop me from finishing my final goal, even if it means destroying this entire place.."

Myosai spat at the ground. "You're dangerously overconfident..." She rasped.

"And you have a dangerously sharp tongue." 17 replied, lobbing the weakened Myosai into a nearby building. "I hope you understand." The android said, looking off into the distance. "Someday, you will."

Two more spheres of energy appeared in his palms, one aimed point blank at Tina, and the other ready to fire at her friends.

[The Republic of Atria]

"I know what they've done Arctico, I don't need your explanation. I'm pretty sure us humans were the ones who sent a team to deal with them. And Where Frosty fell head over heels." Killian replied slightly annoyed. "And, are you forgetting that the Cold clan were mutants? They were the strongest ones of their species. And now they're pushing up daisies. So let's cut to the chase. Whaddya want me do do?" He asked sitting right side up and hunched over. "I've been trained by Whis in hand to hand. Combine that with my speed, and BAM. You got me. With kung fu grip! Literally!"

The Devil's Den

Their food was brought out and they started eating. Alex was starving and happy to have the giant burger which was aptly named. "Jesus... With all this meat, you could feed a hulk."

"I'm pretty sure that's where they got the name." Naja said. "Now. As for your job. You can find Vibranium with magic right? I'l give you a hunk for you to magic. Just bring them around back and please don't wreck anything. Once or twice a month should be more than sufficient to cover room, board, food, utilities... And everything else. A better deal than most. Like an hour or so's worth of work a month." She explained.

"I can make that work." Alex agreed taking a sip of his milkshake. "That's... Rich." He said and looked at Silas who was yelling about something. "Well. That was rude. Who would start something in a place like this? That's literally asking for you to get your ass kicked. And not even a normal ass kicking. This is the place to get your ass kicked. There are actual superheroes here. Like me."

"What about me?" She asked.

"Couple more years and maybe..." He teased.

"Getting better."

[Empire of the Siberian Flaming Eskimos]

Kalaris mused silently as the Sirus drifted through space. Still around Saturn, Gladio had parked them a ways away from the crime scene and turned off all unnecessary systems. After they had agreed to a truce Kalaris had brought his men back on board without notifying them of the change in developments. As a result, they were caught completely off guard when the ship's security system shot them. Untouched and unmoved by their death, Kalaris now thought of how to work this in his favor. The only reason he was alive right now was due to Gladio finding him valuable. He enjoyed the feeling of a more biological body from time to time and found that Kalaris had desirable traits. While this kept him alive, he didn't really have any freedom. His ship was under Gladio's control and there was really no plausible way to get him out of his system.

As this was going on, a strange drone flew into view. Moving to pilot the ship after it, he was unnerved to find that Gladio was already on it. The drone soon stopped in it's tracks mysteriously, obviously hacked by the A.I.

"What is it?" asked Kalaris, "If it's S.W.O.R.D.'s then we better get moving before more ships come."

It's not theirs, replied Gladio in his head, nor human for that matter. It seems to be of Acrosian make. Apparently a civil war is going on and one by the name of Arctico is sending them out for help. Gladio mulled this over in his mind. A civil war would be a great place to push his agenda. It would provide an enjoyable challenge to occupy him and help form a base for a possible army. Then he could finally push towards what he craved.

"Let's leave it then," said Kalaris, "I don't want to get tangled up in anything like that."

Oh but we're going, said Gladio, This is a golden opportunity for me, and you will get all the riches you want. Think about it. You help end a terrible regime and get praise, glory, and wealth. Wouldn't that be great. Gladio knew exactly how Kalaris worked, and manipulating him would be stupid easy. The man was greedy beyond measure and loved attention, especially for breaking rules.

"Hmm," said Kalaris as he thought it over, "That does sound attractive, but very manipulative. You think I was born yesterday? This is a standard manipulation tactic."

And you're falling right into it, replied Gladio.

"You're damn right. Money that good is too not something I'm passing up, manipulation or not. Just make sure it gets to me or staying in my head will be a living hell for you."

Deal. Suddenly the ship warped through space and time as the teleportation device on the drone was activated. Gladio had changed the programming slightly so that it would take the whole ship and drop it off near Arctico's ship instead of on it. Suddenly they were in hyperspace on an unknown course, a large warship beside them. Gladio moved to hail the ship.

You do the talking, he said to Kalaris, I don't want to reveal my presence quit yet.

[Charmera]

Nightmare

"We'll find a way... Okay. The more thought I put into this I see it as a good idea. Blondie was as powerful as he thought he was. He never really grasped that and considered himself an equal with Superman. It's a really good thing what he wanted. What he could do, is lie. Tell them a few things that make people limit themselves until they're ready for the truth. Because, like you said. People will glass planets. But the nearest alien races are lightyears away. And from my personal experience, space is kinda big. I also have this really cool trick I can do. Or was going to do. But since doing it is crazy, I'll just explain. See, you know how there's a ton of nothing in space but darkness right? Dead space. Well. I can manipulate darkness. I could become all of that darkness and become the universe. In theory. Was going to tried it, but had a change of heart."

