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

[The Templar High Council]

Three minutes passed. Then Kylie stepped out of the elevator, dressed in decent clothes (the clothes on the right). She saw the blonde girl and walked over. "Is this her, Mindy?"

"Yes it is. Oh! But I never got her name." Mindy grabbed a pen walked over, offering it to Marybeth."Would you mind signing in please? Building policy, I hope you understand."

"So you want to be a superhero?" Kylie asked, watching the girl sign in. "What's your deal? Your shtick? Your power? Don't show me, because there's a lot of people above us who really hate it when the building shakes too much." Kylie smiled happily at her cruel joke, not intending it to be as insensitive as it might've sounded.

Marybeth lazily took the pen and pad, scribbling something that could be barely made out as Marybeth D. after tossing it to the side, she addressed Kylie. "I'm not sure if wanting to be a superhero is that right phrase to use here," she stated. "It's more like I needed somewhere to go and this option seemed interesting. As for my abilities..." Marybeth paused for a moment, seemingly pondering something."... Imagine you are some random big baddy, talking about destroying the planet because daddy didn't hug you enough. Every, word, every syllable, every sound that comes out of your mouth, I can use to make you the epicenter of a phono-detonation capable of leveling Las Vegas. So..." she said, taking time to *POP* a bubble gum bubble with an extra obnoxious *SNAP* "...what's YOUR schtik?"

"If you're NOT wanting to be a superhero, you might've come to the wrong place." Kylie smiled at Marybeth, whose name she read from the sign-in sheet. "My name's Kylie, nice to meet you. Mindy, can we use Valancy's office? So we can get out of the lobby?"

"That's alright." Mindy sat back down at her desk as Kylie led Marybeth back to Valancy's office. It was kinda small, but homey. Bookshelves lined one wall, and an assortment of potted plants the other. There was a lot of wood, which Val was occasionally split on between feeling more at ease or thinking about the trees spent to make it. Kylie sat down behind the desk in a recliner, and pointed out a few chairs against the bookshelves. "Just grab one of those. If it all goes well, we won't be here long and I can just bring you upstairs.

"You mentioned syllables?" She said, leaning up so that she was no longer reclining. "Can you do... like... sound control? Like if you scream, people go flying away like in a tornado?" Kylie spun around in the chair as she talked. "If so, we actually don't have anyone who can do that already. Neat.

"Now MY power, going to ignore the tone you used on that," The first serious look Kylie gave was presented now. Something that said... Do that again and you're outta here. The hard way. But friendly. "I'm a Green Lantern. If you don't know what that is exactly, I can make whatever I want out of glowing green energy as long as I'm wearing this ring." Kylie flashed her Green Lantern power ring on her right hand, the same hand with her silver family ring. "And I can fly, I've got an encyclopedia on my hand, 4G WiFi anywhere in the galaxy, it's pretty sweet." Bringing her hand back from bragging, Kylie leaned forward for the big question. "Now, the main thing I want to know, more than your power, is why are you here? Some people just up-and-decide that they want to become heroes. And that's cool and all, that's kinda how we started, but some people have a real reason for it. And that's the vibe I'm getting when I look at you."

[Charmera]

Ling moved in front of him, her body blocking his path. She wasn't in the mood for being ignored."Doors can be replaced." She remarked. "Lives can't. I don't like it when people kill innocents for money." The Kryptonian tightened her hands into fists. "Also, ripping on my outfit? Really? I didn't realize I had to dress fashionably when punching aliens and criminals." She remarked, making an attempt to grab him by the shirt, reaching out to the man and putting a hand on his shirt. "One more chance. Either come with me willingly or I'll drag you back to the Mainland."

Zhao backed away a few steps. His arrogant smirk turning into a scowl.

"Mainland? Well, I guess they would find a replacement, eventually. So, let's see what you've got!" Zhao spat venom into her eyes, hoping to blind her. He then jumped back across the room, putting some distance between them. While the venom would usually be a winning blow during a regular fight, he somehow doubted it would be here. He took a crouched stance, turning his arms into tentacles. He began to make wave motions with his tentacles, trying to provoke her into attacking first.

"Bring it on, xiǎojiě!"

“Gah!’ She shouted, suddenly firing beams of red light from her eyes which fried the poison, clearing it from her eyes. Though they still stung a little. She then gritted her teeth and turned to him, looking at the agent. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way.” She replied, grabbing a table from nearby and tossing it at her foe at high speeds before closing in with him, attempting to use the distraction of the table to close the distance for a punishing strike.

[The Greater Gambia]

Zhao backed away a few steps. His arrogant smirk turning into a scowl.

"Mainland? Well, I guess they would find a replacement, eventually. So, let's see what you've got!" Zhao spat venom into her eyes, hoping to blind her. He then jumped back across the room, putting some distance between them. While the venom would usually be a winning blow during a regular fight, he somehow doubted it would be here. He took a crouched stance, turning his arms into tentacles. He began to make wave motions with his tentacles, trying to provoke her into attacking first.

"Bring it on, xiǎojiě!"

“Gah!’ She shouted, suddenly firing beams of red light from her eyes which fried the poison, clearing it from her eyes. Though they still stung a little. She then gritted her teeth and turned to him, looking at the agent. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way.” She replied, grabbing a table from nearby and tossing it at her foe at high speeds before closing in with him, attempting to use the distraction of the table to close the distance for a punishing strike.

Zhao hit the table out of the way with his left tentacle, smashing it against the wall.

"Nice try, but it's going to take more than a table too-" As he hit the table out of the way, he noticed the Superwoman coming straight for him. With how fast she was coming at him, he realized there wasn't a way to counter it.

"Aw shit" Zhao turned his skin into a rhino-like armor. His tentacles returned back into their human self as he moved them to block the upcoming strike. This was going to hurt. As he braced himself, Zhao began to rethink letting the Commissioner get that head start. While he probably would still have to fight this woman, at least he would be out in the street, able to better take advantage of his surroundings.

"Give him a head start, I said. It will be fun, I said."

[Galnius]

Marybeth lazily took the pen and pad, scribbling something that could be barely made out as Marybeth D. after tossing it to the side, she addressed Kylie. "I'm not sure if wanting to be a superhero is that right phrase to use here," she stated. "It's more like I needed somewhere to go and this option seemed interesting. As for my abilities..." Marybeth paused for a moment, seemingly pondering something."... Imagine you are some random big baddy, talking about destroying the planet because daddy didn't hug you enough. Every, word, every syllable, every sound that comes out of your mouth, I can use to make you the epicenter of a phono-detonation capable of leveling Las Vegas. So..." she said, taking time to *POP* a bubble gum bubble with an extra obnoxious *SNAP* "...what's YOUR schtik?"

"If you're NOT wanting to be a superhero, you might've come to the wrong place." Kylie smiled at Marybeth, whose name she read from the sign-in sheet. "My name's Kylie, nice to meet you. Mindy, can we use Valancy's office? So we can get out of the lobby?"

"That's alright." Mindy sat back down at her desk as Kylie led Marybeth back to Valancy's office. It was [url]kinda small[/url], but homey. Bookshelves lined one wall, and an assortment of potted plants the other. There was a lot of wood, which Val was occasionally split on between feeling more at ease or thinking about the trees spent to make it. Kylie sat down behind the desk in a recliner, and pointed out a few chairs against the bookshelves. "Just grab one of those. If it all goes well, we won't be here long and I can just bring you upstairs.

"You mentioned syllables?" She said, leaning up so that she was no longer reclining. "Can you do... like... sound control? Like if you scream, people go flying away like in a tornado?" Kylie spun around in the chair as she talked. "If so, we actually don't have anyone who can do that already. Neat.

"Now MY power, going to ignore the tone you used on that," The first serious look Kylie gave was presented now. Something that said... Do that again and you're outta here. The hard way. But friendly. "I'm a Green Lantern. If you don't know what that is exactly, I can make whatever I want out of glowing green energy as long as I'm wearing this ring." Kylie flashed her Green Lantern power ring on her right hand, the same hand with her silver family ring. "And I can fly, I've got an encyclopedia on my hand, 4G WiFi anywhere in the galaxy, it's pretty sweet." Bringing her hand back from bragging, Kylie leaned forward for the big question. "Now, the main thing I want to know, more than your power, is why are you here? Some people just up-and-decide that they want to become heroes. And that's cool and all, that's kinda how we started, but some people have a real reason for it. And that's the vibe I'm getting when I look at you."

"Well, I mean, I don't do much screaming..." Marybeth said, scratching the back of her neck. "But yeah, something like that. And a green lantern? Like Willpower, oa, and stuff? I read about them somewhere." She scanned the room, vaguely interested in her surroundings, avoiding the question momentarily. Why DO I want to become a hero? I mean, it would be a nice change of pace. You know, as log as no one expects me to be all goody goody I'm fine with that. But....is there really a reason? "I...don't know yet. Honestly, at the moment it just seems like fun. You know what I mean?"

[The Templar High Council]

"If you're NOT wanting to be a superhero, you might've come to the wrong place." Kylie smiled at Marybeth, whose name she read from the sign-in sheet. "My name's Kylie, nice to meet you. Mindy, can we use Valancy's office? So we can get out of the lobby?"

"That's alright." Mindy sat back down at her desk as Kylie led Marybeth back to Valancy's office. It was [url]kinda small[/url], but homey. Bookshelves lined one wall, and an assortment of potted plants the other. There was a lot of wood, which Val was occasionally split on between feeling more at ease or thinking about the trees spent to make it. Kylie sat down behind the desk in a recliner, and pointed out a few chairs against the bookshelves. "Just grab one of those. If it all goes well, we won't be here long and I can just bring you upstairs.

"You mentioned syllables?" She said, leaning up so that she was no longer reclining. "Can you do... like... sound control? Like if you scream, people go flying away like in a tornado?" Kylie spun around in the chair as she talked. "If so, we actually don't have anyone who can do that already. Neat.

"Now MY power, going to ignore the tone you used on that," The first serious look Kylie gave was presented now. Something that said... Do that again and you're outta here. The hard way. But friendly. "I'm a Green Lantern. If you don't know what that is exactly, I can make whatever I want out of glowing green energy as long as I'm wearing this ring." Kylie flashed her Green Lantern power ring on her right hand, the same hand with her silver family ring. "And I can fly, I've got an encyclopedia on my hand, 4G WiFi anywhere in the galaxy, it's pretty sweet." Bringing her hand back from bragging, Kylie leaned forward for the big question. "Now, the main thing I want to know, more than your power, is why are you here? Some people just up-and-decide that they want to become heroes. And that's cool and all, that's kinda how we started, but some people have a real reason for it. And that's the vibe I'm getting when I look at you."