He looked at the sunset and sat on Julie's construct bench. "Yeah... It's hard to help people who are scared. And the sunset isn't bad. I've grown to like it." Julie was grabbing his hand. "And well..." It was time for him to use all those TV shows he watched. "...It's the second mos beautiful thing at the moment."

"Eh. Still could go wrong." Julie replied. "Someone finding out the truth could be pretty bad... And even if they don't, supes is pretty strong and at least supes has kryptonite to potentially reign him in." She the shrugged. "Again, we'll just have to see how it plays out." She remarked, then heard Nightmares explanation of his 'trick' "Interesting... So why didn't you do it?"

"It is hard to help people when they're scared... Or angry. Especially if it's with you." She related, then paused when Nightmare made that comment about the sun being the second most beautiful thing. She then mentally looked around for what he might be referring to, until she realised what he meant. She blushed red and then looked towards Nightmare, into his eyes. Her human disguise was now gone. "So... What's the most beautiful thing then?"

Cora continued crying heavily on the floor. She felt Katie embrace her tightly from behind and Cora couldn't help but pull her closer for comfort. She listened to Katie but couldn't respond, she just had to get her emotions out. After a few more minutes of crying Cora began to calm down. She wiped her eyes, which her red and irritated. She got to her feet and hugged Katie tightly, resting her head on her shoulder. "Thank you so much Katie, I needed you here. Maybe God did answer me after all, he sent me you." She said softly, her voice a little hoarse from crying. "I'll look after you too, no matter what. We might as well get what we came here for, come on." Cora said, taking Katie's hand and leading her down a hallway toward a large room in the corner, "This is the control room. They kept all their computers and cameras here." She told Katie. The room was filled with military grade computers and cameras. They were all surrounding a large TV screen in the center of the room. Cora went to work carefully piling the computers into a large that she found near by, making sure they all still worked. She decided to come back for the tv, since they had a lot of those at the headquaters. Cora jumped up and broke the roof enough to make an opening for her to fly through, making sure that none of the debris hit the computers. "Come on Katie, get inside. I'll bring us home." She said to her friend, looming forward to getting out of that place.

Katie smiled. She was glad that he friend was now feeling better. She hoped that this chance to face her past helped her. "Sure thing Cora." She replied, suddenly going into electron form and going inside of Cora. "I'm glad I met you Cora. Really glad. " she said. "I'm also glad I tried talking to you when we first met rather than fighting or soenthing stupid like that..."

[The Republic of Atria]

"No doubt. But there has to be something we can do that'll help them. If not Blondie's idea, then something. Well, I was going to see if the Masaki's got desperate enough to blow up their planet in an attempt to kill me. Then I was going to do it and swallow their galaxy. At least, that was the original idea. But as you saw. Things changed just a little bit. Yeah... Humans are fickle as it is. I'm just at a loss. All their conflicts stem either from land, ideology, or resources. We could remove the need for land and resources." He sighed. "I hate people sometimes."

"I know. As powerful as we are, why cant we help them in a way that doesn't involve wrecking half a city to save it from an attacking madman? Or God as it was last time?" He said and watched her change back. "Well... I'll give you a hint... She loves the color green..."

[Charmera]

"No doubt. But there has to be something we can do that'll help them. If not Blondie's idea, then something. Well, I was going to see if the Masaki's got desperate enough to blow up their planet in an attempt to kill me. Then I was going to do it and swallow their galaxy. At least, that was the original idea. But as you saw. Things changed just a little bit. Yeah... Humans are fickle as it is. I'm just at a loss. All their conflicts stem either from land, ideology, or resources. We could remove the need for land and resources." He sighed. "I hate people sometimes."

"I know. As powerful as we are, why cant we help them in a way that doesn't involve wrecking half a city to save it from an attacking madman? Or God as it was last time?" He said and watched her change back. "Well... I'll give you a hint... She loves the color green..."

"I guess. I'm not sure though. Humans are wierd. That's pretty much a galactic truth that every race acknowledges. And they can be very annoying to deal with, especially considering they makes more superbeings than every other planet put together." Juke replied. "i suppose there is really no fool proof plan that is gaurenteed to make things better.

"Yeah. Fighting should be a last resort but it seems we have to use it all the time..." She remarked, "God? That sounds interesting..." She smiled, then blushed again, she placed a hand on Nightmares cheek. "Is it the Martian girl on the green bench next to the hottest experiment ever?" She smiled as she looked into Noghtmares eyes.

[Tomia]

Katie's words made Cora feel a lot better. She would have hugged her if she hadn't gone into her body already. "I'm glad I met you too Katie. You have no idea how glad. You saved my life that day. You really did." Cora told her sincerely before grabbing the large bin of computer and flying through the hole she made into the air.

Cora was silent for most of the ride back as she carried the large bin in her hands. Finally though, when they were getting close to New York she finally spoke up. "You asked me before, how the scientist could do that to me. They told me you know. They said I wasn't humam, so they could do what they want with me." Cora told Katie sadly. "You were my first friend, did you know that? I never had one before you. I always wanted one though. I had no one to talk to in the lab. It was so lonely. You're everything I could have hoped for." She told her. Cora rarely opened up like this, she hadn't told Katie anything about her past before. It was a sign that she truly trusted her. Soon their tower came into sight and Cora slowed down to land on the roof.

[The Republic of Atria]

"No doubt. But there has to be something we can do that'll help them. If not Blondie's idea, then something. Well, I was going to see if the Masaki's got desperate enough to blow up their planet in an attempt to kill me. Then I was going to do it and swallow their galaxy. At least, that was the original idea. But as you saw. Things changed just a little bit. Yeah... Humans are fickle as it is. I'm just at a loss. All their conflicts stem either from land, ideology, or resources. We could remove the need for land and resources." He sighed. "I hate people sometimes."

"I know. As powerful as we are, why cant we help them in a way that doesn't involve wrecking half a city to save it from an attacking madman? Or God as it was last time?" He said and watched her change back. "Well... I'll give you a hint... She loves the color green..."

"I guess. I'm not sure though. Humans are wierd. That's pretty much a galactic truth that every race acknowledges. And they can be very annoying to deal with, especially considering they makes more superbeings than every other planet put together." Juke replied. "i suppose there is really no fool proof plan that is gaurenteed to make things better.

"Yeah. Fighting should be a last resort but it seems we have to use it all the time..." She remarked, "God? That sounds interesting..." She smiled, then blushed again, she placed a hand on Nightmares cheek. "Is it the Martian girl on the green bench next to the hottest experiment ever?" She smiled as she looked into Noghtmares eyes.

"They fear the most powerful, slimey, and heartless creatures the humans have: Lawyers. A force to be feared throughout the universe!" He snickered. "They are. On the same notes, they've beaten back the Kree and Skrulls more than once. Held their own against Galactus. Ended the threat of a Zombie God... Or God of Zombies. Thanos and Darkseid don't come here anymore. Something like that. And have the highest amount of Green Lanterns per race. And that's with their heads shoved where the sun don't shine. Who knows what they could do if they stopped being morons? This stupid blue rock has done a lot more than everyone gives them credit for. Remind me to talk to Blondie and his girlfriend about the Kree. I learned something about them that he's going to want to hear."

"If you want my opinion, I think the good guys could be a little more... Lethal. Now I'm not saying we put a bullet between Paste Pot Pete's eyes. But let's be honest here. Some of these monsters would be better off dead. Most of them are just stupid, petty thugs, but some are straight up murderers. Joker for example. There is no reason why he should be allowed to live. Right... I never told you about Cul. Some Asgardian Jackass. Blondie and I found out something cool. We can like... Fuse our bodies into one guy. Who kicks so much ass his foot continually smells of ass. We shared a brain. It's how I know so much about him." He said and put his hand over hers. "Maybe... Yeah... It is. Let's be honest here. You're hot."

[Empire of the Siberian Flaming Eskimos]

Devil's Den
Jenny's anger was fuming, especially since the stranger, Salis ignored her question. She thought of killing him to avenge the Riddler. He wasn't her father, but she still had his DNA. However, killing him wasn't very advantageous, considering that she wouldn't prove anything. He'd just be another one dead. But to challenge him in the arena here would be interesting. Challenging him and beating him. Now that would do it. Humiliation would be how she would avenge the Riddler. A cruel smile crossed her face.

As Salis left, she stood up and said, "I challenge the Riddler's killer to a battle in the arena. If he wins, I will help him locate Two-face. If he loses, he will provide protection for me. Is the killer too afraid of me? He should be, if he was smart. If not, well, he'll learn a lesson."

Salis stopped in his tracks, a smile creeping onto his face. If this little scumbag wanted to attack him in defense of a murderer, he would gladly kick her ass. Turning around, Salis walked right up to her so that he was looking down through the extra inch he had on her. A slightly sadistic smile plastered there with a good dose of confident danger.

"You want to fight me defending a murderous freak?" he said, "That's fine by me." Salis was supremely confident in his many years of experience street fighting and infiltrating top security areas. He was well versed in marksmanship, hand to hand, and knife fighting along with his power. If this girl wanted to tussle, he was willing to tussle. "Bring it on."

[The Fallen Jedi]

---

---

Arctico turned to reply to Kilian before he recieved a notification of another ship joining Arctico's fleet, most likely due to the drone doing it's work. Arctico also noticed that the ship was hailing him, quickly responding, Arctico opened a communication channel with the unidenfied ship "Ah..." The Arcosian said, his tail moving around slightly as he stared at the monitor "I see that my drone was responsible for picking you up it seems, but either way to make a long story short, I need your help in bringing about reform on my homeworld of Arcos..." Arctico then gestured to a holographic projection of the environmentally hostile planet of Arcos, the Ice Planet that many Arcosians took pride in.