"Well, I mean, I don't do much screaming..." Marybeth said, scratching the back of her neck. "But yeah, something like that. And a green lantern? Like Willpower, oa, and stuff? I read about them somewhere." She scanned the room, vaguely interested in her surroundings, avoiding the question momentarily. Why DO I want to become a hero? I mean, it would be a nice change of pace. You know, as log as no one expects me to be all goody goody I'm fine with that. But....is there really a reason? "I...don't know yet. Honestly, at the moment it just seems like fun. You know what I mean?"

"So you fight with sound. Good to know. Yeah, exactly like that. I've got some friends in high places. And by high places, I mean a few light years away at the center of the solar system." Kylie laughed again, glad that someone else knew about her job without her having to tell them. And they didn't want to fight her to the death.

"Just seems like fun? Girl, you're talking to the Ambassador of Fun! That's about the reason why we started; five girls who can break buildings coming together to beat up some android guy, then getting coffee afterwards. And yeah, I remember that far back. It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it. And I guess," Kylie stood up and offered her hand to Marybeth. "you're gonna be one of those somebodies. Good enough for me, welcome to the team!"

[Charmera]

Nico
Nico was a bit surprised at how tight Cat was holding his hands, but he didn't step away or anything. Cat's anger at him finally seemed to be melting away, and it seemed to now be focused on their parents. "We'll bring them to justice sis, I promise. I know it won't be easy, but we can't just let them keep on hurting people and breaking the law."

Mars listened to Cat's words and nodded, "Of course we'll help in any way we can. It's our job to protect this city, and we'll always do that when we can. We should probably alert the while team about this. If you're parents are running some kind of criminal empire, we'll need all hands on deck for this one." Mars said before hitting a button on his computer that sent an alert to each of the Young Bloods, telling them to meet in the command center for a meeting. Mars had given each one of them a private phone that he had specially made to serve as their communicators.

"Come on, let's head upstairs. The others should already be there, hanging out with Vera's new dog." He told them as he led the group up the stairs out of the lab before turning to Cat and Nico, "So, I'd there anything you know about your parents that might give us a place to start in the investigation?" Mars asked Nico and Cat.

Nico thought for a moment. "Well, they work in a really large office building, that they well... kind of own. It's a pharmaceuticals company, one of the biggest in the country actually. Maybe they have some secrets in their office there." Nico said before turning to Cat, "You have any ideas sis? Maybe if you touched Mom or Dad, or one of their associates, we could get some evidence to turn in to the police."

Roy
Roy stiffened a little when Hannah asked about his childhood. He started to panic a little as he thought about it. He hadn't shared his pst with anyone, not completely, not even Valancy. Was he ready to show someone else the scars of his past? In many cases they were actual literal scars. Under Roy's shirt were a number of cuts and wounds that were remnants of his early youth, when he literally had to fight for survival on a daily basis. Still, Hannah made a good point. She had shared a secret with him, he supposed he owed her the trust to do the same. And when Hannah said that she never met her parents, he realized that maybe they had a connection and could understand each other. He was silent for a little while until he finally spoken up.

"I never knew my parents either. I don't know where I came from or who any of my family are. I was dropped off in a small South American village, at an orphanage. Things weren't east there though. They called me 'demonio' which means demon in Spanish. You see when I was younger I couldn't control my powers, so my body often let off this dark aura that I couldn't control. The other children in the village..." He paused, his breath a little shaky. "Well they were cruel. They would take turns beating me up, and every day I had to scrap by for food." Roy started to shake a little at this point, the memories flooding back to him. "I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. And sometimes, sometimes I wonder if they were right. If I am really a monster." Roy said, a small tear falling down his cheek but he quickly wiped it away, hoping Hannah didn't see it.

Nico
"That could work. Though I can't really control what I find, I might be able to discover something we can use by sifting through their memories or something. Though I don't think I could actually just present the memories to the judge or anything." She replied, sighing. She wondered how they would be able to get into a position to do that too. It might be dangerous, but then again she doubted they knew that Nico and Cat knew of them.

Hannah
Hannah smiled comfortingly as she suddenly gave Roy a hug. "It's okay. I'm sorry I asked, I probably shouldn't have." She spoke kindly. "But... we're pretty similar you and I, I think. Like... I never knew my parents. I was too you before we left. I did a few things that I'm not proud of either." She released him and looked him in the eyes. "You're not a monster. Trust me. I've seen monsters."

[The Republic of Atria]

(Atria)

It was time to finish off Yuga Khan once and for all. Otis opened a Boom Tube and with it, Khan started to get sucked in, but when the tube was about to close, Khan physically ripped the hole in reality open and held it there as he tried to climb out. "No! You're supposed to stay in there! Can't you hear the ending soundtrack?!" Otis shouted and kept trying to force the Boom Tube closed.

"He's not going anywhere. Light the bastard up. Pour on everything. Get him through that Boom Tube!" Xander shouted preparing to useleash the full power of the Starbrand alongside his wife and friends. "Don't ever come here again, Khan. Or I promise that you won't be going back." He hissed and smiled at Naja as they fired their respective blasts at Khan.

"Now for my one liner..." She said and thought for a moment. "It's where you belong Khan. Along with all of the other failures of the universe." She said hoping it came out as awesome as she thought it sounded.

(Jedi)

"You may believe that my species is below you, weaker than you, and more insignificant then yourself, but look at reality and you will see, that with enough courage and willpower that myself and my people will overcome any obstacle that the universe throws at us, even those who exceed the very meaning of power, as true power is not born by ambition and desires, but by the determination that lies within one's heart!" Asumar said readying and firing a blast at the Father of Evil

"Yuga Kahn, you and your son Darkseid have caused the Universe such strife that it exceeds every other tyrant who has ever existed, you may believe that it is your destiny to destroy the Earth and take the Omega Sanction, but now you're destiny is clear, your destiny is to wallow in the eternal state of living death behind the source wall, thus is the circle of life for people as foul as yourself, you will no longer threaten the Earth or anyone else as long as we are here to face you down and resist your might." Kazuko said firing in tandem with his brother.

(Star)

As the heroes took their brutal revenge upon Yuga Khan, Valka sat upon a rock, her sword in hand, a whetstone running across its blade, making a threatening sound each time it rung. The sword was enchanted to never dull, but nevertheless, she sharpened it. It was rather calming to the All-Mother.

And the Boom Tube opened, Khan struggling to remain in it. She stood up from the rock, brushing off a spark that had lit from the fires of Apokolips all around, strolling up to the Old God. And when she had neared him enough, she halted, her sword trailing in the dirt as she spoke again. "We are Old Gods, Khan, you and I, in that, we are alike. But even we Old Gods must adapt, change our ways, and so, I have done, in this age of heroes. Puny, you called us, and look at thyself now. Pride our fatal flaw perhaps. But do you know what I have truly learned?"

Khan looked up from his struggle, growling "What?"

"That Gods can die. That death, no matter what immortality we claim is always there, behind you, lurking, waiting to seize you. We Old Gods can die. And once, that might have frightened me, but I have determined to not go gentle into that good night. For I know where I will go when I am dead. Do you?"

And the Goddess of Metal raised her sword, speaking once more, her voice falling to a whisper. "You have been defeated Khan, and today is not your death-date. But know this, and I speak as both All-Mother and an ally of Midgard when I say this, do not attempt to return. For the day that you do, and this I swear upon my name as Skymother, Khan, I will kill you. And if something arises in your place, I will kill them too. That is not a threat, but a promise, an oath. And do not think that it will stop there, for I have walked paths that demons fear to speak of, and I descended into hell. And when you wake up in that eternal torment, I will be there, waiting for thee."

She raised her sword, but shook her head, siphoning off her portion of the Starbrand back to the others. "I shall do this with my own power." And then, with her back to Yuga Khan, she raised her sword, crying aloud, "Begone!" And then, she turned, and swung Oathbringer, a wave of the Valkaforce emerging from it, blasting into the father of Darkseid and forcing him further into the portal.


(Silh)

Manifest glowered at the Father of Evil as he struggled to drag himself out of the Boom Tube. "You're pitiful." He raised his arm, blasting Khan with a steady stream of Starbrand energy. Khan's screams of pain filled the air, continuing even as Manifest ceased. "Stubborn, though." Manifest sighed. "Honestly. You came here expecting to win, didn't you?" He unsheathed the Manifest Blade, approaching Yuga Khan. Naturally, the Father of Evil simply scowled and spit blood on Manifest's armour.
"I will not grovel before an inferior being." The wounded God growled.
Manifest shook his head. "Inferior being? Really, Yogi Bear?" He flipped the Blade to face downward and infused the power of Starbrand into it. "You should really know better than to insult an Earthling by now." He slammed the Blade into Khan's shoulder, but even through the incredible pain, the New God held fast. Manifest considered him for a moment, staring at the God. "You really haven't figured it out yet, have you?"

He withdrew the blade, quickly leaping backwards and unsheathing the Infinite. "In the end, you never had a chance." His eyes flashed silver and the Manifest Blade vanished, its energy flowing into the Infinite, even as the flaming Asgardian sword began to ebb with the combined power of both the fabled Starbrand and the mythical Dragon Force.

"Begone!" He roared, aiming the blade at Yuga Khan's chest and unleashing the full, untempered might of the God of Fragments.

(Charm)

Julie looked at Khan, a cold judgement on her eyes as she pointed her ring at him. "Normally, I think I'd feel upset if I hurt someone. Even if they were as much of an arrogant waste of life as you." She spoke. "You must be a special flavour of douche, because I don't feel sorry for you. At all." She spoke, as she suddely used her ring to grab the dark lord and slam him down onto the planet, then do it again, and again. Finally she made a giant moon sized hand and backhanded him into the planet with ridiculous force. "That. That's for the bitch slap"

Zaki's turn was next, as she inhaled, absorbing magic from the very frabric of reality as she unleashed a blast of energy. She swiftly morphed into a much larger size all of a sudden, now dwarfing her enemy. "You call us bugs, but really I can only see one tiny annoying thing here." She spoke as she slammed her heel down on Darkseids father.

ext Lisa was up as she unleashed another storm of spacial cuts on the poor Khan, slashing at him with a million, million papercuts, internal or otherwise. She then collected her energy into one spacial warping blast, planning to bombard him with spacial anomalies, putting things in the same space as him. She charged up her attack, and thought to say something really cool. "You... Uh- Um... You..." She struggled. "I'm not good at these..." She spoke. Then she had an idea. "You're so dense, your head is a black hol- Oh nevermind!" She shouted as she tossed the spacial attack, causing the god extreeme pain as suddenly rock occupied the same space as him, leading to several stones poking out of his body that had merged with him.