"What you all see before you is the holographic projection of Arcos, my homeworld where the tyrant Frieza, and his sadistic father King Cold were born and raised on, and as many of you should know at this time, the Cold Clan is all but extinct, so the Reformists now believe it is time to revolt against the weakened traditionalist cause, unfortunately, a self-proclaimed member of the Cold Clan known as Lord Frigid has made his intentions for the now-vacant crown known. Sadly, with his ascent, the Reformist cause has begun to dwindle and requires heavy assistance, one of which that I will bring with my massive fleet that I have secretly been building up even before the demise of King Cold, Frieza, Cooler, and even Lord Frost himself..." Arctico then turned to the monitor, showing the images of General Blizzard, Lord Shiver, Lieutenant General Blaze, and then Lord Frigid "I've learned that these four individuals are extremely powerful in terms of abilities, so I need help in order to defeat these extremely powerful Arcosians If I am to end this civil war in favor of the Reformists.

[New Neros]

-snip

Though the battle with one Chaos entity raged the world over, another one roared with fury and illogic driving it. The great chaos daemon was enthralled in a massive, earth-shaking bare knuckle brawl against the Mir and Max - the two of them attacking in sync and landing their blows with precision one after another. Maelstrom shrugged them off with a laugh, man-handling the both of them of them with his four arms, driving a heel into each of their muscle-packed abdomens to extreme effect - sending both bodies slamming into the sloppy, muddy ground below. Mir tore forth through the mud first, though, his eyes blazing red and the wet dirt flying off of him as he shot forward.

He swung twice and ducked, dodging a clean swing from Maelstrom and unleashing his heat vision against Maelstrom Claus' chest. It smoked and burned, Maelstrom howling for a moment in pain, but twisting his face into a deviant smile regardless. "Oh Mir, I've been such a bad, bad boy. Time for my punishment!" He yelled and taunted, Mir not giving in to his distraction. But still, Mir could hardly prepare for a sudden upper cut the chest, the feeling of his absurdly durable rib cage cracking so easily drew every ounce of breath from his body. To make matters even worse, Maelstrom's mouth burned with the soft licks of a mystical flame. "Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Why punch me in the solar plexus - Oops, I mean Xiphoid process - and then burn the ever-loving shit out of me?' Well, the answer is simple."

"Because fuck you, that's why." Maelstrom said violently, a storm of fire spewing from his mouth and slapping onto Mir's face and upper body with a raging intensity. Where he did not have air, he found room to scream in the most horrific pain he had ever felt in his life - even dying and lead poisoning didn't come close to the surge of hellfire. All of a sudden, it came to an immediate halt, Mir barely cracking his eyes open to see what could have made the embodiment of Chaos suddenly change his mind. Instead of mercy, he saw help from Max, the Mad God slamming his hand over the daemon's mouth - smoke still escaping from under his gloved hand.

Though it was unseen, Maelstrom's facial features contorted into a smile as he removed his fist from Mir's broken chest in order to focus on Max - but the man moved first, pulling the giant monster forward and then straight down. Max accompanied him with his hand still on Maelstrom's mouth as the daemon's skull smacked against the mud, spraying it in all directions. Max removed his hand quickly though, jumping back and clenching his teeth, holding his wrist in his other hand - the burns scorching through his armor and all the way to his skin. "Tell me, Maxwell," Maelstrom began, easily hopping upward from his position - the attack having done close to nothing. "Beings like me, you, hell, even Mir over there. We can bust planets and solar systems with our bare-damned-hands, so why do we just slug it out like Neanderthals in this swamp?"

Maelstrom smiled his sick, twisted grin, showing that every one of his teeth was a razor sharp canine of vicious length, "Because it feels good." The chaotic entity answered, "But despite the fun I'm having, I really want those things I came to get. Ultimate power, blah, blah, rule the cosmos. No, I don't want 'em for that. I want them because they're shiny and I don't have them! Now, give me my MacGuffins." Maelstrom demanded, Max standing there, confused at the reference.

"...Your what?"

"EMERALDS, BITCH!" Like a lightning strike, Maelstrom was already driving his fist into Max's center mass and lifting the man from the ground and sending him flying backwards, slapping the ground and tumbling a myriad of times before Max righted himself, digging his heels into the ground to slow his momentum. Max looked up to assess the situation and counter-attack, but all that met him was the bottom of two abnormally large feet. Diving feet first into Max's face, Maelstrom skidded along while driving the Mad God's entire head and upper body through the mud hard enough to bring up rocks and sediments from below.

"Oh Max-kun, you're so tsundere." Maelstrom proclaimed, stepping off of the Mad God's head and grabbing him by the hair with one of his clawed hands. "You suck at this, give up, you fucking casul." He further yelled, Max's eyes tearing open and glowing a bright orange - Max baring his teeth as he released a primal growl. "Ohh! So scary, what're you going to -" Just then, a pebble slammed through Maelstrom's bicep. Not really slammed, but simply obliterated - the daemon's arm from a three-fourths above his elbow just de-attaching from the rest of his body.

Max took the opportunity and spun around, pouring an entire planet's worth of energy into a single strike on Maelstrom's kidney region, the force echoing past the daemon's soft tissues as it tore them apart upon impact - Maelstrom's crimson blood exploding from both sides. He roared with absolute torture at the two blows in quick succession, another hit registering as Mir dragged himself from wherever he fell previously and used his heat vision to burn his back deeply - to the bone itself. The two beings looked at each other in exhaustion, knowing that this was only the tipping point of the battle, but as a pair looked to their new ally.