Yuga Khan was about to turn to face another opponent when chorus stood there, her eyes on his face. He frowned, then lifted a fist. In a fraction of the time it would take him to blink, she severed the arm he raised with Verse. Then as he fell back she went up to his ear and screamed two words. Everyone else might have to sheild their ears as they heard the two words pierce through the air itself, filled with a repressed anger of someone who could speak, but wasn't able to for fear of destroying innocents. The words would be unclear, but one of them would sound like Duck, but the other sounds like moth. Needless to say, Yuga Khan heard the message loud and clear, and it would likely be the last thing he'd hear in a while as his eardrums ruptured. His brain didn't take damage, but his ears were practically unusable as he flew away, ready for the next batter to step up to the plate.

(Zark)

Hadrimmelis watched as the Father of Evil stood his ground despite the brutal beating he had taken so far, holding open with his bare hands the Boom Tube that was supposed to send him back to his own dimension so that he would pose a threat towards Earth no longer. He was as defiant as ever, and though his pride had been marred by the punishment that he had been dealt by her and the other heroes who protected Earth, his wrath had in turn grown massively. But none of that mattered. They had him against the ropes, in earthling slang, and all they needed to do now was give the final push. Thus, the Black Dragon walked through the barren, molten landscape that she herself had created there in Apokolips with her power, stepping over the pools of bubbling magma with no hindrance as she moved to stand next to her friends and her allies, at the same time using her power over the elements to create a silver and golden amulet that took the place of her lost left eye, symbolized by the ruby at the center; despite being filled with something else, the light of the Starbrand's power still shone through the socket.

Now standing next to her friends, the World-Dragon looked at Yuga Khan, once again extending one hand and pointing her palm towards the Old God, divine energies converging in front of her palm into a sphere of energy of nigh-almighty power. Unlike the previous time, for this one occasion she allowed herself to utilize far more power, and though she was still not at her top, not exerting the full power of the Dragon Force and the Starbrand combined, it was still something very powerful, likely enough to push Darkseid's father through the Boom Tube, combined with the others' attacks. Feeling that she should say something, she spoke. "Yuga. In this moment, I could speak to you of how you were wrong to underestimate us so, of how you were wrong to call us insects. I could speak to you of how your pride ruined your chances, of how your folly spelled your own doom. I could speak to you of many things, but, in honor of those who are the true owners of this victory, I will keep this short and simple, in true Earth fashion." She said, and then smiled. "When we're done kicking your ass, tell the Builders I said hi."

The release of power was awesome to behold. Apocalyptic, one could call it, and they would not be wrong, not in the slightest. The sheer ammount of power that had just been let loose from the sphere contained in front of the Black Dragon's palm was enough to destroy a very significant percentage of the universe, and there it was, helping push an agonizing Dark God through a portal to his own realm after he had been beaten and quite frankly humiliated by a group of unlikely heroes. Enough power to destroy Apokolips several times over. It was evidently not all her own power, as she was drawing forth her energy from the Starbrand as well, but even so, the display was nothing short of admirable, even to those who possessed similar power to hers. The wave of annihilation raced forth and soon met the tattered, broken armor of the Father of Evil, setting it alight or outright obliterating what remained of it as it crashed against the Old God himself and pushed against him with all of the might of a World-Dragon behind it.

Then, once her objective was completed, Hadrimmelis closed her palm and just like that, the almighty beam was gone.

At that moment, with the combined might of the entire team blasting Khan at once, it tore Apokolips apart and Khan wasn't faring much better. The massive blast shot him back into his proper dimension, bleeding out of every hole in his head, unconscious, and barely alive.

[Finland SSR]

A Heart of Darkness

Frank Mayhem

---

Along with Itaku, I floated in the vast emptyness of the Aistii Cathedral, frozen in shock, frustration... and fear? Fear? Who am I to feel fear? I, I, I... I shouldn't do that. The thousands of Herans on the ground looked back at us. It's unlikely that they could guess who I am from this far away, but they can almost certainly feel. It's ki sensing, that's how races like them can easily locate each other in crowds, huge buildings or unknown cities. As far as I've heard, all living beings, be it humans, animals or plants, have a distinct aura of ki, and races like Saiyans, or in this case Herans, can use it for determining location, or sometimes even more obscure things like power or alignment. However, we, Celestial Androids, are different. We're not alive, thus we don't have a signature - and any rationally thinking ki senser can use that to determine where and who we are. A useful ability, considering that we're not someone you would want to meet in a dark alley.

But this time, things are different - I suppose - which makes me hope they don't all jump to immediate conclusions. Who am I kidding, they will.

"So... you brought me here without any plan, did you?" I muttered, but she merely raised her index finger - a symbol for 'Wait! I'm busy.' Wait, her eyes... they're closed! What? What is she trying to say? Is she talking with the people below? What, is there another Heran power that I'm not aware of?

Suddenly, a unison of roars echoed through the room, and as I immediately took a look towards the source below, I saw the entire army of Herans charging towards me at full speed. Oh no. Oh no. No no no. Itaku was still calm, apparently still doing the talking thing, but I don't think it's helping... Hold on. Hold the phone. They stopped? They stopped in mid-air?

What.

What.

What.

I'm lacking words. Or did Itaku somehow manage to talk them out of it while they were in the middle of a frenzied charge? Apparently so - that's a whole talent of it's own. The crowd started to descend back towards the ground, slowly, as if heavily doubting. Still eyeing me down, waiting for any kind of move. If I move my hand even anywhere near the Heat Blade - they attack. If I move too fast - they attack. If I vanish, or do sudden movements - they attack. These kinds of moments are why I don't like to move out of Earth very far. Earth doesn't know I'm from a race of deadly robots - almost all others do, and the time it takes for the first dozen of alien warriors to punch me and break their hands isn't enough to sway them to stop.

Their eyes were closed. As far as I could tell, they and Itaku were talking. Speaking telepathically. I can't do that, so I suppose I can't really join the chat. Well, I hope Itaku's faring well over there...

ZAP! Uh, what?

In a fraction of a second, one of the Herans flashed towards me and stopped merely a meter away from my body, staring into my eyes with distrust, and maybe even anger. It was a male - and a towering and powerful one, at least six feet tall. Even the facial features scream "dangerous!" - the short, but quite well cut and seemingly valued beard, long straight hair, tied up into a single brait, lying on the man's back. Earthlings would find it girly, but such a hairstyle is pretty common in Hera. The man's outfit was battle worn, but well decorated and gilded, with the Heran coat of arms - a warrior piercing a generic monster with an arrow, the same as the statue in the background - on the chest, indicating that he was of royal origin.

Come on, Frank, say something! The gift of speech is your birthmark - it's what separates you from the grey mass that is your race!

"Uh, hello... sir? You can call me Frank." I spoke.

"Let's get the main thing out of the way," the Heran's attitude didn't change at all. Understandable. "I don't trust you."

"I trust you, though, so does that cancel it out?" Actually, I didn't trust him. Not when the slightest twitch can lead to my, or his, miserable end.

Itaku soon joined the chat. "Shaytan, you're too suspicious." Oh, so the guy's name is Shaytan. Nice. That name might even be in my database. "He's been with me for an hour or something and things have been working out well so far."

"Itaku, of course I'm suspicious. His race has nearly leveled down our race to dust!"

"Hey, don't jump to conclusions! I'm against them as much as you two are!"

"Oh, so? Can you even feel suffering? Can you even feel pain, Android? We sure can. We have lost brothers and sisters, parents and children - we have a reason to stand against them! And you - you are alone, you are just a machine, pretending to be alive. Pretending to be one of us. And that's what you are - a pretender. Your stand against the Scourge in incomparably more selfish than ours."

...

Clever son of a bitch. Immediately using the "I am alive and you are not" card. I hate it when people do that.

"Shaytan, you're wasting allies." Itaku wasn't as judgemental towards me.

"Even a thousand backstabbers are worth less than a single loyal ally."

Oh, for God's sake. This guy's going to kill me. Figuratively and literally. If I'm going to help the Herans, I'll need far more than just being on the same side. I turned around, based towards the exit, and grabbed onto the handle of the Heat Blade.

"If you want, I can go. I can go and prove the purity of my goals."

"Don't make a fool of me. I can see right through you - if the entirety, every single member of your race is impure and evil, what proof do you have that you are different from them?"

I took a deep breath. Inhaled. Exhaled. Then slightly turned my head back.

"The only, the single reason for my race's actions is not that they are evil. We, Celestial Androids, we are not born evil. Nobody, man or machine, is born that way. If you took an Android, and re-programmed it to serve as a dishwashing robot, then it will diligently wash your dishes - it will not have a single thought of murdering you. The action of killing is not a natural one, but one ordered to us. The Androids you see on the battlefield, the ones who, as you said, were murdering your families - they are unaware of it. Instead, they are controlled by a higher force - an endlessly powerful, and endlessly cruel divine warlord - a former Celestial, Ismodeus. He is the one pulling the strings behind the Celestial Army - the Federation War, the Siege of Hoop, and now Attack on Hera. He controls all but one Celestial Android.

You see him here, in front of you." The other Herans had come closer, listening to my speech, and for the first time I could see them clearly. Blighted, scarred faces, covered in sadness and sorrow. Muscled, but battle worn men stood straight, ready to defend the mothers and children around them from anything, even the Apocalypse itself. I can feel a sense of... empathy for these people - even, in a way, a sense of protection and the need to defend these people. What did they do to deserve a Celestial invasion? What did they do to become one of the most hated races in the universe?

"Unlike every single other Celestial Android, I have been blessed with a stroke of luck, a chance of one in a trillion. My former, slave self was freed from Ismodeus's grasp around fifty years ago, thanks to a race similar to yours. From there, I was entrusted with the ability to set my own destiny - not one of never-ending service to a galactic warlord. And I have chosen the path of good. On my home planet, Earth, I help the native people, I save them from foreign invasions. I sometimes traverse the universe and help out other people in need, much like here. Prince Shaytan, you were correct about the fact that I can't feel sorrow or pain, but that doesn't mean that I can't understand those who can feel it. I understand that none of you wanted this to happen. I know that all of you will now forever despise my race. I understand. I am here to help. If you want a warrior in your ranks, I so gladly volunteer."

...Phew.

A breath of calm, condescending silence followed.

"You sure know how to talk with a crowd." Shaytan commented.

"Thanks." I replied.

"I suppose you can help us. We need every strong and trustworthy arm we can find."

[Turmenista]

Unnamed Archipelago

Boy, do I need to refresh up on my DBZ lore..