The small rat creature was an unlikely choice for an alliance, but Max smiled nonetheless at his arrival. "I watched your battle with Perfect Chaos with my energy sense, young warrior." Max said calmly, "Your bravery and ability is one I'm willing to trust. You met my friend, Mir, but you've yet to meet me. I'm Maxwell Morningstar, but let's skip the other nitty gritty, because I'm going to need a power boost to get my energy levels back up." Max said, implying the Chaos Emeralds, "Because if I'm not mistaken...It looks like Maelstrom Claus is coming back."

Sure enough, the now three-armed daemon wore of a look of extreme displeasure as he walked casually back to where the trio were, the vegetation behind him suddenly bursting into a ball of flame miles and miles behind him. The sky turned into a burnt orange color, clouds formed with poisoned acid as the Chaotic entity strove to render the world inhabitable by his sheer presence and discomfort. "You're damn right I'm coming back...And I'm fuckin' pissed."

[The Rebel Alliances]

Daniel Carter/NightBlade-32 Yrs-Devil's Den

As Mia went off on her own to gather information. I myself allowed myself to place some distance from us as I went off on my own. After all, it may do her some good to get away from me for a while. I moved about the club as I took in the lights, music, costumed staff and dancers but most interesting was the large crowds of heroes, villains and all in between. One could throw a rock and find someone guilty enough to warrant death in most cases, but I know better than to try anything here. For the most part, I ignored most of the random murmurs around me. But something had captured my attention, a woman, who looks as if she had been through a rough time lately, was speaking about Gotham and the mess it is currently in. She had several bruises on her face and a set of dirty asylum clothes, so the assumption that she was an escaped asylum inmate, was not a hard one. She spoke while constantly brushing her bands away from her eyes. "Gotham is shit, too dangerous for even some of the most powerful masked villains to move freely, not just from Batman, the man is missing, but from other killers." The man she was speaking too, appeared far cleaner, and wore some type of uniform. "What about Batgirl, I hear she is still in the city..." The crazed woman cut him off in frantic ramblings. "Are you joking? Things are worse than ever, that side kick has not helped at all. Why do you think I am holed up here? But just wait, as soon as I hear things have calmed down a bit, I'll go back. I'll show em, show em all..."

I walked past the couple, as I had made my decision. Even in this Earth, Gotham is still the icon of corruption, failure and greed. That is fine, as I will cleanse it.

Tonight.

As I glided around the various rooms, eventually making my way to the Arena, I discovered that the Joker, had not been spotted in some time. Neither had his offshoots, Harley Quinn and Jester. Not to mention Silver Queen. I have found my targets. Gotham's cleaning will begin with the symbol of it's torment. The Joker will go first, and everyone close to him. Including the Jester and Silver Queen as well. Not only that, it must be made somehow public, for the world to witness.

My mind traced back to Deathstroke, and when he televised our own battle. A tactic I can borrow to show the masses, disease will no longer be tolerated in this world. After all, crime is like a cancer and must be eradicated swiftly.

As I was just about to leave the Arena and go search for Mia. A man, obviously dressed the part of a hero began to walk towards me. At first I had the instinct to ignore him, but he seemed...similar. To me. Well, more precisely to Sentinel. His armor, had more than a convenient resemblance to my own in many ways. The armor was bulky and colored in red, white and black. Had a black visor and the helmet resembled the visage of a....dinosaur? As the man drew ever closer I realized that he was not walking past me, but he was walking to me. Finally, the man stopped in front of me, and as soon as he spoke, it was obvious he had a voice converter.

"I need to speak with you, before you go wherever you are going." The man stated, presenting himself like a wall to my progress.

"Sorry, I just came to chat, but not with you." I then tried to move past him, but he placed his hand on my chest and modestly shoved me back.

"I am not asking."

I breathed deeply, gaining my own composure. The man is adamant, but stupid. I cocked my head in his direction, both of us analyzing the other through our own masks.

"What do you have in mind?" I quizzed him, to which he simply answered by nodding in the direction of the Arena. I smirked beneath my mask.

Of course, just a brawler. Well, It would do him well to learn from his mistakes. I allowed him to lead me to the arena. Where the rules were explained to us. Neither of us really needed it, they were simple enough to understand, and we seemed about the same level of power regardless. The cheering crowds around us each began to place bets as the battle was gonna be showcased, and when the match began, we both dove right in at peak human speeds. I threw in several fast paced flurries and he deftly managed to block them all. As I made a sweeping leg kick at his lower legs, he managed to do a backflip to evade, only he traveled far higher than even a olympic champion would have been able to. Hell, even further than I could.

"You know what you are doing. I can see that, but how is your blade work?" I asked, drawing my own sword. As this unknown hero drew his blade, his alias revealed to be 'Ranger' from the announcer for the Arena. Our blades glanced off of each other as he circled the ring, each one of us delivering blows and avoiding or blocking the other one. But as we fought, I could not shake the sense of deja vu, his stance, moves and stature all seemed to mirror my own.

And the mystery only served frustrate me to no end.

I locked his own blade between my own and a wall as I managed to place a high kick right into his helmet. Knocking the mask off and revealing the face of my adversary. One that was aged into his mid twenties. Short cut brown hair, and deep coffee colored eyes. Features matching my own deceased son.

I then violently took hold of his sword and slammed my arm into his, forcing him to drop the weapon and allowing me to take hold of it. Using both blades to pin him to the wall, but not actually puncturing him, I gave a deep growl.

"Who...are you?" He then pressed his palm to my chest and released what would have been a powerful ki blast which launched me across the arena. I slammed into the opposite wall on my back as I fell over, recovering, I still wielded both of our swords as he approached me, this time hovering slightly in the air. But not from any in built feature of his armor, no...he was flying.

"I am the son of a man who used to be called the greatest hero there ever was. A man who has lost his own way, blinded by tragedy. My name is...August Carter." This was not amusing. This...man. Looks like my son, he fights like me, he has the powers of his mother, and he claims to be...someone he could not be. I squeezed the handle of my blade, so desiring to make him confess his lies. But, it is possible that this man, is from another timeline. Or future or dimension or anything else of a million possibilities.

He could very well be a August Carter. But no, he is not mine.

I stood up, and raised a single hand as I voiced my own forfeit. "I give up." I no longer had any interest in fighting this man.

As I collected myself and sheathed my blade, I turned my back on the young man. He took a couple steps after me.

"Dad, I still need to speak to you-" I cut him off, by raising a single hand. And spoke while never turning to face him.

"You may indeed be the son of Daniel in some timeline....but I only have one son. And he is dead." And with that, I left and made my way over to the VIP Lounge, not taking long at all to spot Ceecee and Mia alone, with Mia as pink as the dress she is wearing. I made my way over to the both of them, and closed the launge door behind me, so it was just the three of us.

I had a feeling that Ceecee would be willing to help me, but just in case, I needed her to trust me. So, I removed my mask as NightBlade and stood as I faced her.

"Ceecee, I am sure you remember me. We were both at Arkham Asylum some time ago. I am here because I need some information. I have picked up rumors of Jester trying to locate the Joker. I want to find them both, along with their accomplices, and start with cleaning Gotham up with them. Joker is the face of the disease destroying Gotham. Mia here, has offered to help me restore order in Gotham." I then took a seat next to Mia.

"I know you are likely aware that I do not use...lethal means, to achieve a goal. But things have...changed. People like us, we are professionals. We have the capabilities to enter into this mess and eradicate the disease crippling Gotham without collateral damage. So, what I am asking is...Do you know where the Joker is? If we find him, Jester and Silver Queen will also find us. Then we can deal with all of them in a single swoop." I finished explaining.

As I leaned back, I tried to push the thoughts of the August I met out of my mind. As I tried to extract the information I needed from Ceecee. August had relocated to the Hero's Cafe to unwind from our fight.

[Charmera]

Tina frowned. Ever since she met Magnus and Pinkie she had been fighting things cockier than Ember if she was fighting on a sun. Again she summoned the earth to her. Increasing her size exponentially, till her chest was equal in height to the elevation of the android. "We'll see about that tin man." She replied. Then grabbed her opponent with her increased size, intending to exert incredible ammounts of force in crushing her foe. She also focused on the metal of the android, mentally forcing the metal to crunch inwards as well.

Super 17 knew he was screwed. Judging by this new female fighter's power and Earth abilities, her powers had to be related to the golem on the ground's. Eartly-based, and, seemingly, she could control metal.

This could be a problem. Parts of the android's internals were made of metal.

Slowly, and painfully inching his palm forth, the Android pressed on the giant rock lady's chest, without hesitation. "You are a big problem to me, rock lady." He said. "I can't allow you or your friends to live. You're just.. obstacles that need to be removed. You're hindering the process of my main goal."

"Hey, ugly android!" Magnus called. Odysseus raised an Anti-Materiel rifle round, firing straight into the android's neck. He then looked in shock as the Android held up the bullet. "This yours?" He asked, plucking the round at an even faster speed at the Super Soldier's direction. Odysseus, luckily, rolled out of the way, the bullet only grazing his shoulder.

Magnus clenched his fist. "Hey, ugly! You have right to treat my team members like shit, like you just did! That's my job when they fuck up!" He growled. "You better get your robotic hands off of Tina right now, or that hands going all the way up your shiny metal ass!"

17 glared at Magnus, extending one of his arms, and fired off a precise, thin energy wave right into Magnus's chest. The golem fell over, in pain, screaming his lungs out. "God fuck! That hurts!"

"Can't you regenerate or something?" Odysseus asked. Magnus slowly shook his head. "These types of moves- they fuck with my regeneration.. Badly.." He said, wincing in pain.

Super 17 chuckled at the sight of the idiot Odysseus, trying to Drag Magnus out of this. "Fools." He turned to the ladies. "As I was saying.."

His hand suddenly clenched itself around Myosai's neck, as Super 17 kept his palm over the Gigantic Tina, still. "You feel that, you two? That's the feeling of your energy being sucked up by me. Once I'm through with you two, I'm going to obliterate your entire half-ass team. Nothing's going to stop me from finishing my final goal, even if it means destroying this entire place.."