While Glacia and Hiroshi likely were seeing more action (and reaching higher levels of power) than Myosai, the pink demon had spent that unexpected inactivity period training herself to her limits. So far, a total of 90 islands in that archipelago had been blown to smithereens, not to mention that one large island turned into several hundred smaller ones from a sneeze. At the same time her mastery with her sword had improved; no longer did she stay behind in fights with her ranged combat skills, she now became up close and personal these next few weeks training, honing in her capability with her sword with combinations she hadn't even thought of before.

All this better pay off, she thought. She knew anyways that they were likely getting powerful, and she was in no condition to fight whatever massive force they were fighting right now. She had to think this smart, rather than rush in and risk getting her ass handed to her on a silver platter, like in the past. At her current position, she only needed at least a few more days until she was ready. Maybe more, maybe less. All she cared about was getting this day over.

Almost like a light bulb, an alert went off in her head, causing her to turn southwards, er.. to the east. An object was flying across the water at breakneck speeds, accompanied by a familiar trail of ki energy following his path, alongside waves bending downwards from the sheer energy this guy was putting off. Judging by this guy's power, he would've posed a serious threat, friend of foe. She couldn't take any chances, especially if this guy was an enemy. One of those smaller kamehameha's would do him good.

Cupping her palms behind her back and chanting the familiar words she had grown used to, she found herself thrusting her palms forth, a beam of blue ki energy curving downwards before the speeding object. Through the hot blue light, Myosai noticed the figure stopping immediately, sending a large wave of water outwards as the aura of energy around his figure suddenly cut off. She noticed the humanoid figure had sort of a 'gauntlet' made of fiery ki energy, similar to the aura he had earlier. Surrounded by that ki, the man simply slugged Myosai's kamehameha into the nearby island, producing a large, blue explosion, along with a similarly sized crater.

Slowly floating down to the sea level, Myosai quickly put a hand on her sword sheath, just in case he tried to do something if she examined him. He carried a sword sheath, just like Myosai's, though less detailed and more simplistic, as well as on his back, opposed to her waist. The sword itself was larger than Myosai's, and in her eyes, was uglier, as if it had been through a long period of use against others. Still, its blade was sharp, and, unfortunately for her, so was it's wielder.

Myosai first assumed this was some guy similar to Hiroshi, but immediately doubted that, judging by the lack of his tail and much darker skin. His hair was black, but in a fashion she hadn't ever seen before. And his Dogi, similar to Hiroshi's, was colored a familiar orange and blue, with an instantly recognizable Japanese symbol on it.

She'd done it. She'd really done it. She'd messed up big time, and now she was going to pay the price.

-----------------------------

"So. I've been hearing you are using my moves." The man had his arms folded, instilling fear into Myosai's red eyes. "Is this true?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She lied, looking away and folding her arms as well. "If you're mixing me up with that other person, screw off! You made a mistake!"

"Oh, no. Not really. I'm fairly certain I DIDN'T make a mistake." The man smiled, reaching for his sword. Myosai drew hers first. "Okay, man." She said. Back off, this is getting pretty creepy.."

The man chuckled, Myosai sensing his power surging as the aura she'd seen earlier on him flared up once more, triggering her to power up as well. "Well, if you wanted an ass kicking more than just talking this issue out, then I'm totally fine with that."

Myosai expected a stand off, as usual, before the fight, but was not expected to find out that this guy could instant transmission so accurately. Before she knew it, he was in his face, forcing her to dodge a flurry of punches and kicks and soar behind her opponent. Finding that his back was clear, Myosai swung her sword down, channeling her ki into the blade for extra firepower.

She also didn't expect to find out that this guy could shape his Ki so accurately.

The same fiery aura surrounded his arms like before, and he actually used his forearms as a guard for Myosai's series of slashes and hacks. On one bad swing, the man batted Myosai's hands away, singing her arm from the intense heat. After a series of brutal punches and kicks, the pink demon was flung into the air, a gold ball of ki closely following her into the air. With accurate, swift arm movements, Myosai saw that this man began preforming an unusual series of arm motions, seemingly guiding the ball of Ki through the air to gather enough momentum.

From this point on, Myosai realized that she was screwed. She had some of this guy's moves in her head, but never expected what would happen during this fight...

The golden sphere smashed into her chest, knocking the wind out of her. To her surprise, it was still pinning her down, even on the trip down to earth and onto the closest island, where it detonated right next to her upon her rough landing.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

After introducing herself, Jamie simply listened to Cora's kind words, giving her a look, one that you would give to someone who is either a dirty liar or just plain dumb, when she said that it was nice to meet her, though she gave a reluctant nod nonetheless, as the android girl had introduced herself as well. When Cora said that she was a member of the Justice Queens, though, her expression changed slightly, from skepticism to simple surprise. Though she was a recluse for the most part and tended to only go outside to earn money and buy food or videogames, playing said videogames all day when she wasn't doing any of the previous activities, she retained some awareness of the world around her and had heard about the Justice Queens here and there, though what she knew wasn't any more than what Cora told her: they were all girls, and they did superhero-y stuff in New York.

"Umm, s-sure I guess. Why not, right...?" Jamie said hastily in response to Cora's question, a tad nervously, hiding the fact that she wasn't very used at all to this kind of situation. She figured that the compliments were well earned, of course- even though she had acted out of sheer instinct and partially disgust as well, she had beaten the Blob quite soundly- but nobody invited her to other places very often at all, she mostly kept to herself, and so this invitation came as a surprise. Awkwardly, she trailed behind Cora as she was led into the building, a bit nervous, but quite curious as well.

---

---

Etla simply snickered at Zeritin's overly annoyed reaction to her taunts and her actions. "If you don't wanna play, then don't go around attacking random people next time!" The golden-haired Rainborn said to the demon servant with a grin on her face as she charged her greatsword with pure light and then began using it to swat away the lightning bolts that the cloud above Zeritin threw at her, finding no problem in keeping up with them, though she still appreciated Serene's intervention, as it eased some of the pressure on her and allowed her to study Zeritin some more, trying to see where she could strike at him. Unfortunately, there was still too much to protect herself from and she didn't see a viable opening she could use to retaliate. Thus, she opted to simply remain on the defensive; there were many others around, including her ever-present sister, that could fight back. She doubted Zeritin would be able to hold them all at bay, they would probably win through sheer numbers.

Seeing the demon servant turn into a monstruous creature, however, Etla had to admit she was surprised, she hadn't expected that to happen, and though she was not scared or doubtful of her ability to survive this encounter, she was still a bit taken aback. Further seeing that he had knocked the Sword Demon away with ease, though, she understood that she couldn't hesitate, and upon hearing Serene's plea for assistance, she nodded at the woman, pointing the tip of her sword at Zeritin and charging it with an enormous amount of elemental light, before blasting away at Zeritin with it.

---

---

"You have not behaved in a friendly manner at all, actually." Nelli stated matter-of-factly upon hearing Cat's words towards her. She said so without any sort of animosity, and clearly not intending to call the girl out on it, as she felt no resentment of any sort towards her; she simply wanted to clarify. "And I do not mind that people get hurt. It is an inevitability. In fact, if you are asking for my help, it is likely because you intend to hurt people in some way or another, even if it is to ultimately avert many others getting hurt; even if you did not intend to hurt anyone, it will probably happen if you enlist my help, because there is not much I can do to help you beyond hurting someone." She stated. Once more, she was not trying to be scary or aggressive, her tone was in fact quite level and polite, further manifesting that she only intended to inform.

"But I leave it up to you to decide if that is alright or not. What I can tell you is that you are indeed not alone. You have your brother, and these people." She said, pointing at Nico and then at Mars and Kiris afterwards. "And me, I suppose." She concluded with a shrug.

---

---

Kirisvala had simply been hanging back and waiting while Cat and Nico sorted their brother and sister business out. She had not expected one of the people behind the bank robbery to be their mother, and it came as a bit of a shock to her, though obviously much smaller than the shock they must have experienced themselves. While they spoke, she was reminded of her own family. For all the bad that they did, they had never really kept secrets from her, and though at some point they had just stopped caring about her, they never really did much to hurt their fellow Hadrians, despite their (ultimately harmless) schemes. She idly wondered how they would be doing. She had heard some Hadrians had moved to Earth.

She shook those thoughts off. Now wasn't the time to think about them. There was something serious going on right in front of her.

She was startled when the beeper thingy that Mars had given her started, well, beeping. She hastily pulled it out of one of her pockets with the tips of her claws, but it slipped her grasp and she flailed her arms for a bit before getting her act together and catching the small device before it hit the ground. Sighing in relief, she turned out the beeping sound just like Mars had taught her. She should've probably expected something like this to happen given how Mars told the others that she'd call everyone to the command room, but it slipped her mind. Either way, she followed him and the others out of the laboratory, not feeling it was her place to say anything, since she didn't have any suggestions to make at the moment.

[Jorliefstreiken]

Rise of Steel


Jake Dervut sat backstage in Mcsleezies bar and grill on the corner of East 6th street and 1st Avenue. He was tuning his guitar while sipping some of that good old mountain dew. Thinking about how his life had turned out, Jake felt sad. He had left the small town of North Weskershire, Kentucky, hoping to be welcomed with open arms into the music industry. So far it hadn't worked out. He had been forced to supplement his daily wages playing at bars with money given to him as a guard for the powerful Di Bozzone clan. He stood outside of trucks and was told to shoot anyone who asked too many questions. He was paid well enough for him to afford his own apartment, but it just wasn't the same as selling out his home theatre and helping run the farm with Pa. Jake was close to just packing up right then and there when the manager of the bar called him out on stage. Stepping out into the spotlights, Jake walked over to the high stool in the middle of the stage and sat down, looking out at the crowd of whores, murderers, druggies and dealers. Speaking into the micro phone, Jake said "Ah w'd like t'dedicut this next song t'Elise, th' love of mah life". Jake started to play "Nice Place Oklahoma" on his guitar when suddenly he heard people screaming. He looked up to see several people in the restraint being stabbed by swarms of black coming out of their phones. The people quickly fell over. Jake said in disgust "Come on guys, ah knows ah's a bit outta tune, but its not wo'th sueycide!" Jake then watched as one of the people who had been stabbed got up, now turned, and shot the human next to him. Jake pulled out his gun and quickly killed every robot in the resteraunt. Jake quickly got up and started to barricade the doors, seeing more robots outside. He yelled to the people near him "He'p me o' we is all a-gonna die!"

[Deminis]

-snip-

-snip-

Jerimiah watched from the distance, his old friend still talking with the flying one, Another female hangs from the wall outside. "Do you need help?" he spoke into a small patch-like microphone. He watched the hand signals carefully and understood, no danger, yet. Jerimiah leaned away from the scope for a moment, pulling back the rifles bolt and pushing the shell down again. He pressed a small red trigger on the side and the gun began to collapse into a small suit case as he started to stand up, grabbing it by the new handle. He took a few steps back and looked out to the building nearly a mile away. "I'm moving to a better vantage. I'll let you know when I've setup." He took a step into the closest, now open, window and leaped. The turbine on his back jerked and began to pull him upwards before directing the pressurized are through the numerous tiny vessels across his suit, shooting him up and forwards with uncanny maneuverability and speed.

---

Damian let out a sigh lightly as he heard his friends last response, relaxing a bit more as he waited the creatures response.

[Confederation of imperial states]

South Western Columbia

The Knight Placed the VTOL into silent hover mode, Hovering above the small town which Copperhead told him to head to. The Knight opened the VTOL Cockpit, walking into one of the stabalized wings and looking down. [Are you sure about going in their Sir?], "I'll Never break a promis Sanza". The Knight then simply took a step off the wing, shooting down and frefalling before opening up his cape, which slowed the glide and greatly decreased the fall speed.

The Knight looked around, The town was seemingly barren, not a soul in sight. The Knight walked forward into the town, peering around to see if anyone was here. The Knight then saw a small girl attempting to enter a house, quickly grabbing and yanking on the door handle. The Knight stepped forwad towards her, The Girl flinched and backed up against the door.

"Está tudo bem, eu não estou aqui para prejudicá-lo", The Knight said, taking a knee to make eye contact with the girl. The Girl stopped placing her arms to shield her face, taking a look at The Knight. The girl looked at the Knight, tears seemed to have coming from her eyes, from the dried tear stains on her face. The Knight, having a more approach-ably stern face, asked, "O que aconteceu a esta cidade ?". Just then, The Knight heard as he heard some dropped behind him, the person, obviously female, yelled "tocar aquela garota e eu vou estripar sua maldita garganta !". The Knight stood up, turning around to see none other than Copperhead, standing 5 ft from him, with her metal claws out. Copperhead's expression from menacing dropped to surprised. "You...", "I said I'd Help you and you Sister if you Asked, here I am" The Knight said.

Copperhead dropped her stance, walking towards The Knight, stopping a foot in front of him. "Come with me", Copperhead said, The Knight nodded and followed her, with the girl running and walking alongside copperhead. The Knight surveyed copperhead, she walked partly like a thug, the other part swayingly and seductively, the Girl continuously peered up at Copperhead, as if she were her friend. Copperhead stopped at a large metal shutter door, knocking on it 5 times. The Knight watched as 2 men opened the metal doors, 4 armed militiamen stomped out, rushing behind copperhead and the girl and pointing their rifles at The Knight. The Knight returned to his usual Intimidating scowl, noticeably scaring a few of the Militiamen. "parar , ele está com a gente". The militiamen peered at copperhead, then lowered their rifles allowing The Knight to follow copperhead into the large undegrround structure. The Knight followed copperhead, the girl running off down a separate hallway. The knight peered to the sides, noticing the large amount of townsfolk, and Militiamen & women, many peering at The Knight, and the sound of whispering abound.

The Knight also peered down at Copperhead's left leg, in a light brace, Mentally The Knight rued the Move he made that night. The Knight followed copperhead into a large room, with a table and a map of western Columbia, The Knight obviously saw this was a War Rom. Copperhead walked to the overside at the table, placing her hands on the edge and peering up at the Knight. "My Sister, Me, and....This entire town, are currently Under seige from a Cartel that's been Stalking Columbia for decades. My sister was an unfortunate casualty of their war". The Knight peered at The table, most of the camps had Xs on them, he peered back up at Copperhead, "most of them have seemingly been taking out, What's there for me to do?", Copperhead pointed at a large red marking just 7 miles from the town, "they've been pulling their smaller camps back, Their Main Encampment has been building up a large force". The Knight placed his hands on the table aswell, taking a look at the map. "for what?", "their planned Seige on this town..." The Knight looked up at Copperhead, who had a Depressed and grim look on her face.

"I Won't let that happen", Copperhead looked up at him, Her eyes glossy. The Knight didn't see sadness when he peered into her eyes, He saw the Death and Saddness she'd been plauged with for all her life. Copperhead dropped her head, looking straight down, then looked back at The Knight, "come on, Let me take you to my sister". The Knight nodded, following Copperhead out of the the room, The Knight peered at the [MEDICAL WARD] sign hanging ontop of the doorway they headed into. as they walked towards a bed, surrounded by a plastic curtain, Copperhead stopped, Placing her hand directly on The Knight's chest stopping him. "Let me go first" She said looking up at The Knight, showing their obvious Height Difference. The Knight nodded, Copperhead walked to the wall side of the bed, entering through the curtain's opening. The Knight heard the murmur of copperhead talking, also hearing a weakly willed and sickly voice answer her. The Drape opened, The Knight saw a woman, no younger than 20, badly hurt, beaten, and bruised, hooked up to a series of tubes and machines. The Knight stood there, peering at the woman, Copperhead gestured to him, telling him to come over. The Knight walked lightly stopping at the opposite side of the bed copperhead was on.

The Knight held out a hand to the Woman, The Woman responded, grabbing The Knight's hand, The Knight felt The Pain from her grip. The Knight made eye contact with the woman, "You're going to be okay, I Promise". Through the Bruises and scars,The Knight thinks he saw her smile. The Knight raised his other hand to his ear, activating the commlink, "Sanza, I'm going to need a Heavy Medical drop pod". The Knight looked to Copperhead, "Her Condition is Bad, But she's more than Savable for my equipment. There'll be a drop pod outside this complex, I'll need two of your men to come with me to help unload the Medical supplies". Copperhead nodded, The Knight left the room, 2 Medical staff following him.

15 Minutes later....

The Knight plugged in the last plug for the Medical terminal, turning it on, The Medical equipment was filling the small Medical Ward room. The Knight typed in the medical frequency, Copperhead standing against the wall next to the door, listening carefully to the noises made. The Knight continued to type, pausing to say "Sanza Start medical Scan of..." The Knight paused, looking at the woman, waiting for her to fill in the blanks. "Maranda" The Woman said with a scratchey voice. The Knight nodded, "start Medical Scan of Maranda", [Yes Sir]. a large arm on the side of the terminal lifted up, The arm extended a Light of sorts, which scanned up and down Maranda. Once the Scan was finished, The Knight inspected the Terminal, "give me the Report", [Several broken Ribs, partly fractured Jaw, slight Internal bleeding]. Marcus nodded, "The fractured Jaw and ribs are easily dealt with, The Internal bleeding however". The Knight looked at Maranda, "I'm going to need to put you on Anestesia, A Sleeping Agent that will allow me to stop the Internal Bleeding, I'll wake you up after wards. ". Maranda nodded, allowing The Knight to place the Mask gently on her head and apply Anestisia, Knocking her out peacefully and calmly. The Knight took a deep breath, "Sanza, Prep Surgical Equipment", [Yes Sir].

1 Hour Later....

Copperhead continued to listen to the Door, Almost falling in when The Knight opened it. The Knight kept his Grim, Intimidating Scowl. Copperhead was Anxious, "Well?" She said, slightly, but unintentionally yelling.

"She's Going to be Fine"

[Tomia]

Nico
"That could work. Though I can't really control what I find, I might be able to discover something we can use by sifting through their memories or something. Though I don't think I could actually just present the memories to the judge or anything." She replied, sighing. She wondered how they would be able to get into a position to do that too. It might be dangerous, but then again she doubted they knew that Nico and Cat knew of them.

Hannah
Hannah smiled comfortingly as she suddenly gave Roy a hug. "It's okay. I'm sorry I asked, I probably shouldn't have." She spoke kindly. "But... we're pretty similar you and I, I think. Like... I never knew my parents. I was too you before we left. I did a few things that I'm not proud of either." She released him and looked him in the eyes. "You're not a monster. Trust me. I've seen monsters."

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

[Galnius]

"Well, I mean, I don't do much screaming..." Marybeth said, scratching the back of her neck. "But yeah, something like that. And a green lantern? Like Willpower, oa, and stuff? I read about them somewhere." She scanned the room, vaguely interested in her surroundings, avoiding the question momentarily. Why DO I want to become a hero? I mean, it would be a nice change of pace. You know, as log as no one expects me to be all goody goody I'm fine with that. But....is there really a reason? "I...don't know yet. Honestly, at the moment it just seems like fun. You know what I mean?"

"So you fight with sound. Good to know. Yeah, exactly like that. I've got some friends in high places. And by high places, I mean a few light years away at the center of the solar system." Kylie laughed again, glad that someone else knew about her job without her having to tell them. And they didn't want to fight her to the death.

"Just seems like fun? Girl, you're talking to the Ambassador of Fun! That's about the reason why we started; five girls who can break buildings coming together to beat up some android guy, then getting coffee afterwards. And yeah, I remember that far back. It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it. And I guess," Kylie stood up and offered her hand to Marybeth. "you're gonna be one of those somebodies. Good enough for me, welcome to the team!"

Marybeth grinned and shook her hand. Ah, to be free. "So, honest question, I don't have to wear tights, do I? Because those things really start to get on my nerves after a while." Standing up, she looked around again. Now, the main question is, what now? I just hope it isn't paperwork, or I'll scream.

[The Republic of Atria]

It was over. Khan and Apokolips were both gone from this dimension. "Well then." Xander spoke up. "It was a little rough around the edges, but despite that, we got the job done." He said. and thought for a moment. "Alright. This is the second time we've all had to work together. Now... This is just a suggestion, but maybe we should form some sort of team. Similar to the Avengers or the Justice League. And though they have my utmost respect, some of these things are out of their hands. They're both great domestic teams, but they can't leave the planet every ten minutes to go deal with a cosmic threat. Which should fall in our laps." He explained. Forming a team? First it was the Builders, and they got force fed their own ships. Then came Yuga Khan who was more or less treated with the same regard one would for an ant. The threats were getting bigger and three of the most powerful beings in the universe were just sitting there. It would be stupid not to start a team.

"Be apart of a superhero team?" Otis asked. "Ummm... Yeah. That sounds totally kick ass. I'm in." He had always wanted to be a member of an actual superhero team. He probably could've easily joined any team he wanted. With his powers, it was pretty much a guarantee. Who would turn him down? "It's awesome. See, we got an Asgardian." He pointed to Valka. "A World Dragon. A Martian. A dude with a cosmic sword. And for color..." He said and teleported next to Naja. "Us!" This led Naja to snicker a bit. Otis was probably the youngest minded person there. Which was actually a good thing.