Myosai spat at the ground. "You're dangerously overconfident..." She rasped.

"And you have a dangerously sharp tongue." 17 replied, lobbing the weakened Myosai into a nearby building. "I hope you understand." The android said, looking off into the distance. "Someday, you will."

Two more spheres of energy appeared in his palms, one aimed point blank at Tina, and the other ready to fire at her friends.

Suddenly out of the giant Tina came a smaller Tina, small enough to avoid the blast, blasting out and creating a dust storm. She was still large enough to grab her foe. Still exerting considerable amount of pressure, she grabbed her opponent again and slammed him into the ground after grabbing him. "Don't you DARE hurt my friends tin man." She snapped angry she began slamming the android into the ground repeatedly. "I'm going to bury you like the scrap you are!" She shouted, each slam creating earthquakes.

[The Rebel Alliances]

Ralph the Rat-16 Yrs-Mystic Ruins, Mobius

Theme Song

Awesome Boss Fight snip

As I observed the effects of my own attack against the creature, I saw that I had scored far more damage than I could have ever hoped. Actually managing to wipe out an entire arm from the giant beast, which towered over us all, but as for myself, barely reaching above three feet, I was about the size of his large toe. At least it seemed that way. With the brief respite from the battle, I finally met who I could assume was the one who was responsible for sending Mir to help me before, a assumption that he confirmed. As he spoke to me, Solar the Hedgehog, and Trix the Linx had both run up from behind me. Solar was readying to help me fight this new threat alongside our new allies, while Trix was struggling to carry all of the Chaos Emeralds in her arms, dropping two as she stopped next to me. Which she simply dropped the others at her feet, just next to me.

"Ralph, I brought the Emeralds for you to use again. I know if you use them then you can defeat this monster, and everything will return to normal...right?" She asked, more worried than confident. I then closed my duel colored eyes. Sighing deeply as my own whiskers flowed with the wind.

"No." I said simply. Trix seemed confused, but Solar had heard the lessons before.

"I cannot use the Emeralds again. At least not quickly enough to make a difference in this battle. They grant immeasurable power to a being who can harness them, but that power only lasts a brief while. So, the same being cannot endlessly use their power without end. It is a sort of...limiter." I then opened my eyes and looked over to Solar.

He could use them, but while the Emeralds would grant him the power, Solar lacks the training and experience to take on a monster like this Claus. With my arms crossed, I glanced up at Max.

"Maxwell is what your are called? You sent Mir to help me when I was fighting Perfect Chaos. You trusted that I could be a friend. I will return that favor. I am going to trust that you will not abuse this gift." I then began to pick the Emeralds up, and as I did so, Solar and Trix followed my example. I carried the green, silver and yellow emeralds while Trix held the blue and pink and Solar took hold of the red and cyan emeralds. Then, we positioned the Emeralds before Max, just as Claus revealed himself once more.

Shouting more profanity and lurching his way back over to us. The wild life dying in flames with each step he took, the sky turned into a burning orange color and the very clouds began to rain a weak acid with the very presence of this monster. Destroying Mobius simply by being here.

I spun around to face him a final time, Solar at my side.

"Trix, run back to the Temple! Leave us to deal with this monster!" Her ears sunk downward, but knowing she would only be in the way. She began to slowly run back to the perceived safety of the Temple.

As the final chapter seemed about to close, I gave the signal to Solar to attack, the small hedgehog went into his spin dash position and began to rapidly spin on the ground, throwing up dirt all around him, continuing to rack up speed and velocity like a orange cannon. I then focused my mind, as I began to use my newly discovered abilities in telekinesis to enhance my own physical capabilities.

As Solar flashed over to Claus, I was shocked when he was slapped backwards easily despite the amazing speed of the spin dash attack. I stretched out an arm, in a effort to stop his fall, but was only able to cushion it. I quickly confirmed that Solar was still alright, and leaped upwards, increasing the height of the jump with telekinesis and throwing as strong of a punch as I could manage. The blow hit the target, but Claus dd not even notice it, instead he simply brushed me away and kept his march straight at Max.

As I recovered from the hit, I fired a barrage of telekinetic bullets at the backside of Claus, while Solar dashed towards him and then attempted a homing attack. The assaults hit him, but this time only served to get his attention, having finally had enough of us, he quickly turned around and began to breathe hell flames in my direction.

Just before I felt the heat of the flames, Solar grabbed me, and began to drag me away from the attack. As he ran far faster than the speed of sound at the moment. Even then he could not outrun the flames, and in the last second I threw up a psychic shield to save us both from the attack.

Once the flames had subsided, I collapsed onto a single knee, and Solar was hunched over, out of breath. As it became clear, in our normal states, we are out of our class.

This battle's outcome, and the fate of Mobius and the Chaos Emeralds. Now rest on the shoulders of Maxwell Morningstar.

[Auropa]

Striker
Streets of Gotham
It was cold, dark and wet but as miserable Striker felt about it he had work to do. For a while he had been shadowing Gotham with a few operatives, collecting data and laying out plans. That said, complications such as Arkham literally crumbling to the ground leaving an unknown number of villains loose or dead, the rumoured construction of a literal pub for both villains and heroes making any sort of military action risky or even batman’s disappearance all forced Cerberus to rethink its position and plans. “A pub, pompous bas…” he began before being cut off by his team.