New God Dimension

"Now..." Killian said and sat across from the barely alive Yuga Khan. "What did we learn?" He said intentionally being as smarmy as he could while restoring Khan to health. "Now. We've learned that you're not going to be able to brute force them."

"How dare you mock me?!" He said and blasted him despite knowing full and well that it had the same effect as shooting him with a water pistol. "I have never been so humilated in my life! And I will not be mocked by a stupid child such as yourself!"

"Bear in mind that this stupid child can rearrange universes with the same amount of effort it takes a mortal to breathe. You exist because I allow it. And if I demand it. I can kill you. So quit with the name calling Yogi Bear." Khan had no idea who or what Yogi Bear was, but it was clearly meant to be insulting. This led him to blast Killian yet again. "Now that you've got that out of your system. Let's put our heads together and think of a way to fuck with these guys."

"If you are as powerful as you claim, could you not just kill them with a wave of your hand?"

"Yes... But that's not the point. I'm so fucking bored. Seriously. Omnipotence is fun for the first ten minutes. But I'm seriously bored out of my non-existent skull. Nothing is challenging anymore. I can rewrite time and space on a whim. I've already seen everything there is to see. Done everything there is to do. I'm already handicapping myself as it is. Seriously. I don't know how Eternity and Infinity keep doing this. Me-Dammit it's so dull... Pestering you has it's charm, but these... These guys." He said watching the group. "They're very interesting. That one killed your son by blowing a hole in his chest. That one replaced Odin. That one is just powerful to begin with. The lovebirds have power they don't even understand. The Martian has quite a bit coming towards her. The Manifest blade is also in their possession... If they wanted to take over the universe, there wouldn't be anything that could stop them."

"You are here simply to amuse yourself? And annoy me." Khan snarled. There was no point in arguing with the entity.

"Like I said. Omnipotence is boring. Could I go back down there and reincarnate myself? Totally. But it wouldn't change anything. I'd be back up here in a few decades. So. Since these guys are probably one of the most formidable forces in the Multiverse. I am presented with two options. Number one. I create copies. You know. Control C, Control V. And let them fight it out for fun. Or... I give them something that they're not going to be able to muscle..."

"You want me to ask what you have planned?"

"It would be very polite of you. And since you asked. I think it's time I brought back the title of Speed Demon..."

[Tomia]

Cora
Cora was kind of confused at the look that Jamie was giving her. Had Cora said something wrong? She smiled though when Jamie accepted her invitation to come inside. She seemed almost surprised that Cora invited her to come in, but Cora just put that on the fact that they had just met and Cora had told her she was a super hero. "Awesome, follow me." Cora said as she led her new friend to the ground floor entrance. The android figured that Jamie wouldn't appreciate it if she just flew them up to the top, Katie never did. When they walked into the lobby Cora saw Kylie talking with a new girl as well. Cora broke into a wide smile when she saw her friend. "Hey Kylie! This is Jamie." She said, gesturing to the girl next to her. "She just helped us beat up a villain so I decided to show her around." She then looked over at Marybeth, "Who's this?" Cora asked curiously.

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

[Jorliefstreiken]

Rise of Steel, Jake's POV


Jake Durvet stood in his corner of Mcsleezys bar and grill. He carefully checked all of his magazines to see if they were ready. The robots outside seemed to be getting more and more axnsious to get in, but seeing as the bar was one of those weird places with no windows and the door was blocked by several tables, wood, and a part of the bar, they were having no luck. Jake looked around the other people, who were probably close to killing themselves from the amount of alcohol they had ingested. Jake controlled the urge to play a particularly high pitched note on his guitar and wake all of them up. Jake sat down, content with his guard shift, and decided to try and guess which superhero would save them.


Domino's POV

Domino stood on top of a skyscraper. She looked down at all of the chaos going on around her. It appeared that her mutant DNA had somehow protected her from... Assimilation. Yet she was still in trouble. Thoe robots had taken down and converted hundreds of SHEILD agents and she did not want to join them. Suddenly she heard something land behind her. Touching down on the building was one of the robots. However this one was different. He had gold and silver for his body instead of the steel of the other robots. His face seemed to register something, like their was a consciousness behind the cold metal of the robot. Domino cocked her pistol. The robot spoke to her "Hello Domino." Domino replied "um... Hi?" Antibios simply looked at her "I am impressed you survived this long, however that is not to last. I caused all of this, and you and several other heroes in this city are in my way. Now say goodnight" Upon hearing this Domino fired on Antibios. Antibios simply walked forward, taking all of the bullets, before moving forward so fast, Domino couldn't see him. She tried to move and almost got away, but Antibio got her heel. He activated spikes in the palm of his hand, infecting her. Domino blinked once before fading into blackness. Antibios watched her stand up, the new robotic Domino, looking almost the same except for cold red eyes, metallic steel skin, and prothestic legs like Gazelle. Antibios gave her one order, "Find superheroes and turn them."

[Charmera]

“Gah!’ She shouted, suddenly firing beams of red light from her eyes which fried the poison, clearing it from her eyes. Though they still stung a little. She then gritted her teeth and turned to him, looking at the agent. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way.” She replied, grabbing a table from nearby and tossing it at her foe at high speeds before closing in with him, attempting to use the distraction of the table to close the distance for a punishing strike.

Zhao hit the table out of the way with his left tentacle, smashing it against the wall.

"Nice try, but it's going to take more than a table too-" As he hit the table out of the way, he noticed the Superwoman coming straight for him. With how fast she was coming at him, he realized there wasn't a way to counter it.

"Aw shit" Zhao turned his skin into a rhino-like armor. His tentacles returned back into their human self as he moved them to block the upcoming strike. This was going to hurt. As he braced himself, Zhao began to rethink letting the Commissioner get that head start. While he probably would still have to fight this woman, at least he would be out in the street, able to better take advantage of his surroundings.

"Give him a head start, I said. It will be fun, I said."

Ling continued punching her target, hoping to slam into him until he was knocked out. Obviously he was a tougher cookie that she would have thought, the animal abilities giving him a lot of versatility. Luckily Ling seemed to have raw power and speed on her side as she moved to pick him up after she unleashed a barage of strikes, aiming to toss him around. She had to be careful, and not let him gain the advantage or slip away, but she wouldn't be able to stop everything...

"Yeah. That was probably a mistake. A very big one."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

It was over. Khan and Apokolips were both gone from this dimension. "Well then." Xander spoke up. "It was a little rough around the edges, but despite that, we got the job done." He said. and thought for a moment. "Alright. This is the second time we've all had to work together. Now... This is just a suggestion, but maybe we should form some sort of team. Similar to the Avengers or the Justice League. And though they have my utmost respect, some of these things are out of their hands. They're both great domestic teams, but they can't leave the planet every ten minutes to go deal with a cosmic threat. Which should fall in our laps." He explained. Forming a team? First it was the Builders, and they got force fed their own ships. Then came Yuga Khan who was more or less treated with the same regard one would for an ant. The threats were getting bigger and three of the most powerful beings in the universe were just sitting there. It would be stupid not to start a team.

"Be apart of a superhero team?" Otis asked. "Ummm... Yeah. That sounds totally kick ass. I'm in." He had always wanted to be a member of an actual superhero team. He probably could've easily joined any team he wanted. With his powers, it was pretty much a guarantee. Who would turn him down? "It's awesome. See, we got an Asgardian." He pointed to Valka. "A World Dragon. A Martian. A dude with a cosmic sword. And for color..." He said and teleported next to Naja. "Us!" This led Naja to snicker a bit. Otis was probably the youngest minded person there. Which was actually a good thing.

Manifest considered for a moment, watching as the flames around the Infinite died down. "We are probably the best fit to do this kind of work..." He raised his hand upwards, sensing the status of his fortress. He lowered his hand and summoned the Manifest Blade. He laid the Infinite on top of it and breathed deeply.

Those in the group who were privy to the machinations of the Universe would be able to sense a vast transfer of energy occurring, but it was impossible to tell from or into what. When he finished, he opened his eyes once more. "I'm in." He smiled easily.

---

Inside the Universal Fortress
One of Manifest's fragments approached the throne at the center and held out its hand upwards. It began to glow blue and red, channeling a portion of Manifest's New God and Blade abilities. It began to grow more lifelike, forming a face identical to Manifest's, as well as armor that couldn't be distinguished from Crawler's. "Looks like it worked." The secondary Manifest smirked. "I may not be as powerful as Manifest-Prime, but with a quarter of approaching infinite is still approaching infinite."

He flew to a wall in the throne room, holding out his hand and creating what appeared to be (and was) a massive supercomputer. "Initiate Manifest-2 log Alpha-1. I am now going to begin my quest to rid the Universe of warfare while Manifest-Prime is unavailable assisting the new team." He frowned. "It hopefully won't be a permanent solution. Too many high level threats to face with such comparatively low power." One of the most powerful beings in the Universe muttered.

"Begin phase one."

[Deminis]

Jaxon Aredia walks in through the doors, throwing them both open at once, "WASSAP!!!!" He shouts, as over half the club turns to look at him, all the ladies scream, the guys all reply "WASSAP!!!" The DJ Drops the Needle and the Electro swing starts playing Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's Jumpin' Jack as Jaxon readies to run in and slide into the dance floor, the ladies swoon as he passes, the guys lower their hand for a five, as the beat kicks up he jumps and slows to a halt in the center of the floor. Any one who was new would have thought they had entered a totally different club.

As he starts to dance, the beat picks up more and more, he reaches out a grabs a beautiful dame and pulls her out spinning across the floor letting her whip and lash back and forth between his arms with complete ease. As the dance slows a little he lets her lean back and swings her slowly across the floor before pulling her up and begin a classic yet upset germanic walts.

[The Templar High Council]

"So you fight with sound. Good to know. Yeah, exactly like that. I've got some friends in high places. And by high places, I mean a few light years away at the center of the solar system." Kylie laughed again, glad that someone else knew about her job without her having to tell them. And they didn't want to fight her to the death.

"Just seems like fun? Girl, you're talking to the Ambassador of Fun! That's about the reason why we started; five girls who can break buildings coming together to beat up some android guy, then getting coffee afterwards. And yeah, I remember that far back. It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it. And I guess," Kylie stood up and offered her hand to Marybeth. "you're gonna be one of those somebodies. Good enough for me, welcome to the team!"

Marybeth grinned and shook her hand. Ah, to be free. "So, honest question, I don't have to wear tights, do I? Because those things really start to get on my nerves after a while." Standing up, she looked around again. Now, the main question is, what now? I just hope it isn't paperwork, or I'll scream.

"Well, you don't have to. But they kinda grow on you, eventually." Kylie showed her ring, her clothes disappearing and her uniform flashing into existence, along with her green eye mask. "Plus, you know, some people can just work it." Kylie began spinning and floating into the air, stopping when she bumped her head on one of the florescent lights above. "Ow! Well, flying's different. Sometimes, it's just hard for the sake of being hard."

Cora was kind of confused at the look that Jamie was giving her. Had Cora said something wrong? She smiled though when Jamie accepted her invitation to come inside. She seemed almost surprised that Cora invited her to come in, but Cora just put that on the fact that they had just met and Cora had told her she was a super hero. "Awesome, follow me." Cora said as she led her new friend to the ground floor entrance. The android figured that Jamie wouldn't appreciate it if she just flew them up to the top, Katie never did. When they walked into the lobby Cora saw Kylie talking with a new girl as well. Cora broke into a wide smile when she saw her friend. "Hey Kylie! This is Jamie." She said, gesturing to the girl next to her. "She just helped us beat up a villain so I decided to show her around." She then looked over at Marybeth, "Who's this?" Cora asked curiously.

" 'Sup Cora? This here is... Marybeth. She didn't beat anyone up, but she did come up to Mindy like normal people!" Kylie threw her left arm around Marybeth's shoulder, whether she liked it or not, and smiled to Cora and Jamie. "Nice to meet you, Jamie. I'm Kylie. I glow. Oh, and this ring thing, but you know. S'cool." She extended her right hand to shake Jamie's.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Seriskira flew across the air like a ragdoll, if ragdolls were usually thrown around at the speed of sound within the vicinity of ruined cities on empty, dead planets. She was flung from the spot where she stood tiny fractions of a second earlier with such great force that the acceleration alone was likely more than sufficient to break some of her bones, not that she wasn't already broken to begin with, nothing more than a shadow of her former self as she soared through the air, making it whistle from the sheer force with which her limp body was cutting through it. A constant stream of blood dripped to the ground from the sky, leaving a trail that traced the trajectory of Seriskira's body as it flew. She was bleeding from each and every one of the many cuts and bruises in her body, covered from head to toe to such point that her scales glowed red and her crimson hair seemed to blend in with the rest of her body. Her arms felt heavy, weary of swinging her claws around, and her wings were now little more than two gaping, bleeding holes on her back.

Suddenly, noise and movement aplenty all around her. And pain, of course, but pain practically permeated her every moment right now, accompanied her every breath. She had just crashed into a mound of collapsed gray slabs of stone that had once been a tall and mighty skyscraper and was now but a scrap beneath the sky. She had crashed into it with monumental force, sending the shattered remnants of the stone that she had just destroyed flying away from her at terminal velocity, but she could barely tell that any of this was happening around her. She was now on the verge of consciousness. The beating she had taken after Black Nova had gained so much power, after she had gone into the so-called Supernova Mode, was almost too painful to remember, but it was more or less all she could think of right now. Blow after tectonic-shaking blow she had taken, with the current crash being only the latest source of agony in her fight.

Everything had taken a big turn for the worst after Black Nova had brought out her hidden power. Before, they had been more or less evenly matched. But when the blonde cyborg's body had begun generating and re-containing massive ammounts of energy in preparation for Supernova Mode, Seriskira could tell that nothing good was to come from it, and she was right, so horribly right. She had not, however, expected the increase in power to be so monumental as to completely opaque her and destroy her every chance at victory. Since the moment that Black Nova had gone super, the fight had been terribly one sided and had consisted mostly on Seriskira being struck and thrown around helplessly while trying to fight against the cyborg whose power had grown exponentially, her pathetic struggle leading up to the present moment. If only Black Nova had a weakness...

Seriskira finally fell unconscious. But, paradoxically, she remained perfectly conscious, even if her body had temporarily shut down and escaped her control due to the massive amount of damage she had taken. She could still feel the lack of her once trusted wings on her back as blood oozed from the two gaping holes on it, could still hear the crumbling rock all around her, could feel the pressure of grey stone slabs collapsing over her, could hear the wind howling over the hollow city. Yet, she could do nothing, she could not move. Even when she heard the familiar hiss of an energy beam burning through the air growing closer and closer, she could do nothing to move herself and save her life. She was too damaged. She had been defeated. She was going to die.

Time at that moment seemed to slow down to a crawl, the beam moving inch per agonizing inch towards her, but never too fast. In that moment of respite, that instant of solace before her certain destruction, the pain was all forgotten, left behind, and her mind suddenly acquired an impressive clarity. She could think so clearly now, after her every thought had been flooded with agony and an almost animalistic drive to survive this fight, and now she could see, truly, everything that was at stake here, all the consequences that the outcome of this battle would bring to her and to her people.

"She'll kill me."

"She'll kill everyone you know. She'll kill everyone. Every Hadrian, every human, everyone who stands in her way."

"She's too powerful, I can't stop her."

"She'll continue on her rampage and destroy Adai. Enslave its people, steal its riches, oppress everyone until they bore her."

"I have no power anymore. I am a broken, bleeding wreck."

"She will leave all those who try to do the right thing as nothing more than broken, bleeding wrecks if she is not stopped."

"I'm..."

"What?"

"No..."

"Say it!"

"I'm too weak! I cannot stop her because I was too weak to face her! I brought her ire and now she will kill me and destroy everything I know, and it is all because of me, and there is not a damn thing I can do! THERE! I said it."

"So what will you do?"

"Nothing. There is nothing I can do."

"That is the way a coward speaks."

"But what CAN I do?"

"I don't know. Do something."

"Fine. I will try to fight."

"She will simply wipe the floor with you again."

"But at least I will have died fighting like a warrior, instead of wallowing in despair. You were right, I spoke like a coward, and now I reject those words. Perhaps today the end comes. Perhaps I won't see the end of the day. But if that is my destiny, I won't leave it waiting."

"Then you have resigned yourself to the warrior's death that awaits you, is that it?"

"Yes."

"Then you are not a coward, but a traitor."

"What?"

"You are betraying your people. You march towards your destruction still with no concern for what will happen to them. You were their guardian, Champion of Adai. Their hopes. Their dreams. The dreams of those who have fallen, the hopes of those who will follow, they were all placed on you the moment you became the guardian of the Dominion. Will you not hold them up high and continue to live to protect them? You cannot choose to die a warrior's death now. Your life is forfeit, it now belongs to them, not to you. It is not up to you to choose. You are not allowed to die."

"But there is no other way. I do not wish to betray my people, but I will still fight."

"But you will be defeated."

"No."

"Yes. You will be defeated, and all the terrible things that I have prophesized will come to pass, and all your struggles will have been for naught."

"..."

"What?"

"..."

"..."

"I refuse."

The beam of energy, apocalyptic in its scope, tore through the mound of stone and everything behind it for several miles before being cut off at last. There was nothing whatsoever that could have possibly survived a direct impact from the concentrated energy beam, nothing that was present in that planet anyway, and the evidence of it was that all the stone that the beam had touched had been completely disintegrated by the sheer power that had struck it. As Black Nova lowered her arm, she had the certainty that her enemy was no more. Nigh-infinite power still coursed through her, as she was not yet ready to exit Supernova Mode, especially not when all the damage that had been caused to her was yet to be repaired, but for now, as far as she was concerned, the battle was over. The enemy had been obliterated. Her troops had suffered heavy casualties during the battle, partly thanks to the Hadrian and partly thanks to her as well, but they were nobody that couldn't be replaced and, in any case, she didn't care. She was only pleased that the battle had come to an end.

A fraction of a second before she turned around and walked away, Seriskira landed in front of her. Needless to say, Black Nova was shocked, utterly so. How could the Hadrian be alive? She had just been destroyed completely, on a fundamental level even. Had she jumped out of the way at the last possible moment? That was impossible. She had sustained too much damage, she shouldn't even have been able to move. The cyborg had calculated this carefully, and she was not often wrong when she turned serious. Something was definitely amiss here, she could tell, but either way, amid her utter shock, the blonde technological warrior found herself completely unable to react to what was happening right in front of her nose.

Seriskira immediately fell to one knee upon landing, supporting herself with her claws as well as she tried to regain balance and breathe in slowly. Her determination, it had been powerful enough to force her awake, and her drive to survive had been strong enough to command her legs to jump as hard as they could, which had saved her, but at the cost of some more damage to her legs and the lack of a single moment to recover from the beating she had taken. But now that she had landed in front of Black Nova, in plain sight, she knew that there was only one chance for her to succeed. Her very last chance, wrestled from the hands of Fate itself with blood and tears. She did not intend to let it go to waste. The clarity that her mind had possessed when she was so close to Death had allowed her to piece her thoughts together and understand, and understand she did. She understood everything. Black Nova did have a weakness, and she knew what it was now!

Wasting not another moment, the Hadrian huntress began running towards Black Nova. At that moment, the cyborg reacted, and with frustration, she raised her palm once again, sending another powerful beam of light towards the 'lizard woman'. Seriskira knew that she could not take it head on, but she was too battered to properly dodge; it was a miracle that she was even standing now, let alone running, and it was clear that now, more than ever, the only way was forward. Thus, she raised her claws to meet the beam, and though it struck her with enormous force, she stood her ground. Temporarily halted, she could feel the energy wrapping around her claws, heating them up, though at first she was fine and simply continued pushing against the unending tide of light, moving closer and closer to Black Nova with each passing moment. Through some bizarre miracle, she was managing to overpower the beam of energy with her fragile legs, and if she kept it up, then undoubtedly she would reach her enemy. But then her claws began to burn. It was not often that a Hadrian felt a burning sensation. They were immune to both fire and lightning, so there were few things capable of hurting them in similar ways. But the power assaulting her claws at that very moment, it was not fire, it was energy, unadultered, pure, and so, it had begun to take its toll. Seriskira screamed as the pain became nigh-unbearable, but she pushed on, watching as the scales around her claws melted in front of her eyes, leaving behind only hands made of jagged bones as she finally arrived next to Black Nova, forcing her to halt the beam.

It had cost her much, too much, to overcome that attack alone, but she knew that this was only the beginning, and so, Seriskira reeled back her fist, which was now naked and scaleless, consisting only of jagged bones. She sent it forward, but Black Nova was faster and caught it before she was able to cause any real damage. Gritting her teeth, the Hadrian attempted to attack with her other fist, to no avail, as it was similarly caught by the blonde cyborg. Finding herself with no other choice, the Hadrian took a deep breath and opened her mouth to use a roar to fight, but almost instantly, Black Nova's hands released Seriskira's fists and clasped around her throat instead, lifting her from the ground instantly. Had Seriskira been a normal human or anyone with any less resilience, her windpipe would have been crushed instantly, and she would have been irremediably dead. However, in this case, though she was suffering greatly, barely able to breathe, she was still holding on. And through all the pain that she was suffering, she smiled. Her gambit had paid off.