“Sir, we’re in position. Target in sight, four no… six guards”
Breathing out an irritated sigh Striker tried to focus on the mission and ignore the fact his radio was on for god knows how long. “Copy that spectre team, prep for engagement. Runner, give me confirmation.”
“Seems green…wait… I’ve got movement, new vehicle in the field, truck.” As if on cue Striker heard the slight screeching of brakes as the vehicle pulled into the alleyway. “Sir we have four more contacts, two appear to be hostages. I see a daily planet logo, likely investigators too close to the fire.”

Striker thought for a moment, then grinned to himself. “We’re looking for good press anyways. Change of plans, Runner you’re on hostage detail, get in and keep them low. Spectres, take out every one near the truck, give Runner a place to stash the hostages then provide cover. I’ll block the exit and secure the target. Remember, quick and quiet.”
Creeping forward Striker made his way to the door. Whilst his team was hidden all around the alley he had been waiting behind an abandoned storefront, specifically its back door leading straight into the alley’s opening. “Go,” he said finally as he opened the door.

Upon exiting he had mere moments to take in his surroundings and pick his targets. ‘Pit pit’ and two distant flashes left the two furthest men on the floor. Then another door burst opened as a shadowy figure sprinted towards the nearby truck. ‘Pit pit’ and another man fell to the floor. Suddenly realizing what was happening the remaining criminals discovered three of their number to be down and two new figures surrounding them. “What the - ” their leader began, before being cut off with a solid punch to the gut.

‘Play time.’ Striker thought as he looked towards the remaining guards. Everything seemed to slow down, one guard was turning to Runner and the hostages whilst four made for the weapons. Not wanting to be shot, Striker replied in kind. He charged and drew his own silenced pistol. Before the first man could take aim he lashed out. One gauntlet to the knee the other to the stomach, doubling the man over. Then turning around he fired three silent rounds from the hip, two meeting their mark in the closest thug. ‘Move’ he thought to himself as he narrowly avoided the third man’s swing, who had decided to bring a knife to the gunfight. ‘Idiot’ he thought to himself as he turned to face the threat before placing three bullets in its chest. ‘Two left’, one almost frozen in shock, the other starting to pick himself up. First he moved to the shocked one, the man barely had time to raise his pistol before his wrists were enveloped by Striker. A sickening ‘snap’ wrung out as the man’s wrist broke then in one movement, Striker muffled his shout with one hand before knocking him down with a blow to the head. Finally he turned to the last man. One hand clutched his wounded stomach, the other held a large pistol more fit to be called a cannon. “Get away from me you…” he began before Striker unloaded two more shots from his pistol into the man’s chest. Behind him, he heard the surviving guard groan as he started to pick himself up. ‘Pit’ then silence. As the world caught up and the adrenaline wore off Striker checked his timer. 4 seconds, 8 guards. A decent time he thought to himself.

“You missed one.” He heard from his radio.
“Shut up Spectre. Runner how are the Hostages?” Striker said as he made his way towards the truck.
“Scared but okay, you should talk to them whilst you can. I’ll secure the target.”
“Copy that.” Striker said, as he closed in on the truck he heard muffled sobbing and heavy breathing then saw the armoured figure of runner come out. He nodded his head as he passed and quickly murmured a ‘good work’ in his direction.
Then passing the truck he went to the civilians.
“Hey, hey. You’re safe now” Striker began as he removed his helmet. He wasn’t a professional negotiator but he knew the basics of calming people. “It’s okay, I’m here to help. Are either of you hurt?”
“Wh…Who are you?” the reporter began not seeming as scared as surprised and if anything a little annoyed at her own stammer. Meanwhile her partner, a young red headed boy sat rocking back and forth ‘so that’s the sobbing one…huh’.
“My name’s Emile, I’m with an underground force dedicated to saving the planet. Who are you?” he replied with a smirk.
For a second a confused look passed over the reporter’s face “Okay then… I’m Louis this is Jimmy, my assistant, we were investigating the batman’s disappearance and I think you can guess what happened next.” She said as she picked herself up “You wouldn’t mind to answer a few questions on this… organisation?”
“Afraid I can’t, still classified but were hoping to take a more prominent role soon enough. Till then, if you’re both okay I’ll have to send you on your way.” Then ushering the duo through the alley Striker felt relieved to see the bodies moved out of eyesight ‘very good work runner’ he thought to himself.


Two hours later
“Who the hell are you supposed to be? What, you steal iron man’s laundry?” The leader was tied down in an empty warehouse facing down Striker. He was apparently a big deal not long ago but had fallen into obscurity with recent events. Either way, he had intelligence and could become useful.
“Mr Black Mask,” Striker began “I’ve invited you hear because I have a few questions” then before Mask could reply he pushed further. “Let’s start simple, where is the Devil’s Den and how’s the place’s beer?” And with that a long night of interrogation, information and fact checking began. For Striker and his team, this was just another night bringing them closer to their goal.