"Got...cha..." She struggled to say.

Then, she raised her fists and slammed them down with all of her remaining strength onto the glowing shoulderpads of Black Nova's armor. They shattered with an enormous boom, and almost instantly, Black Nova dropped Seriskira, falling to her knees and proferring an unending scream of utter pain until it became too much to bear and she simply collapsed on the ground. Walking over to her, Seriskira picked up the now limp blonde cyborg's body and held it on her hands, looking at her enemy with eyes that betrayed an inner conflict. Finally, she laughed, long and loud, echoing through the ruined city.

"Oh, I have gone insane." The Hadrian said to herself, grinning widely. "But you gave me the fight of my life. I defeated you, but I can't bring myself to kill you." Seriskira stated. And then, she kissed the unconscious cyborg, before tossing her body away, far away, out of reach.

Then, she began walking away. She took a step, and then everything hit her at once. The full extent of her injuries. The shock and weakness from the blood loss. The last remaining dredges of adrenaline were wearing off, and the raw effects of the abuse she had been taking made themselves evident as soon as possible, ailing Seriskira's every step. Even as she walked forward, she felt all of this haunting her, and she knew not where to go in order to return to Adai, essentially wandering aimlessly. That seemed bad enough by itself, but soon, the few remaining Sunstorm Pirates in the city, who had managed to survive the utter destruction she and Black Nova herself had caused, began firing at her with energy weapons. She blocked what blasts she could block, but in her state, it was not enough, and many pierced through her, further worsening her condition. She never stopped walking, but at one point, she just... fell.

This time, salvation came not from within, but from above. Before she could hit the floor, a beam of energy descended from the heavens and filled Seriskira with strength even as the ground approached rapidly. Her closed pink eyes opened again, now glowing with power and determination, and she took a step to stabilize herself, a step full of might.

"Rise, Goddess of the Hunt." A voice spoke into her ears.

She roared. It was a mighty roar, powerful enough to outshine any that she had performed during the battle, so strong that it wiped away the entire city, leaving the landscape completely clean. Most if not all of the Sunstorm Pirates that remained were destroyed by the noise or by the moving objects, and the few who remained immediately scurried off to find whatever remaining starships they could find in their hidden hangars and depart from that place that held nothing for them anymore. At the same time, Seriskira... recovered. Her entire body began healing, scars and cuts and bruises everywhere fixing themselves as if by magic, though the blood that soaked her remained there. The scales around her bone claws began reconstructing themselves on an atomic level until they were whole again, good as new, and her wings painlessly grew from the two gaping holes in her back as well. Before she knew it, she was as good as when she had come to that planet- no, even better, much better. There was more power coursing through her than she had experienced in all of her life, and she did not know what to do with it, but one thing was certain, and she shouted it to the four winds, in that place devoid of witnesses.

"I AM THE STRONGEST HADRIAN ALIVE!"

But then she fell silent. The cosmic awareness that her godly powers gave her were warning her of something, and she frowned.

"No... there is another."

Without another word, Seriskira rose and began flying back to Adai.

[Altito Asmoro]

-snip-

Damian spins around suddenly, holding his right arm over his head and his left tucked in by his side, ready to strike. He waits for a moment to see if the stranger offers any hostility. I sure hope this guy isn't NSA... i'm fucked at this range if he is... "Yes I came up here, My alarms went off so I came to check it out... i'm the new security guy..." Damian bluffed the last part, but he did so with a practiced heart rate, no creature on heaven of hell could be able to tell the difference. "Who are you? And why did you put a whole in the roof." Damian relaxed to look down the hole "And my stay room..."

"Security guy? Last time I checked this is a couple's house. But the couple is actually on vacation, so yes, either I didn't believed that, or you just too good at lying. Your heartbeat, forgive my intrusion, is normally heard. I could used the x-ray vision to know how many people in this house, but it will add less challenge to my life," said Len, not breaking his not-smiling stature and still floating on the sky. "But I'm actually not talking to you, I'm talking to this...person in suit, I'm not quite sure he or she is a he or a she."

"Hey, I heard your footsteps. So I'm thinking somebody may watching me over something I did at the bar, which was a dangerous thing for humans. And your stay room? You mean their stay room. I used only the first floor, always cleaning it after done sleeping in the first floor. Free food, free place to stay, and hell, even free TV," said Len, nonchalantly as he veered behind the person in suit.

"But please remind the fact that I'm looks more powerful than both of you so please, don't start anything stupid or I may as well burn your foot to ashes."

[Confederation of imperial states]

"She's going to be Fine"

The Knight's words were an extremely massive lift off of Copperhead's Shoulders, Copperhead quickly moved past The Knight. The Knight peered back to see Copperhead and her sister embracing, The Knight walked over to a nearby trash can, removing the plastic gloves, peeling them off of his Gauntlets and placing them in the trash. The Knight turned, The little girl he'd seen earlier was standing directly infront of him, peering up at him. The Knight and the girl made direct, unblinking eye contact for 5 whole seconds before the Girl finally spoke. "You're Scary.....", The Knight stayed Silent, "But you help people, Like superman". The Knight stayed silent, waiting for the girl to finish her sentence, "why?". The Knight moved his head to the left a bit, pondering the question himself. The Knight made diredt eye contact with the girl before saying,

"Just Because something comes from the Darkness, Doesn't mean It's Evil".

The Girl Smiled, then trotted off around a corner, dissapearing. The Knight peered back up, still pondering the small but Meaningful discussion himself. The Knight walked back to the doorway to the Medical room, which was now closed, standing beside it. after a good amount of waiting, Copperhead exited, turning to The Knight, The Knight turning to Copperhead aswell. "You've done Me and My Sister a Great Solence here, We're in Your Deb-", "No, You're Not". The Knight turned, walkign abck to the war room. "You Saved My SIster life, I have to Repay you somewa-", The Knight looked back, Staring Copperhead in the eyes. "t Is My Job, as a Knight, to protect People in Need, to Crush Crime. This was simply me Doing my Job, nothing more, and certainly nothing less. You are your Sistsr Don't Owe me a thing". Copperhead stayed silent, The Knight turned, almost running into a man who pushed past him towards copperhead. "Miss Cardella, The Cartel, They're making their move, They're here!". Copperhead was shocked, scared, and confused, Though she kept a straight face. "Ready the men, wait for my by the exit". The Knight caught Copperhead's shoulder as she tried to walk past him, "You're going on the Offensive, Are You a Lunatic?", "We need to Stand our Ground", "And You Think you and your cobbled together Army Will do that? I have a Better Plan". Copperhead turned to The Knight, "Do Tell", "I Have Trainign that allows me to take on Larger Forces for an extended period of time, Let me Sttack first, I'll use shock and awe to throw off their attack. Then you and your men attack them while they're off guard".

Copperhead pondered the plan, giving a large sigh, "you sure?", The Knight stayed silent. "My men and I will wait for your signal, Do your thing". The Knight nodded, walking past copperhead, Copperhead knew from what she'd seen a good few weeks ago, The Cartel's men didn't stand a chance.

Outside

The Cartel members walked into the town, mostly foot soldiers with 2 Humvees to boote, around 45 In total. The Cartel members were walking Gloatful into the town, They joked as they began to smash into houses and search them. "These Stupid people, they really think they can beat us", "Check the Cellars, They're probably hiding in their with their little children, waiting for their doom". The Cartel members walked into the large central area of the town, resting the two Humvees there. The Cartel members continued their gloatful pre-emptive cheering, "We'll probably finish this Opp so fast we'll Be back at base for Dinner". silently, 2 tranquilizers were shot at the 2 Humvee gunners, knocking them out. just then, 2 Distractionary Exlosives dropped down on the ground of the large cartel members, they looked at it a moment, before it exploded, Confusing and disarraying most of them. "We're beign attacked!", "By What?". One of the Cartel members looked up, to see The Knight glide kicking down into the large group of them. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!", one of them shouted before The Knight dropped down onto him, Kicking him into the ground.

The Knight went to work, grabbing the Rifle of one cartel and smasking him upside he near, then using the rifle's end to smash into another cartel member's throat. The Knight dropped the rifle, tripping a Cartel member and punching him out. The Knight countered an attempted swing by one Cartel member, twisting back the man's hand and breaking it, then grabbing him by his arm and swinging him horizontally, knocking over 3 more of his Cartel friends. The Screaming was muffled, but could be heard from the Basement, It lasted a good 2 minutes, gunfire, scraming, smashes and thuds. Then, Copperhead heard an ambient, "NOW", Copperhead looked back at her men, "Now It's time we took back our home, Let's go!". The Men cheered as they followed her out of the Undegrround base, charging at the men who were still being distracted by The Knight.

The Militiamen formed a firing line, beginning to fire on The Cartel Members with their Rifles, mowing down a good 15 of them. The Catrel members saw they were outmatched, with Copperhead and The Knight taking down 5 at a time, and the Militiamen firing on them, they were ging to be massacred. The Cartel members dropped their rifles, placing their hands up, surrendering. The Knight looked to copperhead, who raised her hand up, signalling the Militiamen to stop firing and take the Catrel members prisoner.

5 Mnutes Later....

The Knight stood In the townnsquare, The drstroyed Humvees, Prisoner Cartel members, and dead Cartel members being cleaned up. The Knight spectated all of this, Wondering how long this kind of carnage had been happening, he then saw someone stand next to him in his perifferal vision, Copperhead. "You're done good work here, We'll Be able to better deefend from the Cartel now", The Knight stayed silent, "And, Thank you". The Knight raised an eyebrow, though not visible from under the helmet. The Knight peered at Copperhead, "I'll give you some payment", 'what does she mean by pay-' The Knight's internal thought was cut off when Copperhead grabbed The Knight's head, locking themselves together and Kissing The Knight unexpectedly. 'well' The Knight thought, Copperhead let go of The Knight, "The Knight and copperhead locked eyes, for a good 2 minutes they stared at each other. "I need to go", "Okay...". The Knight started to walk towards the center of the Town Square. "If you ever need my help, You've earned it". The Knight stopped walking, "noted" The Knight said before taking out his grappeling gun and shooting it, grappelign onto The VTOL and pulling up into it. Copperhead watched as the VTOL hovered for a minute, before flying off.